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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:40 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:40 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14089-0.txt b/14089-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..022a75f --- /dev/null +++ b/14089-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7571 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14089 *** + +HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE + +by + +MRS. MARY JANE HOLMES + + + + + + + +By the Same Author in uniform style: + + _Dora Deane_ + _Cousin Maude_ + _Lena Rivers_ + _Meadow Brook_ + _English Orphans_ + _Maggie Miller_ + _Rosamond_ + _Tempest And Sunshine_ + _Homestead on the Hillside_ + + + + + +CONTENTS + +The Homestead On The Hillside + + Chapter I. Mrs. Hamilton + Chapter II. Lenora And Her Mother + Chapter III. One Step Toward The Homestead + Chapter IV. After The Burial + Chapter V. Kate Kirby + Chapter VI. Raising The Wind + Chapter VII. The Stepmother + Chapter VIII. Domestic Life At The Homestead + Chapter IX. Lenora And Carrie + Chapter X. Darkness + Chapter XI. Margaret And Her Father + Chapter XII. "Carrying Out Dear Mr. Hamilton's Plans" + Chapter XIII. Retribution + Chapter XIV. Finale + +Rice Corner + + Chapter I. Rice Corner + Chapter II. The Belle Of Rice Corner + Chapter III. Monsieur Penoyer + Chapter IV. Cousin Emma + Chapter V. Richard Evelyn And Harley Ashmore + Chapter VI. Mike And Sally + Chapter VII. The Bride + +The Gilberts; Or, Rice Corner Number Two + + Chapter I. The Gilberts + Chapter II. Nellie + Chapter III. The Haunted House + Chapter IV. Jealousy + Chapter V. New Relations + Chapter VI. Poor, Poor Nellie + +The Thanksgiving Party And Its Consequences + + Chapter I. Night Before Thanksgiving + Chapter II. Thanksgiving Day + Chapter III. Ada Harcourt + Chapter IV. Lucy + Chapter V. Uncle Israel + Chapter VI. Explanation + Chapter VII. A Maneuver + Chapter VIII. Cousin Berintha And Lucy's Party + Chapter IX. A Wedding At St. Luke's + Chapter X. A Surprise + Chapter XI. Lizzie + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MRS. HAMILTON. + + +For many years the broad, rich acres, and old-fashioned, massive +building known as "The Homestead on the Hillside," had passed +successively from father to son, until at last it belonged by right of +inheritance to Ernest Hamilton. Neither time nor expense had been +spared in beautifying and embellishing both house and grounds, and at +the time of which we are speaking there was not for miles around so +lovely a spot as was the shady old homestead. + +It stood at some distance from the road, and on the bright green lawn +in front were many majestic forest trees, on which had fallen the +lights and shadows of more than a century; and under whose +widespreading branches oft, in the olden time, the Indian warrior had +paused from the chase until the noonday heat was passed. Leading from +the street to the house was a wide, graveled walk bordered with box, +and peeping out from the wilderness of vines and climbing roses were +the white walls of the huge building, which was surrounded on all +sides by a double piazza. + +Many and hallowed were the associations connected with that old +homestead. On the curiously-carved seats beneath the tall shade trees +were cut the names of some who there had lived, and loved, and passed +away. Through the little gate at the foot of the garden and just +across the brooklet, whose clear waters leaped and laughed in the +glad sunshine, and then went dancing away in the woodland below, was a +quiet spot, where gracefully the willow tree was bending, where the +wild sweetbrier was blooming, and where, too, lay sleeping those who +once gathered round the hearthstone and basked in the sunlight which +ever seemed resting upon the Homestead on the Hillside. + +But a darker day was coming; a night was approaching when a deep gloom +would overshadow the homestead and the loved ones within its borders. +The servants, ever superstitious, now whispered mysteriously that the +spirits of the departed returned nightly to their old accustomed +places, and that dusky hands from the graves of the slumbering dead +were uplifted, as if to warn the master of the domain of the +desolation; which was to come. For more than a year the wife of Ernest +Hamilton had been dying--slowly, surely dying--and though when the +skies were brightest and the sunshine warmest she ever seemed better, +each morning's light still revealed some fresh ravage the disease had +made, until at last there was no hope, and the anxious group which +watched her knew full well that ere long among them would be a vacant +chair, and in the family burying ground an added grave. + +One evening Mrs. Hamilton seemed more than usually restless, and +requested her daughters to leave her, that she might compose herself +to sleep. Scarcely was she alone when with cat-like tread there glided +through the doorway the dark figure of a woman, who advanced toward +the bedside, noiselessly as a serpent would steal to his ambush. She +was apparently forty-five years of age, and dressed in deep mourning, +which seemed to increase the marble whiteness of her face. Her eyes, +large, black, and glittering, fastened themselves upon, the invalid +with a gaze so intense that Mrs. Hamilton's hand involuntarily sought +the bell-rope, to summon some one else to her room. + +But ere the bell was rung a strangely sweet, musical voice fell on her +ear, and arrested her movements. "Pardon me for intruding," said the +stranger, "and suffer me to introduce myself. I am Mrs. Carter, who +not long since removed to the village. I have heard of your illness, +and wishing to render you any assistance in my power, I have ventured, +unannounced, into your presence, hoping that I at least am not +unwelcome." + +Mrs. Hamilton had heard of a widow lady, who with an only daughter had +recently removed to the village, which lay at the foot of the long +hill on which stood the old homestead. She had heard, too, that Mrs. +Carter, though rather singular in some respects, was unusually +benevolent, spending much time in visiting the sick and needy, and, as +far as possible, ministering to their comfort. + +Extending her hand, she said, "I know you by reputation, Mrs. Carter, +and feel greatly pleased that you have thought to visit me. Pray be +seated." + +This last invitation was superfluous, for with the air of a person +entirely at home, the lady had seated herself, and as the room was +rather warm, she threw back her bonnet, disclosing to view a mass of +rich brown hair, which made her look several years younger than she +really was. Nothing could be more apparently kind and sincere than +were her words of sympathy, nothing more soothing than the sound of +her voice; and when she for a moment raised Mrs. Hamilton, while she +adjusted her pillows, the sick woman declared that never before had +any one done it so gently or so well. + +Mrs. Carter was just resuming her seat when in the adjoining hall +there was the sound of a heavy tread, and had Mrs. Hamilton been at +all suspicious of her visitor she would have wondered at the flush +which deepened on her cheek when the door opened and Mr. Hamilton +stood in their midst. On seeing a stranger he turned to leave, but his +wife immediately introduced him, and seating himself upon the sofa, he +remarked, "I have seen you frequently in church, Mrs. Carter, but I +believe I have never spoken with you before." + +A peculiar expression flitted over her features at these words, an +expression which Mr. Hamilton noticed, and which awoke remembrances of +something unpleasant, though he could not tell what. + +"Where have I seen her before?" thought he, as she bade them good +night, promising to come again and stay a longer time. "Where have I +seen her before?" and then involuntarily his thoughts went back to the +time, years and years ago, when, a wild young man in college, he had +thoughtlessly trifled with the handsome daughter of his landlady. Even +now he seemed to hear her last words, as he bade her farewell: "You +may go, Ernest Hamilton, and forget me if you can, but Luella does not +so easily forget; and remember, when least you expect it, we shall +meet again." + +Could this strange being, with honeyed words and winning ways, be that +fiery, vindictive girl? Impossible!--and satisfied with this +conclusion Mr. Hamilton resumed his evening paper. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LENORA AND HER MOTHER. + + +From the windows of a small, white cottage, at the extremity of +Glenwood village, Lenora Carter watched for her mother's return. "She +stays long," thought she, "but it bodes success to her plan; though +when did she undertake a thing and fail!" + +The fall of the gatelatch was heard, and in a moment Mrs. Carter was +with her daughter, whose first exclamation was, "What a little +eternity you've been gone! Did you renew your early vows to the man?" + +"I've no vows to renew," answered Mrs. Carter, "but I've paved the way +well, and got invited to call again." + +"Oh, capital!" said Lenora. "It takes you, mother, to do up things, +after all; but, really, was Mrs. Hamilton pleased with you?" + +"Judging by the pressure of her hand when she bade me good-by I should +say she was," answered Mrs. Carter; and Lenora continued: "Did you see +old moneybags?" + +"Lenora, child, you must not speak so disrespectfully of Mr. +Hamilton," said Mrs. Carter. + +"I beg your pardon," answered Lenora, while her mother continued: "I +saw him, but do not think he recognized me; and perhaps it is as well +that he should not, until I have made myself indispensable to him and +his family." + +"Which you will never do with the haughty Mag, I am sure," said +Lenora; "but tell me, is the interior of the house as handsome as the +exterior?" + +"Far more so," was the reply; and Mrs. Carter proceeded to enumerate +the many costly articles of furniture she had seen. + +She was interrupted by Lenora, who asked, "How long, think you, will +the incumbrance live?" + +"Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, "you shall not talk so. No one wishes Mrs. +Hamilton to die; but if such an afflictive dispensation does occur, I +trust we shall all be resigned." + +"Oh, I keep forgetting that you are acting the part of a resigned +widow; but I, thank fortune, have no part to act, and can say what I +please." + +"And spoil all our plans, too, by your foolish babbling," interposed +Mrs. Carter. + +"Let me alone for that," answered Lenora. "I haven't been trained by +such a mother for nothing. But, seriously, how is Mrs. Hamilton's +health?" + +"She is very low, and cannot possibly live long," was the reply. + +Here there was a pause in the conversation, during which we will take +the opportunity of introducing more fully to our readers the estimable +Mrs. Carter and her daughter. Mr. Hamilton was right when he +associated the resigned widow with his old flame, Luella Blackburn, +whom be had never seriously thought of marrying, though by way of +pastime he had frequently teased, tormented, and flattered her. Luella +was ambitious, artful, and designing. Wealth and position was the goal +at which she aimed. Both of these she knew Ernest Hamilton possessed, +and she had felt greatly pleased at his evident preference. When, +therefore, at the end of his college course he left her with a few +commonplace remarks, such as he would have spoken to any familiar +acquaintance, her rage knew no bounds; and in the anger of the moment +she resolved, sooner or later, to be revenged upon him. + +Years, however, passed on, and a man whom she thought wealthy offered +her his hand. She accepted it, and found, too late, that she was +wedded to poverty. This aroused the evil of her nature to such an +extent that her husband's life became one of great unhappiness, and +four years after Lenora's birth he left her. Several years later she +succeeded in procuring a divorce, although she still retained his +name. Recently she had heard of his death, and about the same time, +too, she heard that the wife of Ernest Hamilton was dying. Suddenly a +wild scheme entered her mind. She would remove to the village of +Glenwood, would ingratiate herself into the favor of Mrs. Hamilton, +win her confidence and love, and then when she was dead the rest she +fancied would be an easy matter, for she knew that Mr. Hamilton was +weak and easily flattered. + +For several weeks they had been in Glenwood, impatiently waiting an +opportunity for making the acquaintance of the Hamiltons. But as +neither Margaret nor Carrie called, Lenora became discouraged, and one +day exclaimed, "I should like to know what you are going to do. There +is no probability of that proud Mag's calling on me. How I hate her, +with her big black eyes and hateful ways!" + +"Patience, patience," said Mrs. Carter, "I'll manage it; as Mrs. +Hamilton is sick, it will be perfectly proper for me to go and see +her," and then was planned the visit which we have described. + +"Oh, won't it be grand!" said Lenora that night, as she sat sipping +her tea. "Won't it be grand, if you do succeed, and won't I lord it +over Miss Margaret! As for that little white-faced Carrie, she's too +insipid for one to trouble herself about, and I dare say thinks you a +very nice woman, for how can her Sabbath-school teacher be otherwise;" +and a satirical laugh echoed through the room. Suddenly springing up, +Lenora glanced at herself in the mirror, and turning to her mother, +said, "Did you hear when Walter is expected--and am I so very ugly +looking?" + +While Mrs. Carter is preparing an answer to the first question, we, +for the sake of our readers, will answer the last one. Lenora was a +little dark-looking girl about eighteen years of age. Her eyes were +black, her face was black, and her hair was black, standing out from +her head in short, thick curls, which gave to her features a strange +witch-like expression. From her mother she had inherited the same +sweet, cooing voice, the same gliding, noiseless footsteps, which had +led some of their acquaintance to accuse them of what, in the days of +New England witchcraft, would have secured their passport to another +world. + +Lenora had spoken truthfully when she said that she had not been +trained by such a mother for nothing, for whatever of evil appeared in +her conduct was more the result of her mother's training than of a +naturally bad disposition. At times her mother petted and caressed +her, and again, in a fit of ill-humor, drove her from the room, +taunting her with the strong resemblance which she bore to the man +whom she had once called father! On such occasions Lenora was never at +a loss for words, and the scenes which sometimes occurred were too +disgraceful for repetition. On one subject, however, they were united, +and that was in their efforts to become inmates of the homestead on +the hillside. In the accomplishment of this Lenora had a threefold +object: first, it would secure her a luxuriant home; second, she would +be thrown in the way of Walter Hamilton, who was about finishing his +college course; and last, though not least, it would be such a triumph +over Margaret, who, she fancied, treated her with cold indifference. + +Long after the hour of midnight was rung from the village clock, the +widow and her daughter sat by their fireside, forming plans for the +future, and when at last they retired to sleep it was to dream of +funeral processions, bridal favors, stepchildren, half-sisters, and +double connections all around. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ONE STEP TOWARD THE HOMESTEAD. + + +Weeks passed on, and so necessary to the comfort of the invalid did +the presence of Mrs. Carter become, that at last, by particular +request, she took up her abode at the homestead, becoming Mrs. +Hamilton's constant nurse and attendant. Lenora, for the time being, +was sent to the house of a friend, who lived not far distant. When +Margaret Hamilton learned of the arrangement she opposed it with all +her force. + +"Send her away, mother," said she one evening; "please send her away, +for I cannot endure her presence, with her oily words and silent +footsteps. She reminds me of the serpent, who decoyed Eve into eating +that apple, and I always feel an attack of the nightmare whenever I +know that her big, black eyes are fastened upon me." + +"How differently people see!" laughed Carrie, who was sitting by. +"Why, Mag, I always fancy _her_ to be in a nightmare when your big +eyes light upon her." + +"It's because she knows she's guilty," answered Mag, her words and +manner warming up with the subject. "Say, mother, won't you send her +off! It seems as though a dark shadow falls upon us all the moment she +eaters the house." + +"She is too invaluable a nurse to be discharged for a slight whim," +answered Mrs. Hamilton. "Besides she bears the best of reputations, +and I don't see what possible harm can come of her being here." + +Margaret sighed, for though she knew full well the "possible harm" +which might come of it, she could not tell it to her pale, dying +mother; and ere she had time for any answer, the black bombazine +dress, white linen, collar, and white, smooth face of Widow Carter +moved silently into the room. There was a gleam of intense hatred in +the dark eyes which for a moment flashed on Margaret's face, and then +a soft hand gently stroked the glossy hair of the indignant girl, and +in the most musical tones imaginable a low voice murmured, "Maggie, +dear, you look flushed and wearied. Are you quite well?" + +"Perfectly so," answered Margaret; and then rising, she left the room, +but not until she had heard her mother say, "Dear Mrs. Carter, I am so +glad you've come!" + +"Is everybody bewitched," thought Mag, as she repaired to her chamber, +"father, mother, Carrie, and all? How I wish Walter was here. He +always sees things as I do." + +Margaret Hamilton was a high-spirited, intelligent girl, about +nineteen years of age. She was not beautiful, but had you asked for +the finest-looking girl in all Glenwood, Mag would surely have been +pointed out. She was rather above the medium height, and in her whole +bearing there was a quiet dignity, which many mistook for hauteur. +Naturally frank, affectionate, and kind-hearted, she was, perhaps, a +little strong in her prejudices, which, when once satisfactorily +formed, could not easily be shaken. + +For Mrs. Carter she had conceived a strong dislike, for she believed +her to be an artful, hypocritical woman, and now, as she sat by the +window in her room, her heart swelled with indignation toward one who +had thus usurped her place by her mother's bedside, whom Carrie was +learning to confide in, and of whom even the father said, "she is a +most excellent woman." + +"I will write to Walter," said she, "and tell him to come +immediately." + +Suiting the action to the word, she drew up her writing desk, and soon +a finished letter was lying before her. Ere she had time to fold and +direct it, a loud cry from her young brother Willie summoned her for a +few moments from the room, and on her return she met in the doorway +the black bombazine and linen collar. + +"Madam," said she, "did you wish for anything?" + +"Yes, dear," was the soft answer, which, however, in this case failed +to turn, away wrath. "Yes, dear, your mother said you knew where there +were some fine bits of linen." + +"And could not Carrie come for them?" asked Mag. + +"Yes, dear, but she looks so delicate that I do not like to send her +up these long stairs oftener than is necessary. Haven't you noticed +how pale she is getting of late? I shouldn't be at all surprised--" +but before the sentence was finished the linen was found, and the door +closed upon Mrs. Carter. + +A new idea had been awakened in Margaret's mind, and for the first +time she thought how much her sister really had changed. Carrie, who +was four years younger than Margaret, had ever been delicate, and her +parents had always feared that not long could they keep her; but +though each winter her cough had returned with increased severity, +though the veins on her white brow grew more distinct, and her large, +blue eyes glowed with unwonted luster, still Margaret had never before +dreamed of danger, never thought that soon her sister's voice would be +missed, and that Carrie would be gone. But she thought of it now, and +laying her head upon the table wept for a time in silence. + +At length, drying her tears, she folded her letter and took it to the +post-office. As she was returning home she was met by a servant, who +exclaimed, "Run, Miss Margaret, run; your mother is dying, and Mrs. +Carter sent me for you!" + +Swift as the mountain chamois, Margaret sped up the long, steep hill, +and in a few moments stood within her mother's sick-room. Supported in +the arms of Mrs. Carter lay the dying woman, while her eyes, already +overshadowed with the mists of coming death, wandered anxiously around +the room, as if in quest of some one. The moment Margaret appeared, a +satisfied smile broke over her wasted features, and beckoning her +daughter to her bedside, she whispered, "Dear Maggie, you did not +think I'd die so soon, when you went away." + +A burst of tears was Maggie's only answer, as she passionately kissed +the cold, white lips, which had never breathed aught to her save words +of love and gentleness. Far different, however, would have been her +reply had she known the reason of her mother's question. Not long +after she had left the house for the office, Mrs. Hamilton had been +taken worse, and the physician, who chanced to be present, pronounced +her dying. Instantly the alarmed husband summoned together his +household, but Mag was missing. No one had seen her; no one knew where +she was, until Mrs. Carter, who had been some little time absent from +the room reentered it, saying "Margaret had started for the +post-office with a letter when I sent a servant to tell her of her +mother's danger, but for some reason she kept on, though I dare say +she will soon be back." + +As we well know, the substance of this speech was true, though the +impression which Mrs. Carter's words conveyed was entirely false. For +the advancement of her own cause she felt that it was necessary to +weaken the high estimation in which Mr. Hamilton held his daughter, +and she fancied that the mother's death-bed was as fitting a place +where to commence operations as she could select. + +As Margaret hung over her mother's pillow, the false woman, as if to +confirm the assertion she had made, leaned forward and said, "Robin +told you, I suppose? I sent him to do so." + +Margaret nodded assent, while a deeper gloom fell upon the brow of Mr. +Hamilton, who stood with folded arms watching the advance of the great +destroyer. It came at last, and though no perceptible change heralded +its approach, there was one fearful spasm, one long-drawn sigh, a +striving of the eye for one more glimpse of the loved ones gathered +near, and then Mrs. Hamilton was dead. On the bosom of Mrs. Carter her +life was breathed away, and when all was over that lady laid gently +down her burden, carefully adjusted the tumbled covering, and then +stepping to the window, looked out, while the stricken group deplored +their loss. + +Long and bitterly over their dead they wept, but not on one of that +weeping band fell the bolt so crushingly as upon Willie, the youngest +of the flock, the child four summers old, who had ever lived in the +light of his mother's love. They had told him she would die, but he +understood them not, for never before had he looked on death; and now, +when to his childish words of love his mother made no answer, most +piteously rang out the infantile cry, "Mother, oh, my mother, who'll +be my mother now?" + +Caressingly, a small, white hand was laid on Willie's yellow curls, +but ere the words of love were spoken Margaret took the little fellow +in her arms, and whispered through her tears, "I'll be your mother, +darling." + +Willie brushed the tear-drops from his sister's cheek and laying his +fair, round face upon her neck, said, "And who'll be Maggie's mother? +Mrs. Carter?" + +"Never! never!" answered Mag, while to the glance of hatred and +defiance cast upon her she returned one equally scornful and +determined. + +Soon from the village there came words of sympathy and offers of +assistance; but Mrs. Carter could do everything, and in her blandest +tones she declined the services of the neighbors, refusing even to +admit them into the presence of Margaret and Carrie, who, she said +were so much exhausted as to be unable to bear the fresh burst of +grief which the sight of an old friend would surely produce. So the +neighbors went home, and as the world will ever do, descanted upon the +probable result of Mrs. Carter's labors at the homestead. Thus, ere +Ernest Hamilton had been three days a widower, many in fancy had +wedded him to Mrs. Carter, saying that nowhere could he find so good a +mother for his children. + +And truly she did seem to be indispensable in that house of mourning. +'Twas she who saw that everything was done, quietly and in order; +'twas she who so neatly arranged the muslin shroud; 'twas her arms +that supported the half-fainting Carrie when first her eye rested on +her mother, coffined for the grave; 'twas she who whispered words of +comfort to the desolate husband; and she, too, it was, who, on the +night when Walter was expected home, _kindly_ sat up until past +midnight to receive him! + +She had read Mag's letter, and by being first to welcome the young man +home, she hoped to remove from his mind any prejudice which he might +feel for her, and by her bland smiles and gentle words to lure him +into the belief that she was perfect, and Margaret uncharitable. +Partially she succeeded, too, for when next morning Mag expressed a +desire that Mrs. Carter would go home, he replied, "I think you judge +her wrongfully; she seems to be a most amiable, kind-hearted woman." + +"_Et tu, Brute!_" Mag could have said, but 'twas neither the time nor +the place, and linking her arm within her brother's she led him into +the adjoining room, where stood their mother's coffin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AFTER THE BURIAL. + + +Across the bright waters of the silvery lake which lay not far from +Glenwood village, over the grassy hillside, and down the long, green +valley, had floated the notes of the tolling bell. In the Hamilton +mansion sympathizing friends had gathered, and through the crowded +parlors a solemn hush had reigned, broken only by the voice of the +white-haired man of God, who in trembling tones prayed for the +bereaved ones. Over the costly coffin tear-wet faces had bent, and on +the marble features of her who slept within it had been pressed the +passionate kisses of a long, a last farewell. + +Through the shady garden and across the running brook, whose waters +this day murmured more sadly than 'twas their wont to do, the funeral +train had passed; and in the dark, moist earth, by the side of many +other still, pale sleepers, who offered no remonstrance when among +them another came, they had buried the departed. From the windows of +the homestead lights were gleaming, and in the common sitting-room sat +Ernest Hamilton, and by his side his four motherless children. In the +stuffed armchair, sacred for the sake of one who had called it hers, +reclined the black bombazine and linen collar of Widow Carter! + +She had, as she said, fully intended to return home immediately after +the burial, but there were so many little things to be seen to, so +much to be done, which Margaret, of course, did not feel like doing, +that she decided to stay until after supper, together with Lenora, who +had come to the funeral. When supper was over, and there was no longer +an excuse for lingering, she found, very greatly to her surprise and +chagrin, no doubt, that the clouds, which all day had looked dark and +angry, were now pouring rain. + +"What shall I do?" she exclaimed in great apparent distress; then +stepping to the door of the sitting-room, she said, "Maggie, dear, can +you lend me an umbrella? It is raining very hard, and I do not wish to +go home without one; I will send it back to-morrow." + +"Certainly," answered Margaret. "Umbrella and overshoes, too;" and +rising, she left the room to procure them. + +"But you surely are not going out in this storm," said Mr. Hamilton; +while Carrie, who really liked Mrs. Carter, and felt that it would be +more lonely when she was gone, exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, don't leave us +to-night, Mrs. Carter. Don't." + +"Yes, I think I must," was the answer, while Mr. Hamilton continued: +"You had better stay; but if you insist upon going, I will order the +carriage, as you must not walk." + +"Rather than put you to all that trouble, I will remain," said Mrs. +Carter; and when Mag returned with two umbrellas and two pairs of +overshoes, she found the widow comfortably seated in her mother's +armchair, while on the stool at her side sat Lenora looking not unlike +a little imp, with her wild, black face, and short, thick curls. + +Walter Hamilton had not had much opportunity for scanning the face of +Mrs. Carter, but now, as she sat there with the firelight flickering +over her features, he fancied that he could trace marks of the +treacherous deceit of which Mag had warned him; and when the full +black eyes rested upon Margaret he failed not to note the glance of +scorn which flashed from them, and which changed to a look of +affectionate regard the moment she saw she was observed. "There is +something wrong about her," thought he, "and the next time I am alone +with Mag I'll ask what it is she fears from this woman." + +That night, in the solitude of their room, mother and child communed +together as follows: "I do believe, mother, you are twin sister to the +old one himself. Why, who would have thought, when first you made that +_friendly_ visit, that in five weeks time both of us would be snugly +ensconced in the best chamber of the homestead?" + +"If you think we are in the best chamber, you are greatly mistaken," +replied Mrs. Carter. "Margaret Hamilton has power enough yet to keep +us out of that. Didn't she look crestfallen though, when she found I +was going to stay, notwithstanding her very disinterested offer of +umbrellas and overshoes? But I'll pay it all back when I become--" + +"Mistress of the house," added Lenora. "Why not speak out plainly? Or +are you afraid the walls have ears, and that the devoted Mrs. Carter's +speeches would not sound well repeated? Oh, how sanctimonious you did +look to-day when you were talking pious to Carrie! I actually had to +force a sneeze, to keep from laughing outright, though she, little +simpleton, swallowed it all, and I dare say wonders where you keep +your wings! But really, mother, I hope you don't intend to pet her so +always, for 'twould be more than it's worth to see it." + +"I guess I know how to manage," returned Mrs. Carter. "There's nothing +will win a parent's affection so soon as to pet the children." + +"And so I suppose you expect Mr. Hamilton to pet _this_ beautiful +child!" said Lenora, laughing loudly at the idea, and waltzing back +and forth before the mirror. + +"Lenora! _behave!_ I will not see you conduct so," said the widow; to +which the young lady replied, "Shut your eyes, and then you can't!" + +Meantime, an entirely different conversation was going on in another +part of the house, where sat Walter Hamilton, with his arm thrown +affectionately around, Mag, who briefly told of what she feared would +result from Mrs. Carter's intimacy at their house. + +"Impossible!" said the young man, starting to his feet. "Impossible! +Our father has too much sense to marry again anyway, and much more, to +marry one so greatly inferior to our own dear mother." + +"I hope it may prove so," answered Mag; "but with all due respect for +our father, _you_ know and I know that mother's was the stronger mind, +the controlling spirit, and now that she is gone father will be more +easily deceived." + +Margaret told the truth; for her mother had possessed a strong, +intelligent mind, and was greatly the superior of her father, who, as +we have before remarked, was rather weak and easily flattered. Always +sincere himself in what he said, he could not believe that other +people were aught than what they seemed to be, and thus oftentimes his +confidence had been betrayed by those in whom he trusted. As yet he +had, of course, entertained no thought of ever making Mrs. Carter his +wife; but her society was agreeable, her words and manner soothing, +and when, on the day following the burial, she actually took her +departure, bag, baggage, Lenora, and all, he felt how doubly lonely +was the old homestead, and wondered why she could not stay. There was +room enough, and then Margaret was too young to assume the duties of +housekeeper. Other men in similar circumstances had hired +housekeepers, and why could not he? He would speak to Mag about it +that very night. But when evening came, Walter, Carrie, and Willie all +were present, and he found no opportunity of seeing Margaret alone; +neither did any occur until after Walter had returned to college, +which he did the week following his mother's death. + +That night the little parlor at the cottage where dwelt the Widow +Carter looked unusually snug and cozy. It was autumn, and as the +evenings were rather cool a cheerful wood fire was blazing on the +hearth. Before it stood a tasteful little workstand, near which were +seated Lenora and her mother, the one industriously knitting, and the +other occasionally touching the strings of her guitar, which was +suspended from her neck by a crimson ribbon. On the sideboard stood a +fruit dish loaded with red and golden apples, and near it a basket +filled with the rich purple grapes. + +That day in the street Lenora had met Mr. Hamilton, who asked if her +mother would be at home that evening, saying he intended to call for +the purpose of settling the bill which he owed her for services +rendered to his family in their late affliction. + +"When I once get him here, I will keep him as long as possible," said +Mrs. Carter; "and, Lenora, child, if he stays late, say till nine +o'clock, you had better go quietly to bed." + +"Or into the next room, and listen," thought Lenora. + +Seven o'clock came, and on the graveled walk there was heard the sound +of footsteps, and in a moment Ernest Hamilton stood in the room, +shaking the warm hand of the widow, who was delighted to see him, but +_so_ sorry to find him looking pale and thin! Rejecting a seat in the +comfortable rocking-chair, which Lenora pushed toward him, he +proceeded at once to business, and taking from his purse fifteen +dollars, passed them toward Mrs. Carter, asking if that would +remunerate her for the three weeks' services in his family. + +But Mrs. Carter thrust them aside, saying, "Sit down, Mr. Hamilton, +sit down. I have a great deal to ask you about Maggie and dear +Carrie's health." + +"And sweet little Willie," chimed in Lenora. + +Accordingly Mr. Hamilton sat down, and so fast did Mrs. Carter talk +that the clock was pointing to half past eight ere he got another +chance to offer his bills. Then, with the look of a much-injured +woman, Mrs. Carter declined the money, saying, "Is it possible, Mr. +Hamilton, that you suppose my services can be bought! What I did for +your wife, I would do for any one who needed me, though for but few +could I entertain the same feelings I did for her. Short as was our +acquaintance, she seemed to me like a beloved sister; and now that she +is gone I feel that we have lost an invaluable treasure--" + +Here Mrs. Carter broke down entirely, and was obliged to raise her +cambric handkerchief to her eyes, while Lenora walked to the window to +conceal her emotions, whatever they might have been! When the +agitation of the company had somewhat subsided, Mr. Hamilton again +insisted, and again Mrs. Carter refused. At last, finding her +perfectly inexorable, he proceeded to express his warmest thanks and +deepest gratitude for what she had done, saying he should ever feel +indebted to her for her great kindness; then, as the clock struck +nine, he arose to go, in spite of Mrs. Carter's zealous efforts to +detain him longer. + +"Call again," said she, as she lighted him to the door; "call again +and we will talk over old times when we were young, and lived in New +Haven!" + +Mr. Hamilton started, and looking her full in the face, exclaimed, +"Luella Blackburn! It is as I at first suspected; but who would have +thought it!" + +"Yes--I am Luella," said Mrs. Carter; "though greatly changed, I +trust, from the Luella you once knew, and of whom even I have no very +pleasant reminiscences; but call again, and I will tell you of many of +your old classmates." + +Mr. Hamilton would have gone almost anywhere for the sake of hearing +from his classmates, many of whom he greatly esteemed; and as in this +case the "anywhere" was only at Widow Carter's, the idea was not +altogether distasteful to him, and when he bade her good night he was +under a promise to call again soon. All hopes, however, of procuring +her for his housekeeper were given up, for if she resented his offer +of payment for what she had already done, she surely would be doubly +indignant at his last proposed plan. After becoming convinced of this +fact, it is a little strange how suddenly he found that he did not +need a housekeeper--that Margaret, who before could not do at all, +could now do very well--as well as anybody. And Margaret did do well, +both as housekeeper and mother of little Willie, who seemed to have +transferred to her the affection he had borne for his mother. + +At intervals during the autumn Mrs. Carter called, always giving a +world of good advice, patting Carrie's pale cheek, kissing Willie, and +then going away. But as none of her calls were ever returned they +gradually became less frequent, and as the winter advanced ceased +altogether; while Margaret, hearing nothing, and seeing nothing, began +to forget her fears, and to laugh at them as having been groundless. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +KATE KIRBY. + + +The little brooklet, which danced so merrily by the homestead +burial-place, and then flowed on in many graceful turns and +evolutions, finally lost itself in a glossy mill-pond, whose waters, +when the forest trees were stripped of their foliage, gleamed and +twinkled in the smoky autumn light, or lay cold and still beneath the +breath of winter. During this season of the year, from the upper +windows of the homestead the mill-pond was discernible, together with +a small red building which stood upon its banks. + +For many years this house had been occupied by Mr. Kirby, who had been +a schoolboy with Ernest Hamilton, and who, though naturally +intelligent, had never aspired to any higher employment than that of +being miller on the farm of his old friend. Three years before our +story opens Mr. Kirby had died, and a stranger had been employed to +take his place. Mrs. Kirby, however, was so much attached to her +woodland home and its forest scenery that she still continued to +occupy the low red house together with her daughter Kate, who sighed +for no better or more elegant home, although rumor whispered that +there was in store for her a far more costly dwelling, than the +"Homestead on the Hillside." + +Currently was it reported that during Walter Hamilton's vacations the +winding footpath, which followed the course of the streamlet down to +the mill-pond, was trodden more frequently than usual. The +postmaster's wife, too, had hinted strongly of certain ominous letters +from New Haven, which regularly came, directed to Kate, when Walter +was not at home; so, putting together these two facts, and adding to +them the high estimation in which Mrs. Kirby and her daughter were +known to be held by the Hamiltons, it was generally conceded that +there could be no shadow of doubt concerning the state of affairs +between the heir apparent of the old homestead and the daughter of the +poor miller. + +Kate was a universal favorite, and by nearly all was it thought that +in everything save money she was fully the equal of Walter Hamilton. +To a face and form of the most perfect beauty she added a degree of +intelligence and sparkling wit, which, in all the rides, parties, and +_fêtes_ given by the young people of Glenwood, caused her society to +be chosen in preference to those whose fathers counted their money by +thousands. + +A few there were who said that Kate's long intimacy with Margaret +Hamilton had made her proud; but in the rude dwellings and crazy +tenements which skirted the borders of Glenwood village was many a +blind old woman, and many a hoary-headed man, who in their daily +prayers remembered the beautiful Kate, the "fair forest flower," who +came so oft among them with her sweet young face and gentle words. For +Kate both Margaret and Carrie Hamilton already felt a sisterly +affection, while their father smiled graciously upon her, secretly +hoping, however, that his son would make a more brilliant match, but +resolving not to interfere if at last his choice should fall upon her. + +One afternoon, early in April, as Margaret sat in her chamber, busy +upon a piece of needlework, the door softly opened, and a mass of +bright chestnut curls became visible; next appeared the laughing blue +eyes; and finally the whole of Kate Kirby bounded into the room +saying, "Good afternoon, Maggie; are you very busy, and wish I hadn't +come?" + +"I am never too busy to see you," answered Margaret, at the same time +pushing toward Kate the little ottoman on which she always sat when in +that room. + +Kate took the proffered seat, and throwing aside her bonnet, began +with, "Maggie, I want to tell you something, though I don't know as it +is quite right to do so; still you may as well hear it from me as any +one." + +"Do pray tell," answered Mag, "I am dying with curiosity." + +So Kate smoothed down her black silk apron, twisted one of her curls +into a horridly ugly shape, and commenced with, "What kind of a woman +is that Mrs. Carter, down in the village?" + +Instantly Margaret's suspicions were aroused, and starting as if a +serpent had stung her, she exclaimed, "Mrs. Carter! is it of her you +will tell me? She is a most dangerous woman--a woman whom your mother +would call a 'snake in the grass.'" + +"Precisely so," answered Kate. "That is just what mother says of her, +and yet nearly all the village are ready to fall down and worship +her." + +"Let them, then," said Mag; "I have no objections, provided they keep +their molten calf to themselves. No one wants her here. But what is it +about her?--tell me." + +Briefly then Kate told her how Mr. Hamilton was, and for a long time +had been, in the habit of spending one evening every week with Mrs. +Carter; and that people, not without good cause, were already pointing +her out as the future mistress of the homestead. + +"Never, never!" cried Mag vehemently. "Never shall she come here. She +our mother indeed! It shall not be, if I can prevent it." + +After a little further conversation, Kate departed, leaving Mag to +meditate upon the best means by which to avert the threatened evil. +What Kate had told her was true. Mr. Hamilton had so many questions to +ask concerning his old classmates, and Mrs. Carter had so much to +tell, that, though they had worked industriously all winter, they were +not through yet; neither would they be until Mrs. Carter found herself +again within the old homestead. + +The night following Kate's visit Mag determined to speak with her +father; but immediately after tea he went out, saying he should not +return until nine o'clock. With a great effort Mag forced down the +angry words which she felt rising within her, and then seating herself +at her work she resolved to await his return. Not a word on the +subject did she say to Carrie, who retired to her room at half-past +eight, as was her usual custom. Alone now Margaret waited. Nine, ten, +eleven had been struck, and then into the sitting-room came Mr. +Hamilton, greatly astonished at finding his daughter there. + +"Why, Margaret," said he, "why are you sitting up so late?" + +"If it is late for me, it is late for you," answered Margaret, who, +now that the trial had come, felt the awkwardness of the task she had +undertaken. + +"But I had business," answered Mr. Hamilton; and Margaret, looking him +steadily in the face, asked: + +"Is not your business of a nature which equally concerns us all?" + +A momentary flush passed over his features as he replied, "What do you +mean? I do not comprehend." + +Hurriedly, and in broken sentences, Margaret told him what she meant, +and then tremblingly she waited for his answer. Frowning angrily, he +spoke to his daughter the first harsh words which had ever passed his +lips toward either of his children. + +"Go to your room, and don't presume to interfere with me again. I +trust I am competent to attend to my own matters!" + +Almost convulsively Margaret's arms closed round her father's neck, +as she said, "Don't speak so to me, father. You never did +before--never would now, but for _her_. Oh, father, promise me, by the +memory of my angel mother, never to see her again. She is a base, +designing woman." + +Mr. Hamilton unwound his daughter's arms from his neck, and speaking +more gently, said, "What proof have you of that assertion? Give me +proof, and I promise to do your bidding." + +But Mag had no such proof at hand, and she could only reiterate her +suspicions, her belief, which, of course, failed to convince the +biased man, who, rising, said: "Your mother confided and trusted in +her, so why should not you?" + +The next moment Margaret was alone. For a long time she wept, and it +was not until the eastern horizon began to grow gray in the morning +twilight that she laid her head upon her pillow, and forgot in sleep +how unhappy she had been. Her words, however, were not without their +effect, for when the night came round on which her father was +accustomed to pay his weekly visit, he stayed at home, spending the +whole evening with his daughters, and appearing really gratified at +Margaret's efforts to entertain him. But, alas! the chain of the widow +was too firmly thrown around him for a daughter's hand alone to sever +the fast-bound links. + +When the next Thursday evening came Mag was confined to her room by a +sick headache, from which she had been suffering all day. As night +approached she frequently asked if her father were below. At last the +front door opened, and she heard his step upon the piazza. Starting +up, she hurried to the window, while at the same moment Mr. Hamilton +paused, and raising his eyes saw the white face of his daughter +pressed against the window-pane as she looked imploringly after him; +but there was not enough of power in a single look to deter him, and, +wafting her a kiss, he turned away. Sadly Margaret watched him until +he disappeared down the long hill; then, returning to her couch, she +wept bitterly. + +Meantime Mrs. Carter, who had been greatly chagrined at the +non-appearance of Mr. Hamilton the week before, was now confidently +expecting him. He had not yet asked her to be his wife, and the delay +somewhat annoyed both herself and Lenora. + +"I declare, mother," said Lenora, "I should suppose you might contrive +up something to bring matters to a focus. I think it's perfectly +ridiculous to see two old crones, who ought to be trotting their +grandchildren, cooing and simpering away at each other, and all for +nothing, too." + +"Can't you be easy awhile longer?" asked Mrs. Carter "hasn't he said +everything he can say except 'will you marry me?'" + +"A very important question, too," returned Lenora; "and I don't know +what business you have to expect anything from him until it is asked." + +"Mr. Hamilton is proud," answered Mrs. Carter--"is afraid of doing +anything which might possibly lower him. Now, if by any means I could +make him believe that I had received an offer from some one fully if +not more than his equal, I think it would settle the matter, and I've +decided upon the following plan. I'll write a proposal myself, sign +old Judge B----'s name to it, and next time Mr. Hamilton comes let him +surprise me in reading it. Then, as he is such a _dear_, long-tried +friend, it will be quite proper for me to confide in him, and ask his +advice." + +Lenora's eyes opened wider, as she exclaimed, "_My gracious_! who but +_you_ would ever have thought of that." + +Accordingly the letter was written, sealed, directed, broken open, +laughed over, and laid away in the stand drawer. + +"Mr. Hamilton, mother," said Lenora, as half an hour afterward she +ushered that gentleman into the room. But so wholly absorbed was the +black bombazine and linen collar in the contents of an open letter, +which she held in her hand, that the words were twice repeated--"Mr. +Hamilton, mother"--ere she raised her eyes! Then coming forward with +well-feigned confusion, she apologized for not having observed him +before, saying she was sure he would excuse her if he knew the +contents of her letter. Of course he wanted to know, and of course she +didn't want to tell. He was too polite to urge her, and the +conversation soon took another channel. + +After a time Lenora left the room, and Mrs. Carter, again speaking of +the letter, begged to make a confidant of Mr. Hamilton, and ask his +advice. He heard the letter read through, and after a moment's silence +asked, "Do you like him, Mrs. Carter?" + +"Why--no--I don't think I do," said she, "but then the widow's lot is +so lonely." + +"I know it is," sighed he, while through the keyhole of the opposite +door came something which sounded very much like a stifled laugh! It +was the hour of Ernest Hamilton's temptation, and but for the +remembrance of the sad, white face which had gazed so sorrowfully at +him from the window he had fallen. But Maggie's presence seemed with +him--her voice whispered in his ear, "Don't do it, father, don't"--and +he calmly answered that it would be a good match. But he could not, no +he could not advise her to marry him; so he qualified what he had said +by asking her not to be in a hurry--to wait awhile. The laugh through +the keyhole was changed to a hiss, which Mrs. Carter said must be the +wind, although there was not enough stirring to move the rose bushes +which grew by the doorstep! + +So much was Mr. Hamilton held in thrall by the widow that on his way +home he hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that he had not +proposed. If Judge B---- would marry her she surely was good enough +for him. Anon, too, he recalled her hesitation about confessing that +the judge was indifferent to her. Jealousy crept in and completed +what flattery and intrigue had commenced. One week from that night +Ernest Hamilton and Luella Carter were engaged, but for appearance's +sake their marriage was not to take place until the ensuing autumn. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +RAISING THE WIND. + + +"Where are you going now?" asked Mrs. Carter of her daughter, as she +saw her preparing to go out one afternoon, a few weeks after the +engagement. + +"Going to raise the wind," was the answer. + +"Going to what?" exclaimed Mrs. Carter. + +"To raise the wind! Are you deaf?" yelled Lenora. + +"Raise the wind!" repeated Mrs. Carter; "what do you mean?" + +"Mean what I say," said Lenora; and closing the door after her she +left her mother to wonder "what fresh mischief the little torment was +at." + +But she was only going to make a _friendly_ call on Margaret and +Carrie, the latter of whom she had heard was sick. + +"Is Miss Hamilton at home?" asked she of the servant girl who answered +her ring, and whom she had never seen before. + +"Yes, ma'am; walk in the parlor. What name shall I give her if you +please?" + +"Miss Carter--Lenora Carter;" and the servant girl departed, repeating +to herself all the way up the stairs, "Miss Carther--Lenora Carther!" + +"Lenora Carter want to see me!" exclaimed Mag, who, together with Kate +Kirby, was in her sister's room. + +"Yes, ma'am; an' sure 'twas Miss Hampleton she was wishin' to see," +said the Irish girl. + +"Well, I shall not go down," answered Mag. "Tell her, Rachel, that I +am otherwise engaged." + +"Oh, Maggie," said Carrie, "why not see her? I would if I were you." + +"Rachel can ask her up here if you wish it," answered Mag, "but I +shall leave the room." + +"Faith, an' what shall I do?" asked Rachel, who was fresh from "swate +Ireland" and felt puzzled to know why a "silk frock and smart bonnet" +should not always be welcome. "Ask her up," answered Kate. "I've never +seen her nearer than across the church and have some curiosity--" + +A moment after Rachel thrust her head in at the parlor door, saying, +"If you please, ma'am, Miss Marget is engaged, and does not want to +see you, but Miss Carrie says you may come up there." + +"Very well," said Lenora; and tripping after the servant girl, she was +soon in Carrie's room. + +After retailing nearly all the gossip of which she was mistress, she +suddenly turned to Carrie, and said, "Did you know that your father +was going to be married?" + +"My father going to be married!" said Carrie, opening her blue eyes in +astonishment. "My father going to be married! To whom pray?" + +"To a lady from the East--one whom he used to know and flirt with when +he was in college!" was Lenora's grave reply. + +"What is her name?" asked Kate. + +"Her name? Let me see--Miss--Blackwell--Blackmer--_Blackheart_. It +sounds the most like Blackheart." + +"What a queer name," said Kate; "but tell us what opportunity has Mr. +Hamilton had of renewing his early acquaintance with the lady." + +"Don't you know he's been East this winter?" asked Lenora. + +"Yes, as far as Albany," answered Carrie. + +"Well," continued Lenora, "'twas during his Eastern trip that the +matter was settled; but pray don't repeat it from me, except it be to +Maggie, who I dare say, will feel glad to be relieved of her heavy +responsibilities--but as I live, Carrie, you are crying! What is the +matter?" + +But Carrie made no answer, and for a time wept on in silence. She +could not endure the thought that another would so soon take the place +of her lost mother in the household and in the affections of her +father. There was, besides, something exceedingly annoying in the +manner of her who communicated the intelligence, and secretly Carrie +felt glad that the dreaded "Miss Blackheart" had, of course, no Lenora +to bring with her! + +"Do you know all this to be true?" asked Kate. + +"Perfectly true," said Lenora. "We have friends living in the vicinity +of the lady, and there can be no mistake, except, indeed, in the name, +which I am not sure is right!" + +Then hastily kissing Carrie, the little hussy went away, very well +satisfied with her afternoon's call. As soon as she was out of hearing +Margaret entered her sister's room, and on noticing Carrie's flushed +cheek and red eyes, inquired the cause. Immediately Kate told her what +Lenora had said, but instead of weeping, as Carrie had done, she +betrayed no emotion whatever. + +"Why, Maggie, ain't you sorry?" asked Carrie. + +"No, I am glad," returned Mag. "I've seen all along that sooner or +later father would make himself ridiculous, and I'd rather he'd marry +forty women from the East, than one woman not far from here whom I +know." + +All that afternoon Mag tripped with unwonted gaiety about the house. A +weight was lifted from her heart, for in her estimation any one whom +her father would marry was preferable to Mrs. Carter. + + * * * * * + +Oh, how the widow scolded the daughter, and how the daughter laughed +at the widow, when she related the particulars of her call. + +"Lenora, what could have possessed you to tell such a lie?" said Mrs. +Carter. + +"Not so fast, mother mine," answered Lenora. "'Twasn't a lie. Mr. +Hamilton _is_ engaged to a lady from the East. He _did_ flirt with her +in his younger days; and, pray, didn't he have to come East when be +called to inquire after his beloved classmates, and ended by getting +checkmated! Besides, I think you ought to thank me for turning the +channel of gossip in another direction, for now you will be saved from +all impertinent questions and remarks." + +This mode of reasoning failed to convince the widow, who felt quite +willing that people should know of her flattering prospects; and when +a few days after Mrs. Dr. Otis told her that Mrs. Kimball said that +Polly Larkins said that her hired girl told her that Mrs. Kirby's +hired girl told her that she overheard Miss Kate telling her mother +that Lenora Carter said that Mr. Hamilton was going to be married to +her mother's intimate friend, Mrs. Carter would have denied the whole +and probably divulged her own secret, had not Lenora, who chanced to +be present, declared, with the coolest effrontery, that 'twas all +true--that her mother had promised to stand up with them, and so folks +would find it to be if they did not die of curiosity before autumn! + +"Lenora, child, how can you talk so?" asked the distressed lady, as +the door closed upon her visitor. + +Lenora went off into fits of explosive laughter, bounding up and down +like an india-rubber ball, and at last condescended to say, "I know +what I'm about. Do you want Mag Hamilton breaking up the match, as she +surely would do, between this and autumn, if she knew it?" + +"And what can she do?" asked Mrs. Carter. + +"Why," returned Lenora, "can't she write to the place you came from, +if, indeed, such a spot can be found?--for I believe you sometimes +book yourself from one town and sometimes from another. But depend +upon it you had better take my advice and keep still, and in the +dénouement which follows, I alone shall be blamed for a slight stretch +of truth which you can easily excuse as 'one of _dear_ Lenora's silly, +childish freaks!'" + +Upon second thoughts, Mrs. Carter concluded to follow her daughter's +advice, and the next time Mr. Hamilton called, she laughingly told the +story which Lenora had set afloat, saying, by way of excuse, that the +dear girl did not like to hear her mother joked on the subject of +matrimony, and had turned the attention of people another way. + +Mr. Hamilton hardly relished this, and half wished, mayhap, as, +indeed, gentlemen generally do in similar circumstances, that the +little "objection" in the shape of Lenora had never had existence, or +at least had never called the widow mother! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE STEPMOTHER. + + +Rapidly the summer was passing away, and as autumn drew near the wise +gossips of Glenwood began to whisper that the lady from the East was +in danger of being supplanted in her rights by the widow, whose house +Mr. Hamilton was known to visit two or three times each week. But +Lenora had always some plausible story on hand. "Mother and the lady +had been so intimate--in fact, more than once rocked in the same +cradle--and 'twas no wonder Mr. Hamilton came often to a place where +he could hear so much about her." + +So when business again took Mr. Hamilton to Albany suspicion was +wholly lulled, and Walter, on his return from college, was told by Mag +that her fears concerning Mrs. Carter were groundless. During the +spring Carrie had been confined to her bed, but now she seemed much +better, and after Walter had been at home awhile he proposed that he +and his sisters should take a traveling excursion, going first to +Saratoga, thence to Lake Champlain and Montreal, and returning home by +way of Canada and the Falls, This plan Mr. Hamilton warmly seconded, +and when Carrie asked if he would not feel lonely he answered, "Oh, +no; Willie and I will do very well while you are gone." + +"But who will stay with Willie evenings, when you are away?" asked +Mag, looking her father steadily in the face. + +Mr. Hamilton colored slightly, but after a moment replied: "I shall +spend my evenings at home." + +"'Twill be what he hasn't done for many a week," thought Mag, as she +again busied herself with her preparations. + +The morning came at last on which our travelers were to leave. Kate +Kirby had been invited to accompany them, but her mother would not +consent. "It would give people too much chance for talk," she said; so +Kate was obliged to content herself with going as far as the depot, +and watching, until out of sight, the car which bore them away. + +Upon the piazza stood the little group, awaiting the arrival of the +carriage which was to convey them to the station. Mr. Hamilton seemed +unusually gloomy, and with folded arms paced up and down the long +piazza, rarely speaking or noticing any one. + +"Are you sorry we are going, father?" asked Carrie, going up to him. +"If you are I will gladly stay with you." + +Mr. Hamilton paused, and pushing back the fair hair from his +daughter's white brow, he kissed her tenderly, saying, "No, Carrie; I +want you to go. The journey will do you good, for you are getting too +much the look your poor mother used to wear." + +Why thought he then of Carrie's mother? Was it because he knew that +ere his child returned to him another would be in that mother's place? +Anon, Margaret came near, and motioning Carrie away, Mr. Hamilton took +his other daughter's hand, and led her to the end of the piazza, where +could easily be seen the little graveyard and tall white monument +pointing toward the bright blue sky where dwelt the one whose grave +that costly marble marked. + +Pointing out the spot to Margaret, he said, "Tell me truly, Maggie, +did you love your father or your mother best?" + +Mag looked wonderingly at him a moment, and then replied, "While +mother lived I loved her more than you, but now that she is dead, I +think of and love you as both father and mother." + +"And will you always love me thus?" asked he. + +"Always," was Mag's reply, as she looked curiously in her father's +face, and thinking that he had not said what he intended to when first +he drew her there. + +Just then the carriage drove up, and after a few good-bys and parting +words Ernest Hamilton's children were gone, and he was left alone. + +"Why didn't I tell her, as I intended to?" thought he. "Is it because +I fear her--fear my own child? No, it cannot be--and yet there is that +in her eye which sometimes makes me quail, and which, if necessary, +would keep at bay a dozen stepmothers. But neither she, nor either one +of them, has aught to dread from Mrs. Carter, whose presence will, I +think, be of great benefit to us all, and whose gentle manners, I +trust, will tend to soften Mag!" + +Meantime his children were discussing and wondering at the strange +mood of their father. Walter, however, took no part in the +conversation. He had lived longer than his sisters--had seen more of +human nature, and had his own suspicions with regard to what would +take place during their absence; but he could not spoil all Margaret's +happiness by telling her his thoughts, so he kept them to himself, +secretly resolving to make the best of whatever might occur, and to +advise Mag to do the same. + +Now for a time we leave them, and take a look into the cottage of +Widow Carter, where, one September morning, about three weeks after +the departure of the Hamiltons, preparations were making for some +great event. In the kitchen a servant girl was busily at work, while +in the parlor Lenora was talking and the widow was listening. + +"Oh, mother," said Lenora, "isn't it so nice that they went away just +now? But won't Mag look daggers at us when she comes home and finds us +in quiet possession, and is told to call you _mother_!" + +"I never expect her to do that," answered Mrs. Carter. "The most I can +hope for is that she will call me Mrs. Hamilton." + +"Now really, mother, if I were in Mag's place, I wouldn't please you +enough to say Mrs. Hamilton; I'd always call you Mrs. Carter," said +Lenora. + +"How absurd!" was the reply; and Lenora continued: + +"I know it's absurd, but I'd do it; though if she does, I, as the +dutiful child of a most worthy parent, shall feel compelled to resent +the insult by calling her father _Mr. Carter_!" + +By this time Mrs. Carter was needed in the kitchen; so, leaving +Lenora, who at once was the pest and torment of her mother's life, we +will go into the village and see what effect the approaching nuptials +was producing. It was now generally known that the "lady from the +East" who had been "rocked in Mrs. Carter's cradle," was none other +than Mrs. Carter herself, and many were the reproving looks which the +people had cast toward Lenora for the trick she had put upon them. The +little hussy only laughed at them good-humoredly, telling them they +were angry because she had cheated them out of five months' gossip, +and that if her mother could have had her way, she would have sent the +news to the _Herald_ and had it inserted under the head of "Awful +Catastrophe!" Thus Mrs. Carter was exonerated from all blame; but many +a wise old lady shook her head, saying, "How strange that so fine a +woman as Mrs. Carter should have such a reprobate of a daughter." + +When, this remark came to Lenora's ears she cut numerous flourishes, +which ended in the upsetting of a bowl of starch on her mother's new +black silk; then dancing before the highly indignant lady, she said, +"Perhaps if they knew what a scapegrace you represent my father to +have been, and how you whipped me once to make me say I saw him strike +you, when I never did, they would wonder at my being as good as I am." + +Mrs. Carter was too furious to venture a verbal reply; so seizing the +starch bowl she hurled it with the remainder of the contents at the +head of the little vixen, who, with an elastic bound not entirely +unlike a somersault dodged the missile, which passed on and fell upon +the hearthrug. + +This is but one of a series of similar scenes which occurred between +the widow and her child before the happy day arrived when, in the +presence of a select few of the villagers, Luella Carter was +transformed into Luella Hamilton. The ceremony was scarcely over when +Mr. Hamilton, who for a few days had been rather indisposed, +complained of feeling sick. Immediately Lenora, with a sidelong glance +at her mother, exclaimed, "What, sick of your bargain so quick? It's +sooner even than _I_ thought 'twould be, and I'm sure I'm capable of +judging." + +"Dear Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, turning toward one of her neighbors, +"she has such a flow of spirits that I am afraid Mr. Hamilton will +find her troublesome." + +"Don't be alarmed, mother; he'll never think of me when you are +around," was Lenora's reply in which Mrs. Carter saw more than one +meaning. + +That evening the bridal party repaired to the homestead, where, at Mr. +Hamilton's request, Mrs. Kirby was waiting to receive them. Willie had +been told by the servants that his mother was coming home that night, +and, with the trusting faith of childhood, he had drawn a chair to the +window from which he could see his mother's grave; and there for more +than an hour he watched for the first indications of her coming, +saying occasionally, "Oh, I wish she'd come. Willie's so sorry here." + +At last growing weary and discouraged, he turned away and said, "No, +ma'll never come home again; Maggie said she wouldn't." + +Upon the carriage road which wound from the street to the house there +was the sound of coming wheels, and Rachel, seizing Willie, bore him +to the front door, exclaiming, "An' faith, Willie, don't you see her? +That's your mother, honey, with the black gown." + +But Willie saw only the wild eyes of Lenora, who caught him in her +arms, overwhelming him with caresses. "Let me go, Leno," said he, "I +want to see my ma. Where is she?" + +A smile of scorn curled Lenora's lips as she released him, and leading +him toward her mother, she said, "There she is; there's your ma. Now +hold up your head and make a bow." + +Willie's lip quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and hiding his face +in his apron, he sobbed, "I want my own ma--the one they shut up in a +big black box. Where is she, Leno?" + +Mr. Hamilton took Willie on his knee, and tried to explain to him how +that now his own mother was dead, he had got a new one, who would love +him and be kind to him. Then putting him down, he said, "Go, my son, +and speak to her, won't you?" + +Willie advanced rather cautiously toward the black silk figure, which +reached out its hand, saying, "Dear Willie, you'll love me a little, +won't you?" + +"Yes, if you are good to me," was the answer, which made the new +stepmother mentally exclaim, "A young rebel, I know," while Lenora, +bending between the two, whispered emphatically: + +"She _shall_ be good to you!" + +And soon, in due order, the servants were presented to their new +mistress. Some were disposed to like her, others eyed her askance, and +old Polly Pepper, the black cook, who had been in the family ever +since Mr. Hamilton's first marriage, returned her salutation rather +gruffly, and then, stalking back to the kitchen, muttered to, those +who followed her, "I don't like her face nohow; she looks just like +the milk snakes, when they stick their heads in at the door." + +"But you knew how she looked before," said Lucy, the chambermaid. + +"I know it," returned Polly; "but when she was here nussin' I never +noticed _her_, more I would any on you; for who'd of thought that Mr. +Hamilton would marry her, when he knows, or or'to know, that nusses +ain't fust cut, nohow; and you may depend on't, things ain't a-goin' +to be here as they used to be." + +Here Rachel started up, and related the circumstance of Margaret's +refusing to see "that little evil-eyed-lookin-varmint, with curls +almost like Polly's." Lucy, too, suddenly remembered something which +she had seen, or heard, or made up--so that Mrs. Carter had not been +an hour in the coveted homestead ere there was mutiny against her +afloat in the kitchen; "But," said Aunt Polly, "I 'vises you all to be +civil till she sasses you fust!" + +"My dear, what room can Lenora have for her own?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, +as we must now call her, the morning following her marriage. + +"Why, really, I don't know," answered the husband; "you must suit +yourselves with regard to that." + +"Yes; but I'd rather you'd select, and then no one can blame me," was +the answer. + +"Choose any room you please, except the one which Mag and Carrie now +occupy, and rest assured you shall not be blamed," said Mr. Hamilton. + +The night before Lenora had appropriated to herself the best chamber, +but the room was so large and so far distant from any one, and the +windows and fireboard rattled so, that she felt afraid, and did not +care to repeat her experiment. + +"I 'clar for't!" said Polly, when she heard of it. "Gone right into +the best bed, where even Miss Margaret never goes! What are we all +comin' to? Tell her, Luce, the story of the ghosts, and I'll be bound +she'll make herself scarce in them rooms!" + +"Tell her yourself," said Lucy; and when, after breakfast, Lenora, +anxious to spy out everything, appeared in the kitchen, Aunt Polly +called out, "Did you hear anything last night, Miss Lenora?" + +"Why, yes--I heard the windows rattle," was the answer; and Aunt +Polly, with an ominous shake of the head, continued: + +"There's more than windows rattle, I guess. Didn't you see nothin', +all white and corpse-like, go a-whizzin, and rappin' by your bed?" + +"Why, no," said Lenora; "what do you mean?" + +So Polly told her of the ghosts and goblins which nightly ranged the +two chambers over the front and back parlors. Lenora said nothing, but +she secretly resolved not to venture again after dark into the haunted +portion of the house. But where should she sleep? That was now the +important question. Adjoining the sitting-room was a pleasant, cozy +little place, which Margaret called her music-room. In it she kept her +piano, her music stand, books, and several fine plants, besides +numerous other little conveniences. At the end of this room was a +large closet where, at different seasons of the year, Mag hung away +the articles of clothing which she and her sister did not need. + +Toward this place Lenora turned her eyes; for, besides being unusually +pleasant, it was also very near her mother, whose sleeping-room +joined, though it did not communicate with it. Accordingly, before +noon the piano was removed to the parlor; the plants were placed, some +on the piazza, and some in the sitting-room window, while Margaret and +Carrie's dresses were removed to the closet of their room, which +chanced to be a trifle too small to hold them all conveniently; so +they were crowded one above the other, and left for "the girls to see +to when they came home!" + +In perfect horror Aunt Polly looked on, regretting for once the ghost +story which she had told. + +"Why don't you take the chamber jinin' the young ladies? that ain't +haunted," said she, when they sent for her to help move the piano. +"Miss Margaret won't thank you for scattern' her things." + +"You've nothing to do with Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton; "you've only +to attend to your own matters." + +"Wonder then what I'm up here for a-h'istin this pianner," muttered +Polly. "This ain't my matters, sartin'." + +When Mr. Hamilton came in to dinner he was shown the little room with +its single bed, tiny bureau, silken lounge and easy chair, of which +the last two were Mag's especial property. + +"All very nice," said he, "but where is Mag's piano?" + +"In the parlor," answered his wife. "People often ask for music, and +it is more convenient to have it there than to come across the hall +and through the sitting-room." + +Mr. Hamilton said nothing, but he secretly wished Mag's rights had not +been invaded quite so soon. His wife must have guessed as much; for, +laying her hand on his, she, with the utmost deference, offered to +undo all she had done, if it did not please him. + +"Certainly not--certainly not; it does please me," said he; while +Polly, who stood on the cellar stairs listening, exclaimed, "What a +fool a woman can make of a man!" + +Three days after Mr. Hamilton's marriage he received a letter from +Walter, saying that they would be at home on the Thursday night +following. Willie was in, ecstasies, for though as yet he liked his +new mother tolerably well, he still loved Maggie better; and the +thought of seeing her again made him wild with delight. All day long +on Thursday he sat in the doorway, listening for the shrill cry of the +train which was to bring her home. + +"Don't you love Maggie?" said he to Lenora, who chanced to pass him. + +"Don't I love Maggie? No, I don't; neither does she love me," was the +answer. + +Willie was puzzled to know why any one should not like Mag; but his +confidence in her was not at all shaken, and when, soon after sunset, +Lenora cried, "There, they've come," he rushed to the door, and was +soon in the arms of his sister-mother. Pressing his lips to hers, he +said, "Did you 'know I'd got a new mother? Mrs. Carter and Leno--they +are in there," pointing toward the parlor. + +Instantly Mag dropped him. It was the first intimation of her father's +marriage which she had received, and reeling backward, she would have +fallen had not Walter supported her. Quickly rallying, she advanced +toward her father, who came to meet her, and whose hand trembled in +her grasp. After greeting each of his children he turned to present +them to _his wife_, wisely taking Carrie first. She was not +prejudiced, like Mag, and returned her stepmother's salutation with +something like affection, for which Lenora rewarded her by terming her +a "little simpleton." + +But Mag--she who had warned her father against that woman--she who on +her knees had begged him not to marry her--she had no word of welcome, +and when Mrs. Hamilton offered her hand she affected not to see it, +though with the most frigid politeness she said, "Good evening, madam; +this is, indeed, a surprise!" + +"And not a very pleasant one, either, I imagine," whispered Lenora to +Carrie. + +Walter came last, and though he took the lady's hand, there was +something in his manner which plainly said she was not wanted there. +Tea was now announced, and Mag bit her lip when, she saw her +accustomed seat occupied by another. + +Feigning to recollect herself, Mrs. Hamilton, in the blandest tones, +said, "Perhaps, dear Maggie, you would prefer this seat?" + +"Of course not," said Mag, while Lenora thought to herself: + +"And if she does, I wonder what good it will do?" + +That young lady, however, made no remarks, for Walter Hamilton's +searching eyes were upon her and kept her silent. After tea, Walter +said, "Come, Mag, I have not heard your piano in a long time. Give us +some music." + +Mag arose to comply with his wishes, but ere she had reached the door +Mrs. Hamilton gently detained her, saying, "Maggie, dear, Lenora has +always slept near me, and as I knew you would not object, if you were +here, I took the liberty to remove your piano to the parlor, and to +fit this up for Lenora's sleeping-room. See"--and she threw open the +door, disclosing the metamorphose, while Willie, who began to get an +inkling of matters, and who always called the piazza "outdoors," +chimed in, "And they throw'd your little trees outdoors, too!" + +Mag stood for a moment, mute with astonishment; then thinking she +could not "do the subject justice," she turned silently away. A +roguish smile from Walter met her eye, but she did not laugh, until, +with Carrie, she repaired to her own room, and tried to put something +in the closet. Then coming upon the pile of extra clothes, she +exclaimed, "What in the world! Here's all our winter clothing, and, as +I live, five dresses crammed upon one nail! We'll have to move to the +barn next!" + +This was too much, and sitting down, Mag cried and laughed +alternately. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DOMESTIC LIFE AT THE HOMESTEAD. + + +For a few weeks after Margaret's return matters at the Homestead +glided on smoothly enough, but at the end of that time Mrs. Hamilton +began to reveal her real character. Carrie's journey had not been as +beneficial as her father had hoped it would be, and as the days grew +colder she complained of extreme languor and a severe pain in her +side, and at last kept her room entirely, notwithstanding the numerous +hints from her stepmother that it was no small trouble to carry so +many dishes up and down stairs three times a day. + +Mrs. Hamilton was naturally very stirring and active, and in spite of +her remarkable skill in nursing, she felt exceedingly annoyed when any +of her own family were ill. She fancied, too, that Carrie was feigning +all her bad feelings, and that she would be much better if she exerted +herself more. Accordingly, one afternoon when Mag was gone, she +repaired to Carrie's room, giving vent to her opinion as follows: +"Carrie," said she (she now dropped the _dear_ when Mr. Hamilton was +not by), "Carrie, I shouldn't suppose you'd ever expect to get well, +so long as you stay moped up here all day. You ought to come +down-stairs, and stir around more." + +"Oh, I should be so glad if I could," answered Carrie. + +"Could!" repeated Mrs. Hamilton; "you could if you would. Now, it's my +opinion that you complain altogether too much, and fancy you are a +great deal worse than you really are, when all you want is exercise. A +short walk on the piazza, and a little fresh air each, morning, would +soon cure you." + +"I know fresh air does me good," said Carrie; "but walking makes my +side ache so hard, and makes me cough so, that Maggie thinks I'd +better not." + +Mag, quoted as authority, exasperated Mrs. Hamilton who replied +rather sharply, "Fudge on Mag's old-maidish whims! I know that any one +who eats as much as you do can't be so very weak!" + +"I don't eat half you send me," said poor Carrie, beginning to cry at +her mother's unkind remarks; "Willie 'most always comes up here and +eats with me." + +"For mercy's sake, mother, let the child have what she wants to eat, +for 'tisn't long she'll need it," said Lenora, suddenly appearing in +the room. + +"Lenora, go right down; you are not wanted here," said Mrs. Hamilton. + +"Neither are you, I fancy," was Lenora's reply, as she coolly seated +herself on the foot of Carrie's bed, while her mother continued: + +"Really, Carrie, you must try and come down to your meals, for you +have no idea how much it hinders the work, to bring them up here. +Polly isn't good for anything until she has conjured up something +extra for your breakfast, and then they break so many dishes!" + +"I'll try to come down to-morrow," said Carrie meekly; and as the +door-bell just then rang Mrs. Hamilton departed, leaving her with +Lenora, whose first exclamation was: + +"If I were in your place, Carrie, I wouldn't eat anything, and die +quick." + +"I don't want to die," said Carrie; and Lenora, clapping her hands +together, replied: + +"Why, you poor little innocent, who supposed you did? Nobody wants to +die not even _I_, good as I am; but I should expect to, if I had the +consumption." + +"Lenora, have I got the consumption?" asked Carrie, fixing her eyes +with mournful earnestness upon her companion, who thoughtlessly +replied: + +"To be sure you have. They say one lung is entirely gone and the other +nearly so." + +Wearily the sick girl turned upon her side; and, resting her dimpled +cheek upon her hand, she said softly, "Go away now, Lenora; I want to +be alone." + +Lenora complied, and when Margaret returned from the village she +found her sister lying in the same position in which Lenora had left +her, with her fair hair falling over her face, which it hid from view. + +"Are you asleep, Carrie?" said Mag; but Carrie made no answer, and +there was something so still and motionless in her repose that Mag +went up to her, and pushing back from her face the long silken hair, +saw that she had fainted. + +The excitement of her stepmother's visit, added to the startling news +which Lenora had told her, was too much for her weak nerves, and for a +time she remained insensible. At length, rousing herself, she looked +dreamily around, saying, "Was it a dream, Maggie--- all a dream?" + +"Was what a dream, love?" said Margaret, supporting her sister's head +upon her bosom. + +Suddenly Carrie remembered the whole, but she resolved not to tell of +her stepmother's visit, though she earnestly desired to know if what +Lenora had told her were true. Raising herself, so that she could see +Margaret's face, she said, "Maggie, is there no hope for me; and do +the physicians say I must die?" + +"Why, what do you mean? I never knew that they said so," answered Mag; +and then with breathless indignation she listened, while Carrie told +her what Lenora had said. "I'll see that she doesn't get in here +again," said Margaret. "I know she made more than half of that up; +for, though the physicians say you lungs are very much diseased, they +have never saw that you could not recover." + +The next morning, greatly to Mag's astonishment Carrie insisted upon +going down to breakfast. + +"Why, you must not do it; you are not able," said Mag. But Carrie was +determined; and, wrapping herself in her thick shawl, she slowly +descended the stay though the cold air in the long hall made her +shiver. + +"Carrie, dear, you are better this morning, and there is quite a rosy +flush on your cheek," said Mrs. Hamilton, rising to meet her. _(Mr._ +Hamilton, be it remembered, was present.) But Carrie shrank +instinctively from her stepmother's advances, and took her seat by the +side of her father. After breakfast Mag remembered that she had an +errand in the village, and Carrie, who felt too weary to return +immediately to her room, said she would wait below until her sister +returned. Mag had been gone but a few moments when Mrs. Hamilton, +opening the outer door, called to Lenora, saying, "Come and take a few +turns on the piazza with Carrie. The air is bracing this morning, and +will do her good." + +Willie, who was present, cried out, "No--Carrie is sick; she can't +walk--Maggie said she couldn't," and he grasped his sister's hand to +hold her. With a not very gentle jerk Mrs. Hamilton pulled him off, +while Lenora, who came bobbing and bounding into the room, took +Carrie's arm, saying. + +"Oh, yes, I'll walk with you; shall we have a hop, skip, or jump?" + +"Don't, don't!" said Carrie, holding back; "I can't walk fast, +Lenora," and actuated by some sudden impulse of kindness, Lenora +conformed her steps to those of the invalid. Twice they walked up and +down the piazza, and were about turning for the third time, when +Carrie, clasping her hand over her side, exclaimed, "No, no; I can't +go again." + +Little Willie, who fancied that his sister was being hurt, sprang +toward Lenora, saying, "Leno, you mustn't hurt Carrie. Let her go; +she's sick." + +And now to the scene of action came Dame Hamilton, and seizing her +young stepson, she tore him away from Lenora, administering at the +same time a bit of a motherly shake. Willie's blood was up, and in +return he dealt her a blow, for which she rewarded him by another +shake, and by tying him to the table. + +That Lenora was not all bad was shown by the unselfish affection she +ever manifested for Willie, although her untimely interference between +him and her mother oftentimes made matters worse. Thus, on the +occasion of which we have been speaking, Mrs. Hamilton had scarcely +left the room ere Lenora released Willie from his confinement, thereby +giving him the impression that his mother alone was to blame. +Fortunately, however, Margaret's judgment was better, and though she +felt justly indignant at the cruelty practised upon poor Carrie, she +could not uphold Willie in striking his mother. Calling him to her +room, she talked to him until he was wholly softened, and offered, of +his own accord, to go and say he was sorry, provided Maggie would +accompany him as far as the door of the sitting-room, where his mother +would probably be found. Accordingly, Mag descended the stairs with +him, and meeting Lenora in the hall, said, "Is she in the +sitting-room?" + +"Is _she_ in the sitting-room?" repeated Lenora; "and pray who may +_she_ be?" then quick as thought she added, "Oh, yes, I know. She is +in there telling HE!" + +Lenora was right in her conjecture, for Mrs. Hamilton, greatly enraged +at Willie's presumption in striking her, and still more provoked at +him for untying himself, as she supposed he had, was laying before her +husband quite an aggravated case of assault and battery. + +In the midst of her argument Willie entered the room, with +tear-stained eyes, and without noticing the presence of his father, +went directly to his mother, and burying his face in her lap, sobbed +out, "Willie is sorry he struck you, and will never do so again, if +you will forgive him." + +In a much gentler tone than she would have assumed had not her husband +been present, Mrs. Hamilton replied, "I can forgive you for striking +me, Willie, but what have you to say about untying yourself?" + +"I didn't do it," said Willie; "Leno did that." + +"Be careful what you say," returned Mrs. Hamilton. "I can't believe +Lenora would do so." + +Ere Willie had time to repeat his assertion Lenora, who all the time +had been standing by the door, appeared, saying, "You may believe him, +for he has never been whipped to make him lie. I did do it, and I +would do it again." + +"Lenora," said Mr. Hamilton, rather sternly, "you should not interfere +in that manner. You will spoil the child." + +It was the first time he had presumed to reprove his stepdaughter, and +as there was nothing on earth which Mrs. Hamilton so much feared as +Lenora's tongue, she dreaded the disclosures which further remark from +her husband might call forth. So, assuming an air of great distress, +she said, "Leave her to me, my dear. She is a strange girl, as I +always told you, and no one can manage her as well as myself." Then +kissing Willie in token of forgiveness, she left the room, drawing +Lenora after her and whispering fiercely in her ear, "How can you ever +expect to succeed with the son, if you show off this way before the +father." + +With a mocking laugh Lenora replied, "Pshaw! I gave that up the first +time I ever saw him, for of course he thinks me a second edition of +Mrs. Carter, minus any improvements. But he's mistaken; I'm not half +as bad as I seem. I'm only what you've made me." + +Mrs. Hamilton turned away, thinking that if her daughter could so +easily give up Walter Hamilton, _she_ would not. She was resolved upon +an alliance between him and Lenora. And who ever knew _her_ to fail in +what she undertook? + +She had wrung from her husband the confession that "he believed there +was a sort of childish affection between Walter and Kate Kirby, though +'twas doubtful whether it ever amounted to anything." She had also +learned that he was rather averse to the match, and though Lenora had +not yet been named as a substitute for Kate, she strove in many ways +to impress her husband with a sense of her daughter's superior +abilities, at the same time taking pains to mortify Margaret by +setting Lenora above her. + +For this, however, Margaret cared but little, and it was only when +her mother ill-treated Willie, which she frequently did, that her +spirit was fully roused. + +At Mrs. Hamilton's first marriage she had been presented with a +handsome glass pitcher, which she of course greatly prized. One day it +stood upon the stand in her room, where Willie was also playing with +some spools which Lenora had found and arranged for him. Malta, the +pet kitten, was amusing herself by running after the spools, and when +at last Willie, becoming tired, laid them on the stand, she sprang +toward them, upsetting the pitcher, which was broken in a dozen +pieces. On hearing the crash Mrs. Hamilton hastened toward the room, +where the sight of her favorite pitcher in fragments greatly enraged +her. Thinking, of course, that Willie had done it, she rudely seized +him by the arm, administered a cuff or so, and then dragged him toward +the china closet. + +As soon as Willie could regain his breath he screamed, "Oh ma, don't +shut me up; I'll be good; I didn't do it, certain true; kittie knocked +it off." + +"None of your lies," said Mrs. Hamilton. "It's likely kittie knocked +it off!" + +Lenora, who had seen the whole, and knew that what Willie said was +true, was about coming to the rescue, when looking up, she saw +Margaret, with dilated nostrils and eyes flashing fire watching the +proceedings of her stepmother. + +"He's safe," thought Lenora; "I'll let Mag fire the first gun, and +then I'll bring up the rear." + +Margaret had never known Willie to tell a lie, and had no reason for +thinking he had done so in this instance. Besides, the blows her +mother gave him exasperated her, and she stepped forward just as Mrs. +Hamilton was about pushing him into the closet. So engrossed was that +lady that she heard not Margaret's approach until a firm hand was laid +upon her shoulder while Willie was violently wrested from her grasp, +and ere she could recover from her astonishment she herself was +pushed into the closet, the door of which was closed and locked +against her. + +"Bravo, Margaret Hamilton," cried Lenora, "I'm with you now, if I +never was before. It serves her right, for Willie told the truth. I +was sitting by and saw it all. Keep her in there an hour, will you? It +will pay her for the many times she has shut me up for nothing." + +Mrs. Hamilton stamped and pushed against the door, while Lenora danced +and sang at the top of her voice: + + "My dear precious mother got wrathy one day + And seized little Will by the hair; + But when in the closet she'd stow him away, + She herself was pushed headlong in there." + +At length the bolt, yielding to the continued pressure of Mrs. +Hamilton's body, broke, and out came the termagant, foaming with rage. +She dared not molest Margaret, of whose physical powers she had just +received such mortifying proof, so she aimed a box at the ears of +Lenora. But the lithe little thing dodged it, and with one bound +cleared the table which sat in the center of the room, landing safely +on the other side; and then, shaking her short, black curls at her +mother, she said, "You didn't come it, that time, my darling." + +Mr. Hamilton, who chanced to be absent for a few days, was, on his +return, regaled with an exaggerated account of the proceeding, his +wife ending her discourse by saying: "If you don't do something with +your upstart daughter I'll leave the house; yes, I will." + +Mr. Hamilton was cowardly. He was afraid of his wife, and he was +afraid of Mag. So he tried to compromise the matter by promising the +one that he surely would see to it, and by asking the other if she +were not ashamed. But old Polly didn't let the matter pass so easily. +She was greatly shocked at having "such shameful carryin's on in a +decent man's house." + +"'Clare for't," said she, "I'll give marster a piece of Polly Pepper's +mind the fust time I get a lick at him." + +In the course of a few days Mr. Hamilton had occasion to go for +something into Aunt Polly's dominions. The old lady was ready for him. +"Mr. Hampleton," said she, "I've been waitin' to see you this long +spell." + +"To see me, Polly?" said he; "what do you want?" + +"What I wants is this," answered Polly, dropping into a chair. "I want +to know what this house is a comin' to, with such bedivilment in it as +there's been since madam came here with that little black-headed, +ugly-favored, ill-begotten, Satan-possessed, shoulder-unj'inted young +one of her'n. It's been nothin' but a rowdadow the whole time, and you +hain't grit enough to stop it. Madam boxes Willie, and undertakes to +shet him up for a lie he never told; Miss Margaret interferes jest as +she or'to, takes Willie away, and shets up madam; while that +ill-marnered Lenora jumps and screeches loud enough to wake the dead. +Madam busts the door down, and pitches into the varmint, who jumps +spang over a four-foot table, which Lord knows _I_ never could have +done in my spryest days." + +"But how can I help all this?" asked Mr. Hamilton. + +"Help it?" returned Polly. "You needn't have got into the fire in the +fust place. I hain't lived fifty-odd year for nothin', and though I +hain't no larnin', I know too much to heave myself away on the fust +nussin' woman that comes along." + +"Stop, Polly; you must not speak so of Mrs. Hamilton," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Polly continued: + +"And I wouldn't nuther, if she could hold a candle to the t'other one; +but she can't. You'd no business to marry a second time, even if you +didn't marry a nuss; neither has any man who's got grow'd-up gals, and +a faithful critter like Polly in the kitchen. Stepmothers don't often +do well, particularly them as is sot up by marryin'." + +Here Mr. Hamilton, who did not like to hear so much truth, left the +kitchen, while Aunt Polly said to herself, "I've gin it to him good, +this time." + +Lenora, who always happened to be near when she was talked about, had +overheard the whole, and repeated it to her mother. Accordingly, that +very afternoon word came to the kitchen that Mrs. Hamilton wished to +see Polly. + +"Reckon she'll find this child ain't afeared on her," said Polly, as +she wiped the flour from her face and repaired to Mrs. Hamilton's +room. + +"Polly," began that lady, with a very grave face, "Lenora tells me +that you have been talking very disrespectfully to Mr. Hamilton." + +"In the name of the Lord, can't he fight his own battles?" interrupted +Polly. "I only tried to show him that he was henpecked--and he is." + +"It isn't of him alone I would speak," resumed Mrs. Hamilton, with +stately gravity; "you spoke insultingly of me, and as I make it a +practise never to keep a servant after they get insolent, I have----" + +"For the dear Lord's sake," again interrupted Polly, "I 'spect we's +the fust servants you ever had." + +"Good!" said a voice from some quarter, and Mrs. Hamilton continued: +"I have sent for you to give you twenty-four hours' warning to leave +this house." + +"I shan't budge an inch until marster says so," said Polly. "Wonder +who's the best title deed here? Warn't I here long afore you come a +nussin' t'other one?" + +And Polly went back to the kitchen, secretly fearing that Mr. +Hamilton, who she knew was wholly ruled by his wife, would say that +she must go. And he did say so, though much against his will. Lenora +ran with the decision, to Aunt Polly, causing her to drop a loaf of +new bread. But the old negress chased her from the cellar with the +oven broom, and then stealing by a back staircase to Margaret's room, +laid the case before her, acknowledging that she was sorry and asking +her young mistress to intercede for her. Margaret stepped to the head +of the stairs, and calling to her father, requested him to come for a +moment to her room. This he was more ready to do, as he had no +suspicion why he was sent for, but on seeing old Polly, he +half-resolved to turn back. Margaret, however, led him into the room, +and then entreated him not to send away one who had served him so long +and so faithfully. + +Polly, too, joined in with her tears and prayers, saying, "She was an +old black fool anyway, and let her tongue get the better on her, +though she didn't mean to say more than was true, and reckoned she +hadn't." + +In his heart Mr. Hamilton wished to revoke what he had said, but dread +of the explosive storm which he knew would surely follow made him +irresolute, until Carrie said, "Father, the first person of whom I +have any definite recollection is Aunt Polly, and I shall be so +lonesome if she goes away. For my sake let her stay, at least until I +am dead." + +This decided the matter. "She _shall_ stay," said Mr. Hamilton, and +Aunt Polly, highly elated, returned to the kitchen with the news. +Lenora, who seemed to be everywhere at once, overheard it, and, bent +on mischief, ran with it to her mother. In the meantime Mr. Hamilton +wished, yet dreaded, to go down, and finally, mentally cursing himself +for his weakness, asked Margaret to accompany him. She was about to +comply with his request, when Mrs. Hamilton came up the stairs, +furious at her husband, whom she called "a craven coward, led by the +nose by all who chose to lead him." Wishing to shut out her noise, Mag +closed and bolted the door, and in the hall the modern Xantippe +extended her wrath against her husband and his offspring, while poor +Mr. Hamilton laid his face in Carrie's lap and wept. Margaret was +trying to devise some means by which to rid herself of her stepmother, +when Lenora was heard to exclaim: + +"Shall I pitch her over the stairs, Mag? I will if you say so." + +Immediately Mrs. Hamilton's anger took another channel, and turning +upon her daughter, she said, "What are you here for, you prating +parrot? Didn't you tell me what Aunt Polly said, and haven't you acted +in the capacity of reporter ever since?" + +"To be sure I did," said Lenora, poising herself on one foot, and +whirling around in circles; "but if you thought I did it because I +blamed Aunt Polly, you are mistaken." + +"What did you do it for, then?" said Mrs. Hamilton; and Lenora, giving +the finishing touch to her circles by dropping upon the floor, +answered, "I like to live in a hurricane--so I told you what I did. +Now, if you think it will add at all to the excitement of the present +occasion, I'll get an ax for you to split the door down." + +"Oh, don't, Lenora," screamed Carrie, from within, to which Lenora +responded: + +"Poor little simple chick bird, I wouldn't harm a hair of your soft +head for anything. But there is a _man_ in there, or one who passes +for a man, that I think would look far more respectable if he'd come +out and face the tornado. She's easy to manage when you know how. At +least Mag and I find her so." + +Here Mr. Hamilton ashamed of himself and emboldened, perhaps, by +Lenora's words, slipped back the bolt of the door, and walking out, +confronted his wife. + +"Shall I order pistols and coffee for two?" asked Lenora, swinging +herself entirely over the bannister, and dropping like a squirrel on +the stair below. + +"Is Polly going to stay in this house?" asked Mrs. Hamilton. + +"She is," was the reply. + +"Then I leave to-night," said Mrs. Hamilton. + +"Very well, you can go," returned the husband, growing stronger in +himself each moment. + +Mrs. Hamilton turned away to her own room, where she remained until +supper time, when Lenora asked "If she had got her chest packed, and +where they should direct their letters!" Neither Margaret nor her +father could refrain from laughter. + +Mrs. Hamilton, too, who had no notion of leaving the comfortable +Homestead, and who thought this as good a time to veer round as any +she would have, also joined in the laugh, saying, "What a child you +are, Lenora!" + +Gradually the state of affairs at the homestead was noised throughout +the village, and numerous were the little tea parties where none dared +speak above a whisper to tell what they had heard, and where each and +every one were bound to the most profound secrecy, for fear the +reports might not be true. At length, however, the story of the china +closet got out, causing Sally Martin to spend one whole day in +retailing the gossip from door to door. Many, too, suddenly remembered +certain suspicious things which they had seen in Mrs. Hamilton, who +was unanimously voted to be a bad woman, and who, of course, began to +be slighted. + +The result of this was to increase the sourness of her disposition; +and life at the Homestead would have been one continuous scene of +turmoil had not Margaret wisely concluded to treat whatever her +stepmother did with silent contempt. Lenora, too, always seemed ready +to fill up all vacant niches, until even Mag acknowledged that the +mother would be unendurable without the daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +LENORA AND CARRIE. + + +Ever since the day on which Lenora had startled Carrie by informing +her of her danger, she had been carefully kept from the room, or +allowed only to enter it when Margaret was present. One afternoon, +however, early in February, Mag had occasion to go to the village. +Lenora, who saw her depart, hastily gathered up her work, and repaired +to Carrie's room, saying, as she entered it, "Now, Carrie, we'll have +a good time; Mag has gone to see old deaf Peggy, who asks a thousand +questions, and will keep her at least two hours, and I am going to +entertain you to the best of my ability." + +Carrie's cheek flushed, for she felt some misgivings with regard to +the nature of Lenora's entertainment; but she knew there was no help +for it, so she tried to smile, and said, "I am willing you should +stay, Lenora, but you mustn't talk bad things to me, for I can't bear +it." + +"Bad things!" repeated Lenora; "who ever heard me talk bad things! +What do you mean?" + +"I mean," said Carrie, "that you must not talk about your mother as +you sometimes do. It is wicked." + +"Why, you dear little thing," answered Lenora, "don't you know that +what would be wicked for you isn't wicked for me?" + +"No, I do not know so," answered Carrie; "but I know I wouldn't talk +about my mother as you do about yours for anything." + +"Bless your heart," said Lenora, "haven't you sense enough to see that +there is a great difference between Mrs. Hamilton first, and Mrs. +Hamilton second? Now, I'm not naturally bad, and if I had been the +daughter of Mrs. Hamilton first instead of Widow Carter's young one, +why, I should have been as good as you--no, not as good as _you_, for +you don't know enough to be bad--but as good as Mag, who, in my +opinion, has the right kind of goodness, for all I used to hate her +so." + +"Hate Margaret!" said Carrie, opening her eyes to their utmost extent. +"What did you hate Margaret for?" + +"Because I didn't know her, I suppose," returned Lenora; "for now I +like her well enough--not quite as well as I do you, perhaps; and yet, +when I see you bear mother's abuse so meekly, I positively hate you +for a minute, and ache to box your ears; but when Mag squares up to +her, shuts her in the china closet, and all that, I want to put my +arms right round neck." + +"Why, don't you like your mother?" asked Carrie, and Lenora replied: + +"Of course I do; but I know what she is and I know she isn't what she +sometimes seems. Why, she'd be anything to suit the circumstances. She +wanted your father, and she assumed the character most likely to +secure him; for, between you and me, he isn't very smart." + +"What did she marry him for, then?" asked Carrie. + +"Marry _him_! I hope you don't for a moment suppose she married +_him_!" + +"Why, Lenora, _ain't they married?_ I thought they were. Oh, +dreadful!" and Carrie started to her feet, while the perspiration +stood thickly on her forehead. + +Lenora screamed with delight, saying, "You certainly have the softest +brain I ever saw. Of course the minister went through with the +ceremony; but it was not your father that mother wanted; it was his +house--his money--his horses--his servants, and his name. Now, maybe +in your simplicity you have thought that mother came here out of +kindness to the motherless children; but I tell you she would be +better satisfied if neither of you had ever been born. I suppose it is +wicked in me to say so, but I think she makes me worse than I would +otherwise be; for I am not naturally so bad, and I like people much +better than I pretend to. Anyway, I like you, and _love_ little +Willie, and always have, since the first time I saw him. Your mother +lay in her coffin, and Willie stood by her, caressing her cold cheek, +and saying, 'Wake up, mamma, it's Willie; don't you know Willie? I +took him in my arms, and vowed to love and shield him from the coming +evil; for I knew then, as well as I do now, that what has happened +would happen. Mag wasn't there; she didn't see me. If she had, she +might have liked me better; now she thinks there is no good in me; and +if, when you die, I should feel like shedding tears, and perhaps I +shall, it would be just like her to wonder 'what business _I_ had to +cry--it was none of my funeral!'" + +"You do wrong to talk so, Lenora," said Carrie; "but tell me, did you +never have any one to love except Willie?" + +"Yes," said Lenora; "when I was a child, a little, innocent child, I +had a grandmother--my father's mother--who taught me to pray, and told +me of God." + +"Where is she now?" asked Carrie. + +"In heaven," was the answer. "I know she is there, because when she +died there was the same look on her face that there was on your +mother's--the same that there will be on yours, when you are dead." + +"Never mind," gasped Carrie, who did not care to be so frequently +reminded of her mortality, while Lenora continued: + +"Perhaps you don't know that my father was, as mother says, a bad man; +though I always loved him dearly, and cried when he went away. We +lived with grandmother, and sometimes now, in my dreams, I am a child +again, kneeling by grandma's side, in our dear old eastern home, where +the sunshine fell so warmly, where the summer birds sang in the old +maple trees, and where the long shadows, which I called spirits, came +and went over the bright green meadows. But there was a sadder day; a +narrow coffin, a black hearse, and a tolling bell, which always wakes +me from my sleep, and I find the dream all gone, and nothing left of +the little child but the wicked Lenora Carter." + +Here the dark girl buried her face in her hands and wept, while Carrie +gently smoothed her tangled curls. After a while, as if ashamed of her +emotion, Lenora dried her tears, and Carrie said, "Tell me more of +your early life. I like you when you act as you do now." + +"There is nothing more to tell but wickedness," answered Lenora. +"Grandma died, and I had no one to teach me what was right. About a +year after her death mother wanted to get a divorce from father; and +one day she told me that a lawyer was coming to inquire about my +father's treatment of her. 'Perhaps,' said she, 'he will ask if you +ever saw him strike me, and you must say that you have a great many +times. 'But never did,' said I; and then she insisted upon my telling +that falsehood, and I refused, until she whipped me, and made me +promise to say whatever she wished me to. In this way I was trained to +be what I am. Nobody loves me; nobody ever can love me; and sometimes +when Mag speaks so kindly to you, and looks so affectionately upon +you, I think, what would I not give for some one to love me; and then +I go away to cry, and wish I had never been born." + +Here Mrs. Hamilton called to her daughter, and gathering up her work, +Lenora left the room just as Margaret entered it, on her return from +the village. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DARKNESS. + + +As the spring opened and the days grew warmer Carrie's health seemed +much improved; and, though she did not leave her room, she was able to +sit up nearly all day, busying herself with some light work. Ever +hopeful, Margaret hugged to her bosom the delusion which whispered, +"She will not die," while even the physician was deceived, and spoke +encouragingly of her recovery. + +For several months Margaret had thought of visiting her grandmother, +who lived in Albany; and as Mr. Hamilton had occasion to visit that +city, Carrie urged her to accompany him saying, she was perfectly able +to be left alone, and she wished her sister would go, for the trip +would do her good. + +For some time past Mrs. Hamilton had seemed exceedingly amiable and +affectionate, although her husband appeared greatly depressed, and +acted, as Lenora said, "Just as though he had been stealing sheep." + +This depression Mag had tried in vain to fathom, and at last, +fancying that a change of place and scene might do him good, she +consented to accompany him, on condition that Kate Kirby would stay +with Carrie. At mention of Kate's name Mr. Hamilton's eyes instantly +went over to his wife, whose face wore the same stony expression as +she answered, "Yes, Maggie, can come." + +Accordingly, on the morning when the travelers would start, Kate came +up to the homestead, receiving a thousand and one directions about +what to do and when to do it, hearing not more than half the +injunctions, and promising to comply with every one. Long before the +door the carriage waited, while Margaret, lingering in Carrie's room, +kissed again and again her sister's pure brow, and gazed into her deep +blue eyes, as if she knew that it was the last time. Even when half +way down the stairs she turned back again to say good-by, this time +whispering, "I have half a mind not to go, for something tells me I +shall never see you again." + +"Oh, Mag," said Carrie, "don't be superstitious. I am a great deal +better, and when you come home you will find me in the parlor." + +In the lower hall Mr. Hamilton caressed his little Willie, who begged +that he, too, might go. "Don't leave, me, Maggie, don't," said he, as +Mag came up to say good-by. + +Long years after the golden curls which Mag pushed back from Willie's +forehead were covered by the dark moist earth, did she remember her +baby-brother's childish farewell, and oft in bitterness of heart she +asked, "Why did I go--why leave my loved ones to die alone?" + +Just a week after Mag's departure news was received at the homestead +that Walter was coming to Glenwood for a day or two, and on the +afternoon of the same day Kate had occasion to go home. As she was +leaving the house Mrs. Hamilton detained her, while she said, "Miss +Kirby, we are all greatly obliged to you for your kindness in staying +with Carrie, although your services really are not needed. I +understand how matters stand between you and Walter, and as he is to +be here to-morrow; you of course will feel some delicacy about +remaining, consequently I release you from all obligations to do so." + +Of course there was no demurring to this. Kate's pride was touched; +and though Carrie wept, and begged her not to go, she yielded only so +far as to stay until the next morning, when, with a promise to call +frequently, she left. Lonely and long seemed the hours to poor Carrie; +for though Walter came, he stayed but two days, and spent a part of +that time at the mill-pond cottage. + +The evening after he went away, as Carrie lay, half-dozing, thinking +of Mag, and counting the weary days which must pass ere her return, +she was startled by the sound of Lenora's voice in the room opposite, +the door of which was ajar. Lenora had been absent a few days, and +Carrie was about calling to her, when some words spoken by her +stepmother arrested her attention, and roused her curiosity. They +were, "You think too little of yourself, Lenora. Now, I know there is +nothing in the way of your winning Walter, if you choose." + +"I should say there was everything in the way," answered Lenora. "In +the first place, there is Kate Kirby, and who, after seeing her +handsome face, would ever look at such a black, turned-up nose, +bristle-headed thing as I am? But I perceive there is some weighty +secret on your mind, so what is it? Have Walter and Kate quarreled, or +have you told him some falsehood about her?" + +"Neither," said Mrs. Hamilton. "What I have to say concerns your +father." + +"My father!" interrupted Lenora; "my own father! Oh, is he living?" + +"No, I hope not," was the answer; "it is Mr. Hamilton whom I mean." + +Instantly Lenora's tone changed, and she replied, "If you please you +need not call that putty-headed man _my_ father. He acts too much like +a whipped spaniel to suit me, and I really think Carrie ought to be +respected for knowing what little she does, while I wonder where +Walter, Mag, and Willie got their good sense. But what is it? What +have you made Mr. Hamilton do?--something ridiculous, of course." + +"I've made him make his will," was the answer; while Lenora continued: + +"Well, what then? What good will that do me?" + +"It may do you a great deal of good," said Mrs. Hamilton; "that is, if +Walter likes the homestead as I think he does. But I tell you, it was +hard work, and I didn't know, one while, but I should have to give it +up. However, I succeeded, and he has willed the homestead to Walter, +provided he marries you. If not, Walter has nothing, and the homestead +comes to _me_ and my heirs forever!" + +"Heartless old fool!" exclaimed Lenora, while Carrie, too, groaned in +sympathy. "And do you suppose he intends to let it go so! Of course +not; he'll make another when you don't know it" + +"I'll watch him too closely for that," said Mrs. Hamilton and after a +moment Lenora asked: + +"What made you so anxious for a will? Have you received warning of his +sudden demise?" + +"How foolish!" said Mrs. Hamilton. "Isn't it the easiest thing in the +world for me to let Walter know what's in the will, and I fancy +that'll bring him to terms, for he likes money, no mistake about +that." + +"Mr. Hamilton is a bigger fool, and you a worse woman, than I +supposed," said Lenora. "Do you think I am mean enough to marry Walter +under such circumstances? Indeed, I'm not. But how is Carrie? I must +go and see her." + +She was about leaving the room, when she turned back, saying in a +whisper, "Mother, mother, her door is wide open, as well as this one, +and she must have heard every word!" + +"Oh, horror!" exclaimed Mrs. Hamilton; "go in and ascertain the fact, +if possible." + +It took but one glance to convince Lenora that Carrie was in +possession of the secret. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wet with +tears; and when Lenora stooped to kiss her, she said. "I know it all, +I heard it all." + +"Then I hope you feel better," said Mrs. Hamilton, coming forward. +"Listeners never hear any good of themselves." + +"Particularly if it's Widow Carter who is listened to," suggested +Lenora. + +Mrs. Hamilton did not reply to this, but continued speaking to Carrie. +"If you have heard anything new you can keep it to yourself. No one +has interfered with you, or intends to. Your father has a right to do +what he chooses with his own, and I shall see that he exercises that +right, too." + +So saying she left the room, while Carrie, again bursting into tears, +wept until perfectly exhausted. The next morning she was attacked with +bleeding at the lungs, which in a short time reduced her so low that +the physician spoke doubtfully of her recovery, should the hemorrhage +again return. In the course of two or three days she was again +attacked; and now, when there was no longer hope of life, her thoughts +turned with earnest longings toward her absent father and sister, and +once, as the physician was preparing to leave her, she said, "Doctor, +tell me truly, can I live twenty-four hours?" + +"I think you may," was the answer. + +"Then I shall see them, for if you telegraph to-night they can come in +the morning train. Go yourself and have it done, will you?" + +The physician promised that he would, and then left the room. In the +hall he met Mrs. Hamilton, who with the utmost anxiety depicted upon +her countenance, said, "Dear Carrie is leaving us, isn't she? I have +telegraphed for her father, who will be here in the morning. 'Twas +right to do so, was it not?" + +"Quite right," answered the physician. "I promised to see to it +myself, and was just going to do so." + +"Poor child," returned Mrs. Hamilton, "she feels anxious, I suppose. +But I have saved you the trouble." + +The reader will not, perhaps, be greatly surprised to learn that what +Mrs. Hamilton had said was false. She suspected that one reason why +Carrie so greatly desired to see her father was to tell him what she +had heard, and beg of him to undo what he had done; and as she feared +the effect which the sight and words of his dying child might have +upon him, she resolved, if possible, to keep him away until Carrie's +voice was hushed in death. Overhearing what had been said by the +doctor, she resorted to the stratagem of which we have just spoken. +The next morning, however, she ordered a telegram to be despatched, +knowing full well that her husband could not reach home until the day +following. + +Meantime, as the hour for the morning train drew near, Carrie, resting +upon pillows, and whiter than the linen which covered them, strained +her ears to catch the first sound of the locomotive. At last, far off +through an opening among the hills, was heard a rumbling noise, which +increased each moment in loudness, until the puffing engine shot out +into the long, green valley, and then rolled rapidly up to the depot. + +Little Willie had seemed unwell for a few days, but since his sister's +illness he had stayed by her almost constantly, gazing half-curiously, +half-timidly into her face, and asking if she was going to the home +where his mamma lived. She had told him that Margaret was coming, and +when the shrill whistle of the eastern train sounded through the room +he ran to the window, whither Lenora had preceded him, and there +together they watched for the coming of the omnibus. A sinister smile +curled the lips of Mrs. Hamilton who was present, and who, of course, +affected to feel interested. + +At last Willie, clapping his hands, exclaimed, "There 'tis! They're +coming. That's Maggie's big trunk!" Then, noticing the glow which his +announcement called up to Carrie's cheek, he said, "She'll make you +well, Carrie, Maggie will. Oh, I'm so glad, and so is Leno." + +Nearer and nearer came the omnibus, brighter and deeper grew the flush +on Carrie's face, while little Willie danced up and down with joy. + +"It isn't coming here," said Mrs. Hamilton; "it has gone by," and +Carrie's feverish heat was succeeded by an icy chill. + +"Haven't they come, Lenora?" she said. + +Lenora shook her head, and Willie, running to his sister, wound his +arms around her neck, and for several minutes the two lone, motherless +children wept. + +"If Maggie knew how my head ached she'd come," said Willie; but Carrie +thought not of _her_ aching head, nor of the faintness of death which +was fast coming on. One idea alone engrossed her. Her brother--how +would he be saved from the threatened evil, and her father's name from +dishonor? + +At last Mrs. Hamilton left the room, and Carrie, speaking to Lenora +and one of the villagers who was present, asked if they, too, would +not leave her alone for a time with Willie. They complied with her +request, and then asking her brother to bring her pencil and paper, +she hurriedly wrote a few lines to her father telling him of what she +had heard, and entreating him, for her sake, and the sake of the +mother with whom she would be when those words met his eye, not to do +Walter so great a wrong. "I shall give this to Willie's care," she +wrote, in conclusion, "and he will keep it carefully until you come. +And now, I bid you a long farewell, my precious father--my noble +Mag--my darling Walter." + +The note was finished, and calling Willie to her, she said, "I am +going to die. When Maggie returns I shall be dead and still, like our +own dear mother." + +"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," sobbed the child, "don't leave me till Maggie +comes." + +There was a footstep on the stairs, and Carrie, without replying to +her brother, said quickly, "Take this paper, Willie, and give it to +father when he comes; let no one see it--Lenora, mother, nor any one." + +Willie promised compliance, and had but just time to conceal the note +in his bosom ere Mrs. Hamilton entered the room, accompanied by the +physician, to whom she loudly expressed her regrets that her husband +had not come, saying that she had that morning telegraphed again, +although he could not now reach home until the morrow. + +"To-morrow I shall never see," said Carrie, faintly. And she spoke +truly, too, for even then death was freezing her life-blood with the +touch of his icy hand. To the last she seemed conscious of the tiny +arms which so fondly encircled her neck; and when the soul had drifted +far out on the dark channel of death the childish words of "Carrie, +Carrie, speak once more," roused her, and folding her brother more +closely to her bosom, she murmured, "Willie, darling Willie, our +mother is waiting for us both." + +Mrs. Hamilton, who stood near, now bent down, and laying her hand on +the pale, damp brow said gently, "Carrie, dear, have you no word of +love for this mother?" + +There was a visible shudder, an attempt to speak, a low moan, in which +the word "Walter" seemed struggling to be spoken; and then death, as +if impatient of delay, bore away the spirit, leaving only the form +which in life had been most beautiful. Softly Lenora closed over the +blue eyes the long, fringed lids, and pushed back from the forehead +the sunny tresses which clustered so thickly around it; then, kissing +the white lips and leaving on the face of the dead traces of her +tears, she led Willie from the room, soothing him in her arms until +he fell asleep. + +Elsewhere we have said that for a few days Willie had not seemed well; +but so absorbed were all in Carrie's more alarming symptoms that no +one had heeded him, although his cheeks were flushed with fever, and +his head was throbbing with pain. He was in the habit of sleeping in +his parents' room, and that night his loud breathings and uneasy +turnings disturbed and annoyed his mother, who at last called out in +harsh tones, "Willie, Willie, for mercy's sake stop that horrid noise! +I shall never get asleep this way. I know there's no need of breathing +like that!" + +"It chokes me so," sobbed little Willie, "but I'll try." + +Then pressing his hands tightly over his mouth, he tried the +experiment of holding his breath as long as possible. Hearing no sound +from his mother, he thought her asleep, but not venturing to breathe +naturally until assured of the fact, he whispered, "Ma, ma, are you +asleep?" + +"Asleep! no--and never shall be, as I see. What do you want?" + +"Oh, I want to breathe," said Willie. + +"Well, breathe then; who hinders you?" was the reply; and ere the +offensive sound again greeted her ear, Mrs. Hamilton was too far gone +in slumber to be disturbed. + +For two hours Willie lay awake, tossing from side to side, scorched +with fever and longing for water to quench his burning thirst. By this +time Mrs. Hamilton was again awake; but to his earnest entreaties for +water--"Just one little drop of water, ma"--she answered: + +"William Hamilton, if you don't be still I'll move your crib into the +room where Carrie is, and leave you there alone!" + +Unlike many children, Willie had no fears of the cold white figure +which lay so still and motionless upon the parlor sofa. To him it was +Carrie, his sister; and many times that day had he stolen in alone, +and laying back the thin muslin which shaded her face, he had looked +long upon her--had laid his hand on her icy cheek, wondering if she +knew how cold she was, and if the way which she had gone was so long +and dark that he could never find it. To him there was naught to fear +in that room of death, and to his mother's threat he answered eagerly, +"Oh, ma, give me some water, just a little bit of water, and you may +carry me in there, I ain't afraid and my breathing won't wake Carrie +up;" but before he had finished speaking his mother was again dozing. + +"Won't anybody bring me some water--Maggie, Carrie--Leno--nobody?" +murmured poor Willie, as he Wet his pillow with tears. + +At last he could bear it no longer. He knew where the water-bucket +stood, and stepping from his bed, he groped his way down the long +stairs to the basement. The spring moon was low in the western +horizon, and shining through the curtained window, dimly lighted up +the room. The pail was soon reached, and then in his eagerness to +drink, he put his lips to the side. Lower, lower, lower it came, until +he discovered, alas I that the pail was empty. + +"What shall I do? what shall I do?" said he, as he crouched upon the +cold hearthstone. + +A new idea entered his mind. The well stood near the outer door; and, +quickly pushing back the bolt, he went out, all flushed and feverish +as he was, into the chill night air. There was ice upon the curbstone, +but he did not mind it, although his little toes, as they trod upon +it, looked red by the pale moonlight. Quickly a cup of the coveted +water was drained; then, with careful forethought, he filled it again, +and taking it back to his room, crept shivering to bed. Nature was +exhausted, and whether he fainted or fell asleep is not known, for +never again to consciousness in this world awoke the little boy. + +The morning sunlight came softly in at the window, touching his +golden curls with a still more golden hue. Sadly over him Lenora bent, +saying, "Willie, Willie, wake up, Willie. Don't you know me?" + +Greatly Mrs. Hamilton marveled whence came the cup of water which +stood there, as if reproaching her for her cruelty. But the delirious +words of the dreamer soon told her all. "Maggie, Maggie," he said, +"rub my feet; they feel like Carrie's face. The curbstone was cold, +but the water was so good. Give me more, more; mother won't care, for +I got it myself, and tried not to breathe, so she could sleep--and +Carrie, too, is dead--dead." + +Lenora fiercely grasped her mother's arm, and said, "How could you +refuse him water, and sleep while he got it himself?" + +But Mrs. Hamilton needed not that her daughter should accuse her. +Willie had been her favorite, and the tears which she dropped upon his +pillow were genuine. The physician who was called pronounced his +disease to be scarlet fever, saying that its violence was greatly +increased by a severe cold which he had taken. + +"You have killed him, mother; you have killed him!" said Lenora. + +Twenty-four hours had passed since, with straining ear, Carrie had +listened for the morning train, and again down the valley floated the +smoke of the engine, and over the blue hills echoed the loud scream of +the locomotive; but no sound could awaken the fair young sleeper, +though Willie started, and throwing up his hands, one of which, the +right one, was firmly clinched, murmured, "Maggie, Maggie." + +Ten minutes more and Margaret was there, weeping in agony over the +inanimate form of her sister, and almost shrieking as she saw Willie's +wild eye, and heard his incoherent words. Terrible to Mr. Hamilton was +this coming home. Like one who walks in sleep, he went from room to +room, kissing the burning brow of one child, and then, while the hot +breath was yet warm upon his lips, pressing them to the cold face of +the other. + +All day Margaret sat by her dying brother, praying that he might be +spared until Walter came. Her prayer was answered; for at nightfall +Walter was with them. Half an hour after his return Willie died; but +ere his right hand dropped lifeless by his side he held it up to view, +saying: + +"Father--give it to nobody but father." + +After a moment Margaret, taking within hers the fast-stiffening hand, +gently unclosed the fingers, and found the crumpled piece of paper on +which Carrie had written to her father. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MARGARET AND HER FATHER. + + +'Twas midnight--midnight after the burial. In the library of the old +homestead sat its owner, his arms resting upon the table, and his face +reclining upon his arms. Sadly was he reviewing the dreary past, since +first among them death had been, bearing away his wife, the wife of +his first only love. Now, by her grave there was another, on which the +pale moonbeams and the chill night-dews were falling, but they could +not disturb the rest of the two who, side by side in the same coffin, +lay sleeping, and for whom the father's tears were falling fast, and +the father's heart was bleeding. + +"Desolate, desolate--all is desolate," said the stricken man. "Would +that I, too, were asleep with my lost ones!" + +There was a rustling sound near him, a footfall, and an arm was thrown +lovingly around his neck. Margaret's tears were on his cheek, and +Margaret's voice whispered in his ear, "Dear father, we must love each +other better now." + +Margaret had not retired, and on passing through the hall, had +discovered the light gleaming through the crevice of the library door. +Knowing that her father must be there, she had come in to comfort him. +Long the father and child wept together, and then Margaret, drying her +tears said: + +"It is right--all right; mother has two, and you have two, and though +the dead will never return to us, we, in God's good time, will return +to them." + +"Yes, soon, very soon, shall I go," said Mr. Hamilton. + +"I am weary, weary, Margaret; my life is one scene of bitterness. Oh, +why, why was I left to do it?" + +Margaret knew well to what he referred, but she made no answer; and +after he had become somewhat composed, thinking this a good +opportunity for broaching the subject which had so troubled Carrie's +dying moments, she drew from her bosom the soiled piece of paper, and +placing it in his hands, watched him while he read. The moan of +anguish which came from his lips as he finished made her repent of her +act, and, springing to his side, she exclaimed: + +"Forgive me, father; I ought not to have done it now. You have enough +to bear." + +"It is right, my child," said Mr. Hamilton; "for after the wound had +slightly healed I might have wavered. Not that I love Walter less; +but, fool that I am, I fear her who has made me the cowardly wretch +you see!" + +"Rouse yourself, then," answered Margaret. "Shake off her chain, and +be free." + +"I cannot, I cannot," said he. "But this I will do. I will make +another will. I always intended to do so, and Walter shall not be +wronged." Then rising, he hurriedly paced the room saying, "Walter +shall not be wronged, no, no--Walter shall not be wronged." + +After a time he resumed his former seat, and taking his daughter's +hand in his, he told her of all he had suffered, of the power which +his wife held over him, and which he was too weak to shake off. This +last he did not say, but Margaret knew it and it prevented her from +giving him other consolation than that of assuring him of her own +unchanged, undying love. + +The morning twilight was streaming through the closed shutters ere the +conference ended; and then Mr. Hamilton, kissing his daughter, +dismissed her from the room, but as she was leaving him he called her +back, saying: + +"Don't tell Walter; he would despise me; but he shan't be wronged--no, +he shan't be wronged." + +Six weeks from that night Margaret stood, with her brother, watching +her father as the light from his eyes went out, and the tones of his +voice ceased forever. Grief for the loss of his children, and remorse +for the blight which he had brought upon his household, had undermined +his constitution, never strong; and when a prevailing fever settled +upon him it found an easy prey. In ten days' time Margaret and Walter +alone were left of the happy band who, two years before, had gathered +around the fireside of the old homestead. + +Loudly Mrs. Hamilton deplored her loss, shutting herself up in her +room, and refusing to see any one, saying that she could not be +comforted, and it was of no use trying! Lenora, however, managed to +find an opportunity of whispering to her that it would hardly be +advisable to commit suicide, since she had got the homestead left, and +everything else for which she had married Mr. Hamilton. + +"Lenora, how can you thus trifle with my feelings? Don't you see that +my trouble is killing me?" said the greatly distressed lady. + +"I don't apprehend any such catastrophe as that," answered Lenora. +"You found the weeds of Widow Carter easy enough to wear, and those of +Widow Hamilton won't hurt you any worse, I imagine." + +"Lenora," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, "may you never know what it is to be +the unhappy mother of such a child!" + +"Amen!" was Lenora's fervent response, as she glided from the room. + +For three days the body of Mr. Hamilton lay upon the marble center +table in the darkened parlor. Up and down the long staircases, and +through the silent rooms, the servants moved noiselessly. Down in the +basement Aunt Polly forgot her wonted skill in cooking, and in a +broken rocking-chair swayed to and fro, brushing the big tears from +her dusky face, and lamenting the loss of one who seemed to her "just +like a brother, only a little nigher." + +In the chamber above, where six weeks before Carrie had died, sat +Margaret--not weeping; she could not do that--her grief was too great, +and the fountain of her tears seemed scorched and dried; but, with +white, compressed lips, and hands tightly clasped, she thought of the +past and of the cheerless future. Occasionally through the doorway +there came a small, dark figure; a pair of slender arms were thrown +around her neck, and a voice murmured in her ear: "Poor, poor Maggie." +The next moment the figure would be gone, and in the hall below Lenora +would be heard singing snatches of some song, either to provoke her +mother, or to make the astonished servants believe that she was really +heartless and hardened. + +What Walter suffered could not be expressed. Hour after hour, from the +sun's rising till its going down, he sat by his father's coffin, +unmindful of the many who came in to look at the dead, and then gazing +pitifully upon the face of the living, walked away, whispering +mysteriously of insanity. Near _him_ Lenora dared not come, though +through the open door she watched him, and oftentimes he met the +glance of her wild, black eyes, fixed upon him with a mournful +interest; then, as if moved by some spirit of evil, she would turn +away, and seeking her mother's room, would mock at that lady's grief, +advising her not to make too much of an effort. + +At last there came a change. In the yard there was the sound of many +feet, and in the house the hum of many voices, all low and subdued. +Again in the village of Glenwood was heard the sound of the tolling +bell; again through the garden and over the running water brook moved +the long procession to the graveyard; and soon Ernest Hamilton lay +quietly sleeping by the side of his wife and children. + +For some time after the funeral nothing was said concerning the will, +and Margaret had almost forgotten the existence of one, when one day +as she was passing the library door her mother appeared, and asked her +to enter. She did so, and found there her brother, whose face, besides +the marks of recent sorrow which it wore, now seemed anxious and +expectant. + +"Maggie dear," said the oily-tongued woman, "I have sent for you to +hear read your beloved father's last will and testament." + +A deep flush mounted to Margaret's face, as she repeated somewhat +inquiringly, "Father's last will and testament?" + +"Yes, dear," answered her mother, "his last will and testament. He +made it several weeks ago, even before poor Carrie died; and as Walter +is now the eldest and only son, I think it quite proper that he should +read it." + +So saying, she passed toward Walter a sealed package, which he +nervously opened, while Margaret, going to his side, looked over his +shoulder, as he read. + +It is impossible to describe the look of mingled surprise, anger, and +mortification which Mrs. Hamilton's face assumed, as she heard the +will which her husband had made four weeks before his death, and in +which Walter shared equally with his sister. Her first impulse was to +destroy it; and springing forward, she attempted to snatch it from +Walter's hand, but was prevented by Margaret, who caught her arm and +forcibly held her back. + +Angrily confronting her stepdaughter, Mrs. Hamilton demanded, "What +does this mean?" to which Mag replied: + +"It means, madam, that for once you are foiled. You coaxed my father +into making a will, the thought of which ought to make you blush. +Carrie overheard you telling Lenora, and when she found that she must +die she wrote it on a piece of paper, and consigned it to Willie's +care!" + +Several times Mrs. Hamilton essayed to speak, but the words died away +in her throat, until at last, summoning all her boldness, she said, in +a hoarse whisper, "But the homestead is mine--mine forever, and we'll +see how delightful I can make your home!" + +"I'll save you that trouble, madam," said Walter, rising and advancing +toward the door. "Neither my sister nor myself will remain beneath the +same roof which shelters you. To-morrow we leave, knowing well that +vengeance belongeth to One higher than we." + +All the remainder of that day Walter and Margaret spent in devising +some plan for the future, deciding at last that Margaret should on the +morrow go for a time to Mrs. Kirby's, while Walter returned to the +city. The next morning, however, Walter did not appear in the +breakfast parlor, and when Margaret, alarmed at his absence, repaired +to his room, she found him unable to rise. The fever with which his +father had died, and which, was still prevailing in the village, had +fastened upon him, and for many days was his life despaired of. The +ablest physicians were called, but few of them gave any hope to the +pale, weeping sister, who, with untiring love, kept her vigils by her +brother's bedside. + +When he was first taken ill he had manifested great uneasiness at his +stepmother's presence, and when at last he became delirious he no +longer concealed his feelings, and if she entered the room he would +shriek "Take her away from me! Take her away! Chain her in the +cellar--anywhere out of my sight." + +Again he would speak of Kate, and entreat that she might come to him. +"I have nothing left but her and Margaret," he would say; "and why +does she stay away?" + +Three different times had Margaret sent to her young friend, urging +her to come, and still she tarried, while Margaret marveled greatly +at the delay. She did not know that the girl whom she had told to go +had received different directions from Mrs. Hamilton, and that each +day beneath her mother's roof Kate Kirby wept and prayed that Walter +might not die. + +One night he seemed to be dying, and gathered in the room were many +sympathizing friends and neighbors. Without, 'twas pitchy dark. The +rain fell in torrents and the wind, which had increased in violence +since the setting of the sun, howled mournfully about the windows, as +if waiting to bear the soul company in its upward flight. Many times +had Walter attempted to speak. At last he succeeded, and the word +which fell from his lips was "Kate!" + +Lenora, who had that day accidentally learned of her mother's commands +with regard to Miss Kirby, now glided noiselessly from the room, and +in a moment was alone in the fearful storm, which she did not heed. +Lightly bounding over the swollen brook, she ran on until the +mill-pond cottage was reached. It was midnight, and its inmates were +asleep, but they awoke at the sound of Lenora's voice. + +"Walter is dying," said she to Kate, "and would see you once more. +Come quickly." + +Hastily dressing herself, Kate went forth with the strange girl, who +spoke not a word until Walter's room was reached. Feebly the sick man +wound his arms around Kate's neck, exclaiming, "My own, my beautiful +Kate, I knew you would come. I am better now--I shall live!" and as if +there was indeed something life-giving in her very presence and the +sound of her voice, Walter from that hour grew better: and in three +weeks' time he, together with Margaret, left his childhood's home, +once so dear, but now darkened by the presence of her who watched +their departure with joy, exulting in the thought that she was +mistress of all she surveyed. + +Walter, who was studying law in the city about twenty miles distant, +resolved to return thither immediately, and after some consultation +with his sister it was determined that both she and Kate should +accompany him. Accordingly, a few mornings after they left the +homestead, there was a quiet bridal at the mill-pond cottage; after +which Walter Hamilton bore away to his city home his sister and his +bride, the beautiful Kate. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"CARRYING OUT DEAR MR. HAMILTON'S PLANS." + + +One morning about ten days after the departure of Walter the good +people of Glenwood were greatly surprised at the unusual confusion +which seemed to pervade the homestead. The blinds were taken off, +windows taken out, carpets taken up, and where so lately physicians, +clergymen, and death had officiated, were now seen carpenters, masons, +and other workmen. Many were the surmises as to the cause of all this; +and one old lady, more curious than the rest, determined upon a +friendly call, to ascertain, if possible, what was going on. + +She found Mrs. Hamilton with her sleeves rolled up, and her hair +tucked under a black cap, consulting with a carpenter about enlarging +her bedroom and adding to it a bathing-room. Being received but coldly +by the mistress of the house, she descended to the basement, where she +was told by Aunt Polly that "the blinds were going to be repainted, an +addition built, the house turned wrong-side out, and Cain raised +generally." + +"It's a burning shame," said Aunt Polly, warmed up by her subject and +the hot oven into which she was thrusting loaves of bread and pies. +"It's a burning shame--a tearin' down and a goin' on this way, and +marster not cold in his grave. Miss Lenora, with all her badness, says +it's disgraceful, but he might ha' know'd it. _I_ did. I know'd it the +fust time she came here a nussin'. I don't see what got into him to +have her. Polly Pepper, without any larnin', never would ha' done such +a thing," continued she, as the door closed upon her visitor, who was +anxious to carry the gossip back to the village. + +It was even as Aunt Polly had said. Mrs. Hamilton, who possessed a +strong propensity for pulling down and building up, and who would have +made an excellent carpenter, had long had an earnest desire for +improving the homestead; and now that there was no one to prevent her, +she went to work with a right good will, saying to Lenora, who +remonstrated with her upon the impropriety of her conduct, that "she +was merely carrying out dear Mr. Hamilton's plans," who had proposed +making these changes before his death. + +"Dear Mr. Hamilton!" repeated Lenora, "very dear has he become to you, +all at once. I think if you had always manifested a little more +affection for him and his, they might not have been where they now +are." + +"Seems to me you take a different text from what you did some months +ago," said Mrs. Hamilton; "but perhaps you don't remember the time?" + +"I remember it well," answered Lenora, "and quite likely, with your +training, I should do the same again. We were poor, and I wished for a +more elegant home. I fancied that Margaret Hamilton was proud and had +slighted me, and I longed for revenge; but when I knew her I liked her +better, and when I saw that she was not to be trampled down by you or +me, my hatred of her turned to admiration. The silly man who has paid +the penalty of his weakness, I always despised; but when I saw how +fast the gray hairs thickened on his head; how careworn and bowed down +he grew, I pitied him, for I knew that his heart was breaking. Willie +I truly, unselfishly loved; and I am charitable enough to think that +even _you_ loved _him_, but it was through your neglect that he died, +and for his death you will answer. Carrie was gentle and trusting, but +weak, like her father. I do not think you killed her, for she was +dying when we came here, but you put the crowning act of wickedness to +your life when you compelled a man, shattered in body and intellect, +to write a will which disinherited his only son; but on that point you +are baffled. To be sure, you've got the homestead, and for decency's +sake I think I'd wait a while longer ere I commenced tearing down and +building up." + +Lenora's words had no effect whatever upon her mother, who still kept +on with her plans, treating with silent contempt the remarks of the +neighbors, or wishing, perhaps, that they would attend to their own +business, just as she was attending to hers! Day after day the work +went on. Scaffoldings were raised--paper and plastering torn +off--boards were seasoning in the sun--shingles lying upon the +ground--ladders raised against the wall; and all this while the two +new graves showed not a blade of grass, and the earth looked black and +fresh as it did when first it was placed there. + +When at last the blinds were hung, the house cleaned, and the carpets +nailed down, Mrs. Hamilton, who had designed it all the time, called +together the servants, whom she had disliked on account of their +preference for Margaret, and told them to look for new places, as +their services were no longer needed there. + +"You can make out your bills," said she, at the same time intimating +they hadn't one of them more than earned their board, if they had +that! Polly Pepper wasn't of material to stand by and hear such +language from one whom she considered beneath her. + +"Hadn't she as good a right there as anybody? Yes, indeed, she had! +Wasn't she there a full thirty year before any of your low-lived trash +came round a nussin'?" + +"Polly," interposed Mrs. Hamilton, "leave the room instantly, you +ungrateful thing!" + +"Ungrateful for what?" said Polly. "Haven't I worked and slaved like +an old nigger, as I am? and now you call me ungrateful, and say I +hain't arnt my bread. I'll sue you for slander;" and the enraged +Polly left the room, muttering, "half arnt my board, indeed! I'll bet +I've made a hundred thousan' pies, to say nothin' of the puddings, _I_ +not arn my board!" + +When again safe in what for so many years had been her own peculiar +province, she sat down to meditate. "I'd as good go without any fuss," +thought she, "but my curse on the madam who sends me away!" + +In the midst of her reverie, Lenora entered the kitchen, and to her +the old lady detailed her grievances, ending with, "Pears like she +don't know nothin' at all about etiquette, nor nothin' else." + +"Etiquette!" repeated Lenora. "You are mistaken, Polly; mother would +sit on a point of etiquette till she wore the back breadth of her +dress out. But it isn't that which she lacks--it's decency. But, +Polly," said she, changing the subject, "where do you intend to go and +how?" + +"To my brother Sam's," said Polly. "He lives three miles in the +country, and I've sent Robin to the village for a horse and wagon to +carry my things." + +Here Mrs. Hamilton entered the kitchen, followed by a strapping Irish +girl, nearly six feet in height. Her hair, flaming red, was twisted +round a huge back comb; her faded calico dress came far above her +ankles; her brawny arms were folded one over the other; and there was +in her appearance something altogether disagreeable and defiant. Mrs. +Hamilton introduced her as Ruth, her new cook, saying she hoped she +would know enough to keep her place better than her predecessor had +done. + +Aunt Polly surveyed her rival from head to foot, and then glancing +aside to Lenora, muttered, "Low-lived, depend on't." + +Robin now drove up with the wagon, and Mrs. Hamilton and Lenora left +the room, while Polly went to prepare herself for her ride. Her +sleeping apartment was in the basement and communicated with the +kitchen. This was observed by the new cook, who had a strong dislike +of negroes, and who feared that she might be expected to occupy the +same bed. + +"An' faith," said she, "is it where the like of ya have burrowed that +I am to turn in?" + +"I don't understand no such low-flung stuff," answered Polly, "but if +you mean you are to have this bedroom, I suppose you are." + +Here Polly had occasion to go up-stairs for something, and on her +return she found that Ruth, during her absence, had set fire to a +large linen rag, which she held on a shovel and was carrying about the +bedroom, as if to purify it from every atom of negro atmosphere which +might remain. Polly was quick-witted, and instantly comprehending the +truth, she struck the shovel from the hands of Ruth, exclaiming, "You +spalpeen, is it because my skin ain't a dingy yaller and all freckled +like yourn? Lord, look at your carrot-topped cocoanut, and then tell +me if wool ain't a heap the most genteel." + +In a moment a portion of the boasted wool was lying on the floor, or +being shaken from the thick, red fingers of the cook, while Irish +blood was flowing freely from the nose which Polly, in her vengeful +wrath, had wrung. Further hostilities were prevented by Robin, who +screamed that he couldn't wait any longer, and shaking her fist +fiercely at the red-head, Polly departed. + +That day Lucy and Rachel also left, and their places were supplied by +two raw hands, one of whom, before the close of the second day, +tumbled up-stairs with the large soup tureen, breaking it in fragments +and scalding the foot of Mrs. Hamilton, who was in the rear, and who, +having waited an hour for dinner, had descended to the kitchen to know +why it was not forthcoming, saying that Polly had never been so behind +the time. + +The other one, on being asked if she understood chamber work, had +replied, "Indade, and it's been my business all my life." She was +accordingly sent to make the beds and empty the slop. Thinking it an +easy way to dispose of the latter, she had thrown it from the window, +deluging the head and shoulders of her mistress who was bending down +to examine a rose bush which had been recently set out. Lenora was in +ecstasies, and when at noon her mother received a sprinkling of red +hot soup, she gravely asked her "which she relished most, cold or warm +baths!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RETRIBUTION. + + +Two years have passed away, and again we open the scene at the +homestead, which had not proved an altogether pleasant home to Mrs. +Hamilton. There was around her everything to make her happy, but she +was far from being so. One by one her servants, with whom she was very +unpopular, had left her, until there now remained but one. The +villagers, too, shunned her, and she was wholly dependent for society +upon Lenora, who, as usual, provoked and tormented her. + +One day Hester, the servant, came up from the basement, saying there +was a poor old man below, who asked for money. + +"Send him away; I've nothing for him," said Mrs. Hamilton, whose +avaricious hand, larger far than her heart, grasped at and retained +everything. + +"But, if you please, ma'am, he seems very poor," said Hester. + +"Let him go to work, then. 'Twon't hurt him more than 'twill me," was +the reply. + +Lenora, whose eyes and ears were always open, no sooner heard that +there was a beggar in the kitchen than she ran down to see him. He was +a miserable-looking object, and still there was something in his +appearance which denoted him to be above the common order of beggars. +His eyes were large and intensely black, and his hair, short, thick, +and curly, reminded Lenora of her own. The moment she appeared a +peculiar expression passed for a moment over his face, and he half +started up; then resuming his seat he fixed his glittering eyes upon +the young lady, and seemed watching her closely. + +At last she began questioning him, but his answers were so +unsatisfactory that she gave it up, and, thinking it the easiest way +to be rid of him, she took from her pocket a shilling and handed it to +him, saying, "It's all I can give you, unless it is a dinner. Are you +hungry?" + +Hester, who had returned to the kitchen, was busy in a distant part of +the room, and she did not notice the paleness which overspread +Lenora's face at the words which the beggar uttered when, she +presented the money to him. She caught, however, the low murmur of +their voices, as they spoke together for a moment, and as Lenora +accompanied him to the door, she distinctly heard the words, "In the +garden." + +"And maybe that's some of your kin; you look like him," said she to +Lenora, after the stranger was gone. + +"That's my business, not yours," answered Lenora, as she left the +kitchen and repaired to her mother's room. + +"Lenora, what ails you?" said Mrs. Hamilton to her daughter at the +tea-table that night, when, after putting salt in one cup of tea, and +upsetting a second, she commenced spreading her biscuit with cheese +instead of butter. "What ails you? What are you thinking about? You +don't seem to know any more what you are doing than the dead." + +Lenora made no direct reply to this, but soon after she said, "Mother, +how long has father been dead--my own father I mean?" + +"Two or three years, I don't exactly know which," returned her mother, +and Lenora continued: + +"How did he look? I hardly remember him." + +"You have asked me that fifty times," answered her mother, "and fifty +times I have told you that he looked like you, only worse, if +possible." + +"Let me see, where did you say he died?" said Lenora. + +"In New Orleans, with yellow fever, or black measles, or smallpox, or +something," Mrs. Hamilton replied, "but mercy's sake! can't you choose +a better subject to talk about? What made you think of him? He's been +haunting me all day, and I feel kind of nervous and want to look over +my shoulder whenever I am alone." + +Lenora made no further remark until after tea, when she announced her +intention of going to the village. + +"Come back early, for I don't feel like staying alone," said her +mother. + +The sun had set when Lenora left the village, and by the time she +reached home it was wholly dark. As she entered the garden the outline +of a figure; sitting on a bench at its further extremity, made her +stop for a moment, but thinking to herself, "I expected it, and why +should I be afraid?" she walked on fearlessly, until the person, +roused by the sound of her footsteps, started up, and turning toward +her, said half-aloud: + +"Lenora, is it you?" + +Quickly she sprang forward, and soon one hand of the beggar was +clasped in hers, while the other rested upon her head, as he said, +"Lenora, my child, my daughter, you do not hate me?" + +"Hate you, father?" she answered, "never, never." + +"But," he continued, "has not she--my--no, not my wife--thank Heaven +not my wife now--but your mother, has not she taught you to despise +and hate me?" + +"No," answered Lenora bitterly. "She has taught me enough of evil, but +my memories of you were too sweet, too pleasant, for me to despise +you, though I do not think you always did right, more than mother." + +The stranger groaned, and murmured: "It's true, all true;" while +Lenora continued: + +"But where have you been all these years, and how came we to hear of +your death?" + +"I have been in St. Louis most of the time, and the report of my death +resulted from the fact that a man bearing my name, and who was also +from Connecticut, died of yellow fever in New Orleans about two years +and a half ago. A friend of mine, observing a notice of his death, and +supposing it to refer to me, forwarded the paper to your mother, who, +though then free from me, undoubtedly felt glad, for she never loved +me, but married me because she thought I had money." + +"But how have you lived?" asked Lenora. + +"Lived!" he repeated, "I have not lived. I have merely existed. +Gambling and drinking, drinking and gambling, have been the business +of my life, and have reduced me to the miserable wretch whom you see." + +"Oh, father, father," cried Lenora, "reform. It is not too late, and +you can yet be saved. Do it for my sake, for, in spite of all your +faults, I love you, and you are my father." + +The first words of affection which had greeted his ear for many long +years made the wretched man weep, as he answered: "Lenora, I have +sworn to reform, and I will keep my vow. During one of my drunken +revels, in St. Louis, a dream of home came over me, and when I became +sober I started for Connecticut. There I heard where and what your +mother was. I had no wish ever to meet her again, for though I greatly +erred in my conduct toward her, I think she was always the most to +blame. You I remembered with love, and I longed to see you once more, +to hear again the word 'father,' and know that I was not forgotten. I +came as far as the city, and there fell into temptation. For the last +two months I have been there, gambling and drinking, until I lost all, +even the clothes which I wore, and was compelled to assume these rags. +I am now without home or money, and have no place to lay my head." + +"I can give you money," said Lenora. "Meet me here to-morrow night, +and you shall have all you want. But what do you purpose doing? Where +will you stay?" + +"In the village, for the sake of being near you," said he, at the same +time bidding his daughter return to the house, as the night air was +damp and chilly. + +Within a week from that time a middle-aged man, calling himself John +Robinson, appeared in the village, hiring himself out as a porter at +one of the hotels. There was a very striking resemblance between him +and Lenora Carter, which was noticed by the villagers, and mentioned +to Mrs. Hamilton, who, however, could never obtain a full view of the +stranger's face, for without any apparent design, he always avoided +meeting her. He had not been long in town before it was whispered +about that between him and Lenora Carter a strange intimacy existed, +and rumors soon reached Mrs. Hamilton that her daughter was in the +habit of frequently stealing out after sunset, to meet the old porter, +and that once, when watched, she had been seen to put her arms around +his neck. Highly indignant, Mrs. Hamilton questioned Lenora on the +subject, and was astonished beyond measure when she replied: + +"It is all true. I have met Mr. Robinson often, and I have put my arms +around his neck, and shall probably do it again." + +"Oh my child, my child," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, really distressed at +her daughter's conduct. "How can you do so? You will bring my gray +hairs with sorrow to the grave." + +"Not if you pull out as many of them as you now do, and use Twiggs +Preparation besides," said Lenora. + +Mrs. Hamilton did not answer, but covering her face with her hands +wept, really wept, thinking for the first time, perhaps, that as she +had sowed so was she reaping. For some time past her health had been +failing, and as the summer days grew warmer and more oppressive she +felt a degree of lassitude and physical weakness which she had never +before experienced; and one day unable longer to sit up, she took her +bed, where she lay for many days. + +Now that her mother was really sick, Lenora seemed suddenly changed, +and with unwearied care watched over her as kindly and faithfully as +if no words save those of affection had ever passed between them. +Warmer and more sultry grew the days, and more fiercely raged the +fever in Mrs. Hamilton's veins, until at last the crisis was reached +and passed, and she was in a fair way for recovery, when she was +attacked by chills, which again reduced her to a state of +helplessness. One day, about this time, a ragged little boy, whose +business seemed to be lounging around the hotel, brought to Lenora a +soiled and crumpled note, on which was traced with an unsteady hand, +"Dear Lenora, I am sick, all alone in the little attic; come to me, +quick; come!" + +Lenora was in a state of great perplexity. Her mother, when awake, +needed all her care; and as she seldom slept during the day there +seemed but little chance of getting away. The night before, however, +she had been unusually restless and wakeful, and about noon she seemed +drowsy, and finally fell into a deep sleep. + +"Now is my time," thought Lenora; and calling Hester, she bade her +watch by her mother until she returned, saying, "If she wakes tell her +I have gone to the village, and will soon be back." + +Hester promised compliance, and was for a time faithful to her trust; +but suddenly recollecting something which she wished to tell the girl +who lived at the next neighbor's she stole away, leaving her mistress +alone. For five minutes Mrs. Hamilton slept on, and then with a start +awoke from a troubled dream, in which she had seemed dying of thirst, +while little Willie, standing by a hogshead of water, refused her a +drop. A part of her dream was true, for she was suffering from the +most intolerable thirst, and called loudly for Lenora; but Lenora was +not there. Hester next was called, but she, too, was gone. Then, +seizing the bell which stood upon the table, she rang it with all her +force, and still there came no one to her relief. + +Again Willie stood by her, offering her a goblet overflowing with +water; but when she attempted to take it, Willie changed into Lenora, +who laughed mockingly at her distress, telling her there was water in +the well and ice on the curbstone. Once more the phantom faded away, +and the old porter was there, wading through a limpid stream and +offering her to drink a cup of molten lead. + +"Merciful Heaven!" shrieked the sick woman, as she writhed from side +to side on her bed, which seemed changed to burning coals; "will no +one bring me water, water, water!" + +An interval of calmness succeeded, during which she revolved in her +mind the possibility of going herself to the kitchen, where she knew +the water-pail was standing. No sooner had she decided upon this than +the room appeared full of little demons, who laughed, and chattered, +and shouted in her ears: + +"Go--do it! Willie did, when the night was dark and chilly; but now it +is warm--nice and warm--try it, do!" + +Tremblingly Mrs. Hamilton stepped upon the floor, and finding herself +too weak to walk, crouched down, and crept slowly down the stairs to +the kitchen door, where she stopped to rest. Across the room by the +window stood the pail, and as her eye fell upon it the mirth of the +little winged demons appeared in her disordered fancy to increase; and +when the spot was reached, the tumbler seized and thrust into the +pail, they darted hither and thither, shouting gleefully: + +"Lower, lower down; just as Willie did. You'll find it, oh, you'll +find it!" + +With a bitter cry Mrs. Hamilton dashed the tumbler upon the floor, for +the bucket was empty! + +"Willie, Willie, you are avenged," she said; but the goblins answered: + +"Not yet; no, not yet." + +There was no pump in the well, and Mrs. Hamilton knew she had not +strength to raise the bucket by means of the windlass. Her exertions +had increased her thirst tenfold, and now for one cup of cooling water +she would have given all her possessions. Across the yard, at the +distance of twenty rods, there was a gushing spring, and thither in +her despair she determined to go. Accordingly, she went forth into the +fierce noontide blaze, and with almost superhuman efforts crawled to +the place. But what! was it a film upon her eyes? Had blindness come +upon her, or was the spring really dried up by the fervid summer heat? + +"Willie's avenged! Willie's avenged!" yelled the imps as the wretched +woman fainted and fell backward upon the bank, where she lay with her +white, thin face upturned, and blistering beneath the August sun! + +Along the dusty highway came a handsome traveling carriage, in which, +besides the driver, were seated two individuals, the one a young and +elegantly-dressed lady, and the other a gentleman, who appealed to be +on the most intimate terms with his companion; for whenever he would +direct her attention to any passing object, he laid his hand on hers, +frequently retaining it, and calling her "Maggie." + +The carriage was nearly opposite the homestead, when the lady +exclaimed, "Oh, Richard, I must stop at my old home once more. Only +see how beautiful it is looking!" + +In a moment the carriage was standing before the gate, and the +gentleman, who was Margaret Hamilton's husband--a Mr. Elwyn, from the +city--assisted his young wife to alight, and then followed her to the +house. No answer was given to their loud ring, and as the doors and +windows were all open, Margaret proposed that they should enter. They +did so; and, going first into Mrs. Hamilton's sick-room, the sight of +the little table full of vials, and the tumbled, empty bed, excited +their wonder and curiosity, and induced them to go on. At last, +descending to the kitchen, they saw the fragments of the tumbler +lying upon the floor. + +"Strange, isn't it?" said Margaret to her husband, who was standing in +the outer door, and who had at that moment discovered Mrs. Hamilton +lying near the spring. + +Instantly they were at her side, and Margaret involuntarily shuddered +as she recognized her stepmother, and guessed why she was there. +Taking her in his arms, Mr. Elwyn bore her back to the house, and +Margaret, filling a pitcher with water, bathed her face, moistened her +lips, and applied other restoratives, until she revived enough to say: + +"More water, Willie. Give me more water!" + +Eagerly she drained the goblet which Margaret held to her lips, and +was about drinking the second, when her eyes for the first time sought +Margaret's face. With a cry between a groan and a scream she lay back +upon her pillows, saying, "Margaret Hamilton, how came you here? What +have you to do with me, and why do you give me water? Didn't I refuse +it to Willie, when he begged so earnestly for it in the nighttime? But +I've been paid--a thousand times paid--left by my own child to die +alone!" + +Margaret was about asking for Lenora, when the young lady herself +appeared. She seemed for a moment greatly surprised at the sight of +Margaret, and then bounding to her side, greeted her with much +affection; while Mrs. Hamilton jealously looked on, muttering to +herself. "Loves everybody better than she does me, her own mother, who +has done so much for her." + +Lenora made no reply to this, although she manifested much concern +when Margaret told her in what state they had found her mother. + +"I went for a few moments to visit a sick friend," said she, "but told +Hester to stay with mother until I returned; and I wonder much that +she should leave her." + +"Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton, "Lenora, was that sick friend the old +porter?" + +Lenora answered in the affirmative; and then her mother, turning to +Margaret, said: + +"You don't know what a pest and torment this child has always been to +me, and now when I am dying she deserts me for a low-lived fellow, old +enough to be her father." + +Lenora's eyes flashed scornfully upon her mother, but she made no +answer, and as Mr. Elwyn was in haste to proceed on his journey, +Margaret arose to go. Lenora urged them to remain longer, but they +declined; and as she accompanied them to the door, Margaret said: + +"Lenora, if your mother should die, and it would afford you any +satisfaction to have me come, I will do so, for I suppose you have no +near friends." + +Lenora hesitated a moment, and then whispering to Margaret of the +relationship existing between herself and the old porter, she said, +"He is sick and poor, but he is my own father, and I love him dearly." + +The tears came to Margaret's eyes, for she thought of her own father, +called home while his brown hair was scarcely touched with the frosts +of time. Wistfully Lenora watched the carriage as it disappeared from +sight, and then half-reluctantly entered the sick-room, where, for the +remainder of the afternoon, she endured her mother's reproaches for +having left her alone, and where once, when her patience was wholly +exhausted, she said: + +"It served you right, for now you know how little Willie felt." + +The next day Mrs. Hamilton was much worse, and Lenora, who had watched +and who understood her symptoms, felt confident that she would die, +and loudly her conscience upbraided her for her undutiful conduct. She +longed, too, to tell her that her father was still living, and one +evening when for an hour or two her mother seemed better, she arose, +and bending over her pillow, said, "Mother, did it ever occur to you +that father might not be dead?" + +"Not be dead, Lenora! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, starting +up from her pillow. + +Cautiously then Lenora commenced her story by referring her mother +back to the old beggar, who some months before had been in the +kitchen. Then she spoke of the old porter, and the resemblance which +was said to exist between him and herself; and finally, as she saw her +mother could bear it, she told the whole story of her father's life. +Slowly the sick woman's eyes closed, and Lenora saw that her eyelids +were wet with, tears, but as she made no reply, Lenora ere long +whispered, "Would you like to see him, mother?" + +"No, no; not now," was the answer. + +For a time there was silence, and then Lenora, again speaking, said, +"Mother, I have often been very wicked and disrespectful to you, and +if you should die, I should feel much happier knowing that you forgave +me. Will you do it, mother--say?" + +Mrs. Hamilton comprehended only the words, "if you should die," so she +said: "Die, die! who says that I must die? I shan't--I can't; for what +could I tell her about her children, and how could I live endless ages +without water? I tried it once, and I can't do it. No, I can't. I +won't!" + +In this way she talked all night; and though in the morning she was +more rational, she turned away from the clergyman, who at Lenora's +request had been sent for, saying: + +"It's of no use, no use, I know all you would say, but it's too late, +too late!" + +Thus she continued for three days, and at the close of the third it +became evident to all that she was dying, and Hester was immediately +sent to the hotel, with a request that the old porter would come +quickly. Half an hour after Lenora bent over her mother's pillow, and +whispered in her ear, "Mother, can you hear me?" + +A pressure of the hand was the reply, and Lenora continued: "You have +not said that you forgave me, and now before you die, will you not +tell me so?" + +There was another pressure of the hand, and Lenora again spoke: +"Mother, would you like to see him--my father? He is in the next +room." + +This roused the dying woman, and starting up, she exclaimed, "See John +Carter! No, child, no! He'd only curse me. Let him wait until I am +dead, and then I shall not hear it." + +In ten minutes more Lenora was sadly gazing upon the fixed, stony +features of the dead. A gray-haired man was at her side, and his lip +quivered, as he placed his hand upon the white, wrinkled brow of her +who had once been his wife. "She is fearfully changed," were his only +words, as he turned away from the bed of death. + +True to her promise, Margaret came to attend her stepmother's funeral. +Walter accompanied her, and shuddered as he looked on the face of one +who had so darkened his home, and embittered his life. Kate was not +there, and when, after the burial, Lenora asked Margaret for her, she +was told of a little "Carrie Lenora," who with pardonable pride +"Walter thought was the only baby of any consequence in the world. +Margaret was going on with a glowing description of the babe's many +beauties, when she was interrupted by Lenora, who laid her face in her +lap and burst into tears. + +"Why, Lenora, what is the matter?" asked Margaret. + +As soon as Lenora became calm, she answered, "_That name_, Maggie. You +have given my name to Walter Hamilton's child, and if you had hated me +you would never have done it." + +"Hated you!" repeated Margaret; "we do not hate you; now that we +understand you, we like you very much, and one of Kate's last +injunctions to Walter was that he should again offer you a home with +him." + +Once more Lenora was weeping. She had not shed a tear when they +carried from sight her mother, but words of kindness touched her +heart, and the fountain was opened. At last, drying her eyes, she +said, "I prefer to go with father. Walter will, of course, come back +to the homestead, while father and I shall return to our old home in +Connecticut, where, by being kind to him, I hope to atone, in a +measure, for my great unkindness to mother." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FINALE. + + +Through the open casement of a small, white cottage in the village of +P----, the rays of the September moon are stealing, disclosing to view +a gray-haired man, whose placid face still shows marks of long years +of dissipation. Affectionately he caresses the black, curly head which +is resting on his knee, and softly he says, "Lenora, my daughter, +there are, I trust, years of happiness in store for us both." + +"I hope it may be so," was the answer, "but there is no promise of +many days to any save those who honor their father and mother. This +last I have never done, though many, many times have I repented of it, +and I begin to be assured that we may be happy yet." + + * * * * * + +Away to the westward, over many miles of woodland, valley, and hill, +the same September moon shines upon the white walls of the +"homestead," where sits the owner, Walter Hamilton, gazing first upon +his wife and then upon the tiny treasure which lies sleeping upon her +lap. + +"We are very happy, Katy darling," he says, and the affection which +looks from her large blue eyes as she lifts them to his face is a +sufficient answer. Margaret, too, is there, and though but an hour +ago her tears were falling upon the grass-grown graves where slept her +father and mother, the gentle Carrie, and golden-haired Willie, they +are all gone now, and she responds to her brother's words, "Yes, +Walter, we are very happy." + + * * * * * + +In the basement below the candle is burned to its socket, and as the +last ray flickers up, illuminating for a moment the room, and then +leaving it in darkness, Aunt Polly Pepper starts from her evening nap, +and as if continuing her dream mutters "Yes this is pleasant and +something like living." + + * * * * * + +And so with the moonlight and starlight falling upon the old +homestead, and the sunlight of love falling upon the hearts of its +inmates, we bid them adieu. + + + + +RICE CORNER + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +RICE CORNER. + + +Yes, Rice Corner! Do you think it a queer name? Well, Rice Corner was +a queer place, and deserved a queer name. Now whether it is celebrated +for anything in particular, I really can't at this moment think, +unless, indeed, it is famed for having been my birthplace! Whether +this of itself is sufficient to immortalize a place future generations +may, perhaps, tell, but I have some misgivings whether the present +will. This idea may be the result of my having recently received +sundry knocks over the knuckles in the shape of criticisms. + +But I know one thing--on the bark of that old chestnut tree which +stands near Rice Corner schoolhouse, my name is cut higher than some +of my more bulky contemporary quill--or rather steel--pen-wielders +ever dared to climb. To be sure, I tore my dress, scratched my face, +and committed numerous other little rompish _miss_-demeanors, which +procured for me a motherly scolding. That, however, was of minor +consideration when compared with having my name up--in the chestnut +tree, at least, if it couldn't be up in the world. But pardon my +egotism, and I will proceed with my story about Rice Corner. + +Does any one wish to know whereabout on this rolling sphere Rice +Corner is situated? I don't believe you can find it on the map, +unless your eyes are bluer and bigger than mine, which last they can't +very well be. But I can tell you to a dot where Rice Corner should be. +Just take your atlas--not the last one published, but Olney's, that's +the one _I_ studied--and right in one of those little towns in +Worcester County is Rice Corner snugly nestled among the gray rocks +and blue hills of New England. + +Yes, Rice Corner was a great place, and so you would have thought +could you have seen it in all its phases, with its brown, red, green, +yellow, and white houses, each of which had the usual quantity of +rose-bushes, lilacs, hollyhocks, and sunflowers. You should have seen +my home, my New England home, where once, not many years ago, a happy +group of children played. Alas! alas! some of those who gave the +sunlight to that spot have left us now forever, and on the bright +shores of the eternal river they wait and watch our coming. I do not +expect a stranger to love our old homestead as I loved it, for in each +heart is a fresh, green spot--the memory of its own early home--where +the sunshine was brighter, the well waters cooler, and the song-bird's +carol sweeter than elsewhere they are found. + +I trust I shall be forgiven if in this chapter I pause awhile to speak +of my home--aye, and of myself, too, when, a light-hearted child, I +bounded through the meadows and orchards which lay around the old +brown house on my father's farm. 'Twas a large, square, two-storied +building, that old brown farmhouse, containing rooms, cupboards, and +closets innumerable, and what was better than all, a large airy +garret, where on all rainy days and days when it looked as if it would +rain, Bill, Joe, Lizzie, and I assembled to hold our noisy revels. +Never, since the days of our great-grandmothers, did little spinning +wheel buzz round faster than did the one which, in the darkest corner +of that garret, had been safely stowed away, where they guessed "the +young ones wouldn't find it." + +"Wouldn't find it!" I should like to know what there was in that old +garret that we didn't find, and appropriate, too! Even the old oaken +chest which contained our grandmother's once fashionable attire was +not sacred from the touch of our lawless hands. Into its deep recesses +we plunged, and brought out such curiosities--the queerest-looking, +high-crowned, broad-frilled caps, narrow-gored skirts, and what was +funnier than all, a strange-looking thing which we thought must be a +side saddle--anyway, it fitted Joe's rocking horse admirably, although +we wondered why so much whalebone was necessary! + +One day, in the midst of our gambols, in walked the identical owner of +the chest, and seeing the side-saddle, she said somewhat angrily, +"Why, children, where upon airth did you find my old stays?" We never +wondered again what made grandma's back keep its place so much better +than ours, and Bill had serious thoughts of trying the effect of the +stays upon himself. + +In the rear of our house, and sloping toward the setting sun, was a +long, winding lane, leading far down into a widespreading tract of +flowery woods, shady hillside, and grassy pasture land, each in their +turn highly suggestive of brown nuts, delicious strawberries, and +venomous snakes. These last were generally more the creatures of +imagination than of reality, for in all my wanderings over those +fields, and they were many, I never but once trod upon a green snake, +and only once was I chased by a white-ringed blacksnake; so I think I +am safe in saying that the snakes were not so numerous as were the +nuts and berries, which grew there in great profusion. + +A little to the right of the woods, where, in winter, Bill, Joe, +Lizzie, and I dragged our sleds and boards for the purpose of riding +down-hill, was a merry, frolicking stream of water, over which, in +times long gone, a sawmill had been erected; but owing to the +inefficiency of its former owner, or something else, the mill had +fallen into disuse, and gradually gone to decay. The water of the +brook, relieved from the necessity of turning the spluttering wheel, +now went gayly dancing down, down, into the depths of the dim old +woods, and far away, I never knew exactly where; but having heard +rumors of a jumping-off place, I had a vague impression that at that +spot the waters of the mill-dam put up! + +Near the sawmill, and partially hidden by the scraggy pine trees and +thick bushes which drooped over its entrance, was a long, dark +passage, leading underground, not so large, probably, as Mammoth Cave, +but in my estimation rivaling it in interest. This was an old mine, +where, years before, men had dug for gold. Strange stories were told +of those who, with blazing torches, and blazing noses, most likely, +there toiled for the yellow dust. The "Ancient Henry" himself, it was +said, sometimes left his affairs at home, and joined the nightly +revels in that mine, where cards and wine played a conspicuous part. +Be that as it may, the old mine was surrounded by a halo of fear which +we youngsters never cared to penetrate. + +On a fine afternoon an older sister would occasionally wander that +way, together with a young M.D., whose principal patient seemed to be +at our house, for his little black pony very frequently found shelter +in our stable by the side of "old sorrel." From the north garret +window I would watch them, wondering how they dared venture so near +the old mine, and wishing, mayhap, that the time would come when I, +with some daring doctor, would risk everything. The time _has come_, +but alas! instead of being a doctor, he is only a lawyer, who never +even saw the old mine in Rice Corner. + +Though I never ventured close to the old mine, there was not far from +it one pleasant spot where I loved dearly to go. It was on the +hillside, where, 'neath the shadow of a gracefully twining grapevine, +lay a large, flat rock. Thither would I often repair, and sit for +hours, listening to the hum of the running water brook, or the song +of the summer birds, who, like me, seemed to love that place. Often +would I gaze far off at the distant, misty horizon, wondering if I +should ever know what was beyond it. Wild fancies then filled my +childish brain. Strange voices whispered to me thoughts and ideas +which, if written down and carried out, would, I am sure, have placed +my name higher than it was carved on the old chestnut tree. + + "But they came and went like shadows, + Those blessed dreams of youth," + +I was a strange child, I know. Everybody told me so, and _I_ knew it +well enough without being told. The wise old men at Rice Corner, and +their still wiser old wives, looked at me askance, as 'neath the +thorn-apple tree I built my playhouse and baked my little loaves of +mud bread. But when, forgetful of others, I talked aloud to myriads of +little folks, unseen 'tis true, but still real to me, they shook their +gray heads ominously, and whispering to my mother said, "Mark our +words, that girl will one day be crazy. In ten years more she will be +an inmate of the madhouse!" + +And then I wondered what a madhouse was, and if the people there all +acted as our school-teacher did when Bill and the big girl said he was +mad! The ten years have passed, and I'm not in a madhouse yet, unless, +indeed, it is one of my own getting up! + +One thing more about Rice Corner, and then, honor bright, I'll finish +the preface and go on with the story. I must tell you about the old +schoolhouse, and the road which led to it. This last wound around a +long hill, and was skirted on either side with tall trees, flowering +dogwood, blackberry bushes, and frost grapevines. Half-way down the +hill, and under one of the tallest walnut trees, was a little hollow, +where dwelt the goblin with which nurses, housemaids, hired men, and +older sisters were wont to frighten refractory children into +quietness. It was the grave of an old negro. Alas! that to his last +resting-place the curse should follow him! Had it been a white person +who rested there, not half so fearful would have been the spot; now, +however, it was "the old nigger hole"--a place to run by if by +accident you were caught out after dark--a place to be threatened with +if you cried in the night and wanted the candle lighted--a landmark +where to stop when going part way home with the little girl who had +been to visit you, and who, on leaving you, ran no less swiftly than +you yourself did, half-fearing that the dusky form in the holly would +rise and try his skill at running. Verily, my heart has beat faster at +the thoughts of that dead negro than it ever has since at the sight of +a hundred live specimens, "'way down south on the old plantation." + +The old schoolhouse, too, had its advantages and its disadvantages; of +the latter, one was that there, both summer and winter, but more +especially during the last-mentioned season, all the rude boys in the +place thought they had a perfect right to congregate and annoy the +girls in every possible way. But never mind, not a few wry faces we +made at them, and not a few "blockheads" we pinned to their backs! Oh! +I've had rare times in that old house and have seen rare sights, too, +to say nothing of the fights which occasionally occurred. In these +last brother Joe generally took the lead of one party, while Jim Brown +commanded the other. Dire was the confusion which reigned at such +times. Books were hurled from side to side. Then followed in quick +succession shovel, tongs, poker, water cup, water pail, water and all; +and to cap the climax, Jim Brown once seized the large iron pan, which +stood upon the stove, half-filled with hot water, and hurled it in the +midst of the enemy. Luckily nobody was killed, and but few wounded. + +Years in their rapid flight have rolled away since then, and he, my +brother, is sleeping alone on the wild shore of California. + + "For scarcely had the sad tones died + Which echoed the farewell, + When o'er the western prairies + There came a funeral knell; + It said that he who went from us, + While yet upon his brow + The dew of youth was glistening, + Had passed to heaven now." + +James Brown, too, is resting in the churchyard, near his own home, and +'neath his own native sky. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BELLE OF RICE CORNER. + + +Yes, Rice Corner had a belle, but it was not I. Oh, no, nobody ever +mistook _me_ for a belle, or much of anything else, in fact; _I_ was +simply "Mary Jane," or, if that was not concise enough, "Crazy Jane" +set the matter all right. The belle of which I speak was a _bona fide_ +one--fine complexion, handsome features, beautiful eyes, curling hair, +and all. And yet in her composition there was something wanting, +something very essential, too; for she lacked soul, and would at any +time have sold her best friend for a flattering compliment. + +Still Carrie Howard was generally a favorite. The old people liked her +because her sparkling eye and merry laugh brought back to them a gleam +of youth; the young people liked her, because to dislike her would +seem like envy; and I, who was nothing, liked her because she was +pretty, and I greatly admired beauty, though I am not certain that I +should not have liked a handsome rosebud quite as well as I did Carrie +Howard's beautiful face, for beautiful she was. + +Her mother, good, plain Mrs. Howard, was entirely unlike her daughter. +She was simply "Mrs. Captain Howard," or, in other words, "Aunt +Eunice," whose benevolent smile and kindly beaming eye carried +contentment wherever she went. Really, I don't know how Rice Corner +could have existed one day without the presence of Aunt Eunice. Was +there a cut foot or hand in the neighborhood, hers was the salve which +healed it, almost as soon as applied. Was there a pale, fretful baby, +Aunt Eunice's large bundle of catnip was sure to soothe it, and did a +sick person need watchers, Aunt Eunice was the one who, three nights +out of the seven, trod softly and quietly about the sick-room, +anticipating each want before you yourself knew what it was, and +smoothing your tumbled pillow so gently that you almost felt it a +luxury to be sick, for the sake of being nursed by Aunt Eunice. The +very dogs and cats winked more composedly when she appeared; and even +the chickens learned her voice almost as soon as they did the cluck of +their "maternal ancestor." + +But we must stop, or we shall make Aunt Eunice out to be the belle, +instead of Carrie, who, instead of imitating her mother in her acts of +kindness, sat all day in the large old parlor, thumping away on a +rickety piano, or trying to transfer to broadcloth a poor little +kitty, whose face was sufficiently indicative of surprise at finding +its limbs so frightfully distorted. + +When Carrie was fifteen years of age her father, concluding that she +knew all which could possibly be learned in the little brown house +where Joe and Jim once fought so fiercely, sent her for three years to +Albany. It was currently reported that the uncle with whom she boarded +received his pay in butter, cheese, potatoes, apples, and other +commodities, which were the product of Captain Howard's farm. Whether +this was true or not I am not prepared to say, but I suppose it was, +for it was told by those who had no ostensible business except to +attend to other people's affairs, and I am sure they ought to have +known all about it, and probably did. + +I cannot help thinking that Captain Howard made a mistake in sending +Carrie away; for when at the end of three years she had "finished her +education," and returned home, she was not half so good a scholar as +some of those who had pored patiently over their books in the old +brown house. Even _I_ could beat her in spelling, for soon after she +came home the boys teased for a spelling school. I rather think they +were quite as anxious for a chance to go home with the girls as they +were to have their knowledge of Webster tested. Be that as it may, +Carrie was there, and was, of course, chosen first; but _I_, "little +crazy Jane," spelled the the whole school down! I thought Carrie was +not quite so handsome as she might be, when with an angry frown she +dropped into her seat, hissed by a big, cross-eyed, red-haired boy, in +the corner, because she _happened_ to spell pumpkin, "_p-u-n pun k-i-n +kin, punkin_." I do not think she ever quite forgave me for the pert, +loud way in which I spelled the word correctly, for she never gave any +more calicos or silks, and instead of calling me "Mollie," as she had +before done, she now addressed me as "Miss Mary." + +Carrie possessed one accomplishment which the other girls did not. She +could play the piano most skilfully, although as yet she had no +instrument. Three weeks, however, after her return a rich man, who +lived in the village which was known as "Over the River," failed, and +all his furniture was sold at auction. Many were the surmises of my +grandmother, on the morning of the sale, as to what "Cap'n Howard +could be going to buy at the _vandue_ and put in the big lumber +wagon," which he drove past our house. + +As the day drew to a close I was posted at the window to telegraph as +soon as "Cap'n Howard's" white horses appeared over the hill. They +came at last, but the long box in his wagon told no secret. Father, +however, explained all, by saying that he had bid off Mr. Talbott's +old piano for seventy dollars! Grandma shook her head mournfully at +the degeneracy of the age, while sister Anna spoke sneeringly of Mr. +Talbott's cracked piano. Next day, arrayed in my Sunday red merino and +white apron--a present from some cousin out West--I went to see +Carrie; and truly, the music she drew from that old piano charmed me +more than the finest performances since have done. Carrie and her +piano were now the theme of every tongue, and many wondered how +Captain Howard could afford to pay for three years' music lessons; but +this was a mystery yet to be solved. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MONSIEUR PENOYER. + + +When Carrie had been at home about three months all Rice Corner one +day flew to the doors and windows to look at a stranger, a gentleman +with fierce mustaches, who seemed not at all certain of his latitude, +and evidently wanted to know where he was going. At least, if _he_ +didn't, they who watched him did. + +Grandma, whose longevity had not impaired her guessing faculties, +first suggested that "most likely it was Caroline Howard's beau." This +was altogether too probable to be doubted, and as grandmother had long +contemplated a visit to Aunt Eunice, she now determined to go that +very afternoon, as she "could judge for herself what kind of a match +Car'line had made." Mother tried to dissuade her from going that day, +but the old lady was incorrigible, and directly after dinner, dressed +in her bombazine, black silk apron, work bag, knitting and all she +departed for Captain Howard's. + +They wouldn't confess it, but I knew well enough that Juliet and Anna +were impatient for her return, and when the shadows of twilight began +to fall I was twice sent into the road to see if she was coming. The +last time I was successful, and in a few moments grandmother was among +us; but whatever she knew she kept to herself until the lamps were +lighted in the sitting-room, and she, in her stuffed rocking-chair, +was toeing off the stocking only that morning commenced. Then, at a +hint from Anna, she cast toward Lizzie and me a rueful glance, saying: +"There are too many _pitchers_ here!" I knew then just as well as I +did five minutes after that Lizzie and I must go to bed. There was no +help for it, and we complied with a tolerably good grace. Lizzie +proposed that we should listen, but somehow I couldn't do that, and up +to this time I don't exactly know what grandmother told them. + +The next day, however, I heard enough to know that his name was +Penoyer; that grandma didn't like him; that he had as much hair on his +face as on his head; that Aunt Eunice would oppose the match, and that +he would stay over Sunday. With this last I was delighted, for I +should see him at church. I saw him before that, however; for it was +unaccountable what a fancy Carrie suddenly took for traversing the +woods and riding on horseback, for which purpose grandfather's +side-saddle (not the one with which Joe saddled his pony!) was +borrowed, and then, with her long curls and blue riding-skirt floating +in the wind, Carrie galloped over hills and through valleys, +accompanied by Penoyer, who was a fierce-looking fellow, with black +eyes, black hair, black whiskers, and black face. + +I couldn't help fancying that the negro who lay beneath the walnut +tree had resembled him, and I cried for fear Carrie might marry so +ugly a man, thinking it would not be altogether unlike, "Beauty and +the Beast." Sally, our housemaid, said that "most likely he'd prove to +be some poor, mean scamp. Anyway, seein' it was plantin' time, he'd +better be _to hum_ tendin' to his own business, if he had any." + +Sally was a shrewd, sharp-sighted girl, and already had her preference +in favor of Michael Welsh, father's hired man. Walking, riding on +horseback, and wasting time generally, Sally held in great abhorrence. +"All she wished to say to Mike on week days, she could tell him +milking time." On Sundays, however, it was different, and regularly +each Sunday night found Mike and Sally snugly ensconced in the "great +room," while under the windows occasionally might have been seen, +three or four curly heads, eager to hear something about which to +tease Sally during the week. + +But to return to Monsieur Penoyer, as Carrie called him. His stay was +prolonged beyond the Sabbath, and on Tuesday I was sent to Captain +Howard's on an errand. I found Aunt Eunice in the kitchen, her round, +rosy face, always suggestive of seed cake and plum pudding, flushed +with exertion, her sleeves tucked up and her arms buried in a large +wooden bowl of dough, which she said was going to be made into loaves +of 'lection cake, as Carrie was to have a party to-morrow, and I had +come just in time to carry invitations to my sisters. + +Carrie was in the parlor, and attracted by the sound of music, I drew +near the door, when Aunt Eunice kindly bade me enter. I did so, and +was presented to Monsieur Penoyer. At first I was shy of him, for I +remembered that Sally had said, "he don't know nothin'," and this in +my estimation was the worst crime of which he could be guilty. +Gradually my timidity gave way, and when, at Carrie's request, he +played and sang for me, I was perfectly delighted, although I +understood not a word he said. + +When he finished Carrie told him I was a little poet, and then +repeated some foolish lines I had once written about her eyes. It was +a very handsome set of teeth which he showed, as he said, +"_Magnifique! Tree bien!_ She be another grand _Dr. Wattts!_" + +I knew not who Dr. Watts was, but on one point my mind was made +up--Monsieur Penoyer knew a great deal! Ere I left Carrie commissioned +me to invite my sisters to her party on the morrow, and as I was +leaving the room Mr. Penoyer said, "_Ma chère,_ Carrie, why vous no +invite a petite girl!" + +Accordingly I was invited, with no earthly prospect, however, of +mother's letting me go. And she didn't either; so next day, after +Juliet and Anna were gone, I went out behind the smokehouse and cried +until I got sleepy, and a headache too; then, wishing to make mother +think I had _run away_, I crept carefully up-stairs to Bill's room, +where I slept until Sally's sharp eyes ferreted me out, saying, "they +were all scared to death about me, and had looked for me high and +low," up in the garret and down in the well, I supposed. Concluding +they were plagued enough, I condescended to go down-stairs, and have +my head bathed in camphor and my feet parboiled in hot water; then I +went to bed and dreamed of white teeth, curling mustaches and "_Parlez +vous Français_." + +Of what occurred at the party I will tell you as was told to me. All +the _élite_ of Rice Corner were there, of course, and as each new +arrival entered the parlor, M. Penoyer eyed them coolly through an +opera glass. Sister Anna returned his inspection with the worst face +she could well make up, for which I half-blamed her and half didn't, +as I felt sure I should have done the same under like circumstances. + +When all the invited guests had arrived except myself (alas, no one +asked why I tarried), there ensued an awkward silence, broken only by +the parrot-like chatter of M. Penoyer, who seemed determined to talk +nothing but French, although Carrie understood him but little better +than did the rest. At last he was posted up to the piano. + +"_Mon Dieu_, it be von horrid tone," said he; then off he dashed into +a galloping waltz, keeping time with his head, mouth, and eyes, which +threatened to leave their sockets and pounce upon the instrument. +Rattlety-bang went the piano--like lightning went monsieur's fingers, +first here, then there, right or wrong, hit or miss, and oftener miss +than hit--now alighting among the keys promiscuously, then with a +tremendous thump making all bound again--and finishing up with a +flourish, which snapped two strings and made all the rest groan in +sympathy, as did the astonished listeners. For a time all was still, +and then a little modest girl, Lily Gordon, her face blushing crimson, +said: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but haven't you taught music?" + +The veins in his forehead swelled, as, darting a wrathful look at poor +Lily, he exclaimed, "_Le Diabel!_ vat vous take me for? Von dem +musique teacher, eh?" + +Poor Lily tried to stammer her apologies, while Carrie sought to +soothe the enraged Frenchman by saying, that "Miss Gordon was merely +complimenting his skill in music." + +At this point the carriage which carried persons to and from the depot +drove up, and from it alighted a very small, genteel-looking lady, who +rapped at the door and asked, "if Captain Howard lived there." + +In a moment Carrie was half-stifling her with kisses, exclaiming, +"Dear Agnes, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not expect you so +soon." + +The lady called Agnes was introduced as Miss Hovey, a schoolmate of +Carrie's. She seemed very much disposed to make herself at home, for, +throwing her hat in one place and her shawl in another, she seated +herself at the piano, hastily running over a few notes; then with a +gesture of impatience, she said, "Oh, horrid! a few more such sounds +would give me the vapors for a month; why don't you have it tuned?" + +Ere Carrie could reply Agnes' eyes lighted upon Penoyer, who, either +with or without design, had drawn himself as closely into a corner as +he well could. Springing up, she brought her little hands together +with energy, exclaiming, "Now, Heaven defend me, what fresh game +brought you here?" Then casting on Carrie an angry glance, she said, +in a low tone, "What does it mean? Why didn't you tell me?" + +Carrie drew nearer, and said coaxingly, "I didn't expect you so soon; +but never mind, he leaves to-morrow. For my sake treat him decently." + +The pressure which Agnes gave Carrie's hand seemed to say, "For your +sake I will, but for no other." Then turning to Penoyer, who had risen +to his feet, she said, respectfully, "I hardly expected to meet you +here, sir." + +Her tone and manner had changed. Penoyer knew it, and with the +coolest effrontery imaginable he came forward, bowing and scraping, +and saying, "_Comment vous portez-vous, mademoiselle. Je suis +perfaitement_ delighted to see you," at the same time offering her his +hand. + +All saw with what hauteur she declined it, but only one, and that was +Anna, heard her as she said, "Keep off, Penoyer; don't make a donkey +of yourself." It was strange, Anna said, "how far into his boots +Penoyer tried to draw himself," while at each fresh flash of Agnes' +keen black eyes, he winced, either from fear or sympathy. + +The restraint which had surrounded the little company gave way beneath +the lively sallies and sparkling wit of Agnes, who, instead of seeming +amazed at the country girls, was apparently as much at ease as though +she had been entertaining a drawing-room full of polished city belles. +When at last the party broke up, each and every one was in love with +the little Albany lady, although all noticed that Carrie seemed +troubled, watching Agnes narrowly; and whenever she saw her +_tête-à -tête_ with either of her companions she would instantly draw +near, and seemed greatly relieved on finding that Penoyer was not the +subject of conversation. + +"I told you so," was grandmother's reply, when informed of all this. +"I told you so. I knew Car'line warn't going to make out no great." + +Juliet and Anna thought so too, but this did not prevent them from +running to the windows next morning to see Penoyer as he passed on his +way to the cars. I, who with Lizzie was tugging away at a big board +with which we thought to make a "see-saw," was honored with a graceful +wave of monsieur's hands, and the words, "_Au revoir, ma chère +Marie_." + +That day Phoebe, Aunt Eunice's hired girl, came to our house. +Immediately Juliet and Anna assailed her a multitude of questions. The +amount of knowledge obtained was that "Miss Hovey was a lady, and no +mistake, for she had sights of silks and jewelry, and she that morning +went with Phoebe to see her milk, although she didn't dare venture +inside the yard. But," added Phoebe, "for all she was up so early she +did not come out to breakfast until that gentleman was gone." + +This was fresh proof that Penoyer was not _comme il faut_, and Anna +expressed her determination to find out all about him ere Agnes went +home. _I_ remembered "_Dr. Watts_" and the invitation to the party, +and secretly hoped she would find out nothing bad. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +COUSIN EMMA. + + +Agnes had been in town about two weeks, when my home was one morning +thrown into a state of unusual excitement by the arrival of a letter +from Boston, containing the intelligence that Cousin Emma Rushton, who +had been an invalid for more than a year, was about to try the effect +of country life and country air. + +This piece of news operated differently upon different members of our +family. Juliet exclaimed, "Good, good; Carrie Howard won't hold her +head quite so high now, for we shall have a city lady, too." Anna was +delighted, because she would thus have an opportunity of acquiring +city manners and city fashions. Sally said snappishly, "There's enough +to wait on now, without having a stuck-up city flirt, faintin' at the +sight of a worm, and screechin' if a fly comes toward her." Mother had +some misgivings on the subject. She was perfectly willing Emma should +come, but she doubted our ability to entertain her, knowing that the +change would be great from a fashionable city home to a country +farmhouse. Grandmother, who loved to talk of "my daughter in the +city," was pleased, and to console mother, said: + +"Never you mind, Fanny, leave her to me; you find victuals and drink, +and I'll do the entertaining." + +Among so many opinions it was hard for me to arrive at a conclusion. +On the whole, however, I was glad, until told that during Cousin +Emma's stay our garret gambols must be given up, and that I must not +laugh loud, or scarcely speak above a whisper, for she was sick, and +it would hurt her head. Then I wished Cousin Emma and Cousin Emma's +head would stay where they belonged. + +The letter was received on Monday, but Emma would not come until +Thursday; so there was ample time for "fixing up." The parlor-chamber +was repapered, the carpet taken up and shaken, red and white curtains +hung at the windows, a fresh ball of Castile soap bought for the +washstand, and on Thursday morning our pretty flower beds were shorn +of their finest ornaments with which to make bouquets for the parlor +and parlor-chamber. Besides that, Sally had filled the pantry with +cakes, pies, gingerbread, and Dutch cheese, to the last of which I +fancied Emma's city taste would not take kindly. Then there was in the +cellar a barrel of fresh beer; so everything was done which could be +expected. + +When I went home for my dinner that day I teased hard to be allowed to +stay out of school for one afternoon, but mother said "No," although +she suffered me to wear my pink gingham, with sundry injunctions "not +to burst the hooks and eyes all off before night." This, by the way, +was my besetting sin; I never could climb a tree, no matter what the +size might be without invariably coming down minus at least six hooks +and eyes; but I seriously thought I should get over it when I got +older and joined the church. + +That afternoon seemed of interminable length, but at last I saw +father's carriage coming, and quick as thought I threw my grammar out +of the window; after which I demurely asked "to go out and get a book +which I had dropped." Permission was granted and I was out just in +time to courtesy straight down, as father pointing to me, said: +"There, that's our little crazy Mollie," and then I got a glimpse of a +remarkably sweet face, which made the tears come in my eyes, it was so +pale. + +Perhaps I wronged our school-teacher; I think I did, for she has since +died; but really I fancied she kept us longer that night on purpose. +At least, it was nearly five before we were dismissed. Then, with my +bonnet in hand, I ran for home, falling down once and bursting off the +lower hook! I entered the house with a bound, but was quieted by +grandmother, who said Emma was lying down, and I mustn't disturb her. + +After waiting some time for her to make her appearance, I stole softly +up the stairs and looked in where she was. She saw me, and instantly +rising, said with a smile that went to my heart: + +"And this must be Mary, the little crazy girl; come and kiss your +Cousin Emma." + +Twining my arms around her neck, I think I must have cried, for she +repeatedly asked me what was the matter, and as I could think of no +better answer, I at last told her "I didn't like to have folks call me +_crazy_. I couldn't help acting like _Sal Furbush_, the old crazy +woman, who threatened to toss us up in the umbrella." + +"Forgive me, darling," said Emma coaxingly; "I will not do it again;" +then stooping down, she looked intently into my eyes, soliloquizing, +"Yes, it is wrong to tell her so." + +In a few moments I concluded Emma was the most beautiful creature in +the world; I would not even except Carrie Howard. Emma's features were +perfectly regular, and her complexion white and pure as alabaster. Her +hair, which was a rich auburn, lay around her forehead in thick waves, +but her great beauty consisted in her lustrous blue eyes, which were +very large and dark. When she was pleased they laughed, and when she +was sad they were sad too. Her dress was a white muslin wrapper, +confined at the waist by a light blue ribbon, while one of the same +hue encircled her neck, and was fastened by a small gold pin, which, +with the exception of the costly diamond ring on her finger, was the +only ornament she wore. + +When supper was ready I proudly led her to the dining-room, casting a +look of triumph at Juliet and Anna, and feeling, it may be, a _trifle_ +above grandmother, who said, "Don't be troublesome, child." + +How grateful I was when Emma answered for me, "She doesn't trouble me +in the least; I am very fond of children." + +Indeed, she seemed to be very fond of everybody and everything--all +except Sally's Dutch cheese, which, as I expected, she hardly +relished. In less than three days she was beloved by all the +household, Billy whispering to me confidentially that "never before +had he seen any one except _mother_, whom he would like to marry." + +Saturday afternoon Carrie and Agnes called on Emma, and as I saw them +together I fancied I had never looked on three more charming faces. +They appeared mutually pleased with each other, too, although for some +reason there seemed to be more affinity between Emma and Agnes. Carrie +appeared thoughtful and absent-minded, which made Anna joke her about +her "lover, Penoyer." As she was about leaving the room she made no +reply, but after she was gone Agnes looked searchingly at Anna and +said: + +"Is it possible, Miss Anna, that you are so mistaken?" + +"How--why?" asked Emma. "Is Penoyer a bad man? What is his +occupation?" + +"His occupation is well enough," returned Agnes. "I would not think +less of him for that, were he right in other respects. However, he was +Carrie's and my own music teacher." + +"Impossible," said Anna, but at that moment Carrie reentered the room, +and, together with Agnes, soon took her leave. + +"Penoyer a music teacher, after all his anger at Lily Gordon for +suggesting such an idea!" This was now the theme of Juliet and Anna, +although they wondered what there was so _bad_ about him--something, +evidently, from Agnes' manner, and for many days they puzzled their +brains in vain to solve the mystery. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +RICHARD EVELYN AND HARLEY ASHMORE. + + +Emma had not long been with us ere her fame reached the little +"village over the river," and drew from thence many calls, both from +gentlemen and ladies. Among these was a Mr. Richard Evelyn and his +sister, both of whom had the honor of standing on the topmost round of +the aristocratic ladder in the village. Mr. Evelyn, who was nearly +thirty years of age, was a wealthy lawyer, and what is a little +remarkable for that craft (I speak from experience), to an unusual +degree of intelligence and polish of manners, he added many social and +_religious_ qualities. Many kind hearted mothers, who had on their +hands good-for-nothing daughters, wondered how he managed to live +without a wife, but he seemed to think it the easiest thing in nature, +for, since the death of his parents, his sister Susan had acted in the +capacity of his housekeeper. + +I have an idea that grandmother, whose disposition was slightly spiced +with a love for match-making, bethought herself how admirably Mr. +Evelyn and Emma were suited for each other; for after his calls became +frequent I heard her many times slyly hint of the possibility of our +being able to keep Emma in town always. _She_ probably did not think +so; for each time after being teased, she repaired to her room and +read for the twentieth time some ominous-looking letters which she had +received since being with as. + +It was now three weeks since she came, and each day she had gained in +health and strength. Twice had she walked to the woods, accompanied by +Mr. Evelyn, once to the schoolhouse, while every day she swung under +the old maple. About this time Agnes began to think of returning +home, so Juliet and Anna determined on a party in honor of her and +Emma. It was a bright summer afternoon; and for a wonder I was +suffered to remain from school, although I received numerous charges +to keep my tongue still, and was again reminded of that excellent old +proverb (the composition of some old maid, I know), "_Children_ should +be seen and not heard;" so, seated in a corner, my hand pressed +closely over my mouth, the better to guard against contingencies, I +looked on and thought, with ineffable satisfaction, how much handsomer +Cousin Emma was than any one else, although I could not help +acknowledging that Carrie never looked more beautiful than she did +that afternoon in a neatly-fitting white muslin, with a few rosebuds +nestling in her long, glossy curls. + +Matters were going on swimmingly, and I had three times ventured a +remark, when Anna, who was sitting near the window, exclaimed, "Look +here, girls, did you ever see a finer-looking gentleman?" at the same +time calling their attention to a stranger in the street. Emma looked, +too, and the bright flush which suffused her cheek made me associate +the gentleman with the letters she had received, and I was not +surprised when he entered our yard and knocked at our door. Juliet +arose to answer his summons, but Emma prevented her, saying; + +"Suffer me to go, will you?" + +She was gone some time, and when she returned was accompanied by the +stranger, whom she introduced as Mr. Ashmore. I surveyed him with +childish curiosity, and drew two very satisfactory breaths when I saw +that he was wholly unlike Monsieur Penoyer. He was a very fine-looking +man, but I did not exactly like the expression of his face. It was +hardly open enough to suit me, and I noticed that he never looked you +directly in the eye. In five minutes I had come to the conclusion that +he was not half so good a man as Mr. Evelyn. I was in great danger, +however, of changing my mind, when I saw how fondly his dark eye +rested on Emma, and how delighted he seemed to be at her improved +health; and when he, without any apparent exertion, kept the whole +company entertained, I was charmed, and did not blame Emma for liking +him. Anna's doctor was nothing to him, and I even fancied that he +would dare to go _all alone_ to the old mine! + +Suddenly he faced about, and espying me in the corner, he said, "Here +is a little lady I've not seen. Will some one introduce me?" + +With the utmost gravity Anna said, "It is my sister, little crazy +Jane." + +I glanced quickly at him to see how he would receive the intelligence, +and when, looking inquiringly first at me and then at Emma, he said, +"Is it really so? what a pity!" the die was cast--I never liked him +again. That night in my little low bed, long after Lizzie was asleep, +I wept bitterly, wondering what made Anna so unkind, and why people +called me crazy. I knew I looked like other children, and I thought I +acted like them, too; unless, indeed, I climbed more trees, tore more +dresses, and burst off more hooks. + +But to return to the party. After a time I thought that Mr. Ashmore's +eyes went over admiringly to Carrie more frequently than was +necessary, and for once I regretted that she was so pretty. Ere long, +Mr. Ashmore, too, went over, and immediately there ensued between +himself and Carrie a lively conversation, in which she adroitly +managed to let him know that she had been three years at school in +Albany. The next thing that I saw was that he took from her curls a +rosebud and appropriated it to his buttonhole. I glanced at Emma to +see how she was affected, but her face was perfectly calm, and wore +the old sweet smile. When the young ladies were about leaving, I was +greatly shocked to see Mr. Ashmore offer to accompany Carrie and Agnes +home. + +After they were gone grandmother said, "Emma, if I's you, I'd put a +stop to that chap's flirtin' so with Car'line Howard." + +Emma laughed gaily as she replied, "Oh, grandma, I can trust Harley; +I have been sick so long that he has the privilege of walking or +riding with anybody he pleases." + +Grandmother shook her head, saying, "It wasn't so with her and our +poor grandfather;" then I fell into a fit of musing as to whether +grandma was ever young, and if she ever fixed her hair before the +glass, as Anna did when she expected the doctor! In the midst of my +reverie Mr. Ashmore returned, and for the remainder of the evening +devoted himself so entirely to Emma that I forgave him for going home +with Carrie. Next day, however, he found the walk to Captain Howard's +a very convenient one, staying a long time, too. The next day it was +the same, and the next, and the next, until I fancied that even Emma +began to be anxious. + +Grandma was highly indignant, and Sally declared, "that, as true as +she lived and breathed, if Mike should serve her so, he'd catch it." +About this time Agnes went home. The evening before she left she spent +at our house with Emma, of whom she seemed to be very fond. Carrie and +Ashmore were, as usual, out riding or walking, and the conversation +naturally turned upon them. At last, Anna, whose curiosity was still +on the alert to know something of Penoyer, asked Agnes of him. I will +repeat, in substance, what Agnes said. + +It seems that for many years Penoyer had been a teacher of music in +Albany. Agnes was one of his pupils, and while teaching her music he +thought proper to fall overwhelmingly in love with her. This for a +time she did not notice; but when his attentions became so pointed as +to become a subject of remark, she very coolly tried to make him +understand his position. He persevered, however, until he became +exceedingly impudent and annoying. + +About this time there came well-authenticated stories of his being not +only a professed gambler, but also very dissipated in his habits. To +this last charge Agnes could testify, as his breath had frequently +betrayed him. He was accordingly dismissed. Still he perseveringly +pursued her, always managing, if possible, to get near her in all +public places, and troubling her in various ways. + +At last Agnes heard that he was showing among her acquaintances two +notes bearing her signature. The contents of these notes he covered +with his hand, exposing to view only her name. She had twice written, +requesting him to purchase some new piece of music, and it was these +messages which he was now showing, insinuating that Agnes thought +favorably of him, but was opposed by her father. The consequence of +this was, that the next time Agnes' brother met Penoyer in the street, +he gave him a sound caning, ordering him, under pain of a worse +flogging, never again to mention his sister's name. This he was +probably more willing to do, as he had already conceived a great +liking for Carrie, who was silly enough to be pleased with and suffer +his attentions. + +"I wonder, though, that Carrie allowed him to visit her," said Agnes; +"but then I believe she is under some obligations to him, and dare not +refuse when he asked permission to come." + +If Agnes knew what these obligations were she did not tell, and +grandmother, who, during the narration had knit with unwonted speed, +making her needles rattle again, said, "It's plain to me that Caroline +let him come to make folks think she had got a city beau." + +"Quite likely," returned Agnes; "Carrie is a sad flirt, but I think, +at least, that she should not interfere with other people's rights." + +Here my eye followed hers to Emma, who, I thought, was looking a +little paler. Just then Carrie and Ashmore came in, and the latter +throwing himself upon the sofa by the side of Emma, took her hand +caressingly, saying, "How are you to-night, my dear?" + +"Quite well," was her quiet reply, and soon after, under pretense of +moving from the window, she took a seat across the room. That night +Mr. Ashmore accompanied Carrie and Agnes home, and it was at a much +later hour than usual that old Rover first growled and then whined as +he recognized our visitor. + +The next morning Emma was suffering from a severe headache, which +prevented her from appearing at breakfast. Mr. Ashmore seemed somewhat +disturbed, and made many anxious inquiries about her. At dinner-time +she was well enough to come, and the extreme kindness of Mr. Ashmore's +manner called a deep glow to her cheek. After dinner, however, he +departed for a walk, taking his accustomed road toward Captain +Howard's. + +When I returned from school he was still absent, and as Emma was quite +well, she asked me to accompany her to my favorite resort, the old +rock beneath the grapevine. We were soon there, and for a long time we +sat watching the shadows as they came and went upon the bright green +grass, and listening to the music of the brook, which seemed to me to +sing more sadly than it was wont to do. + +Suddenly our ears were arrested by the sound of voices, which we knew +belonged to Mr. Ashmore and Carrie. They were standing near us, just +behind a clump of alders, and Carrie, in reply to something Mr. +Ashmore had said, answered, "Oh, you can't be in earnest, for you have +only known me ten days, and beside that, what have you done with your +pale, sick lady?" + +Instantly I started up, clinching my fist in imitation of brother +Billy when he was angry, but Cousin Emma's arm was thrown convulsively +around me, as drawing me closely to her side she whispered, "Keep +quiet." + +I did keep quiet, and listened while Mr. Ashmore replied, "I entertain +for Miss Rushton the highest esteem, for I know she possesses many +excellent qualities. Once I thought I loved her (how tightly Emma held +me), but she has been sick a long time, and somehow I cannot marry an +invalid. Whether she ever gets well is doubtful, and even if she +does, after having seen you, she can be nothing to me. And yet I like +her, and when I am alone with her I almost fancy I love her, but one +look at your sparkling, healthy face drives her from my mind--" + +The rest of what he said I could not hear, neither did I understand +Carrie's answer, but his next words were distinct, "My dear Carrie +forever." + +I know the brook stopped running, or at least I did not hear it. The +sun went down; the birds went to rest; Mr. Ashmore and Carrie went +home; and still I sat there by the side of Emma, who had lain her head +in my lap, and was so still and motionless that the dread fear came +over me that she might be dead. I attempted to lift her up, saying, +"Cousin Emma, speak to me, won't you?" but she made me no answer, and +another ten minutes went by. By this time the stars had come out and +were looking quietly down upon us. The waters of the mill-dam chanted +mournfully, and in my disordered imagination, fantastic images danced +before the entrance of the old mine. Half-crying with fear, I again +laid my hand on Emma's head. Her hair was wet with the heavy night +dews, and my eyes were wet with something else, as I said, "Oh, Emma, +speak to me, for I am afraid and want to go home." + +This roused her, and lifting up her head I caught a glimpse of a face +of so startling whiteness that, throwing my arms around her neck, I +cried, "Oh, Emma, dear Emma, don't look so. I love you a great deal +better than I do Carrie Howard, and so I am sure does Mr. Evelyn." + +I don't know how I chanced to think of Mr. Evelyn, but he recurred to +me naturally enough. All thoughts of him, however, were soon driven +from my mind by the sound of Emma's voice as she said, "Mollie, +darling, can you keep a secret?" + +I didn't think I could, as I never had been intrusted with one, so I +advised her to give it to Anna, who was very fond of them. But she +said, "I am sure you can do it, Mollie. Promise me that you will not +tell them at home what you have seen or heard." + +I promised, and then in my joy at owning a secret, I forgot the little +figures which waltzed back and forth before the old mine, I forgot the +woods through which we passed, nor was the silence broken until we +reached the lane. Then I said, "What shall we tell the folks when they +ask where we have been?" + +"Leave that to me," answered Emma. + +As we drew near the house we met grandmother, Juliet, Anna and Sally, +all armed and equipped for a general hunt. We were immediately +assailed with a score of questions as to what had kept us so long. I +looked to Emma for the answer, at the same time keeping my hand +tightly over my mouth for fear I should tell. + +"We found more things of interest than we expected," said Emma, +"consequently tarried longer than we should otherwise have done." + +"Why, how hoarse you be," said grandmother, while Sally continued, +"Starlight is a mighty queer time to see things in." + +"Some things look better by starlight," answered Emma; "but we stayed +longer than we ought to, for I have got a severe headache and must go +immediately to bed." + +"Have some tea first," said grandmother. + +"And some strawberries and cream," repeated Sally; but Emma declined +both and went at once to her room. + +Mr. Ashmore did not come home until late that night, for I was awake +and heard him stumbling up-stairs in the dark. I remember, too, of +having experienced the very benevolent wish that he would break his +neck! As I expected, Emma did not make her appearance at the breakfast +table, but about ten she came down to the parlor and asked to see Mr. +Ashmore alone. Of what occurred during that interval I never knew, +except that at its close cousin looked very white, and Mr. Ashmore +very black, notwithstanding which he soon took his accustomed walk to +Captain Howard's. He was gone about three hours, and on his return +announced his intention of going to Boston in the afternoon train. No +one opposed him, for all were glad to have him go. + +Just before he left, grandmother, who knew all was not right, said to +him: "Young man, I wish you well; but mind what I say, you'll get your +pay yet for the capers you've cut here." + +"I beg your pardon, madam," he returned, with much more emphasis on +_madam_ than was at all necessary, "I beg your pardon, but I think she +has cut the capers; at least she dismissed me of her own accord." + +I thought of what I had heard, but 'twas a secret, so I kept it +safely, although I almost bit my tongue off in my zealous efforts. +After Ashmore was gone, Emma, who had taken a violent cold the evening +before, took her bed, and was slightly ill for nearly a week. Almost +every day Mr. Evelyn called to see how she was, always bringing her a +fresh bouquet of flowers. On Thursday, Carrie called, bringing Emma +some ice-cream which Aunt Eunice had made. She did not ask to see her, +but before she left she asked Anna if she did not wish to buy her old +piano. + +"What will you do without it?" asked Anna. + +"Oh," said Carrie, "I cannot use two. I have got a new one." + +The stocking dropped from grandmother's hand as she exclaimed: "What +is the world a-comin' to! Got two pianners! Where'd you get 'em?" + +"My new one was a present, and came from Boston," answered Carrie, +with the utmost _sang froid_. + +"You don't say Ashmore sent it to you! How much did it cost?" asked +grandma. + +"Mr. Ashmore wrote that it cost three hundred and fifty dollars," was +Carrie's reply. + +Grandmother was perfectly horror-stricken; but desirous of making +Carrie feel as comfortable as possible, she said, "S'posin somebody +should tell him about Penoyer?" + +For an instant Carrie turned pale, as she said quickly, "What does any +one know about him to tell?" + +"A great deal--more than you think they do--yes, a great deal," was +grandma's answer. + +After that Carrie came _very_ frequently to see us, always bringing +something nice for Emma _or grandma_! + +Meanwhile Mr. Evelyn's visits continued, and when at last Emma could +see him I was sure that she received him more kindly than she ever had +before. "That'll go yet," was grandma's prediction. But her scheming +was cut short by a letter from Emma's father, requesting her immediate +return. Mr. Evelyn, who found he had business which required his +presence in Worcester, was to accompany her thus far. It was a sad day +when she left us, for she was a universal favorite. Sally cried, I +cried, and Bill either cried or made believe, for he very +industriously wiped his eyes and nasal organ on his shirt sleeves: +besides that, things went on wrong side up generally. Grandma was +cross--Sally was cross--and the school-teacher was cross; the bucket +fell into the well, and the cows got into the corn. I got called up at +school and set with some hateful boys, one of whom amused himself by +pricking me with a pin, and when, in self-defense, I gave him a good +pinch, he actually yelled out: "She keeps a-pinchin' me!" On the +whole, 'twas a dreadful day, and when at night I threw myself +exhausted upon my little bed I cried myself to sleep, thinking of +Cousin Emma and wishing she would come back. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MIKE AND SALLY. + + +I have spoken of Sally, but have said nothing of Mike, whom, of all my +father's hired men, I liked the best. He it was who made the best +cornstalk fiddles, and whittled out the shrillest whistles with which +to drive grandma "ravin' distracted." He, too, it was who, on cold +winter mornings, carried Lizzie to school in his arms, making me +forget how my fingers ached, by telling some exploit of _his_ +schooldays. + +I do not wonder that Sally liked him, and I always had an idea how +that liking would end, but did not think it would be so soon. +Consequently I suspected nothing when Sally's white dress was bleached +on the grass in the clothesyard for nearly a week. One day Billy came +to me with a face full of wonder, saying he had just overheard Mike +tell one of the men that he and Sally were going to be married in a +few weeks. + +I knew now what all that bleaching was for, and why Sally bought so +much cotton lace of pedlers. I was in ecstasies, too, for I had never +seen anyone married, but regretted the circumstance, whatever it might +have been, which prevented me from being present at mother's marriage. +Like many other children I have been deceived into the belief that the +marriage ceremony consisted mainly in leaping the broomstick, and by +myself I had frequently tried the experiment, delighted to find that I +could jump it at almost any distance from the ground; but I had some +misgivings as to Sally's ability to clear the stick, for she was +rather clumsy; however, I should see the fun, for they were to be +married at our house. + +A week before the time appointed mother was taken very ill, which +made it necessary that the wedding should be postponed, or take place +somewhere else. To the first Mike would not hear, and as good old +Parson S----, whose sermons were never more than two hours long, came +regularly every Sunday night to preach in the schoolhouse, Mike +proposed that they be married there. Sally did not like this exactly, +but grandmother, who now ruled the household, said it was just the +thing, and accordingly it took place there. + +The house was filled full, and those who could not obtain seats took +their station near the windows. Our party was early, but I was three +times compelled to relinquish my seat in favor of more distinguished +persons, and I began to think that if any one was obliged to go home +for want of room, it would be me; but I resolutely determined not to +go. I'd climb the chestnut tree first! At last I was squeezed on a +high desk between two old ladies, wearing two old black bonnets, their +breath sufficiently tinctured with tobacco smoke to be very +disagreeable to me, whose olfactories chanced to be rather +aristocratic than otherwise. + +To my horror Father S---- concluded to give us the sermon before he +did the bride. He was afraid some of his audience would leave. +Accordingly there ensued a prayer half an hour long, after which eight +verses of a long meter psalm were sung to the tune of Windham. By this +time I gave a slight sign to the two old ladies that I would like to +move, but they merely shook their two black bonnets at me, telling me, +in fierce whispers, that "I mustn't stir in meetin'." Mustn't stir! I +wonder how I could stir, squeezed in as I was, unless they chose to +let me. So I sat bolt upright, looking straight ahead at a point where +the tips of my red shoes were visible, for my feet were sticking +straight out. + +All at once my attention was drawn to a spider on the wall, who was +laying a net for a fly, and in watching his maneuvers I forgot the +lapse of time, until Father S---- had passed his sixthly and +seventhly, and was driving furiously away at the eighthly. By this +time the spider had caught the fly, whose cries sounded to me like +the waters of the sawmill; the tips of my red shoes looked like the +red berries which grew near the mine; the two old ladies at my side +were transformed into two tall black walnut trees, while I seemed to +be sliding down-hill. + +At this juncture, one of the old ladies moved away from me a foot at +least (she could have done so before had she chosen to), and I was +precipitated off from the bench, striking my head on the sharp corner +of a seat below. It was a dreadful blow which I received, making the +blood gush from my nostrils. My loud screams brought matters to a +focus, and the sermon to an end. My grandmother and one of the old +ladies took me and the water pail outdoors, where I was literally +deluged; at the same time they called me "Poor girl! Poor Mollie! +Little dear," etc. + +But while they were attending to my bumped head Mike and Sally were +married, and I didn't see it after all! 'Twas too bad! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BRIDE. + + +After Sally's marriage there occurred at our house an interval of +quiet, enlivened occasionally by letters from Cousin Emma, whose +health was not as much improved by her visit to the country as she had +at first hoped it would be; consequently she proposed spending the +winter south. Meantime, from Boston letters came frequently to Carrie +Howard, and as the autumn advanced, things within and about her +father's house foretold some unusual event. Two dressmakers were hired +from the village, and it was stated, on good authority, that among +Carrie's wardrobe was a white satin and an elegantly embroidered +merino traveling-dress. + +Numerous were the surmises of Juliet and Anna as to who and how many +would be invited to the wedding. All misgivings concerning themselves +were happily brought to an end a week before the time, for there came +to our house handsome cards of invitation for Juliet and Anna, and--I +could scarcely believe my eyes--there was one for me too. For this I +was indebted to Aunt Eunice, who had heard of and commiserated my +misfortunes at Sally's wedding. + +I was sorry that my invitation came so soon, for I had but little hope +that the time would ever come. It did, however, and so did Mr. Ashmore +and Agnes. As soon as dinner was over I commenced my toilet, although +the wedding was not to take place until eight that evening; but then I +believed, as I do now, in being ready in season. Oh, how slowly the +hours passed, and at last in perfect despair I watched my opportunity +to set the clock forward when no one saw me. For this purpose I put +the footstool in a chair, and mounting, was about to move the long +hand, when-- + +But I always was the most unfortunate of mortals, so it was no wonder +that at this point the chair slipped, the stool slipped, and I +slipped. I caught at the clock to save myself; consequently both clock +and I came to the floor with a terrible crash. My first thought was +for the hooks and eyes, which undoubtedly were scattered with the +fragments of the clock, but fortunately every hook was in its place, +and only one eye was straightened. I draw a veil over the scolding +which I got, and the numerous threats that I should stay at home. + +As the clock was broken we had no means for judging of the time, and +thus we were among the first who arrived at Captain Howard's. This +gave Juliet and Anna an opportunity of telling Agnes of my mishap. She +laughed heartily, and then immediately changing the subject she +inquired after Cousin Emma, and when we had heard from her. After +replying to these questions Anna asked Agnes about Penoyer, and when +she had seen him. + +"Don't mention it," said Agnes, "but I have a suspicion that he +stopped yesterday at the depot when I did. I may have been mistaken, +for I was looking after my baggage and only caught a glimpse of him. +If it were he his presence bodes no good." + +"Have you told Carrie?" asked Juliet. + +"No, I have not. She seems so nervous whenever he is mentioned," was +Agnes' reply. + +I thought of the obligations once referred to by Agnes, and felt that +I should breathe more freely when Carrie really was married. Other +guests now began to arrive, and we who had fixed long enough before +the looking-glass repaired to the parlor below. Bill, who saw Sally +married, had convinced me that the story of the broomstick was a +falsehood, so I was prepared for its absence, but I wondered then, not +more than I do now, why grown-up people shouldn't be whipped for +telling untruths to children as well as children for telling untruths +to grown-up people. + +The parlor was now rapidly filling, and I was in great danger of being +thrust into the corner, where I could see nothing, when Aunt Eunice +very benevolently drew me near her, saying I should see if no one else +did. At last Mr. Ashmore and Carrie came. Anna can tell you exactly +what she wore, but I cannot. I only know that she looked most +beautifully, though I have a vague recollection of fancying that in +the making of her dress the sleeves were forgotten entirely, and the +neck nearly so. + +The marriage ceremony commenced, and I listened breathlessly, but this +did not prevent me from hearing some one enter the house by the +kitchen door. Aunt Eunice heard it, too, and when the minister began +to say something about Mrs. Ashmore she arose and went out. Something +had just commenced, I think they called them congratulations, when the +crowd around the door began to huddle together in order to make room +for some person to enter. I looked up and saw Penoyer, his glittering +teeth now partially disclosed, looking a very little fiendish, I +thought. Carrie saw him, too, and instantly turned as white as the +satin dress she wore, while Agnes, who seemed to have some suspicion +of his errand, exclaimed, "Impudent scoundrel!" At the same time +advancing forward, she laid her hand upon his arm. + +He shook it off lightly, saying, "_Pardonnez moi, ma chère_; I've no +come to trouble you." Then turning to Ashmore he said, pointing to +Carrie, "She be your wife, I take it?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Ashmore haughtily. "Have you any objections? If so +they have come too late." + +"Not von, not in the least, no sar," said the Frenchman, bowing nearly +to the floor. "It give me one grand plaisir; so now you will please +settle von leetle bill I have against her;" at the same time he drew +from his pocket a sheet of half-worn paper. + +Carrie, who was leaning heavily against Mr. Ashmore instantly sprang +forward and endeavored to snatch the paper, saying half-imploringly, +"Don't, Penoyer, you know my father will pay it." + +But Penoyer passed it to Mr. Ashmore, while Captain Howard, coming +forward, said, "Pay what? What is all this about?" + +"Only a trifle," said Penoyer; "just a bill for giving your daughter +musique lessons three years in Albany." + +"You give my daughter music lessons?" demanded Captain Howard. + +"_Oui_, monsieur, I do that same thing," answered Penoyer. + +"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," said Captain Howard, in his surprise forgetting +the time and place, "why did you tell me that your knowledge of music +you acquired yourself, with the assistance of your cousin, and a +little help from her music teacher; and why, when this man was here a +few months ago, did you not tell me he was your music teacher and had +not been paid?" + +Bursting into tears Carrie answered, "Forgive me, father, but he said +he had no bill against me; he made no charge." + +"But she gave me von big, large mitten," said the Frenchman, "when she +see this man, who has more l'argent; but no difference, no difference, +sar, this gentleman," bowing toward Ashmore, "parfaitement delighted +to pay it." + +Whether he were delighted or not, he did pay it, for drawing from his +pocket his purse, while his large black eyes emitted gleams of fire, +he counted out the required amount, one hundred and twenty-five +dollars; then confronting Penoyer, he said fiercely, "Give me a +receipt for this instantly, after which I will take it upon me to show +you the door." + +"Certainement, certainement, all I want is my l'argent," said Penoyer. + +The money was paid, the receipt given, and then, as Penoyer hesitated +a moment, Ashmore said, "Are you waiting to be helped out, sir?" + +"No, monsieur, si vous plait, I have tree letters from madam, which +will give you one grande satisfaction to read." Then tossing toward +Ashmore the letters, with a malicious smile he left the house. + +Poor Carrie! When sure that he was gone she fainted away and was +carried from the room. At supper, however, she made her appearance, +and after that was over the guests, unopposed, left _en masse_. + +What effect Penoyer's disclosures had on Ashmore we never exactly +knew, but when, a few days before the young couple left home, they +called at our house, we all fancied that Carrie was looking more +thoughtful than usual, while a cloud seemed to be resting on Ashmore's +brow. The week following their marriage they left for New York, where +they were going to reside. During the winter Carrie wrote home +frequently, giving accounts of the many gay and fashionable parties +which she attended, and once in a letter to Anna she wrote, "The +flattering attentions which I receive have more than, once made +Ashmore jealous." + +Two years from the time they were married Mrs. Ashmore was brought +back to her home a pale, faded invalid, worn out by constant +dissipation and the care of a sickly baby, so poor and blue that even +I couldn't bear to touch it. Three days after their arrival Mr. Evelyn +brought to us his bride, Cousin Emma, blooming with health and beauty. +I could scarcely believe that the exceedingly beautiful Mrs. Evelyn +was the same white-faced girl who, two years before, had sat with me +beneath the old grapevine. + +The day after she came I went with her to visit Carrie, who, the +physicians said, was in a decline. I had not seen her before since her +return, and on entering the sick-room, I was as much surprised at her +haggard face, sunken eyes, and sallow skin, as was Mr. Ashmore at the +appearance of Emma. "Is it possible," said he, coming forward, "is it +possible, Emma--Mrs. Evelyn, that you have entirely recovered?" + +I remembered what he had once said about "invalid wives," and I feared +that the comparison he was evidently making would not be very +favorable toward Carrie. We afterward learned, however, that he was +the kindest of husbands, frequently walking half the night with his +crying baby, and at other times trying to soothe his nervous wife, who +was sometimes very irritable. + +Before we left Carrie drew Emma closely to her and said, "They tell me +I probably shall never get well, and now, while I have time, I wish to +ask your forgiveness for the great wrong I once did you." + +"How? When?" asked Emma quickly, and Carrie contined: + +"When first I saw him who is my husband, I determined to leave no +means untried to secure him for myself; I knew you were engaged, but I +fancied that your ill-health annoyed him, and played my part well. You +know how I succeeded, but I am sure you forgive me, for you love Mr. +Evelyn quite as well, perhaps better." + +"Yes, far better," was Emma's reply, as she kissed Carrie's wan cheek; +then bidding her good-by she promised to call frequently during her +stay in town. She kept her word, and was often accompanied by Mr. +Evelyn, who strove faithfully and successfully, too, to lead into the +path of peace her whose days were well-nigh ended. + +'Twas on one of those bright days in the Indian summer time that +Carrie at last slept the sleep that knows no awakening. The evening +after the burial I went in at Captain Howard's, and all the animosity +I had cherished for Mr. Ashmore vanished when I saw the large tear +drops as they fell on the face of his motherless babe, whose wailing +cries he endeavored in vain to hush. When the first snowflakes came +they fell on a little mound, where by the side of her mother Mr. +Ashmore had laid his baby, Emma. + + Side by side they are sleeping, + In the grave's dark, dreamless bed; + While the willow boughs seem weeping, + As they bend above the dead. + +And now, dear reader, after telling you that, yielding to the +importunities of Emma's parents, Mr. Evelyn at last moved to the city, +where, if I mistake not, he is still living, my story is finished. But +do not, I pray you, think that these few pages contain all that I know +of the olden time: + + Oh no, far down in memory's well + Exhaustless stores remain, + From which, perchance, some future day + I'll weave a tale again. + + + + +THE GILBERTS; OR, RICE CORNER NUMBER TWO. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GILBERTS. + + +The spring following Carrie Howard's death Rice Corner was thrown into +a commotion by the astounding fact that Captain Howard was going out +West, and had sold his farm to a gentleman from the city, whose wife +"kept six servants, wore silk all the time, never went inside of the +kitchen, never saw a churn, breakfasted at ten, dined at three, and +had supper the next day!" + +Such was the story which Mercy Jenkins detailed to us early one Monday +morning, and then, eager to communicate so desirable a piece of news +to others of her acquaintance, she started off, stopping for a moment +as she passed the wash-room to see if Sally's clothes "wan't kinder +dingy and yaller." As soon as she was gone the astonishment of our +household broke forth, grandma wondering why Captain Howard wanted to +go to the ends of the earth, as she designated Chicago, their place of +destination, and what she should do without Aunt Eunice, who, having +been born on grandma's wedding day, was very dear to her, and then her +age was so easy to keep. But the best of friends must part, and when +at Mrs. Howard's last tea-drinking with us I saw how badly they all +felt, and how many tears were shed, I firmly resolved never to like +anybody but my own folks, unless, indeed, I made an exception in favor +of Tom Jenkins, who so often drew me to school on his sled, and who +made such comical-looking jack-o'-lanterns out of the big yellow +pumpkins. + +In reply to the numerous questions concerning Mr. Gilbert, the +purchaser of their farm, Mrs. Howard could only reply that he was very +wealthy and had got tired of living in the city; adding, further, that +he wore a "monstrous pair of musquitoes," had an evil-looking eye, +four children, smoked cigars, and was a lawyer by profession. This +last was all grandma wanted to know about him--"that told the whole +story," for there never was but _one_ decent lawyer, and that was Mr. +Evelyn, Cousin Emma's husband. Dear old lady! when, a few years ago, +she heard that I, her favorite grandchild, was to marry one of the +craft, she made another exception in his favor, saying that "if he +wasn't all straight, Mary would soon make him so!" + +Within a short time after Aunt Eunice's visit she left Rice Corner, +and on the same day wagon-load after wagon-load of Mr. Gilbert's +furniture passed our house, until Sally declared "there was enough to +keep a tavern, and she didn't see nothin' where they's goin to put +it," at the same time announcing her intention of "running down there +after dinner, to see what was going on." + +It will be remembered that Sally was now a married woman--"Mrs. +Michael Welsh;" consequently, mother, who lived with her instead of +her living with mother, did not presume to interfere with her much, +though she hinted pretty strongly that she "always liked to see people +mind their own affairs." But Sally was incorrigible. The dinner dishes +were washed with a whew, I was coaxed into sweeping the back +room--which I did, leaving the dirt under the broom behind the +door--while Mrs. Welsh, donning a pink calico, blue shawl, and bonnet +trimmed with dark green, started off on her prying excursion, +stopping by the roadside where Mike was making fence, and keeping him, +as grandma said, "full half an hour by the clock from his work." + +Not long after Sally's departure a handsome carriage, drawn by two +fine bay horses, passed our house; and as the windows were down we +could plainly discern a pale, delicate-looking lady, wrapped in +shawls, a tall, stylish-looking girl, another one about my own age and +two beautiful little boys. + +"That's the Gilberts, I know," said Anna. "Oh I'm so glad Sally's +gone, for now we shall have the full particulars;" and again we waited +as impatiently for Sally's return as we had once done before for +grandma. + +At last, to our great relief, the green ribbons and blue shawl were +descried in the distance, and ere long Sally was with us, ejaculating, +"Oh, my--mercy me!" etc., thus giving us an inkling of what was to +follow. "Of all the sights that ever I have seen," said she, folding +up the blue shawl, and smoothing down the pink calico. "There's +carpeting enough to cover every crack and crevice--all pure bristles, +too!" + +Here I tittered, whereupon Sally angrily retorted, that "she guessed +she knew how to talk proper, if she hadn't studied grarmar." + +"Never mind," said Anna, "go on; brussels carpeting and what else?" + +"Mercy knows what else," answered Sally. "I can't begin to guess the +names of half the things. There's mahogany, rosewood, and marble +fixin's--and in Miss Gilbert's room there's lace curtains and silk +damson ones--" + +A look from Anna restrained me this time, and Sally continued. + +"Mercy Jenkins is there, helpin', and she says Mr. Gilbert told 'em, +his wife never et a piece of salt pork in her life, and knew no more +how bread was made than a child two years old." + +"What a simple critter she must be," said grandma, while Anna asked +if she saw Mrs. Gilbert, and if that tall girl was her daughter. + +"Yes, I seen her," answered Sally, "and I guess she's weakly, for the +minit she got into the house she lay down on the sofa, which Mr. +Gilbert says cost seventy-five dollars. That tall, proud-lookin' thing +they call Miss Adaline, but I'll warrant you don't catch me puttin' on +the miss. I called her Adaline, and you had orto seen how her big eyes +looked at me. Says she, at last, 'Are you one of pa's new servants?" + +"'Servants!' says I, 'no indeed; I'm Mrs. Michael Welsh, one of your +nighest neighbors.' + +"Then I told her that there were two nice girls lived in the house +with me, and she'd better get acquainted with 'em right away; and then +with the hatefulest of all hateful laughs, she asked if 'they wore +glass beads and went barefoot.'" + +I fancied that neither Juliet nor Anna were greatly pleased at being +introduced by Sally, the housemaid, to the elegant Adaline Gilbert, +who had come to the country with anything but a favorable impression +of its inhabitants. The second daughter, the one about my own age, +Sally said they called Nellie; "and a nice, clever creature she is, +too--not a bit stuck up like t'other one. Why, I do believe she'd +walked every big beam in the barn before she'd been there half an +hour, and the last I saw of her she was coaxing a cow to lie still +while she got upon her back!" + +How my heart warmed toward the romping Nellie, and how I wondered if +after that beam-walking exploit her hooks and eyes were all in their +places! The two little boys, Sally said, were twins, Edward and +Egbert, or, as they were familiarly called, Bert and Eddie. This was +nearly all she had learned, if we except the fact that the family ate +with silver forks, and drank wine after dinner. This last, mother +pronounced heterodox, while I, who dearly loved the juice of the grape +and sometimes left finger marks on the top shelf, whither I had +climbed for a sip from grandma's decanter, secretly hoped I should +some day dine with Nellie Gilbert, and drink all the wine I wanted, +thinking how many times I'd rinse my mouth so mother shouldn't smell +my breath! + +In the course of a few weeks the affairs of the Gilbert family were +pretty generally canvassed in Rice Corner, Mercy Jenkins giving it as +her opinion that "Miss Gilbert was much the likeliest of the two, and +that Mr. Gilbert was cross, overbearing, and big feeling." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +NELLIE. + + +As yet I had only seen Nellie in the distance, and was about +despairing of making her acquaintance when accident threw her in my +way. Directly opposite our house, and just across along green meadow, +was a piece of woods which belonged to Mr. Gilbert, and there, one +afternoon early in May, I saw Nellie. I had seen her there before, but +never dared approach her; and now I divided my time between watching +her and a dense black cloud which had appeared in the west, and was +fast approaching the zenith. I was just thinking how nice it would be +if the rain should drive her to our house for shelter, when patter, +patter came the large drops in my face; thicker and faster they fell, +until it seemed like a perfect deluge; and through the almost blinding +sheet of rain I descried Nellie coming toward me at a furious rate. +With the agility of a fawn she bounded over the gate, and with the +exclamation of, "Ain't I wetter than a drownded rat?" we were +perfectly well acquainted. + +It took but a short time to divest her of her dripping garments, and +array her in some of mine, which Sally said "fitted her to a T," +though I fancied she looked sadly out of place in my linen pantalets +and long-sleeved dress. She was a great lover of fun and frolic, and +in less than half an hour had "ridden to Boston" on Joe's +rocking-horse, turned the little wheel faster than even I dared to +turn it, tried on grandma's stays, and then, as a crowning feat, tried +the rather dangerous experiment of riding down the garret stairs on a +board! The clatter brought up grandma, and I felt some doubts about +her relishing a kind of play which savored so much of what she called +"a racket," but the soft brown eyes which looked at her so pleadingly +were too full of love, gentleness, and mischief to be resisted, and +permission for "one more ride" was given, "provided she'd promise not +to break her neck." + +Oh, what fun we had that afternoon! What a big rent she tore in my +gingham frock, and what a "dear, delightful old haunted castle of a +thing" she pronounced our house to be. Darling, darling Nellie! I shut +my eyes and she comes before me again, the same bright beautiful +creature she was when I saw her first, as she was when I saw her for +the last, last time. + +It rained until dark, and Nellie, who confidently expected to stay all +night, had whispered to me her intention of "tying our toes together," +when there came a tremendous rap upon the door, and without waiting to +be bidden in walked Mr. Gilbert, puffing and swelling, and making +himself perfectly at home, in a kind of offhand manner, which had in +it so much of condescension that I was disgusted, and when sure Nellie +would not see me I made at him a wry face, thereby feeling greatly +relieved! + +After managing to let mother know how expensive his family was, how +much he paid yearly for wines and cigars, and how much Adaline's +education and piano had cost, he arose to go, saying to his daughter, +"Come, puss, take off those--ahem--those habiliments, and let's be +off!" + +Nellie obeyed, and just before she was ready to start she asked, when +I would come and spend the day with her. + +I looked at mother, mother looked at Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gilbert looked +at me, and after surveying me from head to foot said, spitting between +every other word, "Ye-es ye-es, we've come to live in the country, and +I suppose" (here he spit three successive times), "and I suppose we +may as well be on friendly terms as any other; so, madam" (turning to +mother), "I am willing to have your little daughter visit us +ocasionally." Then adding that "he would extend the same invitation to +her were it not that his wife was an invalid and saw no company," he +departed. + +One morning, several days afterward, a servant brought to our house a +neat little note from Mrs. Gilbert, asking mother to let me spend the +day with Nellie. After some consultation between mother and grandma, +it was decided that I might go, and in less than an hour I was dressed +and on the road, my hair braided so tightly in my neck that the little +red bumps of flesh set up here and there, like currants on a brown +earthen platter. + +Nellie did not wait to receive me formally, but came running down the +road, telling me that Robin had made a swing in the barn, and that we +would play there most all day, as her mother was sick, and Adaline, +who occupied two-thirds of the house, wouldn't let us come near her. +This Adaline was to me a very formidable personage. Hitherto I had +only caught glimpses of her, as with long skirts and waving plumes she +sometimes dashed past our house on horseback, and it was with great +trepidation that I now followed Nellie into the parlor, where she told +me her sister was. + +"Adaline, this is my little friend," said she; and Adaline replied: + +"How do you do, little friend?" + +My cheeks tingled, and for the first time raising my eyes I found +myself face to face with the haughty belle. She was very tall and +queenlike in her figure, and though she could hardly be called +handsome, there was about her an air of elegance and refinement which +partially compensated for the absence of beauty. That she was proud +one could see from the glance of her large black eyes and the curl of +her lip. Coolly surveying me for a moment, as she would any other +curious specimen, she resumed her book, never speaking to me again, +except to ask, when she saw me gazing wonderingly around the +splendidly-furnished room, "if I supposed I could remember every +article of furniture, and give a faithful report." + +I thought I was insulted when she called me "little friend," and now, +feeling sure of it, I tartly replied that "if I couldn't she perhaps +might lend me paper and pencil, with which to write them down." + +"Orginally, truly," said she, again poring over her book. + +Nellie, who had left me for a moment, now returned, bidding me come +and see her mother, and passing through the long hall, I was soon in +Mrs. Gilbert's room, which was as tastefully, though perhaps not quite +so richly, furnished as the parlor. Mrs. Gilbert was lying upon a +sofa, and the moment I looked upon her the love which I had so freely +given the daughter was shared with the mother, in whose pale sweet +face, and soft brown eyes, I saw a strong resemblance to Nellie. She +was attired in a rose-colored morning-gown, which flowed open in +front, disclosing to view a larger quantity of rich French embroidery +than I had ever before seen. + +Many times during the day, and many times since, have I wondered what +made her marry, and if she really loved the bearish-looking man who +occasionally stalked into the room, smoking cigars and talking very +loudly, when he knew how her head was throbbing with pain. + +I had eaten but little breakfast that morning, and verily I thought I +should famish before their dinner hour arrived; and when at last it +came, and I saw the table glittering with silver, I felt many +misgivings as to my ability to acquit myself creditably. But by dint +of watching Nellie, doing just what she did, and refusing just what +she refused, I managed to get through with it tolerably well. For +once, too, in my life I drank all the wine I wanted; the result of +which was that long before sunset I went home, crying and vomiting +with the sick headache, which Sally said "served me right;" at the +same time hinting her belief that I was slightly intoxicated! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE HAUNTED HOUSE. + + +Down our long, green lane, and at the further extremity of the narrow +footpath which led to the "old mine," was another path or wagon road +which wound along among the fern bushes, under the chestnut trees, +across the hemlock swamp, and up, to a grassy ridge which overlooked a +small pond, said, of course, to have no bottom. Fully crediting this +story, and knowing, moreover, that China was opposite to us, I have +often taken down my atlas and hunted through that ancient empire, in +hopes of finding a corresponding sheet of water. Failing to do so I +had made one with my pencil, writing against it, "Cranberry Pond," +that being the name of its American brother. + +Just above the pond on the grassy ridge stood an old, dilapidated +building which had long borne the name of the "haunted house." I never +knew whether this title was given it on account of its proximity to +the "old mine," or because it stood near the very spot where, years +and years ago, the "bloody Indians" pushed those cart-loads of burning +hemp against the doors "of the only remaining house in Quaboag"--for +which see Goodrich's Child's History, page--, somewhere toward the +commencement. I only know that 'twas called the "haunted house," and +that for a long time no one would live there, on account of the +rapping, dancing, and cutting up generally which was said to prevail, +there particularly in the west room, the one overhung with ivy and +grapevines. + +Three or four years before our story opens a widow lady, Mrs. Hudson, +with her only daughter, Mabel, appeared in our neighborhood, hiring +the "haunted house," and, in spite of the neighbors' predictions to +the contrary, living there quietly and peaceably, unharmed by ghost or +goblin. At first Mrs. Hudson was looked upon with distrust, and even a +league with a certain old fellow was hinted at; but as she seemed to +be well disposed, kind, and affable toward all, this feeling gradually +wore away, and now she was universally liked, while Mabel, her +daughter, was a general favorite. For two years past, Mabel had worked +in the Fiskdale factory a portion of the time, going to school the +remainder of the year. She was fitting herself for a teacher, and as +the school in our district was small, the trustees had this summer +kindly offered it to her. This arrangement delighted me; for, next to +Nellie Gilbert, I loved Mabel Hudson best of anybody; and I fancied, +too, that they looked alike, but of course it was all fancy. + +Mrs. Hudson was a tailoress, and the day following my visit to Mr. +Gilbert's I was sent by mother to take her some work. I found her in +the little porch, her white cap-border falling over her placid face, +and her wide checked apron coming nearly to the bottom of her dress. +Mabel was there, too, and as she arose to receive me something about +her reminded me of Adaline Gilbert. I could not tell what it was, for +Mabel was very beautiful, and beside her Adaline would be plain; still +there was a resemblance, either in voice or manner, and this it was, +perhaps, which made me so soon mention the Gilberts and my visit to +them the day previous. + +Instantly Mrs. Hudson and Mabel exchanged glances, and I thought the +face of the former grew a shade paler; still I may have been mistaken, +for in her usual tone of voice she began to ask me numberless +questions concerning the family, which seemed singular, as she was not +remarkable for curiosity. But it suited me. I loved to talk then not +less than I do now, and in a few minutes I had told all I knew--and +more, too, most likely. + +At last Mrs. Hudson asked about Mr. Gilbert, and how I liked him. + +"Not a bit," said I. "He's the hatefulest, crossest, big-feelingest +man I ever saw, and Adaline is just like him!" + +Had I been a little older I might, perhaps, have wondered at the +crimson flush which my hasty words brought to Mrs. Hudson's cheek, but +I did not notice it then, and thinking she was, of course, highly +entertained, I continued to talk about Mr. Gilbert and Adaline, in the +last of whom Mabel seemed the most interested. Of Nellie I spoke with +the utmost affection, and when Mrs. Hudson expressed a wish to see +her, I promised, if possible, to bring her there; then as I had +already outstayed the time for which permission had been given, I tied +on my sunbonnet and started for home, revolving the ways and means by +which I should keep my promise. + +This proved to be a very easy matter; for within a few days Nellie +came to return my visit, and as mother had other company she the more +readily gave us permission to go where we pleased. Nellie had a +perfect passion for ghost and witch stories, saying though that "she +never liked to have them explained--she'd rather they'd be left in +solemn mystery;" so when I told her of the "old mine" and the "haunted +house" she immediately expressed a desire to see them. Hiding our +bonnets under our aprons the better to conceal our intentions from +sister Lizzie, who, we fancied, had serious thoughts of _tagging_, we +sent her up-stairs in quest of something which we knew was not there, +and then away we scampered down the green lane and across the pasture, +dropping once into some alders as Lizzie's yellow hair became visible +on the fence at the foot of the lane. Our consciences smote us a +little, but we kept still until she returned to the house; then, +continuing our way, we soon came in sight of the mine, which Nellie +determined to explore. + +It was in vain that I tried to dissuade her from the attempt. She was +resolved, and stationing myself at a safe distance I waited while she +scrambled over stones, sticks, logs, and bushes, until she finally +disappeared in the cave. Ere long, however, she returned with soiled +pantalets, torn apron, and scratched face, saying that "the mine was +nothing in the world but a hole in the ground, and a mighty little one +at that." After this I didn't know but I would sometime venture in, +but for fear of what might happen I concluded to choose a time when I +hadn't run away from Liz! + +When I presented Nellie to Mrs. Hudson she took both her hands in +hers, and, greatly to my surprise, kissed her on both cheeks. Then she +walked hastily into the next room, but not until I saw something fall +from her eyes, which I am sure were tears. + +"Funny, isn't it?" said Nellie, looking wonderingly at me. "I don't +know whether to laugh or what." + +Mabel now came in, and though she manifested no particular emotion, +she was exceedingly kind to Nellie, asking her many questions, and +sometimes smoothing her brown curls. When Mrs. Hudson again appeared +she was very calm, but I noticed that her eyes constantly rested upon +Nellie, who, with Mabel's gray kitten in her lap, was seated upon the +doorstep, the very image of childish innocence and beauty. Mrs. Hudson +urged us to stay to tea but I declined, knowing that there was company +at home, with three kinds of cake, besides cookies, for supper. So +bidding her good-by, and promising to come again, we started homeward, +where we found the ladies discussing their green tea and making large +inroads upon the three kinds of cake. + +One of them, a Mrs. Thompson, was gifted with the art of +fortune-telling, by means of tea-grounds, and when Nellie and I took +our seats at the table she kindly offered to see what was in store for +us. She had frequently told my fortune, each time managing to fish up +a freckle-faced boy so nearly resembling her grandson, my particular +aversion, that I didn't care to hear it again. But with Nellie 'twas +all new, and after a great whirling of tea-grounds and staining of +mother's best table-cloth, she passed her cup to Mrs. Thompson, +confidently whispering to me that she guessed she'd tell her something +about Willie Raymond, who lived in the city, and who gave her the +little cornelian ring which she wore. With the utmost gravity Mrs. +Thompson read off the past and present, and then peering far into the +future she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, my! there's a gulf, or something, +before you, and you are going to tumble into it headlong; don't ask me +anything more." + +I never did and never shall believe in fortune-telling, much less in +Granny Thompson's "turned-up cups," but years after I thought of her +prediction with regard to Nellie. Poor, poor Nellie! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JEALOUSY. + + +On the first Monday in June our school commenced, and long before +breakfast Lizzie and I were dressed and had turned inside out the +little cupboard over the fireplace where our books were kept during +vacation. Breakfast being over we deposited in our dinner-basket the +whole of a custard pie, and were about starting off when mother said +"we shouldn't go a step until half-past eight," adding further, that +"we must put that pie back, for 'twas one she'd saved for their own +dinner." + +Lizzie pouted, while I cried, and taking my bonnet I repaired to the +"great rock," where the sassafras, blackberries, and blacksnakes grew. +Here I sat for a long time, thinking if I ever did grow up and get +married (I was sure of the latter), I'd have all the custard pie I +could eat for once! In the midst of my reverie a footstep sounded +near, and looking up I saw before me Nellie Gilbert, with her satchel +of books on her arm, and her sunbonnet hanging down her back, after +the fashion in which I usually wore mine. In reply to my look of +inquiry she said her father had concluded to let her go to the +district school, though he didn't expect her to learn anything but +"slang terms and ill manners." + +By this time it was half-past eight, and together with Lizzie we +repaired to the schoolhouse, where we found assembled a dozen girls +and as many boys, among whom was Tom Jenkins. Tom was a great admirer +of beauty, and hence I could never account for the preference he had +hitherto shown for me, who my brothers called "bung-eyed" and Sally +"raw-boned." He, however, didn't think so. My eyes, he said, were none +too large, and many a night had he carried home my books for me, and +many a morning had he brought me nuts and raisins, to say nothing of +the time when I found in my desk a little note, which said--But +everybody who's been to school, knows what it said! + +Taking it all round we were as good as engaged; so you can judge what +my feelings were when, before the night of Nellie's first day at +school, I saw Tom Jenkins giving her an orange which I had every +reason to think was originally intended for me! I knew very well that +Nellie's brown curls and eyes had done the mischief; and though I did +not love her the less, I blamed him the more for his fickleness, for +only a week before he had praised my eyes, calling them a "beautiful +indigo blue," and all that. I was highly incensed, and when on our way +from school he tried to speak good-humoredly, I said, "I'd thank you +to let me alone! I don't like you, and never did!" + +He looked sorry for a minute, but soon forgot it all in talking to +Nellie, who after he had left us said "he was a cleverish kind of boy, +though he couldn't begin with William Raymond." After that I was very +cool toward Tom, who attached himself more and more to Nellie, saying +"she had the handsomest eyes he ever saw;" and, indeed, I think it +chiefly owing to those soft, brown, dreamy eyes that I am not now +"Mrs. Tom Jenkins of Jenkinsville," a place way out West, whither Tom +and his mother have migrated. + +One day Nellie was later at school than usual, giving as a reason that +their folks had company--a Mr. Sherwood and his mother, from Hartford; +and adding that if I'd never tell anybody as long as I lived and +breathed she'd tell me something. + +Of course I promised, and Nellie told me how she guessed that Mr. +Sherwood, who was rich and handsome, liked Adaline. "Anyway, Adaline +likes him," said she, "and oh, she's so nice and good when he's +around. I ain't 'Nell, you hateful thing' then, but I'm 'Sister +Nellie.' They are going to ride this morning, and perhaps they'll go +by here. There they are, now!" and looking toward the road I saw Mr. +Sherwood and Adaline Gilbert on horseback, riding leisurely past the +schoolhouse. She was nodding to Nellie, but he was looking intently at +Mabel, who was sitting near the window. I know he asked Adaline +something about her, for I distinctly heard a part of her reply--"a +poor factory girl," and Adaline's head tossed scornfully, as if that +were a sufficient reason why Mabel should be despised. + +Mr. Sherwood evidently did not think so, for the next day he walked by +alone--and the next day he did the same, this time bringing with him a +book, and seating himself in the shadow of a chestnut tree not far +from the schoolhouse. The moment school was out, he arose and came +forward, inquiring for Nellie, who, of course, introduced him to +Mabel. The three then walked on together, while Tom Jenkins stayed in +the rear with me, wondering what I wanted to act so for; "couldn't a +feller like more than one girl if he wanted to?" + +"Yes, I s'posed a feller could, though I didn't know, nor care!" + +Tom made no reply, but whittled away upon a bit of shingle, which +finally assumed the shape of a heart, and which I afterward found in +his desk with the letter "N" written upon it, and then scratched out. +When at last we reached our house Mr. Sherwood asked Nellie "where +that old mine and sawmill were, of which she had told him so much." + +"Right on Miss Hudson's way home," said Nellie. "Let's walk along with +her;" and the next moment Mr. Sherwood, Mabel, and Nellie were in the +long, green lane which led down to the sawmill. + +Oh, how Adaline stormed when she heard of it, and how sneeringly she +spoke to Mr. Sherwood of the "factory girl," insinuating that the +bloom on her cheek was paint, and the lily on her brow powder! But he +probably did not believe it, for almost every day he passed the +schoolhouse, generally managing to speak with Mabel; and once he went +all the way home with her, staying ever so long, too, for I watched +until 'twas pitch dark, and he hadn't got back yet! + +In a day or two he went home, and I thought no more about him, until +Tom, who had been to the post-office, brought Mabel a letter, which +made her turn red and white alternately, until at last she cried. She +was very absent-minded the remainder of that day, letting us do as we +pleased, and never in my life did I have a better time "carrying on" +than I did that afternoon when Mabel received her first letter from +Mr. Sherwood. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +NEW RELATIONS. + + +About six weeks after the close of Mabel's school we were one day +startled with the intelligence that she was going to be married, and +to Mr. Sherwood, too. He had become tired of the fashionable ladies of +his acquaintance, and when he saw how pure and artless Mabel was, he +immediately became interested in her; and at last, overcoming all +feelings of pride, he had offered her his hand, and had been accepted. +At first we could hardly credit the story; but when Mrs. Hudson +herself confirmed it we gave it up, and again I wondered if I should +be invited. All the nicest and best chestnuts which I could find, to +say nothing of the apples and butternuts, I carried to her, not +without my reward either, for when invitations came to us I was +included with the rest. Our family were the only invited guests, and I +felt no fears this time of being hidden by the crowd. + +Just before the ceremony commenced there was the sound of a heavy +footstep upon the outer porch, a loud knock at the door, and then into +the room came Mr. Gilbert! He seemed slightly agitated, but not +one-half so much as Mrs. Hudson, who exclaimed, "William, my son, why +are you here?" + +"I came to witness my sister's bridal," was the answer; and turning +toward the clergyman, he said, somewhat authoritatively, "Do not delay +for me, sir. Go on." + +There was a movement in the next room, and then the bridal party +entered, both starting with surprise as they saw Mr. Gilbert. Very +beautiful did Mabel look as she stood up to take upon herself the +marriage vow, not a syllable of which did one of us hear. We were +thinking of Mr. Gilbert, and the strange words, "my son" and "my +sister." + +When it was over, and Mabel was Mrs. Sherwood, Mr. Gilbert approached +Mrs. Hudson, saying, "Come, mother, let me lead you to the bride." + +With an impatient gesture she waved him off, and going alone to her +daughter, threw her arms around her neck, sobbing convulsively. There +was an awkward silence, and then Mr. Gilbert, thinking he was called +upon for an explanation, arose, and addressing himself mostly to Mr. +Sherwood, said, "I suppose what has transpired here to-night seems +rather strange, and will undoubtedly furnish the neighborhood with +gossip for more than a week, but they are welcome to canvass, whatever +I do. I can't help it if I was born with an unusual degree of pride, +neither can I help feeling mortified, as I many times did, at my +family, particularly after she," glancing at his mother, "married the +man whose name she bears." + +Here Mrs. Hudson lifted up her head, and coming to Mr. Gilbert's side, +stood proudly erect, while he continued: "She would tell you he was a +good man, but I hated him, and swore never to enter the house while he +lived. I went away, took care of myself, grew rich, married into one +of the first families in Hartford, and--and--" + +Here he paused, and his mother, continuing the sentence, added, "and +grew ashamed of your own mother, who many a time went without the +comforts of life that you might be educated. You were always a proud, +wayward boy, William, but never did I think you would do as you have +done. You have treated me with utter neglect, never allowing your wife +to see me, and when I once proposed visiting you in Hartford you asked +your brother, now dead, to dissuade me from it, if possible, for you +could not introduce me to your acquaintances as your mother. Never do +you speak of me to your children, who, if they know they have a +grandmother, little dream that she lives within a mile of their +father's dwelling. One of them I have seen, and my heart yearned +toward her as it did toward you when first I took you in my arms, my +first-born baby; and yet, William, I thank Heaven there is in her +sweet face no trace of her father's features. This may sound harsh, +unmotherly, but greatly have I been sinned against, and now, just as a +brighter day is dawning upon me, why have you come here? Say, William, +why?" + +By the time Mrs. Hudson had finished, nearly all in the room were +weeping. Mr. Gilbert, however, seemed perfectly indifferent, and with +the most provoking coolness replied, "I came to see my fair sister +married--to congratulate her upon an alliance which will bring us upon +a more equal footing." + +"You greatly mistake me, sir," said Mr. Sherwood, turning haughtily +toward Mr. Gilbert, at the same time drawing Mabel nearer to him; "you +greatly mistake me, if, after what I have heard, you think I would +wish for your acquaintance. If my wife, when poor and obscure, was not +worthy of your attention, _you_ certainly are not now worthy of hers, +and it is my request that our intercourse should end here." + +Mr. Gilbert muttered something about "extenuating circumstances," and +"the whole not being told," but no one paid him any attention; and at +last, snatching up his hat, he precipitately left the house, I sending +after him a hearty good riddance, and mentally hoping he would measure +his length in the ditch which he must pass on his way across Hemlock +Swamp. + +The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood departed on their bridal tour, +intending on their return to take their mother with them to the city. +Several times during their absence I saw Mr. Gilbert, either going to +or returning from the "haunted house," and I readily guessed he was +trying to talk his mother over, for nothing could be more mortifying +than to be cut by the Sherwoods, who were among the first in Hartford. + +Afterward, greatly to my satisfaction, I heard that though, +motherlike, Mrs. Hudson had forgiven her son, Mr. Sherwood ever +treated him with a cool haughtiness, which effectually kept him at a +distance. + +Once, indeed, at Mabel's earnest request, Mrs. Gilbert and Nellie were +invited to visit her, and as the former was too feeble to accomplish +the journey, Nellie went alone, staying a long time, and torturing her +sister on her return with a glowing account of the elegantly-furnished +house, of which Adaline had once hoped to be the proud mistress. + +For several years after Mabel's departure from Rice Corner nothing +especial occurred in the Gilbert family, except the marriage of +Adaline with a rich bachelor, who must have been many years older than +her father, for he colored his whiskers, wore false teeth and a wig, +besides having, as Nellie declared, a wooden leg! For the truth of +this last I will not vouch, as Nellie's assertion was only founded +upon the fact of her having once looked through the keyhole of his +door, and espied standing by his bed something which looked like a +cork leg, but which might have been a boot! What Adaline saw in him to +like I could never guess. I suppose, however, that she only looked at +his rich gilding, which covered a multitude of defects. + +Immediately after the wedding the happy pair started for a two-years' +tour in Europe, where the youthful bride so enraged her bald-headed +lord by flirting with a mustached Frenchman that in a fit of anger the +old man picked up his goods, chattels, and wife, and returned to New +York within three months of his leaving it! + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +POOR, POOR NELLIE. + + +And now, in the closing chapter of this brief sketch of the Gilberts, +I come to the saddest part--the fate of poor Nellie, the dearest +playmate my childhood ever knew, she whom the lapse of years ripened +into a graceful, beautiful girl, loved by everybody, even by Tom +Jenkins, whose boyish affection had grown with his growth and +strengthened with his strength. + +And now Nellie was the affianced bride of William Raymond, who had +replaced the little cornelian with the engagement ring. At last the +rumor reached Tom Jenkins, awaking him from the sweetest dream he had +ever known. He could not ask Nellie if it were true, so he came to me; +and when I saw how he grew pale and trembled, I felt that Nellie was +not altogether blameless. But he breathed no word of censure against +her; and when, a year or two afterward, I saw her given to William +Raymond, I knew that the love of two hearts was hers; the one to +cherish and watch over her, the other to love and worship, silently, +secretly, as a miser worships his hidden treasure. + + * * * * * + +The bridal was over. The farewells were over, and Nellie had +gone--gone from the home whose sunlight she had made, and which she +had left forever. Sadly the pale, sick mother wept, and mourned her +absence, listening in vain for the light footfall and soft, ringing +voice she would never hear again. + +Three weeks had passed away, and then, far and near the papers teemed +with accounts of the horrible Norwalk catastrophe, which desolated +many a home, and wrung from many a heart its choicest treasure. Side +by side they found them--Nellie and her husband--the light of her +brown eyes quenched forever, and the pulses of his heart still in +death! + +I was present when they told the poor invalid of her loss, and even +now I seem to hear the bitter, wailing cry which broke from her white +lips, as she begged them to unsay what they had said, and tell her +Nellie was not dead--that she would come back again. + +It could not be. Nellie would never return; and in six weeks' time the +broken-hearted mother was at rest with her child. + + + + +THE THANKSGIVING PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING. + + +"Oh, I do hope it will be pleasant to-morrow," said Lizzie Dayton, as +on the night before Thanksgiving she stood at the parlor window, +watching a dense mass of clouds, behind which the sun had lately gone +to his nightly rest. + +"I hope so, too," said Lucy, coming forward and joining her sister; +"but then it isn't likely it will be. There has been a big circle +around the moon these three nights, and besides that, I never knew it +fail to storm when I was particularly anxious that it should be +pleasant;" and the indignant beauty pouted very becomingly at the +insult so frequently offered by that most capricious of all things, +the weather. + +"Thee shouldn't talk so, Lucy," said Grandma Dayton, who was of Quaker +descent, at the same time holding up between herself and the window +the long stocking which she was knitting. "Doesn't thee know that when +thee is finding fault with the weather thee finds fault with Him who +made the weather?" + +"I do wish, grandma," answered Lucy, "that I could ever say anything +which did not furnish you with a text from which to preach me a +sermon." + +Grandma did not reply directly to this rather uncivil speech, but, +she continued: "I don't see how the weather will hurt thee, if it's +the party thee is thinking of, for Mr. Graham's is only ten rods or so +from here. + +"I'm not afraid I can't go," answered Lucy; "but you know as well as I +that if the wind blows enough to put out a candle, father is so +old-maidish as to think Lizzie and I must wear thick stockings and +dresses, and I shouldn't wonder if he insisted on flannel wrappers!" + +"Well," answered grandma, "I think myself it will be very imprudent +for Lizzie, in her present state of health, to expose her neck and +arms. Thy poor marm died with consumption when she wasn't much older +than thee is. Let me see--she was twenty-three the day she died, and +thee was twenty-two in Sep--" + +"For heaven's sake, grandmother," interrupted Lucy, "don't continually +remind me of my age, and tell me how much younger mother was when she +was married. I can't help it if I'm twenty-two, and not married or +engaged either. But I will be both before I am a year older." + +So saying, she quitted the apartment, and repaired to her own room. + +Ere we follow her thither we will introduce both her and her sister to +our readers. Lucy and Lizzie were the only children of Mr. Dayton, a +wealthy, intelligent, and naturally social man, the early death of +whose idolized, beautiful wife had thrown a deep gloom over his +spirits, which time could never entirely dispel. It was now seventeen +years since, a lonely, desolate widower, at the dusky twilight hour he +had drawn closely to his bosom his motherless children, and thought +that but for them he would gladly have lain down by her whose home was +now in heaven. His acquaintances spoke lightly of his grief, saying he +would soon get over it and marry again. They were mistaken, for he +remained single, his widowed mother supplying to his daughters the +place of their lost parent. + +In one thing was Mr. Dayton rather peculiar. Owing to the death of +his wife, he had always been in the habit of dictating to his +daughters in various small matters, such as dress, and so forth, about +which fathers seldom trouble themselves. And even now he seemed to +forget that they were children no longer, and often interfered in +their plans in a way exceedingly annoying to Lucy, the eldest of the +girls, who was now twenty-two and was as proud, selfish, and +self-willed as she was handsome and accomplished. Old maids she held +in great abhorrence, and her great object in life was to secure a +wealthy and distinguished husband. Hitherto she had been unsuccessful, +for the right one had not yet appeared. Now, however, a new star was +dawning on her horizon, in the person of Hugh St. Leon, of New +Orleans. His fame had preceded him, and half the village of S---- were +ready to do homage to the proud millionaire, who would make his first +appearance at the Thanksgiving party. This, then, was the reason why +Lucy felt so anxious to be becomingly dressed, for she had resolved +upon a conquest, and she felt sure of success. She knew she was +beautiful. Her companions told her so, her mirror told her so, and her +sweet sister Lizzie told her so more then twenty times a day. + +Lizzie was four years younger than her sister, and wholly unlike her, +both in personal appearance and disposition. She had from childhood +evinced a predisposition to the disease which had consigned her mother +to an early grave. On her fair, soft cheek the rose of health had +never bloomed, and in the light which shone from her clear hazel eye, +her fond father read but too clearly "passing away--passing away." + +If there was in Lucy Dayton's selfish nature any redeeming quality, it +was that she possessed for her frail young sister a love amounting +almost to adoration. Years before, she had trembled as she thought how +soon the time might come when for her sister's merry voice she would +listen in vain; but as month after month and year after year went by, +and still among them Lizzie stayed, Lucy forgot her fears, and +dreamed not that ere long one chair would be vacant--that Lizzie would +be gone. + +Although so much younger than her sister, Lizzie, for more than a +year, had been betrothed to Harry Graham, whom she had known from +childhood. Now, between herself and him the broad Atlantic rolled, nor +would he return until the coming autumn, when, with her father's +consent, Lizzie would be all his own. + + Alas! alas! ere autumn came + How many hearts were weeping + For her who 'neath the willow's shade + Lay sweetly, calmly sleeping. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THANKSGIVING DAY. + + +Slowly the feeble light of a stormy morning broke over the village of +S----. Lucy's fears had been verified, for Thanksgiving's dawn was +ushered in by a fierce, driving storm. Thickly from the blackened +clouds the feathery flakes had fallen until the earth far and near was +covered by a mass of white, untrodden snow. + +Lucy had been awake for a long time, listening to the sad song of the +wind, which swept howling by the casement. At length, with an +impatient frown at the snow which covered the window pane, she turned +on her pillow, and tried again to sleep. Her slumbers, however, were +soon disturbed by her sister, who arose, and putting aside the +curtain, looked out upon the storm, saying half-aloud, "Oh, I am +sorry, for Lucy will be disappointed." + +"I disappointed!" repeated Lucy; "now, Lizzie, why not own it, and say +you are as much provoked at the weather as I am, and wish this horrid +storm had stayed in the icy caves of Greenland?" + +"Because," answered Lizzie, "I really care but little about the party. +You know Harry will not be there, and besides that, the old, ugly pain +has come back to my side this morning;" and even as she spoke a low, +hacking cough fell on Lucy's ear like the echo of a distant knell. + +Lucy raised herself up, and leaning on her elbow looked earnestly at +her sister, and fancied ('twas not all fancy), that her cheeks had +grown thinner and her brow whiter within a few weeks. Lizzie proceeded +with her toilet, although she was twice obliged to stop on account of +"the ugly pain," as she called it. + +"Hurry, sister," said Lucy, "and you will feel better when you get to +the warm parlor." + +Lizzie thought so, too, and she accelerated her movements as much as +possible. Just as she was leaving the room Lucy detained her a moment +by passing her arm caressingly around her. Lizzie well knew that some +favor was wanted, and she said, "Well, what is it, Lucy? What do you +wish me to give you?" + +"Nothing, nothing," answered Lucy; "but do not say anything to father +about the pain in your side, for fear he will keep you at home, and, +worse than all, make me stay, too." + +Lizzie gave the required promise, and then descended to the breakfast +parlor, where she found her grandmother, and was soon joined by her +sister and father. After the usual salutation of the morning the +latter said "There is every prospect of our being alone to-day, for +the snow is at least a foot and a half deep, and is drifting every +moment." + +"But, father," said Lucy, "that will not prevent Lizzie and me from +going to the party to-night." + +"You mean, if I choose to let you go, of course," answered Mr. Dayton. + +"Why," quickly returned Lucy, "you cannot think of keeping us at home. +It is only distant a few rods, and we will wrap up well." + +"I have no objections to your going," replied Mr. Dayton, "provided +you dress suitably for such a night." + +"Oh, father," said Lucy, "you cannot be capricious enough to wish us +to be bundled up in bags." + +"I care but little what dress you wear," answered Mr. Dayton, "if it +has what I consider necessary appendages, viz., sleeves and waist." + +The tears glittered in Lucy's bright eyes as she said, "Our party +dresses are at Miss Carson's, and she is to send them home this +morning." + +"Wear them, then," answered Mr. Dayton, "provided they possess the +qualities I spoke of, for without those you cannot go out on such a +night as this will be." + +Lucy knew that her dress was minus the sleeves, and that her father +would consider the waist a mere apology for one, so she burst into +tears and said, rather angrily, "I had rather stay at home than go +rigged out as you would like to have me." + +"Very well; you can stay at home," was Mr. Dayton's quiet reply. + +In a few moments he left the room, and then Lucy's wrath burst forth +unrestrainedly. She called her father all sorts of names, such as "an +old granny--an old fidget," and finished up her list with what she +thought the most odious appellation of all, "an old maid." + +In the midst of her tirade the door bell rang. It was the boy from +Miss Carson's, and he brought the party dresses. Lucy's thoughts now +took another channel, and while admiring her beautiful embroidered +muslin and rich white satin skirt, she forgot that she could not wear +it. Grandma was certainly unfortunate in her choice of words, this +morning, for when Lucy for the twentieth time asked if her dress were +not a perfect beauty, the old Quakeress answered: + +"Why, it looks very decent, but it can do thee no good, for thy pa has +said thee cannot wear it; besides, the holy writ reads, 'Let your +adorning--'" + +Here Lucy stopped her ears, exclaiming, "I do believe, grandma, you +were manufactured from a chapter in the Bible, for you throw your holy +writ into my face on all occasions." + +The good lady adjusted her spectacles, and replied, "How thee talks! I +never thought of throwing my Bible at thee, Lucy!" + +Grandma had understood her literally. + +Nothing more was said of the party until dinner time, although there +was a determined look in Lucy's flashing eye, which puzzled Lizzie not +a little. Owing to the storm, Mr. Dayton's country cousins did not, as +was their usual custom, come into town to dine with him, and for this +Lucy was thankful, for she thought nothing could be more disagreeable +than to be compelled to sit all day and ask Cousin Peter how much his +fatting hogs weighed; or his wife, Elizabeth Betsey, how many teeth +the baby had got; or, worse than all the rest, if the old maid, Cousin +Berintha, were present, to be obliged to be asked at least three +times, whether it's twenty-four or twenty-five she'd be next +September, and on saying it was only twenty-three, have her word +disputed and the family Bible brought in question. Even then Miss +Berintha would demur, until she had taken the Bible to the window, and +squinted to see if the year had not been scratched out and rewritten! +Then closing the book with a profound sigh she would say, "I never, +now! it beats all how much older you look!" + +All these annoyances Lucy was spared on this day, for neither Cousin +Peter, Elizabeth Betsey, or Miss Berintha made their appearance. At +the dinner table Mr. Dayton remarked quietly to his daughters, "I +believe you have given up attending the party!" + +"Oh, no, father," said Lucy, "we are going, Lizzie and I." + +"And what about your dress?" asked Mr. Dayton. + +Lucy bit her lip as she replied, "Why, of course, we must dress to +suit you, or stay at home." + +Lizzie looked quickly at her sister, as if asking how long since she +had come to this conclusion; but Lucy's face was calm and unruffled, +betraying no secrets, although her tongue did when, after dinner, she +found herself alone with Lizzie in their dressing-room. A long +conversation followed, in which Lucy seemed trying to persuade Lizzie +to do something wrong. Possessed of the stronger mind, Lucy's +influence over her sister was great, and sometimes a bad one, but +never before had she proposed an open act of disobedience toward their +father, and Lizzie constantly replied, "No, no, Lucy, I can't do it; +besides, I really think I ought not to go, for that pain in my side is +no better." + +"Nonsense, Lizzie," said Lucy. "If you are going to be as whimsical +as Miss Berintha you had better begin at once to dose yourself with +burdock or catnip tea." Then, again recurring to the dress, she +continued, "Father did not say we must not wear them after we got +there. I shall take mine, anyway, and I wish you would do the same; +and then, if he ever knows it, he will not be as much displeased when +he finds that you, too, are guilty." + +After a time, Lizzie was persuaded, but her happiness for that day was +destroyed, and when at tea-time her father asked if she felt quite +well, she could scarcely keep from bursting into tears. Lucy, however, +came to her relief, and said she was feeling blue because Harry would +not be present! Just before the hour for the party Lucy descended to +the parlor, where her father was reading, in order, as she said, to +let him see whether her dress were fussy enough to suit him. He +approved her taste, and after asking if Lizzie, too, were dressed in +the same manner, resumed his paper. Ere long the covered sleigh stood +at the door, and in a few moments Lucy and Lizzie were in Anna +Graham's dressing-room, undergoing the process of a second toilet. + +Nothing could be more beautiful than was Lucy Dayton, after party +dress, bracelets, curls, and flowers had all been adjusted. She +probably thought so, too, for a smile of satisfaction curled her lip +as she saw the radiant vision reflected by the mirror. Her bright eye +flashed, and her heart swelled with pride as she thought, "Yes, +there's no help for it, I shall win him sure;" then turning to Anna +Graham, she asked, "Is that Mr. St. Leon to be here to-night?" + +"Yes, you know he is," answered Anna, "and I pity him, for I see you +are all equipped for an attack; but," continued she, glancing at +Lizzie, "were not little Lizzie's heart so hedged up by brother Hal, I +should say your chance was small." + +Lucy looked at her sister, and a chill struck her heart as she +observed a spasm of pain which for an instant contracted Lizzie's +fair, sweet face. Anna noticed it, too, and springing toward her, +said, "What is it, Lizzie? are you ill?" + +"No," answered Lizzie, laying her hand on her side; "nothing but a +sharp pain. It will soon be better;" but while she spoke her teeth +almost chattered with the cold. + +Oh, Lizzie, Lizzie! + +For a short time, now, we will leave the young ladies in Miss Graham's +dressing-room, and transport our readers to another part of the +village. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADA HARCOURT. + + +In a small and neat, but scantily furnished chamber, a poor widow was +preparing her only child, Ada, for the party. The plain, white muslin +dress of two years old had been washed and ironed so carefully that +Ada said it looked just as well as new; but then everything looked +well on Ada Harcourt, who was highly gifted, both with intellect and +beauty. After her dress was arranged she went to the table for her old +white gloves, the cleaning of which had cost her much trouble, for her +mother did not seem to be at all interested in them, so Ada did as +well as she could. As she was about to put them on her mother returned +from a drawer, into the recesses of which she had been diving, and +from which she brought a paper carefully folded. + +"Here, Ada," said she, "you need not wear those gloves; see here"--and +she held up a pair of handsome mitts, a fine linen handkerchief, and a +neat little gold pin. + +"Oh, mother, mother!" said Ada joyfully, "where did you get them?" + +"I know," answered Mrs. Harcourt, "and that is enough." + +After a moment's thought Ada knew, too. The little hoard of money her +mother had laid by for a warm winter shawl had been spent for her. +From Ada's lustrous blue eyes the tears were dropping as, twining her +arm around her mother's neck, she said, "Naughty, naughty mother!" but +there was a knock at the door. The sleigh which Anna Graham had +promised to send for Ada had come; so dashing away her tears, and +adjusting her new mitts and pin, she was soon warmly wrapped up, and +on her way to Mr. Graham's. + +"In the name of the people, who is that?" said Lucy Dayton, as Anna +Graham entered the dressing-room, accompanied by a bundle of something +securely shielded from the cold. + +The removal of the hood soon showed Lucy who it was, and with an +exclamation of surprise she turned inquiringly to a young lady who was +standing near. To her look the young lady replied, "A freak of Anna's, +I suppose. She thinks a great deal of those Harcourts." + +An impatient "pshaw!" burst from Lucy's lips, accompanied with the +words, "I wonder who she thinks wants to associate with that +plebeian!" + +The words, the look, and the tone caught Ada's eye and ear, and +instantly blighted her happiness. In the joy and surprise of receiving +an invitation to the party it had never occurred to her that she might +be slighted there, and she was not prepared for Lucy's unkind remark. +For an instant the tears moistened her long silken eyelashes, and a +deeper glow mantled her usually bright cheek; but this only increased +her beauty, which tended to increase Lucy's vexation. Lucy knew that +in her own circle there was none to dispute her claim; but she knew, +too, that in a low-roofed house, in the outskirts of the town, there +dwelt a poor sewing woman, whose only daughter was famed for her +wondrous beauty. Lucy had frequently seen Ada in the streets, but +never before had she met her, and she now determined to treat her with +the utmost disdain. + +Not so was Lizzie affected by the presence of "the plebeian." Mrs. +Harcourt had done plain sewing for her father, and Lizzie had +frequently called there for the work. In this way an acquaintance had +been commenced between herself and Ada which had ripened into +friendship. Lizzie, too, had heard the remark of her sister, and, +anxious to atone as far as possible for the unkindness, she went up to +Ada, expressed her pleasure at seeing her there, and then, as the +young ladies were about descending to the parlors, she offered her +arm, saying, "I will accompany you down, but, I have no doubt scores +of beaus will quickly take you off my hands." + +The parlors were nearly filled when our party reached them, and Ada +half-tremblingly clung to Lizzie's arm, while, with queen-like grace +and dignity, Lucy Dayton moved through the crowded drawing-room. Her +quick eye had scanned each gentleman, but her search was fruitless. +_He_ was not there, and during the next half-hour she listened rather +impatiently to the tide of flattery poured into her ear by some one of +her admirers. Suddenly there was a stir at the door, and Mr. St. Leon +was announced. He was a tall, fine-looking man, probably about +twenty-five years of age. The expression of his face was remarkably +pleasing, and such as would lead an entire stranger to trust him, sure +that his confidence would not be misplaced. His manners were highly +polished, and in his dignified, self-possessed bearing, there was +something which some called pride, but in all the wide world there was +not a more generous heart than that of Hugh St. Leon. + +Lucy for a moment watched him narrowly, and then her feelings became +perfectly calm, for she felt sure that now, for the first time, she +looked upon her future husband! Ere long Anna Graham approached, +accompanied by the gentleman, whom she introduced, and then turning, +left them alone. Lucy would have given almost anything to have known +whether St. Leon had requested an introduction, but no means of +information were at hand, so she bent all her energies to be as +agreeable as possible to the handsome stranger at her side, who each +moment seemed more and more pleased with her. + +Meantime, in another part of the room Lizzie and Ada were the center +of attraction. The same kindness which prompted Anna Graham to invite +Ada was careful to see that she did not feel neglected. For this +purpose Anna's brother, Charlie, a youth of sixteen, had been +instructed to pay her particular attention. This he was not unwilling +to do, for he knew no reason why she should not be treated politely, +even if she were a sewing woman's daughter. Others of the company, +observing how attentive Charlie and Lizzie were to the beautiful girl, +felt disposed to treat her graciously, so that to her the evening was +passing very happily. + +When St. Leon entered the room the hum of voices prevented Ada from +hearing his name; neither was she aware of his presence until he had +been full fifteen minutes conversing with Lucy. Then her attention was +directed toward him by Lizzie. For a moment Ada gazed as if +spellbound; then a dizziness crept over her, and she nervously grasped +the little plain gold ring which encircled the third finger of her +left hand! + +Turning to Lizzie, who, fortunately, had not noticed her agitation, +she said, "What did you say his name was?" + +"St. Leon, from New Orleans," replied Lizzie. + +"Then I'm not mistaken," Ada said inaudibly. + +At that moment Anna Graham approached, and whispered something to Ada, +who gave a startled look, saying, "Oh, no, Miss Anna; you would not +have me make myself ridiculous." + +"Certainly not," answered Anna; "neither will you do so, for some of +your songs you sing most beautifully. Do come; I wish to surprise my +friends." + +Ada consented rather unwillingly, and Anna led her toward the +music-room, followed by a dozen or more, all of whom wondered what a +sewing woman's daughter knew about music. On their way to the piano +they passed near St. Leon and Lucy, the former of whom started as his +eye fell upon Ada. + +"I did not think there was another such face in the world," said he, +apparently to himself; then turning to Lucy, he asked who that +beautiful girl was. + +"Which one?" asked Lucy; "there are many beauties here to-night." + +"I mean the one with the white muslin, and dark auburn curls," said +St. Leon. + +Lucy's brow darkened but she answered, "That? oh, that is Ada +Harcourt. Her mother is a poor sewing woman. I never met Ada before, +and cannot conceive how she came to be here; but then the Grahams are +peculiar in their notions, and I suppose it was a whim of Anna's." + +Without knowing it, St. Leon had advanced some steps toward the door +through which Ada had disappeared. Lucy followed him, vexed beyond +measure that the despised Ada Harcourt should even have attracted his +attention. + +"Is she as accomplished as handsome?" asked he. + +"Why, of course not," answered Lucy, with a forced laugh. "Poverty, +ignorance, and vulgarity go together, usually, I believe." + +St. Leon gave her a rapid, searching glance, in which disappointment +was mingled, but before he could reply there was the sound of music. +It was a sweet, bird-like voice which floated through the rooms, and +the song it sang was a favorite one of St. Leon's, who was +passionately fond of music. + +"Let us go nearer," said he to Lucy, who, nothing loath, accompanied +him, for she, too, was anxious to know who it was that thus chained +each listener into silence. + +St. Leon at length got a sight of the singer, and said with evident +pleasure, "Why, it's Miss Harcourt!" + +"Miss Harcourt! Ada Harcourt!" exclaimed Lucy. "Impossible! Why, her +mother daily toils for the bread they eat!" + +But if St. Leon heard her, he answered not. His senses were locked in +those strains of music which recalled memories of something, he +scarcely knew what, and Lucy found herself standing alone, her heart +swelling with anger toward Ada, who from that time was her hated +rival. The music ceased, but scores of voices were loud in their call +for another song; and again Ada sang, but this time there was in the +tones of her voice a thrilling power, for which those who listened +could not account. To Ada the atmosphere about her seemed charmed, +for though she never for a moment raised her eyes, she well knew who +it was that leaned upon the piano and looked intently upon her. Again +the song was finished, and then at St. Leon's request he was +introduced to the singer, who returned his salutation with perfect +self-possession, although her heart beat quickly, as she hoped, yet +half-feared, that that he would recognize her. But he did not, and as +they passed together into the next room he wondered much why the hand +which lay upon his arm trembled so violently, while Ada said to +herself, "'Tis not strange he doesn't know me by this name." Whether +St. Leon knew her or not, there seemed about her some strong +attraction, which kept him at her side the remainder of the evening, +greatly to Lucy Dayton's mortification and displeasure. + +"I'll be revenged on her yet," she muttered. "The upstart! I wonder +where she learned to play." + +This last sentence was said aloud; and Lizzie, who was standing near, +replied, "Her father was once wealthy and Ada had the best of +teachers. Since she has lived in S---- she has occasionally practised +on Anna's piano." + +"I think I'd keep a piano for paupers to play on," was Lucy's +contemptuous reply, uttered with no small degree of bitterness, for at +that moment St. Leon approached her with the object of her dislike +leaning upon his arm. + +Ada introduced Lizzie to St. Leon, who offered her his other arm, and +the three kept together until Lizzie, uttering a low, sharp cry of +pain leaned heavily as if for support against St. Leon. In an instant +Lucy was at her side; but to all her anxious inquiries Lizzie could +only reply, as she clasped her thin, white hand over her side, "The +pain--the pain--take me home." + +"Our sleigh has not yet come," said Lucy. "Oh, what shall we do?" + +"Mine is here, and at your command, Miss Dayton," said St. Leon. + +Lucy thanked him, and then proceeded to prepare Lizzie, who, chilled +through and through by the exposure of her chest and arms, had borne +the racking pain in her side as long as possible, and now lay upon the +sofa as helpless as an infant. When all was ready St. Leon lifted her +in his arms, and bearing her to the sleigh, stepped lightly in with +her, and took his seat. + +"It is hardly necessary for you to accompany us home," said Lucy, +overjoyed beyond measure, though, to find that he was going. + +"Allow me to be the judge," answered St. Leon, and other than that, +not a word was spoken until they reached Mr. Dayton's door. Then, +carefully carrying Lizzie into the house, he was about to leave, when +Lucy detained him to thank him for his kindness, adding that she hoped +to see him again. + +"Certainly, I shall call to-morrow," was his reply, as he sprang down +the steps, and entering his sleigh, was driven back to Mr. Graham's. + +He found the company about dispersing, and meeting Ada in the hall, +asked to accompany her home. Ada's pride for a moment hesitated, and +then she answered in the affirmative. When St. Leon had seated her in +his sleigh he turned back, on pretext of looking for something, but in +reality to ask Anna Graham where Ada lived, as he did not wish to +question her on the subject. + +When they were nearly home St. Leon said, "Miss Harcourt, have you +always lived in S----?" + +"We have lived here but two years," answered Ada; and St. Leon +continued: + +"I cannot rid myself of the impression that somewhere I have met you +before." + +"Indeed," said Ada, "when and where?" + +But his reply was prevented by the sleigh's stopping at Mrs. +Harcourt's door. As St. Leon bade Ada good night he whispered, "I +shall see you again." + +Ada made no answer, but going into the house where her mother was +waiting for her, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've seen +him!--he was there!--he brought me home!" + +"Seen whom?" asked Mrs. Harcourt, alarmed at her daughter's agitation. + +"Why, Hugh St. Leon!" replied Ada. + +"St. Leon in town!" repeated Mrs. Harcourt, her eye lighting up with +joy. + +'Twas only for a moment, however, for the remembrance of what she was +when she knew St. Leon, and what she now was, recurred to her, and she +said calmly, "I thought you had forgotten that childish fancy." + +"Forgotten!" said Ada bitterly; and then as she recalled the unkind +remark of Lucy Dayton she burst into a passionate fit of weeping. + +After a time Mrs. Harcourt succeeded in soothing her, and then drew +from her all the particulars of the party, St Leon and all. When Ada +had finished her mother kissed her fair cheek, saying, "I fancy St. +Leon thinks as much of little Ada now as he did six years ago;" but +Ada could not think so, though that night, in dreams, she was again +happy in her old home in the distant city, while at her side was St. +Leon, who even then was dreaming of a childish face which had haunted +him six long years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LUCY. + + +We left Lizzie lying upon the sofa, where St. Leon had laid her. After +he was gone Lucy proposed calling their father and sending for a +physician, but Lizzie objected, saying she should be better when she +got warm. During the remainder of that night Lucy sat by her sister's +bedside, while each cry of pain which came from Lizzie's lips fell +heavily upon her heart, for conscience accused her of being the cause +of all this suffering. At length the weary night watches were +finished, but the morning light showed more distinctly Lizzie's white +brow and burning cheeks. She had taken a severe cold, which had +settled upon her lungs, and now she was paying the penalty of her +first act of disobedience. + +Mr. Dayton had sent for the old family physician, who understood +Lizzie's constitution perfectly. He shook his head as he said, "How +came she by such a cold? Did she go to the party?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Dayton. + +"And not half-dressed, I'll warrant," said the gruff old doctor. + +Lucy turned pale as her father answered, quickly and truthfully as he +thought, "No, sir, she was properly dressed." + +Lizzie heard it, and though speaking was painful, she said, "Forgive +me, father, forgive me; I disobeyed you. I wore the dress you said I +must not wear!" + +An exclamation of surprise escaped Mr. Dayton, who, glancing at Lucy, +read in her guilty face what Lizzie generously would not betray. + +"Oh, Lucy, Lucy," said he, "how could you do so?" + +Lucy could only reply through her tears. She was sincerely sorry that +by her means Lizzie had been brought into danger; but when the doctor +said that by careful management she might soon be better, all feelings +of regret vanished, and she again began to think of St. Leon and his +promise to call. A look at herself in the mirror showed her that she +was looking pale and jaded, and she half-hoped he would not come. +However, as the day wore on she grew nervous as she thought he +possibly might be spending his time with the hated Ada. But he was +not, and at about four o'clock there was a ring at the door. From an +upper window Lucy saw St. Leon, and when Bridget came up for her, she +asked if the parlor was well darkened. + +"An' sure it's darker nor a pocket," said Bridget, "an' he couldn't +see a haporth was ye twice as sorry lookin'." + +So bathing her face in cologne, in order to force a glow, Lucy +descended to the parlor, which she found to be as dark as Bridget had +said it was. St. Leon received her very kindly, for the devotion she +had the night before shown for her sister had partially +counterbalanced the spitefulness he had observed in her manner when +speaking of Ada at the party. Notwithstanding Bridget's precautions, +he saw, too, that she was pale and spiritless, but he attributed it to +her anxiety for her sister, and this raised her in his estimation. +Lucy divined his thoughts, and in her efforts to appear amiable and +agreeable, a half-hour passed quickly away. At the end of that time +she unfortunately asked, in a very sneering tone, "how long since he +had seen the sewing girl?" + +"If you mean Miss Harcourt," said St. Leon coolly, "I've not seen her +since I left her last night at her mother's door." + +"You must have been in danger of upsetting if you attempted to turn +round in Mrs. Harcourt's spacious yard," was Lucy's next remark. + +"I did not attempt it," said St. Leon. "I carried Miss Ada in my arms +from the street to the door." + +The tone and manner were changed. Lucy knew it, and it exasperated +her to say something more, but she was prevented by St. Leon's rising +to go. As Lucy accompanied him to the door she asked how long he +intended to remain in S----. + +"I leave this evening, in the cars for New Haven," said he. + +"This evening?" repeated Lucy in a disappointed tone, "and will you +not return?" + +"Yes, if the business on which I go is successful," answered St. Leon. + +"A lady in question, perchance," remarked Lucy playfully. + +"You interpret the truth accurately," said St. Leon, and with a cold, +polite bow he was gone. + +"Why was he going to New Haven?" This was the thought which now +tortured Lucy. He had confessed that a lady was concerned in his +going, but who was she, and what was she to him? Anyway, there was a +comfort in knowing that Ada Harcourt had nothing to do with it! + +Mistaken Lucy! Ada Harcourt had everything to do with it! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +UNCLE ISRAEL. + + +The lamps were lighted in the cars, and on through the valley of the +Connecticut the New Haven train was speeding its way. In one corner of +the car sat St. Leon, closely wrapped in cloak and thoughts, the +latter of which occasionally suggested to him the possibility that his +was a "Tomfool's" errand; "but then," thought he, "no one will know it +if I fail, and if I do not, it is worth the trouble." + +When the train reached Hartford a number of passengers entered, all +bound for New Haven. Among them was a comical-looking, middle-aged +man, whom St. Leon instantly recognized as a person whom he had known +when in college in New Haven, and whom the students familiarly called +"Uncle Israel." The recognition was mutual, for Uncle Israel prided +himself on never forgetting a person he had once seen. In a few +moments St. Leon was overwhelming him with scores of questions, but +Uncle Israel was a genuine Yankee, and never felt happier than when +engaged in giving or guessing information. + +At length St. Leon asked, "Does Ada Linwood fulfil the promise of +beauty which she gave as a child?" + +"Ada who?" said Uncle Israel. + +"Linwood," repeated St. Leon, arguing from the jog in Uncle Israel's +memory that all was not right. + +"Do you mean the daughter of Harcourt Linwood, he that was said to be +so rich?" + +"The same," returned St. Leon. "Where are they?" + +Uncle Israel settled himself with the air of a man who has a long +story on hand, and intends to tell it at his leisure. Filling his +mouth with an enormous quid of tobacco, he commenced: "Better than +four years ago Linwood smashed up, smack and clean; lost everything he +had, and the rest had to be sold at vandue. But what was worse than +all, seein' he was a fine feller in the main, and I guess didn't mean +to fail, he took sick, and in about a month died." + +"And what became of his widow and orphan?" asked St. Leon eagerly. + +"Why, it wasn't nateral," said Uncle Israel, "that they should keep +the same company they did before, and they's too plaguy stuck up to +keep any other; so they moved out of town and supported themselves by +takin' in sewin' or ironin', I forgot which." + +"But where are they now?" asked St. Leon. + +Uncle Israel looked at him for a moment, and then replied, "The Lord +knows, I suppose, but Israel don't." + +"Did they suffer at all?" asked St. Leon. + +"Not as long as I stuck to them, but they sarved me real mean," +answered Uncle Israel. + +"In what way?" + +"Why, you see," said Uncle Israel, "I don't know why, but somehow I +never thought of matrimony till I got a glimpse of Ada at her father's +vandue. To be sure, I'd seen her before, but then she was mighty big +feelin', and I couldn't ha' touched her with a hoe-handle, but now +'twas different. I bought their house. I was rich and they was poor." + +Involuntarily St. Leon clinched his fist, as Uncle Israel continued: +"I seen to getting them a place in the country and then tended to 'em +generally for more than six months, when I one day hinted to Mrs. +Linwood that I would like to be her son-in-law. Christopher! how quick +her back was up, and she gave me to understand that I was lookin' too +high! 'Twas no go with Ada, and after awhile I proposed to the mother. +Then you ought to seen her! She didn't exactly turn me out o' door but +she coolly told me I wasn't wanted there. But I stuck to her and kept +kind o' offerin' myself, till at last they cut stick and cleared out, +and I couldn't find them, high nor low. I bunted for more than a year, +and at last found them in Hartford. Thinkin' maybe they had come to I +proposed again, and kept hangin' on till they gave me the slip again; +and now I don't know where they be, but I guess they've changed their +name." + +At this point the cars stopped until the upward train should pass +them, and St. Leon, rising, bade his companion good evening, saying, +"he had changed his mind and should return to Hartford on the other +train." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +EXPLANATION. + + +Six years prior to the commencement of our story New Haven boasted not +a better or wealthier citizen than Harcourt Linwood, of whose +subsequent failure and death we have heard from Uncle Israel. The +great beauty of his only child, Ada, then a girl of nearly thirteen, +was the subject of frequent comment among the circle in which he +moved. No pains were spared with her education, and many were the +conjectures as to what she would be when time had matured her mind and +beauty. + +Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans, then nineteen years of age, and a +student at Yale, had frequently met Ada at the house of his sister, +Mrs. Durant, whose eldest daughter, Jenny, was about her own age. The +uncommon beauty of the child greatly interested the young Southerner +and once, in speaking of his future prospects to his sister, he +playfully remarked, "Suppose I wait for Ada Linwood." + +"You cannot do better," was the reply, and the conversation +terminated. + +The next evening there was to be a child's party at the house of Mrs. +Durant, and as Hugh was leaving the house Jenny bounded after him, +saying, "Oh, Uncle Hugh, you'll come to-morrow night, won't you? No +matter if you are a grown-up man, in the junior class, trying to raise +some whiskers! You will be a sort of restraint, and keep us from +getting too rude. Besides, we are going to have tableaux, and I want +you to act the part of bridegroom in one of the scenes." + +"Who is to be the bride?" asked Hugh. + +"Ada Linwood. Now I know you'll come, won't you?" + +"I'll see," was Hugh's answer, as he walked away. + +Jenny well knew that "I'll see" meant "yes," and tying on her bonnet, +she hastened off to tell Ada that Uncle Hugh would be present, and +would act the part of bridegroom in the scene where she was to be +bride. + +"What! that big man?" said Ada. "How funny!" + +Before seven the next evening Mrs. Durant's parlors were filled, for +the guests were not old enough or fashionable enough to delay making +their appearance until morning. Hugh was the last to arrive, for which +Jenny scolded him soundly, saying they were all ready for tableaus. +"But come, now," said she, "and let me introduce you to the bride." + +In ten minutes more the curtain rose, and Hugh St. Leon appeared with +Ada on his arm, standing before a gentleman in clerical robes, who +seemed performing the marriage ceremony. Placing a ring on Ada's third +finger, St. Leon, when the whole was finished, took advantage of his +new relationship, and kissed the lips of the bride. Amid a storm of +applause the curtain dropped, and as he led the blushing Ada away he +bent down, and pointing to the ring, whispered, "Wear it until some +future day, when, by replacing it, I shall make you really my little +wife." + +The words were few and lightly spoken, but they touched the heart of +the young Ada, awakening within her thoughts and feelings of which she +never before had dreamed. Frequently, after that, she met St. Leon, +who sometimes teased her about being his wife; but when he saw how +painfully embarrassed she seemed on such occasions, he desisted. + +The next year he was graduated, and the same day on which he received +the highest honors of his class was long remembered with heartfelt +sorrow, for ere the city clocks tolled the hour of midnight he stood +with his orphaned niece, Jenny, weeping over the inanimate form of his +sister, Mrs. Durant, who had died suddenly in a fit of apoplexy. Mr. +Durant had been dead some years, and as Jenny had now no relatives in +New Haven, she accompanied her uncle to his Southern home. Long and +passionately she wept on Ada's bosom as she bade her farewell, +promising never to forget her, but to write her three pages of +foolscap every week. To do Jenny justice, we must say that this +promise was faithfully kept for a whole month, and then, with +thousands of its sisterhood, it disappeared into the vale of broken +promises and resolutions. + +She still wrote occasionally, and at the end of each epistle there was +always a long postscript from Hugh, which Ada prized almost as much as +she did Jenny's whole letter; and when at last matters changed, the +letter becoming Hugh's and the postscript Jenny's, she made no +objection, even if she felt any. At the time of her father's failure +and death, a long unanswered letter was lying in her portfolio, which +was entirely forgotten until weeks after, when, in the home which +Uncle Israel so _disinterestedly_ helped them to procure, she and her +mother were sewing for the food which they ate. Then a dozen times was +an answer commenced, blotted with tears, and finally destroyed, until +Ada, burying her face in her mother's lap, sobbed out, "Oh, mother, I +cannot do it. I cannot write to tell them how poor we are, for I +remember that Jenny was proud, and laughed at the schoolgirls whose +fathers were not rich." + +So the letter was never answered, and as St. Leon about that time +started on a tour through Europe, he knew nothing of their change of +circumstances. On his way home he had in Paris met with Harry Graham, +who had been his classmate, and who now won from him a promise that on +his return to America he would visit his parents, in S----. He did so, +and there, as we have seen, met with Ada Harcourt, whose face, voice, +and manner reminded him so strangely of the Ada he had known years +before, and whom he had never forgotten. + +As the reader will have supposed, the sewing-woman whose daughter +Lucy Dayton so heartily despised was none other than Mrs. Linwood, of +New Haven, who had taken her husband's first name in order to avoid +the persecutions of Uncle Israel. The day following the party St. Leon +spent in making inquiries concerning Mrs. Harcourt, and the +information thus obtained determined him to start at once for New +Haven, in order to ascertain if his suspicions are correct. + +The result of his journey we already know. Still he resolved not to +make himself known immediately, but to wait until he satisfied himself +that Ada was as good as beautiful. And then? + +A few more chapters will tell us what then. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A MANEUVER. + + +The gray twilight of a cold December afternoon was creeping over the +village of S----, when Ada Harcourt left her seat by the window, +where, the livelong day, she had sat stitching till her heart was sick +and her eyes were dim. On the faded calico lounge near the fire lay +Mrs. Harcourt, who for several days had been unable to work on account +of a severe cold which seemed to have settled in her face and eyes. + +"There," said Ada, as she brushed from her gingham apron the bits of +thread and shreds of cotton, "there, it is done at last, and now +before it is quite dark I will take it home." + +"No, not to-night," said Mrs. Harcourt; "to-morrow will do just as +well." + +"But, mother," answered Ada, "you know Mrs. Dayton always pays as soon +as the work is delivered, and what I have finished will come to two +dollars and a half, which will last a long time, and we shall not be +obliged to take any from the sum laid by to pay our rent; besides, you +have had nothing nourishing for a long time; so let me go, and on my +way home I will buy you something nice for supper." + +Mrs. Harcourt said no more, but the tears fell from her aching eyes as +she thought how hard her daughter was obliged to labor, now that she +was unable to assist her. In a moment Ada was in the street. The +little alley in which she lived was soon traversed, and she about +turning into Main Street, when rapid footsteps approached her, and St. +Leon appeared at her side, saying, "Good evening, Miss Harcourt; allow +me to relieve you of that bundle." + +And before she could prevent it he took from her hands the package, +while he continued, "May I ask how far you are walking to-night?" + +Ada hesitated a moment, but quickly forcing down her pride, she +answered, "Only as far as Mr. Dayton's. I am carrying home some work." + +"Indeed!" said he, "then I can have your company all the way, for I am +going to inquire after Lizzie." + +They soon reached their destination, and their ring at the door was +not, as usual, answered by Bridget but by Lucy herself, whose sweet +smile, as she greeted St. Leon, changed into an angry scowl when she +recognized his companion. + +"Ada Harcourt!" said she, and Ada, blushing scarlet, began: "I have +brought--" but she was interrupted by St. Leon, who handed Lucy the +bundle, saying: + +"Here is your work, Miss Dayton, and I hope it will suit you, for we +took a great deal of pains with it." + +Lucy tried to smile as she took the work, and then opening the parlor +door she with one hand motioned St. Leon to enter, while with the +other she held the hall door ajar, as if for Ada to depart. A tear +trembled on Ada's long eyelashes, as she timidly asked; + +"Can I see your grandmother?" + +"Mrs. Dayton, I presume you mean," said Lucy haughtily. + +Ada bowed and Lucy continued: "She is not at home just at present." + +"Perhaps, then, you can pay me for the work," said Ada. + +The scowl on Lucy's face grew darker as she replied, "I have nothing +to do with grandma's hired help. Come to-morrow and she will be here. +How horridly cold this open door makes the hall!" + +Ada thought of the empty cupboard at home, and of her pale, sick +mother. Love for her conquered all other feeling, and in a choking +voice she said, "Oh, Miss Dayton, if you will pay it you will confer a +great favor on me, for mother is sick, and we need it so much!" + +There was a movement in the parlor. St. Leon was approaching, and with +an impatient gesture Lucy opened the opposite door, saying to Ada, +"Come in here." + +The tone was so angry that, under any other circumstances, Ada would +have gone away. Now, however, she entered, and Lucy, taking out her +purse, said, "How much is the sum about which you make so much fuss?" + +"Two dollars and a half," answered Ada. + +"Two dollars and a half," repeated Lucy, and then, as a tear fell from +Ada's eye, she added contemptuously, "It is a small amount to cry +about." + +Ada made no reply, and was about leaving the room when Lucy detained +her, by saying, "Pray, did you ask Mr. St. Leon to accompany you here +and bring your bundle?" + +"Miss Dayton, you know better--you know I did not," answered Ada, as +the fire of insulted pride flashed from her dark blue eyes, which +became almost black, while her cheek grew pale as marble. + +Instantly Lucy's manner changed, and in a softened tone she said, "I +am glad to know that you did not; and now, as a friend, I warn you +against receiving any marks of favor from St. Leon." + +"What do you mean?" asked Ada, and Lucy continued: + +"You have sense enough to know that when a man of St. Leon's standing +shows any preference for a girl in your circumstances it can be from +no good design." + +"You judge him wrongfully--you do not know him," said Ada; and Lucy +answered: + +"Pray, where did you learn so much about him?" + +Ada only answered by rising to go. + +"Here, this way," said Lucy, and leading her through an enter passage +to the back door, she added, "I do it to save your good name. St. +Leon is undoubtedly waiting for you, and I would not trust my own +sister with him, were she a poor sewing girl!" + +The door was shut in Ada's face, and Lucy returned to the parlor, +where she found her father entertaining her visitor. Seating herself +on a crimson ottoman, she prepared to do the agreeable, when St. Leon, +rising, said, "Excuse my short call, for I must be going. Where have +you left Miss Harcourt?" + +"I left her at the door," answered Lucy, "and she is probably halfway +to 'Dirt Alley' by this time, so do not be in haste." + +But he was in haste, for when he looked on the fast-gathering darkness +without, and thought of the by streets and lonely alleys through which +Ada must pass on her way home, he felt uneasy, and biding Miss Dayton +good night, he hurried away. + +Meantime, Ada had procured the articles she wished for, and proceeded +home, with a heart which would have been light as a bird had not the +remembrance of Lucy's insulting language rung in her ears. Mrs. +Harcourt saw that all was not right, but she forbore making any +inquiries until supper was over. Then Ada, bringing a stool to her +mother's side, and laying her head on her lap, told everything which +had transpired between herself, St. Leon, and Lucy. + +Scarcely was her story finished when there was a rap at the door, and +St. Leon himself entered the room. He had failed in overtaking Ada, +and anxious to know of her safe return, had determined to call. The +recognition between himself and Mrs. Harcourt was mutual, but for +reasons of their own, neither chose to make it apparent, and Ada +introduced him to her mother as she would have done any stranger. St. +Leon possessed in an unusual degree the art of making himself +agreeable, and in the animated conversation which ensued Mrs. Harcourt +forgot that she was poor--forgot her aching eyes; while Ada forgot +everything save that St, Leon was present, and that she was again +listening to his voice, which charmed her now even more than in the +olden time. + +During the evening St. Leon managed in various ways to draw Ada out on +all the prominent topics of the day, and he felt pleased to find that +amid all her poverty she did not neglect the cultivation of her mind. +A part of each day was devoted to study, which Mrs. Harcourt, who was +a fine scholar, superintended. + +It was fast merging toward the hour when phantoms walk abroad ere St. +Leon remembered that he must go. As he was leaving he said to Ada, "I +have a niece, Jenny, about your age, whom I think you would like very +much." + +Oh, how Ada longed to ask for her old playmate, but a look from her +mother kept her silent, and in a moment St. Leon was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +COUSIN BERINTHA AND LUCY'S PARTY. + + +Cousin Berintha, whom Lucy Dayton so much disliked and dreaded, was a +cousin of Mr. Dayton, and was a prim, matter-of-fact maiden of fifty, +or thereabout. That she was still in a state of single blessedness was +partially her own fault, for at twenty she was engaged to the son of a +wealthy farmer who lived near her father. But, alas! ere the wedding +day arrived, there came to the neighborhood a young lady from Boston, +in whose presence the beauty of the country girl grew dim, as do the +stars in the rays of the morning sun. + +Berintha had a plain face, but a strong heart, and when she saw that +Amy Holbrook was preferred, with steady hand and unflinching nerve, +she wrote to her recreant lover that he was free. And now Amy, to whom +the false knight turned, took it into her capricious head that she +would not marry a farmer--she had always fancied a physician; and if +young B---- would win her, he must first secure the title of M.D. He +complied with her request, and one week from the day on which he +received his diploma Berintha read, with a slightly blanched cheek, +the notice of his marriage with the Boston beauty. Three years from +that day she read the announcement of Amy's death, and in two years +more she refused the doctor's offer to give her a home by his lonely +fireside, and a place in his widowed heart. All this had the effect of +making Berintha rather cross, but she seldom manifested her spite +toward any one except Lucy, whom she seemed to take peculiar delight +in teasing, and whose treatment of herself was not such as would +warrant much kindness in return. + +Lizzie she had always loved, and when Harry Graham went away it was +on Berintha's lap that the young girl sobbed out her grief, wondering, +when with her tears Berintha's were mingled, how one apparently so +cold and passionless could sympathize with her. To no one had Berintha +ever confided the story of her early love. Mr. Dayton was a schoolboy +then, and as but little was said of it at the time, it faded entirely +from memory; and when Lucy called her a "crabbed old maid," she knew +not of the disappointment which had clouded every joy and imbittered a +whole lifetime. + +At the first intelligence of Lizzie's illness Berintha came, and +though her prescriptions of every kind of herb tea in the known world +were rather numerous, and her doses of the same were rather large, and +though her stiff cap, sharp nose, and curious little eyes, which saw +everything, were exceedingly annoying to Lucy, she proved herself an +invaluable nurse, warming up old Dr. Benton's heart into a glow of +admiration of her wonderful skill! Hour after hour she sat by Lizzie, +bathing her burning brow, or smoothing her tumbled pillow. Night after +night she kept her tireless watch, treading softly around the +sick-room, and lowering her loud, harsh voice to a whisper, lest she +should disturb the uneasy slumbers of the sick girl, who, under her +skilful nursing, gradually grew better. + +"Was there ever such a dear, good cousin," said Lizzie, one day, when +a nervous headache had been coaxed away by what Berintha called her +"mesmeric passes;" and "Was there ever such a horrid bore," said Lucy, +on the same day, when Cousin Berintha "thought she saw a white hair in +Lucy's raven curls!" adding, by way of consolation, "It wouldn't be +anything strange, for I began to grow gray before I was as old as +you." + +"And that accounts tor your head being just the color of wool," +angrily retorted Lucy, little dreaming of the bitter tears and +sleepless nights which had early blanched her cousin's hair to its +present whiteness. + +For several winters Lucy had been in the habit of giving a large +party, and as she had heard that St. Leon was soon going South, she +felt anxious to have it take place ere he left town. But what should +she do with Berintha, who showed no indications of leaving, though +Lizzie was much better? + +"I declare," said she to herself, "that woman is enough to worry the +life out of me. I'll speak to Liz about it this very day." + +Accordingly, that afternoon, when alone with her sister, she said, +"Lizzie, is it absolutely necessary that Berintha should stay here any +longer, to tuck you up, and feed you sage tea through a straw?" + +Lizzie looked inquiringly at her sister, who continued: "To tell you +the truth, I'm tired of having her around, and must manage some way to +get rid of her before next week, for I mean to have a party Thursday +night." + +Lizzie's eyes now opened in astonishment, as she exclaimed, "A party! +oh, Lucy, wait until I get well." + +"You'll be able by that time to come down-stairs in your crimson +morning-gown, which becomes you so well," answered Lucy. + +"But father's away," rejoined Lizzie; to which Lucy replied: + +"So much the better, for now I shan't be obliged to ask any old +things. I told him I meant to have it while he was gone, for you know +he hates parties. But what shall I do with Berintha?" + +"Why, what possible harm can she do?" asked Lizzie. "She would enjoy +it very much, I know; for in spite of her oddities, she likes +society." + +"Well, suppose she does; nobody wants her round, prating about white +hairs and mercy knows what. Come, you tell her you don't need her +services any longer--that's a good girl." + +There was a look of mischief in Lizzie's eye, and a merry smile on her +lip, as she said, "Why, don't you know that father has invited her to +spend the winter, and she has accepted the invitation?" + +"Invited her to spend the winter!" repeated Lucy, while the tears +glittered in her bright eyes. "What does he mean?" + +"Why," answered Lizzie, "it is very lonely at Cousin John's, and his +wife makes more of a servant of Berintha than she does a companion, so +father, out of pity, asked her to stay with us, and she showed her +good taste by accepting." + +"I'll hang myself in the woodshed before spring--see if I don't!" and +burying her face in her hands, Lucy wept aloud, while Lizzie, lying +back upon her pillow, laughed immoderately at her sister's distress. + +"There's a good deal to laugh at, I think," said Lucy, more angrily +than she usually addressed her sister. "If you have any pity, do +devise some means of getting rid of her, for a time, at least." + +"Well, then," answered Lizzie, "she wants to go home for a few days, +in order to make some necessary preparations for staying with us, and +perhaps you can coax her to go now, though I for one would like to +have her stay. Everybody knows she is your cousin, and no one will +think less of you for having her here." + +"But I won't do it," said Lucy, "and that settles it. Your plan is a +good one, and I'll get her off--see if I don't!" + +The next day, which was Saturday, Lucy was unusually kind to her +cousin, giving her a collar, offering to fix her cap, and doing +numerous other little things, which greatly astonished Berintha. At +last, when dinner was over, she said, "Come, cousin, what do you say +to a sleigh ride this afternoon? I haven't been down to Elizabeth +Betsey's in a good while, so suppose we go to-day." + +Berintha was taken by surprise, but after a moment she said just what +Lucy hoped she would say, viz., that she was wanting to go home for a +few days, and if Lizzie were only well enough, she would go now. + +"Oh, she is a great deal better," said Lucy, "and you can leave her as +well as not. Dr. Benton says I am almost as good a nurse as you and I +will take good care of her--besides, I really think you need rest; so +go, if you wish to, and next Saturday I will come round after you." + +Accordingly, Berintha, who suspected nothing, was coaxed into going +home, and when at three o'clock the sleigh was said to be ready, she +kissed Lizzie good-by, and taking her seat by the side of Lucy, was +driven rapidly toward her brother's house. + + * * * * * + +"There! haven't I managed it capitally!" exclaimed Lucy, as she +reentered her sister's room after her ride; "but the bother of it is, +I've promised to go round next Saturday, and bring not only Berintha, +but Elizabeth Betsey, and her twins! Won't it be horrible! However, +the party'll be over, so I don't care." + +Cousin Berintha being gone, there was no longer any reason why the +party should be kept a secret, and before nightfall every servant in +the house was discussing it, Bridget saying: "Faith, an' I thought it +was mighty good she was gettin' with that woman." + +Mrs. Dayton was highly indignant at the trick which she plainly saw +had been put upon Berintha, but Lucy only replied, "that she wished it +were as easy a matter to get rid of grandma!" + +On Monday cards of invitation to the number of one hundred and fifty +were issued, and when Lizzie, in looking them over, asked why Ada +Harcourt was left out, Lucy replied, that "she guessed she wasn't +going to insult her guests by inviting a sewing girl with them. Anna +Graham could do so, but nobody was going to imitate her." + +"Invite her, then, for my sake, and in my name," pleaded Lizzie, but +Lucy only replied: + +"I shall do no such thing;" and thus the matter was settled. + +Amid the hurry and preparation for the party, days glided rapidly +away, and Thursday morning came, bright, beautiful, and balmy, almost, +as an autumnal day. + +"Isn't this delightful!" said Lucy, as she stepped out upon the +piazza, and felt the warm southern breeze upon her cheek. "It's a +wonder, though," she continued, "that Madam Nature didn't conjure up +an awful storm for my benefit, as she usually does!" + +Before night she had occasion to change her mind concerning the day. + +Dinner was over, and she in Lizzie's room was combing out her long +curls, and trying the effect of wearing them entirely behind her ears. +Suddenly there was the sound of sleigh bells, which came nearer, until +they stopped before the door. Lucy flew to the window, and in tones of +intense anger and surprise, exclaimed, "Now, heaven defend us! here is +Cousin John's old lumber sleigh and rackabone horse, with Berintha and +a hair trunk, a red trunk, two bandboxes, a carpet-bag, a box full of +herbs, and a pillowcase full of stockings. What does it all mean?" + +She soon found out what it all meant, for Berintha entered the room in +high spirits. Kissing Lizzie, she next advanced toward Lucy, saying, +"You didn't expect me, I know; but this morning was so warm and +thawing that John said he knew the sleighing would all be gone by +Saturday, so I concluded to come to-day." + +Lucy was too angry to reply, and rushing from the room, she closed the +door after her, with a force which fairly made the windows rattle. +Berintha looked inquiringly at Lizzie, who felt inadequate to an +explanation; so Berintha knew nothing of the matter until she +descended to the kitchen, and there learned the whole. Now, if Lucy +had treated her cousin politely and good-naturedly, she would have +saved herself much annoyance, but on the contrary, she told her that +she was neither expected nor wanted there; that parties were never +intended for "such old things;" and that now she was there, she hoped +she would stay in her own room, unless she should happen to be wanted +to wait on the table! + +This speech, of course, exasperated Berintha, but she made no reply, +although there was on her face a look of quiet determination, which +Lucy mistook for tacit acquiescence in her proposal. + +Five--six--seven--eight--struck the little brass clock, and no one had +come except old Dr. Benton, who, being a widower and an intimate +friend of the family, was invited, as Lucy said, for the purpose of +beauing grandma! Lizzie, in crimson double-gown, and soft, warm shawl, +was reclining on the sofa in the parlor, the old doctor muttering +about carelessness, heated rooms, late hours, etc. Grandma, in rich +black silk and plain Quaker cap, was hovering near her favorite child, +asking continually if she were too hot, or too cold or too tired, +while Lucy, in white muslin dress and flowing curls, flitted hither +and thither, fretting at the servants, or ordering grandma, and +occasionally tapping her sister's pale cheek, to see if she could not +coax some color into it. + +"You'll live to see it whiter still," said the doctor, who was +indignant at finding his patient down-stairs. + +And where all this time was Berintha? The doctor asked this question, +and Lucy asked this question, while Lizzie replied, that "she was in +her room." + +"And I hope to goodness she'll stay there," said Lucy. + +Dr. Benton's gray eyes fastened upon the amiable young lady, who, by +way of explanation, proceeded to relate her maneuvers for keeping "the +old maid" from the party. + +We believe we have omitted to say that Lucy had some well-founded +hopes of being one day, together with her sister, heiress of Dr. +Benton's property, which was considerable. He was a widower, and had +no relatives. He was also very intimate with Mr. Dayton's family, +always evincing a great partiality for Lucy and Lizzie, and had more +than once hinted at the probable disposal of his wealth. Of course +Lucy, in his presence, was all amiability, and though he was usually +very far-sighted, he but partially understood her real character. +Something, however, in her remarks concerning Berintha displeased him. +Lucy saw it, but before she had time for any thought on the subject +the door-bell rang, and a dozen or more of guests entered. + +The parlors now began to fill rapidly. Ere long St. Leon came, and +after paying his compliments to Lucy, he took his station between her +and the sofa, on which Lizzie sat. So delighted was Lucy to have him +thus near that she forgot Berintha, until that lady herself appeared +in the room, bowing to those she knew, and seating herself on the +sofa, very near St. Leon. The angry blood rushed in torrents to Lucy's +face, and St. Leon, who saw something was wrong, endeavored to divert +her mind by asking her various questions. + +At last he said, "I do not see Miss Harcourt. Where is she?" + +"She is not expected," answered Lucy carelessly. + +"Ah!" said St. Leon; and Berintha, touching his arm, rejoined: + +"Of course you could not think Ada Harcourt would be invited here!" + +"Indeed! Why not?" asked St. Leon, and Berintha continued: + +"To be sure, Ada is handsome, and Ada is accomplished, but then Ada is +poor, and consequently can't come!" + +"But I see no reason why poverty should debar her from good society," +said St. Leon; and Berintha, with an exultant glance at Lucy, who, if +possible, would have paralyzed her tongue, replied: + +"Why, if Ada were present, she might rival somebody in somebody's good +opinion. Wasn't that what you said, Cousin Lucy? Please correct me, if +I get wrong." + +Lucy frowned angrily, but made no reply, for Berintha had quoted her +very words. After a moment's pause she proceeded: "Yes, Ada is poor; +so though she can come to the front door with a gentleman, she cannot +go out that way, but must be led to a side door or back door; which +was it, Cousin Lucy?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about," answered Lucy; and +Berintha, in evident surprise, exclaimed: + +"Why, don't you remember when Ada came here with a gentleman--let me +see, who was it?--well, no matter who 'twas--she came with a +gentleman--he was ushered into the parlor, while you took her into a +side room, then into a side passage, and out at the side door, kindly +telling her to beware of the gentleman in the parlor, who could want +nothing good of sewing girls!" + +"You are very entertaining to-night," said Lucy; to which Berintha +replied: + +"You did not think I could be so agreeable, did you, when you asked me +to keep out of sight this evening, and said that such old fudges as +grandma and I would appear much better in our rooms, taking snuff, and +nodding at each other over our knitting work?" + +Lucy looked so distressed that Lizzie pitied her, and touching +Berintha she said, "Please don't talk any more." + +At that moment supper was announced, and after it was over St. Leon +departed, notwithstanding Lucy's urgent request that he would remain +longer. As the street door closed after him she felt that she would +gladly have seen every other guest depart also. A moody fit came on, +and the party would have been voted a failure had it not been for the +timely interference of Dr. Benton and Berintha. Together they sought +out any who seemed neglected, entertaining them to the best of their +ability, and leaving with every one the impression that they were the +best-natured couple in the world. At eleven o'clock, Lizzie, wearied +out, repaired to her chamber. Her departure was the signal for others, +and before one o'clock the last good night was said, the doors locked, +the silver gathered up, the tired servants dismissed, and Lucy, in her +sister's room, was giving vent to her wrath against Berintha, the +party, St. Leon, and all. + +Scolding, however, could do her no good, and ere long, throwing +herself undressed upon a lounge she fell asleep, and dreamed that +grandma was married to the doctor, that Berintha had become her +stepmother, and, worse than all, that Ada Harcourt was Mrs. St. Leon. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A WEDDING AT ST. LUKE'S. + + +The day but one following the party, as Lucy was doing some shopping +down street she stepped for a moment into her dressmaker's, Miss +Carson's, where she found three or four of her companions, all eagerly +discussing what seemed to be quite an interesting topic. As Lucy +entered, one of them turning toward her said; "Oh, isn't it strange? +Or haven't you heard?" + +"Heard what?" asked Lucy; and her companion replied: + +"Why, Ada Harcourt is going to be married. Miss Carson is making her +the most beautiful traveling dress, with silk hat to match--" + +"Besides three or four elegant silk dresses," chimed in another. + +"And the most charming morning-gown you ever saw--apple green, and +dark green, striped--and lined with pink silk," rejoined a third. + +By this time Lucy had sunk into the nearest chair. The truth had +flashed upon her, as it probably has upon you; but as she did not wish +to betray her real emotions she forced a little bitter laugh, and +said, "St. Leon, I suppose, is the bridegroom." + +"Yes; who told you?" asked her companion. + +"Oh, I've seen it all along," answered Lucy carelessly. "He called +with her once at our house!" + +"But you didn't invite her to your party," said mischievous Bessie +Lee, who loved dearly to tease Lucy Dayton. "You didn't invite her to +your party, and so he left early, and I dare say went straight to Mrs. +Harcourt's and proposed, if he hadn't done so before. Now, don't you +wish you'd been more polite to Ada? They say he's got a cousin South, +as rich and handsome as he is, and if you'd only behaved as you +should, who knows what might have happened!" + +Lucy deigned Bessie no reply, and turning to another young lady, +asked, "When is the wedding to be?" + +"Next Thursday morning, in the church," was the answer; and Bessie Lee +again interposed, saying, "Come, Lucy, I don't believe you have ever +returned Ada's call, and as I am going to see her, and inquire all +about that Cousin Frank, suppose you accompany me, and learn the +particulars of the wedding." + +"Thank you," said Lucy; "I don't care enough about it to take that +trouble;" and soon rising she left the shop. + +If Lucy manifested so much indifference, we wot of some bright eyes +and eager ears which are willing to know the particulars, so we will +give them as follows: When St. Leon left Mr. Dayton's it was ten +o'clock, but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour he started for +the small brown house on "Dirt Alley," where dwelt the sewing woman +and her daughter, who were both busy on some work which they wished to +finish that night. Ada had stopped for a moment to replenish the fire +when a knock at the door startled her. Opening it she saw St. Leon, +and in much surprise said, "Why, I supposed you were at the party." + +"So I have been," said he; "but I grew weary, and left for a more +congenial atmosphere;" then advancing toward Mrs. Harcourt, he took +her hand, saying, "Mrs. Linwood, allow me to address you by your right +name this evening." + +We draw a veil over the explanation which followed--over the +fifty-nine questions asked by Ada concerning Jenny--and over the _one_ +question asked by St. Leon, the answer to which resulted in the +purchase of all those dresses at Miss Carson's and the well-founded +rumor that on Thursday morning a wedding would take place at St. +Luke's church. + +Poor Lucy! how disconsolate she felt! St. Leon was passing from her +grasp, and there was no help. On her way home she three times heard of +the wedding, and of Ada's real name and former position in life, and +each time her wrath waxed warmer and warmer. Fortunate was it for +Berintha and grandma that neither made her appearance until tea-time, +for Lucy was in just the state when an explosive storm would surely +have followed any remark addressed to her! + +The next day was the Sabbath, and as Lucy entered the church, the +first object which met her eye was St. Leon, seated in the sewing +woman's pew, and Ada _tolerably_ though not _very_ near him! "How +disgusting!" she hissed between her teeth, as she entered her own +richly-cushioned seat, and opened her velvet-bound prayer book. +Precious little of the sermon heard she that day, for, turn which way +she would, she still saw in fancy the sweet young face of her rival; +and it took but a slight stretch of imagination to bring to view a +costly house in the far-off "Sunny South," a troop of servants, a +handsome, noble husband, and the hated Ada the happy mistress of them +all! Before church was out Lucy was really sick, and when at home in +her room she did not refuse the bowl of herb tea which Berintha kindly +brought her, saying "it had cured her when she felt just so." + +The morning of the wedding came, and though Lucy had determined not to +be present, yet as the hour approached she felt how utterly impossible +it would be for her to stay away; and when at half-past eight the +doors were opened she was among the first who entered the church, +which in a short time was filled. Nine rang from the old clock in the +belfry, and then up the broad aisle came the bridal party, consisting +of Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Charlie and Anna, Mrs. Harcourt, or Mrs. +Linwood as we must now call her, St. Leon and Ada. + +"Was there ever a more beautiful bride?" whispered Bessie Lee; but +Lucy made no answer, and as soon as the ceremony was concluded she +hurried home, feeling almost in need of some more catnip tea! + +In the eleven o'clock train St. Leon with his bride and her mother +started for New Haven, where they spent a delightful week, and then +returned to S----. A few days were passed at the house of Mr. Graham, +and then they departed for their southern home. As we shall not again +have occasion to speak of them in this story we will here say that the +following summer they came North, together with Jenny and Cousin +Frank, the latter of whom was so much pleased with the rosy cheeks, +laughing eyes, and playful manners of Bessie Lee that when he returned +home he coaxed her to accompany him; and again was there a wedding in +St. Luke's, and again did Miss Carson make the bridal outfit, wishing +that all New Orleans gentlemen would come to S---- for their wives. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A SURPRISE. + + +"Reuben," said Grandma Dayton to her son one evening after she had +listened to the reading of a political article for which she did not +care one fig, "Reuben, does thee suppose Dr. Benton makes a charge +every time he calls?" + +"I don't know," said Mr. Dayton; "what made you ask that question?" + +"Because," answered grandma--and her knitting needles rattled loud +enough to be heard in the next room--"because, I think he calls mighty +often, considering that Lizzie neither gets better nor worse; and I +think, too, that he and Berintha have a good many private talks!" + +The paper dropped from Mr. Dayton's hand, and "What can you mean?" +dropped from his lips. + +"Why," resumed grandma, "every time he comes he manages to see +Berintha alone; and hain't thee noticed that she has colored her hair +lately, and left off caps?" + +"Yes; and she looks fifteen years younger for it; but what of that?" + +Grandma, whose remarks had all been preparatory to the mighty secret +she was about to divulge, coughed, and then informed her son that +Berintha was going to be married, and wished to have the wedding +there. + +"Berintha and the doctor! Good!" exclaimed Mr. Dayton. "To be sure, +I'll give her a wedding, and a wedding dress, too." + +Here grandma left the room, and after reporting her success to +Berintha, she sought her granddaughters, and communicated to them the +expected event. When Lucy learned of her cousin's intended marriage +she was nearly as much surprised and provoked as she had been when +first she heard of Ada's. + +Turning to Lizzie she said, "It's too bad! for of course we shall have +to give up all hopes of the doctor's money." + +"And perhaps thee'll be the only old maid in the family, after all," +suggested grandma, who knew Lucy's weak point, and sometimes loved to +touch it. + +"And if I am," retorted Lucy angrily, "I hope I shall have sense +enough to mind my own business, and not interfere with that of my +grandchildren!" + +Grandma made no answer, but secretly she felt some conscientious +scruples with regard to Lucy's grandchildren! As for Berintha she +seemed entirely changed, and flitted about the house in a manner which +caused Lucy to call her "an old fool, trying to ape sixteen." With a +change of feelings her personal appearance also changed, and when she +one day returned from the dentist's with an entire set of new teeth, +and came down to tea in a dark, fashionably-made merino, the +metamorphose was complete, and grandma declared that she looked better +than she ever had before in her life. The doctor, too, was improved, +and though he did not color his hair, he ordered six new shirts, a new +coat, a new horse and a pair of gold spectacles! + +After a due lapse of time the appointed day came, and with it, at an +early hour, came Cousin John and Elizabeth Betsey, bringing with them +the few herbs which Berintha, at the time of her removal, had +overlooked. These Bridget demurely proposed should be given to Miss +Lucy, "who of late was much given to drinking catnip." Perfectly +indignant, Lucy threw the herbs, bag and all, into the fire, thereby +filling the house with an odor which made the asthmatic old doctor +wheeze and blow wonderfully during the evening. + +A few of the villagers were invited, and when all was ready Mr. Dayton +brought down in his arms his white-faced Lizzie, who imperceptibly +had grown paler and weaker every day, while those who looked at her as +she reclined upon the sofa, sighed, and thought of a different +occasion when they probably would assemble there. For once Lucy was +very amiable, and with the utmost politeness and good nature waited +upon the guests. There was a softened light in her eye, and a +heightened bloom on her cheek, occasioned by a story which Berintha, +two hours before, had told her, of a heart all crushed in its youth, +and aching on through long years of loneliness, but which was about to +be made happy by a union with the only object it had ever loved! Do +you start and wonder? Have you not guessed that Dr. Benton, who that +night for the second time breathed the marriage vow, was the same who, +years before, won the girlish love of Berintha Dayton, and then turned +from her to the more beautiful Amy Holbrook, finding, too late, that +all is not gold that glitters? It is even so, and could you have seen +how tightly he clasped the hand of his new wife, and how fondly his +eye rested upon her, you would have said that, however long his +affections might have wandered, they had at last returned to her, his +first, best love. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LIZZIE. + + Gathered 'round a narrow coffin, + Stand a mourning, funeral train, + While for her, redeemed thus early, + Tears are falling now like rain. + + Hopes are crushed and hearts are bleeding; + Drear the fireside now, and alone; + She, the best loved and the dearest, + Far away to heaven hath flown. + + Long, long, will they miss thee, Lizzie, + Long, long days for thee they'll weep; + And through many nights of sorrow + Memory will her vigils keep. + + +In the chapter just finished we casually mentioned that Lizzie, +instead of growing stronger, had drooped day by day, until to all save +the fond hearts which watched her, she seemed surely passing away. But +they to whom her presence was as sunlight to the flowers, shut their +eyes to the dreadful truth, refusing to believe that she was leaving +them. Oftentimes during the long winter nights would Mr. Dayton steal +softly to her chamber, and kneeling by her bedside gaze in mute +anguish upon the wasted face of his darling. And when from her +transparent brow and marble cheek he wiped the deadly night sweats, a +chill, colder far than the chill of death, crept over his heart, and +burying his face in his hands he would cry, "Oh, Father, let this cup +pass from me!" + +As spring approached she seemed better, and the father's heart grew +stronger, and Lucy's step was lighter, and grandma's words more +cheerful, as hope whispered, "she will live." But when the snow was +melted from off the hillside, and over the earth the warm spring sun +was shining, when the buds began to swell and the trees to put forth +their young leaves, there came over her a change so fearful that with +one bitter cry of sorrow hope fled forever; and again, in the lonely +night season, the weeping father knelt and asked for strength to bear +it when his best-loved child was gone. + +"Poor Harry!" said Lizzie one day to Anna, who was sitting by her, +"Poor Harry, if I could see him again; but I never shall." + +"Perhaps you will," answered Anna. "I wrote, to him three weeks ago, +telling him to come quickly." + +"Then he will," said Lizzie, "but if I should be dead when he comes, +tell him how I loved him to the last, and that the thought of leaving +him was the sharpest pang I suffered." + +There were tears in Anna's eyes as she kissed the cheek of the sick +girl, and promised to do her bidding. After a moment's pause Lizzie +added, "I am afraid Harry is not a Christian, and you must promise not +to leave him until he has a well-founded hope that again in heaven I +shall see him." + +Anna promised all, and then as Lizzie seemed exhausted she left her +and returned home. One week from that day she stood once more in +Lizzie's sick-room, listening for the last time to the tones of the +dying girl as she bade her friends adieu. Convulsed with grief Lucy +knelt by the bedside, pressing to her lips one little clammy hand, and +accusing herself of destroying her sister's life. In the furthest +corner of the room sat Mr. Dayton. He could not stand by and see +stealing over his daughter's face the dark shadow which falls but once +on all. He could not look upon her when over her soft brown eyes the +white lids closed forever. Like a naked branch in the autumn wind his +whole frame shook with agony, and though each fiber of grandma's heart +was throbbing with anguish, yet for the sake of her son she strove to +be calm, and soothed him as she would a little child. Berintha, too, +was there, and while her tears were dropping fast, she supported +Lizzie in her arms, pushing back from her pale brow the soft curls +which, damp with the moisture of death, lay in thick rings upon her +forehead. + +"Has Harry come?" said Lizzie. + +The answer was in the negative, and a moan of disappointment came from +her lips. + +Again she spoke: "Give him my Bible--and my curls--when I am dead let +Lucy arrange them--she knows how; then cut them off, and the best, the +longest, the brightest is for Harry; the others for you all. And +tell--tell--tell him to meet--me in heaven--where I'm--going--going." + +A stifled shriek from Lucy, as she fell back fainting, told that with +the last word, "going," Lizzie had gone to heaven! + +An hour after the tolling bell arrested the attention of many, and of +the few who asked for whom it tolled nearly all involuntarily sighed +and said, "Poor Harry! Died before he came home!" + + * * * * * + +It was the night before the burial, and in the back parlor stood a +narrow coffin containing all that was mortal of Lizzie Dayton. In the +front parlor Bridget and another domestic kept watch over the body of +their young mistress. Twelve o'clock rang from the belfry of St. +Luke's church, and then the midnight silence was broken by the shrill +scream of the locomotive as the eastern train thundered into the +depot. But the senses of the Irish girls were too profoundly locked in +sleep to heed that common sound; neither did they hear the outer door, +which by accident had been left unlocked, swing softly open, nor saw +they the tall figure which passed by them into the next room--the room +where stood the coffin. + +Suddenly through the house there echoed a cry, so long, so loud, so +despairing, that every sleeper started from their rest, and hurried +with nervous haste to the parlor, where they saw Harry Graham, bending +in wild agony over the body of his darling Lizzie, who never before +had turned a deaf ear to his impassioned words of endearment. He had +received his sister's letter, and started immediately for home, but +owing to some delay did not reach there in time to see her alive. +Anxious to know the worst, he had not stopped at his father's house, +but seeing a light in Mr. Dayton's parlors, hastened thither. Finding +the door unlocked, he entered, and on seeing the two servant girls +asleep, his heart beat quickly with apprehension. Still he was +unprepared for the shock which awaited him, when on the coffin and her +who slept within it his eye first rested. He did not faint, nor even +weep, but when his friends came about him with words of sympathy he +only answered, "Lizzie, Lizzie, she is dead!" + +During the remainder of that sad night he sat by the coffin pressing +his hand upon the icy forehead until its coldness seemed to benumb his +faculties, for when in the morning his parents and sister came he +scarcely noticed them; and still the world, misjudging ever, looked +upon his calm face and tearless eye, and said that all too lightly had +he loved the gentle girl whose last thoughts and words had been of +him. Ah, they knew not the utter wreck the death of that young girl +had made, of the bitter grief, deeper and more painful because no +tear-drop fell to moisten its feverish agony. They buried her, and +then back from the grave came the two heart-broken men, the father and +Harry Graham, each going to his own desolate home, the one to commune +with the God who had given and taken away, and the other to question +the dealings of that Providence which had taken from him his all. + +Days passed, and nothing proved of any avail to win Harry from the +deep despair which seemed to have settled upon him. At length Anna +bethought her of the soft, silken curl which had been reserved for +him. Quickly she found it, and taking with her the Bible repaired to +her brother's room. Twining her arms around his neck she told him of +the death-scene, of which he before had refused to hear. She finished +her story by suddenly holding to view the long, bright ringlet which +once adorned the fair head now resting in the grave. Her plan was +successful, for bursting into tears Harry wept nearly two hours. From +that time he seemed better, and was frequently found bathed in tears, +and bending over Lizzie's Bible, which now was his daily companion. + +Lucy, too, seemed greatly changed. She had loved her sister as +devotedly as one of her nature could love, and for her death she +mourned sincerely. Lizzie's words of love and gentle persuasion had +not been without their effect, and when Mr. Dayton saw how kind, how +affectionate and considerate of other people's feelings his daughter +had become, he felt that Lizzie had not died in vain. + +Seven times have the spring violets blossomed, seven times the flowers +of summer bloomed, seven times have the autumnal stores been gathered +in, and seven times have the winds of winter sighed over the New +England hills since Lizzie was laid to rest. In her home there have +been few changes. Mr. Dayton's hair is whiter than it was of old, and +the furrows on his brow deeper and more marked. Grandma, quiet and +gentle as ever, knits on day after day, ever and anon speaking of "our +dear little Lizzie, who died years ago." + +Lucy is still unmarried, and satisfied, too, that it should be so. A +patient, self-sacrificing Christian, she strives to make up to her +father for the loss of one over whose memory she daily weeps, and to +whose death she accuses herself of being accessory. Dr. Benton and his +rather fashionable wife live in their great house, ride in their +handsome carriage, give large dinner parties, play chess after supper, +and then the old doctor nods over his evening paper, while Berintha +nods over a piece of embroidery, intended to represent a little dog +chasing a butterfly and which would as readily be taken for that as +for anything else, and for anything else as that. + +Two years ago a pale young missionary departed to carry the news of +salvation to the heathen land. Some one suggested that he should take +with him a wife, but he shook his head mournfully, saying, "I have one +wife in heaven." The night before he left home, he might have been +seen, long after midnight, seated upon a grassy grave, where the +flowers of summer were growing. Around the stone which marks the spot +rose bushes have clustered so thickly as to hide from view the words +there written, but push them aside and you will read, "Our darling +Lizzie." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14089 *** diff --git a/14089-h/14089-h.htm b/14089-h/14089-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..012eebf --- /dev/null +++ b/14089-h/14089-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6674 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Homestead on the Hillside, by Mary Jane Holmes</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; 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text-align: center;"> +<li><i>DORA DEANE</i></li> +<li><i>COUSIN MAUDE</i></li> +<li><i>LENA RIVERS</i></li> +<li><i>MEADOW BROOK</i></li> +<li><i>ENGLISH ORPHANS</i></li> +<li><i>MAGGIE MILLER</i></li> +<li><i>ROSAMOND</i></li> +<li><i>TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE</i></li> +<li><i>HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE</i></li> +</ul> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr> +<td><a href="#THE_HOMESTEAD_ON_THE_HILLSIDE"><span class= +"smcap"><b>The Homestead On The Hillside.</b></span></a><br /> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I1"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - Mrs. +Hamilton.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II1"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - Lenora +And Her Mother.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III1"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - One +Step Toward The Homestead.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV1"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - After +The Burial.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V1"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - Kate +Kirby.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI1"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - +Raising The Wind.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII. - The +Stepmother.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII. - +Domestic Life At The Homestead.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX1"><span class="smcap">Chapter IX. - Lenora +And Carrie.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X1"><span class="smcap">Chapter X. - +Darkness.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XI. - +Margaret And Her Father.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XII. - +"Carrying Out Dear Mr. Hamilton's Plans."</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII. - +Retribution.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV. - +Finale.</span></a></li> +</ul> +<a href="#RICE_CORNER"><span class="smcap"><b>Rice +Corner</b></span></a> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I2"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - Rice +Corner.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II2"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - The +Belle Of Rice Corner.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III2"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - +Monsieur Penoyer.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV2"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - Cousin +Emma.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V2"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - Richard +Evelyn And Harley Ashmore.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - Mike +And Sally.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII. - The +Bride.</span></a></li> +</ul> +<a href="#THE_GILBERTS_OR_RICE_CORNER_NUMBER_TWO"><span class= +"smcap"><b>The Gilberts; Or, Rice Corner Number +Two.</b></span></a><br /> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I3"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - The +Gilberts.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II3"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - +Nellie.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III3"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - The +Haunted House.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV3"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - +Jealousy.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V3"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - New +Relations.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI3"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - Poor, +Poor Nellie.</span></a></li> +</ul> +<a href="#THE_THANKSGIVING_PARTY_AND_ITS_CONSEQUENCES"><span class= +"smcap"><b>The Thanksgiving Party And Its +Consequences.</b></span></a><br /> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I4"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - Night +Before Thanksgiving.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II4"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - +Thanksgiving Day.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III4"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - Ada +Harcourt.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV4"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - +Lucy.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V4"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - Uncle +Israel.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI4"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - +Explanation.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII4"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII. - A +Maneuver.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII4"><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII. - +Cousin Berintha And Lucy's Party.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX4"><span class="smcap">Chapter IX. - A +Wedding At St. Luke's.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X4"><span class="smcap">Chapter X. - A +Surprise.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI4"><span class="smcap">Chapter XI. - +Lizzie.</span></a></li> +</ul> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_HOMESTEAD_ON_THE_HILLSIDE" id= +"THE_HOMESTEAD_ON_THE_HILLSIDE"></a>THE HOMESTEAD ON THE +HILLSIDE.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I1" id="CHAPTER_I1"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>MRS. HAMILTON.</h3> +<p>For many years the broad, rich acres, and old-fashioned, massive +building known as "The Homestead on the Hillside," had passed +successively from father to son, until at last it belonged by right +of inheritance to Ernest Hamilton. Neither time nor expense had +been spared in beautifying and embellishing both house and grounds, +and at the time of which we are speaking there was not for miles +around so lovely a spot as was the shady old homestead.</p> +<p>It stood at some distance from the road, and on the bright green +lawn in front were many majestic forest trees, on which had fallen +the lights and shadows of more than a century; and under whose +widespreading branches oft, in the olden time, the Indian warrior +had paused from the chase until the noonday heat was passed. +Leading from the street to the house was a wide, graveled walk +bordered with box, and peeping out from the wilderness of vines and +climbing roses were the white walls of the huge building, which was +surrounded on all sides by a double piazza.</p> +<p>Many and hallowed were the associations connected with that old +homestead. On the curiously-carved seats beneath the tall shade +trees were cut the names of some who there had lived, and loved, +and passed away. Through the little gate at the foot of the garden +and just across the brooklet, whose clear waters leaped and laughed +in the glad sunshine, and then went dancing away in the woodland +below, was a quiet spot, where gracefully the willow tree was +bending, where the wild sweetbrier was blooming, and where, too, +lay sleeping those who once gathered round the hearthstone and +basked in the sunlight which ever seemed resting upon the Homestead +on the Hillside.</p> +<p>But a darker day was coming; a night was approaching when a deep +gloom would overshadow the homestead and the loved ones within its +borders. The servants, ever superstitious, now whispered +mysteriously that the spirits of the departed returned nightly to +their old accustomed places, and that dusky hands from the graves +of the slumbering dead were uplifted, as if to warn the master of +the domain of the desolation; which was to come. For more than a +year the wife of Ernest Hamilton had been dying—slowly, +surely dying—and though when the skies were brightest and the +sunshine warmest she ever seemed better, each morning's light still +revealed some fresh ravage the disease had made, until at last +there was no hope, and the anxious group which watched her knew +full well that ere long among them would be a vacant chair, and in +the family burying ground an added grave.</p> +<p>One evening Mrs. Hamilton seemed more than usually restless, and +requested her daughters to leave her, that she might compose +herself to sleep. Scarcely was she alone when with cat-like tread +there glided through the doorway the dark figure of a woman, who +advanced toward the bedside, noiselessly as a serpent would steal +to his ambush. She was apparently forty-five years of age, and +dressed in deep mourning, which seemed to increase the marble +whiteness of her face. Her eyes, large, black, and glittering, +fastened themselves upon, the invalid with a gaze so intense that +Mrs. Hamilton's hand involuntarily sought the bell-rope, to summon +some one else to her room.</p> +<p>But ere the bell was rung a strangely sweet, musical voice fell +on her ear, and arrested her movements. "Pardon me for intruding," +said the stranger, "and suffer me to introduce myself. I am Mrs. +Carter, who not long since removed to the village. I have heard of +your illness, and wishing to render you any assistance in my power, +I have ventured, unannounced, into your presence, hoping that I at +least am not unwelcome."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton had heard of a widow lady, who with an only +daughter had recently removed to the village, which lay at the foot +of the long hill on which stood the old homestead. She had heard, +too, that Mrs. Carter, though rather singular in some respects, was +unusually benevolent, spending much time in visiting the sick and +needy, and, as far as possible, ministering to their comfort.</p> +<p>Extending her hand, she said, "I know you by reputation, Mrs. +Carter, and feel greatly pleased that you have thought to visit me. +Pray be seated."</p> +<p>This last invitation was superfluous, for with the air of a +person entirely at home, the lady had seated herself, and as the +room was rather warm, she threw back her bonnet, disclosing to view +a mass of rich brown hair, which made her look several years +younger than she really was. Nothing could be more apparently kind +and sincere than were her words of sympathy, nothing more soothing +than the sound of her voice; and when she for a moment raised Mrs. +Hamilton, while she adjusted her pillows, the sick woman declared +that never before had any one done it so gently or so well.</p> +<p>Mrs. Carter was just resuming her seat when in the adjoining +hall there was the sound of a heavy tread, and had Mrs. Hamilton +been at all suspicious of her visitor she would have wondered at +the flush which deepened on her cheek when the door opened and Mr. +Hamilton stood in their midst. On seeing a stranger he turned to +leave, but his wife immediately introduced him, and seating himself +upon the sofa, he remarked, "I have seen you frequently in church, +Mrs. Carter, but I believe I have never spoken with you +before."</p> +<p>A peculiar expression flitted over her features at these words, +an expression which Mr. Hamilton noticed, and which awoke +remembrances of something unpleasant, though he could not tell +what.</p> +<p>"Where have I seen her before?" thought he, as she bade them +good night, promising to come again and stay a longer time. "Where +have I seen her before?" and then involuntarily his thoughts went +back to the time, years and years ago, when, a wild young man in +college, he had thoughtlessly trifled with the handsome daughter of +his landlady. Even now he seemed to hear her last words, as he bade +her farewell: "You may go, Ernest Hamilton, and forget me if you +can, but Luella does not so easily forget; and remember, when least +you expect it, we shall meet again."</p> +<p>Could this strange being, with honeyed words and winning ways, +be that fiery, vindictive girl? Impossible!—and satisfied +with this conclusion Mr. Hamilton resumed his evening paper.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II1" id="CHAPTER_II1"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>LENORA AND HER MOTHER.</h3> +<p>From the windows of a small, white cottage, at the extremity of +Glenwood village, Lenora Carter watched for her mother's return. +"She stays long," thought she, "but it bodes success to her plan; +though when did she undertake a thing and fail!"</p> +<p>The fall of the gatelatch was heard, and in a moment Mrs. Carter +was with her daughter, whose first exclamation was, "What a little +eternity you've been gone! Did you renew your early vows to the +man?"</p> +<p>"I've no vows to renew," answered Mrs. Carter, "but I've paved +the way well, and got invited to call again."</p> +<p>"Oh, capital!" said Lenora. "It takes you, mother, to do up +things, after all; but, really, was Mrs. Hamilton pleased with +you?"</p> +<p>"Judging by the pressure of her hand when she bade me good-by I +should say she was," answered Mrs. Carter; and Lenora continued: +"Did you see old moneybags?"</p> +<p>"Lenora, child, you must not speak so disrespectfully of Mr. +Hamilton," said Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon," answered Lenora, while her mother +continued: "I saw him, but do not think he recognized me; and +perhaps it is as well that he should not, until I have made myself +indispensable to him and his family."</p> +<p>"Which you will never do with the haughty Mag, I am sure," said +Lenora; "but tell me, is the interior of the house as handsome as +the exterior?"</p> +<p>"Far more so," was the reply; and Mrs. Carter proceeded to +enumerate the many costly articles of furniture she had seen.</p> +<p>She was interrupted by Lenora, who asked, "How long, think you, +will the incumbrance live?"</p> +<p>"Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, "you shall not talk so. No one +wishes Mrs. Hamilton to die; but if such an afflictive dispensation +does occur, I trust we shall all be resigned."</p> +<p>"Oh, I keep forgetting that you are acting the part of a +resigned widow; but I, thank fortune, have no part to act, and can +say what I please."</p> +<p>"And spoil all our plans, too, by your foolish babbling," +interposed Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"Let me alone for that," answered Lenora. "I haven't been +trained by such a mother for nothing. But, seriously, how is Mrs. +Hamilton's health?"</p> +<p>"She is very low, and cannot possibly live long," was the +reply.</p> +<p>Here there was a pause in the conversation, during which we will +take the opportunity of introducing more fully to our readers the +estimable Mrs. Carter and her daughter. Mr. Hamilton was right when +he associated the resigned widow with his old flame, Luella +Blackburn, whom be had never seriously thought of marrying, though +by way of pastime he had frequently teased, tormented, and +flattered her. Luella was ambitious, artful, and designing. Wealth +and position was the goal at which she aimed. Both of these she +knew Ernest Hamilton possessed, and she had felt greatly pleased at +his evident preference. When, therefore, at the end of his college +course he left her with a few commonplace remarks, such as he would +have spoken to any familiar acquaintance, her rage knew no bounds; +and in the anger of the moment she resolved, sooner or later, to be +revenged upon him.</p> +<p>Years, however, passed on, and a man whom she thought wealthy +offered her his hand. She accepted it, and found, too late, that +she was wedded to poverty. This aroused the evil of her nature to +such an extent that her husband's life became one of great +unhappiness, and four years after Lenora's birth he left her. +Several years later she succeeded in procuring a divorce, although +she still retained his name. Recently she had heard of his death, +and about the same time, too, she heard that the wife of Ernest +Hamilton was dying. Suddenly a wild scheme entered her mind. She +would remove to the village of Glenwood, would ingratiate herself +into the favor of Mrs. Hamilton, win her confidence and love, and +then when she was dead the rest she fancied would be an easy +matter, for she knew that Mr. Hamilton was weak and easily +flattered.</p> +<p>For several weeks they had been in Glenwood, impatiently waiting +an opportunity for making the acquaintance of the Hamiltons. But as +neither Margaret nor Carrie called, Lenora became discouraged, and +one day exclaimed, "I should like to know what you are going to do. +There is no probability of that proud Mag's calling on me. How I +hate her, with her big black eyes and hateful ways!"</p> +<p>"Patience, patience," said Mrs. Carter, "I'll manage it; as Mrs. +Hamilton is sick, it will be perfectly proper for me to go and see +her," and then was planned the visit which we have described.</p> +<p>"Oh, won't it be grand!" said Lenora that night, as she sat +sipping her tea. "Won't it be grand, if you do succeed, and won't I +lord it over Miss Margaret! As for that little white-faced Carrie, +she's too insipid for one to trouble herself about, and I dare say +thinks you a very nice woman, for how can her Sabbath-school +teacher be otherwise;" and a satirical laugh echoed through the +room. Suddenly springing up, Lenora glanced at herself in the +mirror, and turning to her mother, said, "Did you hear when Walter +is expected—and am I so very ugly looking?"</p> +<p>While Mrs. Carter is preparing an answer to the first question, +we, for the sake of our readers, will answer the last one. Lenora +was a little dark-looking girl about eighteen years of age. Her +eyes were black, her face was black, and her hair was black, +standing out from her head in short, thick curls, which gave to her +features a strange witch-like expression. From her mother she had +inherited the same sweet, cooing voice, the same gliding, noiseless +footsteps, which had led some of their acquaintance to accuse them +of what, in the days of New England witchcraft, would have secured +their passport to another world.</p> +<p>Lenora had spoken truthfully when she said that she had not been +trained by such a mother for nothing, for whatever of evil appeared +in her conduct was more the result of her mother's training than of +a naturally bad disposition. At times her mother petted and +caressed her, and again, in a fit of ill-humor, drove her from the +room, taunting her with the strong resemblance which she bore to +the man whom she had once called father! On such occasions Lenora +was never at a loss for words, and the scenes which sometimes +occurred were too disgraceful for repetition. On one subject, +however, they were united, and that was in their efforts to become +inmates of the homestead on the hillside. In the accomplishment of +this Lenora had a threefold object: first, it would secure her a +luxuriant home; second, she would be thrown in the way of Walter +Hamilton, who was about finishing his college course; and last, +though not least, it would be such a triumph over Margaret, who, +she fancied, treated her with cold indifference.</p> +<p>Long after the hour of midnight was rung from the village clock, +the widow and her daughter sat by their fireside, forming plans for +the future, and when at last they retired to sleep it was to dream +of funeral processions, bridal favors, stepchildren, half-sisters, +and double connections all around.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III1" id="CHAPTER_III1"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>ONE STEP TOWARD THE HOMESTEAD.</h3> +<p>Weeks passed on, and so necessary to the comfort of the invalid +did the presence of Mrs. Carter become, that at last, by particular +request, she took up her abode at the homestead, becoming Mrs. +Hamilton's constant nurse and attendant. Lenora, for the time +being, was sent to the house of a friend, who lived not far +distant. When Margaret Hamilton learned of the arrangement she +opposed it with all her force.</p> +<p>"Send her away, mother," said she one evening; "please send her +away, for I cannot endure her presence, with her oily words and +silent footsteps. She reminds me of the serpent, who decoyed Eve +into eating that apple, and I always feel an attack of the +nightmare whenever I know that her big, black eyes are fastened +upon me."</p> +<p>"How differently people see!" laughed Carrie, who was sitting +by. "Why, Mag, I always fancy <i>her</i> to be in a nightmare when +your big eyes light upon her."</p> +<p>"It's because she knows she's guilty," answered Mag, her words +and manner warming up with the subject. "Say, mother, won't you +send her off! It seems as though a dark shadow falls upon us all +the moment she eaters the house."</p> +<p>"She is too invaluable a nurse to be discharged for a slight +whim," answered Mrs. Hamilton. "Besides she bears the best of +reputations, and I don't see what possible harm can come of her +being here."</p> +<p>Margaret sighed, for though she knew full well the "possible +harm" which might come of it, she could not tell it to her pale, +dying mother; and ere she had time for any answer, the black +bombazine dress, white linen, collar, and white, smooth face of +Widow Carter moved silently into the room. There was a gleam of +intense hatred in the dark eyes which for a moment flashed on +Margaret's face, and then a soft hand gently stroked the glossy +hair of the indignant girl, and in the most musical tones +imaginable a low voice murmured, "Maggie, dear, you look flushed +and wearied. Are you quite well?"</p> +<p>"Perfectly so," answered Margaret; and then rising, she left the +room, but not until she had heard her mother say, "Dear Mrs. +Carter, I am so glad you've come!"</p> +<p>"Is everybody bewitched," thought Mag, as she repaired to her +chamber, "father, mother, Carrie, and all? How I wish Walter was +here. He always sees things as I do."</p> +<p>Margaret Hamilton was a high-spirited, intelligent girl, about +nineteen years of age. She was not beautiful, but had you asked for +the finest-looking girl in all Glenwood, Mag would surely have been +pointed out. She was rather above the medium height, and in her +whole bearing there was a quiet dignity, which many mistook for +hauteur. Naturally frank, affectionate, and kind-hearted, she was, +perhaps, a little strong in her prejudices, which, when once +satisfactorily formed, could not easily be shaken.</p> +<p>For Mrs. Carter she had conceived a strong dislike, for she +believed her to be an artful, hypocritical woman, and now, as she +sat by the window in her room, her heart swelled with indignation +toward one who had thus usurped her place by her mother's bedside, +whom Carrie was learning to confide in, and of whom even the father +said, "she is a most excellent woman."</p> +<p>"I will write to Walter," said she, "and tell him to come +immediately."</p> +<p>Suiting the action to the word, she drew up her writing desk, +and soon a finished letter was lying before her. Ere she had time +to fold and direct it, a loud cry from her young brother Willie +summoned her for a few moments from the room, and on her return she +met in the doorway the black bombazine and linen collar.</p> +<p>"Madam," said she, "did you wish for anything?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," was the soft answer, which, however, in this case +failed to turn, away wrath. "Yes, dear, your mother said you knew +where there were some fine bits of linen."</p> +<p>"And could not Carrie come for them?" asked Mag.</p> +<p>"Yes, dear, but she looks so delicate that I do not like to send +her up these long stairs oftener than is necessary. Haven't you +noticed how pale she is getting of late? I shouldn't be at all +surprised—" but before the sentence was finished the linen +was found, and the door closed upon Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>A new idea had been awakened in Margaret's mind, and for the +first time she thought how much her sister really had changed. +Carrie, who was four years younger than Margaret, had ever been +delicate, and her parents had always feared that not long could +they keep her; but though each winter her cough had returned with +increased severity, though the veins on her white brow grew more +distinct, and her large, blue eyes glowed with unwonted luster, +still Margaret had never before dreamed of danger, never thought +that soon her sister's voice would be missed, and that Carrie would +be gone. But she thought of it now, and laying her head upon the +table wept for a time in silence.</p> +<p>At length, drying her tears, she folded her letter and took it +to the post-office. As she was returning home she was met by a +servant, who exclaimed, "Run, Miss Margaret, run; your mother is +dying, and Mrs. Carter sent me for you!"</p> +<p>Swift as the mountain chamois, Margaret sped up the long, steep +hill, and in a few moments stood within her mother's sick-room. +Supported in the arms of Mrs. Carter lay the dying woman, while her +eyes, already overshadowed with the mists of coming death, wandered +anxiously around the room, as if in quest of some one. The moment +Margaret appeared, a satisfied smile broke over her wasted +features, and beckoning her daughter to her bedside, she whispered, +"Dear Maggie, you did not think I'd die so soon, when you went +away."</p> +<p>A burst of tears was Maggie's only answer, as she passionately +kissed the cold, white lips, which had never breathed aught to her +save words of love and gentleness. Far different, however, would +have been her reply had she known the reason of her mother's +question. Not long after she had left the house for the office, +Mrs. Hamilton had been taken worse, and the physician, who chanced +to be present, pronounced her dying. Instantly the alarmed husband +summoned together his household, but Mag was missing. No one had +seen her; no one knew where she was, until Mrs. Carter, who had +been some little time absent from the room reentered it, saying +"Margaret had started for the post-office with a letter when I sent +a servant to tell her of her mother's danger, but for some reason +she kept on, though I dare say she will soon be back."</p> +<p>As we well know, the substance of this speech was true, though +the impression which Mrs. Carter's words conveyed was entirely +false. For the advancement of her own cause she felt that it was +necessary to weaken the high estimation in which Mr. Hamilton held +his daughter, and she fancied that the mother's death-bed was as +fitting a place where to commence operations as she could +select.</p> +<p>As Margaret hung over her mother's pillow, the false woman, as +if to confirm the assertion she had made, leaned forward and said, +"Robin told you, I suppose? I sent him to do so."</p> +<p>Margaret nodded assent, while a deeper gloom fell upon the brow +of Mr. Hamilton, who stood with folded arms watching the advance of +the great destroyer. It came at last, and though no perceptible +change heralded its approach, there was one fearful spasm, one +long-drawn sigh, a striving of the eye for one more glimpse of the +loved ones gathered near, and then Mrs. Hamilton was dead. On the +bosom of Mrs. Carter her life was breathed away, and when all was +over that lady laid gently down her burden, carefully adjusted the +tumbled covering, and then stepping to the window, looked out, +while the stricken group deplored their loss.</p> +<p>Long and bitterly over their dead they wept, but not on one of +that weeping band fell the bolt so crushingly as upon Willie, the +youngest of the flock, the child four summers old, who had ever +lived in the light of his mother's love. They had told him she +would die, but he understood them not, for never before had he +looked on death; and now, when to his childish words of love his +mother made no answer, most piteously rang out the infantile cry, +"Mother, oh, my mother, who'll be my mother now?"</p> +<p>Caressingly, a small, white hand was laid on Willie's yellow +curls, but ere the words of love were spoken Margaret took the +little fellow in her arms, and whispered through her tears, "I'll +be your mother, darling."</p> +<p>Willie brushed the tear-drops from his sister's cheek and laying +his fair, round face upon her neck, said, "And who'll be Maggie's +mother? Mrs. Carter?"</p> +<p>"Never! never!" answered Mag, while to the glance of hatred and +defiance cast upon her she returned one equally scornful and +determined.</p> +<p>Soon from the village there came words of sympathy and offers of +assistance; but Mrs. Carter could do everything, and in her +blandest tones she declined the services of the neighbors, refusing +even to admit them into the presence of Margaret and Carrie, who, +she said were so much exhausted as to be unable to bear the fresh +burst of grief which the sight of an old friend would surely +produce. So the neighbors went home, and as the world will ever do, +descanted upon the probable result of Mrs. Carter's labors at the +homestead. Thus, ere Ernest Hamilton had been three days a widower, +many in fancy had wedded him to Mrs. Carter, saying that nowhere +could he find so good a mother for his children.</p> +<p>And truly she did seem to be indispensable in that house of +mourning. 'Twas she who saw that everything was done, quietly and +in order; 'twas she who so neatly arranged the muslin shroud; 'twas +her arms that supported the half-fainting Carrie when first her eye +rested on her mother, coffined for the grave; 'twas she who +whispered words of comfort to the desolate husband; and she, too, +it was, who, on the night when Walter was expected home, +<i>kindly</i> sat up until past midnight to receive him!</p> +<p>She had read Mag's letter, and by being first to welcome the +young man home, she hoped to remove from his mind any prejudice +which he might feel for her, and by her bland smiles and gentle +words to lure him into the belief that she was perfect, and +Margaret uncharitable. Partially she succeeded, too, for when next +morning Mag expressed a desire that Mrs. Carter would go home, he +replied, "I think you judge her wrongfully; she seems to be a most +amiable, kind-hearted woman."</p> +<p>"<i>Et tu, Brute!</i>" Mag could have said, but 'twas neither +the time nor the place, and linking her arm within her brother's +she led him into the adjoining room, where stood their mother's +coffin.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV1" id="CHAPTER_IV1"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>AFTER THE BURIAL.</h3> +<p>Across the bright waters of the silvery lake which lay not far +from Glenwood village, over the grassy hillside, and down the long, +green valley, had floated the notes of the tolling bell. In the +Hamilton mansion sympathizing friends had gathered, and through the +crowded parlors a solemn hush had reigned, broken only by the voice +of the white-haired man of God, who in trembling tones prayed for +the bereaved ones. Over the costly coffin tear-wet faces had bent, +and on the marble features of her who slept within it had been +pressed the passionate kisses of a long, a last farewell.</p> +<p>Through the shady garden and across the running brook, whose +waters this day murmured more sadly than 'twas their wont to do, +the funeral train had passed; and in the dark, moist earth, by the +side of many other still, pale sleepers, who offered no +remonstrance when among them another came, they had buried the +departed. From the windows of the homestead lights were gleaming, +and in the common sitting-room sat Ernest Hamilton, and by his side +his four motherless children. In the stuffed armchair, sacred for +the sake of one who had called it hers, reclined the black +bombazine and linen collar of Widow Carter!</p> +<p>She had, as she said, fully intended to return home immediately +after the burial, but there were so many little things to be seen +to, so much to be done, which Margaret, of course, did not feel +like doing, that she decided to stay until after supper, together +with Lenora, who had come to the funeral. When supper was over, and +there was no longer an excuse for lingering, she found, very +greatly to her surprise and chagrin, no doubt, that the clouds, +which all day had looked dark and angry, were now pouring rain.</p> +<p>"What shall I do?" she exclaimed in great apparent distress; +then stepping to the door of the sitting-room, she said, "Maggie, +dear, can you lend me an umbrella? It is raining very hard, and I +do not wish to go home without one; I will send it back +to-morrow."</p> +<p>"Certainly," answered Margaret. "Umbrella and overshoes, too;" +and rising, she left the room to procure them.</p> +<p>"But you surely are not going out in this storm," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Carrie, who really liked Mrs. Carter, and felt that +it would be more lonely when she was gone, exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, +don't leave us to-night, Mrs. Carter. Don't."</p> +<p>"Yes, I think I must," was the answer, while Mr. Hamilton +continued: "You had better stay; but if you insist upon going, I +will order the carriage, as you must not walk."</p> +<p>"Rather than put you to all that trouble, I will remain," said +Mrs. Carter; and when Mag returned with two umbrellas and two pairs +of overshoes, she found the widow comfortably seated in her +mother's armchair, while on the stool at her side sat Lenora +looking not unlike a little imp, with her wild, black face, and +short, thick curls.</p> +<p>Walter Hamilton had not had much opportunity for scanning the +face of Mrs. Carter, but now, as she sat there with the firelight +flickering over her features, he fancied that he could trace marks +of the treacherous deceit of which Mag had warned him; and when the +full black eyes rested upon Margaret he failed not to note the +glance of scorn which flashed from them, and which changed to a +look of affectionate regard the moment she saw she was observed. +"There is something wrong about her," thought he, "and the next +time I am alone with Mag I'll ask what it is she fears from this +woman."</p> +<p>That night, in the solitude of their room, mother and child +communed together as follows: "I do believe, mother, you are twin +sister to the old one himself. Why, who would have thought, when +first you made that <i>friendly</i> visit, that in five weeks time +both of us would be snugly ensconced in the best chamber of the +homestead?"</p> +<p>"If you think we are in the best chamber, you are greatly +mistaken," replied Mrs. Carter. "Margaret Hamilton has power enough +yet to keep us out of that. Didn't she look crestfallen though, +when she found I was going to stay, notwithstanding her very +disinterested offer of umbrellas and overshoes? But I'll pay it all +back when I become—"</p> +<p>"Mistress of the house," added Lenora. "Why not speak out +plainly? Or are you afraid the walls have ears, and that the +devoted Mrs. Carter's speeches would not sound well repeated? Oh, +how sanctimonious you did look to-day when you were talking pious +to Carrie! I actually had to force a sneeze, to keep from laughing +outright, though she, little simpleton, swallowed it all, and I +dare say wonders where you keep your wings! But really, mother, I +hope you don't intend to pet her so always, for 'twould be more +than it's worth to see it."</p> +<p>"I guess I know how to manage," returned Mrs. Carter. "There's +nothing will win a parent's affection so soon as to pet the +children."</p> +<p>"And so I suppose you expect Mr. Hamilton to pet <i>this</i> +beautiful child!" said Lenora, laughing loudly at the idea, and +waltzing back and forth before the mirror.</p> +<p>"Lenora! <i>behave!</i> I will not see you conduct so," said the +widow; to which the young lady replied, "Shut your eyes, and then +you can't!"</p> +<p>Meantime, an entirely different conversation was going on in +another part of the house, where sat Walter Hamilton, with his arm +thrown affectionately around, Mag, who briefly told of what she +feared would result from Mrs. Carter's intimacy at their house.</p> +<p>"Impossible!" said the young man, starting to his feet. +"Impossible! Our father has too much sense to marry again anyway, +and much more, to marry one so greatly inferior to our own dear +mother."</p> +<p>"I hope it may prove so," answered Mag; "but with all due +respect for our father, <i>you</i> know and I know that mother's +was the stronger mind, the controlling spirit, and now that she is +gone father will be more easily deceived."</p> +<p>Margaret told the truth; for her mother had possessed a strong, +intelligent mind, and was greatly the superior of her father, who, +as we have before remarked, was rather weak and easily flattered. +Always sincere himself in what he said, he could not believe that +other people were aught than what they seemed to be, and thus +oftentimes his confidence had been betrayed by those in whom he +trusted. As yet he had, of course, entertained no thought of ever +making Mrs. Carter his wife; but her society was agreeable, her +words and manner soothing, and when, on the day following the +burial, she actually took her departure, bag, baggage, Lenora, and +all, he felt how doubly lonely was the old homestead, and wondered +why she could not stay. There was room enough, and then Margaret +was too young to assume the duties of housekeeper. Other men in +similar circumstances had hired housekeepers, and why could not he? +He would speak to Mag about it that very night. But when evening +came, Walter, Carrie, and Willie all were present, and he found no +opportunity of seeing Margaret alone; neither did any occur until +after Walter had returned to college, which he did the week +following his mother's death.</p> +<p>That night the little parlor at the cottage where dwelt the +Widow Carter looked unusually snug and cozy. It was autumn, and as +the evenings were rather cool a cheerful wood fire was blazing on +the hearth. Before it stood a tasteful little workstand, near which +were seated Lenora and her mother, the one industriously knitting, +and the other occasionally touching the strings of her guitar, +which was suspended from her neck by a crimson ribbon. On the +sideboard stood a fruit dish loaded with red and golden apples, and +near it a basket filled with the rich purple grapes.</p> +<p>That day in the street Lenora had met Mr. Hamilton, who asked if +her mother would be at home that evening, saying he intended to +call for the purpose of settling the bill which he owed her for +services rendered to his family in their late affliction.</p> +<p>"When I once get him here, I will keep him as long as possible," +said Mrs. Carter; "and, Lenora, child, if he stays late, say till +nine o'clock, you had better go quietly to bed."</p> +<p>"Or into the next room, and listen," thought Lenora.</p> +<p>Seven o'clock came, and on the graveled walk there was heard the +sound of footsteps, and in a moment Ernest Hamilton stood in the +room, shaking the warm hand of the widow, who was delighted to see +him, but <i>so</i> sorry to find him looking pale and thin! +Rejecting a seat in the comfortable rocking-chair, which Lenora +pushed toward him, he proceeded at once to business, and taking +from his purse fifteen dollars, passed them toward Mrs. Carter, +asking if that would remunerate her for the three weeks' services +in his family.</p> +<p>But Mrs. Carter thrust them aside, saying, "Sit down, Mr. +Hamilton, sit down. I have a great deal to ask you about Maggie and +dear Carrie's health."</p> +<p>"And sweet little Willie," chimed in Lenora.</p> +<p>Accordingly Mr. Hamilton sat down, and so fast did Mrs. Carter +talk that the clock was pointing to half past eight ere he got +another chance to offer his bills. Then, with the look of a +much-injured woman, Mrs. Carter declined the money, saying, "Is it +possible, Mr. Hamilton, that you suppose my services can be bought! +What I did for your wife, I would do for any one who needed me, +though for but few could I entertain the same feelings I did for +her. Short as was our acquaintance, she seemed to me like a beloved +sister; and now that she is gone I feel that we have lost an +invaluable treasure—"</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Carter broke down entirely, and was obliged to raise +her cambric handkerchief to her eyes, while Lenora walked to the +window to conceal her emotions, whatever they might have been! When +the agitation of the company had somewhat subsided, Mr. Hamilton +again insisted, and again Mrs. Carter refused. At last, finding her +perfectly inexorable, he proceeded to express his warmest thanks +and deepest gratitude for what she had done, saying he should ever +feel indebted to her for her great kindness; then, as the clock +struck nine, he arose to go, in spite of Mrs. Carter's zealous +efforts to detain him longer.</p> +<p>"Call again," said she, as she lighted him to the door; "call +again and we will talk over old times when we were young, and lived +in New Haven!"</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton started, and looking her full in the face, +exclaimed, "Luella Blackburn! It is as I at first suspected; but +who would have thought it!"</p> +<p>"Yes—I am Luella," said Mrs. Carter; "though greatly +changed, I trust, from the Luella you once knew, and of whom even I +have no very pleasant reminiscences; but call again, and I will +tell you of many of your old classmates."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton would have gone almost anywhere for the sake of +hearing from his classmates, many of whom he greatly esteemed; and +as in this case the "anywhere" was only at Widow Carter's, the idea +was not altogether distasteful to him, and when he bade her good +night he was under a promise to call again soon. All hopes, +however, of procuring her for his housekeeper were given up, for if +she resented his offer of payment for what she had already done, +she surely would be doubly indignant at his last proposed plan. +After becoming convinced of this fact, it is a little strange how +suddenly he found that he did not need a housekeeper—that +Margaret, who before could not do at all, could now do very +well—as well as anybody. And Margaret did do well, both as +housekeeper and mother of little Willie, who seemed to have +transferred to her the affection he had borne for his mother.</p> +<p>At intervals during the autumn Mrs. Carter called, always giving +a world of good advice, patting Carrie's pale cheek, kissing +Willie, and then going away. But as none of her calls were ever +returned they gradually became less frequent, and as the winter +advanced ceased altogether; while Margaret, hearing nothing, and +seeing nothing, began to forget her fears, and to laugh at them as +having been groundless.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V1" id="CHAPTER_V1"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>KATE KIRBY.</h3> +<p>The little brooklet, which danced so merrily by the homestead +burial-place, and then flowed on in many graceful turns and +evolutions, finally lost itself in a glossy mill-pond, whose +waters, when the forest trees were stripped of their foliage, +gleamed and twinkled in the smoky autumn light, or lay cold and +still beneath the breath of winter. During this season of the year, +from the upper windows of the homestead the mill-pond was +discernible, together with a small red building which stood upon +its banks.</p> +<p>For many years this house had been occupied by Mr. Kirby, who +had been a schoolboy with Ernest Hamilton, and who, though +naturally intelligent, had never aspired to any higher employment +than that of being miller on the farm of his old friend. Three +years before our story opens Mr. Kirby had died, and a stranger had +been employed to take his place. Mrs. Kirby, however, was so much +attached to her woodland home and its forest scenery that she still +continued to occupy the low red house together with her daughter +Kate, who sighed for no better or more elegant home, although rumor +whispered that there was in store for her a far more costly +dwelling, than the "Homestead on the Hillside."</p> +<p>Currently was it reported that during Walter Hamilton's +vacations the winding footpath, which followed the course of the +streamlet down to the mill-pond, was trodden more frequently than +usual. The postmaster's wife, too, had hinted strongly of certain +ominous letters from New Haven, which regularly came, directed to +Kate, when Walter was not at home; so, putting together these two +facts, and adding to them the high estimation in which Mrs. Kirby +and her daughter were known to be held by the Hamiltons, it was +generally conceded that there could be no shadow of doubt +concerning the state of affairs between the heir apparent of the +old homestead and the daughter of the poor miller.</p> +<p>Kate was a universal favorite, and by nearly all was it thought +that in everything save money she was fully the equal of Walter +Hamilton. To a face and form of the most perfect beauty she added a +degree of intelligence and sparkling wit, which, in all the rides, +parties, and <i>fêtes</i> given by the young people of +Glenwood, caused her society to be chosen in preference to those +whose fathers counted their money by thousands.</p> +<p>A few there were who said that Kate's long intimacy with +Margaret Hamilton had made her proud; but in the rude dwellings and +crazy tenements which skirted the borders of Glenwood village was +many a blind old woman, and many a hoary-headed man, who in their +daily prayers remembered the beautiful Kate, the "fair forest +flower," who came so oft among them with her sweet young face and +gentle words. For Kate both Margaret and Carrie Hamilton already +felt a sisterly affection, while their father smiled graciously +upon her, secretly hoping, however, that his son would make a more +brilliant match, but resolving not to interfere if at last his +choice should fall upon her.</p> +<p>One afternoon, early in April, as Margaret sat in her chamber, +busy upon a piece of needlework, the door softly opened, and a mass +of bright chestnut curls became visible; next appeared the laughing +blue eyes; and finally the whole of Kate Kirby bounded into the +room saying, "Good afternoon, Maggie; are you very busy, and wish I +hadn't come?"</p> +<p>"I am never too busy to see you," answered Margaret, at the same +time pushing toward Kate the little ottoman on which she always sat +when in that room.</p> +<p>Kate took the proffered seat, and throwing aside her bonnet, +began with, "Maggie, I want to tell you something, though I don't +know as it is quite right to do so; still you may as well hear it +from me as any one."</p> +<p>"Do pray tell," answered Mag, "I am dying with curiosity."</p> +<p>So Kate smoothed down her black silk apron, twisted one of her +curls into a horridly ugly shape, and commenced with, "What kind of +a woman is that Mrs. Carter, down in the village?"</p> +<p>Instantly Margaret's suspicions were aroused, and starting as if +a serpent had stung her, she exclaimed, "Mrs. Carter! is it of her +you will tell me? She is a most dangerous woman—a woman whom +your mother would call a 'snake in the grass.'"</p> +<p>"Precisely so," answered Kate. "That is just what mother says of +her, and yet nearly all the village are ready to fall down and +worship her."</p> +<p>"Let them, then," said Mag; "I have no objections, provided they +keep their molten calf to themselves. No one wants her here. But +what is it about her?—tell me."</p> +<p>Briefly then Kate told her how Mr. Hamilton was, and for a long +time had been, in the habit of spending one evening every week with +Mrs. Carter; and that people, not without good cause, were already +pointing her out as the future mistress of the homestead.</p> +<p>"Never, never!" cried Mag vehemently. "Never shall she come +here. She our mother indeed! It shall not be, if I can prevent +it."</p> +<p>After a little further conversation, Kate departed, leaving Mag +to meditate upon the best means by which to avert the threatened +evil. What Kate had told her was true. Mr. Hamilton had so many +questions to ask concerning his old classmates, and Mrs. Carter had +so much to tell, that, though they had worked industriously all +winter, they were not through yet; neither would they be until Mrs. +Carter found herself again within the old homestead.</p> +<p>The night following Kate's visit Mag determined to speak with +her father; but immediately after tea he went out, saying he should +not return until nine o'clock. With a great effort Mag forced down +the angry words which she felt rising within her, and then seating +herself at her work she resolved to await his return. Not a word on +the subject did she say to Carrie, who retired to her room at +half-past eight, as was her usual custom. Alone now Margaret +waited. Nine, ten, eleven had been struck, and then into the +sitting-room came Mr. Hamilton, greatly astonished at finding his +daughter there.</p> +<p>"Why, Margaret," said he, "why are you sitting up so late?"</p> +<p>"If it is late for me, it is late for you," answered Margaret, +who, now that the trial had come, felt the awkwardness of the task +she had undertaken.</p> +<p>"But I had business," answered Mr. Hamilton; and Margaret, +looking him steadily in the face, asked:</p> +<p>"Is not your business of a nature which equally concerns us +all?"</p> +<p>A momentary flush passed over his features as he replied, "What +do you mean? I do not comprehend."</p> +<p>Hurriedly, and in broken sentences, Margaret told him what she +meant, and then tremblingly she waited for his answer. Frowning +angrily, he spoke to his daughter the first harsh words which had +ever passed his lips toward either of his children.</p> +<p>"Go to your room, and don't presume to interfere with me again. +I trust I am competent to attend to my own matters!"</p> +<p>Almost convulsively Margaret's arms closed round her father's +neck, as she said, "Don't speak so to me, father. You never did +before—never would now, but for <i>her</i>. Oh, father, +promise me, by the memory of my angel mother, never to see her +again. She is a base, designing woman."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton unwound his daughter's arms from his neck, and +speaking more gently, said, "What proof have you of that assertion? +Give me proof, and I promise to do your bidding."</p> +<p>But Mag had no such proof at hand, and she could only reiterate +her suspicions, her belief, which, of course, failed to convince +the biased man, who, rising, said: "Your mother confided and +trusted in her, so why should not you?"</p> +<p>The next moment Margaret was alone. For a long time she wept, +and it was not until the eastern horizon began to grow gray in the +morning twilight that she laid her head upon her pillow, and forgot +in sleep how unhappy she had been. Her words, however, were not +without their effect, for when the night came round on which her +father was accustomed to pay his weekly visit, he stayed at home, +spending the whole evening with his daughters, and appearing really +gratified at Margaret's efforts to entertain him. But, alas! the +chain of the widow was too firmly thrown around him for a +daughter's hand alone to sever the fast-bound links.</p> +<p>When the next Thursday evening came Mag was confined to her room +by a sick headache, from which she had been suffering all day. As +night approached she frequently asked if her father were below. At +last the front door opened, and she heard his step upon the piazza. +Starting up, she hurried to the window, while at the same moment +Mr. Hamilton paused, and raising his eyes saw the white face of his +daughter pressed against the window-pane as she looked imploringly +after him; but there was not enough of power in a single look to +deter him, and, wafting her a kiss, he turned away. Sadly Margaret +watched him until he disappeared down the long hill; then, +returning to her couch, she wept bitterly.</p> +<p>Meantime Mrs. Carter, who had been greatly chagrined at the +non-appearance of Mr. Hamilton the week before, was now confidently +expecting him. He had not yet asked her to be his wife, and the +delay somewhat annoyed both herself and Lenora.</p> +<p>"I declare, mother," said Lenora, "I should suppose you might +contrive up something to bring matters to a focus. I think it's +perfectly ridiculous to see two old crones, who ought to be +trotting their grandchildren, cooing and simpering away at each +other, and all for nothing, too."</p> +<p>"Can't you be easy awhile longer?" asked Mrs. Carter "hasn't he +said everything he can say except 'will you marry me?'"</p> +<p>"A very important question, too," returned Lenora; "and I don't +know what business you have to expect anything from him until it is +asked."</p> +<p>"Mr. Hamilton is proud," answered Mrs. Carter—"is afraid +of doing anything which might possibly lower him. Now, if by any +means I could make him believe that I had received an offer from +some one fully if not more than his equal, I think it would settle +the matter, and I've decided upon the following plan. I'll write a +proposal myself, sign old Judge B——'s name to it, and +next time Mr. Hamilton comes let him surprise me in reading it. +Then, as he is such a <i>dear</i>, long-tried friend, it will be +quite proper for me to confide in him, and ask his advice."</p> +<p>Lenora's eyes opened wider, as she exclaimed, "<i>My +gracious</i>! who but <i>you</i> would ever have thought of +that."</p> +<p>Accordingly the letter was written, sealed, directed, broken +open, laughed over, and laid away in the stand drawer.</p> +<p>"Mr. Hamilton, mother," said Lenora, as half an hour afterward +she ushered that gentleman into the room. But so wholly absorbed +was the black bombazine and linen collar in the contents of an open +letter, which she held in her hand, that the words were twice +repeated—"Mr. Hamilton, mother"—ere she raised her +eyes! Then coming forward with well-feigned confusion, she +apologized for not having observed him before, saying she was sure +he would excuse her if he knew the contents of her letter. Of +course he wanted to know, and of course she didn't want to tell. He +was too polite to urge her, and the conversation soon took another +channel.</p> +<p>After a time Lenora left the room, and Mrs. Carter, again +speaking of the letter, begged to make a confidant of Mr. Hamilton, +and ask his advice. He heard the letter read through, and after a +moment's silence asked, "Do you like him, Mrs. Carter?"</p> +<p>"Why—no—I don't think I do," said she, "but then the +widow's lot is so lonely."</p> +<p>"I know it is," sighed he, while through the keyhole of the +opposite door came something which sounded very much like a stifled +laugh! It was the hour of Ernest Hamilton's temptation, and but for +the remembrance of the sad, white face which had gazed so +sorrowfully at him from the window he had fallen. But Maggie's +presence seemed with him—her voice whispered in his ear, +"Don't do it, father, don't"—and he calmly answered that it +would be a good match. But he could not, no he could not advise her +to marry him; so he qualified what he had said by asking her not to +be in a hurry—to wait awhile. The laugh through the keyhole +was changed to a hiss, which Mrs. Carter said must be the wind, +although there was not enough stirring to move the rose bushes +which grew by the doorstep!</p> +<p>So much was Mr. Hamilton held in thrall by the widow that on his +way home he hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that he had not +proposed. If Judge B—— would marry her she surely was +good enough for him. Anon, too, he recalled her hesitation about +confessing that the judge was indifferent to her. Jealousy crept in +and completed what flattery and intrigue had commenced. One week +from that night Ernest Hamilton and Luella Carter were engaged, but +for appearance's sake their marriage was not to take place until +the ensuing autumn.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI1" id="CHAPTER_VI1"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>RAISING THE WIND.</h3> +<p>"Where are you going now?" asked Mrs. Carter of her daughter, as +she saw her preparing to go out one afternoon, a few weeks after +the engagement.</p> +<p>"Going to raise the wind," was the answer.</p> +<p>"Going to what?" exclaimed Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"To raise the wind! Are you deaf?" yelled Lenora.</p> +<p>"Raise the wind!" repeated Mrs. Carter; "what do you mean?"</p> +<p>"Mean what I say," said Lenora; and closing the door after her +she left her mother to wonder "what fresh mischief the little +torment was at."</p> +<p>But she was only going to make a <i>friendly</i> call on +Margaret and Carrie, the latter of whom she had heard was sick.</p> +<p>"Is Miss Hamilton at home?" asked she of the servant girl who +answered her ring, and whom she had never seen before.</p> +<p>"Yes, ma'am; walk in the parlor. What name shall I give her if +you please?"</p> +<p>"Miss Carter—Lenora Carter;" and the servant girl +departed, repeating to herself all the way up the stairs, "Miss +Carther—Lenora Carther!"</p> +<p>"Lenora Carter want to see me!" exclaimed Mag, who, together +with Kate Kirby, was in her sister's room.</p> +<p>"Yes, ma'am; an' sure 'twas Miss Hampleton she was wishin' to +see," said the Irish girl.</p> +<p>"Well, I shall not go down," answered Mag. "Tell her, Rachel, +that I am otherwise engaged."</p> +<p>"Oh, Maggie," said Carrie, "why not see her? I would if I were +you."</p> +<p>"Rachel can ask her up here if you wish it," answered Mag, "but +I shall leave the room."</p> +<p>"Faith, an' what shall I do?" asked Rachel, who was fresh from +"swate Ireland" and felt puzzled to know why a "silk frock and +smart bonnet" should not always be welcome. "Ask her up," answered +Kate. "I've never seen her nearer than across the church and have +some curiosity—"</p> +<p>A moment after Rachel thrust her head in at the parlor door, +saying, "If you please, ma'am, Miss Marget is engaged, and does not +want to see you, but Miss Carrie says you may come up there."</p> +<p>"Very well," said Lenora; and tripping after the servant girl, +she was soon in Carrie's room.</p> +<p>After retailing nearly all the gossip of which she was mistress, +she suddenly turned to Carrie, and said, "Did you know that your +father was going to be married?"</p> +<p>"My father going to be married!" said Carrie, opening her blue +eyes in astonishment. "My father going to be married! To whom +pray?"</p> +<p>"To a lady from the East—one whom he used to know and +flirt with when he was in college!" was Lenora's grave reply.</p> +<p>"What is her name?" asked Kate.</p> +<p>"Her name? Let me +see—Miss—Blackwell—Blackmer—<i>Blackheart</i>. +It sounds the most like Blackheart."</p> +<p>"What a queer name," said Kate; "but tell us what opportunity +has Mr. Hamilton had of renewing his early acquaintance with the +lady."</p> +<p>"Don't you know he's been East this winter?" asked Lenora.</p> +<p>"Yes, as far as Albany," answered Carrie.</p> +<p>"Well," continued Lenora, "'twas during his Eastern trip that +the matter was settled; but pray don't repeat it from me, except it +be to Maggie, who I dare say, will feel glad to be relieved of her +heavy responsibilities—but as I live, Carrie, you are crying! +What is the matter?"</p> +<p>But Carrie made no answer, and for a time wept on in silence. +She could not endure the thought that another would so soon take +the place of her lost mother in the household and in the affections +of her father. There was, besides, something exceedingly annoying +in the manner of her who communicated the intelligence, and +secretly Carrie felt glad that the dreaded "Miss Blackheart" had, +of course, no Lenora to bring with her!</p> +<p>"Do you know all this to be true?" asked Kate.</p> +<p>"Perfectly true," said Lenora. "We have friends living in the +vicinity of the lady, and there can be no mistake, except, indeed, +in the name, which I am not sure is right!"</p> +<p>Then hastily kissing Carrie, the little hussy went away, very +well satisfied with her afternoon's call. As soon as she was out of +hearing Margaret entered her sister's room, and on noticing +Carrie's flushed cheek and red eyes, inquired the cause. +Immediately Kate told her what Lenora had said, but instead of +weeping, as Carrie had done, she betrayed no emotion whatever.</p> +<p>"Why, Maggie, ain't you sorry?" asked Carrie.</p> +<p>"No, I am glad," returned Mag. "I've seen all along that sooner +or later father would make himself ridiculous, and I'd rather he'd +marry forty women from the East, than one woman not far from here +whom I know."</p> +<p>All that afternoon Mag tripped with unwonted gaiety about the +house. A weight was lifted from her heart, for in her estimation +any one whom her father would marry was preferable to Mrs. +Carter.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>Oh, how the widow scolded the daughter, and how the daughter +laughed at the widow, when she related the particulars of her +call.</p> +<p>"Lenora, what could have possessed you to tell such a lie?" said +Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"Not so fast, mother mine," answered Lenora. "'Twasn't a lie. +Mr. Hamilton <i>is</i> engaged to a lady from the East. He +<i>did</i> flirt with her in his younger days; and, pray, didn't he +have to come East when be called to inquire after his beloved +classmates, and ended by getting checkmated! Besides, I think you +ought to thank me for turning the channel of gossip in another +direction, for now you will be saved from all impertinent questions +and remarks."</p> +<p>This mode of reasoning failed to convince the widow, who felt +quite willing that people should know of her flattering prospects; +and when a few days after Mrs. Dr. Otis told her that Mrs. Kimball +said that Polly Larkins said that her hired girl told her that Mrs. +Kirby's hired girl told her that she overheard Miss Kate telling +her mother that Lenora Carter said that Mr. Hamilton was going to +be married to her mother's intimate friend, Mrs. Carter would have +denied the whole and probably divulged her own secret, had not +Lenora, who chanced to be present, declared, with the coolest +effrontery, that 'twas all true—that her mother had promised +to stand up with them, and so folks would find it to be if they did +not die of curiosity before autumn!</p> +<p>"Lenora, child, how can you talk so?" asked the distressed lady, +as the door closed upon her visitor.</p> +<p>Lenora went off into fits of explosive laughter, bounding up and +down like an india-rubber ball, and at last condescended to say, "I +know what I'm about. Do you want Mag Hamilton breaking up the +match, as she surely would do, between this and autumn, if she knew +it?"</p> +<p>"And what can she do?" asked Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"Why," returned Lenora, "can't she write to the place you came +from, if, indeed, such a spot can be found?—for I believe you +sometimes book yourself from one town and sometimes from another. +But depend upon it you had better take my advice and keep still, +and in the dénouement which follows, I alone shall be blamed +for a slight stretch of truth which you can easily excuse as 'one +of <i>dear</i> Lenora's silly, childish freaks!'"</p> +<p>Upon second thoughts, Mrs. Carter concluded to follow her +daughter's advice, and the next time Mr. Hamilton called, she +laughingly told the story which Lenora had set afloat, saying, by +way of excuse, that the dear girl did not like to hear her mother +joked on the subject of matrimony, and had turned the attention of +people another way.</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton hardly relished this, and half wished, mayhap, as, +indeed, gentlemen generally do in similar circumstances, that the +little "objection" in the shape of Lenora had never had existence, +or at least had never called the widow mother!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII1" id="CHAPTER_VII1"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>THE STEPMOTHER.</h3> +<p>Rapidly the summer was passing away, and as autumn drew near the +wise gossips of Glenwood began to whisper that the lady from the +East was in danger of being supplanted in her rights by the widow, +whose house Mr. Hamilton was known to visit two or three times each +week. But Lenora had always some plausible story on hand. "Mother +and the lady had been so intimate—in fact, more than once +rocked in the same cradle—and 'twas no wonder Mr. Hamilton +came often to a place where he could hear so much about her."</p> +<p>So when business again took Mr. Hamilton to Albany suspicion was +wholly lulled, and Walter, on his return from college, was told by +Mag that her fears concerning Mrs. Carter were groundless. During +the spring Carrie had been confined to her bed, but now she seemed +much better, and after Walter had been at home awhile he proposed +that he and his sisters should take a traveling excursion, going +first to Saratoga, thence to Lake Champlain and Montreal, and +returning home by way of Canada and the Falls, This plan Mr. +Hamilton warmly seconded, and when Carrie asked if he would not +feel lonely he answered, "Oh, no; Willie and I will do very well +while you are gone."</p> +<p>"But who will stay with Willie evenings, when you are away?" +asked Mag, looking her father steadily in the face.</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton colored slightly, but after a moment replied: "I +shall spend my evenings at home."</p> +<p>"'Twill be what he hasn't done for many a week," thought Mag, as +she again busied herself with her preparations.</p> +<p>The morning came at last on which our travelers were to leave. +Kate Kirby had been invited to accompany them, but her mother would +not consent. "It would give people too much chance for talk," she +said; so Kate was obliged to content herself with going as far as +the depot, and watching, until out of sight, the car which bore +them away.</p> +<p>Upon the piazza stood the little group, awaiting the arrival of +the carriage which was to convey them to the station. Mr. Hamilton +seemed unusually gloomy, and with folded arms paced up and down the +long piazza, rarely speaking or noticing any one.</p> +<p>"Are you sorry we are going, father?" asked Carrie, going up to +him. "If you are I will gladly stay with you."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton paused, and pushing back the fair hair from his +daughter's white brow, he kissed her tenderly, saying, "No, Carrie; +I want you to go. The journey will do you good, for you are getting +too much the look your poor mother used to wear."</p> +<p>Why thought he then of Carrie's mother? Was it because he knew +that ere his child returned to him another would be in that +mother's place? Anon, Margaret came near, and motioning Carrie +away, Mr. Hamilton took his other daughter's hand, and led her to +the end of the piazza, where could easily be seen the little +graveyard and tall white monument pointing toward the bright blue +sky where dwelt the one whose grave that costly marble marked.</p> +<p>Pointing out the spot to Margaret, he said, "Tell me truly, +Maggie, did you love your father or your mother best?"</p> +<p>Mag looked wonderingly at him a moment, and then replied, "While +mother lived I loved her more than you, but now that she is dead, I +think of and love you as both father and mother."</p> +<p>"And will you always love me thus?" asked he.</p> +<p>"Always," was Mag's reply, as she looked curiously in her +father's face, and thinking that he had not said what he intended +to when first he drew her there.</p> +<p>Just then the carriage drove up, and after a few good-bys and +parting words Ernest Hamilton's children were gone, and he was left +alone.</p> +<p>"Why didn't I tell her, as I intended to?" thought he. "Is it +because I fear her—fear my own child? No, it cannot +be—and yet there is that in her eye which sometimes makes me +quail, and which, if necessary, would keep at bay a dozen +stepmothers. But neither she, nor either one of them, has aught to +dread from Mrs. Carter, whose presence will, I think, be of great +benefit to us all, and whose gentle manners, I trust, will tend to +soften Mag!"</p> +<p>Meantime his children were discussing and wondering at the +strange mood of their father. Walter, however, took no part in the +conversation. He had lived longer than his sisters—had seen +more of human nature, and had his own suspicions with regard to +what would take place during their absence; but he could not spoil +all Margaret's happiness by telling her his thoughts, so he kept +them to himself, secretly resolving to make the best of whatever +might occur, and to advise Mag to do the same.</p> +<p>Now for a time we leave them, and take a look into the cottage +of Widow Carter, where, one September morning, about three weeks +after the departure of the Hamiltons, preparations were making for +some great event. In the kitchen a servant girl was busily at work, +while in the parlor Lenora was talking and the widow was +listening.</p> +<p>"Oh, mother," said Lenora, "isn't it so nice that they went away +just now? But won't Mag look daggers at us when she comes home and +finds us in quiet possession, and is told to call you +<i>mother</i>!"</p> +<p>"I never expect her to do that," answered Mrs. Carter. "The most +I can hope for is that she will call me Mrs. Hamilton."</p> +<p>"Now really, mother, if I were in Mag's place, I wouldn't please +you enough to say Mrs. Hamilton; I'd always call you Mrs. Carter," +said Lenora.</p> +<p>"How absurd!" was the reply; and Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"I know it's absurd, but I'd do it; though if she does, I, as +the dutiful child of a most worthy parent, shall feel compelled to +resent the insult by calling her father <i>Mr. Carter</i>!"</p> +<p>By this time Mrs. Carter was needed in the kitchen; so, leaving +Lenora, who at once was the pest and torment of her mother's life, +we will go into the village and see what effect the approaching +nuptials was producing. It was now generally known that the "lady +from the East" who had been "rocked in Mrs. Carter's cradle," was +none other than Mrs. Carter herself, and many were the reproving +looks which the people had cast toward Lenora for the trick she had +put upon them. The little hussy only laughed at them +good-humoredly, telling them they were angry because she had +cheated them out of five months' gossip, and that if her mother +could have had her way, she would have sent the news to the +<i>Herald</i> and had it inserted under the head of "Awful +Catastrophe!" Thus Mrs. Carter was exonerated from all blame; but +many a wise old lady shook her head, saying, "How strange that so +fine a woman as Mrs. Carter should have such a reprobate of a +daughter."</p> +<p>When, this remark came to Lenora's ears she cut numerous +flourishes, which ended in the upsetting of a bowl of starch on her +mother's new black silk; then dancing before the highly indignant +lady, she said, "Perhaps if they knew what a scapegrace you +represent my father to have been, and how you whipped me once to +make me say I saw him strike you, when I never did, they would +wonder at my being as good as I am."</p> +<p>Mrs. Carter was too furious to venture a verbal reply; so +seizing the starch bowl she hurled it with the remainder of the +contents at the head of the little vixen, who, with an elastic +bound not entirely unlike a somersault dodged the missile, which +passed on and fell upon the hearthrug.</p> +<p>This is but one of a series of similar scenes which occurred +between the widow and her child before the happy day arrived when, +in the presence of a select few of the villagers, Luella Carter was +transformed into Luella Hamilton. The ceremony was scarcely over +when Mr. Hamilton, who for a few days had been rather indisposed, +complained of feeling sick. Immediately Lenora, with a sidelong +glance at her mother, exclaimed, "What, sick of your bargain so +quick? It's sooner even than <i>I</i> thought 'twould be, and I'm +sure I'm capable of judging."</p> +<p>"Dear Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, turning toward one of her +neighbors, "she has such a flow of spirits that I am afraid Mr. +Hamilton will find her troublesome."</p> +<p>"Don't be alarmed, mother; he'll never think of me when you are +around," was Lenora's reply in which Mrs. Carter saw more than one +meaning.</p> +<p>That evening the bridal party repaired to the homestead, where, +at Mr. Hamilton's request, Mrs. Kirby was waiting to receive them. +Willie had been told by the servants that his mother was coming +home that night, and, with the trusting faith of childhood, he had +drawn a chair to the window from which he could see his mother's +grave; and there for more than an hour he watched for the first +indications of her coming, saying occasionally, "Oh, I wish she'd +come. Willie's so sorry here."</p> +<p>At last growing weary and discouraged, he turned away and said, +"No, ma'll never come home again; Maggie said she wouldn't."</p> +<p>Upon the carriage road which wound from the street to the house +there was the sound of coming wheels, and Rachel, seizing Willie, +bore him to the front door, exclaiming, "An' faith, Willie, don't +you see her? That's your mother, honey, with the black gown."</p> +<p>But Willie saw only the wild eyes of Lenora, who caught him in +her arms, overwhelming him with caresses. "Let me go, Leno," said +he, "I want to see my ma. Where is she?"</p> +<p>A smile of scorn curled Lenora's lips as she released him, and +leading him toward her mother, she said, "There she is; there's +your ma. Now hold up your head and make a bow."</p> +<p>Willie's lip quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and hiding +his face in his apron, he sobbed, "I want my own ma—the one +they shut up in a big black box. Where is she, Leno?"</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton took Willie on his knee, and tried to explain to +him how that now his own mother was dead, he had got a new one, who +would love him and be kind to him. Then putting him down, he said, +"Go, my son, and speak to her, won't you?"</p> +<p>Willie advanced rather cautiously toward the black silk figure, +which reached out its hand, saying, "Dear Willie, you'll love me a +little, won't you?"</p> +<p>"Yes, if you are good to me," was the answer, which made the new +stepmother mentally exclaim, "A young rebel, I know," while Lenora, +bending between the two, whispered emphatically:</p> +<p>"She <i>shall</i> be good to you!"</p> +<p>And soon, in due order, the servants were presented to their new +mistress. Some were disposed to like her, others eyed her askance, +and old Polly Pepper, the black cook, who had been in the family +ever since Mr. Hamilton's first marriage, returned her salutation +rather gruffly, and then, stalking back to the kitchen, muttered +to, those who followed her, "I don't like her face nohow; she looks +just like the milk snakes, when they stick their heads in at the +door."</p> +<p>"But you knew how she looked before," said Lucy, the +chambermaid.</p> +<p>"I know it," returned Polly; "but when she was here nussin' I +never noticed <i>her</i>, more I would any on you; for who'd of +thought that Mr. Hamilton would marry her, when he knows, or or'to +know, that nusses ain't fust cut, nohow; and you may depend on't, +things ain't a-goin' to be here as they used to be."</p> +<p>Here Rachel started up, and related the circumstance of +Margaret's refusing to see "that little evil-eyed-lookin-varmint, +with curls almost like Polly's." Lucy, too, suddenly remembered +something which she had seen, or heard, or made up—so that +Mrs. Carter had not been an hour in the coveted homestead ere there +was mutiny against her afloat in the kitchen; "But," said Aunt +Polly, "I 'vises you all to be civil till she sasses you fust!"</p> +<p>"My dear, what room can Lenora have for her own?" asked Mrs. +Hamilton, as we must now call her, the morning following her +marriage.</p> +<p>"Why, really, I don't know," answered the husband; "you must +suit yourselves with regard to that."</p> +<p>"Yes; but I'd rather you'd select, and then no one can blame +me," was the answer.</p> +<p>"Choose any room you please, except the one which Mag and Carrie +now occupy, and rest assured you shall not be blamed," said Mr. +Hamilton.</p> +<p>The night before Lenora had appropriated to herself the best +chamber, but the room was so large and so far distant from any one, +and the windows and fireboard rattled so, that she felt afraid, and +did not care to repeat her experiment.</p> +<p>"I 'clar for't!" said Polly, when she heard of it. "Gone right +into the best bed, where even Miss Margaret never goes! What are we +all comin' to? Tell her, Luce, the story of the ghosts, and I'll be +bound she'll make herself scarce in them rooms!"</p> +<p>"Tell her yourself," said Lucy; and when, after breakfast, +Lenora, anxious to spy out everything, appeared in the kitchen, +Aunt Polly called out, "Did you hear anything last night, Miss +Lenora?"</p> +<p>"Why, yes—I heard the windows rattle," was the answer; and +Aunt Polly, with an ominous shake of the head, continued:</p> +<p>"There's more than windows rattle, I guess. Didn't you see +nothin', all white and corpse-like, go a-whizzin, and rappin' by +your bed?"</p> +<p>"Why, no," said Lenora; "what do you mean?"</p> +<p>So Polly told her of the ghosts and goblins which nightly ranged +the two chambers over the front and back parlors. Lenora said +nothing, but she secretly resolved not to venture again after dark +into the haunted portion of the house. But where should she sleep? +That was now the important question. Adjoining the sitting-room was +a pleasant, cozy little place, which Margaret called her +music-room. In it she kept her piano, her music stand, books, and +several fine plants, besides numerous other little conveniences. At +the end of this room was a large closet where, at different seasons +of the year, Mag hung away the articles of clothing which she and +her sister did not need.</p> +<p>Toward this place Lenora turned her eyes; for, besides being +unusually pleasant, it was also very near her mother, whose +sleeping-room joined, though it did not communicate with it. +Accordingly, before noon the piano was removed to the parlor; the +plants were placed, some on the piazza, and some in the +sitting-room window, while Margaret and Carrie's dresses were +removed to the closet of their room, which chanced to be a trifle +too small to hold them all conveniently; so they were crowded one +above the other, and left for "the girls to see to when they came +home!"</p> +<p>In perfect horror Aunt Polly looked on, regretting for once the +ghost story which she had told.</p> +<p>"Why don't you take the chamber jinin' the young ladies? that +ain't haunted," said she, when they sent for her to help move the +piano. "Miss Margaret won't thank you for scattern' her +things."</p> +<p>"You've nothing to do with Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton; "you've +only to attend to your own matters."</p> +<p>"Wonder then what I'm up here for a-h'istin this pianner," +muttered Polly. "This ain't my matters, sartin'."</p> +<p>When Mr. Hamilton came in to dinner he was shown the little room +with its single bed, tiny bureau, silken lounge and easy chair, of +which the last two were Mag's especial property.</p> +<p>"All very nice," said he, "but where is Mag's piano?"</p> +<p>"In the parlor," answered his wife. "People often ask for music, +and it is more convenient to have it there than to come across the +hall and through the sitting-room."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton said nothing, but he secretly wished Mag's rights +had not been invaded quite so soon. His wife must have guessed as +much; for, laying her hand on his, she, with the utmost deference, +offered to undo all she had done, if it did not please him.</p> +<p>"Certainly not—certainly not; it does please me," said he; +while Polly, who stood on the cellar stairs listening, exclaimed, +"What a fool a woman can make of a man!"</p> +<p>Three days after Mr. Hamilton's marriage he received a letter +from Walter, saying that they would be at home on the Thursday +night following. Willie was in, ecstasies, for though as yet he +liked his new mother tolerably well, he still loved Maggie better; +and the thought of seeing her again made him wild with delight. All +day long on Thursday he sat in the doorway, listening for the +shrill cry of the train which was to bring her home.</p> +<p>"Don't you love Maggie?" said he to Lenora, who chanced to pass +him.</p> +<p>"Don't I love Maggie? No, I don't; neither does she love me," +was the answer.</p> +<p>Willie was puzzled to know why any one should not like Mag; but +his confidence in her was not at all shaken, and when, soon after +sunset, Lenora cried, "There, they've come," he rushed to the door, +and was soon in the arms of his sister-mother. Pressing his lips to +hers, he said, "Did you 'know I'd got a new mother? Mrs. Carter and +Leno—they are in there," pointing toward the parlor.</p> +<p>Instantly Mag dropped him. It was the first intimation of her +father's marriage which she had received, and reeling backward, she +would have fallen had not Walter supported her. Quickly rallying, +she advanced toward her father, who came to meet her, and whose +hand trembled in her grasp. After greeting each of his children he +turned to present them to <i>his wife</i>, wisely taking Carrie +first. She was not prejudiced, like Mag, and returned her +stepmother's salutation with something like affection, for which +Lenora rewarded her by terming her a "little simpleton."</p> +<p>But Mag—she who had warned her father against that +woman—she who on her knees had begged him not to marry +her—she had no word of welcome, and when Mrs. Hamilton +offered her hand she affected not to see it, though with the most +frigid politeness she said, "Good evening, madam; this is, indeed, +a surprise!"</p> +<p>"And not a very pleasant one, either, I imagine," whispered +Lenora to Carrie.</p> +<p>Walter came last, and though he took the lady's hand, there was +something in his manner which plainly said she was not wanted +there. Tea was now announced, and Mag bit her lip when, she saw her +accustomed seat occupied by another.</p> +<p>Feigning to recollect herself, Mrs. Hamilton, in the blandest +tones, said, "Perhaps, dear Maggie, you would prefer this +seat?"</p> +<p>"Of course not," said Mag, while Lenora thought to herself:</p> +<p>"And if she does, I wonder what good it will do?"</p> +<p>That young lady, however, made no remarks, for Walter Hamilton's +searching eyes were upon her and kept her silent. After tea, Walter +said, "Come, Mag, I have not heard your piano in a long time. Give +us some music."</p> +<p>Mag arose to comply with his wishes, but ere she had reached the +door Mrs. Hamilton gently detained her, saying, "Maggie, dear, +Lenora has always slept near me, and as I knew you would not +object, if you were here, I took the liberty to remove your piano +to the parlor, and to fit this up for Lenora's sleeping-room. +See"—and she threw open the door, disclosing the +metamorphose, while Willie, who began to get an inkling of matters, +and who always called the piazza "outdoors," chimed in, "And they +throw'd your little trees outdoors, too!"</p> +<p>Mag stood for a moment, mute with astonishment; then thinking +she could not "do the subject justice," she turned silently away. A +roguish smile from Walter met her eye, but she did not laugh, +until, with Carrie, she repaired to her own room, and tried to put +something in the closet. Then coming upon the pile of extra +clothes, she exclaimed, "What in the world! Here's all our winter +clothing, and, as I live, five dresses crammed upon one nail! We'll +have to move to the barn next!"</p> +<p>This was too much, and sitting down, Mag cried and laughed +alternately.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII1" id="CHAPTER_VIII1"></a>CHAPTER +VIII.</h2> +<h3>DOMESTIC LIFE AT THE HOMESTEAD.</h3> +<p>For a few weeks after Margaret's return matters at the Homestead +glided on smoothly enough, but at the end of that time Mrs. +Hamilton began to reveal her real character. Carrie's journey had +not been as beneficial as her father had hoped it would be, and as +the days grew colder she complained of extreme languor and a severe +pain in her side, and at last kept her room entirely, +notwithstanding the numerous hints from her stepmother that it was +no small trouble to carry so many dishes up and down stairs three +times a day.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton was naturally very stirring and active, and in +spite of her remarkable skill in nursing, she felt exceedingly +annoyed when any of her own family were ill. She fancied, too, that +Carrie was feigning all her bad feelings, and that she would be +much better if she exerted herself more. Accordingly, one afternoon +when Mag was gone, she repaired to Carrie's room, giving vent to +her opinion as follows: "Carrie," said she (she now dropped the +<i>dear</i> when Mr. Hamilton was not by), "Carrie, I shouldn't +suppose you'd ever expect to get well, so long as you stay moped up +here all day. You ought to come down-stairs, and stir around +more."</p> +<p>"Oh, I should be so glad if I could," answered Carrie.</p> +<p>"Could!" repeated Mrs. Hamilton; "you could if you would. Now, +it's my opinion that you complain altogether too much, and fancy +you are a great deal worse than you really are, when all you want +is exercise. A short walk on the piazza, and a little fresh air +each, morning, would soon cure you."</p> +<p>"I know fresh air does me good," said Carrie; "but walking makes +my side ache so hard, and makes me cough so, that Maggie thinks I'd +better not."</p> +<p>Mag, quoted as authority, exasperated Mrs. Hamilton who replied +rather sharply, "Fudge on Mag's old-maidish whims! I know that any +one who eats as much as you do can't be so very weak!"</p> +<p>"I don't eat half you send me," said poor Carrie, beginning to +cry at her mother's unkind remarks; "Willie 'most always comes up +here and eats with me."</p> +<p>"For mercy's sake, mother, let the child have what she wants to +eat, for 'tisn't long she'll need it," said Lenora, suddenly +appearing in the room.</p> +<p>"Lenora, go right down; you are not wanted here," said Mrs. +Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Neither are you, I fancy," was Lenora's reply, as she coolly +seated herself on the foot of Carrie's bed, while her mother +continued:</p> +<p>"Really, Carrie, you must try and come down to your meals, for +you have no idea how much it hinders the work, to bring them up +here. Polly isn't good for anything until she has conjured up +something extra for your breakfast, and then they break so many +dishes!"</p> +<p>"I'll try to come down to-morrow," said Carrie meekly; and as +the door-bell just then rang Mrs. Hamilton departed, leaving her +with Lenora, whose first exclamation was:</p> +<p>"If I were in your place, Carrie, I wouldn't eat anything, and +die quick."</p> +<p>"I don't want to die," said Carrie; and Lenora, clapping her +hands together, replied:</p> +<p>"Why, you poor little innocent, who supposed you did? Nobody +wants to die not even <i>I</i>, good as I am; but I should expect +to, if I had the consumption."</p> +<p>"Lenora, have I got the consumption?" asked Carrie, fixing her +eyes with mournful earnestness upon her companion, who +thoughtlessly replied:</p> +<p>"To be sure you have. They say one lung is entirely gone and the +other nearly so."</p> +<p>Wearily the sick girl turned upon her side; and, resting her +dimpled cheek upon her hand, she said softly, "Go away now, Lenora; +I want to be alone."</p> +<p>Lenora complied, and when Margaret returned from the village she +found her sister lying in the same position in which Lenora had +left her, with her fair hair falling over her face, which it hid +from view.</p> +<p>"Are you asleep, Carrie?" said Mag; but Carrie made no answer, +and there was something so still and motionless in her repose that +Mag went up to her, and pushing back from her face the long silken +hair, saw that she had fainted.</p> +<p>The excitement of her stepmother's visit, added to the startling +news which Lenora had told her, was too much for her weak nerves, +and for a time she remained insensible. At length, rousing herself, +she looked dreamily around, saying, "Was it a dream, Maggie—- +all a dream?"</p> +<p>"Was what a dream, love?" said Margaret, supporting her sister's +head upon her bosom.</p> +<p>Suddenly Carrie remembered the whole, but she resolved not to +tell of her stepmother's visit, though she earnestly desired to +know if what Lenora had told her were true. Raising herself, so +that she could see Margaret's face, she said, "Maggie, is there no +hope for me; and do the physicians say I must die?"</p> +<p>"Why, what do you mean? I never knew that they said so," +answered Mag; and then with breathless indignation she listened, +while Carrie told her what Lenora had said. "I'll see that she +doesn't get in here again," said Margaret. "I know she made more +than half of that up; for, though the physicians say you lungs are +very much diseased, they have never saw that you could not +recover."</p> +<p>The next morning, greatly to Mag's astonishment Carrie insisted +upon going down to breakfast.</p> +<p>"Why, you must not do it; you are not able," said Mag. But +Carrie was determined; and, wrapping herself in her thick shawl, +she slowly descended the stay though the cold air in the long hall +made her shiver.</p> +<p>"Carrie, dear, you are better this morning, and there is quite a +rosy flush on your cheek," said Mrs. Hamilton, rising to meet her. +<i>(Mr.</i> Hamilton, be it remembered, was present.) But Carrie +shrank instinctively from her stepmother's advances, and took her +seat by the side of her father. After breakfast Mag remembered that +she had an errand in the village, and Carrie, who felt too weary to +return immediately to her room, said she would wait below until her +sister returned. Mag had been gone but a few moments when Mrs. +Hamilton, opening the outer door, called to Lenora, saying, "Come +and take a few turns on the piazza with Carrie. The air is bracing +this morning, and will do her good."</p> +<p>Willie, who was present, cried out, "No—Carrie is sick; +she can't walk—Maggie said she couldn't," and he grasped his +sister's hand to hold her. With a not very gentle jerk Mrs. +Hamilton pulled him off, while Lenora, who came bobbing and +bounding into the room, took Carrie's arm, saying.</p> +<p>"Oh, yes, I'll walk with you; shall we have a hop, skip, or +jump?"</p> +<p>"Don't, don't!" said Carrie, holding back; "I can't walk fast, +Lenora," and actuated by some sudden impulse of kindness, Lenora +conformed her steps to those of the invalid. Twice they walked up +and down the piazza, and were about turning for the third time, +when Carrie, clasping her hand over her side, exclaimed, "No, no; I +can't go again."</p> +<p>Little Willie, who fancied that his sister was being hurt, +sprang toward Lenora, saying, "Leno, you mustn't hurt Carrie. Let +her go; she's sick."</p> +<p>And now to the scene of action came Dame Hamilton, and seizing +her young stepson, she tore him away from Lenora, administering at +the same time a bit of a motherly shake. Willie's blood was up, and +in return he dealt her a blow, for which she rewarded him by +another shake, and by tying him to the table.</p> +<p>That Lenora was not all bad was shown by the unselfish affection +she ever manifested for Willie, although her untimely interference +between him and her mother oftentimes made matters worse. Thus, on +the occasion of which we have been speaking, Mrs. Hamilton had +scarcely left the room ere Lenora released Willie from his +confinement, thereby giving him the impression that his mother +alone was to blame. Fortunately, however, Margaret's judgment was +better, and though she felt justly indignant at the cruelty +practised upon poor Carrie, she could not uphold Willie in striking +his mother. Calling him to her room, she talked to him until he was +wholly softened, and offered, of his own accord, to go and say he +was sorry, provided Maggie would accompany him as far as the door +of the sitting-room, where his mother would probably be found. +Accordingly, Mag descended the stairs with him, and meeting Lenora +in the hall, said, "Is she in the sitting-room?"</p> +<p>"Is <i>she</i> in the sitting-room?" repeated Lenora; "and pray +who may <i>she</i> be?" then quick as thought she added, "Oh, yes, +I know. She is in there telling HE!"</p> +<p>Lenora was right in her conjecture, for Mrs. Hamilton, greatly +enraged at Willie's presumption in striking her, and still more +provoked at him for untying himself, as she supposed he had, was +laying before her husband quite an aggravated case of assault and +battery.</p> +<p>In the midst of her argument Willie entered the room, with +tear-stained eyes, and without noticing the presence of his father, +went directly to his mother, and burying his face in her lap, +sobbed out, "Willie is sorry he struck you, and will never do so +again, if you will forgive him."</p> +<p>In a much gentler tone than she would have assumed had not her +husband been present, Mrs. Hamilton replied, "I can forgive you for +striking me, Willie, but what have you to say about untying +yourself?"</p> +<p>"I didn't do it," said Willie; "Leno did that."</p> +<p>"Be careful what you say," returned Mrs. Hamilton. "I can't +believe Lenora would do so."</p> +<p>Ere Willie had time to repeat his assertion Lenora, who all the +time had been standing by the door, appeared, saying, "You may +believe him, for he has never been whipped to make him lie. I did +do it, and I would do it again."</p> +<p>"Lenora," said Mr. Hamilton, rather sternly, "you should not +interfere in that manner. You will spoil the child."</p> +<p>It was the first time he had presumed to reprove his +stepdaughter, and as there was nothing on earth which Mrs. Hamilton +so much feared as Lenora's tongue, she dreaded the disclosures +which further remark from her husband might call forth. So, +assuming an air of great distress, she said, "Leave her to me, my +dear. She is a strange girl, as I always told you, and no one can +manage her as well as myself." Then kissing Willie in token of +forgiveness, she left the room, drawing Lenora after her and +whispering fiercely in her ear, "How can you ever expect to succeed +with the son, if you show off this way before the father."</p> +<p>With a mocking laugh Lenora replied, "Pshaw! I gave that up the +first time I ever saw him, for of course he thinks me a second +edition of Mrs. Carter, minus any improvements. But he's mistaken; +I'm not half as bad as I seem. I'm only what you've made me."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton turned away, thinking that if her daughter could +so easily give up Walter Hamilton, <i>she</i> would not. She was +resolved upon an alliance between him and Lenora. And who ever knew +<i>her</i> to fail in what she undertook?</p> +<p>She had wrung from her husband the confession that "he believed +there was a sort of childish affection between Walter and Kate +Kirby, though 'twas doubtful whether it ever amounted to anything." +She had also learned that he was rather averse to the match, and +though Lenora had not yet been named as a substitute for Kate, she +strove in many ways to impress her husband with a sense of her +daughter's superior abilities, at the same time taking pains to +mortify Margaret by setting Lenora above her.</p> +<p>For this, however, Margaret cared but little, and it was only +when her mother ill-treated Willie, which she frequently did, that +her spirit was fully roused.</p> +<p>At Mrs. Hamilton's first marriage she had been presented with a +handsome glass pitcher, which she of course greatly prized. One day +it stood upon the stand in her room, where Willie was also playing +with some spools which Lenora had found and arranged for him. +Malta, the pet kitten, was amusing herself by running after the +spools, and when at last Willie, becoming tired, laid them on the +stand, she sprang toward them, upsetting the pitcher, which was +broken in a dozen pieces. On hearing the crash Mrs. Hamilton +hastened toward the room, where the sight of her favorite pitcher +in fragments greatly enraged her. Thinking, of course, that Willie +had done it, she rudely seized him by the arm, administered a cuff +or so, and then dragged him toward the china closet.</p> +<p>As soon as Willie could regain his breath he screamed, "Oh ma, +don't shut me up; I'll be good; I didn't do it, certain true; +kittie knocked it off."</p> +<p>"None of your lies," said Mrs. Hamilton. "It's likely kittie +knocked it off!"</p> +<p>Lenora, who had seen the whole, and knew that what Willie said +was true, was about coming to the rescue, when looking up, she saw +Margaret, with dilated nostrils and eyes flashing fire watching the +proceedings of her stepmother.</p> +<p>"He's safe," thought Lenora; "I'll let Mag fire the first gun, +and then I'll bring up the rear."</p> +<p>Margaret had never known Willie to tell a lie, and had no reason +for thinking he had done so in this instance. Besides, the blows +her mother gave him exasperated her, and she stepped forward just +as Mrs. Hamilton was about pushing him into the closet. So +engrossed was that lady that she heard not Margaret's approach +until a firm hand was laid upon her shoulder while Willie was +violently wrested from her grasp, and ere she could recover from +her astonishment she herself was pushed into the closet, the door +of which was closed and locked against her.</p> +<p>"Bravo, Margaret Hamilton," cried Lenora, "I'm with you now, if +I never was before. It serves her right, for Willie told the truth. +I was sitting by and saw it all. Keep her in there an hour, will +you? It will pay her for the many times she has shut me up for +nothing."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton stamped and pushed against the door, while Lenora +danced and sang at the top of her voice:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"My dear precious mother got wrathy one +day<br /></span> <span class="i2">And seized little Will by the +hair;<br /></span> <span>But when in the closet she'd stow him +away,<br /></span> <span class="i2">She herself was pushed headlong +in there."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>At length the bolt, yielding to the continued pressure of Mrs. +Hamilton's body, broke, and out came the termagant, foaming with +rage. She dared not molest Margaret, of whose physical powers she +had just received such mortifying proof, so she aimed a box at the +ears of Lenora. But the lithe little thing dodged it, and with one +bound cleared the table which sat in the center of the room, +landing safely on the other side; and then, shaking her short, +black curls at her mother, she said, "You didn't come it, that +time, my darling."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton, who chanced to be absent for a few days, was, on +his return, regaled with an exaggerated account of the proceeding, +his wife ending her discourse by saying: "If you don't do something +with your upstart daughter I'll leave the house; yes, I will."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton was cowardly. He was afraid of his wife, and he was +afraid of Mag. So he tried to compromise the matter by promising +the one that he surely would see to it, and by asking the other if +she were not ashamed. But old Polly didn't let the matter pass so +easily. She was greatly shocked at having "such shameful carryin's +on in a decent man's house."</p> +<p>"'Clare for't," said she, "I'll give marster a piece of Polly +Pepper's mind the fust time I get a lick at him."</p> +<p>In the course of a few days Mr. Hamilton had occasion to go for +something into Aunt Polly's dominions. The old lady was ready for +him. "Mr. Hampleton," said she, "I've been waitin' to see you this +long spell."</p> +<p>"To see me, Polly?" said he; "what do you want?"</p> +<p>"What I wants is this," answered Polly, dropping into a chair. +"I want to know what this house is a comin' to, with such +bedivilment in it as there's been since madam came here with that +little black-headed, ugly-favored, ill-begotten, Satan-possessed, +shoulder-unj'inted young one of her'n. It's been nothin' but a +rowdadow the whole time, and you hain't grit enough to stop it. +Madam boxes Willie, and undertakes to shet him up for a lie he +never told; Miss Margaret interferes jest as she or'to, takes +Willie away, and shets up madam; while that ill-marnered Lenora +jumps and screeches loud enough to wake the dead. Madam busts the +door down, and pitches into the varmint, who jumps spang over a +four-foot table, which Lord knows <i>I</i> never could have done in +my spryest days."</p> +<p>"But how can I help all this?" asked Mr. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Help it?" returned Polly. "You needn't have got into the fire +in the fust place. I hain't lived fifty-odd year for nothin', and +though I hain't no larnin', I know too much to heave myself away on +the fust nussin' woman that comes along."</p> +<p>"Stop, Polly; you must not speak so of Mrs. Hamilton," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Polly continued:</p> +<p>"And I wouldn't nuther, if she could hold a candle to the +t'other one; but she can't. You'd no business to marry a second +time, even if you didn't marry a nuss; neither has any man who's +got grow'd-up gals, and a faithful critter like Polly in the +kitchen. Stepmothers don't often do well, particularly them as is +sot up by marryin'."</p> +<p>Here Mr. Hamilton, who did not like to hear so much truth, left +the kitchen, while Aunt Polly said to herself, "I've gin it to him +good, this time."</p> +<p>Lenora, who always happened to be near when she was talked +about, had overheard the whole, and repeated it to her mother. +Accordingly, that very afternoon word came to the kitchen that Mrs. +Hamilton wished to see Polly.</p> +<p>"Reckon she'll find this child ain't afeared on her," said +Polly, as she wiped the flour from her face and repaired to Mrs. +Hamilton's room.</p> +<p>"Polly," began that lady, with a very grave face, "Lenora tells +me that you have been talking very disrespectfully to Mr. +Hamilton."</p> +<p>"In the name of the Lord, can't he fight his own battles?" +interrupted Polly. "I only tried to show him that he was +henpecked—and he is."</p> +<p>"It isn't of him alone I would speak," resumed Mrs. Hamilton, +with stately gravity; "you spoke insultingly of me, and as I make +it a practise never to keep a servant after they get insolent, I +have——"</p> +<p>"For the dear Lord's sake," again interrupted Polly, "I 'spect +we's the fust servants you ever had."</p> +<p>"Good!" said a voice from some quarter, and Mrs. Hamilton +continued: "I have sent for you to give you twenty-four hours' +warning to leave this house."</p> +<p>"I shan't budge an inch until marster says so," said Polly. +"Wonder who's the best title deed here? Warn't I here long afore +you come a nussin' t'other one?"</p> +<p>And Polly went back to the kitchen, secretly fearing that Mr. +Hamilton, who she knew was wholly ruled by his wife, would say that +she must go. And he did say so, though much against his will. +Lenora ran with the decision, to Aunt Polly, causing her to drop a +loaf of new bread. But the old negress chased her from the cellar +with the oven broom, and then stealing by a back staircase to +Margaret's room, laid the case before her, acknowledging that she +was sorry and asking her young mistress to intercede for her. +Margaret stepped to the head of the stairs, and calling to her +father, requested him to come for a moment to her room. This he was +more ready to do, as he had no suspicion why he was sent for, but +on seeing old Polly, he half-resolved to turn back. Margaret, +however, led him into the room, and then entreated him not to send +away one who had served him so long and so faithfully.</p> +<p>Polly, too, joined in with her tears and prayers, saying, "She +was an old black fool anyway, and let her tongue get the better on +her, though she didn't mean to say more than was true, and reckoned +she hadn't."</p> +<p>In his heart Mr. Hamilton wished to revoke what he had said, but +dread of the explosive storm which he knew would surely follow made +him irresolute, until Carrie said, "Father, the first person of +whom I have any definite recollection is Aunt Polly, and I shall be +so lonesome if she goes away. For my sake let her stay, at least +until I am dead."</p> +<p>This decided the matter. "She <i>shall</i> stay," said Mr. +Hamilton, and Aunt Polly, highly elated, returned to the kitchen +with the news. Lenora, who seemed to be everywhere at once, +overheard it, and, bent on mischief, ran with it to her mother. In +the meantime Mr. Hamilton wished, yet dreaded, to go down, and +finally, mentally cursing himself for his weakness, asked Margaret +to accompany him. She was about to comply with his request, when +Mrs. Hamilton came up the stairs, furious at her husband, whom she +called "a craven coward, led by the nose by all who chose to lead +him." Wishing to shut out her noise, Mag closed and bolted the +door, and in the hall the modern Xantippe extended her wrath +against her husband and his offspring, while poor Mr. Hamilton laid +his face in Carrie's lap and wept. Margaret was trying to devise +some means by which to rid herself of her stepmother, when Lenora +was heard to exclaim:</p> +<p>"Shall I pitch her over the stairs, Mag? I will if you say +so."</p> +<p>Immediately Mrs. Hamilton's anger took another channel, and +turning upon her daughter, she said, "What are you here for, you +prating parrot? Didn't you tell me what Aunt Polly said, and +haven't you acted in the capacity of reporter ever since?"</p> +<p>"To be sure I did," said Lenora, poising herself on one foot, +and whirling around in circles; "but if you thought I did it +because I blamed Aunt Polly, you are mistaken."</p> +<p>"What did you do it for, then?" said Mrs. Hamilton; and Lenora, +giving the finishing touch to her circles by dropping upon the +floor, answered, "I like to live in a hurricane—so I told you +what I did. Now, if you think it will add at all to the excitement +of the present occasion, I'll get an ax for you to split the door +down."</p> +<p>"Oh, don't, Lenora," screamed Carrie, from within, to which +Lenora responded:</p> +<p>"Poor little simple chick bird, I wouldn't harm a hair of your +soft head for anything. But there is a <i>man</i> in there, or one +who passes for a man, that I think would look far more respectable +if he'd come out and face the tornado. She's easy to manage when +you know how. At least Mag and I find her so."</p> +<p>Here Mr. Hamilton ashamed of himself and emboldened, perhaps, by +Lenora's words, slipped back the bolt of the door, and walking out, +confronted his wife.</p> +<p>"Shall I order pistols and coffee for two?" asked Lenora, +swinging herself entirely over the bannister, and dropping like a +squirrel on the stair below.</p> +<p>"Is Polly going to stay in this house?" asked Mrs. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"She is," was the reply.</p> +<p>"Then I leave to-night," said Mrs. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Very well, you can go," returned the husband, growing stronger +in himself each moment.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton turned away to her own room, where she remained +until supper time, when Lenora asked "If she had got her chest +packed, and where they should direct their letters!" Neither +Margaret nor her father could refrain from laughter.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton, too, who had no notion of leaving the comfortable +Homestead, and who thought this as good a time to veer round as any +she would have, also joined in the laugh, saying, "What a child you +are, Lenora!"</p> +<p>Gradually the state of affairs at the homestead was noised +throughout the village, and numerous were the little tea parties +where none dared speak above a whisper to tell what they had heard, +and where each and every one were bound to the most profound +secrecy, for fear the reports might not be true. At length, +however, the story of the china closet got out, causing Sally +Martin to spend one whole day in retailing the gossip from door to +door. Many, too, suddenly remembered certain suspicious things +which they had seen in Mrs. Hamilton, who was unanimously voted to +be a bad woman, and who, of course, began to be slighted.</p> +<p>The result of this was to increase the sourness of her +disposition; and life at the Homestead would have been one +continuous scene of turmoil had not Margaret wisely concluded to +treat whatever her stepmother did with silent contempt. Lenora, +too, always seemed ready to fill up all vacant niches, until even +Mag acknowledged that the mother would be unendurable without the +daughter.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX1" id="CHAPTER_IX1"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>LENORA AND CARRIE.</h3> +<p>Ever since the day on which Lenora had startled Carrie by +informing her of her danger, she had been carefully kept from the +room, or allowed only to enter it when Margaret was present. One +afternoon, however, early in February, Mag had occasion to go to +the village. Lenora, who saw her depart, hastily gathered up her +work, and repaired to Carrie's room, saying, as she entered it, +"Now, Carrie, we'll have a good time; Mag has gone to see old deaf +Peggy, who asks a thousand questions, and will keep her at least +two hours, and I am going to entertain you to the best of my +ability."</p> +<p>Carrie's cheek flushed, for she felt some misgivings with regard +to the nature of Lenora's entertainment; but she knew there was no +help for it, so she tried to smile, and said, "I am willing you +should stay, Lenora, but you mustn't talk bad things to me, for I +can't bear it."</p> +<p>"Bad things!" repeated Lenora; "who ever heard me talk bad +things! What do you mean?"</p> +<p>"I mean," said Carrie, "that you must not talk about your mother +as you sometimes do. It is wicked."</p> +<p>"Why, you dear little thing," answered Lenora, "don't you know +that what would be wicked for you isn't wicked for me?"</p> +<p>"No, I do not know so," answered Carrie; "but I know I wouldn't +talk about my mother as you do about yours for anything."</p> +<p>"Bless your heart," said Lenora, "haven't you sense enough to +see that there is a great difference between Mrs. Hamilton first, +and Mrs. Hamilton second? Now, I'm not naturally bad, and if I had +been the daughter of Mrs. Hamilton first instead of Widow Carter's +young one, why, I should have been as good as you—no, not as +good as <i>you</i>, for you don't know enough to be bad—but +as good as Mag, who, in my opinion, has the right kind of goodness, +for all I used to hate her so."</p> +<p>"Hate Margaret!" said Carrie, opening her eyes to their utmost +extent. "What did you hate Margaret for?"</p> +<p>"Because I didn't know her, I suppose," returned Lenora; "for +now I like her well enough—not quite as well as I do you, +perhaps; and yet, when I see you bear mother's abuse so meekly, I +positively hate you for a minute, and ache to box your ears; but +when Mag squares up to her, shuts her in the china closet, and all +that, I want to put my arms right round neck."</p> +<p>"Why, don't you like your mother?" asked Carrie, and Lenora +replied:</p> +<p>"Of course I do; but I know what she is and I know she isn't +what she sometimes seems. Why, she'd be anything to suit the +circumstances. She wanted your father, and she assumed the +character most likely to secure him; for, between you and me, he +isn't very smart."</p> +<p>"What did she marry him for, then?" asked Carrie.</p> +<p>"Marry <i>him</i>! I hope you don't for a moment suppose she +married <i>him</i>!"</p> +<p>"Why, Lenora, <i>ain't they married?</i> I thought they were. +Oh, dreadful!" and Carrie started to her feet, while the +perspiration stood thickly on her forehead.</p> +<p>Lenora screamed with delight, saying, "You certainly have the +softest brain I ever saw. Of course the minister went through with +the ceremony; but it was not your father that mother wanted; it was +his house—his money—his horses—his servants, and +his name. Now, maybe in your simplicity you have thought that +mother came here out of kindness to the motherless children; but I +tell you she would be better satisfied if neither of you had ever +been born. I suppose it is wicked in me to say so, but I think she +makes me worse than I would otherwise be; for I am not naturally so +bad, and I like people much better than I pretend to. Anyway, I +like you, and <i>love</i> little Willie, and always have, since the +first time I saw him. Your mother lay in her coffin, and Willie +stood by her, caressing her cold cheek, and saying, 'Wake up, +mamma, it's Willie; don't you know Willie? I took him in my arms, +and vowed to love and shield him from the coming evil; for I knew +then, as well as I do now, that what has happened would happen. Mag +wasn't there; she didn't see me. If she had, she might have liked +me better; now she thinks there is no good in me; and if, when you +die, I should feel like shedding tears, and perhaps I shall, it +would be just like her to wonder 'what business <i>I</i> had to +cry—it was none of my funeral!'"</p> +<p>"You do wrong to talk so, Lenora," said Carrie; "but tell me, +did you never have any one to love except Willie?"</p> +<p>"Yes," said Lenora; "when I was a child, a little, innocent +child, I had a grandmother—my father's mother—who +taught me to pray, and told me of God."</p> +<p>"Where is she now?" asked Carrie.</p> +<p>"In heaven," was the answer. "I know she is there, because when +she died there was the same look on her face that there was on your +mother's—the same that there will be on yours, when you are +dead."</p> +<p>"Never mind," gasped Carrie, who did not care to be so +frequently reminded of her mortality, while Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"Perhaps you don't know that my father was, as mother says, a +bad man; though I always loved him dearly, and cried when he went +away. We lived with grandmother, and sometimes now, in my dreams, I +am a child again, kneeling by grandma's side, in our dear old +eastern home, where the sunshine fell so warmly, where the summer +birds sang in the old maple trees, and where the long shadows, +which I called spirits, came and went over the bright green +meadows. But there was a sadder day; a narrow coffin, a black +hearse, and a tolling bell, which always wakes me from my sleep, +and I find the dream all gone, and nothing left of the little child +but the wicked Lenora Carter."</p> +<p>Here the dark girl buried her face in her hands and wept, while +Carrie gently smoothed her tangled curls. After a while, as if +ashamed of her emotion, Lenora dried her tears, and Carrie said, +"Tell me more of your early life. I like you when you act as you do +now."</p> +<p>"There is nothing more to tell but wickedness," answered Lenora. +"Grandma died, and I had no one to teach me what was right. About a +year after her death mother wanted to get a divorce from father; +and one day she told me that a lawyer was coming to inquire about +my father's treatment of her. 'Perhaps,' said she, 'he will ask if +you ever saw him strike me, and you must say that you have a great +many times. 'But never did,' said I; and then she insisted upon my +telling that falsehood, and I refused, until she whipped me, and +made me promise to say whatever she wished me to. In this way I was +trained to be what I am. Nobody loves me; nobody ever can love me; +and sometimes when Mag speaks so kindly to you, and looks so +affectionately upon you, I think, what would I not give for some +one to love me; and then I go away to cry, and wish I had never +been born."</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Hamilton called to her daughter, and gathering up her +work, Lenora left the room just as Margaret entered it, on her +return from the village.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X1" id="CHAPTER_X1"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>DARKNESS.</h3> +<p>As the spring opened and the days grew warmer Carrie's health +seemed much improved; and, though she did not leave her room, she +was able to sit up nearly all day, busying herself with some light +work. Ever hopeful, Margaret hugged to her bosom the delusion which +whispered, "She will not die," while even the physician was +deceived, and spoke encouragingly of her recovery.</p> +<p>For several months Margaret had thought of visiting her +grandmother, who lived in Albany; and as Mr. Hamilton had occasion +to visit that city, Carrie urged her to accompany him saying, she +was perfectly able to be left alone, and she wished her sister +would go, for the trip would do her good.</p> +<p>For some time past Mrs. Hamilton had seemed exceedingly amiable +and affectionate, although her husband appeared greatly depressed, +and acted, as Lenora said, "Just as though he had been stealing +sheep."</p> +<p>This depression Mag had tried in vain to fathom, and at last, +fancying that a change of place and scene might do him good, she +consented to accompany him, on condition that Kate Kirby would stay +with Carrie. At mention of Kate's name Mr. Hamilton's eyes +instantly went over to his wife, whose face wore the same stony +expression as she answered, "Yes, Maggie, can come."</p> +<p>Accordingly, on the morning when the travelers would start, Kate +came up to the homestead, receiving a thousand and one directions +about what to do and when to do it, hearing not more than half the +injunctions, and promising to comply with every one. Long before +the door the carriage waited, while Margaret, lingering in Carrie's +room, kissed again and again her sister's pure brow, and gazed into +her deep blue eyes, as if she knew that it was the last time. Even +when half way down the stairs she turned back again to say good-by, +this time whispering, "I have half a mind not to go, for something +tells me I shall never see you again."</p> +<p>"Oh, Mag," said Carrie, "don't be superstitious. I am a great +deal better, and when you come home you will find me in the +parlor."</p> +<p>In the lower hall Mr. Hamilton caressed his little Willie, who +begged that he, too, might go. "Don't leave, me, Maggie, don't," +said he, as Mag came up to say good-by.</p> +<p>Long years after the golden curls which Mag pushed back from +Willie's forehead were covered by the dark moist earth, did she +remember her baby-brother's childish farewell, and oft in +bitterness of heart she asked, "Why did I go—why leave my +loved ones to die alone?"</p> +<p>Just a week after Mag's departure news was received at the +homestead that Walter was coming to Glenwood for a day or two, and +on the afternoon of the same day Kate had occasion to go home. As +she was leaving the house Mrs. Hamilton detained her, while she +said, "Miss Kirby, we are all greatly obliged to you for your +kindness in staying with Carrie, although your services really are +not needed. I understand how matters stand between you and Walter, +and as he is to be here to-morrow; you of course will feel some +delicacy about remaining, consequently I release you from all +obligations to do so."</p> +<p>Of course there was no demurring to this. Kate's pride was +touched; and though Carrie wept, and begged her not to go, she +yielded only so far as to stay until the next morning, when, with a +promise to call frequently, she left. Lonely and long seemed the +hours to poor Carrie; for though Walter came, he stayed but two +days, and spent a part of that time at the mill-pond cottage.</p> +<p>The evening after he went away, as Carrie lay, half-dozing, +thinking of Mag, and counting the weary days which must pass ere +her return, she was startled by the sound of Lenora's voice in the +room opposite, the door of which was ajar. Lenora had been absent a +few days, and Carrie was about calling to her, when some words +spoken by her stepmother arrested her attention, and roused her +curiosity. They were, "You think too little of yourself, Lenora. +Now, I know there is nothing in the way of your winning Walter, if +you choose."</p> +<p>"I should say there was everything in the way," answered Lenora. +"In the first place, there is Kate Kirby, and who, after seeing her +handsome face, would ever look at such a black, turned-up nose, +bristle-headed thing as I am? But I perceive there is some weighty +secret on your mind, so what is it? Have Walter and Kate quarreled, +or have you told him some falsehood about her?"</p> +<p>"Neither," said Mrs. Hamilton. "What I have to say concerns your +father."</p> +<p>"My father!" interrupted Lenora; "my own father! Oh, is he +living?"</p> +<p>"No, I hope not," was the answer; "it is Mr. Hamilton whom I +mean."</p> +<p>Instantly Lenora's tone changed, and she replied, "If you please +you need not call that putty-headed man <i>my</i> father. He acts +too much like a whipped spaniel to suit me, and I really think +Carrie ought to be respected for knowing what little she does, +while I wonder where Walter, Mag, and Willie got their good sense. +But what is it? What have you made Mr. Hamilton do?—something +ridiculous, of course."</p> +<p>"I've made him make his will," was the answer; while Lenora +continued:</p> +<p>"Well, what then? What good will that do me?"</p> +<p>"It may do you a great deal of good," said Mrs. Hamilton; "that +is, if Walter likes the homestead as I think he does. But I tell +you, it was hard work, and I didn't know, one while, but I should +have to give it up. However, I succeeded, and he has willed the +homestead to Walter, provided he marries you. If not, Walter has +nothing, and the homestead comes to <i>me</i> and my heirs +forever!"</p> +<p>"Heartless old fool!" exclaimed Lenora, while Carrie, too, +groaned in sympathy. "And do you suppose he intends to let it go +so! Of course not; he'll make another when you don't know it"</p> +<p>"I'll watch him too closely for that," said Mrs. Hamilton and +after a moment Lenora asked:</p> +<p>"What made you so anxious for a will? Have you received warning +of his sudden demise?"</p> +<p>"How foolish!" said Mrs. Hamilton. "Isn't it the easiest thing +in the world for me to let Walter know what's in the will, and I +fancy that'll bring him to terms, for he likes money, no mistake +about that."</p> +<p>"Mr. Hamilton is a bigger fool, and you a worse woman, than I +supposed," said Lenora. "Do you think I am mean enough to marry +Walter under such circumstances? Indeed, I'm not. But how is +Carrie? I must go and see her."</p> +<p>She was about leaving the room, when she turned back, saying in +a whisper, "Mother, mother, her door is wide open, as well as this +one, and she must have heard every word!"</p> +<p>"Oh, horror!" exclaimed Mrs. Hamilton; "go in and ascertain the +fact, if possible."</p> +<p>It took but one glance to convince Lenora that Carrie was in +possession of the secret. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wet +with tears; and when Lenora stooped to kiss her, she said. "I know +it all, I heard it all."</p> +<p>"Then I hope you feel better," said Mrs. Hamilton, coming +forward. "Listeners never hear any good of themselves."</p> +<p>"Particularly if it's Widow Carter who is listened to," +suggested Lenora.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton did not reply to this, but continued speaking to +Carrie. "If you have heard anything new you can keep it to +yourself. No one has interfered with you, or intends to. Your +father has a right to do what he chooses with his own, and I shall +see that he exercises that right, too."</p> +<p>So saying she left the room, while Carrie, again bursting into +tears, wept until perfectly exhausted. The next morning she was +attacked with bleeding at the lungs, which in a short time reduced +her so low that the physician spoke doubtfully of her recovery, +should the hemorrhage again return. In the course of two or three +days she was again attacked; and now, when there was no longer hope +of life, her thoughts turned with earnest longings toward her +absent father and sister, and once, as the physician was preparing +to leave her, she said, "Doctor, tell me truly, can I live +twenty-four hours?"</p> +<p>"I think you may," was the answer.</p> +<p>"Then I shall see them, for if you telegraph to-night they can +come in the morning train. Go yourself and have it done, will +you?"</p> +<p>The physician promised that he would, and then left the room. In +the hall he met Mrs. Hamilton, who with the utmost anxiety depicted +upon her countenance, said, "Dear Carrie is leaving us, isn't she? +I have telegraphed for her father, who will be here in the morning. +'Twas right to do so, was it not?"</p> +<p>"Quite right," answered the physician. "I promised to see to it +myself, and was just going to do so."</p> +<p>"Poor child," returned Mrs. Hamilton, "she feels anxious, I +suppose. But I have saved you the trouble."</p> +<p>The reader will not, perhaps, be greatly surprised to learn that +what Mrs. Hamilton had said was false. She suspected that one +reason why Carrie so greatly desired to see her father was to tell +him what she had heard, and beg of him to undo what he had done; +and as she feared the effect which the sight and words of his dying +child might have upon him, she resolved, if possible, to keep him +away until Carrie's voice was hushed in death. Overhearing what had +been said by the doctor, she resorted to the stratagem of which we +have just spoken. The next morning, however, she ordered a telegram +to be despatched, knowing full well that her husband could not +reach home until the day following.</p> +<p>Meantime, as the hour for the morning train drew near, Carrie, +resting upon pillows, and whiter than the linen which covered them, +strained her ears to catch the first sound of the locomotive. At +last, far off through an opening among the hills, was heard a +rumbling noise, which increased each moment in loudness, until the +puffing engine shot out into the long, green valley, and then +rolled rapidly up to the depot.</p> +<p>Little Willie had seemed unwell for a few days, but since his +sister's illness he had stayed by her almost constantly, gazing +half-curiously, half-timidly into her face, and asking if she was +going to the home where his mamma lived. She had told him that +Margaret was coming, and when the shrill whistle of the eastern +train sounded through the room he ran to the window, whither Lenora +had preceded him, and there together they watched for the coming of +the omnibus. A sinister smile curled the lips of Mrs. Hamilton who +was present, and who, of course, affected to feel interested.</p> +<p>At last Willie, clapping his hands, exclaimed, "There 'tis! +They're coming. That's Maggie's big trunk!" Then, noticing the glow +which his announcement called up to Carrie's cheek, he said, +"She'll make you well, Carrie, Maggie will. Oh, I'm so glad, and so +is Leno."</p> +<p>Nearer and nearer came the omnibus, brighter and deeper grew the +flush on Carrie's face, while little Willie danced up and down with +joy.</p> +<p>"It isn't coming here," said Mrs. Hamilton; "it has gone by," +and Carrie's feverish heat was succeeded by an icy chill.</p> +<p>"Haven't they come, Lenora?" she said.</p> +<p>Lenora shook her head, and Willie, running to his sister, wound +his arms around her neck, and for several minutes the two lone, +motherless children wept.</p> +<p>"If Maggie knew how my head ached she'd come," said Willie; but +Carrie thought not of <i>her</i> aching head, nor of the faintness +of death which was fast coming on. One idea alone engrossed her. +Her brother—how would he be saved from the threatened evil, +and her father's name from dishonor?</p> +<p>At last Mrs. Hamilton left the room, and Carrie, speaking to +Lenora and one of the villagers who was present, asked if they, +too, would not leave her alone for a time with Willie. They +complied with her request, and then asking her brother to bring her +pencil and paper, she hurriedly wrote a few lines to her father +telling him of what she had heard, and entreating him, for her +sake, and the sake of the mother with whom she would be when those +words met his eye, not to do Walter so great a wrong. "I shall give +this to Willie's care," she wrote, in conclusion, "and he will keep +it carefully until you come. And now, I bid you a long farewell, my +precious father—my noble Mag—my darling Walter."</p> +<p>The note was finished, and calling Willie to her, she said, "I +am going to die. When Maggie returns I shall be dead and still, +like our own dear mother."</p> +<p>"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," sobbed the child, "don't leave me till +Maggie comes."</p> +<p>There was a footstep on the stairs, and Carrie, without replying +to her brother, said quickly, "Take this paper, Willie, and give it +to father when he comes; let no one see it—Lenora, mother, +nor any one."</p> +<p>Willie promised compliance, and had but just time to conceal the +note in his bosom ere Mrs. Hamilton entered the room, accompanied +by the physician, to whom she loudly expressed her regrets that her +husband had not come, saying that she had that morning telegraphed +again, although he could not now reach home until the morrow.</p> +<p>"To-morrow I shall never see," said Carrie, faintly. And she +spoke truly, too, for even then death was freezing her life-blood +with the touch of his icy hand. To the last she seemed conscious of +the tiny arms which so fondly encircled her neck; and when the soul +had drifted far out on the dark channel of death the childish words +of "Carrie, Carrie, speak once more," roused her, and folding her +brother more closely to her bosom, she murmured, "Willie, darling +Willie, our mother is waiting for us both."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton, who stood near, now bent down, and laying her +hand on the pale, damp brow said gently, "Carrie, dear, have you no +word of love for this mother?"</p> +<p>There was a visible shudder, an attempt to speak, a low moan, in +which the word "Walter" seemed struggling to be spoken; and then +death, as if impatient of delay, bore away the spirit, leaving only +the form which in life had been most beautiful. Softly Lenora +closed over the blue eyes the long, fringed lids, and pushed back +from the forehead the sunny tresses which clustered so thickly +around it; then, kissing the white lips and leaving on the face of +the dead traces of her tears, she led Willie from the room, +soothing him in her arms until he fell asleep.</p> +<p>Elsewhere we have said that for a few days Willie had not seemed +well; but so absorbed were all in Carrie's more alarming symptoms +that no one had heeded him, although his cheeks were flushed with +fever, and his head was throbbing with pain. He was in the habit of +sleeping in his parents' room, and that night his loud breathings +and uneasy turnings disturbed and annoyed his mother, who at last +called out in harsh tones, "Willie, Willie, for mercy's sake stop +that horrid noise! I shall never get asleep this way. I know +there's no need of breathing like that!"</p> +<p>"It chokes me so," sobbed little Willie, "but I'll try."</p> +<p>Then pressing his hands tightly over his mouth, he tried the +experiment of holding his breath as long as possible. Hearing no +sound from his mother, he thought her asleep, but not venturing to +breathe naturally until assured of the fact, he whispered, "Ma, ma, +are you asleep?"</p> +<p>"Asleep! no—and never shall be, as I see. What do you +want?"</p> +<p>"Oh, I want to breathe," said Willie.</p> +<p>"Well, breathe then; who hinders you?" was the reply; and ere +the offensive sound again greeted her ear, Mrs. Hamilton was too +far gone in slumber to be disturbed.</p> +<p>For two hours Willie lay awake, tossing from side to side, +scorched with fever and longing for water to quench his burning +thirst. By this time Mrs. Hamilton was again awake; but to his +earnest entreaties for water—"Just one little drop of water, +ma"—she answered:</p> +<p>"William Hamilton, if you don't be still I'll move your crib +into the room where Carrie is, and leave you there alone!"</p> +<p>Unlike many children, Willie had no fears of the cold white +figure which lay so still and motionless upon the parlor sofa. To +him it was Carrie, his sister; and many times that day had he +stolen in alone, and laying back the thin muslin which shaded her +face, he had looked long upon her—had laid his hand on her +icy cheek, wondering if she knew how cold she was, and if the way +which she had gone was so long and dark that he could never find +it. To him there was naught to fear in that room of death, and to +his mother's threat he answered eagerly, "Oh, ma, give me some +water, just a little bit of water, and you may carry me in there, I +ain't afraid and my breathing won't wake Carrie up;" but before he +had finished speaking his mother was again dozing.</p> +<p>"Won't anybody bring me some water—Maggie, +Carrie—Leno—nobody?" murmured poor Willie, as he Wet +his pillow with tears.</p> +<p>At last he could bear it no longer. He knew where the +water-bucket stood, and stepping from his bed, he groped his way +down the long stairs to the basement. The spring moon was low in +the western horizon, and shining through the curtained window, +dimly lighted up the room. The pail was soon reached, and then in +his eagerness to drink, he put his lips to the side. Lower, lower, +lower it came, until he discovered, alas I that the pail was +empty.</p> +<p>"What shall I do? what shall I do?" said he, as he crouched upon +the cold hearthstone.</p> +<p>A new idea entered his mind. The well stood near the outer door; +and, quickly pushing back the bolt, he went out, all flushed and +feverish as he was, into the chill night air. There was ice upon +the curbstone, but he did not mind it, although his little toes, as +they trod upon it, looked red by the pale moonlight. Quickly a cup +of the coveted water was drained; then, with careful forethought, +he filled it again, and taking it back to his room, crept shivering +to bed. Nature was exhausted, and whether he fainted or fell asleep +is not known, for never again to consciousness in this world awoke +the little boy.</p> +<p>The morning sunlight came softly in at the window, touching his +golden curls with a still more golden hue. Sadly over him Lenora +bent, saying, "Willie, Willie, wake up, Willie. Don't you know +me?"</p> +<p>Greatly Mrs. Hamilton marveled whence came the cup of water +which stood there, as if reproaching her for her cruelty. But the +delirious words of the dreamer soon told her all. "Maggie, Maggie," +he said, "rub my feet; they feel like Carrie's face. The curbstone +was cold, but the water was so good. Give me more, more; mother +won't care, for I got it myself, and tried not to breathe, so she +could sleep—and Carrie, too, is dead—dead."</p> +<p>Lenora fiercely grasped her mother's arm, and said, "How could +you refuse him water, and sleep while he got it himself?"</p> +<p>But Mrs. Hamilton needed not that her daughter should accuse +her. Willie had been her favorite, and the tears which she dropped +upon his pillow were genuine. The physician who was called +pronounced his disease to be scarlet fever, saying that its +violence was greatly increased by a severe cold which he had +taken.</p> +<p>"You have killed him, mother; you have killed him!" said +Lenora.</p> +<p>Twenty-four hours had passed since, with straining ear, Carrie +had listened for the morning train, and again down the valley +floated the smoke of the engine, and over the blue hills echoed the +loud scream of the locomotive; but no sound could awaken the fair +young sleeper, though Willie started, and throwing up his hands, +one of which, the right one, was firmly clinched, murmured, +"Maggie, Maggie."</p> +<p>Ten minutes more and Margaret was there, weeping in agony over +the inanimate form of her sister, and almost shrieking as she saw +Willie's wild eye, and heard his incoherent words. Terrible to Mr. +Hamilton was this coming home. Like one who walks in sleep, he went +from room to room, kissing the burning brow of one child, and then, +while the hot breath was yet warm upon his lips, pressing them to +the cold face of the other.</p> +<p>All day Margaret sat by her dying brother, praying that he might +be spared until Walter came. Her prayer was answered; for at +nightfall Walter was with them. Half an hour after his return +Willie died; but ere his right hand dropped lifeless by his side he +held it up to view, saying:</p> +<p>"Father—give it to nobody but father."</p> +<p>After a moment Margaret, taking within hers the fast-stiffening +hand, gently unclosed the fingers, and found the crumpled piece of +paper on which Carrie had written to her father.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI1" id="CHAPTER_XI1"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>MARGARET AND HER FATHER.</h3> +<p>'Twas midnight—midnight after the burial. In the library +of the old homestead sat its owner, his arms resting upon the +table, and his face reclining upon his arms. Sadly was he reviewing +the dreary past, since first among them death had been, bearing +away his wife, the wife of his first only love. Now, by her grave +there was another, on which the pale moonbeams and the chill +night-dews were falling, but they could not disturb the rest of the +two who, side by side in the same coffin, lay sleeping, and for +whom the father's tears were falling fast, and the father's heart +was bleeding.</p> +<p>"Desolate, desolate—all is desolate," said the stricken +man. "Would that I, too, were asleep with my lost ones!"</p> +<p>There was a rustling sound near him, a footfall, and an arm was +thrown lovingly around his neck. Margaret's tears were on his +cheek, and Margaret's voice whispered in his ear, "Dear father, we +must love each other better now."</p> +<p>Margaret had not retired, and on passing through the hall, had +discovered the light gleaming through the crevice of the library +door. Knowing that her father must be there, she had come in to +comfort him. Long the father and child wept together, and then +Margaret, drying her tears said:</p> +<p>"It is right—all right; mother has two, and you have two, +and though the dead will never return to us, we, in God's good +time, will return to them."</p> +<p>"Yes, soon, very soon, shall I go," said Mr. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"I am weary, weary, Margaret; my life is one scene of +bitterness. Oh, why, why was I left to do it?"</p> +<p>Margaret knew well to what he referred, but she made no answer; +and after he had become somewhat composed, thinking this a good +opportunity for broaching the subject which had so troubled +Carrie's dying moments, she drew from her bosom the soiled piece of +paper, and placing it in his hands, watched him while he read. The +moan of anguish which came from his lips as he finished made her +repent of her act, and, springing to his side, she exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Forgive me, father; I ought not to have done it now. You have +enough to bear."</p> +<p>"It is right, my child," said Mr. Hamilton; "for after the wound +had slightly healed I might have wavered. Not that I love Walter +less; but, fool that I am, I fear her who has made me the cowardly +wretch you see!"</p> +<p>"Rouse yourself, then," answered Margaret. "Shake off her chain, +and be free."</p> +<p>"I cannot, I cannot," said he. "But this I will do. I will make +another will. I always intended to do so, and Walter shall not be +wronged." Then rising, he hurriedly paced the room saying, "Walter +shall not be wronged, no, no—Walter shall not be +wronged."</p> +<p>After a time he resumed his former seat, and taking his +daughter's hand in his, he told her of all he had suffered, of the +power which his wife held over him, and which he was too weak to +shake off. This last he did not say, but Margaret knew it and it +prevented her from giving him other consolation than that of +assuring him of her own unchanged, undying love.</p> +<p>The morning twilight was streaming through the closed shutters +ere the conference ended; and then Mr. Hamilton, kissing his +daughter, dismissed her from the room, but as she was leaving him +he called her back, saying:</p> +<p>"Don't tell Walter; he would despise me; but he shan't be +wronged—no, he shan't be wronged."</p> +<p>Six weeks from that night Margaret stood, with her brother, +watching her father as the light from his eyes went out, and the +tones of his voice ceased forever. Grief for the loss of his +children, and remorse for the blight which he had brought upon his +household, had undermined his constitution, never strong; and when +a prevailing fever settled upon him it found an easy prey. In ten +days' time Margaret and Walter alone were left of the happy band +who, two years before, had gathered around the fireside of the old +homestead.</p> +<p>Loudly Mrs. Hamilton deplored her loss, shutting herself up in +her room, and refusing to see any one, saying that she could not be +comforted, and it was of no use trying! Lenora, however, managed to +find an opportunity of whispering to her that it would hardly be +advisable to commit suicide, since she had got the homestead left, +and everything else for which she had married Mr. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Lenora, how can you thus trifle with my feelings? Don't you see +that my trouble is killing me?" said the greatly distressed +lady.</p> +<p>"I don't apprehend any such catastrophe as that," answered +Lenora. "You found the weeds of Widow Carter easy enough to wear, +and those of Widow Hamilton won't hurt you any worse, I +imagine."</p> +<p>"Lenora," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, "may you never know what it is +to be the unhappy mother of such a child!"</p> +<p>"Amen!" was Lenora's fervent response, as she glided from the +room.</p> +<p>For three days the body of Mr. Hamilton lay upon the marble +center table in the darkened parlor. Up and down the long +staircases, and through the silent rooms, the servants moved +noiselessly. Down in the basement Aunt Polly forgot her wonted +skill in cooking, and in a broken rocking-chair swayed to and fro, +brushing the big tears from her dusky face, and lamenting the loss +of one who seemed to her "just like a brother, only a little +nigher."</p> +<p>In the chamber above, where six weeks before Carrie had died, +sat Margaret—not weeping; she could not do that—her +grief was too great, and the fountain of her tears seemed scorched +and dried; but, with white, compressed lips, and hands tightly +clasped, she thought of the past and of the cheerless future. +Occasionally through the doorway there came a small, dark figure; a +pair of slender arms were thrown around her neck, and a voice +murmured in her ear: "Poor, poor Maggie." The next moment the +figure would be gone, and in the hall below Lenora would be heard +singing snatches of some song, either to provoke her mother, or to +make the astonished servants believe that she was really heartless +and hardened.</p> +<p>What Walter suffered could not be expressed. Hour after hour, +from the sun's rising till its going down, he sat by his father's +coffin, unmindful of the many who came in to look at the dead, and +then gazing pitifully upon the face of the living, walked away, +whispering mysteriously of insanity. Near <i>him</i> Lenora dared +not come, though through the open door she watched him, and +oftentimes he met the glance of her wild, black eyes, fixed upon +him with a mournful interest; then, as if moved by some spirit of +evil, she would turn away, and seeking her mother's room, would +mock at that lady's grief, advising her not to make too much of an +effort.</p> +<p>At last there came a change. In the yard there was the sound of +many feet, and in the house the hum of many voices, all low and +subdued. Again in the village of Glenwood was heard the sound of +the tolling bell; again through the garden and over the running +water brook moved the long procession to the graveyard; and soon +Ernest Hamilton lay quietly sleeping by the side of his wife and +children.</p> +<p>For some time after the funeral nothing was said concerning the +will, and Margaret had almost forgotten the existence of one, when +one day as she was passing the library door her mother appeared, +and asked her to enter. She did so, and found there her brother, +whose face, besides the marks of recent sorrow which it wore, now +seemed anxious and expectant.</p> +<p>"Maggie dear," said the oily-tongued woman, "I have sent for you +to hear read your beloved father's last will and testament."</p> +<p>A deep flush mounted to Margaret's face, as she repeated +somewhat inquiringly, "Father's last will and testament?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," answered her mother, "his last will and testament. +He made it several weeks ago, even before poor Carrie died; and as +Walter is now the eldest and only son, I think it quite proper that +he should read it."</p> +<p>So saying, she passed toward Walter a sealed package, which he +nervously opened, while Margaret, going to his side, looked over +his shoulder, as he read.</p> +<p>It is impossible to describe the look of mingled surprise, +anger, and mortification which Mrs. Hamilton's face assumed, as she +heard the will which her husband had made four weeks before his +death, and in which Walter shared equally with his sister. Her +first impulse was to destroy it; and springing forward, she +attempted to snatch it from Walter's hand, but was prevented by +Margaret, who caught her arm and forcibly held her back.</p> +<p>Angrily confronting her stepdaughter, Mrs. Hamilton demanded, +"What does this mean?" to which Mag replied:</p> +<p>"It means, madam, that for once you are foiled. You coaxed my +father into making a will, the thought of which ought to make you +blush. Carrie overheard you telling Lenora, and when she found that +she must die she wrote it on a piece of paper, and consigned it to +Willie's care!"</p> +<p>Several times Mrs. Hamilton essayed to speak, but the words died +away in her throat, until at last, summoning all her boldness, she +said, in a hoarse whisper, "But the homestead is mine—mine +forever, and we'll see how delightful I can make your home!"</p> +<p>"I'll save you that trouble, madam," said Walter, rising and +advancing toward the door. "Neither my sister nor myself will +remain beneath the same roof which shelters you. To-morrow we +leave, knowing well that vengeance belongeth to One higher than +we."</p> +<p>All the remainder of that day Walter and Margaret spent in +devising some plan for the future, deciding at last that Margaret +should on the morrow go for a time to Mrs. Kirby's, while Walter +returned to the city. The next morning, however, Walter did not +appear in the breakfast parlor, and when Margaret, alarmed at his +absence, repaired to his room, she found him unable to rise. The +fever with which his father had died, and which, was still +prevailing in the village, had fastened upon him, and for many days +was his life despaired of. The ablest physicians were called, but +few of them gave any hope to the pale, weeping sister, who, with +untiring love, kept her vigils by her brother's bedside.</p> +<p>When he was first taken ill he had manifested great uneasiness +at his stepmother's presence, and when at last he became delirious +he no longer concealed his feelings, and if she entered the room he +would shriek "Take her away from me! Take her away! Chain her in +the cellar—anywhere out of my sight."</p> +<p>Again he would speak of Kate, and entreat that she might come to +him. "I have nothing left but her and Margaret," he would say; "and +why does she stay away?"</p> +<p>Three different times had Margaret sent to her young friend, +urging her to come, and still she tarried, while Margaret marveled +greatly at the delay. She did not know that the girl whom she had +told to go had received different directions from Mrs. Hamilton, +and that each day beneath her mother's roof Kate Kirby wept and +prayed that Walter might not die.</p> +<p>One night he seemed to be dying, and gathered in the room were +many sympathizing friends and neighbors. Without, 'twas pitchy +dark. The rain fell in torrents and the wind, which had increased +in violence since the setting of the sun, howled mournfully about +the windows, as if waiting to bear the soul company in its upward +flight. Many times had Walter attempted to speak. At last he +succeeded, and the word which fell from his lips was "Kate!"</p> +<p>Lenora, who had that day accidentally learned of her mother's +commands with regard to Miss Kirby, now glided noiselessly from the +room, and in a moment was alone in the fearful storm, which she did +not heed. Lightly bounding over the swollen brook, she ran on until +the mill-pond cottage was reached. It was midnight, and its inmates +were asleep, but they awoke at the sound of Lenora's voice.</p> +<p>"Walter is dying," said she to Kate, "and would see you once +more. Come quickly."</p> +<p>Hastily dressing herself, Kate went forth with the strange girl, +who spoke not a word until Walter's room was reached. Feebly the +sick man wound his arms around Kate's neck, exclaiming, "My own, my +beautiful Kate, I knew you would come. I am better now—I +shall live!" and as if there was indeed something life-giving in +her very presence and the sound of her voice, Walter from that hour +grew better: and in three weeks' time he, together with Margaret, +left his childhood's home, once so dear, but now darkened by the +presence of her who watched their departure with joy, exulting in +the thought that she was mistress of all she surveyed.</p> +<p>Walter, who was studying law in the city about twenty miles +distant, resolved to return thither immediately, and after some +consultation with his sister it was determined that both she and +Kate should accompany him. Accordingly, a few mornings after they +left the homestead, there was a quiet bridal at the mill-pond +cottage; after which Walter Hamilton bore away to his city home his +sister and his bride, the beautiful Kate.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII1" id="CHAPTER_XII1"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>"CARRYING OUT DEAR MR. HAMILTON'S PLANS."</h3> +<p>One morning about ten days after the departure of Walter the +good people of Glenwood were greatly surprised at the unusual +confusion which seemed to pervade the homestead. The blinds were +taken off, windows taken out, carpets taken up, and where so lately +physicians, clergymen, and death had officiated, were now seen +carpenters, masons, and other workmen. Many were the surmises as to +the cause of all this; and one old lady, more curious than the +rest, determined upon a friendly call, to ascertain, if possible, +what was going on.</p> +<p>She found Mrs. Hamilton with her sleeves rolled up, and her hair +tucked under a black cap, consulting with a carpenter about +enlarging her bedroom and adding to it a bathing-room. Being +received but coldly by the mistress of the house, she descended to +the basement, where she was told by Aunt Polly that "the blinds +were going to be repainted, an addition built, the house turned +wrong-side out, and Cain raised generally."</p> +<p>"It's a burning shame," said Aunt Polly, warmed up by her +subject and the hot oven into which she was thrusting loaves of +bread and pies. "It's a burning shame—a tearin' down and a +goin' on this way, and marster not cold in his grave. Miss Lenora, +with all her badness, says it's disgraceful, but he might ha' +know'd it. <i>I</i> did. I know'd it the fust time she came here a +nussin'. I don't see what got into him to have her. Polly Pepper, +without any larnin', never would ha' done such a thing," continued +she, as the door closed upon her visitor, who was anxious to carry +the gossip back to the village.</p> +<p>It was even as Aunt Polly had said. Mrs. Hamilton, who possessed +a strong propensity for pulling down and building up, and who would +have made an excellent carpenter, had long had an earnest desire +for improving the homestead; and now that there was no one to +prevent her, she went to work with a right good will, saying to +Lenora, who remonstrated with her upon the impropriety of her +conduct, that "she was merely carrying out dear Mr. Hamilton's +plans," who had proposed making these changes before his death.</p> +<p>"Dear Mr. Hamilton!" repeated Lenora, "very dear has he become +to you, all at once. I think if you had always manifested a little +more affection for him and his, they might not have been where they +now are."</p> +<p>"Seems to me you take a different text from what you did some +months ago," said Mrs. Hamilton; "but perhaps you don't remember +the time?"</p> +<p>"I remember it well," answered Lenora, "and quite likely, with +your training, I should do the same again. We were poor, and I +wished for a more elegant home. I fancied that Margaret Hamilton +was proud and had slighted me, and I longed for revenge; but when I +knew her I liked her better, and when I saw that she was not to be +trampled down by you or me, my hatred of her turned to admiration. +The silly man who has paid the penalty of his weakness, I always +despised; but when I saw how fast the gray hairs thickened on his +head; how careworn and bowed down he grew, I pitied him, for I knew +that his heart was breaking. Willie I truly, unselfishly loved; and +I am charitable enough to think that even <i>you</i> loved +<i>him</i>, but it was through your neglect that he died, and for +his death you will answer. Carrie was gentle and trusting, but +weak, like her father. I do not think you killed her, for she was +dying when we came here, but you put the crowning act of wickedness +to your life when you compelled a man, shattered in body and +intellect, to write a will which disinherited his only son; but on +that point you are baffled. To be sure, you've got the homestead, +and for decency's sake I think I'd wait a while longer ere I +commenced tearing down and building up."</p> +<p>Lenora's words had no effect whatever upon her mother, who still +kept on with her plans, treating with silent contempt the remarks +of the neighbors, or wishing, perhaps, that they would attend to +their own business, just as she was attending to hers! Day after +day the work went on. Scaffoldings were raised—paper and +plastering torn off—boards were seasoning in the +sun—shingles lying upon the ground—ladders raised +against the wall; and all this while the two new graves showed not +a blade of grass, and the earth looked black and fresh as it did +when first it was placed there.</p> +<p>When at last the blinds were hung, the house cleaned, and the +carpets nailed down, Mrs. Hamilton, who had designed it all the +time, called together the servants, whom she had disliked on +account of their preference for Margaret, and told them to look for +new places, as their services were no longer needed there.</p> +<p>"You can make out your bills," said she, at the same time +intimating they hadn't one of them more than earned their board, if +they had that! Polly Pepper wasn't of material to stand by and hear +such language from one whom she considered beneath her.</p> +<p>"Hadn't she as good a right there as anybody? Yes, indeed, she +had! Wasn't she there a full thirty year before any of your +low-lived trash came round a nussin'?"</p> +<p>"Polly," interposed Mrs. Hamilton, "leave the room instantly, +you ungrateful thing!"</p> +<p>"Ungrateful for what?" said Polly. "Haven't I worked and slaved +like an old nigger, as I am? and now you call me ungrateful, and +say I hain't arnt my bread. I'll sue you for slander;" and the +enraged Polly left the room, muttering, "half arnt my board, +indeed! I'll bet I've made a hundred thousan' pies, to say nothin' +of the puddings, <i>I</i> not arn my board!"</p> +<p>When again safe in what for so many years had been her own +peculiar province, she sat down to meditate. "I'd as good go +without any fuss," thought she, "but my curse on the madam who +sends me away!"</p> +<p>In the midst of her reverie, Lenora entered the kitchen, and to +her the old lady detailed her grievances, ending with, "Pears like +she don't know nothin' at all about etiquette, nor nothin' +else."</p> +<p>"Etiquette!" repeated Lenora. "You are mistaken, Polly; mother +would sit on a point of etiquette till she wore the back breadth of +her dress out. But it isn't that which she lacks—it's +decency. But, Polly," said she, changing the subject, "where do you +intend to go and how?"</p> +<p>"To my brother Sam's," said Polly. "He lives three miles in the +country, and I've sent Robin to the village for a horse and wagon +to carry my things."</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Hamilton entered the kitchen, followed by a strapping +Irish girl, nearly six feet in height. Her hair, flaming red, was +twisted round a huge back comb; her faded calico dress came far +above her ankles; her brawny arms were folded one over the other; +and there was in her appearance something altogether disagreeable +and defiant. Mrs. Hamilton introduced her as Ruth, her new cook, +saying she hoped she would know enough to keep her place better +than her predecessor had done.</p> +<p>Aunt Polly surveyed her rival from head to foot, and then +glancing aside to Lenora, muttered, "Low-lived, depend on't."</p> +<p>Robin now drove up with the wagon, and Mrs. Hamilton and Lenora +left the room, while Polly went to prepare herself for her ride. +Her sleeping apartment was in the basement and communicated with +the kitchen. This was observed by the new cook, who had a strong +dislike of negroes, and who feared that she might be expected to +occupy the same bed.</p> +<p>"An' faith," said she, "is it where the like of ya have burrowed +that I am to turn in?"</p> +<p>"I don't understand no such low-flung stuff," answered Polly, +"but if you mean you are to have this bedroom, I suppose you +are."</p> +<p>Here Polly had occasion to go up-stairs for something, and on +her return she found that Ruth, during her absence, had set fire to +a large linen rag, which she held on a shovel and was carrying +about the bedroom, as if to purify it from every atom of negro +atmosphere which might remain. Polly was quick-witted, and +instantly comprehending the truth, she struck the shovel from the +hands of Ruth, exclaiming, "You spalpeen, is it because my skin +ain't a dingy yaller and all freckled like yourn? Lord, look at +your carrot-topped cocoanut, and then tell me if wool ain't a heap +the most genteel."</p> +<p>In a moment a portion of the boasted wool was lying on the +floor, or being shaken from the thick, red fingers of the cook, +while Irish blood was flowing freely from the nose which Polly, in +her vengeful wrath, had wrung. Further hostilities were prevented +by Robin, who screamed that he couldn't wait any longer, and +shaking her fist fiercely at the red-head, Polly departed.</p> +<p>That day Lucy and Rachel also left, and their places were +supplied by two raw hands, one of whom, before the close of the +second day, tumbled up-stairs with the large soup tureen, breaking +it in fragments and scalding the foot of Mrs. Hamilton, who was in +the rear, and who, having waited an hour for dinner, had descended +to the kitchen to know why it was not forthcoming, saying that +Polly had never been so behind the time.</p> +<p>The other one, on being asked if she understood chamber work, +had replied, "Indade, and it's been my business all my life." She +was accordingly sent to make the beds and empty the slop. Thinking +it an easy way to dispose of the latter, she had thrown it from the +window, deluging the head and shoulders of her mistress who was +bending down to examine a rose bush which had been recently set +out. Lenora was in ecstasies, and when at noon her mother received +a sprinkling of red hot soup, she gravely asked her "which she +relished most, cold or warm baths!"</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII1" id="CHAPTER_XIII1"></a>CHAPTER +XIII.</h2> +<h3>RETRIBUTION.</h3> +<p>Two years have passed away, and again we open the scene at the +homestead, which had not proved an altogether pleasant home to Mrs. +Hamilton. There was around her everything to make her happy, but +she was far from being so. One by one her servants, with whom she +was very unpopular, had left her, until there now remained but one. +The villagers, too, shunned her, and she was wholly dependent for +society upon Lenora, who, as usual, provoked and tormented her.</p> +<p>One day Hester, the servant, came up from the basement, saying +there was a poor old man below, who asked for money.</p> +<p>"Send him away; I've nothing for him," said Mrs. Hamilton, whose +avaricious hand, larger far than her heart, grasped at and retained +everything.</p> +<p>"But, if you please, ma'am, he seems very poor," said +Hester.</p> +<p>"Let him go to work, then. 'Twon't hurt him more than 'twill +me," was the reply.</p> +<p>Lenora, whose eyes and ears were always open, no sooner heard +that there was a beggar in the kitchen than she ran down to see +him. He was a miserable-looking object, and still there was +something in his appearance which denoted him to be above the +common order of beggars. His eyes were large and intensely black, +and his hair, short, thick, and curly, reminded Lenora of her own. +The moment she appeared a peculiar expression passed for a moment +over his face, and he half started up; then resuming his seat he +fixed his glittering eyes upon the young lady, and seemed watching +her closely.</p> +<p>At last she began questioning him, but his answers were so +unsatisfactory that she gave it up, and, thinking it the easiest +way to be rid of him, she took from her pocket a shilling and +handed it to him, saying, "It's all I can give you, unless it is a +dinner. Are you hungry?"</p> +<p>Hester, who had returned to the kitchen, was busy in a distant +part of the room, and she did not notice the paleness which +overspread Lenora's face at the words which the beggar uttered +when, she presented the money to him. She caught, however, the low +murmur of their voices, as they spoke together for a moment, and as +Lenora accompanied him to the door, she distinctly heard the words, +"In the garden."</p> +<p>"And maybe that's some of your kin; you look like him," said she +to Lenora, after the stranger was gone.</p> +<p>"That's my business, not yours," answered Lenora, as she left +the kitchen and repaired to her mother's room.</p> +<p>"Lenora, what ails you?" said Mrs. Hamilton to her daughter at +the tea-table that night, when, after putting salt in one cup of +tea, and upsetting a second, she commenced spreading her biscuit +with cheese instead of butter. "What ails you? What are you +thinking about? You don't seem to know any more what you are doing +than the dead."</p> +<p>Lenora made no direct reply to this, but soon after she said, +"Mother, how long has father been dead—my own father I +mean?"</p> +<p>"Two or three years, I don't exactly know which," returned her +mother, and Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"How did he look? I hardly remember him."</p> +<p>"You have asked me that fifty times," answered her mother, "and +fifty times I have told you that he looked like you, only worse, if +possible."</p> +<p>"Let me see, where did you say he died?" said Lenora.</p> +<p>"In New Orleans, with yellow fever, or black measles, or +smallpox, or something," Mrs. Hamilton replied, "but mercy's sake! +can't you choose a better subject to talk about? What made you +think of him? He's been haunting me all day, and I feel kind of +nervous and want to look over my shoulder whenever I am alone."</p> +<p>Lenora made no further remark until after tea, when she +announced her intention of going to the village.</p> +<p>"Come back early, for I don't feel like staying alone," said her +mother.</p> +<p>The sun had set when Lenora left the village, and by the time +she reached home it was wholly dark. As she entered the garden the +outline of a figure; sitting on a bench at its further extremity, +made her stop for a moment, but thinking to herself, "I expected +it, and why should I be afraid?" she walked on fearlessly, until +the person, roused by the sound of her footsteps, started up, and +turning toward her, said half-aloud:</p> +<p>"Lenora, is it you?"</p> +<p>Quickly she sprang forward, and soon one hand of the beggar was +clasped in hers, while the other rested upon her head, as he said, +"Lenora, my child, my daughter, you do not hate me?"</p> +<p>"Hate you, father?" she answered, "never, never."</p> +<p>"But," he continued, "has not she—my—no, not my +wife—thank Heaven not my wife now—but your mother, has +not she taught you to despise and hate me?"</p> +<p>"No," answered Lenora bitterly. "She has taught me enough of +evil, but my memories of you were too sweet, too pleasant, for me +to despise you, though I do not think you always did right, more +than mother."</p> +<p>The stranger groaned, and murmured: "It's true, all true;" while +Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"But where have you been all these years, and how came we to +hear of your death?"</p> +<p>"I have been in St. Louis most of the time, and the report of my +death resulted from the fact that a man bearing my name, and who +was also from Connecticut, died of yellow fever in New Orleans +about two years and a half ago. A friend of mine, observing a +notice of his death, and supposing it to refer to me, forwarded the +paper to your mother, who, though then free from me, undoubtedly +felt glad, for she never loved me, but married me because she +thought I had money."</p> +<p>"But how have you lived?" asked Lenora.</p> +<p>"Lived!" he repeated, "I have not lived. I have merely existed. +Gambling and drinking, drinking and gambling, have been the +business of my life, and have reduced me to the miserable wretch +whom you see."</p> +<p>"Oh, father, father," cried Lenora, "reform. It is not too late, +and you can yet be saved. Do it for my sake, for, in spite of all +your faults, I love you, and you are my father."</p> +<p>The first words of affection which had greeted his ear for many +long years made the wretched man weep, as he answered: "Lenora, I +have sworn to reform, and I will keep my vow. During one of my +drunken revels, in St. Louis, a dream of home came over me, and +when I became sober I started for Connecticut. There I heard where +and what your mother was. I had no wish ever to meet her again, for +though I greatly erred in my conduct toward her, I think she was +always the most to blame. You I remembered with love, and I longed +to see you once more, to hear again the word 'father,' and know +that I was not forgotten. I came as far as the city, and there fell +into temptation. For the last two months I have been there, +gambling and drinking, until I lost all, even the clothes which I +wore, and was compelled to assume these rags. I am now without home +or money, and have no place to lay my head."</p> +<p>"I can give you money," said Lenora. "Meet me here to-morrow +night, and you shall have all you want. But what do you purpose +doing? Where will you stay?"</p> +<p>"In the village, for the sake of being near you," said he, at +the same time bidding his daughter return to the house, as the +night air was damp and chilly.</p> +<p>Within a week from that time a middle-aged man, calling himself +John Robinson, appeared in the village, hiring himself out as a +porter at one of the hotels. There was a very striking resemblance +between him and Lenora Carter, which was noticed by the villagers, +and mentioned to Mrs. Hamilton, who, however, could never obtain a +full view of the stranger's face, for without any apparent design, +he always avoided meeting her. He had not been long in town before +it was whispered about that between him and Lenora Carter a strange +intimacy existed, and rumors soon reached Mrs. Hamilton that her +daughter was in the habit of frequently stealing out after sunset, +to meet the old porter, and that once, when watched, she had been +seen to put her arms around his neck. Highly indignant, Mrs. +Hamilton questioned Lenora on the subject, and was astonished +beyond measure when she replied:</p> +<p>"It is all true. I have met Mr. Robinson often, and I have put +my arms around his neck, and shall probably do it again."</p> +<p>"Oh my child, my child," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, really +distressed at her daughter's conduct. "How can you do so? You will +bring my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave."</p> +<p>"Not if you pull out as many of them as you now do, and use +Twiggs Preparation besides," said Lenora.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton did not answer, but covering her face with her +hands wept, really wept, thinking for the first time, perhaps, that +as she had sowed so was she reaping. For some time past her health +had been failing, and as the summer days grew warmer and more +oppressive she felt a degree of lassitude and physical weakness +which she had never before experienced; and one day unable longer +to sit up, she took her bed, where she lay for many days.</p> +<p>Now that her mother was really sick, Lenora seemed suddenly +changed, and with unwearied care watched over her as kindly and +faithfully as if no words save those of affection had ever passed +between them. Warmer and more sultry grew the days, and more +fiercely raged the fever in Mrs. Hamilton's veins, until at last +the crisis was reached and passed, and she was in a fair way for +recovery, when she was attacked by chills, which again reduced her +to a state of helplessness. One day, about this time, a ragged +little boy, whose business seemed to be lounging around the hotel, +brought to Lenora a soiled and crumpled note, on which was traced +with an unsteady hand, "Dear Lenora, I am sick, all alone in the +little attic; come to me, quick; come!"</p> +<p>Lenora was in a state of great perplexity. Her mother, when +awake, needed all her care; and as she seldom slept during the day +there seemed but little chance of getting away. The night before, +however, she had been unusually restless and wakeful, and about +noon she seemed drowsy, and finally fell into a deep sleep.</p> +<p>"Now is my time," thought Lenora; and calling Hester, she bade +her watch by her mother until she returned, saying, "If she wakes +tell her I have gone to the village, and will soon be back."</p> +<p>Hester promised compliance, and was for a time faithful to her +trust; but suddenly recollecting something which she wished to tell +the girl who lived at the next neighbor's she stole away, leaving +her mistress alone. For five minutes Mrs. Hamilton slept on, and +then with a start awoke from a troubled dream, in which she had +seemed dying of thirst, while little Willie, standing by a hogshead +of water, refused her a drop. A part of her dream was true, for she +was suffering from the most intolerable thirst, and called loudly +for Lenora; but Lenora was not there. Hester next was called, but +she, too, was gone. Then, seizing the bell which stood upon the +table, she rang it with all her force, and still there came no one +to her relief.</p> +<p>Again Willie stood by her, offering her a goblet overflowing +with water; but when she attempted to take it, Willie changed into +Lenora, who laughed mockingly at her distress, telling her there +was water in the well and ice on the curbstone. Once more the +phantom faded away, and the old porter was there, wading through a +limpid stream and offering her to drink a cup of molten lead.</p> +<p>"Merciful Heaven!" shrieked the sick woman, as she writhed from +side to side on her bed, which seemed changed to burning coals; +"will no one bring me water, water, water!"</p> +<p>An interval of calmness succeeded, during which she revolved in +her mind the possibility of going herself to the kitchen, where she +knew the water-pail was standing. No sooner had she decided upon +this than the room appeared full of little demons, who laughed, and +chattered, and shouted in her ears:</p> +<p>"Go—do it! Willie did, when the night was dark and chilly; +but now it is warm—nice and warm—try it, do!"</p> +<p>Tremblingly Mrs. Hamilton stepped upon the floor, and finding +herself too weak to walk, crouched down, and crept slowly down the +stairs to the kitchen door, where she stopped to rest. Across the +room by the window stood the pail, and as her eye fell upon it the +mirth of the little winged demons appeared in her disordered fancy +to increase; and when the spot was reached, the tumbler seized and +thrust into the pail, they darted hither and thither, shouting +gleefully:</p> +<p>"Lower, lower down; just as Willie did. You'll find it, oh, +you'll find it!"</p> +<p>With a bitter cry Mrs. Hamilton dashed the tumbler upon the +floor, for the bucket was empty!</p> +<p>"Willie, Willie, you are avenged," she said; but the goblins +answered:</p> +<p>"Not yet; no, not yet."</p> +<p>There was no pump in the well, and Mrs. Hamilton knew she had +not strength to raise the bucket by means of the windlass. Her +exertions had increased her thirst tenfold, and now for one cup of +cooling water she would have given all her possessions. Across the +yard, at the distance of twenty rods, there was a gushing spring, +and thither in her despair she determined to go. Accordingly, she +went forth into the fierce noontide blaze, and with almost +superhuman efforts crawled to the place. But what! was it a film +upon her eyes? Had blindness come upon her, or was the spring +really dried up by the fervid summer heat?</p> +<p>"Willie's avenged! Willie's avenged!" yelled the imps as the +wretched woman fainted and fell backward upon the bank, where she +lay with her white, thin face upturned, and blistering beneath the +August sun!</p> +<p>Along the dusty highway came a handsome traveling carriage, in +which, besides the driver, were seated two individuals, the one a +young and elegantly-dressed lady, and the other a gentleman, who +appealed to be on the most intimate terms with his companion; for +whenever he would direct her attention to any passing object, he +laid his hand on hers, frequently retaining it, and calling her +"Maggie."</p> +<p>The carriage was nearly opposite the homestead, when the lady +exclaimed, "Oh, Richard, I must stop at my old home once more. Only +see how beautiful it is looking!"</p> +<p>In a moment the carriage was standing before the gate, and the +gentleman, who was Margaret Hamilton's husband—a Mr. Elwyn, +from the city—assisted his young wife to alight, and then +followed her to the house. No answer was given to their loud ring, +and as the doors and windows were all open, Margaret proposed that +they should enter. They did so; and, going first into Mrs. +Hamilton's sick-room, the sight of the little table full of vials, +and the tumbled, empty bed, excited their wonder and curiosity, and +induced them to go on. At last, descending to the kitchen, they saw +the fragments of the tumbler lying upon the floor.</p> +<p>"Strange, isn't it?" said Margaret to her husband, who was +standing in the outer door, and who had at that moment discovered +Mrs. Hamilton lying near the spring.</p> +<p>Instantly they were at her side, and Margaret involuntarily +shuddered as she recognized her stepmother, and guessed why she was +there. Taking her in his arms, Mr. Elwyn bore her back to the +house, and Margaret, filling a pitcher with water, bathed her face, +moistened her lips, and applied other restoratives, until she +revived enough to say:</p> +<p>"More water, Willie. Give me more water!"</p> +<p>Eagerly she drained the goblet which Margaret held to her lips, +and was about drinking the second, when her eyes for the first time +sought Margaret's face. With a cry between a groan and a scream she +lay back upon her pillows, saying, "Margaret Hamilton, how came you +here? What have you to do with me, and why do you give me water? +Didn't I refuse it to Willie, when he begged so earnestly for it in +the nighttime? But I've been paid—a thousand times +paid—left by my own child to die alone!"</p> +<p>Margaret was about asking for Lenora, when the young lady +herself appeared. She seemed for a moment greatly surprised at the +sight of Margaret, and then bounding to her side, greeted her with +much affection; while Mrs. Hamilton jealously looked on, muttering +to herself. "Loves everybody better than she does me, her own +mother, who has done so much for her."</p> +<p>Lenora made no reply to this, although she manifested much +concern when Margaret told her in what state they had found her +mother.</p> +<p>"I went for a few moments to visit a sick friend," said she, +"but told Hester to stay with mother until I returned; and I wonder +much that she should leave her."</p> +<p>"Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton, "Lenora, was that sick friend the +old porter?"</p> +<p>Lenora answered in the affirmative; and then her mother, turning +to Margaret, said:</p> +<p>"You don't know what a pest and torment this child has always +been to me, and now when I am dying she deserts me for a low-lived +fellow, old enough to be her father."</p> +<p>Lenora's eyes flashed scornfully upon her mother, but she made +no answer, and as Mr. Elwyn was in haste to proceed on his journey, +Margaret arose to go. Lenora urged them to remain longer, but they +declined; and as she accompanied them to the door, Margaret +said:</p> +<p>"Lenora, if your mother should die, and it would afford you any +satisfaction to have me come, I will do so, for I suppose you have +no near friends."</p> +<p>Lenora hesitated a moment, and then whispering to Margaret of +the relationship existing between herself and the old porter, she +said, "He is sick and poor, but he is my own father, and I love him +dearly."</p> +<p>The tears came to Margaret's eyes, for she thought of her own +father, called home while his brown hair was scarcely touched with +the frosts of time. Wistfully Lenora watched the carriage as it +disappeared from sight, and then half-reluctantly entered the +sick-room, where, for the remainder of the afternoon, she endured +her mother's reproaches for having left her alone, and where once, +when her patience was wholly exhausted, she said:</p> +<p>"It served you right, for now you know how little Willie +felt."</p> +<p>The next day Mrs. Hamilton was much worse, and Lenora, who had +watched and who understood her symptoms, felt confident that she +would die, and loudly her conscience upbraided her for her +undutiful conduct. She longed, too, to tell her that her father was +still living, and one evening when for an hour or two her mother +seemed better, she arose, and bending over her pillow, said, +"Mother, did it ever occur to you that father might not be +dead?"</p> +<p>"Not be dead, Lenora! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, +starting up from her pillow.</p> +<p>Cautiously then Lenora commenced her story by referring her +mother back to the old beggar, who some months before had been in +the kitchen. Then she spoke of the old porter, and the resemblance +which was said to exist between him and herself; and finally, as +she saw her mother could bear it, she told the whole story of her +father's life. Slowly the sick woman's eyes closed, and Lenora saw +that her eyelids were wet with, tears, but as she made no reply, +Lenora ere long whispered, "Would you like to see him, mother?"</p> +<p>"No, no; not now," was the answer.</p> +<p>For a time there was silence, and then Lenora, again speaking, +said, "Mother, I have often been very wicked and disrespectful to +you, and if you should die, I should feel much happier knowing that +you forgave me. Will you do it, mother—say?"</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton comprehended only the words, "if you should die," +so she said: "Die, die! who says that I must die? I shan't—I +can't; for what could I tell her about her children, and how could +I live endless ages without water? I tried it once, and I can't do +it. No, I can't. I won't!"</p> +<p>In this way she talked all night; and though in the morning she +was more rational, she turned away from the clergyman, who at +Lenora's request had been sent for, saying:</p> +<p>"It's of no use, no use, I know all you would say, but it's too +late, too late!"</p> +<p>Thus she continued for three days, and at the close of the third +it became evident to all that she was dying, and Hester was +immediately sent to the hotel, with a request that the old porter +would come quickly. Half an hour after Lenora bent over her +mother's pillow, and whispered in her ear, "Mother, can you hear +me?"</p> +<p>A pressure of the hand was the reply, and Lenora continued: "You +have not said that you forgave me, and now before you die, will you +not tell me so?"</p> +<p>There was another pressure of the hand, and Lenora again spoke: +"Mother, would you like to see him—my father? He is in the +next room."</p> +<p>This roused the dying woman, and starting up, she exclaimed, +"See John Carter! No, child, no! He'd only curse me. Let him wait +until I am dead, and then I shall not hear it."</p> +<p>In ten minutes more Lenora was sadly gazing upon the fixed, +stony features of the dead. A gray-haired man was at her side, and +his lip quivered, as he placed his hand upon the white, wrinkled +brow of her who had once been his wife. "She is fearfully changed," +were his only words, as he turned away from the bed of death.</p> +<p>True to her promise, Margaret came to attend her stepmother's +funeral. Walter accompanied her, and shuddered as he looked on the +face of one who had so darkened his home, and embittered his life. +Kate was not there, and when, after the burial, Lenora asked +Margaret for her, she was told of a little "Carrie Lenora," who +with pardonable pride "Walter thought was the only baby of any +consequence in the world. Margaret was going on with a glowing +description of the babe's many beauties, when she was interrupted +by Lenora, who laid her face in her lap and burst into tears.</p> +<p>"Why, Lenora, what is the matter?" asked Margaret.</p> +<p>As soon as Lenora became calm, she answered, "<i>That name</i>, +Maggie. You have given my name to Walter Hamilton's child, and if +you had hated me you would never have done it."</p> +<p>"Hated you!" repeated Margaret; "we do not hate you; now that we +understand you, we like you very much, and one of Kate's last +injunctions to Walter was that he should again offer you a home +with him."</p> +<p>Once more Lenora was weeping. She had not shed a tear when they +carried from sight her mother, but words of kindness touched her +heart, and the fountain was opened. At last, drying her eyes, she +said, "I prefer to go with father. Walter will, of course, come +back to the homestead, while father and I shall return to our old +home in Connecticut, where, by being kind to him, I hope to atone, +in a measure, for my great unkindness to mother."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV1" id="CHAPTER_XIV1"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>FINALE.</h3> +<p>Through the open casement of a small, white cottage in the +village of P——, the rays of the September moon are +stealing, disclosing to view a gray-haired man, whose placid face +still shows marks of long years of dissipation. Affectionately he +caresses the black, curly head which is resting on his knee, and +softly he says, "Lenora, my daughter, there are, I trust, years of +happiness in store for us both."</p> +<p>"I hope it may be so," was the answer, "but there is no promise +of many days to any save those who honor their father and mother. +This last I have never done, though many, many times have I +repented of it, and I begin to be assured that we may be happy +yet."</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>Away to the westward, over many miles of woodland, valley, and +hill, the same September moon shines upon the white walls of the +"homestead," where sits the owner, Walter Hamilton, gazing first +upon his wife and then upon the tiny treasure which lies sleeping +upon her lap.</p> +<p>"We are very happy, Katy darling," he says, and the affection +which looks from her large blue eyes as she lifts them to his face +is a sufficient answer. Margaret, too, is there, and though but an +hour ago her tears were falling upon the grass-grown graves where +slept her father and mother, the gentle Carrie, and golden-haired +Willie, they are all gone now, and she responds to her brother's +words, "Yes, Walter, we are very happy."</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>In the basement below the candle is burned to its socket, and as +the last ray flickers up, illuminating for a moment the room, and +then leaving it in darkness, Aunt Polly Pepper starts from her +evening nap, and as if continuing her dream mutters "Yes this is +pleasant and something like living."</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>And so with the moonlight and starlight falling upon the old +homestead, and the sunlight of love falling upon the hearts of its +inmates, we bid them adieu.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="RICE_CORNER" id="RICE_CORNER"></a><b>RICE +CORNER</b></h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I2" id="CHAPTER_I2"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>RICE CORNER.</h3> +<p>Yes, Rice Corner! Do you think it a queer name? Well, Rice +Corner was a queer place, and deserved a queer name. Now whether it +is celebrated for anything in particular, I really can't at this +moment think, unless, indeed, it is famed for having been my +birthplace! Whether this of itself is sufficient to immortalize a +place future generations may, perhaps, tell, but I have some +misgivings whether the present will. This idea may be the result of +my having recently received sundry knocks over the knuckles in the +shape of criticisms.</p> +<p>But I know one thing—on the bark of that old chestnut tree +which stands near Rice Corner schoolhouse, my name is cut higher +than some of my more bulky contemporary quill—or rather +steel—pen-wielders ever dared to climb. To be sure, I tore my +dress, scratched my face, and committed numerous other little +rompish <i>miss</i>-demeanors, which procured for me a motherly +scolding. That, however, was of minor consideration when compared +with having my name up—in the chestnut tree, at least, if it +couldn't be up in the world. But pardon my egotism, and I will +proceed with my story about Rice Corner.</p> +<p>Does any one wish to know whereabout on this rolling sphere Rice +Corner is situated? I don't believe you can find it on the map, +unless your eyes are bluer and bigger than mine, which last they +can't very well be. But I can tell you to a dot where Rice Corner +should be. Just take your atlas—not the last one published, +but Olney's, that's the one <i>I</i> studied—and right in one +of those little towns in Worcester County is Rice Corner snugly +nestled among the gray rocks and blue hills of New England.</p> +<p>Yes, Rice Corner was a great place, and so you would have +thought could you have seen it in all its phases, with its brown, +red, green, yellow, and white houses, each of which had the usual +quantity of rose-bushes, lilacs, hollyhocks, and sunflowers. You +should have seen my home, my New England home, where once, not many +years ago, a happy group of children played. Alas! alas! some of +those who gave the sunlight to that spot have left us now forever, +and on the bright shores of the eternal river they wait and watch +our coming. I do not expect a stranger to love our old homestead as +I loved it, for in each heart is a fresh, green spot—the +memory of its own early home—where the sunshine was brighter, +the well waters cooler, and the song-bird's carol sweeter than +elsewhere they are found.</p> +<p>I trust I shall be forgiven if in this chapter I pause awhile to +speak of my home—aye, and of myself, too, when, a +light-hearted child, I bounded through the meadows and orchards +which lay around the old brown house on my father's farm. 'Twas a +large, square, two-storied building, that old brown farmhouse, +containing rooms, cupboards, and closets innumerable, and what was +better than all, a large airy garret, where on all rainy days and +days when it looked as if it would rain, Bill, Joe, Lizzie, and I +assembled to hold our noisy revels. Never, since the days of our +great-grandmothers, did little spinning wheel buzz round faster +than did the one which, in the darkest corner of that garret, had +been safely stowed away, where they guessed "the young ones +wouldn't find it."</p> +<p>"Wouldn't find it!" I should like to know what there was in that +old garret that we didn't find, and appropriate, too! Even the old +oaken chest which contained our grandmother's once fashionable +attire was not sacred from the touch of our lawless hands. Into its +deep recesses we plunged, and brought out such +curiosities—the queerest-looking, high-crowned, broad-frilled +caps, narrow-gored skirts, and what was funnier than all, a +strange-looking thing which we thought must be a side +saddle—anyway, it fitted Joe's rocking horse admirably, +although we wondered why so much whalebone was necessary!</p> +<p>One day, in the midst of our gambols, in walked the identical +owner of the chest, and seeing the side-saddle, she said somewhat +angrily, "Why, children, where upon airth did you find my old +stays?" We never wondered again what made grandma's back keep its +place so much better than ours, and Bill had serious thoughts of +trying the effect of the stays upon himself.</p> +<p>In the rear of our house, and sloping toward the setting sun, +was a long, winding lane, leading far down into a widespreading +tract of flowery woods, shady hillside, and grassy pasture land, +each in their turn highly suggestive of brown nuts, delicious +strawberries, and venomous snakes. These last were generally more +the creatures of imagination than of reality, for in all my +wanderings over those fields, and they were many, I never but once +trod upon a green snake, and only once was I chased by a +white-ringed blacksnake; so I think I am safe in saying that the +snakes were not so numerous as were the nuts and berries, which +grew there in great profusion.</p> +<p>A little to the right of the woods, where, in winter, Bill, Joe, +Lizzie, and I dragged our sleds and boards for the purpose of +riding down-hill, was a merry, frolicking stream of water, over +which, in times long gone, a sawmill had been erected; but owing to +the inefficiency of its former owner, or something else, the mill +had fallen into disuse, and gradually gone to decay. The water of +the brook, relieved from the necessity of turning the spluttering +wheel, now went gayly dancing down, down, into the depths of the +dim old woods, and far away, I never knew exactly where; but having +heard rumors of a jumping-off place, I had a vague impression that +at that spot the waters of the mill-dam put up!</p> +<p>Near the sawmill, and partially hidden by the scraggy pine trees +and thick bushes which drooped over its entrance, was a long, dark +passage, leading underground, not so large, probably, as Mammoth +Cave, but in my estimation rivaling it in interest. This was an old +mine, where, years before, men had dug for gold. Strange stories +were told of those who, with blazing torches, and blazing noses, +most likely, there toiled for the yellow dust. The "Ancient Henry" +himself, it was said, sometimes left his affairs at home, and +joined the nightly revels in that mine, where cards and wine played +a conspicuous part. Be that as it may, the old mine was surrounded +by a halo of fear which we youngsters never cared to penetrate.</p> +<p>On a fine afternoon an older sister would occasionally wander +that way, together with a young M.D., whose principal patient +seemed to be at our house, for his little black pony very +frequently found shelter in our stable by the side of "old sorrel." +From the north garret window I would watch them, wondering how they +dared venture so near the old mine, and wishing, mayhap, that the +time would come when I, with some daring doctor, would risk +everything. The time <i>has come</i>, but alas! instead of being a +doctor, he is only a lawyer, who never even saw the old mine in +Rice Corner.</p> +<p>Though I never ventured close to the old mine, there was not far +from it one pleasant spot where I loved dearly to go. It was on the +hillside, where, 'neath the shadow of a gracefully twining +grapevine, lay a large, flat rock. Thither would I often repair, +and sit for hours, listening to the hum of the running water brook, +or the song of the summer birds, who, like me, seemed to love that +place. Often would I gaze far off at the distant, misty horizon, +wondering if I should ever know what was beyond it. Wild fancies +then filled my childish brain. Strange voices whispered to me +thoughts and ideas which, if written down and carried out, would, I +am sure, have placed my name higher than it was carved on the old +chestnut tree.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"But they came and went like +shadows,<br /></span> <span>Those blessed dreams of +youth,"<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>I was a strange child, I know. Everybody told me so, and +<i>I</i> knew it well enough without being told. The wise old men +at Rice Corner, and their still wiser old wives, looked at me +askance, as 'neath the thorn-apple tree I built my playhouse and +baked my little loaves of mud bread. But when, forgetful of others, +I talked aloud to myriads of little folks, unseen 'tis true, but +still real to me, they shook their gray heads ominously, and +whispering to my mother said, "Mark our words, that girl will one +day be crazy. In ten years more she will be an inmate of the +madhouse!"</p> +<p>And then I wondered what a madhouse was, and if the people there +all acted as our school-teacher did when Bill and the big girl said +he was mad! The ten years have passed, and I'm not in a madhouse +yet, unless, indeed, it is one of my own getting up!</p> +<p>One thing more about Rice Corner, and then, honor bright, I'll +finish the preface and go on with the story. I must tell you about +the old schoolhouse, and the road which led to it. This last wound +around a long hill, and was skirted on either side with tall trees, +flowering dogwood, blackberry bushes, and frost grapevines. +Half-way down the hill, and under one of the tallest walnut trees, +was a little hollow, where dwelt the goblin with which nurses, +housemaids, hired men, and older sisters were wont to frighten +refractory children into quietness. It was the grave of an old +negro. Alas! that to his last resting-place the curse should follow +him! Had it been a white person who rested there, not half so +fearful would have been the spot; now, however, it was "the old +nigger hole"—a place to run by if by accident you were caught +out after dark—a place to be threatened with if you cried in +the night and wanted the candle lighted—a landmark where to +stop when going part way home with the little girl who had been to +visit you, and who, on leaving you, ran no less swiftly than you +yourself did, half-fearing that the dusky form in the holly would +rise and try his skill at running. Verily, my heart has beat faster +at the thoughts of that dead negro than it ever has since at the +sight of a hundred live specimens, "'way down south on the old +plantation."</p> +<p>The old schoolhouse, too, had its advantages and its +disadvantages; of the latter, one was that there, both summer and +winter, but more especially during the last-mentioned season, all +the rude boys in the place thought they had a perfect right to +congregate and annoy the girls in every possible way. But never +mind, not a few wry faces we made at them, and not a few +"blockheads" we pinned to their backs! Oh! I've had rare times in +that old house and have seen rare sights, too, to say nothing of +the fights which occasionally occurred. In these last brother Joe +generally took the lead of one party, while Jim Brown commanded the +other. Dire was the confusion which reigned at such times. Books +were hurled from side to side. Then followed in quick succession +shovel, tongs, poker, water cup, water pail, water and all; and to +cap the climax, Jim Brown once seized the large iron pan, which +stood upon the stove, half-filled with hot water, and hurled it in +the midst of the enemy. Luckily nobody was killed, and but few +wounded.</p> +<p>Years in their rapid flight have rolled away since then, and he, +my brother, is sleeping alone on the wild shore of California.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"For scarcely had the sad tones +died<br /></span> <span class="i2">Which echoed the +farewell,<br /></span> <span>When o'er the western +prairies<br /></span> <span class="i2">There came a funeral +knell;<br /></span> <span>It said that he who went from +us,<br /></span> <span class="i2">While yet upon his +brow<br /></span> <span>The dew of youth was +glistening,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Had passed to heaven +now."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>James Brown, too, is resting in the churchyard, near his own +home, and 'neath his own native sky.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II2" id="CHAPTER_II2"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE BELLE OF RICE CORNER.</h3> +<p>Yes, Rice Corner had a belle, but it was not I. Oh, no, nobody +ever mistook <i>me</i> for a belle, or much of anything else, in +fact; <i>I</i> was simply "Mary Jane," or, if that was not concise +enough, "Crazy Jane" set the matter all right. The belle of which I +speak was a <i>bona fide</i> one—fine complexion, handsome +features, beautiful eyes, curling hair, and all. And yet in her +composition there was something wanting, something very essential, +too; for she lacked soul, and would at any time have sold her best +friend for a flattering compliment.</p> +<p>Still Carrie Howard was generally a favorite. The old people +liked her because her sparkling eye and merry laugh brought back to +them a gleam of youth; the young people liked her, because to +dislike her would seem like envy; and I, who was nothing, liked her +because she was pretty, and I greatly admired beauty, though I am +not certain that I should not have liked a handsome rosebud quite +as well as I did Carrie Howard's beautiful face, for beautiful she +was.</p> +<p>Her mother, good, plain Mrs. Howard, was entirely unlike her +daughter. She was simply "Mrs. Captain Howard," or, in other words, +"Aunt Eunice," whose benevolent smile and kindly beaming eye +carried contentment wherever she went. Really, I don't know how +Rice Corner could have existed one day without the presence of Aunt +Eunice. Was there a cut foot or hand in the neighborhood, hers was +the salve which healed it, almost as soon as applied. Was there a +pale, fretful baby, Aunt Eunice's large bundle of catnip was sure +to soothe it, and did a sick person need watchers, Aunt Eunice was +the one who, three nights out of the seven, trod softly and quietly +about the sick-room, anticipating each want before you yourself +knew what it was, and smoothing your tumbled pillow so gently that +you almost felt it a luxury to be sick, for the sake of being +nursed by Aunt Eunice. The very dogs and cats winked more +composedly when she appeared; and even the chickens learned her +voice almost as soon as they did the cluck of their "maternal +ancestor."</p> +<p>But we must stop, or we shall make Aunt Eunice out to be the +belle, instead of Carrie, who, instead of imitating her mother in +her acts of kindness, sat all day in the large old parlor, thumping +away on a rickety piano, or trying to transfer to broadcloth a poor +little kitty, whose face was sufficiently indicative of surprise at +finding its limbs so frightfully distorted.</p> +<p>When Carrie was fifteen years of age her father, concluding that +she knew all which could possibly be learned in the little brown +house where Joe and Jim once fought so fiercely, sent her for three +years to Albany. It was currently reported that the uncle with whom +she boarded received his pay in butter, cheese, potatoes, apples, +and other commodities, which were the product of Captain Howard's +farm. Whether this was true or not I am not prepared to say, but I +suppose it was, for it was told by those who had no ostensible +business except to attend to other people's affairs, and I am sure +they ought to have known all about it, and probably did.</p> +<p>I cannot help thinking that Captain Howard made a mistake in +sending Carrie away; for when at the end of three years she had +"finished her education," and returned home, she was not half so +good a scholar as some of those who had pored patiently over their +books in the old brown house. Even <i>I</i> could beat her in +spelling, for soon after she came home the boys teased for a +spelling school. I rather think they were quite as anxious for a +chance to go home with the girls as they were to have their +knowledge of Webster tested. Be that as it may, Carrie was there, +and was, of course, chosen first; but <i>I</i>, "little crazy +Jane," spelled the the whole school down! I thought Carrie was not +quite so handsome as she might be, when with an angry frown she +dropped into her seat, hissed by a big, cross-eyed, red-haired boy, +in the corner, because she <i>happened</i> to spell pumpkin, +"<i>p-u-n pun k-i-n kin, punkin</i>." I do not think she ever quite +forgave me for the pert, loud way in which I spelled the word +correctly, for she never gave any more calicos or silks, and +instead of calling me "Mollie," as she had before done, she now +addressed me as "Miss Mary."</p> +<p>Carrie possessed one accomplishment which the other girls did +not. She could play the piano most skilfully, although as yet she +had no instrument. Three weeks, however, after her return a rich +man, who lived in the village which was known as "Over the River," +failed, and all his furniture was sold at auction. Many were the +surmises of my grandmother, on the morning of the sale, as to what +"Cap'n Howard could be going to buy at the <i>vandue</i> and put in +the big lumber wagon," which he drove past our house.</p> +<p>As the day drew to a close I was posted at the window to +telegraph as soon as "Cap'n Howard's" white horses appeared over +the hill. They came at last, but the long box in his wagon told no +secret. Father, however, explained all, by saying that he had bid +off Mr. Talbott's old piano for seventy dollars! Grandma shook her +head mournfully at the degeneracy of the age, while sister Anna +spoke sneeringly of Mr. Talbott's cracked piano. Next day, arrayed +in my Sunday red merino and white apron—a present from some +cousin out West—I went to see Carrie; and truly, the music +she drew from that old piano charmed me more than the finest +performances since have done. Carrie and her piano were now the +theme of every tongue, and many wondered how Captain Howard could +afford to pay for three years' music lessons; but this was a +mystery yet to be solved.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III2" id="CHAPTER_III2"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>MONSIEUR PENOYER.</h3> +<p>When Carrie had been at home about three months all Rice Corner +one day flew to the doors and windows to look at a stranger, a +gentleman with fierce mustaches, who seemed not at all certain of +his latitude, and evidently wanted to know where he was going. At +least, if <i>he</i> didn't, they who watched him did.</p> +<p>Grandma, whose longevity had not impaired her guessing +faculties, first suggested that "most likely it was Caroline +Howard's beau." This was altogether too probable to be doubted, and +as grandmother had long contemplated a visit to Aunt Eunice, she +now determined to go that very afternoon, as she "could judge for +herself what kind of a match Car'line had made." Mother tried to +dissuade her from going that day, but the old lady was +incorrigible, and directly after dinner, dressed in her bombazine, +black silk apron, work bag, knitting and all she departed for +Captain Howard's.</p> +<p>They wouldn't confess it, but I knew well enough that Juliet and +Anna were impatient for her return, and when the shadows of +twilight began to fall I was twice sent into the road to see if she +was coming. The last time I was successful, and in a few moments +grandmother was among us; but whatever she knew she kept to herself +until the lamps were lighted in the sitting-room, and she, in her +stuffed rocking-chair, was toeing off the stocking only that +morning commenced. Then, at a hint from Anna, she cast toward +Lizzie and me a rueful glance, saying: "There are too many +<i>pitchers</i> here!" I knew then just as well as I did five +minutes after that Lizzie and I must go to bed. There was no help +for it, and we complied with a tolerably good grace. Lizzie +proposed that we should listen, but somehow I couldn't do that, and +up to this time I don't exactly know what grandmother told +them.</p> +<p>The next day, however, I heard enough to know that his name was +Penoyer; that grandma didn't like him; that he had as much hair on +his face as on his head; that Aunt Eunice would oppose the match, +and that he would stay over Sunday. With this last I was delighted, +for I should see him at church. I saw him before that, however; for +it was unaccountable what a fancy Carrie suddenly took for +traversing the woods and riding on horseback, for which purpose +grandfather's side-saddle (not the one with which Joe saddled his +pony!) was borrowed, and then, with her long curls and blue +riding-skirt floating in the wind, Carrie galloped over hills and +through valleys, accompanied by Penoyer, who was a fierce-looking +fellow, with black eyes, black hair, black whiskers, and black +face.</p> +<p>I couldn't help fancying that the negro who lay beneath the +walnut tree had resembled him, and I cried for fear Carrie might +marry so ugly a man, thinking it would not be altogether unlike, +"Beauty and the Beast." Sally, our housemaid, said that "most +likely he'd prove to be some poor, mean scamp. Anyway, seein' it +was plantin' time, he'd better be <i>to hum</i> tendin' to his own +business, if he had any."</p> +<p>Sally was a shrewd, sharp-sighted girl, and already had her +preference in favor of Michael Welsh, father's hired man. Walking, +riding on horseback, and wasting time generally, Sally held in +great abhorrence. "All she wished to say to Mike on week days, she +could tell him milking time." On Sundays, however, it was +different, and regularly each Sunday night found Mike and Sally +snugly ensconced in the "great room," while under the windows +occasionally might have been seen, three or four curly heads, eager +to hear something about which to tease Sally during the week.</p> +<p>But to return to Monsieur Penoyer, as Carrie called him. His +stay was prolonged beyond the Sabbath, and on Tuesday I was sent to +Captain Howard's on an errand. I found Aunt Eunice in the kitchen, +her round, rosy face, always suggestive of seed cake and plum +pudding, flushed with exertion, her sleeves tucked up and her arms +buried in a large wooden bowl of dough, which she said was going to +be made into loaves of 'lection cake, as Carrie was to have a party +to-morrow, and I had come just in time to carry invitations to my +sisters.</p> +<p>Carrie was in the parlor, and attracted by the sound of music, I +drew near the door, when Aunt Eunice kindly bade me enter. I did +so, and was presented to Monsieur Penoyer. At first I was shy of +him, for I remembered that Sally had said, "he don't know nothin'," +and this in my estimation was the worst crime of which he could be +guilty. Gradually my timidity gave way, and when, at Carrie's +request, he played and sang for me, I was perfectly delighted, +although I understood not a word he said.</p> +<p>When he finished Carrie told him I was a little poet, and then +repeated some foolish lines I had once written about her eyes. It +was a very handsome set of teeth which he showed, as he said, +"<i>Magnifique! Tree bien!</i> She be another grand <i>Dr. +Wattts!</i>"</p> +<p>I knew not who Dr. Watts was, but on one point my mind was made +up—Monsieur Penoyer knew a great deal! Ere I left Carrie +commissioned me to invite my sisters to her party on the morrow, +and as I was leaving the room Mr. Penoyer said, "<i>Ma +chère,</i> Carrie, why vous no invite a petite girl!"</p> +<p>Accordingly I was invited, with no earthly prospect, however, of +mother's letting me go. And she didn't either; so next day, after +Juliet and Anna were gone, I went out behind the smokehouse and +cried until I got sleepy, and a headache too; then, wishing to make +mother think I had <i>run away</i>, I crept carefully up-stairs to +Bill's room, where I slept until Sally's sharp eyes ferreted me +out, saying, "they were all scared to death about me, and had +looked for me high and low," up in the garret and down in the well, +I supposed. Concluding they were plagued enough, I condescended to +go down-stairs, and have my head bathed in camphor and my feet +parboiled in hot water; then I went to bed and dreamed of white +teeth, curling mustaches and "<i>Parlez vous +Français</i>."</p> +<p>Of what occurred at the party I will tell you as was told to me. +All the <i>élite</i> of Rice Corner were there, of course, +and as each new arrival entered the parlor, M. Penoyer eyed them +coolly through an opera glass. Sister Anna returned his inspection +with the worst face she could well make up, for which I half-blamed +her and half didn't, as I felt sure I should have done the same +under like circumstances.</p> +<p>When all the invited guests had arrived except myself (alas, no +one asked why I tarried), there ensued an awkward silence, broken +only by the parrot-like chatter of M. Penoyer, who seemed +determined to talk nothing but French, although Carrie understood +him but little better than did the rest. At last he was posted up +to the piano.</p> +<p>"<i>Mon Dieu</i>, it be von horrid tone," said he; then off he +dashed into a galloping waltz, keeping time with his head, mouth, +and eyes, which threatened to leave their sockets and pounce upon +the instrument. Rattlety-bang went the piano—like lightning +went monsieur's fingers, first here, then there, right or wrong, +hit or miss, and oftener miss than hit—now alighting among +the keys promiscuously, then with a tremendous thump making all +bound again—and finishing up with a flourish, which snapped +two strings and made all the rest groan in sympathy, as did the +astonished listeners. For a time all was still, and then a little +modest girl, Lily Gordon, her face blushing crimson, said:</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but haven't you taught music?"</p> +<p>The veins in his forehead swelled, as, darting a wrathful look +at poor Lily, he exclaimed, "<i>Le Diabel!</i> vat vous take me +for? Von dem musique teacher, eh?"</p> +<p>Poor Lily tried to stammer her apologies, while Carrie sought to +soothe the enraged Frenchman by saying, that "Miss Gordon was +merely complimenting his skill in music."</p> +<p>At this point the carriage which carried persons to and from the +depot drove up, and from it alighted a very small, genteel-looking +lady, who rapped at the door and asked, "if Captain Howard lived +there."</p> +<p>In a moment Carrie was half-stifling her with kisses, +exclaiming, "Dear Agnes, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not +expect you so soon."</p> +<p>The lady called Agnes was introduced as Miss Hovey, a schoolmate +of Carrie's. She seemed very much disposed to make herself at home, +for, throwing her hat in one place and her shawl in another, she +seated herself at the piano, hastily running over a few notes; then +with a gesture of impatience, she said, "Oh, horrid! a few more +such sounds would give me the vapors for a month; why don't you +have it tuned?"</p> +<p>Ere Carrie could reply Agnes' eyes lighted upon Penoyer, who, +either with or without design, had drawn himself as closely into a +corner as he well could. Springing up, she brought her little hands +together with energy, exclaiming, "Now, Heaven defend me, what +fresh game brought you here?" Then casting on Carrie an angry +glance, she said, in a low tone, "What does it mean? Why didn't you +tell me?"</p> +<p>Carrie drew nearer, and said coaxingly, "I didn't expect you so +soon; but never mind, he leaves to-morrow. For my sake treat him +decently."</p> +<p>The pressure which Agnes gave Carrie's hand seemed to say, "For +your sake I will, but for no other." Then turning to Penoyer, who +had risen to his feet, she said, respectfully, "I hardly expected +to meet you here, sir."</p> +<p>Her tone and manner had changed. Penoyer knew it, and with the +coolest effrontery imaginable he came forward, bowing and scraping, +and saying, "<i>Comment vous portez-vous, mademoiselle. Je suis +perfaitement</i> delighted to see you," at the same time offering +her his hand.</p> +<p>All saw with what hauteur she declined it, but only one, and +that was Anna, heard her as she said, "Keep off, Penoyer; don't +make a donkey of yourself." It was strange, Anna said, "how far +into his boots Penoyer tried to draw himself," while at each fresh +flash of Agnes' keen black eyes, he winced, either from fear or +sympathy.</p> +<p>The restraint which had surrounded the little company gave way +beneath the lively sallies and sparkling wit of Agnes, who, instead +of seeming amazed at the country girls, was apparently as much at +ease as though she had been entertaining a drawing-room full of +polished city belles. When at last the party broke up, each and +every one was in love with the little Albany lady, although all +noticed that Carrie seemed troubled, watching Agnes narrowly; and +whenever she saw her <i>tête-à-tête</i> with +either of her companions she would instantly draw near, and seemed +greatly relieved on finding that Penoyer was not the subject of +conversation.</p> +<p>"I told you so," was grandmother's reply, when informed of all +this. "I told you so. I knew Car'line warn't going to make out no +great."</p> +<p>Juliet and Anna thought so too, but this did not prevent them +from running to the windows next morning to see Penoyer as he +passed on his way to the cars. I, who with Lizzie was tugging away +at a big board with which we thought to make a "see-saw," was +honored with a graceful wave of monsieur's hands, and the words, +"<i>Au revoir, ma chère Marie</i>."</p> +<p>That day Phoebe, Aunt Eunice's hired girl, came to our house. +Immediately Juliet and Anna assailed her a multitude of questions. +The amount of knowledge obtained was that "Miss Hovey was a lady, +and no mistake, for she had sights of silks and jewelry, and she +that morning went with Phoebe to see her milk, although she didn't +dare venture inside the yard. But," added Phoebe, "for all she was +up so early she did not come out to breakfast until that gentleman +was gone."</p> +<p>This was fresh proof that Penoyer was not <i>comme il faut</i>, +and Anna expressed her determination to find out all about him ere +Agnes went home. <i>I</i> remembered "<i>Dr. Watts</i>" and the +invitation to the party, and secretly hoped she would find out +nothing bad.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV2" id="CHAPTER_IV2"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>COUSIN EMMA.</h3> +<p>Agnes had been in town about two weeks, when my home was one +morning thrown into a state of unusual excitement by the arrival of +a letter from Boston, containing the intelligence that Cousin Emma +Rushton, who had been an invalid for more than a year, was about to +try the effect of country life and country air.</p> +<p>This piece of news operated differently upon different members +of our family. Juliet exclaimed, "Good, good; Carrie Howard won't +hold her head quite so high now, for we shall have a city lady, +too." Anna was delighted, because she would thus have an +opportunity of acquiring city manners and city fashions. Sally said +snappishly, "There's enough to wait on now, without having a +stuck-up city flirt, faintin' at the sight of a worm, and +screechin' if a fly comes toward her." Mother had some misgivings +on the subject. She was perfectly willing Emma should come, but she +doubted our ability to entertain her, knowing that the change would +be great from a fashionable city home to a country farmhouse. +Grandmother, who loved to talk of "my daughter in the city," was +pleased, and to console mother, said:</p> +<p>"Never you mind, Fanny, leave her to me; you find victuals and +drink, and I'll do the entertaining."</p> +<p>Among so many opinions it was hard for me to arrive at a +conclusion. On the whole, however, I was glad, until told that +during Cousin Emma's stay our garret gambols must be given up, and +that I must not laugh loud, or scarcely speak above a whisper, for +she was sick, and it would hurt her head. Then I wished Cousin Emma +and Cousin Emma's head would stay where they belonged.</p> +<p>The letter was received on Monday, but Emma would not come until +Thursday; so there was ample time for "fixing up." The +parlor-chamber was repapered, the carpet taken up and shaken, red +and white curtains hung at the windows, a fresh ball of Castile +soap bought for the washstand, and on Thursday morning our pretty +flower beds were shorn of their finest ornaments with which to make +bouquets for the parlor and parlor-chamber. Besides that, Sally had +filled the pantry with cakes, pies, gingerbread, and Dutch cheese, +to the last of which I fancied Emma's city taste would not take +kindly. Then there was in the cellar a barrel of fresh beer; so +everything was done which could be expected.</p> +<p>When I went home for my dinner that day I teased hard to be +allowed to stay out of school for one afternoon, but mother said +"No," although she suffered me to wear my pink gingham, with sundry +injunctions "not to burst the hooks and eyes all off before night." +This, by the way, was my besetting sin; I never could climb a tree, +no matter what the size might be without invariably coming down +minus at least six hooks and eyes; but I seriously thought I should +get over it when I got older and joined the church.</p> +<p>That afternoon seemed of interminable length, but at last I saw +father's carriage coming, and quick as thought I threw my grammar +out of the window; after which I demurely asked "to go out and get +a book which I had dropped." Permission was granted and I was out +just in time to courtesy straight down, as father pointing to me, +said: "There, that's our little crazy Mollie," and then I got a +glimpse of a remarkably sweet face, which made the tears come in my +eyes, it was so pale.</p> +<p>Perhaps I wronged our school-teacher; I think I did, for she has +since died; but really I fancied she kept us longer that night on +purpose. At least, it was nearly five before we were dismissed. +Then, with my bonnet in hand, I ran for home, falling down once and +bursting off the lower hook! I entered the house with a bound, but +was quieted by grandmother, who said Emma was lying down, and I +mustn't disturb her.</p> +<p>After waiting some time for her to make her appearance, I stole +softly up the stairs and looked in where she was. She saw me, and +instantly rising, said with a smile that went to my heart:</p> +<p>"And this must be Mary, the little crazy girl; come and kiss +your Cousin Emma."</p> +<p>Twining my arms around her neck, I think I must have cried, for +she repeatedly asked me what was the matter, and as I could think +of no better answer, I at last told her "I didn't like to have +folks call me <i>crazy</i>. I couldn't help acting like <i>Sal +Furbush</i>, the old crazy woman, who threatened to toss us up in +the umbrella."</p> +<p>"Forgive me, darling," said Emma coaxingly; "I will not do it +again;" then stooping down, she looked intently into my eyes, +soliloquizing, "Yes, it is wrong to tell her so."</p> +<p>In a few moments I concluded Emma was the most beautiful +creature in the world; I would not even except Carrie Howard. +Emma's features were perfectly regular, and her complexion white +and pure as alabaster. Her hair, which was a rich auburn, lay +around her forehead in thick waves, but her great beauty consisted +in her lustrous blue eyes, which were very large and dark. When she +was pleased they laughed, and when she was sad they were sad too. +Her dress was a white muslin wrapper, confined at the waist by a +light blue ribbon, while one of the same hue encircled her neck, +and was fastened by a small gold pin, which, with the exception of +the costly diamond ring on her finger, was the only ornament she +wore.</p> +<p>When supper was ready I proudly led her to the dining-room, +casting a look of triumph at Juliet and Anna, and feeling, it may +be, a <i>trifle</i> above grandmother, who said, "Don't be +troublesome, child."</p> +<p>How grateful I was when Emma answered for me, "She doesn't +trouble me in the least; I am very fond of children."</p> +<p>Indeed, she seemed to be very fond of everybody and +everything—all except Sally's Dutch cheese, which, as I +expected, she hardly relished. In less than three days she was +beloved by all the household, Billy whispering to me confidentially +that "never before had he seen any one except <i>mother</i>, whom +he would like to marry."</p> +<p>Saturday afternoon Carrie and Agnes called on Emma, and as I saw +them together I fancied I had never looked on three more charming +faces. They appeared mutually pleased with each other, too, +although for some reason there seemed to be more affinity between +Emma and Agnes. Carrie appeared thoughtful and absent-minded, which +made Anna joke her about her "lover, Penoyer." As she was about +leaving the room she made no reply, but after she was gone Agnes +looked searchingly at Anna and said:</p> +<p>"Is it possible, Miss Anna, that you are so mistaken?"</p> +<p>"How—why?" asked Emma. "Is Penoyer a bad man? What is his +occupation?"</p> +<p>"His occupation is well enough," returned Agnes. "I would not +think less of him for that, were he right in other respects. +However, he was Carrie's and my own music teacher."</p> +<p>"Impossible," said Anna, but at that moment Carrie reentered the +room, and, together with Agnes, soon took her leave.</p> +<p>"Penoyer a music teacher, after all his anger at Lily Gordon for +suggesting such an idea!" This was now the theme of Juliet and +Anna, although they wondered what there was so <i>bad</i> about +him—something, evidently, from Agnes' manner, and for many +days they puzzled their brains in vain to solve the mystery.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V2" id="CHAPTER_V2"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>RICHARD EVELYN AND HARLEY ASHMORE.</h3> +<p>Emma had not long been with us ere her fame reached the little +"village over the river," and drew from thence many calls, both +from gentlemen and ladies. Among these was a Mr. Richard Evelyn and +his sister, both of whom had the honor of standing on the topmost +round of the aristocratic ladder in the village. Mr. Evelyn, who +was nearly thirty years of age, was a wealthy lawyer, and what is a +little remarkable for that craft (I speak from experience), to an +unusual degree of intelligence and polish of manners, he added many +social and <i>religious</i> qualities. Many kind hearted mothers, +who had on their hands good-for-nothing daughters, wondered how he +managed to live without a wife, but he seemed to think it the +easiest thing in nature, for, since the death of his parents, his +sister Susan had acted in the capacity of his housekeeper.</p> +<p>I have an idea that grandmother, whose disposition was slightly +spiced with a love for match-making, bethought herself how +admirably Mr. Evelyn and Emma were suited for each other; for after +his calls became frequent I heard her many times slyly hint of the +possibility of our being able to keep Emma in town always. +<i>She</i> probably did not think so; for each time after being +teased, she repaired to her room and read for the twentieth time +some ominous-looking letters which she had received since being +with as.</p> +<p>It was now three weeks since she came, and each day she had +gained in health and strength. Twice had she walked to the woods, +accompanied by Mr. Evelyn, once to the schoolhouse, while every day +she swung under the old maple. About this time Agnes began to think +of returning home, so Juliet and Anna determined on a party in +honor of her and Emma. It was a bright summer afternoon; and for a +wonder I was suffered to remain from school, although I received +numerous charges to keep my tongue still, and was again reminded of +that excellent old proverb (the composition of some old maid, I +know), "<i>Children</i> should be seen and not heard;" so, seated +in a corner, my hand pressed closely over my mouth, the better to +guard against contingencies, I looked on and thought, with +ineffable satisfaction, how much handsomer Cousin Emma was than any +one else, although I could not help acknowledging that Carrie never +looked more beautiful than she did that afternoon in a +neatly-fitting white muslin, with a few rosebuds nestling in her +long, glossy curls.</p> +<p>Matters were going on swimmingly, and I had three times ventured +a remark, when Anna, who was sitting near the window, exclaimed, +"Look here, girls, did you ever see a finer-looking gentleman?" at +the same time calling their attention to a stranger in the street. +Emma looked, too, and the bright flush which suffused her cheek +made me associate the gentleman with the letters she had received, +and I was not surprised when he entered our yard and knocked at our +door. Juliet arose to answer his summons, but Emma prevented her, +saying;</p> +<p>"Suffer me to go, will you?"</p> +<p>She was gone some time, and when she returned was accompanied by +the stranger, whom she introduced as Mr. Ashmore. I surveyed him +with childish curiosity, and drew two very satisfactory breaths +when I saw that he was wholly unlike Monsieur Penoyer. He was a +very fine-looking man, but I did not exactly like the expression of +his face. It was hardly open enough to suit me, and I noticed that +he never looked you directly in the eye. In five minutes I had come +to the conclusion that he was not half so good a man as Mr. Evelyn. +I was in great danger, however, of changing my mind, when I saw how +fondly his dark eye rested on Emma, and how delighted he seemed to +be at her improved health; and when he, without any apparent +exertion, kept the whole company entertained, I was charmed, and +did not blame Emma for liking him. Anna's doctor was nothing to +him, and I even fancied that he would dare to go <i>all alone</i> +to the old mine!</p> +<p>Suddenly he faced about, and espying me in the corner, he said, +"Here is a little lady I've not seen. Will some one introduce +me?"</p> +<p>With the utmost gravity Anna said, "It is my sister, little +crazy Jane."</p> +<p>I glanced quickly at him to see how he would receive the +intelligence, and when, looking inquiringly first at me and then at +Emma, he said, "Is it really so? what a pity!" the die was +cast—I never liked him again. That night in my little low +bed, long after Lizzie was asleep, I wept bitterly, wondering what +made Anna so unkind, and why people called me crazy. I knew I +looked like other children, and I thought I acted like them, too; +unless, indeed, I climbed more trees, tore more dresses, and burst +off more hooks.</p> +<p>But to return to the party. After a time I thought that Mr. +Ashmore's eyes went over admiringly to Carrie more frequently than +was necessary, and for once I regretted that she was so pretty. Ere +long, Mr. Ashmore, too, went over, and immediately there ensued +between himself and Carrie a lively conversation, in which she +adroitly managed to let him know that she had been three years at +school in Albany. The next thing that I saw was that he took from +her curls a rosebud and appropriated it to his buttonhole. I +glanced at Emma to see how she was affected, but her face was +perfectly calm, and wore the old sweet smile. When the young ladies +were about leaving, I was greatly shocked to see Mr. Ashmore offer +to accompany Carrie and Agnes home.</p> +<p>After they were gone grandmother said, "Emma, if I's you, I'd +put a stop to that chap's flirtin' so with Car'line Howard."</p> +<p>Emma laughed gaily as she replied, "Oh, grandma, I can trust +Harley; I have been sick so long that he has the privilege of +walking or riding with anybody he pleases."</p> +<p>Grandmother shook her head, saying, "It wasn't so with her and +our poor grandfather;" then I fell into a fit of musing as to +whether grandma was ever young, and if she ever fixed her hair +before the glass, as Anna did when she expected the doctor! In the +midst of my reverie Mr. Ashmore returned, and for the remainder of +the evening devoted himself so entirely to Emma that I forgave him +for going home with Carrie. Next day, however, he found the walk to +Captain Howard's a very convenient one, staying a long time, too. +The next day it was the same, and the next, and the next, until I +fancied that even Emma began to be anxious.</p> +<p>Grandma was highly indignant, and Sally declared, "that, as true +as she lived and breathed, if Mike should serve her so, he'd catch +it." About this time Agnes went home. The evening before she left +she spent at our house with Emma, of whom she seemed to be very +fond. Carrie and Ashmore were, as usual, out riding or walking, and +the conversation naturally turned upon them. At last, Anna, whose +curiosity was still on the alert to know something of Penoyer, +asked Agnes of him. I will repeat, in substance, what Agnes +said.</p> +<p>It seems that for many years Penoyer had been a teacher of music +in Albany. Agnes was one of his pupils, and while teaching her +music he thought proper to fall overwhelmingly in love with her. +This for a time she did not notice; but when his attentions became +so pointed as to become a subject of remark, she very coolly tried +to make him understand his position. He persevered, however, until +he became exceedingly impudent and annoying.</p> +<p>About this time there came well-authenticated stories of his +being not only a professed gambler, but also very dissipated in his +habits. To this last charge Agnes could testify, as his breath had +frequently betrayed him. He was accordingly dismissed. Still he +perseveringly pursued her, always managing, if possible, to get +near her in all public places, and troubling her in various +ways.</p> +<p>At last Agnes heard that he was showing among her acquaintances +two notes bearing her signature. The contents of these notes he +covered with his hand, exposing to view only her name. She had +twice written, requesting him to purchase some new piece of music, +and it was these messages which he was now showing, insinuating +that Agnes thought favorably of him, but was opposed by her father. +The consequence of this was, that the next time Agnes' brother met +Penoyer in the street, he gave him a sound caning, ordering him, +under pain of a worse flogging, never again to mention his sister's +name. This he was probably more willing to do, as he had already +conceived a great liking for Carrie, who was silly enough to be +pleased with and suffer his attentions.</p> +<p>"I wonder, though, that Carrie allowed him to visit her," said +Agnes; "but then I believe she is under some obligations to him, +and dare not refuse when he asked permission to come."</p> +<p>If Agnes knew what these obligations were she did not tell, and +grandmother, who, during the narration had knit with unwonted +speed, making her needles rattle again, said, "It's plain to me +that Caroline let him come to make folks think she had got a city +beau."</p> +<p>"Quite likely," returned Agnes; "Carrie is a sad flirt, but I +think, at least, that she should not interfere with other people's +rights."</p> +<p>Here my eye followed hers to Emma, who, I thought, was looking a +little paler. Just then Carrie and Ashmore came in, and the latter +throwing himself upon the sofa by the side of Emma, took her hand +caressingly, saying, "How are you to-night, my dear?"</p> +<p>"Quite well," was her quiet reply, and soon after, under +pretense of moving from the window, she took a seat across the +room. That night Mr. Ashmore accompanied Carrie and Agnes home, and +it was at a much later hour than usual that old Rover first growled +and then whined as he recognized our visitor.</p> +<p>The next morning Emma was suffering from a severe headache, +which prevented her from appearing at breakfast. Mr. Ashmore seemed +somewhat disturbed, and made many anxious inquiries about her. At +dinner-time she was well enough to come, and the extreme kindness +of Mr. Ashmore's manner called a deep glow to her cheek. After +dinner, however, he departed for a walk, taking his accustomed road +toward Captain Howard's.</p> +<p>When I returned from school he was still absent, and as Emma was +quite well, she asked me to accompany her to my favorite resort, +the old rock beneath the grapevine. We were soon there, and for a +long time we sat watching the shadows as they came and went upon +the bright green grass, and listening to the music of the brook, +which seemed to me to sing more sadly than it was wont to do.</p> +<p>Suddenly our ears were arrested by the sound of voices, which we +knew belonged to Mr. Ashmore and Carrie. They were standing near +us, just behind a clump of alders, and Carrie, in reply to +something Mr. Ashmore had said, answered, "Oh, you can't be in +earnest, for you have only known me ten days, and beside that, what +have you done with your pale, sick lady?"</p> +<p>Instantly I started up, clinching my fist in imitation of +brother Billy when he was angry, but Cousin Emma's arm was thrown +convulsively around me, as drawing me closely to her side she +whispered, "Keep quiet."</p> +<p>I did keep quiet, and listened while Mr. Ashmore replied, "I +entertain for Miss Rushton the highest esteem, for I know she +possesses many excellent qualities. Once I thought I loved her (how +tightly Emma held me), but she has been sick a long time, and +somehow I cannot marry an invalid. Whether she ever gets well is +doubtful, and even if she does, after having seen you, she can be +nothing to me. And yet I like her, and when I am alone with her I +almost fancy I love her, but one look at your sparkling, healthy +face drives her from my mind—"</p> +<p>The rest of what he said I could not hear, neither did I +understand Carrie's answer, but his next words were distinct, "My +dear Carrie forever."</p> +<p>I know the brook stopped running, or at least I did not hear it. +The sun went down; the birds went to rest; Mr. Ashmore and Carrie +went home; and still I sat there by the side of Emma, who had lain +her head in my lap, and was so still and motionless that the dread +fear came over me that she might be dead. I attempted to lift her +up, saying, "Cousin Emma, speak to me, won't you?" but she made me +no answer, and another ten minutes went by. By this time the stars +had come out and were looking quietly down upon us. The waters of +the mill-dam chanted mournfully, and in my disordered imagination, +fantastic images danced before the entrance of the old mine. +Half-crying with fear, I again laid my hand on Emma's head. Her +hair was wet with the heavy night dews, and my eyes were wet with +something else, as I said, "Oh, Emma, speak to me, for I am afraid +and want to go home."</p> +<p>This roused her, and lifting up her head I caught a glimpse of a +face of so startling whiteness that, throwing my arms around her +neck, I cried, "Oh, Emma, dear Emma, don't look so. I love you a +great deal better than I do Carrie Howard, and so I am sure does +Mr. Evelyn."</p> +<p>I don't know how I chanced to think of Mr. Evelyn, but he +recurred to me naturally enough. All thoughts of him, however, were +soon driven from my mind by the sound of Emma's voice as she said, +"Mollie, darling, can you keep a secret?"</p> +<p>I didn't think I could, as I never had been intrusted with one, +so I advised her to give it to Anna, who was very fond of them. But +she said, "I am sure you can do it, Mollie. Promise me that you +will not tell them at home what you have seen or heard."</p> +<p>I promised, and then in my joy at owning a secret, I forgot the +little figures which waltzed back and forth before the old mine, I +forgot the woods through which we passed, nor was the silence +broken until we reached the lane. Then I said, "What shall we tell +the folks when they ask where we have been?"</p> +<p>"Leave that to me," answered Emma.</p> +<p>As we drew near the house we met grandmother, Juliet, Anna and +Sally, all armed and equipped for a general hunt. We were +immediately assailed with a score of questions as to what had kept +us so long. I looked to Emma for the answer, at the same time +keeping my hand tightly over my mouth for fear I should tell.</p> +<p>"We found more things of interest than we expected," said Emma, +"consequently tarried longer than we should otherwise have +done."</p> +<p>"Why, how hoarse you be," said grandmother, while Sally +continued, "Starlight is a mighty queer time to see things in."</p> +<p>"Some things look better by starlight," answered Emma; "but we +stayed longer than we ought to, for I have got a severe headache +and must go immediately to bed."</p> +<p>"Have some tea first," said grandmother.</p> +<p>"And some strawberries and cream," repeated Sally; but Emma +declined both and went at once to her room.</p> +<p>Mr. Ashmore did not come home until late that night, for I was +awake and heard him stumbling up-stairs in the dark. I remember, +too, of having experienced the very benevolent wish that he would +break his neck! As I expected, Emma did not make her appearance at +the breakfast table, but about ten she came down to the parlor and +asked to see Mr. Ashmore alone. Of what occurred during that +interval I never knew, except that at its close cousin looked very +white, and Mr. Ashmore very black, notwithstanding which he soon +took his accustomed walk to Captain Howard's. He was gone about +three hours, and on his return announced his intention of going to +Boston in the afternoon train. No one opposed him, for all were +glad to have him go.</p> +<p>Just before he left, grandmother, who knew all was not right, +said to him: "Young man, I wish you well; but mind what I say, +you'll get your pay yet for the capers you've cut here."</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, madam," he returned, with much more emphasis +on <i>madam</i> than was at all necessary, "I beg your pardon, but +I think she has cut the capers; at least she dismissed me of her +own accord."</p> +<p>I thought of what I had heard, but 'twas a secret, so I kept it +safely, although I almost bit my tongue off in my zealous efforts. +After Ashmore was gone, Emma, who had taken a violent cold the +evening before, took her bed, and was slightly ill for nearly a +week. Almost every day Mr. Evelyn called to see how she was, always +bringing her a fresh bouquet of flowers. On Thursday, Carrie +called, bringing Emma some ice-cream which Aunt Eunice had made. +She did not ask to see her, but before she left she asked Anna if +she did not wish to buy her old piano.</p> +<p>"What will you do without it?" asked Anna.</p> +<p>"Oh," said Carrie, "I cannot use two. I have got a new one."</p> +<p>The stocking dropped from grandmother's hand as she exclaimed: +"What is the world a-comin' to! Got two pianners! Where'd you get +'em?"</p> +<p>"My new one was a present, and came from Boston," answered +Carrie, with the utmost <i>sang froid</i>.</p> +<p>"You don't say Ashmore sent it to you! How much did it cost?" +asked grandma.</p> +<p>"Mr. Ashmore wrote that it cost three hundred and fifty +dollars," was Carrie's reply.</p> +<p>Grandmother was perfectly horror-stricken; but desirous of +making Carrie feel as comfortable as possible, she said, "S'posin +somebody should tell him about Penoyer?"</p> +<p>For an instant Carrie turned pale, as she said quickly, "What +does any one know about him to tell?"</p> +<p>"A great deal—more than you think they do—yes, a +great deal," was grandma's answer.</p> +<p>After that Carrie came <i>very</i> frequently to see us, always +bringing something nice for Emma <i>or grandma</i>!</p> +<p>Meanwhile Mr. Evelyn's visits continued, and when at last Emma +could see him I was sure that she received him more kindly than she +ever had before. "That'll go yet," was grandma's prediction. But +her scheming was cut short by a letter from Emma's father, +requesting her immediate return. Mr. Evelyn, who found he had +business which required his presence in Worcester, was to accompany +her thus far. It was a sad day when she left us, for she was a +universal favorite. Sally cried, I cried, and Bill either cried or +made believe, for he very industriously wiped his eyes and nasal +organ on his shirt sleeves: besides that, things went on wrong side +up generally. Grandma was cross—Sally was cross—and the +school-teacher was cross; the bucket fell into the well, and the +cows got into the corn. I got called up at school and set with some +hateful boys, one of whom amused himself by pricking me with a pin, +and when, in self-defense, I gave him a good pinch, he actually +yelled out: "She keeps a-pinchin' me!" On the whole, 'twas a +dreadful day, and when at night I threw myself exhausted upon my +little bed I cried myself to sleep, thinking of Cousin Emma and +wishing she would come back.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI2" id="CHAPTER_VI2"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>MIKE AND SALLY.</h3> +<p>I have spoken of Sally, but have said nothing of Mike, whom, of +all my father's hired men, I liked the best. He it was who made the +best cornstalk fiddles, and whittled out the shrillest whistles +with which to drive grandma "ravin' distracted." He, too, it was +who, on cold winter mornings, carried Lizzie to school in his arms, +making me forget how my fingers ached, by telling some exploit of +<i>his</i> schooldays.</p> +<p>I do not wonder that Sally liked him, and I always had an idea +how that liking would end, but did not think it would be so soon. +Consequently I suspected nothing when Sally's white dress was +bleached on the grass in the clothesyard for nearly a week. One day +Billy came to me with a face full of wonder, saying he had just +overheard Mike tell one of the men that he and Sally were going to +be married in a few weeks.</p> +<p>I knew now what all that bleaching was for, and why Sally bought +so much cotton lace of pedlers. I was in ecstasies, too, for I had +never seen anyone married, but regretted the circumstance, whatever +it might have been, which prevented me from being present at +mother's marriage. Like many other children I have been deceived +into the belief that the marriage ceremony consisted mainly in +leaping the broomstick, and by myself I had frequently tried the +experiment, delighted to find that I could jump it at almost any +distance from the ground; but I had some misgivings as to Sally's +ability to clear the stick, for she was rather clumsy; however, I +should see the fun, for they were to be married at our house.</p> +<p>A week before the time appointed mother was taken very ill, +which made it necessary that the wedding should be postponed, or +take place somewhere else. To the first Mike would not hear, and as +good old Parson S——, whose sermons were never more than +two hours long, came regularly every Sunday night to preach in the +schoolhouse, Mike proposed that they be married there. Sally did +not like this exactly, but grandmother, who now ruled the +household, said it was just the thing, and accordingly it took +place there.</p> +<p>The house was filled full, and those who could not obtain seats +took their station near the windows. Our party was early, but I was +three times compelled to relinquish my seat in favor of more +distinguished persons, and I began to think that if any one was +obliged to go home for want of room, it would be me; but I +resolutely determined not to go. I'd climb the chestnut tree first! +At last I was squeezed on a high desk between two old ladies, +wearing two old black bonnets, their breath sufficiently tinctured +with tobacco smoke to be very disagreeable to me, whose olfactories +chanced to be rather aristocratic than otherwise.</p> +<p>To my horror Father S—— concluded to give us the +sermon before he did the bride. He was afraid some of his audience +would leave. Accordingly there ensued a prayer half an hour long, +after which eight verses of a long meter psalm were sung to the +tune of Windham. By this time I gave a slight sign to the two old +ladies that I would like to move, but they merely shook their two +black bonnets at me, telling me, in fierce whispers, that "I +mustn't stir in meetin'." Mustn't stir! I wonder how I could stir, +squeezed in as I was, unless they chose to let me. So I sat bolt +upright, looking straight ahead at a point where the tips of my red +shoes were visible, for my feet were sticking straight out.</p> +<p>All at once my attention was drawn to a spider on the wall, who +was laying a net for a fly, and in watching his maneuvers I forgot +the lapse of time, until Father S—— had passed his +sixthly and seventhly, and was driving furiously away at the +eighthly. By this time the spider had caught the fly, whose cries +sounded to me like the waters of the sawmill; the tips of my red +shoes looked like the red berries which grew near the mine; the two +old ladies at my side were transformed into two tall black walnut +trees, while I seemed to be sliding down-hill.</p> +<p>At this juncture, one of the old ladies moved away from me a +foot at least (she could have done so before had she chosen to), +and I was precipitated off from the bench, striking my head on the +sharp corner of a seat below. It was a dreadful blow which I +received, making the blood gush from my nostrils. My loud screams +brought matters to a focus, and the sermon to an end. My +grandmother and one of the old ladies took me and the water pail +outdoors, where I was literally deluged; at the same time they +called me "Poor girl! Poor Mollie! Little dear," etc.</p> +<p>But while they were attending to my bumped head Mike and Sally +were married, and I didn't see it after all! 'Twas too bad!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII2" id="CHAPTER_VII2"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>THE BRIDE.</h3> +<p>After Sally's marriage there occurred at our house an interval +of quiet, enlivened occasionally by letters from Cousin Emma, whose +health was not as much improved by her visit to the country as she +had at first hoped it would be; consequently she proposed spending +the winter south. Meantime, from Boston letters came frequently to +Carrie Howard, and as the autumn advanced, things within and about +her father's house foretold some unusual event. Two dressmakers +were hired from the village, and it was stated, on good authority, +that among Carrie's wardrobe was a white satin and an elegantly +embroidered merino traveling-dress.</p> +<p>Numerous were the surmises of Juliet and Anna as to who and how +many would be invited to the wedding. All misgivings concerning +themselves were happily brought to an end a week before the time, +for there came to our house handsome cards of invitation for Juliet +and Anna, and—I could scarcely believe my eyes—there +was one for me too. For this I was indebted to Aunt Eunice, who had +heard of and commiserated my misfortunes at Sally's wedding.</p> +<p>I was sorry that my invitation came so soon, for I had but +little hope that the time would ever come. It did, however, and so +did Mr. Ashmore and Agnes. As soon as dinner was over I commenced +my toilet, although the wedding was not to take place until eight +that evening; but then I believed, as I do now, in being ready in +season. Oh, how slowly the hours passed, and at last in perfect +despair I watched my opportunity to set the clock forward when no +one saw me. For this purpose I put the footstool in a chair, and +mounting, was about to move the long hand, when—</p> +<p>But I always was the most unfortunate of mortals, so it was no +wonder that at this point the chair slipped, the stool slipped, and +I slipped. I caught at the clock to save myself; consequently both +clock and I came to the floor with a terrible crash. My first +thought was for the hooks and eyes, which undoubtedly were +scattered with the fragments of the clock, but fortunately every +hook was in its place, and only one eye was straightened. I draw a +veil over the scolding which I got, and the numerous threats that I +should stay at home.</p> +<p>As the clock was broken we had no means for judging of the time, +and thus we were among the first who arrived at Captain Howard's. +This gave Juliet and Anna an opportunity of telling Agnes of my +mishap. She laughed heartily, and then immediately changing the +subject she inquired after Cousin Emma, and when we had heard from +her. After replying to these questions Anna asked Agnes about +Penoyer, and when she had seen him.</p> +<p>"Don't mention it," said Agnes, "but I have a suspicion that he +stopped yesterday at the depot when I did. I may have been +mistaken, for I was looking after my baggage and only caught a +glimpse of him. If it were he his presence bodes no good."</p> +<p>"Have you told Carrie?" asked Juliet.</p> +<p>"No, I have not. She seems so nervous whenever he is mentioned," +was Agnes' reply.</p> +<p>I thought of the obligations once referred to by Agnes, and felt +that I should breathe more freely when Carrie really was married. +Other guests now began to arrive, and we who had fixed long enough +before the looking-glass repaired to the parlor below. Bill, who +saw Sally married, had convinced me that the story of the +broomstick was a falsehood, so I was prepared for its absence, but +I wondered then, not more than I do now, why grown-up people +shouldn't be whipped for telling untruths to children as well as +children for telling untruths to grown-up people.</p> +<p>The parlor was now rapidly filling, and I was in great danger of +being thrust into the corner, where I could see nothing, when Aunt +Eunice very benevolently drew me near her, saying I should see if +no one else did. At last Mr. Ashmore and Carrie came. Anna can tell +you exactly what she wore, but I cannot. I only know that she +looked most beautifully, though I have a vague recollection of +fancying that in the making of her dress the sleeves were forgotten +entirely, and the neck nearly so.</p> +<p>The marriage ceremony commenced, and I listened breathlessly, +but this did not prevent me from hearing some one enter the house +by the kitchen door. Aunt Eunice heard it, too, and when the +minister began to say something about Mrs. Ashmore she arose and +went out. Something had just commenced, I think they called them +congratulations, when the crowd around the door began to huddle +together in order to make room for some person to enter. I looked +up and saw Penoyer, his glittering teeth now partially disclosed, +looking a very little fiendish, I thought. Carrie saw him, too, and +instantly turned as white as the satin dress she wore, while Agnes, +who seemed to have some suspicion of his errand, exclaimed, +"Impudent scoundrel!" At the same time advancing forward, she laid +her hand upon his arm.</p> +<p>He shook it off lightly, saying, "<i>Pardonnez moi, ma +chère</i>; I've no come to trouble you." Then turning to +Ashmore he said, pointing to Carrie, "She be your wife, I take +it?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Ashmore haughtily. "Have you any objections? +If so they have come too late."</p> +<p>"Not von, not in the least, no sar," said the Frenchman, bowing +nearly to the floor. "It give me one grand plaisir; so now you will +please settle von leetle bill I have against her;" at the same time +he drew from his pocket a sheet of half-worn paper.</p> +<p>Carrie, who was leaning heavily against Mr. Ashmore instantly +sprang forward and endeavored to snatch the paper, saying +half-imploringly, "Don't, Penoyer, you know my father will pay +it."</p> +<p>But Penoyer passed it to Mr. Ashmore, while Captain Howard, +coming forward, said, "Pay what? What is all this about?"</p> +<p>"Only a trifle," said Penoyer; "just a bill for giving your +daughter musique lessons three years in Albany."</p> +<p>"You give my daughter music lessons?" demanded Captain +Howard.</p> +<p>"<i>Oui</i>, monsieur, I do that same thing," answered +Penoyer.</p> +<p>"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," said Captain Howard, in his surprise +forgetting the time and place, "why did you tell me that your +knowledge of music you acquired yourself, with the assistance of +your cousin, and a little help from her music teacher; and why, +when this man was here a few months ago, did you not tell me he was +your music teacher and had not been paid?"</p> +<p>Bursting into tears Carrie answered, "Forgive me, father, but he +said he had no bill against me; he made no charge."</p> +<p>"But she gave me von big, large mitten," said the Frenchman, +"when she see this man, who has more l'argent; but no difference, +no difference, sar, this gentleman," bowing toward Ashmore, +"parfaitement delighted to pay it."</p> +<p>Whether he were delighted or not, he did pay it, for drawing +from his pocket his purse, while his large black eyes emitted +gleams of fire, he counted out the required amount, one hundred and +twenty-five dollars; then confronting Penoyer, he said fiercely, +"Give me a receipt for this instantly, after which I will take it +upon me to show you the door."</p> +<p>"Certainement, certainement, all I want is my l'argent," said +Penoyer.</p> +<p>The money was paid, the receipt given, and then, as Penoyer +hesitated a moment, Ashmore said, "Are you waiting to be helped +out, sir?"</p> +<p>"No, monsieur, si vous plait, I have tree letters from madam, +which will give you one grande satisfaction to read." Then tossing +toward Ashmore the letters, with a malicious smile he left the +house.</p> +<p>Poor Carrie! When sure that he was gone she fainted away and was +carried from the room. At supper, however, she made her appearance, +and after that was over the guests, unopposed, left <i>en +masse</i>.</p> +<p>What effect Penoyer's disclosures had on Ashmore we never +exactly knew, but when, a few days before the young couple left +home, they called at our house, we all fancied that Carrie was +looking more thoughtful than usual, while a cloud seemed to be +resting on Ashmore's brow. The week following their marriage they +left for New York, where they were going to reside. During the +winter Carrie wrote home frequently, giving accounts of the many +gay and fashionable parties which she attended, and once in a +letter to Anna she wrote, "The flattering attentions which I +receive have more than, once made Ashmore jealous."</p> +<p>Two years from the time they were married Mrs. Ashmore was +brought back to her home a pale, faded invalid, worn out by +constant dissipation and the care of a sickly baby, so poor and +blue that even I couldn't bear to touch it. Three days after their +arrival Mr. Evelyn brought to us his bride, Cousin Emma, blooming +with health and beauty. I could scarcely believe that the +exceedingly beautiful Mrs. Evelyn was the same white-faced girl +who, two years before, had sat with me beneath the old +grapevine.</p> +<p>The day after she came I went with her to visit Carrie, who, the +physicians said, was in a decline. I had not seen her before since +her return, and on entering the sick-room, I was as much surprised +at her haggard face, sunken eyes, and sallow skin, as was Mr. +Ashmore at the appearance of Emma. "Is it possible," said he, +coming forward, "is it possible, Emma—Mrs. Evelyn, that you +have entirely recovered?"</p> +<p>I remembered what he had once said about "invalid wives," and I +feared that the comparison he was evidently making would not be +very favorable toward Carrie. We afterward learned, however, that +he was the kindest of husbands, frequently walking half the night +with his crying baby, and at other times trying to soothe his +nervous wife, who was sometimes very irritable.</p> +<p>Before we left Carrie drew Emma closely to her and said, "They +tell me I probably shall never get well, and now, while I have +time, I wish to ask your forgiveness for the great wrong I once did +you."</p> +<p>"How? When?" asked Emma quickly, and Carrie contined:</p> +<p>"When first I saw him who is my husband, I determined to leave +no means untried to secure him for myself; I knew you were engaged, +but I fancied that your ill-health annoyed him, and played my part +well. You know how I succeeded, but I am sure you forgive me, for +you love Mr. Evelyn quite as well, perhaps better."</p> +<p>"Yes, far better," was Emma's reply, as she kissed Carrie's wan +cheek; then bidding her good-by she promised to call frequently +during her stay in town. She kept her word, and was often +accompanied by Mr. Evelyn, who strove faithfully and successfully, +too, to lead into the path of peace her whose days were well-nigh +ended.</p> +<p>'Twas on one of those bright days in the Indian summer time that +Carrie at last slept the sleep that knows no awakening. The evening +after the burial I went in at Captain Howard's, and all the +animosity I had cherished for Mr. Ashmore vanished when I saw the +large tear drops as they fell on the face of his motherless babe, +whose wailing cries he endeavored in vain to hush. When the first +snowflakes came they fell on a little mound, where by the side of +her mother Mr. Ashmore had laid his baby, Emma.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Side by side they are +sleeping,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In the grave's dark, +dreamless bed;<br /></span> <span>While the willow boughs seem +weeping,<br /></span> <span class="i2">As they bend above the +dead.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>And now, dear reader, after telling you that, yielding to the +importunities of Emma's parents, Mr. Evelyn at last moved to the +city, where, if I mistake not, he is still living, my story is +finished. But do not, I pray you, think that these few pages +contain all that I know of the olden time:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Oh no, far down in memory's +well<br /></span> <span class="i2">Exhaustless stores +remain,<br /></span> <span>From which, perchance, some future +day<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'll weave a tale +again.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_GILBERTS_OR_RICE_CORNER_NUMBER_TWO" id= +"THE_GILBERTS_OR_RICE_CORNER_NUMBER_TWO"></a>THE GILBERTS; OR, RICE +CORNER NUMBER TWO.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I3" id="CHAPTER_I3"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE GILBERTS.</h3> +<p>The spring following Carrie Howard's death Rice Corner was +thrown into a commotion by the astounding fact that Captain Howard +was going out West, and had sold his farm to a gentleman from the +city, whose wife "kept six servants, wore silk all the time, never +went inside of the kitchen, never saw a churn, breakfasted at ten, +dined at three, and had supper the next day!"</p> +<p>Such was the story which Mercy Jenkins detailed to us early one +Monday morning, and then, eager to communicate so desirable a piece +of news to others of her acquaintance, she started off, stopping +for a moment as she passed the wash-room to see if Sally's clothes +"wan't kinder dingy and yaller." As soon as she was gone the +astonishment of our household broke forth, grandma wondering why +Captain Howard wanted to go to the ends of the earth, as she +designated Chicago, their place of destination, and what she should +do without Aunt Eunice, who, having been born on grandma's wedding +day, was very dear to her, and then her age was so easy to keep. +But the best of friends must part, and when at Mrs. Howard's last +tea-drinking with us I saw how badly they all felt, and how many +tears were shed, I firmly resolved never to like anybody but my own +folks, unless, indeed, I made an exception in favor of Tom Jenkins, +who so often drew me to school on his sled, and who made such +comical-looking jack-o'-lanterns out of the big yellow +pumpkins.</p> +<p>In reply to the numerous questions concerning Mr. Gilbert, the +purchaser of their farm, Mrs. Howard could only reply that he was +very wealthy and had got tired of living in the city; adding, +further, that he wore a "monstrous pair of musquitoes," had an +evil-looking eye, four children, smoked cigars, and was a lawyer by +profession. This last was all grandma wanted to know about +him—"that told the whole story," for there never was but +<i>one</i> decent lawyer, and that was Mr. Evelyn, Cousin Emma's +husband. Dear old lady! when, a few years ago, she heard that I, +her favorite grandchild, was to marry one of the craft, she made +another exception in his favor, saying that "if he wasn't all +straight, Mary would soon make him so!"</p> +<p>Within a short time after Aunt Eunice's visit she left Rice +Corner, and on the same day wagon-load after wagon-load of Mr. +Gilbert's furniture passed our house, until Sally declared "there +was enough to keep a tavern, and she didn't see nothin' where +they's goin to put it," at the same time announcing her intention +of "running down there after dinner, to see what was going on."</p> +<p>It will be remembered that Sally was now a married +woman—"Mrs. Michael Welsh;" consequently, mother, who lived +with her instead of her living with mother, did not presume to +interfere with her much, though she hinted pretty strongly that she +"always liked to see people mind their own affairs." But Sally was +incorrigible. The dinner dishes were washed with a whew, I was +coaxed into sweeping the back room—which I did, leaving the +dirt under the broom behind the door—while Mrs. Welsh, +donning a pink calico, blue shawl, and bonnet trimmed with dark +green, started off on her prying excursion, stopping by the +roadside where Mike was making fence, and keeping him, as grandma +said, "full half an hour by the clock from his work."</p> +<p>Not long after Sally's departure a handsome carriage, drawn by +two fine bay horses, passed our house; and as the windows were down +we could plainly discern a pale, delicate-looking lady, wrapped in +shawls, a tall, stylish-looking girl, another one about my own age +and two beautiful little boys.</p> +<p>"That's the Gilberts, I know," said Anna. "Oh I'm so glad +Sally's gone, for now we shall have the full particulars;" and +again we waited as impatiently for Sally's return as we had once +done before for grandma.</p> +<p>At last, to our great relief, the green ribbons and blue shawl +were descried in the distance, and ere long Sally was with us, +ejaculating, "Oh, my—mercy me!" etc., thus giving us an +inkling of what was to follow. "Of all the sights that ever I have +seen," said she, folding up the blue shawl, and smoothing down the +pink calico. "There's carpeting enough to cover every crack and +crevice—all pure bristles, too!"</p> +<p>Here I tittered, whereupon Sally angrily retorted, that "she +guessed she knew how to talk proper, if she hadn't studied +grarmar."</p> +<p>"Never mind," said Anna, "go on; brussels carpeting and what +else?"</p> +<p>"Mercy knows what else," answered Sally. "I can't begin to guess +the names of half the things. There's mahogany, rosewood, and +marble fixin's—and in Miss Gilbert's room there's lace +curtains and silk damson ones—"</p> +<p>A look from Anna restrained me this time, and Sally +continued.</p> +<p>"Mercy Jenkins is there, helpin', and she says Mr. Gilbert told +'em, his wife never et a piece of salt pork in her life, and knew +no more how bread was made than a child two years old."</p> +<p>"What a simple critter she must be," said grandma, while Anna +asked if she saw Mrs. Gilbert, and if that tall girl was her +daughter.</p> +<p>"Yes, I seen her," answered Sally, "and I guess she's weakly, +for the minit she got into the house she lay down on the sofa, +which Mr. Gilbert says cost seventy-five dollars. That tall, +proud-lookin' thing they call Miss Adaline, but I'll warrant you +don't catch me puttin' on the miss. I called her Adaline, and you +had orto seen how her big eyes looked at me. Says she, at last, +'Are you one of pa's new servants?"</p> +<p>"'Servants!' says I, 'no indeed; I'm Mrs. Michael Welsh, one of +your nighest neighbors.'</p> +<p>"Then I told her that there were two nice girls lived in the +house with me, and she'd better get acquainted with 'em right away; +and then with the hatefulest of all hateful laughs, she asked if +'they wore glass beads and went barefoot.'"</p> +<p>I fancied that neither Juliet nor Anna were greatly pleased at +being introduced by Sally, the housemaid, to the elegant Adaline +Gilbert, who had come to the country with anything but a favorable +impression of its inhabitants. The second daughter, the one about +my own age, Sally said they called Nellie; "and a nice, clever +creature she is, too—not a bit stuck up like t'other one. +Why, I do believe she'd walked every big beam in the barn before +she'd been there half an hour, and the last I saw of her she was +coaxing a cow to lie still while she got upon her back!"</p> +<p>How my heart warmed toward the romping Nellie, and how I +wondered if after that beam-walking exploit her hooks and eyes were +all in their places! The two little boys, Sally said, were twins, +Edward and Egbert, or, as they were familiarly called, Bert and +Eddie. This was nearly all she had learned, if we except the fact +that the family ate with silver forks, and drank wine after dinner. +This last, mother pronounced heterodox, while I, who dearly loved +the juice of the grape and sometimes left finger marks on the top +shelf, whither I had climbed for a sip from grandma's decanter, +secretly hoped I should some day dine with Nellie Gilbert, and +drink all the wine I wanted, thinking how many times I'd rinse my +mouth so mother shouldn't smell my breath!</p> +<p>In the course of a few weeks the affairs of the Gilbert family +were pretty generally canvassed in Rice Corner, Mercy Jenkins +giving it as her opinion that "Miss Gilbert was much the likeliest +of the two, and that Mr. Gilbert was cross, overbearing, and big +feeling."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II3" id="CHAPTER_II3"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>NELLIE.</h3> +<p>As yet I had only seen Nellie in the distance, and was about +despairing of making her acquaintance when accident threw her in my +way. Directly opposite our house, and just across along green +meadow, was a piece of woods which belonged to Mr. Gilbert, and +there, one afternoon early in May, I saw Nellie. I had seen her +there before, but never dared approach her; and now I divided my +time between watching her and a dense black cloud which had +appeared in the west, and was fast approaching the zenith. I was +just thinking how nice it would be if the rain should drive her to +our house for shelter, when patter, patter came the large drops in +my face; thicker and faster they fell, until it seemed like a +perfect deluge; and through the almost blinding sheet of rain I +descried Nellie coming toward me at a furious rate. With the +agility of a fawn she bounded over the gate, and with the +exclamation of, "Ain't I wetter than a drownded rat?" we were +perfectly well acquainted.</p> +<p>It took but a short time to divest her of her dripping garments, +and array her in some of mine, which Sally said "fitted her to a +T," though I fancied she looked sadly out of place in my linen +pantalets and long-sleeved dress. She was a great lover of fun and +frolic, and in less than half an hour had "ridden to Boston" on +Joe's rocking-horse, turned the little wheel faster than even I +dared to turn it, tried on grandma's stays, and then, as a crowning +feat, tried the rather dangerous experiment of riding down the +garret stairs on a board! The clatter brought up grandma, and I +felt some doubts about her relishing a kind of play which savored +so much of what she called "a racket," but the soft brown eyes +which looked at her so pleadingly were too full of love, +gentleness, and mischief to be resisted, and permission for "one +more ride" was given, "provided she'd promise not to break her +neck."</p> +<p>Oh, what fun we had that afternoon! What a big rent she tore in +my gingham frock, and what a "dear, delightful old haunted castle +of a thing" she pronounced our house to be. Darling, darling +Nellie! I shut my eyes and she comes before me again, the same +bright beautiful creature she was when I saw her first, as she was +when I saw her for the last, last time.</p> +<p>It rained until dark, and Nellie, who confidently expected to +stay all night, had whispered to me her intention of "tying our +toes together," when there came a tremendous rap upon the door, and +without waiting to be bidden in walked Mr. Gilbert, puffing and +swelling, and making himself perfectly at home, in a kind of +offhand manner, which had in it so much of condescension that I was +disgusted, and when sure Nellie would not see me I made at him a +wry face, thereby feeling greatly relieved!</p> +<p>After managing to let mother know how expensive his family was, +how much he paid yearly for wines and cigars, and how much +Adaline's education and piano had cost, he arose to go, saying to +his daughter, "Come, puss, take off those—ahem—those +habiliments, and let's be off!"</p> +<p>Nellie obeyed, and just before she was ready to start she asked, +when I would come and spend the day with her.</p> +<p>I looked at mother, mother looked at Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gilbert +looked at me, and after surveying me from head to foot said, +spitting between every other word, "Ye-es ye-es, we've come to live +in the country, and I suppose" (here he spit three successive +times), "and I suppose we may as well be on friendly terms as any +other; so, madam" (turning to mother), "I am willing to have your +little daughter visit us ocasionally." Then adding that "he would +extend the same invitation to her were it not that his wife was an +invalid and saw no company," he departed.</p> +<p>One morning, several days afterward, a servant brought to our +house a neat little note from Mrs. Gilbert, asking mother to let me +spend the day with Nellie. After some consultation between mother +and grandma, it was decided that I might go, and in less than an +hour I was dressed and on the road, my hair braided so tightly in +my neck that the little red bumps of flesh set up here and there, +like currants on a brown earthen platter.</p> +<p>Nellie did not wait to receive me formally, but came running +down the road, telling me that Robin had made a swing in the barn, +and that we would play there most all day, as her mother was sick, +and Adaline, who occupied two-thirds of the house, wouldn't let us +come near her. This Adaline was to me a very formidable personage. +Hitherto I had only caught glimpses of her, as with long skirts and +waving plumes she sometimes dashed past our house on horseback, and +it was with great trepidation that I now followed Nellie into the +parlor, where she told me her sister was.</p> +<p>"Adaline, this is my little friend," said she; and Adaline +replied:</p> +<p>"How do you do, little friend?"</p> +<p>My cheeks tingled, and for the first time raising my eyes I +found myself face to face with the haughty belle. She was very tall +and queenlike in her figure, and though she could hardly be called +handsome, there was about her an air of elegance and refinement +which partially compensated for the absence of beauty. That she was +proud one could see from the glance of her large black eyes and the +curl of her lip. Coolly surveying me for a moment, as she would any +other curious specimen, she resumed her book, never speaking to me +again, except to ask, when she saw me gazing wonderingly around the +splendidly-furnished room, "if I supposed I could remember every +article of furniture, and give a faithful report."</p> +<p>I thought I was insulted when she called me "little friend," and +now, feeling sure of it, I tartly replied that "if I couldn't she +perhaps might lend me paper and pencil, with which to write them +down."</p> +<p>"Orginally, truly," said she, again poring over her book.</p> +<p>Nellie, who had left me for a moment, now returned, bidding me +come and see her mother, and passing through the long hall, I was +soon in Mrs. Gilbert's room, which was as tastefully, though +perhaps not quite so richly, furnished as the parlor. Mrs. Gilbert +was lying upon a sofa, and the moment I looked upon her the love +which I had so freely given the daughter was shared with the +mother, in whose pale sweet face, and soft brown eyes, I saw a +strong resemblance to Nellie. She was attired in a rose-colored +morning-gown, which flowed open in front, disclosing to view a +larger quantity of rich French embroidery than I had ever before +seen.</p> +<p>Many times during the day, and many times since, have I wondered +what made her marry, and if she really loved the bearish-looking +man who occasionally stalked into the room, smoking cigars and +talking very loudly, when he knew how her head was throbbing with +pain.</p> +<p>I had eaten but little breakfast that morning, and verily I +thought I should famish before their dinner hour arrived; and when +at last it came, and I saw the table glittering with silver, I felt +many misgivings as to my ability to acquit myself creditably. But +by dint of watching Nellie, doing just what she did, and refusing +just what she refused, I managed to get through with it tolerably +well. For once, too, in my life I drank all the wine I wanted; the +result of which was that long before sunset I went home, crying and +vomiting with the sick headache, which Sally said "served me +right;" at the same time hinting her belief that I was slightly +intoxicated!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III3" id="CHAPTER_III3"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>THE HAUNTED HOUSE.</h3> +<p>Down our long, green lane, and at the further extremity of the +narrow footpath which led to the "old mine," was another path or +wagon road which wound along among the fern bushes, under the +chestnut trees, across the hemlock swamp, and up, to a grassy ridge +which overlooked a small pond, said, of course, to have no bottom. +Fully crediting this story, and knowing, moreover, that China was +opposite to us, I have often taken down my atlas and hunted through +that ancient empire, in hopes of finding a corresponding sheet of +water. Failing to do so I had made one with my pencil, writing +against it, "Cranberry Pond," that being the name of its American +brother.</p> +<p>Just above the pond on the grassy ridge stood an old, +dilapidated building which had long borne the name of the "haunted +house." I never knew whether this title was given it on account of +its proximity to the "old mine," or because it stood near the very +spot where, years and years ago, the "bloody Indians" pushed those +cart-loads of burning hemp against the doors "of the only remaining +house in Quaboag"—for which see Goodrich's Child's History, +page—, somewhere toward the commencement. I only know that +'twas called the "haunted house," and that for a long time no one +would live there, on account of the rapping, dancing, and cutting +up generally which was said to prevail, there particularly in the +west room, the one overhung with ivy and grapevines.</p> +<p>Three or four years before our story opens a widow lady, Mrs. +Hudson, with her only daughter, Mabel, appeared in our +neighborhood, hiring the "haunted house," and, in spite of the +neighbors' predictions to the contrary, living there quietly and +peaceably, unharmed by ghost or goblin. At first Mrs. Hudson was +looked upon with distrust, and even a league with a certain old +fellow was hinted at; but as she seemed to be well disposed, kind, +and affable toward all, this feeling gradually wore away, and now +she was universally liked, while Mabel, her daughter, was a general +favorite. For two years past, Mabel had worked in the Fiskdale +factory a portion of the time, going to school the remainder of the +year. She was fitting herself for a teacher, and as the school in +our district was small, the trustees had this summer kindly offered +it to her. This arrangement delighted me; for, next to Nellie +Gilbert, I loved Mabel Hudson best of anybody; and I fancied, too, +that they looked alike, but of course it was all fancy.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hudson was a tailoress, and the day following my visit to +Mr. Gilbert's I was sent by mother to take her some work. I found +her in the little porch, her white cap-border falling over her +placid face, and her wide checked apron coming nearly to the bottom +of her dress. Mabel was there, too, and as she arose to receive me +something about her reminded me of Adaline Gilbert. I could not +tell what it was, for Mabel was very beautiful, and beside her +Adaline would be plain; still there was a resemblance, either in +voice or manner, and this it was, perhaps, which made me so soon +mention the Gilberts and my visit to them the day previous.</p> +<p>Instantly Mrs. Hudson and Mabel exchanged glances, and I thought +the face of the former grew a shade paler; still I may have been +mistaken, for in her usual tone of voice she began to ask me +numberless questions concerning the family, which seemed singular, +as she was not remarkable for curiosity. But it suited me. I loved +to talk then not less than I do now, and in a few minutes I had +told all I knew—and more, too, most likely.</p> +<p>At last Mrs. Hudson asked about Mr. Gilbert, and how I liked +him.</p> +<p>"Not a bit," said I. "He's the hatefulest, crossest, +big-feelingest man I ever saw, and Adaline is just like him!"</p> +<p>Had I been a little older I might, perhaps, have wondered at the +crimson flush which my hasty words brought to Mrs. Hudson's cheek, +but I did not notice it then, and thinking she was, of course, +highly entertained, I continued to talk about Mr. Gilbert and +Adaline, in the last of whom Mabel seemed the most interested. Of +Nellie I spoke with the utmost affection, and when Mrs. Hudson +expressed a wish to see her, I promised, if possible, to bring her +there; then as I had already outstayed the time for which +permission had been given, I tied on my sunbonnet and started for +home, revolving the ways and means by which I should keep my +promise.</p> +<p>This proved to be a very easy matter; for within a few days +Nellie came to return my visit, and as mother had other company she +the more readily gave us permission to go where we pleased. Nellie +had a perfect passion for ghost and witch stories, saying though +that "she never liked to have them explained—she'd rather +they'd be left in solemn mystery;" so when I told her of the "old +mine" and the "haunted house" she immediately expressed a desire to +see them. Hiding our bonnets under our aprons the better to conceal +our intentions from sister Lizzie, who, we fancied, had serious +thoughts of <i>tagging</i>, we sent her up-stairs in quest of +something which we knew was not there, and then away we scampered +down the green lane and across the pasture, dropping once into some +alders as Lizzie's yellow hair became visible on the fence at the +foot of the lane. Our consciences smote us a little, but we kept +still until she returned to the house; then, continuing our way, we +soon came in sight of the mine, which Nellie determined to +explore.</p> +<p>It was in vain that I tried to dissuade her from the attempt. +She was resolved, and stationing myself at a safe distance I waited +while she scrambled over stones, sticks, logs, and bushes, until +she finally disappeared in the cave. Ere long, however, she +returned with soiled pantalets, torn apron, and scratched face, +saying that "the mine was nothing in the world but a hole in the +ground, and a mighty little one at that." After this I didn't know +but I would sometime venture in, but for fear of what might happen +I concluded to choose a time when I hadn't run away from Liz!</p> +<p>When I presented Nellie to Mrs. Hudson she took both her hands +in hers, and, greatly to my surprise, kissed her on both cheeks. +Then she walked hastily into the next room, but not until I saw +something fall from her eyes, which I am sure were tears.</p> +<p>"Funny, isn't it?" said Nellie, looking wonderingly at me. "I +don't know whether to laugh or what."</p> +<p>Mabel now came in, and though she manifested no particular +emotion, she was exceedingly kind to Nellie, asking her many +questions, and sometimes smoothing her brown curls. When Mrs. +Hudson again appeared she was very calm, but I noticed that her +eyes constantly rested upon Nellie, who, with Mabel's gray kitten +in her lap, was seated upon the doorstep, the very image of +childish innocence and beauty. Mrs. Hudson urged us to stay to tea +but I declined, knowing that there was company at home, with three +kinds of cake, besides cookies, for supper. So bidding her good-by, +and promising to come again, we started homeward, where we found +the ladies discussing their green tea and making large inroads upon +the three kinds of cake.</p> +<p>One of them, a Mrs. Thompson, was gifted with the art of +fortune-telling, by means of tea-grounds, and when Nellie and I +took our seats at the table she kindly offered to see what was in +store for us. She had frequently told my fortune, each time +managing to fish up a freckle-faced boy so nearly resembling her +grandson, my particular aversion, that I didn't care to hear it +again. But with Nellie 'twas all new, and after a great whirling of +tea-grounds and staining of mother's best table-cloth, she passed +her cup to Mrs. Thompson, confidently whispering to me that she +guessed she'd tell her something about Willie Raymond, who lived in +the city, and who gave her the little cornelian ring which she +wore. With the utmost gravity Mrs. Thompson read off the past and +present, and then peering far into the future she suddenly +exclaimed, "Oh, my! there's a gulf, or something, before you, and +you are going to tumble into it headlong; don't ask me anything +more."</p> +<p>I never did and never shall believe in fortune-telling, much +less in Granny Thompson's "turned-up cups," but years after I +thought of her prediction with regard to Nellie. Poor, poor +Nellie!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV3" id="CHAPTER_IV3"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>JEALOUSY.</h3> +<p>On the first Monday in June our school commenced, and long +before breakfast Lizzie and I were dressed and had turned inside +out the little cupboard over the fireplace where our books were +kept during vacation. Breakfast being over we deposited in our +dinner-basket the whole of a custard pie, and were about starting +off when mother said "we shouldn't go a step until half-past +eight," adding further, that "we must put that pie back, for 'twas +one she'd saved for their own dinner."</p> +<p>Lizzie pouted, while I cried, and taking my bonnet I repaired to +the "great rock," where the sassafras, blackberries, and +blacksnakes grew. Here I sat for a long time, thinking if I ever +did grow up and get married (I was sure of the latter), I'd have +all the custard pie I could eat for once! In the midst of my +reverie a footstep sounded near, and looking up I saw before me +Nellie Gilbert, with her satchel of books on her arm, and her +sunbonnet hanging down her back, after the fashion in which I +usually wore mine. In reply to my look of inquiry she said her +father had concluded to let her go to the district school, though +he didn't expect her to learn anything but "slang terms and ill +manners."</p> +<p>By this time it was half-past eight, and together with Lizzie we +repaired to the schoolhouse, where we found assembled a dozen girls +and as many boys, among whom was Tom Jenkins. Tom was a great +admirer of beauty, and hence I could never account for the +preference he had hitherto shown for me, who my brothers called +"bung-eyed" and Sally "raw-boned." He, however, didn't think so. My +eyes, he said, were none too large, and many a night had he carried +home my books for me, and many a morning had he brought me nuts and +raisins, to say nothing of the time when I found in my desk a +little note, which said—But everybody who's been to school, +knows what it said!</p> +<p>Taking it all round we were as good as engaged; so you can judge +what my feelings were when, before the night of Nellie's first day +at school, I saw Tom Jenkins giving her an orange which I had every +reason to think was originally intended for me! I knew very well +that Nellie's brown curls and eyes had done the mischief; and +though I did not love her the less, I blamed him the more for his +fickleness, for only a week before he had praised my eyes, calling +them a "beautiful indigo blue," and all that. I was highly +incensed, and when on our way from school he tried to speak +good-humoredly, I said, "I'd thank you to let me alone! I don't +like you, and never did!"</p> +<p>He looked sorry for a minute, but soon forgot it all in talking +to Nellie, who after he had left us said "he was a cleverish kind +of boy, though he couldn't begin with William Raymond." After that +I was very cool toward Tom, who attached himself more and more to +Nellie, saying "she had the handsomest eyes he ever saw;" and, +indeed, I think it chiefly owing to those soft, brown, dreamy eyes +that I am not now "Mrs. Tom Jenkins of Jenkinsville," a place way +out West, whither Tom and his mother have migrated.</p> +<p>One day Nellie was later at school than usual, giving as a +reason that their folks had company—a Mr. Sherwood and his +mother, from Hartford; and adding that if I'd never tell anybody as +long as I lived and breathed she'd tell me something.</p> +<p>Of course I promised, and Nellie told me how she guessed that +Mr. Sherwood, who was rich and handsome, liked Adaline. "Anyway, +Adaline likes him," said she, "and oh, she's so nice and good when +he's around. I ain't 'Nell, you hateful thing' then, but I'm +'Sister Nellie.' They are going to ride this morning, and perhaps +they'll go by here. There they are, now!" and looking toward the +road I saw Mr. Sherwood and Adaline Gilbert on horseback, riding +leisurely past the schoolhouse. She was nodding to Nellie, but he +was looking intently at Mabel, who was sitting near the window. I +know he asked Adaline something about her, for I distinctly heard a +part of her reply—"a poor factory girl," and Adaline's head +tossed scornfully, as if that were a sufficient reason why Mabel +should be despised.</p> +<p>Mr. Sherwood evidently did not think so, for the next day he +walked by alone—and the next day he did the same, this time +bringing with him a book, and seating himself in the shadow of a +chestnut tree not far from the schoolhouse. The moment school was +out, he arose and came forward, inquiring for Nellie, who, of +course, introduced him to Mabel. The three then walked on together, +while Tom Jenkins stayed in the rear with me, wondering what I +wanted to act so for; "couldn't a feller like more than one girl if +he wanted to?"</p> +<p>"Yes, I s'posed a feller could, though I didn't know, nor +care!"</p> +<p>Tom made no reply, but whittled away upon a bit of shingle, +which finally assumed the shape of a heart, and which I afterward +found in his desk with the letter "N" written upon it, and then +scratched out. When at last we reached our house Mr. Sherwood asked +Nellie "where that old mine and sawmill were, of which she had told +him so much."</p> +<p>"Right on Miss Hudson's way home," said Nellie. "Let's walk +along with her;" and the next moment Mr. Sherwood, Mabel, and +Nellie were in the long, green lane which led down to the +sawmill.</p> +<p>Oh, how Adaline stormed when she heard of it, and how sneeringly +she spoke to Mr. Sherwood of the "factory girl," insinuating that +the bloom on her cheek was paint, and the lily on her brow powder! +But he probably did not believe it, for almost every day he passed +the schoolhouse, generally managing to speak with Mabel; and once +he went all the way home with her, staying ever so long, too, for I +watched until 'twas pitch dark, and he hadn't got back yet!</p> +<p>In a day or two he went home, and I thought no more about him, +until Tom, who had been to the post-office, brought Mabel a letter, +which made her turn red and white alternately, until at last she +cried. She was very absent-minded the remainder of that day, +letting us do as we pleased, and never in my life did I have a +better time "carrying on" than I did that afternoon when Mabel +received her first letter from Mr. Sherwood.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V3" id="CHAPTER_V3"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>NEW RELATIONS.</h3> +<p>About six weeks after the close of Mabel's school we were one +day startled with the intelligence that she was going to be +married, and to Mr. Sherwood, too. He had become tired of the +fashionable ladies of his acquaintance, and when he saw how pure +and artless Mabel was, he immediately became interested in her; and +at last, overcoming all feelings of pride, he had offered her his +hand, and had been accepted. At first we could hardly credit the +story; but when Mrs. Hudson herself confirmed it we gave it up, and +again I wondered if I should be invited. All the nicest and best +chestnuts which I could find, to say nothing of the apples and +butternuts, I carried to her, not without my reward either, for +when invitations came to us I was included with the rest. Our +family were the only invited guests, and I felt no fears this time +of being hidden by the crowd.</p> +<p>Just before the ceremony commenced there was the sound of a +heavy footstep upon the outer porch, a loud knock at the door, and +then into the room came Mr. Gilbert! He seemed slightly agitated, +but not one-half so much as Mrs. Hudson, who exclaimed, "William, +my son, why are you here?"</p> +<p>"I came to witness my sister's bridal," was the answer; and +turning toward the clergyman, he said, somewhat authoritatively, +"Do not delay for me, sir. Go on."</p> +<p>There was a movement in the next room, and then the bridal party +entered, both starting with surprise as they saw Mr. Gilbert. Very +beautiful did Mabel look as she stood up to take upon herself the +marriage vow, not a syllable of which did one of us hear. We were +thinking of Mr. Gilbert, and the strange words, "my son" and "my +sister."</p> +<p>When it was over, and Mabel was Mrs. Sherwood, Mr. Gilbert +approached Mrs. Hudson, saying, "Come, mother, let me lead you to +the bride."</p> +<p>With an impatient gesture she waved him off, and going alone to +her daughter, threw her arms around her neck, sobbing convulsively. +There was an awkward silence, and then Mr. Gilbert, thinking he was +called upon for an explanation, arose, and addressing himself +mostly to Mr. Sherwood, said, "I suppose what has transpired here +to-night seems rather strange, and will undoubtedly furnish the +neighborhood with gossip for more than a week, but they are welcome +to canvass, whatever I do. I can't help it if I was born with an +unusual degree of pride, neither can I help feeling mortified, as I +many times did, at my family, particularly after she," glancing at +his mother, "married the man whose name she bears."</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Hudson lifted up her head, and coming to Mr. Gilbert's +side, stood proudly erect, while he continued: "She would tell you +he was a good man, but I hated him, and swore never to enter the +house while he lived. I went away, took care of myself, grew rich, +married into one of the first families in Hartford, +and—and—"</p> +<p>Here he paused, and his mother, continuing the sentence, added, +"and grew ashamed of your own mother, who many a time went without +the comforts of life that you might be educated. You were always a +proud, wayward boy, William, but never did I think you would do as +you have done. You have treated me with utter neglect, never +allowing your wife to see me, and when I once proposed visiting you +in Hartford you asked your brother, now dead, to dissuade me from +it, if possible, for you could not introduce me to your +acquaintances as your mother. Never do you speak of me to your +children, who, if they know they have a grandmother, little dream +that she lives within a mile of their father's dwelling. One of +them I have seen, and my heart yearned toward her as it did toward +you when first I took you in my arms, my first-born baby; and yet, +William, I thank Heaven there is in her sweet face no trace of her +father's features. This may sound harsh, unmotherly, but greatly +have I been sinned against, and now, just as a brighter day is +dawning upon me, why have you come here? Say, William, why?"</p> +<p>By the time Mrs. Hudson had finished, nearly all in the room +were weeping. Mr. Gilbert, however, seemed perfectly indifferent, +and with the most provoking coolness replied, "I came to see my +fair sister married—to congratulate her upon an alliance +which will bring us upon a more equal footing."</p> +<p>"You greatly mistake me, sir," said Mr. Sherwood, turning +haughtily toward Mr. Gilbert, at the same time drawing Mabel nearer +to him; "you greatly mistake me, if, after what I have heard, you +think I would wish for your acquaintance. If my wife, when poor and +obscure, was not worthy of your attention, <i>you</i> certainly are +not now worthy of hers, and it is my request that our intercourse +should end here."</p> +<p>Mr. Gilbert muttered something about "extenuating +circumstances," and "the whole not being told," but no one paid him +any attention; and at last, snatching up his hat, he precipitately +left the house, I sending after him a hearty good riddance, and +mentally hoping he would measure his length in the ditch which he +must pass on his way across Hemlock Swamp.</p> +<p>The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood departed on their bridal +tour, intending on their return to take their mother with them to +the city. Several times during their absence I saw Mr. Gilbert, +either going to or returning from the "haunted house," and I +readily guessed he was trying to talk his mother over, for nothing +could be more mortifying than to be cut by the Sherwoods, who were +among the first in Hartford.</p> +<p>Afterward, greatly to my satisfaction, I heard that though, +motherlike, Mrs. Hudson had forgiven her son, Mr. Sherwood ever +treated him with a cool haughtiness, which effectually kept him at +a distance.</p> +<p>Once, indeed, at Mabel's earnest request, Mrs. Gilbert and +Nellie were invited to visit her, and as the former was too feeble +to accomplish the journey, Nellie went alone, staying a long time, +and torturing her sister on her return with a glowing account of +the elegantly-furnished house, of which Adaline had once hoped to +be the proud mistress.</p> +<p>For several years after Mabel's departure from Rice Corner +nothing especial occurred in the Gilbert family, except the +marriage of Adaline with a rich bachelor, who must have been many +years older than her father, for he colored his whiskers, wore +false teeth and a wig, besides having, as Nellie declared, a wooden +leg! For the truth of this last I will not vouch, as Nellie's +assertion was only founded upon the fact of her having once looked +through the keyhole of his door, and espied standing by his bed +something which looked like a cork leg, but which might have been a +boot! What Adaline saw in him to like I could never guess. I +suppose, however, that she only looked at his rich gilding, which +covered a multitude of defects.</p> +<p>Immediately after the wedding the happy pair started for a +two-years' tour in Europe, where the youthful bride so enraged her +bald-headed lord by flirting with a mustached Frenchman that in a +fit of anger the old man picked up his goods, chattels, and wife, +and returned to New York within three months of his leaving it!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI3" id="CHAPTER_VI3"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>POOR, POOR NELLIE.</h3> +<p>And now, in the closing chapter of this brief sketch of the +Gilberts, I come to the saddest part—the fate of poor Nellie, +the dearest playmate my childhood ever knew, she whom the lapse of +years ripened into a graceful, beautiful girl, loved by everybody, +even by Tom Jenkins, whose boyish affection had grown with his +growth and strengthened with his strength.</p> +<p>And now Nellie was the affianced bride of William Raymond, who +had replaced the little cornelian with the engagement ring. At last +the rumor reached Tom Jenkins, awaking him from the sweetest dream +he had ever known. He could not ask Nellie if it were true, so he +came to me; and when I saw how he grew pale and trembled, I felt +that Nellie was not altogether blameless. But he breathed no word +of censure against her; and when, a year or two afterward, I saw +her given to William Raymond, I knew that the love of two hearts +was hers; the one to cherish and watch over her, the other to love +and worship, silently, secretly, as a miser worships his hidden +treasure.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>The bridal was over. The farewells were over, and Nellie had +gone—gone from the home whose sunlight she had made, and +which she had left forever. Sadly the pale, sick mother wept, and +mourned her absence, listening in vain for the light footfall and +soft, ringing voice she would never hear again.</p> +<p>Three weeks had passed away, and then, far and near the papers +teemed with accounts of the horrible Norwalk catastrophe, which +desolated many a home, and wrung from many a heart its choicest +treasure. Side by side they found them—Nellie and her +husband—the light of her brown eyes quenched forever, and the +pulses of his heart still in death!</p> +<p>I was present when they told the poor invalid of her loss, and +even now I seem to hear the bitter, wailing cry which broke from +her white lips, as she begged them to unsay what they had said, and +tell her Nellie was not dead—that she would come back +again.</p> +<p>It could not be. Nellie would never return; and in six weeks' +time the broken-hearted mother was at rest with her child.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_THANKSGIVING_PARTY_AND_ITS_CONSEQUENCES" id= +"THE_THANKSGIVING_PARTY_AND_ITS_CONSEQUENCES"></a>THE THANKSGIVING +PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I4" id="CHAPTER_I4"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING.</h3> +<p>"Oh, I do hope it will be pleasant to-morrow," said Lizzie +Dayton, as on the night before Thanksgiving she stood at the parlor +window, watching a dense mass of clouds, behind which the sun had +lately gone to his nightly rest.</p> +<p>"I hope so, too," said Lucy, coming forward and joining her +sister; "but then it isn't likely it will be. There has been a big +circle around the moon these three nights, and besides that, I +never knew it fail to storm when I was particularly anxious that it +should be pleasant;" and the indignant beauty pouted very +becomingly at the insult so frequently offered by that most +capricious of all things, the weather.</p> +<p>"Thee shouldn't talk so, Lucy," said Grandma Dayton, who was of +Quaker descent, at the same time holding up between herself and the +window the long stocking which she was knitting. "Doesn't thee know +that when thee is finding fault with the weather thee finds fault +with Him who made the weather?"</p> +<p>"I do wish, grandma," answered Lucy, "that I could ever say +anything which did not furnish you with a text from which to preach +me a sermon."</p> +<p>Grandma did not reply directly to this rather uncivil speech, +but, she continued: "I don't see how the weather will hurt thee, if +it's the party thee is thinking of, for Mr. Graham's is only ten +rods or so from here.</p> +<p>"I'm not afraid I can't go," answered Lucy; "but you know as +well as I that if the wind blows enough to put out a candle, father +is so old-maidish as to think Lizzie and I must wear thick +stockings and dresses, and I shouldn't wonder if he insisted on +flannel wrappers!"</p> +<p>"Well," answered grandma, "I think myself it will be very +imprudent for Lizzie, in her present state of health, to expose her +neck and arms. Thy poor marm died with consumption when she wasn't +much older than thee is. Let me see—she was twenty-three the +day she died, and thee was twenty-two in Sep—"</p> +<p>"For heaven's sake, grandmother," interrupted Lucy, "don't +continually remind me of my age, and tell me how much younger +mother was when she was married. I can't help it if I'm twenty-two, +and not married or engaged either. But I will be both before I am a +year older."</p> +<p>So saying, she quitted the apartment, and repaired to her own +room.</p> +<p>Ere we follow her thither we will introduce both her and her +sister to our readers. Lucy and Lizzie were the only children of +Mr. Dayton, a wealthy, intelligent, and naturally social man, the +early death of whose idolized, beautiful wife had thrown a deep +gloom over his spirits, which time could never entirely dispel. It +was now seventeen years since, a lonely, desolate widower, at the +dusky twilight hour he had drawn closely to his bosom his +motherless children, and thought that but for them he would gladly +have lain down by her whose home was now in heaven. His +acquaintances spoke lightly of his grief, saying he would soon get +over it and marry again. They were mistaken, for he remained +single, his widowed mother supplying to his daughters the place of +their lost parent.</p> +<p>In one thing was Mr. Dayton rather peculiar. Owing to the death +of his wife, he had always been in the habit of dictating to his +daughters in various small matters, such as dress, and so forth, +about which fathers seldom trouble themselves. And even now he +seemed to forget that they were children no longer, and often +interfered in their plans in a way exceedingly annoying to Lucy, +the eldest of the girls, who was now twenty-two and was as proud, +selfish, and self-willed as she was handsome and accomplished. Old +maids she held in great abhorrence, and her great object in life +was to secure a wealthy and distinguished husband. Hitherto she had +been unsuccessful, for the right one had not yet appeared. Now, +however, a new star was dawning on her horizon, in the person of +Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans. His fame had preceded him, and half +the village of S—— were ready to do homage to the proud +millionaire, who would make his first appearance at the +Thanksgiving party. This, then, was the reason why Lucy felt so +anxious to be becomingly dressed, for she had resolved upon a +conquest, and she felt sure of success. She knew she was beautiful. +Her companions told her so, her mirror told her so, and her sweet +sister Lizzie told her so more then twenty times a day.</p> +<p>Lizzie was four years younger than her sister, and wholly unlike +her, both in personal appearance and disposition. She had from +childhood evinced a predisposition to the disease which had +consigned her mother to an early grave. On her fair, soft cheek the +rose of health had never bloomed, and in the light which shone from +her clear hazel eye, her fond father read but too clearly "passing +away—passing away."</p> +<p>If there was in Lucy Dayton's selfish nature any redeeming +quality, it was that she possessed for her frail young sister a +love amounting almost to adoration. Years before, she had trembled +as she thought how soon the time might come when for her sister's +merry voice she would listen in vain; but as month after month and +year after year went by, and still among them Lizzie stayed, Lucy +forgot her fears, and dreamed not that ere long one chair would be +vacant—that Lizzie would be gone.</p> +<p>Although so much younger than her sister, Lizzie, for more than +a year, had been betrothed to Harry Graham, whom she had known from +childhood. Now, between herself and him the broad Atlantic rolled, +nor would he return until the coming autumn, when, with her +father's consent, Lizzie would be all his own.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Alas! alas! ere autumn came<br /></span> +<span class="i2">How many hearts were weeping<br /></span> +<span>For her who 'neath the willow's shade<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Lay sweetly, calmly sleeping.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II4" id="CHAPTER_II4"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THANKSGIVING DAY.</h3> +<p>Slowly the feeble light of a stormy morning broke over the +village of S——. Lucy's fears had been verified, for +Thanksgiving's dawn was ushered in by a fierce, driving storm. +Thickly from the blackened clouds the feathery flakes had fallen +until the earth far and near was covered by a mass of white, +untrodden snow.</p> +<p>Lucy had been awake for a long time, listening to the sad song +of the wind, which swept howling by the casement. At length, with +an impatient frown at the snow which covered the window pane, she +turned on her pillow, and tried again to sleep. Her slumbers, +however, were soon disturbed by her sister, who arose, and putting +aside the curtain, looked out upon the storm, saying half-aloud, +"Oh, I am sorry, for Lucy will be disappointed."</p> +<p>"I disappointed!" repeated Lucy; "now, Lizzie, why not own it, +and say you are as much provoked at the weather as I am, and wish +this horrid storm had stayed in the icy caves of Greenland?"</p> +<p>"Because," answered Lizzie, "I really care but little about the +party. You know Harry will not be there, and besides that, the old, +ugly pain has come back to my side this morning;" and even as she +spoke a low, hacking cough fell on Lucy's ear like the echo of a +distant knell.</p> +<p>Lucy raised herself up, and leaning on her elbow looked +earnestly at her sister, and fancied ('twas not all fancy), that +her cheeks had grown thinner and her brow whiter within a few +weeks. Lizzie proceeded with her toilet, although she was twice +obliged to stop on account of "the ugly pain," as she called +it.</p> +<p>"Hurry, sister," said Lucy, "and you will feel better when you +get to the warm parlor."</p> +<p>Lizzie thought so, too, and she accelerated her movements as +much as possible. Just as she was leaving the room Lucy detained +her a moment by passing her arm caressingly around her. Lizzie well +knew that some favor was wanted, and she said, "Well, what is it, +Lucy? What do you wish me to give you?"</p> +<p>"Nothing, nothing," answered Lucy; "but do not say anything to +father about the pain in your side, for fear he will keep you at +home, and, worse than all, make me stay, too."</p> +<p>Lizzie gave the required promise, and then descended to the +breakfast parlor, where she found her grandmother, and was soon +joined by her sister and father. After the usual salutation of the +morning the latter said "There is every prospect of our being alone +to-day, for the snow is at least a foot and a half deep, and is +drifting every moment."</p> +<p>"But, father," said Lucy, "that will not prevent Lizzie and me +from going to the party to-night."</p> +<p>"You mean, if I choose to let you go, of course," answered Mr. +Dayton.</p> +<p>"Why," quickly returned Lucy, "you cannot think of keeping us at +home. It is only distant a few rods, and we will wrap up well."</p> +<p>"I have no objections to your going," replied Mr. Dayton, +"provided you dress suitably for such a night."</p> +<p>"Oh, father," said Lucy, "you cannot be capricious enough to +wish us to be bundled up in bags."</p> +<p>"I care but little what dress you wear," answered Mr. Dayton, +"if it has what I consider necessary appendages, viz., sleeves and +waist."</p> +<p>The tears glittered in Lucy's bright eyes as she said, "Our +party dresses are at Miss Carson's, and she is to send them home +this morning."</p> +<p>"Wear them, then," answered Mr. Dayton, "provided they possess +the qualities I spoke of, for without those you cannot go out on +such a night as this will be."</p> +<p>Lucy knew that her dress was minus the sleeves, and that her +father would consider the waist a mere apology for one, so she +burst into tears and said, rather angrily, "I had rather stay at +home than go rigged out as you would like to have me."</p> +<p>"Very well; you can stay at home," was Mr. Dayton's quiet +reply.</p> +<p>In a few moments he left the room, and then Lucy's wrath burst +forth unrestrainedly. She called her father all sorts of names, +such as "an old granny—an old fidget," and finished up her +list with what she thought the most odious appellation of all, "an +old maid."</p> +<p>In the midst of her tirade the door bell rang. It was the boy +from Miss Carson's, and he brought the party dresses. Lucy's +thoughts now took another channel, and while admiring her beautiful +embroidered muslin and rich white satin skirt, she forgot that she +could not wear it. Grandma was certainly unfortunate in her choice +of words, this morning, for when Lucy for the twentieth time asked +if her dress were not a perfect beauty, the old Quakeress +answered:</p> +<p>"Why, it looks very decent, but it can do thee no good, for thy +pa has said thee cannot wear it; besides, the holy writ reads, 'Let +your adorning—'"</p> +<p>Here Lucy stopped her ears, exclaiming, "I do believe, grandma, +you were manufactured from a chapter in the Bible, for you throw +your holy writ into my face on all occasions."</p> +<p>The good lady adjusted her spectacles, and replied, "How thee +talks! I never thought of throwing my Bible at thee, Lucy!"</p> +<p>Grandma had understood her literally.</p> +<p>Nothing more was said of the party until dinner time, although +there was a determined look in Lucy's flashing eye, which puzzled +Lizzie not a little. Owing to the storm, Mr. Dayton's country +cousins did not, as was their usual custom, come into town to dine +with him, and for this Lucy was thankful, for she thought nothing +could be more disagreeable than to be compelled to sit all day and +ask Cousin Peter how much his fatting hogs weighed; or his wife, +Elizabeth Betsey, how many teeth the baby had got; or, worse than +all the rest, if the old maid, Cousin Berintha, were present, to be +obliged to be asked at least three times, whether it's twenty-four +or twenty-five she'd be next September, and on saying it was only +twenty-three, have her word disputed and the family Bible brought +in question. Even then Miss Berintha would demur, until she had +taken the Bible to the window, and squinted to see if the year had +not been scratched out and rewritten! Then closing the book with a +profound sigh she would say, "I never, now! it beats all how much +older you look!"</p> +<p>All these annoyances Lucy was spared on this day, for neither +Cousin Peter, Elizabeth Betsey, or Miss Berintha made their +appearance. At the dinner table Mr. Dayton remarked quietly to his +daughters, "I believe you have given up attending the party!"</p> +<p>"Oh, no, father," said Lucy, "we are going, Lizzie and I."</p> +<p>"And what about your dress?" asked Mr. Dayton.</p> +<p>Lucy bit her lip as she replied, "Why, of course, we must dress +to suit you, or stay at home."</p> +<p>Lizzie looked quickly at her sister, as if asking how long since +she had come to this conclusion; but Lucy's face was calm and +unruffled, betraying no secrets, although her tongue did when, +after dinner, she found herself alone with Lizzie in their +dressing-room. A long conversation followed, in which Lucy seemed +trying to persuade Lizzie to do something wrong. Possessed of the +stronger mind, Lucy's influence over her sister was great, and +sometimes a bad one, but never before had she proposed an open act +of disobedience toward their father, and Lizzie constantly replied, +"No, no, Lucy, I can't do it; besides, I really think I ought not +to go, for that pain in my side is no better."</p> +<p>"Nonsense, Lizzie," said Lucy. "If you are going to be as +whimsical as Miss Berintha you had better begin at once to dose +yourself with burdock or catnip tea." Then, again recurring to the +dress, she continued, "Father did not say we must not wear them +after we got there. I shall take mine, anyway, and I wish you would +do the same; and then, if he ever knows it, he will not be as much +displeased when he finds that you, too, are guilty."</p> +<p>After a time, Lizzie was persuaded, but her happiness for that +day was destroyed, and when at tea-time her father asked if she +felt quite well, she could scarcely keep from bursting into tears. +Lucy, however, came to her relief, and said she was feeling blue +because Harry would not be present! Just before the hour for the +party Lucy descended to the parlor, where her father was reading, +in order, as she said, to let him see whether her dress were fussy +enough to suit him. He approved her taste, and after asking if +Lizzie, too, were dressed in the same manner, resumed his paper. +Ere long the covered sleigh stood at the door, and in a few moments +Lucy and Lizzie were in Anna Graham's dressing-room, undergoing the +process of a second toilet.</p> +<p>Nothing could be more beautiful than was Lucy Dayton, after +party dress, bracelets, curls, and flowers had all been adjusted. +She probably thought so, too, for a smile of satisfaction curled +her lip as she saw the radiant vision reflected by the mirror. Her +bright eye flashed, and her heart swelled with pride as she +thought, "Yes, there's no help for it, I shall win him sure;" then +turning to Anna Graham, she asked, "Is that Mr. St. Leon to be here +to-night?"</p> +<p>"Yes, you know he is," answered Anna, "and I pity him, for I see +you are all equipped for an attack; but," continued she, glancing +at Lizzie, "were not little Lizzie's heart so hedged up by brother +Hal, I should say your chance was small."</p> +<p>Lucy looked at her sister, and a chill struck her heart as she +observed a spasm of pain which for an instant contracted Lizzie's +fair, sweet face. Anna noticed it, too, and springing toward her, +said, "What is it, Lizzie? are you ill?"</p> +<p>"No," answered Lizzie, laying her hand on her side; "nothing but +a sharp pain. It will soon be better;" but while she spoke her +teeth almost chattered with the cold.</p> +<p>Oh, Lizzie, Lizzie!</p> +<p>For a short time, now, we will leave the young ladies in Miss +Graham's dressing-room, and transport our readers to another part +of the village.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III4" id="CHAPTER_III4"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>ADA HARCOURT.</h3> +<p>In a small and neat, but scantily furnished chamber, a poor +widow was preparing her only child, Ada, for the party. The plain, +white muslin dress of two years old had been washed and ironed so +carefully that Ada said it looked just as well as new; but then +everything looked well on Ada Harcourt, who was highly gifted, both +with intellect and beauty. After her dress was arranged she went to +the table for her old white gloves, the cleaning of which had cost +her much trouble, for her mother did not seem to be at all +interested in them, so Ada did as well as she could. As she was +about to put them on her mother returned from a drawer, into the +recesses of which she had been diving, and from which she brought a +paper carefully folded.</p> +<p>"Here, Ada," said she, "you need not wear those gloves; see +here"—and she held up a pair of handsome mitts, a fine linen +handkerchief, and a neat little gold pin.</p> +<p>"Oh, mother, mother!" said Ada joyfully, "where did you get +them?"</p> +<p>"I know," answered Mrs. Harcourt, "and that is enough."</p> +<p>After a moment's thought Ada knew, too. The little hoard of +money her mother had laid by for a warm winter shawl had been spent +for her. From Ada's lustrous blue eyes the tears were dropping as, +twining her arm around her mother's neck, she said, "Naughty, +naughty mother!" but there was a knock at the door. The sleigh +which Anna Graham had promised to send for Ada had come; so dashing +away her tears, and adjusting her new mitts and pin, she was soon +warmly wrapped up, and on her way to Mr. Graham's.</p> +<p>"In the name of the people, who is that?" said Lucy Dayton, as +Anna Graham entered the dressing-room, accompanied by a bundle of +something securely shielded from the cold.</p> +<p>The removal of the hood soon showed Lucy who it was, and with an +exclamation of surprise she turned inquiringly to a young lady who +was standing near. To her look the young lady replied, "A freak of +Anna's, I suppose. She thinks a great deal of those Harcourts."</p> +<p>An impatient "pshaw!" burst from Lucy's lips, accompanied with +the words, "I wonder who she thinks wants to associate with that +plebeian!"</p> +<p>The words, the look, and the tone caught Ada's eye and ear, and +instantly blighted her happiness. In the joy and surprise of +receiving an invitation to the party it had never occurred to her +that she might be slighted there, and she was not prepared for +Lucy's unkind remark. For an instant the tears moistened her long +silken eyelashes, and a deeper glow mantled her usually bright +cheek; but this only increased her beauty, which tended to increase +Lucy's vexation. Lucy knew that in her own circle there was none to +dispute her claim; but she knew, too, that in a low-roofed house, +in the outskirts of the town, there dwelt a poor sewing woman, +whose only daughter was famed for her wondrous beauty. Lucy had +frequently seen Ada in the streets, but never before had she met +her, and she now determined to treat her with the utmost +disdain.</p> +<p>Not so was Lizzie affected by the presence of "the plebeian." +Mrs. Harcourt had done plain sewing for her father, and Lizzie had +frequently called there for the work. In this way an acquaintance +had been commenced between herself and Ada which had ripened into +friendship. Lizzie, too, had heard the remark of her sister, and, +anxious to atone as far as possible for the unkindness, she went up +to Ada, expressed her pleasure at seeing her there, and then, as +the young ladies were about descending to the parlors, she offered +her arm, saying, "I will accompany you down, but, I have no doubt +scores of beaus will quickly take you off my hands."</p> +<p>The parlors were nearly filled when our party reached them, and +Ada half-tremblingly clung to Lizzie's arm, while, with queen-like +grace and dignity, Lucy Dayton moved through the crowded +drawing-room. Her quick eye had scanned each gentleman, but her +search was fruitless. <i>He</i> was not there, and during the next +half-hour she listened rather impatiently to the tide of flattery +poured into her ear by some one of her admirers. Suddenly there was +a stir at the door, and Mr. St. Leon was announced. He was a tall, +fine-looking man, probably about twenty-five years of age. The +expression of his face was remarkably pleasing, and such as would +lead an entire stranger to trust him, sure that his confidence +would not be misplaced. His manners were highly polished, and in +his dignified, self-possessed bearing, there was something which +some called pride, but in all the wide world there was not a more +generous heart than that of Hugh St. Leon.</p> +<p>Lucy for a moment watched him narrowly, and then her feelings +became perfectly calm, for she felt sure that now, for the first +time, she looked upon her future husband! Ere long Anna Graham +approached, accompanied by the gentleman, whom she introduced, and +then turning, left them alone. Lucy would have given almost +anything to have known whether St. Leon had requested an +introduction, but no means of information were at hand, so she bent +all her energies to be as agreeable as possible to the handsome +stranger at her side, who each moment seemed more and more pleased +with her.</p> +<p>Meantime, in another part of the room Lizzie and Ada were the +center of attraction. The same kindness which prompted Anna Graham +to invite Ada was careful to see that she did not feel neglected. +For this purpose Anna's brother, Charlie, a youth of sixteen, had +been instructed to pay her particular attention. This he was not +unwilling to do, for he knew no reason why she should not be +treated politely, even if she were a sewing woman's daughter. +Others of the company, observing how attentive Charlie and Lizzie +were to the beautiful girl, felt disposed to treat her graciously, +so that to her the evening was passing very happily.</p> +<p>When St. Leon entered the room the hum of voices prevented Ada +from hearing his name; neither was she aware of his presence until +he had been full fifteen minutes conversing with Lucy. Then her +attention was directed toward him by Lizzie. For a moment Ada gazed +as if spellbound; then a dizziness crept over her, and she +nervously grasped the little plain gold ring which encircled the +third finger of her left hand!</p> +<p>Turning to Lizzie, who, fortunately, had not noticed her +agitation, she said, "What did you say his name was?"</p> +<p>"St. Leon, from New Orleans," replied Lizzie.</p> +<p>"Then I'm not mistaken," Ada said inaudibly.</p> +<p>At that moment Anna Graham approached, and whispered something +to Ada, who gave a startled look, saying, "Oh, no, Miss Anna; you +would not have me make myself ridiculous."</p> +<p>"Certainly not," answered Anna; "neither will you do so, for +some of your songs you sing most beautifully. Do come; I wish to +surprise my friends."</p> +<p>Ada consented rather unwillingly, and Anna led her toward the +music-room, followed by a dozen or more, all of whom wondered what +a sewing woman's daughter knew about music. On their way to the +piano they passed near St. Leon and Lucy, the former of whom +started as his eye fell upon Ada.</p> +<p>"I did not think there was another such face in the world," said +he, apparently to himself; then turning to Lucy, he asked who that +beautiful girl was.</p> +<p>"Which one?" asked Lucy; "there are many beauties here +to-night."</p> +<p>"I mean the one with the white muslin, and dark auburn curls," +said St. Leon.</p> +<p>Lucy's brow darkened but she answered, "That? oh, that is Ada +Harcourt. Her mother is a poor sewing woman. I never met Ada +before, and cannot conceive how she came to be here; but then the +Grahams are peculiar in their notions, and I suppose it was a whim +of Anna's."</p> +<p>Without knowing it, St. Leon had advanced some steps toward the +door through which Ada had disappeared. Lucy followed him, vexed +beyond measure that the despised Ada Harcourt should even have +attracted his attention.</p> +<p>"Is she as accomplished as handsome?" asked he.</p> +<p>"Why, of course not," answered Lucy, with a forced laugh. +"Poverty, ignorance, and vulgarity go together, usually, I +believe."</p> +<p>St. Leon gave her a rapid, searching glance, in which +disappointment was mingled, but before he could reply there was the +sound of music. It was a sweet, bird-like voice which floated +through the rooms, and the song it sang was a favorite one of St. +Leon's, who was passionately fond of music.</p> +<p>"Let us go nearer," said he to Lucy, who, nothing loath, +accompanied him, for she, too, was anxious to know who it was that +thus chained each listener into silence.</p> +<p>St. Leon at length got a sight of the singer, and said with +evident pleasure, "Why, it's Miss Harcourt!"</p> +<p>"Miss Harcourt! Ada Harcourt!" exclaimed Lucy. "Impossible! Why, +her mother daily toils for the bread they eat!"</p> +<p>But if St. Leon heard her, he answered not. His senses were +locked in those strains of music which recalled memories of +something, he scarcely knew what, and Lucy found herself standing +alone, her heart swelling with anger toward Ada, who from that time +was her hated rival. The music ceased, but scores of voices were +loud in their call for another song; and again Ada sang, but this +time there was in the tones of her voice a thrilling power, for +which those who listened could not account. To Ada the atmosphere +about her seemed charmed, for though she never for a moment raised +her eyes, she well knew who it was that leaned upon the piano and +looked intently upon her. Again the song was finished, and then at +St. Leon's request he was introduced to the singer, who returned +his salutation with perfect self-possession, although her heart +beat quickly, as she hoped, yet half-feared, that that he would +recognize her. But he did not, and as they passed together into the +next room he wondered much why the hand which lay upon his arm +trembled so violently, while Ada said to herself, "'Tis not strange +he doesn't know me by this name." Whether St. Leon knew her or not, +there seemed about her some strong attraction, which kept him at +her side the remainder of the evening, greatly to Lucy Dayton's +mortification and displeasure.</p> +<p>"I'll be revenged on her yet," she muttered. "The upstart! I +wonder where she learned to play."</p> +<p>This last sentence was said aloud; and Lizzie, who was standing +near, replied, "Her father was once wealthy and Ada had the best of +teachers. Since she has lived in S—— she has +occasionally practised on Anna's piano."</p> +<p>"I think I'd keep a piano for paupers to play on," was Lucy's +contemptuous reply, uttered with no small degree of bitterness, for +at that moment St. Leon approached her with the object of her +dislike leaning upon his arm.</p> +<p>Ada introduced Lizzie to St. Leon, who offered her his other +arm, and the three kept together until Lizzie, uttering a low, +sharp cry of pain leaned heavily as if for support against St. +Leon. In an instant Lucy was at her side; but to all her anxious +inquiries Lizzie could only reply, as she clasped her thin, white +hand over her side, "The pain—the pain—take me +home."</p> +<p>"Our sleigh has not yet come," said Lucy. "Oh, what shall we +do?"</p> +<p>"Mine is here, and at your command, Miss Dayton," said St. +Leon.</p> +<p>Lucy thanked him, and then proceeded to prepare Lizzie, who, +chilled through and through by the exposure of her chest and arms, +had borne the racking pain in her side as long as possible, and now +lay upon the sofa as helpless as an infant. When all was ready St. +Leon lifted her in his arms, and bearing her to the sleigh, stepped +lightly in with her, and took his seat.</p> +<p>"It is hardly necessary for you to accompany us home," said +Lucy, overjoyed beyond measure, though, to find that he was +going.</p> +<p>"Allow me to be the judge," answered St. Leon, and other than +that, not a word was spoken until they reached Mr. Dayton's door. +Then, carefully carrying Lizzie into the house, he was about to +leave, when Lucy detained him to thank him for his kindness, adding +that she hoped to see him again.</p> +<p>"Certainly, I shall call to-morrow," was his reply, as he sprang +down the steps, and entering his sleigh, was driven back to Mr. +Graham's.</p> +<p>He found the company about dispersing, and meeting Ada in the +hall, asked to accompany her home. Ada's pride for a moment +hesitated, and then she answered in the affirmative. When St. Leon +had seated her in his sleigh he turned back, on pretext of looking +for something, but in reality to ask Anna Graham where Ada lived, +as he did not wish to question her on the subject.</p> +<p>When they were nearly home St. Leon said, "Miss Harcourt, have +you always lived in S——?"</p> +<p>"We have lived here but two years," answered Ada; and St. Leon +continued:</p> +<p>"I cannot rid myself of the impression that somewhere I have met +you before."</p> +<p>"Indeed," said Ada, "when and where?"</p> +<p>But his reply was prevented by the sleigh's stopping at Mrs. +Harcourt's door. As St. Leon bade Ada good night he whispered, "I +shall see you again."</p> +<p>Ada made no answer, but going into the house where her mother +was waiting for her, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've seen +him!—he was there!—he brought me home!"</p> +<p>"Seen whom?" asked Mrs. Harcourt, alarmed at her daughter's +agitation.</p> +<p>"Why, Hugh St. Leon!" replied Ada.</p> +<p>"St. Leon in town!" repeated Mrs. Harcourt, her eye lighting up +with joy.</p> +<p>'Twas only for a moment, however, for the remembrance of what +she was when she knew St. Leon, and what she now was, recurred to +her, and she said calmly, "I thought you had forgotten that +childish fancy."</p> +<p>"Forgotten!" said Ada bitterly; and then as she recalled the +unkind remark of Lucy Dayton she burst into a passionate fit of +weeping.</p> +<p>After a time Mrs. Harcourt succeeded in soothing her, and then +drew from her all the particulars of the party, St Leon and all. +When Ada had finished her mother kissed her fair cheek, saying, "I +fancy St. Leon thinks as much of little Ada now as he did six years +ago;" but Ada could not think so, though that night, in dreams, she +was again happy in her old home in the distant city, while at her +side was St. Leon, who even then was dreaming of a childish face +which had haunted him six long years.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV4" id="CHAPTER_IV4"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>LUCY.</h3> +<p>We left Lizzie lying upon the sofa, where St. Leon had laid her. +After he was gone Lucy proposed calling their father and sending +for a physician, but Lizzie objected, saying she should be better +when she got warm. During the remainder of that night Lucy sat by +her sister's bedside, while each cry of pain which came from +Lizzie's lips fell heavily upon her heart, for conscience accused +her of being the cause of all this suffering. At length the weary +night watches were finished, but the morning light showed more +distinctly Lizzie's white brow and burning cheeks. She had taken a +severe cold, which had settled upon her lungs, and now she was +paying the penalty of her first act of disobedience.</p> +<p>Mr. Dayton had sent for the old family physician, who understood +Lizzie's constitution perfectly. He shook his head as he said, "How +came she by such a cold? Did she go to the party?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Dayton.</p> +<p>"And not half-dressed, I'll warrant," said the gruff old +doctor.</p> +<p>Lucy turned pale as her father answered, quickly and truthfully +as he thought, "No, sir, she was properly dressed."</p> +<p>Lizzie heard it, and though speaking was painful, she said, +"Forgive me, father, forgive me; I disobeyed you. I wore the dress +you said I must not wear!"</p> +<p>An exclamation of surprise escaped Mr. Dayton, who, glancing at +Lucy, read in her guilty face what Lizzie generously would not +betray.</p> +<p>"Oh, Lucy, Lucy," said he, "how could you do so?"</p> +<p>Lucy could only reply through her tears. She was sincerely sorry +that by her means Lizzie had been brought into danger; but when the +doctor said that by careful management she might soon be better, +all feelings of regret vanished, and she again began to think of +St. Leon and his promise to call. A look at herself in the mirror +showed her that she was looking pale and jaded, and she half-hoped +he would not come. However, as the day wore on she grew nervous as +she thought he possibly might be spending his time with the hated +Ada. But he was not, and at about four o'clock there was a ring at +the door. From an upper window Lucy saw St. Leon, and when Bridget +came up for her, she asked if the parlor was well darkened.</p> +<p>"An' sure it's darker nor a pocket," said Bridget, "an' he +couldn't see a haporth was ye twice as sorry lookin'."</p> +<p>So bathing her face in cologne, in order to force a glow, Lucy +descended to the parlor, which she found to be as dark as Bridget +had said it was. St. Leon received her very kindly, for the +devotion she had the night before shown for her sister had +partially counterbalanced the spitefulness he had observed in her +manner when speaking of Ada at the party. Notwithstanding Bridget's +precautions, he saw, too, that she was pale and spiritless, but he +attributed it to her anxiety for her sister, and this raised her in +his estimation. Lucy divined his thoughts, and in her efforts to +appear amiable and agreeable, a half-hour passed quickly away. At +the end of that time she unfortunately asked, in a very sneering +tone, "how long since he had seen the sewing girl?"</p> +<p>"If you mean Miss Harcourt," said St. Leon coolly, "I've not +seen her since I left her last night at her mother's door."</p> +<p>"You must have been in danger of upsetting if you attempted to +turn round in Mrs. Harcourt's spacious yard," was Lucy's next +remark.</p> +<p>"I did not attempt it," said St. Leon. "I carried Miss Ada in my +arms from the street to the door."</p> +<p>The tone and manner were changed. Lucy knew it, and it +exasperated her to say something more, but she was prevented by St. +Leon's rising to go. As Lucy accompanied him to the door she asked +how long he intended to remain in S——.</p> +<p>"I leave this evening, in the cars for New Haven," said he.</p> +<p>"This evening?" repeated Lucy in a disappointed tone, "and will +you not return?"</p> +<p>"Yes, if the business on which I go is successful," answered St. +Leon.</p> +<p>"A lady in question, perchance," remarked Lucy playfully.</p> +<p>"You interpret the truth accurately," said St. Leon, and with a +cold, polite bow he was gone.</p> +<p>"Why was he going to New Haven?" This was the thought which now +tortured Lucy. He had confessed that a lady was concerned in his +going, but who was she, and what was she to him? Anyway, there was +a comfort in knowing that Ada Harcourt had nothing to do with +it!</p> +<p>Mistaken Lucy! Ada Harcourt had everything to do with it!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V4" id="CHAPTER_V4"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>UNCLE ISRAEL.</h3> +<p>The lamps were lighted in the cars, and on through the valley of +the Connecticut the New Haven train was speeding its way. In one +corner of the car sat St. Leon, closely wrapped in cloak and +thoughts, the latter of which occasionally suggested to him the +possibility that his was a "Tomfool's" errand; "but then," thought +he, "no one will know it if I fail, and if I do not, it is worth +the trouble."</p> +<p>When the train reached Hartford a number of passengers entered, +all bound for New Haven. Among them was a comical-looking, +middle-aged man, whom St. Leon instantly recognized as a person +whom he had known when in college in New Haven, and whom the +students familiarly called "Uncle Israel." The recognition was +mutual, for Uncle Israel prided himself on never forgetting a +person he had once seen. In a few moments St. Leon was overwhelming +him with scores of questions, but Uncle Israel was a genuine +Yankee, and never felt happier than when engaged in giving or +guessing information.</p> +<p>At length St. Leon asked, "Does Ada Linwood fulfil the promise +of beauty which she gave as a child?"</p> +<p>"Ada who?" said Uncle Israel.</p> +<p>"Linwood," repeated St. Leon, arguing from the jog in Uncle +Israel's memory that all was not right.</p> +<p>"Do you mean the daughter of Harcourt Linwood, he that was said +to be so rich?"</p> +<p>"The same," returned St. Leon. "Where are they?"</p> +<p>Uncle Israel settled himself with the air of a man who has a +long story on hand, and intends to tell it at his leisure. Filling +his mouth with an enormous quid of tobacco, he commenced: "Better +than four years ago Linwood smashed up, smack and clean; lost +everything he had, and the rest had to be sold at vandue. But what +was worse than all, seein' he was a fine feller in the main, and I +guess didn't mean to fail, he took sick, and in about a month +died."</p> +<p>"And what became of his widow and orphan?" asked St. Leon +eagerly.</p> +<p>"Why, it wasn't nateral," said Uncle Israel, "that they should +keep the same company they did before, and they's too plaguy stuck +up to keep any other; so they moved out of town and supported +themselves by takin' in sewin' or ironin', I forgot which."</p> +<p>"But where are they now?" asked St. Leon.</p> +<p>Uncle Israel looked at him for a moment, and then replied, "The +Lord knows, I suppose, but Israel don't."</p> +<p>"Did they suffer at all?" asked St. Leon.</p> +<p>"Not as long as I stuck to them, but they sarved me real mean," +answered Uncle Israel.</p> +<p>"In what way?"</p> +<p>"Why, you see," said Uncle Israel, "I don't know why, but +somehow I never thought of matrimony till I got a glimpse of Ada at +her father's vandue. To be sure, I'd seen her before, but then she +was mighty big feelin', and I couldn't ha' touched her with a +hoe-handle, but now 'twas different. I bought their house. I was +rich and they was poor."</p> +<p>Involuntarily St. Leon clinched his fist, as Uncle Israel +continued: "I seen to getting them a place in the country and then +tended to 'em generally for more than six months, when I one day +hinted to Mrs. Linwood that I would like to be her son-in-law. +Christopher! how quick her back was up, and she gave me to +understand that I was lookin' too high! 'Twas no go with Ada, and +after awhile I proposed to the mother. Then you ought to seen her! +She didn't exactly turn me out o' door but she coolly told me I +wasn't wanted there. But I stuck to her and kept kind o' offerin' +myself, till at last they cut stick and cleared out, and I couldn't +find them, high nor low. I bunted for more than a year, and at last +found them in Hartford. Thinkin' maybe they had come to I proposed +again, and kept hangin' on till they gave me the slip again; and +now I don't know where they be, but I guess they've changed their +name."</p> +<p>At this point the cars stopped until the upward train should +pass them, and St. Leon, rising, bade his companion good evening, +saying, "he had changed his mind and should return to Hartford on +the other train."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI4" id="CHAPTER_VI4"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>EXPLANATION.</h3> +<p>Six years prior to the commencement of our story New Haven +boasted not a better or wealthier citizen than Harcourt Linwood, of +whose subsequent failure and death we have heard from Uncle Israel. +The great beauty of his only child, Ada, then a girl of nearly +thirteen, was the subject of frequent comment among the circle in +which he moved. No pains were spared with her education, and many +were the conjectures as to what she would be when time had matured +her mind and beauty.</p> +<p>Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans, then nineteen years of age, and a +student at Yale, had frequently met Ada at the house of his sister, +Mrs. Durant, whose eldest daughter, Jenny, was about her own age. +The uncommon beauty of the child greatly interested the young +Southerner and once, in speaking of his future prospects to his +sister, he playfully remarked, "Suppose I wait for Ada +Linwood."</p> +<p>"You cannot do better," was the reply, and the conversation +terminated.</p> +<p>The next evening there was to be a child's party at the house of +Mrs. Durant, and as Hugh was leaving the house Jenny bounded after +him, saying, "Oh, Uncle Hugh, you'll come to-morrow night, won't +you? No matter if you are a grown-up man, in the junior class, +trying to raise some whiskers! You will be a sort of restraint, and +keep us from getting too rude. Besides, we are going to have +tableaux, and I want you to act the part of bridegroom in one of +the scenes."</p> +<p>"Who is to be the bride?" asked Hugh.</p> +<p>"Ada Linwood. Now I know you'll come, won't you?"</p> +<p>"I'll see," was Hugh's answer, as he walked away.</p> +<p>Jenny well knew that "I'll see" meant "yes," and tying on her +bonnet, she hastened off to tell Ada that Uncle Hugh would be +present, and would act the part of bridegroom in the scene where +she was to be bride.</p> +<p>"What! that big man?" said Ada. "How funny!"</p> +<p>Before seven the next evening Mrs. Durant's parlors were filled, +for the guests were not old enough or fashionable enough to delay +making their appearance until morning. Hugh was the last to arrive, +for which Jenny scolded him soundly, saying they were all ready for +tableaus. "But come, now," said she, "and let me introduce you to +the bride."</p> +<p>In ten minutes more the curtain rose, and Hugh St. Leon appeared +with Ada on his arm, standing before a gentleman in clerical robes, +who seemed performing the marriage ceremony. Placing a ring on +Ada's third finger, St. Leon, when the whole was finished, took +advantage of his new relationship, and kissed the lips of the +bride. Amid a storm of applause the curtain dropped, and as he led +the blushing Ada away he bent down, and pointing to the ring, +whispered, "Wear it until some future day, when, by replacing it, I +shall make you really my little wife."</p> +<p>The words were few and lightly spoken, but they touched the +heart of the young Ada, awakening within her thoughts and feelings +of which she never before had dreamed. Frequently, after that, she +met St. Leon, who sometimes teased her about being his wife; but +when he saw how painfully embarrassed she seemed on such occasions, +he desisted.</p> +<p>The next year he was graduated, and the same day on which he +received the highest honors of his class was long remembered with +heartfelt sorrow, for ere the city clocks tolled the hour of +midnight he stood with his orphaned niece, Jenny, weeping over the +inanimate form of his sister, Mrs. Durant, who had died suddenly in +a fit of apoplexy. Mr. Durant had been dead some years, and as +Jenny had now no relatives in New Haven, she accompanied her uncle +to his Southern home. Long and passionately she wept on Ada's bosom +as she bade her farewell, promising never to forget her, but to +write her three pages of foolscap every week. To do Jenny justice, +we must say that this promise was faithfully kept for a whole +month, and then, with thousands of its sisterhood, it disappeared +into the vale of broken promises and resolutions.</p> +<p>She still wrote occasionally, and at the end of each epistle +there was always a long postscript from Hugh, which Ada prized +almost as much as she did Jenny's whole letter; and when at last +matters changed, the letter becoming Hugh's and the postscript +Jenny's, she made no objection, even if she felt any. At the time +of her father's failure and death, a long unanswered letter was +lying in her portfolio, which was entirely forgotten until weeks +after, when, in the home which Uncle Israel so +<i>disinterestedly</i> helped them to procure, she and her mother +were sewing for the food which they ate. Then a dozen times was an +answer commenced, blotted with tears, and finally destroyed, until +Ada, burying her face in her mother's lap, sobbed out, "Oh, mother, +I cannot do it. I cannot write to tell them how poor we are, for I +remember that Jenny was proud, and laughed at the schoolgirls whose +fathers were not rich."</p> +<p>So the letter was never answered, and as St. Leon about that +time started on a tour through Europe, he knew nothing of their +change of circumstances. On his way home he had in Paris met with +Harry Graham, who had been his classmate, and who now won from him +a promise that on his return to America he would visit his parents, +in S——. He did so, and there, as we have seen, met with +Ada Harcourt, whose face, voice, and manner reminded him so +strangely of the Ada he had known years before, and whom he had +never forgotten.</p> +<p>As the reader will have supposed, the sewing-woman whose +daughter Lucy Dayton so heartily despised was none other than Mrs. +Linwood, of New Haven, who had taken her husband's first name in +order to avoid the persecutions of Uncle Israel. The day following +the party St. Leon spent in making inquiries concerning Mrs. +Harcourt, and the information thus obtained determined him to start +at once for New Haven, in order to ascertain if his suspicions are +correct.</p> +<p>The result of his journey we already know. Still he resolved not +to make himself known immediately, but to wait until he satisfied +himself that Ada was as good as beautiful. And then?</p> +<p>A few more chapters will tell us what then.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII4" id="CHAPTER_VII4"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>A MANEUVER.</h3> +<p>The gray twilight of a cold December afternoon was creeping over +the village of S——, when Ada Harcourt left her seat by +the window, where, the livelong day, she had sat stitching till her +heart was sick and her eyes were dim. On the faded calico lounge +near the fire lay Mrs. Harcourt, who for several days had been +unable to work on account of a severe cold which seemed to have +settled in her face and eyes.</p> +<p>"There," said Ada, as she brushed from her gingham apron the +bits of thread and shreds of cotton, "there, it is done at last, +and now before it is quite dark I will take it home."</p> +<p>"No, not to-night," said Mrs. Harcourt; "to-morrow will do just +as well."</p> +<p>"But, mother," answered Ada, "you know Mrs. Dayton always pays +as soon as the work is delivered, and what I have finished will +come to two dollars and a half, which will last a long time, and we +shall not be obliged to take any from the sum laid by to pay our +rent; besides, you have had nothing nourishing for a long time; so +let me go, and on my way home I will buy you something nice for +supper."</p> +<p>Mrs. Harcourt said no more, but the tears fell from her aching +eyes as she thought how hard her daughter was obliged to labor, now +that she was unable to assist her. In a moment Ada was in the +street. The little alley in which she lived was soon traversed, and +she about turning into Main Street, when rapid footsteps approached +her, and St. Leon appeared at her side, saying, "Good evening, Miss +Harcourt; allow me to relieve you of that bundle."</p> +<p>And before she could prevent it he took from her hands the +package, while he continued, "May I ask how far you are walking +to-night?"</p> +<p>Ada hesitated a moment, but quickly forcing down her pride, she +answered, "Only as far as Mr. Dayton's. I am carrying home some +work."</p> +<p>"Indeed!" said he, "then I can have your company all the way, +for I am going to inquire after Lizzie."</p> +<p>They soon reached their destination, and their ring at the door +was not, as usual, answered by Bridget but by Lucy herself, whose +sweet smile, as she greeted St. Leon, changed into an angry scowl +when she recognized his companion.</p> +<p>"Ada Harcourt!" said she, and Ada, blushing scarlet, began: "I +have brought—" but she was interrupted by St. Leon, who +handed Lucy the bundle, saying:</p> +<p>"Here is your work, Miss Dayton, and I hope it will suit you, +for we took a great deal of pains with it."</p> +<p>Lucy tried to smile as she took the work, and then opening the +parlor door she with one hand motioned St. Leon to enter, while +with the other she held the hall door ajar, as if for Ada to +depart. A tear trembled on Ada's long eyelashes, as she timidly +asked;</p> +<p>"Can I see your grandmother?"</p> +<p>"Mrs. Dayton, I presume you mean," said Lucy haughtily.</p> +<p>Ada bowed and Lucy continued: "She is not at home just at +present."</p> +<p>"Perhaps, then, you can pay me for the work," said Ada.</p> +<p>The scowl on Lucy's face grew darker as she replied, "I have +nothing to do with grandma's hired help. Come to-morrow and she +will be here. How horridly cold this open door makes the hall!"</p> +<p>Ada thought of the empty cupboard at home, and of her pale, sick +mother. Love for her conquered all other feeling, and in a choking +voice she said, "Oh, Miss Dayton, if you will pay it you will +confer a great favor on me, for mother is sick, and we need it so +much!"</p> +<p>There was a movement in the parlor. St. Leon was approaching, +and with an impatient gesture Lucy opened the opposite door, saying +to Ada, "Come in here."</p> +<p>The tone was so angry that, under any other circumstances, Ada +would have gone away. Now, however, she entered, and Lucy, taking +out her purse, said, "How much is the sum about which you make so +much fuss?"</p> +<p>"Two dollars and a half," answered Ada.</p> +<p>"Two dollars and a half," repeated Lucy, and then, as a tear +fell from Ada's eye, she added contemptuously, "It is a small +amount to cry about."</p> +<p>Ada made no reply, and was about leaving the room when Lucy +detained her, by saying, "Pray, did you ask Mr. St. Leon to +accompany you here and bring your bundle?"</p> +<p>"Miss Dayton, you know better—you know I did not," +answered Ada, as the fire of insulted pride flashed from her dark +blue eyes, which became almost black, while her cheek grew pale as +marble.</p> +<p>Instantly Lucy's manner changed, and in a softened tone she +said, "I am glad to know that you did not; and now, as a friend, I +warn you against receiving any marks of favor from St. Leon."</p> +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Ada, and Lucy continued:</p> +<p>"You have sense enough to know that when a man of St. Leon's +standing shows any preference for a girl in your circumstances it +can be from no good design."</p> +<p>"You judge him wrongfully—you do not know him," said Ada; +and Lucy answered:</p> +<p>"Pray, where did you learn so much about him?"</p> +<p>Ada only answered by rising to go.</p> +<p>"Here, this way," said Lucy, and leading her through an enter +passage to the back door, she added, "I do it to save your good +name. St. Leon is undoubtedly waiting for you, and I would not +trust my own sister with him, were she a poor sewing girl!"</p> +<p>The door was shut in Ada's face, and Lucy returned to the +parlor, where she found her father entertaining her visitor. +Seating herself on a crimson ottoman, she prepared to do the +agreeable, when St. Leon, rising, said, "Excuse my short call, for +I must be going. Where have you left Miss Harcourt?"</p> +<p>"I left her at the door," answered Lucy, "and she is probably +halfway to 'Dirt Alley' by this time, so do not be in haste."</p> +<p>But he was in haste, for when he looked on the fast-gathering +darkness without, and thought of the by streets and lonely alleys +through which Ada must pass on her way home, he felt uneasy, and +biding Miss Dayton good night, he hurried away.</p> +<p>Meantime, Ada had procured the articles she wished for, and +proceeded home, with a heart which would have been light as a bird +had not the remembrance of Lucy's insulting language rung in her +ears. Mrs. Harcourt saw that all was not right, but she forbore +making any inquiries until supper was over. Then Ada, bringing a +stool to her mother's side, and laying her head on her lap, told +everything which had transpired between herself, St. Leon, and +Lucy.</p> +<p>Scarcely was her story finished when there was a rap at the +door, and St. Leon himself entered the room. He had failed in +overtaking Ada, and anxious to know of her safe return, had +determined to call. The recognition between himself and Mrs. +Harcourt was mutual, but for reasons of their own, neither chose to +make it apparent, and Ada introduced him to her mother as she would +have done any stranger. St. Leon possessed in an unusual degree the +art of making himself agreeable, and in the animated conversation +which ensued Mrs. Harcourt forgot that she was poor—forgot +her aching eyes; while Ada forgot everything save that St, Leon was +present, and that she was again listening to his voice, which +charmed her now even more than in the olden time.</p> +<p>During the evening St. Leon managed in various ways to draw Ada +out on all the prominent topics of the day, and he felt pleased to +find that amid all her poverty she did not neglect the cultivation +of her mind. A part of each day was devoted to study, which Mrs. +Harcourt, who was a fine scholar, superintended.</p> +<p>It was fast merging toward the hour when phantoms walk abroad +ere St. Leon remembered that he must go. As he was leaving he said +to Ada, "I have a niece, Jenny, about your age, whom I think you +would like very much."</p> +<p>Oh, how Ada longed to ask for her old playmate, but a look from +her mother kept her silent, and in a moment St. Leon was gone.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII4" id="CHAPTER_VIII4"></a>CHAPTER +VIII.</h2> +<h3>COUSIN BERINTHA AND LUCY'S PARTY.</h3> +<p>Cousin Berintha, whom Lucy Dayton so much disliked and dreaded, +was a cousin of Mr. Dayton, and was a prim, matter-of-fact maiden +of fifty, or thereabout. That she was still in a state of single +blessedness was partially her own fault, for at twenty she was +engaged to the son of a wealthy farmer who lived near her father. +But, alas! ere the wedding day arrived, there came to the +neighborhood a young lady from Boston, in whose presence the beauty +of the country girl grew dim, as do the stars in the rays of the +morning sun.</p> +<p>Berintha had a plain face, but a strong heart, and when she saw +that Amy Holbrook was preferred, with steady hand and unflinching +nerve, she wrote to her recreant lover that he was free. And now +Amy, to whom the false knight turned, took it into her capricious +head that she would not marry a farmer—she had always fancied +a physician; and if young B—— would win her, he must +first secure the title of M.D. He complied with her request, and +one week from the day on which he received his diploma Berintha +read, with a slightly blanched cheek, the notice of his marriage +with the Boston beauty. Three years from that day she read the +announcement of Amy's death, and in two years more she refused the +doctor's offer to give her a home by his lonely fireside, and a +place in his widowed heart. All this had the effect of making +Berintha rather cross, but she seldom manifested her spite toward +any one except Lucy, whom she seemed to take peculiar delight in +teasing, and whose treatment of herself was not such as would +warrant much kindness in return.</p> +<p>Lizzie she had always loved, and when Harry Graham went away it +was on Berintha's lap that the young girl sobbed out her grief, +wondering, when with her tears Berintha's were mingled, how one +apparently so cold and passionless could sympathize with her. To no +one had Berintha ever confided the story of her early love. Mr. +Dayton was a schoolboy then, and as but little was said of it at +the time, it faded entirely from memory; and when Lucy called her a +"crabbed old maid," she knew not of the disappointment which had +clouded every joy and imbittered a whole lifetime.</p> +<p>At the first intelligence of Lizzie's illness Berintha came, and +though her prescriptions of every kind of herb tea in the known +world were rather numerous, and her doses of the same were rather +large, and though her stiff cap, sharp nose, and curious little +eyes, which saw everything, were exceedingly annoying to Lucy, she +proved herself an invaluable nurse, warming up old Dr. Benton's +heart into a glow of admiration of her wonderful skill! Hour after +hour she sat by Lizzie, bathing her burning brow, or smoothing her +tumbled pillow. Night after night she kept her tireless watch, +treading softly around the sick-room, and lowering her loud, harsh +voice to a whisper, lest she should disturb the uneasy slumbers of +the sick girl, who, under her skilful nursing, gradually grew +better.</p> +<p>"Was there ever such a dear, good cousin," said Lizzie, one day, +when a nervous headache had been coaxed away by what Berintha +called her "mesmeric passes;" and "Was there ever such a horrid +bore," said Lucy, on the same day, when Cousin Berintha "thought +she saw a white hair in Lucy's raven curls!" adding, by way of +consolation, "It wouldn't be anything strange, for I began to grow +gray before I was as old as you."</p> +<p>"And that accounts tor your head being just the color of wool," +angrily retorted Lucy, little dreaming of the bitter tears and +sleepless nights which had early blanched her cousin's hair to its +present whiteness.</p> +<p>For several winters Lucy had been in the habit of giving a large +party, and as she had heard that St. Leon was soon going South, she +felt anxious to have it take place ere he left town. But what +should she do with Berintha, who showed no indications of leaving, +though Lizzie was much better?</p> +<p>"I declare," said she to herself, "that woman is enough to worry +the life out of me. I'll speak to Liz about it this very day."</p> +<p>Accordingly, that afternoon, when alone with her sister, she +said, "Lizzie, is it absolutely necessary that Berintha should stay +here any longer, to tuck you up, and feed you sage tea through a +straw?"</p> +<p>Lizzie looked inquiringly at her sister, who continued: "To tell +you the truth, I'm tired of having her around, and must manage some +way to get rid of her before next week, for I mean to have a party +Thursday night."</p> +<p>Lizzie's eyes now opened in astonishment, as she exclaimed, "A +party! oh, Lucy, wait until I get well."</p> +<p>"You'll be able by that time to come down-stairs in your crimson +morning-gown, which becomes you so well," answered Lucy.</p> +<p>"But father's away," rejoined Lizzie; to which Lucy replied:</p> +<p>"So much the better, for now I shan't be obliged to ask any old +things. I told him I meant to have it while he was gone, for you +know he hates parties. But what shall I do with Berintha?"</p> +<p>"Why, what possible harm can she do?" asked Lizzie. "She would +enjoy it very much, I know; for in spite of her oddities, she likes +society."</p> +<p>"Well, suppose she does; nobody wants her round, prating about +white hairs and mercy knows what. Come, you tell her you don't need +her services any longer—that's a good girl."</p> +<p>There was a look of mischief in Lizzie's eye, and a merry smile +on her lip, as she said, "Why, don't you know that father has +invited her to spend the winter, and she has accepted the +invitation?"</p> +<p>"Invited her to spend the winter!" repeated Lucy, while the +tears glittered in her bright eyes. "What does he mean?"</p> +<p>"Why," answered Lizzie, "it is very lonely at Cousin John's, and +his wife makes more of a servant of Berintha than she does a +companion, so father, out of pity, asked her to stay with us, and +she showed her good taste by accepting."</p> +<p>"I'll hang myself in the woodshed before spring—see if I +don't!" and burying her face in her hands, Lucy wept aloud, while +Lizzie, lying back upon her pillow, laughed immoderately at her +sister's distress.</p> +<p>"There's a good deal to laugh at, I think," said Lucy, more +angrily than she usually addressed her sister. "If you have any +pity, do devise some means of getting rid of her, for a time, at +least."</p> +<p>"Well, then," answered Lizzie, "she wants to go home for a few +days, in order to make some necessary preparations for staying with +us, and perhaps you can coax her to go now, though I for one would +like to have her stay. Everybody knows she is your cousin, and no +one will think less of you for having her here."</p> +<p>"But I won't do it," said Lucy, "and that settles it. Your plan +is a good one, and I'll get her off—see if I don't!"</p> +<p>The next day, which was Saturday, Lucy was unusually kind to her +cousin, giving her a collar, offering to fix her cap, and doing +numerous other little things, which greatly astonished Berintha. At +last, when dinner was over, she said, "Come, cousin, what do you +say to a sleigh ride this afternoon? I haven't been down to +Elizabeth Betsey's in a good while, so suppose we go to-day."</p> +<p>Berintha was taken by surprise, but after a moment she said just +what Lucy hoped she would say, viz., that she was wanting to go +home for a few days, and if Lizzie were only well enough, she would +go now.</p> +<p>"Oh, she is a great deal better," said Lucy, "and you can leave +her as well as not. Dr. Benton says I am almost as good a nurse as +you and I will take good care of her—besides, I really think +you need rest; so go, if you wish to, and next Saturday I will come +round after you."</p> +<p>Accordingly, Berintha, who suspected nothing, was coaxed into +going home, and when at three o'clock the sleigh was said to be +ready, she kissed Lizzie good-by, and taking her seat by the side +of Lucy, was driven rapidly toward her brother's house.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>"There! haven't I managed it capitally!" exclaimed Lucy, as she +reentered her sister's room after her ride; "but the bother of it +is, I've promised to go round next Saturday, and bring not only +Berintha, but Elizabeth Betsey, and her twins! Won't it be +horrible! However, the party'll be over, so I don't care."</p> +<p>Cousin Berintha being gone, there was no longer any reason why +the party should be kept a secret, and before nightfall every +servant in the house was discussing it, Bridget saying: "Faith, an' +I thought it was mighty good she was gettin' with that woman."</p> +<p>Mrs. Dayton was highly indignant at the trick which she plainly +saw had been put upon Berintha, but Lucy only replied, "that she +wished it were as easy a matter to get rid of grandma!"</p> +<p>On Monday cards of invitation to the number of one hundred and +fifty were issued, and when Lizzie, in looking them over, asked why +Ada Harcourt was left out, Lucy replied, that "she guessed she +wasn't going to insult her guests by inviting a sewing girl with +them. Anna Graham could do so, but nobody was going to imitate +her."</p> +<p>"Invite her, then, for my sake, and in my name," pleaded Lizzie, +but Lucy only replied:</p> +<p>"I shall do no such thing;" and thus the matter was settled.</p> +<p>Amid the hurry and preparation for the party, days glided +rapidly away, and Thursday morning came, bright, beautiful, and +balmy, almost, as an autumnal day.</p> +<p>"Isn't this delightful!" said Lucy, as she stepped out upon the +piazza, and felt the warm southern breeze upon her cheek. "It's a +wonder, though," she continued, "that Madam Nature didn't conjure +up an awful storm for my benefit, as she usually does!"</p> +<p>Before night she had occasion to change her mind concerning the +day.</p> +<p>Dinner was over, and she in Lizzie's room was combing out her +long curls, and trying the effect of wearing them entirely behind +her ears. Suddenly there was the sound of sleigh bells, which came +nearer, until they stopped before the door. Lucy flew to the +window, and in tones of intense anger and surprise, exclaimed, +"Now, heaven defend us! here is Cousin John's old lumber sleigh and +rackabone horse, with Berintha and a hair trunk, a red trunk, two +bandboxes, a carpet-bag, a box full of herbs, and a pillowcase full +of stockings. What does it all mean?"</p> +<p>She soon found out what it all meant, for Berintha entered the +room in high spirits. Kissing Lizzie, she next advanced toward +Lucy, saying, "You didn't expect me, I know; but this morning was +so warm and thawing that John said he knew the sleighing would all +be gone by Saturday, so I concluded to come to-day."</p> +<p>Lucy was too angry to reply, and rushing from the room, she +closed the door after her, with a force which fairly made the +windows rattle. Berintha looked inquiringly at Lizzie, who felt +inadequate to an explanation; so Berintha knew nothing of the +matter until she descended to the kitchen, and there learned the +whole. Now, if Lucy had treated her cousin politely and +good-naturedly, she would have saved herself much annoyance, but on +the contrary, she told her that she was neither expected nor wanted +there; that parties were never intended for "such old things;" and +that now she was there, she hoped she would stay in her own room, +unless she should happen to be wanted to wait on the table!</p> +<p>This speech, of course, exasperated Berintha, but she made no +reply, although there was on her face a look of quiet +determination, which Lucy mistook for tacit acquiescence in her +proposal.</p> +<p>Five—six—seven—eight—struck the little +brass clock, and no one had come except old Dr. Benton, who, being +a widower and an intimate friend of the family, was invited, as +Lucy said, for the purpose of beauing grandma! Lizzie, in crimson +double-gown, and soft, warm shawl, was reclining on the sofa in the +parlor, the old doctor muttering about carelessness, heated rooms, +late hours, etc. Grandma, in rich black silk and plain Quaker cap, +was hovering near her favorite child, asking continually if she +were too hot, or too cold or too tired, while Lucy, in white muslin +dress and flowing curls, flitted hither and thither, fretting at +the servants, or ordering grandma, and occasionally tapping her +sister's pale cheek, to see if she could not coax some color into +it.</p> +<p>"You'll live to see it whiter still," said the doctor, who was +indignant at finding his patient down-stairs.</p> +<p>And where all this time was Berintha? The doctor asked this +question, and Lucy asked this question, while Lizzie replied, that +"she was in her room."</p> +<p>"And I hope to goodness she'll stay there," said Lucy.</p> +<p>Dr. Benton's gray eyes fastened upon the amiable young lady, +who, by way of explanation, proceeded to relate her maneuvers for +keeping "the old maid" from the party.</p> +<p>We believe we have omitted to say that Lucy had some +well-founded hopes of being one day, together with her sister, +heiress of Dr. Benton's property, which was considerable. He was a +widower, and had no relatives. He was also very intimate with Mr. +Dayton's family, always evincing a great partiality for Lucy and +Lizzie, and had more than once hinted at the probable disposal of +his wealth. Of course Lucy, in his presence, was all amiability, +and though he was usually very far-sighted, he but partially +understood her real character. Something, however, in her remarks +concerning Berintha displeased him. Lucy saw it, but before she had +time for any thought on the subject the door-bell rang, and a dozen +or more of guests entered.</p> +<p>The parlors now began to fill rapidly. Ere long St. Leon came, +and after paying his compliments to Lucy, he took his station +between her and the sofa, on which Lizzie sat. So delighted was +Lucy to have him thus near that she forgot Berintha, until that +lady herself appeared in the room, bowing to those she knew, and +seating herself on the sofa, very near St. Leon. The angry blood +rushed in torrents to Lucy's face, and St. Leon, who saw something +was wrong, endeavored to divert her mind by asking her various +questions.</p> +<p>At last he said, "I do not see Miss Harcourt. Where is she?"</p> +<p>"She is not expected," answered Lucy carelessly.</p> +<p>"Ah!" said St. Leon; and Berintha, touching his arm, +rejoined:</p> +<p>"Of course you could not think Ada Harcourt would be invited +here!"</p> +<p>"Indeed! Why not?" asked St. Leon, and Berintha continued:</p> +<p>"To be sure, Ada is handsome, and Ada is accomplished, but then +Ada is poor, and consequently can't come!"</p> +<p>"But I see no reason why poverty should debar her from good +society," said St. Leon; and Berintha, with an exultant glance at +Lucy, who, if possible, would have paralyzed her tongue, +replied:</p> +<p>"Why, if Ada were present, she might rival somebody in +somebody's good opinion. Wasn't that what you said, Cousin Lucy? +Please correct me, if I get wrong."</p> +<p>Lucy frowned angrily, but made no reply, for Berintha had quoted +her very words. After a moment's pause she proceeded: "Yes, Ada is +poor; so though she can come to the front door with a gentleman, +she cannot go out that way, but must be led to a side door or back +door; which was it, Cousin Lucy?"</p> +<p>"I don't know what you are talking about," answered Lucy; and +Berintha, in evident surprise, exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Why, don't you remember when Ada came here with a +gentleman—let me see, who was it?—well, no matter who +'twas—she came with a gentleman—he was ushered into the +parlor, while you took her into a side room, then into a side +passage, and out at the side door, kindly telling her to beware of +the gentleman in the parlor, who could want nothing good of sewing +girls!"</p> +<p>"You are very entertaining to-night," said Lucy; to which +Berintha replied:</p> +<p>"You did not think I could be so agreeable, did you, when you +asked me to keep out of sight this evening, and said that such old +fudges as grandma and I would appear much better in our rooms, +taking snuff, and nodding at each other over our knitting +work?"</p> +<p>Lucy looked so distressed that Lizzie pitied her, and touching +Berintha she said, "Please don't talk any more."</p> +<p>At that moment supper was announced, and after it was over St. +Leon departed, notwithstanding Lucy's urgent request that he would +remain longer. As the street door closed after him she felt that +she would gladly have seen every other guest depart also. A moody +fit came on, and the party would have been voted a failure had it +not been for the timely interference of Dr. Benton and Berintha. +Together they sought out any who seemed neglected, entertaining +them to the best of their ability, and leaving with every one the +impression that they were the best-natured couple in the world. At +eleven o'clock, Lizzie, wearied out, repaired to her chamber. Her +departure was the signal for others, and before one o'clock the +last good night was said, the doors locked, the silver gathered up, +the tired servants dismissed, and Lucy, in her sister's room, was +giving vent to her wrath against Berintha, the party, St. Leon, and +all.</p> +<p>Scolding, however, could do her no good, and ere long, throwing +herself undressed upon a lounge she fell asleep, and dreamed that +grandma was married to the doctor, that Berintha had become her +stepmother, and, worse than all, that Ada Harcourt was Mrs. St. +Leon.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX4" id="CHAPTER_IX4"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>A WEDDING AT ST. LUKE'S.</h3> +<p>The day but one following the party, as Lucy was doing some +shopping down street she stepped for a moment into her +dressmaker's, Miss Carson's, where she found three or four of her +companions, all eagerly discussing what seemed to be quite an +interesting topic. As Lucy entered, one of them turning toward her +said; "Oh, isn't it strange? Or haven't you heard?"</p> +<p>"Heard what?" asked Lucy; and her companion replied:</p> +<p>"Why, Ada Harcourt is going to be married. Miss Carson is making +her the most beautiful traveling dress, with silk hat to +match—"</p> +<p>"Besides three or four elegant silk dresses," chimed in +another.</p> +<p>"And the most charming morning-gown you ever saw—apple +green, and dark green, striped—and lined with pink silk," +rejoined a third.</p> +<p>By this time Lucy had sunk into the nearest chair. The truth had +flashed upon her, as it probably has upon you; but as she did not +wish to betray her real emotions she forced a little bitter laugh, +and said, "St. Leon, I suppose, is the bridegroom."</p> +<p>"Yes; who told you?" asked her companion.</p> +<p>"Oh, I've seen it all along," answered Lucy carelessly. "He +called with her once at our house!"</p> +<p>"But you didn't invite her to your party," said mischievous +Bessie Lee, who loved dearly to tease Lucy Dayton. "You didn't +invite her to your party, and so he left early, and I dare say went +straight to Mrs. Harcourt's and proposed, if he hadn't done so +before. Now, don't you wish you'd been more polite to Ada? They say +he's got a cousin South, as rich and handsome as he is, and if +you'd only behaved as you should, who knows what might have +happened!"</p> +<p>Lucy deigned Bessie no reply, and turning to another young lady, +asked, "When is the wedding to be?"</p> +<p>"Next Thursday morning, in the church," was the answer; and +Bessie Lee again interposed, saying, "Come, Lucy, I don't believe +you have ever returned Ada's call, and as I am going to see her, +and inquire all about that Cousin Frank, suppose you accompany me, +and learn the particulars of the wedding."</p> +<p>"Thank you," said Lucy; "I don't care enough about it to take +that trouble;" and soon rising she left the shop.</p> +<p>If Lucy manifested so much indifference, we wot of some bright +eyes and eager ears which are willing to know the particulars, so +we will give them as follows: When St. Leon left Mr. Dayton's it +was ten o'clock, but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour he +started for the small brown house on "Dirt Alley," where dwelt the +sewing woman and her daughter, who were both busy on some work +which they wished to finish that night. Ada had stopped for a +moment to replenish the fire when a knock at the door startled her. +Opening it she saw St. Leon, and in much surprise said, "Why, I +supposed you were at the party."</p> +<p>"So I have been," said he; "but I grew weary, and left for a +more congenial atmosphere;" then advancing toward Mrs. Harcourt, he +took her hand, saying, "Mrs. Linwood, allow me to address you by +your right name this evening."</p> +<p>We draw a veil over the explanation which followed—over +the fifty-nine questions asked by Ada concerning Jenny—and +over the <i>one</i> question asked by St. Leon, the answer to which +resulted in the purchase of all those dresses at Miss Carson's and +the well-founded rumor that on Thursday morning a wedding would +take place at St. Luke's church.</p> +<p>Poor Lucy! how disconsolate she felt! St. Leon was passing from +her grasp, and there was no help. On her way home she three times +heard of the wedding, and of Ada's real name and former position in +life, and each time her wrath waxed warmer and warmer. Fortunate +was it for Berintha and grandma that neither made her appearance +until tea-time, for Lucy was in just the state when an explosive +storm would surely have followed any remark addressed to her!</p> +<p>The next day was the Sabbath, and as Lucy entered the church, +the first object which met her eye was St. Leon, seated in the +sewing woman's pew, and Ada <i>tolerably</i> though not <i>very</i> +near him! "How disgusting!" she hissed between her teeth, as she +entered her own richly-cushioned seat, and opened her velvet-bound +prayer book. Precious little of the sermon heard she that day, for, +turn which way she would, she still saw in fancy the sweet young +face of her rival; and it took but a slight stretch of imagination +to bring to view a costly house in the far-off "Sunny South," a +troop of servants, a handsome, noble husband, and the hated Ada the +happy mistress of them all! Before church was out Lucy was really +sick, and when at home in her room she did not refuse the bowl of +herb tea which Berintha kindly brought her, saying "it had cured +her when she felt just so."</p> +<p>The morning of the wedding came, and though Lucy had determined +not to be present, yet as the hour approached she felt how utterly +impossible it would be for her to stay away; and when at half-past +eight the doors were opened she was among the first who entered the +church, which in a short time was filled. Nine rang from the old +clock in the belfry, and then up the broad aisle came the bridal +party, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Charlie and Anna, Mrs. +Harcourt, or Mrs. Linwood as we must now call her, St. Leon and +Ada.</p> +<p>"Was there ever a more beautiful bride?" whispered Bessie Lee; +but Lucy made no answer, and as soon as the ceremony was concluded +she hurried home, feeling almost in need of some more catnip +tea!</p> +<p>In the eleven o'clock train St. Leon with his bride and her +mother started for New Haven, where they spent a delightful week, +and then returned to S——. A few days were passed at the +house of Mr. Graham, and then they departed for their southern +home. As we shall not again have occasion to speak of them in this +story we will here say that the following summer they came North, +together with Jenny and Cousin Frank, the latter of whom was so +much pleased with the rosy cheeks, laughing eyes, and playful +manners of Bessie Lee that when he returned home he coaxed her to +accompany him; and again was there a wedding in St. Luke's, and +again did Miss Carson make the bridal outfit, wishing that all New +Orleans gentlemen would come to S—— for their +wives.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X4" id="CHAPTER_X4"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>A SURPRISE.</h3> +<p>"Reuben," said Grandma Dayton to her son one evening after she +had listened to the reading of a political article for which she +did not care one fig, "Reuben, does thee suppose Dr. Benton makes a +charge every time he calls?"</p> +<p>"I don't know," said Mr. Dayton; "what made you ask that +question?"</p> +<p>"Because," answered grandma—and her knitting needles +rattled loud enough to be heard in the next room—"because, I +think he calls mighty often, considering that Lizzie neither gets +better nor worse; and I think, too, that he and Berintha have a +good many private talks!"</p> +<p>The paper dropped from Mr. Dayton's hand, and "What can you +mean?" dropped from his lips.</p> +<p>"Why," resumed grandma, "every time he comes he manages to see +Berintha alone; and hain't thee noticed that she has colored her +hair lately, and left off caps?"</p> +<p>"Yes; and she looks fifteen years younger for it; but what of +that?"</p> +<p>Grandma, whose remarks had all been preparatory to the mighty +secret she was about to divulge, coughed, and then informed her son +that Berintha was going to be married, and wished to have the +wedding there.</p> +<p>"Berintha and the doctor! Good!" exclaimed Mr. Dayton. "To be +sure, I'll give her a wedding, and a wedding dress, too."</p> +<p>Here grandma left the room, and after reporting her success to +Berintha, she sought her granddaughters, and communicated to them +the expected event. When Lucy learned of her cousin's intended +marriage she was nearly as much surprised and provoked as she had +been when first she heard of Ada's.</p> +<p>Turning to Lizzie she said, "It's too bad! for of course we +shall have to give up all hopes of the doctor's money."</p> +<p>"And perhaps thee'll be the only old maid in the family, after +all," suggested grandma, who knew Lucy's weak point, and sometimes +loved to touch it.</p> +<p>"And if I am," retorted Lucy angrily, "I hope I shall have sense +enough to mind my own business, and not interfere with that of my +grandchildren!"</p> +<p>Grandma made no answer, but secretly she felt some conscientious +scruples with regard to Lucy's grandchildren! As for Berintha she +seemed entirely changed, and flitted about the house in a manner +which caused Lucy to call her "an old fool, trying to ape sixteen." +With a change of feelings her personal appearance also changed, and +when she one day returned from the dentist's with an entire set of +new teeth, and came down to tea in a dark, fashionably-made merino, +the metamorphose was complete, and grandma declared that she looked +better than she ever had before in her life. The doctor, too, was +improved, and though he did not color his hair, he ordered six new +shirts, a new coat, a new horse and a pair of gold spectacles!</p> +<p>After a due lapse of time the appointed day came, and with it, +at an early hour, came Cousin John and Elizabeth Betsey, bringing +with them the few herbs which Berintha, at the time of her removal, +had overlooked. These Bridget demurely proposed should be given to +Miss Lucy, "who of late was much given to drinking catnip." +Perfectly indignant, Lucy threw the herbs, bag and all, into the +fire, thereby filling the house with an odor which made the +asthmatic old doctor wheeze and blow wonderfully during the +evening.</p> +<p>A few of the villagers were invited, and when all was ready Mr. +Dayton brought down in his arms his white-faced Lizzie, who +imperceptibly had grown paler and weaker every day, while those who +looked at her as she reclined upon the sofa, sighed, and thought of +a different occasion when they probably would assemble there. For +once Lucy was very amiable, and with the utmost politeness and good +nature waited upon the guests. There was a softened light in her +eye, and a heightened bloom on her cheek, occasioned by a story +which Berintha, two hours before, had told her, of a heart all +crushed in its youth, and aching on through long years of +loneliness, but which was about to be made happy by a union with +the only object it had ever loved! Do you start and wonder? Have +you not guessed that Dr. Benton, who that night for the second time +breathed the marriage vow, was the same who, years before, won the +girlish love of Berintha Dayton, and then turned from her to the +more beautiful Amy Holbrook, finding, too late, that all is not +gold that glitters? It is even so, and could you have seen how +tightly he clasped the hand of his new wife, and how fondly his eye +rested upon her, you would have said that, however long his +affections might have wandered, they had at last returned to her, +his first, best love.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI4" id="CHAPTER_XI4"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>LIZZIE.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Gathered 'round a narrow +coffin,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Stand a mourning, funeral +train,<br /></span> <span>While for her, redeemed thus +early,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Tears are falling now like +rain.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"><span>Hopes are crushed and hearts are +bleeding;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Drear the fireside now, and +alone;<br /></span> <span>She, the best loved and the +dearest,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Far away to heaven hath +flown.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"><span>Long, long, will they miss thee, +Lizzie,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Long, long days for thee +they'll weep;<br /></span> <span>And through many nights of +sorrow<br /></span> <span class="i2">Memory will her vigils +keep.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>In the chapter just finished we casually mentioned that Lizzie, +instead of growing stronger, had drooped day by day, until to all +save the fond hearts which watched her, she seemed surely passing +away. But they to whom her presence was as sunlight to the flowers, +shut their eyes to the dreadful truth, refusing to believe that she +was leaving them. Oftentimes during the long winter nights would +Mr. Dayton steal softly to her chamber, and kneeling by her bedside +gaze in mute anguish upon the wasted face of his darling. And when +from her transparent brow and marble cheek he wiped the deadly +night sweats, a chill, colder far than the chill of death, crept +over his heart, and burying his face in his hands he would cry, +"Oh, Father, let this cup pass from me!"</p> +<p>As spring approached she seemed better, and the father's heart +grew stronger, and Lucy's step was lighter, and grandma's words +more cheerful, as hope whispered, "she will live." But when the +snow was melted from off the hillside, and over the earth the warm +spring sun was shining, when the buds began to swell and the trees +to put forth their young leaves, there came over her a change so +fearful that with one bitter cry of sorrow hope fled forever; and +again, in the lonely night season, the weeping father knelt and +asked for strength to bear it when his best-loved child was +gone.</p> +<p>"Poor Harry!" said Lizzie one day to Anna, who was sitting by +her, "Poor Harry, if I could see him again; but I never shall."</p> +<p>"Perhaps you will," answered Anna. "I wrote, to him three weeks +ago, telling him to come quickly."</p> +<p>"Then he will," said Lizzie, "but if I should be dead when he +comes, tell him how I loved him to the last, and that the thought +of leaving him was the sharpest pang I suffered."</p> +<p>There were tears in Anna's eyes as she kissed the cheek of the +sick girl, and promised to do her bidding. After a moment's pause +Lizzie added, "I am afraid Harry is not a Christian, and you must +promise not to leave him until he has a well-founded hope that +again in heaven I shall see him."</p> +<p>Anna promised all, and then as Lizzie seemed exhausted she left +her and returned home. One week from that day she stood once more +in Lizzie's sick-room, listening for the last time to the tones of +the dying girl as she bade her friends adieu. Convulsed with grief +Lucy knelt by the bedside, pressing to her lips one little clammy +hand, and accusing herself of destroying her sister's life. In the +furthest corner of the room sat Mr. Dayton. He could not stand by +and see stealing over his daughter's face the dark shadow which +falls but once on all. He could not look upon her when over her +soft brown eyes the white lids closed forever. Like a naked branch +in the autumn wind his whole frame shook with agony, and though +each fiber of grandma's heart was throbbing with anguish, yet for +the sake of her son she strove to be calm, and soothed him as she +would a little child. Berintha, too, was there, and while her tears +were dropping fast, she supported Lizzie in her arms, pushing back +from her pale brow the soft curls which, damp with the moisture of +death, lay in thick rings upon her forehead.</p> +<p>"Has Harry come?" said Lizzie.</p> +<p>The answer was in the negative, and a moan of disappointment +came from her lips.</p> +<p>Again she spoke: "Give him my Bible—and my +curls—when I am dead let Lucy arrange them—she knows +how; then cut them off, and the best, the longest, the brightest is +for Harry; the others for you all. And tell—tell—tell +him to meet—me in heaven—where +I'm—going—going."</p> +<p>A stifled shriek from Lucy, as she fell back fainting, told that +with the last word, "going," Lizzie had gone to heaven!</p> +<p>An hour after the tolling bell arrested the attention of many, +and of the few who asked for whom it tolled nearly all +involuntarily sighed and said, "Poor Harry! Died before he came +home!"</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>It was the night before the burial, and in the back parlor stood +a narrow coffin containing all that was mortal of Lizzie Dayton. In +the front parlor Bridget and another domestic kept watch over the +body of their young mistress. Twelve o'clock rang from the belfry +of St. Luke's church, and then the midnight silence was broken by +the shrill scream of the locomotive as the eastern train thundered +into the depot. But the senses of the Irish girls were too +profoundly locked in sleep to heed that common sound; neither did +they hear the outer door, which by accident had been left unlocked, +swing softly open, nor saw they the tall figure which passed by +them into the next room—the room where stood the coffin.</p> +<p>Suddenly through the house there echoed a cry, so long, so loud, +so despairing, that every sleeper started from their rest, and +hurried with nervous haste to the parlor, where they saw Harry +Graham, bending in wild agony over the body of his darling Lizzie, +who never before had turned a deaf ear to his impassioned words of +endearment. He had received his sister's letter, and started +immediately for home, but owing to some delay did not reach there +in time to see her alive. Anxious to know the worst, he had not +stopped at his father's house, but seeing a light in Mr. Dayton's +parlors, hastened thither. Finding the door unlocked, he entered, +and on seeing the two servant girls asleep, his heart beat quickly +with apprehension. Still he was unprepared for the shock which +awaited him, when on the coffin and her who slept within it his eye +first rested. He did not faint, nor even weep, but when his friends +came about him with words of sympathy he only answered, "Lizzie, +Lizzie, she is dead!"</p> +<p>During the remainder of that sad night he sat by the coffin +pressing his hand upon the icy forehead until its coldness seemed +to benumb his faculties, for when in the morning his parents and +sister came he scarcely noticed them; and still the world, +misjudging ever, looked upon his calm face and tearless eye, and +said that all too lightly had he loved the gentle girl whose last +thoughts and words had been of him. Ah, they knew not the utter +wreck the death of that young girl had made, of the bitter grief, +deeper and more painful because no tear-drop fell to moisten its +feverish agony. They buried her, and then back from the grave came +the two heart-broken men, the father and Harry Graham, each going +to his own desolate home, the one to commune with the God who had +given and taken away, and the other to question the dealings of +that Providence which had taken from him his all.</p> +<p>Days passed, and nothing proved of any avail to win Harry from +the deep despair which seemed to have settled upon him. At length +Anna bethought her of the soft, silken curl which had been reserved +for him. Quickly she found it, and taking with her the Bible +repaired to her brother's room. Twining her arms around his neck +she told him of the death-scene, of which he before had refused to +hear. She finished her story by suddenly holding to view the long, +bright ringlet which once adorned the fair head now resting in the +grave. Her plan was successful, for bursting into tears Harry wept +nearly two hours. From that time he seemed better, and was +frequently found bathed in tears, and bending over Lizzie's Bible, +which now was his daily companion.</p> +<p>Lucy, too, seemed greatly changed. She had loved her sister as +devotedly as one of her nature could love, and for her death she +mourned sincerely. Lizzie's words of love and gentle persuasion had +not been without their effect, and when Mr. Dayton saw how kind, +how affectionate and considerate of other people's feelings his +daughter had become, he felt that Lizzie had not died in vain.</p> +<p>Seven times have the spring violets blossomed, seven times the +flowers of summer bloomed, seven times have the autumnal stores +been gathered in, and seven times have the winds of winter sighed +over the New England hills since Lizzie was laid to rest. In her +home there have been few changes. Mr. Dayton's hair is whiter than +it was of old, and the furrows on his brow deeper and more marked. +Grandma, quiet and gentle as ever, knits on day after day, ever and +anon speaking of "our dear little Lizzie, who died years ago."</p> +<p>Lucy is still unmarried, and satisfied, too, that it should be +so. A patient, self-sacrificing Christian, she strives to make up +to her father for the loss of one over whose memory she daily +weeps, and to whose death she accuses herself of being accessory. +Dr. Benton and his rather fashionable wife live in their great +house, ride in their handsome carriage, give large dinner parties, +play chess after supper, and then the old doctor nods over his +evening paper, while Berintha nods over a piece of embroidery, +intended to represent a little dog chasing a butterfly and which +would as readily be taken for that as for anything else, and for +anything else as that.</p> +<p>Two years ago a pale young missionary departed to carry the news +of salvation to the heathen land. Some one suggested that he should +take with him a wife, but he shook his head mournfully, saying, "I +have one wife in heaven." The night before he left home, he might +have been seen, long after midnight, seated upon a grassy grave, +where the flowers of summer were growing. Around the stone which +marks the spot rose bushes have clustered so thickly as to hide +from view the words there written, but push them aside and you will +read, "Our darling Lizzie."</p> + +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14089 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab9183a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #14089 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14089) diff --git a/old/14089-8.txt b/old/14089-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a76bc0d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14089-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7961 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Homestead on the Hillside, by Mary Jane Holmes + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Homestead on the Hillside + +Author: Mary Jane Holmes + +Release Date: November 19, 2004 [eBook #14089] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE*** + + +E-text prepared by Stephen Schulze and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE + +by + +MRS. MARY JANE HOLMES + + + + + + + +By the Same Author in uniform style: + + _Dora Deane_ + _Cousin Maude_ + _Lena Rivers_ + _Meadow Brook_ + _English Orphans_ + _Maggie Miller_ + _Rosamond_ + _Tempest And Sunshine_ + _Homestead on the Hillside_ + + + + + +CONTENTS + +The Homestead On The Hillside + + Chapter I. Mrs. Hamilton + Chapter II. Lenora And Her Mother + Chapter III. One Step Toward The Homestead + Chapter IV. After The Burial + Chapter V. Kate Kirby + Chapter VI. Raising The Wind + Chapter VII. The Stepmother + Chapter VIII. Domestic Life At The Homestead + Chapter IX. Lenora And Carrie + Chapter X. Darkness + Chapter XI. Margaret And Her Father + Chapter XII. "Carrying Out Dear Mr. Hamilton's Plans" + Chapter XIII. Retribution + Chapter XIV. Finale + +Rice Corner + + Chapter I. Rice Corner + Chapter II. The Belle Of Rice Corner + Chapter III. Monsieur Penoyer + Chapter IV. Cousin Emma + Chapter V. Richard Evelyn And Harley Ashmore + Chapter VI. Mike And Sally + Chapter VII. The Bride + +The Gilberts; Or, Rice Corner Number Two + + Chapter I. The Gilberts + Chapter II. Nellie + Chapter III. The Haunted House + Chapter IV. Jealousy + Chapter V. New Relations + Chapter VI. Poor, Poor Nellie + +The Thanksgiving Party And Its Consequences + + Chapter I. Night Before Thanksgiving + Chapter II. Thanksgiving Day + Chapter III. Ada Harcourt + Chapter IV. Lucy + Chapter V. Uncle Israel + Chapter VI. Explanation + Chapter VII. A Maneuver + Chapter VIII. Cousin Berintha And Lucy's Party + Chapter IX. A Wedding At St. Luke's + Chapter X. A Surprise + Chapter XI. Lizzie + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MRS. HAMILTON. + + +For many years the broad, rich acres, and old-fashioned, massive +building known as "The Homestead on the Hillside," had passed +successively from father to son, until at last it belonged by right of +inheritance to Ernest Hamilton. Neither time nor expense had been +spared in beautifying and embellishing both house and grounds, and at +the time of which we are speaking there was not for miles around so +lovely a spot as was the shady old homestead. + +It stood at some distance from the road, and on the bright green lawn +in front were many majestic forest trees, on which had fallen the +lights and shadows of more than a century; and under whose +widespreading branches oft, in the olden time, the Indian warrior had +paused from the chase until the noonday heat was passed. Leading from +the street to the house was a wide, graveled walk bordered with box, +and peeping out from the wilderness of vines and climbing roses were +the white walls of the huge building, which was surrounded on all +sides by a double piazza. + +Many and hallowed were the associations connected with that old +homestead. On the curiously-carved seats beneath the tall shade trees +were cut the names of some who there had lived, and loved, and passed +away. Through the little gate at the foot of the garden and just +across the brooklet, whose clear waters leaped and laughed in the +glad sunshine, and then went dancing away in the woodland below, was a +quiet spot, where gracefully the willow tree was bending, where the +wild sweetbrier was blooming, and where, too, lay sleeping those who +once gathered round the hearthstone and basked in the sunlight which +ever seemed resting upon the Homestead on the Hillside. + +But a darker day was coming; a night was approaching when a deep gloom +would overshadow the homestead and the loved ones within its borders. +The servants, ever superstitious, now whispered mysteriously that the +spirits of the departed returned nightly to their old accustomed +places, and that dusky hands from the graves of the slumbering dead +were uplifted, as if to warn the master of the domain of the +desolation; which was to come. For more than a year the wife of Ernest +Hamilton had been dying--slowly, surely dying--and though when the +skies were brightest and the sunshine warmest she ever seemed better, +each morning's light still revealed some fresh ravage the disease had +made, until at last there was no hope, and the anxious group which +watched her knew full well that ere long among them would be a vacant +chair, and in the family burying ground an added grave. + +One evening Mrs. Hamilton seemed more than usually restless, and +requested her daughters to leave her, that she might compose herself +to sleep. Scarcely was she alone when with cat-like tread there glided +through the doorway the dark figure of a woman, who advanced toward +the bedside, noiselessly as a serpent would steal to his ambush. She +was apparently forty-five years of age, and dressed in deep mourning, +which seemed to increase the marble whiteness of her face. Her eyes, +large, black, and glittering, fastened themselves upon, the invalid +with a gaze so intense that Mrs. Hamilton's hand involuntarily sought +the bell-rope, to summon some one else to her room. + +But ere the bell was rung a strangely sweet, musical voice fell on her +ear, and arrested her movements. "Pardon me for intruding," said the +stranger, "and suffer me to introduce myself. I am Mrs. Carter, who +not long since removed to the village. I have heard of your illness, +and wishing to render you any assistance in my power, I have ventured, +unannounced, into your presence, hoping that I at least am not +unwelcome." + +Mrs. Hamilton had heard of a widow lady, who with an only daughter had +recently removed to the village, which lay at the foot of the long +hill on which stood the old homestead. She had heard, too, that Mrs. +Carter, though rather singular in some respects, was unusually +benevolent, spending much time in visiting the sick and needy, and, as +far as possible, ministering to their comfort. + +Extending her hand, she said, "I know you by reputation, Mrs. Carter, +and feel greatly pleased that you have thought to visit me. Pray be +seated." + +This last invitation was superfluous, for with the air of a person +entirely at home, the lady had seated herself, and as the room was +rather warm, she threw back her bonnet, disclosing to view a mass of +rich brown hair, which made her look several years younger than she +really was. Nothing could be more apparently kind and sincere than +were her words of sympathy, nothing more soothing than the sound of +her voice; and when she for a moment raised Mrs. Hamilton, while she +adjusted her pillows, the sick woman declared that never before had +any one done it so gently or so well. + +Mrs. Carter was just resuming her seat when in the adjoining hall +there was the sound of a heavy tread, and had Mrs. Hamilton been at +all suspicious of her visitor she would have wondered at the flush +which deepened on her cheek when the door opened and Mr. Hamilton +stood in their midst. On seeing a stranger he turned to leave, but his +wife immediately introduced him, and seating himself upon the sofa, he +remarked, "I have seen you frequently in church, Mrs. Carter, but I +believe I have never spoken with you before." + +A peculiar expression flitted over her features at these words, an +expression which Mr. Hamilton noticed, and which awoke remembrances of +something unpleasant, though he could not tell what. + +"Where have I seen her before?" thought he, as she bade them good +night, promising to come again and stay a longer time. "Where have I +seen her before?" and then involuntarily his thoughts went back to the +time, years and years ago, when, a wild young man in college, he had +thoughtlessly trifled with the handsome daughter of his landlady. Even +now he seemed to hear her last words, as he bade her farewell: "You +may go, Ernest Hamilton, and forget me if you can, but Luella does not +so easily forget; and remember, when least you expect it, we shall +meet again." + +Could this strange being, with honeyed words and winning ways, be that +fiery, vindictive girl? Impossible!--and satisfied with this +conclusion Mr. Hamilton resumed his evening paper. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LENORA AND HER MOTHER. + + +From the windows of a small, white cottage, at the extremity of +Glenwood village, Lenora Carter watched for her mother's return. "She +stays long," thought she, "but it bodes success to her plan; though +when did she undertake a thing and fail!" + +The fall of the gatelatch was heard, and in a moment Mrs. Carter was +with her daughter, whose first exclamation was, "What a little +eternity you've been gone! Did you renew your early vows to the man?" + +"I've no vows to renew," answered Mrs. Carter, "but I've paved the way +well, and got invited to call again." + +"Oh, capital!" said Lenora. "It takes you, mother, to do up things, +after all; but, really, was Mrs. Hamilton pleased with you?" + +"Judging by the pressure of her hand when she bade me good-by I should +say she was," answered Mrs. Carter; and Lenora continued: "Did you see +old moneybags?" + +"Lenora, child, you must not speak so disrespectfully of Mr. +Hamilton," said Mrs. Carter. + +"I beg your pardon," answered Lenora, while her mother continued: "I +saw him, but do not think he recognized me; and perhaps it is as well +that he should not, until I have made myself indispensable to him and +his family." + +"Which you will never do with the haughty Mag, I am sure," said +Lenora; "but tell me, is the interior of the house as handsome as the +exterior?" + +"Far more so," was the reply; and Mrs. Carter proceeded to enumerate +the many costly articles of furniture she had seen. + +She was interrupted by Lenora, who asked, "How long, think you, will +the incumbrance live?" + +"Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, "you shall not talk so. No one wishes Mrs. +Hamilton to die; but if such an afflictive dispensation does occur, I +trust we shall all be resigned." + +"Oh, I keep forgetting that you are acting the part of a resigned +widow; but I, thank fortune, have no part to act, and can say what I +please." + +"And spoil all our plans, too, by your foolish babbling," interposed +Mrs. Carter. + +"Let me alone for that," answered Lenora. "I haven't been trained by +such a mother for nothing. But, seriously, how is Mrs. Hamilton's +health?" + +"She is very low, and cannot possibly live long," was the reply. + +Here there was a pause in the conversation, during which we will take +the opportunity of introducing more fully to our readers the estimable +Mrs. Carter and her daughter. Mr. Hamilton was right when he +associated the resigned widow with his old flame, Luella Blackburn, +whom be had never seriously thought of marrying, though by way of +pastime he had frequently teased, tormented, and flattered her. Luella +was ambitious, artful, and designing. Wealth and position was the goal +at which she aimed. Both of these she knew Ernest Hamilton possessed, +and she had felt greatly pleased at his evident preference. When, +therefore, at the end of his college course he left her with a few +commonplace remarks, such as he would have spoken to any familiar +acquaintance, her rage knew no bounds; and in the anger of the moment +she resolved, sooner or later, to be revenged upon him. + +Years, however, passed on, and a man whom she thought wealthy offered +her his hand. She accepted it, and found, too late, that she was +wedded to poverty. This aroused the evil of her nature to such an +extent that her husband's life became one of great unhappiness, and +four years after Lenora's birth he left her. Several years later she +succeeded in procuring a divorce, although she still retained his +name. Recently she had heard of his death, and about the same time, +too, she heard that the wife of Ernest Hamilton was dying. Suddenly a +wild scheme entered her mind. She would remove to the village of +Glenwood, would ingratiate herself into the favor of Mrs. Hamilton, +win her confidence and love, and then when she was dead the rest she +fancied would be an easy matter, for she knew that Mr. Hamilton was +weak and easily flattered. + +For several weeks they had been in Glenwood, impatiently waiting an +opportunity for making the acquaintance of the Hamiltons. But as +neither Margaret nor Carrie called, Lenora became discouraged, and one +day exclaimed, "I should like to know what you are going to do. There +is no probability of that proud Mag's calling on me. How I hate her, +with her big black eyes and hateful ways!" + +"Patience, patience," said Mrs. Carter, "I'll manage it; as Mrs. +Hamilton is sick, it will be perfectly proper for me to go and see +her," and then was planned the visit which we have described. + +"Oh, won't it be grand!" said Lenora that night, as she sat sipping +her tea. "Won't it be grand, if you do succeed, and won't I lord it +over Miss Margaret! As for that little white-faced Carrie, she's too +insipid for one to trouble herself about, and I dare say thinks you a +very nice woman, for how can her Sabbath-school teacher be otherwise;" +and a satirical laugh echoed through the room. Suddenly springing up, +Lenora glanced at herself in the mirror, and turning to her mother, +said, "Did you hear when Walter is expected--and am I so very ugly +looking?" + +While Mrs. Carter is preparing an answer to the first question, we, +for the sake of our readers, will answer the last one. Lenora was a +little dark-looking girl about eighteen years of age. Her eyes were +black, her face was black, and her hair was black, standing out from +her head in short, thick curls, which gave to her features a strange +witch-like expression. From her mother she had inherited the same +sweet, cooing voice, the same gliding, noiseless footsteps, which had +led some of their acquaintance to accuse them of what, in the days of +New England witchcraft, would have secured their passport to another +world. + +Lenora had spoken truthfully when she said that she had not been +trained by such a mother for nothing, for whatever of evil appeared in +her conduct was more the result of her mother's training than of a +naturally bad disposition. At times her mother petted and caressed +her, and again, in a fit of ill-humor, drove her from the room, +taunting her with the strong resemblance which she bore to the man +whom she had once called father! On such occasions Lenora was never at +a loss for words, and the scenes which sometimes occurred were too +disgraceful for repetition. On one subject, however, they were united, +and that was in their efforts to become inmates of the homestead on +the hillside. In the accomplishment of this Lenora had a threefold +object: first, it would secure her a luxuriant home; second, she would +be thrown in the way of Walter Hamilton, who was about finishing his +college course; and last, though not least, it would be such a triumph +over Margaret, who, she fancied, treated her with cold indifference. + +Long after the hour of midnight was rung from the village clock, the +widow and her daughter sat by their fireside, forming plans for the +future, and when at last they retired to sleep it was to dream of +funeral processions, bridal favors, stepchildren, half-sisters, and +double connections all around. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ONE STEP TOWARD THE HOMESTEAD. + + +Weeks passed on, and so necessary to the comfort of the invalid did +the presence of Mrs. Carter become, that at last, by particular +request, she took up her abode at the homestead, becoming Mrs. +Hamilton's constant nurse and attendant. Lenora, for the time being, +was sent to the house of a friend, who lived not far distant. When +Margaret Hamilton learned of the arrangement she opposed it with all +her force. + +"Send her away, mother," said she one evening; "please send her away, +for I cannot endure her presence, with her oily words and silent +footsteps. She reminds me of the serpent, who decoyed Eve into eating +that apple, and I always feel an attack of the nightmare whenever I +know that her big, black eyes are fastened upon me." + +"How differently people see!" laughed Carrie, who was sitting by. +"Why, Mag, I always fancy _her_ to be in a nightmare when your big +eyes light upon her." + +"It's because she knows she's guilty," answered Mag, her words and +manner warming up with the subject. "Say, mother, won't you send her +off! It seems as though a dark shadow falls upon us all the moment she +eaters the house." + +"She is too invaluable a nurse to be discharged for a slight whim," +answered Mrs. Hamilton. "Besides she bears the best of reputations, +and I don't see what possible harm can come of her being here." + +Margaret sighed, for though she knew full well the "possible harm" +which might come of it, she could not tell it to her pale, dying +mother; and ere she had time for any answer, the black bombazine +dress, white linen, collar, and white, smooth face of Widow Carter +moved silently into the room. There was a gleam of intense hatred in +the dark eyes which for a moment flashed on Margaret's face, and then +a soft hand gently stroked the glossy hair of the indignant girl, and +in the most musical tones imaginable a low voice murmured, "Maggie, +dear, you look flushed and wearied. Are you quite well?" + +"Perfectly so," answered Margaret; and then rising, she left the room, +but not until she had heard her mother say, "Dear Mrs. Carter, I am so +glad you've come!" + +"Is everybody bewitched," thought Mag, as she repaired to her chamber, +"father, mother, Carrie, and all? How I wish Walter was here. He +always sees things as I do." + +Margaret Hamilton was a high-spirited, intelligent girl, about +nineteen years of age. She was not beautiful, but had you asked for +the finest-looking girl in all Glenwood, Mag would surely have been +pointed out. She was rather above the medium height, and in her whole +bearing there was a quiet dignity, which many mistook for hauteur. +Naturally frank, affectionate, and kind-hearted, she was, perhaps, a +little strong in her prejudices, which, when once satisfactorily +formed, could not easily be shaken. + +For Mrs. Carter she had conceived a strong dislike, for she believed +her to be an artful, hypocritical woman, and now, as she sat by the +window in her room, her heart swelled with indignation toward one who +had thus usurped her place by her mother's bedside, whom Carrie was +learning to confide in, and of whom even the father said, "she is a +most excellent woman." + +"I will write to Walter," said she, "and tell him to come +immediately." + +Suiting the action to the word, she drew up her writing desk, and soon +a finished letter was lying before her. Ere she had time to fold and +direct it, a loud cry from her young brother Willie summoned her for a +few moments from the room, and on her return she met in the doorway +the black bombazine and linen collar. + +"Madam," said she, "did you wish for anything?" + +"Yes, dear," was the soft answer, which, however, in this case failed +to turn, away wrath. "Yes, dear, your mother said you knew where there +were some fine bits of linen." + +"And could not Carrie come for them?" asked Mag. + +"Yes, dear, but she looks so delicate that I do not like to send her +up these long stairs oftener than is necessary. Haven't you noticed +how pale she is getting of late? I shouldn't be at all surprised--" +but before the sentence was finished the linen was found, and the door +closed upon Mrs. Carter. + +A new idea had been awakened in Margaret's mind, and for the first +time she thought how much her sister really had changed. Carrie, who +was four years younger than Margaret, had ever been delicate, and her +parents had always feared that not long could they keep her; but +though each winter her cough had returned with increased severity, +though the veins on her white brow grew more distinct, and her large, +blue eyes glowed with unwonted luster, still Margaret had never before +dreamed of danger, never thought that soon her sister's voice would be +missed, and that Carrie would be gone. But she thought of it now, and +laying her head upon the table wept for a time in silence. + +At length, drying her tears, she folded her letter and took it to the +post-office. As she was returning home she was met by a servant, who +exclaimed, "Run, Miss Margaret, run; your mother is dying, and Mrs. +Carter sent me for you!" + +Swift as the mountain chamois, Margaret sped up the long, steep hill, +and in a few moments stood within her mother's sick-room. Supported in +the arms of Mrs. Carter lay the dying woman, while her eyes, already +overshadowed with the mists of coming death, wandered anxiously around +the room, as if in quest of some one. The moment Margaret appeared, a +satisfied smile broke over her wasted features, and beckoning her +daughter to her bedside, she whispered, "Dear Maggie, you did not +think I'd die so soon, when you went away." + +A burst of tears was Maggie's only answer, as she passionately kissed +the cold, white lips, which had never breathed aught to her save words +of love and gentleness. Far different, however, would have been her +reply had she known the reason of her mother's question. Not long +after she had left the house for the office, Mrs. Hamilton had been +taken worse, and the physician, who chanced to be present, pronounced +her dying. Instantly the alarmed husband summoned together his +household, but Mag was missing. No one had seen her; no one knew where +she was, until Mrs. Carter, who had been some little time absent from +the room reentered it, saying "Margaret had started for the +post-office with a letter when I sent a servant to tell her of her +mother's danger, but for some reason she kept on, though I dare say +she will soon be back." + +As we well know, the substance of this speech was true, though the +impression which Mrs. Carter's words conveyed was entirely false. For +the advancement of her own cause she felt that it was necessary to +weaken the high estimation in which Mr. Hamilton held his daughter, +and she fancied that the mother's death-bed was as fitting a place +where to commence operations as she could select. + +As Margaret hung over her mother's pillow, the false woman, as if to +confirm the assertion she had made, leaned forward and said, "Robin +told you, I suppose? I sent him to do so." + +Margaret nodded assent, while a deeper gloom fell upon the brow of Mr. +Hamilton, who stood with folded arms watching the advance of the great +destroyer. It came at last, and though no perceptible change heralded +its approach, there was one fearful spasm, one long-drawn sigh, a +striving of the eye for one more glimpse of the loved ones gathered +near, and then Mrs. Hamilton was dead. On the bosom of Mrs. Carter her +life was breathed away, and when all was over that lady laid gently +down her burden, carefully adjusted the tumbled covering, and then +stepping to the window, looked out, while the stricken group deplored +their loss. + +Long and bitterly over their dead they wept, but not on one of that +weeping band fell the bolt so crushingly as upon Willie, the youngest +of the flock, the child four summers old, who had ever lived in the +light of his mother's love. They had told him she would die, but he +understood them not, for never before had he looked on death; and now, +when to his childish words of love his mother made no answer, most +piteously rang out the infantile cry, "Mother, oh, my mother, who'll +be my mother now?" + +Caressingly, a small, white hand was laid on Willie's yellow curls, +but ere the words of love were spoken Margaret took the little fellow +in her arms, and whispered through her tears, "I'll be your mother, +darling." + +Willie brushed the tear-drops from his sister's cheek and laying his +fair, round face upon her neck, said, "And who'll be Maggie's mother? +Mrs. Carter?" + +"Never! never!" answered Mag, while to the glance of hatred and +defiance cast upon her she returned one equally scornful and +determined. + +Soon from the village there came words of sympathy and offers of +assistance; but Mrs. Carter could do everything, and in her blandest +tones she declined the services of the neighbors, refusing even to +admit them into the presence of Margaret and Carrie, who, she said +were so much exhausted as to be unable to bear the fresh burst of +grief which the sight of an old friend would surely produce. So the +neighbors went home, and as the world will ever do, descanted upon the +probable result of Mrs. Carter's labors at the homestead. Thus, ere +Ernest Hamilton had been three days a widower, many in fancy had +wedded him to Mrs. Carter, saying that nowhere could he find so good a +mother for his children. + +And truly she did seem to be indispensable in that house of mourning. +'Twas she who saw that everything was done, quietly and in order; +'twas she who so neatly arranged the muslin shroud; 'twas her arms +that supported the half-fainting Carrie when first her eye rested on +her mother, coffined for the grave; 'twas she who whispered words of +comfort to the desolate husband; and she, too, it was, who, on the +night when Walter was expected home, _kindly_ sat up until past +midnight to receive him! + +She had read Mag's letter, and by being first to welcome the young man +home, she hoped to remove from his mind any prejudice which he might +feel for her, and by her bland smiles and gentle words to lure him +into the belief that she was perfect, and Margaret uncharitable. +Partially she succeeded, too, for when next morning Mag expressed a +desire that Mrs. Carter would go home, he replied, "I think you judge +her wrongfully; she seems to be a most amiable, kind-hearted woman." + +"_Et tu, Brute!_" Mag could have said, but 'twas neither the time nor +the place, and linking her arm within her brother's she led him into +the adjoining room, where stood their mother's coffin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AFTER THE BURIAL. + + +Across the bright waters of the silvery lake which lay not far from +Glenwood village, over the grassy hillside, and down the long, green +valley, had floated the notes of the tolling bell. In the Hamilton +mansion sympathizing friends had gathered, and through the crowded +parlors a solemn hush had reigned, broken only by the voice of the +white-haired man of God, who in trembling tones prayed for the +bereaved ones. Over the costly coffin tear-wet faces had bent, and on +the marble features of her who slept within it had been pressed the +passionate kisses of a long, a last farewell. + +Through the shady garden and across the running brook, whose waters +this day murmured more sadly than 'twas their wont to do, the funeral +train had passed; and in the dark, moist earth, by the side of many +other still, pale sleepers, who offered no remonstrance when among +them another came, they had buried the departed. From the windows of +the homestead lights were gleaming, and in the common sitting-room sat +Ernest Hamilton, and by his side his four motherless children. In the +stuffed armchair, sacred for the sake of one who had called it hers, +reclined the black bombazine and linen collar of Widow Carter! + +She had, as she said, fully intended to return home immediately after +the burial, but there were so many little things to be seen to, so +much to be done, which Margaret, of course, did not feel like doing, +that she decided to stay until after supper, together with Lenora, who +had come to the funeral. When supper was over, and there was no longer +an excuse for lingering, she found, very greatly to her surprise and +chagrin, no doubt, that the clouds, which all day had looked dark and +angry, were now pouring rain. + +"What shall I do?" she exclaimed in great apparent distress; then +stepping to the door of the sitting-room, she said, "Maggie, dear, can +you lend me an umbrella? It is raining very hard, and I do not wish to +go home without one; I will send it back to-morrow." + +"Certainly," answered Margaret. "Umbrella and overshoes, too;" and +rising, she left the room to procure them. + +"But you surely are not going out in this storm," said Mr. Hamilton; +while Carrie, who really liked Mrs. Carter, and felt that it would be +more lonely when she was gone, exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, don't leave us +to-night, Mrs. Carter. Don't." + +"Yes, I think I must," was the answer, while Mr. Hamilton continued: +"You had better stay; but if you insist upon going, I will order the +carriage, as you must not walk." + +"Rather than put you to all that trouble, I will remain," said Mrs. +Carter; and when Mag returned with two umbrellas and two pairs of +overshoes, she found the widow comfortably seated in her mother's +armchair, while on the stool at her side sat Lenora looking not unlike +a little imp, with her wild, black face, and short, thick curls. + +Walter Hamilton had not had much opportunity for scanning the face of +Mrs. Carter, but now, as she sat there with the firelight flickering +over her features, he fancied that he could trace marks of the +treacherous deceit of which Mag had warned him; and when the full +black eyes rested upon Margaret he failed not to note the glance of +scorn which flashed from them, and which changed to a look of +affectionate regard the moment she saw she was observed. "There is +something wrong about her," thought he, "and the next time I am alone +with Mag I'll ask what it is she fears from this woman." + +That night, in the solitude of their room, mother and child communed +together as follows: "I do believe, mother, you are twin sister to the +old one himself. Why, who would have thought, when first you made that +_friendly_ visit, that in five weeks time both of us would be snugly +ensconced in the best chamber of the homestead?" + +"If you think we are in the best chamber, you are greatly mistaken," +replied Mrs. Carter. "Margaret Hamilton has power enough yet to keep +us out of that. Didn't she look crestfallen though, when she found I +was going to stay, notwithstanding her very disinterested offer of +umbrellas and overshoes? But I'll pay it all back when I become--" + +"Mistress of the house," added Lenora. "Why not speak out plainly? Or +are you afraid the walls have ears, and that the devoted Mrs. Carter's +speeches would not sound well repeated? Oh, how sanctimonious you did +look to-day when you were talking pious to Carrie! I actually had to +force a sneeze, to keep from laughing outright, though she, little +simpleton, swallowed it all, and I dare say wonders where you keep +your wings! But really, mother, I hope you don't intend to pet her so +always, for 'twould be more than it's worth to see it." + +"I guess I know how to manage," returned Mrs. Carter. "There's nothing +will win a parent's affection so soon as to pet the children." + +"And so I suppose you expect Mr. Hamilton to pet _this_ beautiful +child!" said Lenora, laughing loudly at the idea, and waltzing back +and forth before the mirror. + +"Lenora! _behave!_ I will not see you conduct so," said the widow; to +which the young lady replied, "Shut your eyes, and then you can't!" + +Meantime, an entirely different conversation was going on in another +part of the house, where sat Walter Hamilton, with his arm thrown +affectionately around, Mag, who briefly told of what she feared would +result from Mrs. Carter's intimacy at their house. + +"Impossible!" said the young man, starting to his feet. "Impossible! +Our father has too much sense to marry again anyway, and much more, to +marry one so greatly inferior to our own dear mother." + +"I hope it may prove so," answered Mag; "but with all due respect for +our father, _you_ know and I know that mother's was the stronger mind, +the controlling spirit, and now that she is gone father will be more +easily deceived." + +Margaret told the truth; for her mother had possessed a strong, +intelligent mind, and was greatly the superior of her father, who, as +we have before remarked, was rather weak and easily flattered. Always +sincere himself in what he said, he could not believe that other +people were aught than what they seemed to be, and thus oftentimes his +confidence had been betrayed by those in whom he trusted. As yet he +had, of course, entertained no thought of ever making Mrs. Carter his +wife; but her society was agreeable, her words and manner soothing, +and when, on the day following the burial, she actually took her +departure, bag, baggage, Lenora, and all, he felt how doubly lonely +was the old homestead, and wondered why she could not stay. There was +room enough, and then Margaret was too young to assume the duties of +housekeeper. Other men in similar circumstances had hired +housekeepers, and why could not he? He would speak to Mag about it +that very night. But when evening came, Walter, Carrie, and Willie all +were present, and he found no opportunity of seeing Margaret alone; +neither did any occur until after Walter had returned to college, +which he did the week following his mother's death. + +That night the little parlor at the cottage where dwelt the Widow +Carter looked unusually snug and cozy. It was autumn, and as the +evenings were rather cool a cheerful wood fire was blazing on the +hearth. Before it stood a tasteful little workstand, near which were +seated Lenora and her mother, the one industriously knitting, and the +other occasionally touching the strings of her guitar, which was +suspended from her neck by a crimson ribbon. On the sideboard stood a +fruit dish loaded with red and golden apples, and near it a basket +filled with the rich purple grapes. + +That day in the street Lenora had met Mr. Hamilton, who asked if her +mother would be at home that evening, saying he intended to call for +the purpose of settling the bill which he owed her for services +rendered to his family in their late affliction. + +"When I once get him here, I will keep him as long as possible," said +Mrs. Carter; "and, Lenora, child, if he stays late, say till nine +o'clock, you had better go quietly to bed." + +"Or into the next room, and listen," thought Lenora. + +Seven o'clock came, and on the graveled walk there was heard the sound +of footsteps, and in a moment Ernest Hamilton stood in the room, +shaking the warm hand of the widow, who was delighted to see him, but +_so_ sorry to find him looking pale and thin! Rejecting a seat in the +comfortable rocking-chair, which Lenora pushed toward him, he +proceeded at once to business, and taking from his purse fifteen +dollars, passed them toward Mrs. Carter, asking if that would +remunerate her for the three weeks' services in his family. + +But Mrs. Carter thrust them aside, saying, "Sit down, Mr. Hamilton, +sit down. I have a great deal to ask you about Maggie and dear +Carrie's health." + +"And sweet little Willie," chimed in Lenora. + +Accordingly Mr. Hamilton sat down, and so fast did Mrs. Carter talk +that the clock was pointing to half past eight ere he got another +chance to offer his bills. Then, with the look of a much-injured +woman, Mrs. Carter declined the money, saying, "Is it possible, Mr. +Hamilton, that you suppose my services can be bought! What I did for +your wife, I would do for any one who needed me, though for but few +could I entertain the same feelings I did for her. Short as was our +acquaintance, she seemed to me like a beloved sister; and now that she +is gone I feel that we have lost an invaluable treasure--" + +Here Mrs. Carter broke down entirely, and was obliged to raise her +cambric handkerchief to her eyes, while Lenora walked to the window to +conceal her emotions, whatever they might have been! When the +agitation of the company had somewhat subsided, Mr. Hamilton again +insisted, and again Mrs. Carter refused. At last, finding her +perfectly inexorable, he proceeded to express his warmest thanks and +deepest gratitude for what she had done, saying he should ever feel +indebted to her for her great kindness; then, as the clock struck +nine, he arose to go, in spite of Mrs. Carter's zealous efforts to +detain him longer. + +"Call again," said she, as she lighted him to the door; "call again +and we will talk over old times when we were young, and lived in New +Haven!" + +Mr. Hamilton started, and looking her full in the face, exclaimed, +"Luella Blackburn! It is as I at first suspected; but who would have +thought it!" + +"Yes--I am Luella," said Mrs. Carter; "though greatly changed, I +trust, from the Luella you once knew, and of whom even I have no very +pleasant reminiscences; but call again, and I will tell you of many of +your old classmates." + +Mr. Hamilton would have gone almost anywhere for the sake of hearing +from his classmates, many of whom he greatly esteemed; and as in this +case the "anywhere" was only at Widow Carter's, the idea was not +altogether distasteful to him, and when he bade her good night he was +under a promise to call again soon. All hopes, however, of procuring +her for his housekeeper were given up, for if she resented his offer +of payment for what she had already done, she surely would be doubly +indignant at his last proposed plan. After becoming convinced of this +fact, it is a little strange how suddenly he found that he did not +need a housekeeper--that Margaret, who before could not do at all, +could now do very well--as well as anybody. And Margaret did do well, +both as housekeeper and mother of little Willie, who seemed to have +transferred to her the affection he had borne for his mother. + +At intervals during the autumn Mrs. Carter called, always giving a +world of good advice, patting Carrie's pale cheek, kissing Willie, and +then going away. But as none of her calls were ever returned they +gradually became less frequent, and as the winter advanced ceased +altogether; while Margaret, hearing nothing, and seeing nothing, began +to forget her fears, and to laugh at them as having been groundless. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +KATE KIRBY. + + +The little brooklet, which danced so merrily by the homestead +burial-place, and then flowed on in many graceful turns and +evolutions, finally lost itself in a glossy mill-pond, whose waters, +when the forest trees were stripped of their foliage, gleamed and +twinkled in the smoky autumn light, or lay cold and still beneath the +breath of winter. During this season of the year, from the upper +windows of the homestead the mill-pond was discernible, together with +a small red building which stood upon its banks. + +For many years this house had been occupied by Mr. Kirby, who had been +a schoolboy with Ernest Hamilton, and who, though naturally +intelligent, had never aspired to any higher employment than that of +being miller on the farm of his old friend. Three years before our +story opens Mr. Kirby had died, and a stranger had been employed to +take his place. Mrs. Kirby, however, was so much attached to her +woodland home and its forest scenery that she still continued to +occupy the low red house together with her daughter Kate, who sighed +for no better or more elegant home, although rumor whispered that +there was in store for her a far more costly dwelling, than the +"Homestead on the Hillside." + +Currently was it reported that during Walter Hamilton's vacations the +winding footpath, which followed the course of the streamlet down to +the mill-pond, was trodden more frequently than usual. The +postmaster's wife, too, had hinted strongly of certain ominous letters +from New Haven, which regularly came, directed to Kate, when Walter +was not at home; so, putting together these two facts, and adding to +them the high estimation in which Mrs. Kirby and her daughter were +known to be held by the Hamiltons, it was generally conceded that +there could be no shadow of doubt concerning the state of affairs +between the heir apparent of the old homestead and the daughter of the +poor miller. + +Kate was a universal favorite, and by nearly all was it thought that +in everything save money she was fully the equal of Walter Hamilton. +To a face and form of the most perfect beauty she added a degree of +intelligence and sparkling wit, which, in all the rides, parties, and +_fêtes_ given by the young people of Glenwood, caused her society to +be chosen in preference to those whose fathers counted their money by +thousands. + +A few there were who said that Kate's long intimacy with Margaret +Hamilton had made her proud; but in the rude dwellings and crazy +tenements which skirted the borders of Glenwood village was many a +blind old woman, and many a hoary-headed man, who in their daily +prayers remembered the beautiful Kate, the "fair forest flower," who +came so oft among them with her sweet young face and gentle words. For +Kate both Margaret and Carrie Hamilton already felt a sisterly +affection, while their father smiled graciously upon her, secretly +hoping, however, that his son would make a more brilliant match, but +resolving not to interfere if at last his choice should fall upon her. + +One afternoon, early in April, as Margaret sat in her chamber, busy +upon a piece of needlework, the door softly opened, and a mass of +bright chestnut curls became visible; next appeared the laughing blue +eyes; and finally the whole of Kate Kirby bounded into the room +saying, "Good afternoon, Maggie; are you very busy, and wish I hadn't +come?" + +"I am never too busy to see you," answered Margaret, at the same time +pushing toward Kate the little ottoman on which she always sat when in +that room. + +Kate took the proffered seat, and throwing aside her bonnet, began +with, "Maggie, I want to tell you something, though I don't know as it +is quite right to do so; still you may as well hear it from me as any +one." + +"Do pray tell," answered Mag, "I am dying with curiosity." + +So Kate smoothed down her black silk apron, twisted one of her curls +into a horridly ugly shape, and commenced with, "What kind of a woman +is that Mrs. Carter, down in the village?" + +Instantly Margaret's suspicions were aroused, and starting as if a +serpent had stung her, she exclaimed, "Mrs. Carter! is it of her you +will tell me? She is a most dangerous woman--a woman whom your mother +would call a 'snake in the grass.'" + +"Precisely so," answered Kate. "That is just what mother says of her, +and yet nearly all the village are ready to fall down and worship +her." + +"Let them, then," said Mag; "I have no objections, provided they keep +their molten calf to themselves. No one wants her here. But what is it +about her?--tell me." + +Briefly then Kate told her how Mr. Hamilton was, and for a long time +had been, in the habit of spending one evening every week with Mrs. +Carter; and that people, not without good cause, were already pointing +her out as the future mistress of the homestead. + +"Never, never!" cried Mag vehemently. "Never shall she come here. She +our mother indeed! It shall not be, if I can prevent it." + +After a little further conversation, Kate departed, leaving Mag to +meditate upon the best means by which to avert the threatened evil. +What Kate had told her was true. Mr. Hamilton had so many questions to +ask concerning his old classmates, and Mrs. Carter had so much to +tell, that, though they had worked industriously all winter, they were +not through yet; neither would they be until Mrs. Carter found herself +again within the old homestead. + +The night following Kate's visit Mag determined to speak with her +father; but immediately after tea he went out, saying he should not +return until nine o'clock. With a great effort Mag forced down the +angry words which she felt rising within her, and then seating herself +at her work she resolved to await his return. Not a word on the +subject did she say to Carrie, who retired to her room at half-past +eight, as was her usual custom. Alone now Margaret waited. Nine, ten, +eleven had been struck, and then into the sitting-room came Mr. +Hamilton, greatly astonished at finding his daughter there. + +"Why, Margaret," said he, "why are you sitting up so late?" + +"If it is late for me, it is late for you," answered Margaret, who, +now that the trial had come, felt the awkwardness of the task she had +undertaken. + +"But I had business," answered Mr. Hamilton; and Margaret, looking him +steadily in the face, asked: + +"Is not your business of a nature which equally concerns us all?" + +A momentary flush passed over his features as he replied, "What do you +mean? I do not comprehend." + +Hurriedly, and in broken sentences, Margaret told him what she meant, +and then tremblingly she waited for his answer. Frowning angrily, he +spoke to his daughter the first harsh words which had ever passed his +lips toward either of his children. + +"Go to your room, and don't presume to interfere with me again. I +trust I am competent to attend to my own matters!" + +Almost convulsively Margaret's arms closed round her father's neck, +as she said, "Don't speak so to me, father. You never did +before--never would now, but for _her_. Oh, father, promise me, by the +memory of my angel mother, never to see her again. She is a base, +designing woman." + +Mr. Hamilton unwound his daughter's arms from his neck, and speaking +more gently, said, "What proof have you of that assertion? Give me +proof, and I promise to do your bidding." + +But Mag had no such proof at hand, and she could only reiterate her +suspicions, her belief, which, of course, failed to convince the +biased man, who, rising, said: "Your mother confided and trusted in +her, so why should not you?" + +The next moment Margaret was alone. For a long time she wept, and it +was not until the eastern horizon began to grow gray in the morning +twilight that she laid her head upon her pillow, and forgot in sleep +how unhappy she had been. Her words, however, were not without their +effect, for when the night came round on which her father was +accustomed to pay his weekly visit, he stayed at home, spending the +whole evening with his daughters, and appearing really gratified at +Margaret's efforts to entertain him. But, alas! the chain of the widow +was too firmly thrown around him for a daughter's hand alone to sever +the fast-bound links. + +When the next Thursday evening came Mag was confined to her room by a +sick headache, from which she had been suffering all day. As night +approached she frequently asked if her father were below. At last the +front door opened, and she heard his step upon the piazza. Starting +up, she hurried to the window, while at the same moment Mr. Hamilton +paused, and raising his eyes saw the white face of his daughter +pressed against the window-pane as she looked imploringly after him; +but there was not enough of power in a single look to deter him, and, +wafting her a kiss, he turned away. Sadly Margaret watched him until +he disappeared down the long hill; then, returning to her couch, she +wept bitterly. + +Meantime Mrs. Carter, who had been greatly chagrined at the +non-appearance of Mr. Hamilton the week before, was now confidently +expecting him. He had not yet asked her to be his wife, and the delay +somewhat annoyed both herself and Lenora. + +"I declare, mother," said Lenora, "I should suppose you might contrive +up something to bring matters to a focus. I think it's perfectly +ridiculous to see two old crones, who ought to be trotting their +grandchildren, cooing and simpering away at each other, and all for +nothing, too." + +"Can't you be easy awhile longer?" asked Mrs. Carter "hasn't he said +everything he can say except 'will you marry me?'" + +"A very important question, too," returned Lenora; "and I don't know +what business you have to expect anything from him until it is asked." + +"Mr. Hamilton is proud," answered Mrs. Carter--"is afraid of doing +anything which might possibly lower him. Now, if by any means I could +make him believe that I had received an offer from some one fully if +not more than his equal, I think it would settle the matter, and I've +decided upon the following plan. I'll write a proposal myself, sign +old Judge B----'s name to it, and next time Mr. Hamilton comes let him +surprise me in reading it. Then, as he is such a _dear_, long-tried +friend, it will be quite proper for me to confide in him, and ask his +advice." + +Lenora's eyes opened wider, as she exclaimed, "_My gracious_! who but +_you_ would ever have thought of that." + +Accordingly the letter was written, sealed, directed, broken open, +laughed over, and laid away in the stand drawer. + +"Mr. Hamilton, mother," said Lenora, as half an hour afterward she +ushered that gentleman into the room. But so wholly absorbed was the +black bombazine and linen collar in the contents of an open letter, +which she held in her hand, that the words were twice repeated--"Mr. +Hamilton, mother"--ere she raised her eyes! Then coming forward with +well-feigned confusion, she apologized for not having observed him +before, saying she was sure he would excuse her if he knew the +contents of her letter. Of course he wanted to know, and of course she +didn't want to tell. He was too polite to urge her, and the +conversation soon took another channel. + +After a time Lenora left the room, and Mrs. Carter, again speaking of +the letter, begged to make a confidant of Mr. Hamilton, and ask his +advice. He heard the letter read through, and after a moment's silence +asked, "Do you like him, Mrs. Carter?" + +"Why--no--I don't think I do," said she, "but then the widow's lot is +so lonely." + +"I know it is," sighed he, while through the keyhole of the opposite +door came something which sounded very much like a stifled laugh! It +was the hour of Ernest Hamilton's temptation, and but for the +remembrance of the sad, white face which had gazed so sorrowfully at +him from the window he had fallen. But Maggie's presence seemed with +him--her voice whispered in his ear, "Don't do it, father, don't"--and +he calmly answered that it would be a good match. But he could not, no +he could not advise her to marry him; so he qualified what he had said +by asking her not to be in a hurry--to wait awhile. The laugh through +the keyhole was changed to a hiss, which Mrs. Carter said must be the +wind, although there was not enough stirring to move the rose bushes +which grew by the doorstep! + +So much was Mr. Hamilton held in thrall by the widow that on his way +home he hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that he had not +proposed. If Judge B---- would marry her she surely was good enough +for him. Anon, too, he recalled her hesitation about confessing that +the judge was indifferent to her. Jealousy crept in and completed +what flattery and intrigue had commenced. One week from that night +Ernest Hamilton and Luella Carter were engaged, but for appearance's +sake their marriage was not to take place until the ensuing autumn. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +RAISING THE WIND. + + +"Where are you going now?" asked Mrs. Carter of her daughter, as she +saw her preparing to go out one afternoon, a few weeks after the +engagement. + +"Going to raise the wind," was the answer. + +"Going to what?" exclaimed Mrs. Carter. + +"To raise the wind! Are you deaf?" yelled Lenora. + +"Raise the wind!" repeated Mrs. Carter; "what do you mean?" + +"Mean what I say," said Lenora; and closing the door after her she +left her mother to wonder "what fresh mischief the little torment was +at." + +But she was only going to make a _friendly_ call on Margaret and +Carrie, the latter of whom she had heard was sick. + +"Is Miss Hamilton at home?" asked she of the servant girl who answered +her ring, and whom she had never seen before. + +"Yes, ma'am; walk in the parlor. What name shall I give her if you +please?" + +"Miss Carter--Lenora Carter;" and the servant girl departed, repeating +to herself all the way up the stairs, "Miss Carther--Lenora Carther!" + +"Lenora Carter want to see me!" exclaimed Mag, who, together with Kate +Kirby, was in her sister's room. + +"Yes, ma'am; an' sure 'twas Miss Hampleton she was wishin' to see," +said the Irish girl. + +"Well, I shall not go down," answered Mag. "Tell her, Rachel, that I +am otherwise engaged." + +"Oh, Maggie," said Carrie, "why not see her? I would if I were you." + +"Rachel can ask her up here if you wish it," answered Mag, "but I +shall leave the room." + +"Faith, an' what shall I do?" asked Rachel, who was fresh from "swate +Ireland" and felt puzzled to know why a "silk frock and smart bonnet" +should not always be welcome. "Ask her up," answered Kate. "I've never +seen her nearer than across the church and have some curiosity--" + +A moment after Rachel thrust her head in at the parlor door, saying, +"If you please, ma'am, Miss Marget is engaged, and does not want to +see you, but Miss Carrie says you may come up there." + +"Very well," said Lenora; and tripping after the servant girl, she was +soon in Carrie's room. + +After retailing nearly all the gossip of which she was mistress, she +suddenly turned to Carrie, and said, "Did you know that your father +was going to be married?" + +"My father going to be married!" said Carrie, opening her blue eyes in +astonishment. "My father going to be married! To whom pray?" + +"To a lady from the East--one whom he used to know and flirt with when +he was in college!" was Lenora's grave reply. + +"What is her name?" asked Kate. + +"Her name? Let me see--Miss--Blackwell--Blackmer--_Blackheart_. It +sounds the most like Blackheart." + +"What a queer name," said Kate; "but tell us what opportunity has Mr. +Hamilton had of renewing his early acquaintance with the lady." + +"Don't you know he's been East this winter?" asked Lenora. + +"Yes, as far as Albany," answered Carrie. + +"Well," continued Lenora, "'twas during his Eastern trip that the +matter was settled; but pray don't repeat it from me, except it be to +Maggie, who I dare say, will feel glad to be relieved of her heavy +responsibilities--but as I live, Carrie, you are crying! What is the +matter?" + +But Carrie made no answer, and for a time wept on in silence. She +could not endure the thought that another would so soon take the place +of her lost mother in the household and in the affections of her +father. There was, besides, something exceedingly annoying in the +manner of her who communicated the intelligence, and secretly Carrie +felt glad that the dreaded "Miss Blackheart" had, of course, no Lenora +to bring with her! + +"Do you know all this to be true?" asked Kate. + +"Perfectly true," said Lenora. "We have friends living in the vicinity +of the lady, and there can be no mistake, except, indeed, in the name, +which I am not sure is right!" + +Then hastily kissing Carrie, the little hussy went away, very well +satisfied with her afternoon's call. As soon as she was out of hearing +Margaret entered her sister's room, and on noticing Carrie's flushed +cheek and red eyes, inquired the cause. Immediately Kate told her what +Lenora had said, but instead of weeping, as Carrie had done, she +betrayed no emotion whatever. + +"Why, Maggie, ain't you sorry?" asked Carrie. + +"No, I am glad," returned Mag. "I've seen all along that sooner or +later father would make himself ridiculous, and I'd rather he'd marry +forty women from the East, than one woman not far from here whom I +know." + +All that afternoon Mag tripped with unwonted gaiety about the house. A +weight was lifted from her heart, for in her estimation any one whom +her father would marry was preferable to Mrs. Carter. + + * * * * * + +Oh, how the widow scolded the daughter, and how the daughter laughed +at the widow, when she related the particulars of her call. + +"Lenora, what could have possessed you to tell such a lie?" said Mrs. +Carter. + +"Not so fast, mother mine," answered Lenora. "'Twasn't a lie. Mr. +Hamilton _is_ engaged to a lady from the East. He _did_ flirt with her +in his younger days; and, pray, didn't he have to come East when be +called to inquire after his beloved classmates, and ended by getting +checkmated! Besides, I think you ought to thank me for turning the +channel of gossip in another direction, for now you will be saved from +all impertinent questions and remarks." + +This mode of reasoning failed to convince the widow, who felt quite +willing that people should know of her flattering prospects; and when +a few days after Mrs. Dr. Otis told her that Mrs. Kimball said that +Polly Larkins said that her hired girl told her that Mrs. Kirby's +hired girl told her that she overheard Miss Kate telling her mother +that Lenora Carter said that Mr. Hamilton was going to be married to +her mother's intimate friend, Mrs. Carter would have denied the whole +and probably divulged her own secret, had not Lenora, who chanced to +be present, declared, with the coolest effrontery, that 'twas all +true--that her mother had promised to stand up with them, and so folks +would find it to be if they did not die of curiosity before autumn! + +"Lenora, child, how can you talk so?" asked the distressed lady, as +the door closed upon her visitor. + +Lenora went off into fits of explosive laughter, bounding up and down +like an india-rubber ball, and at last condescended to say, "I know +what I'm about. Do you want Mag Hamilton breaking up the match, as she +surely would do, between this and autumn, if she knew it?" + +"And what can she do?" asked Mrs. Carter. + +"Why," returned Lenora, "can't she write to the place you came from, +if, indeed, such a spot can be found?--for I believe you sometimes +book yourself from one town and sometimes from another. But depend +upon it you had better take my advice and keep still, and in the +dénouement which follows, I alone shall be blamed for a slight stretch +of truth which you can easily excuse as 'one of _dear_ Lenora's silly, +childish freaks!'" + +Upon second thoughts, Mrs. Carter concluded to follow her daughter's +advice, and the next time Mr. Hamilton called, she laughingly told the +story which Lenora had set afloat, saying, by way of excuse, that the +dear girl did not like to hear her mother joked on the subject of +matrimony, and had turned the attention of people another way. + +Mr. Hamilton hardly relished this, and half wished, mayhap, as, +indeed, gentlemen generally do in similar circumstances, that the +little "objection" in the shape of Lenora had never had existence, or +at least had never called the widow mother! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE STEPMOTHER. + + +Rapidly the summer was passing away, and as autumn drew near the wise +gossips of Glenwood began to whisper that the lady from the East was +in danger of being supplanted in her rights by the widow, whose house +Mr. Hamilton was known to visit two or three times each week. But +Lenora had always some plausible story on hand. "Mother and the lady +had been so intimate--in fact, more than once rocked in the same +cradle--and 'twas no wonder Mr. Hamilton came often to a place where +he could hear so much about her." + +So when business again took Mr. Hamilton to Albany suspicion was +wholly lulled, and Walter, on his return from college, was told by Mag +that her fears concerning Mrs. Carter were groundless. During the +spring Carrie had been confined to her bed, but now she seemed much +better, and after Walter had been at home awhile he proposed that he +and his sisters should take a traveling excursion, going first to +Saratoga, thence to Lake Champlain and Montreal, and returning home by +way of Canada and the Falls, This plan Mr. Hamilton warmly seconded, +and when Carrie asked if he would not feel lonely he answered, "Oh, +no; Willie and I will do very well while you are gone." + +"But who will stay with Willie evenings, when you are away?" asked +Mag, looking her father steadily in the face. + +Mr. Hamilton colored slightly, but after a moment replied: "I shall +spend my evenings at home." + +"'Twill be what he hasn't done for many a week," thought Mag, as she +again busied herself with her preparations. + +The morning came at last on which our travelers were to leave. Kate +Kirby had been invited to accompany them, but her mother would not +consent. "It would give people too much chance for talk," she said; so +Kate was obliged to content herself with going as far as the depot, +and watching, until out of sight, the car which bore them away. + +Upon the piazza stood the little group, awaiting the arrival of the +carriage which was to convey them to the station. Mr. Hamilton seemed +unusually gloomy, and with folded arms paced up and down the long +piazza, rarely speaking or noticing any one. + +"Are you sorry we are going, father?" asked Carrie, going up to him. +"If you are I will gladly stay with you." + +Mr. Hamilton paused, and pushing back the fair hair from his +daughter's white brow, he kissed her tenderly, saying, "No, Carrie; I +want you to go. The journey will do you good, for you are getting too +much the look your poor mother used to wear." + +Why thought he then of Carrie's mother? Was it because he knew that +ere his child returned to him another would be in that mother's place? +Anon, Margaret came near, and motioning Carrie away, Mr. Hamilton took +his other daughter's hand, and led her to the end of the piazza, where +could easily be seen the little graveyard and tall white monument +pointing toward the bright blue sky where dwelt the one whose grave +that costly marble marked. + +Pointing out the spot to Margaret, he said, "Tell me truly, Maggie, +did you love your father or your mother best?" + +Mag looked wonderingly at him a moment, and then replied, "While +mother lived I loved her more than you, but now that she is dead, I +think of and love you as both father and mother." + +"And will you always love me thus?" asked he. + +"Always," was Mag's reply, as she looked curiously in her father's +face, and thinking that he had not said what he intended to when first +he drew her there. + +Just then the carriage drove up, and after a few good-bys and parting +words Ernest Hamilton's children were gone, and he was left alone. + +"Why didn't I tell her, as I intended to?" thought he. "Is it because +I fear her--fear my own child? No, it cannot be--and yet there is that +in her eye which sometimes makes me quail, and which, if necessary, +would keep at bay a dozen stepmothers. But neither she, nor either one +of them, has aught to dread from Mrs. Carter, whose presence will, I +think, be of great benefit to us all, and whose gentle manners, I +trust, will tend to soften Mag!" + +Meantime his children were discussing and wondering at the strange +mood of their father. Walter, however, took no part in the +conversation. He had lived longer than his sisters--had seen more of +human nature, and had his own suspicions with regard to what would +take place during their absence; but he could not spoil all Margaret's +happiness by telling her his thoughts, so he kept them to himself, +secretly resolving to make the best of whatever might occur, and to +advise Mag to do the same. + +Now for a time we leave them, and take a look into the cottage of +Widow Carter, where, one September morning, about three weeks after +the departure of the Hamiltons, preparations were making for some +great event. In the kitchen a servant girl was busily at work, while +in the parlor Lenora was talking and the widow was listening. + +"Oh, mother," said Lenora, "isn't it so nice that they went away just +now? But won't Mag look daggers at us when she comes home and finds us +in quiet possession, and is told to call you _mother_!" + +"I never expect her to do that," answered Mrs. Carter. "The most I can +hope for is that she will call me Mrs. Hamilton." + +"Now really, mother, if I were in Mag's place, I wouldn't please you +enough to say Mrs. Hamilton; I'd always call you Mrs. Carter," said +Lenora. + +"How absurd!" was the reply; and Lenora continued: + +"I know it's absurd, but I'd do it; though if she does, I, as the +dutiful child of a most worthy parent, shall feel compelled to resent +the insult by calling her father _Mr. Carter_!" + +By this time Mrs. Carter was needed in the kitchen; so, leaving +Lenora, who at once was the pest and torment of her mother's life, we +will go into the village and see what effect the approaching nuptials +was producing. It was now generally known that the "lady from the +East" who had been "rocked in Mrs. Carter's cradle," was none other +than Mrs. Carter herself, and many were the reproving looks which the +people had cast toward Lenora for the trick she had put upon them. The +little hussy only laughed at them good-humoredly, telling them they +were angry because she had cheated them out of five months' gossip, +and that if her mother could have had her way, she would have sent the +news to the _Herald_ and had it inserted under the head of "Awful +Catastrophe!" Thus Mrs. Carter was exonerated from all blame; but many +a wise old lady shook her head, saying, "How strange that so fine a +woman as Mrs. Carter should have such a reprobate of a daughter." + +When, this remark came to Lenora's ears she cut numerous flourishes, +which ended in the upsetting of a bowl of starch on her mother's new +black silk; then dancing before the highly indignant lady, she said, +"Perhaps if they knew what a scapegrace you represent my father to +have been, and how you whipped me once to make me say I saw him strike +you, when I never did, they would wonder at my being as good as I am." + +Mrs. Carter was too furious to venture a verbal reply; so seizing the +starch bowl she hurled it with the remainder of the contents at the +head of the little vixen, who, with an elastic bound not entirely +unlike a somersault dodged the missile, which passed on and fell upon +the hearthrug. + +This is but one of a series of similar scenes which occurred between +the widow and her child before the happy day arrived when, in the +presence of a select few of the villagers, Luella Carter was +transformed into Luella Hamilton. The ceremony was scarcely over when +Mr. Hamilton, who for a few days had been rather indisposed, +complained of feeling sick. Immediately Lenora, with a sidelong glance +at her mother, exclaimed, "What, sick of your bargain so quick? It's +sooner even than _I_ thought 'twould be, and I'm sure I'm capable of +judging." + +"Dear Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, turning toward one of her neighbors, +"she has such a flow of spirits that I am afraid Mr. Hamilton will +find her troublesome." + +"Don't be alarmed, mother; he'll never think of me when you are +around," was Lenora's reply in which Mrs. Carter saw more than one +meaning. + +That evening the bridal party repaired to the homestead, where, at Mr. +Hamilton's request, Mrs. Kirby was waiting to receive them. Willie had +been told by the servants that his mother was coming home that night, +and, with the trusting faith of childhood, he had drawn a chair to the +window from which he could see his mother's grave; and there for more +than an hour he watched for the first indications of her coming, +saying occasionally, "Oh, I wish she'd come. Willie's so sorry here." + +At last growing weary and discouraged, he turned away and said, "No, +ma'll never come home again; Maggie said she wouldn't." + +Upon the carriage road which wound from the street to the house there +was the sound of coming wheels, and Rachel, seizing Willie, bore him +to the front door, exclaiming, "An' faith, Willie, don't you see her? +That's your mother, honey, with the black gown." + +But Willie saw only the wild eyes of Lenora, who caught him in her +arms, overwhelming him with caresses. "Let me go, Leno," said he, "I +want to see my ma. Where is she?" + +A smile of scorn curled Lenora's lips as she released him, and leading +him toward her mother, she said, "There she is; there's your ma. Now +hold up your head and make a bow." + +Willie's lip quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and hiding his face +in his apron, he sobbed, "I want my own ma--the one they shut up in a +big black box. Where is she, Leno?" + +Mr. Hamilton took Willie on his knee, and tried to explain to him how +that now his own mother was dead, he had got a new one, who would love +him and be kind to him. Then putting him down, he said, "Go, my son, +and speak to her, won't you?" + +Willie advanced rather cautiously toward the black silk figure, which +reached out its hand, saying, "Dear Willie, you'll love me a little, +won't you?" + +"Yes, if you are good to me," was the answer, which made the new +stepmother mentally exclaim, "A young rebel, I know," while Lenora, +bending between the two, whispered emphatically: + +"She _shall_ be good to you!" + +And soon, in due order, the servants were presented to their new +mistress. Some were disposed to like her, others eyed her askance, and +old Polly Pepper, the black cook, who had been in the family ever +since Mr. Hamilton's first marriage, returned her salutation rather +gruffly, and then, stalking back to the kitchen, muttered to, those +who followed her, "I don't like her face nohow; she looks just like +the milk snakes, when they stick their heads in at the door." + +"But you knew how she looked before," said Lucy, the chambermaid. + +"I know it," returned Polly; "but when she was here nussin' I never +noticed _her_, more I would any on you; for who'd of thought that Mr. +Hamilton would marry her, when he knows, or or'to know, that nusses +ain't fust cut, nohow; and you may depend on't, things ain't a-goin' +to be here as they used to be." + +Here Rachel started up, and related the circumstance of Margaret's +refusing to see "that little evil-eyed-lookin-varmint, with curls +almost like Polly's." Lucy, too, suddenly remembered something which +she had seen, or heard, or made up--so that Mrs. Carter had not been +an hour in the coveted homestead ere there was mutiny against her +afloat in the kitchen; "But," said Aunt Polly, "I 'vises you all to be +civil till she sasses you fust!" + +"My dear, what room can Lenora have for her own?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, +as we must now call her, the morning following her marriage. + +"Why, really, I don't know," answered the husband; "you must suit +yourselves with regard to that." + +"Yes; but I'd rather you'd select, and then no one can blame me," was +the answer. + +"Choose any room you please, except the one which Mag and Carrie now +occupy, and rest assured you shall not be blamed," said Mr. Hamilton. + +The night before Lenora had appropriated to herself the best chamber, +but the room was so large and so far distant from any one, and the +windows and fireboard rattled so, that she felt afraid, and did not +care to repeat her experiment. + +"I 'clar for't!" said Polly, when she heard of it. "Gone right into +the best bed, where even Miss Margaret never goes! What are we all +comin' to? Tell her, Luce, the story of the ghosts, and I'll be bound +she'll make herself scarce in them rooms!" + +"Tell her yourself," said Lucy; and when, after breakfast, Lenora, +anxious to spy out everything, appeared in the kitchen, Aunt Polly +called out, "Did you hear anything last night, Miss Lenora?" + +"Why, yes--I heard the windows rattle," was the answer; and Aunt +Polly, with an ominous shake of the head, continued: + +"There's more than windows rattle, I guess. Didn't you see nothin', +all white and corpse-like, go a-whizzin, and rappin' by your bed?" + +"Why, no," said Lenora; "what do you mean?" + +So Polly told her of the ghosts and goblins which nightly ranged the +two chambers over the front and back parlors. Lenora said nothing, but +she secretly resolved not to venture again after dark into the haunted +portion of the house. But where should she sleep? That was now the +important question. Adjoining the sitting-room was a pleasant, cozy +little place, which Margaret called her music-room. In it she kept her +piano, her music stand, books, and several fine plants, besides +numerous other little conveniences. At the end of this room was a +large closet where, at different seasons of the year, Mag hung away +the articles of clothing which she and her sister did not need. + +Toward this place Lenora turned her eyes; for, besides being unusually +pleasant, it was also very near her mother, whose sleeping-room +joined, though it did not communicate with it. Accordingly, before +noon the piano was removed to the parlor; the plants were placed, some +on the piazza, and some in the sitting-room window, while Margaret and +Carrie's dresses were removed to the closet of their room, which +chanced to be a trifle too small to hold them all conveniently; so +they were crowded one above the other, and left for "the girls to see +to when they came home!" + +In perfect horror Aunt Polly looked on, regretting for once the ghost +story which she had told. + +"Why don't you take the chamber jinin' the young ladies? that ain't +haunted," said she, when they sent for her to help move the piano. +"Miss Margaret won't thank you for scattern' her things." + +"You've nothing to do with Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton; "you've only +to attend to your own matters." + +"Wonder then what I'm up here for a-h'istin this pianner," muttered +Polly. "This ain't my matters, sartin'." + +When Mr. Hamilton came in to dinner he was shown the little room with +its single bed, tiny bureau, silken lounge and easy chair, of which +the last two were Mag's especial property. + +"All very nice," said he, "but where is Mag's piano?" + +"In the parlor," answered his wife. "People often ask for music, and +it is more convenient to have it there than to come across the hall +and through the sitting-room." + +Mr. Hamilton said nothing, but he secretly wished Mag's rights had not +been invaded quite so soon. His wife must have guessed as much; for, +laying her hand on his, she, with the utmost deference, offered to +undo all she had done, if it did not please him. + +"Certainly not--certainly not; it does please me," said he; while +Polly, who stood on the cellar stairs listening, exclaimed, "What a +fool a woman can make of a man!" + +Three days after Mr. Hamilton's marriage he received a letter from +Walter, saying that they would be at home on the Thursday night +following. Willie was in, ecstasies, for though as yet he liked his +new mother tolerably well, he still loved Maggie better; and the +thought of seeing her again made him wild with delight. All day long +on Thursday he sat in the doorway, listening for the shrill cry of the +train which was to bring her home. + +"Don't you love Maggie?" said he to Lenora, who chanced to pass him. + +"Don't I love Maggie? No, I don't; neither does she love me," was the +answer. + +Willie was puzzled to know why any one should not like Mag; but his +confidence in her was not at all shaken, and when, soon after sunset, +Lenora cried, "There, they've come," he rushed to the door, and was +soon in the arms of his sister-mother. Pressing his lips to hers, he +said, "Did you 'know I'd got a new mother? Mrs. Carter and Leno--they +are in there," pointing toward the parlor. + +Instantly Mag dropped him. It was the first intimation of her father's +marriage which she had received, and reeling backward, she would have +fallen had not Walter supported her. Quickly rallying, she advanced +toward her father, who came to meet her, and whose hand trembled in +her grasp. After greeting each of his children he turned to present +them to _his wife_, wisely taking Carrie first. She was not +prejudiced, like Mag, and returned her stepmother's salutation with +something like affection, for which Lenora rewarded her by terming her +a "little simpleton." + +But Mag--she who had warned her father against that woman--she who on +her knees had begged him not to marry her--she had no word of welcome, +and when Mrs. Hamilton offered her hand she affected not to see it, +though with the most frigid politeness she said, "Good evening, madam; +this is, indeed, a surprise!" + +"And not a very pleasant one, either, I imagine," whispered Lenora to +Carrie. + +Walter came last, and though he took the lady's hand, there was +something in his manner which plainly said she was not wanted there. +Tea was now announced, and Mag bit her lip when, she saw her +accustomed seat occupied by another. + +Feigning to recollect herself, Mrs. Hamilton, in the blandest tones, +said, "Perhaps, dear Maggie, you would prefer this seat?" + +"Of course not," said Mag, while Lenora thought to herself: + +"And if she does, I wonder what good it will do?" + +That young lady, however, made no remarks, for Walter Hamilton's +searching eyes were upon her and kept her silent. After tea, Walter +said, "Come, Mag, I have not heard your piano in a long time. Give us +some music." + +Mag arose to comply with his wishes, but ere she had reached the door +Mrs. Hamilton gently detained her, saying, "Maggie, dear, Lenora has +always slept near me, and as I knew you would not object, if you were +here, I took the liberty to remove your piano to the parlor, and to +fit this up for Lenora's sleeping-room. See"--and she threw open the +door, disclosing the metamorphose, while Willie, who began to get an +inkling of matters, and who always called the piazza "outdoors," +chimed in, "And they throw'd your little trees outdoors, too!" + +Mag stood for a moment, mute with astonishment; then thinking she +could not "do the subject justice," she turned silently away. A +roguish smile from Walter met her eye, but she did not laugh, until, +with Carrie, she repaired to her own room, and tried to put something +in the closet. Then coming upon the pile of extra clothes, she +exclaimed, "What in the world! Here's all our winter clothing, and, as +I live, five dresses crammed upon one nail! We'll have to move to the +barn next!" + +This was too much, and sitting down, Mag cried and laughed +alternately. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DOMESTIC LIFE AT THE HOMESTEAD. + + +For a few weeks after Margaret's return matters at the Homestead +glided on smoothly enough, but at the end of that time Mrs. Hamilton +began to reveal her real character. Carrie's journey had not been as +beneficial as her father had hoped it would be, and as the days grew +colder she complained of extreme languor and a severe pain in her +side, and at last kept her room entirely, notwithstanding the numerous +hints from her stepmother that it was no small trouble to carry so +many dishes up and down stairs three times a day. + +Mrs. Hamilton was naturally very stirring and active, and in spite of +her remarkable skill in nursing, she felt exceedingly annoyed when any +of her own family were ill. She fancied, too, that Carrie was feigning +all her bad feelings, and that she would be much better if she exerted +herself more. Accordingly, one afternoon when Mag was gone, she +repaired to Carrie's room, giving vent to her opinion as follows: +"Carrie," said she (she now dropped the _dear_ when Mr. Hamilton was +not by), "Carrie, I shouldn't suppose you'd ever expect to get well, +so long as you stay moped up here all day. You ought to come +down-stairs, and stir around more." + +"Oh, I should be so glad if I could," answered Carrie. + +"Could!" repeated Mrs. Hamilton; "you could if you would. Now, it's my +opinion that you complain altogether too much, and fancy you are a +great deal worse than you really are, when all you want is exercise. A +short walk on the piazza, and a little fresh air each, morning, would +soon cure you." + +"I know fresh air does me good," said Carrie; "but walking makes my +side ache so hard, and makes me cough so, that Maggie thinks I'd +better not." + +Mag, quoted as authority, exasperated Mrs. Hamilton who replied +rather sharply, "Fudge on Mag's old-maidish whims! I know that any one +who eats as much as you do can't be so very weak!" + +"I don't eat half you send me," said poor Carrie, beginning to cry at +her mother's unkind remarks; "Willie 'most always comes up here and +eats with me." + +"For mercy's sake, mother, let the child have what she wants to eat, +for 'tisn't long she'll need it," said Lenora, suddenly appearing in +the room. + +"Lenora, go right down; you are not wanted here," said Mrs. Hamilton. + +"Neither are you, I fancy," was Lenora's reply, as she coolly seated +herself on the foot of Carrie's bed, while her mother continued: + +"Really, Carrie, you must try and come down to your meals, for you +have no idea how much it hinders the work, to bring them up here. +Polly isn't good for anything until she has conjured up something +extra for your breakfast, and then they break so many dishes!" + +"I'll try to come down to-morrow," said Carrie meekly; and as the +door-bell just then rang Mrs. Hamilton departed, leaving her with +Lenora, whose first exclamation was: + +"If I were in your place, Carrie, I wouldn't eat anything, and die +quick." + +"I don't want to die," said Carrie; and Lenora, clapping her hands +together, replied: + +"Why, you poor little innocent, who supposed you did? Nobody wants to +die not even _I_, good as I am; but I should expect to, if I had the +consumption." + +"Lenora, have I got the consumption?" asked Carrie, fixing her eyes +with mournful earnestness upon her companion, who thoughtlessly +replied: + +"To be sure you have. They say one lung is entirely gone and the other +nearly so." + +Wearily the sick girl turned upon her side; and, resting her dimpled +cheek upon her hand, she said softly, "Go away now, Lenora; I want to +be alone." + +Lenora complied, and when Margaret returned from the village she +found her sister lying in the same position in which Lenora had left +her, with her fair hair falling over her face, which it hid from view. + +"Are you asleep, Carrie?" said Mag; but Carrie made no answer, and +there was something so still and motionless in her repose that Mag +went up to her, and pushing back from her face the long silken hair, +saw that she had fainted. + +The excitement of her stepmother's visit, added to the startling news +which Lenora had told her, was too much for her weak nerves, and for a +time she remained insensible. At length, rousing herself, she looked +dreamily around, saying, "Was it a dream, Maggie--- all a dream?" + +"Was what a dream, love?" said Margaret, supporting her sister's head +upon her bosom. + +Suddenly Carrie remembered the whole, but she resolved not to tell of +her stepmother's visit, though she earnestly desired to know if what +Lenora had told her were true. Raising herself, so that she could see +Margaret's face, she said, "Maggie, is there no hope for me; and do +the physicians say I must die?" + +"Why, what do you mean? I never knew that they said so," answered Mag; +and then with breathless indignation she listened, while Carrie told +her what Lenora had said. "I'll see that she doesn't get in here +again," said Margaret. "I know she made more than half of that up; +for, though the physicians say you lungs are very much diseased, they +have never saw that you could not recover." + +The next morning, greatly to Mag's astonishment Carrie insisted upon +going down to breakfast. + +"Why, you must not do it; you are not able," said Mag. But Carrie was +determined; and, wrapping herself in her thick shawl, she slowly +descended the stay though the cold air in the long hall made her +shiver. + +"Carrie, dear, you are better this morning, and there is quite a rosy +flush on your cheek," said Mrs. Hamilton, rising to meet her. _(Mr._ +Hamilton, be it remembered, was present.) But Carrie shrank +instinctively from her stepmother's advances, and took her seat by the +side of her father. After breakfast Mag remembered that she had an +errand in the village, and Carrie, who felt too weary to return +immediately to her room, said she would wait below until her sister +returned. Mag had been gone but a few moments when Mrs. Hamilton, +opening the outer door, called to Lenora, saying, "Come and take a few +turns on the piazza with Carrie. The air is bracing this morning, and +will do her good." + +Willie, who was present, cried out, "No--Carrie is sick; she can't +walk--Maggie said she couldn't," and he grasped his sister's hand to +hold her. With a not very gentle jerk Mrs. Hamilton pulled him off, +while Lenora, who came bobbing and bounding into the room, took +Carrie's arm, saying. + +"Oh, yes, I'll walk with you; shall we have a hop, skip, or jump?" + +"Don't, don't!" said Carrie, holding back; "I can't walk fast, +Lenora," and actuated by some sudden impulse of kindness, Lenora +conformed her steps to those of the invalid. Twice they walked up and +down the piazza, and were about turning for the third time, when +Carrie, clasping her hand over her side, exclaimed, "No, no; I can't +go again." + +Little Willie, who fancied that his sister was being hurt, sprang +toward Lenora, saying, "Leno, you mustn't hurt Carrie. Let her go; +she's sick." + +And now to the scene of action came Dame Hamilton, and seizing her +young stepson, she tore him away from Lenora, administering at the +same time a bit of a motherly shake. Willie's blood was up, and in +return he dealt her a blow, for which she rewarded him by another +shake, and by tying him to the table. + +That Lenora was not all bad was shown by the unselfish affection she +ever manifested for Willie, although her untimely interference between +him and her mother oftentimes made matters worse. Thus, on the +occasion of which we have been speaking, Mrs. Hamilton had scarcely +left the room ere Lenora released Willie from his confinement, thereby +giving him the impression that his mother alone was to blame. +Fortunately, however, Margaret's judgment was better, and though she +felt justly indignant at the cruelty practised upon poor Carrie, she +could not uphold Willie in striking his mother. Calling him to her +room, she talked to him until he was wholly softened, and offered, of +his own accord, to go and say he was sorry, provided Maggie would +accompany him as far as the door of the sitting-room, where his mother +would probably be found. Accordingly, Mag descended the stairs with +him, and meeting Lenora in the hall, said, "Is she in the +sitting-room?" + +"Is _she_ in the sitting-room?" repeated Lenora; "and pray who may +_she_ be?" then quick as thought she added, "Oh, yes, I know. She is +in there telling HE!" + +Lenora was right in her conjecture, for Mrs. Hamilton, greatly enraged +at Willie's presumption in striking her, and still more provoked at +him for untying himself, as she supposed he had, was laying before her +husband quite an aggravated case of assault and battery. + +In the midst of her argument Willie entered the room, with +tear-stained eyes, and without noticing the presence of his father, +went directly to his mother, and burying his face in her lap, sobbed +out, "Willie is sorry he struck you, and will never do so again, if +you will forgive him." + +In a much gentler tone than she would have assumed had not her husband +been present, Mrs. Hamilton replied, "I can forgive you for striking +me, Willie, but what have you to say about untying yourself?" + +"I didn't do it," said Willie; "Leno did that." + +"Be careful what you say," returned Mrs. Hamilton. "I can't believe +Lenora would do so." + +Ere Willie had time to repeat his assertion Lenora, who all the time +had been standing by the door, appeared, saying, "You may believe him, +for he has never been whipped to make him lie. I did do it, and I +would do it again." + +"Lenora," said Mr. Hamilton, rather sternly, "you should not interfere +in that manner. You will spoil the child." + +It was the first time he had presumed to reprove his stepdaughter, and +as there was nothing on earth which Mrs. Hamilton so much feared as +Lenora's tongue, she dreaded the disclosures which further remark from +her husband might call forth. So, assuming an air of great distress, +she said, "Leave her to me, my dear. She is a strange girl, as I +always told you, and no one can manage her as well as myself." Then +kissing Willie in token of forgiveness, she left the room, drawing +Lenora after her and whispering fiercely in her ear, "How can you ever +expect to succeed with the son, if you show off this way before the +father." + +With a mocking laugh Lenora replied, "Pshaw! I gave that up the first +time I ever saw him, for of course he thinks me a second edition of +Mrs. Carter, minus any improvements. But he's mistaken; I'm not half +as bad as I seem. I'm only what you've made me." + +Mrs. Hamilton turned away, thinking that if her daughter could so +easily give up Walter Hamilton, _she_ would not. She was resolved upon +an alliance between him and Lenora. And who ever knew _her_ to fail in +what she undertook? + +She had wrung from her husband the confession that "he believed there +was a sort of childish affection between Walter and Kate Kirby, though +'twas doubtful whether it ever amounted to anything." She had also +learned that he was rather averse to the match, and though Lenora had +not yet been named as a substitute for Kate, she strove in many ways +to impress her husband with a sense of her daughter's superior +abilities, at the same time taking pains to mortify Margaret by +setting Lenora above her. + +For this, however, Margaret cared but little, and it was only when +her mother ill-treated Willie, which she frequently did, that her +spirit was fully roused. + +At Mrs. Hamilton's first marriage she had been presented with a +handsome glass pitcher, which she of course greatly prized. One day it +stood upon the stand in her room, where Willie was also playing with +some spools which Lenora had found and arranged for him. Malta, the +pet kitten, was amusing herself by running after the spools, and when +at last Willie, becoming tired, laid them on the stand, she sprang +toward them, upsetting the pitcher, which was broken in a dozen +pieces. On hearing the crash Mrs. Hamilton hastened toward the room, +where the sight of her favorite pitcher in fragments greatly enraged +her. Thinking, of course, that Willie had done it, she rudely seized +him by the arm, administered a cuff or so, and then dragged him toward +the china closet. + +As soon as Willie could regain his breath he screamed, "Oh ma, don't +shut me up; I'll be good; I didn't do it, certain true; kittie knocked +it off." + +"None of your lies," said Mrs. Hamilton. "It's likely kittie knocked +it off!" + +Lenora, who had seen the whole, and knew that what Willie said was +true, was about coming to the rescue, when looking up, she saw +Margaret, with dilated nostrils and eyes flashing fire watching the +proceedings of her stepmother. + +"He's safe," thought Lenora; "I'll let Mag fire the first gun, and +then I'll bring up the rear." + +Margaret had never known Willie to tell a lie, and had no reason for +thinking he had done so in this instance. Besides, the blows her +mother gave him exasperated her, and she stepped forward just as Mrs. +Hamilton was about pushing him into the closet. So engrossed was that +lady that she heard not Margaret's approach until a firm hand was laid +upon her shoulder while Willie was violently wrested from her grasp, +and ere she could recover from her astonishment she herself was +pushed into the closet, the door of which was closed and locked +against her. + +"Bravo, Margaret Hamilton," cried Lenora, "I'm with you now, if I +never was before. It serves her right, for Willie told the truth. I +was sitting by and saw it all. Keep her in there an hour, will you? It +will pay her for the many times she has shut me up for nothing." + +Mrs. Hamilton stamped and pushed against the door, while Lenora danced +and sang at the top of her voice: + + "My dear precious mother got wrathy one day + And seized little Will by the hair; + But when in the closet she'd stow him away, + She herself was pushed headlong in there." + +At length the bolt, yielding to the continued pressure of Mrs. +Hamilton's body, broke, and out came the termagant, foaming with rage. +She dared not molest Margaret, of whose physical powers she had just +received such mortifying proof, so she aimed a box at the ears of +Lenora. But the lithe little thing dodged it, and with one bound +cleared the table which sat in the center of the room, landing safely +on the other side; and then, shaking her short, black curls at her +mother, she said, "You didn't come it, that time, my darling." + +Mr. Hamilton, who chanced to be absent for a few days, was, on his +return, regaled with an exaggerated account of the proceeding, his +wife ending her discourse by saying: "If you don't do something with +your upstart daughter I'll leave the house; yes, I will." + +Mr. Hamilton was cowardly. He was afraid of his wife, and he was +afraid of Mag. So he tried to compromise the matter by promising the +one that he surely would see to it, and by asking the other if she +were not ashamed. But old Polly didn't let the matter pass so easily. +She was greatly shocked at having "such shameful carryin's on in a +decent man's house." + +"'Clare for't," said she, "I'll give marster a piece of Polly Pepper's +mind the fust time I get a lick at him." + +In the course of a few days Mr. Hamilton had occasion to go for +something into Aunt Polly's dominions. The old lady was ready for him. +"Mr. Hampleton," said she, "I've been waitin' to see you this long +spell." + +"To see me, Polly?" said he; "what do you want?" + +"What I wants is this," answered Polly, dropping into a chair. "I want +to know what this house is a comin' to, with such bedivilment in it as +there's been since madam came here with that little black-headed, +ugly-favored, ill-begotten, Satan-possessed, shoulder-unj'inted young +one of her'n. It's been nothin' but a rowdadow the whole time, and you +hain't grit enough to stop it. Madam boxes Willie, and undertakes to +shet him up for a lie he never told; Miss Margaret interferes jest as +she or'to, takes Willie away, and shets up madam; while that +ill-marnered Lenora jumps and screeches loud enough to wake the dead. +Madam busts the door down, and pitches into the varmint, who jumps +spang over a four-foot table, which Lord knows _I_ never could have +done in my spryest days." + +"But how can I help all this?" asked Mr. Hamilton. + +"Help it?" returned Polly. "You needn't have got into the fire in the +fust place. I hain't lived fifty-odd year for nothin', and though I +hain't no larnin', I know too much to heave myself away on the fust +nussin' woman that comes along." + +"Stop, Polly; you must not speak so of Mrs. Hamilton," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Polly continued: + +"And I wouldn't nuther, if she could hold a candle to the t'other one; +but she can't. You'd no business to marry a second time, even if you +didn't marry a nuss; neither has any man who's got grow'd-up gals, and +a faithful critter like Polly in the kitchen. Stepmothers don't often +do well, particularly them as is sot up by marryin'." + +Here Mr. Hamilton, who did not like to hear so much truth, left the +kitchen, while Aunt Polly said to herself, "I've gin it to him good, +this time." + +Lenora, who always happened to be near when she was talked about, had +overheard the whole, and repeated it to her mother. Accordingly, that +very afternoon word came to the kitchen that Mrs. Hamilton wished to +see Polly. + +"Reckon she'll find this child ain't afeared on her," said Polly, as +she wiped the flour from her face and repaired to Mrs. Hamilton's +room. + +"Polly," began that lady, with a very grave face, "Lenora tells me +that you have been talking very disrespectfully to Mr. Hamilton." + +"In the name of the Lord, can't he fight his own battles?" interrupted +Polly. "I only tried to show him that he was henpecked--and he is." + +"It isn't of him alone I would speak," resumed Mrs. Hamilton, with +stately gravity; "you spoke insultingly of me, and as I make it a +practise never to keep a servant after they get insolent, I have----" + +"For the dear Lord's sake," again interrupted Polly, "I 'spect we's +the fust servants you ever had." + +"Good!" said a voice from some quarter, and Mrs. Hamilton continued: +"I have sent for you to give you twenty-four hours' warning to leave +this house." + +"I shan't budge an inch until marster says so," said Polly. "Wonder +who's the best title deed here? Warn't I here long afore you come a +nussin' t'other one?" + +And Polly went back to the kitchen, secretly fearing that Mr. +Hamilton, who she knew was wholly ruled by his wife, would say that +she must go. And he did say so, though much against his will. Lenora +ran with the decision, to Aunt Polly, causing her to drop a loaf of +new bread. But the old negress chased her from the cellar with the +oven broom, and then stealing by a back staircase to Margaret's room, +laid the case before her, acknowledging that she was sorry and asking +her young mistress to intercede for her. Margaret stepped to the head +of the stairs, and calling to her father, requested him to come for a +moment to her room. This he was more ready to do, as he had no +suspicion why he was sent for, but on seeing old Polly, he +half-resolved to turn back. Margaret, however, led him into the room, +and then entreated him not to send away one who had served him so long +and so faithfully. + +Polly, too, joined in with her tears and prayers, saying, "She was an +old black fool anyway, and let her tongue get the better on her, +though she didn't mean to say more than was true, and reckoned she +hadn't." + +In his heart Mr. Hamilton wished to revoke what he had said, but dread +of the explosive storm which he knew would surely follow made him +irresolute, until Carrie said, "Father, the first person of whom I +have any definite recollection is Aunt Polly, and I shall be so +lonesome if she goes away. For my sake let her stay, at least until I +am dead." + +This decided the matter. "She _shall_ stay," said Mr. Hamilton, and +Aunt Polly, highly elated, returned to the kitchen with the news. +Lenora, who seemed to be everywhere at once, overheard it, and, bent +on mischief, ran with it to her mother. In the meantime Mr. Hamilton +wished, yet dreaded, to go down, and finally, mentally cursing himself +for his weakness, asked Margaret to accompany him. She was about to +comply with his request, when Mrs. Hamilton came up the stairs, +furious at her husband, whom she called "a craven coward, led by the +nose by all who chose to lead him." Wishing to shut out her noise, Mag +closed and bolted the door, and in the hall the modern Xantippe +extended her wrath against her husband and his offspring, while poor +Mr. Hamilton laid his face in Carrie's lap and wept. Margaret was +trying to devise some means by which to rid herself of her stepmother, +when Lenora was heard to exclaim: + +"Shall I pitch her over the stairs, Mag? I will if you say so." + +Immediately Mrs. Hamilton's anger took another channel, and turning +upon her daughter, she said, "What are you here for, you prating +parrot? Didn't you tell me what Aunt Polly said, and haven't you acted +in the capacity of reporter ever since?" + +"To be sure I did," said Lenora, poising herself on one foot, and +whirling around in circles; "but if you thought I did it because I +blamed Aunt Polly, you are mistaken." + +"What did you do it for, then?" said Mrs. Hamilton; and Lenora, giving +the finishing touch to her circles by dropping upon the floor, +answered, "I like to live in a hurricane--so I told you what I did. +Now, if you think it will add at all to the excitement of the present +occasion, I'll get an ax for you to split the door down." + +"Oh, don't, Lenora," screamed Carrie, from within, to which Lenora +responded: + +"Poor little simple chick bird, I wouldn't harm a hair of your soft +head for anything. But there is a _man_ in there, or one who passes +for a man, that I think would look far more respectable if he'd come +out and face the tornado. She's easy to manage when you know how. At +least Mag and I find her so." + +Here Mr. Hamilton ashamed of himself and emboldened, perhaps, by +Lenora's words, slipped back the bolt of the door, and walking out, +confronted his wife. + +"Shall I order pistols and coffee for two?" asked Lenora, swinging +herself entirely over the bannister, and dropping like a squirrel on +the stair below. + +"Is Polly going to stay in this house?" asked Mrs. Hamilton. + +"She is," was the reply. + +"Then I leave to-night," said Mrs. Hamilton. + +"Very well, you can go," returned the husband, growing stronger in +himself each moment. + +Mrs. Hamilton turned away to her own room, where she remained until +supper time, when Lenora asked "If she had got her chest packed, and +where they should direct their letters!" Neither Margaret nor her +father could refrain from laughter. + +Mrs. Hamilton, too, who had no notion of leaving the comfortable +Homestead, and who thought this as good a time to veer round as any +she would have, also joined in the laugh, saying, "What a child you +are, Lenora!" + +Gradually the state of affairs at the homestead was noised throughout +the village, and numerous were the little tea parties where none dared +speak above a whisper to tell what they had heard, and where each and +every one were bound to the most profound secrecy, for fear the +reports might not be true. At length, however, the story of the china +closet got out, causing Sally Martin to spend one whole day in +retailing the gossip from door to door. Many, too, suddenly remembered +certain suspicious things which they had seen in Mrs. Hamilton, who +was unanimously voted to be a bad woman, and who, of course, began to +be slighted. + +The result of this was to increase the sourness of her disposition; +and life at the Homestead would have been one continuous scene of +turmoil had not Margaret wisely concluded to treat whatever her +stepmother did with silent contempt. Lenora, too, always seemed ready +to fill up all vacant niches, until even Mag acknowledged that the +mother would be unendurable without the daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +LENORA AND CARRIE. + + +Ever since the day on which Lenora had startled Carrie by informing +her of her danger, she had been carefully kept from the room, or +allowed only to enter it when Margaret was present. One afternoon, +however, early in February, Mag had occasion to go to the village. +Lenora, who saw her depart, hastily gathered up her work, and repaired +to Carrie's room, saying, as she entered it, "Now, Carrie, we'll have +a good time; Mag has gone to see old deaf Peggy, who asks a thousand +questions, and will keep her at least two hours, and I am going to +entertain you to the best of my ability." + +Carrie's cheek flushed, for she felt some misgivings with regard to +the nature of Lenora's entertainment; but she knew there was no help +for it, so she tried to smile, and said, "I am willing you should +stay, Lenora, but you mustn't talk bad things to me, for I can't bear +it." + +"Bad things!" repeated Lenora; "who ever heard me talk bad things! +What do you mean?" + +"I mean," said Carrie, "that you must not talk about your mother as +you sometimes do. It is wicked." + +"Why, you dear little thing," answered Lenora, "don't you know that +what would be wicked for you isn't wicked for me?" + +"No, I do not know so," answered Carrie; "but I know I wouldn't talk +about my mother as you do about yours for anything." + +"Bless your heart," said Lenora, "haven't you sense enough to see that +there is a great difference between Mrs. Hamilton first, and Mrs. +Hamilton second? Now, I'm not naturally bad, and if I had been the +daughter of Mrs. Hamilton first instead of Widow Carter's young one, +why, I should have been as good as you--no, not as good as _you_, for +you don't know enough to be bad--but as good as Mag, who, in my +opinion, has the right kind of goodness, for all I used to hate her +so." + +"Hate Margaret!" said Carrie, opening her eyes to their utmost extent. +"What did you hate Margaret for?" + +"Because I didn't know her, I suppose," returned Lenora; "for now I +like her well enough--not quite as well as I do you, perhaps; and yet, +when I see you bear mother's abuse so meekly, I positively hate you +for a minute, and ache to box your ears; but when Mag squares up to +her, shuts her in the china closet, and all that, I want to put my +arms right round neck." + +"Why, don't you like your mother?" asked Carrie, and Lenora replied: + +"Of course I do; but I know what she is and I know she isn't what she +sometimes seems. Why, she'd be anything to suit the circumstances. She +wanted your father, and she assumed the character most likely to +secure him; for, between you and me, he isn't very smart." + +"What did she marry him for, then?" asked Carrie. + +"Marry _him_! I hope you don't for a moment suppose she married +_him_!" + +"Why, Lenora, _ain't they married?_ I thought they were. Oh, +dreadful!" and Carrie started to her feet, while the perspiration +stood thickly on her forehead. + +Lenora screamed with delight, saying, "You certainly have the softest +brain I ever saw. Of course the minister went through with the +ceremony; but it was not your father that mother wanted; it was his +house--his money--his horses--his servants, and his name. Now, maybe +in your simplicity you have thought that mother came here out of +kindness to the motherless children; but I tell you she would be +better satisfied if neither of you had ever been born. I suppose it is +wicked in me to say so, but I think she makes me worse than I would +otherwise be; for I am not naturally so bad, and I like people much +better than I pretend to. Anyway, I like you, and _love_ little +Willie, and always have, since the first time I saw him. Your mother +lay in her coffin, and Willie stood by her, caressing her cold cheek, +and saying, 'Wake up, mamma, it's Willie; don't you know Willie? I +took him in my arms, and vowed to love and shield him from the coming +evil; for I knew then, as well as I do now, that what has happened +would happen. Mag wasn't there; she didn't see me. If she had, she +might have liked me better; now she thinks there is no good in me; and +if, when you die, I should feel like shedding tears, and perhaps I +shall, it would be just like her to wonder 'what business _I_ had to +cry--it was none of my funeral!'" + +"You do wrong to talk so, Lenora," said Carrie; "but tell me, did you +never have any one to love except Willie?" + +"Yes," said Lenora; "when I was a child, a little, innocent child, I +had a grandmother--my father's mother--who taught me to pray, and told +me of God." + +"Where is she now?" asked Carrie. + +"In heaven," was the answer. "I know she is there, because when she +died there was the same look on her face that there was on your +mother's--the same that there will be on yours, when you are dead." + +"Never mind," gasped Carrie, who did not care to be so frequently +reminded of her mortality, while Lenora continued: + +"Perhaps you don't know that my father was, as mother says, a bad man; +though I always loved him dearly, and cried when he went away. We +lived with grandmother, and sometimes now, in my dreams, I am a child +again, kneeling by grandma's side, in our dear old eastern home, where +the sunshine fell so warmly, where the summer birds sang in the old +maple trees, and where the long shadows, which I called spirits, came +and went over the bright green meadows. But there was a sadder day; a +narrow coffin, a black hearse, and a tolling bell, which always wakes +me from my sleep, and I find the dream all gone, and nothing left of +the little child but the wicked Lenora Carter." + +Here the dark girl buried her face in her hands and wept, while Carrie +gently smoothed her tangled curls. After a while, as if ashamed of her +emotion, Lenora dried her tears, and Carrie said, "Tell me more of +your early life. I like you when you act as you do now." + +"There is nothing more to tell but wickedness," answered Lenora. +"Grandma died, and I had no one to teach me what was right. About a +year after her death mother wanted to get a divorce from father; and +one day she told me that a lawyer was coming to inquire about my +father's treatment of her. 'Perhaps,' said she, 'he will ask if you +ever saw him strike me, and you must say that you have a great many +times. 'But never did,' said I; and then she insisted upon my telling +that falsehood, and I refused, until she whipped me, and made me +promise to say whatever she wished me to. In this way I was trained to +be what I am. Nobody loves me; nobody ever can love me; and sometimes +when Mag speaks so kindly to you, and looks so affectionately upon +you, I think, what would I not give for some one to love me; and then +I go away to cry, and wish I had never been born." + +Here Mrs. Hamilton called to her daughter, and gathering up her work, +Lenora left the room just as Margaret entered it, on her return from +the village. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DARKNESS. + + +As the spring opened and the days grew warmer Carrie's health seemed +much improved; and, though she did not leave her room, she was able to +sit up nearly all day, busying herself with some light work. Ever +hopeful, Margaret hugged to her bosom the delusion which whispered, +"She will not die," while even the physician was deceived, and spoke +encouragingly of her recovery. + +For several months Margaret had thought of visiting her grandmother, +who lived in Albany; and as Mr. Hamilton had occasion to visit that +city, Carrie urged her to accompany him saying, she was perfectly able +to be left alone, and she wished her sister would go, for the trip +would do her good. + +For some time past Mrs. Hamilton had seemed exceedingly amiable and +affectionate, although her husband appeared greatly depressed, and +acted, as Lenora said, "Just as though he had been stealing sheep." + +This depression Mag had tried in vain to fathom, and at last, +fancying that a change of place and scene might do him good, she +consented to accompany him, on condition that Kate Kirby would stay +with Carrie. At mention of Kate's name Mr. Hamilton's eyes instantly +went over to his wife, whose face wore the same stony expression as +she answered, "Yes, Maggie, can come." + +Accordingly, on the morning when the travelers would start, Kate came +up to the homestead, receiving a thousand and one directions about +what to do and when to do it, hearing not more than half the +injunctions, and promising to comply with every one. Long before the +door the carriage waited, while Margaret, lingering in Carrie's room, +kissed again and again her sister's pure brow, and gazed into her deep +blue eyes, as if she knew that it was the last time. Even when half +way down the stairs she turned back again to say good-by, this time +whispering, "I have half a mind not to go, for something tells me I +shall never see you again." + +"Oh, Mag," said Carrie, "don't be superstitious. I am a great deal +better, and when you come home you will find me in the parlor." + +In the lower hall Mr. Hamilton caressed his little Willie, who begged +that he, too, might go. "Don't leave, me, Maggie, don't," said he, as +Mag came up to say good-by. + +Long years after the golden curls which Mag pushed back from Willie's +forehead were covered by the dark moist earth, did she remember her +baby-brother's childish farewell, and oft in bitterness of heart she +asked, "Why did I go--why leave my loved ones to die alone?" + +Just a week after Mag's departure news was received at the homestead +that Walter was coming to Glenwood for a day or two, and on the +afternoon of the same day Kate had occasion to go home. As she was +leaving the house Mrs. Hamilton detained her, while she said, "Miss +Kirby, we are all greatly obliged to you for your kindness in staying +with Carrie, although your services really are not needed. I +understand how matters stand between you and Walter, and as he is to +be here to-morrow; you of course will feel some delicacy about +remaining, consequently I release you from all obligations to do so." + +Of course there was no demurring to this. Kate's pride was touched; +and though Carrie wept, and begged her not to go, she yielded only so +far as to stay until the next morning, when, with a promise to call +frequently, she left. Lonely and long seemed the hours to poor Carrie; +for though Walter came, he stayed but two days, and spent a part of +that time at the mill-pond cottage. + +The evening after he went away, as Carrie lay, half-dozing, thinking +of Mag, and counting the weary days which must pass ere her return, +she was startled by the sound of Lenora's voice in the room opposite, +the door of which was ajar. Lenora had been absent a few days, and +Carrie was about calling to her, when some words spoken by her +stepmother arrested her attention, and roused her curiosity. They +were, "You think too little of yourself, Lenora. Now, I know there is +nothing in the way of your winning Walter, if you choose." + +"I should say there was everything in the way," answered Lenora. "In +the first place, there is Kate Kirby, and who, after seeing her +handsome face, would ever look at such a black, turned-up nose, +bristle-headed thing as I am? But I perceive there is some weighty +secret on your mind, so what is it? Have Walter and Kate quarreled, or +have you told him some falsehood about her?" + +"Neither," said Mrs. Hamilton. "What I have to say concerns your +father." + +"My father!" interrupted Lenora; "my own father! Oh, is he living?" + +"No, I hope not," was the answer; "it is Mr. Hamilton whom I mean." + +Instantly Lenora's tone changed, and she replied, "If you please you +need not call that putty-headed man _my_ father. He acts too much like +a whipped spaniel to suit me, and I really think Carrie ought to be +respected for knowing what little she does, while I wonder where +Walter, Mag, and Willie got their good sense. But what is it? What +have you made Mr. Hamilton do?--something ridiculous, of course." + +"I've made him make his will," was the answer; while Lenora continued: + +"Well, what then? What good will that do me?" + +"It may do you a great deal of good," said Mrs. Hamilton; "that is, if +Walter likes the homestead as I think he does. But I tell you, it was +hard work, and I didn't know, one while, but I should have to give it +up. However, I succeeded, and he has willed the homestead to Walter, +provided he marries you. If not, Walter has nothing, and the homestead +comes to _me_ and my heirs forever!" + +"Heartless old fool!" exclaimed Lenora, while Carrie, too, groaned in +sympathy. "And do you suppose he intends to let it go so! Of course +not; he'll make another when you don't know it" + +"I'll watch him too closely for that," said Mrs. Hamilton and after a +moment Lenora asked: + +"What made you so anxious for a will? Have you received warning of his +sudden demise?" + +"How foolish!" said Mrs. Hamilton. "Isn't it the easiest thing in the +world for me to let Walter know what's in the will, and I fancy +that'll bring him to terms, for he likes money, no mistake about +that." + +"Mr. Hamilton is a bigger fool, and you a worse woman, than I +supposed," said Lenora. "Do you think I am mean enough to marry Walter +under such circumstances? Indeed, I'm not. But how is Carrie? I must +go and see her." + +She was about leaving the room, when she turned back, saying in a +whisper, "Mother, mother, her door is wide open, as well as this one, +and she must have heard every word!" + +"Oh, horror!" exclaimed Mrs. Hamilton; "go in and ascertain the fact, +if possible." + +It took but one glance to convince Lenora that Carrie was in +possession of the secret. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wet with +tears; and when Lenora stooped to kiss her, she said. "I know it all, +I heard it all." + +"Then I hope you feel better," said Mrs. Hamilton, coming forward. +"Listeners never hear any good of themselves." + +"Particularly if it's Widow Carter who is listened to," suggested +Lenora. + +Mrs. Hamilton did not reply to this, but continued speaking to Carrie. +"If you have heard anything new you can keep it to yourself. No one +has interfered with you, or intends to. Your father has a right to do +what he chooses with his own, and I shall see that he exercises that +right, too." + +So saying she left the room, while Carrie, again bursting into tears, +wept until perfectly exhausted. The next morning she was attacked with +bleeding at the lungs, which in a short time reduced her so low that +the physician spoke doubtfully of her recovery, should the hemorrhage +again return. In the course of two or three days she was again +attacked; and now, when there was no longer hope of life, her thoughts +turned with earnest longings toward her absent father and sister, and +once, as the physician was preparing to leave her, she said, "Doctor, +tell me truly, can I live twenty-four hours?" + +"I think you may," was the answer. + +"Then I shall see them, for if you telegraph to-night they can come in +the morning train. Go yourself and have it done, will you?" + +The physician promised that he would, and then left the room. In the +hall he met Mrs. Hamilton, who with the utmost anxiety depicted upon +her countenance, said, "Dear Carrie is leaving us, isn't she? I have +telegraphed for her father, who will be here in the morning. 'Twas +right to do so, was it not?" + +"Quite right," answered the physician. "I promised to see to it +myself, and was just going to do so." + +"Poor child," returned Mrs. Hamilton, "she feels anxious, I suppose. +But I have saved you the trouble." + +The reader will not, perhaps, be greatly surprised to learn that what +Mrs. Hamilton had said was false. She suspected that one reason why +Carrie so greatly desired to see her father was to tell him what she +had heard, and beg of him to undo what he had done; and as she feared +the effect which the sight and words of his dying child might have +upon him, she resolved, if possible, to keep him away until Carrie's +voice was hushed in death. Overhearing what had been said by the +doctor, she resorted to the stratagem of which we have just spoken. +The next morning, however, she ordered a telegram to be despatched, +knowing full well that her husband could not reach home until the day +following. + +Meantime, as the hour for the morning train drew near, Carrie, resting +upon pillows, and whiter than the linen which covered them, strained +her ears to catch the first sound of the locomotive. At last, far off +through an opening among the hills, was heard a rumbling noise, which +increased each moment in loudness, until the puffing engine shot out +into the long, green valley, and then rolled rapidly up to the depot. + +Little Willie had seemed unwell for a few days, but since his sister's +illness he had stayed by her almost constantly, gazing half-curiously, +half-timidly into her face, and asking if she was going to the home +where his mamma lived. She had told him that Margaret was coming, and +when the shrill whistle of the eastern train sounded through the room +he ran to the window, whither Lenora had preceded him, and there +together they watched for the coming of the omnibus. A sinister smile +curled the lips of Mrs. Hamilton who was present, and who, of course, +affected to feel interested. + +At last Willie, clapping his hands, exclaimed, "There 'tis! They're +coming. That's Maggie's big trunk!" Then, noticing the glow which his +announcement called up to Carrie's cheek, he said, "She'll make you +well, Carrie, Maggie will. Oh, I'm so glad, and so is Leno." + +Nearer and nearer came the omnibus, brighter and deeper grew the flush +on Carrie's face, while little Willie danced up and down with joy. + +"It isn't coming here," said Mrs. Hamilton; "it has gone by," and +Carrie's feverish heat was succeeded by an icy chill. + +"Haven't they come, Lenora?" she said. + +Lenora shook her head, and Willie, running to his sister, wound his +arms around her neck, and for several minutes the two lone, motherless +children wept. + +"If Maggie knew how my head ached she'd come," said Willie; but Carrie +thought not of _her_ aching head, nor of the faintness of death which +was fast coming on. One idea alone engrossed her. Her brother--how +would he be saved from the threatened evil, and her father's name from +dishonor? + +At last Mrs. Hamilton left the room, and Carrie, speaking to Lenora +and one of the villagers who was present, asked if they, too, would +not leave her alone for a time with Willie. They complied with her +request, and then asking her brother to bring her pencil and paper, +she hurriedly wrote a few lines to her father telling him of what she +had heard, and entreating him, for her sake, and the sake of the +mother with whom she would be when those words met his eye, not to do +Walter so great a wrong. "I shall give this to Willie's care," she +wrote, in conclusion, "and he will keep it carefully until you come. +And now, I bid you a long farewell, my precious father--my noble +Mag--my darling Walter." + +The note was finished, and calling Willie to her, she said, "I am +going to die. When Maggie returns I shall be dead and still, like our +own dear mother." + +"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," sobbed the child, "don't leave me till Maggie +comes." + +There was a footstep on the stairs, and Carrie, without replying to +her brother, said quickly, "Take this paper, Willie, and give it to +father when he comes; let no one see it--Lenora, mother, nor any one." + +Willie promised compliance, and had but just time to conceal the note +in his bosom ere Mrs. Hamilton entered the room, accompanied by the +physician, to whom she loudly expressed her regrets that her husband +had not come, saying that she had that morning telegraphed again, +although he could not now reach home until the morrow. + +"To-morrow I shall never see," said Carrie, faintly. And she spoke +truly, too, for even then death was freezing her life-blood with the +touch of his icy hand. To the last she seemed conscious of the tiny +arms which so fondly encircled her neck; and when the soul had drifted +far out on the dark channel of death the childish words of "Carrie, +Carrie, speak once more," roused her, and folding her brother more +closely to her bosom, she murmured, "Willie, darling Willie, our +mother is waiting for us both." + +Mrs. Hamilton, who stood near, now bent down, and laying her hand on +the pale, damp brow said gently, "Carrie, dear, have you no word of +love for this mother?" + +There was a visible shudder, an attempt to speak, a low moan, in which +the word "Walter" seemed struggling to be spoken; and then death, as +if impatient of delay, bore away the spirit, leaving only the form +which in life had been most beautiful. Softly Lenora closed over the +blue eyes the long, fringed lids, and pushed back from the forehead +the sunny tresses which clustered so thickly around it; then, kissing +the white lips and leaving on the face of the dead traces of her +tears, she led Willie from the room, soothing him in her arms until +he fell asleep. + +Elsewhere we have said that for a few days Willie had not seemed well; +but so absorbed were all in Carrie's more alarming symptoms that no +one had heeded him, although his cheeks were flushed with fever, and +his head was throbbing with pain. He was in the habit of sleeping in +his parents' room, and that night his loud breathings and uneasy +turnings disturbed and annoyed his mother, who at last called out in +harsh tones, "Willie, Willie, for mercy's sake stop that horrid noise! +I shall never get asleep this way. I know there's no need of breathing +like that!" + +"It chokes me so," sobbed little Willie, "but I'll try." + +Then pressing his hands tightly over his mouth, he tried the +experiment of holding his breath as long as possible. Hearing no sound +from his mother, he thought her asleep, but not venturing to breathe +naturally until assured of the fact, he whispered, "Ma, ma, are you +asleep?" + +"Asleep! no--and never shall be, as I see. What do you want?" + +"Oh, I want to breathe," said Willie. + +"Well, breathe then; who hinders you?" was the reply; and ere the +offensive sound again greeted her ear, Mrs. Hamilton was too far gone +in slumber to be disturbed. + +For two hours Willie lay awake, tossing from side to side, scorched +with fever and longing for water to quench his burning thirst. By this +time Mrs. Hamilton was again awake; but to his earnest entreaties for +water--"Just one little drop of water, ma"--she answered: + +"William Hamilton, if you don't be still I'll move your crib into the +room where Carrie is, and leave you there alone!" + +Unlike many children, Willie had no fears of the cold white figure +which lay so still and motionless upon the parlor sofa. To him it was +Carrie, his sister; and many times that day had he stolen in alone, +and laying back the thin muslin which shaded her face, he had looked +long upon her--had laid his hand on her icy cheek, wondering if she +knew how cold she was, and if the way which she had gone was so long +and dark that he could never find it. To him there was naught to fear +in that room of death, and to his mother's threat he answered eagerly, +"Oh, ma, give me some water, just a little bit of water, and you may +carry me in there, I ain't afraid and my breathing won't wake Carrie +up;" but before he had finished speaking his mother was again dozing. + +"Won't anybody bring me some water--Maggie, Carrie--Leno--nobody?" +murmured poor Willie, as he Wet his pillow with tears. + +At last he could bear it no longer. He knew where the water-bucket +stood, and stepping from his bed, he groped his way down the long +stairs to the basement. The spring moon was low in the western +horizon, and shining through the curtained window, dimly lighted up +the room. The pail was soon reached, and then in his eagerness to +drink, he put his lips to the side. Lower, lower, lower it came, until +he discovered, alas I that the pail was empty. + +"What shall I do? what shall I do?" said he, as he crouched upon the +cold hearthstone. + +A new idea entered his mind. The well stood near the outer door; and, +quickly pushing back the bolt, he went out, all flushed and feverish +as he was, into the chill night air. There was ice upon the curbstone, +but he did not mind it, although his little toes, as they trod upon +it, looked red by the pale moonlight. Quickly a cup of the coveted +water was drained; then, with careful forethought, he filled it again, +and taking it back to his room, crept shivering to bed. Nature was +exhausted, and whether he fainted or fell asleep is not known, for +never again to consciousness in this world awoke the little boy. + +The morning sunlight came softly in at the window, touching his +golden curls with a still more golden hue. Sadly over him Lenora bent, +saying, "Willie, Willie, wake up, Willie. Don't you know me?" + +Greatly Mrs. Hamilton marveled whence came the cup of water which +stood there, as if reproaching her for her cruelty. But the delirious +words of the dreamer soon told her all. "Maggie, Maggie," he said, +"rub my feet; they feel like Carrie's face. The curbstone was cold, +but the water was so good. Give me more, more; mother won't care, for +I got it myself, and tried not to breathe, so she could sleep--and +Carrie, too, is dead--dead." + +Lenora fiercely grasped her mother's arm, and said, "How could you +refuse him water, and sleep while he got it himself?" + +But Mrs. Hamilton needed not that her daughter should accuse her. +Willie had been her favorite, and the tears which she dropped upon his +pillow were genuine. The physician who was called pronounced his +disease to be scarlet fever, saying that its violence was greatly +increased by a severe cold which he had taken. + +"You have killed him, mother; you have killed him!" said Lenora. + +Twenty-four hours had passed since, with straining ear, Carrie had +listened for the morning train, and again down the valley floated the +smoke of the engine, and over the blue hills echoed the loud scream of +the locomotive; but no sound could awaken the fair young sleeper, +though Willie started, and throwing up his hands, one of which, the +right one, was firmly clinched, murmured, "Maggie, Maggie." + +Ten minutes more and Margaret was there, weeping in agony over the +inanimate form of her sister, and almost shrieking as she saw Willie's +wild eye, and heard his incoherent words. Terrible to Mr. Hamilton was +this coming home. Like one who walks in sleep, he went from room to +room, kissing the burning brow of one child, and then, while the hot +breath was yet warm upon his lips, pressing them to the cold face of +the other. + +All day Margaret sat by her dying brother, praying that he might be +spared until Walter came. Her prayer was answered; for at nightfall +Walter was with them. Half an hour after his return Willie died; but +ere his right hand dropped lifeless by his side he held it up to view, +saying: + +"Father--give it to nobody but father." + +After a moment Margaret, taking within hers the fast-stiffening hand, +gently unclosed the fingers, and found the crumpled piece of paper on +which Carrie had written to her father. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MARGARET AND HER FATHER. + + +'Twas midnight--midnight after the burial. In the library of the old +homestead sat its owner, his arms resting upon the table, and his face +reclining upon his arms. Sadly was he reviewing the dreary past, since +first among them death had been, bearing away his wife, the wife of +his first only love. Now, by her grave there was another, on which the +pale moonbeams and the chill night-dews were falling, but they could +not disturb the rest of the two who, side by side in the same coffin, +lay sleeping, and for whom the father's tears were falling fast, and +the father's heart was bleeding. + +"Desolate, desolate--all is desolate," said the stricken man. "Would +that I, too, were asleep with my lost ones!" + +There was a rustling sound near him, a footfall, and an arm was thrown +lovingly around his neck. Margaret's tears were on his cheek, and +Margaret's voice whispered in his ear, "Dear father, we must love each +other better now." + +Margaret had not retired, and on passing through the hall, had +discovered the light gleaming through the crevice of the library door. +Knowing that her father must be there, she had come in to comfort him. +Long the father and child wept together, and then Margaret, drying her +tears said: + +"It is right--all right; mother has two, and you have two, and though +the dead will never return to us, we, in God's good time, will return +to them." + +"Yes, soon, very soon, shall I go," said Mr. Hamilton. + +"I am weary, weary, Margaret; my life is one scene of bitterness. Oh, +why, why was I left to do it?" + +Margaret knew well to what he referred, but she made no answer; and +after he had become somewhat composed, thinking this a good +opportunity for broaching the subject which had so troubled Carrie's +dying moments, she drew from her bosom the soiled piece of paper, and +placing it in his hands, watched him while he read. The moan of +anguish which came from his lips as he finished made her repent of her +act, and, springing to his side, she exclaimed: + +"Forgive me, father; I ought not to have done it now. You have enough +to bear." + +"It is right, my child," said Mr. Hamilton; "for after the wound had +slightly healed I might have wavered. Not that I love Walter less; +but, fool that I am, I fear her who has made me the cowardly wretch +you see!" + +"Rouse yourself, then," answered Margaret. "Shake off her chain, and +be free." + +"I cannot, I cannot," said he. "But this I will do. I will make +another will. I always intended to do so, and Walter shall not be +wronged." Then rising, he hurriedly paced the room saying, "Walter +shall not be wronged, no, no--Walter shall not be wronged." + +After a time he resumed his former seat, and taking his daughter's +hand in his, he told her of all he had suffered, of the power which +his wife held over him, and which he was too weak to shake off. This +last he did not say, but Margaret knew it and it prevented her from +giving him other consolation than that of assuring him of her own +unchanged, undying love. + +The morning twilight was streaming through the closed shutters ere the +conference ended; and then Mr. Hamilton, kissing his daughter, +dismissed her from the room, but as she was leaving him he called her +back, saying: + +"Don't tell Walter; he would despise me; but he shan't be wronged--no, +he shan't be wronged." + +Six weeks from that night Margaret stood, with her brother, watching +her father as the light from his eyes went out, and the tones of his +voice ceased forever. Grief for the loss of his children, and remorse +for the blight which he had brought upon his household, had undermined +his constitution, never strong; and when a prevailing fever settled +upon him it found an easy prey. In ten days' time Margaret and Walter +alone were left of the happy band who, two years before, had gathered +around the fireside of the old homestead. + +Loudly Mrs. Hamilton deplored her loss, shutting herself up in her +room, and refusing to see any one, saying that she could not be +comforted, and it was of no use trying! Lenora, however, managed to +find an opportunity of whispering to her that it would hardly be +advisable to commit suicide, since she had got the homestead left, and +everything else for which she had married Mr. Hamilton. + +"Lenora, how can you thus trifle with my feelings? Don't you see that +my trouble is killing me?" said the greatly distressed lady. + +"I don't apprehend any such catastrophe as that," answered Lenora. +"You found the weeds of Widow Carter easy enough to wear, and those of +Widow Hamilton won't hurt you any worse, I imagine." + +"Lenora," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, "may you never know what it is to be +the unhappy mother of such a child!" + +"Amen!" was Lenora's fervent response, as she glided from the room. + +For three days the body of Mr. Hamilton lay upon the marble center +table in the darkened parlor. Up and down the long staircases, and +through the silent rooms, the servants moved noiselessly. Down in the +basement Aunt Polly forgot her wonted skill in cooking, and in a +broken rocking-chair swayed to and fro, brushing the big tears from +her dusky face, and lamenting the loss of one who seemed to her "just +like a brother, only a little nigher." + +In the chamber above, where six weeks before Carrie had died, sat +Margaret--not weeping; she could not do that--her grief was too great, +and the fountain of her tears seemed scorched and dried; but, with +white, compressed lips, and hands tightly clasped, she thought of the +past and of the cheerless future. Occasionally through the doorway +there came a small, dark figure; a pair of slender arms were thrown +around her neck, and a voice murmured in her ear: "Poor, poor Maggie." +The next moment the figure would be gone, and in the hall below Lenora +would be heard singing snatches of some song, either to provoke her +mother, or to make the astonished servants believe that she was really +heartless and hardened. + +What Walter suffered could not be expressed. Hour after hour, from the +sun's rising till its going down, he sat by his father's coffin, +unmindful of the many who came in to look at the dead, and then gazing +pitifully upon the face of the living, walked away, whispering +mysteriously of insanity. Near _him_ Lenora dared not come, though +through the open door she watched him, and oftentimes he met the +glance of her wild, black eyes, fixed upon him with a mournful +interest; then, as if moved by some spirit of evil, she would turn +away, and seeking her mother's room, would mock at that lady's grief, +advising her not to make too much of an effort. + +At last there came a change. In the yard there was the sound of many +feet, and in the house the hum of many voices, all low and subdued. +Again in the village of Glenwood was heard the sound of the tolling +bell; again through the garden and over the running water brook moved +the long procession to the graveyard; and soon Ernest Hamilton lay +quietly sleeping by the side of his wife and children. + +For some time after the funeral nothing was said concerning the will, +and Margaret had almost forgotten the existence of one, when one day +as she was passing the library door her mother appeared, and asked her +to enter. She did so, and found there her brother, whose face, besides +the marks of recent sorrow which it wore, now seemed anxious and +expectant. + +"Maggie dear," said the oily-tongued woman, "I have sent for you to +hear read your beloved father's last will and testament." + +A deep flush mounted to Margaret's face, as she repeated somewhat +inquiringly, "Father's last will and testament?" + +"Yes, dear," answered her mother, "his last will and testament. He +made it several weeks ago, even before poor Carrie died; and as Walter +is now the eldest and only son, I think it quite proper that he should +read it." + +So saying, she passed toward Walter a sealed package, which he +nervously opened, while Margaret, going to his side, looked over his +shoulder, as he read. + +It is impossible to describe the look of mingled surprise, anger, and +mortification which Mrs. Hamilton's face assumed, as she heard the +will which her husband had made four weeks before his death, and in +which Walter shared equally with his sister. Her first impulse was to +destroy it; and springing forward, she attempted to snatch it from +Walter's hand, but was prevented by Margaret, who caught her arm and +forcibly held her back. + +Angrily confronting her stepdaughter, Mrs. Hamilton demanded, "What +does this mean?" to which Mag replied: + +"It means, madam, that for once you are foiled. You coaxed my father +into making a will, the thought of which ought to make you blush. +Carrie overheard you telling Lenora, and when she found that she must +die she wrote it on a piece of paper, and consigned it to Willie's +care!" + +Several times Mrs. Hamilton essayed to speak, but the words died away +in her throat, until at last, summoning all her boldness, she said, in +a hoarse whisper, "But the homestead is mine--mine forever, and we'll +see how delightful I can make your home!" + +"I'll save you that trouble, madam," said Walter, rising and advancing +toward the door. "Neither my sister nor myself will remain beneath the +same roof which shelters you. To-morrow we leave, knowing well that +vengeance belongeth to One higher than we." + +All the remainder of that day Walter and Margaret spent in devising +some plan for the future, deciding at last that Margaret should on the +morrow go for a time to Mrs. Kirby's, while Walter returned to the +city. The next morning, however, Walter did not appear in the +breakfast parlor, and when Margaret, alarmed at his absence, repaired +to his room, she found him unable to rise. The fever with which his +father had died, and which, was still prevailing in the village, had +fastened upon him, and for many days was his life despaired of. The +ablest physicians were called, but few of them gave any hope to the +pale, weeping sister, who, with untiring love, kept her vigils by her +brother's bedside. + +When he was first taken ill he had manifested great uneasiness at his +stepmother's presence, and when at last he became delirious he no +longer concealed his feelings, and if she entered the room he would +shriek "Take her away from me! Take her away! Chain her in the +cellar--anywhere out of my sight." + +Again he would speak of Kate, and entreat that she might come to him. +"I have nothing left but her and Margaret," he would say; "and why +does she stay away?" + +Three different times had Margaret sent to her young friend, urging +her to come, and still she tarried, while Margaret marveled greatly +at the delay. She did not know that the girl whom she had told to go +had received different directions from Mrs. Hamilton, and that each +day beneath her mother's roof Kate Kirby wept and prayed that Walter +might not die. + +One night he seemed to be dying, and gathered in the room were many +sympathizing friends and neighbors. Without, 'twas pitchy dark. The +rain fell in torrents and the wind, which had increased in violence +since the setting of the sun, howled mournfully about the windows, as +if waiting to bear the soul company in its upward flight. Many times +had Walter attempted to speak. At last he succeeded, and the word +which fell from his lips was "Kate!" + +Lenora, who had that day accidentally learned of her mother's commands +with regard to Miss Kirby, now glided noiselessly from the room, and +in a moment was alone in the fearful storm, which she did not heed. +Lightly bounding over the swollen brook, she ran on until the +mill-pond cottage was reached. It was midnight, and its inmates were +asleep, but they awoke at the sound of Lenora's voice. + +"Walter is dying," said she to Kate, "and would see you once more. +Come quickly." + +Hastily dressing herself, Kate went forth with the strange girl, who +spoke not a word until Walter's room was reached. Feebly the sick man +wound his arms around Kate's neck, exclaiming, "My own, my beautiful +Kate, I knew you would come. I am better now--I shall live!" and as if +there was indeed something life-giving in her very presence and the +sound of her voice, Walter from that hour grew better: and in three +weeks' time he, together with Margaret, left his childhood's home, +once so dear, but now darkened by the presence of her who watched +their departure with joy, exulting in the thought that she was +mistress of all she surveyed. + +Walter, who was studying law in the city about twenty miles distant, +resolved to return thither immediately, and after some consultation +with his sister it was determined that both she and Kate should +accompany him. Accordingly, a few mornings after they left the +homestead, there was a quiet bridal at the mill-pond cottage; after +which Walter Hamilton bore away to his city home his sister and his +bride, the beautiful Kate. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"CARRYING OUT DEAR MR. HAMILTON'S PLANS." + + +One morning about ten days after the departure of Walter the good +people of Glenwood were greatly surprised at the unusual confusion +which seemed to pervade the homestead. The blinds were taken off, +windows taken out, carpets taken up, and where so lately physicians, +clergymen, and death had officiated, were now seen carpenters, masons, +and other workmen. Many were the surmises as to the cause of all this; +and one old lady, more curious than the rest, determined upon a +friendly call, to ascertain, if possible, what was going on. + +She found Mrs. Hamilton with her sleeves rolled up, and her hair +tucked under a black cap, consulting with a carpenter about enlarging +her bedroom and adding to it a bathing-room. Being received but coldly +by the mistress of the house, she descended to the basement, where she +was told by Aunt Polly that "the blinds were going to be repainted, an +addition built, the house turned wrong-side out, and Cain raised +generally." + +"It's a burning shame," said Aunt Polly, warmed up by her subject and +the hot oven into which she was thrusting loaves of bread and pies. +"It's a burning shame--a tearin' down and a goin' on this way, and +marster not cold in his grave. Miss Lenora, with all her badness, says +it's disgraceful, but he might ha' know'd it. _I_ did. I know'd it the +fust time she came here a nussin'. I don't see what got into him to +have her. Polly Pepper, without any larnin', never would ha' done such +a thing," continued she, as the door closed upon her visitor, who was +anxious to carry the gossip back to the village. + +It was even as Aunt Polly had said. Mrs. Hamilton, who possessed a +strong propensity for pulling down and building up, and who would have +made an excellent carpenter, had long had an earnest desire for +improving the homestead; and now that there was no one to prevent her, +she went to work with a right good will, saying to Lenora, who +remonstrated with her upon the impropriety of her conduct, that "she +was merely carrying out dear Mr. Hamilton's plans," who had proposed +making these changes before his death. + +"Dear Mr. Hamilton!" repeated Lenora, "very dear has he become to you, +all at once. I think if you had always manifested a little more +affection for him and his, they might not have been where they now +are." + +"Seems to me you take a different text from what you did some months +ago," said Mrs. Hamilton; "but perhaps you don't remember the time?" + +"I remember it well," answered Lenora, "and quite likely, with your +training, I should do the same again. We were poor, and I wished for a +more elegant home. I fancied that Margaret Hamilton was proud and had +slighted me, and I longed for revenge; but when I knew her I liked her +better, and when I saw that she was not to be trampled down by you or +me, my hatred of her turned to admiration. The silly man who has paid +the penalty of his weakness, I always despised; but when I saw how +fast the gray hairs thickened on his head; how careworn and bowed down +he grew, I pitied him, for I knew that his heart was breaking. Willie +I truly, unselfishly loved; and I am charitable enough to think that +even _you_ loved _him_, but it was through your neglect that he died, +and for his death you will answer. Carrie was gentle and trusting, but +weak, like her father. I do not think you killed her, for she was +dying when we came here, but you put the crowning act of wickedness to +your life when you compelled a man, shattered in body and intellect, +to write a will which disinherited his only son; but on that point you +are baffled. To be sure, you've got the homestead, and for decency's +sake I think I'd wait a while longer ere I commenced tearing down and +building up." + +Lenora's words had no effect whatever upon her mother, who still kept +on with her plans, treating with silent contempt the remarks of the +neighbors, or wishing, perhaps, that they would attend to their own +business, just as she was attending to hers! Day after day the work +went on. Scaffoldings were raised--paper and plastering torn +off--boards were seasoning in the sun--shingles lying upon the +ground--ladders raised against the wall; and all this while the two +new graves showed not a blade of grass, and the earth looked black and +fresh as it did when first it was placed there. + +When at last the blinds were hung, the house cleaned, and the carpets +nailed down, Mrs. Hamilton, who had designed it all the time, called +together the servants, whom she had disliked on account of their +preference for Margaret, and told them to look for new places, as +their services were no longer needed there. + +"You can make out your bills," said she, at the same time intimating +they hadn't one of them more than earned their board, if they had +that! Polly Pepper wasn't of material to stand by and hear such +language from one whom she considered beneath her. + +"Hadn't she as good a right there as anybody? Yes, indeed, she had! +Wasn't she there a full thirty year before any of your low-lived trash +came round a nussin'?" + +"Polly," interposed Mrs. Hamilton, "leave the room instantly, you +ungrateful thing!" + +"Ungrateful for what?" said Polly. "Haven't I worked and slaved like +an old nigger, as I am? and now you call me ungrateful, and say I +hain't arnt my bread. I'll sue you for slander;" and the enraged +Polly left the room, muttering, "half arnt my board, indeed! I'll bet +I've made a hundred thousan' pies, to say nothin' of the puddings, _I_ +not arn my board!" + +When again safe in what for so many years had been her own peculiar +province, she sat down to meditate. "I'd as good go without any fuss," +thought she, "but my curse on the madam who sends me away!" + +In the midst of her reverie, Lenora entered the kitchen, and to her +the old lady detailed her grievances, ending with, "Pears like she +don't know nothin' at all about etiquette, nor nothin' else." + +"Etiquette!" repeated Lenora. "You are mistaken, Polly; mother would +sit on a point of etiquette till she wore the back breadth of her +dress out. But it isn't that which she lacks--it's decency. But, +Polly," said she, changing the subject, "where do you intend to go and +how?" + +"To my brother Sam's," said Polly. "He lives three miles in the +country, and I've sent Robin to the village for a horse and wagon to +carry my things." + +Here Mrs. Hamilton entered the kitchen, followed by a strapping Irish +girl, nearly six feet in height. Her hair, flaming red, was twisted +round a huge back comb; her faded calico dress came far above her +ankles; her brawny arms were folded one over the other; and there was +in her appearance something altogether disagreeable and defiant. Mrs. +Hamilton introduced her as Ruth, her new cook, saying she hoped she +would know enough to keep her place better than her predecessor had +done. + +Aunt Polly surveyed her rival from head to foot, and then glancing +aside to Lenora, muttered, "Low-lived, depend on't." + +Robin now drove up with the wagon, and Mrs. Hamilton and Lenora left +the room, while Polly went to prepare herself for her ride. Her +sleeping apartment was in the basement and communicated with the +kitchen. This was observed by the new cook, who had a strong dislike +of negroes, and who feared that she might be expected to occupy the +same bed. + +"An' faith," said she, "is it where the like of ya have burrowed that +I am to turn in?" + +"I don't understand no such low-flung stuff," answered Polly, "but if +you mean you are to have this bedroom, I suppose you are." + +Here Polly had occasion to go up-stairs for something, and on her +return she found that Ruth, during her absence, had set fire to a +large linen rag, which she held on a shovel and was carrying about the +bedroom, as if to purify it from every atom of negro atmosphere which +might remain. Polly was quick-witted, and instantly comprehending the +truth, she struck the shovel from the hands of Ruth, exclaiming, "You +spalpeen, is it because my skin ain't a dingy yaller and all freckled +like yourn? Lord, look at your carrot-topped cocoanut, and then tell +me if wool ain't a heap the most genteel." + +In a moment a portion of the boasted wool was lying on the floor, or +being shaken from the thick, red fingers of the cook, while Irish +blood was flowing freely from the nose which Polly, in her vengeful +wrath, had wrung. Further hostilities were prevented by Robin, who +screamed that he couldn't wait any longer, and shaking her fist +fiercely at the red-head, Polly departed. + +That day Lucy and Rachel also left, and their places were supplied by +two raw hands, one of whom, before the close of the second day, +tumbled up-stairs with the large soup tureen, breaking it in fragments +and scalding the foot of Mrs. Hamilton, who was in the rear, and who, +having waited an hour for dinner, had descended to the kitchen to know +why it was not forthcoming, saying that Polly had never been so behind +the time. + +The other one, on being asked if she understood chamber work, had +replied, "Indade, and it's been my business all my life." She was +accordingly sent to make the beds and empty the slop. Thinking it an +easy way to dispose of the latter, she had thrown it from the window, +deluging the head and shoulders of her mistress who was bending down +to examine a rose bush which had been recently set out. Lenora was in +ecstasies, and when at noon her mother received a sprinkling of red +hot soup, she gravely asked her "which she relished most, cold or warm +baths!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RETRIBUTION. + + +Two years have passed away, and again we open the scene at the +homestead, which had not proved an altogether pleasant home to Mrs. +Hamilton. There was around her everything to make her happy, but she +was far from being so. One by one her servants, with whom she was very +unpopular, had left her, until there now remained but one. The +villagers, too, shunned her, and she was wholly dependent for society +upon Lenora, who, as usual, provoked and tormented her. + +One day Hester, the servant, came up from the basement, saying there +was a poor old man below, who asked for money. + +"Send him away; I've nothing for him," said Mrs. Hamilton, whose +avaricious hand, larger far than her heart, grasped at and retained +everything. + +"But, if you please, ma'am, he seems very poor," said Hester. + +"Let him go to work, then. 'Twon't hurt him more than 'twill me," was +the reply. + +Lenora, whose eyes and ears were always open, no sooner heard that +there was a beggar in the kitchen than she ran down to see him. He was +a miserable-looking object, and still there was something in his +appearance which denoted him to be above the common order of beggars. +His eyes were large and intensely black, and his hair, short, thick, +and curly, reminded Lenora of her own. The moment she appeared a +peculiar expression passed for a moment over his face, and he half +started up; then resuming his seat he fixed his glittering eyes upon +the young lady, and seemed watching her closely. + +At last she began questioning him, but his answers were so +unsatisfactory that she gave it up, and, thinking it the easiest way +to be rid of him, she took from her pocket a shilling and handed it to +him, saying, "It's all I can give you, unless it is a dinner. Are you +hungry?" + +Hester, who had returned to the kitchen, was busy in a distant part of +the room, and she did not notice the paleness which overspread +Lenora's face at the words which the beggar uttered when, she +presented the money to him. She caught, however, the low murmur of +their voices, as they spoke together for a moment, and as Lenora +accompanied him to the door, she distinctly heard the words, "In the +garden." + +"And maybe that's some of your kin; you look like him," said she to +Lenora, after the stranger was gone. + +"That's my business, not yours," answered Lenora, as she left the +kitchen and repaired to her mother's room. + +"Lenora, what ails you?" said Mrs. Hamilton to her daughter at the +tea-table that night, when, after putting salt in one cup of tea, and +upsetting a second, she commenced spreading her biscuit with cheese +instead of butter. "What ails you? What are you thinking about? You +don't seem to know any more what you are doing than the dead." + +Lenora made no direct reply to this, but soon after she said, "Mother, +how long has father been dead--my own father I mean?" + +"Two or three years, I don't exactly know which," returned her mother, +and Lenora continued: + +"How did he look? I hardly remember him." + +"You have asked me that fifty times," answered her mother, "and fifty +times I have told you that he looked like you, only worse, if +possible." + +"Let me see, where did you say he died?" said Lenora. + +"In New Orleans, with yellow fever, or black measles, or smallpox, or +something," Mrs. Hamilton replied, "but mercy's sake! can't you choose +a better subject to talk about? What made you think of him? He's been +haunting me all day, and I feel kind of nervous and want to look over +my shoulder whenever I am alone." + +Lenora made no further remark until after tea, when she announced her +intention of going to the village. + +"Come back early, for I don't feel like staying alone," said her +mother. + +The sun had set when Lenora left the village, and by the time she +reached home it was wholly dark. As she entered the garden the outline +of a figure; sitting on a bench at its further extremity, made her +stop for a moment, but thinking to herself, "I expected it, and why +should I be afraid?" she walked on fearlessly, until the person, +roused by the sound of her footsteps, started up, and turning toward +her, said half-aloud: + +"Lenora, is it you?" + +Quickly she sprang forward, and soon one hand of the beggar was +clasped in hers, while the other rested upon her head, as he said, +"Lenora, my child, my daughter, you do not hate me?" + +"Hate you, father?" she answered, "never, never." + +"But," he continued, "has not she--my--no, not my wife--thank Heaven +not my wife now--but your mother, has not she taught you to despise +and hate me?" + +"No," answered Lenora bitterly. "She has taught me enough of evil, but +my memories of you were too sweet, too pleasant, for me to despise +you, though I do not think you always did right, more than mother." + +The stranger groaned, and murmured: "It's true, all true;" while +Lenora continued: + +"But where have you been all these years, and how came we to hear of +your death?" + +"I have been in St. Louis most of the time, and the report of my death +resulted from the fact that a man bearing my name, and who was also +from Connecticut, died of yellow fever in New Orleans about two years +and a half ago. A friend of mine, observing a notice of his death, and +supposing it to refer to me, forwarded the paper to your mother, who, +though then free from me, undoubtedly felt glad, for she never loved +me, but married me because she thought I had money." + +"But how have you lived?" asked Lenora. + +"Lived!" he repeated, "I have not lived. I have merely existed. +Gambling and drinking, drinking and gambling, have been the business +of my life, and have reduced me to the miserable wretch whom you see." + +"Oh, father, father," cried Lenora, "reform. It is not too late, and +you can yet be saved. Do it for my sake, for, in spite of all your +faults, I love you, and you are my father." + +The first words of affection which had greeted his ear for many long +years made the wretched man weep, as he answered: "Lenora, I have +sworn to reform, and I will keep my vow. During one of my drunken +revels, in St. Louis, a dream of home came over me, and when I became +sober I started for Connecticut. There I heard where and what your +mother was. I had no wish ever to meet her again, for though I greatly +erred in my conduct toward her, I think she was always the most to +blame. You I remembered with love, and I longed to see you once more, +to hear again the word 'father,' and know that I was not forgotten. I +came as far as the city, and there fell into temptation. For the last +two months I have been there, gambling and drinking, until I lost all, +even the clothes which I wore, and was compelled to assume these rags. +I am now without home or money, and have no place to lay my head." + +"I can give you money," said Lenora. "Meet me here to-morrow night, +and you shall have all you want. But what do you purpose doing? Where +will you stay?" + +"In the village, for the sake of being near you," said he, at the same +time bidding his daughter return to the house, as the night air was +damp and chilly. + +Within a week from that time a middle-aged man, calling himself John +Robinson, appeared in the village, hiring himself out as a porter at +one of the hotels. There was a very striking resemblance between him +and Lenora Carter, which was noticed by the villagers, and mentioned +to Mrs. Hamilton, who, however, could never obtain a full view of the +stranger's face, for without any apparent design, he always avoided +meeting her. He had not been long in town before it was whispered +about that between him and Lenora Carter a strange intimacy existed, +and rumors soon reached Mrs. Hamilton that her daughter was in the +habit of frequently stealing out after sunset, to meet the old porter, +and that once, when watched, she had been seen to put her arms around +his neck. Highly indignant, Mrs. Hamilton questioned Lenora on the +subject, and was astonished beyond measure when she replied: + +"It is all true. I have met Mr. Robinson often, and I have put my arms +around his neck, and shall probably do it again." + +"Oh my child, my child," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, really distressed at +her daughter's conduct. "How can you do so? You will bring my gray +hairs with sorrow to the grave." + +"Not if you pull out as many of them as you now do, and use Twiggs +Preparation besides," said Lenora. + +Mrs. Hamilton did not answer, but covering her face with her hands +wept, really wept, thinking for the first time, perhaps, that as she +had sowed so was she reaping. For some time past her health had been +failing, and as the summer days grew warmer and more oppressive she +felt a degree of lassitude and physical weakness which she had never +before experienced; and one day unable longer to sit up, she took her +bed, where she lay for many days. + +Now that her mother was really sick, Lenora seemed suddenly changed, +and with unwearied care watched over her as kindly and faithfully as +if no words save those of affection had ever passed between them. +Warmer and more sultry grew the days, and more fiercely raged the +fever in Mrs. Hamilton's veins, until at last the crisis was reached +and passed, and she was in a fair way for recovery, when she was +attacked by chills, which again reduced her to a state of +helplessness. One day, about this time, a ragged little boy, whose +business seemed to be lounging around the hotel, brought to Lenora a +soiled and crumpled note, on which was traced with an unsteady hand, +"Dear Lenora, I am sick, all alone in the little attic; come to me, +quick; come!" + +Lenora was in a state of great perplexity. Her mother, when awake, +needed all her care; and as she seldom slept during the day there +seemed but little chance of getting away. The night before, however, +she had been unusually restless and wakeful, and about noon she seemed +drowsy, and finally fell into a deep sleep. + +"Now is my time," thought Lenora; and calling Hester, she bade her +watch by her mother until she returned, saying, "If she wakes tell her +I have gone to the village, and will soon be back." + +Hester promised compliance, and was for a time faithful to her trust; +but suddenly recollecting something which she wished to tell the girl +who lived at the next neighbor's she stole away, leaving her mistress +alone. For five minutes Mrs. Hamilton slept on, and then with a start +awoke from a troubled dream, in which she had seemed dying of thirst, +while little Willie, standing by a hogshead of water, refused her a +drop. A part of her dream was true, for she was suffering from the +most intolerable thirst, and called loudly for Lenora; but Lenora was +not there. Hester next was called, but she, too, was gone. Then, +seizing the bell which stood upon the table, she rang it with all her +force, and still there came no one to her relief. + +Again Willie stood by her, offering her a goblet overflowing with +water; but when she attempted to take it, Willie changed into Lenora, +who laughed mockingly at her distress, telling her there was water in +the well and ice on the curbstone. Once more the phantom faded away, +and the old porter was there, wading through a limpid stream and +offering her to drink a cup of molten lead. + +"Merciful Heaven!" shrieked the sick woman, as she writhed from side +to side on her bed, which seemed changed to burning coals; "will no +one bring me water, water, water!" + +An interval of calmness succeeded, during which she revolved in her +mind the possibility of going herself to the kitchen, where she knew +the water-pail was standing. No sooner had she decided upon this than +the room appeared full of little demons, who laughed, and chattered, +and shouted in her ears: + +"Go--do it! Willie did, when the night was dark and chilly; but now it +is warm--nice and warm--try it, do!" + +Tremblingly Mrs. Hamilton stepped upon the floor, and finding herself +too weak to walk, crouched down, and crept slowly down the stairs to +the kitchen door, where she stopped to rest. Across the room by the +window stood the pail, and as her eye fell upon it the mirth of the +little winged demons appeared in her disordered fancy to increase; and +when the spot was reached, the tumbler seized and thrust into the +pail, they darted hither and thither, shouting gleefully: + +"Lower, lower down; just as Willie did. You'll find it, oh, you'll +find it!" + +With a bitter cry Mrs. Hamilton dashed the tumbler upon the floor, for +the bucket was empty! + +"Willie, Willie, you are avenged," she said; but the goblins answered: + +"Not yet; no, not yet." + +There was no pump in the well, and Mrs. Hamilton knew she had not +strength to raise the bucket by means of the windlass. Her exertions +had increased her thirst tenfold, and now for one cup of cooling water +she would have given all her possessions. Across the yard, at the +distance of twenty rods, there was a gushing spring, and thither in +her despair she determined to go. Accordingly, she went forth into the +fierce noontide blaze, and with almost superhuman efforts crawled to +the place. But what! was it a film upon her eyes? Had blindness come +upon her, or was the spring really dried up by the fervid summer heat? + +"Willie's avenged! Willie's avenged!" yelled the imps as the wretched +woman fainted and fell backward upon the bank, where she lay with her +white, thin face upturned, and blistering beneath the August sun! + +Along the dusty highway came a handsome traveling carriage, in which, +besides the driver, were seated two individuals, the one a young and +elegantly-dressed lady, and the other a gentleman, who appealed to be +on the most intimate terms with his companion; for whenever he would +direct her attention to any passing object, he laid his hand on hers, +frequently retaining it, and calling her "Maggie." + +The carriage was nearly opposite the homestead, when the lady +exclaimed, "Oh, Richard, I must stop at my old home once more. Only +see how beautiful it is looking!" + +In a moment the carriage was standing before the gate, and the +gentleman, who was Margaret Hamilton's husband--a Mr. Elwyn, from the +city--assisted his young wife to alight, and then followed her to the +house. No answer was given to their loud ring, and as the doors and +windows were all open, Margaret proposed that they should enter. They +did so; and, going first into Mrs. Hamilton's sick-room, the sight of +the little table full of vials, and the tumbled, empty bed, excited +their wonder and curiosity, and induced them to go on. At last, +descending to the kitchen, they saw the fragments of the tumbler +lying upon the floor. + +"Strange, isn't it?" said Margaret to her husband, who was standing in +the outer door, and who had at that moment discovered Mrs. Hamilton +lying near the spring. + +Instantly they were at her side, and Margaret involuntarily shuddered +as she recognized her stepmother, and guessed why she was there. +Taking her in his arms, Mr. Elwyn bore her back to the house, and +Margaret, filling a pitcher with water, bathed her face, moistened her +lips, and applied other restoratives, until she revived enough to say: + +"More water, Willie. Give me more water!" + +Eagerly she drained the goblet which Margaret held to her lips, and +was about drinking the second, when her eyes for the first time sought +Margaret's face. With a cry between a groan and a scream she lay back +upon her pillows, saying, "Margaret Hamilton, how came you here? What +have you to do with me, and why do you give me water? Didn't I refuse +it to Willie, when he begged so earnestly for it in the nighttime? But +I've been paid--a thousand times paid--left by my own child to die +alone!" + +Margaret was about asking for Lenora, when the young lady herself +appeared. She seemed for a moment greatly surprised at the sight of +Margaret, and then bounding to her side, greeted her with much +affection; while Mrs. Hamilton jealously looked on, muttering to +herself. "Loves everybody better than she does me, her own mother, who +has done so much for her." + +Lenora made no reply to this, although she manifested much concern +when Margaret told her in what state they had found her mother. + +"I went for a few moments to visit a sick friend," said she, "but told +Hester to stay with mother until I returned; and I wonder much that +she should leave her." + +"Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton, "Lenora, was that sick friend the old +porter?" + +Lenora answered in the affirmative; and then her mother, turning to +Margaret, said: + +"You don't know what a pest and torment this child has always been to +me, and now when I am dying she deserts me for a low-lived fellow, old +enough to be her father." + +Lenora's eyes flashed scornfully upon her mother, but she made no +answer, and as Mr. Elwyn was in haste to proceed on his journey, +Margaret arose to go. Lenora urged them to remain longer, but they +declined; and as she accompanied them to the door, Margaret said: + +"Lenora, if your mother should die, and it would afford you any +satisfaction to have me come, I will do so, for I suppose you have no +near friends." + +Lenora hesitated a moment, and then whispering to Margaret of the +relationship existing between herself and the old porter, she said, +"He is sick and poor, but he is my own father, and I love him dearly." + +The tears came to Margaret's eyes, for she thought of her own father, +called home while his brown hair was scarcely touched with the frosts +of time. Wistfully Lenora watched the carriage as it disappeared from +sight, and then half-reluctantly entered the sick-room, where, for the +remainder of the afternoon, she endured her mother's reproaches for +having left her alone, and where once, when her patience was wholly +exhausted, she said: + +"It served you right, for now you know how little Willie felt." + +The next day Mrs. Hamilton was much worse, and Lenora, who had watched +and who understood her symptoms, felt confident that she would die, +and loudly her conscience upbraided her for her undutiful conduct. She +longed, too, to tell her that her father was still living, and one +evening when for an hour or two her mother seemed better, she arose, +and bending over her pillow, said, "Mother, did it ever occur to you +that father might not be dead?" + +"Not be dead, Lenora! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, starting +up from her pillow. + +Cautiously then Lenora commenced her story by referring her mother +back to the old beggar, who some months before had been in the +kitchen. Then she spoke of the old porter, and the resemblance which +was said to exist between him and herself; and finally, as she saw her +mother could bear it, she told the whole story of her father's life. +Slowly the sick woman's eyes closed, and Lenora saw that her eyelids +were wet with, tears, but as she made no reply, Lenora ere long +whispered, "Would you like to see him, mother?" + +"No, no; not now," was the answer. + +For a time there was silence, and then Lenora, again speaking, said, +"Mother, I have often been very wicked and disrespectful to you, and +if you should die, I should feel much happier knowing that you forgave +me. Will you do it, mother--say?" + +Mrs. Hamilton comprehended only the words, "if you should die," so she +said: "Die, die! who says that I must die? I shan't--I can't; for what +could I tell her about her children, and how could I live endless ages +without water? I tried it once, and I can't do it. No, I can't. I +won't!" + +In this way she talked all night; and though in the morning she was +more rational, she turned away from the clergyman, who at Lenora's +request had been sent for, saying: + +"It's of no use, no use, I know all you would say, but it's too late, +too late!" + +Thus she continued for three days, and at the close of the third it +became evident to all that she was dying, and Hester was immediately +sent to the hotel, with a request that the old porter would come +quickly. Half an hour after Lenora bent over her mother's pillow, and +whispered in her ear, "Mother, can you hear me?" + +A pressure of the hand was the reply, and Lenora continued: "You have +not said that you forgave me, and now before you die, will you not +tell me so?" + +There was another pressure of the hand, and Lenora again spoke: +"Mother, would you like to see him--my father? He is in the next +room." + +This roused the dying woman, and starting up, she exclaimed, "See John +Carter! No, child, no! He'd only curse me. Let him wait until I am +dead, and then I shall not hear it." + +In ten minutes more Lenora was sadly gazing upon the fixed, stony +features of the dead. A gray-haired man was at her side, and his lip +quivered, as he placed his hand upon the white, wrinkled brow of her +who had once been his wife. "She is fearfully changed," were his only +words, as he turned away from the bed of death. + +True to her promise, Margaret came to attend her stepmother's funeral. +Walter accompanied her, and shuddered as he looked on the face of one +who had so darkened his home, and embittered his life. Kate was not +there, and when, after the burial, Lenora asked Margaret for her, she +was told of a little "Carrie Lenora," who with pardonable pride +"Walter thought was the only baby of any consequence in the world. +Margaret was going on with a glowing description of the babe's many +beauties, when she was interrupted by Lenora, who laid her face in her +lap and burst into tears. + +"Why, Lenora, what is the matter?" asked Margaret. + +As soon as Lenora became calm, she answered, "_That name_, Maggie. You +have given my name to Walter Hamilton's child, and if you had hated me +you would never have done it." + +"Hated you!" repeated Margaret; "we do not hate you; now that we +understand you, we like you very much, and one of Kate's last +injunctions to Walter was that he should again offer you a home with +him." + +Once more Lenora was weeping. She had not shed a tear when they +carried from sight her mother, but words of kindness touched her +heart, and the fountain was opened. At last, drying her eyes, she +said, "I prefer to go with father. Walter will, of course, come back +to the homestead, while father and I shall return to our old home in +Connecticut, where, by being kind to him, I hope to atone, in a +measure, for my great unkindness to mother." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FINALE. + + +Through the open casement of a small, white cottage in the village of +P----, the rays of the September moon are stealing, disclosing to view +a gray-haired man, whose placid face still shows marks of long years +of dissipation. Affectionately he caresses the black, curly head which +is resting on his knee, and softly he says, "Lenora, my daughter, +there are, I trust, years of happiness in store for us both." + +"I hope it may be so," was the answer, "but there is no promise of +many days to any save those who honor their father and mother. This +last I have never done, though many, many times have I repented of it, +and I begin to be assured that we may be happy yet." + + * * * * * + +Away to the westward, over many miles of woodland, valley, and hill, +the same September moon shines upon the white walls of the +"homestead," where sits the owner, Walter Hamilton, gazing first upon +his wife and then upon the tiny treasure which lies sleeping upon her +lap. + +"We are very happy, Katy darling," he says, and the affection which +looks from her large blue eyes as she lifts them to his face is a +sufficient answer. Margaret, too, is there, and though but an hour +ago her tears were falling upon the grass-grown graves where slept her +father and mother, the gentle Carrie, and golden-haired Willie, they +are all gone now, and she responds to her brother's words, "Yes, +Walter, we are very happy." + + * * * * * + +In the basement below the candle is burned to its socket, and as the +last ray flickers up, illuminating for a moment the room, and then +leaving it in darkness, Aunt Polly Pepper starts from her evening nap, +and as if continuing her dream mutters "Yes this is pleasant and +something like living." + + * * * * * + +And so with the moonlight and starlight falling upon the old +homestead, and the sunlight of love falling upon the hearts of its +inmates, we bid them adieu. + + + + +RICE CORNER + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +RICE CORNER. + + +Yes, Rice Corner! Do you think it a queer name? Well, Rice Corner was +a queer place, and deserved a queer name. Now whether it is celebrated +for anything in particular, I really can't at this moment think, +unless, indeed, it is famed for having been my birthplace! Whether +this of itself is sufficient to immortalize a place future generations +may, perhaps, tell, but I have some misgivings whether the present +will. This idea may be the result of my having recently received +sundry knocks over the knuckles in the shape of criticisms. + +But I know one thing--on the bark of that old chestnut tree which +stands near Rice Corner schoolhouse, my name is cut higher than some +of my more bulky contemporary quill--or rather steel--pen-wielders +ever dared to climb. To be sure, I tore my dress, scratched my face, +and committed numerous other little rompish _miss_-demeanors, which +procured for me a motherly scolding. That, however, was of minor +consideration when compared with having my name up--in the chestnut +tree, at least, if it couldn't be up in the world. But pardon my +egotism, and I will proceed with my story about Rice Corner. + +Does any one wish to know whereabout on this rolling sphere Rice +Corner is situated? I don't believe you can find it on the map, +unless your eyes are bluer and bigger than mine, which last they can't +very well be. But I can tell you to a dot where Rice Corner should be. +Just take your atlas--not the last one published, but Olney's, that's +the one _I_ studied--and right in one of those little towns in +Worcester County is Rice Corner snugly nestled among the gray rocks +and blue hills of New England. + +Yes, Rice Corner was a great place, and so you would have thought +could you have seen it in all its phases, with its brown, red, green, +yellow, and white houses, each of which had the usual quantity of +rose-bushes, lilacs, hollyhocks, and sunflowers. You should have seen +my home, my New England home, where once, not many years ago, a happy +group of children played. Alas! alas! some of those who gave the +sunlight to that spot have left us now forever, and on the bright +shores of the eternal river they wait and watch our coming. I do not +expect a stranger to love our old homestead as I loved it, for in each +heart is a fresh, green spot--the memory of its own early home--where +the sunshine was brighter, the well waters cooler, and the song-bird's +carol sweeter than elsewhere they are found. + +I trust I shall be forgiven if in this chapter I pause awhile to speak +of my home--aye, and of myself, too, when, a light-hearted child, I +bounded through the meadows and orchards which lay around the old +brown house on my father's farm. 'Twas a large, square, two-storied +building, that old brown farmhouse, containing rooms, cupboards, and +closets innumerable, and what was better than all, a large airy +garret, where on all rainy days and days when it looked as if it would +rain, Bill, Joe, Lizzie, and I assembled to hold our noisy revels. +Never, since the days of our great-grandmothers, did little spinning +wheel buzz round faster than did the one which, in the darkest corner +of that garret, had been safely stowed away, where they guessed "the +young ones wouldn't find it." + +"Wouldn't find it!" I should like to know what there was in that old +garret that we didn't find, and appropriate, too! Even the old oaken +chest which contained our grandmother's once fashionable attire was +not sacred from the touch of our lawless hands. Into its deep recesses +we plunged, and brought out such curiosities--the queerest-looking, +high-crowned, broad-frilled caps, narrow-gored skirts, and what was +funnier than all, a strange-looking thing which we thought must be a +side saddle--anyway, it fitted Joe's rocking horse admirably, although +we wondered why so much whalebone was necessary! + +One day, in the midst of our gambols, in walked the identical owner of +the chest, and seeing the side-saddle, she said somewhat angrily, +"Why, children, where upon airth did you find my old stays?" We never +wondered again what made grandma's back keep its place so much better +than ours, and Bill had serious thoughts of trying the effect of the +stays upon himself. + +In the rear of our house, and sloping toward the setting sun, was a +long, winding lane, leading far down into a widespreading tract of +flowery woods, shady hillside, and grassy pasture land, each in their +turn highly suggestive of brown nuts, delicious strawberries, and +venomous snakes. These last were generally more the creatures of +imagination than of reality, for in all my wanderings over those +fields, and they were many, I never but once trod upon a green snake, +and only once was I chased by a white-ringed blacksnake; so I think I +am safe in saying that the snakes were not so numerous as were the +nuts and berries, which grew there in great profusion. + +A little to the right of the woods, where, in winter, Bill, Joe, +Lizzie, and I dragged our sleds and boards for the purpose of riding +down-hill, was a merry, frolicking stream of water, over which, in +times long gone, a sawmill had been erected; but owing to the +inefficiency of its former owner, or something else, the mill had +fallen into disuse, and gradually gone to decay. The water of the +brook, relieved from the necessity of turning the spluttering wheel, +now went gayly dancing down, down, into the depths of the dim old +woods, and far away, I never knew exactly where; but having heard +rumors of a jumping-off place, I had a vague impression that at that +spot the waters of the mill-dam put up! + +Near the sawmill, and partially hidden by the scraggy pine trees and +thick bushes which drooped over its entrance, was a long, dark +passage, leading underground, not so large, probably, as Mammoth Cave, +but in my estimation rivaling it in interest. This was an old mine, +where, years before, men had dug for gold. Strange stories were told +of those who, with blazing torches, and blazing noses, most likely, +there toiled for the yellow dust. The "Ancient Henry" himself, it was +said, sometimes left his affairs at home, and joined the nightly +revels in that mine, where cards and wine played a conspicuous part. +Be that as it may, the old mine was surrounded by a halo of fear which +we youngsters never cared to penetrate. + +On a fine afternoon an older sister would occasionally wander that +way, together with a young M.D., whose principal patient seemed to be +at our house, for his little black pony very frequently found shelter +in our stable by the side of "old sorrel." From the north garret +window I would watch them, wondering how they dared venture so near +the old mine, and wishing, mayhap, that the time would come when I, +with some daring doctor, would risk everything. The time _has come_, +but alas! instead of being a doctor, he is only a lawyer, who never +even saw the old mine in Rice Corner. + +Though I never ventured close to the old mine, there was not far from +it one pleasant spot where I loved dearly to go. It was on the +hillside, where, 'neath the shadow of a gracefully twining grapevine, +lay a large, flat rock. Thither would I often repair, and sit for +hours, listening to the hum of the running water brook, or the song +of the summer birds, who, like me, seemed to love that place. Often +would I gaze far off at the distant, misty horizon, wondering if I +should ever know what was beyond it. Wild fancies then filled my +childish brain. Strange voices whispered to me thoughts and ideas +which, if written down and carried out, would, I am sure, have placed +my name higher than it was carved on the old chestnut tree. + + "But they came and went like shadows, + Those blessed dreams of youth," + +I was a strange child, I know. Everybody told me so, and _I_ knew it +well enough without being told. The wise old men at Rice Corner, and +their still wiser old wives, looked at me askance, as 'neath the +thorn-apple tree I built my playhouse and baked my little loaves of +mud bread. But when, forgetful of others, I talked aloud to myriads of +little folks, unseen 'tis true, but still real to me, they shook their +gray heads ominously, and whispering to my mother said, "Mark our +words, that girl will one day be crazy. In ten years more she will be +an inmate of the madhouse!" + +And then I wondered what a madhouse was, and if the people there all +acted as our school-teacher did when Bill and the big girl said he was +mad! The ten years have passed, and I'm not in a madhouse yet, unless, +indeed, it is one of my own getting up! + +One thing more about Rice Corner, and then, honor bright, I'll finish +the preface and go on with the story. I must tell you about the old +schoolhouse, and the road which led to it. This last wound around a +long hill, and was skirted on either side with tall trees, flowering +dogwood, blackberry bushes, and frost grapevines. Half-way down the +hill, and under one of the tallest walnut trees, was a little hollow, +where dwelt the goblin with which nurses, housemaids, hired men, and +older sisters were wont to frighten refractory children into +quietness. It was the grave of an old negro. Alas! that to his last +resting-place the curse should follow him! Had it been a white person +who rested there, not half so fearful would have been the spot; now, +however, it was "the old nigger hole"--a place to run by if by +accident you were caught out after dark--a place to be threatened with +if you cried in the night and wanted the candle lighted--a landmark +where to stop when going part way home with the little girl who had +been to visit you, and who, on leaving you, ran no less swiftly than +you yourself did, half-fearing that the dusky form in the holly would +rise and try his skill at running. Verily, my heart has beat faster at +the thoughts of that dead negro than it ever has since at the sight of +a hundred live specimens, "'way down south on the old plantation." + +The old schoolhouse, too, had its advantages and its disadvantages; of +the latter, one was that there, both summer and winter, but more +especially during the last-mentioned season, all the rude boys in the +place thought they had a perfect right to congregate and annoy the +girls in every possible way. But never mind, not a few wry faces we +made at them, and not a few "blockheads" we pinned to their backs! Oh! +I've had rare times in that old house and have seen rare sights, too, +to say nothing of the fights which occasionally occurred. In these +last brother Joe generally took the lead of one party, while Jim Brown +commanded the other. Dire was the confusion which reigned at such +times. Books were hurled from side to side. Then followed in quick +succession shovel, tongs, poker, water cup, water pail, water and all; +and to cap the climax, Jim Brown once seized the large iron pan, which +stood upon the stove, half-filled with hot water, and hurled it in the +midst of the enemy. Luckily nobody was killed, and but few wounded. + +Years in their rapid flight have rolled away since then, and he, my +brother, is sleeping alone on the wild shore of California. + + "For scarcely had the sad tones died + Which echoed the farewell, + When o'er the western prairies + There came a funeral knell; + It said that he who went from us, + While yet upon his brow + The dew of youth was glistening, + Had passed to heaven now." + +James Brown, too, is resting in the churchyard, near his own home, and +'neath his own native sky. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BELLE OF RICE CORNER. + + +Yes, Rice Corner had a belle, but it was not I. Oh, no, nobody ever +mistook _me_ for a belle, or much of anything else, in fact; _I_ was +simply "Mary Jane," or, if that was not concise enough, "Crazy Jane" +set the matter all right. The belle of which I speak was a _bona fide_ +one--fine complexion, handsome features, beautiful eyes, curling hair, +and all. And yet in her composition there was something wanting, +something very essential, too; for she lacked soul, and would at any +time have sold her best friend for a flattering compliment. + +Still Carrie Howard was generally a favorite. The old people liked her +because her sparkling eye and merry laugh brought back to them a gleam +of youth; the young people liked her, because to dislike her would +seem like envy; and I, who was nothing, liked her because she was +pretty, and I greatly admired beauty, though I am not certain that I +should not have liked a handsome rosebud quite as well as I did Carrie +Howard's beautiful face, for beautiful she was. + +Her mother, good, plain Mrs. Howard, was entirely unlike her daughter. +She was simply "Mrs. Captain Howard," or, in other words, "Aunt +Eunice," whose benevolent smile and kindly beaming eye carried +contentment wherever she went. Really, I don't know how Rice Corner +could have existed one day without the presence of Aunt Eunice. Was +there a cut foot or hand in the neighborhood, hers was the salve which +healed it, almost as soon as applied. Was there a pale, fretful baby, +Aunt Eunice's large bundle of catnip was sure to soothe it, and did a +sick person need watchers, Aunt Eunice was the one who, three nights +out of the seven, trod softly and quietly about the sick-room, +anticipating each want before you yourself knew what it was, and +smoothing your tumbled pillow so gently that you almost felt it a +luxury to be sick, for the sake of being nursed by Aunt Eunice. The +very dogs and cats winked more composedly when she appeared; and even +the chickens learned her voice almost as soon as they did the cluck of +their "maternal ancestor." + +But we must stop, or we shall make Aunt Eunice out to be the belle, +instead of Carrie, who, instead of imitating her mother in her acts of +kindness, sat all day in the large old parlor, thumping away on a +rickety piano, or trying to transfer to broadcloth a poor little +kitty, whose face was sufficiently indicative of surprise at finding +its limbs so frightfully distorted. + +When Carrie was fifteen years of age her father, concluding that she +knew all which could possibly be learned in the little brown house +where Joe and Jim once fought so fiercely, sent her for three years to +Albany. It was currently reported that the uncle with whom she boarded +received his pay in butter, cheese, potatoes, apples, and other +commodities, which were the product of Captain Howard's farm. Whether +this was true or not I am not prepared to say, but I suppose it was, +for it was told by those who had no ostensible business except to +attend to other people's affairs, and I am sure they ought to have +known all about it, and probably did. + +I cannot help thinking that Captain Howard made a mistake in sending +Carrie away; for when at the end of three years she had "finished her +education," and returned home, she was not half so good a scholar as +some of those who had pored patiently over their books in the old +brown house. Even _I_ could beat her in spelling, for soon after she +came home the boys teased for a spelling school. I rather think they +were quite as anxious for a chance to go home with the girls as they +were to have their knowledge of Webster tested. Be that as it may, +Carrie was there, and was, of course, chosen first; but _I_, "little +crazy Jane," spelled the the whole school down! I thought Carrie was +not quite so handsome as she might be, when with an angry frown she +dropped into her seat, hissed by a big, cross-eyed, red-haired boy, in +the corner, because she _happened_ to spell pumpkin, "_p-u-n pun k-i-n +kin, punkin_." I do not think she ever quite forgave me for the pert, +loud way in which I spelled the word correctly, for she never gave any +more calicos or silks, and instead of calling me "Mollie," as she had +before done, she now addressed me as "Miss Mary." + +Carrie possessed one accomplishment which the other girls did not. She +could play the piano most skilfully, although as yet she had no +instrument. Three weeks, however, after her return a rich man, who +lived in the village which was known as "Over the River," failed, and +all his furniture was sold at auction. Many were the surmises of my +grandmother, on the morning of the sale, as to what "Cap'n Howard +could be going to buy at the _vandue_ and put in the big lumber +wagon," which he drove past our house. + +As the day drew to a close I was posted at the window to telegraph as +soon as "Cap'n Howard's" white horses appeared over the hill. They +came at last, but the long box in his wagon told no secret. Father, +however, explained all, by saying that he had bid off Mr. Talbott's +old piano for seventy dollars! Grandma shook her head mournfully at +the degeneracy of the age, while sister Anna spoke sneeringly of Mr. +Talbott's cracked piano. Next day, arrayed in my Sunday red merino and +white apron--a present from some cousin out West--I went to see +Carrie; and truly, the music she drew from that old piano charmed me +more than the finest performances since have done. Carrie and her +piano were now the theme of every tongue, and many wondered how +Captain Howard could afford to pay for three years' music lessons; but +this was a mystery yet to be solved. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MONSIEUR PENOYER. + + +When Carrie had been at home about three months all Rice Corner one +day flew to the doors and windows to look at a stranger, a gentleman +with fierce mustaches, who seemed not at all certain of his latitude, +and evidently wanted to know where he was going. At least, if _he_ +didn't, they who watched him did. + +Grandma, whose longevity had not impaired her guessing faculties, +first suggested that "most likely it was Caroline Howard's beau." This +was altogether too probable to be doubted, and as grandmother had long +contemplated a visit to Aunt Eunice, she now determined to go that +very afternoon, as she "could judge for herself what kind of a match +Car'line had made." Mother tried to dissuade her from going that day, +but the old lady was incorrigible, and directly after dinner, dressed +in her bombazine, black silk apron, work bag, knitting and all she +departed for Captain Howard's. + +They wouldn't confess it, but I knew well enough that Juliet and Anna +were impatient for her return, and when the shadows of twilight began +to fall I was twice sent into the road to see if she was coming. The +last time I was successful, and in a few moments grandmother was among +us; but whatever she knew she kept to herself until the lamps were +lighted in the sitting-room, and she, in her stuffed rocking-chair, +was toeing off the stocking only that morning commenced. Then, at a +hint from Anna, she cast toward Lizzie and me a rueful glance, saying: +"There are too many _pitchers_ here!" I knew then just as well as I +did five minutes after that Lizzie and I must go to bed. There was no +help for it, and we complied with a tolerably good grace. Lizzie +proposed that we should listen, but somehow I couldn't do that, and up +to this time I don't exactly know what grandmother told them. + +The next day, however, I heard enough to know that his name was +Penoyer; that grandma didn't like him; that he had as much hair on his +face as on his head; that Aunt Eunice would oppose the match, and that +he would stay over Sunday. With this last I was delighted, for I +should see him at church. I saw him before that, however; for it was +unaccountable what a fancy Carrie suddenly took for traversing the +woods and riding on horseback, for which purpose grandfather's +side-saddle (not the one with which Joe saddled his pony!) was +borrowed, and then, with her long curls and blue riding-skirt floating +in the wind, Carrie galloped over hills and through valleys, +accompanied by Penoyer, who was a fierce-looking fellow, with black +eyes, black hair, black whiskers, and black face. + +I couldn't help fancying that the negro who lay beneath the walnut +tree had resembled him, and I cried for fear Carrie might marry so +ugly a man, thinking it would not be altogether unlike, "Beauty and +the Beast." Sally, our housemaid, said that "most likely he'd prove to +be some poor, mean scamp. Anyway, seein' it was plantin' time, he'd +better be _to hum_ tendin' to his own business, if he had any." + +Sally was a shrewd, sharp-sighted girl, and already had her preference +in favor of Michael Welsh, father's hired man. Walking, riding on +horseback, and wasting time generally, Sally held in great abhorrence. +"All she wished to say to Mike on week days, she could tell him +milking time." On Sundays, however, it was different, and regularly +each Sunday night found Mike and Sally snugly ensconced in the "great +room," while under the windows occasionally might have been seen, +three or four curly heads, eager to hear something about which to +tease Sally during the week. + +But to return to Monsieur Penoyer, as Carrie called him. His stay was +prolonged beyond the Sabbath, and on Tuesday I was sent to Captain +Howard's on an errand. I found Aunt Eunice in the kitchen, her round, +rosy face, always suggestive of seed cake and plum pudding, flushed +with exertion, her sleeves tucked up and her arms buried in a large +wooden bowl of dough, which she said was going to be made into loaves +of 'lection cake, as Carrie was to have a party to-morrow, and I had +come just in time to carry invitations to my sisters. + +Carrie was in the parlor, and attracted by the sound of music, I drew +near the door, when Aunt Eunice kindly bade me enter. I did so, and +was presented to Monsieur Penoyer. At first I was shy of him, for I +remembered that Sally had said, "he don't know nothin'," and this in +my estimation was the worst crime of which he could be guilty. +Gradually my timidity gave way, and when, at Carrie's request, he +played and sang for me, I was perfectly delighted, although I +understood not a word he said. + +When he finished Carrie told him I was a little poet, and then +repeated some foolish lines I had once written about her eyes. It was +a very handsome set of teeth which he showed, as he said, +"_Magnifique! Tree bien!_ She be another grand _Dr. Wattts!_" + +I knew not who Dr. Watts was, but on one point my mind was made +up--Monsieur Penoyer knew a great deal! Ere I left Carrie commissioned +me to invite my sisters to her party on the morrow, and as I was +leaving the room Mr. Penoyer said, "_Ma chère,_ Carrie, why vous no +invite a petite girl!" + +Accordingly I was invited, with no earthly prospect, however, of +mother's letting me go. And she didn't either; so next day, after +Juliet and Anna were gone, I went out behind the smokehouse and cried +until I got sleepy, and a headache too; then, wishing to make mother +think I had _run away_, I crept carefully up-stairs to Bill's room, +where I slept until Sally's sharp eyes ferreted me out, saying, "they +were all scared to death about me, and had looked for me high and +low," up in the garret and down in the well, I supposed. Concluding +they were plagued enough, I condescended to go down-stairs, and have +my head bathed in camphor and my feet parboiled in hot water; then I +went to bed and dreamed of white teeth, curling mustaches and "_Parlez +vous Français_." + +Of what occurred at the party I will tell you as was told to me. All +the _élite_ of Rice Corner were there, of course, and as each new +arrival entered the parlor, M. Penoyer eyed them coolly through an +opera glass. Sister Anna returned his inspection with the worst face +she could well make up, for which I half-blamed her and half didn't, +as I felt sure I should have done the same under like circumstances. + +When all the invited guests had arrived except myself (alas, no one +asked why I tarried), there ensued an awkward silence, broken only by +the parrot-like chatter of M. Penoyer, who seemed determined to talk +nothing but French, although Carrie understood him but little better +than did the rest. At last he was posted up to the piano. + +"_Mon Dieu_, it be von horrid tone," said he; then off he dashed into +a galloping waltz, keeping time with his head, mouth, and eyes, which +threatened to leave their sockets and pounce upon the instrument. +Rattlety-bang went the piano--like lightning went monsieur's fingers, +first here, then there, right or wrong, hit or miss, and oftener miss +than hit--now alighting among the keys promiscuously, then with a +tremendous thump making all bound again--and finishing up with a +flourish, which snapped two strings and made all the rest groan in +sympathy, as did the astonished listeners. For a time all was still, +and then a little modest girl, Lily Gordon, her face blushing crimson, +said: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but haven't you taught music?" + +The veins in his forehead swelled, as, darting a wrathful look at poor +Lily, he exclaimed, "_Le Diabel!_ vat vous take me for? Von dem +musique teacher, eh?" + +Poor Lily tried to stammer her apologies, while Carrie sought to +soothe the enraged Frenchman by saying, that "Miss Gordon was merely +complimenting his skill in music." + +At this point the carriage which carried persons to and from the depot +drove up, and from it alighted a very small, genteel-looking lady, who +rapped at the door and asked, "if Captain Howard lived there." + +In a moment Carrie was half-stifling her with kisses, exclaiming, +"Dear Agnes, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not expect you so +soon." + +The lady called Agnes was introduced as Miss Hovey, a schoolmate of +Carrie's. She seemed very much disposed to make herself at home, for, +throwing her hat in one place and her shawl in another, she seated +herself at the piano, hastily running over a few notes; then with a +gesture of impatience, she said, "Oh, horrid! a few more such sounds +would give me the vapors for a month; why don't you have it tuned?" + +Ere Carrie could reply Agnes' eyes lighted upon Penoyer, who, either +with or without design, had drawn himself as closely into a corner as +he well could. Springing up, she brought her little hands together +with energy, exclaiming, "Now, Heaven defend me, what fresh game +brought you here?" Then casting on Carrie an angry glance, she said, +in a low tone, "What does it mean? Why didn't you tell me?" + +Carrie drew nearer, and said coaxingly, "I didn't expect you so soon; +but never mind, he leaves to-morrow. For my sake treat him decently." + +The pressure which Agnes gave Carrie's hand seemed to say, "For your +sake I will, but for no other." Then turning to Penoyer, who had risen +to his feet, she said, respectfully, "I hardly expected to meet you +here, sir." + +Her tone and manner had changed. Penoyer knew it, and with the +coolest effrontery imaginable he came forward, bowing and scraping, +and saying, "_Comment vous portez-vous, mademoiselle. Je suis +perfaitement_ delighted to see you," at the same time offering her his +hand. + +All saw with what hauteur she declined it, but only one, and that was +Anna, heard her as she said, "Keep off, Penoyer; don't make a donkey +of yourself." It was strange, Anna said, "how far into his boots +Penoyer tried to draw himself," while at each fresh flash of Agnes' +keen black eyes, he winced, either from fear or sympathy. + +The restraint which had surrounded the little company gave way beneath +the lively sallies and sparkling wit of Agnes, who, instead of seeming +amazed at the country girls, was apparently as much at ease as though +she had been entertaining a drawing-room full of polished city belles. +When at last the party broke up, each and every one was in love with +the little Albany lady, although all noticed that Carrie seemed +troubled, watching Agnes narrowly; and whenever she saw her +_tête-à-tête_ with either of her companions she would instantly draw +near, and seemed greatly relieved on finding that Penoyer was not the +subject of conversation. + +"I told you so," was grandmother's reply, when informed of all this. +"I told you so. I knew Car'line warn't going to make out no great." + +Juliet and Anna thought so too, but this did not prevent them from +running to the windows next morning to see Penoyer as he passed on his +way to the cars. I, who with Lizzie was tugging away at a big board +with which we thought to make a "see-saw," was honored with a graceful +wave of monsieur's hands, and the words, "_Au revoir, ma chère +Marie_." + +That day Phoebe, Aunt Eunice's hired girl, came to our house. +Immediately Juliet and Anna assailed her a multitude of questions. The +amount of knowledge obtained was that "Miss Hovey was a lady, and no +mistake, for she had sights of silks and jewelry, and she that morning +went with Phoebe to see her milk, although she didn't dare venture +inside the yard. But," added Phoebe, "for all she was up so early she +did not come out to breakfast until that gentleman was gone." + +This was fresh proof that Penoyer was not _comme il faut_, and Anna +expressed her determination to find out all about him ere Agnes went +home. _I_ remembered "_Dr. Watts_" and the invitation to the party, +and secretly hoped she would find out nothing bad. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +COUSIN EMMA. + + +Agnes had been in town about two weeks, when my home was one morning +thrown into a state of unusual excitement by the arrival of a letter +from Boston, containing the intelligence that Cousin Emma Rushton, who +had been an invalid for more than a year, was about to try the effect +of country life and country air. + +This piece of news operated differently upon different members of our +family. Juliet exclaimed, "Good, good; Carrie Howard won't hold her +head quite so high now, for we shall have a city lady, too." Anna was +delighted, because she would thus have an opportunity of acquiring +city manners and city fashions. Sally said snappishly, "There's enough +to wait on now, without having a stuck-up city flirt, faintin' at the +sight of a worm, and screechin' if a fly comes toward her." Mother had +some misgivings on the subject. She was perfectly willing Emma should +come, but she doubted our ability to entertain her, knowing that the +change would be great from a fashionable city home to a country +farmhouse. Grandmother, who loved to talk of "my daughter in the +city," was pleased, and to console mother, said: + +"Never you mind, Fanny, leave her to me; you find victuals and drink, +and I'll do the entertaining." + +Among so many opinions it was hard for me to arrive at a conclusion. +On the whole, however, I was glad, until told that during Cousin +Emma's stay our garret gambols must be given up, and that I must not +laugh loud, or scarcely speak above a whisper, for she was sick, and +it would hurt her head. Then I wished Cousin Emma and Cousin Emma's +head would stay where they belonged. + +The letter was received on Monday, but Emma would not come until +Thursday; so there was ample time for "fixing up." The parlor-chamber +was repapered, the carpet taken up and shaken, red and white curtains +hung at the windows, a fresh ball of Castile soap bought for the +washstand, and on Thursday morning our pretty flower beds were shorn +of their finest ornaments with which to make bouquets for the parlor +and parlor-chamber. Besides that, Sally had filled the pantry with +cakes, pies, gingerbread, and Dutch cheese, to the last of which I +fancied Emma's city taste would not take kindly. Then there was in the +cellar a barrel of fresh beer; so everything was done which could be +expected. + +When I went home for my dinner that day I teased hard to be allowed to +stay out of school for one afternoon, but mother said "No," although +she suffered me to wear my pink gingham, with sundry injunctions "not +to burst the hooks and eyes all off before night." This, by the way, +was my besetting sin; I never could climb a tree, no matter what the +size might be without invariably coming down minus at least six hooks +and eyes; but I seriously thought I should get over it when I got +older and joined the church. + +That afternoon seemed of interminable length, but at last I saw +father's carriage coming, and quick as thought I threw my grammar out +of the window; after which I demurely asked "to go out and get a book +which I had dropped." Permission was granted and I was out just in +time to courtesy straight down, as father pointing to me, said: +"There, that's our little crazy Mollie," and then I got a glimpse of a +remarkably sweet face, which made the tears come in my eyes, it was so +pale. + +Perhaps I wronged our school-teacher; I think I did, for she has since +died; but really I fancied she kept us longer that night on purpose. +At least, it was nearly five before we were dismissed. Then, with my +bonnet in hand, I ran for home, falling down once and bursting off the +lower hook! I entered the house with a bound, but was quieted by +grandmother, who said Emma was lying down, and I mustn't disturb her. + +After waiting some time for her to make her appearance, I stole softly +up the stairs and looked in where she was. She saw me, and instantly +rising, said with a smile that went to my heart: + +"And this must be Mary, the little crazy girl; come and kiss your +Cousin Emma." + +Twining my arms around her neck, I think I must have cried, for she +repeatedly asked me what was the matter, and as I could think of no +better answer, I at last told her "I didn't like to have folks call me +_crazy_. I couldn't help acting like _Sal Furbush_, the old crazy +woman, who threatened to toss us up in the umbrella." + +"Forgive me, darling," said Emma coaxingly; "I will not do it again;" +then stooping down, she looked intently into my eyes, soliloquizing, +"Yes, it is wrong to tell her so." + +In a few moments I concluded Emma was the most beautiful creature in +the world; I would not even except Carrie Howard. Emma's features were +perfectly regular, and her complexion white and pure as alabaster. Her +hair, which was a rich auburn, lay around her forehead in thick waves, +but her great beauty consisted in her lustrous blue eyes, which were +very large and dark. When she was pleased they laughed, and when she +was sad they were sad too. Her dress was a white muslin wrapper, +confined at the waist by a light blue ribbon, while one of the same +hue encircled her neck, and was fastened by a small gold pin, which, +with the exception of the costly diamond ring on her finger, was the +only ornament she wore. + +When supper was ready I proudly led her to the dining-room, casting a +look of triumph at Juliet and Anna, and feeling, it may be, a _trifle_ +above grandmother, who said, "Don't be troublesome, child." + +How grateful I was when Emma answered for me, "She doesn't trouble me +in the least; I am very fond of children." + +Indeed, she seemed to be very fond of everybody and everything--all +except Sally's Dutch cheese, which, as I expected, she hardly +relished. In less than three days she was beloved by all the +household, Billy whispering to me confidentially that "never before +had he seen any one except _mother_, whom he would like to marry." + +Saturday afternoon Carrie and Agnes called on Emma, and as I saw them +together I fancied I had never looked on three more charming faces. +They appeared mutually pleased with each other, too, although for some +reason there seemed to be more affinity between Emma and Agnes. Carrie +appeared thoughtful and absent-minded, which made Anna joke her about +her "lover, Penoyer." As she was about leaving the room she made no +reply, but after she was gone Agnes looked searchingly at Anna and +said: + +"Is it possible, Miss Anna, that you are so mistaken?" + +"How--why?" asked Emma. "Is Penoyer a bad man? What is his +occupation?" + +"His occupation is well enough," returned Agnes. "I would not think +less of him for that, were he right in other respects. However, he was +Carrie's and my own music teacher." + +"Impossible," said Anna, but at that moment Carrie reentered the room, +and, together with Agnes, soon took her leave. + +"Penoyer a music teacher, after all his anger at Lily Gordon for +suggesting such an idea!" This was now the theme of Juliet and Anna, +although they wondered what there was so _bad_ about him--something, +evidently, from Agnes' manner, and for many days they puzzled their +brains in vain to solve the mystery. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +RICHARD EVELYN AND HARLEY ASHMORE. + + +Emma had not long been with us ere her fame reached the little +"village over the river," and drew from thence many calls, both from +gentlemen and ladies. Among these was a Mr. Richard Evelyn and his +sister, both of whom had the honor of standing on the topmost round of +the aristocratic ladder in the village. Mr. Evelyn, who was nearly +thirty years of age, was a wealthy lawyer, and what is a little +remarkable for that craft (I speak from experience), to an unusual +degree of intelligence and polish of manners, he added many social and +_religious_ qualities. Many kind hearted mothers, who had on their +hands good-for-nothing daughters, wondered how he managed to live +without a wife, but he seemed to think it the easiest thing in nature, +for, since the death of his parents, his sister Susan had acted in the +capacity of his housekeeper. + +I have an idea that grandmother, whose disposition was slightly spiced +with a love for match-making, bethought herself how admirably Mr. +Evelyn and Emma were suited for each other; for after his calls became +frequent I heard her many times slyly hint of the possibility of our +being able to keep Emma in town always. _She_ probably did not think +so; for each time after being teased, she repaired to her room and +read for the twentieth time some ominous-looking letters which she had +received since being with as. + +It was now three weeks since she came, and each day she had gained in +health and strength. Twice had she walked to the woods, accompanied by +Mr. Evelyn, once to the schoolhouse, while every day she swung under +the old maple. About this time Agnes began to think of returning +home, so Juliet and Anna determined on a party in honor of her and +Emma. It was a bright summer afternoon; and for a wonder I was +suffered to remain from school, although I received numerous charges +to keep my tongue still, and was again reminded of that excellent old +proverb (the composition of some old maid, I know), "_Children_ should +be seen and not heard;" so, seated in a corner, my hand pressed +closely over my mouth, the better to guard against contingencies, I +looked on and thought, with ineffable satisfaction, how much handsomer +Cousin Emma was than any one else, although I could not help +acknowledging that Carrie never looked more beautiful than she did +that afternoon in a neatly-fitting white muslin, with a few rosebuds +nestling in her long, glossy curls. + +Matters were going on swimmingly, and I had three times ventured a +remark, when Anna, who was sitting near the window, exclaimed, "Look +here, girls, did you ever see a finer-looking gentleman?" at the same +time calling their attention to a stranger in the street. Emma looked, +too, and the bright flush which suffused her cheek made me associate +the gentleman with the letters she had received, and I was not +surprised when he entered our yard and knocked at our door. Juliet +arose to answer his summons, but Emma prevented her, saying; + +"Suffer me to go, will you?" + +She was gone some time, and when she returned was accompanied by the +stranger, whom she introduced as Mr. Ashmore. I surveyed him with +childish curiosity, and drew two very satisfactory breaths when I saw +that he was wholly unlike Monsieur Penoyer. He was a very fine-looking +man, but I did not exactly like the expression of his face. It was +hardly open enough to suit me, and I noticed that he never looked you +directly in the eye. In five minutes I had come to the conclusion that +he was not half so good a man as Mr. Evelyn. I was in great danger, +however, of changing my mind, when I saw how fondly his dark eye +rested on Emma, and how delighted he seemed to be at her improved +health; and when he, without any apparent exertion, kept the whole +company entertained, I was charmed, and did not blame Emma for liking +him. Anna's doctor was nothing to him, and I even fancied that he +would dare to go _all alone_ to the old mine! + +Suddenly he faced about, and espying me in the corner, he said, "Here +is a little lady I've not seen. Will some one introduce me?" + +With the utmost gravity Anna said, "It is my sister, little crazy +Jane." + +I glanced quickly at him to see how he would receive the intelligence, +and when, looking inquiringly first at me and then at Emma, he said, +"Is it really so? what a pity!" the die was cast--I never liked him +again. That night in my little low bed, long after Lizzie was asleep, +I wept bitterly, wondering what made Anna so unkind, and why people +called me crazy. I knew I looked like other children, and I thought I +acted like them, too; unless, indeed, I climbed more trees, tore more +dresses, and burst off more hooks. + +But to return to the party. After a time I thought that Mr. Ashmore's +eyes went over admiringly to Carrie more frequently than was +necessary, and for once I regretted that she was so pretty. Ere long, +Mr. Ashmore, too, went over, and immediately there ensued between +himself and Carrie a lively conversation, in which she adroitly +managed to let him know that she had been three years at school in +Albany. The next thing that I saw was that he took from her curls a +rosebud and appropriated it to his buttonhole. I glanced at Emma to +see how she was affected, but her face was perfectly calm, and wore +the old sweet smile. When the young ladies were about leaving, I was +greatly shocked to see Mr. Ashmore offer to accompany Carrie and Agnes +home. + +After they were gone grandmother said, "Emma, if I's you, I'd put a +stop to that chap's flirtin' so with Car'line Howard." + +Emma laughed gaily as she replied, "Oh, grandma, I can trust Harley; +I have been sick so long that he has the privilege of walking or +riding with anybody he pleases." + +Grandmother shook her head, saying, "It wasn't so with her and our +poor grandfather;" then I fell into a fit of musing as to whether +grandma was ever young, and if she ever fixed her hair before the +glass, as Anna did when she expected the doctor! In the midst of my +reverie Mr. Ashmore returned, and for the remainder of the evening +devoted himself so entirely to Emma that I forgave him for going home +with Carrie. Next day, however, he found the walk to Captain Howard's +a very convenient one, staying a long time, too. The next day it was +the same, and the next, and the next, until I fancied that even Emma +began to be anxious. + +Grandma was highly indignant, and Sally declared, "that, as true as +she lived and breathed, if Mike should serve her so, he'd catch it." +About this time Agnes went home. The evening before she left she spent +at our house with Emma, of whom she seemed to be very fond. Carrie and +Ashmore were, as usual, out riding or walking, and the conversation +naturally turned upon them. At last, Anna, whose curiosity was still +on the alert to know something of Penoyer, asked Agnes of him. I will +repeat, in substance, what Agnes said. + +It seems that for many years Penoyer had been a teacher of music in +Albany. Agnes was one of his pupils, and while teaching her music he +thought proper to fall overwhelmingly in love with her. This for a +time she did not notice; but when his attentions became so pointed as +to become a subject of remark, she very coolly tried to make him +understand his position. He persevered, however, until he became +exceedingly impudent and annoying. + +About this time there came well-authenticated stories of his being not +only a professed gambler, but also very dissipated in his habits. To +this last charge Agnes could testify, as his breath had frequently +betrayed him. He was accordingly dismissed. Still he perseveringly +pursued her, always managing, if possible, to get near her in all +public places, and troubling her in various ways. + +At last Agnes heard that he was showing among her acquaintances two +notes bearing her signature. The contents of these notes he covered +with his hand, exposing to view only her name. She had twice written, +requesting him to purchase some new piece of music, and it was these +messages which he was now showing, insinuating that Agnes thought +favorably of him, but was opposed by her father. The consequence of +this was, that the next time Agnes' brother met Penoyer in the street, +he gave him a sound caning, ordering him, under pain of a worse +flogging, never again to mention his sister's name. This he was +probably more willing to do, as he had already conceived a great +liking for Carrie, who was silly enough to be pleased with and suffer +his attentions. + +"I wonder, though, that Carrie allowed him to visit her," said Agnes; +"but then I believe she is under some obligations to him, and dare not +refuse when he asked permission to come." + +If Agnes knew what these obligations were she did not tell, and +grandmother, who, during the narration had knit with unwonted speed, +making her needles rattle again, said, "It's plain to me that Caroline +let him come to make folks think she had got a city beau." + +"Quite likely," returned Agnes; "Carrie is a sad flirt, but I think, +at least, that she should not interfere with other people's rights." + +Here my eye followed hers to Emma, who, I thought, was looking a +little paler. Just then Carrie and Ashmore came in, and the latter +throwing himself upon the sofa by the side of Emma, took her hand +caressingly, saying, "How are you to-night, my dear?" + +"Quite well," was her quiet reply, and soon after, under pretense of +moving from the window, she took a seat across the room. That night +Mr. Ashmore accompanied Carrie and Agnes home, and it was at a much +later hour than usual that old Rover first growled and then whined as +he recognized our visitor. + +The next morning Emma was suffering from a severe headache, which +prevented her from appearing at breakfast. Mr. Ashmore seemed somewhat +disturbed, and made many anxious inquiries about her. At dinner-time +she was well enough to come, and the extreme kindness of Mr. Ashmore's +manner called a deep glow to her cheek. After dinner, however, he +departed for a walk, taking his accustomed road toward Captain +Howard's. + +When I returned from school he was still absent, and as Emma was quite +well, she asked me to accompany her to my favorite resort, the old +rock beneath the grapevine. We were soon there, and for a long time we +sat watching the shadows as they came and went upon the bright green +grass, and listening to the music of the brook, which seemed to me to +sing more sadly than it was wont to do. + +Suddenly our ears were arrested by the sound of voices, which we knew +belonged to Mr. Ashmore and Carrie. They were standing near us, just +behind a clump of alders, and Carrie, in reply to something Mr. +Ashmore had said, answered, "Oh, you can't be in earnest, for you have +only known me ten days, and beside that, what have you done with your +pale, sick lady?" + +Instantly I started up, clinching my fist in imitation of brother +Billy when he was angry, but Cousin Emma's arm was thrown convulsively +around me, as drawing me closely to her side she whispered, "Keep +quiet." + +I did keep quiet, and listened while Mr. Ashmore replied, "I entertain +for Miss Rushton the highest esteem, for I know she possesses many +excellent qualities. Once I thought I loved her (how tightly Emma held +me), but she has been sick a long time, and somehow I cannot marry an +invalid. Whether she ever gets well is doubtful, and even if she +does, after having seen you, she can be nothing to me. And yet I like +her, and when I am alone with her I almost fancy I love her, but one +look at your sparkling, healthy face drives her from my mind--" + +The rest of what he said I could not hear, neither did I understand +Carrie's answer, but his next words were distinct, "My dear Carrie +forever." + +I know the brook stopped running, or at least I did not hear it. The +sun went down; the birds went to rest; Mr. Ashmore and Carrie went +home; and still I sat there by the side of Emma, who had lain her head +in my lap, and was so still and motionless that the dread fear came +over me that she might be dead. I attempted to lift her up, saying, +"Cousin Emma, speak to me, won't you?" but she made me no answer, and +another ten minutes went by. By this time the stars had come out and +were looking quietly down upon us. The waters of the mill-dam chanted +mournfully, and in my disordered imagination, fantastic images danced +before the entrance of the old mine. Half-crying with fear, I again +laid my hand on Emma's head. Her hair was wet with the heavy night +dews, and my eyes were wet with something else, as I said, "Oh, Emma, +speak to me, for I am afraid and want to go home." + +This roused her, and lifting up her head I caught a glimpse of a face +of so startling whiteness that, throwing my arms around her neck, I +cried, "Oh, Emma, dear Emma, don't look so. I love you a great deal +better than I do Carrie Howard, and so I am sure does Mr. Evelyn." + +I don't know how I chanced to think of Mr. Evelyn, but he recurred to +me naturally enough. All thoughts of him, however, were soon driven +from my mind by the sound of Emma's voice as she said, "Mollie, +darling, can you keep a secret?" + +I didn't think I could, as I never had been intrusted with one, so I +advised her to give it to Anna, who was very fond of them. But she +said, "I am sure you can do it, Mollie. Promise me that you will not +tell them at home what you have seen or heard." + +I promised, and then in my joy at owning a secret, I forgot the little +figures which waltzed back and forth before the old mine, I forgot the +woods through which we passed, nor was the silence broken until we +reached the lane. Then I said, "What shall we tell the folks when they +ask where we have been?" + +"Leave that to me," answered Emma. + +As we drew near the house we met grandmother, Juliet, Anna and Sally, +all armed and equipped for a general hunt. We were immediately +assailed with a score of questions as to what had kept us so long. I +looked to Emma for the answer, at the same time keeping my hand +tightly over my mouth for fear I should tell. + +"We found more things of interest than we expected," said Emma, +"consequently tarried longer than we should otherwise have done." + +"Why, how hoarse you be," said grandmother, while Sally continued, +"Starlight is a mighty queer time to see things in." + +"Some things look better by starlight," answered Emma; "but we stayed +longer than we ought to, for I have got a severe headache and must go +immediately to bed." + +"Have some tea first," said grandmother. + +"And some strawberries and cream," repeated Sally; but Emma declined +both and went at once to her room. + +Mr. Ashmore did not come home until late that night, for I was awake +and heard him stumbling up-stairs in the dark. I remember, too, of +having experienced the very benevolent wish that he would break his +neck! As I expected, Emma did not make her appearance at the breakfast +table, but about ten she came down to the parlor and asked to see Mr. +Ashmore alone. Of what occurred during that interval I never knew, +except that at its close cousin looked very white, and Mr. Ashmore +very black, notwithstanding which he soon took his accustomed walk to +Captain Howard's. He was gone about three hours, and on his return +announced his intention of going to Boston in the afternoon train. No +one opposed him, for all were glad to have him go. + +Just before he left, grandmother, who knew all was not right, said to +him: "Young man, I wish you well; but mind what I say, you'll get your +pay yet for the capers you've cut here." + +"I beg your pardon, madam," he returned, with much more emphasis on +_madam_ than was at all necessary, "I beg your pardon, but I think she +has cut the capers; at least she dismissed me of her own accord." + +I thought of what I had heard, but 'twas a secret, so I kept it +safely, although I almost bit my tongue off in my zealous efforts. +After Ashmore was gone, Emma, who had taken a violent cold the evening +before, took her bed, and was slightly ill for nearly a week. Almost +every day Mr. Evelyn called to see how she was, always bringing her a +fresh bouquet of flowers. On Thursday, Carrie called, bringing Emma +some ice-cream which Aunt Eunice had made. She did not ask to see her, +but before she left she asked Anna if she did not wish to buy her old +piano. + +"What will you do without it?" asked Anna. + +"Oh," said Carrie, "I cannot use two. I have got a new one." + +The stocking dropped from grandmother's hand as she exclaimed: "What +is the world a-comin' to! Got two pianners! Where'd you get 'em?" + +"My new one was a present, and came from Boston," answered Carrie, +with the utmost _sang froid_. + +"You don't say Ashmore sent it to you! How much did it cost?" asked +grandma. + +"Mr. Ashmore wrote that it cost three hundred and fifty dollars," was +Carrie's reply. + +Grandmother was perfectly horror-stricken; but desirous of making +Carrie feel as comfortable as possible, she said, "S'posin somebody +should tell him about Penoyer?" + +For an instant Carrie turned pale, as she said quickly, "What does any +one know about him to tell?" + +"A great deal--more than you think they do--yes, a great deal," was +grandma's answer. + +After that Carrie came _very_ frequently to see us, always bringing +something nice for Emma _or grandma_! + +Meanwhile Mr. Evelyn's visits continued, and when at last Emma could +see him I was sure that she received him more kindly than she ever had +before. "That'll go yet," was grandma's prediction. But her scheming +was cut short by a letter from Emma's father, requesting her immediate +return. Mr. Evelyn, who found he had business which required his +presence in Worcester, was to accompany her thus far. It was a sad day +when she left us, for she was a universal favorite. Sally cried, I +cried, and Bill either cried or made believe, for he very +industriously wiped his eyes and nasal organ on his shirt sleeves: +besides that, things went on wrong side up generally. Grandma was +cross--Sally was cross--and the school-teacher was cross; the bucket +fell into the well, and the cows got into the corn. I got called up at +school and set with some hateful boys, one of whom amused himself by +pricking me with a pin, and when, in self-defense, I gave him a good +pinch, he actually yelled out: "She keeps a-pinchin' me!" On the +whole, 'twas a dreadful day, and when at night I threw myself +exhausted upon my little bed I cried myself to sleep, thinking of +Cousin Emma and wishing she would come back. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MIKE AND SALLY. + + +I have spoken of Sally, but have said nothing of Mike, whom, of all my +father's hired men, I liked the best. He it was who made the best +cornstalk fiddles, and whittled out the shrillest whistles with which +to drive grandma "ravin' distracted." He, too, it was who, on cold +winter mornings, carried Lizzie to school in his arms, making me +forget how my fingers ached, by telling some exploit of _his_ +schooldays. + +I do not wonder that Sally liked him, and I always had an idea how +that liking would end, but did not think it would be so soon. +Consequently I suspected nothing when Sally's white dress was bleached +on the grass in the clothesyard for nearly a week. One day Billy came +to me with a face full of wonder, saying he had just overheard Mike +tell one of the men that he and Sally were going to be married in a +few weeks. + +I knew now what all that bleaching was for, and why Sally bought so +much cotton lace of pedlers. I was in ecstasies, too, for I had never +seen anyone married, but regretted the circumstance, whatever it might +have been, which prevented me from being present at mother's marriage. +Like many other children I have been deceived into the belief that the +marriage ceremony consisted mainly in leaping the broomstick, and by +myself I had frequently tried the experiment, delighted to find that I +could jump it at almost any distance from the ground; but I had some +misgivings as to Sally's ability to clear the stick, for she was +rather clumsy; however, I should see the fun, for they were to be +married at our house. + +A week before the time appointed mother was taken very ill, which +made it necessary that the wedding should be postponed, or take place +somewhere else. To the first Mike would not hear, and as good old +Parson S----, whose sermons were never more than two hours long, came +regularly every Sunday night to preach in the schoolhouse, Mike +proposed that they be married there. Sally did not like this exactly, +but grandmother, who now ruled the household, said it was just the +thing, and accordingly it took place there. + +The house was filled full, and those who could not obtain seats took +their station near the windows. Our party was early, but I was three +times compelled to relinquish my seat in favor of more distinguished +persons, and I began to think that if any one was obliged to go home +for want of room, it would be me; but I resolutely determined not to +go. I'd climb the chestnut tree first! At last I was squeezed on a +high desk between two old ladies, wearing two old black bonnets, their +breath sufficiently tinctured with tobacco smoke to be very +disagreeable to me, whose olfactories chanced to be rather +aristocratic than otherwise. + +To my horror Father S---- concluded to give us the sermon before he +did the bride. He was afraid some of his audience would leave. +Accordingly there ensued a prayer half an hour long, after which eight +verses of a long meter psalm were sung to the tune of Windham. By this +time I gave a slight sign to the two old ladies that I would like to +move, but they merely shook their two black bonnets at me, telling me, +in fierce whispers, that "I mustn't stir in meetin'." Mustn't stir! I +wonder how I could stir, squeezed in as I was, unless they chose to +let me. So I sat bolt upright, looking straight ahead at a point where +the tips of my red shoes were visible, for my feet were sticking +straight out. + +All at once my attention was drawn to a spider on the wall, who was +laying a net for a fly, and in watching his maneuvers I forgot the +lapse of time, until Father S---- had passed his sixthly and +seventhly, and was driving furiously away at the eighthly. By this +time the spider had caught the fly, whose cries sounded to me like +the waters of the sawmill; the tips of my red shoes looked like the +red berries which grew near the mine; the two old ladies at my side +were transformed into two tall black walnut trees, while I seemed to +be sliding down-hill. + +At this juncture, one of the old ladies moved away from me a foot at +least (she could have done so before had she chosen to), and I was +precipitated off from the bench, striking my head on the sharp corner +of a seat below. It was a dreadful blow which I received, making the +blood gush from my nostrils. My loud screams brought matters to a +focus, and the sermon to an end. My grandmother and one of the old +ladies took me and the water pail outdoors, where I was literally +deluged; at the same time they called me "Poor girl! Poor Mollie! +Little dear," etc. + +But while they were attending to my bumped head Mike and Sally were +married, and I didn't see it after all! 'Twas too bad! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BRIDE. + + +After Sally's marriage there occurred at our house an interval of +quiet, enlivened occasionally by letters from Cousin Emma, whose +health was not as much improved by her visit to the country as she had +at first hoped it would be; consequently she proposed spending the +winter south. Meantime, from Boston letters came frequently to Carrie +Howard, and as the autumn advanced, things within and about her +father's house foretold some unusual event. Two dressmakers were hired +from the village, and it was stated, on good authority, that among +Carrie's wardrobe was a white satin and an elegantly embroidered +merino traveling-dress. + +Numerous were the surmises of Juliet and Anna as to who and how many +would be invited to the wedding. All misgivings concerning themselves +were happily brought to an end a week before the time, for there came +to our house handsome cards of invitation for Juliet and Anna, and--I +could scarcely believe my eyes--there was one for me too. For this I +was indebted to Aunt Eunice, who had heard of and commiserated my +misfortunes at Sally's wedding. + +I was sorry that my invitation came so soon, for I had but little hope +that the time would ever come. It did, however, and so did Mr. Ashmore +and Agnes. As soon as dinner was over I commenced my toilet, although +the wedding was not to take place until eight that evening; but then I +believed, as I do now, in being ready in season. Oh, how slowly the +hours passed, and at last in perfect despair I watched my opportunity +to set the clock forward when no one saw me. For this purpose I put +the footstool in a chair, and mounting, was about to move the long +hand, when-- + +But I always was the most unfortunate of mortals, so it was no wonder +that at this point the chair slipped, the stool slipped, and I +slipped. I caught at the clock to save myself; consequently both clock +and I came to the floor with a terrible crash. My first thought was +for the hooks and eyes, which undoubtedly were scattered with the +fragments of the clock, but fortunately every hook was in its place, +and only one eye was straightened. I draw a veil over the scolding +which I got, and the numerous threats that I should stay at home. + +As the clock was broken we had no means for judging of the time, and +thus we were among the first who arrived at Captain Howard's. This +gave Juliet and Anna an opportunity of telling Agnes of my mishap. She +laughed heartily, and then immediately changing the subject she +inquired after Cousin Emma, and when we had heard from her. After +replying to these questions Anna asked Agnes about Penoyer, and when +she had seen him. + +"Don't mention it," said Agnes, "but I have a suspicion that he +stopped yesterday at the depot when I did. I may have been mistaken, +for I was looking after my baggage and only caught a glimpse of him. +If it were he his presence bodes no good." + +"Have you told Carrie?" asked Juliet. + +"No, I have not. She seems so nervous whenever he is mentioned," was +Agnes' reply. + +I thought of the obligations once referred to by Agnes, and felt that +I should breathe more freely when Carrie really was married. Other +guests now began to arrive, and we who had fixed long enough before +the looking-glass repaired to the parlor below. Bill, who saw Sally +married, had convinced me that the story of the broomstick was a +falsehood, so I was prepared for its absence, but I wondered then, not +more than I do now, why grown-up people shouldn't be whipped for +telling untruths to children as well as children for telling untruths +to grown-up people. + +The parlor was now rapidly filling, and I was in great danger of being +thrust into the corner, where I could see nothing, when Aunt Eunice +very benevolently drew me near her, saying I should see if no one else +did. At last Mr. Ashmore and Carrie came. Anna can tell you exactly +what she wore, but I cannot. I only know that she looked most +beautifully, though I have a vague recollection of fancying that in +the making of her dress the sleeves were forgotten entirely, and the +neck nearly so. + +The marriage ceremony commenced, and I listened breathlessly, but this +did not prevent me from hearing some one enter the house by the +kitchen door. Aunt Eunice heard it, too, and when the minister began +to say something about Mrs. Ashmore she arose and went out. Something +had just commenced, I think they called them congratulations, when the +crowd around the door began to huddle together in order to make room +for some person to enter. I looked up and saw Penoyer, his glittering +teeth now partially disclosed, looking a very little fiendish, I +thought. Carrie saw him, too, and instantly turned as white as the +satin dress she wore, while Agnes, who seemed to have some suspicion +of his errand, exclaimed, "Impudent scoundrel!" At the same time +advancing forward, she laid her hand upon his arm. + +He shook it off lightly, saying, "_Pardonnez moi, ma chère_; I've no +come to trouble you." Then turning to Ashmore he said, pointing to +Carrie, "She be your wife, I take it?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Ashmore haughtily. "Have you any objections? If so +they have come too late." + +"Not von, not in the least, no sar," said the Frenchman, bowing nearly +to the floor. "It give me one grand plaisir; so now you will please +settle von leetle bill I have against her;" at the same time he drew +from his pocket a sheet of half-worn paper. + +Carrie, who was leaning heavily against Mr. Ashmore instantly sprang +forward and endeavored to snatch the paper, saying half-imploringly, +"Don't, Penoyer, you know my father will pay it." + +But Penoyer passed it to Mr. Ashmore, while Captain Howard, coming +forward, said, "Pay what? What is all this about?" + +"Only a trifle," said Penoyer; "just a bill for giving your daughter +musique lessons three years in Albany." + +"You give my daughter music lessons?" demanded Captain Howard. + +"_Oui_, monsieur, I do that same thing," answered Penoyer. + +"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," said Captain Howard, in his surprise forgetting +the time and place, "why did you tell me that your knowledge of music +you acquired yourself, with the assistance of your cousin, and a +little help from her music teacher; and why, when this man was here a +few months ago, did you not tell me he was your music teacher and had +not been paid?" + +Bursting into tears Carrie answered, "Forgive me, father, but he said +he had no bill against me; he made no charge." + +"But she gave me von big, large mitten," said the Frenchman, "when she +see this man, who has more l'argent; but no difference, no difference, +sar, this gentleman," bowing toward Ashmore, "parfaitement delighted +to pay it." + +Whether he were delighted or not, he did pay it, for drawing from his +pocket his purse, while his large black eyes emitted gleams of fire, +he counted out the required amount, one hundred and twenty-five +dollars; then confronting Penoyer, he said fiercely, "Give me a +receipt for this instantly, after which I will take it upon me to show +you the door." + +"Certainement, certainement, all I want is my l'argent," said Penoyer. + +The money was paid, the receipt given, and then, as Penoyer hesitated +a moment, Ashmore said, "Are you waiting to be helped out, sir?" + +"No, monsieur, si vous plait, I have tree letters from madam, which +will give you one grande satisfaction to read." Then tossing toward +Ashmore the letters, with a malicious smile he left the house. + +Poor Carrie! When sure that he was gone she fainted away and was +carried from the room. At supper, however, she made her appearance, +and after that was over the guests, unopposed, left _en masse_. + +What effect Penoyer's disclosures had on Ashmore we never exactly +knew, but when, a few days before the young couple left home, they +called at our house, we all fancied that Carrie was looking more +thoughtful than usual, while a cloud seemed to be resting on Ashmore's +brow. The week following their marriage they left for New York, where +they were going to reside. During the winter Carrie wrote home +frequently, giving accounts of the many gay and fashionable parties +which she attended, and once in a letter to Anna she wrote, "The +flattering attentions which I receive have more than, once made +Ashmore jealous." + +Two years from the time they were married Mrs. Ashmore was brought +back to her home a pale, faded invalid, worn out by constant +dissipation and the care of a sickly baby, so poor and blue that even +I couldn't bear to touch it. Three days after their arrival Mr. Evelyn +brought to us his bride, Cousin Emma, blooming with health and beauty. +I could scarcely believe that the exceedingly beautiful Mrs. Evelyn +was the same white-faced girl who, two years before, had sat with me +beneath the old grapevine. + +The day after she came I went with her to visit Carrie, who, the +physicians said, was in a decline. I had not seen her before since her +return, and on entering the sick-room, I was as much surprised at her +haggard face, sunken eyes, and sallow skin, as was Mr. Ashmore at the +appearance of Emma. "Is it possible," said he, coming forward, "is it +possible, Emma--Mrs. Evelyn, that you have entirely recovered?" + +I remembered what he had once said about "invalid wives," and I feared +that the comparison he was evidently making would not be very +favorable toward Carrie. We afterward learned, however, that he was +the kindest of husbands, frequently walking half the night with his +crying baby, and at other times trying to soothe his nervous wife, who +was sometimes very irritable. + +Before we left Carrie drew Emma closely to her and said, "They tell me +I probably shall never get well, and now, while I have time, I wish to +ask your forgiveness for the great wrong I once did you." + +"How? When?" asked Emma quickly, and Carrie contined: + +"When first I saw him who is my husband, I determined to leave no +means untried to secure him for myself; I knew you were engaged, but I +fancied that your ill-health annoyed him, and played my part well. You +know how I succeeded, but I am sure you forgive me, for you love Mr. +Evelyn quite as well, perhaps better." + +"Yes, far better," was Emma's reply, as she kissed Carrie's wan cheek; +then bidding her good-by she promised to call frequently during her +stay in town. She kept her word, and was often accompanied by Mr. +Evelyn, who strove faithfully and successfully, too, to lead into the +path of peace her whose days were well-nigh ended. + +'Twas on one of those bright days in the Indian summer time that +Carrie at last slept the sleep that knows no awakening. The evening +after the burial I went in at Captain Howard's, and all the animosity +I had cherished for Mr. Ashmore vanished when I saw the large tear +drops as they fell on the face of his motherless babe, whose wailing +cries he endeavored in vain to hush. When the first snowflakes came +they fell on a little mound, where by the side of her mother Mr. +Ashmore had laid his baby, Emma. + + Side by side they are sleeping, + In the grave's dark, dreamless bed; + While the willow boughs seem weeping, + As they bend above the dead. + +And now, dear reader, after telling you that, yielding to the +importunities of Emma's parents, Mr. Evelyn at last moved to the city, +where, if I mistake not, he is still living, my story is finished. But +do not, I pray you, think that these few pages contain all that I know +of the olden time: + + Oh no, far down in memory's well + Exhaustless stores remain, + From which, perchance, some future day + I'll weave a tale again. + + + + +THE GILBERTS; OR, RICE CORNER NUMBER TWO. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GILBERTS. + + +The spring following Carrie Howard's death Rice Corner was thrown into +a commotion by the astounding fact that Captain Howard was going out +West, and had sold his farm to a gentleman from the city, whose wife +"kept six servants, wore silk all the time, never went inside of the +kitchen, never saw a churn, breakfasted at ten, dined at three, and +had supper the next day!" + +Such was the story which Mercy Jenkins detailed to us early one Monday +morning, and then, eager to communicate so desirable a piece of news +to others of her acquaintance, she started off, stopping for a moment +as she passed the wash-room to see if Sally's clothes "wan't kinder +dingy and yaller." As soon as she was gone the astonishment of our +household broke forth, grandma wondering why Captain Howard wanted to +go to the ends of the earth, as she designated Chicago, their place of +destination, and what she should do without Aunt Eunice, who, having +been born on grandma's wedding day, was very dear to her, and then her +age was so easy to keep. But the best of friends must part, and when +at Mrs. Howard's last tea-drinking with us I saw how badly they all +felt, and how many tears were shed, I firmly resolved never to like +anybody but my own folks, unless, indeed, I made an exception in favor +of Tom Jenkins, who so often drew me to school on his sled, and who +made such comical-looking jack-o'-lanterns out of the big yellow +pumpkins. + +In reply to the numerous questions concerning Mr. Gilbert, the +purchaser of their farm, Mrs. Howard could only reply that he was very +wealthy and had got tired of living in the city; adding, further, that +he wore a "monstrous pair of musquitoes," had an evil-looking eye, +four children, smoked cigars, and was a lawyer by profession. This +last was all grandma wanted to know about him--"that told the whole +story," for there never was but _one_ decent lawyer, and that was Mr. +Evelyn, Cousin Emma's husband. Dear old lady! when, a few years ago, +she heard that I, her favorite grandchild, was to marry one of the +craft, she made another exception in his favor, saying that "if he +wasn't all straight, Mary would soon make him so!" + +Within a short time after Aunt Eunice's visit she left Rice Corner, +and on the same day wagon-load after wagon-load of Mr. Gilbert's +furniture passed our house, until Sally declared "there was enough to +keep a tavern, and she didn't see nothin' where they's goin to put +it," at the same time announcing her intention of "running down there +after dinner, to see what was going on." + +It will be remembered that Sally was now a married woman--"Mrs. +Michael Welsh;" consequently, mother, who lived with her instead of +her living with mother, did not presume to interfere with her much, +though she hinted pretty strongly that she "always liked to see people +mind their own affairs." But Sally was incorrigible. The dinner dishes +were washed with a whew, I was coaxed into sweeping the back +room--which I did, leaving the dirt under the broom behind the +door--while Mrs. Welsh, donning a pink calico, blue shawl, and bonnet +trimmed with dark green, started off on her prying excursion, +stopping by the roadside where Mike was making fence, and keeping him, +as grandma said, "full half an hour by the clock from his work." + +Not long after Sally's departure a handsome carriage, drawn by two +fine bay horses, passed our house; and as the windows were down we +could plainly discern a pale, delicate-looking lady, wrapped in +shawls, a tall, stylish-looking girl, another one about my own age and +two beautiful little boys. + +"That's the Gilberts, I know," said Anna. "Oh I'm so glad Sally's +gone, for now we shall have the full particulars;" and again we waited +as impatiently for Sally's return as we had once done before for +grandma. + +At last, to our great relief, the green ribbons and blue shawl were +descried in the distance, and ere long Sally was with us, ejaculating, +"Oh, my--mercy me!" etc., thus giving us an inkling of what was to +follow. "Of all the sights that ever I have seen," said she, folding +up the blue shawl, and smoothing down the pink calico. "There's +carpeting enough to cover every crack and crevice--all pure bristles, +too!" + +Here I tittered, whereupon Sally angrily retorted, that "she guessed +she knew how to talk proper, if she hadn't studied grarmar." + +"Never mind," said Anna, "go on; brussels carpeting and what else?" + +"Mercy knows what else," answered Sally. "I can't begin to guess the +names of half the things. There's mahogany, rosewood, and marble +fixin's--and in Miss Gilbert's room there's lace curtains and silk +damson ones--" + +A look from Anna restrained me this time, and Sally continued. + +"Mercy Jenkins is there, helpin', and she says Mr. Gilbert told 'em, +his wife never et a piece of salt pork in her life, and knew no more +how bread was made than a child two years old." + +"What a simple critter she must be," said grandma, while Anna asked +if she saw Mrs. Gilbert, and if that tall girl was her daughter. + +"Yes, I seen her," answered Sally, "and I guess she's weakly, for the +minit she got into the house she lay down on the sofa, which Mr. +Gilbert says cost seventy-five dollars. That tall, proud-lookin' thing +they call Miss Adaline, but I'll warrant you don't catch me puttin' on +the miss. I called her Adaline, and you had orto seen how her big eyes +looked at me. Says she, at last, 'Are you one of pa's new servants?" + +"'Servants!' says I, 'no indeed; I'm Mrs. Michael Welsh, one of your +nighest neighbors.' + +"Then I told her that there were two nice girls lived in the house +with me, and she'd better get acquainted with 'em right away; and then +with the hatefulest of all hateful laughs, she asked if 'they wore +glass beads and went barefoot.'" + +I fancied that neither Juliet nor Anna were greatly pleased at being +introduced by Sally, the housemaid, to the elegant Adaline Gilbert, +who had come to the country with anything but a favorable impression +of its inhabitants. The second daughter, the one about my own age, +Sally said they called Nellie; "and a nice, clever creature she is, +too--not a bit stuck up like t'other one. Why, I do believe she'd +walked every big beam in the barn before she'd been there half an +hour, and the last I saw of her she was coaxing a cow to lie still +while she got upon her back!" + +How my heart warmed toward the romping Nellie, and how I wondered if +after that beam-walking exploit her hooks and eyes were all in their +places! The two little boys, Sally said, were twins, Edward and +Egbert, or, as they were familiarly called, Bert and Eddie. This was +nearly all she had learned, if we except the fact that the family ate +with silver forks, and drank wine after dinner. This last, mother +pronounced heterodox, while I, who dearly loved the juice of the grape +and sometimes left finger marks on the top shelf, whither I had +climbed for a sip from grandma's decanter, secretly hoped I should +some day dine with Nellie Gilbert, and drink all the wine I wanted, +thinking how many times I'd rinse my mouth so mother shouldn't smell +my breath! + +In the course of a few weeks the affairs of the Gilbert family were +pretty generally canvassed in Rice Corner, Mercy Jenkins giving it as +her opinion that "Miss Gilbert was much the likeliest of the two, and +that Mr. Gilbert was cross, overbearing, and big feeling." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +NELLIE. + + +As yet I had only seen Nellie in the distance, and was about +despairing of making her acquaintance when accident threw her in my +way. Directly opposite our house, and just across along green meadow, +was a piece of woods which belonged to Mr. Gilbert, and there, one +afternoon early in May, I saw Nellie. I had seen her there before, but +never dared approach her; and now I divided my time between watching +her and a dense black cloud which had appeared in the west, and was +fast approaching the zenith. I was just thinking how nice it would be +if the rain should drive her to our house for shelter, when patter, +patter came the large drops in my face; thicker and faster they fell, +until it seemed like a perfect deluge; and through the almost blinding +sheet of rain I descried Nellie coming toward me at a furious rate. +With the agility of a fawn she bounded over the gate, and with the +exclamation of, "Ain't I wetter than a drownded rat?" we were +perfectly well acquainted. + +It took but a short time to divest her of her dripping garments, and +array her in some of mine, which Sally said "fitted her to a T," +though I fancied she looked sadly out of place in my linen pantalets +and long-sleeved dress. She was a great lover of fun and frolic, and +in less than half an hour had "ridden to Boston" on Joe's +rocking-horse, turned the little wheel faster than even I dared to +turn it, tried on grandma's stays, and then, as a crowning feat, tried +the rather dangerous experiment of riding down the garret stairs on a +board! The clatter brought up grandma, and I felt some doubts about +her relishing a kind of play which savored so much of what she called +"a racket," but the soft brown eyes which looked at her so pleadingly +were too full of love, gentleness, and mischief to be resisted, and +permission for "one more ride" was given, "provided she'd promise not +to break her neck." + +Oh, what fun we had that afternoon! What a big rent she tore in my +gingham frock, and what a "dear, delightful old haunted castle of a +thing" she pronounced our house to be. Darling, darling Nellie! I shut +my eyes and she comes before me again, the same bright beautiful +creature she was when I saw her first, as she was when I saw her for +the last, last time. + +It rained until dark, and Nellie, who confidently expected to stay all +night, had whispered to me her intention of "tying our toes together," +when there came a tremendous rap upon the door, and without waiting to +be bidden in walked Mr. Gilbert, puffing and swelling, and making +himself perfectly at home, in a kind of offhand manner, which had in +it so much of condescension that I was disgusted, and when sure Nellie +would not see me I made at him a wry face, thereby feeling greatly +relieved! + +After managing to let mother know how expensive his family was, how +much he paid yearly for wines and cigars, and how much Adaline's +education and piano had cost, he arose to go, saying to his daughter, +"Come, puss, take off those--ahem--those habiliments, and let's be +off!" + +Nellie obeyed, and just before she was ready to start she asked, when +I would come and spend the day with her. + +I looked at mother, mother looked at Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gilbert looked +at me, and after surveying me from head to foot said, spitting between +every other word, "Ye-es ye-es, we've come to live in the country, and +I suppose" (here he spit three successive times), "and I suppose we +may as well be on friendly terms as any other; so, madam" (turning to +mother), "I am willing to have your little daughter visit us +ocasionally." Then adding that "he would extend the same invitation to +her were it not that his wife was an invalid and saw no company," he +departed. + +One morning, several days afterward, a servant brought to our house a +neat little note from Mrs. Gilbert, asking mother to let me spend the +day with Nellie. After some consultation between mother and grandma, +it was decided that I might go, and in less than an hour I was dressed +and on the road, my hair braided so tightly in my neck that the little +red bumps of flesh set up here and there, like currants on a brown +earthen platter. + +Nellie did not wait to receive me formally, but came running down the +road, telling me that Robin had made a swing in the barn, and that we +would play there most all day, as her mother was sick, and Adaline, +who occupied two-thirds of the house, wouldn't let us come near her. +This Adaline was to me a very formidable personage. Hitherto I had +only caught glimpses of her, as with long skirts and waving plumes she +sometimes dashed past our house on horseback, and it was with great +trepidation that I now followed Nellie into the parlor, where she told +me her sister was. + +"Adaline, this is my little friend," said she; and Adaline replied: + +"How do you do, little friend?" + +My cheeks tingled, and for the first time raising my eyes I found +myself face to face with the haughty belle. She was very tall and +queenlike in her figure, and though she could hardly be called +handsome, there was about her an air of elegance and refinement which +partially compensated for the absence of beauty. That she was proud +one could see from the glance of her large black eyes and the curl of +her lip. Coolly surveying me for a moment, as she would any other +curious specimen, she resumed her book, never speaking to me again, +except to ask, when she saw me gazing wonderingly around the +splendidly-furnished room, "if I supposed I could remember every +article of furniture, and give a faithful report." + +I thought I was insulted when she called me "little friend," and now, +feeling sure of it, I tartly replied that "if I couldn't she perhaps +might lend me paper and pencil, with which to write them down." + +"Orginally, truly," said she, again poring over her book. + +Nellie, who had left me for a moment, now returned, bidding me come +and see her mother, and passing through the long hall, I was soon in +Mrs. Gilbert's room, which was as tastefully, though perhaps not quite +so richly, furnished as the parlor. Mrs. Gilbert was lying upon a +sofa, and the moment I looked upon her the love which I had so freely +given the daughter was shared with the mother, in whose pale sweet +face, and soft brown eyes, I saw a strong resemblance to Nellie. She +was attired in a rose-colored morning-gown, which flowed open in +front, disclosing to view a larger quantity of rich French embroidery +than I had ever before seen. + +Many times during the day, and many times since, have I wondered what +made her marry, and if she really loved the bearish-looking man who +occasionally stalked into the room, smoking cigars and talking very +loudly, when he knew how her head was throbbing with pain. + +I had eaten but little breakfast that morning, and verily I thought I +should famish before their dinner hour arrived; and when at last it +came, and I saw the table glittering with silver, I felt many +misgivings as to my ability to acquit myself creditably. But by dint +of watching Nellie, doing just what she did, and refusing just what +she refused, I managed to get through with it tolerably well. For +once, too, in my life I drank all the wine I wanted; the result of +which was that long before sunset I went home, crying and vomiting +with the sick headache, which Sally said "served me right;" at the +same time hinting her belief that I was slightly intoxicated! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE HAUNTED HOUSE. + + +Down our long, green lane, and at the further extremity of the narrow +footpath which led to the "old mine," was another path or wagon road +which wound along among the fern bushes, under the chestnut trees, +across the hemlock swamp, and up, to a grassy ridge which overlooked a +small pond, said, of course, to have no bottom. Fully crediting this +story, and knowing, moreover, that China was opposite to us, I have +often taken down my atlas and hunted through that ancient empire, in +hopes of finding a corresponding sheet of water. Failing to do so I +had made one with my pencil, writing against it, "Cranberry Pond," +that being the name of its American brother. + +Just above the pond on the grassy ridge stood an old, dilapidated +building which had long borne the name of the "haunted house." I never +knew whether this title was given it on account of its proximity to +the "old mine," or because it stood near the very spot where, years +and years ago, the "bloody Indians" pushed those cart-loads of burning +hemp against the doors "of the only remaining house in Quaboag"--for +which see Goodrich's Child's History, page--, somewhere toward the +commencement. I only know that 'twas called the "haunted house," and +that for a long time no one would live there, on account of the +rapping, dancing, and cutting up generally which was said to prevail, +there particularly in the west room, the one overhung with ivy and +grapevines. + +Three or four years before our story opens a widow lady, Mrs. Hudson, +with her only daughter, Mabel, appeared in our neighborhood, hiring +the "haunted house," and, in spite of the neighbors' predictions to +the contrary, living there quietly and peaceably, unharmed by ghost or +goblin. At first Mrs. Hudson was looked upon with distrust, and even a +league with a certain old fellow was hinted at; but as she seemed to +be well disposed, kind, and affable toward all, this feeling gradually +wore away, and now she was universally liked, while Mabel, her +daughter, was a general favorite. For two years past, Mabel had worked +in the Fiskdale factory a portion of the time, going to school the +remainder of the year. She was fitting herself for a teacher, and as +the school in our district was small, the trustees had this summer +kindly offered it to her. This arrangement delighted me; for, next to +Nellie Gilbert, I loved Mabel Hudson best of anybody; and I fancied, +too, that they looked alike, but of course it was all fancy. + +Mrs. Hudson was a tailoress, and the day following my visit to Mr. +Gilbert's I was sent by mother to take her some work. I found her in +the little porch, her white cap-border falling over her placid face, +and her wide checked apron coming nearly to the bottom of her dress. +Mabel was there, too, and as she arose to receive me something about +her reminded me of Adaline Gilbert. I could not tell what it was, for +Mabel was very beautiful, and beside her Adaline would be plain; still +there was a resemblance, either in voice or manner, and this it was, +perhaps, which made me so soon mention the Gilberts and my visit to +them the day previous. + +Instantly Mrs. Hudson and Mabel exchanged glances, and I thought the +face of the former grew a shade paler; still I may have been mistaken, +for in her usual tone of voice she began to ask me numberless +questions concerning the family, which seemed singular, as she was not +remarkable for curiosity. But it suited me. I loved to talk then not +less than I do now, and in a few minutes I had told all I knew--and +more, too, most likely. + +At last Mrs. Hudson asked about Mr. Gilbert, and how I liked him. + +"Not a bit," said I. "He's the hatefulest, crossest, big-feelingest +man I ever saw, and Adaline is just like him!" + +Had I been a little older I might, perhaps, have wondered at the +crimson flush which my hasty words brought to Mrs. Hudson's cheek, but +I did not notice it then, and thinking she was, of course, highly +entertained, I continued to talk about Mr. Gilbert and Adaline, in the +last of whom Mabel seemed the most interested. Of Nellie I spoke with +the utmost affection, and when Mrs. Hudson expressed a wish to see +her, I promised, if possible, to bring her there; then as I had +already outstayed the time for which permission had been given, I tied +on my sunbonnet and started for home, revolving the ways and means by +which I should keep my promise. + +This proved to be a very easy matter; for within a few days Nellie +came to return my visit, and as mother had other company she the more +readily gave us permission to go where we pleased. Nellie had a +perfect passion for ghost and witch stories, saying though that "she +never liked to have them explained--she'd rather they'd be left in +solemn mystery;" so when I told her of the "old mine" and the "haunted +house" she immediately expressed a desire to see them. Hiding our +bonnets under our aprons the better to conceal our intentions from +sister Lizzie, who, we fancied, had serious thoughts of _tagging_, we +sent her up-stairs in quest of something which we knew was not there, +and then away we scampered down the green lane and across the pasture, +dropping once into some alders as Lizzie's yellow hair became visible +on the fence at the foot of the lane. Our consciences smote us a +little, but we kept still until she returned to the house; then, +continuing our way, we soon came in sight of the mine, which Nellie +determined to explore. + +It was in vain that I tried to dissuade her from the attempt. She was +resolved, and stationing myself at a safe distance I waited while she +scrambled over stones, sticks, logs, and bushes, until she finally +disappeared in the cave. Ere long, however, she returned with soiled +pantalets, torn apron, and scratched face, saying that "the mine was +nothing in the world but a hole in the ground, and a mighty little one +at that." After this I didn't know but I would sometime venture in, +but for fear of what might happen I concluded to choose a time when I +hadn't run away from Liz! + +When I presented Nellie to Mrs. Hudson she took both her hands in +hers, and, greatly to my surprise, kissed her on both cheeks. Then she +walked hastily into the next room, but not until I saw something fall +from her eyes, which I am sure were tears. + +"Funny, isn't it?" said Nellie, looking wonderingly at me. "I don't +know whether to laugh or what." + +Mabel now came in, and though she manifested no particular emotion, +she was exceedingly kind to Nellie, asking her many questions, and +sometimes smoothing her brown curls. When Mrs. Hudson again appeared +she was very calm, but I noticed that her eyes constantly rested upon +Nellie, who, with Mabel's gray kitten in her lap, was seated upon the +doorstep, the very image of childish innocence and beauty. Mrs. Hudson +urged us to stay to tea but I declined, knowing that there was company +at home, with three kinds of cake, besides cookies, for supper. So +bidding her good-by, and promising to come again, we started homeward, +where we found the ladies discussing their green tea and making large +inroads upon the three kinds of cake. + +One of them, a Mrs. Thompson, was gifted with the art of +fortune-telling, by means of tea-grounds, and when Nellie and I took +our seats at the table she kindly offered to see what was in store for +us. She had frequently told my fortune, each time managing to fish up +a freckle-faced boy so nearly resembling her grandson, my particular +aversion, that I didn't care to hear it again. But with Nellie 'twas +all new, and after a great whirling of tea-grounds and staining of +mother's best table-cloth, she passed her cup to Mrs. Thompson, +confidently whispering to me that she guessed she'd tell her something +about Willie Raymond, who lived in the city, and who gave her the +little cornelian ring which she wore. With the utmost gravity Mrs. +Thompson read off the past and present, and then peering far into the +future she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, my! there's a gulf, or something, +before you, and you are going to tumble into it headlong; don't ask me +anything more." + +I never did and never shall believe in fortune-telling, much less in +Granny Thompson's "turned-up cups," but years after I thought of her +prediction with regard to Nellie. Poor, poor Nellie! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JEALOUSY. + + +On the first Monday in June our school commenced, and long before +breakfast Lizzie and I were dressed and had turned inside out the +little cupboard over the fireplace where our books were kept during +vacation. Breakfast being over we deposited in our dinner-basket the +whole of a custard pie, and were about starting off when mother said +"we shouldn't go a step until half-past eight," adding further, that +"we must put that pie back, for 'twas one she'd saved for their own +dinner." + +Lizzie pouted, while I cried, and taking my bonnet I repaired to the +"great rock," where the sassafras, blackberries, and blacksnakes grew. +Here I sat for a long time, thinking if I ever did grow up and get +married (I was sure of the latter), I'd have all the custard pie I +could eat for once! In the midst of my reverie a footstep sounded +near, and looking up I saw before me Nellie Gilbert, with her satchel +of books on her arm, and her sunbonnet hanging down her back, after +the fashion in which I usually wore mine. In reply to my look of +inquiry she said her father had concluded to let her go to the +district school, though he didn't expect her to learn anything but +"slang terms and ill manners." + +By this time it was half-past eight, and together with Lizzie we +repaired to the schoolhouse, where we found assembled a dozen girls +and as many boys, among whom was Tom Jenkins. Tom was a great admirer +of beauty, and hence I could never account for the preference he had +hitherto shown for me, who my brothers called "bung-eyed" and Sally +"raw-boned." He, however, didn't think so. My eyes, he said, were none +too large, and many a night had he carried home my books for me, and +many a morning had he brought me nuts and raisins, to say nothing of +the time when I found in my desk a little note, which said--But +everybody who's been to school, knows what it said! + +Taking it all round we were as good as engaged; so you can judge what +my feelings were when, before the night of Nellie's first day at +school, I saw Tom Jenkins giving her an orange which I had every +reason to think was originally intended for me! I knew very well that +Nellie's brown curls and eyes had done the mischief; and though I did +not love her the less, I blamed him the more for his fickleness, for +only a week before he had praised my eyes, calling them a "beautiful +indigo blue," and all that. I was highly incensed, and when on our way +from school he tried to speak good-humoredly, I said, "I'd thank you +to let me alone! I don't like you, and never did!" + +He looked sorry for a minute, but soon forgot it all in talking to +Nellie, who after he had left us said "he was a cleverish kind of boy, +though he couldn't begin with William Raymond." After that I was very +cool toward Tom, who attached himself more and more to Nellie, saying +"she had the handsomest eyes he ever saw;" and, indeed, I think it +chiefly owing to those soft, brown, dreamy eyes that I am not now +"Mrs. Tom Jenkins of Jenkinsville," a place way out West, whither Tom +and his mother have migrated. + +One day Nellie was later at school than usual, giving as a reason that +their folks had company--a Mr. Sherwood and his mother, from Hartford; +and adding that if I'd never tell anybody as long as I lived and +breathed she'd tell me something. + +Of course I promised, and Nellie told me how she guessed that Mr. +Sherwood, who was rich and handsome, liked Adaline. "Anyway, Adaline +likes him," said she, "and oh, she's so nice and good when he's +around. I ain't 'Nell, you hateful thing' then, but I'm 'Sister +Nellie.' They are going to ride this morning, and perhaps they'll go +by here. There they are, now!" and looking toward the road I saw Mr. +Sherwood and Adaline Gilbert on horseback, riding leisurely past the +schoolhouse. She was nodding to Nellie, but he was looking intently at +Mabel, who was sitting near the window. I know he asked Adaline +something about her, for I distinctly heard a part of her reply--"a +poor factory girl," and Adaline's head tossed scornfully, as if that +were a sufficient reason why Mabel should be despised. + +Mr. Sherwood evidently did not think so, for the next day he walked by +alone--and the next day he did the same, this time bringing with him a +book, and seating himself in the shadow of a chestnut tree not far +from the schoolhouse. The moment school was out, he arose and came +forward, inquiring for Nellie, who, of course, introduced him to +Mabel. The three then walked on together, while Tom Jenkins stayed in +the rear with me, wondering what I wanted to act so for; "couldn't a +feller like more than one girl if he wanted to?" + +"Yes, I s'posed a feller could, though I didn't know, nor care!" + +Tom made no reply, but whittled away upon a bit of shingle, which +finally assumed the shape of a heart, and which I afterward found in +his desk with the letter "N" written upon it, and then scratched out. +When at last we reached our house Mr. Sherwood asked Nellie "where +that old mine and sawmill were, of which she had told him so much." + +"Right on Miss Hudson's way home," said Nellie. "Let's walk along with +her;" and the next moment Mr. Sherwood, Mabel, and Nellie were in the +long, green lane which led down to the sawmill. + +Oh, how Adaline stormed when she heard of it, and how sneeringly she +spoke to Mr. Sherwood of the "factory girl," insinuating that the +bloom on her cheek was paint, and the lily on her brow powder! But he +probably did not believe it, for almost every day he passed the +schoolhouse, generally managing to speak with Mabel; and once he went +all the way home with her, staying ever so long, too, for I watched +until 'twas pitch dark, and he hadn't got back yet! + +In a day or two he went home, and I thought no more about him, until +Tom, who had been to the post-office, brought Mabel a letter, which +made her turn red and white alternately, until at last she cried. She +was very absent-minded the remainder of that day, letting us do as we +pleased, and never in my life did I have a better time "carrying on" +than I did that afternoon when Mabel received her first letter from +Mr. Sherwood. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +NEW RELATIONS. + + +About six weeks after the close of Mabel's school we were one day +startled with the intelligence that she was going to be married, and +to Mr. Sherwood, too. He had become tired of the fashionable ladies of +his acquaintance, and when he saw how pure and artless Mabel was, he +immediately became interested in her; and at last, overcoming all +feelings of pride, he had offered her his hand, and had been accepted. +At first we could hardly credit the story; but when Mrs. Hudson +herself confirmed it we gave it up, and again I wondered if I should +be invited. All the nicest and best chestnuts which I could find, to +say nothing of the apples and butternuts, I carried to her, not +without my reward either, for when invitations came to us I was +included with the rest. Our family were the only invited guests, and I +felt no fears this time of being hidden by the crowd. + +Just before the ceremony commenced there was the sound of a heavy +footstep upon the outer porch, a loud knock at the door, and then into +the room came Mr. Gilbert! He seemed slightly agitated, but not +one-half so much as Mrs. Hudson, who exclaimed, "William, my son, why +are you here?" + +"I came to witness my sister's bridal," was the answer; and turning +toward the clergyman, he said, somewhat authoritatively, "Do not delay +for me, sir. Go on." + +There was a movement in the next room, and then the bridal party +entered, both starting with surprise as they saw Mr. Gilbert. Very +beautiful did Mabel look as she stood up to take upon herself the +marriage vow, not a syllable of which did one of us hear. We were +thinking of Mr. Gilbert, and the strange words, "my son" and "my +sister." + +When it was over, and Mabel was Mrs. Sherwood, Mr. Gilbert approached +Mrs. Hudson, saying, "Come, mother, let me lead you to the bride." + +With an impatient gesture she waved him off, and going alone to her +daughter, threw her arms around her neck, sobbing convulsively. There +was an awkward silence, and then Mr. Gilbert, thinking he was called +upon for an explanation, arose, and addressing himself mostly to Mr. +Sherwood, said, "I suppose what has transpired here to-night seems +rather strange, and will undoubtedly furnish the neighborhood with +gossip for more than a week, but they are welcome to canvass, whatever +I do. I can't help it if I was born with an unusual degree of pride, +neither can I help feeling mortified, as I many times did, at my +family, particularly after she," glancing at his mother, "married the +man whose name she bears." + +Here Mrs. Hudson lifted up her head, and coming to Mr. Gilbert's side, +stood proudly erect, while he continued: "She would tell you he was a +good man, but I hated him, and swore never to enter the house while he +lived. I went away, took care of myself, grew rich, married into one +of the first families in Hartford, and--and--" + +Here he paused, and his mother, continuing the sentence, added, "and +grew ashamed of your own mother, who many a time went without the +comforts of life that you might be educated. You were always a proud, +wayward boy, William, but never did I think you would do as you have +done. You have treated me with utter neglect, never allowing your wife +to see me, and when I once proposed visiting you in Hartford you asked +your brother, now dead, to dissuade me from it, if possible, for you +could not introduce me to your acquaintances as your mother. Never do +you speak of me to your children, who, if they know they have a +grandmother, little dream that she lives within a mile of their +father's dwelling. One of them I have seen, and my heart yearned +toward her as it did toward you when first I took you in my arms, my +first-born baby; and yet, William, I thank Heaven there is in her +sweet face no trace of her father's features. This may sound harsh, +unmotherly, but greatly have I been sinned against, and now, just as a +brighter day is dawning upon me, why have you come here? Say, William, +why?" + +By the time Mrs. Hudson had finished, nearly all in the room were +weeping. Mr. Gilbert, however, seemed perfectly indifferent, and with +the most provoking coolness replied, "I came to see my fair sister +married--to congratulate her upon an alliance which will bring us upon +a more equal footing." + +"You greatly mistake me, sir," said Mr. Sherwood, turning haughtily +toward Mr. Gilbert, at the same time drawing Mabel nearer to him; "you +greatly mistake me, if, after what I have heard, you think I would +wish for your acquaintance. If my wife, when poor and obscure, was not +worthy of your attention, _you_ certainly are not now worthy of hers, +and it is my request that our intercourse should end here." + +Mr. Gilbert muttered something about "extenuating circumstances," and +"the whole not being told," but no one paid him any attention; and at +last, snatching up his hat, he precipitately left the house, I sending +after him a hearty good riddance, and mentally hoping he would measure +his length in the ditch which he must pass on his way across Hemlock +Swamp. + +The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood departed on their bridal tour, +intending on their return to take their mother with them to the city. +Several times during their absence I saw Mr. Gilbert, either going to +or returning from the "haunted house," and I readily guessed he was +trying to talk his mother over, for nothing could be more mortifying +than to be cut by the Sherwoods, who were among the first in Hartford. + +Afterward, greatly to my satisfaction, I heard that though, +motherlike, Mrs. Hudson had forgiven her son, Mr. Sherwood ever +treated him with a cool haughtiness, which effectually kept him at a +distance. + +Once, indeed, at Mabel's earnest request, Mrs. Gilbert and Nellie were +invited to visit her, and as the former was too feeble to accomplish +the journey, Nellie went alone, staying a long time, and torturing her +sister on her return with a glowing account of the elegantly-furnished +house, of which Adaline had once hoped to be the proud mistress. + +For several years after Mabel's departure from Rice Corner nothing +especial occurred in the Gilbert family, except the marriage of +Adaline with a rich bachelor, who must have been many years older than +her father, for he colored his whiskers, wore false teeth and a wig, +besides having, as Nellie declared, a wooden leg! For the truth of +this last I will not vouch, as Nellie's assertion was only founded +upon the fact of her having once looked through the keyhole of his +door, and espied standing by his bed something which looked like a +cork leg, but which might have been a boot! What Adaline saw in him to +like I could never guess. I suppose, however, that she only looked at +his rich gilding, which covered a multitude of defects. + +Immediately after the wedding the happy pair started for a two-years' +tour in Europe, where the youthful bride so enraged her bald-headed +lord by flirting with a mustached Frenchman that in a fit of anger the +old man picked up his goods, chattels, and wife, and returned to New +York within three months of his leaving it! + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +POOR, POOR NELLIE. + + +And now, in the closing chapter of this brief sketch of the Gilberts, +I come to the saddest part--the fate of poor Nellie, the dearest +playmate my childhood ever knew, she whom the lapse of years ripened +into a graceful, beautiful girl, loved by everybody, even by Tom +Jenkins, whose boyish affection had grown with his growth and +strengthened with his strength. + +And now Nellie was the affianced bride of William Raymond, who had +replaced the little cornelian with the engagement ring. At last the +rumor reached Tom Jenkins, awaking him from the sweetest dream he had +ever known. He could not ask Nellie if it were true, so he came to me; +and when I saw how he grew pale and trembled, I felt that Nellie was +not altogether blameless. But he breathed no word of censure against +her; and when, a year or two afterward, I saw her given to William +Raymond, I knew that the love of two hearts was hers; the one to +cherish and watch over her, the other to love and worship, silently, +secretly, as a miser worships his hidden treasure. + + * * * * * + +The bridal was over. The farewells were over, and Nellie had +gone--gone from the home whose sunlight she had made, and which she +had left forever. Sadly the pale, sick mother wept, and mourned her +absence, listening in vain for the light footfall and soft, ringing +voice she would never hear again. + +Three weeks had passed away, and then, far and near the papers teemed +with accounts of the horrible Norwalk catastrophe, which desolated +many a home, and wrung from many a heart its choicest treasure. Side +by side they found them--Nellie and her husband--the light of her +brown eyes quenched forever, and the pulses of his heart still in +death! + +I was present when they told the poor invalid of her loss, and even +now I seem to hear the bitter, wailing cry which broke from her white +lips, as she begged them to unsay what they had said, and tell her +Nellie was not dead--that she would come back again. + +It could not be. Nellie would never return; and in six weeks' time the +broken-hearted mother was at rest with her child. + + + + +THE THANKSGIVING PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING. + + +"Oh, I do hope it will be pleasant to-morrow," said Lizzie Dayton, as +on the night before Thanksgiving she stood at the parlor window, +watching a dense mass of clouds, behind which the sun had lately gone +to his nightly rest. + +"I hope so, too," said Lucy, coming forward and joining her sister; +"but then it isn't likely it will be. There has been a big circle +around the moon these three nights, and besides that, I never knew it +fail to storm when I was particularly anxious that it should be +pleasant;" and the indignant beauty pouted very becomingly at the +insult so frequently offered by that most capricious of all things, +the weather. + +"Thee shouldn't talk so, Lucy," said Grandma Dayton, who was of Quaker +descent, at the same time holding up between herself and the window +the long stocking which she was knitting. "Doesn't thee know that when +thee is finding fault with the weather thee finds fault with Him who +made the weather?" + +"I do wish, grandma," answered Lucy, "that I could ever say anything +which did not furnish you with a text from which to preach me a +sermon." + +Grandma did not reply directly to this rather uncivil speech, but, +she continued: "I don't see how the weather will hurt thee, if it's +the party thee is thinking of, for Mr. Graham's is only ten rods or so +from here. + +"I'm not afraid I can't go," answered Lucy; "but you know as well as I +that if the wind blows enough to put out a candle, father is so +old-maidish as to think Lizzie and I must wear thick stockings and +dresses, and I shouldn't wonder if he insisted on flannel wrappers!" + +"Well," answered grandma, "I think myself it will be very imprudent +for Lizzie, in her present state of health, to expose her neck and +arms. Thy poor marm died with consumption when she wasn't much older +than thee is. Let me see--she was twenty-three the day she died, and +thee was twenty-two in Sep--" + +"For heaven's sake, grandmother," interrupted Lucy, "don't continually +remind me of my age, and tell me how much younger mother was when she +was married. I can't help it if I'm twenty-two, and not married or +engaged either. But I will be both before I am a year older." + +So saying, she quitted the apartment, and repaired to her own room. + +Ere we follow her thither we will introduce both her and her sister to +our readers. Lucy and Lizzie were the only children of Mr. Dayton, a +wealthy, intelligent, and naturally social man, the early death of +whose idolized, beautiful wife had thrown a deep gloom over his +spirits, which time could never entirely dispel. It was now seventeen +years since, a lonely, desolate widower, at the dusky twilight hour he +had drawn closely to his bosom his motherless children, and thought +that but for them he would gladly have lain down by her whose home was +now in heaven. His acquaintances spoke lightly of his grief, saying he +would soon get over it and marry again. They were mistaken, for he +remained single, his widowed mother supplying to his daughters the +place of their lost parent. + +In one thing was Mr. Dayton rather peculiar. Owing to the death of +his wife, he had always been in the habit of dictating to his +daughters in various small matters, such as dress, and so forth, about +which fathers seldom trouble themselves. And even now he seemed to +forget that they were children no longer, and often interfered in +their plans in a way exceedingly annoying to Lucy, the eldest of the +girls, who was now twenty-two and was as proud, selfish, and +self-willed as she was handsome and accomplished. Old maids she held +in great abhorrence, and her great object in life was to secure a +wealthy and distinguished husband. Hitherto she had been unsuccessful, +for the right one had not yet appeared. Now, however, a new star was +dawning on her horizon, in the person of Hugh St. Leon, of New +Orleans. His fame had preceded him, and half the village of S---- were +ready to do homage to the proud millionaire, who would make his first +appearance at the Thanksgiving party. This, then, was the reason why +Lucy felt so anxious to be becomingly dressed, for she had resolved +upon a conquest, and she felt sure of success. She knew she was +beautiful. Her companions told her so, her mirror told her so, and her +sweet sister Lizzie told her so more then twenty times a day. + +Lizzie was four years younger than her sister, and wholly unlike her, +both in personal appearance and disposition. She had from childhood +evinced a predisposition to the disease which had consigned her mother +to an early grave. On her fair, soft cheek the rose of health had +never bloomed, and in the light which shone from her clear hazel eye, +her fond father read but too clearly "passing away--passing away." + +If there was in Lucy Dayton's selfish nature any redeeming quality, it +was that she possessed for her frail young sister a love amounting +almost to adoration. Years before, she had trembled as she thought how +soon the time might come when for her sister's merry voice she would +listen in vain; but as month after month and year after year went by, +and still among them Lizzie stayed, Lucy forgot her fears, and +dreamed not that ere long one chair would be vacant--that Lizzie would +be gone. + +Although so much younger than her sister, Lizzie, for more than a +year, had been betrothed to Harry Graham, whom she had known from +childhood. Now, between herself and him the broad Atlantic rolled, nor +would he return until the coming autumn, when, with her father's +consent, Lizzie would be all his own. + + Alas! alas! ere autumn came + How many hearts were weeping + For her who 'neath the willow's shade + Lay sweetly, calmly sleeping. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THANKSGIVING DAY. + + +Slowly the feeble light of a stormy morning broke over the village of +S----. Lucy's fears had been verified, for Thanksgiving's dawn was +ushered in by a fierce, driving storm. Thickly from the blackened +clouds the feathery flakes had fallen until the earth far and near was +covered by a mass of white, untrodden snow. + +Lucy had been awake for a long time, listening to the sad song of the +wind, which swept howling by the casement. At length, with an +impatient frown at the snow which covered the window pane, she turned +on her pillow, and tried again to sleep. Her slumbers, however, were +soon disturbed by her sister, who arose, and putting aside the +curtain, looked out upon the storm, saying half-aloud, "Oh, I am +sorry, for Lucy will be disappointed." + +"I disappointed!" repeated Lucy; "now, Lizzie, why not own it, and say +you are as much provoked at the weather as I am, and wish this horrid +storm had stayed in the icy caves of Greenland?" + +"Because," answered Lizzie, "I really care but little about the party. +You know Harry will not be there, and besides that, the old, ugly pain +has come back to my side this morning;" and even as she spoke a low, +hacking cough fell on Lucy's ear like the echo of a distant knell. + +Lucy raised herself up, and leaning on her elbow looked earnestly at +her sister, and fancied ('twas not all fancy), that her cheeks had +grown thinner and her brow whiter within a few weeks. Lizzie proceeded +with her toilet, although she was twice obliged to stop on account of +"the ugly pain," as she called it. + +"Hurry, sister," said Lucy, "and you will feel better when you get to +the warm parlor." + +Lizzie thought so, too, and she accelerated her movements as much as +possible. Just as she was leaving the room Lucy detained her a moment +by passing her arm caressingly around her. Lizzie well knew that some +favor was wanted, and she said, "Well, what is it, Lucy? What do you +wish me to give you?" + +"Nothing, nothing," answered Lucy; "but do not say anything to father +about the pain in your side, for fear he will keep you at home, and, +worse than all, make me stay, too." + +Lizzie gave the required promise, and then descended to the breakfast +parlor, where she found her grandmother, and was soon joined by her +sister and father. After the usual salutation of the morning the +latter said "There is every prospect of our being alone to-day, for +the snow is at least a foot and a half deep, and is drifting every +moment." + +"But, father," said Lucy, "that will not prevent Lizzie and me from +going to the party to-night." + +"You mean, if I choose to let you go, of course," answered Mr. Dayton. + +"Why," quickly returned Lucy, "you cannot think of keeping us at home. +It is only distant a few rods, and we will wrap up well." + +"I have no objections to your going," replied Mr. Dayton, "provided +you dress suitably for such a night." + +"Oh, father," said Lucy, "you cannot be capricious enough to wish us +to be bundled up in bags." + +"I care but little what dress you wear," answered Mr. Dayton, "if it +has what I consider necessary appendages, viz., sleeves and waist." + +The tears glittered in Lucy's bright eyes as she said, "Our party +dresses are at Miss Carson's, and she is to send them home this +morning." + +"Wear them, then," answered Mr. Dayton, "provided they possess the +qualities I spoke of, for without those you cannot go out on such a +night as this will be." + +Lucy knew that her dress was minus the sleeves, and that her father +would consider the waist a mere apology for one, so she burst into +tears and said, rather angrily, "I had rather stay at home than go +rigged out as you would like to have me." + +"Very well; you can stay at home," was Mr. Dayton's quiet reply. + +In a few moments he left the room, and then Lucy's wrath burst forth +unrestrainedly. She called her father all sorts of names, such as "an +old granny--an old fidget," and finished up her list with what she +thought the most odious appellation of all, "an old maid." + +In the midst of her tirade the door bell rang. It was the boy from +Miss Carson's, and he brought the party dresses. Lucy's thoughts now +took another channel, and while admiring her beautiful embroidered +muslin and rich white satin skirt, she forgot that she could not wear +it. Grandma was certainly unfortunate in her choice of words, this +morning, for when Lucy for the twentieth time asked if her dress were +not a perfect beauty, the old Quakeress answered: + +"Why, it looks very decent, but it can do thee no good, for thy pa has +said thee cannot wear it; besides, the holy writ reads, 'Let your +adorning--'" + +Here Lucy stopped her ears, exclaiming, "I do believe, grandma, you +were manufactured from a chapter in the Bible, for you throw your holy +writ into my face on all occasions." + +The good lady adjusted her spectacles, and replied, "How thee talks! I +never thought of throwing my Bible at thee, Lucy!" + +Grandma had understood her literally. + +Nothing more was said of the party until dinner time, although there +was a determined look in Lucy's flashing eye, which puzzled Lizzie not +a little. Owing to the storm, Mr. Dayton's country cousins did not, as +was their usual custom, come into town to dine with him, and for this +Lucy was thankful, for she thought nothing could be more disagreeable +than to be compelled to sit all day and ask Cousin Peter how much his +fatting hogs weighed; or his wife, Elizabeth Betsey, how many teeth +the baby had got; or, worse than all the rest, if the old maid, Cousin +Berintha, were present, to be obliged to be asked at least three +times, whether it's twenty-four or twenty-five she'd be next +September, and on saying it was only twenty-three, have her word +disputed and the family Bible brought in question. Even then Miss +Berintha would demur, until she had taken the Bible to the window, and +squinted to see if the year had not been scratched out and rewritten! +Then closing the book with a profound sigh she would say, "I never, +now! it beats all how much older you look!" + +All these annoyances Lucy was spared on this day, for neither Cousin +Peter, Elizabeth Betsey, or Miss Berintha made their appearance. At +the dinner table Mr. Dayton remarked quietly to his daughters, "I +believe you have given up attending the party!" + +"Oh, no, father," said Lucy, "we are going, Lizzie and I." + +"And what about your dress?" asked Mr. Dayton. + +Lucy bit her lip as she replied, "Why, of course, we must dress to +suit you, or stay at home." + +Lizzie looked quickly at her sister, as if asking how long since she +had come to this conclusion; but Lucy's face was calm and unruffled, +betraying no secrets, although her tongue did when, after dinner, she +found herself alone with Lizzie in their dressing-room. A long +conversation followed, in which Lucy seemed trying to persuade Lizzie +to do something wrong. Possessed of the stronger mind, Lucy's +influence over her sister was great, and sometimes a bad one, but +never before had she proposed an open act of disobedience toward their +father, and Lizzie constantly replied, "No, no, Lucy, I can't do it; +besides, I really think I ought not to go, for that pain in my side is +no better." + +"Nonsense, Lizzie," said Lucy. "If you are going to be as whimsical +as Miss Berintha you had better begin at once to dose yourself with +burdock or catnip tea." Then, again recurring to the dress, she +continued, "Father did not say we must not wear them after we got +there. I shall take mine, anyway, and I wish you would do the same; +and then, if he ever knows it, he will not be as much displeased when +he finds that you, too, are guilty." + +After a time, Lizzie was persuaded, but her happiness for that day was +destroyed, and when at tea-time her father asked if she felt quite +well, she could scarcely keep from bursting into tears. Lucy, however, +came to her relief, and said she was feeling blue because Harry would +not be present! Just before the hour for the party Lucy descended to +the parlor, where her father was reading, in order, as she said, to +let him see whether her dress were fussy enough to suit him. He +approved her taste, and after asking if Lizzie, too, were dressed in +the same manner, resumed his paper. Ere long the covered sleigh stood +at the door, and in a few moments Lucy and Lizzie were in Anna +Graham's dressing-room, undergoing the process of a second toilet. + +Nothing could be more beautiful than was Lucy Dayton, after party +dress, bracelets, curls, and flowers had all been adjusted. She +probably thought so, too, for a smile of satisfaction curled her lip +as she saw the radiant vision reflected by the mirror. Her bright eye +flashed, and her heart swelled with pride as she thought, "Yes, +there's no help for it, I shall win him sure;" then turning to Anna +Graham, she asked, "Is that Mr. St. Leon to be here to-night?" + +"Yes, you know he is," answered Anna, "and I pity him, for I see you +are all equipped for an attack; but," continued she, glancing at +Lizzie, "were not little Lizzie's heart so hedged up by brother Hal, I +should say your chance was small." + +Lucy looked at her sister, and a chill struck her heart as she +observed a spasm of pain which for an instant contracted Lizzie's +fair, sweet face. Anna noticed it, too, and springing toward her, +said, "What is it, Lizzie? are you ill?" + +"No," answered Lizzie, laying her hand on her side; "nothing but a +sharp pain. It will soon be better;" but while she spoke her teeth +almost chattered with the cold. + +Oh, Lizzie, Lizzie! + +For a short time, now, we will leave the young ladies in Miss Graham's +dressing-room, and transport our readers to another part of the +village. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADA HARCOURT. + + +In a small and neat, but scantily furnished chamber, a poor widow was +preparing her only child, Ada, for the party. The plain, white muslin +dress of two years old had been washed and ironed so carefully that +Ada said it looked just as well as new; but then everything looked +well on Ada Harcourt, who was highly gifted, both with intellect and +beauty. After her dress was arranged she went to the table for her old +white gloves, the cleaning of which had cost her much trouble, for her +mother did not seem to be at all interested in them, so Ada did as +well as she could. As she was about to put them on her mother returned +from a drawer, into the recesses of which she had been diving, and +from which she brought a paper carefully folded. + +"Here, Ada," said she, "you need not wear those gloves; see here"--and +she held up a pair of handsome mitts, a fine linen handkerchief, and a +neat little gold pin. + +"Oh, mother, mother!" said Ada joyfully, "where did you get them?" + +"I know," answered Mrs. Harcourt, "and that is enough." + +After a moment's thought Ada knew, too. The little hoard of money her +mother had laid by for a warm winter shawl had been spent for her. +From Ada's lustrous blue eyes the tears were dropping as, twining her +arm around her mother's neck, she said, "Naughty, naughty mother!" but +there was a knock at the door. The sleigh which Anna Graham had +promised to send for Ada had come; so dashing away her tears, and +adjusting her new mitts and pin, she was soon warmly wrapped up, and +on her way to Mr. Graham's. + +"In the name of the people, who is that?" said Lucy Dayton, as Anna +Graham entered the dressing-room, accompanied by a bundle of something +securely shielded from the cold. + +The removal of the hood soon showed Lucy who it was, and with an +exclamation of surprise she turned inquiringly to a young lady who was +standing near. To her look the young lady replied, "A freak of Anna's, +I suppose. She thinks a great deal of those Harcourts." + +An impatient "pshaw!" burst from Lucy's lips, accompanied with the +words, "I wonder who she thinks wants to associate with that +plebeian!" + +The words, the look, and the tone caught Ada's eye and ear, and +instantly blighted her happiness. In the joy and surprise of receiving +an invitation to the party it had never occurred to her that she might +be slighted there, and she was not prepared for Lucy's unkind remark. +For an instant the tears moistened her long silken eyelashes, and a +deeper glow mantled her usually bright cheek; but this only increased +her beauty, which tended to increase Lucy's vexation. Lucy knew that +in her own circle there was none to dispute her claim; but she knew, +too, that in a low-roofed house, in the outskirts of the town, there +dwelt a poor sewing woman, whose only daughter was famed for her +wondrous beauty. Lucy had frequently seen Ada in the streets, but +never before had she met her, and she now determined to treat her with +the utmost disdain. + +Not so was Lizzie affected by the presence of "the plebeian." Mrs. +Harcourt had done plain sewing for her father, and Lizzie had +frequently called there for the work. In this way an acquaintance had +been commenced between herself and Ada which had ripened into +friendship. Lizzie, too, had heard the remark of her sister, and, +anxious to atone as far as possible for the unkindness, she went up to +Ada, expressed her pleasure at seeing her there, and then, as the +young ladies were about descending to the parlors, she offered her +arm, saying, "I will accompany you down, but, I have no doubt scores +of beaus will quickly take you off my hands." + +The parlors were nearly filled when our party reached them, and Ada +half-tremblingly clung to Lizzie's arm, while, with queen-like grace +and dignity, Lucy Dayton moved through the crowded drawing-room. Her +quick eye had scanned each gentleman, but her search was fruitless. +_He_ was not there, and during the next half-hour she listened rather +impatiently to the tide of flattery poured into her ear by some one of +her admirers. Suddenly there was a stir at the door, and Mr. St. Leon +was announced. He was a tall, fine-looking man, probably about +twenty-five years of age. The expression of his face was remarkably +pleasing, and such as would lead an entire stranger to trust him, sure +that his confidence would not be misplaced. His manners were highly +polished, and in his dignified, self-possessed bearing, there was +something which some called pride, but in all the wide world there was +not a more generous heart than that of Hugh St. Leon. + +Lucy for a moment watched him narrowly, and then her feelings became +perfectly calm, for she felt sure that now, for the first time, she +looked upon her future husband! Ere long Anna Graham approached, +accompanied by the gentleman, whom she introduced, and then turning, +left them alone. Lucy would have given almost anything to have known +whether St. Leon had requested an introduction, but no means of +information were at hand, so she bent all her energies to be as +agreeable as possible to the handsome stranger at her side, who each +moment seemed more and more pleased with her. + +Meantime, in another part of the room Lizzie and Ada were the center +of attraction. The same kindness which prompted Anna Graham to invite +Ada was careful to see that she did not feel neglected. For this +purpose Anna's brother, Charlie, a youth of sixteen, had been +instructed to pay her particular attention. This he was not unwilling +to do, for he knew no reason why she should not be treated politely, +even if she were a sewing woman's daughter. Others of the company, +observing how attentive Charlie and Lizzie were to the beautiful girl, +felt disposed to treat her graciously, so that to her the evening was +passing very happily. + +When St. Leon entered the room the hum of voices prevented Ada from +hearing his name; neither was she aware of his presence until he had +been full fifteen minutes conversing with Lucy. Then her attention was +directed toward him by Lizzie. For a moment Ada gazed as if +spellbound; then a dizziness crept over her, and she nervously grasped +the little plain gold ring which encircled the third finger of her +left hand! + +Turning to Lizzie, who, fortunately, had not noticed her agitation, +she said, "What did you say his name was?" + +"St. Leon, from New Orleans," replied Lizzie. + +"Then I'm not mistaken," Ada said inaudibly. + +At that moment Anna Graham approached, and whispered something to Ada, +who gave a startled look, saying, "Oh, no, Miss Anna; you would not +have me make myself ridiculous." + +"Certainly not," answered Anna; "neither will you do so, for some of +your songs you sing most beautifully. Do come; I wish to surprise my +friends." + +Ada consented rather unwillingly, and Anna led her toward the +music-room, followed by a dozen or more, all of whom wondered what a +sewing woman's daughter knew about music. On their way to the piano +they passed near St. Leon and Lucy, the former of whom started as his +eye fell upon Ada. + +"I did not think there was another such face in the world," said he, +apparently to himself; then turning to Lucy, he asked who that +beautiful girl was. + +"Which one?" asked Lucy; "there are many beauties here to-night." + +"I mean the one with the white muslin, and dark auburn curls," said +St. Leon. + +Lucy's brow darkened but she answered, "That? oh, that is Ada +Harcourt. Her mother is a poor sewing woman. I never met Ada before, +and cannot conceive how she came to be here; but then the Grahams are +peculiar in their notions, and I suppose it was a whim of Anna's." + +Without knowing it, St. Leon had advanced some steps toward the door +through which Ada had disappeared. Lucy followed him, vexed beyond +measure that the despised Ada Harcourt should even have attracted his +attention. + +"Is she as accomplished as handsome?" asked he. + +"Why, of course not," answered Lucy, with a forced laugh. "Poverty, +ignorance, and vulgarity go together, usually, I believe." + +St. Leon gave her a rapid, searching glance, in which disappointment +was mingled, but before he could reply there was the sound of music. +It was a sweet, bird-like voice which floated through the rooms, and +the song it sang was a favorite one of St. Leon's, who was +passionately fond of music. + +"Let us go nearer," said he to Lucy, who, nothing loath, accompanied +him, for she, too, was anxious to know who it was that thus chained +each listener into silence. + +St. Leon at length got a sight of the singer, and said with evident +pleasure, "Why, it's Miss Harcourt!" + +"Miss Harcourt! Ada Harcourt!" exclaimed Lucy. "Impossible! Why, her +mother daily toils for the bread they eat!" + +But if St. Leon heard her, he answered not. His senses were locked in +those strains of music which recalled memories of something, he +scarcely knew what, and Lucy found herself standing alone, her heart +swelling with anger toward Ada, who from that time was her hated +rival. The music ceased, but scores of voices were loud in their call +for another song; and again Ada sang, but this time there was in the +tones of her voice a thrilling power, for which those who listened +could not account. To Ada the atmosphere about her seemed charmed, +for though she never for a moment raised her eyes, she well knew who +it was that leaned upon the piano and looked intently upon her. Again +the song was finished, and then at St. Leon's request he was +introduced to the singer, who returned his salutation with perfect +self-possession, although her heart beat quickly, as she hoped, yet +half-feared, that that he would recognize her. But he did not, and as +they passed together into the next room he wondered much why the hand +which lay upon his arm trembled so violently, while Ada said to +herself, "'Tis not strange he doesn't know me by this name." Whether +St. Leon knew her or not, there seemed about her some strong +attraction, which kept him at her side the remainder of the evening, +greatly to Lucy Dayton's mortification and displeasure. + +"I'll be revenged on her yet," she muttered. "The upstart! I wonder +where she learned to play." + +This last sentence was said aloud; and Lizzie, who was standing near, +replied, "Her father was once wealthy and Ada had the best of +teachers. Since she has lived in S---- she has occasionally practised +on Anna's piano." + +"I think I'd keep a piano for paupers to play on," was Lucy's +contemptuous reply, uttered with no small degree of bitterness, for at +that moment St. Leon approached her with the object of her dislike +leaning upon his arm. + +Ada introduced Lizzie to St. Leon, who offered her his other arm, and +the three kept together until Lizzie, uttering a low, sharp cry of +pain leaned heavily as if for support against St. Leon. In an instant +Lucy was at her side; but to all her anxious inquiries Lizzie could +only reply, as she clasped her thin, white hand over her side, "The +pain--the pain--take me home." + +"Our sleigh has not yet come," said Lucy. "Oh, what shall we do?" + +"Mine is here, and at your command, Miss Dayton," said St. Leon. + +Lucy thanked him, and then proceeded to prepare Lizzie, who, chilled +through and through by the exposure of her chest and arms, had borne +the racking pain in her side as long as possible, and now lay upon the +sofa as helpless as an infant. When all was ready St. Leon lifted her +in his arms, and bearing her to the sleigh, stepped lightly in with +her, and took his seat. + +"It is hardly necessary for you to accompany us home," said Lucy, +overjoyed beyond measure, though, to find that he was going. + +"Allow me to be the judge," answered St. Leon, and other than that, +not a word was spoken until they reached Mr. Dayton's door. Then, +carefully carrying Lizzie into the house, he was about to leave, when +Lucy detained him to thank him for his kindness, adding that she hoped +to see him again. + +"Certainly, I shall call to-morrow," was his reply, as he sprang down +the steps, and entering his sleigh, was driven back to Mr. Graham's. + +He found the company about dispersing, and meeting Ada in the hall, +asked to accompany her home. Ada's pride for a moment hesitated, and +then she answered in the affirmative. When St. Leon had seated her in +his sleigh he turned back, on pretext of looking for something, but in +reality to ask Anna Graham where Ada lived, as he did not wish to +question her on the subject. + +When they were nearly home St. Leon said, "Miss Harcourt, have you +always lived in S----?" + +"We have lived here but two years," answered Ada; and St. Leon +continued: + +"I cannot rid myself of the impression that somewhere I have met you +before." + +"Indeed," said Ada, "when and where?" + +But his reply was prevented by the sleigh's stopping at Mrs. +Harcourt's door. As St. Leon bade Ada good night he whispered, "I +shall see you again." + +Ada made no answer, but going into the house where her mother was +waiting for her, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've seen +him!--he was there!--he brought me home!" + +"Seen whom?" asked Mrs. Harcourt, alarmed at her daughter's agitation. + +"Why, Hugh St. Leon!" replied Ada. + +"St. Leon in town!" repeated Mrs. Harcourt, her eye lighting up with +joy. + +'Twas only for a moment, however, for the remembrance of what she was +when she knew St. Leon, and what she now was, recurred to her, and she +said calmly, "I thought you had forgotten that childish fancy." + +"Forgotten!" said Ada bitterly; and then as she recalled the unkind +remark of Lucy Dayton she burst into a passionate fit of weeping. + +After a time Mrs. Harcourt succeeded in soothing her, and then drew +from her all the particulars of the party, St Leon and all. When Ada +had finished her mother kissed her fair cheek, saying, "I fancy St. +Leon thinks as much of little Ada now as he did six years ago;" but +Ada could not think so, though that night, in dreams, she was again +happy in her old home in the distant city, while at her side was St. +Leon, who even then was dreaming of a childish face which had haunted +him six long years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LUCY. + + +We left Lizzie lying upon the sofa, where St. Leon had laid her. After +he was gone Lucy proposed calling their father and sending for a +physician, but Lizzie objected, saying she should be better when she +got warm. During the remainder of that night Lucy sat by her sister's +bedside, while each cry of pain which came from Lizzie's lips fell +heavily upon her heart, for conscience accused her of being the cause +of all this suffering. At length the weary night watches were +finished, but the morning light showed more distinctly Lizzie's white +brow and burning cheeks. She had taken a severe cold, which had +settled upon her lungs, and now she was paying the penalty of her +first act of disobedience. + +Mr. Dayton had sent for the old family physician, who understood +Lizzie's constitution perfectly. He shook his head as he said, "How +came she by such a cold? Did she go to the party?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Dayton. + +"And not half-dressed, I'll warrant," said the gruff old doctor. + +Lucy turned pale as her father answered, quickly and truthfully as he +thought, "No, sir, she was properly dressed." + +Lizzie heard it, and though speaking was painful, she said, "Forgive +me, father, forgive me; I disobeyed you. I wore the dress you said I +must not wear!" + +An exclamation of surprise escaped Mr. Dayton, who, glancing at Lucy, +read in her guilty face what Lizzie generously would not betray. + +"Oh, Lucy, Lucy," said he, "how could you do so?" + +Lucy could only reply through her tears. She was sincerely sorry that +by her means Lizzie had been brought into danger; but when the doctor +said that by careful management she might soon be better, all feelings +of regret vanished, and she again began to think of St. Leon and his +promise to call. A look at herself in the mirror showed her that she +was looking pale and jaded, and she half-hoped he would not come. +However, as the day wore on she grew nervous as she thought he +possibly might be spending his time with the hated Ada. But he was +not, and at about four o'clock there was a ring at the door. From an +upper window Lucy saw St. Leon, and when Bridget came up for her, she +asked if the parlor was well darkened. + +"An' sure it's darker nor a pocket," said Bridget, "an' he couldn't +see a haporth was ye twice as sorry lookin'." + +So bathing her face in cologne, in order to force a glow, Lucy +descended to the parlor, which she found to be as dark as Bridget had +said it was. St. Leon received her very kindly, for the devotion she +had the night before shown for her sister had partially +counterbalanced the spitefulness he had observed in her manner when +speaking of Ada at the party. Notwithstanding Bridget's precautions, +he saw, too, that she was pale and spiritless, but he attributed it to +her anxiety for her sister, and this raised her in his estimation. +Lucy divined his thoughts, and in her efforts to appear amiable and +agreeable, a half-hour passed quickly away. At the end of that time +she unfortunately asked, in a very sneering tone, "how long since he +had seen the sewing girl?" + +"If you mean Miss Harcourt," said St. Leon coolly, "I've not seen her +since I left her last night at her mother's door." + +"You must have been in danger of upsetting if you attempted to turn +round in Mrs. Harcourt's spacious yard," was Lucy's next remark. + +"I did not attempt it," said St. Leon. "I carried Miss Ada in my arms +from the street to the door." + +The tone and manner were changed. Lucy knew it, and it exasperated +her to say something more, but she was prevented by St. Leon's rising +to go. As Lucy accompanied him to the door she asked how long he +intended to remain in S----. + +"I leave this evening, in the cars for New Haven," said he. + +"This evening?" repeated Lucy in a disappointed tone, "and will you +not return?" + +"Yes, if the business on which I go is successful," answered St. Leon. + +"A lady in question, perchance," remarked Lucy playfully. + +"You interpret the truth accurately," said St. Leon, and with a cold, +polite bow he was gone. + +"Why was he going to New Haven?" This was the thought which now +tortured Lucy. He had confessed that a lady was concerned in his +going, but who was she, and what was she to him? Anyway, there was a +comfort in knowing that Ada Harcourt had nothing to do with it! + +Mistaken Lucy! Ada Harcourt had everything to do with it! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +UNCLE ISRAEL. + + +The lamps were lighted in the cars, and on through the valley of the +Connecticut the New Haven train was speeding its way. In one corner of +the car sat St. Leon, closely wrapped in cloak and thoughts, the +latter of which occasionally suggested to him the possibility that his +was a "Tomfool's" errand; "but then," thought he, "no one will know it +if I fail, and if I do not, it is worth the trouble." + +When the train reached Hartford a number of passengers entered, all +bound for New Haven. Among them was a comical-looking, middle-aged +man, whom St. Leon instantly recognized as a person whom he had known +when in college in New Haven, and whom the students familiarly called +"Uncle Israel." The recognition was mutual, for Uncle Israel prided +himself on never forgetting a person he had once seen. In a few +moments St. Leon was overwhelming him with scores of questions, but +Uncle Israel was a genuine Yankee, and never felt happier than when +engaged in giving or guessing information. + +At length St. Leon asked, "Does Ada Linwood fulfil the promise of +beauty which she gave as a child?" + +"Ada who?" said Uncle Israel. + +"Linwood," repeated St. Leon, arguing from the jog in Uncle Israel's +memory that all was not right. + +"Do you mean the daughter of Harcourt Linwood, he that was said to be +so rich?" + +"The same," returned St. Leon. "Where are they?" + +Uncle Israel settled himself with the air of a man who has a long +story on hand, and intends to tell it at his leisure. Filling his +mouth with an enormous quid of tobacco, he commenced: "Better than +four years ago Linwood smashed up, smack and clean; lost everything he +had, and the rest had to be sold at vandue. But what was worse than +all, seein' he was a fine feller in the main, and I guess didn't mean +to fail, he took sick, and in about a month died." + +"And what became of his widow and orphan?" asked St. Leon eagerly. + +"Why, it wasn't nateral," said Uncle Israel, "that they should keep +the same company they did before, and they's too plaguy stuck up to +keep any other; so they moved out of town and supported themselves by +takin' in sewin' or ironin', I forgot which." + +"But where are they now?" asked St. Leon. + +Uncle Israel looked at him for a moment, and then replied, "The Lord +knows, I suppose, but Israel don't." + +"Did they suffer at all?" asked St. Leon. + +"Not as long as I stuck to them, but they sarved me real mean," +answered Uncle Israel. + +"In what way?" + +"Why, you see," said Uncle Israel, "I don't know why, but somehow I +never thought of matrimony till I got a glimpse of Ada at her father's +vandue. To be sure, I'd seen her before, but then she was mighty big +feelin', and I couldn't ha' touched her with a hoe-handle, but now +'twas different. I bought their house. I was rich and they was poor." + +Involuntarily St. Leon clinched his fist, as Uncle Israel continued: +"I seen to getting them a place in the country and then tended to 'em +generally for more than six months, when I one day hinted to Mrs. +Linwood that I would like to be her son-in-law. Christopher! how quick +her back was up, and she gave me to understand that I was lookin' too +high! 'Twas no go with Ada, and after awhile I proposed to the mother. +Then you ought to seen her! She didn't exactly turn me out o' door but +she coolly told me I wasn't wanted there. But I stuck to her and kept +kind o' offerin' myself, till at last they cut stick and cleared out, +and I couldn't find them, high nor low. I bunted for more than a year, +and at last found them in Hartford. Thinkin' maybe they had come to I +proposed again, and kept hangin' on till they gave me the slip again; +and now I don't know where they be, but I guess they've changed their +name." + +At this point the cars stopped until the upward train should pass +them, and St. Leon, rising, bade his companion good evening, saying, +"he had changed his mind and should return to Hartford on the other +train." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +EXPLANATION. + + +Six years prior to the commencement of our story New Haven boasted not +a better or wealthier citizen than Harcourt Linwood, of whose +subsequent failure and death we have heard from Uncle Israel. The +great beauty of his only child, Ada, then a girl of nearly thirteen, +was the subject of frequent comment among the circle in which he +moved. No pains were spared with her education, and many were the +conjectures as to what she would be when time had matured her mind and +beauty. + +Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans, then nineteen years of age, and a +student at Yale, had frequently met Ada at the house of his sister, +Mrs. Durant, whose eldest daughter, Jenny, was about her own age. The +uncommon beauty of the child greatly interested the young Southerner +and once, in speaking of his future prospects to his sister, he +playfully remarked, "Suppose I wait for Ada Linwood." + +"You cannot do better," was the reply, and the conversation +terminated. + +The next evening there was to be a child's party at the house of Mrs. +Durant, and as Hugh was leaving the house Jenny bounded after him, +saying, "Oh, Uncle Hugh, you'll come to-morrow night, won't you? No +matter if you are a grown-up man, in the junior class, trying to raise +some whiskers! You will be a sort of restraint, and keep us from +getting too rude. Besides, we are going to have tableaux, and I want +you to act the part of bridegroom in one of the scenes." + +"Who is to be the bride?" asked Hugh. + +"Ada Linwood. Now I know you'll come, won't you?" + +"I'll see," was Hugh's answer, as he walked away. + +Jenny well knew that "I'll see" meant "yes," and tying on her bonnet, +she hastened off to tell Ada that Uncle Hugh would be present, and +would act the part of bridegroom in the scene where she was to be +bride. + +"What! that big man?" said Ada. "How funny!" + +Before seven the next evening Mrs. Durant's parlors were filled, for +the guests were not old enough or fashionable enough to delay making +their appearance until morning. Hugh was the last to arrive, for which +Jenny scolded him soundly, saying they were all ready for tableaus. +"But come, now," said she, "and let me introduce you to the bride." + +In ten minutes more the curtain rose, and Hugh St. Leon appeared with +Ada on his arm, standing before a gentleman in clerical robes, who +seemed performing the marriage ceremony. Placing a ring on Ada's third +finger, St. Leon, when the whole was finished, took advantage of his +new relationship, and kissed the lips of the bride. Amid a storm of +applause the curtain dropped, and as he led the blushing Ada away he +bent down, and pointing to the ring, whispered, "Wear it until some +future day, when, by replacing it, I shall make you really my little +wife." + +The words were few and lightly spoken, but they touched the heart of +the young Ada, awakening within her thoughts and feelings of which she +never before had dreamed. Frequently, after that, she met St. Leon, +who sometimes teased her about being his wife; but when he saw how +painfully embarrassed she seemed on such occasions, he desisted. + +The next year he was graduated, and the same day on which he received +the highest honors of his class was long remembered with heartfelt +sorrow, for ere the city clocks tolled the hour of midnight he stood +with his orphaned niece, Jenny, weeping over the inanimate form of his +sister, Mrs. Durant, who had died suddenly in a fit of apoplexy. Mr. +Durant had been dead some years, and as Jenny had now no relatives in +New Haven, she accompanied her uncle to his Southern home. Long and +passionately she wept on Ada's bosom as she bade her farewell, +promising never to forget her, but to write her three pages of +foolscap every week. To do Jenny justice, we must say that this +promise was faithfully kept for a whole month, and then, with +thousands of its sisterhood, it disappeared into the vale of broken +promises and resolutions. + +She still wrote occasionally, and at the end of each epistle there was +always a long postscript from Hugh, which Ada prized almost as much as +she did Jenny's whole letter; and when at last matters changed, the +letter becoming Hugh's and the postscript Jenny's, she made no +objection, even if she felt any. At the time of her father's failure +and death, a long unanswered letter was lying in her portfolio, which +was entirely forgotten until weeks after, when, in the home which +Uncle Israel so _disinterestedly_ helped them to procure, she and her +mother were sewing for the food which they ate. Then a dozen times was +an answer commenced, blotted with tears, and finally destroyed, until +Ada, burying her face in her mother's lap, sobbed out, "Oh, mother, I +cannot do it. I cannot write to tell them how poor we are, for I +remember that Jenny was proud, and laughed at the schoolgirls whose +fathers were not rich." + +So the letter was never answered, and as St. Leon about that time +started on a tour through Europe, he knew nothing of their change of +circumstances. On his way home he had in Paris met with Harry Graham, +who had been his classmate, and who now won from him a promise that on +his return to America he would visit his parents, in S----. He did so, +and there, as we have seen, met with Ada Harcourt, whose face, voice, +and manner reminded him so strangely of the Ada he had known years +before, and whom he had never forgotten. + +As the reader will have supposed, the sewing-woman whose daughter +Lucy Dayton so heartily despised was none other than Mrs. Linwood, of +New Haven, who had taken her husband's first name in order to avoid +the persecutions of Uncle Israel. The day following the party St. Leon +spent in making inquiries concerning Mrs. Harcourt, and the +information thus obtained determined him to start at once for New +Haven, in order to ascertain if his suspicions are correct. + +The result of his journey we already know. Still he resolved not to +make himself known immediately, but to wait until he satisfied himself +that Ada was as good as beautiful. And then? + +A few more chapters will tell us what then. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A MANEUVER. + + +The gray twilight of a cold December afternoon was creeping over the +village of S----, when Ada Harcourt left her seat by the window, +where, the livelong day, she had sat stitching till her heart was sick +and her eyes were dim. On the faded calico lounge near the fire lay +Mrs. Harcourt, who for several days had been unable to work on account +of a severe cold which seemed to have settled in her face and eyes. + +"There," said Ada, as she brushed from her gingham apron the bits of +thread and shreds of cotton, "there, it is done at last, and now +before it is quite dark I will take it home." + +"No, not to-night," said Mrs. Harcourt; "to-morrow will do just as +well." + +"But, mother," answered Ada, "you know Mrs. Dayton always pays as soon +as the work is delivered, and what I have finished will come to two +dollars and a half, which will last a long time, and we shall not be +obliged to take any from the sum laid by to pay our rent; besides, you +have had nothing nourishing for a long time; so let me go, and on my +way home I will buy you something nice for supper." + +Mrs. Harcourt said no more, but the tears fell from her aching eyes as +she thought how hard her daughter was obliged to labor, now that she +was unable to assist her. In a moment Ada was in the street. The +little alley in which she lived was soon traversed, and she about +turning into Main Street, when rapid footsteps approached her, and St. +Leon appeared at her side, saying, "Good evening, Miss Harcourt; allow +me to relieve you of that bundle." + +And before she could prevent it he took from her hands the package, +while he continued, "May I ask how far you are walking to-night?" + +Ada hesitated a moment, but quickly forcing down her pride, she +answered, "Only as far as Mr. Dayton's. I am carrying home some work." + +"Indeed!" said he, "then I can have your company all the way, for I am +going to inquire after Lizzie." + +They soon reached their destination, and their ring at the door was +not, as usual, answered by Bridget but by Lucy herself, whose sweet +smile, as she greeted St. Leon, changed into an angry scowl when she +recognized his companion. + +"Ada Harcourt!" said she, and Ada, blushing scarlet, began: "I have +brought--" but she was interrupted by St. Leon, who handed Lucy the +bundle, saying: + +"Here is your work, Miss Dayton, and I hope it will suit you, for we +took a great deal of pains with it." + +Lucy tried to smile as she took the work, and then opening the parlor +door she with one hand motioned St. Leon to enter, while with the +other she held the hall door ajar, as if for Ada to depart. A tear +trembled on Ada's long eyelashes, as she timidly asked; + +"Can I see your grandmother?" + +"Mrs. Dayton, I presume you mean," said Lucy haughtily. + +Ada bowed and Lucy continued: "She is not at home just at present." + +"Perhaps, then, you can pay me for the work," said Ada. + +The scowl on Lucy's face grew darker as she replied, "I have nothing +to do with grandma's hired help. Come to-morrow and she will be here. +How horridly cold this open door makes the hall!" + +Ada thought of the empty cupboard at home, and of her pale, sick +mother. Love for her conquered all other feeling, and in a choking +voice she said, "Oh, Miss Dayton, if you will pay it you will confer a +great favor on me, for mother is sick, and we need it so much!" + +There was a movement in the parlor. St. Leon was approaching, and with +an impatient gesture Lucy opened the opposite door, saying to Ada, +"Come in here." + +The tone was so angry that, under any other circumstances, Ada would +have gone away. Now, however, she entered, and Lucy, taking out her +purse, said, "How much is the sum about which you make so much fuss?" + +"Two dollars and a half," answered Ada. + +"Two dollars and a half," repeated Lucy, and then, as a tear fell from +Ada's eye, she added contemptuously, "It is a small amount to cry +about." + +Ada made no reply, and was about leaving the room when Lucy detained +her, by saying, "Pray, did you ask Mr. St. Leon to accompany you here +and bring your bundle?" + +"Miss Dayton, you know better--you know I did not," answered Ada, as +the fire of insulted pride flashed from her dark blue eyes, which +became almost black, while her cheek grew pale as marble. + +Instantly Lucy's manner changed, and in a softened tone she said, "I +am glad to know that you did not; and now, as a friend, I warn you +against receiving any marks of favor from St. Leon." + +"What do you mean?" asked Ada, and Lucy continued: + +"You have sense enough to know that when a man of St. Leon's standing +shows any preference for a girl in your circumstances it can be from +no good design." + +"You judge him wrongfully--you do not know him," said Ada; and Lucy +answered: + +"Pray, where did you learn so much about him?" + +Ada only answered by rising to go. + +"Here, this way," said Lucy, and leading her through an enter passage +to the back door, she added, "I do it to save your good name. St. +Leon is undoubtedly waiting for you, and I would not trust my own +sister with him, were she a poor sewing girl!" + +The door was shut in Ada's face, and Lucy returned to the parlor, +where she found her father entertaining her visitor. Seating herself +on a crimson ottoman, she prepared to do the agreeable, when St. Leon, +rising, said, "Excuse my short call, for I must be going. Where have +you left Miss Harcourt?" + +"I left her at the door," answered Lucy, "and she is probably halfway +to 'Dirt Alley' by this time, so do not be in haste." + +But he was in haste, for when he looked on the fast-gathering darkness +without, and thought of the by streets and lonely alleys through which +Ada must pass on her way home, he felt uneasy, and biding Miss Dayton +good night, he hurried away. + +Meantime, Ada had procured the articles she wished for, and proceeded +home, with a heart which would have been light as a bird had not the +remembrance of Lucy's insulting language rung in her ears. Mrs. +Harcourt saw that all was not right, but she forbore making any +inquiries until supper was over. Then Ada, bringing a stool to her +mother's side, and laying her head on her lap, told everything which +had transpired between herself, St. Leon, and Lucy. + +Scarcely was her story finished when there was a rap at the door, and +St. Leon himself entered the room. He had failed in overtaking Ada, +and anxious to know of her safe return, had determined to call. The +recognition between himself and Mrs. Harcourt was mutual, but for +reasons of their own, neither chose to make it apparent, and Ada +introduced him to her mother as she would have done any stranger. St. +Leon possessed in an unusual degree the art of making himself +agreeable, and in the animated conversation which ensued Mrs. Harcourt +forgot that she was poor--forgot her aching eyes; while Ada forgot +everything save that St, Leon was present, and that she was again +listening to his voice, which charmed her now even more than in the +olden time. + +During the evening St. Leon managed in various ways to draw Ada out on +all the prominent topics of the day, and he felt pleased to find that +amid all her poverty she did not neglect the cultivation of her mind. +A part of each day was devoted to study, which Mrs. Harcourt, who was +a fine scholar, superintended. + +It was fast merging toward the hour when phantoms walk abroad ere St. +Leon remembered that he must go. As he was leaving he said to Ada, "I +have a niece, Jenny, about your age, whom I think you would like very +much." + +Oh, how Ada longed to ask for her old playmate, but a look from her +mother kept her silent, and in a moment St. Leon was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +COUSIN BERINTHA AND LUCY'S PARTY. + + +Cousin Berintha, whom Lucy Dayton so much disliked and dreaded, was a +cousin of Mr. Dayton, and was a prim, matter-of-fact maiden of fifty, +or thereabout. That she was still in a state of single blessedness was +partially her own fault, for at twenty she was engaged to the son of a +wealthy farmer who lived near her father. But, alas! ere the wedding +day arrived, there came to the neighborhood a young lady from Boston, +in whose presence the beauty of the country girl grew dim, as do the +stars in the rays of the morning sun. + +Berintha had a plain face, but a strong heart, and when she saw that +Amy Holbrook was preferred, with steady hand and unflinching nerve, +she wrote to her recreant lover that he was free. And now Amy, to whom +the false knight turned, took it into her capricious head that she +would not marry a farmer--she had always fancied a physician; and if +young B---- would win her, he must first secure the title of M.D. He +complied with her request, and one week from the day on which he +received his diploma Berintha read, with a slightly blanched cheek, +the notice of his marriage with the Boston beauty. Three years from +that day she read the announcement of Amy's death, and in two years +more she refused the doctor's offer to give her a home by his lonely +fireside, and a place in his widowed heart. All this had the effect of +making Berintha rather cross, but she seldom manifested her spite +toward any one except Lucy, whom she seemed to take peculiar delight +in teasing, and whose treatment of herself was not such as would +warrant much kindness in return. + +Lizzie she had always loved, and when Harry Graham went away it was +on Berintha's lap that the young girl sobbed out her grief, wondering, +when with her tears Berintha's were mingled, how one apparently so +cold and passionless could sympathize with her. To no one had Berintha +ever confided the story of her early love. Mr. Dayton was a schoolboy +then, and as but little was said of it at the time, it faded entirely +from memory; and when Lucy called her a "crabbed old maid," she knew +not of the disappointment which had clouded every joy and imbittered a +whole lifetime. + +At the first intelligence of Lizzie's illness Berintha came, and +though her prescriptions of every kind of herb tea in the known world +were rather numerous, and her doses of the same were rather large, and +though her stiff cap, sharp nose, and curious little eyes, which saw +everything, were exceedingly annoying to Lucy, she proved herself an +invaluable nurse, warming up old Dr. Benton's heart into a glow of +admiration of her wonderful skill! Hour after hour she sat by Lizzie, +bathing her burning brow, or smoothing her tumbled pillow. Night after +night she kept her tireless watch, treading softly around the +sick-room, and lowering her loud, harsh voice to a whisper, lest she +should disturb the uneasy slumbers of the sick girl, who, under her +skilful nursing, gradually grew better. + +"Was there ever such a dear, good cousin," said Lizzie, one day, when +a nervous headache had been coaxed away by what Berintha called her +"mesmeric passes;" and "Was there ever such a horrid bore," said Lucy, +on the same day, when Cousin Berintha "thought she saw a white hair in +Lucy's raven curls!" adding, by way of consolation, "It wouldn't be +anything strange, for I began to grow gray before I was as old as +you." + +"And that accounts tor your head being just the color of wool," +angrily retorted Lucy, little dreaming of the bitter tears and +sleepless nights which had early blanched her cousin's hair to its +present whiteness. + +For several winters Lucy had been in the habit of giving a large +party, and as she had heard that St. Leon was soon going South, she +felt anxious to have it take place ere he left town. But what should +she do with Berintha, who showed no indications of leaving, though +Lizzie was much better? + +"I declare," said she to herself, "that woman is enough to worry the +life out of me. I'll speak to Liz about it this very day." + +Accordingly, that afternoon, when alone with her sister, she said, +"Lizzie, is it absolutely necessary that Berintha should stay here any +longer, to tuck you up, and feed you sage tea through a straw?" + +Lizzie looked inquiringly at her sister, who continued: "To tell you +the truth, I'm tired of having her around, and must manage some way to +get rid of her before next week, for I mean to have a party Thursday +night." + +Lizzie's eyes now opened in astonishment, as she exclaimed, "A party! +oh, Lucy, wait until I get well." + +"You'll be able by that time to come down-stairs in your crimson +morning-gown, which becomes you so well," answered Lucy. + +"But father's away," rejoined Lizzie; to which Lucy replied: + +"So much the better, for now I shan't be obliged to ask any old +things. I told him I meant to have it while he was gone, for you know +he hates parties. But what shall I do with Berintha?" + +"Why, what possible harm can she do?" asked Lizzie. "She would enjoy +it very much, I know; for in spite of her oddities, she likes +society." + +"Well, suppose she does; nobody wants her round, prating about white +hairs and mercy knows what. Come, you tell her you don't need her +services any longer--that's a good girl." + +There was a look of mischief in Lizzie's eye, and a merry smile on her +lip, as she said, "Why, don't you know that father has invited her to +spend the winter, and she has accepted the invitation?" + +"Invited her to spend the winter!" repeated Lucy, while the tears +glittered in her bright eyes. "What does he mean?" + +"Why," answered Lizzie, "it is very lonely at Cousin John's, and his +wife makes more of a servant of Berintha than she does a companion, so +father, out of pity, asked her to stay with us, and she showed her +good taste by accepting." + +"I'll hang myself in the woodshed before spring--see if I don't!" and +burying her face in her hands, Lucy wept aloud, while Lizzie, lying +back upon her pillow, laughed immoderately at her sister's distress. + +"There's a good deal to laugh at, I think," said Lucy, more angrily +than she usually addressed her sister. "If you have any pity, do +devise some means of getting rid of her, for a time, at least." + +"Well, then," answered Lizzie, "she wants to go home for a few days, +in order to make some necessary preparations for staying with us, and +perhaps you can coax her to go now, though I for one would like to +have her stay. Everybody knows she is your cousin, and no one will +think less of you for having her here." + +"But I won't do it," said Lucy, "and that settles it. Your plan is a +good one, and I'll get her off--see if I don't!" + +The next day, which was Saturday, Lucy was unusually kind to her +cousin, giving her a collar, offering to fix her cap, and doing +numerous other little things, which greatly astonished Berintha. At +last, when dinner was over, she said, "Come, cousin, what do you say +to a sleigh ride this afternoon? I haven't been down to Elizabeth +Betsey's in a good while, so suppose we go to-day." + +Berintha was taken by surprise, but after a moment she said just what +Lucy hoped she would say, viz., that she was wanting to go home for a +few days, and if Lizzie were only well enough, she would go now. + +"Oh, she is a great deal better," said Lucy, "and you can leave her as +well as not. Dr. Benton says I am almost as good a nurse as you and I +will take good care of her--besides, I really think you need rest; so +go, if you wish to, and next Saturday I will come round after you." + +Accordingly, Berintha, who suspected nothing, was coaxed into going +home, and when at three o'clock the sleigh was said to be ready, she +kissed Lizzie good-by, and taking her seat by the side of Lucy, was +driven rapidly toward her brother's house. + + * * * * * + +"There! haven't I managed it capitally!" exclaimed Lucy, as she +reentered her sister's room after her ride; "but the bother of it is, +I've promised to go round next Saturday, and bring not only Berintha, +but Elizabeth Betsey, and her twins! Won't it be horrible! However, +the party'll be over, so I don't care." + +Cousin Berintha being gone, there was no longer any reason why the +party should be kept a secret, and before nightfall every servant in +the house was discussing it, Bridget saying: "Faith, an' I thought it +was mighty good she was gettin' with that woman." + +Mrs. Dayton was highly indignant at the trick which she plainly saw +had been put upon Berintha, but Lucy only replied, "that she wished it +were as easy a matter to get rid of grandma!" + +On Monday cards of invitation to the number of one hundred and fifty +were issued, and when Lizzie, in looking them over, asked why Ada +Harcourt was left out, Lucy replied, that "she guessed she wasn't +going to insult her guests by inviting a sewing girl with them. Anna +Graham could do so, but nobody was going to imitate her." + +"Invite her, then, for my sake, and in my name," pleaded Lizzie, but +Lucy only replied: + +"I shall do no such thing;" and thus the matter was settled. + +Amid the hurry and preparation for the party, days glided rapidly +away, and Thursday morning came, bright, beautiful, and balmy, almost, +as an autumnal day. + +"Isn't this delightful!" said Lucy, as she stepped out upon the +piazza, and felt the warm southern breeze upon her cheek. "It's a +wonder, though," she continued, "that Madam Nature didn't conjure up +an awful storm for my benefit, as she usually does!" + +Before night she had occasion to change her mind concerning the day. + +Dinner was over, and she in Lizzie's room was combing out her long +curls, and trying the effect of wearing them entirely behind her ears. +Suddenly there was the sound of sleigh bells, which came nearer, until +they stopped before the door. Lucy flew to the window, and in tones of +intense anger and surprise, exclaimed, "Now, heaven defend us! here is +Cousin John's old lumber sleigh and rackabone horse, with Berintha and +a hair trunk, a red trunk, two bandboxes, a carpet-bag, a box full of +herbs, and a pillowcase full of stockings. What does it all mean?" + +She soon found out what it all meant, for Berintha entered the room in +high spirits. Kissing Lizzie, she next advanced toward Lucy, saying, +"You didn't expect me, I know; but this morning was so warm and +thawing that John said he knew the sleighing would all be gone by +Saturday, so I concluded to come to-day." + +Lucy was too angry to reply, and rushing from the room, she closed the +door after her, with a force which fairly made the windows rattle. +Berintha looked inquiringly at Lizzie, who felt inadequate to an +explanation; so Berintha knew nothing of the matter until she +descended to the kitchen, and there learned the whole. Now, if Lucy +had treated her cousin politely and good-naturedly, she would have +saved herself much annoyance, but on the contrary, she told her that +she was neither expected nor wanted there; that parties were never +intended for "such old things;" and that now she was there, she hoped +she would stay in her own room, unless she should happen to be wanted +to wait on the table! + +This speech, of course, exasperated Berintha, but she made no reply, +although there was on her face a look of quiet determination, which +Lucy mistook for tacit acquiescence in her proposal. + +Five--six--seven--eight--struck the little brass clock, and no one had +come except old Dr. Benton, who, being a widower and an intimate +friend of the family, was invited, as Lucy said, for the purpose of +beauing grandma! Lizzie, in crimson double-gown, and soft, warm shawl, +was reclining on the sofa in the parlor, the old doctor muttering +about carelessness, heated rooms, late hours, etc. Grandma, in rich +black silk and plain Quaker cap, was hovering near her favorite child, +asking continually if she were too hot, or too cold or too tired, +while Lucy, in white muslin dress and flowing curls, flitted hither +and thither, fretting at the servants, or ordering grandma, and +occasionally tapping her sister's pale cheek, to see if she could not +coax some color into it. + +"You'll live to see it whiter still," said the doctor, who was +indignant at finding his patient down-stairs. + +And where all this time was Berintha? The doctor asked this question, +and Lucy asked this question, while Lizzie replied, that "she was in +her room." + +"And I hope to goodness she'll stay there," said Lucy. + +Dr. Benton's gray eyes fastened upon the amiable young lady, who, by +way of explanation, proceeded to relate her maneuvers for keeping "the +old maid" from the party. + +We believe we have omitted to say that Lucy had some well-founded +hopes of being one day, together with her sister, heiress of Dr. +Benton's property, which was considerable. He was a widower, and had +no relatives. He was also very intimate with Mr. Dayton's family, +always evincing a great partiality for Lucy and Lizzie, and had more +than once hinted at the probable disposal of his wealth. Of course +Lucy, in his presence, was all amiability, and though he was usually +very far-sighted, he but partially understood her real character. +Something, however, in her remarks concerning Berintha displeased him. +Lucy saw it, but before she had time for any thought on the subject +the door-bell rang, and a dozen or more of guests entered. + +The parlors now began to fill rapidly. Ere long St. Leon came, and +after paying his compliments to Lucy, he took his station between her +and the sofa, on which Lizzie sat. So delighted was Lucy to have him +thus near that she forgot Berintha, until that lady herself appeared +in the room, bowing to those she knew, and seating herself on the +sofa, very near St. Leon. The angry blood rushed in torrents to Lucy's +face, and St. Leon, who saw something was wrong, endeavored to divert +her mind by asking her various questions. + +At last he said, "I do not see Miss Harcourt. Where is she?" + +"She is not expected," answered Lucy carelessly. + +"Ah!" said St. Leon; and Berintha, touching his arm, rejoined: + +"Of course you could not think Ada Harcourt would be invited here!" + +"Indeed! Why not?" asked St. Leon, and Berintha continued: + +"To be sure, Ada is handsome, and Ada is accomplished, but then Ada is +poor, and consequently can't come!" + +"But I see no reason why poverty should debar her from good society," +said St. Leon; and Berintha, with an exultant glance at Lucy, who, if +possible, would have paralyzed her tongue, replied: + +"Why, if Ada were present, she might rival somebody in somebody's good +opinion. Wasn't that what you said, Cousin Lucy? Please correct me, if +I get wrong." + +Lucy frowned angrily, but made no reply, for Berintha had quoted her +very words. After a moment's pause she proceeded: "Yes, Ada is poor; +so though she can come to the front door with a gentleman, she cannot +go out that way, but must be led to a side door or back door; which +was it, Cousin Lucy?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about," answered Lucy; and +Berintha, in evident surprise, exclaimed: + +"Why, don't you remember when Ada came here with a gentleman--let me +see, who was it?--well, no matter who 'twas--she came with a +gentleman--he was ushered into the parlor, while you took her into a +side room, then into a side passage, and out at the side door, kindly +telling her to beware of the gentleman in the parlor, who could want +nothing good of sewing girls!" + +"You are very entertaining to-night," said Lucy; to which Berintha +replied: + +"You did not think I could be so agreeable, did you, when you asked me +to keep out of sight this evening, and said that such old fudges as +grandma and I would appear much better in our rooms, taking snuff, and +nodding at each other over our knitting work?" + +Lucy looked so distressed that Lizzie pitied her, and touching +Berintha she said, "Please don't talk any more." + +At that moment supper was announced, and after it was over St. Leon +departed, notwithstanding Lucy's urgent request that he would remain +longer. As the street door closed after him she felt that she would +gladly have seen every other guest depart also. A moody fit came on, +and the party would have been voted a failure had it not been for the +timely interference of Dr. Benton and Berintha. Together they sought +out any who seemed neglected, entertaining them to the best of their +ability, and leaving with every one the impression that they were the +best-natured couple in the world. At eleven o'clock, Lizzie, wearied +out, repaired to her chamber. Her departure was the signal for others, +and before one o'clock the last good night was said, the doors locked, +the silver gathered up, the tired servants dismissed, and Lucy, in her +sister's room, was giving vent to her wrath against Berintha, the +party, St. Leon, and all. + +Scolding, however, could do her no good, and ere long, throwing +herself undressed upon a lounge she fell asleep, and dreamed that +grandma was married to the doctor, that Berintha had become her +stepmother, and, worse than all, that Ada Harcourt was Mrs. St. Leon. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A WEDDING AT ST. LUKE'S. + + +The day but one following the party, as Lucy was doing some shopping +down street she stepped for a moment into her dressmaker's, Miss +Carson's, where she found three or four of her companions, all eagerly +discussing what seemed to be quite an interesting topic. As Lucy +entered, one of them turning toward her said; "Oh, isn't it strange? +Or haven't you heard?" + +"Heard what?" asked Lucy; and her companion replied: + +"Why, Ada Harcourt is going to be married. Miss Carson is making her +the most beautiful traveling dress, with silk hat to match--" + +"Besides three or four elegant silk dresses," chimed in another. + +"And the most charming morning-gown you ever saw--apple green, and +dark green, striped--and lined with pink silk," rejoined a third. + +By this time Lucy had sunk into the nearest chair. The truth had +flashed upon her, as it probably has upon you; but as she did not wish +to betray her real emotions she forced a little bitter laugh, and +said, "St. Leon, I suppose, is the bridegroom." + +"Yes; who told you?" asked her companion. + +"Oh, I've seen it all along," answered Lucy carelessly. "He called +with her once at our house!" + +"But you didn't invite her to your party," said mischievous Bessie +Lee, who loved dearly to tease Lucy Dayton. "You didn't invite her to +your party, and so he left early, and I dare say went straight to Mrs. +Harcourt's and proposed, if he hadn't done so before. Now, don't you +wish you'd been more polite to Ada? They say he's got a cousin South, +as rich and handsome as he is, and if you'd only behaved as you +should, who knows what might have happened!" + +Lucy deigned Bessie no reply, and turning to another young lady, +asked, "When is the wedding to be?" + +"Next Thursday morning, in the church," was the answer; and Bessie Lee +again interposed, saying, "Come, Lucy, I don't believe you have ever +returned Ada's call, and as I am going to see her, and inquire all +about that Cousin Frank, suppose you accompany me, and learn the +particulars of the wedding." + +"Thank you," said Lucy; "I don't care enough about it to take that +trouble;" and soon rising she left the shop. + +If Lucy manifested so much indifference, we wot of some bright eyes +and eager ears which are willing to know the particulars, so we will +give them as follows: When St. Leon left Mr. Dayton's it was ten +o'clock, but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour he started for +the small brown house on "Dirt Alley," where dwelt the sewing woman +and her daughter, who were both busy on some work which they wished to +finish that night. Ada had stopped for a moment to replenish the fire +when a knock at the door startled her. Opening it she saw St. Leon, +and in much surprise said, "Why, I supposed you were at the party." + +"So I have been," said he; "but I grew weary, and left for a more +congenial atmosphere;" then advancing toward Mrs. Harcourt, he took +her hand, saying, "Mrs. Linwood, allow me to address you by your right +name this evening." + +We draw a veil over the explanation which followed--over the +fifty-nine questions asked by Ada concerning Jenny--and over the _one_ +question asked by St. Leon, the answer to which resulted in the +purchase of all those dresses at Miss Carson's and the well-founded +rumor that on Thursday morning a wedding would take place at St. +Luke's church. + +Poor Lucy! how disconsolate she felt! St. Leon was passing from her +grasp, and there was no help. On her way home she three times heard of +the wedding, and of Ada's real name and former position in life, and +each time her wrath waxed warmer and warmer. Fortunate was it for +Berintha and grandma that neither made her appearance until tea-time, +for Lucy was in just the state when an explosive storm would surely +have followed any remark addressed to her! + +The next day was the Sabbath, and as Lucy entered the church, the +first object which met her eye was St. Leon, seated in the sewing +woman's pew, and Ada _tolerably_ though not _very_ near him! "How +disgusting!" she hissed between her teeth, as she entered her own +richly-cushioned seat, and opened her velvet-bound prayer book. +Precious little of the sermon heard she that day, for, turn which way +she would, she still saw in fancy the sweet young face of her rival; +and it took but a slight stretch of imagination to bring to view a +costly house in the far-off "Sunny South," a troop of servants, a +handsome, noble husband, and the hated Ada the happy mistress of them +all! Before church was out Lucy was really sick, and when at home in +her room she did not refuse the bowl of herb tea which Berintha kindly +brought her, saying "it had cured her when she felt just so." + +The morning of the wedding came, and though Lucy had determined not to +be present, yet as the hour approached she felt how utterly impossible +it would be for her to stay away; and when at half-past eight the +doors were opened she was among the first who entered the church, +which in a short time was filled. Nine rang from the old clock in the +belfry, and then up the broad aisle came the bridal party, consisting +of Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Charlie and Anna, Mrs. Harcourt, or Mrs. +Linwood as we must now call her, St. Leon and Ada. + +"Was there ever a more beautiful bride?" whispered Bessie Lee; but +Lucy made no answer, and as soon as the ceremony was concluded she +hurried home, feeling almost in need of some more catnip tea! + +In the eleven o'clock train St. Leon with his bride and her mother +started for New Haven, where they spent a delightful week, and then +returned to S----. A few days were passed at the house of Mr. Graham, +and then they departed for their southern home. As we shall not again +have occasion to speak of them in this story we will here say that the +following summer they came North, together with Jenny and Cousin +Frank, the latter of whom was so much pleased with the rosy cheeks, +laughing eyes, and playful manners of Bessie Lee that when he returned +home he coaxed her to accompany him; and again was there a wedding in +St. Luke's, and again did Miss Carson make the bridal outfit, wishing +that all New Orleans gentlemen would come to S---- for their wives. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A SURPRISE. + + +"Reuben," said Grandma Dayton to her son one evening after she had +listened to the reading of a political article for which she did not +care one fig, "Reuben, does thee suppose Dr. Benton makes a charge +every time he calls?" + +"I don't know," said Mr. Dayton; "what made you ask that question?" + +"Because," answered grandma--and her knitting needles rattled loud +enough to be heard in the next room--"because, I think he calls mighty +often, considering that Lizzie neither gets better nor worse; and I +think, too, that he and Berintha have a good many private talks!" + +The paper dropped from Mr. Dayton's hand, and "What can you mean?" +dropped from his lips. + +"Why," resumed grandma, "every time he comes he manages to see +Berintha alone; and hain't thee noticed that she has colored her hair +lately, and left off caps?" + +"Yes; and she looks fifteen years younger for it; but what of that?" + +Grandma, whose remarks had all been preparatory to the mighty secret +she was about to divulge, coughed, and then informed her son that +Berintha was going to be married, and wished to have the wedding +there. + +"Berintha and the doctor! Good!" exclaimed Mr. Dayton. "To be sure, +I'll give her a wedding, and a wedding dress, too." + +Here grandma left the room, and after reporting her success to +Berintha, she sought her granddaughters, and communicated to them the +expected event. When Lucy learned of her cousin's intended marriage +she was nearly as much surprised and provoked as she had been when +first she heard of Ada's. + +Turning to Lizzie she said, "It's too bad! for of course we shall have +to give up all hopes of the doctor's money." + +"And perhaps thee'll be the only old maid in the family, after all," +suggested grandma, who knew Lucy's weak point, and sometimes loved to +touch it. + +"And if I am," retorted Lucy angrily, "I hope I shall have sense +enough to mind my own business, and not interfere with that of my +grandchildren!" + +Grandma made no answer, but secretly she felt some conscientious +scruples with regard to Lucy's grandchildren! As for Berintha she +seemed entirely changed, and flitted about the house in a manner which +caused Lucy to call her "an old fool, trying to ape sixteen." With a +change of feelings her personal appearance also changed, and when she +one day returned from the dentist's with an entire set of new teeth, +and came down to tea in a dark, fashionably-made merino, the +metamorphose was complete, and grandma declared that she looked better +than she ever had before in her life. The doctor, too, was improved, +and though he did not color his hair, he ordered six new shirts, a new +coat, a new horse and a pair of gold spectacles! + +After a due lapse of time the appointed day came, and with it, at an +early hour, came Cousin John and Elizabeth Betsey, bringing with them +the few herbs which Berintha, at the time of her removal, had +overlooked. These Bridget demurely proposed should be given to Miss +Lucy, "who of late was much given to drinking catnip." Perfectly +indignant, Lucy threw the herbs, bag and all, into the fire, thereby +filling the house with an odor which made the asthmatic old doctor +wheeze and blow wonderfully during the evening. + +A few of the villagers were invited, and when all was ready Mr. Dayton +brought down in his arms his white-faced Lizzie, who imperceptibly +had grown paler and weaker every day, while those who looked at her as +she reclined upon the sofa, sighed, and thought of a different +occasion when they probably would assemble there. For once Lucy was +very amiable, and with the utmost politeness and good nature waited +upon the guests. There was a softened light in her eye, and a +heightened bloom on her cheek, occasioned by a story which Berintha, +two hours before, had told her, of a heart all crushed in its youth, +and aching on through long years of loneliness, but which was about to +be made happy by a union with the only object it had ever loved! Do +you start and wonder? Have you not guessed that Dr. Benton, who that +night for the second time breathed the marriage vow, was the same who, +years before, won the girlish love of Berintha Dayton, and then turned +from her to the more beautiful Amy Holbrook, finding, too late, that +all is not gold that glitters? It is even so, and could you have seen +how tightly he clasped the hand of his new wife, and how fondly his +eye rested upon her, you would have said that, however long his +affections might have wandered, they had at last returned to her, his +first, best love. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LIZZIE. + + Gathered 'round a narrow coffin, + Stand a mourning, funeral train, + While for her, redeemed thus early, + Tears are falling now like rain. + + Hopes are crushed and hearts are bleeding; + Drear the fireside now, and alone; + She, the best loved and the dearest, + Far away to heaven hath flown. + + Long, long, will they miss thee, Lizzie, + Long, long days for thee they'll weep; + And through many nights of sorrow + Memory will her vigils keep. + + +In the chapter just finished we casually mentioned that Lizzie, +instead of growing stronger, had drooped day by day, until to all save +the fond hearts which watched her, she seemed surely passing away. But +they to whom her presence was as sunlight to the flowers, shut their +eyes to the dreadful truth, refusing to believe that she was leaving +them. Oftentimes during the long winter nights would Mr. Dayton steal +softly to her chamber, and kneeling by her bedside gaze in mute +anguish upon the wasted face of his darling. And when from her +transparent brow and marble cheek he wiped the deadly night sweats, a +chill, colder far than the chill of death, crept over his heart, and +burying his face in his hands he would cry, "Oh, Father, let this cup +pass from me!" + +As spring approached she seemed better, and the father's heart grew +stronger, and Lucy's step was lighter, and grandma's words more +cheerful, as hope whispered, "she will live." But when the snow was +melted from off the hillside, and over the earth the warm spring sun +was shining, when the buds began to swell and the trees to put forth +their young leaves, there came over her a change so fearful that with +one bitter cry of sorrow hope fled forever; and again, in the lonely +night season, the weeping father knelt and asked for strength to bear +it when his best-loved child was gone. + +"Poor Harry!" said Lizzie one day to Anna, who was sitting by her, +"Poor Harry, if I could see him again; but I never shall." + +"Perhaps you will," answered Anna. "I wrote, to him three weeks ago, +telling him to come quickly." + +"Then he will," said Lizzie, "but if I should be dead when he comes, +tell him how I loved him to the last, and that the thought of leaving +him was the sharpest pang I suffered." + +There were tears in Anna's eyes as she kissed the cheek of the sick +girl, and promised to do her bidding. After a moment's pause Lizzie +added, "I am afraid Harry is not a Christian, and you must promise not +to leave him until he has a well-founded hope that again in heaven I +shall see him." + +Anna promised all, and then as Lizzie seemed exhausted she left her +and returned home. One week from that day she stood once more in +Lizzie's sick-room, listening for the last time to the tones of the +dying girl as she bade her friends adieu. Convulsed with grief Lucy +knelt by the bedside, pressing to her lips one little clammy hand, and +accusing herself of destroying her sister's life. In the furthest +corner of the room sat Mr. Dayton. He could not stand by and see +stealing over his daughter's face the dark shadow which falls but once +on all. He could not look upon her when over her soft brown eyes the +white lids closed forever. Like a naked branch in the autumn wind his +whole frame shook with agony, and though each fiber of grandma's heart +was throbbing with anguish, yet for the sake of her son she strove to +be calm, and soothed him as she would a little child. Berintha, too, +was there, and while her tears were dropping fast, she supported +Lizzie in her arms, pushing back from her pale brow the soft curls +which, damp with the moisture of death, lay in thick rings upon her +forehead. + +"Has Harry come?" said Lizzie. + +The answer was in the negative, and a moan of disappointment came from +her lips. + +Again she spoke: "Give him my Bible--and my curls--when I am dead let +Lucy arrange them--she knows how; then cut them off, and the best, the +longest, the brightest is for Harry; the others for you all. And +tell--tell--tell him to meet--me in heaven--where I'm--going--going." + +A stifled shriek from Lucy, as she fell back fainting, told that with +the last word, "going," Lizzie had gone to heaven! + +An hour after the tolling bell arrested the attention of many, and of +the few who asked for whom it tolled nearly all involuntarily sighed +and said, "Poor Harry! Died before he came home!" + + * * * * * + +It was the night before the burial, and in the back parlor stood a +narrow coffin containing all that was mortal of Lizzie Dayton. In the +front parlor Bridget and another domestic kept watch over the body of +their young mistress. Twelve o'clock rang from the belfry of St. +Luke's church, and then the midnight silence was broken by the shrill +scream of the locomotive as the eastern train thundered into the +depot. But the senses of the Irish girls were too profoundly locked in +sleep to heed that common sound; neither did they hear the outer door, +which by accident had been left unlocked, swing softly open, nor saw +they the tall figure which passed by them into the next room--the room +where stood the coffin. + +Suddenly through the house there echoed a cry, so long, so loud, so +despairing, that every sleeper started from their rest, and hurried +with nervous haste to the parlor, where they saw Harry Graham, bending +in wild agony over the body of his darling Lizzie, who never before +had turned a deaf ear to his impassioned words of endearment. He had +received his sister's letter, and started immediately for home, but +owing to some delay did not reach there in time to see her alive. +Anxious to know the worst, he had not stopped at his father's house, +but seeing a light in Mr. Dayton's parlors, hastened thither. Finding +the door unlocked, he entered, and on seeing the two servant girls +asleep, his heart beat quickly with apprehension. Still he was +unprepared for the shock which awaited him, when on the coffin and her +who slept within it his eye first rested. He did not faint, nor even +weep, but when his friends came about him with words of sympathy he +only answered, "Lizzie, Lizzie, she is dead!" + +During the remainder of that sad night he sat by the coffin pressing +his hand upon the icy forehead until its coldness seemed to benumb his +faculties, for when in the morning his parents and sister came he +scarcely noticed them; and still the world, misjudging ever, looked +upon his calm face and tearless eye, and said that all too lightly had +he loved the gentle girl whose last thoughts and words had been of +him. Ah, they knew not the utter wreck the death of that young girl +had made, of the bitter grief, deeper and more painful because no +tear-drop fell to moisten its feverish agony. They buried her, and +then back from the grave came the two heart-broken men, the father and +Harry Graham, each going to his own desolate home, the one to commune +with the God who had given and taken away, and the other to question +the dealings of that Providence which had taken from him his all. + +Days passed, and nothing proved of any avail to win Harry from the +deep despair which seemed to have settled upon him. At length Anna +bethought her of the soft, silken curl which had been reserved for +him. Quickly she found it, and taking with her the Bible repaired to +her brother's room. Twining her arms around his neck she told him of +the death-scene, of which he before had refused to hear. She finished +her story by suddenly holding to view the long, bright ringlet which +once adorned the fair head now resting in the grave. Her plan was +successful, for bursting into tears Harry wept nearly two hours. From +that time he seemed better, and was frequently found bathed in tears, +and bending over Lizzie's Bible, which now was his daily companion. + +Lucy, too, seemed greatly changed. She had loved her sister as +devotedly as one of her nature could love, and for her death she +mourned sincerely. Lizzie's words of love and gentle persuasion had +not been without their effect, and when Mr. Dayton saw how kind, how +affectionate and considerate of other people's feelings his daughter +had become, he felt that Lizzie had not died in vain. + +Seven times have the spring violets blossomed, seven times the flowers +of summer bloomed, seven times have the autumnal stores been gathered +in, and seven times have the winds of winter sighed over the New +England hills since Lizzie was laid to rest. In her home there have +been few changes. Mr. Dayton's hair is whiter than it was of old, and +the furrows on his brow deeper and more marked. Grandma, quiet and +gentle as ever, knits on day after day, ever and anon speaking of "our +dear little Lizzie, who died years ago." + +Lucy is still unmarried, and satisfied, too, that it should be so. A +patient, self-sacrificing Christian, she strives to make up to her +father for the loss of one over whose memory she daily weeps, and to +whose death she accuses herself of being accessory. Dr. Benton and his +rather fashionable wife live in their great house, ride in their +handsome carriage, give large dinner parties, play chess after supper, +and then the old doctor nods over his evening paper, while Berintha +nods over a piece of embroidery, intended to represent a little dog +chasing a butterfly and which would as readily be taken for that as +for anything else, and for anything else as that. + +Two years ago a pale young missionary departed to carry the news of +salvation to the heathen land. Some one suggested that he should take +with him a wife, but he shook his head mournfully, saying, "I have one +wife in heaven." The night before he left home, he might have been +seen, long after midnight, seated upon a grassy grave, where the +flowers of summer were growing. Around the stone which marks the spot +rose bushes have clustered so thickly as to hide from view the words +there written, but push them aside and you will read, "Our darling +Lizzie." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE*** + + +******* This file should be named 14089-8.txt or 14089-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/8/14089 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Homestead on the Hillside</p> +<p>Author: Mary Jane Holmes</p> +<p>Release Date: November 19, 2004 [eBook #14089]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Stephen Schulze<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h1><i>HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE</i></h1> +<p class="center"><i>by</i></p> +<h2><i>Mrs. MARY JANE HOLMES</i></h2> +<p class="center"><i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</i> <i>IN UNIFORM +STYLE</i></p> +<ul style="list-style: none; text-align: center;"> +<li><i>DORA DEANE</i></li> +<li><i>COUSIN MAUDE</i></li> +<li><i>LENA RIVERS</i></li> +<li><i>MEADOW BROOK</i></li> +<li><i>ENGLISH ORPHANS</i></li> +<li><i>MAGGIE MILLER</i></li> +<li><i>ROSAMOND</i></li> +<li><i>TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE</i></li> +<li><i>HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE</i></li> +</ul> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr> +<td><a href="#THE_HOMESTEAD_ON_THE_HILLSIDE"><span class= +"smcap"><b>The Homestead On The Hillside.</b></span></a><br /> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I1"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - Mrs. +Hamilton.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II1"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - Lenora +And Her Mother.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III1"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - One +Step Toward The Homestead.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV1"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - After +The Burial.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V1"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - Kate +Kirby.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI1"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - +Raising The Wind.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII. - The +Stepmother.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII. - +Domestic Life At The Homestead.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX1"><span class="smcap">Chapter IX. - Lenora +And Carrie.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X1"><span class="smcap">Chapter X. - +Darkness.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XI. - +Margaret And Her Father.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XII. - +"Carrying Out Dear Mr. Hamilton's Plans."</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XIII. - +Retribution.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV1"><span class="smcap">Chapter XIV. - +Finale.</span></a></li> +</ul> +<a href="#RICE_CORNER"><span class="smcap"><b>Rice +Corner</b></span></a> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I2"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - Rice +Corner.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II2"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - The +Belle Of Rice Corner.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III2"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - +Monsieur Penoyer.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV2"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - Cousin +Emma.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V2"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - Richard +Evelyn And Harley Ashmore.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - Mike +And Sally.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII2"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII. - The +Bride.</span></a></li> +</ul> +<a href="#THE_GILBERTS_OR_RICE_CORNER_NUMBER_TWO"><span class= +"smcap"><b>The Gilberts; Or, Rice Corner Number +Two.</b></span></a><br /> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I3"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - The +Gilberts.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II3"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - +Nellie.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III3"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - The +Haunted House.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV3"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - +Jealousy.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V3"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - New +Relations.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI3"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - Poor, +Poor Nellie.</span></a></li> +</ul> +<a href="#THE_THANKSGIVING_PARTY_AND_ITS_CONSEQUENCES"><span class= +"smcap"><b>The Thanksgiving Party And Its +Consequences.</b></span></a><br /> +<ul style="list-style: none; font-size: .9em;"> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_I4"><span class="smcap">Chapter I. - Night +Before Thanksgiving.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_II4"><span class="smcap">Chapter II. - +Thanksgiving Day.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_III4"><span class="smcap">Chapter III. - Ada +Harcourt.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IV4"><span class="smcap">Chapter IV. - +Lucy.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_V4"><span class="smcap">Chapter V. - Uncle +Israel.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VI4"><span class="smcap">Chapter VI. - +Explanation.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VII4"><span class="smcap">Chapter VII. - A +Maneuver.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII4"><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII. - +Cousin Berintha And Lucy's Party.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_IX4"><span class="smcap">Chapter IX. - A +Wedding At St. Luke's.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_X4"><span class="smcap">Chapter X. - A +Surprise.</span></a></li> +<li><a href="#CHAPTER_XI4"><span class="smcap">Chapter XI. - +Lizzie.</span></a></li> +</ul> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_HOMESTEAD_ON_THE_HILLSIDE" id= +"THE_HOMESTEAD_ON_THE_HILLSIDE"></a>THE HOMESTEAD ON THE +HILLSIDE.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I1" id="CHAPTER_I1"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>MRS. HAMILTON.</h3> +<p>For many years the broad, rich acres, and old-fashioned, massive +building known as "The Homestead on the Hillside," had passed +successively from father to son, until at last it belonged by right +of inheritance to Ernest Hamilton. Neither time nor expense had +been spared in beautifying and embellishing both house and grounds, +and at the time of which we are speaking there was not for miles +around so lovely a spot as was the shady old homestead.</p> +<p>It stood at some distance from the road, and on the bright green +lawn in front were many majestic forest trees, on which had fallen +the lights and shadows of more than a century; and under whose +widespreading branches oft, in the olden time, the Indian warrior +had paused from the chase until the noonday heat was passed. +Leading from the street to the house was a wide, graveled walk +bordered with box, and peeping out from the wilderness of vines and +climbing roses were the white walls of the huge building, which was +surrounded on all sides by a double piazza.</p> +<p>Many and hallowed were the associations connected with that old +homestead. On the curiously-carved seats beneath the tall shade +trees were cut the names of some who there had lived, and loved, +and passed away. Through the little gate at the foot of the garden +and just across the brooklet, whose clear waters leaped and laughed +in the glad sunshine, and then went dancing away in the woodland +below, was a quiet spot, where gracefully the willow tree was +bending, where the wild sweetbrier was blooming, and where, too, +lay sleeping those who once gathered round the hearthstone and +basked in the sunlight which ever seemed resting upon the Homestead +on the Hillside.</p> +<p>But a darker day was coming; a night was approaching when a deep +gloom would overshadow the homestead and the loved ones within its +borders. The servants, ever superstitious, now whispered +mysteriously that the spirits of the departed returned nightly to +their old accustomed places, and that dusky hands from the graves +of the slumbering dead were uplifted, as if to warn the master of +the domain of the desolation; which was to come. For more than a +year the wife of Ernest Hamilton had been dying—slowly, +surely dying—and though when the skies were brightest and the +sunshine warmest she ever seemed better, each morning's light still +revealed some fresh ravage the disease had made, until at last +there was no hope, and the anxious group which watched her knew +full well that ere long among them would be a vacant chair, and in +the family burying ground an added grave.</p> +<p>One evening Mrs. Hamilton seemed more than usually restless, and +requested her daughters to leave her, that she might compose +herself to sleep. Scarcely was she alone when with cat-like tread +there glided through the doorway the dark figure of a woman, who +advanced toward the bedside, noiselessly as a serpent would steal +to his ambush. She was apparently forty-five years of age, and +dressed in deep mourning, which seemed to increase the marble +whiteness of her face. Her eyes, large, black, and glittering, +fastened themselves upon, the invalid with a gaze so intense that +Mrs. Hamilton's hand involuntarily sought the bell-rope, to summon +some one else to her room.</p> +<p>But ere the bell was rung a strangely sweet, musical voice fell +on her ear, and arrested her movements. "Pardon me for intruding," +said the stranger, "and suffer me to introduce myself. I am Mrs. +Carter, who not long since removed to the village. I have heard of +your illness, and wishing to render you any assistance in my power, +I have ventured, unannounced, into your presence, hoping that I at +least am not unwelcome."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton had heard of a widow lady, who with an only +daughter had recently removed to the village, which lay at the foot +of the long hill on which stood the old homestead. She had heard, +too, that Mrs. Carter, though rather singular in some respects, was +unusually benevolent, spending much time in visiting the sick and +needy, and, as far as possible, ministering to their comfort.</p> +<p>Extending her hand, she said, "I know you by reputation, Mrs. +Carter, and feel greatly pleased that you have thought to visit me. +Pray be seated."</p> +<p>This last invitation was superfluous, for with the air of a +person entirely at home, the lady had seated herself, and as the +room was rather warm, she threw back her bonnet, disclosing to view +a mass of rich brown hair, which made her look several years +younger than she really was. Nothing could be more apparently kind +and sincere than were her words of sympathy, nothing more soothing +than the sound of her voice; and when she for a moment raised Mrs. +Hamilton, while she adjusted her pillows, the sick woman declared +that never before had any one done it so gently or so well.</p> +<p>Mrs. Carter was just resuming her seat when in the adjoining +hall there was the sound of a heavy tread, and had Mrs. Hamilton +been at all suspicious of her visitor she would have wondered at +the flush which deepened on her cheek when the door opened and Mr. +Hamilton stood in their midst. On seeing a stranger he turned to +leave, but his wife immediately introduced him, and seating himself +upon the sofa, he remarked, "I have seen you frequently in church, +Mrs. Carter, but I believe I have never spoken with you +before."</p> +<p>A peculiar expression flitted over her features at these words, +an expression which Mr. Hamilton noticed, and which awoke +remembrances of something unpleasant, though he could not tell +what.</p> +<p>"Where have I seen her before?" thought he, as she bade them +good night, promising to come again and stay a longer time. "Where +have I seen her before?" and then involuntarily his thoughts went +back to the time, years and years ago, when, a wild young man in +college, he had thoughtlessly trifled with the handsome daughter of +his landlady. Even now he seemed to hear her last words, as he bade +her farewell: "You may go, Ernest Hamilton, and forget me if you +can, but Luella does not so easily forget; and remember, when least +you expect it, we shall meet again."</p> +<p>Could this strange being, with honeyed words and winning ways, +be that fiery, vindictive girl? Impossible!—and satisfied +with this conclusion Mr. Hamilton resumed his evening paper.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II1" id="CHAPTER_II1"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>LENORA AND HER MOTHER.</h3> +<p>From the windows of a small, white cottage, at the extremity of +Glenwood village, Lenora Carter watched for her mother's return. +"She stays long," thought she, "but it bodes success to her plan; +though when did she undertake a thing and fail!"</p> +<p>The fall of the gatelatch was heard, and in a moment Mrs. Carter +was with her daughter, whose first exclamation was, "What a little +eternity you've been gone! Did you renew your early vows to the +man?"</p> +<p>"I've no vows to renew," answered Mrs. Carter, "but I've paved +the way well, and got invited to call again."</p> +<p>"Oh, capital!" said Lenora. "It takes you, mother, to do up +things, after all; but, really, was Mrs. Hamilton pleased with +you?"</p> +<p>"Judging by the pressure of her hand when she bade me good-by I +should say she was," answered Mrs. Carter; and Lenora continued: +"Did you see old moneybags?"</p> +<p>"Lenora, child, you must not speak so disrespectfully of Mr. +Hamilton," said Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon," answered Lenora, while her mother +continued: "I saw him, but do not think he recognized me; and +perhaps it is as well that he should not, until I have made myself +indispensable to him and his family."</p> +<p>"Which you will never do with the haughty Mag, I am sure," said +Lenora; "but tell me, is the interior of the house as handsome as +the exterior?"</p> +<p>"Far more so," was the reply; and Mrs. Carter proceeded to +enumerate the many costly articles of furniture she had seen.</p> +<p>She was interrupted by Lenora, who asked, "How long, think you, +will the incumbrance live?"</p> +<p>"Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, "you shall not talk so. No one +wishes Mrs. Hamilton to die; but if such an afflictive dispensation +does occur, I trust we shall all be resigned."</p> +<p>"Oh, I keep forgetting that you are acting the part of a +resigned widow; but I, thank fortune, have no part to act, and can +say what I please."</p> +<p>"And spoil all our plans, too, by your foolish babbling," +interposed Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"Let me alone for that," answered Lenora. "I haven't been +trained by such a mother for nothing. But, seriously, how is Mrs. +Hamilton's health?"</p> +<p>"She is very low, and cannot possibly live long," was the +reply.</p> +<p>Here there was a pause in the conversation, during which we will +take the opportunity of introducing more fully to our readers the +estimable Mrs. Carter and her daughter. Mr. Hamilton was right when +he associated the resigned widow with his old flame, Luella +Blackburn, whom be had never seriously thought of marrying, though +by way of pastime he had frequently teased, tormented, and +flattered her. Luella was ambitious, artful, and designing. Wealth +and position was the goal at which she aimed. Both of these she +knew Ernest Hamilton possessed, and she had felt greatly pleased at +his evident preference. When, therefore, at the end of his college +course he left her with a few commonplace remarks, such as he would +have spoken to any familiar acquaintance, her rage knew no bounds; +and in the anger of the moment she resolved, sooner or later, to be +revenged upon him.</p> +<p>Years, however, passed on, and a man whom she thought wealthy +offered her his hand. She accepted it, and found, too late, that +she was wedded to poverty. This aroused the evil of her nature to +such an extent that her husband's life became one of great +unhappiness, and four years after Lenora's birth he left her. +Several years later she succeeded in procuring a divorce, although +she still retained his name. Recently she had heard of his death, +and about the same time, too, she heard that the wife of Ernest +Hamilton was dying. Suddenly a wild scheme entered her mind. She +would remove to the village of Glenwood, would ingratiate herself +into the favor of Mrs. Hamilton, win her confidence and love, and +then when she was dead the rest she fancied would be an easy +matter, for she knew that Mr. Hamilton was weak and easily +flattered.</p> +<p>For several weeks they had been in Glenwood, impatiently waiting +an opportunity for making the acquaintance of the Hamiltons. But as +neither Margaret nor Carrie called, Lenora became discouraged, and +one day exclaimed, "I should like to know what you are going to do. +There is no probability of that proud Mag's calling on me. How I +hate her, with her big black eyes and hateful ways!"</p> +<p>"Patience, patience," said Mrs. Carter, "I'll manage it; as Mrs. +Hamilton is sick, it will be perfectly proper for me to go and see +her," and then was planned the visit which we have described.</p> +<p>"Oh, won't it be grand!" said Lenora that night, as she sat +sipping her tea. "Won't it be grand, if you do succeed, and won't I +lord it over Miss Margaret! As for that little white-faced Carrie, +she's too insipid for one to trouble herself about, and I dare say +thinks you a very nice woman, for how can her Sabbath-school +teacher be otherwise;" and a satirical laugh echoed through the +room. Suddenly springing up, Lenora glanced at herself in the +mirror, and turning to her mother, said, "Did you hear when Walter +is expected—and am I so very ugly looking?"</p> +<p>While Mrs. Carter is preparing an answer to the first question, +we, for the sake of our readers, will answer the last one. Lenora +was a little dark-looking girl about eighteen years of age. Her +eyes were black, her face was black, and her hair was black, +standing out from her head in short, thick curls, which gave to her +features a strange witch-like expression. From her mother she had +inherited the same sweet, cooing voice, the same gliding, noiseless +footsteps, which had led some of their acquaintance to accuse them +of what, in the days of New England witchcraft, would have secured +their passport to another world.</p> +<p>Lenora had spoken truthfully when she said that she had not been +trained by such a mother for nothing, for whatever of evil appeared +in her conduct was more the result of her mother's training than of +a naturally bad disposition. At times her mother petted and +caressed her, and again, in a fit of ill-humor, drove her from the +room, taunting her with the strong resemblance which she bore to +the man whom she had once called father! On such occasions Lenora +was never at a loss for words, and the scenes which sometimes +occurred were too disgraceful for repetition. On one subject, +however, they were united, and that was in their efforts to become +inmates of the homestead on the hillside. In the accomplishment of +this Lenora had a threefold object: first, it would secure her a +luxuriant home; second, she would be thrown in the way of Walter +Hamilton, who was about finishing his college course; and last, +though not least, it would be such a triumph over Margaret, who, +she fancied, treated her with cold indifference.</p> +<p>Long after the hour of midnight was rung from the village clock, +the widow and her daughter sat by their fireside, forming plans for +the future, and when at last they retired to sleep it was to dream +of funeral processions, bridal favors, stepchildren, half-sisters, +and double connections all around.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III1" id="CHAPTER_III1"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>ONE STEP TOWARD THE HOMESTEAD.</h3> +<p>Weeks passed on, and so necessary to the comfort of the invalid +did the presence of Mrs. Carter become, that at last, by particular +request, she took up her abode at the homestead, becoming Mrs. +Hamilton's constant nurse and attendant. Lenora, for the time +being, was sent to the house of a friend, who lived not far +distant. When Margaret Hamilton learned of the arrangement she +opposed it with all her force.</p> +<p>"Send her away, mother," said she one evening; "please send her +away, for I cannot endure her presence, with her oily words and +silent footsteps. She reminds me of the serpent, who decoyed Eve +into eating that apple, and I always feel an attack of the +nightmare whenever I know that her big, black eyes are fastened +upon me."</p> +<p>"How differently people see!" laughed Carrie, who was sitting +by. "Why, Mag, I always fancy <i>her</i> to be in a nightmare when +your big eyes light upon her."</p> +<p>"It's because she knows she's guilty," answered Mag, her words +and manner warming up with the subject. "Say, mother, won't you +send her off! It seems as though a dark shadow falls upon us all +the moment she eaters the house."</p> +<p>"She is too invaluable a nurse to be discharged for a slight +whim," answered Mrs. Hamilton. "Besides she bears the best of +reputations, and I don't see what possible harm can come of her +being here."</p> +<p>Margaret sighed, for though she knew full well the "possible +harm" which might come of it, she could not tell it to her pale, +dying mother; and ere she had time for any answer, the black +bombazine dress, white linen, collar, and white, smooth face of +Widow Carter moved silently into the room. There was a gleam of +intense hatred in the dark eyes which for a moment flashed on +Margaret's face, and then a soft hand gently stroked the glossy +hair of the indignant girl, and in the most musical tones +imaginable a low voice murmured, "Maggie, dear, you look flushed +and wearied. Are you quite well?"</p> +<p>"Perfectly so," answered Margaret; and then rising, she left the +room, but not until she had heard her mother say, "Dear Mrs. +Carter, I am so glad you've come!"</p> +<p>"Is everybody bewitched," thought Mag, as she repaired to her +chamber, "father, mother, Carrie, and all? How I wish Walter was +here. He always sees things as I do."</p> +<p>Margaret Hamilton was a high-spirited, intelligent girl, about +nineteen years of age. She was not beautiful, but had you asked for +the finest-looking girl in all Glenwood, Mag would surely have been +pointed out. She was rather above the medium height, and in her +whole bearing there was a quiet dignity, which many mistook for +hauteur. Naturally frank, affectionate, and kind-hearted, she was, +perhaps, a little strong in her prejudices, which, when once +satisfactorily formed, could not easily be shaken.</p> +<p>For Mrs. Carter she had conceived a strong dislike, for she +believed her to be an artful, hypocritical woman, and now, as she +sat by the window in her room, her heart swelled with indignation +toward one who had thus usurped her place by her mother's bedside, +whom Carrie was learning to confide in, and of whom even the father +said, "she is a most excellent woman."</p> +<p>"I will write to Walter," said she, "and tell him to come +immediately."</p> +<p>Suiting the action to the word, she drew up her writing desk, +and soon a finished letter was lying before her. Ere she had time +to fold and direct it, a loud cry from her young brother Willie +summoned her for a few moments from the room, and on her return she +met in the doorway the black bombazine and linen collar.</p> +<p>"Madam," said she, "did you wish for anything?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," was the soft answer, which, however, in this case +failed to turn, away wrath. "Yes, dear, your mother said you knew +where there were some fine bits of linen."</p> +<p>"And could not Carrie come for them?" asked Mag.</p> +<p>"Yes, dear, but she looks so delicate that I do not like to send +her up these long stairs oftener than is necessary. Haven't you +noticed how pale she is getting of late? I shouldn't be at all +surprised—" but before the sentence was finished the linen +was found, and the door closed upon Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>A new idea had been awakened in Margaret's mind, and for the +first time she thought how much her sister really had changed. +Carrie, who was four years younger than Margaret, had ever been +delicate, and her parents had always feared that not long could +they keep her; but though each winter her cough had returned with +increased severity, though the veins on her white brow grew more +distinct, and her large, blue eyes glowed with unwonted luster, +still Margaret had never before dreamed of danger, never thought +that soon her sister's voice would be missed, and that Carrie would +be gone. But she thought of it now, and laying her head upon the +table wept for a time in silence.</p> +<p>At length, drying her tears, she folded her letter and took it +to the post-office. As she was returning home she was met by a +servant, who exclaimed, "Run, Miss Margaret, run; your mother is +dying, and Mrs. Carter sent me for you!"</p> +<p>Swift as the mountain chamois, Margaret sped up the long, steep +hill, and in a few moments stood within her mother's sick-room. +Supported in the arms of Mrs. Carter lay the dying woman, while her +eyes, already overshadowed with the mists of coming death, wandered +anxiously around the room, as if in quest of some one. The moment +Margaret appeared, a satisfied smile broke over her wasted +features, and beckoning her daughter to her bedside, she whispered, +"Dear Maggie, you did not think I'd die so soon, when you went +away."</p> +<p>A burst of tears was Maggie's only answer, as she passionately +kissed the cold, white lips, which had never breathed aught to her +save words of love and gentleness. Far different, however, would +have been her reply had she known the reason of her mother's +question. Not long after she had left the house for the office, +Mrs. Hamilton had been taken worse, and the physician, who chanced +to be present, pronounced her dying. Instantly the alarmed husband +summoned together his household, but Mag was missing. No one had +seen her; no one knew where she was, until Mrs. Carter, who had +been some little time absent from the room reentered it, saying +"Margaret had started for the post-office with a letter when I sent +a servant to tell her of her mother's danger, but for some reason +she kept on, though I dare say she will soon be back."</p> +<p>As we well know, the substance of this speech was true, though +the impression which Mrs. Carter's words conveyed was entirely +false. For the advancement of her own cause she felt that it was +necessary to weaken the high estimation in which Mr. Hamilton held +his daughter, and she fancied that the mother's death-bed was as +fitting a place where to commence operations as she could +select.</p> +<p>As Margaret hung over her mother's pillow, the false woman, as +if to confirm the assertion she had made, leaned forward and said, +"Robin told you, I suppose? I sent him to do so."</p> +<p>Margaret nodded assent, while a deeper gloom fell upon the brow +of Mr. Hamilton, who stood with folded arms watching the advance of +the great destroyer. It came at last, and though no perceptible +change heralded its approach, there was one fearful spasm, one +long-drawn sigh, a striving of the eye for one more glimpse of the +loved ones gathered near, and then Mrs. Hamilton was dead. On the +bosom of Mrs. Carter her life was breathed away, and when all was +over that lady laid gently down her burden, carefully adjusted the +tumbled covering, and then stepping to the window, looked out, +while the stricken group deplored their loss.</p> +<p>Long and bitterly over their dead they wept, but not on one of +that weeping band fell the bolt so crushingly as upon Willie, the +youngest of the flock, the child four summers old, who had ever +lived in the light of his mother's love. They had told him she +would die, but he understood them not, for never before had he +looked on death; and now, when to his childish words of love his +mother made no answer, most piteously rang out the infantile cry, +"Mother, oh, my mother, who'll be my mother now?"</p> +<p>Caressingly, a small, white hand was laid on Willie's yellow +curls, but ere the words of love were spoken Margaret took the +little fellow in her arms, and whispered through her tears, "I'll +be your mother, darling."</p> +<p>Willie brushed the tear-drops from his sister's cheek and laying +his fair, round face upon her neck, said, "And who'll be Maggie's +mother? Mrs. Carter?"</p> +<p>"Never! never!" answered Mag, while to the glance of hatred and +defiance cast upon her she returned one equally scornful and +determined.</p> +<p>Soon from the village there came words of sympathy and offers of +assistance; but Mrs. Carter could do everything, and in her +blandest tones she declined the services of the neighbors, refusing +even to admit them into the presence of Margaret and Carrie, who, +she said were so much exhausted as to be unable to bear the fresh +burst of grief which the sight of an old friend would surely +produce. So the neighbors went home, and as the world will ever do, +descanted upon the probable result of Mrs. Carter's labors at the +homestead. Thus, ere Ernest Hamilton had been three days a widower, +many in fancy had wedded him to Mrs. Carter, saying that nowhere +could he find so good a mother for his children.</p> +<p>And truly she did seem to be indispensable in that house of +mourning. 'Twas she who saw that everything was done, quietly and +in order; 'twas she who so neatly arranged the muslin shroud; 'twas +her arms that supported the half-fainting Carrie when first her eye +rested on her mother, coffined for the grave; 'twas she who +whispered words of comfort to the desolate husband; and she, too, +it was, who, on the night when Walter was expected home, +<i>kindly</i> sat up until past midnight to receive him!</p> +<p>She had read Mag's letter, and by being first to welcome the +young man home, she hoped to remove from his mind any prejudice +which he might feel for her, and by her bland smiles and gentle +words to lure him into the belief that she was perfect, and +Margaret uncharitable. Partially she succeeded, too, for when next +morning Mag expressed a desire that Mrs. Carter would go home, he +replied, "I think you judge her wrongfully; she seems to be a most +amiable, kind-hearted woman."</p> +<p>"<i>Et tu, Brute!</i>" Mag could have said, but 'twas neither +the time nor the place, and linking her arm within her brother's +she led him into the adjoining room, where stood their mother's +coffin.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV1" id="CHAPTER_IV1"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>AFTER THE BURIAL.</h3> +<p>Across the bright waters of the silvery lake which lay not far +from Glenwood village, over the grassy hillside, and down the long, +green valley, had floated the notes of the tolling bell. In the +Hamilton mansion sympathizing friends had gathered, and through the +crowded parlors a solemn hush had reigned, broken only by the voice +of the white-haired man of God, who in trembling tones prayed for +the bereaved ones. Over the costly coffin tear-wet faces had bent, +and on the marble features of her who slept within it had been +pressed the passionate kisses of a long, a last farewell.</p> +<p>Through the shady garden and across the running brook, whose +waters this day murmured more sadly than 'twas their wont to do, +the funeral train had passed; and in the dark, moist earth, by the +side of many other still, pale sleepers, who offered no +remonstrance when among them another came, they had buried the +departed. From the windows of the homestead lights were gleaming, +and in the common sitting-room sat Ernest Hamilton, and by his side +his four motherless children. In the stuffed armchair, sacred for +the sake of one who had called it hers, reclined the black +bombazine and linen collar of Widow Carter!</p> +<p>She had, as she said, fully intended to return home immediately +after the burial, but there were so many little things to be seen +to, so much to be done, which Margaret, of course, did not feel +like doing, that she decided to stay until after supper, together +with Lenora, who had come to the funeral. When supper was over, and +there was no longer an excuse for lingering, she found, very +greatly to her surprise and chagrin, no doubt, that the clouds, +which all day had looked dark and angry, were now pouring rain.</p> +<p>"What shall I do?" she exclaimed in great apparent distress; +then stepping to the door of the sitting-room, she said, "Maggie, +dear, can you lend me an umbrella? It is raining very hard, and I +do not wish to go home without one; I will send it back +to-morrow."</p> +<p>"Certainly," answered Margaret. "Umbrella and overshoes, too;" +and rising, she left the room to procure them.</p> +<p>"But you surely are not going out in this storm," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Carrie, who really liked Mrs. Carter, and felt that +it would be more lonely when she was gone, exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, +don't leave us to-night, Mrs. Carter. Don't."</p> +<p>"Yes, I think I must," was the answer, while Mr. Hamilton +continued: "You had better stay; but if you insist upon going, I +will order the carriage, as you must not walk."</p> +<p>"Rather than put you to all that trouble, I will remain," said +Mrs. Carter; and when Mag returned with two umbrellas and two pairs +of overshoes, she found the widow comfortably seated in her +mother's armchair, while on the stool at her side sat Lenora +looking not unlike a little imp, with her wild, black face, and +short, thick curls.</p> +<p>Walter Hamilton had not had much opportunity for scanning the +face of Mrs. Carter, but now, as she sat there with the firelight +flickering over her features, he fancied that he could trace marks +of the treacherous deceit of which Mag had warned him; and when the +full black eyes rested upon Margaret he failed not to note the +glance of scorn which flashed from them, and which changed to a +look of affectionate regard the moment she saw she was observed. +"There is something wrong about her," thought he, "and the next +time I am alone with Mag I'll ask what it is she fears from this +woman."</p> +<p>That night, in the solitude of their room, mother and child +communed together as follows: "I do believe, mother, you are twin +sister to the old one himself. Why, who would have thought, when +first you made that <i>friendly</i> visit, that in five weeks time +both of us would be snugly ensconced in the best chamber of the +homestead?"</p> +<p>"If you think we are in the best chamber, you are greatly +mistaken," replied Mrs. Carter. "Margaret Hamilton has power enough +yet to keep us out of that. Didn't she look crestfallen though, +when she found I was going to stay, notwithstanding her very +disinterested offer of umbrellas and overshoes? But I'll pay it all +back when I become—"</p> +<p>"Mistress of the house," added Lenora. "Why not speak out +plainly? Or are you afraid the walls have ears, and that the +devoted Mrs. Carter's speeches would not sound well repeated? Oh, +how sanctimonious you did look to-day when you were talking pious +to Carrie! I actually had to force a sneeze, to keep from laughing +outright, though she, little simpleton, swallowed it all, and I +dare say wonders where you keep your wings! But really, mother, I +hope you don't intend to pet her so always, for 'twould be more +than it's worth to see it."</p> +<p>"I guess I know how to manage," returned Mrs. Carter. "There's +nothing will win a parent's affection so soon as to pet the +children."</p> +<p>"And so I suppose you expect Mr. Hamilton to pet <i>this</i> +beautiful child!" said Lenora, laughing loudly at the idea, and +waltzing back and forth before the mirror.</p> +<p>"Lenora! <i>behave!</i> I will not see you conduct so," said the +widow; to which the young lady replied, "Shut your eyes, and then +you can't!"</p> +<p>Meantime, an entirely different conversation was going on in +another part of the house, where sat Walter Hamilton, with his arm +thrown affectionately around, Mag, who briefly told of what she +feared would result from Mrs. Carter's intimacy at their house.</p> +<p>"Impossible!" said the young man, starting to his feet. +"Impossible! Our father has too much sense to marry again anyway, +and much more, to marry one so greatly inferior to our own dear +mother."</p> +<p>"I hope it may prove so," answered Mag; "but with all due +respect for our father, <i>you</i> know and I know that mother's +was the stronger mind, the controlling spirit, and now that she is +gone father will be more easily deceived."</p> +<p>Margaret told the truth; for her mother had possessed a strong, +intelligent mind, and was greatly the superior of her father, who, +as we have before remarked, was rather weak and easily flattered. +Always sincere himself in what he said, he could not believe that +other people were aught than what they seemed to be, and thus +oftentimes his confidence had been betrayed by those in whom he +trusted. As yet he had, of course, entertained no thought of ever +making Mrs. Carter his wife; but her society was agreeable, her +words and manner soothing, and when, on the day following the +burial, she actually took her departure, bag, baggage, Lenora, and +all, he felt how doubly lonely was the old homestead, and wondered +why she could not stay. There was room enough, and then Margaret +was too young to assume the duties of housekeeper. Other men in +similar circumstances had hired housekeepers, and why could not he? +He would speak to Mag about it that very night. But when evening +came, Walter, Carrie, and Willie all were present, and he found no +opportunity of seeing Margaret alone; neither did any occur until +after Walter had returned to college, which he did the week +following his mother's death.</p> +<p>That night the little parlor at the cottage where dwelt the +Widow Carter looked unusually snug and cozy. It was autumn, and as +the evenings were rather cool a cheerful wood fire was blazing on +the hearth. Before it stood a tasteful little workstand, near which +were seated Lenora and her mother, the one industriously knitting, +and the other occasionally touching the strings of her guitar, +which was suspended from her neck by a crimson ribbon. On the +sideboard stood a fruit dish loaded with red and golden apples, and +near it a basket filled with the rich purple grapes.</p> +<p>That day in the street Lenora had met Mr. Hamilton, who asked if +her mother would be at home that evening, saying he intended to +call for the purpose of settling the bill which he owed her for +services rendered to his family in their late affliction.</p> +<p>"When I once get him here, I will keep him as long as possible," +said Mrs. Carter; "and, Lenora, child, if he stays late, say till +nine o'clock, you had better go quietly to bed."</p> +<p>"Or into the next room, and listen," thought Lenora.</p> +<p>Seven o'clock came, and on the graveled walk there was heard the +sound of footsteps, and in a moment Ernest Hamilton stood in the +room, shaking the warm hand of the widow, who was delighted to see +him, but <i>so</i> sorry to find him looking pale and thin! +Rejecting a seat in the comfortable rocking-chair, which Lenora +pushed toward him, he proceeded at once to business, and taking +from his purse fifteen dollars, passed them toward Mrs. Carter, +asking if that would remunerate her for the three weeks' services +in his family.</p> +<p>But Mrs. Carter thrust them aside, saying, "Sit down, Mr. +Hamilton, sit down. I have a great deal to ask you about Maggie and +dear Carrie's health."</p> +<p>"And sweet little Willie," chimed in Lenora.</p> +<p>Accordingly Mr. Hamilton sat down, and so fast did Mrs. Carter +talk that the clock was pointing to half past eight ere he got +another chance to offer his bills. Then, with the look of a +much-injured woman, Mrs. Carter declined the money, saying, "Is it +possible, Mr. Hamilton, that you suppose my services can be bought! +What I did for your wife, I would do for any one who needed me, +though for but few could I entertain the same feelings I did for +her. Short as was our acquaintance, she seemed to me like a beloved +sister; and now that she is gone I feel that we have lost an +invaluable treasure—"</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Carter broke down entirely, and was obliged to raise +her cambric handkerchief to her eyes, while Lenora walked to the +window to conceal her emotions, whatever they might have been! When +the agitation of the company had somewhat subsided, Mr. Hamilton +again insisted, and again Mrs. Carter refused. At last, finding her +perfectly inexorable, he proceeded to express his warmest thanks +and deepest gratitude for what she had done, saying he should ever +feel indebted to her for her great kindness; then, as the clock +struck nine, he arose to go, in spite of Mrs. Carter's zealous +efforts to detain him longer.</p> +<p>"Call again," said she, as she lighted him to the door; "call +again and we will talk over old times when we were young, and lived +in New Haven!"</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton started, and looking her full in the face, +exclaimed, "Luella Blackburn! It is as I at first suspected; but +who would have thought it!"</p> +<p>"Yes—I am Luella," said Mrs. Carter; "though greatly +changed, I trust, from the Luella you once knew, and of whom even I +have no very pleasant reminiscences; but call again, and I will +tell you of many of your old classmates."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton would have gone almost anywhere for the sake of +hearing from his classmates, many of whom he greatly esteemed; and +as in this case the "anywhere" was only at Widow Carter's, the idea +was not altogether distasteful to him, and when he bade her good +night he was under a promise to call again soon. All hopes, +however, of procuring her for his housekeeper were given up, for if +she resented his offer of payment for what she had already done, +she surely would be doubly indignant at his last proposed plan. +After becoming convinced of this fact, it is a little strange how +suddenly he found that he did not need a housekeeper—that +Margaret, who before could not do at all, could now do very +well—as well as anybody. And Margaret did do well, both as +housekeeper and mother of little Willie, who seemed to have +transferred to her the affection he had borne for his mother.</p> +<p>At intervals during the autumn Mrs. Carter called, always giving +a world of good advice, patting Carrie's pale cheek, kissing +Willie, and then going away. But as none of her calls were ever +returned they gradually became less frequent, and as the winter +advanced ceased altogether; while Margaret, hearing nothing, and +seeing nothing, began to forget her fears, and to laugh at them as +having been groundless.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V1" id="CHAPTER_V1"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>KATE KIRBY.</h3> +<p>The little brooklet, which danced so merrily by the homestead +burial-place, and then flowed on in many graceful turns and +evolutions, finally lost itself in a glossy mill-pond, whose +waters, when the forest trees were stripped of their foliage, +gleamed and twinkled in the smoky autumn light, or lay cold and +still beneath the breath of winter. During this season of the year, +from the upper windows of the homestead the mill-pond was +discernible, together with a small red building which stood upon +its banks.</p> +<p>For many years this house had been occupied by Mr. Kirby, who +had been a schoolboy with Ernest Hamilton, and who, though +naturally intelligent, had never aspired to any higher employment +than that of being miller on the farm of his old friend. Three +years before our story opens Mr. Kirby had died, and a stranger had +been employed to take his place. Mrs. Kirby, however, was so much +attached to her woodland home and its forest scenery that she still +continued to occupy the low red house together with her daughter +Kate, who sighed for no better or more elegant home, although rumor +whispered that there was in store for her a far more costly +dwelling, than the "Homestead on the Hillside."</p> +<p>Currently was it reported that during Walter Hamilton's +vacations the winding footpath, which followed the course of the +streamlet down to the mill-pond, was trodden more frequently than +usual. The postmaster's wife, too, had hinted strongly of certain +ominous letters from New Haven, which regularly came, directed to +Kate, when Walter was not at home; so, putting together these two +facts, and adding to them the high estimation in which Mrs. Kirby +and her daughter were known to be held by the Hamiltons, it was +generally conceded that there could be no shadow of doubt +concerning the state of affairs between the heir apparent of the +old homestead and the daughter of the poor miller.</p> +<p>Kate was a universal favorite, and by nearly all was it thought +that in everything save money she was fully the equal of Walter +Hamilton. To a face and form of the most perfect beauty she added a +degree of intelligence and sparkling wit, which, in all the rides, +parties, and <i>fêtes</i> given by the young people of +Glenwood, caused her society to be chosen in preference to those +whose fathers counted their money by thousands.</p> +<p>A few there were who said that Kate's long intimacy with +Margaret Hamilton had made her proud; but in the rude dwellings and +crazy tenements which skirted the borders of Glenwood village was +many a blind old woman, and many a hoary-headed man, who in their +daily prayers remembered the beautiful Kate, the "fair forest +flower," who came so oft among them with her sweet young face and +gentle words. For Kate both Margaret and Carrie Hamilton already +felt a sisterly affection, while their father smiled graciously +upon her, secretly hoping, however, that his son would make a more +brilliant match, but resolving not to interfere if at last his +choice should fall upon her.</p> +<p>One afternoon, early in April, as Margaret sat in her chamber, +busy upon a piece of needlework, the door softly opened, and a mass +of bright chestnut curls became visible; next appeared the laughing +blue eyes; and finally the whole of Kate Kirby bounded into the +room saying, "Good afternoon, Maggie; are you very busy, and wish I +hadn't come?"</p> +<p>"I am never too busy to see you," answered Margaret, at the same +time pushing toward Kate the little ottoman on which she always sat +when in that room.</p> +<p>Kate took the proffered seat, and throwing aside her bonnet, +began with, "Maggie, I want to tell you something, though I don't +know as it is quite right to do so; still you may as well hear it +from me as any one."</p> +<p>"Do pray tell," answered Mag, "I am dying with curiosity."</p> +<p>So Kate smoothed down her black silk apron, twisted one of her +curls into a horridly ugly shape, and commenced with, "What kind of +a woman is that Mrs. Carter, down in the village?"</p> +<p>Instantly Margaret's suspicions were aroused, and starting as if +a serpent had stung her, she exclaimed, "Mrs. Carter! is it of her +you will tell me? She is a most dangerous woman—a woman whom +your mother would call a 'snake in the grass.'"</p> +<p>"Precisely so," answered Kate. "That is just what mother says of +her, and yet nearly all the village are ready to fall down and +worship her."</p> +<p>"Let them, then," said Mag; "I have no objections, provided they +keep their molten calf to themselves. No one wants her here. But +what is it about her?—tell me."</p> +<p>Briefly then Kate told her how Mr. Hamilton was, and for a long +time had been, in the habit of spending one evening every week with +Mrs. Carter; and that people, not without good cause, were already +pointing her out as the future mistress of the homestead.</p> +<p>"Never, never!" cried Mag vehemently. "Never shall she come +here. She our mother indeed! It shall not be, if I can prevent +it."</p> +<p>After a little further conversation, Kate departed, leaving Mag +to meditate upon the best means by which to avert the threatened +evil. What Kate had told her was true. Mr. Hamilton had so many +questions to ask concerning his old classmates, and Mrs. Carter had +so much to tell, that, though they had worked industriously all +winter, they were not through yet; neither would they be until Mrs. +Carter found herself again within the old homestead.</p> +<p>The night following Kate's visit Mag determined to speak with +her father; but immediately after tea he went out, saying he should +not return until nine o'clock. With a great effort Mag forced down +the angry words which she felt rising within her, and then seating +herself at her work she resolved to await his return. Not a word on +the subject did she say to Carrie, who retired to her room at +half-past eight, as was her usual custom. Alone now Margaret +waited. Nine, ten, eleven had been struck, and then into the +sitting-room came Mr. Hamilton, greatly astonished at finding his +daughter there.</p> +<p>"Why, Margaret," said he, "why are you sitting up so late?"</p> +<p>"If it is late for me, it is late for you," answered Margaret, +who, now that the trial had come, felt the awkwardness of the task +she had undertaken.</p> +<p>"But I had business," answered Mr. Hamilton; and Margaret, +looking him steadily in the face, asked:</p> +<p>"Is not your business of a nature which equally concerns us +all?"</p> +<p>A momentary flush passed over his features as he replied, "What +do you mean? I do not comprehend."</p> +<p>Hurriedly, and in broken sentences, Margaret told him what she +meant, and then tremblingly she waited for his answer. Frowning +angrily, he spoke to his daughter the first harsh words which had +ever passed his lips toward either of his children.</p> +<p>"Go to your room, and don't presume to interfere with me again. +I trust I am competent to attend to my own matters!"</p> +<p>Almost convulsively Margaret's arms closed round her father's +neck, as she said, "Don't speak so to me, father. You never did +before—never would now, but for <i>her</i>. Oh, father, +promise me, by the memory of my angel mother, never to see her +again. She is a base, designing woman."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton unwound his daughter's arms from his neck, and +speaking more gently, said, "What proof have you of that assertion? +Give me proof, and I promise to do your bidding."</p> +<p>But Mag had no such proof at hand, and she could only reiterate +her suspicions, her belief, which, of course, failed to convince +the biased man, who, rising, said: "Your mother confided and +trusted in her, so why should not you?"</p> +<p>The next moment Margaret was alone. For a long time she wept, +and it was not until the eastern horizon began to grow gray in the +morning twilight that she laid her head upon her pillow, and forgot +in sleep how unhappy she had been. Her words, however, were not +without their effect, for when the night came round on which her +father was accustomed to pay his weekly visit, he stayed at home, +spending the whole evening with his daughters, and appearing really +gratified at Margaret's efforts to entertain him. But, alas! the +chain of the widow was too firmly thrown around him for a +daughter's hand alone to sever the fast-bound links.</p> +<p>When the next Thursday evening came Mag was confined to her room +by a sick headache, from which she had been suffering all day. As +night approached she frequently asked if her father were below. At +last the front door opened, and she heard his step upon the piazza. +Starting up, she hurried to the window, while at the same moment +Mr. Hamilton paused, and raising his eyes saw the white face of his +daughter pressed against the window-pane as she looked imploringly +after him; but there was not enough of power in a single look to +deter him, and, wafting her a kiss, he turned away. Sadly Margaret +watched him until he disappeared down the long hill; then, +returning to her couch, she wept bitterly.</p> +<p>Meantime Mrs. Carter, who had been greatly chagrined at the +non-appearance of Mr. Hamilton the week before, was now confidently +expecting him. He had not yet asked her to be his wife, and the +delay somewhat annoyed both herself and Lenora.</p> +<p>"I declare, mother," said Lenora, "I should suppose you might +contrive up something to bring matters to a focus. I think it's +perfectly ridiculous to see two old crones, who ought to be +trotting their grandchildren, cooing and simpering away at each +other, and all for nothing, too."</p> +<p>"Can't you be easy awhile longer?" asked Mrs. Carter "hasn't he +said everything he can say except 'will you marry me?'"</p> +<p>"A very important question, too," returned Lenora; "and I don't +know what business you have to expect anything from him until it is +asked."</p> +<p>"Mr. Hamilton is proud," answered Mrs. Carter—"is afraid +of doing anything which might possibly lower him. Now, if by any +means I could make him believe that I had received an offer from +some one fully if not more than his equal, I think it would settle +the matter, and I've decided upon the following plan. I'll write a +proposal myself, sign old Judge B——'s name to it, and +next time Mr. Hamilton comes let him surprise me in reading it. +Then, as he is such a <i>dear</i>, long-tried friend, it will be +quite proper for me to confide in him, and ask his advice."</p> +<p>Lenora's eyes opened wider, as she exclaimed, "<i>My +gracious</i>! who but <i>you</i> would ever have thought of +that."</p> +<p>Accordingly the letter was written, sealed, directed, broken +open, laughed over, and laid away in the stand drawer.</p> +<p>"Mr. Hamilton, mother," said Lenora, as half an hour afterward +she ushered that gentleman into the room. But so wholly absorbed +was the black bombazine and linen collar in the contents of an open +letter, which she held in her hand, that the words were twice +repeated—"Mr. Hamilton, mother"—ere she raised her +eyes! Then coming forward with well-feigned confusion, she +apologized for not having observed him before, saying she was sure +he would excuse her if he knew the contents of her letter. Of +course he wanted to know, and of course she didn't want to tell. He +was too polite to urge her, and the conversation soon took another +channel.</p> +<p>After a time Lenora left the room, and Mrs. Carter, again +speaking of the letter, begged to make a confidant of Mr. Hamilton, +and ask his advice. He heard the letter read through, and after a +moment's silence asked, "Do you like him, Mrs. Carter?"</p> +<p>"Why—no—I don't think I do," said she, "but then the +widow's lot is so lonely."</p> +<p>"I know it is," sighed he, while through the keyhole of the +opposite door came something which sounded very much like a stifled +laugh! It was the hour of Ernest Hamilton's temptation, and but for +the remembrance of the sad, white face which had gazed so +sorrowfully at him from the window he had fallen. But Maggie's +presence seemed with him—her voice whispered in his ear, +"Don't do it, father, don't"—and he calmly answered that it +would be a good match. But he could not, no he could not advise her +to marry him; so he qualified what he had said by asking her not to +be in a hurry—to wait awhile. The laugh through the keyhole +was changed to a hiss, which Mrs. Carter said must be the wind, +although there was not enough stirring to move the rose bushes +which grew by the doorstep!</p> +<p>So much was Mr. Hamilton held in thrall by the widow that on his +way home he hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that he had not +proposed. If Judge B—— would marry her she surely was +good enough for him. Anon, too, he recalled her hesitation about +confessing that the judge was indifferent to her. Jealousy crept in +and completed what flattery and intrigue had commenced. One week +from that night Ernest Hamilton and Luella Carter were engaged, but +for appearance's sake their marriage was not to take place until +the ensuing autumn.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI1" id="CHAPTER_VI1"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>RAISING THE WIND.</h3> +<p>"Where are you going now?" asked Mrs. Carter of her daughter, as +she saw her preparing to go out one afternoon, a few weeks after +the engagement.</p> +<p>"Going to raise the wind," was the answer.</p> +<p>"Going to what?" exclaimed Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"To raise the wind! Are you deaf?" yelled Lenora.</p> +<p>"Raise the wind!" repeated Mrs. Carter; "what do you mean?"</p> +<p>"Mean what I say," said Lenora; and closing the door after her +she left her mother to wonder "what fresh mischief the little +torment was at."</p> +<p>But she was only going to make a <i>friendly</i> call on +Margaret and Carrie, the latter of whom she had heard was sick.</p> +<p>"Is Miss Hamilton at home?" asked she of the servant girl who +answered her ring, and whom she had never seen before.</p> +<p>"Yes, ma'am; walk in the parlor. What name shall I give her if +you please?"</p> +<p>"Miss Carter—Lenora Carter;" and the servant girl +departed, repeating to herself all the way up the stairs, "Miss +Carther—Lenora Carther!"</p> +<p>"Lenora Carter want to see me!" exclaimed Mag, who, together +with Kate Kirby, was in her sister's room.</p> +<p>"Yes, ma'am; an' sure 'twas Miss Hampleton she was wishin' to +see," said the Irish girl.</p> +<p>"Well, I shall not go down," answered Mag. "Tell her, Rachel, +that I am otherwise engaged."</p> +<p>"Oh, Maggie," said Carrie, "why not see her? I would if I were +you."</p> +<p>"Rachel can ask her up here if you wish it," answered Mag, "but +I shall leave the room."</p> +<p>"Faith, an' what shall I do?" asked Rachel, who was fresh from +"swate Ireland" and felt puzzled to know why a "silk frock and +smart bonnet" should not always be welcome. "Ask her up," answered +Kate. "I've never seen her nearer than across the church and have +some curiosity—"</p> +<p>A moment after Rachel thrust her head in at the parlor door, +saying, "If you please, ma'am, Miss Marget is engaged, and does not +want to see you, but Miss Carrie says you may come up there."</p> +<p>"Very well," said Lenora; and tripping after the servant girl, +she was soon in Carrie's room.</p> +<p>After retailing nearly all the gossip of which she was mistress, +she suddenly turned to Carrie, and said, "Did you know that your +father was going to be married?"</p> +<p>"My father going to be married!" said Carrie, opening her blue +eyes in astonishment. "My father going to be married! To whom +pray?"</p> +<p>"To a lady from the East—one whom he used to know and +flirt with when he was in college!" was Lenora's grave reply.</p> +<p>"What is her name?" asked Kate.</p> +<p>"Her name? Let me +see—Miss—Blackwell—Blackmer—<i>Blackheart</i>. +It sounds the most like Blackheart."</p> +<p>"What a queer name," said Kate; "but tell us what opportunity +has Mr. Hamilton had of renewing his early acquaintance with the +lady."</p> +<p>"Don't you know he's been East this winter?" asked Lenora.</p> +<p>"Yes, as far as Albany," answered Carrie.</p> +<p>"Well," continued Lenora, "'twas during his Eastern trip that +the matter was settled; but pray don't repeat it from me, except it +be to Maggie, who I dare say, will feel glad to be relieved of her +heavy responsibilities—but as I live, Carrie, you are crying! +What is the matter?"</p> +<p>But Carrie made no answer, and for a time wept on in silence. +She could not endure the thought that another would so soon take +the place of her lost mother in the household and in the affections +of her father. There was, besides, something exceedingly annoying +in the manner of her who communicated the intelligence, and +secretly Carrie felt glad that the dreaded "Miss Blackheart" had, +of course, no Lenora to bring with her!</p> +<p>"Do you know all this to be true?" asked Kate.</p> +<p>"Perfectly true," said Lenora. "We have friends living in the +vicinity of the lady, and there can be no mistake, except, indeed, +in the name, which I am not sure is right!"</p> +<p>Then hastily kissing Carrie, the little hussy went away, very +well satisfied with her afternoon's call. As soon as she was out of +hearing Margaret entered her sister's room, and on noticing +Carrie's flushed cheek and red eyes, inquired the cause. +Immediately Kate told her what Lenora had said, but instead of +weeping, as Carrie had done, she betrayed no emotion whatever.</p> +<p>"Why, Maggie, ain't you sorry?" asked Carrie.</p> +<p>"No, I am glad," returned Mag. "I've seen all along that sooner +or later father would make himself ridiculous, and I'd rather he'd +marry forty women from the East, than one woman not far from here +whom I know."</p> +<p>All that afternoon Mag tripped with unwonted gaiety about the +house. A weight was lifted from her heart, for in her estimation +any one whom her father would marry was preferable to Mrs. +Carter.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>Oh, how the widow scolded the daughter, and how the daughter +laughed at the widow, when she related the particulars of her +call.</p> +<p>"Lenora, what could have possessed you to tell such a lie?" said +Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"Not so fast, mother mine," answered Lenora. "'Twasn't a lie. +Mr. Hamilton <i>is</i> engaged to a lady from the East. He +<i>did</i> flirt with her in his younger days; and, pray, didn't he +have to come East when be called to inquire after his beloved +classmates, and ended by getting checkmated! Besides, I think you +ought to thank me for turning the channel of gossip in another +direction, for now you will be saved from all impertinent questions +and remarks."</p> +<p>This mode of reasoning failed to convince the widow, who felt +quite willing that people should know of her flattering prospects; +and when a few days after Mrs. Dr. Otis told her that Mrs. Kimball +said that Polly Larkins said that her hired girl told her that Mrs. +Kirby's hired girl told her that she overheard Miss Kate telling +her mother that Lenora Carter said that Mr. Hamilton was going to +be married to her mother's intimate friend, Mrs. Carter would have +denied the whole and probably divulged her own secret, had not +Lenora, who chanced to be present, declared, with the coolest +effrontery, that 'twas all true—that her mother had promised +to stand up with them, and so folks would find it to be if they did +not die of curiosity before autumn!</p> +<p>"Lenora, child, how can you talk so?" asked the distressed lady, +as the door closed upon her visitor.</p> +<p>Lenora went off into fits of explosive laughter, bounding up and +down like an india-rubber ball, and at last condescended to say, "I +know what I'm about. Do you want Mag Hamilton breaking up the +match, as she surely would do, between this and autumn, if she knew +it?"</p> +<p>"And what can she do?" asked Mrs. Carter.</p> +<p>"Why," returned Lenora, "can't she write to the place you came +from, if, indeed, such a spot can be found?—for I believe you +sometimes book yourself from one town and sometimes from another. +But depend upon it you had better take my advice and keep still, +and in the dénouement which follows, I alone shall be blamed +for a slight stretch of truth which you can easily excuse as 'one +of <i>dear</i> Lenora's silly, childish freaks!'"</p> +<p>Upon second thoughts, Mrs. Carter concluded to follow her +daughter's advice, and the next time Mr. Hamilton called, she +laughingly told the story which Lenora had set afloat, saying, by +way of excuse, that the dear girl did not like to hear her mother +joked on the subject of matrimony, and had turned the attention of +people another way.</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton hardly relished this, and half wished, mayhap, as, +indeed, gentlemen generally do in similar circumstances, that the +little "objection" in the shape of Lenora had never had existence, +or at least had never called the widow mother!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII1" id="CHAPTER_VII1"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>THE STEPMOTHER.</h3> +<p>Rapidly the summer was passing away, and as autumn drew near the +wise gossips of Glenwood began to whisper that the lady from the +East was in danger of being supplanted in her rights by the widow, +whose house Mr. Hamilton was known to visit two or three times each +week. But Lenora had always some plausible story on hand. "Mother +and the lady had been so intimate—in fact, more than once +rocked in the same cradle—and 'twas no wonder Mr. Hamilton +came often to a place where he could hear so much about her."</p> +<p>So when business again took Mr. Hamilton to Albany suspicion was +wholly lulled, and Walter, on his return from college, was told by +Mag that her fears concerning Mrs. Carter were groundless. During +the spring Carrie had been confined to her bed, but now she seemed +much better, and after Walter had been at home awhile he proposed +that he and his sisters should take a traveling excursion, going +first to Saratoga, thence to Lake Champlain and Montreal, and +returning home by way of Canada and the Falls, This plan Mr. +Hamilton warmly seconded, and when Carrie asked if he would not +feel lonely he answered, "Oh, no; Willie and I will do very well +while you are gone."</p> +<p>"But who will stay with Willie evenings, when you are away?" +asked Mag, looking her father steadily in the face.</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton colored slightly, but after a moment replied: "I +shall spend my evenings at home."</p> +<p>"'Twill be what he hasn't done for many a week," thought Mag, as +she again busied herself with her preparations.</p> +<p>The morning came at last on which our travelers were to leave. +Kate Kirby had been invited to accompany them, but her mother would +not consent. "It would give people too much chance for talk," she +said; so Kate was obliged to content herself with going as far as +the depot, and watching, until out of sight, the car which bore +them away.</p> +<p>Upon the piazza stood the little group, awaiting the arrival of +the carriage which was to convey them to the station. Mr. Hamilton +seemed unusually gloomy, and with folded arms paced up and down the +long piazza, rarely speaking or noticing any one.</p> +<p>"Are you sorry we are going, father?" asked Carrie, going up to +him. "If you are I will gladly stay with you."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton paused, and pushing back the fair hair from his +daughter's white brow, he kissed her tenderly, saying, "No, Carrie; +I want you to go. The journey will do you good, for you are getting +too much the look your poor mother used to wear."</p> +<p>Why thought he then of Carrie's mother? Was it because he knew +that ere his child returned to him another would be in that +mother's place? Anon, Margaret came near, and motioning Carrie +away, Mr. Hamilton took his other daughter's hand, and led her to +the end of the piazza, where could easily be seen the little +graveyard and tall white monument pointing toward the bright blue +sky where dwelt the one whose grave that costly marble marked.</p> +<p>Pointing out the spot to Margaret, he said, "Tell me truly, +Maggie, did you love your father or your mother best?"</p> +<p>Mag looked wonderingly at him a moment, and then replied, "While +mother lived I loved her more than you, but now that she is dead, I +think of and love you as both father and mother."</p> +<p>"And will you always love me thus?" asked he.</p> +<p>"Always," was Mag's reply, as she looked curiously in her +father's face, and thinking that he had not said what he intended +to when first he drew her there.</p> +<p>Just then the carriage drove up, and after a few good-bys and +parting words Ernest Hamilton's children were gone, and he was left +alone.</p> +<p>"Why didn't I tell her, as I intended to?" thought he. "Is it +because I fear her—fear my own child? No, it cannot +be—and yet there is that in her eye which sometimes makes me +quail, and which, if necessary, would keep at bay a dozen +stepmothers. But neither she, nor either one of them, has aught to +dread from Mrs. Carter, whose presence will, I think, be of great +benefit to us all, and whose gentle manners, I trust, will tend to +soften Mag!"</p> +<p>Meantime his children were discussing and wondering at the +strange mood of their father. Walter, however, took no part in the +conversation. He had lived longer than his sisters—had seen +more of human nature, and had his own suspicions with regard to +what would take place during their absence; but he could not spoil +all Margaret's happiness by telling her his thoughts, so he kept +them to himself, secretly resolving to make the best of whatever +might occur, and to advise Mag to do the same.</p> +<p>Now for a time we leave them, and take a look into the cottage +of Widow Carter, where, one September morning, about three weeks +after the departure of the Hamiltons, preparations were making for +some great event. In the kitchen a servant girl was busily at work, +while in the parlor Lenora was talking and the widow was +listening.</p> +<p>"Oh, mother," said Lenora, "isn't it so nice that they went away +just now? But won't Mag look daggers at us when she comes home and +finds us in quiet possession, and is told to call you +<i>mother</i>!"</p> +<p>"I never expect her to do that," answered Mrs. Carter. "The most +I can hope for is that she will call me Mrs. Hamilton."</p> +<p>"Now really, mother, if I were in Mag's place, I wouldn't please +you enough to say Mrs. Hamilton; I'd always call you Mrs. Carter," +said Lenora.</p> +<p>"How absurd!" was the reply; and Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"I know it's absurd, but I'd do it; though if she does, I, as +the dutiful child of a most worthy parent, shall feel compelled to +resent the insult by calling her father <i>Mr. Carter</i>!"</p> +<p>By this time Mrs. Carter was needed in the kitchen; so, leaving +Lenora, who at once was the pest and torment of her mother's life, +we will go into the village and see what effect the approaching +nuptials was producing. It was now generally known that the "lady +from the East" who had been "rocked in Mrs. Carter's cradle," was +none other than Mrs. Carter herself, and many were the reproving +looks which the people had cast toward Lenora for the trick she had +put upon them. The little hussy only laughed at them +good-humoredly, telling them they were angry because she had +cheated them out of five months' gossip, and that if her mother +could have had her way, she would have sent the news to the +<i>Herald</i> and had it inserted under the head of "Awful +Catastrophe!" Thus Mrs. Carter was exonerated from all blame; but +many a wise old lady shook her head, saying, "How strange that so +fine a woman as Mrs. Carter should have such a reprobate of a +daughter."</p> +<p>When, this remark came to Lenora's ears she cut numerous +flourishes, which ended in the upsetting of a bowl of starch on her +mother's new black silk; then dancing before the highly indignant +lady, she said, "Perhaps if they knew what a scapegrace you +represent my father to have been, and how you whipped me once to +make me say I saw him strike you, when I never did, they would +wonder at my being as good as I am."</p> +<p>Mrs. Carter was too furious to venture a verbal reply; so +seizing the starch bowl she hurled it with the remainder of the +contents at the head of the little vixen, who, with an elastic +bound not entirely unlike a somersault dodged the missile, which +passed on and fell upon the hearthrug.</p> +<p>This is but one of a series of similar scenes which occurred +between the widow and her child before the happy day arrived when, +in the presence of a select few of the villagers, Luella Carter was +transformed into Luella Hamilton. The ceremony was scarcely over +when Mr. Hamilton, who for a few days had been rather indisposed, +complained of feeling sick. Immediately Lenora, with a sidelong +glance at her mother, exclaimed, "What, sick of your bargain so +quick? It's sooner even than <i>I</i> thought 'twould be, and I'm +sure I'm capable of judging."</p> +<p>"Dear Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, turning toward one of her +neighbors, "she has such a flow of spirits that I am afraid Mr. +Hamilton will find her troublesome."</p> +<p>"Don't be alarmed, mother; he'll never think of me when you are +around," was Lenora's reply in which Mrs. Carter saw more than one +meaning.</p> +<p>That evening the bridal party repaired to the homestead, where, +at Mr. Hamilton's request, Mrs. Kirby was waiting to receive them. +Willie had been told by the servants that his mother was coming +home that night, and, with the trusting faith of childhood, he had +drawn a chair to the window from which he could see his mother's +grave; and there for more than an hour he watched for the first +indications of her coming, saying occasionally, "Oh, I wish she'd +come. Willie's so sorry here."</p> +<p>At last growing weary and discouraged, he turned away and said, +"No, ma'll never come home again; Maggie said she wouldn't."</p> +<p>Upon the carriage road which wound from the street to the house +there was the sound of coming wheels, and Rachel, seizing Willie, +bore him to the front door, exclaiming, "An' faith, Willie, don't +you see her? That's your mother, honey, with the black gown."</p> +<p>But Willie saw only the wild eyes of Lenora, who caught him in +her arms, overwhelming him with caresses. "Let me go, Leno," said +he, "I want to see my ma. Where is she?"</p> +<p>A smile of scorn curled Lenora's lips as she released him, and +leading him toward her mother, she said, "There she is; there's +your ma. Now hold up your head and make a bow."</p> +<p>Willie's lip quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and hiding +his face in his apron, he sobbed, "I want my own ma—the one +they shut up in a big black box. Where is she, Leno?"</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton took Willie on his knee, and tried to explain to +him how that now his own mother was dead, he had got a new one, who +would love him and be kind to him. Then putting him down, he said, +"Go, my son, and speak to her, won't you?"</p> +<p>Willie advanced rather cautiously toward the black silk figure, +which reached out its hand, saying, "Dear Willie, you'll love me a +little, won't you?"</p> +<p>"Yes, if you are good to me," was the answer, which made the new +stepmother mentally exclaim, "A young rebel, I know," while Lenora, +bending between the two, whispered emphatically:</p> +<p>"She <i>shall</i> be good to you!"</p> +<p>And soon, in due order, the servants were presented to their new +mistress. Some were disposed to like her, others eyed her askance, +and old Polly Pepper, the black cook, who had been in the family +ever since Mr. Hamilton's first marriage, returned her salutation +rather gruffly, and then, stalking back to the kitchen, muttered +to, those who followed her, "I don't like her face nohow; she looks +just like the milk snakes, when they stick their heads in at the +door."</p> +<p>"But you knew how she looked before," said Lucy, the +chambermaid.</p> +<p>"I know it," returned Polly; "but when she was here nussin' I +never noticed <i>her</i>, more I would any on you; for who'd of +thought that Mr. Hamilton would marry her, when he knows, or or'to +know, that nusses ain't fust cut, nohow; and you may depend on't, +things ain't a-goin' to be here as they used to be."</p> +<p>Here Rachel started up, and related the circumstance of +Margaret's refusing to see "that little evil-eyed-lookin-varmint, +with curls almost like Polly's." Lucy, too, suddenly remembered +something which she had seen, or heard, or made up—so that +Mrs. Carter had not been an hour in the coveted homestead ere there +was mutiny against her afloat in the kitchen; "But," said Aunt +Polly, "I 'vises you all to be civil till she sasses you fust!"</p> +<p>"My dear, what room can Lenora have for her own?" asked Mrs. +Hamilton, as we must now call her, the morning following her +marriage.</p> +<p>"Why, really, I don't know," answered the husband; "you must +suit yourselves with regard to that."</p> +<p>"Yes; but I'd rather you'd select, and then no one can blame +me," was the answer.</p> +<p>"Choose any room you please, except the one which Mag and Carrie +now occupy, and rest assured you shall not be blamed," said Mr. +Hamilton.</p> +<p>The night before Lenora had appropriated to herself the best +chamber, but the room was so large and so far distant from any one, +and the windows and fireboard rattled so, that she felt afraid, and +did not care to repeat her experiment.</p> +<p>"I 'clar for't!" said Polly, when she heard of it. "Gone right +into the best bed, where even Miss Margaret never goes! What are we +all comin' to? Tell her, Luce, the story of the ghosts, and I'll be +bound she'll make herself scarce in them rooms!"</p> +<p>"Tell her yourself," said Lucy; and when, after breakfast, +Lenora, anxious to spy out everything, appeared in the kitchen, +Aunt Polly called out, "Did you hear anything last night, Miss +Lenora?"</p> +<p>"Why, yes—I heard the windows rattle," was the answer; and +Aunt Polly, with an ominous shake of the head, continued:</p> +<p>"There's more than windows rattle, I guess. Didn't you see +nothin', all white and corpse-like, go a-whizzin, and rappin' by +your bed?"</p> +<p>"Why, no," said Lenora; "what do you mean?"</p> +<p>So Polly told her of the ghosts and goblins which nightly ranged +the two chambers over the front and back parlors. Lenora said +nothing, but she secretly resolved not to venture again after dark +into the haunted portion of the house. But where should she sleep? +That was now the important question. Adjoining the sitting-room was +a pleasant, cozy little place, which Margaret called her +music-room. In it she kept her piano, her music stand, books, and +several fine plants, besides numerous other little conveniences. At +the end of this room was a large closet where, at different seasons +of the year, Mag hung away the articles of clothing which she and +her sister did not need.</p> +<p>Toward this place Lenora turned her eyes; for, besides being +unusually pleasant, it was also very near her mother, whose +sleeping-room joined, though it did not communicate with it. +Accordingly, before noon the piano was removed to the parlor; the +plants were placed, some on the piazza, and some in the +sitting-room window, while Margaret and Carrie's dresses were +removed to the closet of their room, which chanced to be a trifle +too small to hold them all conveniently; so they were crowded one +above the other, and left for "the girls to see to when they came +home!"</p> +<p>In perfect horror Aunt Polly looked on, regretting for once the +ghost story which she had told.</p> +<p>"Why don't you take the chamber jinin' the young ladies? that +ain't haunted," said she, when they sent for her to help move the +piano. "Miss Margaret won't thank you for scattern' her +things."</p> +<p>"You've nothing to do with Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton; "you've +only to attend to your own matters."</p> +<p>"Wonder then what I'm up here for a-h'istin this pianner," +muttered Polly. "This ain't my matters, sartin'."</p> +<p>When Mr. Hamilton came in to dinner he was shown the little room +with its single bed, tiny bureau, silken lounge and easy chair, of +which the last two were Mag's especial property.</p> +<p>"All very nice," said he, "but where is Mag's piano?"</p> +<p>"In the parlor," answered his wife. "People often ask for music, +and it is more convenient to have it there than to come across the +hall and through the sitting-room."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton said nothing, but he secretly wished Mag's rights +had not been invaded quite so soon. His wife must have guessed as +much; for, laying her hand on his, she, with the utmost deference, +offered to undo all she had done, if it did not please him.</p> +<p>"Certainly not—certainly not; it does please me," said he; +while Polly, who stood on the cellar stairs listening, exclaimed, +"What a fool a woman can make of a man!"</p> +<p>Three days after Mr. Hamilton's marriage he received a letter +from Walter, saying that they would be at home on the Thursday +night following. Willie was in, ecstasies, for though as yet he +liked his new mother tolerably well, he still loved Maggie better; +and the thought of seeing her again made him wild with delight. All +day long on Thursday he sat in the doorway, listening for the +shrill cry of the train which was to bring her home.</p> +<p>"Don't you love Maggie?" said he to Lenora, who chanced to pass +him.</p> +<p>"Don't I love Maggie? No, I don't; neither does she love me," +was the answer.</p> +<p>Willie was puzzled to know why any one should not like Mag; but +his confidence in her was not at all shaken, and when, soon after +sunset, Lenora cried, "There, they've come," he rushed to the door, +and was soon in the arms of his sister-mother. Pressing his lips to +hers, he said, "Did you 'know I'd got a new mother? Mrs. Carter and +Leno—they are in there," pointing toward the parlor.</p> +<p>Instantly Mag dropped him. It was the first intimation of her +father's marriage which she had received, and reeling backward, she +would have fallen had not Walter supported her. Quickly rallying, +she advanced toward her father, who came to meet her, and whose +hand trembled in her grasp. After greeting each of his children he +turned to present them to <i>his wife</i>, wisely taking Carrie +first. She was not prejudiced, like Mag, and returned her +stepmother's salutation with something like affection, for which +Lenora rewarded her by terming her a "little simpleton."</p> +<p>But Mag—she who had warned her father against that +woman—she who on her knees had begged him not to marry +her—she had no word of welcome, and when Mrs. Hamilton +offered her hand she affected not to see it, though with the most +frigid politeness she said, "Good evening, madam; this is, indeed, +a surprise!"</p> +<p>"And not a very pleasant one, either, I imagine," whispered +Lenora to Carrie.</p> +<p>Walter came last, and though he took the lady's hand, there was +something in his manner which plainly said she was not wanted +there. Tea was now announced, and Mag bit her lip when, she saw her +accustomed seat occupied by another.</p> +<p>Feigning to recollect herself, Mrs. Hamilton, in the blandest +tones, said, "Perhaps, dear Maggie, you would prefer this +seat?"</p> +<p>"Of course not," said Mag, while Lenora thought to herself:</p> +<p>"And if she does, I wonder what good it will do?"</p> +<p>That young lady, however, made no remarks, for Walter Hamilton's +searching eyes were upon her and kept her silent. After tea, Walter +said, "Come, Mag, I have not heard your piano in a long time. Give +us some music."</p> +<p>Mag arose to comply with his wishes, but ere she had reached the +door Mrs. Hamilton gently detained her, saying, "Maggie, dear, +Lenora has always slept near me, and as I knew you would not +object, if you were here, I took the liberty to remove your piano +to the parlor, and to fit this up for Lenora's sleeping-room. +See"—and she threw open the door, disclosing the +metamorphose, while Willie, who began to get an inkling of matters, +and who always called the piazza "outdoors," chimed in, "And they +throw'd your little trees outdoors, too!"</p> +<p>Mag stood for a moment, mute with astonishment; then thinking +she could not "do the subject justice," she turned silently away. A +roguish smile from Walter met her eye, but she did not laugh, +until, with Carrie, she repaired to her own room, and tried to put +something in the closet. Then coming upon the pile of extra +clothes, she exclaimed, "What in the world! Here's all our winter +clothing, and, as I live, five dresses crammed upon one nail! We'll +have to move to the barn next!"</p> +<p>This was too much, and sitting down, Mag cried and laughed +alternately.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII1" id="CHAPTER_VIII1"></a>CHAPTER +VIII.</h2> +<h3>DOMESTIC LIFE AT THE HOMESTEAD.</h3> +<p>For a few weeks after Margaret's return matters at the Homestead +glided on smoothly enough, but at the end of that time Mrs. +Hamilton began to reveal her real character. Carrie's journey had +not been as beneficial as her father had hoped it would be, and as +the days grew colder she complained of extreme languor and a severe +pain in her side, and at last kept her room entirely, +notwithstanding the numerous hints from her stepmother that it was +no small trouble to carry so many dishes up and down stairs three +times a day.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton was naturally very stirring and active, and in +spite of her remarkable skill in nursing, she felt exceedingly +annoyed when any of her own family were ill. She fancied, too, that +Carrie was feigning all her bad feelings, and that she would be +much better if she exerted herself more. Accordingly, one afternoon +when Mag was gone, she repaired to Carrie's room, giving vent to +her opinion as follows: "Carrie," said she (she now dropped the +<i>dear</i> when Mr. Hamilton was not by), "Carrie, I shouldn't +suppose you'd ever expect to get well, so long as you stay moped up +here all day. You ought to come down-stairs, and stir around +more."</p> +<p>"Oh, I should be so glad if I could," answered Carrie.</p> +<p>"Could!" repeated Mrs. Hamilton; "you could if you would. Now, +it's my opinion that you complain altogether too much, and fancy +you are a great deal worse than you really are, when all you want +is exercise. A short walk on the piazza, and a little fresh air +each, morning, would soon cure you."</p> +<p>"I know fresh air does me good," said Carrie; "but walking makes +my side ache so hard, and makes me cough so, that Maggie thinks I'd +better not."</p> +<p>Mag, quoted as authority, exasperated Mrs. Hamilton who replied +rather sharply, "Fudge on Mag's old-maidish whims! I know that any +one who eats as much as you do can't be so very weak!"</p> +<p>"I don't eat half you send me," said poor Carrie, beginning to +cry at her mother's unkind remarks; "Willie 'most always comes up +here and eats with me."</p> +<p>"For mercy's sake, mother, let the child have what she wants to +eat, for 'tisn't long she'll need it," said Lenora, suddenly +appearing in the room.</p> +<p>"Lenora, go right down; you are not wanted here," said Mrs. +Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Neither are you, I fancy," was Lenora's reply, as she coolly +seated herself on the foot of Carrie's bed, while her mother +continued:</p> +<p>"Really, Carrie, you must try and come down to your meals, for +you have no idea how much it hinders the work, to bring them up +here. Polly isn't good for anything until she has conjured up +something extra for your breakfast, and then they break so many +dishes!"</p> +<p>"I'll try to come down to-morrow," said Carrie meekly; and as +the door-bell just then rang Mrs. Hamilton departed, leaving her +with Lenora, whose first exclamation was:</p> +<p>"If I were in your place, Carrie, I wouldn't eat anything, and +die quick."</p> +<p>"I don't want to die," said Carrie; and Lenora, clapping her +hands together, replied:</p> +<p>"Why, you poor little innocent, who supposed you did? Nobody +wants to die not even <i>I</i>, good as I am; but I should expect +to, if I had the consumption."</p> +<p>"Lenora, have I got the consumption?" asked Carrie, fixing her +eyes with mournful earnestness upon her companion, who +thoughtlessly replied:</p> +<p>"To be sure you have. They say one lung is entirely gone and the +other nearly so."</p> +<p>Wearily the sick girl turned upon her side; and, resting her +dimpled cheek upon her hand, she said softly, "Go away now, Lenora; +I want to be alone."</p> +<p>Lenora complied, and when Margaret returned from the village she +found her sister lying in the same position in which Lenora had +left her, with her fair hair falling over her face, which it hid +from view.</p> +<p>"Are you asleep, Carrie?" said Mag; but Carrie made no answer, +and there was something so still and motionless in her repose that +Mag went up to her, and pushing back from her face the long silken +hair, saw that she had fainted.</p> +<p>The excitement of her stepmother's visit, added to the startling +news which Lenora had told her, was too much for her weak nerves, +and for a time she remained insensible. At length, rousing herself, +she looked dreamily around, saying, "Was it a dream, Maggie—- +all a dream?"</p> +<p>"Was what a dream, love?" said Margaret, supporting her sister's +head upon her bosom.</p> +<p>Suddenly Carrie remembered the whole, but she resolved not to +tell of her stepmother's visit, though she earnestly desired to +know if what Lenora had told her were true. Raising herself, so +that she could see Margaret's face, she said, "Maggie, is there no +hope for me; and do the physicians say I must die?"</p> +<p>"Why, what do you mean? I never knew that they said so," +answered Mag; and then with breathless indignation she listened, +while Carrie told her what Lenora had said. "I'll see that she +doesn't get in here again," said Margaret. "I know she made more +than half of that up; for, though the physicians say you lungs are +very much diseased, they have never saw that you could not +recover."</p> +<p>The next morning, greatly to Mag's astonishment Carrie insisted +upon going down to breakfast.</p> +<p>"Why, you must not do it; you are not able," said Mag. But +Carrie was determined; and, wrapping herself in her thick shawl, +she slowly descended the stay though the cold air in the long hall +made her shiver.</p> +<p>"Carrie, dear, you are better this morning, and there is quite a +rosy flush on your cheek," said Mrs. Hamilton, rising to meet her. +<i>(Mr.</i> Hamilton, be it remembered, was present.) But Carrie +shrank instinctively from her stepmother's advances, and took her +seat by the side of her father. After breakfast Mag remembered that +she had an errand in the village, and Carrie, who felt too weary to +return immediately to her room, said she would wait below until her +sister returned. Mag had been gone but a few moments when Mrs. +Hamilton, opening the outer door, called to Lenora, saying, "Come +and take a few turns on the piazza with Carrie. The air is bracing +this morning, and will do her good."</p> +<p>Willie, who was present, cried out, "No—Carrie is sick; +she can't walk—Maggie said she couldn't," and he grasped his +sister's hand to hold her. With a not very gentle jerk Mrs. +Hamilton pulled him off, while Lenora, who came bobbing and +bounding into the room, took Carrie's arm, saying.</p> +<p>"Oh, yes, I'll walk with you; shall we have a hop, skip, or +jump?"</p> +<p>"Don't, don't!" said Carrie, holding back; "I can't walk fast, +Lenora," and actuated by some sudden impulse of kindness, Lenora +conformed her steps to those of the invalid. Twice they walked up +and down the piazza, and were about turning for the third time, +when Carrie, clasping her hand over her side, exclaimed, "No, no; I +can't go again."</p> +<p>Little Willie, who fancied that his sister was being hurt, +sprang toward Lenora, saying, "Leno, you mustn't hurt Carrie. Let +her go; she's sick."</p> +<p>And now to the scene of action came Dame Hamilton, and seizing +her young stepson, she tore him away from Lenora, administering at +the same time a bit of a motherly shake. Willie's blood was up, and +in return he dealt her a blow, for which she rewarded him by +another shake, and by tying him to the table.</p> +<p>That Lenora was not all bad was shown by the unselfish affection +she ever manifested for Willie, although her untimely interference +between him and her mother oftentimes made matters worse. Thus, on +the occasion of which we have been speaking, Mrs. Hamilton had +scarcely left the room ere Lenora released Willie from his +confinement, thereby giving him the impression that his mother +alone was to blame. Fortunately, however, Margaret's judgment was +better, and though she felt justly indignant at the cruelty +practised upon poor Carrie, she could not uphold Willie in striking +his mother. Calling him to her room, she talked to him until he was +wholly softened, and offered, of his own accord, to go and say he +was sorry, provided Maggie would accompany him as far as the door +of the sitting-room, where his mother would probably be found. +Accordingly, Mag descended the stairs with him, and meeting Lenora +in the hall, said, "Is she in the sitting-room?"</p> +<p>"Is <i>she</i> in the sitting-room?" repeated Lenora; "and pray +who may <i>she</i> be?" then quick as thought she added, "Oh, yes, +I know. She is in there telling HE!"</p> +<p>Lenora was right in her conjecture, for Mrs. Hamilton, greatly +enraged at Willie's presumption in striking her, and still more +provoked at him for untying himself, as she supposed he had, was +laying before her husband quite an aggravated case of assault and +battery.</p> +<p>In the midst of her argument Willie entered the room, with +tear-stained eyes, and without noticing the presence of his father, +went directly to his mother, and burying his face in her lap, +sobbed out, "Willie is sorry he struck you, and will never do so +again, if you will forgive him."</p> +<p>In a much gentler tone than she would have assumed had not her +husband been present, Mrs. Hamilton replied, "I can forgive you for +striking me, Willie, but what have you to say about untying +yourself?"</p> +<p>"I didn't do it," said Willie; "Leno did that."</p> +<p>"Be careful what you say," returned Mrs. Hamilton. "I can't +believe Lenora would do so."</p> +<p>Ere Willie had time to repeat his assertion Lenora, who all the +time had been standing by the door, appeared, saying, "You may +believe him, for he has never been whipped to make him lie. I did +do it, and I would do it again."</p> +<p>"Lenora," said Mr. Hamilton, rather sternly, "you should not +interfere in that manner. You will spoil the child."</p> +<p>It was the first time he had presumed to reprove his +stepdaughter, and as there was nothing on earth which Mrs. Hamilton +so much feared as Lenora's tongue, she dreaded the disclosures +which further remark from her husband might call forth. So, +assuming an air of great distress, she said, "Leave her to me, my +dear. She is a strange girl, as I always told you, and no one can +manage her as well as myself." Then kissing Willie in token of +forgiveness, she left the room, drawing Lenora after her and +whispering fiercely in her ear, "How can you ever expect to succeed +with the son, if you show off this way before the father."</p> +<p>With a mocking laugh Lenora replied, "Pshaw! I gave that up the +first time I ever saw him, for of course he thinks me a second +edition of Mrs. Carter, minus any improvements. But he's mistaken; +I'm not half as bad as I seem. I'm only what you've made me."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton turned away, thinking that if her daughter could +so easily give up Walter Hamilton, <i>she</i> would not. She was +resolved upon an alliance between him and Lenora. And who ever knew +<i>her</i> to fail in what she undertook?</p> +<p>She had wrung from her husband the confession that "he believed +there was a sort of childish affection between Walter and Kate +Kirby, though 'twas doubtful whether it ever amounted to anything." +She had also learned that he was rather averse to the match, and +though Lenora had not yet been named as a substitute for Kate, she +strove in many ways to impress her husband with a sense of her +daughter's superior abilities, at the same time taking pains to +mortify Margaret by setting Lenora above her.</p> +<p>For this, however, Margaret cared but little, and it was only +when her mother ill-treated Willie, which she frequently did, that +her spirit was fully roused.</p> +<p>At Mrs. Hamilton's first marriage she had been presented with a +handsome glass pitcher, which she of course greatly prized. One day +it stood upon the stand in her room, where Willie was also playing +with some spools which Lenora had found and arranged for him. +Malta, the pet kitten, was amusing herself by running after the +spools, and when at last Willie, becoming tired, laid them on the +stand, she sprang toward them, upsetting the pitcher, which was +broken in a dozen pieces. On hearing the crash Mrs. Hamilton +hastened toward the room, where the sight of her favorite pitcher +in fragments greatly enraged her. Thinking, of course, that Willie +had done it, she rudely seized him by the arm, administered a cuff +or so, and then dragged him toward the china closet.</p> +<p>As soon as Willie could regain his breath he screamed, "Oh ma, +don't shut me up; I'll be good; I didn't do it, certain true; +kittie knocked it off."</p> +<p>"None of your lies," said Mrs. Hamilton. "It's likely kittie +knocked it off!"</p> +<p>Lenora, who had seen the whole, and knew that what Willie said +was true, was about coming to the rescue, when looking up, she saw +Margaret, with dilated nostrils and eyes flashing fire watching the +proceedings of her stepmother.</p> +<p>"He's safe," thought Lenora; "I'll let Mag fire the first gun, +and then I'll bring up the rear."</p> +<p>Margaret had never known Willie to tell a lie, and had no reason +for thinking he had done so in this instance. Besides, the blows +her mother gave him exasperated her, and she stepped forward just +as Mrs. Hamilton was about pushing him into the closet. So +engrossed was that lady that she heard not Margaret's approach +until a firm hand was laid upon her shoulder while Willie was +violently wrested from her grasp, and ere she could recover from +her astonishment she herself was pushed into the closet, the door +of which was closed and locked against her.</p> +<p>"Bravo, Margaret Hamilton," cried Lenora, "I'm with you now, if +I never was before. It serves her right, for Willie told the truth. +I was sitting by and saw it all. Keep her in there an hour, will +you? It will pay her for the many times she has shut me up for +nothing."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton stamped and pushed against the door, while Lenora +danced and sang at the top of her voice:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"My dear precious mother got wrathy one +day<br /></span> <span class="i2">And seized little Will by the +hair;<br /></span> <span>But when in the closet she'd stow him +away,<br /></span> <span class="i2">She herself was pushed headlong +in there."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>At length the bolt, yielding to the continued pressure of Mrs. +Hamilton's body, broke, and out came the termagant, foaming with +rage. She dared not molest Margaret, of whose physical powers she +had just received such mortifying proof, so she aimed a box at the +ears of Lenora. But the lithe little thing dodged it, and with one +bound cleared the table which sat in the center of the room, +landing safely on the other side; and then, shaking her short, +black curls at her mother, she said, "You didn't come it, that +time, my darling."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton, who chanced to be absent for a few days, was, on +his return, regaled with an exaggerated account of the proceeding, +his wife ending her discourse by saying: "If you don't do something +with your upstart daughter I'll leave the house; yes, I will."</p> +<p>Mr. Hamilton was cowardly. He was afraid of his wife, and he was +afraid of Mag. So he tried to compromise the matter by promising +the one that he surely would see to it, and by asking the other if +she were not ashamed. But old Polly didn't let the matter pass so +easily. She was greatly shocked at having "such shameful carryin's +on in a decent man's house."</p> +<p>"'Clare for't," said she, "I'll give marster a piece of Polly +Pepper's mind the fust time I get a lick at him."</p> +<p>In the course of a few days Mr. Hamilton had occasion to go for +something into Aunt Polly's dominions. The old lady was ready for +him. "Mr. Hampleton," said she, "I've been waitin' to see you this +long spell."</p> +<p>"To see me, Polly?" said he; "what do you want?"</p> +<p>"What I wants is this," answered Polly, dropping into a chair. +"I want to know what this house is a comin' to, with such +bedivilment in it as there's been since madam came here with that +little black-headed, ugly-favored, ill-begotten, Satan-possessed, +shoulder-unj'inted young one of her'n. It's been nothin' but a +rowdadow the whole time, and you hain't grit enough to stop it. +Madam boxes Willie, and undertakes to shet him up for a lie he +never told; Miss Margaret interferes jest as she or'to, takes +Willie away, and shets up madam; while that ill-marnered Lenora +jumps and screeches loud enough to wake the dead. Madam busts the +door down, and pitches into the varmint, who jumps spang over a +four-foot table, which Lord knows <i>I</i> never could have done in +my spryest days."</p> +<p>"But how can I help all this?" asked Mr. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Help it?" returned Polly. "You needn't have got into the fire +in the fust place. I hain't lived fifty-odd year for nothin', and +though I hain't no larnin', I know too much to heave myself away on +the fust nussin' woman that comes along."</p> +<p>"Stop, Polly; you must not speak so of Mrs. Hamilton," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Polly continued:</p> +<p>"And I wouldn't nuther, if she could hold a candle to the +t'other one; but she can't. You'd no business to marry a second +time, even if you didn't marry a nuss; neither has any man who's +got grow'd-up gals, and a faithful critter like Polly in the +kitchen. Stepmothers don't often do well, particularly them as is +sot up by marryin'."</p> +<p>Here Mr. Hamilton, who did not like to hear so much truth, left +the kitchen, while Aunt Polly said to herself, "I've gin it to him +good, this time."</p> +<p>Lenora, who always happened to be near when she was talked +about, had overheard the whole, and repeated it to her mother. +Accordingly, that very afternoon word came to the kitchen that Mrs. +Hamilton wished to see Polly.</p> +<p>"Reckon she'll find this child ain't afeared on her," said +Polly, as she wiped the flour from her face and repaired to Mrs. +Hamilton's room.</p> +<p>"Polly," began that lady, with a very grave face, "Lenora tells +me that you have been talking very disrespectfully to Mr. +Hamilton."</p> +<p>"In the name of the Lord, can't he fight his own battles?" +interrupted Polly. "I only tried to show him that he was +henpecked—and he is."</p> +<p>"It isn't of him alone I would speak," resumed Mrs. Hamilton, +with stately gravity; "you spoke insultingly of me, and as I make +it a practise never to keep a servant after they get insolent, I +have——"</p> +<p>"For the dear Lord's sake," again interrupted Polly, "I 'spect +we's the fust servants you ever had."</p> +<p>"Good!" said a voice from some quarter, and Mrs. Hamilton +continued: "I have sent for you to give you twenty-four hours' +warning to leave this house."</p> +<p>"I shan't budge an inch until marster says so," said Polly. +"Wonder who's the best title deed here? Warn't I here long afore +you come a nussin' t'other one?"</p> +<p>And Polly went back to the kitchen, secretly fearing that Mr. +Hamilton, who she knew was wholly ruled by his wife, would say that +she must go. And he did say so, though much against his will. +Lenora ran with the decision, to Aunt Polly, causing her to drop a +loaf of new bread. But the old negress chased her from the cellar +with the oven broom, and then stealing by a back staircase to +Margaret's room, laid the case before her, acknowledging that she +was sorry and asking her young mistress to intercede for her. +Margaret stepped to the head of the stairs, and calling to her +father, requested him to come for a moment to her room. This he was +more ready to do, as he had no suspicion why he was sent for, but +on seeing old Polly, he half-resolved to turn back. Margaret, +however, led him into the room, and then entreated him not to send +away one who had served him so long and so faithfully.</p> +<p>Polly, too, joined in with her tears and prayers, saying, "She +was an old black fool anyway, and let her tongue get the better on +her, though she didn't mean to say more than was true, and reckoned +she hadn't."</p> +<p>In his heart Mr. Hamilton wished to revoke what he had said, but +dread of the explosive storm which he knew would surely follow made +him irresolute, until Carrie said, "Father, the first person of +whom I have any definite recollection is Aunt Polly, and I shall be +so lonesome if she goes away. For my sake let her stay, at least +until I am dead."</p> +<p>This decided the matter. "She <i>shall</i> stay," said Mr. +Hamilton, and Aunt Polly, highly elated, returned to the kitchen +with the news. Lenora, who seemed to be everywhere at once, +overheard it, and, bent on mischief, ran with it to her mother. In +the meantime Mr. Hamilton wished, yet dreaded, to go down, and +finally, mentally cursing himself for his weakness, asked Margaret +to accompany him. She was about to comply with his request, when +Mrs. Hamilton came up the stairs, furious at her husband, whom she +called "a craven coward, led by the nose by all who chose to lead +him." Wishing to shut out her noise, Mag closed and bolted the +door, and in the hall the modern Xantippe extended her wrath +against her husband and his offspring, while poor Mr. Hamilton laid +his face in Carrie's lap and wept. Margaret was trying to devise +some means by which to rid herself of her stepmother, when Lenora +was heard to exclaim:</p> +<p>"Shall I pitch her over the stairs, Mag? I will if you say +so."</p> +<p>Immediately Mrs. Hamilton's anger took another channel, and +turning upon her daughter, she said, "What are you here for, you +prating parrot? Didn't you tell me what Aunt Polly said, and +haven't you acted in the capacity of reporter ever since?"</p> +<p>"To be sure I did," said Lenora, poising herself on one foot, +and whirling around in circles; "but if you thought I did it +because I blamed Aunt Polly, you are mistaken."</p> +<p>"What did you do it for, then?" said Mrs. Hamilton; and Lenora, +giving the finishing touch to her circles by dropping upon the +floor, answered, "I like to live in a hurricane—so I told you +what I did. Now, if you think it will add at all to the excitement +of the present occasion, I'll get an ax for you to split the door +down."</p> +<p>"Oh, don't, Lenora," screamed Carrie, from within, to which +Lenora responded:</p> +<p>"Poor little simple chick bird, I wouldn't harm a hair of your +soft head for anything. But there is a <i>man</i> in there, or one +who passes for a man, that I think would look far more respectable +if he'd come out and face the tornado. She's easy to manage when +you know how. At least Mag and I find her so."</p> +<p>Here Mr. Hamilton ashamed of himself and emboldened, perhaps, by +Lenora's words, slipped back the bolt of the door, and walking out, +confronted his wife.</p> +<p>"Shall I order pistols and coffee for two?" asked Lenora, +swinging herself entirely over the bannister, and dropping like a +squirrel on the stair below.</p> +<p>"Is Polly going to stay in this house?" asked Mrs. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"She is," was the reply.</p> +<p>"Then I leave to-night," said Mrs. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Very well, you can go," returned the husband, growing stronger +in himself each moment.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton turned away to her own room, where she remained +until supper time, when Lenora asked "If she had got her chest +packed, and where they should direct their letters!" Neither +Margaret nor her father could refrain from laughter.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton, too, who had no notion of leaving the comfortable +Homestead, and who thought this as good a time to veer round as any +she would have, also joined in the laugh, saying, "What a child you +are, Lenora!"</p> +<p>Gradually the state of affairs at the homestead was noised +throughout the village, and numerous were the little tea parties +where none dared speak above a whisper to tell what they had heard, +and where each and every one were bound to the most profound +secrecy, for fear the reports might not be true. At length, +however, the story of the china closet got out, causing Sally +Martin to spend one whole day in retailing the gossip from door to +door. Many, too, suddenly remembered certain suspicious things +which they had seen in Mrs. Hamilton, who was unanimously voted to +be a bad woman, and who, of course, began to be slighted.</p> +<p>The result of this was to increase the sourness of her +disposition; and life at the Homestead would have been one +continuous scene of turmoil had not Margaret wisely concluded to +treat whatever her stepmother did with silent contempt. Lenora, +too, always seemed ready to fill up all vacant niches, until even +Mag acknowledged that the mother would be unendurable without the +daughter.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX1" id="CHAPTER_IX1"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>LENORA AND CARRIE.</h3> +<p>Ever since the day on which Lenora had startled Carrie by +informing her of her danger, she had been carefully kept from the +room, or allowed only to enter it when Margaret was present. One +afternoon, however, early in February, Mag had occasion to go to +the village. Lenora, who saw her depart, hastily gathered up her +work, and repaired to Carrie's room, saying, as she entered it, +"Now, Carrie, we'll have a good time; Mag has gone to see old deaf +Peggy, who asks a thousand questions, and will keep her at least +two hours, and I am going to entertain you to the best of my +ability."</p> +<p>Carrie's cheek flushed, for she felt some misgivings with regard +to the nature of Lenora's entertainment; but she knew there was no +help for it, so she tried to smile, and said, "I am willing you +should stay, Lenora, but you mustn't talk bad things to me, for I +can't bear it."</p> +<p>"Bad things!" repeated Lenora; "who ever heard me talk bad +things! What do you mean?"</p> +<p>"I mean," said Carrie, "that you must not talk about your mother +as you sometimes do. It is wicked."</p> +<p>"Why, you dear little thing," answered Lenora, "don't you know +that what would be wicked for you isn't wicked for me?"</p> +<p>"No, I do not know so," answered Carrie; "but I know I wouldn't +talk about my mother as you do about yours for anything."</p> +<p>"Bless your heart," said Lenora, "haven't you sense enough to +see that there is a great difference between Mrs. Hamilton first, +and Mrs. Hamilton second? Now, I'm not naturally bad, and if I had +been the daughter of Mrs. Hamilton first instead of Widow Carter's +young one, why, I should have been as good as you—no, not as +good as <i>you</i>, for you don't know enough to be bad—but +as good as Mag, who, in my opinion, has the right kind of goodness, +for all I used to hate her so."</p> +<p>"Hate Margaret!" said Carrie, opening her eyes to their utmost +extent. "What did you hate Margaret for?"</p> +<p>"Because I didn't know her, I suppose," returned Lenora; "for +now I like her well enough—not quite as well as I do you, +perhaps; and yet, when I see you bear mother's abuse so meekly, I +positively hate you for a minute, and ache to box your ears; but +when Mag squares up to her, shuts her in the china closet, and all +that, I want to put my arms right round neck."</p> +<p>"Why, don't you like your mother?" asked Carrie, and Lenora +replied:</p> +<p>"Of course I do; but I know what she is and I know she isn't +what she sometimes seems. Why, she'd be anything to suit the +circumstances. She wanted your father, and she assumed the +character most likely to secure him; for, between you and me, he +isn't very smart."</p> +<p>"What did she marry him for, then?" asked Carrie.</p> +<p>"Marry <i>him</i>! I hope you don't for a moment suppose she +married <i>him</i>!"</p> +<p>"Why, Lenora, <i>ain't they married?</i> I thought they were. +Oh, dreadful!" and Carrie started to her feet, while the +perspiration stood thickly on her forehead.</p> +<p>Lenora screamed with delight, saying, "You certainly have the +softest brain I ever saw. Of course the minister went through with +the ceremony; but it was not your father that mother wanted; it was +his house—his money—his horses—his servants, and +his name. Now, maybe in your simplicity you have thought that +mother came here out of kindness to the motherless children; but I +tell you she would be better satisfied if neither of you had ever +been born. I suppose it is wicked in me to say so, but I think she +makes me worse than I would otherwise be; for I am not naturally so +bad, and I like people much better than I pretend to. Anyway, I +like you, and <i>love</i> little Willie, and always have, since the +first time I saw him. Your mother lay in her coffin, and Willie +stood by her, caressing her cold cheek, and saying, 'Wake up, +mamma, it's Willie; don't you know Willie? I took him in my arms, +and vowed to love and shield him from the coming evil; for I knew +then, as well as I do now, that what has happened would happen. Mag +wasn't there; she didn't see me. If she had, she might have liked +me better; now she thinks there is no good in me; and if, when you +die, I should feel like shedding tears, and perhaps I shall, it +would be just like her to wonder 'what business <i>I</i> had to +cry—it was none of my funeral!'"</p> +<p>"You do wrong to talk so, Lenora," said Carrie; "but tell me, +did you never have any one to love except Willie?"</p> +<p>"Yes," said Lenora; "when I was a child, a little, innocent +child, I had a grandmother—my father's mother—who +taught me to pray, and told me of God."</p> +<p>"Where is she now?" asked Carrie.</p> +<p>"In heaven," was the answer. "I know she is there, because when +she died there was the same look on her face that there was on your +mother's—the same that there will be on yours, when you are +dead."</p> +<p>"Never mind," gasped Carrie, who did not care to be so +frequently reminded of her mortality, while Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"Perhaps you don't know that my father was, as mother says, a +bad man; though I always loved him dearly, and cried when he went +away. We lived with grandmother, and sometimes now, in my dreams, I +am a child again, kneeling by grandma's side, in our dear old +eastern home, where the sunshine fell so warmly, where the summer +birds sang in the old maple trees, and where the long shadows, +which I called spirits, came and went over the bright green +meadows. But there was a sadder day; a narrow coffin, a black +hearse, and a tolling bell, which always wakes me from my sleep, +and I find the dream all gone, and nothing left of the little child +but the wicked Lenora Carter."</p> +<p>Here the dark girl buried her face in her hands and wept, while +Carrie gently smoothed her tangled curls. After a while, as if +ashamed of her emotion, Lenora dried her tears, and Carrie said, +"Tell me more of your early life. I like you when you act as you do +now."</p> +<p>"There is nothing more to tell but wickedness," answered Lenora. +"Grandma died, and I had no one to teach me what was right. About a +year after her death mother wanted to get a divorce from father; +and one day she told me that a lawyer was coming to inquire about +my father's treatment of her. 'Perhaps,' said she, 'he will ask if +you ever saw him strike me, and you must say that you have a great +many times. 'But never did,' said I; and then she insisted upon my +telling that falsehood, and I refused, until she whipped me, and +made me promise to say whatever she wished me to. In this way I was +trained to be what I am. Nobody loves me; nobody ever can love me; +and sometimes when Mag speaks so kindly to you, and looks so +affectionately upon you, I think, what would I not give for some +one to love me; and then I go away to cry, and wish I had never +been born."</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Hamilton called to her daughter, and gathering up her +work, Lenora left the room just as Margaret entered it, on her +return from the village.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X1" id="CHAPTER_X1"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>DARKNESS.</h3> +<p>As the spring opened and the days grew warmer Carrie's health +seemed much improved; and, though she did not leave her room, she +was able to sit up nearly all day, busying herself with some light +work. Ever hopeful, Margaret hugged to her bosom the delusion which +whispered, "She will not die," while even the physician was +deceived, and spoke encouragingly of her recovery.</p> +<p>For several months Margaret had thought of visiting her +grandmother, who lived in Albany; and as Mr. Hamilton had occasion +to visit that city, Carrie urged her to accompany him saying, she +was perfectly able to be left alone, and she wished her sister +would go, for the trip would do her good.</p> +<p>For some time past Mrs. Hamilton had seemed exceedingly amiable +and affectionate, although her husband appeared greatly depressed, +and acted, as Lenora said, "Just as though he had been stealing +sheep."</p> +<p>This depression Mag had tried in vain to fathom, and at last, +fancying that a change of place and scene might do him good, she +consented to accompany him, on condition that Kate Kirby would stay +with Carrie. At mention of Kate's name Mr. Hamilton's eyes +instantly went over to his wife, whose face wore the same stony +expression as she answered, "Yes, Maggie, can come."</p> +<p>Accordingly, on the morning when the travelers would start, Kate +came up to the homestead, receiving a thousand and one directions +about what to do and when to do it, hearing not more than half the +injunctions, and promising to comply with every one. Long before +the door the carriage waited, while Margaret, lingering in Carrie's +room, kissed again and again her sister's pure brow, and gazed into +her deep blue eyes, as if she knew that it was the last time. Even +when half way down the stairs she turned back again to say good-by, +this time whispering, "I have half a mind not to go, for something +tells me I shall never see you again."</p> +<p>"Oh, Mag," said Carrie, "don't be superstitious. I am a great +deal better, and when you come home you will find me in the +parlor."</p> +<p>In the lower hall Mr. Hamilton caressed his little Willie, who +begged that he, too, might go. "Don't leave, me, Maggie, don't," +said he, as Mag came up to say good-by.</p> +<p>Long years after the golden curls which Mag pushed back from +Willie's forehead were covered by the dark moist earth, did she +remember her baby-brother's childish farewell, and oft in +bitterness of heart she asked, "Why did I go—why leave my +loved ones to die alone?"</p> +<p>Just a week after Mag's departure news was received at the +homestead that Walter was coming to Glenwood for a day or two, and +on the afternoon of the same day Kate had occasion to go home. As +she was leaving the house Mrs. Hamilton detained her, while she +said, "Miss Kirby, we are all greatly obliged to you for your +kindness in staying with Carrie, although your services really are +not needed. I understand how matters stand between you and Walter, +and as he is to be here to-morrow; you of course will feel some +delicacy about remaining, consequently I release you from all +obligations to do so."</p> +<p>Of course there was no demurring to this. Kate's pride was +touched; and though Carrie wept, and begged her not to go, she +yielded only so far as to stay until the next morning, when, with a +promise to call frequently, she left. Lonely and long seemed the +hours to poor Carrie; for though Walter came, he stayed but two +days, and spent a part of that time at the mill-pond cottage.</p> +<p>The evening after he went away, as Carrie lay, half-dozing, +thinking of Mag, and counting the weary days which must pass ere +her return, she was startled by the sound of Lenora's voice in the +room opposite, the door of which was ajar. Lenora had been absent a +few days, and Carrie was about calling to her, when some words +spoken by her stepmother arrested her attention, and roused her +curiosity. They were, "You think too little of yourself, Lenora. +Now, I know there is nothing in the way of your winning Walter, if +you choose."</p> +<p>"I should say there was everything in the way," answered Lenora. +"In the first place, there is Kate Kirby, and who, after seeing her +handsome face, would ever look at such a black, turned-up nose, +bristle-headed thing as I am? But I perceive there is some weighty +secret on your mind, so what is it? Have Walter and Kate quarreled, +or have you told him some falsehood about her?"</p> +<p>"Neither," said Mrs. Hamilton. "What I have to say concerns your +father."</p> +<p>"My father!" interrupted Lenora; "my own father! Oh, is he +living?"</p> +<p>"No, I hope not," was the answer; "it is Mr. Hamilton whom I +mean."</p> +<p>Instantly Lenora's tone changed, and she replied, "If you please +you need not call that putty-headed man <i>my</i> father. He acts +too much like a whipped spaniel to suit me, and I really think +Carrie ought to be respected for knowing what little she does, +while I wonder where Walter, Mag, and Willie got their good sense. +But what is it? What have you made Mr. Hamilton do?—something +ridiculous, of course."</p> +<p>"I've made him make his will," was the answer; while Lenora +continued:</p> +<p>"Well, what then? What good will that do me?"</p> +<p>"It may do you a great deal of good," said Mrs. Hamilton; "that +is, if Walter likes the homestead as I think he does. But I tell +you, it was hard work, and I didn't know, one while, but I should +have to give it up. However, I succeeded, and he has willed the +homestead to Walter, provided he marries you. If not, Walter has +nothing, and the homestead comes to <i>me</i> and my heirs +forever!"</p> +<p>"Heartless old fool!" exclaimed Lenora, while Carrie, too, +groaned in sympathy. "And do you suppose he intends to let it go +so! Of course not; he'll make another when you don't know it"</p> +<p>"I'll watch him too closely for that," said Mrs. Hamilton and +after a moment Lenora asked:</p> +<p>"What made you so anxious for a will? Have you received warning +of his sudden demise?"</p> +<p>"How foolish!" said Mrs. Hamilton. "Isn't it the easiest thing +in the world for me to let Walter know what's in the will, and I +fancy that'll bring him to terms, for he likes money, no mistake +about that."</p> +<p>"Mr. Hamilton is a bigger fool, and you a worse woman, than I +supposed," said Lenora. "Do you think I am mean enough to marry +Walter under such circumstances? Indeed, I'm not. But how is +Carrie? I must go and see her."</p> +<p>She was about leaving the room, when she turned back, saying in +a whisper, "Mother, mother, her door is wide open, as well as this +one, and she must have heard every word!"</p> +<p>"Oh, horror!" exclaimed Mrs. Hamilton; "go in and ascertain the +fact, if possible."</p> +<p>It took but one glance to convince Lenora that Carrie was in +possession of the secret. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wet +with tears; and when Lenora stooped to kiss her, she said. "I know +it all, I heard it all."</p> +<p>"Then I hope you feel better," said Mrs. Hamilton, coming +forward. "Listeners never hear any good of themselves."</p> +<p>"Particularly if it's Widow Carter who is listened to," +suggested Lenora.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton did not reply to this, but continued speaking to +Carrie. "If you have heard anything new you can keep it to +yourself. No one has interfered with you, or intends to. Your +father has a right to do what he chooses with his own, and I shall +see that he exercises that right, too."</p> +<p>So saying she left the room, while Carrie, again bursting into +tears, wept until perfectly exhausted. The next morning she was +attacked with bleeding at the lungs, which in a short time reduced +her so low that the physician spoke doubtfully of her recovery, +should the hemorrhage again return. In the course of two or three +days she was again attacked; and now, when there was no longer hope +of life, her thoughts turned with earnest longings toward her +absent father and sister, and once, as the physician was preparing +to leave her, she said, "Doctor, tell me truly, can I live +twenty-four hours?"</p> +<p>"I think you may," was the answer.</p> +<p>"Then I shall see them, for if you telegraph to-night they can +come in the morning train. Go yourself and have it done, will +you?"</p> +<p>The physician promised that he would, and then left the room. In +the hall he met Mrs. Hamilton, who with the utmost anxiety depicted +upon her countenance, said, "Dear Carrie is leaving us, isn't she? +I have telegraphed for her father, who will be here in the morning. +'Twas right to do so, was it not?"</p> +<p>"Quite right," answered the physician. "I promised to see to it +myself, and was just going to do so."</p> +<p>"Poor child," returned Mrs. Hamilton, "she feels anxious, I +suppose. But I have saved you the trouble."</p> +<p>The reader will not, perhaps, be greatly surprised to learn that +what Mrs. Hamilton had said was false. She suspected that one +reason why Carrie so greatly desired to see her father was to tell +him what she had heard, and beg of him to undo what he had done; +and as she feared the effect which the sight and words of his dying +child might have upon him, she resolved, if possible, to keep him +away until Carrie's voice was hushed in death. Overhearing what had +been said by the doctor, she resorted to the stratagem of which we +have just spoken. The next morning, however, she ordered a telegram +to be despatched, knowing full well that her husband could not +reach home until the day following.</p> +<p>Meantime, as the hour for the morning train drew near, Carrie, +resting upon pillows, and whiter than the linen which covered them, +strained her ears to catch the first sound of the locomotive. At +last, far off through an opening among the hills, was heard a +rumbling noise, which increased each moment in loudness, until the +puffing engine shot out into the long, green valley, and then +rolled rapidly up to the depot.</p> +<p>Little Willie had seemed unwell for a few days, but since his +sister's illness he had stayed by her almost constantly, gazing +half-curiously, half-timidly into her face, and asking if she was +going to the home where his mamma lived. She had told him that +Margaret was coming, and when the shrill whistle of the eastern +train sounded through the room he ran to the window, whither Lenora +had preceded him, and there together they watched for the coming of +the omnibus. A sinister smile curled the lips of Mrs. Hamilton who +was present, and who, of course, affected to feel interested.</p> +<p>At last Willie, clapping his hands, exclaimed, "There 'tis! +They're coming. That's Maggie's big trunk!" Then, noticing the glow +which his announcement called up to Carrie's cheek, he said, +"She'll make you well, Carrie, Maggie will. Oh, I'm so glad, and so +is Leno."</p> +<p>Nearer and nearer came the omnibus, brighter and deeper grew the +flush on Carrie's face, while little Willie danced up and down with +joy.</p> +<p>"It isn't coming here," said Mrs. Hamilton; "it has gone by," +and Carrie's feverish heat was succeeded by an icy chill.</p> +<p>"Haven't they come, Lenora?" she said.</p> +<p>Lenora shook her head, and Willie, running to his sister, wound +his arms around her neck, and for several minutes the two lone, +motherless children wept.</p> +<p>"If Maggie knew how my head ached she'd come," said Willie; but +Carrie thought not of <i>her</i> aching head, nor of the faintness +of death which was fast coming on. One idea alone engrossed her. +Her brother—how would he be saved from the threatened evil, +and her father's name from dishonor?</p> +<p>At last Mrs. Hamilton left the room, and Carrie, speaking to +Lenora and one of the villagers who was present, asked if they, +too, would not leave her alone for a time with Willie. They +complied with her request, and then asking her brother to bring her +pencil and paper, she hurriedly wrote a few lines to her father +telling him of what she had heard, and entreating him, for her +sake, and the sake of the mother with whom she would be when those +words met his eye, not to do Walter so great a wrong. "I shall give +this to Willie's care," she wrote, in conclusion, "and he will keep +it carefully until you come. And now, I bid you a long farewell, my +precious father—my noble Mag—my darling Walter."</p> +<p>The note was finished, and calling Willie to her, she said, "I +am going to die. When Maggie returns I shall be dead and still, +like our own dear mother."</p> +<p>"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," sobbed the child, "don't leave me till +Maggie comes."</p> +<p>There was a footstep on the stairs, and Carrie, without replying +to her brother, said quickly, "Take this paper, Willie, and give it +to father when he comes; let no one see it—Lenora, mother, +nor any one."</p> +<p>Willie promised compliance, and had but just time to conceal the +note in his bosom ere Mrs. Hamilton entered the room, accompanied +by the physician, to whom she loudly expressed her regrets that her +husband had not come, saying that she had that morning telegraphed +again, although he could not now reach home until the morrow.</p> +<p>"To-morrow I shall never see," said Carrie, faintly. And she +spoke truly, too, for even then death was freezing her life-blood +with the touch of his icy hand. To the last she seemed conscious of +the tiny arms which so fondly encircled her neck; and when the soul +had drifted far out on the dark channel of death the childish words +of "Carrie, Carrie, speak once more," roused her, and folding her +brother more closely to her bosom, she murmured, "Willie, darling +Willie, our mother is waiting for us both."</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton, who stood near, now bent down, and laying her +hand on the pale, damp brow said gently, "Carrie, dear, have you no +word of love for this mother?"</p> +<p>There was a visible shudder, an attempt to speak, a low moan, in +which the word "Walter" seemed struggling to be spoken; and then +death, as if impatient of delay, bore away the spirit, leaving only +the form which in life had been most beautiful. Softly Lenora +closed over the blue eyes the long, fringed lids, and pushed back +from the forehead the sunny tresses which clustered so thickly +around it; then, kissing the white lips and leaving on the face of +the dead traces of her tears, she led Willie from the room, +soothing him in her arms until he fell asleep.</p> +<p>Elsewhere we have said that for a few days Willie had not seemed +well; but so absorbed were all in Carrie's more alarming symptoms +that no one had heeded him, although his cheeks were flushed with +fever, and his head was throbbing with pain. He was in the habit of +sleeping in his parents' room, and that night his loud breathings +and uneasy turnings disturbed and annoyed his mother, who at last +called out in harsh tones, "Willie, Willie, for mercy's sake stop +that horrid noise! I shall never get asleep this way. I know +there's no need of breathing like that!"</p> +<p>"It chokes me so," sobbed little Willie, "but I'll try."</p> +<p>Then pressing his hands tightly over his mouth, he tried the +experiment of holding his breath as long as possible. Hearing no +sound from his mother, he thought her asleep, but not venturing to +breathe naturally until assured of the fact, he whispered, "Ma, ma, +are you asleep?"</p> +<p>"Asleep! no—and never shall be, as I see. What do you +want?"</p> +<p>"Oh, I want to breathe," said Willie.</p> +<p>"Well, breathe then; who hinders you?" was the reply; and ere +the offensive sound again greeted her ear, Mrs. Hamilton was too +far gone in slumber to be disturbed.</p> +<p>For two hours Willie lay awake, tossing from side to side, +scorched with fever and longing for water to quench his burning +thirst. By this time Mrs. Hamilton was again awake; but to his +earnest entreaties for water—"Just one little drop of water, +ma"—she answered:</p> +<p>"William Hamilton, if you don't be still I'll move your crib +into the room where Carrie is, and leave you there alone!"</p> +<p>Unlike many children, Willie had no fears of the cold white +figure which lay so still and motionless upon the parlor sofa. To +him it was Carrie, his sister; and many times that day had he +stolen in alone, and laying back the thin muslin which shaded her +face, he had looked long upon her—had laid his hand on her +icy cheek, wondering if she knew how cold she was, and if the way +which she had gone was so long and dark that he could never find +it. To him there was naught to fear in that room of death, and to +his mother's threat he answered eagerly, "Oh, ma, give me some +water, just a little bit of water, and you may carry me in there, I +ain't afraid and my breathing won't wake Carrie up;" but before he +had finished speaking his mother was again dozing.</p> +<p>"Won't anybody bring me some water—Maggie, +Carrie—Leno—nobody?" murmured poor Willie, as he Wet +his pillow with tears.</p> +<p>At last he could bear it no longer. He knew where the +water-bucket stood, and stepping from his bed, he groped his way +down the long stairs to the basement. The spring moon was low in +the western horizon, and shining through the curtained window, +dimly lighted up the room. The pail was soon reached, and then in +his eagerness to drink, he put his lips to the side. Lower, lower, +lower it came, until he discovered, alas I that the pail was +empty.</p> +<p>"What shall I do? what shall I do?" said he, as he crouched upon +the cold hearthstone.</p> +<p>A new idea entered his mind. The well stood near the outer door; +and, quickly pushing back the bolt, he went out, all flushed and +feverish as he was, into the chill night air. There was ice upon +the curbstone, but he did not mind it, although his little toes, as +they trod upon it, looked red by the pale moonlight. Quickly a cup +of the coveted water was drained; then, with careful forethought, +he filled it again, and taking it back to his room, crept shivering +to bed. Nature was exhausted, and whether he fainted or fell asleep +is not known, for never again to consciousness in this world awoke +the little boy.</p> +<p>The morning sunlight came softly in at the window, touching his +golden curls with a still more golden hue. Sadly over him Lenora +bent, saying, "Willie, Willie, wake up, Willie. Don't you know +me?"</p> +<p>Greatly Mrs. Hamilton marveled whence came the cup of water +which stood there, as if reproaching her for her cruelty. But the +delirious words of the dreamer soon told her all. "Maggie, Maggie," +he said, "rub my feet; they feel like Carrie's face. The curbstone +was cold, but the water was so good. Give me more, more; mother +won't care, for I got it myself, and tried not to breathe, so she +could sleep—and Carrie, too, is dead—dead."</p> +<p>Lenora fiercely grasped her mother's arm, and said, "How could +you refuse him water, and sleep while he got it himself?"</p> +<p>But Mrs. Hamilton needed not that her daughter should accuse +her. Willie had been her favorite, and the tears which she dropped +upon his pillow were genuine. The physician who was called +pronounced his disease to be scarlet fever, saying that its +violence was greatly increased by a severe cold which he had +taken.</p> +<p>"You have killed him, mother; you have killed him!" said +Lenora.</p> +<p>Twenty-four hours had passed since, with straining ear, Carrie +had listened for the morning train, and again down the valley +floated the smoke of the engine, and over the blue hills echoed the +loud scream of the locomotive; but no sound could awaken the fair +young sleeper, though Willie started, and throwing up his hands, +one of which, the right one, was firmly clinched, murmured, +"Maggie, Maggie."</p> +<p>Ten minutes more and Margaret was there, weeping in agony over +the inanimate form of her sister, and almost shrieking as she saw +Willie's wild eye, and heard his incoherent words. Terrible to Mr. +Hamilton was this coming home. Like one who walks in sleep, he went +from room to room, kissing the burning brow of one child, and then, +while the hot breath was yet warm upon his lips, pressing them to +the cold face of the other.</p> +<p>All day Margaret sat by her dying brother, praying that he might +be spared until Walter came. Her prayer was answered; for at +nightfall Walter was with them. Half an hour after his return +Willie died; but ere his right hand dropped lifeless by his side he +held it up to view, saying:</p> +<p>"Father—give it to nobody but father."</p> +<p>After a moment Margaret, taking within hers the fast-stiffening +hand, gently unclosed the fingers, and found the crumpled piece of +paper on which Carrie had written to her father.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI1" id="CHAPTER_XI1"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>MARGARET AND HER FATHER.</h3> +<p>'Twas midnight—midnight after the burial. In the library +of the old homestead sat its owner, his arms resting upon the +table, and his face reclining upon his arms. Sadly was he reviewing +the dreary past, since first among them death had been, bearing +away his wife, the wife of his first only love. Now, by her grave +there was another, on which the pale moonbeams and the chill +night-dews were falling, but they could not disturb the rest of the +two who, side by side in the same coffin, lay sleeping, and for +whom the father's tears were falling fast, and the father's heart +was bleeding.</p> +<p>"Desolate, desolate—all is desolate," said the stricken +man. "Would that I, too, were asleep with my lost ones!"</p> +<p>There was a rustling sound near him, a footfall, and an arm was +thrown lovingly around his neck. Margaret's tears were on his +cheek, and Margaret's voice whispered in his ear, "Dear father, we +must love each other better now."</p> +<p>Margaret had not retired, and on passing through the hall, had +discovered the light gleaming through the crevice of the library +door. Knowing that her father must be there, she had come in to +comfort him. Long the father and child wept together, and then +Margaret, drying her tears said:</p> +<p>"It is right—all right; mother has two, and you have two, +and though the dead will never return to us, we, in God's good +time, will return to them."</p> +<p>"Yes, soon, very soon, shall I go," said Mr. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"I am weary, weary, Margaret; my life is one scene of +bitterness. Oh, why, why was I left to do it?"</p> +<p>Margaret knew well to what he referred, but she made no answer; +and after he had become somewhat composed, thinking this a good +opportunity for broaching the subject which had so troubled +Carrie's dying moments, she drew from her bosom the soiled piece of +paper, and placing it in his hands, watched him while he read. The +moan of anguish which came from his lips as he finished made her +repent of her act, and, springing to his side, she exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Forgive me, father; I ought not to have done it now. You have +enough to bear."</p> +<p>"It is right, my child," said Mr. Hamilton; "for after the wound +had slightly healed I might have wavered. Not that I love Walter +less; but, fool that I am, I fear her who has made me the cowardly +wretch you see!"</p> +<p>"Rouse yourself, then," answered Margaret. "Shake off her chain, +and be free."</p> +<p>"I cannot, I cannot," said he. "But this I will do. I will make +another will. I always intended to do so, and Walter shall not be +wronged." Then rising, he hurriedly paced the room saying, "Walter +shall not be wronged, no, no—Walter shall not be +wronged."</p> +<p>After a time he resumed his former seat, and taking his +daughter's hand in his, he told her of all he had suffered, of the +power which his wife held over him, and which he was too weak to +shake off. This last he did not say, but Margaret knew it and it +prevented her from giving him other consolation than that of +assuring him of her own unchanged, undying love.</p> +<p>The morning twilight was streaming through the closed shutters +ere the conference ended; and then Mr. Hamilton, kissing his +daughter, dismissed her from the room, but as she was leaving him +he called her back, saying:</p> +<p>"Don't tell Walter; he would despise me; but he shan't be +wronged—no, he shan't be wronged."</p> +<p>Six weeks from that night Margaret stood, with her brother, +watching her father as the light from his eyes went out, and the +tones of his voice ceased forever. Grief for the loss of his +children, and remorse for the blight which he had brought upon his +household, had undermined his constitution, never strong; and when +a prevailing fever settled upon him it found an easy prey. In ten +days' time Margaret and Walter alone were left of the happy band +who, two years before, had gathered around the fireside of the old +homestead.</p> +<p>Loudly Mrs. Hamilton deplored her loss, shutting herself up in +her room, and refusing to see any one, saying that she could not be +comforted, and it was of no use trying! Lenora, however, managed to +find an opportunity of whispering to her that it would hardly be +advisable to commit suicide, since she had got the homestead left, +and everything else for which she had married Mr. Hamilton.</p> +<p>"Lenora, how can you thus trifle with my feelings? Don't you see +that my trouble is killing me?" said the greatly distressed +lady.</p> +<p>"I don't apprehend any such catastrophe as that," answered +Lenora. "You found the weeds of Widow Carter easy enough to wear, +and those of Widow Hamilton won't hurt you any worse, I +imagine."</p> +<p>"Lenora," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, "may you never know what it is +to be the unhappy mother of such a child!"</p> +<p>"Amen!" was Lenora's fervent response, as she glided from the +room.</p> +<p>For three days the body of Mr. Hamilton lay upon the marble +center table in the darkened parlor. Up and down the long +staircases, and through the silent rooms, the servants moved +noiselessly. Down in the basement Aunt Polly forgot her wonted +skill in cooking, and in a broken rocking-chair swayed to and fro, +brushing the big tears from her dusky face, and lamenting the loss +of one who seemed to her "just like a brother, only a little +nigher."</p> +<p>In the chamber above, where six weeks before Carrie had died, +sat Margaret—not weeping; she could not do that—her +grief was too great, and the fountain of her tears seemed scorched +and dried; but, with white, compressed lips, and hands tightly +clasped, she thought of the past and of the cheerless future. +Occasionally through the doorway there came a small, dark figure; a +pair of slender arms were thrown around her neck, and a voice +murmured in her ear: "Poor, poor Maggie." The next moment the +figure would be gone, and in the hall below Lenora would be heard +singing snatches of some song, either to provoke her mother, or to +make the astonished servants believe that she was really heartless +and hardened.</p> +<p>What Walter suffered could not be expressed. Hour after hour, +from the sun's rising till its going down, he sat by his father's +coffin, unmindful of the many who came in to look at the dead, and +then gazing pitifully upon the face of the living, walked away, +whispering mysteriously of insanity. Near <i>him</i> Lenora dared +not come, though through the open door she watched him, and +oftentimes he met the glance of her wild, black eyes, fixed upon +him with a mournful interest; then, as if moved by some spirit of +evil, she would turn away, and seeking her mother's room, would +mock at that lady's grief, advising her not to make too much of an +effort.</p> +<p>At last there came a change. In the yard there was the sound of +many feet, and in the house the hum of many voices, all low and +subdued. Again in the village of Glenwood was heard the sound of +the tolling bell; again through the garden and over the running +water brook moved the long procession to the graveyard; and soon +Ernest Hamilton lay quietly sleeping by the side of his wife and +children.</p> +<p>For some time after the funeral nothing was said concerning the +will, and Margaret had almost forgotten the existence of one, when +one day as she was passing the library door her mother appeared, +and asked her to enter. She did so, and found there her brother, +whose face, besides the marks of recent sorrow which it wore, now +seemed anxious and expectant.</p> +<p>"Maggie dear," said the oily-tongued woman, "I have sent for you +to hear read your beloved father's last will and testament."</p> +<p>A deep flush mounted to Margaret's face, as she repeated +somewhat inquiringly, "Father's last will and testament?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," answered her mother, "his last will and testament. +He made it several weeks ago, even before poor Carrie died; and as +Walter is now the eldest and only son, I think it quite proper that +he should read it."</p> +<p>So saying, she passed toward Walter a sealed package, which he +nervously opened, while Margaret, going to his side, looked over +his shoulder, as he read.</p> +<p>It is impossible to describe the look of mingled surprise, +anger, and mortification which Mrs. Hamilton's face assumed, as she +heard the will which her husband had made four weeks before his +death, and in which Walter shared equally with his sister. Her +first impulse was to destroy it; and springing forward, she +attempted to snatch it from Walter's hand, but was prevented by +Margaret, who caught her arm and forcibly held her back.</p> +<p>Angrily confronting her stepdaughter, Mrs. Hamilton demanded, +"What does this mean?" to which Mag replied:</p> +<p>"It means, madam, that for once you are foiled. You coaxed my +father into making a will, the thought of which ought to make you +blush. Carrie overheard you telling Lenora, and when she found that +she must die she wrote it on a piece of paper, and consigned it to +Willie's care!"</p> +<p>Several times Mrs. Hamilton essayed to speak, but the words died +away in her throat, until at last, summoning all her boldness, she +said, in a hoarse whisper, "But the homestead is mine—mine +forever, and we'll see how delightful I can make your home!"</p> +<p>"I'll save you that trouble, madam," said Walter, rising and +advancing toward the door. "Neither my sister nor myself will +remain beneath the same roof which shelters you. To-morrow we +leave, knowing well that vengeance belongeth to One higher than +we."</p> +<p>All the remainder of that day Walter and Margaret spent in +devising some plan for the future, deciding at last that Margaret +should on the morrow go for a time to Mrs. Kirby's, while Walter +returned to the city. The next morning, however, Walter did not +appear in the breakfast parlor, and when Margaret, alarmed at his +absence, repaired to his room, she found him unable to rise. The +fever with which his father had died, and which, was still +prevailing in the village, had fastened upon him, and for many days +was his life despaired of. The ablest physicians were called, but +few of them gave any hope to the pale, weeping sister, who, with +untiring love, kept her vigils by her brother's bedside.</p> +<p>When he was first taken ill he had manifested great uneasiness +at his stepmother's presence, and when at last he became delirious +he no longer concealed his feelings, and if she entered the room he +would shriek "Take her away from me! Take her away! Chain her in +the cellar—anywhere out of my sight."</p> +<p>Again he would speak of Kate, and entreat that she might come to +him. "I have nothing left but her and Margaret," he would say; "and +why does she stay away?"</p> +<p>Three different times had Margaret sent to her young friend, +urging her to come, and still she tarried, while Margaret marveled +greatly at the delay. She did not know that the girl whom she had +told to go had received different directions from Mrs. Hamilton, +and that each day beneath her mother's roof Kate Kirby wept and +prayed that Walter might not die.</p> +<p>One night he seemed to be dying, and gathered in the room were +many sympathizing friends and neighbors. Without, 'twas pitchy +dark. The rain fell in torrents and the wind, which had increased +in violence since the setting of the sun, howled mournfully about +the windows, as if waiting to bear the soul company in its upward +flight. Many times had Walter attempted to speak. At last he +succeeded, and the word which fell from his lips was "Kate!"</p> +<p>Lenora, who had that day accidentally learned of her mother's +commands with regard to Miss Kirby, now glided noiselessly from the +room, and in a moment was alone in the fearful storm, which she did +not heed. Lightly bounding over the swollen brook, she ran on until +the mill-pond cottage was reached. It was midnight, and its inmates +were asleep, but they awoke at the sound of Lenora's voice.</p> +<p>"Walter is dying," said she to Kate, "and would see you once +more. Come quickly."</p> +<p>Hastily dressing herself, Kate went forth with the strange girl, +who spoke not a word until Walter's room was reached. Feebly the +sick man wound his arms around Kate's neck, exclaiming, "My own, my +beautiful Kate, I knew you would come. I am better now—I +shall live!" and as if there was indeed something life-giving in +her very presence and the sound of her voice, Walter from that hour +grew better: and in three weeks' time he, together with Margaret, +left his childhood's home, once so dear, but now darkened by the +presence of her who watched their departure with joy, exulting in +the thought that she was mistress of all she surveyed.</p> +<p>Walter, who was studying law in the city about twenty miles +distant, resolved to return thither immediately, and after some +consultation with his sister it was determined that both she and +Kate should accompany him. Accordingly, a few mornings after they +left the homestead, there was a quiet bridal at the mill-pond +cottage; after which Walter Hamilton bore away to his city home his +sister and his bride, the beautiful Kate.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII1" id="CHAPTER_XII1"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>"CARRYING OUT DEAR MR. HAMILTON'S PLANS."</h3> +<p>One morning about ten days after the departure of Walter the +good people of Glenwood were greatly surprised at the unusual +confusion which seemed to pervade the homestead. The blinds were +taken off, windows taken out, carpets taken up, and where so lately +physicians, clergymen, and death had officiated, were now seen +carpenters, masons, and other workmen. Many were the surmises as to +the cause of all this; and one old lady, more curious than the +rest, determined upon a friendly call, to ascertain, if possible, +what was going on.</p> +<p>She found Mrs. Hamilton with her sleeves rolled up, and her hair +tucked under a black cap, consulting with a carpenter about +enlarging her bedroom and adding to it a bathing-room. Being +received but coldly by the mistress of the house, she descended to +the basement, where she was told by Aunt Polly that "the blinds +were going to be repainted, an addition built, the house turned +wrong-side out, and Cain raised generally."</p> +<p>"It's a burning shame," said Aunt Polly, warmed up by her +subject and the hot oven into which she was thrusting loaves of +bread and pies. "It's a burning shame—a tearin' down and a +goin' on this way, and marster not cold in his grave. Miss Lenora, +with all her badness, says it's disgraceful, but he might ha' +know'd it. <i>I</i> did. I know'd it the fust time she came here a +nussin'. I don't see what got into him to have her. Polly Pepper, +without any larnin', never would ha' done such a thing," continued +she, as the door closed upon her visitor, who was anxious to carry +the gossip back to the village.</p> +<p>It was even as Aunt Polly had said. Mrs. Hamilton, who possessed +a strong propensity for pulling down and building up, and who would +have made an excellent carpenter, had long had an earnest desire +for improving the homestead; and now that there was no one to +prevent her, she went to work with a right good will, saying to +Lenora, who remonstrated with her upon the impropriety of her +conduct, that "she was merely carrying out dear Mr. Hamilton's +plans," who had proposed making these changes before his death.</p> +<p>"Dear Mr. Hamilton!" repeated Lenora, "very dear has he become +to you, all at once. I think if you had always manifested a little +more affection for him and his, they might not have been where they +now are."</p> +<p>"Seems to me you take a different text from what you did some +months ago," said Mrs. Hamilton; "but perhaps you don't remember +the time?"</p> +<p>"I remember it well," answered Lenora, "and quite likely, with +your training, I should do the same again. We were poor, and I +wished for a more elegant home. I fancied that Margaret Hamilton +was proud and had slighted me, and I longed for revenge; but when I +knew her I liked her better, and when I saw that she was not to be +trampled down by you or me, my hatred of her turned to admiration. +The silly man who has paid the penalty of his weakness, I always +despised; but when I saw how fast the gray hairs thickened on his +head; how careworn and bowed down he grew, I pitied him, for I knew +that his heart was breaking. Willie I truly, unselfishly loved; and +I am charitable enough to think that even <i>you</i> loved +<i>him</i>, but it was through your neglect that he died, and for +his death you will answer. Carrie was gentle and trusting, but +weak, like her father. I do not think you killed her, for she was +dying when we came here, but you put the crowning act of wickedness +to your life when you compelled a man, shattered in body and +intellect, to write a will which disinherited his only son; but on +that point you are baffled. To be sure, you've got the homestead, +and for decency's sake I think I'd wait a while longer ere I +commenced tearing down and building up."</p> +<p>Lenora's words had no effect whatever upon her mother, who still +kept on with her plans, treating with silent contempt the remarks +of the neighbors, or wishing, perhaps, that they would attend to +their own business, just as she was attending to hers! Day after +day the work went on. Scaffoldings were raised—paper and +plastering torn off—boards were seasoning in the +sun—shingles lying upon the ground—ladders raised +against the wall; and all this while the two new graves showed not +a blade of grass, and the earth looked black and fresh as it did +when first it was placed there.</p> +<p>When at last the blinds were hung, the house cleaned, and the +carpets nailed down, Mrs. Hamilton, who had designed it all the +time, called together the servants, whom she had disliked on +account of their preference for Margaret, and told them to look for +new places, as their services were no longer needed there.</p> +<p>"You can make out your bills," said she, at the same time +intimating they hadn't one of them more than earned their board, if +they had that! Polly Pepper wasn't of material to stand by and hear +such language from one whom she considered beneath her.</p> +<p>"Hadn't she as good a right there as anybody? Yes, indeed, she +had! Wasn't she there a full thirty year before any of your +low-lived trash came round a nussin'?"</p> +<p>"Polly," interposed Mrs. Hamilton, "leave the room instantly, +you ungrateful thing!"</p> +<p>"Ungrateful for what?" said Polly. "Haven't I worked and slaved +like an old nigger, as I am? and now you call me ungrateful, and +say I hain't arnt my bread. I'll sue you for slander;" and the +enraged Polly left the room, muttering, "half arnt my board, +indeed! I'll bet I've made a hundred thousan' pies, to say nothin' +of the puddings, <i>I</i> not arn my board!"</p> +<p>When again safe in what for so many years had been her own +peculiar province, she sat down to meditate. "I'd as good go +without any fuss," thought she, "but my curse on the madam who +sends me away!"</p> +<p>In the midst of her reverie, Lenora entered the kitchen, and to +her the old lady detailed her grievances, ending with, "Pears like +she don't know nothin' at all about etiquette, nor nothin' +else."</p> +<p>"Etiquette!" repeated Lenora. "You are mistaken, Polly; mother +would sit on a point of etiquette till she wore the back breadth of +her dress out. But it isn't that which she lacks—it's +decency. But, Polly," said she, changing the subject, "where do you +intend to go and how?"</p> +<p>"To my brother Sam's," said Polly. "He lives three miles in the +country, and I've sent Robin to the village for a horse and wagon +to carry my things."</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Hamilton entered the kitchen, followed by a strapping +Irish girl, nearly six feet in height. Her hair, flaming red, was +twisted round a huge back comb; her faded calico dress came far +above her ankles; her brawny arms were folded one over the other; +and there was in her appearance something altogether disagreeable +and defiant. Mrs. Hamilton introduced her as Ruth, her new cook, +saying she hoped she would know enough to keep her place better +than her predecessor had done.</p> +<p>Aunt Polly surveyed her rival from head to foot, and then +glancing aside to Lenora, muttered, "Low-lived, depend on't."</p> +<p>Robin now drove up with the wagon, and Mrs. Hamilton and Lenora +left the room, while Polly went to prepare herself for her ride. +Her sleeping apartment was in the basement and communicated with +the kitchen. This was observed by the new cook, who had a strong +dislike of negroes, and who feared that she might be expected to +occupy the same bed.</p> +<p>"An' faith," said she, "is it where the like of ya have burrowed +that I am to turn in?"</p> +<p>"I don't understand no such low-flung stuff," answered Polly, +"but if you mean you are to have this bedroom, I suppose you +are."</p> +<p>Here Polly had occasion to go up-stairs for something, and on +her return she found that Ruth, during her absence, had set fire to +a large linen rag, which she held on a shovel and was carrying +about the bedroom, as if to purify it from every atom of negro +atmosphere which might remain. Polly was quick-witted, and +instantly comprehending the truth, she struck the shovel from the +hands of Ruth, exclaiming, "You spalpeen, is it because my skin +ain't a dingy yaller and all freckled like yourn? Lord, look at +your carrot-topped cocoanut, and then tell me if wool ain't a heap +the most genteel."</p> +<p>In a moment a portion of the boasted wool was lying on the +floor, or being shaken from the thick, red fingers of the cook, +while Irish blood was flowing freely from the nose which Polly, in +her vengeful wrath, had wrung. Further hostilities were prevented +by Robin, who screamed that he couldn't wait any longer, and +shaking her fist fiercely at the red-head, Polly departed.</p> +<p>That day Lucy and Rachel also left, and their places were +supplied by two raw hands, one of whom, before the close of the +second day, tumbled up-stairs with the large soup tureen, breaking +it in fragments and scalding the foot of Mrs. Hamilton, who was in +the rear, and who, having waited an hour for dinner, had descended +to the kitchen to know why it was not forthcoming, saying that +Polly had never been so behind the time.</p> +<p>The other one, on being asked if she understood chamber work, +had replied, "Indade, and it's been my business all my life." She +was accordingly sent to make the beds and empty the slop. Thinking +it an easy way to dispose of the latter, she had thrown it from the +window, deluging the head and shoulders of her mistress who was +bending down to examine a rose bush which had been recently set +out. Lenora was in ecstasies, and when at noon her mother received +a sprinkling of red hot soup, she gravely asked her "which she +relished most, cold or warm baths!"</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII1" id="CHAPTER_XIII1"></a>CHAPTER +XIII.</h2> +<h3>RETRIBUTION.</h3> +<p>Two years have passed away, and again we open the scene at the +homestead, which had not proved an altogether pleasant home to Mrs. +Hamilton. There was around her everything to make her happy, but +she was far from being so. One by one her servants, with whom she +was very unpopular, had left her, until there now remained but one. +The villagers, too, shunned her, and she was wholly dependent for +society upon Lenora, who, as usual, provoked and tormented her.</p> +<p>One day Hester, the servant, came up from the basement, saying +there was a poor old man below, who asked for money.</p> +<p>"Send him away; I've nothing for him," said Mrs. Hamilton, whose +avaricious hand, larger far than her heart, grasped at and retained +everything.</p> +<p>"But, if you please, ma'am, he seems very poor," said +Hester.</p> +<p>"Let him go to work, then. 'Twon't hurt him more than 'twill +me," was the reply.</p> +<p>Lenora, whose eyes and ears were always open, no sooner heard +that there was a beggar in the kitchen than she ran down to see +him. He was a miserable-looking object, and still there was +something in his appearance which denoted him to be above the +common order of beggars. His eyes were large and intensely black, +and his hair, short, thick, and curly, reminded Lenora of her own. +The moment she appeared a peculiar expression passed for a moment +over his face, and he half started up; then resuming his seat he +fixed his glittering eyes upon the young lady, and seemed watching +her closely.</p> +<p>At last she began questioning him, but his answers were so +unsatisfactory that she gave it up, and, thinking it the easiest +way to be rid of him, she took from her pocket a shilling and +handed it to him, saying, "It's all I can give you, unless it is a +dinner. Are you hungry?"</p> +<p>Hester, who had returned to the kitchen, was busy in a distant +part of the room, and she did not notice the paleness which +overspread Lenora's face at the words which the beggar uttered +when, she presented the money to him. She caught, however, the low +murmur of their voices, as they spoke together for a moment, and as +Lenora accompanied him to the door, she distinctly heard the words, +"In the garden."</p> +<p>"And maybe that's some of your kin; you look like him," said she +to Lenora, after the stranger was gone.</p> +<p>"That's my business, not yours," answered Lenora, as she left +the kitchen and repaired to her mother's room.</p> +<p>"Lenora, what ails you?" said Mrs. Hamilton to her daughter at +the tea-table that night, when, after putting salt in one cup of +tea, and upsetting a second, she commenced spreading her biscuit +with cheese instead of butter. "What ails you? What are you +thinking about? You don't seem to know any more what you are doing +than the dead."</p> +<p>Lenora made no direct reply to this, but soon after she said, +"Mother, how long has father been dead—my own father I +mean?"</p> +<p>"Two or three years, I don't exactly know which," returned her +mother, and Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"How did he look? I hardly remember him."</p> +<p>"You have asked me that fifty times," answered her mother, "and +fifty times I have told you that he looked like you, only worse, if +possible."</p> +<p>"Let me see, where did you say he died?" said Lenora.</p> +<p>"In New Orleans, with yellow fever, or black measles, or +smallpox, or something," Mrs. Hamilton replied, "but mercy's sake! +can't you choose a better subject to talk about? What made you +think of him? He's been haunting me all day, and I feel kind of +nervous and want to look over my shoulder whenever I am alone."</p> +<p>Lenora made no further remark until after tea, when she +announced her intention of going to the village.</p> +<p>"Come back early, for I don't feel like staying alone," said her +mother.</p> +<p>The sun had set when Lenora left the village, and by the time +she reached home it was wholly dark. As she entered the garden the +outline of a figure; sitting on a bench at its further extremity, +made her stop for a moment, but thinking to herself, "I expected +it, and why should I be afraid?" she walked on fearlessly, until +the person, roused by the sound of her footsteps, started up, and +turning toward her, said half-aloud:</p> +<p>"Lenora, is it you?"</p> +<p>Quickly she sprang forward, and soon one hand of the beggar was +clasped in hers, while the other rested upon her head, as he said, +"Lenora, my child, my daughter, you do not hate me?"</p> +<p>"Hate you, father?" she answered, "never, never."</p> +<p>"But," he continued, "has not she—my—no, not my +wife—thank Heaven not my wife now—but your mother, has +not she taught you to despise and hate me?"</p> +<p>"No," answered Lenora bitterly. "She has taught me enough of +evil, but my memories of you were too sweet, too pleasant, for me +to despise you, though I do not think you always did right, more +than mother."</p> +<p>The stranger groaned, and murmured: "It's true, all true;" while +Lenora continued:</p> +<p>"But where have you been all these years, and how came we to +hear of your death?"</p> +<p>"I have been in St. Louis most of the time, and the report of my +death resulted from the fact that a man bearing my name, and who +was also from Connecticut, died of yellow fever in New Orleans +about two years and a half ago. A friend of mine, observing a +notice of his death, and supposing it to refer to me, forwarded the +paper to your mother, who, though then free from me, undoubtedly +felt glad, for she never loved me, but married me because she +thought I had money."</p> +<p>"But how have you lived?" asked Lenora.</p> +<p>"Lived!" he repeated, "I have not lived. I have merely existed. +Gambling and drinking, drinking and gambling, have been the +business of my life, and have reduced me to the miserable wretch +whom you see."</p> +<p>"Oh, father, father," cried Lenora, "reform. It is not too late, +and you can yet be saved. Do it for my sake, for, in spite of all +your faults, I love you, and you are my father."</p> +<p>The first words of affection which had greeted his ear for many +long years made the wretched man weep, as he answered: "Lenora, I +have sworn to reform, and I will keep my vow. During one of my +drunken revels, in St. Louis, a dream of home came over me, and +when I became sober I started for Connecticut. There I heard where +and what your mother was. I had no wish ever to meet her again, for +though I greatly erred in my conduct toward her, I think she was +always the most to blame. You I remembered with love, and I longed +to see you once more, to hear again the word 'father,' and know +that I was not forgotten. I came as far as the city, and there fell +into temptation. For the last two months I have been there, +gambling and drinking, until I lost all, even the clothes which I +wore, and was compelled to assume these rags. I am now without home +or money, and have no place to lay my head."</p> +<p>"I can give you money," said Lenora. "Meet me here to-morrow +night, and you shall have all you want. But what do you purpose +doing? Where will you stay?"</p> +<p>"In the village, for the sake of being near you," said he, at +the same time bidding his daughter return to the house, as the +night air was damp and chilly.</p> +<p>Within a week from that time a middle-aged man, calling himself +John Robinson, appeared in the village, hiring himself out as a +porter at one of the hotels. There was a very striking resemblance +between him and Lenora Carter, which was noticed by the villagers, +and mentioned to Mrs. Hamilton, who, however, could never obtain a +full view of the stranger's face, for without any apparent design, +he always avoided meeting her. He had not been long in town before +it was whispered about that between him and Lenora Carter a strange +intimacy existed, and rumors soon reached Mrs. Hamilton that her +daughter was in the habit of frequently stealing out after sunset, +to meet the old porter, and that once, when watched, she had been +seen to put her arms around his neck. Highly indignant, Mrs. +Hamilton questioned Lenora on the subject, and was astonished +beyond measure when she replied:</p> +<p>"It is all true. I have met Mr. Robinson often, and I have put +my arms around his neck, and shall probably do it again."</p> +<p>"Oh my child, my child," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, really +distressed at her daughter's conduct. "How can you do so? You will +bring my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave."</p> +<p>"Not if you pull out as many of them as you now do, and use +Twiggs Preparation besides," said Lenora.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton did not answer, but covering her face with her +hands wept, really wept, thinking for the first time, perhaps, that +as she had sowed so was she reaping. For some time past her health +had been failing, and as the summer days grew warmer and more +oppressive she felt a degree of lassitude and physical weakness +which she had never before experienced; and one day unable longer +to sit up, she took her bed, where she lay for many days.</p> +<p>Now that her mother was really sick, Lenora seemed suddenly +changed, and with unwearied care watched over her as kindly and +faithfully as if no words save those of affection had ever passed +between them. Warmer and more sultry grew the days, and more +fiercely raged the fever in Mrs. Hamilton's veins, until at last +the crisis was reached and passed, and she was in a fair way for +recovery, when she was attacked by chills, which again reduced her +to a state of helplessness. One day, about this time, a ragged +little boy, whose business seemed to be lounging around the hotel, +brought to Lenora a soiled and crumpled note, on which was traced +with an unsteady hand, "Dear Lenora, I am sick, all alone in the +little attic; come to me, quick; come!"</p> +<p>Lenora was in a state of great perplexity. Her mother, when +awake, needed all her care; and as she seldom slept during the day +there seemed but little chance of getting away. The night before, +however, she had been unusually restless and wakeful, and about +noon she seemed drowsy, and finally fell into a deep sleep.</p> +<p>"Now is my time," thought Lenora; and calling Hester, she bade +her watch by her mother until she returned, saying, "If she wakes +tell her I have gone to the village, and will soon be back."</p> +<p>Hester promised compliance, and was for a time faithful to her +trust; but suddenly recollecting something which she wished to tell +the girl who lived at the next neighbor's she stole away, leaving +her mistress alone. For five minutes Mrs. Hamilton slept on, and +then with a start awoke from a troubled dream, in which she had +seemed dying of thirst, while little Willie, standing by a hogshead +of water, refused her a drop. A part of her dream was true, for she +was suffering from the most intolerable thirst, and called loudly +for Lenora; but Lenora was not there. Hester next was called, but +she, too, was gone. Then, seizing the bell which stood upon the +table, she rang it with all her force, and still there came no one +to her relief.</p> +<p>Again Willie stood by her, offering her a goblet overflowing +with water; but when she attempted to take it, Willie changed into +Lenora, who laughed mockingly at her distress, telling her there +was water in the well and ice on the curbstone. Once more the +phantom faded away, and the old porter was there, wading through a +limpid stream and offering her to drink a cup of molten lead.</p> +<p>"Merciful Heaven!" shrieked the sick woman, as she writhed from +side to side on her bed, which seemed changed to burning coals; +"will no one bring me water, water, water!"</p> +<p>An interval of calmness succeeded, during which she revolved in +her mind the possibility of going herself to the kitchen, where she +knew the water-pail was standing. No sooner had she decided upon +this than the room appeared full of little demons, who laughed, and +chattered, and shouted in her ears:</p> +<p>"Go—do it! Willie did, when the night was dark and chilly; +but now it is warm—nice and warm—try it, do!"</p> +<p>Tremblingly Mrs. Hamilton stepped upon the floor, and finding +herself too weak to walk, crouched down, and crept slowly down the +stairs to the kitchen door, where she stopped to rest. Across the +room by the window stood the pail, and as her eye fell upon it the +mirth of the little winged demons appeared in her disordered fancy +to increase; and when the spot was reached, the tumbler seized and +thrust into the pail, they darted hither and thither, shouting +gleefully:</p> +<p>"Lower, lower down; just as Willie did. You'll find it, oh, +you'll find it!"</p> +<p>With a bitter cry Mrs. Hamilton dashed the tumbler upon the +floor, for the bucket was empty!</p> +<p>"Willie, Willie, you are avenged," she said; but the goblins +answered:</p> +<p>"Not yet; no, not yet."</p> +<p>There was no pump in the well, and Mrs. Hamilton knew she had +not strength to raise the bucket by means of the windlass. Her +exertions had increased her thirst tenfold, and now for one cup of +cooling water she would have given all her possessions. Across the +yard, at the distance of twenty rods, there was a gushing spring, +and thither in her despair she determined to go. Accordingly, she +went forth into the fierce noontide blaze, and with almost +superhuman efforts crawled to the place. But what! was it a film +upon her eyes? Had blindness come upon her, or was the spring +really dried up by the fervid summer heat?</p> +<p>"Willie's avenged! Willie's avenged!" yelled the imps as the +wretched woman fainted and fell backward upon the bank, where she +lay with her white, thin face upturned, and blistering beneath the +August sun!</p> +<p>Along the dusty highway came a handsome traveling carriage, in +which, besides the driver, were seated two individuals, the one a +young and elegantly-dressed lady, and the other a gentleman, who +appealed to be on the most intimate terms with his companion; for +whenever he would direct her attention to any passing object, he +laid his hand on hers, frequently retaining it, and calling her +"Maggie."</p> +<p>The carriage was nearly opposite the homestead, when the lady +exclaimed, "Oh, Richard, I must stop at my old home once more. Only +see how beautiful it is looking!"</p> +<p>In a moment the carriage was standing before the gate, and the +gentleman, who was Margaret Hamilton's husband—a Mr. Elwyn, +from the city—assisted his young wife to alight, and then +followed her to the house. No answer was given to their loud ring, +and as the doors and windows were all open, Margaret proposed that +they should enter. They did so; and, going first into Mrs. +Hamilton's sick-room, the sight of the little table full of vials, +and the tumbled, empty bed, excited their wonder and curiosity, and +induced them to go on. At last, descending to the kitchen, they saw +the fragments of the tumbler lying upon the floor.</p> +<p>"Strange, isn't it?" said Margaret to her husband, who was +standing in the outer door, and who had at that moment discovered +Mrs. Hamilton lying near the spring.</p> +<p>Instantly they were at her side, and Margaret involuntarily +shuddered as she recognized her stepmother, and guessed why she was +there. Taking her in his arms, Mr. Elwyn bore her back to the +house, and Margaret, filling a pitcher with water, bathed her face, +moistened her lips, and applied other restoratives, until she +revived enough to say:</p> +<p>"More water, Willie. Give me more water!"</p> +<p>Eagerly she drained the goblet which Margaret held to her lips, +and was about drinking the second, when her eyes for the first time +sought Margaret's face. With a cry between a groan and a scream she +lay back upon her pillows, saying, "Margaret Hamilton, how came you +here? What have you to do with me, and why do you give me water? +Didn't I refuse it to Willie, when he begged so earnestly for it in +the nighttime? But I've been paid—a thousand times +paid—left by my own child to die alone!"</p> +<p>Margaret was about asking for Lenora, when the young lady +herself appeared. She seemed for a moment greatly surprised at the +sight of Margaret, and then bounding to her side, greeted her with +much affection; while Mrs. Hamilton jealously looked on, muttering +to herself. "Loves everybody better than she does me, her own +mother, who has done so much for her."</p> +<p>Lenora made no reply to this, although she manifested much +concern when Margaret told her in what state they had found her +mother.</p> +<p>"I went for a few moments to visit a sick friend," said she, +"but told Hester to stay with mother until I returned; and I wonder +much that she should leave her."</p> +<p>"Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton, "Lenora, was that sick friend the +old porter?"</p> +<p>Lenora answered in the affirmative; and then her mother, turning +to Margaret, said:</p> +<p>"You don't know what a pest and torment this child has always +been to me, and now when I am dying she deserts me for a low-lived +fellow, old enough to be her father."</p> +<p>Lenora's eyes flashed scornfully upon her mother, but she made +no answer, and as Mr. Elwyn was in haste to proceed on his journey, +Margaret arose to go. Lenora urged them to remain longer, but they +declined; and as she accompanied them to the door, Margaret +said:</p> +<p>"Lenora, if your mother should die, and it would afford you any +satisfaction to have me come, I will do so, for I suppose you have +no near friends."</p> +<p>Lenora hesitated a moment, and then whispering to Margaret of +the relationship existing between herself and the old porter, she +said, "He is sick and poor, but he is my own father, and I love him +dearly."</p> +<p>The tears came to Margaret's eyes, for she thought of her own +father, called home while his brown hair was scarcely touched with +the frosts of time. Wistfully Lenora watched the carriage as it +disappeared from sight, and then half-reluctantly entered the +sick-room, where, for the remainder of the afternoon, she endured +her mother's reproaches for having left her alone, and where once, +when her patience was wholly exhausted, she said:</p> +<p>"It served you right, for now you know how little Willie +felt."</p> +<p>The next day Mrs. Hamilton was much worse, and Lenora, who had +watched and who understood her symptoms, felt confident that she +would die, and loudly her conscience upbraided her for her +undutiful conduct. She longed, too, to tell her that her father was +still living, and one evening when for an hour or two her mother +seemed better, she arose, and bending over her pillow, said, +"Mother, did it ever occur to you that father might not be +dead?"</p> +<p>"Not be dead, Lenora! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, +starting up from her pillow.</p> +<p>Cautiously then Lenora commenced her story by referring her +mother back to the old beggar, who some months before had been in +the kitchen. Then she spoke of the old porter, and the resemblance +which was said to exist between him and herself; and finally, as +she saw her mother could bear it, she told the whole story of her +father's life. Slowly the sick woman's eyes closed, and Lenora saw +that her eyelids were wet with, tears, but as she made no reply, +Lenora ere long whispered, "Would you like to see him, mother?"</p> +<p>"No, no; not now," was the answer.</p> +<p>For a time there was silence, and then Lenora, again speaking, +said, "Mother, I have often been very wicked and disrespectful to +you, and if you should die, I should feel much happier knowing that +you forgave me. Will you do it, mother—say?"</p> +<p>Mrs. Hamilton comprehended only the words, "if you should die," +so she said: "Die, die! who says that I must die? I shan't—I +can't; for what could I tell her about her children, and how could +I live endless ages without water? I tried it once, and I can't do +it. No, I can't. I won't!"</p> +<p>In this way she talked all night; and though in the morning she +was more rational, she turned away from the clergyman, who at +Lenora's request had been sent for, saying:</p> +<p>"It's of no use, no use, I know all you would say, but it's too +late, too late!"</p> +<p>Thus she continued for three days, and at the close of the third +it became evident to all that she was dying, and Hester was +immediately sent to the hotel, with a request that the old porter +would come quickly. Half an hour after Lenora bent over her +mother's pillow, and whispered in her ear, "Mother, can you hear +me?"</p> +<p>A pressure of the hand was the reply, and Lenora continued: "You +have not said that you forgave me, and now before you die, will you +not tell me so?"</p> +<p>There was another pressure of the hand, and Lenora again spoke: +"Mother, would you like to see him—my father? He is in the +next room."</p> +<p>This roused the dying woman, and starting up, she exclaimed, +"See John Carter! No, child, no! He'd only curse me. Let him wait +until I am dead, and then I shall not hear it."</p> +<p>In ten minutes more Lenora was sadly gazing upon the fixed, +stony features of the dead. A gray-haired man was at her side, and +his lip quivered, as he placed his hand upon the white, wrinkled +brow of her who had once been his wife. "She is fearfully changed," +were his only words, as he turned away from the bed of death.</p> +<p>True to her promise, Margaret came to attend her stepmother's +funeral. Walter accompanied her, and shuddered as he looked on the +face of one who had so darkened his home, and embittered his life. +Kate was not there, and when, after the burial, Lenora asked +Margaret for her, she was told of a little "Carrie Lenora," who +with pardonable pride "Walter thought was the only baby of any +consequence in the world. Margaret was going on with a glowing +description of the babe's many beauties, when she was interrupted +by Lenora, who laid her face in her lap and burst into tears.</p> +<p>"Why, Lenora, what is the matter?" asked Margaret.</p> +<p>As soon as Lenora became calm, she answered, "<i>That name</i>, +Maggie. You have given my name to Walter Hamilton's child, and if +you had hated me you would never have done it."</p> +<p>"Hated you!" repeated Margaret; "we do not hate you; now that we +understand you, we like you very much, and one of Kate's last +injunctions to Walter was that he should again offer you a home +with him."</p> +<p>Once more Lenora was weeping. She had not shed a tear when they +carried from sight her mother, but words of kindness touched her +heart, and the fountain was opened. At last, drying her eyes, she +said, "I prefer to go with father. Walter will, of course, come +back to the homestead, while father and I shall return to our old +home in Connecticut, where, by being kind to him, I hope to atone, +in a measure, for my great unkindness to mother."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV1" id="CHAPTER_XIV1"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>FINALE.</h3> +<p>Through the open casement of a small, white cottage in the +village of P——, the rays of the September moon are +stealing, disclosing to view a gray-haired man, whose placid face +still shows marks of long years of dissipation. Affectionately he +caresses the black, curly head which is resting on his knee, and +softly he says, "Lenora, my daughter, there are, I trust, years of +happiness in store for us both."</p> +<p>"I hope it may be so," was the answer, "but there is no promise +of many days to any save those who honor their father and mother. +This last I have never done, though many, many times have I +repented of it, and I begin to be assured that we may be happy +yet."</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>Away to the westward, over many miles of woodland, valley, and +hill, the same September moon shines upon the white walls of the +"homestead," where sits the owner, Walter Hamilton, gazing first +upon his wife and then upon the tiny treasure which lies sleeping +upon her lap.</p> +<p>"We are very happy, Katy darling," he says, and the affection +which looks from her large blue eyes as she lifts them to his face +is a sufficient answer. Margaret, too, is there, and though but an +hour ago her tears were falling upon the grass-grown graves where +slept her father and mother, the gentle Carrie, and golden-haired +Willie, they are all gone now, and she responds to her brother's +words, "Yes, Walter, we are very happy."</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>In the basement below the candle is burned to its socket, and as +the last ray flickers up, illuminating for a moment the room, and +then leaving it in darkness, Aunt Polly Pepper starts from her +evening nap, and as if continuing her dream mutters "Yes this is +pleasant and something like living."</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>And so with the moonlight and starlight falling upon the old +homestead, and the sunlight of love falling upon the hearts of its +inmates, we bid them adieu.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="RICE_CORNER" id="RICE_CORNER"></a><b>RICE +CORNER</b></h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I2" id="CHAPTER_I2"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>RICE CORNER.</h3> +<p>Yes, Rice Corner! Do you think it a queer name? Well, Rice +Corner was a queer place, and deserved a queer name. Now whether it +is celebrated for anything in particular, I really can't at this +moment think, unless, indeed, it is famed for having been my +birthplace! Whether this of itself is sufficient to immortalize a +place future generations may, perhaps, tell, but I have some +misgivings whether the present will. This idea may be the result of +my having recently received sundry knocks over the knuckles in the +shape of criticisms.</p> +<p>But I know one thing—on the bark of that old chestnut tree +which stands near Rice Corner schoolhouse, my name is cut higher +than some of my more bulky contemporary quill—or rather +steel—pen-wielders ever dared to climb. To be sure, I tore my +dress, scratched my face, and committed numerous other little +rompish <i>miss</i>-demeanors, which procured for me a motherly +scolding. That, however, was of minor consideration when compared +with having my name up—in the chestnut tree, at least, if it +couldn't be up in the world. But pardon my egotism, and I will +proceed with my story about Rice Corner.</p> +<p>Does any one wish to know whereabout on this rolling sphere Rice +Corner is situated? I don't believe you can find it on the map, +unless your eyes are bluer and bigger than mine, which last they +can't very well be. But I can tell you to a dot where Rice Corner +should be. Just take your atlas—not the last one published, +but Olney's, that's the one <i>I</i> studied—and right in one +of those little towns in Worcester County is Rice Corner snugly +nestled among the gray rocks and blue hills of New England.</p> +<p>Yes, Rice Corner was a great place, and so you would have +thought could you have seen it in all its phases, with its brown, +red, green, yellow, and white houses, each of which had the usual +quantity of rose-bushes, lilacs, hollyhocks, and sunflowers. You +should have seen my home, my New England home, where once, not many +years ago, a happy group of children played. Alas! alas! some of +those who gave the sunlight to that spot have left us now forever, +and on the bright shores of the eternal river they wait and watch +our coming. I do not expect a stranger to love our old homestead as +I loved it, for in each heart is a fresh, green spot—the +memory of its own early home—where the sunshine was brighter, +the well waters cooler, and the song-bird's carol sweeter than +elsewhere they are found.</p> +<p>I trust I shall be forgiven if in this chapter I pause awhile to +speak of my home—aye, and of myself, too, when, a +light-hearted child, I bounded through the meadows and orchards +which lay around the old brown house on my father's farm. 'Twas a +large, square, two-storied building, that old brown farmhouse, +containing rooms, cupboards, and closets innumerable, and what was +better than all, a large airy garret, where on all rainy days and +days when it looked as if it would rain, Bill, Joe, Lizzie, and I +assembled to hold our noisy revels. Never, since the days of our +great-grandmothers, did little spinning wheel buzz round faster +than did the one which, in the darkest corner of that garret, had +been safely stowed away, where they guessed "the young ones +wouldn't find it."</p> +<p>"Wouldn't find it!" I should like to know what there was in that +old garret that we didn't find, and appropriate, too! Even the old +oaken chest which contained our grandmother's once fashionable +attire was not sacred from the touch of our lawless hands. Into its +deep recesses we plunged, and brought out such +curiosities—the queerest-looking, high-crowned, broad-frilled +caps, narrow-gored skirts, and what was funnier than all, a +strange-looking thing which we thought must be a side +saddle—anyway, it fitted Joe's rocking horse admirably, +although we wondered why so much whalebone was necessary!</p> +<p>One day, in the midst of our gambols, in walked the identical +owner of the chest, and seeing the side-saddle, she said somewhat +angrily, "Why, children, where upon airth did you find my old +stays?" We never wondered again what made grandma's back keep its +place so much better than ours, and Bill had serious thoughts of +trying the effect of the stays upon himself.</p> +<p>In the rear of our house, and sloping toward the setting sun, +was a long, winding lane, leading far down into a widespreading +tract of flowery woods, shady hillside, and grassy pasture land, +each in their turn highly suggestive of brown nuts, delicious +strawberries, and venomous snakes. These last were generally more +the creatures of imagination than of reality, for in all my +wanderings over those fields, and they were many, I never but once +trod upon a green snake, and only once was I chased by a +white-ringed blacksnake; so I think I am safe in saying that the +snakes were not so numerous as were the nuts and berries, which +grew there in great profusion.</p> +<p>A little to the right of the woods, where, in winter, Bill, Joe, +Lizzie, and I dragged our sleds and boards for the purpose of +riding down-hill, was a merry, frolicking stream of water, over +which, in times long gone, a sawmill had been erected; but owing to +the inefficiency of its former owner, or something else, the mill +had fallen into disuse, and gradually gone to decay. The water of +the brook, relieved from the necessity of turning the spluttering +wheel, now went gayly dancing down, down, into the depths of the +dim old woods, and far away, I never knew exactly where; but having +heard rumors of a jumping-off place, I had a vague impression that +at that spot the waters of the mill-dam put up!</p> +<p>Near the sawmill, and partially hidden by the scraggy pine trees +and thick bushes which drooped over its entrance, was a long, dark +passage, leading underground, not so large, probably, as Mammoth +Cave, but in my estimation rivaling it in interest. This was an old +mine, where, years before, men had dug for gold. Strange stories +were told of those who, with blazing torches, and blazing noses, +most likely, there toiled for the yellow dust. The "Ancient Henry" +himself, it was said, sometimes left his affairs at home, and +joined the nightly revels in that mine, where cards and wine played +a conspicuous part. Be that as it may, the old mine was surrounded +by a halo of fear which we youngsters never cared to penetrate.</p> +<p>On a fine afternoon an older sister would occasionally wander +that way, together with a young M.D., whose principal patient +seemed to be at our house, for his little black pony very +frequently found shelter in our stable by the side of "old sorrel." +From the north garret window I would watch them, wondering how they +dared venture so near the old mine, and wishing, mayhap, that the +time would come when I, with some daring doctor, would risk +everything. The time <i>has come</i>, but alas! instead of being a +doctor, he is only a lawyer, who never even saw the old mine in +Rice Corner.</p> +<p>Though I never ventured close to the old mine, there was not far +from it one pleasant spot where I loved dearly to go. It was on the +hillside, where, 'neath the shadow of a gracefully twining +grapevine, lay a large, flat rock. Thither would I often repair, +and sit for hours, listening to the hum of the running water brook, +or the song of the summer birds, who, like me, seemed to love that +place. Often would I gaze far off at the distant, misty horizon, +wondering if I should ever know what was beyond it. Wild fancies +then filled my childish brain. Strange voices whispered to me +thoughts and ideas which, if written down and carried out, would, I +am sure, have placed my name higher than it was carved on the old +chestnut tree.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"But they came and went like +shadows,<br /></span> <span>Those blessed dreams of +youth,"<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>I was a strange child, I know. Everybody told me so, and +<i>I</i> knew it well enough without being told. The wise old men +at Rice Corner, and their still wiser old wives, looked at me +askance, as 'neath the thorn-apple tree I built my playhouse and +baked my little loaves of mud bread. But when, forgetful of others, +I talked aloud to myriads of little folks, unseen 'tis true, but +still real to me, they shook their gray heads ominously, and +whispering to my mother said, "Mark our words, that girl will one +day be crazy. In ten years more she will be an inmate of the +madhouse!"</p> +<p>And then I wondered what a madhouse was, and if the people there +all acted as our school-teacher did when Bill and the big girl said +he was mad! The ten years have passed, and I'm not in a madhouse +yet, unless, indeed, it is one of my own getting up!</p> +<p>One thing more about Rice Corner, and then, honor bright, I'll +finish the preface and go on with the story. I must tell you about +the old schoolhouse, and the road which led to it. This last wound +around a long hill, and was skirted on either side with tall trees, +flowering dogwood, blackberry bushes, and frost grapevines. +Half-way down the hill, and under one of the tallest walnut trees, +was a little hollow, where dwelt the goblin with which nurses, +housemaids, hired men, and older sisters were wont to frighten +refractory children into quietness. It was the grave of an old +negro. Alas! that to his last resting-place the curse should follow +him! Had it been a white person who rested there, not half so +fearful would have been the spot; now, however, it was "the old +nigger hole"—a place to run by if by accident you were caught +out after dark—a place to be threatened with if you cried in +the night and wanted the candle lighted—a landmark where to +stop when going part way home with the little girl who had been to +visit you, and who, on leaving you, ran no less swiftly than you +yourself did, half-fearing that the dusky form in the holly would +rise and try his skill at running. Verily, my heart has beat faster +at the thoughts of that dead negro than it ever has since at the +sight of a hundred live specimens, "'way down south on the old +plantation."</p> +<p>The old schoolhouse, too, had its advantages and its +disadvantages; of the latter, one was that there, both summer and +winter, but more especially during the last-mentioned season, all +the rude boys in the place thought they had a perfect right to +congregate and annoy the girls in every possible way. But never +mind, not a few wry faces we made at them, and not a few +"blockheads" we pinned to their backs! Oh! I've had rare times in +that old house and have seen rare sights, too, to say nothing of +the fights which occasionally occurred. In these last brother Joe +generally took the lead of one party, while Jim Brown commanded the +other. Dire was the confusion which reigned at such times. Books +were hurled from side to side. Then followed in quick succession +shovel, tongs, poker, water cup, water pail, water and all; and to +cap the climax, Jim Brown once seized the large iron pan, which +stood upon the stove, half-filled with hot water, and hurled it in +the midst of the enemy. Luckily nobody was killed, and but few +wounded.</p> +<p>Years in their rapid flight have rolled away since then, and he, +my brother, is sleeping alone on the wild shore of California.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>"For scarcely had the sad tones +died<br /></span> <span class="i2">Which echoed the +farewell,<br /></span> <span>When o'er the western +prairies<br /></span> <span class="i2">There came a funeral +knell;<br /></span> <span>It said that he who went from +us,<br /></span> <span class="i2">While yet upon his +brow<br /></span> <span>The dew of youth was +glistening,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Had passed to heaven +now."<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>James Brown, too, is resting in the churchyard, near his own +home, and 'neath his own native sky.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II2" id="CHAPTER_II2"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE BELLE OF RICE CORNER.</h3> +<p>Yes, Rice Corner had a belle, but it was not I. Oh, no, nobody +ever mistook <i>me</i> for a belle, or much of anything else, in +fact; <i>I</i> was simply "Mary Jane," or, if that was not concise +enough, "Crazy Jane" set the matter all right. The belle of which I +speak was a <i>bona fide</i> one—fine complexion, handsome +features, beautiful eyes, curling hair, and all. And yet in her +composition there was something wanting, something very essential, +too; for she lacked soul, and would at any time have sold her best +friend for a flattering compliment.</p> +<p>Still Carrie Howard was generally a favorite. The old people +liked her because her sparkling eye and merry laugh brought back to +them a gleam of youth; the young people liked her, because to +dislike her would seem like envy; and I, who was nothing, liked her +because she was pretty, and I greatly admired beauty, though I am +not certain that I should not have liked a handsome rosebud quite +as well as I did Carrie Howard's beautiful face, for beautiful she +was.</p> +<p>Her mother, good, plain Mrs. Howard, was entirely unlike her +daughter. She was simply "Mrs. Captain Howard," or, in other words, +"Aunt Eunice," whose benevolent smile and kindly beaming eye +carried contentment wherever she went. Really, I don't know how +Rice Corner could have existed one day without the presence of Aunt +Eunice. Was there a cut foot or hand in the neighborhood, hers was +the salve which healed it, almost as soon as applied. Was there a +pale, fretful baby, Aunt Eunice's large bundle of catnip was sure +to soothe it, and did a sick person need watchers, Aunt Eunice was +the one who, three nights out of the seven, trod softly and quietly +about the sick-room, anticipating each want before you yourself +knew what it was, and smoothing your tumbled pillow so gently that +you almost felt it a luxury to be sick, for the sake of being +nursed by Aunt Eunice. The very dogs and cats winked more +composedly when she appeared; and even the chickens learned her +voice almost as soon as they did the cluck of their "maternal +ancestor."</p> +<p>But we must stop, or we shall make Aunt Eunice out to be the +belle, instead of Carrie, who, instead of imitating her mother in +her acts of kindness, sat all day in the large old parlor, thumping +away on a rickety piano, or trying to transfer to broadcloth a poor +little kitty, whose face was sufficiently indicative of surprise at +finding its limbs so frightfully distorted.</p> +<p>When Carrie was fifteen years of age her father, concluding that +she knew all which could possibly be learned in the little brown +house where Joe and Jim once fought so fiercely, sent her for three +years to Albany. It was currently reported that the uncle with whom +she boarded received his pay in butter, cheese, potatoes, apples, +and other commodities, which were the product of Captain Howard's +farm. Whether this was true or not I am not prepared to say, but I +suppose it was, for it was told by those who had no ostensible +business except to attend to other people's affairs, and I am sure +they ought to have known all about it, and probably did.</p> +<p>I cannot help thinking that Captain Howard made a mistake in +sending Carrie away; for when at the end of three years she had +"finished her education," and returned home, she was not half so +good a scholar as some of those who had pored patiently over their +books in the old brown house. Even <i>I</i> could beat her in +spelling, for soon after she came home the boys teased for a +spelling school. I rather think they were quite as anxious for a +chance to go home with the girls as they were to have their +knowledge of Webster tested. Be that as it may, Carrie was there, +and was, of course, chosen first; but <i>I</i>, "little crazy +Jane," spelled the the whole school down! I thought Carrie was not +quite so handsome as she might be, when with an angry frown she +dropped into her seat, hissed by a big, cross-eyed, red-haired boy, +in the corner, because she <i>happened</i> to spell pumpkin, +"<i>p-u-n pun k-i-n kin, punkin</i>." I do not think she ever quite +forgave me for the pert, loud way in which I spelled the word +correctly, for she never gave any more calicos or silks, and +instead of calling me "Mollie," as she had before done, she now +addressed me as "Miss Mary."</p> +<p>Carrie possessed one accomplishment which the other girls did +not. She could play the piano most skilfully, although as yet she +had no instrument. Three weeks, however, after her return a rich +man, who lived in the village which was known as "Over the River," +failed, and all his furniture was sold at auction. Many were the +surmises of my grandmother, on the morning of the sale, as to what +"Cap'n Howard could be going to buy at the <i>vandue</i> and put in +the big lumber wagon," which he drove past our house.</p> +<p>As the day drew to a close I was posted at the window to +telegraph as soon as "Cap'n Howard's" white horses appeared over +the hill. They came at last, but the long box in his wagon told no +secret. Father, however, explained all, by saying that he had bid +off Mr. Talbott's old piano for seventy dollars! Grandma shook her +head mournfully at the degeneracy of the age, while sister Anna +spoke sneeringly of Mr. Talbott's cracked piano. Next day, arrayed +in my Sunday red merino and white apron—a present from some +cousin out West—I went to see Carrie; and truly, the music +she drew from that old piano charmed me more than the finest +performances since have done. Carrie and her piano were now the +theme of every tongue, and many wondered how Captain Howard could +afford to pay for three years' music lessons; but this was a +mystery yet to be solved.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III2" id="CHAPTER_III2"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>MONSIEUR PENOYER.</h3> +<p>When Carrie had been at home about three months all Rice Corner +one day flew to the doors and windows to look at a stranger, a +gentleman with fierce mustaches, who seemed not at all certain of +his latitude, and evidently wanted to know where he was going. At +least, if <i>he</i> didn't, they who watched him did.</p> +<p>Grandma, whose longevity had not impaired her guessing +faculties, first suggested that "most likely it was Caroline +Howard's beau." This was altogether too probable to be doubted, and +as grandmother had long contemplated a visit to Aunt Eunice, she +now determined to go that very afternoon, as she "could judge for +herself what kind of a match Car'line had made." Mother tried to +dissuade her from going that day, but the old lady was +incorrigible, and directly after dinner, dressed in her bombazine, +black silk apron, work bag, knitting and all she departed for +Captain Howard's.</p> +<p>They wouldn't confess it, but I knew well enough that Juliet and +Anna were impatient for her return, and when the shadows of +twilight began to fall I was twice sent into the road to see if she +was coming. The last time I was successful, and in a few moments +grandmother was among us; but whatever she knew she kept to herself +until the lamps were lighted in the sitting-room, and she, in her +stuffed rocking-chair, was toeing off the stocking only that +morning commenced. Then, at a hint from Anna, she cast toward +Lizzie and me a rueful glance, saying: "There are too many +<i>pitchers</i> here!" I knew then just as well as I did five +minutes after that Lizzie and I must go to bed. There was no help +for it, and we complied with a tolerably good grace. Lizzie +proposed that we should listen, but somehow I couldn't do that, and +up to this time I don't exactly know what grandmother told +them.</p> +<p>The next day, however, I heard enough to know that his name was +Penoyer; that grandma didn't like him; that he had as much hair on +his face as on his head; that Aunt Eunice would oppose the match, +and that he would stay over Sunday. With this last I was delighted, +for I should see him at church. I saw him before that, however; for +it was unaccountable what a fancy Carrie suddenly took for +traversing the woods and riding on horseback, for which purpose +grandfather's side-saddle (not the one with which Joe saddled his +pony!) was borrowed, and then, with her long curls and blue +riding-skirt floating in the wind, Carrie galloped over hills and +through valleys, accompanied by Penoyer, who was a fierce-looking +fellow, with black eyes, black hair, black whiskers, and black +face.</p> +<p>I couldn't help fancying that the negro who lay beneath the +walnut tree had resembled him, and I cried for fear Carrie might +marry so ugly a man, thinking it would not be altogether unlike, +"Beauty and the Beast." Sally, our housemaid, said that "most +likely he'd prove to be some poor, mean scamp. Anyway, seein' it +was plantin' time, he'd better be <i>to hum</i> tendin' to his own +business, if he had any."</p> +<p>Sally was a shrewd, sharp-sighted girl, and already had her +preference in favor of Michael Welsh, father's hired man. Walking, +riding on horseback, and wasting time generally, Sally held in +great abhorrence. "All she wished to say to Mike on week days, she +could tell him milking time." On Sundays, however, it was +different, and regularly each Sunday night found Mike and Sally +snugly ensconced in the "great room," while under the windows +occasionally might have been seen, three or four curly heads, eager +to hear something about which to tease Sally during the week.</p> +<p>But to return to Monsieur Penoyer, as Carrie called him. His +stay was prolonged beyond the Sabbath, and on Tuesday I was sent to +Captain Howard's on an errand. I found Aunt Eunice in the kitchen, +her round, rosy face, always suggestive of seed cake and plum +pudding, flushed with exertion, her sleeves tucked up and her arms +buried in a large wooden bowl of dough, which she said was going to +be made into loaves of 'lection cake, as Carrie was to have a party +to-morrow, and I had come just in time to carry invitations to my +sisters.</p> +<p>Carrie was in the parlor, and attracted by the sound of music, I +drew near the door, when Aunt Eunice kindly bade me enter. I did +so, and was presented to Monsieur Penoyer. At first I was shy of +him, for I remembered that Sally had said, "he don't know nothin'," +and this in my estimation was the worst crime of which he could be +guilty. Gradually my timidity gave way, and when, at Carrie's +request, he played and sang for me, I was perfectly delighted, +although I understood not a word he said.</p> +<p>When he finished Carrie told him I was a little poet, and then +repeated some foolish lines I had once written about her eyes. It +was a very handsome set of teeth which he showed, as he said, +"<i>Magnifique! Tree bien!</i> She be another grand <i>Dr. +Wattts!</i>"</p> +<p>I knew not who Dr. Watts was, but on one point my mind was made +up—Monsieur Penoyer knew a great deal! Ere I left Carrie +commissioned me to invite my sisters to her party on the morrow, +and as I was leaving the room Mr. Penoyer said, "<i>Ma +chère,</i> Carrie, why vous no invite a petite girl!"</p> +<p>Accordingly I was invited, with no earthly prospect, however, of +mother's letting me go. And she didn't either; so next day, after +Juliet and Anna were gone, I went out behind the smokehouse and +cried until I got sleepy, and a headache too; then, wishing to make +mother think I had <i>run away</i>, I crept carefully up-stairs to +Bill's room, where I slept until Sally's sharp eyes ferreted me +out, saying, "they were all scared to death about me, and had +looked for me high and low," up in the garret and down in the well, +I supposed. Concluding they were plagued enough, I condescended to +go down-stairs, and have my head bathed in camphor and my feet +parboiled in hot water; then I went to bed and dreamed of white +teeth, curling mustaches and "<i>Parlez vous +Français</i>."</p> +<p>Of what occurred at the party I will tell you as was told to me. +All the <i>élite</i> of Rice Corner were there, of course, +and as each new arrival entered the parlor, M. Penoyer eyed them +coolly through an opera glass. Sister Anna returned his inspection +with the worst face she could well make up, for which I half-blamed +her and half didn't, as I felt sure I should have done the same +under like circumstances.</p> +<p>When all the invited guests had arrived except myself (alas, no +one asked why I tarried), there ensued an awkward silence, broken +only by the parrot-like chatter of M. Penoyer, who seemed +determined to talk nothing but French, although Carrie understood +him but little better than did the rest. At last he was posted up +to the piano.</p> +<p>"<i>Mon Dieu</i>, it be von horrid tone," said he; then off he +dashed into a galloping waltz, keeping time with his head, mouth, +and eyes, which threatened to leave their sockets and pounce upon +the instrument. Rattlety-bang went the piano—like lightning +went monsieur's fingers, first here, then there, right or wrong, +hit or miss, and oftener miss than hit—now alighting among +the keys promiscuously, then with a tremendous thump making all +bound again—and finishing up with a flourish, which snapped +two strings and made all the rest groan in sympathy, as did the +astonished listeners. For a time all was still, and then a little +modest girl, Lily Gordon, her face blushing crimson, said:</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but haven't you taught music?"</p> +<p>The veins in his forehead swelled, as, darting a wrathful look +at poor Lily, he exclaimed, "<i>Le Diabel!</i> vat vous take me +for? Von dem musique teacher, eh?"</p> +<p>Poor Lily tried to stammer her apologies, while Carrie sought to +soothe the enraged Frenchman by saying, that "Miss Gordon was +merely complimenting his skill in music."</p> +<p>At this point the carriage which carried persons to and from the +depot drove up, and from it alighted a very small, genteel-looking +lady, who rapped at the door and asked, "if Captain Howard lived +there."</p> +<p>In a moment Carrie was half-stifling her with kisses, +exclaiming, "Dear Agnes, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not +expect you so soon."</p> +<p>The lady called Agnes was introduced as Miss Hovey, a schoolmate +of Carrie's. She seemed very much disposed to make herself at home, +for, throwing her hat in one place and her shawl in another, she +seated herself at the piano, hastily running over a few notes; then +with a gesture of impatience, she said, "Oh, horrid! a few more +such sounds would give me the vapors for a month; why don't you +have it tuned?"</p> +<p>Ere Carrie could reply Agnes' eyes lighted upon Penoyer, who, +either with or without design, had drawn himself as closely into a +corner as he well could. Springing up, she brought her little hands +together with energy, exclaiming, "Now, Heaven defend me, what +fresh game brought you here?" Then casting on Carrie an angry +glance, she said, in a low tone, "What does it mean? Why didn't you +tell me?"</p> +<p>Carrie drew nearer, and said coaxingly, "I didn't expect you so +soon; but never mind, he leaves to-morrow. For my sake treat him +decently."</p> +<p>The pressure which Agnes gave Carrie's hand seemed to say, "For +your sake I will, but for no other." Then turning to Penoyer, who +had risen to his feet, she said, respectfully, "I hardly expected +to meet you here, sir."</p> +<p>Her tone and manner had changed. Penoyer knew it, and with the +coolest effrontery imaginable he came forward, bowing and scraping, +and saying, "<i>Comment vous portez-vous, mademoiselle. Je suis +perfaitement</i> delighted to see you," at the same time offering +her his hand.</p> +<p>All saw with what hauteur she declined it, but only one, and +that was Anna, heard her as she said, "Keep off, Penoyer; don't +make a donkey of yourself." It was strange, Anna said, "how far +into his boots Penoyer tried to draw himself," while at each fresh +flash of Agnes' keen black eyes, he winced, either from fear or +sympathy.</p> +<p>The restraint which had surrounded the little company gave way +beneath the lively sallies and sparkling wit of Agnes, who, instead +of seeming amazed at the country girls, was apparently as much at +ease as though she had been entertaining a drawing-room full of +polished city belles. When at last the party broke up, each and +every one was in love with the little Albany lady, although all +noticed that Carrie seemed troubled, watching Agnes narrowly; and +whenever she saw her <i>tête-à-tête</i> with +either of her companions she would instantly draw near, and seemed +greatly relieved on finding that Penoyer was not the subject of +conversation.</p> +<p>"I told you so," was grandmother's reply, when informed of all +this. "I told you so. I knew Car'line warn't going to make out no +great."</p> +<p>Juliet and Anna thought so too, but this did not prevent them +from running to the windows next morning to see Penoyer as he +passed on his way to the cars. I, who with Lizzie was tugging away +at a big board with which we thought to make a "see-saw," was +honored with a graceful wave of monsieur's hands, and the words, +"<i>Au revoir, ma chère Marie</i>."</p> +<p>That day Phoebe, Aunt Eunice's hired girl, came to our house. +Immediately Juliet and Anna assailed her a multitude of questions. +The amount of knowledge obtained was that "Miss Hovey was a lady, +and no mistake, for she had sights of silks and jewelry, and she +that morning went with Phoebe to see her milk, although she didn't +dare venture inside the yard. But," added Phoebe, "for all she was +up so early she did not come out to breakfast until that gentleman +was gone."</p> +<p>This was fresh proof that Penoyer was not <i>comme il faut</i>, +and Anna expressed her determination to find out all about him ere +Agnes went home. <i>I</i> remembered "<i>Dr. Watts</i>" and the +invitation to the party, and secretly hoped she would find out +nothing bad.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV2" id="CHAPTER_IV2"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>COUSIN EMMA.</h3> +<p>Agnes had been in town about two weeks, when my home was one +morning thrown into a state of unusual excitement by the arrival of +a letter from Boston, containing the intelligence that Cousin Emma +Rushton, who had been an invalid for more than a year, was about to +try the effect of country life and country air.</p> +<p>This piece of news operated differently upon different members +of our family. Juliet exclaimed, "Good, good; Carrie Howard won't +hold her head quite so high now, for we shall have a city lady, +too." Anna was delighted, because she would thus have an +opportunity of acquiring city manners and city fashions. Sally said +snappishly, "There's enough to wait on now, without having a +stuck-up city flirt, faintin' at the sight of a worm, and +screechin' if a fly comes toward her." Mother had some misgivings +on the subject. She was perfectly willing Emma should come, but she +doubted our ability to entertain her, knowing that the change would +be great from a fashionable city home to a country farmhouse. +Grandmother, who loved to talk of "my daughter in the city," was +pleased, and to console mother, said:</p> +<p>"Never you mind, Fanny, leave her to me; you find victuals and +drink, and I'll do the entertaining."</p> +<p>Among so many opinions it was hard for me to arrive at a +conclusion. On the whole, however, I was glad, until told that +during Cousin Emma's stay our garret gambols must be given up, and +that I must not laugh loud, or scarcely speak above a whisper, for +she was sick, and it would hurt her head. Then I wished Cousin Emma +and Cousin Emma's head would stay where they belonged.</p> +<p>The letter was received on Monday, but Emma would not come until +Thursday; so there was ample time for "fixing up." The +parlor-chamber was repapered, the carpet taken up and shaken, red +and white curtains hung at the windows, a fresh ball of Castile +soap bought for the washstand, and on Thursday morning our pretty +flower beds were shorn of their finest ornaments with which to make +bouquets for the parlor and parlor-chamber. Besides that, Sally had +filled the pantry with cakes, pies, gingerbread, and Dutch cheese, +to the last of which I fancied Emma's city taste would not take +kindly. Then there was in the cellar a barrel of fresh beer; so +everything was done which could be expected.</p> +<p>When I went home for my dinner that day I teased hard to be +allowed to stay out of school for one afternoon, but mother said +"No," although she suffered me to wear my pink gingham, with sundry +injunctions "not to burst the hooks and eyes all off before night." +This, by the way, was my besetting sin; I never could climb a tree, +no matter what the size might be without invariably coming down +minus at least six hooks and eyes; but I seriously thought I should +get over it when I got older and joined the church.</p> +<p>That afternoon seemed of interminable length, but at last I saw +father's carriage coming, and quick as thought I threw my grammar +out of the window; after which I demurely asked "to go out and get +a book which I had dropped." Permission was granted and I was out +just in time to courtesy straight down, as father pointing to me, +said: "There, that's our little crazy Mollie," and then I got a +glimpse of a remarkably sweet face, which made the tears come in my +eyes, it was so pale.</p> +<p>Perhaps I wronged our school-teacher; I think I did, for she has +since died; but really I fancied she kept us longer that night on +purpose. At least, it was nearly five before we were dismissed. +Then, with my bonnet in hand, I ran for home, falling down once and +bursting off the lower hook! I entered the house with a bound, but +was quieted by grandmother, who said Emma was lying down, and I +mustn't disturb her.</p> +<p>After waiting some time for her to make her appearance, I stole +softly up the stairs and looked in where she was. She saw me, and +instantly rising, said with a smile that went to my heart:</p> +<p>"And this must be Mary, the little crazy girl; come and kiss +your Cousin Emma."</p> +<p>Twining my arms around her neck, I think I must have cried, for +she repeatedly asked me what was the matter, and as I could think +of no better answer, I at last told her "I didn't like to have +folks call me <i>crazy</i>. I couldn't help acting like <i>Sal +Furbush</i>, the old crazy woman, who threatened to toss us up in +the umbrella."</p> +<p>"Forgive me, darling," said Emma coaxingly; "I will not do it +again;" then stooping down, she looked intently into my eyes, +soliloquizing, "Yes, it is wrong to tell her so."</p> +<p>In a few moments I concluded Emma was the most beautiful +creature in the world; I would not even except Carrie Howard. +Emma's features were perfectly regular, and her complexion white +and pure as alabaster. Her hair, which was a rich auburn, lay +around her forehead in thick waves, but her great beauty consisted +in her lustrous blue eyes, which were very large and dark. When she +was pleased they laughed, and when she was sad they were sad too. +Her dress was a white muslin wrapper, confined at the waist by a +light blue ribbon, while one of the same hue encircled her neck, +and was fastened by a small gold pin, which, with the exception of +the costly diamond ring on her finger, was the only ornament she +wore.</p> +<p>When supper was ready I proudly led her to the dining-room, +casting a look of triumph at Juliet and Anna, and feeling, it may +be, a <i>trifle</i> above grandmother, who said, "Don't be +troublesome, child."</p> +<p>How grateful I was when Emma answered for me, "She doesn't +trouble me in the least; I am very fond of children."</p> +<p>Indeed, she seemed to be very fond of everybody and +everything—all except Sally's Dutch cheese, which, as I +expected, she hardly relished. In less than three days she was +beloved by all the household, Billy whispering to me confidentially +that "never before had he seen any one except <i>mother</i>, whom +he would like to marry."</p> +<p>Saturday afternoon Carrie and Agnes called on Emma, and as I saw +them together I fancied I had never looked on three more charming +faces. They appeared mutually pleased with each other, too, +although for some reason there seemed to be more affinity between +Emma and Agnes. Carrie appeared thoughtful and absent-minded, which +made Anna joke her about her "lover, Penoyer." As she was about +leaving the room she made no reply, but after she was gone Agnes +looked searchingly at Anna and said:</p> +<p>"Is it possible, Miss Anna, that you are so mistaken?"</p> +<p>"How—why?" asked Emma. "Is Penoyer a bad man? What is his +occupation?"</p> +<p>"His occupation is well enough," returned Agnes. "I would not +think less of him for that, were he right in other respects. +However, he was Carrie's and my own music teacher."</p> +<p>"Impossible," said Anna, but at that moment Carrie reentered the +room, and, together with Agnes, soon took her leave.</p> +<p>"Penoyer a music teacher, after all his anger at Lily Gordon for +suggesting such an idea!" This was now the theme of Juliet and +Anna, although they wondered what there was so <i>bad</i> about +him—something, evidently, from Agnes' manner, and for many +days they puzzled their brains in vain to solve the mystery.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V2" id="CHAPTER_V2"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>RICHARD EVELYN AND HARLEY ASHMORE.</h3> +<p>Emma had not long been with us ere her fame reached the little +"village over the river," and drew from thence many calls, both +from gentlemen and ladies. Among these was a Mr. Richard Evelyn and +his sister, both of whom had the honor of standing on the topmost +round of the aristocratic ladder in the village. Mr. Evelyn, who +was nearly thirty years of age, was a wealthy lawyer, and what is a +little remarkable for that craft (I speak from experience), to an +unusual degree of intelligence and polish of manners, he added many +social and <i>religious</i> qualities. Many kind hearted mothers, +who had on their hands good-for-nothing daughters, wondered how he +managed to live without a wife, but he seemed to think it the +easiest thing in nature, for, since the death of his parents, his +sister Susan had acted in the capacity of his housekeeper.</p> +<p>I have an idea that grandmother, whose disposition was slightly +spiced with a love for match-making, bethought herself how +admirably Mr. Evelyn and Emma were suited for each other; for after +his calls became frequent I heard her many times slyly hint of the +possibility of our being able to keep Emma in town always. +<i>She</i> probably did not think so; for each time after being +teased, she repaired to her room and read for the twentieth time +some ominous-looking letters which she had received since being +with as.</p> +<p>It was now three weeks since she came, and each day she had +gained in health and strength. Twice had she walked to the woods, +accompanied by Mr. Evelyn, once to the schoolhouse, while every day +she swung under the old maple. About this time Agnes began to think +of returning home, so Juliet and Anna determined on a party in +honor of her and Emma. It was a bright summer afternoon; and for a +wonder I was suffered to remain from school, although I received +numerous charges to keep my tongue still, and was again reminded of +that excellent old proverb (the composition of some old maid, I +know), "<i>Children</i> should be seen and not heard;" so, seated +in a corner, my hand pressed closely over my mouth, the better to +guard against contingencies, I looked on and thought, with +ineffable satisfaction, how much handsomer Cousin Emma was than any +one else, although I could not help acknowledging that Carrie never +looked more beautiful than she did that afternoon in a +neatly-fitting white muslin, with a few rosebuds nestling in her +long, glossy curls.</p> +<p>Matters were going on swimmingly, and I had three times ventured +a remark, when Anna, who was sitting near the window, exclaimed, +"Look here, girls, did you ever see a finer-looking gentleman?" at +the same time calling their attention to a stranger in the street. +Emma looked, too, and the bright flush which suffused her cheek +made me associate the gentleman with the letters she had received, +and I was not surprised when he entered our yard and knocked at our +door. Juliet arose to answer his summons, but Emma prevented her, +saying;</p> +<p>"Suffer me to go, will you?"</p> +<p>She was gone some time, and when she returned was accompanied by +the stranger, whom she introduced as Mr. Ashmore. I surveyed him +with childish curiosity, and drew two very satisfactory breaths +when I saw that he was wholly unlike Monsieur Penoyer. He was a +very fine-looking man, but I did not exactly like the expression of +his face. It was hardly open enough to suit me, and I noticed that +he never looked you directly in the eye. In five minutes I had come +to the conclusion that he was not half so good a man as Mr. Evelyn. +I was in great danger, however, of changing my mind, when I saw how +fondly his dark eye rested on Emma, and how delighted he seemed to +be at her improved health; and when he, without any apparent +exertion, kept the whole company entertained, I was charmed, and +did not blame Emma for liking him. Anna's doctor was nothing to +him, and I even fancied that he would dare to go <i>all alone</i> +to the old mine!</p> +<p>Suddenly he faced about, and espying me in the corner, he said, +"Here is a little lady I've not seen. Will some one introduce +me?"</p> +<p>With the utmost gravity Anna said, "It is my sister, little +crazy Jane."</p> +<p>I glanced quickly at him to see how he would receive the +intelligence, and when, looking inquiringly first at me and then at +Emma, he said, "Is it really so? what a pity!" the die was +cast—I never liked him again. That night in my little low +bed, long after Lizzie was asleep, I wept bitterly, wondering what +made Anna so unkind, and why people called me crazy. I knew I +looked like other children, and I thought I acted like them, too; +unless, indeed, I climbed more trees, tore more dresses, and burst +off more hooks.</p> +<p>But to return to the party. After a time I thought that Mr. +Ashmore's eyes went over admiringly to Carrie more frequently than +was necessary, and for once I regretted that she was so pretty. Ere +long, Mr. Ashmore, too, went over, and immediately there ensued +between himself and Carrie a lively conversation, in which she +adroitly managed to let him know that she had been three years at +school in Albany. The next thing that I saw was that he took from +her curls a rosebud and appropriated it to his buttonhole. I +glanced at Emma to see how she was affected, but her face was +perfectly calm, and wore the old sweet smile. When the young ladies +were about leaving, I was greatly shocked to see Mr. Ashmore offer +to accompany Carrie and Agnes home.</p> +<p>After they were gone grandmother said, "Emma, if I's you, I'd +put a stop to that chap's flirtin' so with Car'line Howard."</p> +<p>Emma laughed gaily as she replied, "Oh, grandma, I can trust +Harley; I have been sick so long that he has the privilege of +walking or riding with anybody he pleases."</p> +<p>Grandmother shook her head, saying, "It wasn't so with her and +our poor grandfather;" then I fell into a fit of musing as to +whether grandma was ever young, and if she ever fixed her hair +before the glass, as Anna did when she expected the doctor! In the +midst of my reverie Mr. Ashmore returned, and for the remainder of +the evening devoted himself so entirely to Emma that I forgave him +for going home with Carrie. Next day, however, he found the walk to +Captain Howard's a very convenient one, staying a long time, too. +The next day it was the same, and the next, and the next, until I +fancied that even Emma began to be anxious.</p> +<p>Grandma was highly indignant, and Sally declared, "that, as true +as she lived and breathed, if Mike should serve her so, he'd catch +it." About this time Agnes went home. The evening before she left +she spent at our house with Emma, of whom she seemed to be very +fond. Carrie and Ashmore were, as usual, out riding or walking, and +the conversation naturally turned upon them. At last, Anna, whose +curiosity was still on the alert to know something of Penoyer, +asked Agnes of him. I will repeat, in substance, what Agnes +said.</p> +<p>It seems that for many years Penoyer had been a teacher of music +in Albany. Agnes was one of his pupils, and while teaching her +music he thought proper to fall overwhelmingly in love with her. +This for a time she did not notice; but when his attentions became +so pointed as to become a subject of remark, she very coolly tried +to make him understand his position. He persevered, however, until +he became exceedingly impudent and annoying.</p> +<p>About this time there came well-authenticated stories of his +being not only a professed gambler, but also very dissipated in his +habits. To this last charge Agnes could testify, as his breath had +frequently betrayed him. He was accordingly dismissed. Still he +perseveringly pursued her, always managing, if possible, to get +near her in all public places, and troubling her in various +ways.</p> +<p>At last Agnes heard that he was showing among her acquaintances +two notes bearing her signature. The contents of these notes he +covered with his hand, exposing to view only her name. She had +twice written, requesting him to purchase some new piece of music, +and it was these messages which he was now showing, insinuating +that Agnes thought favorably of him, but was opposed by her father. +The consequence of this was, that the next time Agnes' brother met +Penoyer in the street, he gave him a sound caning, ordering him, +under pain of a worse flogging, never again to mention his sister's +name. This he was probably more willing to do, as he had already +conceived a great liking for Carrie, who was silly enough to be +pleased with and suffer his attentions.</p> +<p>"I wonder, though, that Carrie allowed him to visit her," said +Agnes; "but then I believe she is under some obligations to him, +and dare not refuse when he asked permission to come."</p> +<p>If Agnes knew what these obligations were she did not tell, and +grandmother, who, during the narration had knit with unwonted +speed, making her needles rattle again, said, "It's plain to me +that Caroline let him come to make folks think she had got a city +beau."</p> +<p>"Quite likely," returned Agnes; "Carrie is a sad flirt, but I +think, at least, that she should not interfere with other people's +rights."</p> +<p>Here my eye followed hers to Emma, who, I thought, was looking a +little paler. Just then Carrie and Ashmore came in, and the latter +throwing himself upon the sofa by the side of Emma, took her hand +caressingly, saying, "How are you to-night, my dear?"</p> +<p>"Quite well," was her quiet reply, and soon after, under +pretense of moving from the window, she took a seat across the +room. That night Mr. Ashmore accompanied Carrie and Agnes home, and +it was at a much later hour than usual that old Rover first growled +and then whined as he recognized our visitor.</p> +<p>The next morning Emma was suffering from a severe headache, +which prevented her from appearing at breakfast. Mr. Ashmore seemed +somewhat disturbed, and made many anxious inquiries about her. At +dinner-time she was well enough to come, and the extreme kindness +of Mr. Ashmore's manner called a deep glow to her cheek. After +dinner, however, he departed for a walk, taking his accustomed road +toward Captain Howard's.</p> +<p>When I returned from school he was still absent, and as Emma was +quite well, she asked me to accompany her to my favorite resort, +the old rock beneath the grapevine. We were soon there, and for a +long time we sat watching the shadows as they came and went upon +the bright green grass, and listening to the music of the brook, +which seemed to me to sing more sadly than it was wont to do.</p> +<p>Suddenly our ears were arrested by the sound of voices, which we +knew belonged to Mr. Ashmore and Carrie. They were standing near +us, just behind a clump of alders, and Carrie, in reply to +something Mr. Ashmore had said, answered, "Oh, you can't be in +earnest, for you have only known me ten days, and beside that, what +have you done with your pale, sick lady?"</p> +<p>Instantly I started up, clinching my fist in imitation of +brother Billy when he was angry, but Cousin Emma's arm was thrown +convulsively around me, as drawing me closely to her side she +whispered, "Keep quiet."</p> +<p>I did keep quiet, and listened while Mr. Ashmore replied, "I +entertain for Miss Rushton the highest esteem, for I know she +possesses many excellent qualities. Once I thought I loved her (how +tightly Emma held me), but she has been sick a long time, and +somehow I cannot marry an invalid. Whether she ever gets well is +doubtful, and even if she does, after having seen you, she can be +nothing to me. And yet I like her, and when I am alone with her I +almost fancy I love her, but one look at your sparkling, healthy +face drives her from my mind—"</p> +<p>The rest of what he said I could not hear, neither did I +understand Carrie's answer, but his next words were distinct, "My +dear Carrie forever."</p> +<p>I know the brook stopped running, or at least I did not hear it. +The sun went down; the birds went to rest; Mr. Ashmore and Carrie +went home; and still I sat there by the side of Emma, who had lain +her head in my lap, and was so still and motionless that the dread +fear came over me that she might be dead. I attempted to lift her +up, saying, "Cousin Emma, speak to me, won't you?" but she made me +no answer, and another ten minutes went by. By this time the stars +had come out and were looking quietly down upon us. The waters of +the mill-dam chanted mournfully, and in my disordered imagination, +fantastic images danced before the entrance of the old mine. +Half-crying with fear, I again laid my hand on Emma's head. Her +hair was wet with the heavy night dews, and my eyes were wet with +something else, as I said, "Oh, Emma, speak to me, for I am afraid +and want to go home."</p> +<p>This roused her, and lifting up her head I caught a glimpse of a +face of so startling whiteness that, throwing my arms around her +neck, I cried, "Oh, Emma, dear Emma, don't look so. I love you a +great deal better than I do Carrie Howard, and so I am sure does +Mr. Evelyn."</p> +<p>I don't know how I chanced to think of Mr. Evelyn, but he +recurred to me naturally enough. All thoughts of him, however, were +soon driven from my mind by the sound of Emma's voice as she said, +"Mollie, darling, can you keep a secret?"</p> +<p>I didn't think I could, as I never had been intrusted with one, +so I advised her to give it to Anna, who was very fond of them. But +she said, "I am sure you can do it, Mollie. Promise me that you +will not tell them at home what you have seen or heard."</p> +<p>I promised, and then in my joy at owning a secret, I forgot the +little figures which waltzed back and forth before the old mine, I +forgot the woods through which we passed, nor was the silence +broken until we reached the lane. Then I said, "What shall we tell +the folks when they ask where we have been?"</p> +<p>"Leave that to me," answered Emma.</p> +<p>As we drew near the house we met grandmother, Juliet, Anna and +Sally, all armed and equipped for a general hunt. We were +immediately assailed with a score of questions as to what had kept +us so long. I looked to Emma for the answer, at the same time +keeping my hand tightly over my mouth for fear I should tell.</p> +<p>"We found more things of interest than we expected," said Emma, +"consequently tarried longer than we should otherwise have +done."</p> +<p>"Why, how hoarse you be," said grandmother, while Sally +continued, "Starlight is a mighty queer time to see things in."</p> +<p>"Some things look better by starlight," answered Emma; "but we +stayed longer than we ought to, for I have got a severe headache +and must go immediately to bed."</p> +<p>"Have some tea first," said grandmother.</p> +<p>"And some strawberries and cream," repeated Sally; but Emma +declined both and went at once to her room.</p> +<p>Mr. Ashmore did not come home until late that night, for I was +awake and heard him stumbling up-stairs in the dark. I remember, +too, of having experienced the very benevolent wish that he would +break his neck! As I expected, Emma did not make her appearance at +the breakfast table, but about ten she came down to the parlor and +asked to see Mr. Ashmore alone. Of what occurred during that +interval I never knew, except that at its close cousin looked very +white, and Mr. Ashmore very black, notwithstanding which he soon +took his accustomed walk to Captain Howard's. He was gone about +three hours, and on his return announced his intention of going to +Boston in the afternoon train. No one opposed him, for all were +glad to have him go.</p> +<p>Just before he left, grandmother, who knew all was not right, +said to him: "Young man, I wish you well; but mind what I say, +you'll get your pay yet for the capers you've cut here."</p> +<p>"I beg your pardon, madam," he returned, with much more emphasis +on <i>madam</i> than was at all necessary, "I beg your pardon, but +I think she has cut the capers; at least she dismissed me of her +own accord."</p> +<p>I thought of what I had heard, but 'twas a secret, so I kept it +safely, although I almost bit my tongue off in my zealous efforts. +After Ashmore was gone, Emma, who had taken a violent cold the +evening before, took her bed, and was slightly ill for nearly a +week. Almost every day Mr. Evelyn called to see how she was, always +bringing her a fresh bouquet of flowers. On Thursday, Carrie +called, bringing Emma some ice-cream which Aunt Eunice had made. +She did not ask to see her, but before she left she asked Anna if +she did not wish to buy her old piano.</p> +<p>"What will you do without it?" asked Anna.</p> +<p>"Oh," said Carrie, "I cannot use two. I have got a new one."</p> +<p>The stocking dropped from grandmother's hand as she exclaimed: +"What is the world a-comin' to! Got two pianners! Where'd you get +'em?"</p> +<p>"My new one was a present, and came from Boston," answered +Carrie, with the utmost <i>sang froid</i>.</p> +<p>"You don't say Ashmore sent it to you! How much did it cost?" +asked grandma.</p> +<p>"Mr. Ashmore wrote that it cost three hundred and fifty +dollars," was Carrie's reply.</p> +<p>Grandmother was perfectly horror-stricken; but desirous of +making Carrie feel as comfortable as possible, she said, "S'posin +somebody should tell him about Penoyer?"</p> +<p>For an instant Carrie turned pale, as she said quickly, "What +does any one know about him to tell?"</p> +<p>"A great deal—more than you think they do—yes, a +great deal," was grandma's answer.</p> +<p>After that Carrie came <i>very</i> frequently to see us, always +bringing something nice for Emma <i>or grandma</i>!</p> +<p>Meanwhile Mr. Evelyn's visits continued, and when at last Emma +could see him I was sure that she received him more kindly than she +ever had before. "That'll go yet," was grandma's prediction. But +her scheming was cut short by a letter from Emma's father, +requesting her immediate return. Mr. Evelyn, who found he had +business which required his presence in Worcester, was to accompany +her thus far. It was a sad day when she left us, for she was a +universal favorite. Sally cried, I cried, and Bill either cried or +made believe, for he very industriously wiped his eyes and nasal +organ on his shirt sleeves: besides that, things went on wrong side +up generally. Grandma was cross—Sally was cross—and the +school-teacher was cross; the bucket fell into the well, and the +cows got into the corn. I got called up at school and set with some +hateful boys, one of whom amused himself by pricking me with a pin, +and when, in self-defense, I gave him a good pinch, he actually +yelled out: "She keeps a-pinchin' me!" On the whole, 'twas a +dreadful day, and when at night I threw myself exhausted upon my +little bed I cried myself to sleep, thinking of Cousin Emma and +wishing she would come back.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI2" id="CHAPTER_VI2"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>MIKE AND SALLY.</h3> +<p>I have spoken of Sally, but have said nothing of Mike, whom, of +all my father's hired men, I liked the best. He it was who made the +best cornstalk fiddles, and whittled out the shrillest whistles +with which to drive grandma "ravin' distracted." He, too, it was +who, on cold winter mornings, carried Lizzie to school in his arms, +making me forget how my fingers ached, by telling some exploit of +<i>his</i> schooldays.</p> +<p>I do not wonder that Sally liked him, and I always had an idea +how that liking would end, but did not think it would be so soon. +Consequently I suspected nothing when Sally's white dress was +bleached on the grass in the clothesyard for nearly a week. One day +Billy came to me with a face full of wonder, saying he had just +overheard Mike tell one of the men that he and Sally were going to +be married in a few weeks.</p> +<p>I knew now what all that bleaching was for, and why Sally bought +so much cotton lace of pedlers. I was in ecstasies, too, for I had +never seen anyone married, but regretted the circumstance, whatever +it might have been, which prevented me from being present at +mother's marriage. Like many other children I have been deceived +into the belief that the marriage ceremony consisted mainly in +leaping the broomstick, and by myself I had frequently tried the +experiment, delighted to find that I could jump it at almost any +distance from the ground; but I had some misgivings as to Sally's +ability to clear the stick, for she was rather clumsy; however, I +should see the fun, for they were to be married at our house.</p> +<p>A week before the time appointed mother was taken very ill, +which made it necessary that the wedding should be postponed, or +take place somewhere else. To the first Mike would not hear, and as +good old Parson S——, whose sermons were never more than +two hours long, came regularly every Sunday night to preach in the +schoolhouse, Mike proposed that they be married there. Sally did +not like this exactly, but grandmother, who now ruled the +household, said it was just the thing, and accordingly it took +place there.</p> +<p>The house was filled full, and those who could not obtain seats +took their station near the windows. Our party was early, but I was +three times compelled to relinquish my seat in favor of more +distinguished persons, and I began to think that if any one was +obliged to go home for want of room, it would be me; but I +resolutely determined not to go. I'd climb the chestnut tree first! +At last I was squeezed on a high desk between two old ladies, +wearing two old black bonnets, their breath sufficiently tinctured +with tobacco smoke to be very disagreeable to me, whose olfactories +chanced to be rather aristocratic than otherwise.</p> +<p>To my horror Father S—— concluded to give us the +sermon before he did the bride. He was afraid some of his audience +would leave. Accordingly there ensued a prayer half an hour long, +after which eight verses of a long meter psalm were sung to the +tune of Windham. By this time I gave a slight sign to the two old +ladies that I would like to move, but they merely shook their two +black bonnets at me, telling me, in fierce whispers, that "I +mustn't stir in meetin'." Mustn't stir! I wonder how I could stir, +squeezed in as I was, unless they chose to let me. So I sat bolt +upright, looking straight ahead at a point where the tips of my red +shoes were visible, for my feet were sticking straight out.</p> +<p>All at once my attention was drawn to a spider on the wall, who +was laying a net for a fly, and in watching his maneuvers I forgot +the lapse of time, until Father S—— had passed his +sixthly and seventhly, and was driving furiously away at the +eighthly. By this time the spider had caught the fly, whose cries +sounded to me like the waters of the sawmill; the tips of my red +shoes looked like the red berries which grew near the mine; the two +old ladies at my side were transformed into two tall black walnut +trees, while I seemed to be sliding down-hill.</p> +<p>At this juncture, one of the old ladies moved away from me a +foot at least (she could have done so before had she chosen to), +and I was precipitated off from the bench, striking my head on the +sharp corner of a seat below. It was a dreadful blow which I +received, making the blood gush from my nostrils. My loud screams +brought matters to a focus, and the sermon to an end. My +grandmother and one of the old ladies took me and the water pail +outdoors, where I was literally deluged; at the same time they +called me "Poor girl! Poor Mollie! Little dear," etc.</p> +<p>But while they were attending to my bumped head Mike and Sally +were married, and I didn't see it after all! 'Twas too bad!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII2" id="CHAPTER_VII2"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>THE BRIDE.</h3> +<p>After Sally's marriage there occurred at our house an interval +of quiet, enlivened occasionally by letters from Cousin Emma, whose +health was not as much improved by her visit to the country as she +had at first hoped it would be; consequently she proposed spending +the winter south. Meantime, from Boston letters came frequently to +Carrie Howard, and as the autumn advanced, things within and about +her father's house foretold some unusual event. Two dressmakers +were hired from the village, and it was stated, on good authority, +that among Carrie's wardrobe was a white satin and an elegantly +embroidered merino traveling-dress.</p> +<p>Numerous were the surmises of Juliet and Anna as to who and how +many would be invited to the wedding. All misgivings concerning +themselves were happily brought to an end a week before the time, +for there came to our house handsome cards of invitation for Juliet +and Anna, and—I could scarcely believe my eyes—there +was one for me too. For this I was indebted to Aunt Eunice, who had +heard of and commiserated my misfortunes at Sally's wedding.</p> +<p>I was sorry that my invitation came so soon, for I had but +little hope that the time would ever come. It did, however, and so +did Mr. Ashmore and Agnes. As soon as dinner was over I commenced +my toilet, although the wedding was not to take place until eight +that evening; but then I believed, as I do now, in being ready in +season. Oh, how slowly the hours passed, and at last in perfect +despair I watched my opportunity to set the clock forward when no +one saw me. For this purpose I put the footstool in a chair, and +mounting, was about to move the long hand, when—</p> +<p>But I always was the most unfortunate of mortals, so it was no +wonder that at this point the chair slipped, the stool slipped, and +I slipped. I caught at the clock to save myself; consequently both +clock and I came to the floor with a terrible crash. My first +thought was for the hooks and eyes, which undoubtedly were +scattered with the fragments of the clock, but fortunately every +hook was in its place, and only one eye was straightened. I draw a +veil over the scolding which I got, and the numerous threats that I +should stay at home.</p> +<p>As the clock was broken we had no means for judging of the time, +and thus we were among the first who arrived at Captain Howard's. +This gave Juliet and Anna an opportunity of telling Agnes of my +mishap. She laughed heartily, and then immediately changing the +subject she inquired after Cousin Emma, and when we had heard from +her. After replying to these questions Anna asked Agnes about +Penoyer, and when she had seen him.</p> +<p>"Don't mention it," said Agnes, "but I have a suspicion that he +stopped yesterday at the depot when I did. I may have been +mistaken, for I was looking after my baggage and only caught a +glimpse of him. If it were he his presence bodes no good."</p> +<p>"Have you told Carrie?" asked Juliet.</p> +<p>"No, I have not. She seems so nervous whenever he is mentioned," +was Agnes' reply.</p> +<p>I thought of the obligations once referred to by Agnes, and felt +that I should breathe more freely when Carrie really was married. +Other guests now began to arrive, and we who had fixed long enough +before the looking-glass repaired to the parlor below. Bill, who +saw Sally married, had convinced me that the story of the +broomstick was a falsehood, so I was prepared for its absence, but +I wondered then, not more than I do now, why grown-up people +shouldn't be whipped for telling untruths to children as well as +children for telling untruths to grown-up people.</p> +<p>The parlor was now rapidly filling, and I was in great danger of +being thrust into the corner, where I could see nothing, when Aunt +Eunice very benevolently drew me near her, saying I should see if +no one else did. At last Mr. Ashmore and Carrie came. Anna can tell +you exactly what she wore, but I cannot. I only know that she +looked most beautifully, though I have a vague recollection of +fancying that in the making of her dress the sleeves were forgotten +entirely, and the neck nearly so.</p> +<p>The marriage ceremony commenced, and I listened breathlessly, +but this did not prevent me from hearing some one enter the house +by the kitchen door. Aunt Eunice heard it, too, and when the +minister began to say something about Mrs. Ashmore she arose and +went out. Something had just commenced, I think they called them +congratulations, when the crowd around the door began to huddle +together in order to make room for some person to enter. I looked +up and saw Penoyer, his glittering teeth now partially disclosed, +looking a very little fiendish, I thought. Carrie saw him, too, and +instantly turned as white as the satin dress she wore, while Agnes, +who seemed to have some suspicion of his errand, exclaimed, +"Impudent scoundrel!" At the same time advancing forward, she laid +her hand upon his arm.</p> +<p>He shook it off lightly, saying, "<i>Pardonnez moi, ma +chère</i>; I've no come to trouble you." Then turning to +Ashmore he said, pointing to Carrie, "She be your wife, I take +it?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Ashmore haughtily. "Have you any objections? +If so they have come too late."</p> +<p>"Not von, not in the least, no sar," said the Frenchman, bowing +nearly to the floor. "It give me one grand plaisir; so now you will +please settle von leetle bill I have against her;" at the same time +he drew from his pocket a sheet of half-worn paper.</p> +<p>Carrie, who was leaning heavily against Mr. Ashmore instantly +sprang forward and endeavored to snatch the paper, saying +half-imploringly, "Don't, Penoyer, you know my father will pay +it."</p> +<p>But Penoyer passed it to Mr. Ashmore, while Captain Howard, +coming forward, said, "Pay what? What is all this about?"</p> +<p>"Only a trifle," said Penoyer; "just a bill for giving your +daughter musique lessons three years in Albany."</p> +<p>"You give my daughter music lessons?" demanded Captain +Howard.</p> +<p>"<i>Oui</i>, monsieur, I do that same thing," answered +Penoyer.</p> +<p>"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," said Captain Howard, in his surprise +forgetting the time and place, "why did you tell me that your +knowledge of music you acquired yourself, with the assistance of +your cousin, and a little help from her music teacher; and why, +when this man was here a few months ago, did you not tell me he was +your music teacher and had not been paid?"</p> +<p>Bursting into tears Carrie answered, "Forgive me, father, but he +said he had no bill against me; he made no charge."</p> +<p>"But she gave me von big, large mitten," said the Frenchman, +"when she see this man, who has more l'argent; but no difference, +no difference, sar, this gentleman," bowing toward Ashmore, +"parfaitement delighted to pay it."</p> +<p>Whether he were delighted or not, he did pay it, for drawing +from his pocket his purse, while his large black eyes emitted +gleams of fire, he counted out the required amount, one hundred and +twenty-five dollars; then confronting Penoyer, he said fiercely, +"Give me a receipt for this instantly, after which I will take it +upon me to show you the door."</p> +<p>"Certainement, certainement, all I want is my l'argent," said +Penoyer.</p> +<p>The money was paid, the receipt given, and then, as Penoyer +hesitated a moment, Ashmore said, "Are you waiting to be helped +out, sir?"</p> +<p>"No, monsieur, si vous plait, I have tree letters from madam, +which will give you one grande satisfaction to read." Then tossing +toward Ashmore the letters, with a malicious smile he left the +house.</p> +<p>Poor Carrie! When sure that he was gone she fainted away and was +carried from the room. At supper, however, she made her appearance, +and after that was over the guests, unopposed, left <i>en +masse</i>.</p> +<p>What effect Penoyer's disclosures had on Ashmore we never +exactly knew, but when, a few days before the young couple left +home, they called at our house, we all fancied that Carrie was +looking more thoughtful than usual, while a cloud seemed to be +resting on Ashmore's brow. The week following their marriage they +left for New York, where they were going to reside. During the +winter Carrie wrote home frequently, giving accounts of the many +gay and fashionable parties which she attended, and once in a +letter to Anna she wrote, "The flattering attentions which I +receive have more than, once made Ashmore jealous."</p> +<p>Two years from the time they were married Mrs. Ashmore was +brought back to her home a pale, faded invalid, worn out by +constant dissipation and the care of a sickly baby, so poor and +blue that even I couldn't bear to touch it. Three days after their +arrival Mr. Evelyn brought to us his bride, Cousin Emma, blooming +with health and beauty. I could scarcely believe that the +exceedingly beautiful Mrs. Evelyn was the same white-faced girl +who, two years before, had sat with me beneath the old +grapevine.</p> +<p>The day after she came I went with her to visit Carrie, who, the +physicians said, was in a decline. I had not seen her before since +her return, and on entering the sick-room, I was as much surprised +at her haggard face, sunken eyes, and sallow skin, as was Mr. +Ashmore at the appearance of Emma. "Is it possible," said he, +coming forward, "is it possible, Emma—Mrs. Evelyn, that you +have entirely recovered?"</p> +<p>I remembered what he had once said about "invalid wives," and I +feared that the comparison he was evidently making would not be +very favorable toward Carrie. We afterward learned, however, that +he was the kindest of husbands, frequently walking half the night +with his crying baby, and at other times trying to soothe his +nervous wife, who was sometimes very irritable.</p> +<p>Before we left Carrie drew Emma closely to her and said, "They +tell me I probably shall never get well, and now, while I have +time, I wish to ask your forgiveness for the great wrong I once did +you."</p> +<p>"How? When?" asked Emma quickly, and Carrie contined:</p> +<p>"When first I saw him who is my husband, I determined to leave +no means untried to secure him for myself; I knew you were engaged, +but I fancied that your ill-health annoyed him, and played my part +well. You know how I succeeded, but I am sure you forgive me, for +you love Mr. Evelyn quite as well, perhaps better."</p> +<p>"Yes, far better," was Emma's reply, as she kissed Carrie's wan +cheek; then bidding her good-by she promised to call frequently +during her stay in town. She kept her word, and was often +accompanied by Mr. Evelyn, who strove faithfully and successfully, +too, to lead into the path of peace her whose days were well-nigh +ended.</p> +<p>'Twas on one of those bright days in the Indian summer time that +Carrie at last slept the sleep that knows no awakening. The evening +after the burial I went in at Captain Howard's, and all the +animosity I had cherished for Mr. Ashmore vanished when I saw the +large tear drops as they fell on the face of his motherless babe, +whose wailing cries he endeavored in vain to hush. When the first +snowflakes came they fell on a little mound, where by the side of +her mother Mr. Ashmore had laid his baby, Emma.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Side by side they are +sleeping,<br /></span> <span class="i2">In the grave's dark, +dreamless bed;<br /></span> <span>While the willow boughs seem +weeping,<br /></span> <span class="i2">As they bend above the +dead.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>And now, dear reader, after telling you that, yielding to the +importunities of Emma's parents, Mr. Evelyn at last moved to the +city, where, if I mistake not, he is still living, my story is +finished. But do not, I pray you, think that these few pages +contain all that I know of the olden time:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Oh no, far down in memory's +well<br /></span> <span class="i2">Exhaustless stores +remain,<br /></span> <span>From which, perchance, some future +day<br /></span> <span class="i2">I'll weave a tale +again.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_GILBERTS_OR_RICE_CORNER_NUMBER_TWO" id= +"THE_GILBERTS_OR_RICE_CORNER_NUMBER_TWO"></a>THE GILBERTS; OR, RICE +CORNER NUMBER TWO.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I3" id="CHAPTER_I3"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>THE GILBERTS.</h3> +<p>The spring following Carrie Howard's death Rice Corner was +thrown into a commotion by the astounding fact that Captain Howard +was going out West, and had sold his farm to a gentleman from the +city, whose wife "kept six servants, wore silk all the time, never +went inside of the kitchen, never saw a churn, breakfasted at ten, +dined at three, and had supper the next day!"</p> +<p>Such was the story which Mercy Jenkins detailed to us early one +Monday morning, and then, eager to communicate so desirable a piece +of news to others of her acquaintance, she started off, stopping +for a moment as she passed the wash-room to see if Sally's clothes +"wan't kinder dingy and yaller." As soon as she was gone the +astonishment of our household broke forth, grandma wondering why +Captain Howard wanted to go to the ends of the earth, as she +designated Chicago, their place of destination, and what she should +do without Aunt Eunice, who, having been born on grandma's wedding +day, was very dear to her, and then her age was so easy to keep. +But the best of friends must part, and when at Mrs. Howard's last +tea-drinking with us I saw how badly they all felt, and how many +tears were shed, I firmly resolved never to like anybody but my own +folks, unless, indeed, I made an exception in favor of Tom Jenkins, +who so often drew me to school on his sled, and who made such +comical-looking jack-o'-lanterns out of the big yellow +pumpkins.</p> +<p>In reply to the numerous questions concerning Mr. Gilbert, the +purchaser of their farm, Mrs. Howard could only reply that he was +very wealthy and had got tired of living in the city; adding, +further, that he wore a "monstrous pair of musquitoes," had an +evil-looking eye, four children, smoked cigars, and was a lawyer by +profession. This last was all grandma wanted to know about +him—"that told the whole story," for there never was but +<i>one</i> decent lawyer, and that was Mr. Evelyn, Cousin Emma's +husband. Dear old lady! when, a few years ago, she heard that I, +her favorite grandchild, was to marry one of the craft, she made +another exception in his favor, saying that "if he wasn't all +straight, Mary would soon make him so!"</p> +<p>Within a short time after Aunt Eunice's visit she left Rice +Corner, and on the same day wagon-load after wagon-load of Mr. +Gilbert's furniture passed our house, until Sally declared "there +was enough to keep a tavern, and she didn't see nothin' where +they's goin to put it," at the same time announcing her intention +of "running down there after dinner, to see what was going on."</p> +<p>It will be remembered that Sally was now a married +woman—"Mrs. Michael Welsh;" consequently, mother, who lived +with her instead of her living with mother, did not presume to +interfere with her much, though she hinted pretty strongly that she +"always liked to see people mind their own affairs." But Sally was +incorrigible. The dinner dishes were washed with a whew, I was +coaxed into sweeping the back room—which I did, leaving the +dirt under the broom behind the door—while Mrs. Welsh, +donning a pink calico, blue shawl, and bonnet trimmed with dark +green, started off on her prying excursion, stopping by the +roadside where Mike was making fence, and keeping him, as grandma +said, "full half an hour by the clock from his work."</p> +<p>Not long after Sally's departure a handsome carriage, drawn by +two fine bay horses, passed our house; and as the windows were down +we could plainly discern a pale, delicate-looking lady, wrapped in +shawls, a tall, stylish-looking girl, another one about my own age +and two beautiful little boys.</p> +<p>"That's the Gilberts, I know," said Anna. "Oh I'm so glad +Sally's gone, for now we shall have the full particulars;" and +again we waited as impatiently for Sally's return as we had once +done before for grandma.</p> +<p>At last, to our great relief, the green ribbons and blue shawl +were descried in the distance, and ere long Sally was with us, +ejaculating, "Oh, my—mercy me!" etc., thus giving us an +inkling of what was to follow. "Of all the sights that ever I have +seen," said she, folding up the blue shawl, and smoothing down the +pink calico. "There's carpeting enough to cover every crack and +crevice—all pure bristles, too!"</p> +<p>Here I tittered, whereupon Sally angrily retorted, that "she +guessed she knew how to talk proper, if she hadn't studied +grarmar."</p> +<p>"Never mind," said Anna, "go on; brussels carpeting and what +else?"</p> +<p>"Mercy knows what else," answered Sally. "I can't begin to guess +the names of half the things. There's mahogany, rosewood, and +marble fixin's—and in Miss Gilbert's room there's lace +curtains and silk damson ones—"</p> +<p>A look from Anna restrained me this time, and Sally +continued.</p> +<p>"Mercy Jenkins is there, helpin', and she says Mr. Gilbert told +'em, his wife never et a piece of salt pork in her life, and knew +no more how bread was made than a child two years old."</p> +<p>"What a simple critter she must be," said grandma, while Anna +asked if she saw Mrs. Gilbert, and if that tall girl was her +daughter.</p> +<p>"Yes, I seen her," answered Sally, "and I guess she's weakly, +for the minit she got into the house she lay down on the sofa, +which Mr. Gilbert says cost seventy-five dollars. That tall, +proud-lookin' thing they call Miss Adaline, but I'll warrant you +don't catch me puttin' on the miss. I called her Adaline, and you +had orto seen how her big eyes looked at me. Says she, at last, +'Are you one of pa's new servants?"</p> +<p>"'Servants!' says I, 'no indeed; I'm Mrs. Michael Welsh, one of +your nighest neighbors.'</p> +<p>"Then I told her that there were two nice girls lived in the +house with me, and she'd better get acquainted with 'em right away; +and then with the hatefulest of all hateful laughs, she asked if +'they wore glass beads and went barefoot.'"</p> +<p>I fancied that neither Juliet nor Anna were greatly pleased at +being introduced by Sally, the housemaid, to the elegant Adaline +Gilbert, who had come to the country with anything but a favorable +impression of its inhabitants. The second daughter, the one about +my own age, Sally said they called Nellie; "and a nice, clever +creature she is, too—not a bit stuck up like t'other one. +Why, I do believe she'd walked every big beam in the barn before +she'd been there half an hour, and the last I saw of her she was +coaxing a cow to lie still while she got upon her back!"</p> +<p>How my heart warmed toward the romping Nellie, and how I +wondered if after that beam-walking exploit her hooks and eyes were +all in their places! The two little boys, Sally said, were twins, +Edward and Egbert, or, as they were familiarly called, Bert and +Eddie. This was nearly all she had learned, if we except the fact +that the family ate with silver forks, and drank wine after dinner. +This last, mother pronounced heterodox, while I, who dearly loved +the juice of the grape and sometimes left finger marks on the top +shelf, whither I had climbed for a sip from grandma's decanter, +secretly hoped I should some day dine with Nellie Gilbert, and +drink all the wine I wanted, thinking how many times I'd rinse my +mouth so mother shouldn't smell my breath!</p> +<p>In the course of a few weeks the affairs of the Gilbert family +were pretty generally canvassed in Rice Corner, Mercy Jenkins +giving it as her opinion that "Miss Gilbert was much the likeliest +of the two, and that Mr. Gilbert was cross, overbearing, and big +feeling."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II3" id="CHAPTER_II3"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>NELLIE.</h3> +<p>As yet I had only seen Nellie in the distance, and was about +despairing of making her acquaintance when accident threw her in my +way. Directly opposite our house, and just across along green +meadow, was a piece of woods which belonged to Mr. Gilbert, and +there, one afternoon early in May, I saw Nellie. I had seen her +there before, but never dared approach her; and now I divided my +time between watching her and a dense black cloud which had +appeared in the west, and was fast approaching the zenith. I was +just thinking how nice it would be if the rain should drive her to +our house for shelter, when patter, patter came the large drops in +my face; thicker and faster they fell, until it seemed like a +perfect deluge; and through the almost blinding sheet of rain I +descried Nellie coming toward me at a furious rate. With the +agility of a fawn she bounded over the gate, and with the +exclamation of, "Ain't I wetter than a drownded rat?" we were +perfectly well acquainted.</p> +<p>It took but a short time to divest her of her dripping garments, +and array her in some of mine, which Sally said "fitted her to a +T," though I fancied she looked sadly out of place in my linen +pantalets and long-sleeved dress. She was a great lover of fun and +frolic, and in less than half an hour had "ridden to Boston" on +Joe's rocking-horse, turned the little wheel faster than even I +dared to turn it, tried on grandma's stays, and then, as a crowning +feat, tried the rather dangerous experiment of riding down the +garret stairs on a board! The clatter brought up grandma, and I +felt some doubts about her relishing a kind of play which savored +so much of what she called "a racket," but the soft brown eyes +which looked at her so pleadingly were too full of love, +gentleness, and mischief to be resisted, and permission for "one +more ride" was given, "provided she'd promise not to break her +neck."</p> +<p>Oh, what fun we had that afternoon! What a big rent she tore in +my gingham frock, and what a "dear, delightful old haunted castle +of a thing" she pronounced our house to be. Darling, darling +Nellie! I shut my eyes and she comes before me again, the same +bright beautiful creature she was when I saw her first, as she was +when I saw her for the last, last time.</p> +<p>It rained until dark, and Nellie, who confidently expected to +stay all night, had whispered to me her intention of "tying our +toes together," when there came a tremendous rap upon the door, and +without waiting to be bidden in walked Mr. Gilbert, puffing and +swelling, and making himself perfectly at home, in a kind of +offhand manner, which had in it so much of condescension that I was +disgusted, and when sure Nellie would not see me I made at him a +wry face, thereby feeling greatly relieved!</p> +<p>After managing to let mother know how expensive his family was, +how much he paid yearly for wines and cigars, and how much +Adaline's education and piano had cost, he arose to go, saying to +his daughter, "Come, puss, take off those—ahem—those +habiliments, and let's be off!"</p> +<p>Nellie obeyed, and just before she was ready to start she asked, +when I would come and spend the day with her.</p> +<p>I looked at mother, mother looked at Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gilbert +looked at me, and after surveying me from head to foot said, +spitting between every other word, "Ye-es ye-es, we've come to live +in the country, and I suppose" (here he spit three successive +times), "and I suppose we may as well be on friendly terms as any +other; so, madam" (turning to mother), "I am willing to have your +little daughter visit us ocasionally." Then adding that "he would +extend the same invitation to her were it not that his wife was an +invalid and saw no company," he departed.</p> +<p>One morning, several days afterward, a servant brought to our +house a neat little note from Mrs. Gilbert, asking mother to let me +spend the day with Nellie. After some consultation between mother +and grandma, it was decided that I might go, and in less than an +hour I was dressed and on the road, my hair braided so tightly in +my neck that the little red bumps of flesh set up here and there, +like currants on a brown earthen platter.</p> +<p>Nellie did not wait to receive me formally, but came running +down the road, telling me that Robin had made a swing in the barn, +and that we would play there most all day, as her mother was sick, +and Adaline, who occupied two-thirds of the house, wouldn't let us +come near her. This Adaline was to me a very formidable personage. +Hitherto I had only caught glimpses of her, as with long skirts and +waving plumes she sometimes dashed past our house on horseback, and +it was with great trepidation that I now followed Nellie into the +parlor, where she told me her sister was.</p> +<p>"Adaline, this is my little friend," said she; and Adaline +replied:</p> +<p>"How do you do, little friend?"</p> +<p>My cheeks tingled, and for the first time raising my eyes I +found myself face to face with the haughty belle. She was very tall +and queenlike in her figure, and though she could hardly be called +handsome, there was about her an air of elegance and refinement +which partially compensated for the absence of beauty. That she was +proud one could see from the glance of her large black eyes and the +curl of her lip. Coolly surveying me for a moment, as she would any +other curious specimen, she resumed her book, never speaking to me +again, except to ask, when she saw me gazing wonderingly around the +splendidly-furnished room, "if I supposed I could remember every +article of furniture, and give a faithful report."</p> +<p>I thought I was insulted when she called me "little friend," and +now, feeling sure of it, I tartly replied that "if I couldn't she +perhaps might lend me paper and pencil, with which to write them +down."</p> +<p>"Orginally, truly," said she, again poring over her book.</p> +<p>Nellie, who had left me for a moment, now returned, bidding me +come and see her mother, and passing through the long hall, I was +soon in Mrs. Gilbert's room, which was as tastefully, though +perhaps not quite so richly, furnished as the parlor. Mrs. Gilbert +was lying upon a sofa, and the moment I looked upon her the love +which I had so freely given the daughter was shared with the +mother, in whose pale sweet face, and soft brown eyes, I saw a +strong resemblance to Nellie. She was attired in a rose-colored +morning-gown, which flowed open in front, disclosing to view a +larger quantity of rich French embroidery than I had ever before +seen.</p> +<p>Many times during the day, and many times since, have I wondered +what made her marry, and if she really loved the bearish-looking +man who occasionally stalked into the room, smoking cigars and +talking very loudly, when he knew how her head was throbbing with +pain.</p> +<p>I had eaten but little breakfast that morning, and verily I +thought I should famish before their dinner hour arrived; and when +at last it came, and I saw the table glittering with silver, I felt +many misgivings as to my ability to acquit myself creditably. But +by dint of watching Nellie, doing just what she did, and refusing +just what she refused, I managed to get through with it tolerably +well. For once, too, in my life I drank all the wine I wanted; the +result of which was that long before sunset I went home, crying and +vomiting with the sick headache, which Sally said "served me +right;" at the same time hinting her belief that I was slightly +intoxicated!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III3" id="CHAPTER_III3"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>THE HAUNTED HOUSE.</h3> +<p>Down our long, green lane, and at the further extremity of the +narrow footpath which led to the "old mine," was another path or +wagon road which wound along among the fern bushes, under the +chestnut trees, across the hemlock swamp, and up, to a grassy ridge +which overlooked a small pond, said, of course, to have no bottom. +Fully crediting this story, and knowing, moreover, that China was +opposite to us, I have often taken down my atlas and hunted through +that ancient empire, in hopes of finding a corresponding sheet of +water. Failing to do so I had made one with my pencil, writing +against it, "Cranberry Pond," that being the name of its American +brother.</p> +<p>Just above the pond on the grassy ridge stood an old, +dilapidated building which had long borne the name of the "haunted +house." I never knew whether this title was given it on account of +its proximity to the "old mine," or because it stood near the very +spot where, years and years ago, the "bloody Indians" pushed those +cart-loads of burning hemp against the doors "of the only remaining +house in Quaboag"—for which see Goodrich's Child's History, +page—, somewhere toward the commencement. I only know that +'twas called the "haunted house," and that for a long time no one +would live there, on account of the rapping, dancing, and cutting +up generally which was said to prevail, there particularly in the +west room, the one overhung with ivy and grapevines.</p> +<p>Three or four years before our story opens a widow lady, Mrs. +Hudson, with her only daughter, Mabel, appeared in our +neighborhood, hiring the "haunted house," and, in spite of the +neighbors' predictions to the contrary, living there quietly and +peaceably, unharmed by ghost or goblin. At first Mrs. Hudson was +looked upon with distrust, and even a league with a certain old +fellow was hinted at; but as she seemed to be well disposed, kind, +and affable toward all, this feeling gradually wore away, and now +she was universally liked, while Mabel, her daughter, was a general +favorite. For two years past, Mabel had worked in the Fiskdale +factory a portion of the time, going to school the remainder of the +year. She was fitting herself for a teacher, and as the school in +our district was small, the trustees had this summer kindly offered +it to her. This arrangement delighted me; for, next to Nellie +Gilbert, I loved Mabel Hudson best of anybody; and I fancied, too, +that they looked alike, but of course it was all fancy.</p> +<p>Mrs. Hudson was a tailoress, and the day following my visit to +Mr. Gilbert's I was sent by mother to take her some work. I found +her in the little porch, her white cap-border falling over her +placid face, and her wide checked apron coming nearly to the bottom +of her dress. Mabel was there, too, and as she arose to receive me +something about her reminded me of Adaline Gilbert. I could not +tell what it was, for Mabel was very beautiful, and beside her +Adaline would be plain; still there was a resemblance, either in +voice or manner, and this it was, perhaps, which made me so soon +mention the Gilberts and my visit to them the day previous.</p> +<p>Instantly Mrs. Hudson and Mabel exchanged glances, and I thought +the face of the former grew a shade paler; still I may have been +mistaken, for in her usual tone of voice she began to ask me +numberless questions concerning the family, which seemed singular, +as she was not remarkable for curiosity. But it suited me. I loved +to talk then not less than I do now, and in a few minutes I had +told all I knew—and more, too, most likely.</p> +<p>At last Mrs. Hudson asked about Mr. Gilbert, and how I liked +him.</p> +<p>"Not a bit," said I. "He's the hatefulest, crossest, +big-feelingest man I ever saw, and Adaline is just like him!"</p> +<p>Had I been a little older I might, perhaps, have wondered at the +crimson flush which my hasty words brought to Mrs. Hudson's cheek, +but I did not notice it then, and thinking she was, of course, +highly entertained, I continued to talk about Mr. Gilbert and +Adaline, in the last of whom Mabel seemed the most interested. Of +Nellie I spoke with the utmost affection, and when Mrs. Hudson +expressed a wish to see her, I promised, if possible, to bring her +there; then as I had already outstayed the time for which +permission had been given, I tied on my sunbonnet and started for +home, revolving the ways and means by which I should keep my +promise.</p> +<p>This proved to be a very easy matter; for within a few days +Nellie came to return my visit, and as mother had other company she +the more readily gave us permission to go where we pleased. Nellie +had a perfect passion for ghost and witch stories, saying though +that "she never liked to have them explained—she'd rather +they'd be left in solemn mystery;" so when I told her of the "old +mine" and the "haunted house" she immediately expressed a desire to +see them. Hiding our bonnets under our aprons the better to conceal +our intentions from sister Lizzie, who, we fancied, had serious +thoughts of <i>tagging</i>, we sent her up-stairs in quest of +something which we knew was not there, and then away we scampered +down the green lane and across the pasture, dropping once into some +alders as Lizzie's yellow hair became visible on the fence at the +foot of the lane. Our consciences smote us a little, but we kept +still until she returned to the house; then, continuing our way, we +soon came in sight of the mine, which Nellie determined to +explore.</p> +<p>It was in vain that I tried to dissuade her from the attempt. +She was resolved, and stationing myself at a safe distance I waited +while she scrambled over stones, sticks, logs, and bushes, until +she finally disappeared in the cave. Ere long, however, she +returned with soiled pantalets, torn apron, and scratched face, +saying that "the mine was nothing in the world but a hole in the +ground, and a mighty little one at that." After this I didn't know +but I would sometime venture in, but for fear of what might happen +I concluded to choose a time when I hadn't run away from Liz!</p> +<p>When I presented Nellie to Mrs. Hudson she took both her hands +in hers, and, greatly to my surprise, kissed her on both cheeks. +Then she walked hastily into the next room, but not until I saw +something fall from her eyes, which I am sure were tears.</p> +<p>"Funny, isn't it?" said Nellie, looking wonderingly at me. "I +don't know whether to laugh or what."</p> +<p>Mabel now came in, and though she manifested no particular +emotion, she was exceedingly kind to Nellie, asking her many +questions, and sometimes smoothing her brown curls. When Mrs. +Hudson again appeared she was very calm, but I noticed that her +eyes constantly rested upon Nellie, who, with Mabel's gray kitten +in her lap, was seated upon the doorstep, the very image of +childish innocence and beauty. Mrs. Hudson urged us to stay to tea +but I declined, knowing that there was company at home, with three +kinds of cake, besides cookies, for supper. So bidding her good-by, +and promising to come again, we started homeward, where we found +the ladies discussing their green tea and making large inroads upon +the three kinds of cake.</p> +<p>One of them, a Mrs. Thompson, was gifted with the art of +fortune-telling, by means of tea-grounds, and when Nellie and I +took our seats at the table she kindly offered to see what was in +store for us. She had frequently told my fortune, each time +managing to fish up a freckle-faced boy so nearly resembling her +grandson, my particular aversion, that I didn't care to hear it +again. But with Nellie 'twas all new, and after a great whirling of +tea-grounds and staining of mother's best table-cloth, she passed +her cup to Mrs. Thompson, confidently whispering to me that she +guessed she'd tell her something about Willie Raymond, who lived in +the city, and who gave her the little cornelian ring which she +wore. With the utmost gravity Mrs. Thompson read off the past and +present, and then peering far into the future she suddenly +exclaimed, "Oh, my! there's a gulf, or something, before you, and +you are going to tumble into it headlong; don't ask me anything +more."</p> +<p>I never did and never shall believe in fortune-telling, much +less in Granny Thompson's "turned-up cups," but years after I +thought of her prediction with regard to Nellie. Poor, poor +Nellie!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV3" id="CHAPTER_IV3"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>JEALOUSY.</h3> +<p>On the first Monday in June our school commenced, and long +before breakfast Lizzie and I were dressed and had turned inside +out the little cupboard over the fireplace where our books were +kept during vacation. Breakfast being over we deposited in our +dinner-basket the whole of a custard pie, and were about starting +off when mother said "we shouldn't go a step until half-past +eight," adding further, that "we must put that pie back, for 'twas +one she'd saved for their own dinner."</p> +<p>Lizzie pouted, while I cried, and taking my bonnet I repaired to +the "great rock," where the sassafras, blackberries, and +blacksnakes grew. Here I sat for a long time, thinking if I ever +did grow up and get married (I was sure of the latter), I'd have +all the custard pie I could eat for once! In the midst of my +reverie a footstep sounded near, and looking up I saw before me +Nellie Gilbert, with her satchel of books on her arm, and her +sunbonnet hanging down her back, after the fashion in which I +usually wore mine. In reply to my look of inquiry she said her +father had concluded to let her go to the district school, though +he didn't expect her to learn anything but "slang terms and ill +manners."</p> +<p>By this time it was half-past eight, and together with Lizzie we +repaired to the schoolhouse, where we found assembled a dozen girls +and as many boys, among whom was Tom Jenkins. Tom was a great +admirer of beauty, and hence I could never account for the +preference he had hitherto shown for me, who my brothers called +"bung-eyed" and Sally "raw-boned." He, however, didn't think so. My +eyes, he said, were none too large, and many a night had he carried +home my books for me, and many a morning had he brought me nuts and +raisins, to say nothing of the time when I found in my desk a +little note, which said—But everybody who's been to school, +knows what it said!</p> +<p>Taking it all round we were as good as engaged; so you can judge +what my feelings were when, before the night of Nellie's first day +at school, I saw Tom Jenkins giving her an orange which I had every +reason to think was originally intended for me! I knew very well +that Nellie's brown curls and eyes had done the mischief; and +though I did not love her the less, I blamed him the more for his +fickleness, for only a week before he had praised my eyes, calling +them a "beautiful indigo blue," and all that. I was highly +incensed, and when on our way from school he tried to speak +good-humoredly, I said, "I'd thank you to let me alone! I don't +like you, and never did!"</p> +<p>He looked sorry for a minute, but soon forgot it all in talking +to Nellie, who after he had left us said "he was a cleverish kind +of boy, though he couldn't begin with William Raymond." After that +I was very cool toward Tom, who attached himself more and more to +Nellie, saying "she had the handsomest eyes he ever saw;" and, +indeed, I think it chiefly owing to those soft, brown, dreamy eyes +that I am not now "Mrs. Tom Jenkins of Jenkinsville," a place way +out West, whither Tom and his mother have migrated.</p> +<p>One day Nellie was later at school than usual, giving as a +reason that their folks had company—a Mr. Sherwood and his +mother, from Hartford; and adding that if I'd never tell anybody as +long as I lived and breathed she'd tell me something.</p> +<p>Of course I promised, and Nellie told me how she guessed that +Mr. Sherwood, who was rich and handsome, liked Adaline. "Anyway, +Adaline likes him," said she, "and oh, she's so nice and good when +he's around. I ain't 'Nell, you hateful thing' then, but I'm +'Sister Nellie.' They are going to ride this morning, and perhaps +they'll go by here. There they are, now!" and looking toward the +road I saw Mr. Sherwood and Adaline Gilbert on horseback, riding +leisurely past the schoolhouse. She was nodding to Nellie, but he +was looking intently at Mabel, who was sitting near the window. I +know he asked Adaline something about her, for I distinctly heard a +part of her reply—"a poor factory girl," and Adaline's head +tossed scornfully, as if that were a sufficient reason why Mabel +should be despised.</p> +<p>Mr. Sherwood evidently did not think so, for the next day he +walked by alone—and the next day he did the same, this time +bringing with him a book, and seating himself in the shadow of a +chestnut tree not far from the schoolhouse. The moment school was +out, he arose and came forward, inquiring for Nellie, who, of +course, introduced him to Mabel. The three then walked on together, +while Tom Jenkins stayed in the rear with me, wondering what I +wanted to act so for; "couldn't a feller like more than one girl if +he wanted to?"</p> +<p>"Yes, I s'posed a feller could, though I didn't know, nor +care!"</p> +<p>Tom made no reply, but whittled away upon a bit of shingle, +which finally assumed the shape of a heart, and which I afterward +found in his desk with the letter "N" written upon it, and then +scratched out. When at last we reached our house Mr. Sherwood asked +Nellie "where that old mine and sawmill were, of which she had told +him so much."</p> +<p>"Right on Miss Hudson's way home," said Nellie. "Let's walk +along with her;" and the next moment Mr. Sherwood, Mabel, and +Nellie were in the long, green lane which led down to the +sawmill.</p> +<p>Oh, how Adaline stormed when she heard of it, and how sneeringly +she spoke to Mr. Sherwood of the "factory girl," insinuating that +the bloom on her cheek was paint, and the lily on her brow powder! +But he probably did not believe it, for almost every day he passed +the schoolhouse, generally managing to speak with Mabel; and once +he went all the way home with her, staying ever so long, too, for I +watched until 'twas pitch dark, and he hadn't got back yet!</p> +<p>In a day or two he went home, and I thought no more about him, +until Tom, who had been to the post-office, brought Mabel a letter, +which made her turn red and white alternately, until at last she +cried. She was very absent-minded the remainder of that day, +letting us do as we pleased, and never in my life did I have a +better time "carrying on" than I did that afternoon when Mabel +received her first letter from Mr. Sherwood.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V3" id="CHAPTER_V3"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>NEW RELATIONS.</h3> +<p>About six weeks after the close of Mabel's school we were one +day startled with the intelligence that she was going to be +married, and to Mr. Sherwood, too. He had become tired of the +fashionable ladies of his acquaintance, and when he saw how pure +and artless Mabel was, he immediately became interested in her; and +at last, overcoming all feelings of pride, he had offered her his +hand, and had been accepted. At first we could hardly credit the +story; but when Mrs. Hudson herself confirmed it we gave it up, and +again I wondered if I should be invited. All the nicest and best +chestnuts which I could find, to say nothing of the apples and +butternuts, I carried to her, not without my reward either, for +when invitations came to us I was included with the rest. Our +family were the only invited guests, and I felt no fears this time +of being hidden by the crowd.</p> +<p>Just before the ceremony commenced there was the sound of a +heavy footstep upon the outer porch, a loud knock at the door, and +then into the room came Mr. Gilbert! He seemed slightly agitated, +but not one-half so much as Mrs. Hudson, who exclaimed, "William, +my son, why are you here?"</p> +<p>"I came to witness my sister's bridal," was the answer; and +turning toward the clergyman, he said, somewhat authoritatively, +"Do not delay for me, sir. Go on."</p> +<p>There was a movement in the next room, and then the bridal party +entered, both starting with surprise as they saw Mr. Gilbert. Very +beautiful did Mabel look as she stood up to take upon herself the +marriage vow, not a syllable of which did one of us hear. We were +thinking of Mr. Gilbert, and the strange words, "my son" and "my +sister."</p> +<p>When it was over, and Mabel was Mrs. Sherwood, Mr. Gilbert +approached Mrs. Hudson, saying, "Come, mother, let me lead you to +the bride."</p> +<p>With an impatient gesture she waved him off, and going alone to +her daughter, threw her arms around her neck, sobbing convulsively. +There was an awkward silence, and then Mr. Gilbert, thinking he was +called upon for an explanation, arose, and addressing himself +mostly to Mr. Sherwood, said, "I suppose what has transpired here +to-night seems rather strange, and will undoubtedly furnish the +neighborhood with gossip for more than a week, but they are welcome +to canvass, whatever I do. I can't help it if I was born with an +unusual degree of pride, neither can I help feeling mortified, as I +many times did, at my family, particularly after she," glancing at +his mother, "married the man whose name she bears."</p> +<p>Here Mrs. Hudson lifted up her head, and coming to Mr. Gilbert's +side, stood proudly erect, while he continued: "She would tell you +he was a good man, but I hated him, and swore never to enter the +house while he lived. I went away, took care of myself, grew rich, +married into one of the first families in Hartford, +and—and—"</p> +<p>Here he paused, and his mother, continuing the sentence, added, +"and grew ashamed of your own mother, who many a time went without +the comforts of life that you might be educated. You were always a +proud, wayward boy, William, but never did I think you would do as +you have done. You have treated me with utter neglect, never +allowing your wife to see me, and when I once proposed visiting you +in Hartford you asked your brother, now dead, to dissuade me from +it, if possible, for you could not introduce me to your +acquaintances as your mother. Never do you speak of me to your +children, who, if they know they have a grandmother, little dream +that she lives within a mile of their father's dwelling. One of +them I have seen, and my heart yearned toward her as it did toward +you when first I took you in my arms, my first-born baby; and yet, +William, I thank Heaven there is in her sweet face no trace of her +father's features. This may sound harsh, unmotherly, but greatly +have I been sinned against, and now, just as a brighter day is +dawning upon me, why have you come here? Say, William, why?"</p> +<p>By the time Mrs. Hudson had finished, nearly all in the room +were weeping. Mr. Gilbert, however, seemed perfectly indifferent, +and with the most provoking coolness replied, "I came to see my +fair sister married—to congratulate her upon an alliance +which will bring us upon a more equal footing."</p> +<p>"You greatly mistake me, sir," said Mr. Sherwood, turning +haughtily toward Mr. Gilbert, at the same time drawing Mabel nearer +to him; "you greatly mistake me, if, after what I have heard, you +think I would wish for your acquaintance. If my wife, when poor and +obscure, was not worthy of your attention, <i>you</i> certainly are +not now worthy of hers, and it is my request that our intercourse +should end here."</p> +<p>Mr. Gilbert muttered something about "extenuating +circumstances," and "the whole not being told," but no one paid him +any attention; and at last, snatching up his hat, he precipitately +left the house, I sending after him a hearty good riddance, and +mentally hoping he would measure his length in the ditch which he +must pass on his way across Hemlock Swamp.</p> +<p>The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood departed on their bridal +tour, intending on their return to take their mother with them to +the city. Several times during their absence I saw Mr. Gilbert, +either going to or returning from the "haunted house," and I +readily guessed he was trying to talk his mother over, for nothing +could be more mortifying than to be cut by the Sherwoods, who were +among the first in Hartford.</p> +<p>Afterward, greatly to my satisfaction, I heard that though, +motherlike, Mrs. Hudson had forgiven her son, Mr. Sherwood ever +treated him with a cool haughtiness, which effectually kept him at +a distance.</p> +<p>Once, indeed, at Mabel's earnest request, Mrs. Gilbert and +Nellie were invited to visit her, and as the former was too feeble +to accomplish the journey, Nellie went alone, staying a long time, +and torturing her sister on her return with a glowing account of +the elegantly-furnished house, of which Adaline had once hoped to +be the proud mistress.</p> +<p>For several years after Mabel's departure from Rice Corner +nothing especial occurred in the Gilbert family, except the +marriage of Adaline with a rich bachelor, who must have been many +years older than her father, for he colored his whiskers, wore +false teeth and a wig, besides having, as Nellie declared, a wooden +leg! For the truth of this last I will not vouch, as Nellie's +assertion was only founded upon the fact of her having once looked +through the keyhole of his door, and espied standing by his bed +something which looked like a cork leg, but which might have been a +boot! What Adaline saw in him to like I could never guess. I +suppose, however, that she only looked at his rich gilding, which +covered a multitude of defects.</p> +<p>Immediately after the wedding the happy pair started for a +two-years' tour in Europe, where the youthful bride so enraged her +bald-headed lord by flirting with a mustached Frenchman that in a +fit of anger the old man picked up his goods, chattels, and wife, +and returned to New York within three months of his leaving it!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI3" id="CHAPTER_VI3"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>POOR, POOR NELLIE.</h3> +<p>And now, in the closing chapter of this brief sketch of the +Gilberts, I come to the saddest part—the fate of poor Nellie, +the dearest playmate my childhood ever knew, she whom the lapse of +years ripened into a graceful, beautiful girl, loved by everybody, +even by Tom Jenkins, whose boyish affection had grown with his +growth and strengthened with his strength.</p> +<p>And now Nellie was the affianced bride of William Raymond, who +had replaced the little cornelian with the engagement ring. At last +the rumor reached Tom Jenkins, awaking him from the sweetest dream +he had ever known. He could not ask Nellie if it were true, so he +came to me; and when I saw how he grew pale and trembled, I felt +that Nellie was not altogether blameless. But he breathed no word +of censure against her; and when, a year or two afterward, I saw +her given to William Raymond, I knew that the love of two hearts +was hers; the one to cherish and watch over her, the other to love +and worship, silently, secretly, as a miser worships his hidden +treasure.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>The bridal was over. The farewells were over, and Nellie had +gone—gone from the home whose sunlight she had made, and +which she had left forever. Sadly the pale, sick mother wept, and +mourned her absence, listening in vain for the light footfall and +soft, ringing voice she would never hear again.</p> +<p>Three weeks had passed away, and then, far and near the papers +teemed with accounts of the horrible Norwalk catastrophe, which +desolated many a home, and wrung from many a heart its choicest +treasure. Side by side they found them—Nellie and her +husband—the light of her brown eyes quenched forever, and the +pulses of his heart still in death!</p> +<p>I was present when they told the poor invalid of her loss, and +even now I seem to hear the bitter, wailing cry which broke from +her white lips, as she begged them to unsay what they had said, and +tell her Nellie was not dead—that she would come back +again.</p> +<p>It could not be. Nellie would never return; and in six weeks' +time the broken-hearted mother was at rest with her child.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_THANKSGIVING_PARTY_AND_ITS_CONSEQUENCES" id= +"THE_THANKSGIVING_PARTY_AND_ITS_CONSEQUENCES"></a>THE THANKSGIVING +PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I4" id="CHAPTER_I4"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING.</h3> +<p>"Oh, I do hope it will be pleasant to-morrow," said Lizzie +Dayton, as on the night before Thanksgiving she stood at the parlor +window, watching a dense mass of clouds, behind which the sun had +lately gone to his nightly rest.</p> +<p>"I hope so, too," said Lucy, coming forward and joining her +sister; "but then it isn't likely it will be. There has been a big +circle around the moon these three nights, and besides that, I +never knew it fail to storm when I was particularly anxious that it +should be pleasant;" and the indignant beauty pouted very +becomingly at the insult so frequently offered by that most +capricious of all things, the weather.</p> +<p>"Thee shouldn't talk so, Lucy," said Grandma Dayton, who was of +Quaker descent, at the same time holding up between herself and the +window the long stocking which she was knitting. "Doesn't thee know +that when thee is finding fault with the weather thee finds fault +with Him who made the weather?"</p> +<p>"I do wish, grandma," answered Lucy, "that I could ever say +anything which did not furnish you with a text from which to preach +me a sermon."</p> +<p>Grandma did not reply directly to this rather uncivil speech, +but, she continued: "I don't see how the weather will hurt thee, if +it's the party thee is thinking of, for Mr. Graham's is only ten +rods or so from here.</p> +<p>"I'm not afraid I can't go," answered Lucy; "but you know as +well as I that if the wind blows enough to put out a candle, father +is so old-maidish as to think Lizzie and I must wear thick +stockings and dresses, and I shouldn't wonder if he insisted on +flannel wrappers!"</p> +<p>"Well," answered grandma, "I think myself it will be very +imprudent for Lizzie, in her present state of health, to expose her +neck and arms. Thy poor marm died with consumption when she wasn't +much older than thee is. Let me see—she was twenty-three the +day she died, and thee was twenty-two in Sep—"</p> +<p>"For heaven's sake, grandmother," interrupted Lucy, "don't +continually remind me of my age, and tell me how much younger +mother was when she was married. I can't help it if I'm twenty-two, +and not married or engaged either. But I will be both before I am a +year older."</p> +<p>So saying, she quitted the apartment, and repaired to her own +room.</p> +<p>Ere we follow her thither we will introduce both her and her +sister to our readers. Lucy and Lizzie were the only children of +Mr. Dayton, a wealthy, intelligent, and naturally social man, the +early death of whose idolized, beautiful wife had thrown a deep +gloom over his spirits, which time could never entirely dispel. It +was now seventeen years since, a lonely, desolate widower, at the +dusky twilight hour he had drawn closely to his bosom his +motherless children, and thought that but for them he would gladly +have lain down by her whose home was now in heaven. His +acquaintances spoke lightly of his grief, saying he would soon get +over it and marry again. They were mistaken, for he remained +single, his widowed mother supplying to his daughters the place of +their lost parent.</p> +<p>In one thing was Mr. Dayton rather peculiar. Owing to the death +of his wife, he had always been in the habit of dictating to his +daughters in various small matters, such as dress, and so forth, +about which fathers seldom trouble themselves. And even now he +seemed to forget that they were children no longer, and often +interfered in their plans in a way exceedingly annoying to Lucy, +the eldest of the girls, who was now twenty-two and was as proud, +selfish, and self-willed as she was handsome and accomplished. Old +maids she held in great abhorrence, and her great object in life +was to secure a wealthy and distinguished husband. Hitherto she had +been unsuccessful, for the right one had not yet appeared. Now, +however, a new star was dawning on her horizon, in the person of +Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans. His fame had preceded him, and half +the village of S—— were ready to do homage to the proud +millionaire, who would make his first appearance at the +Thanksgiving party. This, then, was the reason why Lucy felt so +anxious to be becomingly dressed, for she had resolved upon a +conquest, and she felt sure of success. She knew she was beautiful. +Her companions told her so, her mirror told her so, and her sweet +sister Lizzie told her so more then twenty times a day.</p> +<p>Lizzie was four years younger than her sister, and wholly unlike +her, both in personal appearance and disposition. She had from +childhood evinced a predisposition to the disease which had +consigned her mother to an early grave. On her fair, soft cheek the +rose of health had never bloomed, and in the light which shone from +her clear hazel eye, her fond father read but too clearly "passing +away—passing away."</p> +<p>If there was in Lucy Dayton's selfish nature any redeeming +quality, it was that she possessed for her frail young sister a +love amounting almost to adoration. Years before, she had trembled +as she thought how soon the time might come when for her sister's +merry voice she would listen in vain; but as month after month and +year after year went by, and still among them Lizzie stayed, Lucy +forgot her fears, and dreamed not that ere long one chair would be +vacant—that Lizzie would be gone.</p> +<p>Although so much younger than her sister, Lizzie, for more than +a year, had been betrothed to Harry Graham, whom she had known from +childhood. Now, between herself and him the broad Atlantic rolled, +nor would he return until the coming autumn, when, with her +father's consent, Lizzie would be all his own.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Alas! alas! ere autumn came<br /></span> +<span class="i2">How many hearts were weeping<br /></span> +<span>For her who 'neath the willow's shade<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Lay sweetly, calmly sleeping.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II4" id="CHAPTER_II4"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THANKSGIVING DAY.</h3> +<p>Slowly the feeble light of a stormy morning broke over the +village of S——. Lucy's fears had been verified, for +Thanksgiving's dawn was ushered in by a fierce, driving storm. +Thickly from the blackened clouds the feathery flakes had fallen +until the earth far and near was covered by a mass of white, +untrodden snow.</p> +<p>Lucy had been awake for a long time, listening to the sad song +of the wind, which swept howling by the casement. At length, with +an impatient frown at the snow which covered the window pane, she +turned on her pillow, and tried again to sleep. Her slumbers, +however, were soon disturbed by her sister, who arose, and putting +aside the curtain, looked out upon the storm, saying half-aloud, +"Oh, I am sorry, for Lucy will be disappointed."</p> +<p>"I disappointed!" repeated Lucy; "now, Lizzie, why not own it, +and say you are as much provoked at the weather as I am, and wish +this horrid storm had stayed in the icy caves of Greenland?"</p> +<p>"Because," answered Lizzie, "I really care but little about the +party. You know Harry will not be there, and besides that, the old, +ugly pain has come back to my side this morning;" and even as she +spoke a low, hacking cough fell on Lucy's ear like the echo of a +distant knell.</p> +<p>Lucy raised herself up, and leaning on her elbow looked +earnestly at her sister, and fancied ('twas not all fancy), that +her cheeks had grown thinner and her brow whiter within a few +weeks. Lizzie proceeded with her toilet, although she was twice +obliged to stop on account of "the ugly pain," as she called +it.</p> +<p>"Hurry, sister," said Lucy, "and you will feel better when you +get to the warm parlor."</p> +<p>Lizzie thought so, too, and she accelerated her movements as +much as possible. Just as she was leaving the room Lucy detained +her a moment by passing her arm caressingly around her. Lizzie well +knew that some favor was wanted, and she said, "Well, what is it, +Lucy? What do you wish me to give you?"</p> +<p>"Nothing, nothing," answered Lucy; "but do not say anything to +father about the pain in your side, for fear he will keep you at +home, and, worse than all, make me stay, too."</p> +<p>Lizzie gave the required promise, and then descended to the +breakfast parlor, where she found her grandmother, and was soon +joined by her sister and father. After the usual salutation of the +morning the latter said "There is every prospect of our being alone +to-day, for the snow is at least a foot and a half deep, and is +drifting every moment."</p> +<p>"But, father," said Lucy, "that will not prevent Lizzie and me +from going to the party to-night."</p> +<p>"You mean, if I choose to let you go, of course," answered Mr. +Dayton.</p> +<p>"Why," quickly returned Lucy, "you cannot think of keeping us at +home. It is only distant a few rods, and we will wrap up well."</p> +<p>"I have no objections to your going," replied Mr. Dayton, +"provided you dress suitably for such a night."</p> +<p>"Oh, father," said Lucy, "you cannot be capricious enough to +wish us to be bundled up in bags."</p> +<p>"I care but little what dress you wear," answered Mr. Dayton, +"if it has what I consider necessary appendages, viz., sleeves and +waist."</p> +<p>The tears glittered in Lucy's bright eyes as she said, "Our +party dresses are at Miss Carson's, and she is to send them home +this morning."</p> +<p>"Wear them, then," answered Mr. Dayton, "provided they possess +the qualities I spoke of, for without those you cannot go out on +such a night as this will be."</p> +<p>Lucy knew that her dress was minus the sleeves, and that her +father would consider the waist a mere apology for one, so she +burst into tears and said, rather angrily, "I had rather stay at +home than go rigged out as you would like to have me."</p> +<p>"Very well; you can stay at home," was Mr. Dayton's quiet +reply.</p> +<p>In a few moments he left the room, and then Lucy's wrath burst +forth unrestrainedly. She called her father all sorts of names, +such as "an old granny—an old fidget," and finished up her +list with what she thought the most odious appellation of all, "an +old maid."</p> +<p>In the midst of her tirade the door bell rang. It was the boy +from Miss Carson's, and he brought the party dresses. Lucy's +thoughts now took another channel, and while admiring her beautiful +embroidered muslin and rich white satin skirt, she forgot that she +could not wear it. Grandma was certainly unfortunate in her choice +of words, this morning, for when Lucy for the twentieth time asked +if her dress were not a perfect beauty, the old Quakeress +answered:</p> +<p>"Why, it looks very decent, but it can do thee no good, for thy +pa has said thee cannot wear it; besides, the holy writ reads, 'Let +your adorning—'"</p> +<p>Here Lucy stopped her ears, exclaiming, "I do believe, grandma, +you were manufactured from a chapter in the Bible, for you throw +your holy writ into my face on all occasions."</p> +<p>The good lady adjusted her spectacles, and replied, "How thee +talks! I never thought of throwing my Bible at thee, Lucy!"</p> +<p>Grandma had understood her literally.</p> +<p>Nothing more was said of the party until dinner time, although +there was a determined look in Lucy's flashing eye, which puzzled +Lizzie not a little. Owing to the storm, Mr. Dayton's country +cousins did not, as was their usual custom, come into town to dine +with him, and for this Lucy was thankful, for she thought nothing +could be more disagreeable than to be compelled to sit all day and +ask Cousin Peter how much his fatting hogs weighed; or his wife, +Elizabeth Betsey, how many teeth the baby had got; or, worse than +all the rest, if the old maid, Cousin Berintha, were present, to be +obliged to be asked at least three times, whether it's twenty-four +or twenty-five she'd be next September, and on saying it was only +twenty-three, have her word disputed and the family Bible brought +in question. Even then Miss Berintha would demur, until she had +taken the Bible to the window, and squinted to see if the year had +not been scratched out and rewritten! Then closing the book with a +profound sigh she would say, "I never, now! it beats all how much +older you look!"</p> +<p>All these annoyances Lucy was spared on this day, for neither +Cousin Peter, Elizabeth Betsey, or Miss Berintha made their +appearance. At the dinner table Mr. Dayton remarked quietly to his +daughters, "I believe you have given up attending the party!"</p> +<p>"Oh, no, father," said Lucy, "we are going, Lizzie and I."</p> +<p>"And what about your dress?" asked Mr. Dayton.</p> +<p>Lucy bit her lip as she replied, "Why, of course, we must dress +to suit you, or stay at home."</p> +<p>Lizzie looked quickly at her sister, as if asking how long since +she had come to this conclusion; but Lucy's face was calm and +unruffled, betraying no secrets, although her tongue did when, +after dinner, she found herself alone with Lizzie in their +dressing-room. A long conversation followed, in which Lucy seemed +trying to persuade Lizzie to do something wrong. Possessed of the +stronger mind, Lucy's influence over her sister was great, and +sometimes a bad one, but never before had she proposed an open act +of disobedience toward their father, and Lizzie constantly replied, +"No, no, Lucy, I can't do it; besides, I really think I ought not +to go, for that pain in my side is no better."</p> +<p>"Nonsense, Lizzie," said Lucy. "If you are going to be as +whimsical as Miss Berintha you had better begin at once to dose +yourself with burdock or catnip tea." Then, again recurring to the +dress, she continued, "Father did not say we must not wear them +after we got there. I shall take mine, anyway, and I wish you would +do the same; and then, if he ever knows it, he will not be as much +displeased when he finds that you, too, are guilty."</p> +<p>After a time, Lizzie was persuaded, but her happiness for that +day was destroyed, and when at tea-time her father asked if she +felt quite well, she could scarcely keep from bursting into tears. +Lucy, however, came to her relief, and said she was feeling blue +because Harry would not be present! Just before the hour for the +party Lucy descended to the parlor, where her father was reading, +in order, as she said, to let him see whether her dress were fussy +enough to suit him. He approved her taste, and after asking if +Lizzie, too, were dressed in the same manner, resumed his paper. +Ere long the covered sleigh stood at the door, and in a few moments +Lucy and Lizzie were in Anna Graham's dressing-room, undergoing the +process of a second toilet.</p> +<p>Nothing could be more beautiful than was Lucy Dayton, after +party dress, bracelets, curls, and flowers had all been adjusted. +She probably thought so, too, for a smile of satisfaction curled +her lip as she saw the radiant vision reflected by the mirror. Her +bright eye flashed, and her heart swelled with pride as she +thought, "Yes, there's no help for it, I shall win him sure;" then +turning to Anna Graham, she asked, "Is that Mr. St. Leon to be here +to-night?"</p> +<p>"Yes, you know he is," answered Anna, "and I pity him, for I see +you are all equipped for an attack; but," continued she, glancing +at Lizzie, "were not little Lizzie's heart so hedged up by brother +Hal, I should say your chance was small."</p> +<p>Lucy looked at her sister, and a chill struck her heart as she +observed a spasm of pain which for an instant contracted Lizzie's +fair, sweet face. Anna noticed it, too, and springing toward her, +said, "What is it, Lizzie? are you ill?"</p> +<p>"No," answered Lizzie, laying her hand on her side; "nothing but +a sharp pain. It will soon be better;" but while she spoke her +teeth almost chattered with the cold.</p> +<p>Oh, Lizzie, Lizzie!</p> +<p>For a short time, now, we will leave the young ladies in Miss +Graham's dressing-room, and transport our readers to another part +of the village.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III4" id="CHAPTER_III4"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>ADA HARCOURT.</h3> +<p>In a small and neat, but scantily furnished chamber, a poor +widow was preparing her only child, Ada, for the party. The plain, +white muslin dress of two years old had been washed and ironed so +carefully that Ada said it looked just as well as new; but then +everything looked well on Ada Harcourt, who was highly gifted, both +with intellect and beauty. After her dress was arranged she went to +the table for her old white gloves, the cleaning of which had cost +her much trouble, for her mother did not seem to be at all +interested in them, so Ada did as well as she could. As she was +about to put them on her mother returned from a drawer, into the +recesses of which she had been diving, and from which she brought a +paper carefully folded.</p> +<p>"Here, Ada," said she, "you need not wear those gloves; see +here"—and she held up a pair of handsome mitts, a fine linen +handkerchief, and a neat little gold pin.</p> +<p>"Oh, mother, mother!" said Ada joyfully, "where did you get +them?"</p> +<p>"I know," answered Mrs. Harcourt, "and that is enough."</p> +<p>After a moment's thought Ada knew, too. The little hoard of +money her mother had laid by for a warm winter shawl had been spent +for her. From Ada's lustrous blue eyes the tears were dropping as, +twining her arm around her mother's neck, she said, "Naughty, +naughty mother!" but there was a knock at the door. The sleigh +which Anna Graham had promised to send for Ada had come; so dashing +away her tears, and adjusting her new mitts and pin, she was soon +warmly wrapped up, and on her way to Mr. Graham's.</p> +<p>"In the name of the people, who is that?" said Lucy Dayton, as +Anna Graham entered the dressing-room, accompanied by a bundle of +something securely shielded from the cold.</p> +<p>The removal of the hood soon showed Lucy who it was, and with an +exclamation of surprise she turned inquiringly to a young lady who +was standing near. To her look the young lady replied, "A freak of +Anna's, I suppose. She thinks a great deal of those Harcourts."</p> +<p>An impatient "pshaw!" burst from Lucy's lips, accompanied with +the words, "I wonder who she thinks wants to associate with that +plebeian!"</p> +<p>The words, the look, and the tone caught Ada's eye and ear, and +instantly blighted her happiness. In the joy and surprise of +receiving an invitation to the party it had never occurred to her +that she might be slighted there, and she was not prepared for +Lucy's unkind remark. For an instant the tears moistened her long +silken eyelashes, and a deeper glow mantled her usually bright +cheek; but this only increased her beauty, which tended to increase +Lucy's vexation. Lucy knew that in her own circle there was none to +dispute her claim; but she knew, too, that in a low-roofed house, +in the outskirts of the town, there dwelt a poor sewing woman, +whose only daughter was famed for her wondrous beauty. Lucy had +frequently seen Ada in the streets, but never before had she met +her, and she now determined to treat her with the utmost +disdain.</p> +<p>Not so was Lizzie affected by the presence of "the plebeian." +Mrs. Harcourt had done plain sewing for her father, and Lizzie had +frequently called there for the work. In this way an acquaintance +had been commenced between herself and Ada which had ripened into +friendship. Lizzie, too, had heard the remark of her sister, and, +anxious to atone as far as possible for the unkindness, she went up +to Ada, expressed her pleasure at seeing her there, and then, as +the young ladies were about descending to the parlors, she offered +her arm, saying, "I will accompany you down, but, I have no doubt +scores of beaus will quickly take you off my hands."</p> +<p>The parlors were nearly filled when our party reached them, and +Ada half-tremblingly clung to Lizzie's arm, while, with queen-like +grace and dignity, Lucy Dayton moved through the crowded +drawing-room. Her quick eye had scanned each gentleman, but her +search was fruitless. <i>He</i> was not there, and during the next +half-hour she listened rather impatiently to the tide of flattery +poured into her ear by some one of her admirers. Suddenly there was +a stir at the door, and Mr. St. Leon was announced. He was a tall, +fine-looking man, probably about twenty-five years of age. The +expression of his face was remarkably pleasing, and such as would +lead an entire stranger to trust him, sure that his confidence +would not be misplaced. His manners were highly polished, and in +his dignified, self-possessed bearing, there was something which +some called pride, but in all the wide world there was not a more +generous heart than that of Hugh St. Leon.</p> +<p>Lucy for a moment watched him narrowly, and then her feelings +became perfectly calm, for she felt sure that now, for the first +time, she looked upon her future husband! Ere long Anna Graham +approached, accompanied by the gentleman, whom she introduced, and +then turning, left them alone. Lucy would have given almost +anything to have known whether St. Leon had requested an +introduction, but no means of information were at hand, so she bent +all her energies to be as agreeable as possible to the handsome +stranger at her side, who each moment seemed more and more pleased +with her.</p> +<p>Meantime, in another part of the room Lizzie and Ada were the +center of attraction. The same kindness which prompted Anna Graham +to invite Ada was careful to see that she did not feel neglected. +For this purpose Anna's brother, Charlie, a youth of sixteen, had +been instructed to pay her particular attention. This he was not +unwilling to do, for he knew no reason why she should not be +treated politely, even if she were a sewing woman's daughter. +Others of the company, observing how attentive Charlie and Lizzie +were to the beautiful girl, felt disposed to treat her graciously, +so that to her the evening was passing very happily.</p> +<p>When St. Leon entered the room the hum of voices prevented Ada +from hearing his name; neither was she aware of his presence until +he had been full fifteen minutes conversing with Lucy. Then her +attention was directed toward him by Lizzie. For a moment Ada gazed +as if spellbound; then a dizziness crept over her, and she +nervously grasped the little plain gold ring which encircled the +third finger of her left hand!</p> +<p>Turning to Lizzie, who, fortunately, had not noticed her +agitation, she said, "What did you say his name was?"</p> +<p>"St. Leon, from New Orleans," replied Lizzie.</p> +<p>"Then I'm not mistaken," Ada said inaudibly.</p> +<p>At that moment Anna Graham approached, and whispered something +to Ada, who gave a startled look, saying, "Oh, no, Miss Anna; you +would not have me make myself ridiculous."</p> +<p>"Certainly not," answered Anna; "neither will you do so, for +some of your songs you sing most beautifully. Do come; I wish to +surprise my friends."</p> +<p>Ada consented rather unwillingly, and Anna led her toward the +music-room, followed by a dozen or more, all of whom wondered what +a sewing woman's daughter knew about music. On their way to the +piano they passed near St. Leon and Lucy, the former of whom +started as his eye fell upon Ada.</p> +<p>"I did not think there was another such face in the world," said +he, apparently to himself; then turning to Lucy, he asked who that +beautiful girl was.</p> +<p>"Which one?" asked Lucy; "there are many beauties here +to-night."</p> +<p>"I mean the one with the white muslin, and dark auburn curls," +said St. Leon.</p> +<p>Lucy's brow darkened but she answered, "That? oh, that is Ada +Harcourt. Her mother is a poor sewing woman. I never met Ada +before, and cannot conceive how she came to be here; but then the +Grahams are peculiar in their notions, and I suppose it was a whim +of Anna's."</p> +<p>Without knowing it, St. Leon had advanced some steps toward the +door through which Ada had disappeared. Lucy followed him, vexed +beyond measure that the despised Ada Harcourt should even have +attracted his attention.</p> +<p>"Is she as accomplished as handsome?" asked he.</p> +<p>"Why, of course not," answered Lucy, with a forced laugh. +"Poverty, ignorance, and vulgarity go together, usually, I +believe."</p> +<p>St. Leon gave her a rapid, searching glance, in which +disappointment was mingled, but before he could reply there was the +sound of music. It was a sweet, bird-like voice which floated +through the rooms, and the song it sang was a favorite one of St. +Leon's, who was passionately fond of music.</p> +<p>"Let us go nearer," said he to Lucy, who, nothing loath, +accompanied him, for she, too, was anxious to know who it was that +thus chained each listener into silence.</p> +<p>St. Leon at length got a sight of the singer, and said with +evident pleasure, "Why, it's Miss Harcourt!"</p> +<p>"Miss Harcourt! Ada Harcourt!" exclaimed Lucy. "Impossible! Why, +her mother daily toils for the bread they eat!"</p> +<p>But if St. Leon heard her, he answered not. His senses were +locked in those strains of music which recalled memories of +something, he scarcely knew what, and Lucy found herself standing +alone, her heart swelling with anger toward Ada, who from that time +was her hated rival. The music ceased, but scores of voices were +loud in their call for another song; and again Ada sang, but this +time there was in the tones of her voice a thrilling power, for +which those who listened could not account. To Ada the atmosphere +about her seemed charmed, for though she never for a moment raised +her eyes, she well knew who it was that leaned upon the piano and +looked intently upon her. Again the song was finished, and then at +St. Leon's request he was introduced to the singer, who returned +his salutation with perfect self-possession, although her heart +beat quickly, as she hoped, yet half-feared, that that he would +recognize her. But he did not, and as they passed together into the +next room he wondered much why the hand which lay upon his arm +trembled so violently, while Ada said to herself, "'Tis not strange +he doesn't know me by this name." Whether St. Leon knew her or not, +there seemed about her some strong attraction, which kept him at +her side the remainder of the evening, greatly to Lucy Dayton's +mortification and displeasure.</p> +<p>"I'll be revenged on her yet," she muttered. "The upstart! I +wonder where she learned to play."</p> +<p>This last sentence was said aloud; and Lizzie, who was standing +near, replied, "Her father was once wealthy and Ada had the best of +teachers. Since she has lived in S—— she has +occasionally practised on Anna's piano."</p> +<p>"I think I'd keep a piano for paupers to play on," was Lucy's +contemptuous reply, uttered with no small degree of bitterness, for +at that moment St. Leon approached her with the object of her +dislike leaning upon his arm.</p> +<p>Ada introduced Lizzie to St. Leon, who offered her his other +arm, and the three kept together until Lizzie, uttering a low, +sharp cry of pain leaned heavily as if for support against St. +Leon. In an instant Lucy was at her side; but to all her anxious +inquiries Lizzie could only reply, as she clasped her thin, white +hand over her side, "The pain—the pain—take me +home."</p> +<p>"Our sleigh has not yet come," said Lucy. "Oh, what shall we +do?"</p> +<p>"Mine is here, and at your command, Miss Dayton," said St. +Leon.</p> +<p>Lucy thanked him, and then proceeded to prepare Lizzie, who, +chilled through and through by the exposure of her chest and arms, +had borne the racking pain in her side as long as possible, and now +lay upon the sofa as helpless as an infant. When all was ready St. +Leon lifted her in his arms, and bearing her to the sleigh, stepped +lightly in with her, and took his seat.</p> +<p>"It is hardly necessary for you to accompany us home," said +Lucy, overjoyed beyond measure, though, to find that he was +going.</p> +<p>"Allow me to be the judge," answered St. Leon, and other than +that, not a word was spoken until they reached Mr. Dayton's door. +Then, carefully carrying Lizzie into the house, he was about to +leave, when Lucy detained him to thank him for his kindness, adding +that she hoped to see him again.</p> +<p>"Certainly, I shall call to-morrow," was his reply, as he sprang +down the steps, and entering his sleigh, was driven back to Mr. +Graham's.</p> +<p>He found the company about dispersing, and meeting Ada in the +hall, asked to accompany her home. Ada's pride for a moment +hesitated, and then she answered in the affirmative. When St. Leon +had seated her in his sleigh he turned back, on pretext of looking +for something, but in reality to ask Anna Graham where Ada lived, +as he did not wish to question her on the subject.</p> +<p>When they were nearly home St. Leon said, "Miss Harcourt, have +you always lived in S——?"</p> +<p>"We have lived here but two years," answered Ada; and St. Leon +continued:</p> +<p>"I cannot rid myself of the impression that somewhere I have met +you before."</p> +<p>"Indeed," said Ada, "when and where?"</p> +<p>But his reply was prevented by the sleigh's stopping at Mrs. +Harcourt's door. As St. Leon bade Ada good night he whispered, "I +shall see you again."</p> +<p>Ada made no answer, but going into the house where her mother +was waiting for her, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've seen +him!—he was there!—he brought me home!"</p> +<p>"Seen whom?" asked Mrs. Harcourt, alarmed at her daughter's +agitation.</p> +<p>"Why, Hugh St. Leon!" replied Ada.</p> +<p>"St. Leon in town!" repeated Mrs. Harcourt, her eye lighting up +with joy.</p> +<p>'Twas only for a moment, however, for the remembrance of what +she was when she knew St. Leon, and what she now was, recurred to +her, and she said calmly, "I thought you had forgotten that +childish fancy."</p> +<p>"Forgotten!" said Ada bitterly; and then as she recalled the +unkind remark of Lucy Dayton she burst into a passionate fit of +weeping.</p> +<p>After a time Mrs. Harcourt succeeded in soothing her, and then +drew from her all the particulars of the party, St Leon and all. +When Ada had finished her mother kissed her fair cheek, saying, "I +fancy St. Leon thinks as much of little Ada now as he did six years +ago;" but Ada could not think so, though that night, in dreams, she +was again happy in her old home in the distant city, while at her +side was St. Leon, who even then was dreaming of a childish face +which had haunted him six long years.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV4" id="CHAPTER_IV4"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>LUCY.</h3> +<p>We left Lizzie lying upon the sofa, where St. Leon had laid her. +After he was gone Lucy proposed calling their father and sending +for a physician, but Lizzie objected, saying she should be better +when she got warm. During the remainder of that night Lucy sat by +her sister's bedside, while each cry of pain which came from +Lizzie's lips fell heavily upon her heart, for conscience accused +her of being the cause of all this suffering. At length the weary +night watches were finished, but the morning light showed more +distinctly Lizzie's white brow and burning cheeks. She had taken a +severe cold, which had settled upon her lungs, and now she was +paying the penalty of her first act of disobedience.</p> +<p>Mr. Dayton had sent for the old family physician, who understood +Lizzie's constitution perfectly. He shook his head as he said, "How +came she by such a cold? Did she go to the party?"</p> +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Dayton.</p> +<p>"And not half-dressed, I'll warrant," said the gruff old +doctor.</p> +<p>Lucy turned pale as her father answered, quickly and truthfully +as he thought, "No, sir, she was properly dressed."</p> +<p>Lizzie heard it, and though speaking was painful, she said, +"Forgive me, father, forgive me; I disobeyed you. I wore the dress +you said I must not wear!"</p> +<p>An exclamation of surprise escaped Mr. Dayton, who, glancing at +Lucy, read in her guilty face what Lizzie generously would not +betray.</p> +<p>"Oh, Lucy, Lucy," said he, "how could you do so?"</p> +<p>Lucy could only reply through her tears. She was sincerely sorry +that by her means Lizzie had been brought into danger; but when the +doctor said that by careful management she might soon be better, +all feelings of regret vanished, and she again began to think of +St. Leon and his promise to call. A look at herself in the mirror +showed her that she was looking pale and jaded, and she half-hoped +he would not come. However, as the day wore on she grew nervous as +she thought he possibly might be spending his time with the hated +Ada. But he was not, and at about four o'clock there was a ring at +the door. From an upper window Lucy saw St. Leon, and when Bridget +came up for her, she asked if the parlor was well darkened.</p> +<p>"An' sure it's darker nor a pocket," said Bridget, "an' he +couldn't see a haporth was ye twice as sorry lookin'."</p> +<p>So bathing her face in cologne, in order to force a glow, Lucy +descended to the parlor, which she found to be as dark as Bridget +had said it was. St. Leon received her very kindly, for the +devotion she had the night before shown for her sister had +partially counterbalanced the spitefulness he had observed in her +manner when speaking of Ada at the party. Notwithstanding Bridget's +precautions, he saw, too, that she was pale and spiritless, but he +attributed it to her anxiety for her sister, and this raised her in +his estimation. Lucy divined his thoughts, and in her efforts to +appear amiable and agreeable, a half-hour passed quickly away. At +the end of that time she unfortunately asked, in a very sneering +tone, "how long since he had seen the sewing girl?"</p> +<p>"If you mean Miss Harcourt," said St. Leon coolly, "I've not +seen her since I left her last night at her mother's door."</p> +<p>"You must have been in danger of upsetting if you attempted to +turn round in Mrs. Harcourt's spacious yard," was Lucy's next +remark.</p> +<p>"I did not attempt it," said St. Leon. "I carried Miss Ada in my +arms from the street to the door."</p> +<p>The tone and manner were changed. Lucy knew it, and it +exasperated her to say something more, but she was prevented by St. +Leon's rising to go. As Lucy accompanied him to the door she asked +how long he intended to remain in S——.</p> +<p>"I leave this evening, in the cars for New Haven," said he.</p> +<p>"This evening?" repeated Lucy in a disappointed tone, "and will +you not return?"</p> +<p>"Yes, if the business on which I go is successful," answered St. +Leon.</p> +<p>"A lady in question, perchance," remarked Lucy playfully.</p> +<p>"You interpret the truth accurately," said St. Leon, and with a +cold, polite bow he was gone.</p> +<p>"Why was he going to New Haven?" This was the thought which now +tortured Lucy. He had confessed that a lady was concerned in his +going, but who was she, and what was she to him? Anyway, there was +a comfort in knowing that Ada Harcourt had nothing to do with +it!</p> +<p>Mistaken Lucy! Ada Harcourt had everything to do with it!</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V4" id="CHAPTER_V4"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>UNCLE ISRAEL.</h3> +<p>The lamps were lighted in the cars, and on through the valley of +the Connecticut the New Haven train was speeding its way. In one +corner of the car sat St. Leon, closely wrapped in cloak and +thoughts, the latter of which occasionally suggested to him the +possibility that his was a "Tomfool's" errand; "but then," thought +he, "no one will know it if I fail, and if I do not, it is worth +the trouble."</p> +<p>When the train reached Hartford a number of passengers entered, +all bound for New Haven. Among them was a comical-looking, +middle-aged man, whom St. Leon instantly recognized as a person +whom he had known when in college in New Haven, and whom the +students familiarly called "Uncle Israel." The recognition was +mutual, for Uncle Israel prided himself on never forgetting a +person he had once seen. In a few moments St. Leon was overwhelming +him with scores of questions, but Uncle Israel was a genuine +Yankee, and never felt happier than when engaged in giving or +guessing information.</p> +<p>At length St. Leon asked, "Does Ada Linwood fulfil the promise +of beauty which she gave as a child?"</p> +<p>"Ada who?" said Uncle Israel.</p> +<p>"Linwood," repeated St. Leon, arguing from the jog in Uncle +Israel's memory that all was not right.</p> +<p>"Do you mean the daughter of Harcourt Linwood, he that was said +to be so rich?"</p> +<p>"The same," returned St. Leon. "Where are they?"</p> +<p>Uncle Israel settled himself with the air of a man who has a +long story on hand, and intends to tell it at his leisure. Filling +his mouth with an enormous quid of tobacco, he commenced: "Better +than four years ago Linwood smashed up, smack and clean; lost +everything he had, and the rest had to be sold at vandue. But what +was worse than all, seein' he was a fine feller in the main, and I +guess didn't mean to fail, he took sick, and in about a month +died."</p> +<p>"And what became of his widow and orphan?" asked St. Leon +eagerly.</p> +<p>"Why, it wasn't nateral," said Uncle Israel, "that they should +keep the same company they did before, and they's too plaguy stuck +up to keep any other; so they moved out of town and supported +themselves by takin' in sewin' or ironin', I forgot which."</p> +<p>"But where are they now?" asked St. Leon.</p> +<p>Uncle Israel looked at him for a moment, and then replied, "The +Lord knows, I suppose, but Israel don't."</p> +<p>"Did they suffer at all?" asked St. Leon.</p> +<p>"Not as long as I stuck to them, but they sarved me real mean," +answered Uncle Israel.</p> +<p>"In what way?"</p> +<p>"Why, you see," said Uncle Israel, "I don't know why, but +somehow I never thought of matrimony till I got a glimpse of Ada at +her father's vandue. To be sure, I'd seen her before, but then she +was mighty big feelin', and I couldn't ha' touched her with a +hoe-handle, but now 'twas different. I bought their house. I was +rich and they was poor."</p> +<p>Involuntarily St. Leon clinched his fist, as Uncle Israel +continued: "I seen to getting them a place in the country and then +tended to 'em generally for more than six months, when I one day +hinted to Mrs. Linwood that I would like to be her son-in-law. +Christopher! how quick her back was up, and she gave me to +understand that I was lookin' too high! 'Twas no go with Ada, and +after awhile I proposed to the mother. Then you ought to seen her! +She didn't exactly turn me out o' door but she coolly told me I +wasn't wanted there. But I stuck to her and kept kind o' offerin' +myself, till at last they cut stick and cleared out, and I couldn't +find them, high nor low. I bunted for more than a year, and at last +found them in Hartford. Thinkin' maybe they had come to I proposed +again, and kept hangin' on till they gave me the slip again; and +now I don't know where they be, but I guess they've changed their +name."</p> +<p>At this point the cars stopped until the upward train should +pass them, and St. Leon, rising, bade his companion good evening, +saying, "he had changed his mind and should return to Hartford on +the other train."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI4" id="CHAPTER_VI4"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>EXPLANATION.</h3> +<p>Six years prior to the commencement of our story New Haven +boasted not a better or wealthier citizen than Harcourt Linwood, of +whose subsequent failure and death we have heard from Uncle Israel. +The great beauty of his only child, Ada, then a girl of nearly +thirteen, was the subject of frequent comment among the circle in +which he moved. No pains were spared with her education, and many +were the conjectures as to what she would be when time had matured +her mind and beauty.</p> +<p>Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans, then nineteen years of age, and a +student at Yale, had frequently met Ada at the house of his sister, +Mrs. Durant, whose eldest daughter, Jenny, was about her own age. +The uncommon beauty of the child greatly interested the young +Southerner and once, in speaking of his future prospects to his +sister, he playfully remarked, "Suppose I wait for Ada +Linwood."</p> +<p>"You cannot do better," was the reply, and the conversation +terminated.</p> +<p>The next evening there was to be a child's party at the house of +Mrs. Durant, and as Hugh was leaving the house Jenny bounded after +him, saying, "Oh, Uncle Hugh, you'll come to-morrow night, won't +you? No matter if you are a grown-up man, in the junior class, +trying to raise some whiskers! You will be a sort of restraint, and +keep us from getting too rude. Besides, we are going to have +tableaux, and I want you to act the part of bridegroom in one of +the scenes."</p> +<p>"Who is to be the bride?" asked Hugh.</p> +<p>"Ada Linwood. Now I know you'll come, won't you?"</p> +<p>"I'll see," was Hugh's answer, as he walked away.</p> +<p>Jenny well knew that "I'll see" meant "yes," and tying on her +bonnet, she hastened off to tell Ada that Uncle Hugh would be +present, and would act the part of bridegroom in the scene where +she was to be bride.</p> +<p>"What! that big man?" said Ada. "How funny!"</p> +<p>Before seven the next evening Mrs. Durant's parlors were filled, +for the guests were not old enough or fashionable enough to delay +making their appearance until morning. Hugh was the last to arrive, +for which Jenny scolded him soundly, saying they were all ready for +tableaus. "But come, now," said she, "and let me introduce you to +the bride."</p> +<p>In ten minutes more the curtain rose, and Hugh St. Leon appeared +with Ada on his arm, standing before a gentleman in clerical robes, +who seemed performing the marriage ceremony. Placing a ring on +Ada's third finger, St. Leon, when the whole was finished, took +advantage of his new relationship, and kissed the lips of the +bride. Amid a storm of applause the curtain dropped, and as he led +the blushing Ada away he bent down, and pointing to the ring, +whispered, "Wear it until some future day, when, by replacing it, I +shall make you really my little wife."</p> +<p>The words were few and lightly spoken, but they touched the +heart of the young Ada, awakening within her thoughts and feelings +of which she never before had dreamed. Frequently, after that, she +met St. Leon, who sometimes teased her about being his wife; but +when he saw how painfully embarrassed she seemed on such occasions, +he desisted.</p> +<p>The next year he was graduated, and the same day on which he +received the highest honors of his class was long remembered with +heartfelt sorrow, for ere the city clocks tolled the hour of +midnight he stood with his orphaned niece, Jenny, weeping over the +inanimate form of his sister, Mrs. Durant, who had died suddenly in +a fit of apoplexy. Mr. Durant had been dead some years, and as +Jenny had now no relatives in New Haven, she accompanied her uncle +to his Southern home. Long and passionately she wept on Ada's bosom +as she bade her farewell, promising never to forget her, but to +write her three pages of foolscap every week. To do Jenny justice, +we must say that this promise was faithfully kept for a whole +month, and then, with thousands of its sisterhood, it disappeared +into the vale of broken promises and resolutions.</p> +<p>She still wrote occasionally, and at the end of each epistle +there was always a long postscript from Hugh, which Ada prized +almost as much as she did Jenny's whole letter; and when at last +matters changed, the letter becoming Hugh's and the postscript +Jenny's, she made no objection, even if she felt any. At the time +of her father's failure and death, a long unanswered letter was +lying in her portfolio, which was entirely forgotten until weeks +after, when, in the home which Uncle Israel so +<i>disinterestedly</i> helped them to procure, she and her mother +were sewing for the food which they ate. Then a dozen times was an +answer commenced, blotted with tears, and finally destroyed, until +Ada, burying her face in her mother's lap, sobbed out, "Oh, mother, +I cannot do it. I cannot write to tell them how poor we are, for I +remember that Jenny was proud, and laughed at the schoolgirls whose +fathers were not rich."</p> +<p>So the letter was never answered, and as St. Leon about that +time started on a tour through Europe, he knew nothing of their +change of circumstances. On his way home he had in Paris met with +Harry Graham, who had been his classmate, and who now won from him +a promise that on his return to America he would visit his parents, +in S——. He did so, and there, as we have seen, met with +Ada Harcourt, whose face, voice, and manner reminded him so +strangely of the Ada he had known years before, and whom he had +never forgotten.</p> +<p>As the reader will have supposed, the sewing-woman whose +daughter Lucy Dayton so heartily despised was none other than Mrs. +Linwood, of New Haven, who had taken her husband's first name in +order to avoid the persecutions of Uncle Israel. The day following +the party St. Leon spent in making inquiries concerning Mrs. +Harcourt, and the information thus obtained determined him to start +at once for New Haven, in order to ascertain if his suspicions are +correct.</p> +<p>The result of his journey we already know. Still he resolved not +to make himself known immediately, but to wait until he satisfied +himself that Ada was as good as beautiful. And then?</p> +<p>A few more chapters will tell us what then.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII4" id="CHAPTER_VII4"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>A MANEUVER.</h3> +<p>The gray twilight of a cold December afternoon was creeping over +the village of S——, when Ada Harcourt left her seat by +the window, where, the livelong day, she had sat stitching till her +heart was sick and her eyes were dim. On the faded calico lounge +near the fire lay Mrs. Harcourt, who for several days had been +unable to work on account of a severe cold which seemed to have +settled in her face and eyes.</p> +<p>"There," said Ada, as she brushed from her gingham apron the +bits of thread and shreds of cotton, "there, it is done at last, +and now before it is quite dark I will take it home."</p> +<p>"No, not to-night," said Mrs. Harcourt; "to-morrow will do just +as well."</p> +<p>"But, mother," answered Ada, "you know Mrs. Dayton always pays +as soon as the work is delivered, and what I have finished will +come to two dollars and a half, which will last a long time, and we +shall not be obliged to take any from the sum laid by to pay our +rent; besides, you have had nothing nourishing for a long time; so +let me go, and on my way home I will buy you something nice for +supper."</p> +<p>Mrs. Harcourt said no more, but the tears fell from her aching +eyes as she thought how hard her daughter was obliged to labor, now +that she was unable to assist her. In a moment Ada was in the +street. The little alley in which she lived was soon traversed, and +she about turning into Main Street, when rapid footsteps approached +her, and St. Leon appeared at her side, saying, "Good evening, Miss +Harcourt; allow me to relieve you of that bundle."</p> +<p>And before she could prevent it he took from her hands the +package, while he continued, "May I ask how far you are walking +to-night?"</p> +<p>Ada hesitated a moment, but quickly forcing down her pride, she +answered, "Only as far as Mr. Dayton's. I am carrying home some +work."</p> +<p>"Indeed!" said he, "then I can have your company all the way, +for I am going to inquire after Lizzie."</p> +<p>They soon reached their destination, and their ring at the door +was not, as usual, answered by Bridget but by Lucy herself, whose +sweet smile, as she greeted St. Leon, changed into an angry scowl +when she recognized his companion.</p> +<p>"Ada Harcourt!" said she, and Ada, blushing scarlet, began: "I +have brought—" but she was interrupted by St. Leon, who +handed Lucy the bundle, saying:</p> +<p>"Here is your work, Miss Dayton, and I hope it will suit you, +for we took a great deal of pains with it."</p> +<p>Lucy tried to smile as she took the work, and then opening the +parlor door she with one hand motioned St. Leon to enter, while +with the other she held the hall door ajar, as if for Ada to +depart. A tear trembled on Ada's long eyelashes, as she timidly +asked;</p> +<p>"Can I see your grandmother?"</p> +<p>"Mrs. Dayton, I presume you mean," said Lucy haughtily.</p> +<p>Ada bowed and Lucy continued: "She is not at home just at +present."</p> +<p>"Perhaps, then, you can pay me for the work," said Ada.</p> +<p>The scowl on Lucy's face grew darker as she replied, "I have +nothing to do with grandma's hired help. Come to-morrow and she +will be here. How horridly cold this open door makes the hall!"</p> +<p>Ada thought of the empty cupboard at home, and of her pale, sick +mother. Love for her conquered all other feeling, and in a choking +voice she said, "Oh, Miss Dayton, if you will pay it you will +confer a great favor on me, for mother is sick, and we need it so +much!"</p> +<p>There was a movement in the parlor. St. Leon was approaching, +and with an impatient gesture Lucy opened the opposite door, saying +to Ada, "Come in here."</p> +<p>The tone was so angry that, under any other circumstances, Ada +would have gone away. Now, however, she entered, and Lucy, taking +out her purse, said, "How much is the sum about which you make so +much fuss?"</p> +<p>"Two dollars and a half," answered Ada.</p> +<p>"Two dollars and a half," repeated Lucy, and then, as a tear +fell from Ada's eye, she added contemptuously, "It is a small +amount to cry about."</p> +<p>Ada made no reply, and was about leaving the room when Lucy +detained her, by saying, "Pray, did you ask Mr. St. Leon to +accompany you here and bring your bundle?"</p> +<p>"Miss Dayton, you know better—you know I did not," +answered Ada, as the fire of insulted pride flashed from her dark +blue eyes, which became almost black, while her cheek grew pale as +marble.</p> +<p>Instantly Lucy's manner changed, and in a softened tone she +said, "I am glad to know that you did not; and now, as a friend, I +warn you against receiving any marks of favor from St. Leon."</p> +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Ada, and Lucy continued:</p> +<p>"You have sense enough to know that when a man of St. Leon's +standing shows any preference for a girl in your circumstances it +can be from no good design."</p> +<p>"You judge him wrongfully—you do not know him," said Ada; +and Lucy answered:</p> +<p>"Pray, where did you learn so much about him?"</p> +<p>Ada only answered by rising to go.</p> +<p>"Here, this way," said Lucy, and leading her through an enter +passage to the back door, she added, "I do it to save your good +name. St. Leon is undoubtedly waiting for you, and I would not +trust my own sister with him, were she a poor sewing girl!"</p> +<p>The door was shut in Ada's face, and Lucy returned to the +parlor, where she found her father entertaining her visitor. +Seating herself on a crimson ottoman, she prepared to do the +agreeable, when St. Leon, rising, said, "Excuse my short call, for +I must be going. Where have you left Miss Harcourt?"</p> +<p>"I left her at the door," answered Lucy, "and she is probably +halfway to 'Dirt Alley' by this time, so do not be in haste."</p> +<p>But he was in haste, for when he looked on the fast-gathering +darkness without, and thought of the by streets and lonely alleys +through which Ada must pass on her way home, he felt uneasy, and +biding Miss Dayton good night, he hurried away.</p> +<p>Meantime, Ada had procured the articles she wished for, and +proceeded home, with a heart which would have been light as a bird +had not the remembrance of Lucy's insulting language rung in her +ears. Mrs. Harcourt saw that all was not right, but she forbore +making any inquiries until supper was over. Then Ada, bringing a +stool to her mother's side, and laying her head on her lap, told +everything which had transpired between herself, St. Leon, and +Lucy.</p> +<p>Scarcely was her story finished when there was a rap at the +door, and St. Leon himself entered the room. He had failed in +overtaking Ada, and anxious to know of her safe return, had +determined to call. The recognition between himself and Mrs. +Harcourt was mutual, but for reasons of their own, neither chose to +make it apparent, and Ada introduced him to her mother as she would +have done any stranger. St. Leon possessed in an unusual degree the +art of making himself agreeable, and in the animated conversation +which ensued Mrs. Harcourt forgot that she was poor—forgot +her aching eyes; while Ada forgot everything save that St, Leon was +present, and that she was again listening to his voice, which +charmed her now even more than in the olden time.</p> +<p>During the evening St. Leon managed in various ways to draw Ada +out on all the prominent topics of the day, and he felt pleased to +find that amid all her poverty she did not neglect the cultivation +of her mind. A part of each day was devoted to study, which Mrs. +Harcourt, who was a fine scholar, superintended.</p> +<p>It was fast merging toward the hour when phantoms walk abroad +ere St. Leon remembered that he must go. As he was leaving he said +to Ada, "I have a niece, Jenny, about your age, whom I think you +would like very much."</p> +<p>Oh, how Ada longed to ask for her old playmate, but a look from +her mother kept her silent, and in a moment St. Leon was gone.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII4" id="CHAPTER_VIII4"></a>CHAPTER +VIII.</h2> +<h3>COUSIN BERINTHA AND LUCY'S PARTY.</h3> +<p>Cousin Berintha, whom Lucy Dayton so much disliked and dreaded, +was a cousin of Mr. Dayton, and was a prim, matter-of-fact maiden +of fifty, or thereabout. That she was still in a state of single +blessedness was partially her own fault, for at twenty she was +engaged to the son of a wealthy farmer who lived near her father. +But, alas! ere the wedding day arrived, there came to the +neighborhood a young lady from Boston, in whose presence the beauty +of the country girl grew dim, as do the stars in the rays of the +morning sun.</p> +<p>Berintha had a plain face, but a strong heart, and when she saw +that Amy Holbrook was preferred, with steady hand and unflinching +nerve, she wrote to her recreant lover that he was free. And now +Amy, to whom the false knight turned, took it into her capricious +head that she would not marry a farmer—she had always fancied +a physician; and if young B—— would win her, he must +first secure the title of M.D. He complied with her request, and +one week from the day on which he received his diploma Berintha +read, with a slightly blanched cheek, the notice of his marriage +with the Boston beauty. Three years from that day she read the +announcement of Amy's death, and in two years more she refused the +doctor's offer to give her a home by his lonely fireside, and a +place in his widowed heart. All this had the effect of making +Berintha rather cross, but she seldom manifested her spite toward +any one except Lucy, whom she seemed to take peculiar delight in +teasing, and whose treatment of herself was not such as would +warrant much kindness in return.</p> +<p>Lizzie she had always loved, and when Harry Graham went away it +was on Berintha's lap that the young girl sobbed out her grief, +wondering, when with her tears Berintha's were mingled, how one +apparently so cold and passionless could sympathize with her. To no +one had Berintha ever confided the story of her early love. Mr. +Dayton was a schoolboy then, and as but little was said of it at +the time, it faded entirely from memory; and when Lucy called her a +"crabbed old maid," she knew not of the disappointment which had +clouded every joy and imbittered a whole lifetime.</p> +<p>At the first intelligence of Lizzie's illness Berintha came, and +though her prescriptions of every kind of herb tea in the known +world were rather numerous, and her doses of the same were rather +large, and though her stiff cap, sharp nose, and curious little +eyes, which saw everything, were exceedingly annoying to Lucy, she +proved herself an invaluable nurse, warming up old Dr. Benton's +heart into a glow of admiration of her wonderful skill! Hour after +hour she sat by Lizzie, bathing her burning brow, or smoothing her +tumbled pillow. Night after night she kept her tireless watch, +treading softly around the sick-room, and lowering her loud, harsh +voice to a whisper, lest she should disturb the uneasy slumbers of +the sick girl, who, under her skilful nursing, gradually grew +better.</p> +<p>"Was there ever such a dear, good cousin," said Lizzie, one day, +when a nervous headache had been coaxed away by what Berintha +called her "mesmeric passes;" and "Was there ever such a horrid +bore," said Lucy, on the same day, when Cousin Berintha "thought +she saw a white hair in Lucy's raven curls!" adding, by way of +consolation, "It wouldn't be anything strange, for I began to grow +gray before I was as old as you."</p> +<p>"And that accounts tor your head being just the color of wool," +angrily retorted Lucy, little dreaming of the bitter tears and +sleepless nights which had early blanched her cousin's hair to its +present whiteness.</p> +<p>For several winters Lucy had been in the habit of giving a large +party, and as she had heard that St. Leon was soon going South, she +felt anxious to have it take place ere he left town. But what +should she do with Berintha, who showed no indications of leaving, +though Lizzie was much better?</p> +<p>"I declare," said she to herself, "that woman is enough to worry +the life out of me. I'll speak to Liz about it this very day."</p> +<p>Accordingly, that afternoon, when alone with her sister, she +said, "Lizzie, is it absolutely necessary that Berintha should stay +here any longer, to tuck you up, and feed you sage tea through a +straw?"</p> +<p>Lizzie looked inquiringly at her sister, who continued: "To tell +you the truth, I'm tired of having her around, and must manage some +way to get rid of her before next week, for I mean to have a party +Thursday night."</p> +<p>Lizzie's eyes now opened in astonishment, as she exclaimed, "A +party! oh, Lucy, wait until I get well."</p> +<p>"You'll be able by that time to come down-stairs in your crimson +morning-gown, which becomes you so well," answered Lucy.</p> +<p>"But father's away," rejoined Lizzie; to which Lucy replied:</p> +<p>"So much the better, for now I shan't be obliged to ask any old +things. I told him I meant to have it while he was gone, for you +know he hates parties. But what shall I do with Berintha?"</p> +<p>"Why, what possible harm can she do?" asked Lizzie. "She would +enjoy it very much, I know; for in spite of her oddities, she likes +society."</p> +<p>"Well, suppose she does; nobody wants her round, prating about +white hairs and mercy knows what. Come, you tell her you don't need +her services any longer—that's a good girl."</p> +<p>There was a look of mischief in Lizzie's eye, and a merry smile +on her lip, as she said, "Why, don't you know that father has +invited her to spend the winter, and she has accepted the +invitation?"</p> +<p>"Invited her to spend the winter!" repeated Lucy, while the +tears glittered in her bright eyes. "What does he mean?"</p> +<p>"Why," answered Lizzie, "it is very lonely at Cousin John's, and +his wife makes more of a servant of Berintha than she does a +companion, so father, out of pity, asked her to stay with us, and +she showed her good taste by accepting."</p> +<p>"I'll hang myself in the woodshed before spring—see if I +don't!" and burying her face in her hands, Lucy wept aloud, while +Lizzie, lying back upon her pillow, laughed immoderately at her +sister's distress.</p> +<p>"There's a good deal to laugh at, I think," said Lucy, more +angrily than she usually addressed her sister. "If you have any +pity, do devise some means of getting rid of her, for a time, at +least."</p> +<p>"Well, then," answered Lizzie, "she wants to go home for a few +days, in order to make some necessary preparations for staying with +us, and perhaps you can coax her to go now, though I for one would +like to have her stay. Everybody knows she is your cousin, and no +one will think less of you for having her here."</p> +<p>"But I won't do it," said Lucy, "and that settles it. Your plan +is a good one, and I'll get her off—see if I don't!"</p> +<p>The next day, which was Saturday, Lucy was unusually kind to her +cousin, giving her a collar, offering to fix her cap, and doing +numerous other little things, which greatly astonished Berintha. At +last, when dinner was over, she said, "Come, cousin, what do you +say to a sleigh ride this afternoon? I haven't been down to +Elizabeth Betsey's in a good while, so suppose we go to-day."</p> +<p>Berintha was taken by surprise, but after a moment she said just +what Lucy hoped she would say, viz., that she was wanting to go +home for a few days, and if Lizzie were only well enough, she would +go now.</p> +<p>"Oh, she is a great deal better," said Lucy, "and you can leave +her as well as not. Dr. Benton says I am almost as good a nurse as +you and I will take good care of her—besides, I really think +you need rest; so go, if you wish to, and next Saturday I will come +round after you."</p> +<p>Accordingly, Berintha, who suspected nothing, was coaxed into +going home, and when at three o'clock the sleigh was said to be +ready, she kissed Lizzie good-by, and taking her seat by the side +of Lucy, was driven rapidly toward her brother's house.</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>"There! haven't I managed it capitally!" exclaimed Lucy, as she +reentered her sister's room after her ride; "but the bother of it +is, I've promised to go round next Saturday, and bring not only +Berintha, but Elizabeth Betsey, and her twins! Won't it be +horrible! However, the party'll be over, so I don't care."</p> +<p>Cousin Berintha being gone, there was no longer any reason why +the party should be kept a secret, and before nightfall every +servant in the house was discussing it, Bridget saying: "Faith, an' +I thought it was mighty good she was gettin' with that woman."</p> +<p>Mrs. Dayton was highly indignant at the trick which she plainly +saw had been put upon Berintha, but Lucy only replied, "that she +wished it were as easy a matter to get rid of grandma!"</p> +<p>On Monday cards of invitation to the number of one hundred and +fifty were issued, and when Lizzie, in looking them over, asked why +Ada Harcourt was left out, Lucy replied, that "she guessed she +wasn't going to insult her guests by inviting a sewing girl with +them. Anna Graham could do so, but nobody was going to imitate +her."</p> +<p>"Invite her, then, for my sake, and in my name," pleaded Lizzie, +but Lucy only replied:</p> +<p>"I shall do no such thing;" and thus the matter was settled.</p> +<p>Amid the hurry and preparation for the party, days glided +rapidly away, and Thursday morning came, bright, beautiful, and +balmy, almost, as an autumnal day.</p> +<p>"Isn't this delightful!" said Lucy, as she stepped out upon the +piazza, and felt the warm southern breeze upon her cheek. "It's a +wonder, though," she continued, "that Madam Nature didn't conjure +up an awful storm for my benefit, as she usually does!"</p> +<p>Before night she had occasion to change her mind concerning the +day.</p> +<p>Dinner was over, and she in Lizzie's room was combing out her +long curls, and trying the effect of wearing them entirely behind +her ears. Suddenly there was the sound of sleigh bells, which came +nearer, until they stopped before the door. Lucy flew to the +window, and in tones of intense anger and surprise, exclaimed, +"Now, heaven defend us! here is Cousin John's old lumber sleigh and +rackabone horse, with Berintha and a hair trunk, a red trunk, two +bandboxes, a carpet-bag, a box full of herbs, and a pillowcase full +of stockings. What does it all mean?"</p> +<p>She soon found out what it all meant, for Berintha entered the +room in high spirits. Kissing Lizzie, she next advanced toward +Lucy, saying, "You didn't expect me, I know; but this morning was +so warm and thawing that John said he knew the sleighing would all +be gone by Saturday, so I concluded to come to-day."</p> +<p>Lucy was too angry to reply, and rushing from the room, she +closed the door after her, with a force which fairly made the +windows rattle. Berintha looked inquiringly at Lizzie, who felt +inadequate to an explanation; so Berintha knew nothing of the +matter until she descended to the kitchen, and there learned the +whole. Now, if Lucy had treated her cousin politely and +good-naturedly, she would have saved herself much annoyance, but on +the contrary, she told her that she was neither expected nor wanted +there; that parties were never intended for "such old things;" and +that now she was there, she hoped she would stay in her own room, +unless she should happen to be wanted to wait on the table!</p> +<p>This speech, of course, exasperated Berintha, but she made no +reply, although there was on her face a look of quiet +determination, which Lucy mistook for tacit acquiescence in her +proposal.</p> +<p>Five—six—seven—eight—struck the little +brass clock, and no one had come except old Dr. Benton, who, being +a widower and an intimate friend of the family, was invited, as +Lucy said, for the purpose of beauing grandma! Lizzie, in crimson +double-gown, and soft, warm shawl, was reclining on the sofa in the +parlor, the old doctor muttering about carelessness, heated rooms, +late hours, etc. Grandma, in rich black silk and plain Quaker cap, +was hovering near her favorite child, asking continually if she +were too hot, or too cold or too tired, while Lucy, in white muslin +dress and flowing curls, flitted hither and thither, fretting at +the servants, or ordering grandma, and occasionally tapping her +sister's pale cheek, to see if she could not coax some color into +it.</p> +<p>"You'll live to see it whiter still," said the doctor, who was +indignant at finding his patient down-stairs.</p> +<p>And where all this time was Berintha? The doctor asked this +question, and Lucy asked this question, while Lizzie replied, that +"she was in her room."</p> +<p>"And I hope to goodness she'll stay there," said Lucy.</p> +<p>Dr. Benton's gray eyes fastened upon the amiable young lady, +who, by way of explanation, proceeded to relate her maneuvers for +keeping "the old maid" from the party.</p> +<p>We believe we have omitted to say that Lucy had some +well-founded hopes of being one day, together with her sister, +heiress of Dr. Benton's property, which was considerable. He was a +widower, and had no relatives. He was also very intimate with Mr. +Dayton's family, always evincing a great partiality for Lucy and +Lizzie, and had more than once hinted at the probable disposal of +his wealth. Of course Lucy, in his presence, was all amiability, +and though he was usually very far-sighted, he but partially +understood her real character. Something, however, in her remarks +concerning Berintha displeased him. Lucy saw it, but before she had +time for any thought on the subject the door-bell rang, and a dozen +or more of guests entered.</p> +<p>The parlors now began to fill rapidly. Ere long St. Leon came, +and after paying his compliments to Lucy, he took his station +between her and the sofa, on which Lizzie sat. So delighted was +Lucy to have him thus near that she forgot Berintha, until that +lady herself appeared in the room, bowing to those she knew, and +seating herself on the sofa, very near St. Leon. The angry blood +rushed in torrents to Lucy's face, and St. Leon, who saw something +was wrong, endeavored to divert her mind by asking her various +questions.</p> +<p>At last he said, "I do not see Miss Harcourt. Where is she?"</p> +<p>"She is not expected," answered Lucy carelessly.</p> +<p>"Ah!" said St. Leon; and Berintha, touching his arm, +rejoined:</p> +<p>"Of course you could not think Ada Harcourt would be invited +here!"</p> +<p>"Indeed! Why not?" asked St. Leon, and Berintha continued:</p> +<p>"To be sure, Ada is handsome, and Ada is accomplished, but then +Ada is poor, and consequently can't come!"</p> +<p>"But I see no reason why poverty should debar her from good +society," said St. Leon; and Berintha, with an exultant glance at +Lucy, who, if possible, would have paralyzed her tongue, +replied:</p> +<p>"Why, if Ada were present, she might rival somebody in +somebody's good opinion. Wasn't that what you said, Cousin Lucy? +Please correct me, if I get wrong."</p> +<p>Lucy frowned angrily, but made no reply, for Berintha had quoted +her very words. After a moment's pause she proceeded: "Yes, Ada is +poor; so though she can come to the front door with a gentleman, +she cannot go out that way, but must be led to a side door or back +door; which was it, Cousin Lucy?"</p> +<p>"I don't know what you are talking about," answered Lucy; and +Berintha, in evident surprise, exclaimed:</p> +<p>"Why, don't you remember when Ada came here with a +gentleman—let me see, who was it?—well, no matter who +'twas—she came with a gentleman—he was ushered into the +parlor, while you took her into a side room, then into a side +passage, and out at the side door, kindly telling her to beware of +the gentleman in the parlor, who could want nothing good of sewing +girls!"</p> +<p>"You are very entertaining to-night," said Lucy; to which +Berintha replied:</p> +<p>"You did not think I could be so agreeable, did you, when you +asked me to keep out of sight this evening, and said that such old +fudges as grandma and I would appear much better in our rooms, +taking snuff, and nodding at each other over our knitting +work?"</p> +<p>Lucy looked so distressed that Lizzie pitied her, and touching +Berintha she said, "Please don't talk any more."</p> +<p>At that moment supper was announced, and after it was over St. +Leon departed, notwithstanding Lucy's urgent request that he would +remain longer. As the street door closed after him she felt that +she would gladly have seen every other guest depart also. A moody +fit came on, and the party would have been voted a failure had it +not been for the timely interference of Dr. Benton and Berintha. +Together they sought out any who seemed neglected, entertaining +them to the best of their ability, and leaving with every one the +impression that they were the best-natured couple in the world. At +eleven o'clock, Lizzie, wearied out, repaired to her chamber. Her +departure was the signal for others, and before one o'clock the +last good night was said, the doors locked, the silver gathered up, +the tired servants dismissed, and Lucy, in her sister's room, was +giving vent to her wrath against Berintha, the party, St. Leon, and +all.</p> +<p>Scolding, however, could do her no good, and ere long, throwing +herself undressed upon a lounge she fell asleep, and dreamed that +grandma was married to the doctor, that Berintha had become her +stepmother, and, worse than all, that Ada Harcourt was Mrs. St. +Leon.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX4" id="CHAPTER_IX4"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>A WEDDING AT ST. LUKE'S.</h3> +<p>The day but one following the party, as Lucy was doing some +shopping down street she stepped for a moment into her +dressmaker's, Miss Carson's, where she found three or four of her +companions, all eagerly discussing what seemed to be quite an +interesting topic. As Lucy entered, one of them turning toward her +said; "Oh, isn't it strange? Or haven't you heard?"</p> +<p>"Heard what?" asked Lucy; and her companion replied:</p> +<p>"Why, Ada Harcourt is going to be married. Miss Carson is making +her the most beautiful traveling dress, with silk hat to +match—"</p> +<p>"Besides three or four elegant silk dresses," chimed in +another.</p> +<p>"And the most charming morning-gown you ever saw—apple +green, and dark green, striped—and lined with pink silk," +rejoined a third.</p> +<p>By this time Lucy had sunk into the nearest chair. The truth had +flashed upon her, as it probably has upon you; but as she did not +wish to betray her real emotions she forced a little bitter laugh, +and said, "St. Leon, I suppose, is the bridegroom."</p> +<p>"Yes; who told you?" asked her companion.</p> +<p>"Oh, I've seen it all along," answered Lucy carelessly. "He +called with her once at our house!"</p> +<p>"But you didn't invite her to your party," said mischievous +Bessie Lee, who loved dearly to tease Lucy Dayton. "You didn't +invite her to your party, and so he left early, and I dare say went +straight to Mrs. Harcourt's and proposed, if he hadn't done so +before. Now, don't you wish you'd been more polite to Ada? They say +he's got a cousin South, as rich and handsome as he is, and if +you'd only behaved as you should, who knows what might have +happened!"</p> +<p>Lucy deigned Bessie no reply, and turning to another young lady, +asked, "When is the wedding to be?"</p> +<p>"Next Thursday morning, in the church," was the answer; and +Bessie Lee again interposed, saying, "Come, Lucy, I don't believe +you have ever returned Ada's call, and as I am going to see her, +and inquire all about that Cousin Frank, suppose you accompany me, +and learn the particulars of the wedding."</p> +<p>"Thank you," said Lucy; "I don't care enough about it to take +that trouble;" and soon rising she left the shop.</p> +<p>If Lucy manifested so much indifference, we wot of some bright +eyes and eager ears which are willing to know the particulars, so +we will give them as follows: When St. Leon left Mr. Dayton's it +was ten o'clock, but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour he +started for the small brown house on "Dirt Alley," where dwelt the +sewing woman and her daughter, who were both busy on some work +which they wished to finish that night. Ada had stopped for a +moment to replenish the fire when a knock at the door startled her. +Opening it she saw St. Leon, and in much surprise said, "Why, I +supposed you were at the party."</p> +<p>"So I have been," said he; "but I grew weary, and left for a +more congenial atmosphere;" then advancing toward Mrs. Harcourt, he +took her hand, saying, "Mrs. Linwood, allow me to address you by +your right name this evening."</p> +<p>We draw a veil over the explanation which followed—over +the fifty-nine questions asked by Ada concerning Jenny—and +over the <i>one</i> question asked by St. Leon, the answer to which +resulted in the purchase of all those dresses at Miss Carson's and +the well-founded rumor that on Thursday morning a wedding would +take place at St. Luke's church.</p> +<p>Poor Lucy! how disconsolate she felt! St. Leon was passing from +her grasp, and there was no help. On her way home she three times +heard of the wedding, and of Ada's real name and former position in +life, and each time her wrath waxed warmer and warmer. Fortunate +was it for Berintha and grandma that neither made her appearance +until tea-time, for Lucy was in just the state when an explosive +storm would surely have followed any remark addressed to her!</p> +<p>The next day was the Sabbath, and as Lucy entered the church, +the first object which met her eye was St. Leon, seated in the +sewing woman's pew, and Ada <i>tolerably</i> though not <i>very</i> +near him! "How disgusting!" she hissed between her teeth, as she +entered her own richly-cushioned seat, and opened her velvet-bound +prayer book. Precious little of the sermon heard she that day, for, +turn which way she would, she still saw in fancy the sweet young +face of her rival; and it took but a slight stretch of imagination +to bring to view a costly house in the far-off "Sunny South," a +troop of servants, a handsome, noble husband, and the hated Ada the +happy mistress of them all! Before church was out Lucy was really +sick, and when at home in her room she did not refuse the bowl of +herb tea which Berintha kindly brought her, saying "it had cured +her when she felt just so."</p> +<p>The morning of the wedding came, and though Lucy had determined +not to be present, yet as the hour approached she felt how utterly +impossible it would be for her to stay away; and when at half-past +eight the doors were opened she was among the first who entered the +church, which in a short time was filled. Nine rang from the old +clock in the belfry, and then up the broad aisle came the bridal +party, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Charlie and Anna, Mrs. +Harcourt, or Mrs. Linwood as we must now call her, St. Leon and +Ada.</p> +<p>"Was there ever a more beautiful bride?" whispered Bessie Lee; +but Lucy made no answer, and as soon as the ceremony was concluded +she hurried home, feeling almost in need of some more catnip +tea!</p> +<p>In the eleven o'clock train St. Leon with his bride and her +mother started for New Haven, where they spent a delightful week, +and then returned to S——. A few days were passed at the +house of Mr. Graham, and then they departed for their southern +home. As we shall not again have occasion to speak of them in this +story we will here say that the following summer they came North, +together with Jenny and Cousin Frank, the latter of whom was so +much pleased with the rosy cheeks, laughing eyes, and playful +manners of Bessie Lee that when he returned home he coaxed her to +accompany him; and again was there a wedding in St. Luke's, and +again did Miss Carson make the bridal outfit, wishing that all New +Orleans gentlemen would come to S—— for their +wives.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X4" id="CHAPTER_X4"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>A SURPRISE.</h3> +<p>"Reuben," said Grandma Dayton to her son one evening after she +had listened to the reading of a political article for which she +did not care one fig, "Reuben, does thee suppose Dr. Benton makes a +charge every time he calls?"</p> +<p>"I don't know," said Mr. Dayton; "what made you ask that +question?"</p> +<p>"Because," answered grandma—and her knitting needles +rattled loud enough to be heard in the next room—"because, I +think he calls mighty often, considering that Lizzie neither gets +better nor worse; and I think, too, that he and Berintha have a +good many private talks!"</p> +<p>The paper dropped from Mr. Dayton's hand, and "What can you +mean?" dropped from his lips.</p> +<p>"Why," resumed grandma, "every time he comes he manages to see +Berintha alone; and hain't thee noticed that she has colored her +hair lately, and left off caps?"</p> +<p>"Yes; and she looks fifteen years younger for it; but what of +that?"</p> +<p>Grandma, whose remarks had all been preparatory to the mighty +secret she was about to divulge, coughed, and then informed her son +that Berintha was going to be married, and wished to have the +wedding there.</p> +<p>"Berintha and the doctor! Good!" exclaimed Mr. Dayton. "To be +sure, I'll give her a wedding, and a wedding dress, too."</p> +<p>Here grandma left the room, and after reporting her success to +Berintha, she sought her granddaughters, and communicated to them +the expected event. When Lucy learned of her cousin's intended +marriage she was nearly as much surprised and provoked as she had +been when first she heard of Ada's.</p> +<p>Turning to Lizzie she said, "It's too bad! for of course we +shall have to give up all hopes of the doctor's money."</p> +<p>"And perhaps thee'll be the only old maid in the family, after +all," suggested grandma, who knew Lucy's weak point, and sometimes +loved to touch it.</p> +<p>"And if I am," retorted Lucy angrily, "I hope I shall have sense +enough to mind my own business, and not interfere with that of my +grandchildren!"</p> +<p>Grandma made no answer, but secretly she felt some conscientious +scruples with regard to Lucy's grandchildren! As for Berintha she +seemed entirely changed, and flitted about the house in a manner +which caused Lucy to call her "an old fool, trying to ape sixteen." +With a change of feelings her personal appearance also changed, and +when she one day returned from the dentist's with an entire set of +new teeth, and came down to tea in a dark, fashionably-made merino, +the metamorphose was complete, and grandma declared that she looked +better than she ever had before in her life. The doctor, too, was +improved, and though he did not color his hair, he ordered six new +shirts, a new coat, a new horse and a pair of gold spectacles!</p> +<p>After a due lapse of time the appointed day came, and with it, +at an early hour, came Cousin John and Elizabeth Betsey, bringing +with them the few herbs which Berintha, at the time of her removal, +had overlooked. These Bridget demurely proposed should be given to +Miss Lucy, "who of late was much given to drinking catnip." +Perfectly indignant, Lucy threw the herbs, bag and all, into the +fire, thereby filling the house with an odor which made the +asthmatic old doctor wheeze and blow wonderfully during the +evening.</p> +<p>A few of the villagers were invited, and when all was ready Mr. +Dayton brought down in his arms his white-faced Lizzie, who +imperceptibly had grown paler and weaker every day, while those who +looked at her as she reclined upon the sofa, sighed, and thought of +a different occasion when they probably would assemble there. For +once Lucy was very amiable, and with the utmost politeness and good +nature waited upon the guests. There was a softened light in her +eye, and a heightened bloom on her cheek, occasioned by a story +which Berintha, two hours before, had told her, of a heart all +crushed in its youth, and aching on through long years of +loneliness, but which was about to be made happy by a union with +the only object it had ever loved! Do you start and wonder? Have +you not guessed that Dr. Benton, who that night for the second time +breathed the marriage vow, was the same who, years before, won the +girlish love of Berintha Dayton, and then turned from her to the +more beautiful Amy Holbrook, finding, too late, that all is not +gold that glitters? It is even so, and could you have seen how +tightly he clasped the hand of his new wife, and how fondly his eye +rested upon her, you would have said that, however long his +affections might have wandered, they had at last returned to her, +his first, best love.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI4" id="CHAPTER_XI4"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>LIZZIE.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"><span>Gathered 'round a narrow +coffin,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Stand a mourning, funeral +train,<br /></span> <span>While for her, redeemed thus +early,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Tears are falling now like +rain.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"><span>Hopes are crushed and hearts are +bleeding;<br /></span> <span class="i2">Drear the fireside now, and +alone;<br /></span> <span>She, the best loved and the +dearest,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Far away to heaven hath +flown.<br /></span></div> +<div class="stanza"><span>Long, long, will they miss thee, +Lizzie,<br /></span> <span class="i2">Long, long days for thee +they'll weep;<br /></span> <span>And through many nights of +sorrow<br /></span> <span class="i2">Memory will her vigils +keep.<br /></span></div> +</div> +<p>In the chapter just finished we casually mentioned that Lizzie, +instead of growing stronger, had drooped day by day, until to all +save the fond hearts which watched her, she seemed surely passing +away. But they to whom her presence was as sunlight to the flowers, +shut their eyes to the dreadful truth, refusing to believe that she +was leaving them. Oftentimes during the long winter nights would +Mr. Dayton steal softly to her chamber, and kneeling by her bedside +gaze in mute anguish upon the wasted face of his darling. And when +from her transparent brow and marble cheek he wiped the deadly +night sweats, a chill, colder far than the chill of death, crept +over his heart, and burying his face in his hands he would cry, +"Oh, Father, let this cup pass from me!"</p> +<p>As spring approached she seemed better, and the father's heart +grew stronger, and Lucy's step was lighter, and grandma's words +more cheerful, as hope whispered, "she will live." But when the +snow was melted from off the hillside, and over the earth the warm +spring sun was shining, when the buds began to swell and the trees +to put forth their young leaves, there came over her a change so +fearful that with one bitter cry of sorrow hope fled forever; and +again, in the lonely night season, the weeping father knelt and +asked for strength to bear it when his best-loved child was +gone.</p> +<p>"Poor Harry!" said Lizzie one day to Anna, who was sitting by +her, "Poor Harry, if I could see him again; but I never shall."</p> +<p>"Perhaps you will," answered Anna. "I wrote, to him three weeks +ago, telling him to come quickly."</p> +<p>"Then he will," said Lizzie, "but if I should be dead when he +comes, tell him how I loved him to the last, and that the thought +of leaving him was the sharpest pang I suffered."</p> +<p>There were tears in Anna's eyes as she kissed the cheek of the +sick girl, and promised to do her bidding. After a moment's pause +Lizzie added, "I am afraid Harry is not a Christian, and you must +promise not to leave him until he has a well-founded hope that +again in heaven I shall see him."</p> +<p>Anna promised all, and then as Lizzie seemed exhausted she left +her and returned home. One week from that day she stood once more +in Lizzie's sick-room, listening for the last time to the tones of +the dying girl as she bade her friends adieu. Convulsed with grief +Lucy knelt by the bedside, pressing to her lips one little clammy +hand, and accusing herself of destroying her sister's life. In the +furthest corner of the room sat Mr. Dayton. He could not stand by +and see stealing over his daughter's face the dark shadow which +falls but once on all. He could not look upon her when over her +soft brown eyes the white lids closed forever. Like a naked branch +in the autumn wind his whole frame shook with agony, and though +each fiber of grandma's heart was throbbing with anguish, yet for +the sake of her son she strove to be calm, and soothed him as she +would a little child. Berintha, too, was there, and while her tears +were dropping fast, she supported Lizzie in her arms, pushing back +from her pale brow the soft curls which, damp with the moisture of +death, lay in thick rings upon her forehead.</p> +<p>"Has Harry come?" said Lizzie.</p> +<p>The answer was in the negative, and a moan of disappointment +came from her lips.</p> +<p>Again she spoke: "Give him my Bible—and my +curls—when I am dead let Lucy arrange them—she knows +how; then cut them off, and the best, the longest, the brightest is +for Harry; the others for you all. And tell—tell—tell +him to meet—me in heaven—where +I'm—going—going."</p> +<p>A stifled shriek from Lucy, as she fell back fainting, told that +with the last word, "going," Lizzie had gone to heaven!</p> +<p>An hour after the tolling bell arrested the attention of many, +and of the few who asked for whom it tolled nearly all +involuntarily sighed and said, "Poor Harry! Died before he came +home!"</p> +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> +<p>It was the night before the burial, and in the back parlor stood +a narrow coffin containing all that was mortal of Lizzie Dayton. In +the front parlor Bridget and another domestic kept watch over the +body of their young mistress. Twelve o'clock rang from the belfry +of St. Luke's church, and then the midnight silence was broken by +the shrill scream of the locomotive as the eastern train thundered +into the depot. But the senses of the Irish girls were too +profoundly locked in sleep to heed that common sound; neither did +they hear the outer door, which by accident had been left unlocked, +swing softly open, nor saw they the tall figure which passed by +them into the next room—the room where stood the coffin.</p> +<p>Suddenly through the house there echoed a cry, so long, so loud, +so despairing, that every sleeper started from their rest, and +hurried with nervous haste to the parlor, where they saw Harry +Graham, bending in wild agony over the body of his darling Lizzie, +who never before had turned a deaf ear to his impassioned words of +endearment. He had received his sister's letter, and started +immediately for home, but owing to some delay did not reach there +in time to see her alive. Anxious to know the worst, he had not +stopped at his father's house, but seeing a light in Mr. Dayton's +parlors, hastened thither. Finding the door unlocked, he entered, +and on seeing the two servant girls asleep, his heart beat quickly +with apprehension. Still he was unprepared for the shock which +awaited him, when on the coffin and her who slept within it his eye +first rested. He did not faint, nor even weep, but when his friends +came about him with words of sympathy he only answered, "Lizzie, +Lizzie, she is dead!"</p> +<p>During the remainder of that sad night he sat by the coffin +pressing his hand upon the icy forehead until its coldness seemed +to benumb his faculties, for when in the morning his parents and +sister came he scarcely noticed them; and still the world, +misjudging ever, looked upon his calm face and tearless eye, and +said that all too lightly had he loved the gentle girl whose last +thoughts and words had been of him. Ah, they knew not the utter +wreck the death of that young girl had made, of the bitter grief, +deeper and more painful because no tear-drop fell to moisten its +feverish agony. They buried her, and then back from the grave came +the two heart-broken men, the father and Harry Graham, each going +to his own desolate home, the one to commune with the God who had +given and taken away, and the other to question the dealings of +that Providence which had taken from him his all.</p> +<p>Days passed, and nothing proved of any avail to win Harry from +the deep despair which seemed to have settled upon him. At length +Anna bethought her of the soft, silken curl which had been reserved +for him. Quickly she found it, and taking with her the Bible +repaired to her brother's room. Twining her arms around his neck +she told him of the death-scene, of which he before had refused to +hear. She finished her story by suddenly holding to view the long, +bright ringlet which once adorned the fair head now resting in the +grave. Her plan was successful, for bursting into tears Harry wept +nearly two hours. From that time he seemed better, and was +frequently found bathed in tears, and bending over Lizzie's Bible, +which now was his daily companion.</p> +<p>Lucy, too, seemed greatly changed. She had loved her sister as +devotedly as one of her nature could love, and for her death she +mourned sincerely. Lizzie's words of love and gentle persuasion had +not been without their effect, and when Mr. Dayton saw how kind, +how affectionate and considerate of other people's feelings his +daughter had become, he felt that Lizzie had not died in vain.</p> +<p>Seven times have the spring violets blossomed, seven times the +flowers of summer bloomed, seven times have the autumnal stores +been gathered in, and seven times have the winds of winter sighed +over the New England hills since Lizzie was laid to rest. In her +home there have been few changes. Mr. Dayton's hair is whiter than +it was of old, and the furrows on his brow deeper and more marked. +Grandma, quiet and gentle as ever, knits on day after day, ever and +anon speaking of "our dear little Lizzie, who died years ago."</p> +<p>Lucy is still unmarried, and satisfied, too, that it should be +so. A patient, self-sacrificing Christian, she strives to make up +to her father for the loss of one over whose memory she daily +weeps, and to whose death she accuses herself of being accessory. +Dr. Benton and his rather fashionable wife live in their great +house, ride in their handsome carriage, give large dinner parties, +play chess after supper, and then the old doctor nods over his +evening paper, while Berintha nods over a piece of embroidery, +intended to represent a little dog chasing a butterfly and which +would as readily be taken for that as for anything else, and for +anything else as that.</p> +<p>Two years ago a pale young missionary departed to carry the news +of salvation to the heathen land. Some one suggested that he should +take with him a wife, but he shook his head mournfully, saying, "I +have one wife in heaven." The night before he left home, he might +have been seen, long after midnight, seated upon a grassy grave, +where the flowers of summer were growing. Around the stone which +marks the spot rose bushes have clustered so thickly as to hide +from view the words there written, but push them aside and you will +read, "Our darling Lizzie."</p> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 14089-h.txt or 14089-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/8/14089">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/0/8/14089</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Homestead on the Hillside + +Author: Mary Jane Holmes + +Release Date: November 19, 2004 [eBook #14089] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE*** + + +E-text prepared by Stephen Schulze and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE + +by + +MRS. MARY JANE HOLMES + + + + + + + +By the Same Author in uniform style: + + _Dora Deane_ + _Cousin Maude_ + _Lena Rivers_ + _Meadow Brook_ + _English Orphans_ + _Maggie Miller_ + _Rosamond_ + _Tempest And Sunshine_ + _Homestead on the Hillside_ + + + + + +CONTENTS + +The Homestead On The Hillside + + Chapter I. Mrs. Hamilton + Chapter II. Lenora And Her Mother + Chapter III. One Step Toward The Homestead + Chapter IV. After The Burial + Chapter V. Kate Kirby + Chapter VI. Raising The Wind + Chapter VII. The Stepmother + Chapter VIII. Domestic Life At The Homestead + Chapter IX. Lenora And Carrie + Chapter X. Darkness + Chapter XI. Margaret And Her Father + Chapter XII. "Carrying Out Dear Mr. Hamilton's Plans" + Chapter XIII. Retribution + Chapter XIV. Finale + +Rice Corner + + Chapter I. Rice Corner + Chapter II. The Belle Of Rice Corner + Chapter III. Monsieur Penoyer + Chapter IV. Cousin Emma + Chapter V. Richard Evelyn And Harley Ashmore + Chapter VI. Mike And Sally + Chapter VII. The Bride + +The Gilberts; Or, Rice Corner Number Two + + Chapter I. The Gilberts + Chapter II. Nellie + Chapter III. The Haunted House + Chapter IV. Jealousy + Chapter V. New Relations + Chapter VI. Poor, Poor Nellie + +The Thanksgiving Party And Its Consequences + + Chapter I. Night Before Thanksgiving + Chapter II. Thanksgiving Day + Chapter III. Ada Harcourt + Chapter IV. Lucy + Chapter V. Uncle Israel + Chapter VI. Explanation + Chapter VII. A Maneuver + Chapter VIII. Cousin Berintha And Lucy's Party + Chapter IX. A Wedding At St. Luke's + Chapter X. A Surprise + Chapter XI. Lizzie + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MRS. HAMILTON. + + +For many years the broad, rich acres, and old-fashioned, massive +building known as "The Homestead on the Hillside," had passed +successively from father to son, until at last it belonged by right of +inheritance to Ernest Hamilton. Neither time nor expense had been +spared in beautifying and embellishing both house and grounds, and at +the time of which we are speaking there was not for miles around so +lovely a spot as was the shady old homestead. + +It stood at some distance from the road, and on the bright green lawn +in front were many majestic forest trees, on which had fallen the +lights and shadows of more than a century; and under whose +widespreading branches oft, in the olden time, the Indian warrior had +paused from the chase until the noonday heat was passed. Leading from +the street to the house was a wide, graveled walk bordered with box, +and peeping out from the wilderness of vines and climbing roses were +the white walls of the huge building, which was surrounded on all +sides by a double piazza. + +Many and hallowed were the associations connected with that old +homestead. On the curiously-carved seats beneath the tall shade trees +were cut the names of some who there had lived, and loved, and passed +away. Through the little gate at the foot of the garden and just +across the brooklet, whose clear waters leaped and laughed in the +glad sunshine, and then went dancing away in the woodland below, was a +quiet spot, where gracefully the willow tree was bending, where the +wild sweetbrier was blooming, and where, too, lay sleeping those who +once gathered round the hearthstone and basked in the sunlight which +ever seemed resting upon the Homestead on the Hillside. + +But a darker day was coming; a night was approaching when a deep gloom +would overshadow the homestead and the loved ones within its borders. +The servants, ever superstitious, now whispered mysteriously that the +spirits of the departed returned nightly to their old accustomed +places, and that dusky hands from the graves of the slumbering dead +were uplifted, as if to warn the master of the domain of the +desolation; which was to come. For more than a year the wife of Ernest +Hamilton had been dying--slowly, surely dying--and though when the +skies were brightest and the sunshine warmest she ever seemed better, +each morning's light still revealed some fresh ravage the disease had +made, until at last there was no hope, and the anxious group which +watched her knew full well that ere long among them would be a vacant +chair, and in the family burying ground an added grave. + +One evening Mrs. Hamilton seemed more than usually restless, and +requested her daughters to leave her, that she might compose herself +to sleep. Scarcely was she alone when with cat-like tread there glided +through the doorway the dark figure of a woman, who advanced toward +the bedside, noiselessly as a serpent would steal to his ambush. She +was apparently forty-five years of age, and dressed in deep mourning, +which seemed to increase the marble whiteness of her face. Her eyes, +large, black, and glittering, fastened themselves upon, the invalid +with a gaze so intense that Mrs. Hamilton's hand involuntarily sought +the bell-rope, to summon some one else to her room. + +But ere the bell was rung a strangely sweet, musical voice fell on her +ear, and arrested her movements. "Pardon me for intruding," said the +stranger, "and suffer me to introduce myself. I am Mrs. Carter, who +not long since removed to the village. I have heard of your illness, +and wishing to render you any assistance in my power, I have ventured, +unannounced, into your presence, hoping that I at least am not +unwelcome." + +Mrs. Hamilton had heard of a widow lady, who with an only daughter had +recently removed to the village, which lay at the foot of the long +hill on which stood the old homestead. She had heard, too, that Mrs. +Carter, though rather singular in some respects, was unusually +benevolent, spending much time in visiting the sick and needy, and, as +far as possible, ministering to their comfort. + +Extending her hand, she said, "I know you by reputation, Mrs. Carter, +and feel greatly pleased that you have thought to visit me. Pray be +seated." + +This last invitation was superfluous, for with the air of a person +entirely at home, the lady had seated herself, and as the room was +rather warm, she threw back her bonnet, disclosing to view a mass of +rich brown hair, which made her look several years younger than she +really was. Nothing could be more apparently kind and sincere than +were her words of sympathy, nothing more soothing than the sound of +her voice; and when she for a moment raised Mrs. Hamilton, while she +adjusted her pillows, the sick woman declared that never before had +any one done it so gently or so well. + +Mrs. Carter was just resuming her seat when in the adjoining hall +there was the sound of a heavy tread, and had Mrs. Hamilton been at +all suspicious of her visitor she would have wondered at the flush +which deepened on her cheek when the door opened and Mr. Hamilton +stood in their midst. On seeing a stranger he turned to leave, but his +wife immediately introduced him, and seating himself upon the sofa, he +remarked, "I have seen you frequently in church, Mrs. Carter, but I +believe I have never spoken with you before." + +A peculiar expression flitted over her features at these words, an +expression which Mr. Hamilton noticed, and which awoke remembrances of +something unpleasant, though he could not tell what. + +"Where have I seen her before?" thought he, as she bade them good +night, promising to come again and stay a longer time. "Where have I +seen her before?" and then involuntarily his thoughts went back to the +time, years and years ago, when, a wild young man in college, he had +thoughtlessly trifled with the handsome daughter of his landlady. Even +now he seemed to hear her last words, as he bade her farewell: "You +may go, Ernest Hamilton, and forget me if you can, but Luella does not +so easily forget; and remember, when least you expect it, we shall +meet again." + +Could this strange being, with honeyed words and winning ways, be that +fiery, vindictive girl? Impossible!--and satisfied with this +conclusion Mr. Hamilton resumed his evening paper. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LENORA AND HER MOTHER. + + +From the windows of a small, white cottage, at the extremity of +Glenwood village, Lenora Carter watched for her mother's return. "She +stays long," thought she, "but it bodes success to her plan; though +when did she undertake a thing and fail!" + +The fall of the gatelatch was heard, and in a moment Mrs. Carter was +with her daughter, whose first exclamation was, "What a little +eternity you've been gone! Did you renew your early vows to the man?" + +"I've no vows to renew," answered Mrs. Carter, "but I've paved the way +well, and got invited to call again." + +"Oh, capital!" said Lenora. "It takes you, mother, to do up things, +after all; but, really, was Mrs. Hamilton pleased with you?" + +"Judging by the pressure of her hand when she bade me good-by I should +say she was," answered Mrs. Carter; and Lenora continued: "Did you see +old moneybags?" + +"Lenora, child, you must not speak so disrespectfully of Mr. +Hamilton," said Mrs. Carter. + +"I beg your pardon," answered Lenora, while her mother continued: "I +saw him, but do not think he recognized me; and perhaps it is as well +that he should not, until I have made myself indispensable to him and +his family." + +"Which you will never do with the haughty Mag, I am sure," said +Lenora; "but tell me, is the interior of the house as handsome as the +exterior?" + +"Far more so," was the reply; and Mrs. Carter proceeded to enumerate +the many costly articles of furniture she had seen. + +She was interrupted by Lenora, who asked, "How long, think you, will +the incumbrance live?" + +"Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, "you shall not talk so. No one wishes Mrs. +Hamilton to die; but if such an afflictive dispensation does occur, I +trust we shall all be resigned." + +"Oh, I keep forgetting that you are acting the part of a resigned +widow; but I, thank fortune, have no part to act, and can say what I +please." + +"And spoil all our plans, too, by your foolish babbling," interposed +Mrs. Carter. + +"Let me alone for that," answered Lenora. "I haven't been trained by +such a mother for nothing. But, seriously, how is Mrs. Hamilton's +health?" + +"She is very low, and cannot possibly live long," was the reply. + +Here there was a pause in the conversation, during which we will take +the opportunity of introducing more fully to our readers the estimable +Mrs. Carter and her daughter. Mr. Hamilton was right when he +associated the resigned widow with his old flame, Luella Blackburn, +whom be had never seriously thought of marrying, though by way of +pastime he had frequently teased, tormented, and flattered her. Luella +was ambitious, artful, and designing. Wealth and position was the goal +at which she aimed. Both of these she knew Ernest Hamilton possessed, +and she had felt greatly pleased at his evident preference. When, +therefore, at the end of his college course he left her with a few +commonplace remarks, such as he would have spoken to any familiar +acquaintance, her rage knew no bounds; and in the anger of the moment +she resolved, sooner or later, to be revenged upon him. + +Years, however, passed on, and a man whom she thought wealthy offered +her his hand. She accepted it, and found, too late, that she was +wedded to poverty. This aroused the evil of her nature to such an +extent that her husband's life became one of great unhappiness, and +four years after Lenora's birth he left her. Several years later she +succeeded in procuring a divorce, although she still retained his +name. Recently she had heard of his death, and about the same time, +too, she heard that the wife of Ernest Hamilton was dying. Suddenly a +wild scheme entered her mind. She would remove to the village of +Glenwood, would ingratiate herself into the favor of Mrs. Hamilton, +win her confidence and love, and then when she was dead the rest she +fancied would be an easy matter, for she knew that Mr. Hamilton was +weak and easily flattered. + +For several weeks they had been in Glenwood, impatiently waiting an +opportunity for making the acquaintance of the Hamiltons. But as +neither Margaret nor Carrie called, Lenora became discouraged, and one +day exclaimed, "I should like to know what you are going to do. There +is no probability of that proud Mag's calling on me. How I hate her, +with her big black eyes and hateful ways!" + +"Patience, patience," said Mrs. Carter, "I'll manage it; as Mrs. +Hamilton is sick, it will be perfectly proper for me to go and see +her," and then was planned the visit which we have described. + +"Oh, won't it be grand!" said Lenora that night, as she sat sipping +her tea. "Won't it be grand, if you do succeed, and won't I lord it +over Miss Margaret! As for that little white-faced Carrie, she's too +insipid for one to trouble herself about, and I dare say thinks you a +very nice woman, for how can her Sabbath-school teacher be otherwise;" +and a satirical laugh echoed through the room. Suddenly springing up, +Lenora glanced at herself in the mirror, and turning to her mother, +said, "Did you hear when Walter is expected--and am I so very ugly +looking?" + +While Mrs. Carter is preparing an answer to the first question, we, +for the sake of our readers, will answer the last one. Lenora was a +little dark-looking girl about eighteen years of age. Her eyes were +black, her face was black, and her hair was black, standing out from +her head in short, thick curls, which gave to her features a strange +witch-like expression. From her mother she had inherited the same +sweet, cooing voice, the same gliding, noiseless footsteps, which had +led some of their acquaintance to accuse them of what, in the days of +New England witchcraft, would have secured their passport to another +world. + +Lenora had spoken truthfully when she said that she had not been +trained by such a mother for nothing, for whatever of evil appeared in +her conduct was more the result of her mother's training than of a +naturally bad disposition. At times her mother petted and caressed +her, and again, in a fit of ill-humor, drove her from the room, +taunting her with the strong resemblance which she bore to the man +whom she had once called father! On such occasions Lenora was never at +a loss for words, and the scenes which sometimes occurred were too +disgraceful for repetition. On one subject, however, they were united, +and that was in their efforts to become inmates of the homestead on +the hillside. In the accomplishment of this Lenora had a threefold +object: first, it would secure her a luxuriant home; second, she would +be thrown in the way of Walter Hamilton, who was about finishing his +college course; and last, though not least, it would be such a triumph +over Margaret, who, she fancied, treated her with cold indifference. + +Long after the hour of midnight was rung from the village clock, the +widow and her daughter sat by their fireside, forming plans for the +future, and when at last they retired to sleep it was to dream of +funeral processions, bridal favors, stepchildren, half-sisters, and +double connections all around. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ONE STEP TOWARD THE HOMESTEAD. + + +Weeks passed on, and so necessary to the comfort of the invalid did +the presence of Mrs. Carter become, that at last, by particular +request, she took up her abode at the homestead, becoming Mrs. +Hamilton's constant nurse and attendant. Lenora, for the time being, +was sent to the house of a friend, who lived not far distant. When +Margaret Hamilton learned of the arrangement she opposed it with all +her force. + +"Send her away, mother," said she one evening; "please send her away, +for I cannot endure her presence, with her oily words and silent +footsteps. She reminds me of the serpent, who decoyed Eve into eating +that apple, and I always feel an attack of the nightmare whenever I +know that her big, black eyes are fastened upon me." + +"How differently people see!" laughed Carrie, who was sitting by. +"Why, Mag, I always fancy _her_ to be in a nightmare when your big +eyes light upon her." + +"It's because she knows she's guilty," answered Mag, her words and +manner warming up with the subject. "Say, mother, won't you send her +off! It seems as though a dark shadow falls upon us all the moment she +eaters the house." + +"She is too invaluable a nurse to be discharged for a slight whim," +answered Mrs. Hamilton. "Besides she bears the best of reputations, +and I don't see what possible harm can come of her being here." + +Margaret sighed, for though she knew full well the "possible harm" +which might come of it, she could not tell it to her pale, dying +mother; and ere she had time for any answer, the black bombazine +dress, white linen, collar, and white, smooth face of Widow Carter +moved silently into the room. There was a gleam of intense hatred in +the dark eyes which for a moment flashed on Margaret's face, and then +a soft hand gently stroked the glossy hair of the indignant girl, and +in the most musical tones imaginable a low voice murmured, "Maggie, +dear, you look flushed and wearied. Are you quite well?" + +"Perfectly so," answered Margaret; and then rising, she left the room, +but not until she had heard her mother say, "Dear Mrs. Carter, I am so +glad you've come!" + +"Is everybody bewitched," thought Mag, as she repaired to her chamber, +"father, mother, Carrie, and all? How I wish Walter was here. He +always sees things as I do." + +Margaret Hamilton was a high-spirited, intelligent girl, about +nineteen years of age. She was not beautiful, but had you asked for +the finest-looking girl in all Glenwood, Mag would surely have been +pointed out. She was rather above the medium height, and in her whole +bearing there was a quiet dignity, which many mistook for hauteur. +Naturally frank, affectionate, and kind-hearted, she was, perhaps, a +little strong in her prejudices, which, when once satisfactorily +formed, could not easily be shaken. + +For Mrs. Carter she had conceived a strong dislike, for she believed +her to be an artful, hypocritical woman, and now, as she sat by the +window in her room, her heart swelled with indignation toward one who +had thus usurped her place by her mother's bedside, whom Carrie was +learning to confide in, and of whom even the father said, "she is a +most excellent woman." + +"I will write to Walter," said she, "and tell him to come +immediately." + +Suiting the action to the word, she drew up her writing desk, and soon +a finished letter was lying before her. Ere she had time to fold and +direct it, a loud cry from her young brother Willie summoned her for a +few moments from the room, and on her return she met in the doorway +the black bombazine and linen collar. + +"Madam," said she, "did you wish for anything?" + +"Yes, dear," was the soft answer, which, however, in this case failed +to turn, away wrath. "Yes, dear, your mother said you knew where there +were some fine bits of linen." + +"And could not Carrie come for them?" asked Mag. + +"Yes, dear, but she looks so delicate that I do not like to send her +up these long stairs oftener than is necessary. Haven't you noticed +how pale she is getting of late? I shouldn't be at all surprised--" +but before the sentence was finished the linen was found, and the door +closed upon Mrs. Carter. + +A new idea had been awakened in Margaret's mind, and for the first +time she thought how much her sister really had changed. Carrie, who +was four years younger than Margaret, had ever been delicate, and her +parents had always feared that not long could they keep her; but +though each winter her cough had returned with increased severity, +though the veins on her white brow grew more distinct, and her large, +blue eyes glowed with unwonted luster, still Margaret had never before +dreamed of danger, never thought that soon her sister's voice would be +missed, and that Carrie would be gone. But she thought of it now, and +laying her head upon the table wept for a time in silence. + +At length, drying her tears, she folded her letter and took it to the +post-office. As she was returning home she was met by a servant, who +exclaimed, "Run, Miss Margaret, run; your mother is dying, and Mrs. +Carter sent me for you!" + +Swift as the mountain chamois, Margaret sped up the long, steep hill, +and in a few moments stood within her mother's sick-room. Supported in +the arms of Mrs. Carter lay the dying woman, while her eyes, already +overshadowed with the mists of coming death, wandered anxiously around +the room, as if in quest of some one. The moment Margaret appeared, a +satisfied smile broke over her wasted features, and beckoning her +daughter to her bedside, she whispered, "Dear Maggie, you did not +think I'd die so soon, when you went away." + +A burst of tears was Maggie's only answer, as she passionately kissed +the cold, white lips, which had never breathed aught to her save words +of love and gentleness. Far different, however, would have been her +reply had she known the reason of her mother's question. Not long +after she had left the house for the office, Mrs. Hamilton had been +taken worse, and the physician, who chanced to be present, pronounced +her dying. Instantly the alarmed husband summoned together his +household, but Mag was missing. No one had seen her; no one knew where +she was, until Mrs. Carter, who had been some little time absent from +the room reentered it, saying "Margaret had started for the +post-office with a letter when I sent a servant to tell her of her +mother's danger, but for some reason she kept on, though I dare say +she will soon be back." + +As we well know, the substance of this speech was true, though the +impression which Mrs. Carter's words conveyed was entirely false. For +the advancement of her own cause she felt that it was necessary to +weaken the high estimation in which Mr. Hamilton held his daughter, +and she fancied that the mother's death-bed was as fitting a place +where to commence operations as she could select. + +As Margaret hung over her mother's pillow, the false woman, as if to +confirm the assertion she had made, leaned forward and said, "Robin +told you, I suppose? I sent him to do so." + +Margaret nodded assent, while a deeper gloom fell upon the brow of Mr. +Hamilton, who stood with folded arms watching the advance of the great +destroyer. It came at last, and though no perceptible change heralded +its approach, there was one fearful spasm, one long-drawn sigh, a +striving of the eye for one more glimpse of the loved ones gathered +near, and then Mrs. Hamilton was dead. On the bosom of Mrs. Carter her +life was breathed away, and when all was over that lady laid gently +down her burden, carefully adjusted the tumbled covering, and then +stepping to the window, looked out, while the stricken group deplored +their loss. + +Long and bitterly over their dead they wept, but not on one of that +weeping band fell the bolt so crushingly as upon Willie, the youngest +of the flock, the child four summers old, who had ever lived in the +light of his mother's love. They had told him she would die, but he +understood them not, for never before had he looked on death; and now, +when to his childish words of love his mother made no answer, most +piteously rang out the infantile cry, "Mother, oh, my mother, who'll +be my mother now?" + +Caressingly, a small, white hand was laid on Willie's yellow curls, +but ere the words of love were spoken Margaret took the little fellow +in her arms, and whispered through her tears, "I'll be your mother, +darling." + +Willie brushed the tear-drops from his sister's cheek and laying his +fair, round face upon her neck, said, "And who'll be Maggie's mother? +Mrs. Carter?" + +"Never! never!" answered Mag, while to the glance of hatred and +defiance cast upon her she returned one equally scornful and +determined. + +Soon from the village there came words of sympathy and offers of +assistance; but Mrs. Carter could do everything, and in her blandest +tones she declined the services of the neighbors, refusing even to +admit them into the presence of Margaret and Carrie, who, she said +were so much exhausted as to be unable to bear the fresh burst of +grief which the sight of an old friend would surely produce. So the +neighbors went home, and as the world will ever do, descanted upon the +probable result of Mrs. Carter's labors at the homestead. Thus, ere +Ernest Hamilton had been three days a widower, many in fancy had +wedded him to Mrs. Carter, saying that nowhere could he find so good a +mother for his children. + +And truly she did seem to be indispensable in that house of mourning. +'Twas she who saw that everything was done, quietly and in order; +'twas she who so neatly arranged the muslin shroud; 'twas her arms +that supported the half-fainting Carrie when first her eye rested on +her mother, coffined for the grave; 'twas she who whispered words of +comfort to the desolate husband; and she, too, it was, who, on the +night when Walter was expected home, _kindly_ sat up until past +midnight to receive him! + +She had read Mag's letter, and by being first to welcome the young man +home, she hoped to remove from his mind any prejudice which he might +feel for her, and by her bland smiles and gentle words to lure him +into the belief that she was perfect, and Margaret uncharitable. +Partially she succeeded, too, for when next morning Mag expressed a +desire that Mrs. Carter would go home, he replied, "I think you judge +her wrongfully; she seems to be a most amiable, kind-hearted woman." + +"_Et tu, Brute!_" Mag could have said, but 'twas neither the time nor +the place, and linking her arm within her brother's she led him into +the adjoining room, where stood their mother's coffin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +AFTER THE BURIAL. + + +Across the bright waters of the silvery lake which lay not far from +Glenwood village, over the grassy hillside, and down the long, green +valley, had floated the notes of the tolling bell. In the Hamilton +mansion sympathizing friends had gathered, and through the crowded +parlors a solemn hush had reigned, broken only by the voice of the +white-haired man of God, who in trembling tones prayed for the +bereaved ones. Over the costly coffin tear-wet faces had bent, and on +the marble features of her who slept within it had been pressed the +passionate kisses of a long, a last farewell. + +Through the shady garden and across the running brook, whose waters +this day murmured more sadly than 'twas their wont to do, the funeral +train had passed; and in the dark, moist earth, by the side of many +other still, pale sleepers, who offered no remonstrance when among +them another came, they had buried the departed. From the windows of +the homestead lights were gleaming, and in the common sitting-room sat +Ernest Hamilton, and by his side his four motherless children. In the +stuffed armchair, sacred for the sake of one who had called it hers, +reclined the black bombazine and linen collar of Widow Carter! + +She had, as she said, fully intended to return home immediately after +the burial, but there were so many little things to be seen to, so +much to be done, which Margaret, of course, did not feel like doing, +that she decided to stay until after supper, together with Lenora, who +had come to the funeral. When supper was over, and there was no longer +an excuse for lingering, she found, very greatly to her surprise and +chagrin, no doubt, that the clouds, which all day had looked dark and +angry, were now pouring rain. + +"What shall I do?" she exclaimed in great apparent distress; then +stepping to the door of the sitting-room, she said, "Maggie, dear, can +you lend me an umbrella? It is raining very hard, and I do not wish to +go home without one; I will send it back to-morrow." + +"Certainly," answered Margaret. "Umbrella and overshoes, too;" and +rising, she left the room to procure them. + +"But you surely are not going out in this storm," said Mr. Hamilton; +while Carrie, who really liked Mrs. Carter, and felt that it would be +more lonely when she was gone, exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, don't leave us +to-night, Mrs. Carter. Don't." + +"Yes, I think I must," was the answer, while Mr. Hamilton continued: +"You had better stay; but if you insist upon going, I will order the +carriage, as you must not walk." + +"Rather than put you to all that trouble, I will remain," said Mrs. +Carter; and when Mag returned with two umbrellas and two pairs of +overshoes, she found the widow comfortably seated in her mother's +armchair, while on the stool at her side sat Lenora looking not unlike +a little imp, with her wild, black face, and short, thick curls. + +Walter Hamilton had not had much opportunity for scanning the face of +Mrs. Carter, but now, as she sat there with the firelight flickering +over her features, he fancied that he could trace marks of the +treacherous deceit of which Mag had warned him; and when the full +black eyes rested upon Margaret he failed not to note the glance of +scorn which flashed from them, and which changed to a look of +affectionate regard the moment she saw she was observed. "There is +something wrong about her," thought he, "and the next time I am alone +with Mag I'll ask what it is she fears from this woman." + +That night, in the solitude of their room, mother and child communed +together as follows: "I do believe, mother, you are twin sister to the +old one himself. Why, who would have thought, when first you made that +_friendly_ visit, that in five weeks time both of us would be snugly +ensconced in the best chamber of the homestead?" + +"If you think we are in the best chamber, you are greatly mistaken," +replied Mrs. Carter. "Margaret Hamilton has power enough yet to keep +us out of that. Didn't she look crestfallen though, when she found I +was going to stay, notwithstanding her very disinterested offer of +umbrellas and overshoes? But I'll pay it all back when I become--" + +"Mistress of the house," added Lenora. "Why not speak out plainly? Or +are you afraid the walls have ears, and that the devoted Mrs. Carter's +speeches would not sound well repeated? Oh, how sanctimonious you did +look to-day when you were talking pious to Carrie! I actually had to +force a sneeze, to keep from laughing outright, though she, little +simpleton, swallowed it all, and I dare say wonders where you keep +your wings! But really, mother, I hope you don't intend to pet her so +always, for 'twould be more than it's worth to see it." + +"I guess I know how to manage," returned Mrs. Carter. "There's nothing +will win a parent's affection so soon as to pet the children." + +"And so I suppose you expect Mr. Hamilton to pet _this_ beautiful +child!" said Lenora, laughing loudly at the idea, and waltzing back +and forth before the mirror. + +"Lenora! _behave!_ I will not see you conduct so," said the widow; to +which the young lady replied, "Shut your eyes, and then you can't!" + +Meantime, an entirely different conversation was going on in another +part of the house, where sat Walter Hamilton, with his arm thrown +affectionately around, Mag, who briefly told of what she feared would +result from Mrs. Carter's intimacy at their house. + +"Impossible!" said the young man, starting to his feet. "Impossible! +Our father has too much sense to marry again anyway, and much more, to +marry one so greatly inferior to our own dear mother." + +"I hope it may prove so," answered Mag; "but with all due respect for +our father, _you_ know and I know that mother's was the stronger mind, +the controlling spirit, and now that she is gone father will be more +easily deceived." + +Margaret told the truth; for her mother had possessed a strong, +intelligent mind, and was greatly the superior of her father, who, as +we have before remarked, was rather weak and easily flattered. Always +sincere himself in what he said, he could not believe that other +people were aught than what they seemed to be, and thus oftentimes his +confidence had been betrayed by those in whom he trusted. As yet he +had, of course, entertained no thought of ever making Mrs. Carter his +wife; but her society was agreeable, her words and manner soothing, +and when, on the day following the burial, she actually took her +departure, bag, baggage, Lenora, and all, he felt how doubly lonely +was the old homestead, and wondered why she could not stay. There was +room enough, and then Margaret was too young to assume the duties of +housekeeper. Other men in similar circumstances had hired +housekeepers, and why could not he? He would speak to Mag about it +that very night. But when evening came, Walter, Carrie, and Willie all +were present, and he found no opportunity of seeing Margaret alone; +neither did any occur until after Walter had returned to college, +which he did the week following his mother's death. + +That night the little parlor at the cottage where dwelt the Widow +Carter looked unusually snug and cozy. It was autumn, and as the +evenings were rather cool a cheerful wood fire was blazing on the +hearth. Before it stood a tasteful little workstand, near which were +seated Lenora and her mother, the one industriously knitting, and the +other occasionally touching the strings of her guitar, which was +suspended from her neck by a crimson ribbon. On the sideboard stood a +fruit dish loaded with red and golden apples, and near it a basket +filled with the rich purple grapes. + +That day in the street Lenora had met Mr. Hamilton, who asked if her +mother would be at home that evening, saying he intended to call for +the purpose of settling the bill which he owed her for services +rendered to his family in their late affliction. + +"When I once get him here, I will keep him as long as possible," said +Mrs. Carter; "and, Lenora, child, if he stays late, say till nine +o'clock, you had better go quietly to bed." + +"Or into the next room, and listen," thought Lenora. + +Seven o'clock came, and on the graveled walk there was heard the sound +of footsteps, and in a moment Ernest Hamilton stood in the room, +shaking the warm hand of the widow, who was delighted to see him, but +_so_ sorry to find him looking pale and thin! Rejecting a seat in the +comfortable rocking-chair, which Lenora pushed toward him, he +proceeded at once to business, and taking from his purse fifteen +dollars, passed them toward Mrs. Carter, asking if that would +remunerate her for the three weeks' services in his family. + +But Mrs. Carter thrust them aside, saying, "Sit down, Mr. Hamilton, +sit down. I have a great deal to ask you about Maggie and dear +Carrie's health." + +"And sweet little Willie," chimed in Lenora. + +Accordingly Mr. Hamilton sat down, and so fast did Mrs. Carter talk +that the clock was pointing to half past eight ere he got another +chance to offer his bills. Then, with the look of a much-injured +woman, Mrs. Carter declined the money, saying, "Is it possible, Mr. +Hamilton, that you suppose my services can be bought! What I did for +your wife, I would do for any one who needed me, though for but few +could I entertain the same feelings I did for her. Short as was our +acquaintance, she seemed to me like a beloved sister; and now that she +is gone I feel that we have lost an invaluable treasure--" + +Here Mrs. Carter broke down entirely, and was obliged to raise her +cambric handkerchief to her eyes, while Lenora walked to the window to +conceal her emotions, whatever they might have been! When the +agitation of the company had somewhat subsided, Mr. Hamilton again +insisted, and again Mrs. Carter refused. At last, finding her +perfectly inexorable, he proceeded to express his warmest thanks and +deepest gratitude for what she had done, saying he should ever feel +indebted to her for her great kindness; then, as the clock struck +nine, he arose to go, in spite of Mrs. Carter's zealous efforts to +detain him longer. + +"Call again," said she, as she lighted him to the door; "call again +and we will talk over old times when we were young, and lived in New +Haven!" + +Mr. Hamilton started, and looking her full in the face, exclaimed, +"Luella Blackburn! It is as I at first suspected; but who would have +thought it!" + +"Yes--I am Luella," said Mrs. Carter; "though greatly changed, I +trust, from the Luella you once knew, and of whom even I have no very +pleasant reminiscences; but call again, and I will tell you of many of +your old classmates." + +Mr. Hamilton would have gone almost anywhere for the sake of hearing +from his classmates, many of whom he greatly esteemed; and as in this +case the "anywhere" was only at Widow Carter's, the idea was not +altogether distasteful to him, and when he bade her good night he was +under a promise to call again soon. All hopes, however, of procuring +her for his housekeeper were given up, for if she resented his offer +of payment for what she had already done, she surely would be doubly +indignant at his last proposed plan. After becoming convinced of this +fact, it is a little strange how suddenly he found that he did not +need a housekeeper--that Margaret, who before could not do at all, +could now do very well--as well as anybody. And Margaret did do well, +both as housekeeper and mother of little Willie, who seemed to have +transferred to her the affection he had borne for his mother. + +At intervals during the autumn Mrs. Carter called, always giving a +world of good advice, patting Carrie's pale cheek, kissing Willie, and +then going away. But as none of her calls were ever returned they +gradually became less frequent, and as the winter advanced ceased +altogether; while Margaret, hearing nothing, and seeing nothing, began +to forget her fears, and to laugh at them as having been groundless. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +KATE KIRBY. + + +The little brooklet, which danced so merrily by the homestead +burial-place, and then flowed on in many graceful turns and +evolutions, finally lost itself in a glossy mill-pond, whose waters, +when the forest trees were stripped of their foliage, gleamed and +twinkled in the smoky autumn light, or lay cold and still beneath the +breath of winter. During this season of the year, from the upper +windows of the homestead the mill-pond was discernible, together with +a small red building which stood upon its banks. + +For many years this house had been occupied by Mr. Kirby, who had been +a schoolboy with Ernest Hamilton, and who, though naturally +intelligent, had never aspired to any higher employment than that of +being miller on the farm of his old friend. Three years before our +story opens Mr. Kirby had died, and a stranger had been employed to +take his place. Mrs. Kirby, however, was so much attached to her +woodland home and its forest scenery that she still continued to +occupy the low red house together with her daughter Kate, who sighed +for no better or more elegant home, although rumor whispered that +there was in store for her a far more costly dwelling, than the +"Homestead on the Hillside." + +Currently was it reported that during Walter Hamilton's vacations the +winding footpath, which followed the course of the streamlet down to +the mill-pond, was trodden more frequently than usual. The +postmaster's wife, too, had hinted strongly of certain ominous letters +from New Haven, which regularly came, directed to Kate, when Walter +was not at home; so, putting together these two facts, and adding to +them the high estimation in which Mrs. Kirby and her daughter were +known to be held by the Hamiltons, it was generally conceded that +there could be no shadow of doubt concerning the state of affairs +between the heir apparent of the old homestead and the daughter of the +poor miller. + +Kate was a universal favorite, and by nearly all was it thought that +in everything save money she was fully the equal of Walter Hamilton. +To a face and form of the most perfect beauty she added a degree of +intelligence and sparkling wit, which, in all the rides, parties, and +_fetes_ given by the young people of Glenwood, caused her society to +be chosen in preference to those whose fathers counted their money by +thousands. + +A few there were who said that Kate's long intimacy with Margaret +Hamilton had made her proud; but in the rude dwellings and crazy +tenements which skirted the borders of Glenwood village was many a +blind old woman, and many a hoary-headed man, who in their daily +prayers remembered the beautiful Kate, the "fair forest flower," who +came so oft among them with her sweet young face and gentle words. For +Kate both Margaret and Carrie Hamilton already felt a sisterly +affection, while their father smiled graciously upon her, secretly +hoping, however, that his son would make a more brilliant match, but +resolving not to interfere if at last his choice should fall upon her. + +One afternoon, early in April, as Margaret sat in her chamber, busy +upon a piece of needlework, the door softly opened, and a mass of +bright chestnut curls became visible; next appeared the laughing blue +eyes; and finally the whole of Kate Kirby bounded into the room +saying, "Good afternoon, Maggie; are you very busy, and wish I hadn't +come?" + +"I am never too busy to see you," answered Margaret, at the same time +pushing toward Kate the little ottoman on which she always sat when in +that room. + +Kate took the proffered seat, and throwing aside her bonnet, began +with, "Maggie, I want to tell you something, though I don't know as it +is quite right to do so; still you may as well hear it from me as any +one." + +"Do pray tell," answered Mag, "I am dying with curiosity." + +So Kate smoothed down her black silk apron, twisted one of her curls +into a horridly ugly shape, and commenced with, "What kind of a woman +is that Mrs. Carter, down in the village?" + +Instantly Margaret's suspicions were aroused, and starting as if a +serpent had stung her, she exclaimed, "Mrs. Carter! is it of her you +will tell me? She is a most dangerous woman--a woman whom your mother +would call a 'snake in the grass.'" + +"Precisely so," answered Kate. "That is just what mother says of her, +and yet nearly all the village are ready to fall down and worship +her." + +"Let them, then," said Mag; "I have no objections, provided they keep +their molten calf to themselves. No one wants her here. But what is it +about her?--tell me." + +Briefly then Kate told her how Mr. Hamilton was, and for a long time +had been, in the habit of spending one evening every week with Mrs. +Carter; and that people, not without good cause, were already pointing +her out as the future mistress of the homestead. + +"Never, never!" cried Mag vehemently. "Never shall she come here. She +our mother indeed! It shall not be, if I can prevent it." + +After a little further conversation, Kate departed, leaving Mag to +meditate upon the best means by which to avert the threatened evil. +What Kate had told her was true. Mr. Hamilton had so many questions to +ask concerning his old classmates, and Mrs. Carter had so much to +tell, that, though they had worked industriously all winter, they were +not through yet; neither would they be until Mrs. Carter found herself +again within the old homestead. + +The night following Kate's visit Mag determined to speak with her +father; but immediately after tea he went out, saying he should not +return until nine o'clock. With a great effort Mag forced down the +angry words which she felt rising within her, and then seating herself +at her work she resolved to await his return. Not a word on the +subject did she say to Carrie, who retired to her room at half-past +eight, as was her usual custom. Alone now Margaret waited. Nine, ten, +eleven had been struck, and then into the sitting-room came Mr. +Hamilton, greatly astonished at finding his daughter there. + +"Why, Margaret," said he, "why are you sitting up so late?" + +"If it is late for me, it is late for you," answered Margaret, who, +now that the trial had come, felt the awkwardness of the task she had +undertaken. + +"But I had business," answered Mr. Hamilton; and Margaret, looking him +steadily in the face, asked: + +"Is not your business of a nature which equally concerns us all?" + +A momentary flush passed over his features as he replied, "What do you +mean? I do not comprehend." + +Hurriedly, and in broken sentences, Margaret told him what she meant, +and then tremblingly she waited for his answer. Frowning angrily, he +spoke to his daughter the first harsh words which had ever passed his +lips toward either of his children. + +"Go to your room, and don't presume to interfere with me again. I +trust I am competent to attend to my own matters!" + +Almost convulsively Margaret's arms closed round her father's neck, +as she said, "Don't speak so to me, father. You never did +before--never would now, but for _her_. Oh, father, promise me, by the +memory of my angel mother, never to see her again. She is a base, +designing woman." + +Mr. Hamilton unwound his daughter's arms from his neck, and speaking +more gently, said, "What proof have you of that assertion? Give me +proof, and I promise to do your bidding." + +But Mag had no such proof at hand, and she could only reiterate her +suspicions, her belief, which, of course, failed to convince the +biased man, who, rising, said: "Your mother confided and trusted in +her, so why should not you?" + +The next moment Margaret was alone. For a long time she wept, and it +was not until the eastern horizon began to grow gray in the morning +twilight that she laid her head upon her pillow, and forgot in sleep +how unhappy she had been. Her words, however, were not without their +effect, for when the night came round on which her father was +accustomed to pay his weekly visit, he stayed at home, spending the +whole evening with his daughters, and appearing really gratified at +Margaret's efforts to entertain him. But, alas! the chain of the widow +was too firmly thrown around him for a daughter's hand alone to sever +the fast-bound links. + +When the next Thursday evening came Mag was confined to her room by a +sick headache, from which she had been suffering all day. As night +approached she frequently asked if her father were below. At last the +front door opened, and she heard his step upon the piazza. Starting +up, she hurried to the window, while at the same moment Mr. Hamilton +paused, and raising his eyes saw the white face of his daughter +pressed against the window-pane as she looked imploringly after him; +but there was not enough of power in a single look to deter him, and, +wafting her a kiss, he turned away. Sadly Margaret watched him until +he disappeared down the long hill; then, returning to her couch, she +wept bitterly. + +Meantime Mrs. Carter, who had been greatly chagrined at the +non-appearance of Mr. Hamilton the week before, was now confidently +expecting him. He had not yet asked her to be his wife, and the delay +somewhat annoyed both herself and Lenora. + +"I declare, mother," said Lenora, "I should suppose you might contrive +up something to bring matters to a focus. I think it's perfectly +ridiculous to see two old crones, who ought to be trotting their +grandchildren, cooing and simpering away at each other, and all for +nothing, too." + +"Can't you be easy awhile longer?" asked Mrs. Carter "hasn't he said +everything he can say except 'will you marry me?'" + +"A very important question, too," returned Lenora; "and I don't know +what business you have to expect anything from him until it is asked." + +"Mr. Hamilton is proud," answered Mrs. Carter--"is afraid of doing +anything which might possibly lower him. Now, if by any means I could +make him believe that I had received an offer from some one fully if +not more than his equal, I think it would settle the matter, and I've +decided upon the following plan. I'll write a proposal myself, sign +old Judge B----'s name to it, and next time Mr. Hamilton comes let him +surprise me in reading it. Then, as he is such a _dear_, long-tried +friend, it will be quite proper for me to confide in him, and ask his +advice." + +Lenora's eyes opened wider, as she exclaimed, "_My gracious_! who but +_you_ would ever have thought of that." + +Accordingly the letter was written, sealed, directed, broken open, +laughed over, and laid away in the stand drawer. + +"Mr. Hamilton, mother," said Lenora, as half an hour afterward she +ushered that gentleman into the room. But so wholly absorbed was the +black bombazine and linen collar in the contents of an open letter, +which she held in her hand, that the words were twice repeated--"Mr. +Hamilton, mother"--ere she raised her eyes! Then coming forward with +well-feigned confusion, she apologized for not having observed him +before, saying she was sure he would excuse her if he knew the +contents of her letter. Of course he wanted to know, and of course she +didn't want to tell. He was too polite to urge her, and the +conversation soon took another channel. + +After a time Lenora left the room, and Mrs. Carter, again speaking of +the letter, begged to make a confidant of Mr. Hamilton, and ask his +advice. He heard the letter read through, and after a moment's silence +asked, "Do you like him, Mrs. Carter?" + +"Why--no--I don't think I do," said she, "but then the widow's lot is +so lonely." + +"I know it is," sighed he, while through the keyhole of the opposite +door came something which sounded very much like a stifled laugh! It +was the hour of Ernest Hamilton's temptation, and but for the +remembrance of the sad, white face which had gazed so sorrowfully at +him from the window he had fallen. But Maggie's presence seemed with +him--her voice whispered in his ear, "Don't do it, father, don't"--and +he calmly answered that it would be a good match. But he could not, no +he could not advise her to marry him; so he qualified what he had said +by asking her not to be in a hurry--to wait awhile. The laugh through +the keyhole was changed to a hiss, which Mrs. Carter said must be the +wind, although there was not enough stirring to move the rose bushes +which grew by the doorstep! + +So much was Mr. Hamilton held in thrall by the widow that on his way +home he hardly knew whether to be glad or sorry that he had not +proposed. If Judge B---- would marry her she surely was good enough +for him. Anon, too, he recalled her hesitation about confessing that +the judge was indifferent to her. Jealousy crept in and completed +what flattery and intrigue had commenced. One week from that night +Ernest Hamilton and Luella Carter were engaged, but for appearance's +sake their marriage was not to take place until the ensuing autumn. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +RAISING THE WIND. + + +"Where are you going now?" asked Mrs. Carter of her daughter, as she +saw her preparing to go out one afternoon, a few weeks after the +engagement. + +"Going to raise the wind," was the answer. + +"Going to what?" exclaimed Mrs. Carter. + +"To raise the wind! Are you deaf?" yelled Lenora. + +"Raise the wind!" repeated Mrs. Carter; "what do you mean?" + +"Mean what I say," said Lenora; and closing the door after her she +left her mother to wonder "what fresh mischief the little torment was +at." + +But she was only going to make a _friendly_ call on Margaret and +Carrie, the latter of whom she had heard was sick. + +"Is Miss Hamilton at home?" asked she of the servant girl who answered +her ring, and whom she had never seen before. + +"Yes, ma'am; walk in the parlor. What name shall I give her if you +please?" + +"Miss Carter--Lenora Carter;" and the servant girl departed, repeating +to herself all the way up the stairs, "Miss Carther--Lenora Carther!" + +"Lenora Carter want to see me!" exclaimed Mag, who, together with Kate +Kirby, was in her sister's room. + +"Yes, ma'am; an' sure 'twas Miss Hampleton she was wishin' to see," +said the Irish girl. + +"Well, I shall not go down," answered Mag. "Tell her, Rachel, that I +am otherwise engaged." + +"Oh, Maggie," said Carrie, "why not see her? I would if I were you." + +"Rachel can ask her up here if you wish it," answered Mag, "but I +shall leave the room." + +"Faith, an' what shall I do?" asked Rachel, who was fresh from "swate +Ireland" and felt puzzled to know why a "silk frock and smart bonnet" +should not always be welcome. "Ask her up," answered Kate. "I've never +seen her nearer than across the church and have some curiosity--" + +A moment after Rachel thrust her head in at the parlor door, saying, +"If you please, ma'am, Miss Marget is engaged, and does not want to +see you, but Miss Carrie says you may come up there." + +"Very well," said Lenora; and tripping after the servant girl, she was +soon in Carrie's room. + +After retailing nearly all the gossip of which she was mistress, she +suddenly turned to Carrie, and said, "Did you know that your father +was going to be married?" + +"My father going to be married!" said Carrie, opening her blue eyes in +astonishment. "My father going to be married! To whom pray?" + +"To a lady from the East--one whom he used to know and flirt with when +he was in college!" was Lenora's grave reply. + +"What is her name?" asked Kate. + +"Her name? Let me see--Miss--Blackwell--Blackmer--_Blackheart_. It +sounds the most like Blackheart." + +"What a queer name," said Kate; "but tell us what opportunity has Mr. +Hamilton had of renewing his early acquaintance with the lady." + +"Don't you know he's been East this winter?" asked Lenora. + +"Yes, as far as Albany," answered Carrie. + +"Well," continued Lenora, "'twas during his Eastern trip that the +matter was settled; but pray don't repeat it from me, except it be to +Maggie, who I dare say, will feel glad to be relieved of her heavy +responsibilities--but as I live, Carrie, you are crying! What is the +matter?" + +But Carrie made no answer, and for a time wept on in silence. She +could not endure the thought that another would so soon take the place +of her lost mother in the household and in the affections of her +father. There was, besides, something exceedingly annoying in the +manner of her who communicated the intelligence, and secretly Carrie +felt glad that the dreaded "Miss Blackheart" had, of course, no Lenora +to bring with her! + +"Do you know all this to be true?" asked Kate. + +"Perfectly true," said Lenora. "We have friends living in the vicinity +of the lady, and there can be no mistake, except, indeed, in the name, +which I am not sure is right!" + +Then hastily kissing Carrie, the little hussy went away, very well +satisfied with her afternoon's call. As soon as she was out of hearing +Margaret entered her sister's room, and on noticing Carrie's flushed +cheek and red eyes, inquired the cause. Immediately Kate told her what +Lenora had said, but instead of weeping, as Carrie had done, she +betrayed no emotion whatever. + +"Why, Maggie, ain't you sorry?" asked Carrie. + +"No, I am glad," returned Mag. "I've seen all along that sooner or +later father would make himself ridiculous, and I'd rather he'd marry +forty women from the East, than one woman not far from here whom I +know." + +All that afternoon Mag tripped with unwonted gaiety about the house. A +weight was lifted from her heart, for in her estimation any one whom +her father would marry was preferable to Mrs. Carter. + + * * * * * + +Oh, how the widow scolded the daughter, and how the daughter laughed +at the widow, when she related the particulars of her call. + +"Lenora, what could have possessed you to tell such a lie?" said Mrs. +Carter. + +"Not so fast, mother mine," answered Lenora. "'Twasn't a lie. Mr. +Hamilton _is_ engaged to a lady from the East. He _did_ flirt with her +in his younger days; and, pray, didn't he have to come East when be +called to inquire after his beloved classmates, and ended by getting +checkmated! Besides, I think you ought to thank me for turning the +channel of gossip in another direction, for now you will be saved from +all impertinent questions and remarks." + +This mode of reasoning failed to convince the widow, who felt quite +willing that people should know of her flattering prospects; and when +a few days after Mrs. Dr. Otis told her that Mrs. Kimball said that +Polly Larkins said that her hired girl told her that Mrs. Kirby's +hired girl told her that she overheard Miss Kate telling her mother +that Lenora Carter said that Mr. Hamilton was going to be married to +her mother's intimate friend, Mrs. Carter would have denied the whole +and probably divulged her own secret, had not Lenora, who chanced to +be present, declared, with the coolest effrontery, that 'twas all +true--that her mother had promised to stand up with them, and so folks +would find it to be if they did not die of curiosity before autumn! + +"Lenora, child, how can you talk so?" asked the distressed lady, as +the door closed upon her visitor. + +Lenora went off into fits of explosive laughter, bounding up and down +like an india-rubber ball, and at last condescended to say, "I know +what I'm about. Do you want Mag Hamilton breaking up the match, as she +surely would do, between this and autumn, if she knew it?" + +"And what can she do?" asked Mrs. Carter. + +"Why," returned Lenora, "can't she write to the place you came from, +if, indeed, such a spot can be found?--for I believe you sometimes +book yourself from one town and sometimes from another. But depend +upon it you had better take my advice and keep still, and in the +denouement which follows, I alone shall be blamed for a slight stretch +of truth which you can easily excuse as 'one of _dear_ Lenora's silly, +childish freaks!'" + +Upon second thoughts, Mrs. Carter concluded to follow her daughter's +advice, and the next time Mr. Hamilton called, she laughingly told the +story which Lenora had set afloat, saying, by way of excuse, that the +dear girl did not like to hear her mother joked on the subject of +matrimony, and had turned the attention of people another way. + +Mr. Hamilton hardly relished this, and half wished, mayhap, as, +indeed, gentlemen generally do in similar circumstances, that the +little "objection" in the shape of Lenora had never had existence, or +at least had never called the widow mother! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE STEPMOTHER. + + +Rapidly the summer was passing away, and as autumn drew near the wise +gossips of Glenwood began to whisper that the lady from the East was +in danger of being supplanted in her rights by the widow, whose house +Mr. Hamilton was known to visit two or three times each week. But +Lenora had always some plausible story on hand. "Mother and the lady +had been so intimate--in fact, more than once rocked in the same +cradle--and 'twas no wonder Mr. Hamilton came often to a place where +he could hear so much about her." + +So when business again took Mr. Hamilton to Albany suspicion was +wholly lulled, and Walter, on his return from college, was told by Mag +that her fears concerning Mrs. Carter were groundless. During the +spring Carrie had been confined to her bed, but now she seemed much +better, and after Walter had been at home awhile he proposed that he +and his sisters should take a traveling excursion, going first to +Saratoga, thence to Lake Champlain and Montreal, and returning home by +way of Canada and the Falls, This plan Mr. Hamilton warmly seconded, +and when Carrie asked if he would not feel lonely he answered, "Oh, +no; Willie and I will do very well while you are gone." + +"But who will stay with Willie evenings, when you are away?" asked +Mag, looking her father steadily in the face. + +Mr. Hamilton colored slightly, but after a moment replied: "I shall +spend my evenings at home." + +"'Twill be what he hasn't done for many a week," thought Mag, as she +again busied herself with her preparations. + +The morning came at last on which our travelers were to leave. Kate +Kirby had been invited to accompany them, but her mother would not +consent. "It would give people too much chance for talk," she said; so +Kate was obliged to content herself with going as far as the depot, +and watching, until out of sight, the car which bore them away. + +Upon the piazza stood the little group, awaiting the arrival of the +carriage which was to convey them to the station. Mr. Hamilton seemed +unusually gloomy, and with folded arms paced up and down the long +piazza, rarely speaking or noticing any one. + +"Are you sorry we are going, father?" asked Carrie, going up to him. +"If you are I will gladly stay with you." + +Mr. Hamilton paused, and pushing back the fair hair from his +daughter's white brow, he kissed her tenderly, saying, "No, Carrie; I +want you to go. The journey will do you good, for you are getting too +much the look your poor mother used to wear." + +Why thought he then of Carrie's mother? Was it because he knew that +ere his child returned to him another would be in that mother's place? +Anon, Margaret came near, and motioning Carrie away, Mr. Hamilton took +his other daughter's hand, and led her to the end of the piazza, where +could easily be seen the little graveyard and tall white monument +pointing toward the bright blue sky where dwelt the one whose grave +that costly marble marked. + +Pointing out the spot to Margaret, he said, "Tell me truly, Maggie, +did you love your father or your mother best?" + +Mag looked wonderingly at him a moment, and then replied, "While +mother lived I loved her more than you, but now that she is dead, I +think of and love you as both father and mother." + +"And will you always love me thus?" asked he. + +"Always," was Mag's reply, as she looked curiously in her father's +face, and thinking that he had not said what he intended to when first +he drew her there. + +Just then the carriage drove up, and after a few good-bys and parting +words Ernest Hamilton's children were gone, and he was left alone. + +"Why didn't I tell her, as I intended to?" thought he. "Is it because +I fear her--fear my own child? No, it cannot be--and yet there is that +in her eye which sometimes makes me quail, and which, if necessary, +would keep at bay a dozen stepmothers. But neither she, nor either one +of them, has aught to dread from Mrs. Carter, whose presence will, I +think, be of great benefit to us all, and whose gentle manners, I +trust, will tend to soften Mag!" + +Meantime his children were discussing and wondering at the strange +mood of their father. Walter, however, took no part in the +conversation. He had lived longer than his sisters--had seen more of +human nature, and had his own suspicions with regard to what would +take place during their absence; but he could not spoil all Margaret's +happiness by telling her his thoughts, so he kept them to himself, +secretly resolving to make the best of whatever might occur, and to +advise Mag to do the same. + +Now for a time we leave them, and take a look into the cottage of +Widow Carter, where, one September morning, about three weeks after +the departure of the Hamiltons, preparations were making for some +great event. In the kitchen a servant girl was busily at work, while +in the parlor Lenora was talking and the widow was listening. + +"Oh, mother," said Lenora, "isn't it so nice that they went away just +now? But won't Mag look daggers at us when she comes home and finds us +in quiet possession, and is told to call you _mother_!" + +"I never expect her to do that," answered Mrs. Carter. "The most I can +hope for is that she will call me Mrs. Hamilton." + +"Now really, mother, if I were in Mag's place, I wouldn't please you +enough to say Mrs. Hamilton; I'd always call you Mrs. Carter," said +Lenora. + +"How absurd!" was the reply; and Lenora continued: + +"I know it's absurd, but I'd do it; though if she does, I, as the +dutiful child of a most worthy parent, shall feel compelled to resent +the insult by calling her father _Mr. Carter_!" + +By this time Mrs. Carter was needed in the kitchen; so, leaving +Lenora, who at once was the pest and torment of her mother's life, we +will go into the village and see what effect the approaching nuptials +was producing. It was now generally known that the "lady from the +East" who had been "rocked in Mrs. Carter's cradle," was none other +than Mrs. Carter herself, and many were the reproving looks which the +people had cast toward Lenora for the trick she had put upon them. The +little hussy only laughed at them good-humoredly, telling them they +were angry because she had cheated them out of five months' gossip, +and that if her mother could have had her way, she would have sent the +news to the _Herald_ and had it inserted under the head of "Awful +Catastrophe!" Thus Mrs. Carter was exonerated from all blame; but many +a wise old lady shook her head, saying, "How strange that so fine a +woman as Mrs. Carter should have such a reprobate of a daughter." + +When, this remark came to Lenora's ears she cut numerous flourishes, +which ended in the upsetting of a bowl of starch on her mother's new +black silk; then dancing before the highly indignant lady, she said, +"Perhaps if they knew what a scapegrace you represent my father to +have been, and how you whipped me once to make me say I saw him strike +you, when I never did, they would wonder at my being as good as I am." + +Mrs. Carter was too furious to venture a verbal reply; so seizing the +starch bowl she hurled it with the remainder of the contents at the +head of the little vixen, who, with an elastic bound not entirely +unlike a somersault dodged the missile, which passed on and fell upon +the hearthrug. + +This is but one of a series of similar scenes which occurred between +the widow and her child before the happy day arrived when, in the +presence of a select few of the villagers, Luella Carter was +transformed into Luella Hamilton. The ceremony was scarcely over when +Mr. Hamilton, who for a few days had been rather indisposed, +complained of feeling sick. Immediately Lenora, with a sidelong glance +at her mother, exclaimed, "What, sick of your bargain so quick? It's +sooner even than _I_ thought 'twould be, and I'm sure I'm capable of +judging." + +"Dear Lenora," said Mrs. Carter, turning toward one of her neighbors, +"she has such a flow of spirits that I am afraid Mr. Hamilton will +find her troublesome." + +"Don't be alarmed, mother; he'll never think of me when you are +around," was Lenora's reply in which Mrs. Carter saw more than one +meaning. + +That evening the bridal party repaired to the homestead, where, at Mr. +Hamilton's request, Mrs. Kirby was waiting to receive them. Willie had +been told by the servants that his mother was coming home that night, +and, with the trusting faith of childhood, he had drawn a chair to the +window from which he could see his mother's grave; and there for more +than an hour he watched for the first indications of her coming, +saying occasionally, "Oh, I wish she'd come. Willie's so sorry here." + +At last growing weary and discouraged, he turned away and said, "No, +ma'll never come home again; Maggie said she wouldn't." + +Upon the carriage road which wound from the street to the house there +was the sound of coming wheels, and Rachel, seizing Willie, bore him +to the front door, exclaiming, "An' faith, Willie, don't you see her? +That's your mother, honey, with the black gown." + +But Willie saw only the wild eyes of Lenora, who caught him in her +arms, overwhelming him with caresses. "Let me go, Leno," said he, "I +want to see my ma. Where is she?" + +A smile of scorn curled Lenora's lips as she released him, and leading +him toward her mother, she said, "There she is; there's your ma. Now +hold up your head and make a bow." + +Willie's lip quivered, his eyes filled with tears, and hiding his face +in his apron, he sobbed, "I want my own ma--the one they shut up in a +big black box. Where is she, Leno?" + +Mr. Hamilton took Willie on his knee, and tried to explain to him how +that now his own mother was dead, he had got a new one, who would love +him and be kind to him. Then putting him down, he said, "Go, my son, +and speak to her, won't you?" + +Willie advanced rather cautiously toward the black silk figure, which +reached out its hand, saying, "Dear Willie, you'll love me a little, +won't you?" + +"Yes, if you are good to me," was the answer, which made the new +stepmother mentally exclaim, "A young rebel, I know," while Lenora, +bending between the two, whispered emphatically: + +"She _shall_ be good to you!" + +And soon, in due order, the servants were presented to their new +mistress. Some were disposed to like her, others eyed her askance, and +old Polly Pepper, the black cook, who had been in the family ever +since Mr. Hamilton's first marriage, returned her salutation rather +gruffly, and then, stalking back to the kitchen, muttered to, those +who followed her, "I don't like her face nohow; she looks just like +the milk snakes, when they stick their heads in at the door." + +"But you knew how she looked before," said Lucy, the chambermaid. + +"I know it," returned Polly; "but when she was here nussin' I never +noticed _her_, more I would any on you; for who'd of thought that Mr. +Hamilton would marry her, when he knows, or or'to know, that nusses +ain't fust cut, nohow; and you may depend on't, things ain't a-goin' +to be here as they used to be." + +Here Rachel started up, and related the circumstance of Margaret's +refusing to see "that little evil-eyed-lookin-varmint, with curls +almost like Polly's." Lucy, too, suddenly remembered something which +she had seen, or heard, or made up--so that Mrs. Carter had not been +an hour in the coveted homestead ere there was mutiny against her +afloat in the kitchen; "But," said Aunt Polly, "I 'vises you all to be +civil till she sasses you fust!" + +"My dear, what room can Lenora have for her own?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, +as we must now call her, the morning following her marriage. + +"Why, really, I don't know," answered the husband; "you must suit +yourselves with regard to that." + +"Yes; but I'd rather you'd select, and then no one can blame me," was +the answer. + +"Choose any room you please, except the one which Mag and Carrie now +occupy, and rest assured you shall not be blamed," said Mr. Hamilton. + +The night before Lenora had appropriated to herself the best chamber, +but the room was so large and so far distant from any one, and the +windows and fireboard rattled so, that she felt afraid, and did not +care to repeat her experiment. + +"I 'clar for't!" said Polly, when she heard of it. "Gone right into +the best bed, where even Miss Margaret never goes! What are we all +comin' to? Tell her, Luce, the story of the ghosts, and I'll be bound +she'll make herself scarce in them rooms!" + +"Tell her yourself," said Lucy; and when, after breakfast, Lenora, +anxious to spy out everything, appeared in the kitchen, Aunt Polly +called out, "Did you hear anything last night, Miss Lenora?" + +"Why, yes--I heard the windows rattle," was the answer; and Aunt +Polly, with an ominous shake of the head, continued: + +"There's more than windows rattle, I guess. Didn't you see nothin', +all white and corpse-like, go a-whizzin, and rappin' by your bed?" + +"Why, no," said Lenora; "what do you mean?" + +So Polly told her of the ghosts and goblins which nightly ranged the +two chambers over the front and back parlors. Lenora said nothing, but +she secretly resolved not to venture again after dark into the haunted +portion of the house. But where should she sleep? That was now the +important question. Adjoining the sitting-room was a pleasant, cozy +little place, which Margaret called her music-room. In it she kept her +piano, her music stand, books, and several fine plants, besides +numerous other little conveniences. At the end of this room was a +large closet where, at different seasons of the year, Mag hung away +the articles of clothing which she and her sister did not need. + +Toward this place Lenora turned her eyes; for, besides being unusually +pleasant, it was also very near her mother, whose sleeping-room +joined, though it did not communicate with it. Accordingly, before +noon the piano was removed to the parlor; the plants were placed, some +on the piazza, and some in the sitting-room window, while Margaret and +Carrie's dresses were removed to the closet of their room, which +chanced to be a trifle too small to hold them all conveniently; so +they were crowded one above the other, and left for "the girls to see +to when they came home!" + +In perfect horror Aunt Polly looked on, regretting for once the ghost +story which she had told. + +"Why don't you take the chamber jinin' the young ladies? that ain't +haunted," said she, when they sent for her to help move the piano. +"Miss Margaret won't thank you for scattern' her things." + +"You've nothing to do with Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton; "you've only +to attend to your own matters." + +"Wonder then what I'm up here for a-h'istin this pianner," muttered +Polly. "This ain't my matters, sartin'." + +When Mr. Hamilton came in to dinner he was shown the little room with +its single bed, tiny bureau, silken lounge and easy chair, of which +the last two were Mag's especial property. + +"All very nice," said he, "but where is Mag's piano?" + +"In the parlor," answered his wife. "People often ask for music, and +it is more convenient to have it there than to come across the hall +and through the sitting-room." + +Mr. Hamilton said nothing, but he secretly wished Mag's rights had not +been invaded quite so soon. His wife must have guessed as much; for, +laying her hand on his, she, with the utmost deference, offered to +undo all she had done, if it did not please him. + +"Certainly not--certainly not; it does please me," said he; while +Polly, who stood on the cellar stairs listening, exclaimed, "What a +fool a woman can make of a man!" + +Three days after Mr. Hamilton's marriage he received a letter from +Walter, saying that they would be at home on the Thursday night +following. Willie was in, ecstasies, for though as yet he liked his +new mother tolerably well, he still loved Maggie better; and the +thought of seeing her again made him wild with delight. All day long +on Thursday he sat in the doorway, listening for the shrill cry of the +train which was to bring her home. + +"Don't you love Maggie?" said he to Lenora, who chanced to pass him. + +"Don't I love Maggie? No, I don't; neither does she love me," was the +answer. + +Willie was puzzled to know why any one should not like Mag; but his +confidence in her was not at all shaken, and when, soon after sunset, +Lenora cried, "There, they've come," he rushed to the door, and was +soon in the arms of his sister-mother. Pressing his lips to hers, he +said, "Did you 'know I'd got a new mother? Mrs. Carter and Leno--they +are in there," pointing toward the parlor. + +Instantly Mag dropped him. It was the first intimation of her father's +marriage which she had received, and reeling backward, she would have +fallen had not Walter supported her. Quickly rallying, she advanced +toward her father, who came to meet her, and whose hand trembled in +her grasp. After greeting each of his children he turned to present +them to _his wife_, wisely taking Carrie first. She was not +prejudiced, like Mag, and returned her stepmother's salutation with +something like affection, for which Lenora rewarded her by terming her +a "little simpleton." + +But Mag--she who had warned her father against that woman--she who on +her knees had begged him not to marry her--she had no word of welcome, +and when Mrs. Hamilton offered her hand she affected not to see it, +though with the most frigid politeness she said, "Good evening, madam; +this is, indeed, a surprise!" + +"And not a very pleasant one, either, I imagine," whispered Lenora to +Carrie. + +Walter came last, and though he took the lady's hand, there was +something in his manner which plainly said she was not wanted there. +Tea was now announced, and Mag bit her lip when, she saw her +accustomed seat occupied by another. + +Feigning to recollect herself, Mrs. Hamilton, in the blandest tones, +said, "Perhaps, dear Maggie, you would prefer this seat?" + +"Of course not," said Mag, while Lenora thought to herself: + +"And if she does, I wonder what good it will do?" + +That young lady, however, made no remarks, for Walter Hamilton's +searching eyes were upon her and kept her silent. After tea, Walter +said, "Come, Mag, I have not heard your piano in a long time. Give us +some music." + +Mag arose to comply with his wishes, but ere she had reached the door +Mrs. Hamilton gently detained her, saying, "Maggie, dear, Lenora has +always slept near me, and as I knew you would not object, if you were +here, I took the liberty to remove your piano to the parlor, and to +fit this up for Lenora's sleeping-room. See"--and she threw open the +door, disclosing the metamorphose, while Willie, who began to get an +inkling of matters, and who always called the piazza "outdoors," +chimed in, "And they throw'd your little trees outdoors, too!" + +Mag stood for a moment, mute with astonishment; then thinking she +could not "do the subject justice," she turned silently away. A +roguish smile from Walter met her eye, but she did not laugh, until, +with Carrie, she repaired to her own room, and tried to put something +in the closet. Then coming upon the pile of extra clothes, she +exclaimed, "What in the world! Here's all our winter clothing, and, as +I live, five dresses crammed upon one nail! We'll have to move to the +barn next!" + +This was too much, and sitting down, Mag cried and laughed +alternately. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DOMESTIC LIFE AT THE HOMESTEAD. + + +For a few weeks after Margaret's return matters at the Homestead +glided on smoothly enough, but at the end of that time Mrs. Hamilton +began to reveal her real character. Carrie's journey had not been as +beneficial as her father had hoped it would be, and as the days grew +colder she complained of extreme languor and a severe pain in her +side, and at last kept her room entirely, notwithstanding the numerous +hints from her stepmother that it was no small trouble to carry so +many dishes up and down stairs three times a day. + +Mrs. Hamilton was naturally very stirring and active, and in spite of +her remarkable skill in nursing, she felt exceedingly annoyed when any +of her own family were ill. She fancied, too, that Carrie was feigning +all her bad feelings, and that she would be much better if she exerted +herself more. Accordingly, one afternoon when Mag was gone, she +repaired to Carrie's room, giving vent to her opinion as follows: +"Carrie," said she (she now dropped the _dear_ when Mr. Hamilton was +not by), "Carrie, I shouldn't suppose you'd ever expect to get well, +so long as you stay moped up here all day. You ought to come +down-stairs, and stir around more." + +"Oh, I should be so glad if I could," answered Carrie. + +"Could!" repeated Mrs. Hamilton; "you could if you would. Now, it's my +opinion that you complain altogether too much, and fancy you are a +great deal worse than you really are, when all you want is exercise. A +short walk on the piazza, and a little fresh air each, morning, would +soon cure you." + +"I know fresh air does me good," said Carrie; "but walking makes my +side ache so hard, and makes me cough so, that Maggie thinks I'd +better not." + +Mag, quoted as authority, exasperated Mrs. Hamilton who replied +rather sharply, "Fudge on Mag's old-maidish whims! I know that any one +who eats as much as you do can't be so very weak!" + +"I don't eat half you send me," said poor Carrie, beginning to cry at +her mother's unkind remarks; "Willie 'most always comes up here and +eats with me." + +"For mercy's sake, mother, let the child have what she wants to eat, +for 'tisn't long she'll need it," said Lenora, suddenly appearing in +the room. + +"Lenora, go right down; you are not wanted here," said Mrs. Hamilton. + +"Neither are you, I fancy," was Lenora's reply, as she coolly seated +herself on the foot of Carrie's bed, while her mother continued: + +"Really, Carrie, you must try and come down to your meals, for you +have no idea how much it hinders the work, to bring them up here. +Polly isn't good for anything until she has conjured up something +extra for your breakfast, and then they break so many dishes!" + +"I'll try to come down to-morrow," said Carrie meekly; and as the +door-bell just then rang Mrs. Hamilton departed, leaving her with +Lenora, whose first exclamation was: + +"If I were in your place, Carrie, I wouldn't eat anything, and die +quick." + +"I don't want to die," said Carrie; and Lenora, clapping her hands +together, replied: + +"Why, you poor little innocent, who supposed you did? Nobody wants to +die not even _I_, good as I am; but I should expect to, if I had the +consumption." + +"Lenora, have I got the consumption?" asked Carrie, fixing her eyes +with mournful earnestness upon her companion, who thoughtlessly +replied: + +"To be sure you have. They say one lung is entirely gone and the other +nearly so." + +Wearily the sick girl turned upon her side; and, resting her dimpled +cheek upon her hand, she said softly, "Go away now, Lenora; I want to +be alone." + +Lenora complied, and when Margaret returned from the village she +found her sister lying in the same position in which Lenora had left +her, with her fair hair falling over her face, which it hid from view. + +"Are you asleep, Carrie?" said Mag; but Carrie made no answer, and +there was something so still and motionless in her repose that Mag +went up to her, and pushing back from her face the long silken hair, +saw that she had fainted. + +The excitement of her stepmother's visit, added to the startling news +which Lenora had told her, was too much for her weak nerves, and for a +time she remained insensible. At length, rousing herself, she looked +dreamily around, saying, "Was it a dream, Maggie--- all a dream?" + +"Was what a dream, love?" said Margaret, supporting her sister's head +upon her bosom. + +Suddenly Carrie remembered the whole, but she resolved not to tell of +her stepmother's visit, though she earnestly desired to know if what +Lenora had told her were true. Raising herself, so that she could see +Margaret's face, she said, "Maggie, is there no hope for me; and do +the physicians say I must die?" + +"Why, what do you mean? I never knew that they said so," answered Mag; +and then with breathless indignation she listened, while Carrie told +her what Lenora had said. "I'll see that she doesn't get in here +again," said Margaret. "I know she made more than half of that up; +for, though the physicians say you lungs are very much diseased, they +have never saw that you could not recover." + +The next morning, greatly to Mag's astonishment Carrie insisted upon +going down to breakfast. + +"Why, you must not do it; you are not able," said Mag. But Carrie was +determined; and, wrapping herself in her thick shawl, she slowly +descended the stay though the cold air in the long hall made her +shiver. + +"Carrie, dear, you are better this morning, and there is quite a rosy +flush on your cheek," said Mrs. Hamilton, rising to meet her. _(Mr._ +Hamilton, be it remembered, was present.) But Carrie shrank +instinctively from her stepmother's advances, and took her seat by the +side of her father. After breakfast Mag remembered that she had an +errand in the village, and Carrie, who felt too weary to return +immediately to her room, said she would wait below until her sister +returned. Mag had been gone but a few moments when Mrs. Hamilton, +opening the outer door, called to Lenora, saying, "Come and take a few +turns on the piazza with Carrie. The air is bracing this morning, and +will do her good." + +Willie, who was present, cried out, "No--Carrie is sick; she can't +walk--Maggie said she couldn't," and he grasped his sister's hand to +hold her. With a not very gentle jerk Mrs. Hamilton pulled him off, +while Lenora, who came bobbing and bounding into the room, took +Carrie's arm, saying. + +"Oh, yes, I'll walk with you; shall we have a hop, skip, or jump?" + +"Don't, don't!" said Carrie, holding back; "I can't walk fast, +Lenora," and actuated by some sudden impulse of kindness, Lenora +conformed her steps to those of the invalid. Twice they walked up and +down the piazza, and were about turning for the third time, when +Carrie, clasping her hand over her side, exclaimed, "No, no; I can't +go again." + +Little Willie, who fancied that his sister was being hurt, sprang +toward Lenora, saying, "Leno, you mustn't hurt Carrie. Let her go; +she's sick." + +And now to the scene of action came Dame Hamilton, and seizing her +young stepson, she tore him away from Lenora, administering at the +same time a bit of a motherly shake. Willie's blood was up, and in +return he dealt her a blow, for which she rewarded him by another +shake, and by tying him to the table. + +That Lenora was not all bad was shown by the unselfish affection she +ever manifested for Willie, although her untimely interference between +him and her mother oftentimes made matters worse. Thus, on the +occasion of which we have been speaking, Mrs. Hamilton had scarcely +left the room ere Lenora released Willie from his confinement, thereby +giving him the impression that his mother alone was to blame. +Fortunately, however, Margaret's judgment was better, and though she +felt justly indignant at the cruelty practised upon poor Carrie, she +could not uphold Willie in striking his mother. Calling him to her +room, she talked to him until he was wholly softened, and offered, of +his own accord, to go and say he was sorry, provided Maggie would +accompany him as far as the door of the sitting-room, where his mother +would probably be found. Accordingly, Mag descended the stairs with +him, and meeting Lenora in the hall, said, "Is she in the +sitting-room?" + +"Is _she_ in the sitting-room?" repeated Lenora; "and pray who may +_she_ be?" then quick as thought she added, "Oh, yes, I know. She is +in there telling HE!" + +Lenora was right in her conjecture, for Mrs. Hamilton, greatly enraged +at Willie's presumption in striking her, and still more provoked at +him for untying himself, as she supposed he had, was laying before her +husband quite an aggravated case of assault and battery. + +In the midst of her argument Willie entered the room, with +tear-stained eyes, and without noticing the presence of his father, +went directly to his mother, and burying his face in her lap, sobbed +out, "Willie is sorry he struck you, and will never do so again, if +you will forgive him." + +In a much gentler tone than she would have assumed had not her husband +been present, Mrs. Hamilton replied, "I can forgive you for striking +me, Willie, but what have you to say about untying yourself?" + +"I didn't do it," said Willie; "Leno did that." + +"Be careful what you say," returned Mrs. Hamilton. "I can't believe +Lenora would do so." + +Ere Willie had time to repeat his assertion Lenora, who all the time +had been standing by the door, appeared, saying, "You may believe him, +for he has never been whipped to make him lie. I did do it, and I +would do it again." + +"Lenora," said Mr. Hamilton, rather sternly, "you should not interfere +in that manner. You will spoil the child." + +It was the first time he had presumed to reprove his stepdaughter, and +as there was nothing on earth which Mrs. Hamilton so much feared as +Lenora's tongue, she dreaded the disclosures which further remark from +her husband might call forth. So, assuming an air of great distress, +she said, "Leave her to me, my dear. She is a strange girl, as I +always told you, and no one can manage her as well as myself." Then +kissing Willie in token of forgiveness, she left the room, drawing +Lenora after her and whispering fiercely in her ear, "How can you ever +expect to succeed with the son, if you show off this way before the +father." + +With a mocking laugh Lenora replied, "Pshaw! I gave that up the first +time I ever saw him, for of course he thinks me a second edition of +Mrs. Carter, minus any improvements. But he's mistaken; I'm not half +as bad as I seem. I'm only what you've made me." + +Mrs. Hamilton turned away, thinking that if her daughter could so +easily give up Walter Hamilton, _she_ would not. She was resolved upon +an alliance between him and Lenora. And who ever knew _her_ to fail in +what she undertook? + +She had wrung from her husband the confession that "he believed there +was a sort of childish affection between Walter and Kate Kirby, though +'twas doubtful whether it ever amounted to anything." She had also +learned that he was rather averse to the match, and though Lenora had +not yet been named as a substitute for Kate, she strove in many ways +to impress her husband with a sense of her daughter's superior +abilities, at the same time taking pains to mortify Margaret by +setting Lenora above her. + +For this, however, Margaret cared but little, and it was only when +her mother ill-treated Willie, which she frequently did, that her +spirit was fully roused. + +At Mrs. Hamilton's first marriage she had been presented with a +handsome glass pitcher, which she of course greatly prized. One day it +stood upon the stand in her room, where Willie was also playing with +some spools which Lenora had found and arranged for him. Malta, the +pet kitten, was amusing herself by running after the spools, and when +at last Willie, becoming tired, laid them on the stand, she sprang +toward them, upsetting the pitcher, which was broken in a dozen +pieces. On hearing the crash Mrs. Hamilton hastened toward the room, +where the sight of her favorite pitcher in fragments greatly enraged +her. Thinking, of course, that Willie had done it, she rudely seized +him by the arm, administered a cuff or so, and then dragged him toward +the china closet. + +As soon as Willie could regain his breath he screamed, "Oh ma, don't +shut me up; I'll be good; I didn't do it, certain true; kittie knocked +it off." + +"None of your lies," said Mrs. Hamilton. "It's likely kittie knocked +it off!" + +Lenora, who had seen the whole, and knew that what Willie said was +true, was about coming to the rescue, when looking up, she saw +Margaret, with dilated nostrils and eyes flashing fire watching the +proceedings of her stepmother. + +"He's safe," thought Lenora; "I'll let Mag fire the first gun, and +then I'll bring up the rear." + +Margaret had never known Willie to tell a lie, and had no reason for +thinking he had done so in this instance. Besides, the blows her +mother gave him exasperated her, and she stepped forward just as Mrs. +Hamilton was about pushing him into the closet. So engrossed was that +lady that she heard not Margaret's approach until a firm hand was laid +upon her shoulder while Willie was violently wrested from her grasp, +and ere she could recover from her astonishment she herself was +pushed into the closet, the door of which was closed and locked +against her. + +"Bravo, Margaret Hamilton," cried Lenora, "I'm with you now, if I +never was before. It serves her right, for Willie told the truth. I +was sitting by and saw it all. Keep her in there an hour, will you? It +will pay her for the many times she has shut me up for nothing." + +Mrs. Hamilton stamped and pushed against the door, while Lenora danced +and sang at the top of her voice: + + "My dear precious mother got wrathy one day + And seized little Will by the hair; + But when in the closet she'd stow him away, + She herself was pushed headlong in there." + +At length the bolt, yielding to the continued pressure of Mrs. +Hamilton's body, broke, and out came the termagant, foaming with rage. +She dared not molest Margaret, of whose physical powers she had just +received such mortifying proof, so she aimed a box at the ears of +Lenora. But the lithe little thing dodged it, and with one bound +cleared the table which sat in the center of the room, landing safely +on the other side; and then, shaking her short, black curls at her +mother, she said, "You didn't come it, that time, my darling." + +Mr. Hamilton, who chanced to be absent for a few days, was, on his +return, regaled with an exaggerated account of the proceeding, his +wife ending her discourse by saying: "If you don't do something with +your upstart daughter I'll leave the house; yes, I will." + +Mr. Hamilton was cowardly. He was afraid of his wife, and he was +afraid of Mag. So he tried to compromise the matter by promising the +one that he surely would see to it, and by asking the other if she +were not ashamed. But old Polly didn't let the matter pass so easily. +She was greatly shocked at having "such shameful carryin's on in a +decent man's house." + +"'Clare for't," said she, "I'll give marster a piece of Polly Pepper's +mind the fust time I get a lick at him." + +In the course of a few days Mr. Hamilton had occasion to go for +something into Aunt Polly's dominions. The old lady was ready for him. +"Mr. Hampleton," said she, "I've been waitin' to see you this long +spell." + +"To see me, Polly?" said he; "what do you want?" + +"What I wants is this," answered Polly, dropping into a chair. "I want +to know what this house is a comin' to, with such bedivilment in it as +there's been since madam came here with that little black-headed, +ugly-favored, ill-begotten, Satan-possessed, shoulder-unj'inted young +one of her'n. It's been nothin' but a rowdadow the whole time, and you +hain't grit enough to stop it. Madam boxes Willie, and undertakes to +shet him up for a lie he never told; Miss Margaret interferes jest as +she or'to, takes Willie away, and shets up madam; while that +ill-marnered Lenora jumps and screeches loud enough to wake the dead. +Madam busts the door down, and pitches into the varmint, who jumps +spang over a four-foot table, which Lord knows _I_ never could have +done in my spryest days." + +"But how can I help all this?" asked Mr. Hamilton. + +"Help it?" returned Polly. "You needn't have got into the fire in the +fust place. I hain't lived fifty-odd year for nothin', and though I +hain't no larnin', I know too much to heave myself away on the fust +nussin' woman that comes along." + +"Stop, Polly; you must not speak so of Mrs. Hamilton," said Mr. +Hamilton; while Polly continued: + +"And I wouldn't nuther, if she could hold a candle to the t'other one; +but she can't. You'd no business to marry a second time, even if you +didn't marry a nuss; neither has any man who's got grow'd-up gals, and +a faithful critter like Polly in the kitchen. Stepmothers don't often +do well, particularly them as is sot up by marryin'." + +Here Mr. Hamilton, who did not like to hear so much truth, left the +kitchen, while Aunt Polly said to herself, "I've gin it to him good, +this time." + +Lenora, who always happened to be near when she was talked about, had +overheard the whole, and repeated it to her mother. Accordingly, that +very afternoon word came to the kitchen that Mrs. Hamilton wished to +see Polly. + +"Reckon she'll find this child ain't afeared on her," said Polly, as +she wiped the flour from her face and repaired to Mrs. Hamilton's +room. + +"Polly," began that lady, with a very grave face, "Lenora tells me +that you have been talking very disrespectfully to Mr. Hamilton." + +"In the name of the Lord, can't he fight his own battles?" interrupted +Polly. "I only tried to show him that he was henpecked--and he is." + +"It isn't of him alone I would speak," resumed Mrs. Hamilton, with +stately gravity; "you spoke insultingly of me, and as I make it a +practise never to keep a servant after they get insolent, I have----" + +"For the dear Lord's sake," again interrupted Polly, "I 'spect we's +the fust servants you ever had." + +"Good!" said a voice from some quarter, and Mrs. Hamilton continued: +"I have sent for you to give you twenty-four hours' warning to leave +this house." + +"I shan't budge an inch until marster says so," said Polly. "Wonder +who's the best title deed here? Warn't I here long afore you come a +nussin' t'other one?" + +And Polly went back to the kitchen, secretly fearing that Mr. +Hamilton, who she knew was wholly ruled by his wife, would say that +she must go. And he did say so, though much against his will. Lenora +ran with the decision, to Aunt Polly, causing her to drop a loaf of +new bread. But the old negress chased her from the cellar with the +oven broom, and then stealing by a back staircase to Margaret's room, +laid the case before her, acknowledging that she was sorry and asking +her young mistress to intercede for her. Margaret stepped to the head +of the stairs, and calling to her father, requested him to come for a +moment to her room. This he was more ready to do, as he had no +suspicion why he was sent for, but on seeing old Polly, he +half-resolved to turn back. Margaret, however, led him into the room, +and then entreated him not to send away one who had served him so long +and so faithfully. + +Polly, too, joined in with her tears and prayers, saying, "She was an +old black fool anyway, and let her tongue get the better on her, +though she didn't mean to say more than was true, and reckoned she +hadn't." + +In his heart Mr. Hamilton wished to revoke what he had said, but dread +of the explosive storm which he knew would surely follow made him +irresolute, until Carrie said, "Father, the first person of whom I +have any definite recollection is Aunt Polly, and I shall be so +lonesome if she goes away. For my sake let her stay, at least until I +am dead." + +This decided the matter. "She _shall_ stay," said Mr. Hamilton, and +Aunt Polly, highly elated, returned to the kitchen with the news. +Lenora, who seemed to be everywhere at once, overheard it, and, bent +on mischief, ran with it to her mother. In the meantime Mr. Hamilton +wished, yet dreaded, to go down, and finally, mentally cursing himself +for his weakness, asked Margaret to accompany him. She was about to +comply with his request, when Mrs. Hamilton came up the stairs, +furious at her husband, whom she called "a craven coward, led by the +nose by all who chose to lead him." Wishing to shut out her noise, Mag +closed and bolted the door, and in the hall the modern Xantippe +extended her wrath against her husband and his offspring, while poor +Mr. Hamilton laid his face in Carrie's lap and wept. Margaret was +trying to devise some means by which to rid herself of her stepmother, +when Lenora was heard to exclaim: + +"Shall I pitch her over the stairs, Mag? I will if you say so." + +Immediately Mrs. Hamilton's anger took another channel, and turning +upon her daughter, she said, "What are you here for, you prating +parrot? Didn't you tell me what Aunt Polly said, and haven't you acted +in the capacity of reporter ever since?" + +"To be sure I did," said Lenora, poising herself on one foot, and +whirling around in circles; "but if you thought I did it because I +blamed Aunt Polly, you are mistaken." + +"What did you do it for, then?" said Mrs. Hamilton; and Lenora, giving +the finishing touch to her circles by dropping upon the floor, +answered, "I like to live in a hurricane--so I told you what I did. +Now, if you think it will add at all to the excitement of the present +occasion, I'll get an ax for you to split the door down." + +"Oh, don't, Lenora," screamed Carrie, from within, to which Lenora +responded: + +"Poor little simple chick bird, I wouldn't harm a hair of your soft +head for anything. But there is a _man_ in there, or one who passes +for a man, that I think would look far more respectable if he'd come +out and face the tornado. She's easy to manage when you know how. At +least Mag and I find her so." + +Here Mr. Hamilton ashamed of himself and emboldened, perhaps, by +Lenora's words, slipped back the bolt of the door, and walking out, +confronted his wife. + +"Shall I order pistols and coffee for two?" asked Lenora, swinging +herself entirely over the bannister, and dropping like a squirrel on +the stair below. + +"Is Polly going to stay in this house?" asked Mrs. Hamilton. + +"She is," was the reply. + +"Then I leave to-night," said Mrs. Hamilton. + +"Very well, you can go," returned the husband, growing stronger in +himself each moment. + +Mrs. Hamilton turned away to her own room, where she remained until +supper time, when Lenora asked "If she had got her chest packed, and +where they should direct their letters!" Neither Margaret nor her +father could refrain from laughter. + +Mrs. Hamilton, too, who had no notion of leaving the comfortable +Homestead, and who thought this as good a time to veer round as any +she would have, also joined in the laugh, saying, "What a child you +are, Lenora!" + +Gradually the state of affairs at the homestead was noised throughout +the village, and numerous were the little tea parties where none dared +speak above a whisper to tell what they had heard, and where each and +every one were bound to the most profound secrecy, for fear the +reports might not be true. At length, however, the story of the china +closet got out, causing Sally Martin to spend one whole day in +retailing the gossip from door to door. Many, too, suddenly remembered +certain suspicious things which they had seen in Mrs. Hamilton, who +was unanimously voted to be a bad woman, and who, of course, began to +be slighted. + +The result of this was to increase the sourness of her disposition; +and life at the Homestead would have been one continuous scene of +turmoil had not Margaret wisely concluded to treat whatever her +stepmother did with silent contempt. Lenora, too, always seemed ready +to fill up all vacant niches, until even Mag acknowledged that the +mother would be unendurable without the daughter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +LENORA AND CARRIE. + + +Ever since the day on which Lenora had startled Carrie by informing +her of her danger, she had been carefully kept from the room, or +allowed only to enter it when Margaret was present. One afternoon, +however, early in February, Mag had occasion to go to the village. +Lenora, who saw her depart, hastily gathered up her work, and repaired +to Carrie's room, saying, as she entered it, "Now, Carrie, we'll have +a good time; Mag has gone to see old deaf Peggy, who asks a thousand +questions, and will keep her at least two hours, and I am going to +entertain you to the best of my ability." + +Carrie's cheek flushed, for she felt some misgivings with regard to +the nature of Lenora's entertainment; but she knew there was no help +for it, so she tried to smile, and said, "I am willing you should +stay, Lenora, but you mustn't talk bad things to me, for I can't bear +it." + +"Bad things!" repeated Lenora; "who ever heard me talk bad things! +What do you mean?" + +"I mean," said Carrie, "that you must not talk about your mother as +you sometimes do. It is wicked." + +"Why, you dear little thing," answered Lenora, "don't you know that +what would be wicked for you isn't wicked for me?" + +"No, I do not know so," answered Carrie; "but I know I wouldn't talk +about my mother as you do about yours for anything." + +"Bless your heart," said Lenora, "haven't you sense enough to see that +there is a great difference between Mrs. Hamilton first, and Mrs. +Hamilton second? Now, I'm not naturally bad, and if I had been the +daughter of Mrs. Hamilton first instead of Widow Carter's young one, +why, I should have been as good as you--no, not as good as _you_, for +you don't know enough to be bad--but as good as Mag, who, in my +opinion, has the right kind of goodness, for all I used to hate her +so." + +"Hate Margaret!" said Carrie, opening her eyes to their utmost extent. +"What did you hate Margaret for?" + +"Because I didn't know her, I suppose," returned Lenora; "for now I +like her well enough--not quite as well as I do you, perhaps; and yet, +when I see you bear mother's abuse so meekly, I positively hate you +for a minute, and ache to box your ears; but when Mag squares up to +her, shuts her in the china closet, and all that, I want to put my +arms right round neck." + +"Why, don't you like your mother?" asked Carrie, and Lenora replied: + +"Of course I do; but I know what she is and I know she isn't what she +sometimes seems. Why, she'd be anything to suit the circumstances. She +wanted your father, and she assumed the character most likely to +secure him; for, between you and me, he isn't very smart." + +"What did she marry him for, then?" asked Carrie. + +"Marry _him_! I hope you don't for a moment suppose she married +_him_!" + +"Why, Lenora, _ain't they married?_ I thought they were. Oh, +dreadful!" and Carrie started to her feet, while the perspiration +stood thickly on her forehead. + +Lenora screamed with delight, saying, "You certainly have the softest +brain I ever saw. Of course the minister went through with the +ceremony; but it was not your father that mother wanted; it was his +house--his money--his horses--his servants, and his name. Now, maybe +in your simplicity you have thought that mother came here out of +kindness to the motherless children; but I tell you she would be +better satisfied if neither of you had ever been born. I suppose it is +wicked in me to say so, but I think she makes me worse than I would +otherwise be; for I am not naturally so bad, and I like people much +better than I pretend to. Anyway, I like you, and _love_ little +Willie, and always have, since the first time I saw him. Your mother +lay in her coffin, and Willie stood by her, caressing her cold cheek, +and saying, 'Wake up, mamma, it's Willie; don't you know Willie? I +took him in my arms, and vowed to love and shield him from the coming +evil; for I knew then, as well as I do now, that what has happened +would happen. Mag wasn't there; she didn't see me. If she had, she +might have liked me better; now she thinks there is no good in me; and +if, when you die, I should feel like shedding tears, and perhaps I +shall, it would be just like her to wonder 'what business _I_ had to +cry--it was none of my funeral!'" + +"You do wrong to talk so, Lenora," said Carrie; "but tell me, did you +never have any one to love except Willie?" + +"Yes," said Lenora; "when I was a child, a little, innocent child, I +had a grandmother--my father's mother--who taught me to pray, and told +me of God." + +"Where is she now?" asked Carrie. + +"In heaven," was the answer. "I know she is there, because when she +died there was the same look on her face that there was on your +mother's--the same that there will be on yours, when you are dead." + +"Never mind," gasped Carrie, who did not care to be so frequently +reminded of her mortality, while Lenora continued: + +"Perhaps you don't know that my father was, as mother says, a bad man; +though I always loved him dearly, and cried when he went away. We +lived with grandmother, and sometimes now, in my dreams, I am a child +again, kneeling by grandma's side, in our dear old eastern home, where +the sunshine fell so warmly, where the summer birds sang in the old +maple trees, and where the long shadows, which I called spirits, came +and went over the bright green meadows. But there was a sadder day; a +narrow coffin, a black hearse, and a tolling bell, which always wakes +me from my sleep, and I find the dream all gone, and nothing left of +the little child but the wicked Lenora Carter." + +Here the dark girl buried her face in her hands and wept, while Carrie +gently smoothed her tangled curls. After a while, as if ashamed of her +emotion, Lenora dried her tears, and Carrie said, "Tell me more of +your early life. I like you when you act as you do now." + +"There is nothing more to tell but wickedness," answered Lenora. +"Grandma died, and I had no one to teach me what was right. About a +year after her death mother wanted to get a divorce from father; and +one day she told me that a lawyer was coming to inquire about my +father's treatment of her. 'Perhaps,' said she, 'he will ask if you +ever saw him strike me, and you must say that you have a great many +times. 'But never did,' said I; and then she insisted upon my telling +that falsehood, and I refused, until she whipped me, and made me +promise to say whatever she wished me to. In this way I was trained to +be what I am. Nobody loves me; nobody ever can love me; and sometimes +when Mag speaks so kindly to you, and looks so affectionately upon +you, I think, what would I not give for some one to love me; and then +I go away to cry, and wish I had never been born." + +Here Mrs. Hamilton called to her daughter, and gathering up her work, +Lenora left the room just as Margaret entered it, on her return from +the village. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DARKNESS. + + +As the spring opened and the days grew warmer Carrie's health seemed +much improved; and, though she did not leave her room, she was able to +sit up nearly all day, busying herself with some light work. Ever +hopeful, Margaret hugged to her bosom the delusion which whispered, +"She will not die," while even the physician was deceived, and spoke +encouragingly of her recovery. + +For several months Margaret had thought of visiting her grandmother, +who lived in Albany; and as Mr. Hamilton had occasion to visit that +city, Carrie urged her to accompany him saying, she was perfectly able +to be left alone, and she wished her sister would go, for the trip +would do her good. + +For some time past Mrs. Hamilton had seemed exceedingly amiable and +affectionate, although her husband appeared greatly depressed, and +acted, as Lenora said, "Just as though he had been stealing sheep." + +This depression Mag had tried in vain to fathom, and at last, +fancying that a change of place and scene might do him good, she +consented to accompany him, on condition that Kate Kirby would stay +with Carrie. At mention of Kate's name Mr. Hamilton's eyes instantly +went over to his wife, whose face wore the same stony expression as +she answered, "Yes, Maggie, can come." + +Accordingly, on the morning when the travelers would start, Kate came +up to the homestead, receiving a thousand and one directions about +what to do and when to do it, hearing not more than half the +injunctions, and promising to comply with every one. Long before the +door the carriage waited, while Margaret, lingering in Carrie's room, +kissed again and again her sister's pure brow, and gazed into her deep +blue eyes, as if she knew that it was the last time. Even when half +way down the stairs she turned back again to say good-by, this time +whispering, "I have half a mind not to go, for something tells me I +shall never see you again." + +"Oh, Mag," said Carrie, "don't be superstitious. I am a great deal +better, and when you come home you will find me in the parlor." + +In the lower hall Mr. Hamilton caressed his little Willie, who begged +that he, too, might go. "Don't leave, me, Maggie, don't," said he, as +Mag came up to say good-by. + +Long years after the golden curls which Mag pushed back from Willie's +forehead were covered by the dark moist earth, did she remember her +baby-brother's childish farewell, and oft in bitterness of heart she +asked, "Why did I go--why leave my loved ones to die alone?" + +Just a week after Mag's departure news was received at the homestead +that Walter was coming to Glenwood for a day or two, and on the +afternoon of the same day Kate had occasion to go home. As she was +leaving the house Mrs. Hamilton detained her, while she said, "Miss +Kirby, we are all greatly obliged to you for your kindness in staying +with Carrie, although your services really are not needed. I +understand how matters stand between you and Walter, and as he is to +be here to-morrow; you of course will feel some delicacy about +remaining, consequently I release you from all obligations to do so." + +Of course there was no demurring to this. Kate's pride was touched; +and though Carrie wept, and begged her not to go, she yielded only so +far as to stay until the next morning, when, with a promise to call +frequently, she left. Lonely and long seemed the hours to poor Carrie; +for though Walter came, he stayed but two days, and spent a part of +that time at the mill-pond cottage. + +The evening after he went away, as Carrie lay, half-dozing, thinking +of Mag, and counting the weary days which must pass ere her return, +she was startled by the sound of Lenora's voice in the room opposite, +the door of which was ajar. Lenora had been absent a few days, and +Carrie was about calling to her, when some words spoken by her +stepmother arrested her attention, and roused her curiosity. They +were, "You think too little of yourself, Lenora. Now, I know there is +nothing in the way of your winning Walter, if you choose." + +"I should say there was everything in the way," answered Lenora. "In +the first place, there is Kate Kirby, and who, after seeing her +handsome face, would ever look at such a black, turned-up nose, +bristle-headed thing as I am? But I perceive there is some weighty +secret on your mind, so what is it? Have Walter and Kate quarreled, or +have you told him some falsehood about her?" + +"Neither," said Mrs. Hamilton. "What I have to say concerns your +father." + +"My father!" interrupted Lenora; "my own father! Oh, is he living?" + +"No, I hope not," was the answer; "it is Mr. Hamilton whom I mean." + +Instantly Lenora's tone changed, and she replied, "If you please you +need not call that putty-headed man _my_ father. He acts too much like +a whipped spaniel to suit me, and I really think Carrie ought to be +respected for knowing what little she does, while I wonder where +Walter, Mag, and Willie got their good sense. But what is it? What +have you made Mr. Hamilton do?--something ridiculous, of course." + +"I've made him make his will," was the answer; while Lenora continued: + +"Well, what then? What good will that do me?" + +"It may do you a great deal of good," said Mrs. Hamilton; "that is, if +Walter likes the homestead as I think he does. But I tell you, it was +hard work, and I didn't know, one while, but I should have to give it +up. However, I succeeded, and he has willed the homestead to Walter, +provided he marries you. If not, Walter has nothing, and the homestead +comes to _me_ and my heirs forever!" + +"Heartless old fool!" exclaimed Lenora, while Carrie, too, groaned in +sympathy. "And do you suppose he intends to let it go so! Of course +not; he'll make another when you don't know it" + +"I'll watch him too closely for that," said Mrs. Hamilton and after a +moment Lenora asked: + +"What made you so anxious for a will? Have you received warning of his +sudden demise?" + +"How foolish!" said Mrs. Hamilton. "Isn't it the easiest thing in the +world for me to let Walter know what's in the will, and I fancy +that'll bring him to terms, for he likes money, no mistake about +that." + +"Mr. Hamilton is a bigger fool, and you a worse woman, than I +supposed," said Lenora. "Do you think I am mean enough to marry Walter +under such circumstances? Indeed, I'm not. But how is Carrie? I must +go and see her." + +She was about leaving the room, when she turned back, saying in a +whisper, "Mother, mother, her door is wide open, as well as this one, +and she must have heard every word!" + +"Oh, horror!" exclaimed Mrs. Hamilton; "go in and ascertain the fact, +if possible." + +It took but one glance to convince Lenora that Carrie was in +possession of the secret. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wet with +tears; and when Lenora stooped to kiss her, she said. "I know it all, +I heard it all." + +"Then I hope you feel better," said Mrs. Hamilton, coming forward. +"Listeners never hear any good of themselves." + +"Particularly if it's Widow Carter who is listened to," suggested +Lenora. + +Mrs. Hamilton did not reply to this, but continued speaking to Carrie. +"If you have heard anything new you can keep it to yourself. No one +has interfered with you, or intends to. Your father has a right to do +what he chooses with his own, and I shall see that he exercises that +right, too." + +So saying she left the room, while Carrie, again bursting into tears, +wept until perfectly exhausted. The next morning she was attacked with +bleeding at the lungs, which in a short time reduced her so low that +the physician spoke doubtfully of her recovery, should the hemorrhage +again return. In the course of two or three days she was again +attacked; and now, when there was no longer hope of life, her thoughts +turned with earnest longings toward her absent father and sister, and +once, as the physician was preparing to leave her, she said, "Doctor, +tell me truly, can I live twenty-four hours?" + +"I think you may," was the answer. + +"Then I shall see them, for if you telegraph to-night they can come in +the morning train. Go yourself and have it done, will you?" + +The physician promised that he would, and then left the room. In the +hall he met Mrs. Hamilton, who with the utmost anxiety depicted upon +her countenance, said, "Dear Carrie is leaving us, isn't she? I have +telegraphed for her father, who will be here in the morning. 'Twas +right to do so, was it not?" + +"Quite right," answered the physician. "I promised to see to it +myself, and was just going to do so." + +"Poor child," returned Mrs. Hamilton, "she feels anxious, I suppose. +But I have saved you the trouble." + +The reader will not, perhaps, be greatly surprised to learn that what +Mrs. Hamilton had said was false. She suspected that one reason why +Carrie so greatly desired to see her father was to tell him what she +had heard, and beg of him to undo what he had done; and as she feared +the effect which the sight and words of his dying child might have +upon him, she resolved, if possible, to keep him away until Carrie's +voice was hushed in death. Overhearing what had been said by the +doctor, she resorted to the stratagem of which we have just spoken. +The next morning, however, she ordered a telegram to be despatched, +knowing full well that her husband could not reach home until the day +following. + +Meantime, as the hour for the morning train drew near, Carrie, resting +upon pillows, and whiter than the linen which covered them, strained +her ears to catch the first sound of the locomotive. At last, far off +through an opening among the hills, was heard a rumbling noise, which +increased each moment in loudness, until the puffing engine shot out +into the long, green valley, and then rolled rapidly up to the depot. + +Little Willie had seemed unwell for a few days, but since his sister's +illness he had stayed by her almost constantly, gazing half-curiously, +half-timidly into her face, and asking if she was going to the home +where his mamma lived. She had told him that Margaret was coming, and +when the shrill whistle of the eastern train sounded through the room +he ran to the window, whither Lenora had preceded him, and there +together they watched for the coming of the omnibus. A sinister smile +curled the lips of Mrs. Hamilton who was present, and who, of course, +affected to feel interested. + +At last Willie, clapping his hands, exclaimed, "There 'tis! They're +coming. That's Maggie's big trunk!" Then, noticing the glow which his +announcement called up to Carrie's cheek, he said, "She'll make you +well, Carrie, Maggie will. Oh, I'm so glad, and so is Leno." + +Nearer and nearer came the omnibus, brighter and deeper grew the flush +on Carrie's face, while little Willie danced up and down with joy. + +"It isn't coming here," said Mrs. Hamilton; "it has gone by," and +Carrie's feverish heat was succeeded by an icy chill. + +"Haven't they come, Lenora?" she said. + +Lenora shook her head, and Willie, running to his sister, wound his +arms around her neck, and for several minutes the two lone, motherless +children wept. + +"If Maggie knew how my head ached she'd come," said Willie; but Carrie +thought not of _her_ aching head, nor of the faintness of death which +was fast coming on. One idea alone engrossed her. Her brother--how +would he be saved from the threatened evil, and her father's name from +dishonor? + +At last Mrs. Hamilton left the room, and Carrie, speaking to Lenora +and one of the villagers who was present, asked if they, too, would +not leave her alone for a time with Willie. They complied with her +request, and then asking her brother to bring her pencil and paper, +she hurriedly wrote a few lines to her father telling him of what she +had heard, and entreating him, for her sake, and the sake of the +mother with whom she would be when those words met his eye, not to do +Walter so great a wrong. "I shall give this to Willie's care," she +wrote, in conclusion, "and he will keep it carefully until you come. +And now, I bid you a long farewell, my precious father--my noble +Mag--my darling Walter." + +The note was finished, and calling Willie to her, she said, "I am +going to die. When Maggie returns I shall be dead and still, like our +own dear mother." + +"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," sobbed the child, "don't leave me till Maggie +comes." + +There was a footstep on the stairs, and Carrie, without replying to +her brother, said quickly, "Take this paper, Willie, and give it to +father when he comes; let no one see it--Lenora, mother, nor any one." + +Willie promised compliance, and had but just time to conceal the note +in his bosom ere Mrs. Hamilton entered the room, accompanied by the +physician, to whom she loudly expressed her regrets that her husband +had not come, saying that she had that morning telegraphed again, +although he could not now reach home until the morrow. + +"To-morrow I shall never see," said Carrie, faintly. And she spoke +truly, too, for even then death was freezing her life-blood with the +touch of his icy hand. To the last she seemed conscious of the tiny +arms which so fondly encircled her neck; and when the soul had drifted +far out on the dark channel of death the childish words of "Carrie, +Carrie, speak once more," roused her, and folding her brother more +closely to her bosom, she murmured, "Willie, darling Willie, our +mother is waiting for us both." + +Mrs. Hamilton, who stood near, now bent down, and laying her hand on +the pale, damp brow said gently, "Carrie, dear, have you no word of +love for this mother?" + +There was a visible shudder, an attempt to speak, a low moan, in which +the word "Walter" seemed struggling to be spoken; and then death, as +if impatient of delay, bore away the spirit, leaving only the form +which in life had been most beautiful. Softly Lenora closed over the +blue eyes the long, fringed lids, and pushed back from the forehead +the sunny tresses which clustered so thickly around it; then, kissing +the white lips and leaving on the face of the dead traces of her +tears, she led Willie from the room, soothing him in her arms until +he fell asleep. + +Elsewhere we have said that for a few days Willie had not seemed well; +but so absorbed were all in Carrie's more alarming symptoms that no +one had heeded him, although his cheeks were flushed with fever, and +his head was throbbing with pain. He was in the habit of sleeping in +his parents' room, and that night his loud breathings and uneasy +turnings disturbed and annoyed his mother, who at last called out in +harsh tones, "Willie, Willie, for mercy's sake stop that horrid noise! +I shall never get asleep this way. I know there's no need of breathing +like that!" + +"It chokes me so," sobbed little Willie, "but I'll try." + +Then pressing his hands tightly over his mouth, he tried the +experiment of holding his breath as long as possible. Hearing no sound +from his mother, he thought her asleep, but not venturing to breathe +naturally until assured of the fact, he whispered, "Ma, ma, are you +asleep?" + +"Asleep! no--and never shall be, as I see. What do you want?" + +"Oh, I want to breathe," said Willie. + +"Well, breathe then; who hinders you?" was the reply; and ere the +offensive sound again greeted her ear, Mrs. Hamilton was too far gone +in slumber to be disturbed. + +For two hours Willie lay awake, tossing from side to side, scorched +with fever and longing for water to quench his burning thirst. By this +time Mrs. Hamilton was again awake; but to his earnest entreaties for +water--"Just one little drop of water, ma"--she answered: + +"William Hamilton, if you don't be still I'll move your crib into the +room where Carrie is, and leave you there alone!" + +Unlike many children, Willie had no fears of the cold white figure +which lay so still and motionless upon the parlor sofa. To him it was +Carrie, his sister; and many times that day had he stolen in alone, +and laying back the thin muslin which shaded her face, he had looked +long upon her--had laid his hand on her icy cheek, wondering if she +knew how cold she was, and if the way which she had gone was so long +and dark that he could never find it. To him there was naught to fear +in that room of death, and to his mother's threat he answered eagerly, +"Oh, ma, give me some water, just a little bit of water, and you may +carry me in there, I ain't afraid and my breathing won't wake Carrie +up;" but before he had finished speaking his mother was again dozing. + +"Won't anybody bring me some water--Maggie, Carrie--Leno--nobody?" +murmured poor Willie, as he Wet his pillow with tears. + +At last he could bear it no longer. He knew where the water-bucket +stood, and stepping from his bed, he groped his way down the long +stairs to the basement. The spring moon was low in the western +horizon, and shining through the curtained window, dimly lighted up +the room. The pail was soon reached, and then in his eagerness to +drink, he put his lips to the side. Lower, lower, lower it came, until +he discovered, alas I that the pail was empty. + +"What shall I do? what shall I do?" said he, as he crouched upon the +cold hearthstone. + +A new idea entered his mind. The well stood near the outer door; and, +quickly pushing back the bolt, he went out, all flushed and feverish +as he was, into the chill night air. There was ice upon the curbstone, +but he did not mind it, although his little toes, as they trod upon +it, looked red by the pale moonlight. Quickly a cup of the coveted +water was drained; then, with careful forethought, he filled it again, +and taking it back to his room, crept shivering to bed. Nature was +exhausted, and whether he fainted or fell asleep is not known, for +never again to consciousness in this world awoke the little boy. + +The morning sunlight came softly in at the window, touching his +golden curls with a still more golden hue. Sadly over him Lenora bent, +saying, "Willie, Willie, wake up, Willie. Don't you know me?" + +Greatly Mrs. Hamilton marveled whence came the cup of water which +stood there, as if reproaching her for her cruelty. But the delirious +words of the dreamer soon told her all. "Maggie, Maggie," he said, +"rub my feet; they feel like Carrie's face. The curbstone was cold, +but the water was so good. Give me more, more; mother won't care, for +I got it myself, and tried not to breathe, so she could sleep--and +Carrie, too, is dead--dead." + +Lenora fiercely grasped her mother's arm, and said, "How could you +refuse him water, and sleep while he got it himself?" + +But Mrs. Hamilton needed not that her daughter should accuse her. +Willie had been her favorite, and the tears which she dropped upon his +pillow were genuine. The physician who was called pronounced his +disease to be scarlet fever, saying that its violence was greatly +increased by a severe cold which he had taken. + +"You have killed him, mother; you have killed him!" said Lenora. + +Twenty-four hours had passed since, with straining ear, Carrie had +listened for the morning train, and again down the valley floated the +smoke of the engine, and over the blue hills echoed the loud scream of +the locomotive; but no sound could awaken the fair young sleeper, +though Willie started, and throwing up his hands, one of which, the +right one, was firmly clinched, murmured, "Maggie, Maggie." + +Ten minutes more and Margaret was there, weeping in agony over the +inanimate form of her sister, and almost shrieking as she saw Willie's +wild eye, and heard his incoherent words. Terrible to Mr. Hamilton was +this coming home. Like one who walks in sleep, he went from room to +room, kissing the burning brow of one child, and then, while the hot +breath was yet warm upon his lips, pressing them to the cold face of +the other. + +All day Margaret sat by her dying brother, praying that he might be +spared until Walter came. Her prayer was answered; for at nightfall +Walter was with them. Half an hour after his return Willie died; but +ere his right hand dropped lifeless by his side he held it up to view, +saying: + +"Father--give it to nobody but father." + +After a moment Margaret, taking within hers the fast-stiffening hand, +gently unclosed the fingers, and found the crumpled piece of paper on +which Carrie had written to her father. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MARGARET AND HER FATHER. + + +'Twas midnight--midnight after the burial. In the library of the old +homestead sat its owner, his arms resting upon the table, and his face +reclining upon his arms. Sadly was he reviewing the dreary past, since +first among them death had been, bearing away his wife, the wife of +his first only love. Now, by her grave there was another, on which the +pale moonbeams and the chill night-dews were falling, but they could +not disturb the rest of the two who, side by side in the same coffin, +lay sleeping, and for whom the father's tears were falling fast, and +the father's heart was bleeding. + +"Desolate, desolate--all is desolate," said the stricken man. "Would +that I, too, were asleep with my lost ones!" + +There was a rustling sound near him, a footfall, and an arm was thrown +lovingly around his neck. Margaret's tears were on his cheek, and +Margaret's voice whispered in his ear, "Dear father, we must love each +other better now." + +Margaret had not retired, and on passing through the hall, had +discovered the light gleaming through the crevice of the library door. +Knowing that her father must be there, she had come in to comfort him. +Long the father and child wept together, and then Margaret, drying her +tears said: + +"It is right--all right; mother has two, and you have two, and though +the dead will never return to us, we, in God's good time, will return +to them." + +"Yes, soon, very soon, shall I go," said Mr. Hamilton. + +"I am weary, weary, Margaret; my life is one scene of bitterness. Oh, +why, why was I left to do it?" + +Margaret knew well to what he referred, but she made no answer; and +after he had become somewhat composed, thinking this a good +opportunity for broaching the subject which had so troubled Carrie's +dying moments, she drew from her bosom the soiled piece of paper, and +placing it in his hands, watched him while he read. The moan of +anguish which came from his lips as he finished made her repent of her +act, and, springing to his side, she exclaimed: + +"Forgive me, father; I ought not to have done it now. You have enough +to bear." + +"It is right, my child," said Mr. Hamilton; "for after the wound had +slightly healed I might have wavered. Not that I love Walter less; +but, fool that I am, I fear her who has made me the cowardly wretch +you see!" + +"Rouse yourself, then," answered Margaret. "Shake off her chain, and +be free." + +"I cannot, I cannot," said he. "But this I will do. I will make +another will. I always intended to do so, and Walter shall not be +wronged." Then rising, he hurriedly paced the room saying, "Walter +shall not be wronged, no, no--Walter shall not be wronged." + +After a time he resumed his former seat, and taking his daughter's +hand in his, he told her of all he had suffered, of the power which +his wife held over him, and which he was too weak to shake off. This +last he did not say, but Margaret knew it and it prevented her from +giving him other consolation than that of assuring him of her own +unchanged, undying love. + +The morning twilight was streaming through the closed shutters ere the +conference ended; and then Mr. Hamilton, kissing his daughter, +dismissed her from the room, but as she was leaving him he called her +back, saying: + +"Don't tell Walter; he would despise me; but he shan't be wronged--no, +he shan't be wronged." + +Six weeks from that night Margaret stood, with her brother, watching +her father as the light from his eyes went out, and the tones of his +voice ceased forever. Grief for the loss of his children, and remorse +for the blight which he had brought upon his household, had undermined +his constitution, never strong; and when a prevailing fever settled +upon him it found an easy prey. In ten days' time Margaret and Walter +alone were left of the happy band who, two years before, had gathered +around the fireside of the old homestead. + +Loudly Mrs. Hamilton deplored her loss, shutting herself up in her +room, and refusing to see any one, saying that she could not be +comforted, and it was of no use trying! Lenora, however, managed to +find an opportunity of whispering to her that it would hardly be +advisable to commit suicide, since she had got the homestead left, and +everything else for which she had married Mr. Hamilton. + +"Lenora, how can you thus trifle with my feelings? Don't you see that +my trouble is killing me?" said the greatly distressed lady. + +"I don't apprehend any such catastrophe as that," answered Lenora. +"You found the weeds of Widow Carter easy enough to wear, and those of +Widow Hamilton won't hurt you any worse, I imagine." + +"Lenora," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, "may you never know what it is to be +the unhappy mother of such a child!" + +"Amen!" was Lenora's fervent response, as she glided from the room. + +For three days the body of Mr. Hamilton lay upon the marble center +table in the darkened parlor. Up and down the long staircases, and +through the silent rooms, the servants moved noiselessly. Down in the +basement Aunt Polly forgot her wonted skill in cooking, and in a +broken rocking-chair swayed to and fro, brushing the big tears from +her dusky face, and lamenting the loss of one who seemed to her "just +like a brother, only a little nigher." + +In the chamber above, where six weeks before Carrie had died, sat +Margaret--not weeping; she could not do that--her grief was too great, +and the fountain of her tears seemed scorched and dried; but, with +white, compressed lips, and hands tightly clasped, she thought of the +past and of the cheerless future. Occasionally through the doorway +there came a small, dark figure; a pair of slender arms were thrown +around her neck, and a voice murmured in her ear: "Poor, poor Maggie." +The next moment the figure would be gone, and in the hall below Lenora +would be heard singing snatches of some song, either to provoke her +mother, or to make the astonished servants believe that she was really +heartless and hardened. + +What Walter suffered could not be expressed. Hour after hour, from the +sun's rising till its going down, he sat by his father's coffin, +unmindful of the many who came in to look at the dead, and then gazing +pitifully upon the face of the living, walked away, whispering +mysteriously of insanity. Near _him_ Lenora dared not come, though +through the open door she watched him, and oftentimes he met the +glance of her wild, black eyes, fixed upon him with a mournful +interest; then, as if moved by some spirit of evil, she would turn +away, and seeking her mother's room, would mock at that lady's grief, +advising her not to make too much of an effort. + +At last there came a change. In the yard there was the sound of many +feet, and in the house the hum of many voices, all low and subdued. +Again in the village of Glenwood was heard the sound of the tolling +bell; again through the garden and over the running water brook moved +the long procession to the graveyard; and soon Ernest Hamilton lay +quietly sleeping by the side of his wife and children. + +For some time after the funeral nothing was said concerning the will, +and Margaret had almost forgotten the existence of one, when one day +as she was passing the library door her mother appeared, and asked her +to enter. She did so, and found there her brother, whose face, besides +the marks of recent sorrow which it wore, now seemed anxious and +expectant. + +"Maggie dear," said the oily-tongued woman, "I have sent for you to +hear read your beloved father's last will and testament." + +A deep flush mounted to Margaret's face, as she repeated somewhat +inquiringly, "Father's last will and testament?" + +"Yes, dear," answered her mother, "his last will and testament. He +made it several weeks ago, even before poor Carrie died; and as Walter +is now the eldest and only son, I think it quite proper that he should +read it." + +So saying, she passed toward Walter a sealed package, which he +nervously opened, while Margaret, going to his side, looked over his +shoulder, as he read. + +It is impossible to describe the look of mingled surprise, anger, and +mortification which Mrs. Hamilton's face assumed, as she heard the +will which her husband had made four weeks before his death, and in +which Walter shared equally with his sister. Her first impulse was to +destroy it; and springing forward, she attempted to snatch it from +Walter's hand, but was prevented by Margaret, who caught her arm and +forcibly held her back. + +Angrily confronting her stepdaughter, Mrs. Hamilton demanded, "What +does this mean?" to which Mag replied: + +"It means, madam, that for once you are foiled. You coaxed my father +into making a will, the thought of which ought to make you blush. +Carrie overheard you telling Lenora, and when she found that she must +die she wrote it on a piece of paper, and consigned it to Willie's +care!" + +Several times Mrs. Hamilton essayed to speak, but the words died away +in her throat, until at last, summoning all her boldness, she said, in +a hoarse whisper, "But the homestead is mine--mine forever, and we'll +see how delightful I can make your home!" + +"I'll save you that trouble, madam," said Walter, rising and advancing +toward the door. "Neither my sister nor myself will remain beneath the +same roof which shelters you. To-morrow we leave, knowing well that +vengeance belongeth to One higher than we." + +All the remainder of that day Walter and Margaret spent in devising +some plan for the future, deciding at last that Margaret should on the +morrow go for a time to Mrs. Kirby's, while Walter returned to the +city. The next morning, however, Walter did not appear in the +breakfast parlor, and when Margaret, alarmed at his absence, repaired +to his room, she found him unable to rise. The fever with which his +father had died, and which, was still prevailing in the village, had +fastened upon him, and for many days was his life despaired of. The +ablest physicians were called, but few of them gave any hope to the +pale, weeping sister, who, with untiring love, kept her vigils by her +brother's bedside. + +When he was first taken ill he had manifested great uneasiness at his +stepmother's presence, and when at last he became delirious he no +longer concealed his feelings, and if she entered the room he would +shriek "Take her away from me! Take her away! Chain her in the +cellar--anywhere out of my sight." + +Again he would speak of Kate, and entreat that she might come to him. +"I have nothing left but her and Margaret," he would say; "and why +does she stay away?" + +Three different times had Margaret sent to her young friend, urging +her to come, and still she tarried, while Margaret marveled greatly +at the delay. She did not know that the girl whom she had told to go +had received different directions from Mrs. Hamilton, and that each +day beneath her mother's roof Kate Kirby wept and prayed that Walter +might not die. + +One night he seemed to be dying, and gathered in the room were many +sympathizing friends and neighbors. Without, 'twas pitchy dark. The +rain fell in torrents and the wind, which had increased in violence +since the setting of the sun, howled mournfully about the windows, as +if waiting to bear the soul company in its upward flight. Many times +had Walter attempted to speak. At last he succeeded, and the word +which fell from his lips was "Kate!" + +Lenora, who had that day accidentally learned of her mother's commands +with regard to Miss Kirby, now glided noiselessly from the room, and +in a moment was alone in the fearful storm, which she did not heed. +Lightly bounding over the swollen brook, she ran on until the +mill-pond cottage was reached. It was midnight, and its inmates were +asleep, but they awoke at the sound of Lenora's voice. + +"Walter is dying," said she to Kate, "and would see you once more. +Come quickly." + +Hastily dressing herself, Kate went forth with the strange girl, who +spoke not a word until Walter's room was reached. Feebly the sick man +wound his arms around Kate's neck, exclaiming, "My own, my beautiful +Kate, I knew you would come. I am better now--I shall live!" and as if +there was indeed something life-giving in her very presence and the +sound of her voice, Walter from that hour grew better: and in three +weeks' time he, together with Margaret, left his childhood's home, +once so dear, but now darkened by the presence of her who watched +their departure with joy, exulting in the thought that she was +mistress of all she surveyed. + +Walter, who was studying law in the city about twenty miles distant, +resolved to return thither immediately, and after some consultation +with his sister it was determined that both she and Kate should +accompany him. Accordingly, a few mornings after they left the +homestead, there was a quiet bridal at the mill-pond cottage; after +which Walter Hamilton bore away to his city home his sister and his +bride, the beautiful Kate. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"CARRYING OUT DEAR MR. HAMILTON'S PLANS." + + +One morning about ten days after the departure of Walter the good +people of Glenwood were greatly surprised at the unusual confusion +which seemed to pervade the homestead. The blinds were taken off, +windows taken out, carpets taken up, and where so lately physicians, +clergymen, and death had officiated, were now seen carpenters, masons, +and other workmen. Many were the surmises as to the cause of all this; +and one old lady, more curious than the rest, determined upon a +friendly call, to ascertain, if possible, what was going on. + +She found Mrs. Hamilton with her sleeves rolled up, and her hair +tucked under a black cap, consulting with a carpenter about enlarging +her bedroom and adding to it a bathing-room. Being received but coldly +by the mistress of the house, she descended to the basement, where she +was told by Aunt Polly that "the blinds were going to be repainted, an +addition built, the house turned wrong-side out, and Cain raised +generally." + +"It's a burning shame," said Aunt Polly, warmed up by her subject and +the hot oven into which she was thrusting loaves of bread and pies. +"It's a burning shame--a tearin' down and a goin' on this way, and +marster not cold in his grave. Miss Lenora, with all her badness, says +it's disgraceful, but he might ha' know'd it. _I_ did. I know'd it the +fust time she came here a nussin'. I don't see what got into him to +have her. Polly Pepper, without any larnin', never would ha' done such +a thing," continued she, as the door closed upon her visitor, who was +anxious to carry the gossip back to the village. + +It was even as Aunt Polly had said. Mrs. Hamilton, who possessed a +strong propensity for pulling down and building up, and who would have +made an excellent carpenter, had long had an earnest desire for +improving the homestead; and now that there was no one to prevent her, +she went to work with a right good will, saying to Lenora, who +remonstrated with her upon the impropriety of her conduct, that "she +was merely carrying out dear Mr. Hamilton's plans," who had proposed +making these changes before his death. + +"Dear Mr. Hamilton!" repeated Lenora, "very dear has he become to you, +all at once. I think if you had always manifested a little more +affection for him and his, they might not have been where they now +are." + +"Seems to me you take a different text from what you did some months +ago," said Mrs. Hamilton; "but perhaps you don't remember the time?" + +"I remember it well," answered Lenora, "and quite likely, with your +training, I should do the same again. We were poor, and I wished for a +more elegant home. I fancied that Margaret Hamilton was proud and had +slighted me, and I longed for revenge; but when I knew her I liked her +better, and when I saw that she was not to be trampled down by you or +me, my hatred of her turned to admiration. The silly man who has paid +the penalty of his weakness, I always despised; but when I saw how +fast the gray hairs thickened on his head; how careworn and bowed down +he grew, I pitied him, for I knew that his heart was breaking. Willie +I truly, unselfishly loved; and I am charitable enough to think that +even _you_ loved _him_, but it was through your neglect that he died, +and for his death you will answer. Carrie was gentle and trusting, but +weak, like her father. I do not think you killed her, for she was +dying when we came here, but you put the crowning act of wickedness to +your life when you compelled a man, shattered in body and intellect, +to write a will which disinherited his only son; but on that point you +are baffled. To be sure, you've got the homestead, and for decency's +sake I think I'd wait a while longer ere I commenced tearing down and +building up." + +Lenora's words had no effect whatever upon her mother, who still kept +on with her plans, treating with silent contempt the remarks of the +neighbors, or wishing, perhaps, that they would attend to their own +business, just as she was attending to hers! Day after day the work +went on. Scaffoldings were raised--paper and plastering torn +off--boards were seasoning in the sun--shingles lying upon the +ground--ladders raised against the wall; and all this while the two +new graves showed not a blade of grass, and the earth looked black and +fresh as it did when first it was placed there. + +When at last the blinds were hung, the house cleaned, and the carpets +nailed down, Mrs. Hamilton, who had designed it all the time, called +together the servants, whom she had disliked on account of their +preference for Margaret, and told them to look for new places, as +their services were no longer needed there. + +"You can make out your bills," said she, at the same time intimating +they hadn't one of them more than earned their board, if they had +that! Polly Pepper wasn't of material to stand by and hear such +language from one whom she considered beneath her. + +"Hadn't she as good a right there as anybody? Yes, indeed, she had! +Wasn't she there a full thirty year before any of your low-lived trash +came round a nussin'?" + +"Polly," interposed Mrs. Hamilton, "leave the room instantly, you +ungrateful thing!" + +"Ungrateful for what?" said Polly. "Haven't I worked and slaved like +an old nigger, as I am? and now you call me ungrateful, and say I +hain't arnt my bread. I'll sue you for slander;" and the enraged +Polly left the room, muttering, "half arnt my board, indeed! I'll bet +I've made a hundred thousan' pies, to say nothin' of the puddings, _I_ +not arn my board!" + +When again safe in what for so many years had been her own peculiar +province, she sat down to meditate. "I'd as good go without any fuss," +thought she, "but my curse on the madam who sends me away!" + +In the midst of her reverie, Lenora entered the kitchen, and to her +the old lady detailed her grievances, ending with, "Pears like she +don't know nothin' at all about etiquette, nor nothin' else." + +"Etiquette!" repeated Lenora. "You are mistaken, Polly; mother would +sit on a point of etiquette till she wore the back breadth of her +dress out. But it isn't that which she lacks--it's decency. But, +Polly," said she, changing the subject, "where do you intend to go and +how?" + +"To my brother Sam's," said Polly. "He lives three miles in the +country, and I've sent Robin to the village for a horse and wagon to +carry my things." + +Here Mrs. Hamilton entered the kitchen, followed by a strapping Irish +girl, nearly six feet in height. Her hair, flaming red, was twisted +round a huge back comb; her faded calico dress came far above her +ankles; her brawny arms were folded one over the other; and there was +in her appearance something altogether disagreeable and defiant. Mrs. +Hamilton introduced her as Ruth, her new cook, saying she hoped she +would know enough to keep her place better than her predecessor had +done. + +Aunt Polly surveyed her rival from head to foot, and then glancing +aside to Lenora, muttered, "Low-lived, depend on't." + +Robin now drove up with the wagon, and Mrs. Hamilton and Lenora left +the room, while Polly went to prepare herself for her ride. Her +sleeping apartment was in the basement and communicated with the +kitchen. This was observed by the new cook, who had a strong dislike +of negroes, and who feared that she might be expected to occupy the +same bed. + +"An' faith," said she, "is it where the like of ya have burrowed that +I am to turn in?" + +"I don't understand no such low-flung stuff," answered Polly, "but if +you mean you are to have this bedroom, I suppose you are." + +Here Polly had occasion to go up-stairs for something, and on her +return she found that Ruth, during her absence, had set fire to a +large linen rag, which she held on a shovel and was carrying about the +bedroom, as if to purify it from every atom of negro atmosphere which +might remain. Polly was quick-witted, and instantly comprehending the +truth, she struck the shovel from the hands of Ruth, exclaiming, "You +spalpeen, is it because my skin ain't a dingy yaller and all freckled +like yourn? Lord, look at your carrot-topped cocoanut, and then tell +me if wool ain't a heap the most genteel." + +In a moment a portion of the boasted wool was lying on the floor, or +being shaken from the thick, red fingers of the cook, while Irish +blood was flowing freely from the nose which Polly, in her vengeful +wrath, had wrung. Further hostilities were prevented by Robin, who +screamed that he couldn't wait any longer, and shaking her fist +fiercely at the red-head, Polly departed. + +That day Lucy and Rachel also left, and their places were supplied by +two raw hands, one of whom, before the close of the second day, +tumbled up-stairs with the large soup tureen, breaking it in fragments +and scalding the foot of Mrs. Hamilton, who was in the rear, and who, +having waited an hour for dinner, had descended to the kitchen to know +why it was not forthcoming, saying that Polly had never been so behind +the time. + +The other one, on being asked if she understood chamber work, had +replied, "Indade, and it's been my business all my life." She was +accordingly sent to make the beds and empty the slop. Thinking it an +easy way to dispose of the latter, she had thrown it from the window, +deluging the head and shoulders of her mistress who was bending down +to examine a rose bush which had been recently set out. Lenora was in +ecstasies, and when at noon her mother received a sprinkling of red +hot soup, she gravely asked her "which she relished most, cold or warm +baths!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RETRIBUTION. + + +Two years have passed away, and again we open the scene at the +homestead, which had not proved an altogether pleasant home to Mrs. +Hamilton. There was around her everything to make her happy, but she +was far from being so. One by one her servants, with whom she was very +unpopular, had left her, until there now remained but one. The +villagers, too, shunned her, and she was wholly dependent for society +upon Lenora, who, as usual, provoked and tormented her. + +One day Hester, the servant, came up from the basement, saying there +was a poor old man below, who asked for money. + +"Send him away; I've nothing for him," said Mrs. Hamilton, whose +avaricious hand, larger far than her heart, grasped at and retained +everything. + +"But, if you please, ma'am, he seems very poor," said Hester. + +"Let him go to work, then. 'Twon't hurt him more than 'twill me," was +the reply. + +Lenora, whose eyes and ears were always open, no sooner heard that +there was a beggar in the kitchen than she ran down to see him. He was +a miserable-looking object, and still there was something in his +appearance which denoted him to be above the common order of beggars. +His eyes were large and intensely black, and his hair, short, thick, +and curly, reminded Lenora of her own. The moment she appeared a +peculiar expression passed for a moment over his face, and he half +started up; then resuming his seat he fixed his glittering eyes upon +the young lady, and seemed watching her closely. + +At last she began questioning him, but his answers were so +unsatisfactory that she gave it up, and, thinking it the easiest way +to be rid of him, she took from her pocket a shilling and handed it to +him, saying, "It's all I can give you, unless it is a dinner. Are you +hungry?" + +Hester, who had returned to the kitchen, was busy in a distant part of +the room, and she did not notice the paleness which overspread +Lenora's face at the words which the beggar uttered when, she +presented the money to him. She caught, however, the low murmur of +their voices, as they spoke together for a moment, and as Lenora +accompanied him to the door, she distinctly heard the words, "In the +garden." + +"And maybe that's some of your kin; you look like him," said she to +Lenora, after the stranger was gone. + +"That's my business, not yours," answered Lenora, as she left the +kitchen and repaired to her mother's room. + +"Lenora, what ails you?" said Mrs. Hamilton to her daughter at the +tea-table that night, when, after putting salt in one cup of tea, and +upsetting a second, she commenced spreading her biscuit with cheese +instead of butter. "What ails you? What are you thinking about? You +don't seem to know any more what you are doing than the dead." + +Lenora made no direct reply to this, but soon after she said, "Mother, +how long has father been dead--my own father I mean?" + +"Two or three years, I don't exactly know which," returned her mother, +and Lenora continued: + +"How did he look? I hardly remember him." + +"You have asked me that fifty times," answered her mother, "and fifty +times I have told you that he looked like you, only worse, if +possible." + +"Let me see, where did you say he died?" said Lenora. + +"In New Orleans, with yellow fever, or black measles, or smallpox, or +something," Mrs. Hamilton replied, "but mercy's sake! can't you choose +a better subject to talk about? What made you think of him? He's been +haunting me all day, and I feel kind of nervous and want to look over +my shoulder whenever I am alone." + +Lenora made no further remark until after tea, when she announced her +intention of going to the village. + +"Come back early, for I don't feel like staying alone," said her +mother. + +The sun had set when Lenora left the village, and by the time she +reached home it was wholly dark. As she entered the garden the outline +of a figure; sitting on a bench at its further extremity, made her +stop for a moment, but thinking to herself, "I expected it, and why +should I be afraid?" she walked on fearlessly, until the person, +roused by the sound of her footsteps, started up, and turning toward +her, said half-aloud: + +"Lenora, is it you?" + +Quickly she sprang forward, and soon one hand of the beggar was +clasped in hers, while the other rested upon her head, as he said, +"Lenora, my child, my daughter, you do not hate me?" + +"Hate you, father?" she answered, "never, never." + +"But," he continued, "has not she--my--no, not my wife--thank Heaven +not my wife now--but your mother, has not she taught you to despise +and hate me?" + +"No," answered Lenora bitterly. "She has taught me enough of evil, but +my memories of you were too sweet, too pleasant, for me to despise +you, though I do not think you always did right, more than mother." + +The stranger groaned, and murmured: "It's true, all true;" while +Lenora continued: + +"But where have you been all these years, and how came we to hear of +your death?" + +"I have been in St. Louis most of the time, and the report of my death +resulted from the fact that a man bearing my name, and who was also +from Connecticut, died of yellow fever in New Orleans about two years +and a half ago. A friend of mine, observing a notice of his death, and +supposing it to refer to me, forwarded the paper to your mother, who, +though then free from me, undoubtedly felt glad, for she never loved +me, but married me because she thought I had money." + +"But how have you lived?" asked Lenora. + +"Lived!" he repeated, "I have not lived. I have merely existed. +Gambling and drinking, drinking and gambling, have been the business +of my life, and have reduced me to the miserable wretch whom you see." + +"Oh, father, father," cried Lenora, "reform. It is not too late, and +you can yet be saved. Do it for my sake, for, in spite of all your +faults, I love you, and you are my father." + +The first words of affection which had greeted his ear for many long +years made the wretched man weep, as he answered: "Lenora, I have +sworn to reform, and I will keep my vow. During one of my drunken +revels, in St. Louis, a dream of home came over me, and when I became +sober I started for Connecticut. There I heard where and what your +mother was. I had no wish ever to meet her again, for though I greatly +erred in my conduct toward her, I think she was always the most to +blame. You I remembered with love, and I longed to see you once more, +to hear again the word 'father,' and know that I was not forgotten. I +came as far as the city, and there fell into temptation. For the last +two months I have been there, gambling and drinking, until I lost all, +even the clothes which I wore, and was compelled to assume these rags. +I am now without home or money, and have no place to lay my head." + +"I can give you money," said Lenora. "Meet me here to-morrow night, +and you shall have all you want. But what do you purpose doing? Where +will you stay?" + +"In the village, for the sake of being near you," said he, at the same +time bidding his daughter return to the house, as the night air was +damp and chilly. + +Within a week from that time a middle-aged man, calling himself John +Robinson, appeared in the village, hiring himself out as a porter at +one of the hotels. There was a very striking resemblance between him +and Lenora Carter, which was noticed by the villagers, and mentioned +to Mrs. Hamilton, who, however, could never obtain a full view of the +stranger's face, for without any apparent design, he always avoided +meeting her. He had not been long in town before it was whispered +about that between him and Lenora Carter a strange intimacy existed, +and rumors soon reached Mrs. Hamilton that her daughter was in the +habit of frequently stealing out after sunset, to meet the old porter, +and that once, when watched, she had been seen to put her arms around +his neck. Highly indignant, Mrs. Hamilton questioned Lenora on the +subject, and was astonished beyond measure when she replied: + +"It is all true. I have met Mr. Robinson often, and I have put my arms +around his neck, and shall probably do it again." + +"Oh my child, my child," groaned Mrs. Hamilton, really distressed at +her daughter's conduct. "How can you do so? You will bring my gray +hairs with sorrow to the grave." + +"Not if you pull out as many of them as you now do, and use Twiggs +Preparation besides," said Lenora. + +Mrs. Hamilton did not answer, but covering her face with her hands +wept, really wept, thinking for the first time, perhaps, that as she +had sowed so was she reaping. For some time past her health had been +failing, and as the summer days grew warmer and more oppressive she +felt a degree of lassitude and physical weakness which she had never +before experienced; and one day unable longer to sit up, she took her +bed, where she lay for many days. + +Now that her mother was really sick, Lenora seemed suddenly changed, +and with unwearied care watched over her as kindly and faithfully as +if no words save those of affection had ever passed between them. +Warmer and more sultry grew the days, and more fiercely raged the +fever in Mrs. Hamilton's veins, until at last the crisis was reached +and passed, and she was in a fair way for recovery, when she was +attacked by chills, which again reduced her to a state of +helplessness. One day, about this time, a ragged little boy, whose +business seemed to be lounging around the hotel, brought to Lenora a +soiled and crumpled note, on which was traced with an unsteady hand, +"Dear Lenora, I am sick, all alone in the little attic; come to me, +quick; come!" + +Lenora was in a state of great perplexity. Her mother, when awake, +needed all her care; and as she seldom slept during the day there +seemed but little chance of getting away. The night before, however, +she had been unusually restless and wakeful, and about noon she seemed +drowsy, and finally fell into a deep sleep. + +"Now is my time," thought Lenora; and calling Hester, she bade her +watch by her mother until she returned, saying, "If she wakes tell her +I have gone to the village, and will soon be back." + +Hester promised compliance, and was for a time faithful to her trust; +but suddenly recollecting something which she wished to tell the girl +who lived at the next neighbor's she stole away, leaving her mistress +alone. For five minutes Mrs. Hamilton slept on, and then with a start +awoke from a troubled dream, in which she had seemed dying of thirst, +while little Willie, standing by a hogshead of water, refused her a +drop. A part of her dream was true, for she was suffering from the +most intolerable thirst, and called loudly for Lenora; but Lenora was +not there. Hester next was called, but she, too, was gone. Then, +seizing the bell which stood upon the table, she rang it with all her +force, and still there came no one to her relief. + +Again Willie stood by her, offering her a goblet overflowing with +water; but when she attempted to take it, Willie changed into Lenora, +who laughed mockingly at her distress, telling her there was water in +the well and ice on the curbstone. Once more the phantom faded away, +and the old porter was there, wading through a limpid stream and +offering her to drink a cup of molten lead. + +"Merciful Heaven!" shrieked the sick woman, as she writhed from side +to side on her bed, which seemed changed to burning coals; "will no +one bring me water, water, water!" + +An interval of calmness succeeded, during which she revolved in her +mind the possibility of going herself to the kitchen, where she knew +the water-pail was standing. No sooner had she decided upon this than +the room appeared full of little demons, who laughed, and chattered, +and shouted in her ears: + +"Go--do it! Willie did, when the night was dark and chilly; but now it +is warm--nice and warm--try it, do!" + +Tremblingly Mrs. Hamilton stepped upon the floor, and finding herself +too weak to walk, crouched down, and crept slowly down the stairs to +the kitchen door, where she stopped to rest. Across the room by the +window stood the pail, and as her eye fell upon it the mirth of the +little winged demons appeared in her disordered fancy to increase; and +when the spot was reached, the tumbler seized and thrust into the +pail, they darted hither and thither, shouting gleefully: + +"Lower, lower down; just as Willie did. You'll find it, oh, you'll +find it!" + +With a bitter cry Mrs. Hamilton dashed the tumbler upon the floor, for +the bucket was empty! + +"Willie, Willie, you are avenged," she said; but the goblins answered: + +"Not yet; no, not yet." + +There was no pump in the well, and Mrs. Hamilton knew she had not +strength to raise the bucket by means of the windlass. Her exertions +had increased her thirst tenfold, and now for one cup of cooling water +she would have given all her possessions. Across the yard, at the +distance of twenty rods, there was a gushing spring, and thither in +her despair she determined to go. Accordingly, she went forth into the +fierce noontide blaze, and with almost superhuman efforts crawled to +the place. But what! was it a film upon her eyes? Had blindness come +upon her, or was the spring really dried up by the fervid summer heat? + +"Willie's avenged! Willie's avenged!" yelled the imps as the wretched +woman fainted and fell backward upon the bank, where she lay with her +white, thin face upturned, and blistering beneath the August sun! + +Along the dusty highway came a handsome traveling carriage, in which, +besides the driver, were seated two individuals, the one a young and +elegantly-dressed lady, and the other a gentleman, who appealed to be +on the most intimate terms with his companion; for whenever he would +direct her attention to any passing object, he laid his hand on hers, +frequently retaining it, and calling her "Maggie." + +The carriage was nearly opposite the homestead, when the lady +exclaimed, "Oh, Richard, I must stop at my old home once more. Only +see how beautiful it is looking!" + +In a moment the carriage was standing before the gate, and the +gentleman, who was Margaret Hamilton's husband--a Mr. Elwyn, from the +city--assisted his young wife to alight, and then followed her to the +house. No answer was given to their loud ring, and as the doors and +windows were all open, Margaret proposed that they should enter. They +did so; and, going first into Mrs. Hamilton's sick-room, the sight of +the little table full of vials, and the tumbled, empty bed, excited +their wonder and curiosity, and induced them to go on. At last, +descending to the kitchen, they saw the fragments of the tumbler +lying upon the floor. + +"Strange, isn't it?" said Margaret to her husband, who was standing in +the outer door, and who had at that moment discovered Mrs. Hamilton +lying near the spring. + +Instantly they were at her side, and Margaret involuntarily shuddered +as she recognized her stepmother, and guessed why she was there. +Taking her in his arms, Mr. Elwyn bore her back to the house, and +Margaret, filling a pitcher with water, bathed her face, moistened her +lips, and applied other restoratives, until she revived enough to say: + +"More water, Willie. Give me more water!" + +Eagerly she drained the goblet which Margaret held to her lips, and +was about drinking the second, when her eyes for the first time sought +Margaret's face. With a cry between a groan and a scream she lay back +upon her pillows, saying, "Margaret Hamilton, how came you here? What +have you to do with me, and why do you give me water? Didn't I refuse +it to Willie, when he begged so earnestly for it in the nighttime? But +I've been paid--a thousand times paid--left by my own child to die +alone!" + +Margaret was about asking for Lenora, when the young lady herself +appeared. She seemed for a moment greatly surprised at the sight of +Margaret, and then bounding to her side, greeted her with much +affection; while Mrs. Hamilton jealously looked on, muttering to +herself. "Loves everybody better than she does me, her own mother, who +has done so much for her." + +Lenora made no reply to this, although she manifested much concern +when Margaret told her in what state they had found her mother. + +"I went for a few moments to visit a sick friend," said she, "but told +Hester to stay with mother until I returned; and I wonder much that +she should leave her." + +"Lenora," said Mrs. Hamilton, "Lenora, was that sick friend the old +porter?" + +Lenora answered in the affirmative; and then her mother, turning to +Margaret, said: + +"You don't know what a pest and torment this child has always been to +me, and now when I am dying she deserts me for a low-lived fellow, old +enough to be her father." + +Lenora's eyes flashed scornfully upon her mother, but she made no +answer, and as Mr. Elwyn was in haste to proceed on his journey, +Margaret arose to go. Lenora urged them to remain longer, but they +declined; and as she accompanied them to the door, Margaret said: + +"Lenora, if your mother should die, and it would afford you any +satisfaction to have me come, I will do so, for I suppose you have no +near friends." + +Lenora hesitated a moment, and then whispering to Margaret of the +relationship existing between herself and the old porter, she said, +"He is sick and poor, but he is my own father, and I love him dearly." + +The tears came to Margaret's eyes, for she thought of her own father, +called home while his brown hair was scarcely touched with the frosts +of time. Wistfully Lenora watched the carriage as it disappeared from +sight, and then half-reluctantly entered the sick-room, where, for the +remainder of the afternoon, she endured her mother's reproaches for +having left her alone, and where once, when her patience was wholly +exhausted, she said: + +"It served you right, for now you know how little Willie felt." + +The next day Mrs. Hamilton was much worse, and Lenora, who had watched +and who understood her symptoms, felt confident that she would die, +and loudly her conscience upbraided her for her undutiful conduct. She +longed, too, to tell her that her father was still living, and one +evening when for an hour or two her mother seemed better, she arose, +and bending over her pillow, said, "Mother, did it ever occur to you +that father might not be dead?" + +"Not be dead, Lenora! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hamilton, starting +up from her pillow. + +Cautiously then Lenora commenced her story by referring her mother +back to the old beggar, who some months before had been in the +kitchen. Then she spoke of the old porter, and the resemblance which +was said to exist between him and herself; and finally, as she saw her +mother could bear it, she told the whole story of her father's life. +Slowly the sick woman's eyes closed, and Lenora saw that her eyelids +were wet with, tears, but as she made no reply, Lenora ere long +whispered, "Would you like to see him, mother?" + +"No, no; not now," was the answer. + +For a time there was silence, and then Lenora, again speaking, said, +"Mother, I have often been very wicked and disrespectful to you, and +if you should die, I should feel much happier knowing that you forgave +me. Will you do it, mother--say?" + +Mrs. Hamilton comprehended only the words, "if you should die," so she +said: "Die, die! who says that I must die? I shan't--I can't; for what +could I tell her about her children, and how could I live endless ages +without water? I tried it once, and I can't do it. No, I can't. I +won't!" + +In this way she talked all night; and though in the morning she was +more rational, she turned away from the clergyman, who at Lenora's +request had been sent for, saying: + +"It's of no use, no use, I know all you would say, but it's too late, +too late!" + +Thus she continued for three days, and at the close of the third it +became evident to all that she was dying, and Hester was immediately +sent to the hotel, with a request that the old porter would come +quickly. Half an hour after Lenora bent over her mother's pillow, and +whispered in her ear, "Mother, can you hear me?" + +A pressure of the hand was the reply, and Lenora continued: "You have +not said that you forgave me, and now before you die, will you not +tell me so?" + +There was another pressure of the hand, and Lenora again spoke: +"Mother, would you like to see him--my father? He is in the next +room." + +This roused the dying woman, and starting up, she exclaimed, "See John +Carter! No, child, no! He'd only curse me. Let him wait until I am +dead, and then I shall not hear it." + +In ten minutes more Lenora was sadly gazing upon the fixed, stony +features of the dead. A gray-haired man was at her side, and his lip +quivered, as he placed his hand upon the white, wrinkled brow of her +who had once been his wife. "She is fearfully changed," were his only +words, as he turned away from the bed of death. + +True to her promise, Margaret came to attend her stepmother's funeral. +Walter accompanied her, and shuddered as he looked on the face of one +who had so darkened his home, and embittered his life. Kate was not +there, and when, after the burial, Lenora asked Margaret for her, she +was told of a little "Carrie Lenora," who with pardonable pride +"Walter thought was the only baby of any consequence in the world. +Margaret was going on with a glowing description of the babe's many +beauties, when she was interrupted by Lenora, who laid her face in her +lap and burst into tears. + +"Why, Lenora, what is the matter?" asked Margaret. + +As soon as Lenora became calm, she answered, "_That name_, Maggie. You +have given my name to Walter Hamilton's child, and if you had hated me +you would never have done it." + +"Hated you!" repeated Margaret; "we do not hate you; now that we +understand you, we like you very much, and one of Kate's last +injunctions to Walter was that he should again offer you a home with +him." + +Once more Lenora was weeping. She had not shed a tear when they +carried from sight her mother, but words of kindness touched her +heart, and the fountain was opened. At last, drying her eyes, she +said, "I prefer to go with father. Walter will, of course, come back +to the homestead, while father and I shall return to our old home in +Connecticut, where, by being kind to him, I hope to atone, in a +measure, for my great unkindness to mother." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FINALE. + + +Through the open casement of a small, white cottage in the village of +P----, the rays of the September moon are stealing, disclosing to view +a gray-haired man, whose placid face still shows marks of long years +of dissipation. Affectionately he caresses the black, curly head which +is resting on his knee, and softly he says, "Lenora, my daughter, +there are, I trust, years of happiness in store for us both." + +"I hope it may be so," was the answer, "but there is no promise of +many days to any save those who honor their father and mother. This +last I have never done, though many, many times have I repented of it, +and I begin to be assured that we may be happy yet." + + * * * * * + +Away to the westward, over many miles of woodland, valley, and hill, +the same September moon shines upon the white walls of the +"homestead," where sits the owner, Walter Hamilton, gazing first upon +his wife and then upon the tiny treasure which lies sleeping upon her +lap. + +"We are very happy, Katy darling," he says, and the affection which +looks from her large blue eyes as she lifts them to his face is a +sufficient answer. Margaret, too, is there, and though but an hour +ago her tears were falling upon the grass-grown graves where slept her +father and mother, the gentle Carrie, and golden-haired Willie, they +are all gone now, and she responds to her brother's words, "Yes, +Walter, we are very happy." + + * * * * * + +In the basement below the candle is burned to its socket, and as the +last ray flickers up, illuminating for a moment the room, and then +leaving it in darkness, Aunt Polly Pepper starts from her evening nap, +and as if continuing her dream mutters "Yes this is pleasant and +something like living." + + * * * * * + +And so with the moonlight and starlight falling upon the old +homestead, and the sunlight of love falling upon the hearts of its +inmates, we bid them adieu. + + + + +RICE CORNER + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +RICE CORNER. + + +Yes, Rice Corner! Do you think it a queer name? Well, Rice Corner was +a queer place, and deserved a queer name. Now whether it is celebrated +for anything in particular, I really can't at this moment think, +unless, indeed, it is famed for having been my birthplace! Whether +this of itself is sufficient to immortalize a place future generations +may, perhaps, tell, but I have some misgivings whether the present +will. This idea may be the result of my having recently received +sundry knocks over the knuckles in the shape of criticisms. + +But I know one thing--on the bark of that old chestnut tree which +stands near Rice Corner schoolhouse, my name is cut higher than some +of my more bulky contemporary quill--or rather steel--pen-wielders +ever dared to climb. To be sure, I tore my dress, scratched my face, +and committed numerous other little rompish _miss_-demeanors, which +procured for me a motherly scolding. That, however, was of minor +consideration when compared with having my name up--in the chestnut +tree, at least, if it couldn't be up in the world. But pardon my +egotism, and I will proceed with my story about Rice Corner. + +Does any one wish to know whereabout on this rolling sphere Rice +Corner is situated? I don't believe you can find it on the map, +unless your eyes are bluer and bigger than mine, which last they can't +very well be. But I can tell you to a dot where Rice Corner should be. +Just take your atlas--not the last one published, but Olney's, that's +the one _I_ studied--and right in one of those little towns in +Worcester County is Rice Corner snugly nestled among the gray rocks +and blue hills of New England. + +Yes, Rice Corner was a great place, and so you would have thought +could you have seen it in all its phases, with its brown, red, green, +yellow, and white houses, each of which had the usual quantity of +rose-bushes, lilacs, hollyhocks, and sunflowers. You should have seen +my home, my New England home, where once, not many years ago, a happy +group of children played. Alas! alas! some of those who gave the +sunlight to that spot have left us now forever, and on the bright +shores of the eternal river they wait and watch our coming. I do not +expect a stranger to love our old homestead as I loved it, for in each +heart is a fresh, green spot--the memory of its own early home--where +the sunshine was brighter, the well waters cooler, and the song-bird's +carol sweeter than elsewhere they are found. + +I trust I shall be forgiven if in this chapter I pause awhile to speak +of my home--aye, and of myself, too, when, a light-hearted child, I +bounded through the meadows and orchards which lay around the old +brown house on my father's farm. 'Twas a large, square, two-storied +building, that old brown farmhouse, containing rooms, cupboards, and +closets innumerable, and what was better than all, a large airy +garret, where on all rainy days and days when it looked as if it would +rain, Bill, Joe, Lizzie, and I assembled to hold our noisy revels. +Never, since the days of our great-grandmothers, did little spinning +wheel buzz round faster than did the one which, in the darkest corner +of that garret, had been safely stowed away, where they guessed "the +young ones wouldn't find it." + +"Wouldn't find it!" I should like to know what there was in that old +garret that we didn't find, and appropriate, too! Even the old oaken +chest which contained our grandmother's once fashionable attire was +not sacred from the touch of our lawless hands. Into its deep recesses +we plunged, and brought out such curiosities--the queerest-looking, +high-crowned, broad-frilled caps, narrow-gored skirts, and what was +funnier than all, a strange-looking thing which we thought must be a +side saddle--anyway, it fitted Joe's rocking horse admirably, although +we wondered why so much whalebone was necessary! + +One day, in the midst of our gambols, in walked the identical owner of +the chest, and seeing the side-saddle, she said somewhat angrily, +"Why, children, where upon airth did you find my old stays?" We never +wondered again what made grandma's back keep its place so much better +than ours, and Bill had serious thoughts of trying the effect of the +stays upon himself. + +In the rear of our house, and sloping toward the setting sun, was a +long, winding lane, leading far down into a widespreading tract of +flowery woods, shady hillside, and grassy pasture land, each in their +turn highly suggestive of brown nuts, delicious strawberries, and +venomous snakes. These last were generally more the creatures of +imagination than of reality, for in all my wanderings over those +fields, and they were many, I never but once trod upon a green snake, +and only once was I chased by a white-ringed blacksnake; so I think I +am safe in saying that the snakes were not so numerous as were the +nuts and berries, which grew there in great profusion. + +A little to the right of the woods, where, in winter, Bill, Joe, +Lizzie, and I dragged our sleds and boards for the purpose of riding +down-hill, was a merry, frolicking stream of water, over which, in +times long gone, a sawmill had been erected; but owing to the +inefficiency of its former owner, or something else, the mill had +fallen into disuse, and gradually gone to decay. The water of the +brook, relieved from the necessity of turning the spluttering wheel, +now went gayly dancing down, down, into the depths of the dim old +woods, and far away, I never knew exactly where; but having heard +rumors of a jumping-off place, I had a vague impression that at that +spot the waters of the mill-dam put up! + +Near the sawmill, and partially hidden by the scraggy pine trees and +thick bushes which drooped over its entrance, was a long, dark +passage, leading underground, not so large, probably, as Mammoth Cave, +but in my estimation rivaling it in interest. This was an old mine, +where, years before, men had dug for gold. Strange stories were told +of those who, with blazing torches, and blazing noses, most likely, +there toiled for the yellow dust. The "Ancient Henry" himself, it was +said, sometimes left his affairs at home, and joined the nightly +revels in that mine, where cards and wine played a conspicuous part. +Be that as it may, the old mine was surrounded by a halo of fear which +we youngsters never cared to penetrate. + +On a fine afternoon an older sister would occasionally wander that +way, together with a young M.D., whose principal patient seemed to be +at our house, for his little black pony very frequently found shelter +in our stable by the side of "old sorrel." From the north garret +window I would watch them, wondering how they dared venture so near +the old mine, and wishing, mayhap, that the time would come when I, +with some daring doctor, would risk everything. The time _has come_, +but alas! instead of being a doctor, he is only a lawyer, who never +even saw the old mine in Rice Corner. + +Though I never ventured close to the old mine, there was not far from +it one pleasant spot where I loved dearly to go. It was on the +hillside, where, 'neath the shadow of a gracefully twining grapevine, +lay a large, flat rock. Thither would I often repair, and sit for +hours, listening to the hum of the running water brook, or the song +of the summer birds, who, like me, seemed to love that place. Often +would I gaze far off at the distant, misty horizon, wondering if I +should ever know what was beyond it. Wild fancies then filled my +childish brain. Strange voices whispered to me thoughts and ideas +which, if written down and carried out, would, I am sure, have placed +my name higher than it was carved on the old chestnut tree. + + "But they came and went like shadows, + Those blessed dreams of youth," + +I was a strange child, I know. Everybody told me so, and _I_ knew it +well enough without being told. The wise old men at Rice Corner, and +their still wiser old wives, looked at me askance, as 'neath the +thorn-apple tree I built my playhouse and baked my little loaves of +mud bread. But when, forgetful of others, I talked aloud to myriads of +little folks, unseen 'tis true, but still real to me, they shook their +gray heads ominously, and whispering to my mother said, "Mark our +words, that girl will one day be crazy. In ten years more she will be +an inmate of the madhouse!" + +And then I wondered what a madhouse was, and if the people there all +acted as our school-teacher did when Bill and the big girl said he was +mad! The ten years have passed, and I'm not in a madhouse yet, unless, +indeed, it is one of my own getting up! + +One thing more about Rice Corner, and then, honor bright, I'll finish +the preface and go on with the story. I must tell you about the old +schoolhouse, and the road which led to it. This last wound around a +long hill, and was skirted on either side with tall trees, flowering +dogwood, blackberry bushes, and frost grapevines. Half-way down the +hill, and under one of the tallest walnut trees, was a little hollow, +where dwelt the goblin with which nurses, housemaids, hired men, and +older sisters were wont to frighten refractory children into +quietness. It was the grave of an old negro. Alas! that to his last +resting-place the curse should follow him! Had it been a white person +who rested there, not half so fearful would have been the spot; now, +however, it was "the old nigger hole"--a place to run by if by +accident you were caught out after dark--a place to be threatened with +if you cried in the night and wanted the candle lighted--a landmark +where to stop when going part way home with the little girl who had +been to visit you, and who, on leaving you, ran no less swiftly than +you yourself did, half-fearing that the dusky form in the holly would +rise and try his skill at running. Verily, my heart has beat faster at +the thoughts of that dead negro than it ever has since at the sight of +a hundred live specimens, "'way down south on the old plantation." + +The old schoolhouse, too, had its advantages and its disadvantages; of +the latter, one was that there, both summer and winter, but more +especially during the last-mentioned season, all the rude boys in the +place thought they had a perfect right to congregate and annoy the +girls in every possible way. But never mind, not a few wry faces we +made at them, and not a few "blockheads" we pinned to their backs! Oh! +I've had rare times in that old house and have seen rare sights, too, +to say nothing of the fights which occasionally occurred. In these +last brother Joe generally took the lead of one party, while Jim Brown +commanded the other. Dire was the confusion which reigned at such +times. Books were hurled from side to side. Then followed in quick +succession shovel, tongs, poker, water cup, water pail, water and all; +and to cap the climax, Jim Brown once seized the large iron pan, which +stood upon the stove, half-filled with hot water, and hurled it in the +midst of the enemy. Luckily nobody was killed, and but few wounded. + +Years in their rapid flight have rolled away since then, and he, my +brother, is sleeping alone on the wild shore of California. + + "For scarcely had the sad tones died + Which echoed the farewell, + When o'er the western prairies + There came a funeral knell; + It said that he who went from us, + While yet upon his brow + The dew of youth was glistening, + Had passed to heaven now." + +James Brown, too, is resting in the churchyard, near his own home, and +'neath his own native sky. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BELLE OF RICE CORNER. + + +Yes, Rice Corner had a belle, but it was not I. Oh, no, nobody ever +mistook _me_ for a belle, or much of anything else, in fact; _I_ was +simply "Mary Jane," or, if that was not concise enough, "Crazy Jane" +set the matter all right. The belle of which I speak was a _bona fide_ +one--fine complexion, handsome features, beautiful eyes, curling hair, +and all. And yet in her composition there was something wanting, +something very essential, too; for she lacked soul, and would at any +time have sold her best friend for a flattering compliment. + +Still Carrie Howard was generally a favorite. The old people liked her +because her sparkling eye and merry laugh brought back to them a gleam +of youth; the young people liked her, because to dislike her would +seem like envy; and I, who was nothing, liked her because she was +pretty, and I greatly admired beauty, though I am not certain that I +should not have liked a handsome rosebud quite as well as I did Carrie +Howard's beautiful face, for beautiful she was. + +Her mother, good, plain Mrs. Howard, was entirely unlike her daughter. +She was simply "Mrs. Captain Howard," or, in other words, "Aunt +Eunice," whose benevolent smile and kindly beaming eye carried +contentment wherever she went. Really, I don't know how Rice Corner +could have existed one day without the presence of Aunt Eunice. Was +there a cut foot or hand in the neighborhood, hers was the salve which +healed it, almost as soon as applied. Was there a pale, fretful baby, +Aunt Eunice's large bundle of catnip was sure to soothe it, and did a +sick person need watchers, Aunt Eunice was the one who, three nights +out of the seven, trod softly and quietly about the sick-room, +anticipating each want before you yourself knew what it was, and +smoothing your tumbled pillow so gently that you almost felt it a +luxury to be sick, for the sake of being nursed by Aunt Eunice. The +very dogs and cats winked more composedly when she appeared; and even +the chickens learned her voice almost as soon as they did the cluck of +their "maternal ancestor." + +But we must stop, or we shall make Aunt Eunice out to be the belle, +instead of Carrie, who, instead of imitating her mother in her acts of +kindness, sat all day in the large old parlor, thumping away on a +rickety piano, or trying to transfer to broadcloth a poor little +kitty, whose face was sufficiently indicative of surprise at finding +its limbs so frightfully distorted. + +When Carrie was fifteen years of age her father, concluding that she +knew all which could possibly be learned in the little brown house +where Joe and Jim once fought so fiercely, sent her for three years to +Albany. It was currently reported that the uncle with whom she boarded +received his pay in butter, cheese, potatoes, apples, and other +commodities, which were the product of Captain Howard's farm. Whether +this was true or not I am not prepared to say, but I suppose it was, +for it was told by those who had no ostensible business except to +attend to other people's affairs, and I am sure they ought to have +known all about it, and probably did. + +I cannot help thinking that Captain Howard made a mistake in sending +Carrie away; for when at the end of three years she had "finished her +education," and returned home, she was not half so good a scholar as +some of those who had pored patiently over their books in the old +brown house. Even _I_ could beat her in spelling, for soon after she +came home the boys teased for a spelling school. I rather think they +were quite as anxious for a chance to go home with the girls as they +were to have their knowledge of Webster tested. Be that as it may, +Carrie was there, and was, of course, chosen first; but _I_, "little +crazy Jane," spelled the the whole school down! I thought Carrie was +not quite so handsome as she might be, when with an angry frown she +dropped into her seat, hissed by a big, cross-eyed, red-haired boy, in +the corner, because she _happened_ to spell pumpkin, "_p-u-n pun k-i-n +kin, punkin_." I do not think she ever quite forgave me for the pert, +loud way in which I spelled the word correctly, for she never gave any +more calicos or silks, and instead of calling me "Mollie," as she had +before done, she now addressed me as "Miss Mary." + +Carrie possessed one accomplishment which the other girls did not. She +could play the piano most skilfully, although as yet she had no +instrument. Three weeks, however, after her return a rich man, who +lived in the village which was known as "Over the River," failed, and +all his furniture was sold at auction. Many were the surmises of my +grandmother, on the morning of the sale, as to what "Cap'n Howard +could be going to buy at the _vandue_ and put in the big lumber +wagon," which he drove past our house. + +As the day drew to a close I was posted at the window to telegraph as +soon as "Cap'n Howard's" white horses appeared over the hill. They +came at last, but the long box in his wagon told no secret. Father, +however, explained all, by saying that he had bid off Mr. Talbott's +old piano for seventy dollars! Grandma shook her head mournfully at +the degeneracy of the age, while sister Anna spoke sneeringly of Mr. +Talbott's cracked piano. Next day, arrayed in my Sunday red merino and +white apron--a present from some cousin out West--I went to see +Carrie; and truly, the music she drew from that old piano charmed me +more than the finest performances since have done. Carrie and her +piano were now the theme of every tongue, and many wondered how +Captain Howard could afford to pay for three years' music lessons; but +this was a mystery yet to be solved. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +MONSIEUR PENOYER. + + +When Carrie had been at home about three months all Rice Corner one +day flew to the doors and windows to look at a stranger, a gentleman +with fierce mustaches, who seemed not at all certain of his latitude, +and evidently wanted to know where he was going. At least, if _he_ +didn't, they who watched him did. + +Grandma, whose longevity had not impaired her guessing faculties, +first suggested that "most likely it was Caroline Howard's beau." This +was altogether too probable to be doubted, and as grandmother had long +contemplated a visit to Aunt Eunice, she now determined to go that +very afternoon, as she "could judge for herself what kind of a match +Car'line had made." Mother tried to dissuade her from going that day, +but the old lady was incorrigible, and directly after dinner, dressed +in her bombazine, black silk apron, work bag, knitting and all she +departed for Captain Howard's. + +They wouldn't confess it, but I knew well enough that Juliet and Anna +were impatient for her return, and when the shadows of twilight began +to fall I was twice sent into the road to see if she was coming. The +last time I was successful, and in a few moments grandmother was among +us; but whatever she knew she kept to herself until the lamps were +lighted in the sitting-room, and she, in her stuffed rocking-chair, +was toeing off the stocking only that morning commenced. Then, at a +hint from Anna, she cast toward Lizzie and me a rueful glance, saying: +"There are too many _pitchers_ here!" I knew then just as well as I +did five minutes after that Lizzie and I must go to bed. There was no +help for it, and we complied with a tolerably good grace. Lizzie +proposed that we should listen, but somehow I couldn't do that, and up +to this time I don't exactly know what grandmother told them. + +The next day, however, I heard enough to know that his name was +Penoyer; that grandma didn't like him; that he had as much hair on his +face as on his head; that Aunt Eunice would oppose the match, and that +he would stay over Sunday. With this last I was delighted, for I +should see him at church. I saw him before that, however; for it was +unaccountable what a fancy Carrie suddenly took for traversing the +woods and riding on horseback, for which purpose grandfather's +side-saddle (not the one with which Joe saddled his pony!) was +borrowed, and then, with her long curls and blue riding-skirt floating +in the wind, Carrie galloped over hills and through valleys, +accompanied by Penoyer, who was a fierce-looking fellow, with black +eyes, black hair, black whiskers, and black face. + +I couldn't help fancying that the negro who lay beneath the walnut +tree had resembled him, and I cried for fear Carrie might marry so +ugly a man, thinking it would not be altogether unlike, "Beauty and +the Beast." Sally, our housemaid, said that "most likely he'd prove to +be some poor, mean scamp. Anyway, seein' it was plantin' time, he'd +better be _to hum_ tendin' to his own business, if he had any." + +Sally was a shrewd, sharp-sighted girl, and already had her preference +in favor of Michael Welsh, father's hired man. Walking, riding on +horseback, and wasting time generally, Sally held in great abhorrence. +"All she wished to say to Mike on week days, she could tell him +milking time." On Sundays, however, it was different, and regularly +each Sunday night found Mike and Sally snugly ensconced in the "great +room," while under the windows occasionally might have been seen, +three or four curly heads, eager to hear something about which to +tease Sally during the week. + +But to return to Monsieur Penoyer, as Carrie called him. His stay was +prolonged beyond the Sabbath, and on Tuesday I was sent to Captain +Howard's on an errand. I found Aunt Eunice in the kitchen, her round, +rosy face, always suggestive of seed cake and plum pudding, flushed +with exertion, her sleeves tucked up and her arms buried in a large +wooden bowl of dough, which she said was going to be made into loaves +of 'lection cake, as Carrie was to have a party to-morrow, and I had +come just in time to carry invitations to my sisters. + +Carrie was in the parlor, and attracted by the sound of music, I drew +near the door, when Aunt Eunice kindly bade me enter. I did so, and +was presented to Monsieur Penoyer. At first I was shy of him, for I +remembered that Sally had said, "he don't know nothin'," and this in +my estimation was the worst crime of which he could be guilty. +Gradually my timidity gave way, and when, at Carrie's request, he +played and sang for me, I was perfectly delighted, although I +understood not a word he said. + +When he finished Carrie told him I was a little poet, and then +repeated some foolish lines I had once written about her eyes. It was +a very handsome set of teeth which he showed, as he said, +"_Magnifique! Tree bien!_ She be another grand _Dr. Wattts!_" + +I knew not who Dr. Watts was, but on one point my mind was made +up--Monsieur Penoyer knew a great deal! Ere I left Carrie commissioned +me to invite my sisters to her party on the morrow, and as I was +leaving the room Mr. Penoyer said, "_Ma chere,_ Carrie, why vous no +invite a petite girl!" + +Accordingly I was invited, with no earthly prospect, however, of +mother's letting me go. And she didn't either; so next day, after +Juliet and Anna were gone, I went out behind the smokehouse and cried +until I got sleepy, and a headache too; then, wishing to make mother +think I had _run away_, I crept carefully up-stairs to Bill's room, +where I slept until Sally's sharp eyes ferreted me out, saying, "they +were all scared to death about me, and had looked for me high and +low," up in the garret and down in the well, I supposed. Concluding +they were plagued enough, I condescended to go down-stairs, and have +my head bathed in camphor and my feet parboiled in hot water; then I +went to bed and dreamed of white teeth, curling mustaches and "_Parlez +vous Francais_." + +Of what occurred at the party I will tell you as was told to me. All +the _elite_ of Rice Corner were there, of course, and as each new +arrival entered the parlor, M. Penoyer eyed them coolly through an +opera glass. Sister Anna returned his inspection with the worst face +she could well make up, for which I half-blamed her and half didn't, +as I felt sure I should have done the same under like circumstances. + +When all the invited guests had arrived except myself (alas, no one +asked why I tarried), there ensued an awkward silence, broken only by +the parrot-like chatter of M. Penoyer, who seemed determined to talk +nothing but French, although Carrie understood him but little better +than did the rest. At last he was posted up to the piano. + +"_Mon Dieu_, it be von horrid tone," said he; then off he dashed into +a galloping waltz, keeping time with his head, mouth, and eyes, which +threatened to leave their sockets and pounce upon the instrument. +Rattlety-bang went the piano--like lightning went monsieur's fingers, +first here, then there, right or wrong, hit or miss, and oftener miss +than hit--now alighting among the keys promiscuously, then with a +tremendous thump making all bound again--and finishing up with a +flourish, which snapped two strings and made all the rest groan in +sympathy, as did the astonished listeners. For a time all was still, +and then a little modest girl, Lily Gordon, her face blushing crimson, +said: + +"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but haven't you taught music?" + +The veins in his forehead swelled, as, darting a wrathful look at poor +Lily, he exclaimed, "_Le Diabel!_ vat vous take me for? Von dem +musique teacher, eh?" + +Poor Lily tried to stammer her apologies, while Carrie sought to +soothe the enraged Frenchman by saying, that "Miss Gordon was merely +complimenting his skill in music." + +At this point the carriage which carried persons to and from the depot +drove up, and from it alighted a very small, genteel-looking lady, who +rapped at the door and asked, "if Captain Howard lived there." + +In a moment Carrie was half-stifling her with kisses, exclaiming, +"Dear Agnes, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not expect you so +soon." + +The lady called Agnes was introduced as Miss Hovey, a schoolmate of +Carrie's. She seemed very much disposed to make herself at home, for, +throwing her hat in one place and her shawl in another, she seated +herself at the piano, hastily running over a few notes; then with a +gesture of impatience, she said, "Oh, horrid! a few more such sounds +would give me the vapors for a month; why don't you have it tuned?" + +Ere Carrie could reply Agnes' eyes lighted upon Penoyer, who, either +with or without design, had drawn himself as closely into a corner as +he well could. Springing up, she brought her little hands together +with energy, exclaiming, "Now, Heaven defend me, what fresh game +brought you here?" Then casting on Carrie an angry glance, she said, +in a low tone, "What does it mean? Why didn't you tell me?" + +Carrie drew nearer, and said coaxingly, "I didn't expect you so soon; +but never mind, he leaves to-morrow. For my sake treat him decently." + +The pressure which Agnes gave Carrie's hand seemed to say, "For your +sake I will, but for no other." Then turning to Penoyer, who had risen +to his feet, she said, respectfully, "I hardly expected to meet you +here, sir." + +Her tone and manner had changed. Penoyer knew it, and with the +coolest effrontery imaginable he came forward, bowing and scraping, +and saying, "_Comment vous portez-vous, mademoiselle. Je suis +perfaitement_ delighted to see you," at the same time offering her his +hand. + +All saw with what hauteur she declined it, but only one, and that was +Anna, heard her as she said, "Keep off, Penoyer; don't make a donkey +of yourself." It was strange, Anna said, "how far into his boots +Penoyer tried to draw himself," while at each fresh flash of Agnes' +keen black eyes, he winced, either from fear or sympathy. + +The restraint which had surrounded the little company gave way beneath +the lively sallies and sparkling wit of Agnes, who, instead of seeming +amazed at the country girls, was apparently as much at ease as though +she had been entertaining a drawing-room full of polished city belles. +When at last the party broke up, each and every one was in love with +the little Albany lady, although all noticed that Carrie seemed +troubled, watching Agnes narrowly; and whenever she saw her +_tete-a-tete_ with either of her companions she would instantly draw +near, and seemed greatly relieved on finding that Penoyer was not the +subject of conversation. + +"I told you so," was grandmother's reply, when informed of all this. +"I told you so. I knew Car'line warn't going to make out no great." + +Juliet and Anna thought so too, but this did not prevent them from +running to the windows next morning to see Penoyer as he passed on his +way to the cars. I, who with Lizzie was tugging away at a big board +with which we thought to make a "see-saw," was honored with a graceful +wave of monsieur's hands, and the words, "_Au revoir, ma chere +Marie_." + +That day Phoebe, Aunt Eunice's hired girl, came to our house. +Immediately Juliet and Anna assailed her a multitude of questions. The +amount of knowledge obtained was that "Miss Hovey was a lady, and no +mistake, for she had sights of silks and jewelry, and she that morning +went with Phoebe to see her milk, although she didn't dare venture +inside the yard. But," added Phoebe, "for all she was up so early she +did not come out to breakfast until that gentleman was gone." + +This was fresh proof that Penoyer was not _comme il faut_, and Anna +expressed her determination to find out all about him ere Agnes went +home. _I_ remembered "_Dr. Watts_" and the invitation to the party, +and secretly hoped she would find out nothing bad. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +COUSIN EMMA. + + +Agnes had been in town about two weeks, when my home was one morning +thrown into a state of unusual excitement by the arrival of a letter +from Boston, containing the intelligence that Cousin Emma Rushton, who +had been an invalid for more than a year, was about to try the effect +of country life and country air. + +This piece of news operated differently upon different members of our +family. Juliet exclaimed, "Good, good; Carrie Howard won't hold her +head quite so high now, for we shall have a city lady, too." Anna was +delighted, because she would thus have an opportunity of acquiring +city manners and city fashions. Sally said snappishly, "There's enough +to wait on now, without having a stuck-up city flirt, faintin' at the +sight of a worm, and screechin' if a fly comes toward her." Mother had +some misgivings on the subject. She was perfectly willing Emma should +come, but she doubted our ability to entertain her, knowing that the +change would be great from a fashionable city home to a country +farmhouse. Grandmother, who loved to talk of "my daughter in the +city," was pleased, and to console mother, said: + +"Never you mind, Fanny, leave her to me; you find victuals and drink, +and I'll do the entertaining." + +Among so many opinions it was hard for me to arrive at a conclusion. +On the whole, however, I was glad, until told that during Cousin +Emma's stay our garret gambols must be given up, and that I must not +laugh loud, or scarcely speak above a whisper, for she was sick, and +it would hurt her head. Then I wished Cousin Emma and Cousin Emma's +head would stay where they belonged. + +The letter was received on Monday, but Emma would not come until +Thursday; so there was ample time for "fixing up." The parlor-chamber +was repapered, the carpet taken up and shaken, red and white curtains +hung at the windows, a fresh ball of Castile soap bought for the +washstand, and on Thursday morning our pretty flower beds were shorn +of their finest ornaments with which to make bouquets for the parlor +and parlor-chamber. Besides that, Sally had filled the pantry with +cakes, pies, gingerbread, and Dutch cheese, to the last of which I +fancied Emma's city taste would not take kindly. Then there was in the +cellar a barrel of fresh beer; so everything was done which could be +expected. + +When I went home for my dinner that day I teased hard to be allowed to +stay out of school for one afternoon, but mother said "No," although +she suffered me to wear my pink gingham, with sundry injunctions "not +to burst the hooks and eyes all off before night." This, by the way, +was my besetting sin; I never could climb a tree, no matter what the +size might be without invariably coming down minus at least six hooks +and eyes; but I seriously thought I should get over it when I got +older and joined the church. + +That afternoon seemed of interminable length, but at last I saw +father's carriage coming, and quick as thought I threw my grammar out +of the window; after which I demurely asked "to go out and get a book +which I had dropped." Permission was granted and I was out just in +time to courtesy straight down, as father pointing to me, said: +"There, that's our little crazy Mollie," and then I got a glimpse of a +remarkably sweet face, which made the tears come in my eyes, it was so +pale. + +Perhaps I wronged our school-teacher; I think I did, for she has since +died; but really I fancied she kept us longer that night on purpose. +At least, it was nearly five before we were dismissed. Then, with my +bonnet in hand, I ran for home, falling down once and bursting off the +lower hook! I entered the house with a bound, but was quieted by +grandmother, who said Emma was lying down, and I mustn't disturb her. + +After waiting some time for her to make her appearance, I stole softly +up the stairs and looked in where she was. She saw me, and instantly +rising, said with a smile that went to my heart: + +"And this must be Mary, the little crazy girl; come and kiss your +Cousin Emma." + +Twining my arms around her neck, I think I must have cried, for she +repeatedly asked me what was the matter, and as I could think of no +better answer, I at last told her "I didn't like to have folks call me +_crazy_. I couldn't help acting like _Sal Furbush_, the old crazy +woman, who threatened to toss us up in the umbrella." + +"Forgive me, darling," said Emma coaxingly; "I will not do it again;" +then stooping down, she looked intently into my eyes, soliloquizing, +"Yes, it is wrong to tell her so." + +In a few moments I concluded Emma was the most beautiful creature in +the world; I would not even except Carrie Howard. Emma's features were +perfectly regular, and her complexion white and pure as alabaster. Her +hair, which was a rich auburn, lay around her forehead in thick waves, +but her great beauty consisted in her lustrous blue eyes, which were +very large and dark. When she was pleased they laughed, and when she +was sad they were sad too. Her dress was a white muslin wrapper, +confined at the waist by a light blue ribbon, while one of the same +hue encircled her neck, and was fastened by a small gold pin, which, +with the exception of the costly diamond ring on her finger, was the +only ornament she wore. + +When supper was ready I proudly led her to the dining-room, casting a +look of triumph at Juliet and Anna, and feeling, it may be, a _trifle_ +above grandmother, who said, "Don't be troublesome, child." + +How grateful I was when Emma answered for me, "She doesn't trouble me +in the least; I am very fond of children." + +Indeed, she seemed to be very fond of everybody and everything--all +except Sally's Dutch cheese, which, as I expected, she hardly +relished. In less than three days she was beloved by all the +household, Billy whispering to me confidentially that "never before +had he seen any one except _mother_, whom he would like to marry." + +Saturday afternoon Carrie and Agnes called on Emma, and as I saw them +together I fancied I had never looked on three more charming faces. +They appeared mutually pleased with each other, too, although for some +reason there seemed to be more affinity between Emma and Agnes. Carrie +appeared thoughtful and absent-minded, which made Anna joke her about +her "lover, Penoyer." As she was about leaving the room she made no +reply, but after she was gone Agnes looked searchingly at Anna and +said: + +"Is it possible, Miss Anna, that you are so mistaken?" + +"How--why?" asked Emma. "Is Penoyer a bad man? What is his +occupation?" + +"His occupation is well enough," returned Agnes. "I would not think +less of him for that, were he right in other respects. However, he was +Carrie's and my own music teacher." + +"Impossible," said Anna, but at that moment Carrie reentered the room, +and, together with Agnes, soon took her leave. + +"Penoyer a music teacher, after all his anger at Lily Gordon for +suggesting such an idea!" This was now the theme of Juliet and Anna, +although they wondered what there was so _bad_ about him--something, +evidently, from Agnes' manner, and for many days they puzzled their +brains in vain to solve the mystery. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +RICHARD EVELYN AND HARLEY ASHMORE. + + +Emma had not long been with us ere her fame reached the little +"village over the river," and drew from thence many calls, both from +gentlemen and ladies. Among these was a Mr. Richard Evelyn and his +sister, both of whom had the honor of standing on the topmost round of +the aristocratic ladder in the village. Mr. Evelyn, who was nearly +thirty years of age, was a wealthy lawyer, and what is a little +remarkable for that craft (I speak from experience), to an unusual +degree of intelligence and polish of manners, he added many social and +_religious_ qualities. Many kind hearted mothers, who had on their +hands good-for-nothing daughters, wondered how he managed to live +without a wife, but he seemed to think it the easiest thing in nature, +for, since the death of his parents, his sister Susan had acted in the +capacity of his housekeeper. + +I have an idea that grandmother, whose disposition was slightly spiced +with a love for match-making, bethought herself how admirably Mr. +Evelyn and Emma were suited for each other; for after his calls became +frequent I heard her many times slyly hint of the possibility of our +being able to keep Emma in town always. _She_ probably did not think +so; for each time after being teased, she repaired to her room and +read for the twentieth time some ominous-looking letters which she had +received since being with as. + +It was now three weeks since she came, and each day she had gained in +health and strength. Twice had she walked to the woods, accompanied by +Mr. Evelyn, once to the schoolhouse, while every day she swung under +the old maple. About this time Agnes began to think of returning +home, so Juliet and Anna determined on a party in honor of her and +Emma. It was a bright summer afternoon; and for a wonder I was +suffered to remain from school, although I received numerous charges +to keep my tongue still, and was again reminded of that excellent old +proverb (the composition of some old maid, I know), "_Children_ should +be seen and not heard;" so, seated in a corner, my hand pressed +closely over my mouth, the better to guard against contingencies, I +looked on and thought, with ineffable satisfaction, how much handsomer +Cousin Emma was than any one else, although I could not help +acknowledging that Carrie never looked more beautiful than she did +that afternoon in a neatly-fitting white muslin, with a few rosebuds +nestling in her long, glossy curls. + +Matters were going on swimmingly, and I had three times ventured a +remark, when Anna, who was sitting near the window, exclaimed, "Look +here, girls, did you ever see a finer-looking gentleman?" at the same +time calling their attention to a stranger in the street. Emma looked, +too, and the bright flush which suffused her cheek made me associate +the gentleman with the letters she had received, and I was not +surprised when he entered our yard and knocked at our door. Juliet +arose to answer his summons, but Emma prevented her, saying; + +"Suffer me to go, will you?" + +She was gone some time, and when she returned was accompanied by the +stranger, whom she introduced as Mr. Ashmore. I surveyed him with +childish curiosity, and drew two very satisfactory breaths when I saw +that he was wholly unlike Monsieur Penoyer. He was a very fine-looking +man, but I did not exactly like the expression of his face. It was +hardly open enough to suit me, and I noticed that he never looked you +directly in the eye. In five minutes I had come to the conclusion that +he was not half so good a man as Mr. Evelyn. I was in great danger, +however, of changing my mind, when I saw how fondly his dark eye +rested on Emma, and how delighted he seemed to be at her improved +health; and when he, without any apparent exertion, kept the whole +company entertained, I was charmed, and did not blame Emma for liking +him. Anna's doctor was nothing to him, and I even fancied that he +would dare to go _all alone_ to the old mine! + +Suddenly he faced about, and espying me in the corner, he said, "Here +is a little lady I've not seen. Will some one introduce me?" + +With the utmost gravity Anna said, "It is my sister, little crazy +Jane." + +I glanced quickly at him to see how he would receive the intelligence, +and when, looking inquiringly first at me and then at Emma, he said, +"Is it really so? what a pity!" the die was cast--I never liked him +again. That night in my little low bed, long after Lizzie was asleep, +I wept bitterly, wondering what made Anna so unkind, and why people +called me crazy. I knew I looked like other children, and I thought I +acted like them, too; unless, indeed, I climbed more trees, tore more +dresses, and burst off more hooks. + +But to return to the party. After a time I thought that Mr. Ashmore's +eyes went over admiringly to Carrie more frequently than was +necessary, and for once I regretted that she was so pretty. Ere long, +Mr. Ashmore, too, went over, and immediately there ensued between +himself and Carrie a lively conversation, in which she adroitly +managed to let him know that she had been three years at school in +Albany. The next thing that I saw was that he took from her curls a +rosebud and appropriated it to his buttonhole. I glanced at Emma to +see how she was affected, but her face was perfectly calm, and wore +the old sweet smile. When the young ladies were about leaving, I was +greatly shocked to see Mr. Ashmore offer to accompany Carrie and Agnes +home. + +After they were gone grandmother said, "Emma, if I's you, I'd put a +stop to that chap's flirtin' so with Car'line Howard." + +Emma laughed gaily as she replied, "Oh, grandma, I can trust Harley; +I have been sick so long that he has the privilege of walking or +riding with anybody he pleases." + +Grandmother shook her head, saying, "It wasn't so with her and our +poor grandfather;" then I fell into a fit of musing as to whether +grandma was ever young, and if she ever fixed her hair before the +glass, as Anna did when she expected the doctor! In the midst of my +reverie Mr. Ashmore returned, and for the remainder of the evening +devoted himself so entirely to Emma that I forgave him for going home +with Carrie. Next day, however, he found the walk to Captain Howard's +a very convenient one, staying a long time, too. The next day it was +the same, and the next, and the next, until I fancied that even Emma +began to be anxious. + +Grandma was highly indignant, and Sally declared, "that, as true as +she lived and breathed, if Mike should serve her so, he'd catch it." +About this time Agnes went home. The evening before she left she spent +at our house with Emma, of whom she seemed to be very fond. Carrie and +Ashmore were, as usual, out riding or walking, and the conversation +naturally turned upon them. At last, Anna, whose curiosity was still +on the alert to know something of Penoyer, asked Agnes of him. I will +repeat, in substance, what Agnes said. + +It seems that for many years Penoyer had been a teacher of music in +Albany. Agnes was one of his pupils, and while teaching her music he +thought proper to fall overwhelmingly in love with her. This for a +time she did not notice; but when his attentions became so pointed as +to become a subject of remark, she very coolly tried to make him +understand his position. He persevered, however, until he became +exceedingly impudent and annoying. + +About this time there came well-authenticated stories of his being not +only a professed gambler, but also very dissipated in his habits. To +this last charge Agnes could testify, as his breath had frequently +betrayed him. He was accordingly dismissed. Still he perseveringly +pursued her, always managing, if possible, to get near her in all +public places, and troubling her in various ways. + +At last Agnes heard that he was showing among her acquaintances two +notes bearing her signature. The contents of these notes he covered +with his hand, exposing to view only her name. She had twice written, +requesting him to purchase some new piece of music, and it was these +messages which he was now showing, insinuating that Agnes thought +favorably of him, but was opposed by her father. The consequence of +this was, that the next time Agnes' brother met Penoyer in the street, +he gave him a sound caning, ordering him, under pain of a worse +flogging, never again to mention his sister's name. This he was +probably more willing to do, as he had already conceived a great +liking for Carrie, who was silly enough to be pleased with and suffer +his attentions. + +"I wonder, though, that Carrie allowed him to visit her," said Agnes; +"but then I believe she is under some obligations to him, and dare not +refuse when he asked permission to come." + +If Agnes knew what these obligations were she did not tell, and +grandmother, who, during the narration had knit with unwonted speed, +making her needles rattle again, said, "It's plain to me that Caroline +let him come to make folks think she had got a city beau." + +"Quite likely," returned Agnes; "Carrie is a sad flirt, but I think, +at least, that she should not interfere with other people's rights." + +Here my eye followed hers to Emma, who, I thought, was looking a +little paler. Just then Carrie and Ashmore came in, and the latter +throwing himself upon the sofa by the side of Emma, took her hand +caressingly, saying, "How are you to-night, my dear?" + +"Quite well," was her quiet reply, and soon after, under pretense of +moving from the window, she took a seat across the room. That night +Mr. Ashmore accompanied Carrie and Agnes home, and it was at a much +later hour than usual that old Rover first growled and then whined as +he recognized our visitor. + +The next morning Emma was suffering from a severe headache, which +prevented her from appearing at breakfast. Mr. Ashmore seemed somewhat +disturbed, and made many anxious inquiries about her. At dinner-time +she was well enough to come, and the extreme kindness of Mr. Ashmore's +manner called a deep glow to her cheek. After dinner, however, he +departed for a walk, taking his accustomed road toward Captain +Howard's. + +When I returned from school he was still absent, and as Emma was quite +well, she asked me to accompany her to my favorite resort, the old +rock beneath the grapevine. We were soon there, and for a long time we +sat watching the shadows as they came and went upon the bright green +grass, and listening to the music of the brook, which seemed to me to +sing more sadly than it was wont to do. + +Suddenly our ears were arrested by the sound of voices, which we knew +belonged to Mr. Ashmore and Carrie. They were standing near us, just +behind a clump of alders, and Carrie, in reply to something Mr. +Ashmore had said, answered, "Oh, you can't be in earnest, for you have +only known me ten days, and beside that, what have you done with your +pale, sick lady?" + +Instantly I started up, clinching my fist in imitation of brother +Billy when he was angry, but Cousin Emma's arm was thrown convulsively +around me, as drawing me closely to her side she whispered, "Keep +quiet." + +I did keep quiet, and listened while Mr. Ashmore replied, "I entertain +for Miss Rushton the highest esteem, for I know she possesses many +excellent qualities. Once I thought I loved her (how tightly Emma held +me), but she has been sick a long time, and somehow I cannot marry an +invalid. Whether she ever gets well is doubtful, and even if she +does, after having seen you, she can be nothing to me. And yet I like +her, and when I am alone with her I almost fancy I love her, but one +look at your sparkling, healthy face drives her from my mind--" + +The rest of what he said I could not hear, neither did I understand +Carrie's answer, but his next words were distinct, "My dear Carrie +forever." + +I know the brook stopped running, or at least I did not hear it. The +sun went down; the birds went to rest; Mr. Ashmore and Carrie went +home; and still I sat there by the side of Emma, who had lain her head +in my lap, and was so still and motionless that the dread fear came +over me that she might be dead. I attempted to lift her up, saying, +"Cousin Emma, speak to me, won't you?" but she made me no answer, and +another ten minutes went by. By this time the stars had come out and +were looking quietly down upon us. The waters of the mill-dam chanted +mournfully, and in my disordered imagination, fantastic images danced +before the entrance of the old mine. Half-crying with fear, I again +laid my hand on Emma's head. Her hair was wet with the heavy night +dews, and my eyes were wet with something else, as I said, "Oh, Emma, +speak to me, for I am afraid and want to go home." + +This roused her, and lifting up her head I caught a glimpse of a face +of so startling whiteness that, throwing my arms around her neck, I +cried, "Oh, Emma, dear Emma, don't look so. I love you a great deal +better than I do Carrie Howard, and so I am sure does Mr. Evelyn." + +I don't know how I chanced to think of Mr. Evelyn, but he recurred to +me naturally enough. All thoughts of him, however, were soon driven +from my mind by the sound of Emma's voice as she said, "Mollie, +darling, can you keep a secret?" + +I didn't think I could, as I never had been intrusted with one, so I +advised her to give it to Anna, who was very fond of them. But she +said, "I am sure you can do it, Mollie. Promise me that you will not +tell them at home what you have seen or heard." + +I promised, and then in my joy at owning a secret, I forgot the little +figures which waltzed back and forth before the old mine, I forgot the +woods through which we passed, nor was the silence broken until we +reached the lane. Then I said, "What shall we tell the folks when they +ask where we have been?" + +"Leave that to me," answered Emma. + +As we drew near the house we met grandmother, Juliet, Anna and Sally, +all armed and equipped for a general hunt. We were immediately +assailed with a score of questions as to what had kept us so long. I +looked to Emma for the answer, at the same time keeping my hand +tightly over my mouth for fear I should tell. + +"We found more things of interest than we expected," said Emma, +"consequently tarried longer than we should otherwise have done." + +"Why, how hoarse you be," said grandmother, while Sally continued, +"Starlight is a mighty queer time to see things in." + +"Some things look better by starlight," answered Emma; "but we stayed +longer than we ought to, for I have got a severe headache and must go +immediately to bed." + +"Have some tea first," said grandmother. + +"And some strawberries and cream," repeated Sally; but Emma declined +both and went at once to her room. + +Mr. Ashmore did not come home until late that night, for I was awake +and heard him stumbling up-stairs in the dark. I remember, too, of +having experienced the very benevolent wish that he would break his +neck! As I expected, Emma did not make her appearance at the breakfast +table, but about ten she came down to the parlor and asked to see Mr. +Ashmore alone. Of what occurred during that interval I never knew, +except that at its close cousin looked very white, and Mr. Ashmore +very black, notwithstanding which he soon took his accustomed walk to +Captain Howard's. He was gone about three hours, and on his return +announced his intention of going to Boston in the afternoon train. No +one opposed him, for all were glad to have him go. + +Just before he left, grandmother, who knew all was not right, said to +him: "Young man, I wish you well; but mind what I say, you'll get your +pay yet for the capers you've cut here." + +"I beg your pardon, madam," he returned, with much more emphasis on +_madam_ than was at all necessary, "I beg your pardon, but I think she +has cut the capers; at least she dismissed me of her own accord." + +I thought of what I had heard, but 'twas a secret, so I kept it +safely, although I almost bit my tongue off in my zealous efforts. +After Ashmore was gone, Emma, who had taken a violent cold the evening +before, took her bed, and was slightly ill for nearly a week. Almost +every day Mr. Evelyn called to see how she was, always bringing her a +fresh bouquet of flowers. On Thursday, Carrie called, bringing Emma +some ice-cream which Aunt Eunice had made. She did not ask to see her, +but before she left she asked Anna if she did not wish to buy her old +piano. + +"What will you do without it?" asked Anna. + +"Oh," said Carrie, "I cannot use two. I have got a new one." + +The stocking dropped from grandmother's hand as she exclaimed: "What +is the world a-comin' to! Got two pianners! Where'd you get 'em?" + +"My new one was a present, and came from Boston," answered Carrie, +with the utmost _sang froid_. + +"You don't say Ashmore sent it to you! How much did it cost?" asked +grandma. + +"Mr. Ashmore wrote that it cost three hundred and fifty dollars," was +Carrie's reply. + +Grandmother was perfectly horror-stricken; but desirous of making +Carrie feel as comfortable as possible, she said, "S'posin somebody +should tell him about Penoyer?" + +For an instant Carrie turned pale, as she said quickly, "What does any +one know about him to tell?" + +"A great deal--more than you think they do--yes, a great deal," was +grandma's answer. + +After that Carrie came _very_ frequently to see us, always bringing +something nice for Emma _or grandma_! + +Meanwhile Mr. Evelyn's visits continued, and when at last Emma could +see him I was sure that she received him more kindly than she ever had +before. "That'll go yet," was grandma's prediction. But her scheming +was cut short by a letter from Emma's father, requesting her immediate +return. Mr. Evelyn, who found he had business which required his +presence in Worcester, was to accompany her thus far. It was a sad day +when she left us, for she was a universal favorite. Sally cried, I +cried, and Bill either cried or made believe, for he very +industriously wiped his eyes and nasal organ on his shirt sleeves: +besides that, things went on wrong side up generally. Grandma was +cross--Sally was cross--and the school-teacher was cross; the bucket +fell into the well, and the cows got into the corn. I got called up at +school and set with some hateful boys, one of whom amused himself by +pricking me with a pin, and when, in self-defense, I gave him a good +pinch, he actually yelled out: "She keeps a-pinchin' me!" On the +whole, 'twas a dreadful day, and when at night I threw myself +exhausted upon my little bed I cried myself to sleep, thinking of +Cousin Emma and wishing she would come back. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MIKE AND SALLY. + + +I have spoken of Sally, but have said nothing of Mike, whom, of all my +father's hired men, I liked the best. He it was who made the best +cornstalk fiddles, and whittled out the shrillest whistles with which +to drive grandma "ravin' distracted." He, too, it was who, on cold +winter mornings, carried Lizzie to school in his arms, making me +forget how my fingers ached, by telling some exploit of _his_ +schooldays. + +I do not wonder that Sally liked him, and I always had an idea how +that liking would end, but did not think it would be so soon. +Consequently I suspected nothing when Sally's white dress was bleached +on the grass in the clothesyard for nearly a week. One day Billy came +to me with a face full of wonder, saying he had just overheard Mike +tell one of the men that he and Sally were going to be married in a +few weeks. + +I knew now what all that bleaching was for, and why Sally bought so +much cotton lace of pedlers. I was in ecstasies, too, for I had never +seen anyone married, but regretted the circumstance, whatever it might +have been, which prevented me from being present at mother's marriage. +Like many other children I have been deceived into the belief that the +marriage ceremony consisted mainly in leaping the broomstick, and by +myself I had frequently tried the experiment, delighted to find that I +could jump it at almost any distance from the ground; but I had some +misgivings as to Sally's ability to clear the stick, for she was +rather clumsy; however, I should see the fun, for they were to be +married at our house. + +A week before the time appointed mother was taken very ill, which +made it necessary that the wedding should be postponed, or take place +somewhere else. To the first Mike would not hear, and as good old +Parson S----, whose sermons were never more than two hours long, came +regularly every Sunday night to preach in the schoolhouse, Mike +proposed that they be married there. Sally did not like this exactly, +but grandmother, who now ruled the household, said it was just the +thing, and accordingly it took place there. + +The house was filled full, and those who could not obtain seats took +their station near the windows. Our party was early, but I was three +times compelled to relinquish my seat in favor of more distinguished +persons, and I began to think that if any one was obliged to go home +for want of room, it would be me; but I resolutely determined not to +go. I'd climb the chestnut tree first! At last I was squeezed on a +high desk between two old ladies, wearing two old black bonnets, their +breath sufficiently tinctured with tobacco smoke to be very +disagreeable to me, whose olfactories chanced to be rather +aristocratic than otherwise. + +To my horror Father S---- concluded to give us the sermon before he +did the bride. He was afraid some of his audience would leave. +Accordingly there ensued a prayer half an hour long, after which eight +verses of a long meter psalm were sung to the tune of Windham. By this +time I gave a slight sign to the two old ladies that I would like to +move, but they merely shook their two black bonnets at me, telling me, +in fierce whispers, that "I mustn't stir in meetin'." Mustn't stir! I +wonder how I could stir, squeezed in as I was, unless they chose to +let me. So I sat bolt upright, looking straight ahead at a point where +the tips of my red shoes were visible, for my feet were sticking +straight out. + +All at once my attention was drawn to a spider on the wall, who was +laying a net for a fly, and in watching his maneuvers I forgot the +lapse of time, until Father S---- had passed his sixthly and +seventhly, and was driving furiously away at the eighthly. By this +time the spider had caught the fly, whose cries sounded to me like +the waters of the sawmill; the tips of my red shoes looked like the +red berries which grew near the mine; the two old ladies at my side +were transformed into two tall black walnut trees, while I seemed to +be sliding down-hill. + +At this juncture, one of the old ladies moved away from me a foot at +least (she could have done so before had she chosen to), and I was +precipitated off from the bench, striking my head on the sharp corner +of a seat below. It was a dreadful blow which I received, making the +blood gush from my nostrils. My loud screams brought matters to a +focus, and the sermon to an end. My grandmother and one of the old +ladies took me and the water pail outdoors, where I was literally +deluged; at the same time they called me "Poor girl! Poor Mollie! +Little dear," etc. + +But while they were attending to my bumped head Mike and Sally were +married, and I didn't see it after all! 'Twas too bad! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BRIDE. + + +After Sally's marriage there occurred at our house an interval of +quiet, enlivened occasionally by letters from Cousin Emma, whose +health was not as much improved by her visit to the country as she had +at first hoped it would be; consequently she proposed spending the +winter south. Meantime, from Boston letters came frequently to Carrie +Howard, and as the autumn advanced, things within and about her +father's house foretold some unusual event. Two dressmakers were hired +from the village, and it was stated, on good authority, that among +Carrie's wardrobe was a white satin and an elegantly embroidered +merino traveling-dress. + +Numerous were the surmises of Juliet and Anna as to who and how many +would be invited to the wedding. All misgivings concerning themselves +were happily brought to an end a week before the time, for there came +to our house handsome cards of invitation for Juliet and Anna, and--I +could scarcely believe my eyes--there was one for me too. For this I +was indebted to Aunt Eunice, who had heard of and commiserated my +misfortunes at Sally's wedding. + +I was sorry that my invitation came so soon, for I had but little hope +that the time would ever come. It did, however, and so did Mr. Ashmore +and Agnes. As soon as dinner was over I commenced my toilet, although +the wedding was not to take place until eight that evening; but then I +believed, as I do now, in being ready in season. Oh, how slowly the +hours passed, and at last in perfect despair I watched my opportunity +to set the clock forward when no one saw me. For this purpose I put +the footstool in a chair, and mounting, was about to move the long +hand, when-- + +But I always was the most unfortunate of mortals, so it was no wonder +that at this point the chair slipped, the stool slipped, and I +slipped. I caught at the clock to save myself; consequently both clock +and I came to the floor with a terrible crash. My first thought was +for the hooks and eyes, which undoubtedly were scattered with the +fragments of the clock, but fortunately every hook was in its place, +and only one eye was straightened. I draw a veil over the scolding +which I got, and the numerous threats that I should stay at home. + +As the clock was broken we had no means for judging of the time, and +thus we were among the first who arrived at Captain Howard's. This +gave Juliet and Anna an opportunity of telling Agnes of my mishap. She +laughed heartily, and then immediately changing the subject she +inquired after Cousin Emma, and when we had heard from her. After +replying to these questions Anna asked Agnes about Penoyer, and when +she had seen him. + +"Don't mention it," said Agnes, "but I have a suspicion that he +stopped yesterday at the depot when I did. I may have been mistaken, +for I was looking after my baggage and only caught a glimpse of him. +If it were he his presence bodes no good." + +"Have you told Carrie?" asked Juliet. + +"No, I have not. She seems so nervous whenever he is mentioned," was +Agnes' reply. + +I thought of the obligations once referred to by Agnes, and felt that +I should breathe more freely when Carrie really was married. Other +guests now began to arrive, and we who had fixed long enough before +the looking-glass repaired to the parlor below. Bill, who saw Sally +married, had convinced me that the story of the broomstick was a +falsehood, so I was prepared for its absence, but I wondered then, not +more than I do now, why grown-up people shouldn't be whipped for +telling untruths to children as well as children for telling untruths +to grown-up people. + +The parlor was now rapidly filling, and I was in great danger of being +thrust into the corner, where I could see nothing, when Aunt Eunice +very benevolently drew me near her, saying I should see if no one else +did. At last Mr. Ashmore and Carrie came. Anna can tell you exactly +what she wore, but I cannot. I only know that she looked most +beautifully, though I have a vague recollection of fancying that in +the making of her dress the sleeves were forgotten entirely, and the +neck nearly so. + +The marriage ceremony commenced, and I listened breathlessly, but this +did not prevent me from hearing some one enter the house by the +kitchen door. Aunt Eunice heard it, too, and when the minister began +to say something about Mrs. Ashmore she arose and went out. Something +had just commenced, I think they called them congratulations, when the +crowd around the door began to huddle together in order to make room +for some person to enter. I looked up and saw Penoyer, his glittering +teeth now partially disclosed, looking a very little fiendish, I +thought. Carrie saw him, too, and instantly turned as white as the +satin dress she wore, while Agnes, who seemed to have some suspicion +of his errand, exclaimed, "Impudent scoundrel!" At the same time +advancing forward, she laid her hand upon his arm. + +He shook it off lightly, saying, "_Pardonnez moi, ma chere_; I've no +come to trouble you." Then turning to Ashmore he said, pointing to +Carrie, "She be your wife, I take it?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Ashmore haughtily. "Have you any objections? If so +they have come too late." + +"Not von, not in the least, no sar," said the Frenchman, bowing nearly +to the floor. "It give me one grand plaisir; so now you will please +settle von leetle bill I have against her;" at the same time he drew +from his pocket a sheet of half-worn paper. + +Carrie, who was leaning heavily against Mr. Ashmore instantly sprang +forward and endeavored to snatch the paper, saying half-imploringly, +"Don't, Penoyer, you know my father will pay it." + +But Penoyer passed it to Mr. Ashmore, while Captain Howard, coming +forward, said, "Pay what? What is all this about?" + +"Only a trifle," said Penoyer; "just a bill for giving your daughter +musique lessons three years in Albany." + +"You give my daughter music lessons?" demanded Captain Howard. + +"_Oui_, monsieur, I do that same thing," answered Penoyer. + +"Oh, Carrie, Carrie," said Captain Howard, in his surprise forgetting +the time and place, "why did you tell me that your knowledge of music +you acquired yourself, with the assistance of your cousin, and a +little help from her music teacher; and why, when this man was here a +few months ago, did you not tell me he was your music teacher and had +not been paid?" + +Bursting into tears Carrie answered, "Forgive me, father, but he said +he had no bill against me; he made no charge." + +"But she gave me von big, large mitten," said the Frenchman, "when she +see this man, who has more l'argent; but no difference, no difference, +sar, this gentleman," bowing toward Ashmore, "parfaitement delighted +to pay it." + +Whether he were delighted or not, he did pay it, for drawing from his +pocket his purse, while his large black eyes emitted gleams of fire, +he counted out the required amount, one hundred and twenty-five +dollars; then confronting Penoyer, he said fiercely, "Give me a +receipt for this instantly, after which I will take it upon me to show +you the door." + +"Certainement, certainement, all I want is my l'argent," said Penoyer. + +The money was paid, the receipt given, and then, as Penoyer hesitated +a moment, Ashmore said, "Are you waiting to be helped out, sir?" + +"No, monsieur, si vous plait, I have tree letters from madam, which +will give you one grande satisfaction to read." Then tossing toward +Ashmore the letters, with a malicious smile he left the house. + +Poor Carrie! When sure that he was gone she fainted away and was +carried from the room. At supper, however, she made her appearance, +and after that was over the guests, unopposed, left _en masse_. + +What effect Penoyer's disclosures had on Ashmore we never exactly +knew, but when, a few days before the young couple left home, they +called at our house, we all fancied that Carrie was looking more +thoughtful than usual, while a cloud seemed to be resting on Ashmore's +brow. The week following their marriage they left for New York, where +they were going to reside. During the winter Carrie wrote home +frequently, giving accounts of the many gay and fashionable parties +which she attended, and once in a letter to Anna she wrote, "The +flattering attentions which I receive have more than, once made +Ashmore jealous." + +Two years from the time they were married Mrs. Ashmore was brought +back to her home a pale, faded invalid, worn out by constant +dissipation and the care of a sickly baby, so poor and blue that even +I couldn't bear to touch it. Three days after their arrival Mr. Evelyn +brought to us his bride, Cousin Emma, blooming with health and beauty. +I could scarcely believe that the exceedingly beautiful Mrs. Evelyn +was the same white-faced girl who, two years before, had sat with me +beneath the old grapevine. + +The day after she came I went with her to visit Carrie, who, the +physicians said, was in a decline. I had not seen her before since her +return, and on entering the sick-room, I was as much surprised at her +haggard face, sunken eyes, and sallow skin, as was Mr. Ashmore at the +appearance of Emma. "Is it possible," said he, coming forward, "is it +possible, Emma--Mrs. Evelyn, that you have entirely recovered?" + +I remembered what he had once said about "invalid wives," and I feared +that the comparison he was evidently making would not be very +favorable toward Carrie. We afterward learned, however, that he was +the kindest of husbands, frequently walking half the night with his +crying baby, and at other times trying to soothe his nervous wife, who +was sometimes very irritable. + +Before we left Carrie drew Emma closely to her and said, "They tell me +I probably shall never get well, and now, while I have time, I wish to +ask your forgiveness for the great wrong I once did you." + +"How? When?" asked Emma quickly, and Carrie contined: + +"When first I saw him who is my husband, I determined to leave no +means untried to secure him for myself; I knew you were engaged, but I +fancied that your ill-health annoyed him, and played my part well. You +know how I succeeded, but I am sure you forgive me, for you love Mr. +Evelyn quite as well, perhaps better." + +"Yes, far better," was Emma's reply, as she kissed Carrie's wan cheek; +then bidding her good-by she promised to call frequently during her +stay in town. She kept her word, and was often accompanied by Mr. +Evelyn, who strove faithfully and successfully, too, to lead into the +path of peace her whose days were well-nigh ended. + +'Twas on one of those bright days in the Indian summer time that +Carrie at last slept the sleep that knows no awakening. The evening +after the burial I went in at Captain Howard's, and all the animosity +I had cherished for Mr. Ashmore vanished when I saw the large tear +drops as they fell on the face of his motherless babe, whose wailing +cries he endeavored in vain to hush. When the first snowflakes came +they fell on a little mound, where by the side of her mother Mr. +Ashmore had laid his baby, Emma. + + Side by side they are sleeping, + In the grave's dark, dreamless bed; + While the willow boughs seem weeping, + As they bend above the dead. + +And now, dear reader, after telling you that, yielding to the +importunities of Emma's parents, Mr. Evelyn at last moved to the city, +where, if I mistake not, he is still living, my story is finished. But +do not, I pray you, think that these few pages contain all that I know +of the olden time: + + Oh no, far down in memory's well + Exhaustless stores remain, + From which, perchance, some future day + I'll weave a tale again. + + + + +THE GILBERTS; OR, RICE CORNER NUMBER TWO. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GILBERTS. + + +The spring following Carrie Howard's death Rice Corner was thrown into +a commotion by the astounding fact that Captain Howard was going out +West, and had sold his farm to a gentleman from the city, whose wife +"kept six servants, wore silk all the time, never went inside of the +kitchen, never saw a churn, breakfasted at ten, dined at three, and +had supper the next day!" + +Such was the story which Mercy Jenkins detailed to us early one Monday +morning, and then, eager to communicate so desirable a piece of news +to others of her acquaintance, she started off, stopping for a moment +as she passed the wash-room to see if Sally's clothes "wan't kinder +dingy and yaller." As soon as she was gone the astonishment of our +household broke forth, grandma wondering why Captain Howard wanted to +go to the ends of the earth, as she designated Chicago, their place of +destination, and what she should do without Aunt Eunice, who, having +been born on grandma's wedding day, was very dear to her, and then her +age was so easy to keep. But the best of friends must part, and when +at Mrs. Howard's last tea-drinking with us I saw how badly they all +felt, and how many tears were shed, I firmly resolved never to like +anybody but my own folks, unless, indeed, I made an exception in favor +of Tom Jenkins, who so often drew me to school on his sled, and who +made such comical-looking jack-o'-lanterns out of the big yellow +pumpkins. + +In reply to the numerous questions concerning Mr. Gilbert, the +purchaser of their farm, Mrs. Howard could only reply that he was very +wealthy and had got tired of living in the city; adding, further, that +he wore a "monstrous pair of musquitoes," had an evil-looking eye, +four children, smoked cigars, and was a lawyer by profession. This +last was all grandma wanted to know about him--"that told the whole +story," for there never was but _one_ decent lawyer, and that was Mr. +Evelyn, Cousin Emma's husband. Dear old lady! when, a few years ago, +she heard that I, her favorite grandchild, was to marry one of the +craft, she made another exception in his favor, saying that "if he +wasn't all straight, Mary would soon make him so!" + +Within a short time after Aunt Eunice's visit she left Rice Corner, +and on the same day wagon-load after wagon-load of Mr. Gilbert's +furniture passed our house, until Sally declared "there was enough to +keep a tavern, and she didn't see nothin' where they's goin to put +it," at the same time announcing her intention of "running down there +after dinner, to see what was going on." + +It will be remembered that Sally was now a married woman--"Mrs. +Michael Welsh;" consequently, mother, who lived with her instead of +her living with mother, did not presume to interfere with her much, +though she hinted pretty strongly that she "always liked to see people +mind their own affairs." But Sally was incorrigible. The dinner dishes +were washed with a whew, I was coaxed into sweeping the back +room--which I did, leaving the dirt under the broom behind the +door--while Mrs. Welsh, donning a pink calico, blue shawl, and bonnet +trimmed with dark green, started off on her prying excursion, +stopping by the roadside where Mike was making fence, and keeping him, +as grandma said, "full half an hour by the clock from his work." + +Not long after Sally's departure a handsome carriage, drawn by two +fine bay horses, passed our house; and as the windows were down we +could plainly discern a pale, delicate-looking lady, wrapped in +shawls, a tall, stylish-looking girl, another one about my own age and +two beautiful little boys. + +"That's the Gilberts, I know," said Anna. "Oh I'm so glad Sally's +gone, for now we shall have the full particulars;" and again we waited +as impatiently for Sally's return as we had once done before for +grandma. + +At last, to our great relief, the green ribbons and blue shawl were +descried in the distance, and ere long Sally was with us, ejaculating, +"Oh, my--mercy me!" etc., thus giving us an inkling of what was to +follow. "Of all the sights that ever I have seen," said she, folding +up the blue shawl, and smoothing down the pink calico. "There's +carpeting enough to cover every crack and crevice--all pure bristles, +too!" + +Here I tittered, whereupon Sally angrily retorted, that "she guessed +she knew how to talk proper, if she hadn't studied grarmar." + +"Never mind," said Anna, "go on; brussels carpeting and what else?" + +"Mercy knows what else," answered Sally. "I can't begin to guess the +names of half the things. There's mahogany, rosewood, and marble +fixin's--and in Miss Gilbert's room there's lace curtains and silk +damson ones--" + +A look from Anna restrained me this time, and Sally continued. + +"Mercy Jenkins is there, helpin', and she says Mr. Gilbert told 'em, +his wife never et a piece of salt pork in her life, and knew no more +how bread was made than a child two years old." + +"What a simple critter she must be," said grandma, while Anna asked +if she saw Mrs. Gilbert, and if that tall girl was her daughter. + +"Yes, I seen her," answered Sally, "and I guess she's weakly, for the +minit she got into the house she lay down on the sofa, which Mr. +Gilbert says cost seventy-five dollars. That tall, proud-lookin' thing +they call Miss Adaline, but I'll warrant you don't catch me puttin' on +the miss. I called her Adaline, and you had orto seen how her big eyes +looked at me. Says she, at last, 'Are you one of pa's new servants?" + +"'Servants!' says I, 'no indeed; I'm Mrs. Michael Welsh, one of your +nighest neighbors.' + +"Then I told her that there were two nice girls lived in the house +with me, and she'd better get acquainted with 'em right away; and then +with the hatefulest of all hateful laughs, she asked if 'they wore +glass beads and went barefoot.'" + +I fancied that neither Juliet nor Anna were greatly pleased at being +introduced by Sally, the housemaid, to the elegant Adaline Gilbert, +who had come to the country with anything but a favorable impression +of its inhabitants. The second daughter, the one about my own age, +Sally said they called Nellie; "and a nice, clever creature she is, +too--not a bit stuck up like t'other one. Why, I do believe she'd +walked every big beam in the barn before she'd been there half an +hour, and the last I saw of her she was coaxing a cow to lie still +while she got upon her back!" + +How my heart warmed toward the romping Nellie, and how I wondered if +after that beam-walking exploit her hooks and eyes were all in their +places! The two little boys, Sally said, were twins, Edward and +Egbert, or, as they were familiarly called, Bert and Eddie. This was +nearly all she had learned, if we except the fact that the family ate +with silver forks, and drank wine after dinner. This last, mother +pronounced heterodox, while I, who dearly loved the juice of the grape +and sometimes left finger marks on the top shelf, whither I had +climbed for a sip from grandma's decanter, secretly hoped I should +some day dine with Nellie Gilbert, and drink all the wine I wanted, +thinking how many times I'd rinse my mouth so mother shouldn't smell +my breath! + +In the course of a few weeks the affairs of the Gilbert family were +pretty generally canvassed in Rice Corner, Mercy Jenkins giving it as +her opinion that "Miss Gilbert was much the likeliest of the two, and +that Mr. Gilbert was cross, overbearing, and big feeling." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +NELLIE. + + +As yet I had only seen Nellie in the distance, and was about +despairing of making her acquaintance when accident threw her in my +way. Directly opposite our house, and just across along green meadow, +was a piece of woods which belonged to Mr. Gilbert, and there, one +afternoon early in May, I saw Nellie. I had seen her there before, but +never dared approach her; and now I divided my time between watching +her and a dense black cloud which had appeared in the west, and was +fast approaching the zenith. I was just thinking how nice it would be +if the rain should drive her to our house for shelter, when patter, +patter came the large drops in my face; thicker and faster they fell, +until it seemed like a perfect deluge; and through the almost blinding +sheet of rain I descried Nellie coming toward me at a furious rate. +With the agility of a fawn she bounded over the gate, and with the +exclamation of, "Ain't I wetter than a drownded rat?" we were +perfectly well acquainted. + +It took but a short time to divest her of her dripping garments, and +array her in some of mine, which Sally said "fitted her to a T," +though I fancied she looked sadly out of place in my linen pantalets +and long-sleeved dress. She was a great lover of fun and frolic, and +in less than half an hour had "ridden to Boston" on Joe's +rocking-horse, turned the little wheel faster than even I dared to +turn it, tried on grandma's stays, and then, as a crowning feat, tried +the rather dangerous experiment of riding down the garret stairs on a +board! The clatter brought up grandma, and I felt some doubts about +her relishing a kind of play which savored so much of what she called +"a racket," but the soft brown eyes which looked at her so pleadingly +were too full of love, gentleness, and mischief to be resisted, and +permission for "one more ride" was given, "provided she'd promise not +to break her neck." + +Oh, what fun we had that afternoon! What a big rent she tore in my +gingham frock, and what a "dear, delightful old haunted castle of a +thing" she pronounced our house to be. Darling, darling Nellie! I shut +my eyes and she comes before me again, the same bright beautiful +creature she was when I saw her first, as she was when I saw her for +the last, last time. + +It rained until dark, and Nellie, who confidently expected to stay all +night, had whispered to me her intention of "tying our toes together," +when there came a tremendous rap upon the door, and without waiting to +be bidden in walked Mr. Gilbert, puffing and swelling, and making +himself perfectly at home, in a kind of offhand manner, which had in +it so much of condescension that I was disgusted, and when sure Nellie +would not see me I made at him a wry face, thereby feeling greatly +relieved! + +After managing to let mother know how expensive his family was, how +much he paid yearly for wines and cigars, and how much Adaline's +education and piano had cost, he arose to go, saying to his daughter, +"Come, puss, take off those--ahem--those habiliments, and let's be +off!" + +Nellie obeyed, and just before she was ready to start she asked, when +I would come and spend the day with her. + +I looked at mother, mother looked at Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Gilbert looked +at me, and after surveying me from head to foot said, spitting between +every other word, "Ye-es ye-es, we've come to live in the country, and +I suppose" (here he spit three successive times), "and I suppose we +may as well be on friendly terms as any other; so, madam" (turning to +mother), "I am willing to have your little daughter visit us +ocasionally." Then adding that "he would extend the same invitation to +her were it not that his wife was an invalid and saw no company," he +departed. + +One morning, several days afterward, a servant brought to our house a +neat little note from Mrs. Gilbert, asking mother to let me spend the +day with Nellie. After some consultation between mother and grandma, +it was decided that I might go, and in less than an hour I was dressed +and on the road, my hair braided so tightly in my neck that the little +red bumps of flesh set up here and there, like currants on a brown +earthen platter. + +Nellie did not wait to receive me formally, but came running down the +road, telling me that Robin had made a swing in the barn, and that we +would play there most all day, as her mother was sick, and Adaline, +who occupied two-thirds of the house, wouldn't let us come near her. +This Adaline was to me a very formidable personage. Hitherto I had +only caught glimpses of her, as with long skirts and waving plumes she +sometimes dashed past our house on horseback, and it was with great +trepidation that I now followed Nellie into the parlor, where she told +me her sister was. + +"Adaline, this is my little friend," said she; and Adaline replied: + +"How do you do, little friend?" + +My cheeks tingled, and for the first time raising my eyes I found +myself face to face with the haughty belle. She was very tall and +queenlike in her figure, and though she could hardly be called +handsome, there was about her an air of elegance and refinement which +partially compensated for the absence of beauty. That she was proud +one could see from the glance of her large black eyes and the curl of +her lip. Coolly surveying me for a moment, as she would any other +curious specimen, she resumed her book, never speaking to me again, +except to ask, when she saw me gazing wonderingly around the +splendidly-furnished room, "if I supposed I could remember every +article of furniture, and give a faithful report." + +I thought I was insulted when she called me "little friend," and now, +feeling sure of it, I tartly replied that "if I couldn't she perhaps +might lend me paper and pencil, with which to write them down." + +"Orginally, truly," said she, again poring over her book. + +Nellie, who had left me for a moment, now returned, bidding me come +and see her mother, and passing through the long hall, I was soon in +Mrs. Gilbert's room, which was as tastefully, though perhaps not quite +so richly, furnished as the parlor. Mrs. Gilbert was lying upon a +sofa, and the moment I looked upon her the love which I had so freely +given the daughter was shared with the mother, in whose pale sweet +face, and soft brown eyes, I saw a strong resemblance to Nellie. She +was attired in a rose-colored morning-gown, which flowed open in +front, disclosing to view a larger quantity of rich French embroidery +than I had ever before seen. + +Many times during the day, and many times since, have I wondered what +made her marry, and if she really loved the bearish-looking man who +occasionally stalked into the room, smoking cigars and talking very +loudly, when he knew how her head was throbbing with pain. + +I had eaten but little breakfast that morning, and verily I thought I +should famish before their dinner hour arrived; and when at last it +came, and I saw the table glittering with silver, I felt many +misgivings as to my ability to acquit myself creditably. But by dint +of watching Nellie, doing just what she did, and refusing just what +she refused, I managed to get through with it tolerably well. For +once, too, in my life I drank all the wine I wanted; the result of +which was that long before sunset I went home, crying and vomiting +with the sick headache, which Sally said "served me right;" at the +same time hinting her belief that I was slightly intoxicated! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE HAUNTED HOUSE. + + +Down our long, green lane, and at the further extremity of the narrow +footpath which led to the "old mine," was another path or wagon road +which wound along among the fern bushes, under the chestnut trees, +across the hemlock swamp, and up, to a grassy ridge which overlooked a +small pond, said, of course, to have no bottom. Fully crediting this +story, and knowing, moreover, that China was opposite to us, I have +often taken down my atlas and hunted through that ancient empire, in +hopes of finding a corresponding sheet of water. Failing to do so I +had made one with my pencil, writing against it, "Cranberry Pond," +that being the name of its American brother. + +Just above the pond on the grassy ridge stood an old, dilapidated +building which had long borne the name of the "haunted house." I never +knew whether this title was given it on account of its proximity to +the "old mine," or because it stood near the very spot where, years +and years ago, the "bloody Indians" pushed those cart-loads of burning +hemp against the doors "of the only remaining house in Quaboag"--for +which see Goodrich's Child's History, page--, somewhere toward the +commencement. I only know that 'twas called the "haunted house," and +that for a long time no one would live there, on account of the +rapping, dancing, and cutting up generally which was said to prevail, +there particularly in the west room, the one overhung with ivy and +grapevines. + +Three or four years before our story opens a widow lady, Mrs. Hudson, +with her only daughter, Mabel, appeared in our neighborhood, hiring +the "haunted house," and, in spite of the neighbors' predictions to +the contrary, living there quietly and peaceably, unharmed by ghost or +goblin. At first Mrs. Hudson was looked upon with distrust, and even a +league with a certain old fellow was hinted at; but as she seemed to +be well disposed, kind, and affable toward all, this feeling gradually +wore away, and now she was universally liked, while Mabel, her +daughter, was a general favorite. For two years past, Mabel had worked +in the Fiskdale factory a portion of the time, going to school the +remainder of the year. She was fitting herself for a teacher, and as +the school in our district was small, the trustees had this summer +kindly offered it to her. This arrangement delighted me; for, next to +Nellie Gilbert, I loved Mabel Hudson best of anybody; and I fancied, +too, that they looked alike, but of course it was all fancy. + +Mrs. Hudson was a tailoress, and the day following my visit to Mr. +Gilbert's I was sent by mother to take her some work. I found her in +the little porch, her white cap-border falling over her placid face, +and her wide checked apron coming nearly to the bottom of her dress. +Mabel was there, too, and as she arose to receive me something about +her reminded me of Adaline Gilbert. I could not tell what it was, for +Mabel was very beautiful, and beside her Adaline would be plain; still +there was a resemblance, either in voice or manner, and this it was, +perhaps, which made me so soon mention the Gilberts and my visit to +them the day previous. + +Instantly Mrs. Hudson and Mabel exchanged glances, and I thought the +face of the former grew a shade paler; still I may have been mistaken, +for in her usual tone of voice she began to ask me numberless +questions concerning the family, which seemed singular, as she was not +remarkable for curiosity. But it suited me. I loved to talk then not +less than I do now, and in a few minutes I had told all I knew--and +more, too, most likely. + +At last Mrs. Hudson asked about Mr. Gilbert, and how I liked him. + +"Not a bit," said I. "He's the hatefulest, crossest, big-feelingest +man I ever saw, and Adaline is just like him!" + +Had I been a little older I might, perhaps, have wondered at the +crimson flush which my hasty words brought to Mrs. Hudson's cheek, but +I did not notice it then, and thinking she was, of course, highly +entertained, I continued to talk about Mr. Gilbert and Adaline, in the +last of whom Mabel seemed the most interested. Of Nellie I spoke with +the utmost affection, and when Mrs. Hudson expressed a wish to see +her, I promised, if possible, to bring her there; then as I had +already outstayed the time for which permission had been given, I tied +on my sunbonnet and started for home, revolving the ways and means by +which I should keep my promise. + +This proved to be a very easy matter; for within a few days Nellie +came to return my visit, and as mother had other company she the more +readily gave us permission to go where we pleased. Nellie had a +perfect passion for ghost and witch stories, saying though that "she +never liked to have them explained--she'd rather they'd be left in +solemn mystery;" so when I told her of the "old mine" and the "haunted +house" she immediately expressed a desire to see them. Hiding our +bonnets under our aprons the better to conceal our intentions from +sister Lizzie, who, we fancied, had serious thoughts of _tagging_, we +sent her up-stairs in quest of something which we knew was not there, +and then away we scampered down the green lane and across the pasture, +dropping once into some alders as Lizzie's yellow hair became visible +on the fence at the foot of the lane. Our consciences smote us a +little, but we kept still until she returned to the house; then, +continuing our way, we soon came in sight of the mine, which Nellie +determined to explore. + +It was in vain that I tried to dissuade her from the attempt. She was +resolved, and stationing myself at a safe distance I waited while she +scrambled over stones, sticks, logs, and bushes, until she finally +disappeared in the cave. Ere long, however, she returned with soiled +pantalets, torn apron, and scratched face, saying that "the mine was +nothing in the world but a hole in the ground, and a mighty little one +at that." After this I didn't know but I would sometime venture in, +but for fear of what might happen I concluded to choose a time when I +hadn't run away from Liz! + +When I presented Nellie to Mrs. Hudson she took both her hands in +hers, and, greatly to my surprise, kissed her on both cheeks. Then she +walked hastily into the next room, but not until I saw something fall +from her eyes, which I am sure were tears. + +"Funny, isn't it?" said Nellie, looking wonderingly at me. "I don't +know whether to laugh or what." + +Mabel now came in, and though she manifested no particular emotion, +she was exceedingly kind to Nellie, asking her many questions, and +sometimes smoothing her brown curls. When Mrs. Hudson again appeared +she was very calm, but I noticed that her eyes constantly rested upon +Nellie, who, with Mabel's gray kitten in her lap, was seated upon the +doorstep, the very image of childish innocence and beauty. Mrs. Hudson +urged us to stay to tea but I declined, knowing that there was company +at home, with three kinds of cake, besides cookies, for supper. So +bidding her good-by, and promising to come again, we started homeward, +where we found the ladies discussing their green tea and making large +inroads upon the three kinds of cake. + +One of them, a Mrs. Thompson, was gifted with the art of +fortune-telling, by means of tea-grounds, and when Nellie and I took +our seats at the table she kindly offered to see what was in store for +us. She had frequently told my fortune, each time managing to fish up +a freckle-faced boy so nearly resembling her grandson, my particular +aversion, that I didn't care to hear it again. But with Nellie 'twas +all new, and after a great whirling of tea-grounds and staining of +mother's best table-cloth, she passed her cup to Mrs. Thompson, +confidently whispering to me that she guessed she'd tell her something +about Willie Raymond, who lived in the city, and who gave her the +little cornelian ring which she wore. With the utmost gravity Mrs. +Thompson read off the past and present, and then peering far into the +future she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, my! there's a gulf, or something, +before you, and you are going to tumble into it headlong; don't ask me +anything more." + +I never did and never shall believe in fortune-telling, much less in +Granny Thompson's "turned-up cups," but years after I thought of her +prediction with regard to Nellie. Poor, poor Nellie! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +JEALOUSY. + + +On the first Monday in June our school commenced, and long before +breakfast Lizzie and I were dressed and had turned inside out the +little cupboard over the fireplace where our books were kept during +vacation. Breakfast being over we deposited in our dinner-basket the +whole of a custard pie, and were about starting off when mother said +"we shouldn't go a step until half-past eight," adding further, that +"we must put that pie back, for 'twas one she'd saved for their own +dinner." + +Lizzie pouted, while I cried, and taking my bonnet I repaired to the +"great rock," where the sassafras, blackberries, and blacksnakes grew. +Here I sat for a long time, thinking if I ever did grow up and get +married (I was sure of the latter), I'd have all the custard pie I +could eat for once! In the midst of my reverie a footstep sounded +near, and looking up I saw before me Nellie Gilbert, with her satchel +of books on her arm, and her sunbonnet hanging down her back, after +the fashion in which I usually wore mine. In reply to my look of +inquiry she said her father had concluded to let her go to the +district school, though he didn't expect her to learn anything but +"slang terms and ill manners." + +By this time it was half-past eight, and together with Lizzie we +repaired to the schoolhouse, where we found assembled a dozen girls +and as many boys, among whom was Tom Jenkins. Tom was a great admirer +of beauty, and hence I could never account for the preference he had +hitherto shown for me, who my brothers called "bung-eyed" and Sally +"raw-boned." He, however, didn't think so. My eyes, he said, were none +too large, and many a night had he carried home my books for me, and +many a morning had he brought me nuts and raisins, to say nothing of +the time when I found in my desk a little note, which said--But +everybody who's been to school, knows what it said! + +Taking it all round we were as good as engaged; so you can judge what +my feelings were when, before the night of Nellie's first day at +school, I saw Tom Jenkins giving her an orange which I had every +reason to think was originally intended for me! I knew very well that +Nellie's brown curls and eyes had done the mischief; and though I did +not love her the less, I blamed him the more for his fickleness, for +only a week before he had praised my eyes, calling them a "beautiful +indigo blue," and all that. I was highly incensed, and when on our way +from school he tried to speak good-humoredly, I said, "I'd thank you +to let me alone! I don't like you, and never did!" + +He looked sorry for a minute, but soon forgot it all in talking to +Nellie, who after he had left us said "he was a cleverish kind of boy, +though he couldn't begin with William Raymond." After that I was very +cool toward Tom, who attached himself more and more to Nellie, saying +"she had the handsomest eyes he ever saw;" and, indeed, I think it +chiefly owing to those soft, brown, dreamy eyes that I am not now +"Mrs. Tom Jenkins of Jenkinsville," a place way out West, whither Tom +and his mother have migrated. + +One day Nellie was later at school than usual, giving as a reason that +their folks had company--a Mr. Sherwood and his mother, from Hartford; +and adding that if I'd never tell anybody as long as I lived and +breathed she'd tell me something. + +Of course I promised, and Nellie told me how she guessed that Mr. +Sherwood, who was rich and handsome, liked Adaline. "Anyway, Adaline +likes him," said she, "and oh, she's so nice and good when he's +around. I ain't 'Nell, you hateful thing' then, but I'm 'Sister +Nellie.' They are going to ride this morning, and perhaps they'll go +by here. There they are, now!" and looking toward the road I saw Mr. +Sherwood and Adaline Gilbert on horseback, riding leisurely past the +schoolhouse. She was nodding to Nellie, but he was looking intently at +Mabel, who was sitting near the window. I know he asked Adaline +something about her, for I distinctly heard a part of her reply--"a +poor factory girl," and Adaline's head tossed scornfully, as if that +were a sufficient reason why Mabel should be despised. + +Mr. Sherwood evidently did not think so, for the next day he walked by +alone--and the next day he did the same, this time bringing with him a +book, and seating himself in the shadow of a chestnut tree not far +from the schoolhouse. The moment school was out, he arose and came +forward, inquiring for Nellie, who, of course, introduced him to +Mabel. The three then walked on together, while Tom Jenkins stayed in +the rear with me, wondering what I wanted to act so for; "couldn't a +feller like more than one girl if he wanted to?" + +"Yes, I s'posed a feller could, though I didn't know, nor care!" + +Tom made no reply, but whittled away upon a bit of shingle, which +finally assumed the shape of a heart, and which I afterward found in +his desk with the letter "N" written upon it, and then scratched out. +When at last we reached our house Mr. Sherwood asked Nellie "where +that old mine and sawmill were, of which she had told him so much." + +"Right on Miss Hudson's way home," said Nellie. "Let's walk along with +her;" and the next moment Mr. Sherwood, Mabel, and Nellie were in the +long, green lane which led down to the sawmill. + +Oh, how Adaline stormed when she heard of it, and how sneeringly she +spoke to Mr. Sherwood of the "factory girl," insinuating that the +bloom on her cheek was paint, and the lily on her brow powder! But he +probably did not believe it, for almost every day he passed the +schoolhouse, generally managing to speak with Mabel; and once he went +all the way home with her, staying ever so long, too, for I watched +until 'twas pitch dark, and he hadn't got back yet! + +In a day or two he went home, and I thought no more about him, until +Tom, who had been to the post-office, brought Mabel a letter, which +made her turn red and white alternately, until at last she cried. She +was very absent-minded the remainder of that day, letting us do as we +pleased, and never in my life did I have a better time "carrying on" +than I did that afternoon when Mabel received her first letter from +Mr. Sherwood. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +NEW RELATIONS. + + +About six weeks after the close of Mabel's school we were one day +startled with the intelligence that she was going to be married, and +to Mr. Sherwood, too. He had become tired of the fashionable ladies of +his acquaintance, and when he saw how pure and artless Mabel was, he +immediately became interested in her; and at last, overcoming all +feelings of pride, he had offered her his hand, and had been accepted. +At first we could hardly credit the story; but when Mrs. Hudson +herself confirmed it we gave it up, and again I wondered if I should +be invited. All the nicest and best chestnuts which I could find, to +say nothing of the apples and butternuts, I carried to her, not +without my reward either, for when invitations came to us I was +included with the rest. Our family were the only invited guests, and I +felt no fears this time of being hidden by the crowd. + +Just before the ceremony commenced there was the sound of a heavy +footstep upon the outer porch, a loud knock at the door, and then into +the room came Mr. Gilbert! He seemed slightly agitated, but not +one-half so much as Mrs. Hudson, who exclaimed, "William, my son, why +are you here?" + +"I came to witness my sister's bridal," was the answer; and turning +toward the clergyman, he said, somewhat authoritatively, "Do not delay +for me, sir. Go on." + +There was a movement in the next room, and then the bridal party +entered, both starting with surprise as they saw Mr. Gilbert. Very +beautiful did Mabel look as she stood up to take upon herself the +marriage vow, not a syllable of which did one of us hear. We were +thinking of Mr. Gilbert, and the strange words, "my son" and "my +sister." + +When it was over, and Mabel was Mrs. Sherwood, Mr. Gilbert approached +Mrs. Hudson, saying, "Come, mother, let me lead you to the bride." + +With an impatient gesture she waved him off, and going alone to her +daughter, threw her arms around her neck, sobbing convulsively. There +was an awkward silence, and then Mr. Gilbert, thinking he was called +upon for an explanation, arose, and addressing himself mostly to Mr. +Sherwood, said, "I suppose what has transpired here to-night seems +rather strange, and will undoubtedly furnish the neighborhood with +gossip for more than a week, but they are welcome to canvass, whatever +I do. I can't help it if I was born with an unusual degree of pride, +neither can I help feeling mortified, as I many times did, at my +family, particularly after she," glancing at his mother, "married the +man whose name she bears." + +Here Mrs. Hudson lifted up her head, and coming to Mr. Gilbert's side, +stood proudly erect, while he continued: "She would tell you he was a +good man, but I hated him, and swore never to enter the house while he +lived. I went away, took care of myself, grew rich, married into one +of the first families in Hartford, and--and--" + +Here he paused, and his mother, continuing the sentence, added, "and +grew ashamed of your own mother, who many a time went without the +comforts of life that you might be educated. You were always a proud, +wayward boy, William, but never did I think you would do as you have +done. You have treated me with utter neglect, never allowing your wife +to see me, and when I once proposed visiting you in Hartford you asked +your brother, now dead, to dissuade me from it, if possible, for you +could not introduce me to your acquaintances as your mother. Never do +you speak of me to your children, who, if they know they have a +grandmother, little dream that she lives within a mile of their +father's dwelling. One of them I have seen, and my heart yearned +toward her as it did toward you when first I took you in my arms, my +first-born baby; and yet, William, I thank Heaven there is in her +sweet face no trace of her father's features. This may sound harsh, +unmotherly, but greatly have I been sinned against, and now, just as a +brighter day is dawning upon me, why have you come here? Say, William, +why?" + +By the time Mrs. Hudson had finished, nearly all in the room were +weeping. Mr. Gilbert, however, seemed perfectly indifferent, and with +the most provoking coolness replied, "I came to see my fair sister +married--to congratulate her upon an alliance which will bring us upon +a more equal footing." + +"You greatly mistake me, sir," said Mr. Sherwood, turning haughtily +toward Mr. Gilbert, at the same time drawing Mabel nearer to him; "you +greatly mistake me, if, after what I have heard, you think I would +wish for your acquaintance. If my wife, when poor and obscure, was not +worthy of your attention, _you_ certainly are not now worthy of hers, +and it is my request that our intercourse should end here." + +Mr. Gilbert muttered something about "extenuating circumstances," and +"the whole not being told," but no one paid him any attention; and at +last, snatching up his hat, he precipitately left the house, I sending +after him a hearty good riddance, and mentally hoping he would measure +his length in the ditch which he must pass on his way across Hemlock +Swamp. + +The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood departed on their bridal tour, +intending on their return to take their mother with them to the city. +Several times during their absence I saw Mr. Gilbert, either going to +or returning from the "haunted house," and I readily guessed he was +trying to talk his mother over, for nothing could be more mortifying +than to be cut by the Sherwoods, who were among the first in Hartford. + +Afterward, greatly to my satisfaction, I heard that though, +motherlike, Mrs. Hudson had forgiven her son, Mr. Sherwood ever +treated him with a cool haughtiness, which effectually kept him at a +distance. + +Once, indeed, at Mabel's earnest request, Mrs. Gilbert and Nellie were +invited to visit her, and as the former was too feeble to accomplish +the journey, Nellie went alone, staying a long time, and torturing her +sister on her return with a glowing account of the elegantly-furnished +house, of which Adaline had once hoped to be the proud mistress. + +For several years after Mabel's departure from Rice Corner nothing +especial occurred in the Gilbert family, except the marriage of +Adaline with a rich bachelor, who must have been many years older than +her father, for he colored his whiskers, wore false teeth and a wig, +besides having, as Nellie declared, a wooden leg! For the truth of +this last I will not vouch, as Nellie's assertion was only founded +upon the fact of her having once looked through the keyhole of his +door, and espied standing by his bed something which looked like a +cork leg, but which might have been a boot! What Adaline saw in him to +like I could never guess. I suppose, however, that she only looked at +his rich gilding, which covered a multitude of defects. + +Immediately after the wedding the happy pair started for a two-years' +tour in Europe, where the youthful bride so enraged her bald-headed +lord by flirting with a mustached Frenchman that in a fit of anger the +old man picked up his goods, chattels, and wife, and returned to New +York within three months of his leaving it! + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +POOR, POOR NELLIE. + + +And now, in the closing chapter of this brief sketch of the Gilberts, +I come to the saddest part--the fate of poor Nellie, the dearest +playmate my childhood ever knew, she whom the lapse of years ripened +into a graceful, beautiful girl, loved by everybody, even by Tom +Jenkins, whose boyish affection had grown with his growth and +strengthened with his strength. + +And now Nellie was the affianced bride of William Raymond, who had +replaced the little cornelian with the engagement ring. At last the +rumor reached Tom Jenkins, awaking him from the sweetest dream he had +ever known. He could not ask Nellie if it were true, so he came to me; +and when I saw how he grew pale and trembled, I felt that Nellie was +not altogether blameless. But he breathed no word of censure against +her; and when, a year or two afterward, I saw her given to William +Raymond, I knew that the love of two hearts was hers; the one to +cherish and watch over her, the other to love and worship, silently, +secretly, as a miser worships his hidden treasure. + + * * * * * + +The bridal was over. The farewells were over, and Nellie had +gone--gone from the home whose sunlight she had made, and which she +had left forever. Sadly the pale, sick mother wept, and mourned her +absence, listening in vain for the light footfall and soft, ringing +voice she would never hear again. + +Three weeks had passed away, and then, far and near the papers teemed +with accounts of the horrible Norwalk catastrophe, which desolated +many a home, and wrung from many a heart its choicest treasure. Side +by side they found them--Nellie and her husband--the light of her +brown eyes quenched forever, and the pulses of his heart still in +death! + +I was present when they told the poor invalid of her loss, and even +now I seem to hear the bitter, wailing cry which broke from her white +lips, as she begged them to unsay what they had said, and tell her +Nellie was not dead--that she would come back again. + +It could not be. Nellie would never return; and in six weeks' time the +broken-hearted mother was at rest with her child. + + + + +THE THANKSGIVING PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +NIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING. + + +"Oh, I do hope it will be pleasant to-morrow," said Lizzie Dayton, as +on the night before Thanksgiving she stood at the parlor window, +watching a dense mass of clouds, behind which the sun had lately gone +to his nightly rest. + +"I hope so, too," said Lucy, coming forward and joining her sister; +"but then it isn't likely it will be. There has been a big circle +around the moon these three nights, and besides that, I never knew it +fail to storm when I was particularly anxious that it should be +pleasant;" and the indignant beauty pouted very becomingly at the +insult so frequently offered by that most capricious of all things, +the weather. + +"Thee shouldn't talk so, Lucy," said Grandma Dayton, who was of Quaker +descent, at the same time holding up between herself and the window +the long stocking which she was knitting. "Doesn't thee know that when +thee is finding fault with the weather thee finds fault with Him who +made the weather?" + +"I do wish, grandma," answered Lucy, "that I could ever say anything +which did not furnish you with a text from which to preach me a +sermon." + +Grandma did not reply directly to this rather uncivil speech, but, +she continued: "I don't see how the weather will hurt thee, if it's +the party thee is thinking of, for Mr. Graham's is only ten rods or so +from here. + +"I'm not afraid I can't go," answered Lucy; "but you know as well as I +that if the wind blows enough to put out a candle, father is so +old-maidish as to think Lizzie and I must wear thick stockings and +dresses, and I shouldn't wonder if he insisted on flannel wrappers!" + +"Well," answered grandma, "I think myself it will be very imprudent +for Lizzie, in her present state of health, to expose her neck and +arms. Thy poor marm died with consumption when she wasn't much older +than thee is. Let me see--she was twenty-three the day she died, and +thee was twenty-two in Sep--" + +"For heaven's sake, grandmother," interrupted Lucy, "don't continually +remind me of my age, and tell me how much younger mother was when she +was married. I can't help it if I'm twenty-two, and not married or +engaged either. But I will be both before I am a year older." + +So saying, she quitted the apartment, and repaired to her own room. + +Ere we follow her thither we will introduce both her and her sister to +our readers. Lucy and Lizzie were the only children of Mr. Dayton, a +wealthy, intelligent, and naturally social man, the early death of +whose idolized, beautiful wife had thrown a deep gloom over his +spirits, which time could never entirely dispel. It was now seventeen +years since, a lonely, desolate widower, at the dusky twilight hour he +had drawn closely to his bosom his motherless children, and thought +that but for them he would gladly have lain down by her whose home was +now in heaven. His acquaintances spoke lightly of his grief, saying he +would soon get over it and marry again. They were mistaken, for he +remained single, his widowed mother supplying to his daughters the +place of their lost parent. + +In one thing was Mr. Dayton rather peculiar. Owing to the death of +his wife, he had always been in the habit of dictating to his +daughters in various small matters, such as dress, and so forth, about +which fathers seldom trouble themselves. And even now he seemed to +forget that they were children no longer, and often interfered in +their plans in a way exceedingly annoying to Lucy, the eldest of the +girls, who was now twenty-two and was as proud, selfish, and +self-willed as she was handsome and accomplished. Old maids she held +in great abhorrence, and her great object in life was to secure a +wealthy and distinguished husband. Hitherto she had been unsuccessful, +for the right one had not yet appeared. Now, however, a new star was +dawning on her horizon, in the person of Hugh St. Leon, of New +Orleans. His fame had preceded him, and half the village of S---- were +ready to do homage to the proud millionaire, who would make his first +appearance at the Thanksgiving party. This, then, was the reason why +Lucy felt so anxious to be becomingly dressed, for she had resolved +upon a conquest, and she felt sure of success. She knew she was +beautiful. Her companions told her so, her mirror told her so, and her +sweet sister Lizzie told her so more then twenty times a day. + +Lizzie was four years younger than her sister, and wholly unlike her, +both in personal appearance and disposition. She had from childhood +evinced a predisposition to the disease which had consigned her mother +to an early grave. On her fair, soft cheek the rose of health had +never bloomed, and in the light which shone from her clear hazel eye, +her fond father read but too clearly "passing away--passing away." + +If there was in Lucy Dayton's selfish nature any redeeming quality, it +was that she possessed for her frail young sister a love amounting +almost to adoration. Years before, she had trembled as she thought how +soon the time might come when for her sister's merry voice she would +listen in vain; but as month after month and year after year went by, +and still among them Lizzie stayed, Lucy forgot her fears, and +dreamed not that ere long one chair would be vacant--that Lizzie would +be gone. + +Although so much younger than her sister, Lizzie, for more than a +year, had been betrothed to Harry Graham, whom she had known from +childhood. Now, between herself and him the broad Atlantic rolled, nor +would he return until the coming autumn, when, with her father's +consent, Lizzie would be all his own. + + Alas! alas! ere autumn came + How many hearts were weeping + For her who 'neath the willow's shade + Lay sweetly, calmly sleeping. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THANKSGIVING DAY. + + +Slowly the feeble light of a stormy morning broke over the village of +S----. Lucy's fears had been verified, for Thanksgiving's dawn was +ushered in by a fierce, driving storm. Thickly from the blackened +clouds the feathery flakes had fallen until the earth far and near was +covered by a mass of white, untrodden snow. + +Lucy had been awake for a long time, listening to the sad song of the +wind, which swept howling by the casement. At length, with an +impatient frown at the snow which covered the window pane, she turned +on her pillow, and tried again to sleep. Her slumbers, however, were +soon disturbed by her sister, who arose, and putting aside the +curtain, looked out upon the storm, saying half-aloud, "Oh, I am +sorry, for Lucy will be disappointed." + +"I disappointed!" repeated Lucy; "now, Lizzie, why not own it, and say +you are as much provoked at the weather as I am, and wish this horrid +storm had stayed in the icy caves of Greenland?" + +"Because," answered Lizzie, "I really care but little about the party. +You know Harry will not be there, and besides that, the old, ugly pain +has come back to my side this morning;" and even as she spoke a low, +hacking cough fell on Lucy's ear like the echo of a distant knell. + +Lucy raised herself up, and leaning on her elbow looked earnestly at +her sister, and fancied ('twas not all fancy), that her cheeks had +grown thinner and her brow whiter within a few weeks. Lizzie proceeded +with her toilet, although she was twice obliged to stop on account of +"the ugly pain," as she called it. + +"Hurry, sister," said Lucy, "and you will feel better when you get to +the warm parlor." + +Lizzie thought so, too, and she accelerated her movements as much as +possible. Just as she was leaving the room Lucy detained her a moment +by passing her arm caressingly around her. Lizzie well knew that some +favor was wanted, and she said, "Well, what is it, Lucy? What do you +wish me to give you?" + +"Nothing, nothing," answered Lucy; "but do not say anything to father +about the pain in your side, for fear he will keep you at home, and, +worse than all, make me stay, too." + +Lizzie gave the required promise, and then descended to the breakfast +parlor, where she found her grandmother, and was soon joined by her +sister and father. After the usual salutation of the morning the +latter said "There is every prospect of our being alone to-day, for +the snow is at least a foot and a half deep, and is drifting every +moment." + +"But, father," said Lucy, "that will not prevent Lizzie and me from +going to the party to-night." + +"You mean, if I choose to let you go, of course," answered Mr. Dayton. + +"Why," quickly returned Lucy, "you cannot think of keeping us at home. +It is only distant a few rods, and we will wrap up well." + +"I have no objections to your going," replied Mr. Dayton, "provided +you dress suitably for such a night." + +"Oh, father," said Lucy, "you cannot be capricious enough to wish us +to be bundled up in bags." + +"I care but little what dress you wear," answered Mr. Dayton, "if it +has what I consider necessary appendages, viz., sleeves and waist." + +The tears glittered in Lucy's bright eyes as she said, "Our party +dresses are at Miss Carson's, and she is to send them home this +morning." + +"Wear them, then," answered Mr. Dayton, "provided they possess the +qualities I spoke of, for without those you cannot go out on such a +night as this will be." + +Lucy knew that her dress was minus the sleeves, and that her father +would consider the waist a mere apology for one, so she burst into +tears and said, rather angrily, "I had rather stay at home than go +rigged out as you would like to have me." + +"Very well; you can stay at home," was Mr. Dayton's quiet reply. + +In a few moments he left the room, and then Lucy's wrath burst forth +unrestrainedly. She called her father all sorts of names, such as "an +old granny--an old fidget," and finished up her list with what she +thought the most odious appellation of all, "an old maid." + +In the midst of her tirade the door bell rang. It was the boy from +Miss Carson's, and he brought the party dresses. Lucy's thoughts now +took another channel, and while admiring her beautiful embroidered +muslin and rich white satin skirt, she forgot that she could not wear +it. Grandma was certainly unfortunate in her choice of words, this +morning, for when Lucy for the twentieth time asked if her dress were +not a perfect beauty, the old Quakeress answered: + +"Why, it looks very decent, but it can do thee no good, for thy pa has +said thee cannot wear it; besides, the holy writ reads, 'Let your +adorning--'" + +Here Lucy stopped her ears, exclaiming, "I do believe, grandma, you +were manufactured from a chapter in the Bible, for you throw your holy +writ into my face on all occasions." + +The good lady adjusted her spectacles, and replied, "How thee talks! I +never thought of throwing my Bible at thee, Lucy!" + +Grandma had understood her literally. + +Nothing more was said of the party until dinner time, although there +was a determined look in Lucy's flashing eye, which puzzled Lizzie not +a little. Owing to the storm, Mr. Dayton's country cousins did not, as +was their usual custom, come into town to dine with him, and for this +Lucy was thankful, for she thought nothing could be more disagreeable +than to be compelled to sit all day and ask Cousin Peter how much his +fatting hogs weighed; or his wife, Elizabeth Betsey, how many teeth +the baby had got; or, worse than all the rest, if the old maid, Cousin +Berintha, were present, to be obliged to be asked at least three +times, whether it's twenty-four or twenty-five she'd be next +September, and on saying it was only twenty-three, have her word +disputed and the family Bible brought in question. Even then Miss +Berintha would demur, until she had taken the Bible to the window, and +squinted to see if the year had not been scratched out and rewritten! +Then closing the book with a profound sigh she would say, "I never, +now! it beats all how much older you look!" + +All these annoyances Lucy was spared on this day, for neither Cousin +Peter, Elizabeth Betsey, or Miss Berintha made their appearance. At +the dinner table Mr. Dayton remarked quietly to his daughters, "I +believe you have given up attending the party!" + +"Oh, no, father," said Lucy, "we are going, Lizzie and I." + +"And what about your dress?" asked Mr. Dayton. + +Lucy bit her lip as she replied, "Why, of course, we must dress to +suit you, or stay at home." + +Lizzie looked quickly at her sister, as if asking how long since she +had come to this conclusion; but Lucy's face was calm and unruffled, +betraying no secrets, although her tongue did when, after dinner, she +found herself alone with Lizzie in their dressing-room. A long +conversation followed, in which Lucy seemed trying to persuade Lizzie +to do something wrong. Possessed of the stronger mind, Lucy's +influence over her sister was great, and sometimes a bad one, but +never before had she proposed an open act of disobedience toward their +father, and Lizzie constantly replied, "No, no, Lucy, I can't do it; +besides, I really think I ought not to go, for that pain in my side is +no better." + +"Nonsense, Lizzie," said Lucy. "If you are going to be as whimsical +as Miss Berintha you had better begin at once to dose yourself with +burdock or catnip tea." Then, again recurring to the dress, she +continued, "Father did not say we must not wear them after we got +there. I shall take mine, anyway, and I wish you would do the same; +and then, if he ever knows it, he will not be as much displeased when +he finds that you, too, are guilty." + +After a time, Lizzie was persuaded, but her happiness for that day was +destroyed, and when at tea-time her father asked if she felt quite +well, she could scarcely keep from bursting into tears. Lucy, however, +came to her relief, and said she was feeling blue because Harry would +not be present! Just before the hour for the party Lucy descended to +the parlor, where her father was reading, in order, as she said, to +let him see whether her dress were fussy enough to suit him. He +approved her taste, and after asking if Lizzie, too, were dressed in +the same manner, resumed his paper. Ere long the covered sleigh stood +at the door, and in a few moments Lucy and Lizzie were in Anna +Graham's dressing-room, undergoing the process of a second toilet. + +Nothing could be more beautiful than was Lucy Dayton, after party +dress, bracelets, curls, and flowers had all been adjusted. She +probably thought so, too, for a smile of satisfaction curled her lip +as she saw the radiant vision reflected by the mirror. Her bright eye +flashed, and her heart swelled with pride as she thought, "Yes, +there's no help for it, I shall win him sure;" then turning to Anna +Graham, she asked, "Is that Mr. St. Leon to be here to-night?" + +"Yes, you know he is," answered Anna, "and I pity him, for I see you +are all equipped for an attack; but," continued she, glancing at +Lizzie, "were not little Lizzie's heart so hedged up by brother Hal, I +should say your chance was small." + +Lucy looked at her sister, and a chill struck her heart as she +observed a spasm of pain which for an instant contracted Lizzie's +fair, sweet face. Anna noticed it, too, and springing toward her, +said, "What is it, Lizzie? are you ill?" + +"No," answered Lizzie, laying her hand on her side; "nothing but a +sharp pain. It will soon be better;" but while she spoke her teeth +almost chattered with the cold. + +Oh, Lizzie, Lizzie! + +For a short time, now, we will leave the young ladies in Miss Graham's +dressing-room, and transport our readers to another part of the +village. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADA HARCOURT. + + +In a small and neat, but scantily furnished chamber, a poor widow was +preparing her only child, Ada, for the party. The plain, white muslin +dress of two years old had been washed and ironed so carefully that +Ada said it looked just as well as new; but then everything looked +well on Ada Harcourt, who was highly gifted, both with intellect and +beauty. After her dress was arranged she went to the table for her old +white gloves, the cleaning of which had cost her much trouble, for her +mother did not seem to be at all interested in them, so Ada did as +well as she could. As she was about to put them on her mother returned +from a drawer, into the recesses of which she had been diving, and +from which she brought a paper carefully folded. + +"Here, Ada," said she, "you need not wear those gloves; see here"--and +she held up a pair of handsome mitts, a fine linen handkerchief, and a +neat little gold pin. + +"Oh, mother, mother!" said Ada joyfully, "where did you get them?" + +"I know," answered Mrs. Harcourt, "and that is enough." + +After a moment's thought Ada knew, too. The little hoard of money her +mother had laid by for a warm winter shawl had been spent for her. +From Ada's lustrous blue eyes the tears were dropping as, twining her +arm around her mother's neck, she said, "Naughty, naughty mother!" but +there was a knock at the door. The sleigh which Anna Graham had +promised to send for Ada had come; so dashing away her tears, and +adjusting her new mitts and pin, she was soon warmly wrapped up, and +on her way to Mr. Graham's. + +"In the name of the people, who is that?" said Lucy Dayton, as Anna +Graham entered the dressing-room, accompanied by a bundle of something +securely shielded from the cold. + +The removal of the hood soon showed Lucy who it was, and with an +exclamation of surprise she turned inquiringly to a young lady who was +standing near. To her look the young lady replied, "A freak of Anna's, +I suppose. She thinks a great deal of those Harcourts." + +An impatient "pshaw!" burst from Lucy's lips, accompanied with the +words, "I wonder who she thinks wants to associate with that +plebeian!" + +The words, the look, and the tone caught Ada's eye and ear, and +instantly blighted her happiness. In the joy and surprise of receiving +an invitation to the party it had never occurred to her that she might +be slighted there, and she was not prepared for Lucy's unkind remark. +For an instant the tears moistened her long silken eyelashes, and a +deeper glow mantled her usually bright cheek; but this only increased +her beauty, which tended to increase Lucy's vexation. Lucy knew that +in her own circle there was none to dispute her claim; but she knew, +too, that in a low-roofed house, in the outskirts of the town, there +dwelt a poor sewing woman, whose only daughter was famed for her +wondrous beauty. Lucy had frequently seen Ada in the streets, but +never before had she met her, and she now determined to treat her with +the utmost disdain. + +Not so was Lizzie affected by the presence of "the plebeian." Mrs. +Harcourt had done plain sewing for her father, and Lizzie had +frequently called there for the work. In this way an acquaintance had +been commenced between herself and Ada which had ripened into +friendship. Lizzie, too, had heard the remark of her sister, and, +anxious to atone as far as possible for the unkindness, she went up to +Ada, expressed her pleasure at seeing her there, and then, as the +young ladies were about descending to the parlors, she offered her +arm, saying, "I will accompany you down, but, I have no doubt scores +of beaus will quickly take you off my hands." + +The parlors were nearly filled when our party reached them, and Ada +half-tremblingly clung to Lizzie's arm, while, with queen-like grace +and dignity, Lucy Dayton moved through the crowded drawing-room. Her +quick eye had scanned each gentleman, but her search was fruitless. +_He_ was not there, and during the next half-hour she listened rather +impatiently to the tide of flattery poured into her ear by some one of +her admirers. Suddenly there was a stir at the door, and Mr. St. Leon +was announced. He was a tall, fine-looking man, probably about +twenty-five years of age. The expression of his face was remarkably +pleasing, and such as would lead an entire stranger to trust him, sure +that his confidence would not be misplaced. His manners were highly +polished, and in his dignified, self-possessed bearing, there was +something which some called pride, but in all the wide world there was +not a more generous heart than that of Hugh St. Leon. + +Lucy for a moment watched him narrowly, and then her feelings became +perfectly calm, for she felt sure that now, for the first time, she +looked upon her future husband! Ere long Anna Graham approached, +accompanied by the gentleman, whom she introduced, and then turning, +left them alone. Lucy would have given almost anything to have known +whether St. Leon had requested an introduction, but no means of +information were at hand, so she bent all her energies to be as +agreeable as possible to the handsome stranger at her side, who each +moment seemed more and more pleased with her. + +Meantime, in another part of the room Lizzie and Ada were the center +of attraction. The same kindness which prompted Anna Graham to invite +Ada was careful to see that she did not feel neglected. For this +purpose Anna's brother, Charlie, a youth of sixteen, had been +instructed to pay her particular attention. This he was not unwilling +to do, for he knew no reason why she should not be treated politely, +even if she were a sewing woman's daughter. Others of the company, +observing how attentive Charlie and Lizzie were to the beautiful girl, +felt disposed to treat her graciously, so that to her the evening was +passing very happily. + +When St. Leon entered the room the hum of voices prevented Ada from +hearing his name; neither was she aware of his presence until he had +been full fifteen minutes conversing with Lucy. Then her attention was +directed toward him by Lizzie. For a moment Ada gazed as if +spellbound; then a dizziness crept over her, and she nervously grasped +the little plain gold ring which encircled the third finger of her +left hand! + +Turning to Lizzie, who, fortunately, had not noticed her agitation, +she said, "What did you say his name was?" + +"St. Leon, from New Orleans," replied Lizzie. + +"Then I'm not mistaken," Ada said inaudibly. + +At that moment Anna Graham approached, and whispered something to Ada, +who gave a startled look, saying, "Oh, no, Miss Anna; you would not +have me make myself ridiculous." + +"Certainly not," answered Anna; "neither will you do so, for some of +your songs you sing most beautifully. Do come; I wish to surprise my +friends." + +Ada consented rather unwillingly, and Anna led her toward the +music-room, followed by a dozen or more, all of whom wondered what a +sewing woman's daughter knew about music. On their way to the piano +they passed near St. Leon and Lucy, the former of whom started as his +eye fell upon Ada. + +"I did not think there was another such face in the world," said he, +apparently to himself; then turning to Lucy, he asked who that +beautiful girl was. + +"Which one?" asked Lucy; "there are many beauties here to-night." + +"I mean the one with the white muslin, and dark auburn curls," said +St. Leon. + +Lucy's brow darkened but she answered, "That? oh, that is Ada +Harcourt. Her mother is a poor sewing woman. I never met Ada before, +and cannot conceive how she came to be here; but then the Grahams are +peculiar in their notions, and I suppose it was a whim of Anna's." + +Without knowing it, St. Leon had advanced some steps toward the door +through which Ada had disappeared. Lucy followed him, vexed beyond +measure that the despised Ada Harcourt should even have attracted his +attention. + +"Is she as accomplished as handsome?" asked he. + +"Why, of course not," answered Lucy, with a forced laugh. "Poverty, +ignorance, and vulgarity go together, usually, I believe." + +St. Leon gave her a rapid, searching glance, in which disappointment +was mingled, but before he could reply there was the sound of music. +It was a sweet, bird-like voice which floated through the rooms, and +the song it sang was a favorite one of St. Leon's, who was +passionately fond of music. + +"Let us go nearer," said he to Lucy, who, nothing loath, accompanied +him, for she, too, was anxious to know who it was that thus chained +each listener into silence. + +St. Leon at length got a sight of the singer, and said with evident +pleasure, "Why, it's Miss Harcourt!" + +"Miss Harcourt! Ada Harcourt!" exclaimed Lucy. "Impossible! Why, her +mother daily toils for the bread they eat!" + +But if St. Leon heard her, he answered not. His senses were locked in +those strains of music which recalled memories of something, he +scarcely knew what, and Lucy found herself standing alone, her heart +swelling with anger toward Ada, who from that time was her hated +rival. The music ceased, but scores of voices were loud in their call +for another song; and again Ada sang, but this time there was in the +tones of her voice a thrilling power, for which those who listened +could not account. To Ada the atmosphere about her seemed charmed, +for though she never for a moment raised her eyes, she well knew who +it was that leaned upon the piano and looked intently upon her. Again +the song was finished, and then at St. Leon's request he was +introduced to the singer, who returned his salutation with perfect +self-possession, although her heart beat quickly, as she hoped, yet +half-feared, that that he would recognize her. But he did not, and as +they passed together into the next room he wondered much why the hand +which lay upon his arm trembled so violently, while Ada said to +herself, "'Tis not strange he doesn't know me by this name." Whether +St. Leon knew her or not, there seemed about her some strong +attraction, which kept him at her side the remainder of the evening, +greatly to Lucy Dayton's mortification and displeasure. + +"I'll be revenged on her yet," she muttered. "The upstart! I wonder +where she learned to play." + +This last sentence was said aloud; and Lizzie, who was standing near, +replied, "Her father was once wealthy and Ada had the best of +teachers. Since she has lived in S---- she has occasionally practised +on Anna's piano." + +"I think I'd keep a piano for paupers to play on," was Lucy's +contemptuous reply, uttered with no small degree of bitterness, for at +that moment St. Leon approached her with the object of her dislike +leaning upon his arm. + +Ada introduced Lizzie to St. Leon, who offered her his other arm, and +the three kept together until Lizzie, uttering a low, sharp cry of +pain leaned heavily as if for support against St. Leon. In an instant +Lucy was at her side; but to all her anxious inquiries Lizzie could +only reply, as she clasped her thin, white hand over her side, "The +pain--the pain--take me home." + +"Our sleigh has not yet come," said Lucy. "Oh, what shall we do?" + +"Mine is here, and at your command, Miss Dayton," said St. Leon. + +Lucy thanked him, and then proceeded to prepare Lizzie, who, chilled +through and through by the exposure of her chest and arms, had borne +the racking pain in her side as long as possible, and now lay upon the +sofa as helpless as an infant. When all was ready St. Leon lifted her +in his arms, and bearing her to the sleigh, stepped lightly in with +her, and took his seat. + +"It is hardly necessary for you to accompany us home," said Lucy, +overjoyed beyond measure, though, to find that he was going. + +"Allow me to be the judge," answered St. Leon, and other than that, +not a word was spoken until they reached Mr. Dayton's door. Then, +carefully carrying Lizzie into the house, he was about to leave, when +Lucy detained him to thank him for his kindness, adding that she hoped +to see him again. + +"Certainly, I shall call to-morrow," was his reply, as he sprang down +the steps, and entering his sleigh, was driven back to Mr. Graham's. + +He found the company about dispersing, and meeting Ada in the hall, +asked to accompany her home. Ada's pride for a moment hesitated, and +then she answered in the affirmative. When St. Leon had seated her in +his sleigh he turned back, on pretext of looking for something, but in +reality to ask Anna Graham where Ada lived, as he did not wish to +question her on the subject. + +When they were nearly home St. Leon said, "Miss Harcourt, have you +always lived in S----?" + +"We have lived here but two years," answered Ada; and St. Leon +continued: + +"I cannot rid myself of the impression that somewhere I have met you +before." + +"Indeed," said Ada, "when and where?" + +But his reply was prevented by the sleigh's stopping at Mrs. +Harcourt's door. As St. Leon bade Ada good night he whispered, "I +shall see you again." + +Ada made no answer, but going into the house where her mother was +waiting for her, she exclaimed, "Oh, mother, mother, I've seen +him!--he was there!--he brought me home!" + +"Seen whom?" asked Mrs. Harcourt, alarmed at her daughter's agitation. + +"Why, Hugh St. Leon!" replied Ada. + +"St. Leon in town!" repeated Mrs. Harcourt, her eye lighting up with +joy. + +'Twas only for a moment, however, for the remembrance of what she was +when she knew St. Leon, and what she now was, recurred to her, and she +said calmly, "I thought you had forgotten that childish fancy." + +"Forgotten!" said Ada bitterly; and then as she recalled the unkind +remark of Lucy Dayton she burst into a passionate fit of weeping. + +After a time Mrs. Harcourt succeeded in soothing her, and then drew +from her all the particulars of the party, St Leon and all. When Ada +had finished her mother kissed her fair cheek, saying, "I fancy St. +Leon thinks as much of little Ada now as he did six years ago;" but +Ada could not think so, though that night, in dreams, she was again +happy in her old home in the distant city, while at her side was St. +Leon, who even then was dreaming of a childish face which had haunted +him six long years. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LUCY. + + +We left Lizzie lying upon the sofa, where St. Leon had laid her. After +he was gone Lucy proposed calling their father and sending for a +physician, but Lizzie objected, saying she should be better when she +got warm. During the remainder of that night Lucy sat by her sister's +bedside, while each cry of pain which came from Lizzie's lips fell +heavily upon her heart, for conscience accused her of being the cause +of all this suffering. At length the weary night watches were +finished, but the morning light showed more distinctly Lizzie's white +brow and burning cheeks. She had taken a severe cold, which had +settled upon her lungs, and now she was paying the penalty of her +first act of disobedience. + +Mr. Dayton had sent for the old family physician, who understood +Lizzie's constitution perfectly. He shook his head as he said, "How +came she by such a cold? Did she go to the party?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Dayton. + +"And not half-dressed, I'll warrant," said the gruff old doctor. + +Lucy turned pale as her father answered, quickly and truthfully as he +thought, "No, sir, she was properly dressed." + +Lizzie heard it, and though speaking was painful, she said, "Forgive +me, father, forgive me; I disobeyed you. I wore the dress you said I +must not wear!" + +An exclamation of surprise escaped Mr. Dayton, who, glancing at Lucy, +read in her guilty face what Lizzie generously would not betray. + +"Oh, Lucy, Lucy," said he, "how could you do so?" + +Lucy could only reply through her tears. She was sincerely sorry that +by her means Lizzie had been brought into danger; but when the doctor +said that by careful management she might soon be better, all feelings +of regret vanished, and she again began to think of St. Leon and his +promise to call. A look at herself in the mirror showed her that she +was looking pale and jaded, and she half-hoped he would not come. +However, as the day wore on she grew nervous as she thought he +possibly might be spending his time with the hated Ada. But he was +not, and at about four o'clock there was a ring at the door. From an +upper window Lucy saw St. Leon, and when Bridget came up for her, she +asked if the parlor was well darkened. + +"An' sure it's darker nor a pocket," said Bridget, "an' he couldn't +see a haporth was ye twice as sorry lookin'." + +So bathing her face in cologne, in order to force a glow, Lucy +descended to the parlor, which she found to be as dark as Bridget had +said it was. St. Leon received her very kindly, for the devotion she +had the night before shown for her sister had partially +counterbalanced the spitefulness he had observed in her manner when +speaking of Ada at the party. Notwithstanding Bridget's precautions, +he saw, too, that she was pale and spiritless, but he attributed it to +her anxiety for her sister, and this raised her in his estimation. +Lucy divined his thoughts, and in her efforts to appear amiable and +agreeable, a half-hour passed quickly away. At the end of that time +she unfortunately asked, in a very sneering tone, "how long since he +had seen the sewing girl?" + +"If you mean Miss Harcourt," said St. Leon coolly, "I've not seen her +since I left her last night at her mother's door." + +"You must have been in danger of upsetting if you attempted to turn +round in Mrs. Harcourt's spacious yard," was Lucy's next remark. + +"I did not attempt it," said St. Leon. "I carried Miss Ada in my arms +from the street to the door." + +The tone and manner were changed. Lucy knew it, and it exasperated +her to say something more, but she was prevented by St. Leon's rising +to go. As Lucy accompanied him to the door she asked how long he +intended to remain in S----. + +"I leave this evening, in the cars for New Haven," said he. + +"This evening?" repeated Lucy in a disappointed tone, "and will you +not return?" + +"Yes, if the business on which I go is successful," answered St. Leon. + +"A lady in question, perchance," remarked Lucy playfully. + +"You interpret the truth accurately," said St. Leon, and with a cold, +polite bow he was gone. + +"Why was he going to New Haven?" This was the thought which now +tortured Lucy. He had confessed that a lady was concerned in his +going, but who was she, and what was she to him? Anyway, there was a +comfort in knowing that Ada Harcourt had nothing to do with it! + +Mistaken Lucy! Ada Harcourt had everything to do with it! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +UNCLE ISRAEL. + + +The lamps were lighted in the cars, and on through the valley of the +Connecticut the New Haven train was speeding its way. In one corner of +the car sat St. Leon, closely wrapped in cloak and thoughts, the +latter of which occasionally suggested to him the possibility that his +was a "Tomfool's" errand; "but then," thought he, "no one will know it +if I fail, and if I do not, it is worth the trouble." + +When the train reached Hartford a number of passengers entered, all +bound for New Haven. Among them was a comical-looking, middle-aged +man, whom St. Leon instantly recognized as a person whom he had known +when in college in New Haven, and whom the students familiarly called +"Uncle Israel." The recognition was mutual, for Uncle Israel prided +himself on never forgetting a person he had once seen. In a few +moments St. Leon was overwhelming him with scores of questions, but +Uncle Israel was a genuine Yankee, and never felt happier than when +engaged in giving or guessing information. + +At length St. Leon asked, "Does Ada Linwood fulfil the promise of +beauty which she gave as a child?" + +"Ada who?" said Uncle Israel. + +"Linwood," repeated St. Leon, arguing from the jog in Uncle Israel's +memory that all was not right. + +"Do you mean the daughter of Harcourt Linwood, he that was said to be +so rich?" + +"The same," returned St. Leon. "Where are they?" + +Uncle Israel settled himself with the air of a man who has a long +story on hand, and intends to tell it at his leisure. Filling his +mouth with an enormous quid of tobacco, he commenced: "Better than +four years ago Linwood smashed up, smack and clean; lost everything he +had, and the rest had to be sold at vandue. But what was worse than +all, seein' he was a fine feller in the main, and I guess didn't mean +to fail, he took sick, and in about a month died." + +"And what became of his widow and orphan?" asked St. Leon eagerly. + +"Why, it wasn't nateral," said Uncle Israel, "that they should keep +the same company they did before, and they's too plaguy stuck up to +keep any other; so they moved out of town and supported themselves by +takin' in sewin' or ironin', I forgot which." + +"But where are they now?" asked St. Leon. + +Uncle Israel looked at him for a moment, and then replied, "The Lord +knows, I suppose, but Israel don't." + +"Did they suffer at all?" asked St. Leon. + +"Not as long as I stuck to them, but they sarved me real mean," +answered Uncle Israel. + +"In what way?" + +"Why, you see," said Uncle Israel, "I don't know why, but somehow I +never thought of matrimony till I got a glimpse of Ada at her father's +vandue. To be sure, I'd seen her before, but then she was mighty big +feelin', and I couldn't ha' touched her with a hoe-handle, but now +'twas different. I bought their house. I was rich and they was poor." + +Involuntarily St. Leon clinched his fist, as Uncle Israel continued: +"I seen to getting them a place in the country and then tended to 'em +generally for more than six months, when I one day hinted to Mrs. +Linwood that I would like to be her son-in-law. Christopher! how quick +her back was up, and she gave me to understand that I was lookin' too +high! 'Twas no go with Ada, and after awhile I proposed to the mother. +Then you ought to seen her! She didn't exactly turn me out o' door but +she coolly told me I wasn't wanted there. But I stuck to her and kept +kind o' offerin' myself, till at last they cut stick and cleared out, +and I couldn't find them, high nor low. I bunted for more than a year, +and at last found them in Hartford. Thinkin' maybe they had come to I +proposed again, and kept hangin' on till they gave me the slip again; +and now I don't know where they be, but I guess they've changed their +name." + +At this point the cars stopped until the upward train should pass +them, and St. Leon, rising, bade his companion good evening, saying, +"he had changed his mind and should return to Hartford on the other +train." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +EXPLANATION. + + +Six years prior to the commencement of our story New Haven boasted not +a better or wealthier citizen than Harcourt Linwood, of whose +subsequent failure and death we have heard from Uncle Israel. The +great beauty of his only child, Ada, then a girl of nearly thirteen, +was the subject of frequent comment among the circle in which he +moved. No pains were spared with her education, and many were the +conjectures as to what she would be when time had matured her mind and +beauty. + +Hugh St. Leon, of New Orleans, then nineteen years of age, and a +student at Yale, had frequently met Ada at the house of his sister, +Mrs. Durant, whose eldest daughter, Jenny, was about her own age. The +uncommon beauty of the child greatly interested the young Southerner +and once, in speaking of his future prospects to his sister, he +playfully remarked, "Suppose I wait for Ada Linwood." + +"You cannot do better," was the reply, and the conversation +terminated. + +The next evening there was to be a child's party at the house of Mrs. +Durant, and as Hugh was leaving the house Jenny bounded after him, +saying, "Oh, Uncle Hugh, you'll come to-morrow night, won't you? No +matter if you are a grown-up man, in the junior class, trying to raise +some whiskers! You will be a sort of restraint, and keep us from +getting too rude. Besides, we are going to have tableaux, and I want +you to act the part of bridegroom in one of the scenes." + +"Who is to be the bride?" asked Hugh. + +"Ada Linwood. Now I know you'll come, won't you?" + +"I'll see," was Hugh's answer, as he walked away. + +Jenny well knew that "I'll see" meant "yes," and tying on her bonnet, +she hastened off to tell Ada that Uncle Hugh would be present, and +would act the part of bridegroom in the scene where she was to be +bride. + +"What! that big man?" said Ada. "How funny!" + +Before seven the next evening Mrs. Durant's parlors were filled, for +the guests were not old enough or fashionable enough to delay making +their appearance until morning. Hugh was the last to arrive, for which +Jenny scolded him soundly, saying they were all ready for tableaus. +"But come, now," said she, "and let me introduce you to the bride." + +In ten minutes more the curtain rose, and Hugh St. Leon appeared with +Ada on his arm, standing before a gentleman in clerical robes, who +seemed performing the marriage ceremony. Placing a ring on Ada's third +finger, St. Leon, when the whole was finished, took advantage of his +new relationship, and kissed the lips of the bride. Amid a storm of +applause the curtain dropped, and as he led the blushing Ada away he +bent down, and pointing to the ring, whispered, "Wear it until some +future day, when, by replacing it, I shall make you really my little +wife." + +The words were few and lightly spoken, but they touched the heart of +the young Ada, awakening within her thoughts and feelings of which she +never before had dreamed. Frequently, after that, she met St. Leon, +who sometimes teased her about being his wife; but when he saw how +painfully embarrassed she seemed on such occasions, he desisted. + +The next year he was graduated, and the same day on which he received +the highest honors of his class was long remembered with heartfelt +sorrow, for ere the city clocks tolled the hour of midnight he stood +with his orphaned niece, Jenny, weeping over the inanimate form of his +sister, Mrs. Durant, who had died suddenly in a fit of apoplexy. Mr. +Durant had been dead some years, and as Jenny had now no relatives in +New Haven, she accompanied her uncle to his Southern home. Long and +passionately she wept on Ada's bosom as she bade her farewell, +promising never to forget her, but to write her three pages of +foolscap every week. To do Jenny justice, we must say that this +promise was faithfully kept for a whole month, and then, with +thousands of its sisterhood, it disappeared into the vale of broken +promises and resolutions. + +She still wrote occasionally, and at the end of each epistle there was +always a long postscript from Hugh, which Ada prized almost as much as +she did Jenny's whole letter; and when at last matters changed, the +letter becoming Hugh's and the postscript Jenny's, she made no +objection, even if she felt any. At the time of her father's failure +and death, a long unanswered letter was lying in her portfolio, which +was entirely forgotten until weeks after, when, in the home which +Uncle Israel so _disinterestedly_ helped them to procure, she and her +mother were sewing for the food which they ate. Then a dozen times was +an answer commenced, blotted with tears, and finally destroyed, until +Ada, burying her face in her mother's lap, sobbed out, "Oh, mother, I +cannot do it. I cannot write to tell them how poor we are, for I +remember that Jenny was proud, and laughed at the schoolgirls whose +fathers were not rich." + +So the letter was never answered, and as St. Leon about that time +started on a tour through Europe, he knew nothing of their change of +circumstances. On his way home he had in Paris met with Harry Graham, +who had been his classmate, and who now won from him a promise that on +his return to America he would visit his parents, in S----. He did so, +and there, as we have seen, met with Ada Harcourt, whose face, voice, +and manner reminded him so strangely of the Ada he had known years +before, and whom he had never forgotten. + +As the reader will have supposed, the sewing-woman whose daughter +Lucy Dayton so heartily despised was none other than Mrs. Linwood, of +New Haven, who had taken her husband's first name in order to avoid +the persecutions of Uncle Israel. The day following the party St. Leon +spent in making inquiries concerning Mrs. Harcourt, and the +information thus obtained determined him to start at once for New +Haven, in order to ascertain if his suspicions are correct. + +The result of his journey we already know. Still he resolved not to +make himself known immediately, but to wait until he satisfied himself +that Ada was as good as beautiful. And then? + +A few more chapters will tell us what then. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A MANEUVER. + + +The gray twilight of a cold December afternoon was creeping over the +village of S----, when Ada Harcourt left her seat by the window, +where, the livelong day, she had sat stitching till her heart was sick +and her eyes were dim. On the faded calico lounge near the fire lay +Mrs. Harcourt, who for several days had been unable to work on account +of a severe cold which seemed to have settled in her face and eyes. + +"There," said Ada, as she brushed from her gingham apron the bits of +thread and shreds of cotton, "there, it is done at last, and now +before it is quite dark I will take it home." + +"No, not to-night," said Mrs. Harcourt; "to-morrow will do just as +well." + +"But, mother," answered Ada, "you know Mrs. Dayton always pays as soon +as the work is delivered, and what I have finished will come to two +dollars and a half, which will last a long time, and we shall not be +obliged to take any from the sum laid by to pay our rent; besides, you +have had nothing nourishing for a long time; so let me go, and on my +way home I will buy you something nice for supper." + +Mrs. Harcourt said no more, but the tears fell from her aching eyes as +she thought how hard her daughter was obliged to labor, now that she +was unable to assist her. In a moment Ada was in the street. The +little alley in which she lived was soon traversed, and she about +turning into Main Street, when rapid footsteps approached her, and St. +Leon appeared at her side, saying, "Good evening, Miss Harcourt; allow +me to relieve you of that bundle." + +And before she could prevent it he took from her hands the package, +while he continued, "May I ask how far you are walking to-night?" + +Ada hesitated a moment, but quickly forcing down her pride, she +answered, "Only as far as Mr. Dayton's. I am carrying home some work." + +"Indeed!" said he, "then I can have your company all the way, for I am +going to inquire after Lizzie." + +They soon reached their destination, and their ring at the door was +not, as usual, answered by Bridget but by Lucy herself, whose sweet +smile, as she greeted St. Leon, changed into an angry scowl when she +recognized his companion. + +"Ada Harcourt!" said she, and Ada, blushing scarlet, began: "I have +brought--" but she was interrupted by St. Leon, who handed Lucy the +bundle, saying: + +"Here is your work, Miss Dayton, and I hope it will suit you, for we +took a great deal of pains with it." + +Lucy tried to smile as she took the work, and then opening the parlor +door she with one hand motioned St. Leon to enter, while with the +other she held the hall door ajar, as if for Ada to depart. A tear +trembled on Ada's long eyelashes, as she timidly asked; + +"Can I see your grandmother?" + +"Mrs. Dayton, I presume you mean," said Lucy haughtily. + +Ada bowed and Lucy continued: "She is not at home just at present." + +"Perhaps, then, you can pay me for the work," said Ada. + +The scowl on Lucy's face grew darker as she replied, "I have nothing +to do with grandma's hired help. Come to-morrow and she will be here. +How horridly cold this open door makes the hall!" + +Ada thought of the empty cupboard at home, and of her pale, sick +mother. Love for her conquered all other feeling, and in a choking +voice she said, "Oh, Miss Dayton, if you will pay it you will confer a +great favor on me, for mother is sick, and we need it so much!" + +There was a movement in the parlor. St. Leon was approaching, and with +an impatient gesture Lucy opened the opposite door, saying to Ada, +"Come in here." + +The tone was so angry that, under any other circumstances, Ada would +have gone away. Now, however, she entered, and Lucy, taking out her +purse, said, "How much is the sum about which you make so much fuss?" + +"Two dollars and a half," answered Ada. + +"Two dollars and a half," repeated Lucy, and then, as a tear fell from +Ada's eye, she added contemptuously, "It is a small amount to cry +about." + +Ada made no reply, and was about leaving the room when Lucy detained +her, by saying, "Pray, did you ask Mr. St. Leon to accompany you here +and bring your bundle?" + +"Miss Dayton, you know better--you know I did not," answered Ada, as +the fire of insulted pride flashed from her dark blue eyes, which +became almost black, while her cheek grew pale as marble. + +Instantly Lucy's manner changed, and in a softened tone she said, "I +am glad to know that you did not; and now, as a friend, I warn you +against receiving any marks of favor from St. Leon." + +"What do you mean?" asked Ada, and Lucy continued: + +"You have sense enough to know that when a man of St. Leon's standing +shows any preference for a girl in your circumstances it can be from +no good design." + +"You judge him wrongfully--you do not know him," said Ada; and Lucy +answered: + +"Pray, where did you learn so much about him?" + +Ada only answered by rising to go. + +"Here, this way," said Lucy, and leading her through an enter passage +to the back door, she added, "I do it to save your good name. St. +Leon is undoubtedly waiting for you, and I would not trust my own +sister with him, were she a poor sewing girl!" + +The door was shut in Ada's face, and Lucy returned to the parlor, +where she found her father entertaining her visitor. Seating herself +on a crimson ottoman, she prepared to do the agreeable, when St. Leon, +rising, said, "Excuse my short call, for I must be going. Where have +you left Miss Harcourt?" + +"I left her at the door," answered Lucy, "and she is probably halfway +to 'Dirt Alley' by this time, so do not be in haste." + +But he was in haste, for when he looked on the fast-gathering darkness +without, and thought of the by streets and lonely alleys through which +Ada must pass on her way home, he felt uneasy, and biding Miss Dayton +good night, he hurried away. + +Meantime, Ada had procured the articles she wished for, and proceeded +home, with a heart which would have been light as a bird had not the +remembrance of Lucy's insulting language rung in her ears. Mrs. +Harcourt saw that all was not right, but she forbore making any +inquiries until supper was over. Then Ada, bringing a stool to her +mother's side, and laying her head on her lap, told everything which +had transpired between herself, St. Leon, and Lucy. + +Scarcely was her story finished when there was a rap at the door, and +St. Leon himself entered the room. He had failed in overtaking Ada, +and anxious to know of her safe return, had determined to call. The +recognition between himself and Mrs. Harcourt was mutual, but for +reasons of their own, neither chose to make it apparent, and Ada +introduced him to her mother as she would have done any stranger. St. +Leon possessed in an unusual degree the art of making himself +agreeable, and in the animated conversation which ensued Mrs. Harcourt +forgot that she was poor--forgot her aching eyes; while Ada forgot +everything save that St, Leon was present, and that she was again +listening to his voice, which charmed her now even more than in the +olden time. + +During the evening St. Leon managed in various ways to draw Ada out on +all the prominent topics of the day, and he felt pleased to find that +amid all her poverty she did not neglect the cultivation of her mind. +A part of each day was devoted to study, which Mrs. Harcourt, who was +a fine scholar, superintended. + +It was fast merging toward the hour when phantoms walk abroad ere St. +Leon remembered that he must go. As he was leaving he said to Ada, "I +have a niece, Jenny, about your age, whom I think you would like very +much." + +Oh, how Ada longed to ask for her old playmate, but a look from her +mother kept her silent, and in a moment St. Leon was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +COUSIN BERINTHA AND LUCY'S PARTY. + + +Cousin Berintha, whom Lucy Dayton so much disliked and dreaded, was a +cousin of Mr. Dayton, and was a prim, matter-of-fact maiden of fifty, +or thereabout. That she was still in a state of single blessedness was +partially her own fault, for at twenty she was engaged to the son of a +wealthy farmer who lived near her father. But, alas! ere the wedding +day arrived, there came to the neighborhood a young lady from Boston, +in whose presence the beauty of the country girl grew dim, as do the +stars in the rays of the morning sun. + +Berintha had a plain face, but a strong heart, and when she saw that +Amy Holbrook was preferred, with steady hand and unflinching nerve, +she wrote to her recreant lover that he was free. And now Amy, to whom +the false knight turned, took it into her capricious head that she +would not marry a farmer--she had always fancied a physician; and if +young B---- would win her, he must first secure the title of M.D. He +complied with her request, and one week from the day on which he +received his diploma Berintha read, with a slightly blanched cheek, +the notice of his marriage with the Boston beauty. Three years from +that day she read the announcement of Amy's death, and in two years +more she refused the doctor's offer to give her a home by his lonely +fireside, and a place in his widowed heart. All this had the effect of +making Berintha rather cross, but she seldom manifested her spite +toward any one except Lucy, whom she seemed to take peculiar delight +in teasing, and whose treatment of herself was not such as would +warrant much kindness in return. + +Lizzie she had always loved, and when Harry Graham went away it was +on Berintha's lap that the young girl sobbed out her grief, wondering, +when with her tears Berintha's were mingled, how one apparently so +cold and passionless could sympathize with her. To no one had Berintha +ever confided the story of her early love. Mr. Dayton was a schoolboy +then, and as but little was said of it at the time, it faded entirely +from memory; and when Lucy called her a "crabbed old maid," she knew +not of the disappointment which had clouded every joy and imbittered a +whole lifetime. + +At the first intelligence of Lizzie's illness Berintha came, and +though her prescriptions of every kind of herb tea in the known world +were rather numerous, and her doses of the same were rather large, and +though her stiff cap, sharp nose, and curious little eyes, which saw +everything, were exceedingly annoying to Lucy, she proved herself an +invaluable nurse, warming up old Dr. Benton's heart into a glow of +admiration of her wonderful skill! Hour after hour she sat by Lizzie, +bathing her burning brow, or smoothing her tumbled pillow. Night after +night she kept her tireless watch, treading softly around the +sick-room, and lowering her loud, harsh voice to a whisper, lest she +should disturb the uneasy slumbers of the sick girl, who, under her +skilful nursing, gradually grew better. + +"Was there ever such a dear, good cousin," said Lizzie, one day, when +a nervous headache had been coaxed away by what Berintha called her +"mesmeric passes;" and "Was there ever such a horrid bore," said Lucy, +on the same day, when Cousin Berintha "thought she saw a white hair in +Lucy's raven curls!" adding, by way of consolation, "It wouldn't be +anything strange, for I began to grow gray before I was as old as +you." + +"And that accounts tor your head being just the color of wool," +angrily retorted Lucy, little dreaming of the bitter tears and +sleepless nights which had early blanched her cousin's hair to its +present whiteness. + +For several winters Lucy had been in the habit of giving a large +party, and as she had heard that St. Leon was soon going South, she +felt anxious to have it take place ere he left town. But what should +she do with Berintha, who showed no indications of leaving, though +Lizzie was much better? + +"I declare," said she to herself, "that woman is enough to worry the +life out of me. I'll speak to Liz about it this very day." + +Accordingly, that afternoon, when alone with her sister, she said, +"Lizzie, is it absolutely necessary that Berintha should stay here any +longer, to tuck you up, and feed you sage tea through a straw?" + +Lizzie looked inquiringly at her sister, who continued: "To tell you +the truth, I'm tired of having her around, and must manage some way to +get rid of her before next week, for I mean to have a party Thursday +night." + +Lizzie's eyes now opened in astonishment, as she exclaimed, "A party! +oh, Lucy, wait until I get well." + +"You'll be able by that time to come down-stairs in your crimson +morning-gown, which becomes you so well," answered Lucy. + +"But father's away," rejoined Lizzie; to which Lucy replied: + +"So much the better, for now I shan't be obliged to ask any old +things. I told him I meant to have it while he was gone, for you know +he hates parties. But what shall I do with Berintha?" + +"Why, what possible harm can she do?" asked Lizzie. "She would enjoy +it very much, I know; for in spite of her oddities, she likes +society." + +"Well, suppose she does; nobody wants her round, prating about white +hairs and mercy knows what. Come, you tell her you don't need her +services any longer--that's a good girl." + +There was a look of mischief in Lizzie's eye, and a merry smile on her +lip, as she said, "Why, don't you know that father has invited her to +spend the winter, and she has accepted the invitation?" + +"Invited her to spend the winter!" repeated Lucy, while the tears +glittered in her bright eyes. "What does he mean?" + +"Why," answered Lizzie, "it is very lonely at Cousin John's, and his +wife makes more of a servant of Berintha than she does a companion, so +father, out of pity, asked her to stay with us, and she showed her +good taste by accepting." + +"I'll hang myself in the woodshed before spring--see if I don't!" and +burying her face in her hands, Lucy wept aloud, while Lizzie, lying +back upon her pillow, laughed immoderately at her sister's distress. + +"There's a good deal to laugh at, I think," said Lucy, more angrily +than she usually addressed her sister. "If you have any pity, do +devise some means of getting rid of her, for a time, at least." + +"Well, then," answered Lizzie, "she wants to go home for a few days, +in order to make some necessary preparations for staying with us, and +perhaps you can coax her to go now, though I for one would like to +have her stay. Everybody knows she is your cousin, and no one will +think less of you for having her here." + +"But I won't do it," said Lucy, "and that settles it. Your plan is a +good one, and I'll get her off--see if I don't!" + +The next day, which was Saturday, Lucy was unusually kind to her +cousin, giving her a collar, offering to fix her cap, and doing +numerous other little things, which greatly astonished Berintha. At +last, when dinner was over, she said, "Come, cousin, what do you say +to a sleigh ride this afternoon? I haven't been down to Elizabeth +Betsey's in a good while, so suppose we go to-day." + +Berintha was taken by surprise, but after a moment she said just what +Lucy hoped she would say, viz., that she was wanting to go home for a +few days, and if Lizzie were only well enough, she would go now. + +"Oh, she is a great deal better," said Lucy, "and you can leave her as +well as not. Dr. Benton says I am almost as good a nurse as you and I +will take good care of her--besides, I really think you need rest; so +go, if you wish to, and next Saturday I will come round after you." + +Accordingly, Berintha, who suspected nothing, was coaxed into going +home, and when at three o'clock the sleigh was said to be ready, she +kissed Lizzie good-by, and taking her seat by the side of Lucy, was +driven rapidly toward her brother's house. + + * * * * * + +"There! haven't I managed it capitally!" exclaimed Lucy, as she +reentered her sister's room after her ride; "but the bother of it is, +I've promised to go round next Saturday, and bring not only Berintha, +but Elizabeth Betsey, and her twins! Won't it be horrible! However, +the party'll be over, so I don't care." + +Cousin Berintha being gone, there was no longer any reason why the +party should be kept a secret, and before nightfall every servant in +the house was discussing it, Bridget saying: "Faith, an' I thought it +was mighty good she was gettin' with that woman." + +Mrs. Dayton was highly indignant at the trick which she plainly saw +had been put upon Berintha, but Lucy only replied, "that she wished it +were as easy a matter to get rid of grandma!" + +On Monday cards of invitation to the number of one hundred and fifty +were issued, and when Lizzie, in looking them over, asked why Ada +Harcourt was left out, Lucy replied, that "she guessed she wasn't +going to insult her guests by inviting a sewing girl with them. Anna +Graham could do so, but nobody was going to imitate her." + +"Invite her, then, for my sake, and in my name," pleaded Lizzie, but +Lucy only replied: + +"I shall do no such thing;" and thus the matter was settled. + +Amid the hurry and preparation for the party, days glided rapidly +away, and Thursday morning came, bright, beautiful, and balmy, almost, +as an autumnal day. + +"Isn't this delightful!" said Lucy, as she stepped out upon the +piazza, and felt the warm southern breeze upon her cheek. "It's a +wonder, though," she continued, "that Madam Nature didn't conjure up +an awful storm for my benefit, as she usually does!" + +Before night she had occasion to change her mind concerning the day. + +Dinner was over, and she in Lizzie's room was combing out her long +curls, and trying the effect of wearing them entirely behind her ears. +Suddenly there was the sound of sleigh bells, which came nearer, until +they stopped before the door. Lucy flew to the window, and in tones of +intense anger and surprise, exclaimed, "Now, heaven defend us! here is +Cousin John's old lumber sleigh and rackabone horse, with Berintha and +a hair trunk, a red trunk, two bandboxes, a carpet-bag, a box full of +herbs, and a pillowcase full of stockings. What does it all mean?" + +She soon found out what it all meant, for Berintha entered the room in +high spirits. Kissing Lizzie, she next advanced toward Lucy, saying, +"You didn't expect me, I know; but this morning was so warm and +thawing that John said he knew the sleighing would all be gone by +Saturday, so I concluded to come to-day." + +Lucy was too angry to reply, and rushing from the room, she closed the +door after her, with a force which fairly made the windows rattle. +Berintha looked inquiringly at Lizzie, who felt inadequate to an +explanation; so Berintha knew nothing of the matter until she +descended to the kitchen, and there learned the whole. Now, if Lucy +had treated her cousin politely and good-naturedly, she would have +saved herself much annoyance, but on the contrary, she told her that +she was neither expected nor wanted there; that parties were never +intended for "such old things;" and that now she was there, she hoped +she would stay in her own room, unless she should happen to be wanted +to wait on the table! + +This speech, of course, exasperated Berintha, but she made no reply, +although there was on her face a look of quiet determination, which +Lucy mistook for tacit acquiescence in her proposal. + +Five--six--seven--eight--struck the little brass clock, and no one had +come except old Dr. Benton, who, being a widower and an intimate +friend of the family, was invited, as Lucy said, for the purpose of +beauing grandma! Lizzie, in crimson double-gown, and soft, warm shawl, +was reclining on the sofa in the parlor, the old doctor muttering +about carelessness, heated rooms, late hours, etc. Grandma, in rich +black silk and plain Quaker cap, was hovering near her favorite child, +asking continually if she were too hot, or too cold or too tired, +while Lucy, in white muslin dress and flowing curls, flitted hither +and thither, fretting at the servants, or ordering grandma, and +occasionally tapping her sister's pale cheek, to see if she could not +coax some color into it. + +"You'll live to see it whiter still," said the doctor, who was +indignant at finding his patient down-stairs. + +And where all this time was Berintha? The doctor asked this question, +and Lucy asked this question, while Lizzie replied, that "she was in +her room." + +"And I hope to goodness she'll stay there," said Lucy. + +Dr. Benton's gray eyes fastened upon the amiable young lady, who, by +way of explanation, proceeded to relate her maneuvers for keeping "the +old maid" from the party. + +We believe we have omitted to say that Lucy had some well-founded +hopes of being one day, together with her sister, heiress of Dr. +Benton's property, which was considerable. He was a widower, and had +no relatives. He was also very intimate with Mr. Dayton's family, +always evincing a great partiality for Lucy and Lizzie, and had more +than once hinted at the probable disposal of his wealth. Of course +Lucy, in his presence, was all amiability, and though he was usually +very far-sighted, he but partially understood her real character. +Something, however, in her remarks concerning Berintha displeased him. +Lucy saw it, but before she had time for any thought on the subject +the door-bell rang, and a dozen or more of guests entered. + +The parlors now began to fill rapidly. Ere long St. Leon came, and +after paying his compliments to Lucy, he took his station between her +and the sofa, on which Lizzie sat. So delighted was Lucy to have him +thus near that she forgot Berintha, until that lady herself appeared +in the room, bowing to those she knew, and seating herself on the +sofa, very near St. Leon. The angry blood rushed in torrents to Lucy's +face, and St. Leon, who saw something was wrong, endeavored to divert +her mind by asking her various questions. + +At last he said, "I do not see Miss Harcourt. Where is she?" + +"She is not expected," answered Lucy carelessly. + +"Ah!" said St. Leon; and Berintha, touching his arm, rejoined: + +"Of course you could not think Ada Harcourt would be invited here!" + +"Indeed! Why not?" asked St. Leon, and Berintha continued: + +"To be sure, Ada is handsome, and Ada is accomplished, but then Ada is +poor, and consequently can't come!" + +"But I see no reason why poverty should debar her from good society," +said St. Leon; and Berintha, with an exultant glance at Lucy, who, if +possible, would have paralyzed her tongue, replied: + +"Why, if Ada were present, she might rival somebody in somebody's good +opinion. Wasn't that what you said, Cousin Lucy? Please correct me, if +I get wrong." + +Lucy frowned angrily, but made no reply, for Berintha had quoted her +very words. After a moment's pause she proceeded: "Yes, Ada is poor; +so though she can come to the front door with a gentleman, she cannot +go out that way, but must be led to a side door or back door; which +was it, Cousin Lucy?" + +"I don't know what you are talking about," answered Lucy; and +Berintha, in evident surprise, exclaimed: + +"Why, don't you remember when Ada came here with a gentleman--let me +see, who was it?--well, no matter who 'twas--she came with a +gentleman--he was ushered into the parlor, while you took her into a +side room, then into a side passage, and out at the side door, kindly +telling her to beware of the gentleman in the parlor, who could want +nothing good of sewing girls!" + +"You are very entertaining to-night," said Lucy; to which Berintha +replied: + +"You did not think I could be so agreeable, did you, when you asked me +to keep out of sight this evening, and said that such old fudges as +grandma and I would appear much better in our rooms, taking snuff, and +nodding at each other over our knitting work?" + +Lucy looked so distressed that Lizzie pitied her, and touching +Berintha she said, "Please don't talk any more." + +At that moment supper was announced, and after it was over St. Leon +departed, notwithstanding Lucy's urgent request that he would remain +longer. As the street door closed after him she felt that she would +gladly have seen every other guest depart also. A moody fit came on, +and the party would have been voted a failure had it not been for the +timely interference of Dr. Benton and Berintha. Together they sought +out any who seemed neglected, entertaining them to the best of their +ability, and leaving with every one the impression that they were the +best-natured couple in the world. At eleven o'clock, Lizzie, wearied +out, repaired to her chamber. Her departure was the signal for others, +and before one o'clock the last good night was said, the doors locked, +the silver gathered up, the tired servants dismissed, and Lucy, in her +sister's room, was giving vent to her wrath against Berintha, the +party, St. Leon, and all. + +Scolding, however, could do her no good, and ere long, throwing +herself undressed upon a lounge she fell asleep, and dreamed that +grandma was married to the doctor, that Berintha had become her +stepmother, and, worse than all, that Ada Harcourt was Mrs. St. Leon. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A WEDDING AT ST. LUKE'S. + + +The day but one following the party, as Lucy was doing some shopping +down street she stepped for a moment into her dressmaker's, Miss +Carson's, where she found three or four of her companions, all eagerly +discussing what seemed to be quite an interesting topic. As Lucy +entered, one of them turning toward her said; "Oh, isn't it strange? +Or haven't you heard?" + +"Heard what?" asked Lucy; and her companion replied: + +"Why, Ada Harcourt is going to be married. Miss Carson is making her +the most beautiful traveling dress, with silk hat to match--" + +"Besides three or four elegant silk dresses," chimed in another. + +"And the most charming morning-gown you ever saw--apple green, and +dark green, striped--and lined with pink silk," rejoined a third. + +By this time Lucy had sunk into the nearest chair. The truth had +flashed upon her, as it probably has upon you; but as she did not wish +to betray her real emotions she forced a little bitter laugh, and +said, "St. Leon, I suppose, is the bridegroom." + +"Yes; who told you?" asked her companion. + +"Oh, I've seen it all along," answered Lucy carelessly. "He called +with her once at our house!" + +"But you didn't invite her to your party," said mischievous Bessie +Lee, who loved dearly to tease Lucy Dayton. "You didn't invite her to +your party, and so he left early, and I dare say went straight to Mrs. +Harcourt's and proposed, if he hadn't done so before. Now, don't you +wish you'd been more polite to Ada? They say he's got a cousin South, +as rich and handsome as he is, and if you'd only behaved as you +should, who knows what might have happened!" + +Lucy deigned Bessie no reply, and turning to another young lady, +asked, "When is the wedding to be?" + +"Next Thursday morning, in the church," was the answer; and Bessie Lee +again interposed, saying, "Come, Lucy, I don't believe you have ever +returned Ada's call, and as I am going to see her, and inquire all +about that Cousin Frank, suppose you accompany me, and learn the +particulars of the wedding." + +"Thank you," said Lucy; "I don't care enough about it to take that +trouble;" and soon rising she left the shop. + +If Lucy manifested so much indifference, we wot of some bright eyes +and eager ears which are willing to know the particulars, so we will +give them as follows: When St. Leon left Mr. Dayton's it was ten +o'clock, but notwithstanding the lateness of the hour he started for +the small brown house on "Dirt Alley," where dwelt the sewing woman +and her daughter, who were both busy on some work which they wished to +finish that night. Ada had stopped for a moment to replenish the fire +when a knock at the door startled her. Opening it she saw St. Leon, +and in much surprise said, "Why, I supposed you were at the party." + +"So I have been," said he; "but I grew weary, and left for a more +congenial atmosphere;" then advancing toward Mrs. Harcourt, he took +her hand, saying, "Mrs. Linwood, allow me to address you by your right +name this evening." + +We draw a veil over the explanation which followed--over the +fifty-nine questions asked by Ada concerning Jenny--and over the _one_ +question asked by St. Leon, the answer to which resulted in the +purchase of all those dresses at Miss Carson's and the well-founded +rumor that on Thursday morning a wedding would take place at St. +Luke's church. + +Poor Lucy! how disconsolate she felt! St. Leon was passing from her +grasp, and there was no help. On her way home she three times heard of +the wedding, and of Ada's real name and former position in life, and +each time her wrath waxed warmer and warmer. Fortunate was it for +Berintha and grandma that neither made her appearance until tea-time, +for Lucy was in just the state when an explosive storm would surely +have followed any remark addressed to her! + +The next day was the Sabbath, and as Lucy entered the church, the +first object which met her eye was St. Leon, seated in the sewing +woman's pew, and Ada _tolerably_ though not _very_ near him! "How +disgusting!" she hissed between her teeth, as she entered her own +richly-cushioned seat, and opened her velvet-bound prayer book. +Precious little of the sermon heard she that day, for, turn which way +she would, she still saw in fancy the sweet young face of her rival; +and it took but a slight stretch of imagination to bring to view a +costly house in the far-off "Sunny South," a troop of servants, a +handsome, noble husband, and the hated Ada the happy mistress of them +all! Before church was out Lucy was really sick, and when at home in +her room she did not refuse the bowl of herb tea which Berintha kindly +brought her, saying "it had cured her when she felt just so." + +The morning of the wedding came, and though Lucy had determined not to +be present, yet as the hour approached she felt how utterly impossible +it would be for her to stay away; and when at half-past eight the +doors were opened she was among the first who entered the church, +which in a short time was filled. Nine rang from the old clock in the +belfry, and then up the broad aisle came the bridal party, consisting +of Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Charlie and Anna, Mrs. Harcourt, or Mrs. +Linwood as we must now call her, St. Leon and Ada. + +"Was there ever a more beautiful bride?" whispered Bessie Lee; but +Lucy made no answer, and as soon as the ceremony was concluded she +hurried home, feeling almost in need of some more catnip tea! + +In the eleven o'clock train St. Leon with his bride and her mother +started for New Haven, where they spent a delightful week, and then +returned to S----. A few days were passed at the house of Mr. Graham, +and then they departed for their southern home. As we shall not again +have occasion to speak of them in this story we will here say that the +following summer they came North, together with Jenny and Cousin +Frank, the latter of whom was so much pleased with the rosy cheeks, +laughing eyes, and playful manners of Bessie Lee that when he returned +home he coaxed her to accompany him; and again was there a wedding in +St. Luke's, and again did Miss Carson make the bridal outfit, wishing +that all New Orleans gentlemen would come to S---- for their wives. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A SURPRISE. + + +"Reuben," said Grandma Dayton to her son one evening after she had +listened to the reading of a political article for which she did not +care one fig, "Reuben, does thee suppose Dr. Benton makes a charge +every time he calls?" + +"I don't know," said Mr. Dayton; "what made you ask that question?" + +"Because," answered grandma--and her knitting needles rattled loud +enough to be heard in the next room--"because, I think he calls mighty +often, considering that Lizzie neither gets better nor worse; and I +think, too, that he and Berintha have a good many private talks!" + +The paper dropped from Mr. Dayton's hand, and "What can you mean?" +dropped from his lips. + +"Why," resumed grandma, "every time he comes he manages to see +Berintha alone; and hain't thee noticed that she has colored her hair +lately, and left off caps?" + +"Yes; and she looks fifteen years younger for it; but what of that?" + +Grandma, whose remarks had all been preparatory to the mighty secret +she was about to divulge, coughed, and then informed her son that +Berintha was going to be married, and wished to have the wedding +there. + +"Berintha and the doctor! Good!" exclaimed Mr. Dayton. "To be sure, +I'll give her a wedding, and a wedding dress, too." + +Here grandma left the room, and after reporting her success to +Berintha, she sought her granddaughters, and communicated to them the +expected event. When Lucy learned of her cousin's intended marriage +she was nearly as much surprised and provoked as she had been when +first she heard of Ada's. + +Turning to Lizzie she said, "It's too bad! for of course we shall have +to give up all hopes of the doctor's money." + +"And perhaps thee'll be the only old maid in the family, after all," +suggested grandma, who knew Lucy's weak point, and sometimes loved to +touch it. + +"And if I am," retorted Lucy angrily, "I hope I shall have sense +enough to mind my own business, and not interfere with that of my +grandchildren!" + +Grandma made no answer, but secretly she felt some conscientious +scruples with regard to Lucy's grandchildren! As for Berintha she +seemed entirely changed, and flitted about the house in a manner which +caused Lucy to call her "an old fool, trying to ape sixteen." With a +change of feelings her personal appearance also changed, and when she +one day returned from the dentist's with an entire set of new teeth, +and came down to tea in a dark, fashionably-made merino, the +metamorphose was complete, and grandma declared that she looked better +than she ever had before in her life. The doctor, too, was improved, +and though he did not color his hair, he ordered six new shirts, a new +coat, a new horse and a pair of gold spectacles! + +After a due lapse of time the appointed day came, and with it, at an +early hour, came Cousin John and Elizabeth Betsey, bringing with them +the few herbs which Berintha, at the time of her removal, had +overlooked. These Bridget demurely proposed should be given to Miss +Lucy, "who of late was much given to drinking catnip." Perfectly +indignant, Lucy threw the herbs, bag and all, into the fire, thereby +filling the house with an odor which made the asthmatic old doctor +wheeze and blow wonderfully during the evening. + +A few of the villagers were invited, and when all was ready Mr. Dayton +brought down in his arms his white-faced Lizzie, who imperceptibly +had grown paler and weaker every day, while those who looked at her as +she reclined upon the sofa, sighed, and thought of a different +occasion when they probably would assemble there. For once Lucy was +very amiable, and with the utmost politeness and good nature waited +upon the guests. There was a softened light in her eye, and a +heightened bloom on her cheek, occasioned by a story which Berintha, +two hours before, had told her, of a heart all crushed in its youth, +and aching on through long years of loneliness, but which was about to +be made happy by a union with the only object it had ever loved! Do +you start and wonder? Have you not guessed that Dr. Benton, who that +night for the second time breathed the marriage vow, was the same who, +years before, won the girlish love of Berintha Dayton, and then turned +from her to the more beautiful Amy Holbrook, finding, too late, that +all is not gold that glitters? It is even so, and could you have seen +how tightly he clasped the hand of his new wife, and how fondly his +eye rested upon her, you would have said that, however long his +affections might have wandered, they had at last returned to her, his +first, best love. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +LIZZIE. + + Gathered 'round a narrow coffin, + Stand a mourning, funeral train, + While for her, redeemed thus early, + Tears are falling now like rain. + + Hopes are crushed and hearts are bleeding; + Drear the fireside now, and alone; + She, the best loved and the dearest, + Far away to heaven hath flown. + + Long, long, will they miss thee, Lizzie, + Long, long days for thee they'll weep; + And through many nights of sorrow + Memory will her vigils keep. + + +In the chapter just finished we casually mentioned that Lizzie, +instead of growing stronger, had drooped day by day, until to all save +the fond hearts which watched her, she seemed surely passing away. But +they to whom her presence was as sunlight to the flowers, shut their +eyes to the dreadful truth, refusing to believe that she was leaving +them. Oftentimes during the long winter nights would Mr. Dayton steal +softly to her chamber, and kneeling by her bedside gaze in mute +anguish upon the wasted face of his darling. And when from her +transparent brow and marble cheek he wiped the deadly night sweats, a +chill, colder far than the chill of death, crept over his heart, and +burying his face in his hands he would cry, "Oh, Father, let this cup +pass from me!" + +As spring approached she seemed better, and the father's heart grew +stronger, and Lucy's step was lighter, and grandma's words more +cheerful, as hope whispered, "she will live." But when the snow was +melted from off the hillside, and over the earth the warm spring sun +was shining, when the buds began to swell and the trees to put forth +their young leaves, there came over her a change so fearful that with +one bitter cry of sorrow hope fled forever; and again, in the lonely +night season, the weeping father knelt and asked for strength to bear +it when his best-loved child was gone. + +"Poor Harry!" said Lizzie one day to Anna, who was sitting by her, +"Poor Harry, if I could see him again; but I never shall." + +"Perhaps you will," answered Anna. "I wrote, to him three weeks ago, +telling him to come quickly." + +"Then he will," said Lizzie, "but if I should be dead when he comes, +tell him how I loved him to the last, and that the thought of leaving +him was the sharpest pang I suffered." + +There were tears in Anna's eyes as she kissed the cheek of the sick +girl, and promised to do her bidding. After a moment's pause Lizzie +added, "I am afraid Harry is not a Christian, and you must promise not +to leave him until he has a well-founded hope that again in heaven I +shall see him." + +Anna promised all, and then as Lizzie seemed exhausted she left her +and returned home. One week from that day she stood once more in +Lizzie's sick-room, listening for the last time to the tones of the +dying girl as she bade her friends adieu. Convulsed with grief Lucy +knelt by the bedside, pressing to her lips one little clammy hand, and +accusing herself of destroying her sister's life. In the furthest +corner of the room sat Mr. Dayton. He could not stand by and see +stealing over his daughter's face the dark shadow which falls but once +on all. He could not look upon her when over her soft brown eyes the +white lids closed forever. Like a naked branch in the autumn wind his +whole frame shook with agony, and though each fiber of grandma's heart +was throbbing with anguish, yet for the sake of her son she strove to +be calm, and soothed him as she would a little child. Berintha, too, +was there, and while her tears were dropping fast, she supported +Lizzie in her arms, pushing back from her pale brow the soft curls +which, damp with the moisture of death, lay in thick rings upon her +forehead. + +"Has Harry come?" said Lizzie. + +The answer was in the negative, and a moan of disappointment came from +her lips. + +Again she spoke: "Give him my Bible--and my curls--when I am dead let +Lucy arrange them--she knows how; then cut them off, and the best, the +longest, the brightest is for Harry; the others for you all. And +tell--tell--tell him to meet--me in heaven--where I'm--going--going." + +A stifled shriek from Lucy, as she fell back fainting, told that with +the last word, "going," Lizzie had gone to heaven! + +An hour after the tolling bell arrested the attention of many, and of +the few who asked for whom it tolled nearly all involuntarily sighed +and said, "Poor Harry! Died before he came home!" + + * * * * * + +It was the night before the burial, and in the back parlor stood a +narrow coffin containing all that was mortal of Lizzie Dayton. In the +front parlor Bridget and another domestic kept watch over the body of +their young mistress. Twelve o'clock rang from the belfry of St. +Luke's church, and then the midnight silence was broken by the shrill +scream of the locomotive as the eastern train thundered into the +depot. But the senses of the Irish girls were too profoundly locked in +sleep to heed that common sound; neither did they hear the outer door, +which by accident had been left unlocked, swing softly open, nor saw +they the tall figure which passed by them into the next room--the room +where stood the coffin. + +Suddenly through the house there echoed a cry, so long, so loud, so +despairing, that every sleeper started from their rest, and hurried +with nervous haste to the parlor, where they saw Harry Graham, bending +in wild agony over the body of his darling Lizzie, who never before +had turned a deaf ear to his impassioned words of endearment. He had +received his sister's letter, and started immediately for home, but +owing to some delay did not reach there in time to see her alive. +Anxious to know the worst, he had not stopped at his father's house, +but seeing a light in Mr. Dayton's parlors, hastened thither. Finding +the door unlocked, he entered, and on seeing the two servant girls +asleep, his heart beat quickly with apprehension. Still he was +unprepared for the shock which awaited him, when on the coffin and her +who slept within it his eye first rested. He did not faint, nor even +weep, but when his friends came about him with words of sympathy he +only answered, "Lizzie, Lizzie, she is dead!" + +During the remainder of that sad night he sat by the coffin pressing +his hand upon the icy forehead until its coldness seemed to benumb his +faculties, for when in the morning his parents and sister came he +scarcely noticed them; and still the world, misjudging ever, looked +upon his calm face and tearless eye, and said that all too lightly had +he loved the gentle girl whose last thoughts and words had been of +him. Ah, they knew not the utter wreck the death of that young girl +had made, of the bitter grief, deeper and more painful because no +tear-drop fell to moisten its feverish agony. They buried her, and +then back from the grave came the two heart-broken men, the father and +Harry Graham, each going to his own desolate home, the one to commune +with the God who had given and taken away, and the other to question +the dealings of that Providence which had taken from him his all. + +Days passed, and nothing proved of any avail to win Harry from the +deep despair which seemed to have settled upon him. At length Anna +bethought her of the soft, silken curl which had been reserved for +him. Quickly she found it, and taking with her the Bible repaired to +her brother's room. Twining her arms around his neck she told him of +the death-scene, of which he before had refused to hear. She finished +her story by suddenly holding to view the long, bright ringlet which +once adorned the fair head now resting in the grave. Her plan was +successful, for bursting into tears Harry wept nearly two hours. From +that time he seemed better, and was frequently found bathed in tears, +and bending over Lizzie's Bible, which now was his daily companion. + +Lucy, too, seemed greatly changed. She had loved her sister as +devotedly as one of her nature could love, and for her death she +mourned sincerely. Lizzie's words of love and gentle persuasion had +not been without their effect, and when Mr. Dayton saw how kind, how +affectionate and considerate of other people's feelings his daughter +had become, he felt that Lizzie had not died in vain. + +Seven times have the spring violets blossomed, seven times the flowers +of summer bloomed, seven times have the autumnal stores been gathered +in, and seven times have the winds of winter sighed over the New +England hills since Lizzie was laid to rest. In her home there have +been few changes. Mr. Dayton's hair is whiter than it was of old, and +the furrows on his brow deeper and more marked. Grandma, quiet and +gentle as ever, knits on day after day, ever and anon speaking of "our +dear little Lizzie, who died years ago." + +Lucy is still unmarried, and satisfied, too, that it should be so. A +patient, self-sacrificing Christian, she strives to make up to her +father for the loss of one over whose memory she daily weeps, and to +whose death she accuses herself of being accessory. Dr. Benton and his +rather fashionable wife live in their great house, ride in their +handsome carriage, give large dinner parties, play chess after supper, +and then the old doctor nods over his evening paper, while Berintha +nods over a piece of embroidery, intended to represent a little dog +chasing a butterfly and which would as readily be taken for that as +for anything else, and for anything else as that. + +Two years ago a pale young missionary departed to carry the news of +salvation to the heathen land. Some one suggested that he should take +with him a wife, but he shook his head mournfully, saying, "I have one +wife in heaven." The night before he left home, he might have been +seen, long after midnight, seated upon a grassy grave, where the +flowers of summer were growing. Around the stone which marks the spot +rose bushes have clustered so thickly as to hide from view the words +there written, but push them aside and you will read, "Our darling +Lizzie." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMESTEAD ON THE HILLSIDE*** + + +******* This file should be named 14089.txt or 14089.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/8/14089 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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