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+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-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."
+
+
+
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