diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:44:21 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:44:21 -0700 |
| commit | 9ea4f3b932af573860c9b5af70879690fe31e431 (patch) | |
| tree | d48b29b1b8582879544662f05fba0a6fe846a908 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 14379-0.txt | 8814 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/14379-8.txt | 9204 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/14379-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 161228 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/14379.txt | 9204 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/14379.zip | bin | 0 -> 161223 bytes |
8 files changed, 27238 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14379-0.txt b/14379-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f6aacd --- /dev/null +++ b/14379-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8814 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14379 *** + +ELSIE AT NANTUCKET + +A Sequel to _Elsie's New Relations_ + +by + +MARTHA FINLEY + +1884 + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Three years ago I spent some six weeks on Nantucket Island, making the +town of the same name my headquarters, but visiting other points of +interest, to which I take the characters of my story; so that in +describing the pleasures of a sojourn there during our heated term, I +write from experience; though, in addition to my own notes, I have made +use of Northrup's "'Sconset Cottage Life" to refresh my memory and +assist me in giving a correct idea of the life led by summer visitors +who take up their abode for the season in one of those odd little +dwellings which form the "original 'Sconset." + +Should my account of the delights of Nantucket as a summer resort lead +any of my readers to try it for themselves, I trust they will not meet +with disappointment or find my picture overdrawn. + +M.F. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "How happy they, +Who from the toil and tumult of their lives +Steal to look down where naught but ocean strives." + +--_Byron._ + + +"Well, captain, for how long have you Uncle Sam's permission to stay on +shore this time?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, as the family at Ion sat about the +breakfast-table on the morning after Captain Raymond's arrival. + +"Just one month certain, sir, with the possibility that the leave of +absence may be extended," was the reply, in a cheery tone; "and as I +want to make the very most of it, I propose that our plans for a summer +outing be at once discussed, decided upon, and carried out." + +"I second the motion," said Mr. Dinsmore. "Are all the grown people +agreed? The consent of the younger ones may safely be taken for +granted," he added, with a smiling glance from one to another. + +"I am agreed and ready for suggestions," replied his wife. + +"And I," said his daughter. + +"Vi is, of course, since the proposition comes from her husband," Edward +remarked, with a sportive look at her; then glancing at his own little +wife: "and as I approve, Zoe will be equally ready with her consent." + +"Have you any suggestion to offer, captain?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"I have, sir; and it is that we make the island of Nantucket our summer +resort for this year, dividing the time, if you like, between Nantucket +Town and the quaint little fishing village Siasconset, or 'Sconset, as +they call it for short. There is an odd little box of a cottage there +belonging to a friend of mine, a Captain Coffin, which I have partially +engaged until the first of September. It wouldn't hold nearly all of us, +but we may be able to rent another for the season, or we can pitch a +tent or two, and those who prefer it can take rooms, with or without +board, at the hotels or boarding-houses. What do you all say?" glancing +from his mother-in-law to his wife. + +"It sounds very pleasant, captain," Elsie said; "but please tell us more +about it; I'm afraid I must acknowledge shameful ignorance of that +portion of my native land." + +"A very small corner of the same, yet a decidedly interesting one," +returned the captain; then went on to give a slight sketch of its +geography and history. + +"It is about fifteen miles long, and averages four in width. Nantucket +Town is a beautiful, quaint old place; has some fine wide streets +and handsome residences, a great many narrow lanes running in all +directions, and many very odd-looking old houses, some of them +inhabited, but not a few empty; for of the ten thousand former residents +only about three thousand now remain." + +"How does that happen, Levis?" asked Violet, as he paused for a moment. + +"It used to be a great seat of the whale-fishery," he answered; "indeed, +that was the occupation of the vast majority of the men of the island; +but, as I presume you know, the whale-fishery has, for a number of +years, been declining, partly owing to the scarcity of whales, partly +to the discovery of coal-oil, which has been largely substituted for +whale-oil as an illuminant (as has gas also, by the way), and to +substitutes being found or invented for whale-bone also. + +"So the Nantucketers lost their principal employment, and wandered off +to different parts of the country or the world in search of another; and +the wharves that once presented a scene full of life and bustle are now +lonely and deserted. Property there was wonderfully depreciated for a +time, but is rising in value now with the influx of summer visitors. It +is becoming quite a popular resort--not sea-side exactly, for there you +are right out in the sea." + +"Let us go there," said Mrs. Dinsmore; "I think it would be a pleasant +variety to get fairly out into the sea for once, instead of merely +alongside of it." + +"Oh, yes, do let us go!" + +"I'm in favor of it!" + +"And I!" + +"And I!" cried one and another, while Mr. Dinsmore replied, laughingly, +to his wife, "Provided you don't find the waves actually rolling over +you, I suppose, my dear. Well, the captain's description is very +appetizing so far, but let us hear what more he has to say on the +subject." + +"Haven't I said enough, sir?" returned the captain, with a good-humored +smile. "You will doubtless want to find some things out for yourselves +when you get there." + +"Are there any mountains, papa?" asked little Grace. "I'd like to see +some." + +"So you shall, daughter," he said; "but we will have to go elsewhere +than to Nantucket to find them." + +"No hills either?" she asked. + +"Yes, several ranges of not very high hills; Saul's Hills are the +highest; then there are bluffs south of 'Sconset known as Sunset +Heights; indeed, the village itself stands on a bluff high above the +sandy beach, where the great waves come rolling in. And there is 'Tom +Never's Head.' Also Nantucket Town is on high ground sloping gradually +up from the harbor; and just out of the town, to the north-west, are the +Cliffs, where you go to find surf-bathing; in the town itself you must +be satisfied with still-bathing. An excellent place, by the way, to +teach the children how to swim." + +"Then you can teach me, Edward," said Zoe; "I'd like to learn." + +"I shall be delighted," he returned, gallantly. + +"Papa," asked Max, "are there any woods and streams where one may hunt +and fish?" + +"Hardly anything to be called woods," the captain answered; "trees of +any size are few on the island. Except the shade trees in the town, I +think some ragged, stunted pines are all you will find; but there are +streams and ponds to fish in, to say nothing of the great ocean. There +is some hunting, too, for there are plover on the island." + +"Well, shall we go and see for ourselves, as the captain advises?" asked +Mr. Dinsmore, addressing the company in general. + +Every voice answered in the affirmative, though Elsie, looking +doubtfully at Violet, remarked that she feared she was hardly strong +enough for so long a journey. + +"Ah, that brings me to my second proposition, mother," said Captain +Raymond; "that--seeing what a very large company we shall make, +especially if we can persuade our friends from Fairview, the Oaks, and +the Laurels to accompany us--we charter a yacht and go by sea." + +"Oh, captain, what a nice idea!" cried Zoe, clapping her hands. "I love +the sea--love to be either beside it or on it." + +"I think it would be ever so nice!" Rosie exclaimed. "Oh, grandpa and +mamma, do say yes!" + +"I shall not oppose it, my dear," Elsie said; "indeed, I think it may +perhaps be our best plan. How does it strike you, father?" + +"Favorably," he replied, "if we can get the yacht. Do you know of one +that might be hired, captain?" + +"I do, sir; a very fine one. I have done with it as with the +cottage--partially engaged it--feeling pretty sure you would all +fall in with my views." + +"Captain," cried Zoe, "you're just a splendid man! I know of only one +that's more so," with a laughing look at her husband. + +The captain bowed his acknowledgments. "As high praise as I could +possibly ask, my dear sister. I trust that one may always stand first in +your esteem." + +"He always will," said Zoe; "but," with another glance, arch and +smiling, into Edward's eyes, "don't tell him, lest he should grow +conceited and vain." + +"Don't tell him, because it would be no news," laughed Edward, gazing +with fondness and admiration at the blooming face of the loved +flatterer. + +The talk went on about the yacht, and before they left the table the +captain was empowered to engage her for their use. Also the 'Sconset +cottage he had spoken of, and one or two more, if they were to be had. + +"You will command the vessel, of course, captain?" several voices said, +inquiringly, all speaking at once. + +"If chosen commander by a unanimous vote," he said. + +"Of course, of course; we'll be only too glad to secure your services," +said Mr. Dinsmore, everybody else adding a word of glad assent. + +"How soon do we sail, captain?" asked Zoe. "Must we wait for an answer +from Nantucket?" + +"No; I shall send word by this morning's mail, to Captain Coffin, that +we will take his cottage and two others, if he can engage them for us. +But there is no time to wait for a reply." + +"Can't we telegraph?" asked Violet. + +"No; because there is no telegraph from the mainland to the island. + +"Now, ladies all, please make your preparations as rapidly as possible. +We ought to be off by the first of next week. I can telegraph for the +yacht, and she will be ready for us, lying at anchor in our own harbor. + +"But, little wife," turning to Violet, with a tenderly affectionate air, +"you are not to exert yourself in the least with shopping, sewing, or +packing. I positively forbid it," he added, with playful authority. + +"That is right, captain," Elsie said, with a pleased smile. "She is not +strong enough yet for any such exertion, nor has she any need to make +it." + +"Ah, mamma," said Violet, "are you not forgetting the lessons you used +to give us, your children, on the sin of indolence and self-indulgence?" + +"No, daughter; nor those on the duty of doing all in our power for the +preservation of health as one of God's good gifts, and to be used in His +service." + +They were all gathered upon the veranda now in the cool shade of the +trees and vines, for the weather was extremely warm. + +"I wish we were ready to sail to-day," said Zoe. "How delicious the +sea-breeze would be!" + +A nice-looking, pleasant-faced colored woman stepped from the doorway +with a little bundle in her arms, which she carried to Violet. + +The captain, standing beside his wife, bent over her and the babe with a +face full of love and delight. + +"Isn't she a darling?" whispered Violet, gazing down upon the tiny +creature with all a young mother's unspeakable love and pride in her +first-born, then up into her husband's face. + +"That she is!" he responded; "I never saw a fairer, sweeter babe. I +should fear to risk her little life and health in a journey to Nantucket +by land; but going by sea will, I think, be more likely to do her good +than harm." + +"It's all her, her, when you talk about that baby," laughed Rosie; "why +don't you call her by her name?" + +"So we will, Aunt Rosie, if you will kindly inform us what it is," +returned the captain, good-humoredly. + +"I, sir!" exclaimed Rosie; "we have all been told again and again that +you were to decide upon the name on your arrival; and you've been +here--how many hours?--and it seems the poor little dear is nameless +yet." + +"Apparently not greatly afflicted by it either," said the captain, +adopting Rosie's sportive tone. "My love, what do you intend to call +your daughter?" + +"Whatever her father appoints as her name," returned Vi, laughingly. + +"No, no," he said; "you are to name her yourself; you have undoubtedly +the best right." + +"Thank you; then, if you like, she shall be mamma's namesake; her first +granddaughter should be, I think, as the first grandson was papa's." + +"I highly approve your choice," he said, with a glance of affectionate +admiration directed toward his mother-in-law; "and may a strong +resemblance in both looks and character descend to her with the name." + +"We will all say amen to that, captain," said Edward. + +"Yes, indeed," added Zoe, heartily. + +"Thank you both," Elsie said, with a gratified look; "I appreciate the +compliment; but if I had the naming of my little granddaughter, she +should be another Violet; there is already an Elsie in the family +besides myself, you know, and it makes a little confusion to have too +many of the same name." + +"Then, mamma, we can make a variety by calling this one Else for short," +returned Violet, gayly, holding up the babe to receive a caress from +its grandmother, who had drawn near, evidently with the purpose of +bestowing it. + +"What a pretty pet it is!" Elsie said, taking it in her arms and gazing +delightedly into the tiny face. "Don't you think so, captain?" + +"Of course I do, mother," he said, with a happy laugh. Then, examining +its features critically: "I really fancy I see a slight resemblance to +you now, which I trust is destined to increase with increasing years. +But excuse me, ladies; I must go and write that all-important letter at +once, or it will be too late for the mail." + +He hurried away to the library, and entering it hastily, but without +much noise, for he wore slippers, found Lulu there, leaning moodily out +of a window. + +She had stolen away from the veranda a moment before, saying to herself, +in jealous displeasure, "Such a fuss over that little bit of a thing! I +do believe papa is going to care more for it than for any of us, his own +children, that he had long before he ever saw Mamma Vi; and it's just +too bad." + +Knowing Lulu as he did, her father instantly conjectured what was +passing in her mind. It grieved and angered him, yet strong affection +was mingled with his displeasure, and he silently asked help of God to +deal wisely with this child of his love. + +He remembered that Lulu was more easily ruled through her affections +than in any other way, and as she turned toward him, with a flushed and +shamefaced countenance, he went to her, took her in his arms, held her +close to his heart, and kissed her tenderly several times. + +"My dear, dear little daughter," he said. "How often, when far away on +the sea, I have longed to do this--to hold my dear Lulu in my arms and +feel hers about my neck and her sweet kisses on my lips." + +Her arms were instantly thrown round his neck, while she returned his +kisses with interest. + +"Papa," she said, "I do love you so, _so_ dearly; but I 'most wonder you +don't quit loving such a hateful girl as I am." + +"Perhaps I might not love an ill-tempered, jealous child belonging to +somebody else," he said, as if half in jest, half in earnest; "but you +are my own," drawing her closer and repeating his caresses, "my very +own; and so I have to love you in spite of everything. But, my little +girl," and his tone grew very grave and sad, "if you do not fight +determinately against these wrong feelings you will never know rest or +happiness in this world or the next. + +"But we won't talk any more about it now; I have no time, as I ought to +be writing my letter. Run away and make yourself happy, collecting +together such toys and books as you would like to carry with you to +Nantucket. Grandma Elsie and Mamma Vi will decide what you and the rest +will need in the way of clothing." + +"I will, papa; and oh, but I think you are good to me!" she said, giving +him a final hug and kiss; "a great deal better than I deserve; but I +will try to be good." + +"Do, my child," he said; "and not in your own strength; God will help +you if you ask Him." + +For the moment thoroughly ashamed of her jealousy of the baby, she ran +back to the veranda, where the others still were, and bending over it as +it lay its mother's arms, kissed it several times. + +Violet's face flushed with pleasure. "My dear Lulu, I hope you and +little Else are going to be very fond of each other," she said. + +"I hope so, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered, pleasantly; then, in a sudden fit +of penitence, added, "but I'm afraid she'll never learn any good from +the example of her oldest sister." + +"My dear child, resolve that she shall," said Grandma Elsie, standing +by; "you cannot avoid having a good deal of influence over her as she +grows older, and do not forget that you will have to give an account +for the use you make of it." + +"I suppose that's so," Lulu answered, with a little impatient shrug of +her shoulders; "but I wish it wasn't." Then, turning abruptly away, "Max +and Gracie," she called to her brother and sister, "papa says we may go +and gather up any books and toys we want to take with us." + +The three ran off together in high glee. The ladies stayed a little +longer, deep in consultation about necessary arrangements which must +fall to their share: then dispersed to their several apartments, with +the exception of Violet, who, forbidden to exert herself, remained where +she was till joined by her husband, when he had finished and despatched +his letter. It was great happiness to them to be together after their +long separation. + +Mr. Dinsmore and Edward had walked out into the avenue, and were seated +under a tree in earnest conversation. + +"Talking tiresome business, I suppose," remarked Zoe, in a half-petulant +tone, glancing toward them as she spoke, and apparently addressing +Violet, as she was the only other person on the veranda at the moment. + +"Yes, no doubt; but we must have patience with them, dear, because it +is very necessary," Violet answered, with a smile. "Probably they are +discussing the question how the plantation is to be attended to in their +absence. You know it won't take care of itself, and the men must have a +head to direct their labors." + +"Oh yes, of course; and for that reason Ned is kept ever so busy while +we are here, and I do think it will be delightful to get away to the +seashore with him, where there will be nothing to do but enjoy +ourselves." + +Zoe skipped away with the last word, ran up to her room, and began +turning over the contents of bureau drawers and taking garments from +wardrobes and closets, with the view of selecting such as she might deem +it desirable to carry with her on the contemplated trip. + +She was humming softly a snatch of lively song, feeling very gay and +light-hearted, when, coming across a gray travelling-dress a little +worse for the wear, her song suddenly ceased, while tears gathered in +her eyes, then began to fall drop by drop as she stood gazing down, upon +this relic of former days. + +"Just one year ago," she murmured. "Papa, papa! I never thought I could +live a whole year without you; and be happy, too! Ah, that seems +ungrateful, when you were so, so good to me! But no; I am sure you would +rather have me happy; and it would be ungrateful to my dear husband if I +were not." + +She put the dress aside, wiped away her tears, and took down another. +It was a dark woollen dress. She had travelled home in it the previous +fall, and had worn it once since on a very memorable occasion; her cheek +crimsoned at the recollection as she glanced from it to her husband, who +entered the room at that instant; then her eyes fell. + +"What is it, love?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. + +"Nothing, only--you remember the last time you saw me in this dress? Oh, +Ned, what a fool I was! and how good you were to me!" + +He had her in his arms by this time, and she was hiding her blushing +face on his breast. "Never mind, my pet," he said, soothing her with +caresses; "it is a secret between ourselves, and always shall be, unless +you choose to tell it." + +"I? No indeed!" she said, drawing a long breath; "I think I should +almost die of mortification if any one else should find it out; but I'm +glad you know it, because if you didn't my conscience wouldn't give me a +bit of peace till I confessed to you." + +"Ah! and would that be very difficult?" + +"Yes; I don't know how I could ever find courage to make the attempt." + +"Are you really so much afraid of me?" he asked, in a slightly aggrieved +tone. + +"Yes; for I love you so dearly that your displeasure is perfectly +unendurable," she replied, lifting her head to gaze fondly into his +eyes. + +"Ah, is that it, my darling?" he said, in a glow of delight. "I deem +myself a happy man in possessing such a treasure as you and your dear +love. I can hardly reconcile myself to the thought of a separation for +even a few weeks." + +"Separation!" she cried, with a start, and in a tone of mingled pain and +incredulity. "What can you mean? But I won't be separated from you; I'm +your wife, and I claim the right to cling to you always, _always_!" + +"And I would have you do so, if it could be without a sacrifice of your +comfort and enjoyment, but--" + +"Comfort and enjoyment!" she interrupted; "it is here in your arms or by +your side that I find both; nowhere else. But why do you talk so? is +anything wrong?" + +"Nothing, except that it seems impossible for me to leave the plantation +for weeks to come, unless I can get a better substitute than I know of +at present." + +"Oh, Ned, I am so sorry!" she cried, tears of disappointment springing +to her eyes. + +"Don't feel too badly about it, little wife," he said, in a cheery tone; +"it is just possible the right man may turn up before the yacht sails; +and in that case I can go with the rest of you; otherwise I shall hope +to join you before your stay at Nantucket is quite over." + +"Not my stay; for I won't go one step of the way without you, unless you +order me!" she added, sportively, and with a vivid blush; "and I'm not +sure that I'll do it even in that case." + +"Oh, yes you will," he said, laughingly. "You know you promised to be +always good and obedient on condition that I would love you and keep +you; and I'm doing both to the very best of my ability." + +"But you won't be if you send me away from you. No, no; I have a right +to stay with you, and I shall claim it always," she returned, clinging +to him as if she feared an immediate separation. + +"Foolish child!" he said, with a happy laugh, holding her close; "think +what you would lose: the sea voyage in the pleasantest of company--" + +"No; the pleasantest company would be left behind if you were," she +interrupted. + +"Well, very delightful company," he resumed; "then I don't know how many +weeks of the oppressive heat here you would have to endure, instead of +enjoying the cool, refreshing breezes sweeping over Nantucket. Surely, +you cannot give it all up without a sigh?" + +"I can't give up the thought of enjoying it all with you without +sighing, and crying, too, maybe," she answered, smiling through tears; +"but I'd sigh and cry ten times as much if I had to go and leave you +behind. No, Mr. Travilla, you needn't indulge the hope of getting rid of +me for even a week. I'm determined to stay where you stay, and go only +where you go." + +"Dreadful fate!" he exclaimed. "Well, little wife, I shall do my best to +avert the threatened disappointment of your hopes of a speedy departure +out of this heated atmosphere and a delightful sea voyage to that famous +island. Now, I must leave you and begin at once my search for a +substitute as manager of the plantation." + +"Oh, I do hope you will succeed!" she said. "Shall I go on with my +packing?" + +"Just as you please, my dear; perhaps it would be best; as otherwise you +may be hurried with it if we are able to go with the others." + +"Then I shall; and I'm determined not to look for disappointment," she +said, in a lively, cheery tone, as he left the room, + +At the conclusion of his conference with Edward, Mr. Dinsmore sought his +daughter in her own apartments. He found her busied much as Zoe was, +looking over clothing and selecting what ought to be packed in the +trunks a man-servant was bringing in. + +She had thrown aside the widow's weeds in which she was wont to array +herself when about to leave the seclusion of her own rooms, and donned a +simple white morning dress that was very becoming, her father thought. + +"Excuse my wrapper, papa," she said, turning toward him a bright, sweet +face, as he entered; "I found my black dress oppressive this warm +morning." + +"Yes," he said; "it is a most unwholesome dress, I think; and for that +reason and several others I should be extremely glad if you would give +it up entirely." + +"Would you, my dear father?" she returned, tears springing to her eyes. + +"I should indeed, if it would not involve too great a sacrifice of +feeling on your part. I have always thought white the most suitable and +becoming dress for you in the summer season, and so did your husband." + +"Yes, papa, I remember that he did; but--I--I should be very loath to +give the least occasion for any one to say or think he was forgotten by +her he loved so dearly, or that she had ceased to mourn his loss." + +"Loss, daughter dear?" he said, taking her in his arms to wipe away the +tears that were freely coursing down her cheeks, and caress her with +exceeding tenderness. + +"No, papa, not lost, but only gone before," she answered, a lovely +smile suddenly irradiating her features; "nor does he seem far away. I +often feel that he is very near me still, though I can neither see nor +speak to him nor hear his loved voice," she went on, in a dreamy tone, a +far-away look in the soft brown eyes as she stood, with her head on her +father's shoulder, his arm encircling her waist. + +Both were silent for some moments; then Elsie, lifting her eyes to her +father's face, asked, "Were you serious in what you said about my laying +aside mourning, papa?" + +"Never more so," he answered. "It is a gloomy, unwholesome dress, and I +have grown very weary of seeing you wear it. It would be very gratifying +to me to see you exchange it for more cheerful attire." + +"But black is considered the most suitable dress for old and elderly +ladies, papa; and I am a grandmother, you know." + +"What of that?" he said, a trifle impatiently; "you do not look old, and +are, in fact, just in the prime of life. And it is not like you to be +concerned about what people may think or say. Usually your only inquiry +is, 'Is it right?' 'Is it what I ought to do?'" + +"I fear that is a deserved reproof, papa," she said, with unaffected +humility; "and I shall be governed by your wishes in this matter, for +they have been law to me almost all my life (a law I have loved to +obey, dear father), and I know that if my husband were here he would +approve of my decision." + +She could not entirely suppress a sigh as she spoke, nor keep the tears +from filling her eyes. + +Her father saw and appreciated the sacrifice she would make for him. + +"Thank you, my darling," he said. "It seems selfish in me to ask it of +you, but though partly for my own gratification, it is really still more +for your sake; I think the change will be for your health and +happiness." + +"And I have the highest opinion of my father's wisdom," she said, "and +should never, never think of selfishness as connected with him." + +Mrs. Dinsmore came in at this moment. + +"Ah, my dear," she said, "I was in search of you. What is to be done +about Bob and Betty Johnson? You know they will be coming home in a day +or two for their summer vacation." + +"They can stay at Roselands with their cousins Calhoun and Arthur Conly; +or at the Oaks, if Horace and his family do not join us in the trip to +Nantucket." + +"Cannot Bob and Betty go with us, papa?" Elsie asked. "I have no doubt +it would be a very great treat to them." + +"Our party promises to be very large," he replied; "but if you two +ladies are agreed to invite them I shall raise no objection." + +"Shall we not, mamma?" Elsie asked, and Rose gave a hearty assent. + +"Now, how much dressmaking has to be done before the family can be ready +for the trip?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"Very little," the ladies told him, Elsie adding, "At least if you are +willing to let me wear black dresses when it is too cool for white, +papa. Mamma, he has asked me to lay aside my mourning." + +"I knew he intended to," Rose said, "and I think you are a dear good +daughter to do it." + +"It is nothing new; she has always been the best of daughters," Mr. +Dinsmore remarked, with a tenderly affectionate look at Elsie. "And, my +dear child, I certainly shall not ask you to stay a day longer than +necessary in this hot place, merely to have new dresses made when you +have enough even of black ones. We must set sail as soon as possible. +Now, I must have a little business chat with you. Don't go, Rose; it is +nothing that either of us would care to have you hear." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"Where the broad ocean leans against the land." + +--_Goldsmith_. + + +Elsie felt somewhat apprehensive that this early laying aside of her +mourning for their father might not meet the approval of her older son +and daughters; but it gave them pleasure; one and all were delighted to +see her resume the dress of the happy days when he was with them. + +Zoe, too, was very much pleased. "Mamma," she said, "you do look so +young and lovely in white; and it was so nice in you to begin wearing it +again on the anniversary of our wedding-day. Just think, it's a whole +year to-day since Edward and I were married. How fast time flies!" + +"Yes," Elsie said; "it seems a very little while since I was as young +and light-hearted as you are now, and now I am a grandmother." + +"But still happy; are you not, mamma? you always seem so to me." + +"Yes, my child; I have a very peaceful, happy life. I miss my husband, +but I know the separation is only for a short time, and that he is +supremely blessed. And with my beloved father and dear children about +me, heart and hands are full--delightfully full--leaving no room for +sadness and repining." This little talk was on the veranda, as the two +stood there for a moment apart from the others. Zoe was looking quite +bride-like in a white India mull, much trimmed with rich lace, her fair +neck and arms adorned with a set of beautiful pearls, just presented her +by Edward in commemoration of the day. + +She called Elsie's attention to them. "See, mamma, what my husband has +given me in memory of the day. Are they not magnificent?" + +"It is a very fine set," Elsie answered, with a smile, glancing +admiringly at the jewels and from them to the blooming face of the +wearer. "A most suitable gift for his little wife." + +"He's so good to me, mamma," Zoe said, with warmth. "I love him better +every day we live together, and couldn't think of leaving him behind +alone, when you all go off to Nantucket. I do hope he'll be able to find +somebody to take his place; but if he isn't I shall stay here with him." + +"That is quite right, dear child; I am very glad you love him so +dearly," Elsie said, with a very pleased look; "but I hope your +affection will not be put to so severe a test; we have heard of a very +suitable person, though it is still uncertain whether his services can +be secured. We shall probably know to-morrow." + +"Perhaps sooner than that," Mr. Dinsmore said, approaching them just in +time to hear his daughter's last sentence; "Edward has gone to have an +interview with him, and hopes for a definite reply to his proposition. +Ah, here he comes now!" as Edward was seen to turn in at the great gates +and come up the avenue at a gentle trot. It was too warm for a gallop. + +As he drew near he took off his hat and waved it in triumph round his +head. "Success, good friends!" he cried, reining in his steed at the +veranda steps. Then, as he threw the reins to a servant and sprang to +the ground, "Zoe, my darling, you can go on with your packing; we may +confidently expect to be able to sail with the rest." + +"Oh delightful!" she exclaimed, dancing about as gleefully as if she had +been a maiden of eight or ten instead of a woman just closing the first +year of her married life. + +Everybody sympathized in her joy; everybody was glad that she and Edward +were to be of their party. + +All the older ones were very busy for the next few days, no one finding +time for rest and quiet chat except the captain and Violet, who keenly +enjoyed a monopoly of each other's society during not a few hours of +every day; Mrs. Dinsmore and Elsie having undertaken to attend to all +that would naturally have fallen to Violet's share in making ready for +the summer's jaunt had she been in robust health. Bob and Betty Johnson, +to whom the Oaks had been home for many years, and who had just +graduated from school, came home in the midst of the bustle of +preparation, and were highly delighted by an invitation to join the +Nantucket party. + +No untoward event occurred to cause disappointment or delay; all were +ready in due season, and the yacht set sail at the appointed time, with +a full list of passengers, carrying plenty of luggage, and with fair +winds and sunny skies. + +They were favored with exceptionally fine weather all the way, and seas +so smooth that scarce a touch of sea-sickness was felt by any, from the +oldest to the youngest. + +They entered Nantucket harbor one lovely summer morning, with a +delicious breeze blowing from the sea, the waves rippling and dancing in +the sunlight, and the pretty town seated like a queen on the surrounding +heights that slope gently up from the water. + +They were all gathered on deck, eager for a first glimpse of the place. + +Most of them spoke admiringly of it, but Zoe said, "It's pretty enough, +but too much of a town for me. I'm glad we are not to stay in it. +'Sconset is a smaller place, isn't it, captain?" + +"Much smaller," he answered; "quite small enough to suit even so great a +lover of solitude as yourself, Mrs. Travilla." + +"Oh, you needn't laugh at me," she retorted; "one needn't be a great +lover of solitude to care for no more society than is afforded by this +crowd. But I want to be close by the bounding sea, and this town is shut +off from that by its harbor." + +"Where is the harbor, papa?" asked little Grace. + +"All around us, my child; we are in it." + +"Are we?" she asked, "I think it looks just like the sea; what's the +matter with it, Aunt Zoe?" + +"Nothing, only it's too quiet; the great waves don't come rolling in and +breaking along the shore. I heard your father say so; it's here they +have the still bathing." + +"Oh, yes, and papa is going to teach us to swim!" exclaimed Lulu; "I'm +so glad, for I like to learn how to do everything." + +"That's right," her father said, with an approving smile; "learn all +you can, for 'knowledge is power.'" + +They landed, the gentlemen presently secured a sufficient number of +hacks to comfortably accommodate the entire party, and after a cursory +view of the town, in a drive through several of its more important +streets, they started on the road to 'Sconset. + +They found it, though a lonely, by no means an unpleasant, drive--a road +marked out only by rows of parallel ruts across wild moorlands, where +the ground was level or slightly rolling, with now and then some gentle +elevation, or a far-off glimpse of harbor or sea, or a lonely farmhouse. +The wastes were treeless, save for the presence of a few stunted +jack-pines; but these gave out a sweet scent, mingling pleasantly with +the smell of the salt-sea air; and there were wild roses and other +flowering shrubs, thistles and tiger-lilies and other wild flowers, +beautiful enough to tempt our travellers to alight occasionally to +gather them. + +'Sconset was reached at length, three adjacent cottages found ready and +waiting for their occupancy, and they took possession. + +The cottages stood on a high bluff overlooking miles of sea, between +which and the foot of the cliff stretched a low sandy beach a hundred +yards or more in width, and gained by flights of wooden stairs. + +The cottages faced inland, and had each a little back yard, grassy, and +showing a few flowers, that reached to within a few yards of the edge of +the bluff. The houses were tiny, built low and strong, that they might +resist the fierce winds of winter in that exposed position, and shingled +all over to keep out the spray from the waves, which would penetrate any +other covering. + +Dinner was engaged for our entire party at one of the hotels, of which +there were two; but as it yet wanted more than an hour of the time set +for the meal, all who were not too tired sallied forth to explore the +hamlet and its environs. + +They found it to consist of about two hundred cottages, similar to those +they had engaged for the season, each in a little enclosure. They were +built along three narrow streets or lanes running parallel with the edge +of the bluff, and stood in groups of twos or threes, separated by narrow +cross-lanes, giving every one free access to the town pump, the only +source of fresh-water supply in the place. + +The children were particularly interested in the cottage of Captain +Baxter, with its famous ship's figure-head in the yard. + +Back of the original 'Sconset, on the slight ascent toward Nantucket +Town, stood a few more pretentious cottages, built as summer residences +by the rich men of the island, retired sea captains, and merchants; this +was the one broad street, and here were the two hotels, the Atlantic +House and the Ocean View House. + +Then on the bluff south of the old village, called Sunset Heights, there +were some half dozen cottages; a few on the bluff north of it, also. + +The town explored and dinner eaten, of course the next thing was to +repair to the beach to watch the rush and tumble of the restless waves, +fast chasing each other in, and the dash of the spray as they broke +along the shore. + +There was little else to see, for the bathing hour was long past; but +that was quite enough. + +Soon, however, nearly every one of the party began to feel unaccountably +sleepy. Some returned to the cottages for the indulgence of their desire +for slumber, and others, spreading cloaks and shawls upon the sand, +enjoyed a delicious rest, warmed by the sun and fanned by the sea +breeze. + +For a day or two they did little but sleep and eat, and sleep and eat +again, enjoying it immensely, too, and growing fat and strong. + +After that they woke to new life, made inquiries in regard to all the +sights and amusements the island afforded, and began availing themselves +of their opportunities, as if it were the business of life. + +When it was for a long drive to some notable point, all went together, +chartering several vehicles for their conveyance; at other times they +not unfrequently broke up into smaller parties, some preferring one sort +of sport, some another. + +"How many of us are going to bathe to-day?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, the +second morning after their arrival. + +"I for one, if you will bear me company and look out for my safety," +said his wife. + +"Most assuredly I will," he answered. "And you too, Elsie?" turning to +his daughter. + +"Yes, sir," she said, "if you think you can be burdened with the care of +two." + +"No, mother," spoke up Edward, quickly; "you and Zoe will be my charge, +of course." + +"Ridiculous, Ned! of course, Harold and I will take care of mamma," +exclaimed Herbert. "You will have enough to do to look out for your +wife's safety." + +(The yacht had touched at Cape May and taken the two college students +aboard there.) + +"I shall be well taken care of," their mother said, laughingly, with an +affectionate glance from one to another of her three tall sons; "but I +should like one of you to take charge of Rosie, another of Walter; and, +in fact, I don't think I need anything for myself but a strong hold of +the rope to insure my safety." + +"You shall have more!" exclaimed father and sons in a breath; "the surf +is heavy here, and we cannot risk your precious life." + +Mr. Dinsmore added, "None of you ladies ought to stay in very long, and +we will take you in turn." + +"Papa, may I go in?" asked Lulu, eagerly. + +"Yes; I'll take you in," the captain answered; "but the waves are so +boisterous that I doubt if you will care to repeat the experiment. Max, +I see, is waiting his chance to ask the same question," he added, with a +fatherly smile directed to the boy; "you may go in too, of course, my +son, if you will promise to hold on to the rope. I cannot think that +otherwise you would be safe in that boiling surf." + +"But I can swim, papa," said Max; "and won't you let me go with you out +beyond the surf, where the water is more quiet?" + +"Why yes, you shall," the captain replied, with a look of pleasure; "I +did not know that you had learned to swim." + +"I don't want to go in," said timid little Grace, as if half fearful it +might be required of her. "Mamma is not going, and can't I stay with +her, papa?" + +"Certainly, daughter," was the kind reply. "I suppose you feel afraid of +those dashing waves, and I should never think of forcing you in among +them against your will." + +Betty Johnson now announced her intention to join the bathers. "It's +the first chance I've ever had," she remarked, "and I shan't throw it +away. I'll hold on to the rope, and if I'm in any danger I suppose Bob, +or some of the rest of you, will come to my assistance?" + +"Of course we will!" all the gentlemen said, her brother adding, "And if +there's a good chance, I'll take you over to Nantucket Town, where +there's still-bathing, and teach you to swim." + +"Just what I should like," she said. "I have a great desire to add that +to the already large number of my accomplishments." + +Miss Betty was a very lively, in fact, quite wild, young lady, whose +great desire was for fun and frolic; to have, as she expressed it, "a +jolly good time" wherever she went. + +The captain drew out his watch. "About time to don the bathing-suits," +he said; "I understand that eleven o'clock is the hour, and it wants but +fifteen minutes of it." + +Grandma Elsie had kindly seen to it that each little girl--that is, +Captain Raymond's two and her own Rosie--was provided with a pretty, +neatly-fitting, and becoming bathing dress. + +Violet helped Lulu to put her's on, and, surveying her with a smile of +gratified motherly pride, told her she looked very well in it, and that +she hoped she would enjoy her bath. + +"Thank you," said Lulu; "but why don't you go in too, Mamma Vi?" + +"Only because I don't feel strong enough to stand up against those heavy +waves," Violet answered. "But I am going down to the beach to watch you +all, and see that you don't drown," she added, sportively. + +"Oh Lu, aren't you afraid to go in?" asked little Grace, half shuddering +at the very thought. + +"Why no, Gracie; I've bathed in the sea before; I went in a good many +times last summer; don't you remember?" + +"Yes; but the waves there weren't half so big and strong." + +"No; but I'll have a rope and papa, too, to hold to; so why need I be +afraid?" laughed Lulu. + +"Mamma is, I think," said Grace, looking doubtfully at her. + +"Oh no, dear," said Violet; "I should not be at all afraid to go in if +I were as strong as usual; but being weak, I know that buffeting with +those great waves would do me more harm than good." + +Their cottages being so near the beach, our party all assumed their +bathing suits before descending to it. They went down, this first time, +all in one company, forming quite a procession; Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore +heading it, and Violet and Grace, as mere spectators, bringing up the +rear. + +They, in common with others who had nothing to do but look on, found it +an amusing scene; there was a great variety of costume, some neat, +well-fitting, and modest; some quite immodestly scant; some bright and +new; some faded and old. There was, however, but little freshness and +beauty in any of them when they came out of the water. + +Violet and Grace found a seat under an awning. Max came running up to +them. + +"Papa is going in with Lulu first," he said; "then he will bring her out +and take me with him for a swim beyond the breakers. I'll just wait here +with you till my turn comes." + +"See, see, they're in the water!" cried Grace; "and oh, what a big, big +wave that is coming! There, it would have knocked Lulu down if papa +hadn't had fast hold of her." + +"Yes; it knocked a good many others down," laughed Max; "just hear how +they are screeching and screaming." + +"But laughing, too," said Violet, "as if they find it fine sport." + +"Who is that man sitting on that bench nearest the water, and looking +just ready to run and help if anybody needs it?" asked Grace. + +"Oh, that's Captain Gorham," said Max. "and to run and help if he's +needed is exactly what he's there for. And I presume he always does it; +for they say no bather was ever drowned here." + +Ten or fifteen minutes later a little dripping figure left the water, +and came running toward them. + +"Why, it's Lulu," Gracie said, as it drew near, calling out to Max that +papa was ready for him. + +Max was off like a shot in the direction of the water, and Lulu shouted +to her sister, "Oh Gracie, it's such fun! I wish you had gone, too." + +Violet hastened to throw a waterproof cloak about Lulu's shoulders, and +bade her hurry to the house, rub hard with a coarse towel, and put on +dry clothing. + +"I will go with you," she added, "if you wish." + +"Oh no, thank you, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered, in a lively, happy tone. "I +can do it all quite well myself, and it must be fun for you to sit here +and watch the bathers." + +"Well, dear, rub till you are in a glow," Violet said, as the little +girl sped on her way. + +"Oh mamma, see, see!" cried Grace, more than half frightened at the +sight; "papa has gone away, way out, and Maxie with him. Oh, aren't you +afraid they will drown?" + +"No, Gracie dear; I think we may safely trust your father's prudence +and skill as a swimmer," Violet answered. "Ah, there come Grandma Rose +and my mother; but Zoe and Betty seem to be enjoying it too much to +leave yet." + +"Mamma, let's stay here till our people all come out; papa and Maxie, +any way" Grace said, persuasively. + +"Yes; we will if you wish," said Violet. "I was just thinking I must go +in to see how baby is doing; but here comes Dinah, bringing her to me." + +There was no accident that day, and everybody was enthusiastic in praise +of the bathing. Zoe and Betty would have liked to stay in the water much +longer than their escorts deemed prudent, but yielded to their better +judgment. + +The next morning there was a division of their forces: the Dinsmores, +Mrs. Elsie Travilla, Rosie, and Walter, and the Raymonds taking an early +start for Nantucket Town, the others remaining behind to enjoy a +repetition of the surf bath at 'Sconset. + +The Nantucket party drove directly to the bathing house of the town, and +the little girls took their first lesson in swimming. They all thought +it "very nice," even Grace soon forgetting her timidity in the quiet +water and with her father to take care of her. + +After that they went about the town visiting places of note--the +Athenaeum, the oldest house, dating back more than a hundred years, no +longer habitable, but kept as a relic of olden times, so important that +a visit to it is a part of the regular curriculum of the summer +sojourner in Nantucket; then to the news-room, where they wrote their +names in the "Visitors' Book;" then to the stores to view, among other +things, the antique furniture and old crockery on exhibition there and +for sale. + +Many of these stores, situate in wide, handsome streets, were quite +city-like in size and in their display of goods. + +Dinner at one of the hotels was next in order; after that a delightful +sail on the harbor, then around Brant Point and over the bar out into +the sea. + +Here the boat new before the wind, dancing and rocking on the waves to +the intense delight of the older children; but Gracie was afraid till +her father took her in his arms and held her fast, assuring her they +were in no danger. + +As she had unbounded confidence in "papa's" word, and believed he knew +all about the sea, this quieted her fears and made the rest of the sail +as thoroughly enjoyable to her as it was to the others. + +The drive back to 'Sconset, with the full moon shining on moor and sea, +was scarcely less delightful. They reached their cottage home full of +enthusiasm over the day's experiences, ready to do ample justice to a +substantial supper, and then for a long delicious night's sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"And I have loved thee, Ocean!" + + +Captain Raymond, always an early riser, was out on the bluffs before the +sun rose, and in five minutes Max was by his side. + +"Ah, my boy, I though you were sound asleep, and would be for an hour +yet," the captain remarked when they had exchanged an affectionate +good-morning. + +"No, sir, I made up my mind last night that I'd be out in time to see +the sun rise right out of the sea," Max said; "and there he is, just +peeping above the waves. There, now he's fairly up I and see, papa, what +a golden glory he sheds upon the waters; they are almost too bright to +look at. Isn't it a fine sight?" + +"Yes, well worth the sacrifice of an extra morning nap--at least once in +a while." + +"You must have seen it a great many times, papa." + +"Yes, a great many; but it never loses its attraction for me." + +"Oh, look, look, papa!" cried Max; "there's a fisherman going out; he +has his dory down on the beach, and is just watching for the right wave +to launch it. I never can see the difference in the waves--why one is +better than half a dozen others that he lets pass. Can you, sir?" + +"No," acknowledged the captain; "but let us watch now and try to make +out his secret." + +They did watch closely for ten minutes or more, while wave after wave +came rushing in and broke along the beach, the fisherman's eyes all the +while intent upon them as he stood motionless beside his boat; then +suddenly seeming to see the right one--though to the captain and Max it +did not look different from many of its neglected predecessors--he gave +his dory a vigorous push that sent it out upon the top of that very +wave, leaped into the stern, seized his oars, and with a powerful stroke +sent the boat out beyond the breakers. + +"Bravo!" cried Max, clapping his hands and laughing with delight; "see, +papa, how nicely he rides now on the long swells! How I should like to +be able to manage a boat like that. May I learn if I have the chance?" + +"Yes," said his father; "I should like to have you a proficient in all +manly accomplishments, only don't be foolhardy and run useless risks. I +want my son to be brave, but not rash; ready to meet danger with +coolness and courage when duty calls, and to have the proper training +to enable him to do so intelligently, but not to rush recklessly into it +to no good end." + +"Yes, papa," Max answered; "I mean to try to be just such a man as my +father is; but do you mean that I may take lessons in managing a boat on +the sea, if I can find somebody to teach me?" + +"I do; I shall inquire about among the fishermen and see who is capable +and willing for the task. Come, let us go down to the beach; we shall +have abundance of time for a stroll before breakfast." + +At that moment Lulu joined them with a gay good-morning to each; she was +in a happy mood. "Oh, what a lovely morning! what a delightful place +this is!" she cried. "Papa, can't we take a walk?" + +"Yes, Max and I were about starting for one, and shall be pleased to +have your company." + +"I'd like to go to Tom Never's Head, papa," said Max. + +"Oh, so should I!" cried Lulu. + +"I believe they call the distance from here about two miles," remarked +the captain reflectively; "but such a walk before breakfast in this +bracing air I presume will not damage children as strong and healthy as +these two of mine," regarding them with a fond, fatherly smile. "So come +along, we will try it." + +He took Lulu's hand, and the three wended their way southward along +Sunset Heights, greatly enjoying the sight of the ocean, its waves +glittering and dancing in the brilliant sunlight, their booming sound as +they broke along the beach and the exhilarating breeze blowing fresh and +pure from them. + +"This is a very dangerous coast," the captain remarked, "especially in +winter, when it is visited by fierce gales; a great many vessels have +been wrecked on Nantucket coast." + +"Yes, papa," said Max; "I heard a story the other day of a ship that was +wrecked the night before Christmas, eight or ten years ago, on this +shore. Nobody knew that a ship was near until the next morning, when +pieces of wreck, floating barrels, and dead bodies were cast up on the +beach. + +"They found that one man had got to land alive; they knew it because he +was quite a distance from the beach, though entirely dead when they +found him. You see there was just one farmhouse in sight from the scene +of the disaster, and they had alight that night because somebody was +sick; and they supposed the man saw the light and tried to reach it, but +was too much exhausted by fatigue and the dreadful cold, for it seemed +his clothes had all been torn off him by the waves; he was stark naked +when found, and lying on the ground, which showed that he had struggled +hard to get up after falling down upon it. + +"I think they said the ship was called the Isaac Newton, was loaded with +barrels of coal-oil, and bound for Holland." + +"What a terrible death!" Lulu said with a shudder, and clinging more +tightly to her father's hand; "every one drowned and may be half frozen +for hours before they died. Oh, papa, I wish you didn't belong to the +navy, but lived all the time on land! I am so afraid your ship will be +wrecked some time," she ended with a sob. + +"It is not only upon the water that people die by what we call accident, +daughter," the captain answered; "many horrible deaths occur on +land--many to which drowning would in my opinion be far preferable. + +"But you must remember that we are under God's care and protection +everywhere, on land and on sea; and that if we are His children no real +evil can befall us. I am very glad you love me, my child, but I would +not have you make yourself unhappy with useless fears on my account. +Trust the Lord for me and all whom you love." + +They pressed onward and presently came upon a lovely lakelet near the +beach, as clear as crystal and with bushes with dark green foliage +growing on all sides but that toward the sea. + +They stopped for a moment to gaze upon it with surprise and admiration, +then pushed on again till the top of the high bluff known as Tom Never's +Head was reached. + +They stood upon its brink and looked off westward and northward over the +heaving, tumbling ocean, as far as the eye could reach to the line where +sea and sky seemed to meet, taking in long draughts of the pure, +invigorating air, and listening to the roar of the breakers below. + +"What is that down there?" asked Lulu. + +"Part of a wreck, evidently," answered her father; "it must have been +there a long while, it is so deeply imbedded in the sand." + +"I wish I knew its story," said Lulu; "I hope everybody wasn't drowned +when it was lost." + +"It must have happened years ago, before that life-saving station was +built," remarked Max. + +"Life-saving station," repeated Lulu, turning to look in the direction +of his glance; "what's that?" + +"Do you not know what that means?" asked her father. "It is high time +you did. Those small houses are built here and there all along our coast +by the general government, for the purpose of accommodating each a band +of surf-men, who are employed by the government to keep a lookout for +vessels in distress, and give them all the aid in their power. + +"They are provided with lifeboats, buoys, and other necessary things to +enable them to do so successfully. If it were not too near breakfast +time I should take you over there to see their apparatus; but we must +defer it to some other day, which will be quite as well, for then we may +bring a larger party with us. Now for home," he added, again taking +Lulu's hand; "if your appetites are as keen as mine you will be glad to +get there and to the table." + +"Two good hours to bathing-time," remarked Mr. Dinsmore, consulting his +watch as they rose from the breakfast table. "I propose that we utilize +them in a visit to Sankaty lighthouse." + +All were well satisfied to do so, and presently they set off, some +driving, others walking, for the distance is not great, and even feeble +folk often find themselves able to take quite long tramps in the bracing +sea air. + +Max and Lulu preferred to walk when they learned that their father +intended doing so; then Grace, though extremely fond of driving, begged +leave to join their party, and the captain finally granted her request, +thinking within himself that he could carry her if her strength gave +out. + +The little face grew radiant with delight. + +"Oh, you are a nice, good papa!" she cried, giving him a hug and kiss, +for he was seated with her upon his knee. + +"I am glad you think so," he said, laughingly, as he returned her +caress. "Well, as soon as I have helped your mamma into the carriage we +will start." + +They set out presently, Grace holding fast to one of his hands while +Lulu had the other, and tripping gayly along by his side till, passing +out of the village, they struck into the narrow path leading to Sankaty; +then the little maid moved along more soberly, looking far away over the +rolling billows and watching the progress of some vessels in the offing. + +They could hear the dash of the waves on the beach below, but could not +see it for the over-hanging cliffs, the path running some yards distant +from their brink. + +"I want to see where the waves come up," said Lulu; "there's Max looking +down over the edge; can't we go and look too, papa?" + +"Yes, with me along to take care of you," he said, turning from the path +and leading them seaward; "but don't venture alone, the ground might +crumble under your feet and you would have a terrible fall, going down +many feet right into the sea." + +They had reached the brink. Grace, clinging tightly to her father's +hand, took one timid peep, then drew back in terror. "Oh, papa, how far +down it is!" she exclaimed. "Oh, let's get away, for fear the ground +will break and let us fall." + +"Pooh! Gracie, don't be such a coward," said Lulu. "I shouldn't be +afraid even if papa hadn't hold of our hands." + +"I should be afraid for you, Lulu, so venturesome as you are," said the +captain, drawing her a little farther back. "Max, my son, be careful." + +"Yes, sir, I will. Papa, do you know how high this bluff is?" + +"They say the bank is eighty-five feet high where the lighthouse stands, +and I presume it is about the same here. Now, children, we will walk +on." + +Grace's strength held out wonderfully; she insisted she was not at all +tired, even when the end of their walk was reached. + +The other division of the party had arrived some minutes before, and +several were already making the ascent to the top of the lighthouse +tower; the rest were scattered, waiting their turn in the neat parlor of +the keeper's snug little home, or wandering over the grassy expanse +between it and the sea. + +"There are Grandma Elsie and mamma in the house," cried Grace, catching +sight of them through a window. + +"Yes," said her father, "we will go in there and wait our turn with +them," leading the way as he spoke. "Do you want to go up into the +tower, Gracie?" + +"Oh no, no, papa!" she cried, "what would be the use? and I am afraid I +might fall." + +"What, with your big strong father to hold you fast?" he asked +laughingly, sitting down and drawing her to a seat upon his knee; for +they had entered the parlor. + +"It might tire you to hold me so hard; I'm getting so big now," she +answered naïvely, looking up into his face with a loving smile and +stealing an arm about his neck. + +"Ah, no danger of that," he laughed. "Why, I believe I could hold even +your mamma or Lulu, and that against their will, without being greatly +exhausted by the exertion. + +"My dear," turning to Violet, "shall I have the pleasure of helping you +up to the top of the tower?" + +"Thank you, I think I shall not try it to-day," she answered; "they tell +me the steps are very steep and hard to climb." + +"Ah, so I suppose, and I think you are wise not to attempt it." + +"But I may, mayn't I, papa?" Lulu said. "You know I always like to go +everywhere." + +"I fear it will be a hard climb for a girl of your size," he answered +doubtfully. + +"Oh, but I want to go, and I don't care if it is a hard climb," she +said coaxingly, coming close to his side and laying her hand on his +shoulder. "Please, papa, do say I may." + +"Yes, since you are so desirous," he said, in an indulgent tone. + +Max came hurrying in. "We can go up now, papa," he said; "the others +have come down." + +Edward and Zoe were just behind the boy. "Oh, you ought all to go up," +cried the latter; "the view's just splendid." + +"Mother," said Edward, "the view is very fine, but there are sixty +steps, each a foot high; a pretty hard climb for a lady, I should think. +Will you go up? may I have the pleasure of helping you?" + +"Yes," she answered; "I am quite strong and well, and think the view +will probably pay for the exertion." + +They took the lead, the captain following with Lulu, and Max bringing up +the rear. + +Having reached the top and viewed the great light (one of the finest on +the coast) from the interior, Elsie stepped outside, and holding fast to +Edward's hand made the entire circuit, enjoying the extended view on all +sides. + +Stepping in again, she drew a long breath of relief. "I should not like +to try that in a strong wind," she said, "or at all if I were easily +made dizzy; no, nor in any case without a strong arm to cling to for +safety; for there is plenty of space to fall through between the iron +railing and the masonry." + +"I should tremble to see you try it alone, mother," Edward said. + +"It is a trifle dangerous," acknowledged the keeper. + +"Yet safe enough for a sailor," laughed the captain, stepping out. + +"Oh, papa, let me go too, please do!" pleaded Lulu. + +"Why should you care to?" asked her father. + +"To see the prospect, papa; oh, do let me! there can't be any danger +with you to hold me tight." + +For answer he leaned down and helped her up the step, then led her +slowly round, giving her time to take in all the beauties of the scene, +taking care of Max too, who was slowly following. + +"I presume you are a little careful whom you allow to make that round?" +the captain observed inquiringly to the keeper when again they stood +inside. + +"Yes, and we have never had an accident; but I don't know but there was +a narrow escape from it the other day. + +"Of course crowds of people come here almost every day while summer +visitors are on the island, and we can't always judge what kind they +are; but we know it is not an uncommon thing for people standing on the +brink of a precipice or any height to feel an uncontrollable inclination +to throw themselves down it, and therefore we are on the watch. + +"Well, the other day I let a strange woman out there, but presently when +I saw her looking down over the edge and heard her mutter to herself, +'Shall I know him when I see him? shall I know him when I see him?' I +pulled her inside in a hurry." + +"You thought she was deranged and about to commit suicide by +precipitating herself to the ground?" Edward said inquiringly. + +"Exactly, sir," returned the keeper. + +All of their number who wished to do so having visited the top of the +tower, our party prepared to leave. + +"Are you going to walk back, papa? Mayn't I go with you?" pleaded Grace. + +"No, daughter, we must not try your strength too far," he said, lifting +her into the carriage where Grandma Elsie and Violet were already +seated. "I am going on a mile further to Sachacha Pond, ladies," he +remarked; "will you drive there, or directly home?" + +"There, if there is time to go and return before the bathing hour," they +answered. + +"Quite. I think," he replied, and the carriage moved on, he with Max +and Lulu, and several of the young gentlemen of the company following on +foot. + +Sachacha Pond they found to be a pretty sheet of water only slightly +salt, a mile long and three quarters of a mile wide, separated from the +ocean by a long narrow strip of sandy beach. No stream enters it, but it +is the reservoir of the rainfall from the low-lying hills sloping down +to its shores. + +Quidnet--a hamlet of perhaps a half dozen houses--stands on its banks. + +It is to this pond people go to fish for perch; calling it fresh-water +fishing; here too they "bob" for eels. + +Our party had not come to fish this time, yet had an errand aside from a +desire to see the spot--namely, to make arrangements for going sharking +the next day. + +Driving and walking on to Quidnet they soon found an old, experienced +mariner who possessed a suitable boat and was well pleased to undertake +the job of carrying their party out to the sharking grounds on the +shoals. He would need a crew of two men, easily to be found among his +neighbors, he said; he would also provide the necessary tackle. The bait +would be perch, which they would catch here in the pond before setting +out for the trip by sea to their destination--about a mile away. + +Mr. Dinsmore, his three grandsons, and Bob Johnson were all to be of +the party. Max was longing to go too, but hardly thought he would be +allowed; he was hesitating whether to make the request when his father, +catching his eager, wistful look, suddenly asked, "Would you like to go, +Max?" + +"Oh, yes, papa, yes, indeed!" was the eager response, and the boy's +heart bounded with delight at the answer, in a kindly indulgent tone, +"Very well, you may." + +Lulu, hearing it, cried out, "Oh, couldn't I go too, papa?" + +"You? a little girl?" her father said, turning an astonished look upon +her; "absurd! no, of course you can't." + +"I think I might," persisted Lulu; "I've heard that ladies go sometimes, +and I shouldn't be a bit afraid or get in anybody's way." + +"You can't go, so let me hear no more about it," the captain answered +decidedly as they turned toward home, the arrangements for the morrow's +expedition being completed. + +"Wouldn't Lulu like to ride?" Violet asked, speaking from the carriage +window; "she has already done a good deal of walking to-day." + +The carriage stopped, and the captain picked Lulu up and put her in it +without waiting for her to reply, for he saw that she was sulking over +his refusal of her request. + +She continued silent during the short drive to the cottage, and +scarcely spoke while hurriedly dressing for the surf-bath. + +The contemplated sharking expedition was the chief topic of conversation +at the dinner-table, and it was quite evident that those who were going +looked forward to a good deal of sport. + +The frown on Lulu's face grew darker as she listened. Why should not she +have a share in the fun as well as Max? she was sure she was quite as +brave, and not any more likely to be seasick; and papa ought to be as +willing to give enjoyment to his daughter as to his son. + +She presently slipped away to the beach and sat down alone to brood over +it, nursing her ill-humor and missing much enjoyment which she might +have had because this--a very doubtful one at the best--was denied her. + +Looking round after a while, and seeing her father sitting alone on a +bench at some little distance, she went to him and asked, "Why can't I +go with you to-morrow, papa? I don't see why I can't as well as Max." + +"Max is a boy and you are a girl, which makes a vast difference whether +you see it or not," the captain answered. "But I told you to let me hear +no more about it. I am astonished at your assurance in approaching me +again on the subject." + +Lulu was silent for a moment, then said complainingly, "And I suppose +I'll not be allowed to take my bath either?" + +"I don't forbid you," the captain said kindly, putting his arm about her +and drawing her in between his knees; "provided you promise to keep fast +hold of the rope all the time you are in. With that, and Captain Gorham +keeping close watch, you will not be in much danger, I think; but I +should be much easier in mind--it would give me great satisfaction--if +my little girl would voluntarily relinquish the bath for this one day +that I shall not be here to take care of her, for possibly she might be +swept away, and it would be a terrible thing to me to lose her." + +"I 'most wonder you don't say a good thing, papa, I'm so often naughty +and troublesome," she said, suddenly becoming humble and penitent. + +"No, it would not be true; your naughtiness often pains me deeply, but +I must continue to love my own child in spite of it all," he responded, +bending down and imprinting a kiss upon her lips. + +"And I love you, papa; indeed, indeed I do," she said, with her arm +round his neck, her cheek pressed close to his; "and I won't go in +to-morrow; I'm glad to promise not to if it will make you feel easier +and enjoy your day more." + +"Thank you, my dear child," he said. "I have not the least doubt of +your affection." + +Edward had spread a rug on the sand just high enough on the beach to be +out of reach of the incoming waves, and Zoe, with a book in her hand, +was half reclining upon it, resting on her elbow and gazing far out over +the waters. + +"Well, Mrs. Travilla, for once I find you alone. What has become of your +other half?" said a lively voice at her side. + +"Oh, is it you, Betty?" Zoe exclaimed, quickly turning her head and +glancing up at the speaker. + +"No one else, I assure you," returned the lively girl, dropping down on +the sand and folding her hands in her lap. "Where did you say Ned is?" + +"I didn't say; but he has gone to help mamma down with her shawls and so +forth." + +"He's the best of sons as well as of husbands," remarked Betty; "but I'm +glad he's away for a moment just now, as I want a private word with you. +Don't you think it is just a trifle mean and selfish for all our +gentlemen to be going off on a pleasure excursion without so much as +asking if one of us would like to accompany them?" + +"I hadn't thought anything about it," replied Zoe. + +"Well, think now, if you please; wouldn't you go if you had an +invitation? Don't you want to go?" + +"Yes, if it's the proper thing; I'd like to go everywhere with my +husband. I'll ask him about it. Here he comes, mamma with him." + +She waited till the two were comfortably settled by her side, then said, +with her most insinuating smile, "I'd like to go sharking, Ned; won't you +take me along to-morrow?" + +"Why, what an idea, little wife!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I really +hate to say no to any request of yours, but I do not think it would be +entirely safe for you. We are not going on the comparatively quiet +waters of the harbor, but out into the ocean itself, and that in a +whaleboat, and we may have very rough sailing; besides, it is not at all +impossible that a man-eating shark might get into the boat alive, and, +as I heard an old fisherman say yesterday, 'make ugly work.'" + +"Then I don't want to go," Zoe said, "and I'd rather you wouldn't; just +suppose you should get a bite?" + +"Oh, no danger!" laughed Edward; "a man is better able to take care of +himself than a woman is of herself." + +"Pooh!" exclaimed Betty; "I don't believe any such thing, and I want to +go; I want to be able to say I've done and seen everything other summer +visitors do and see on this island." + +"Only a foolish reason, is it not, Betty?" mildly remonstrated her +Cousin Elsie. "But you will have to ask my father's consent, as he is +your guardian." + +"No use whatever," remarked Bob, who had joined them a moment before; "I +know uncle well enough to be able to tell you that beforehand. Aren't +you equally sure of the result of such an application, Ned?" + +"Yes." + +"Besides," pursued Bob, teasingly, "there wouldn't be room in the boat +for a fine lady like my sister Betty, with her flounces and furbelows; +also you'd likely get awfully sick with the rolling and pitching of the +boat, and leaning over the side for the purpose of depositing your +breakfast in the sea, tumble in among the sharks and give them one." + +"Oh, you horrid fellow!" she exclaimed, half angrily; "I shouldn't do +anything of the kind; I should wear no furbelows, be no more likely to +an attack of sea-sickness than yourself, and could get out of the way of +a shark quite as nimbly as any one else." + +"Well, go and ask uncle," he laughed. + +Betty made no move to go; she knew as well as he how Mr. Dinsmore would +treat such a request. + +The weather the next morning was all that could be desired for sharking, +and the gentlemen set off in due time, all in fine spirits. + +They were absent all day, returning early in the evening quite elated +with their success. + +Max had a wonderful tale to tell Lulu and Grace of "papa's" skill, the +number of sand-sharks and the tremendous "blue dog" or man-eater he had +taken. The captain was not half so proud of his success as was his +admiring son. + +"I thought all the sharks were man-eaters," said Lulu. + +"No, the sand-sharks are not." + +"Did everybody catch a man-eater?" + +"No; nobody but papa took a full-grown one. Grandpa Dinsmore and Uncle +Edward each caught a baby one, and all of them took big fellows of the +other kind. I suppose they are the most common, and it's a good thing, +because of course they are not nearly so dangerous." + +"How many did you catch, Maxie?" asked Grace. + +"I? Oh, I helped catch the perch for bait; but I didn't try for sharks, +for of course a boy wouldn't be strong enough to haul such big fellows +in. I tell you the men had a hard tug, especially with the blue-dog. + +"The sand-sharks they killed when they'd got 'em close up to the gunwale +by pounding them on the nose with a club--a good many hard whacks it +took, too; but the blue-dog had to be stabbed with a lance; and I +should think it took considerable courage and skill to do it, with such +a big, strong, wicked-looking fellow. You just ought to have seen how he +rolled over and over in the water and lashed it into a foam with his +tail, how angry his eyes looked, and how he showed his sharp white +teeth. I thought once he'd be right in among us the next minute, but he +didn't; they got the lance down his throat just in time to put a stop to +that." + +"Oh, I'm so glad he didn't!" Grace said, drawing a long breath. "Do they +eat sharks, Maxie?" + +"No, indeed; who'd want to eat a fish that maybe had grown fat on human +flesh?" + +"What do they kill them for, then?" + +"Oh, to rid the seas of them, I suppose, and because there is a valuable +oil in their livers. We saw our fellows towed ashore and cut open and +their livers taken out." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must +be saved."--_Acts_ 4: 12. + + +It was down on the beach Max had been telling his story; the evening was +beautiful, warm enough to make the breeze from the sea extremely +enjoyable, and the whole family party were gathered there, some sitting +upon the benches or camp-chairs, others on rugs and shawls spread upon +the sand. + +Max seemed to have finished what he had to say about the day's exploits, +and Gracie rose and went to her father's side. + +He drew her to his knee with a slight caress. "What has my little girl +been doing all day?" + +"Playing in the sand most of the time, papa. I'm so glad those horrid +sharks didn't get a chance to bite you or anybody to-day. Such big, +dreadful-looking creatures Maxie says they were." + +"Not half so large as some I have seen in other parts of the world." + +"Oh, papa, will you tell us about them? Shall I call Max and Lulu to +hear it?" + +"Yes; if they wish to come, they may." + +There was scarcely anything the children liked better than to hear the +captain tell of his experiences at sea, and in another moment his own +three. Rosie, Walter, and several of the older people were gathered +around him, expecting quite a treat. + +"Quite an audience," he remarked, "and I'm afraid I shall disappoint you +all, for I have no yarn to spin, only a few items of information to give +in regard to other varieties of sharks than are to be found on this +coast. + +"The white shark, found in the Mediterranean and the seas of many of the +warmer parts of the world, is the largest and the most feared of any of +the monsters of the deep. One has been caught which was thirty-seven +feet long. It has a hard skin, is grayish-brown above and whitish on the +under side. It has a large head and a big wide mouth armed with a +terrible apparatus of teeth--six rows in the upper jaw, and four in the +lower." + +"Did you ever see one, papa?" asked Grace, shuddering. + +"Yes, many a one. They will often follow a ship to feed on any animal +matter that may be thrown or fall overboard, and have not unfrequently +followed mine, to the no small disturbance of the sailors, who have a +superstitious belief that it augurs a death on board during the voyage." + +"Do you believe it, captain?" queried little Walter. + +"No, my boy, certainly not; how should a fish know what is about to +happen? Do you think God would give them a knowledge of the future which +He conceals from men? No, it is a very foolish idea which only an +ignorant, superstitious person could for a moment entertain. Sharks +follow the ships simply because of what is occasionally thrown into the +water. They are voracious creatures, and sometimes swallow articles +which even their stomachs cannot digest. A lady's work-box was found in +one, and the papers of a slave-ship in another." + +"Why, how could he get them?" asked Walter. + +"They had been thrown overboard," said the captain. + +"Do those big sharks bite people?" pursued the child. + +"Yes, indeed; they will not only bite off an arm or leg when an +opportunity offers, but have been known to swallow a man whole." + +"A worse fate than that of the prophet Jonah," remarked Betty. "Do the +sailors ever attempt to catch them, captain?" + +"Sometimes; using a piece of meat as bait, putting it on a very large +hook attached to a chain; for a shark's teeth find no difficulty in +going through a rope. But when they have hooked him and hauled him on +board they have need to be very careful to keep out of reach of both his +teeth and his tail; they usually rid themselves of danger from the +latter by a sailor springing forward and cutting it above the fin with a +hatchet. + +"In the South Sea Islands they have a curious way of catching sharks by +setting a log of wood afloat with a rope attached, a noose at the end of +it; the sharks gather round the log, apparently out of curiosity, and +one or another is apt soon to get his head into the noose, and is +finally wearied out by the log." + +"I think that's a good plan," said Grace, "because it doesn't put +anybody in danger of being bitten." + +No one spoke again for a moment, then the silence was broken by the +sweet voice of Mrs. Elsie Travilla: "To-morrow is Sunday; does any one +know whether any service will be held here?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Dinsmore; "there will be preaching in the parlors of +one of the hotels, and I move that we attend in a body." + +The motion was seconded and carried, and when the time came nearly every +one went. The service occupied an hour; after that almost everybody +sought the beach; but though some went into the surf--doubtless looking +upon it as a hygienic measure, therefore lawful even on the Lord's +day--there was not the usual boisterous fun and frolic. + +Harold, by some manoeuvring, got his mother to himself for a time, +making a comfortable seat for her in the sand, and shading her from the +sun with an umbrella. + +"Mamma," he said, "I want a good talk with you; there are some +questions, quite suitable for Sunday, that I want to ask. And see," +holding them up to view, "I have brought my Bible and a small +concordance with me, for I know you always refer to the Law and to the +Testimony in deciding matters of faith and practice." + +"Yes," she said, "God's Word is the only infallible rule of faith and +practice. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is +profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in +righteousness!" + +"Yes, mamma, I have the reference here; Second Timothy, third chapter, +and sixteenth verse. And should not the next verse, 'That the man of God +may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,' stir us up to +much careful study of the Bible?" + +"Certainly, my dear boy; and, oh what cause for gratitude that we have +an infallible instructor and guide! But what did you want to ask me?" + +"A question that was put to me by one of our fellows at college, and +which I was not prepared to answer. The substance of it was this: 'If +one who has lived for years in the service of God should be suddenly cut +off while committing some sin, would he not be saved, because of his +former good works?'" + +"Is any son or daughter of Adam saved by good works?" she asked, with a +look and tone of surprise. + +"No, mother, certainly not; how strange that I did not think of +answering him with that query. But he maintained that God was too just +to overlook--make no account of--years of holy living because of perhaps +a momentary fall into sin." + +"We have nothing to hope from God's justice," she replied, "for it +wholly condemns us. 'There is none righteous, no, not one.... Therefore +by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.' + +"But your friend's question is very plainly answered by the prophet +Ezekiel," opening her Bible as she spoke. "Here it is, in the eighteenth +chapter, twenty-fourth verse. + +"'But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and +committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that +the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath +done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, +and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.'" + +"Nothing could be plainer," Harold said. "I shall refer my friend to +that passage for his answer, and also remind him that no one can be +saved by works. + +"Now, mamma, there is something else. I have become acquainted with a +young Jew who interests me greatly. He is gentlemanly, refined, +educated, very intelligent and devout, studying the Hebrew Scriptures +constantly, and looking for a Saviour yet to come. + +"I have felt so sorry for him that I could not refrain from talking to +him of Jesus of Nazareth, and trying to convince him that He was and is +the true Messiah." + +Elsie looked deeply interested. "And what was the result of your +efforts?" she asked. + +"I have not succeeded in convincing him yet, mamma, but I think I have +raised doubts in his mind. I have called his attention to the prophecies +in his own Hebrew Scriptures in regard to both the character of the +Messiah and the time of His appearing, and shown him how exactly they +were all fulfilled in our Saviour. I think he cannot help seeing that it +is so, yet tries hard to shut his eyes to the truth. + +"He tells me he believes Jesus was a good man and a great prophet, but +not the Messiah; only a human creature. To that I answer, 'He claimed +to be God, saying, "I and My Father are One;" "Verily, verily, I say +unto you, before Abraham was I am;" and allowed himself to be worshipped +as God; therefore either He was God or He was a wretched impostor, not +even a good man.' + +"But, mamma, I have been asked by another, a professed Christian, 'Why +do you trouble yourself about the belief of a devout Jew? he is not +seeking salvation by works, but by faith; then is he not safe, even +though he looks for a Saviour yet to come?' How should you answer that +question, mamma?" + +"With the eleventh and twelfth verses of the fourth chapter of Acts: +'This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is +become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; +for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we +must be saved.' + +"That name is the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified One. He is +the only Saviour. We speak--the Bible speaks of being saved by faith, +but faith is only the hand with which we lay hold on Christ. + +"'A Saviour yet to come?' There is none; and will faith in a myth save +the soul? No; nor in any other than Him who is the Door, the Way, the +Truth, the Life. + +"'He is mighty to save,' and He alone; He Himself said, 'No man cometh +unto the Father, but by Me.' + +"And is it not for the very sin of rejecting their true Messiah, killing +Him and imprecating His blood upon them and on their children, that they +have been scattered among the nations and have become a hissing and a +byword to all people?" + +"True, mamma, and yet are they not still God's own chosen people? Are +there not promises of their future restoration?" + +"Yes, many, in both the Old Testament and the New. Zechariah tells us, +'They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn +for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for +him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born;' and Paul speaks of +a time when the veil that is upon their hearts shall be taken away, and +it shall turn to the Lord. + +"Let me read you the first five verses of the sixty-second chapter of +Isaiah--they are so beautiful. + +"'For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I +will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, +and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. + +"'And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy +glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the +Lord shall name. + +"'Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a +royal diadem in the hand of thy God. + +"'Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more +be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land +Beulah: for the Lord delighted in thee, and thy land shall be married. + +"'For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: +and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice +over thee.'" + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore sat together not many paces distant, each with a +book; but hers was half closed while she gazed out over the sea. + +"I am charmed with the quiet of this place," she remarked presently; +"never a scream of a locomotive to break it, no pavements to echo to the +footsteps of the passer-by, no sound of factory or mill, or rumble of +wheels, scarcely anything to be heard, even on week-days, but the +thunder of the surf and occasionally a human voice." + +"Except the blast of Captain Baxter's tin horn announcing his arrival +with the mail, or warning you that he will be off for Nantucket in +precisely five minutes, so that if you have letters or errands for him +you must make all haste to hand them over," Mr. Dinsmore said, with a +smile. + +"Ah, yes," she assented; "but with all that, is it not the quietest +place you ever were in?" + +"I think it is; there is a delightful Sabbath stillness to-day. I cannot +say that I should desire to pass my life here, but a sojourn of some +weeks is a very pleasant and restful variety." + +"I find it so," said his wife, "and feel a strong inclination to be down +here, close by the waves, almost all the time. If agreeable to the rest +of our party, let us pass the evening here in singing hymns." + +"A very good suggestion," he responded, and Elsie and the others being +of the same opinion, it was duly carried out. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"Sudden they see from midst of all the main +The surging waters like a mountain rise, +And the great sea, puff'd up with proud disdain +To swell above the measure of his guise, +As threatening to devour all that his power despise." + +--_Spenser_. + + +What with bathing, driving, and wandering about on foot over the lovely +moors, time flew fast to our 'Sconseters. + +It was their purpose to visit every point of interest on the island, +and to try all its typical amusements. They made frequent visits to +Nantucket Town, particularly that the children might take their swimming +lessons in the quiet water of its harbor; also repeated such drives and +rambles as they found exceptionably enjoyable. + +Max wanted to try camping out for a few weeks in company with Harold and +Herbert Travilla and Bob Johnson, but preferred to wait until his father +should leave them, not feeling willing to miss the rare pleasure of his +society. And the other lads, quite fond of the captain themselves, did +not object to waiting. + +In the mean time they went blue-fishing (trying it by both accepted +modes--the "heave and haul" from a rowboat or at anchor, and trolling +from a yacht under full sail), hunting, eel-bobbing, and perch-fishing. + +The ladies sometimes went with them on their fishing excursions; Zoe and +Betty oftener than any of the others. Lulu went, too, whenever she was +permitted, which was usually when her father made one of the party. + +"We haven't been on a 'squantum' yet," remarked Betty, one evening, +addressing the company in general; "suppose we try that to-morrow." + +"Suppose you first tell us what a 'squantum' is," said Mrs. Dinsmore. + +"Oh, Aunt Rose, don't you know that that is the Nantucket name for a +picnic?" + +"I acknowledge my ignorance," laughed the older lady; "I did not know it +till this moment." + +"Well, auntie, it's one of those typical things that every conscientious +summer visitor here feels called upon to do as a regular part of the +Nantucket curriculum. How many of us are agreed to go?" glancing about +from one to another. + +Not a dissenting voice was raised, and Betty proceeded to unfold her +plans. Vehicles sufficient for the transportation of the whole party +were to be provided, baskets of provisions also; they would take an +early start, drive to some pleasant spot near the beach or one of the +ponds, and make a day of it--sailing, or rather rowing about the pond, +fishing in it, cooking and eating what they caught (fish were said to be +so delicious just out of the water and cooked over the coals in the open +air), and lounging on the grass, drinking in at the same time the sweet, +pure air and the beauties of nature as seen upon Nantucket moors and +hills, and in glimpses of the surrounding sea. + +"Really, Betty, you grow quite eloquent," laughed her brother; +"Nantucket has inspired you." + +"I think it sounds ever so nice," said little Grace. "Won't you go and +take us, papa?" + +"Yes, if Mamma Vi will go along," he answered, with an affectionate look +at his young wife; "we can't go without her, can we, Gracie?" + +"Oh, no, indeed! but you will go, mamma, won't you?" + +"If your papa chooses to take me," Violet said, in a sprightly tone. "I +think it would be very pleasant, but I cannot either go or stay unless +he does; for I am quite resolved to spend every one of the few days he +will be here, close at his side." + +"And as all the rest of us desire the pleasure of his company," said +her mother, "his decision must guide ours." + +"There, now, captain," cried Betty, "you see it all rests with you; so +please say yes, and let us begin our preparations." + +"Yes, Miss Betty; I certainly cannot be so gallant as to refuse such a +request from such a quarter, especially when I see that all interested +in the decision hope I will not." + +That settled the matter. Preparations were at once set on foot: the +young men started in search of the necessary conveyances, the ladies +ordered the provisions, inquiries were made in regard to different +localities, and a spot on the banks of Sachacha Pond, where stood a +small deserted old house, was selected as their objective point. + +They started directly after breakfast, and had a delightful drive over +the moors and fenceless fields, around the hills and tiny emerald lakes +bordered with beautiful wild shrubbery, bright with golden rod, wild +roses, and field lilies. Here and there among the heather grew creeping +mealberry vines, with bright red fruit-like beads, and huckleberry +bushes that tempted our pleasure-seekers to alight again and again to +gather and eat of their fruit. + +Everybody was in most amiable mood, and the male members of the party +indulgently assisted the ladies, and lifted the children in and out +that they might gather floral treasures for themselves, or alighted to +gather for them again and again. + +At length they reached their destination, left their conveyances, spread +an awning above the green grass that grew luxuriantly about the old +house, deposited their baskets of provisions and extra wraps underneath +it, put the horses into a barn near at hand, and strolled down to the +pond. + +A whaleboat, large enough to hold the entire company, was presently +hired; all embarked; it moved slowly out into the lake; all who cared to +fish were supplied with tackle and bait, and the sport began. + +Elsie, Violet, and Grace declined to take part in it, but Zoe, Betty, +and Lulu were very eager and excited, sending forth shouts of triumph or +of merriment as they drew one victim after another from the water; for +the fish seemed eager to take the bait, and were caught in such numbers +that soon the word was given that quite enough were now on hand, and the +boat was headed for the shore. + +A fire was made in the sand, and while some broiled the fish and made +coffee, others spread a snowy cloth upon the grass, and placed on it +bread and butter, cold biscuits, sandwiches, pickles, cakes, jellies, +canned fruits, and other delicacies. + +It was a feast fit for a king, and all the more enjoyable that the sea +air and pleasant exercise had sharpened the appetites of the fortunate +partakers. + +Then, the meal disposed of, how deliciously restful it was to lounge +upon the grass, chatting, singing, or silently musing with the sweet, +bracing air all about them, the pretty sheet of still water almost at +their feet, while away beyond it and the dividing strip of sand the +ocean waves tossed and rolled, showing here and there a white, slowly +moving sail. + +So thoroughly did they enjoy it all that they lingered till the sun, +nearing the western horizon, reminded them that the day was waning. + +The drive home was not the least enjoyable part of the day. They took it +in leisurely fashion, by a different route from the one they had taken +in the morning, and with frequent haltings to gather berries, mosses, +lichens, grasses, and strange beautiful flowers; or to gaze with +delighted eyes upon the bare brown hills purpling in the light of the +setting sun, and the rapidly darkening vales; Sankaty lighthouse, with +the sea rolling beyond, on the one hand, and on the other the quieter +waters of the harbor, with the white houses and spires of Nantucket Town +half encircling it. + +They had enjoyed their "squantum," marred by no mishap, no untoward +event, so much that it was unanimously agreed to repeat the experiment, +merely substituting some other spot for the one visited that day. + +But their next excursion was to Wanwinet, situate on a narrow neck of +land that, jutting out into the sea, forms the head of the harbor; +Nantucket Town standing at the opposite end, some half dozen miles away. + +Summer visitors to the latter place usually go to Wanwinet by boat, up +the harbor, taking their choice between a sailboat and a tiny steamer +which plies regularly back and forth during the season; but our 'Sconset +party drove across the moors, sometimes losing their way among the +hills, dales, and ponds, but rather enjoying that as a prolongation of +the pleasure of the drive, and spite of the detention reached their +destination in good season to partake of the dinner of all obtainable +luxuries of the sea, served up in every possible form, which is usually +considered the roam object of a trip to Wanwinet. + +They found the dinner--served in a large open pavilion, whence they +might gaze out over the dancing, glittering waves of the harbor, and +watch the white sails come and go, while eating--quite as good as they +had been led to expect. + +After dinner they wandered along the beach, picking up shells and any +curious things they could find--now on the Atlantic side, now on the +shore of the harbor. + +Then a boat was chartered for a sail of a couple of hours, and then +followed the drive home to 'Sconset by a different course from that of +the morning, and varied by the gradually fading light of the setting sun +and succeeding twilight casting weird shadows here and there among the +hills and vales. + +The captain predicted a storm for the following day, and though the +others could see no sign of its approach, it was upon them before they +rose the next morning, raining heavily, while the wind blew a gale. + +There was no getting out for sitting on the beach, bathing, or rambling +about, and they were at close quarters in the cottages. + +They whiled away the time with books, games, and conversation. + +They were speaking of the residents of the island--their correct speech, +intelligence, uprightness, and honesty. + +"I wonder if there was ever a crime committed here?" Elsie said, half +inquiringly. "And if there is a jail on the island?" + +"Yes, mother," Edward answered; "there is a jail, but so little use for +it that they think it hardly worth while to keep it in decent repair. I +heard that a man was once put in for petty theft, and that after being +there a few days he sent word to the authorities that if they didn't +repair it so that the sheep couldn't break in on him, he wouldn't stay." + +There was a general laugh; then Edward resumed: "There has been one +murder on the island, as I have been informed. A mulatto woman was the +criminal, a white woman the victim, the motive revenge; the colored +woman was in debt to the white one, who kept a little store, and, +enraged at repeated duns, went to her house and beat her over the head +with some heavy weapon--I think I was told a whale's tooth. + +"The victim lingered for some little time, but eventually died of her +wounds, and the other was tried for murder. + +"It is said the sheriff was extremely uneasy lest she should be found +guilty of murder in the first degree, and he should have the unpleasant +job of hanging her; but the verdict was manslaughter, the sentence +imprisonment for life. + +"So she was consigned to jail, but very soon allowed to go out +occasionally to do a day's work." + +"Oh, Uncle Edward, is she alive now?" Gracie asked, with a look of +alarm. + +"Yes, I am told she is disabled by disease, and lives in the poorhouse. +But you need not be frightened, little girlie; she is not at all likely +to come to 'Sconset, and if she does we will take good care that she is +not allowed to harm you." + +"And I don't suppose she'd want to either, unless we had done something +to make her angry," said Lulu. + +"But we are going to Nantucket Town to stay a while when we leave +'Sconset," remarked Grace uneasily. + +"But that woman will not come near you, daughter; you need, not have the +least fear of it," the captain said, drawing his little girl to his knee +with a tender caress. + +"Ah," said Mr. Dinsmore, "I heard the other day of a curiosity at +Nantucket which we must try to see while there. I think the story +connected with it will particularly interest you ladies and the little +girls." + +"Oh, grandpa, tell it!" cried Rosie; "please do; a story is just what we +want this dull day." + +The others joined in the request, and Mr. Dinsmore kindly complied, all +gathering closely about him, anxious to catch every word. + +"The story is this: Nearly a hundred years ago there lived in Nantucket +a sea-captain named Coffin, who had a little daughter of whom he was +very fond." + +Gracie glanced up smilingly into her father's face and nestled closer to +him. + +"Just as I am of mine," said his answering look and smile as he drew +her closer still. + +But Mr. Dinsmore's story was going on. + +"It was Captain Coffin's custom to bring home some very desirable gift +to his little girl whenever he returned from a voyage. At one time, when +about to sail for the other side of the Atlantic, he said to her that he +was determined on this voyage to find and bring home to her something +that no other little girl ever had or ever could have." + +"Oh, grandpa, what could that be?" exclaimed little Walter. + +"Wait a moment and you shall hear," was the reply. + +"What the captain brought on coming back was a wax baby, a very +life-like representation of an infant six months old. He said it was a +wax cast of the Dauphin of France, that poor unfortunate son of Louis +XVI. and Marie Antoinette; that he had found it in a convent, and paid +for it a sum of money so enormous that he would never tell any one, not +even his wife, how large it was." + +"But it isn't in existence now, at this late day, surely?" Mrs. Dinsmore +remarked inquiringly, as her husband paused in his narrative. + +"It is claimed that it is by those who have such a thing in possession, +and I presume they tell the truth. It has always been preserved with +extreme care as a great curiosity. + +"The little girl to whom it was given by her father lived to grow up, +but has been dead many years. Shortly before her death she gave it to a +friend, and it has been in that family for over forty years." + +"And is it on exhibition, papa?" asked Elsie. + +"Only to such as are fortunate enough to get an introduction to the lady +owner through some friend of hers; so I understand; but photographs have +been taken and are for sale in the stores." + +"Oh, I hope we will get to see it!" exclaimed Lulu eagerly. + +"As far as I'm concerned, I'm bound to manage it somehow," said Betty. + +"How much I should like to know what was really the true story of that +poor unfortunate child," said Elsie, reflectively, and sighing as she +spoke. + +"It--like the story of the Man in the Iron Mask--is a mystery that will +never be satisfactorily cleared up until the Judgment Day," remarked her +father. + +"Oh, do tell us about it," the children cried in eager chorus. + +"All of you older ones have certainly some knowledge of the French +Revolution, in which Louis XVI. and his beautiful queen lost their +lives?" Mr. Dinsmore said, glancing about upon his grandchildren; "and +have not forgotten that two children survived them--one sometimes called +Louis XVII., as his father's lawful successor to the throne, and a +daughter older than the boy. + +"These children remained in the hands of their cruel foes for some time +after the beheading of their royal parents. The girl was finally +restored to her mother's relatives, the royal family of Austria; but the +boy, who was most inhumanly treated by his jailer, was supposed to have +died in consequence of that brutal abuse, having first been reduced by +it to a state of extreme bodily and mental weakness. + +"That story (of the death of the poor little dauphin, I mean, not +of the cruel treatment to which he was subjected) has, however, been +contradicted by another; and I suppose it will never be made certain in +this world which was the true account. + +"The dauphin was born in 1785, his parents were beheaded in 1793; so +that he must have been about eight years old at the time of their death. + +"In 1795 a French man and woman, directly from France, appeared in +Albany, New York, having in charge a girl and boy; the latter about +nine years old, and feeble in body and mind. + +"The woman had also a number of articles of dress which she said had +belonged to Marie Antoinette, who had given them to her on the scaffold. + +"That same year two Frenchmen came to Ticonderoga, visited the Indians +in that vicinity, and placed with them such a boy as the one seen at +Albany--of the same age, condition of mind and body, etc. + +"He was adopted by an Iroquois chief named Williams, and given the name +of Eleazer Williams. + +"He gradually recovered his health, and at length the shock of a sudden +fall into the lake so far restored his memory that he recollected some +scenes in his early life in the palaces of France. One thing he recalled +was being with a richly dressed lady whom he addressed as 'mamma.' + +"Some time later--I cannot now recall the exact date--a Frenchman died +in New Orleans (Beranger was his name), who confessed on his death-bed +that he had brought the dauphin to this country and placed him with the +Indians of Northern New York. He stated that he had taken an oath of +secrecy, for the protection of the lad, but could not die without +confessing the truth." + +"I'm inclined to think the story of the dauphin's death in France was +not true," remarked Betty. + +"Didn't Beranger's confession arouse inquiry, grandpa?" asked Zoe. "And +did Eleazer Williams hear of it?" + +"I think I may say yes to both your queries," Mr. Dinsmore answered. +"Eleazer's story was published in the newspapers some years ago, and I +remember he was spoken of as a very good Christian man, a missionary +among the Indians; it was brought out in book form also under the title +'The Lost Prince: A Life of Eleazer Williams.' + +"Eleazer himself stated that in 1848 he had an interview, on board a +steamer from Buffalo, with the Prince de Joinville, who then told him he +was the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and tried to induce him +to sign away his right to the throne of France, and that he refused to +do so. + +"In his published statement he said he thought the Prince would not deny +having made that communication. But the Prince did deny that, though he +acknowledged that the interview had taken place." + +"Did Eleazer ever try to get the throne, grandpa?" asked Max. + +"No, he never urged his claim; and I dare say was happier as an obscure +Indian missionary than he would have been as King of France. He died at +the age of seventy." + +"Poor Marie Antoinette!" sighed Elsie; "I never could read her story +without tears, and the very thought of her sorrows and sufferings makes +my heart ache." + +"I don't think I ever read it," said Zoe, "though I have a general idea +what it was." + +"We have Abbott's life of her at Ion," said Elsie. "I'll get it for you +when we go home." + +Harold stepped to the window. "It is raining very little now, if at +all," he said, "and the sea must be in a fine rage; let us go and have a +look at it" + +"Oh, yes, let's go!" cried Betty, springing to her feet; "but I'm afraid +we've missed the finest of it, for the wind isn't blowing half so hard +as it was an hour ago." + +"Don't be discouraged," said Captain Raymond, sportively; "the waves are +often higher than ever after the wind has subsided." + +"Oh, papa, may I go too?" Grace said, in a pleading tone. + +"Yes; if you put on your waterproof cloak and overshoes it will not hurt +you to be out for a short time," answered the indulgent father. "Lulu, +don't go without yours." + +All were eager for the sight; there was a moment of hasty preparation, +and they trooped out and stood upon the edge of the high bank at the +back of their cottages gazing upon the sea in its, to most of them, new +and terrible aspect; from shore to horizon it was one mass of seething, +boiling waters; far out in the distance the huge waves reared their +great foam-crested fronts and rushed furiously toward the shore, rapidly +chasing each other in till with a tremendous crash and roar they broke +upon the beach, sending up showers of spray, and depositing great flakes +of foam which the wind sent scudding over the sand; and each, as it +retreated, was instantly followed by another and another in unbroken, +endless succession. + +Half a mile or more south of 'Sconset there is a shoal (locally called +"the rips") where wind and tide occasionally, coming in opposition, +cause a fierce battle of the waves, a sight well worth a good deal of +exertion to behold. + +"Wind and tide are having it out on the rips," the captain presently +remarked. "Let us go down to the beach and get the best view we can of +the conflict." + +"Papa, may we go too?" asked Lulu, as the older people hastily made a +move toward the stairway that led to the beach; "oh, do please let us!" + +Grace did not speak, but her eyes lifted to his, pleaded as earnestly as +Lulu's tongue. He hesitated for an instant, then stooped, took Grace in +his arms, and saying to Lulu, "Yes, come along; it is too grand a sight +for me to let you miss it," hurried after the others. + +Violet had not come out with the rest, her attention being taken up +with her babe just at that time, and he would give her the sight +afterward on taking the children in. + +On they went over the wet sands--Mr. Dinsmore and his wife, Edward and +his, Betty holding on to Harold's arm, Rose and Walter helped along by +Herbert and Bob. + +To Max Raymond's great content and a little to the discomfiture of her +sons, who so delighted in waiting upon and in every way caring for her, +Elsie had chosen him for her companion and escort, and with Lulu they +hastened after the others and just ahead of the captain and Grace, who +brought up the rear. + +The thunder of the surf prevented any attempt at conversation, but now +and then there was a little scream, ending with a shout of laughter from +one or another of the feminine part of the procession, as they were +overtaken by the edge of a wave and their shoes filled with the foam, +their skirts wetted by it. Not a very serious matter, as all had learned +ere this, as salt water does not cause one to take cold. + +Arrived at the spot from where the very best view of the conflict could +be had, they stood long gazing upon it, awestruck and fascinated by the +terrific grandeur of the scene. I can best describe it in the words of a +fellow-author far more gifted in that line than I. + +"Yonder comes shoreward a great wave, towering above all its brethren. +Onward it comes, swift as a race-horse, graceful as a great ship, +bearing right down upon us. It strikes 'The Rips,' and is there itself +struck by a wave approaching from another direction. The two converge in +their advance, and are dashed together--embrace each other like two +angry giants, each striving to mount upon the shoulder of the other and +crush its antagonist with its ponderous bulk. Swift as thought they +mount higher and higher, in fierce, mad struggle, until their force is +expended; their tops quiver, tremble, and burst into one great mass of +white, gleaming foam; and the whole body of the united wave, with a +mighty bound, hurls itself upon the shore and is broken into a flood of +seething waters--crushed to death in its own fury. + +"All over the shoal the waves leap up in pinnacles, in volcanic points, +sharp as stalagmites, and in this form run hither and yon in all +possible directions, colliding with and crashing against others of equal +fury and greatness--a very carnival of wild and drunken waves; the +waters hurled upward in huge masses of white. Sometimes they unite more +gently, and together sweep grandly and gracefully along parallel with +the shore; and the cavernous hollows stretch out from the shore so that +you look into the trough of the sea and realize what a terrible depth +it is. The roar, meanwhile, is horrible. You are stunned by it as by the +roar of a great waterfall. You see a wave of unusual magnitude rolling +in from far beyond the wild revelry of waters on 'The Rips.' It leaps +into the arena as if fresh and eager for the fray, clutches another +Bacchanal like itself, and the two towering floods rush swiftly toward +the shore. Instinctively you run backward to escape what seems an +impending destruction. Very likely a sheet of foam is dashed all around +you, shoe-deep, but you are safe--only the foam hisses away in impotent +rage. The sea has its bounds; 'hitherto shalt thou come, but no +farther.'"[A] + +[Footnote A: A. Judd Northrup, in "Sconset Cottage Life."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + She is peevish, sullen, froward, +Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty; +Neither regarding that she is my child, +Nor fearing me as If I were her father. + +--_Shakespeare_. + + +A day or two of bright, breezy weather had succeeded the storm, and +another "squantum" had been arranged for; it was to be a more +pretentious affair than the former one, other summer visitors uniting +with our party; and a different spot had been selected for it. + +By Violet's direction the maid had laid out, the night before, the +dresses the two little girls were to wear to the picnic, and they +appeared at the breakfast-table already attired in them; for the start +was to be made shortly after the conclusion of the meal. + +The material of the dresses was fine, they were neatly fitting and +prettily trimmed, but rather dark in color and with high necks and long +sleeves; altogether suitable for the occasion, and far from unbecoming; +indeed, as the captain glanced at the two neat little figures, seated +one on each side of him, he felt the risings of fatherly pride in their +attractiveness of appearance. + +And even exacting, discontented Lulu was well enough pleased with her +mamma's choice for her till, upon leaving the table and running out for +a moment into the street to see if the carriages were in sight, she came +upon a girl about her own age, who was to be of the company, very gayly +apparelled in thin white tarletan and pink ribbons, + +"Good-morning, Sadie," said Lulu. "What a nice day for the 'squantum,' +isn't it?" + +"Yes; and it's most time to start, and you're not dressed yet, are you?" +glancing a trifle scornfully from her own gay plumage to Lulu's plainer +attire. + +The latter flushed hotly but made no reply. "I don't see anything of the +carriages yet," was all she said; then darting into the cottage occupied +by their family, she rushed to her trunk, and throwing it open, hastily +took from it a white muslin, coral ribbons and sash, and with headlong +speed tore off her plain colored dress and arrayed herself in them. + +She would not have had time but for an unexpected delay in the arrival +of the carriage which was to convey her parents, brother and sister and +herself to the "squantum" ground. + +As it was, she came rushing out at almost the last moment, just as the +captain was handing his wife into the vehicle. + +Max met her before she had reached the outer door. "Lu, Mamma Vi says +you will need a wrap before we get back; probably even going, and you're +to bring one along." + +"I sha'n't need any such thing! and I'm not going to be bothered with +it!" cried Lulu, in a tone of angry impatience, hurrying on toward the +entrance as she spoke. + +"Whew! what have you been doing to yourself?" exclaimed Max, suddenly +noting the change of attire, while Grace, standing in the doorway, +turned toward them with a simultaneous exclamation, "Why, Lulu--" then +broke off, lost in astonishment at her sister's audacity. + +"Hush, both of you! can't you keep quiet?" snapped Lulu, turning from +one to the other; then as her father's tall form darkened the doorway, +and a glance up into his face showed her that it was very grave and +stern, she shrank back abashed, frightened by the sudden conviction that +he had overheard her impertinent reply to her mamma's message, and +perhaps noticed the change in her dress. + +He regarded her for a moment in silence, while she hung her head in +shame and affright; then he spoke in tones of grave displeasure, "You +will stay at home to-day, Lulu; we have no room for disrespectful, +disobedient children--" + +"Papa," she interrupted, half pleadingly, half angrily, "I haven't been +disobedient or disrespectful to you." + +"It is quite the same," he said; "I require you to be obedient and +respectful to your mamma; and impertinence to her is something I will by +no means allow or fail to punish whenever I know of it. Sorry as I am to +deprive you of an anticipated pleasure, I repeat that you must stay at +home; and go immediately to your room and resume the dress she directed +you to wear to-day." + +So saying he took Grace's hand and led her to the carriage, Max +following after one regretful look at Lulu's sorely disappointed face. + +Grace, clinging about her father's neck as he lifted her up, pleaded for +her sister. "Oh, papa, do please let her go; she hasn't been naughty for +a long while, and I'm sure she's sorry and will be good." + +"Hush, hush, darling!" he said, wiping the tears from her eyes, then +placing her by Violet's side. + +"What is wrong?" inquired the latter with concern; "is Gracie not +feeling well?" + +"Never mind, my love," the captain answered, assuming a cheerful tone; +"there is nothing wrong except that Lulu has displeased me, and I have +told her she cannot go with us to-day." + +"Oh, I am sorry!" Violet said, looking really pained; "we shall all miss +her. I should be glad, Levis, if you could forgive her, for--" + +"No, do not ask it," he said hastily; adding, with a smile of ardent +affection into the azure eyes gazing so pleadingly into his; "I can +scarcely bear to say no to you, dearest, but I have passed sentence upon +the offender and cannot revoke it." + +The carriage drove off; the others had already gone, and Lulu was left +alone in the house, the one maid-servant left behind having already +wandered off to the beach. + +"There!" cried Lulu, stamping her foot with passion, then dropping into +a chair, "I say it's just too bad! She isn't old enough to be my mother, +and I won't have her for one; I sha'n't mind her! Papa had no business +to marry her. He hardly cares for anybody else now, and he ought to love +me better than he does her; for she isn't a bit of relation to him, +while I'm his own child. + +"And I sha'n't wear dowdy, old-womanish dresses to please her, along +with other girls of my size that are dressed up in their best. I'd +rather stay at home than be mortified that way, and I just wish I had +told him so." + +She was in so rebellious a mood that instead of at once changing her +dress in obedience to her father's command, she presently rose from her +chair, walked out at the front door and paraded through the village +streets in her finery, saying to herself, "I'll let people see that I +have some decent clothes to wear." + +Returning after a little, she was much surprised to find Betty Johnson +stretched full length on a lounge with a paper-covered novel in her +hand, which she seemed to be devouring with great avidity. + +"Why, Betty!" she exclaimed, "are you here? I thought you went with the +rest to the 'squantum.'" + +"Just what I thought in regard to your highness," returned Betty, +glancing up from her book with a laugh. "I stayed at home to enjoy my +book and the bath. What kept you?" + +"Papa," answered Lulu with a frown; "he wouldn't let me go." + +"Because you put on that dress, I presume," laughed Betty. "Well, it's +not very suitable, that's a fact. But I had no idea that the captain was +such a connoisseur in matters of that sort." + +"He isn't! he doesn't know or care if it wasn't for Mamma Vi," burst out +Lulu vehemently. "And she's no business to dictate about my dress +either. I'm old enough to judge and decide for myself." + +"Really, it is a great pity that one so wise should be compelled to +submit to dictation," observed Betty with exasperating irony. + +Lulu, returning a furious look, which her tormentor feigned not to see, +then marching into the adjoining room, gave tardy obedience to her +father's orders anent the dress. + +"Are you going in this morning?" asked Betty, when Lulu had returned to +the little parlor. + +"I don't know; papa didn't say whether I might or not." + +"Then I should take the benefit of the doubt and follow my own +inclination in the matter. It's ten now; the bathing hour is eleven; I +shall be done my book by that time, and we'll go in together if you +like." + +"I'll see about it," Lulu said, walking away. + +She went down to the beach and easily whiled away an hour watching the +waves and the people, and digging in the sand. When she saw the others +going to the bath-houses she hastened back to her temporary home. + +As she entered Betty was tossing aside her book. "So here you are!" she +said, yawning and stretching herself. "Are you going in?" + +"Yes; if papa is angry I'll tell him he should have forbidden me if he +didn't want me to do it." + +They donned their bathing-suits and went in with the crowd; but though +no mishap befell them and they came out safely again, Lulu found that +for some reason her bath was not half so enjoyable as usual. + +She and Betty dined at the hotel where the family had frequently taken +their meals, then they strolled down to the beach and seated themselves +on a bench under an awning. + +After a while Betty proposed taking a walk. + +"Where to?" asked Lulu. + +"To Sankaty Lighthouse." + +"Well, I'm agreed; it's a nice walk; you can look out over the sea all +the way," said Lulu, getting up. But a sudden thought seemed to strike +her; she paused and hesitated. + +"Well, what's the matter?" queried Betty. + +"Nothing; only papa told me I was to stay at home to-day." + +"Oh, nonsense! what a little goose!" exclaimed Betty; "of course that +only meant you were not to go to the 'squantum'; so come along." + +Lulu was by no means sure that that was really all her father meant, but +she wanted the walk, so suffered herself to be persuaded, and they went. + +Betty had been a wild, ungovernable girl at school, glorying in +contempt for rules and daring "larks." She had not improved in that +respect, and so far from being properly ashamed of her wild pranks and +sometimes really disgraceful frolics, liked to describe them, and was +charmed to find in Lulu a deeply interested listener. + +It was thus they amused themselves as they strolled slowly along the +bluff toward Sankaty. + +When they reached there a number of carriages were standing about near +the entrance, several visitors were in the tower, and others were +waiting their turn. + +"Let us go up too," Betty said to her little companion; "the view must +be finer to-day than it was when we were here before, for the atmosphere +is clearer." + +"I'm afraid papa wouldn't like me to," objected Lulu; "he seemed to +think the other time that I needed him to take care of me," she added +with a laugh, as if it were quite absurd that one so old and wise as +herself should be supposed to need such protection. + +"Pooh!" said Betty, "don't be a baby; I can take care of myself and you +too. Come, I'm going up and round outside too; and I dare you to do the +same." + +Poor proud Lulu was one of the silly people who are not brave enough to +refuse to do a wrong or unwise thing if anybody dares them to do it. + +"I'm not a bit afraid, Miss Johnson; you need not think that," she +said, bridling; "and I can take care of myself. I'll go." + +"Come on then; we'll follow close behind that gentleman, and the keeper +won't suppose we are alone," returned Betty, leading the way. + +Lulu found the steep stairs very hard to climb without the help of her +father's hand, and reached the top quite out of breath. + +Betty too was panting. But they presently recovered themselves. Betty +stepped outside just behind the gentleman who had preceded them up the +stairs, and Lulu climbed quickly after her, frightened enough at the +perilous undertaking, yet determined to prove that she was equal to it. + +But she had advanced only a few steps when a sudden rush of wind caught +her skirts and nearly took her off her feet. + +Both she and Betty uttered a cry of affright, and at the same instant +Lulu felt herself seized from behind and dragged forcibly back and +within the window from which she had just emerged. + +It was the face of a stranger that met her gaze as she looked up with +frightened eyes. + +"Child," he said, "that was a narrow escape; don't try it again. Where +are your parents or guardians, that you were permitted to step out there +with no one to take care of you?" + +Lulu blushed and hung her head in silence. Betty, who had followed her +in as fast as she could, generously took all the blame upon herself. + +"Don't scold her, sir," she said; "it was all my doing. I brought her +here without the knowledge of her parents, and dared her to go out +there." + +"You did?" he exclaimed, turning a severe look upon the young girl (he +was a middle-aged man of stern aspect). "Suppose I had not been near +enough to catch her, and she had been precipitated to the ground from +that great height--how would you have felt?" + +"I could never have forgiven myself or had another happy moment while I +lived," Betty said, in half tremulous tones, "I can never thank you +enough, sir, for saving her," she added, warmly. + +"No, nor I," said the keeper. "I should always have felt that I was to +blame for letting her go out; but you were close behind, sir, and the +other gentleman before, and I took you to be all one party, and of +course thought you would take care of the little girl." + +"She has had quite a severe shock," the gentleman remarked, again +looking at Lulu, who was very pale and trembling like a leaf. "You had +better wait and let me help you down the stairs. I shall be ready in a +very few moments." + +Betty thanked him and said they would wait. + +While they did so she tried to jest and laugh with Lulu; but the little +girl was in no mood for such things; she felt sick and dizzy at the +thought of the danger she had escaped but a moment ago. She made no +reply to Betty's remarks, and indeed seemed scarcely to hear them. + +She was quite silent, too, while being helped down the stairs by the +kind stranger, but thanked him prettily as they separated. + +"You are heartily welcome," he said; "but if you will take my advice you +will never go needlessly into such danger again." + +With that he shook hands with her, bowed to Betty, and moved away. + +"Will you go in and rest awhile, Lu?" asked Betty. + +"No, thank you; I'm not tired; and I'd rather be close by the sea. Tell +me another of your stories, won't you? to help me forget how near I came +to falling." + +Betty good-naturedly complied, but found Lulu a less interested listener +than before. + +The "squantum" party were late in returning, and when they arrived Betty +and Lulu were in bed; but the door between the room where Lulu lay and +the parlor, or sitting-room, as it was indifferently called, was ajar, +and she could hear all that was said there. + +"Where is Lulu?" her father asked of the maid-servant who had been left +behind. + +"Gone to bed, sir," was the answer. + +Then the captain stepped to the chamber door, pushed it wider open, and +came to the bedside. + +Lulu pretended to be asleep, keeping her eyes tight shut, but all the +time feeling that he was standing there and looking down at her. + +He sighed slightly, turned away, and went from the room; then she buried +her face in the pillows and cried softly but quite bitterly. + +"He might have kissed me," she said to herself; "he would if he loved me +as much as he used to before he got married." + +Then his sigh seemed to echo in her heart, and she grew remorseful over +the thought that her misconduct had grieved as well as displeased him. + +And how much more grieved and displeased he would be if he knew how she +had disregarded his wishes and commands during his absence that day! + +And soon he would be ordered away again, perhaps to the other side of +the world; in danger from the treacherous deep and maybe from savages, +too, in some of those far-away places where his vessel would touch; and +so the separation might be for years or forever in this world; and if +she continued to be the bad girl she could not help acknowledging to +herself she now was, how dared she hope to be with her Christian father +in another life? She had no doubt that he was a Christian; it was +evident from his daily walk and conversation; and she was equally +certain that she herself was not. + +And what a kind, affectionate father he had always been to her; she grew +more and more remorseful as she thought of it; and if he had been beside +her at that moment would certainly have confessed all the wrong-doing of +the day and asked forgiveness. + +But he was probably in bed now; all was darkness and silence in the +house; so she lay still, and presently forgot all vexing thought in +sound, refreshing sleep. + +When she awoke again the morning sun was shining brightly, and her mood +had changed. + +The wrong-doings of the previous day were the merest trifles, and it +would really be quite ridiculous to go and confess them to her father; +she supposed, indeed was quite sure, that ha would be better pleased +with her if she made some acknowledgment of sorrow for the fault for +which he had punished her; but the very thought of doing so was so +galling to her pride that she was stubbornly determined not to do +anything of the kind. + +She was thinking it all over while dressing, and trying hard to believe +herself a very ill-used, instead of naughty, child. It was a burning +shame that she had been scolded and left behind for such a trifling +fault; but she would let "papa" and everybody else see that she didn't +care; she wouldn't ask one word about what kind of a time they had had +(she hoped it hadn't been so very nice); and she would show papa, too, +that she could do very well without caresses and endearments from him. + +Glancing from the window, she saw him out on the bluff back of the +cottage; but though her toilet was now finished, she did not, as usual, +run out to put her hand in his, and with a glad good-morning hold up her +face for a kiss. + +She went quietly to the dooryard looking upon the village street, and +peeped into the window of the room where Grace was dressing with a +little help from Agnes, their mamma's maid. + +"Oh, Lu, good-morning," cried the little girl. "I was so sorry you +weren't with us yesterday at the 'squantum;' we had ever such a nice +time; only I missed you very much." + +"Your sympathy was wasted, Grace," returned Lulu, with a grand air. "I +had a very pleasant time at home." + +"Dar now, you's done finished, Miss Gracie," said Agnes, turning to +leave the room; then she laughed to herself as she went, "Miss Lu she +needn't think she don't 'ceive nobody wid dem grand airs ob hers; 'spect +we all knows she been glad nuff to go ef de cap'n didn't tole her she +got for to stay behin'." + +Grace ran out and joined her sister at the door. "Oh, Lu, you would have +enjoyed it if you had been with us," she said, embracing her. "But we +are going to have a drive this morning. We're to start as soon as +breakfast is over, and only come back in time for the bath; and papa +says you can go too if you want to, and are a good girl; and you--" + +"I don't want to," said Lulu, with a cold, offended air. "I like to be +by myself on the beach; I enjoyed it very much yesterday, and shall +enjoy it to-day; I don't need anybody's company." + +Her conscience gave her a twinge as she spoke, reminding her that she +had passed but little of her day alone on the beach. + +Grace gazed at her with wide-open eyes, lost in astonishment at her +strange mood; but hearing their father's step within the house, turned +about and ran to meet him and claim her morning kiss. + +"Where is your sister?" he asked when he had given it. + +"The little one is asleep, papa," she answered gayly; "the other one is +at the door there." + +He smiled. "Tell her to come in," he said; "we are going to have +prayers." + +Lulu obeyed the summons, but took a seat near the door, without so much +as glancing toward her father. + +When the short service was over Grace seated herself upon his knee, and +Max stood close beside him, both laughing and talking right merrily; but +Lulu sat where she was, gazing in moody silence into the street. + +At length, in a pause in the talk, the captain said, in a kindly tone, +"One of my little girls seems to have forgotten to bid me good-morning." + +"Good-morning, papa," muttered Lulu, sullenly, her face still averted. + +"Good-morning, Lucilla," he said; and she knew by his tone and use of +her full name that he was by no means pleased with her behavior. + +At that moment they were summoned to breakfast. + +Lulu took her place with the others and ate in silence, scarce lifting +her eyes from her plate, while everybody else was full of cheerful chat. + +A carriage was at the door when they left the table. + +"Make haste, children," the captain said, "so that we may have time for +a long drive before the bathing hour." + +Max and Grace moved promptly to obey, but Lulu stood still. + +"I spoke to you, Lulu, as well as to the others," her father said, in +his usual kindly tone; "you may go with us, if you wish." + +"I don't care to, papa," she answered, turning away. + +"Very well, I shall not compel you; you may do just as you please about +it," he returned. "Stay at home if you prefer it. You may go down to the +beach if you choose, but nowhere else." + +"Yes, sir," she muttered, and walked out of the room, wondering in a +half-frightened way if he knew or suspected where she had been the day +before. + +In fact, he did neither; he believed Lulu a more obedient child than she +was, and had no idea that she had not done exactly as he bade her. + +This time she was so far obedient that she went nowhere except to the +beach, but while wandering about there she was nursing unkind and +rebellious thoughts and feelings; trying hard to convince herself that +her father loved her less than he did his other children, and was more +inclined to be severe with her than with them. In her heart of hearts +she believed no such thing, but pretending to herself that she did, she +continued her unlovely behavior all that day and the next, sulking +alone most of the time; doing whatever she was bidden, but with a sullen +air, seldom speaking unless she was spoken to, never hanging lovingly +about her father, as had been her wont, but rather seeming to avoid +being near him whenever she could. + +It pained him deeply to see her indulging so evil a temper, but he +thought best to appear not to notice it. He did not offer her the +caresses she evidently tried to avoid, and seldom addressed her; but +when he did speak to her it was in his accustomed kind, fatherly tones, +and it was her own fault if she did not share in every pleasure provided +for the others. + +In the afternoon of the second day they were all gathered upon the beach +as usual, when a young girl, who seemed to be a new-comer in 'Sconset, +drew near and accosted Betty as an old acquaintance. + +"Why, Anna Eastman, who would have expected to see you here?" cried +Betty, in accents of pleased surprise, springing up to embrace the +stranger. + +Then she introduced her to Elsie, Violet, and Captain Raymond, who +happened to be sitting near, as an old school friend. + +"And you didn't know I was on the island?" remarked Miss Eastman +laughingly to Betty, when the introductions were over. + +"I hadn't the least idea of it. When did you arrive?" + +"Several days since--last Monday; and this is Friday. By the way, I saw +you on Tuesday, though you did not see me." + +"How and where?" asked Betty in surprise, not remembering at the moment +how she had spent that day. + +"At Sankaty Lighthouse; I was in a carriage out on the green in front of +the lighthouse, and saw you and that little girl yonder (nodding in +Lulu's direction) come out on the top of the tower; then a puff of wind +took the child's skirts, and I fairly screamed with fright, expecting to +see her fall and be crushed to death; but somebody jerked her back +within the window just in time to save her. Weren't you terribly +frightened, dear?" she asked, addressing Lulu. + +"Of course I was," Lulu answered in an ungracious tone; then rose and +sauntered away along the beach. "What did she tell it for, hateful +thing!" she muttered to herself; "now papa knows it, and what will he +say and do to me?" + +She had not ventured to look at him; if she had she would have seen his +face grow suddenly pale, then assume an expression of mingled sternness +and pain. + +He presently rose and followed her, though she did not know it till he +had reached her side and she felt him take her hand in his. He sat +down, making her sit by his side. + +"Is this true that I hear of you, Lulu?" he asked. + +"Yes, papa," she answered in a low, unwilling tone, hanging her head as +she spoke, for she dared not look him in the face. + +"I did not think one of my children would be so disobedient," he said, +in pained accents. + +"Papa, you never said I shouldn't go to Sankaty Lighthouse," she +muttered. + +"I never gave you leave to go, and I have told you positively, more than +once, that you must not go to any distance from the house without +express permission. Also I am sure you could not help understanding, +from what was said when I took you to the lighthouse, that I would be +very far from willing that you should go up into the tower, and +especially outside, unless I were with you to take care of you. Besides, +what were my orders to you just as I was leaving the house that +morning?" + +"You told me to change my dress immediately and to stay at home." + +"Did you obey the first order?" + +Lulu was silent for a moment; then as her father was evidently waiting +for an answer, she muttered, "I changed my dress after a while." + +"That was not obeying; I told you to do it immediately," he said in a +tone of severity, "What did you do in the mean time?" + +"I don't want to tell you," she muttered. + +"You must; and you are not to say you don't want to do what I bid you. +What were you doing?" + +"Walking round the town." + +"Breaking two of your father's commands at once. What next? give me a +full account of the manner in which you spent the day." + +"I came in soon and changed my dress; then went to the beach till the +bathing hour; then Betty and I went in together; then we had our dinner +at the hotel and came back to the beach for a little while; then we went +to Sankaty." + +"Filling up the whole day with repeated acts of disobedience," he said. + +"Papa, you didn't say I mustn't go in to bathe, or that I shouldn't take +a walk." + +"I told you to stay at home, and you disobeyed that order again and +again. And you have been behaving very badly ever since, showing a most +unamiable temper. I have overlooked it, hoping to see a change for the +better in your conduct without my resorting to punishment; but I think +the time has now come when I must try that with you." + +He paused for some moments. Wondering at his silence, she at length +ventured a timid look up into his face. + +It was so full of pain and distress that her heart smote her, and she +was seized with a sudden fury at herself as the guilty cause of his +suffering. + +"Lulu," he said, with a sigh that was almost a groan, "what am I to do +with you?" + +"Whip me, papa," she burst out; "I deserve it. You've never tried that +yet, and maybe it would make me a better girl, I almost wish you would, +papa," she went on in her vehement way; "I could beat myself for being +so bad and hurting you so." + +He made no answer to that, but presently said in moved tones, "What if I +had come back that night to find the dear little daughter I had left a +few hours before in full health and strength, lying a crushed and +mangled corpse? killed without a moment's time to repent of her +disobedience to her father's known wishes and commands? Could I have +hoped to have you restored to me even in another world, my child?" + +"No, papa," she said, half under her breath; "I know I wasn't fit to go +to heaven, and that I'm not fit now; but would you have been really very +sorry to lose such a bad, troublesome child?" + +"Knowing that, as you yourself acknowledge, you were not fit for +heaven, it would have been the heaviest blow I have ever had," he said. +"My daughter, you are fully capable of understanding the way of +salvation, therefore are an accountable being, and, so long as you +neglect it, in danger of eternal death. I shall never be easy about you +till I have good reason to believe that you have given your heart to the +Lord Jesus, and devoted yourself entirely to His blessed service." + +He ceased speaking, gave her a few moments for silent reflection, then +setting her on her feet, rose, took her hand, and led her back toward +the village. + +"Are you going to punish me, papa?" she asked presently, in a +half-frightened tone. + +"I shall take that matter into consideration," was all he said, and she +knew from his grave accents that she was in some danger of receiving +what she felt to be her deserts. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth +his mother to shame."--_Prov_. 29: 15. + + +Lulu hated suspense; it seemed to her worse than the worst certainty; so +when they had gone a few steps farther she said, hesitating and blushing +very deeply, "Papa, if you are going to punish me as--as I--said I 'most +wished you would, please don't let Mamma Vi or anybody know it, and--" + +"Certainly not; it shall be a secret between our two selves," he said as +she broke off without finishing her sentence; "if we can manage it," he +added a little doubtfully. + +"They all go down to the beach every evening, you know, papa," she +suggested in a timid, half-hesitating way, and trembling as she spoke. + +"Yes, that would give us a chance; but I have not said positively that I +intend to punish you in that way." + +"No, sir; but--oh, do please say certainly that you will or you won't." + +The look he gave her as she raised her eyes half fearfully to his face +was very kind and affectionate, though grave and judicial. "I am not +angry with you," he said, "in the sense of being in a passion or out of +patience--not in the least; but I feel it to be my duty to do all I +possibly can to help you to be a better child, and noticing, as I have +said, for the last two or three days what a wilful, wicked temper you +were indulging, I have been considering very seriously whether I ought +not to try the very remedy you have yourself suggested, and I am afraid +I ought indeed. Do you still think, as you told me a while ago, that +this sort of punishment might be a help to you in trying to be good?" + +Lulu hesitated a moment, then said impetuously, and as if determined to +own the truth though it were to pass sentence upon herself, "Yes, papa, +honestly I do; though I don't want you to do it one bit. But," she +added, "I sha'n't love you any less if you whip me ever so hard, because +I shall know you don't like to do it, and wouldn't except for the reason +you've given." + +"No, indeed, I should not," he said; "but you are to stay behind +to-night when the others go to the beach." + +"Yes, papa, I will," she answered submissively, but with a perceptible +tremble in her voice. + +Grace and Max were coming to meet them, so there was no opportunity to +talk any more on the subject, and she walked on in silence by her +father's side, trying hard to act and look as if nothing was amiss with +her, clinging fast to the hand in which he had taken hers, while Grace +took possession of the other. + +"You ought to have three hands, papa," laughed Max a little ruefully. + +"Four," corrected Grace; "for some day little Elsie will be wanting +one." + +"I shall have to manage it by taking you in turn," the captain said, +looking down upon them with a fatherly smile. + +Violet and some of the other members of their party were still seated +where they had left them on the benches under the awning just out of +reach of the waves, and thither the captain and his children bent their +steps. + +Sitting down by his wife's side, he drew Grace to his knee and Lulu +close to his other side, keeping an arm round each while chatting +pleasantly with his family and friends. + +Lulu was very silent, constantly asking herself, and with no little +uneasiness, what he really intended to do with her when, according to +his direction, she should stay behind with him after tea while the +others returned to the beach. + +One thing she was determined on--that she would if possible obey the +order without attracting any one's notice. Everybody must have seen how +badly she had been behaving, but the thought of that was not half so +galling to her pride as the danger of suspicion being aroused that +punishment had been meted out to her on account of it. + +Max watched her curiously, and took an opportunity, on their return to +the house, to say privately to her, "I'm glad you've turned over a new +leaf, Lu, and begun to behave decently to papa; I've wondered over and +over again in the last few days that he didn't take you in hand in a way +to convince you that he wasn't to be trifled with. It's my opinion that +if you'd been a boy you'd have got a trouncing long before this." + +"Indeed!" she cried, with an angry toss of her head; "I'm glad I'm not a +boy if I couldn't be one without using such vulgar words." + +"Oh, that isn't such a very bad word," returned Max, laughing; "but I +can tell you, from sad experience, that the _thing_ is bad enough +sometimes; I'd be quaking in my shoes if I thought papa had any reason +to consider me deserving of one." + +"I don't see what you mean by talking so to me," exclaimed Lulu, +passionately; "but I think you are a Pharisee--making yourself out so +much better than I am!" + +The call to supper interrupted them just there, and perhaps saved them +from a down-right quarrel. + +Lulu had no appetite for the meal, and it seemed to her that the others +would never have done eating; then that they lingered unusually long +about the house before starting for their accustomed evening +rendezvous--the beach; for she was on thorns all the time. + +At last some one made a move, and catching a look from her father which +she alone saw or understood, she slipped unobserved into her bedroom and +waited there with a fast beating heart. + +She heard him say to Violet, "Don't wait for me, my love; I have a +little matter to attend to here, and will follow you in the course of +half an hour." + +"Anything I can help you with?" Violet asked. + +"Oh, no, thank you," he said, "I need no assistance." + +"A business letter to write, I presume," she returned laughingly. "Well, +don't make it too long, for I grudge every moment of your time." + +With that she followed the others, and all was quiet except for the +captain's measured tread, for he was slowly pacing the room to and fro. + +Impatient, impetuous Lulu did not know how to endure the suspense; she +seemed to herself like a criminal awaiting execution. Softly she opened +the door and stepped out in front of her father, stopping him in his +walk. + +"Papa," she said, with pale, trembling lips, looking beseechingly up +into his face, "whatever you are going to do to me, won't you please do +it at once and let me have it over?" + +He took her hand and, sitting down, drew her to his side, putting his +arm around her. + +"My little daughter," he said very gravely, but not unkindly, "my +responsibility in regard to your training weighs very heavily on my +mind; it is plain to me that you will make either a very good and useful +woman, or one who will be a curse to herself and others; for you are too +energetic and impulsive, too full of strong feeling to be lukewarm and +indifferent in anything. + +"You are forming your character now for time and for eternity, and I +must do whatever lies in my power to help you to form it aright; for +good and not for evil. You inherit a sinful nature from me, and have +very strong passions which must be conquered or they will prove your +ruin. I fear you do not see the great sinfulness of their indulgence, +and that it may be that I am partly to blame for that in having passed +too lightly over such exhibitions of them as have come under my notice: +in short, that perhaps if I had been more justly severe with your +faults you would have been more thoroughly convinced of their +heinousness and striven harder and with greater success to conquer them. + +"Therefore, after much thought and deliberation, and much prayer for +guidance and direction, I have fully decided that I ought to punish you +severely for the repeated acts of disobedience you have been guilty of +in the last few days, and the constant exhibition of ill-temper. + +"It pains me exceedingly to do it, but I must not consider my own +feelings where my dear child's best interests are concerned." + +"Is it because I asked you to do it, papa?" she inquired. "I never +thought you would when I said it." + +"No; I have been thinking seriously on the subject ever since you +behaved so badly the day of the 'squantum,' and had very nearly decided +the question just as I have fully decided it now. I know you are an +honest child, even when the truth is against you; tell me, do you not +yourself think that I am right?" + +"Yes, sir," she answered, low and tremulously, after a moment's struggle +with herself. "Oh, please do it at once, so it will be over soon!" + +"I will," he said, rising and leading her into the inner room; "you +shall not have the torture of anticipation a moment longer." + +Though the punishment was severe beyond Lulu's worst anticipations, she +bore it without outcry or entreaty, feeling that she richly deserved it, +and determined that no one who might be within hearing should learn from +any sound she uttered what was going on. Tears and now and then a +half-suppressed sob were the only evidences of suffering that she +allowed herself to give. + +Her father was astonished at her fortitude, and more than ever convinced +that she had in her the elements of a noble character. + +The punishment over, he took her in his arms, laying her head against +his breast. Both were silent, her tears falling like rain. + +At length, with a heart-broken sob, "You hurt me terribly, papa," she +said; "I didn't think you would ever want to hurt me so." + +"I did not want to," he answered in moved tones; "it was sorely against +my inclination, I cannot tell you how gladly I should have borne twice +the pain for you if so I could have made you a good girl. I know you +have sometimes troubled yourself with foolish fears that you had less +than your fair share of my affection; but I have not a child that is +nearer or dearer to me than you are, my darling. I love you very much." + +"I'm so glad, papa; I 'most wonder you can," she sobbed; "and I love +you dearly, dearly; I know I've not been acting like it lately, but I +do, and just as much now as before. Oh, papa, you don't know how hard it +is for me to be good!" + +"I think I do," he said; "for I am naturally quite as bad as you are, +having a violent temper, which would most certainly have been my ruin +had I not been forced to learn to control it; indeed I fear it is from +me you get your temper. + +"I had a good Christian mother," he went on, "who was very faithful in +her efforts to train her children up aright. My fits of passion gave her +great concern and anxiety. I can see now how troubled and distressed she +used to look. + +"Usually she would shut me up in a room by myself until I had had time +to cool down, then come to me, talk very seriously and kindly of the +danger and sinfulness of such indulgence of temper, telling me there was +no knowing what dreadful deed I might some day be led to commit in my +fury, if I did not learn to rule my own spirit; and that therefore for +my own sake she must punish me to teach me self-control. She would then +chastise me, often quite severely, and leave me to myself again to +reflect upon the matter. Thus she finally succeeded in so convincing me +of the great guilt and danger of giving rein to my fiery temper and the +necessity of gaining the mastery over it, that I fought hard to do so, +and with God's help have, I think, gained the victory. + +"It is the remembrance of all this, and how thankful I am to my mother +now for her faithfulness, that has determined me to be equally faithful +to my own dear little daughter, though unfortunately I lack the +opportunity for the same constant watchfulness over my children." + +"Oh, papa, if you only could be with us all the time!" she sighed. "But +I never thought you had a temper. I've seen some people fly at their +naughty children in a great passion and beat them hard; I should think +if you had such a bad temper as you say, you'd have treated me so many a +time." + +"Very likely I should if your grandmother had not taught me to control +it," he said; "you may thank her that you have as good a father as you +have." + +"I think I have the best in the world," she said, putting her arm round +his neck; "and now that it's all over, papa, I'm glad you did punish me +just so hard; for I don't feel half so mean, because it seems as if I +have sort of paid for my naughtiness toward you." + +"Yes, toward me; the account is settled between us; but remember that +you cannot so atone for your sin against God; nothing but the blood of +Christ can avail to blot out that account against you, and you must ask +to be forgiven for His sake alone. We will kneel down and ask it now." + +Violet glanced again and again toward the cottages on the bluff, +wondering and a trifle impatient at her husband's long delay, but at +length saw him approaching, leading Lulu by the hand. + +There was unusual gravity, amounting almost to sternness, in his face, +and Lulu's wore a more subdued expression than she had ever seen upon +it, while traces of tears were evident upon her cheeks, + +"He has been talking very seriously to her in regard to the ill-temper +she has shown during the past few days," Violet said to herself. "Poor +wayward child! I hope she will take the lesson to heart, and give him +less trouble and anxiety in future." + +He kept Lulu close at his side all the evening, and she seemed well +content to stay there, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her +waist, while she listened silently to the talk going on around her or to +the booming of the waves upon the beach not many yards away. + +When it was time for the children to retire, he took her and Grace to +the house. At the door he bent down and kissed Grace good-night, +saying, "I shall not wait to see you in your bed, but shall come in to +look at you before I go to mine." + +"May I have a kiss too, papa?" Lulu asked in a wishful, half-tremulous +voice, as though a trifle uncertain whether her request would be +granted. + +"Yes, my dear little daughter, as many as you wish," he replied, taking +her in his arms and bestowing them with hearty good-will and affection. + +"I'm sorry--oh, very sorry for all my naughtiness, papa," she whispered +in his ear while clinging about his neck. + +"It is all forgiven now," he said, "and I trust will never be repeated." + +Lulu was very good, submissive, and obedient during the remainder of her +father's stay among them. + +She was greatly distressed when, two weeks later, orders came for him to +join his ship the following day. She clung to him with devoted, +remorseful affection and distress in prospect of the impending +separation, while he treated her with even more than his wonted +kindness, drawing her often caressingly to his knee, and his voice +taking on a very tender tone whenever he spoke to her. + +It was in the evening he left them, for he was to drive over to +Nantucket Town and pass the night there in order to take the early boat +leaving for the mainland the next morning. + +Mr. Dinsmore went with him, intending to go to Boston for a few days, +perhaps on to New York also, then return to Siasconset. + +Harold, Herbert, Bob, and Max set out that same evening for their +camping ground; so that Mr. Edward Travilla was the only man of the +party left to take care of the women and children. + +However, they would all have felt safe enough in that very quiet spot, +or anywhere on the island, without any such protection. + +Lulu went to bed that night full of remorseful regret that through her +own wilfulness she had lost many hours of her father's prized society, +besides grieving and displeasing him. + +Oh, if she could but go back and live the last few weeks over, how +differently she would behave! She would not give him the least cause to +be displeased with or troubled about her. + +As often before, she felt a great disgust at herself, and a longing +desire to be good and gentle like Gracie, who never seemed to have the +slightest inclination to be quick-tempered or rebellious. + +"She's so sweet and dear!" murmured Lulu half aloud, and reaching out a +hand to softly touch the little sister sleeping quietly by her side; "I +should think papa would love her ten times better than me; but he says +he doesn't, and he always tells the truth. I wish I'd been made like +Gracie; but I'm ever so glad he can love me in spite of all my badness. +Oh, I am determined to be good the next time he's at home, so that he +will enjoy his visit more. It was a burning shame in me to spoil this +one so; I'd like to beat you for it, Lulu Raymond, and I'm glad he +didn't let you escape." + +Violet and her mother were passing the night together, and lying side by +side talked to each other in loving confidence of such things as lay +nearest their hearts. Naturally Vi's thoughts were full of the husband +from whom she had just parted--for how long?--it might be months or +years. + +"Mamma," she said, "the more I am with him and study his character, the +more I honor and trust and love him. It is the one trial of my otherwise +exceptionally happy life, that we must pass so much of our time apart, +and that he has such a child as Lulu to mar his enjoyment of--" + +"Oh, dear daughter," interrupted Elsie, "do not allow yourself to feel +otherwise than very kindly toward your husband's child; Lulu has some +very noble traits, and I trust you will try to think of them rather than +of her faults, serious as they may seem to you." + +"Yes, mamma, there are some things about her that are very lovable, and +I really have a strong affection for her, even aside from the fact that +she is his child; yet when she behaves in a way that distresses him I +can hardly help wishing that she belonged to some one else. + +"You surely must have noticed how badly she behaved for two or three +days. He never spoke to me about it, tried not to let me see that it +interfered with his enjoyment (for he knew that that would spoil mine), +but for all that I knew his heart was often heavy over her misconduct. + +"Yet she certainly does love her father. How she clung to him after she +had heard that he must leave us so soon, with a remorseful affection, it +seemed to me." + +"Yes, and though she shed but few tears in parting from him, I could see +that she was almost heart-broken. She is a strange child, but if she +takes the right turn, will assuredly make a noble, useful woman." + +"I hope so, mamma; and that will, I know, repay him for all his care and +anxiety on her account. No father could be fonder of his children or +more willing to do or endure anything for their sake. Of course I do not +mean anything wrong; he would not do wrong himself or suffer wrong-doing +in them; for his greatest desire is to see them truly good, real +Christians. I hope my darling, as she grows older, will be altogether a +comfort and blessing to him." + +"As her mother has been to me, and always was to her father," Elsie +responded in loving tones. + +"Thank you, mamma," Violet said with emotion; "oh, if I had been an +undutiful daughter and given pain and anxiety to my best of fathers, how +my heart would ache at the remembrance, now that he is gone. And I feel +deep pity for Lulu when I think what sorrow she is preparing for herself +in case she outlives her father, as in the course of nature she is +likely to do." + +"Yes, poor child!" sighed Elsie; "and doubtless she is even now enduring +the reproaches of conscience aggravated by the fear that she may not see +her father very soon again. + +"She and Gracie, to say nothing of my dear Vi, will be feeling lonely +to-morrow, and Edward, Zoe, and I have planned various little +excursions, by land and water, to give occupation to your thoughts and +pleasantly while away the time." + +"You are always so kind, dearest mamma," said Violet; "always thinking +of others and planning for their enjoyment." + +"Oh, how lonely it does seem without papa! our dear, dear papa!" was +Gracie's waking exclamation. "I wish he could live at home all the time +like other children's fathers do! When will he come again, Lulu?" + +"I don't know, Gracie; I don't believe anybody knows," returned Lulu +sorrowfully. "But you have no occasion to feel half as badly about it as +I." + +"Why not?" cried Grace, a little indignantly, even her gentle nature +aroused at the apparent insinuation that he was more to Lulu than to +herself; "you don't love him a bit better than I do." + +"Maybe not; but Mamma Vi is more to you than she is to me; though that +wasn't what I was thinking of. I was only thinking that you had been a +good child to him all the time he has been at home, while I was so very, +very naughty that--" + +Lulu broke off suddenly and went on with, her dressing in silence. + +"That what?" asked Grace. + +"That I grieved him very much and spoiled half his pleasure," Lulu said +in a choking voice. Then turning suddenly toward her sister, her face +flushing hotly, her eyes full of tears, bitterly ashamed of what she was +moved to tell, yet with a heart aching so for sympathy that she hardly +knew how to keep it back, "Gracie, if I tell you something will you +never, _never, never_ breathe a single word of it to a living soul?" + +Grace, who was seated on the floor putting on her shoes and stockings, +looked up at her sister in silent astonishment. + +"Come, answer," exclaimed Lulu impetuously; "do you promise? I know if +you make a promise you'll keep it. But I won't tell you without, for I +wouldn't have Mamma Vi, or Max, or anybody else but you know, for all +the world." + +"Not papa?" + +"Oh, Gracie, papa knows; it's a secret between him and me--only--only I +have a right to tell you if I choose." + +"I'm glad he knows, because I couldn't promise not to tell him if he +asked me and said I must. Yes, I promise, Lulu. What is it?" + +Lulu had finished her dressing, and dropping down on the carpet beside +Grace she began, half averting her face and speaking in low, hurried +tones. "You remember that morning we were all going to the 'squantum' I +changed my dress and put on a white one, and because of that, and +something I said to Max that papa overheard, he said I must stay at +home; and he ordered me to take off that dress immediately. Well, I +disobeyed him; I walked round the town in the dress before I took it +off, and instead of staying at home I went in to bathe, and took a walk +in the afternoon with Betty Johnson to Sankaty Lighthouse, and went up +in the tower and outside too." + +"Oh, Lulu!" cried Grace, "how could you dare to do so?" + +"I did, anyway," said Lulu; "and you know I was very ill-tempered for +two days afterward; so when papa knew it all he thought he ought to +punish me, and he did." + +"How?" + +"Oh, Grace! don't you know? can't you guess? It was when he and I stayed +back while all the rest went to the beach, that evening after Betty's +friend told of seeing me at Sankaty." + +Grace drew a long breath. "Oh, Lu," she said pityingly, putting her arms +lovingly about her sister, "I'm so sorry for you! How could you bear it? +Did he hurt you very much?" + +"Oh, yes, terribly; but I'm glad he did it (though I wouldn't for +anything let anybody know it but you), because I'd feel so mean if I +hadn't paid somehow for my badness. Papa was so good and kind to me--he +always is--and I had been behaving so hatefully to him. + +"And he wasn't in a bit of a passion with me. I believe, as he told me, +he did hate to punish me, and only did it to help me to learn to conquer +my temper." + +"And to be obedient, too?" + +"Yes; the punishment was for that too, he said. But now don't you think +I have reason to feel worse about his going away just now than you?" + +"Yes," admitted Grace; "I'd feel ever so badly if I'd done anything to +make dear papa sad and troubled; and I think I should be frightened to +death if he was going to whip me." + +"No, you wouldn't," said Lulu, "for you would know papa wouldn't hurt +you any more than he thought necessary for your own good. Now let me +help you dress, for it must be near breakfast time." + +"Oh, thank you; yes, I'll have to hurry. Do you love papa as well as +ever, Lu?" + +"Better," returned Lulu, emphatically; "it seems odd, but I do. I +shouldn't though if I thought he took pleasure in beating me, or +punishing me in any way." + +"I don't b'lieve he likes to punish any of us," said Grace. + +"I _know_ he doesn't," said Lulu. "And it isn't any odder that I should +love him in spite of his punishments, than that he should love me in +spite of all my naughtiness. Yes, I do think, Gracie, we have the best +father in the world." + +"'Course we have," responded Grace; "but then we don't have him half the +time; he's 'most always on his ship," she added tearfully. + +"Are you ready for breakfast, dears?" asked a sweet voice at the door. + +"Yes, Grandma Elsie," they answered, hastening to claim the good-morning +kiss she was always ready to bestow. + +Lulu's heartache had found some relief in her confidence to her sister, +and she showed a pleasanter and more cheerful face at the table than +Violet expected to see her wear. + +It grew brighter still when she learned that they were all to have a +long, delightful drive over the hills and moors, starting almost +immediately upon the conclusion of the meal. + +The weather was charming, everybody in most amiable mood, and spite of +the pain of the recent parting from him whom they so dearly loved, that +would occasionally make itself felt in the hearts of wife and children, +the little trip was an enjoyable one to all. + +Just as they drew up at the cottage door on their return, a blast of +Captain Baxter's tin horn announced his arrival with the mail, and +Edward, waiting only to assist the ladies and children to alight, +hurried off to learn if they had any interest in the contents of the +mailbag. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"Be not too ready to condemn + The wrongs thy brothers may have done; + Ere ye too harshly censure them + For human faults, ask, 'Have I none?'" + +--_Miss Eliza Cook_. + + +The little girls took up their station at the front door to watch for +"Uncle Edward's" return. + +Gracie presently cried out joyfully, "Oh, he's coming with a whole +handful of letters! I wonder if one is from papa." + +"I'm afraid not," said Lulu; "he would hardly write last night, leaving +us so late as he did, and hardly have time before the leaving of the +early boat this morning." + +The last word had scarcely left her lips when Edward reached her side +and put a letter into her hand--a letter directed to her, and +unmistakably in her father's handwriting. + +"One for you, too, Vi," he said gayly, tossing it into her lap through +the open window. + +"Excuse the unceremonious delivery, sister mine. Where are grandma and +mamma? I have a letter for each of them." + +"Here," answered his mother's voice from within the room; then as she +took the missives from his hand, "Ah, I knew papa would not forget +either mamma or me." + +"Where's my share, Ned?" asked Zoe, issuing from the inner room, where +she had been engaged in taking off her hat and smoothing her fair +tresses. + +"Your share? Well, really I don't know; unless you'll accept the +mail-carrier as such," he returned sportively. + +"Captain Baxter?" she asked in mock astonishment. "I'd rather have a +letter by half." + +"But you can't have either," he returned, laughing; "you can have the +postman who delivered the letters here--nothing more; yours is 'Hobson's +choice.'" + +Lulu, receiving her letter with a half-smothered exclamation of intense, +joyful surprise, ran swiftly away with it to the beach, never stopping +till she had gained a spot beyond and away from the crowd, where no +prying eye would watch her movements or note if the perusal of her +treasure caused any emotion. + +There, seated upon the sand, she broke open the envelope with fingers +trembling with eagerness. It contained only a few lines in Captain +Raymond's bold chirography, but they breathed such fatherly love and +tenderness as brought the tears in showers from Lulu's eyes--tears of +intense joy and filial love. She hastily wiped them away and read the +sweet words again and again; then kissing the paper over and over, +placed it in her bosom, rose up, and slowly wended her way back toward +the house, with a lighter, happier heart than she had known for some +days. + +She had not gone far when Grace came tripping over the sands to meet +her, her face sparkling with delight as she held up a note to view, +exclaiming, "See, Lu! papa did not forget me; it came inside of mamma's +letter." + +"Oh, Gracie, I am glad," said Lulu; "but it would be very strange for +papa to remember the bad child and not the good one, wouldn't it?" she +concluded, between a sigh and a smile. + +"I'm not always good," said Grace; "you know I did something very, very +bad last winter one time--something you would never do. I b'lieve you'd +speak the truth if you knew you'd be killed for it." + +"You dear little thing!" exclaimed Lulu, throwing her arm round Grace +and giving her a hearty kiss; "it's very good in you to say it; but papa +says I'm an honest child and own the truth even when it's against me." + +"Yes; you said you told him how you had disobeyed him; and If it had +been I, I wouldn't have ever said a word about it for fear he'd punish +me." + +"Well, you can't help being timid; and if I were as timid as you are, +no doubt I'd be afraid to own up too; and I didn't confess till after +that Miss Eastman had told on me," said Lulu. "Now let's sit down on the +sand, and if you'll show me your letter, I'll show you mine." + +Grace was more than willing, and they busied themselves with the +letters, reading and rereading, and with loving talk about their absent +father, till summoned to the supper-table. + +Lulu was very fond of being on the beach, playing in the sand, wandering +hither and thither, or just sitting gazing dreamily out over the waves; +and her father had allowed her to do so, only stipulating that she +should not go out of sight or into any place that looked at all +dangerous. + +"I'm going down to the beach," she said to Grace, when they had left the +table that evening; "won't you go too?" + +"Not yet," said Grace; "baby is awake, and looks so sweet that I'd +rather stay and play with her a little while first." + +"She does look pretty and sweet," assented Lulu, glancing toward the +babe, cooing in its nurse's arms, "but we can see enough of her after we +go home to Ion, and haven't the sea any more. I'll go now, and you can +come and join me when you are ready." + +Leaving the house, Lulu turned southward toward Sunset Heights, and +strolled slowly on, gazing seaward for the most part, and drinking in +with delight the delicious breeze as it came sweeping on from no one +knows where, tearing the crests of the waves and scattering the spray +hither and yon. + +The tide was rising, and it was keen enjoyment to watch the great +billows chasing each other in and dashing higher and higher on the sands +below. Then the sun drew near his setting, and the sea, reflecting the +gorgeous coloring of the clouds, changed every moment from one lovely +hue to another. + +Lulu walked on and on, wilfully refusing to think how great might be the +distance she was putting between herself and home, and at length sat +down, the better to enjoy the lovely panorama of cloud and sea which +still continued to enrapture her with its ever-changing beauty. + +By and by the colors began to fade and give place to a silvery gray, +which gradually deepened and spread till the whole sky was fast growing +black with clouds that even to her inexperienced eye portended a storm. + +She started up and sent a sweeping glance around on every side. Could it +be possible that she was so far from the tiny 'Sconset cottage that at +present she called home? Here were Tom Never's Head and the life-saving +station almost close at hand; she had heard papa say they were a good +two miles from 'Sconset, so she must be very nearly that distance from +home, all alone too, and with night and a storm fast coming on. + +"Oh me! I've been disobedient again," she said aloud, as she set off for +home at her most rapid pace; "what would papa say? It wasn't exactly +intentional this time, but I should not have been so careless." + +Alarmed at the prospect of being overtaken by darkness and tempest alone +out in the wild, she used her best efforts to move with speed; but she +could scarcely see to pick her steps or take a perfectly direct course, +and now and again she was startled by the flutter of an affrighted +night-bird across her path as she wandered among the sand dunes, toiling +over the yielding soil, the booming of the waves and the melancholy +cadences of the wind as it rose and fell filling her ears. + +She was a brave child, entirely free from superstitious fears, and +having learned that the island harbored no burglars or murderers, and +that there was no wild beast upon it, her only fear was of being +overtaken by the storm or lost on the moors, unable to find her way till +day-break. + +But, gaining the top of a sand-hill, the star-like gleam of Sankaty +Light greeted her delighted eyes, and with a joyful exclamation, "Oh, +now I can find the way!" she sprang forward with renewed energy, soon +found the path to the village, pursued it with quickened steps and light +heart, although the rain was now pouring down, accompanied with +occasional flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and in a few +moments pushed open the door of the cottage and stepped into the +astonished presence of the ladies of the party. + +She had not been missed till the approach of the storm drove them all +within doors; then perceiving that the little girl was not among them, +the question passed from one to another, "Where is Lulu?" + +No one could say where; Grace remembered that she had gone out intending +to take a stroll along the beach, but did not mention in which +direction. + +"And she has never been known to stay out so late; and--and the tide is +coming in," cried Violet, sinking pale and trembling into a chair. "Oh, +mamma, if she is drowned, how shall I answer to my husband for taking so +little care of his child?" + +"My dear daughter, don't borrow trouble," Elsie said cheerfully, though +her own cheek had grown very pale; "it was in my care he left her, not +in yours." + +"Don't fret, Vi," Edward said; "I don't believe she's drowned; she has +more sense than to go where the tide would reach her; but I'll go at +once to look for her, and engage others in the search also." + +He started for the door. + +"She may be out on the moors, Ned," called Zoe, running after him with +his waterproof coat. "Here, put this on." + +"No time to wait for that," he said. + +"But you must take time," she returned, catching hold of him and +throwing it over his shoulders; "men have to obey their wives once in +awhile; Lu's not drowning; don't you believe it; and she may as well get +a wetting as you." + +Grace, hiding her head in Violet's lap, was sobbing bitterly, the latter +stroking her hair in a soothing way, but too full of grief and alarm +herself to speak any comforting words. + +"Don't cry, Gracie; and, Vi, don't look so distressed," said Betty. +"Lulu, like myself, is one of those people that need never be worried +about--the bad pennies that always turn up again." + +"Then she isn't fit for heaven," remarked Rosie in an undertone not +meant for her sister's ear; "but I don't believe," she added in a louder +key, "that there is anything worse the matter than too long a walk for +her to get back in good season." + +"That is my opinion, Vi," said Mrs. Dinsmore; and Elsie added, "Mine +also." + +No one spoke again for a moment, and in the silence the heavy boom, boom +of the surf on the beach below came distinctly to their ears. Then there +was a vivid flash of lightning and a terrific thunder crash, followed +instantly by a heavy down-pour of rain. + +"And she is out in all this!" exclaimed Violet in tones of deep +distress. "Dear child, if I only had her here safe in my arms, or if her +father were here to look after her!" + +"And punish her," added Rosie. "It's my humble opinion that if ever a +girl of her age needed a good whipping, she does." + +"Rosie," said her mother, with unwonted severity, "I cannot allow you to +talk in that way. Lulu's faults are different from yours, but perhaps no +worse; for while she is passionate and not sufficiently amenable to +authority, you are showing yourself both uncharitable and Pharisaical." + +"Well, mamma," Rosie answered, blushing deeply at the reproof, "I cannot +help feeling angry with her for giving poor Vi so much unnecessary worry +and distress of mind. And I am sure her father must have felt troubled +and mortified by the way she behaved for two or three days while he was +here." + +"But he loves her very dearly," said Violet; "so dearly that to lose +her in this way would surely break his heart." + +"But I tell you he is not going to lose her in this way," said Betty in +a lively tone; "don't you be a bit afraid of it." + +But Violet could not share the comfortable assurance; to her it seemed +more than likely Lulu had been too venturesome, and that a swiftly +incoming wave had carried her off her feet and swept her in its recoil +into the boiling sea. + +"I shall never see the dear child again!" was her anguished thought; +"and oh, what news to write to her father! He will not blame me, I know, +but oh, I cannot help blaming myself that I did not miss her sooner and +send some one to search for and bring her back." + +Elsie read her daughter's distress in her speaking countenance, and +sitting down by her side tried to cheer her with loving, hopeful words. + +"Dear Vi," she said, "I have a strong impression that the child is not +lost, and will be here presently. But whatever has happened, or may +happen, stay your heart, dear one, upon your God; trust Him for the +child, for your husband, and for yourself. You know that troubles do not +spring out of the ground, and to His children He gives help and +deliverance out of all He sends them. + +"'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' 'He +shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea in seven there shall no evil +touch thee.'" + +There was perhaps not more than a half hour of this trying suspense +between Edward's departure in search of the missing child and her sudden +appearance in their midst: sudden it seemed because the roar of the sea +and howling of the storm drowned all other sounds from without, and +prevented any echo of approaching footsteps. + +"Lulu!" they all cried in varied tones of surprise and relief, as they +started up and gathered about her dripping figure. + +"Where have you been?" + +"How wet you are!" + +"Oh, dear child, I am so glad and thankful to see you; I have been +terribly frightened about you!" This last from Violet. + +"I--I didn't mean to be out so late or to go so far," stammered Lulu. +"And I didn't see the storm coming up in time, and it caught and +hindered me. Please, Mamma Vi, and Grandma Elsie, don't be angry about +it. I won't do so again." + +"We won't stop to talk about it now," Elsie said, answering for Violet +and herself; "your clothes must be changed instantly, for you are as wet +as if you had been in the sea; and that with fresh water, so that there +is great danger of your taking cold." + +"I should think the best plan would be for her to be rubbed with a +coarse towel till reaction sets in fully and then put directly to bed," +said Mrs. Dinsmore. "If that is done we may hope to find her as well in +the morning as if she had not had this exposure to the storm." + +Lulu made no objection nor resistance, being only too glad to escape so +easily. Still she was not quite sure that some punishment might not be +in store for her on the morrow. And she had an uncomfortable impression +that were it not for her father's absence it might not be a very light +one. + +When she was snugly in bed, Grandma Elsie came to her, bringing with her +own hands a great tumbler of hot lemonade. + +"Drink this, Lulu," she said, in her own sweet voice and with a loving +look that made the little girl heartily ashamed of having given so much +trouble and anxiety; "it will be very good for you, I think, as well as +palatable." + +"Thank you, ma'am," Lulu said, tasting it; "it is delicious, so strong +of both lemon and sugar." + +"I am glad you like it; drink it all if you can," Elsie said. + +When Lulu had drained the tumbler it was carried away by Agnes, and +Grandma Elsie, sitting down beside the bed, asked, "Are you sleepy, my +child? If you are we will defer our talk till to-morrow morning; if not, +we will have it now." + +"I'm not sleepy," Lulu answered, blushing and averting her face, adding +to herself, "I suppose it's got to come, and I'd rather have it over." + +"You know, my child, that in the absence of your father and mine you are +my care and I am responsible for you, while you are accountable to me +for your good or bad behavior. Such being the case, it is now my duty to +ask you to give an account of your whereabouts and doings in the hours +that you were absent from us this evening." + +Lulu replied by an exact statement of the truth, pleading in excuse for +her escapade her father's permission to stroll about the beach, even +alone, her enjoyment of the exercise of walking along the bluff, and her +absorbing interest in the changing beauty of sky and sea--all which +tended to render her oblivious of time and space, so that on being +suddenly reminded of them she found herself much farther from home than +she had supposed. + +"Was it not merely within certain limits you were given permission to +ramble about the beach?" Elsie asked gently. + +"Yes, ma'am; papa said I was not to go far, and I did not intend to; +indeed, indeed, Grandma Elsie, I had not the least intention of +disobeying, but forgot everything in the pleasure of the walk and the +beautiful sights." + +"Do you think that is sufficient excuse, and ought to be accepted as +fully exonerating you from blame in regard to this matter?" + +"I don't think people can help forgetting sometimes," Lulu replied, a +trifle sullenly. + +"I remember that in dealing with me as a child my father would never +take forgetfulness of his orders as any excuse for disobedience; and +though it seemed hard then, I have since thought he was right, because +the forgetfulness is almost always the result of not having deemed the +matter of sufficient importance to duly charge the memory with it. + +"In the Bible God both warns us against forgetting and bids us remember: + +"'Remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.' + +"'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' + +"'Beware lest thou forget the Lord.' + +"'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget +God.' + +"You see that God does not accept forgetfulness as a sufficient excuse, +or any excuse for sin." + +"Then you won't, of course," muttered Lulu, carefully avoiding looking +into the kind face bending over her; "how am I to be punished? I don't +feel as if anybody has a _right_ to punish me but papa," she added, with +a flash of indignant anger. + +"I heartily wish he were here to attend to it," was the response, in a +kindly pitying tone. "But since, unfortunately, he is not, and my +father, too, is absent, the unpleasant duty devolves upon me. I have not +had time to fully consider the matter, but have no thought of being very +severe with you; and perhaps if you knew all the anxiety and sore +distress suffered on your account this evening--particularly by your +mamma and little sister--you would be sufficiently punished already." + +"Did Mamma Vi care?" Lulu asked, in a half-incredulous tone. + +"My child, she was almost distracted," Elsie said. "She loves you for +both your own and your father's sake. Besides, as she repeated again and +again, she was sorely distressed on his account, knowing his love for +you to be so great that to lose you would well-nigh break his heart." + +A flash of joy illumined Lulu's face at this new testimony to her +father's love for her, but passed away as suddenly as it came. + +"I do feel punished in hearing that you were all so troubled about me, +Grandma Elsie," she said, "and I mean to be very, very careful not to +cause such anxiety again. Please tell Mamma Vi I am sorry to have given +her pain; but she shouldn't care anything about such a naughty girl." + +"That, my child, she cannot help," Elsie said; "she loves your father +far too well not to love you for his sake." + +After a little more kindly admonitory talk she went away, leaving a +tender, motherly kiss upon the little girl's lips. + +At the door Grace met her with a request for a good-night kiss, which +was promptly granted. + +"Good-night, dear little one; pleasant dreams and a happy awaking, if it +be God's will," Elsie said, bending down to touch her lips to the +rosebud mouth and let the small arms twine themselves around her neck. + +"Good-night, dear Grandma Elsie," responded the child. "Oh, aren't you +ever so glad God brought our Lulu safely home to us?" + +"I am indeed, dear; let us not forget to thank Him for it in our prayers +to-night." + +Lulu heard, and as Grace's arms went round her neck the next moment, and +the sweet lips, tremulous with emotion, touched her cheek, + +"Were you so distressed about me, Gracie?" she asked with feeling. "Did +Mamma Vi care so very much that I might be drowned?" + +"Yes, indeed, Lu, dear Lu; oh, what could I do without my dear sister?" + +"You know you have another one now," Suggested Lulu. + +"That doesn't make any difference," said Grace. "She's the darling baby +sister; you are the dear, dear big sister." + +"Papa calls me his little girl," remarked Lulu, half musingly; "and +somehow I like to be little to him and big to you. Oh, Gracie, what do +you suppose he will say when he hears about to-night?--my being so bad; +and so soon after he went away, too." + +"Oh, Lu, what made you?" + +"Because I was careless; didn't think; and I begin to believe that it +was because I didn't choose to take the trouble," she sighed. "I'm +really afraid if papa were here I should get just the same sort of a +punishment he gave me before. Gracie, don't you ever, ever tell anybody +about that." + +"No, Lu; I promised I wouldn't. But I should think you'd be punished +enough with all the wetting and the fright; for weren't you most scared +to death?" + +"No; I was frightened, but not nearly so much as that. Not so much as I +should be if papa were to walk in just now; because he'd have to hear +all about it, and then he'd look so sorry and troubled, and punish me +besides." + +"Then you wouldn't be glad to see papa if he came back?" Grace said, in +a reproachfully inquiring tone. + +"Yes, I should," Lulu answered, promptly; "the punishment wouldn't last +long, you know; he and I would both get over it pretty soon, and then it +would be so delightful to have him with us again." + +Lulu woke the next morning feeling no ill effects whatever from her +exposure to the storm. + +Before she and Grace had quite finished their morning toilet Grandma +Elsie was at their door, asking if they were well. She stayed for a +little chat with them, and Lulu asked what her punishment was to be. + +"Simply a prohibition of lonely rambles," Elsie answered, with a grave +but kindly look; "and I trust it will prove all-sufficient; you are to +keep near the rest of us for your own safety." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him + chasteneth him betimes."--_Prov_. 13: 24. + + +When the morning boat touched at Nantucket pier there were among the +throng which poured ashore two fine-looking gentlemen--one in the prime +of life, the other growing a little elderly--who sought out at once a +conveyance to 'Sconset. + +The hackman had driven them before, and recognized them with evident +pleasure mingled with surprise. + +"Glad to see you back again, capt'n," he remarked, addressing the +younger of his two passengers; "but it's kind of unexpected, isn't it? I +understood you'd gone to join your ship, expecting to sail directly for +foreign parts." + +"Yes, that was all correct," returned Captain Raymond, gayly, for he it +was, in company with Mr. Dinsmore; "but orders are sometimes +countermanded, as they were in this instance, to my no small content." + +"They'll be dreadful glad to see you at 'Sconset," was the next remark; +"surprised, too. By the way, sir, your folks had a fright last evening." + +"A fright?" inquired both gentlemen in a breath, and exchanging a look +of concern. + +"Yes, sirs; about one of your little girls, capt'n--the oldest one, I +understood it was. Seems she'd wandered off alone to Tom Never's Head, +or somewhere in that neighborhood, and was caught by the darkness and +storm, and didn't find her way home till the older folks had begun to +think she'd been swept away by the tide, which was coming in, to be +sure; but they thought it might have been the backward flow of a big +wave that had rushed up a little too quick for her, taking her off her +feet and hurrying her into the surf before she could struggle up again." + +All the captain's gayety was gone, and his face wore a pained, troubled +look. + +"But she did reach home in safety at last?" he said, inquiringly. + +"Oh, yes; all right except for a wetting, which probably did her no +harm. But now maybe I'm telling tales out of school," he added, with a +laugh. "I shouldn't like to get the little girl into trouble, so I hope +you'll not be too hard on her, capt'n. I dare say the fright has been +punishment enough to keep her from doing the like again." + +"I wish it may have been," was all the captain said. + +Then he fell into a revery so deep that he scarcely caught a word of a +brisk conversation, in regard to some of the points of interest on the +island, carried on between Mr. Dinsmore and the hackman. + +Lulu was having an uncomfortable day. When she met the family at the +breakfast-table Grandma Rose seemed to regard her with cold displeasure; +"Mamma Vi" spoke gently and kindly; hoping she felt no injury from last +night's exposure, but looked wretchedly ill; and in answer to her +mother's inquiries admitted that she had been kept awake most of the +night by a violent headache, to which Rosie added, in an indignant tone, +and with an angry glance at Lulu: + +"Brought on by anxiety in regard to a certain young miss who is always +misbehaving and causing a world of trouble to her best friends." + +"Rose, Rose," Elsie said, reprovingly; "let me hear no more such +remarks, or I shall send you from the table." + +Lulu had appeared in their midst, feeling humble and contrite, and had +been conscience-smitten at sight of her mamma's pale face; but the sneer +on Betty's face, the cold, averted looks of Edward and Zoe, and then +Rosie's taunt roused her quick temper to almost a white heat. + +She rose, and pushing back her chair with some noise, turned to leave +the table at which she had but just seated herself. + +"What is it, Lulu?" asked Grandma Elsie, in a tone of gentle kindliness. +"Sit still, my child, and ask for what you want." + +"Thank you, ma'am," said Lulu. "I do not want anything but to go away. +I'd rather do without my breakfast than stay here to be insulted." + +"Sit down, my child," repeated Elsie, as gently and kindly as before; +"Rosie will make no more unkind remarks; and we will all try to treat +you as we would wish to be treated were we in your place." + +No one else spoke. Lulu resumed her seat and ate her breakfast, but with +little appetite or enjoyment; and on leaving the table tried to avoid +contact with any of those who had caused her offence. + +"May I go down to the beach, Grandma Elsie?" she asked, in low, +constrained tones, and with her eyes upon the floor. + +"If you will go directly there, to the seats under the awning which we +usually occupy, and not wander from them farther than they are from the +cliff," Elsie answered. "Promise me that you will keep within those +bounds, and I shall know I may trust you; for you are an honest child." + +The cloud lifted slightly from Lulu's brow at those kindly words. She +gave the promise, and walked slowly away. + +As she descended the stairway that led down the face of the cliff, she +saw that Edward and Zoe were sitting side by side on one of the benches +under the awning. + +She did not fancy their company just now, and knew hers would not be +acceptable to them. She thought she would pass them and seat herself in +the sand a little farther on. + +Edward was speaking as she came up behind them, and she heard him say, +"It was the most uncomfortable meal ever eaten in our family; and all +because of that ungovernable child." + +Lulu flushed hotly, and stepping past turned and confronted him with +flashing eyes. + +"I heard you, Uncle Edward," she said, "though I had no intention of +listening; and I say it is very unjust to blame me so when it was +Rosie's insulting tongue and other people's cold, contemptuous looks +that almost drove me wild." + +"You are much too easily driven wild," he said. "It is high time you +learned to have some control over your temper. If I were your father I'd +teach it you, even if I must try the virtue of a rod again and again; +also you should learn proper submission to authority, if it had to be +taught in the same manner." + +Lulu was too angry to speak for a moment; she stood silent, trembling +with passion, but at length burst out: "It's none of your business how +papa manages me, Mr. Travilla; and I'm very glad he's my father instead +of you!" + +"You are a very saucy girl, Lulu Raymond," said Zoe, reddening with +anger on her husband's account, "and shamefully ungrateful for all Mr. +Travilla's kind exertions on your behalf last night." + +"Hush, hush, Zoe; do not remind her of it," Edward said. "'A benefit +upbraided forfeits thanks.' I should have done quite the same for any +one supposed to be in danger and distress." + +"What was it?" asked Lulu; "nobody told me he had done anything." + +"He was out for hours in all that storm, hunting you," replied Zoe, with +a proudly admiring glance at her husband. + +"I'm very much obliged," said Lulu, her voice softening. "And sorry you +suffered on my account," she added. + +"I did not suffer anything worth mentioning," he responded; "but your +mamma was sorely distressed--thinking you might be in the sea--and, in +consequence, had a dreadful headache all night. And since such dire +consequences may follow upon your disregard for rules and lawful +authority, Lulu, I insist that you shall be more amenable to them. + +"I believe you think that when your father and grandpa are both away you +can do pretty much as you please; but you shall not while I am about. I +won't have my mother's authority set at defiance by you or any one +else." + +"Who wants to set it at defiance?" demanded Lulu, wrathfully. "Not I, I +am sure. But I won't be ruled by you, for papa never said I should." + +"I think I shall take down this conversation and report it to him," +Edward said, only half in earnest. + +Lulu turned quickly away, greatly disturbed by the threat, but resolved +that her alarm should not be perceived by either him or Zoe. Walking a +few yards from them, she sat down upon the sand and amused herself +digging in it, but with thoughts busied with the problem, "What will +papa say and do if that conversation is reported to him?" + +A very little consideration of the question convinced her that if +present her father would say she had been extremely impertinent, punish +her for it, and make her apologize. + +Presently a glance toward the cottages on the bluff showed her Violet +and Grace descending the stairway. She rose and hurried to meet them. + +"Mamma Vi," she said, as soon as within hearing, "I am ever so sorry to +have frightened you so last night and given you a headache. But you +oughtn't to care whether such a naughty girl as I am is drowned or not." + +"How can you talk so, Lulu dear?" Violet answered, putting an arm round +the child's waist and giving her a gentle kiss. "Do you think your Mamma +Vi has no real love for you? If so, you are much mistaken. I love you, +Lulu, for yourself, and dearly for your father's sake. Oh, I wish you +loved him well enough to try harder to be good in order to add to his +happiness; it would add to it more than anything else that I know of. +Your naughtiness does not deprive you of his fatherly affection, but it +does rob him of much enjoyment which he would otherwise have." + +Lulu hung her head in silence, turned, and walked away full of +self-accusing and penitent thoughts. She was not crying; tears did not +come so readily to her eyes as to those of many children of her age, but +her heart was aching with remorseful love for her absent father. + +"To think that I spoiled his visit home," she sighed to herself. "Oh, I +wish he could come back to have it over again, and I would try to be +good and not spoil his enjoyment in the very least!" + +"Come back now?" something seemed to reply; "suppose he should; wouldn't +he punish you for your behavior since he left, only two days ago?" + +"Yes," she sighed; "I haven't the least doubt that if he were here and +knew all he would punish me severely again; and I suppose he wouldn't be +long in the house before he would hear it all; yet for all that I should +be--oh, so glad if he could come back to stay a good while." + +Last night's storm had spent itself in a few hours, and the morning was +bright and clear; yet a long drive planned for that day by our friends +was unanimously postponed, as several of them had lost sleep, and wanted +to make it up with a nap. + +Violet sought her couch immediately after dinner, slept off the last +remains of her headache, and about the middle of the afternoon was +preparing to go down to the beach, where all the others were, except +Grace, who was seldom far from mamma's side, when the outer door opened, +and a step and voice were heard which she had not hoped to hear again +for months or years. + +The next moment she was in her husband's arms, her head pillowed on his +breast, while his lips were pressed again and again to brow and cheek +and lips, and Grace's glad shout arose, in sweet, silvery tones, "Papa +has come back! Papa has come back! My dear, dear papa!" + +"Can it be possible, my dear, dear husband?" cried Violet, lifting to +his a face radiant with happiness. "It seems too good to be true." + +"Not quite so good as that," he said, with a joyous laugh, "But it is +quite a satisfaction to find that you are not sorry to see me." + +"Of which you were terribly afraid, of course," she returned, gayly. "Do +tell me at once how long our powers of endurance of such uncongenial +society are to be taxed?" + +"Ah, that is beyond my ability." + +"Then we may hope for weeks or months?" she said, rapturously. + +"Certainly we are not forbidden to hope," he answered, smiling tenderly +upon her. + +"Oh, I am so glad!" she said, with a happy sigh, leaning her head on his +shoulder and gazing fondly up into his face, his right arm about her +waist, while Grace clung to the other hand, holding it lovingly between +her own and pressing her lips to it again and again. + +"Ah, my darling little girl," he said presently, letting Violet go to +take Grace in his arms. "Are you glad to see papa back again so soon?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed; nothing else could have made me so very, very glad!" +she cried, hugging him close, and giving and receiving many tender +caresses. + +"But how did it happen. Levis?" Violet was asking. + +"Through some unlooked-for change in the plans and purposes of the +higher powers," he answered, lightly. "My orders were countermanded, +with no reasons given, and I may remain with my family till further +orders; and, as you say, we will hope it may be months before they are +received." + +"And you were glad to come back to us?" Violet said, inquiringly, but +with not a shade of doubt in her tones. + +"Yes, yes indeed; I was full of joy till I heard that one of my children +had been disobeying me, bringing serious consequences upon herself and +others." + +His countenance had grown very grave and stern. "Where is Lulu?" he +asked, glancing about in search of her. + +"Down on the beach with mamma and the rest," Violet answered. + +"Can you give me a true and full account of her behavior since I have +been away?" he asked. + +"My dear husband," Violet said, entreatingly, "please do not ask me." + +"Pardon me, dearest," he returned. "I should not have asked you; Lulu +must tell me herself; thankful I am that many and serious as are her +faults, she is yet so honest and truthful that I can put full confidence +in her word and feel sure that she will not deceive me, even to save +herself from punishment." + +"I think that is high praise, and that Lulu is deserving of it," +remarked Violet, glad of an opportunity to speak a word in the child's +favor. + +Captain Raymond gave her a pleased, grateful look. "You were going to +the beach, were you not?" he said. "Then please go on; I shall follow +after I have settled this matter with Lulu. There can be no comfort for +her or myself till it is settled. Gracie, go and tell your sister to +come here to me immediately." + +"Do be as lenient as your sense of duty will allow, dear husband," +whispered Violet in his ear, then hastened on her way. + +Grace was lingering, gazing at him with wistful, tear-filled eves. + +"What is it?" he asked, bending down to smooth her hair caressingly. +"You should go at once, little daughter, when papa bids." + +"I would, papa, only--only I wanted to--to ask you not to punish Lulu +very hard." + +"I am glad my little Gracie loves her sister," he said; "and you need +never doubt, my darling, that I dearly love both her and you. Go now +and give her my message." + +All day long Lulu had kept herself as far apart from the others--her +sister excepted--as lay in her power. She was sitting now alone in the +sand, no one within several yards of her, her hands folded in her lap, +while she gazed far out to sea, her eyes following a sail in the distant +offing. + +"Perhaps it is papa's ship," she was saying to herself. "Oh, how long +will it be before we see him again! And oh, how sorry he will be when he +hears about last night and this morning!" + +At that instant she felt Grace's arms suddenly thrown round her, while +the sweet child voice exclaimed, in an ecstasy of delight, "Oh, Lu, he +_has_ come! he _has_, he _has_!" + +"Who?" Lulu asked, with a start and tremble that reminded Grace of the +message she had to deliver, and that Lulu's pleasure at their father's +unexpected return could not be so unalloyed as her own; all which she +had forgotten for the moment in the rapture of delight she herself felt +at his coming. + +"Papa, Lulu," she answered, sobering down, a good deal; "and I was 'most +forgetting that he sent me to tell you to come to him immediately." + +"Did he?" Lulu asked, trembling more than before. "Does he know about +last night, Gracie? Did Mamma Vi tell him?" + +"He knows 'bout it; somebody told him before he got to 'Sconset," said +Grace. "But mamma didn't tell him at all; he asked her, but she begged +him to please not ask her. Mamma doesn't ever tell tales on us, I'm +sure." + +"No, I don't believe she does. But what did papa say then?" + +"That you should tell him all about it yourself; you were an honest +child, serious as your faults were, and lie could trust you to own the +truth, even when you were to be punished for it. But, Lulu, you have to +go right up to the house; papa said 'immediately.'" + +"Yes," Lulu replied, getting upon her feet very slowly, and looking a +good deal frightened; "did papa seem very angry?" + +"I think he intends to punish you," Grace replied, in a sorrowful tone; +"but maybe he won't if you say you're sorry and won't do so any more. +But hurry, Lulu, or he may punish you for not obeying promptly." + +"Is Mamma Vi there?" asked Lulu, still lingering. + +"No; yonder she is; don't you see?" said Grace, nodding her head in the +direction of the awning under which nearly their whole party were now +seated: "there's nobody there but papa. Oh hurry, Lulu, or he will whip +you, I'm afraid." + +"Don't you ever say that before anybody, Gracie," Lulu said, low and +tremulously; then turned and walked rapidly toward the stairway that led +up the bluff to the cottages. + +At a window looking toward the bluff the captain stood, watching for +Lulu's coming. + +"She is not yielding very prompt obedience to the order," he said to +himself; "but what wonder? The poor child doubtless dreads the +interview extremely; in fact, _I_ should be only too glad to escape it; +'tis no agreeable task to have to deal out justice to one's own child--a +child so lovable, in spite of her faults. How much easier to pass the +matter over slightly, merely administering a gentle reprimand! But no, I +cannot; 'twould be like healing slightly the festering sore that +threatens the citadel of life. I must be faithful to my God-given trust, +however trying to my feelings. Ah, there she is!" as a little figure +appeared at the top of the staircase and hurried across the intervening +space to the open doorway. + +There she halted, trembling and with downcast eyes. It was a minute or +more before she ventured to lift them, and then it was a very timid +glance she sent in her father's direction. + +He was looking at her with a very grave, rather stern, countenance, and +her eyes fell again, while still she shrank from approaching him. + +"You are not very glad to see me, I think," he said, holding out his +hand, but with no relaxing of the sternness of his expression. + +"Oh, papa, yes! yes, indeed I am!" she burst out, springing to his side +and putting her hand in his, "even though I suppose you are going to +punish me just as you did the last time." + +He drew her to his knee, but without offering her the slightest caress. + +"Won't you kiss me, papa?" she asked, with a little sob. + +"I will; but you are not to take it as a token of favor; only of your +father's love that is never withdrawn from you, even when he is most +severe in the punishment of your faults," he answered, pressing his lips +again and again to forehead, cheeks, and lips. "What have you done that +you expect so severe a punishment?" + +"Papa, you know, don't you?" she said, hiding her blushing face on his +breast. + +"I choose to have you tell me; I want a full confession of all the +wrong-doing you have been guilty of since I left you the other day." + +"I disobeyed you last night, papa, about taking a long walk by myself; +but it was because I forgot to notice how far I was going; at least, I +didn't notice," she stammered, remembering that she had wilfully +refrained from so doing. + +"You forgot? forgot to pay attention to your father's commands? did not +think them of sufficient importance for you to take the trouble to +impress them upon your mind. I cannot accept that excuse as a good and +sufficient one. + +"And, tell me honestly, are you not, as I strongly suspect, less careful +to obey your father's orders when he is away, so that you feel yourself +in a measure out of his reach, than when he is close at hand?" + +"Papa, you ask such hard questions," she said. + +"Hard to my little daughter only because of her own wrong-doing. But +hard or easy, they must be answered. Tell me the truth, would you not +have been more careful to keep within prescribed bounds last night if I +had been at home, or you had known that you would see me here to-day?" + +"Yes, papa," she answered, in a low, unwilling tone. "I don't think +anybody else can have quite so much authority over me as you, and--and +so I do, I suppose, act a little more as if I could do as I please when +you are away." + +"And that after I have explained to you again and again that in my +absence you are quite as much under the authority of the kind friends +with whom I have placed you as under mine when I am with you. I see +there is no effectual way to teach you the lesson but by punishing you +for disregarding it." + +Then he made her give him a detailed account of her ramble of the night +before and its consequences. + +When she had gone as far in the narrative as her safe arrival among the +alarmed household, he asked whether her Grandma Elsie inflicted any +punishment upon her. + +"No, sir," answered Lulu, hanging her head and speaking in a sullen +tone. "I told her I didn't feel as if anybody had any right to punish me +but you." + +"Lulu I did you dare to talk in that way to her?" exclaimed the captain. +"I hope she punished you for your impertinence; for if she did not I +certainly must." + +"She lectured me then, and this morning told me my punishment was a +prohibition against wandering away from the rest more than just a few +yards. + +"But, papa, they were all so unkind to me at breakfast--I mean all but +Grandma Elsie and Mamma Vi and Gracie. Betty looked sneering, and the +others so cold and distant, and Rosie said something very insulting +about my being a bad, troublesome child and frightening Mamma Vi into a +headache." + +"Certainly no more than you deserved," her father said. "Did you bear +it with patience and humility, as you ought?" + +"Do you mean that I must answer you, papa?" + +"Most assuredly I do; tell me at once exactly what you did and said." + +"I don't want to, papa," she said, half angrily. + +"You are never to say that when I give you an order," he returned, in a +tone of severity; "never venture to do it again. Tell me, word for word, +as nearly as you can remember it, what reply you made to Rosie's taunt." + +"Papa, I didn't say anything to her; I just got up and pushed back my +chair, and turned to leave the table. Then Grandma Elsie asked me what I +wanted, and I said I didn't want anything, but would rather go without +my breakfast than stay there to be insulted. Then she told me to sit +down and eat, and Rosie wouldn't make any more unkind speeches." + +"Were they all pleasant to you after that?" he asked. + +"No, papa; they haven't been pleasant to me at all to-day; and Uncle +Edward has said hateful things about me, and to me," she went on, her +cheek flushing and her eyes flashing with anger, half forgetting, in +the excitement of passion, to whom she was telling her story, and +showing her want of self-control. + +"And I very much fear," he said, gravely, "that you were both passionate +and impertinent. Tell me just what passed." + +"If I do you'll punish me, I know you will," she burst out. "Papa, don't +you think it's a little mean to make me tell on myself and then punish +me for what you find out in that way?" + +"If my object was merely to give you pain, I think it would be mean +enough," he said, not at all unkindly; "but as I am seeking your best +interests--your truest happiness--in trying to gain full insight into +your character and conduct, meaning to discipline you only for your +highest good, I think it is not mean or unkind. From your unwillingness +to confess to me, I fear you must have been in a great passion and very +impertinent. Is it not so?" + +"Papa, I didn't begin it; if I'd been let alone I shouldn't have got in +a passion or said anything saucy." + +"Possibly not; but what is that virtue worth which cannot stand the +least trial? You must learn to rule your own spirit, not only when +everything goes smoothly with you, but under provocation; and in order +to help you to learn that lesson--or rather as a means toward teaching +it to you--I shall invariably punish any and every outbreak of temper +and every impertinence of yours that come under my notice when I am at +home. Now, tell me exactly what passed between your Uncle Edward and +yourself." + +Seeing there was no escape for her, Lulu complied, faithfully repeating +every word of the short colloquy at the beach when she went down there +directly after breakfast. + +Her father listened in astonishment, his face growing sterner every +moment. + +"Lucilla," he said, "you are certainly the most impertinent, insolent +child I ever saw! I don't wonder you were afraid to let me know the +whole truth in regard to this affair. I am ashamed of your conduct +toward both your Grandma Elsie and your Uncle Edward. You must apologize +to both of them, acknowledging that you have been extremely impertinent, +and asking forgiveness for it." + +Lulu made no reply; her eyes were downcast, her face was flushed with +passion, and wore a stubborn look. + +"I won't;" the words were on the tip of her tongue; she had almost +spoken them, but restrained herself just in time; her father's authority +was not to be defied, as she had learned to her cost a year ago. + +He saw the struggle that was going on in her breast. "You must do it," +he said; "you may write your apologies, though, if you prefer that to +speaking them." + +He opened a writing-desk that stood on a table close at hand, and seated +her before it with paper, pen, and ink, and bade her write, at his +dictation. + +She did not dare refuse, and had really no very strong disinclination to +do so in regard to the first, which was addressed to Grandma Elsie--a +lady so gentle and kind that even proud Lulu was willing to humble +herself to her. + +But when it came to Edward's turn her whole soul rose up in rebellion +against it. Yet she dared not say either "I won't" or "I don't want to." +But pausing, with the pen in her fingers: + +"Papa," she began timidly, "please don't make me apologize to him; he +had no right to talk to me the way he did." + +"I am not so sure of that," the captain said. "I don't blame him for +trying to uphold his mother's authority; and now I think of it, you are +to consider yourself under his control in the absence of your mamma and +the older persons to whom I have given authority over you. Begin at once +and write what I have told you to." + +When the notes were written, signed, and folded he put them in his +pocket, turned and paced the floor. + +Lulu, glancing timidly into his face, saw that it was pale and full of +pain, but very stern and determined. + +"Papa, are you--are you going to punish me?" she asked, tremulously. "I +mean as you did the other day?" + +"I think I must," he said, pausing beside her, "though it grieves me to +the very heart to do it; but you have been disobedient, passionate, and +very impertinent; it is quite impossible for me to let you slip. But you +may take your choice between that and being locked up in the bedroom +there for twenty-four hours, on bread and water. Which shall it be?" + +"I'd rather take the first, papa," said Lulu, promptly, "because it will +be over in a few minutes, and nobody but ourselves need know anything +about it." + +"I made sure you would choose the other," he said, in some surprise; +"yet I think your choice is wise. Come!" + +"Oh, papa, I'm so frightened," she said, putting her trembling hand in +his; "you did hurt me so dreadfully the other time; must you be as +severe to-day?" + +"My poor child, I am afraid I must," he said; "a slight punishment seems +to avail nothing in your case, and I must do all in my power to make you +a good, gentle, obedient child." + +A few minutes later Captain Raymond joined the others on the beach, but +Lulu was not with him. She had been left behind in the bedroom, where +she must stay, he told her, until his return. + +Everybody seemed glad to see him; but after greeting them all in turn, +he drew Violet to a seat a little apart from the others. + +Grace followed, of course, keeping close to her father's side. "Where is +Lulu, papa?" she asked with a look of concern, + +"Up at the house." + +"Won't you let her come down here, papa? She loves so to be close down +by the waves." + +"She may come after a little," he said, "but not just now." Then taking +two tiny notes from his pocket: "Here, Gracie," he said, "take this to +your Grandma Elsie and this to your Uncle Edward." + +"Yes, sir; must I wait for an answer?" + +"Oh, no," he replied, with a slight smile; "you may come right back to +your place by papa's side." + +Elsie read the little missive handed her at a glance, rose up hastily, +and went to the captain with it in her hand, a troubled look on her +face. + +"My dear captain," she said, in a tone of gentle remonstrance, "why did +you do this? The child's offence against me was not a grave one in my +esteem, and I know that to one of her temperament it would be extremely +galling to be made to apologize. I wish you had not required it of her." + +"I thought it for her good, mother," he answered; "and I think so still; +she is so strongly inclined to impertinence and insubordination that I +must do all in my power to train her to proper submission to lawful +authority and respect for superiors." + +Edward joined them at that moment. He looked disturbed and chagrined. + +"Really, captain," he said, "I am not at all sure that Lulu has not as +much right to an apology from me as I to this from her. I spoke to her +in anger, and with an assumption of authority to which I really had no +right, so that there was ample excuse for her not particularly +respectful language to me. I am sorry, therefore, she has had the pain +of apologizing." + +"You are very kind to be so ready to over look her insolence," the +captain said; "but I cannot permit such exhibitions of temper, and must, +at whatever cost, teach her to rule her own spirit." + +"Doubtless you are right," Edward said; "but I am concerned and +mortified to find that I have got her into such disgrace and trouble. I +must own I am quite attached to Lulu; she has some very noble and +lovable traits of character." + +"She has indeed," said his mother; "she is so free from the least taint +of hypocrisy or deceit; so perfectly honest and truthful; so +warm-hearted, too; so diligent and energetic in anything she undertakes +to do--very painstaking and persevering--and a brave, womanly little +thing." + +The captain's face brightened very much as he listened to these praises +of his child. + +"I thank you heartily, mother and brother," he said; "for the child is +very dear to her father's heart, and praise of her is sweet to my ear. I +can see all these lovable traits, but feared that to other eyes than +mine they might be entirely obscured by the very grave faults joined +with them. But it is just like you both to look at the good rather than +the evil. + +"And you have done so much for my children! I assure you I often think +of it with the feeling that you have laid me under obligations which I +can never repay." + +"Ah, captain," Elsie said, laughingly, "you have a fashion of making a +great mountain out of a little mole-hill of kindness. Flattery is not +good for human nature, you know, so I shall leave you and go back to +papa, who has a wholesome way of telling me of my faults and failings." + +"I really don't know where he finds them," returned Captain Raymond, +gallantly; but she was already out of hearing. + +"Nor I," said Violet, replying to his last remark; "mamma seems to me +to be as nearly perfect as a human creature can be in this sinful +world." + +"Now don't feel troubled about it, Ned," Zoe was saying to her husband, +who was again at her side. "I think it was just right that she should be +made to apologize to you, for she was dreadfully saucy." + +"Yes; but I provoked her, and I ought to be, and am, greatly ashamed of +it. I fear, too, that in so doing I have brought a severe punishment +upon her." + +"Why should you think so?" + +"Because I know that such a task could not fail to be exceedingly +unpalatable to one of her temperament; and don't you remember how long +she stood out against her father's authority last summer when he bade +her ask Vi's pardon for impertinence to her?" + +"Yes; it took nearly a week of close confinement to make her do it; but +as he showed himself so determined in that instance, she probably saw +that it would be useless to attempt opposition to his will in this, and +so obeyed without being compelled by punishment." + +"Well, I hope so," he said. "She surely ought to know by this time that +he is not one to be trifled with." + +It seemed to Lulu a long time that she was left alone, shut up in the +little bedroom of the cottage, though it was in reality scarcely more +than half an hour. She was very glad when at last she heard her father's +step in the outer room, then his voice as he opened the door and asked, +"Would you like to take a walk with your papa, little girl?" + +"Yes indeed, papa!" was her joyful reply. + +"Then put on your hat and come." + +She made all haste to obey. + +"Is Gracie going too, papa? or anybody else?" she asked, putting her +hand confidingly into his. + +"No; you and I are going alone this time; do you think you will find my +company sufficient for once?" he asked, smiling down at her. + +"Oh yes, indeed, papa; I think it will be ever so nice to have you all +to myself; it's so seldom I can." + +They took the path along the bluffs toward "Tom Never's Head." + +When they had fairly left the village behind, so that no one could +overhear anything they might say to each other, the captain said, "I +want to have a talk with you, daughter, and we may as well take it out +here in the sweet fresh air, as shut up in the house." + +"Oh, yes, papa; it is so much pleasanter! I can hardly bear to stay in +the house at all down here at the seashore; and it seemed a long while +that you left me alone there this afternoon." + +"Yes, I suppose so: and I hope I shall not have occasion to do so again. +My child, did you ever consider what it is that makes you so rebellious, +so unwilling to submit to authority, and so ready to fly into a passion +and speak insolently to your superiors?" + +"I don't quite understand you papa," she said. "I only know that I can't +bear to have people try to rule me who have no right." + +"Sometimes you are not willing to be ruled even by your father; yet I +hardly suppose you would say he has no right?" + +"Oh, no, papa; I know better than that," she said, blushing and hanging +her head; "I know you have the best right in the world." + +"Yet sometimes you disobey me; at others obey in an angry, unwilling way +that shows you would rebel if you dared. + +"And pride is at the bottom of it all. You think so highly of yourself +and your own wisdom that you cannot bear to be controlled or treated as +one not capable of guiding herself. + +"But the Bible tells us that God hates pride. 'Every one that is proud +in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though hand join in hand, he +shall not be unpunished.' + +"'Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.' + +"'Proud and haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath.' + +"Ah, my dear daughter, I am sorely troubled when I reflect how often you +deal in that. My great desire for you is that you may learn to rule your +own spirit; that you may become meek and lowly in heart, patient and +gentle like the Lord Jesus, 'who when He was reviled, reviled not again; +when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that +judgeth righteously.' Do you never feel any desire to be like Him?" + +"Yes, papa, sometimes; and I determine that I will; but the first thing +I know I'm in a passion again; and I get so discouraged that I think +I'll not try any more to be good; for I just can't." + +"It is Satan who puts that thought in your heart," the captain said, +giving her a look of grave concern; "he knows that if he can persuade +you to cease to fight against the evil that is in your nature he is sure +to get possession of you at last. + +"He is a most malignant spirit, and his delight is in destroying souls. +The Bible bids us, 'Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the +devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' + +"We are all sinners by nature, and Satan, and many lesser evil spirits +under him, are constantly seeking our destruction; therefore we have a +warfare to wage if we would attain eternal life, and no one who refuses +or neglects to fight this good fight of faith will ever reach heaven; +nor will any one who attempts it without asking help from on high. + +"So if you give up trying to be good you and I will have a sad time; +because it will be my duty to compel you to try. The Bible tells me, +'Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with +the rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt +deliver his soul from hell.' + +"I must if possible deliver you from going to that awful place, and also +from the dreadful calamities indulgence of a furious temper sometimes +brings even in this life; even a woman has been known to commit murder +while under the influence of unbridled rage; and I have known of one who +lamed her own child for life in a fit of passion. + +"Sometimes people become deranged simply from the indulgence of their +tempers. Do you think I should be a good and kind father if I allowed +you to go on in a path that leads to such dreadful ends here and +hereafter?" + +"No, sir," she said in an awed tone; "and I will try to control my +temper." + +"I am glad to hear that resolve," he replied. "The Bible tells us, 'He +that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his +spirit than he that taketh a city.'" + +They were silent for a little while, then hanging her head and blushing, +"Papa," she asked, "what did you do with those notes you made me write?" + +"Sent them to those to whom they were addressed. And they were very +kind, Lulu; much kinder than you deserved they should be; both your +Grandma Elsie and your Uncle Edward expressed regret that you had been +made to apologize, and spoke of you in affectionate terms." + +"I'm glad,'" she said with a sigh of relief; "and I don't mean ever to +be at all impertinent to them again." + +"I trust you will not indeed," he said. + +"Papa, I think this is about where I was the other evening when I first +noticed that the storm was coming." + +"A long way from home for a child of your age; especially alone and at +night. You must not indulge your propensity for wandering to a distance +from home by yourself. You are too young to understand the danger of it; +too young to be a guide to yourself, and must therefore be content to be +guided by older and wiser people. + +"You said, a while ago, 'I just can't be good;' did you mean to assert +that you could not help being disobedient to me that evening?" + +She hung her head and colored deeply. "It was so pleasant to walk along +looking at the beautiful, changing sea, papa," she said, "that I +couldn't bear to stop, and wouldn't let myself think how far I was +going." + +"Ah, just as I suspected; your could not was really would not; the +difficulty all in your will. You must learn to conquer your will when it +would take you in the wrong direction. + +"We will turn and go back now, as it is not far from tea-time." + +Lulu shrank from meeting the rest of their party, particularly Grandma +Elsie and Edward; but they all treated her so kindly that she was soon +at her ease among them again. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"I am rapt, and cannot +Cover the monstrous bulk of this ingratitude +With any size of words." + +--_Shakespeare_. + + +The next day they all set out soon after breakfast for a long drive, +taking the direction of the camping-ground of the lads, where they +called and greatly astonished Max with a sight of his father, whom he +supposed to be far out on the ocean. + +The boy's delight fully equalled his surprise, and he was inclined to +return immediately to 'Sconset; but the captain advised him to stay a +little longer where he was; and he accordingly decided to do so; though +regretting the loss of even an hour of the society of the father who was +to him the best man in the world and the most gallant and capable +officer of the navy; in short, the impersonation of all that was good, +wise, and brave. + +The 'Sconset cottages had been engaged only until the first of +September, but by that time our friends were so in love with life upon +the island that learning of some cottages on the cliffs, a little +north-west of Nantucket Town, which were just vacated and for rent, they +engaged two of them and at once moved in. + +From their new abodes they had a fine view of the ocean on that side of +the island, and from their porches could watch the swift-sailing yachts +and other vessels passing to and fro. + +The bathing-ground was reached by a succession of stairways built in the +face of the cliff. The surf was fine, and bathing less dangerous there +than at 'Sconset. Those of them who were fond of the sport found it most +enjoyable; but the captain took the children into the town almost every +day for a lesson in swimming, where the still bathing made it easy for +them. + +And now they took almost daily sails on the harbor, occasionally +venturing out into the ocean itself; pleasant drives also; visiting the +old windmill, the old graveyards, the soldiers' monument, and every +place of interest in the vicinity. + +Besides these, there was a little trip to Martha's Vineyard, and several +were taken to various points on the adjacent shores of the mainland. + +Much as they had enjoyed 'Sconset life, it now seemed very pleasant to +be again where they could pay frequent visits to libraries and stores, +go to church, and now and then attend a concert or lecture. + +And there was a good deal of quiet pleasure to be found in rambles +about the streets and queer byways and lanes of the quaint old town, +looking at its odd houses and gardens, and perhaps catching a glimpse of +the life going on within. + +They gained an entrance to some; one day it was to the home of an old +sea captain who had given up his former occupation and now wove baskets +of various sizes and shapes, all very neat, strong and substantial. + +There was always something pleasant to do; sometimes it was to take the +cars on the little three-mile railroad to Surfside and pass an hour or +two there; again to visit the Athenaeum and examine its stores of +curiosities and treasures, mostly of the sea; or to select a book from +its library; or to spend an hour among the old china and antique +furniture offered for sale to summer visitors. + +They were admitted to see the cast of the dauphin and bought photographs +of it, as well as of many of the scenes in and about the town, with +which to refresh their memories of the delightful old place when far +away, or to show to friends who had never had the pleasure of a visit to +its shores. + +Violet spent many an enjoyable hour in sketching, finding no lack of +subjects worthy of her pencil; and those of the party who liked botany +found curious and interesting specimens among the flora of the island. + +They had very delightful weather most of the time, but there was an +occasional rainy day when their employments and amusements must be such +as could be found within doors. + +But even these days, with the aid of fancy-work, and drawing materials, +newspapers, magazines and books, conversation and games, were very far +from dull and wearisome; often one read aloud while the others listened. + +One day Elsie brought out a story in manuscript. + +"I have been thinking," she said, "that this might interest you all as +being a tale of actual occurrences during the time of the French +Revolution; as we have been thinking and talking so much of that in +connection with the story of the poor little dauphin." + +"What is it? and who is the author?" asked her father. + +"It is an historical story written by Betty's sister Molly," she +answered. "For the benefit of the children I will make a few preparatory +remarks," she added, lightly, and with a pleasant smile. + + * * * * * + +"While France was torn by those terrible Internal convulsions, it was +also fighting the combined armies of other nations, particularly +Austria and Prussia, who were moved against it from sympathy with the +king, and a desire to reinstate him on his throne, and a sense of danger +to themselves if the disorganizing principles of the revolutionists +should spread into their territories. + +"Piedmont was involved in this conflict. Perhaps you remember that it is +separated from Dauphiny, in France, by the Cottian Alps, and that among +the valleys on the Piedmontese side dwell the Waldenses or +Vaudois-evangelical Christians, who were for twelve hundred years +persecuted by the Church of Rome. + +"Though their own sovereigns often joined in these persecutions, and the +laws of the land were always far more oppressive to them than to their +popish fellow-citizens, the Waldenses were ever loyal to king and +country and were sure to be called upon for their defence in time of +war. + +"In the spring of 1793--some three months after the beheading of King +Louis XVI.--and while the poor queen, the dauphin and the princesses, +his sister and aunt, still languished in their dreadful prisons--a +French army was attempting to enter Piedmont from Dauphiny, which they +could do only through the mountain-passes; and these all the able-bodied +Waldenses and some Swiss troops, under the command of General Godin, a +Swiss officer, were engaged in defending. + +"It is among the homes of the Waldenses, thus left defenceless against +any plot their popish neighbors might hatch for their destruction, that +the scene of this story is laid. + +"Now, papa, will you be so kind as to read it aloud?" she concluded, +handing it to him. + +"With pleasure," he said, and all having gathered around to listen, he +began. + + * * * * * + +"On a lovely morning in the middle of May, 1793, a young girl and a +little lad might have been seen climbing the side of a mountain +overlooking the beautiful Valley of Luserna. They were Lucia and Henri +Vittoria, children of a brave Waldensian soldier then serving in the +army of his king, against the French, with whom their country was at +war. + +"Lucia had a sweet, innocent face, lighted up by a pair of large, soft, +dark eyes, and was altogether very fair to look upon. Her lithe, slender +figure bounded from rock to rock with movements as graceful and almost +as swift as those of a young gazelle. + +"'Sister,' cried the lad half pantingly, 'how nimble and fleet of foot +you are to-day! I can scarce keep pace with you.' + +"'Ah, Henri, it is because my heart is so light and glad!' she returned +with a silvery laugh, pausing for an instant that he might overtake her. + +"'Yes,' he said, as he gained her side, 'the good news from my father +and Pierre, and Rudolph Goneto--that they are well and yet unharmed by +French sword or bullet--has filled all our hearts with joy. Is it not to +carry these glad tidings to Rudolph's mother we take this early walk?' + +"'Yes; a most pleasant errand, Henri;' and the rose deepened on the +maiden's cheek, already glowing with health and exercise. + +"They were now far above the valley, and another moment brought them to +their destination--a broad ledge of rock on which stood a cottage with +its grove of chestnut-trees, and a little patch of carefully cultivated +ground. + +"Magdalen Goneto, the mother of Rudolph, a matron of placid countenance +and sweet and gentle dignity of mien had seen their approach and come +forth to meet them. + +"She embraced Lucia with grave tenderness, bestowed a kind caress upon +Henri, and leading the way to her neat dwelling, seated them and herself +upon its porch, from which there was a magnificent view of the whole +extent of the valley. + +"To the left, and close at hand, lay San Giovanni, with its pretty +villages, smiling vineyards, cornfields and verdant meadows sloping +gently away to the waters of the Pelice. On the opposite side of the +river, situate upon a slight eminence was the Roman Catholic town of +Luserna. To the right, almost at their feet, embowered amid beautiful +trees--chestnut, walnut, and mulberry--La Tour, the Waldensian capital +and home of Lucia and Henri, nestled among its vineyards and orchards. + +"Farther up the vale might be seen Bobbi Villar, and many smaller +villages scattered amid the fields and vineyards, or hanging on the +slopes of the hills, while hamlets and single cottages clung here and +there to the rugged mountain-side, wherever a terrace, a little basin or +hollow afforded a spot susceptible of cultivation. Beyond all towered +the Cottian Alps, that form the barrier between Piedmont and Dauphiny, +their snowy pinnacles glittering in the rays of the newly risen sun. + +"It was thither the able-bodied men of the valley had gone to defend the +passes against the French. + +"Toward those lofty mountains Lucia's soft eyes turned with wistful, +questioning gaze; for there were father, brother, lover, hourly exposed +to all the dangers of war. + +"Magdalen noted the look, and softly murmured, 'God, even the God of our +fathers, cover their heads in the day of battle!' + +"'He will, I know He will,' said Lucia, turning to her friend with a +bright, sweet smile. + +"'You bring me tidings, my child,' said Magdalen, taking the maiden's +hand in hers, 'good tidings, for your face is full of gladness!' + +"'Yes, dear friend, your son is well,' Lucia answered with a modest, +ingenuous blush; 'my father also, and Pierre; we had word from them only +yesternight. But ah me!' she added with a sigh, 'what fearful scenes of +blood and carnage are yet enacted in Paris, the gay French capital! for +from thence also, the courier brought news. Blood, he says, flows like +water, and not content with having taken the life of their king, they +force the queen and the rest of the royal family to languish in prison; +and the guillotine is constantly at work dispatching its wretched +victims, whose only crime, in many instances, is that of wealth and +noble birth.' + +"'Alas, poor wretches! alas poor king and queen!' cried Magdalen; 'and, +for ourselves, what danger, should such bloodthirsty ruffians force an +entrance into our valleys! The passes had needs be well guarded!' + +"Lucia lingered not long with her friend, for home duties claimed her +attention. + +"Magdalen went with them to the brow of the hill, and again embracing +Lucia, said in tender, joyous accents, 'Though we must now bid adieu, +dear child, when the war is over you will come to brighten Rudolph's +home and mine with your constant presence.' + +"'Yes; such was the pledge he won from me ere we parted,' the maiden +answered with modest sincerity, a tender smile hovering about the full +red lips and a vivid color suffusing for an instant the delicately +rounded cheek. + +"Then with an affectionate good-by, she tripped away down the rocky +path, Henri following. + +"A glad flush still lingered on the sweet, girlish face, a dewy light +shone in the soft eyes. Her thoughts were full of Magdalen's parting +words and the picture they had called up of the happy married life +awaiting Rudolph and herself when he should return to the pursuits of +peace. + +"And he at his post in those more distant mountains, thought of her and +his mother; safe, as he fondly trusted, in the homes his strong arm was +helping to defend against a foreign foe. The Vaudois, judging others by +themselves, were, notwithstanding their many past experiences of the +treacherous cruelty of Rome, strangely unsuspicious of their popish +neighbors. + +"The descent was scarcely yet accomplished by our young friends, when +startled by the sound of heavy footsteps and gruff voices in their rear, +and casting a look behind them, they beheld, rapidly approaching by +another path which wound about the base of the mountain, two men of most +ruffianly aspect. + +"A wild terror seized upon the maiden as for an instant she caught the +gaze of mingled malice and sensuality they bent upon her; and seizing +Henri's hand, she flew over the ground toward La Tour with the fleetness +of a hunted doe. + +"For herself what had she not to fear! and for the child that he might +be slain or reserved for a fate esteemed by the Vaudois worse than +death, in being carried off to Pignerol and brought up in an idolatrous +faith. + +"The men pursued, calling to her with oaths, curses, obscene words, and +jeering laughter. + +"These but quickened her flight; she gained the bridge over the +Angrogna, sped across it, over the intervening ground, and through the +gate into the town; the footsteps of her pursuers echoing close behind. + +"'Ah ha! escaped my embraces for the present, have you, my pretty +barbet?' cried one of the miscreants, following her with gloating, cruel +eyes as she sped onward up the street, feeling only comparatively safe +even there. 'Ah well, it but delays my pleasure a few hours. I know +where to find ye and shall pay my respects to-night.' + +"'And I,' added his companion with a fierce laugh; 'to ye and many +another like ye. It's work quite to my taste Holy Mother Church has laid +out for us to-night, Andrea.' + +"'Yes, yes, Giuseppe, we'll not quarrel with the work or the wages; all +the plunder we can lay hands on; to say naught of the pretty maids such +as yon, or the escape from the fires of purgatory.' + +"They were wending their way to the convent of the Récollets as they +talked. Arrived at its gates they were immediately admitted, to find it +filled with cut-throats such as themselves, and soon learned that the +church also and the house of the curé were in like condition. + +"'Good!' they cried, 'how many names in all?' + +"'Seven hundred,' said one. + +"'Eight hundred,' asserted another. + +"'Well, well, be it which it may, we're strong enough for the work, all +the able-bodied barbetti being on the frontier,' cried Andrea, +exultingly, 'we'll make short shrift with the old men, women and +children.' + +"'Yes; long live the holy Roman Church! Hurrah for the holy faith! Down +with the barbetti!' cried a chorus of voices. 'We'll have a second St. +Bartholomew in these valleys and rid them of the hated presence of the +cursed heretics.' + +"'That we will,' responded Giuseppe. 'But what's the order of +proceedings?' + +"'All the faithful to meet at Luserna at sunset; the vesper bell of the +convent gives the signal shortly after, and we immediately spread +ourselves over the valley on a heretic hunt that from San Giovanni to +Bobbi shall leave not a soul alive to tell the tale.' + +"While Magdalen and Lucia conversed in the cottage of the former, M. +Brianza, curé of Luserna, seated in the confessional, listened with +horror and indignation to a tale of intended wholesale rapine, murder, +and arson, which his penitent was unfolding. + +"'I will have neither part nor lot in this thing,' said the priest to +himself, as he left the church a moment later; 'nay more, I shall warn +the intended victims of their danger.' + +"Hurrying to his house, he instantly dispatched messengers in all haste +to San Giovanni and La Tour. + +"About the same time, in the more remote town of Cavour, the fiendish +plot was revealed to Captain Odetti, an officer of the Piedmontese +militia, then enrolled to act against the French, with a request that he +would take part in its execution. Being a rigid Romanist it was +confidently expected that he would willingly do so. + +"But as noble and humane a man as Luserna's good curé, he listened with +like horror and detestation, and mounting his horse, instantly set off +for La Tour to warn the helpless folk of the threatened calamity, and +assist in averting it, if that might yet be possible. + +"He travelled post haste, for time pressed; the appointed hour for the +attack already drew so near that it was doubtful if even the most prompt +action could still avail. + +"Pale and breathless with haste and terror, Lucia and Henri gained the +shelter of their home, and in reply to the anxious questioning of mother +and grandparents, told of the hot pursuit of the evil men who had chased +them into the town. + +"Their story was heard with much concern, not only by the family, but +also by a young man who had entered nearly at the same moment with +themselves. + +"His right arm was in a sling; his face, thin and wan with suffering, +wore an expression of anxiety and alarm which deepened momentarily as +the narrative proceeded. + +"'How is Bianca?' he asked, upon its conclusion, the quiet tone telling +nothing of the profound solicitude that filled his breast. + +"'Much the same,' returned Sara Vittoria, the mother. + +"'A little better, I think,' said a weak but cheerful voice from the +next room. 'Maurice, how is your poor arm? come and tell me.' + +"He rose and complied with the request. + +"Bianca, the elder sister of Lucia, had been for a year or more the +betrothed of Maurice Laborie. He found her lying pale and languid upon a +couch. + +"'What is it, Maurice?' she asked, presently, noticing his troubled +look. + +"'I wish you were well, Bianca.' + +"'Ah! I am more concerned about your wound.' + +"His thoughts seemed far away. He rose hastily. + +"'I must speak to your grandsire. I will be in again;' and he left the +room. + +"Marc Rozel, the father of Sara Vittoria, a venerable, white-haired +veteran who had seen his four-score years and ten, sat at the open door +of the cottage, leaning upon his staff, his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon +the towering heights of Mount Vandelin. + +"'"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round +about His people from henceforth even forever,"' Maurice heard him +murmur as he drew near. + +"There was comfort in the words, and the cloud of care partially lifted +from the brow of the young Vaudois. But accosting the aged saint with +deep respect, and bending down to speak close to his ear, he uttered a +few rapid sentences in an undertone. + +"'There seems a threatening of danger, Father Rozel; evil-looking men, +such as Lucia and the lad were but now describing, have been seen coming +into the town for the last two or three days; till now, it is said, the +Romish church, the convent of Récollets, the house of the curé, and +several other Catholic houses are full of them. What errand think you +draws them hither just at this time, when nearly every able-bodied +Vaudois is absent on the frontier?' Rozel's face reflected somewhat of +the agitation and alarm in that of Maurice; but ere he could open his +lips to reply, a neighbor, a young woman with a child in her arms, came +rushing across the street, and calling to them in tones tremulous with +excitement and affright, told of the warning just brought by Brianza's +messenger. + +"Her face was white with terror, and she clasped her infant to her +breast with a look of agony, as she asked, 'Can it be, oh can it be that +we are all to be slain in our helplessness? Something must be done, and +that quickly. But what, alas! can we do? our husbands, brothers, fathers +are all at a distance, and the fatal hour draws near.' + +"The tones of her voice and some of her words had reached the ears of +those within the cottage, and they now gathered about her in an +intensely excited, terrified group. Question and answer followed in +rapid succession till each knew all that she had heard. + +"'Can it be possible?' cried Sara, 'can even popish cruelty, +ingratitude, and treachery go so far? are not our brave defenders theirs +also? keeping the passes against a common foe?' + +"A mournful shake of the head from her aged father was the only reply, +save the sobs and cries of the frightened children. + +"But at that instant a horseman came dashing up the street, suddenly +drew rein before their dwelling, and hastily dismounting, hurried toward +them. + +"'Captain Odetti!' exclaimed Rozel in some surprise. + +"'Yes, Rozel, I come to warn you, though, alas! I fear I am too late to +prevent bloodshed,' said the officer, sending a pitying glance from one +to another of the terror-stricken group. + +"'There is a conspiracy against you; the assassins are even now on foot; +but if I cannot save, I will perish with you. The honor of my religion +is at stake, and I must justify it by sharing your danger.' + +"'Can it be that such designs are really entertained against us?' asked +Rozel, in trembling tones, glancing from one loved face to another with +a look of keenest anguish. 'On what pretext? I know of none.' + +"'The late base and cowardly surrender of Fort Mirabouc.' + +"'There was but one Vaudois present, and his voice was raised against +it.' + +"'True, but what matters that to foes bent upon your destruction? some +one was to blame, and why not make a scapegoat of the hated Vaudois? But +let us not waste time in useless discussion. We must act.' + +"The fearful tidings flew from house to house, and in the wildest terror +the feeble folk began to make what preparations they could for +self-defence; by Odetti's advice barricading the streets and houses, +collecting missiles to hurl down from the upper windows upon the heads +of the assassins, and at the same time dispatching messenger after +messenger to General Godin, the Swiss officer in command of the troops +on the frontier, telling of the danger and praying for instant aid. + +"But he, alas! unable, in the nobility of his soul, to credit the +existence of a plot so atrocious, turned a deaf ear to their entreaties, +declaring his conviction that the alarm was groundless--a mere +panic--and that his troops could not be spared to go on so useless an +errand. + +"As one courier after another returned with this same disheartening +report, the terror and despair were such as to beggar description. + +"Lucia Vittoria, recalling, with many a shudder of wild affright, the +evil looks and fierce words and gestures of her pursuers of the morning, +resolved to defend her own, her mother's, and sister's honor to the last +gasp. + +"'The terrible excitement of the hour seemed to give her unnatural +strength for her task of lifting and carrying stones and fragments of +rock to be used in repelling the expected assault. Assisted by Henri and +every member of the family capable of the exertion, she toiled +unceasingly while anything yet remained to be done. + +"In the midst of their exertions Magdalen Goneto suddenly appeared among +them. + +"'I have heard, and I come to live or die with you, dear friends,' she +said, and fell to work with the others. + +"At length all was completed, and they could only await in dreadful +suspense the coming of events. They had continued to importune the +commandant, but with no better success than at first. + +"In the closed and barricaded dwellings hearts were going up to God in +agonized prayer for help, for deliverance. + +"In that of the Vittorias few words were spoken save as now and again +the voice of the aged Rozel or that of his venerable wife, his +daughter, or Magdalen Goneto, broke the awful silence with some promise +from the Book of books to those who trust in the Lord. + +"Maurice, whose father and brothers were away with the army, torn with +anxiety for mother, sisters, and betrothed alike, persuaded the former +to follow Magdalen's example in repairing to the house of the Vittorias, +that such efforts as he was able to put forth in his crippled condition +might be made in their common defence. + +"Freely would he shed the last drop of his blood to shield them from +harm, but, alas! what match was he for even one of the horde of +desperadoes that would soon be upon them? what could he do? how speedily +would he be overpowered! Help _must_ be obtained. + +"He stole out through the garden to learn the latest news from the +frontier. + +"The fourteenth courier had just returned in sadness; the commandant was +still incredulous; still firm in his refusal to render aid. + +"'We are then given up to the sword of the assassin!' groaned his +hearers. + +"'No, no, never! it must not be!' cried Maurice with sudden stern +determination, though there was a quiver of pain in his voice; and +sending a glance of mingled love and anguish toward the cottage that +sheltered those dearer to him than life, he set off at a brisk pace up +the valley. + +"Love moved him to the task, and spite of weakness and pain, never +before had he trodden those steep and dangerous mountain paths with such +celerity. + +"Arrived and admitted to Godin's presence, he poured out his petition +with the vehemence of one who can take no denial, urging his suit with +all the eloquence of intense anxiety and deep conviction of the terrible +extremity of the feeble folk in the valley. + +"Doubt began to creep into the mind of the brave officer. 'Might there +not be some truth in the story after all?' Yet he answered as before. 'A +mere panic. I cannot believe in a plot so atrocious. What! murder in +cold blood the innocent, helpless wives and children of the brave men +who are defending theirs from a common foe? No, no; human nature is not +so depraved!'" + +"'So it was thought on the eve of the Sicilian Vespers; on the eve of +St. Bartholomew; at the time when Castracaro, when De La Trinite, when +Pianeza--' + +"'Ah,' interrupted the general with a frown, 'but those were deeds of +days long gone by, and men are not now what they then were.' + +"'Sir,' returned Maurice earnestly, 'for twelve hundred years the +she-wolf of Rome has ravaged our fold, slaying sheep and lambs +alike--sparing neither age nor sex; and, sir, it is her boast that she +never changes. + +"'Nor are men incapable of the grossest injustice and cruelty even in +these days. Look at the fearful scenes of blood enacted even now in +France! General, the lives of thousands of his majesty's evangelical +subjects are trembling in the balance, and I do most solemnly assure you +that unless saved by your speedy interposition, or a direct miracle from +Heaven, they will this night fall victims to a sanguinary plot. + +"'Ah, sir, what more can I say to convince, to move you? The assassins +are already assembling, the time wanes fast, and will you stretch forth +no hand to save their innocent, helpless victims?' + +"The general was evidently moved by the appeal. 'Had I but sufficient +proof,' he muttered in an undertone of doubt and perplexity. + +"Maurice caught eagerly at the word. 'Proof, general! would Odetti, +would Brianza have warned us, were the danger not imminent? And do not +the annals of your own Switzerland furnish examples of similar plots?' + +"'True, too true! yet--' + +"But at this moment the sixteenth courier came panting up to pour out, +in an agony of haste and fear, the same tale of contemplated wholesale +massacre, and the story reaching the ears of the Vaudois troops they +gathered about the general, imploring, _demanding_ to be sent instantly +to the aid of their menaced wives and children. + +"General Godin's mind had been filled with conflicting emotions while +Maurice spoke; his humanity, his honor as a soldier, his duty to the +government, were struggling for the mastery. + +"'Ought he to march without orders or even the knowledge of his +superiors? and that too with no more certain proof of the illegal +assembling of those who were said to be plotting against the peace and +safety of the Vaudois families?' + +"Yet there was no time to reconnoitre ere the dire mischief might be +done. His humanity at last prevailed over more prudential +considerations. He commanded the brigade of Waldenses to march +instantly, and himself followed with another division. + +"Bianca Vittoria had been carried to an upper room, where all the family +were now gathered about her bed. + +"With unutterable anguish the mother looked upon her two lovely +daughters in the early bloom of womanhood, the babe sleeping upon her +breast, the little ones clinging to her skirts, her aged and infirm +parents, all apparently doomed to a speedy, violent death--and worse +than death. Her own danger was well-nigh forgotten in theirs. + +"Utter silence reigned in that room and the adjoining one, at this time +occupied by Magdalen and the mother and sisters of Maurice; every ear +was strained to catch the sound of the approaching footsteps of the +assassins, or of the longed-for deliverers; a very short season would +now decide their fate. Oh, would help never come! + +"Lucia, kneeling beside her sister's couch, clasping one thin, white +hand in hers, suddenly dropped it and sprang to her feet. + +"'How fast it grows dark! and what was that?' as a heavy, rolling sound +reverberated among the mountains; 'artillery?' and her tones grew wild +with terror. + +"'Thunder; the heavens are black with clouds,' said Magdalen, coming in +and speaking with the calmness of despair. + +"A heavy clap nearly drowned her words, then followed crash on crash; +the rain came down in torrents--the wind, which had suddenly risen to +almost a hurricane, dashing it with fury against walls and windows; the +darkness became intense except as ever and anon the lurid glare of the +lightning lit up the scene for an instant, giving to each a momentary +glimpse of the pale, terror-stricken faces of the others. + +"'Alas, alas, no help can reach us now!' moaned Sara, clasping her babe +closer to her breast, 'no troops can march over our fearful +mountain-passes in this terrific storm and thick darkness. _We must +die_!' + +"'Oh, God of our fathers, save us! let us not fall into the hands of +those ruffians, who--more to be feared than the wild beasts of the +forest--would rob us of honor and of life!' cried Lucia, falling upon +her knees again, and lifting hands and eyes to heaven. + +"'Amen!' responded the trembling voice of Rozel. 'Lord, Thine hand is +not shortened that it cannot save, neither Thine ear heavy that it +cannot hear!' + +"The scenes that followed what pen may portray! the wild anguish of some +expressed in incoherent words, shrieks of terror, and cries for help, as +they seemed to hear amid the roar of the elements the hurried footsteps +of the assassins, and to see in the lightning's flash the glitter of +their steel; the mute agony of others as in the calmness of despair they +crouched helplessly together awaiting the coming blow. + + * * * * * + +"Meanwhile the fathers, husbands, sons, brothers were hastening +homeward, their brave hearts torn with anguish at thought of the +impossibility of arriving before the hour set for the murderers to begin +their fiendish work. + +"There was no regular order of march, but each rushed onward at his +utmost speed, praying aloud to God for help to increase it, and calling +frantically to his fellows to 'hasten, _hasten_ to the rescue of all +they held most dear.' + +"Alas for their hopes! the shades of evening were already falling, and +the storm presently came on in terrific violence, the darkness, the +blinding momentary glare of the lightning, the crashing thunder peals, +the driving, pouring rain and fierce wind greatly increasing the +difficulties and perils of their advance. God Himself seemed to be +against them. + +"But urged on by fear and love for their helpless ones, and by parties +of distracted women and children sent forward from La Tour--some of +whom, in their terror and despair, asserted that the work of blood had +already begun--they pressed onward without a moment's pause, springing +from rock to rock, sliding down precipices, scaling giddy heights, +leaping chasms which at another time they would not have dared to +attempt, and tearing through the rushing, roaring mountain torrents +already greatly swollen by the rain. + +"They reached the last of these, and dashing through it, were presently +in sight of La Tour, when the tolling of the vesper bell of the convent +of the Récollets--the preconcerted signal for the assassins to sally +forth--smote upon their ears. + +"'Too late! too late!' cried Rudolph Goneto hoarsely. + +"'But if too late to save, we will avenge!' responded a chorus of deep +voices, as with frantic haste they sped over the intervening space. + +"The next moment the tramp of their feet and the clang of their arms +were heard in the streets of the town. Windows and doors flew open and +with cries and tears of joy and thankfulness, wives, children, and aged +parents gathered about them almost smothering them with caresses. + +"The storm, which had seemed to seal their doom, had proved their +salvation--preventing some of the murderers from reaching the rendezvous +in season, and so terrifying the others that they dared not attempt the +deed alone; especially as it had already begun to be rumored that troops +were on the march to the threatened valley. + +"Rudolph found himself encircled by his mother's arms, her kisses and +tears warm upon his cheek. + +"He held her close, both hearts too full for speech. Then a single word +fell from the soldier's lips, 'Lucia?' + +"'Safe.' + +"Darting into the house, guided by some subtle instinct, he stood the +next moment in the upper room where she knelt by her sister's couch, the +two mingling their tears and thanksgivings together. + +"All was darkness, but at sound of the well-known step Lucia sprang up +with a cry of joy. 'Saved!' + +"Rudolph's emotions, as he held her to his heart, were too big for +utterance. + +"Some one entered with a light. It was Magdalen, and behind her came +Maurice, pale, haggard, and dripping with rain. + +"Bianca's heart gave a joyous bound. He too was safe. + +"But a tumult of voices from below--some stern, angry, threatening, +others sullen, dogged, defiant, or craven with abject terror--attracted +their attention. + +"Magdalen set down the light and hurried away in the direction of the +sounds, Rudolph and Lucia following. + +"A number of the Waldenses, sword in hand, and eyes flashing with +righteous indignation, were gathered about two of the would-be +assassins, caught by them almost on the threshold of the cottage. + +"Their errand who could doubt? and Henri had recognized them as his and +Lucia's pursuers of the morning. + +"She too knew them instantly, and clung pale with affright to Rudolph's +arm, while he could scarce restrain himself from rushing upon, and +running them through with his sword. + +"'Spare us, sirs,' entreated Andrea, quaking with fear under the +wrathful glance of the father of the maidens, 'spare us; we have not +harmed you or yours.' + +"'Nor plotted their destruction? Miserable wretch, ask not your life +upon the plea that it is not forfeit. Can I doubt what would have been +the fate of my wife and daughters had they fallen into your hands?' + +"'But your religion teaches you to forgive.' + +"'True; yet also to protect the helpless ones committed to my care.' + +"'We will leave your valleys this hour; never to set foot in them +again.' + +"'Ah! yet how far may we trust the word of one whose creed bids him keep +no faith with heretics?' + +"'" Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."' + +"It was the voice of the aged Rozel which broke the momentary silence. + +"Vittoria sheathed his sword. Not his to usurp the prerogative of Him +who had that night given so signal deliverance to His 'Israel of the +Alps.'" + +"Is that all?" asked Lulu, drawing a long breath, as Mr. Dinsmore +refolded the manuscript and gave it back to his daughter. + +"Yes," he said, "the author has told of the deliverance of the +imperilled ones, and that Vittoria refrained from taking vengeance upon +their cowardly foes; and so ends the story of that night of terror in +the valleys." + +"But were all the Waldenses equally forbearing, grandpa?" asked Zoe. + +"They were; in all the valleys not a drop of blood was shed; justly +exasperated though the Waldenses were, they contented themselves with +sending to the government a list of the names of the baffled +conspirators. + +"But no notice was taken of it; the would-be murderers were never called +to account till they appeared before a greater than an earthly tribunal. + +"But General Godin was presently superseded in his command and shortly +after dismissed the service. Two plain indications that the sympathy of +the government was with the assassins and not at all with their intended +victims." + +"But is it true, sir?" asked Max. + +"Yes; it is true that at that time, in those valleys, and under those +circumstances, such a plot was hatched and its carrying out prevented in +the exact way that this story relates." + +"Mean, cowardly, wicked fellows they must have been to want to murder +the wives and children and burn and plunder the houses of the men that +were defending them and theirs from a common enemy!" exclaimed the boy, +his face flushing and eyes flashing with righteous indignation. + +"Very true; but such are the lessons popery teaches and always has +taught; 'no faith with heretics,' no mercy to any who deny her dogmas; +and that anything is right and commendable which is done to destroy +those who do not acknowledge her authority and to increase her power; +one of her doctrines being that the end sanctifies the means!" + +"But what did they mean when they said they were going to have a second +St. Bartholomew in the valleys?" asked Grace. + +"Did you never hear of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, daughter?" her +father asked, stroking her hair caressingly as she sat upon his knee. + +"No, papa; won't you tell me about it?" + +"It occurred in France a little more than three hundred years ago; it +was a dreadful massacre of the Protestants to the number of from sixty +to a hundred thousand; and it was begun on the night of the twenty-third +of August; which the Papists call St. Bartholomew's Day. + +"The Protestants were shot, stabbed, murdered in various ways, in their +beds, in the street, any where that they could be found; and for no +crime but being Protestants." + +"And popery would do the very same now and here, had she the power," +commented Mr. Dinsmore, "for it is her proudest boast that she never +changes. She teaches her own infallibility; and what she has done she +will do again if she can." + +"What is infallibility, papa?" asked Grace. "To be infallible is to be +incapable of error or of making mistakes," he answered. "So popery +teaching that she has never done wrong or made a mistake justifies all +the horrible cruelties she practised in former times; and, in fact, she +occasionally tells us, through some of her bolder or less wary +followers, that what she has done she will do again as soon as she +attains the power." + +"Which she never will in this free land," exclaimed Edward. + +"Never, provided Columbia's sons are faithful to their trust; +remembering that 'eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,'" responded +his grandfather. + +Grace was clinging tightly to her father, and her little face was pale +and wore a look of fright. + +"What is it, darling?" he asked. + +"O papa, will they come here some time and kill us?" she asked, +tremulously. + +"Do not be frightened, my dear little one," he said, holding her close; +"you are in no danger from them." + +"I don't believe all Roman Catholics would have Protestants persecuted +if they could," remarked Betty. "Do you, uncle?" + +"No; I think there are some truly Christian people among them," he +answered; "some who have not yet heard and heeded the call, 'Come out of +her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye +receive not of her plagues.' We were talking, not of Papists, but of +Popery. Sincere hatred of the system is not incompatible with sincere +love to its deluded followers." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I +direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."--_Psalm_ 5:3. + + +It was early morning; Captain Raymond was pacing to and fro along the +top of the cliffs, now sending a glance seaward, and now toward the door +of the cottage which was his temporary home, as if expecting a companion +in his ramble. + +Presently the door opened and Lulu stepped out upon the porch. One eager +look showed her father, and she bounded with joyful step to meet him. + +"Good-morning, my dear papa," she cried, holding up her face for a kiss, +which he gave with hearty affection. + +"Good-morning, my dear little early bird," he responded. "Come, I will +help you down the steps and we will pace the sands at the water's edge." + +This was Lulu's time for having her father to herself, as she phrased +it. He was sure to be out at this early hour, if the weather would +permit, and she almost equally sure to join him: and as the others +liked to lie a little longer in bed, there was seldom any one to share +his society with her. + +He led her down the long flights of stairs and across the level expanse +of sand, close to where the booming waves dashed up their spray. + +For some moments the two stood hand in hand silently gazing upon sea and +sky, bright with the morning sunlight; then they turned and paced the +beach for a time, and then the captain led his little girl to a seat in +the porch of a bathing-house, from which they could still look far out +over the sea. + +"Papa," she said, nestling close to his side, "I am very fond of being +down here all alone with you." + +"Are you, daughter?" he said, bending down to caress her hair and cheek. +"Well, I dearly love to have my little girl by my side. How long have +you been up?" + +"I can't tell exactly; because, you know, papa, there is no time-piece +in my room. But I wasn't long dressing; for I didn't want to lose a +minute of the time I might have out here with you." + +"Did you do nothing but put on your clothes after leaving your bed?" he +asked, gravely. + +"I washed my hands and face and smoothed my hair." + +"And was that all?" + +She glanced up at him in surprise at the deep gravity of his tone; then +suddenly comprehending what his questioning meant, hung her head, while +her cheek flushed hotly. "Yes, papa," she replied, in a low, abashed +tone. + +"I am very, very sorry to hear it," he said. "If my little girl begins +the day without a prayer to God for help to do right, without thanking +Him for His kind care over her while she slept, she can hardly expect to +escape sins and sorrows which will make it anything but a happy day." + +"Papa, I do 'most always say my prayers in the morning and at night; but +I didn't feel like doing it this time. Do you think people ought to pray +when they don't feel like it?" + +"Yes; I think that is the very time when they most need to pray; they +need to ask God to take away the hardness of their hearts; the evil in +them that is hiding His love and their own needs; so that they have no +gratitude to express for all His great goodness and mercy to them, no +petitions to offer up for strength to resist temptation and to walk +steadily in His ways; no desire to confess their sins and plead for +pardon for Jesus' sake. Ah! that is certainly the time when we have most +urgent need to pray. + +"Jesus taught that men (and in the Bible men stand for the whole human +race) 'ought always to pray and not to faint.' And we are commanded to +pray without ceasing." + +"Papa, how can we do that?" she asked. "You know we have to be doing +other things sometimes." + +"It does not mean that we are to be always on our knees," he said; "but +that we are to live so near to God, so loving Him, and so feeling our +constant dependence upon Him, that our hearts will be very often going +up to His throne in silent petition, praise or confession. + +"And if we live in such union with Him we will highly prize the +privilege of drawing especially near to Him at certain seasons; we will +be glad to be alone with Him often, and will not forget or neglect to +retire to our closets night and morning for a little season of close +communion with our best and dearest Friend. + +"You say you love to be alone with me, your earthly father; I trust the +time will come when you will love far better to be alone with your +heavenly Father. I must often be far away from you, but He is ever near; +I may be powerless to help you, though close at your side, but He is +almighty to save, to provide for, and to defend; and He never turns a +deaf ear to the cry of His children." + +"Yes, papa; but oh I wish that you were always near me too," she said, +leaning her cheek affectionately against his arm. "I am very, very +sorry that ever I have been a trouble to you and spoiled your enjoyment +of your visits home." + +"I know you are, daughter; but you have been very good of late. I have +rejoiced to see that you were really trying to rule your own spirit. So +far as I know, you have been entirely and cheerfully obedient to me, and +have not indulged in a single fit of passion or sullenness." + +"Yes, papa; but I have been nearly in a passion two or three times; but +you gave me a look just in time to help me to resist it. But when you +are gone I shall not have that help." + +"Then, my child, you must remember that your heavenly Father is looking +at you; that He bids you fight against the evil of your nature, and if +you seek it of Him, will give you strength to overcome. Here is a text +for you; I want you to remember it constantly; and to that end repeat it +often to yourself, 'Thou, God, seest me.' + +"And do not forget that He sees not only the outward conduct but the +inmost thoughts and feelings of the heart." + +A boy's glad shout and merry whistle mingled pleasantly with the sound +of the dashing of the waves, and Max came bounding over the sands toward +their sheltered nook. + +"Good-morning, papa," he cried. "You too, Lulu. Ahead of me as usual, I +see!" + +"Yes," the captain said, reaching out a hand to grasp the lad's and +gazing with fatherly affection and pride into the handsome young face +glowing with health and happiness, "she is the earliest young bird in +the family nest. However, she seeks her roost earlier than her brother +does his." + +"Yes; and I am not so very late, am I, sir?" + +"No, my boy, I do not suppose you have taken any more sleep than you +need for your health and growth; and I certainly would not have you do +with less." + +"I know you wouldn't, papa; such a good, kind father as you are," +responded Max. "I wouldn't swap fathers with any other boy," he added, +with a look of mingled fun and affection. + +"Nor would I exchange my son for any other; not even a better one," +returned the captain laughingly, tightening his clasp of the sturdy +brown hand he held. + +"I haven't heard yet the story of yesterday's success in boating and +fishing; come sit down here by my side and let me have it." + +Max obeyed, nothing loath, for he was becoming quite expert in both, and +always found in his father an interested listener to the story of his +exploits. + +He and the other lads had returned from their camping at the time of the +removal of the family party from 'Sconset to Nantucket Town. + +On the conclusion of his narrative the captain pronounced it breakfast +time, and they returned to the house. + +After breakfast, as nearly the whole party were gathered upon the porch, +discussing the question what should be the amusements of the day, a near +neighbor with whom they had some acquaintance, ran in to ask if they +would join a company who were going over to Shimmo to have a clam-bake. + +"The name of the place is new to me," remarked Mr. Dinsmore. "Is it a +town, Mrs. Atwood?" + +"Oh, no," replied the lady, "there is only one dwelling; a farmhouse +with its barns and other out-houses comprises the whole place. It is on +the shore of the harbor some miles beyond Nantucket Town. It is a +pleasant spot, and I think we shall have an enjoyable time; particularly +if I can persuade you all to go." + +"A regular New England clam-bake!" said Elsie, "I should really like to +attend one, and am much obliged for your invitation, Mrs. Atwood; as we +all are, I am sure." + +No one felt disposed to decline the invitation, and it was soon settled +that all would go. + +The clam-bake was to occupy only the afternoon; so they would have time +to make all necessary arrangements, and for the customary surf and +still baths. + +Mrs. Atwood had risen to take leave. "Ah," she said, "I was near +forgetting something I meant to say: we never dress for these +expeditions, but, on the contrary, wear the oldest and shabbiest dresses +we have; considering them altogether the most suitable to the occasion, +as then we need not be troubled if they should be wet with spray or +soiled by contact with seaweed, grass, or anything else." + +"A very sensible custom," Mrs. Dinsmore responded, "and one which we +shall all probably follow." + +Mrs. Atwood had hardly reached the gate when Lulu, turning to her father +with a very discontented face, exclaimed, "I don't want to wear a shabby +old dress! Must I, papa?" + +"You will wear whatever your Grandma Elsie or mamma directs," he +answered, giving her a warning look. Then motioning her to come close to +his side, he whispered in her ear, "I see that you are inclined to be +ill-tempered and rebellious again, as I feared you would, when I learned +that you had begun the day without a prayer for help to do and feel +right. Go, now, to your room and ask it." + +"You needn't fret, Lu; you don't own a dress that any little girl ought +to feel ashamed to wear," remarked Betty, as the child turned to obey. + +"And we are all going to wear the very worst we have here with us, I +presume," added Zoe; "at least such is my intention." + +"Provided your husband approves," whispered Edward sportively. + +"Anyhow," she answered, drawing herself up in pretended offence; "can't +a woman do as she pleases even in such trifles?" + +"Ah I but it is the privileges of a child-wife which are under +discussion now," + +"Now, sir, after that you shall just have the trouble of telling me what +to wear," said Zoe, rising from the couch where they had been sitting +side by side; "come along and choose." + +Lulu was in the room where she slept, obeying her father's order so far +as outward actions went; but there was little more than lip-service in +the prayer she offered, for her thoughts were wandering upon the subject +of dress, and ways and means for obtaining permission to wear what she +wished that afternoon. + +By the time she had finished "saying her prayers," she had also reached +a conclusion as to her best plan for securing the desired privilege. + +Grandma Elsie was so very kind and gentle that there seemed more hope of +moving her than any one else; so to her she went, and, delighted to find +her comparatively alone, no one being near enough to overhear a +low-toned conversation, began at once: + +"Grandma Elsie, I want to wear a white dress to the clam-bake; and I +think it would be suitable, because the weather is very warm, and white +will wash, so that it would not matter if I did get it soiled." + +"My dear child, it is your father's place to decide what concerns his +children, when he is with them," Elsie said, drawing the little girl to +her and smoothing her hair with soft, caressing touch. + +"Yes, ma'am; but he says you and Mamma Vi are to decide this. So if you +will only say I may wear the white dress, he will let me. Won't you, +please?" + +"If your father is satisfied with your choice I shall certainly raise no +objection; nor will your mamma, I am quite sure." + +"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" and Lulu ran off gleefully in search of her +father. + +She found him on the veranda, busied with the morning paper, and to her +satisfaction, he too was alone. + +"What is it, daughter?" he asked, glancing from his paper to her +animated, eager face. + +"About what I am to wear this afternoon, papa. I would like to wear the +white dress I had on yesterday evening, and Grandma Elsie does not +object, and says she knows Mamma Vi will not, if you say I may." + +"Did she say she thought it a suitable dress?" he asked gravely. + +Lulu hung her head. "No, sir; she didn't say that she did or she +didn't." + +"Go and ask her the question." + +Lulu went back and asked it. + +"No, my child, I do not," Elsie answered. "It is very unlikely that any +one else will be in white or anything at all dressy, and you will look +overdressed, which is in very bad taste; besides, though the weather +seems warm enough for such thin material here on shore, it will be a +great deal cooler on the water; and should the waves or spray come +dashing over us, you would find your dress clinging to you like a wet +rag--neither beauty nor comfort in it." + +"I could wear a waterproof over it while we are sailing," said Lulu. + +"Even that might not prove a perfect protection," Elsie replied. "I +think, my dear, you will do well to content yourself to wear your +travelling dress, which is of a light woollen material, neat without +being too dressy, and of a color that will not show every little soil. +And it is as good and handsome as the dress I shall wear or as Rosie, +and probably any one else, will have on." + +"But you can choose for yourself, Grandma Elsie, and I wish I could." + +"That is one of the privileges of older years," Elsie answered +pleasantly. "I was considerably older than you are before I was allowed +to select my own attire. But I repeat that I shall not raise the +slightest objection to your wearing anything your father is willing to +see on you." + +Lulu's hopes were almost gone, but she would make one more effort. + +She went to her father, and putting her arms round his neck, begged in +her most coaxing tones for the gratification of her wish. + +"What did your Grandma Elsie say?" he asked. + +Lulu faithfully, though with no little reluctance, repeated every word +Elsie had said to her on the subject. + +"I entirely agree with her," said the captain; "so entirely that even +had she found no objection to urge against it, I should have forbidden +you to wear the dress." + +Lulu heard him with a clouded brow; in fact, the expression of her face +was decidedly sullen. Her father observed it with sorrow and concern. + +"Sit down here till I am ready to talk to you," he said, indicating a +chair close at his side. + +Lulu obeyed, sitting quietly there while he finished his paper. Throwing +it aside at length, he took her hand and drew her in between his knees, +putting an arm about her waist. + +"My little daughter," he said, in his usual kind tone, "I am afraid you +care too much for dress and finery. What I desire for you is that you +may 'be clothed with humility,' and have 'the ornament of a meek and +quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price.'" + +"I never can have that, papa, for it isn't a bit like me," she said, +with a sort of despairing impatience and disgust at herself. + +"No, that is too true; it is not like you as you are by nature--the evil +nature inherited from me; but God is able to change that, to give you a +clean heart and renew within you a right spirit. Jesus is a Saviour from +sin (He saves none in their sins), and He is able to save to the +uttermost, able to take away the very last remains of the old corrupt +nature with which we were born. + +"Oh, my child, seek His help to fight against it and to overcome! It +grieves me more than I can express to see you again showing an unlovely, +wilful temper." + +"Oh, papa, don't be grieved," she said, throwing her arms round his neck +and pressing her lips to his cheek. "I will be good and wear whatever +I'm told; look pleasant about it too, for indeed I do love you too well +to want to grieve you and spoil your pleasure." + +"Ah, that is my own dear little girl," he answered, returning her +caresses. + +The sullen expression had vanished from her face and it wore its +brightest look, yet it clouded again the next moment, but with sorrow, +not anger, as she sighed, "Oh! if you were always with us, papa, I think +I might grow good at last; but I need your help so much, and you are +gone more than half the time." + +"Your heavenly Father is never gone, daughter, and will never turn a +deaf ear to a cry for strength to resist temptation to sin. He says, 'In +me is thine help.' + +"And we are told, 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be +tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a +way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'" + +In the mean time Mrs. Dinsmore, who from choice took most of the +housekeeping cares, was ordering an early dinner and various baskets of +provisions for the picnic. + +As the family sat down to the table, these last were being conveyed on +board a yacht lying at the little pier near the bathing-place below the +cliffs; and almost immediately upon finishing their meal, all, old and +young, trooped down the stairways, across the sandy beach, and were +themselves soon aboard the vessel. + +Others of the company were already seated in it, and the rest following +a few minutes later, and the last basket of provisions being safely +stowed away in some safe corner of the craft, they set sail, dragging at +their stern a dory in which was a large quantity of clams in the shell. + +It was a bright day, and a favorable breeze sent the yacht skimming over +the water at an exhilarating rate of speed. All hearts seemed light, +every face was bright, not excepting Lulu's, though she was attired in +the plain colored dress recommended by Grandma Elsie. + +There was no greater display of finery than a knot of bright ribbon, on +the part of even the gayest young girl present. Betty wore a black +bunting--one of her school dresses--with a cardinal ribbon at the +throat; Zoe the brown woollen that had for her such mingled associations +of pain and pleasure, and looked wonderfully sweet and pretty in it, +Edward thought. + +They sat side by side, and Betty, watching them furtively, said to +herself, "They are for all the world just like a pair of lovers yet, +though they have been married over a year." + +Then turning her attention first to Violet and Captain Raymond, then +upon her Aunt and Uncle Dinsmore, she came to the same conclusion in +regard to them also. + +"And it was just so with cousin Elsie and her husband," she mused. "I +can remember how devoted they were to each other. But she seems very +happy now, and she well may be, with father, sons and daughters all so +devoted to her. And she's so rich too; never has to consider how to make +one dollar do the work of two; a problem I am so often called upon to +solve. In fact, it is to her and uncle, Bob and I owe our education, and +pretty much everything we have. + +"I don't envy her her money, but I do the love that has surrounded her +all her life. She never knew her own mother, to be sure, but her father +petted and fondled her as a child, and was father and mother both to +her, I've often heard her say; while mine died before I was born, and +mother lost her reason when I was a little thing." + +But Betty was not much given to melancholy musing, or indeed to musing +of any kind; a passing sail presently attracted her attention and turned +her thoughts into a new channel. + +And soon, the wind and tide being favorable, the yacht drew near her +destination. + +There was no wharf, but the passengers were taken to the shore, a few at +a time, in the dory. It also landed provision baskets and the clams. + +Those ladies and gentlemen to whom clam-bakes were a new experience +watched with interest the process of cooking the bivalves. + +A pit of suitable size for the quantity to be prepared was made in the +sand, the bottom covered with stones; it was then heated by a fire +kindled in it, the brands were removed, seaweed spread over the stones, +the clams poured in, abundance of seaweed piled over and about them, a +piece of an old sail put over that, and they were left to bake or steam, +while another fire was kindled near by, and a large tin bucket, filled +with water, set on it to boil for making coffee. + +While some busied themselves with these culinary operations, others +repaired to the dwelling, which stood some little distance back from the +beach, the ground sloping gently away from it to the water's edge. + +The lady of the house met them at the door, and hospitably invited them +to come in and rest themselves in her parlor, or sit on the porch; and +understanding their errand to the locality, not only gave ready +permission for their table to be spread in the shade of her house, but +offered to lend anything they might require in the way of utensils. + +Accepting her offer, they set to work, the men making a rough sort of +impromptu table with some boards, and the ladies spreading upon it the +contents of the provision baskets. + +Mrs. Dinsmore, Elsie and the younger ladies of their party, offered to +assist in these labors, but were told that they were considered guests, +and must be content to look on or wander about and amuse themselves. + +There was not much to be seen but grassy slopes destitute of tree or +shrub, and the harbor and open sea beyond. + +They seated themselves upon the porch of the dwelling-house, while +Captain Raymond and the younger members of their family party wandered +here and there about the place. + +There seemed to be some sport going on among the cooks--those engaged in +preparing the coffee. + +Lulu hurried toward them to see what it was about, then came running +back to her father, who stood a little farther up the slope, with Grace +clinging to his hand. + +"Oh!" she said with a face of disgust, "I don't mean to drink any of +that coffee; why, would you believe it, they stirred it with a poker?" + +"Did they?" laughed the captain; "they might have done worse. I presume +that was used for lack of a long enough spoon. We must not be too +particular on such occasions as this." + +"But you won't drink any of it, will you, papa?" + +"I think it altogether likely I shall." + +"Why, papa! coffee that was stirred with a dirty poker?" + +"We will suppose the poker was not very dirty," he said, with a +good-humored smile; "probably there was nothing worse on it than a +little ashes, which, diffused through so large a quantity of liquid, +could harm no one." + +"Must I drink it if they offer me a cup?" + +"No; there need be no compulsion about it; indeed, I think it better for +a child of your age not to take coffee at all." + +"But you never said I shouldn't, papa." + +"No; because you had formed the habit in my absence, and, as I am not +sure that it is a positive injury to you, I have felt loath to deprive +you of the pleasure." + +"You are so kind, papa," she said, slipping her hand into his and +looking up affectionately into his face. "But I will give up coffee if +you want me to. I like it, but I can do without it." + +"I think milk is far more wholesome for you," he said, with a smile of +pleased approval. "I should like you to make that your ordinary beverage +at meals, but I do not forbid an occasional cup of coffee." + +"Thank you, papa," she returned. "Grandma Elsie once told me that when +she was a little girl her father wouldn't allow her to drink coffee at +all, or to eat any kind of hot cakes or rich sweet cake; and oh I don't +know how many things that she liked he wouldn't let her have. I don't +think he was half as nice a father as ours; do you, Gracie?" + +"'Course I don't, Lu; I just think we've got the very best in the whole +world," responded Grace, laying her cheek affectionately against the +hand that held hers in its strong, loving clasp. + +"That is only because he is your own, my darlings," the captain said, +smiling down tenderly upon them. + +A lady had drawn near, and now said, "Supper is ready, Captain Raymond; +will you bring your little girls and come to the table?" + +"Thank you; we will do so with pleasure," he said, following her as she +led the way. + +The table, covered with a snow-white cloth and heaped with tempting +viands, presented a very attractive appearance. + +The clams were brought on after the most of the company were seated, +with their coffee and bread and butter before them. They were served hot +from the fire and the shell, in neat paper trays, and eaten with melted +butter. Eaten thus they make a dish fit for a king. + +By the time that all appetites were satisfied, the sun was near his +setting, and it was thought best to return without delay. + +On repairing to the beach, they found the tide so low that even the dory +could not come close to dry land; so the ladies and children were +carried through the water to the yacht. This gave occasion for some +merriment. + +"You must carry me, Ned, if I've got to be carried," said Zoe; "I'm not +going to let anybody else do it." + +"No; nor am I," he returned, gayly, picking her up and striding forward. +"I claim it as my especial privilege." + +Mr. Dinsmore followed with his wife, then Captain Raymond with his. + +"Get in, Mr. Dinsmore," said the captain, as they deposited their +burdens; "there is no occasion for further exertion on your part; I'll +bring mother." + +"No, sir," said Edward, hurrying shoreward again, "that's my task; you +have your children to take care of." + +"Your mother is my child, Ned, and I think I shall take care of her," +Mr. Dinsmore said, hastening back to the little crowd still at the +water's edge. + +"We will have to let her decide which of us shall have the honor," said +the captain. + +"That I won't," Mr. Dinsmore said, laughingly, stepping to his +daughter's side and taking her in his arms. + +"Now, you two may take care of the younger ones," he added, with a +triumphant glance at his two rivals. + +"Ah, Ned, we are completely outwitted," laughed the captain. + +"Yes; with grandpa about one can't get half a chance to wait upon +mother. Betty, shall I have the honor and pleasure of conveying you +aboard of yonder vessel?" + +"Yes, thank you; I see Harold and Herbert are taking Rosie and Walter," +she said. "But I warn you that I am a good deal heavier than Zoe." + +"Nevertheless, I think my strength will prove equal to the exertion," he +returned, as he lifted her from the ground. + +Lulu and Grace stood together, hand in hand, Max on Gracie's other side. + +"Take Gracie first, please, papa," said Lulu; "she is frightened, I +believe." + +"Frightened?" he said, stooping to take her in his arms; "there is +nothing to be afraid of, darling. Do you think papa would leave you +behind or drop you into the water?" + +"No; I know you wouldn't," she said, with a little nervous laugh, and +clinging tightly about his neck. + +"Mayn't I wade out, papa?" Max called after him. + +"Yes; but stay with your sister till I come for her." + +"Where's my baby, Levis?" asked Violet, laughingly, as he set Grace down +by her side. + +"The baby! Sure enough, where is it?" he exclaimed, with an anxious +glance toward the shore. + +"Ah, there stands the nurse with it in her arms. You shall have it in +yours in a moment." + +"Here's the baby, papa; please take her first; I don't mind waiting," +said Lulu, as he stepped ashore again. + +He gave her a pleased, approving look. "That is right; it will be but a +minute or two," he said, as he took the babe and turned away with it. + +In a few minutes more, all the passengers were aboard, and they set +sail; but they had not gone far when it became evident that something +was amiss; they were making no progress. + +"What is the matter?" asked several voices, and Violet looked +inquiringly at her husband. + +"There is no cause for apprehension," he said; "we are aground, and may +possibly have to wait here for the turn of the tide; that's all." + +"It's the lowest tide I ever saw," remarked the captain of the yacht; +"we'll have to lighten her; if some of the heaviest of you will get into +the dory, it will help." + +Quite a number immediately volunteered to do so, among them Edward and +Zoe, Bob and Betty, Harold and Herbert. The dory was speedily filled, +and then, with a little more exertion the yacht was set afloat. + +They moved out into deep water, and a gentle breeze wafted them +pleasantly toward their desired haven. + +"Look at the sun, papa," Elsie said, gazing westward. "It has a very +peculiar appearance." + +"Yes," he said, "it looks a good deal like a balloon; it's redness +obscured by that leaden-colored cloud. It is very near its setting; we +shall not get in till after dark." + +"But that will not matter?" + +"Oh, no; our captain is so thoroughly acquainted with his vessel, the +harbor and the wharf, that I have no doubt he would land us safely even +were it much darker than it will be." + +Zoe and Edward, in the dory, were talking with a Nantucket lady, a Mrs. +Fry. + +"How do you like our island, and particularly our town?" she asked. + +"Oh, ever so much!" said Zoe. "We have visited a good many +watering-places and sea-side resorts, but never one where there was so +much to see and to do; so many delightful ways of passing the time. I +think I shall vote for Nantucket again next year, when we are +considering where to pass the hot months." + +"And I," said Edward, "echo my wife's sentiments on the subject under +discussion." + +"Your wife" the lady exclaimed, with a look of surprise. + +"I took her to be your sister; you are both so very young in +appearance." + +"We are not very old," laughed Edward; "Zoe is but sixteen, but we have +been married a year." + +"You have begun early; it is thought by some that early marriages are +apt to be the happiest, and I should think them likely to be, provided +the two are willing to conform their tastes and habits each to those of +the other. I trust you two have a long life of happiness before you." + +"Thank you," they both said, Edward adding, "I think we are disposed to +accommodate ourselves to each other, and whether our lives be long or +short, our trials many or few, I trust we shall always find great +happiness in mutual sympathy, love and confidence." + +The lady asked if they had seen all the places of interest on the +island, and in reply they named those they had seen. + +"Have you been to Mrs. Mack's?" she asked. + +"No, madam, we have not so much as heard of her existence," returned +Edward, sportively. "May I ask who and what she is?" + +"Yes; she is the widow of a sea-captain, who has a collection of +curiosities which she keeps on exhibition, devoting the proceeds, so +she says, to benevolent purposes. She is an odd body; herself the +greatest curiosity she has to show, I think. You should visit her museum +by all means." + +"We shall be happy to do so if you will kindly put us in the way of it," +said Edward. "How shall we proceed in order to gain admittance?" + +"If we can get up a party it will be easy enough; I shall then send her +word, and she will appoint the hour when she will receive us; she likes +to show her independence, and will not exhibit unless to a goodly +number. + +"I know of several visitors on the island who want to go, and if your +party will join with them there will be no difficulty." + +"I think I can promise that we will," said Edward. "I will let you know +positively to-morrow morning." + +"That will do nicely. Hark, they are singing aboard the yacht." + +They listened in silence till the song was finished. + +"I recognized most of the voices," Mrs. Fry remarked, "but two lovely +sopranos were quite new to me. Do you know the owners?" turning +smilingly to Edward. + +"My mother and sister," he answered, with proud satisfaction. + +"Naturally fine, and very highly cultivated," she said. "You must be +proud of them." + +"I am," Edward admitted, with a happy laugh. + +The sun was down and twilight had fairly begun. Grace, seated on her +father's knee, was gazing out over the harbor. + +"See, papa, how many little lights close down to the water!" she said. + +"Yes; they are lamps on the small boats that are sailing or rowing +about; they show them for safety from running into each other." + +"And they look so pretty." + +"Yes, so they do; and it is a sight one may have every evening from the +wharf. Shall I take you down there some evening and let you sit and +watch them as they come and go?" + +"Oh, yes, do, papa; I think it would be so nice! And you would take Max +and Lulu too, wouldn't you?" + +"If they should happen to want to go; there are benches on the wharf +where we can sit and have a good view. I think we will try it to-morrow +evening if nothing happens to prevent." + +"Oh, I'm so glad! You are such a good, kind papa," she said, +delightedly, giving him a hug. + +"The very best you have ever had, I suppose," he responded, with a +pleased laugh. + +"Yes, indeed," she answered, naïvely, quite missing the point of his +jest. + +On reaching home Edward and Zoe reported their conversation with the +lady in the dory, and asked, "Shall we not go?" + +"I think so, by all means, since it is for benevolent objects," said +Elsie. + +"Or anyhow, since we feel in duty bound to see all that is to be seen on +this island," said Captain Raymond. + +No dissenting voice was raised, and when the next morning word came that +Mrs. Mack would exhibit that afternoon if a party were made up to +attend, they all agreed to go. + +The distance was too great for ladies and children to walk, so carriages +were ordered. Captain Raymond and his family filled one. + +"This is the street that oldest house is on," remarked Lulu, as they +turned a corner; "I mean that one we went to see; that has the big +horse-shoe on its chimney." + +"What do they have that for, papa?" asked Grace. + +"In old times when many people were ignorant and superstitious, it was +thought to be a protection from witches." + +"Witches, papa? what are they?" + +"I don't think there are any, really," he said, with a kindly smile into +the eagerly inquiring little face; "but in old times it was a very +common belief that there were people--generally some withered-up old +women--who had dealings with Satan, and were given power by him to +torment, or bring losses and various calamities upon any one whom they +disliked. + +"When you are a little older you shall hear more about it, and how that +foolish belief led to great crimes and cruelties inflicted upon many +innocent, harmless people. But now, while my Gracie is so young and +timid, I do not want her to know too much about such horrors." + +"Yes, papa," she responded; "I won't try to know till you think I'm +quite old enough." + +Several vehicles drew up at the same moment in front of Mrs. Mack's +door, and greetings and some introductions were exchanged on the +sidewalk and door-steps. Edward introduced his mother and Mrs. Fry to +each other, and the latter presented to them a Mrs. Glenn, who, she +said, was a native of Nantucket, but had only recently returned after an +absence of many years. + +"Mrs. Mack knew me as a young girl," Mrs. Glenn remarked, "and I am +quite curious to see whether she will recognize me." + +At that instant the door was opened in answer to their ring, and they +were invited to enter and walk into the parlor. + +They found it comfortably furnished and neat as wax. Seating themselves +they waited patiently for some moments the coming of the lady of the +house. + +At length she made her appearance; a little old lady, neatly attired, +and with a pleasant countenance. + +Mrs. Fry saluted her with a good-afternoon, adding, "I have brought some +friends with me to look at your curiosities. This lady," indicating Mrs. +Glenn, "you ought to know, as you were acquainted with her in her +girlhood." + +"Do you know me, Mrs. Mack?" asked Mrs. Glenn, offering her hand. + +"Yes, you look as natural as the pigs," was the rather startling reply; +accompanied, however, by a smile and cordial shake of the offered hand. + +"Now, we'll take the money first to make sure of it," was the next +remark, addressed to the company in general. + +"What is your admission fee?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, producing his +pocketbook. + +"Fifteen cents apiece." + +"By no means exorbitant if your collection is worth seeing," he +returned, good-humoredly. "Never mind your purses, Elsie, Raymond, Ned, +I'll act as paymaster for the party." + +The all-important business of collecting the entrance fees having been +duly attended to, Mrs. Mack led the way to an upper room where +minerals, shells, sharks' teeth, and various other curiosities and +relics were spread out upon tables and shelves, ranged along the sides +and in the centre of the apartment. + +"Now," she said, "the first thing is to register your names. You must +all register. You begin," handing the book to Mr. Dinsmore, "you seem to +be the oldest." + +"I presume I am," he said, dryly, taking the book and doing as he was +bidden. "Now, you, Raymond," passing it on to the captain, "we'll take +it for granted that you are next in age and importance." + +"That's right, captain," laughed Betty, as he silently took the book and +wrote his name, "it wouldn't be at all polite to seem to think yourself +younger than any lady present." + +"Of course not, Miss Betty; will you take your turn next?" + +"Of course not, sir; do you mean to insinuate that I am older than Aunt +Rose?" she asked, passing the book on to Mrs. Dinsmore. + +"Don't be too particular about going according to ages," said Mrs. Mack, +"it takes up too much time." + +"You may write my name for me, Ned," said Zoe, when he took the book. + +"Yes, write your sister's name for her; it'll do just as well," said +Mrs. Mack. + +"But I'm not his sister," said Zoe. + +"What, then? is he your lover?" + +"No," Edward said, laughing, "we're husband and wife." + +"You've begun young," she remarked, taking the book and passing it on; +"don't look as if you'd cut your wisdom teeth yet, either of you. When +the ladies have all registered, some of you grown folks had better do it +for the children." + +Having seen all their names duly inscribed in her register, "Seat +yourselves," she said, waving her hand toward some benches and chairs. + +Then, with the help of a half-grown girl, she set out a small circular +table, placed a box upon it, pushed up chairs and a bench or two, and +said, "Now, as many of you as can, come and sit round this table; the +others shall have their turn afterward." + +When all the places were filled, she opened the box and took from it a +number of beautifully carved articles--napkin-rings, spoons, etc. + +"Now, all take your turns in looking at this lovely carved work, while I +tell you its story," she said, "the story of how it came into my +possession." + +"You see, my husband was a sea-captain, and upon one occasion, when he +was about setting sail for a long voyage, a young man, or lad--he was +hardly old enough to be called a man--came and asked to be taken as one +of the crew. He gave a name, but it wasn't his true name, inherited +from his father, as my husband afterward discovered. But not suspecting +anything wrong, he engaged the lad, and took him with him on the voyage. + +"And the lad behaved well aboard the ship, and he used to carve +wonderfully well--as you may see by looking at these articles--just with +a jack-knife, and finally--keeping at it in his leisure moments--he made +all these articles, carving them out of sharks' teeth. + +"You can see he must have had genius; hadn't he? and yet he'd run away +from home to go to sea, as my husband afterward had good reason to +believe." + +She made a long story of it, spinning out her yarn until the first set +had examined the carved work to their satisfaction. + +Then, "Reverse yourselves," she said, indicating by a wave of her hand, +that they were to give place at the table to the rest of the company. + +When all had had an opportunity to examine the specimens of the lad's +skill, the young girl was ordered to restore them to the box, but first +to count them. + +That last clause brought an amused smile to nearly every face in the +audience, but Lulu frowned, and muttered, "Just as if she thought we +would steal them!" + +Next, Mrs. Mack began the circuit of the room, carrying a long slender +stick with which she pointed out those which she considered the most +interesting of her specimens or articles of virtu. + +One of these last was a very large, very old-fashioned back-comb, having +a story with a moral attached, the latter recited in doggerel rhyme. + +She had other stories, in connection with other articles, to tell in the +same way. In fact, so many and so long were they, that the listeners +grew weary and inattentive ere the exhibition was brought to a close. + +The afternoon was waning when they left the house. As Captain Raymond +and his family drove into the heart of the town on their way home, their +attention was attracted by the loud ringing of a hand-bell, followed now +and again by noisy vociferation, in a discordant, man's voice. + +"So the evening boat is in," remarked the captain. + +"How do you know, papa?" asked Grace. + +"By hearing the town-crier calling his papers; which could not have come +in any other way." + +"What does he say, papa?" queried Lulu. "I have listened as intently as +possible many a time, but I never can make out more than a word or two, +sometimes not that." + +"No more can I," he answered, with a smile; "it sounds to me like 'The +first news is um mum, and the second news is mum um mum, and the third +news is um um mum." + +The children all laughed. + +"Yonder he is, coming this way," said Max, leaning from the carriage +window. + +"Beckon to him," said the captain; "I want a paper." + +Max obeyed; the carriage stopped, the crier drew near and handed up the +paper asked for. + +"How much?" inquired the captain. + +"Five cents, sir." + +"Why, how is that? You asked me but three for yesterday's edition of +this same paper." + +"More news in this one." + +"Ah, you charge according to the amount of news, do you?" returned the +captain, laughing, and handing him a nickel. + +"Yes, sir; I guess that's about the fair way," said the crier, hastily +regaining the sidewalk to renew the clang, clang of his bell and the "um +mum mum" of his announcement. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"Wave high your torches on each crag and cliff. +Let many lights blaze on our battlements; +Shout to them in the pauses of the storm, +And tell them there is hope." + +--_Maturings "Bertram."_ + + +The evening was cool, and our whole party were gathered in the parlor of +the cottage occupied by the Dinsmores and Travillas--games, fancy-work, +reading, and conversation making the time fly. + +Edward and Zoe had drawn a little apart from the others, and were +conversing together in an undertone. + +"Suppose we go out and promenade the veranda for a little," he said, +presently. "I will get you a wrap and that knit affair for your head +that I think so pretty and becoming." + +"Crocheted," she corrected; "yes, I'm quite in the mood for a promenade +with my husband; and I'm sure the air outside must be delightful. But +you won't have to go farther than that stand in the corner for my +things." + +He brought them, wrapped the shawl carefully about her, and they went +out. + +Betty, looking after them, remarked aside to her Cousin Elsie, "How +lover-like they are still!" + +"Yes," Elsie said, with a glad smile: "they are very fond of each other, +and it rejoices my heart to see it." + +"And one might say exactly the same of the captain and Violet," pursued +Betty, in a lower tone, and glancing toward that couple, as they sat +side by side on the opposite sofa--Violet with her babe in her arms, the +captain clucking and whistling to it, while it cooed and laughed in his +face--Violet's ever-beautiful face more beautiful than its wont, with +its expression of exceeding love and happiness as her glance rested now +upon her husband and now upon her child. + +"Yes," Elsie said again, watching them, with a joyous smile still +wreathing her lips and shining in her eyes; "and it is just so with my +dear Elsie and Lester. I am truly blest in seeing my children so well +mated and so truly happy." + +"Zoe, little wife," Edward was saying, out on the veranda, "can you +spare me for a day or two?" + +"Spare you, Ned? How do you mean?" + +"I should like to join the boys--Bob, Harold, and Herbert--in a little +trip on a sailing vessel which leaves here early to-morrow morning and +will return on the evening of the next day or the next but one. I should +ask my little wife to go with us, but, unfortunately, the vessel has no +accommodations for ladies. What do you say, love? I shall not go without +your consent." + +"Thank you, you dear boy, for saying that," she responded, +affectionately, squeezing the arm on which she leaned; "go if you want +to; I know I can't help missing the kindest and dearest husband in the +world, but I shall try to be happy in looking forward to the joy of +reunion on your return." + +"That's a dear," he said, bending down to kiss the ruby lips. "It is a +great delight to meet after a short separation, and we should miss that +entirely if we never parted at all." + +"But oh, Ned, if anything should happen to you!" she said, in a +quivering voice. + +"Hush, hush, love," he answered, soothingly; "don't borrow trouble; +remember we are under the same protection on the sea as on the land, and +perhaps as safe on one as on the other." + +"Yes; but when I am with you I share your danger, if there is any, and +that is what I wish; for oh, Ned, I couldn't live without you!" + +"I hope you may never have to try it, my darling," he said, in tender +tones, "or I be called to endure the trial of having to live without +you; yet we can hardly hope to go together. + +"But let us not vex ourselves with useless fears. We have the promise, +'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.' And we know that nothing can +befall us without the will of our Heavenly Father, whose love and +compassion are infinite. 'We know that all things work together for good +to them that love God.'" + +"But if one is not at all sure of belonging to Him?" she said, in a +voice so low that he barely caught the words. + +"Then the way is open to come to Him. He says, 'Come unto me.' 'Him that +cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.' The invitation is to you, +love, as truly as if addressed to you alone; as truly as if you could +hear His voice speaking the sweet words and see His kind eyes looking +directly at you. + +"It is my ardent wish, my most earnest, constant prayer, that my beloved +wife may speedily learn to know, love, and trust in Him who is the Way, +the Truth, and the Life!" + +"You are so good, Ned! I wish I were worthy of such a husband," she +murmured, half sighing as she spoke. + +"Quite a mistake, Zoe," he replied, with unaffected humility; "to hear +you talk so makes me feel like a hypocrite. I haves no righteousness of +my own to plead, but, thanks be unto God, I may rejoice in the imputed +righteousness of Christ! And that may be yours, too, love, for the +asking. + +"'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it +shall be opened unto you.' + +"They are the Master's own words; and He adds: 'For every one that +asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh +it shall be opened.'" + +Meanwhile the contemplated trip of the young men was under discussion in +the parlor. "Dear me!" said Betty, who had just heard of it, "how much +fun men and boys do have! Don't you wish you were one of them, Lulu?" + +"No, I don't," returned Lulu, promptly. "I'd like to be allowed to do +some of the things they do that we mustn't, but I don't want to be a +boy." + +"That is right," said her father; "there are few things so unpleasant to +me as a masculine woman, who wishes herself a man and tries to ape the +stronger, coarser sex in dress and manners. I hope my girls will always +be content, and more than content, to be what God has made them." + +"If you meant to hit me that time, captain," remarked Betty, in a lively +tone, "let me tell you it was a miserable failure, for I don't wish I +was a man, and never did. Coarse creatures, as you say--present company +always excepted--who would want to be one of them." + +"I'd never have anything to do with one of them if I were in your place, +Bet," laughed her brother. + +"Perhaps I shouldn't, only that they seem a sort of necessary evil," she +retorted. "But why don't you invite some of us ladies to go along?" + +"Because you are _not_ necessary evils," returned her brother, with a +twinkle of fun in his eye. + +"You should, one and all, have an invitation if we could make you +comfortable," said Harold, gallantly: "but the vessel has absolutely no +accommodations for ladies." + +"Ah, then, you are excusable," returned Betty. + +The young men left the next morning, after an early breakfast. Zoe and +Betty drove down to the wharf with them to see them off, and watched the +departing vessel till she disappeared from sight. + +Zoe went home in tears, Betty doing her best to console her. + +"Come, now, be a brave little woman; it's for only two or three days at +the farthest. Why, I'd never get married if I thought I shouldn't be +able to live so long without the fortunate man I bestowed my hand upon." + +"Oh, you don't know anything about it, Betty!" sobbed Zoe. "Ned's all I +have in the world, and it's so lonesome without him! And then, how do I +know that he'll ever get back? A storm may come up and the vessel be +wrecked." + +"That's just possible," said Betty, "and it's great folly to make +ourselves miserable over bare possibilities--things which may never +happen." + +"Oh, you are a great deal too wise for me!" said Zoe, in disgust. + +"Oh," cried Betty, "if it's a pleasure and comfort to you to be +miserable--to make yourself so by anticipating the worst--do so by all +means. I have heard of people who are never happy but when they are +miserable." + +"But I am not one of that sort," said Zoe, in an aggrieved tone. "I am +as happy as a lark when Ned is with me. Yes, and I'll show you that I +can be cheerful even without him." + +She accordingly wiped her eyes, put on a smile, and began talking in a +sprightly way about the beauty of the sea as they looked upon it, with +its waves dancing and sparkling in the brilliant light of the morning +sun. + +"What shall we do to-day?" queried Betty. + +"Take a drive," said Zoe. + +"Yes; I wish there was some new route or new place to go to." + +"There's a pretty drive to the South Shore, that maybe you have not +tried yet," suggested the hackman. + +"South Shore? That's another name for Surfside, isn't it?" asked Betty. + +"It's another part of the same side of the island I refer to," he +answered. "It's a nice drive through the avenue of pines--a road the +lovers are fond of--and if the south wind blows, as it does this +morning, you have a fine surf to look at when you get there." + +"If a drive is talked of to-day, let us propose this one, Zoe," said +Betty. + +"Yes; I dare say it is as pleasant as any we could take," assented Zoe. +"I wish Edward was here to go with us." + +Elsie, with her usual thoughtfulness for others, had been considering +what could be done to prevent Zoe from feeling lonely in Edward's +absence. She saw the hack draw up at the door, and meeting the young +girls on the threshold with a bright face and pleasant smile: "You have +seen the boys off?" she said, half inquiringly. "The weather is so +favorable, that I think they can hardly fail to enjoy themselves +greatly." + +"Yes, mamma, I hope they will; but ah, a storm may come and wreck them +before they can get back," sighed Zoe, furtively wiping away a tear. + +"Possibly; but we won't be so foolish as to make ourselves unhappy by +anticipating evils that may never come," was the cheery rejoinder. "The +Edna has a skilful captain, a good crew, and is doubtless entirely +seaworthy--at least so Edward assured me--and for the rest we must trust +in Providence. + +"Come in, now, and let me give you each a cup of coffee. Your breakfast +with the boys was so early and so slight, that you may find appetite for +a supplement," she added, sportively, as she led the way into the cosey +little dining-room of the cottage, where they found a tempting repast +spread especially for them, the others having already taken their +morning meal. + +"How nice in you, Cousin Elsie!" exclaimed Betty. "I wasn't expecting to +eat another breakfast, but I find a rapidly coming appetite; these +muffins and this coffee are so delicious." + +"So they are," said Zoe. "I never knew anybody else quite so kindly +thoughtful as mamma." + +"I think I know several," Elsie rejoined; "but it is very pleasant to be +so highly appreciated. Now, my dear girls, you will confer a favor if +you will tell me in what way I can make the day pass most pleasantly to +you." + +"Thank you, cousin. It is a delightful morning for a drive, I think," +said Betty; then went on to repeat what their hackman had said of the +drive to the South Shore. + +"It sounds pleasant. I think we will make up a party and try it," Elsie +said. "You would like it, Zoe?" + +"Yes, mamma, better than anything I know of beside. The man says that +just there the beach has not been so thoroughly picked over for shells +and other curiosities, and we may be able to find some worth having." + +No one had made any special plans for the day, so all were ready to fall +into this proposed by Zoe and Betty. Hacks were ordered--enough to hold +all of their party now at hand--and they started. + +They found the drive all it had been represented. For some distance +their way lay along the bank of a long pond, pretty to look at and +interesting as connected with old times and ways of life on the island. +Their hackmen told them that formerly large flocks of sheep were raised +by the inhabitants, and this pond was one of the places where the sheep +were brought at a certain time of year to be washed and shorn. On +arriving at their destination, they found a long stretch of sandy beach, +with great thundering waves dashing upon it. + +"Oh," cried Zoe and Betty, in delight, "it is like a bit of 'Sconset!" + +"Look away yonder," said Lulu; "isn't that a fisherman's cart?" + +"Yes," replied her father. "Suppose we go nearer and see what he is +doing." + +"Oh, yes; do let us, papa!" cried Lulu, always ready to go everywhere +and see everything. + +"You may run on with Max and Grace," he said; "some of us will follow +presently." + +He turned and offered his arm to Violet. "It is heavy walking in this +deep sand; let me help you." + +"Thank you; it is wearisome, and I am glad to have my husband's strong +arm to lean upon," she answered, smiling sweetly up into his eyes as she +accepted the offered aid. + +The young girls and the children came running back to meet them. "He's +catching blue-fish," they announced; "he has a good many in his cart." + +"Now, watch him, Mamma Vi; you haven't had a chance to see just such +fishing before," said Max. "See, he's whirling his drail; there! now he +has sent it far out into the water. Now he's hauling it in, and--oh yes, +a good big fish with it." + +"What is a drail?" Violet asked. + +"It is a hook with a long piece of lead above it covered with eel-skin," +answered her husband. + +"There it goes again!" she exclaimed. "It is a really interesting +sight, but rather hard work, I should think." + +When tired of watching the fisherman, they wandered back and forth along +the beach in search of curiosities, picking up bits of sponge, rockweed, +seaweed, and a greater variety of shells than they had been able to find +on other parts of the shore which they had visited. + +It was only when they had barely time enough left to reach home for a +late dinner that they were all willing to enter the carriages and be +driven away from the spot. + +As they passed through the streets of the town, the crier was out with +his hand-bell. + +"Oh yes! oh yes! all the windows to be taken out of the Athenaeum +to-day, and the Athenaeum to be elevated to-night." + +After listening intently to several repetitions of the cry, they +succeeded in making it out. + +"But what on earth does he mean?" exclaimed Betty. + +"Ventilated, I presume," replied the captain. "There was an exhibition +there last night, and complaints were made that the room was close." + +Toward evening of the next day our friends in the cliff cottages began +to look for the return of the Edna with the four young men of their +party. But night fell, and yet they had not arrived. + +Elsie began to feel anxious, but tried not to allow her disturbance to +be perceived, especially by Zoe, who seemed restless and ill at ease, +going often out to the edge of the cliff and gazing long and intently +toward that quarter of the horizon where she had seen the Edna disappear +on the morning she sailed out of Nantucket harbor. + +She sought her post of observation for the twentieth time just before +sunset, and remained there till it grew too dark to see much beyond the +line of breakers along the shore below. + +Turning to re-enter the house, she found Captain Raymond standing by her +side. + +"O captain," she cried, "isn't it time the Edna was in?" + +"I rather supposed they would be in a little earlier than this, but am +not at all surprised that they are not," he answered, in a cheery tone. +"Indeed, it is quite possible that they may not get in till to-morrow. +When they left it was uncertain that they would come back to-day. So, my +good sister, I think we have no cause for anxiety." + +"Then I shall try not to be anxious," she said; "but it seems like a +month since I parted from Ned, and it's a sore disappointment not to see +him to-night. I don't know how Vi stands your long absences, captain." + +"Don't you suppose it's about as hard for me as for her, considering +how charming she is?" he asked, lightly. + +"Perhaps it is; but men don't live in their affections as women do; love +is only half the world to the most loving of them, I verily believe, +while it's all the world to us." + +"There is some truth in that," he acknowledged; "we men are compelled to +give much time and thought to business, yet many of us are ardent lovers +or affectionate husbands. I, for one, am extremely fond of wife and +children." + +"Yes, I am sure of it, and quite as sure that Ned is very fond of me." + +"There isn't a doubt of it. I think I have never seen a happier couple +than you seem to be, or than Leland and his Elsie; yet Violet and I will +not yield the palm to either of you." + +"And was there ever such a mother-in-law as mamma?" said Zoe. "I don't +remember my own mother very distinctly, but I do not believe I could +have loved her much better than I do Edward's mother." + +"Words would fail me in an attempt to describe all her excellences," he +responded. "Well, Lulu, what is it?" as the child came running toward +them. + +"Tea is ready, papa, and Grandma Rose says 'please come to it.'" + +Shortly after leaving the table, the captain, noticing that Zoe seemed +anxious and sad, offered to go into the town and inquire if anything had +been seen or heard of the Edna. + +"Oh, thank you," she said, brightening; "but won't you take me along?" + +"Certainly, if you think you will not find the walk too long and +fatiguing." + +"Not a bit," she returned, hastily donning hat and shawl. + +"Have you any objection to my company, Levis?" Violet asked, with +sportive look and tone. + +"My love, I shall be delighted, if you feel equal to the exertion," he +answered, with a look of pleasure that said more than the words. + +"Quite," she said. "Max, I know you like to wait on me; will you please +bring my hat and shawl from the bedroom there?" + +"Yes, indeed, with pleasure, Mamma Vi," the boy answered, with alacrity, +as he hastened to obey. + +"Three won't make as agreeable a number for travelling the sidewalks as +four, and I ought to be looking out for Bob," remarked Betty; "so if +anybody will ask me to go along perhaps I may consent." + +"Yes, do come," said Zoe. "I'll take you for my escort." + +"And we will walk decorously behind the captain and Vi, feeling no fear +because under the protection of his wing," added the lively Betty. "But +do you think, sir, you have the strength and ability to protect three +helpless females?" she asked, suddenly wheeling round upon him. + +"I have not a doubt I can render them all the aid and protection they +are at all likely to need in this peaceful, law-abiding community," he +answered, with becoming gravity, as he gave his arm to his wife, and led +the way from the house. + +"It is a rather lonely but by no means dangerous walk, Cousin Betty," he +added, holding the gate open for her and the others to pass out. + +"Lonely enough for me to indulge in a moderate amount of fun and +laughter, is it not, sir?" she returned, in an inquiring tone. + +She seemed full of life and gayety, while Zoe was unusually quiet. + +They walked into the town and all the way down to the wharf; but the +Edna was not there, nor could they hear any news of her. Zoe seemed full +of anxiety and distress, though the others tried to convince her there +was no occasion for it. + +"Come, come, cheer up, little woman," the captain said, seeing her eyes +fill with tears. "If we do not see or hear from them by this time +to-morrow night, we may begin to be anxious; but till then there is +really no need." + +"There, Zoe, you have an opinion that is worth something, the captain +being an experienced sailor," remarked Betty. "So thry to be aisy, my +dear, and if ye can't be aisy, be as aisy as ye can!" + +Zoe laughed faintly at Betty's jest; then, with a heroic effort, put on +an air of cheerfulness, and contributed her full quota to the sprightly +chat on the homeward walk. + +She kept up her cheerful manner till she had parted from the rest for +the night, but wet her solitary pillow with tears ere her anxiety and +loneliness were forgotten in sleep. + +Her spirits revived with the new day, for the sun rose clear and bright, +the sea was calm, and she said to herself, "Oh, surely the Edna will +come in before night, and Ned and I will be together again!" + +Many times that day both she and his mother scanned intently the wide +waste of waters, and watched with eager eyes the approach of some +distant sail, hoping it might prove the one they looked and longed for. + +But their hopes were disappointed again and again; noon passed, and the +Edna was not in sight. + +"Mamma, what can be keeping them?" sighed Zoe, as the two stood together +on the brow of the hill, still engaged in their fruitless search. + +"Not necessarily anything amiss," Elsie answered. "You remember that +when they went it was quite uncertain whether they would return earlier +than to-night; so let us not suffer ourselves to be uneasy because they +are not yet here." + +"I am ashamed of myself," Zoe said. "I wish I could learn to be as +patient and cheerful as you are, mamma." + +"I trust you will be more so by the time you are my age," Elsie said, +putting an arm about Zoe's waist and drawing her close, with a tender +caress. "I still at times feel the risings of impatience; I have not +fully learned to 'let patience have her perfect work.' + +"There is an old proverb, 'A watched pot never boils,'" she added, with +sportive look and tone. "Suppose we seat ourselves in the veranda yonder +and try to forget the Edna for awhile in an interesting story. I have a +new book which looks very interesting, and has been highly commended in +some of the reviews. We will get papa to read it aloud to us while we +busy ourselves with our fancy-work. Shall we not?" + +Zoe assented, though with rather an indifferent air, and they returned +to the house. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore, the only ones they found there, the others being +all down on the beach, fell readily into the plan; the book and the work +were brought out, and the reading began. + +It was a good, well-told story, and even Zoe presently became thoroughly +interested. + +Down on the beach Violet and the captain sat together in the sand, he +searching sea and sky with a spyglass. + +She noticed a look of anxiety creeping over his face. + +"What is it, Levis?" she asked. + +"I fear there is a heavy storm coming," he said. "I wish with all my +heart the Edna was in. But I trust they have been wise enough not to put +out to sea and are safe in harbor some where." + +"I hope so, indeed," she responded, fervently, "for we have much +precious freight aboard of her. But the sky does not look very +threatening to me, Levis." + +"Does it not? I wish I could say the same. But, little wife, are you +weatherwise or otherwise?" he asked, laughingly. + +"Not wise in any way except as I may lay claim to the wisdom of my other +half," she returned, adopting his sportive tone. + +"Ah," she exclaimed the next moment, "I, too, begin to see some +indications of a storm; it is growing very dark yonder in the +northeast!" + +Betty came hurrying up, panting and frightened. "O captain, be a dear, +good man, and say you don't think we are to have a storm +directly--before Bob and the rest get safe to shore!" + +"I should be glad to oblige you, Betty," he said, "but I cannot say +that; and what would it avail if I did? Could my opinion stay the +storm?" + +"Zoe will be frightened to death about Edward," she said, turning her +face seaward again as she spoke, and gazing with tear-dimmed eyes at the +black, threatening cloud fast spreading from horizon to zenith, "and +I--oh, Bob is nearer to me than any other creature on earth!" + +"Let us hope for the best, Betty," the captain said, kindly; "it is +quite possible, perhaps I might say probable, that the Edna is now lying +at anchor in some safe harbor, and will stay there till this storm is +over." + +"Oh, thank you for telling me that!" she cried. "I'll just try to +believe it is so and not fret, though it would pretty nearly kill me if +anything should happen to Bob. Still, it will do no good to fret." + +"Prayer would do far more," said Violet, softly--"prayer to Him whom +even the winds and the sea obey. But isn't it time to go in, Levis? the +storm seems to be coming up so very fast." + +"Yes," he said, rising and helping her to get on her feet. "Where are +the children?" + +"Yonder," said Betty, nodding in their direction. "I'll tell them--shall +I?" + +"No, thank you; you and Violet hurry on to the house as fast as you can; +I will call the children, follow with them, and probably overtake you in +time to help you up the stairs." + +Before they were all safely housed, the wind had come down upon them and +was blowing almost a gale. It was with considerable difficulty the +captain succeeded in getting them all up the long steep flights of +stairs by which they must reach the top of the cliff. + +About the time they started for the house the party on the veranda +became aware that a storm was rising. + +Zoe saw it first, and dropped her work in her lap with the cry, "Oh, I +knew it would be so! I just knew it! A dreadful storm is coming, and the +Edna will be wrecked, and Edward will drown. I shall never see him +again!" + +The others were too much startled and alarmed at the moment to notice +her wild words or make any reply. They all rose and hurried into the +house, and Mr. Dinsmore began closing windows and doors. + +"The children, papa!" cried Elsie; "they must be down on the beach, +and--" + +"The captain is with them, and I will go to their assistance," he +replied, before she could finish her sentence. + +He rushed out as he spoke, to return the next moment with Walter in his +arms and the rest closely following. + +"These are all safe, and for the others I must trust the Lord," Elsie +said softly to herself as her father set Walter down, and she drew the +child to her side. + +But her cheek was very pale, and her lips trembled as she pressed them +to the little fellow's forehead. + +He looked up wonderingly. "Mamma, what is the matter? You're not afraid +of wind and thunder?" + +"No, dear; but I fear for your brothers out on this stormy sea," she +whispered in his ear. "Pray for them, darling, that if God will, they +may reach home in safety." + +"Yes, mamma, I will; and I believe He'll bring them. Is it 'cause Ned's +in the ship Zoe's crying so?" + +"Yes; I must try to comfort her." And putting him gently aside, Elsie +went to her young daughter-in-law, who had thrown herself upon a couch, +and with her head pillowed on its arm, her face hidden in her hands, was +weeping and sobbing as if her heart would break. + +"Zoe, love," Elsie said, kneeling at her side and putting her arms about +her, "do not despair. 'Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it +cannot save; neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear.'" + +"No, but--He does let people drown; and oh, I can never live without my +husband!" + +"Dear child, there is no need to consider that question till it is +forced upon you. Try, dear one, to let that alone, and rest in the +promise, 'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.'" + +The captain had drawn near, and was standing close beside them. + +"Mother has given you the best of advice, my little sister," he said, in +his kind, cheery way; "and for your further comfort let me say that it +is altogether likely the Edna is safe in harbor somewhere. I think they +probably perceived the approach of the storm in season to be warned not +to put out to sea till it should be over." + +"Do you really think so, captain?" she asked, lifting her head to wipe +away her tears. + +He assured her that he did; and thinking him a competent judge of what +seamen would be likely to do in such an emergency, she grew calm for a +time, though her face was still sad; and till darkness shut out the +sight, she cast many an anxious glance from the window upon the raging +waters. + +"If not in harbor, they must be in great peril?" Mr. Dinsmore remarked, +aside, and half inquiringly, to the captain. + +"Yes, sir; yes, indeed. I am far more anxious than I should like to own +to their mother, Zoe, or Violet." + +It was near their tea hour when the storm burst; they gathered about the +table as usual, but there was little eating done except by the children, +and the meal was not enlivened, as was customary with them, by cheerful, +sprightly chat, though efforts in that direction were not wanting on the +part of several of their number. + +The storm raged on with unabated fury, and Zoe, as she listened to the +howling of the wind and the deafening thunder peals, grew wild with +terror for her husband. She could not be persuaded to go to bed, even +when her accustomed hour for retiring was long past, but would sit in +her chair, moaning, "O Ned! Ned! my husband, my dear, dear husband! Oh, +if I could only do anything to help you! My darling, my darling! you are +all I have, and I can't live without you!" then spring up and pace the +floor, sobbing, wringing her hands, and sometimes, as a fierce blast +shook the cottage or a more deafening thunder peal crashed over-head, +even shrieking out in terror and distress. + +In vain Elsie tried to soothe and quiet her with reassuring, comforting +words or caresses and endearments. + +"Oh, I can't bear it!" she cried again and again. "Ned is all I have, +and it will kill me to lose him. Nobody can know how I suffer at the +very thought." + +"My dear," Elsie said, with a voice trembling with emotion, "you forget +that Edward is my dearly loved son, and that I have two others, who are +no less dear to their mother's heart, on board that vessel." + +"Forgive me, mamma," Zoe sobbed, taking Elsie's hand and dropping tears +and kisses upon it. "I did forget, and it was very shameful, for you are +so kind and loving to me, putting aside your own grief and anxiety to +help me in bearing mine. But how is it yon can be so calm?" + +"Because, dear, I am enabled to stay my heart on God, my Almighty +Friend, my kind, wise, Heavenly Father. Listen, love, to these sweet +words: 'O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to +thy faithfulness round about Thee? Thou rulest the roaring of the sea: +when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.'" + +"They are beautiful," said Betty, who sat near, in a despondent +attitude, her elbow on her knee, her cheek in her hand. "Oh, Cousin +Elsie, I would give all the world for your faith, and to be able to find +the comfort and support in Bible promises and teachings that you do!" + +The outer door opened, and Mr. Dinsmore and Captain Raymond came in, +their waterproof coats dripping with rain. + +They had been out on the edge of the cliff taking an observation, though +it was little they could see through the darkness; but occasionally the +lightning's lurid flash lit up the scene for a moment, and afforded a +glimpse of the storm-tossed deep. + +"Be comforted, ladies," the captain said; "there are at least no signs +of any vessel in distress; if any such were near, she would undoubtedly +be firing signal-guns. So I think we may hope my conjecture that our +boys are safe in harbor somewhere, is correct." + +"And the storm is passing over," said Mr. Dinsmore; "the thunder and +lightning have almost ceased." + +"But the wind has not fallen, and that is what makes the great danger, +grandpa, isn't it?" asked Zoe. "Oh, hark, what was that? I heard a step +and voice!" And rushing to the outer door as she spoke, she threw it +open, and found herself in her husband's arms. + +"O Ned, Ned!" she cried, in a transport of joy, "is it really you? Oh, I +thought I should never see you again, you dear, dear, _dear_ boy!" + +She clung round his neck, and he held her close, with many a caress and +endearing word, drawing her a little to one side to let his brothers +step past them and embrace the tender mother, who wept for joy as she +received them, almost as if restored to her from the very gates of +death. + +"There, love, I must let you go while I take off this dripping coat," +Edward said, at length, releasing Zoe. "How wet I have made you! I fear +your pretty dress is quite spoiled," he added, with a tender, regretful +smile. + +"That's nothing," she answered, with a gay laugh; "you'll only have to +buy me another, and you've plenty of money." + +"Plenty to supply all the wants of my little wife, I hope." + +"Ah, mother dear," as he threw aside his wet overcoat and took her in +his arms, "were you alarmed for the safety of your three sons?" + +"Yes, indeed I was," she said, returning his kisses; "and I feel that I +have great cause for thankfulness in that you are all brought back to me +unharmed. 'Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for +His wonderful works to the children of men!'" + +Betty had started up on the entrance of her cousins, glancing eagerly +from one dripping figure to another, then staggered back and leaned, +pale and trembling, against the wall. In the excitement no one had +noticed her, but now she exclaimed, in tremulous accents, and catching +her breath, "Bob--my brother; where is he?" + +"O Betty," Harold answered, turning hastily at the sound of her voice, +"forgive our thoughtlessness in not explaining that at once! Bob went to +a hotel; he said we could bring the news of his safety and our own, and +it wasn't worth while for him to travel all the way up here through the +storm." + +"No, of course not; I wouldn't have had him do so," she returned, with a +sigh of relief, her face resuming its wonted gayety of expression; "but +I'm mighty glad he's safe on terra firma." + +"But your story, boys; let us have it," said Mr. Dinsmore. + +"Yes, we _have_ a story, grandpa," said Edward, with emphasis and +excitement; "but Harold should tell it; he could do it better than I." + +"No, no," Harold said; "you are as good a story-teller as I." + +"There!" laughed Herbert. "I believe I'll have to do it myself, or with +your extreme politeness to each other you'll keep the audience waiting +all night. + +"The storm came suddenly upon us when we were about half way home, or +maybe something more; and it presently became evident that we were in +imminent danger of wreck. The captain soon concluded that our only +chance was in letting the Edna drive right before the wind, which would +take us in exactly the direction we wished to pursue, but with rather +startling celerity; and that was what he did. + +"She flew over the water like a wild winged bird, and into the harbor +with immense velocity. Safely enough, though, till we were there, almost +at the wharf, when we struck against another vessel anchored near, and +actually cut her in two, spilling the crew into the water." + +"Don't look so horrified, mother dear," said Harold, as Herbert paused +for breath; "no one was drowned, no one even hurt." + +"Barring the wetting and the fright, as the Irish say," added Edward. + +"But the latter was a real hurt," said Harold; "for the cry they sent up +as they made the sudden, involuntary plunge from their berths, where +they were probably asleep at the moment of collision, into the cold, +deep water of the harbor, was something terrible to hear." + +"Enough to curdle one's blood," added Herbert. + +"And you are quite sure all were picked up?" asked Elsie, her sweet face +full of pity for the unfortunate sufferers. + +"Yes, mother, quite sure," answered Edward; "the captain of the craft +said, in my hearing, that no one was missing." + +"And the captain of the other will probably have pretty heavy damages to +pay," remarked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"I presume so," said Edward; "but even that would be far better than +the loss of his vessel, with all the lives of those on board." + +"Money could not pay for those last," Elsie said, low and tremulously, +as she looked at her three tall sons through a mist of unshed tears; +"and I will gladly help the Edna's captain to meet the damages incurred +in his efforts to save them." + +"Just like you, mother," Edward said, giving her a look of proud, fond +affection. + +"I entirely approve, and shall be ready to contribute my share," said +her father. "But it is very late, or rather early--long past +midnight--and we should be getting to bed. But let us first unite in a +prayer of thanksgiving to our God for all His mercies, especially +this--that our dear boys are restored to us unharmed." + +They knelt, and led by him, all hearts united in a fervent outpouring of +gratitude and praise to the Giver of all good. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."--1 SAMUEL 7:12. + + +It was a lovely Sabbath afternoon, still and bright; Elsie sat alone on +the veranda, enjoying the beauty of the sea and the delicious breeze +coming from it. She had been reading, and the book lay in her lap, one +hand resting upon the open page; but she was deep in meditation, her +eyes following the restless movements of the waves that, with the rising +tide, dashed higher and higher upon the beach below. + +For the last half hour she had been the solitary tenant of the veranda, +while the others enjoyed their siesta or a lounge upon the beach. + +Presently a noiseless step drew near her chair, some one bent down over +her and softly kissed her cheek. + +"Papa" she said, looking up into his face with smiling eyes, "you have +come to sit with me? Let me give you this chair," and she would have +risen to do so, but he laid his hand on her shoulder, saying, "No; sit +still; I will take this," drawing up another and seating himself therein +close at her side. + +"Do you know that I have been watching you from the doorway there for +the last five minutes?" he asked. + +"No, sir; I deemed myself quite alone," she said. "Why did you not let +me know that my dear father, whose society I prize so highly, was so +near?" + +"Because you seemed so deep in thought, and evidently such happy +thought, that I was loath to disturb it." + +"Yes," she said, "they were happy thoughts. I have seemed to myself, for +the last few days, to be in the very land of Beulah, so delightful has +been the sure hope--I may say certainty--that Jesus is mine and I am +His; that I am His servant forever, for time and for eternity, as truly +and entirely His as words can express. Is it not a sweet thought, papa? +is it not untold bliss to know that we may--that we shall serve Him +forever? that nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ?" + +"It is, indeed--Christ who is our life. He says, 'Because I live, ye +shall live also;' thus He is our life. Is He not our life also because +He is the dearest of all friends to us--His own people?" + +"Yes; and how the thought of His love, His perfect sympathy, His +infinite power to help and to save, gives strength and courage to face +the unknown future. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall +I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' +'Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.' + +"In view of the many dangers that lie around our every path, the many +terrible trials that may be sent to any one of us, I often wonder how +those who do not trust in this almighty Friend can have the least real, +true happiness. Were it my case, I should be devoured with anxiety and +fears for myself and my dear ones." + +"But as it is," her father said, gazing tenderly upon her, "you are able +to leave the future, for them and for yourself, in His kind, wise, +all-powerful hands, knowing that nothing can befall you without His +will, and that He will send no trial that shall not be for your good, +and none that He will not give you strength to endure?" + +"Yes, that is it, papa; and oh, what rest it is! One feels so safe and +happy; so free from fear and care; like a little child whose loving +earthly father is holding it by the hand or in his strong, kind arms." + +"And you have loved and trusted Him since you were a very little child," +he remarked, half musingly. + +"Yes, papa; I cannot remember when I did not; and could there be a +greater cause for gratitude?" + +"No; such love and trust are worth more to the happy possessor than the +wealth of the universe. But there was a time when, though my little girl +had it, I was altogether ignorant of it, and marvelled greatly at her +love for God's word and her joy and peace in believing. I shall never +cease to bless God for giving me such a child." + +"Nor I to thank Him for my dear father," she responded, putting her hand +into his, with the very same loving, confiding gesture she had been wont +to use in childhood's days. + +His fingers closed over it, and he held it fast in a warm, loving grasp, +while they continued their talk concerning the things that lay nearest +their hearts--the love of the Master, His infinite perfection, the +interests of His kingdom, the many great and precious promises of His +word--thus renewing their strength and provoking one another to love and +to good works. + +"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord +hearkened, and heard it; and a book of remembrance was written before +Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. + +"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I +make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son +that serveth him." + +Ere another week had rolled its round, events had occurred which tested +the sustaining power of their faith in God, and the joy of the Lord +proved to be indeed their strength, keeping their hearts from failing in +an hour of sore anxiety and distress. + +The evening was bright with the radiance of a full moon and unusually +warm for the season; so pleasant was it out of doors that most of our +friends preferred the veranda to the cottage parlors, and some of the +younger ones were strolling about the town or the beach. + +Betty had gone down to the latter place, taking Lulu with her, with the +captain's permission, both promising not to go out of sight of home. + +"Oh, how lovely the sea is to-night, with the moon shining so brightly +on all the little dancing waves!" exclaimed Lulu, as they stood side by +side close to the water's edge. + +"Yes," said Betty; "doesn't it make you feel like going in?" + +"Do people ever bathe at night?" asked Lulu. + +"I don't know why they shouldn't," returned her companion. + +"It might be dangerous, perhaps," suggested Lulu. + +"Why should it?" said Betty; "it's almost as light as day. Oh, Bob," +perceiving her brother close at hand, "don't you want to go in? I will +if you will go with me." + +"I don't care if I do," he answered, after a moment's reflection: "a +moonlight bath in the sea would be something out of the common; and +there seems to be just surf enough to make it enjoyable." + +"Yes; and my bathing-suit is in the bath-house yonder. I can be ready in +five minutes." + +"Can you? So can I; we'll go in if only for a few minutes. Won't you go +with us, Lulu?" + +"I'd like to," she said, "but I can't without leave; and I know papa +wouldn't give it, for I had a bath this morning, and he says one a day +is quite enough." + +"I was in this morning," said Bob; "Betty, too, I think, and--I say, +Bet, it strikes me I've heard that it's a little risky to go in at +night." + +"Not such a night as this, I'm sure, Bob; why, it's as light as day; and +if there is danger it can be only about enough to give spice to the +undertaking." + +With the last word she started for the bath-house, and Bob, not to be +outdone in courage, hurried toward another appropriated to his use. + +Lulu stood waiting for their return, not at all afraid to be left alone +with not another creature in sight on the beach. Yet the solitude +disturbed her as the thought arose that Bob and Betty might be about to +put themselves in danger, while no help was at hand for their rescue. +The nearest she knew of was at the cottages on the bluff, and for her to +climb those long flights of stairs and give the alarm in case anything +went wrong with the venturesome bathers, would be a work of time. + +"I'd better not wait for them to get into danger, for they would surely +drown before help could reach them," she said to herself, after a +moment's thought. "I'll only wait till I see them really in, and then +hurry home to see if somebody can't come down and be ready to help if +they should begin to drown." + +But as they passed her, presently, on their way to the water, Bob said: +"We're trusting you to keep our secret, Lulu; don't tell tales on us." + +She made no reply, but thought within herself, "That shows he doesn't +think he's doing exactly right. I'm afraid it must be quite dangerous." + +But while his remark and injunction increased her apprehensions for +them, it also made her hesitate to carry to their friends the news of +their escapade till she should see that it brought them into actual +danger and need of assistance. + +She watched them tremblingly as they waded slowly out beyond the surf +into the smooth, swelling waves, where they began to swim. + +For a few moments all seemed to be well; then came a sudden shrill cry +from Betty, followed by a hoarser one from Bob, which could mean nothing +else than fright and danger. + +For an instant Lulu was nearly paralyzed with terror; but rousing +herself by a determined effort, she shouted at the top of her voice, +"Don't give up; I'll go for help as fast as ever I can," and instantly +set off for home at her utmost speed. + +"Help, help! they'll drown, oh, they'll drown!" she screamed as she ran. + +Harold, who was in the act of descending the last flight of stairs, saw +her running toward him, and heard her cry, though the noise of the surf +prevented his catching all the words. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted, clearing the remainder of the flight at +a bound. + +"Betty, Bob--drowning!" she cried, without slackening her speed, "I'm +going for help." + +He waited, to hear no more, but sped on toward the water; and only +pausing to divest himself of his outer clothing, plunged in, and, +buffeting with the waves, made his way as rapidly as possible toward the +struggling forms, which, by the light of the moon, he could dimly +discern at some distance from the shore. + +Faint cries for help and the gleam of Betty's white arm, as for an +instant she raised it above the wave, guided him to the spot. + +Harold was an excellent swimmer, strong and courageous; but he had +undertaken a task beyond his strength, and his young life was very near +falling a sacrifice to the folly of his cousins and his own generous +impulse to fly to their aid. + +Both Bob and Betty were already so nearly exhausted as to be scarcely +capable of doing anything to help themselves, and in their mad struggle +for life caught hold of him and so impeded his movements that he was +like to perish with them. + +Mean while Lulu had reached the top of the cliff, then the veranda where +the older members of the family party were seated, and, all out of +breath with fright and the exertion of climbing and running, she +faltered out, "Bob and Betty; they'll drown if they don't get help +quickly." + +"What, are they in the water?" cried Mr. Dinsmore and Captain Raymond, +simultaneously springing to their feet; the latter adding, "I fear +they'll drown before we can possibly get help to them." + +"Oh, yes; they're drowning now," sobbed Lulu; "but Harold's gone to help +them." + +"Harold? He's lost if he tries it alone!" "The boy's mad to think of +such a thing!" exclaimed Mr. Dinsmore and Edward in a breath, while +Elsie's cheek turned deathly pale, and her heart went up in an agonized +cry that her boy's life might be spared; the others also. + +The gentlemen held a hasty consultation, then scattered, Mr. Dinsmore +hastening in search of other aid, while Captain Raymond and Edward +hurried to the beach, the ladies following with entreaties to them to be +careful. + +But fortunately for the endangered ones, other aid had already reached +them--a boat that had come out from Nantucket for a moonlight sail, and +from the shore a noble Newfoundland dog belonging to a retired sea +captain. Strolling along the beach with his master, he heard the cries +for help, saw the struggling forms, and instantly plunging in among the +waves, swam to the rescue. + +Seizing Betty by the hair, he held her head above water till the +sailboat drew near and strong arms caught hold of her and dragged her +in, pale, dripping, and seemingly lifeless. + +They then picked up the young men, both entirely unconscious, and made +for the shore with all possible haste. + +It was doubtful if the last spark of life had not been extinguished in +every one of the three; but the most prompt, wise, and vigorous measures +were instantly taken and continued for hours--hours of agonizing +suspense to those who loved them. + +At length Bob gave unmistakable signs of life; and shortly after Betty +sighed, opened her eyes, and asked, feebly, "Where am I? what has +happened?" + +But Harold still lay as one dead, and would have been given up as such +had not his mother clung to hope, and insisted that the efforts at +restoration should be continued. + +Through the whole trying scene she had maintained an unbroken calmness +of demeanor, staying herself upon her God, lifting her heart to His +throne in never-ceasing petitions, and in the midst of her bitter grief +and anxiety rejoicing that if her boy were taken from her for a time, it +would be but to exchange the trials and cares of earth for the joys of +heaven; and the parting from him here would soon be followed by a +blissful reunion in that blessed land where sin and sorrow and suffering +can never enter. + +But at length, when their efforts were rewarded so that he breathed and +spoke, and she knew that he was restored to her, the reaction came. + +She had given him a gentle, tender kiss, had seen him fall into a +natural, refreshing sleep, and passing from his bedside into an +adjoining room, she fainted in her father's arms. + +"My darling, my dear, brave darling!" he murmured, as he laid her down +upon a couch and bent over her in tenderest solicitude, while Mrs. +Dinsmore hastened to apply restoratives. + +It was not a long faint; she presently opened her eyes and lifted them +with a bewildered look up into her father's face. + +"What is it, papa?" she murmured; "have I been ill?" + +"Only a short faint," he answered. "But you must be quite worn out." + +"Oh, I remember!" she cried. "Harold, my dear son--" + +"Is doing well, love. And now I want you to go to your bed and try to +get some rest. See, day is breaking, and you have had no sleep, no +rest." + +"Nor have you, papa; do go and lie down; but I must watch over my poor +boy," she said, trying to rise from the couch. + +"Lie still," he said, gently detaining her; "lie here, if you are not +willing to go to your bed. I am better able to sit up than you are, and +will see to Harold." + +"His brothers are with him, mamma," said Zoe, standing by; "and Edward +says they will stay beside him as long as they are needed." + +"Then you and I will both retire and try to take some rest, shall we +not?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, bending over Elsie and softly smoothing her +hair. + +"Yes, papa; but I must first take one peep at the dear son so nearly +lost to me." + +He helped her to rise; then she perceived that Captain Raymond and +Violet were in the room. + +"Dearest mamma," said the latter, coming forward to embrace her, "how +glad I am that you are better, and our dear Harold spared to us!" She +broke down in sobs and tears. + +"Yes, my child; oh, let us thank the Lord for His great goodness! But +this night has been quite too much for you. Do you go at once and try to +get some rest." + +"I shall see that she obeys, mother," the captain said, in a tenderly +sportive tone, taking Elsie's hand and lifting it to his lips. + +"I think I may trust you," she returned, with a faint smile. "You were +with Bob; how is he now?" + +"Doing as well as possible under the circumstances; as is Betty also; +you need trouble your kind heart with no fear or care for them." + +It had been a terrible night to all the family--the children the only +ones who had taken any rest or sleep--and days of nursing followed +before the three who had so narrowly escaped death were restored to +their wonted health and strength. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore and Elsie devoted themselves to that work, and +were often assisted in it by Zoe, Edward, and Herbert. + +Harold was quite a hero with these last and with Max and Lulu; in fact, +with all who knew or heard of his brave deed, though he modestly +disclaimed any right to the praises heaped upon him, asserting that he +had done no more than any one with common courage and humanity would +have done in his place. + +Bob and Betty were heartily ashamed of their escapade, and much sobered +at the thought of their narrow escape from sudden death. Both dreaded +the severe reproof they had reason to expect from their uncle, but he +was very forbearing, and thinking the fright and suffering entailed by +their folly sufficient to deter them from a repetition of it, kindly +refrained from lecturing them on the subject, though, when a suitable +opportunity offered, he did talk seriously and tenderly, with now one +and now the other, on the guilt and danger of putting off repentance +toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, reminding them that +they had had a very solemn warning of the shortness and uncertainty of +life, and asking them to consider the question whether they were ready +for a sudden call into the immediate presence of their Judge. + +"Really now, uncle," remarked Bob on one of these occasions, "there are +worse fellows in the world than I am--much worse." + +"I am willing to admit that, my boy," returned Mr. Dinsmore; "but many +of those fellows have not enjoyed the privileges and teachings that you +have, and responsibility is largely in proportion to one's light and +opportunities. + +"Jesus said, 'That servant, who knew his Lord's will, and prepared not +himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many +stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, +shall be beaten with few stripes.'" + +"Yes; and you think I'm one of the first class, I suppose?" + +"I do, my boy; for you have been well instructed, both in the church and +in the family; also you have a Bible, and may study it for yourself as +often and carefully as you will." + +"But I really have never done anything very bad, uncle." + +"How can you say that, Robert, when you know that you have lived all +your life in utter neglect of God's appointed way of salvation? hearing +the gracious invitation of Him who died that you might live, 'Come unto +me,' and refusing to accept it? + +"'God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that +whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting +life,' and having for years refused to believe, how can you assert that +you have done nothing very bad? 'How shall we escape, if we neglect so +great salvation?'" + +Bob made no reply, but looked thoughtful, and his uncle went quietly +from the room, thinking it well to leave the lad to his own reflections. + +Passing the door of the room where Harold lay, he was about to enter, +but perceiving that the boy and his mother were in earnest conversation, +he moved on, leaving them undisturbed. + +"Mamma," Harold was saying, "I have been thinking much of sudden death +since my very narrow escape from it. You know, mamma, it comes sometimes +without a moment's warning; and as we all sin continually in thought and +feeling, if not in word and deed, as our very best deeds and services +are so stained with sin that they need to be repented of and forgiven, +how is it that even a true Christian can get to heaven if called away so +suddenly?" + +"Because when one comes to Jesus Christ and accepts His offered +salvation, _all_ his sins, future as well as past and present, are +forgiven. 'The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin.' + +"Jesus said, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.' 'I +give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall +any man pluck them out of my hand.'" + +"But oh, mamma, I find myself so weak and sinful, so ready to yield to +temptation, that I sometimes fear I shall never be able to hold out to +the end!" + +"My dear boy, let that fear lead you to cling all the closer to the +Master, who is able to save unto the uttermost. If our holding out +depended upon ourselves, our own weak wills, we might well be in +despair; but 'He will keep the feet of His saints.' + +"'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according +to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the +resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance +incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in +heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto +salvation.' Can they be in danger who are _kept by the power of God_?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"My Father's house on high, + Home of my soul, how near +At times to Faith's discerning eye + Thy pearly gates appear." + + +Harold and his cousins had scarcely more than fully recovered from the +effects of their almost drowning when Captain Raymond again received +orders to join his ship, and it was decided that the time had come for +all to leave the island. + +Bob and Betty received letters from their brother and sister in +Louisiana, giving them a cordial invitation to their homes, Dick +proposing that Bob should study medicine with him, with a view to +becoming his partner, and Molly giving Betty a cordial invitation from +herself and husband to take up her residence at Magnolia Hall. + +With the approval of their uncle and other relatives, these kind offers +were promptly accepted. + +Letters came about the same time from Lansdale, Ohio, inviting the +Dinsmores, Travillas, and Raymonds to attend the celebration of Miss +Stanhope's one hundredth birthday, which was now near at hand. + +Mr. Harry Duncan wrote for her, saying that she had a great longing to +see her nephews and nieces once more, and to make the acquaintance of +Violet's husband and his children. + +The captain could not go, but it was decided that all the others should. +The necessary arrangements were quickly made, and the whole party left +the island together, not without some regret and a resolution to return +at some future day to enjoy its refreshing breezes and other delights +during the hot season. + +On reaching New York they parted with the captain, whose vessel lay in +that harbor. + +Bob and Betty left them farther on in the journey, and the remainder of +the little company travelled on to Lansdale, arriving the day before the +important occasion which called them there. + +Mrs. Dinsmore's brother, Richard Allison, who, my readers may remember, +had married Elsie's old friend, Lottie King, shortly after the close of +the war of the rebellion, had taken up his abode in Lansdale years ago. + +Both he and his sister May's husband, Harry Duncan, had prospered +greatly. Each had a large, handsome dwelling adjacent to Miss Stanhope's +cottage, in which she still kept house, having never yet seen the time +when she could bring herself to give up the comfort of living in a home +of her own. + +She had attached and capable servants, and amid her multitude of nieces +and grand-nieces, there was almost always one or more who was +willing--nay, glad, to relieve her of the care and labor of +housekeeping, taking pleasure in making life's pathway smooth and easy +to the aged feet, and her last days bright and happy. + +She still had possession of all her faculties, was very active for one +of her age, and felt unabated interest in the welfare of kindred and +friends. She had by no means outlived her usefulness or grown querulous +with age, but was ever the same bright, cheerful, happy Christian that +she had been in earlier years. + +The birthday party was to be held under her own roof, and a numerous +company of near and dear relatives were gathering there and at the +houses of the Duncans and Allisons. + +Richard and Lottie, Harry and May were at the depot to meet the train on +which our travellers arrived. + +It was an altogether joyous meeting, after years of separation. + +The whole party repaired at once to Miss Stanhope's cottage, to greet +and chat a little with her and others who had come before to the +gathering; prominently among them Mr. and Mrs. Keith from Pleasant +Plains, Indiana, with their daughters, Mrs. Landreth, Mrs. Ormsby, and +Annis, who was still unmarried. + +Very glad indeed were Mrs. Keith and Mr. Dinsmore, Rose and Mildred, +Elsie and Annis to meet and renew the old intimacies of former days. + +Time had wrought many changes since we first saw them together, more +than thirty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Keith were now old and infirm, yet +bright and cheery, looking hopefully forward to that better country, +that Celestial City, toward which they were fast hastening, and with no +unwilling steps. Dr. and Mrs. Landreth and Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore had +changed from youthful married couples into elderly people, while Elsie +and Annis had left childhood far behind, and were now--the one a cheery, +happy maiden lady, whom aged parents leaned upon as their stay and +staff, brothers and sisters dearly loved, and nieces and nephews doated +upon; the other a mother whom her children blessed for her faithful love +and care, and delighted to honor. + +This renewal of intercourse, and the reminiscences of early days which +it called up, were very delightful to both. + +The gathering of relatives and friends of course formed far too large a +company for all to lodge in one house, but the three--Aunt Wealthy's and +those of the Duncans and Allisons--accommodated them comfortably for +the few days of their stay, or rather the nights, for during the day +they were very apt to assemble in the parlors and porches of the +cottage. + +It was there Elsie and her younger children and Violet and hers took up +their quarters, by invitation, for the time of the visit. + +"But where is the captain, your husband?" inquired Aunt Wealthy of +Violet on giving her a welcoming embrace. "I wanted particularly to see +him, and he should not have neglected the invitation of a woman a +hundred years old." + +"Dear auntie, I assure you he did so only by compulsion; he would have +come gladly if Uncle Sam had not ordered him off in another direction," +Violet answered, with pretty playfulness of look and tone. + +"Ah, then, we must excuse him. But you brought the children, I hope. I +want to see them." + +"Yes; this is his son," Violet said, motioning Max to approach; "and +here are the little girls," drawing Lulu and Grace forward. + +The old lady shook hands with and kissed them, saying, "It will be +something for you to remember, dears, that you have seen a woman who has +lived a hundred years in this world, and can testify that goodness and +mercy have followed her all the days of her life. Trust in the Lord, my +children, and you, even if you should live as long as I have, will be +able to bear the same testimony that He is faithful to His promises. + +"I say the same to you, too, Rosie and Walter, my Elsie's children," she +added, turning to them with a tenderly affectionate look and smile. + +They gazed upon her with awe for a moment; then Rosie said, "You don't +look so very old, Aunt Wealthy; not older than some ladies of eighty +that I've seen." + +"Perhaps not older than I did when I was only eighty, my dear; but I am +glad to know that I am a good deal nearer home now than I was then," +Miss Stanhope responded, her face growing bright with joyous +anticipation. + +"Are you really glad to know you must die before very long?" asked Max, +in wonder and surprise. + +"Wouldn't it be strange if I were not?" she asked; "heaven is my home. + +"'There my best friends, my kindred dwell, +There God my Saviour reigns.' + +"I live in daily, hourly longing expectation of the call." + +"And yet you are not weary of life? you are happy here, are you not, +dear Aunt Wealthy?" asked Mrs. Keith. + +"Yes, Marcia; I am happy among my kind relatives and friends; and +entirely willing to stay till the Master sees fit to call me home, for I +know that His will is always best. Oh, the sweet peace and joy of +trusting in Him and leaving all to His care and direction! Who that has +experienced it could ever again want to choose for him or herself?" + +"And you have been long in His service, Aunt Wealthy?" Mr. Dinsmore +said, half in assertion, half inquiringly. + +"Since I was ten years old, Horace; and that is ninety years; and let me +bear testimony now, before you all, that I have ever found Him faithful +to His promises, and His service growing constantly sweeter and sweeter. +And so it shall be to all eternity. 'My soul doth magnify the Lord, and +my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.'" + +Then turning to Mrs. Keith, "How is it with you, Marcia?" she asked; +"you have attained to your four-score years, and have been in the +service since early childhood. What have you to say for your Master +now?" + +"Just what you have said, dear aunt; never have I had cause to repent of +choosing His service; it has been a blessed service to me, full of joy +and consolation--joy that even abounds more and more as I draw nearer +and nearer to my journey's end. + +"I know it is the same with my husband," she added, giving him a look +of wifely affection; "and I doubt not with my cousins--Horace, Rose, +Elsie--with all here present who have had experience as soldiers and +servants of Jesus Christ." + +"In that you are entirely right, Marcia," responded Mr. Dinsmore; "I can +speak for myself, my wife, and daughter." + +Both ladies gave an unqualified confirmation of his words, while their +happy countenances testified to the truth of the assertion. + +"And, Milly dear, you and your husband, your brothers and sisters, can +all say the same," remarked Miss Stanhope, laying her withered hand +affectionately upon Mrs. Landreth's arm as she sat in a low seat by her +side. + +"We can indeed," Mildred said, with feeling. "What blessed people we +are! all knowing and loving the dear Master, and looking forward to an +eternity of bliss together at His right hand." + +The interview between the aged saint and her long-absent relatives was +continued for a few moments more; then she dismissed them, with the +remark that doubtless they would all like to retire to their rooms for a +little, and she must take a short rest in order to be fresh for the +evening, when she hoped they would all gather about her again. + +"I want you all to feel at home and to enjoy yourselves as much as you +can," she said, in conclusion. "Play about the grounds, children, +whenever you like." + +Her cottage stood between the houses of the Duncans and Allisons; the +grounds of all three were extensive, highly cultivated, and adorned with +beautiful trees, shrubbery, and flowers, and there were no separating +fences or hedges, so that they seemed to form one large park or garden. + +Rosie and Walter Travilla, and the young Raymonds were delighted with +the permission to roam at will about these lovely grounds, and hastened +to avail themselves of it as soon as the removal of the dust of travel +and a change of attire rendered them fit. + +They found a Dutch gardener busied here and there, and presently opened +a conversation with him, quite winning his heart by unstinted praises of +the beauty of his plants and flowers. + +"It must be a great deal of work to keep those large gardens in such +perfect order," remarked Rose. + +"Dat it ish, miss," he said; "but I vorks pretty hard mineself, and my +son Shakey, he gifs me von leetle lift ven he ton't pees too much in +school." + +"Do you live here?" asked little Grace. + +"Here in dis garten? no, miss; I lifs oud boud t'ree mile in de +country." + +"That's a long walk for you, isn't it?" said Lulu. + +"Nein; I don't valks, miss; ven I ish god dings to pring--abbles or +botatoes or some dings else--I say to mine Shakey, 'Just hitch de +harness on de horse and hang him to de stable door;' or if I got nodings +to pring I tells de poy, 'Hitch him up a horseback;' den I comes in to +mine vork and I tash! I don't hafs to valk--nod a shtep." + +"How funny he talks," whispered Grace to Lulu; "I can hardly understand +him." + +"It's because he's Dutch," returned Lulu, in the same low tone. "But I +can tell almost all he says. His son's name must be Jakey; the short for +Jacob." + +"What is your name?" asked Max. + +"Hencle--Shon Hencle. I dinks you all pees come to see Miss Stanhope pe +von huntred years olt; ishn't you?" + +"Yes," said Rosie. "It seems very wonderful to think that she has lived +so long." + +The children, weary with their journey, were sent to bed early that +night. Lulu and Grace found they were to sleep together in a small room +opening into a larger one, where two beds had been placed for the time +to meet the unusual demand for sleeping quarters. These were to be +occupied by Grandma Elsie, Violet, Rosie, and Walter. + +Timid little Grace heard, with great satisfaction, that all these were +to be so near; and Lulu, though not at all cowardly, was well pleased +with the arrangement. Yet she little thought how severely her courage +was to be tested that night. + +She and Grace had scarcely laid their heads upon their pillows ere they +fell into profound slumber. Lulu did not know how long she had slept, +but all was darkness and silence within and without the house, when +something, she could not have told what, suddenly roused her completely. + +She lay still, trying to recall the events of the past day and remember +where she was; and just as she succeeded in doing so a strange sound, as +of restless movements and the clanking of chains, came from beneath the +bed. + +Her heart seemed to stand still with fear; she had never before, in all +her short life, felt so terrified and helpless. + +"What can it be?" she asked herself. "An escaped criminal--a +murderer--or a maniac from an insane asylum, I suppose; for who else +would wear a clanking chain? and what can he want here but to kill +Gracie and me? I suppose he got in the house before they shut the doors +for the night, and hid under the bed till everybody should be fast +asleep, meaning to begin then to murder and rob. Oh, I do wish I'd +looked under the bed while all the gentlemen were about to catch him and +keep him from hurting us! But now what shall I do? If I try to get out +of the bed, he'll catch hold of my foot and kill me before anybody can +come; and if I scream for help, he'll do the same. The best plan is to +lie as quiet as I can, so he'll think I'm still asleep; for maybe he +only means to rob, and not murder, if nobody wakes up to see what he's +about and tell of him. Oh, I do hope Gracie won't wake! for she could +never help screaming; and then he'd jump out and kill us both." + +So with heroic courage she lay there, perfectly quiet and hardly moving +a muscle for what seemed to her an age of suffering, every moment +expecting the creature under the bed to spring out upon her, and in +constant fear that Grace would awake and precipitate the calamity by a +scream of affright. + +All was quiet again for some time, she lying there, straining her ears +for a repetition of the dreaded sounds; then, as they came again louder +than before, she had great difficulty in restraining herself from +springing from the bed and shrieking aloud, in a paroxysm of panic +terror. + +But she did control herself, lay perfectly still, and allowed not the +slightest sound to escape her lips. + +That last clanking noise had awakened Elsie, and she too now lay wide +awake, silent and still, while intently listening for a repetition of +it. She hardly knew whence the sound had come, or what it was; but when +repeated, as it was in a moment or two, she was satisfied that it issued +from the room where Lulu and Grace were, and her conjectures in regard +to its origin coincided with Lulu's. + +She, too, was greatly alarmed, but did not lose her presence of mind. +Hoping the little girls were still asleep, and judging from the silence +that they were, she lay for a few minutes without moving, indeed +scarcely breathing, while she tried to decide upon the wisest course to +pursue, asking guidance and help from on high, as she always did in +every emergency. + +Her resolution was quickly taken; slipping softly out of bed, she stole +noiselessly from the room and into another, on the opposite side of the +hall, occupied by Edward and Zoe. + +"Edward," she said, speaking in a whisper close to his ear, "wake, my +son; I am in need of help." + +"What is it, mother?" he asked, starting up. + +"Softly," she whispered; "make no noise, but come with me. Somebody or +something is in the room where Lulu and Gracie sleep. I distinctly heard +the clanking of a chain." + +"Mother!" he cried, but hardly above his breath, "an escaped lunatic, +probably! Stay here and let me encounter him alone. I have loaded +pistols--" + +"Oh, don't use them if you can help it!" she cried. + +"I shall not," he assured her, "unless it is absolutely necessary." + +He snatched the weapons from beneath his pillow as he spoke, and went +from the room, she closely following. + +At the instant that they entered hers a low growl came from the inner +room, and simultaneously they exclaimed, "A dog!" + +"Somewhat less to be feared than a lunatic, unless he should be mad, +which is not likely," added Edward, striking a light. + +Lulu sprang up with a low cry of intense relief. "O Grandma Elsie, it's +only a dog, and I thought it a crazy man or a wicked murderer!" + +As she spoke the animal emerged from his hiding-place and walked into +the outer room, dragging his chain after him. + +Edward at once recognized him as a large mastiff Harry Duncan had shown +him the previous afternoon. + +"It's Mr. Duncan's dog," he said; "he must have broken his chain and +come in unobserved before the house was closed for the night. Here, +Nero, good fellow, this way! You've done mischief enough for one night, +and we'll send you home." + +He led the way to the outer door, the dog following quite peaceably, +while Elsie, hearing sobs coming from the other room, hastened in to +comfort and relieve the frightened children. + +Grace still slept on in blessed unconsciousness; but she found Lulu +crying hysterically, quite unable to continue her efforts at +self-control, now that the necessity for it was past. + +"Poor child!" Elsie said, folding her in her kind arms, "you have had a +terrible fright, have you not?" + +"Yes, Grandma Elsie; oh, I've been lying here so long, _so long_, +thinking a murderer or crazy man was under the bed, just ready to jump +out and kill Gracie and me!" she sobbed, clinging convulsively about +Elsie's neck. + +"And did not scream for help! What a brave little girl you are!" + +"I wanted to, and, oh, I could hardly keep from it! But I thought if I +did it would wake Gracie and scare her to death, and the man would be +sure to jump out and kill us at once." + +"Dear child," Elsie said, "you have shown yourself thoughtful, brave, +and unselfish; how proud your father will be of his eldest daughter +when he hears it!" + +"O Grandma Elsie, do you think he will? How glad that would make me! It +would pay for all the dreadful fright I have had," Lulu said, her tones +tremulous with joy, as, but a moment ago, they had been with nervousness +and fright. + +"I am quite sure of it," Elsie answered, smoothing the little girl's +hair with caressing hand, "quite sure; because I know he loves you very +dearly, and that he admires such courage, unselfishness, and presence of +mind as you have shown to-night." + +These kind words did much to turn Lulu's thoughts into a new channel and +thus relieve the bad effects of her fright. But Elsie continued for some +time longer her efforts to soothe her into calmness and forgetfulness, +using tender, caressing words and endearments; then she left her, with +an injunction to try to go immediately to sleep. + +Lulu promised compliance, and, attempting it, succeeded far sooner than +she had thought possible. + +The whole occurrence seemed like a troubled dream when she awoke in the +morning. It was a delicious day in early October, and as soon as dressed +she went into the garden, where she found John Hencle already at work, +industriously weeding and watering his plants and flowers. + +"Goot-morning, mine leetle mees," he said, catching sight of her, "Was +it so goot a night mit you?" + +"No," she said, and went on to tell the story of her fright. + +"Dot ish lige me," he remarked, phlegmatically, at the conclusion of her +tale. "Von nighd I hears somedings what make me scare. I know notings +what he ish; I shust hears a noise, an' I shumpt de bed out, and ran de +shtairs down, and looked de window out, and it wasn't notings but a +leetle tog going 'Bow wow.'" + +"I don't think it was very much like my fright," remarked Lulu, in +disgust; "it couldn't have been half so bad." + +"Vell, maype not; but dat Nero ish a goot, kind tog; he bide dramps, but +nefer dose nice leetle girl. Dis ish de great day when dose nice old +lady pees von huntred years old. What you dinks? a fery long dime to +live?" + +"Yes; very long," returned Lulu, emphatically. "I wish I knew papa would +live to be that old, for then he'd be at home with us almost forty years +after he retires from the navy." + +"Somebody ish call you, I dinks," said John, and at the same moment +Grace's clear, bird-like voice came floating on the morning breeze, +"Lulu, Lulu!" as her dainty little figure danced gayly down the garden +path in search of her missing sister. + +"Oh, there you are!" she exclaimed, catching sight of Lulu. "Come into +Aunt Wealthy's house and see the pretty presents everybody has given her +for her hundredth birthday. She hasn't seen them yet, but she is going +to when she comes down to eat her breakfast." + +"Oh, I'd like to see them!" exclaimed Lulu, and she and Grace tripped +back to the house together, and on into the sitting-room, where, on a +large table, the gifts were displayed. + +They were many, and some of them costly, for the old lady was very dear +to the hearts of these relatives, and they were able as well as willing +to show their affection in this substantial way. + +There were fine paintings and engravings to adorn her walls; fine china, +and glittering cut glass, silver and gold ware for her tables; vases for +her mantels; richly-bound and illustrated books, whose literary contents +were worthy of the costly adornment, and various other things calculated +to give her pleasure or add to her ease and comfort. + +She was not anticipating any such demonstration of affection--not +expecting such substantial evidences of the love and esteem in which she +was held--and when brought face to face with them was almost overcome, +so that tears of joy and gratitude streamed from her aged eyes, + +They were soon wiped away, however, and she was again her own bright, +cheery self, full of thought and care for others--the kindest and most +genial of hostesses. + +She took the head of the breakfast-table herself, and poured the coffee +for her guests with her own hands, entertaining them the while with +cheerful chat, and causing many a merry laugh with the old-time tripping +of her tongue--a laugh in which she always joined with hearty relish. + +"There is too much butter in this salt," she remarked. "It is some John +Hencle brought in this morning. I must see him after breakfast and bid +him caution his wife to use less." + +But as they rose from the table John came in unsummoned, and carrying a +fine large goose under each arm. + +Bowing low: "I ish come to pring two gooses to de von hundredth +birthday," he announced; "dey pees goot, peaceable pirds: I ish know dem +for twenty years, and dey nefer makes no droubles." + +A smile went round the little circle, but Miss Stanhope said, with a +very pleased look, "Thank you, John; they shall be well fed, and I hope +they will like their new quarters. How is Jake doing? I haven't seen +him for some time." + +"No; Shakey is go to school most days. I vants Shakey to knows +somedings." + +"Yes, indeed; I hope Jakey is going to have a good education. But what +do you mean to do with him after he is done going to school?" + +"Vy, I dinks I prings mine Shakey to town and hangs him on to Sheneral +Shmicdt and makes a brinting-office out of him." + +"A printer, John? Well, that might be a very good thing if you don't +need him to help you about the farm, or our grounds. I should think you +would, though." + +"Nein, nein," said John, shaking his head; "'tis not so long as I vants +Shakey to makes mit me a fence; put I tash! Miss Stanhope, he say he +ton't can know how to do it; and I says, 'I tash! Shakey, you peen goin' +to school all your life, and you don't know de vay to makes a fence +yet.'" + +"Not so very strange," remarked Edward, with unmoved countenance, "for +they don't teach fence-making in ordinary schools." + +"Vell, den, de more's de bity," returned John, taking his departure. But +turning back at the door to say to Miss Stanhope, "I vill put dose +gooses in von safe place." + +"Any place where they can do no mischief, John," she answered, +good-humoredly. + +"Now, Aunt Wealthy," said Annis, "what can we do to make this wonderful +day pass most happily to you?" + +"Whatever will be most enjoyable to my guests," was the smiling reply. +"An old body like me can ask nothing better than to sit and look on and +listen." + +"Ah, but we would have you talk, too, auntie, when you don't find it +wearisome!" + +"What are you going to do with all your new treasures, Aunt Wealthy?" +asked Edward; "don't you want your pictures hung and a place found for +each vase and other household ornament?" + +"Certainly," she said, with a pleased look, "and this is the very time, +while I have you all here to give your opinions and advice." + +"And help," added Edward, "if you will accept it. As I am tall and +strong, I volunteer to hang the pictures after the place for each has +been duly considered and decided upon." + +His offer was promptly accepted, and the work entered upon in a spirit +of fun and frolic, which made it enjoyable to all. + +Whatever the others decided upon met with Miss Stanhope's approval; she +watched their proceedings with keen interest, and was greatly delighted +with the effect of their labors. + +"My dears," she said, "you have made my house so beautiful! and whenever +I look at these lovely things my thoughts will be full of the dear +givers. I shall not be here long, but while I stay my happiness will be +the greater because of your kindness," + +"And the remembrance of these words of yours, dear aunt, will add to +ours," said Mr. Keith, with feeling. + +"But old as you are, Aunt Wealthy," remarked Mr. Dinsmore, "it is quite +possible that some of us may reach home before you. It matters little, +however, as we are all travelling the same road to the same happy +country, being children of one Father, servants of the same blessed +Master." + +"And He shall choose all our changes for us," she said, "calling each +one home at such time as He sees best. Ah, it is sweet to leave all our +interests in His dear hands, and have Him choose our inheritance for +us!" + +There was a pause in the conversation, while Miss Stanhope seemed lost +in thought. Then Mrs. Keith remarked: + +"You look weary, dear Aunt Wealthy; will you not lie down and rest for a +little?" + +"Yes," she said, "I shall take it as the privilege of age, leaving you +all to entertain yourselves and each other for a time." + +At that Mr. Dinsmore hastened to give her his arm and support her to her +bedroom, his wife and Mrs. Keith following to see her comfortably +established upon a couch, where they left her to take her rest. + +The others scattered in various directions, as inclination dictated. + +Elsie and Annis sought the grounds, and, taking possession of a rustic +seat beneath a spreading tree, had a long, quiet talk, recalling +incidents of other days, and exchanging mutual confidences. + +"What changes we have passed through since our first acquaintance !" +exclaimed Annis. "What careless, happy children we were then!" + +"And what happy women we are now!" added Elsie, with a joyous smile. + +"Yes; and you a grandmother! I hardly know how to believe it! You seem +wonderfully young for that." + +"Do I?" laughed Elsie. "I acknowledge that I feel young--that I have +never yet been able to reason myself into feeling old." + +"Don't try; keep young as long as ever you can," was Annis's advice. + +"It is what you seem to be doing," said Elsie, sportively, and with an +admiring look at her cousin. "Dear Annis, may I ask why it is you have +never married? It must certainly have been your own fault." + +"Really, I hardly know what reply to make to that last remark," returned +Annis, in her sprightly way. "But I have not the slightest objection to +answering your question. I will tell 'the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth.' I have had friends and admirers among the +members of the other sex, but have never yet seen the man for love of +whom I could for a moment think of leaving father and mother." + +"How fortunate for them!" Elsie said, with earnest sincerity. "I know +they must esteem it a great blessing that they have been able to keep +one dear daughter in the old home." + +"And I esteem myself blest indeed in having had my dear father and +mother spared to me all these years," Annis said, with feeling. "What a +privilege it is, Elsie, to be permitted to smooth, some of the +roughnesses from their pathway now in their declining years; to make +life even a trifle easier and happier than it might otherwise be to +them--the dear parents who so tenderly watched over me in infancy and +youth! I know you can appreciate it--you who love your father so +devotedly. + +"But Cousin Horace is still a comparatively young man, hale and hearty, +and to all appearance likely to live many years, while my parents are +aged and infirm, and I cannot hope to keep them long." Her voice was +husky with emotion as she concluded. + +"Dear Annis," Elsie said, pressing tenderly the hand she held in hers, +"you are never to lose them. They may be called home before you, but the +separation will be short and the reunion for eternity--an eternity of +unspeakable joy, unclouded bliss at the right hand of Him whom you all +love better than you love each other." + +"That is true," Annis responded, struggling with her tears, "and there +is very great comfort in the thought; yet one cannot help dreading the +parting, and feeling that death is a thing to be feared for one's dear +ones and one's self. Death is a terrible thing, Elsie." + +"Not half so much so to me as it once was, dear cousin," Elsie said, in +a tenderly sympathizing tone. "I have thought much lately on that sweet +text, 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints;' +and that other, 'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be +satisfied,' and the contemplation has shown me so much of the love of +Jesus for the souls He has bought with His own precious blood and the +joyful reception He gives them, as one by one they are gathered home, +that it seems to me the death of a Christian should hardly bring sorrow +to any heart. Oh, it has comforted me much in my separation from the +dear husband of my youth, and made me at times look almost eagerly +forward to the day when my dear Lord shall call me home and I shall see +His face!" + +"O Elsie," cried Annis, "I trust that day may be far distant, for many +hearts would be like to break at parting with you! But there is +consolation for the bereaved in the thoughts you suggest; and I shall +try to cherish them and forget the gloom of the grave and the dread, for +myself and for those I love, of the parting." + +They were silent for a moment; then Elsie said, as if struck by a sudden +thought, "Annis, why should not you and your father and mother go home +with us and spend the fall and winter at Ion and Viamede?" + +"I cannot think of anything more delightful!" exclaimed Annis, her face +lighting up with pleasure; "and I believe it would be for their health +to escape the winter in our severer climate, for they are both subject +to colds and rheumatism at that season." + +"Then you will persuade them?" + +"If I can, Elsie. How kind in you to give the invitation!" + +"Not at all, Annis; for in so doing I seek my own gratification as well +as theirs and yours," Elsie answered, with earnest sincerity. "We +purpose going from here to Ion, and from there to Viamede, perhaps two +months later, to spend the remainder of the winter. And you and your +father and mother will find plenty of room and a warm welcome in both +places." + +"I know it, Elsie," Annis said; "I know you would not say so if it were +not entirely true, and I feel certain of a great deal of enjoyment in +your loved society, if father and mother accept your kind invitation." + +While these two conversed together thus in the grounds, a grand banquet +was in course of preparation in Miss Stanhope's house, under the +supervision of our old friends, May and Lottie. To it Elsie and Annis +were presently summoned, in common with the other guests. + +When the feasting was concluded, and all were again gathered in the +parlors, Elsie renewed her invitation already made to Annis, this time +addressing herself to Mr. and Mrs. Keith. + +They heard it with evident pleasure, and after some consideration +accepted. + +Edward and Zoe returned to Ion the following day, Herbert and Harold +leaving at the same time for college. The rest of the Travillas, the +Dinsmores, and the Raymonds lingered a week or two longer with Miss +Stanhope, who was very loath to part with them, Elsie in especial; then +bade farewell, scarce expecting to see her again on earth, and turned +their faces homeward, rejoicing in the promise of Mr. and Mrs. Keith +that they and Annis would soon follow, should nothing happen to prevent. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14379 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..37391b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #14379 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14379) diff --git a/old/14379-8.txt b/old/14379-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e19a13 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14379-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9204 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Elsie at Nantucket, by Martha Finley + + +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: Elsie at Nantucket + +Author: Martha Finley + +Release Date: December 19, 2004 [eBook #14379] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE AT NANTUCKET*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +ELSIE AT NANTUCKET + +A Sequel to _Elsie's New Relations_ + +by + +MARTHA FINLEY + +1884 + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Three years ago I spent some six weeks on Nantucket Island, making the +town of the same name my headquarters, but visiting other points of +interest, to which I take the characters of my story; so that in +describing the pleasures of a sojourn there during our heated term, I +write from experience; though, in addition to my own notes, I have made +use of Northrup's "'Sconset Cottage Life" to refresh my memory and +assist me in giving a correct idea of the life led by summer visitors +who take up their abode for the season in one of those odd little +dwellings which form the "original 'Sconset." + +Should my account of the delights of Nantucket as a summer resort lead +any of my readers to try it for themselves, I trust they will not meet +with disappointment or find my picture overdrawn. + +M.F. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "How happy they, +Who from the toil and tumult of their lives +Steal to look down where naught but ocean strives." + +--_Byron._ + + +"Well, captain, for how long have you Uncle Sam's permission to stay on +shore this time?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, as the family at Ion sat about the +breakfast-table on the morning after Captain Raymond's arrival. + +"Just one month certain, sir, with the possibility that the leave of +absence may be extended," was the reply, in a cheery tone; "and as I +want to make the very most of it, I propose that our plans for a summer +outing be at once discussed, decided upon, and carried out." + +"I second the motion," said Mr. Dinsmore. "Are all the grown people +agreed? The consent of the younger ones may safely be taken for +granted," he added, with a smiling glance from one to another. + +"I am agreed and ready for suggestions," replied his wife. + +"And I," said his daughter. + +"Vi is, of course, since the proposition comes from her husband," Edward +remarked, with a sportive look at her; then glancing at his own little +wife: "and as I approve, Zoe will be equally ready with her consent." + +"Have you any suggestion to offer, captain?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"I have, sir; and it is that we make the island of Nantucket our summer +resort for this year, dividing the time, if you like, between Nantucket +Town and the quaint little fishing village Siasconset, or 'Sconset, as +they call it for short. There is an odd little box of a cottage there +belonging to a friend of mine, a Captain Coffin, which I have partially +engaged until the first of September. It wouldn't hold nearly all of us, +but we may be able to rent another for the season, or we can pitch a +tent or two, and those who prefer it can take rooms, with or without +board, at the hotels or boarding-houses. What do you all say?" glancing +from his mother-in-law to his wife. + +"It sounds very pleasant, captain," Elsie said; "but please tell us more +about it; I'm afraid I must acknowledge shameful ignorance of that +portion of my native land." + +"A very small corner of the same, yet a decidedly interesting one," +returned the captain; then went on to give a slight sketch of its +geography and history. + +"It is about fifteen miles long, and averages four in width. Nantucket +Town is a beautiful, quaint old place; has some fine wide streets +and handsome residences, a great many narrow lanes running in all +directions, and many very odd-looking old houses, some of them +inhabited, but not a few empty; for of the ten thousand former residents +only about three thousand now remain." + +"How does that happen, Levis?" asked Violet, as he paused for a moment. + +"It used to be a great seat of the whale-fishery," he answered; "indeed, +that was the occupation of the vast majority of the men of the island; +but, as I presume you know, the whale-fishery has, for a number of +years, been declining, partly owing to the scarcity of whales, partly +to the discovery of coal-oil, which has been largely substituted for +whale-oil as an illuminant (as has gas also, by the way), and to +substitutes being found or invented for whale-bone also. + +"So the Nantucketers lost their principal employment, and wandered off +to different parts of the country or the world in search of another; and +the wharves that once presented a scene full of life and bustle are now +lonely and deserted. Property there was wonderfully depreciated for a +time, but is rising in value now with the influx of summer visitors. It +is becoming quite a popular resort--not sea-side exactly, for there you +are right out in the sea." + +"Let us go there," said Mrs. Dinsmore; "I think it would be a pleasant +variety to get fairly out into the sea for once, instead of merely +alongside of it." + +"Oh, yes, do let us go!" + +"I'm in favor of it!" + +"And I!" + +"And I!" cried one and another, while Mr. Dinsmore replied, laughingly, +to his wife, "Provided you don't find the waves actually rolling over +you, I suppose, my dear. Well, the captain's description is very +appetizing so far, but let us hear what more he has to say on the +subject." + +"Haven't I said enough, sir?" returned the captain, with a good-humored +smile. "You will doubtless want to find some things out for yourselves +when you get there." + +"Are there any mountains, papa?" asked little Grace. "I'd like to see +some." + +"So you shall, daughter," he said; "but we will have to go elsewhere +than to Nantucket to find them." + +"No hills either?" she asked. + +"Yes, several ranges of not very high hills; Saul's Hills are the +highest; then there are bluffs south of 'Sconset known as Sunset +Heights; indeed, the village itself stands on a bluff high above the +sandy beach, where the great waves come rolling in. And there is 'Tom +Never's Head.' Also Nantucket Town is on high ground sloping gradually +up from the harbor; and just out of the town, to the north-west, are the +Cliffs, where you go to find surf-bathing; in the town itself you must +be satisfied with still-bathing. An excellent place, by the way, to +teach the children how to swim." + +"Then you can teach me, Edward," said Zoe; "I'd like to learn." + +"I shall be delighted," he returned, gallantly. + +"Papa," asked Max, "are there any woods and streams where one may hunt +and fish?" + +"Hardly anything to be called woods," the captain answered; "trees of +any size are few on the island. Except the shade trees in the town, I +think some ragged, stunted pines are all you will find; but there are +streams and ponds to fish in, to say nothing of the great ocean. There +is some hunting, too, for there are plover on the island." + +"Well, shall we go and see for ourselves, as the captain advises?" asked +Mr. Dinsmore, addressing the company in general. + +Every voice answered in the affirmative, though Elsie, looking +doubtfully at Violet, remarked that she feared she was hardly strong +enough for so long a journey. + +"Ah, that brings me to my second proposition, mother," said Captain +Raymond; "that--seeing what a very large company we shall make, +especially if we can persuade our friends from Fairview, the Oaks, and +the Laurels to accompany us--we charter a yacht and go by sea." + +"Oh, captain, what a nice idea!" cried Zoe, clapping her hands. "I love +the sea--love to be either beside it or on it." + +"I think it would be ever so nice!" Rosie exclaimed. "Oh, grandpa and +mamma, do say yes!" + +"I shall not oppose it, my dear," Elsie said; "indeed, I think it may +perhaps be our best plan. How does it strike you, father?" + +"Favorably," he replied, "if we can get the yacht. Do you know of one +that might be hired, captain?" + +"I do, sir; a very fine one. I have done with it as with the +cottage--partially engaged it--feeling pretty sure you would all +fall in with my views." + +"Captain," cried Zoe, "you're just a splendid man! I know of only one +that's more so," with a laughing look at her husband. + +The captain bowed his acknowledgments. "As high praise as I could +possibly ask, my dear sister. I trust that one may always stand first in +your esteem." + +"He always will," said Zoe; "but," with another glance, arch and +smiling, into Edward's eyes, "don't tell him, lest he should grow +conceited and vain." + +"Don't tell him, because it would be no news," laughed Edward, gazing +with fondness and admiration at the blooming face of the loved +flatterer. + +The talk went on about the yacht, and before they left the table the +captain was empowered to engage her for their use. Also the 'Sconset +cottage he had spoken of, and one or two more, if they were to be had. + +"You will command the vessel, of course, captain?" several voices said, +inquiringly, all speaking at once. + +"If chosen commander by a unanimous vote," he said. + +"Of course, of course; we'll be only too glad to secure your services," +said Mr. Dinsmore, everybody else adding a word of glad assent. + +"How soon do we sail, captain?" asked Zoe. "Must we wait for an answer +from Nantucket?" + +"No; I shall send word by this morning's mail, to Captain Coffin, that +we will take his cottage and two others, if he can engage them for us. +But there is no time to wait for a reply." + +"Can't we telegraph?" asked Violet. + +"No; because there is no telegraph from the mainland to the island. + +"Now, ladies all, please make your preparations as rapidly as possible. +We ought to be off by the first of next week. I can telegraph for the +yacht, and she will be ready for us, lying at anchor in our own harbor. + +"But, little wife," turning to Violet, with a tenderly affectionate air, +"you are not to exert yourself in the least with shopping, sewing, or +packing. I positively forbid it," he added, with playful authority. + +"That is right, captain," Elsie said, with a pleased smile. "She is not +strong enough yet for any such exertion, nor has she any need to make +it." + +"Ah, mamma," said Violet, "are you not forgetting the lessons you used +to give us, your children, on the sin of indolence and self-indulgence?" + +"No, daughter; nor those on the duty of doing all in our power for the +preservation of health as one of God's good gifts, and to be used in His +service." + +They were all gathered upon the veranda now in the cool shade of the +trees and vines, for the weather was extremely warm. + +"I wish we were ready to sail to-day," said Zoe. "How delicious the +sea-breeze would be!" + +A nice-looking, pleasant-faced colored woman stepped from the doorway +with a little bundle in her arms, which she carried to Violet. + +The captain, standing beside his wife, bent over her and the babe with a +face full of love and delight. + +"Isn't she a darling?" whispered Violet, gazing down upon the tiny +creature with all a young mother's unspeakable love and pride in her +first-born, then up into her husband's face. + +"That she is!" he responded; "I never saw a fairer, sweeter babe. I +should fear to risk her little life and health in a journey to Nantucket +by land; but going by sea will, I think, be more likely to do her good +than harm." + +"It's all her, her, when you talk about that baby," laughed Rosie; "why +don't you call her by her name?" + +"So we will, Aunt Rosie, if you will kindly inform us what it is," +returned the captain, good-humoredly. + +"I, sir!" exclaimed Rosie; "we have all been told again and again that +you were to decide upon the name on your arrival; and you've been +here--how many hours?--and it seems the poor little dear is nameless +yet." + +"Apparently not greatly afflicted by it either," said the captain, +adopting Rosie's sportive tone. "My love, what do you intend to call +your daughter?" + +"Whatever her father appoints as her name," returned Vi, laughingly. + +"No, no," he said; "you are to name her yourself; you have undoubtedly +the best right." + +"Thank you; then, if you like, she shall be mamma's namesake; her first +granddaughter should be, I think, as the first grandson was papa's." + +"I highly approve your choice," he said, with a glance of affectionate +admiration directed toward his mother-in-law; "and may a strong +resemblance in both looks and character descend to her with the name." + +"We will all say amen to that, captain," said Edward. + +"Yes, indeed," added Zoe, heartily. + +"Thank you both," Elsie said, with a gratified look; "I appreciate the +compliment; but if I had the naming of my little granddaughter, she +should be another Violet; there is already an Elsie in the family +besides myself, you know, and it makes a little confusion to have too +many of the same name." + +"Then, mamma, we can make a variety by calling this one Else for short," +returned Violet, gayly, holding up the babe to receive a caress from +its grandmother, who had drawn near, evidently with the purpose of +bestowing it. + +"What a pretty pet it is!" Elsie said, taking it in her arms and gazing +delightedly into the tiny face. "Don't you think so, captain?" + +"Of course I do, mother," he said, with a happy laugh. Then, examining +its features critically: "I really fancy I see a slight resemblance to +you now, which I trust is destined to increase with increasing years. +But excuse me, ladies; I must go and write that all-important letter at +once, or it will be too late for the mail." + +He hurried away to the library, and entering it hastily, but without +much noise, for he wore slippers, found Lulu there, leaning moodily out +of a window. + +She had stolen away from the veranda a moment before, saying to herself, +in jealous displeasure, "Such a fuss over that little bit of a thing! I +do believe papa is going to care more for it than for any of us, his own +children, that he had long before he ever saw Mamma Vi; and it's just +too bad." + +Knowing Lulu as he did, her father instantly conjectured what was +passing in her mind. It grieved and angered him, yet strong affection +was mingled with his displeasure, and he silently asked help of God to +deal wisely with this child of his love. + +He remembered that Lulu was more easily ruled through her affections +than in any other way, and as she turned toward him, with a flushed and +shamefaced countenance, he went to her, took her in his arms, held her +close to his heart, and kissed her tenderly several times. + +"My dear, dear little daughter," he said. "How often, when far away on +the sea, I have longed to do this--to hold my dear Lulu in my arms and +feel hers about my neck and her sweet kisses on my lips." + +Her arms were instantly thrown round his neck, while she returned his +kisses with interest. + +"Papa," she said, "I do love you so, _so_ dearly; but I 'most wonder you +don't quit loving such a hateful girl as I am." + +"Perhaps I might not love an ill-tempered, jealous child belonging to +somebody else," he said, as if half in jest, half in earnest; "but you +are my own," drawing her closer and repeating his caresses, "my very +own; and so I have to love you in spite of everything. But, my little +girl," and his tone grew very grave and sad, "if you do not fight +determinately against these wrong feelings you will never know rest or +happiness in this world or the next. + +"But we won't talk any more about it now; I have no time, as I ought to +be writing my letter. Run away and make yourself happy, collecting +together such toys and books as you would like to carry with you to +Nantucket. Grandma Elsie and Mamma Vi will decide what you and the rest +will need in the way of clothing." + +"I will, papa; and oh, but I think you are good to me!" she said, giving +him a final hug and kiss; "a great deal better than I deserve; but I +will try to be good." + +"Do, my child," he said; "and not in your own strength; God will help +you if you ask Him." + +For the moment thoroughly ashamed of her jealousy of the baby, she ran +back to the veranda, where the others still were, and bending over it as +it lay its mother's arms, kissed it several times. + +Violet's face flushed with pleasure. "My dear Lulu, I hope you and +little Else are going to be very fond of each other," she said. + +"I hope so, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered, pleasantly; then, in a sudden fit +of penitence, added, "but I'm afraid she'll never learn any good from +the example of her oldest sister." + +"My dear child, resolve that she shall," said Grandma Elsie, standing +by; "you cannot avoid having a good deal of influence over her as she +grows older, and do not forget that you will have to give an account +for the use you make of it." + +"I suppose that's so," Lulu answered, with a little impatient shrug of +her shoulders; "but I wish it wasn't." Then, turning abruptly away, "Max +and Gracie," she called to her brother and sister, "papa says we may go +and gather up any books and toys we want to take with us." + +The three ran off together in high glee. The ladies stayed a little +longer, deep in consultation about necessary arrangements which must +fall to their share: then dispersed to their several apartments, with +the exception of Violet, who, forbidden to exert herself, remained where +she was till joined by her husband, when he had finished and despatched +his letter. It was great happiness to them to be together after their +long separation. + +Mr. Dinsmore and Edward had walked out into the avenue, and were seated +under a tree in earnest conversation. + +"Talking tiresome business, I suppose," remarked Zoe, in a half-petulant +tone, glancing toward them as she spoke, and apparently addressing +Violet, as she was the only other person on the veranda at the moment. + +"Yes, no doubt; but we must have patience with them, dear, because it +is very necessary," Violet answered, with a smile. "Probably they are +discussing the question how the plantation is to be attended to in their +absence. You know it won't take care of itself, and the men must have a +head to direct their labors." + +"Oh yes, of course; and for that reason Ned is kept ever so busy while +we are here, and I do think it will be delightful to get away to the +seashore with him, where there will be nothing to do but enjoy +ourselves." + +Zoe skipped away with the last word, ran up to her room, and began +turning over the contents of bureau drawers and taking garments from +wardrobes and closets, with the view of selecting such as she might deem +it desirable to carry with her on the contemplated trip. + +She was humming softly a snatch of lively song, feeling very gay and +light-hearted, when, coming across a gray travelling-dress a little +worse for the wear, her song suddenly ceased, while tears gathered in +her eyes, then began to fall drop by drop as she stood gazing down, upon +this relic of former days. + +"Just one year ago," she murmured. "Papa, papa! I never thought I could +live a whole year without you; and be happy, too! Ah, that seems +ungrateful, when you were so, so good to me! But no; I am sure you would +rather have me happy; and it would be ungrateful to my dear husband if I +were not." + +She put the dress aside, wiped away her tears, and took down another. +It was a dark woollen dress. She had travelled home in it the previous +fall, and had worn it once since on a very memorable occasion; her cheek +crimsoned at the recollection as she glanced from it to her husband, who +entered the room at that instant; then her eyes fell. + +"What is it, love?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. + +"Nothing, only--you remember the last time you saw me in this dress? Oh, +Ned, what a fool I was! and how good you were to me!" + +He had her in his arms by this time, and she was hiding her blushing +face on his breast. "Never mind, my pet," he said, soothing her with +caresses; "it is a secret between ourselves, and always shall be, unless +you choose to tell it." + +"I? No indeed!" she said, drawing a long breath; "I think I should +almost die of mortification if any one else should find it out; but I'm +glad you know it, because if you didn't my conscience wouldn't give me a +bit of peace till I confessed to you." + +"Ah! and would that be very difficult?" + +"Yes; I don't know how I could ever find courage to make the attempt." + +"Are you really so much afraid of me?" he asked, in a slightly aggrieved +tone. + +"Yes; for I love you so dearly that your displeasure is perfectly +unendurable," she replied, lifting her head to gaze fondly into his +eyes. + +"Ah, is that it, my darling?" he said, in a glow of delight. "I deem +myself a happy man in possessing such a treasure as you and your dear +love. I can hardly reconcile myself to the thought of a separation for +even a few weeks." + +"Separation!" she cried, with a start, and in a tone of mingled pain and +incredulity. "What can you mean? But I won't be separated from you; I'm +your wife, and I claim the right to cling to you always, _always_!" + +"And I would have you do so, if it could be without a sacrifice of your +comfort and enjoyment, but--" + +"Comfort and enjoyment!" she interrupted; "it is here in your arms or by +your side that I find both; nowhere else. But why do you talk so? is +anything wrong?" + +"Nothing, except that it seems impossible for me to leave the plantation +for weeks to come, unless I can get a better substitute than I know of +at present." + +"Oh, Ned, I am so sorry!" she cried, tears of disappointment springing +to her eyes. + +"Don't feel too badly about it, little wife," he said, in a cheery tone; +"it is just possible the right man may turn up before the yacht sails; +and in that case I can go with the rest of you; otherwise I shall hope +to join you before your stay at Nantucket is quite over." + +"Not my stay; for I won't go one step of the way without you, unless you +order me!" she added, sportively, and with a vivid blush; "and I'm not +sure that I'll do it even in that case." + +"Oh, yes you will," he said, laughingly. "You know you promised to be +always good and obedient on condition that I would love you and keep +you; and I'm doing both to the very best of my ability." + +"But you won't be if you send me away from you. No, no; I have a right +to stay with you, and I shall claim it always," she returned, clinging +to him as if she feared an immediate separation. + +"Foolish child!" he said, with a happy laugh, holding her close; "think +what you would lose: the sea voyage in the pleasantest of company--" + +"No; the pleasantest company would be left behind if you were," she +interrupted. + +"Well, very delightful company," he resumed; "then I don't know how many +weeks of the oppressive heat here you would have to endure, instead of +enjoying the cool, refreshing breezes sweeping over Nantucket. Surely, +you cannot give it all up without a sigh?" + +"I can't give up the thought of enjoying it all with you without +sighing, and crying, too, maybe," she answered, smiling through tears; +"but I'd sigh and cry ten times as much if I had to go and leave you +behind. No, Mr. Travilla, you needn't indulge the hope of getting rid of +me for even a week. I'm determined to stay where you stay, and go only +where you go." + +"Dreadful fate!" he exclaimed. "Well, little wife, I shall do my best to +avert the threatened disappointment of your hopes of a speedy departure +out of this heated atmosphere and a delightful sea voyage to that famous +island. Now, I must leave you and begin at once my search for a +substitute as manager of the plantation." + +"Oh, I do hope you will succeed!" she said. "Shall I go on with my +packing?" + +"Just as you please, my dear; perhaps it would be best; as otherwise you +may be hurried with it if we are able to go with the others." + +"Then I shall; and I'm determined not to look for disappointment," she +said, in a lively, cheery tone, as he left the room, + +At the conclusion of his conference with Edward, Mr. Dinsmore sought his +daughter in her own apartments. He found her busied much as Zoe was, +looking over clothing and selecting what ought to be packed in the +trunks a man-servant was bringing in. + +She had thrown aside the widow's weeds in which she was wont to array +herself when about to leave the seclusion of her own rooms, and donned a +simple white morning dress that was very becoming, her father thought. + +"Excuse my wrapper, papa," she said, turning toward him a bright, sweet +face, as he entered; "I found my black dress oppressive this warm +morning." + +"Yes," he said; "it is a most unwholesome dress, I think; and for that +reason and several others I should be extremely glad if you would give +it up entirely." + +"Would you, my dear father?" she returned, tears springing to her eyes. + +"I should indeed, if it would not involve too great a sacrifice of +feeling on your part. I have always thought white the most suitable and +becoming dress for you in the summer season, and so did your husband." + +"Yes, papa, I remember that he did; but--I--I should be very loath to +give the least occasion for any one to say or think he was forgotten by +her he loved so dearly, or that she had ceased to mourn his loss." + +"Loss, daughter dear?" he said, taking her in his arms to wipe away the +tears that were freely coursing down her cheeks, and caress her with +exceeding tenderness. + +"No, papa, not lost, but only gone before," she answered, a lovely +smile suddenly irradiating her features; "nor does he seem far away. I +often feel that he is very near me still, though I can neither see nor +speak to him nor hear his loved voice," she went on, in a dreamy tone, a +far-away look in the soft brown eyes as she stood, with her head on her +father's shoulder, his arm encircling her waist. + +Both were silent for some moments; then Elsie, lifting her eyes to her +father's face, asked, "Were you serious in what you said about my laying +aside mourning, papa?" + +"Never more so," he answered. "It is a gloomy, unwholesome dress, and I +have grown very weary of seeing you wear it. It would be very gratifying +to me to see you exchange it for more cheerful attire." + +"But black is considered the most suitable dress for old and elderly +ladies, papa; and I am a grandmother, you know." + +"What of that?" he said, a trifle impatiently; "you do not look old, and +are, in fact, just in the prime of life. And it is not like you to be +concerned about what people may think or say. Usually your only inquiry +is, 'Is it right?' 'Is it what I ought to do?'" + +"I fear that is a deserved reproof, papa," she said, with unaffected +humility; "and I shall be governed by your wishes in this matter, for +they have been law to me almost all my life (a law I have loved to +obey, dear father), and I know that if my husband were here he would +approve of my decision." + +She could not entirely suppress a sigh as she spoke, nor keep the tears +from filling her eyes. + +Her father saw and appreciated the sacrifice she would make for him. + +"Thank you, my darling," he said. "It seems selfish in me to ask it of +you, but though partly for my own gratification, it is really still more +for your sake; I think the change will be for your health and +happiness." + +"And I have the highest opinion of my father's wisdom," she said, "and +should never, never think of selfishness as connected with him." + +Mrs. Dinsmore came in at this moment. + +"Ah, my dear," she said, "I was in search of you. What is to be done +about Bob and Betty Johnson? You know they will be coming home in a day +or two for their summer vacation." + +"They can stay at Roselands with their cousins Calhoun and Arthur Conly; +or at the Oaks, if Horace and his family do not join us in the trip to +Nantucket." + +"Cannot Bob and Betty go with us, papa?" Elsie asked. "I have no doubt +it would be a very great treat to them." + +"Our party promises to be very large," he replied; "but if you two +ladies are agreed to invite them I shall raise no objection." + +"Shall we not, mamma?" Elsie asked, and Rose gave a hearty assent. + +"Now, how much dressmaking has to be done before the family can be ready +for the trip?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"Very little," the ladies told him, Elsie adding, "At least if you are +willing to let me wear black dresses when it is too cool for white, +papa. Mamma, he has asked me to lay aside my mourning." + +"I knew he intended to," Rose said, "and I think you are a dear good +daughter to do it." + +"It is nothing new; she has always been the best of daughters," Mr. +Dinsmore remarked, with a tenderly affectionate look at Elsie. "And, my +dear child, I certainly shall not ask you to stay a day longer than +necessary in this hot place, merely to have new dresses made when you +have enough even of black ones. We must set sail as soon as possible. +Now, I must have a little business chat with you. Don't go, Rose; it is +nothing that either of us would care to have you hear." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"Where the broad ocean leans against the land." + +--_Goldsmith_. + + +Elsie felt somewhat apprehensive that this early laying aside of her +mourning for their father might not meet the approval of her older son +and daughters; but it gave them pleasure; one and all were delighted to +see her resume the dress of the happy days when he was with them. + +Zoe, too, was very much pleased. "Mamma," she said, "you do look so +young and lovely in white; and it was so nice in you to begin wearing it +again on the anniversary of our wedding-day. Just think, it's a whole +year to-day since Edward and I were married. How fast time flies!" + +"Yes," Elsie said; "it seems a very little while since I was as young +and light-hearted as you are now, and now I am a grandmother." + +"But still happy; are you not, mamma? you always seem so to me." + +"Yes, my child; I have a very peaceful, happy life. I miss my husband, +but I know the separation is only for a short time, and that he is +supremely blessed. And with my beloved father and dear children about +me, heart and hands are full--delightfully full--leaving no room for +sadness and repining." This little talk was on the veranda, as the two +stood there for a moment apart from the others. Zoe was looking quite +bride-like in a white India mull, much trimmed with rich lace, her fair +neck and arms adorned with a set of beautiful pearls, just presented her +by Edward in commemoration of the day. + +She called Elsie's attention to them. "See, mamma, what my husband has +given me in memory of the day. Are they not magnificent?" + +"It is a very fine set," Elsie answered, with a smile, glancing +admiringly at the jewels and from them to the blooming face of the +wearer. "A most suitable gift for his little wife." + +"He's so good to me, mamma," Zoe said, with warmth. "I love him better +every day we live together, and couldn't think of leaving him behind +alone, when you all go off to Nantucket. I do hope he'll be able to find +somebody to take his place; but if he isn't I shall stay here with him." + +"That is quite right, dear child; I am very glad you love him so +dearly," Elsie said, with a very pleased look; "but I hope your +affection will not be put to so severe a test; we have heard of a very +suitable person, though it is still uncertain whether his services can +be secured. We shall probably know to-morrow." + +"Perhaps sooner than that," Mr. Dinsmore said, approaching them just in +time to hear his daughter's last sentence; "Edward has gone to have an +interview with him, and hopes for a definite reply to his proposition. +Ah, here he comes now!" as Edward was seen to turn in at the great gates +and come up the avenue at a gentle trot. It was too warm for a gallop. + +As he drew near he took off his hat and waved it in triumph round his +head. "Success, good friends!" he cried, reining in his steed at the +veranda steps. Then, as he threw the reins to a servant and sprang to +the ground, "Zoe, my darling, you can go on with your packing; we may +confidently expect to be able to sail with the rest." + +"Oh delightful!" she exclaimed, dancing about as gleefully as if she had +been a maiden of eight or ten instead of a woman just closing the first +year of her married life. + +Everybody sympathized in her joy; everybody was glad that she and Edward +were to be of their party. + +All the older ones were very busy for the next few days, no one finding +time for rest and quiet chat except the captain and Violet, who keenly +enjoyed a monopoly of each other's society during not a few hours of +every day; Mrs. Dinsmore and Elsie having undertaken to attend to all +that would naturally have fallen to Violet's share in making ready for +the summer's jaunt had she been in robust health. Bob and Betty Johnson, +to whom the Oaks had been home for many years, and who had just +graduated from school, came home in the midst of the bustle of +preparation, and were highly delighted by an invitation to join the +Nantucket party. + +No untoward event occurred to cause disappointment or delay; all were +ready in due season, and the yacht set sail at the appointed time, with +a full list of passengers, carrying plenty of luggage, and with fair +winds and sunny skies. + +They were favored with exceptionally fine weather all the way, and seas +so smooth that scarce a touch of sea-sickness was felt by any, from the +oldest to the youngest. + +They entered Nantucket harbor one lovely summer morning, with a +delicious breeze blowing from the sea, the waves rippling and dancing in +the sunlight, and the pretty town seated like a queen on the surrounding +heights that slope gently up from the water. + +They were all gathered on deck, eager for a first glimpse of the place. + +Most of them spoke admiringly of it, but Zoe said, "It's pretty enough, +but too much of a town for me. I'm glad we are not to stay in it. +'Sconset is a smaller place, isn't it, captain?" + +"Much smaller," he answered; "quite small enough to suit even so great a +lover of solitude as yourself, Mrs. Travilla." + +"Oh, you needn't laugh at me," she retorted; "one needn't be a great +lover of solitude to care for no more society than is afforded by this +crowd. But I want to be close by the bounding sea, and this town is shut +off from that by its harbor." + +"Where is the harbor, papa?" asked little Grace. + +"All around us, my child; we are in it." + +"Are we?" she asked, "I think it looks just like the sea; what's the +matter with it, Aunt Zoe?" + +"Nothing, only it's too quiet; the great waves don't come rolling in and +breaking along the shore. I heard your father say so; it's here they +have the still bathing." + +"Oh, yes, and papa is going to teach us to swim!" exclaimed Lulu; "I'm +so glad, for I like to learn how to do everything." + +"That's right," her father said, with an approving smile; "learn all +you can, for 'knowledge is power.'" + +They landed, the gentlemen presently secured a sufficient number of +hacks to comfortably accommodate the entire party, and after a cursory +view of the town, in a drive through several of its more important +streets, they started on the road to 'Sconset. + +They found it, though a lonely, by no means an unpleasant, drive--a road +marked out only by rows of parallel ruts across wild moorlands, where +the ground was level or slightly rolling, with now and then some gentle +elevation, or a far-off glimpse of harbor or sea, or a lonely farmhouse. +The wastes were treeless, save for the presence of a few stunted +jack-pines; but these gave out a sweet scent, mingling pleasantly with +the smell of the salt-sea air; and there were wild roses and other +flowering shrubs, thistles and tiger-lilies and other wild flowers, +beautiful enough to tempt our travellers to alight occasionally to +gather them. + +'Sconset was reached at length, three adjacent cottages found ready and +waiting for their occupancy, and they took possession. + +The cottages stood on a high bluff overlooking miles of sea, between +which and the foot of the cliff stretched a low sandy beach a hundred +yards or more in width, and gained by flights of wooden stairs. + +The cottages faced inland, and had each a little back yard, grassy, and +showing a few flowers, that reached to within a few yards of the edge of +the bluff. The houses were tiny, built low and strong, that they might +resist the fierce winds of winter in that exposed position, and shingled +all over to keep out the spray from the waves, which would penetrate any +other covering. + +Dinner was engaged for our entire party at one of the hotels, of which +there were two; but as it yet wanted more than an hour of the time set +for the meal, all who were not too tired sallied forth to explore the +hamlet and its environs. + +They found it to consist of about two hundred cottages, similar to those +they had engaged for the season, each in a little enclosure. They were +built along three narrow streets or lanes running parallel with the edge +of the bluff, and stood in groups of twos or threes, separated by narrow +cross-lanes, giving every one free access to the town pump, the only +source of fresh-water supply in the place. + +The children were particularly interested in the cottage of Captain +Baxter, with its famous ship's figure-head in the yard. + +Back of the original 'Sconset, on the slight ascent toward Nantucket +Town, stood a few more pretentious cottages, built as summer residences +by the rich men of the island, retired sea captains, and merchants; this +was the one broad street, and here were the two hotels, the Atlantic +House and the Ocean View House. + +Then on the bluff south of the old village, called Sunset Heights, there +were some half dozen cottages; a few on the bluff north of it, also. + +The town explored and dinner eaten, of course the next thing was to +repair to the beach to watch the rush and tumble of the restless waves, +fast chasing each other in, and the dash of the spray as they broke +along the shore. + +There was little else to see, for the bathing hour was long past; but +that was quite enough. + +Soon, however, nearly every one of the party began to feel unaccountably +sleepy. Some returned to the cottages for the indulgence of their desire +for slumber, and others, spreading cloaks and shawls upon the sand, +enjoyed a delicious rest, warmed by the sun and fanned by the sea +breeze. + +For a day or two they did little but sleep and eat, and sleep and eat +again, enjoying it immensely, too, and growing fat and strong. + +After that they woke to new life, made inquiries in regard to all the +sights and amusements the island afforded, and began availing themselves +of their opportunities, as if it were the business of life. + +When it was for a long drive to some notable point, all went together, +chartering several vehicles for their conveyance; at other times they +not unfrequently broke up into smaller parties, some preferring one sort +of sport, some another. + +"How many of us are going to bathe to-day?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, the +second morning after their arrival. + +"I for one, if you will bear me company and look out for my safety," +said his wife. + +"Most assuredly I will," he answered. "And you too, Elsie?" turning to +his daughter. + +"Yes, sir," she said, "if you think you can be burdened with the care of +two." + +"No, mother," spoke up Edward, quickly; "you and Zoe will be my charge, +of course." + +"Ridiculous, Ned! of course, Harold and I will take care of mamma," +exclaimed Herbert. "You will have enough to do to look out for your +wife's safety." + +(The yacht had touched at Cape May and taken the two college students +aboard there.) + +"I shall be well taken care of," their mother said, laughingly, with an +affectionate glance from one to another of her three tall sons; "but I +should like one of you to take charge of Rosie, another of Walter; and, +in fact, I don't think I need anything for myself but a strong hold of +the rope to insure my safety." + +"You shall have more!" exclaimed father and sons in a breath; "the surf +is heavy here, and we cannot risk your precious life." + +Mr. Dinsmore added, "None of you ladies ought to stay in very long, and +we will take you in turn." + +"Papa, may I go in?" asked Lulu, eagerly. + +"Yes; I'll take you in," the captain answered; "but the waves are so +boisterous that I doubt if you will care to repeat the experiment. Max, +I see, is waiting his chance to ask the same question," he added, with a +fatherly smile directed to the boy; "you may go in too, of course, my +son, if you will promise to hold on to the rope. I cannot think that +otherwise you would be safe in that boiling surf." + +"But I can swim, papa," said Max; "and won't you let me go with you out +beyond the surf, where the water is more quiet?" + +"Why yes, you shall," the captain replied, with a look of pleasure; "I +did not know that you had learned to swim." + +"I don't want to go in," said timid little Grace, as if half fearful it +might be required of her. "Mamma is not going, and can't I stay with +her, papa?" + +"Certainly, daughter," was the kind reply. "I suppose you feel afraid of +those dashing waves, and I should never think of forcing you in among +them against your will." + +Betty Johnson now announced her intention to join the bathers. "It's +the first chance I've ever had," she remarked, "and I shan't throw it +away. I'll hold on to the rope, and if I'm in any danger I suppose Bob, +or some of the rest of you, will come to my assistance?" + +"Of course we will!" all the gentlemen said, her brother adding, "And if +there's a good chance, I'll take you over to Nantucket Town, where +there's still-bathing, and teach you to swim." + +"Just what I should like," she said. "I have a great desire to add that +to the already large number of my accomplishments." + +Miss Betty was a very lively, in fact, quite wild, young lady, whose +great desire was for fun and frolic; to have, as she expressed it, "a +jolly good time" wherever she went. + +The captain drew out his watch. "About time to don the bathing-suits," +he said; "I understand that eleven o'clock is the hour, and it wants but +fifteen minutes of it." + +Grandma Elsie had kindly seen to it that each little girl--that is, +Captain Raymond's two and her own Rosie--was provided with a pretty, +neatly-fitting, and becoming bathing dress. + +Violet helped Lulu to put her's on, and, surveying her with a smile of +gratified motherly pride, told her she looked very well in it, and that +she hoped she would enjoy her bath. + +"Thank you," said Lulu; "but why don't you go in too, Mamma Vi?" + +"Only because I don't feel strong enough to stand up against those heavy +waves," Violet answered. "But I am going down to the beach to watch you +all, and see that you don't drown," she added, sportively. + +"Oh Lu, aren't you afraid to go in?" asked little Grace, half shuddering +at the very thought. + +"Why no, Gracie; I've bathed in the sea before; I went in a good many +times last summer; don't you remember?" + +"Yes; but the waves there weren't half so big and strong." + +"No; but I'll have a rope and papa, too, to hold to; so why need I be +afraid?" laughed Lulu. + +"Mamma is, I think," said Grace, looking doubtfully at her. + +"Oh no, dear," said Violet; "I should not be at all afraid to go in if +I were as strong as usual; but being weak, I know that buffeting with +those great waves would do me more harm than good." + +Their cottages being so near the beach, our party all assumed their +bathing suits before descending to it. They went down, this first time, +all in one company, forming quite a procession; Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore +heading it, and Violet and Grace, as mere spectators, bringing up the +rear. + +They, in common with others who had nothing to do but look on, found it +an amusing scene; there was a great variety of costume, some neat, +well-fitting, and modest; some quite immodestly scant; some bright and +new; some faded and old. There was, however, but little freshness and +beauty in any of them when they came out of the water. + +Violet and Grace found a seat under an awning. Max came running up to +them. + +"Papa is going in with Lulu first," he said; "then he will bring her out +and take me with him for a swim beyond the breakers. I'll just wait here +with you till my turn comes." + +"See, see, they're in the water!" cried Grace; "and oh, what a big, big +wave that is coming! There, it would have knocked Lulu down if papa +hadn't had fast hold of her." + +"Yes; it knocked a good many others down," laughed Max; "just hear how +they are screeching and screaming." + +"But laughing, too," said Violet, "as if they find it fine sport." + +"Who is that man sitting on that bench nearest the water, and looking +just ready to run and help if anybody needs it?" asked Grace. + +"Oh, that's Captain Gorham," said Max. "and to run and help if he's +needed is exactly what he's there for. And I presume he always does it; +for they say no bather was ever drowned here." + +Ten or fifteen minutes later a little dripping figure left the water, +and came running toward them. + +"Why, it's Lulu," Gracie said, as it drew near, calling out to Max that +papa was ready for him. + +Max was off like a shot in the direction of the water, and Lulu shouted +to her sister, "Oh Gracie, it's such fun! I wish you had gone, too." + +Violet hastened to throw a waterproof cloak about Lulu's shoulders, and +bade her hurry to the house, rub hard with a coarse towel, and put on +dry clothing. + +"I will go with you," she added, "if you wish." + +"Oh no, thank you, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered, in a lively, happy tone. "I +can do it all quite well myself, and it must be fun for you to sit here +and watch the bathers." + +"Well, dear, rub till you are in a glow," Violet said, as the little +girl sped on her way. + +"Oh mamma, see, see!" cried Grace, more than half frightened at the +sight; "papa has gone away, way out, and Maxie with him. Oh, aren't you +afraid they will drown?" + +"No, Gracie dear; I think we may safely trust your father's prudence +and skill as a swimmer," Violet answered. "Ah, there come Grandma Rose +and my mother; but Zoe and Betty seem to be enjoying it too much to +leave yet." + +"Mamma, let's stay here till our people all come out; papa and Maxie, +any way" Grace said, persuasively. + +"Yes; we will if you wish," said Violet. "I was just thinking I must go +in to see how baby is doing; but here comes Dinah, bringing her to me." + +There was no accident that day, and everybody was enthusiastic in praise +of the bathing. Zoe and Betty would have liked to stay in the water much +longer than their escorts deemed prudent, but yielded to their better +judgment. + +The next morning there was a division of their forces: the Dinsmores, +Mrs. Elsie Travilla, Rosie, and Walter, and the Raymonds taking an early +start for Nantucket Town, the others remaining behind to enjoy a +repetition of the surf bath at 'Sconset. + +The Nantucket party drove directly to the bathing house of the town, and +the little girls took their first lesson in swimming. They all thought +it "very nice," even Grace soon forgetting her timidity in the quiet +water and with her father to take care of her. + +After that they went about the town visiting places of note--the +Athenaeum, the oldest house, dating back more than a hundred years, no +longer habitable, but kept as a relic of olden times, so important that +a visit to it is a part of the regular curriculum of the summer +sojourner in Nantucket; then to the news-room, where they wrote their +names in the "Visitors' Book;" then to the stores to view, among other +things, the antique furniture and old crockery on exhibition there and +for sale. + +Many of these stores, situate in wide, handsome streets, were quite +city-like in size and in their display of goods. + +Dinner at one of the hotels was next in order; after that a delightful +sail on the harbor, then around Brant Point and over the bar out into +the sea. + +Here the boat new before the wind, dancing and rocking on the waves to +the intense delight of the older children; but Gracie was afraid till +her father took her in his arms and held her fast, assuring her they +were in no danger. + +As she had unbounded confidence in "papa's" word, and believed he knew +all about the sea, this quieted her fears and made the rest of the sail +as thoroughly enjoyable to her as it was to the others. + +The drive back to 'Sconset, with the full moon shining on moor and sea, +was scarcely less delightful. They reached their cottage home full of +enthusiasm over the day's experiences, ready to do ample justice to a +substantial supper, and then for a long delicious night's sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"And I have loved thee, Ocean!" + + +Captain Raymond, always an early riser, was out on the bluffs before the +sun rose, and in five minutes Max was by his side. + +"Ah, my boy, I though you were sound asleep, and would be for an hour +yet," the captain remarked when they had exchanged an affectionate +good-morning. + +"No, sir, I made up my mind last night that I'd be out in time to see +the sun rise right out of the sea," Max said; "and there he is, just +peeping above the waves. There, now he's fairly up I and see, papa, what +a golden glory he sheds upon the waters; they are almost too bright to +look at. Isn't it a fine sight?" + +"Yes, well worth the sacrifice of an extra morning nap--at least once in +a while." + +"You must have seen it a great many times, papa." + +"Yes, a great many; but it never loses its attraction for me." + +"Oh, look, look, papa!" cried Max; "there's a fisherman going out; he +has his dory down on the beach, and is just watching for the right wave +to launch it. I never can see the difference in the waves--why one is +better than half a dozen others that he lets pass. Can you, sir?" + +"No," acknowledged the captain; "but let us watch now and try to make +out his secret." + +They did watch closely for ten minutes or more, while wave after wave +came rushing in and broke along the beach, the fisherman's eyes all the +while intent upon them as he stood motionless beside his boat; then +suddenly seeming to see the right one--though to the captain and Max it +did not look different from many of its neglected predecessors--he gave +his dory a vigorous push that sent it out upon the top of that very +wave, leaped into the stern, seized his oars, and with a powerful stroke +sent the boat out beyond the breakers. + +"Bravo!" cried Max, clapping his hands and laughing with delight; "see, +papa, how nicely he rides now on the long swells! How I should like to +be able to manage a boat like that. May I learn if I have the chance?" + +"Yes," said his father; "I should like to have you a proficient in all +manly accomplishments, only don't be foolhardy and run useless risks. I +want my son to be brave, but not rash; ready to meet danger with +coolness and courage when duty calls, and to have the proper training +to enable him to do so intelligently, but not to rush recklessly into it +to no good end." + +"Yes, papa," Max answered; "I mean to try to be just such a man as my +father is; but do you mean that I may take lessons in managing a boat on +the sea, if I can find somebody to teach me?" + +"I do; I shall inquire about among the fishermen and see who is capable +and willing for the task. Come, let us go down to the beach; we shall +have abundance of time for a stroll before breakfast." + +At that moment Lulu joined them with a gay good-morning to each; she was +in a happy mood. "Oh, what a lovely morning! what a delightful place +this is!" she cried. "Papa, can't we take a walk?" + +"Yes, Max and I were about starting for one, and shall be pleased to +have your company." + +"I'd like to go to Tom Never's Head, papa," said Max. + +"Oh, so should I!" cried Lulu. + +"I believe they call the distance from here about two miles," remarked +the captain reflectively; "but such a walk before breakfast in this +bracing air I presume will not damage children as strong and healthy as +these two of mine," regarding them with a fond, fatherly smile. "So come +along, we will try it." + +He took Lulu's hand, and the three wended their way southward along +Sunset Heights, greatly enjoying the sight of the ocean, its waves +glittering and dancing in the brilliant sunlight, their booming sound as +they broke along the beach and the exhilarating breeze blowing fresh and +pure from them. + +"This is a very dangerous coast," the captain remarked, "especially in +winter, when it is visited by fierce gales; a great many vessels have +been wrecked on Nantucket coast." + +"Yes, papa," said Max; "I heard a story the other day of a ship that was +wrecked the night before Christmas, eight or ten years ago, on this +shore. Nobody knew that a ship was near until the next morning, when +pieces of wreck, floating barrels, and dead bodies were cast up on the +beach. + +"They found that one man had got to land alive; they knew it because he +was quite a distance from the beach, though entirely dead when they +found him. You see there was just one farmhouse in sight from the scene +of the disaster, and they had alight that night because somebody was +sick; and they supposed the man saw the light and tried to reach it, but +was too much exhausted by fatigue and the dreadful cold, for it seemed +his clothes had all been torn off him by the waves; he was stark naked +when found, and lying on the ground, which showed that he had struggled +hard to get up after falling down upon it. + +"I think they said the ship was called the Isaac Newton, was loaded with +barrels of coal-oil, and bound for Holland." + +"What a terrible death!" Lulu said with a shudder, and clinging more +tightly to her father's hand; "every one drowned and may be half frozen +for hours before they died. Oh, papa, I wish you didn't belong to the +navy, but lived all the time on land! I am so afraid your ship will be +wrecked some time," she ended with a sob. + +"It is not only upon the water that people die by what we call accident, +daughter," the captain answered; "many horrible deaths occur on +land--many to which drowning would in my opinion be far preferable. + +"But you must remember that we are under God's care and protection +everywhere, on land and on sea; and that if we are His children no real +evil can befall us. I am very glad you love me, my child, but I would +not have you make yourself unhappy with useless fears on my account. +Trust the Lord for me and all whom you love." + +They pressed onward and presently came upon a lovely lakelet near the +beach, as clear as crystal and with bushes with dark green foliage +growing on all sides but that toward the sea. + +They stopped for a moment to gaze upon it with surprise and admiration, +then pushed on again till the top of the high bluff known as Tom Never's +Head was reached. + +They stood upon its brink and looked off westward and northward over the +heaving, tumbling ocean, as far as the eye could reach to the line where +sea and sky seemed to meet, taking in long draughts of the pure, +invigorating air, and listening to the roar of the breakers below. + +"What is that down there?" asked Lulu. + +"Part of a wreck, evidently," answered her father; "it must have been +there a long while, it is so deeply imbedded in the sand." + +"I wish I knew its story," said Lulu; "I hope everybody wasn't drowned +when it was lost." + +"It must have happened years ago, before that life-saving station was +built," remarked Max. + +"Life-saving station," repeated Lulu, turning to look in the direction +of his glance; "what's that?" + +"Do you not know what that means?" asked her father. "It is high time +you did. Those small houses are built here and there all along our coast +by the general government, for the purpose of accommodating each a band +of surf-men, who are employed by the government to keep a lookout for +vessels in distress, and give them all the aid in their power. + +"They are provided with lifeboats, buoys, and other necessary things to +enable them to do so successfully. If it were not too near breakfast +time I should take you over there to see their apparatus; but we must +defer it to some other day, which will be quite as well, for then we may +bring a larger party with us. Now for home," he added, again taking +Lulu's hand; "if your appetites are as keen as mine you will be glad to +get there and to the table." + +"Two good hours to bathing-time," remarked Mr. Dinsmore, consulting his +watch as they rose from the breakfast table. "I propose that we utilize +them in a visit to Sankaty lighthouse." + +All were well satisfied to do so, and presently they set off, some +driving, others walking, for the distance is not great, and even feeble +folk often find themselves able to take quite long tramps in the bracing +sea air. + +Max and Lulu preferred to walk when they learned that their father +intended doing so; then Grace, though extremely fond of driving, begged +leave to join their party, and the captain finally granted her request, +thinking within himself that he could carry her if her strength gave +out. + +The little face grew radiant with delight. + +"Oh, you are a nice, good papa!" she cried, giving him a hug and kiss, +for he was seated with her upon his knee. + +"I am glad you think so," he said, laughingly, as he returned her +caress. "Well, as soon as I have helped your mamma into the carriage we +will start." + +They set out presently, Grace holding fast to one of his hands while +Lulu had the other, and tripping gayly along by his side till, passing +out of the village, they struck into the narrow path leading to Sankaty; +then the little maid moved along more soberly, looking far away over the +rolling billows and watching the progress of some vessels in the offing. + +They could hear the dash of the waves on the beach below, but could not +see it for the over-hanging cliffs, the path running some yards distant +from their brink. + +"I want to see where the waves come up," said Lulu; "there's Max looking +down over the edge; can't we go and look too, papa?" + +"Yes, with me along to take care of you," he said, turning from the path +and leading them seaward; "but don't venture alone, the ground might +crumble under your feet and you would have a terrible fall, going down +many feet right into the sea." + +They had reached the brink. Grace, clinging tightly to her father's +hand, took one timid peep, then drew back in terror. "Oh, papa, how far +down it is!" she exclaimed. "Oh, let's get away, for fear the ground +will break and let us fall." + +"Pooh! Gracie, don't be such a coward," said Lulu. "I shouldn't be +afraid even if papa hadn't hold of our hands." + +"I should be afraid for you, Lulu, so venturesome as you are," said the +captain, drawing her a little farther back. "Max, my son, be careful." + +"Yes, sir, I will. Papa, do you know how high this bluff is?" + +"They say the bank is eighty-five feet high where the lighthouse stands, +and I presume it is about the same here. Now, children, we will walk +on." + +Grace's strength held out wonderfully; she insisted she was not at all +tired, even when the end of their walk was reached. + +The other division of the party had arrived some minutes before, and +several were already making the ascent to the top of the lighthouse +tower; the rest were scattered, waiting their turn in the neat parlor of +the keeper's snug little home, or wandering over the grassy expanse +between it and the sea. + +"There are Grandma Elsie and mamma in the house," cried Grace, catching +sight of them through a window. + +"Yes," said her father, "we will go in there and wait our turn with +them," leading the way as he spoke. "Do you want to go up into the +tower, Gracie?" + +"Oh no, no, papa!" she cried, "what would be the use? and I am afraid I +might fall." + +"What, with your big strong father to hold you fast?" he asked +laughingly, sitting down and drawing her to a seat upon his knee; for +they had entered the parlor. + +"It might tire you to hold me so hard; I'm getting so big now," she +answered naïvely, looking up into his face with a loving smile and +stealing an arm about his neck. + +"Ah, no danger of that," he laughed. "Why, I believe I could hold even +your mamma or Lulu, and that against their will, without being greatly +exhausted by the exertion. + +"My dear," turning to Violet, "shall I have the pleasure of helping you +up to the top of the tower?" + +"Thank you, I think I shall not try it to-day," she answered; "they tell +me the steps are very steep and hard to climb." + +"Ah, so I suppose, and I think you are wise not to attempt it." + +"But I may, mayn't I, papa?" Lulu said. "You know I always like to go +everywhere." + +"I fear it will be a hard climb for a girl of your size," he answered +doubtfully. + +"Oh, but I want to go, and I don't care if it is a hard climb," she +said coaxingly, coming close to his side and laying her hand on his +shoulder. "Please, papa, do say I may." + +"Yes, since you are so desirous," he said, in an indulgent tone. + +Max came hurrying in. "We can go up now, papa," he said; "the others +have come down." + +Edward and Zoe were just behind the boy. "Oh, you ought all to go up," +cried the latter; "the view's just splendid." + +"Mother," said Edward, "the view is very fine, but there are sixty +steps, each a foot high; a pretty hard climb for a lady, I should think. +Will you go up? may I have the pleasure of helping you?" + +"Yes," she answered; "I am quite strong and well, and think the view +will probably pay for the exertion." + +They took the lead, the captain following with Lulu, and Max bringing up +the rear. + +Having reached the top and viewed the great light (one of the finest on +the coast) from the interior, Elsie stepped outside, and holding fast to +Edward's hand made the entire circuit, enjoying the extended view on all +sides. + +Stepping in again, she drew a long breath of relief. "I should not like +to try that in a strong wind," she said, "or at all if I were easily +made dizzy; no, nor in any case without a strong arm to cling to for +safety; for there is plenty of space to fall through between the iron +railing and the masonry." + +"I should tremble to see you try it alone, mother," Edward said. + +"It is a trifle dangerous," acknowledged the keeper. + +"Yet safe enough for a sailor," laughed the captain, stepping out. + +"Oh, papa, let me go too, please do!" pleaded Lulu. + +"Why should you care to?" asked her father. + +"To see the prospect, papa; oh, do let me! there can't be any danger +with you to hold me tight." + +For answer he leaned down and helped her up the step, then led her +slowly round, giving her time to take in all the beauties of the scene, +taking care of Max too, who was slowly following. + +"I presume you are a little careful whom you allow to make that round?" +the captain observed inquiringly to the keeper when again they stood +inside. + +"Yes, and we have never had an accident; but I don't know but there was +a narrow escape from it the other day. + +"Of course crowds of people come here almost every day while summer +visitors are on the island, and we can't always judge what kind they +are; but we know it is not an uncommon thing for people standing on the +brink of a precipice or any height to feel an uncontrollable inclination +to throw themselves down it, and therefore we are on the watch. + +"Well, the other day I let a strange woman out there, but presently when +I saw her looking down over the edge and heard her mutter to herself, +'Shall I know him when I see him? shall I know him when I see him?' I +pulled her inside in a hurry." + +"You thought she was deranged and about to commit suicide by +precipitating herself to the ground?" Edward said inquiringly. + +"Exactly, sir," returned the keeper. + +All of their number who wished to do so having visited the top of the +tower, our party prepared to leave. + +"Are you going to walk back, papa? Mayn't I go with you?" pleaded Grace. + +"No, daughter, we must not try your strength too far," he said, lifting +her into the carriage where Grandma Elsie and Violet were already +seated. "I am going on a mile further to Sachacha Pond, ladies," he +remarked; "will you drive there, or directly home?" + +"There, if there is time to go and return before the bathing hour," they +answered. + +"Quite. I think," he replied, and the carriage moved on, he with Max +and Lulu, and several of the young gentlemen of the company following on +foot. + +Sachacha Pond they found to be a pretty sheet of water only slightly +salt, a mile long and three quarters of a mile wide, separated from the +ocean by a long narrow strip of sandy beach. No stream enters it, but it +is the reservoir of the rainfall from the low-lying hills sloping down +to its shores. + +Quidnet--a hamlet of perhaps a half dozen houses--stands on its banks. + +It is to this pond people go to fish for perch; calling it fresh-water +fishing; here too they "bob" for eels. + +Our party had not come to fish this time, yet had an errand aside from a +desire to see the spot--namely, to make arrangements for going sharking +the next day. + +Driving and walking on to Quidnet they soon found an old, experienced +mariner who possessed a suitable boat and was well pleased to undertake +the job of carrying their party out to the sharking grounds on the +shoals. He would need a crew of two men, easily to be found among his +neighbors, he said; he would also provide the necessary tackle. The bait +would be perch, which they would catch here in the pond before setting +out for the trip by sea to their destination--about a mile away. + +Mr. Dinsmore, his three grandsons, and Bob Johnson were all to be of +the party. Max was longing to go too, but hardly thought he would be +allowed; he was hesitating whether to make the request when his father, +catching his eager, wistful look, suddenly asked, "Would you like to go, +Max?" + +"Oh, yes, papa, yes, indeed!" was the eager response, and the boy's +heart bounded with delight at the answer, in a kindly indulgent tone, +"Very well, you may." + +Lulu, hearing it, cried out, "Oh, couldn't I go too, papa?" + +"You? a little girl?" her father said, turning an astonished look upon +her; "absurd! no, of course you can't." + +"I think I might," persisted Lulu; "I've heard that ladies go sometimes, +and I shouldn't be a bit afraid or get in anybody's way." + +"You can't go, so let me hear no more about it," the captain answered +decidedly as they turned toward home, the arrangements for the morrow's +expedition being completed. + +"Wouldn't Lulu like to ride?" Violet asked, speaking from the carriage +window; "she has already done a good deal of walking to-day." + +The carriage stopped, and the captain picked Lulu up and put her in it +without waiting for her to reply, for he saw that she was sulking over +his refusal of her request. + +She continued silent during the short drive to the cottage, and +scarcely spoke while hurriedly dressing for the surf-bath. + +The contemplated sharking expedition was the chief topic of conversation +at the dinner-table, and it was quite evident that those who were going +looked forward to a good deal of sport. + +The frown on Lulu's face grew darker as she listened. Why should not she +have a share in the fun as well as Max? she was sure she was quite as +brave, and not any more likely to be seasick; and papa ought to be as +willing to give enjoyment to his daughter as to his son. + +She presently slipped away to the beach and sat down alone to brood over +it, nursing her ill-humor and missing much enjoyment which she might +have had because this--a very doubtful one at the best--was denied her. + +Looking round after a while, and seeing her father sitting alone on a +bench at some little distance, she went to him and asked, "Why can't I +go with you to-morrow, papa? I don't see why I can't as well as Max." + +"Max is a boy and you are a girl, which makes a vast difference whether +you see it or not," the captain answered. "But I told you to let me hear +no more about it. I am astonished at your assurance in approaching me +again on the subject." + +Lulu was silent for a moment, then said complainingly, "And I suppose +I'll not be allowed to take my bath either?" + +"I don't forbid you," the captain said kindly, putting his arm about her +and drawing her in between his knees; "provided you promise to keep fast +hold of the rope all the time you are in. With that, and Captain Gorham +keeping close watch, you will not be in much danger, I think; but I +should be much easier in mind--it would give me great satisfaction--if +my little girl would voluntarily relinquish the bath for this one day +that I shall not be here to take care of her, for possibly she might be +swept away, and it would be a terrible thing to me to lose her." + +"I 'most wonder you don't say a good thing, papa, I'm so often naughty +and troublesome," she said, suddenly becoming humble and penitent. + +"No, it would not be true; your naughtiness often pains me deeply, but +I must continue to love my own child in spite of it all," he responded, +bending down and imprinting a kiss upon her lips. + +"And I love you, papa; indeed, indeed I do," she said, with her arm +round his neck, her cheek pressed close to his; "and I won't go in +to-morrow; I'm glad to promise not to if it will make you feel easier +and enjoy your day more." + +"Thank you, my dear child," he said. "I have not the least doubt of +your affection." + +Edward had spread a rug on the sand just high enough on the beach to be +out of reach of the incoming waves, and Zoe, with a book in her hand, +was half reclining upon it, resting on her elbow and gazing far out over +the waters. + +"Well, Mrs. Travilla, for once I find you alone. What has become of your +other half?" said a lively voice at her side. + +"Oh, is it you, Betty?" Zoe exclaimed, quickly turning her head and +glancing up at the speaker. + +"No one else, I assure you," returned the lively girl, dropping down on +the sand and folding her hands in her lap. "Where did you say Ned is?" + +"I didn't say; but he has gone to help mamma down with her shawls and so +forth." + +"He's the best of sons as well as of husbands," remarked Betty; "but I'm +glad he's away for a moment just now, as I want a private word with you. +Don't you think it is just a trifle mean and selfish for all our +gentlemen to be going off on a pleasure excursion without so much as +asking if one of us would like to accompany them?" + +"I hadn't thought anything about it," replied Zoe. + +"Well, think now, if you please; wouldn't you go if you had an +invitation? Don't you want to go?" + +"Yes, if it's the proper thing; I'd like to go everywhere with my +husband. I'll ask him about it. Here he comes, mamma with him." + +She waited till the two were comfortably settled by her side, then said, +with her most insinuating smile, "I'd like to go sharking, Ned; won't you +take me along to-morrow?" + +"Why, what an idea, little wife!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I really +hate to say no to any request of yours, but I do not think it would be +entirely safe for you. We are not going on the comparatively quiet +waters of the harbor, but out into the ocean itself, and that in a +whaleboat, and we may have very rough sailing; besides, it is not at all +impossible that a man-eating shark might get into the boat alive, and, +as I heard an old fisherman say yesterday, 'make ugly work.'" + +"Then I don't want to go," Zoe said, "and I'd rather you wouldn't; just +suppose you should get a bite?" + +"Oh, no danger!" laughed Edward; "a man is better able to take care of +himself than a woman is of herself." + +"Pooh!" exclaimed Betty; "I don't believe any such thing, and I want to +go; I want to be able to say I've done and seen everything other summer +visitors do and see on this island." + +"Only a foolish reason, is it not, Betty?" mildly remonstrated her +Cousin Elsie. "But you will have to ask my father's consent, as he is +your guardian." + +"No use whatever," remarked Bob, who had joined them a moment before; "I +know uncle well enough to be able to tell you that beforehand. Aren't +you equally sure of the result of such an application, Ned?" + +"Yes." + +"Besides," pursued Bob, teasingly, "there wouldn't be room in the boat +for a fine lady like my sister Betty, with her flounces and furbelows; +also you'd likely get awfully sick with the rolling and pitching of the +boat, and leaning over the side for the purpose of depositing your +breakfast in the sea, tumble in among the sharks and give them one." + +"Oh, you horrid fellow!" she exclaimed, half angrily; "I shouldn't do +anything of the kind; I should wear no furbelows, be no more likely to +an attack of sea-sickness than yourself, and could get out of the way of +a shark quite as nimbly as any one else." + +"Well, go and ask uncle," he laughed. + +Betty made no move to go; she knew as well as he how Mr. Dinsmore would +treat such a request. + +The weather the next morning was all that could be desired for sharking, +and the gentlemen set off in due time, all in fine spirits. + +They were absent all day, returning early in the evening quite elated +with their success. + +Max had a wonderful tale to tell Lulu and Grace of "papa's" skill, the +number of sand-sharks and the tremendous "blue dog" or man-eater he had +taken. The captain was not half so proud of his success as was his +admiring son. + +"I thought all the sharks were man-eaters," said Lulu. + +"No, the sand-sharks are not." + +"Did everybody catch a man-eater?" + +"No; nobody but papa took a full-grown one. Grandpa Dinsmore and Uncle +Edward each caught a baby one, and all of them took big fellows of the +other kind. I suppose they are the most common, and it's a good thing, +because of course they are not nearly so dangerous." + +"How many did you catch, Maxie?" asked Grace. + +"I? Oh, I helped catch the perch for bait; but I didn't try for sharks, +for of course a boy wouldn't be strong enough to haul such big fellows +in. I tell you the men had a hard tug, especially with the blue-dog. + +"The sand-sharks they killed when they'd got 'em close up to the gunwale +by pounding them on the nose with a club--a good many hard whacks it +took, too; but the blue-dog had to be stabbed with a lance; and I +should think it took considerable courage and skill to do it, with such +a big, strong, wicked-looking fellow. You just ought to have seen how he +rolled over and over in the water and lashed it into a foam with his +tail, how angry his eyes looked, and how he showed his sharp white +teeth. I thought once he'd be right in among us the next minute, but he +didn't; they got the lance down his throat just in time to put a stop to +that." + +"Oh, I'm so glad he didn't!" Grace said, drawing a long breath. "Do they +eat sharks, Maxie?" + +"No, indeed; who'd want to eat a fish that maybe had grown fat on human +flesh?" + +"What do they kill them for, then?" + +"Oh, to rid the seas of them, I suppose, and because there is a valuable +oil in their livers. We saw our fellows towed ashore and cut open and +their livers taken out." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must +be saved."--_Acts_ 4: 12. + + +It was down on the beach Max had been telling his story; the evening was +beautiful, warm enough to make the breeze from the sea extremely +enjoyable, and the whole family party were gathered there, some sitting +upon the benches or camp-chairs, others on rugs and shawls spread upon +the sand. + +Max seemed to have finished what he had to say about the day's exploits, +and Gracie rose and went to her father's side. + +He drew her to his knee with a slight caress. "What has my little girl +been doing all day?" + +"Playing in the sand most of the time, papa. I'm so glad those horrid +sharks didn't get a chance to bite you or anybody to-day. Such big, +dreadful-looking creatures Maxie says they were." + +"Not half so large as some I have seen in other parts of the world." + +"Oh, papa, will you tell us about them? Shall I call Max and Lulu to +hear it?" + +"Yes; if they wish to come, they may." + +There was scarcely anything the children liked better than to hear the +captain tell of his experiences at sea, and in another moment his own +three. Rosie, Walter, and several of the older people were gathered +around him, expecting quite a treat. + +"Quite an audience," he remarked, "and I'm afraid I shall disappoint you +all, for I have no yarn to spin, only a few items of information to give +in regard to other varieties of sharks than are to be found on this +coast. + +"The white shark, found in the Mediterranean and the seas of many of the +warmer parts of the world, is the largest and the most feared of any of +the monsters of the deep. One has been caught which was thirty-seven +feet long. It has a hard skin, is grayish-brown above and whitish on the +under side. It has a large head and a big wide mouth armed with a +terrible apparatus of teeth--six rows in the upper jaw, and four in the +lower." + +"Did you ever see one, papa?" asked Grace, shuddering. + +"Yes, many a one. They will often follow a ship to feed on any animal +matter that may be thrown or fall overboard, and have not unfrequently +followed mine, to the no small disturbance of the sailors, who have a +superstitious belief that it augurs a death on board during the voyage." + +"Do you believe it, captain?" queried little Walter. + +"No, my boy, certainly not; how should a fish know what is about to +happen? Do you think God would give them a knowledge of the future which +He conceals from men? No, it is a very foolish idea which only an +ignorant, superstitious person could for a moment entertain. Sharks +follow the ships simply because of what is occasionally thrown into the +water. They are voracious creatures, and sometimes swallow articles +which even their stomachs cannot digest. A lady's work-box was found in +one, and the papers of a slave-ship in another." + +"Why, how could he get them?" asked Walter. + +"They had been thrown overboard," said the captain. + +"Do those big sharks bite people?" pursued the child. + +"Yes, indeed; they will not only bite off an arm or leg when an +opportunity offers, but have been known to swallow a man whole." + +"A worse fate than that of the prophet Jonah," remarked Betty. "Do the +sailors ever attempt to catch them, captain?" + +"Sometimes; using a piece of meat as bait, putting it on a very large +hook attached to a chain; for a shark's teeth find no difficulty in +going through a rope. But when they have hooked him and hauled him on +board they have need to be very careful to keep out of reach of both his +teeth and his tail; they usually rid themselves of danger from the +latter by a sailor springing forward and cutting it above the fin with a +hatchet. + +"In the South Sea Islands they have a curious way of catching sharks by +setting a log of wood afloat with a rope attached, a noose at the end of +it; the sharks gather round the log, apparently out of curiosity, and +one or another is apt soon to get his head into the noose, and is +finally wearied out by the log." + +"I think that's a good plan," said Grace, "because it doesn't put +anybody in danger of being bitten." + +No one spoke again for a moment, then the silence was broken by the +sweet voice of Mrs. Elsie Travilla: "To-morrow is Sunday; does any one +know whether any service will be held here?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Dinsmore; "there will be preaching in the parlors of +one of the hotels, and I move that we attend in a body." + +The motion was seconded and carried, and when the time came nearly every +one went. The service occupied an hour; after that almost everybody +sought the beach; but though some went into the surf--doubtless looking +upon it as a hygienic measure, therefore lawful even on the Lord's +day--there was not the usual boisterous fun and frolic. + +Harold, by some manoeuvring, got his mother to himself for a time, +making a comfortable seat for her in the sand, and shading her from the +sun with an umbrella. + +"Mamma," he said, "I want a good talk with you; there are some +questions, quite suitable for Sunday, that I want to ask. And see," +holding them up to view, "I have brought my Bible and a small +concordance with me, for I know you always refer to the Law and to the +Testimony in deciding matters of faith and practice." + +"Yes," she said, "God's Word is the only infallible rule of faith and +practice. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is +profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in +righteousness!" + +"Yes, mamma, I have the reference here; Second Timothy, third chapter, +and sixteenth verse. And should not the next verse, 'That the man of God +may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,' stir us up to +much careful study of the Bible?" + +"Certainly, my dear boy; and, oh what cause for gratitude that we have +an infallible instructor and guide! But what did you want to ask me?" + +"A question that was put to me by one of our fellows at college, and +which I was not prepared to answer. The substance of it was this: 'If +one who has lived for years in the service of God should be suddenly cut +off while committing some sin, would he not be saved, because of his +former good works?'" + +"Is any son or daughter of Adam saved by good works?" she asked, with a +look and tone of surprise. + +"No, mother, certainly not; how strange that I did not think of +answering him with that query. But he maintained that God was too just +to overlook--make no account of--years of holy living because of perhaps +a momentary fall into sin." + +"We have nothing to hope from God's justice," she replied, "for it +wholly condemns us. 'There is none righteous, no, not one.... Therefore +by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.' + +"But your friend's question is very plainly answered by the prophet +Ezekiel," opening her Bible as she spoke. "Here it is, in the eighteenth +chapter, twenty-fourth verse. + +"'But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and +committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that +the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath +done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, +and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.'" + +"Nothing could be plainer," Harold said. "I shall refer my friend to +that passage for his answer, and also remind him that no one can be +saved by works. + +"Now, mamma, there is something else. I have become acquainted with a +young Jew who interests me greatly. He is gentlemanly, refined, +educated, very intelligent and devout, studying the Hebrew Scriptures +constantly, and looking for a Saviour yet to come. + +"I have felt so sorry for him that I could not refrain from talking to +him of Jesus of Nazareth, and trying to convince him that He was and is +the true Messiah." + +Elsie looked deeply interested. "And what was the result of your +efforts?" she asked. + +"I have not succeeded in convincing him yet, mamma, but I think I have +raised doubts in his mind. I have called his attention to the prophecies +in his own Hebrew Scriptures in regard to both the character of the +Messiah and the time of His appearing, and shown him how exactly they +were all fulfilled in our Saviour. I think he cannot help seeing that it +is so, yet tries hard to shut his eyes to the truth. + +"He tells me he believes Jesus was a good man and a great prophet, but +not the Messiah; only a human creature. To that I answer, 'He claimed +to be God, saying, "I and My Father are One;" "Verily, verily, I say +unto you, before Abraham was I am;" and allowed himself to be worshipped +as God; therefore either He was God or He was a wretched impostor, not +even a good man.' + +"But, mamma, I have been asked by another, a professed Christian, 'Why +do you trouble yourself about the belief of a devout Jew? he is not +seeking salvation by works, but by faith; then is he not safe, even +though he looks for a Saviour yet to come?' How should you answer that +question, mamma?" + +"With the eleventh and twelfth verses of the fourth chapter of Acts: +'This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is +become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; +for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we +must be saved.' + +"That name is the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified One. He is +the only Saviour. We speak--the Bible speaks of being saved by faith, +but faith is only the hand with which we lay hold on Christ. + +"'A Saviour yet to come?' There is none; and will faith in a myth save +the soul? No; nor in any other than Him who is the Door, the Way, the +Truth, the Life. + +"'He is mighty to save,' and He alone; He Himself said, 'No man cometh +unto the Father, but by Me.' + +"And is it not for the very sin of rejecting their true Messiah, killing +Him and imprecating His blood upon them and on their children, that they +have been scattered among the nations and have become a hissing and a +byword to all people?" + +"True, mamma, and yet are they not still God's own chosen people? Are +there not promises of their future restoration?" + +"Yes, many, in both the Old Testament and the New. Zechariah tells us, +'They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn +for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for +him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born;' and Paul speaks of +a time when the veil that is upon their hearts shall be taken away, and +it shall turn to the Lord. + +"Let me read you the first five verses of the sixty-second chapter of +Isaiah--they are so beautiful. + +"'For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I +will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, +and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. + +"'And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy +glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the +Lord shall name. + +"'Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a +royal diadem in the hand of thy God. + +"'Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more +be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land +Beulah: for the Lord delighted in thee, and thy land shall be married. + +"'For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: +and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice +over thee.'" + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore sat together not many paces distant, each with a +book; but hers was half closed while she gazed out over the sea. + +"I am charmed with the quiet of this place," she remarked presently; +"never a scream of a locomotive to break it, no pavements to echo to the +footsteps of the passer-by, no sound of factory or mill, or rumble of +wheels, scarcely anything to be heard, even on week-days, but the +thunder of the surf and occasionally a human voice." + +"Except the blast of Captain Baxter's tin horn announcing his arrival +with the mail, or warning you that he will be off for Nantucket in +precisely five minutes, so that if you have letters or errands for him +you must make all haste to hand them over," Mr. Dinsmore said, with a +smile. + +"Ah, yes," she assented; "but with all that, is it not the quietest +place you ever were in?" + +"I think it is; there is a delightful Sabbath stillness to-day. I cannot +say that I should desire to pass my life here, but a sojourn of some +weeks is a very pleasant and restful variety." + +"I find it so," said his wife, "and feel a strong inclination to be down +here, close by the waves, almost all the time. If agreeable to the rest +of our party, let us pass the evening here in singing hymns." + +"A very good suggestion," he responded, and Elsie and the others being +of the same opinion, it was duly carried out. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"Sudden they see from midst of all the main +The surging waters like a mountain rise, +And the great sea, puff'd up with proud disdain +To swell above the measure of his guise, +As threatening to devour all that his power despise." + +--_Spenser_. + + +What with bathing, driving, and wandering about on foot over the lovely +moors, time flew fast to our 'Sconseters. + +It was their purpose to visit every point of interest on the island, +and to try all its typical amusements. They made frequent visits to +Nantucket Town, particularly that the children might take their swimming +lessons in the quiet water of its harbor; also repeated such drives and +rambles as they found exceptionably enjoyable. + +Max wanted to try camping out for a few weeks in company with Harold and +Herbert Travilla and Bob Johnson, but preferred to wait until his father +should leave them, not feeling willing to miss the rare pleasure of his +society. And the other lads, quite fond of the captain themselves, did +not object to waiting. + +In the mean time they went blue-fishing (trying it by both accepted +modes--the "heave and haul" from a rowboat or at anchor, and trolling +from a yacht under full sail), hunting, eel-bobbing, and perch-fishing. + +The ladies sometimes went with them on their fishing excursions; Zoe and +Betty oftener than any of the others. Lulu went, too, whenever she was +permitted, which was usually when her father made one of the party. + +"We haven't been on a 'squantum' yet," remarked Betty, one evening, +addressing the company in general; "suppose we try that to-morrow." + +"Suppose you first tell us what a 'squantum' is," said Mrs. Dinsmore. + +"Oh, Aunt Rose, don't you know that that is the Nantucket name for a +picnic?" + +"I acknowledge my ignorance," laughed the older lady; "I did not know it +till this moment." + +"Well, auntie, it's one of those typical things that every conscientious +summer visitor here feels called upon to do as a regular part of the +Nantucket curriculum. How many of us are agreed to go?" glancing about +from one to another. + +Not a dissenting voice was raised, and Betty proceeded to unfold her +plans. Vehicles sufficient for the transportation of the whole party +were to be provided, baskets of provisions also; they would take an +early start, drive to some pleasant spot near the beach or one of the +ponds, and make a day of it--sailing, or rather rowing about the pond, +fishing in it, cooking and eating what they caught (fish were said to be +so delicious just out of the water and cooked over the coals in the open +air), and lounging on the grass, drinking in at the same time the sweet, +pure air and the beauties of nature as seen upon Nantucket moors and +hills, and in glimpses of the surrounding sea. + +"Really, Betty, you grow quite eloquent," laughed her brother; +"Nantucket has inspired you." + +"I think it sounds ever so nice," said little Grace. "Won't you go and +take us, papa?" + +"Yes, if Mamma Vi will go along," he answered, with an affectionate look +at his young wife; "we can't go without her, can we, Gracie?" + +"Oh, no, indeed! but you will go, mamma, won't you?" + +"If your papa chooses to take me," Violet said, in a sprightly tone. "I +think it would be very pleasant, but I cannot either go or stay unless +he does; for I am quite resolved to spend every one of the few days he +will be here, close at his side." + +"And as all the rest of us desire the pleasure of his company," said +her mother, "his decision must guide ours." + +"There, now, captain," cried Betty, "you see it all rests with you; so +please say yes, and let us begin our preparations." + +"Yes, Miss Betty; I certainly cannot be so gallant as to refuse such a +request from such a quarter, especially when I see that all interested +in the decision hope I will not." + +That settled the matter. Preparations were at once set on foot: the +young men started in search of the necessary conveyances, the ladies +ordered the provisions, inquiries were made in regard to different +localities, and a spot on the banks of Sachacha Pond, where stood a +small deserted old house, was selected as their objective point. + +They started directly after breakfast, and had a delightful drive over +the moors and fenceless fields, around the hills and tiny emerald lakes +bordered with beautiful wild shrubbery, bright with golden rod, wild +roses, and field lilies. Here and there among the heather grew creeping +mealberry vines, with bright red fruit-like beads, and huckleberry +bushes that tempted our pleasure-seekers to alight again and again to +gather and eat of their fruit. + +Everybody was in most amiable mood, and the male members of the party +indulgently assisted the ladies, and lifted the children in and out +that they might gather floral treasures for themselves, or alighted to +gather for them again and again. + +At length they reached their destination, left their conveyances, spread +an awning above the green grass that grew luxuriantly about the old +house, deposited their baskets of provisions and extra wraps underneath +it, put the horses into a barn near at hand, and strolled down to the +pond. + +A whaleboat, large enough to hold the entire company, was presently +hired; all embarked; it moved slowly out into the lake; all who cared to +fish were supplied with tackle and bait, and the sport began. + +Elsie, Violet, and Grace declined to take part in it, but Zoe, Betty, +and Lulu were very eager and excited, sending forth shouts of triumph or +of merriment as they drew one victim after another from the water; for +the fish seemed eager to take the bait, and were caught in such numbers +that soon the word was given that quite enough were now on hand, and the +boat was headed for the shore. + +A fire was made in the sand, and while some broiled the fish and made +coffee, others spread a snowy cloth upon the grass, and placed on it +bread and butter, cold biscuits, sandwiches, pickles, cakes, jellies, +canned fruits, and other delicacies. + +It was a feast fit for a king, and all the more enjoyable that the sea +air and pleasant exercise had sharpened the appetites of the fortunate +partakers. + +Then, the meal disposed of, how deliciously restful it was to lounge +upon the grass, chatting, singing, or silently musing with the sweet, +bracing air all about them, the pretty sheet of still water almost at +their feet, while away beyond it and the dividing strip of sand the +ocean waves tossed and rolled, showing here and there a white, slowly +moving sail. + +So thoroughly did they enjoy it all that they lingered till the sun, +nearing the western horizon, reminded them that the day was waning. + +The drive home was not the least enjoyable part of the day. They took it +in leisurely fashion, by a different route from the one they had taken +in the morning, and with frequent haltings to gather berries, mosses, +lichens, grasses, and strange beautiful flowers; or to gaze with +delighted eyes upon the bare brown hills purpling in the light of the +setting sun, and the rapidly darkening vales; Sankaty lighthouse, with +the sea rolling beyond, on the one hand, and on the other the quieter +waters of the harbor, with the white houses and spires of Nantucket Town +half encircling it. + +They had enjoyed their "squantum," marred by no mishap, no untoward +event, so much that it was unanimously agreed to repeat the experiment, +merely substituting some other spot for the one visited that day. + +But their next excursion was to Wanwinet, situate on a narrow neck of +land that, jutting out into the sea, forms the head of the harbor; +Nantucket Town standing at the opposite end, some half dozen miles away. + +Summer visitors to the latter place usually go to Wanwinet by boat, up +the harbor, taking their choice between a sailboat and a tiny steamer +which plies regularly back and forth during the season; but our 'Sconset +party drove across the moors, sometimes losing their way among the +hills, dales, and ponds, but rather enjoying that as a prolongation of +the pleasure of the drive, and spite of the detention reached their +destination in good season to partake of the dinner of all obtainable +luxuries of the sea, served up in every possible form, which is usually +considered the roam object of a trip to Wanwinet. + +They found the dinner--served in a large open pavilion, whence they +might gaze out over the dancing, glittering waves of the harbor, and +watch the white sails come and go, while eating--quite as good as they +had been led to expect. + +After dinner they wandered along the beach, picking up shells and any +curious things they could find--now on the Atlantic side, now on the +shore of the harbor. + +Then a boat was chartered for a sail of a couple of hours, and then +followed the drive home to 'Sconset by a different course from that of +the morning, and varied by the gradually fading light of the setting sun +and succeeding twilight casting weird shadows here and there among the +hills and vales. + +The captain predicted a storm for the following day, and though the +others could see no sign of its approach, it was upon them before they +rose the next morning, raining heavily, while the wind blew a gale. + +There was no getting out for sitting on the beach, bathing, or rambling +about, and they were at close quarters in the cottages. + +They whiled away the time with books, games, and conversation. + +They were speaking of the residents of the island--their correct speech, +intelligence, uprightness, and honesty. + +"I wonder if there was ever a crime committed here?" Elsie said, half +inquiringly. "And if there is a jail on the island?" + +"Yes, mother," Edward answered; "there is a jail, but so little use for +it that they think it hardly worth while to keep it in decent repair. I +heard that a man was once put in for petty theft, and that after being +there a few days he sent word to the authorities that if they didn't +repair it so that the sheep couldn't break in on him, he wouldn't stay." + +There was a general laugh; then Edward resumed: "There has been one +murder on the island, as I have been informed. A mulatto woman was the +criminal, a white woman the victim, the motive revenge; the colored +woman was in debt to the white one, who kept a little store, and, +enraged at repeated duns, went to her house and beat her over the head +with some heavy weapon--I think I was told a whale's tooth. + +"The victim lingered for some little time, but eventually died of her +wounds, and the other was tried for murder. + +"It is said the sheriff was extremely uneasy lest she should be found +guilty of murder in the first degree, and he should have the unpleasant +job of hanging her; but the verdict was manslaughter, the sentence +imprisonment for life. + +"So she was consigned to jail, but very soon allowed to go out +occasionally to do a day's work." + +"Oh, Uncle Edward, is she alive now?" Gracie asked, with a look of +alarm. + +"Yes, I am told she is disabled by disease, and lives in the poorhouse. +But you need not be frightened, little girlie; she is not at all likely +to come to 'Sconset, and if she does we will take good care that she is +not allowed to harm you." + +"And I don't suppose she'd want to either, unless we had done something +to make her angry," said Lulu. + +"But we are going to Nantucket Town to stay a while when we leave +'Sconset," remarked Grace uneasily. + +"But that woman will not come near you, daughter; you need, not have the +least fear of it," the captain said, drawing his little girl to his knee +with a tender caress. + +"Ah," said Mr. Dinsmore, "I heard the other day of a curiosity at +Nantucket which we must try to see while there. I think the story +connected with it will particularly interest you ladies and the little +girls." + +"Oh, grandpa, tell it!" cried Rosie; "please do; a story is just what we +want this dull day." + +The others joined in the request, and Mr. Dinsmore kindly complied, all +gathering closely about him, anxious to catch every word. + +"The story is this: Nearly a hundred years ago there lived in Nantucket +a sea-captain named Coffin, who had a little daughter of whom he was +very fond." + +Gracie glanced up smilingly into her father's face and nestled closer to +him. + +"Just as I am of mine," said his answering look and smile as he drew +her closer still. + +But Mr. Dinsmore's story was going on. + +"It was Captain Coffin's custom to bring home some very desirable gift +to his little girl whenever he returned from a voyage. At one time, when +about to sail for the other side of the Atlantic, he said to her that he +was determined on this voyage to find and bring home to her something +that no other little girl ever had or ever could have." + +"Oh, grandpa, what could that be?" exclaimed little Walter. + +"Wait a moment and you shall hear," was the reply. + +"What the captain brought on coming back was a wax baby, a very +life-like representation of an infant six months old. He said it was a +wax cast of the Dauphin of France, that poor unfortunate son of Louis +XVI. and Marie Antoinette; that he had found it in a convent, and paid +for it a sum of money so enormous that he would never tell any one, not +even his wife, how large it was." + +"But it isn't in existence now, at this late day, surely?" Mrs. Dinsmore +remarked inquiringly, as her husband paused in his narrative. + +"It is claimed that it is by those who have such a thing in possession, +and I presume they tell the truth. It has always been preserved with +extreme care as a great curiosity. + +"The little girl to whom it was given by her father lived to grow up, +but has been dead many years. Shortly before her death she gave it to a +friend, and it has been in that family for over forty years." + +"And is it on exhibition, papa?" asked Elsie. + +"Only to such as are fortunate enough to get an introduction to the lady +owner through some friend of hers; so I understand; but photographs have +been taken and are for sale in the stores." + +"Oh, I hope we will get to see it!" exclaimed Lulu eagerly. + +"As far as I'm concerned, I'm bound to manage it somehow," said Betty. + +"How much I should like to know what was really the true story of that +poor unfortunate child," said Elsie, reflectively, and sighing as she +spoke. + +"It--like the story of the Man in the Iron Mask--is a mystery that will +never be satisfactorily cleared up until the Judgment Day," remarked her +father. + +"Oh, do tell us about it," the children cried in eager chorus. + +"All of you older ones have certainly some knowledge of the French +Revolution, in which Louis XVI. and his beautiful queen lost their +lives?" Mr. Dinsmore said, glancing about upon his grandchildren; "and +have not forgotten that two children survived them--one sometimes called +Louis XVII., as his father's lawful successor to the throne, and a +daughter older than the boy. + +"These children remained in the hands of their cruel foes for some time +after the beheading of their royal parents. The girl was finally +restored to her mother's relatives, the royal family of Austria; but the +boy, who was most inhumanly treated by his jailer, was supposed to have +died in consequence of that brutal abuse, having first been reduced by +it to a state of extreme bodily and mental weakness. + +"That story (of the death of the poor little dauphin, I mean, not +of the cruel treatment to which he was subjected) has, however, been +contradicted by another; and I suppose it will never be made certain in +this world which was the true account. + +"The dauphin was born in 1785, his parents were beheaded in 1793; so +that he must have been about eight years old at the time of their death. + +"In 1795 a French man and woman, directly from France, appeared in +Albany, New York, having in charge a girl and boy; the latter about +nine years old, and feeble in body and mind. + +"The woman had also a number of articles of dress which she said had +belonged to Marie Antoinette, who had given them to her on the scaffold. + +"That same year two Frenchmen came to Ticonderoga, visited the Indians +in that vicinity, and placed with them such a boy as the one seen at +Albany--of the same age, condition of mind and body, etc. + +"He was adopted by an Iroquois chief named Williams, and given the name +of Eleazer Williams. + +"He gradually recovered his health, and at length the shock of a sudden +fall into the lake so far restored his memory that he recollected some +scenes in his early life in the palaces of France. One thing he recalled +was being with a richly dressed lady whom he addressed as 'mamma.' + +"Some time later--I cannot now recall the exact date--a Frenchman died +in New Orleans (Beranger was his name), who confessed on his death-bed +that he had brought the dauphin to this country and placed him with the +Indians of Northern New York. He stated that he had taken an oath of +secrecy, for the protection of the lad, but could not die without +confessing the truth." + +"I'm inclined to think the story of the dauphin's death in France was +not true," remarked Betty. + +"Didn't Beranger's confession arouse inquiry, grandpa?" asked Zoe. "And +did Eleazer Williams hear of it?" + +"I think I may say yes to both your queries," Mr. Dinsmore answered. +"Eleazer's story was published in the newspapers some years ago, and I +remember he was spoken of as a very good Christian man, a missionary +among the Indians; it was brought out in book form also under the title +'The Lost Prince: A Life of Eleazer Williams.' + +"Eleazer himself stated that in 1848 he had an interview, on board a +steamer from Buffalo, with the Prince de Joinville, who then told him he +was the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and tried to induce him +to sign away his right to the throne of France, and that he refused to +do so. + +"In his published statement he said he thought the Prince would not deny +having made that communication. But the Prince did deny that, though he +acknowledged that the interview had taken place." + +"Did Eleazer ever try to get the throne, grandpa?" asked Max. + +"No, he never urged his claim; and I dare say was happier as an obscure +Indian missionary than he would have been as King of France. He died at +the age of seventy." + +"Poor Marie Antoinette!" sighed Elsie; "I never could read her story +without tears, and the very thought of her sorrows and sufferings makes +my heart ache." + +"I don't think I ever read it," said Zoe, "though I have a general idea +what it was." + +"We have Abbott's life of her at Ion," said Elsie. "I'll get it for you +when we go home." + +Harold stepped to the window. "It is raining very little now, if at +all," he said, "and the sea must be in a fine rage; let us go and have a +look at it" + +"Oh, yes, let's go!" cried Betty, springing to her feet; "but I'm afraid +we've missed the finest of it, for the wind isn't blowing half so hard +as it was an hour ago." + +"Don't be discouraged," said Captain Raymond, sportively; "the waves are +often higher than ever after the wind has subsided." + +"Oh, papa, may I go too?" Grace said, in a pleading tone. + +"Yes; if you put on your waterproof cloak and overshoes it will not hurt +you to be out for a short time," answered the indulgent father. "Lulu, +don't go without yours." + +All were eager for the sight; there was a moment of hasty preparation, +and they trooped out and stood upon the edge of the high bank at the +back of their cottages gazing upon the sea in its, to most of them, new +and terrible aspect; from shore to horizon it was one mass of seething, +boiling waters; far out in the distance the huge waves reared their +great foam-crested fronts and rushed furiously toward the shore, rapidly +chasing each other in till with a tremendous crash and roar they broke +upon the beach, sending up showers of spray, and depositing great flakes +of foam which the wind sent scudding over the sand; and each, as it +retreated, was instantly followed by another and another in unbroken, +endless succession. + +Half a mile or more south of 'Sconset there is a shoal (locally called +"the rips") where wind and tide occasionally, coming in opposition, +cause a fierce battle of the waves, a sight well worth a good deal of +exertion to behold. + +"Wind and tide are having it out on the rips," the captain presently +remarked. "Let us go down to the beach and get the best view we can of +the conflict." + +"Papa, may we go too?" asked Lulu, as the older people hastily made a +move toward the stairway that led to the beach; "oh, do please let us!" + +Grace did not speak, but her eyes lifted to his, pleaded as earnestly as +Lulu's tongue. He hesitated for an instant, then stooped, took Grace in +his arms, and saying to Lulu, "Yes, come along; it is too grand a sight +for me to let you miss it," hurried after the others. + +Violet had not come out with the rest, her attention being taken up +with her babe just at that time, and he would give her the sight +afterward on taking the children in. + +On they went over the wet sands--Mr. Dinsmore and his wife, Edward and +his, Betty holding on to Harold's arm, Rose and Walter helped along by +Herbert and Bob. + +To Max Raymond's great content and a little to the discomfiture of her +sons, who so delighted in waiting upon and in every way caring for her, +Elsie had chosen him for her companion and escort, and with Lulu they +hastened after the others and just ahead of the captain and Grace, who +brought up the rear. + +The thunder of the surf prevented any attempt at conversation, but now +and then there was a little scream, ending with a shout of laughter from +one or another of the feminine part of the procession, as they were +overtaken by the edge of a wave and their shoes filled with the foam, +their skirts wetted by it. Not a very serious matter, as all had learned +ere this, as salt water does not cause one to take cold. + +Arrived at the spot from where the very best view of the conflict could +be had, they stood long gazing upon it, awestruck and fascinated by the +terrific grandeur of the scene. I can best describe it in the words of a +fellow-author far more gifted in that line than I. + +"Yonder comes shoreward a great wave, towering above all its brethren. +Onward it comes, swift as a race-horse, graceful as a great ship, +bearing right down upon us. It strikes 'The Rips,' and is there itself +struck by a wave approaching from another direction. The two converge in +their advance, and are dashed together--embrace each other like two +angry giants, each striving to mount upon the shoulder of the other and +crush its antagonist with its ponderous bulk. Swift as thought they +mount higher and higher, in fierce, mad struggle, until their force is +expended; their tops quiver, tremble, and burst into one great mass of +white, gleaming foam; and the whole body of the united wave, with a +mighty bound, hurls itself upon the shore and is broken into a flood of +seething waters--crushed to death in its own fury. + +"All over the shoal the waves leap up in pinnacles, in volcanic points, +sharp as stalagmites, and in this form run hither and yon in all +possible directions, colliding with and crashing against others of equal +fury and greatness--a very carnival of wild and drunken waves; the +waters hurled upward in huge masses of white. Sometimes they unite more +gently, and together sweep grandly and gracefully along parallel with +the shore; and the cavernous hollows stretch out from the shore so that +you look into the trough of the sea and realize what a terrible depth +it is. The roar, meanwhile, is horrible. You are stunned by it as by the +roar of a great waterfall. You see a wave of unusual magnitude rolling +in from far beyond the wild revelry of waters on 'The Rips.' It leaps +into the arena as if fresh and eager for the fray, clutches another +Bacchanal like itself, and the two towering floods rush swiftly toward +the shore. Instinctively you run backward to escape what seems an +impending destruction. Very likely a sheet of foam is dashed all around +you, shoe-deep, but you are safe--only the foam hisses away in impotent +rage. The sea has its bounds; 'hitherto shalt thou come, but no +farther.'"[A] + +[Footnote A: A. Judd Northrup, in "Sconset Cottage Life."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + She is peevish, sullen, froward, +Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty; +Neither regarding that she is my child, +Nor fearing me as If I were her father. + +--_Shakespeare_. + + +A day or two of bright, breezy weather had succeeded the storm, and +another "squantum" had been arranged for; it was to be a more +pretentious affair than the former one, other summer visitors uniting +with our party; and a different spot had been selected for it. + +By Violet's direction the maid had laid out, the night before, the +dresses the two little girls were to wear to the picnic, and they +appeared at the breakfast-table already attired in them; for the start +was to be made shortly after the conclusion of the meal. + +The material of the dresses was fine, they were neatly fitting and +prettily trimmed, but rather dark in color and with high necks and long +sleeves; altogether suitable for the occasion, and far from unbecoming; +indeed, as the captain glanced at the two neat little figures, seated +one on each side of him, he felt the risings of fatherly pride in their +attractiveness of appearance. + +And even exacting, discontented Lulu was well enough pleased with her +mamma's choice for her till, upon leaving the table and running out for +a moment into the street to see if the carriages were in sight, she came +upon a girl about her own age, who was to be of the company, very gayly +apparelled in thin white tarletan and pink ribbons, + +"Good-morning, Sadie," said Lulu. "What a nice day for the 'squantum,' +isn't it?" + +"Yes; and it's most time to start, and you're not dressed yet, are you?" +glancing a trifle scornfully from her own gay plumage to Lulu's plainer +attire. + +The latter flushed hotly but made no reply. "I don't see anything of the +carriages yet," was all she said; then darting into the cottage occupied +by their family, she rushed to her trunk, and throwing it open, hastily +took from it a white muslin, coral ribbons and sash, and with headlong +speed tore off her plain colored dress and arrayed herself in them. + +She would not have had time but for an unexpected delay in the arrival +of the carriage which was to convey her parents, brother and sister and +herself to the "squantum" ground. + +As it was, she came rushing out at almost the last moment, just as the +captain was handing his wife into the vehicle. + +Max met her before she had reached the outer door. "Lu, Mamma Vi says +you will need a wrap before we get back; probably even going, and you're +to bring one along." + +"I sha'n't need any such thing! and I'm not going to be bothered with +it!" cried Lulu, in a tone of angry impatience, hurrying on toward the +entrance as she spoke. + +"Whew! what have you been doing to yourself?" exclaimed Max, suddenly +noting the change of attire, while Grace, standing in the doorway, +turned toward them with a simultaneous exclamation, "Why, Lulu--" then +broke off, lost in astonishment at her sister's audacity. + +"Hush, both of you! can't you keep quiet?" snapped Lulu, turning from +one to the other; then as her father's tall form darkened the doorway, +and a glance up into his face showed her that it was very grave and +stern, she shrank back abashed, frightened by the sudden conviction that +he had overheard her impertinent reply to her mamma's message, and +perhaps noticed the change in her dress. + +He regarded her for a moment in silence, while she hung her head in +shame and affright; then he spoke in tones of grave displeasure, "You +will stay at home to-day, Lulu; we have no room for disrespectful, +disobedient children--" + +"Papa," she interrupted, half pleadingly, half angrily, "I haven't been +disobedient or disrespectful to you." + +"It is quite the same," he said; "I require you to be obedient and +respectful to your mamma; and impertinence to her is something I will by +no means allow or fail to punish whenever I know of it. Sorry as I am to +deprive you of an anticipated pleasure, I repeat that you must stay at +home; and go immediately to your room and resume the dress she directed +you to wear to-day." + +So saying he took Grace's hand and led her to the carriage, Max +following after one regretful look at Lulu's sorely disappointed face. + +Grace, clinging about her father's neck as he lifted her up, pleaded for +her sister. "Oh, papa, do please let her go; she hasn't been naughty for +a long while, and I'm sure she's sorry and will be good." + +"Hush, hush, darling!" he said, wiping the tears from her eyes, then +placing her by Violet's side. + +"What is wrong?" inquired the latter with concern; "is Gracie not +feeling well?" + +"Never mind, my love," the captain answered, assuming a cheerful tone; +"there is nothing wrong except that Lulu has displeased me, and I have +told her she cannot go with us to-day." + +"Oh, I am sorry!" Violet said, looking really pained; "we shall all miss +her. I should be glad, Levis, if you could forgive her, for--" + +"No, do not ask it," he said hastily; adding, with a smile of ardent +affection into the azure eyes gazing so pleadingly into his; "I can +scarcely bear to say no to you, dearest, but I have passed sentence upon +the offender and cannot revoke it." + +The carriage drove off; the others had already gone, and Lulu was left +alone in the house, the one maid-servant left behind having already +wandered off to the beach. + +"There!" cried Lulu, stamping her foot with passion, then dropping into +a chair, "I say it's just too bad! She isn't old enough to be my mother, +and I won't have her for one; I sha'n't mind her! Papa had no business +to marry her. He hardly cares for anybody else now, and he ought to love +me better than he does her; for she isn't a bit of relation to him, +while I'm his own child. + +"And I sha'n't wear dowdy, old-womanish dresses to please her, along +with other girls of my size that are dressed up in their best. I'd +rather stay at home than be mortified that way, and I just wish I had +told him so." + +She was in so rebellious a mood that instead of at once changing her +dress in obedience to her father's command, she presently rose from her +chair, walked out at the front door and paraded through the village +streets in her finery, saying to herself, "I'll let people see that I +have some decent clothes to wear." + +Returning after a little, she was much surprised to find Betty Johnson +stretched full length on a lounge with a paper-covered novel in her +hand, which she seemed to be devouring with great avidity. + +"Why, Betty!" she exclaimed, "are you here? I thought you went with the +rest to the 'squantum.'" + +"Just what I thought in regard to your highness," returned Betty, +glancing up from her book with a laugh. "I stayed at home to enjoy my +book and the bath. What kept you?" + +"Papa," answered Lulu with a frown; "he wouldn't let me go." + +"Because you put on that dress, I presume," laughed Betty. "Well, it's +not very suitable, that's a fact. But I had no idea that the captain was +such a connoisseur in matters of that sort." + +"He isn't! he doesn't know or care if it wasn't for Mamma Vi," burst out +Lulu vehemently. "And she's no business to dictate about my dress +either. I'm old enough to judge and decide for myself." + +"Really, it is a great pity that one so wise should be compelled to +submit to dictation," observed Betty with exasperating irony. + +Lulu, returning a furious look, which her tormentor feigned not to see, +then marching into the adjoining room, gave tardy obedience to her +father's orders anent the dress. + +"Are you going in this morning?" asked Betty, when Lulu had returned to +the little parlor. + +"I don't know; papa didn't say whether I might or not." + +"Then I should take the benefit of the doubt and follow my own +inclination in the matter. It's ten now; the bathing hour is eleven; I +shall be done my book by that time, and we'll go in together if you +like." + +"I'll see about it," Lulu said, walking away. + +She went down to the beach and easily whiled away an hour watching the +waves and the people, and digging in the sand. When she saw the others +going to the bath-houses she hastened back to her temporary home. + +As she entered Betty was tossing aside her book. "So here you are!" she +said, yawning and stretching herself. "Are you going in?" + +"Yes; if papa is angry I'll tell him he should have forbidden me if he +didn't want me to do it." + +They donned their bathing-suits and went in with the crowd; but though +no mishap befell them and they came out safely again, Lulu found that +for some reason her bath was not half so enjoyable as usual. + +She and Betty dined at the hotel where the family had frequently taken +their meals, then they strolled down to the beach and seated themselves +on a bench under an awning. + +After a while Betty proposed taking a walk. + +"Where to?" asked Lulu. + +"To Sankaty Lighthouse." + +"Well, I'm agreed; it's a nice walk; you can look out over the sea all +the way," said Lulu, getting up. But a sudden thought seemed to strike +her; she paused and hesitated. + +"Well, what's the matter?" queried Betty. + +"Nothing; only papa told me I was to stay at home to-day." + +"Oh, nonsense! what a little goose!" exclaimed Betty; "of course that +only meant you were not to go to the 'squantum'; so come along." + +Lulu was by no means sure that that was really all her father meant, but +she wanted the walk, so suffered herself to be persuaded, and they went. + +Betty had been a wild, ungovernable girl at school, glorying in +contempt for rules and daring "larks." She had not improved in that +respect, and so far from being properly ashamed of her wild pranks and +sometimes really disgraceful frolics, liked to describe them, and was +charmed to find in Lulu a deeply interested listener. + +It was thus they amused themselves as they strolled slowly along the +bluff toward Sankaty. + +When they reached there a number of carriages were standing about near +the entrance, several visitors were in the tower, and others were +waiting their turn. + +"Let us go up too," Betty said to her little companion; "the view must +be finer to-day than it was when we were here before, for the atmosphere +is clearer." + +"I'm afraid papa wouldn't like me to," objected Lulu; "he seemed to +think the other time that I needed him to take care of me," she added +with a laugh, as if it were quite absurd that one so old and wise as +herself should be supposed to need such protection. + +"Pooh!" said Betty, "don't be a baby; I can take care of myself and you +too. Come, I'm going up and round outside too; and I dare you to do the +same." + +Poor proud Lulu was one of the silly people who are not brave enough to +refuse to do a wrong or unwise thing if anybody dares them to do it. + +"I'm not a bit afraid, Miss Johnson; you need not think that," she +said, bridling; "and I can take care of myself. I'll go." + +"Come on then; we'll follow close behind that gentleman, and the keeper +won't suppose we are alone," returned Betty, leading the way. + +Lulu found the steep stairs very hard to climb without the help of her +father's hand, and reached the top quite out of breath. + +Betty too was panting. But they presently recovered themselves. Betty +stepped outside just behind the gentleman who had preceded them up the +stairs, and Lulu climbed quickly after her, frightened enough at the +perilous undertaking, yet determined to prove that she was equal to it. + +But she had advanced only a few steps when a sudden rush of wind caught +her skirts and nearly took her off her feet. + +Both she and Betty uttered a cry of affright, and at the same instant +Lulu felt herself seized from behind and dragged forcibly back and +within the window from which she had just emerged. + +It was the face of a stranger that met her gaze as she looked up with +frightened eyes. + +"Child," he said, "that was a narrow escape; don't try it again. Where +are your parents or guardians, that you were permitted to step out there +with no one to take care of you?" + +Lulu blushed and hung her head in silence. Betty, who had followed her +in as fast as she could, generously took all the blame upon herself. + +"Don't scold her, sir," she said; "it was all my doing. I brought her +here without the knowledge of her parents, and dared her to go out +there." + +"You did?" he exclaimed, turning a severe look upon the young girl (he +was a middle-aged man of stern aspect). "Suppose I had not been near +enough to catch her, and she had been precipitated to the ground from +that great height--how would you have felt?" + +"I could never have forgiven myself or had another happy moment while I +lived," Betty said, in half tremulous tones, "I can never thank you +enough, sir, for saving her," she added, warmly. + +"No, nor I," said the keeper. "I should always have felt that I was to +blame for letting her go out; but you were close behind, sir, and the +other gentleman before, and I took you to be all one party, and of +course thought you would take care of the little girl." + +"She has had quite a severe shock," the gentleman remarked, again +looking at Lulu, who was very pale and trembling like a leaf. "You had +better wait and let me help you down the stairs. I shall be ready in a +very few moments." + +Betty thanked him and said they would wait. + +While they did so she tried to jest and laugh with Lulu; but the little +girl was in no mood for such things; she felt sick and dizzy at the +thought of the danger she had escaped but a moment ago. She made no +reply to Betty's remarks, and indeed seemed scarcely to hear them. + +She was quite silent, too, while being helped down the stairs by the +kind stranger, but thanked him prettily as they separated. + +"You are heartily welcome," he said; "but if you will take my advice you +will never go needlessly into such danger again." + +With that he shook hands with her, bowed to Betty, and moved away. + +"Will you go in and rest awhile, Lu?" asked Betty. + +"No, thank you; I'm not tired; and I'd rather be close by the sea. Tell +me another of your stories, won't you? to help me forget how near I came +to falling." + +Betty good-naturedly complied, but found Lulu a less interested listener +than before. + +The "squantum" party were late in returning, and when they arrived Betty +and Lulu were in bed; but the door between the room where Lulu lay and +the parlor, or sitting-room, as it was indifferently called, was ajar, +and she could hear all that was said there. + +"Where is Lulu?" her father asked of the maid-servant who had been left +behind. + +"Gone to bed, sir," was the answer. + +Then the captain stepped to the chamber door, pushed it wider open, and +came to the bedside. + +Lulu pretended to be asleep, keeping her eyes tight shut, but all the +time feeling that he was standing there and looking down at her. + +He sighed slightly, turned away, and went from the room; then she buried +her face in the pillows and cried softly but quite bitterly. + +"He might have kissed me," she said to herself; "he would if he loved me +as much as he used to before he got married." + +Then his sigh seemed to echo in her heart, and she grew remorseful over +the thought that her misconduct had grieved as well as displeased him. + +And how much more grieved and displeased he would be if he knew how she +had disregarded his wishes and commands during his absence that day! + +And soon he would be ordered away again, perhaps to the other side of +the world; in danger from the treacherous deep and maybe from savages, +too, in some of those far-away places where his vessel would touch; and +so the separation might be for years or forever in this world; and if +she continued to be the bad girl she could not help acknowledging to +herself she now was, how dared she hope to be with her Christian father +in another life? She had no doubt that he was a Christian; it was +evident from his daily walk and conversation; and she was equally +certain that she herself was not. + +And what a kind, affectionate father he had always been to her; she grew +more and more remorseful as she thought of it; and if he had been beside +her at that moment would certainly have confessed all the wrong-doing of +the day and asked forgiveness. + +But he was probably in bed now; all was darkness and silence in the +house; so she lay still, and presently forgot all vexing thought in +sound, refreshing sleep. + +When she awoke again the morning sun was shining brightly, and her mood +had changed. + +The wrong-doings of the previous day were the merest trifles, and it +would really be quite ridiculous to go and confess them to her father; +she supposed, indeed was quite sure, that ha would be better pleased +with her if she made some acknowledgment of sorrow for the fault for +which he had punished her; but the very thought of doing so was so +galling to her pride that she was stubbornly determined not to do +anything of the kind. + +She was thinking it all over while dressing, and trying hard to believe +herself a very ill-used, instead of naughty, child. It was a burning +shame that she had been scolded and left behind for such a trifling +fault; but she would let "papa" and everybody else see that she didn't +care; she wouldn't ask one word about what kind of a time they had had +(she hoped it hadn't been so very nice); and she would show papa, too, +that she could do very well without caresses and endearments from him. + +Glancing from the window, she saw him out on the bluff back of the +cottage; but though her toilet was now finished, she did not, as usual, +run out to put her hand in his, and with a glad good-morning hold up her +face for a kiss. + +She went quietly to the dooryard looking upon the village street, and +peeped into the window of the room where Grace was dressing with a +little help from Agnes, their mamma's maid. + +"Oh, Lu, good-morning," cried the little girl. "I was so sorry you +weren't with us yesterday at the 'squantum;' we had ever such a nice +time; only I missed you very much." + +"Your sympathy was wasted, Grace," returned Lulu, with a grand air. "I +had a very pleasant time at home." + +"Dar now, you's done finished, Miss Gracie," said Agnes, turning to +leave the room; then she laughed to herself as she went, "Miss Lu she +needn't think she don't 'ceive nobody wid dem grand airs ob hers; 'spect +we all knows she been glad nuff to go ef de cap'n didn't tole her she +got for to stay behin'." + +Grace ran out and joined her sister at the door. "Oh, Lu, you would have +enjoyed it if you had been with us," she said, embracing her. "But we +are going to have a drive this morning. We're to start as soon as +breakfast is over, and only come back in time for the bath; and papa +says you can go too if you want to, and are a good girl; and you--" + +"I don't want to," said Lulu, with a cold, offended air. "I like to be +by myself on the beach; I enjoyed it very much yesterday, and shall +enjoy it to-day; I don't need anybody's company." + +Her conscience gave her a twinge as she spoke, reminding her that she +had passed but little of her day alone on the beach. + +Grace gazed at her with wide-open eyes, lost in astonishment at her +strange mood; but hearing their father's step within the house, turned +about and ran to meet him and claim her morning kiss. + +"Where is your sister?" he asked when he had given it. + +"The little one is asleep, papa," she answered gayly; "the other one is +at the door there." + +He smiled. "Tell her to come in," he said; "we are going to have +prayers." + +Lulu obeyed the summons, but took a seat near the door, without so much +as glancing toward her father. + +When the short service was over Grace seated herself upon his knee, and +Max stood close beside him, both laughing and talking right merrily; but +Lulu sat where she was, gazing in moody silence into the street. + +At length, in a pause in the talk, the captain said, in a kindly tone, +"One of my little girls seems to have forgotten to bid me good-morning." + +"Good-morning, papa," muttered Lulu, sullenly, her face still averted. + +"Good-morning, Lucilla," he said; and she knew by his tone and use of +her full name that he was by no means pleased with her behavior. + +At that moment they were summoned to breakfast. + +Lulu took her place with the others and ate in silence, scarce lifting +her eyes from her plate, while everybody else was full of cheerful chat. + +A carriage was at the door when they left the table. + +"Make haste, children," the captain said, "so that we may have time for +a long drive before the bathing hour." + +Max and Grace moved promptly to obey, but Lulu stood still. + +"I spoke to you, Lulu, as well as to the others," her father said, in +his usual kindly tone; "you may go with us, if you wish." + +"I don't care to, papa," she answered, turning away. + +"Very well, I shall not compel you; you may do just as you please about +it," he returned. "Stay at home if you prefer it. You may go down to the +beach if you choose, but nowhere else." + +"Yes, sir," she muttered, and walked out of the room, wondering in a +half-frightened way if he knew or suspected where she had been the day +before. + +In fact, he did neither; he believed Lulu a more obedient child than she +was, and had no idea that she had not done exactly as he bade her. + +This time she was so far obedient that she went nowhere except to the +beach, but while wandering about there she was nursing unkind and +rebellious thoughts and feelings; trying hard to convince herself that +her father loved her less than he did his other children, and was more +inclined to be severe with her than with them. In her heart of hearts +she believed no such thing, but pretending to herself that she did, she +continued her unlovely behavior all that day and the next, sulking +alone most of the time; doing whatever she was bidden, but with a sullen +air, seldom speaking unless she was spoken to, never hanging lovingly +about her father, as had been her wont, but rather seeming to avoid +being near him whenever she could. + +It pained him deeply to see her indulging so evil a temper, but he +thought best to appear not to notice it. He did not offer her the +caresses she evidently tried to avoid, and seldom addressed her; but +when he did speak to her it was in his accustomed kind, fatherly tones, +and it was her own fault if she did not share in every pleasure provided +for the others. + +In the afternoon of the second day they were all gathered upon the beach +as usual, when a young girl, who seemed to be a new-comer in 'Sconset, +drew near and accosted Betty as an old acquaintance. + +"Why, Anna Eastman, who would have expected to see you here?" cried +Betty, in accents of pleased surprise, springing up to embrace the +stranger. + +Then she introduced her to Elsie, Violet, and Captain Raymond, who +happened to be sitting near, as an old school friend. + +"And you didn't know I was on the island?" remarked Miss Eastman +laughingly to Betty, when the introductions were over. + +"I hadn't the least idea of it. When did you arrive?" + +"Several days since--last Monday; and this is Friday. By the way, I saw +you on Tuesday, though you did not see me." + +"How and where?" asked Betty in surprise, not remembering at the moment +how she had spent that day. + +"At Sankaty Lighthouse; I was in a carriage out on the green in front of +the lighthouse, and saw you and that little girl yonder (nodding in +Lulu's direction) come out on the top of the tower; then a puff of wind +took the child's skirts, and I fairly screamed with fright, expecting to +see her fall and be crushed to death; but somebody jerked her back +within the window just in time to save her. Weren't you terribly +frightened, dear?" she asked, addressing Lulu. + +"Of course I was," Lulu answered in an ungracious tone; then rose and +sauntered away along the beach. "What did she tell it for, hateful +thing!" she muttered to herself; "now papa knows it, and what will he +say and do to me?" + +She had not ventured to look at him; if she had she would have seen his +face grow suddenly pale, then assume an expression of mingled sternness +and pain. + +He presently rose and followed her, though she did not know it till he +had reached her side and she felt him take her hand in his. He sat +down, making her sit by his side. + +"Is this true that I hear of you, Lulu?" he asked. + +"Yes, papa," she answered in a low, unwilling tone, hanging her head as +she spoke, for she dared not look him in the face. + +"I did not think one of my children would be so disobedient," he said, +in pained accents. + +"Papa, you never said I shouldn't go to Sankaty Lighthouse," she +muttered. + +"I never gave you leave to go, and I have told you positively, more than +once, that you must not go to any distance from the house without +express permission. Also I am sure you could not help understanding, +from what was said when I took you to the lighthouse, that I would be +very far from willing that you should go up into the tower, and +especially outside, unless I were with you to take care of you. Besides, +what were my orders to you just as I was leaving the house that +morning?" + +"You told me to change my dress immediately and to stay at home." + +"Did you obey the first order?" + +Lulu was silent for a moment; then as her father was evidently waiting +for an answer, she muttered, "I changed my dress after a while." + +"That was not obeying; I told you to do it immediately," he said in a +tone of severity, "What did you do in the mean time?" + +"I don't want to tell you," she muttered. + +"You must; and you are not to say you don't want to do what I bid you. +What were you doing?" + +"Walking round the town." + +"Breaking two of your father's commands at once. What next? give me a +full account of the manner in which you spent the day." + +"I came in soon and changed my dress; then went to the beach till the +bathing hour; then Betty and I went in together; then we had our dinner +at the hotel and came back to the beach for a little while; then we went +to Sankaty." + +"Filling up the whole day with repeated acts of disobedience," he said. + +"Papa, you didn't say I mustn't go in to bathe, or that I shouldn't take +a walk." + +"I told you to stay at home, and you disobeyed that order again and +again. And you have been behaving very badly ever since, showing a most +unamiable temper. I have overlooked it, hoping to see a change for the +better in your conduct without my resorting to punishment; but I think +the time has now come when I must try that with you." + +He paused for some moments. Wondering at his silence, she at length +ventured a timid look up into his face. + +It was so full of pain and distress that her heart smote her, and she +was seized with a sudden fury at herself as the guilty cause of his +suffering. + +"Lulu," he said, with a sigh that was almost a groan, "what am I to do +with you?" + +"Whip me, papa," she burst out; "I deserve it. You've never tried that +yet, and maybe it would make me a better girl, I almost wish you would, +papa," she went on in her vehement way; "I could beat myself for being +so bad and hurting you so." + +He made no answer to that, but presently said in moved tones, "What if I +had come back that night to find the dear little daughter I had left a +few hours before in full health and strength, lying a crushed and +mangled corpse? killed without a moment's time to repent of her +disobedience to her father's known wishes and commands? Could I have +hoped to have you restored to me even in another world, my child?" + +"No, papa," she said, half under her breath; "I know I wasn't fit to go +to heaven, and that I'm not fit now; but would you have been really very +sorry to lose such a bad, troublesome child?" + +"Knowing that, as you yourself acknowledge, you were not fit for +heaven, it would have been the heaviest blow I have ever had," he said. +"My daughter, you are fully capable of understanding the way of +salvation, therefore are an accountable being, and, so long as you +neglect it, in danger of eternal death. I shall never be easy about you +till I have good reason to believe that you have given your heart to the +Lord Jesus, and devoted yourself entirely to His blessed service." + +He ceased speaking, gave her a few moments for silent reflection, then +setting her on her feet, rose, took her hand, and led her back toward +the village. + +"Are you going to punish me, papa?" she asked presently, in a +half-frightened tone. + +"I shall take that matter into consideration," was all he said, and she +knew from his grave accents that she was in some danger of receiving +what she felt to be her deserts. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth +his mother to shame."--_Prov_. 29: 15. + + +Lulu hated suspense; it seemed to her worse than the worst certainty; so +when they had gone a few steps farther she said, hesitating and blushing +very deeply, "Papa, if you are going to punish me as--as I--said I 'most +wished you would, please don't let Mamma Vi or anybody know it, and--" + +"Certainly not; it shall be a secret between our two selves," he said as +she broke off without finishing her sentence; "if we can manage it," he +added a little doubtfully. + +"They all go down to the beach every evening, you know, papa," she +suggested in a timid, half-hesitating way, and trembling as she spoke. + +"Yes, that would give us a chance; but I have not said positively that I +intend to punish you in that way." + +"No, sir; but--oh, do please say certainly that you will or you won't." + +The look he gave her as she raised her eyes half fearfully to his face +was very kind and affectionate, though grave and judicial. "I am not +angry with you," he said, "in the sense of being in a passion or out of +patience--not in the least; but I feel it to be my duty to do all I +possibly can to help you to be a better child, and noticing, as I have +said, for the last two or three days what a wilful, wicked temper you +were indulging, I have been considering very seriously whether I ought +not to try the very remedy you have yourself suggested, and I am afraid +I ought indeed. Do you still think, as you told me a while ago, that +this sort of punishment might be a help to you in trying to be good?" + +Lulu hesitated a moment, then said impetuously, and as if determined to +own the truth though it were to pass sentence upon herself, "Yes, papa, +honestly I do; though I don't want you to do it one bit. But," she +added, "I sha'n't love you any less if you whip me ever so hard, because +I shall know you don't like to do it, and wouldn't except for the reason +you've given." + +"No, indeed, I should not," he said; "but you are to stay behind +to-night when the others go to the beach." + +"Yes, papa, I will," she answered submissively, but with a perceptible +tremble in her voice. + +Grace and Max were coming to meet them, so there was no opportunity to +talk any more on the subject, and she walked on in silence by her +father's side, trying hard to act and look as if nothing was amiss with +her, clinging fast to the hand in which he had taken hers, while Grace +took possession of the other. + +"You ought to have three hands, papa," laughed Max a little ruefully. + +"Four," corrected Grace; "for some day little Elsie will be wanting +one." + +"I shall have to manage it by taking you in turn," the captain said, +looking down upon them with a fatherly smile. + +Violet and some of the other members of their party were still seated +where they had left them on the benches under the awning just out of +reach of the waves, and thither the captain and his children bent their +steps. + +Sitting down by his wife's side, he drew Grace to his knee and Lulu +close to his other side, keeping an arm round each while chatting +pleasantly with his family and friends. + +Lulu was very silent, constantly asking herself, and with no little +uneasiness, what he really intended to do with her when, according to +his direction, she should stay behind with him after tea while the +others returned to the beach. + +One thing she was determined on--that she would if possible obey the +order without attracting any one's notice. Everybody must have seen how +badly she had been behaving, but the thought of that was not half so +galling to her pride as the danger of suspicion being aroused that +punishment had been meted out to her on account of it. + +Max watched her curiously, and took an opportunity, on their return to +the house, to say privately to her, "I'm glad you've turned over a new +leaf, Lu, and begun to behave decently to papa; I've wondered over and +over again in the last few days that he didn't take you in hand in a way +to convince you that he wasn't to be trifled with. It's my opinion that +if you'd been a boy you'd have got a trouncing long before this." + +"Indeed!" she cried, with an angry toss of her head; "I'm glad I'm not a +boy if I couldn't be one without using such vulgar words." + +"Oh, that isn't such a very bad word," returned Max, laughing; "but I +can tell you, from sad experience, that the _thing_ is bad enough +sometimes; I'd be quaking in my shoes if I thought papa had any reason +to consider me deserving of one." + +"I don't see what you mean by talking so to me," exclaimed Lulu, +passionately; "but I think you are a Pharisee--making yourself out so +much better than I am!" + +The call to supper interrupted them just there, and perhaps saved them +from a down-right quarrel. + +Lulu had no appetite for the meal, and it seemed to her that the others +would never have done eating; then that they lingered unusually long +about the house before starting for their accustomed evening +rendezvous--the beach; for she was on thorns all the time. + +At last some one made a move, and catching a look from her father which +she alone saw or understood, she slipped unobserved into her bedroom and +waited there with a fast beating heart. + +She heard him say to Violet, "Don't wait for me, my love; I have a +little matter to attend to here, and will follow you in the course of +half an hour." + +"Anything I can help you with?" Violet asked. + +"Oh, no, thank you," he said, "I need no assistance." + +"A business letter to write, I presume," she returned laughingly. "Well, +don't make it too long, for I grudge every moment of your time." + +With that she followed the others, and all was quiet except for the +captain's measured tread, for he was slowly pacing the room to and fro. + +Impatient, impetuous Lulu did not know how to endure the suspense; she +seemed to herself like a criminal awaiting execution. Softly she opened +the door and stepped out in front of her father, stopping him in his +walk. + +"Papa," she said, with pale, trembling lips, looking beseechingly up +into his face, "whatever you are going to do to me, won't you please do +it at once and let me have it over?" + +He took her hand and, sitting down, drew her to his side, putting his +arm around her. + +"My little daughter," he said very gravely, but not unkindly, "my +responsibility in regard to your training weighs very heavily on my +mind; it is plain to me that you will make either a very good and useful +woman, or one who will be a curse to herself and others; for you are too +energetic and impulsive, too full of strong feeling to be lukewarm and +indifferent in anything. + +"You are forming your character now for time and for eternity, and I +must do whatever lies in my power to help you to form it aright; for +good and not for evil. You inherit a sinful nature from me, and have +very strong passions which must be conquered or they will prove your +ruin. I fear you do not see the great sinfulness of their indulgence, +and that it may be that I am partly to blame for that in having passed +too lightly over such exhibitions of them as have come under my notice: +in short, that perhaps if I had been more justly severe with your +faults you would have been more thoroughly convinced of their +heinousness and striven harder and with greater success to conquer them. + +"Therefore, after much thought and deliberation, and much prayer for +guidance and direction, I have fully decided that I ought to punish you +severely for the repeated acts of disobedience you have been guilty of +in the last few days, and the constant exhibition of ill-temper. + +"It pains me exceedingly to do it, but I must not consider my own +feelings where my dear child's best interests are concerned." + +"Is it because I asked you to do it, papa?" she inquired. "I never +thought you would when I said it." + +"No; I have been thinking seriously on the subject ever since you +behaved so badly the day of the 'squantum,' and had very nearly decided +the question just as I have fully decided it now. I know you are an +honest child, even when the truth is against you; tell me, do you not +yourself think that I am right?" + +"Yes, sir," she answered, low and tremulously, after a moment's struggle +with herself. "Oh, please do it at once, so it will be over soon!" + +"I will," he said, rising and leading her into the inner room; "you +shall not have the torture of anticipation a moment longer." + +Though the punishment was severe beyond Lulu's worst anticipations, she +bore it without outcry or entreaty, feeling that she richly deserved it, +and determined that no one who might be within hearing should learn from +any sound she uttered what was going on. Tears and now and then a +half-suppressed sob were the only evidences of suffering that she +allowed herself to give. + +Her father was astonished at her fortitude, and more than ever convinced +that she had in her the elements of a noble character. + +The punishment over, he took her in his arms, laying her head against +his breast. Both were silent, her tears falling like rain. + +At length, with a heart-broken sob, "You hurt me terribly, papa," she +said; "I didn't think you would ever want to hurt me so." + +"I did not want to," he answered in moved tones; "it was sorely against +my inclination, I cannot tell you how gladly I should have borne twice +the pain for you if so I could have made you a good girl. I know you +have sometimes troubled yourself with foolish fears that you had less +than your fair share of my affection; but I have not a child that is +nearer or dearer to me than you are, my darling. I love you very much." + +"I'm so glad, papa; I 'most wonder you can," she sobbed; "and I love +you dearly, dearly; I know I've not been acting like it lately, but I +do, and just as much now as before. Oh, papa, you don't know how hard it +is for me to be good!" + +"I think I do," he said; "for I am naturally quite as bad as you are, +having a violent temper, which would most certainly have been my ruin +had I not been forced to learn to control it; indeed I fear it is from +me you get your temper. + +"I had a good Christian mother," he went on, "who was very faithful in +her efforts to train her children up aright. My fits of passion gave her +great concern and anxiety. I can see now how troubled and distressed she +used to look. + +"Usually she would shut me up in a room by myself until I had had time +to cool down, then come to me, talk very seriously and kindly of the +danger and sinfulness of such indulgence of temper, telling me there was +no knowing what dreadful deed I might some day be led to commit in my +fury, if I did not learn to rule my own spirit; and that therefore for +my own sake she must punish me to teach me self-control. She would then +chastise me, often quite severely, and leave me to myself again to +reflect upon the matter. Thus she finally succeeded in so convincing me +of the great guilt and danger of giving rein to my fiery temper and the +necessity of gaining the mastery over it, that I fought hard to do so, +and with God's help have, I think, gained the victory. + +"It is the remembrance of all this, and how thankful I am to my mother +now for her faithfulness, that has determined me to be equally faithful +to my own dear little daughter, though unfortunately I lack the +opportunity for the same constant watchfulness over my children." + +"Oh, papa, if you only could be with us all the time!" she sighed. "But +I never thought you had a temper. I've seen some people fly at their +naughty children in a great passion and beat them hard; I should think +if you had such a bad temper as you say, you'd have treated me so many a +time." + +"Very likely I should if your grandmother had not taught me to control +it," he said; "you may thank her that you have as good a father as you +have." + +"I think I have the best in the world," she said, putting her arm round +his neck; "and now that it's all over, papa, I'm glad you did punish me +just so hard; for I don't feel half so mean, because it seems as if I +have sort of paid for my naughtiness toward you." + +"Yes, toward me; the account is settled between us; but remember that +you cannot so atone for your sin against God; nothing but the blood of +Christ can avail to blot out that account against you, and you must ask +to be forgiven for His sake alone. We will kneel down and ask it now." + +Violet glanced again and again toward the cottages on the bluff, +wondering and a trifle impatient at her husband's long delay, but at +length saw him approaching, leading Lulu by the hand. + +There was unusual gravity, amounting almost to sternness, in his face, +and Lulu's wore a more subdued expression than she had ever seen upon +it, while traces of tears were evident upon her cheeks, + +"He has been talking very seriously to her in regard to the ill-temper +she has shown during the past few days," Violet said to herself. "Poor +wayward child! I hope she will take the lesson to heart, and give him +less trouble and anxiety in future." + +He kept Lulu close at his side all the evening, and she seemed well +content to stay there, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her +waist, while she listened silently to the talk going on around her or to +the booming of the waves upon the beach not many yards away. + +When it was time for the children to retire, he took her and Grace to +the house. At the door he bent down and kissed Grace good-night, +saying, "I shall not wait to see you in your bed, but shall come in to +look at you before I go to mine." + +"May I have a kiss too, papa?" Lulu asked in a wishful, half-tremulous +voice, as though a trifle uncertain whether her request would be +granted. + +"Yes, my dear little daughter, as many as you wish," he replied, taking +her in his arms and bestowing them with hearty good-will and affection. + +"I'm sorry--oh, very sorry for all my naughtiness, papa," she whispered +in his ear while clinging about his neck. + +"It is all forgiven now," he said, "and I trust will never be repeated." + +Lulu was very good, submissive, and obedient during the remainder of her +father's stay among them. + +She was greatly distressed when, two weeks later, orders came for him to +join his ship the following day. She clung to him with devoted, +remorseful affection and distress in prospect of the impending +separation, while he treated her with even more than his wonted +kindness, drawing her often caressingly to his knee, and his voice +taking on a very tender tone whenever he spoke to her. + +It was in the evening he left them, for he was to drive over to +Nantucket Town and pass the night there in order to take the early boat +leaving for the mainland the next morning. + +Mr. Dinsmore went with him, intending to go to Boston for a few days, +perhaps on to New York also, then return to Siasconset. + +Harold, Herbert, Bob, and Max set out that same evening for their +camping ground; so that Mr. Edward Travilla was the only man of the +party left to take care of the women and children. + +However, they would all have felt safe enough in that very quiet spot, +or anywhere on the island, without any such protection. + +Lulu went to bed that night full of remorseful regret that through her +own wilfulness she had lost many hours of her father's prized society, +besides grieving and displeasing him. + +Oh, if she could but go back and live the last few weeks over, how +differently she would behave! She would not give him the least cause to +be displeased with or troubled about her. + +As often before, she felt a great disgust at herself, and a longing +desire to be good and gentle like Gracie, who never seemed to have the +slightest inclination to be quick-tempered or rebellious. + +"She's so sweet and dear!" murmured Lulu half aloud, and reaching out a +hand to softly touch the little sister sleeping quietly by her side; "I +should think papa would love her ten times better than me; but he says +he doesn't, and he always tells the truth. I wish I'd been made like +Gracie; but I'm ever so glad he can love me in spite of all my badness. +Oh, I am determined to be good the next time he's at home, so that he +will enjoy his visit more. It was a burning shame in me to spoil this +one so; I'd like to beat you for it, Lulu Raymond, and I'm glad he +didn't let you escape." + +Violet and her mother were passing the night together, and lying side by +side talked to each other in loving confidence of such things as lay +nearest their hearts. Naturally Vi's thoughts were full of the husband +from whom she had just parted--for how long?--it might be months or +years. + +"Mamma," she said, "the more I am with him and study his character, the +more I honor and trust and love him. It is the one trial of my otherwise +exceptionally happy life, that we must pass so much of our time apart, +and that he has such a child as Lulu to mar his enjoyment of--" + +"Oh, dear daughter," interrupted Elsie, "do not allow yourself to feel +otherwise than very kindly toward your husband's child; Lulu has some +very noble traits, and I trust you will try to think of them rather than +of her faults, serious as they may seem to you." + +"Yes, mamma, there are some things about her that are very lovable, and +I really have a strong affection for her, even aside from the fact that +she is his child; yet when she behaves in a way that distresses him I +can hardly help wishing that she belonged to some one else. + +"You surely must have noticed how badly she behaved for two or three +days. He never spoke to me about it, tried not to let me see that it +interfered with his enjoyment (for he knew that that would spoil mine), +but for all that I knew his heart was often heavy over her misconduct. + +"Yet she certainly does love her father. How she clung to him after she +had heard that he must leave us so soon, with a remorseful affection, it +seemed to me." + +"Yes, and though she shed but few tears in parting from him, I could see +that she was almost heart-broken. She is a strange child, but if she +takes the right turn, will assuredly make a noble, useful woman." + +"I hope so, mamma; and that will, I know, repay him for all his care and +anxiety on her account. No father could be fonder of his children or +more willing to do or endure anything for their sake. Of course I do not +mean anything wrong; he would not do wrong himself or suffer wrong-doing +in them; for his greatest desire is to see them truly good, real +Christians. I hope my darling, as she grows older, will be altogether a +comfort and blessing to him." + +"As her mother has been to me, and always was to her father," Elsie +responded in loving tones. + +"Thank you, mamma," Violet said with emotion; "oh, if I had been an +undutiful daughter and given pain and anxiety to my best of fathers, how +my heart would ache at the remembrance, now that he is gone. And I feel +deep pity for Lulu when I think what sorrow she is preparing for herself +in case she outlives her father, as in the course of nature she is +likely to do." + +"Yes, poor child!" sighed Elsie; "and doubtless she is even now enduring +the reproaches of conscience aggravated by the fear that she may not see +her father very soon again. + +"She and Gracie, to say nothing of my dear Vi, will be feeling lonely +to-morrow, and Edward, Zoe, and I have planned various little +excursions, by land and water, to give occupation to your thoughts and +pleasantly while away the time." + +"You are always so kind, dearest mamma," said Violet; "always thinking +of others and planning for their enjoyment." + +"Oh, how lonely it does seem without papa! our dear, dear papa!" was +Gracie's waking exclamation. "I wish he could live at home all the time +like other children's fathers do! When will he come again, Lulu?" + +"I don't know, Gracie; I don't believe anybody knows," returned Lulu +sorrowfully. "But you have no occasion to feel half as badly about it as +I." + +"Why not?" cried Grace, a little indignantly, even her gentle nature +aroused at the apparent insinuation that he was more to Lulu than to +herself; "you don't love him a bit better than I do." + +"Maybe not; but Mamma Vi is more to you than she is to me; though that +wasn't what I was thinking of. I was only thinking that you had been a +good child to him all the time he has been at home, while I was so very, +very naughty that--" + +Lulu broke off suddenly and went on with, her dressing in silence. + +"That what?" asked Grace. + +"That I grieved him very much and spoiled half his pleasure," Lulu said +in a choking voice. Then turning suddenly toward her sister, her face +flushing hotly, her eyes full of tears, bitterly ashamed of what she was +moved to tell, yet with a heart aching so for sympathy that she hardly +knew how to keep it back, "Gracie, if I tell you something will you +never, _never, never_ breathe a single word of it to a living soul?" + +Grace, who was seated on the floor putting on her shoes and stockings, +looked up at her sister in silent astonishment. + +"Come, answer," exclaimed Lulu impetuously; "do you promise? I know if +you make a promise you'll keep it. But I won't tell you without, for I +wouldn't have Mamma Vi, or Max, or anybody else but you know, for all +the world." + +"Not papa?" + +"Oh, Gracie, papa knows; it's a secret between him and me--only--only I +have a right to tell you if I choose." + +"I'm glad he knows, because I couldn't promise not to tell him if he +asked me and said I must. Yes, I promise, Lulu. What is it?" + +Lulu had finished her dressing, and dropping down on the carpet beside +Grace she began, half averting her face and speaking in low, hurried +tones. "You remember that morning we were all going to the 'squantum' I +changed my dress and put on a white one, and because of that, and +something I said to Max that papa overheard, he said I must stay at +home; and he ordered me to take off that dress immediately. Well, I +disobeyed him; I walked round the town in the dress before I took it +off, and instead of staying at home I went in to bathe, and took a walk +in the afternoon with Betty Johnson to Sankaty Lighthouse, and went up +in the tower and outside too." + +"Oh, Lulu!" cried Grace, "how could you dare to do so?" + +"I did, anyway," said Lulu; "and you know I was very ill-tempered for +two days afterward; so when papa knew it all he thought he ought to +punish me, and he did." + +"How?" + +"Oh, Grace! don't you know? can't you guess? It was when he and I stayed +back while all the rest went to the beach, that evening after Betty's +friend told of seeing me at Sankaty." + +Grace drew a long breath. "Oh, Lu," she said pityingly, putting her arms +lovingly about her sister, "I'm so sorry for you! How could you bear it? +Did he hurt you very much?" + +"Oh, yes, terribly; but I'm glad he did it (though I wouldn't for +anything let anybody know it but you), because I'd feel so mean if I +hadn't paid somehow for my badness. Papa was so good and kind to me--he +always is--and I had been behaving so hatefully to him. + +"And he wasn't in a bit of a passion with me. I believe, as he told me, +he did hate to punish me, and only did it to help me to learn to conquer +my temper." + +"And to be obedient, too?" + +"Yes; the punishment was for that too, he said. But now don't you think +I have reason to feel worse about his going away just now than you?" + +"Yes," admitted Grace; "I'd feel ever so badly if I'd done anything to +make dear papa sad and troubled; and I think I should be frightened to +death if he was going to whip me." + +"No, you wouldn't," said Lulu, "for you would know papa wouldn't hurt +you any more than he thought necessary for your own good. Now let me +help you dress, for it must be near breakfast time." + +"Oh, thank you; yes, I'll have to hurry. Do you love papa as well as +ever, Lu?" + +"Better," returned Lulu, emphatically; "it seems odd, but I do. I +shouldn't though if I thought he took pleasure in beating me, or +punishing me in any way." + +"I don't b'lieve he likes to punish any of us," said Grace. + +"I _know_ he doesn't," said Lulu. "And it isn't any odder that I should +love him in spite of his punishments, than that he should love me in +spite of all my naughtiness. Yes, I do think, Gracie, we have the best +father in the world." + +"'Course we have," responded Grace; "but then we don't have him half the +time; he's 'most always on his ship," she added tearfully. + +"Are you ready for breakfast, dears?" asked a sweet voice at the door. + +"Yes, Grandma Elsie," they answered, hastening to claim the good-morning +kiss she was always ready to bestow. + +Lulu's heartache had found some relief in her confidence to her sister, +and she showed a pleasanter and more cheerful face at the table than +Violet expected to see her wear. + +It grew brighter still when she learned that they were all to have a +long, delightful drive over the hills and moors, starting almost +immediately upon the conclusion of the meal. + +The weather was charming, everybody in most amiable mood, and spite of +the pain of the recent parting from him whom they so dearly loved, that +would occasionally make itself felt in the hearts of wife and children, +the little trip was an enjoyable one to all. + +Just as they drew up at the cottage door on their return, a blast of +Captain Baxter's tin horn announced his arrival with the mail, and +Edward, waiting only to assist the ladies and children to alight, +hurried off to learn if they had any interest in the contents of the +mailbag. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"Be not too ready to condemn + The wrongs thy brothers may have done; + Ere ye too harshly censure them + For human faults, ask, 'Have I none?'" + +--_Miss Eliza Cook_. + + +The little girls took up their station at the front door to watch for +"Uncle Edward's" return. + +Gracie presently cried out joyfully, "Oh, he's coming with a whole +handful of letters! I wonder if one is from papa." + +"I'm afraid not," said Lulu; "he would hardly write last night, leaving +us so late as he did, and hardly have time before the leaving of the +early boat this morning." + +The last word had scarcely left her lips when Edward reached her side +and put a letter into her hand--a letter directed to her, and +unmistakably in her father's handwriting. + +"One for you, too, Vi," he said gayly, tossing it into her lap through +the open window. + +"Excuse the unceremonious delivery, sister mine. Where are grandma and +mamma? I have a letter for each of them." + +"Here," answered his mother's voice from within the room; then as she +took the missives from his hand, "Ah, I knew papa would not forget +either mamma or me." + +"Where's my share, Ned?" asked Zoe, issuing from the inner room, where +she had been engaged in taking off her hat and smoothing her fair +tresses. + +"Your share? Well, really I don't know; unless you'll accept the +mail-carrier as such," he returned sportively. + +"Captain Baxter?" she asked in mock astonishment. "I'd rather have a +letter by half." + +"But you can't have either," he returned, laughing; "you can have the +postman who delivered the letters here--nothing more; yours is 'Hobson's +choice.'" + +Lulu, receiving her letter with a half-smothered exclamation of intense, +joyful surprise, ran swiftly away with it to the beach, never stopping +till she had gained a spot beyond and away from the crowd, where no +prying eye would watch her movements or note if the perusal of her +treasure caused any emotion. + +There, seated upon the sand, she broke open the envelope with fingers +trembling with eagerness. It contained only a few lines in Captain +Raymond's bold chirography, but they breathed such fatherly love and +tenderness as brought the tears in showers from Lulu's eyes--tears of +intense joy and filial love. She hastily wiped them away and read the +sweet words again and again; then kissing the paper over and over, +placed it in her bosom, rose up, and slowly wended her way back toward +the house, with a lighter, happier heart than she had known for some +days. + +She had not gone far when Grace came tripping over the sands to meet +her, her face sparkling with delight as she held up a note to view, +exclaiming, "See, Lu! papa did not forget me; it came inside of mamma's +letter." + +"Oh, Gracie, I am glad," said Lulu; "but it would be very strange for +papa to remember the bad child and not the good one, wouldn't it?" she +concluded, between a sigh and a smile. + +"I'm not always good," said Grace; "you know I did something very, very +bad last winter one time--something you would never do. I b'lieve you'd +speak the truth if you knew you'd be killed for it." + +"You dear little thing!" exclaimed Lulu, throwing her arm round Grace +and giving her a hearty kiss; "it's very good in you to say it; but papa +says I'm an honest child and own the truth even when it's against me." + +"Yes; you said you told him how you had disobeyed him; and If it had +been I, I wouldn't have ever said a word about it for fear he'd punish +me." + +"Well, you can't help being timid; and if I were as timid as you are, +no doubt I'd be afraid to own up too; and I didn't confess till after +that Miss Eastman had told on me," said Lulu. "Now let's sit down on the +sand, and if you'll show me your letter, I'll show you mine." + +Grace was more than willing, and they busied themselves with the +letters, reading and rereading, and with loving talk about their absent +father, till summoned to the supper-table. + +Lulu was very fond of being on the beach, playing in the sand, wandering +hither and thither, or just sitting gazing dreamily out over the waves; +and her father had allowed her to do so, only stipulating that she +should not go out of sight or into any place that looked at all +dangerous. + +"I'm going down to the beach," she said to Grace, when they had left the +table that evening; "won't you go too?" + +"Not yet," said Grace; "baby is awake, and looks so sweet that I'd +rather stay and play with her a little while first." + +"She does look pretty and sweet," assented Lulu, glancing toward the +babe, cooing in its nurse's arms, "but we can see enough of her after we +go home to Ion, and haven't the sea any more. I'll go now, and you can +come and join me when you are ready." + +Leaving the house, Lulu turned southward toward Sunset Heights, and +strolled slowly on, gazing seaward for the most part, and drinking in +with delight the delicious breeze as it came sweeping on from no one +knows where, tearing the crests of the waves and scattering the spray +hither and yon. + +The tide was rising, and it was keen enjoyment to watch the great +billows chasing each other in and dashing higher and higher on the sands +below. Then the sun drew near his setting, and the sea, reflecting the +gorgeous coloring of the clouds, changed every moment from one lovely +hue to another. + +Lulu walked on and on, wilfully refusing to think how great might be the +distance she was putting between herself and home, and at length sat +down, the better to enjoy the lovely panorama of cloud and sea which +still continued to enrapture her with its ever-changing beauty. + +By and by the colors began to fade and give place to a silvery gray, +which gradually deepened and spread till the whole sky was fast growing +black with clouds that even to her inexperienced eye portended a storm. + +She started up and sent a sweeping glance around on every side. Could it +be possible that she was so far from the tiny 'Sconset cottage that at +present she called home? Here were Tom Never's Head and the life-saving +station almost close at hand; she had heard papa say they were a good +two miles from 'Sconset, so she must be very nearly that distance from +home, all alone too, and with night and a storm fast coming on. + +"Oh me! I've been disobedient again," she said aloud, as she set off for +home at her most rapid pace; "what would papa say? It wasn't exactly +intentional this time, but I should not have been so careless." + +Alarmed at the prospect of being overtaken by darkness and tempest alone +out in the wild, she used her best efforts to move with speed; but she +could scarcely see to pick her steps or take a perfectly direct course, +and now and again she was startled by the flutter of an affrighted +night-bird across her path as she wandered among the sand dunes, toiling +over the yielding soil, the booming of the waves and the melancholy +cadences of the wind as it rose and fell filling her ears. + +She was a brave child, entirely free from superstitious fears, and +having learned that the island harbored no burglars or murderers, and +that there was no wild beast upon it, her only fear was of being +overtaken by the storm or lost on the moors, unable to find her way till +day-break. + +But, gaining the top of a sand-hill, the star-like gleam of Sankaty +Light greeted her delighted eyes, and with a joyful exclamation, "Oh, +now I can find the way!" she sprang forward with renewed energy, soon +found the path to the village, pursued it with quickened steps and light +heart, although the rain was now pouring down, accompanied with +occasional flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and in a few +moments pushed open the door of the cottage and stepped into the +astonished presence of the ladies of the party. + +She had not been missed till the approach of the storm drove them all +within doors; then perceiving that the little girl was not among them, +the question passed from one to another, "Where is Lulu?" + +No one could say where; Grace remembered that she had gone out intending +to take a stroll along the beach, but did not mention in which +direction. + +"And she has never been known to stay out so late; and--and the tide is +coming in," cried Violet, sinking pale and trembling into a chair. "Oh, +mamma, if she is drowned, how shall I answer to my husband for taking so +little care of his child?" + +"My dear daughter, don't borrow trouble," Elsie said cheerfully, though +her own cheek had grown very pale; "it was in my care he left her, not +in yours." + +"Don't fret, Vi," Edward said; "I don't believe she's drowned; she has +more sense than to go where the tide would reach her; but I'll go at +once to look for her, and engage others in the search also." + +He started for the door. + +"She may be out on the moors, Ned," called Zoe, running after him with +his waterproof coat. "Here, put this on." + +"No time to wait for that," he said. + +"But you must take time," she returned, catching hold of him and +throwing it over his shoulders; "men have to obey their wives once in +awhile; Lu's not drowning; don't you believe it; and she may as well get +a wetting as you." + +Grace, hiding her head in Violet's lap, was sobbing bitterly, the latter +stroking her hair in a soothing way, but too full of grief and alarm +herself to speak any comforting words. + +"Don't cry, Gracie; and, Vi, don't look so distressed," said Betty. +"Lulu, like myself, is one of those people that need never be worried +about--the bad pennies that always turn up again." + +"Then she isn't fit for heaven," remarked Rosie in an undertone not +meant for her sister's ear; "but I don't believe," she added in a louder +key, "that there is anything worse the matter than too long a walk for +her to get back in good season." + +"That is my opinion, Vi," said Mrs. Dinsmore; and Elsie added, "Mine +also." + +No one spoke again for a moment, and in the silence the heavy boom, boom +of the surf on the beach below came distinctly to their ears. Then there +was a vivid flash of lightning and a terrific thunder crash, followed +instantly by a heavy down-pour of rain. + +"And she is out in all this!" exclaimed Violet in tones of deep +distress. "Dear child, if I only had her here safe in my arms, or if her +father were here to look after her!" + +"And punish her," added Rosie. "It's my humble opinion that if ever a +girl of her age needed a good whipping, she does." + +"Rosie," said her mother, with unwonted severity, "I cannot allow you to +talk in that way. Lulu's faults are different from yours, but perhaps no +worse; for while she is passionate and not sufficiently amenable to +authority, you are showing yourself both uncharitable and Pharisaical." + +"Well, mamma," Rosie answered, blushing deeply at the reproof, "I cannot +help feeling angry with her for giving poor Vi so much unnecessary worry +and distress of mind. And I am sure her father must have felt troubled +and mortified by the way she behaved for two or three days while he was +here." + +"But he loves her very dearly," said Violet; "so dearly that to lose +her in this way would surely break his heart." + +"But I tell you he is not going to lose her in this way," said Betty in +a lively tone; "don't you be a bit afraid of it." + +But Violet could not share the comfortable assurance; to her it seemed +more than likely Lulu had been too venturesome, and that a swiftly +incoming wave had carried her off her feet and swept her in its recoil +into the boiling sea. + +"I shall never see the dear child again!" was her anguished thought; +"and oh, what news to write to her father! He will not blame me, I know, +but oh, I cannot help blaming myself that I did not miss her sooner and +send some one to search for and bring her back." + +Elsie read her daughter's distress in her speaking countenance, and +sitting down by her side tried to cheer her with loving, hopeful words. + +"Dear Vi," she said, "I have a strong impression that the child is not +lost, and will be here presently. But whatever has happened, or may +happen, stay your heart, dear one, upon your God; trust Him for the +child, for your husband, and for yourself. You know that troubles do not +spring out of the ground, and to His children He gives help and +deliverance out of all He sends them. + +"'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' 'He +shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea in seven there shall no evil +touch thee.'" + +There was perhaps not more than a half hour of this trying suspense +between Edward's departure in search of the missing child and her sudden +appearance in their midst: sudden it seemed because the roar of the sea +and howling of the storm drowned all other sounds from without, and +prevented any echo of approaching footsteps. + +"Lulu!" they all cried in varied tones of surprise and relief, as they +started up and gathered about her dripping figure. + +"Where have you been?" + +"How wet you are!" + +"Oh, dear child, I am so glad and thankful to see you; I have been +terribly frightened about you!" This last from Violet. + +"I--I didn't mean to be out so late or to go so far," stammered Lulu. +"And I didn't see the storm coming up in time, and it caught and +hindered me. Please, Mamma Vi, and Grandma Elsie, don't be angry about +it. I won't do so again." + +"We won't stop to talk about it now," Elsie said, answering for Violet +and herself; "your clothes must be changed instantly, for you are as wet +as if you had been in the sea; and that with fresh water, so that there +is great danger of your taking cold." + +"I should think the best plan would be for her to be rubbed with a +coarse towel till reaction sets in fully and then put directly to bed," +said Mrs. Dinsmore. "If that is done we may hope to find her as well in +the morning as if she had not had this exposure to the storm." + +Lulu made no objection nor resistance, being only too glad to escape so +easily. Still she was not quite sure that some punishment might not be +in store for her on the morrow. And she had an uncomfortable impression +that were it not for her father's absence it might not be a very light +one. + +When she was snugly in bed, Grandma Elsie came to her, bringing with her +own hands a great tumbler of hot lemonade. + +"Drink this, Lulu," she said, in her own sweet voice and with a loving +look that made the little girl heartily ashamed of having given so much +trouble and anxiety; "it will be very good for you, I think, as well as +palatable." + +"Thank you, ma'am," Lulu said, tasting it; "it is delicious, so strong +of both lemon and sugar." + +"I am glad you like it; drink it all if you can," Elsie said. + +When Lulu had drained the tumbler it was carried away by Agnes, and +Grandma Elsie, sitting down beside the bed, asked, "Are you sleepy, my +child? If you are we will defer our talk till to-morrow morning; if not, +we will have it now." + +"I'm not sleepy," Lulu answered, blushing and averting her face, adding +to herself, "I suppose it's got to come, and I'd rather have it over." + +"You know, my child, that in the absence of your father and mine you are +my care and I am responsible for you, while you are accountable to me +for your good or bad behavior. Such being the case, it is now my duty to +ask you to give an account of your whereabouts and doings in the hours +that you were absent from us this evening." + +Lulu replied by an exact statement of the truth, pleading in excuse for +her escapade her father's permission to stroll about the beach, even +alone, her enjoyment of the exercise of walking along the bluff, and her +absorbing interest in the changing beauty of sky and sea--all which +tended to render her oblivious of time and space, so that on being +suddenly reminded of them she found herself much farther from home than +she had supposed. + +"Was it not merely within certain limits you were given permission to +ramble about the beach?" Elsie asked gently. + +"Yes, ma'am; papa said I was not to go far, and I did not intend to; +indeed, indeed, Grandma Elsie, I had not the least intention of +disobeying, but forgot everything in the pleasure of the walk and the +beautiful sights." + +"Do you think that is sufficient excuse, and ought to be accepted as +fully exonerating you from blame in regard to this matter?" + +"I don't think people can help forgetting sometimes," Lulu replied, a +trifle sullenly. + +"I remember that in dealing with me as a child my father would never +take forgetfulness of his orders as any excuse for disobedience; and +though it seemed hard then, I have since thought he was right, because +the forgetfulness is almost always the result of not having deemed the +matter of sufficient importance to duly charge the memory with it. + +"In the Bible God both warns us against forgetting and bids us remember: + +"'Remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.' + +"'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' + +"'Beware lest thou forget the Lord.' + +"'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget +God.' + +"You see that God does not accept forgetfulness as a sufficient excuse, +or any excuse for sin." + +"Then you won't, of course," muttered Lulu, carefully avoiding looking +into the kind face bending over her; "how am I to be punished? I don't +feel as if anybody has a _right_ to punish me but papa," she added, with +a flash of indignant anger. + +"I heartily wish he were here to attend to it," was the response, in a +kindly pitying tone. "But since, unfortunately, he is not, and my +father, too, is absent, the unpleasant duty devolves upon me. I have not +had time to fully consider the matter, but have no thought of being very +severe with you; and perhaps if you knew all the anxiety and sore +distress suffered on your account this evening--particularly by your +mamma and little sister--you would be sufficiently punished already." + +"Did Mamma Vi care?" Lulu asked, in a half-incredulous tone. + +"My child, she was almost distracted," Elsie said. "She loves you for +both your own and your father's sake. Besides, as she repeated again and +again, she was sorely distressed on his account, knowing his love for +you to be so great that to lose you would well-nigh break his heart." + +A flash of joy illumined Lulu's face at this new testimony to her +father's love for her, but passed away as suddenly as it came. + +"I do feel punished in hearing that you were all so troubled about me, +Grandma Elsie," she said, "and I mean to be very, very careful not to +cause such anxiety again. Please tell Mamma Vi I am sorry to have given +her pain; but she shouldn't care anything about such a naughty girl." + +"That, my child, she cannot help," Elsie said; "she loves your father +far too well not to love you for his sake." + +After a little more kindly admonitory talk she went away, leaving a +tender, motherly kiss upon the little girl's lips. + +At the door Grace met her with a request for a good-night kiss, which +was promptly granted. + +"Good-night, dear little one; pleasant dreams and a happy awaking, if it +be God's will," Elsie said, bending down to touch her lips to the +rosebud mouth and let the small arms twine themselves around her neck. + +"Good-night, dear Grandma Elsie," responded the child. "Oh, aren't you +ever so glad God brought our Lulu safely home to us?" + +"I am indeed, dear; let us not forget to thank Him for it in our prayers +to-night." + +Lulu heard, and as Grace's arms went round her neck the next moment, and +the sweet lips, tremulous with emotion, touched her cheek, + +"Were you so distressed about me, Gracie?" she asked with feeling. "Did +Mamma Vi care so very much that I might be drowned?" + +"Yes, indeed, Lu, dear Lu; oh, what could I do without my dear sister?" + +"You know you have another one now," Suggested Lulu. + +"That doesn't make any difference," said Grace. "She's the darling baby +sister; you are the dear, dear big sister." + +"Papa calls me his little girl," remarked Lulu, half musingly; "and +somehow I like to be little to him and big to you. Oh, Gracie, what do +you suppose he will say when he hears about to-night?--my being so bad; +and so soon after he went away, too." + +"Oh, Lu, what made you?" + +"Because I was careless; didn't think; and I begin to believe that it +was because I didn't choose to take the trouble," she sighed. "I'm +really afraid if papa were here I should get just the same sort of a +punishment he gave me before. Gracie, don't you ever, ever tell anybody +about that." + +"No, Lu; I promised I wouldn't. But I should think you'd be punished +enough with all the wetting and the fright; for weren't you most scared +to death?" + +"No; I was frightened, but not nearly so much as that. Not so much as I +should be if papa were to walk in just now; because he'd have to hear +all about it, and then he'd look so sorry and troubled, and punish me +besides." + +"Then you wouldn't be glad to see papa if he came back?" Grace said, in +a reproachfully inquiring tone. + +"Yes, I should," Lulu answered, promptly; "the punishment wouldn't last +long, you know; he and I would both get over it pretty soon, and then it +would be so delightful to have him with us again." + +Lulu woke the next morning feeling no ill effects whatever from her +exposure to the storm. + +Before she and Grace had quite finished their morning toilet Grandma +Elsie was at their door, asking if they were well. She stayed for a +little chat with them, and Lulu asked what her punishment was to be. + +"Simply a prohibition of lonely rambles," Elsie answered, with a grave +but kindly look; "and I trust it will prove all-sufficient; you are to +keep near the rest of us for your own safety." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him + chasteneth him betimes."--_Prov_. 13: 24. + + +When the morning boat touched at Nantucket pier there were among the +throng which poured ashore two fine-looking gentlemen--one in the prime +of life, the other growing a little elderly--who sought out at once a +conveyance to 'Sconset. + +The hackman had driven them before, and recognized them with evident +pleasure mingled with surprise. + +"Glad to see you back again, capt'n," he remarked, addressing the +younger of his two passengers; "but it's kind of unexpected, isn't it? I +understood you'd gone to join your ship, expecting to sail directly for +foreign parts." + +"Yes, that was all correct," returned Captain Raymond, gayly, for he it +was, in company with Mr. Dinsmore; "but orders are sometimes +countermanded, as they were in this instance, to my no small content." + +"They'll be dreadful glad to see you at 'Sconset," was the next remark; +"surprised, too. By the way, sir, your folks had a fright last evening." + +"A fright?" inquired both gentlemen in a breath, and exchanging a look +of concern. + +"Yes, sirs; about one of your little girls, capt'n--the oldest one, I +understood it was. Seems she'd wandered off alone to Tom Never's Head, +or somewhere in that neighborhood, and was caught by the darkness and +storm, and didn't find her way home till the older folks had begun to +think she'd been swept away by the tide, which was coming in, to be +sure; but they thought it might have been the backward flow of a big +wave that had rushed up a little too quick for her, taking her off her +feet and hurrying her into the surf before she could struggle up again." + +All the captain's gayety was gone, and his face wore a pained, troubled +look. + +"But she did reach home in safety at last?" he said, inquiringly. + +"Oh, yes; all right except for a wetting, which probably did her no +harm. But now maybe I'm telling tales out of school," he added, with a +laugh. "I shouldn't like to get the little girl into trouble, so I hope +you'll not be too hard on her, capt'n. I dare say the fright has been +punishment enough to keep her from doing the like again." + +"I wish it may have been," was all the captain said. + +Then he fell into a revery so deep that he scarcely caught a word of a +brisk conversation, in regard to some of the points of interest on the +island, carried on between Mr. Dinsmore and the hackman. + +Lulu was having an uncomfortable day. When she met the family at the +breakfast-table Grandma Rose seemed to regard her with cold displeasure; +"Mamma Vi" spoke gently and kindly; hoping she felt no injury from last +night's exposure, but looked wretchedly ill; and in answer to her +mother's inquiries admitted that she had been kept awake most of the +night by a violent headache, to which Rosie added, in an indignant tone, +and with an angry glance at Lulu: + +"Brought on by anxiety in regard to a certain young miss who is always +misbehaving and causing a world of trouble to her best friends." + +"Rose, Rose," Elsie said, reprovingly; "let me hear no more such +remarks, or I shall send you from the table." + +Lulu had appeared in their midst, feeling humble and contrite, and had +been conscience-smitten at sight of her mamma's pale face; but the sneer +on Betty's face, the cold, averted looks of Edward and Zoe, and then +Rosie's taunt roused her quick temper to almost a white heat. + +She rose, and pushing back her chair with some noise, turned to leave +the table at which she had but just seated herself. + +"What is it, Lulu?" asked Grandma Elsie, in a tone of gentle kindliness. +"Sit still, my child, and ask for what you want." + +"Thank you, ma'am," said Lulu. "I do not want anything but to go away. +I'd rather do without my breakfast than stay here to be insulted." + +"Sit down, my child," repeated Elsie, as gently and kindly as before; +"Rosie will make no more unkind remarks; and we will all try to treat +you as we would wish to be treated were we in your place." + +No one else spoke. Lulu resumed her seat and ate her breakfast, but with +little appetite or enjoyment; and on leaving the table tried to avoid +contact with any of those who had caused her offence. + +"May I go down to the beach, Grandma Elsie?" she asked, in low, +constrained tones, and with her eyes upon the floor. + +"If you will go directly there, to the seats under the awning which we +usually occupy, and not wander from them farther than they are from the +cliff," Elsie answered. "Promise me that you will keep within those +bounds, and I shall know I may trust you; for you are an honest child." + +The cloud lifted slightly from Lulu's brow at those kindly words. She +gave the promise, and walked slowly away. + +As she descended the stairway that led down the face of the cliff, she +saw that Edward and Zoe were sitting side by side on one of the benches +under the awning. + +She did not fancy their company just now, and knew hers would not be +acceptable to them. She thought she would pass them and seat herself in +the sand a little farther on. + +Edward was speaking as she came up behind them, and she heard him say, +"It was the most uncomfortable meal ever eaten in our family; and all +because of that ungovernable child." + +Lulu flushed hotly, and stepping past turned and confronted him with +flashing eyes. + +"I heard you, Uncle Edward," she said, "though I had no intention of +listening; and I say it is very unjust to blame me so when it was +Rosie's insulting tongue and other people's cold, contemptuous looks +that almost drove me wild." + +"You are much too easily driven wild," he said. "It is high time you +learned to have some control over your temper. If I were your father I'd +teach it you, even if I must try the virtue of a rod again and again; +also you should learn proper submission to authority, if it had to be +taught in the same manner." + +Lulu was too angry to speak for a moment; she stood silent, trembling +with passion, but at length burst out: "It's none of your business how +papa manages me, Mr. Travilla; and I'm very glad he's my father instead +of you!" + +"You are a very saucy girl, Lulu Raymond," said Zoe, reddening with +anger on her husband's account, "and shamefully ungrateful for all Mr. +Travilla's kind exertions on your behalf last night." + +"Hush, hush, Zoe; do not remind her of it," Edward said. "'A benefit +upbraided forfeits thanks.' I should have done quite the same for any +one supposed to be in danger and distress." + +"What was it?" asked Lulu; "nobody told me he had done anything." + +"He was out for hours in all that storm, hunting you," replied Zoe, with +a proudly admiring glance at her husband. + +"I'm very much obliged," said Lulu, her voice softening. "And sorry you +suffered on my account," she added. + +"I did not suffer anything worth mentioning," he responded; "but your +mamma was sorely distressed--thinking you might be in the sea--and, in +consequence, had a dreadful headache all night. And since such dire +consequences may follow upon your disregard for rules and lawful +authority, Lulu, I insist that you shall be more amenable to them. + +"I believe you think that when your father and grandpa are both away you +can do pretty much as you please; but you shall not while I am about. I +won't have my mother's authority set at defiance by you or any one +else." + +"Who wants to set it at defiance?" demanded Lulu, wrathfully. "Not I, I +am sure. But I won't be ruled by you, for papa never said I should." + +"I think I shall take down this conversation and report it to him," +Edward said, only half in earnest. + +Lulu turned quickly away, greatly disturbed by the threat, but resolved +that her alarm should not be perceived by either him or Zoe. Walking a +few yards from them, she sat down upon the sand and amused herself +digging in it, but with thoughts busied with the problem, "What will +papa say and do if that conversation is reported to him?" + +A very little consideration of the question convinced her that if +present her father would say she had been extremely impertinent, punish +her for it, and make her apologize. + +Presently a glance toward the cottages on the bluff showed her Violet +and Grace descending the stairway. She rose and hurried to meet them. + +"Mamma Vi," she said, as soon as within hearing, "I am ever so sorry to +have frightened you so last night and given you a headache. But you +oughtn't to care whether such a naughty girl as I am is drowned or not." + +"How can you talk so, Lulu dear?" Violet answered, putting an arm round +the child's waist and giving her a gentle kiss. "Do you think your Mamma +Vi has no real love for you? If so, you are much mistaken. I love you, +Lulu, for yourself, and dearly for your father's sake. Oh, I wish you +loved him well enough to try harder to be good in order to add to his +happiness; it would add to it more than anything else that I know of. +Your naughtiness does not deprive you of his fatherly affection, but it +does rob him of much enjoyment which he would otherwise have." + +Lulu hung her head in silence, turned, and walked away full of +self-accusing and penitent thoughts. She was not crying; tears did not +come so readily to her eyes as to those of many children of her age, but +her heart was aching with remorseful love for her absent father. + +"To think that I spoiled his visit home," she sighed to herself. "Oh, I +wish he could come back to have it over again, and I would try to be +good and not spoil his enjoyment in the very least!" + +"Come back now?" something seemed to reply; "suppose he should; wouldn't +he punish you for your behavior since he left, only two days ago?" + +"Yes," she sighed; "I haven't the least doubt that if he were here and +knew all he would punish me severely again; and I suppose he wouldn't be +long in the house before he would hear it all; yet for all that I should +be--oh, so glad if he could come back to stay a good while." + +Last night's storm had spent itself in a few hours, and the morning was +bright and clear; yet a long drive planned for that day by our friends +was unanimously postponed, as several of them had lost sleep, and wanted +to make it up with a nap. + +Violet sought her couch immediately after dinner, slept off the last +remains of her headache, and about the middle of the afternoon was +preparing to go down to the beach, where all the others were, except +Grace, who was seldom far from mamma's side, when the outer door opened, +and a step and voice were heard which she had not hoped to hear again +for months or years. + +The next moment she was in her husband's arms, her head pillowed on his +breast, while his lips were pressed again and again to brow and cheek +and lips, and Grace's glad shout arose, in sweet, silvery tones, "Papa +has come back! Papa has come back! My dear, dear papa!" + +"Can it be possible, my dear, dear husband?" cried Violet, lifting to +his a face radiant with happiness. "It seems too good to be true." + +"Not quite so good as that," he said, with a joyous laugh, "But it is +quite a satisfaction to find that you are not sorry to see me." + +"Of which you were terribly afraid, of course," she returned, gayly. "Do +tell me at once how long our powers of endurance of such uncongenial +society are to be taxed?" + +"Ah, that is beyond my ability." + +"Then we may hope for weeks or months?" she said, rapturously. + +"Certainly we are not forbidden to hope," he answered, smiling tenderly +upon her. + +"Oh, I am so glad!" she said, with a happy sigh, leaning her head on his +shoulder and gazing fondly up into his face, his right arm about her +waist, while Grace clung to the other hand, holding it lovingly between +her own and pressing her lips to it again and again. + +"Ah, my darling little girl," he said presently, letting Violet go to +take Grace in his arms. "Are you glad to see papa back again so soon?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed; nothing else could have made me so very, very glad!" +she cried, hugging him close, and giving and receiving many tender +caresses. + +"But how did it happen. Levis?" Violet was asking. + +"Through some unlooked-for change in the plans and purposes of the +higher powers," he answered, lightly. "My orders were countermanded, +with no reasons given, and I may remain with my family till further +orders; and, as you say, we will hope it may be months before they are +received." + +"And you were glad to come back to us?" Violet said, inquiringly, but +with not a shade of doubt in her tones. + +"Yes, yes indeed; I was full of joy till I heard that one of my children +had been disobeying me, bringing serious consequences upon herself and +others." + +His countenance had grown very grave and stern. "Where is Lulu?" he +asked, glancing about in search of her. + +"Down on the beach with mamma and the rest," Violet answered. + +"Can you give me a true and full account of her behavior since I have +been away?" he asked. + +"My dear husband," Violet said, entreatingly, "please do not ask me." + +"Pardon me, dearest," he returned. "I should not have asked you; Lulu +must tell me herself; thankful I am that many and serious as are her +faults, she is yet so honest and truthful that I can put full confidence +in her word and feel sure that she will not deceive me, even to save +herself from punishment." + +"I think that is high praise, and that Lulu is deserving of it," +remarked Violet, glad of an opportunity to speak a word in the child's +favor. + +Captain Raymond gave her a pleased, grateful look. "You were going to +the beach, were you not?" he said. "Then please go on; I shall follow +after I have settled this matter with Lulu. There can be no comfort for +her or myself till it is settled. Gracie, go and tell your sister to +come here to me immediately." + +"Do be as lenient as your sense of duty will allow, dear husband," +whispered Violet in his ear, then hastened on her way. + +Grace was lingering, gazing at him with wistful, tear-filled eves. + +"What is it?" he asked, bending down to smooth her hair caressingly. +"You should go at once, little daughter, when papa bids." + +"I would, papa, only--only I wanted to--to ask you not to punish Lulu +very hard." + +"I am glad my little Gracie loves her sister," he said; "and you need +never doubt, my darling, that I dearly love both her and you. Go now +and give her my message." + +All day long Lulu had kept herself as far apart from the others--her +sister excepted--as lay in her power. She was sitting now alone in the +sand, no one within several yards of her, her hands folded in her lap, +while she gazed far out to sea, her eyes following a sail in the distant +offing. + +"Perhaps it is papa's ship," she was saying to herself. "Oh, how long +will it be before we see him again! And oh, how sorry he will be when he +hears about last night and this morning!" + +At that instant she felt Grace's arms suddenly thrown round her, while +the sweet child voice exclaimed, in an ecstasy of delight, "Oh, Lu, he +_has_ come! he _has_, he _has_!" + +"Who?" Lulu asked, with a start and tremble that reminded Grace of the +message she had to deliver, and that Lulu's pleasure at their father's +unexpected return could not be so unalloyed as her own; all which she +had forgotten for the moment in the rapture of delight she herself felt +at his coming. + +"Papa, Lulu," she answered, sobering down, a good deal; "and I was 'most +forgetting that he sent me to tell you to come to him immediately." + +"Did he?" Lulu asked, trembling more than before. "Does he know about +last night, Gracie? Did Mamma Vi tell him?" + +"He knows 'bout it; somebody told him before he got to 'Sconset," said +Grace. "But mamma didn't tell him at all; he asked her, but she begged +him to please not ask her. Mamma doesn't ever tell tales on us, I'm +sure." + +"No, I don't believe she does. But what did papa say then?" + +"That you should tell him all about it yourself; you were an honest +child, serious as your faults were, and lie could trust you to own the +truth, even when you were to be punished for it. But, Lulu, you have to +go right up to the house; papa said 'immediately.'" + +"Yes," Lulu replied, getting upon her feet very slowly, and looking a +good deal frightened; "did papa seem very angry?" + +"I think he intends to punish you," Grace replied, in a sorrowful tone; +"but maybe he won't if you say you're sorry and won't do so any more. +But hurry, Lulu, or he may punish you for not obeying promptly." + +"Is Mamma Vi there?" asked Lulu, still lingering. + +"No; yonder she is; don't you see?" said Grace, nodding her head in the +direction of the awning under which nearly their whole party were now +seated: "there's nobody there but papa. Oh hurry, Lulu, or he will whip +you, I'm afraid." + +"Don't you ever say that before anybody, Gracie," Lulu said, low and +tremulously; then turned and walked rapidly toward the stairway that led +up the bluff to the cottages. + +At a window looking toward the bluff the captain stood, watching for +Lulu's coming. + +"She is not yielding very prompt obedience to the order," he said to +himself; "but what wonder? The poor child doubtless dreads the +interview extremely; in fact, _I_ should be only too glad to escape it; +'tis no agreeable task to have to deal out justice to one's own child--a +child so lovable, in spite of her faults. How much easier to pass the +matter over slightly, merely administering a gentle reprimand! But no, I +cannot; 'twould be like healing slightly the festering sore that +threatens the citadel of life. I must be faithful to my God-given trust, +however trying to my feelings. Ah, there she is!" as a little figure +appeared at the top of the staircase and hurried across the intervening +space to the open doorway. + +There she halted, trembling and with downcast eyes. It was a minute or +more before she ventured to lift them, and then it was a very timid +glance she sent in her father's direction. + +He was looking at her with a very grave, rather stern, countenance, and +her eyes fell again, while still she shrank from approaching him. + +"You are not very glad to see me, I think," he said, holding out his +hand, but with no relaxing of the sternness of his expression. + +"Oh, papa, yes! yes, indeed I am!" she burst out, springing to his side +and putting her hand in his, "even though I suppose you are going to +punish me just as you did the last time." + +He drew her to his knee, but without offering her the slightest caress. + +"Won't you kiss me, papa?" she asked, with a little sob. + +"I will; but you are not to take it as a token of favor; only of your +father's love that is never withdrawn from you, even when he is most +severe in the punishment of your faults," he answered, pressing his lips +again and again to forehead, cheeks, and lips. "What have you done that +you expect so severe a punishment?" + +"Papa, you know, don't you?" she said, hiding her blushing face on his +breast. + +"I choose to have you tell me; I want a full confession of all the +wrong-doing you have been guilty of since I left you the other day." + +"I disobeyed you last night, papa, about taking a long walk by myself; +but it was because I forgot to notice how far I was going; at least, I +didn't notice," she stammered, remembering that she had wilfully +refrained from so doing. + +"You forgot? forgot to pay attention to your father's commands? did not +think them of sufficient importance for you to take the trouble to +impress them upon your mind. I cannot accept that excuse as a good and +sufficient one. + +"And, tell me honestly, are you not, as I strongly suspect, less careful +to obey your father's orders when he is away, so that you feel yourself +in a measure out of his reach, than when he is close at hand?" + +"Papa, you ask such hard questions," she said. + +"Hard to my little daughter only because of her own wrong-doing. But +hard or easy, they must be answered. Tell me the truth, would you not +have been more careful to keep within prescribed bounds last night if I +had been at home, or you had known that you would see me here to-day?" + +"Yes, papa," she answered, in a low, unwilling tone. "I don't think +anybody else can have quite so much authority over me as you, and--and +so I do, I suppose, act a little more as if I could do as I please when +you are away." + +"And that after I have explained to you again and again that in my +absence you are quite as much under the authority of the kind friends +with whom I have placed you as under mine when I am with you. I see +there is no effectual way to teach you the lesson but by punishing you +for disregarding it." + +Then he made her give him a detailed account of her ramble of the night +before and its consequences. + +When she had gone as far in the narrative as her safe arrival among the +alarmed household, he asked whether her Grandma Elsie inflicted any +punishment upon her. + +"No, sir," answered Lulu, hanging her head and speaking in a sullen +tone. "I told her I didn't feel as if anybody had any right to punish me +but you." + +"Lulu I did you dare to talk in that way to her?" exclaimed the captain. +"I hope she punished you for your impertinence; for if she did not I +certainly must." + +"She lectured me then, and this morning told me my punishment was a +prohibition against wandering away from the rest more than just a few +yards. + +"But, papa, they were all so unkind to me at breakfast--I mean all but +Grandma Elsie and Mamma Vi and Gracie. Betty looked sneering, and the +others so cold and distant, and Rosie said something very insulting +about my being a bad, troublesome child and frightening Mamma Vi into a +headache." + +"Certainly no more than you deserved," her father said. "Did you bear +it with patience and humility, as you ought?" + +"Do you mean that I must answer you, papa?" + +"Most assuredly I do; tell me at once exactly what you did and said." + +"I don't want to, papa," she said, half angrily. + +"You are never to say that when I give you an order," he returned, in a +tone of severity; "never venture to do it again. Tell me, word for word, +as nearly as you can remember it, what reply you made to Rosie's taunt." + +"Papa, I didn't say anything to her; I just got up and pushed back my +chair, and turned to leave the table. Then Grandma Elsie asked me what I +wanted, and I said I didn't want anything, but would rather go without +my breakfast than stay there to be insulted. Then she told me to sit +down and eat, and Rosie wouldn't make any more unkind speeches." + +"Were they all pleasant to you after that?" he asked. + +"No, papa; they haven't been pleasant to me at all to-day; and Uncle +Edward has said hateful things about me, and to me," she went on, her +cheek flushing and her eyes flashing with anger, half forgetting, in +the excitement of passion, to whom she was telling her story, and +showing her want of self-control. + +"And I very much fear," he said, gravely, "that you were both passionate +and impertinent. Tell me just what passed." + +"If I do you'll punish me, I know you will," she burst out. "Papa, don't +you think it's a little mean to make me tell on myself and then punish +me for what you find out in that way?" + +"If my object was merely to give you pain, I think it would be mean +enough," he said, not at all unkindly; "but as I am seeking your best +interests--your truest happiness--in trying to gain full insight into +your character and conduct, meaning to discipline you only for your +highest good, I think it is not mean or unkind. From your unwillingness +to confess to me, I fear you must have been in a great passion and very +impertinent. Is it not so?" + +"Papa, I didn't begin it; if I'd been let alone I shouldn't have got in +a passion or said anything saucy." + +"Possibly not; but what is that virtue worth which cannot stand the +least trial? You must learn to rule your own spirit, not only when +everything goes smoothly with you, but under provocation; and in order +to help you to learn that lesson--or rather as a means toward teaching +it to you--I shall invariably punish any and every outbreak of temper +and every impertinence of yours that come under my notice when I am at +home. Now, tell me exactly what passed between your Uncle Edward and +yourself." + +Seeing there was no escape for her, Lulu complied, faithfully repeating +every word of the short colloquy at the beach when she went down there +directly after breakfast. + +Her father listened in astonishment, his face growing sterner every +moment. + +"Lucilla," he said, "you are certainly the most impertinent, insolent +child I ever saw! I don't wonder you were afraid to let me know the +whole truth in regard to this affair. I am ashamed of your conduct +toward both your Grandma Elsie and your Uncle Edward. You must apologize +to both of them, acknowledging that you have been extremely impertinent, +and asking forgiveness for it." + +Lulu made no reply; her eyes were downcast, her face was flushed with +passion, and wore a stubborn look. + +"I won't;" the words were on the tip of her tongue; she had almost +spoken them, but restrained herself just in time; her father's authority +was not to be defied, as she had learned to her cost a year ago. + +He saw the struggle that was going on in her breast. "You must do it," +he said; "you may write your apologies, though, if you prefer that to +speaking them." + +He opened a writing-desk that stood on a table close at hand, and seated +her before it with paper, pen, and ink, and bade her write, at his +dictation. + +She did not dare refuse, and had really no very strong disinclination to +do so in regard to the first, which was addressed to Grandma Elsie--a +lady so gentle and kind that even proud Lulu was willing to humble +herself to her. + +But when it came to Edward's turn her whole soul rose up in rebellion +against it. Yet she dared not say either "I won't" or "I don't want to." +But pausing, with the pen in her fingers: + +"Papa," she began timidly, "please don't make me apologize to him; he +had no right to talk to me the way he did." + +"I am not so sure of that," the captain said. "I don't blame him for +trying to uphold his mother's authority; and now I think of it, you are +to consider yourself under his control in the absence of your mamma and +the older persons to whom I have given authority over you. Begin at once +and write what I have told you to." + +When the notes were written, signed, and folded he put them in his +pocket, turned and paced the floor. + +Lulu, glancing timidly into his face, saw that it was pale and full of +pain, but very stern and determined. + +"Papa, are you--are you going to punish me?" she asked, tremulously. "I +mean as you did the other day?" + +"I think I must," he said, pausing beside her, "though it grieves me to +the very heart to do it; but you have been disobedient, passionate, and +very impertinent; it is quite impossible for me to let you slip. But you +may take your choice between that and being locked up in the bedroom +there for twenty-four hours, on bread and water. Which shall it be?" + +"I'd rather take the first, papa," said Lulu, promptly, "because it will +be over in a few minutes, and nobody but ourselves need know anything +about it." + +"I made sure you would choose the other," he said, in some surprise; +"yet I think your choice is wise. Come!" + +"Oh, papa, I'm so frightened," she said, putting her trembling hand in +his; "you did hurt me so dreadfully the other time; must you be as +severe to-day?" + +"My poor child, I am afraid I must," he said; "a slight punishment seems +to avail nothing in your case, and I must do all in my power to make you +a good, gentle, obedient child." + +A few minutes later Captain Raymond joined the others on the beach, but +Lulu was not with him. She had been left behind in the bedroom, where +she must stay, he told her, until his return. + +Everybody seemed glad to see him; but after greeting them all in turn, +he drew Violet to a seat a little apart from the others. + +Grace followed, of course, keeping close to her father's side. "Where is +Lulu, papa?" she asked with a look of concern, + +"Up at the house." + +"Won't you let her come down here, papa? She loves so to be close down +by the waves." + +"She may come after a little," he said, "but not just now." Then taking +two tiny notes from his pocket: "Here, Gracie," he said, "take this to +your Grandma Elsie and this to your Uncle Edward." + +"Yes, sir; must I wait for an answer?" + +"Oh, no," he replied, with a slight smile; "you may come right back to +your place by papa's side." + +Elsie read the little missive handed her at a glance, rose up hastily, +and went to the captain with it in her hand, a troubled look on her +face. + +"My dear captain," she said, in a tone of gentle remonstrance, "why did +you do this? The child's offence against me was not a grave one in my +esteem, and I know that to one of her temperament it would be extremely +galling to be made to apologize. I wish you had not required it of her." + +"I thought it for her good, mother," he answered; "and I think so still; +she is so strongly inclined to impertinence and insubordination that I +must do all in my power to train her to proper submission to lawful +authority and respect for superiors." + +Edward joined them at that moment. He looked disturbed and chagrined. + +"Really, captain," he said, "I am not at all sure that Lulu has not as +much right to an apology from me as I to this from her. I spoke to her +in anger, and with an assumption of authority to which I really had no +right, so that there was ample excuse for her not particularly +respectful language to me. I am sorry, therefore, she has had the pain +of apologizing." + +"You are very kind to be so ready to over look her insolence," the +captain said; "but I cannot permit such exhibitions of temper, and must, +at whatever cost, teach her to rule her own spirit." + +"Doubtless you are right," Edward said; "but I am concerned and +mortified to find that I have got her into such disgrace and trouble. I +must own I am quite attached to Lulu; she has some very noble and +lovable traits of character." + +"She has indeed," said his mother; "she is so free from the least taint +of hypocrisy or deceit; so perfectly honest and truthful; so +warm-hearted, too; so diligent and energetic in anything she undertakes +to do--very painstaking and persevering--and a brave, womanly little +thing." + +The captain's face brightened very much as he listened to these praises +of his child. + +"I thank you heartily, mother and brother," he said; "for the child is +very dear to her father's heart, and praise of her is sweet to my ear. I +can see all these lovable traits, but feared that to other eyes than +mine they might be entirely obscured by the very grave faults joined +with them. But it is just like you both to look at the good rather than +the evil. + +"And you have done so much for my children! I assure you I often think +of it with the feeling that you have laid me under obligations which I +can never repay." + +"Ah, captain," Elsie said, laughingly, "you have a fashion of making a +great mountain out of a little mole-hill of kindness. Flattery is not +good for human nature, you know, so I shall leave you and go back to +papa, who has a wholesome way of telling me of my faults and failings." + +"I really don't know where he finds them," returned Captain Raymond, +gallantly; but she was already out of hearing. + +"Nor I," said Violet, replying to his last remark; "mamma seems to me +to be as nearly perfect as a human creature can be in this sinful +world." + +"Now don't feel troubled about it, Ned," Zoe was saying to her husband, +who was again at her side. "I think it was just right that she should be +made to apologize to you, for she was dreadfully saucy." + +"Yes; but I provoked her, and I ought to be, and am, greatly ashamed of +it. I fear, too, that in so doing I have brought a severe punishment +upon her." + +"Why should you think so?" + +"Because I know that such a task could not fail to be exceedingly +unpalatable to one of her temperament; and don't you remember how long +she stood out against her father's authority last summer when he bade +her ask Vi's pardon for impertinence to her?" + +"Yes; it took nearly a week of close confinement to make her do it; but +as he showed himself so determined in that instance, she probably saw +that it would be useless to attempt opposition to his will in this, and +so obeyed without being compelled by punishment." + +"Well, I hope so," he said. "She surely ought to know by this time that +he is not one to be trifled with." + +It seemed to Lulu a long time that she was left alone, shut up in the +little bedroom of the cottage, though it was in reality scarcely more +than half an hour. She was very glad when at last she heard her father's +step in the outer room, then his voice as he opened the door and asked, +"Would you like to take a walk with your papa, little girl?" + +"Yes indeed, papa!" was her joyful reply. + +"Then put on your hat and come." + +She made all haste to obey. + +"Is Gracie going too, papa? or anybody else?" she asked, putting her +hand confidingly into his. + +"No; you and I are going alone this time; do you think you will find my +company sufficient for once?" he asked, smiling down at her. + +"Oh yes, indeed, papa; I think it will be ever so nice to have you all +to myself; it's so seldom I can." + +They took the path along the bluffs toward "Tom Never's Head." + +When they had fairly left the village behind, so that no one could +overhear anything they might say to each other, the captain said, "I +want to have a talk with you, daughter, and we may as well take it out +here in the sweet fresh air, as shut up in the house." + +"Oh, yes, papa; it is so much pleasanter! I can hardly bear to stay in +the house at all down here at the seashore; and it seemed a long while +that you left me alone there this afternoon." + +"Yes, I suppose so: and I hope I shall not have occasion to do so again. +My child, did you ever consider what it is that makes you so rebellious, +so unwilling to submit to authority, and so ready to fly into a passion +and speak insolently to your superiors?" + +"I don't quite understand you papa," she said. "I only know that I can't +bear to have people try to rule me who have no right." + +"Sometimes you are not willing to be ruled even by your father; yet I +hardly suppose you would say he has no right?" + +"Oh, no, papa; I know better than that," she said, blushing and hanging +her head; "I know you have the best right in the world." + +"Yet sometimes you disobey me; at others obey in an angry, unwilling way +that shows you would rebel if you dared. + +"And pride is at the bottom of it all. You think so highly of yourself +and your own wisdom that you cannot bear to be controlled or treated as +one not capable of guiding herself. + +"But the Bible tells us that God hates pride. 'Every one that is proud +in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though hand join in hand, he +shall not be unpunished.' + +"'Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.' + +"'Proud and haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath.' + +"Ah, my dear daughter, I am sorely troubled when I reflect how often you +deal in that. My great desire for you is that you may learn to rule your +own spirit; that you may become meek and lowly in heart, patient and +gentle like the Lord Jesus, 'who when He was reviled, reviled not again; +when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that +judgeth righteously.' Do you never feel any desire to be like Him?" + +"Yes, papa, sometimes; and I determine that I will; but the first thing +I know I'm in a passion again; and I get so discouraged that I think +I'll not try any more to be good; for I just can't." + +"It is Satan who puts that thought in your heart," the captain said, +giving her a look of grave concern; "he knows that if he can persuade +you to cease to fight against the evil that is in your nature he is sure +to get possession of you at last. + +"He is a most malignant spirit, and his delight is in destroying souls. +The Bible bids us, 'Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the +devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' + +"We are all sinners by nature, and Satan, and many lesser evil spirits +under him, are constantly seeking our destruction; therefore we have a +warfare to wage if we would attain eternal life, and no one who refuses +or neglects to fight this good fight of faith will ever reach heaven; +nor will any one who attempts it without asking help from on high. + +"So if you give up trying to be good you and I will have a sad time; +because it will be my duty to compel you to try. The Bible tells me, +'Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with +the rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt +deliver his soul from hell.' + +"I must if possible deliver you from going to that awful place, and also +from the dreadful calamities indulgence of a furious temper sometimes +brings even in this life; even a woman has been known to commit murder +while under the influence of unbridled rage; and I have known of one who +lamed her own child for life in a fit of passion. + +"Sometimes people become deranged simply from the indulgence of their +tempers. Do you think I should be a good and kind father if I allowed +you to go on in a path that leads to such dreadful ends here and +hereafter?" + +"No, sir," she said in an awed tone; "and I will try to control my +temper." + +"I am glad to hear that resolve," he replied. "The Bible tells us, 'He +that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his +spirit than he that taketh a city.'" + +They were silent for a little while, then hanging her head and blushing, +"Papa," she asked, "what did you do with those notes you made me write?" + +"Sent them to those to whom they were addressed. And they were very +kind, Lulu; much kinder than you deserved they should be; both your +Grandma Elsie and your Uncle Edward expressed regret that you had been +made to apologize, and spoke of you in affectionate terms." + +"I'm glad,'" she said with a sigh of relief; "and I don't mean ever to +be at all impertinent to them again." + +"I trust you will not indeed," he said. + +"Papa, I think this is about where I was the other evening when I first +noticed that the storm was coming." + +"A long way from home for a child of your age; especially alone and at +night. You must not indulge your propensity for wandering to a distance +from home by yourself. You are too young to understand the danger of it; +too young to be a guide to yourself, and must therefore be content to be +guided by older and wiser people. + +"You said, a while ago, 'I just can't be good;' did you mean to assert +that you could not help being disobedient to me that evening?" + +She hung her head and colored deeply. "It was so pleasant to walk along +looking at the beautiful, changing sea, papa," she said, "that I +couldn't bear to stop, and wouldn't let myself think how far I was +going." + +"Ah, just as I suspected; your could not was really would not; the +difficulty all in your will. You must learn to conquer your will when it +would take you in the wrong direction. + +"We will turn and go back now, as it is not far from tea-time." + +Lulu shrank from meeting the rest of their party, particularly Grandma +Elsie and Edward; but they all treated her so kindly that she was soon +at her ease among them again. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"I am rapt, and cannot +Cover the monstrous bulk of this ingratitude +With any size of words." + +--_Shakespeare_. + + +The next day they all set out soon after breakfast for a long drive, +taking the direction of the camping-ground of the lads, where they +called and greatly astonished Max with a sight of his father, whom he +supposed to be far out on the ocean. + +The boy's delight fully equalled his surprise, and he was inclined to +return immediately to 'Sconset; but the captain advised him to stay a +little longer where he was; and he accordingly decided to do so; though +regretting the loss of even an hour of the society of the father who was +to him the best man in the world and the most gallant and capable +officer of the navy; in short, the impersonation of all that was good, +wise, and brave. + +The 'Sconset cottages had been engaged only until the first of +September, but by that time our friends were so in love with life upon +the island that learning of some cottages on the cliffs, a little +north-west of Nantucket Town, which were just vacated and for rent, they +engaged two of them and at once moved in. + +From their new abodes they had a fine view of the ocean on that side of +the island, and from their porches could watch the swift-sailing yachts +and other vessels passing to and fro. + +The bathing-ground was reached by a succession of stairways built in the +face of the cliff. The surf was fine, and bathing less dangerous there +than at 'Sconset. Those of them who were fond of the sport found it most +enjoyable; but the captain took the children into the town almost every +day for a lesson in swimming, where the still bathing made it easy for +them. + +And now they took almost daily sails on the harbor, occasionally +venturing out into the ocean itself; pleasant drives also; visiting the +old windmill, the old graveyards, the soldiers' monument, and every +place of interest in the vicinity. + +Besides these, there was a little trip to Martha's Vineyard, and several +were taken to various points on the adjacent shores of the mainland. + +Much as they had enjoyed 'Sconset life, it now seemed very pleasant to +be again where they could pay frequent visits to libraries and stores, +go to church, and now and then attend a concert or lecture. + +And there was a good deal of quiet pleasure to be found in rambles +about the streets and queer byways and lanes of the quaint old town, +looking at its odd houses and gardens, and perhaps catching a glimpse of +the life going on within. + +They gained an entrance to some; one day it was to the home of an old +sea captain who had given up his former occupation and now wove baskets +of various sizes and shapes, all very neat, strong and substantial. + +There was always something pleasant to do; sometimes it was to take the +cars on the little three-mile railroad to Surfside and pass an hour or +two there; again to visit the Athenaeum and examine its stores of +curiosities and treasures, mostly of the sea; or to select a book from +its library; or to spend an hour among the old china and antique +furniture offered for sale to summer visitors. + +They were admitted to see the cast of the dauphin and bought photographs +of it, as well as of many of the scenes in and about the town, with +which to refresh their memories of the delightful old place when far +away, or to show to friends who had never had the pleasure of a visit to +its shores. + +Violet spent many an enjoyable hour in sketching, finding no lack of +subjects worthy of her pencil; and those of the party who liked botany +found curious and interesting specimens among the flora of the island. + +They had very delightful weather most of the time, but there was an +occasional rainy day when their employments and amusements must be such +as could be found within doors. + +But even these days, with the aid of fancy-work, and drawing materials, +newspapers, magazines and books, conversation and games, were very far +from dull and wearisome; often one read aloud while the others listened. + +One day Elsie brought out a story in manuscript. + +"I have been thinking," she said, "that this might interest you all as +being a tale of actual occurrences during the time of the French +Revolution; as we have been thinking and talking so much of that in +connection with the story of the poor little dauphin." + +"What is it? and who is the author?" asked her father. + +"It is an historical story written by Betty's sister Molly," she +answered. "For the benefit of the children I will make a few preparatory +remarks," she added, lightly, and with a pleasant smile. + + * * * * * + +"While France was torn by those terrible Internal convulsions, it was +also fighting the combined armies of other nations, particularly +Austria and Prussia, who were moved against it from sympathy with the +king, and a desire to reinstate him on his throne, and a sense of danger +to themselves if the disorganizing principles of the revolutionists +should spread into their territories. + +"Piedmont was involved in this conflict. Perhaps you remember that it is +separated from Dauphiny, in France, by the Cottian Alps, and that among +the valleys on the Piedmontese side dwell the Waldenses or +Vaudois-evangelical Christians, who were for twelve hundred years +persecuted by the Church of Rome. + +"Though their own sovereigns often joined in these persecutions, and the +laws of the land were always far more oppressive to them than to their +popish fellow-citizens, the Waldenses were ever loyal to king and +country and were sure to be called upon for their defence in time of +war. + +"In the spring of 1793--some three months after the beheading of King +Louis XVI.--and while the poor queen, the dauphin and the princesses, +his sister and aunt, still languished in their dreadful prisons--a +French army was attempting to enter Piedmont from Dauphiny, which they +could do only through the mountain-passes; and these all the able-bodied +Waldenses and some Swiss troops, under the command of General Godin, a +Swiss officer, were engaged in defending. + +"It is among the homes of the Waldenses, thus left defenceless against +any plot their popish neighbors might hatch for their destruction, that +the scene of this story is laid. + +"Now, papa, will you be so kind as to read it aloud?" she concluded, +handing it to him. + +"With pleasure," he said, and all having gathered around to listen, he +began. + + * * * * * + +"On a lovely morning in the middle of May, 1793, a young girl and a +little lad might have been seen climbing the side of a mountain +overlooking the beautiful Valley of Luserna. They were Lucia and Henri +Vittoria, children of a brave Waldensian soldier then serving in the +army of his king, against the French, with whom their country was at +war. + +"Lucia had a sweet, innocent face, lighted up by a pair of large, soft, +dark eyes, and was altogether very fair to look upon. Her lithe, slender +figure bounded from rock to rock with movements as graceful and almost +as swift as those of a young gazelle. + +"'Sister,' cried the lad half pantingly, 'how nimble and fleet of foot +you are to-day! I can scarce keep pace with you.' + +"'Ah, Henri, it is because my heart is so light and glad!' she returned +with a silvery laugh, pausing for an instant that he might overtake her. + +"'Yes,' he said, as he gained her side, 'the good news from my father +and Pierre, and Rudolph Goneto--that they are well and yet unharmed by +French sword or bullet--has filled all our hearts with joy. Is it not to +carry these glad tidings to Rudolph's mother we take this early walk?' + +"'Yes; a most pleasant errand, Henri;' and the rose deepened on the +maiden's cheek, already glowing with health and exercise. + +"They were now far above the valley, and another moment brought them to +their destination--a broad ledge of rock on which stood a cottage with +its grove of chestnut-trees, and a little patch of carefully cultivated +ground. + +"Magdalen Goneto, the mother of Rudolph, a matron of placid countenance +and sweet and gentle dignity of mien had seen their approach and come +forth to meet them. + +"She embraced Lucia with grave tenderness, bestowed a kind caress upon +Henri, and leading the way to her neat dwelling, seated them and herself +upon its porch, from which there was a magnificent view of the whole +extent of the valley. + +"To the left, and close at hand, lay San Giovanni, with its pretty +villages, smiling vineyards, cornfields and verdant meadows sloping +gently away to the waters of the Pelice. On the opposite side of the +river, situate upon a slight eminence was the Roman Catholic town of +Luserna. To the right, almost at their feet, embowered amid beautiful +trees--chestnut, walnut, and mulberry--La Tour, the Waldensian capital +and home of Lucia and Henri, nestled among its vineyards and orchards. + +"Farther up the vale might be seen Bobbi Villar, and many smaller +villages scattered amid the fields and vineyards, or hanging on the +slopes of the hills, while hamlets and single cottages clung here and +there to the rugged mountain-side, wherever a terrace, a little basin or +hollow afforded a spot susceptible of cultivation. Beyond all towered +the Cottian Alps, that form the barrier between Piedmont and Dauphiny, +their snowy pinnacles glittering in the rays of the newly risen sun. + +"It was thither the able-bodied men of the valley had gone to defend the +passes against the French. + +"Toward those lofty mountains Lucia's soft eyes turned with wistful, +questioning gaze; for there were father, brother, lover, hourly exposed +to all the dangers of war. + +"Magdalen noted the look, and softly murmured, 'God, even the God of our +fathers, cover their heads in the day of battle!' + +"'He will, I know He will,' said Lucia, turning to her friend with a +bright, sweet smile. + +"'You bring me tidings, my child,' said Magdalen, taking the maiden's +hand in hers, 'good tidings, for your face is full of gladness!' + +"'Yes, dear friend, your son is well,' Lucia answered with a modest, +ingenuous blush; 'my father also, and Pierre; we had word from them only +yesternight. But ah me!' she added with a sigh, 'what fearful scenes of +blood and carnage are yet enacted in Paris, the gay French capital! for +from thence also, the courier brought news. Blood, he says, flows like +water, and not content with having taken the life of their king, they +force the queen and the rest of the royal family to languish in prison; +and the guillotine is constantly at work dispatching its wretched +victims, whose only crime, in many instances, is that of wealth and +noble birth.' + +"'Alas, poor wretches! alas poor king and queen!' cried Magdalen; 'and, +for ourselves, what danger, should such bloodthirsty ruffians force an +entrance into our valleys! The passes had needs be well guarded!' + +"Lucia lingered not long with her friend, for home duties claimed her +attention. + +"Magdalen went with them to the brow of the hill, and again embracing +Lucia, said in tender, joyous accents, 'Though we must now bid adieu, +dear child, when the war is over you will come to brighten Rudolph's +home and mine with your constant presence.' + +"'Yes; such was the pledge he won from me ere we parted,' the maiden +answered with modest sincerity, a tender smile hovering about the full +red lips and a vivid color suffusing for an instant the delicately +rounded cheek. + +"Then with an affectionate good-by, she tripped away down the rocky +path, Henri following. + +"A glad flush still lingered on the sweet, girlish face, a dewy light +shone in the soft eyes. Her thoughts were full of Magdalen's parting +words and the picture they had called up of the happy married life +awaiting Rudolph and herself when he should return to the pursuits of +peace. + +"And he at his post in those more distant mountains, thought of her and +his mother; safe, as he fondly trusted, in the homes his strong arm was +helping to defend against a foreign foe. The Vaudois, judging others by +themselves, were, notwithstanding their many past experiences of the +treacherous cruelty of Rome, strangely unsuspicious of their popish +neighbors. + +"The descent was scarcely yet accomplished by our young friends, when +startled by the sound of heavy footsteps and gruff voices in their rear, +and casting a look behind them, they beheld, rapidly approaching by +another path which wound about the base of the mountain, two men of most +ruffianly aspect. + +"A wild terror seized upon the maiden as for an instant she caught the +gaze of mingled malice and sensuality they bent upon her; and seizing +Henri's hand, she flew over the ground toward La Tour with the fleetness +of a hunted doe. + +"For herself what had she not to fear! and for the child that he might +be slain or reserved for a fate esteemed by the Vaudois worse than +death, in being carried off to Pignerol and brought up in an idolatrous +faith. + +"The men pursued, calling to her with oaths, curses, obscene words, and +jeering laughter. + +"These but quickened her flight; she gained the bridge over the +Angrogna, sped across it, over the intervening ground, and through the +gate into the town; the footsteps of her pursuers echoing close behind. + +"'Ah ha! escaped my embraces for the present, have you, my pretty +barbet?' cried one of the miscreants, following her with gloating, cruel +eyes as she sped onward up the street, feeling only comparatively safe +even there. 'Ah well, it but delays my pleasure a few hours. I know +where to find ye and shall pay my respects to-night.' + +"'And I,' added his companion with a fierce laugh; 'to ye and many +another like ye. It's work quite to my taste Holy Mother Church has laid +out for us to-night, Andrea.' + +"'Yes, yes, Giuseppe, we'll not quarrel with the work or the wages; all +the plunder we can lay hands on; to say naught of the pretty maids such +as yon, or the escape from the fires of purgatory.' + +"They were wending their way to the convent of the Récollets as they +talked. Arrived at its gates they were immediately admitted, to find it +filled with cut-throats such as themselves, and soon learned that the +church also and the house of the curé were in like condition. + +"'Good!' they cried, 'how many names in all?' + +"'Seven hundred,' said one. + +"'Eight hundred,' asserted another. + +"'Well, well, be it which it may, we're strong enough for the work, all +the able-bodied barbetti being on the frontier,' cried Andrea, +exultingly, 'we'll make short shrift with the old men, women and +children.' + +"'Yes; long live the holy Roman Church! Hurrah for the holy faith! Down +with the barbetti!' cried a chorus of voices. 'We'll have a second St. +Bartholomew in these valleys and rid them of the hated presence of the +cursed heretics.' + +"'That we will,' responded Giuseppe. 'But what's the order of +proceedings?' + +"'All the faithful to meet at Luserna at sunset; the vesper bell of the +convent gives the signal shortly after, and we immediately spread +ourselves over the valley on a heretic hunt that from San Giovanni to +Bobbi shall leave not a soul alive to tell the tale.' + +"While Magdalen and Lucia conversed in the cottage of the former, M. +Brianza, curé of Luserna, seated in the confessional, listened with +horror and indignation to a tale of intended wholesale rapine, murder, +and arson, which his penitent was unfolding. + +"'I will have neither part nor lot in this thing,' said the priest to +himself, as he left the church a moment later; 'nay more, I shall warn +the intended victims of their danger.' + +"Hurrying to his house, he instantly dispatched messengers in all haste +to San Giovanni and La Tour. + +"About the same time, in the more remote town of Cavour, the fiendish +plot was revealed to Captain Odetti, an officer of the Piedmontese +militia, then enrolled to act against the French, with a request that he +would take part in its execution. Being a rigid Romanist it was +confidently expected that he would willingly do so. + +"But as noble and humane a man as Luserna's good curé, he listened with +like horror and detestation, and mounting his horse, instantly set off +for La Tour to warn the helpless folk of the threatened calamity, and +assist in averting it, if that might yet be possible. + +"He travelled post haste, for time pressed; the appointed hour for the +attack already drew so near that it was doubtful if even the most prompt +action could still avail. + +"Pale and breathless with haste and terror, Lucia and Henri gained the +shelter of their home, and in reply to the anxious questioning of mother +and grandparents, told of the hot pursuit of the evil men who had chased +them into the town. + +"Their story was heard with much concern, not only by the family, but +also by a young man who had entered nearly at the same moment with +themselves. + +"His right arm was in a sling; his face, thin and wan with suffering, +wore an expression of anxiety and alarm which deepened momentarily as +the narrative proceeded. + +"'How is Bianca?' he asked, upon its conclusion, the quiet tone telling +nothing of the profound solicitude that filled his breast. + +"'Much the same,' returned Sara Vittoria, the mother. + +"'A little better, I think,' said a weak but cheerful voice from the +next room. 'Maurice, how is your poor arm? come and tell me.' + +"He rose and complied with the request. + +"Bianca, the elder sister of Lucia, had been for a year or more the +betrothed of Maurice Laborie. He found her lying pale and languid upon a +couch. + +"'What is it, Maurice?' she asked, presently, noticing his troubled +look. + +"'I wish you were well, Bianca.' + +"'Ah! I am more concerned about your wound.' + +"His thoughts seemed far away. He rose hastily. + +"'I must speak to your grandsire. I will be in again;' and he left the +room. + +"Marc Rozel, the father of Sara Vittoria, a venerable, white-haired +veteran who had seen his four-score years and ten, sat at the open door +of the cottage, leaning upon his staff, his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon +the towering heights of Mount Vandelin. + +"'"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round +about His people from henceforth even forever,"' Maurice heard him +murmur as he drew near. + +"There was comfort in the words, and the cloud of care partially lifted +from the brow of the young Vaudois. But accosting the aged saint with +deep respect, and bending down to speak close to his ear, he uttered a +few rapid sentences in an undertone. + +"'There seems a threatening of danger, Father Rozel; evil-looking men, +such as Lucia and the lad were but now describing, have been seen coming +into the town for the last two or three days; till now, it is said, the +Romish church, the convent of Récollets, the house of the curé, and +several other Catholic houses are full of them. What errand think you +draws them hither just at this time, when nearly every able-bodied +Vaudois is absent on the frontier?' Rozel's face reflected somewhat of +the agitation and alarm in that of Maurice; but ere he could open his +lips to reply, a neighbor, a young woman with a child in her arms, came +rushing across the street, and calling to them in tones tremulous with +excitement and affright, told of the warning just brought by Brianza's +messenger. + +"Her face was white with terror, and she clasped her infant to her +breast with a look of agony, as she asked, 'Can it be, oh can it be that +we are all to be slain in our helplessness? Something must be done, and +that quickly. But what, alas! can we do? our husbands, brothers, fathers +are all at a distance, and the fatal hour draws near.' + +"The tones of her voice and some of her words had reached the ears of +those within the cottage, and they now gathered about her in an +intensely excited, terrified group. Question and answer followed in +rapid succession till each knew all that she had heard. + +"'Can it be possible?' cried Sara, 'can even popish cruelty, +ingratitude, and treachery go so far? are not our brave defenders theirs +also? keeping the passes against a common foe?' + +"A mournful shake of the head from her aged father was the only reply, +save the sobs and cries of the frightened children. + +"But at that instant a horseman came dashing up the street, suddenly +drew rein before their dwelling, and hastily dismounting, hurried toward +them. + +"'Captain Odetti!' exclaimed Rozel in some surprise. + +"'Yes, Rozel, I come to warn you, though, alas! I fear I am too late to +prevent bloodshed,' said the officer, sending a pitying glance from one +to another of the terror-stricken group. + +"'There is a conspiracy against you; the assassins are even now on foot; +but if I cannot save, I will perish with you. The honor of my religion +is at stake, and I must justify it by sharing your danger.' + +"'Can it be that such designs are really entertained against us?' asked +Rozel, in trembling tones, glancing from one loved face to another with +a look of keenest anguish. 'On what pretext? I know of none.' + +"'The late base and cowardly surrender of Fort Mirabouc.' + +"'There was but one Vaudois present, and his voice was raised against +it.' + +"'True, but what matters that to foes bent upon your destruction? some +one was to blame, and why not make a scapegoat of the hated Vaudois? But +let us not waste time in useless discussion. We must act.' + +"The fearful tidings flew from house to house, and in the wildest terror +the feeble folk began to make what preparations they could for +self-defence; by Odetti's advice barricading the streets and houses, +collecting missiles to hurl down from the upper windows upon the heads +of the assassins, and at the same time dispatching messenger after +messenger to General Godin, the Swiss officer in command of the troops +on the frontier, telling of the danger and praying for instant aid. + +"But he, alas! unable, in the nobility of his soul, to credit the +existence of a plot so atrocious, turned a deaf ear to their entreaties, +declaring his conviction that the alarm was groundless--a mere +panic--and that his troops could not be spared to go on so useless an +errand. + +"As one courier after another returned with this same disheartening +report, the terror and despair were such as to beggar description. + +"Lucia Vittoria, recalling, with many a shudder of wild affright, the +evil looks and fierce words and gestures of her pursuers of the morning, +resolved to defend her own, her mother's, and sister's honor to the last +gasp. + +"'The terrible excitement of the hour seemed to give her unnatural +strength for her task of lifting and carrying stones and fragments of +rock to be used in repelling the expected assault. Assisted by Henri and +every member of the family capable of the exertion, she toiled +unceasingly while anything yet remained to be done. + +"In the midst of their exertions Magdalen Goneto suddenly appeared among +them. + +"'I have heard, and I come to live or die with you, dear friends,' she +said, and fell to work with the others. + +"At length all was completed, and they could only await in dreadful +suspense the coming of events. They had continued to importune the +commandant, but with no better success than at first. + +"In the closed and barricaded dwellings hearts were going up to God in +agonized prayer for help, for deliverance. + +"In that of the Vittorias few words were spoken save as now and again +the voice of the aged Rozel or that of his venerable wife, his +daughter, or Magdalen Goneto, broke the awful silence with some promise +from the Book of books to those who trust in the Lord. + +"Maurice, whose father and brothers were away with the army, torn with +anxiety for mother, sisters, and betrothed alike, persuaded the former +to follow Magdalen's example in repairing to the house of the Vittorias, +that such efforts as he was able to put forth in his crippled condition +might be made in their common defence. + +"Freely would he shed the last drop of his blood to shield them from +harm, but, alas! what match was he for even one of the horde of +desperadoes that would soon be upon them? what could he do? how speedily +would he be overpowered! Help _must_ be obtained. + +"He stole out through the garden to learn the latest news from the +frontier. + +"The fourteenth courier had just returned in sadness; the commandant was +still incredulous; still firm in his refusal to render aid. + +"'We are then given up to the sword of the assassin!' groaned his +hearers. + +"'No, no, never! it must not be!' cried Maurice with sudden stern +determination, though there was a quiver of pain in his voice; and +sending a glance of mingled love and anguish toward the cottage that +sheltered those dearer to him than life, he set off at a brisk pace up +the valley. + +"Love moved him to the task, and spite of weakness and pain, never +before had he trodden those steep and dangerous mountain paths with such +celerity. + +"Arrived and admitted to Godin's presence, he poured out his petition +with the vehemence of one who can take no denial, urging his suit with +all the eloquence of intense anxiety and deep conviction of the terrible +extremity of the feeble folk in the valley. + +"Doubt began to creep into the mind of the brave officer. 'Might there +not be some truth in the story after all?' Yet he answered as before. 'A +mere panic. I cannot believe in a plot so atrocious. What! murder in +cold blood the innocent, helpless wives and children of the brave men +who are defending theirs from a common foe? No, no; human nature is not +so depraved!'" + +"'So it was thought on the eve of the Sicilian Vespers; on the eve of +St. Bartholomew; at the time when Castracaro, when De La Trinite, when +Pianeza--' + +"'Ah,' interrupted the general with a frown, 'but those were deeds of +days long gone by, and men are not now what they then were.' + +"'Sir,' returned Maurice earnestly, 'for twelve hundred years the +she-wolf of Rome has ravaged our fold, slaying sheep and lambs +alike--sparing neither age nor sex; and, sir, it is her boast that she +never changes. + +"'Nor are men incapable of the grossest injustice and cruelty even in +these days. Look at the fearful scenes of blood enacted even now in +France! General, the lives of thousands of his majesty's evangelical +subjects are trembling in the balance, and I do most solemnly assure you +that unless saved by your speedy interposition, or a direct miracle from +Heaven, they will this night fall victims to a sanguinary plot. + +"'Ah, sir, what more can I say to convince, to move you? The assassins +are already assembling, the time wanes fast, and will you stretch forth +no hand to save their innocent, helpless victims?' + +"The general was evidently moved by the appeal. 'Had I but sufficient +proof,' he muttered in an undertone of doubt and perplexity. + +"Maurice caught eagerly at the word. 'Proof, general! would Odetti, +would Brianza have warned us, were the danger not imminent? And do not +the annals of your own Switzerland furnish examples of similar plots?' + +"'True, too true! yet--' + +"But at this moment the sixteenth courier came panting up to pour out, +in an agony of haste and fear, the same tale of contemplated wholesale +massacre, and the story reaching the ears of the Vaudois troops they +gathered about the general, imploring, _demanding_ to be sent instantly +to the aid of their menaced wives and children. + +"General Godin's mind had been filled with conflicting emotions while +Maurice spoke; his humanity, his honor as a soldier, his duty to the +government, were struggling for the mastery. + +"'Ought he to march without orders or even the knowledge of his +superiors? and that too with no more certain proof of the illegal +assembling of those who were said to be plotting against the peace and +safety of the Vaudois families?' + +"Yet there was no time to reconnoitre ere the dire mischief might be +done. His humanity at last prevailed over more prudential +considerations. He commanded the brigade of Waldenses to march +instantly, and himself followed with another division. + +"Bianca Vittoria had been carried to an upper room, where all the family +were now gathered about her bed. + +"With unutterable anguish the mother looked upon her two lovely +daughters in the early bloom of womanhood, the babe sleeping upon her +breast, the little ones clinging to her skirts, her aged and infirm +parents, all apparently doomed to a speedy, violent death--and worse +than death. Her own danger was well-nigh forgotten in theirs. + +"Utter silence reigned in that room and the adjoining one, at this time +occupied by Magdalen and the mother and sisters of Maurice; every ear +was strained to catch the sound of the approaching footsteps of the +assassins, or of the longed-for deliverers; a very short season would +now decide their fate. Oh, would help never come! + +"Lucia, kneeling beside her sister's couch, clasping one thin, white +hand in hers, suddenly dropped it and sprang to her feet. + +"'How fast it grows dark! and what was that?' as a heavy, rolling sound +reverberated among the mountains; 'artillery?' and her tones grew wild +with terror. + +"'Thunder; the heavens are black with clouds,' said Magdalen, coming in +and speaking with the calmness of despair. + +"A heavy clap nearly drowned her words, then followed crash on crash; +the rain came down in torrents--the wind, which had suddenly risen to +almost a hurricane, dashing it with fury against walls and windows; the +darkness became intense except as ever and anon the lurid glare of the +lightning lit up the scene for an instant, giving to each a momentary +glimpse of the pale, terror-stricken faces of the others. + +"'Alas, alas, no help can reach us now!' moaned Sara, clasping her babe +closer to her breast, 'no troops can march over our fearful +mountain-passes in this terrific storm and thick darkness. _We must +die_!' + +"'Oh, God of our fathers, save us! let us not fall into the hands of +those ruffians, who--more to be feared than the wild beasts of the +forest--would rob us of honor and of life!' cried Lucia, falling upon +her knees again, and lifting hands and eyes to heaven. + +"'Amen!' responded the trembling voice of Rozel. 'Lord, Thine hand is +not shortened that it cannot save, neither Thine ear heavy that it +cannot hear!' + +"The scenes that followed what pen may portray! the wild anguish of some +expressed in incoherent words, shrieks of terror, and cries for help, as +they seemed to hear amid the roar of the elements the hurried footsteps +of the assassins, and to see in the lightning's flash the glitter of +their steel; the mute agony of others as in the calmness of despair they +crouched helplessly together awaiting the coming blow. + + * * * * * + +"Meanwhile the fathers, husbands, sons, brothers were hastening +homeward, their brave hearts torn with anguish at thought of the +impossibility of arriving before the hour set for the murderers to begin +their fiendish work. + +"There was no regular order of march, but each rushed onward at his +utmost speed, praying aloud to God for help to increase it, and calling +frantically to his fellows to 'hasten, _hasten_ to the rescue of all +they held most dear.' + +"Alas for their hopes! the shades of evening were already falling, and +the storm presently came on in terrific violence, the darkness, the +blinding momentary glare of the lightning, the crashing thunder peals, +the driving, pouring rain and fierce wind greatly increasing the +difficulties and perils of their advance. God Himself seemed to be +against them. + +"But urged on by fear and love for their helpless ones, and by parties +of distracted women and children sent forward from La Tour--some of +whom, in their terror and despair, asserted that the work of blood had +already begun--they pressed onward without a moment's pause, springing +from rock to rock, sliding down precipices, scaling giddy heights, +leaping chasms which at another time they would not have dared to +attempt, and tearing through the rushing, roaring mountain torrents +already greatly swollen by the rain. + +"They reached the last of these, and dashing through it, were presently +in sight of La Tour, when the tolling of the vesper bell of the convent +of the Récollets--the preconcerted signal for the assassins to sally +forth--smote upon their ears. + +"'Too late! too late!' cried Rudolph Goneto hoarsely. + +"'But if too late to save, we will avenge!' responded a chorus of deep +voices, as with frantic haste they sped over the intervening space. + +"The next moment the tramp of their feet and the clang of their arms +were heard in the streets of the town. Windows and doors flew open and +with cries and tears of joy and thankfulness, wives, children, and aged +parents gathered about them almost smothering them with caresses. + +"The storm, which had seemed to seal their doom, had proved their +salvation--preventing some of the murderers from reaching the rendezvous +in season, and so terrifying the others that they dared not attempt the +deed alone; especially as it had already begun to be rumored that troops +were on the march to the threatened valley. + +"Rudolph found himself encircled by his mother's arms, her kisses and +tears warm upon his cheek. + +"He held her close, both hearts too full for speech. Then a single word +fell from the soldier's lips, 'Lucia?' + +"'Safe.' + +"Darting into the house, guided by some subtle instinct, he stood the +next moment in the upper room where she knelt by her sister's couch, the +two mingling their tears and thanksgivings together. + +"All was darkness, but at sound of the well-known step Lucia sprang up +with a cry of joy. 'Saved!' + +"Rudolph's emotions, as he held her to his heart, were too big for +utterance. + +"Some one entered with a light. It was Magdalen, and behind her came +Maurice, pale, haggard, and dripping with rain. + +"Bianca's heart gave a joyous bound. He too was safe. + +"But a tumult of voices from below--some stern, angry, threatening, +others sullen, dogged, defiant, or craven with abject terror--attracted +their attention. + +"Magdalen set down the light and hurried away in the direction of the +sounds, Rudolph and Lucia following. + +"A number of the Waldenses, sword in hand, and eyes flashing with +righteous indignation, were gathered about two of the would-be +assassins, caught by them almost on the threshold of the cottage. + +"Their errand who could doubt? and Henri had recognized them as his and +Lucia's pursuers of the morning. + +"She too knew them instantly, and clung pale with affright to Rudolph's +arm, while he could scarce restrain himself from rushing upon, and +running them through with his sword. + +"'Spare us, sirs,' entreated Andrea, quaking with fear under the +wrathful glance of the father of the maidens, 'spare us; we have not +harmed you or yours.' + +"'Nor plotted their destruction? Miserable wretch, ask not your life +upon the plea that it is not forfeit. Can I doubt what would have been +the fate of my wife and daughters had they fallen into your hands?' + +"'But your religion teaches you to forgive.' + +"'True; yet also to protect the helpless ones committed to my care.' + +"'We will leave your valleys this hour; never to set foot in them +again.' + +"'Ah! yet how far may we trust the word of one whose creed bids him keep +no faith with heretics?' + +"'" Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."' + +"It was the voice of the aged Rozel which broke the momentary silence. + +"Vittoria sheathed his sword. Not his to usurp the prerogative of Him +who had that night given so signal deliverance to His 'Israel of the +Alps.'" + +"Is that all?" asked Lulu, drawing a long breath, as Mr. Dinsmore +refolded the manuscript and gave it back to his daughter. + +"Yes," he said, "the author has told of the deliverance of the +imperilled ones, and that Vittoria refrained from taking vengeance upon +their cowardly foes; and so ends the story of that night of terror in +the valleys." + +"But were all the Waldenses equally forbearing, grandpa?" asked Zoe. + +"They were; in all the valleys not a drop of blood was shed; justly +exasperated though the Waldenses were, they contented themselves with +sending to the government a list of the names of the baffled +conspirators. + +"But no notice was taken of it; the would-be murderers were never called +to account till they appeared before a greater than an earthly tribunal. + +"But General Godin was presently superseded in his command and shortly +after dismissed the service. Two plain indications that the sympathy of +the government was with the assassins and not at all with their intended +victims." + +"But is it true, sir?" asked Max. + +"Yes; it is true that at that time, in those valleys, and under those +circumstances, such a plot was hatched and its carrying out prevented in +the exact way that this story relates." + +"Mean, cowardly, wicked fellows they must have been to want to murder +the wives and children and burn and plunder the houses of the men that +were defending them and theirs from a common enemy!" exclaimed the boy, +his face flushing and eyes flashing with righteous indignation. + +"Very true; but such are the lessons popery teaches and always has +taught; 'no faith with heretics,' no mercy to any who deny her dogmas; +and that anything is right and commendable which is done to destroy +those who do not acknowledge her authority and to increase her power; +one of her doctrines being that the end sanctifies the means!" + +"But what did they mean when they said they were going to have a second +St. Bartholomew in the valleys?" asked Grace. + +"Did you never hear of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, daughter?" her +father asked, stroking her hair caressingly as she sat upon his knee. + +"No, papa; won't you tell me about it?" + +"It occurred in France a little more than three hundred years ago; it +was a dreadful massacre of the Protestants to the number of from sixty +to a hundred thousand; and it was begun on the night of the twenty-third +of August; which the Papists call St. Bartholomew's Day. + +"The Protestants were shot, stabbed, murdered in various ways, in their +beds, in the street, any where that they could be found; and for no +crime but being Protestants." + +"And popery would do the very same now and here, had she the power," +commented Mr. Dinsmore, "for it is her proudest boast that she never +changes. She teaches her own infallibility; and what she has done she +will do again if she can." + +"What is infallibility, papa?" asked Grace. "To be infallible is to be +incapable of error or of making mistakes," he answered. "So popery +teaching that she has never done wrong or made a mistake justifies all +the horrible cruelties she practised in former times; and, in fact, she +occasionally tells us, through some of her bolder or less wary +followers, that what she has done she will do again as soon as she +attains the power." + +"Which she never will in this free land," exclaimed Edward. + +"Never, provided Columbia's sons are faithful to their trust; +remembering that 'eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,'" responded +his grandfather. + +Grace was clinging tightly to her father, and her little face was pale +and wore a look of fright. + +"What is it, darling?" he asked. + +"O papa, will they come here some time and kill us?" she asked, +tremulously. + +"Do not be frightened, my dear little one," he said, holding her close; +"you are in no danger from them." + +"I don't believe all Roman Catholics would have Protestants persecuted +if they could," remarked Betty. "Do you, uncle?" + +"No; I think there are some truly Christian people among them," he +answered; "some who have not yet heard and heeded the call, 'Come out of +her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye +receive not of her plagues.' We were talking, not of Papists, but of +Popery. Sincere hatred of the system is not incompatible with sincere +love to its deluded followers." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I +direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."--_Psalm_ 5:3. + + +It was early morning; Captain Raymond was pacing to and fro along the +top of the cliffs, now sending a glance seaward, and now toward the door +of the cottage which was his temporary home, as if expecting a companion +in his ramble. + +Presently the door opened and Lulu stepped out upon the porch. One eager +look showed her father, and she bounded with joyful step to meet him. + +"Good-morning, my dear papa," she cried, holding up her face for a kiss, +which he gave with hearty affection. + +"Good-morning, my dear little early bird," he responded. "Come, I will +help you down the steps and we will pace the sands at the water's edge." + +This was Lulu's time for having her father to herself, as she phrased +it. He was sure to be out at this early hour, if the weather would +permit, and she almost equally sure to join him: and as the others +liked to lie a little longer in bed, there was seldom any one to share +his society with her. + +He led her down the long flights of stairs and across the level expanse +of sand, close to where the booming waves dashed up their spray. + +For some moments the two stood hand in hand silently gazing upon sea and +sky, bright with the morning sunlight; then they turned and paced the +beach for a time, and then the captain led his little girl to a seat in +the porch of a bathing-house, from which they could still look far out +over the sea. + +"Papa," she said, nestling close to his side, "I am very fond of being +down here all alone with you." + +"Are you, daughter?" he said, bending down to caress her hair and cheek. +"Well, I dearly love to have my little girl by my side. How long have +you been up?" + +"I can't tell exactly; because, you know, papa, there is no time-piece +in my room. But I wasn't long dressing; for I didn't want to lose a +minute of the time I might have out here with you." + +"Did you do nothing but put on your clothes after leaving your bed?" he +asked, gravely. + +"I washed my hands and face and smoothed my hair." + +"And was that all?" + +She glanced up at him in surprise at the deep gravity of his tone; then +suddenly comprehending what his questioning meant, hung her head, while +her cheek flushed hotly. "Yes, papa," she replied, in a low, abashed +tone. + +"I am very, very sorry to hear it," he said. "If my little girl begins +the day without a prayer to God for help to do right, without thanking +Him for His kind care over her while she slept, she can hardly expect to +escape sins and sorrows which will make it anything but a happy day." + +"Papa, I do 'most always say my prayers in the morning and at night; but +I didn't feel like doing it this time. Do you think people ought to pray +when they don't feel like it?" + +"Yes; I think that is the very time when they most need to pray; they +need to ask God to take away the hardness of their hearts; the evil in +them that is hiding His love and their own needs; so that they have no +gratitude to express for all His great goodness and mercy to them, no +petitions to offer up for strength to resist temptation and to walk +steadily in His ways; no desire to confess their sins and plead for +pardon for Jesus' sake. Ah! that is certainly the time when we have most +urgent need to pray. + +"Jesus taught that men (and in the Bible men stand for the whole human +race) 'ought always to pray and not to faint.' And we are commanded to +pray without ceasing." + +"Papa, how can we do that?" she asked. "You know we have to be doing +other things sometimes." + +"It does not mean that we are to be always on our knees," he said; "but +that we are to live so near to God, so loving Him, and so feeling our +constant dependence upon Him, that our hearts will be very often going +up to His throne in silent petition, praise or confession. + +"And if we live in such union with Him we will highly prize the +privilege of drawing especially near to Him at certain seasons; we will +be glad to be alone with Him often, and will not forget or neglect to +retire to our closets night and morning for a little season of close +communion with our best and dearest Friend. + +"You say you love to be alone with me, your earthly father; I trust the +time will come when you will love far better to be alone with your +heavenly Father. I must often be far away from you, but He is ever near; +I may be powerless to help you, though close at your side, but He is +almighty to save, to provide for, and to defend; and He never turns a +deaf ear to the cry of His children." + +"Yes, papa; but oh I wish that you were always near me too," she said, +leaning her cheek affectionately against his arm. "I am very, very +sorry that ever I have been a trouble to you and spoiled your enjoyment +of your visits home." + +"I know you are, daughter; but you have been very good of late. I have +rejoiced to see that you were really trying to rule your own spirit. So +far as I know, you have been entirely and cheerfully obedient to me, and +have not indulged in a single fit of passion or sullenness." + +"Yes, papa; but I have been nearly in a passion two or three times; but +you gave me a look just in time to help me to resist it. But when you +are gone I shall not have that help." + +"Then, my child, you must remember that your heavenly Father is looking +at you; that He bids you fight against the evil of your nature, and if +you seek it of Him, will give you strength to overcome. Here is a text +for you; I want you to remember it constantly; and to that end repeat it +often to yourself, 'Thou, God, seest me.' + +"And do not forget that He sees not only the outward conduct but the +inmost thoughts and feelings of the heart." + +A boy's glad shout and merry whistle mingled pleasantly with the sound +of the dashing of the waves, and Max came bounding over the sands toward +their sheltered nook. + +"Good-morning, papa," he cried. "You too, Lulu. Ahead of me as usual, I +see!" + +"Yes," the captain said, reaching out a hand to grasp the lad's and +gazing with fatherly affection and pride into the handsome young face +glowing with health and happiness, "she is the earliest young bird in +the family nest. However, she seeks her roost earlier than her brother +does his." + +"Yes; and I am not so very late, am I, sir?" + +"No, my boy, I do not suppose you have taken any more sleep than you +need for your health and growth; and I certainly would not have you do +with less." + +"I know you wouldn't, papa; such a good, kind father as you are," +responded Max. "I wouldn't swap fathers with any other boy," he added, +with a look of mingled fun and affection. + +"Nor would I exchange my son for any other; not even a better one," +returned the captain laughingly, tightening his clasp of the sturdy +brown hand he held. + +"I haven't heard yet the story of yesterday's success in boating and +fishing; come sit down here by my side and let me have it." + +Max obeyed, nothing loath, for he was becoming quite expert in both, and +always found in his father an interested listener to the story of his +exploits. + +He and the other lads had returned from their camping at the time of the +removal of the family party from 'Sconset to Nantucket Town. + +On the conclusion of his narrative the captain pronounced it breakfast +time, and they returned to the house. + +After breakfast, as nearly the whole party were gathered upon the porch, +discussing the question what should be the amusements of the day, a near +neighbor with whom they had some acquaintance, ran in to ask if they +would join a company who were going over to Shimmo to have a clam-bake. + +"The name of the place is new to me," remarked Mr. Dinsmore. "Is it a +town, Mrs. Atwood?" + +"Oh, no," replied the lady, "there is only one dwelling; a farmhouse +with its barns and other out-houses comprises the whole place. It is on +the shore of the harbor some miles beyond Nantucket Town. It is a +pleasant spot, and I think we shall have an enjoyable time; particularly +if I can persuade you all to go." + +"A regular New England clam-bake!" said Elsie, "I should really like to +attend one, and am much obliged for your invitation, Mrs. Atwood; as we +all are, I am sure." + +No one felt disposed to decline the invitation, and it was soon settled +that all would go. + +The clam-bake was to occupy only the afternoon; so they would have time +to make all necessary arrangements, and for the customary surf and +still baths. + +Mrs. Atwood had risen to take leave. "Ah," she said, "I was near +forgetting something I meant to say: we never dress for these +expeditions, but, on the contrary, wear the oldest and shabbiest dresses +we have; considering them altogether the most suitable to the occasion, +as then we need not be troubled if they should be wet with spray or +soiled by contact with seaweed, grass, or anything else." + +"A very sensible custom," Mrs. Dinsmore responded, "and one which we +shall all probably follow." + +Mrs. Atwood had hardly reached the gate when Lulu, turning to her father +with a very discontented face, exclaimed, "I don't want to wear a shabby +old dress! Must I, papa?" + +"You will wear whatever your Grandma Elsie or mamma directs," he +answered, giving her a warning look. Then motioning her to come close to +his side, he whispered in her ear, "I see that you are inclined to be +ill-tempered and rebellious again, as I feared you would, when I learned +that you had begun the day without a prayer for help to do and feel +right. Go, now, to your room and ask it." + +"You needn't fret, Lu; you don't own a dress that any little girl ought +to feel ashamed to wear," remarked Betty, as the child turned to obey. + +"And we are all going to wear the very worst we have here with us, I +presume," added Zoe; "at least such is my intention." + +"Provided your husband approves," whispered Edward sportively. + +"Anyhow," she answered, drawing herself up in pretended offence; "can't +a woman do as she pleases even in such trifles?" + +"Ah I but it is the privileges of a child-wife which are under +discussion now," + +"Now, sir, after that you shall just have the trouble of telling me what +to wear," said Zoe, rising from the couch where they had been sitting +side by side; "come along and choose." + +Lulu was in the room where she slept, obeying her father's order so far +as outward actions went; but there was little more than lip-service in +the prayer she offered, for her thoughts were wandering upon the subject +of dress, and ways and means for obtaining permission to wear what she +wished that afternoon. + +By the time she had finished "saying her prayers," she had also reached +a conclusion as to her best plan for securing the desired privilege. + +Grandma Elsie was so very kind and gentle that there seemed more hope of +moving her than any one else; so to her she went, and, delighted to find +her comparatively alone, no one being near enough to overhear a +low-toned conversation, began at once: + +"Grandma Elsie, I want to wear a white dress to the clam-bake; and I +think it would be suitable, because the weather is very warm, and white +will wash, so that it would not matter if I did get it soiled." + +"My dear child, it is your father's place to decide what concerns his +children, when he is with them," Elsie said, drawing the little girl to +her and smoothing her hair with soft, caressing touch. + +"Yes, ma'am; but he says you and Mamma Vi are to decide this. So if you +will only say I may wear the white dress, he will let me. Won't you, +please?" + +"If your father is satisfied with your choice I shall certainly raise no +objection; nor will your mamma, I am quite sure." + +"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" and Lulu ran off gleefully in search of her +father. + +She found him on the veranda, busied with the morning paper, and to her +satisfaction, he too was alone. + +"What is it, daughter?" he asked, glancing from his paper to her +animated, eager face. + +"About what I am to wear this afternoon, papa. I would like to wear the +white dress I had on yesterday evening, and Grandma Elsie does not +object, and says she knows Mamma Vi will not, if you say I may." + +"Did she say she thought it a suitable dress?" he asked gravely. + +Lulu hung her head. "No, sir; she didn't say that she did or she +didn't." + +"Go and ask her the question." + +Lulu went back and asked it. + +"No, my child, I do not," Elsie answered. "It is very unlikely that any +one else will be in white or anything at all dressy, and you will look +overdressed, which is in very bad taste; besides, though the weather +seems warm enough for such thin material here on shore, it will be a +great deal cooler on the water; and should the waves or spray come +dashing over us, you would find your dress clinging to you like a wet +rag--neither beauty nor comfort in it." + +"I could wear a waterproof over it while we are sailing," said Lulu. + +"Even that might not prove a perfect protection," Elsie replied. "I +think, my dear, you will do well to content yourself to wear your +travelling dress, which is of a light woollen material, neat without +being too dressy, and of a color that will not show every little soil. +And it is as good and handsome as the dress I shall wear or as Rosie, +and probably any one else, will have on." + +"But you can choose for yourself, Grandma Elsie, and I wish I could." + +"That is one of the privileges of older years," Elsie answered +pleasantly. "I was considerably older than you are before I was allowed +to select my own attire. But I repeat that I shall not raise the +slightest objection to your wearing anything your father is willing to +see on you." + +Lulu's hopes were almost gone, but she would make one more effort. + +She went to her father, and putting her arms round his neck, begged in +her most coaxing tones for the gratification of her wish. + +"What did your Grandma Elsie say?" he asked. + +Lulu faithfully, though with no little reluctance, repeated every word +Elsie had said to her on the subject. + +"I entirely agree with her," said the captain; "so entirely that even +had she found no objection to urge against it, I should have forbidden +you to wear the dress." + +Lulu heard him with a clouded brow; in fact, the expression of her face +was decidedly sullen. Her father observed it with sorrow and concern. + +"Sit down here till I am ready to talk to you," he said, indicating a +chair close at his side. + +Lulu obeyed, sitting quietly there while he finished his paper. Throwing +it aside at length, he took her hand and drew her in between his knees, +putting an arm about her waist. + +"My little daughter," he said, in his usual kind tone, "I am afraid you +care too much for dress and finery. What I desire for you is that you +may 'be clothed with humility,' and have 'the ornament of a meek and +quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price.'" + +"I never can have that, papa, for it isn't a bit like me," she said, +with a sort of despairing impatience and disgust at herself. + +"No, that is too true; it is not like you as you are by nature--the evil +nature inherited from me; but God is able to change that, to give you a +clean heart and renew within you a right spirit. Jesus is a Saviour from +sin (He saves none in their sins), and He is able to save to the +uttermost, able to take away the very last remains of the old corrupt +nature with which we were born. + +"Oh, my child, seek His help to fight against it and to overcome! It +grieves me more than I can express to see you again showing an unlovely, +wilful temper." + +"Oh, papa, don't be grieved," she said, throwing her arms round his neck +and pressing her lips to his cheek. "I will be good and wear whatever +I'm told; look pleasant about it too, for indeed I do love you too well +to want to grieve you and spoil your pleasure." + +"Ah, that is my own dear little girl," he answered, returning her +caresses. + +The sullen expression had vanished from her face and it wore its +brightest look, yet it clouded again the next moment, but with sorrow, +not anger, as she sighed, "Oh! if you were always with us, papa, I think +I might grow good at last; but I need your help so much, and you are +gone more than half the time." + +"Your heavenly Father is never gone, daughter, and will never turn a +deaf ear to a cry for strength to resist temptation to sin. He says, 'In +me is thine help.' + +"And we are told, 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be +tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a +way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'" + +In the mean time Mrs. Dinsmore, who from choice took most of the +housekeeping cares, was ordering an early dinner and various baskets of +provisions for the picnic. + +As the family sat down to the table, these last were being conveyed on +board a yacht lying at the little pier near the bathing-place below the +cliffs; and almost immediately upon finishing their meal, all, old and +young, trooped down the stairways, across the sandy beach, and were +themselves soon aboard the vessel. + +Others of the company were already seated in it, and the rest following +a few minutes later, and the last basket of provisions being safely +stowed away in some safe corner of the craft, they set sail, dragging at +their stern a dory in which was a large quantity of clams in the shell. + +It was a bright day, and a favorable breeze sent the yacht skimming over +the water at an exhilarating rate of speed. All hearts seemed light, +every face was bright, not excepting Lulu's, though she was attired in +the plain colored dress recommended by Grandma Elsie. + +There was no greater display of finery than a knot of bright ribbon, on +the part of even the gayest young girl present. Betty wore a black +bunting--one of her school dresses--with a cardinal ribbon at the +throat; Zoe the brown woollen that had for her such mingled associations +of pain and pleasure, and looked wonderfully sweet and pretty in it, +Edward thought. + +They sat side by side, and Betty, watching them furtively, said to +herself, "They are for all the world just like a pair of lovers yet, +though they have been married over a year." + +Then turning her attention first to Violet and Captain Raymond, then +upon her Aunt and Uncle Dinsmore, she came to the same conclusion in +regard to them also. + +"And it was just so with cousin Elsie and her husband," she mused. "I +can remember how devoted they were to each other. But she seems very +happy now, and she well may be, with father, sons and daughters all so +devoted to her. And she's so rich too; never has to consider how to make +one dollar do the work of two; a problem I am so often called upon to +solve. In fact, it is to her and uncle, Bob and I owe our education, and +pretty much everything we have. + +"I don't envy her her money, but I do the love that has surrounded her +all her life. She never knew her own mother, to be sure, but her father +petted and fondled her as a child, and was father and mother both to +her, I've often heard her say; while mine died before I was born, and +mother lost her reason when I was a little thing." + +But Betty was not much given to melancholy musing, or indeed to musing +of any kind; a passing sail presently attracted her attention and turned +her thoughts into a new channel. + +And soon, the wind and tide being favorable, the yacht drew near her +destination. + +There was no wharf, but the passengers were taken to the shore, a few at +a time, in the dory. It also landed provision baskets and the clams. + +Those ladies and gentlemen to whom clam-bakes were a new experience +watched with interest the process of cooking the bivalves. + +A pit of suitable size for the quantity to be prepared was made in the +sand, the bottom covered with stones; it was then heated by a fire +kindled in it, the brands were removed, seaweed spread over the stones, +the clams poured in, abundance of seaweed piled over and about them, a +piece of an old sail put over that, and they were left to bake or steam, +while another fire was kindled near by, and a large tin bucket, filled +with water, set on it to boil for making coffee. + +While some busied themselves with these culinary operations, others +repaired to the dwelling, which stood some little distance back from the +beach, the ground sloping gently away from it to the water's edge. + +The lady of the house met them at the door, and hospitably invited them +to come in and rest themselves in her parlor, or sit on the porch; and +understanding their errand to the locality, not only gave ready +permission for their table to be spread in the shade of her house, but +offered to lend anything they might require in the way of utensils. + +Accepting her offer, they set to work, the men making a rough sort of +impromptu table with some boards, and the ladies spreading upon it the +contents of the provision baskets. + +Mrs. Dinsmore, Elsie and the younger ladies of their party, offered to +assist in these labors, but were told that they were considered guests, +and must be content to look on or wander about and amuse themselves. + +There was not much to be seen but grassy slopes destitute of tree or +shrub, and the harbor and open sea beyond. + +They seated themselves upon the porch of the dwelling-house, while +Captain Raymond and the younger members of their family party wandered +here and there about the place. + +There seemed to be some sport going on among the cooks--those engaged in +preparing the coffee. + +Lulu hurried toward them to see what it was about, then came running +back to her father, who stood a little farther up the slope, with Grace +clinging to his hand. + +"Oh!" she said with a face of disgust, "I don't mean to drink any of +that coffee; why, would you believe it, they stirred it with a poker?" + +"Did they?" laughed the captain; "they might have done worse. I presume +that was used for lack of a long enough spoon. We must not be too +particular on such occasions as this." + +"But you won't drink any of it, will you, papa?" + +"I think it altogether likely I shall." + +"Why, papa! coffee that was stirred with a dirty poker?" + +"We will suppose the poker was not very dirty," he said, with a +good-humored smile; "probably there was nothing worse on it than a +little ashes, which, diffused through so large a quantity of liquid, +could harm no one." + +"Must I drink it if they offer me a cup?" + +"No; there need be no compulsion about it; indeed, I think it better for +a child of your age not to take coffee at all." + +"But you never said I shouldn't, papa." + +"No; because you had formed the habit in my absence, and, as I am not +sure that it is a positive injury to you, I have felt loath to deprive +you of the pleasure." + +"You are so kind, papa," she said, slipping her hand into his and +looking up affectionately into his face. "But I will give up coffee if +you want me to. I like it, but I can do without it." + +"I think milk is far more wholesome for you," he said, with a smile of +pleased approval. "I should like you to make that your ordinary beverage +at meals, but I do not forbid an occasional cup of coffee." + +"Thank you, papa," she returned. "Grandma Elsie once told me that when +she was a little girl her father wouldn't allow her to drink coffee at +all, or to eat any kind of hot cakes or rich sweet cake; and oh I don't +know how many things that she liked he wouldn't let her have. I don't +think he was half as nice a father as ours; do you, Gracie?" + +"'Course I don't, Lu; I just think we've got the very best in the whole +world," responded Grace, laying her cheek affectionately against the +hand that held hers in its strong, loving clasp. + +"That is only because he is your own, my darlings," the captain said, +smiling down tenderly upon them. + +A lady had drawn near, and now said, "Supper is ready, Captain Raymond; +will you bring your little girls and come to the table?" + +"Thank you; we will do so with pleasure," he said, following her as she +led the way. + +The table, covered with a snow-white cloth and heaped with tempting +viands, presented a very attractive appearance. + +The clams were brought on after the most of the company were seated, +with their coffee and bread and butter before them. They were served hot +from the fire and the shell, in neat paper trays, and eaten with melted +butter. Eaten thus they make a dish fit for a king. + +By the time that all appetites were satisfied, the sun was near his +setting, and it was thought best to return without delay. + +On repairing to the beach, they found the tide so low that even the dory +could not come close to dry land; so the ladies and children were +carried through the water to the yacht. This gave occasion for some +merriment. + +"You must carry me, Ned, if I've got to be carried," said Zoe; "I'm not +going to let anybody else do it." + +"No; nor am I," he returned, gayly, picking her up and striding forward. +"I claim it as my especial privilege." + +Mr. Dinsmore followed with his wife, then Captain Raymond with his. + +"Get in, Mr. Dinsmore," said the captain, as they deposited their +burdens; "there is no occasion for further exertion on your part; I'll +bring mother." + +"No, sir," said Edward, hurrying shoreward again, "that's my task; you +have your children to take care of." + +"Your mother is my child, Ned, and I think I shall take care of her," +Mr. Dinsmore said, hastening back to the little crowd still at the +water's edge. + +"We will have to let her decide which of us shall have the honor," said +the captain. + +"That I won't," Mr. Dinsmore said, laughingly, stepping to his +daughter's side and taking her in his arms. + +"Now, you two may take care of the younger ones," he added, with a +triumphant glance at his two rivals. + +"Ah, Ned, we are completely outwitted," laughed the captain. + +"Yes; with grandpa about one can't get half a chance to wait upon +mother. Betty, shall I have the honor and pleasure of conveying you +aboard of yonder vessel?" + +"Yes, thank you; I see Harold and Herbert are taking Rosie and Walter," +she said. "But I warn you that I am a good deal heavier than Zoe." + +"Nevertheless, I think my strength will prove equal to the exertion," he +returned, as he lifted her from the ground. + +Lulu and Grace stood together, hand in hand, Max on Gracie's other side. + +"Take Gracie first, please, papa," said Lulu; "she is frightened, I +believe." + +"Frightened?" he said, stooping to take her in his arms; "there is +nothing to be afraid of, darling. Do you think papa would leave you +behind or drop you into the water?" + +"No; I know you wouldn't," she said, with a little nervous laugh, and +clinging tightly about his neck. + +"Mayn't I wade out, papa?" Max called after him. + +"Yes; but stay with your sister till I come for her." + +"Where's my baby, Levis?" asked Violet, laughingly, as he set Grace down +by her side. + +"The baby! Sure enough, where is it?" he exclaimed, with an anxious +glance toward the shore. + +"Ah, there stands the nurse with it in her arms. You shall have it in +yours in a moment." + +"Here's the baby, papa; please take her first; I don't mind waiting," +said Lulu, as he stepped ashore again. + +He gave her a pleased, approving look. "That is right; it will be but a +minute or two," he said, as he took the babe and turned away with it. + +In a few minutes more, all the passengers were aboard, and they set +sail; but they had not gone far when it became evident that something +was amiss; they were making no progress. + +"What is the matter?" asked several voices, and Violet looked +inquiringly at her husband. + +"There is no cause for apprehension," he said; "we are aground, and may +possibly have to wait here for the turn of the tide; that's all." + +"It's the lowest tide I ever saw," remarked the captain of the yacht; +"we'll have to lighten her; if some of the heaviest of you will get into +the dory, it will help." + +Quite a number immediately volunteered to do so, among them Edward and +Zoe, Bob and Betty, Harold and Herbert. The dory was speedily filled, +and then, with a little more exertion the yacht was set afloat. + +They moved out into deep water, and a gentle breeze wafted them +pleasantly toward their desired haven. + +"Look at the sun, papa," Elsie said, gazing westward. "It has a very +peculiar appearance." + +"Yes," he said, "it looks a good deal like a balloon; it's redness +obscured by that leaden-colored cloud. It is very near its setting; we +shall not get in till after dark." + +"But that will not matter?" + +"Oh, no; our captain is so thoroughly acquainted with his vessel, the +harbor and the wharf, that I have no doubt he would land us safely even +were it much darker than it will be." + +Zoe and Edward, in the dory, were talking with a Nantucket lady, a Mrs. +Fry. + +"How do you like our island, and particularly our town?" she asked. + +"Oh, ever so much!" said Zoe. "We have visited a good many +watering-places and sea-side resorts, but never one where there was so +much to see and to do; so many delightful ways of passing the time. I +think I shall vote for Nantucket again next year, when we are +considering where to pass the hot months." + +"And I," said Edward, "echo my wife's sentiments on the subject under +discussion." + +"Your wife" the lady exclaimed, with a look of surprise. + +"I took her to be your sister; you are both so very young in +appearance." + +"We are not very old," laughed Edward; "Zoe is but sixteen, but we have +been married a year." + +"You have begun early; it is thought by some that early marriages are +apt to be the happiest, and I should think them likely to be, provided +the two are willing to conform their tastes and habits each to those of +the other. I trust you two have a long life of happiness before you." + +"Thank you," they both said, Edward adding, "I think we are disposed to +accommodate ourselves to each other, and whether our lives be long or +short, our trials many or few, I trust we shall always find great +happiness in mutual sympathy, love and confidence." + +The lady asked if they had seen all the places of interest on the +island, and in reply they named those they had seen. + +"Have you been to Mrs. Mack's?" she asked. + +"No, madam, we have not so much as heard of her existence," returned +Edward, sportively. "May I ask who and what she is?" + +"Yes; she is the widow of a sea-captain, who has a collection of +curiosities which she keeps on exhibition, devoting the proceeds, so +she says, to benevolent purposes. She is an odd body; herself the +greatest curiosity she has to show, I think. You should visit her museum +by all means." + +"We shall be happy to do so if you will kindly put us in the way of it," +said Edward. "How shall we proceed in order to gain admittance?" + +"If we can get up a party it will be easy enough; I shall then send her +word, and she will appoint the hour when she will receive us; she likes +to show her independence, and will not exhibit unless to a goodly +number. + +"I know of several visitors on the island who want to go, and if your +party will join with them there will be no difficulty." + +"I think I can promise that we will," said Edward. "I will let you know +positively to-morrow morning." + +"That will do nicely. Hark, they are singing aboard the yacht." + +They listened in silence till the song was finished. + +"I recognized most of the voices," Mrs. Fry remarked, "but two lovely +sopranos were quite new to me. Do you know the owners?" turning +smilingly to Edward. + +"My mother and sister," he answered, with proud satisfaction. + +"Naturally fine, and very highly cultivated," she said. "You must be +proud of them." + +"I am," Edward admitted, with a happy laugh. + +The sun was down and twilight had fairly begun. Grace, seated on her +father's knee, was gazing out over the harbor. + +"See, papa, how many little lights close down to the water!" she said. + +"Yes; they are lamps on the small boats that are sailing or rowing +about; they show them for safety from running into each other." + +"And they look so pretty." + +"Yes, so they do; and it is a sight one may have every evening from the +wharf. Shall I take you down there some evening and let you sit and +watch them as they come and go?" + +"Oh, yes, do, papa; I think it would be so nice! And you would take Max +and Lulu too, wouldn't you?" + +"If they should happen to want to go; there are benches on the wharf +where we can sit and have a good view. I think we will try it to-morrow +evening if nothing happens to prevent." + +"Oh, I'm so glad! You are such a good, kind papa," she said, +delightedly, giving him a hug. + +"The very best you have ever had, I suppose," he responded, with a +pleased laugh. + +"Yes, indeed," she answered, naïvely, quite missing the point of his +jest. + +On reaching home Edward and Zoe reported their conversation with the +lady in the dory, and asked, "Shall we not go?" + +"I think so, by all means, since it is for benevolent objects," said +Elsie. + +"Or anyhow, since we feel in duty bound to see all that is to be seen on +this island," said Captain Raymond. + +No dissenting voice was raised, and when the next morning word came that +Mrs. Mack would exhibit that afternoon if a party were made up to +attend, they all agreed to go. + +The distance was too great for ladies and children to walk, so carriages +were ordered. Captain Raymond and his family filled one. + +"This is the street that oldest house is on," remarked Lulu, as they +turned a corner; "I mean that one we went to see; that has the big +horse-shoe on its chimney." + +"What do they have that for, papa?" asked Grace. + +"In old times when many people were ignorant and superstitious, it was +thought to be a protection from witches." + +"Witches, papa? what are they?" + +"I don't think there are any, really," he said, with a kindly smile into +the eagerly inquiring little face; "but in old times it was a very +common belief that there were people--generally some withered-up old +women--who had dealings with Satan, and were given power by him to +torment, or bring losses and various calamities upon any one whom they +disliked. + +"When you are a little older you shall hear more about it, and how that +foolish belief led to great crimes and cruelties inflicted upon many +innocent, harmless people. But now, while my Gracie is so young and +timid, I do not want her to know too much about such horrors." + +"Yes, papa," she responded; "I won't try to know till you think I'm +quite old enough." + +Several vehicles drew up at the same moment in front of Mrs. Mack's +door, and greetings and some introductions were exchanged on the +sidewalk and door-steps. Edward introduced his mother and Mrs. Fry to +each other, and the latter presented to them a Mrs. Glenn, who, she +said, was a native of Nantucket, but had only recently returned after an +absence of many years. + +"Mrs. Mack knew me as a young girl," Mrs. Glenn remarked, "and I am +quite curious to see whether she will recognize me." + +At that instant the door was opened in answer to their ring, and they +were invited to enter and walk into the parlor. + +They found it comfortably furnished and neat as wax. Seating themselves +they waited patiently for some moments the coming of the lady of the +house. + +At length she made her appearance; a little old lady, neatly attired, +and with a pleasant countenance. + +Mrs. Fry saluted her with a good-afternoon, adding, "I have brought some +friends with me to look at your curiosities. This lady," indicating Mrs. +Glenn, "you ought to know, as you were acquainted with her in her +girlhood." + +"Do you know me, Mrs. Mack?" asked Mrs. Glenn, offering her hand. + +"Yes, you look as natural as the pigs," was the rather startling reply; +accompanied, however, by a smile and cordial shake of the offered hand. + +"Now, we'll take the money first to make sure of it," was the next +remark, addressed to the company in general. + +"What is your admission fee?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, producing his +pocketbook. + +"Fifteen cents apiece." + +"By no means exorbitant if your collection is worth seeing," he +returned, good-humoredly. "Never mind your purses, Elsie, Raymond, Ned, +I'll act as paymaster for the party." + +The all-important business of collecting the entrance fees having been +duly attended to, Mrs. Mack led the way to an upper room where +minerals, shells, sharks' teeth, and various other curiosities and +relics were spread out upon tables and shelves, ranged along the sides +and in the centre of the apartment. + +"Now," she said, "the first thing is to register your names. You must +all register. You begin," handing the book to Mr. Dinsmore, "you seem to +be the oldest." + +"I presume I am," he said, dryly, taking the book and doing as he was +bidden. "Now, you, Raymond," passing it on to the captain, "we'll take +it for granted that you are next in age and importance." + +"That's right, captain," laughed Betty, as he silently took the book and +wrote his name, "it wouldn't be at all polite to seem to think yourself +younger than any lady present." + +"Of course not, Miss Betty; will you take your turn next?" + +"Of course not, sir; do you mean to insinuate that I am older than Aunt +Rose?" she asked, passing the book on to Mrs. Dinsmore. + +"Don't be too particular about going according to ages," said Mrs. Mack, +"it takes up too much time." + +"You may write my name for me, Ned," said Zoe, when he took the book. + +"Yes, write your sister's name for her; it'll do just as well," said +Mrs. Mack. + +"But I'm not his sister," said Zoe. + +"What, then? is he your lover?" + +"No," Edward said, laughing, "we're husband and wife." + +"You've begun young," she remarked, taking the book and passing it on; +"don't look as if you'd cut your wisdom teeth yet, either of you. When +the ladies have all registered, some of you grown folks had better do it +for the children." + +Having seen all their names duly inscribed in her register, "Seat +yourselves," she said, waving her hand toward some benches and chairs. + +Then, with the help of a half-grown girl, she set out a small circular +table, placed a box upon it, pushed up chairs and a bench or two, and +said, "Now, as many of you as can, come and sit round this table; the +others shall have their turn afterward." + +When all the places were filled, she opened the box and took from it a +number of beautifully carved articles--napkin-rings, spoons, etc. + +"Now, all take your turns in looking at this lovely carved work, while I +tell you its story," she said, "the story of how it came into my +possession." + +"You see, my husband was a sea-captain, and upon one occasion, when he +was about setting sail for a long voyage, a young man, or lad--he was +hardly old enough to be called a man--came and asked to be taken as one +of the crew. He gave a name, but it wasn't his true name, inherited +from his father, as my husband afterward discovered. But not suspecting +anything wrong, he engaged the lad, and took him with him on the voyage. + +"And the lad behaved well aboard the ship, and he used to carve +wonderfully well--as you may see by looking at these articles--just with +a jack-knife, and finally--keeping at it in his leisure moments--he made +all these articles, carving them out of sharks' teeth. + +"You can see he must have had genius; hadn't he? and yet he'd run away +from home to go to sea, as my husband afterward had good reason to +believe." + +She made a long story of it, spinning out her yarn until the first set +had examined the carved work to their satisfaction. + +Then, "Reverse yourselves," she said, indicating by a wave of her hand, +that they were to give place at the table to the rest of the company. + +When all had had an opportunity to examine the specimens of the lad's +skill, the young girl was ordered to restore them to the box, but first +to count them. + +That last clause brought an amused smile to nearly every face in the +audience, but Lulu frowned, and muttered, "Just as if she thought we +would steal them!" + +Next, Mrs. Mack began the circuit of the room, carrying a long slender +stick with which she pointed out those which she considered the most +interesting of her specimens or articles of virtu. + +One of these last was a very large, very old-fashioned back-comb, having +a story with a moral attached, the latter recited in doggerel rhyme. + +She had other stories, in connection with other articles, to tell in the +same way. In fact, so many and so long were they, that the listeners +grew weary and inattentive ere the exhibition was brought to a close. + +The afternoon was waning when they left the house. As Captain Raymond +and his family drove into the heart of the town on their way home, their +attention was attracted by the loud ringing of a hand-bell, followed now +and again by noisy vociferation, in a discordant, man's voice. + +"So the evening boat is in," remarked the captain. + +"How do you know, papa?" asked Grace. + +"By hearing the town-crier calling his papers; which could not have come +in any other way." + +"What does he say, papa?" queried Lulu. "I have listened as intently as +possible many a time, but I never can make out more than a word or two, +sometimes not that." + +"No more can I," he answered, with a smile; "it sounds to me like 'The +first news is um mum, and the second news is mum um mum, and the third +news is um um mum." + +The children all laughed. + +"Yonder he is, coming this way," said Max, leaning from the carriage +window. + +"Beckon to him," said the captain; "I want a paper." + +Max obeyed; the carriage stopped, the crier drew near and handed up the +paper asked for. + +"How much?" inquired the captain. + +"Five cents, sir." + +"Why, how is that? You asked me but three for yesterday's edition of +this same paper." + +"More news in this one." + +"Ah, you charge according to the amount of news, do you?" returned the +captain, laughing, and handing him a nickel. + +"Yes, sir; I guess that's about the fair way," said the crier, hastily +regaining the sidewalk to renew the clang, clang of his bell and the "um +mum mum" of his announcement. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"Wave high your torches on each crag and cliff. +Let many lights blaze on our battlements; +Shout to them in the pauses of the storm, +And tell them there is hope." + +--_Maturings "Bertram."_ + + +The evening was cool, and our whole party were gathered in the parlor of +the cottage occupied by the Dinsmores and Travillas--games, fancy-work, +reading, and conversation making the time fly. + +Edward and Zoe had drawn a little apart from the others, and were +conversing together in an undertone. + +"Suppose we go out and promenade the veranda for a little," he said, +presently. "I will get you a wrap and that knit affair for your head +that I think so pretty and becoming." + +"Crocheted," she corrected; "yes, I'm quite in the mood for a promenade +with my husband; and I'm sure the air outside must be delightful. But +you won't have to go farther than that stand in the corner for my +things." + +He brought them, wrapped the shawl carefully about her, and they went +out. + +Betty, looking after them, remarked aside to her Cousin Elsie, "How +lover-like they are still!" + +"Yes," Elsie said, with a glad smile: "they are very fond of each other, +and it rejoices my heart to see it." + +"And one might say exactly the same of the captain and Violet," pursued +Betty, in a lower tone, and glancing toward that couple, as they sat +side by side on the opposite sofa--Violet with her babe in her arms, the +captain clucking and whistling to it, while it cooed and laughed in his +face--Violet's ever-beautiful face more beautiful than its wont, with +its expression of exceeding love and happiness as her glance rested now +upon her husband and now upon her child. + +"Yes," Elsie said again, watching them, with a joyous smile still +wreathing her lips and shining in her eyes; "and it is just so with my +dear Elsie and Lester. I am truly blest in seeing my children so well +mated and so truly happy." + +"Zoe, little wife," Edward was saying, out on the veranda, "can you +spare me for a day or two?" + +"Spare you, Ned? How do you mean?" + +"I should like to join the boys--Bob, Harold, and Herbert--in a little +trip on a sailing vessel which leaves here early to-morrow morning and +will return on the evening of the next day or the next but one. I should +ask my little wife to go with us, but, unfortunately, the vessel has no +accommodations for ladies. What do you say, love? I shall not go without +your consent." + +"Thank you, you dear boy, for saying that," she responded, +affectionately, squeezing the arm on which she leaned; "go if you want +to; I know I can't help missing the kindest and dearest husband in the +world, but I shall try to be happy in looking forward to the joy of +reunion on your return." + +"That's a dear," he said, bending down to kiss the ruby lips. "It is a +great delight to meet after a short separation, and we should miss that +entirely if we never parted at all." + +"But oh, Ned, if anything should happen to you!" she said, in a +quivering voice. + +"Hush, hush, love," he answered, soothingly; "don't borrow trouble; +remember we are under the same protection on the sea as on the land, and +perhaps as safe on one as on the other." + +"Yes; but when I am with you I share your danger, if there is any, and +that is what I wish; for oh, Ned, I couldn't live without you!" + +"I hope you may never have to try it, my darling," he said, in tender +tones, "or I be called to endure the trial of having to live without +you; yet we can hardly hope to go together. + +"But let us not vex ourselves with useless fears. We have the promise, +'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.' And we know that nothing can +befall us without the will of our Heavenly Father, whose love and +compassion are infinite. 'We know that all things work together for good +to them that love God.'" + +"But if one is not at all sure of belonging to Him?" she said, in a +voice so low that he barely caught the words. + +"Then the way is open to come to Him. He says, 'Come unto me.' 'Him that +cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.' The invitation is to you, +love, as truly as if addressed to you alone; as truly as if you could +hear His voice speaking the sweet words and see His kind eyes looking +directly at you. + +"It is my ardent wish, my most earnest, constant prayer, that my beloved +wife may speedily learn to know, love, and trust in Him who is the Way, +the Truth, and the Life!" + +"You are so good, Ned! I wish I were worthy of such a husband," she +murmured, half sighing as she spoke. + +"Quite a mistake, Zoe," he replied, with unaffected humility; "to hear +you talk so makes me feel like a hypocrite. I haves no righteousness of +my own to plead, but, thanks be unto God, I may rejoice in the imputed +righteousness of Christ! And that may be yours, too, love, for the +asking. + +"'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it +shall be opened unto you.' + +"They are the Master's own words; and He adds: 'For every one that +asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh +it shall be opened.'" + +Meanwhile the contemplated trip of the young men was under discussion in +the parlor. "Dear me!" said Betty, who had just heard of it, "how much +fun men and boys do have! Don't you wish you were one of them, Lulu?" + +"No, I don't," returned Lulu, promptly. "I'd like to be allowed to do +some of the things they do that we mustn't, but I don't want to be a +boy." + +"That is right," said her father; "there are few things so unpleasant to +me as a masculine woman, who wishes herself a man and tries to ape the +stronger, coarser sex in dress and manners. I hope my girls will always +be content, and more than content, to be what God has made them." + +"If you meant to hit me that time, captain," remarked Betty, in a lively +tone, "let me tell you it was a miserable failure, for I don't wish I +was a man, and never did. Coarse creatures, as you say--present company +always excepted--who would want to be one of them." + +"I'd never have anything to do with one of them if I were in your place, +Bet," laughed her brother. + +"Perhaps I shouldn't, only that they seem a sort of necessary evil," she +retorted. "But why don't you invite some of us ladies to go along?" + +"Because you are _not_ necessary evils," returned her brother, with a +twinkle of fun in his eye. + +"You should, one and all, have an invitation if we could make you +comfortable," said Harold, gallantly: "but the vessel has absolutely no +accommodations for ladies." + +"Ah, then, you are excusable," returned Betty. + +The young men left the next morning, after an early breakfast. Zoe and +Betty drove down to the wharf with them to see them off, and watched the +departing vessel till she disappeared from sight. + +Zoe went home in tears, Betty doing her best to console her. + +"Come, now, be a brave little woman; it's for only two or three days at +the farthest. Why, I'd never get married if I thought I shouldn't be +able to live so long without the fortunate man I bestowed my hand upon." + +"Oh, you don't know anything about it, Betty!" sobbed Zoe. "Ned's all I +have in the world, and it's so lonesome without him! And then, how do I +know that he'll ever get back? A storm may come up and the vessel be +wrecked." + +"That's just possible," said Betty, "and it's great folly to make +ourselves miserable over bare possibilities--things which may never +happen." + +"Oh, you are a great deal too wise for me!" said Zoe, in disgust. + +"Oh," cried Betty, "if it's a pleasure and comfort to you to be +miserable--to make yourself so by anticipating the worst--do so by all +means. I have heard of people who are never happy but when they are +miserable." + +"But I am not one of that sort," said Zoe, in an aggrieved tone. "I am +as happy as a lark when Ned is with me. Yes, and I'll show you that I +can be cheerful even without him." + +She accordingly wiped her eyes, put on a smile, and began talking in a +sprightly way about the beauty of the sea as they looked upon it, with +its waves dancing and sparkling in the brilliant light of the morning +sun. + +"What shall we do to-day?" queried Betty. + +"Take a drive," said Zoe. + +"Yes; I wish there was some new route or new place to go to." + +"There's a pretty drive to the South Shore, that maybe you have not +tried yet," suggested the hackman. + +"South Shore? That's another name for Surfside, isn't it?" asked Betty. + +"It's another part of the same side of the island I refer to," he +answered. "It's a nice drive through the avenue of pines--a road the +lovers are fond of--and if the south wind blows, as it does this +morning, you have a fine surf to look at when you get there." + +"If a drive is talked of to-day, let us propose this one, Zoe," said +Betty. + +"Yes; I dare say it is as pleasant as any we could take," assented Zoe. +"I wish Edward was here to go with us." + +Elsie, with her usual thoughtfulness for others, had been considering +what could be done to prevent Zoe from feeling lonely in Edward's +absence. She saw the hack draw up at the door, and meeting the young +girls on the threshold with a bright face and pleasant smile: "You have +seen the boys off?" she said, half inquiringly. "The weather is so +favorable, that I think they can hardly fail to enjoy themselves +greatly." + +"Yes, mamma, I hope they will; but ah, a storm may come and wreck them +before they can get back," sighed Zoe, furtively wiping away a tear. + +"Possibly; but we won't be so foolish as to make ourselves unhappy by +anticipating evils that may never come," was the cheery rejoinder. "The +Edna has a skilful captain, a good crew, and is doubtless entirely +seaworthy--at least so Edward assured me--and for the rest we must trust +in Providence. + +"Come in, now, and let me give you each a cup of coffee. Your breakfast +with the boys was so early and so slight, that you may find appetite for +a supplement," she added, sportively, as she led the way into the cosey +little dining-room of the cottage, where they found a tempting repast +spread especially for them, the others having already taken their +morning meal. + +"How nice in you, Cousin Elsie!" exclaimed Betty. "I wasn't expecting to +eat another breakfast, but I find a rapidly coming appetite; these +muffins and this coffee are so delicious." + +"So they are," said Zoe. "I never knew anybody else quite so kindly +thoughtful as mamma." + +"I think I know several," Elsie rejoined; "but it is very pleasant to be +so highly appreciated. Now, my dear girls, you will confer a favor if +you will tell me in what way I can make the day pass most pleasantly to +you." + +"Thank you, cousin. It is a delightful morning for a drive, I think," +said Betty; then went on to repeat what their hackman had said of the +drive to the South Shore. + +"It sounds pleasant. I think we will make up a party and try it," Elsie +said. "You would like it, Zoe?" + +"Yes, mamma, better than anything I know of beside. The man says that +just there the beach has not been so thoroughly picked over for shells +and other curiosities, and we may be able to find some worth having." + +No one had made any special plans for the day, so all were ready to fall +into this proposed by Zoe and Betty. Hacks were ordered--enough to hold +all of their party now at hand--and they started. + +They found the drive all it had been represented. For some distance +their way lay along the bank of a long pond, pretty to look at and +interesting as connected with old times and ways of life on the island. +Their hackmen told them that formerly large flocks of sheep were raised +by the inhabitants, and this pond was one of the places where the sheep +were brought at a certain time of year to be washed and shorn. On +arriving at their destination, they found a long stretch of sandy beach, +with great thundering waves dashing upon it. + +"Oh," cried Zoe and Betty, in delight, "it is like a bit of 'Sconset!" + +"Look away yonder," said Lulu; "isn't that a fisherman's cart?" + +"Yes," replied her father. "Suppose we go nearer and see what he is +doing." + +"Oh, yes; do let us, papa!" cried Lulu, always ready to go everywhere +and see everything. + +"You may run on with Max and Grace," he said; "some of us will follow +presently." + +He turned and offered his arm to Violet. "It is heavy walking in this +deep sand; let me help you." + +"Thank you; it is wearisome, and I am glad to have my husband's strong +arm to lean upon," she answered, smiling sweetly up into his eyes as she +accepted the offered aid. + +The young girls and the children came running back to meet them. "He's +catching blue-fish," they announced; "he has a good many in his cart." + +"Now, watch him, Mamma Vi; you haven't had a chance to see just such +fishing before," said Max. "See, he's whirling his drail; there! now he +has sent it far out into the water. Now he's hauling it in, and--oh yes, +a good big fish with it." + +"What is a drail?" Violet asked. + +"It is a hook with a long piece of lead above it covered with eel-skin," +answered her husband. + +"There it goes again!" she exclaimed. "It is a really interesting +sight, but rather hard work, I should think." + +When tired of watching the fisherman, they wandered back and forth along +the beach in search of curiosities, picking up bits of sponge, rockweed, +seaweed, and a greater variety of shells than they had been able to find +on other parts of the shore which they had visited. + +It was only when they had barely time enough left to reach home for a +late dinner that they were all willing to enter the carriages and be +driven away from the spot. + +As they passed through the streets of the town, the crier was out with +his hand-bell. + +"Oh yes! oh yes! all the windows to be taken out of the Athenaeum +to-day, and the Athenaeum to be elevated to-night." + +After listening intently to several repetitions of the cry, they +succeeded in making it out. + +"But what on earth does he mean?" exclaimed Betty. + +"Ventilated, I presume," replied the captain. "There was an exhibition +there last night, and complaints were made that the room was close." + +Toward evening of the next day our friends in the cliff cottages began +to look for the return of the Edna with the four young men of their +party. But night fell, and yet they had not arrived. + +Elsie began to feel anxious, but tried not to allow her disturbance to +be perceived, especially by Zoe, who seemed restless and ill at ease, +going often out to the edge of the cliff and gazing long and intently +toward that quarter of the horizon where she had seen the Edna disappear +on the morning she sailed out of Nantucket harbor. + +She sought her post of observation for the twentieth time just before +sunset, and remained there till it grew too dark to see much beyond the +line of breakers along the shore below. + +Turning to re-enter the house, she found Captain Raymond standing by her +side. + +"O captain," she cried, "isn't it time the Edna was in?" + +"I rather supposed they would be in a little earlier than this, but am +not at all surprised that they are not," he answered, in a cheery tone. +"Indeed, it is quite possible that they may not get in till to-morrow. +When they left it was uncertain that they would come back to-day. So, my +good sister, I think we have no cause for anxiety." + +"Then I shall try not to be anxious," she said; "but it seems like a +month since I parted from Ned, and it's a sore disappointment not to see +him to-night. I don't know how Vi stands your long absences, captain." + +"Don't you suppose it's about as hard for me as for her, considering +how charming she is?" he asked, lightly. + +"Perhaps it is; but men don't live in their affections as women do; love +is only half the world to the most loving of them, I verily believe, +while it's all the world to us." + +"There is some truth in that," he acknowledged; "we men are compelled to +give much time and thought to business, yet many of us are ardent lovers +or affectionate husbands. I, for one, am extremely fond of wife and +children." + +"Yes, I am sure of it, and quite as sure that Ned is very fond of me." + +"There isn't a doubt of it. I think I have never seen a happier couple +than you seem to be, or than Leland and his Elsie; yet Violet and I will +not yield the palm to either of you." + +"And was there ever such a mother-in-law as mamma?" said Zoe. "I don't +remember my own mother very distinctly, but I do not believe I could +have loved her much better than I do Edward's mother." + +"Words would fail me in an attempt to describe all her excellences," he +responded. "Well, Lulu, what is it?" as the child came running toward +them. + +"Tea is ready, papa, and Grandma Rose says 'please come to it.'" + +Shortly after leaving the table, the captain, noticing that Zoe seemed +anxious and sad, offered to go into the town and inquire if anything had +been seen or heard of the Edna. + +"Oh, thank you," she said, brightening; "but won't you take me along?" + +"Certainly, if you think you will not find the walk too long and +fatiguing." + +"Not a bit," she returned, hastily donning hat and shawl. + +"Have you any objection to my company, Levis?" Violet asked, with +sportive look and tone. + +"My love, I shall be delighted, if you feel equal to the exertion," he +answered, with a look of pleasure that said more than the words. + +"Quite," she said. "Max, I know you like to wait on me; will you please +bring my hat and shawl from the bedroom there?" + +"Yes, indeed, with pleasure, Mamma Vi," the boy answered, with alacrity, +as he hastened to obey. + +"Three won't make as agreeable a number for travelling the sidewalks as +four, and I ought to be looking out for Bob," remarked Betty; "so if +anybody will ask me to go along perhaps I may consent." + +"Yes, do come," said Zoe. "I'll take you for my escort." + +"And we will walk decorously behind the captain and Vi, feeling no fear +because under the protection of his wing," added the lively Betty. "But +do you think, sir, you have the strength and ability to protect three +helpless females?" she asked, suddenly wheeling round upon him. + +"I have not a doubt I can render them all the aid and protection they +are at all likely to need in this peaceful, law-abiding community," he +answered, with becoming gravity, as he gave his arm to his wife, and led +the way from the house. + +"It is a rather lonely but by no means dangerous walk, Cousin Betty," he +added, holding the gate open for her and the others to pass out. + +"Lonely enough for me to indulge in a moderate amount of fun and +laughter, is it not, sir?" she returned, in an inquiring tone. + +She seemed full of life and gayety, while Zoe was unusually quiet. + +They walked into the town and all the way down to the wharf; but the +Edna was not there, nor could they hear any news of her. Zoe seemed full +of anxiety and distress, though the others tried to convince her there +was no occasion for it. + +"Come, come, cheer up, little woman," the captain said, seeing her eyes +fill with tears. "If we do not see or hear from them by this time +to-morrow night, we may begin to be anxious; but till then there is +really no need." + +"There, Zoe, you have an opinion that is worth something, the captain +being an experienced sailor," remarked Betty. "So thry to be aisy, my +dear, and if ye can't be aisy, be as aisy as ye can!" + +Zoe laughed faintly at Betty's jest; then, with a heroic effort, put on +an air of cheerfulness, and contributed her full quota to the sprightly +chat on the homeward walk. + +She kept up her cheerful manner till she had parted from the rest for +the night, but wet her solitary pillow with tears ere her anxiety and +loneliness were forgotten in sleep. + +Her spirits revived with the new day, for the sun rose clear and bright, +the sea was calm, and she said to herself, "Oh, surely the Edna will +come in before night, and Ned and I will be together again!" + +Many times that day both she and his mother scanned intently the wide +waste of waters, and watched with eager eyes the approach of some +distant sail, hoping it might prove the one they looked and longed for. + +But their hopes were disappointed again and again; noon passed, and the +Edna was not in sight. + +"Mamma, what can be keeping them?" sighed Zoe, as the two stood together +on the brow of the hill, still engaged in their fruitless search. + +"Not necessarily anything amiss," Elsie answered. "You remember that +when they went it was quite uncertain whether they would return earlier +than to-night; so let us not suffer ourselves to be uneasy because they +are not yet here." + +"I am ashamed of myself," Zoe said. "I wish I could learn to be as +patient and cheerful as you are, mamma." + +"I trust you will be more so by the time you are my age," Elsie said, +putting an arm about Zoe's waist and drawing her close, with a tender +caress. "I still at times feel the risings of impatience; I have not +fully learned to 'let patience have her perfect work.' + +"There is an old proverb, 'A watched pot never boils,'" she added, with +sportive look and tone. "Suppose we seat ourselves in the veranda yonder +and try to forget the Edna for awhile in an interesting story. I have a +new book which looks very interesting, and has been highly commended in +some of the reviews. We will get papa to read it aloud to us while we +busy ourselves with our fancy-work. Shall we not?" + +Zoe assented, though with rather an indifferent air, and they returned +to the house. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore, the only ones they found there, the others being +all down on the beach, fell readily into the plan; the book and the work +were brought out, and the reading began. + +It was a good, well-told story, and even Zoe presently became thoroughly +interested. + +Down on the beach Violet and the captain sat together in the sand, he +searching sea and sky with a spyglass. + +She noticed a look of anxiety creeping over his face. + +"What is it, Levis?" she asked. + +"I fear there is a heavy storm coming," he said. "I wish with all my +heart the Edna was in. But I trust they have been wise enough not to put +out to sea and are safe in harbor some where." + +"I hope so, indeed," she responded, fervently, "for we have much +precious freight aboard of her. But the sky does not look very +threatening to me, Levis." + +"Does it not? I wish I could say the same. But, little wife, are you +weatherwise or otherwise?" he asked, laughingly. + +"Not wise in any way except as I may lay claim to the wisdom of my other +half," she returned, adopting his sportive tone. + +"Ah," she exclaimed the next moment, "I, too, begin to see some +indications of a storm; it is growing very dark yonder in the +northeast!" + +Betty came hurrying up, panting and frightened. "O captain, be a dear, +good man, and say you don't think we are to have a storm +directly--before Bob and the rest get safe to shore!" + +"I should be glad to oblige you, Betty," he said, "but I cannot say +that; and what would it avail if I did? Could my opinion stay the +storm?" + +"Zoe will be frightened to death about Edward," she said, turning her +face seaward again as she spoke, and gazing with tear-dimmed eyes at the +black, threatening cloud fast spreading from horizon to zenith, "and +I--oh, Bob is nearer to me than any other creature on earth!" + +"Let us hope for the best, Betty," the captain said, kindly; "it is +quite possible, perhaps I might say probable, that the Edna is now lying +at anchor in some safe harbor, and will stay there till this storm is +over." + +"Oh, thank you for telling me that!" she cried. "I'll just try to +believe it is so and not fret, though it would pretty nearly kill me if +anything should happen to Bob. Still, it will do no good to fret." + +"Prayer would do far more," said Violet, softly--"prayer to Him whom +even the winds and the sea obey. But isn't it time to go in, Levis? the +storm seems to be coming up so very fast." + +"Yes," he said, rising and helping her to get on her feet. "Where are +the children?" + +"Yonder," said Betty, nodding in their direction. "I'll tell them--shall +I?" + +"No, thank you; you and Violet hurry on to the house as fast as you can; +I will call the children, follow with them, and probably overtake you in +time to help you up the stairs." + +Before they were all safely housed, the wind had come down upon them and +was blowing almost a gale. It was with considerable difficulty the +captain succeeded in getting them all up the long steep flights of +stairs by which they must reach the top of the cliff. + +About the time they started for the house the party on the veranda +became aware that a storm was rising. + +Zoe saw it first, and dropped her work in her lap with the cry, "Oh, I +knew it would be so! I just knew it! A dreadful storm is coming, and the +Edna will be wrecked, and Edward will drown. I shall never see him +again!" + +The others were too much startled and alarmed at the moment to notice +her wild words or make any reply. They all rose and hurried into the +house, and Mr. Dinsmore began closing windows and doors. + +"The children, papa!" cried Elsie; "they must be down on the beach, +and--" + +"The captain is with them, and I will go to their assistance," he +replied, before she could finish her sentence. + +He rushed out as he spoke, to return the next moment with Walter in his +arms and the rest closely following. + +"These are all safe, and for the others I must trust the Lord," Elsie +said softly to herself as her father set Walter down, and she drew the +child to her side. + +But her cheek was very pale, and her lips trembled as she pressed them +to the little fellow's forehead. + +He looked up wonderingly. "Mamma, what is the matter? You're not afraid +of wind and thunder?" + +"No, dear; but I fear for your brothers out on this stormy sea," she +whispered in his ear. "Pray for them, darling, that if God will, they +may reach home in safety." + +"Yes, mamma, I will; and I believe He'll bring them. Is it 'cause Ned's +in the ship Zoe's crying so?" + +"Yes; I must try to comfort her." And putting him gently aside, Elsie +went to her young daughter-in-law, who had thrown herself upon a couch, +and with her head pillowed on its arm, her face hidden in her hands, was +weeping and sobbing as if her heart would break. + +"Zoe, love," Elsie said, kneeling at her side and putting her arms about +her, "do not despair. 'Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it +cannot save; neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear.'" + +"No, but--He does let people drown; and oh, I can never live without my +husband!" + +"Dear child, there is no need to consider that question till it is +forced upon you. Try, dear one, to let that alone, and rest in the +promise, 'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.'" + +The captain had drawn near, and was standing close beside them. + +"Mother has given you the best of advice, my little sister," he said, in +his kind, cheery way; "and for your further comfort let me say that it +is altogether likely the Edna is safe in harbor somewhere. I think they +probably perceived the approach of the storm in season to be warned not +to put out to sea till it should be over." + +"Do you really think so, captain?" she asked, lifting her head to wipe +away her tears. + +He assured her that he did; and thinking him a competent judge of what +seamen would be likely to do in such an emergency, she grew calm for a +time, though her face was still sad; and till darkness shut out the +sight, she cast many an anxious glance from the window upon the raging +waters. + +"If not in harbor, they must be in great peril?" Mr. Dinsmore remarked, +aside, and half inquiringly, to the captain. + +"Yes, sir; yes, indeed. I am far more anxious than I should like to own +to their mother, Zoe, or Violet." + +It was near their tea hour when the storm burst; they gathered about the +table as usual, but there was little eating done except by the children, +and the meal was not enlivened, as was customary with them, by cheerful, +sprightly chat, though efforts in that direction were not wanting on the +part of several of their number. + +The storm raged on with unabated fury, and Zoe, as she listened to the +howling of the wind and the deafening thunder peals, grew wild with +terror for her husband. She could not be persuaded to go to bed, even +when her accustomed hour for retiring was long past, but would sit in +her chair, moaning, "O Ned! Ned! my husband, my dear, dear husband! Oh, +if I could only do anything to help you! My darling, my darling! you are +all I have, and I can't live without you!" then spring up and pace the +floor, sobbing, wringing her hands, and sometimes, as a fierce blast +shook the cottage or a more deafening thunder peal crashed over-head, +even shrieking out in terror and distress. + +In vain Elsie tried to soothe and quiet her with reassuring, comforting +words or caresses and endearments. + +"Oh, I can't bear it!" she cried again and again. "Ned is all I have, +and it will kill me to lose him. Nobody can know how I suffer at the +very thought." + +"My dear," Elsie said, with a voice trembling with emotion, "you forget +that Edward is my dearly loved son, and that I have two others, who are +no less dear to their mother's heart, on board that vessel." + +"Forgive me, mamma," Zoe sobbed, taking Elsie's hand and dropping tears +and kisses upon it. "I did forget, and it was very shameful, for you are +so kind and loving to me, putting aside your own grief and anxiety to +help me in bearing mine. But how is it yon can be so calm?" + +"Because, dear, I am enabled to stay my heart on God, my Almighty +Friend, my kind, wise, Heavenly Father. Listen, love, to these sweet +words: 'O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to +thy faithfulness round about Thee? Thou rulest the roaring of the sea: +when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.'" + +"They are beautiful," said Betty, who sat near, in a despondent +attitude, her elbow on her knee, her cheek in her hand. "Oh, Cousin +Elsie, I would give all the world for your faith, and to be able to find +the comfort and support in Bible promises and teachings that you do!" + +The outer door opened, and Mr. Dinsmore and Captain Raymond came in, +their waterproof coats dripping with rain. + +They had been out on the edge of the cliff taking an observation, though +it was little they could see through the darkness; but occasionally the +lightning's lurid flash lit up the scene for a moment, and afforded a +glimpse of the storm-tossed deep. + +"Be comforted, ladies," the captain said; "there are at least no signs +of any vessel in distress; if any such were near, she would undoubtedly +be firing signal-guns. So I think we may hope my conjecture that our +boys are safe in harbor somewhere, is correct." + +"And the storm is passing over," said Mr. Dinsmore; "the thunder and +lightning have almost ceased." + +"But the wind has not fallen, and that is what makes the great danger, +grandpa, isn't it?" asked Zoe. "Oh, hark, what was that? I heard a step +and voice!" And rushing to the outer door as she spoke, she threw it +open, and found herself in her husband's arms. + +"O Ned, Ned!" she cried, in a transport of joy, "is it really you? Oh, I +thought I should never see you again, you dear, dear, _dear_ boy!" + +She clung round his neck, and he held her close, with many a caress and +endearing word, drawing her a little to one side to let his brothers +step past them and embrace the tender mother, who wept for joy as she +received them, almost as if restored to her from the very gates of +death. + +"There, love, I must let you go while I take off this dripping coat," +Edward said, at length, releasing Zoe. "How wet I have made you! I fear +your pretty dress is quite spoiled," he added, with a tender, regretful +smile. + +"That's nothing," she answered, with a gay laugh; "you'll only have to +buy me another, and you've plenty of money." + +"Plenty to supply all the wants of my little wife, I hope." + +"Ah, mother dear," as he threw aside his wet overcoat and took her in +his arms, "were you alarmed for the safety of your three sons?" + +"Yes, indeed I was," she said, returning his kisses; "and I feel that I +have great cause for thankfulness in that you are all brought back to me +unharmed. 'Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for +His wonderful works to the children of men!'" + +Betty had started up on the entrance of her cousins, glancing eagerly +from one dripping figure to another, then staggered back and leaned, +pale and trembling, against the wall. In the excitement no one had +noticed her, but now she exclaimed, in tremulous accents, and catching +her breath, "Bob--my brother; where is he?" + +"O Betty," Harold answered, turning hastily at the sound of her voice, +"forgive our thoughtlessness in not explaining that at once! Bob went to +a hotel; he said we could bring the news of his safety and our own, and +it wasn't worth while for him to travel all the way up here through the +storm." + +"No, of course not; I wouldn't have had him do so," she returned, with a +sigh of relief, her face resuming its wonted gayety of expression; "but +I'm mighty glad he's safe on terra firma." + +"But your story, boys; let us have it," said Mr. Dinsmore. + +"Yes, we _have_ a story, grandpa," said Edward, with emphasis and +excitement; "but Harold should tell it; he could do it better than I." + +"No, no," Harold said; "you are as good a story-teller as I." + +"There!" laughed Herbert. "I believe I'll have to do it myself, or with +your extreme politeness to each other you'll keep the audience waiting +all night. + +"The storm came suddenly upon us when we were about half way home, or +maybe something more; and it presently became evident that we were in +imminent danger of wreck. The captain soon concluded that our only +chance was in letting the Edna drive right before the wind, which would +take us in exactly the direction we wished to pursue, but with rather +startling celerity; and that was what he did. + +"She flew over the water like a wild winged bird, and into the harbor +with immense velocity. Safely enough, though, till we were there, almost +at the wharf, when we struck against another vessel anchored near, and +actually cut her in two, spilling the crew into the water." + +"Don't look so horrified, mother dear," said Harold, as Herbert paused +for breath; "no one was drowned, no one even hurt." + +"Barring the wetting and the fright, as the Irish say," added Edward. + +"But the latter was a real hurt," said Harold; "for the cry they sent up +as they made the sudden, involuntary plunge from their berths, where +they were probably asleep at the moment of collision, into the cold, +deep water of the harbor, was something terrible to hear." + +"Enough to curdle one's blood," added Herbert. + +"And you are quite sure all were picked up?" asked Elsie, her sweet face +full of pity for the unfortunate sufferers. + +"Yes, mother, quite sure," answered Edward; "the captain of the craft +said, in my hearing, that no one was missing." + +"And the captain of the other will probably have pretty heavy damages to +pay," remarked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"I presume so," said Edward; "but even that would be far better than +the loss of his vessel, with all the lives of those on board." + +"Money could not pay for those last," Elsie said, low and tremulously, +as she looked at her three tall sons through a mist of unshed tears; +"and I will gladly help the Edna's captain to meet the damages incurred +in his efforts to save them." + +"Just like you, mother," Edward said, giving her a look of proud, fond +affection. + +"I entirely approve, and shall be ready to contribute my share," said +her father. "But it is very late, or rather early--long past +midnight--and we should be getting to bed. But let us first unite in a +prayer of thanksgiving to our God for all His mercies, especially +this--that our dear boys are restored to us unharmed." + +They knelt, and led by him, all hearts united in a fervent outpouring of +gratitude and praise to the Giver of all good. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."--1 SAMUEL 7:12. + + +It was a lovely Sabbath afternoon, still and bright; Elsie sat alone on +the veranda, enjoying the beauty of the sea and the delicious breeze +coming from it. She had been reading, and the book lay in her lap, one +hand resting upon the open page; but she was deep in meditation, her +eyes following the restless movements of the waves that, with the rising +tide, dashed higher and higher upon the beach below. + +For the last half hour she had been the solitary tenant of the veranda, +while the others enjoyed their siesta or a lounge upon the beach. + +Presently a noiseless step drew near her chair, some one bent down over +her and softly kissed her cheek. + +"Papa" she said, looking up into his face with smiling eyes, "you have +come to sit with me? Let me give you this chair," and she would have +risen to do so, but he laid his hand on her shoulder, saying, "No; sit +still; I will take this," drawing up another and seating himself therein +close at her side. + +"Do you know that I have been watching you from the doorway there for +the last five minutes?" he asked. + +"No, sir; I deemed myself quite alone," she said. "Why did you not let +me know that my dear father, whose society I prize so highly, was so +near?" + +"Because you seemed so deep in thought, and evidently such happy +thought, that I was loath to disturb it." + +"Yes," she said, "they were happy thoughts. I have seemed to myself, for +the last few days, to be in the very land of Beulah, so delightful has +been the sure hope--I may say certainty--that Jesus is mine and I am +His; that I am His servant forever, for time and for eternity, as truly +and entirely His as words can express. Is it not a sweet thought, papa? +is it not untold bliss to know that we may--that we shall serve Him +forever? that nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ?" + +"It is, indeed--Christ who is our life. He says, 'Because I live, ye +shall live also;' thus He is our life. Is He not our life also because +He is the dearest of all friends to us--His own people?" + +"Yes; and how the thought of His love, His perfect sympathy, His +infinite power to help and to save, gives strength and courage to face +the unknown future. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall +I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' +'Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.' + +"In view of the many dangers that lie around our every path, the many +terrible trials that may be sent to any one of us, I often wonder how +those who do not trust in this almighty Friend can have the least real, +true happiness. Were it my case, I should be devoured with anxiety and +fears for myself and my dear ones." + +"But as it is," her father said, gazing tenderly upon her, "you are able +to leave the future, for them and for yourself, in His kind, wise, +all-powerful hands, knowing that nothing can befall you without His +will, and that He will send no trial that shall not be for your good, +and none that He will not give you strength to endure?" + +"Yes, that is it, papa; and oh, what rest it is! One feels so safe and +happy; so free from fear and care; like a little child whose loving +earthly father is holding it by the hand or in his strong, kind arms." + +"And you have loved and trusted Him since you were a very little child," +he remarked, half musingly. + +"Yes, papa; I cannot remember when I did not; and could there be a +greater cause for gratitude?" + +"No; such love and trust are worth more to the happy possessor than the +wealth of the universe. But there was a time when, though my little girl +had it, I was altogether ignorant of it, and marvelled greatly at her +love for God's word and her joy and peace in believing. I shall never +cease to bless God for giving me such a child." + +"Nor I to thank Him for my dear father," she responded, putting her hand +into his, with the very same loving, confiding gesture she had been wont +to use in childhood's days. + +His fingers closed over it, and he held it fast in a warm, loving grasp, +while they continued their talk concerning the things that lay nearest +their hearts--the love of the Master, His infinite perfection, the +interests of His kingdom, the many great and precious promises of His +word--thus renewing their strength and provoking one another to love and +to good works. + +"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord +hearkened, and heard it; and a book of remembrance was written before +Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. + +"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I +make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son +that serveth him." + +Ere another week had rolled its round, events had occurred which tested +the sustaining power of their faith in God, and the joy of the Lord +proved to be indeed their strength, keeping their hearts from failing in +an hour of sore anxiety and distress. + +The evening was bright with the radiance of a full moon and unusually +warm for the season; so pleasant was it out of doors that most of our +friends preferred the veranda to the cottage parlors, and some of the +younger ones were strolling about the town or the beach. + +Betty had gone down to the latter place, taking Lulu with her, with the +captain's permission, both promising not to go out of sight of home. + +"Oh, how lovely the sea is to-night, with the moon shining so brightly +on all the little dancing waves!" exclaimed Lulu, as they stood side by +side close to the water's edge. + +"Yes," said Betty; "doesn't it make you feel like going in?" + +"Do people ever bathe at night?" asked Lulu. + +"I don't know why they shouldn't," returned her companion. + +"It might be dangerous, perhaps," suggested Lulu. + +"Why should it?" said Betty; "it's almost as light as day. Oh, Bob," +perceiving her brother close at hand, "don't you want to go in? I will +if you will go with me." + +"I don't care if I do," he answered, after a moment's reflection: "a +moonlight bath in the sea would be something out of the common; and +there seems to be just surf enough to make it enjoyable." + +"Yes; and my bathing-suit is in the bath-house yonder. I can be ready in +five minutes." + +"Can you? So can I; we'll go in if only for a few minutes. Won't you go +with us, Lulu?" + +"I'd like to," she said, "but I can't without leave; and I know papa +wouldn't give it, for I had a bath this morning, and he says one a day +is quite enough." + +"I was in this morning," said Bob; "Betty, too, I think, and--I say, +Bet, it strikes me I've heard that it's a little risky to go in at +night." + +"Not such a night as this, I'm sure, Bob; why, it's as light as day; and +if there is danger it can be only about enough to give spice to the +undertaking." + +With the last word she started for the bath-house, and Bob, not to be +outdone in courage, hurried toward another appropriated to his use. + +Lulu stood waiting for their return, not at all afraid to be left alone +with not another creature in sight on the beach. Yet the solitude +disturbed her as the thought arose that Bob and Betty might be about to +put themselves in danger, while no help was at hand for their rescue. +The nearest she knew of was at the cottages on the bluff, and for her to +climb those long flights of stairs and give the alarm in case anything +went wrong with the venturesome bathers, would be a work of time. + +"I'd better not wait for them to get into danger, for they would surely +drown before help could reach them," she said to herself, after a +moment's thought. "I'll only wait till I see them really in, and then +hurry home to see if somebody can't come down and be ready to help if +they should begin to drown." + +But as they passed her, presently, on their way to the water, Bob said: +"We're trusting you to keep our secret, Lulu; don't tell tales on us." + +She made no reply, but thought within herself, "That shows he doesn't +think he's doing exactly right. I'm afraid it must be quite dangerous." + +But while his remark and injunction increased her apprehensions for +them, it also made her hesitate to carry to their friends the news of +their escapade till she should see that it brought them into actual +danger and need of assistance. + +She watched them tremblingly as they waded slowly out beyond the surf +into the smooth, swelling waves, where they began to swim. + +For a few moments all seemed to be well; then came a sudden shrill cry +from Betty, followed by a hoarser one from Bob, which could mean nothing +else than fright and danger. + +For an instant Lulu was nearly paralyzed with terror; but rousing +herself by a determined effort, she shouted at the top of her voice, +"Don't give up; I'll go for help as fast as ever I can," and instantly +set off for home at her utmost speed. + +"Help, help! they'll drown, oh, they'll drown!" she screamed as she ran. + +Harold, who was in the act of descending the last flight of stairs, saw +her running toward him, and heard her cry, though the noise of the surf +prevented his catching all the words. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted, clearing the remainder of the flight at +a bound. + +"Betty, Bob--drowning!" she cried, without slackening her speed, "I'm +going for help." + +He waited, to hear no more, but sped on toward the water; and only +pausing to divest himself of his outer clothing, plunged in, and, +buffeting with the waves, made his way as rapidly as possible toward the +struggling forms, which, by the light of the moon, he could dimly +discern at some distance from the shore. + +Faint cries for help and the gleam of Betty's white arm, as for an +instant she raised it above the wave, guided him to the spot. + +Harold was an excellent swimmer, strong and courageous; but he had +undertaken a task beyond his strength, and his young life was very near +falling a sacrifice to the folly of his cousins and his own generous +impulse to fly to their aid. + +Both Bob and Betty were already so nearly exhausted as to be scarcely +capable of doing anything to help themselves, and in their mad struggle +for life caught hold of him and so impeded his movements that he was +like to perish with them. + +Mean while Lulu had reached the top of the cliff, then the veranda where +the older members of the family party were seated, and, all out of +breath with fright and the exertion of climbing and running, she +faltered out, "Bob and Betty; they'll drown if they don't get help +quickly." + +"What, are they in the water?" cried Mr. Dinsmore and Captain Raymond, +simultaneously springing to their feet; the latter adding, "I fear +they'll drown before we can possibly get help to them." + +"Oh, yes; they're drowning now," sobbed Lulu; "but Harold's gone to help +them." + +"Harold? He's lost if he tries it alone!" "The boy's mad to think of +such a thing!" exclaimed Mr. Dinsmore and Edward in a breath, while +Elsie's cheek turned deathly pale, and her heart went up in an agonized +cry that her boy's life might be spared; the others also. + +The gentlemen held a hasty consultation, then scattered, Mr. Dinsmore +hastening in search of other aid, while Captain Raymond and Edward +hurried to the beach, the ladies following with entreaties to them to be +careful. + +But fortunately for the endangered ones, other aid had already reached +them--a boat that had come out from Nantucket for a moonlight sail, and +from the shore a noble Newfoundland dog belonging to a retired sea +captain. Strolling along the beach with his master, he heard the cries +for help, saw the struggling forms, and instantly plunging in among the +waves, swam to the rescue. + +Seizing Betty by the hair, he held her head above water till the +sailboat drew near and strong arms caught hold of her and dragged her +in, pale, dripping, and seemingly lifeless. + +They then picked up the young men, both entirely unconscious, and made +for the shore with all possible haste. + +It was doubtful if the last spark of life had not been extinguished in +every one of the three; but the most prompt, wise, and vigorous measures +were instantly taken and continued for hours--hours of agonizing +suspense to those who loved them. + +At length Bob gave unmistakable signs of life; and shortly after Betty +sighed, opened her eyes, and asked, feebly, "Where am I? what has +happened?" + +But Harold still lay as one dead, and would have been given up as such +had not his mother clung to hope, and insisted that the efforts at +restoration should be continued. + +Through the whole trying scene she had maintained an unbroken calmness +of demeanor, staying herself upon her God, lifting her heart to His +throne in never-ceasing petitions, and in the midst of her bitter grief +and anxiety rejoicing that if her boy were taken from her for a time, it +would be but to exchange the trials and cares of earth for the joys of +heaven; and the parting from him here would soon be followed by a +blissful reunion in that blessed land where sin and sorrow and suffering +can never enter. + +But at length, when their efforts were rewarded so that he breathed and +spoke, and she knew that he was restored to her, the reaction came. + +She had given him a gentle, tender kiss, had seen him fall into a +natural, refreshing sleep, and passing from his bedside into an +adjoining room, she fainted in her father's arms. + +"My darling, my dear, brave darling!" he murmured, as he laid her down +upon a couch and bent over her in tenderest solicitude, while Mrs. +Dinsmore hastened to apply restoratives. + +It was not a long faint; she presently opened her eyes and lifted them +with a bewildered look up into her father's face. + +"What is it, papa?" she murmured; "have I been ill?" + +"Only a short faint," he answered. "But you must be quite worn out." + +"Oh, I remember!" she cried. "Harold, my dear son--" + +"Is doing well, love. And now I want you to go to your bed and try to +get some rest. See, day is breaking, and you have had no sleep, no +rest." + +"Nor have you, papa; do go and lie down; but I must watch over my poor +boy," she said, trying to rise from the couch. + +"Lie still," he said, gently detaining her; "lie here, if you are not +willing to go to your bed. I am better able to sit up than you are, and +will see to Harold." + +"His brothers are with him, mamma," said Zoe, standing by; "and Edward +says they will stay beside him as long as they are needed." + +"Then you and I will both retire and try to take some rest, shall we +not?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, bending over Elsie and softly smoothing her +hair. + +"Yes, papa; but I must first take one peep at the dear son so nearly +lost to me." + +He helped her to rise; then she perceived that Captain Raymond and +Violet were in the room. + +"Dearest mamma," said the latter, coming forward to embrace her, "how +glad I am that you are better, and our dear Harold spared to us!" She +broke down in sobs and tears. + +"Yes, my child; oh, let us thank the Lord for His great goodness! But +this night has been quite too much for you. Do you go at once and try to +get some rest." + +"I shall see that she obeys, mother," the captain said, in a tenderly +sportive tone, taking Elsie's hand and lifting it to his lips. + +"I think I may trust you," she returned, with a faint smile. "You were +with Bob; how is he now?" + +"Doing as well as possible under the circumstances; as is Betty also; +you need trouble your kind heart with no fear or care for them." + +It had been a terrible night to all the family--the children the only +ones who had taken any rest or sleep--and days of nursing followed +before the three who had so narrowly escaped death were restored to +their wonted health and strength. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore and Elsie devoted themselves to that work, and +were often assisted in it by Zoe, Edward, and Herbert. + +Harold was quite a hero with these last and with Max and Lulu; in fact, +with all who knew or heard of his brave deed, though he modestly +disclaimed any right to the praises heaped upon him, asserting that he +had done no more than any one with common courage and humanity would +have done in his place. + +Bob and Betty were heartily ashamed of their escapade, and much sobered +at the thought of their narrow escape from sudden death. Both dreaded +the severe reproof they had reason to expect from their uncle, but he +was very forbearing, and thinking the fright and suffering entailed by +their folly sufficient to deter them from a repetition of it, kindly +refrained from lecturing them on the subject, though, when a suitable +opportunity offered, he did talk seriously and tenderly, with now one +and now the other, on the guilt and danger of putting off repentance +toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, reminding them that +they had had a very solemn warning of the shortness and uncertainty of +life, and asking them to consider the question whether they were ready +for a sudden call into the immediate presence of their Judge. + +"Really now, uncle," remarked Bob on one of these occasions, "there are +worse fellows in the world than I am--much worse." + +"I am willing to admit that, my boy," returned Mr. Dinsmore; "but many +of those fellows have not enjoyed the privileges and teachings that you +have, and responsibility is largely in proportion to one's light and +opportunities. + +"Jesus said, 'That servant, who knew his Lord's will, and prepared not +himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many +stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, +shall be beaten with few stripes.'" + +"Yes; and you think I'm one of the first class, I suppose?" + +"I do, my boy; for you have been well instructed, both in the church and +in the family; also you have a Bible, and may study it for yourself as +often and carefully as you will." + +"But I really have never done anything very bad, uncle." + +"How can you say that, Robert, when you know that you have lived all +your life in utter neglect of God's appointed way of salvation? hearing +the gracious invitation of Him who died that you might live, 'Come unto +me,' and refusing to accept it? + +"'God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that +whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting +life,' and having for years refused to believe, how can you assert that +you have done nothing very bad? 'How shall we escape, if we neglect so +great salvation?'" + +Bob made no reply, but looked thoughtful, and his uncle went quietly +from the room, thinking it well to leave the lad to his own reflections. + +Passing the door of the room where Harold lay, he was about to enter, +but perceiving that the boy and his mother were in earnest conversation, +he moved on, leaving them undisturbed. + +"Mamma," Harold was saying, "I have been thinking much of sudden death +since my very narrow escape from it. You know, mamma, it comes sometimes +without a moment's warning; and as we all sin continually in thought and +feeling, if not in word and deed, as our very best deeds and services +are so stained with sin that they need to be repented of and forgiven, +how is it that even a true Christian can get to heaven if called away so +suddenly?" + +"Because when one comes to Jesus Christ and accepts His offered +salvation, _all_ his sins, future as well as past and present, are +forgiven. 'The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin.' + +"Jesus said, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.' 'I +give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall +any man pluck them out of my hand.'" + +"But oh, mamma, I find myself so weak and sinful, so ready to yield to +temptation, that I sometimes fear I shall never be able to hold out to +the end!" + +"My dear boy, let that fear lead you to cling all the closer to the +Master, who is able to save unto the uttermost. If our holding out +depended upon ourselves, our own weak wills, we might well be in +despair; but 'He will keep the feet of His saints.' + +"'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according +to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the +resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance +incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in +heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto +salvation.' Can they be in danger who are _kept by the power of God_?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"My Father's house on high, + Home of my soul, how near +At times to Faith's discerning eye + Thy pearly gates appear." + + +Harold and his cousins had scarcely more than fully recovered from the +effects of their almost drowning when Captain Raymond again received +orders to join his ship, and it was decided that the time had come for +all to leave the island. + +Bob and Betty received letters from their brother and sister in +Louisiana, giving them a cordial invitation to their homes, Dick +proposing that Bob should study medicine with him, with a view to +becoming his partner, and Molly giving Betty a cordial invitation from +herself and husband to take up her residence at Magnolia Hall. + +With the approval of their uncle and other relatives, these kind offers +were promptly accepted. + +Letters came about the same time from Lansdale, Ohio, inviting the +Dinsmores, Travillas, and Raymonds to attend the celebration of Miss +Stanhope's one hundredth birthday, which was now near at hand. + +Mr. Harry Duncan wrote for her, saying that she had a great longing to +see her nephews and nieces once more, and to make the acquaintance of +Violet's husband and his children. + +The captain could not go, but it was decided that all the others should. +The necessary arrangements were quickly made, and the whole party left +the island together, not without some regret and a resolution to return +at some future day to enjoy its refreshing breezes and other delights +during the hot season. + +On reaching New York they parted with the captain, whose vessel lay in +that harbor. + +Bob and Betty left them farther on in the journey, and the remainder of +the little company travelled on to Lansdale, arriving the day before the +important occasion which called them there. + +Mrs. Dinsmore's brother, Richard Allison, who, my readers may remember, +had married Elsie's old friend, Lottie King, shortly after the close of +the war of the rebellion, had taken up his abode in Lansdale years ago. + +Both he and his sister May's husband, Harry Duncan, had prospered +greatly. Each had a large, handsome dwelling adjacent to Miss Stanhope's +cottage, in which she still kept house, having never yet seen the time +when she could bring herself to give up the comfort of living in a home +of her own. + +She had attached and capable servants, and amid her multitude of nieces +and grand-nieces, there was almost always one or more who was +willing--nay, glad, to relieve her of the care and labor of +housekeeping, taking pleasure in making life's pathway smooth and easy +to the aged feet, and her last days bright and happy. + +She still had possession of all her faculties, was very active for one +of her age, and felt unabated interest in the welfare of kindred and +friends. She had by no means outlived her usefulness or grown querulous +with age, but was ever the same bright, cheerful, happy Christian that +she had been in earlier years. + +The birthday party was to be held under her own roof, and a numerous +company of near and dear relatives were gathering there and at the +houses of the Duncans and Allisons. + +Richard and Lottie, Harry and May were at the depot to meet the train on +which our travellers arrived. + +It was an altogether joyous meeting, after years of separation. + +The whole party repaired at once to Miss Stanhope's cottage, to greet +and chat a little with her and others who had come before to the +gathering; prominently among them Mr. and Mrs. Keith from Pleasant +Plains, Indiana, with their daughters, Mrs. Landreth, Mrs. Ormsby, and +Annis, who was still unmarried. + +Very glad indeed were Mrs. Keith and Mr. Dinsmore, Rose and Mildred, +Elsie and Annis to meet and renew the old intimacies of former days. + +Time had wrought many changes since we first saw them together, more +than thirty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Keith were now old and infirm, yet +bright and cheery, looking hopefully forward to that better country, +that Celestial City, toward which they were fast hastening, and with no +unwilling steps. Dr. and Mrs. Landreth and Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore had +changed from youthful married couples into elderly people, while Elsie +and Annis had left childhood far behind, and were now--the one a cheery, +happy maiden lady, whom aged parents leaned upon as their stay and +staff, brothers and sisters dearly loved, and nieces and nephews doated +upon; the other a mother whom her children blessed for her faithful love +and care, and delighted to honor. + +This renewal of intercourse, and the reminiscences of early days which +it called up, were very delightful to both. + +The gathering of relatives and friends of course formed far too large a +company for all to lodge in one house, but the three--Aunt Wealthy's and +those of the Duncans and Allisons--accommodated them comfortably for +the few days of their stay, or rather the nights, for during the day +they were very apt to assemble in the parlors and porches of the +cottage. + +It was there Elsie and her younger children and Violet and hers took up +their quarters, by invitation, for the time of the visit. + +"But where is the captain, your husband?" inquired Aunt Wealthy of +Violet on giving her a welcoming embrace. "I wanted particularly to see +him, and he should not have neglected the invitation of a woman a +hundred years old." + +"Dear auntie, I assure you he did so only by compulsion; he would have +come gladly if Uncle Sam had not ordered him off in another direction," +Violet answered, with pretty playfulness of look and tone. + +"Ah, then, we must excuse him. But you brought the children, I hope. I +want to see them." + +"Yes; this is his son," Violet said, motioning Max to approach; "and +here are the little girls," drawing Lulu and Grace forward. + +The old lady shook hands with and kissed them, saying, "It will be +something for you to remember, dears, that you have seen a woman who has +lived a hundred years in this world, and can testify that goodness and +mercy have followed her all the days of her life. Trust in the Lord, my +children, and you, even if you should live as long as I have, will be +able to bear the same testimony that He is faithful to His promises. + +"I say the same to you, too, Rosie and Walter, my Elsie's children," she +added, turning to them with a tenderly affectionate look and smile. + +They gazed upon her with awe for a moment; then Rosie said, "You don't +look so very old, Aunt Wealthy; not older than some ladies of eighty +that I've seen." + +"Perhaps not older than I did when I was only eighty, my dear; but I am +glad to know that I am a good deal nearer home now than I was then," +Miss Stanhope responded, her face growing bright with joyous +anticipation. + +"Are you really glad to know you must die before very long?" asked Max, +in wonder and surprise. + +"Wouldn't it be strange if I were not?" she asked; "heaven is my home. + +"'There my best friends, my kindred dwell, +There God my Saviour reigns.' + +"I live in daily, hourly longing expectation of the call." + +"And yet you are not weary of life? you are happy here, are you not, +dear Aunt Wealthy?" asked Mrs. Keith. + +"Yes, Marcia; I am happy among my kind relatives and friends; and +entirely willing to stay till the Master sees fit to call me home, for I +know that His will is always best. Oh, the sweet peace and joy of +trusting in Him and leaving all to His care and direction! Who that has +experienced it could ever again want to choose for him or herself?" + +"And you have been long in His service, Aunt Wealthy?" Mr. Dinsmore +said, half in assertion, half inquiringly. + +"Since I was ten years old, Horace; and that is ninety years; and let me +bear testimony now, before you all, that I have ever found Him faithful +to His promises, and His service growing constantly sweeter and sweeter. +And so it shall be to all eternity. 'My soul doth magnify the Lord, and +my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.'" + +Then turning to Mrs. Keith, "How is it with you, Marcia?" she asked; +"you have attained to your four-score years, and have been in the +service since early childhood. What have you to say for your Master +now?" + +"Just what you have said, dear aunt; never have I had cause to repent of +choosing His service; it has been a blessed service to me, full of joy +and consolation--joy that even abounds more and more as I draw nearer +and nearer to my journey's end. + +"I know it is the same with my husband," she added, giving him a look +of wifely affection; "and I doubt not with my cousins--Horace, Rose, +Elsie--with all here present who have had experience as soldiers and +servants of Jesus Christ." + +"In that you are entirely right, Marcia," responded Mr. Dinsmore; "I can +speak for myself, my wife, and daughter." + +Both ladies gave an unqualified confirmation of his words, while their +happy countenances testified to the truth of the assertion. + +"And, Milly dear, you and your husband, your brothers and sisters, can +all say the same," remarked Miss Stanhope, laying her withered hand +affectionately upon Mrs. Landreth's arm as she sat in a low seat by her +side. + +"We can indeed," Mildred said, with feeling. "What blessed people we +are! all knowing and loving the dear Master, and looking forward to an +eternity of bliss together at His right hand." + +The interview between the aged saint and her long-absent relatives was +continued for a few moments more; then she dismissed them, with the +remark that doubtless they would all like to retire to their rooms for a +little, and she must take a short rest in order to be fresh for the +evening, when she hoped they would all gather about her again. + +"I want you all to feel at home and to enjoy yourselves as much as you +can," she said, in conclusion. "Play about the grounds, children, +whenever you like." + +Her cottage stood between the houses of the Duncans and Allisons; the +grounds of all three were extensive, highly cultivated, and adorned with +beautiful trees, shrubbery, and flowers, and there were no separating +fences or hedges, so that they seemed to form one large park or garden. + +Rosie and Walter Travilla, and the young Raymonds were delighted with +the permission to roam at will about these lovely grounds, and hastened +to avail themselves of it as soon as the removal of the dust of travel +and a change of attire rendered them fit. + +They found a Dutch gardener busied here and there, and presently opened +a conversation with him, quite winning his heart by unstinted praises of +the beauty of his plants and flowers. + +"It must be a great deal of work to keep those large gardens in such +perfect order," remarked Rose. + +"Dat it ish, miss," he said; "but I vorks pretty hard mineself, and my +son Shakey, he gifs me von leetle lift ven he ton't pees too much in +school." + +"Do you live here?" asked little Grace. + +"Here in dis garten? no, miss; I lifs oud boud t'ree mile in de +country." + +"That's a long walk for you, isn't it?" said Lulu. + +"Nein; I don't valks, miss; ven I ish god dings to pring--abbles or +botatoes or some dings else--I say to mine Shakey, 'Just hitch de +harness on de horse and hang him to de stable door;' or if I got nodings +to pring I tells de poy, 'Hitch him up a horseback;' den I comes in to +mine vork and I tash! I don't hafs to valk--nod a shtep." + +"How funny he talks," whispered Grace to Lulu; "I can hardly understand +him." + +"It's because he's Dutch," returned Lulu, in the same low tone. "But I +can tell almost all he says. His son's name must be Jakey; the short for +Jacob." + +"What is your name?" asked Max. + +"Hencle--Shon Hencle. I dinks you all pees come to see Miss Stanhope pe +von huntred years olt; ishn't you?" + +"Yes," said Rosie. "It seems very wonderful to think that she has lived +so long." + +The children, weary with their journey, were sent to bed early that +night. Lulu and Grace found they were to sleep together in a small room +opening into a larger one, where two beds had been placed for the time +to meet the unusual demand for sleeping quarters. These were to be +occupied by Grandma Elsie, Violet, Rosie, and Walter. + +Timid little Grace heard, with great satisfaction, that all these were +to be so near; and Lulu, though not at all cowardly, was well pleased +with the arrangement. Yet she little thought how severely her courage +was to be tested that night. + +She and Grace had scarcely laid their heads upon their pillows ere they +fell into profound slumber. Lulu did not know how long she had slept, +but all was darkness and silence within and without the house, when +something, she could not have told what, suddenly roused her completely. + +She lay still, trying to recall the events of the past day and remember +where she was; and just as she succeeded in doing so a strange sound, as +of restless movements and the clanking of chains, came from beneath the +bed. + +Her heart seemed to stand still with fear; she had never before, in all +her short life, felt so terrified and helpless. + +"What can it be?" she asked herself. "An escaped criminal--a +murderer--or a maniac from an insane asylum, I suppose; for who else +would wear a clanking chain? and what can he want here but to kill +Gracie and me? I suppose he got in the house before they shut the doors +for the night, and hid under the bed till everybody should be fast +asleep, meaning to begin then to murder and rob. Oh, I do wish I'd +looked under the bed while all the gentlemen were about to catch him and +keep him from hurting us! But now what shall I do? If I try to get out +of the bed, he'll catch hold of my foot and kill me before anybody can +come; and if I scream for help, he'll do the same. The best plan is to +lie as quiet as I can, so he'll think I'm still asleep; for maybe he +only means to rob, and not murder, if nobody wakes up to see what he's +about and tell of him. Oh, I do hope Gracie won't wake! for she could +never help screaming; and then he'd jump out and kill us both." + +So with heroic courage she lay there, perfectly quiet and hardly moving +a muscle for what seemed to her an age of suffering, every moment +expecting the creature under the bed to spring out upon her, and in +constant fear that Grace would awake and precipitate the calamity by a +scream of affright. + +All was quiet again for some time, she lying there, straining her ears +for a repetition of the dreaded sounds; then, as they came again louder +than before, she had great difficulty in restraining herself from +springing from the bed and shrieking aloud, in a paroxysm of panic +terror. + +But she did control herself, lay perfectly still, and allowed not the +slightest sound to escape her lips. + +That last clanking noise had awakened Elsie, and she too now lay wide +awake, silent and still, while intently listening for a repetition of +it. She hardly knew whence the sound had come, or what it was; but when +repeated, as it was in a moment or two, she was satisfied that it issued +from the room where Lulu and Grace were, and her conjectures in regard +to its origin coincided with Lulu's. + +She, too, was greatly alarmed, but did not lose her presence of mind. +Hoping the little girls were still asleep, and judging from the silence +that they were, she lay for a few minutes without moving, indeed +scarcely breathing, while she tried to decide upon the wisest course to +pursue, asking guidance and help from on high, as she always did in +every emergency. + +Her resolution was quickly taken; slipping softly out of bed, she stole +noiselessly from the room and into another, on the opposite side of the +hall, occupied by Edward and Zoe. + +"Edward," she said, speaking in a whisper close to his ear, "wake, my +son; I am in need of help." + +"What is it, mother?" he asked, starting up. + +"Softly," she whispered; "make no noise, but come with me. Somebody or +something is in the room where Lulu and Gracie sleep. I distinctly heard +the clanking of a chain." + +"Mother!" he cried, but hardly above his breath, "an escaped lunatic, +probably! Stay here and let me encounter him alone. I have loaded +pistols--" + +"Oh, don't use them if you can help it!" she cried. + +"I shall not," he assured her, "unless it is absolutely necessary." + +He snatched the weapons from beneath his pillow as he spoke, and went +from the room, she closely following. + +At the instant that they entered hers a low growl came from the inner +room, and simultaneously they exclaimed, "A dog!" + +"Somewhat less to be feared than a lunatic, unless he should be mad, +which is not likely," added Edward, striking a light. + +Lulu sprang up with a low cry of intense relief. "O Grandma Elsie, it's +only a dog, and I thought it a crazy man or a wicked murderer!" + +As she spoke the animal emerged from his hiding-place and walked into +the outer room, dragging his chain after him. + +Edward at once recognized him as a large mastiff Harry Duncan had shown +him the previous afternoon. + +"It's Mr. Duncan's dog," he said; "he must have broken his chain and +come in unobserved before the house was closed for the night. Here, +Nero, good fellow, this way! You've done mischief enough for one night, +and we'll send you home." + +He led the way to the outer door, the dog following quite peaceably, +while Elsie, hearing sobs coming from the other room, hastened in to +comfort and relieve the frightened children. + +Grace still slept on in blessed unconsciousness; but she found Lulu +crying hysterically, quite unable to continue her efforts at +self-control, now that the necessity for it was past. + +"Poor child!" Elsie said, folding her in her kind arms, "you have had a +terrible fright, have you not?" + +"Yes, Grandma Elsie; oh, I've been lying here so long, _so long_, +thinking a murderer or crazy man was under the bed, just ready to jump +out and kill Gracie and me!" she sobbed, clinging convulsively about +Elsie's neck. + +"And did not scream for help! What a brave little girl you are!" + +"I wanted to, and, oh, I could hardly keep from it! But I thought if I +did it would wake Gracie and scare her to death, and the man would be +sure to jump out and kill us at once." + +"Dear child," Elsie said, "you have shown yourself thoughtful, brave, +and unselfish; how proud your father will be of his eldest daughter +when he hears it!" + +"O Grandma Elsie, do you think he will? How glad that would make me! It +would pay for all the dreadful fright I have had," Lulu said, her tones +tremulous with joy, as, but a moment ago, they had been with nervousness +and fright. + +"I am quite sure of it," Elsie answered, smoothing the little girl's +hair with caressing hand, "quite sure; because I know he loves you very +dearly, and that he admires such courage, unselfishness, and presence of +mind as you have shown to-night." + +These kind words did much to turn Lulu's thoughts into a new channel and +thus relieve the bad effects of her fright. But Elsie continued for some +time longer her efforts to soothe her into calmness and forgetfulness, +using tender, caressing words and endearments; then she left her, with +an injunction to try to go immediately to sleep. + +Lulu promised compliance, and, attempting it, succeeded far sooner than +she had thought possible. + +The whole occurrence seemed like a troubled dream when she awoke in the +morning. It was a delicious day in early October, and as soon as dressed +she went into the garden, where she found John Hencle already at work, +industriously weeding and watering his plants and flowers. + +"Goot-morning, mine leetle mees," he said, catching sight of her, "Was +it so goot a night mit you?" + +"No," she said, and went on to tell the story of her fright. + +"Dot ish lige me," he remarked, phlegmatically, at the conclusion of her +tale. "Von nighd I hears somedings what make me scare. I know notings +what he ish; I shust hears a noise, an' I shumpt de bed out, and ran de +shtairs down, and looked de window out, and it wasn't notings but a +leetle tog going 'Bow wow.'" + +"I don't think it was very much like my fright," remarked Lulu, in +disgust; "it couldn't have been half so bad." + +"Vell, maype not; but dat Nero ish a goot, kind tog; he bide dramps, but +nefer dose nice leetle girl. Dis ish de great day when dose nice old +lady pees von huntred years old. What you dinks? a fery long dime to +live?" + +"Yes; very long," returned Lulu, emphatically. "I wish I knew papa would +live to be that old, for then he'd be at home with us almost forty years +after he retires from the navy." + +"Somebody ish call you, I dinks," said John, and at the same moment +Grace's clear, bird-like voice came floating on the morning breeze, +"Lulu, Lulu!" as her dainty little figure danced gayly down the garden +path in search of her missing sister. + +"Oh, there you are!" she exclaimed, catching sight of Lulu. "Come into +Aunt Wealthy's house and see the pretty presents everybody has given her +for her hundredth birthday. She hasn't seen them yet, but she is going +to when she comes down to eat her breakfast." + +"Oh, I'd like to see them!" exclaimed Lulu, and she and Grace tripped +back to the house together, and on into the sitting-room, where, on a +large table, the gifts were displayed. + +They were many, and some of them costly, for the old lady was very dear +to the hearts of these relatives, and they were able as well as willing +to show their affection in this substantial way. + +There were fine paintings and engravings to adorn her walls; fine china, +and glittering cut glass, silver and gold ware for her tables; vases for +her mantels; richly-bound and illustrated books, whose literary contents +were worthy of the costly adornment, and various other things calculated +to give her pleasure or add to her ease and comfort. + +She was not anticipating any such demonstration of affection--not +expecting such substantial evidences of the love and esteem in which she +was held--and when brought face to face with them was almost overcome, +so that tears of joy and gratitude streamed from her aged eyes, + +They were soon wiped away, however, and she was again her own bright, +cheery self, full of thought and care for others--the kindest and most +genial of hostesses. + +She took the head of the breakfast-table herself, and poured the coffee +for her guests with her own hands, entertaining them the while with +cheerful chat, and causing many a merry laugh with the old-time tripping +of her tongue--a laugh in which she always joined with hearty relish. + +"There is too much butter in this salt," she remarked. "It is some John +Hencle brought in this morning. I must see him after breakfast and bid +him caution his wife to use less." + +But as they rose from the table John came in unsummoned, and carrying a +fine large goose under each arm. + +Bowing low: "I ish come to pring two gooses to de von hundredth +birthday," he announced; "dey pees goot, peaceable pirds: I ish know dem +for twenty years, and dey nefer makes no droubles." + +A smile went round the little circle, but Miss Stanhope said, with a +very pleased look, "Thank you, John; they shall be well fed, and I hope +they will like their new quarters. How is Jake doing? I haven't seen +him for some time." + +"No; Shakey is go to school most days. I vants Shakey to knows +somedings." + +"Yes, indeed; I hope Jakey is going to have a good education. But what +do you mean to do with him after he is done going to school?" + +"Vy, I dinks I prings mine Shakey to town and hangs him on to Sheneral +Shmicdt and makes a brinting-office out of him." + +"A printer, John? Well, that might be a very good thing if you don't +need him to help you about the farm, or our grounds. I should think you +would, though." + +"Nein, nein," said John, shaking his head; "'tis not so long as I vants +Shakey to makes mit me a fence; put I tash! Miss Stanhope, he say he +ton't can know how to do it; and I says, 'I tash! Shakey, you peen goin' +to school all your life, and you don't know de vay to makes a fence +yet.'" + +"Not so very strange," remarked Edward, with unmoved countenance, "for +they don't teach fence-making in ordinary schools." + +"Vell, den, de more's de bity," returned John, taking his departure. But +turning back at the door to say to Miss Stanhope, "I vill put dose +gooses in von safe place." + +"Any place where they can do no mischief, John," she answered, +good-humoredly. + +"Now, Aunt Wealthy," said Annis, "what can we do to make this wonderful +day pass most happily to you?" + +"Whatever will be most enjoyable to my guests," was the smiling reply. +"An old body like me can ask nothing better than to sit and look on and +listen." + +"Ah, but we would have you talk, too, auntie, when you don't find it +wearisome!" + +"What are you going to do with all your new treasures, Aunt Wealthy?" +asked Edward; "don't you want your pictures hung and a place found for +each vase and other household ornament?" + +"Certainly," she said, with a pleased look, "and this is the very time, +while I have you all here to give your opinions and advice." + +"And help," added Edward, "if you will accept it. As I am tall and +strong, I volunteer to hang the pictures after the place for each has +been duly considered and decided upon." + +His offer was promptly accepted, and the work entered upon in a spirit +of fun and frolic, which made it enjoyable to all. + +Whatever the others decided upon met with Miss Stanhope's approval; she +watched their proceedings with keen interest, and was greatly delighted +with the effect of their labors. + +"My dears," she said, "you have made my house so beautiful! and whenever +I look at these lovely things my thoughts will be full of the dear +givers. I shall not be here long, but while I stay my happiness will be +the greater because of your kindness," + +"And the remembrance of these words of yours, dear aunt, will add to +ours," said Mr. Keith, with feeling. + +"But old as you are, Aunt Wealthy," remarked Mr. Dinsmore, "it is quite +possible that some of us may reach home before you. It matters little, +however, as we are all travelling the same road to the same happy +country, being children of one Father, servants of the same blessed +Master." + +"And He shall choose all our changes for us," she said, "calling each +one home at such time as He sees best. Ah, it is sweet to leave all our +interests in His dear hands, and have Him choose our inheritance for +us!" + +There was a pause in the conversation, while Miss Stanhope seemed lost +in thought. Then Mrs. Keith remarked: + +"You look weary, dear Aunt Wealthy; will you not lie down and rest for a +little?" + +"Yes," she said, "I shall take it as the privilege of age, leaving you +all to entertain yourselves and each other for a time." + +At that Mr. Dinsmore hastened to give her his arm and support her to her +bedroom, his wife and Mrs. Keith following to see her comfortably +established upon a couch, where they left her to take her rest. + +The others scattered in various directions, as inclination dictated. + +Elsie and Annis sought the grounds, and, taking possession of a rustic +seat beneath a spreading tree, had a long, quiet talk, recalling +incidents of other days, and exchanging mutual confidences. + +"What changes we have passed through since our first acquaintance !" +exclaimed Annis. "What careless, happy children we were then!" + +"And what happy women we are now!" added Elsie, with a joyous smile. + +"Yes; and you a grandmother! I hardly know how to believe it! You seem +wonderfully young for that." + +"Do I?" laughed Elsie. "I acknowledge that I feel young--that I have +never yet been able to reason myself into feeling old." + +"Don't try; keep young as long as ever you can," was Annis's advice. + +"It is what you seem to be doing," said Elsie, sportively, and with an +admiring look at her cousin. "Dear Annis, may I ask why it is you have +never married? It must certainly have been your own fault." + +"Really, I hardly know what reply to make to that last remark," returned +Annis, in her sprightly way. "But I have not the slightest objection to +answering your question. I will tell 'the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth.' I have had friends and admirers among the +members of the other sex, but have never yet seen the man for love of +whom I could for a moment think of leaving father and mother." + +"How fortunate for them!" Elsie said, with earnest sincerity. "I know +they must esteem it a great blessing that they have been able to keep +one dear daughter in the old home." + +"And I esteem myself blest indeed in having had my dear father and +mother spared to me all these years," Annis said, with feeling. "What a +privilege it is, Elsie, to be permitted to smooth, some of the +roughnesses from their pathway now in their declining years; to make +life even a trifle easier and happier than it might otherwise be to +them--the dear parents who so tenderly watched over me in infancy and +youth! I know you can appreciate it--you who love your father so +devotedly. + +"But Cousin Horace is still a comparatively young man, hale and hearty, +and to all appearance likely to live many years, while my parents are +aged and infirm, and I cannot hope to keep them long." Her voice was +husky with emotion as she concluded. + +"Dear Annis," Elsie said, pressing tenderly the hand she held in hers, +"you are never to lose them. They may be called home before you, but the +separation will be short and the reunion for eternity--an eternity of +unspeakable joy, unclouded bliss at the right hand of Him whom you all +love better than you love each other." + +"That is true," Annis responded, struggling with her tears, "and there +is very great comfort in the thought; yet one cannot help dreading the +parting, and feeling that death is a thing to be feared for one's dear +ones and one's self. Death is a terrible thing, Elsie." + +"Not half so much so to me as it once was, dear cousin," Elsie said, in +a tenderly sympathizing tone. "I have thought much lately on that sweet +text, 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints;' +and that other, 'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be +satisfied,' and the contemplation has shown me so much of the love of +Jesus for the souls He has bought with His own precious blood and the +joyful reception He gives them, as one by one they are gathered home, +that it seems to me the death of a Christian should hardly bring sorrow +to any heart. Oh, it has comforted me much in my separation from the +dear husband of my youth, and made me at times look almost eagerly +forward to the day when my dear Lord shall call me home and I shall see +His face!" + +"O Elsie," cried Annis, "I trust that day may be far distant, for many +hearts would be like to break at parting with you! But there is +consolation for the bereaved in the thoughts you suggest; and I shall +try to cherish them and forget the gloom of the grave and the dread, for +myself and for those I love, of the parting." + +They were silent for a moment; then Elsie said, as if struck by a sudden +thought, "Annis, why should not you and your father and mother go home +with us and spend the fall and winter at Ion and Viamede?" + +"I cannot think of anything more delightful!" exclaimed Annis, her face +lighting up with pleasure; "and I believe it would be for their health +to escape the winter in our severer climate, for they are both subject +to colds and rheumatism at that season." + +"Then you will persuade them?" + +"If I can, Elsie. How kind in you to give the invitation!" + +"Not at all, Annis; for in so doing I seek my own gratification as well +as theirs and yours," Elsie answered, with earnest sincerity. "We +purpose going from here to Ion, and from there to Viamede, perhaps two +months later, to spend the remainder of the winter. And you and your +father and mother will find plenty of room and a warm welcome in both +places." + +"I know it, Elsie," Annis said; "I know you would not say so if it were +not entirely true, and I feel certain of a great deal of enjoyment in +your loved society, if father and mother accept your kind invitation." + +While these two conversed together thus in the grounds, a grand banquet +was in course of preparation in Miss Stanhope's house, under the +supervision of our old friends, May and Lottie. To it Elsie and Annis +were presently summoned, in common with the other guests. + +When the feasting was concluded, and all were again gathered in the +parlors, Elsie renewed her invitation already made to Annis, this time +addressing herself to Mr. and Mrs. Keith. + +They heard it with evident pleasure, and after some consideration +accepted. + +Edward and Zoe returned to Ion the following day, Herbert and Harold +leaving at the same time for college. The rest of the Travillas, the +Dinsmores, and the Raymonds lingered a week or two longer with Miss +Stanhope, who was very loath to part with them, Elsie in especial; then +bade farewell, scarce expecting to see her again on earth, and turned +their faces homeward, rejoicing in the promise of Mr. and Mrs. Keith +that they and Annis would soon follow, should nothing happen to prevent. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE AT NANTUCKET*** + + +******* This file should be named 14379-8.txt or 14379-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/7/14379 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/14379-8.zip b/old/14379-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f266e28 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14379-8.zip diff --git a/old/14379.txt b/old/14379.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..39f30e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14379.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9204 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Elsie at Nantucket, by Martha Finley + + +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: Elsie at Nantucket + +Author: Martha Finley + +Release Date: December 19, 2004 [eBook #14379] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE AT NANTUCKET*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +ELSIE AT NANTUCKET + +A Sequel to _Elsie's New Relations_ + +by + +MARTHA FINLEY + +1884 + + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +Three years ago I spent some six weeks on Nantucket Island, making the +town of the same name my headquarters, but visiting other points of +interest, to which I take the characters of my story; so that in +describing the pleasures of a sojourn there during our heated term, I +write from experience; though, in addition to my own notes, I have made +use of Northrup's "'Sconset Cottage Life" to refresh my memory and +assist me in giving a correct idea of the life led by summer visitors +who take up their abode for the season in one of those odd little +dwellings which form the "original 'Sconset." + +Should my account of the delights of Nantucket as a summer resort lead +any of my readers to try it for themselves, I trust they will not meet +with disappointment or find my picture overdrawn. + +M.F. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "How happy they, +Who from the toil and tumult of their lives +Steal to look down where naught but ocean strives." + +--_Byron._ + + +"Well, captain, for how long have you Uncle Sam's permission to stay on +shore this time?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, as the family at Ion sat about the +breakfast-table on the morning after Captain Raymond's arrival. + +"Just one month certain, sir, with the possibility that the leave of +absence may be extended," was the reply, in a cheery tone; "and as I +want to make the very most of it, I propose that our plans for a summer +outing be at once discussed, decided upon, and carried out." + +"I second the motion," said Mr. Dinsmore. "Are all the grown people +agreed? The consent of the younger ones may safely be taken for +granted," he added, with a smiling glance from one to another. + +"I am agreed and ready for suggestions," replied his wife. + +"And I," said his daughter. + +"Vi is, of course, since the proposition comes from her husband," Edward +remarked, with a sportive look at her; then glancing at his own little +wife: "and as I approve, Zoe will be equally ready with her consent." + +"Have you any suggestion to offer, captain?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"I have, sir; and it is that we make the island of Nantucket our summer +resort for this year, dividing the time, if you like, between Nantucket +Town and the quaint little fishing village Siasconset, or 'Sconset, as +they call it for short. There is an odd little box of a cottage there +belonging to a friend of mine, a Captain Coffin, which I have partially +engaged until the first of September. It wouldn't hold nearly all of us, +but we may be able to rent another for the season, or we can pitch a +tent or two, and those who prefer it can take rooms, with or without +board, at the hotels or boarding-houses. What do you all say?" glancing +from his mother-in-law to his wife. + +"It sounds very pleasant, captain," Elsie said; "but please tell us more +about it; I'm afraid I must acknowledge shameful ignorance of that +portion of my native land." + +"A very small corner of the same, yet a decidedly interesting one," +returned the captain; then went on to give a slight sketch of its +geography and history. + +"It is about fifteen miles long, and averages four in width. Nantucket +Town is a beautiful, quaint old place; has some fine wide streets +and handsome residences, a great many narrow lanes running in all +directions, and many very odd-looking old houses, some of them +inhabited, but not a few empty; for of the ten thousand former residents +only about three thousand now remain." + +"How does that happen, Levis?" asked Violet, as he paused for a moment. + +"It used to be a great seat of the whale-fishery," he answered; "indeed, +that was the occupation of the vast majority of the men of the island; +but, as I presume you know, the whale-fishery has, for a number of +years, been declining, partly owing to the scarcity of whales, partly +to the discovery of coal-oil, which has been largely substituted for +whale-oil as an illuminant (as has gas also, by the way), and to +substitutes being found or invented for whale-bone also. + +"So the Nantucketers lost their principal employment, and wandered off +to different parts of the country or the world in search of another; and +the wharves that once presented a scene full of life and bustle are now +lonely and deserted. Property there was wonderfully depreciated for a +time, but is rising in value now with the influx of summer visitors. It +is becoming quite a popular resort--not sea-side exactly, for there you +are right out in the sea." + +"Let us go there," said Mrs. Dinsmore; "I think it would be a pleasant +variety to get fairly out into the sea for once, instead of merely +alongside of it." + +"Oh, yes, do let us go!" + +"I'm in favor of it!" + +"And I!" + +"And I!" cried one and another, while Mr. Dinsmore replied, laughingly, +to his wife, "Provided you don't find the waves actually rolling over +you, I suppose, my dear. Well, the captain's description is very +appetizing so far, but let us hear what more he has to say on the +subject." + +"Haven't I said enough, sir?" returned the captain, with a good-humored +smile. "You will doubtless want to find some things out for yourselves +when you get there." + +"Are there any mountains, papa?" asked little Grace. "I'd like to see +some." + +"So you shall, daughter," he said; "but we will have to go elsewhere +than to Nantucket to find them." + +"No hills either?" she asked. + +"Yes, several ranges of not very high hills; Saul's Hills are the +highest; then there are bluffs south of 'Sconset known as Sunset +Heights; indeed, the village itself stands on a bluff high above the +sandy beach, where the great waves come rolling in. And there is 'Tom +Never's Head.' Also Nantucket Town is on high ground sloping gradually +up from the harbor; and just out of the town, to the north-west, are the +Cliffs, where you go to find surf-bathing; in the town itself you must +be satisfied with still-bathing. An excellent place, by the way, to +teach the children how to swim." + +"Then you can teach me, Edward," said Zoe; "I'd like to learn." + +"I shall be delighted," he returned, gallantly. + +"Papa," asked Max, "are there any woods and streams where one may hunt +and fish?" + +"Hardly anything to be called woods," the captain answered; "trees of +any size are few on the island. Except the shade trees in the town, I +think some ragged, stunted pines are all you will find; but there are +streams and ponds to fish in, to say nothing of the great ocean. There +is some hunting, too, for there are plover on the island." + +"Well, shall we go and see for ourselves, as the captain advises?" asked +Mr. Dinsmore, addressing the company in general. + +Every voice answered in the affirmative, though Elsie, looking +doubtfully at Violet, remarked that she feared she was hardly strong +enough for so long a journey. + +"Ah, that brings me to my second proposition, mother," said Captain +Raymond; "that--seeing what a very large company we shall make, +especially if we can persuade our friends from Fairview, the Oaks, and +the Laurels to accompany us--we charter a yacht and go by sea." + +"Oh, captain, what a nice idea!" cried Zoe, clapping her hands. "I love +the sea--love to be either beside it or on it." + +"I think it would be ever so nice!" Rosie exclaimed. "Oh, grandpa and +mamma, do say yes!" + +"I shall not oppose it, my dear," Elsie said; "indeed, I think it may +perhaps be our best plan. How does it strike you, father?" + +"Favorably," he replied, "if we can get the yacht. Do you know of one +that might be hired, captain?" + +"I do, sir; a very fine one. I have done with it as with the +cottage--partially engaged it--feeling pretty sure you would all +fall in with my views." + +"Captain," cried Zoe, "you're just a splendid man! I know of only one +that's more so," with a laughing look at her husband. + +The captain bowed his acknowledgments. "As high praise as I could +possibly ask, my dear sister. I trust that one may always stand first in +your esteem." + +"He always will," said Zoe; "but," with another glance, arch and +smiling, into Edward's eyes, "don't tell him, lest he should grow +conceited and vain." + +"Don't tell him, because it would be no news," laughed Edward, gazing +with fondness and admiration at the blooming face of the loved +flatterer. + +The talk went on about the yacht, and before they left the table the +captain was empowered to engage her for their use. Also the 'Sconset +cottage he had spoken of, and one or two more, if they were to be had. + +"You will command the vessel, of course, captain?" several voices said, +inquiringly, all speaking at once. + +"If chosen commander by a unanimous vote," he said. + +"Of course, of course; we'll be only too glad to secure your services," +said Mr. Dinsmore, everybody else adding a word of glad assent. + +"How soon do we sail, captain?" asked Zoe. "Must we wait for an answer +from Nantucket?" + +"No; I shall send word by this morning's mail, to Captain Coffin, that +we will take his cottage and two others, if he can engage them for us. +But there is no time to wait for a reply." + +"Can't we telegraph?" asked Violet. + +"No; because there is no telegraph from the mainland to the island. + +"Now, ladies all, please make your preparations as rapidly as possible. +We ought to be off by the first of next week. I can telegraph for the +yacht, and she will be ready for us, lying at anchor in our own harbor. + +"But, little wife," turning to Violet, with a tenderly affectionate air, +"you are not to exert yourself in the least with shopping, sewing, or +packing. I positively forbid it," he added, with playful authority. + +"That is right, captain," Elsie said, with a pleased smile. "She is not +strong enough yet for any such exertion, nor has she any need to make +it." + +"Ah, mamma," said Violet, "are you not forgetting the lessons you used +to give us, your children, on the sin of indolence and self-indulgence?" + +"No, daughter; nor those on the duty of doing all in our power for the +preservation of health as one of God's good gifts, and to be used in His +service." + +They were all gathered upon the veranda now in the cool shade of the +trees and vines, for the weather was extremely warm. + +"I wish we were ready to sail to-day," said Zoe. "How delicious the +sea-breeze would be!" + +A nice-looking, pleasant-faced colored woman stepped from the doorway +with a little bundle in her arms, which she carried to Violet. + +The captain, standing beside his wife, bent over her and the babe with a +face full of love and delight. + +"Isn't she a darling?" whispered Violet, gazing down upon the tiny +creature with all a young mother's unspeakable love and pride in her +first-born, then up into her husband's face. + +"That she is!" he responded; "I never saw a fairer, sweeter babe. I +should fear to risk her little life and health in a journey to Nantucket +by land; but going by sea will, I think, be more likely to do her good +than harm." + +"It's all her, her, when you talk about that baby," laughed Rosie; "why +don't you call her by her name?" + +"So we will, Aunt Rosie, if you will kindly inform us what it is," +returned the captain, good-humoredly. + +"I, sir!" exclaimed Rosie; "we have all been told again and again that +you were to decide upon the name on your arrival; and you've been +here--how many hours?--and it seems the poor little dear is nameless +yet." + +"Apparently not greatly afflicted by it either," said the captain, +adopting Rosie's sportive tone. "My love, what do you intend to call +your daughter?" + +"Whatever her father appoints as her name," returned Vi, laughingly. + +"No, no," he said; "you are to name her yourself; you have undoubtedly +the best right." + +"Thank you; then, if you like, she shall be mamma's namesake; her first +granddaughter should be, I think, as the first grandson was papa's." + +"I highly approve your choice," he said, with a glance of affectionate +admiration directed toward his mother-in-law; "and may a strong +resemblance in both looks and character descend to her with the name." + +"We will all say amen to that, captain," said Edward. + +"Yes, indeed," added Zoe, heartily. + +"Thank you both," Elsie said, with a gratified look; "I appreciate the +compliment; but if I had the naming of my little granddaughter, she +should be another Violet; there is already an Elsie in the family +besides myself, you know, and it makes a little confusion to have too +many of the same name." + +"Then, mamma, we can make a variety by calling this one Else for short," +returned Violet, gayly, holding up the babe to receive a caress from +its grandmother, who had drawn near, evidently with the purpose of +bestowing it. + +"What a pretty pet it is!" Elsie said, taking it in her arms and gazing +delightedly into the tiny face. "Don't you think so, captain?" + +"Of course I do, mother," he said, with a happy laugh. Then, examining +its features critically: "I really fancy I see a slight resemblance to +you now, which I trust is destined to increase with increasing years. +But excuse me, ladies; I must go and write that all-important letter at +once, or it will be too late for the mail." + +He hurried away to the library, and entering it hastily, but without +much noise, for he wore slippers, found Lulu there, leaning moodily out +of a window. + +She had stolen away from the veranda a moment before, saying to herself, +in jealous displeasure, "Such a fuss over that little bit of a thing! I +do believe papa is going to care more for it than for any of us, his own +children, that he had long before he ever saw Mamma Vi; and it's just +too bad." + +Knowing Lulu as he did, her father instantly conjectured what was +passing in her mind. It grieved and angered him, yet strong affection +was mingled with his displeasure, and he silently asked help of God to +deal wisely with this child of his love. + +He remembered that Lulu was more easily ruled through her affections +than in any other way, and as she turned toward him, with a flushed and +shamefaced countenance, he went to her, took her in his arms, held her +close to his heart, and kissed her tenderly several times. + +"My dear, dear little daughter," he said. "How often, when far away on +the sea, I have longed to do this--to hold my dear Lulu in my arms and +feel hers about my neck and her sweet kisses on my lips." + +Her arms were instantly thrown round his neck, while she returned his +kisses with interest. + +"Papa," she said, "I do love you so, _so_ dearly; but I 'most wonder you +don't quit loving such a hateful girl as I am." + +"Perhaps I might not love an ill-tempered, jealous child belonging to +somebody else," he said, as if half in jest, half in earnest; "but you +are my own," drawing her closer and repeating his caresses, "my very +own; and so I have to love you in spite of everything. But, my little +girl," and his tone grew very grave and sad, "if you do not fight +determinately against these wrong feelings you will never know rest or +happiness in this world or the next. + +"But we won't talk any more about it now; I have no time, as I ought to +be writing my letter. Run away and make yourself happy, collecting +together such toys and books as you would like to carry with you to +Nantucket. Grandma Elsie and Mamma Vi will decide what you and the rest +will need in the way of clothing." + +"I will, papa; and oh, but I think you are good to me!" she said, giving +him a final hug and kiss; "a great deal better than I deserve; but I +will try to be good." + +"Do, my child," he said; "and not in your own strength; God will help +you if you ask Him." + +For the moment thoroughly ashamed of her jealousy of the baby, she ran +back to the veranda, where the others still were, and bending over it as +it lay its mother's arms, kissed it several times. + +Violet's face flushed with pleasure. "My dear Lulu, I hope you and +little Else are going to be very fond of each other," she said. + +"I hope so, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered, pleasantly; then, in a sudden fit +of penitence, added, "but I'm afraid she'll never learn any good from +the example of her oldest sister." + +"My dear child, resolve that she shall," said Grandma Elsie, standing +by; "you cannot avoid having a good deal of influence over her as she +grows older, and do not forget that you will have to give an account +for the use you make of it." + +"I suppose that's so," Lulu answered, with a little impatient shrug of +her shoulders; "but I wish it wasn't." Then, turning abruptly away, "Max +and Gracie," she called to her brother and sister, "papa says we may go +and gather up any books and toys we want to take with us." + +The three ran off together in high glee. The ladies stayed a little +longer, deep in consultation about necessary arrangements which must +fall to their share: then dispersed to their several apartments, with +the exception of Violet, who, forbidden to exert herself, remained where +she was till joined by her husband, when he had finished and despatched +his letter. It was great happiness to them to be together after their +long separation. + +Mr. Dinsmore and Edward had walked out into the avenue, and were seated +under a tree in earnest conversation. + +"Talking tiresome business, I suppose," remarked Zoe, in a half-petulant +tone, glancing toward them as she spoke, and apparently addressing +Violet, as she was the only other person on the veranda at the moment. + +"Yes, no doubt; but we must have patience with them, dear, because it +is very necessary," Violet answered, with a smile. "Probably they are +discussing the question how the plantation is to be attended to in their +absence. You know it won't take care of itself, and the men must have a +head to direct their labors." + +"Oh yes, of course; and for that reason Ned is kept ever so busy while +we are here, and I do think it will be delightful to get away to the +seashore with him, where there will be nothing to do but enjoy +ourselves." + +Zoe skipped away with the last word, ran up to her room, and began +turning over the contents of bureau drawers and taking garments from +wardrobes and closets, with the view of selecting such as she might deem +it desirable to carry with her on the contemplated trip. + +She was humming softly a snatch of lively song, feeling very gay and +light-hearted, when, coming across a gray travelling-dress a little +worse for the wear, her song suddenly ceased, while tears gathered in +her eyes, then began to fall drop by drop as she stood gazing down, upon +this relic of former days. + +"Just one year ago," she murmured. "Papa, papa! I never thought I could +live a whole year without you; and be happy, too! Ah, that seems +ungrateful, when you were so, so good to me! But no; I am sure you would +rather have me happy; and it would be ungrateful to my dear husband if I +were not." + +She put the dress aside, wiped away her tears, and took down another. +It was a dark woollen dress. She had travelled home in it the previous +fall, and had worn it once since on a very memorable occasion; her cheek +crimsoned at the recollection as she glanced from it to her husband, who +entered the room at that instant; then her eyes fell. + +"What is it, love?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. + +"Nothing, only--you remember the last time you saw me in this dress? Oh, +Ned, what a fool I was! and how good you were to me!" + +He had her in his arms by this time, and she was hiding her blushing +face on his breast. "Never mind, my pet," he said, soothing her with +caresses; "it is a secret between ourselves, and always shall be, unless +you choose to tell it." + +"I? No indeed!" she said, drawing a long breath; "I think I should +almost die of mortification if any one else should find it out; but I'm +glad you know it, because if you didn't my conscience wouldn't give me a +bit of peace till I confessed to you." + +"Ah! and would that be very difficult?" + +"Yes; I don't know how I could ever find courage to make the attempt." + +"Are you really so much afraid of me?" he asked, in a slightly aggrieved +tone. + +"Yes; for I love you so dearly that your displeasure is perfectly +unendurable," she replied, lifting her head to gaze fondly into his +eyes. + +"Ah, is that it, my darling?" he said, in a glow of delight. "I deem +myself a happy man in possessing such a treasure as you and your dear +love. I can hardly reconcile myself to the thought of a separation for +even a few weeks." + +"Separation!" she cried, with a start, and in a tone of mingled pain and +incredulity. "What can you mean? But I won't be separated from you; I'm +your wife, and I claim the right to cling to you always, _always_!" + +"And I would have you do so, if it could be without a sacrifice of your +comfort and enjoyment, but--" + +"Comfort and enjoyment!" she interrupted; "it is here in your arms or by +your side that I find both; nowhere else. But why do you talk so? is +anything wrong?" + +"Nothing, except that it seems impossible for me to leave the plantation +for weeks to come, unless I can get a better substitute than I know of +at present." + +"Oh, Ned, I am so sorry!" she cried, tears of disappointment springing +to her eyes. + +"Don't feel too badly about it, little wife," he said, in a cheery tone; +"it is just possible the right man may turn up before the yacht sails; +and in that case I can go with the rest of you; otherwise I shall hope +to join you before your stay at Nantucket is quite over." + +"Not my stay; for I won't go one step of the way without you, unless you +order me!" she added, sportively, and with a vivid blush; "and I'm not +sure that I'll do it even in that case." + +"Oh, yes you will," he said, laughingly. "You know you promised to be +always good and obedient on condition that I would love you and keep +you; and I'm doing both to the very best of my ability." + +"But you won't be if you send me away from you. No, no; I have a right +to stay with you, and I shall claim it always," she returned, clinging +to him as if she feared an immediate separation. + +"Foolish child!" he said, with a happy laugh, holding her close; "think +what you would lose: the sea voyage in the pleasantest of company--" + +"No; the pleasantest company would be left behind if you were," she +interrupted. + +"Well, very delightful company," he resumed; "then I don't know how many +weeks of the oppressive heat here you would have to endure, instead of +enjoying the cool, refreshing breezes sweeping over Nantucket. Surely, +you cannot give it all up without a sigh?" + +"I can't give up the thought of enjoying it all with you without +sighing, and crying, too, maybe," she answered, smiling through tears; +"but I'd sigh and cry ten times as much if I had to go and leave you +behind. No, Mr. Travilla, you needn't indulge the hope of getting rid of +me for even a week. I'm determined to stay where you stay, and go only +where you go." + +"Dreadful fate!" he exclaimed. "Well, little wife, I shall do my best to +avert the threatened disappointment of your hopes of a speedy departure +out of this heated atmosphere and a delightful sea voyage to that famous +island. Now, I must leave you and begin at once my search for a +substitute as manager of the plantation." + +"Oh, I do hope you will succeed!" she said. "Shall I go on with my +packing?" + +"Just as you please, my dear; perhaps it would be best; as otherwise you +may be hurried with it if we are able to go with the others." + +"Then I shall; and I'm determined not to look for disappointment," she +said, in a lively, cheery tone, as he left the room, + +At the conclusion of his conference with Edward, Mr. Dinsmore sought his +daughter in her own apartments. He found her busied much as Zoe was, +looking over clothing and selecting what ought to be packed in the +trunks a man-servant was bringing in. + +She had thrown aside the widow's weeds in which she was wont to array +herself when about to leave the seclusion of her own rooms, and donned a +simple white morning dress that was very becoming, her father thought. + +"Excuse my wrapper, papa," she said, turning toward him a bright, sweet +face, as he entered; "I found my black dress oppressive this warm +morning." + +"Yes," he said; "it is a most unwholesome dress, I think; and for that +reason and several others I should be extremely glad if you would give +it up entirely." + +"Would you, my dear father?" she returned, tears springing to her eyes. + +"I should indeed, if it would not involve too great a sacrifice of +feeling on your part. I have always thought white the most suitable and +becoming dress for you in the summer season, and so did your husband." + +"Yes, papa, I remember that he did; but--I--I should be very loath to +give the least occasion for any one to say or think he was forgotten by +her he loved so dearly, or that she had ceased to mourn his loss." + +"Loss, daughter dear?" he said, taking her in his arms to wipe away the +tears that were freely coursing down her cheeks, and caress her with +exceeding tenderness. + +"No, papa, not lost, but only gone before," she answered, a lovely +smile suddenly irradiating her features; "nor does he seem far away. I +often feel that he is very near me still, though I can neither see nor +speak to him nor hear his loved voice," she went on, in a dreamy tone, a +far-away look in the soft brown eyes as she stood, with her head on her +father's shoulder, his arm encircling her waist. + +Both were silent for some moments; then Elsie, lifting her eyes to her +father's face, asked, "Were you serious in what you said about my laying +aside mourning, papa?" + +"Never more so," he answered. "It is a gloomy, unwholesome dress, and I +have grown very weary of seeing you wear it. It would be very gratifying +to me to see you exchange it for more cheerful attire." + +"But black is considered the most suitable dress for old and elderly +ladies, papa; and I am a grandmother, you know." + +"What of that?" he said, a trifle impatiently; "you do not look old, and +are, in fact, just in the prime of life. And it is not like you to be +concerned about what people may think or say. Usually your only inquiry +is, 'Is it right?' 'Is it what I ought to do?'" + +"I fear that is a deserved reproof, papa," she said, with unaffected +humility; "and I shall be governed by your wishes in this matter, for +they have been law to me almost all my life (a law I have loved to +obey, dear father), and I know that if my husband were here he would +approve of my decision." + +She could not entirely suppress a sigh as she spoke, nor keep the tears +from filling her eyes. + +Her father saw and appreciated the sacrifice she would make for him. + +"Thank you, my darling," he said. "It seems selfish in me to ask it of +you, but though partly for my own gratification, it is really still more +for your sake; I think the change will be for your health and +happiness." + +"And I have the highest opinion of my father's wisdom," she said, "and +should never, never think of selfishness as connected with him." + +Mrs. Dinsmore came in at this moment. + +"Ah, my dear," she said, "I was in search of you. What is to be done +about Bob and Betty Johnson? You know they will be coming home in a day +or two for their summer vacation." + +"They can stay at Roselands with their cousins Calhoun and Arthur Conly; +or at the Oaks, if Horace and his family do not join us in the trip to +Nantucket." + +"Cannot Bob and Betty go with us, papa?" Elsie asked. "I have no doubt +it would be a very great treat to them." + +"Our party promises to be very large," he replied; "but if you two +ladies are agreed to invite them I shall raise no objection." + +"Shall we not, mamma?" Elsie asked, and Rose gave a hearty assent. + +"Now, how much dressmaking has to be done before the family can be ready +for the trip?" asked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"Very little," the ladies told him, Elsie adding, "At least if you are +willing to let me wear black dresses when it is too cool for white, +papa. Mamma, he has asked me to lay aside my mourning." + +"I knew he intended to," Rose said, "and I think you are a dear good +daughter to do it." + +"It is nothing new; she has always been the best of daughters," Mr. +Dinsmore remarked, with a tenderly affectionate look at Elsie. "And, my +dear child, I certainly shall not ask you to stay a day longer than +necessary in this hot place, merely to have new dresses made when you +have enough even of black ones. We must set sail as soon as possible. +Now, I must have a little business chat with you. Don't go, Rose; it is +nothing that either of us would care to have you hear." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"Where the broad ocean leans against the land." + +--_Goldsmith_. + + +Elsie felt somewhat apprehensive that this early laying aside of her +mourning for their father might not meet the approval of her older son +and daughters; but it gave them pleasure; one and all were delighted to +see her resume the dress of the happy days when he was with them. + +Zoe, too, was very much pleased. "Mamma," she said, "you do look so +young and lovely in white; and it was so nice in you to begin wearing it +again on the anniversary of our wedding-day. Just think, it's a whole +year to-day since Edward and I were married. How fast time flies!" + +"Yes," Elsie said; "it seems a very little while since I was as young +and light-hearted as you are now, and now I am a grandmother." + +"But still happy; are you not, mamma? you always seem so to me." + +"Yes, my child; I have a very peaceful, happy life. I miss my husband, +but I know the separation is only for a short time, and that he is +supremely blessed. And with my beloved father and dear children about +me, heart and hands are full--delightfully full--leaving no room for +sadness and repining." This little talk was on the veranda, as the two +stood there for a moment apart from the others. Zoe was looking quite +bride-like in a white India mull, much trimmed with rich lace, her fair +neck and arms adorned with a set of beautiful pearls, just presented her +by Edward in commemoration of the day. + +She called Elsie's attention to them. "See, mamma, what my husband has +given me in memory of the day. Are they not magnificent?" + +"It is a very fine set," Elsie answered, with a smile, glancing +admiringly at the jewels and from them to the blooming face of the +wearer. "A most suitable gift for his little wife." + +"He's so good to me, mamma," Zoe said, with warmth. "I love him better +every day we live together, and couldn't think of leaving him behind +alone, when you all go off to Nantucket. I do hope he'll be able to find +somebody to take his place; but if he isn't I shall stay here with him." + +"That is quite right, dear child; I am very glad you love him so +dearly," Elsie said, with a very pleased look; "but I hope your +affection will not be put to so severe a test; we have heard of a very +suitable person, though it is still uncertain whether his services can +be secured. We shall probably know to-morrow." + +"Perhaps sooner than that," Mr. Dinsmore said, approaching them just in +time to hear his daughter's last sentence; "Edward has gone to have an +interview with him, and hopes for a definite reply to his proposition. +Ah, here he comes now!" as Edward was seen to turn in at the great gates +and come up the avenue at a gentle trot. It was too warm for a gallop. + +As he drew near he took off his hat and waved it in triumph round his +head. "Success, good friends!" he cried, reining in his steed at the +veranda steps. Then, as he threw the reins to a servant and sprang to +the ground, "Zoe, my darling, you can go on with your packing; we may +confidently expect to be able to sail with the rest." + +"Oh delightful!" she exclaimed, dancing about as gleefully as if she had +been a maiden of eight or ten instead of a woman just closing the first +year of her married life. + +Everybody sympathized in her joy; everybody was glad that she and Edward +were to be of their party. + +All the older ones were very busy for the next few days, no one finding +time for rest and quiet chat except the captain and Violet, who keenly +enjoyed a monopoly of each other's society during not a few hours of +every day; Mrs. Dinsmore and Elsie having undertaken to attend to all +that would naturally have fallen to Violet's share in making ready for +the summer's jaunt had she been in robust health. Bob and Betty Johnson, +to whom the Oaks had been home for many years, and who had just +graduated from school, came home in the midst of the bustle of +preparation, and were highly delighted by an invitation to join the +Nantucket party. + +No untoward event occurred to cause disappointment or delay; all were +ready in due season, and the yacht set sail at the appointed time, with +a full list of passengers, carrying plenty of luggage, and with fair +winds and sunny skies. + +They were favored with exceptionally fine weather all the way, and seas +so smooth that scarce a touch of sea-sickness was felt by any, from the +oldest to the youngest. + +They entered Nantucket harbor one lovely summer morning, with a +delicious breeze blowing from the sea, the waves rippling and dancing in +the sunlight, and the pretty town seated like a queen on the surrounding +heights that slope gently up from the water. + +They were all gathered on deck, eager for a first glimpse of the place. + +Most of them spoke admiringly of it, but Zoe said, "It's pretty enough, +but too much of a town for me. I'm glad we are not to stay in it. +'Sconset is a smaller place, isn't it, captain?" + +"Much smaller," he answered; "quite small enough to suit even so great a +lover of solitude as yourself, Mrs. Travilla." + +"Oh, you needn't laugh at me," she retorted; "one needn't be a great +lover of solitude to care for no more society than is afforded by this +crowd. But I want to be close by the bounding sea, and this town is shut +off from that by its harbor." + +"Where is the harbor, papa?" asked little Grace. + +"All around us, my child; we are in it." + +"Are we?" she asked, "I think it looks just like the sea; what's the +matter with it, Aunt Zoe?" + +"Nothing, only it's too quiet; the great waves don't come rolling in and +breaking along the shore. I heard your father say so; it's here they +have the still bathing." + +"Oh, yes, and papa is going to teach us to swim!" exclaimed Lulu; "I'm +so glad, for I like to learn how to do everything." + +"That's right," her father said, with an approving smile; "learn all +you can, for 'knowledge is power.'" + +They landed, the gentlemen presently secured a sufficient number of +hacks to comfortably accommodate the entire party, and after a cursory +view of the town, in a drive through several of its more important +streets, they started on the road to 'Sconset. + +They found it, though a lonely, by no means an unpleasant, drive--a road +marked out only by rows of parallel ruts across wild moorlands, where +the ground was level or slightly rolling, with now and then some gentle +elevation, or a far-off glimpse of harbor or sea, or a lonely farmhouse. +The wastes were treeless, save for the presence of a few stunted +jack-pines; but these gave out a sweet scent, mingling pleasantly with +the smell of the salt-sea air; and there were wild roses and other +flowering shrubs, thistles and tiger-lilies and other wild flowers, +beautiful enough to tempt our travellers to alight occasionally to +gather them. + +'Sconset was reached at length, three adjacent cottages found ready and +waiting for their occupancy, and they took possession. + +The cottages stood on a high bluff overlooking miles of sea, between +which and the foot of the cliff stretched a low sandy beach a hundred +yards or more in width, and gained by flights of wooden stairs. + +The cottages faced inland, and had each a little back yard, grassy, and +showing a few flowers, that reached to within a few yards of the edge of +the bluff. The houses were tiny, built low and strong, that they might +resist the fierce winds of winter in that exposed position, and shingled +all over to keep out the spray from the waves, which would penetrate any +other covering. + +Dinner was engaged for our entire party at one of the hotels, of which +there were two; but as it yet wanted more than an hour of the time set +for the meal, all who were not too tired sallied forth to explore the +hamlet and its environs. + +They found it to consist of about two hundred cottages, similar to those +they had engaged for the season, each in a little enclosure. They were +built along three narrow streets or lanes running parallel with the edge +of the bluff, and stood in groups of twos or threes, separated by narrow +cross-lanes, giving every one free access to the town pump, the only +source of fresh-water supply in the place. + +The children were particularly interested in the cottage of Captain +Baxter, with its famous ship's figure-head in the yard. + +Back of the original 'Sconset, on the slight ascent toward Nantucket +Town, stood a few more pretentious cottages, built as summer residences +by the rich men of the island, retired sea captains, and merchants; this +was the one broad street, and here were the two hotels, the Atlantic +House and the Ocean View House. + +Then on the bluff south of the old village, called Sunset Heights, there +were some half dozen cottages; a few on the bluff north of it, also. + +The town explored and dinner eaten, of course the next thing was to +repair to the beach to watch the rush and tumble of the restless waves, +fast chasing each other in, and the dash of the spray as they broke +along the shore. + +There was little else to see, for the bathing hour was long past; but +that was quite enough. + +Soon, however, nearly every one of the party began to feel unaccountably +sleepy. Some returned to the cottages for the indulgence of their desire +for slumber, and others, spreading cloaks and shawls upon the sand, +enjoyed a delicious rest, warmed by the sun and fanned by the sea +breeze. + +For a day or two they did little but sleep and eat, and sleep and eat +again, enjoying it immensely, too, and growing fat and strong. + +After that they woke to new life, made inquiries in regard to all the +sights and amusements the island afforded, and began availing themselves +of their opportunities, as if it were the business of life. + +When it was for a long drive to some notable point, all went together, +chartering several vehicles for their conveyance; at other times they +not unfrequently broke up into smaller parties, some preferring one sort +of sport, some another. + +"How many of us are going to bathe to-day?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, the +second morning after their arrival. + +"I for one, if you will bear me company and look out for my safety," +said his wife. + +"Most assuredly I will," he answered. "And you too, Elsie?" turning to +his daughter. + +"Yes, sir," she said, "if you think you can be burdened with the care of +two." + +"No, mother," spoke up Edward, quickly; "you and Zoe will be my charge, +of course." + +"Ridiculous, Ned! of course, Harold and I will take care of mamma," +exclaimed Herbert. "You will have enough to do to look out for your +wife's safety." + +(The yacht had touched at Cape May and taken the two college students +aboard there.) + +"I shall be well taken care of," their mother said, laughingly, with an +affectionate glance from one to another of her three tall sons; "but I +should like one of you to take charge of Rosie, another of Walter; and, +in fact, I don't think I need anything for myself but a strong hold of +the rope to insure my safety." + +"You shall have more!" exclaimed father and sons in a breath; "the surf +is heavy here, and we cannot risk your precious life." + +Mr. Dinsmore added, "None of you ladies ought to stay in very long, and +we will take you in turn." + +"Papa, may I go in?" asked Lulu, eagerly. + +"Yes; I'll take you in," the captain answered; "but the waves are so +boisterous that I doubt if you will care to repeat the experiment. Max, +I see, is waiting his chance to ask the same question," he added, with a +fatherly smile directed to the boy; "you may go in too, of course, my +son, if you will promise to hold on to the rope. I cannot think that +otherwise you would be safe in that boiling surf." + +"But I can swim, papa," said Max; "and won't you let me go with you out +beyond the surf, where the water is more quiet?" + +"Why yes, you shall," the captain replied, with a look of pleasure; "I +did not know that you had learned to swim." + +"I don't want to go in," said timid little Grace, as if half fearful it +might be required of her. "Mamma is not going, and can't I stay with +her, papa?" + +"Certainly, daughter," was the kind reply. "I suppose you feel afraid of +those dashing waves, and I should never think of forcing you in among +them against your will." + +Betty Johnson now announced her intention to join the bathers. "It's +the first chance I've ever had," she remarked, "and I shan't throw it +away. I'll hold on to the rope, and if I'm in any danger I suppose Bob, +or some of the rest of you, will come to my assistance?" + +"Of course we will!" all the gentlemen said, her brother adding, "And if +there's a good chance, I'll take you over to Nantucket Town, where +there's still-bathing, and teach you to swim." + +"Just what I should like," she said. "I have a great desire to add that +to the already large number of my accomplishments." + +Miss Betty was a very lively, in fact, quite wild, young lady, whose +great desire was for fun and frolic; to have, as she expressed it, "a +jolly good time" wherever she went. + +The captain drew out his watch. "About time to don the bathing-suits," +he said; "I understand that eleven o'clock is the hour, and it wants but +fifteen minutes of it." + +Grandma Elsie had kindly seen to it that each little girl--that is, +Captain Raymond's two and her own Rosie--was provided with a pretty, +neatly-fitting, and becoming bathing dress. + +Violet helped Lulu to put her's on, and, surveying her with a smile of +gratified motherly pride, told her she looked very well in it, and that +she hoped she would enjoy her bath. + +"Thank you," said Lulu; "but why don't you go in too, Mamma Vi?" + +"Only because I don't feel strong enough to stand up against those heavy +waves," Violet answered. "But I am going down to the beach to watch you +all, and see that you don't drown," she added, sportively. + +"Oh Lu, aren't you afraid to go in?" asked little Grace, half shuddering +at the very thought. + +"Why no, Gracie; I've bathed in the sea before; I went in a good many +times last summer; don't you remember?" + +"Yes; but the waves there weren't half so big and strong." + +"No; but I'll have a rope and papa, too, to hold to; so why need I be +afraid?" laughed Lulu. + +"Mamma is, I think," said Grace, looking doubtfully at her. + +"Oh no, dear," said Violet; "I should not be at all afraid to go in if +I were as strong as usual; but being weak, I know that buffeting with +those great waves would do me more harm than good." + +Their cottages being so near the beach, our party all assumed their +bathing suits before descending to it. They went down, this first time, +all in one company, forming quite a procession; Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore +heading it, and Violet and Grace, as mere spectators, bringing up the +rear. + +They, in common with others who had nothing to do but look on, found it +an amusing scene; there was a great variety of costume, some neat, +well-fitting, and modest; some quite immodestly scant; some bright and +new; some faded and old. There was, however, but little freshness and +beauty in any of them when they came out of the water. + +Violet and Grace found a seat under an awning. Max came running up to +them. + +"Papa is going in with Lulu first," he said; "then he will bring her out +and take me with him for a swim beyond the breakers. I'll just wait here +with you till my turn comes." + +"See, see, they're in the water!" cried Grace; "and oh, what a big, big +wave that is coming! There, it would have knocked Lulu down if papa +hadn't had fast hold of her." + +"Yes; it knocked a good many others down," laughed Max; "just hear how +they are screeching and screaming." + +"But laughing, too," said Violet, "as if they find it fine sport." + +"Who is that man sitting on that bench nearest the water, and looking +just ready to run and help if anybody needs it?" asked Grace. + +"Oh, that's Captain Gorham," said Max. "and to run and help if he's +needed is exactly what he's there for. And I presume he always does it; +for they say no bather was ever drowned here." + +Ten or fifteen minutes later a little dripping figure left the water, +and came running toward them. + +"Why, it's Lulu," Gracie said, as it drew near, calling out to Max that +papa was ready for him. + +Max was off like a shot in the direction of the water, and Lulu shouted +to her sister, "Oh Gracie, it's such fun! I wish you had gone, too." + +Violet hastened to throw a waterproof cloak about Lulu's shoulders, and +bade her hurry to the house, rub hard with a coarse towel, and put on +dry clothing. + +"I will go with you," she added, "if you wish." + +"Oh no, thank you, Mamma Vi," Lulu answered, in a lively, happy tone. "I +can do it all quite well myself, and it must be fun for you to sit here +and watch the bathers." + +"Well, dear, rub till you are in a glow," Violet said, as the little +girl sped on her way. + +"Oh mamma, see, see!" cried Grace, more than half frightened at the +sight; "papa has gone away, way out, and Maxie with him. Oh, aren't you +afraid they will drown?" + +"No, Gracie dear; I think we may safely trust your father's prudence +and skill as a swimmer," Violet answered. "Ah, there come Grandma Rose +and my mother; but Zoe and Betty seem to be enjoying it too much to +leave yet." + +"Mamma, let's stay here till our people all come out; papa and Maxie, +any way" Grace said, persuasively. + +"Yes; we will if you wish," said Violet. "I was just thinking I must go +in to see how baby is doing; but here comes Dinah, bringing her to me." + +There was no accident that day, and everybody was enthusiastic in praise +of the bathing. Zoe and Betty would have liked to stay in the water much +longer than their escorts deemed prudent, but yielded to their better +judgment. + +The next morning there was a division of their forces: the Dinsmores, +Mrs. Elsie Travilla, Rosie, and Walter, and the Raymonds taking an early +start for Nantucket Town, the others remaining behind to enjoy a +repetition of the surf bath at 'Sconset. + +The Nantucket party drove directly to the bathing house of the town, and +the little girls took their first lesson in swimming. They all thought +it "very nice," even Grace soon forgetting her timidity in the quiet +water and with her father to take care of her. + +After that they went about the town visiting places of note--the +Athenaeum, the oldest house, dating back more than a hundred years, no +longer habitable, but kept as a relic of olden times, so important that +a visit to it is a part of the regular curriculum of the summer +sojourner in Nantucket; then to the news-room, where they wrote their +names in the "Visitors' Book;" then to the stores to view, among other +things, the antique furniture and old crockery on exhibition there and +for sale. + +Many of these stores, situate in wide, handsome streets, were quite +city-like in size and in their display of goods. + +Dinner at one of the hotels was next in order; after that a delightful +sail on the harbor, then around Brant Point and over the bar out into +the sea. + +Here the boat new before the wind, dancing and rocking on the waves to +the intense delight of the older children; but Gracie was afraid till +her father took her in his arms and held her fast, assuring her they +were in no danger. + +As she had unbounded confidence in "papa's" word, and believed he knew +all about the sea, this quieted her fears and made the rest of the sail +as thoroughly enjoyable to her as it was to the others. + +The drive back to 'Sconset, with the full moon shining on moor and sea, +was scarcely less delightful. They reached their cottage home full of +enthusiasm over the day's experiences, ready to do ample justice to a +substantial supper, and then for a long delicious night's sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"And I have loved thee, Ocean!" + + +Captain Raymond, always an early riser, was out on the bluffs before the +sun rose, and in five minutes Max was by his side. + +"Ah, my boy, I though you were sound asleep, and would be for an hour +yet," the captain remarked when they had exchanged an affectionate +good-morning. + +"No, sir, I made up my mind last night that I'd be out in time to see +the sun rise right out of the sea," Max said; "and there he is, just +peeping above the waves. There, now he's fairly up I and see, papa, what +a golden glory he sheds upon the waters; they are almost too bright to +look at. Isn't it a fine sight?" + +"Yes, well worth the sacrifice of an extra morning nap--at least once in +a while." + +"You must have seen it a great many times, papa." + +"Yes, a great many; but it never loses its attraction for me." + +"Oh, look, look, papa!" cried Max; "there's a fisherman going out; he +has his dory down on the beach, and is just watching for the right wave +to launch it. I never can see the difference in the waves--why one is +better than half a dozen others that he lets pass. Can you, sir?" + +"No," acknowledged the captain; "but let us watch now and try to make +out his secret." + +They did watch closely for ten minutes or more, while wave after wave +came rushing in and broke along the beach, the fisherman's eyes all the +while intent upon them as he stood motionless beside his boat; then +suddenly seeming to see the right one--though to the captain and Max it +did not look different from many of its neglected predecessors--he gave +his dory a vigorous push that sent it out upon the top of that very +wave, leaped into the stern, seized his oars, and with a powerful stroke +sent the boat out beyond the breakers. + +"Bravo!" cried Max, clapping his hands and laughing with delight; "see, +papa, how nicely he rides now on the long swells! How I should like to +be able to manage a boat like that. May I learn if I have the chance?" + +"Yes," said his father; "I should like to have you a proficient in all +manly accomplishments, only don't be foolhardy and run useless risks. I +want my son to be brave, but not rash; ready to meet danger with +coolness and courage when duty calls, and to have the proper training +to enable him to do so intelligently, but not to rush recklessly into it +to no good end." + +"Yes, papa," Max answered; "I mean to try to be just such a man as my +father is; but do you mean that I may take lessons in managing a boat on +the sea, if I can find somebody to teach me?" + +"I do; I shall inquire about among the fishermen and see who is capable +and willing for the task. Come, let us go down to the beach; we shall +have abundance of time for a stroll before breakfast." + +At that moment Lulu joined them with a gay good-morning to each; she was +in a happy mood. "Oh, what a lovely morning! what a delightful place +this is!" she cried. "Papa, can't we take a walk?" + +"Yes, Max and I were about starting for one, and shall be pleased to +have your company." + +"I'd like to go to Tom Never's Head, papa," said Max. + +"Oh, so should I!" cried Lulu. + +"I believe they call the distance from here about two miles," remarked +the captain reflectively; "but such a walk before breakfast in this +bracing air I presume will not damage children as strong and healthy as +these two of mine," regarding them with a fond, fatherly smile. "So come +along, we will try it." + +He took Lulu's hand, and the three wended their way southward along +Sunset Heights, greatly enjoying the sight of the ocean, its waves +glittering and dancing in the brilliant sunlight, their booming sound as +they broke along the beach and the exhilarating breeze blowing fresh and +pure from them. + +"This is a very dangerous coast," the captain remarked, "especially in +winter, when it is visited by fierce gales; a great many vessels have +been wrecked on Nantucket coast." + +"Yes, papa," said Max; "I heard a story the other day of a ship that was +wrecked the night before Christmas, eight or ten years ago, on this +shore. Nobody knew that a ship was near until the next morning, when +pieces of wreck, floating barrels, and dead bodies were cast up on the +beach. + +"They found that one man had got to land alive; they knew it because he +was quite a distance from the beach, though entirely dead when they +found him. You see there was just one farmhouse in sight from the scene +of the disaster, and they had alight that night because somebody was +sick; and they supposed the man saw the light and tried to reach it, but +was too much exhausted by fatigue and the dreadful cold, for it seemed +his clothes had all been torn off him by the waves; he was stark naked +when found, and lying on the ground, which showed that he had struggled +hard to get up after falling down upon it. + +"I think they said the ship was called the Isaac Newton, was loaded with +barrels of coal-oil, and bound for Holland." + +"What a terrible death!" Lulu said with a shudder, and clinging more +tightly to her father's hand; "every one drowned and may be half frozen +for hours before they died. Oh, papa, I wish you didn't belong to the +navy, but lived all the time on land! I am so afraid your ship will be +wrecked some time," she ended with a sob. + +"It is not only upon the water that people die by what we call accident, +daughter," the captain answered; "many horrible deaths occur on +land--many to which drowning would in my opinion be far preferable. + +"But you must remember that we are under God's care and protection +everywhere, on land and on sea; and that if we are His children no real +evil can befall us. I am very glad you love me, my child, but I would +not have you make yourself unhappy with useless fears on my account. +Trust the Lord for me and all whom you love." + +They pressed onward and presently came upon a lovely lakelet near the +beach, as clear as crystal and with bushes with dark green foliage +growing on all sides but that toward the sea. + +They stopped for a moment to gaze upon it with surprise and admiration, +then pushed on again till the top of the high bluff known as Tom Never's +Head was reached. + +They stood upon its brink and looked off westward and northward over the +heaving, tumbling ocean, as far as the eye could reach to the line where +sea and sky seemed to meet, taking in long draughts of the pure, +invigorating air, and listening to the roar of the breakers below. + +"What is that down there?" asked Lulu. + +"Part of a wreck, evidently," answered her father; "it must have been +there a long while, it is so deeply imbedded in the sand." + +"I wish I knew its story," said Lulu; "I hope everybody wasn't drowned +when it was lost." + +"It must have happened years ago, before that life-saving station was +built," remarked Max. + +"Life-saving station," repeated Lulu, turning to look in the direction +of his glance; "what's that?" + +"Do you not know what that means?" asked her father. "It is high time +you did. Those small houses are built here and there all along our coast +by the general government, for the purpose of accommodating each a band +of surf-men, who are employed by the government to keep a lookout for +vessels in distress, and give them all the aid in their power. + +"They are provided with lifeboats, buoys, and other necessary things to +enable them to do so successfully. If it were not too near breakfast +time I should take you over there to see their apparatus; but we must +defer it to some other day, which will be quite as well, for then we may +bring a larger party with us. Now for home," he added, again taking +Lulu's hand; "if your appetites are as keen as mine you will be glad to +get there and to the table." + +"Two good hours to bathing-time," remarked Mr. Dinsmore, consulting his +watch as they rose from the breakfast table. "I propose that we utilize +them in a visit to Sankaty lighthouse." + +All were well satisfied to do so, and presently they set off, some +driving, others walking, for the distance is not great, and even feeble +folk often find themselves able to take quite long tramps in the bracing +sea air. + +Max and Lulu preferred to walk when they learned that their father +intended doing so; then Grace, though extremely fond of driving, begged +leave to join their party, and the captain finally granted her request, +thinking within himself that he could carry her if her strength gave +out. + +The little face grew radiant with delight. + +"Oh, you are a nice, good papa!" she cried, giving him a hug and kiss, +for he was seated with her upon his knee. + +"I am glad you think so," he said, laughingly, as he returned her +caress. "Well, as soon as I have helped your mamma into the carriage we +will start." + +They set out presently, Grace holding fast to one of his hands while +Lulu had the other, and tripping gayly along by his side till, passing +out of the village, they struck into the narrow path leading to Sankaty; +then the little maid moved along more soberly, looking far away over the +rolling billows and watching the progress of some vessels in the offing. + +They could hear the dash of the waves on the beach below, but could not +see it for the over-hanging cliffs, the path running some yards distant +from their brink. + +"I want to see where the waves come up," said Lulu; "there's Max looking +down over the edge; can't we go and look too, papa?" + +"Yes, with me along to take care of you," he said, turning from the path +and leading them seaward; "but don't venture alone, the ground might +crumble under your feet and you would have a terrible fall, going down +many feet right into the sea." + +They had reached the brink. Grace, clinging tightly to her father's +hand, took one timid peep, then drew back in terror. "Oh, papa, how far +down it is!" she exclaimed. "Oh, let's get away, for fear the ground +will break and let us fall." + +"Pooh! Gracie, don't be such a coward," said Lulu. "I shouldn't be +afraid even if papa hadn't hold of our hands." + +"I should be afraid for you, Lulu, so venturesome as you are," said the +captain, drawing her a little farther back. "Max, my son, be careful." + +"Yes, sir, I will. Papa, do you know how high this bluff is?" + +"They say the bank is eighty-five feet high where the lighthouse stands, +and I presume it is about the same here. Now, children, we will walk +on." + +Grace's strength held out wonderfully; she insisted she was not at all +tired, even when the end of their walk was reached. + +The other division of the party had arrived some minutes before, and +several were already making the ascent to the top of the lighthouse +tower; the rest were scattered, waiting their turn in the neat parlor of +the keeper's snug little home, or wandering over the grassy expanse +between it and the sea. + +"There are Grandma Elsie and mamma in the house," cried Grace, catching +sight of them through a window. + +"Yes," said her father, "we will go in there and wait our turn with +them," leading the way as he spoke. "Do you want to go up into the +tower, Gracie?" + +"Oh no, no, papa!" she cried, "what would be the use? and I am afraid I +might fall." + +"What, with your big strong father to hold you fast?" he asked +laughingly, sitting down and drawing her to a seat upon his knee; for +they had entered the parlor. + +"It might tire you to hold me so hard; I'm getting so big now," she +answered naively, looking up into his face with a loving smile and +stealing an arm about his neck. + +"Ah, no danger of that," he laughed. "Why, I believe I could hold even +your mamma or Lulu, and that against their will, without being greatly +exhausted by the exertion. + +"My dear," turning to Violet, "shall I have the pleasure of helping you +up to the top of the tower?" + +"Thank you, I think I shall not try it to-day," she answered; "they tell +me the steps are very steep and hard to climb." + +"Ah, so I suppose, and I think you are wise not to attempt it." + +"But I may, mayn't I, papa?" Lulu said. "You know I always like to go +everywhere." + +"I fear it will be a hard climb for a girl of your size," he answered +doubtfully. + +"Oh, but I want to go, and I don't care if it is a hard climb," she +said coaxingly, coming close to his side and laying her hand on his +shoulder. "Please, papa, do say I may." + +"Yes, since you are so desirous," he said, in an indulgent tone. + +Max came hurrying in. "We can go up now, papa," he said; "the others +have come down." + +Edward and Zoe were just behind the boy. "Oh, you ought all to go up," +cried the latter; "the view's just splendid." + +"Mother," said Edward, "the view is very fine, but there are sixty +steps, each a foot high; a pretty hard climb for a lady, I should think. +Will you go up? may I have the pleasure of helping you?" + +"Yes," she answered; "I am quite strong and well, and think the view +will probably pay for the exertion." + +They took the lead, the captain following with Lulu, and Max bringing up +the rear. + +Having reached the top and viewed the great light (one of the finest on +the coast) from the interior, Elsie stepped outside, and holding fast to +Edward's hand made the entire circuit, enjoying the extended view on all +sides. + +Stepping in again, she drew a long breath of relief. "I should not like +to try that in a strong wind," she said, "or at all if I were easily +made dizzy; no, nor in any case without a strong arm to cling to for +safety; for there is plenty of space to fall through between the iron +railing and the masonry." + +"I should tremble to see you try it alone, mother," Edward said. + +"It is a trifle dangerous," acknowledged the keeper. + +"Yet safe enough for a sailor," laughed the captain, stepping out. + +"Oh, papa, let me go too, please do!" pleaded Lulu. + +"Why should you care to?" asked her father. + +"To see the prospect, papa; oh, do let me! there can't be any danger +with you to hold me tight." + +For answer he leaned down and helped her up the step, then led her +slowly round, giving her time to take in all the beauties of the scene, +taking care of Max too, who was slowly following. + +"I presume you are a little careful whom you allow to make that round?" +the captain observed inquiringly to the keeper when again they stood +inside. + +"Yes, and we have never had an accident; but I don't know but there was +a narrow escape from it the other day. + +"Of course crowds of people come here almost every day while summer +visitors are on the island, and we can't always judge what kind they +are; but we know it is not an uncommon thing for people standing on the +brink of a precipice or any height to feel an uncontrollable inclination +to throw themselves down it, and therefore we are on the watch. + +"Well, the other day I let a strange woman out there, but presently when +I saw her looking down over the edge and heard her mutter to herself, +'Shall I know him when I see him? shall I know him when I see him?' I +pulled her inside in a hurry." + +"You thought she was deranged and about to commit suicide by +precipitating herself to the ground?" Edward said inquiringly. + +"Exactly, sir," returned the keeper. + +All of their number who wished to do so having visited the top of the +tower, our party prepared to leave. + +"Are you going to walk back, papa? Mayn't I go with you?" pleaded Grace. + +"No, daughter, we must not try your strength too far," he said, lifting +her into the carriage where Grandma Elsie and Violet were already +seated. "I am going on a mile further to Sachacha Pond, ladies," he +remarked; "will you drive there, or directly home?" + +"There, if there is time to go and return before the bathing hour," they +answered. + +"Quite. I think," he replied, and the carriage moved on, he with Max +and Lulu, and several of the young gentlemen of the company following on +foot. + +Sachacha Pond they found to be a pretty sheet of water only slightly +salt, a mile long and three quarters of a mile wide, separated from the +ocean by a long narrow strip of sandy beach. No stream enters it, but it +is the reservoir of the rainfall from the low-lying hills sloping down +to its shores. + +Quidnet--a hamlet of perhaps a half dozen houses--stands on its banks. + +It is to this pond people go to fish for perch; calling it fresh-water +fishing; here too they "bob" for eels. + +Our party had not come to fish this time, yet had an errand aside from a +desire to see the spot--namely, to make arrangements for going sharking +the next day. + +Driving and walking on to Quidnet they soon found an old, experienced +mariner who possessed a suitable boat and was well pleased to undertake +the job of carrying their party out to the sharking grounds on the +shoals. He would need a crew of two men, easily to be found among his +neighbors, he said; he would also provide the necessary tackle. The bait +would be perch, which they would catch here in the pond before setting +out for the trip by sea to their destination--about a mile away. + +Mr. Dinsmore, his three grandsons, and Bob Johnson were all to be of +the party. Max was longing to go too, but hardly thought he would be +allowed; he was hesitating whether to make the request when his father, +catching his eager, wistful look, suddenly asked, "Would you like to go, +Max?" + +"Oh, yes, papa, yes, indeed!" was the eager response, and the boy's +heart bounded with delight at the answer, in a kindly indulgent tone, +"Very well, you may." + +Lulu, hearing it, cried out, "Oh, couldn't I go too, papa?" + +"You? a little girl?" her father said, turning an astonished look upon +her; "absurd! no, of course you can't." + +"I think I might," persisted Lulu; "I've heard that ladies go sometimes, +and I shouldn't be a bit afraid or get in anybody's way." + +"You can't go, so let me hear no more about it," the captain answered +decidedly as they turned toward home, the arrangements for the morrow's +expedition being completed. + +"Wouldn't Lulu like to ride?" Violet asked, speaking from the carriage +window; "she has already done a good deal of walking to-day." + +The carriage stopped, and the captain picked Lulu up and put her in it +without waiting for her to reply, for he saw that she was sulking over +his refusal of her request. + +She continued silent during the short drive to the cottage, and +scarcely spoke while hurriedly dressing for the surf-bath. + +The contemplated sharking expedition was the chief topic of conversation +at the dinner-table, and it was quite evident that those who were going +looked forward to a good deal of sport. + +The frown on Lulu's face grew darker as she listened. Why should not she +have a share in the fun as well as Max? she was sure she was quite as +brave, and not any more likely to be seasick; and papa ought to be as +willing to give enjoyment to his daughter as to his son. + +She presently slipped away to the beach and sat down alone to brood over +it, nursing her ill-humor and missing much enjoyment which she might +have had because this--a very doubtful one at the best--was denied her. + +Looking round after a while, and seeing her father sitting alone on a +bench at some little distance, she went to him and asked, "Why can't I +go with you to-morrow, papa? I don't see why I can't as well as Max." + +"Max is a boy and you are a girl, which makes a vast difference whether +you see it or not," the captain answered. "But I told you to let me hear +no more about it. I am astonished at your assurance in approaching me +again on the subject." + +Lulu was silent for a moment, then said complainingly, "And I suppose +I'll not be allowed to take my bath either?" + +"I don't forbid you," the captain said kindly, putting his arm about her +and drawing her in between his knees; "provided you promise to keep fast +hold of the rope all the time you are in. With that, and Captain Gorham +keeping close watch, you will not be in much danger, I think; but I +should be much easier in mind--it would give me great satisfaction--if +my little girl would voluntarily relinquish the bath for this one day +that I shall not be here to take care of her, for possibly she might be +swept away, and it would be a terrible thing to me to lose her." + +"I 'most wonder you don't say a good thing, papa, I'm so often naughty +and troublesome," she said, suddenly becoming humble and penitent. + +"No, it would not be true; your naughtiness often pains me deeply, but +I must continue to love my own child in spite of it all," he responded, +bending down and imprinting a kiss upon her lips. + +"And I love you, papa; indeed, indeed I do," she said, with her arm +round his neck, her cheek pressed close to his; "and I won't go in +to-morrow; I'm glad to promise not to if it will make you feel easier +and enjoy your day more." + +"Thank you, my dear child," he said. "I have not the least doubt of +your affection." + +Edward had spread a rug on the sand just high enough on the beach to be +out of reach of the incoming waves, and Zoe, with a book in her hand, +was half reclining upon it, resting on her elbow and gazing far out over +the waters. + +"Well, Mrs. Travilla, for once I find you alone. What has become of your +other half?" said a lively voice at her side. + +"Oh, is it you, Betty?" Zoe exclaimed, quickly turning her head and +glancing up at the speaker. + +"No one else, I assure you," returned the lively girl, dropping down on +the sand and folding her hands in her lap. "Where did you say Ned is?" + +"I didn't say; but he has gone to help mamma down with her shawls and so +forth." + +"He's the best of sons as well as of husbands," remarked Betty; "but I'm +glad he's away for a moment just now, as I want a private word with you. +Don't you think it is just a trifle mean and selfish for all our +gentlemen to be going off on a pleasure excursion without so much as +asking if one of us would like to accompany them?" + +"I hadn't thought anything about it," replied Zoe. + +"Well, think now, if you please; wouldn't you go if you had an +invitation? Don't you want to go?" + +"Yes, if it's the proper thing; I'd like to go everywhere with my +husband. I'll ask him about it. Here he comes, mamma with him." + +She waited till the two were comfortably settled by her side, then said, +with her most insinuating smile, "I'd like to go sharking, Ned; won't you +take me along to-morrow?" + +"Why, what an idea, little wife!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I really +hate to say no to any request of yours, but I do not think it would be +entirely safe for you. We are not going on the comparatively quiet +waters of the harbor, but out into the ocean itself, and that in a +whaleboat, and we may have very rough sailing; besides, it is not at all +impossible that a man-eating shark might get into the boat alive, and, +as I heard an old fisherman say yesterday, 'make ugly work.'" + +"Then I don't want to go," Zoe said, "and I'd rather you wouldn't; just +suppose you should get a bite?" + +"Oh, no danger!" laughed Edward; "a man is better able to take care of +himself than a woman is of herself." + +"Pooh!" exclaimed Betty; "I don't believe any such thing, and I want to +go; I want to be able to say I've done and seen everything other summer +visitors do and see on this island." + +"Only a foolish reason, is it not, Betty?" mildly remonstrated her +Cousin Elsie. "But you will have to ask my father's consent, as he is +your guardian." + +"No use whatever," remarked Bob, who had joined them a moment before; "I +know uncle well enough to be able to tell you that beforehand. Aren't +you equally sure of the result of such an application, Ned?" + +"Yes." + +"Besides," pursued Bob, teasingly, "there wouldn't be room in the boat +for a fine lady like my sister Betty, with her flounces and furbelows; +also you'd likely get awfully sick with the rolling and pitching of the +boat, and leaning over the side for the purpose of depositing your +breakfast in the sea, tumble in among the sharks and give them one." + +"Oh, you horrid fellow!" she exclaimed, half angrily; "I shouldn't do +anything of the kind; I should wear no furbelows, be no more likely to +an attack of sea-sickness than yourself, and could get out of the way of +a shark quite as nimbly as any one else." + +"Well, go and ask uncle," he laughed. + +Betty made no move to go; she knew as well as he how Mr. Dinsmore would +treat such a request. + +The weather the next morning was all that could be desired for sharking, +and the gentlemen set off in due time, all in fine spirits. + +They were absent all day, returning early in the evening quite elated +with their success. + +Max had a wonderful tale to tell Lulu and Grace of "papa's" skill, the +number of sand-sharks and the tremendous "blue dog" or man-eater he had +taken. The captain was not half so proud of his success as was his +admiring son. + +"I thought all the sharks were man-eaters," said Lulu. + +"No, the sand-sharks are not." + +"Did everybody catch a man-eater?" + +"No; nobody but papa took a full-grown one. Grandpa Dinsmore and Uncle +Edward each caught a baby one, and all of them took big fellows of the +other kind. I suppose they are the most common, and it's a good thing, +because of course they are not nearly so dangerous." + +"How many did you catch, Maxie?" asked Grace. + +"I? Oh, I helped catch the perch for bait; but I didn't try for sharks, +for of course a boy wouldn't be strong enough to haul such big fellows +in. I tell you the men had a hard tug, especially with the blue-dog. + +"The sand-sharks they killed when they'd got 'em close up to the gunwale +by pounding them on the nose with a club--a good many hard whacks it +took, too; but the blue-dog had to be stabbed with a lance; and I +should think it took considerable courage and skill to do it, with such +a big, strong, wicked-looking fellow. You just ought to have seen how he +rolled over and over in the water and lashed it into a foam with his +tail, how angry his eyes looked, and how he showed his sharp white +teeth. I thought once he'd be right in among us the next minute, but he +didn't; they got the lance down his throat just in time to put a stop to +that." + +"Oh, I'm so glad he didn't!" Grace said, drawing a long breath. "Do they +eat sharks, Maxie?" + +"No, indeed; who'd want to eat a fish that maybe had grown fat on human +flesh?" + +"What do they kill them for, then?" + +"Oh, to rid the seas of them, I suppose, and because there is a valuable +oil in their livers. We saw our fellows towed ashore and cut open and +their livers taken out." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must +be saved."--_Acts_ 4: 12. + + +It was down on the beach Max had been telling his story; the evening was +beautiful, warm enough to make the breeze from the sea extremely +enjoyable, and the whole family party were gathered there, some sitting +upon the benches or camp-chairs, others on rugs and shawls spread upon +the sand. + +Max seemed to have finished what he had to say about the day's exploits, +and Gracie rose and went to her father's side. + +He drew her to his knee with a slight caress. "What has my little girl +been doing all day?" + +"Playing in the sand most of the time, papa. I'm so glad those horrid +sharks didn't get a chance to bite you or anybody to-day. Such big, +dreadful-looking creatures Maxie says they were." + +"Not half so large as some I have seen in other parts of the world." + +"Oh, papa, will you tell us about them? Shall I call Max and Lulu to +hear it?" + +"Yes; if they wish to come, they may." + +There was scarcely anything the children liked better than to hear the +captain tell of his experiences at sea, and in another moment his own +three. Rosie, Walter, and several of the older people were gathered +around him, expecting quite a treat. + +"Quite an audience," he remarked, "and I'm afraid I shall disappoint you +all, for I have no yarn to spin, only a few items of information to give +in regard to other varieties of sharks than are to be found on this +coast. + +"The white shark, found in the Mediterranean and the seas of many of the +warmer parts of the world, is the largest and the most feared of any of +the monsters of the deep. One has been caught which was thirty-seven +feet long. It has a hard skin, is grayish-brown above and whitish on the +under side. It has a large head and a big wide mouth armed with a +terrible apparatus of teeth--six rows in the upper jaw, and four in the +lower." + +"Did you ever see one, papa?" asked Grace, shuddering. + +"Yes, many a one. They will often follow a ship to feed on any animal +matter that may be thrown or fall overboard, and have not unfrequently +followed mine, to the no small disturbance of the sailors, who have a +superstitious belief that it augurs a death on board during the voyage." + +"Do you believe it, captain?" queried little Walter. + +"No, my boy, certainly not; how should a fish know what is about to +happen? Do you think God would give them a knowledge of the future which +He conceals from men? No, it is a very foolish idea which only an +ignorant, superstitious person could for a moment entertain. Sharks +follow the ships simply because of what is occasionally thrown into the +water. They are voracious creatures, and sometimes swallow articles +which even their stomachs cannot digest. A lady's work-box was found in +one, and the papers of a slave-ship in another." + +"Why, how could he get them?" asked Walter. + +"They had been thrown overboard," said the captain. + +"Do those big sharks bite people?" pursued the child. + +"Yes, indeed; they will not only bite off an arm or leg when an +opportunity offers, but have been known to swallow a man whole." + +"A worse fate than that of the prophet Jonah," remarked Betty. "Do the +sailors ever attempt to catch them, captain?" + +"Sometimes; using a piece of meat as bait, putting it on a very large +hook attached to a chain; for a shark's teeth find no difficulty in +going through a rope. But when they have hooked him and hauled him on +board they have need to be very careful to keep out of reach of both his +teeth and his tail; they usually rid themselves of danger from the +latter by a sailor springing forward and cutting it above the fin with a +hatchet. + +"In the South Sea Islands they have a curious way of catching sharks by +setting a log of wood afloat with a rope attached, a noose at the end of +it; the sharks gather round the log, apparently out of curiosity, and +one or another is apt soon to get his head into the noose, and is +finally wearied out by the log." + +"I think that's a good plan," said Grace, "because it doesn't put +anybody in danger of being bitten." + +No one spoke again for a moment, then the silence was broken by the +sweet voice of Mrs. Elsie Travilla: "To-morrow is Sunday; does any one +know whether any service will be held here?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Dinsmore; "there will be preaching in the parlors of +one of the hotels, and I move that we attend in a body." + +The motion was seconded and carried, and when the time came nearly every +one went. The service occupied an hour; after that almost everybody +sought the beach; but though some went into the surf--doubtless looking +upon it as a hygienic measure, therefore lawful even on the Lord's +day--there was not the usual boisterous fun and frolic. + +Harold, by some manoeuvring, got his mother to himself for a time, +making a comfortable seat for her in the sand, and shading her from the +sun with an umbrella. + +"Mamma," he said, "I want a good talk with you; there are some +questions, quite suitable for Sunday, that I want to ask. And see," +holding them up to view, "I have brought my Bible and a small +concordance with me, for I know you always refer to the Law and to the +Testimony in deciding matters of faith and practice." + +"Yes," she said, "God's Word is the only infallible rule of faith and +practice. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is +profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in +righteousness!" + +"Yes, mamma, I have the reference here; Second Timothy, third chapter, +and sixteenth verse. And should not the next verse, 'That the man of God +may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,' stir us up to +much careful study of the Bible?" + +"Certainly, my dear boy; and, oh what cause for gratitude that we have +an infallible instructor and guide! But what did you want to ask me?" + +"A question that was put to me by one of our fellows at college, and +which I was not prepared to answer. The substance of it was this: 'If +one who has lived for years in the service of God should be suddenly cut +off while committing some sin, would he not be saved, because of his +former good works?'" + +"Is any son or daughter of Adam saved by good works?" she asked, with a +look and tone of surprise. + +"No, mother, certainly not; how strange that I did not think of +answering him with that query. But he maintained that God was too just +to overlook--make no account of--years of holy living because of perhaps +a momentary fall into sin." + +"We have nothing to hope from God's justice," she replied, "for it +wholly condemns us. 'There is none righteous, no, not one.... Therefore +by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.' + +"But your friend's question is very plainly answered by the prophet +Ezekiel," opening her Bible as she spoke. "Here it is, in the eighteenth +chapter, twenty-fourth verse. + +"'But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and +committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that +the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath +done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, +and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.'" + +"Nothing could be plainer," Harold said. "I shall refer my friend to +that passage for his answer, and also remind him that no one can be +saved by works. + +"Now, mamma, there is something else. I have become acquainted with a +young Jew who interests me greatly. He is gentlemanly, refined, +educated, very intelligent and devout, studying the Hebrew Scriptures +constantly, and looking for a Saviour yet to come. + +"I have felt so sorry for him that I could not refrain from talking to +him of Jesus of Nazareth, and trying to convince him that He was and is +the true Messiah." + +Elsie looked deeply interested. "And what was the result of your +efforts?" she asked. + +"I have not succeeded in convincing him yet, mamma, but I think I have +raised doubts in his mind. I have called his attention to the prophecies +in his own Hebrew Scriptures in regard to both the character of the +Messiah and the time of His appearing, and shown him how exactly they +were all fulfilled in our Saviour. I think he cannot help seeing that it +is so, yet tries hard to shut his eyes to the truth. + +"He tells me he believes Jesus was a good man and a great prophet, but +not the Messiah; only a human creature. To that I answer, 'He claimed +to be God, saying, "I and My Father are One;" "Verily, verily, I say +unto you, before Abraham was I am;" and allowed himself to be worshipped +as God; therefore either He was God or He was a wretched impostor, not +even a good man.' + +"But, mamma, I have been asked by another, a professed Christian, 'Why +do you trouble yourself about the belief of a devout Jew? he is not +seeking salvation by works, but by faith; then is he not safe, even +though he looks for a Saviour yet to come?' How should you answer that +question, mamma?" + +"With the eleventh and twelfth verses of the fourth chapter of Acts: +'This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is +become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; +for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we +must be saved.' + +"That name is the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified One. He is +the only Saviour. We speak--the Bible speaks of being saved by faith, +but faith is only the hand with which we lay hold on Christ. + +"'A Saviour yet to come?' There is none; and will faith in a myth save +the soul? No; nor in any other than Him who is the Door, the Way, the +Truth, the Life. + +"'He is mighty to save,' and He alone; He Himself said, 'No man cometh +unto the Father, but by Me.' + +"And is it not for the very sin of rejecting their true Messiah, killing +Him and imprecating His blood upon them and on their children, that they +have been scattered among the nations and have become a hissing and a +byword to all people?" + +"True, mamma, and yet are they not still God's own chosen people? Are +there not promises of their future restoration?" + +"Yes, many, in both the Old Testament and the New. Zechariah tells us, +'They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn +for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for +him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born;' and Paul speaks of +a time when the veil that is upon their hearts shall be taken away, and +it shall turn to the Lord. + +"Let me read you the first five verses of the sixty-second chapter of +Isaiah--they are so beautiful. + +"'For Zion's sake will I not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I +will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, +and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. + +"'And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy +glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the +Lord shall name. + +"'Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a +royal diadem in the hand of thy God. + +"'Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more +be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land +Beulah: for the Lord delighted in thee, and thy land shall be married. + +"'For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: +and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice +over thee.'" + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore sat together not many paces distant, each with a +book; but hers was half closed while she gazed out over the sea. + +"I am charmed with the quiet of this place," she remarked presently; +"never a scream of a locomotive to break it, no pavements to echo to the +footsteps of the passer-by, no sound of factory or mill, or rumble of +wheels, scarcely anything to be heard, even on week-days, but the +thunder of the surf and occasionally a human voice." + +"Except the blast of Captain Baxter's tin horn announcing his arrival +with the mail, or warning you that he will be off for Nantucket in +precisely five minutes, so that if you have letters or errands for him +you must make all haste to hand them over," Mr. Dinsmore said, with a +smile. + +"Ah, yes," she assented; "but with all that, is it not the quietest +place you ever were in?" + +"I think it is; there is a delightful Sabbath stillness to-day. I cannot +say that I should desire to pass my life here, but a sojourn of some +weeks is a very pleasant and restful variety." + +"I find it so," said his wife, "and feel a strong inclination to be down +here, close by the waves, almost all the time. If agreeable to the rest +of our party, let us pass the evening here in singing hymns." + +"A very good suggestion," he responded, and Elsie and the others being +of the same opinion, it was duly carried out. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"Sudden they see from midst of all the main +The surging waters like a mountain rise, +And the great sea, puff'd up with proud disdain +To swell above the measure of his guise, +As threatening to devour all that his power despise." + +--_Spenser_. + + +What with bathing, driving, and wandering about on foot over the lovely +moors, time flew fast to our 'Sconseters. + +It was their purpose to visit every point of interest on the island, +and to try all its typical amusements. They made frequent visits to +Nantucket Town, particularly that the children might take their swimming +lessons in the quiet water of its harbor; also repeated such drives and +rambles as they found exceptionably enjoyable. + +Max wanted to try camping out for a few weeks in company with Harold and +Herbert Travilla and Bob Johnson, but preferred to wait until his father +should leave them, not feeling willing to miss the rare pleasure of his +society. And the other lads, quite fond of the captain themselves, did +not object to waiting. + +In the mean time they went blue-fishing (trying it by both accepted +modes--the "heave and haul" from a rowboat or at anchor, and trolling +from a yacht under full sail), hunting, eel-bobbing, and perch-fishing. + +The ladies sometimes went with them on their fishing excursions; Zoe and +Betty oftener than any of the others. Lulu went, too, whenever she was +permitted, which was usually when her father made one of the party. + +"We haven't been on a 'squantum' yet," remarked Betty, one evening, +addressing the company in general; "suppose we try that to-morrow." + +"Suppose you first tell us what a 'squantum' is," said Mrs. Dinsmore. + +"Oh, Aunt Rose, don't you know that that is the Nantucket name for a +picnic?" + +"I acknowledge my ignorance," laughed the older lady; "I did not know it +till this moment." + +"Well, auntie, it's one of those typical things that every conscientious +summer visitor here feels called upon to do as a regular part of the +Nantucket curriculum. How many of us are agreed to go?" glancing about +from one to another. + +Not a dissenting voice was raised, and Betty proceeded to unfold her +plans. Vehicles sufficient for the transportation of the whole party +were to be provided, baskets of provisions also; they would take an +early start, drive to some pleasant spot near the beach or one of the +ponds, and make a day of it--sailing, or rather rowing about the pond, +fishing in it, cooking and eating what they caught (fish were said to be +so delicious just out of the water and cooked over the coals in the open +air), and lounging on the grass, drinking in at the same time the sweet, +pure air and the beauties of nature as seen upon Nantucket moors and +hills, and in glimpses of the surrounding sea. + +"Really, Betty, you grow quite eloquent," laughed her brother; +"Nantucket has inspired you." + +"I think it sounds ever so nice," said little Grace. "Won't you go and +take us, papa?" + +"Yes, if Mamma Vi will go along," he answered, with an affectionate look +at his young wife; "we can't go without her, can we, Gracie?" + +"Oh, no, indeed! but you will go, mamma, won't you?" + +"If your papa chooses to take me," Violet said, in a sprightly tone. "I +think it would be very pleasant, but I cannot either go or stay unless +he does; for I am quite resolved to spend every one of the few days he +will be here, close at his side." + +"And as all the rest of us desire the pleasure of his company," said +her mother, "his decision must guide ours." + +"There, now, captain," cried Betty, "you see it all rests with you; so +please say yes, and let us begin our preparations." + +"Yes, Miss Betty; I certainly cannot be so gallant as to refuse such a +request from such a quarter, especially when I see that all interested +in the decision hope I will not." + +That settled the matter. Preparations were at once set on foot: the +young men started in search of the necessary conveyances, the ladies +ordered the provisions, inquiries were made in regard to different +localities, and a spot on the banks of Sachacha Pond, where stood a +small deserted old house, was selected as their objective point. + +They started directly after breakfast, and had a delightful drive over +the moors and fenceless fields, around the hills and tiny emerald lakes +bordered with beautiful wild shrubbery, bright with golden rod, wild +roses, and field lilies. Here and there among the heather grew creeping +mealberry vines, with bright red fruit-like beads, and huckleberry +bushes that tempted our pleasure-seekers to alight again and again to +gather and eat of their fruit. + +Everybody was in most amiable mood, and the male members of the party +indulgently assisted the ladies, and lifted the children in and out +that they might gather floral treasures for themselves, or alighted to +gather for them again and again. + +At length they reached their destination, left their conveyances, spread +an awning above the green grass that grew luxuriantly about the old +house, deposited their baskets of provisions and extra wraps underneath +it, put the horses into a barn near at hand, and strolled down to the +pond. + +A whaleboat, large enough to hold the entire company, was presently +hired; all embarked; it moved slowly out into the lake; all who cared to +fish were supplied with tackle and bait, and the sport began. + +Elsie, Violet, and Grace declined to take part in it, but Zoe, Betty, +and Lulu were very eager and excited, sending forth shouts of triumph or +of merriment as they drew one victim after another from the water; for +the fish seemed eager to take the bait, and were caught in such numbers +that soon the word was given that quite enough were now on hand, and the +boat was headed for the shore. + +A fire was made in the sand, and while some broiled the fish and made +coffee, others spread a snowy cloth upon the grass, and placed on it +bread and butter, cold biscuits, sandwiches, pickles, cakes, jellies, +canned fruits, and other delicacies. + +It was a feast fit for a king, and all the more enjoyable that the sea +air and pleasant exercise had sharpened the appetites of the fortunate +partakers. + +Then, the meal disposed of, how deliciously restful it was to lounge +upon the grass, chatting, singing, or silently musing with the sweet, +bracing air all about them, the pretty sheet of still water almost at +their feet, while away beyond it and the dividing strip of sand the +ocean waves tossed and rolled, showing here and there a white, slowly +moving sail. + +So thoroughly did they enjoy it all that they lingered till the sun, +nearing the western horizon, reminded them that the day was waning. + +The drive home was not the least enjoyable part of the day. They took it +in leisurely fashion, by a different route from the one they had taken +in the morning, and with frequent haltings to gather berries, mosses, +lichens, grasses, and strange beautiful flowers; or to gaze with +delighted eyes upon the bare brown hills purpling in the light of the +setting sun, and the rapidly darkening vales; Sankaty lighthouse, with +the sea rolling beyond, on the one hand, and on the other the quieter +waters of the harbor, with the white houses and spires of Nantucket Town +half encircling it. + +They had enjoyed their "squantum," marred by no mishap, no untoward +event, so much that it was unanimously agreed to repeat the experiment, +merely substituting some other spot for the one visited that day. + +But their next excursion was to Wanwinet, situate on a narrow neck of +land that, jutting out into the sea, forms the head of the harbor; +Nantucket Town standing at the opposite end, some half dozen miles away. + +Summer visitors to the latter place usually go to Wanwinet by boat, up +the harbor, taking their choice between a sailboat and a tiny steamer +which plies regularly back and forth during the season; but our 'Sconset +party drove across the moors, sometimes losing their way among the +hills, dales, and ponds, but rather enjoying that as a prolongation of +the pleasure of the drive, and spite of the detention reached their +destination in good season to partake of the dinner of all obtainable +luxuries of the sea, served up in every possible form, which is usually +considered the roam object of a trip to Wanwinet. + +They found the dinner--served in a large open pavilion, whence they +might gaze out over the dancing, glittering waves of the harbor, and +watch the white sails come and go, while eating--quite as good as they +had been led to expect. + +After dinner they wandered along the beach, picking up shells and any +curious things they could find--now on the Atlantic side, now on the +shore of the harbor. + +Then a boat was chartered for a sail of a couple of hours, and then +followed the drive home to 'Sconset by a different course from that of +the morning, and varied by the gradually fading light of the setting sun +and succeeding twilight casting weird shadows here and there among the +hills and vales. + +The captain predicted a storm for the following day, and though the +others could see no sign of its approach, it was upon them before they +rose the next morning, raining heavily, while the wind blew a gale. + +There was no getting out for sitting on the beach, bathing, or rambling +about, and they were at close quarters in the cottages. + +They whiled away the time with books, games, and conversation. + +They were speaking of the residents of the island--their correct speech, +intelligence, uprightness, and honesty. + +"I wonder if there was ever a crime committed here?" Elsie said, half +inquiringly. "And if there is a jail on the island?" + +"Yes, mother," Edward answered; "there is a jail, but so little use for +it that they think it hardly worth while to keep it in decent repair. I +heard that a man was once put in for petty theft, and that after being +there a few days he sent word to the authorities that if they didn't +repair it so that the sheep couldn't break in on him, he wouldn't stay." + +There was a general laugh; then Edward resumed: "There has been one +murder on the island, as I have been informed. A mulatto woman was the +criminal, a white woman the victim, the motive revenge; the colored +woman was in debt to the white one, who kept a little store, and, +enraged at repeated duns, went to her house and beat her over the head +with some heavy weapon--I think I was told a whale's tooth. + +"The victim lingered for some little time, but eventually died of her +wounds, and the other was tried for murder. + +"It is said the sheriff was extremely uneasy lest she should be found +guilty of murder in the first degree, and he should have the unpleasant +job of hanging her; but the verdict was manslaughter, the sentence +imprisonment for life. + +"So she was consigned to jail, but very soon allowed to go out +occasionally to do a day's work." + +"Oh, Uncle Edward, is she alive now?" Gracie asked, with a look of +alarm. + +"Yes, I am told she is disabled by disease, and lives in the poorhouse. +But you need not be frightened, little girlie; she is not at all likely +to come to 'Sconset, and if she does we will take good care that she is +not allowed to harm you." + +"And I don't suppose she'd want to either, unless we had done something +to make her angry," said Lulu. + +"But we are going to Nantucket Town to stay a while when we leave +'Sconset," remarked Grace uneasily. + +"But that woman will not come near you, daughter; you need, not have the +least fear of it," the captain said, drawing his little girl to his knee +with a tender caress. + +"Ah," said Mr. Dinsmore, "I heard the other day of a curiosity at +Nantucket which we must try to see while there. I think the story +connected with it will particularly interest you ladies and the little +girls." + +"Oh, grandpa, tell it!" cried Rosie; "please do; a story is just what we +want this dull day." + +The others joined in the request, and Mr. Dinsmore kindly complied, all +gathering closely about him, anxious to catch every word. + +"The story is this: Nearly a hundred years ago there lived in Nantucket +a sea-captain named Coffin, who had a little daughter of whom he was +very fond." + +Gracie glanced up smilingly into her father's face and nestled closer to +him. + +"Just as I am of mine," said his answering look and smile as he drew +her closer still. + +But Mr. Dinsmore's story was going on. + +"It was Captain Coffin's custom to bring home some very desirable gift +to his little girl whenever he returned from a voyage. At one time, when +about to sail for the other side of the Atlantic, he said to her that he +was determined on this voyage to find and bring home to her something +that no other little girl ever had or ever could have." + +"Oh, grandpa, what could that be?" exclaimed little Walter. + +"Wait a moment and you shall hear," was the reply. + +"What the captain brought on coming back was a wax baby, a very +life-like representation of an infant six months old. He said it was a +wax cast of the Dauphin of France, that poor unfortunate son of Louis +XVI. and Marie Antoinette; that he had found it in a convent, and paid +for it a sum of money so enormous that he would never tell any one, not +even his wife, how large it was." + +"But it isn't in existence now, at this late day, surely?" Mrs. Dinsmore +remarked inquiringly, as her husband paused in his narrative. + +"It is claimed that it is by those who have such a thing in possession, +and I presume they tell the truth. It has always been preserved with +extreme care as a great curiosity. + +"The little girl to whom it was given by her father lived to grow up, +but has been dead many years. Shortly before her death she gave it to a +friend, and it has been in that family for over forty years." + +"And is it on exhibition, papa?" asked Elsie. + +"Only to such as are fortunate enough to get an introduction to the lady +owner through some friend of hers; so I understand; but photographs have +been taken and are for sale in the stores." + +"Oh, I hope we will get to see it!" exclaimed Lulu eagerly. + +"As far as I'm concerned, I'm bound to manage it somehow," said Betty. + +"How much I should like to know what was really the true story of that +poor unfortunate child," said Elsie, reflectively, and sighing as she +spoke. + +"It--like the story of the Man in the Iron Mask--is a mystery that will +never be satisfactorily cleared up until the Judgment Day," remarked her +father. + +"Oh, do tell us about it," the children cried in eager chorus. + +"All of you older ones have certainly some knowledge of the French +Revolution, in which Louis XVI. and his beautiful queen lost their +lives?" Mr. Dinsmore said, glancing about upon his grandchildren; "and +have not forgotten that two children survived them--one sometimes called +Louis XVII., as his father's lawful successor to the throne, and a +daughter older than the boy. + +"These children remained in the hands of their cruel foes for some time +after the beheading of their royal parents. The girl was finally +restored to her mother's relatives, the royal family of Austria; but the +boy, who was most inhumanly treated by his jailer, was supposed to have +died in consequence of that brutal abuse, having first been reduced by +it to a state of extreme bodily and mental weakness. + +"That story (of the death of the poor little dauphin, I mean, not +of the cruel treatment to which he was subjected) has, however, been +contradicted by another; and I suppose it will never be made certain in +this world which was the true account. + +"The dauphin was born in 1785, his parents were beheaded in 1793; so +that he must have been about eight years old at the time of their death. + +"In 1795 a French man and woman, directly from France, appeared in +Albany, New York, having in charge a girl and boy; the latter about +nine years old, and feeble in body and mind. + +"The woman had also a number of articles of dress which she said had +belonged to Marie Antoinette, who had given them to her on the scaffold. + +"That same year two Frenchmen came to Ticonderoga, visited the Indians +in that vicinity, and placed with them such a boy as the one seen at +Albany--of the same age, condition of mind and body, etc. + +"He was adopted by an Iroquois chief named Williams, and given the name +of Eleazer Williams. + +"He gradually recovered his health, and at length the shock of a sudden +fall into the lake so far restored his memory that he recollected some +scenes in his early life in the palaces of France. One thing he recalled +was being with a richly dressed lady whom he addressed as 'mamma.' + +"Some time later--I cannot now recall the exact date--a Frenchman died +in New Orleans (Beranger was his name), who confessed on his death-bed +that he had brought the dauphin to this country and placed him with the +Indians of Northern New York. He stated that he had taken an oath of +secrecy, for the protection of the lad, but could not die without +confessing the truth." + +"I'm inclined to think the story of the dauphin's death in France was +not true," remarked Betty. + +"Didn't Beranger's confession arouse inquiry, grandpa?" asked Zoe. "And +did Eleazer Williams hear of it?" + +"I think I may say yes to both your queries," Mr. Dinsmore answered. +"Eleazer's story was published in the newspapers some years ago, and I +remember he was spoken of as a very good Christian man, a missionary +among the Indians; it was brought out in book form also under the title +'The Lost Prince: A Life of Eleazer Williams.' + +"Eleazer himself stated that in 1848 he had an interview, on board a +steamer from Buffalo, with the Prince de Joinville, who then told him he +was the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and tried to induce him +to sign away his right to the throne of France, and that he refused to +do so. + +"In his published statement he said he thought the Prince would not deny +having made that communication. But the Prince did deny that, though he +acknowledged that the interview had taken place." + +"Did Eleazer ever try to get the throne, grandpa?" asked Max. + +"No, he never urged his claim; and I dare say was happier as an obscure +Indian missionary than he would have been as King of France. He died at +the age of seventy." + +"Poor Marie Antoinette!" sighed Elsie; "I never could read her story +without tears, and the very thought of her sorrows and sufferings makes +my heart ache." + +"I don't think I ever read it," said Zoe, "though I have a general idea +what it was." + +"We have Abbott's life of her at Ion," said Elsie. "I'll get it for you +when we go home." + +Harold stepped to the window. "It is raining very little now, if at +all," he said, "and the sea must be in a fine rage; let us go and have a +look at it" + +"Oh, yes, let's go!" cried Betty, springing to her feet; "but I'm afraid +we've missed the finest of it, for the wind isn't blowing half so hard +as it was an hour ago." + +"Don't be discouraged," said Captain Raymond, sportively; "the waves are +often higher than ever after the wind has subsided." + +"Oh, papa, may I go too?" Grace said, in a pleading tone. + +"Yes; if you put on your waterproof cloak and overshoes it will not hurt +you to be out for a short time," answered the indulgent father. "Lulu, +don't go without yours." + +All were eager for the sight; there was a moment of hasty preparation, +and they trooped out and stood upon the edge of the high bank at the +back of their cottages gazing upon the sea in its, to most of them, new +and terrible aspect; from shore to horizon it was one mass of seething, +boiling waters; far out in the distance the huge waves reared their +great foam-crested fronts and rushed furiously toward the shore, rapidly +chasing each other in till with a tremendous crash and roar they broke +upon the beach, sending up showers of spray, and depositing great flakes +of foam which the wind sent scudding over the sand; and each, as it +retreated, was instantly followed by another and another in unbroken, +endless succession. + +Half a mile or more south of 'Sconset there is a shoal (locally called +"the rips") where wind and tide occasionally, coming in opposition, +cause a fierce battle of the waves, a sight well worth a good deal of +exertion to behold. + +"Wind and tide are having it out on the rips," the captain presently +remarked. "Let us go down to the beach and get the best view we can of +the conflict." + +"Papa, may we go too?" asked Lulu, as the older people hastily made a +move toward the stairway that led to the beach; "oh, do please let us!" + +Grace did not speak, but her eyes lifted to his, pleaded as earnestly as +Lulu's tongue. He hesitated for an instant, then stooped, took Grace in +his arms, and saying to Lulu, "Yes, come along; it is too grand a sight +for me to let you miss it," hurried after the others. + +Violet had not come out with the rest, her attention being taken up +with her babe just at that time, and he would give her the sight +afterward on taking the children in. + +On they went over the wet sands--Mr. Dinsmore and his wife, Edward and +his, Betty holding on to Harold's arm, Rose and Walter helped along by +Herbert and Bob. + +To Max Raymond's great content and a little to the discomfiture of her +sons, who so delighted in waiting upon and in every way caring for her, +Elsie had chosen him for her companion and escort, and with Lulu they +hastened after the others and just ahead of the captain and Grace, who +brought up the rear. + +The thunder of the surf prevented any attempt at conversation, but now +and then there was a little scream, ending with a shout of laughter from +one or another of the feminine part of the procession, as they were +overtaken by the edge of a wave and their shoes filled with the foam, +their skirts wetted by it. Not a very serious matter, as all had learned +ere this, as salt water does not cause one to take cold. + +Arrived at the spot from where the very best view of the conflict could +be had, they stood long gazing upon it, awestruck and fascinated by the +terrific grandeur of the scene. I can best describe it in the words of a +fellow-author far more gifted in that line than I. + +"Yonder comes shoreward a great wave, towering above all its brethren. +Onward it comes, swift as a race-horse, graceful as a great ship, +bearing right down upon us. It strikes 'The Rips,' and is there itself +struck by a wave approaching from another direction. The two converge in +their advance, and are dashed together--embrace each other like two +angry giants, each striving to mount upon the shoulder of the other and +crush its antagonist with its ponderous bulk. Swift as thought they +mount higher and higher, in fierce, mad struggle, until their force is +expended; their tops quiver, tremble, and burst into one great mass of +white, gleaming foam; and the whole body of the united wave, with a +mighty bound, hurls itself upon the shore and is broken into a flood of +seething waters--crushed to death in its own fury. + +"All over the shoal the waves leap up in pinnacles, in volcanic points, +sharp as stalagmites, and in this form run hither and yon in all +possible directions, colliding with and crashing against others of equal +fury and greatness--a very carnival of wild and drunken waves; the +waters hurled upward in huge masses of white. Sometimes they unite more +gently, and together sweep grandly and gracefully along parallel with +the shore; and the cavernous hollows stretch out from the shore so that +you look into the trough of the sea and realize what a terrible depth +it is. The roar, meanwhile, is horrible. You are stunned by it as by the +roar of a great waterfall. You see a wave of unusual magnitude rolling +in from far beyond the wild revelry of waters on 'The Rips.' It leaps +into the arena as if fresh and eager for the fray, clutches another +Bacchanal like itself, and the two towering floods rush swiftly toward +the shore. Instinctively you run backward to escape what seems an +impending destruction. Very likely a sheet of foam is dashed all around +you, shoe-deep, but you are safe--only the foam hisses away in impotent +rage. The sea has its bounds; 'hitherto shalt thou come, but no +farther.'"[A] + +[Footnote A: A. Judd Northrup, in "Sconset Cottage Life."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + She is peevish, sullen, froward, +Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty; +Neither regarding that she is my child, +Nor fearing me as If I were her father. + +--_Shakespeare_. + + +A day or two of bright, breezy weather had succeeded the storm, and +another "squantum" had been arranged for; it was to be a more +pretentious affair than the former one, other summer visitors uniting +with our party; and a different spot had been selected for it. + +By Violet's direction the maid had laid out, the night before, the +dresses the two little girls were to wear to the picnic, and they +appeared at the breakfast-table already attired in them; for the start +was to be made shortly after the conclusion of the meal. + +The material of the dresses was fine, they were neatly fitting and +prettily trimmed, but rather dark in color and with high necks and long +sleeves; altogether suitable for the occasion, and far from unbecoming; +indeed, as the captain glanced at the two neat little figures, seated +one on each side of him, he felt the risings of fatherly pride in their +attractiveness of appearance. + +And even exacting, discontented Lulu was well enough pleased with her +mamma's choice for her till, upon leaving the table and running out for +a moment into the street to see if the carriages were in sight, she came +upon a girl about her own age, who was to be of the company, very gayly +apparelled in thin white tarletan and pink ribbons, + +"Good-morning, Sadie," said Lulu. "What a nice day for the 'squantum,' +isn't it?" + +"Yes; and it's most time to start, and you're not dressed yet, are you?" +glancing a trifle scornfully from her own gay plumage to Lulu's plainer +attire. + +The latter flushed hotly but made no reply. "I don't see anything of the +carriages yet," was all she said; then darting into the cottage occupied +by their family, she rushed to her trunk, and throwing it open, hastily +took from it a white muslin, coral ribbons and sash, and with headlong +speed tore off her plain colored dress and arrayed herself in them. + +She would not have had time but for an unexpected delay in the arrival +of the carriage which was to convey her parents, brother and sister and +herself to the "squantum" ground. + +As it was, she came rushing out at almost the last moment, just as the +captain was handing his wife into the vehicle. + +Max met her before she had reached the outer door. "Lu, Mamma Vi says +you will need a wrap before we get back; probably even going, and you're +to bring one along." + +"I sha'n't need any such thing! and I'm not going to be bothered with +it!" cried Lulu, in a tone of angry impatience, hurrying on toward the +entrance as she spoke. + +"Whew! what have you been doing to yourself?" exclaimed Max, suddenly +noting the change of attire, while Grace, standing in the doorway, +turned toward them with a simultaneous exclamation, "Why, Lulu--" then +broke off, lost in astonishment at her sister's audacity. + +"Hush, both of you! can't you keep quiet?" snapped Lulu, turning from +one to the other; then as her father's tall form darkened the doorway, +and a glance up into his face showed her that it was very grave and +stern, she shrank back abashed, frightened by the sudden conviction that +he had overheard her impertinent reply to her mamma's message, and +perhaps noticed the change in her dress. + +He regarded her for a moment in silence, while she hung her head in +shame and affright; then he spoke in tones of grave displeasure, "You +will stay at home to-day, Lulu; we have no room for disrespectful, +disobedient children--" + +"Papa," she interrupted, half pleadingly, half angrily, "I haven't been +disobedient or disrespectful to you." + +"It is quite the same," he said; "I require you to be obedient and +respectful to your mamma; and impertinence to her is something I will by +no means allow or fail to punish whenever I know of it. Sorry as I am to +deprive you of an anticipated pleasure, I repeat that you must stay at +home; and go immediately to your room and resume the dress she directed +you to wear to-day." + +So saying he took Grace's hand and led her to the carriage, Max +following after one regretful look at Lulu's sorely disappointed face. + +Grace, clinging about her father's neck as he lifted her up, pleaded for +her sister. "Oh, papa, do please let her go; she hasn't been naughty for +a long while, and I'm sure she's sorry and will be good." + +"Hush, hush, darling!" he said, wiping the tears from her eyes, then +placing her by Violet's side. + +"What is wrong?" inquired the latter with concern; "is Gracie not +feeling well?" + +"Never mind, my love," the captain answered, assuming a cheerful tone; +"there is nothing wrong except that Lulu has displeased me, and I have +told her she cannot go with us to-day." + +"Oh, I am sorry!" Violet said, looking really pained; "we shall all miss +her. I should be glad, Levis, if you could forgive her, for--" + +"No, do not ask it," he said hastily; adding, with a smile of ardent +affection into the azure eyes gazing so pleadingly into his; "I can +scarcely bear to say no to you, dearest, but I have passed sentence upon +the offender and cannot revoke it." + +The carriage drove off; the others had already gone, and Lulu was left +alone in the house, the one maid-servant left behind having already +wandered off to the beach. + +"There!" cried Lulu, stamping her foot with passion, then dropping into +a chair, "I say it's just too bad! She isn't old enough to be my mother, +and I won't have her for one; I sha'n't mind her! Papa had no business +to marry her. He hardly cares for anybody else now, and he ought to love +me better than he does her; for she isn't a bit of relation to him, +while I'm his own child. + +"And I sha'n't wear dowdy, old-womanish dresses to please her, along +with other girls of my size that are dressed up in their best. I'd +rather stay at home than be mortified that way, and I just wish I had +told him so." + +She was in so rebellious a mood that instead of at once changing her +dress in obedience to her father's command, she presently rose from her +chair, walked out at the front door and paraded through the village +streets in her finery, saying to herself, "I'll let people see that I +have some decent clothes to wear." + +Returning after a little, she was much surprised to find Betty Johnson +stretched full length on a lounge with a paper-covered novel in her +hand, which she seemed to be devouring with great avidity. + +"Why, Betty!" she exclaimed, "are you here? I thought you went with the +rest to the 'squantum.'" + +"Just what I thought in regard to your highness," returned Betty, +glancing up from her book with a laugh. "I stayed at home to enjoy my +book and the bath. What kept you?" + +"Papa," answered Lulu with a frown; "he wouldn't let me go." + +"Because you put on that dress, I presume," laughed Betty. "Well, it's +not very suitable, that's a fact. But I had no idea that the captain was +such a connoisseur in matters of that sort." + +"He isn't! he doesn't know or care if it wasn't for Mamma Vi," burst out +Lulu vehemently. "And she's no business to dictate about my dress +either. I'm old enough to judge and decide for myself." + +"Really, it is a great pity that one so wise should be compelled to +submit to dictation," observed Betty with exasperating irony. + +Lulu, returning a furious look, which her tormentor feigned not to see, +then marching into the adjoining room, gave tardy obedience to her +father's orders anent the dress. + +"Are you going in this morning?" asked Betty, when Lulu had returned to +the little parlor. + +"I don't know; papa didn't say whether I might or not." + +"Then I should take the benefit of the doubt and follow my own +inclination in the matter. It's ten now; the bathing hour is eleven; I +shall be done my book by that time, and we'll go in together if you +like." + +"I'll see about it," Lulu said, walking away. + +She went down to the beach and easily whiled away an hour watching the +waves and the people, and digging in the sand. When she saw the others +going to the bath-houses she hastened back to her temporary home. + +As she entered Betty was tossing aside her book. "So here you are!" she +said, yawning and stretching herself. "Are you going in?" + +"Yes; if papa is angry I'll tell him he should have forbidden me if he +didn't want me to do it." + +They donned their bathing-suits and went in with the crowd; but though +no mishap befell them and they came out safely again, Lulu found that +for some reason her bath was not half so enjoyable as usual. + +She and Betty dined at the hotel where the family had frequently taken +their meals, then they strolled down to the beach and seated themselves +on a bench under an awning. + +After a while Betty proposed taking a walk. + +"Where to?" asked Lulu. + +"To Sankaty Lighthouse." + +"Well, I'm agreed; it's a nice walk; you can look out over the sea all +the way," said Lulu, getting up. But a sudden thought seemed to strike +her; she paused and hesitated. + +"Well, what's the matter?" queried Betty. + +"Nothing; only papa told me I was to stay at home to-day." + +"Oh, nonsense! what a little goose!" exclaimed Betty; "of course that +only meant you were not to go to the 'squantum'; so come along." + +Lulu was by no means sure that that was really all her father meant, but +she wanted the walk, so suffered herself to be persuaded, and they went. + +Betty had been a wild, ungovernable girl at school, glorying in +contempt for rules and daring "larks." She had not improved in that +respect, and so far from being properly ashamed of her wild pranks and +sometimes really disgraceful frolics, liked to describe them, and was +charmed to find in Lulu a deeply interested listener. + +It was thus they amused themselves as they strolled slowly along the +bluff toward Sankaty. + +When they reached there a number of carriages were standing about near +the entrance, several visitors were in the tower, and others were +waiting their turn. + +"Let us go up too," Betty said to her little companion; "the view must +be finer to-day than it was when we were here before, for the atmosphere +is clearer." + +"I'm afraid papa wouldn't like me to," objected Lulu; "he seemed to +think the other time that I needed him to take care of me," she added +with a laugh, as if it were quite absurd that one so old and wise as +herself should be supposed to need such protection. + +"Pooh!" said Betty, "don't be a baby; I can take care of myself and you +too. Come, I'm going up and round outside too; and I dare you to do the +same." + +Poor proud Lulu was one of the silly people who are not brave enough to +refuse to do a wrong or unwise thing if anybody dares them to do it. + +"I'm not a bit afraid, Miss Johnson; you need not think that," she +said, bridling; "and I can take care of myself. I'll go." + +"Come on then; we'll follow close behind that gentleman, and the keeper +won't suppose we are alone," returned Betty, leading the way. + +Lulu found the steep stairs very hard to climb without the help of her +father's hand, and reached the top quite out of breath. + +Betty too was panting. But they presently recovered themselves. Betty +stepped outside just behind the gentleman who had preceded them up the +stairs, and Lulu climbed quickly after her, frightened enough at the +perilous undertaking, yet determined to prove that she was equal to it. + +But she had advanced only a few steps when a sudden rush of wind caught +her skirts and nearly took her off her feet. + +Both she and Betty uttered a cry of affright, and at the same instant +Lulu felt herself seized from behind and dragged forcibly back and +within the window from which she had just emerged. + +It was the face of a stranger that met her gaze as she looked up with +frightened eyes. + +"Child," he said, "that was a narrow escape; don't try it again. Where +are your parents or guardians, that you were permitted to step out there +with no one to take care of you?" + +Lulu blushed and hung her head in silence. Betty, who had followed her +in as fast as she could, generously took all the blame upon herself. + +"Don't scold her, sir," she said; "it was all my doing. I brought her +here without the knowledge of her parents, and dared her to go out +there." + +"You did?" he exclaimed, turning a severe look upon the young girl (he +was a middle-aged man of stern aspect). "Suppose I had not been near +enough to catch her, and she had been precipitated to the ground from +that great height--how would you have felt?" + +"I could never have forgiven myself or had another happy moment while I +lived," Betty said, in half tremulous tones, "I can never thank you +enough, sir, for saving her," she added, warmly. + +"No, nor I," said the keeper. "I should always have felt that I was to +blame for letting her go out; but you were close behind, sir, and the +other gentleman before, and I took you to be all one party, and of +course thought you would take care of the little girl." + +"She has had quite a severe shock," the gentleman remarked, again +looking at Lulu, who was very pale and trembling like a leaf. "You had +better wait and let me help you down the stairs. I shall be ready in a +very few moments." + +Betty thanked him and said they would wait. + +While they did so she tried to jest and laugh with Lulu; but the little +girl was in no mood for such things; she felt sick and dizzy at the +thought of the danger she had escaped but a moment ago. She made no +reply to Betty's remarks, and indeed seemed scarcely to hear them. + +She was quite silent, too, while being helped down the stairs by the +kind stranger, but thanked him prettily as they separated. + +"You are heartily welcome," he said; "but if you will take my advice you +will never go needlessly into such danger again." + +With that he shook hands with her, bowed to Betty, and moved away. + +"Will you go in and rest awhile, Lu?" asked Betty. + +"No, thank you; I'm not tired; and I'd rather be close by the sea. Tell +me another of your stories, won't you? to help me forget how near I came +to falling." + +Betty good-naturedly complied, but found Lulu a less interested listener +than before. + +The "squantum" party were late in returning, and when they arrived Betty +and Lulu were in bed; but the door between the room where Lulu lay and +the parlor, or sitting-room, as it was indifferently called, was ajar, +and she could hear all that was said there. + +"Where is Lulu?" her father asked of the maid-servant who had been left +behind. + +"Gone to bed, sir," was the answer. + +Then the captain stepped to the chamber door, pushed it wider open, and +came to the bedside. + +Lulu pretended to be asleep, keeping her eyes tight shut, but all the +time feeling that he was standing there and looking down at her. + +He sighed slightly, turned away, and went from the room; then she buried +her face in the pillows and cried softly but quite bitterly. + +"He might have kissed me," she said to herself; "he would if he loved me +as much as he used to before he got married." + +Then his sigh seemed to echo in her heart, and she grew remorseful over +the thought that her misconduct had grieved as well as displeased him. + +And how much more grieved and displeased he would be if he knew how she +had disregarded his wishes and commands during his absence that day! + +And soon he would be ordered away again, perhaps to the other side of +the world; in danger from the treacherous deep and maybe from savages, +too, in some of those far-away places where his vessel would touch; and +so the separation might be for years or forever in this world; and if +she continued to be the bad girl she could not help acknowledging to +herself she now was, how dared she hope to be with her Christian father +in another life? She had no doubt that he was a Christian; it was +evident from his daily walk and conversation; and she was equally +certain that she herself was not. + +And what a kind, affectionate father he had always been to her; she grew +more and more remorseful as she thought of it; and if he had been beside +her at that moment would certainly have confessed all the wrong-doing of +the day and asked forgiveness. + +But he was probably in bed now; all was darkness and silence in the +house; so she lay still, and presently forgot all vexing thought in +sound, refreshing sleep. + +When she awoke again the morning sun was shining brightly, and her mood +had changed. + +The wrong-doings of the previous day were the merest trifles, and it +would really be quite ridiculous to go and confess them to her father; +she supposed, indeed was quite sure, that ha would be better pleased +with her if she made some acknowledgment of sorrow for the fault for +which he had punished her; but the very thought of doing so was so +galling to her pride that she was stubbornly determined not to do +anything of the kind. + +She was thinking it all over while dressing, and trying hard to believe +herself a very ill-used, instead of naughty, child. It was a burning +shame that she had been scolded and left behind for such a trifling +fault; but she would let "papa" and everybody else see that she didn't +care; she wouldn't ask one word about what kind of a time they had had +(she hoped it hadn't been so very nice); and she would show papa, too, +that she could do very well without caresses and endearments from him. + +Glancing from the window, she saw him out on the bluff back of the +cottage; but though her toilet was now finished, she did not, as usual, +run out to put her hand in his, and with a glad good-morning hold up her +face for a kiss. + +She went quietly to the dooryard looking upon the village street, and +peeped into the window of the room where Grace was dressing with a +little help from Agnes, their mamma's maid. + +"Oh, Lu, good-morning," cried the little girl. "I was so sorry you +weren't with us yesterday at the 'squantum;' we had ever such a nice +time; only I missed you very much." + +"Your sympathy was wasted, Grace," returned Lulu, with a grand air. "I +had a very pleasant time at home." + +"Dar now, you's done finished, Miss Gracie," said Agnes, turning to +leave the room; then she laughed to herself as she went, "Miss Lu she +needn't think she don't 'ceive nobody wid dem grand airs ob hers; 'spect +we all knows she been glad nuff to go ef de cap'n didn't tole her she +got for to stay behin'." + +Grace ran out and joined her sister at the door. "Oh, Lu, you would have +enjoyed it if you had been with us," she said, embracing her. "But we +are going to have a drive this morning. We're to start as soon as +breakfast is over, and only come back in time for the bath; and papa +says you can go too if you want to, and are a good girl; and you--" + +"I don't want to," said Lulu, with a cold, offended air. "I like to be +by myself on the beach; I enjoyed it very much yesterday, and shall +enjoy it to-day; I don't need anybody's company." + +Her conscience gave her a twinge as she spoke, reminding her that she +had passed but little of her day alone on the beach. + +Grace gazed at her with wide-open eyes, lost in astonishment at her +strange mood; but hearing their father's step within the house, turned +about and ran to meet him and claim her morning kiss. + +"Where is your sister?" he asked when he had given it. + +"The little one is asleep, papa," she answered gayly; "the other one is +at the door there." + +He smiled. "Tell her to come in," he said; "we are going to have +prayers." + +Lulu obeyed the summons, but took a seat near the door, without so much +as glancing toward her father. + +When the short service was over Grace seated herself upon his knee, and +Max stood close beside him, both laughing and talking right merrily; but +Lulu sat where she was, gazing in moody silence into the street. + +At length, in a pause in the talk, the captain said, in a kindly tone, +"One of my little girls seems to have forgotten to bid me good-morning." + +"Good-morning, papa," muttered Lulu, sullenly, her face still averted. + +"Good-morning, Lucilla," he said; and she knew by his tone and use of +her full name that he was by no means pleased with her behavior. + +At that moment they were summoned to breakfast. + +Lulu took her place with the others and ate in silence, scarce lifting +her eyes from her plate, while everybody else was full of cheerful chat. + +A carriage was at the door when they left the table. + +"Make haste, children," the captain said, "so that we may have time for +a long drive before the bathing hour." + +Max and Grace moved promptly to obey, but Lulu stood still. + +"I spoke to you, Lulu, as well as to the others," her father said, in +his usual kindly tone; "you may go with us, if you wish." + +"I don't care to, papa," she answered, turning away. + +"Very well, I shall not compel you; you may do just as you please about +it," he returned. "Stay at home if you prefer it. You may go down to the +beach if you choose, but nowhere else." + +"Yes, sir," she muttered, and walked out of the room, wondering in a +half-frightened way if he knew or suspected where she had been the day +before. + +In fact, he did neither; he believed Lulu a more obedient child than she +was, and had no idea that she had not done exactly as he bade her. + +This time she was so far obedient that she went nowhere except to the +beach, but while wandering about there she was nursing unkind and +rebellious thoughts and feelings; trying hard to convince herself that +her father loved her less than he did his other children, and was more +inclined to be severe with her than with them. In her heart of hearts +she believed no such thing, but pretending to herself that she did, she +continued her unlovely behavior all that day and the next, sulking +alone most of the time; doing whatever she was bidden, but with a sullen +air, seldom speaking unless she was spoken to, never hanging lovingly +about her father, as had been her wont, but rather seeming to avoid +being near him whenever she could. + +It pained him deeply to see her indulging so evil a temper, but he +thought best to appear not to notice it. He did not offer her the +caresses she evidently tried to avoid, and seldom addressed her; but +when he did speak to her it was in his accustomed kind, fatherly tones, +and it was her own fault if she did not share in every pleasure provided +for the others. + +In the afternoon of the second day they were all gathered upon the beach +as usual, when a young girl, who seemed to be a new-comer in 'Sconset, +drew near and accosted Betty as an old acquaintance. + +"Why, Anna Eastman, who would have expected to see you here?" cried +Betty, in accents of pleased surprise, springing up to embrace the +stranger. + +Then she introduced her to Elsie, Violet, and Captain Raymond, who +happened to be sitting near, as an old school friend. + +"And you didn't know I was on the island?" remarked Miss Eastman +laughingly to Betty, when the introductions were over. + +"I hadn't the least idea of it. When did you arrive?" + +"Several days since--last Monday; and this is Friday. By the way, I saw +you on Tuesday, though you did not see me." + +"How and where?" asked Betty in surprise, not remembering at the moment +how she had spent that day. + +"At Sankaty Lighthouse; I was in a carriage out on the green in front of +the lighthouse, and saw you and that little girl yonder (nodding in +Lulu's direction) come out on the top of the tower; then a puff of wind +took the child's skirts, and I fairly screamed with fright, expecting to +see her fall and be crushed to death; but somebody jerked her back +within the window just in time to save her. Weren't you terribly +frightened, dear?" she asked, addressing Lulu. + +"Of course I was," Lulu answered in an ungracious tone; then rose and +sauntered away along the beach. "What did she tell it for, hateful +thing!" she muttered to herself; "now papa knows it, and what will he +say and do to me?" + +She had not ventured to look at him; if she had she would have seen his +face grow suddenly pale, then assume an expression of mingled sternness +and pain. + +He presently rose and followed her, though she did not know it till he +had reached her side and she felt him take her hand in his. He sat +down, making her sit by his side. + +"Is this true that I hear of you, Lulu?" he asked. + +"Yes, papa," she answered in a low, unwilling tone, hanging her head as +she spoke, for she dared not look him in the face. + +"I did not think one of my children would be so disobedient," he said, +in pained accents. + +"Papa, you never said I shouldn't go to Sankaty Lighthouse," she +muttered. + +"I never gave you leave to go, and I have told you positively, more than +once, that you must not go to any distance from the house without +express permission. Also I am sure you could not help understanding, +from what was said when I took you to the lighthouse, that I would be +very far from willing that you should go up into the tower, and +especially outside, unless I were with you to take care of you. Besides, +what were my orders to you just as I was leaving the house that +morning?" + +"You told me to change my dress immediately and to stay at home." + +"Did you obey the first order?" + +Lulu was silent for a moment; then as her father was evidently waiting +for an answer, she muttered, "I changed my dress after a while." + +"That was not obeying; I told you to do it immediately," he said in a +tone of severity, "What did you do in the mean time?" + +"I don't want to tell you," she muttered. + +"You must; and you are not to say you don't want to do what I bid you. +What were you doing?" + +"Walking round the town." + +"Breaking two of your father's commands at once. What next? give me a +full account of the manner in which you spent the day." + +"I came in soon and changed my dress; then went to the beach till the +bathing hour; then Betty and I went in together; then we had our dinner +at the hotel and came back to the beach for a little while; then we went +to Sankaty." + +"Filling up the whole day with repeated acts of disobedience," he said. + +"Papa, you didn't say I mustn't go in to bathe, or that I shouldn't take +a walk." + +"I told you to stay at home, and you disobeyed that order again and +again. And you have been behaving very badly ever since, showing a most +unamiable temper. I have overlooked it, hoping to see a change for the +better in your conduct without my resorting to punishment; but I think +the time has now come when I must try that with you." + +He paused for some moments. Wondering at his silence, she at length +ventured a timid look up into his face. + +It was so full of pain and distress that her heart smote her, and she +was seized with a sudden fury at herself as the guilty cause of his +suffering. + +"Lulu," he said, with a sigh that was almost a groan, "what am I to do +with you?" + +"Whip me, papa," she burst out; "I deserve it. You've never tried that +yet, and maybe it would make me a better girl, I almost wish you would, +papa," she went on in her vehement way; "I could beat myself for being +so bad and hurting you so." + +He made no answer to that, but presently said in moved tones, "What if I +had come back that night to find the dear little daughter I had left a +few hours before in full health and strength, lying a crushed and +mangled corpse? killed without a moment's time to repent of her +disobedience to her father's known wishes and commands? Could I have +hoped to have you restored to me even in another world, my child?" + +"No, papa," she said, half under her breath; "I know I wasn't fit to go +to heaven, and that I'm not fit now; but would you have been really very +sorry to lose such a bad, troublesome child?" + +"Knowing that, as you yourself acknowledge, you were not fit for +heaven, it would have been the heaviest blow I have ever had," he said. +"My daughter, you are fully capable of understanding the way of +salvation, therefore are an accountable being, and, so long as you +neglect it, in danger of eternal death. I shall never be easy about you +till I have good reason to believe that you have given your heart to the +Lord Jesus, and devoted yourself entirely to His blessed service." + +He ceased speaking, gave her a few moments for silent reflection, then +setting her on her feet, rose, took her hand, and led her back toward +the village. + +"Are you going to punish me, papa?" she asked presently, in a +half-frightened tone. + +"I shall take that matter into consideration," was all he said, and she +knew from his grave accents that she was in some danger of receiving +what she felt to be her deserts. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth +his mother to shame."--_Prov_. 29: 15. + + +Lulu hated suspense; it seemed to her worse than the worst certainty; so +when they had gone a few steps farther she said, hesitating and blushing +very deeply, "Papa, if you are going to punish me as--as I--said I 'most +wished you would, please don't let Mamma Vi or anybody know it, and--" + +"Certainly not; it shall be a secret between our two selves," he said as +she broke off without finishing her sentence; "if we can manage it," he +added a little doubtfully. + +"They all go down to the beach every evening, you know, papa," she +suggested in a timid, half-hesitating way, and trembling as she spoke. + +"Yes, that would give us a chance; but I have not said positively that I +intend to punish you in that way." + +"No, sir; but--oh, do please say certainly that you will or you won't." + +The look he gave her as she raised her eyes half fearfully to his face +was very kind and affectionate, though grave and judicial. "I am not +angry with you," he said, "in the sense of being in a passion or out of +patience--not in the least; but I feel it to be my duty to do all I +possibly can to help you to be a better child, and noticing, as I have +said, for the last two or three days what a wilful, wicked temper you +were indulging, I have been considering very seriously whether I ought +not to try the very remedy you have yourself suggested, and I am afraid +I ought indeed. Do you still think, as you told me a while ago, that +this sort of punishment might be a help to you in trying to be good?" + +Lulu hesitated a moment, then said impetuously, and as if determined to +own the truth though it were to pass sentence upon herself, "Yes, papa, +honestly I do; though I don't want you to do it one bit. But," she +added, "I sha'n't love you any less if you whip me ever so hard, because +I shall know you don't like to do it, and wouldn't except for the reason +you've given." + +"No, indeed, I should not," he said; "but you are to stay behind +to-night when the others go to the beach." + +"Yes, papa, I will," she answered submissively, but with a perceptible +tremble in her voice. + +Grace and Max were coming to meet them, so there was no opportunity to +talk any more on the subject, and she walked on in silence by her +father's side, trying hard to act and look as if nothing was amiss with +her, clinging fast to the hand in which he had taken hers, while Grace +took possession of the other. + +"You ought to have three hands, papa," laughed Max a little ruefully. + +"Four," corrected Grace; "for some day little Elsie will be wanting +one." + +"I shall have to manage it by taking you in turn," the captain said, +looking down upon them with a fatherly smile. + +Violet and some of the other members of their party were still seated +where they had left them on the benches under the awning just out of +reach of the waves, and thither the captain and his children bent their +steps. + +Sitting down by his wife's side, he drew Grace to his knee and Lulu +close to his other side, keeping an arm round each while chatting +pleasantly with his family and friends. + +Lulu was very silent, constantly asking herself, and with no little +uneasiness, what he really intended to do with her when, according to +his direction, she should stay behind with him after tea while the +others returned to the beach. + +One thing she was determined on--that she would if possible obey the +order without attracting any one's notice. Everybody must have seen how +badly she had been behaving, but the thought of that was not half so +galling to her pride as the danger of suspicion being aroused that +punishment had been meted out to her on account of it. + +Max watched her curiously, and took an opportunity, on their return to +the house, to say privately to her, "I'm glad you've turned over a new +leaf, Lu, and begun to behave decently to papa; I've wondered over and +over again in the last few days that he didn't take you in hand in a way +to convince you that he wasn't to be trifled with. It's my opinion that +if you'd been a boy you'd have got a trouncing long before this." + +"Indeed!" she cried, with an angry toss of her head; "I'm glad I'm not a +boy if I couldn't be one without using such vulgar words." + +"Oh, that isn't such a very bad word," returned Max, laughing; "but I +can tell you, from sad experience, that the _thing_ is bad enough +sometimes; I'd be quaking in my shoes if I thought papa had any reason +to consider me deserving of one." + +"I don't see what you mean by talking so to me," exclaimed Lulu, +passionately; "but I think you are a Pharisee--making yourself out so +much better than I am!" + +The call to supper interrupted them just there, and perhaps saved them +from a down-right quarrel. + +Lulu had no appetite for the meal, and it seemed to her that the others +would never have done eating; then that they lingered unusually long +about the house before starting for their accustomed evening +rendezvous--the beach; for she was on thorns all the time. + +At last some one made a move, and catching a look from her father which +she alone saw or understood, she slipped unobserved into her bedroom and +waited there with a fast beating heart. + +She heard him say to Violet, "Don't wait for me, my love; I have a +little matter to attend to here, and will follow you in the course of +half an hour." + +"Anything I can help you with?" Violet asked. + +"Oh, no, thank you," he said, "I need no assistance." + +"A business letter to write, I presume," she returned laughingly. "Well, +don't make it too long, for I grudge every moment of your time." + +With that she followed the others, and all was quiet except for the +captain's measured tread, for he was slowly pacing the room to and fro. + +Impatient, impetuous Lulu did not know how to endure the suspense; she +seemed to herself like a criminal awaiting execution. Softly she opened +the door and stepped out in front of her father, stopping him in his +walk. + +"Papa," she said, with pale, trembling lips, looking beseechingly up +into his face, "whatever you are going to do to me, won't you please do +it at once and let me have it over?" + +He took her hand and, sitting down, drew her to his side, putting his +arm around her. + +"My little daughter," he said very gravely, but not unkindly, "my +responsibility in regard to your training weighs very heavily on my +mind; it is plain to me that you will make either a very good and useful +woman, or one who will be a curse to herself and others; for you are too +energetic and impulsive, too full of strong feeling to be lukewarm and +indifferent in anything. + +"You are forming your character now for time and for eternity, and I +must do whatever lies in my power to help you to form it aright; for +good and not for evil. You inherit a sinful nature from me, and have +very strong passions which must be conquered or they will prove your +ruin. I fear you do not see the great sinfulness of their indulgence, +and that it may be that I am partly to blame for that in having passed +too lightly over such exhibitions of them as have come under my notice: +in short, that perhaps if I had been more justly severe with your +faults you would have been more thoroughly convinced of their +heinousness and striven harder and with greater success to conquer them. + +"Therefore, after much thought and deliberation, and much prayer for +guidance and direction, I have fully decided that I ought to punish you +severely for the repeated acts of disobedience you have been guilty of +in the last few days, and the constant exhibition of ill-temper. + +"It pains me exceedingly to do it, but I must not consider my own +feelings where my dear child's best interests are concerned." + +"Is it because I asked you to do it, papa?" she inquired. "I never +thought you would when I said it." + +"No; I have been thinking seriously on the subject ever since you +behaved so badly the day of the 'squantum,' and had very nearly decided +the question just as I have fully decided it now. I know you are an +honest child, even when the truth is against you; tell me, do you not +yourself think that I am right?" + +"Yes, sir," she answered, low and tremulously, after a moment's struggle +with herself. "Oh, please do it at once, so it will be over soon!" + +"I will," he said, rising and leading her into the inner room; "you +shall not have the torture of anticipation a moment longer." + +Though the punishment was severe beyond Lulu's worst anticipations, she +bore it without outcry or entreaty, feeling that she richly deserved it, +and determined that no one who might be within hearing should learn from +any sound she uttered what was going on. Tears and now and then a +half-suppressed sob were the only evidences of suffering that she +allowed herself to give. + +Her father was astonished at her fortitude, and more than ever convinced +that she had in her the elements of a noble character. + +The punishment over, he took her in his arms, laying her head against +his breast. Both were silent, her tears falling like rain. + +At length, with a heart-broken sob, "You hurt me terribly, papa," she +said; "I didn't think you would ever want to hurt me so." + +"I did not want to," he answered in moved tones; "it was sorely against +my inclination, I cannot tell you how gladly I should have borne twice +the pain for you if so I could have made you a good girl. I know you +have sometimes troubled yourself with foolish fears that you had less +than your fair share of my affection; but I have not a child that is +nearer or dearer to me than you are, my darling. I love you very much." + +"I'm so glad, papa; I 'most wonder you can," she sobbed; "and I love +you dearly, dearly; I know I've not been acting like it lately, but I +do, and just as much now as before. Oh, papa, you don't know how hard it +is for me to be good!" + +"I think I do," he said; "for I am naturally quite as bad as you are, +having a violent temper, which would most certainly have been my ruin +had I not been forced to learn to control it; indeed I fear it is from +me you get your temper. + +"I had a good Christian mother," he went on, "who was very faithful in +her efforts to train her children up aright. My fits of passion gave her +great concern and anxiety. I can see now how troubled and distressed she +used to look. + +"Usually she would shut me up in a room by myself until I had had time +to cool down, then come to me, talk very seriously and kindly of the +danger and sinfulness of such indulgence of temper, telling me there was +no knowing what dreadful deed I might some day be led to commit in my +fury, if I did not learn to rule my own spirit; and that therefore for +my own sake she must punish me to teach me self-control. She would then +chastise me, often quite severely, and leave me to myself again to +reflect upon the matter. Thus she finally succeeded in so convincing me +of the great guilt and danger of giving rein to my fiery temper and the +necessity of gaining the mastery over it, that I fought hard to do so, +and with God's help have, I think, gained the victory. + +"It is the remembrance of all this, and how thankful I am to my mother +now for her faithfulness, that has determined me to be equally faithful +to my own dear little daughter, though unfortunately I lack the +opportunity for the same constant watchfulness over my children." + +"Oh, papa, if you only could be with us all the time!" she sighed. "But +I never thought you had a temper. I've seen some people fly at their +naughty children in a great passion and beat them hard; I should think +if you had such a bad temper as you say, you'd have treated me so many a +time." + +"Very likely I should if your grandmother had not taught me to control +it," he said; "you may thank her that you have as good a father as you +have." + +"I think I have the best in the world," she said, putting her arm round +his neck; "and now that it's all over, papa, I'm glad you did punish me +just so hard; for I don't feel half so mean, because it seems as if I +have sort of paid for my naughtiness toward you." + +"Yes, toward me; the account is settled between us; but remember that +you cannot so atone for your sin against God; nothing but the blood of +Christ can avail to blot out that account against you, and you must ask +to be forgiven for His sake alone. We will kneel down and ask it now." + +Violet glanced again and again toward the cottages on the bluff, +wondering and a trifle impatient at her husband's long delay, but at +length saw him approaching, leading Lulu by the hand. + +There was unusual gravity, amounting almost to sternness, in his face, +and Lulu's wore a more subdued expression than she had ever seen upon +it, while traces of tears were evident upon her cheeks, + +"He has been talking very seriously to her in regard to the ill-temper +she has shown during the past few days," Violet said to herself. "Poor +wayward child! I hope she will take the lesson to heart, and give him +less trouble and anxiety in future." + +He kept Lulu close at his side all the evening, and she seemed well +content to stay there, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her +waist, while she listened silently to the talk going on around her or to +the booming of the waves upon the beach not many yards away. + +When it was time for the children to retire, he took her and Grace to +the house. At the door he bent down and kissed Grace good-night, +saying, "I shall not wait to see you in your bed, but shall come in to +look at you before I go to mine." + +"May I have a kiss too, papa?" Lulu asked in a wishful, half-tremulous +voice, as though a trifle uncertain whether her request would be +granted. + +"Yes, my dear little daughter, as many as you wish," he replied, taking +her in his arms and bestowing them with hearty good-will and affection. + +"I'm sorry--oh, very sorry for all my naughtiness, papa," she whispered +in his ear while clinging about his neck. + +"It is all forgiven now," he said, "and I trust will never be repeated." + +Lulu was very good, submissive, and obedient during the remainder of her +father's stay among them. + +She was greatly distressed when, two weeks later, orders came for him to +join his ship the following day. She clung to him with devoted, +remorseful affection and distress in prospect of the impending +separation, while he treated her with even more than his wonted +kindness, drawing her often caressingly to his knee, and his voice +taking on a very tender tone whenever he spoke to her. + +It was in the evening he left them, for he was to drive over to +Nantucket Town and pass the night there in order to take the early boat +leaving for the mainland the next morning. + +Mr. Dinsmore went with him, intending to go to Boston for a few days, +perhaps on to New York also, then return to Siasconset. + +Harold, Herbert, Bob, and Max set out that same evening for their +camping ground; so that Mr. Edward Travilla was the only man of the +party left to take care of the women and children. + +However, they would all have felt safe enough in that very quiet spot, +or anywhere on the island, without any such protection. + +Lulu went to bed that night full of remorseful regret that through her +own wilfulness she had lost many hours of her father's prized society, +besides grieving and displeasing him. + +Oh, if she could but go back and live the last few weeks over, how +differently she would behave! She would not give him the least cause to +be displeased with or troubled about her. + +As often before, she felt a great disgust at herself, and a longing +desire to be good and gentle like Gracie, who never seemed to have the +slightest inclination to be quick-tempered or rebellious. + +"She's so sweet and dear!" murmured Lulu half aloud, and reaching out a +hand to softly touch the little sister sleeping quietly by her side; "I +should think papa would love her ten times better than me; but he says +he doesn't, and he always tells the truth. I wish I'd been made like +Gracie; but I'm ever so glad he can love me in spite of all my badness. +Oh, I am determined to be good the next time he's at home, so that he +will enjoy his visit more. It was a burning shame in me to spoil this +one so; I'd like to beat you for it, Lulu Raymond, and I'm glad he +didn't let you escape." + +Violet and her mother were passing the night together, and lying side by +side talked to each other in loving confidence of such things as lay +nearest their hearts. Naturally Vi's thoughts were full of the husband +from whom she had just parted--for how long?--it might be months or +years. + +"Mamma," she said, "the more I am with him and study his character, the +more I honor and trust and love him. It is the one trial of my otherwise +exceptionally happy life, that we must pass so much of our time apart, +and that he has such a child as Lulu to mar his enjoyment of--" + +"Oh, dear daughter," interrupted Elsie, "do not allow yourself to feel +otherwise than very kindly toward your husband's child; Lulu has some +very noble traits, and I trust you will try to think of them rather than +of her faults, serious as they may seem to you." + +"Yes, mamma, there are some things about her that are very lovable, and +I really have a strong affection for her, even aside from the fact that +she is his child; yet when she behaves in a way that distresses him I +can hardly help wishing that she belonged to some one else. + +"You surely must have noticed how badly she behaved for two or three +days. He never spoke to me about it, tried not to let me see that it +interfered with his enjoyment (for he knew that that would spoil mine), +but for all that I knew his heart was often heavy over her misconduct. + +"Yet she certainly does love her father. How she clung to him after she +had heard that he must leave us so soon, with a remorseful affection, it +seemed to me." + +"Yes, and though she shed but few tears in parting from him, I could see +that she was almost heart-broken. She is a strange child, but if she +takes the right turn, will assuredly make a noble, useful woman." + +"I hope so, mamma; and that will, I know, repay him for all his care and +anxiety on her account. No father could be fonder of his children or +more willing to do or endure anything for their sake. Of course I do not +mean anything wrong; he would not do wrong himself or suffer wrong-doing +in them; for his greatest desire is to see them truly good, real +Christians. I hope my darling, as she grows older, will be altogether a +comfort and blessing to him." + +"As her mother has been to me, and always was to her father," Elsie +responded in loving tones. + +"Thank you, mamma," Violet said with emotion; "oh, if I had been an +undutiful daughter and given pain and anxiety to my best of fathers, how +my heart would ache at the remembrance, now that he is gone. And I feel +deep pity for Lulu when I think what sorrow she is preparing for herself +in case she outlives her father, as in the course of nature she is +likely to do." + +"Yes, poor child!" sighed Elsie; "and doubtless she is even now enduring +the reproaches of conscience aggravated by the fear that she may not see +her father very soon again. + +"She and Gracie, to say nothing of my dear Vi, will be feeling lonely +to-morrow, and Edward, Zoe, and I have planned various little +excursions, by land and water, to give occupation to your thoughts and +pleasantly while away the time." + +"You are always so kind, dearest mamma," said Violet; "always thinking +of others and planning for their enjoyment." + +"Oh, how lonely it does seem without papa! our dear, dear papa!" was +Gracie's waking exclamation. "I wish he could live at home all the time +like other children's fathers do! When will he come again, Lulu?" + +"I don't know, Gracie; I don't believe anybody knows," returned Lulu +sorrowfully. "But you have no occasion to feel half as badly about it as +I." + +"Why not?" cried Grace, a little indignantly, even her gentle nature +aroused at the apparent insinuation that he was more to Lulu than to +herself; "you don't love him a bit better than I do." + +"Maybe not; but Mamma Vi is more to you than she is to me; though that +wasn't what I was thinking of. I was only thinking that you had been a +good child to him all the time he has been at home, while I was so very, +very naughty that--" + +Lulu broke off suddenly and went on with, her dressing in silence. + +"That what?" asked Grace. + +"That I grieved him very much and spoiled half his pleasure," Lulu said +in a choking voice. Then turning suddenly toward her sister, her face +flushing hotly, her eyes full of tears, bitterly ashamed of what she was +moved to tell, yet with a heart aching so for sympathy that she hardly +knew how to keep it back, "Gracie, if I tell you something will you +never, _never, never_ breathe a single word of it to a living soul?" + +Grace, who was seated on the floor putting on her shoes and stockings, +looked up at her sister in silent astonishment. + +"Come, answer," exclaimed Lulu impetuously; "do you promise? I know if +you make a promise you'll keep it. But I won't tell you without, for I +wouldn't have Mamma Vi, or Max, or anybody else but you know, for all +the world." + +"Not papa?" + +"Oh, Gracie, papa knows; it's a secret between him and me--only--only I +have a right to tell you if I choose." + +"I'm glad he knows, because I couldn't promise not to tell him if he +asked me and said I must. Yes, I promise, Lulu. What is it?" + +Lulu had finished her dressing, and dropping down on the carpet beside +Grace she began, half averting her face and speaking in low, hurried +tones. "You remember that morning we were all going to the 'squantum' I +changed my dress and put on a white one, and because of that, and +something I said to Max that papa overheard, he said I must stay at +home; and he ordered me to take off that dress immediately. Well, I +disobeyed him; I walked round the town in the dress before I took it +off, and instead of staying at home I went in to bathe, and took a walk +in the afternoon with Betty Johnson to Sankaty Lighthouse, and went up +in the tower and outside too." + +"Oh, Lulu!" cried Grace, "how could you dare to do so?" + +"I did, anyway," said Lulu; "and you know I was very ill-tempered for +two days afterward; so when papa knew it all he thought he ought to +punish me, and he did." + +"How?" + +"Oh, Grace! don't you know? can't you guess? It was when he and I stayed +back while all the rest went to the beach, that evening after Betty's +friend told of seeing me at Sankaty." + +Grace drew a long breath. "Oh, Lu," she said pityingly, putting her arms +lovingly about her sister, "I'm so sorry for you! How could you bear it? +Did he hurt you very much?" + +"Oh, yes, terribly; but I'm glad he did it (though I wouldn't for +anything let anybody know it but you), because I'd feel so mean if I +hadn't paid somehow for my badness. Papa was so good and kind to me--he +always is--and I had been behaving so hatefully to him. + +"And he wasn't in a bit of a passion with me. I believe, as he told me, +he did hate to punish me, and only did it to help me to learn to conquer +my temper." + +"And to be obedient, too?" + +"Yes; the punishment was for that too, he said. But now don't you think +I have reason to feel worse about his going away just now than you?" + +"Yes," admitted Grace; "I'd feel ever so badly if I'd done anything to +make dear papa sad and troubled; and I think I should be frightened to +death if he was going to whip me." + +"No, you wouldn't," said Lulu, "for you would know papa wouldn't hurt +you any more than he thought necessary for your own good. Now let me +help you dress, for it must be near breakfast time." + +"Oh, thank you; yes, I'll have to hurry. Do you love papa as well as +ever, Lu?" + +"Better," returned Lulu, emphatically; "it seems odd, but I do. I +shouldn't though if I thought he took pleasure in beating me, or +punishing me in any way." + +"I don't b'lieve he likes to punish any of us," said Grace. + +"I _know_ he doesn't," said Lulu. "And it isn't any odder that I should +love him in spite of his punishments, than that he should love me in +spite of all my naughtiness. Yes, I do think, Gracie, we have the best +father in the world." + +"'Course we have," responded Grace; "but then we don't have him half the +time; he's 'most always on his ship," she added tearfully. + +"Are you ready for breakfast, dears?" asked a sweet voice at the door. + +"Yes, Grandma Elsie," they answered, hastening to claim the good-morning +kiss she was always ready to bestow. + +Lulu's heartache had found some relief in her confidence to her sister, +and she showed a pleasanter and more cheerful face at the table than +Violet expected to see her wear. + +It grew brighter still when she learned that they were all to have a +long, delightful drive over the hills and moors, starting almost +immediately upon the conclusion of the meal. + +The weather was charming, everybody in most amiable mood, and spite of +the pain of the recent parting from him whom they so dearly loved, that +would occasionally make itself felt in the hearts of wife and children, +the little trip was an enjoyable one to all. + +Just as they drew up at the cottage door on their return, a blast of +Captain Baxter's tin horn announced his arrival with the mail, and +Edward, waiting only to assist the ladies and children to alight, +hurried off to learn if they had any interest in the contents of the +mailbag. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"Be not too ready to condemn + The wrongs thy brothers may have done; + Ere ye too harshly censure them + For human faults, ask, 'Have I none?'" + +--_Miss Eliza Cook_. + + +The little girls took up their station at the front door to watch for +"Uncle Edward's" return. + +Gracie presently cried out joyfully, "Oh, he's coming with a whole +handful of letters! I wonder if one is from papa." + +"I'm afraid not," said Lulu; "he would hardly write last night, leaving +us so late as he did, and hardly have time before the leaving of the +early boat this morning." + +The last word had scarcely left her lips when Edward reached her side +and put a letter into her hand--a letter directed to her, and +unmistakably in her father's handwriting. + +"One for you, too, Vi," he said gayly, tossing it into her lap through +the open window. + +"Excuse the unceremonious delivery, sister mine. Where are grandma and +mamma? I have a letter for each of them." + +"Here," answered his mother's voice from within the room; then as she +took the missives from his hand, "Ah, I knew papa would not forget +either mamma or me." + +"Where's my share, Ned?" asked Zoe, issuing from the inner room, where +she had been engaged in taking off her hat and smoothing her fair +tresses. + +"Your share? Well, really I don't know; unless you'll accept the +mail-carrier as such," he returned sportively. + +"Captain Baxter?" she asked in mock astonishment. "I'd rather have a +letter by half." + +"But you can't have either," he returned, laughing; "you can have the +postman who delivered the letters here--nothing more; yours is 'Hobson's +choice.'" + +Lulu, receiving her letter with a half-smothered exclamation of intense, +joyful surprise, ran swiftly away with it to the beach, never stopping +till she had gained a spot beyond and away from the crowd, where no +prying eye would watch her movements or note if the perusal of her +treasure caused any emotion. + +There, seated upon the sand, she broke open the envelope with fingers +trembling with eagerness. It contained only a few lines in Captain +Raymond's bold chirography, but they breathed such fatherly love and +tenderness as brought the tears in showers from Lulu's eyes--tears of +intense joy and filial love. She hastily wiped them away and read the +sweet words again and again; then kissing the paper over and over, +placed it in her bosom, rose up, and slowly wended her way back toward +the house, with a lighter, happier heart than she had known for some +days. + +She had not gone far when Grace came tripping over the sands to meet +her, her face sparkling with delight as she held up a note to view, +exclaiming, "See, Lu! papa did not forget me; it came inside of mamma's +letter." + +"Oh, Gracie, I am glad," said Lulu; "but it would be very strange for +papa to remember the bad child and not the good one, wouldn't it?" she +concluded, between a sigh and a smile. + +"I'm not always good," said Grace; "you know I did something very, very +bad last winter one time--something you would never do. I b'lieve you'd +speak the truth if you knew you'd be killed for it." + +"You dear little thing!" exclaimed Lulu, throwing her arm round Grace +and giving her a hearty kiss; "it's very good in you to say it; but papa +says I'm an honest child and own the truth even when it's against me." + +"Yes; you said you told him how you had disobeyed him; and If it had +been I, I wouldn't have ever said a word about it for fear he'd punish +me." + +"Well, you can't help being timid; and if I were as timid as you are, +no doubt I'd be afraid to own up too; and I didn't confess till after +that Miss Eastman had told on me," said Lulu. "Now let's sit down on the +sand, and if you'll show me your letter, I'll show you mine." + +Grace was more than willing, and they busied themselves with the +letters, reading and rereading, and with loving talk about their absent +father, till summoned to the supper-table. + +Lulu was very fond of being on the beach, playing in the sand, wandering +hither and thither, or just sitting gazing dreamily out over the waves; +and her father had allowed her to do so, only stipulating that she +should not go out of sight or into any place that looked at all +dangerous. + +"I'm going down to the beach," she said to Grace, when they had left the +table that evening; "won't you go too?" + +"Not yet," said Grace; "baby is awake, and looks so sweet that I'd +rather stay and play with her a little while first." + +"She does look pretty and sweet," assented Lulu, glancing toward the +babe, cooing in its nurse's arms, "but we can see enough of her after we +go home to Ion, and haven't the sea any more. I'll go now, and you can +come and join me when you are ready." + +Leaving the house, Lulu turned southward toward Sunset Heights, and +strolled slowly on, gazing seaward for the most part, and drinking in +with delight the delicious breeze as it came sweeping on from no one +knows where, tearing the crests of the waves and scattering the spray +hither and yon. + +The tide was rising, and it was keen enjoyment to watch the great +billows chasing each other in and dashing higher and higher on the sands +below. Then the sun drew near his setting, and the sea, reflecting the +gorgeous coloring of the clouds, changed every moment from one lovely +hue to another. + +Lulu walked on and on, wilfully refusing to think how great might be the +distance she was putting between herself and home, and at length sat +down, the better to enjoy the lovely panorama of cloud and sea which +still continued to enrapture her with its ever-changing beauty. + +By and by the colors began to fade and give place to a silvery gray, +which gradually deepened and spread till the whole sky was fast growing +black with clouds that even to her inexperienced eye portended a storm. + +She started up and sent a sweeping glance around on every side. Could it +be possible that she was so far from the tiny 'Sconset cottage that at +present she called home? Here were Tom Never's Head and the life-saving +station almost close at hand; she had heard papa say they were a good +two miles from 'Sconset, so she must be very nearly that distance from +home, all alone too, and with night and a storm fast coming on. + +"Oh me! I've been disobedient again," she said aloud, as she set off for +home at her most rapid pace; "what would papa say? It wasn't exactly +intentional this time, but I should not have been so careless." + +Alarmed at the prospect of being overtaken by darkness and tempest alone +out in the wild, she used her best efforts to move with speed; but she +could scarcely see to pick her steps or take a perfectly direct course, +and now and again she was startled by the flutter of an affrighted +night-bird across her path as she wandered among the sand dunes, toiling +over the yielding soil, the booming of the waves and the melancholy +cadences of the wind as it rose and fell filling her ears. + +She was a brave child, entirely free from superstitious fears, and +having learned that the island harbored no burglars or murderers, and +that there was no wild beast upon it, her only fear was of being +overtaken by the storm or lost on the moors, unable to find her way till +day-break. + +But, gaining the top of a sand-hill, the star-like gleam of Sankaty +Light greeted her delighted eyes, and with a joyful exclamation, "Oh, +now I can find the way!" she sprang forward with renewed energy, soon +found the path to the village, pursued it with quickened steps and light +heart, although the rain was now pouring down, accompanied with +occasional flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and in a few +moments pushed open the door of the cottage and stepped into the +astonished presence of the ladies of the party. + +She had not been missed till the approach of the storm drove them all +within doors; then perceiving that the little girl was not among them, +the question passed from one to another, "Where is Lulu?" + +No one could say where; Grace remembered that she had gone out intending +to take a stroll along the beach, but did not mention in which +direction. + +"And she has never been known to stay out so late; and--and the tide is +coming in," cried Violet, sinking pale and trembling into a chair. "Oh, +mamma, if she is drowned, how shall I answer to my husband for taking so +little care of his child?" + +"My dear daughter, don't borrow trouble," Elsie said cheerfully, though +her own cheek had grown very pale; "it was in my care he left her, not +in yours." + +"Don't fret, Vi," Edward said; "I don't believe she's drowned; she has +more sense than to go where the tide would reach her; but I'll go at +once to look for her, and engage others in the search also." + +He started for the door. + +"She may be out on the moors, Ned," called Zoe, running after him with +his waterproof coat. "Here, put this on." + +"No time to wait for that," he said. + +"But you must take time," she returned, catching hold of him and +throwing it over his shoulders; "men have to obey their wives once in +awhile; Lu's not drowning; don't you believe it; and she may as well get +a wetting as you." + +Grace, hiding her head in Violet's lap, was sobbing bitterly, the latter +stroking her hair in a soothing way, but too full of grief and alarm +herself to speak any comforting words. + +"Don't cry, Gracie; and, Vi, don't look so distressed," said Betty. +"Lulu, like myself, is one of those people that need never be worried +about--the bad pennies that always turn up again." + +"Then she isn't fit for heaven," remarked Rosie in an undertone not +meant for her sister's ear; "but I don't believe," she added in a louder +key, "that there is anything worse the matter than too long a walk for +her to get back in good season." + +"That is my opinion, Vi," said Mrs. Dinsmore; and Elsie added, "Mine +also." + +No one spoke again for a moment, and in the silence the heavy boom, boom +of the surf on the beach below came distinctly to their ears. Then there +was a vivid flash of lightning and a terrific thunder crash, followed +instantly by a heavy down-pour of rain. + +"And she is out in all this!" exclaimed Violet in tones of deep +distress. "Dear child, if I only had her here safe in my arms, or if her +father were here to look after her!" + +"And punish her," added Rosie. "It's my humble opinion that if ever a +girl of her age needed a good whipping, she does." + +"Rosie," said her mother, with unwonted severity, "I cannot allow you to +talk in that way. Lulu's faults are different from yours, but perhaps no +worse; for while she is passionate and not sufficiently amenable to +authority, you are showing yourself both uncharitable and Pharisaical." + +"Well, mamma," Rosie answered, blushing deeply at the reproof, "I cannot +help feeling angry with her for giving poor Vi so much unnecessary worry +and distress of mind. And I am sure her father must have felt troubled +and mortified by the way she behaved for two or three days while he was +here." + +"But he loves her very dearly," said Violet; "so dearly that to lose +her in this way would surely break his heart." + +"But I tell you he is not going to lose her in this way," said Betty in +a lively tone; "don't you be a bit afraid of it." + +But Violet could not share the comfortable assurance; to her it seemed +more than likely Lulu had been too venturesome, and that a swiftly +incoming wave had carried her off her feet and swept her in its recoil +into the boiling sea. + +"I shall never see the dear child again!" was her anguished thought; +"and oh, what news to write to her father! He will not blame me, I know, +but oh, I cannot help blaming myself that I did not miss her sooner and +send some one to search for and bring her back." + +Elsie read her daughter's distress in her speaking countenance, and +sitting down by her side tried to cheer her with loving, hopeful words. + +"Dear Vi," she said, "I have a strong impression that the child is not +lost, and will be here presently. But whatever has happened, or may +happen, stay your heart, dear one, upon your God; trust Him for the +child, for your husband, and for yourself. You know that troubles do not +spring out of the ground, and to His children He gives help and +deliverance out of all He sends them. + +"'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.' 'He +shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea in seven there shall no evil +touch thee.'" + +There was perhaps not more than a half hour of this trying suspense +between Edward's departure in search of the missing child and her sudden +appearance in their midst: sudden it seemed because the roar of the sea +and howling of the storm drowned all other sounds from without, and +prevented any echo of approaching footsteps. + +"Lulu!" they all cried in varied tones of surprise and relief, as they +started up and gathered about her dripping figure. + +"Where have you been?" + +"How wet you are!" + +"Oh, dear child, I am so glad and thankful to see you; I have been +terribly frightened about you!" This last from Violet. + +"I--I didn't mean to be out so late or to go so far," stammered Lulu. +"And I didn't see the storm coming up in time, and it caught and +hindered me. Please, Mamma Vi, and Grandma Elsie, don't be angry about +it. I won't do so again." + +"We won't stop to talk about it now," Elsie said, answering for Violet +and herself; "your clothes must be changed instantly, for you are as wet +as if you had been in the sea; and that with fresh water, so that there +is great danger of your taking cold." + +"I should think the best plan would be for her to be rubbed with a +coarse towel till reaction sets in fully and then put directly to bed," +said Mrs. Dinsmore. "If that is done we may hope to find her as well in +the morning as if she had not had this exposure to the storm." + +Lulu made no objection nor resistance, being only too glad to escape so +easily. Still she was not quite sure that some punishment might not be +in store for her on the morrow. And she had an uncomfortable impression +that were it not for her father's absence it might not be a very light +one. + +When she was snugly in bed, Grandma Elsie came to her, bringing with her +own hands a great tumbler of hot lemonade. + +"Drink this, Lulu," she said, in her own sweet voice and with a loving +look that made the little girl heartily ashamed of having given so much +trouble and anxiety; "it will be very good for you, I think, as well as +palatable." + +"Thank you, ma'am," Lulu said, tasting it; "it is delicious, so strong +of both lemon and sugar." + +"I am glad you like it; drink it all if you can," Elsie said. + +When Lulu had drained the tumbler it was carried away by Agnes, and +Grandma Elsie, sitting down beside the bed, asked, "Are you sleepy, my +child? If you are we will defer our talk till to-morrow morning; if not, +we will have it now." + +"I'm not sleepy," Lulu answered, blushing and averting her face, adding +to herself, "I suppose it's got to come, and I'd rather have it over." + +"You know, my child, that in the absence of your father and mine you are +my care and I am responsible for you, while you are accountable to me +for your good or bad behavior. Such being the case, it is now my duty to +ask you to give an account of your whereabouts and doings in the hours +that you were absent from us this evening." + +Lulu replied by an exact statement of the truth, pleading in excuse for +her escapade her father's permission to stroll about the beach, even +alone, her enjoyment of the exercise of walking along the bluff, and her +absorbing interest in the changing beauty of sky and sea--all which +tended to render her oblivious of time and space, so that on being +suddenly reminded of them she found herself much farther from home than +she had supposed. + +"Was it not merely within certain limits you were given permission to +ramble about the beach?" Elsie asked gently. + +"Yes, ma'am; papa said I was not to go far, and I did not intend to; +indeed, indeed, Grandma Elsie, I had not the least intention of +disobeying, but forgot everything in the pleasure of the walk and the +beautiful sights." + +"Do you think that is sufficient excuse, and ought to be accepted as +fully exonerating you from blame in regard to this matter?" + +"I don't think people can help forgetting sometimes," Lulu replied, a +trifle sullenly. + +"I remember that in dealing with me as a child my father would never +take forgetfulness of his orders as any excuse for disobedience; and +though it seemed hard then, I have since thought he was right, because +the forgetfulness is almost always the result of not having deemed the +matter of sufficient importance to duly charge the memory with it. + +"In the Bible God both warns us against forgetting and bids us remember: + +"'Remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.' + +"'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' + +"'Beware lest thou forget the Lord.' + +"'The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget +God.' + +"You see that God does not accept forgetfulness as a sufficient excuse, +or any excuse for sin." + +"Then you won't, of course," muttered Lulu, carefully avoiding looking +into the kind face bending over her; "how am I to be punished? I don't +feel as if anybody has a _right_ to punish me but papa," she added, with +a flash of indignant anger. + +"I heartily wish he were here to attend to it," was the response, in a +kindly pitying tone. "But since, unfortunately, he is not, and my +father, too, is absent, the unpleasant duty devolves upon me. I have not +had time to fully consider the matter, but have no thought of being very +severe with you; and perhaps if you knew all the anxiety and sore +distress suffered on your account this evening--particularly by your +mamma and little sister--you would be sufficiently punished already." + +"Did Mamma Vi care?" Lulu asked, in a half-incredulous tone. + +"My child, she was almost distracted," Elsie said. "She loves you for +both your own and your father's sake. Besides, as she repeated again and +again, she was sorely distressed on his account, knowing his love for +you to be so great that to lose you would well-nigh break his heart." + +A flash of joy illumined Lulu's face at this new testimony to her +father's love for her, but passed away as suddenly as it came. + +"I do feel punished in hearing that you were all so troubled about me, +Grandma Elsie," she said, "and I mean to be very, very careful not to +cause such anxiety again. Please tell Mamma Vi I am sorry to have given +her pain; but she shouldn't care anything about such a naughty girl." + +"That, my child, she cannot help," Elsie said; "she loves your father +far too well not to love you for his sake." + +After a little more kindly admonitory talk she went away, leaving a +tender, motherly kiss upon the little girl's lips. + +At the door Grace met her with a request for a good-night kiss, which +was promptly granted. + +"Good-night, dear little one; pleasant dreams and a happy awaking, if it +be God's will," Elsie said, bending down to touch her lips to the +rosebud mouth and let the small arms twine themselves around her neck. + +"Good-night, dear Grandma Elsie," responded the child. "Oh, aren't you +ever so glad God brought our Lulu safely home to us?" + +"I am indeed, dear; let us not forget to thank Him for it in our prayers +to-night." + +Lulu heard, and as Grace's arms went round her neck the next moment, and +the sweet lips, tremulous with emotion, touched her cheek, + +"Were you so distressed about me, Gracie?" she asked with feeling. "Did +Mamma Vi care so very much that I might be drowned?" + +"Yes, indeed, Lu, dear Lu; oh, what could I do without my dear sister?" + +"You know you have another one now," Suggested Lulu. + +"That doesn't make any difference," said Grace. "She's the darling baby +sister; you are the dear, dear big sister." + +"Papa calls me his little girl," remarked Lulu, half musingly; "and +somehow I like to be little to him and big to you. Oh, Gracie, what do +you suppose he will say when he hears about to-night?--my being so bad; +and so soon after he went away, too." + +"Oh, Lu, what made you?" + +"Because I was careless; didn't think; and I begin to believe that it +was because I didn't choose to take the trouble," she sighed. "I'm +really afraid if papa were here I should get just the same sort of a +punishment he gave me before. Gracie, don't you ever, ever tell anybody +about that." + +"No, Lu; I promised I wouldn't. But I should think you'd be punished +enough with all the wetting and the fright; for weren't you most scared +to death?" + +"No; I was frightened, but not nearly so much as that. Not so much as I +should be if papa were to walk in just now; because he'd have to hear +all about it, and then he'd look so sorry and troubled, and punish me +besides." + +"Then you wouldn't be glad to see papa if he came back?" Grace said, in +a reproachfully inquiring tone. + +"Yes, I should," Lulu answered, promptly; "the punishment wouldn't last +long, you know; he and I would both get over it pretty soon, and then it +would be so delightful to have him with us again." + +Lulu woke the next morning feeling no ill effects whatever from her +exposure to the storm. + +Before she and Grace had quite finished their morning toilet Grandma +Elsie was at their door, asking if they were well. She stayed for a +little chat with them, and Lulu asked what her punishment was to be. + +"Simply a prohibition of lonely rambles," Elsie answered, with a grave +but kindly look; "and I trust it will prove all-sufficient; you are to +keep near the rest of us for your own safety." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him + chasteneth him betimes."--_Prov_. 13: 24. + + +When the morning boat touched at Nantucket pier there were among the +throng which poured ashore two fine-looking gentlemen--one in the prime +of life, the other growing a little elderly--who sought out at once a +conveyance to 'Sconset. + +The hackman had driven them before, and recognized them with evident +pleasure mingled with surprise. + +"Glad to see you back again, capt'n," he remarked, addressing the +younger of his two passengers; "but it's kind of unexpected, isn't it? I +understood you'd gone to join your ship, expecting to sail directly for +foreign parts." + +"Yes, that was all correct," returned Captain Raymond, gayly, for he it +was, in company with Mr. Dinsmore; "but orders are sometimes +countermanded, as they were in this instance, to my no small content." + +"They'll be dreadful glad to see you at 'Sconset," was the next remark; +"surprised, too. By the way, sir, your folks had a fright last evening." + +"A fright?" inquired both gentlemen in a breath, and exchanging a look +of concern. + +"Yes, sirs; about one of your little girls, capt'n--the oldest one, I +understood it was. Seems she'd wandered off alone to Tom Never's Head, +or somewhere in that neighborhood, and was caught by the darkness and +storm, and didn't find her way home till the older folks had begun to +think she'd been swept away by the tide, which was coming in, to be +sure; but they thought it might have been the backward flow of a big +wave that had rushed up a little too quick for her, taking her off her +feet and hurrying her into the surf before she could struggle up again." + +All the captain's gayety was gone, and his face wore a pained, troubled +look. + +"But she did reach home in safety at last?" he said, inquiringly. + +"Oh, yes; all right except for a wetting, which probably did her no +harm. But now maybe I'm telling tales out of school," he added, with a +laugh. "I shouldn't like to get the little girl into trouble, so I hope +you'll not be too hard on her, capt'n. I dare say the fright has been +punishment enough to keep her from doing the like again." + +"I wish it may have been," was all the captain said. + +Then he fell into a revery so deep that he scarcely caught a word of a +brisk conversation, in regard to some of the points of interest on the +island, carried on between Mr. Dinsmore and the hackman. + +Lulu was having an uncomfortable day. When she met the family at the +breakfast-table Grandma Rose seemed to regard her with cold displeasure; +"Mamma Vi" spoke gently and kindly; hoping she felt no injury from last +night's exposure, but looked wretchedly ill; and in answer to her +mother's inquiries admitted that she had been kept awake most of the +night by a violent headache, to which Rosie added, in an indignant tone, +and with an angry glance at Lulu: + +"Brought on by anxiety in regard to a certain young miss who is always +misbehaving and causing a world of trouble to her best friends." + +"Rose, Rose," Elsie said, reprovingly; "let me hear no more such +remarks, or I shall send you from the table." + +Lulu had appeared in their midst, feeling humble and contrite, and had +been conscience-smitten at sight of her mamma's pale face; but the sneer +on Betty's face, the cold, averted looks of Edward and Zoe, and then +Rosie's taunt roused her quick temper to almost a white heat. + +She rose, and pushing back her chair with some noise, turned to leave +the table at which she had but just seated herself. + +"What is it, Lulu?" asked Grandma Elsie, in a tone of gentle kindliness. +"Sit still, my child, and ask for what you want." + +"Thank you, ma'am," said Lulu. "I do not want anything but to go away. +I'd rather do without my breakfast than stay here to be insulted." + +"Sit down, my child," repeated Elsie, as gently and kindly as before; +"Rosie will make no more unkind remarks; and we will all try to treat +you as we would wish to be treated were we in your place." + +No one else spoke. Lulu resumed her seat and ate her breakfast, but with +little appetite or enjoyment; and on leaving the table tried to avoid +contact with any of those who had caused her offence. + +"May I go down to the beach, Grandma Elsie?" she asked, in low, +constrained tones, and with her eyes upon the floor. + +"If you will go directly there, to the seats under the awning which we +usually occupy, and not wander from them farther than they are from the +cliff," Elsie answered. "Promise me that you will keep within those +bounds, and I shall know I may trust you; for you are an honest child." + +The cloud lifted slightly from Lulu's brow at those kindly words. She +gave the promise, and walked slowly away. + +As she descended the stairway that led down the face of the cliff, she +saw that Edward and Zoe were sitting side by side on one of the benches +under the awning. + +She did not fancy their company just now, and knew hers would not be +acceptable to them. She thought she would pass them and seat herself in +the sand a little farther on. + +Edward was speaking as she came up behind them, and she heard him say, +"It was the most uncomfortable meal ever eaten in our family; and all +because of that ungovernable child." + +Lulu flushed hotly, and stepping past turned and confronted him with +flashing eyes. + +"I heard you, Uncle Edward," she said, "though I had no intention of +listening; and I say it is very unjust to blame me so when it was +Rosie's insulting tongue and other people's cold, contemptuous looks +that almost drove me wild." + +"You are much too easily driven wild," he said. "It is high time you +learned to have some control over your temper. If I were your father I'd +teach it you, even if I must try the virtue of a rod again and again; +also you should learn proper submission to authority, if it had to be +taught in the same manner." + +Lulu was too angry to speak for a moment; she stood silent, trembling +with passion, but at length burst out: "It's none of your business how +papa manages me, Mr. Travilla; and I'm very glad he's my father instead +of you!" + +"You are a very saucy girl, Lulu Raymond," said Zoe, reddening with +anger on her husband's account, "and shamefully ungrateful for all Mr. +Travilla's kind exertions on your behalf last night." + +"Hush, hush, Zoe; do not remind her of it," Edward said. "'A benefit +upbraided forfeits thanks.' I should have done quite the same for any +one supposed to be in danger and distress." + +"What was it?" asked Lulu; "nobody told me he had done anything." + +"He was out for hours in all that storm, hunting you," replied Zoe, with +a proudly admiring glance at her husband. + +"I'm very much obliged," said Lulu, her voice softening. "And sorry you +suffered on my account," she added. + +"I did not suffer anything worth mentioning," he responded; "but your +mamma was sorely distressed--thinking you might be in the sea--and, in +consequence, had a dreadful headache all night. And since such dire +consequences may follow upon your disregard for rules and lawful +authority, Lulu, I insist that you shall be more amenable to them. + +"I believe you think that when your father and grandpa are both away you +can do pretty much as you please; but you shall not while I am about. I +won't have my mother's authority set at defiance by you or any one +else." + +"Who wants to set it at defiance?" demanded Lulu, wrathfully. "Not I, I +am sure. But I won't be ruled by you, for papa never said I should." + +"I think I shall take down this conversation and report it to him," +Edward said, only half in earnest. + +Lulu turned quickly away, greatly disturbed by the threat, but resolved +that her alarm should not be perceived by either him or Zoe. Walking a +few yards from them, she sat down upon the sand and amused herself +digging in it, but with thoughts busied with the problem, "What will +papa say and do if that conversation is reported to him?" + +A very little consideration of the question convinced her that if +present her father would say she had been extremely impertinent, punish +her for it, and make her apologize. + +Presently a glance toward the cottages on the bluff showed her Violet +and Grace descending the stairway. She rose and hurried to meet them. + +"Mamma Vi," she said, as soon as within hearing, "I am ever so sorry to +have frightened you so last night and given you a headache. But you +oughtn't to care whether such a naughty girl as I am is drowned or not." + +"How can you talk so, Lulu dear?" Violet answered, putting an arm round +the child's waist and giving her a gentle kiss. "Do you think your Mamma +Vi has no real love for you? If so, you are much mistaken. I love you, +Lulu, for yourself, and dearly for your father's sake. Oh, I wish you +loved him well enough to try harder to be good in order to add to his +happiness; it would add to it more than anything else that I know of. +Your naughtiness does not deprive you of his fatherly affection, but it +does rob him of much enjoyment which he would otherwise have." + +Lulu hung her head in silence, turned, and walked away full of +self-accusing and penitent thoughts. She was not crying; tears did not +come so readily to her eyes as to those of many children of her age, but +her heart was aching with remorseful love for her absent father. + +"To think that I spoiled his visit home," she sighed to herself. "Oh, I +wish he could come back to have it over again, and I would try to be +good and not spoil his enjoyment in the very least!" + +"Come back now?" something seemed to reply; "suppose he should; wouldn't +he punish you for your behavior since he left, only two days ago?" + +"Yes," she sighed; "I haven't the least doubt that if he were here and +knew all he would punish me severely again; and I suppose he wouldn't be +long in the house before he would hear it all; yet for all that I should +be--oh, so glad if he could come back to stay a good while." + +Last night's storm had spent itself in a few hours, and the morning was +bright and clear; yet a long drive planned for that day by our friends +was unanimously postponed, as several of them had lost sleep, and wanted +to make it up with a nap. + +Violet sought her couch immediately after dinner, slept off the last +remains of her headache, and about the middle of the afternoon was +preparing to go down to the beach, where all the others were, except +Grace, who was seldom far from mamma's side, when the outer door opened, +and a step and voice were heard which she had not hoped to hear again +for months or years. + +The next moment she was in her husband's arms, her head pillowed on his +breast, while his lips were pressed again and again to brow and cheek +and lips, and Grace's glad shout arose, in sweet, silvery tones, "Papa +has come back! Papa has come back! My dear, dear papa!" + +"Can it be possible, my dear, dear husband?" cried Violet, lifting to +his a face radiant with happiness. "It seems too good to be true." + +"Not quite so good as that," he said, with a joyous laugh, "But it is +quite a satisfaction to find that you are not sorry to see me." + +"Of which you were terribly afraid, of course," she returned, gayly. "Do +tell me at once how long our powers of endurance of such uncongenial +society are to be taxed?" + +"Ah, that is beyond my ability." + +"Then we may hope for weeks or months?" she said, rapturously. + +"Certainly we are not forbidden to hope," he answered, smiling tenderly +upon her. + +"Oh, I am so glad!" she said, with a happy sigh, leaning her head on his +shoulder and gazing fondly up into his face, his right arm about her +waist, while Grace clung to the other hand, holding it lovingly between +her own and pressing her lips to it again and again. + +"Ah, my darling little girl," he said presently, letting Violet go to +take Grace in his arms. "Are you glad to see papa back again so soon?" + +"Oh, yes, indeed; nothing else could have made me so very, very glad!" +she cried, hugging him close, and giving and receiving many tender +caresses. + +"But how did it happen. Levis?" Violet was asking. + +"Through some unlooked-for change in the plans and purposes of the +higher powers," he answered, lightly. "My orders were countermanded, +with no reasons given, and I may remain with my family till further +orders; and, as you say, we will hope it may be months before they are +received." + +"And you were glad to come back to us?" Violet said, inquiringly, but +with not a shade of doubt in her tones. + +"Yes, yes indeed; I was full of joy till I heard that one of my children +had been disobeying me, bringing serious consequences upon herself and +others." + +His countenance had grown very grave and stern. "Where is Lulu?" he +asked, glancing about in search of her. + +"Down on the beach with mamma and the rest," Violet answered. + +"Can you give me a true and full account of her behavior since I have +been away?" he asked. + +"My dear husband," Violet said, entreatingly, "please do not ask me." + +"Pardon me, dearest," he returned. "I should not have asked you; Lulu +must tell me herself; thankful I am that many and serious as are her +faults, she is yet so honest and truthful that I can put full confidence +in her word and feel sure that she will not deceive me, even to save +herself from punishment." + +"I think that is high praise, and that Lulu is deserving of it," +remarked Violet, glad of an opportunity to speak a word in the child's +favor. + +Captain Raymond gave her a pleased, grateful look. "You were going to +the beach, were you not?" he said. "Then please go on; I shall follow +after I have settled this matter with Lulu. There can be no comfort for +her or myself till it is settled. Gracie, go and tell your sister to +come here to me immediately." + +"Do be as lenient as your sense of duty will allow, dear husband," +whispered Violet in his ear, then hastened on her way. + +Grace was lingering, gazing at him with wistful, tear-filled eves. + +"What is it?" he asked, bending down to smooth her hair caressingly. +"You should go at once, little daughter, when papa bids." + +"I would, papa, only--only I wanted to--to ask you not to punish Lulu +very hard." + +"I am glad my little Gracie loves her sister," he said; "and you need +never doubt, my darling, that I dearly love both her and you. Go now +and give her my message." + +All day long Lulu had kept herself as far apart from the others--her +sister excepted--as lay in her power. She was sitting now alone in the +sand, no one within several yards of her, her hands folded in her lap, +while she gazed far out to sea, her eyes following a sail in the distant +offing. + +"Perhaps it is papa's ship," she was saying to herself. "Oh, how long +will it be before we see him again! And oh, how sorry he will be when he +hears about last night and this morning!" + +At that instant she felt Grace's arms suddenly thrown round her, while +the sweet child voice exclaimed, in an ecstasy of delight, "Oh, Lu, he +_has_ come! he _has_, he _has_!" + +"Who?" Lulu asked, with a start and tremble that reminded Grace of the +message she had to deliver, and that Lulu's pleasure at their father's +unexpected return could not be so unalloyed as her own; all which she +had forgotten for the moment in the rapture of delight she herself felt +at his coming. + +"Papa, Lulu," she answered, sobering down, a good deal; "and I was 'most +forgetting that he sent me to tell you to come to him immediately." + +"Did he?" Lulu asked, trembling more than before. "Does he know about +last night, Gracie? Did Mamma Vi tell him?" + +"He knows 'bout it; somebody told him before he got to 'Sconset," said +Grace. "But mamma didn't tell him at all; he asked her, but she begged +him to please not ask her. Mamma doesn't ever tell tales on us, I'm +sure." + +"No, I don't believe she does. But what did papa say then?" + +"That you should tell him all about it yourself; you were an honest +child, serious as your faults were, and lie could trust you to own the +truth, even when you were to be punished for it. But, Lulu, you have to +go right up to the house; papa said 'immediately.'" + +"Yes," Lulu replied, getting upon her feet very slowly, and looking a +good deal frightened; "did papa seem very angry?" + +"I think he intends to punish you," Grace replied, in a sorrowful tone; +"but maybe he won't if you say you're sorry and won't do so any more. +But hurry, Lulu, or he may punish you for not obeying promptly." + +"Is Mamma Vi there?" asked Lulu, still lingering. + +"No; yonder she is; don't you see?" said Grace, nodding her head in the +direction of the awning under which nearly their whole party were now +seated: "there's nobody there but papa. Oh hurry, Lulu, or he will whip +you, I'm afraid." + +"Don't you ever say that before anybody, Gracie," Lulu said, low and +tremulously; then turned and walked rapidly toward the stairway that led +up the bluff to the cottages. + +At a window looking toward the bluff the captain stood, watching for +Lulu's coming. + +"She is not yielding very prompt obedience to the order," he said to +himself; "but what wonder? The poor child doubtless dreads the +interview extremely; in fact, _I_ should be only too glad to escape it; +'tis no agreeable task to have to deal out justice to one's own child--a +child so lovable, in spite of her faults. How much easier to pass the +matter over slightly, merely administering a gentle reprimand! But no, I +cannot; 'twould be like healing slightly the festering sore that +threatens the citadel of life. I must be faithful to my God-given trust, +however trying to my feelings. Ah, there she is!" as a little figure +appeared at the top of the staircase and hurried across the intervening +space to the open doorway. + +There she halted, trembling and with downcast eyes. It was a minute or +more before she ventured to lift them, and then it was a very timid +glance she sent in her father's direction. + +He was looking at her with a very grave, rather stern, countenance, and +her eyes fell again, while still she shrank from approaching him. + +"You are not very glad to see me, I think," he said, holding out his +hand, but with no relaxing of the sternness of his expression. + +"Oh, papa, yes! yes, indeed I am!" she burst out, springing to his side +and putting her hand in his, "even though I suppose you are going to +punish me just as you did the last time." + +He drew her to his knee, but without offering her the slightest caress. + +"Won't you kiss me, papa?" she asked, with a little sob. + +"I will; but you are not to take it as a token of favor; only of your +father's love that is never withdrawn from you, even when he is most +severe in the punishment of your faults," he answered, pressing his lips +again and again to forehead, cheeks, and lips. "What have you done that +you expect so severe a punishment?" + +"Papa, you know, don't you?" she said, hiding her blushing face on his +breast. + +"I choose to have you tell me; I want a full confession of all the +wrong-doing you have been guilty of since I left you the other day." + +"I disobeyed you last night, papa, about taking a long walk by myself; +but it was because I forgot to notice how far I was going; at least, I +didn't notice," she stammered, remembering that she had wilfully +refrained from so doing. + +"You forgot? forgot to pay attention to your father's commands? did not +think them of sufficient importance for you to take the trouble to +impress them upon your mind. I cannot accept that excuse as a good and +sufficient one. + +"And, tell me honestly, are you not, as I strongly suspect, less careful +to obey your father's orders when he is away, so that you feel yourself +in a measure out of his reach, than when he is close at hand?" + +"Papa, you ask such hard questions," she said. + +"Hard to my little daughter only because of her own wrong-doing. But +hard or easy, they must be answered. Tell me the truth, would you not +have been more careful to keep within prescribed bounds last night if I +had been at home, or you had known that you would see me here to-day?" + +"Yes, papa," she answered, in a low, unwilling tone. "I don't think +anybody else can have quite so much authority over me as you, and--and +so I do, I suppose, act a little more as if I could do as I please when +you are away." + +"And that after I have explained to you again and again that in my +absence you are quite as much under the authority of the kind friends +with whom I have placed you as under mine when I am with you. I see +there is no effectual way to teach you the lesson but by punishing you +for disregarding it." + +Then he made her give him a detailed account of her ramble of the night +before and its consequences. + +When she had gone as far in the narrative as her safe arrival among the +alarmed household, he asked whether her Grandma Elsie inflicted any +punishment upon her. + +"No, sir," answered Lulu, hanging her head and speaking in a sullen +tone. "I told her I didn't feel as if anybody had any right to punish me +but you." + +"Lulu I did you dare to talk in that way to her?" exclaimed the captain. +"I hope she punished you for your impertinence; for if she did not I +certainly must." + +"She lectured me then, and this morning told me my punishment was a +prohibition against wandering away from the rest more than just a few +yards. + +"But, papa, they were all so unkind to me at breakfast--I mean all but +Grandma Elsie and Mamma Vi and Gracie. Betty looked sneering, and the +others so cold and distant, and Rosie said something very insulting +about my being a bad, troublesome child and frightening Mamma Vi into a +headache." + +"Certainly no more than you deserved," her father said. "Did you bear +it with patience and humility, as you ought?" + +"Do you mean that I must answer you, papa?" + +"Most assuredly I do; tell me at once exactly what you did and said." + +"I don't want to, papa," she said, half angrily. + +"You are never to say that when I give you an order," he returned, in a +tone of severity; "never venture to do it again. Tell me, word for word, +as nearly as you can remember it, what reply you made to Rosie's taunt." + +"Papa, I didn't say anything to her; I just got up and pushed back my +chair, and turned to leave the table. Then Grandma Elsie asked me what I +wanted, and I said I didn't want anything, but would rather go without +my breakfast than stay there to be insulted. Then she told me to sit +down and eat, and Rosie wouldn't make any more unkind speeches." + +"Were they all pleasant to you after that?" he asked. + +"No, papa; they haven't been pleasant to me at all to-day; and Uncle +Edward has said hateful things about me, and to me," she went on, her +cheek flushing and her eyes flashing with anger, half forgetting, in +the excitement of passion, to whom she was telling her story, and +showing her want of self-control. + +"And I very much fear," he said, gravely, "that you were both passionate +and impertinent. Tell me just what passed." + +"If I do you'll punish me, I know you will," she burst out. "Papa, don't +you think it's a little mean to make me tell on myself and then punish +me for what you find out in that way?" + +"If my object was merely to give you pain, I think it would be mean +enough," he said, not at all unkindly; "but as I am seeking your best +interests--your truest happiness--in trying to gain full insight into +your character and conduct, meaning to discipline you only for your +highest good, I think it is not mean or unkind. From your unwillingness +to confess to me, I fear you must have been in a great passion and very +impertinent. Is it not so?" + +"Papa, I didn't begin it; if I'd been let alone I shouldn't have got in +a passion or said anything saucy." + +"Possibly not; but what is that virtue worth which cannot stand the +least trial? You must learn to rule your own spirit, not only when +everything goes smoothly with you, but under provocation; and in order +to help you to learn that lesson--or rather as a means toward teaching +it to you--I shall invariably punish any and every outbreak of temper +and every impertinence of yours that come under my notice when I am at +home. Now, tell me exactly what passed between your Uncle Edward and +yourself." + +Seeing there was no escape for her, Lulu complied, faithfully repeating +every word of the short colloquy at the beach when she went down there +directly after breakfast. + +Her father listened in astonishment, his face growing sterner every +moment. + +"Lucilla," he said, "you are certainly the most impertinent, insolent +child I ever saw! I don't wonder you were afraid to let me know the +whole truth in regard to this affair. I am ashamed of your conduct +toward both your Grandma Elsie and your Uncle Edward. You must apologize +to both of them, acknowledging that you have been extremely impertinent, +and asking forgiveness for it." + +Lulu made no reply; her eyes were downcast, her face was flushed with +passion, and wore a stubborn look. + +"I won't;" the words were on the tip of her tongue; she had almost +spoken them, but restrained herself just in time; her father's authority +was not to be defied, as she had learned to her cost a year ago. + +He saw the struggle that was going on in her breast. "You must do it," +he said; "you may write your apologies, though, if you prefer that to +speaking them." + +He opened a writing-desk that stood on a table close at hand, and seated +her before it with paper, pen, and ink, and bade her write, at his +dictation. + +She did not dare refuse, and had really no very strong disinclination to +do so in regard to the first, which was addressed to Grandma Elsie--a +lady so gentle and kind that even proud Lulu was willing to humble +herself to her. + +But when it came to Edward's turn her whole soul rose up in rebellion +against it. Yet she dared not say either "I won't" or "I don't want to." +But pausing, with the pen in her fingers: + +"Papa," she began timidly, "please don't make me apologize to him; he +had no right to talk to me the way he did." + +"I am not so sure of that," the captain said. "I don't blame him for +trying to uphold his mother's authority; and now I think of it, you are +to consider yourself under his control in the absence of your mamma and +the older persons to whom I have given authority over you. Begin at once +and write what I have told you to." + +When the notes were written, signed, and folded he put them in his +pocket, turned and paced the floor. + +Lulu, glancing timidly into his face, saw that it was pale and full of +pain, but very stern and determined. + +"Papa, are you--are you going to punish me?" she asked, tremulously. "I +mean as you did the other day?" + +"I think I must," he said, pausing beside her, "though it grieves me to +the very heart to do it; but you have been disobedient, passionate, and +very impertinent; it is quite impossible for me to let you slip. But you +may take your choice between that and being locked up in the bedroom +there for twenty-four hours, on bread and water. Which shall it be?" + +"I'd rather take the first, papa," said Lulu, promptly, "because it will +be over in a few minutes, and nobody but ourselves need know anything +about it." + +"I made sure you would choose the other," he said, in some surprise; +"yet I think your choice is wise. Come!" + +"Oh, papa, I'm so frightened," she said, putting her trembling hand in +his; "you did hurt me so dreadfully the other time; must you be as +severe to-day?" + +"My poor child, I am afraid I must," he said; "a slight punishment seems +to avail nothing in your case, and I must do all in my power to make you +a good, gentle, obedient child." + +A few minutes later Captain Raymond joined the others on the beach, but +Lulu was not with him. She had been left behind in the bedroom, where +she must stay, he told her, until his return. + +Everybody seemed glad to see him; but after greeting them all in turn, +he drew Violet to a seat a little apart from the others. + +Grace followed, of course, keeping close to her father's side. "Where is +Lulu, papa?" she asked with a look of concern, + +"Up at the house." + +"Won't you let her come down here, papa? She loves so to be close down +by the waves." + +"She may come after a little," he said, "but not just now." Then taking +two tiny notes from his pocket: "Here, Gracie," he said, "take this to +your Grandma Elsie and this to your Uncle Edward." + +"Yes, sir; must I wait for an answer?" + +"Oh, no," he replied, with a slight smile; "you may come right back to +your place by papa's side." + +Elsie read the little missive handed her at a glance, rose up hastily, +and went to the captain with it in her hand, a troubled look on her +face. + +"My dear captain," she said, in a tone of gentle remonstrance, "why did +you do this? The child's offence against me was not a grave one in my +esteem, and I know that to one of her temperament it would be extremely +galling to be made to apologize. I wish you had not required it of her." + +"I thought it for her good, mother," he answered; "and I think so still; +she is so strongly inclined to impertinence and insubordination that I +must do all in my power to train her to proper submission to lawful +authority and respect for superiors." + +Edward joined them at that moment. He looked disturbed and chagrined. + +"Really, captain," he said, "I am not at all sure that Lulu has not as +much right to an apology from me as I to this from her. I spoke to her +in anger, and with an assumption of authority to which I really had no +right, so that there was ample excuse for her not particularly +respectful language to me. I am sorry, therefore, she has had the pain +of apologizing." + +"You are very kind to be so ready to over look her insolence," the +captain said; "but I cannot permit such exhibitions of temper, and must, +at whatever cost, teach her to rule her own spirit." + +"Doubtless you are right," Edward said; "but I am concerned and +mortified to find that I have got her into such disgrace and trouble. I +must own I am quite attached to Lulu; she has some very noble and +lovable traits of character." + +"She has indeed," said his mother; "she is so free from the least taint +of hypocrisy or deceit; so perfectly honest and truthful; so +warm-hearted, too; so diligent and energetic in anything she undertakes +to do--very painstaking and persevering--and a brave, womanly little +thing." + +The captain's face brightened very much as he listened to these praises +of his child. + +"I thank you heartily, mother and brother," he said; "for the child is +very dear to her father's heart, and praise of her is sweet to my ear. I +can see all these lovable traits, but feared that to other eyes than +mine they might be entirely obscured by the very grave faults joined +with them. But it is just like you both to look at the good rather than +the evil. + +"And you have done so much for my children! I assure you I often think +of it with the feeling that you have laid me under obligations which I +can never repay." + +"Ah, captain," Elsie said, laughingly, "you have a fashion of making a +great mountain out of a little mole-hill of kindness. Flattery is not +good for human nature, you know, so I shall leave you and go back to +papa, who has a wholesome way of telling me of my faults and failings." + +"I really don't know where he finds them," returned Captain Raymond, +gallantly; but she was already out of hearing. + +"Nor I," said Violet, replying to his last remark; "mamma seems to me +to be as nearly perfect as a human creature can be in this sinful +world." + +"Now don't feel troubled about it, Ned," Zoe was saying to her husband, +who was again at her side. "I think it was just right that she should be +made to apologize to you, for she was dreadfully saucy." + +"Yes; but I provoked her, and I ought to be, and am, greatly ashamed of +it. I fear, too, that in so doing I have brought a severe punishment +upon her." + +"Why should you think so?" + +"Because I know that such a task could not fail to be exceedingly +unpalatable to one of her temperament; and don't you remember how long +she stood out against her father's authority last summer when he bade +her ask Vi's pardon for impertinence to her?" + +"Yes; it took nearly a week of close confinement to make her do it; but +as he showed himself so determined in that instance, she probably saw +that it would be useless to attempt opposition to his will in this, and +so obeyed without being compelled by punishment." + +"Well, I hope so," he said. "She surely ought to know by this time that +he is not one to be trifled with." + +It seemed to Lulu a long time that she was left alone, shut up in the +little bedroom of the cottage, though it was in reality scarcely more +than half an hour. She was very glad when at last she heard her father's +step in the outer room, then his voice as he opened the door and asked, +"Would you like to take a walk with your papa, little girl?" + +"Yes indeed, papa!" was her joyful reply. + +"Then put on your hat and come." + +She made all haste to obey. + +"Is Gracie going too, papa? or anybody else?" she asked, putting her +hand confidingly into his. + +"No; you and I are going alone this time; do you think you will find my +company sufficient for once?" he asked, smiling down at her. + +"Oh yes, indeed, papa; I think it will be ever so nice to have you all +to myself; it's so seldom I can." + +They took the path along the bluffs toward "Tom Never's Head." + +When they had fairly left the village behind, so that no one could +overhear anything they might say to each other, the captain said, "I +want to have a talk with you, daughter, and we may as well take it out +here in the sweet fresh air, as shut up in the house." + +"Oh, yes, papa; it is so much pleasanter! I can hardly bear to stay in +the house at all down here at the seashore; and it seemed a long while +that you left me alone there this afternoon." + +"Yes, I suppose so: and I hope I shall not have occasion to do so again. +My child, did you ever consider what it is that makes you so rebellious, +so unwilling to submit to authority, and so ready to fly into a passion +and speak insolently to your superiors?" + +"I don't quite understand you papa," she said. "I only know that I can't +bear to have people try to rule me who have no right." + +"Sometimes you are not willing to be ruled even by your father; yet I +hardly suppose you would say he has no right?" + +"Oh, no, papa; I know better than that," she said, blushing and hanging +her head; "I know you have the best right in the world." + +"Yet sometimes you disobey me; at others obey in an angry, unwilling way +that shows you would rebel if you dared. + +"And pride is at the bottom of it all. You think so highly of yourself +and your own wisdom that you cannot bear to be controlled or treated as +one not capable of guiding herself. + +"But the Bible tells us that God hates pride. 'Every one that is proud +in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though hand join in hand, he +shall not be unpunished.' + +"'Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.' + +"'Proud and haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath.' + +"Ah, my dear daughter, I am sorely troubled when I reflect how often you +deal in that. My great desire for you is that you may learn to rule your +own spirit; that you may become meek and lowly in heart, patient and +gentle like the Lord Jesus, 'who when He was reviled, reviled not again; +when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that +judgeth righteously.' Do you never feel any desire to be like Him?" + +"Yes, papa, sometimes; and I determine that I will; but the first thing +I know I'm in a passion again; and I get so discouraged that I think +I'll not try any more to be good; for I just can't." + +"It is Satan who puts that thought in your heart," the captain said, +giving her a look of grave concern; "he knows that if he can persuade +you to cease to fight against the evil that is in your nature he is sure +to get possession of you at last. + +"He is a most malignant spirit, and his delight is in destroying souls. +The Bible bids us, 'Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the +devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.' + +"We are all sinners by nature, and Satan, and many lesser evil spirits +under him, are constantly seeking our destruction; therefore we have a +warfare to wage if we would attain eternal life, and no one who refuses +or neglects to fight this good fight of faith will ever reach heaven; +nor will any one who attempts it without asking help from on high. + +"So if you give up trying to be good you and I will have a sad time; +because it will be my duty to compel you to try. The Bible tells me, +'Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with +the rod he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt +deliver his soul from hell.' + +"I must if possible deliver you from going to that awful place, and also +from the dreadful calamities indulgence of a furious temper sometimes +brings even in this life; even a woman has been known to commit murder +while under the influence of unbridled rage; and I have known of one who +lamed her own child for life in a fit of passion. + +"Sometimes people become deranged simply from the indulgence of their +tempers. Do you think I should be a good and kind father if I allowed +you to go on in a path that leads to such dreadful ends here and +hereafter?" + +"No, sir," she said in an awed tone; "and I will try to control my +temper." + +"I am glad to hear that resolve," he replied. "The Bible tells us, 'He +that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his +spirit than he that taketh a city.'" + +They were silent for a little while, then hanging her head and blushing, +"Papa," she asked, "what did you do with those notes you made me write?" + +"Sent them to those to whom they were addressed. And they were very +kind, Lulu; much kinder than you deserved they should be; both your +Grandma Elsie and your Uncle Edward expressed regret that you had been +made to apologize, and spoke of you in affectionate terms." + +"I'm glad,'" she said with a sigh of relief; "and I don't mean ever to +be at all impertinent to them again." + +"I trust you will not indeed," he said. + +"Papa, I think this is about where I was the other evening when I first +noticed that the storm was coming." + +"A long way from home for a child of your age; especially alone and at +night. You must not indulge your propensity for wandering to a distance +from home by yourself. You are too young to understand the danger of it; +too young to be a guide to yourself, and must therefore be content to be +guided by older and wiser people. + +"You said, a while ago, 'I just can't be good;' did you mean to assert +that you could not help being disobedient to me that evening?" + +She hung her head and colored deeply. "It was so pleasant to walk along +looking at the beautiful, changing sea, papa," she said, "that I +couldn't bear to stop, and wouldn't let myself think how far I was +going." + +"Ah, just as I suspected; your could not was really would not; the +difficulty all in your will. You must learn to conquer your will when it +would take you in the wrong direction. + +"We will turn and go back now, as it is not far from tea-time." + +Lulu shrank from meeting the rest of their party, particularly Grandma +Elsie and Edward; but they all treated her so kindly that she was soon +at her ease among them again. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"I am rapt, and cannot +Cover the monstrous bulk of this ingratitude +With any size of words." + +--_Shakespeare_. + + +The next day they all set out soon after breakfast for a long drive, +taking the direction of the camping-ground of the lads, where they +called and greatly astonished Max with a sight of his father, whom he +supposed to be far out on the ocean. + +The boy's delight fully equalled his surprise, and he was inclined to +return immediately to 'Sconset; but the captain advised him to stay a +little longer where he was; and he accordingly decided to do so; though +regretting the loss of even an hour of the society of the father who was +to him the best man in the world and the most gallant and capable +officer of the navy; in short, the impersonation of all that was good, +wise, and brave. + +The 'Sconset cottages had been engaged only until the first of +September, but by that time our friends were so in love with life upon +the island that learning of some cottages on the cliffs, a little +north-west of Nantucket Town, which were just vacated and for rent, they +engaged two of them and at once moved in. + +From their new abodes they had a fine view of the ocean on that side of +the island, and from their porches could watch the swift-sailing yachts +and other vessels passing to and fro. + +The bathing-ground was reached by a succession of stairways built in the +face of the cliff. The surf was fine, and bathing less dangerous there +than at 'Sconset. Those of them who were fond of the sport found it most +enjoyable; but the captain took the children into the town almost every +day for a lesson in swimming, where the still bathing made it easy for +them. + +And now they took almost daily sails on the harbor, occasionally +venturing out into the ocean itself; pleasant drives also; visiting the +old windmill, the old graveyards, the soldiers' monument, and every +place of interest in the vicinity. + +Besides these, there was a little trip to Martha's Vineyard, and several +were taken to various points on the adjacent shores of the mainland. + +Much as they had enjoyed 'Sconset life, it now seemed very pleasant to +be again where they could pay frequent visits to libraries and stores, +go to church, and now and then attend a concert or lecture. + +And there was a good deal of quiet pleasure to be found in rambles +about the streets and queer byways and lanes of the quaint old town, +looking at its odd houses and gardens, and perhaps catching a glimpse of +the life going on within. + +They gained an entrance to some; one day it was to the home of an old +sea captain who had given up his former occupation and now wove baskets +of various sizes and shapes, all very neat, strong and substantial. + +There was always something pleasant to do; sometimes it was to take the +cars on the little three-mile railroad to Surfside and pass an hour or +two there; again to visit the Athenaeum and examine its stores of +curiosities and treasures, mostly of the sea; or to select a book from +its library; or to spend an hour among the old china and antique +furniture offered for sale to summer visitors. + +They were admitted to see the cast of the dauphin and bought photographs +of it, as well as of many of the scenes in and about the town, with +which to refresh their memories of the delightful old place when far +away, or to show to friends who had never had the pleasure of a visit to +its shores. + +Violet spent many an enjoyable hour in sketching, finding no lack of +subjects worthy of her pencil; and those of the party who liked botany +found curious and interesting specimens among the flora of the island. + +They had very delightful weather most of the time, but there was an +occasional rainy day when their employments and amusements must be such +as could be found within doors. + +But even these days, with the aid of fancy-work, and drawing materials, +newspapers, magazines and books, conversation and games, were very far +from dull and wearisome; often one read aloud while the others listened. + +One day Elsie brought out a story in manuscript. + +"I have been thinking," she said, "that this might interest you all as +being a tale of actual occurrences during the time of the French +Revolution; as we have been thinking and talking so much of that in +connection with the story of the poor little dauphin." + +"What is it? and who is the author?" asked her father. + +"It is an historical story written by Betty's sister Molly," she +answered. "For the benefit of the children I will make a few preparatory +remarks," she added, lightly, and with a pleasant smile. + + * * * * * + +"While France was torn by those terrible Internal convulsions, it was +also fighting the combined armies of other nations, particularly +Austria and Prussia, who were moved against it from sympathy with the +king, and a desire to reinstate him on his throne, and a sense of danger +to themselves if the disorganizing principles of the revolutionists +should spread into their territories. + +"Piedmont was involved in this conflict. Perhaps you remember that it is +separated from Dauphiny, in France, by the Cottian Alps, and that among +the valleys on the Piedmontese side dwell the Waldenses or +Vaudois-evangelical Christians, who were for twelve hundred years +persecuted by the Church of Rome. + +"Though their own sovereigns often joined in these persecutions, and the +laws of the land were always far more oppressive to them than to their +popish fellow-citizens, the Waldenses were ever loyal to king and +country and were sure to be called upon for their defence in time of +war. + +"In the spring of 1793--some three months after the beheading of King +Louis XVI.--and while the poor queen, the dauphin and the princesses, +his sister and aunt, still languished in their dreadful prisons--a +French army was attempting to enter Piedmont from Dauphiny, which they +could do only through the mountain-passes; and these all the able-bodied +Waldenses and some Swiss troops, under the command of General Godin, a +Swiss officer, were engaged in defending. + +"It is among the homes of the Waldenses, thus left defenceless against +any plot their popish neighbors might hatch for their destruction, that +the scene of this story is laid. + +"Now, papa, will you be so kind as to read it aloud?" she concluded, +handing it to him. + +"With pleasure," he said, and all having gathered around to listen, he +began. + + * * * * * + +"On a lovely morning in the middle of May, 1793, a young girl and a +little lad might have been seen climbing the side of a mountain +overlooking the beautiful Valley of Luserna. They were Lucia and Henri +Vittoria, children of a brave Waldensian soldier then serving in the +army of his king, against the French, with whom their country was at +war. + +"Lucia had a sweet, innocent face, lighted up by a pair of large, soft, +dark eyes, and was altogether very fair to look upon. Her lithe, slender +figure bounded from rock to rock with movements as graceful and almost +as swift as those of a young gazelle. + +"'Sister,' cried the lad half pantingly, 'how nimble and fleet of foot +you are to-day! I can scarce keep pace with you.' + +"'Ah, Henri, it is because my heart is so light and glad!' she returned +with a silvery laugh, pausing for an instant that he might overtake her. + +"'Yes,' he said, as he gained her side, 'the good news from my father +and Pierre, and Rudolph Goneto--that they are well and yet unharmed by +French sword or bullet--has filled all our hearts with joy. Is it not to +carry these glad tidings to Rudolph's mother we take this early walk?' + +"'Yes; a most pleasant errand, Henri;' and the rose deepened on the +maiden's cheek, already glowing with health and exercise. + +"They were now far above the valley, and another moment brought them to +their destination--a broad ledge of rock on which stood a cottage with +its grove of chestnut-trees, and a little patch of carefully cultivated +ground. + +"Magdalen Goneto, the mother of Rudolph, a matron of placid countenance +and sweet and gentle dignity of mien had seen their approach and come +forth to meet them. + +"She embraced Lucia with grave tenderness, bestowed a kind caress upon +Henri, and leading the way to her neat dwelling, seated them and herself +upon its porch, from which there was a magnificent view of the whole +extent of the valley. + +"To the left, and close at hand, lay San Giovanni, with its pretty +villages, smiling vineyards, cornfields and verdant meadows sloping +gently away to the waters of the Pelice. On the opposite side of the +river, situate upon a slight eminence was the Roman Catholic town of +Luserna. To the right, almost at their feet, embowered amid beautiful +trees--chestnut, walnut, and mulberry--La Tour, the Waldensian capital +and home of Lucia and Henri, nestled among its vineyards and orchards. + +"Farther up the vale might be seen Bobbi Villar, and many smaller +villages scattered amid the fields and vineyards, or hanging on the +slopes of the hills, while hamlets and single cottages clung here and +there to the rugged mountain-side, wherever a terrace, a little basin or +hollow afforded a spot susceptible of cultivation. Beyond all towered +the Cottian Alps, that form the barrier between Piedmont and Dauphiny, +their snowy pinnacles glittering in the rays of the newly risen sun. + +"It was thither the able-bodied men of the valley had gone to defend the +passes against the French. + +"Toward those lofty mountains Lucia's soft eyes turned with wistful, +questioning gaze; for there were father, brother, lover, hourly exposed +to all the dangers of war. + +"Magdalen noted the look, and softly murmured, 'God, even the God of our +fathers, cover their heads in the day of battle!' + +"'He will, I know He will,' said Lucia, turning to her friend with a +bright, sweet smile. + +"'You bring me tidings, my child,' said Magdalen, taking the maiden's +hand in hers, 'good tidings, for your face is full of gladness!' + +"'Yes, dear friend, your son is well,' Lucia answered with a modest, +ingenuous blush; 'my father also, and Pierre; we had word from them only +yesternight. But ah me!' she added with a sigh, 'what fearful scenes of +blood and carnage are yet enacted in Paris, the gay French capital! for +from thence also, the courier brought news. Blood, he says, flows like +water, and not content with having taken the life of their king, they +force the queen and the rest of the royal family to languish in prison; +and the guillotine is constantly at work dispatching its wretched +victims, whose only crime, in many instances, is that of wealth and +noble birth.' + +"'Alas, poor wretches! alas poor king and queen!' cried Magdalen; 'and, +for ourselves, what danger, should such bloodthirsty ruffians force an +entrance into our valleys! The passes had needs be well guarded!' + +"Lucia lingered not long with her friend, for home duties claimed her +attention. + +"Magdalen went with them to the brow of the hill, and again embracing +Lucia, said in tender, joyous accents, 'Though we must now bid adieu, +dear child, when the war is over you will come to brighten Rudolph's +home and mine with your constant presence.' + +"'Yes; such was the pledge he won from me ere we parted,' the maiden +answered with modest sincerity, a tender smile hovering about the full +red lips and a vivid color suffusing for an instant the delicately +rounded cheek. + +"Then with an affectionate good-by, she tripped away down the rocky +path, Henri following. + +"A glad flush still lingered on the sweet, girlish face, a dewy light +shone in the soft eyes. Her thoughts were full of Magdalen's parting +words and the picture they had called up of the happy married life +awaiting Rudolph and herself when he should return to the pursuits of +peace. + +"And he at his post in those more distant mountains, thought of her and +his mother; safe, as he fondly trusted, in the homes his strong arm was +helping to defend against a foreign foe. The Vaudois, judging others by +themselves, were, notwithstanding their many past experiences of the +treacherous cruelty of Rome, strangely unsuspicious of their popish +neighbors. + +"The descent was scarcely yet accomplished by our young friends, when +startled by the sound of heavy footsteps and gruff voices in their rear, +and casting a look behind them, they beheld, rapidly approaching by +another path which wound about the base of the mountain, two men of most +ruffianly aspect. + +"A wild terror seized upon the maiden as for an instant she caught the +gaze of mingled malice and sensuality they bent upon her; and seizing +Henri's hand, she flew over the ground toward La Tour with the fleetness +of a hunted doe. + +"For herself what had she not to fear! and for the child that he might +be slain or reserved for a fate esteemed by the Vaudois worse than +death, in being carried off to Pignerol and brought up in an idolatrous +faith. + +"The men pursued, calling to her with oaths, curses, obscene words, and +jeering laughter. + +"These but quickened her flight; she gained the bridge over the +Angrogna, sped across it, over the intervening ground, and through the +gate into the town; the footsteps of her pursuers echoing close behind. + +"'Ah ha! escaped my embraces for the present, have you, my pretty +barbet?' cried one of the miscreants, following her with gloating, cruel +eyes as she sped onward up the street, feeling only comparatively safe +even there. 'Ah well, it but delays my pleasure a few hours. I know +where to find ye and shall pay my respects to-night.' + +"'And I,' added his companion with a fierce laugh; 'to ye and many +another like ye. It's work quite to my taste Holy Mother Church has laid +out for us to-night, Andrea.' + +"'Yes, yes, Giuseppe, we'll not quarrel with the work or the wages; all +the plunder we can lay hands on; to say naught of the pretty maids such +as yon, or the escape from the fires of purgatory.' + +"They were wending their way to the convent of the Recollets as they +talked. Arrived at its gates they were immediately admitted, to find it +filled with cut-throats such as themselves, and soon learned that the +church also and the house of the cure were in like condition. + +"'Good!' they cried, 'how many names in all?' + +"'Seven hundred,' said one. + +"'Eight hundred,' asserted another. + +"'Well, well, be it which it may, we're strong enough for the work, all +the able-bodied barbetti being on the frontier,' cried Andrea, +exultingly, 'we'll make short shrift with the old men, women and +children.' + +"'Yes; long live the holy Roman Church! Hurrah for the holy faith! Down +with the barbetti!' cried a chorus of voices. 'We'll have a second St. +Bartholomew in these valleys and rid them of the hated presence of the +cursed heretics.' + +"'That we will,' responded Giuseppe. 'But what's the order of +proceedings?' + +"'All the faithful to meet at Luserna at sunset; the vesper bell of the +convent gives the signal shortly after, and we immediately spread +ourselves over the valley on a heretic hunt that from San Giovanni to +Bobbi shall leave not a soul alive to tell the tale.' + +"While Magdalen and Lucia conversed in the cottage of the former, M. +Brianza, cure of Luserna, seated in the confessional, listened with +horror and indignation to a tale of intended wholesale rapine, murder, +and arson, which his penitent was unfolding. + +"'I will have neither part nor lot in this thing,' said the priest to +himself, as he left the church a moment later; 'nay more, I shall warn +the intended victims of their danger.' + +"Hurrying to his house, he instantly dispatched messengers in all haste +to San Giovanni and La Tour. + +"About the same time, in the more remote town of Cavour, the fiendish +plot was revealed to Captain Odetti, an officer of the Piedmontese +militia, then enrolled to act against the French, with a request that he +would take part in its execution. Being a rigid Romanist it was +confidently expected that he would willingly do so. + +"But as noble and humane a man as Luserna's good cure, he listened with +like horror and detestation, and mounting his horse, instantly set off +for La Tour to warn the helpless folk of the threatened calamity, and +assist in averting it, if that might yet be possible. + +"He travelled post haste, for time pressed; the appointed hour for the +attack already drew so near that it was doubtful if even the most prompt +action could still avail. + +"Pale and breathless with haste and terror, Lucia and Henri gained the +shelter of their home, and in reply to the anxious questioning of mother +and grandparents, told of the hot pursuit of the evil men who had chased +them into the town. + +"Their story was heard with much concern, not only by the family, but +also by a young man who had entered nearly at the same moment with +themselves. + +"His right arm was in a sling; his face, thin and wan with suffering, +wore an expression of anxiety and alarm which deepened momentarily as +the narrative proceeded. + +"'How is Bianca?' he asked, upon its conclusion, the quiet tone telling +nothing of the profound solicitude that filled his breast. + +"'Much the same,' returned Sara Vittoria, the mother. + +"'A little better, I think,' said a weak but cheerful voice from the +next room. 'Maurice, how is your poor arm? come and tell me.' + +"He rose and complied with the request. + +"Bianca, the elder sister of Lucia, had been for a year or more the +betrothed of Maurice Laborie. He found her lying pale and languid upon a +couch. + +"'What is it, Maurice?' she asked, presently, noticing his troubled +look. + +"'I wish you were well, Bianca.' + +"'Ah! I am more concerned about your wound.' + +"His thoughts seemed far away. He rose hastily. + +"'I must speak to your grandsire. I will be in again;' and he left the +room. + +"Marc Rozel, the father of Sara Vittoria, a venerable, white-haired +veteran who had seen his four-score years and ten, sat at the open door +of the cottage, leaning upon his staff, his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon +the towering heights of Mount Vandelin. + +"'"As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round +about His people from henceforth even forever,"' Maurice heard him +murmur as he drew near. + +"There was comfort in the words, and the cloud of care partially lifted +from the brow of the young Vaudois. But accosting the aged saint with +deep respect, and bending down to speak close to his ear, he uttered a +few rapid sentences in an undertone. + +"'There seems a threatening of danger, Father Rozel; evil-looking men, +such as Lucia and the lad were but now describing, have been seen coming +into the town for the last two or three days; till now, it is said, the +Romish church, the convent of Recollets, the house of the cure, and +several other Catholic houses are full of them. What errand think you +draws them hither just at this time, when nearly every able-bodied +Vaudois is absent on the frontier?' Rozel's face reflected somewhat of +the agitation and alarm in that of Maurice; but ere he could open his +lips to reply, a neighbor, a young woman with a child in her arms, came +rushing across the street, and calling to them in tones tremulous with +excitement and affright, told of the warning just brought by Brianza's +messenger. + +"Her face was white with terror, and she clasped her infant to her +breast with a look of agony, as she asked, 'Can it be, oh can it be that +we are all to be slain in our helplessness? Something must be done, and +that quickly. But what, alas! can we do? our husbands, brothers, fathers +are all at a distance, and the fatal hour draws near.' + +"The tones of her voice and some of her words had reached the ears of +those within the cottage, and they now gathered about her in an +intensely excited, terrified group. Question and answer followed in +rapid succession till each knew all that she had heard. + +"'Can it be possible?' cried Sara, 'can even popish cruelty, +ingratitude, and treachery go so far? are not our brave defenders theirs +also? keeping the passes against a common foe?' + +"A mournful shake of the head from her aged father was the only reply, +save the sobs and cries of the frightened children. + +"But at that instant a horseman came dashing up the street, suddenly +drew rein before their dwelling, and hastily dismounting, hurried toward +them. + +"'Captain Odetti!' exclaimed Rozel in some surprise. + +"'Yes, Rozel, I come to warn you, though, alas! I fear I am too late to +prevent bloodshed,' said the officer, sending a pitying glance from one +to another of the terror-stricken group. + +"'There is a conspiracy against you; the assassins are even now on foot; +but if I cannot save, I will perish with you. The honor of my religion +is at stake, and I must justify it by sharing your danger.' + +"'Can it be that such designs are really entertained against us?' asked +Rozel, in trembling tones, glancing from one loved face to another with +a look of keenest anguish. 'On what pretext? I know of none.' + +"'The late base and cowardly surrender of Fort Mirabouc.' + +"'There was but one Vaudois present, and his voice was raised against +it.' + +"'True, but what matters that to foes bent upon your destruction? some +one was to blame, and why not make a scapegoat of the hated Vaudois? But +let us not waste time in useless discussion. We must act.' + +"The fearful tidings flew from house to house, and in the wildest terror +the feeble folk began to make what preparations they could for +self-defence; by Odetti's advice barricading the streets and houses, +collecting missiles to hurl down from the upper windows upon the heads +of the assassins, and at the same time dispatching messenger after +messenger to General Godin, the Swiss officer in command of the troops +on the frontier, telling of the danger and praying for instant aid. + +"But he, alas! unable, in the nobility of his soul, to credit the +existence of a plot so atrocious, turned a deaf ear to their entreaties, +declaring his conviction that the alarm was groundless--a mere +panic--and that his troops could not be spared to go on so useless an +errand. + +"As one courier after another returned with this same disheartening +report, the terror and despair were such as to beggar description. + +"Lucia Vittoria, recalling, with many a shudder of wild affright, the +evil looks and fierce words and gestures of her pursuers of the morning, +resolved to defend her own, her mother's, and sister's honor to the last +gasp. + +"'The terrible excitement of the hour seemed to give her unnatural +strength for her task of lifting and carrying stones and fragments of +rock to be used in repelling the expected assault. Assisted by Henri and +every member of the family capable of the exertion, she toiled +unceasingly while anything yet remained to be done. + +"In the midst of their exertions Magdalen Goneto suddenly appeared among +them. + +"'I have heard, and I come to live or die with you, dear friends,' she +said, and fell to work with the others. + +"At length all was completed, and they could only await in dreadful +suspense the coming of events. They had continued to importune the +commandant, but with no better success than at first. + +"In the closed and barricaded dwellings hearts were going up to God in +agonized prayer for help, for deliverance. + +"In that of the Vittorias few words were spoken save as now and again +the voice of the aged Rozel or that of his venerable wife, his +daughter, or Magdalen Goneto, broke the awful silence with some promise +from the Book of books to those who trust in the Lord. + +"Maurice, whose father and brothers were away with the army, torn with +anxiety for mother, sisters, and betrothed alike, persuaded the former +to follow Magdalen's example in repairing to the house of the Vittorias, +that such efforts as he was able to put forth in his crippled condition +might be made in their common defence. + +"Freely would he shed the last drop of his blood to shield them from +harm, but, alas! what match was he for even one of the horde of +desperadoes that would soon be upon them? what could he do? how speedily +would he be overpowered! Help _must_ be obtained. + +"He stole out through the garden to learn the latest news from the +frontier. + +"The fourteenth courier had just returned in sadness; the commandant was +still incredulous; still firm in his refusal to render aid. + +"'We are then given up to the sword of the assassin!' groaned his +hearers. + +"'No, no, never! it must not be!' cried Maurice with sudden stern +determination, though there was a quiver of pain in his voice; and +sending a glance of mingled love and anguish toward the cottage that +sheltered those dearer to him than life, he set off at a brisk pace up +the valley. + +"Love moved him to the task, and spite of weakness and pain, never +before had he trodden those steep and dangerous mountain paths with such +celerity. + +"Arrived and admitted to Godin's presence, he poured out his petition +with the vehemence of one who can take no denial, urging his suit with +all the eloquence of intense anxiety and deep conviction of the terrible +extremity of the feeble folk in the valley. + +"Doubt began to creep into the mind of the brave officer. 'Might there +not be some truth in the story after all?' Yet he answered as before. 'A +mere panic. I cannot believe in a plot so atrocious. What! murder in +cold blood the innocent, helpless wives and children of the brave men +who are defending theirs from a common foe? No, no; human nature is not +so depraved!'" + +"'So it was thought on the eve of the Sicilian Vespers; on the eve of +St. Bartholomew; at the time when Castracaro, when De La Trinite, when +Pianeza--' + +"'Ah,' interrupted the general with a frown, 'but those were deeds of +days long gone by, and men are not now what they then were.' + +"'Sir,' returned Maurice earnestly, 'for twelve hundred years the +she-wolf of Rome has ravaged our fold, slaying sheep and lambs +alike--sparing neither age nor sex; and, sir, it is her boast that she +never changes. + +"'Nor are men incapable of the grossest injustice and cruelty even in +these days. Look at the fearful scenes of blood enacted even now in +France! General, the lives of thousands of his majesty's evangelical +subjects are trembling in the balance, and I do most solemnly assure you +that unless saved by your speedy interposition, or a direct miracle from +Heaven, they will this night fall victims to a sanguinary plot. + +"'Ah, sir, what more can I say to convince, to move you? The assassins +are already assembling, the time wanes fast, and will you stretch forth +no hand to save their innocent, helpless victims?' + +"The general was evidently moved by the appeal. 'Had I but sufficient +proof,' he muttered in an undertone of doubt and perplexity. + +"Maurice caught eagerly at the word. 'Proof, general! would Odetti, +would Brianza have warned us, were the danger not imminent? And do not +the annals of your own Switzerland furnish examples of similar plots?' + +"'True, too true! yet--' + +"But at this moment the sixteenth courier came panting up to pour out, +in an agony of haste and fear, the same tale of contemplated wholesale +massacre, and the story reaching the ears of the Vaudois troops they +gathered about the general, imploring, _demanding_ to be sent instantly +to the aid of their menaced wives and children. + +"General Godin's mind had been filled with conflicting emotions while +Maurice spoke; his humanity, his honor as a soldier, his duty to the +government, were struggling for the mastery. + +"'Ought he to march without orders or even the knowledge of his +superiors? and that too with no more certain proof of the illegal +assembling of those who were said to be plotting against the peace and +safety of the Vaudois families?' + +"Yet there was no time to reconnoitre ere the dire mischief might be +done. His humanity at last prevailed over more prudential +considerations. He commanded the brigade of Waldenses to march +instantly, and himself followed with another division. + +"Bianca Vittoria had been carried to an upper room, where all the family +were now gathered about her bed. + +"With unutterable anguish the mother looked upon her two lovely +daughters in the early bloom of womanhood, the babe sleeping upon her +breast, the little ones clinging to her skirts, her aged and infirm +parents, all apparently doomed to a speedy, violent death--and worse +than death. Her own danger was well-nigh forgotten in theirs. + +"Utter silence reigned in that room and the adjoining one, at this time +occupied by Magdalen and the mother and sisters of Maurice; every ear +was strained to catch the sound of the approaching footsteps of the +assassins, or of the longed-for deliverers; a very short season would +now decide their fate. Oh, would help never come! + +"Lucia, kneeling beside her sister's couch, clasping one thin, white +hand in hers, suddenly dropped it and sprang to her feet. + +"'How fast it grows dark! and what was that?' as a heavy, rolling sound +reverberated among the mountains; 'artillery?' and her tones grew wild +with terror. + +"'Thunder; the heavens are black with clouds,' said Magdalen, coming in +and speaking with the calmness of despair. + +"A heavy clap nearly drowned her words, then followed crash on crash; +the rain came down in torrents--the wind, which had suddenly risen to +almost a hurricane, dashing it with fury against walls and windows; the +darkness became intense except as ever and anon the lurid glare of the +lightning lit up the scene for an instant, giving to each a momentary +glimpse of the pale, terror-stricken faces of the others. + +"'Alas, alas, no help can reach us now!' moaned Sara, clasping her babe +closer to her breast, 'no troops can march over our fearful +mountain-passes in this terrific storm and thick darkness. _We must +die_!' + +"'Oh, God of our fathers, save us! let us not fall into the hands of +those ruffians, who--more to be feared than the wild beasts of the +forest--would rob us of honor and of life!' cried Lucia, falling upon +her knees again, and lifting hands and eyes to heaven. + +"'Amen!' responded the trembling voice of Rozel. 'Lord, Thine hand is +not shortened that it cannot save, neither Thine ear heavy that it +cannot hear!' + +"The scenes that followed what pen may portray! the wild anguish of some +expressed in incoherent words, shrieks of terror, and cries for help, as +they seemed to hear amid the roar of the elements the hurried footsteps +of the assassins, and to see in the lightning's flash the glitter of +their steel; the mute agony of others as in the calmness of despair they +crouched helplessly together awaiting the coming blow. + + * * * * * + +"Meanwhile the fathers, husbands, sons, brothers were hastening +homeward, their brave hearts torn with anguish at thought of the +impossibility of arriving before the hour set for the murderers to begin +their fiendish work. + +"There was no regular order of march, but each rushed onward at his +utmost speed, praying aloud to God for help to increase it, and calling +frantically to his fellows to 'hasten, _hasten_ to the rescue of all +they held most dear.' + +"Alas for their hopes! the shades of evening were already falling, and +the storm presently came on in terrific violence, the darkness, the +blinding momentary glare of the lightning, the crashing thunder peals, +the driving, pouring rain and fierce wind greatly increasing the +difficulties and perils of their advance. God Himself seemed to be +against them. + +"But urged on by fear and love for their helpless ones, and by parties +of distracted women and children sent forward from La Tour--some of +whom, in their terror and despair, asserted that the work of blood had +already begun--they pressed onward without a moment's pause, springing +from rock to rock, sliding down precipices, scaling giddy heights, +leaping chasms which at another time they would not have dared to +attempt, and tearing through the rushing, roaring mountain torrents +already greatly swollen by the rain. + +"They reached the last of these, and dashing through it, were presently +in sight of La Tour, when the tolling of the vesper bell of the convent +of the Recollets--the preconcerted signal for the assassins to sally +forth--smote upon their ears. + +"'Too late! too late!' cried Rudolph Goneto hoarsely. + +"'But if too late to save, we will avenge!' responded a chorus of deep +voices, as with frantic haste they sped over the intervening space. + +"The next moment the tramp of their feet and the clang of their arms +were heard in the streets of the town. Windows and doors flew open and +with cries and tears of joy and thankfulness, wives, children, and aged +parents gathered about them almost smothering them with caresses. + +"The storm, which had seemed to seal their doom, had proved their +salvation--preventing some of the murderers from reaching the rendezvous +in season, and so terrifying the others that they dared not attempt the +deed alone; especially as it had already begun to be rumored that troops +were on the march to the threatened valley. + +"Rudolph found himself encircled by his mother's arms, her kisses and +tears warm upon his cheek. + +"He held her close, both hearts too full for speech. Then a single word +fell from the soldier's lips, 'Lucia?' + +"'Safe.' + +"Darting into the house, guided by some subtle instinct, he stood the +next moment in the upper room where she knelt by her sister's couch, the +two mingling their tears and thanksgivings together. + +"All was darkness, but at sound of the well-known step Lucia sprang up +with a cry of joy. 'Saved!' + +"Rudolph's emotions, as he held her to his heart, were too big for +utterance. + +"Some one entered with a light. It was Magdalen, and behind her came +Maurice, pale, haggard, and dripping with rain. + +"Bianca's heart gave a joyous bound. He too was safe. + +"But a tumult of voices from below--some stern, angry, threatening, +others sullen, dogged, defiant, or craven with abject terror--attracted +their attention. + +"Magdalen set down the light and hurried away in the direction of the +sounds, Rudolph and Lucia following. + +"A number of the Waldenses, sword in hand, and eyes flashing with +righteous indignation, were gathered about two of the would-be +assassins, caught by them almost on the threshold of the cottage. + +"Their errand who could doubt? and Henri had recognized them as his and +Lucia's pursuers of the morning. + +"She too knew them instantly, and clung pale with affright to Rudolph's +arm, while he could scarce restrain himself from rushing upon, and +running them through with his sword. + +"'Spare us, sirs,' entreated Andrea, quaking with fear under the +wrathful glance of the father of the maidens, 'spare us; we have not +harmed you or yours.' + +"'Nor plotted their destruction? Miserable wretch, ask not your life +upon the plea that it is not forfeit. Can I doubt what would have been +the fate of my wife and daughters had they fallen into your hands?' + +"'But your religion teaches you to forgive.' + +"'True; yet also to protect the helpless ones committed to my care.' + +"'We will leave your valleys this hour; never to set foot in them +again.' + +"'Ah! yet how far may we trust the word of one whose creed bids him keep +no faith with heretics?' + +"'" Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."' + +"It was the voice of the aged Rozel which broke the momentary silence. + +"Vittoria sheathed his sword. Not his to usurp the prerogative of Him +who had that night given so signal deliverance to His 'Israel of the +Alps.'" + +"Is that all?" asked Lulu, drawing a long breath, as Mr. Dinsmore +refolded the manuscript and gave it back to his daughter. + +"Yes," he said, "the author has told of the deliverance of the +imperilled ones, and that Vittoria refrained from taking vengeance upon +their cowardly foes; and so ends the story of that night of terror in +the valleys." + +"But were all the Waldenses equally forbearing, grandpa?" asked Zoe. + +"They were; in all the valleys not a drop of blood was shed; justly +exasperated though the Waldenses were, they contented themselves with +sending to the government a list of the names of the baffled +conspirators. + +"But no notice was taken of it; the would-be murderers were never called +to account till they appeared before a greater than an earthly tribunal. + +"But General Godin was presently superseded in his command and shortly +after dismissed the service. Two plain indications that the sympathy of +the government was with the assassins and not at all with their intended +victims." + +"But is it true, sir?" asked Max. + +"Yes; it is true that at that time, in those valleys, and under those +circumstances, such a plot was hatched and its carrying out prevented in +the exact way that this story relates." + +"Mean, cowardly, wicked fellows they must have been to want to murder +the wives and children and burn and plunder the houses of the men that +were defending them and theirs from a common enemy!" exclaimed the boy, +his face flushing and eyes flashing with righteous indignation. + +"Very true; but such are the lessons popery teaches and always has +taught; 'no faith with heretics,' no mercy to any who deny her dogmas; +and that anything is right and commendable which is done to destroy +those who do not acknowledge her authority and to increase her power; +one of her doctrines being that the end sanctifies the means!" + +"But what did they mean when they said they were going to have a second +St. Bartholomew in the valleys?" asked Grace. + +"Did you never hear of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, daughter?" her +father asked, stroking her hair caressingly as she sat upon his knee. + +"No, papa; won't you tell me about it?" + +"It occurred in France a little more than three hundred years ago; it +was a dreadful massacre of the Protestants to the number of from sixty +to a hundred thousand; and it was begun on the night of the twenty-third +of August; which the Papists call St. Bartholomew's Day. + +"The Protestants were shot, stabbed, murdered in various ways, in their +beds, in the street, any where that they could be found; and for no +crime but being Protestants." + +"And popery would do the very same now and here, had she the power," +commented Mr. Dinsmore, "for it is her proudest boast that she never +changes. She teaches her own infallibility; and what she has done she +will do again if she can." + +"What is infallibility, papa?" asked Grace. "To be infallible is to be +incapable of error or of making mistakes," he answered. "So popery +teaching that she has never done wrong or made a mistake justifies all +the horrible cruelties she practised in former times; and, in fact, she +occasionally tells us, through some of her bolder or less wary +followers, that what she has done she will do again as soon as she +attains the power." + +"Which she never will in this free land," exclaimed Edward. + +"Never, provided Columbia's sons are faithful to their trust; +remembering that 'eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,'" responded +his grandfather. + +Grace was clinging tightly to her father, and her little face was pale +and wore a look of fright. + +"What is it, darling?" he asked. + +"O papa, will they come here some time and kill us?" she asked, +tremulously. + +"Do not be frightened, my dear little one," he said, holding her close; +"you are in no danger from them." + +"I don't believe all Roman Catholics would have Protestants persecuted +if they could," remarked Betty. "Do you, uncle?" + +"No; I think there are some truly Christian people among them," he +answered; "some who have not yet heard and heeded the call, 'Come out of +her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye +receive not of her plagues.' We were talking, not of Papists, but of +Popery. Sincere hatred of the system is not incompatible with sincere +love to its deluded followers." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I +direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."--_Psalm_ 5:3. + + +It was early morning; Captain Raymond was pacing to and fro along the +top of the cliffs, now sending a glance seaward, and now toward the door +of the cottage which was his temporary home, as if expecting a companion +in his ramble. + +Presently the door opened and Lulu stepped out upon the porch. One eager +look showed her father, and she bounded with joyful step to meet him. + +"Good-morning, my dear papa," she cried, holding up her face for a kiss, +which he gave with hearty affection. + +"Good-morning, my dear little early bird," he responded. "Come, I will +help you down the steps and we will pace the sands at the water's edge." + +This was Lulu's time for having her father to herself, as she phrased +it. He was sure to be out at this early hour, if the weather would +permit, and she almost equally sure to join him: and as the others +liked to lie a little longer in bed, there was seldom any one to share +his society with her. + +He led her down the long flights of stairs and across the level expanse +of sand, close to where the booming waves dashed up their spray. + +For some moments the two stood hand in hand silently gazing upon sea and +sky, bright with the morning sunlight; then they turned and paced the +beach for a time, and then the captain led his little girl to a seat in +the porch of a bathing-house, from which they could still look far out +over the sea. + +"Papa," she said, nestling close to his side, "I am very fond of being +down here all alone with you." + +"Are you, daughter?" he said, bending down to caress her hair and cheek. +"Well, I dearly love to have my little girl by my side. How long have +you been up?" + +"I can't tell exactly; because, you know, papa, there is no time-piece +in my room. But I wasn't long dressing; for I didn't want to lose a +minute of the time I might have out here with you." + +"Did you do nothing but put on your clothes after leaving your bed?" he +asked, gravely. + +"I washed my hands and face and smoothed my hair." + +"And was that all?" + +She glanced up at him in surprise at the deep gravity of his tone; then +suddenly comprehending what his questioning meant, hung her head, while +her cheek flushed hotly. "Yes, papa," she replied, in a low, abashed +tone. + +"I am very, very sorry to hear it," he said. "If my little girl begins +the day without a prayer to God for help to do right, without thanking +Him for His kind care over her while she slept, she can hardly expect to +escape sins and sorrows which will make it anything but a happy day." + +"Papa, I do 'most always say my prayers in the morning and at night; but +I didn't feel like doing it this time. Do you think people ought to pray +when they don't feel like it?" + +"Yes; I think that is the very time when they most need to pray; they +need to ask God to take away the hardness of their hearts; the evil in +them that is hiding His love and their own needs; so that they have no +gratitude to express for all His great goodness and mercy to them, no +petitions to offer up for strength to resist temptation and to walk +steadily in His ways; no desire to confess their sins and plead for +pardon for Jesus' sake. Ah! that is certainly the time when we have most +urgent need to pray. + +"Jesus taught that men (and in the Bible men stand for the whole human +race) 'ought always to pray and not to faint.' And we are commanded to +pray without ceasing." + +"Papa, how can we do that?" she asked. "You know we have to be doing +other things sometimes." + +"It does not mean that we are to be always on our knees," he said; "but +that we are to live so near to God, so loving Him, and so feeling our +constant dependence upon Him, that our hearts will be very often going +up to His throne in silent petition, praise or confession. + +"And if we live in such union with Him we will highly prize the +privilege of drawing especially near to Him at certain seasons; we will +be glad to be alone with Him often, and will not forget or neglect to +retire to our closets night and morning for a little season of close +communion with our best and dearest Friend. + +"You say you love to be alone with me, your earthly father; I trust the +time will come when you will love far better to be alone with your +heavenly Father. I must often be far away from you, but He is ever near; +I may be powerless to help you, though close at your side, but He is +almighty to save, to provide for, and to defend; and He never turns a +deaf ear to the cry of His children." + +"Yes, papa; but oh I wish that you were always near me too," she said, +leaning her cheek affectionately against his arm. "I am very, very +sorry that ever I have been a trouble to you and spoiled your enjoyment +of your visits home." + +"I know you are, daughter; but you have been very good of late. I have +rejoiced to see that you were really trying to rule your own spirit. So +far as I know, you have been entirely and cheerfully obedient to me, and +have not indulged in a single fit of passion or sullenness." + +"Yes, papa; but I have been nearly in a passion two or three times; but +you gave me a look just in time to help me to resist it. But when you +are gone I shall not have that help." + +"Then, my child, you must remember that your heavenly Father is looking +at you; that He bids you fight against the evil of your nature, and if +you seek it of Him, will give you strength to overcome. Here is a text +for you; I want you to remember it constantly; and to that end repeat it +often to yourself, 'Thou, God, seest me.' + +"And do not forget that He sees not only the outward conduct but the +inmost thoughts and feelings of the heart." + +A boy's glad shout and merry whistle mingled pleasantly with the sound +of the dashing of the waves, and Max came bounding over the sands toward +their sheltered nook. + +"Good-morning, papa," he cried. "You too, Lulu. Ahead of me as usual, I +see!" + +"Yes," the captain said, reaching out a hand to grasp the lad's and +gazing with fatherly affection and pride into the handsome young face +glowing with health and happiness, "she is the earliest young bird in +the family nest. However, she seeks her roost earlier than her brother +does his." + +"Yes; and I am not so very late, am I, sir?" + +"No, my boy, I do not suppose you have taken any more sleep than you +need for your health and growth; and I certainly would not have you do +with less." + +"I know you wouldn't, papa; such a good, kind father as you are," +responded Max. "I wouldn't swap fathers with any other boy," he added, +with a look of mingled fun and affection. + +"Nor would I exchange my son for any other; not even a better one," +returned the captain laughingly, tightening his clasp of the sturdy +brown hand he held. + +"I haven't heard yet the story of yesterday's success in boating and +fishing; come sit down here by my side and let me have it." + +Max obeyed, nothing loath, for he was becoming quite expert in both, and +always found in his father an interested listener to the story of his +exploits. + +He and the other lads had returned from their camping at the time of the +removal of the family party from 'Sconset to Nantucket Town. + +On the conclusion of his narrative the captain pronounced it breakfast +time, and they returned to the house. + +After breakfast, as nearly the whole party were gathered upon the porch, +discussing the question what should be the amusements of the day, a near +neighbor with whom they had some acquaintance, ran in to ask if they +would join a company who were going over to Shimmo to have a clam-bake. + +"The name of the place is new to me," remarked Mr. Dinsmore. "Is it a +town, Mrs. Atwood?" + +"Oh, no," replied the lady, "there is only one dwelling; a farmhouse +with its barns and other out-houses comprises the whole place. It is on +the shore of the harbor some miles beyond Nantucket Town. It is a +pleasant spot, and I think we shall have an enjoyable time; particularly +if I can persuade you all to go." + +"A regular New England clam-bake!" said Elsie, "I should really like to +attend one, and am much obliged for your invitation, Mrs. Atwood; as we +all are, I am sure." + +No one felt disposed to decline the invitation, and it was soon settled +that all would go. + +The clam-bake was to occupy only the afternoon; so they would have time +to make all necessary arrangements, and for the customary surf and +still baths. + +Mrs. Atwood had risen to take leave. "Ah," she said, "I was near +forgetting something I meant to say: we never dress for these +expeditions, but, on the contrary, wear the oldest and shabbiest dresses +we have; considering them altogether the most suitable to the occasion, +as then we need not be troubled if they should be wet with spray or +soiled by contact with seaweed, grass, or anything else." + +"A very sensible custom," Mrs. Dinsmore responded, "and one which we +shall all probably follow." + +Mrs. Atwood had hardly reached the gate when Lulu, turning to her father +with a very discontented face, exclaimed, "I don't want to wear a shabby +old dress! Must I, papa?" + +"You will wear whatever your Grandma Elsie or mamma directs," he +answered, giving her a warning look. Then motioning her to come close to +his side, he whispered in her ear, "I see that you are inclined to be +ill-tempered and rebellious again, as I feared you would, when I learned +that you had begun the day without a prayer for help to do and feel +right. Go, now, to your room and ask it." + +"You needn't fret, Lu; you don't own a dress that any little girl ought +to feel ashamed to wear," remarked Betty, as the child turned to obey. + +"And we are all going to wear the very worst we have here with us, I +presume," added Zoe; "at least such is my intention." + +"Provided your husband approves," whispered Edward sportively. + +"Anyhow," she answered, drawing herself up in pretended offence; "can't +a woman do as she pleases even in such trifles?" + +"Ah I but it is the privileges of a child-wife which are under +discussion now," + +"Now, sir, after that you shall just have the trouble of telling me what +to wear," said Zoe, rising from the couch where they had been sitting +side by side; "come along and choose." + +Lulu was in the room where she slept, obeying her father's order so far +as outward actions went; but there was little more than lip-service in +the prayer she offered, for her thoughts were wandering upon the subject +of dress, and ways and means for obtaining permission to wear what she +wished that afternoon. + +By the time she had finished "saying her prayers," she had also reached +a conclusion as to her best plan for securing the desired privilege. + +Grandma Elsie was so very kind and gentle that there seemed more hope of +moving her than any one else; so to her she went, and, delighted to find +her comparatively alone, no one being near enough to overhear a +low-toned conversation, began at once: + +"Grandma Elsie, I want to wear a white dress to the clam-bake; and I +think it would be suitable, because the weather is very warm, and white +will wash, so that it would not matter if I did get it soiled." + +"My dear child, it is your father's place to decide what concerns his +children, when he is with them," Elsie said, drawing the little girl to +her and smoothing her hair with soft, caressing touch. + +"Yes, ma'am; but he says you and Mamma Vi are to decide this. So if you +will only say I may wear the white dress, he will let me. Won't you, +please?" + +"If your father is satisfied with your choice I shall certainly raise no +objection; nor will your mamma, I am quite sure." + +"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" and Lulu ran off gleefully in search of her +father. + +She found him on the veranda, busied with the morning paper, and to her +satisfaction, he too was alone. + +"What is it, daughter?" he asked, glancing from his paper to her +animated, eager face. + +"About what I am to wear this afternoon, papa. I would like to wear the +white dress I had on yesterday evening, and Grandma Elsie does not +object, and says she knows Mamma Vi will not, if you say I may." + +"Did she say she thought it a suitable dress?" he asked gravely. + +Lulu hung her head. "No, sir; she didn't say that she did or she +didn't." + +"Go and ask her the question." + +Lulu went back and asked it. + +"No, my child, I do not," Elsie answered. "It is very unlikely that any +one else will be in white or anything at all dressy, and you will look +overdressed, which is in very bad taste; besides, though the weather +seems warm enough for such thin material here on shore, it will be a +great deal cooler on the water; and should the waves or spray come +dashing over us, you would find your dress clinging to you like a wet +rag--neither beauty nor comfort in it." + +"I could wear a waterproof over it while we are sailing," said Lulu. + +"Even that might not prove a perfect protection," Elsie replied. "I +think, my dear, you will do well to content yourself to wear your +travelling dress, which is of a light woollen material, neat without +being too dressy, and of a color that will not show every little soil. +And it is as good and handsome as the dress I shall wear or as Rosie, +and probably any one else, will have on." + +"But you can choose for yourself, Grandma Elsie, and I wish I could." + +"That is one of the privileges of older years," Elsie answered +pleasantly. "I was considerably older than you are before I was allowed +to select my own attire. But I repeat that I shall not raise the +slightest objection to your wearing anything your father is willing to +see on you." + +Lulu's hopes were almost gone, but she would make one more effort. + +She went to her father, and putting her arms round his neck, begged in +her most coaxing tones for the gratification of her wish. + +"What did your Grandma Elsie say?" he asked. + +Lulu faithfully, though with no little reluctance, repeated every word +Elsie had said to her on the subject. + +"I entirely agree with her," said the captain; "so entirely that even +had she found no objection to urge against it, I should have forbidden +you to wear the dress." + +Lulu heard him with a clouded brow; in fact, the expression of her face +was decidedly sullen. Her father observed it with sorrow and concern. + +"Sit down here till I am ready to talk to you," he said, indicating a +chair close at his side. + +Lulu obeyed, sitting quietly there while he finished his paper. Throwing +it aside at length, he took her hand and drew her in between his knees, +putting an arm about her waist. + +"My little daughter," he said, in his usual kind tone, "I am afraid you +care too much for dress and finery. What I desire for you is that you +may 'be clothed with humility,' and have 'the ornament of a meek and +quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price.'" + +"I never can have that, papa, for it isn't a bit like me," she said, +with a sort of despairing impatience and disgust at herself. + +"No, that is too true; it is not like you as you are by nature--the evil +nature inherited from me; but God is able to change that, to give you a +clean heart and renew within you a right spirit. Jesus is a Saviour from +sin (He saves none in their sins), and He is able to save to the +uttermost, able to take away the very last remains of the old corrupt +nature with which we were born. + +"Oh, my child, seek His help to fight against it and to overcome! It +grieves me more than I can express to see you again showing an unlovely, +wilful temper." + +"Oh, papa, don't be grieved," she said, throwing her arms round his neck +and pressing her lips to his cheek. "I will be good and wear whatever +I'm told; look pleasant about it too, for indeed I do love you too well +to want to grieve you and spoil your pleasure." + +"Ah, that is my own dear little girl," he answered, returning her +caresses. + +The sullen expression had vanished from her face and it wore its +brightest look, yet it clouded again the next moment, but with sorrow, +not anger, as she sighed, "Oh! if you were always with us, papa, I think +I might grow good at last; but I need your help so much, and you are +gone more than half the time." + +"Your heavenly Father is never gone, daughter, and will never turn a +deaf ear to a cry for strength to resist temptation to sin. He says, 'In +me is thine help.' + +"And we are told, 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be +tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a +way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'" + +In the mean time Mrs. Dinsmore, who from choice took most of the +housekeeping cares, was ordering an early dinner and various baskets of +provisions for the picnic. + +As the family sat down to the table, these last were being conveyed on +board a yacht lying at the little pier near the bathing-place below the +cliffs; and almost immediately upon finishing their meal, all, old and +young, trooped down the stairways, across the sandy beach, and were +themselves soon aboard the vessel. + +Others of the company were already seated in it, and the rest following +a few minutes later, and the last basket of provisions being safely +stowed away in some safe corner of the craft, they set sail, dragging at +their stern a dory in which was a large quantity of clams in the shell. + +It was a bright day, and a favorable breeze sent the yacht skimming over +the water at an exhilarating rate of speed. All hearts seemed light, +every face was bright, not excepting Lulu's, though she was attired in +the plain colored dress recommended by Grandma Elsie. + +There was no greater display of finery than a knot of bright ribbon, on +the part of even the gayest young girl present. Betty wore a black +bunting--one of her school dresses--with a cardinal ribbon at the +throat; Zoe the brown woollen that had for her such mingled associations +of pain and pleasure, and looked wonderfully sweet and pretty in it, +Edward thought. + +They sat side by side, and Betty, watching them furtively, said to +herself, "They are for all the world just like a pair of lovers yet, +though they have been married over a year." + +Then turning her attention first to Violet and Captain Raymond, then +upon her Aunt and Uncle Dinsmore, she came to the same conclusion in +regard to them also. + +"And it was just so with cousin Elsie and her husband," she mused. "I +can remember how devoted they were to each other. But she seems very +happy now, and she well may be, with father, sons and daughters all so +devoted to her. And she's so rich too; never has to consider how to make +one dollar do the work of two; a problem I am so often called upon to +solve. In fact, it is to her and uncle, Bob and I owe our education, and +pretty much everything we have. + +"I don't envy her her money, but I do the love that has surrounded her +all her life. She never knew her own mother, to be sure, but her father +petted and fondled her as a child, and was father and mother both to +her, I've often heard her say; while mine died before I was born, and +mother lost her reason when I was a little thing." + +But Betty was not much given to melancholy musing, or indeed to musing +of any kind; a passing sail presently attracted her attention and turned +her thoughts into a new channel. + +And soon, the wind and tide being favorable, the yacht drew near her +destination. + +There was no wharf, but the passengers were taken to the shore, a few at +a time, in the dory. It also landed provision baskets and the clams. + +Those ladies and gentlemen to whom clam-bakes were a new experience +watched with interest the process of cooking the bivalves. + +A pit of suitable size for the quantity to be prepared was made in the +sand, the bottom covered with stones; it was then heated by a fire +kindled in it, the brands were removed, seaweed spread over the stones, +the clams poured in, abundance of seaweed piled over and about them, a +piece of an old sail put over that, and they were left to bake or steam, +while another fire was kindled near by, and a large tin bucket, filled +with water, set on it to boil for making coffee. + +While some busied themselves with these culinary operations, others +repaired to the dwelling, which stood some little distance back from the +beach, the ground sloping gently away from it to the water's edge. + +The lady of the house met them at the door, and hospitably invited them +to come in and rest themselves in her parlor, or sit on the porch; and +understanding their errand to the locality, not only gave ready +permission for their table to be spread in the shade of her house, but +offered to lend anything they might require in the way of utensils. + +Accepting her offer, they set to work, the men making a rough sort of +impromptu table with some boards, and the ladies spreading upon it the +contents of the provision baskets. + +Mrs. Dinsmore, Elsie and the younger ladies of their party, offered to +assist in these labors, but were told that they were considered guests, +and must be content to look on or wander about and amuse themselves. + +There was not much to be seen but grassy slopes destitute of tree or +shrub, and the harbor and open sea beyond. + +They seated themselves upon the porch of the dwelling-house, while +Captain Raymond and the younger members of their family party wandered +here and there about the place. + +There seemed to be some sport going on among the cooks--those engaged in +preparing the coffee. + +Lulu hurried toward them to see what it was about, then came running +back to her father, who stood a little farther up the slope, with Grace +clinging to his hand. + +"Oh!" she said with a face of disgust, "I don't mean to drink any of +that coffee; why, would you believe it, they stirred it with a poker?" + +"Did they?" laughed the captain; "they might have done worse. I presume +that was used for lack of a long enough spoon. We must not be too +particular on such occasions as this." + +"But you won't drink any of it, will you, papa?" + +"I think it altogether likely I shall." + +"Why, papa! coffee that was stirred with a dirty poker?" + +"We will suppose the poker was not very dirty," he said, with a +good-humored smile; "probably there was nothing worse on it than a +little ashes, which, diffused through so large a quantity of liquid, +could harm no one." + +"Must I drink it if they offer me a cup?" + +"No; there need be no compulsion about it; indeed, I think it better for +a child of your age not to take coffee at all." + +"But you never said I shouldn't, papa." + +"No; because you had formed the habit in my absence, and, as I am not +sure that it is a positive injury to you, I have felt loath to deprive +you of the pleasure." + +"You are so kind, papa," she said, slipping her hand into his and +looking up affectionately into his face. "But I will give up coffee if +you want me to. I like it, but I can do without it." + +"I think milk is far more wholesome for you," he said, with a smile of +pleased approval. "I should like you to make that your ordinary beverage +at meals, but I do not forbid an occasional cup of coffee." + +"Thank you, papa," she returned. "Grandma Elsie once told me that when +she was a little girl her father wouldn't allow her to drink coffee at +all, or to eat any kind of hot cakes or rich sweet cake; and oh I don't +know how many things that she liked he wouldn't let her have. I don't +think he was half as nice a father as ours; do you, Gracie?" + +"'Course I don't, Lu; I just think we've got the very best in the whole +world," responded Grace, laying her cheek affectionately against the +hand that held hers in its strong, loving clasp. + +"That is only because he is your own, my darlings," the captain said, +smiling down tenderly upon them. + +A lady had drawn near, and now said, "Supper is ready, Captain Raymond; +will you bring your little girls and come to the table?" + +"Thank you; we will do so with pleasure," he said, following her as she +led the way. + +The table, covered with a snow-white cloth and heaped with tempting +viands, presented a very attractive appearance. + +The clams were brought on after the most of the company were seated, +with their coffee and bread and butter before them. They were served hot +from the fire and the shell, in neat paper trays, and eaten with melted +butter. Eaten thus they make a dish fit for a king. + +By the time that all appetites were satisfied, the sun was near his +setting, and it was thought best to return without delay. + +On repairing to the beach, they found the tide so low that even the dory +could not come close to dry land; so the ladies and children were +carried through the water to the yacht. This gave occasion for some +merriment. + +"You must carry me, Ned, if I've got to be carried," said Zoe; "I'm not +going to let anybody else do it." + +"No; nor am I," he returned, gayly, picking her up and striding forward. +"I claim it as my especial privilege." + +Mr. Dinsmore followed with his wife, then Captain Raymond with his. + +"Get in, Mr. Dinsmore," said the captain, as they deposited their +burdens; "there is no occasion for further exertion on your part; I'll +bring mother." + +"No, sir," said Edward, hurrying shoreward again, "that's my task; you +have your children to take care of." + +"Your mother is my child, Ned, and I think I shall take care of her," +Mr. Dinsmore said, hastening back to the little crowd still at the +water's edge. + +"We will have to let her decide which of us shall have the honor," said +the captain. + +"That I won't," Mr. Dinsmore said, laughingly, stepping to his +daughter's side and taking her in his arms. + +"Now, you two may take care of the younger ones," he added, with a +triumphant glance at his two rivals. + +"Ah, Ned, we are completely outwitted," laughed the captain. + +"Yes; with grandpa about one can't get half a chance to wait upon +mother. Betty, shall I have the honor and pleasure of conveying you +aboard of yonder vessel?" + +"Yes, thank you; I see Harold and Herbert are taking Rosie and Walter," +she said. "But I warn you that I am a good deal heavier than Zoe." + +"Nevertheless, I think my strength will prove equal to the exertion," he +returned, as he lifted her from the ground. + +Lulu and Grace stood together, hand in hand, Max on Gracie's other side. + +"Take Gracie first, please, papa," said Lulu; "she is frightened, I +believe." + +"Frightened?" he said, stooping to take her in his arms; "there is +nothing to be afraid of, darling. Do you think papa would leave you +behind or drop you into the water?" + +"No; I know you wouldn't," she said, with a little nervous laugh, and +clinging tightly about his neck. + +"Mayn't I wade out, papa?" Max called after him. + +"Yes; but stay with your sister till I come for her." + +"Where's my baby, Levis?" asked Violet, laughingly, as he set Grace down +by her side. + +"The baby! Sure enough, where is it?" he exclaimed, with an anxious +glance toward the shore. + +"Ah, there stands the nurse with it in her arms. You shall have it in +yours in a moment." + +"Here's the baby, papa; please take her first; I don't mind waiting," +said Lulu, as he stepped ashore again. + +He gave her a pleased, approving look. "That is right; it will be but a +minute or two," he said, as he took the babe and turned away with it. + +In a few minutes more, all the passengers were aboard, and they set +sail; but they had not gone far when it became evident that something +was amiss; they were making no progress. + +"What is the matter?" asked several voices, and Violet looked +inquiringly at her husband. + +"There is no cause for apprehension," he said; "we are aground, and may +possibly have to wait here for the turn of the tide; that's all." + +"It's the lowest tide I ever saw," remarked the captain of the yacht; +"we'll have to lighten her; if some of the heaviest of you will get into +the dory, it will help." + +Quite a number immediately volunteered to do so, among them Edward and +Zoe, Bob and Betty, Harold and Herbert. The dory was speedily filled, +and then, with a little more exertion the yacht was set afloat. + +They moved out into deep water, and a gentle breeze wafted them +pleasantly toward their desired haven. + +"Look at the sun, papa," Elsie said, gazing westward. "It has a very +peculiar appearance." + +"Yes," he said, "it looks a good deal like a balloon; it's redness +obscured by that leaden-colored cloud. It is very near its setting; we +shall not get in till after dark." + +"But that will not matter?" + +"Oh, no; our captain is so thoroughly acquainted with his vessel, the +harbor and the wharf, that I have no doubt he would land us safely even +were it much darker than it will be." + +Zoe and Edward, in the dory, were talking with a Nantucket lady, a Mrs. +Fry. + +"How do you like our island, and particularly our town?" she asked. + +"Oh, ever so much!" said Zoe. "We have visited a good many +watering-places and sea-side resorts, but never one where there was so +much to see and to do; so many delightful ways of passing the time. I +think I shall vote for Nantucket again next year, when we are +considering where to pass the hot months." + +"And I," said Edward, "echo my wife's sentiments on the subject under +discussion." + +"Your wife" the lady exclaimed, with a look of surprise. + +"I took her to be your sister; you are both so very young in +appearance." + +"We are not very old," laughed Edward; "Zoe is but sixteen, but we have +been married a year." + +"You have begun early; it is thought by some that early marriages are +apt to be the happiest, and I should think them likely to be, provided +the two are willing to conform their tastes and habits each to those of +the other. I trust you two have a long life of happiness before you." + +"Thank you," they both said, Edward adding, "I think we are disposed to +accommodate ourselves to each other, and whether our lives be long or +short, our trials many or few, I trust we shall always find great +happiness in mutual sympathy, love and confidence." + +The lady asked if they had seen all the places of interest on the +island, and in reply they named those they had seen. + +"Have you been to Mrs. Mack's?" she asked. + +"No, madam, we have not so much as heard of her existence," returned +Edward, sportively. "May I ask who and what she is?" + +"Yes; she is the widow of a sea-captain, who has a collection of +curiosities which she keeps on exhibition, devoting the proceeds, so +she says, to benevolent purposes. She is an odd body; herself the +greatest curiosity she has to show, I think. You should visit her museum +by all means." + +"We shall be happy to do so if you will kindly put us in the way of it," +said Edward. "How shall we proceed in order to gain admittance?" + +"If we can get up a party it will be easy enough; I shall then send her +word, and she will appoint the hour when she will receive us; she likes +to show her independence, and will not exhibit unless to a goodly +number. + +"I know of several visitors on the island who want to go, and if your +party will join with them there will be no difficulty." + +"I think I can promise that we will," said Edward. "I will let you know +positively to-morrow morning." + +"That will do nicely. Hark, they are singing aboard the yacht." + +They listened in silence till the song was finished. + +"I recognized most of the voices," Mrs. Fry remarked, "but two lovely +sopranos were quite new to me. Do you know the owners?" turning +smilingly to Edward. + +"My mother and sister," he answered, with proud satisfaction. + +"Naturally fine, and very highly cultivated," she said. "You must be +proud of them." + +"I am," Edward admitted, with a happy laugh. + +The sun was down and twilight had fairly begun. Grace, seated on her +father's knee, was gazing out over the harbor. + +"See, papa, how many little lights close down to the water!" she said. + +"Yes; they are lamps on the small boats that are sailing or rowing +about; they show them for safety from running into each other." + +"And they look so pretty." + +"Yes, so they do; and it is a sight one may have every evening from the +wharf. Shall I take you down there some evening and let you sit and +watch them as they come and go?" + +"Oh, yes, do, papa; I think it would be so nice! And you would take Max +and Lulu too, wouldn't you?" + +"If they should happen to want to go; there are benches on the wharf +where we can sit and have a good view. I think we will try it to-morrow +evening if nothing happens to prevent." + +"Oh, I'm so glad! You are such a good, kind papa," she said, +delightedly, giving him a hug. + +"The very best you have ever had, I suppose," he responded, with a +pleased laugh. + +"Yes, indeed," she answered, naively, quite missing the point of his +jest. + +On reaching home Edward and Zoe reported their conversation with the +lady in the dory, and asked, "Shall we not go?" + +"I think so, by all means, since it is for benevolent objects," said +Elsie. + +"Or anyhow, since we feel in duty bound to see all that is to be seen on +this island," said Captain Raymond. + +No dissenting voice was raised, and when the next morning word came that +Mrs. Mack would exhibit that afternoon if a party were made up to +attend, they all agreed to go. + +The distance was too great for ladies and children to walk, so carriages +were ordered. Captain Raymond and his family filled one. + +"This is the street that oldest house is on," remarked Lulu, as they +turned a corner; "I mean that one we went to see; that has the big +horse-shoe on its chimney." + +"What do they have that for, papa?" asked Grace. + +"In old times when many people were ignorant and superstitious, it was +thought to be a protection from witches." + +"Witches, papa? what are they?" + +"I don't think there are any, really," he said, with a kindly smile into +the eagerly inquiring little face; "but in old times it was a very +common belief that there were people--generally some withered-up old +women--who had dealings with Satan, and were given power by him to +torment, or bring losses and various calamities upon any one whom they +disliked. + +"When you are a little older you shall hear more about it, and how that +foolish belief led to great crimes and cruelties inflicted upon many +innocent, harmless people. But now, while my Gracie is so young and +timid, I do not want her to know too much about such horrors." + +"Yes, papa," she responded; "I won't try to know till you think I'm +quite old enough." + +Several vehicles drew up at the same moment in front of Mrs. Mack's +door, and greetings and some introductions were exchanged on the +sidewalk and door-steps. Edward introduced his mother and Mrs. Fry to +each other, and the latter presented to them a Mrs. Glenn, who, she +said, was a native of Nantucket, but had only recently returned after an +absence of many years. + +"Mrs. Mack knew me as a young girl," Mrs. Glenn remarked, "and I am +quite curious to see whether she will recognize me." + +At that instant the door was opened in answer to their ring, and they +were invited to enter and walk into the parlor. + +They found it comfortably furnished and neat as wax. Seating themselves +they waited patiently for some moments the coming of the lady of the +house. + +At length she made her appearance; a little old lady, neatly attired, +and with a pleasant countenance. + +Mrs. Fry saluted her with a good-afternoon, adding, "I have brought some +friends with me to look at your curiosities. This lady," indicating Mrs. +Glenn, "you ought to know, as you were acquainted with her in her +girlhood." + +"Do you know me, Mrs. Mack?" asked Mrs. Glenn, offering her hand. + +"Yes, you look as natural as the pigs," was the rather startling reply; +accompanied, however, by a smile and cordial shake of the offered hand. + +"Now, we'll take the money first to make sure of it," was the next +remark, addressed to the company in general. + +"What is your admission fee?" asked Mr. Dinsmore, producing his +pocketbook. + +"Fifteen cents apiece." + +"By no means exorbitant if your collection is worth seeing," he +returned, good-humoredly. "Never mind your purses, Elsie, Raymond, Ned, +I'll act as paymaster for the party." + +The all-important business of collecting the entrance fees having been +duly attended to, Mrs. Mack led the way to an upper room where +minerals, shells, sharks' teeth, and various other curiosities and +relics were spread out upon tables and shelves, ranged along the sides +and in the centre of the apartment. + +"Now," she said, "the first thing is to register your names. You must +all register. You begin," handing the book to Mr. Dinsmore, "you seem to +be the oldest." + +"I presume I am," he said, dryly, taking the book and doing as he was +bidden. "Now, you, Raymond," passing it on to the captain, "we'll take +it for granted that you are next in age and importance." + +"That's right, captain," laughed Betty, as he silently took the book and +wrote his name, "it wouldn't be at all polite to seem to think yourself +younger than any lady present." + +"Of course not, Miss Betty; will you take your turn next?" + +"Of course not, sir; do you mean to insinuate that I am older than Aunt +Rose?" she asked, passing the book on to Mrs. Dinsmore. + +"Don't be too particular about going according to ages," said Mrs. Mack, +"it takes up too much time." + +"You may write my name for me, Ned," said Zoe, when he took the book. + +"Yes, write your sister's name for her; it'll do just as well," said +Mrs. Mack. + +"But I'm not his sister," said Zoe. + +"What, then? is he your lover?" + +"No," Edward said, laughing, "we're husband and wife." + +"You've begun young," she remarked, taking the book and passing it on; +"don't look as if you'd cut your wisdom teeth yet, either of you. When +the ladies have all registered, some of you grown folks had better do it +for the children." + +Having seen all their names duly inscribed in her register, "Seat +yourselves," she said, waving her hand toward some benches and chairs. + +Then, with the help of a half-grown girl, she set out a small circular +table, placed a box upon it, pushed up chairs and a bench or two, and +said, "Now, as many of you as can, come and sit round this table; the +others shall have their turn afterward." + +When all the places were filled, she opened the box and took from it a +number of beautifully carved articles--napkin-rings, spoons, etc. + +"Now, all take your turns in looking at this lovely carved work, while I +tell you its story," she said, "the story of how it came into my +possession." + +"You see, my husband was a sea-captain, and upon one occasion, when he +was about setting sail for a long voyage, a young man, or lad--he was +hardly old enough to be called a man--came and asked to be taken as one +of the crew. He gave a name, but it wasn't his true name, inherited +from his father, as my husband afterward discovered. But not suspecting +anything wrong, he engaged the lad, and took him with him on the voyage. + +"And the lad behaved well aboard the ship, and he used to carve +wonderfully well--as you may see by looking at these articles--just with +a jack-knife, and finally--keeping at it in his leisure moments--he made +all these articles, carving them out of sharks' teeth. + +"You can see he must have had genius; hadn't he? and yet he'd run away +from home to go to sea, as my husband afterward had good reason to +believe." + +She made a long story of it, spinning out her yarn until the first set +had examined the carved work to their satisfaction. + +Then, "Reverse yourselves," she said, indicating by a wave of her hand, +that they were to give place at the table to the rest of the company. + +When all had had an opportunity to examine the specimens of the lad's +skill, the young girl was ordered to restore them to the box, but first +to count them. + +That last clause brought an amused smile to nearly every face in the +audience, but Lulu frowned, and muttered, "Just as if she thought we +would steal them!" + +Next, Mrs. Mack began the circuit of the room, carrying a long slender +stick with which she pointed out those which she considered the most +interesting of her specimens or articles of virtu. + +One of these last was a very large, very old-fashioned back-comb, having +a story with a moral attached, the latter recited in doggerel rhyme. + +She had other stories, in connection with other articles, to tell in the +same way. In fact, so many and so long were they, that the listeners +grew weary and inattentive ere the exhibition was brought to a close. + +The afternoon was waning when they left the house. As Captain Raymond +and his family drove into the heart of the town on their way home, their +attention was attracted by the loud ringing of a hand-bell, followed now +and again by noisy vociferation, in a discordant, man's voice. + +"So the evening boat is in," remarked the captain. + +"How do you know, papa?" asked Grace. + +"By hearing the town-crier calling his papers; which could not have come +in any other way." + +"What does he say, papa?" queried Lulu. "I have listened as intently as +possible many a time, but I never can make out more than a word or two, +sometimes not that." + +"No more can I," he answered, with a smile; "it sounds to me like 'The +first news is um mum, and the second news is mum um mum, and the third +news is um um mum." + +The children all laughed. + +"Yonder he is, coming this way," said Max, leaning from the carriage +window. + +"Beckon to him," said the captain; "I want a paper." + +Max obeyed; the carriage stopped, the crier drew near and handed up the +paper asked for. + +"How much?" inquired the captain. + +"Five cents, sir." + +"Why, how is that? You asked me but three for yesterday's edition of +this same paper." + +"More news in this one." + +"Ah, you charge according to the amount of news, do you?" returned the +captain, laughing, and handing him a nickel. + +"Yes, sir; I guess that's about the fair way," said the crier, hastily +regaining the sidewalk to renew the clang, clang of his bell and the "um +mum mum" of his announcement. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"Wave high your torches on each crag and cliff. +Let many lights blaze on our battlements; +Shout to them in the pauses of the storm, +And tell them there is hope." + +--_Maturings "Bertram."_ + + +The evening was cool, and our whole party were gathered in the parlor of +the cottage occupied by the Dinsmores and Travillas--games, fancy-work, +reading, and conversation making the time fly. + +Edward and Zoe had drawn a little apart from the others, and were +conversing together in an undertone. + +"Suppose we go out and promenade the veranda for a little," he said, +presently. "I will get you a wrap and that knit affair for your head +that I think so pretty and becoming." + +"Crocheted," she corrected; "yes, I'm quite in the mood for a promenade +with my husband; and I'm sure the air outside must be delightful. But +you won't have to go farther than that stand in the corner for my +things." + +He brought them, wrapped the shawl carefully about her, and they went +out. + +Betty, looking after them, remarked aside to her Cousin Elsie, "How +lover-like they are still!" + +"Yes," Elsie said, with a glad smile: "they are very fond of each other, +and it rejoices my heart to see it." + +"And one might say exactly the same of the captain and Violet," pursued +Betty, in a lower tone, and glancing toward that couple, as they sat +side by side on the opposite sofa--Violet with her babe in her arms, the +captain clucking and whistling to it, while it cooed and laughed in his +face--Violet's ever-beautiful face more beautiful than its wont, with +its expression of exceeding love and happiness as her glance rested now +upon her husband and now upon her child. + +"Yes," Elsie said again, watching them, with a joyous smile still +wreathing her lips and shining in her eyes; "and it is just so with my +dear Elsie and Lester. I am truly blest in seeing my children so well +mated and so truly happy." + +"Zoe, little wife," Edward was saying, out on the veranda, "can you +spare me for a day or two?" + +"Spare you, Ned? How do you mean?" + +"I should like to join the boys--Bob, Harold, and Herbert--in a little +trip on a sailing vessel which leaves here early to-morrow morning and +will return on the evening of the next day or the next but one. I should +ask my little wife to go with us, but, unfortunately, the vessel has no +accommodations for ladies. What do you say, love? I shall not go without +your consent." + +"Thank you, you dear boy, for saying that," she responded, +affectionately, squeezing the arm on which she leaned; "go if you want +to; I know I can't help missing the kindest and dearest husband in the +world, but I shall try to be happy in looking forward to the joy of +reunion on your return." + +"That's a dear," he said, bending down to kiss the ruby lips. "It is a +great delight to meet after a short separation, and we should miss that +entirely if we never parted at all." + +"But oh, Ned, if anything should happen to you!" she said, in a +quivering voice. + +"Hush, hush, love," he answered, soothingly; "don't borrow trouble; +remember we are under the same protection on the sea as on the land, and +perhaps as safe on one as on the other." + +"Yes; but when I am with you I share your danger, if there is any, and +that is what I wish; for oh, Ned, I couldn't live without you!" + +"I hope you may never have to try it, my darling," he said, in tender +tones, "or I be called to endure the trial of having to live without +you; yet we can hardly hope to go together. + +"But let us not vex ourselves with useless fears. We have the promise, +'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.' And we know that nothing can +befall us without the will of our Heavenly Father, whose love and +compassion are infinite. 'We know that all things work together for good +to them that love God.'" + +"But if one is not at all sure of belonging to Him?" she said, in a +voice so low that he barely caught the words. + +"Then the way is open to come to Him. He says, 'Come unto me.' 'Him that +cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.' The invitation is to you, +love, as truly as if addressed to you alone; as truly as if you could +hear His voice speaking the sweet words and see His kind eyes looking +directly at you. + +"It is my ardent wish, my most earnest, constant prayer, that my beloved +wife may speedily learn to know, love, and trust in Him who is the Way, +the Truth, and the Life!" + +"You are so good, Ned! I wish I were worthy of such a husband," she +murmured, half sighing as she spoke. + +"Quite a mistake, Zoe," he replied, with unaffected humility; "to hear +you talk so makes me feel like a hypocrite. I haves no righteousness of +my own to plead, but, thanks be unto God, I may rejoice in the imputed +righteousness of Christ! And that may be yours, too, love, for the +asking. + +"'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it +shall be opened unto you.' + +"They are the Master's own words; and He adds: 'For every one that +asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh +it shall be opened.'" + +Meanwhile the contemplated trip of the young men was under discussion in +the parlor. "Dear me!" said Betty, who had just heard of it, "how much +fun men and boys do have! Don't you wish you were one of them, Lulu?" + +"No, I don't," returned Lulu, promptly. "I'd like to be allowed to do +some of the things they do that we mustn't, but I don't want to be a +boy." + +"That is right," said her father; "there are few things so unpleasant to +me as a masculine woman, who wishes herself a man and tries to ape the +stronger, coarser sex in dress and manners. I hope my girls will always +be content, and more than content, to be what God has made them." + +"If you meant to hit me that time, captain," remarked Betty, in a lively +tone, "let me tell you it was a miserable failure, for I don't wish I +was a man, and never did. Coarse creatures, as you say--present company +always excepted--who would want to be one of them." + +"I'd never have anything to do with one of them if I were in your place, +Bet," laughed her brother. + +"Perhaps I shouldn't, only that they seem a sort of necessary evil," she +retorted. "But why don't you invite some of us ladies to go along?" + +"Because you are _not_ necessary evils," returned her brother, with a +twinkle of fun in his eye. + +"You should, one and all, have an invitation if we could make you +comfortable," said Harold, gallantly: "but the vessel has absolutely no +accommodations for ladies." + +"Ah, then, you are excusable," returned Betty. + +The young men left the next morning, after an early breakfast. Zoe and +Betty drove down to the wharf with them to see them off, and watched the +departing vessel till she disappeared from sight. + +Zoe went home in tears, Betty doing her best to console her. + +"Come, now, be a brave little woman; it's for only two or three days at +the farthest. Why, I'd never get married if I thought I shouldn't be +able to live so long without the fortunate man I bestowed my hand upon." + +"Oh, you don't know anything about it, Betty!" sobbed Zoe. "Ned's all I +have in the world, and it's so lonesome without him! And then, how do I +know that he'll ever get back? A storm may come up and the vessel be +wrecked." + +"That's just possible," said Betty, "and it's great folly to make +ourselves miserable over bare possibilities--things which may never +happen." + +"Oh, you are a great deal too wise for me!" said Zoe, in disgust. + +"Oh," cried Betty, "if it's a pleasure and comfort to you to be +miserable--to make yourself so by anticipating the worst--do so by all +means. I have heard of people who are never happy but when they are +miserable." + +"But I am not one of that sort," said Zoe, in an aggrieved tone. "I am +as happy as a lark when Ned is with me. Yes, and I'll show you that I +can be cheerful even without him." + +She accordingly wiped her eyes, put on a smile, and began talking in a +sprightly way about the beauty of the sea as they looked upon it, with +its waves dancing and sparkling in the brilliant light of the morning +sun. + +"What shall we do to-day?" queried Betty. + +"Take a drive," said Zoe. + +"Yes; I wish there was some new route or new place to go to." + +"There's a pretty drive to the South Shore, that maybe you have not +tried yet," suggested the hackman. + +"South Shore? That's another name for Surfside, isn't it?" asked Betty. + +"It's another part of the same side of the island I refer to," he +answered. "It's a nice drive through the avenue of pines--a road the +lovers are fond of--and if the south wind blows, as it does this +morning, you have a fine surf to look at when you get there." + +"If a drive is talked of to-day, let us propose this one, Zoe," said +Betty. + +"Yes; I dare say it is as pleasant as any we could take," assented Zoe. +"I wish Edward was here to go with us." + +Elsie, with her usual thoughtfulness for others, had been considering +what could be done to prevent Zoe from feeling lonely in Edward's +absence. She saw the hack draw up at the door, and meeting the young +girls on the threshold with a bright face and pleasant smile: "You have +seen the boys off?" she said, half inquiringly. "The weather is so +favorable, that I think they can hardly fail to enjoy themselves +greatly." + +"Yes, mamma, I hope they will; but ah, a storm may come and wreck them +before they can get back," sighed Zoe, furtively wiping away a tear. + +"Possibly; but we won't be so foolish as to make ourselves unhappy by +anticipating evils that may never come," was the cheery rejoinder. "The +Edna has a skilful captain, a good crew, and is doubtless entirely +seaworthy--at least so Edward assured me--and for the rest we must trust +in Providence. + +"Come in, now, and let me give you each a cup of coffee. Your breakfast +with the boys was so early and so slight, that you may find appetite for +a supplement," she added, sportively, as she led the way into the cosey +little dining-room of the cottage, where they found a tempting repast +spread especially for them, the others having already taken their +morning meal. + +"How nice in you, Cousin Elsie!" exclaimed Betty. "I wasn't expecting to +eat another breakfast, but I find a rapidly coming appetite; these +muffins and this coffee are so delicious." + +"So they are," said Zoe. "I never knew anybody else quite so kindly +thoughtful as mamma." + +"I think I know several," Elsie rejoined; "but it is very pleasant to be +so highly appreciated. Now, my dear girls, you will confer a favor if +you will tell me in what way I can make the day pass most pleasantly to +you." + +"Thank you, cousin. It is a delightful morning for a drive, I think," +said Betty; then went on to repeat what their hackman had said of the +drive to the South Shore. + +"It sounds pleasant. I think we will make up a party and try it," Elsie +said. "You would like it, Zoe?" + +"Yes, mamma, better than anything I know of beside. The man says that +just there the beach has not been so thoroughly picked over for shells +and other curiosities, and we may be able to find some worth having." + +No one had made any special plans for the day, so all were ready to fall +into this proposed by Zoe and Betty. Hacks were ordered--enough to hold +all of their party now at hand--and they started. + +They found the drive all it had been represented. For some distance +their way lay along the bank of a long pond, pretty to look at and +interesting as connected with old times and ways of life on the island. +Their hackmen told them that formerly large flocks of sheep were raised +by the inhabitants, and this pond was one of the places where the sheep +were brought at a certain time of year to be washed and shorn. On +arriving at their destination, they found a long stretch of sandy beach, +with great thundering waves dashing upon it. + +"Oh," cried Zoe and Betty, in delight, "it is like a bit of 'Sconset!" + +"Look away yonder," said Lulu; "isn't that a fisherman's cart?" + +"Yes," replied her father. "Suppose we go nearer and see what he is +doing." + +"Oh, yes; do let us, papa!" cried Lulu, always ready to go everywhere +and see everything. + +"You may run on with Max and Grace," he said; "some of us will follow +presently." + +He turned and offered his arm to Violet. "It is heavy walking in this +deep sand; let me help you." + +"Thank you; it is wearisome, and I am glad to have my husband's strong +arm to lean upon," she answered, smiling sweetly up into his eyes as she +accepted the offered aid. + +The young girls and the children came running back to meet them. "He's +catching blue-fish," they announced; "he has a good many in his cart." + +"Now, watch him, Mamma Vi; you haven't had a chance to see just such +fishing before," said Max. "See, he's whirling his drail; there! now he +has sent it far out into the water. Now he's hauling it in, and--oh yes, +a good big fish with it." + +"What is a drail?" Violet asked. + +"It is a hook with a long piece of lead above it covered with eel-skin," +answered her husband. + +"There it goes again!" she exclaimed. "It is a really interesting +sight, but rather hard work, I should think." + +When tired of watching the fisherman, they wandered back and forth along +the beach in search of curiosities, picking up bits of sponge, rockweed, +seaweed, and a greater variety of shells than they had been able to find +on other parts of the shore which they had visited. + +It was only when they had barely time enough left to reach home for a +late dinner that they were all willing to enter the carriages and be +driven away from the spot. + +As they passed through the streets of the town, the crier was out with +his hand-bell. + +"Oh yes! oh yes! all the windows to be taken out of the Athenaeum +to-day, and the Athenaeum to be elevated to-night." + +After listening intently to several repetitions of the cry, they +succeeded in making it out. + +"But what on earth does he mean?" exclaimed Betty. + +"Ventilated, I presume," replied the captain. "There was an exhibition +there last night, and complaints were made that the room was close." + +Toward evening of the next day our friends in the cliff cottages began +to look for the return of the Edna with the four young men of their +party. But night fell, and yet they had not arrived. + +Elsie began to feel anxious, but tried not to allow her disturbance to +be perceived, especially by Zoe, who seemed restless and ill at ease, +going often out to the edge of the cliff and gazing long and intently +toward that quarter of the horizon where she had seen the Edna disappear +on the morning she sailed out of Nantucket harbor. + +She sought her post of observation for the twentieth time just before +sunset, and remained there till it grew too dark to see much beyond the +line of breakers along the shore below. + +Turning to re-enter the house, she found Captain Raymond standing by her +side. + +"O captain," she cried, "isn't it time the Edna was in?" + +"I rather supposed they would be in a little earlier than this, but am +not at all surprised that they are not," he answered, in a cheery tone. +"Indeed, it is quite possible that they may not get in till to-morrow. +When they left it was uncertain that they would come back to-day. So, my +good sister, I think we have no cause for anxiety." + +"Then I shall try not to be anxious," she said; "but it seems like a +month since I parted from Ned, and it's a sore disappointment not to see +him to-night. I don't know how Vi stands your long absences, captain." + +"Don't you suppose it's about as hard for me as for her, considering +how charming she is?" he asked, lightly. + +"Perhaps it is; but men don't live in their affections as women do; love +is only half the world to the most loving of them, I verily believe, +while it's all the world to us." + +"There is some truth in that," he acknowledged; "we men are compelled to +give much time and thought to business, yet many of us are ardent lovers +or affectionate husbands. I, for one, am extremely fond of wife and +children." + +"Yes, I am sure of it, and quite as sure that Ned is very fond of me." + +"There isn't a doubt of it. I think I have never seen a happier couple +than you seem to be, or than Leland and his Elsie; yet Violet and I will +not yield the palm to either of you." + +"And was there ever such a mother-in-law as mamma?" said Zoe. "I don't +remember my own mother very distinctly, but I do not believe I could +have loved her much better than I do Edward's mother." + +"Words would fail me in an attempt to describe all her excellences," he +responded. "Well, Lulu, what is it?" as the child came running toward +them. + +"Tea is ready, papa, and Grandma Rose says 'please come to it.'" + +Shortly after leaving the table, the captain, noticing that Zoe seemed +anxious and sad, offered to go into the town and inquire if anything had +been seen or heard of the Edna. + +"Oh, thank you," she said, brightening; "but won't you take me along?" + +"Certainly, if you think you will not find the walk too long and +fatiguing." + +"Not a bit," she returned, hastily donning hat and shawl. + +"Have you any objection to my company, Levis?" Violet asked, with +sportive look and tone. + +"My love, I shall be delighted, if you feel equal to the exertion," he +answered, with a look of pleasure that said more than the words. + +"Quite," she said. "Max, I know you like to wait on me; will you please +bring my hat and shawl from the bedroom there?" + +"Yes, indeed, with pleasure, Mamma Vi," the boy answered, with alacrity, +as he hastened to obey. + +"Three won't make as agreeable a number for travelling the sidewalks as +four, and I ought to be looking out for Bob," remarked Betty; "so if +anybody will ask me to go along perhaps I may consent." + +"Yes, do come," said Zoe. "I'll take you for my escort." + +"And we will walk decorously behind the captain and Vi, feeling no fear +because under the protection of his wing," added the lively Betty. "But +do you think, sir, you have the strength and ability to protect three +helpless females?" she asked, suddenly wheeling round upon him. + +"I have not a doubt I can render them all the aid and protection they +are at all likely to need in this peaceful, law-abiding community," he +answered, with becoming gravity, as he gave his arm to his wife, and led +the way from the house. + +"It is a rather lonely but by no means dangerous walk, Cousin Betty," he +added, holding the gate open for her and the others to pass out. + +"Lonely enough for me to indulge in a moderate amount of fun and +laughter, is it not, sir?" she returned, in an inquiring tone. + +She seemed full of life and gayety, while Zoe was unusually quiet. + +They walked into the town and all the way down to the wharf; but the +Edna was not there, nor could they hear any news of her. Zoe seemed full +of anxiety and distress, though the others tried to convince her there +was no occasion for it. + +"Come, come, cheer up, little woman," the captain said, seeing her eyes +fill with tears. "If we do not see or hear from them by this time +to-morrow night, we may begin to be anxious; but till then there is +really no need." + +"There, Zoe, you have an opinion that is worth something, the captain +being an experienced sailor," remarked Betty. "So thry to be aisy, my +dear, and if ye can't be aisy, be as aisy as ye can!" + +Zoe laughed faintly at Betty's jest; then, with a heroic effort, put on +an air of cheerfulness, and contributed her full quota to the sprightly +chat on the homeward walk. + +She kept up her cheerful manner till she had parted from the rest for +the night, but wet her solitary pillow with tears ere her anxiety and +loneliness were forgotten in sleep. + +Her spirits revived with the new day, for the sun rose clear and bright, +the sea was calm, and she said to herself, "Oh, surely the Edna will +come in before night, and Ned and I will be together again!" + +Many times that day both she and his mother scanned intently the wide +waste of waters, and watched with eager eyes the approach of some +distant sail, hoping it might prove the one they looked and longed for. + +But their hopes were disappointed again and again; noon passed, and the +Edna was not in sight. + +"Mamma, what can be keeping them?" sighed Zoe, as the two stood together +on the brow of the hill, still engaged in their fruitless search. + +"Not necessarily anything amiss," Elsie answered. "You remember that +when they went it was quite uncertain whether they would return earlier +than to-night; so let us not suffer ourselves to be uneasy because they +are not yet here." + +"I am ashamed of myself," Zoe said. "I wish I could learn to be as +patient and cheerful as you are, mamma." + +"I trust you will be more so by the time you are my age," Elsie said, +putting an arm about Zoe's waist and drawing her close, with a tender +caress. "I still at times feel the risings of impatience; I have not +fully learned to 'let patience have her perfect work.' + +"There is an old proverb, 'A watched pot never boils,'" she added, with +sportive look and tone. "Suppose we seat ourselves in the veranda yonder +and try to forget the Edna for awhile in an interesting story. I have a +new book which looks very interesting, and has been highly commended in +some of the reviews. We will get papa to read it aloud to us while we +busy ourselves with our fancy-work. Shall we not?" + +Zoe assented, though with rather an indifferent air, and they returned +to the house. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore, the only ones they found there, the others being +all down on the beach, fell readily into the plan; the book and the work +were brought out, and the reading began. + +It was a good, well-told story, and even Zoe presently became thoroughly +interested. + +Down on the beach Violet and the captain sat together in the sand, he +searching sea and sky with a spyglass. + +She noticed a look of anxiety creeping over his face. + +"What is it, Levis?" she asked. + +"I fear there is a heavy storm coming," he said. "I wish with all my +heart the Edna was in. But I trust they have been wise enough not to put +out to sea and are safe in harbor some where." + +"I hope so, indeed," she responded, fervently, "for we have much +precious freight aboard of her. But the sky does not look very +threatening to me, Levis." + +"Does it not? I wish I could say the same. But, little wife, are you +weatherwise or otherwise?" he asked, laughingly. + +"Not wise in any way except as I may lay claim to the wisdom of my other +half," she returned, adopting his sportive tone. + +"Ah," she exclaimed the next moment, "I, too, begin to see some +indications of a storm; it is growing very dark yonder in the +northeast!" + +Betty came hurrying up, panting and frightened. "O captain, be a dear, +good man, and say you don't think we are to have a storm +directly--before Bob and the rest get safe to shore!" + +"I should be glad to oblige you, Betty," he said, "but I cannot say +that; and what would it avail if I did? Could my opinion stay the +storm?" + +"Zoe will be frightened to death about Edward," she said, turning her +face seaward again as she spoke, and gazing with tear-dimmed eyes at the +black, threatening cloud fast spreading from horizon to zenith, "and +I--oh, Bob is nearer to me than any other creature on earth!" + +"Let us hope for the best, Betty," the captain said, kindly; "it is +quite possible, perhaps I might say probable, that the Edna is now lying +at anchor in some safe harbor, and will stay there till this storm is +over." + +"Oh, thank you for telling me that!" she cried. "I'll just try to +believe it is so and not fret, though it would pretty nearly kill me if +anything should happen to Bob. Still, it will do no good to fret." + +"Prayer would do far more," said Violet, softly--"prayer to Him whom +even the winds and the sea obey. But isn't it time to go in, Levis? the +storm seems to be coming up so very fast." + +"Yes," he said, rising and helping her to get on her feet. "Where are +the children?" + +"Yonder," said Betty, nodding in their direction. "I'll tell them--shall +I?" + +"No, thank you; you and Violet hurry on to the house as fast as you can; +I will call the children, follow with them, and probably overtake you in +time to help you up the stairs." + +Before they were all safely housed, the wind had come down upon them and +was blowing almost a gale. It was with considerable difficulty the +captain succeeded in getting them all up the long steep flights of +stairs by which they must reach the top of the cliff. + +About the time they started for the house the party on the veranda +became aware that a storm was rising. + +Zoe saw it first, and dropped her work in her lap with the cry, "Oh, I +knew it would be so! I just knew it! A dreadful storm is coming, and the +Edna will be wrecked, and Edward will drown. I shall never see him +again!" + +The others were too much startled and alarmed at the moment to notice +her wild words or make any reply. They all rose and hurried into the +house, and Mr. Dinsmore began closing windows and doors. + +"The children, papa!" cried Elsie; "they must be down on the beach, +and--" + +"The captain is with them, and I will go to their assistance," he +replied, before she could finish her sentence. + +He rushed out as he spoke, to return the next moment with Walter in his +arms and the rest closely following. + +"These are all safe, and for the others I must trust the Lord," Elsie +said softly to herself as her father set Walter down, and she drew the +child to her side. + +But her cheek was very pale, and her lips trembled as she pressed them +to the little fellow's forehead. + +He looked up wonderingly. "Mamma, what is the matter? You're not afraid +of wind and thunder?" + +"No, dear; but I fear for your brothers out on this stormy sea," she +whispered in his ear. "Pray for them, darling, that if God will, they +may reach home in safety." + +"Yes, mamma, I will; and I believe He'll bring them. Is it 'cause Ned's +in the ship Zoe's crying so?" + +"Yes; I must try to comfort her." And putting him gently aside, Elsie +went to her young daughter-in-law, who had thrown herself upon a couch, +and with her head pillowed on its arm, her face hidden in her hands, was +weeping and sobbing as if her heart would break. + +"Zoe, love," Elsie said, kneeling at her side and putting her arms about +her, "do not despair. 'Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it +cannot save; neither His ear heavy that it cannot hear.'" + +"No, but--He does let people drown; and oh, I can never live without my +husband!" + +"Dear child, there is no need to consider that question till it is +forced upon you. Try, dear one, to let that alone, and rest in the +promise, 'As thy days, so shall thy strength be.'" + +The captain had drawn near, and was standing close beside them. + +"Mother has given you the best of advice, my little sister," he said, in +his kind, cheery way; "and for your further comfort let me say that it +is altogether likely the Edna is safe in harbor somewhere. I think they +probably perceived the approach of the storm in season to be warned not +to put out to sea till it should be over." + +"Do you really think so, captain?" she asked, lifting her head to wipe +away her tears. + +He assured her that he did; and thinking him a competent judge of what +seamen would be likely to do in such an emergency, she grew calm for a +time, though her face was still sad; and till darkness shut out the +sight, she cast many an anxious glance from the window upon the raging +waters. + +"If not in harbor, they must be in great peril?" Mr. Dinsmore remarked, +aside, and half inquiringly, to the captain. + +"Yes, sir; yes, indeed. I am far more anxious than I should like to own +to their mother, Zoe, or Violet." + +It was near their tea hour when the storm burst; they gathered about the +table as usual, but there was little eating done except by the children, +and the meal was not enlivened, as was customary with them, by cheerful, +sprightly chat, though efforts in that direction were not wanting on the +part of several of their number. + +The storm raged on with unabated fury, and Zoe, as she listened to the +howling of the wind and the deafening thunder peals, grew wild with +terror for her husband. She could not be persuaded to go to bed, even +when her accustomed hour for retiring was long past, but would sit in +her chair, moaning, "O Ned! Ned! my husband, my dear, dear husband! Oh, +if I could only do anything to help you! My darling, my darling! you are +all I have, and I can't live without you!" then spring up and pace the +floor, sobbing, wringing her hands, and sometimes, as a fierce blast +shook the cottage or a more deafening thunder peal crashed over-head, +even shrieking out in terror and distress. + +In vain Elsie tried to soothe and quiet her with reassuring, comforting +words or caresses and endearments. + +"Oh, I can't bear it!" she cried again and again. "Ned is all I have, +and it will kill me to lose him. Nobody can know how I suffer at the +very thought." + +"My dear," Elsie said, with a voice trembling with emotion, "you forget +that Edward is my dearly loved son, and that I have two others, who are +no less dear to their mother's heart, on board that vessel." + +"Forgive me, mamma," Zoe sobbed, taking Elsie's hand and dropping tears +and kisses upon it. "I did forget, and it was very shameful, for you are +so kind and loving to me, putting aside your own grief and anxiety to +help me in bearing mine. But how is it yon can be so calm?" + +"Because, dear, I am enabled to stay my heart on God, my Almighty +Friend, my kind, wise, Heavenly Father. Listen, love, to these sweet +words: 'O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to +thy faithfulness round about Thee? Thou rulest the roaring of the sea: +when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.'" + +"They are beautiful," said Betty, who sat near, in a despondent +attitude, her elbow on her knee, her cheek in her hand. "Oh, Cousin +Elsie, I would give all the world for your faith, and to be able to find +the comfort and support in Bible promises and teachings that you do!" + +The outer door opened, and Mr. Dinsmore and Captain Raymond came in, +their waterproof coats dripping with rain. + +They had been out on the edge of the cliff taking an observation, though +it was little they could see through the darkness; but occasionally the +lightning's lurid flash lit up the scene for a moment, and afforded a +glimpse of the storm-tossed deep. + +"Be comforted, ladies," the captain said; "there are at least no signs +of any vessel in distress; if any such were near, she would undoubtedly +be firing signal-guns. So I think we may hope my conjecture that our +boys are safe in harbor somewhere, is correct." + +"And the storm is passing over," said Mr. Dinsmore; "the thunder and +lightning have almost ceased." + +"But the wind has not fallen, and that is what makes the great danger, +grandpa, isn't it?" asked Zoe. "Oh, hark, what was that? I heard a step +and voice!" And rushing to the outer door as she spoke, she threw it +open, and found herself in her husband's arms. + +"O Ned, Ned!" she cried, in a transport of joy, "is it really you? Oh, I +thought I should never see you again, you dear, dear, _dear_ boy!" + +She clung round his neck, and he held her close, with many a caress and +endearing word, drawing her a little to one side to let his brothers +step past them and embrace the tender mother, who wept for joy as she +received them, almost as if restored to her from the very gates of +death. + +"There, love, I must let you go while I take off this dripping coat," +Edward said, at length, releasing Zoe. "How wet I have made you! I fear +your pretty dress is quite spoiled," he added, with a tender, regretful +smile. + +"That's nothing," she answered, with a gay laugh; "you'll only have to +buy me another, and you've plenty of money." + +"Plenty to supply all the wants of my little wife, I hope." + +"Ah, mother dear," as he threw aside his wet overcoat and took her in +his arms, "were you alarmed for the safety of your three sons?" + +"Yes, indeed I was," she said, returning his kisses; "and I feel that I +have great cause for thankfulness in that you are all brought back to me +unharmed. 'Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for +His wonderful works to the children of men!'" + +Betty had started up on the entrance of her cousins, glancing eagerly +from one dripping figure to another, then staggered back and leaned, +pale and trembling, against the wall. In the excitement no one had +noticed her, but now she exclaimed, in tremulous accents, and catching +her breath, "Bob--my brother; where is he?" + +"O Betty," Harold answered, turning hastily at the sound of her voice, +"forgive our thoughtlessness in not explaining that at once! Bob went to +a hotel; he said we could bring the news of his safety and our own, and +it wasn't worth while for him to travel all the way up here through the +storm." + +"No, of course not; I wouldn't have had him do so," she returned, with a +sigh of relief, her face resuming its wonted gayety of expression; "but +I'm mighty glad he's safe on terra firma." + +"But your story, boys; let us have it," said Mr. Dinsmore. + +"Yes, we _have_ a story, grandpa," said Edward, with emphasis and +excitement; "but Harold should tell it; he could do it better than I." + +"No, no," Harold said; "you are as good a story-teller as I." + +"There!" laughed Herbert. "I believe I'll have to do it myself, or with +your extreme politeness to each other you'll keep the audience waiting +all night. + +"The storm came suddenly upon us when we were about half way home, or +maybe something more; and it presently became evident that we were in +imminent danger of wreck. The captain soon concluded that our only +chance was in letting the Edna drive right before the wind, which would +take us in exactly the direction we wished to pursue, but with rather +startling celerity; and that was what he did. + +"She flew over the water like a wild winged bird, and into the harbor +with immense velocity. Safely enough, though, till we were there, almost +at the wharf, when we struck against another vessel anchored near, and +actually cut her in two, spilling the crew into the water." + +"Don't look so horrified, mother dear," said Harold, as Herbert paused +for breath; "no one was drowned, no one even hurt." + +"Barring the wetting and the fright, as the Irish say," added Edward. + +"But the latter was a real hurt," said Harold; "for the cry they sent up +as they made the sudden, involuntary plunge from their berths, where +they were probably asleep at the moment of collision, into the cold, +deep water of the harbor, was something terrible to hear." + +"Enough to curdle one's blood," added Herbert. + +"And you are quite sure all were picked up?" asked Elsie, her sweet face +full of pity for the unfortunate sufferers. + +"Yes, mother, quite sure," answered Edward; "the captain of the craft +said, in my hearing, that no one was missing." + +"And the captain of the other will probably have pretty heavy damages to +pay," remarked Mr. Dinsmore. + +"I presume so," said Edward; "but even that would be far better than +the loss of his vessel, with all the lives of those on board." + +"Money could not pay for those last," Elsie said, low and tremulously, +as she looked at her three tall sons through a mist of unshed tears; +"and I will gladly help the Edna's captain to meet the damages incurred +in his efforts to save them." + +"Just like you, mother," Edward said, giving her a look of proud, fond +affection. + +"I entirely approve, and shall be ready to contribute my share," said +her father. "But it is very late, or rather early--long past +midnight--and we should be getting to bed. But let us first unite in a +prayer of thanksgiving to our God for all His mercies, especially +this--that our dear boys are restored to us unharmed." + +They knelt, and led by him, all hearts united in a fervent outpouring of +gratitude and praise to the Giver of all good. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."--1 SAMUEL 7:12. + + +It was a lovely Sabbath afternoon, still and bright; Elsie sat alone on +the veranda, enjoying the beauty of the sea and the delicious breeze +coming from it. She had been reading, and the book lay in her lap, one +hand resting upon the open page; but she was deep in meditation, her +eyes following the restless movements of the waves that, with the rising +tide, dashed higher and higher upon the beach below. + +For the last half hour she had been the solitary tenant of the veranda, +while the others enjoyed their siesta or a lounge upon the beach. + +Presently a noiseless step drew near her chair, some one bent down over +her and softly kissed her cheek. + +"Papa" she said, looking up into his face with smiling eyes, "you have +come to sit with me? Let me give you this chair," and she would have +risen to do so, but he laid his hand on her shoulder, saying, "No; sit +still; I will take this," drawing up another and seating himself therein +close at her side. + +"Do you know that I have been watching you from the doorway there for +the last five minutes?" he asked. + +"No, sir; I deemed myself quite alone," she said. "Why did you not let +me know that my dear father, whose society I prize so highly, was so +near?" + +"Because you seemed so deep in thought, and evidently such happy +thought, that I was loath to disturb it." + +"Yes," she said, "they were happy thoughts. I have seemed to myself, for +the last few days, to be in the very land of Beulah, so delightful has +been the sure hope--I may say certainty--that Jesus is mine and I am +His; that I am His servant forever, for time and for eternity, as truly +and entirely His as words can express. Is it not a sweet thought, papa? +is it not untold bliss to know that we may--that we shall serve Him +forever? that nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ?" + +"It is, indeed--Christ who is our life. He says, 'Because I live, ye +shall live also;' thus He is our life. Is He not our life also because +He is the dearest of all friends to us--His own people?" + +"Yes; and how the thought of His love, His perfect sympathy, His +infinite power to help and to save, gives strength and courage to face +the unknown future. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall +I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' +'Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.' + +"In view of the many dangers that lie around our every path, the many +terrible trials that may be sent to any one of us, I often wonder how +those who do not trust in this almighty Friend can have the least real, +true happiness. Were it my case, I should be devoured with anxiety and +fears for myself and my dear ones." + +"But as it is," her father said, gazing tenderly upon her, "you are able +to leave the future, for them and for yourself, in His kind, wise, +all-powerful hands, knowing that nothing can befall you without His +will, and that He will send no trial that shall not be for your good, +and none that He will not give you strength to endure?" + +"Yes, that is it, papa; and oh, what rest it is! One feels so safe and +happy; so free from fear and care; like a little child whose loving +earthly father is holding it by the hand or in his strong, kind arms." + +"And you have loved and trusted Him since you were a very little child," +he remarked, half musingly. + +"Yes, papa; I cannot remember when I did not; and could there be a +greater cause for gratitude?" + +"No; such love and trust are worth more to the happy possessor than the +wealth of the universe. But there was a time when, though my little girl +had it, I was altogether ignorant of it, and marvelled greatly at her +love for God's word and her joy and peace in believing. I shall never +cease to bless God for giving me such a child." + +"Nor I to thank Him for my dear father," she responded, putting her hand +into his, with the very same loving, confiding gesture she had been wont +to use in childhood's days. + +His fingers closed over it, and he held it fast in a warm, loving grasp, +while they continued their talk concerning the things that lay nearest +their hearts--the love of the Master, His infinite perfection, the +interests of His kingdom, the many great and precious promises of His +word--thus renewing their strength and provoking one another to love and +to good works. + +"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord +hearkened, and heard it; and a book of remembrance was written before +Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name. + +"And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I +make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son +that serveth him." + +Ere another week had rolled its round, events had occurred which tested +the sustaining power of their faith in God, and the joy of the Lord +proved to be indeed their strength, keeping their hearts from failing in +an hour of sore anxiety and distress. + +The evening was bright with the radiance of a full moon and unusually +warm for the season; so pleasant was it out of doors that most of our +friends preferred the veranda to the cottage parlors, and some of the +younger ones were strolling about the town or the beach. + +Betty had gone down to the latter place, taking Lulu with her, with the +captain's permission, both promising not to go out of sight of home. + +"Oh, how lovely the sea is to-night, with the moon shining so brightly +on all the little dancing waves!" exclaimed Lulu, as they stood side by +side close to the water's edge. + +"Yes," said Betty; "doesn't it make you feel like going in?" + +"Do people ever bathe at night?" asked Lulu. + +"I don't know why they shouldn't," returned her companion. + +"It might be dangerous, perhaps," suggested Lulu. + +"Why should it?" said Betty; "it's almost as light as day. Oh, Bob," +perceiving her brother close at hand, "don't you want to go in? I will +if you will go with me." + +"I don't care if I do," he answered, after a moment's reflection: "a +moonlight bath in the sea would be something out of the common; and +there seems to be just surf enough to make it enjoyable." + +"Yes; and my bathing-suit is in the bath-house yonder. I can be ready in +five minutes." + +"Can you? So can I; we'll go in if only for a few minutes. Won't you go +with us, Lulu?" + +"I'd like to," she said, "but I can't without leave; and I know papa +wouldn't give it, for I had a bath this morning, and he says one a day +is quite enough." + +"I was in this morning," said Bob; "Betty, too, I think, and--I say, +Bet, it strikes me I've heard that it's a little risky to go in at +night." + +"Not such a night as this, I'm sure, Bob; why, it's as light as day; and +if there is danger it can be only about enough to give spice to the +undertaking." + +With the last word she started for the bath-house, and Bob, not to be +outdone in courage, hurried toward another appropriated to his use. + +Lulu stood waiting for their return, not at all afraid to be left alone +with not another creature in sight on the beach. Yet the solitude +disturbed her as the thought arose that Bob and Betty might be about to +put themselves in danger, while no help was at hand for their rescue. +The nearest she knew of was at the cottages on the bluff, and for her to +climb those long flights of stairs and give the alarm in case anything +went wrong with the venturesome bathers, would be a work of time. + +"I'd better not wait for them to get into danger, for they would surely +drown before help could reach them," she said to herself, after a +moment's thought. "I'll only wait till I see them really in, and then +hurry home to see if somebody can't come down and be ready to help if +they should begin to drown." + +But as they passed her, presently, on their way to the water, Bob said: +"We're trusting you to keep our secret, Lulu; don't tell tales on us." + +She made no reply, but thought within herself, "That shows he doesn't +think he's doing exactly right. I'm afraid it must be quite dangerous." + +But while his remark and injunction increased her apprehensions for +them, it also made her hesitate to carry to their friends the news of +their escapade till she should see that it brought them into actual +danger and need of assistance. + +She watched them tremblingly as they waded slowly out beyond the surf +into the smooth, swelling waves, where they began to swim. + +For a few moments all seemed to be well; then came a sudden shrill cry +from Betty, followed by a hoarser one from Bob, which could mean nothing +else than fright and danger. + +For an instant Lulu was nearly paralyzed with terror; but rousing +herself by a determined effort, she shouted at the top of her voice, +"Don't give up; I'll go for help as fast as ever I can," and instantly +set off for home at her utmost speed. + +"Help, help! they'll drown, oh, they'll drown!" she screamed as she ran. + +Harold, who was in the act of descending the last flight of stairs, saw +her running toward him, and heard her cry, though the noise of the surf +prevented his catching all the words. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted, clearing the remainder of the flight at +a bound. + +"Betty, Bob--drowning!" she cried, without slackening her speed, "I'm +going for help." + +He waited, to hear no more, but sped on toward the water; and only +pausing to divest himself of his outer clothing, plunged in, and, +buffeting with the waves, made his way as rapidly as possible toward the +struggling forms, which, by the light of the moon, he could dimly +discern at some distance from the shore. + +Faint cries for help and the gleam of Betty's white arm, as for an +instant she raised it above the wave, guided him to the spot. + +Harold was an excellent swimmer, strong and courageous; but he had +undertaken a task beyond his strength, and his young life was very near +falling a sacrifice to the folly of his cousins and his own generous +impulse to fly to their aid. + +Both Bob and Betty were already so nearly exhausted as to be scarcely +capable of doing anything to help themselves, and in their mad struggle +for life caught hold of him and so impeded his movements that he was +like to perish with them. + +Mean while Lulu had reached the top of the cliff, then the veranda where +the older members of the family party were seated, and, all out of +breath with fright and the exertion of climbing and running, she +faltered out, "Bob and Betty; they'll drown if they don't get help +quickly." + +"What, are they in the water?" cried Mr. Dinsmore and Captain Raymond, +simultaneously springing to their feet; the latter adding, "I fear +they'll drown before we can possibly get help to them." + +"Oh, yes; they're drowning now," sobbed Lulu; "but Harold's gone to help +them." + +"Harold? He's lost if he tries it alone!" "The boy's mad to think of +such a thing!" exclaimed Mr. Dinsmore and Edward in a breath, while +Elsie's cheek turned deathly pale, and her heart went up in an agonized +cry that her boy's life might be spared; the others also. + +The gentlemen held a hasty consultation, then scattered, Mr. Dinsmore +hastening in search of other aid, while Captain Raymond and Edward +hurried to the beach, the ladies following with entreaties to them to be +careful. + +But fortunately for the endangered ones, other aid had already reached +them--a boat that had come out from Nantucket for a moonlight sail, and +from the shore a noble Newfoundland dog belonging to a retired sea +captain. Strolling along the beach with his master, he heard the cries +for help, saw the struggling forms, and instantly plunging in among the +waves, swam to the rescue. + +Seizing Betty by the hair, he held her head above water till the +sailboat drew near and strong arms caught hold of her and dragged her +in, pale, dripping, and seemingly lifeless. + +They then picked up the young men, both entirely unconscious, and made +for the shore with all possible haste. + +It was doubtful if the last spark of life had not been extinguished in +every one of the three; but the most prompt, wise, and vigorous measures +were instantly taken and continued for hours--hours of agonizing +suspense to those who loved them. + +At length Bob gave unmistakable signs of life; and shortly after Betty +sighed, opened her eyes, and asked, feebly, "Where am I? what has +happened?" + +But Harold still lay as one dead, and would have been given up as such +had not his mother clung to hope, and insisted that the efforts at +restoration should be continued. + +Through the whole trying scene she had maintained an unbroken calmness +of demeanor, staying herself upon her God, lifting her heart to His +throne in never-ceasing petitions, and in the midst of her bitter grief +and anxiety rejoicing that if her boy were taken from her for a time, it +would be but to exchange the trials and cares of earth for the joys of +heaven; and the parting from him here would soon be followed by a +blissful reunion in that blessed land where sin and sorrow and suffering +can never enter. + +But at length, when their efforts were rewarded so that he breathed and +spoke, and she knew that he was restored to her, the reaction came. + +She had given him a gentle, tender kiss, had seen him fall into a +natural, refreshing sleep, and passing from his bedside into an +adjoining room, she fainted in her father's arms. + +"My darling, my dear, brave darling!" he murmured, as he laid her down +upon a couch and bent over her in tenderest solicitude, while Mrs. +Dinsmore hastened to apply restoratives. + +It was not a long faint; she presently opened her eyes and lifted them +with a bewildered look up into her father's face. + +"What is it, papa?" she murmured; "have I been ill?" + +"Only a short faint," he answered. "But you must be quite worn out." + +"Oh, I remember!" she cried. "Harold, my dear son--" + +"Is doing well, love. And now I want you to go to your bed and try to +get some rest. See, day is breaking, and you have had no sleep, no +rest." + +"Nor have you, papa; do go and lie down; but I must watch over my poor +boy," she said, trying to rise from the couch. + +"Lie still," he said, gently detaining her; "lie here, if you are not +willing to go to your bed. I am better able to sit up than you are, and +will see to Harold." + +"His brothers are with him, mamma," said Zoe, standing by; "and Edward +says they will stay beside him as long as they are needed." + +"Then you and I will both retire and try to take some rest, shall we +not?" Mr. Dinsmore asked, bending over Elsie and softly smoothing her +hair. + +"Yes, papa; but I must first take one peep at the dear son so nearly +lost to me." + +He helped her to rise; then she perceived that Captain Raymond and +Violet were in the room. + +"Dearest mamma," said the latter, coming forward to embrace her, "how +glad I am that you are better, and our dear Harold spared to us!" She +broke down in sobs and tears. + +"Yes, my child; oh, let us thank the Lord for His great goodness! But +this night has been quite too much for you. Do you go at once and try to +get some rest." + +"I shall see that she obeys, mother," the captain said, in a tenderly +sportive tone, taking Elsie's hand and lifting it to his lips. + +"I think I may trust you," she returned, with a faint smile. "You were +with Bob; how is he now?" + +"Doing as well as possible under the circumstances; as is Betty also; +you need trouble your kind heart with no fear or care for them." + +It had been a terrible night to all the family--the children the only +ones who had taken any rest or sleep--and days of nursing followed +before the three who had so narrowly escaped death were restored to +their wonted health and strength. + +Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore and Elsie devoted themselves to that work, and +were often assisted in it by Zoe, Edward, and Herbert. + +Harold was quite a hero with these last and with Max and Lulu; in fact, +with all who knew or heard of his brave deed, though he modestly +disclaimed any right to the praises heaped upon him, asserting that he +had done no more than any one with common courage and humanity would +have done in his place. + +Bob and Betty were heartily ashamed of their escapade, and much sobered +at the thought of their narrow escape from sudden death. Both dreaded +the severe reproof they had reason to expect from their uncle, but he +was very forbearing, and thinking the fright and suffering entailed by +their folly sufficient to deter them from a repetition of it, kindly +refrained from lecturing them on the subject, though, when a suitable +opportunity offered, he did talk seriously and tenderly, with now one +and now the other, on the guilt and danger of putting off repentance +toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, reminding them that +they had had a very solemn warning of the shortness and uncertainty of +life, and asking them to consider the question whether they were ready +for a sudden call into the immediate presence of their Judge. + +"Really now, uncle," remarked Bob on one of these occasions, "there are +worse fellows in the world than I am--much worse." + +"I am willing to admit that, my boy," returned Mr. Dinsmore; "but many +of those fellows have not enjoyed the privileges and teachings that you +have, and responsibility is largely in proportion to one's light and +opportunities. + +"Jesus said, 'That servant, who knew his Lord's will, and prepared not +himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many +stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, +shall be beaten with few stripes.'" + +"Yes; and you think I'm one of the first class, I suppose?" + +"I do, my boy; for you have been well instructed, both in the church and +in the family; also you have a Bible, and may study it for yourself as +often and carefully as you will." + +"But I really have never done anything very bad, uncle." + +"How can you say that, Robert, when you know that you have lived all +your life in utter neglect of God's appointed way of salvation? hearing +the gracious invitation of Him who died that you might live, 'Come unto +me,' and refusing to accept it? + +"'God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that +whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting +life,' and having for years refused to believe, how can you assert that +you have done nothing very bad? 'How shall we escape, if we neglect so +great salvation?'" + +Bob made no reply, but looked thoughtful, and his uncle went quietly +from the room, thinking it well to leave the lad to his own reflections. + +Passing the door of the room where Harold lay, he was about to enter, +but perceiving that the boy and his mother were in earnest conversation, +he moved on, leaving them undisturbed. + +"Mamma," Harold was saying, "I have been thinking much of sudden death +since my very narrow escape from it. You know, mamma, it comes sometimes +without a moment's warning; and as we all sin continually in thought and +feeling, if not in word and deed, as our very best deeds and services +are so stained with sin that they need to be repented of and forgiven, +how is it that even a true Christian can get to heaven if called away so +suddenly?" + +"Because when one comes to Jesus Christ and accepts His offered +salvation, _all_ his sins, future as well as past and present, are +forgiven. 'The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all +sin.' + +"Jesus said, 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.' 'I +give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall +any man pluck them out of my hand.'" + +"But oh, mamma, I find myself so weak and sinful, so ready to yield to +temptation, that I sometimes fear I shall never be able to hold out to +the end!" + +"My dear boy, let that fear lead you to cling all the closer to the +Master, who is able to save unto the uttermost. If our holding out +depended upon ourselves, our own weak wills, we might well be in +despair; but 'He will keep the feet of His saints.' + +"'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according +to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the +resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance +incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in +heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto +salvation.' Can they be in danger who are _kept by the power of God_?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"My Father's house on high, + Home of my soul, how near +At times to Faith's discerning eye + Thy pearly gates appear." + + +Harold and his cousins had scarcely more than fully recovered from the +effects of their almost drowning when Captain Raymond again received +orders to join his ship, and it was decided that the time had come for +all to leave the island. + +Bob and Betty received letters from their brother and sister in +Louisiana, giving them a cordial invitation to their homes, Dick +proposing that Bob should study medicine with him, with a view to +becoming his partner, and Molly giving Betty a cordial invitation from +herself and husband to take up her residence at Magnolia Hall. + +With the approval of their uncle and other relatives, these kind offers +were promptly accepted. + +Letters came about the same time from Lansdale, Ohio, inviting the +Dinsmores, Travillas, and Raymonds to attend the celebration of Miss +Stanhope's one hundredth birthday, which was now near at hand. + +Mr. Harry Duncan wrote for her, saying that she had a great longing to +see her nephews and nieces once more, and to make the acquaintance of +Violet's husband and his children. + +The captain could not go, but it was decided that all the others should. +The necessary arrangements were quickly made, and the whole party left +the island together, not without some regret and a resolution to return +at some future day to enjoy its refreshing breezes and other delights +during the hot season. + +On reaching New York they parted with the captain, whose vessel lay in +that harbor. + +Bob and Betty left them farther on in the journey, and the remainder of +the little company travelled on to Lansdale, arriving the day before the +important occasion which called them there. + +Mrs. Dinsmore's brother, Richard Allison, who, my readers may remember, +had married Elsie's old friend, Lottie King, shortly after the close of +the war of the rebellion, had taken up his abode in Lansdale years ago. + +Both he and his sister May's husband, Harry Duncan, had prospered +greatly. Each had a large, handsome dwelling adjacent to Miss Stanhope's +cottage, in which she still kept house, having never yet seen the time +when she could bring herself to give up the comfort of living in a home +of her own. + +She had attached and capable servants, and amid her multitude of nieces +and grand-nieces, there was almost always one or more who was +willing--nay, glad, to relieve her of the care and labor of +housekeeping, taking pleasure in making life's pathway smooth and easy +to the aged feet, and her last days bright and happy. + +She still had possession of all her faculties, was very active for one +of her age, and felt unabated interest in the welfare of kindred and +friends. She had by no means outlived her usefulness or grown querulous +with age, but was ever the same bright, cheerful, happy Christian that +she had been in earlier years. + +The birthday party was to be held under her own roof, and a numerous +company of near and dear relatives were gathering there and at the +houses of the Duncans and Allisons. + +Richard and Lottie, Harry and May were at the depot to meet the train on +which our travellers arrived. + +It was an altogether joyous meeting, after years of separation. + +The whole party repaired at once to Miss Stanhope's cottage, to greet +and chat a little with her and others who had come before to the +gathering; prominently among them Mr. and Mrs. Keith from Pleasant +Plains, Indiana, with their daughters, Mrs. Landreth, Mrs. Ormsby, and +Annis, who was still unmarried. + +Very glad indeed were Mrs. Keith and Mr. Dinsmore, Rose and Mildred, +Elsie and Annis to meet and renew the old intimacies of former days. + +Time had wrought many changes since we first saw them together, more +than thirty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Keith were now old and infirm, yet +bright and cheery, looking hopefully forward to that better country, +that Celestial City, toward which they were fast hastening, and with no +unwilling steps. Dr. and Mrs. Landreth and Mr. and Mrs. Dinsmore had +changed from youthful married couples into elderly people, while Elsie +and Annis had left childhood far behind, and were now--the one a cheery, +happy maiden lady, whom aged parents leaned upon as their stay and +staff, brothers and sisters dearly loved, and nieces and nephews doated +upon; the other a mother whom her children blessed for her faithful love +and care, and delighted to honor. + +This renewal of intercourse, and the reminiscences of early days which +it called up, were very delightful to both. + +The gathering of relatives and friends of course formed far too large a +company for all to lodge in one house, but the three--Aunt Wealthy's and +those of the Duncans and Allisons--accommodated them comfortably for +the few days of their stay, or rather the nights, for during the day +they were very apt to assemble in the parlors and porches of the +cottage. + +It was there Elsie and her younger children and Violet and hers took up +their quarters, by invitation, for the time of the visit. + +"But where is the captain, your husband?" inquired Aunt Wealthy of +Violet on giving her a welcoming embrace. "I wanted particularly to see +him, and he should not have neglected the invitation of a woman a +hundred years old." + +"Dear auntie, I assure you he did so only by compulsion; he would have +come gladly if Uncle Sam had not ordered him off in another direction," +Violet answered, with pretty playfulness of look and tone. + +"Ah, then, we must excuse him. But you brought the children, I hope. I +want to see them." + +"Yes; this is his son," Violet said, motioning Max to approach; "and +here are the little girls," drawing Lulu and Grace forward. + +The old lady shook hands with and kissed them, saying, "It will be +something for you to remember, dears, that you have seen a woman who has +lived a hundred years in this world, and can testify that goodness and +mercy have followed her all the days of her life. Trust in the Lord, my +children, and you, even if you should live as long as I have, will be +able to bear the same testimony that He is faithful to His promises. + +"I say the same to you, too, Rosie and Walter, my Elsie's children," she +added, turning to them with a tenderly affectionate look and smile. + +They gazed upon her with awe for a moment; then Rosie said, "You don't +look so very old, Aunt Wealthy; not older than some ladies of eighty +that I've seen." + +"Perhaps not older than I did when I was only eighty, my dear; but I am +glad to know that I am a good deal nearer home now than I was then," +Miss Stanhope responded, her face growing bright with joyous +anticipation. + +"Are you really glad to know you must die before very long?" asked Max, +in wonder and surprise. + +"Wouldn't it be strange if I were not?" she asked; "heaven is my home. + +"'There my best friends, my kindred dwell, +There God my Saviour reigns.' + +"I live in daily, hourly longing expectation of the call." + +"And yet you are not weary of life? you are happy here, are you not, +dear Aunt Wealthy?" asked Mrs. Keith. + +"Yes, Marcia; I am happy among my kind relatives and friends; and +entirely willing to stay till the Master sees fit to call me home, for I +know that His will is always best. Oh, the sweet peace and joy of +trusting in Him and leaving all to His care and direction! Who that has +experienced it could ever again want to choose for him or herself?" + +"And you have been long in His service, Aunt Wealthy?" Mr. Dinsmore +said, half in assertion, half inquiringly. + +"Since I was ten years old, Horace; and that is ninety years; and let me +bear testimony now, before you all, that I have ever found Him faithful +to His promises, and His service growing constantly sweeter and sweeter. +And so it shall be to all eternity. 'My soul doth magnify the Lord, and +my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.'" + +Then turning to Mrs. Keith, "How is it with you, Marcia?" she asked; +"you have attained to your four-score years, and have been in the +service since early childhood. What have you to say for your Master +now?" + +"Just what you have said, dear aunt; never have I had cause to repent of +choosing His service; it has been a blessed service to me, full of joy +and consolation--joy that even abounds more and more as I draw nearer +and nearer to my journey's end. + +"I know it is the same with my husband," she added, giving him a look +of wifely affection; "and I doubt not with my cousins--Horace, Rose, +Elsie--with all here present who have had experience as soldiers and +servants of Jesus Christ." + +"In that you are entirely right, Marcia," responded Mr. Dinsmore; "I can +speak for myself, my wife, and daughter." + +Both ladies gave an unqualified confirmation of his words, while their +happy countenances testified to the truth of the assertion. + +"And, Milly dear, you and your husband, your brothers and sisters, can +all say the same," remarked Miss Stanhope, laying her withered hand +affectionately upon Mrs. Landreth's arm as she sat in a low seat by her +side. + +"We can indeed," Mildred said, with feeling. "What blessed people we +are! all knowing and loving the dear Master, and looking forward to an +eternity of bliss together at His right hand." + +The interview between the aged saint and her long-absent relatives was +continued for a few moments more; then she dismissed them, with the +remark that doubtless they would all like to retire to their rooms for a +little, and she must take a short rest in order to be fresh for the +evening, when she hoped they would all gather about her again. + +"I want you all to feel at home and to enjoy yourselves as much as you +can," she said, in conclusion. "Play about the grounds, children, +whenever you like." + +Her cottage stood between the houses of the Duncans and Allisons; the +grounds of all three were extensive, highly cultivated, and adorned with +beautiful trees, shrubbery, and flowers, and there were no separating +fences or hedges, so that they seemed to form one large park or garden. + +Rosie and Walter Travilla, and the young Raymonds were delighted with +the permission to roam at will about these lovely grounds, and hastened +to avail themselves of it as soon as the removal of the dust of travel +and a change of attire rendered them fit. + +They found a Dutch gardener busied here and there, and presently opened +a conversation with him, quite winning his heart by unstinted praises of +the beauty of his plants and flowers. + +"It must be a great deal of work to keep those large gardens in such +perfect order," remarked Rose. + +"Dat it ish, miss," he said; "but I vorks pretty hard mineself, and my +son Shakey, he gifs me von leetle lift ven he ton't pees too much in +school." + +"Do you live here?" asked little Grace. + +"Here in dis garten? no, miss; I lifs oud boud t'ree mile in de +country." + +"That's a long walk for you, isn't it?" said Lulu. + +"Nein; I don't valks, miss; ven I ish god dings to pring--abbles or +botatoes or some dings else--I say to mine Shakey, 'Just hitch de +harness on de horse and hang him to de stable door;' or if I got nodings +to pring I tells de poy, 'Hitch him up a horseback;' den I comes in to +mine vork and I tash! I don't hafs to valk--nod a shtep." + +"How funny he talks," whispered Grace to Lulu; "I can hardly understand +him." + +"It's because he's Dutch," returned Lulu, in the same low tone. "But I +can tell almost all he says. His son's name must be Jakey; the short for +Jacob." + +"What is your name?" asked Max. + +"Hencle--Shon Hencle. I dinks you all pees come to see Miss Stanhope pe +von huntred years olt; ishn't you?" + +"Yes," said Rosie. "It seems very wonderful to think that she has lived +so long." + +The children, weary with their journey, were sent to bed early that +night. Lulu and Grace found they were to sleep together in a small room +opening into a larger one, where two beds had been placed for the time +to meet the unusual demand for sleeping quarters. These were to be +occupied by Grandma Elsie, Violet, Rosie, and Walter. + +Timid little Grace heard, with great satisfaction, that all these were +to be so near; and Lulu, though not at all cowardly, was well pleased +with the arrangement. Yet she little thought how severely her courage +was to be tested that night. + +She and Grace had scarcely laid their heads upon their pillows ere they +fell into profound slumber. Lulu did not know how long she had slept, +but all was darkness and silence within and without the house, when +something, she could not have told what, suddenly roused her completely. + +She lay still, trying to recall the events of the past day and remember +where she was; and just as she succeeded in doing so a strange sound, as +of restless movements and the clanking of chains, came from beneath the +bed. + +Her heart seemed to stand still with fear; she had never before, in all +her short life, felt so terrified and helpless. + +"What can it be?" she asked herself. "An escaped criminal--a +murderer--or a maniac from an insane asylum, I suppose; for who else +would wear a clanking chain? and what can he want here but to kill +Gracie and me? I suppose he got in the house before they shut the doors +for the night, and hid under the bed till everybody should be fast +asleep, meaning to begin then to murder and rob. Oh, I do wish I'd +looked under the bed while all the gentlemen were about to catch him and +keep him from hurting us! But now what shall I do? If I try to get out +of the bed, he'll catch hold of my foot and kill me before anybody can +come; and if I scream for help, he'll do the same. The best plan is to +lie as quiet as I can, so he'll think I'm still asleep; for maybe he +only means to rob, and not murder, if nobody wakes up to see what he's +about and tell of him. Oh, I do hope Gracie won't wake! for she could +never help screaming; and then he'd jump out and kill us both." + +So with heroic courage she lay there, perfectly quiet and hardly moving +a muscle for what seemed to her an age of suffering, every moment +expecting the creature under the bed to spring out upon her, and in +constant fear that Grace would awake and precipitate the calamity by a +scream of affright. + +All was quiet again for some time, she lying there, straining her ears +for a repetition of the dreaded sounds; then, as they came again louder +than before, she had great difficulty in restraining herself from +springing from the bed and shrieking aloud, in a paroxysm of panic +terror. + +But she did control herself, lay perfectly still, and allowed not the +slightest sound to escape her lips. + +That last clanking noise had awakened Elsie, and she too now lay wide +awake, silent and still, while intently listening for a repetition of +it. She hardly knew whence the sound had come, or what it was; but when +repeated, as it was in a moment or two, she was satisfied that it issued +from the room where Lulu and Grace were, and her conjectures in regard +to its origin coincided with Lulu's. + +She, too, was greatly alarmed, but did not lose her presence of mind. +Hoping the little girls were still asleep, and judging from the silence +that they were, she lay for a few minutes without moving, indeed +scarcely breathing, while she tried to decide upon the wisest course to +pursue, asking guidance and help from on high, as she always did in +every emergency. + +Her resolution was quickly taken; slipping softly out of bed, she stole +noiselessly from the room and into another, on the opposite side of the +hall, occupied by Edward and Zoe. + +"Edward," she said, speaking in a whisper close to his ear, "wake, my +son; I am in need of help." + +"What is it, mother?" he asked, starting up. + +"Softly," she whispered; "make no noise, but come with me. Somebody or +something is in the room where Lulu and Gracie sleep. I distinctly heard +the clanking of a chain." + +"Mother!" he cried, but hardly above his breath, "an escaped lunatic, +probably! Stay here and let me encounter him alone. I have loaded +pistols--" + +"Oh, don't use them if you can help it!" she cried. + +"I shall not," he assured her, "unless it is absolutely necessary." + +He snatched the weapons from beneath his pillow as he spoke, and went +from the room, she closely following. + +At the instant that they entered hers a low growl came from the inner +room, and simultaneously they exclaimed, "A dog!" + +"Somewhat less to be feared than a lunatic, unless he should be mad, +which is not likely," added Edward, striking a light. + +Lulu sprang up with a low cry of intense relief. "O Grandma Elsie, it's +only a dog, and I thought it a crazy man or a wicked murderer!" + +As she spoke the animal emerged from his hiding-place and walked into +the outer room, dragging his chain after him. + +Edward at once recognized him as a large mastiff Harry Duncan had shown +him the previous afternoon. + +"It's Mr. Duncan's dog," he said; "he must have broken his chain and +come in unobserved before the house was closed for the night. Here, +Nero, good fellow, this way! You've done mischief enough for one night, +and we'll send you home." + +He led the way to the outer door, the dog following quite peaceably, +while Elsie, hearing sobs coming from the other room, hastened in to +comfort and relieve the frightened children. + +Grace still slept on in blessed unconsciousness; but she found Lulu +crying hysterically, quite unable to continue her efforts at +self-control, now that the necessity for it was past. + +"Poor child!" Elsie said, folding her in her kind arms, "you have had a +terrible fright, have you not?" + +"Yes, Grandma Elsie; oh, I've been lying here so long, _so long_, +thinking a murderer or crazy man was under the bed, just ready to jump +out and kill Gracie and me!" she sobbed, clinging convulsively about +Elsie's neck. + +"And did not scream for help! What a brave little girl you are!" + +"I wanted to, and, oh, I could hardly keep from it! But I thought if I +did it would wake Gracie and scare her to death, and the man would be +sure to jump out and kill us at once." + +"Dear child," Elsie said, "you have shown yourself thoughtful, brave, +and unselfish; how proud your father will be of his eldest daughter +when he hears it!" + +"O Grandma Elsie, do you think he will? How glad that would make me! It +would pay for all the dreadful fright I have had," Lulu said, her tones +tremulous with joy, as, but a moment ago, they had been with nervousness +and fright. + +"I am quite sure of it," Elsie answered, smoothing the little girl's +hair with caressing hand, "quite sure; because I know he loves you very +dearly, and that he admires such courage, unselfishness, and presence of +mind as you have shown to-night." + +These kind words did much to turn Lulu's thoughts into a new channel and +thus relieve the bad effects of her fright. But Elsie continued for some +time longer her efforts to soothe her into calmness and forgetfulness, +using tender, caressing words and endearments; then she left her, with +an injunction to try to go immediately to sleep. + +Lulu promised compliance, and, attempting it, succeeded far sooner than +she had thought possible. + +The whole occurrence seemed like a troubled dream when she awoke in the +morning. It was a delicious day in early October, and as soon as dressed +she went into the garden, where she found John Hencle already at work, +industriously weeding and watering his plants and flowers. + +"Goot-morning, mine leetle mees," he said, catching sight of her, "Was +it so goot a night mit you?" + +"No," she said, and went on to tell the story of her fright. + +"Dot ish lige me," he remarked, phlegmatically, at the conclusion of her +tale. "Von nighd I hears somedings what make me scare. I know notings +what he ish; I shust hears a noise, an' I shumpt de bed out, and ran de +shtairs down, and looked de window out, and it wasn't notings but a +leetle tog going 'Bow wow.'" + +"I don't think it was very much like my fright," remarked Lulu, in +disgust; "it couldn't have been half so bad." + +"Vell, maype not; but dat Nero ish a goot, kind tog; he bide dramps, but +nefer dose nice leetle girl. Dis ish de great day when dose nice old +lady pees von huntred years old. What you dinks? a fery long dime to +live?" + +"Yes; very long," returned Lulu, emphatically. "I wish I knew papa would +live to be that old, for then he'd be at home with us almost forty years +after he retires from the navy." + +"Somebody ish call you, I dinks," said John, and at the same moment +Grace's clear, bird-like voice came floating on the morning breeze, +"Lulu, Lulu!" as her dainty little figure danced gayly down the garden +path in search of her missing sister. + +"Oh, there you are!" she exclaimed, catching sight of Lulu. "Come into +Aunt Wealthy's house and see the pretty presents everybody has given her +for her hundredth birthday. She hasn't seen them yet, but she is going +to when she comes down to eat her breakfast." + +"Oh, I'd like to see them!" exclaimed Lulu, and she and Grace tripped +back to the house together, and on into the sitting-room, where, on a +large table, the gifts were displayed. + +They were many, and some of them costly, for the old lady was very dear +to the hearts of these relatives, and they were able as well as willing +to show their affection in this substantial way. + +There were fine paintings and engravings to adorn her walls; fine china, +and glittering cut glass, silver and gold ware for her tables; vases for +her mantels; richly-bound and illustrated books, whose literary contents +were worthy of the costly adornment, and various other things calculated +to give her pleasure or add to her ease and comfort. + +She was not anticipating any such demonstration of affection--not +expecting such substantial evidences of the love and esteem in which she +was held--and when brought face to face with them was almost overcome, +so that tears of joy and gratitude streamed from her aged eyes, + +They were soon wiped away, however, and she was again her own bright, +cheery self, full of thought and care for others--the kindest and most +genial of hostesses. + +She took the head of the breakfast-table herself, and poured the coffee +for her guests with her own hands, entertaining them the while with +cheerful chat, and causing many a merry laugh with the old-time tripping +of her tongue--a laugh in which she always joined with hearty relish. + +"There is too much butter in this salt," she remarked. "It is some John +Hencle brought in this morning. I must see him after breakfast and bid +him caution his wife to use less." + +But as they rose from the table John came in unsummoned, and carrying a +fine large goose under each arm. + +Bowing low: "I ish come to pring two gooses to de von hundredth +birthday," he announced; "dey pees goot, peaceable pirds: I ish know dem +for twenty years, and dey nefer makes no droubles." + +A smile went round the little circle, but Miss Stanhope said, with a +very pleased look, "Thank you, John; they shall be well fed, and I hope +they will like their new quarters. How is Jake doing? I haven't seen +him for some time." + +"No; Shakey is go to school most days. I vants Shakey to knows +somedings." + +"Yes, indeed; I hope Jakey is going to have a good education. But what +do you mean to do with him after he is done going to school?" + +"Vy, I dinks I prings mine Shakey to town and hangs him on to Sheneral +Shmicdt and makes a brinting-office out of him." + +"A printer, John? Well, that might be a very good thing if you don't +need him to help you about the farm, or our grounds. I should think you +would, though." + +"Nein, nein," said John, shaking his head; "'tis not so long as I vants +Shakey to makes mit me a fence; put I tash! Miss Stanhope, he say he +ton't can know how to do it; and I says, 'I tash! Shakey, you peen goin' +to school all your life, and you don't know de vay to makes a fence +yet.'" + +"Not so very strange," remarked Edward, with unmoved countenance, "for +they don't teach fence-making in ordinary schools." + +"Vell, den, de more's de bity," returned John, taking his departure. But +turning back at the door to say to Miss Stanhope, "I vill put dose +gooses in von safe place." + +"Any place where they can do no mischief, John," she answered, +good-humoredly. + +"Now, Aunt Wealthy," said Annis, "what can we do to make this wonderful +day pass most happily to you?" + +"Whatever will be most enjoyable to my guests," was the smiling reply. +"An old body like me can ask nothing better than to sit and look on and +listen." + +"Ah, but we would have you talk, too, auntie, when you don't find it +wearisome!" + +"What are you going to do with all your new treasures, Aunt Wealthy?" +asked Edward; "don't you want your pictures hung and a place found for +each vase and other household ornament?" + +"Certainly," she said, with a pleased look, "and this is the very time, +while I have you all here to give your opinions and advice." + +"And help," added Edward, "if you will accept it. As I am tall and +strong, I volunteer to hang the pictures after the place for each has +been duly considered and decided upon." + +His offer was promptly accepted, and the work entered upon in a spirit +of fun and frolic, which made it enjoyable to all. + +Whatever the others decided upon met with Miss Stanhope's approval; she +watched their proceedings with keen interest, and was greatly delighted +with the effect of their labors. + +"My dears," she said, "you have made my house so beautiful! and whenever +I look at these lovely things my thoughts will be full of the dear +givers. I shall not be here long, but while I stay my happiness will be +the greater because of your kindness," + +"And the remembrance of these words of yours, dear aunt, will add to +ours," said Mr. Keith, with feeling. + +"But old as you are, Aunt Wealthy," remarked Mr. Dinsmore, "it is quite +possible that some of us may reach home before you. It matters little, +however, as we are all travelling the same road to the same happy +country, being children of one Father, servants of the same blessed +Master." + +"And He shall choose all our changes for us," she said, "calling each +one home at such time as He sees best. Ah, it is sweet to leave all our +interests in His dear hands, and have Him choose our inheritance for +us!" + +There was a pause in the conversation, while Miss Stanhope seemed lost +in thought. Then Mrs. Keith remarked: + +"You look weary, dear Aunt Wealthy; will you not lie down and rest for a +little?" + +"Yes," she said, "I shall take it as the privilege of age, leaving you +all to entertain yourselves and each other for a time." + +At that Mr. Dinsmore hastened to give her his arm and support her to her +bedroom, his wife and Mrs. Keith following to see her comfortably +established upon a couch, where they left her to take her rest. + +The others scattered in various directions, as inclination dictated. + +Elsie and Annis sought the grounds, and, taking possession of a rustic +seat beneath a spreading tree, had a long, quiet talk, recalling +incidents of other days, and exchanging mutual confidences. + +"What changes we have passed through since our first acquaintance !" +exclaimed Annis. "What careless, happy children we were then!" + +"And what happy women we are now!" added Elsie, with a joyous smile. + +"Yes; and you a grandmother! I hardly know how to believe it! You seem +wonderfully young for that." + +"Do I?" laughed Elsie. "I acknowledge that I feel young--that I have +never yet been able to reason myself into feeling old." + +"Don't try; keep young as long as ever you can," was Annis's advice. + +"It is what you seem to be doing," said Elsie, sportively, and with an +admiring look at her cousin. "Dear Annis, may I ask why it is you have +never married? It must certainly have been your own fault." + +"Really, I hardly know what reply to make to that last remark," returned +Annis, in her sprightly way. "But I have not the slightest objection to +answering your question. I will tell 'the truth, the whole truth, and +nothing but the truth.' I have had friends and admirers among the +members of the other sex, but have never yet seen the man for love of +whom I could for a moment think of leaving father and mother." + +"How fortunate for them!" Elsie said, with earnest sincerity. "I know +they must esteem it a great blessing that they have been able to keep +one dear daughter in the old home." + +"And I esteem myself blest indeed in having had my dear father and +mother spared to me all these years," Annis said, with feeling. "What a +privilege it is, Elsie, to be permitted to smooth, some of the +roughnesses from their pathway now in their declining years; to make +life even a trifle easier and happier than it might otherwise be to +them--the dear parents who so tenderly watched over me in infancy and +youth! I know you can appreciate it--you who love your father so +devotedly. + +"But Cousin Horace is still a comparatively young man, hale and hearty, +and to all appearance likely to live many years, while my parents are +aged and infirm, and I cannot hope to keep them long." Her voice was +husky with emotion as she concluded. + +"Dear Annis," Elsie said, pressing tenderly the hand she held in hers, +"you are never to lose them. They may be called home before you, but the +separation will be short and the reunion for eternity--an eternity of +unspeakable joy, unclouded bliss at the right hand of Him whom you all +love better than you love each other." + +"That is true," Annis responded, struggling with her tears, "and there +is very great comfort in the thought; yet one cannot help dreading the +parting, and feeling that death is a thing to be feared for one's dear +ones and one's self. Death is a terrible thing, Elsie." + +"Not half so much so to me as it once was, dear cousin," Elsie said, in +a tenderly sympathizing tone. "I have thought much lately on that sweet +text, 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints;' +and that other, 'He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be +satisfied,' and the contemplation has shown me so much of the love of +Jesus for the souls He has bought with His own precious blood and the +joyful reception He gives them, as one by one they are gathered home, +that it seems to me the death of a Christian should hardly bring sorrow +to any heart. Oh, it has comforted me much in my separation from the +dear husband of my youth, and made me at times look almost eagerly +forward to the day when my dear Lord shall call me home and I shall see +His face!" + +"O Elsie," cried Annis, "I trust that day may be far distant, for many +hearts would be like to break at parting with you! But there is +consolation for the bereaved in the thoughts you suggest; and I shall +try to cherish them and forget the gloom of the grave and the dread, for +myself and for those I love, of the parting." + +They were silent for a moment; then Elsie said, as if struck by a sudden +thought, "Annis, why should not you and your father and mother go home +with us and spend the fall and winter at Ion and Viamede?" + +"I cannot think of anything more delightful!" exclaimed Annis, her face +lighting up with pleasure; "and I believe it would be for their health +to escape the winter in our severer climate, for they are both subject +to colds and rheumatism at that season." + +"Then you will persuade them?" + +"If I can, Elsie. How kind in you to give the invitation!" + +"Not at all, Annis; for in so doing I seek my own gratification as well +as theirs and yours," Elsie answered, with earnest sincerity. "We +purpose going from here to Ion, and from there to Viamede, perhaps two +months later, to spend the remainder of the winter. And you and your +father and mother will find plenty of room and a warm welcome in both +places." + +"I know it, Elsie," Annis said; "I know you would not say so if it were +not entirely true, and I feel certain of a great deal of enjoyment in +your loved society, if father and mother accept your kind invitation." + +While these two conversed together thus in the grounds, a grand banquet +was in course of preparation in Miss Stanhope's house, under the +supervision of our old friends, May and Lottie. To it Elsie and Annis +were presently summoned, in common with the other guests. + +When the feasting was concluded, and all were again gathered in the +parlors, Elsie renewed her invitation already made to Annis, this time +addressing herself to Mr. and Mrs. Keith. + +They heard it with evident pleasure, and after some consideration +accepted. + +Edward and Zoe returned to Ion the following day, Herbert and Harold +leaving at the same time for college. The rest of the Travillas, the +Dinsmores, and the Raymonds lingered a week or two longer with Miss +Stanhope, who was very loath to part with them, Elsie in especial; then +bade farewell, scarce expecting to see her again on earth, and turned +their faces homeward, rejoicing in the promise of Mr. and Mrs. Keith +that they and Annis would soon follow, should nothing happen to prevent. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE AT NANTUCKET*** + + +******* This file should be named 14379.txt or 14379.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/7/14379 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/14379.zip b/old/14379.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..653d85b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14379.zip |