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diff --git a/old/2018-03-10/1701-0.zip b/old/2018-03-10/1701-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6388759 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2018-03-10/1701-0.zip diff --git a/old/2018-03-10/1701-h.zip b/old/2018-03-10/1701-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e10b165 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2018-03-10/1701-h.zip diff --git a/old/2018-03-10/1701.zip b/old/2018-03-10/1701.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f0fcdb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2018-03-10/1701.zip diff --git a/old/tsowb10.txt b/old/tsowb10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..097e430 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tsowb10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9068 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext Story Of Waitstill Baxter, by Wiggin +#10 in our series by Kate Douglas Wiggin + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER + +by KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN + +April, 1999 [Etext #1701] + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext Story Of Waitstill Baxter, by Wiggin +******This file should be named tsowb10.txt or tsowb10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, tsowb11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tsowb10a.txt + + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER + +by KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN + + + +CONTENTS + +SPRING + +I. SACO WATER +II. THE SISTERS +III. DEACON BAXTER'S WIVES +IV. SOMETHING OF A HERO +V. PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE +VI. A KISS +VII. WHAT DREAMS MAY COME + +SUMMER + +VIII. THE JOINER'S SHOP +IX. CEPHAS SPEAKS +X. ON TORY HILL +XI. A JUNE SUNDAY +XII. THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER +XIII. HAYING TIME +XIV. UNCLE BART DISCOURSES +XV. IVORY'S MOTHER +XVI. LOCKED OUT + + + +AUTUMN + +XVII. A BRACE OF LOVERS +XVIII. A STATE O' MAINE PROPHET +XIX. AT THE BRICK STORE +XX. THE ROD THAT BLOSSOMED +XXI. LOIS BURIES HER DEAD +XXII. HARVEST-TIME +XXIII. AUNT ABBY'S WINDOW +XXIV. PHOEBE TRIUMPHS +XXV. LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM + +WINTER + +XXVI. A WEDDING-RING +XXVII. THE CONFESSIONAL +XXVIII.PATTY IS SHOWN THE DOOR +XXIX. WAITSTILL SPEAKS HER MIND +XXX. A CLASH OF WILLS +XXXI. SENTRY DUTY +XXXII. THE HOUSE OF AARON +XXXIII.AARON'S ROD +XXXIV. THE DEACON'S WATERLOO +XXXV. TWO HEAVENS + + + + + + +THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER + +SPRING + + + +THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER + +I + +SACO WATER + +FAR, far up, in the bosom of New Hampshire's granite hills, the +Saco has its birth. As the mountain rill gathers strength it +takes + +"Through Bartlett's vales its tuneful way, +Or hides in Conway's fragrant brakes, +Retreating from the glare of day." + +Now it leaves the mountains and flows through "green Fryeburg's +woods and farms." In the course of its frequent turns and twists +and bends, it meets with many another stream, and sends it, +fuller and stronger, along its rejoicing way. When it has +journeyed more than a hundred miles and is nearing the ocean, it +greets the Great Ossipee River and accepts its crystal tribute. +Then, in its turn, the Little Ossipee joins forces, and the +river, now a splendid stream, flows onward to Bonny Eagle, to +Moderation and to Salmon Falls, where it dashes over the dam like +a young Niagara and hurtles, in a foamy torrent, through the +ragged defile cut between lofty banks of solid rock. + +Widening out placidly for a moment's rest in the sunny reaches +near Pleasant Point, it gathers itself for a new plunge at Union +Falls, after which it speedily merges itself in the bay and is +fresh water no more. + +At one of the falls on the Saco, the two little hamlets of +Edgewood and Riverboro nestle together at the bridge and make one +village. The stream is a wonder of beauty just here; a mirror of +placid loveliness above the dam, a tawny, roaring wonder at the +fall, and a mad, white-flecked torrent as it dashes on its way to +the ocean. + +The river has seen strange sights in its time, though the history +of these two tiny villages is quite unknown to the great world +outside. They have been born, waxed strong, and fallen almost to +decay while Saco Water has tumbled over the rocks and spent +itself in its impetuous journey to the sea. + +It remembers the yellow-moccasined Sokokis as they issued from +the Indian Cellar and carried their birchen canoes along the +wooded shore. It was in those years that the silver-skinned +salmon leaped in its crystal depths; the otter and the beaver +crept with sleek wet skins upon its shore; and the brown deer +came down to quench his thirst at its brink while at twilight the +stealthy forms of bear and panther and wolf were mirrored in its +glassy surface. + +Time sped; men chained the river's turbulent forces and ordered +it to grind at the mill. Then houses and barns appeared along its +banks, bridges were built, orchards planted, forests changed into +farms, white-painted meetinghouses gleamed through the trees and +distant bells rang from their steeples on quiet Sunday mornings. + +All at once myriads of great hewn logs vexed its downward course, +slender logs linked together in long rafts, and huge logs +drifting down singly or in pairs. Men appeared, running hither +and thither like ants, and going through mysterious operations +the reason for which the river could never guess: but the +mill-wheels turned, the great saws buzzed, the smoke from tavern +chimneys rose in the air, and the rattle and clatter of +stage-coaches resounded along the road. + +Now children paddled with bare feet in the river's sandy coves +and shallows, and lovers sat on its alder-shaded banks and +exchanged their vows just where the shuffling bear was wont to +come down and drink. + +The Saco could remember the "cold year," when there was a black +frost every month of the twelve, and though almost all the corn +along its shores shrivelled on the stalk, there were two farms +where the vapor from the river saved the crops, and all the seed +for the next season came from the favored spot, to be known as +"Egypt" from that day henceforward. + +Strange, complex things now began to happen, and the river played +its own part in some of these, for there were disastrous +freshets, the sudden breaking-up of great jams of logs, and the +drowning of men who were engulfed in the dark whirlpool below the +rapids. + +Caravans, with menageries of wild beasts, crossed the bridge now +every year. An infuriated elephant lifted the side of the old +Edgewood Tavern barn, and the wild laughter of the roistering +rum-drinkers who were tantalizing the animals floated down to the +river's edge. The roar of a lion, tearing and chewing the arm of +one of the bystanders, and the cheers of the throng when a plucky +captain of the local militia thrust a stake down the beast's +throat,--these sounds displaced the former war-whoop of the +Indians and the ring of the axe in the virgin forests along the +shores. + +There were days, and moonlight nights, too, when strange sights +and sounds of quite another nature could have been noted by the +river as it flowed under the bridge that united the two little +villages. + +Issuing from the door of the Riverboro Town House, and winding +down the hill, through the long row of teams and carriages that +lined the roadside, came a procession of singing men and singing +women. Convinced of sin, but entranced with promised pardon; +spiritually intoxicated by the glowing eloquence of the +latter-day prophet they were worshipping, the band of +"Cochranites "marched down the dusty road and across the bridge, +dancing, swaying, waving handkerchiefs, and shouting hosannas. + +God watched, and listened, knowing that there would be other +prophets, true and false, in the days to come, and other +processions following them; and the river watched and listened +too, as it hurried on towards the sea with its story of the +present that was sometime to be the history of the past. + +When Jacob Cochrane was leading his overwrought, ecstatic band +across the river, Waitstill Baxter, then a child, was watching +the strange, noisy company from the window of a little brick +dwelling on the top of the Town-House Hill. + +Her stepmother stood beside her with a young baby in her arms, +but when she saw what held the gaze of the child she drew her +away, saying: "We mustn't look, Waitstill; your father don't like +it! " + +"Who was the big man at the head, mother? " + +"His name is Jacob Cochrane, but you mustn't think or talk about +him; he is very wicked." + +"He doesn't look any wickeder than the others," said the child. +"Who was the man that fell down in the road, mother, and the +woman that knelt and prayed over him? Why did he fall, and why +did she pray, mother?" + +"That was Master Aaron Boynton, the schoolmaster, and his wife. +He only made believe to fall down, as the Cochranites do; the way +they carry on is a disgrace to the village, and that's the reason +your father won't let us look at them." + +"I played with a nice boy over to Boynton's," mused the child. + +"That was Ivory, their only child. He is a good little fellow, +but his mother and father will spoil him with their crazy ways." + +"I hope nothing will happen to him, for I love him," said the +child gravely. "He showed me a humming-bird's nest, the first +ever I saw, and the littlest!" + +"Don't talk about loving him," chided the woman. "If your father +should hear you, he'd send you to bed without your porridge." + +"Father couldn't hear me, for I never speak when he's at home," +said grave little Waitstill. "And I'm used to going to bed +without my porridge." + + + +II + +THE SISTERS + +THE river was still running under the bridge, but the current of +time had swept Jacob Cochrane out of sight, though not out of +mind, for he had left here and there a disciple to preach his +strange and uncertain doctrine. Waitstill, the child who never +spoke in her father's presence, was a young woman now, the +mistress of the house; the stepmother was dead, and the baby a +girl of seventeen. + +The brick cottage on the hilltop had grown only a little +shabbier. Deacon Foxwell Baxter still slammed its door behind him +every morning at seven o'clock and, without any such cheerful +conventions as good-byes to his girls, walked down to the bridge +to open his store. + +The day, properly speaking, had opened when Waitstill and +Patience had left their beds at dawn, built the fire, fed the +hens and turkeys, and prepared the breakfast, while the Deacon +was graining the horse and milking the cows. Such minor "chores" +as carrying water from the well, splitting kindling, chopping +pine, or bringing wood into the kitchen, were left to Waitstill, +who had a strong back, or, if she had not, had never been unwise +enough to mention the fact in her father's presence. The almanac +day, however, which opened with sunrise, had nothing to do with +the real human day, which always began when Mr. Baxter slammed +the door behind him, and reached its high noon of delight when he +disappeared from view. + +"He's opening the store shutters!" chanted Patience from the +heights of a kitchen chair by the window. "Now he's taken his +cane and beaten off the Boynton puppy that was sitting on the +steps as usual,--I don't mean Ivory's dog" (here the girl gave a +quick glance at her sister)," but Rodman's little yellow cur. +Rodman must have come down to the bridge on some errand for +Ivory. Isn't it odd, when that dog has all the other store steps +to sit upon, he should choose father's, when every bone in his +body must tell him how father hates him and the whole Boynton +family." + +"Father has no real cause that I ever heard of; but some dogs +never know when they've had enough beating, nor some people +either." said Waitstill, speaking from the pantry. + +"Don't be gloomy when it's my birthday, Sis!--Now he's opened the +door and kicked the cat! All is ready for business at the Baxter +store." + +"I wish you weren't quite so free with your tongue, Patty." + +"Somebody must talk," retorted the girl, jumping down from the +chair and shaking back her mop of red-gold curls. "I'll put this +hateful, childish, round comb in and out just once more, then it +will disappear forever. This very after-noon up goes my hair!" + +"You know it will be of no use unless you braid it very plainly +and neatly. Father will take notice and make you smooth it down." + +"Father hasn't looked me square in the face for years; besides, +my hair won't braid, and nothing can make it quite plain and +neat, thank goodness! Let us be thankful for small mercies, as +Jed Morrill said when the lightning struck his mother-in-law and +skipped his wife." + +"Patty, I will not permit you to repeat those tavern stories; +they are not seemly on the lips of a girl!" And Waitstill came +out of the pantry with a shadow of disapproval in her eyes and in +her voice. + +Patty flung her arms round her sister tempestuously, and pulled +out the waves of her hair so that it softened her face.--"I'll be +good," she said, "and oh, Waity! let's invent some sort of cheap +happiness for to-day! I shall never be seventeen again and we +have so many troubles! + +Let's put one of the cows in the horse's stall and see what will +happen! Or let's spread up our beds with the head at the foot and +put the chest of drawers on the other side of the room, or let's +make candy! Do you think father would miss the molasses if we +only use a cupful? Couldn't we strain the milk, but leave the +churning and the dishes for an hour or two, just once? If you say +'yes' I can think of something wonderful to do!" + +"What is it?" asked Waitstill, relenting at the sight of the +girl's eager, roguish face. + +"PIERCE MY EARS!" cried Patty. "Say you will!" + +"Oh! Patty, Patty, I am afraid you are given over to vanity! I +daren't let you wear eardrops without father's permission." + +"Why not? Lots of church members wear them, so it can't be a +mortal sin. Father is against all adornments, but that's because +he doesn't want to buy them. You've always said I should have +your mother's coral pendants when I was old enough. Here I am, +seventeen today, and Dr. Perry says I am already a well-favored +young woman. I can pull my hair over my ears for a few days and +when the holes are all made and healed, even father cannot make +me fill them up again. Besides, I'll never wear the earrings at +home!" + +"Oh! my dear, my dear!" sighed Waitstill, with a half-sob in her +voice. "If only I was wise enough to know how we could keep from +these little deceits, yet have any liberty or comfort in life!" + +"We can't! The Lord couldn't expect us to bear all that we bear," +exclaimed Patty, "without our trying once in a while to have a +good time in our own way. We never do a thing that we are ashamed +of, or that other girls don't do every day in the week; only our +pleasures always have to be taken behind father's back. It's only +me that's ever wrong, anyway, for you are always an angel. It's a +burning shame and you only twenty-one yourself. I'll pierce your +ears if you say so, and let you wear your own coral drops!" + +"No, Patty; I've outgrown those longings years ago. When your +mother died and left father and you and the house to me, my +girlhood died, too, though I was only thirteen." + +"It was only your inside girlhood that died," insisted Patty +stoutly, "The outside is as fresh as the paint on Uncle Barty's +new ell. You've got the loveliest eyes and hair in Riverboro, and +you know it; besides, Ivory Boynton would tell you so if you +didn't. Come and bore my ears, there's a darling!" + +"Ivory Boynton never speaks a word of my looks, nor a word that +father and all the world mightn't hear." And Waitstill flushed. + +"Then it's because he's shy and silent and has so many troubles +of his own that he doesn't dare say anything. When my hair is +once up and the coral pendants are swinging in my ears, I shall +expect to hear something about MY looks, I can tell you. Waity, +after all, though we never have what we want to eat, and never a +decent dress to our backs, nor a young man to cross the +threshold, I wouldn't change places with Ivory Boynton, would +you?" Here Patty swept the hearth vigorously with a turkey wing +and added a few corncobs to the fire. + +Waitstill paused a moment in her task of bread-kneading. "Well," +she answered critically, "at least we know where our father is." + +"We do, indeed! We also know that he is thoroughly alive!" + +"And though people do talk about him, they can't say the things +they say of Master Aaron Boynton. I don't believe father would +ever run away and desert us." + +"I fear not," said Patty. "I wish the angels would put the idea +into his head, though, of course, it wouldn't be the angels; +they'd be above it. It would have to be the 'Old Driver,' as Jed +Morrill calls the Evil One; but whoever did it, the result would +be the same: we should be deserted, and live happily ever after. +Oh! to be deserted, and left with you alone on this hilltop, what +joy it would be!" + +Waitstill frowned, but did not interfere further with Patty's +intemperate speech. She knew that she was simply serving as an +escape-valve, and that after the steam was "let off" she would be +more rational. + +"Of course, we are motherless," continued Patty wistfully, "but +poor Ivory is worse than motherless." + +"No, not worse, Patty," said Waitstill, taking the bread-board +and moving towards the closet. "Ivory loves his mother and she +loves him, with all the mind she has left! She has the best blood +of New England flowing in her veins, and I suppose it was a great +come down for her to marry Aaron Boynton, clever and gifted +though he was. Now Ivory has to protect her, poor, daft, innocent +creature, and hide her away from the gossip of the village. He is +surely the best of sons, Ivory Boynton!" + +"She is a terrible care for him, and like to spoil his life," +said Patty. + +"There are cares that swell the heart and make it bigger and +warmer, Patty, just as there are cares that shrivel it and leave +it tired and cold. + +Love lightens Ivory's afflictions but that is something you and I +have to do without, so it seems." + +"I suppose little Rodman is some comfort to the Boyntons, even if +he is only ten." Patty suggested. + +"No doubt. He's a good little fellow, and though it's rather hard +for Ivory to be burdened for these last five years with the +support of a child who's no nearer kin than a cousin, still he's +of use, minding Mrs. Boynton and the house when Ivory's away. +The school-teacher says he is wonderful at his books and likely +to be a great credit to the Boyntons some day or other." + +"You've forgot to name our one great blessing, Waity, and I +believe, anyway, you're talking to keep my mind off the +earrings!" + +"You mean we've each other? No, Patty, I never forget that, day +or night. 'Tis that makes me willing to bear any burden father +chooses to put upon us.--Now the bread is set, but I don't +believe I have the courage to put a needle into your tender +flesh, Patty; I really don't." + +"Nonsense! I've got the waxed silk all ready and chosen the +right-sized needle and I'll promise not to jump or screech more +than I can help. We'll make a tiny lead-pencil dot right in the +middle of the lobe, then you place the needle on it, shut your +eyes, and JAB HARD! I expect to faint, but when I 'come to,' we +can decide which of us will pull the needle through to the other +side. Probably it will be you, I'm such a coward. If it hurts +dreadfully, I'll have only one pierced to-day and take the other +to-morrow; and if it hurts very dreadfully, perhaps I'll go +through life with one ear-ring. Aunt Abby Cole will say it's just +odd enough to suit me!" + +"You'll never go through life with one tongue at the rate you use +it now," chided Waitstill, "for it will never last you. Come, +we'll take the work-basket and go out in the barn where no one +will see or hear us." + +"Goody, goody! Come along!" and Patty clapped her hands in +triumph. "Have you got the pencil and the needle and the waxed +silk? Then bring the camphor bottle to revive me, and the coral +pendants, too, just to give me courage. Hurry up! It's ten +o'clock. I was born at sun-rise, so I'm 'going on' eighteen and +can't waste any time!" + + + +III + +DEACON BAXTER'S WIVES + +FOXWELL BAXTER was ordinarily called "Old Foxy" by the boys of +the district, and also, it is to be feared, by the men gathered +for evening conference at the various taverns, or at one of the +rival village stores. + +He had a small farm of fifteen or twenty acres, with a pasture, a +wood lot, and a hay-field, but the principal source of his income +came from trading. His sign bore the usual legend: "WEST INDIA +GOODS AND GROCERIES," and probably the most profitable articles +in his stock were rum, molasses, sugar, and tobacco; but there +were chests of rice, tea, coffee, and spices, barrels of pork in +brine, as well as piles of cotton and woolen cloth on the shelves +above the counters. His shop window, seldom dusted or set in +order, held a few clay pipes, some glass jars of peppermint or +sassafras lozenges, black licorice, stick-candy, and sugar +gooseberries. These dainties were seldom renewed, for it was only +a very bold child, or one with an ungovernable appetite for +sweets, who would have spent his penny at Foxy Baxter's store. + +He was thought a sharp and shrewd trader, but his honesty was +never questioned; indeed, the only trait in his character that +ever came up for general discussion was his extraordinary, +unbelievable, colossal meanness. This so eclipsed every other +passion in the man, and loomed so bulkily and insistently in the +foreground, that had he cherished a second vice no one would have +observed it, and if he really did possess a casual virtue, it +could scarcely have reared its head in such ugly company. + +It might be said, to defend the fair name of the Church, that Mr. +Baxter's deaconhood did not include very active service in the +courts of the Lord. He had "experienced religion" at fifteen and +made profession of his faith, but all well-brought-up boys and +girls did the same in those days; their parents saw to that! If +change of conviction or backsliding occurred later on, that was +not their business! At the ripe age of twenty-five he was +selected to fill a vacancy and became a deacon, thinking it might +be good for trade, as it was, for some years. He was very active +at the time of the "Cochrane craze," since any defence of the +creed that included lively detective work and incessant spying on +his neighbors was particularly in his line; but for many years +now, though he had been regular in attendance at church, he had +never officiated at communion, and his diaconal services had +gradually lapsed into the passing of the contribution-box, a task +of which he never wearied; it was such a keen pleasure to make +other people yield their pennies for a good cause, without adding +any of his own! + +Deacon Baxter had now been a widower for some years and the +community had almost relinquished the idea of his seeking a +fourth wife. This was a matter of some regret, for there was a +general feeling that it would be a good thing for the Baxter +girls to have some one to help with the housework and act as a +buffer between them and their grim and irascible parent. As for +the women of the village, they were mortified that the Deacon had +been able to secure three wives, and refused to believe that the +universe held anywhere a creature benighted enough to become his +fourth. + +The first, be it said, was a mere ignorant girl, and he a +beardless youth of twenty, who may not have shown his true +qualities so early in life. She bore him two sons, and it was a +matter of comment at the time that she called them, respectively, +Job and Moses, hoping that the endurance and meekness connected +with these names might somehow help them in their future +relations with their father. Pneumonia, coupled with profound +discouragement, carried her off in a few years to make room for +the second wife, Waitstill's mother, who was of different fibre +and greatly his superior. She was a fine, handsome girl, the +orphan daughter of up-country gentle-folks, who had died when she +was eighteen, leaving her alone in the world and penniless. + +Baxter, after a few days' acquaintance, drove into the dooryard +of the house where she was a visitor and, showing her his two +curly-headed boys, suddenly asked her to come and be their +stepmother. She assented, partly because she had nothing else to +do with her existence, so far as she could see, and also because +she fell in love with the children at first sight and forgot, as +girls will, that it was their father whom she was marrying. + +She was as plucky and clever and spirited as she was handsome, +and she made a brave fight of it with Foxy; long enough to bring +a daughter into the world, to name her Waitstill, and start her a +little way on her life journey,--then she, too, gave up the +struggle and died. Typhoid fever it was, combined with complete +loss of illusions, and a kind of despairing rage at having made +so complete a failure of her existence. + +The next year, Mr. Baxter, being unusually busy, offered a man a +good young heifer if he would jog about the country a little and +pick him up a housekeeper; a likely woman who would, if she +proved energetic, economical, and amiable, be eventually raised +to the proud position of his wife. If she was young, healthy, +smart, tidy, capable, and a good manager, able to milk the cows, +harness the horse, and make good butter, he would give a dollar +and a half a week. The woman was found, and, incredible as it may +seem, she said "yes" when the Deacon (whose ardor was kindled at +having paid three months' wages) proposed a speedy marriage. The +two boys by this time had reached the age of discretion, and one +of them evinced the fact by promptly running away to parts +unknown, never to be heard from afterwards; while the other, a +reckless and unhappy lad, was drowned while running on the logs +in the river. Old Foxy showed little outward sign of his loss, +though he had brought the boys into the world solely with the +view of having one of them work on the farm and the other in the +store. + +His third wife, the one originally secured for a housekeeper, +bore him a girl, very much to his disgust, a girl named Patience, +and great was Waitstill's delight at this addition to the dull +household. The mother was a timid, colorless, docile creature, +but Patience nevertheless was a sparkling, bright-eyed baby, who +speedily became the very centre of the universe to the older +child. So the months and years wore on, drearily enough, until, +when Patience was nine, the third Mrs. Baxter succumbed after the +manner of her predecessors, and slipped away from a life that had +grown intolerable. The trouble was diagnosed as "liver +complaint," but scarcity of proper food, no new frocks or kind +words, hard work, and continual bullying may possibly have been +contributory causes. Dr. Perry thought so, for he had witnessed +three most contented deaths in the Baxter house. The ladies were +all members of the church and had presumably made their peace +with God, but the good doctor fancied that their pleasure in +joining the angels was mild compared with their relief at parting +with the Deacon. + +"I know I hadn't ought to put the care on you, Waitstill, and you +only thirteen," poor Mrs. Baxter sighed, as the young girl was +watching with her one night when the end seemed drawing near. +"I've made out to live till now when Patience is old enough to +dress herself and help round, but I'm all beat out and can't try +any more." + +"Do you mean I'm to take your place, be a mother to Patience, and +keep house, and everything?" asked Waitstill quaveringly. + +"I don't see but you'll have to, unless your father marries +again. He'll never hire help, you know that!" + +"I won't have another mother in this house," flashed the girl. +"There's been three here and that's enough! If he brings anybody +home, I'll take Patience and run away, as Job did; or if he +leaves me alone, I'll wash and iron and scrub and cook till +Patience grows up, and then we'll go off together and hide +somewhere. I'm fourteen; oh, mother, how soon could I be married +and take Patience to live with me? Do you think anybody will ever +want me?" + +"Don't marry for a home, Waitstill! Your own mother did that, and +so did I, and we were both punished for it! You've been a great +help and I've had a sight of comfort out of the baby, but I +wouldn't go through it again, not even for her! You're real smart +and capable for your age and you've done your full share of the +work every day, even when you were at school. You can get along +all right." + +"I don't know how I'm going to do everything alone," said the +girl, forcing back her tears. "You've always made the brown +bread, and mine will never suit father. I suppose I can wash, but +don't know how to iron starched clothes, nor make pickles, and +oh! I can never kill a rooster, mother, it's no use to ask me to! +I'm not big enough to be the head of the family." + +Mrs. Baxter turned her pale, tired face away from Waitstill's +appealing eyes. + +"I know," she said faintly. "I hate to leave you to bear the +brunt alone, but I must! . . . Take good care of Patience and +don't let her get into trouble. . . . You won't, will you?" + +"I'll be careful," promised Waitstill, sobbing quietly; "I'll do +my best." + +"You've got more courage than ever I had; don't you s'pose you +can stiffen up and defend yourself a little mite? . . . Your +father'd ought to be opposed, for his own good . . . but I've +never seen anybody that dared do it." Then, after a pause, she +said with a flash of spirit,--"Anyhow, Waitstill, he's your +father after all. He's no blood relation of mine, and I can't +stand him another day; that's the reason I'm willing to die." + + + +IV + +SOMETHING OF A HERO + +IVORY BOYNTON lifted the bars that divided his land from the +highroad and walked slowly toward the house. It was April, but +there were still patches of snow here and there, fast melting +under a drizzling rain. It was a gray world, a bleak, +black-and-brown world, above and below. The sky was leaden; the +road and the footpath were deep in a muddy ooze flecked with +white. The tree-trunks, black, with bare branches, were lined +against the gray sky; nevertheless, spring had been on the way +for a week, and a few sunny days would bring the yearly miracle +for which all hearts were longing. + +Ivory was season-wise and his quick eye had caught many a sign as +he walked through the woods from his schoolhouse. A new and +different color haunted the tree-tops, and one had only to look +closely at the elm buds to see that they were beginning to swell. +Some fat robins had been sunning about in the school-yard at +noon, and sparrows had been chirping and twittering on the +fence-rails. Yes, the winter was over, and Ivory was glad, for it +had meant no coasting and -skating and sleighing for him, but +long walks in deep snow or slush; long evenings, good for study, +but short days, and greater loneliness for his mother. He could +see her now as he neared the house, standing in the open doorway, +her hand shading her eyes, watching, always watching, for some +one who never came. + +"Spring is on the way, mother, but it isn't here yet, so don't +stand there in the rain," he called. "Look at the nosegay I +gathered for you as I came through the woods. Here are pussy +willows and red maple blossoms and Mayflowers, would you believe +it?" + +Lois Boynton took the handful of budding things and sniffed their +fragrance. + +"You're late to-night, Ivory," she said. "Rod wanted his supper +early so that he could go off to singing-school, but I kept +something warm for you, and I'll make you a fresh cup of tea." + +Ivory went into the little shed room off the kitchen, changed his +muddy boots for slippers, and made himself generally tidy; then +he came back to the living-room bringing a pine knot which he +flung on the fire, waking it to a brilliant flame. + +"We can be as lavish as we like with the stumps now, mother, for +spring is coming," he said, as he sat down to his meal. + +"I've been looking out more than usual this afternoon," she +replied. "There's hardly any snow left, and though the walking is +so bad I've been rather expecting your father before night. You +remember he said, when he went away in January, that he should be +back before the Mayflowers bloomed?" + +It did not do any good to say: "Yes, mother, but the Mayflowers +have bloomed ten times since father went away." He had tried +that, gently and persistently when first her mind began to be +confused from long grief and hurt love, stricken pride and sick +suspense. + +Instead of that, Ivory turned the subject cheerily, saying, +"Well, we're sure of a good season, I think. There's been a grand +snow-fall, and that, they say, is the poor man's manure. Rod and +I will put in more corn and potatoes this year. I shan't have to +work single-handed very long, for he is growing to be quite a +farmer." + +"Your father was very fond of green corn, but he never cared for +potatoes," Mrs. Boynton said, vaguely, taking up her knitting. "I +always had great pride in my cooking, but I could never get your +father to relish my potatoes." + +"Well, his son does, anyway," Ivory replied, helping himself +plentifully from a dish that held one of his mother's best +concoctions, potatoes minced fine and put together into the +spider with thin bits of pork and all browned together. + +"I saw the Baxter girls to-day, mother," he continued, not +because he hoped she would give any heed to what he said, but +from the sheer longing for companionship. "The Deacon drove off +with Lawyer Wilson, who wanted him to give testimony in some case +or other down in Milltown. The minute Patty saw him going up Saco +Hill, she harnessed the old starved Baxter mare and the girls +started over to the Lower Corner to see some friends. It seems +it's Patty's birthday and they were celebrating. I met them just +as they were coming back and helped them lift the rickety wagon +out of the mud; they were stuck in it up to the hubs of the +wheels. I advised them to walk up the Town-House Hill if they +ever expected to get the horse home." + +Town-House Hill!" said Ivory's mother, dropping her knitting. +"That was where we had such wonderful meetings! Truly the Lord +was present in our midst, and oh, Ivory! the visions we saw in +that place when Jacob Cochrane first unfolded his gospel to us. +Was ever such a man!" + +"Probably not, mother," remarked Ivory dryly. + +"You were speaking of the Baxters. I remember their home, and the +little girl who used to stand in the gateway and watch when we +came out of meeting. There was a baby, too; isn't there a Baxter +baby, Ivory?" + +"She didn't stay a baby; she is seventeen years old to-day, +mother." + +"You surprise me, but children do grow very fast. She had a +strange name, but I cannot recall it." + +"Her name is Patience, but nobody but her father calls her +anything but Patty, which suits her much better." + +"No, the name wasn't Patience, not the one I mean." + +"The older sister is Waitstill, perhaps you mean her?"-and Ivory +sat down by the fire with his book and his pipe. + +"Waitstill! Waitstill! that is it! Such a beautiful name!" + +"She's a beautiful girl." + +"Waitstill! 'They also serve who only stand and wait.' 'Wait, I +say, on the Lord and He will give thee the desires of thy +heart.'--Those were wonderful days, when we were caught up out of +the body and mingled freely in the spirit world." Mrs. Boynton +was now fully started on the topic that absorbed her mind and +Ivory could do nothing but let her tell the story that she had +told him a hundred times. + +"I remember when first we heard Jacob Cochrane speak." (This was +her usual way of beginning.) "Your father was a preacher, as you +know, Ivory, but you will never know what a wonderful preacher he +was. My grandfather, being a fine gentleman, and a governor, +would not give his consent to my marriage, but I never regretted +it, never! Your father saw Elder Cochrane at a revival meeting of +the Free Will Baptists in Scarboro', and was much impressed with +him. A few days later we went to the funeral of a child in the +same neighborhood. No one who was there could ever forget it. The +minister had made his long prayer when a man suddenly entered the +room, came towards the coffin, and placed his hand on the child's +forehead. The room, in an instant, was as still as the death that +had called us together. The stranger was tall and of commanding +presence; his eyes pierced our very hearts, and his marvellous +voice penetrated to depths in our souls that had never been +reached before." + +"Was he a better speaker than my father?" asked Ivory, who +dreaded his mother's hours of complete silence even more than her +periods of reminiscence. + +"He spoke as if the Lord of Hosts had given him inspiration; as +if the angels were pouring words into his mouth just for him to +utter," replied Mrs. Boynton. "Your father was spell-bound, and I +only less so. When he ceased speaking, the child's mother crossed +the room, and swaying to and fro, fell at his feet, sobbing and +wailing and imploring God to forgive her sins. + +They carried her upstairs, and when we looked about after the +confusion and excitement the stranger had vanished. But we found +him again! As Elder Cochrane said: 'The prophet of the Lord can +never be hid; no darkness is thick enough to cover him!' There +was a six weeks' revival meeting in North Saco where three +hundred souls were converted, and your father and I were among +them. We had fancied ourselves true believers for years, but +Jacob Cochrane unstopped our ears so that we could hear the +truths revealed to him by the Almighty!-It was all so simple and +easy at the beginning, but it grew hard and grievous afterward; +hard to keep the path, I mean. I never quite knew whether God was +angry with me for backsliding at the end, but I could not always +accept the revelations that Elder Cochrane and your father had!" + +Lois Boynton's hands were now quietly folded over the knitting +that lay forgotten in her lap, but her low, thrilling voice had a +note in it that did not belong wholly to earth. + +There was a long silence; one of many long silences at the +Boynton fireside, broken only by the ticking of the clock, the +purring of the cat, and the clicking of Mrs. Boynton's needles, +as, her paroxysm of reminiscence over, she knitted ceaselessly, +with her eyes on the window or the door. + +"It's about time for Rod to be coming back, isn't it? " asked +Ivory. + +"He ought to be here soon, but perhaps he is gone for good; it +may be that he thinks he has made us a long enough visit. I don't +know whether your father will like the boy when he comes home. He +never did fancy company in the house." + +Ivory looked up in astonishment from his Greek grammar. This was +an entirely new turn of his mother's mind. Often when she was +more than usually confused he would try to clear the cobwebs from +her brain by gently questioning her until she brought herself +back to a clearer understanding of her own thought. Thus far her +vagaries had never made her unjust to any human creature; she was +uniformly sweet and gentle in speech and demeanor. + +"Why do you talk of Rod's visiting us when he is one of the +family?" Ivory asked quietly. + +"Is he one of the family? I didn't know it," replied his mother +absently. + +"Look at me, mother, straight in the eye; that's right: now +listen, dear, to what I say." + +Mrs. Boynton's hair that had been in her youth like an aureole of +corn-silk was now a strange yellow-white, and her blue eyes +looked out from her pale face with a helpless appeal. + +"You and I were living alone here after father went away," Ivory +began. "I was a little boy, you know. You and father had saved +something, there was the farm, you worked like a slave, I helped, +and we lived, somehow, do you remember?" + +"I do, indeed! It was cold and the neighbors were cruel. Jacob +Cochrane had gone away and his disciples were not always true to +him. When the magnetism of his presence was withdrawn, they could +not follow all his revelations, and they forgot how he had +awakened their spiritual life at the first of his preaching. Your +father was always a stanch believer, but when he started on his +mission and went to Parsonsfield to help Elder Cochrane in his +meetings, the neighbors began to criticize him. They doubted him. +You were too young to realize it, but I did, and it almost broke +my heart." + +"I was nearly twelve years old; do you think I escaped all the +gossip, mother?" + +"You never spoke of it to me, Ivory." + +"No, there is much that I never spoke of to you, mother, but +sometime when you grow stronger and your memory is better we will +talk together.--Do you remember the winter, long after father +went away, that Parson Lane sent me to Fairfield Academy to get +enough Greek and Latin to make me a schoolmaster?" + +"Yes," she answered uncertainly. + +"Don't you remember I got a free ride down-river one Friday and +came home for Sunday, just to surprise you? And when I got here I +found you ill in bed, with Mrs. Mason and Dr. Perry taking care +of you. You could not speak, you were so ill, but they told me +you had been up in New Hampshire to see your sister, that she had +died, and that you had brought back her boy, who was only four +years old. That was Rod. I took him into bed with me that night, +poor, homesick little fellow, and, as you know, mother, he's +never left us since." + +"I didn't remember I had a sister. Is she dead, Ivory? " asked +Mrs. Boynton vaguely. + +"If she were not dead, do you suppose you would have kept Rodman +with us when we hadn't bread enough for our own two mouths, +mother?" questioned Ivory patiently. + +"No, of course not. I can't think how I can be so forgetful. It's +worse sometimes than others. It 's worse to-day because I knew +the Mayflowers were blooming and that reminded me it was time for +your father to come home; you must forgive me, dear, and will you +excuse me if I sit in the kitchen awhile? The window by the side +door looks out towards the road, and if I put a candle on the +sill it shines quite a distance. The lane is such a long one, and +your father was always a sad stumbler in the dark! I shouldn't +like him to think I wasn't looking for him when he's been gone +since January." + +Ivory's pipe went out, and his book slipped from his knee +unnoticed. + +His mother was more confused than usual, but she always was when +spring came to remind her of her husband's promise. Somehow, well +used as he was to her mental wanderings, they made him uneasy +to-night. His father had left home on a fancied mission, a duty +he believed to be a revelation given by God through Jacob +Cochrane. The farm did not miss him much at first, Ivory +reflected bitterly, for since his fanatical espousal of +Cochranism his father's interest in such mundane matters as +household expenses had diminished month by month until they had +no meaning for him at all. Letters to wife and boy had come at +first, but after six months--during which he had written from +many places, continually deferring the date of his return-they +had ceased altogether. The rest was silence. Rumors of his +presence here or there came from time to time, but though Parson +Lane and Dr. Perry did their best, none of them were ever +substantiated. + +Where had those years of wandering been passed, and had they all +been given even to an imaginary and fantastic service of God? Was +his father dead? If he were alive, what could keep him from +writing? Nothing but a very strong reason, or a very wrong one, +so his son thought, at times. + +Since Ivory had grown to man's estate, he understood that in the +later days of Cochrane's preaching, his "visions," +"inspirations," and "revelations" concerning the marriage bond +were a trifle startling from the old-fashioned, orthodox point of +view. His most advanced disciples were to hold themselves in +readiness to renounce their former vows and seek "spiritual +consorts," sometimes according to his advice, sometimes as their +inclinations prompted. + +Had Aaron Boynton forsaken, willingly, the wife of his youth, the +mother of his boy? If so, he must have realized to what straits +he was subjecting them. Ivory had not forgotten those first few +years of grinding poverty, anxiety, and suspense. His mother's +mind had stood the strain bravely, but it gave way at last; not, +however, until that fatal winter journey to New Hampshire, when +cold, exposure, and fatigue did their worst for her weak body. +Religious enthusiast, exalted and impressionable, a natural +mystic, she had probably always been, far more so in temperament, +indeed, than her husband; but although she left home on that +journey a frail and heartsick woman, she returned a different +creature altogether, blurred and confused in mind, with clouded +memory and irrational fancies. + +She must have given up hope, just then, Ivory thought, and her +love was so deep that when it was uprooted the soil came with it. +Now hope had returned because the cruel memory had faded +altogether. She sat by the kitchen window in gentle expectation, +watching, always watching. + +And this is the way many of Ivory Boynton's evenings were spent, +while the heart of him, the five-and-twenty-year-old heart of +him, was longing to feel the beat of another heart, a girl's +heart only a mile or more away. The ice in Saco Water had broken +up and the white blocks sailed majestically down towards the sea; +sap was mounting and the elm trees were budding; the trailing +arbutus was blossoming in the woods; the robins had +come;-everything was announcing the spring, yet Ivory saw no +changing seasons in his future; nothing but winter, eternal +winter there! + + + +V + +PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE + +PATTY had been searching for eggs in the barn chamber, and coming +down the ladder from the haymow spied her father washing the +wagon by the well-side near the shed door. Cephas Cole kept store +for him at meal hours and whenever trade was unusually brisk, and +the Baxter yard was so happily situated that Old Foxy could watch +both house and store. + +There never was a good time to ask Deacon Baxter a favor, +therefore this moment would serve as well as any other, so, +approaching him near enough to be heard through the rubbing and +splashing, but no nearer than was necessary Patty said:-- + +"Father, can I go up to Ellen Wilson's this afternoon and stay to +tea? I won't start till I've done a good day's work and I'll come +home early. " + +"What do you want to go gallivantin' to the neighbors for? I +never saw anything like the girls nowadays; highty-tighty, +flauntin', traipsin', triflin' trollops, ev'ry one of 'em, that's +what they are, and Ellen Wilson's one of the triflin'est. + +You're old enough now to stay to home where you belong and make +an effort to earn your board and clothes, which you can't, even +if you try." + +Spunk, real, Simon-pure spunk, started some-where in Patty and +coursed through her blood like wine. + +"If a girl's old enough to stay at home and work, I should think +she was old enough to go out and play once in a while." Patty was +still too timid to make this remark more than a courteous +suggestion, so far as its tone was concerned. + +"Don't answer me back; you're full of new tricks, and you've got +to stop 'em, right where you are, or there'll be trouble. You +were whistlin' just now up in the barn chamber; that's one of the +things I won't have round my premises,--a whistlin' girl." + +"'T was a Sabbath-School hymn that I was whistling!" This with a +creditable imitation of defiance. + +"That don't make it any better. Sing your hymns if you must make +a noise while you're workin'." + +"It's the same mouth that makes the whistle and sings the song, +so I don't see why one's any wickeder than the other." + +"You don't have to see," replied the Deacon grimly; "all you have +to do is to mind when you're spoken to. Now run 'long 'bout your +work." + +"Can't I go up to Ellen's, then?" + +"What's goin' on up there?" + +"Just a frolic. There's always a good time at Ellen's, and I +would so like the sight of a big, rich house now and then!" + +"'Just a frolic.' Land o' Goshen, hear the girl! 'Sight of a big, +rich house,' indeed!--Will there be any boys at the party?" + +"I s'pose so, or 't wouldn't be a frolic," said Patty with awful +daring; "but there won't be many; only a few of Mark's friends." + +"Well, there ain't goin' to be no more argyfyin'! I won't have +any girl o' mine frolickin' with boys, so that's the end of it. +You're kind o' crazy lately, riggin' yourself out with a ribbon +here and a flower there, and pullin' your hair down over your +ears. Why do you want to cover your ears up? What are they for?" + +"To hear you with, father," Patty replied, with honey-sweet voice +and eyes that blazed. + +"Well, I hope they'll never hear anything worse," replied her +father, flinging a bucket of water over the last of the wagon +wheels. + +"THEY COULDN'T!" These words were never spoken aloud, but oh! how +Patty longed to shout them with a clarion voice as she walked +away in perfect silence, her majestic gait showing, she hoped, +how she resented the outcome of the interview. + +I've stood up to father!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she +entered the kitchen and set down her yellow bowl of eggs on the +table. "I stood up to him, and answered him back three times!" + +Waitstill was busy with her Saturday morning cooking, but she +turned in alarm. + +"Patty, what have you said and done? Tell me quickly!" + +"I 'argyfied,' but it didn't do any good; he won't let me go to +Ellen's party." + +Waitstill wiped her floury hands and put them on her sister's +shoulders. + +"Hear what I say, Patty: you must not argue with father, whatever +he says. We don't love him and so there isn't the right respect +in our hearts, but at least there can be respect in our manners." + +"I don't believe I can go on for years, holding in, Waitstill!" +Patty whimpered. + +"Yes, you can. I have!" + +"You're different, Waitstill." + +"I wasn't so different at sixteen, but that's five years ago, and +I've got control of my tongue and my temper since then. Sometime, +perhaps, when I have a grievance too great to be rightly borne, +sometime when you are away from here in a home of your own, I +shall speak out to father; just empty my heart of all the +disappointment and bitterness and rebellion. Somebody ought to +tell him the truth, and perhaps it will be me!" + +"I wish it could be me," exclaimed Patty vindictively, and with +an equal disregard of grammar. + +"You would speak in temper, I'm afraid, Patty, and that would +spoil all. I'm sorry you can't go up to Ellen's," she sighed, +turning back to her work; "you don't have pleasure enough for one +of your age; still, don't fret; something may happen to change +things, and anyhow the weather is growing warmer, and you and I +have so many more outings in summer-time. Smooth down your hair, +child; there are straws in it, and it's all rough with the wind. +I don't like flying hair about a kitchen." + +"I wish my hair was flying somewhere a thousand miles from here; +or at least I should wish it if it did not mean leaving you; for +oh. I'm so miserable and disappointed and unhappy!" + +Waitstill bent over the girl as she flung herself down beside the +table and smoothed her shoulder gently. + +"There, there, dear; it isn't like my gay little sister to cry. +What is the matter with you to-day, Patty?" + +"I suppose it's the spring," she said, wiping her eyes with her +apron and smiling through her tears. "Perhaps I need a dose of +sulphur and molasses." + +"Don't you feel well as common?" + +"Well? I feel too well! I feel as if I was a young colt shut up +in an attic. I want to kick up my heels, batter the door down, +and get out into the pasture. It's no use talking, Waity;--I +can't go on living without a bit of pleasure and I can't go on +being patient even for your sake. If it weren't for you, I'd run +away as Job did; and I never believed Moses slipped on the logs; +I'm sure he threw himself into the river, and so should I if I +had the courage!" + +"Stop, Patty, stop, dear! You shall have your bit of pasture, at +least. I'll do some of your indoor tasks for you, and you shall +put on your sunbonnet and go out and dig the dandelion greens for +dinner. Take the broken knife and a milkpan and don't bring in so +much earth with them as you did last time. Dry your eyes and look +at the green things growing. Remember how young you are and how +many years are ahead of you! Go along, dear!" + +Waitstill went about her work with rather a heavy heart. Was life +going to be more rather than less difficult, now that Patty was +growing up? Would she he able to do her duty both by father and +sister and keep peace in the household, as she had vowed, in her +secret heart, always to do? She paused every now and then to look +out of the window and wave an encouraging hand to Patty. The +girl's bonnet was off, and her uncovered head blazed like red +gold in the sunlight. The short young grass was dotted with +dandelion blooms, some of them already grown to huge disks of +yellow, and Patty moved hither and thither, selecting the younger +weeds, deftly putting the broken knife under their roots and +popping them into the tin pan. Presently, for Deacon Baxter had +finished the wagon and gone down the hill to relieve Cephas Cole +at the counter, Patty's shrill young whistle floated into the +kitchen, but with a mischievous glance at the open window she +broke off suddenly and began to sing the words of the hymn with +rather more emphasis and gusto than strict piety warranted. + +"There'll be SOMEthing in heav-en for chil-dren to do, + None are idle in that bless-ed land: + There'll be WORK for the heart. There'll be WORK for the mind, + And emPLOYment for EACH little hand. + "There'll be SOME-thing to do, + There'll be SOME-thing to do, + There'll be SOME-thing for CHIL-dren to do! + On that bright blessed shore where there's joy evermore, + There'll be SOME-thing for CHIL-DREN to do." + +Patty's young existence being full to the brim of labor, this +view of heaven never in the least appealed to her and she +rendered the hymn with little sympathy. The main part of the +verse was strongly accented by jabs at the unoffending dandelion +roots, but when the chorus came she brought out the emphatic +syllables by a beat of the broken knife on the milkpan. + +This rendition of a Sabbath-School classic did not meet +Waitstill's ideas of perfect propriety, but she smiled and let it +pass, planning some sort of recreation for a stolen half-hour of +the afternoon. It would have to be a walk through the pasture +into the woods to see what had grown since they went there a +fortnight ago. Patty loved people better than Nature, but failing +the one she could put up with the other, for she had a sense of +beauty and a pagan love of color. There would be pale-hued +innocence and blue and white violets in the moist places, thought +Waitstill, and they would have them in a china cup on the +supper-table. No, that would never do, for last time father had +knocked them over when he was reaching for the bread, and in a +silent protest against such foolishness got up from the table and +emptied theirs into the kitchen sink. + +"There's a place for everything," he said when he came back, "and +the place for flowers is outdoors." + +Then in the pine woods there would be, she was sure, Star of +Bethlehem, Solomon's Seal, the white spray of groundnuts and +bunchberries. Perhaps they could make a bouquet and Patty would +take it across the fields to Mrs. Boynton's door. She need not go +in, and thus they would not be disobeying their father's command +not to visit that "crazy Boynton woman." + +Here Patty came in with a pan full of greens and the sisters sat +down in the sunny window to get them ready for the pot. + +"I'm calmer," the little rebel allowed." That's generally the way +it turns out with me. I get into a rage, but I can generally sing +it off!" + +"You certainly must have got rid of a good deal of temper this +morning, by the way your voice sounded." + +"Nobody can hear us in this out-of-the-way place. It's easy +enough to see that the women weren't asked to say anything when +the men settled where the houses should be built! The men weren't +content to stick them on the top of a high hill, or half a mile +from the stores, but put them back to the main road, taking due +care to cut the sink-window where their wives couldn't see +anything even when they were washing dishes." + +"I don't know that I ever thought about it in that way"; and +Waitstill looked out of the window in a brown study while her +hands worked with the dandelion greens. "I've noticed it, but I +never supposed the men did it intentionally." + +"No, you wouldn't," said Patty with the pessimism of a woman of +ninety, as she stole an admiring glance at her sister. Patty's +own face, irregular, piquant, tantalizing, had its peculiar +charm, and her brilliant skin and hair so dazzled the masculine +beholder that he took note of no small defects; but Waitstill was +beautiful; beautiful even in her working dress of purple calico. +Her single braid of hair, the Foxwell hair, that in her was +bronze and in Patty pale auburn, was wound once around her fine +head and made to stand a little as it went across the front. It +was a simple, easy, unconscious fashion of her own, quite +different from anything done by other women in her time and +place, and it just suited her dignity and serenity. It looked +like a coronet, but it was the way she carried her head that gave +you the fancy, there was such spirit and pride in the poise of it +on the long graceful neck. Her eyes were as clear as mountain +pools shaded by rushes, and the strength of the face was softened +by the sweetness of the mouth. + +Patty never let the conversation die out for many seconds at a +time and now she began again. "My sudden rages don't match my +name very well, but, of course, mother didn't know how I was +going to turn out when she called me Patience, for I was nothing +but a squirming little bald, red baby; but my name really is too +ridiculous when you think about it." + +Waitstill laughed as she said: "It didn't take you long to change +it! Perhaps Patience was a hard word for a baby to say, but the +moment you could talk you said, 'Patty wants this' and 'Patty +wants that."' + +"Did Patty ever get it? She never has since, that's certain! And +look at your name: it's 'Waitstill,' yet you never stop a moment. +When you're not in the shed or barn, or chicken-house, or kitchen +or attic, or garden-patch, you are working in the Sunday School +or the choir." + +It seemed as if Waitstill did not intend to answer this +arraignment of her activities. She rose and crossed the room to +put the pan of greens in the sink, preparing to wash them. + +Taking the long-handled dipper from the nail, she paused a moment +before plunging it into the water pail; paused, and leaning her +elbow on a corner of the shelf over the sink, looked steadfastly +out into the orchard. + +Patty watched her curiously and was just going to offer a penny +for her thoughts when Waitstill suddenly broke the brief silence +by saying: "Yes, I am always busy; it's better so, but all the +same, Patty, I'm waiting,--inside! I don't know for what, but I +always feel that I am waiting!" + + + +VI + +A KISS + +"SHALL we have our walk in the woods on the Edgewood side of the +river, just for a change, Patty?" suggested her sister. "The +water is so high this year that the river will be splendid. We +can gather our flowers in the hill pasture and then you'll be +quite near Mrs. Boynton's and can carry the nosegay there while I +come home ahead of you and get supper. I'll take to-day's eggs to +father's store on the way and ask him if he minds our having a +little walk. I've an errand at Aunt Abby's that would take me +down to the bridge anyway." + +"Very well," said Patty, somewhat apathetically. "I always like a +walk with you, but I don't care what becomes of me this afternoon +if I can't go to Ellen's party." + +The excursion took place according to Waitstill's plan, and at +four o'clock she sped back to her night work and preparations for +supper, leaving Patty with a great bunch of early wildflowers for +Ivory's mother. Patty had left them at the Boyntons' door with +Rodman, who was +picking up chips and volunteered to take the nosegay into the +house at once. + +"Won't you step inside? " the boy asked shyly, wishing to be +polite, but conscious that visitors, from the village very seldom +crossed the threshold. + +"I'd like to, but I can't this afternoon, thank you. I must run +all the way down the hill now, or I shan't be in time to supper." + +"Do you eat meals together over to your house?" asked the boy. + +"We're all three at the table if that means together." + +"We never are. Ivory goes off early and takes lunch in a pail. So +do I when I go to school. Aunt Boynton never sits down to eat; +she just stands at the window and takes a bite of something now +'and then. You haven't got any mother, have you?" + +"No, Rodman." + +"Neither have I, nor any father, nor any relations but Aunt +Boynton and Ivory. Ivory is very good to me, and when he's at +home I'm never lonesome." + +"I wish you could come over and eat with sister and me," said +Patty gently." Perhaps sometime, when my father is away buying +goods and we are left alone, you could join us in the woods, and +we would have a picnic? We would bring enough for you; all sorts +of good things; hard-boiled eggs, doughnuts, apple-turnovers, and +bread spread with jelly." + +"I'd like it fine!" exclaimed Rodman, his big dark eyes sparkling +with anticipation. "I don't have many boys to play with, and I +never went to a picnic Aunt Boynton watches for uncle 'most all +the time; she doesn't know he has been away for years and years. +When she doesn't watch, she prays. Sometimes she wants me to pray +with her, but praying don't come easy to me." + +"Neither does it to me," said Patty. + +"I'm good at marbles and checkers and back-gammon and +jack-straws, though." + +"So am I," said Patty, laughing, "so we should be good friends. +I'll try to get a chance to see you soon again, but perhaps I +can't; I'm a good deal tied at home." + +"Your father doesn't like you to go any-wheres, I guess," +interposed Rodman. "I've heard Ivory tell Aunt Boynton things, +but I wouldn't repeat them. Ivory's trained me years and years +not to tell anything, so I don't." + +"That's a good boy!" approved Patty. Then as she regarded him +more closely, she continued, "I'm sorry you're lonesome, Rodman, +I'd like to see you look brighter." + +"You think I've been crying," the boy said shrewdly." So I have, +but not because I've been punished. The reason my eyes are so +swollen up is because I killed our old toad by mistake this +morning. I was trying to see if I could swing the scythe so's to +help Ivory in haying-time. I've only 'raked after' and I want to +begin on mowing soon's I can. Then somehow or other the old toad +came out from under the steps; I didn't see him, and the scythe +hit him square. I cried for an hour, that's what I did, and I +don't care who knows it except I wouldn't like the boys at school +to hector me. I've buried the toad out behind the barn, and I +hope Ivory'll let me keep the news from Aunt Boynton. She cries +enough now without my telling her there's been a death in the +family. She set great store by the old toad, and so did all of +us." + +"It's too bad; I'm sorry, but after all you couldn't help it." + +"No, but we should always look round every-wheres when we're +cutting; that's what Ivory says. He says folks shouldn't use +edged tools till they're old enough not to fool with 'em." + +And Rodman looked so wise and old-fashioned for his years that +Patty did not know whether to kiss him or cry over him, as she +said: "Ivory's always right, and now good-bye; I must go this +very minute. Don't forget the picnic." + +"I won't!" cried the boy, gazing after her, wholly entranced with +her bright beauty and her kindness. "Say, I'll bring something, +too,--white-oak acorns, if you like 'em; I've got a big bagful up +attic!" + +Patty sped down the long lane, crept under the bars, and flew +like a lapwing over the high-road. + +"If father was only like any one else, things might be so +different!" she sighed, her thoughts running along with her feet. +"Nobody to make a home for that poor lonesome little boy and that +poor lonesome big Ivory. . . . I am sure that he is in love with +Waitstill. He doesn't know it; she doesn't know it; nobody does +but me, but I'm clever at guessing. I was the only one that +surmised Jed Morrill was going to marry again. . . . I should +almost like Ivory for myself, he is so tall and handsome, but of +course he can never marry anybody; he is too poor and has his +mother to look after. I wouldn't want to take him from Waity, +though, and then perhaps I couldn't get him, anyway. . . . If I +couldn't, he'd be the only one! I've never tried yet, but I feel +in my bones, somehow, that I could have any boy in Edgewood or +Riverboro, by just crooking my forefinger and beckoning to him. . +. . I wish--I wish--they were different! They don't make me want +to beckon to them! My forefinger just stays straight and doesn't +feel like crooking! . . . There's Cephas Cole, but he's as stupid +as an owl. I don't want a husband that keeps his mouth wide open +whenever I'm talking, no matter whether it's sense or nonsense. +There's Phil Perry, but he likes Ellen, and besides he's too +serious for me; and there's Mark Wilson; he's the best dressed, +and the only one that's been to college. He looks at me all the +time in meeting, and asked me if I wouldn't take a walk some +Sunday afternoon. I know he planned Ellen's party hoping I'd be +there!--Goodness gracious, I do believe that is his horse coming +behind me! There's no other in the village that goes at such a +gait!" + +It was, indeed, Mark Wilson, who always drove, according to Aunt +Abby Cole, "as if he was goin' for a doctor." He caught up with +Patty almost in the twinkling of an eye, but she was ready for +him. She had taken off her sunbonnet just to twirl it by the +string, she was so warm with walking, and in a jiffy she had +lifted the clustering curls from her ears, tucked them back with +a single expert movement, and disclosed two coral pendants just +the color of her ear-tips and her glowing cheeks. + +"Hello, Patty!" the young man called, in brusque country fashion, +as he reined up beside her. "What are you doing over here? Why +aren't you on your way to the party? I've been over to Limington +and am breaking my neck to get home in time myself." + +"I am not going; there are no parties for me!" said Patty +plaintively. +"Not going! Oh! I say, what's the matter? It won't be a bit of +fun without you! Ellen and I made it up expressly for you, +thinking your father couldn't object to a candy-pull!" + +"I can't help it; I did the best I could. Wait-still always asks +father for me, but I wouldn't take any chances to-day, and I +spoke to him myself; indeed I almost coaxed him!" + +"He's a regular old skinflint!" cried Mark, getting out of the +wagon and walking beside her. + +"You mustn't call him names," Patty interposed with some dignity. +"I call him a good many myself, but I'm his daughter." + +"You don't look it," said Mark admiringly. " Come and have a +little ride, Won't you?" + +"Oh, I couldn't possibly, thank you. Some one would be sure to +see us, and father's so strict." + +"There isn't a building for half a mile! Just jump in and have a +spin till we come to the first house; then I'll let you out and +you can walk the rest of the way home. Come, do, and make up to +me a little for my disappointment. I'll skip the candy-pull if +you say the word." + +It was an incredibly brief drive, at Mark's rate of speed; and as +exciting and blissful as it was brief and dangerous, Patty +thought. Did she imagine it, or did Mark help her into the wagon +differently from--old Dr. Perry, for instance? + +The fresh breeze lifted the gold thread of her curls and gave her +cheeks a brighter color, while her breath came fast through her +parted lips and her eyes sparkled at the unexpected, unaccustomed +pleasure. She felt so grown up, so conscious of a new power as +she sat enthroned on the little wagon seat (Mark Wilson always +liked his buggies "courtin' size" so the neighbors said), that +she was almost courageous enough to agree to make a royal +progress through the village; almost, but not quite. + +"Come on, let's shake the old tabbies up and start 'em talking, +shall we?" Mark suggested." I'll give you the reins and let Nero +have a flick of the whip." + +"No, I'd rather not drive," she said. "I'd be afraid of this +horse, and, anyway, I must get out this very minute; yes, I +really must. If you hold Nero I can just slip down between the +wheels; you needn't help me." + +Mark alighted notwithstanding her objections, saying gallantly, +"I don't miss this pleasure, not by a jugful! Come along! Jump!" + +Patty stretched out her hands to be helped, but Mark forestalled +her by putting his arms around her and lifting her down. A second +of time only was involved, but in that second he held; her close +and kissed her warm cheek, her cheek that had never felt the +touch of any lips but those of Waitstill. She pulled her +sunbonnet over her flaming face, while Mark, with a gay smile of +farewell, sprang into the wagon and gave his horse a free rein. + +Patty never looked up from the road, but walked faster and +faster, her heart beating at breakneck speed. It was a changed +world that spun past her; fright, triumph, shame, delight, a +gratified vanity swam over her in turn. + +A few minutes later she heard once more the rumble of wheels on +the road. It was Cephas Cole driving towards her over the brow of +Saco Hill. "He'll have seen Mark," she thought, "but he can't +know I've talked and driven with him. Ugh! how stupid and common +he looks!" +"I heard your father blowin' the supper-horn jest as I come over +the bridge," remarked Cephas, drawing up in the road. " He stood +in the door-yard blowin' like Bedlam. I guess you 're late to +supper." + +"I'll be home in a few minutes," said Patty, "I got delayed and +am a little behindhand." + +"I'11 turn right round if you'11 git in and lemme take you +back-along a piece; it'll save you a good five minutes," begged +Cephas, abjectly. + +"All right; much obliged; but it's against the rules and you must +drop me at the foot of our hill and let me walk up." + +"Certain; I know the Deacon 'n' I ain't huntin' for trouble any +more'n you be; though I 'd take it quick enough if you jest give +me leave! I ain't no coward an' I could tackle the Deacon +to-morrow if so be I had anything to ask him." + +This seemed to Patty a line of conversation distinctly to be +discouraged under all the circumstances, and she tried to keep +Cephas on the subject of his daily tasks and his mother's +rheumatism until she could escape from his over-appreciative +society. + +"How do you like my last job?" he inquired as they passed his +father's house. "Some think I've got the ell a little dite too +yaller. Folks that ain't never handled a brush allers think they +can mix paint better 'n them that knows their trade." + +"If your object was to have everybody see the ell a mile away, +you've succeeded," said Patty cruelly. She never flung the poor +boy a civil word for fear of getting something warmer than +civility in return. + +"It'll tone down," Cephas responded, rather crestfallen. "I +wanted a good bright lastin' shade. 'T won't look so yaller when +father lets me paint the house to match, but that won't be till +next year. He makes fun of the yaller color same as you; says a +home's something you want to forget when you're away from it. +Mother says the two rooms of the ell are big enough for somebody +to set up housekeepin' in. What do you think?" + +"I never think," returned Patty with a tantalizing laugh. +"Good-night, Cephas; thank you for giving me a lift!" + + + +VII + +"WHAT DREAMS MAY COME + +SUPPER was over and the work done at last; the dishes washed, the +beans put in soak, the hens shut up for the night, the milk +strained and carried down cellar. Patty went up to her little +room with the one window and the slanting walls and Waitstill +followed and said good-night. Her father put out the lights, +locked the doors, and came up the creaking stairs. There was +never any talk between the sisters before going to bed, save on +nights when their father was late at the store, usually on +Saturdays only, for the good talkers of the village, as well as +the gossips and loafers, preferred any other place to swap +stories than the bleak atmosphere provided by old Foxy at his +place of business. + +Patty could think in the dark; her healthy young body lying not +uncomfortably on the bed of corn husks, and the patchwork +comforter drawn up under her chin. She could think, but for the +first time she could not tell her thoughts to Waitstill. She had +a secret; a dazzling secret, just like Ellen Wilson and some of +the other girls who were several years older. Her afternoon's +experience loomed as large in her innocent mind as if it had been +an elopement. + +"I hope I'm not engaged to be married to him, EVEN IF HE DID--" +The sentence was too tremendous to be finished, even in thought. +"I don't think I can be; men must surely say something, and not +take it for granted you are in love with them and want to marry +them. It is what they say when they ask that I should like much +better than being married, when I'm only just past seventeen. I +wish Mark was a little different; I don't like his careless ways! +He admires me, I can tell one; that by the way he looks, but he +admires himself just as much, and expects me to do the same; +still, I suppose none of them are perfect, and girls have to +forgive lots of little things when they are engaged. Mother must +have forgiven a good many things when she took father. Anyway, +Mark is going away for a month on business, so I shan't have to +make up my mind just yet!" Here sleep descended upon the slightly +puzzled, but on the whole delightfully complacent, little +creature, bringing her most alluring and untrustworthy dreams. + +The dear innocent had, indeed, no need of haste! Young Mr. +Marquis de Lafayette Wilson, Mark for short, was not in the least +a gay deceiver +or ruthless breaker of hearts, and, so far as known, no scalps of +village beauties were hung to his belt. He was a likable, +light-weight young chap, as indolent and pleasure-loving as the +strict customs of the community would permit; and a kiss, in his +mind, most certainly never would lead to the altar, else he had +already been many times a bridegroom. Miss Patience Baxter's +maiden meditations and uncertainties and perplexities, therefore, +were decidedly premature. She was a natural-born, unconsciously +artistic, highly expert, and finished coquette. She was all this +at seventeen, and Mark at twenty-four was by no means a match for +her in this field of effort, yet!--but sometimes, in getting her +victim into the net, the coquette loses her balance and falls in +herself. There wasn't a bit of harm in Marquis de Lafayette, but +he was extremely agile in keeping out of nets! + +Waitstill was restless, too, that night, although she could not +have told the reason. She opened her window at the back of the +house and leaned out. The evening was mild with a soft wind +blowing. She could hear the full brook dashing through the edge +of the wood-lot, and even the "ker-chug" of an occasional +bull-frog. There were great misty stars in the sky, but no moon. + +There was no light in Aunt Abby Cole's kitchen, but a faint +glimmer shone through the windows of Uncle Bart's joiner's shop, +showing that the old man was either having an hour of peaceful +contemplation with no companion but his pipe, or that there might +be a little group of privileged visitors, headed by Jed Morrill, +busily discussing the affairs of the nation. + +Waitstill felt troubled and anxious to-night; bruised by the +little daily torments that lessened her courage but never wholly +destroyed it. Any one who believed implicitly in heredity might +have been puzzled, perhaps, to account for her. He might +fantastically picture her as making herself out of her ancestors, +using a free hand, picking and choosing what she liked best, with +due care for the effect of combinations; selecting here and there +and modifying, if advisable, a trait of Grandpa or Grandma +Foxwell, of Great-Uncle or Great-Aunt Baxter; borrowing qualities +lavishly from her own gently born and gently bred mother, and +carefully avoiding her respected father's Stock, except, perhaps, +to take a dash of his pluck and an ounce of his persistence. Jed +Morrill remarked of Deacon Baxter once: "When Old Foxy wants +anything he'11 wait till hell freezes over afore he'll give up." +Waitstill had her father's firm chin, but there the likeness +ended. The proud curve of her nostrils, the clear well-opened eye +with its deep fringe of lashes, the earnest mouth, all these came +from the mother who was little more than a dim memory. + +Waitstill disdained any vague, dreary, colorless theory of life +and its meaning. She had joined the church at fifteen, more or +less because other girls did and the parson had persuaded her; +but out of her hard life she had somehow framed a courageous +philosophy that kept her erect and uncrushed, no matter how great +her difficulties. She had no idea of bringing a poor, weak, +draggled soul to her Maker at the last day, saying "Here is all I +have managed to save out of what you gave me!" That would be +something, she allowed, immeasurably something; but pitiful +compared with what she might do if she could keep a brave, +vigorous spirit and march to the last tribunal strengthened by +battles, struggles, defeats, victories; by the defense of weaker +human creatures, above all, warmed and vitalized by the pouring +out and gathering in of love. + +Patty slept sweetly on the other side of the partition, the +contemplation of her twopenny triumphs bringing a smile to her +childish lips: but even so a good heart was there (still perhaps +in the process of making), a quick wit, ready sympathy, natural +charm; plenty, indeed, for the stronger sister to cherish, +protect, and hold precious, as she did, with all her mind and +soul. + +There had always been a passionate loyalty in Waitstill's +affection, wherever it had been bestowed. Uncle Bart delighted in +telling an instance of it that occurred when she was a child of +five. Maine had just separated amicably from her mother, +Massachusetts, and become an independent state. It was in the +middle of March, but there was no snow on the ground and the +village boys had built a bonfire on a plot of land near Uncle +Bart's joiner's shop. There was a large gathering in celebration +of the historic event and Waitstill crept down the hill with her +homemade rag doll in her arms. She stood on the outskirts of the +crowd, a silent, absorbed little figure clad in a shabby woollen +coat, with a blue knit hood framing her rosy face. Deborah, her +beloved, her only doll, was tightly clasped in her arms, for +Debby, like her parent, had few pleasures and must not be denied +so great a one as this. Suddenly, one of the thoughtless young +scamps in the group, wishing to create a new sensation and add to +the general excitement, caught the doll from the child's arms, +and running forward with a loud war-whoop, flung it into the +flames. Waitstill did not lose an instant. She gave a scream Of +anguish, and without giving any warning of her intentions, +probably without realizing them herself, she dashed through the +little crowd into the bonfire and snatched her cherished +offspring from the burning pile. The whole thing was over in the +twinkling of an eye, for Uncle Bart was as quick as the child and +dragged her out of the imminent danger with no worse harm done +than a good scorching. + +He led the little creature up the hill to explain matters and +protect her from a scolding. She still held the doll against her +heaving breast, saying, between her sobs: " I couldn't let my +Debby burn up! I couldn't, Uncle Bart; she's got nobody but me! +Is my dress scorched so much I can't wear it? You'11 tell father +how it was, Uncle Bart, won't you?" + +Debby bore the marks of her adventure longer than her owner, for +she had been longer in the fire, but, stained and defaced as she +was, she was never replaced, and remained the only doll of +Waitstill's childhood. At this very moment she lay softly and +safely in a bureau drawer ready to be lifted out, sometime, +Waitstill fancied, and shown tenderly to Patty's children. Of her +own possible children she never thought. There was but one man in +the world who could ever be the father of them and she was +separated from him by every obstacle that could divide two human +beings. + + + +SUMMER + + + +VIII + +THE JOINER'S SHOP + +VILLAGE "Aunts" and "Uncles" were elected to that relationship by +the common consent of the community; their fitness being +established by great age, by decided individuality or +eccentricity of character, by uncommon lovableness, or by the +possession of an abundant wit and humor. There was no formality +about the thing; certain women were always called "Aunt Sukie," +or "Aunt Hitty," or what not, while certain men were +distinguished as "Uncle Rish," or "Uncle Pel," without previous +arrangement, or the consent of the high contracting parties. + +Such a couple were Cephas Cole's father and mother, Aunt Abby and +Uncle Bart. Bartholomew Cole's trade was that of a joiner; as for +Aunt Abby's, it can only be said that she made all trades her own +by sovereign right of investigation, and what she did not know +about her neighbor's occupations was unlikely to he discovered on +this side of Jordan. One of the villagers declared that Aunt Abby +and her neighbor, Mrs. Abel Day, had argued for an hour before +they could make a bargain about the method of disseminating a +certain important piece of news, theirs by exclusive right of +discovery and prior possession. Mrs. Day offered to give Mrs. +Cole the privilege of Saco Hill and Aunt Betty-Jack's, she +herself to take Guide-Board and Town-House Hills. Aunt Abby +quickly proved the injustice of this decision, saying that there +were twice as many families living in Mrs. Day's chosen territory +as there were in that allotted to her, so the river road to +Milliken's Mills was grudgingly awarded to Aunt Abby by way of +compromise, and the ladies started on what was a tour of mercy in +those days, the furnishing of a subject of discussion for long, +quiet evenings. + +Uncle Bart's joiner's shop was at the foot of Guide-Board Hill on +the Riverboro side of the bridge, and it was the pleasantest spot +in the whole village. The shop itself had a cheery look, with its +weather-stained shingles, its small square windows, and its +hospitable door, half as big as the front side of the building. +The step was an old millstone too worn for active service, and +the piles of chips and shavings on each side of it had been there +for so many years that sweet-williams, clove pinks, and purple +phlox were growing in among them in the most irresponsible +fashion; while a morning-glory vine had crept up and curled +around a long-handled rake that had been standing against the +front of the house since early spring. There was an air of cosy +and amiable disorder about the place that would have invited +friendly confabulation even had not Uncle Bart's white head, +honest, ruddy face, and smiling welcome coaxed you in before you +were aware. A fine Nodhead apple tree shaded the side windows, +and underneath it reposed all summer a bright blue sleigh, for +Uncle Bart always described himself as being "plagued for shed +room" and kept things as he liked at the shop, having a "p'ison +neat " wife who did exactly the opposite at his house. + +The seat of the sleigh was all white now with scattered fruit +blossoms, and one of Waitstill's earliest remembrances was of +going downhill with Patty toddling at her side; of Uncle Bart's +lifting them into the sleigh and permitting them to sit there and +eat the ripe red apples that had fallen from the tree. Uncle +Bart's son, Cephas (Patty's secret adorer), was a painter by +trade, and kept his pots and cans and brushes in a little +outhouse at the back, while Uncle Bart himself stood every day +behind his long joiner's bench almost knee-deep in shavings. How +the children loved to play with the white, satiny rings, making +them into necklaces, hanging them to their ears and weaving them +into wreaths. + +Wonderful houses could always be built in the corner of the shop, +out of the little odds and ends and "nubbins" of white pine, and +Uncle Bart was ever ready to cut or saw a special piece needed +for some great purpose. + +The sound of the plane was sweet music in the old joiner's ears. +"I don't hardly know how I'd a made out if I'd had to work in a +mill," he said confidentially to Cephas. "The noise of a saw +goin' all day, coupled with your mother's tongue mornin's an' +evenin's, would 'a' been too much for my weak head. I'm a quiet +man, Cephas, a man that needs a peaceful shop where he can get +away from the comforts of home now and then, without shirkin' his +duty nor causin' gossip. If you should ever marry, Cephas,--which +don't look to me likely without you pick out a dif'rent girl,--I +'d advise you not to keep your stock o' paints in the barn or the +shed, for it's altogether too handy to the house and the +women-folks. Take my advice and have a place to yourself, even if +it's a small one. A shop or a barn has saved many a man's life +and reason Cephas, for it's ag'in' a woman's nature to have you +underfoot in the house without hectorin' you. Choose a girl +same's you would a horse that you want to hitch up into a span; +'t ain't every two that'll stan' together without kickin'. When +you get the right girl, keep out of her way consid'able an' +there'll be less wear an' tear." + +It was June and the countryside was so beautiful it seemed as if +no one could be unhappy, however great the cause. That was what +Waitstill Baxter thought as she sat down on the millstone step +for a word with the old joiner, her best and most understanding +friend in all the village. + +"I've come to do my mending here with you," she said brightly, as +she took out her well-filled basket and threaded her needle. +"Isn't it a wonderful morning? Nobody could look the world in the +face and do a wrong thing on such a day, could they, Uncle Bart?" + +The meadows were a waving mass of golden buttercups; the shallow +water at the river's edge just below the shop was blue with +spikes of arrow- weed; a bunch of fragrant water-lilies, gathered +from the mill-pond's upper levels, lay beside Waitstill's +mending-basket, and every foot of roadside and field within sight +was swaying with long-stemmed white and gold daisies. The June +grass, the friendly, humble, companionable grass, that no one +ever praises as they do the flowers, was a rich emerald green, a +velvet carpet fit for the feet of the angels themselves. And the +elms and maples! Was there ever such a year for richness of +foliage? And the sky, was it ever so blue or so clear, so far +away, or so completely like heaven, as you looked at its +reflection in the glassy surface of the river? + +"Yes, it's a pretty good day," allowed Uncle Bart judicially as +he took a squint at his T-square. "I don' know's I should want to +start out an' try to beat it! The Lord can make a good many kinds +o' weather in the course of a year, but when He puts his mind on +to it, an' kind o' gives Himself a free hand, He can turn out a +June morning that must make the Devil sick to his stomach with +envy! All the same, Waity, my cow ain't behavin' herself any +better'n usual. She's been rampagin' since sun-up. I've seen +mother chasin' her out o' Mis' Day's garden-patch twice +a'ready!--It seems real good an' homey to see you settin' there +sewin' while I'm workin' at the bench. Cephas is down to the +store, so I s'pose your father's off somewheres?" + +Perhaps the June grass was a little greener, the buttercups +yellower, the foliage more lacey, the sky bluer, because Deacon +Baxter had taken his luncheon in a pail under the wagon seat, and +departed on an unwilling journey to Moderation, his object being +to press the collection of some accounts too long overdue. There +was something tragic in the fact, Waitstill thought, that +whenever her father left the village for a whole day, life at +once grew brighter, easier, more hopeful. One could breathe +freely, speak one's heart out, believe in the future, when father +was away. + +The girls had harbored many delightful plans at early breakfast. +As it was Saturday, Patty could catch little Rod Boynton, if he +came to the bridge on errands as usual; and if Ivory could spare +him for an hour at noon they would take their luncheon and eat it +together on the river-bank as Patty had promised him. At the last +moment, however, Deacon Baxter had turned around in the wagon and +said: "Patience, you go down to the store and have a regular +house-cleanin' in the stock-room. Git Cephas to lift what you +can't lift yourself, move everything in the place, sweep and dust +it, scrub the floor, wash the winder, and make room for the new +stuff that they'11 bring up from Mill-town 'bout noon. If you +have any time left over, put new papers on the shelves out front, +and clean up and fix the show winder. Don't stand round gabbin' +with Cephas, and see't he don't waste time that's paid for by me. +Tell him he might clean up the terbaccer stains round the stove, +black it, and cover it up for the summer if he ain't too busy +servin' cust'mers." + +"The whole day spoiled!" wailed Patty, flinging herself down in +the kitchen rocker. "Father's powers of invention beat anything I +ever saw! + +That stock-room could have been cleaned any time this month and +it's too heavy work for me anyway; it spoils my hands, grubbing +around those nasty, sticky, splintery boxes and barrels. Instead +of being out of doors, I've got to be shut up in that smelly, +rummy, tobacco-y, salt-fishy, pepperminty place with Cephas Cole! +He won't have a pleasant morning, I can tell you! I shall snap +his head off every time he speaks to me." + +"So I would!" Waitstill answered composedly. "Everything is so +clearly his fault that I certainly would work off my temper on +Cephas! Still, I can think of a way to make matters come out +right. I've got a great basket of mending that must be done, and +you remember there's a choir rehearsal for the new anthem this +afternoon, but anyway I can help a little on the cleaning. Then +you can make Rodman do a few of the odd jobs, it will be a +novelty to him; and Cephas will work his fingers to the bone for +you, as you well know, if you treat him like a human being." + +"All right!" cried Patty joyously, her mood changing in an +instant. "There's Rod coming over the bridge now! Toss me my +gingham apron and the scrubbing-brush, and the pail, and the tin +of soft soap, and the cleaning cloths; let's see, the broom's +down there, so I've got everything. If I wave a towel from the +store, pack up luncheon for three. You come down and bring your +mending; then, when you see how I'm getting on, we can consult. +I'm going to take the ten cents I've saved and spend it in +raisins. I can get a good many if Cephas gives me wholesale +price, with family discount substracted from that. Cephas would +treat me to candy in a minute, but if I let him we'd have to ask +him to the picnic! Good-bye!" And the volatile creature darted +down the hill singing, "There'll be something in heaven for +children to do," at the top of her healthy young lungs. + + + +IX + +CEPHAS SPEAKS + +THE waving signal, a little later on, showed that Rodman could go +to the picnic, the fact being that he was having a holiday from +eleven o'clock until two, and Ivory was going to drive to the +bridge at noon, anyway, so his permission could then be asked. + +Patty's mind might have been thought entirely on her ugly task as +she swept and dusted and scrubbed that morning, but the reverse +was true. Mark Wilson had gone away without saying good-bye to +her. This was not surprising, perhaps, as she was about as much +sequestered in her hilltop prison as a Turkish beauty in a harem; +neither was it astonishing that Mark did not write to her. He +never had written to her, and as her father always brought home +the very infrequent letters that came to the family, Mark knew +that any sentimental correspondence would be fraught with danger. +No, everything was probably just as it should be, and yet,--well, +Patty had expected during the last three weeks that something +would happen to break up the monotony of her former existence. +She hardly knew what it would be, but the kiss dropped so lightly +on her cheek by Mark Wilson still burned in remembrance, and made +her sure that it would have a sequel, or an explanation. + +Mark's sister Ellen and Phil Perry were in the midst of some form +of lover's quarrel, and during its progress Phil was paying +considerable attention to Patty at Sabbath School and +prayer-meeting, occasions, it must be confessed, only provocative +of very indirect and long-distance advances. Cephas Cole, to the +amazement of every one but his (constitutionally) exasperated +mother, was "toning down" the ell of the family mansion, +mitigating the lively yellow, and putting another fresh coat of +paint on it, for no conceivable reason save that of pleasing the +eye of a certain capricious, ungrateful young hussy, who would +probably say, when her verdict was asked, that she didn't see any +particular difference in it, one way or another. + +Trade was not especially brisk at the Deacon's emporium this +sunny June Saturday morning. Cephas may have possibly lost a +customer or two by leaving the store vacant while he toiled and +sweated for Miss Patience Baxter in the stockroom at the back, +overhanging the river, but no man alive could see his employer's +lovely daughter tugging at a keg of shingle nails without trying +to save her from a broken back, although Cephas could have +watched his mother move the house and barn without feeling the +slightest anxiety in her behalf. If he could ever get the "heft" +of the "doggoned" cleaning out of the way so that Patty's mind +could be free to entertain his proposition; could ever secure one +precious moment of silence when she was not slatting and banging, +pushing and pulling things about, her head and ears out of sight +under a shelf, and an irritating air of absorption about her +whole demeanor; if that moment of silence could ever, under +Providence, be simultaneous with the absence of customers in the +front shop, Cephas intended to offer himself to Patience Baxter +that very morning. + +Once, during a temporary lull in the rear, he started to meet his +fate when Rodman Boynton followed him into the back room, and the +boy was at once set to work by Patty, who was the most consummate +slave-driver in the State of Maine. After half an hour there was +another Heavensent chance, when Rodman went up to Uncle Bart's +shop with a message for Waitstill, but, just then, in came Bill +Morrill, a boy of twelve, with a request for a gallon of +molasses; and would Cephas lend him a stone jug over Sunday, for +his mother had hers soakin' out in soap-suds 'cause 't wa'n't +smellin' jest right. Bill's message given, he hurried up the road +on another errand, promising to call for the molasses later. + +Cephas put the gallon measure under the spigot of the molasses +hogshead and turned on the tap. The task was going to be a long +one and he grew impatient, for the stream was only a slender +trickle, scarcely more than the slow dripping of drops, so the +molasses must be very never low, and with his mind full of +weightier affairs he must make a note to tell the Deacon to +broach a new hogshead. Cephas feared that he could never make +out a full gallon, in which case Mrs. Morrill would be vexed, for +she kept mill boarders and baked quantities of brown bread and +gingerbread and molasses cookies for over Sunday. He did wish +trade would languish altogether on this particular morning. The +minutes dragged by and again there was perfect quiet in the +stock-room. As the door opened, Cephas, taking his last chance, +went forward to meet Patty, who was turning down the skirt of her +dress, taking the cloth off her head, smoothing her hair, and +tying on a clean white ruffed apron, in which she looked as +pretty as a pink. + +"Patty! "stammered Cephas, seizing his golden opportunity, +"Patty, keep your mind on me for a minute. I've put a new coat o' +paint on the ell just to please you; won't you get married and +settle down with me? I love you so I can't eat nor drink nor +'tend store nor nothin'!" + +"Oh, I--I--couldn't, Cephas, thank you; I just couldn't,--don't +ask me," cried Patty, as nervous as Cephas himself now that her +first offer had really come; "I'm only seventeen and I don't feel +like settling down, Cephas, and father wouldn't think of letting +me get married." + +"Don't play tricks on me, Patty, and keep shovin' me off so, an' +givin' wrong reasons," pleaded Cephas. "What's the trouble with +me? I know mother's temper's onsartain, but we never need go into +the main house daytimes and father'd allers stand up ag'in' her +if she didn't treat you right. I've got a good trade and father +has a hundred dollars o' my savin's that I can draw out to-morrer +if you'll have me." + +"I can't, Cephas; don't move; stay where you are; no, don't come +any nearer; I'm not fond of you that way, and, besides,--and, +besides-" + +Her blush and her evident embarrassment gave Cephas a new fear. + +"You ain't promised a'ready, be you?" he asked anxiously; "when +there ain't a feller anywheres around that's ever stepped foot +over your father's doorsill but jest me?" + +"I haven't promised anything or anybody," + +Patty answered sedately, gaining her self-control by degrees, +"but I won't deny that I'm considering; that's true!" + +"Considerin' who?" asked Cephas, turning pale. + +"Oh,--SEVERAL, if you must know the truth"; and Patty's tone was +cruel in its jauntiness. + +"SEVERAL!" The word did not sound like ordinary work-a-day +Riverboro English in Cephas's ears. He knew that "several" meant +more than one, but he was too stunned to define the term properly +in its present strange connection. + +"Whoever 't is wouldn't do any better by you'n I would. I'd take +a lickin' for you any day," Cephas exclaimed abjectly, after a +long pause. + +"That wouldn't make any difference, Cephas," said Patty firmly, +moving towards the front door as if to end the interview. "If I +don't love you UNlicked, I couldn't love you any better licked, +now, could I?--Goodness gracious, what am I stepping in? Cephas, +quick! Something has been running all over the floor. My feet are +sticking to it." + +"Good Gosh! It's Mis' Morrill's molasses!" cried Cephas, brought +to his senses suddenly. + +It was too true! Whatever had been the small obstruction in the +tap, it had disappeared. The gallon measure had been filled to +the brim ten minutes before, and ever since, the treacly liquid +had been overflowing the top and spreading in a brown flood, +unnoticed, over the floor. Patty's feet were glued to it, her +buff calico skirts lifted high to escape harm. + +"I can't move," she cried. "Oh! You stupid, stupid Cephas, how +could you leave the molasses spigot turned on? See what you've +done! You've wasted quarts and quarts! What will father say, and +how will you ever clean up such a mess? You never can get the +floor to look so that he won't notice it, and he is sure to miss +the molasses. You've ruined my shoes, and I simply can't bear the +sight of you!" + +At this Cephas all but blubbered in the agony of his soul. It was +bad enough to be told by Patty that she was "considering +several," but his first romance had ended in such complete +disaster that he saw in a vision his life blasted; changed in one +brief moment from that of a prosperous young painter to that of a +blighted and despised bungler, whose week's wages were likely to +be expended in molasses to make good the Deacon's loss. + +"Find those cleaning-cloths I left in the hack room," ordered +Patty with a flashing eye. "Get some blocks, or bits of board, or +stones, for me to walk on, so that I can get out of your nasty +mess. Fill Bill Morrill's jug, quick, and set it out on the steps +for him to pick up. I don't know what you'd do without me to plan +for you! Lock the front door and hang father's sign that he's +gone to dinner on the doorknob. Scoop up all the molasses you can +with one of those new trowels on the counter. Scoop, and scrape, +and scoop, and scrape; then put a cloth on your oldest broom, +pour lots of water on, pail after pail, and swab! When you've +swabbed till it won't do any more good, then scrub! After that, I +shouldn't wonder if you had to fan the floor with a newspaper or +it'll never get dry before father comes home. I'll sit on the +flour barrel a little while and advise, but I can't stay long +because I'm going to a picnic. Hurry up and don't look as if you +were going to die any minute! It's no use crying over spilt +molasses. You don't suppose I'm going to tell any tales after +you've made me an offer of marriage, do you? I'm not so mean as +all that, though I may have my faults." + +It was nearly two o'clock before the card announcing Deacon +Baxter's absence at dinner was removed from the front doorknob, +and when the store was finally reopened for business it was a +most dejected clerk who dealt out groceries to the public. The +worst feature of the affair was that every one in the two +villages suddenly and contemporaneously wanted molasses, so that +Cephas spent the afternoon reviewing his misery by continually +turning the tap and drawing off the fatal liquid. Then, too, +every inquisitive boy in the neighborhood came to the back of the +store to view the operation, exclaiming: "What makes the floor so +wet? Hain't been spillin' molasses, have yer? Bet yer have! Good +joke on Old Foxy!" + + + +X + +ON TORY HILL + +It had been a heavenly picnic the little trio all agreed as to +that; and when Ivory saw the Baxter girls coming up the shady +path that led along the river from the Indian Cellar to the +bridge, it was a merry group and a transfigured Rodman that +caught his eye. The boy, trailing on behind with the baskets and +laden with tin dippers and wildflowers, seemed another creature +from the big-eyed, quiet little lad he saw every day. He had +chattered like a magpie, eaten like a bear, is torn his jacket +getting wild columbines for Patty, been nicely darned by +Waitstill, and was in a state of hilarity that rendered him quite +unrecognizable. + +"We've had a lovely picnic!" called Patty; "I wish you had been +with us!" + +"You didn't ask me!" smiled Ivory, picking up Waitstill's +mending-basket from the nook in the trees where she had hidden it +for safe-keeping. + +"We've played games, Ivory," cried the boy. 'Patty made them up +herself. First we had the 'Landing of the Pilgrims,' and +Waitstill made believe be the figurehead of the Mayflower. She +stood on a great boulder and sang:-- + 'The breaking waves dashed high + On a stern and rock-bound coast'-- + +and, oh! she was splendid! Then Patty was Pocahontas and I was +Cap'n John Smith, and look, we are all dressed up for the Indian +wedding!" + +Waitstill had on a crown of white birch bark and her braid of +hair, twined with running ever-green, fell to her waist. Patty +was wreathed with columbines and decked with some turkey feathers +that she had put in her basket as too pretty to throw away. +Waitstill looked rather conscious in her unusual finery, but +Patty sported it with the reckless ease and innocent vanity that +characterized her. + +"I shall have to run into father's store to put myself tidy," +Waitstill said, "so good-bye, Rodman, we'll have another picnic +some day. Patty, you must do the chores this afternoon, you know, +so that I can go to choir rehearsal," + +Rodman and Patty started up the hill gayly with their burdens, +and Ivory walked by Waitstill's side as she pulled off her +birch-bark crown and twisted her braid around her head with a +heightened color at being watched. + +"I'11 say good-bye now, Ivory, but I'11 see you at the +meeting-house," she said, as she neared the store. "I'll go in +here and brush the pine needles off, wash my hands, and rest a +little before rehearsal. That's a puzzling anthem we have for +to-morrow." + +"I have my horse here; let me drive you up to the church." + +"I can't, Ivory, thank you. Father's orders are against my +driving out with any one, you know." + +"Very well, the road is free, at any rate. I'll hitch my horse +down here in the woods somewhere and when you start to walk I +shall follow and catch up with you. There's luckily only one way +to reach the church from here, and your father can't blame us if +we both take it!" + +And so it fell out that Ivory and Waitstill walked together in +the cool of the afternoon to the meeting-house on Tory Hill. +Waitstill kept the beaten path on one side and Ivory that on the +other, so that the width of the country road, deep in dust, was +between them, yet their nearness seemed so tangible a thing that +each could feel the heart beating in the other's side. +Their talk was only that of tried friends, a talk interrupted by +long beautiful silences; silences that come only to a man and +woman whose understanding of each other is beyond question and +answer. Not a sound broke the stillness, yet the very air, it +seemed to them, was shedding meanings: the flowers were exhaling +a love secret with their fragrances, the birds were singing it +boldly from the tree-tops, yet no word passed the man's lips or +the girl's. Patty would have hung out all sorts of signals and +lures to draw the truth from Ivory and break through the walls of +his self-control, but Waitstill, never; and Ivory Boynton was +made of stuff so strong that he would not speak a syllable of +love to a woman unless he could say all. He was only +five-and-twenty, but he had been reared in a rigorous school, and +had learned in its poverty, loneliness, and anxiety lessons of +self-denial and self-control that bore daily fruit now. He knew +that Deacon Baxter would never allow any engagement to exist +between Waitstill and himself; he also knew that Waitstill would +never defy and disobey her father if it meant leaving her younger +sister to fight alone a dreary battle for which she was not +fitted. If there was little hope on her side there seemed even +less on his. His mother's mental illness made her peculiarly +dependent upon him, and at the same time held him in such strict +bondage that it was almost impossible for him to get on in the +world or even to give her the comforts she needed. In villages +like Riverboro in those early days there was no putting away, +even of men or women so demented as to be something of a menace +to the peace of the household; but Lois Boynton was so gentle, so +fragile, so exquisite a spirit, that she seemed in her sad +aloofness simply a thing to be sheltered and shielded somehow in +her difficult life journey. Ivory often thought how sorely she +needed a daughter in her affliction. If the baby sister had only +lived, the home might have been different; but alas! there was +only a son,--a son who tried to be tender and sympathetic, but +after all was nothing but a big, clumsy, uncomprehending +man-creature, who ought to be felling trees, ploughing, sowing, +reaping, or at least studying law, making his own fortune and +that of some future wife. Old Mrs. Mason, a garrulous, +good-hearted grandame, was their only near neighbor, and her +visits always left his mother worse rather than better. How such +a girl as Waitstill would pour comfort and beauty and joy into a +lonely house like his, if only he were weak enough to call upon +her strength and put it to so cruel a test. God help him, he +would never do that, especially as he could not earn enough to +keep a larger family, bound down as he was by inexorable +responsibilities. Waitstill, thus far in life, had suffered many +sorrows and enjoyed few pleasures; marriage ought to bring her +freedom and plenty, not carking care and poverty. He stole long +looks at the girl across the separating space that was so +helpless to separate,--feeding his starved heart upon her womanly +graces. Her quick, springing step was in harmony with the fire +and courage of her mien. There was a line or two in her +face,--small wonder; but an "unconquerable soul" shone in her +eyes; shone, too, in no uncertain way, but brightly and steadily, +expressing an unshaken joy in living. Valiant, splendid, +indomitable Waitstill! He could never tell her, alas! but how he +gloried in her! + +It is needless to say that no woman could be the possessor of +such a love as Ivory Boynton's and not know of its existence. +Waitstill never heard a breath of it from Ivory's lips; even his +eyes were under control and confessed nothing; nor did his hand +ever clasp hers, to show by a tell-tale touch the truth he dared +not utter; nevertheless she felt that she was beloved. She hid +the knowledge deep in her heart and covered it softly from every +eye but her own; taking it out in the safe darkness sometimes to +wonder over and adore in secret. Did her love for Ivory rest +partly on a sense of vocation?--a profound, inarticulate divining +of his vast need of her? He was so strong, yet so weak because of +the yoke he bore, so bitterly alone in his desperate struggle +with life, that her heart melted like wax whenever she thought of +him. When she contemplated the hidden mutiny in her own heart, +she was awestruck sometimes at the almost divine patience of +Ivory's conduct as a son. + +"How is your mother this summer, Ivory?" she asked as they sat +down on the meeting-house steps waiting for Jed Morrill to open +the door. +"There is little change in her from year to year, Waitstill.--By +the way, why don't we get out of this afternoon sun and sit in +the old graveyard under the trees? We are early and the choir +won't get here for half an hour.--Dr. Perry says that he does not +understand mother's +case in the least, and that no one but some great Boston +physician could give a proper opinion on it; of course, that is +impossible at present." + +They sat down on the grass underneath one of the elms and +Waitstill took off her hat and leaned back against the +tree-trunk. + +"Tell me more," she said; "it is so long since we talked together +quietly and we have never really spoken of your mother." + +"Of course," Ivory continued, "the people of the village all +think and speak of mother's illness as religious insanity, but to +me it seems nothing of the sort. I was only a child when father +first fell ill with Jacob Cochrane, but I was twelve when father +went away from home on his 'mission,' and if there was any one +suffering from delusions in our family it was he, not mother. She +had altogether given up going to the Cochrane meetings, and I +well remember the scene when my father told her of the revelation +he had received about going through the state and into New +Hampshire in order to convert others and extend the movement. She +had no sympathy with his self-imposed mission, you may be sure, +though now she goes back in her memory to the earlier days of her +married life, when she tried hard, poor soul, to tread the same +path that father was treading, so as to be by his side at every +turn of the road. + +"I am sure" (here Ivory's tone was somewhat dry and satirical) +"that father's road had many turns, Waitstill! He was a +schoolmaster in Saco, you know, when I was born but he soon +turned from teaching to preaching, and here my mother followed +with entire sympathy, for she was intensely, devoutly religious. +I said there was little change in her, but there is one new +symptom. She has ceased to refer to her conversion to Cochranism +as a blessed experience. Her memory of those first days seems to +have faded, As to her sister's death and all the circumstances of +her bringing Rodman home, her mind is a blank. Her expectation of +father's return, on the other hand, is much more intense than +ever." + +"She must have loved your father dearly, Ivory, and to lose him +in this terrible way is much worse than death. Uncle Bart says he +had a great gift of language!" + +"Yes, and it was that, in my mind, that led him astray. I fear +that the Spirit of God was never so strong in father as the +desire to influence people by his oratory. That was what drew him +to preaching in the first place, and when he found in ,Jacob +Cochrane a man who could move an audience to frenzy, lift them +out of the body, and do with their spirits as he willed, he +acknowledged him as master. Whether his gospel was a pure and +undefiled religion I doubt, but he certainly was a master of +mesmeric control. My mother was beguiled, entranced, even +bewitched at first, I doubt not, for she translated all that +Cochrane said into her own speech, and regarded him as the +prophet of a new era. But Cochrane's last 'revelations' differed +from the first, and were of the earth, earthy. My mother's pure +soul must have revolted, but she was not strong enough to drag +father from his allegiance. Mother was of better family than +father, but they were both well educated and had the best +schooling to be had in their day. So far as I can judge, mother +always had more 'balance' than father, and much better +judgment,--yet look at her now!" + +"Then you think it was your father's disappearance that really +caused her mind to waver? " asked Waitstill. + +"I do, indeed. I don't know what happened between them in the way +of religious differences, nor how much unhappiness these may have +caused. I remember she had an illness when we first came here to +live and I was a little chap of three or four, but that was +caused by the loss of a child, a girl, who lived only a few +weeks. She recovered perfectly, and her head was as clear as mine +for a year or two after father went away. As his letters grew +less frequent, as news of him gradually ceased to come, she +became more and more silent, and retired more completely into +herself. She never went anywhere, nor entertained visitors, +because she did not wish to hear the gossip and speculation that +were going on in the village. Some of it was very hard for a wife +to bear, and she resented it indignantly; yet never received a +word from father with which to refute it. At this time, as nearly +as I can judge, she was a recluse, and subject to periods of +profound melancholy, but nothing worse. Then she took that winter +journey to her sister's deathbed, brought home the boy, and, +hastened by exposure and chill and grief, I suppose, her mind +gave way,--that's all!" And Ivory sighed drearily as he stretched +himself on the greensward, and looked off towards the snow-clad +New Hampshire hills." I've meant to write the story of the +'Cochrane craze' sometime, or such part of it as has to do with +my family history, and you shall read it if you like. I should +set down my child-hood and my boyhood memories, together with +such scraps of village hearsay as seem reliable. You were not so +much younger than I, but I was in the thick of the excitement, +and naturally I heard more than you, having so bitter a reason +for being interested. Jacob Cochrane has altogether disappeared +from public view, but there's many a family in Maine and New +Hampshire, yes, and in the far West, that will feel his influence +for years to come." + +"I should like very much to read your account. Aunt Abby's +version, for instance, is so different from Uncle Bart's that one +can scarcely find the truth between the two; and father's bears +no relation to that of any of the others." + +"Some of us see facts and others see visions, replied Ivory, "and +these differences of opinion crop up in the village every day +when anything noteworthy is discussed. I came upon a quotation in +my reading last evening that described it: + +'One said it thundered . . . another that an angel spake'" + +"Do you feel as if your father was dead, Ivory?" + +"I can only hope so! That thought brings sadness with it, as one +remembers his disappointment and failure, but if he is alive he +is a traitor." + +There was a long pause and they could see in the distance +Humphrey Barker with his clarionet and Pliny Waterhouse with his +bass viol driving up to the churchyard fence to hitch their +horses. The sun was dipping low and red behind the Town-House +Hill on the other side of the river. + +"What makes my father dislike the very mention of yours?" asked +Waitstill. "I know what they say: that it is because the two men +had high words once in a Cochrane meeting, when father tried to +interfere with some of the exercises and was put out of doors. It +doesn't seem as if that grievance, seventeen or eighteen years +ago, would influence his opinion of your mother, or of you." + +"It isn't likely that a man of your father's sort would forget or +forgive what he considered an injury; and in refusing to have +anything to do with the son of a disgraced man and a deranged +woman, he is well within his rights." + +Ivory's cheeks burned red under the tan, and his hand trembled a +little as he plucked bits of clover from the grass and pulled +them to pieces absent-mindedly. "How are you getting on at home +these days, Waitstill?" he asked, as if to turn his own mind and +hers from a too painful subject. + +"You have troubles enough of your own without hearing mine, +Ivory, and anyway they are not big afflictions, heavy sorrows, +like those you have to bear. Mine are just petty, nagging, +sordid, cheap little miseries, like gnat-bites;--so petty and so +sordid that I can hardly talk to God about them, much less to a +human friend. Patty is my only outlet and I need others, yet I +find it almost impossible to escape from the narrowness of my +life and be of use to any one else." The girl's voice quivered +and a single tear-drop on her cheek showed that she was speaking +from a full heart. "This afternoon's talk has determined me in +one thing," she went on. "I am going to see your mother now and +then. I shall have to do it secretly, for your sake, for hers, +and for my own, but if I am found out, then I will go openly. +There must be times when one can break the lower law, and yet +keep the higher. Father's law, in this case, is the lower, and I +propose to break it." + +"I can't have you getting into trouble, Waitstill," Ivory +objected. "You're the one woman I can think of who might help my +mother; all the same, I would not make your life harder; not for +worlds!" + +"It will not be harder, and even if it was I should 'count it all +joy' to help a woman bear such sorrow as your mother endures +patiently day after day"; and Waitstill rose to her feet and tied +on her hat as one who had made up her mind. + +It was almost impossible for Ivory to hold his peace then, so +full of gratitude was his soul and so great his longing to pour +out the feeling that flooded it. He pulled himself together and +led the way out of the churchyard. To look at Waitstill again +would be to lose his head, but to his troubled heart there came a +flood of light, a glory from that lamp that a woman may hold up +for a man; a glory that none can take from him, and none can +darken; a light by which he may walk and live and die. + + + +XI + +A JUNE SUNDAY + +IT was a Sunday in June, and almost the whole population of +Riverboro and Edgewood was walking or driving in the direction of +the meeting-house on Tory Hill. + +Church toilettes, you may well believe, were difficult of +attainment by Deacon Baxter's daughters, as they had been by his +respective helpmates in years gone by. When Waitstill's mother +first asked her husband to buy her a new dress, and that was two +years after marriage, he simply said: "You look well enough; what +do you want to waste money on finery for, these hard times? If +other folks are extravagant, that ain't any reason you should be. +You ain't obliged to take your neighbors for an example:--take +'em for a warnin'!" + +"But, Foxwell, my Sunday dress is worn completely to threads," +urged the second Mrs. Baxter. + +"That's what women always say; they're all alike; no more idea o' +savin' anything than a skunk-blackbird! I can't spare any money +for +gew-gaws, and you might as well understand it first as last. Go +up attic and open the hair trunk by the winder; you'll find +plenty there to last you for years to come." + +The second Mrs. Baxter visited the attic as commanded, and in +turning over the clothes in the old trunk, knew by instinct that +they had belonged to her predecessor in office. Some of the +dresses were neat, though terribly worn and faded, but all were +fortunately far too short and small for a person of her fine +proportions. Besides, her very soul shrank from wearing them, and +her spirit revolted both from the insult to herself and to the +poor dead woman she had succeeded, so she came downstairs to darn +and mend and patch again her shabby wardrobe. +Waitstill had gone through the same as her mother before her, but +in despair, when she was seventeen, she began to cut over the old +garments for herself and Patty. Mercifully there were very few of +them, and they had long since been discarded. At eighteen she had +learned to dye yarns with yellow oak or maple bark and to make +purples from elder and sumac berries; she could spin and knit as +well as any old "Aunt" of the village, and cut and shape a +garment as deftly as the Edgewood tailoress, but the task of +making bricks without straw was a hard one, indeed. + +She wore a white cotton frock on this particular Sunday. It was +starched and ironed with a beautiful gloss, while a touch of +distinction was given to her costume by a little black sleeveless +"roundabout" made out of the covering of an old silk umbrella. +Her flat hat had a single wreath of coarse daisies around the +crown, and her mitts were darned in many places, nevertheless you +could not entirely spoil her; God had used a liberal hand in +making her, and her father's parsimony was a sort of boomerang +that flew back chiefly upon himself. + +As for Patty, her style of beauty, like Cephas Cole's ell had to +be toned down rather than up, to be effective, but circumstances +had been cruelly unrelenting in this process of late. Deacon +Baxter had given the girls three or four shopworn pieces of faded +yellow calico that had been repudiated by the village housewives +as not "fast" enough in color to bear the test of proper washing. +This had made frocks, aprons, petticoats, and even underclothes, +for two full years, and Patty's weekly objurgations when she +removed her everlasting yellow dress from the nail where it hung +were not such as should have +fallen from the lips of a deacon's daughter. Waitstill had taken +a piece of the same yellow material, starched and ironed it, cut +a curving, circular brim from it, sewed in a pleated crown, and +lo! a hat for Patty! What inspired Patty to put on a waist ribbon +of deepest wine color, with a little band of the same on the pale +yellow hat, no one could say. + +"Do you think you shall like that dull red right close to the +yellow, Patty? " Waitstill asked anxiously. + +"It looks all right on the columbines in the Indian Cellar," +replied Patty, turning and twisting the hat on her head. "If we +can't get a peek at the Boston fashions, we must just find our +styles where we can!" + +The various roads to Tory Hill were alive with vehicles on this +bright Sunday morning. Uncle Bart and Abel Day, with their +respective wives on the back seat of the Cole's double wagon, +were passed by Deacon Baxter and his daughters, Waitstill being +due at meeting earlier than others by reason of her singing in +the choir. The Deacon's one-horse, two-wheeled "shay" could hold +three persons, with comfort on its broad seat, and the +twenty-year-old mare, although she was always as hollow as a +gourd, could generally do the mile, uphill all the way, in half +an hour, if urged continually, and the Deacon, be it said, if not +good at feeding, was unsurpassed at urging. + +Aunt Abby Cole could get only a passing glimpse of Patty in the +depths of the "shay," but a glimpse was always enough for her, as +her opinion of the girl's charms was considerably affected by the +forlorn condition of her son Cephas, whom she suspected of being +hopelessly in love with the young person aforesaid, to whom she +commonly alluded as "that red-headed bag-gage." + +"Patience Baxter's got the kind of looks that might do well +enough at a tavern dance, or a husking, but they're entirely +unsuited to the Sabbath day or the meetin'-house," so Aunt Abby +remarked to Mrs. Day in the way of backseat confidence. "It's +unfortunate that a deacon's daughter should be afflicted with +that bold style of beauty! Her hair's all but red; in fact, you +might as well call it red, when the sun shines on it: but if +she'd ever smack it down with bear's grease she might darken it +some; or anyhow she'd make it lay slicker; but it's the kind of +hair that just matches that kind of a girl,--sort of up an' +comin'! Then her skin's so white and her cheeks so pink and her +eyes so snappy that she'd attract attention without half trying +though I guess she ain't above makin' an effort." + +"She's innnocent as a kitten," observed Mrs. Day impartially. + +"Oh, yes, she's innocent enough an' I hope she'll keep so! +Waitstill's a sight han'somer, if the truth was told; but she's +the sort of girl that's made for one man and the rest of em never +look at her. The other one's cut out for the crowd, the more the +merrier. She's a kind of man-trap, that girl is!--Do urge the +horse a little mite, Bartholomew! It makes me kind o' hot to be +passed by Deacon Baxter. It's Missionary Sunday, too, when he +gen'ally has rheumatism too bad to come out." + +"I wonder if he ever puts anything into the plate," said Mrs. +Day. "No one ever saw him, that I know of." + +"The Deacon keeps the Thou Shalt Not commandments pretty well," +was Aunt Abby's terse response. "I guess he don't put nothin' +into the plate, but I s'pose we'd ought to be thankful he don't +take nothin' out. The Baptists are gettin' ahead faster than +they'd ought to, up to the Mills. Our minister ain't no kind of a +proselyter, Seems as if he didn't care how folks got to heaven so +long as they got there! The other church is havin' a service this +afternoon side o' the river, an' I'd kind o' like to go, except +it would please 'em too much to have a crowd there to see the +immersion. They tell me, but I don't know how true, that that +Tillman widder woman that come here from somewheres in Vermont +wanted to be baptized to-day, but the other converts declared +THEY wouldn't be, if she was!" + +"Jed Morrill said they'd have to hold her under water quite a +spell to do any good," chuckled Uncle Bart from the front seat. + +"Well, I wouldn't repeat it, Bartholomew, on the Sabbath day; not +if he did say it. Jed Morrill's responsible for more blasphemious +jokes than any man in Edgewood. I don't approve of makin' light +of anybody's religious observances if they're ever so foolish," +said Aunt Abby somewhat enigmatically. "Our minister keeps +remindin' us that the Baptists and Methodists are our brethren, +but I wish he'd be a little more anxious to have our S'ceity keep +ahead of the others." + +"Jed's 'bout right in sizin' up the Widder Tillman," was Mr. +Day's timid contribution to the argument." I ain't a readin' man, +but from what folks report I should think she was one o' them +critters that set on rocks bewilderin' an' bedevilin' men-folks +out o' their senses--SYREENS, I think they call 'em; a reg'lar +SYREEN is what that woman is, I guess!" + +"There, there, Abel, you wouldn't know a syreen if you found one +in your baked beans, so don't take away a woman's character on +hearsay." And Mrs. Day, having shut up her husband as was her +bounden duty as a wife and a Christian, tied her bonnet strings a +little tighter and looked distinctly pleased with herself. + +"Abel ain't startin' any new gossip," was Aunt Abby's opinion, as +she sprung to his rescue. "One or two more holes in a colander +don't make much dif'rence.--Bartholomew, we're certainly goin' to +be late this mornin'; we're about the last team on the road"; and +Aunt Abby glanced nervously behind. "Elder Boone ain't begun the +openin' prayer, though, or we should know it. You can hear him +pray a mile away, when the wind's right. I do hate to be late to +meetin'. The Elder allers takes notice; the folks in the wing +pews allers gapes an' stares, and the choir peeks through the +curtain, takin' notes of everything you've got on your back. I +hope to the land they'll chord and keep together a little mite +better 'n they've done lately, that's all I can say! If the Lord +is right in our midst as the Bible says, He can't think much of +our singers this summer!" + +"They're improvin', now that Pliny Waterhouse plays his fiddle," +Mrs. Day remarked pacifically. "There was times in the anthem +when they kept together consid'able well last Sunday. They didn't +always chord, but there, they chorded some!--we're most there +now, Abby, don't fret! Cephas won't ring the last bell till he +knows his own folks is crossin' the Common!" + +Those were days of conscientious church-going and every pew in +the house was crowded. The pulpit was built on pillars that +raised it six feet higher than the floor; the top was cushioned +and covered with red velvet surmounted by a huge gilt-edged +Bible. There was a window in the tower through which Cephas Cole +could look into the church, and while tolling the bell could keep +watch for the minister. Always exactly on time, he would come in, +walk slowly up the right-hand aisle, mount the pulpit stairs, +enter and close the door after him. Then Cephas would give one +tremendous pull to warn loiterers on the steps; a pull that +meant, "Parson's in the pulpit!" and was acted upon accordingly. +Opening the big Bible, the minister raised his right hand +impressively, and saying, "Let us pray," the whole congregation +rose in their pews with a great rustling and bowed their heads +devoutly for the invocation. + + +Next came the hymn, generally at that day one of Isaac Watts's. +The singers, fifteen or twenty in number, sat in a raised gallery +opposite the pulpit, and there was a rod in front hung with red +curtains to hide them when sitting down. Any one was free to +join, which perhaps accounted for Aunt Abby's strictures as to +time and tune. Jed Morrill, "blasphemious" as he was considered +by that acrimonious lady, was the leader, and a good one, too. +There would be a great whispering and buzzing when Deacon Sumner +with his big fiddle and Pliny Waterhouse with his smaller one +would try to get in accord with Humphrey Baker and his clarionet. +All went well when Humphrey was there to give the sure key-note, +but in his absence Jed Morrill would use his tuning-fork. When +the key was finally secured by all concerned, Jed would raise his +stick, beat one measure to set the time, and all joined in, or +fell in, according to their several abilities. It was not always +a perfect thing in the way of a start, but they were well +together at the end of the first line, and when, as now, the +choir numbered a goodly number of voices, and there were three or +four hundred in the pews, nothing more inspiring in its peculiar +way was ever heard, than the congregational singing of such +splendid hymns as "Old Hundred," "Duke Street," or " Coronation." + +Waitstill led the trebles, and Ivory was at the far end of the +choir in the basses, but each was conscious of the other's +presence. This morning he could hear her noble voice rising a +little above, or, perhaps from its quality, separating itself +somehow, ever so little, from the others. How full of strength +and hope it was, her voice! How steadfast to the pitch; how +golden its color; how moving in its crescendos! How the words +flowed from her lips; not as if they had been written years ago, +but as if they were the expression of her own faith. There were +many in the congregation who were stirred, they knew not why, +when there chanced to be only a few "carrying the air" and they +could really hear Waitstill Baxter singing some dear old hymn, +full of sacred memories, like:- + + "While Thee I seek, protecting Power, + Be my vain wishes stilled! + And may this consecrated hour + With better hopes be filled." + +"There may be them in Boston that can sing louder, and they may +be able to run up a little higher than Waitstill, but the +question is, could any of 'em make Aunt Abby Cole shed tears?" +This was Jed Morrill's tribute to his best soprano. + +There were Sunday evening prayer-meetings, too, held at "early +candlelight," when Waitstill and Lucy Morrill would make a duet +of "By cool Siloam's Shady Rill," or the favorite "Naomi," and +the two fresh young voices, rising and falling in the tender +thirds of the old tunes, melted all hearts to new willingness of +sacrifice. + + "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss + Thy sov'reign will denies, + Accepted at Thy Throne of grace + Let this petition rise! + + "Give me a calm, a thankful heart, + From every murmur free! + The blessing of Thy grace impart + And let me live to Thee!" + +How Ivory loved to hear Waitstill sing these lines! How they +eased his burden as they were easing hers, falling on his +impatient, longing heart like evening dew on thirsty grass! + + + +XII + +THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER + +"WHILE Thee I seek, protecting Power," was the first hymn on this +particular Sunday morning, and it usually held Patty's rather +vagrant attention to the end, though it failed to do so to-day. +The Baxters occupied one of the wing pews, a position always to +be envied, as one could see the singers without turning around, +and also observe everybody in the congregation,--their entrance, +garments, behavior, and especially their bonnets,--without being +in the least indiscreet, or seeming to have a roving eye. + +Lawyer Wilson's pew was the second in front of the Baxters in the +same wing, and Patty, seated decorously but unwillingly beside +her father, was impatiently awaiting the entrance of the family, +knowing that Mark would be with them if he had returned from +Boston. Timothy Grant, the parish clerk, had the pew in between, +and afforded a most edifying spectacle to the community, as there +were seven young Grants of a church-going age, and the ladies of +the congregation were always counting them, reckoning how many +more were in their cradles at home and trying to guess from Mrs. +Grant's lively or chastened countenance whether any new ones had +been born since the Sunday before. + +Patty settled herself comfortably, and put her foot on the wooden +"cricket," raising her buff calico a little on the congregation +side, just enough to show an inch or two of petticoat. The +petticoat was as modestly long as the frock itself, and +disclosing a bit of it was nothing more heinous than a casual +exhibition of good needlework. Deacon Baxter furnished only the +unbleached muslin for his daughters' undergarments; but twelve +little tucks laboriously done by hand, elaborate inch-wide +edging, crocheted from white spool cotton, and days of bleaching +on the grass in the sun, will make a petticoat that can be shown +in church with some justifiable pride. + +The Wilsons came up the aisle a moment later than was their usual +habit, just after the parson had ascended the pulpit. Mrs. Wilson +always entered the pew first and sat in the far end. Patty had +looked at her admiringly, and with a certain feeling of +proprietorship, for several Sundays. There was obviously no such +desirable mother-in-law in the meeting-house. Her changeable silk +dress was the latest mode; her shawl of black llama lace +expressed wealth in every delicate mesh, and her bonnet had a +distinction that could only have emanated from Portland or +Boston. Ellen Wilson usually came in next, with as much of a +smile to Patty in passing as she dared venture in the Deacon's +presence, and after her sidled in her younger sister Selina, +commonly called "Silly," and with considerable reason. + +Mark had come home! Patty dared not look up, but she felt his +approach behind the others, although her eyes sought the floor, +and her cheeks hung out signals of abashed but certain welcome. +She heard the family settle in their seats somewhat hastily, the +click of the pew door and the sound of Lawyer Wilson's cane as he +stood it in the corner; then the parson rose to pray and Patty +closed her eyes with the rest of the congregation. + +Opening them when Elder Boone rose to announce the hymn, they +fell--amazed, resentful, uncomprehending--on the spectacle of +Mark Wilson finding the place in the book for a strange young +woman who sat beside him. Mark himself had on a new suit and wore +a seal ring that Patty had never observed before; while the +dress, pelisse, and hat of the unknown were of a nature that no +girl in Patty's position, and particularly of Patty's +disposition, could have regarded without a desire to tear them +from her person and stamp them underfoot; or better still, flaunt +them herself and show the world how they should be worn! + +Mark found the place in the hymn-book for the--creature, shared +it with her, and once, when the Grant twins wriggled and Patty +secured a better view, once, Mark shifted his hand on the page so +that his thumb touched that of his pretty neighbor, who did not +remove hers as if she found the proximity either unpleasant or +improper. Patty compared her own miserable attire with that of +the hated rival in front, and also contrasted Lawyer Wilson's +appearance with that of her father; the former, well dressed in +the style of a gentleman of the time, in broadcloth, with fine +linen, and a tall silk hat carefully placed on the floor of the +pew; while Deacon Baxter wore homespun made of wool from his own +sheep, spun and woven, dyed and finished, at the fulling-mill in +the village, and carried a battered felt hat that had been a +matter of ridicule these dozen years. (The Deacon would be buried +in two coats, Jed Morrill always said, for he owned just that +number, and would be too mean to leave either of 'em behind him!) + +The sermon was fifty minutes long, time enough for a deal of +thinking. Many a housewife, not wholly orthodox, cut and made +over all her children's clothes, in imagination; planned the +putting up of her fruit, the making of her preserves and pickles, +and arranged her meals for the next week, during the progress of +those sermons. Patty watched the parson turn leaf after leaf +until the final one was reached. Then came the last hymn, when +the people stretched their aching limbs, and rising, turned their +backs on the minister and faced the choir. Patty looked at +Waitstill and wished that she could put her throbbing head on her +sisterly shoulder and cry,--mostly with rage. The benediction was +said, and with the final "Amen" the pews were opened and the +worshippers crowded into the narrow aisles and moved towards the +doors. + +Patty's plans were all made. She was out of her pew before the +Wilsons could possibly leave theirs, and in her progress down the +aisle securely annexed her great admirer, old Dr. Perry, as well +as his son Philip. Passing the singing-seats she picked up the +humble Cephas and carried him along in her wake, chatting and +talking with her little party while her father was at the +horse-sheds, making ready to go home between services as was his +habit, a cold bite being always set out on the kitchen table +according to his orders. By means of these clever manoeuvres +Patty made herself the focus of attention when the Wilson party +came out on the steps, and vouchsafed Mark only a nonchalant nod, +airily flinging a little greeting with the nod,--just a "How d'ye +do, Mark? Did you have a good time in Boston?" + +Patty and Waitsill, with some of the girls who had come long +distances, ate their luncheon in a shady place under the trees +behind the meeting-house, for there was an afternoon service to +come, a service with another long sermon. They separated after +the modest meal to walk about the Common or stray along the road +to the Academy, where there was a fine view. + +Two or three times during the summer the sisters always went +quietly and alone to the Baxter burying-lot, where three +grassgrown graves lay beside one another, unmarked save by narrow +wooden slabs so short that the initials painted on them were +almost hidden by the tufts of clover. The girls had brought roots +of pansies and sweet alyssum, and with a knife made holes in the +earth and planted them here and there to make the spot a trifle +less forbidding. They did not speak to each other during this +sacred little ceremony; their hearts were too full when they +remembered afresh the absence of headstones, the lack of care, in +the place where the three women lay who had ministered to their +father, borne him children, and patiently endured his arbitrary +and loveless rule. Even Cleve Flanders' grave,--the Edgewood +shoemaker, who lay next,--even his resting-place was marked and, +with a touch of some one's imagination marked by the old man's +own lapstone twenty-five pounds in weight, a monument of his +work-a-day life. + +Waitstill rose from her feet, brushing the earth from her hands, +and Patty did the same. The churchyard was quiet, and they were +alone with the dead, mourned and unmourned, loved and unloved. + +"I planted one or two pansies on the first one's grave," said +Waitstill soberly. "I don't know why we've never done it before. +There are no children to take notice of and remember her; it's +the least we can do, and, after all, she belongs to the family." + +"There is no family, and there never was!" suddenly cried Patty. +"Oh! Waity, Waity, we are so alone, you and I! We've only each +other in all the world, and I'm not the least bit of help to you, +as you are to me! I'm a silly, vain, conceited, ill-behaved +thing, but I will be better, I will! You won't ever give me up, +will you, Waity, even if I'm not like you? I haven't been good +lately!" + +"Hush, Patty, hush!" And Waitstill came nearer to her sister with +a motherly touch of her hand. "I'll not have you say such things; +you that are the helpfullest and the lovingest girl that ever +was, and the cleverest, too, and the liveliest, and the best +company-keeper!" + +"No one thinks so but you!" Patty responded dolefully, although +she wiped her eyes as if a bit consoled. + +It is safe to say that Patty would never have given Mark Wilson a +second thought had he not taken her to drive on that afternoon in +early May. The drive, too, would have quickly fled from her +somewhat fickle memory had it not been for the kiss. The kiss +was, indeed, a decisive factor in the situation, and had shed a +rosy, if somewhat fictitious light of romance over the past three +weeks. Perhaps even the kiss, had it never been repeated, might +have lapsed into its true perspective, in due course of time, had +it not been for the sudden appearance of the stranger in the +Wilson pew. The moment that Patty's gaze fell upon that +fashionably dressed, instantaneously disliked girl, Marquis +Wilson's stock rose twenty points in the market. She ceased, in a +jiffy, to weigh and consider and criticize the young man, but +regarded him with wholly new eyes. His figure was better than she +had realized, his smile more interesting, his manners more +attractive, his eyelashes longer; in a word, he had suddenly +grown desirable. A month ago she could have observed, with idle +and alien curiosity, the spectacle of his thumb drawing nearer to +another (feminine) thumb, on the page of the Watts and Select +Hymn book; now, at the morning service, she had wished nothing so +much as to put Mark's thumb back into his pocket where it +belonged, and slap the girl's thumb smartly and soundly as it +deserved. + +The ignorant cause of Patty's distress was a certain Annabel +Franklin, the daughter of a cousin of Mrs. Wilson's. Mark had +stayed at the Franklin house during his three weeks' visit in +Boston, where he had gone on business for his father. The young +people had naturally seen much of each other and Mark's +inflammable fancy had been so kindled by Annabel's doll-like +charms that he had persuaded her to accompany him to his home and +get a taste of country life in Maine. Such is man, such is human +nature, and such is life, that Mark had no sooner got the whilom +object of his affections under his own roof than she began to +pall. + +Annabel was twenty-three, and to tell the truth she had palled +before, more than once. She was so amiable, so +well-finished,--with her smooth flaxen hair, her neat nose, her +buttonhole of a mouth, and her trim shape,--that she appealed to +the opposite sex quite generally and irresistibly as a worthy +helpmate. The only trouble was that she began to bore her suitors +somewhat too early in the game, and they never got far enough to +propose marriage. Flaws in her apparent perfection appeared from +day to day and chilled the growth of the various young loves that +had budded so auspiciously. She always agreed with everybody and +everything in sight, even to the point of changing her mind on +the instant, if circumstances seemed to make it advisable. Her +instinctive point of view, when she went so far as to hold one, +was somewhat cut and dried; in a word, priggish. She kept a young +man strictly on his good behavior, that much could be said in her +favor; the only criticism that could be made on this estimable +trait was that no bold youth was ever tempted to overstep the +bounds of discretion when in her presence. No unruly words of +love ever rose to his lips; his hand never stole out +involuntarily and imprudently to meet her small chilly one; the +sight of her waist never even suggested an encircling arm; and as +a fellow never desired to kiss her, she was never obliged to warn +or rebuke or strike him off her visiting list. Her father had an +ample fortune and some one would inevitably turn up who would +regard Annabel as an altogether worthy and desirable spouse. That +was what she had seemed to Mark Wilson for a full week before he +left the Franklin house in Boston, but there were moments now +when he regretted, fugitively, that he had ever removed her from +her proper sphere. She did not seem to fit in to the conditions +of life in Edgewood, and it may even be that her most glaring +fault had been to describe Patty Baxter's hair at this very +Sunday dinner as "carroty," her dress altogether "dreadful," and +her style of beauty "unladylike." Ellen Wilson's feelings were +somewhat injured by these criticisms of her intimate friend, and +in discussing the matter privately with her brother he was +inclined to agree with her. + +And thus, so little do we know of the prankishness of the blind +god, thus was Annabel Franklin working for her rival's best +interests; and instead of reviling her in secret, and treating +her with disdain in public, Patty should have welcomed her +cordially to all the delights of Riverboro society. + + + +XIII + +HAYING -TIME + +EVERYBODY in Riverboro, Edgewood, Milliken's Mills, Spruce Swamp, +Duck Pond, and Moderation was "haying." There was a perfect +frenzy of haying, for it was the Monday after the "Fourth," the +precise date in July when the Maine farmer said good-bye to +repose, and "hayed" desperately and unceasingly, until every +spear of green in his section was mowed down and safely under +cover. If a man had grass of his own, he cut it, and if he had +none, he assisted in cutting that of some other man, for "to +hay," although an unconventional verb, was, and still is, a very +active one, and in common circulation, although not used by the +grammarians. + +Whatever your trade, and whatever your profession, it counted as +naught in good weather. The fish-man stopped selling fish, the +meat-man ceased to bring meat; the cobbler, as well as the judge, +forsook the bench; and even the doctor made fewer visits than +usual. The wage for work in the hay-fields was a high one, and +every man, boy, and horse in a village was pressed into service. + +When Ivory Boynton had finished with his own small crop, he +commonly went at once to Lawyer Wilson, who had the largest +acreage of hay-land in the township. Ivory was always in great +demand, for he was a mighty worker in the field, and a very giant +at "pitching," being able to pick up a fair-sized hay-cock at one +stroke of the fork and fling it on to the cart as if it were a +feather. Lawyer Wilson always took a hand himself if signs of +rain appeared, and Mark occasionally visited the scene of action +when a crowd in the field made a general jollification, or when +there was an impending thunderstorm. In such cases even women and +girls joined the workers and all hands bent together to the task +of getting a load into the barn and covering the rest. + +Deacon Baxter was wont to call Mark Wilson a "worthless, +whey-faced, lily-handed whelp," but the description, though +picturesque, was decidedly exaggerated. Mark disliked manual +labor, but having imbibed enough knowledge of law in his father's +office to be an excellent clerk, he much preferred travelling +about, settling the details of small cases, collecting rents and +bad bills, to any form of work on a farm. This sort of life, on +stage-coaches and railway trains, or on long driving trips with +his own fast trotter,suited his adventurous disposition and gave +him a sense of importance that was very necessary to his peace of +mind. He was not especially intimate with Ivory Boynton, who +studied law with his father during all vacations and in every +available hour of leisure during term time, as did many another +young New England schoolmaster. Mark's father's praise of Ivory's +legal ability was a little too warm to please his son, as was the +commendation of one of the County Court judges on Ivory's +preparation of a brief in a certain case in the Wilson office. +Ivory had drawn it up at Mr. Wilson's request, merely to show how +far he understood the books and cases he was studying, and he had +no idea that it differed in any way from the work of any other +student; all the same, Mark's own efforts in a like direction had +never received any special mention. When he was in the hay-field +he also kept as far as possible from Ivory, because there, too, +he felt a superiority that made him, for the moment, a trifle +discontented. It was no particular pleasure for him to see Ivory +plunge his fork deep into the heart of a hay-cock, take a firm +grasp of the handle, thrust forward his foot to steady himself, +and then raise the great fragrant heap slowly, and swing it up to +the waiting haycart amid the applause of the crowd. Rodman would +be there, too, helping the man on top of the load and getting +nearly buried each time, as the mass descended upon him, but +doing his slender best to distribute and tread it down properly, +while his young heart glowed with pride at Cousin Ivory's +prowess. + +Independence Day had passed, with its usual gayeties for the +young people, in none of which the Baxter family had joined, and +now, at eleven o'clock on this burning July morning, Waitstill +was driving the old mare past the Wilson farm on her way to the +river field. Her father was working there, together with the two +hired men whom he took on for a fortnight during the height of +the season. If mowing, raking, pitching, and carting of the +precious crop could only have been done at odd times during the +year, or at night, he would not have embittered the month of July +by paying out money for labor: but Nature was inexorable in the +ripening of hay and Old Foxy was obliged to succumb to the +inevitable. Waitstill had a basket packed with luncheon for three +and a great demijohn of cool ginger tea under the wagon seat. +Other farmers sometimes served hard cider, or rum, but her +father's principles were dead against this riotous extravagance. +Temperance, in any and all directions, was cheap, and the Deacon +was a very temperate man, save in language. + +The fields on both sides of the road were full of haymakers and +everywhere there was bustle and stir. There would be three or +four men, one leading, the others following, slowly swinging +their way through a noble piece of grass, and the smell of the +mown fields in the sunshine was sweeter than honey in the comb. +There were patches of black-eyed Susans in the meadows here and +there, while pink and white hardhack grew by the road, with day +lilies and blossoming milkweed. The bobolinks were fluting from +every tree; there were thrushes in the alder bushes and orioles +in the tops of the elms, and Waitstill's heart overflowed with +joy at being in such a world of midsummer beauty, though life, +during the great heat and incessant work of haying-time, was a +little more rigorous than usual. The extra food needed for the +hired men always kept her father in a state of mind closely +resembling insanity. Coming downstairs to cook breakfast she +would find the coffee or tea measured out for the pot. The +increased consumption of milk angered him beyond words, because +it lessened the supply of butter for sale. Everything that could +be made with buttermilk was ordered so to be done, and nothing +but water could be used in mixing the raised bread. The corncake +must never have an egg; the piecrust must be shortened only with +lard, or with a mixture of beef-fat and dripping; and so on, and +so on, eternally. + +When the girls were respectively seventeen and thirteen, +Waitstill had begged a small plot of ground for them to use as +they liked, and beginning at that time they had gradually made a +little garden, with a couple of fruit trees and a thicket of red, +white, and black currants raspberry and blackberry bushes. For +several summers now they had sold enough of their own fruit to +buy a pair of shoes or gloves, a scarf or a hat, but even this +tiny income was beginning to be menaced. The Deacon positively +suffered as he looked at that odd corner of earth, not any bigger +than his barn floor, and saw what his girls had done with no +tools but a spade and a hoe and no help but their own hands. He +had no leisure (so he growled) to cultivate and fertilize ground +for small fruits, and no money to pay a man to do it, yet here +was food grown under his very eye, and it did not belong to him! +The girls worked in their garden chiefly at sunrise in spring and +early summer, or after supper in the evening; all the same +Waitstill had been told by her father the day before that she was +not only using ground, but time, that belonged to him, and that +he should +expect her to provide "pie-filling" out of her garden patch +during haying, to help satisfy the ravenous appetites of that +couple of "great, gorming, greedy lubbers" that he was hiring +this year. He had stopped the peeling of potatoes before boiling +because he disapproved of the thickness of the parings he found +in the pig's pail, and he stood over Patty at her work in the +kitchen until Waitstill was in daily fear of a tempest of some +sort. + +Coming in from the shed one morning she met her father just +issuing from the kitchen where Patty was standing like a young +Fury in front of the sink. "Father's been spying at the eggshells +I settled the coffee with, and said I'd no business to leave so +much good in the shell when I broke an egg. I will not bear it; +he makes me feel fairly murderous! You'd better not leave me +alone with him when I'm like this. Oh! I know that I'm wicked, +but isn't he wicked too, and who was wicked first?" + +Patty's heart had been set on earning and saving enough pennies +for a white muslin dress and every day rendered the prospect more +uncertain; this was a sufficient grievance in itself to keep her +temper at the boiling point had there not been various other +contributory causes. Waitstill's patience was flagging a trifle, +too, under the stress of the hot days and the still hotter, +breathless nights. The suspicion crossed her mind now and then +that her father's miserliness and fits of temper might be caused +by a mental malady over which he now had little or no control, +having never mastered himself in all his life. Her power of +endurance would be greater, she thought, if only she could be +certain that this theory was true, though her slavery would be +just as galling. + +It would be so easy for her to go away and earn a living; she who +had never had a day of illness in her life; she who could sew, +knit, spin, weave, and cook. She could make enough money in +Biddeford or Portsmouth to support herself, and Patty, too, until +the proper work was found for both. But there would be a truly +terrible conflict of wills, and such fierce arraignment of her +unfilial conduct, such bitter and caustic argument from her +father, such disapproval from the parson and the neighbors, that +her very soul shrank from the prospect. If she could go alone, +and have no responsibility over Patty's future, that would be a +little more possible, but she must think wisely for two. + +And how could she leave Ivory when there might perhaps come a +crisis in his life where she could be useful to him? How could +she cut herself off from those Sundays in the choir, those dear +fugitive glimpses of him in the road or at prayer-meeting? They +were only sips of happiness, where her thirsty heart yearned for +long, deep draughts, but they were immeasurably better than +nothing. Freedom from her father's heavy yoke, freedom to work, +and read, and sing, and study, and grow,--oh! how she longed for +this, but at what a cost would she gain it if she had to harbor +the guilty conscience of an undutiful and rebellious daughter, +and at the same time cut herself off from the sight of the one +being she loved best in all the world. + +She felt drawn towards Ivory's mother to-day. Three weeks had +passed since her talk with Ivory in the churchyard, but there had +been no possibility of an hour's escape from home. She was at +liberty this afternoon--relatively at liberty; for although her +work, as usual, was laid out for her, it could be made up somehow +or other before nightfall. She could drive over to the Boynton's +place, hitch her horse in the woods near the house, make her +visit, yet be in plenty of time to go up to the river field and +bring her father home to supper. Patty was over at Mrs. Abel +Day's, learning a new crochet stitch and helping her to start a +log-cabin quilt. Ivory and Rodman, she new, were both away in the +Wilson hay-field; no time would ever be more favorable; so +instead of driving up Town-House Hill when she returned to the +village she kept on over the bridge. + + + +XIV + +UNCLE BART DISCOURSES + +UNCLE BART and Cephas were taking their nooning hour under the +Nodhead apple tree as Waitstill passed the joiner's shop and went +over the bridge. + +"Uncle Bart might somehow guess where I am going," she thought, +"but even if he did he would never tell any one." + +"Where's Waitstill bound this afternoon, I wonder?" drawled +Cephas, rising to his feet and looking after the departing team. +"That reminds me, I'd better run up to Baxter's and see if +any-thing's wanted before I open the store." + +"If it makes any dif'rence," said his father dryly, as he filled +his pipe, "Patty's over to Mis' Day's spendin' the afternoon. +Don't s'pose you want to call on the pig, do you? He's the only +one to home." + +Cephas made no remark, but gave his trousers a hitch, picked up a +chip, opened his jack-knife, and sitting down on the greensward +began idly whittling the bit of wood into shape. + +"I kind o' wish you'd let me make the new ell two-story, father; +'t wouldn't be much work, take it in slack time after hayin'." + +"Land o' Liberty! What do you want to do that for, Cephas? You +'bout pestered the life out o' me gittin' me to build the ell in +the first place, when we didn't need it no more'n a toad does a +pocketbook. Then nothin' would do but you must paint it, though I +shan't be able to have the main house painted for another year, +so the old wine an' the new bottle side by side looks like the +Old Driver, an' makes us a laughin'-stock to the village;--and +now you want to change the thing into a two-story! Never heerd +such a crazy idee in my life." + +"I want to settle down," insisted Cephas doggedly. + +"Well, settle; I'm willin'! I told you that, afore you painted +the ell. Ain't two rooms, fourteen by fourteen, enough for you to +settle down in? If they ain't, I guess your mother'd give you one +o' the chambers in the main part." + +"She would if I married Phoebe Day, but I don't want to marry +Phoebe," argued Cephas. "And mother's gone and made a summer +kitchen for herself out in the ell, a'ready. I bet yer she'll +never move out if I should want to move in on a 'sudden." + +"I told you you was takin' that risk when you cut a door through +from the main part," said his father genially. "If you hadn't +done that, your mother would 'a' had to gone round outside to git +int' the ell and mebbe she'd 'a' stayed to home when it stormed, +anyhow. Now your wife'11 have her troopin' in an' out, in an' +out, the whole 'durin' time." + +"I only cut the door through to please so't she'd favor my +gittin' married, but I guess 't won't do no good. You see, +father, what I was thinkin' of is, a girl would mebbe jump at a +two-story, four-roomed ell when she wouldn't look at a smaller +place." + +"Pends upon whether the girl's the jumpin' kind or not! Hadn't +you better git everything fixed up with the one you've picked +out, afore you take your good savin's and go to buildin' a bigger +place for her?" + +"I've asked her once a'ready," Cephas allowed, with a burning +face. "I don't s'pose you know the one I mean?" + +"No kind of an idee," responded his father, with a quizzical wink +that was lost on the young man, as his eyes were fixed upon his +whittling. "Does she belong to the village?" + +"I ain't goin' to let folks know who I've picked out till I git a +little mite forrarder," responded Cephas craftily. "Say, father, +it's all right to ask a girl twice, ain't it? + +"Certain it is, my son. I never heerd there was any special limit +to the number o' times you could ask 'em, and their power o' +sayin' 'No' is like the mercy of the Lord; it endureth forever. +--You wouldn't consider a widder, Cephas? A widder'd be a good +comp'ny-keeper for your mother." + +"I hain't put my good savin's into an ell jest to marry a +comp'ny-keeper for mother," responded Cephas huffily. "I want to +be number one with my girl and start right in on trainin' her up +to suit me." + +"Well, if trainin' 's your object you'd better take my advice an' +keep it dark before marriage, Cephas. It's astonishin' how the +female sect despises bein' trained; it don't hardly seem to be in +their nature to make any changes in 'emselves after they once +gits started." + +"How are you goin' to live with 'em, then?" Cephas inquired, +looking up with interest coupled with some incredulity. + +"Let them do the training responded his father, peacefully +puffing out the words with his pipe between his lips. "Some of +'em's mild and gentle in discipline, like Parson Boone's wife or +Mis' Timothy Grant, and others is strict and firm like your +mother and Mis' Abel Day. If you happen to git the first kind, +why, do as they tell you, and thank the Lord 't ain't any worse. +If you git the second kind, jest let 'em put the blinders on you +and trot as straight as you know how, without shying nor kickin' +over the traces, nor bolting 'cause they've got control o' the +bit and 't ain't no use fightin' ag'in' their superior +strength.--So fur as you can judge, in the early stages o' the +game, my son,--which ain't very fur,--which kind have you picked +out?" + +Cephas whittled on for some moments without a word, but finally, +with a sigh drawn from the very toes of his boots, he responded +gloomily,-- + +"She's awful spunky, the girl is, anybody can see that; but she's +a young thing, and I thought bein' married would kind o' tame her +down!" + +"You can see how much marriage has tamed your mother down," +observed Uncle Bart dispassionately; "howsomever, though your +mother can't be called tame, she's got her good p'ints, for she's +always to be counted on. The great thing in life, as I take it, +Cephas, is to know exactly what to expect. Your mother's gen'ally +credited with an onsartin temper, but folks does her great +injustice in so thinking for in a long experience I've seldom +come across a temper less onsartin than your mother's. You know +exactly where to find her every mornin' at sun-up and every night +at sundown. There ain't nothin' you can do to put her out o' +temper, cause she's all out aforehand. You can jest go about your +reg'lar business 'thout any fear of disturbin' her any further +than she's disturbed a'ready, which is consid'rable. I don't mind +it a mite nowadays, though, after forty years of it. It would +kind o' gall me to keep a stiddy watch of a female's disposition +day by day, wonderin' when she was goin' to have a tantrum. A +tantrum once a year's an awful upsettin' kind of a thing in a +family, my son, but a tantrum every twenty-four hours is jest +part o' the day's work." There was a moment's silence during +which Uncle Bart puffed his pipe and Cephas whittled, after which +the old man continued: "Then, if you happen to marry a temper +like your mother's, Cephas, look what a pow'ful worker you +gen'ally get! Look at the way they sweep an' dust an' scrub an' +clean! Watch 'em when they go at the dish-washin', an' how they +whack the rollin'-pin, an' maul the eggs, an' heave the wood int' +the stove, an' slat the flies out o' the house! The mild and +gentle ones enough, will be settin' in the kitchen rocker +read-in' the almanac when there ain't no wood in the kitchen box, +no doughnuts in the crock, no pies on the swing shelf in the +cellar, an' the young ones goin' round without a second shift to +their backs!" + +Cephas's mind was far away during this philosophical dissertation +on the ways of women. He could see only a sunny head fairly +rioting with curls; a pair of eyes that held his like magnets, +although they never gave him a glance of love; a smile that +lighted the world far better than the sun; a dimple into which +his heart fell headlong whenever he looked at it! + +"You're right, father; 'tain't no use kickin' ag'in 'em," he said +as he rose to his feet preparatory to opening the Baxter store. +"When I said that 'bout trainin' up a girl to suit me, I kind o' +forgot the one I've picked out. I'm considerin' several, but the +one I favor most-well, I believe she'd fire up at the first sight +o' training and that's the gospel truth." + +"Considerin' several, be you, Cephas?" laughed Uncle Bart. "Well, +all I hope is, that the one you favor most--the girl you've asked +once a'ready--is considerin' you!" + +Cephas went to the pump, and wetting a large handkerchief put it +in the crown of his straw hat and sauntered out into the burning +heat of the open road between his father's shop and Deacon +Baxter's store. + +"I shan't ask her the next time till this hot spell's over," he +thought, "and I won't do it in that dodgasted old store ag'in, +neither; I ain't so tongue-tied outdoors an' I kind o' think I'd +be more in the sperit of it after sundown, some night after +supper!" + + + +XV + +IVORY'S MOTHER + +WAITSTILL found a cool and shady place in which to hitch the old +mare, loosening her check-rein and putting a sprig of alder in +her headstall to assist her in brushing off the flies. + +One could reach the Boynton house only by going up a long +grass-grown lane that led from the high-road. It was a lonely +place, and Aaron Boynton had bought it when he moved from Saco, +simply because he secured it at a remarkable bargain, the owner +having lost his wife and gone to live in Massachusetts. Ivory +would have sold it long ago had circumstances been different, for +it was at too great a distance from the schoolhouse and from +Lawyer Wilson's office to be at all convenient, but he dreaded to +remove his mother from the environment to which she was +accustomed, and doubted very much whether she would be able to +care for a house to which she had not been wonted before her mind +became affected. Here in this safe, secluded corner, amid +familiar and thoroughly known conditions, she moved placidly +about her daily tasks, performing them with the same care and +precision that she had used from the beginning of her married +life. All the heavy work was done for her by Ivory and Rodman; +the boy in particular being the fleetest-footed, the most +willing, and the neatest of helpers; washing dishes, sweeping and +dusting, laying the table, as deftly and quietly as a girl. Mrs. +Boynton made her own simple dresses of gray calico in summer, or +dark linsey-woolsey in winter by the same pattern that she had +used when she first came to Edgewood: in fact there were +positively no external changes anywhere to be seen, tragic and +terrible as had been those that had wrought havoc in her mind. + +Waitstill's heart beat faster as she neared the Boynton house. +She had never so much as seen Ivory's mother for years. How would +she be met? Who would begin the conversation, and what direction +would it take? What if Mrs. Boynton should refuse to talk to her +at all? She walked slowly along the lane until she saw a slender, +gray-clad figure stooping over a flower-bed in front of the +cottage. The woman raised her head with a fawn-like gesture that +had something in it of timidity rather than fear, picked some +loose bits of green from the ground, and, quietly turning her +back upon the on coming stranger, disappeared through the open +front door. + +There could be no retreat on her own part now, thought Waitstill. +She wished for a moment that she had made this first visit under +Ivory's protection, but her idea had been to gain Mrs. Boynton's +confidence and have a quiet friendly talk, such a one as would be +impossible in the presence of a third person. Approaching the +steps, she called through the doorway in her clear voice: "Ivory +asked me to come and see you one day, Mrs. Boynton. I am +Waitstill Baxter, the little girl on Town House Hill that you +used to know." + +Mrs. Boynton came from an inner room and stood on the threshold. +The name "Waitstill" had always had a charm for her ears, from +the time she first heard it years ago, until it fell from Ivory's +lips this summer; and again it caught her fancy. + +"'WAITSTILL!"' she repeated softly; "'WAITSTILL!' Does Ivory know +you?" + +"We've known each other for ever so long; ever since we went to +the brick school together when we were girl and boy. And when I +was a child my stepmother brought me over here once on an errand +and Ivory showed me a humming-bird's nest in that lilac bush by +the door." + +Mrs. Boynton smiled "Come and look!" she whispered. "There is +always a humming-bird's nest in our lilac. How did you remember?" + +The two women approached the bush and Mrs. Boynton carefully +parted the leaves to show the dainty morsel of a home thatched +with soft gray-green and lined with down. "The birds have flown +now," she said. "They were like little jewels when they darted +off in the sunshine." + +Her voice was faint and sweet, as if it came from far away, and +her eyes looked, not as if they were seeing you, but seeing +something through you. Her pale hair was turned back from her +paler face, where the veins showed like blue rivers, and her +smile was like the flitting of a moonbeam. She was standing very +close to Waitstill, closer than she had been to any woman for +many years, and she studied her a little, wistfully, yet +courteously, as if her attention was attracted by something fresh +and winning. She looked at the color, ebbing and flowing in the +girl's cheeks; at her brows and lashes; at her neck, as white as +swan's-down; and finally put out her hand with a sudden impulse +and touched the knot of wavy bronze hair under the brimmed hat. + +"I had a daughter once," she said. "My second baby was a girl, +but she lived only a few weeks. I need her very much, for I am a +great care to Ivory. He is son and daughter both, now that Mr. +Boynton is away from home.--You did not see any one in the road +as you turned in from the bars, I suppose?" + +"No," answered Waitstill, surprised and confused, "but I didn't +really notice; I was thinking of a cool place for my horse to +stand." + +"I sit out here in these warm afternoons," Mrs. Boynton +continued, shading her eyes and looking across the fields, +"because I can see so far down the lane. I have the supper-table +set for my husband already, and there is a surprise for him, a +saucer of wild strawberries I picked for him this morning. If he +does not come, I always take away the plate and cup before Ivory +gets here; it seems to make him unhappy." + +"He doesn't like it when you are disappointed, I suppose," +Waitstill ventured. "I have brought my knitting, Mrs. Boynton, so +that I needn't keep you idle if you wish to work. May I sit down +a few minutes? And here is a cottage cheese for Ivory and Rodman, +and a jar of plums for you, preserved from my own garden." + +Mrs. Boynton's eyes searched the face of this visitor from a +world she had almost forgotten and finding nothing but tenderness +there, said with just a trace of bewilderment: "Thank you yes, do +sit down; my workbasket is just inside the door. Take that +rocking-chair; I don't have another one out here because I have +never been in the habit of seeing visitors." + +"I hope I am not intruding," stammered Waitstill, seating herself +and beginning her knitting, to see if it would lessen the sense +of strain between them. + +"Not at all. I always loved young and beautiful people, and so +did my husband. If he comes while you are here, do not go away, +but sit with him while I get his supper. If Elder Cochrane should +be with him, you would see two wonderful men. They went away +together to do some missionary work in Maine and New Hampshire +and perhaps they will come back together. I do not welcome +callers because they always ask so many difficult questions, but +you are different and have asked me none at all." + +"I should not think of asking questions, Mrs. Boynton." + +"Not that I should mind answering them," continued Ivory's +mother, "except that it tires my head very much to think. You +must not imagine I am ill; it is only that I have a very bad +memory, and when people ask me to remember something, or to give +an answer quickly, it confuses me the more. Even now I have +forgotten why you came, and where you live; but I have not +forgotten your beautiful name." + +"Ivory thought you might be lonely, and I wanted so much to know +you that I could not keep away any longer, for I am lonely and +unhappy too. I am always watching and hoping for what has never +come yet. I have no mother, you have lost your daughter; I +thought--I thought--perhaps we could be a comfort to each other!" +And Waitstill rose from her chair and put out her hand to help +Mrs. Boynton down the steps, she looked so frail, so transparent, +so prematurely aged. "I could not come very often--but if I could +only smooth your hair sometimes when your head aches, or do some +cooking for you, or read to you, or any little thing like that, +as I would fer my own mother--if I could, I should be so glad!" + +Waitstill stood a head higher than Ivory's mother and the glowing +health of her, the steadiness of her voice, the warmth of her +hand-clasp must have made her seem like a strong refuge to this +storm-tossed derelict. The deep furrow between Lois Boynton's +eyes relaxed a trifle, the blood in her veins ran a little more +swiftly under the touch of the young hand that held hers so +closely. Suddenly a light came into her face and her lip +quivered. + +"Perhaps I have been remembering wrong all these years," she +said. "It is my great trouble, remembering wrong. Perhaps my baby +did not die as I thought; perhaps she lived and grew up; perhaps" +(her pale cheek burned and her eyes shone like stars) "perhaps +she has come back!" + +Waitstill could not speak; she put her arm round the trembling +figure, holding her as she was wont to hold Patty, and with the +same protective instinct. The embrace was electric in its effect +and set altogether new currents of emotion in circulation. +Something in Lois Boynton's perturbed mind seemed to beat its +wings against the barriers that had heretofore opposed it, and, +freeing itself, mounted into clearer air and went singing to the +sky. She rested her cheek on the girl's breast with a little sob. +"Oh! let me go on remembering wrong," she sighed, from that safe +shelter." Let me go on remembering wrong! It makes me so happy!" + +Waitstill gently led her to the rocking-chair and sat down beside +her on the lowest step, stroking her thin hand. Mrs. Boynton's +eyes were closed, her breath came and went quickly, but presently +she began to speak hurriedly, as if she were relieving a +surcharged heart. + +"There is something troubling me," she began, "and it would ease +my mind if I could tell it to some one who could help. Your hand +is so warm and so firm! Oh, hold mine closely and let me draw in +strength as long as you can spare it; it is flowing, flowing from +your hand into mine, flowing like wine. . . . My thoughts at +night are not like my thoughts by day, these last weeks. . . . I +wake suddenly and feel that my husband has been away a long time +and will never come back. . . . Often, at night, too, I am in +sore trouble about something else, something I have never told +Ivory, the first thing I have ever hidden from my dear son, but I +think I could tell you, if only I could be sure about it." + +"Tell me if it will help you; I will try to understand," said +Waitstill brokenly. + +"Ivory says Rodman is the child of my dead sister. Some one must +have told him so; could it have been I? It haunts me day and +night, for unless I am remembering wrong again, I never had a +sister. I can call to mind neither sister nor brother." + +"You went to New Hampshire one winter," Waitstill reminded her +gently, as if she were talking to a child. "It was bitter cold +for you to take such a hard journey. Your sister died, and you +brought her little boy, Rodman, back, but you were so ill that a +stranger had to take care of you on the stage-coach and drive you +to Edgewood next day in his own sleigh. It is no wonder you have +forgotten something of what happened, for Dr. Perry hardly +brought you through the brain fever that followed that journey." + +"I seem to think, now, that it is not so!" said Mrs. Boynton, +opening her eyes and looking at Waitstill despairingly. "I must +grope and grope in the dark until I find out what is true, and +then tell Ivory. God will punish false speaking! His heart is +closed against lies and evil-doing!" + +"He will never punish you if your tired mind remembers wrong," +said Waitstill. "He knows, none better, how you have tried to +find Him and hold Him, through many a tangled path. I will come +as often as I can and we will try to frighten away these worrying +thoughts." + +"If you will only come now and then and hold my hand," said +Ivory's mother,--"hold my hand so that your strength will flow +into my weakness, perhaps I shall puzzle it all out, and God will +help me to remember right before I die." + +"Everything that I have power to give away shall be given to +you," promised Waitstill. " Now that I know you, and you trust +me, you shall never be left so alone again,--not for long, at any +rate. When I stay away you will remember that I cannot help it, +won't you?" + +"Yes, I shall think of you till I see you again I shall watch the +long lane more than ever now. Ivory sometimes takes the path +across the fields but my dear husband will come by the old road, +and now there will be you to look for!" + + + +XVI + +LOCKED OUT + +AT the Baxters the late supper was over and the girls had not sat +at the table with their father, having eaten earlier, by +themselves. The hired men had gone home to sleep. Patty had +retired to the solitude of her bedroom almost at dusk, quite worn +out with the heat, and Waitstill sat under the peach tree in the +corner of her own little garden, tatting, and thinking of her +interview with Ivory's mother. She sat there until nearly eight +o'clock, trying vainly to put together the puzzling details of +Lois Boynton's conversation, wondering whether the perplexities +that vexed her mind were real or fancied, but warmed to the heart +by the affection that the older woman seemed instinctively to +feel for her. "She did not know me, yet she cared for me at +once," thought Waitstill tenderly and proudly; "and I for her, +too, at the first glance." + +She heard her father lock the barn and shed and knew that he +would be going upstairs immediately, so she quickly went through +the side yard and lifted the latch of the kitchen door. It was +fastened. She went to the front door and that, too, was bolted, +although it had been standing open all the evening, so that if a +breeze should spring up, it might blow through the house. Her +father supposed, of course, that she was in bed, and she dreaded +to bring him downstairs for fear of his anger; still there was no +help for it and she rapped smartly at the side door. There was no +answer and she rapped again, vexed with her own carelessness. +Patty's face appeared promptly behind her screen of mosquito +netting in the second story, but before she could exchange a word +with her sister, Deacon Baxter opened the blinds of his bedroom +window and put his head out. + +"You can try sleepin' outdoors, or in the barn to-night," he +called. "I didn't say anything to you at supper-time because I +wanted to see where you was intendin' to prowl this evenin'." + +"I haven't been 'prowling' anywhere, father," answered Waitstill; +"I've been out in the garden cooling off; it's only eight +o'clock." + +"Well, you can cool off some more," he shouted, his temper now +fully aroused; "or go back where you was this afternoon and see +if they'll take you in there! I know all about your deceitful +tricks! I come home to grind the scythes and found the house and +barn empty Cephas said you'd driven up Saco Hill and I took his +horse and followed you and saw where you went Long's you couldn't +have a feller callin' on you here to home, you thought you'd call +on him, did yer, you bold-faced hussy?" + +"I am nothing of the sort," the girl answered him quietly; "Ivory +Boynton was not at his house, he was in the hay-field. You know +it, and you know that I knew it. I went to see a sick, unhappy +woman who has no neighbors. I ought to have gone long before. I +am not ashamed of it, and I don't regret it. If you ask +unreasonable things of me, you must expect to be disobeyed once +in a while. + +"Must expect to be disobeyed, must I?" the old man cried, his +face positively terrifying in its ugliness. "We'll see about +that! If you wa'n't callin' on a young man, you were callin' on a +crazy woman, and I won't have it, I tell you, do you hear? I +won't have a daughter o' mine consortin' with any o' that Boynton +crew. Perhaps a night outdoors will teach you who's master in +this house, you imperdent, shameless girl! We'11 try it, anyway!" +And with that he banged down the window and disappeared, +gibbering and jabbering impotent words that she could hear but +not understand. + +Waitstill was almost stunned by the suddenness of this +catastrophe. She stood with her feet rooted to the earth for +several minutes and then walked slowly away out of sight of the +house. There was a chair beside the grindstone under the Porter +apple tree and she sank into it, crossed her arms on the back, +and bowing her head on them, burst into a fit of weeping as +tempestuous and passionate as it was silent, for although her +body fairly shook with sobs no sound escaped. + +The minutes passed, perhaps an hour; she did not take account of +time. The moon went behind clouds, the night grew misty and the +stars faded one by one. There would be rain to-morrow and there +was a great deal of hay cut, so she thought in a vagrant sort of +way. + +Meanwhile Patty upstairs was in a state of suppressed excitement +and terror. It was a quarter of an hour before her father settled +him-self in bed; then an age, it seemed to her, before she heard +his heavy breathing. When she thought it quite safe, she slipped +on a print wrapper, took her shoes in her hand, and crept +noiselessly downstairs, out through the kitchen and into the +shed. Lifting the heavy bar that held the big doors in place she +closed them softly behind her, stepped out, and looked about her +in the darkness. Her quick eye espied in the distance, near the +barn, the bowed figure in the chair, and she flew through the wet +grass without a thought of her bare feet till she reached her +sister's side and held her in a close embrace. + +"My darling, my own, own, poor darling!" she cried softly, the +tears running down her cheeks. "How wicked, how unjust to serve +my dearest sister so! Don't cry, my blessing, don't cry; you +frighten me! I'11 take care of you, dear! Next time I'll +interfere; I'll scratch and bite; yes, I'll strangle anybody that +dares to shame you and lock you out of the house! You, the +dearest, the patientest, the best!" + +Waitstill wiped her eyes. "Let us go farther away where we can +talk," she whispered. + +"Where had we better sleep?" Patty asked. "On the hay, I think, +though we shall stifle with the heat"; and Patty moved towards +the barn. + +"No, you must go back to the house at once, Patty dear; father +might wake and call you, and that would make matters worse. It's +beginning to drizzle, or I should stay out in the air. Oh! I +wonder if father's mind is going, and if this is the beginning of +the end! If he is in his sober senses, he could not be so +strange, so suspicious, so unjust." + +"He could be anything, say anything, do anything," exclaimed +Patty. "Perhaps he is not responsible and perhaps he is; it +doesn't make much difference to us. Come along, blessed darling! +I'll tuck you in, and then I'll creep back to the house, if you +say I must. I'll go down and make the kitchen fire in the +morning; you stay out here and see what happens. A good deal will +happen, I'm thinking, if father speaks to me of you! I shouldn't +be surprised to see the fur flying in all directions; I'll seize +the first moment to bring you out a cup of coffee and we'll +consult about what to do. I may tell you now, I'm all for running +away!" + +Waitstill's first burst of wretchedness had subsided and she had +recovered her balance. "I'm afraid we must wait a little longer, +Patty," she advised. "Don't mention my name to father, but see +how he acts in the morning. He was so wild, so unlike himself, +that I almost hope he may forget what he said and sleep it off. +Yes, we must just wait." + +"No doubt he'll be far calmer in the morning if he remembers +that, if he turns you out, he faces the prospect of three meals a +day cooked by me," said Patty. "That's what he thinks he would +face, but as a matter of fact I shall tell him that where you +sleep I sleep, and where you eat I eat, and when you stop cooking +I stop! He won't part with two unpaid servants in a hurry, not at +the beginning of haying." And Patty, giving Waitstill a last hug +and a dozen tearful kisses, stole reluctantly back to the house +by the same route through which he had left it. + +Patty was right. She found the fire lighted when she went down +into the kitchen next morning, and without a word she hurried +breakfast on to the table as fast as she could cook and serve it. +Waitstill was safe in the barn chamber, she knew, and would be +there quietly while her father was feeding the horse and milking +the cows; or perhaps she might go up in the woods and wait until +she saw him driving away. + +The Deacon ate his breakfast in silence, looking and acting very +much as usual, for he was generally dumb at meals. When he left +the house, however, and climbed into the wagon, he turned around +and said in his ordinary gruff manner: "Bring the lunch up to the +field yourself to-day, Patience. Tell your sister I hope she's +come to her senses in the course of the night. You've got to +learn, both of you, that my 'say-so' must be law in this house. +You can fuss and you can fume, if it amuses you any, but 't won't +do no good. Don't encourage Waitstill in any whinin' nor +blubberin'. Jest tell her to come in and go to work and I'11 +overlook what she done this time. And don't you give me any more +of your eye-snappin' and lip-poutin' and head-in-the-air +imperdence! + +You're under age, and if you don't look out, you'll get something +that's good for what ails you! You two girls jest aid an' abet +one another that's what you do, aid an' abet one another, an if +you carry it any further I'll find some way o' separatin' you, do +you hear?" + +Patty spoke never a word, nor fluttered an eyelash. She had a +proper spirit, but now her heart was cold with a new fear, and +she felt, with Waitstill, that her father must be obeyed and his +temper kept within bounds, until God provided them a way of +escape. + +She ran out to the barn chamber and, not finding Waitstill, +looked across the field and saw her coming through the path from +the woods. Patty waved her hand, and ran to meet her sister, joy +at the mere fact of her existence, of being able to see her +again, and of hearing her dear voice, almost choking her in its +intensity. When they reached the house she helped her upstairs as +if she were a child, brought her cool water to wash away the dust +of the haymow, laid out some clean clothes for her, and finally +put her on the lounge in the darkened sitting-room. + +"I won't let anybody come near the house," she said, "and you +must have a cup of tea and a good sleep before I tell you all +that father said. Just comfort yourself with the thought that he +is going to 'overlook it' this time! After I carry up his +luncheon, I shall stop at the store and ask Cephas to come out on +the river bank for a few minutes. Then I shall proceed to say +what I think of him for telling father where you went yesterday +afternoon." + +"Don't blame Cephas!" Waitstill remonstrated. "Can't you see just +how it happened? He and Uncle Bart were sitting in front of the +shop when I drove by. When father came home and found the house +empty and the horse not in the stall, of course he asked where I +was, and Cephas probably said he had seen me drive up Saco Hill. +He had no reason to think that there was any harm in that." + +"If he had any sense he might know that he shouldn't tell +anything to father except what happens in the store," Patty +insisted. "Were you frightened out in the barn alone last night, +poor dear?" + +"I was too unhappy to think of fear and I was chiefly nervous +about you, all alone in the house with father." + +"I didn't like it very much, myself! I buttoned my bedroom door +and sat by the window all night, shivering and bristling at the +least sound. Everybody calls me a coward, but I'm not! Courage +isn't not being frightened; it's not screeching when you are +frightened. Now, what happened at the Boyntons'?" + +"Patty, Ivory's mother is the most pathetic creature I ever saw!" +And Waitstill sat up on the sofa, her long braids of hair hanging +over her shoulders, her pale face showing the traces of her heavy +weeping. "I never pitied any one so much in my whole life! To go +up that long, long lane; to come upon that dreary house hidden +away in the trees; to feel the loneliness and the silence; and +then to know that she is living there like a hermit-thrush in a +forest, without a woman to care for her, it is heart-breaking!" + +"How does the house look,--dreadful?" + +"No: everything is as neat as wax. She isn't 'crazy,' Patty, as +we understand the word. Her mind is beclouded somehow and it +almost seems as if the cloud might lift at any moment. She goes +about like somebody in a dream, sewing or knitting or cooking. It +is only when she talks, and you notice that her eyes really see +nothing, but are looking beyond you, that you know there is +anything wrong." + +"If she appears so like other people, why don't the neighbors go +to see her once in a while?" + +"Callers make her unhappy, she says, and Ivory told me that he +dared not encourage any company in the house for fear of exciting +her, and making her an object of gossip, besides. He knows her +ways perfectly and that she is safe and content with her fancies +when she is alone, which is seldom, after all." + +"What does she talk about?" asked Patty. + +"Her husband mostly. She is expecting him to come back daily. We +knew that before, of course, but no one can realize it till they +see her setting the table for him and putting a saucer of wild +strawberries by his plate; going about the kitchen softly, like a +gentle ghost." + +"It gives me the shudders!" said Patty. "I couldn't bear it! If +she never sees strangers, what in the world did she make of you? +How did you begin?" + +"I told her I had known Ivory ever since we were school children. +She was rather strange and indifferent at first, and then she +seemed to take a fancy to me." + +"That's queer!" said Patty, smiling fondly and giving Waitstill's +hair the hasty brush of a kiss. + +"She told me she had had a girl baby, born two or three years +after Ivory, and that she had always thought it died when it was +a few weeks old. Then suddenly she came closer to me-- + +"Oh! Waity, weren't you terrified?" + +"No, not in the least. Neither would you have been if you had +been there. She put her arms round me and all at once I +understood that the poor thing mistook me just for a moment for +her own daughter come back to life. It was a sudden fancy and I +don't think it lasted, but I didn't know how to deal with it, or +contradict it, so I simply tried to soothe her and let her ease +her heart by talking to me. She said when I left her: 'Where is +your house? I hope it is near! Do come again and sit with me. +Strength flows into my weakness when you hold my hand!' I somehow +feel, Patty, that she needs a woman friend even more than a +doctor. And now, what am I to do? How can I forsake her; and yet +here is this new difficulty with father?" + +"I shouldn't forsake her; go there when you can, but be more +careful about it. You told father that you didn't regret what you +had done, and that when he ordered you to do unreasonable things, +you should disobey him. After all, you are not a black slave. +Father will never think of that particular thing again, perhaps, +any more than he ever alluded to my driving to Saco with Mrs. Day +after you had told him it was necessary for one of us to go there +occasionally. He knows that if he is too hard on us, Dr. Perry or +Uncle Bart would take him in hand. They would have done it long +ago if we had ever given any one even a hint of what we have to +endure. You will be all right, because you only want to do kind, +neighborly things. I am the one that will always have to suffer, +because I can't prove that it's a Christian duty to deceive +father and steal off to a dance or a frolic. Yet I might as well +be a nun in a convent for all the fun I get! I want a white +book-muslin dress; I want a pair of thin shoes with buckles; I +want a white hat with a wreath of yellow roses; I want a volume +of Byron's poems; and oh! nobody knows--nobody but the Lord could +understand--how I want a string of gold beads." + +"Patty, Patty! To hear you chatter anybody would imagine you +thought of nothing but frivolities. I wish you wouldn't do +yourself such injustice; even when nobody hears you but me, it is +wrong." + +"Sometimes when you think I'm talking nonsense it's really the +gospel truth," said Patty. "I'm not a grand, splendid character, +Waitstill, and it's no use your deceiving yourself about me; if +you do, you'll be disappointed." + +"Go and parboil the beans and get them into the pot, Patty. Pick +up some of the windfalls and make a green-apple pie, and I'll be +with you in the kitchen myself before long. I never expect to be +disappointed in you, Patty, only continually surprised and +pleased." + +"I thought I'd begin making some soft soap to-day," said Patty +mischievously, as she left the room. "We have enough grease saved +up. We don't really need it yet, but it makes such a disgusting +smell that I'd rather like father to have it with his dinner. +It's not much of a punishment for our sleepless night." + + + +AUTUMN + + + +XVII + +A BRACE OF LOVERS + +HAYING was over, and the close, sticky dog-days, too, and August +was slipping into September. There had been plenty of rain all +the season and the countryside was looking as fresh and green as +an emerald. The hillsides were already clothed with a verdant +growth of new grass and + + "The red pennons of the cardinal flowers + Hung motionless upon their upright staves." + +How they gleamed in the meadow grasses and along the brooksides +like brilliant flecks of flame, giving a new beauty to the +nosegays that Waitstill carried or sent to Mrs. Boynton every +week. + +To the eye of the casual observer, life in the two little +villages by the river's brink went on as peacefully as ever, but +there were subtle changes taking place nevertheless. Cephas Cole +had "asked" the second time and again had been refused by Patty, +so that even a very idiot for hopefulness could not urge his +father to put another story on the ell. + +"If it turns out to be Phoebe Day," thought Cephas dolefully, +"two rooms is plenty good enough, an' I shan't block up the door +that leads from the main part, neither, as I thought likely I +should. If so be it's got to be Phoebe, not Patty, I shan't care +whether mother troops out 'n' in or not." And Cephas dealt out +rice and tea and coffee with so languid an air, and made such +frequent mistakes in weighing the sugar, that he drew upon +himself many a sharp rebuke from the Deacon. + +"Of course I'd club him over the head with a salt fish twice a +day under ord'nary circumstances," Cephas confided to his father +with a valiant air that he never wore in Deacon Baxter's +presence; "but I've got a reason, known to nobody but myself, for +wantin' to stan' well with the old man for a spell longer. If +ever I quit wantin' to stan' well with him, he'll get his +comeuppance, short an sudden!" + +"Speakin' o' standin' well with folks, Phil Perry's kind o' +makin' up to Patience Baxter, ain't he, Cephas?" asked Uncle Bart +guardedly. "Mebbe you wouldn't notice it, hevin' no partic'lar +int'rest, but your mother's kind o got the idee into her head +lately, an' she's turrible far-sighted." + +"I guess it's so!" Cephas responded gloomily. "It's nip an' tuck +'tween him an' Mark Wilson. + +That girl draws 'em as molasses does flies! She does it 'thout +liftin' a finger, too, no more 'n the molasses does. She just +sets still an' IS! An' all the time she's nothin' but a flighty +little red-headed spitfire that don't know a good husband when +she sees one. The feller that gits her will live to regret it, +that's my opinion! "And Cephas thought to himself: "Good Lord, +don't I wish I was regrettin' it this very minute!" + +"I s'pose a girl like Phoebe Day'd be consid'able less trouble to +live with?" ventured Uncle Bart. + +"I never could take any fancy to that tow hair o' hern! I like +the color well enough when I'm peeling it off a corn cob, but I +don't like it on a girl's head," objected Cephas hypercritically. +"An' her eyes hain't got enough blue in 'em to be blue: they're +jest like skim-milk. An' she keeps her mouth open a little mite +all the time, jest as if there wa'n't no good draught through, +an' she was a-tryin' to git air. An' 't was me that begun callin' +her 'Feeble Phoebe in school, an' the scholars'll never forgit +it; they'd throw it up to me the whole 'durin' time if I should +go to work an' keep company with her!" + +"Mebbe they've forgot by this time," Uncle Bart responded +hopefully; "though 't is an awful resk when you think o' +Companion Pike! Samuel he was baptized and Samuel he continued to +be, "till he married the Widder Bixby from Waterboro. Bein' as +how there wa'n't nothin' partic'ly attractive 'bout him,--though +he was as nice a feller as ever lived,--somebody asked her why +she married him, an' she said her cat hed jest died an' she +wanted a companion. The boys never let go o' that story! Samuel +Pike he ceased to be thirty year ago, an' Companion Pike he's +remained up to this instant minute!" + +"He ain't lived up to his name much," remarked Cephas. "He's to +home for his meals, but I guess his wife never sees him between +times." + +"If the cat hed lived mebbe she'd 'a' been better comp'ny on the +whole," chuckled Uncle Bart. "Companion was allers kind o' dreamy +an' absent-minded from a boy. I remember askin' him what his +wife's Christian name was (she bein' a stranger to Riverboro) an' +he said he didn't know! Said he called her Mis' Bixby afore he +married her an' Mis' Pike afterwards!" + +"Well, there 's something turrible queer 'bout this marryin' +business," and Cephas drew a sigh from the heels of his boots. +"It seems's if a man hedn't no natcheral drawin' towards a girl +with a good farm 'n' stock that was willin' to have him! Seems +jest as if it set him ag'in' her somehow! And yet, if you've got +to sing out o' the same book with a girl your whole lifetime, it +does seem's if you'd ought to have a kind of a fancy for her at +the start, anyhow!" + +"You may feel dif'rent as time goes on, Cephas, an' come to see +Feeble--I would say Phoebe--as your mother does. 'The best fire +don't flare up the soonest,' you know." But old Uncle Bart saw +that his son's heart was heavy and forbore to press the subject. + +Annabel Franklin had returned to Boston after a month's visit and +to her surprise had returned as disengaged as she came. Mark +Wilson, thoroughly bored by her vacuities of mind, longed now for +more intercourse with Patty Baxter, Patty, so gay and unexpected; +so lively to talk with, so piquing to the fancy, so skittish and +difficult to manage, so temptingly pretty, with a beauty all her +own, and never two days alike. + +There were many lions in the way and these only added to the zest +of pursuit. With all the other girls of the village opportunities +multiplied, but he could scarcely get ten minutes alone with +Patty. The Deacon's orders were absolute in regard to young men. +His daughters were never to drive or walk alone with them, never +go to dances or "routs" of any sort, and never receive them at +the house; this last mandate being quite unnecessary, as no youth +in his right mind would have gone a-courtin' under the Deacon's +forbidding gaze. And still there were sudden, delicious chances +to be seized now and then if one had his eyes open and his wits +about him. There was the walk to or from the singing-school, when +a sentimental couple could drop a few feet, at least, behind the +rest and exchange a word or two in comparative privacy; there +were the church "circles" and prayer-meetings, and the intervals +between Sunday services when Mark could detach Patty a moment +from the group on the meeting-house steps. More valuable than all +these, a complete schedule of Patty's various movements here and +there, together with a profound study of Deacon Baxter's habits, +which were ordinarily as punctual as they were disagreeable, +permitted Mark many stolen interviews, as sweet as they were +brief. There was never a second kiss, however, in these casual +meetings and partings. The first, in springtime, had found Patty +a child, surprised, unprepared. She was a woman now; for it does +not take years to achieve that miracle; months will do it, or +days, or even hours. Her summer's experience with Cephas Cole had +wonderfully broadened her powers, giving her an assurance sadly +lacking before, as well as a knowledge of detail, a certain +finished skill in the management of a lover, which she could ably +use on any one who happened to come along. And, at the moment, +any one who happened to come along served the purpose admirably, +Philip Perry as well as Marquis Wilson. + +Young Perry's interest in Patty, as we have seen, began with his +alienation from Ellen Wilson, the first object of his affections, +and it was not at the outset at all of a sentimental nature. +Philip was a pillar of the church, and Ellen had proved so +entirely lacking in the religious sense, so self-satisfied as to +her standing with the heavenly powers, that Philip dared not +expose himself longer to her society, lest he find himself +"unequally yoked together with an unbeliever," thus defying the +scriptural admonition as to marriage. + +Patty, though somewhat lacking in the qualities that go to the +making of trustworthy saints, was not, like Ellen, wholly given +over to the fleshpots and would prove a valuable convert, Philip +thought; one who would reflect great credit upon him if he +succeeded in inducing her to subscribe to the stern creed of the +day. + +Philip was a very strenuous and slightly gloomy believer, +dwelling considerably on the wrath of God and the doctrine of +eternal punishment. There was an old "pennyroyal" hymn much in +use which describes the general tenor of his meditation:-- + + "My thoughts on awful subjects roll, + Damnation and the dead. + What horrors seize the guilty soul + Upon a dying bed." + +(No wonder that Jacob Cochrane's lively songs, cheerful, hopeful, +militant, and bracing, fell with a pleasing sound upon the ear of +the believer of that epoch.) The love of God had, indeed, entered +Philip's soul, but in some mysterious way had been ossified after +it got there. He had intensely black hair, dark skin, and a liver +that disposed him constitutionally to an ardent belief in the +necessity of hell for most of his neighbors, and the hope of +spending his own glorious immortality in a small, properly +restricted, and prudently managed heaven. He was eloquent at +prayer-meeting and Patty's only objection to him there was in his +disposition to allude to himself as a "rebel worm," with frequent +references to his "vile body." Otherwise, and when not engaged in +theological discussion, Patty liked Philip very much. His own +father, although an orthodox member of the fold in good and +regular standing, had "doctored" Phil conscientiously for his +liver from his youth up, hoping in time to incite in him a +sunnier view of life, for the doctor was somewhat skilled in +adapting his remedies to spiritual maladies. Jed Morrill had +always said that when old Mrs. Buxton, the champion convert of +Jacob Cochrane, was at her worst,--keeping her whole family awake +nights by her hysterical fears for their future,--Dr. Perry had +given her a twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic, five times a day +until she had entire mental relief and her anxiety concerning the +salvation of her husband and children was set completely at rest. + +The good doctor noted with secret pleasure his son's growing +fondness for the society of his prime favorite, Miss Patience +Baxter. "He'll begin by trying to save her soul," he thought; +"Phil always begins that way, but when Patty gets him in hand +he'll remember the existence of his heart, an organ he has never +taken into consideration. A love affair with a pretty girl, good +but not too pious, will help Phil considerable, however it turns +out." + +There is no doubt but that Phil was taking his chances and that +under Patty's tutelage he was growing mellower. As for Patty, she +was only amusing herself, and frisking, like a young lamb, in +pastures where she had never strayed before. Her fancy flew from +Mark to Phil and from Phil back to Mark again, for at the moment +she was just a vessel of emotion, ready to empty herself on she +knew not what. Temperamentally, she would take advantage of +currents rather than steer at any time, and it would be the +strongest current that would finally bear her away. Her idea had +always been that she could play with fire without burning her own +fingers, and that the flames she kindled were so innocent and +mild that no one could be harmed by them. She had fancied, up to +now, that she could control, urge on, or cool down a man's +feeling forever and a day, if she chose, and remain mistress of +the situation. Now, after some weeks of weighing and balancing +her two swains, she found herself confronting a choice, once and +for all. Each of them seemed to be approaching the state of mind +where he was likely to say, somewhat violently: "Take me or leave +me, one or the other!" But she did not wish to take them, and +still less did she wish to leave them, with no other lover in +sight but Cephas Cole, who was almost, though not quite, worse +than none. + +If matters, by lack of masculine patience and self-control, did +come to a crisis, what should she say definitely to either of her +suitors? Her father despised Mark Wilson a trifle more than any +young man on the river, and while he could have no objection to +Phil Perry's character or position in the world, his hatred of +old Dr. Perry amounted to a disease. When the doctor had closed +the eyes of the third Mrs. Baxter, he had made some plain and +unwelcome statements that would rankle in the Deacon's breast as +long as he lived. Patty knew, therefore, that the chance of her +father's blessing falling upon her union with either of her +present lovers was more than uncertain, and of what use was an +engagement, if there could not be a marriage? + +If Patty's mind inclined to a somewhat speedy departure from her +father's household, she can hardly be blamed, but she felt that +she could not carry any of her indecisions and fears to her +sister for settlement. Who could look in Waitstill's clear, +steadfast eyes and say: "I can't make up my mind which to marry"? +Not Patty. She felt, instinctively, that Waitstill's heart, if it +moved at all, would rush out like a great river to lose itself in +the ocean, and losing itself forget the narrow banks through +which it had flowed before. Patty knew that her own love was at +the moment nothing more than the note of a child's penny flute, +and that Waitstill was perhaps vibrating secretly with a deeper, +richer music than could ever come to her. Still, music of some +sort she meant to feel. "Even if they make me decide one way or +another before I am ready," she said to herself, "I'll never say +'yes' till I'm more in love than I am now!" + +There were other reasons why she did not want to ask Waitstill's +advice. Not only did she shrink from the loving scrutiny of her +sister's eyes, and the gentle probing of her questions, which +would fix her own motives on a pin-point and hold them up +unbecomingly to the light; but she had a foolish, generous +loyalty that urged her to keep Waitstill quite aloof from her own +little private perplexities. + +"She will only worry herself sick," thought Patty. "She won't let +me marry without asking father's permission, and she'd think she +ought not to aid me in deceiving him, and the tempest would be +twice as dreadful if it fell upon us both! Now, if anything +happens, I can tell father that I did it all myself and that +Waitstill knew nothing about it whatever. Then, oh, joy! if +father is too terrible, I shall be a married woman and I can +always say: 'I will not permit such cruelty! Waitstill is +dependent upon you no longer, she shall come at once to my +husband and me! + +This latter phrase almost intoxicated Patty, so that there were +moments when she could have run up to Milliken's Mills and +purchased herself a husband at any cost, had her slender savinges +permitted the best in the market; and the more impersonal the +husband the more delightedly Patty rolled the phrase under her +tongue. + +"I can never be 'published' in church," she thought, "and perhaps +nobody will ever care enough about me to brave father's +displeasure and insist on running away with me. I do wish +somebody would care 'frightfully' about me, enough for that; +enough to help me make up my mind; so that I could just drive up +to father's store some day and say: 'Good afternoon, father! I +knew you'd never let me marry--'" (there was always a dash here, +in Patty's imaginary discourses, a dash that could be filled in +with any Christian name according to her mood of the moment)"'so +I just married him anyway; and you needn't be angry with my +sister, for she knew nothing about it. My husband and I are sorry +if you are displeased, but there's no help for it; and my +husband's home will always be open to Waitstill, whatever +happens.'" + +Patty, with all her latent love of finery and ease, did not weigh +the worldly circumstances of the two men, though the reflection +that she would have more amusement with Mark than with Philip may +have crossed her mind. She trusted Philip, and respected his +steady-going, serious view of life; it pleased her vanity, too, +to feel how her nonsense and fun lightened his temperamental +gravity, playing in and out and over it like a butterfly in a +smoke bush. She would be safe with Philip always, but safety had +no special charm for one of her age, who had never been in peril. +Mark's superior knowledge of the world, moreover, his careless, +buoyant manner of carrying himself, his gay, boyish audacity, all +had a very distinct charm for her;--and yet-- + +But there would be no "and yet" a little later. Patty's heart +would blaze quickly enough when sufficient heat was applied to +it, and Mark was falling more and more deeply in love every day. +As Patty vacillated, his purpose strengthened; the more she +weighed, the more he ceased to weigh, the difficulties of the +situation; the more she unfolded herself to him, the more he +loved and the more he respected her. She began by delighting his +senses; she ended by winning all that there was in him, and +creating continually the qualities he lacked, after the manner of +true women even when they are very young and foolish. + + + +XVIII + +A STATE O' MAINE PROPHET + +SUMMER was dying hard, for although it had passed, by the +calendar, Mother Nature was still keeping up her customary +attitude. + +There had been a soft rain in the night and every spear of grass +was brilliantly green and tipped with crystal. The smoke bushes +in the garden plot, and the asparagus bed beyond them, looked +misty as the sun rose higher, drying the soaked earth and +dripping branches. Spiders' webs, marvels of lace, dotted the +short grass under the apple trees. Every flower that had a +fragrance was pouring it gratefully into the air; every bird with +a joyous note in its voice gave it more joyously from a bursting +throat; and the river laughed and rippled in the distance at the +foot of Town House Hill. Then dawn grew into full morning and +streams of blue smoke rose here and there from the Edgewood +chimneys. The world was alive, and so beautiful that Waitstill +felt like going down on her knees in gratitude for having been +born into it and given a chance of serving it in any humble way +whatsoever. + +Wherever there was a barn, in Riverboro or Edgewood, one could +have heard the three-legged stools being lifted from the pegs, +and then would begin the music of the milk-pails; first the +resonant sound of the stream on the bottom of the tin pail, then +the soft delicious purring of the cascade into the full bucket, +while the cows serenely chewed their cuds and whisked away the +flies with swinging tails. +Deacon Baxter was taking his cows to a pasture far over the hill, +the feed having grown too short in his own fields. Patty was +washing dishes in the kitchen and Waitstill was in the +dairy-house at the butter-making, one of her chief delights. She +worked with speed and with beautiful sureness, patting, +squeezing, rolling the golden mass, like the true artist she was, +then turning the sweet-scented waxen balls out of the mould on to +the big stone-china platter that stood waiting. She had been up +early and for the last hour she had toiled with devouring +eagerness that she might have a little time to herself. It was +hers now, for Patty would be busy with the beds after she +finished the dishes, so she drew a folded paper from her pocket, +the first communication she had ever received in Ivory's +handwriting, and sat down to read it. + + +MY DEAR WAITSTILL:-- + +Rodman will take this packet and leave it with you when he finds +opportunity. It is not in any real sense a letter, so I am in no +danger of incurring your father's displeasure. You will probably +have heard new rumors concerning my father during the past few +days, for Peter Morrill has been to Enfield, New Hampshire, where +he says letters have been received stating that my father died in +Cortland, Ohio, more than five years ago. I shall do what I can +to substantiate this fresh report as I have always done with all +the previous ones, but I have little hope of securing reliable +information at this distance, and after this length of time. I do +not know when I can ever start on a personal quest myself, for +even had I the money I could not leave home until Rodman is much +older, and fitted for greater responsibility. Oh! Waitstill, how +you have helped my poor, dear mother! Would that I were free to +tell you how I value your friendship! It is something more than +mere friendship! What you are doing is like throwing a life-line +to a sinking human being. Two or three times, of late, mother has +forgotten to set out the supper things for my father. Her ten +years' incessant waiting for him seems to have subsided a little, +and in its place she watches for you. [Ivory had written "watches +for her daughter" but carefully erased the last two words.] You +come but seldom, but her heart feeds on the sight of you. What +she needed, it seems, was the magical touch of youth and health +and strength and sympathy, the qualities you possess in such +great measure. + +If I had proof of my father's death I think now, perhaps, that I +might try to break it gently to my mother, as if it were fresh +news, and see if possibly I might thus remove her principal +hallucination. You see now, do you not, how sane she is in many, +indeed in most ways,--how sweet and lovable, even how sensible? + +To help you better to understand the influence that has robbed me +of both father and mother and made me and mine the subject of +town and tavern gossip for years past, I have written for you +just a sketch of the "Cochrane craze"; the romantic story of a +man who swayed the wills of his fellow-creatures in a truly +marvellous manner. Some local historian of his time will +doubtless give him more space; my wish is to have you know +something more of the circumstances that have made me a prisoner +in life instead of a free man; but prisoner as I am at the +moment, I am sustained just now by a new courage. I read in my +copy of Ovid last night: "The best of weapons is the undaunted +heart." This will help you, too, in your hard life, for yours is +the most undaunted heart in all the world. + + IVORY BOYNTON + + +The chronicle of Jacob Cochrane's career in the little villages +near the Saco River has no such interest for the general reader +as it had for Waitstill Baxter. She hung upon every word that +Ivory had written and realized more clearly than ever before the +shadow that had followed him since early boyhood; the same shadow +that had fallen across his mother's mind and left, continual +twilight there. + +No one really knew, it seemed, why or from whence Jacob Cochrane +had come to Edgewood. He simply appeared at the old tavern, a +stranger, with satchel in hand, to seek entertainment. Uncle Bart +had often described this scene to Waitstill, for he was one of +those sitting about the great open fire at the time. The man +easily slipped into the group and soon took the lead in +conversation, delighting all with his agreeable personality, his +nimble tongue and graceful speech. At supper-time the hostess and +the rest of the family took their places at the long table, as +was the custom, and he astonished them by his knowledge not only +of town history, but of village matters they had supposed unknown +to any one. + +When the stranger had finished his supper and returned to the +bar-room, he had to pass through a long entry, and the landlady, +whispering to her daughter, said:-- + +"Betsy, you go up to the chamber closet and get the silver and +bring it down. This man is going to sleep there and I am afraid +of him. He must be a fortune-teller, and the Lord only knows what +else!" + +In going to the chamber the daughter had to pass through the +bar-room. As she was moving quietly through, hoping to escape the +notice of the newcomer, he turned in his chair, and looking her +full in the face, suddenly said:-- + +"Madam, you needn't touch your silver. I don't want it. I am a +gentleman." + +Whereupon the bewildered Betsy scuttled back to her mother and +told her the strange guest was indeed a fortune-teller. + +Of Cochrane's initial appearance as a preacher Ivory had told +Waitstill in their talk in the churchyard early in the summer. It +was at a child's funeral that the new prophet created his first +sensation and there, too, that Aaron and Lois Boynton first came +under his spell. The whole countryside had been just then wrought +up to a state of religious excitement by revival meetings and +Cochrane gained the benefit of this definite preparation for his +work. He claimed that all his sayings were from divine +inspiration and that those who embraced his doctrine received +direct communication from the Almighty. He disdained formal +creeds and all manner of church organizations, declaring +sectarian names to be marks of the beast and all church members +to be in Babylon. He introduced re-baptism as a symbolic +cleansing from sectarian stains, and after some months advanced a +proposition that his flock hold all things in common. He put a +sudden end to the solemn "deaconing-out" and droning of psalm +tunes and grafted on to his form of worship lively singing and +marching accompanied by clapping of hands and whirling in +circles; during the progress of which the most hysterical +converts, or the most fully Cochranized," would swoon upon the +floor; or, in obeying their leader's instructions to "become as +little children," would sometimes go through the most +extraordinary and unmeaning antics. + +It was not until he had converted hundreds to the new faith that +he added more startling revelations to his gospel. He was in turn +bold, mystical, eloquent, audacious, persuasive, autocratic; and +even when his self-styled communications from the Almighty" +controverted all that his hearers had formerly held to be right, +he still magnetized or hypnotized them into an unwilling assent +to his beliefs. There was finally a proclamation to the effect +that marriage vows were to be annulled when advisable and that +complete spiritual liberty was to follow; a liberty in which a +new affinity might be sought, and a spiritual union begun upon +earth, a union as nearly approximate to God's standards as faulty +human beings could manage to attain. + +Some of the faithful fell away at this time, being unable to +accept the full doctrine, but retained their faith in Cochrane's +original power to convert sinners and save them from the wrath of +God. Storm-clouds began to gather in the sky however, as the +delusion spread, month by month and local ministers everywhere +sought to minimize the influence of the dangerous orator, who +rose superior to every attack and carried himself like some +magnificent martyr-at-will among the crowds that now criticized +him here or there in private and in public. + +"What a picture of splendid audacity he must have been," wrote +Ivory, "when he entered the orthodox meeting-house at a huge +gathering where he knew that the speakers were to denounce his +teachings. Old Parson Buzzell gave out his text from the high +pulpit: Mark XIII, 37, 'AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, +WATCH!' Just here Cochrane stepped in at the open door of the +church and heard the warning, meant, he knew, for himself, and +seizing the moment of silence following the reading of the text, +he cried in his splendid sonorous voice, without so much as +stirring from his place within the door-frame: "'Behold I stand +at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice I will come in to +him and will sup with him,--I come to preach the everlasting +gospel to every one that heareth, and all that I want here is my +bigness on the floor.'" + +"I cannot find," continued Ivory on another page, "that my father +or mother ever engaged in any of the foolish and childish +practices which disgraced the meetings of some of Cochrane's most +fanatical followers and converts. By my mother's conversations +(some of which I have repeated to you, but which may be full of +errors, because of her confusion of mind), I believe she must +have had a difference of opinion with my father on some of these +views, but I have no means of knowing this to a certainty; nor do +I know that the question of choosing spiritual consorts' ever +came between or divided them. This part of the delusion always +fills me with such unspeakable disgust that I have never liked to +seek additional light from any of the older men and women who +might revel in giving it. That my mother did not sympathize with +my father's going out to preach Cochrane's gospel through the +country, this I know, and she was so truly religious, so burning +with zeal, that had she fully believed in my father's mission she +would have spurred him on, instead of endeavoring to detain him." + +"You know the retribution that overtook Cochrane at last," wrote +Ivory again, when he had shown the man's early victories and his +enormous influence. "There began to be indignant protests against +his doctrines by lawyers and doctors, as well as by ministers; +not from all sides however; for remember, in extenuation of my +father's and my mother's espousal of this strange belief, that +many of the strongest and wisest men, as well as the purest and +finest women in York county came under this man's spell for a +time and believed in him implicitly, some of them even unto the +end. + +"Finally there was Cochrane's arrest and examination, the order +for him to appear at the Supreme Court, his failure to do so, his +recapture and trial, and his sentence of four years imprisonment +on several counts, in all of which he was proved guilty. Cochrane +had all along said that the Anointed of the Lord would never be +allowed to remain in jail, but he was mistaken, for he stayed in +the State's Prison at Charlestown, Massachusetts, for the full +duration of his sentence. Here (I am again trying to plead the +cause of my father and mother), here he received much sympathy +and some few visitors, one of whom walked all the way from +Edgewood to Boston, a hundred and fifteen miles, with a petition +for pardon, a petition which was delivered, and refused, at the +Boston State House. Cochrane issued from prison a broken and +humiliated man, but if report says true, is still living, far out +of sight and knowledge, somewhere in New Hampshire. He once sent +my father an epitaph of his own selection, asking him to have it +carved upon his gravestone should he die suddenly when away from +his friends. My mother often repeats it, not realizing how far +from the point it sounds to us who never knew him in his glory, +but only in his downfall. + + "'He spread his arms full wide abroad + His works are ever before his God, + His name on earth shall long remain, + Through envious sinners fret in vain.'" + +"We are certain," concluded Ivory, "that my father preached with +Cochrane in Limington, Limerick, and Parsonsfield; he also wrote +from Enfield and Effingham in New Hampshire; after that, all is +silence. Various reports place him in Boston, in New York, even +as far west as Ohio, whether as Cochranite evangelist or what +not, alas! we can never know. I despair of ever tracing his +steps. I only hope that he died before he wandered too widely, +either from his belief in God or his fidelity to my mother's +long-suffering love." + +Waitstill read the letter twice through and replaced it in her +dress to read again at night. It seemed the only tangible +evidence of Ivory's love that she had ever received and she +warmed her heart with what she felt that he had put between the +lines. + +"Would that I were free to tell you how I value your friendship!" +"My mother's heart feeds on the sight of you!" "I want you to +know something of the circumstances that have made me a prisoner +in life, instead of a free man." "Yours is the most undaunted +heart in all the world!" These sentences Waitstill rehearsed +again and again and they rang in her ears like music, converting +all the tasks of her long day into a deep and silent joy. + + + +XIX + +AT THE BRICK STORE + +THERE were two grand places for gossip in the community; the old +tavern on the Edgewood side of the bridge and the brick store in +Riverboro. The company at the Edgewood Tavern would be a trifle +different in character, more picturesque, imposing, and eclectic +because of the transient guests that gave it change and variety. +Here might be found a judge or lawyer on his way to court; a +sheriff with a handcuffed prisoner; a farmer or two, stopping on +the road to market with a cartful of produce; and an occasional +teamster, peddler, and stage-driver. On winter nights champion +story-tellers like Jed Morrill and Rish Bixby would drop in there +and hang their woollen neck-comforters on the pegs along the +wall-side, where there were already hats, topcoats, and fur +mufflers, as well as stacks of whips, canes, and ox-goads +standing in the corners. They would then enter the room, rubbing +their hands genially, and, nodding to Companion Pike, Cephas +Cole, Phil Perry and others, ensconce themselves snugly in the +group by the great open fireplace. The landlord was always glad +to see them enter, for their stories, though old to him, were new +to many of the assembled company and had a remarkable greet on +the consumption of liquid refreshment. + +On summer evenings gossip was languid in the village, and if any +occurred at all it would be on the loafer's bench at one or the +other side of the bridge. When cooler weather came the group of +local wits gathered in Riverboro, either at Uncle Bart's joiner's +shop or at the brick store, according to fancy. The latter place +was perhaps the favorite for Riverboro talkers. It was a large, +two-story, square, brick building with a big-mouthed chimney and +an open fire. When every house in the two villages had six feet +of snow around it, roads would always be broken to the brick +store, and a crowd of ten or fifteen men would be gathered there +talking, listening, betting, smoking, chewing, bragging, playing +checkers, singing, and "swapping stories." + +Some of the men had been through the War of 1812 and could +display wounds received on the field of valor; others were still +prouder of scars won in encounters with the Indians, and there +was one old codger, a Revolutionary veteran, Bill Dunham by name, +who would add bloody tales of his encounters with the "Husshons." +His courage had been so extraordinary and his slaughter so +colossal that his hearers marvelled that there was a Hessian left +to tell his side of the story, and Bill himself doubted if such +were the case. + +"'T is an awful sin to have on your soul," Bill would say from +his place in a dark corner, where he would sit with his hat +pulled down over his eyes till the psychological moment came for +the "Husshons" to be trotted out. "'T is an awful sin to have on +your soul,--the extummination of a race o' men; even if they +wa'n't nothin' more 'n so many ignorant cockroaches. Them was the +great days for fightin'! The Husshons was the biggest men I ever +seen on the field, most of 'em standin' six feet eight in their +stockin's,--but Lord! how we walloped 'em! Once we had a cannon +mounted an' loaded for 'em that was so large we had to draw the +ball into it with a yoke of oxen!" + +Bill paused from force of habit, just as he had paused for the +last twenty years. There had been times when roars of incredulous +laughter had greeted this boast, but most of this particular +group had heard the yarn more than once and let it pass with a +smile and a wink, remembering the night that Abel Day had asked +old Bill how they got the oxen out of the cannon on that most +memorable occasion. + +"Oh!" said Bill, "that was easy enough; we jest unyoked 'em an' +turned 'em out o' the primin'-hole!" + +It was only early October, but there had been a killing frost, +and Ezra Simms, who kept the brick store, flung some shavings and +small wood on the hearth and lighted a blaze, just to induce a +little trade and start conversation on what threatened to be a +dull evening. Peter Morrill, Jed's eldest brother, had lately +returned from a long trip through the state and into New +Hampshire, and his adventures by field and flood were always +worth listening to. He went about the country mending clocks, and +many an old time-piece still bears his name, with the date of +repairing, written in pencil on the inside of its door. + +There was never any lack of subjects at the brick store, the +idiosyncrasies of the neighbors being the most prolific source of +anecdote and comment. Of scandal about women there was little, +though there would be occasional harmless pleasantries concerning +village love affairs; prophecies of what couple would be next +"published" in the black-walnut frame up at the meeting-house; a +genial comment on the number and chances of Patience Baxter's +various beaux; and whenever all else failed, the latest story of +Deacon Baxter's parsimony, in which the village traced the +influence of heredity. + +"He can't hardly help it, inheritin' it on both sides," was Abel +Day's opinion. "The Baxters was allers snug, from time 'memorial, +and Foxy's the snuggest of 'em. When I look at his ugly mug an' +hear his snarlin' voice, I thinks to myself, he's goin' the same +way his father did. When old Levi Baxter was left a widder-man in +that house o' his'n up river, he grew wuss an' wuss, if you +remember, till he wa'n't hardly human at the last; and I don't +believe Foxy even went up to his own father's funeral." + +"'T would 'a' served old Levi right if nobody else had gone," +said Rish Bixby. "When his wife died he refused to come into the +house till the last minute. He stayed to work in the barn until +all the folks had assembled, and even the men were all settin' +down on benches in the kitchen. The parson sent me out for him, +and I'm blest if the old skunk didn't come in through the crowd +with his sleeves rolled up,--went to the sink and washed, and +then set down in the room where the coffin was, as cool as a +cowcumber." + +"I remember that funeral well," corroborated Abel Day. "An' Mis' +Day heerd Levi say to his daughter, as soon as they'd put poor +old Mrs. Baxter int' the grave: 'Come on, Marthy; there 's no use +cryin' over spilt milk; we'd better go home an' husk out the rest +o' that corn.' Old Foxy could have inherited plenty o' meanness +from his father, that's certain, an' he's added to his +inheritance right along, like the thrifty man he is. I hate to +think o' them two fine girls wearin' their fingers to the bone +for his benefit." + +"Oh, well! 't won't last forever," said Rish Bixby. "They're the +handsomest couple o' girls on the river an' they'll get husbands +afore many years. Patience'll have one pretty soon, by the looks. +She never budges an inch but Mark Wilson or Phil Perry are +follerin' behind, with Cephas Cole watchin' his chance right +along, too. Waitstill don't seem to have no beaux; what with +flyin' around to keep up with the Deacon, an' bein' a mother to +Patience, her hands is full, I guess." + +"If things was a little mite dif'rent all round, I could +prognosticate who Waitstill could keep house for," was Peter +Morrill's opinion. + +"You mean Ivory Boynton? Well, if the Deacon was asked he'd never +give his consent, that's certain; an' Ivory ain't in no position +to keep a wife anyways. What was it you heerd 'bout Aaron Boynton +up to New Hampshire, Peter?" asked Abel Day. + +"Consid'able, one way an' another; an' none of it would 'a' been +any comfort to Ivory. I guess Aaron 'n' Jake Cochrane was both of +'em more interested in savin' the sisters' souls than the +brothers'! Aaron was a fine-appearin' man, and so was Jake for +that matter, 'n' they both had the gift o' gab. There's nothin' +like a limber tongue if you want to please the women-folks! If +report says true, Aaron died of a fever out in Ohio somewheres; +Cortland's the place, I b'lieve. Seems's if he hid his trail all +the way from New Hampshire somehow, for as a usual thing, a man +o' book-larnin' like him would be remembered wherever he went. +Wouldn't you call Aaron Boynton a turrible larned man, Timothy?" + +Timothy Grant, the parish clerk, had just entered the store on an +errand, but being directly addressed, and judging that the +subject under discussion was a discreet one, and that it was too +early in the evening for drinking to begin, he joined the group +by the fireside. He had preached in Vermont for several years as +an itinerant Methodist minister before settling down to farming +in Edgewood, only giving up his profession because his quiver was +so full of little Grants that a wandering life was difficult and +undesirable. When Uncle Bart Cole had remarked that Mis' Grant +had a little of everything in the way of baby-stock now,--black, +red, an' yaller-haired, dark and light complected, fat an' lean, +tall an' short, twins an' singles,--Jed Morrill had observed +dryly: "Yes, Mis' Grant kind o' reminds me of charity." + +"How's that?" inquired Uncle Bart. + +"She beareth all things," chuckled Jed. + +"Aaron Boynton was, indeed, a man of most adhesive larnin'," +agreed Timothy, who had the reputation of the largest and most +unusual vocabulary in Edgewood. "Next to Jacob Cochrane I should +say Aaron had more grandeloquence as an orator than any man +we've ever had in these parts. It don't seem's if Ivory was goin' +to take after his father that way. The little feller, now, is +smart's a whip, an' could talk the tail off a brass monkey." + +"Yes, but Rodman ain't no kin to the Boyntons," Abel reminded +him. "He inhails from the other side o' the house." + +"That's so; well, Ivory does, for certain, an' takes after his +mother, right enough, for she hain't spoken a dozen words in as +many years, I guess. Ivory's got a sight o' book-knowledge, +though, an' they do say he could talk Greek an' Latin both, if we +had any of 'em in the community to converse with. I've never paid +no intention to the dead languages, bein' so ocker-pied with +other studies." + +"Why do they call 'em the dead languages, Tim?" asked Rish Bixby. + +"Because all them that ever spoke 'em has perished off the face +o' the land," Timothy answered oracularly. "Dead an' gone they +be, lock, stock, an' barrel; yet there was a time when Latins an' +Crustaceans an' Hebrews an' Prooshians an' Australians an' +Simesians was chatterin' away in their own tongues, an' so +pow'ful that they was wallopin' the whole earth, you might say." + +"I bet yer they never tried to wallop these here United States," +interpolated Bill Dunham from the dark corner by the molasses +hogs-head. + +"Is Ivory in here?" The door opened and Rodman Boynton appeared +on the threshold. + +"No, sonny, Ivory ain't been in this evening replied Ezra Simms. +"I hope there ain't nothin' the matter over to your house?" + +"No, nothing particular," the boy answered hesitatingly; "only +Aunt Boynton don't seem so well as common and I can't find Ivory +anywhere." + +"Come along with me; I'll help you look for him an' then I'll go +as fur as the lane with yer if we don't find him." And kindly +Rish Bixby took the boy's hand and left the store. + +"Mis' Boynton had a spell, I guess!" suggested the storekeeper, +peering through the door into the darkness. "'T ain't like Ivory +to be out nights and leave her to Rod." + +"She don't have no spells," said Abel Day. "Uncle Bart sees +consid'able of Ivory an' he says his mother is as quiet as a +lamb.--Couldn't you git no kind of a certif'cate of Aaron's death +out o' that Enfield feller, Peter? Seems's if that poor woman'd +oughter be stopped watchin' for a dead man; tuckerin' herself all +out, an' keepin' Ivory an' the boy all nerved up." + +"I've told Ivory everything I could gether up in the way of +information, and give him the names of the folks in Ohio that had +writ back to New Hampshire. I didn't dialate on Aaron's goin's-on +in Effingham an' Portsmouth, cause I dassay 't was nothin' but +scandal. Them as hates the Cochranites'll never allow there's any +good in 'em, whereas I've met some as is servin' the Lord good +an' constant, an' indulgin' in no kind of foolishness an' +deviltry whatsoever." + +"Speakin' o' Husshons," said Bill Dunham from his corner, "I +remember--" + +"We wa'n't alludin' to no Husshons," retorted Timothy Grant. "We +was dealin' with the misfortunes of Aaron Boynton, who never fit +valoriously on the field o' battle, but perished out in Ohio of +scarlit fever, if what they say in Enfield is true." + +"Tis an easy death," remarked Bill argumentatively. "Scarlit +fever don't seem like nothin' to me! Many's the time I've been +close enough to fire at the eyeball of a Husshon, an' run the +resk o' bein' blown to smithereens!--calm and cool I alters was, +too! Scarlit fever is an easy death from a warrior's p'int o' +view!" + +"Speakin' of easy death," continued Timothy, "you know I'm a +great one for words, bein' something of a scholard in my small +way. Mebbe you noticed that Elder Boone used a strange word in +his sermon last Sunday? Now an' then, when there's too many +yawnin' to once in the congregation, Parson'll out with a reg'lar +jaw-breaker to wake 'em up. The word as near as I could ketch it +was 'youthinasia.' I kep' holt of it till noontime an' then I run +home an' looked through all the y's in the dictionary without +findin' it. Mebbe it's Hebrew, I thinks, for Hebrew's like his +mother's tongue to Parson, so I went right up to him at afternoon +meetin' an' says to him: 'What's the exact meanin' of +"youthinasia"? There ain't no sech word in the Y's in my +Webster,' says I. 'Look in the E's, Timothy; "euthanasia"' says +he, 'means easy death'; an' now, don't it beat all that Bill +Dunham should have brought that expression of 'easy death' into +this evenin's talk?" + +"I know youth an' I know Ashy," said Abel Day, "but blessed if I +know why they should mean easy death when they yoke 'em +together." +"That's because you ain't never paid no 'tention to entomology," +said Timothy. "Aaron Boynton was master o' more 'ologies than you +could shake a stick at, but he used to say I beat him on +entomology. Words air cur'ous things sometimes, as I know, hevin' +had consid'able leisure time to read when I was joggin' 'bout the +country an' bein' brought into contack with men o' learnin'. The +way I worked it out, not wishin' to ask Parson any more +questions, bein' something of a scholard myself, is this: The +youth in Ashy is a peculiar kind o' youth, 'n' their religion +disposes 'em to lay no kind o' stress on huming life. When +anything goes wrong with 'em an' they get a set-back in war, or +business, or affairs with women-folks, they want to die right +off; so they take a sword an' stan' it straight up wherever they +happen to be, in the shed or the barn, or the henhouse, an' they +p'int the sharp end right to their waist-line, where the bowels +an' other vital organisms is lowcated; an' then they fall on to +it. It runs 'em right through to the back an' kills 'em like a +shot, and that's the way I cal'late the youth in Ashy dies, if my +entomology is correct, as it gen'ally is." + +"Don't seem an easy death to me," argued Okra, "but I ain't no +scholard. What college did thou attend to, Tim?" + +"I don't hold no diaploma," responded Timothy, "though I attended +to Wareham Academy quite a spell, the same time as your sister +was goin' to Wareham Seminary where eddication is still bein' +disseminated though of an awful poor kind, compared to the old +times." + +"It's live an' larn," said the storekeeper respectfully. "I never +thought of a Seminary bein' a place of dissemination before, but +you can see the two words is near kin." + +"You can't alters tell by the sound," said Timothy instructively. +"Sometimes two words'll start from the same root, an' branch out +diff'rent, like 'critter' an' 'hypocritter.' A 'hypocritter' must +natcherally start by bein' a 'critter,' but a critter ain't +obliged to be a 'hypocritter' 'thout he wants to." + +"I should hope not," interpolated Abel Day, piously. "Entomology +must be an awful interest-in' study, though I never thought of +observin' words myself, kept to avoid vulgar language an' +profanity." + +"Husshon's a cur'ous word for a man," inter-jected Bill Dunham +with a last despairing effort. "I remember seein' a Husshon once +that--" + +"Perhaps you ain't one to observe closely, Abel," said Timothy, +not taking note of any interruption, simply using the time to +direct a stream of tobacco juice to an incredible distance, but +landing it neatly in the exact spot he had intended. "It's a +trade by itself, you might say, observin' is, an' there's another +sing'lar corraption! The Whigs in foreign parts, so they say, +build stone towers to observe the evil machinations of the +Tories, an' so the word 'observatory' come into general use! All +entomology; nothin' but entomology." + +"I don't see where in thunder you picked up so much larnin', +Timothy!" It was Abel Day's exclamation, but every one agreed +with him. + + + +XX + +THE ROD THAT BLOSSOMED + +IVORY BOYNTON had taken the horse and gone to the village on an +errand, a rare thing for him to do after dark, so Rod was +thinking, as he sat in the living-room learning his Sunday-School +lesson on the same evening that the men were gossiping at the +brick store. His aunt had required him, from the time when he was +proficient enough to do so, to read at least a part of a chapter +in the Bible every night. Beginning with Genesis he had reached +Leviticus and had made up his mind that the Bible was a much more +difficult book than "Scottish Chiefs," not withstanding the fact +that Ivory helped him over most of the hard places. At the +present juncture he was vastly interested in the subject of +"rods" as unfolded in the book of Exodus, which was being studied +by his Sunday-School class. What added to the excitement was the +fact that his uncle's Christian name, Aaron, kept appearing in +the chronicle, as frequently as that of the great lawgiver Moses +himself; and there were many verses about the wonder-working rods +of Moses and Aaron that had a strange effect upon the boy's ear, +when he read them aloud, as he loved to do whenever he was left +alone for a time. When his aunt was in the room his instinct kept +him from doing this, for the mere mention of the name of Aaron, +he feared, might sadden his aunt and provoke in her that +dangerous vein of reminiscence that made Ivory so anxious. + +"It kind o' makes me nervous to be named 'Rod,' Aunt Boynton," +said the boy, looking up from the Bible. "All the rods in these +Exodus chapters do such dreadful things! They become serpents, +and one of them swallows up all the others: and Moses smites the +waters with a rod and they become blood, and the people can't +drink the water and the fish die! Then they stretch a rod across +the streams and ponds and bring a plague of frogs over the land, +with swarms of flies and horrible insects." + +"That was to show God's power to Pharaoh, and melt his hard heart +to obedience and reverence," explained Mrs. Boynton, who had +known the Bible from cover to cover in her youth and could still +give chapter and verse for hundreds of her favorite passages. + +"It took an awful lot of melting, Pharaoh's heart!" exclaimed the +boy. "Pharaoh must have been worse than Deacon Baxter! I wonder +if they ever tried to make him good by being kind to him! I've +read and read, but I can't find they used anything on him but +plagues and famines and boils and pestilences and thunder and +hail and fire!--Have I got a middle name, Aunt Boynton, for I +don't like Rod very much?" + +"I never heard that you had a middle name; you must ask Ivory," +said his aunt abstractedly. + +"Did my father name me Rod, or my mother?' + +"I don't really know; perhaps it was your mother, but don't ask +questions, please." + +"I forgot, Aunt Boynton! Yes, I think perhaps my mother named me. +Mothers 'most always name their babies, don't they? My mother +wasn't like you; she looked just like the picture of Pocahontas +in my History. She never knew about these Bible rods, I guess." + +"When you go a little further you will find pleasanter things +about rods," said his aunt, knitting, knitting, intensely, as was +her habit, and talking as if her mind were a thousand miles away. +"You know they were just little branches of trees, and it was +only God's power that made them wonderful in any way." + +"Oh! I thought they were like the singing-teacher's stick he +keeps time with." + +"No; if you look at your Concordance you'll finds it gives you a +chapter in Numbers where there's something beautiful about rods. +I have forgotten the place; it has been many years since I looked +at it. Find it and read it aloud to me." The boy searched his +Concordance and readily found the reference in the seventeenth +chapter of Numbers. + +"Stand near me and read," said Mrs. Boynton. "I like to hear the +Bible read aloud!" + +Rodman took his Bible and read, slowly and haltingly, but with +clearness and understanding: + +1. AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING, + +2. SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND TAKE OF EVERY ONE OF +THEM A ROD ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS, OF ALL THEIR +PRINCES ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS TWELVE RODS: +WRITE THOU EVERY MAN'S NAME UPON HIS ROD. + +Through the boy's mind there darted the flash of a thought, a sad +thought. He himself was a Rod on whom no man's name seemed to be +written, orphan that he was, with no knowledge of his parents! + +Suddenly he hesitated, for he had caught sight of the name of +Aaron in the verse that he was about to read, and did not wish to +pronounce it in his aunt's hearing. + +"This chapter is most too hard for me to read out loud, Aunt +Boynton," he stammered. " Can I study it by myself and read it to +Ivory first?" +"Go on, go on, you read very sweetly; I can not remember what +comes and I wish to hear it." + +The boy continued, but without raising his eyes from the Bible. + +3. AND THOU SHALT WRITE AARON'S NAME UPON THE ROD OF LEVI: FOR +ONE ROD SHALL BE FOR THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS. + +4. AND THOU SHALT LAY THEM UP IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE +CONGREGATION BEFORE THE TESTIMONY, WHERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU. + +5. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT THE MAN'S ROD, WHOM I SHALL +CHOOSE, SHALL BLOSSOM: AND I WILL MAKE TO CEASE FROM ME THE +MURMURINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, WHEREBY THEY MURMUR AGAINST +YOU. + +Rodman had read on, absorbed in the story and the picture it +presented to his imagination. He liked the idea of all the +princes having a rod according to the house of their fathers; he +liked to think of the little branches being laid on the altar in +the tabernacle, and above all he thought of the longing of each +of the princes to have his own rod chosen for the blossoming. + +6. AND MOSES SPOKE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND EVERY ONE OF +THEIR PRINCES GAVE HIM A ROD A PIECE, FOR EACH PRINCE ONE, +ACCORDING TO THEIR FATHER'S HOUSES, EVEN TWELVE RODS; AND THE ROD +OF AARON WAS AMONG THEIR RODS. + +Oh! how the boy hoped that Aaron's branch would be the one chosen +to blossom! He felt that his aunt would be pleased, too; but he +read on steadily, with eyes that glowed and breath that came and +went in a very palpitation of interest. + +7. AND MOSES LAID UP THE RODS BEFORE THE LORD IN THE TABERNACLE +OF WITNESS. + +8. AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT ON THE MORROW MOSES WENT INTO THE +TABERNACLE OF WITNESS; AND, BEHOLD, THE ROD OF AARON WAS BUDDED +AND BROUGHT FORTH BUDS, AND BLOOMED BLOSSOMS, AND YIELDED +ALMONDS. + +It was Aaron's rod, then, and was an almond branch! How +beautiful, for the blossoms would have been pink; and how the +people must have marvelled to see the lovely blooming thing on +the dark altar; first budding, then blossoming, then bearing +nuts! And what was the rod chosen for? He hurried on to the next +verse. + +9. AND MOSES BROUGHT OUT ALL THE RODS FROM BEFORE THE LORD UNTO +ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: AND THEY LOOKED, AND TOOK EVERY MAN +HIS ROD. + +10. AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, BRING AARON'S ROD AGAIN BEFORE +THE TESTIMONY TO BE KEPT FOR A TOKEN AGAINST THE REBELS; AND THOU +SHALT QUITE TAKE AWAY THEIR MURMURINGS FROM ME, THAT THEY DIE +NOT. + +"Oh! Aunt Boynton!" cried the boy, "I love my name after I've +heard about the almond rod! + +Aren't you proud that it's Uncle's name that was written on the +one that blossomed?" + +He turned swiftly to find that his aunt's knitting had slipped on +the floor; her nerveless hands drooped by her side as if there +were no life in them, and her head had fallen against the back of +her chair. The boy was paralyzed with fear at the sight of her +closed eyes and the deathly pallor of her face. He had never seen +her like this before, and Ivory was away. He flew for a bottle of +spirit, always kept in the kitchen cupboard for emergencies, and +throwing wood on the fire in passing, he swung the crane so that +the tea-kettle was over the flame. He knew only the humble +remedies that he had seen used here or there in illness, and +tried them timidly, praying every moment that he might hear +Ivory's step. He warmed a soapstone in the embers, and taking off +Mrs. Boynton's shoes, put it under her cold feet. He chafed her +hands and gently poured a spoonful of brandy between her pale +lips. Then sprinkling camphor on a handkerchief he held it to her +nostrils and to his joy she stirred in her chair; before many +minutes her lids fluttered, her lips moved, and she put her hand +to her heart. + +"Are you better, Aunt dear?" Rod asked in a very wavering and +tearful voice. + +She did not answer; she only opened her eyes and looked at him. +At length she whispered faintly, "I want Ivory; I want my son." + +"He's out, Aunt dear. Shall I help you to bed the way Ivory does? +If you'll let me, then I'll run to the bridge 'cross lots, like +lightning, and bring him back." + +She assented, and leaning heavily on his slender shoulder, walked +feebly into her bedroom off the living-room. Rod was as gentle as +a mother and he was familiar with all the little offices that +could be of any comfort; the soapstone warmed again for her feet, +the bringing of her nightgown from the closet, and when she was +in bed, another spoonful of brandy in hot milk; then the camphor +by her side, an extra homespun blanket over her, and the door +left open so that she could see the open fire that he made into a +cheerful huddles contrived so that it would not snap and throw +out dangerous sparks in his absence. + +All the while he was doing this Mrs. Boynton lay quietly in the +bed talking to herself fitfully, in the faint murmuring tone that +was habitual to her. He could distinguish scarcely anything, only +enough to guess that her mind was still on the Bible story that +he was reading to her when she fainted. "THE ROD OF AARON WAS +AMONG THE OTHER RODS," he heard her say; and, a moment later, +"BRING AARON'S ROD AGAIN BEFORE THE TESTIMONY." + +Was it his uncle's name that had so affected her, wondered the +boy, almost sick with remorse, although he had tried his best to +evade her command to read the chapter aloud? What would Ivory, +his hero, his pattern and example, say? It had always seen Rod's +pride to carry his little share of every burden that fell to +Ivory, to be faithful and helpful in every task given to him. He +could walk through fire without flinching, he thought, if Ivory +told him to, and he only prayed that he might not be held +responsible for this new calamity. + +"I want Ivory!" came in a feeble voice from the bedroom. + +"Does your side ache worse?" Rod asked, tip-toeing to the door. + +"No, I am quite free from pain." + +"Would you be afraid to stay alone just for a while if I lock +both doors and run to find Ivory and bring him back?" + +"No, I will sleep," she whispered, closing her eyes. "Bring him +quickly before I forget what I want to say to him." + +Rod sped down the lane and over the fields to the brick store +where Ivory usually bought his groceries. His cousin was not +there, but one of the men came out and offered to take his horse +and drive over the bridge to see if he were at one of the +neighbors' on that side of the river. Not a word did Rod breathe +of his aunt's illness; he simply said that she was lonesome for +Ivory, and so he came to find him. In five minutes they saw the +Boynton horse hitched to a tree by the road-side, and in a trice +Rod called him and, thanking Mr. Bixby, got into Ivory's wagon to +wait for him. He tried his best to explain the situation as they +drove along, but finally concluded by saying: "Aunt really made +me read the chapter to her, Ivory. I tried not to when I saw +Uncle's name in most every verse, but I couldn't help it." + +"Of course you couldn't! Now you jump out and hitch the horse +while I run in and see that nothing has happened while she's been +left alone. Perhaps you'11 have to go for Dr. Perry." + +Ivory went in with fear and trembling, for there was no sound +save the ticking of the tall clock. The fire burned low upon the +hearth, and the door was open into his mother's room. He lifted a +candle that Rod had left ready on the table and stole softly to +her bedside. She was sleeping like a child, but exhaustion showed +itself in every line of her face. He felt her hands and feet and +found the soapstone in the bed; saw the brandy bottle and the +remains of a cup of milk on the light-stand; noted the +handkerchief, still strong of camphor on the counterpane, and the +blanket spread carefully over her knees, and then turned +approvingly to meet Rod stealing into the room on tiptoe, his +eyes big with fear. + +"We won't wake her, Rod. I'll watch a while, then sleep on the +sitting-room lounge." + +"Let me watch, Ivory! I'd feel better if you'd let me, honest I +would!" + +The boy's face was drawn with anxiety. Ivory's attention was +attracted by the wistful eyes and the beauty of the forehead +under the dark hair. He seemed something more than the child of +yesterday--a care and responsibility and expense, for all his +loving obedience; he seemed all at once different to-night; +older, more dependable, more trustworthy; in fact, a positive +comfort and help in time of trouble. + +"I did the best I knew how; was anything wrong?" asked the boy, +as Ivory stood regarding him with a friendly smile. + +"Nothing wrong, Rod! Dr. Perry couldn't have done any better with +what you had on hand. I don't know how I should get along without +you, boy!" Here Ivory patted Rod's shoulder. "You're not a child +any longer, Rod; you're a man and a brother, that's what you are; +and to prove it I'll take the first watch and call you up at one +o'clock to take the second, so that I can be ready for my school +work to-morrow! How does that suit you?" + +"Tip-top!" said the boy, flushing with pride. "I'll lie down with +my clothes on; it's only nine o'clock and I'll get four hours' +sleep; that's a lot more than Napoleon used to have!" + +He carried the Bible upstairs and just before he blew out his +candle he looked again at the chapter in Numbers, thinking he +would show it to Ivory privately next day. Again the story +enchanted him, and again, like a child, he put his own name and +his living self among the rods in the tabernacle. + +"Ivory would be the prince of our house," he thought. "Oh! how +I'd like to be Ivory's rod and have it be the one that was chosen +to blossom and keep the rebels from murmuring!" + + + +XXI + +LOIS BURIES HER DEAD + +THE replies that Ivory had received from his letters of inquiry +concerning his father's movements since leaving Maine, and his +possible death in the West, left no reasonable room for doubt. +Traces of Aaron Boynton in New Hampshire, in Massachusetts, in +New York, and finally in Ohio, all pointed in one direction, and +although there were gaps and discrepancies in the account of his +doings, the fact of his death seemed to be established by two +apparently reliable witnesses. + +That he was not unaccompanied in his earliest migrations seemed +clear, but the woman mentioned as his wife disappeared suddenly +from the reports, and the story of his last days was the story of +a broken-down, melancholy, unfriended man, dependent for the last +offices on strangers. He left no messages and no papers, said +Ivory's correspondent, and never made mention of any family +connections whatsoever. He had no property and no means of +defraying the expenses of his illness after he was stricken with +the fever. No letters were found among his poor effects and no +article that could prove his identity, unless it were a small +gold locket, which bore no initials or marks of any kind, but +which contained two locks of fair and brown hair, intertwined. +The tiny trinket was enclosed in the letter, as of no value, +unless some one recognized it as a keepsake. +Ivory read the correspondence with a heavy heart, inasmuch as it +corroborated all his worst fears. He had sometimes secretly hoped +that his father might return and explain the reason of his +silence; or in lieu of that, that there might come to light the +story of a pilgrimage, fanatical, perhaps, but innocent of evil +intention, one that could be related to his wife and his former +friends, and then buried forever with the death that had ended +it. + +Neither of these hopes could now ever be realized, nor his +father's memory made other than a cause for endless regret, +sorrow, and shame. His father, who had begun life so handsomely, +with rare gifts of mind and personality, a wife of unusual beauty +and intelligence, and while still young in years, a considerable +success in his chosen profession. His poor father! What could +have been the reasons for so complete a downfall? + +Ivory asked Dr. Perry's advice about showing one or two of the +briefer letters and the locket to his mother. After her fainting +fit and the exhaustion that followed it, Ivory begged her to see +the old doctor, but without avail. Finally, after days of +pleading he took her hands in his and said: "I do everything a +mortal man can do to be a good son to you, mother; won't you do +this to please me, and trust that I know what is best?" Whereupon +she gave a trembling assent, as if she were agreeing to something +indescribably painful, and indeed this sight of a former friend +seemed to frighten her strangely. + +After Dr. Perry had talked with her for a half-hour and examined +her sufficiently to make at least a reasonable guess as to her +mental and physical condition, he advised Ivory to break the news +of her husband's death to her. + +"If you can get her to comprehend it," he said, "it is bound to +be a relief from this terrible suspense." + +"Will there be any danger of making her worse? Mightn't the shock +Cause too violent emotion?" asked Ivory anxiously. + +"I don't think she is any longer capable of violent emotion," the +doctor answered. Her mind is certainly clearer than it was three +years ago, but her body is nearly burned away by the mental +conflict. There is scarcely any part of her but is weary; weary +unto death, poor soul. One cannot look at her patient, lovely +face without longing to lift some part of her burden. Make a +trial, Ivory; it's a justifiable experiment and I think it will +succeed. I must not come any oftener myself than is absolutely +necessary; she seemed afraid of me." + +The experiment did succeed. Lois Boynton listened breathlessly, +with parted lips, and with apparent comprehension, to the story +Ivory told her. Over and over again he told her gently the story +of her husband's death, trying to make it sink into her mind +clearly, so that there should be no consequent bewilderment She +was calm and silent, though her face showed that she was deeply +moved. She broke down only when Ivory showed her the locket. + +"I gave it to my husband when you were born, my son!" she sobbed. +"After all, it seems no surprise to me that your father is dead. +He said he would come back when the Mayflowers bloomed, and when +I saw the autumn leaves I knew that six months must have gone and +he would never stay away from us for six months without writing. +That is the reason I have seldom watched for hint these last +weeks. I must have known that it was no use!" + +She rose from her rocking-chair and moved feebly towards her +bedroom. "Can you spare me the rest of the day, Ivory?" she +faltered, as she leaned on her son and made her slow progress +from the kitchen. "I must bury the body of my grief and I want to +be alone at first. . . If only I could see Waitstill! We have +both thought this was coming: she has a woman's instinct. . . she +is younger and stronger than I am, and she said it was braver not +to watch and pine and fret as I have done. . . but to have faith +in God that He would send me a sign when He was ready. . . . She +said if I could manage to be braver you would be happier too. . . +." Here she sank on to her bed exhausted, but still kept up her +murmuring faintly and feebly, between long intervals of silence. + +"Do you think Waitstill could come to-morrow?" she asked. "I am +so much braver when she is here with me. . . . After supper I +will put away your father's cup and plate once and for all, +Ivory, and your eyes need never fill with tears again, as they +have, sometimes, when you have seen me watching. . . . You +needn't worry about me; I am remembering better these days, and +the bells that ring in my ears are not so loud. If only the pain +in my side were less and I were not so pressed for breath, I +should be quite strong and could see everything clearly at last. +. . . There is something else that remains to be remembered. I +have almost caught it once and it must come to me again before +long. . . . Put the locket under my pillow, Ivory; close the +door, please, and leave me to myself. . . . I can't make it quite +clear, my feeling about it, but it seems just as if I were going +to bury your father and I want to be alone." + + + +XXII + +HARVEST-TIME + +NEW ENGLAND'S annual pageant of autumn was being unfolded day by +day in all its accustomed splendor, and the feast and riot of +color, the almost unimaginable glory, was the common property of +the whole countryside, rich and poor, to be shared alike if +perchance all eyes were equally alive to the wonder and the +beauty. + +Scarlet days and days of gold followed fast one upon the other; +Saco Water flowing between quiet woodlands that were turning red +and russet and brown, and now plunging through rocky banks all +blazing with crimson. + +Waitstill Baxter went as often as she could to the Boynton farm, +though never when Ivory was at home, and the affection between +the younger and the older woman grew closer and closer, so that +it almost broke Waitstill's heart to leave the fragile creature, +when her presence seemed to bring such complete peace and joy. + +"No one ever clung to me so before," she often thought as she was +hurrying across the fields after one of her half-hour visits. +"But the end must come before long. Ivory does not realize it +yet, nor Rodman, but it seems as if she could never survive the +long winter. Thanksgiving Day is drawing nearer and nearer, and +how little I am able to do for a single creature, to prove to God +that I am grateful for my existence! I could, if only I were +free, make such a merry day for Patty and Mark and their young +friends. Oh! what joy if father were a man who would let me set a +bountiful table in our great kitchen; would sit at the head and +say grace, and we could bow our heads over the cloth, a united +family! Or, if I had done my duty in my home and could go to that +other where I am so needed--go with my father's blessing! If only +I could live in that sad little house and brighten it! I would +trim the rooms with evergreen and creeping-Jenny; I would put +scarlet alder berries and white ever-lastings and blue fringed +gentians in the vases! I would put the last bright autumn leaves +near Mrs. Boynton's bed and set out a tray with a damask napkin +and the best of my cooking; then I would go out to the back door +where the woodbine hangs like a red waterfall and blow the +dinner-horn for my men down in the harvest-field! All the woman +in me is wasting, wasting! Oh! my dear, dear man, how I long for +him! Oh! my own dear man, my helpmate, shall I ever live by his +side? I love him, I want him, I need him! + +And my dear little unmothered, unfathered boy, how happy I could +make him! How I should love to cook and sew for them all and wrap +them in comfort! How I should love to smooth my dear mother's +last days,--for she is my mother, in spirit, in affection, in +desire, and in being Ivory's!" + +Waitstill's longing, her discouragement, her helplessness, +overcame her wholly, and she flung herself down under a tree in +the pasture in a very passion of sobbing, a luxury in which she +could seldom afford to indulge herself. The luxury was +short-lived, for in five minutes she heard Rodman's voice, and +heard him running to meet her as he often did when she came to +their house or went away from it, dogging her footsteps or +Patty's whenever or wherever he could waylay them. + +"Why, my dear, dear Waity, did you tumble and hurt yourself?" the +boy cried. + +"Yes, dreadfully, but I'm better now, so walk along with me and +tell me the news, Rod." + +"There isn't much news. Ivory told you I'd left school and am +studying at home? He helps me evenings and I'm 'way ahead of the +class." + +"No, Ivory didn't tell me. I haven't seen him lately." + +"I said if the big brother kept school, the little brother ought +to keep house," laughed the boy. + +"He says I can hire out as a cook pretty soon! Aunt Boynton's +'most always up to get dinner and supper, but I can make lots of +things now,-- things that Aunt Boynton can eat, too." + +"Oh, I cannot bear to have you and Ivory cooking for yourselves!" +exclaimed Waitstill, the tears starting again from her eyes. "I +must come over the next time when you are at home, Rod, and I can +help you make something nice for supper. + +"We get along pretty well," said Rodman contentedly. "I love +book-learning like Ivory and I'm going to be a schoolmaster or a +preacher when Ivory's a lawyer. Do you think Patty'd like a +schoolmaster or a preacher best, and do you think I'd be too +young to marry her by and by, if she would wait for me?" + +"I didn't think you had any idea of marrying Patty," laughed +Waitstill through her tears. "Is this something new?" + +"It's not exactly new," said Rod, jumping along like a squirrel +in the path. " Nobody could look at Patty and not think about +marrying her. I'd love to marry you, too, but you re too big and +grand for a boy. Of course, I'm not going to ask Patty yet. Ivory +said once you should never ask a girl until you can keep her like +a queen; then after a minute he said: 'Well, maybe not quite like +a queen, Rod, for that would mean longer than a man could wait. +Shall we say until he could keep her like the dearest lady in the +land?' That 's the way he said it.--You do cry dreadfully easy +to-day, Waity; I'm sure you barked your leg or skinned your knee +when you fell down.--Don't you think the 'dearest lady in the +land ' is a nice-sounding sentence?" + +"I do, indeed!" cried Waitstill to herself as she turned the +words over and over trying to feed her hungry heart with them. + +"I love to hear Ivory talk; it's like the stories in the books. +We have our best times in the barn, for I'm helping with the +milking, now. Our yellow cow's name is Molly and the red cow used +to be Dolly, but we changed her to Golly, 'cause she's so +troublesome. Molly's an easy cow to milk and I can get almost all +there is, though Ivory comes after me and takes the strippings. +Golly swishes her tail and kicks the minute she hears us coming; +then she stands stiff-legged and grits her teeth and holds on to +her milk HARD, and Ivory has to pat and smooth and coax her every +single time. Ivory says she's got a kind of an attachment inside +of her that she shuts down when he begins to milk." + +"We had a cross old cow like that, once," said Waitstill +absently, loving to hear the boy's chatter and the eternal +quotations from his beloved hero. + +"We have great fun cooking, too," continued Rod. "When Aunt +Boynton was first sick she stayed in bed more, and Ivory and I +hadn't got used to things. One morning we bound up each other's +burns. Ivory had three fingers and I two, done up in buttery rags +to take the fire out. Ivory called us 'Soldiers dressing their +Wounds after the Battle.' Sausages spatter dreadfully, don't +they? And when you turn a pancake it flops on top of the stove. +Can you flop one straight, Waity?" + +"Yes, I can, straight as a die; that's what girls are made for. +Now run along home to your big brother, and do put on some warmer +clothes under your coat; the weather's getting colder." + +"Aunt Boynton hasn't patched our thick ones yet, but she will +soon, and if she doesn't, Ivory'll take this Saturday evening and +do them himself; he said so." + +"He shall not!" cried Waitstill passionately. "It is not seemly +for Ivory to sew and mend, and I will not allow it. You shall +bring me those things that need patching without telling any one, +do you hear, and I will meet you on the edge of the pasture +Saturday afternoon and give them back to you. You are not to +speak of it to any one, you understand, or perhaps I shall pound +you to a jelly. You'd make a sweet rosy jelly to eat with turkey +for Thanksgiving dinner, you dear, comforting little boy!" + +Rodman ran towards home and Waitstill hurried along, scarcely +noticing the beauties of the woods and fields and waysides, all +glowing masses of goldenrod and purple frost flowers. The stone +walls were covered with wild-grape and feathery clematis vines. +Everywhere in sight the cornfields lay yellow in the afternoon +sun and ox carts heavily loaded with full golden ears were going +home to the barns to be ready for husking. + +A sudden breeze among the orchard boughs as she neared the house +was followed by a shower of russets, and everywhere the red +Baldwins gleamed on the apple-tree boughs, while the wind-falls +were being gathered and taken to the cider mills. There was a +grove of maples on the top of Town-House Hill and the Baxters' +dooryard was a blaze of brilliant color. To see Patty standing +under a little rock maple, her brown linsey-woolsey in I one with +the landscape, and the hood of her brown cape pulled over her +bright head, was a welcome for anybody. She looked flushed and +excited as she ran up to her sister and said, "Waity, darling, +you've been crying! Has father been scolding you?" + +"No, dear, but my heart is aching to-day so that I can scarcely +bear it. A wave of discouragement came over me as I was walking +through the woods, and I gave up to it a bit. I remembered how +soon it will be Thanksgiving Day, and I'll so like to make it +happier for you and a few others that I love." + +Patty could have given a shrewd guess as to the chief cause of +the heartache, but she forebore to ask any questions. "Cheer up, +Waity," she cried. "You never can tell; we may have a thankful +Thanksgiving, after all! Who knows what may happen? I'm 'strung +up' this afternoon and in a fighting mood. I've felt like a new +piece of snappy white elastic all day; it's the air, just like +wine, so cool and stinging and full of courage! Oh, yes, we won't +give up hope yet awhile, Waity, not until we're snowed in!" + +"Put your arms round me and give me a good hug, Patty! Love me +hard, HARD, for, oh! I need it badly just now!" + +And the two girls clung together for a moment and then went into +the house with hands close-locked and a kind of sad, desperate +courage in their young hearts. What would either of them have +done, each of them thought, had she been forced to endure alone +the life that went on day after day in Deacon Baxter's dreary +house? + + + +XXIII + +AUNT ABBY'S WINDOW + +MRS. ABEL DAY had come to spend the afternoon with Aunt Abby Cole +and they were seated at the two sitting-room windows, sweeping +the land- +scape with eagle eyes in the intervals of making patchwork. + +"The foliage has been a little mite too rich this season," +remarked Aunt Abby. "I b'lieve I'm glad to see it thinin' out +some, so 't we can have some kind of an idee of what's goin' on +in the village." + +"There's plenty goin' on," Mrs. Day answered unctuously; "some of +it aboveboard an' some underneath it." + +"An' that's jest where it's aggravatin' to have the leaves so +thick and the trees so high between you and other folks' houses. +Trees are good for shade, it's true, but there's a limit to all +things. There was a time when I could see 'bout every-thing that +went on up to Baxters', and down to Bart's shop, and, by goin' up +attic, consid'able many things that happened on the bridge. Bart +vows he never planted that plum tree at the back door of his +shop; says the children must have hove out plum stones when they +was settin' on the steps and the tree come up of its own accord. +He says he didn't take any notice of it till it got quite a start +and then 't was such a healthy young bush he couldn't bear to +root it out. I tell him it's kind O' queer it should happen to +come up jest where it spoils my view of his premises. Men folks +are so exasperatin' that sometimes I wish there was somebody +different for us to marry, but there ain't,--so there we be!" + +"They are an awful trial," admitted Mrs. Day. " Abel never +sympathizes with my head-aches. I told him a-Sunday I didn't +believe he'd mind if I died the next day, an' all he said was: +'Why don't you try it an' see, Lyddy?' He thinks that's +humorous." + +"I know; that's the way Bartholomew talks; I guess they all do. +You can see the bridge better 'n I can, Lyddy; has Mark Wilson +drove over sence you've been settin' there? He's like one o' them +ostriches that hides their heads in the sand when the +bird-catchers are comin' along, thinkin' 'cause they can't see +anything they'll never BE seen! He knows folks would never tell +tales to Deacon Baxter, whatever the girls done; they hate him +too bad. Lawyer Wilson lives so far away, he can't keep any watch +o' Mark, an' Mis' Wilson's so cityfied an' purse-proud nobody +ever goes to her with any news, bad or good; so them that's the +most concerned is as blind as bats. Mark's consid'able stiddier'n +he used to be, but you needn't tell me he has any notion of +bringin' one o' that Baxter tribe into his family. He's only +amusin' himself." + +Patty'll be Mrs. Wilson or nothin'," was Mrs. Day's response. +"Both o' them girls is silk purses an' you can't make sows' ears +of 'em. We ain't neither of us hardly fair to Patty, an' I s'pose +it 's because she didn't set any proper value on Cephas." + +"Oh, she's good enough for Mark, I guess, though I ain't so sure +of his intentions as you be. She's nobody's fool, Patty ain't, I +allow that, though she did treat Cephas like the dirt in the +road. I'm thankful he's come to his senses an' found out the +diff'rence between dross an' gold." + +"It's very good of you to put it that way, Abby," Mrs. Day +responded gratefully, for it was Phoebe, her own offspring, who +was alluded to as the most precious of metals. "I suppose we'd +better have the publishing notice put up in the frame before +Sunday? There'll be a great crowd out that day and at +Thanksgiving service the next Thursday too!" + +"Cephas says he don't care how soon folks hears the news, now +all's settled," said his mother. "I guess he's kind of anxious +that the village should know jest how little truth there is in +the gossip 'bout him bein' all upset over Patience Baxter. He +said they took consid'able notice of him an' Phoebe settin' +together at the Harvest Festival last evenin'. He thought the +Baxter girls would be there for certain, but I s'pose Old Foxy +wouldn't let 'em go up to the Mills in the evenin', nor spend a +quarter on their tickets." + +"Mark could have invited Patty an' paid for her ticket, I should +think; or passed her in free, for that matter, when the Wilsons +got up the entertainment; but, of course, the Deacon never allows +his girls to go anywheres with men-folks." + +"Not in public; so they meet 'em side o' the river or round the +corner of Bart's shop, or anywhere they can, when the Deacon's +back's turned. If you tied a handkerchief over Waitstill's eyes +she could find her way blindfold to Ivory Boynton's house, but +she's good as gold, Waitstill is; she'll stay where her duty +calls her, every time! If any misfortune or scandal should come +near them two girls, the Deacon will have no-body but himself to +thank for it, that's one sure thing!" + +"Young folks can't be young but once," sighed Mrs. Day. "I +thought we had as handsome a turn-out at the entertainment last +evenin' as any village on the Saco River could 'a' furnished: an' +my Phoebe an' your Cephas, if I do say so as shouldn't, was about +the best-dressed an' best-appearin' couple there was present. +Also, I guess likely, they're startin' out with as good prospects +as any bride an' groom that's walked up the middle aisle o' the +meetin'-house for many a year. . . . How'd you like that Boston +singer that the Wilsons brought here, Abby?--Wait a minute, is +Cephas, or the Deacon, tendin' store this after-noon?" + +"The Deacon; Cephas is paintin' up to the Mills." + +"Well, Mark Wilson's horse an' buggy is meanderin' slowly down +Aunt Betty-Jack's hill, an' Mark is studyin' the road as if he +was lookin' for a four-leafed clover." + +"He'll hitch at the tavern, or the Edgewood store, an' wait his +chance to get a word with Patience," said Aunt Abby. "He knows +when she takes milk to the Morrills', or butter to the parsonage; +also when she eats an' drinks an' winks her eye an' ketches her +breath an' lifts her foot. Now he's disappeared an' we'll wait. . +. . Why, as to that Boston singer,--an' by the way, they say +Ellen Wilson's goin' to take lessons of her this winter,--she +kind o' bewildered me, Lyddy! Of course, I ain't never been to +any cities, so I don't feel altogether free to criticise; but +what did you think of her, when she run up so high there, one +time? I don't know how high she went, but I guess there wa'n't no +higher to go!" + +"It made me kind o' nervous," allowed Mrs. Day. + +"Nervous! Bart' an' I broke out in a cold sweat! He said she +couldn't hold a candle to Waitstill Baxter. But it's that little +fly-away Wilson girl that'll get the lessons, an' Waitstill will +have to use her voice callin' the Deacon home to dinner. Things +ain't divided any too well in this world, Lyddy." + +"Waitstill's got the voice, but she lacks the trainin'. The +Boston singer knows her business, I'll say that for her," said +Mrs. Day. + +"She's got good stayin' power," agreed Aunt Abby. "Did you notice +how she held on to that high note when she'd clumb where she +wanted to git? She's got breath enough to run a gristmill, that +girl has! And how'd she come down, when she got good and ready to +start? Why, she zig-zagged an' saw-toothed the whole way! It kind +o' made my flesh creep!" + +"I guess part o' the trouble's with us country folks," Mrs. Day +responded, "for folks said she sung runs and trills better'n any +woman up to Boston." + +"Runs an' trills," ejaculated Abby scornfully. "I was talkin' +'bout singin' not runnin'. My niece Ella up to Parsonfield has +taken three terms on the pianner an' I've heerd her practise. +Scales has got to be done, no doubt, but they'd ought to be done +to home, where they belong; a concert ain't no place for 'em. . . +. There, what did I tell yer? Patience Baxter's crossin' the +bridge with a pail in her hand. She's got that everlastin' +yeller-brown, linsey-woolsey on, an' a white 'cloud' wrapped +around her head with con'sid'able red hair showin' as usual. You +can always see her fur's you can a sunrise! And there goes Rod +Boynton, chasin' behind as usual. Those Baxter girls make a +perfect fool o' that boy, but I don't s'pose Lois Boynton's got +wit enough to make much fuss over the poor little creeter!" + +Mark Wilson could certainly see Patty Baxter as far as he could a +sunrise, although he was not intimately acquainted with that +natural phenomenon. He took a circuitous route from his +watch-tower, and, knowing well the point from which there could +be no espionage from Deacon Baxter's store windows, joined Patty +in the road, took the pail from her hand, and walked up the hill +beside her. Of course, the village could see them, but, as Aunt +Abby had intimated, there wasn't a man, woman, or child on either +side of the river who wouldn't have taken the part of the Baxter +girls against their father. + + + +XXIV + +PHOEBE TRIUMPHS + +MEANTIME Feeble Phoebe Day was driving her father's horse up to +the Mills to bring Cephas Cole home. It was a thrilling moment, a +sort of outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual tie, +for their banns were to be published the next day, so what did it +matter if the community, nay, if the whole universe, speculated +as to why she was drawing her beloved back from his daily toil? +It had been an eventful autumn for Cephas. After a third request +for the hand of Miss Patience Baxter, and a refusal of even more +than common decision and energy, Cephas turned about face and +employed the entire month of September in a determined assault +upon the affections of Miss Lucy Morrill, but with no better +avail. His heart was not ardently involved in this second wooing, +but winter was approaching, he had moved his mother out of her +summer quarters back to the main house, and he doggedly began +papering the ell and furnishing the kitchen without disclosing to +his respected parents the identity of the lady for whose comfort +he was so hospitably preparing. + +Cephas's belief in the holy state of matrimony as being the only +one proper for a man, really ought to have commended him to the +opposite (and ungrateful) sex more than it did, and Lucy Morrill +held as respectful an opinion of the institution and its manifold +advantages as Cephas himself, but she was in a very unsettled +frame of mind and not at all susceptible to wooing. She had a +strong preference for Philip Perry, and held an opinion, not +altogether unfounded in human experience, that in course of time, +when quite deserted by Patty Baxter, his heart might possibly be +caught on the rebound. It was only a chance, but Lucy would +almost have preferred remaining unmarried, even to the withering +age of twenty-five, rather than not be at liberty to accept +Philip Perry in case she should be asked. + +Cephas therefore, by the middle of October, could be +picturesquely and alliteratively described as being raw from +repeated rejections. His bruised heart and his despised ell +literally cried out for the appreciation so long and blindly +withheld. Now all at once Phoebe disclosed a second virtue; her +first and only one, hitherto, in the eyes of Cephas, having been +an ability to get on with his mother, a feat in which many had +made an effort and few indeed had succeeded. Phoebe, it seems, +had always secretly admired, respected, and loved Cephas Cole! +Never since her pale and somewhat glassy blue eye had opened on +life had she beheld a being she could so adore if encouraged in +the attitude. + +The moment this unusual and unexpected poultice was really +applied to Cephas's wounds, they began to heal. In the course of +a month the most ordinary observer could have perceived a +physical change in him. He cringed no more, but held his head +higher; his back straightened; his voice developed a gruff, +assertive note, like that of a stern Roman father; he let his +moustache grow, and sometimes, in his most reckless moments, +twiddled the end of it. Finally he swaggered; but that was only +after Phoebe had accepted him and told him that if a girl +traversed the entire length of the Saco River (which she presumed +to be the longest in the world, the Amazon not being familiar to +her), she could not hope to find his equal as a husband. + +And then congratulations began to pour in! Was ever marriage so +fortuitous! The Coles' farm joined that of the Days and the union +between the two only children would cement the friendship between +the families. The fact that Uncle Bart was a joiner, Cephas a +painter, and Abel Day a mason and bricklayer made the alliance +almost providential in its business opportunities. Phoebe's +Massachusetts aunt sent a complete outfit of gilt-edged china, a +clock, and a mahogany chamber set. Aunt Abby relinquished to the +young couple a bedroom and a spare chamber in the "main part," +while the Days supplied live-geese feathers and table and +bed-linen with positive prodigality. Aunt Abby trod the air like +one inspired. "Balmy" is the only adjective that could describe +her. + +"If only I could 'a' looked ahead," smiled Uncle Bart quizzically +to himself, "I'd 'a' had thirteen sons and daughters an' married +off one of 'em every year. That would 'a' made Abby's good temper +kind o' permanent." + +Cephas was content, too. There was a good deal in being settled +and having "the whole doggoned business" off your hands. Phoebe +looked a very different creature to him in these latter days. Her +eyes were just as pale, of course, but they were brighter, and +they radiated love for him, an expression in the female eye that +he had thus far been singularly unfortunate in securing. She +still held her mouth slightly open, but Cephas thought that it +might be permissible, perhaps after three months of wedded bliss, +to request her to be more careful in closing it. He believed, +too, that she would make an effort to do so just to please him; +whereas a man's life or property would not be safe for a single +instant if he asked Miss Patience Baxter to close her mouth, not +if he had been married to her for thirty times three months! + +Cephas did not think of Patty any longer with bitterness, in +these days, being of the opinion that she was punished enough in +observing his own growing popularity and prosperity. + +"If she should see that mahogany chamber set going into the ell I +guess she'd be glad enough to change her tune!" thought Cephas, +exultingly; and then there suddenly shot through his mind the +passing fancy--"I wonder if she would!" He promptly banished the +infamous suggestion however, reinforcing his virtue with the +reflection that the chamber set was Phoebe's, anyway, and the +marriage day appointed, and the invitations given out, and the +wedding-cake being baked, a loaf at a time, by his mother and +Mrs. Day. + +As a matter of fact Patty would have had no eyes for Phoebe's +magnificent mahogany, even had the cart that carried it passed +her on the hill where she and Mark Wilson were walking. Her +promise to marry him was a few weeks old now, and his arm +encircled her slender waist under the brown homespun cape. That +in itself was a new sensation and gave her the delicious sense of +belonging to somebody who valued her highly, and assured her of +his sentiments clearly and frequently, both by word and deed. +Life, dull gray life, was going to change its hue for her +presently, and not long after, she hoped, for Waitstill, too! It +needed only a brighter, a more dauntless courage; a little faith +that nettles, when firmly grasped, hurt the hand less, and a +fairer future would dawn for both of them. The Deacon was a +sharper nettle than she had ever meddled with before, but in +these days, when the actual contact had not yet occurred, she +felt sure of herself and longed for the moment when her pluck +should be tested and proved. + +The "publishing" of Cephas and his third choice, their dull walk +up the aisle of the meeting-house before an admiring throng, on +the Sunday when Phoebe would "appear bride," all this seemed very +tame as compared with the dreams of this ardent and adventurous +pair of lovers who had gone about for days harboring secrets +greater and more daring, they thought, than had ever been +breathed before within the hearing of Saco Water. + + + +XXV + +LOVE'S YOUNG DREAMS + +IT was not an afternoon for day-dreams, for there was a chill in +the air and a gray sky. Only a week before the hills along the +river might have been the walls of the New Jerusalem, shining +like red gold; now the glory had departed and it was a naked +world, with empty nests hanging to boughs that not long ago had +been green with summer. The old elm by the tavern, that had been +wrapped in a bright trail of scarlet woodbine, was stripped +almost bare of its autumn beauty. Here and there a maple showed a +remnant of crimson, and a stalwart oak had some rags of russet +still clinging to its gaunt boughs. The hickory trees flung out a +few yellow flags from the ends of their twigs, but the forests +wore a tattered and dishevelled look, and the withered leaves +that lay in dried heaps upon the frozen ground, driven hither and +thither by every gust of the north wind, gave the unthinking +heart a throb of foreboding. Yet the glad summer labor of those +same leaves was finished according to the law that governed them, +and the fruit was theirs and the seed for the coming year. No +breeze had been strong enough to shake them from the tree till +they were ready to forsake it. Now they had severed the bond that +had held them so tightly and fluttered down to give the earth all +their season's earnings. On every hillside, in every valley and +glen, the leaves that had made the summer landscape beautiful, +lay contentedly: + + "Where the rain might rain upon them, + Where the sun might shine upon them, + Where the wind might sigh upon them, + And the snow might die upon them." + +Brown, withered, dead, buried in snow they might be, yet they +were ministering to all the leaves of the next spring-time, +bequeathing to them in turn the beauty that had been theirs; the +leafy canopies for countless song birds, the grateful shade for +man and beast. + +Young love thought little of Nature's miracles, and hearts that +beat high and fast were warm enough to forget the bleak wind and +gathering clouds. If there were naked trees, were there not full +barrels of apples in every cellar? If there was nothing but +stubble in the frozen fields, why, there was plenty of wheat and +corn at the mill all ready for grinding. The cold air made one +long for a cheery home and fireside, the crackle of a hearth-log, +the bubbling of a steaming kettle; and Patty and Mark clung +together as they walked along, making bright images of a life +together, snug, warm, and happy. + +Patty was a capricious creature, but all her changes were sudden +and endearing ones, captivating those who loved her more than a +monotonous and unchanging virtue. Any little shower, with Patty, +always ended with a rainbow that made the landscape more +enchanting than before. Of late her little coquetries and +petulances had disappeared as if by magic. She had been melted +somehow from irresponsible girlhood into womanhood, and that, +too, by the ardent affection of a very ordinary young man who had +no great gift save that of loving Patty greatly. The love had +served its purpose, in another way, too, for under its influence +Mark's own manhood had broadened and deepened. He longed to bind +Patty to him for good and all, to capture the bright bird whose +fluttering wings and burnished plumage so captured his senses and +stirred his heart, but his longings had changed with the quality +of his love and he glowed at the thought of delivering the girl +from her dreary surroundings and giving her the tenderness, the +ease and comfort, the innocent gayety, that her nature craved. + +"You won't fail me, Patty darling?" he was saying at this moment. +"Now that our plans are finally made, with never a weak point any +where as far as I can see, my heart is so set upon carrying them +out that every hour of waiting seems an age!" + +"No, I won't fail, Mark; but I never know the day that father +will go to town until the night before. I can always hear him +making his preparations in the barn and the shed, and ordering +Waitstill here and there. He is as excited as if he was going to +Boston instead of Milltown." + +"The night before will do. I will watch the house every evening +till you hang a white signal from your window." + +"It won't be white," said Patty, who would be mischievous on her +deathbed; "my Sunday-go-to-meetin' petticoat is too grand, and +everything else that we have is yellow." + +"I shall see it, whatever color it is, you can be sure of that!" +said Mark gallantly. "Then it's decided that next morning I'11 +wait at the tavern from sunrise, and whenever your father and +Waitstill have driven up Saco Hill, I'll come and pick you up and +we '11 be off like a streak of lightning across the hills to New +Hampshire. How lucky that Riverboro is only thirty miles from the +state line!--It looks like snow, and how I wish it would be +something more than a flurry; a regular whizzing, whirring storm +that would pack the roads and let us slip over them with our +sleigh-bells ringing!" + +"I should like that, for they would be our only wedding-bells. +Oh! Mark! What if Waitstill shouldn't go, after all: though I +heard father tell her that he needed her to buy things for the +store, and that they wouldn't be back till after nightfall. Just +to think of being married without Waitstill!" + +"You can do without Waitstill on this one occasion, better than +you can without me," laughed Mark, pinching Patty's cheek. "I've +given the town clerk due notice and I have a friend to meet me at +his office. He is going to lend me his horse for the drive home, +and we shall change back the next week. That will give us a fresh +horse each way, and we'll fly like the wind, snow or no snow, +When we come down Guide Board Hill that night, Patty, we shall be +man and wife; isn't that wonderful?" + +"We shall be man and wife in New Hampshire, but not in Maine, you +say," Patty reminded him dolefully. "It does seem dreadful that +we can't be married in our own state, and have to go dangling +about with this secret on our minds, day and night; but it can't +be helped! You'll try not to even think of me as your wife till +we go to Portsmouth to live, won't you?" + +You're asking too much when you say I'm not to think of you as my +wife, for I shall think of nothing else, but I've given you my +solemn promise," said Mark stoutly, "and I'll keep it as sure as +I live. We'll be legally married by the laws of New Hampshire, +but we won't think of it as a marriage till I tell your father +and mine, and we drive away once more together. That time it will +be in the sight of everybody, with our heads in the air. I've got +the little house in Portsmouth all ready, Patty: it's small, but +it's in a nice part of the town. Portsmouth is a pretty place, +but it'll be a great deal prettier when it has Mrs. Mark Wilson +living in it. We can be married over again in Maine, afterwards, +if your heart is set upon it. I'm willing to marry you in every +state of the Union, so far as I am concerned." + +"I think you've been so kind and good and thoughtful, Mark dear," +said Patty, more fondly and meltingly than she had ever spoken to +him before, "and so clever too! I do respect you for getting that +good position in Portsmouth and being able to set up for yourself +at your age. I shouldn't wonder a bit if you were a judge some +day, and then what a proud girl I shall be!" + +Patty's praise was bestowed none too frequently, and it sounded +very sweet in the young man's ears. + +"I do believe I can get on, with you to help me, Patty," he said, +pressing her arm more closely to his side, and looking down +ardently into her radiant face. "You're a great deal cleverer +than I am, but I have a faculty for the business of the law, so +my father says, and a faculty for money-making, too. And even if +we have to begin in a small way, my salary will be a certainty, +and we'11 work up together. I can see you in a yellow satin +dress, stiff enough to stand alone!" + +"It must be white satin, if you please, not yellow! After having +used a hundred and ten yards of shop-worn yellow calico on myself +within two years, I never want to wear that color again. If only +I could come to you better provided, she sighed, with the +suggestion of tears in her voice. "If I'd been a common servant I +could have saved something from my wages to be married on; I +haven't even got anything to be married IN!" + +"I'11 get you anything you want in Portland to-morrow." + +"Certainly not; I'd rather be married in rags than have you spend +your money upon me beforehand!" + +"Remember to have a box of your belongings packed and slipped +under the shed somewhere. You can't be certain what your father +will say or do when the time comes for telling him, and I want +you to be ready to leave on a moment's notice." + +"I will; I'll do everything you say, Mark, but are you sure that +we have thought of every other way? I do so hate being +underhanded." + +"Every other way! I am more than willing to ask your father, but +we know he would treat me with contempt, for he can't bear the +sight of me! He would probably lock you up and feed you on bread +and water. That being the state of things, how can I tell our +plans to my own father? He never would look with favor on my +running away with you; and mother is, by nature, set upon doing +things handsomely and in proper order. Father would say our +elopement would be putting us both wrong before the community, +and he'd advise me to wait. 'You are both young'--I can hear him +announcing his convictions now, as clearly as if he was standing +here in the road--'You are both young and you can well afford to +wait until something turns up.' As if we hadn't waited and waited +from all eternity!" + +"Yes, we have been engaged to be married for at least five +weeks," said Patty, with an upward glance peculiar to her own +sparkling face,--one that always intoxicated Mark. "I am +seventeen and a half; your father couldn't expect a confirmed old +maid like me to waste any more time. + +But I never would do this--this--sudden, unrespectable thing, if +there was any other way. Everything depends on my keeping it +secret from Waitstill, but she doesn't suspect anything yet. She +thinks of me as nothing but a child still. Do you suppose Ellen +would go with us, just to give me a little comfort?" + +"She might," said Mark, after reflecting a moment. "She is very +devoted to you, and perhaps she could keep a secret; she never +has, but there's always a first time. You can't go on adding to +the party, though, as if it was a candy-pull! We cannot take Lucy +Morrill and Phoebe Day and Cephas Cole, because it would be too +hard on the horse; and besides, I might get embarrassed at the +town clerk's office and marry the wrong girl; or you might swop +me off for Cephas! But I'll tell Ellen if you say so; she's got +plenty of grit." + +"Don't joke about it, Mark, don't. I shouldn't miss Waitstill so +much if I had Ellen, and how happy I shall be if she approves of +me for a sister and thinks your mother and father will like me in +time." + +"There never was a creature born into the world that wouldn't +love you, Patty!" + +"I don't know; look at Aunt Abby Cole!" said Patty pensively. +"Well, it does not seem as if a marriage that isn't good in +Riverboro was really decent! How tiresome of Maine to want all +those days of public notice; people must so often want to get +married in a minute. If I think about anything too long I always +get out of the notion." + +"I know you do; that's what I'm afraid of!"--and Mark's voice +showed decided nervousness. "You won't get out of the notion of +marrying me, will you, Patty dear?" + +"Marrying you is more than a 'notion,' Mark," said Patty soberly. +"I'm only a little past seventeen, but I'm far older because of +the difficulties I've had. I don't wonder you speak of my +'notions.' I was as light as a feather in all my dealings with +you at first." + +"So was I with you! I hadn't grown up, Patty." + +"Then I came to know you better and see how you sympathized with +Waitstill's troubles and mine. I couldn't love anybody, I +couldn't marry anybody, who didn't feel that things at our house +can't go on as they are! Father has had a good long trial! Three +wives and two daughters have done their best to live with him, +and failed. I am not willing to die for him, as my mother did, +nor have Waitstill killed if I can help it. Sometimes he is like +a man who has lost his senses and sometimes he is only grim and +quiet and cruel. If he takes our marriage without a terrible +scene, Mark, perhaps it will encourage Waitstill to break her +chains as I have mine." + +"There's sure to be an awful row," Mark said, as one who had +forecasted all the probabilities. "It wouldn't make any +difference if you married the Prince of Wales; nothing would suit +your father but selecting the man and making all the +arrangements; and then he would never choose any one who wouldn't +tend the store and work on the farm for him without wages." + +"Waitstill will never run away; she isn't like me. She will sit +and sit there, slaving and suffering, till doomsday; for the one +that loves her isn't free like you!" + +"You mean Ivory Boynton? I believe he worships the ground she +walks on. I like him better than I used, and I understand him +better. Oh! but I'm a lucky young dog to have a kind, liberal +father and a bit of money put by to do with as I choose. If I +hadn't, I'd be eating my heart out like Ivory!" + +"No, you wouldn't eat your heart out; you'd always get what you +wanted somehow, and you wouldn't wait for it either; and I'm just +the same. I'm not built for giving up, and enduring, and +sacrificing. I'm naturally just a tuft of thistle-down, Mark; but +living beside Waitstill all these years I've grown ashamed to be +so light, blowing about hither and thither. I kept looking at her +and borrowing some of her strength, just enough to make me worthy +to be her sister. Waitstill is like a bit of Plymouth Rock, only +it's a lovely bit on the land side, with earth in the crevices, +and flowers blooming all over it and hiding the granite. Oh! if +only she will forgive us, Mark, I won't mind what father says or +does." + +"She will forgive us, Patty darling; don't fret, and cry, and +make your pretty eyes all red. I'11 do nothing in all this to +make either of you girls ashamed of me, and I'll keep your father +and mine ever before my mind to prevent my being foolish or +reckless; for, you know, Patty, I'm heels over head in love with +you, and it's only for your sake I'm taking all these pains and +agreeing to do without my own wedded wife for weeks to come!" + +"Does the town clerk, or does the justice of the peace give a +wedding-ring, just like the minister?" Patty asked. "I shouldn't +feel married without a ring." + +"The ring is all ready, and has 'M.W. to P.B.' engraved in it, +with the place for the date waiting; and here is the engagement +ring if you'11 wear it when you're alone, Patty. My mother gave +it to me when she thought there would be something between +Annabel Franklin and me. The moment I looked at it--you see it's +a topaz stone--and noticed the yellow fire in it, I said to +myself: 'It is like no one but Patty Baxter, and if she won't +wear it, no other girl shall!' It's the color of the tip ends of +your curls and it's just like the light in your eyes when you're +making fun!" + +"It's heavenly!" cried Patty. "It looks as if it had been made of +the yellow autumn leaves, and oh! how I love the sparkle of it! +But never will I take your mother's ring or wear it, Mark, till +I've proved myself her loving, dutiful daughter. I'll do the one +wrong thing of running away with you and concealing our marriage, +but not another if I can help it." + +"Very well," sighed Mark, replacing the ring in his pocket with +rather a crestfallen air. "But the first thing you know you'll be +too good for me, Patty! You used to be a regular +will-o'-the-wisp, all nonsense and fun, forever laughing and +teasing, so that a fellow could never be sure of you for two +minutes together." + +"It's all there underneath," said Patty, putting her hand on his +arm and turning her wistful face up to his. "It will come again; +the girl in me isn't dead; she isn't even asleep; but she's all +sobered down. She can't laugh just now, she can only smile; and +the tears are waiting underneath. + +ready to spring out if any one says the wrong word. This Patty is +frightened and anxious and her heart beats too fast from morning +till night. She hasn't any mother, and she cannot say a word to +her dear sister, and she's going away to be married to you, +that's almost a stranger, and she isn't eighteen, and doesn't +know what's coming to her, nor what it means to be married. She +dreads her father's anger, and she cannot rest till she knows +whether your family will love her and take her in; and, oh! she's +a miserable, worried girl, not a bit like the old Patty." + +Mark held her close and smoothed the curls under the loose brown +hood. "Don't you fret, Patty darling! I'm not the boy I was last +week. Every word you say makes me more of a man. At first I would +have run away just for the joke; anything to get you away from +the other fellows and prove I was the best man, but now' I'm +sobered down, too. I'll do nothing rash; I'll be as staid as the +judge you want me to be twenty years later. You've made me over, +Patty, and if my love for you wasn't the right sort at first, it +is now. I wish the road to New Hampshire was full of lions and I +could fight my way through them just to show you how strong I +feel!" + +"There'll be lions enough," smiled Patty through her tears, +"though they won't have manes and tails; but I can imagine how +father will roar, and how my courage will ooze out of the heels +of my boots!" + +"Just let me catch the Deacon roaring at my wife!" exclaimed Mark +with a swelling chest. "Now, run along, Patty dear, for I don't +want you scolded on my account. There's sure to be only a day or +two of waiting now, and I shall soon see the signal waving from +your window. I'll sound Ellen and see if she's brave enough to +be one of the eloping party. Good-night! Good-night! Oh! How I +hope our going away will be to-morrow, my dearest, dearest +Patty!" + + + +WINTER + + + +XXVI + +A WEDDING-RING + +THE snow had come. It had begun to fall softly and steadily at +the beginning of the week, and now for days it had covered the +ground deeper and deeper, drifting about the little red brick +house on the hilltop, banking up against the barn, and shrouding +the sheds and the smaller buildings. There had been two cold, +still nights; the windows were covered with silvery landscapes +whose delicate foliage made every pane of glass a leafy bower, +while a dazzling crust bediamonded the hillsides, so that no eye +could rest on them long without becoming snow-blinded. + +Town-House Hill was not as well travelled as many others, and +Deacon Baxter had often to break his own road down to the store, +without waiting for the help of the village snow-plough to make +things easier for him. Many a path had Waitstill broken in her +time, and it was by no means one of her most distasteful +tasks--that of shovelling into the drifts of heaped-up whiteness, +tossing them to one side or the other, and cutting a narrow, +clean-edged track that would pack down into the hardness of +marble. + +There were many "chores" to be done these cold mornings before +any household could draw a breath of comfort. The Baxters kept +but one cow in winter, killed the pig,--not to eat, but to +sell,--and reduced the flock of hens and turkeys; but Waitstill +was always as busy in the barn as in her own proper domain. Her +heart yearned for all the dumb creatures about the place, +intervening between them and her father's scanty care; and when +the thermometer descended far below zero she would be found +stuffing hay into the holes and cracks of the barn and hen-house, +giving the horse and cow fresh beddings of straw and a mouthful +of extra food between the slender meals provided by the Deacon. + +It was three o'clock in the afternoon and a fire in the Baxters' +kitchen since six in the morning had produced a fairly temperate +climate in that one room, though the entries and chambers might +have been used for refrigerators, as the Deacon was as +parsimonious in the use of fuel as in all other things, and if +his daughters had not been hardy young creatures, trained from +their very birth to discomforts and exposures of every sort, they +would have died long ago. + +The Baxter kitchen and glittered in all its accustomed +cleanliness and order. Scrubbing and polishing were cheap +amusements, and nobody grudged them to Waitstill. No tables in +Riverboro were whiter, no tins more lustrous, no pewter brighter, +no brick hearths ruddier than hers. The beans and brown bread and +Indian pudding were basking in the warmth of the old brick oven, +and what with the crackle and sparkle of the fire, the gleam of +the blue willow-ware on the cupboard shelves, and the scarlet +geraniums blooming on the sunny shelf above the sink, there were +few pleasanter place to be found in the village than that same +Baxter kitchen. Yet Waitstill was ill at ease this afternoon; she +hardly knew why. Her father had just put the horse into the pung +and driven up to Milliken's Mills for some grain, and Patty was +down at the store instructing Bill Morrill (Cephas Cole's +successor) in his novel task of waiting on customers and learning +the whereabouts of things; no easy task in the bewildering +variety of stock in a country store; where pins, treacle, +gingham, Epsom salts, Indian meal, shoestrings, shovels, brooms, +sulphur, tobacco, suspenders, rum, and indigo may be demanded in +rapid succession. + +Patty was quiet and docile these days, though her color was more +brilliant than usual and her eyes had all their accustomed +sparkle. She went about her work steadily, neither ranting nor +railing at fate, nor bewailing her lot, but even in this +Waitstill felt a sense of change and difference too subtle to be +put in words. She had noted Patty's summer flirtations, but +regarded them indulgently, very much as if they had been the +irresponsible friskings of a lamb in a meadow. Waitstill had more +than the usual reserve in these matters, for in New England at +that time, though the soul was a subject of daily conversation, +the heart was felt to be rather an indelicate topic, to be +alluded to as seldom as possible. Waitstill certainly would never +have examined Patty closely as to the state of her affections, +intimate as she was with her sister's thoughts and opinions about +life; she simply bided her time until Patty should confide in +her. She had wished now and then that Patty's capricious fancy +might settle on Philip Perry, although, indeed, when she +considered it seriously, it seemed like an alliance between a +butterfly and an owl. Cephas Cole she regarded as quite beneath +Patty's rightful ambitions, and as for Mark Wilson, she had grown +up in the belief, held in the village generally, that he would +marry money and position, and drift out of Riverboro into a +gayer, larger world. Her devotion to her sister was so ardent, +and her admiration so sincere, that she could not think it +possible that Patty would love anywhere in vain; nevertheless, +she had an instinct that her affections were crystallizing +somewhere or other, and when that happened, the uncertain and +eccentric temper of her father would raise a thousand obstacles. + +While these thoughts coursed more or less vagrantly through +Waitstill's mind, she suddenly determined to get her cloak and +hood and run over to see Mrs. Boynton. Ivory had been away a good +deal in the woods since early November chopping trees and helping +to make new roads. He could not go long distances, like the other +men, as he felt constrained to come home every day or two to look +after his mother and Rodman, but the work was too lucrative to be +altogether refused. With Waitstill's help, he had at last +overcome his mother's aversion to old Mrs. Mason, their nearest +neighbor; and she, being now a widow with very slender resources, +went to the Boyntons' several times each week to put the forlorn +household a little on its feet. + +It was all uphill and down to Ivory's farm, Waitstill reflected, +and she could take her sled and slide half the way, going and +coming, or she could cut across the frozen fields on the crust. +She caught up her shawl from a hook on the kitchen door, and, +throwing it over her head and shoulders to shield herself from +the chill blasts on the stairway, ran up to her bedroom to make +herself ready for the walk. + +She slipped on a quilted petticoat and warmer dress, braided her +hair freshly, while her breath went out in a white cloud to meet +the freezing air; snatched her wraps from her closet, and was +just going down the stairs when she remembered that an hour +before, having to bind up a cut finger for her father, she had +searched Patty's bureau drawer for an old handkerchief, and had +left things in disorder while she ran to answer the Deacon's +impatient call and stamp upon the kitchen floor. + +"Hurry up and don't make me stan' here all winter!" he had +shouted. "If you ever kept things in proper order, you wouldn't +have to hunt all over the house for a piece of rag when you need +it!" + +Patty was very dainty about her few patched and darned +belongings; also very exact in the adjustment of her bits of +ribbon, her collars of crocheted thread, her adored coral +pendants, and her pile of neat cotton handkerchiefs, hem-stitched +by her own hands. Waitstill, accordingly, with an exclamation at +her own unwonted carelessness, darted into her sister's room to +replace in perfect order the articles she had disarranged in her +haste. She knew them all, these poor little trinkets,--humble, +pathetic evidences of Patty's feminine vanity and desire to make +her bright beauty a trifle brighter. + +Suddenly her hand and her eye fell at the same moment on +something hidden in a far corner under a white "fascinator," one +of those head-coverings of filmy wool, dotted with beads, worn by +the girls of the period. She drew the glittering, unfamiliar +object forward, and then lifted it wonderingly in her hand. It +was a string of burnished gold beads, the avowed desire of +Patty's heart; a string of beads with a brilliant little stone in +the fastening. And, as if that were not mystery enough, there was +something slipped over the clasped necklace and hanging from it, +as Waitstill held it up to the light--a circlet of plain gold, a +wedding-ring! + +Waitstill stood motionless in the cold with such a throng of +bewildering thoughts, misgivings, imaginings, rushing through her +head that they were like a flock of birds beating their wings +against her ears. The imaginings were not those of absolute dread +or terror, for she knew her Patty. If she had seen the necklace +alone she would have been anxious, indeed, for it would have +meant that the girl, urged on by ungoverned desire for the +ornament, had accepted present from one who should not have given +it to her secretly; but the wedding-ring meant some-thing +different for Patty,-- something more, something certain, +something unescapable, for good or ill. A wedding-ring could +stand for nothing but marriage. Could Patty be married? How, +when, and where could so great a thing happen without her +knowledge? It seemed impossible. How had such a child surmounted +the difficulties in the path? Had she been led away by the +attractions of some stranger? No, there had been none in the +village. There was only one man who had the worldly wisdom or the +means to carry Patty off under the very eye of her watchful +sister; only one with the reckless courage to defy her father; +and that was Mark Wilson. His name did not bring absolute +confidence to Waitstill's mind. He was gay and young and +thoughtless; how had he managed to do this wild thing?--and had +he done all decently and wisely, with consideration for the +girl's good name? The thought of all the risks lying in the train +of Patty's youth and inexperience brought a wail of anguish from +Waitstill's lips, and, dropping the beads and closing the drawer, +she stumbled blindly down the stairway to the kitchen, intent +upon one thought only--to find her sister, to look in her eyes, +feel the touch of her hand, and assure herself of her safety. + +She gave a dazed look at the tall clock, and was beginning to put +on her cloak when the door opened and Patty entered the kitchen +by way of the shed; the usual Patty, rosy, buoyant, alert, with a +kind of childlike innocence that could hardly be associated with +the possession of wedding-rings. + +"Are you going out, Waity? Wrap up well, for it's freezing cold. +Waity, Waity, dear! What's the matter?" she cried, coming closer +to her sister in alarm. + +Waitstill's face had lost its clear color, and her eyes had the +look of some dumb animal that has been struck and wounded. She +sank into the flag-bottomed rocker by the window, and leaning +back her head, uttered no word, but closed her eyes and gave one +long, shivering sigh and a dry sob that seemed drawn from the +very bottom of her heart. + + + +XXVII + +THE CONFESSIONAL + +"WAITY, I know what it is; you have found out about me! Who has +been wicked enough to tell you before I could do so--tell me, +who?" + +"Oh, Patty, Patty!" cried Waitstill, who could no longer hold +back her tears. "How could you deceive me so? How could you shut +me out of your heart and keep a secret like this from me, who +have tried to be mother and sister in one to you ever since the +day you were born? God has sent me much to bear, but nothing so +bitter as this--to have my sister take the greatest step of her +life without my knowledge or counsel!" + +"Stop, dear, stop, and let me tell you!" + +"All is told, and not by you as it should have been. We've never +had anything separate from each other in all our lives, and when +I looked in your bureau drawer for a bit of soft cotton--it was +nothing more than I have done a hundred times--you can guess now +what I stumbled upon; a wedding-ring for a hand I have held ever +since it was a baby's. My sister has a husband, and I am not even +sure of his name! + +"Waity, Waity, don't take it so to heart!" and Patty flung +herself on her knees beside Waitstill's chair. "Not till you hear +everything! When I tell you all, you will dry your eyes and smile +and be happy about me, and you will know that in the whole world +there is no one else in my love or my life but you and my--my +husband." + +"Who is the husband?" asked Waitstill dryly, as she wiped her +eyes and leaned her elbow on the table. + +"Who could it be but Mark? Has there ever been any one but Mark?" + +"I should have said that there were several, in these past few +months." + +Waitstill's tone showed clearly that she was still grieved and +hurt beyond her power to conceal. +"I have never thought of marrying any one but Mark, and not even +of marrying him till a little while ago," said Patty. "Now do not +draw away from me and look out of the window as if we were not +sisters, or you will break my heart. Turn your eyes to mine and +believe in me, Waity, while I tell you everything, as I have so +longed to do all these nights and days. Mark and I have loved +each other for a long, long time. It was only play at first, but +we were young and foolish and did not understand what was really +happening between us." + +"You are both of you only a few months older than when you were +'young and foolish,'" objected Waitstill. + +"Yes, we are--years and years! Five weeks ago I promised Mark +that I would marry him; but how was I ever to keep my word +publicly? You have noticed how insultingly father treats him of +late, passing him by without a word when he meets him in the +street? You remember, too, that he has never gone to Lawyer +Wilson for advice, or put any business in his hands since +spring?" + +"The Wilsons are among father's aversions, that is all you can +say; it is no use to try and explain them or rebel against them," +Waitstill answered wearily. + +"That is all very well, and might be borne like many another +cross; but I wanted to marry this particular 'aversion,"' argued +Patty. Would you have helped me to marry Mark secretly if I had +confided in you?" + +"Never in the world--never!" + +"I knew it," exclaimed Patty triumphantly. "We both said so! And +what was Mark to do? He was more than willing to come up here and +ask for me like a man, but he knew that he would be ordered off +the premises as if he were a thief. That would have angered Mr. +and Mrs. Wilson, and made matters worse. We talked and talked +until we were hoarse; we thought and thought until we nearly had +brain fever from thinking, but there seemed to be no way but to +take the bull by the horns." + +"You are both so young, you could well have bided awhile." + +"We could have bided until we were gray, nothing would have +changed father; and just lately I couldn't make Mark bide," +confessed Patty ingenuously. "He has been in a rage about +father's treatment of you and me. He knows we haven't the right +food to eat, nothing fit to wear, and not an hour of peace or +freedom. He has even heard the men at the store say that our very +lives might be in danger if we crossed father's will, or angered +him beyond a certain point. You can't blame a man who loves a +girl, if he wants to take her away from such a wretched life. His +love would be good for nothing if he did not long to rescue her!" + +"I would never have left you behind to bear your slavery alone, +while I slipped away to happiness and comfort--not for any man +alive would I +I have done it!" This speech, so unlike Waitstill in its +ungenerous reproach, was repented of as soon as it left her +tongue. "Oh, I did not mean that, my darling!" she cried. "I +would have welcomed any change for you, and thanked God for it, +if only it could have come honorably and aboveboard." + +"But, don't you see, Waity, how my marriage helps everything? +That is what makes me happiest; that now I shall have a home and +it can be yours. Father has plenty of money and can get a +housekeeper. He is only sixty-five, and as hale and hearty as a +man can be. You have served your time, and surely you need not be +his drudge for the rest of your life. Mark and I thought you +would spend half the year with us." + +Waitstill waived this point as too impossible for discussion. +"When and where were you married, Patty?" she asked. + +"In Allentown, New Hampshire, last Monday, the day you and father +went to Saco. Ellen went with us. You needn't suppose it was much +fun for me! Girls that think running away to be married is +nothing but a lark, do not have to deceive a sister like you, nor +have a father such as mine to reckon with afterwards." + +"You thought of all that before, didn't you, child?" + +"Nobody that hasn't already run away to be married once or twice +could tell how it was going to feel! Never did I pass so unhappy +a day! If Mark was not everything that is kind and gentle, he +would have tipped me out of the sleigh into a snowbank and left +me by the roadside to freeze. I might have been murdered instead +of only married, by the way I behaved; but Mark and Ellen +understood. Then, the very next day, Mark's father sent him up to +Bridgton on business, and he had to go to Allentown first to +return a friend's horse, so he couldn't break the news to father +at once, as he intended." + +"Does a New Hampshire marriage hold good in Maine?" asked +Waitstill, still intent on the bare facts at the bottom of the +romance. + +"Well, of course," stammered Patty, some-what confused, "Maine +has her own way of doing things, and wouldn't be likely to fancy +New Hampshire's. But nothing can make it wicked or anything but +according to law. Besides, Mark considered all the difficulties. +He is wonderfully clever, and he has a clerkship in a Portsmouth +law office waiting for him; and that's where we are going to +live, in New Hampshire, where we were married, and my darling +sister will come soon and stay months and months with us." + +"When is Mark coming back to arrange all this?" + +"Late to-night or early to-morrow morning. +283 +"Where did you go after you were married?" + +"Where did I go?" echoed Patty, in a childish burst of tears. +"Where could I go? It took all day to be married--all day long, +working and driving hard from sunrise to seven o'clock in the +evening. Then when we reached the bridge, Mark dropped me, and I +walked up home in the dark, and went to bed without any supper, +for fear that you and father would come back and catch me at it +and ask why I was so late." + +"My poor, foolish dear!" sighed Waitstill. + +Patty's tears flowed faster at the first sound of sympathy in +Waitstill's voice, for self-pity is very enfeebling. She fairly +sobbed as she continued:-- + +"So my only wedding-journey was the freezing drive back from +Allentown, with Ellen crying all the way and wishing that she +hadn't gone with us. Mark and I both say we'll never be married +again so long as we live!" + +"Where have you seen your husband from that day to this?" + +"I haven't laid eyes on him!" said Patty, with a fresh burst of +woe. "I have a certificate-thing, and a wedding-ring and a +beautiful frock and hat that Mark bought in Boston, but no real +husband. I'm no more married than ever I was! Don't you remember +I said that Mark was sent away on Tuesday morning? And this is +Thursday. I've had three letters from him; but I don't know, till +we see how father takes it, when we can tell the Wilsons and +start for Portsmouth. We shan't really call ourselves married +till we get to Portsmouth; we promised each other that from the +first. It isn't much like being a bride, never to see your +bridegroom; to have a father who will fly into a passion when he +hears that you are married; not to know whether your new family +will like or despise you; and to have your only sister angered +with you for the first time in her life!" + +Waitstill's heart melted, and she lifted Patty's tear-stained +face to hers and kissed it. "Well, dear, I would not have had you +do this for the world, but it is done, and Mark seems to have +been as wise as a man can be when he does an unwise thing. You +are married, and you love each other. That's the comforting thing +to me." + +"We do," sobbed Patty. "No two people ever loved each other +better than we; but it's been all spoiled for fear of father." + +"I must say I dread to have him hear the news"; and Waitstill +knitted her brows anxiously. "I hope it may be soon, and I think +I ought to be here when he is told. Mark will never under-stand +or bear with him, and there may be trouble that I could avert." + +"I'll be here, too, and I'm not afraid! And Patty raised her head +defiantly. "Father can unmarry us, that's why we acted in this +miserable, secret, underhanded way. Somehow, though I haven't +seen Mark since we went to Allentown, I am braver than I was last +week, for now I've got somebody to take my part. I've a good mind +to go upstairs and put on my gold beads and my wedding-ring, just +to get used to them and to feel a little more married.--No: I +can't, after all, for there is father driving up the hill now, +and he may come into the house. What brings him home at this +hour?" + +"I was expecting him every moment"; and Waitstill rose and +stirred the fire." He took the pung and went to the Mills for +grain." + +"He hasn't anything in the back of the pung--and, oh, Waity! he +is standing up now and whipping the horse with all his might. I +never saw him drive like that before: what can be the matter? He +can't have seen my wedding-ring, and only three people in all the +world know about my being married." + +Waitstill turned from the window, her heart beating a little +faster." What three people know, three hundred are likely to know +sooner or later. It may be a false alarm, but father is in a fury +about something. He must not be told the news until he is in a +better humor!" + + + +XXVIII + +PATTY IS SHOWN THE DOOR + +DEACON BAXTER drove into the barn, and flinging a blanket over +the wheezing horse, closed the door behind him and hurried into +the house without even thinking to lay down his whip. + +Opening the kitchen door and stopping outside long enough to kick +the snow from his heavy boots, he strode into the kitchen and +confronted the two girls. He looked at them sharply before he +spoke, scanning their flushed faces and tear-stained eyes; then +he broke out savagely:-- + +"Oh! you're both here; that's lucky. Now stan' up and answer to +me. What's this I hear at the Mills about Patience,--common talk +outside the store?" + +The time had come, then, and by some strange fatality, when Mark +was too far away to be of service. + +"Tell me what you heard, father, and I can give you a better +answer," Patty replied, hedging to gain time, and shaking +inwardly. + +"Bill Morrill says his brother that works in New Hampshire +reports you as ridin' through the streets of Allentown last +Monday with a young man." + +There seemed but one reply to this, so Patty answered +tremblingly: "He says what's true; I was there." + +"WHAT!" And it was plain from the Deacon's voice that he had +really disbelieved the rumor. A whirlwind of rage swept through +him and shook him from head to foot. + +"Do you mean to stan' there an' own up to me that you was thirty +miles away from home with a young man?" he shouted. + +"If you ask me a plain question, I've got to tell you the truth, +father: I was." + +"How dare you carry on like that and drag my name into scandal, +you worthless trollop, you? Who went along with you? I'll skin +the hide off him, whoever 't was!" + +Patty remained mute at this threat, but Waitstill caught her hand +and whispered: "Tell him all, dear; it's got to come out. Be +brave, and I'11 stand by you." + +"Why are you interferin' and puttin' in your meddlesome oar?" the +Deacon said, turning to Waitstill. "The girl would never 'a' been +there if you'd attended to your business. She's nothin' but a +fool of a young filly, an' you're an old cart-horse. It was your +job to look out for her as your mother told you to. Anybody might +'a' guessed she needed watchin'!" + +"You shall not call my sister an old cart-horse! I'll not permit +it!" cried Patty, plucking up courage in her sister's defence, +and as usual comporting herself a trifle more like a spitfire +than a true heroine of tragedy. + +"Hush, Patty! Let him call me anything that he likes; it makes no +difference at such a time." + +"Waitstill knew nothing of my going away till this afternoon," +continued Patty. "I kept it secret from her on purpose, because I +was afraid she would not approve. I went with Mark Wilson, +and--and--I married him in New Hampshire because we couldn't do +it at home without every-body's knowledge. Now you know all." + +"Do you mean to tell me you've gone an' married that reckless, +wuthless, horse-trottin', card-playin' sneak of a Wilson boy +that's courted every girl in town? Married the son of a man that +has quarrelled with me and insulted me in public? By the Lord +Harry, I'll crack this whip over your shoulders once before I'm +done with you! If I'd used it years ago you might have been an +honest woman to-day, instead of a--" + +Foxwell Baxter had wholly lost control of himself, and the +temper, that had never been governed or held in check, lashed +itself into a fury that made him for the moment unaccountable for +his words or actions. + +Waitstill took a step forward in front of Patty. "Put down that +whip, father, or I'll take it from you and break it across my +knee!" Her eyes blazed and she held her head high. "You've made +me do the work of a man, and, thank God, I've got the muscle of +one. Don't lift a finger to Patty, or I'11 defend her, I promise +you! The dinner-horn is in the side entry and two blasts will +bring Uncle Bart up the hill, but I'd rather not call him unless +you force me to." + +The Deacon's grasp on the whip relaxed, and he fell back a little +in sheer astonishment at the bravado of the girl, ordinarily so +quiet and self-contained. He was speechless for a second, and +then recovered breath enough to shout to the terrified Patty: "I +won't use the whip till I hear whether you've got any excuse for +your scandalous behavior. Hear me tell you one thing: this little +pleasure-trip o' yourn won't do you no good, for I'11 break the +marriage! I won't have a Wilson in my family if I have to empty a +shot-gun into him; but your lies and your low streets are so +beyond reason I can't believe my ears. What's your excuse, I +say?" + +"Stop a minute, Patty, before you answer, and let me say a few +things that ought to have been said before now," interposed +Waitstill. "If Patty has done wrong, father, you've no one but +yourself to thank for it, and it's only by God's grace that +nothing worse has happened to her. What could you expect from a +young thing like that, with her merry heart turned into a lump in +her breast every day by your cruelty? Did she deceive you? Well, +you've made her afraid of you ever since she was a baby in the +cradle, drawing the covers over her little head when she heard +your step. Whatever crop you sow is bound to come up, father; +that's Nature's law, and God's, as well." + +"You hold your tongue, you,--readin' the law to your elders an' +betters," said the old man, choking with wrath. "My business is +with this wuthless sister o' yourn, not with you!--You've got +your coat and hood on, miss, so you jest clear out o' the house; +an' if you're too slow about it, I'll help you along. I've no +kind of an idea you're rightly married, for that young Wilson +sneak couldn't pay so high for you as all that; but if it amuses +you to call him your husband, go an' find him an' stay with him. +This is an honest house, an' no place for such as you!" + +Patty had a good share of the Baxter temper, not under such +control as Waitstill's, and the blood mounted into her face. + +"You shall not speak to me so!" she said intrepidly, while +keeping a discreet eye on the whip. "I'm not a--a--caterpillar to +be stepped on, I'm a married woman, as right as a New Hampshire +justice can make me, with a wedding-ring and a certificate to +show, if need be. And you shall not call my husband names! Time +will tell what he is going to be, and that's a son-in-law any +true father would be proud to own!" + +"Why are you set against this match, father? " argued Waitstill, +striving to make him hear reason. "Patty has married into one of +the best families in the village. Mark is gay and thought-less, +but never has he been seen the worse for liquor, and never has he +done a thing for which a wife need hang her head. It is something +for a young fellow of four-and-twenty to be able to provide for a +wife and keep her in comfort; and when all is said and done, it +is a true love-match." + +Patty seized this inopportune moment to forget her father's +presence, and the tragic nature of the occasion, and, in her +usual impetuous fashion, flung her arms around Waitstill's neck +and gave her the hug of a young bear. + +"My own dear sister," she said. "I don't mind anything, so long +as you stand up for us." + +"Don't make her go to-night, father," pleaded Waitstill. "Don't +send your own child out into the cold. Remember her husband is +away from home." + +"She can find another up at the Mills as good as he is, or +better. Off with you, I say, you trumpery little baggage, you!" + +"Go, then, dear, it is better so; Uncle Bart will keep you +overnight; run up and get your things"; and Waitstill sank into a +chair, realizing the hopelessness of the situation. + +"She'11 not take anything from my house. It's her husband's +business to find her in clothes." + +"They'll be better ones than ever you found me," was Patty's +response. + +No heroics for her; no fainting fits at being disowned; no +hysterics at being turned out of house and home; no prayers for +mercy, but a quick retort for every gibe from her father; and her +defiant attitude enraged the Deacon the more. + +"I won't speak again," he said, in a tone that could not be +mistaken. "Into the street you go, with the clothes you stand up +in, or I'11 do what I said I'd do." + +"Go, Patty, it's the only thing to be done. Don't tremble, for +nobody shall touch a hair of your head. I can trust you to find +shelter to-night, and Mark will take care of you to-morrow." + +Patty buttoned her shabby coat and tied on her hood as she walked +from the kitchen through the sitting-room towards the side door, +her heart heaving with shame and anger, and above all with a +child's sense of helplessness at being parted from her sister. + +"Don't tell the neighbors any more lies than you can help," +called her father after her retreating form; "an' if any of 'em +dare to come up here an' give me any of their imperdence, they'll +be treated same as you. Come back here, Waitstill, and don't go +to slobberin' any good-byes over her. She ain't likely to get out +o' the village for some time if she's expectin' Mark Wilson to +take her away." + +"I shall certainly go to the door with my sister," said Waitstill +coldly, suiting the action to the word, and following Patty out +on the steps. "Shall you tell Uncle Bart everything, dear, and +ask him to let you sleep at his house?" + +Both girls were trembling with excitement; Waitstill pale as a +ghost, Patty flushed and tearful, with defiant eyes and lips that +quivered rebelliously. + +"I s'pose so," she answered dolefully; "though Aunt Abby hates +me, on account of Cephas. I'd rather go to Dr. Perry's, but I +don't like to meet Phil. There doesn't seem to be any good place +for me, but it 's only for a night. And you'11 not let father +prevent your seeing Mark and me to-morrow, will you? Are you +afraid to stay alone? I'11 sit on the steps all night if you say +the word." + +"No, no, run along. Father has vented his rage upon you, and I +shall not have any more trouble. God bless and keep you, darling. +Run along!" + +"And you're not angry with me now, Waity? You still love me? And +you'll forgive Mark and come to stay with us soon, soon, soon?" + +"We'll see, dear, when all this unhappy business is settled, and +you are safe and happy in your own home. I shall have much to +tell you when we meet to-morrow." + + + +XXIX + +WAITSTILL SPEAKS HER MIND + +Patty had the most ardent love for her elder sister, and +something that resembled reverence for her unselfishness, her +loyalty, and her strength of character; but if the truth were +told she had no great opinion of Waitstill's ability to feel +righteous wrath, nor of her power to avenge herself in the face +of rank injustice. It was the conviction of her own superior +finesse and audacity that had sustained patty all through her +late escapade. She felt herself a lucky girl, indeed, to achieve +liberty and happiness for herself, but doubly lucky if she had +chanced to open a way of escape for her more docile and dutiful +sister. + +She would have been a trifle astonished had she surmised the +existence of certain mysterious waves that had been sweeping +along the coasts of Waitstill's mind that afternoon, breaking +down all sorts of defences and carrying her will along with them +by sheer force: but it is a truism that two human beings can live +beside each other for half a century and yet continue strangers. + +Patty's elopement with the youth of her choice, taking into +account all its attendant risks, was Indeed an exhibition of +courage and initiative not common to girls of seventeen; but +Waitstill was meditating a mutiny more daring yet--a mutiny, too, +involving a course of conduct most unusual in maidens of puritan +descent. + +She walked back into the kitchen to find her father sitting +placidly in the rocking-chair by the window. He had lighted his +corn-cob pipe, in which he always smoked a mixture of dried +sweet-fern as being cheaper than tobacco, and his face wore +something resembling a smile--a foxy smile--as he watched his +youngest-born ploughing down the hill through the deep snow, +while the more obedient Waitstill moved about the room, setting +supper on the table. + +Conversation was not the Deacon's forte, but it seemed proper for +some one to break the ice that seemed suddenly to be very thick +in the immediate vicinity. + +"That little Jill-go-over-the-ground will give the neighbors a +pleasant evenin' tellin' 'em 'bout me," he chuckled. "Aunt Abby +Cole will run the streets o' the three villages by sun-up +to-morrer; but nobody pays any 'tention to a woman whose tongue +is hung in the middle and wags at both ends. I wa'n't intending +to use the whip on your sister, Waitstill," continued the Deacon, +with a crafty look at his silent daughter, "though a trouncin' +would 'a' done her a sight o' good; but I was only tryin' to +frighten her a little mite an' pay her up for bringin' disgrace +on us the way she's done, makin' us the talk o' the town. Well, +she's gone, an' good riddance to bad rubbish, say I! One less +mouth to feed, an' one less body to clothe. You'll miss her jest +at first, on account +o' there bein' no other women-folks on the hill, but 't won't +last long. I'll have Bill Morrill do some o' your outside chores, +so 't you can take on your sister's work, if she ever done any." + +This was a most astoundingly generous proposition on the Deacon's +part, and to tell the truth he did not himself fully understand +his mental processes when he made it; but it seemed to be drawn +from him by a kind of instinct that he was not standing well in +his elder daughter's books. Though the two girls had never made +any demonstration of their affection in his presence, he had a +fair idea of their mutual dependence upon each other. Not that he +placed the slightest value on Waitstill's opinion of him, or +cared in the smallest degree what she, or any one else in the +universe, thought of his conduct; but she certainly did appear to +advantage when contrasted with the pert little hussy who had just +left the premises. Also, Waitstill loomed large in his household +comforts and economies, having a clear head, a sure hand, and +being one of the steady-going, reliable sort that can be counted +on in emergencies, not, like Patty, going off at half-cock at the +smallest provocation. Yes, Waitstill, as a product of his +masterly training for the last seven years, had settled down, +not without some trouble and friction, into a tolerably +dependable pack-horse, and he intended in the future to use some +care in making permanent so valuable an aid and ally. She did not +pursue nor attract the opposite sex, as his younger daughter +apparently did; so by continuing his policy of keeping all young +men rigidly at a distance he could count confidently on having', +Waitstill serve his purposes for the next fifteen or twenty +years, or as long as he, himself, should continue to ornament and +enrich the earth. He would go to Saco the very next day, and cut +Patty out of his will, arranging his property so that Waitstill +should be the chief legatee as long as she continued to live +obediently under his roof. He intended to make the last point +clear if he had to consult every lawyer in York County; for he +wouldn't take risks on any woman alive. + +If he must leave his money anywhere--and it was with a bitter +pang that he faced the inexorable conviction that he could +neither live forever, nor take his savings with him to the realms +of bliss prepared for members of the Orthodox Church in good and +regular standing--if he must leave his money behind him, he would +dig a hole in the ground and bury it, rather than let it go to +any one who had angered him in his lifetime. + +These were the thoughts that caused him to relax his iron grip +and smile as he sat by the window, smoking his corn-cob pipe and +taking one of his very rare periods of rest. + +Presently he glanced at the clock. "It's only quarter-past four," +he said. "I thought 't was later, but the snow makes it so light +you can't jedge the time. The moon fulls to-night, don't it? Yes; +come to think of it, I know it does. Ain't you settin' out supper +a little mite early, Wait still? "This was a longer and more +amiable speech than he had made in years, but Waitstill never +glanced at him as she said: "It is a little early, but I want to +get it ready before I leave." + +"Be you goin' out? Mind, I won't have you follerin' Patience +round; you'll only upset what I've done, an' anyhow I want you to +keep away from the neighbors for a few days, till all this blows +over." + +He spoke firmly, though for him mildly, for he still had the +uneasy feeling that he stood on the brink of a volcano; and, as a +matter of fact, he tumbled into it the very next moment. + +The meagre supper was spread; a plate of cold; soda biscuits, a +dried-apple pie, and the usual brown teapot were in evidence; and +as her father ceased speaking Waitstill opened the door of the +brick oven where the bean-pot reposed, set a chair by the table, +and turning, took up her coat (her mother's old riding-cloak, it +was), and calmly put it on, reaching then for her hood and her +squirrel tippet. + +"You are goin' out, then, spite o' what I said?" the Deacon +inquired sternly. + +"Did you really think, father, that I would sleep under your roof +after you had turned my sister out into the snow to lodge with +whoever might take her in--my seventeen year-old-sister that your +wife left to my care; my little sister, the very light of my +life?" + +Waitstill's voice trembled a trifle, but other-wise she was quite +calm and free from heroics of any sort. + +The Deacon looked up in surprise. "I guess you're kind o' +hystericky," he said. "Set down--set down an' talk things over. I +ain't got nothin' ag'in' you, an' I mean to treat you right. Set +down!" + +The old man was decidedly nervous, and intended to keep his +temper until there was a safer chance to let it fly. + +Waitstill sat down. "There's nothing to talk over," she said. "I +have done all that I promised my stepmother the night she died, +and now I am going. If there's a duty owed between daughter and +father, it ought to work both ways. I consider that I have done +my share, and now I intend to seek happiness for myself. I have +never had any, and I am starving for it." + +"An' you'd leave me to git on the best I can, after what I've +done for you?" burst out the Deacon, still trying to hold down +his growing passion. + +"You gave me my life, and I'm thankful to you for that, but +you've given me little since, father." + +"Hain't I fed an' clothed you?" + +"No more than I have fed and clothed you. You've provided the raw +food, and I've cooked and served it. You've bought and I have +made shirts and overalls and coats for you, and knitted your +socks and comforters and mittens. Not only have I toiled and +saved and scrimped away my girlhood as you bade me, but I've +earned for you. Who made the butter, and took care of the hens, +and dried the apples, and 'drew in' the rugs? Who raised and +ground the peppers for sale, and tended the geese that you might +sell the feathers? No, father, I don't consider that I'm in your +debt!" + + + +XXX + +A CLASH OF WILLS + +DEACON FOXWELL BAXTER was completely non-plussed for the first +time in his life. He had never allowed "argyfyin'" in his +household, and there had never been a clash of wills before this +when he had not come off swiftly and brutally triumphant. This +situation was complicated by the fact that he did not dare to +apply the brakes as usual, since there were more issues involved +than ever before. He felt too stunned to deal properly with this +daughter, having emptied all the vials of his wrath upon the +other one, and being, in consequence, somewhat enfeebled. It was +always easy enough to cope with Patty, for her impertinence +evoked such rage that the argument took care of itself; but this +grave young woman was a different matter. There she sat +composedly on the edge of her wooden chair, her head lifted high, +her color coming and going, her eyes shining steadily, like fixed +stars; there she sat, calmly announcing her intention of leaving +her father to shift for himself; yet the skies seemed to have no +thought of falling! He felt that he must make another effort to +assert his authority. + +"Now, you take off your coat," he said, the pipe in his hand +trembling as he stirred nervously in his chair. "You take your +coat right off an' set down to the supper-table, same as usual, +do you hear? Eat your victuals an' then go to your bed an' git +over this crazy fit that Patience has started workin' in you. No +more nonsense, now; do as I tell you!" + +"I have made up my mind, father, and it's no use arguing. All who +try to live with you fail, sooner or later. You have had four +children, father. One boy ran away; the other did not mind being +drowned, I fear, since life was so hard at home. You have just +turned the third child out for a sin of deceit and disobedience +she would never have committed--for her nature is as clear as +crystal--if you had ever loved her or considered her happiness. +So I have done with you, unless in your old age God should bring +you to such a pass that no one else will come to your assistance; +then I'd see somehow that you were cared for and nursed and made +comfortable. You are not an old man; you are strong and healthy, +and you have plenty of money to get a good house-keeper. I should +decide differently, perhaps, if all this were not true." + +"You lie! I haven't got plenty of money!" And the Deacon struck +the table a sudden blow that made the china in the cupboard +rattle. "You've no notion what this house costs me, an' the feed +for the stock, an' you two girls, an' labor at the store, an' the +hay-field, an' the taxes an' insurance! I've slaved from sunrise +to sunset but I ain't hardly been able to lay up a cent. I s'pose +the neighbors have been fillin' you full o' tales about my +mis'able little savin's an' makin' 'em into a fortune. Well, you +won't git any of 'em, I promise you that!" + +"You have plenty laid away; everybody knows, so what's the use of +denying it? Anyway, I don't want a penny of your money, father, +so good-bye. There's enough cooked to keep you for a couple of +days"; and Waitstill rose from her chair and drew on her mittens. + +Father and daughter confronted each other, the secret fury of the +man met by the steady determination of the girl. The Deacon was +baffled, almost awed, by Waitstill's quiet self-control; but at +the very moment that he was half-uncomprehendingly glaring at +her, it dawned upon him that he was beaten, and that she was +mistress of the situation. + +Where would she go? What were her plans?--for definite plans she +had, or she could not meet his eye with so resolute a gaze. If +she did leave +him, how could he contrive to get her back again, and so escape +the scorn of the village, the averted look, the lessened trade? + +"Where are you goin' now?" he asked, and though he tried his best +he could not for the life of him keep back one final taunt. "I +s'pose, like your sister, you've got a man in your eye?" He chose +this, to him, impossible suggestion as being the most insulting +one that he could invent at the moment. + +"I have," replied Waitstill, "a man in my eye and in my heart. We +should have been husband and wife before this had we not been +kept apart by obstacles too stubborn for us to overcome. My way +has chanced to open first, though it was none of my contriving." + +Had the roof fallen in upon him, the Deacon could not have been +more dumbfounded. His tongue literally clove to the roof of his +mouth; his face fell, and his mean, piercing eyes blinked under +his shaggy brows as if seeking light. + +Waitstill stirred the fire, closed the brick oven and put the +teapot on the back of the stove, hung up the long-handled dipper +on its accustomed nail over the sink, and went to the door. + +Her father collected his scattered wits and pulled himself to his +feet by the arms of the high-backed rocker. "You shan't step +outside this 306 +room till you tell me where you're goin'," he said when he found +his voice. + +"I have no wish to keep it secret: I am going to see if Mrs. +Mason will keep me to-night. To-morrow I shall walk down river +and get work at the mills, but on my way I shall stop at the +Boyntons' to tell Ivory I am ready to marry him as soon as he's +ready to take me." + +This was enough to stir the blood of the Deacon into one last +fury. + +"I might have guessed it if I hadn't been blind as a bat an' deaf +as an adder!" And he gave the table another ringing blow before +he leaned on it to gather strength. "Of course, it would be one +o' that crazy Boynton crew you'd take up with," he roared. +"Nothin' would suit either o' you girls but choosin' the biggest +enemies I've got in the whole village!" + +"You've never taken pains to make anything but enemies, so what +could we do?" + +"You might as well go to live on the poor-farm! Aaron Boynton was +a disrep'table hound; Lois Boynton is as crazy as a loon; the boy +is a no-body's child, an' Ivory's no better than a common +pauper." + +"Ivory's a brave, strong, honorable man, and a scholar, too. I +can work for him and help him earn and save, as I have you." + +"How long's this been goin' on?" The Deacon was choking, but he +meant to get to the bottom of things while he had the chance. + +"It has not gone on at all. He has never said a word to me, and I +have always obeyed your will in these matters; but you can't hide +love, any more than you can hide hate. I know Ivory loves me, so +I'm going to tell him that my duty is done here and I am ready to +help him." + +"Goin' to throw yourself at his head, be you?" sneered the +Deacon. "By the Lord, I don' know where you two girls got these +loose ways o' think-in' an' acting mebbe he won't take you, an' +then where'll you be? You won't git under my roof again when +you've once left it, you can make up your mind to that!" + +"If you have any doubts about Ivory's being willing to take me, +you'd better drive along behind me and listen while I ask him." + +Waitstill's tone had an exultant thrill of certainty in it. She +threw up her head, glorying in what she was about to do. If she +laid aside her usual reserve and voiced her thoughts openly, it +was not in the hope of convincing her father, but for the bliss +of putting them into words and intoxicating herself by the sound +of them. + +"Come after me if you will, father, and watch the welcome I shall +get. Oh! I have no fear of being turned out by Ivory Boynton. I +can hardly wait to give him the joy I shall be bringing! It 's +selfish to rob him of the chance to speak first, but I'11 do it!" +And before Deacon Baxter could cross the room, Waitstill was out +of the kitchen door into the shed, and flying down Town-House +Hill like an arrow shot free from the bow. + +The Deacon followed close behind, hardly knowing why, but he was +no match for the girl, and at last he stood helpless on the steps +of the shed, shaking his fist and hurling terrible words after +her, words that it was fortunate for her peace of mind she could +not hear. + +"A curse upon you both!" he cried savagely. "Not satisfied with +disobeyin' an' defyin' me, you've put me to shame, an' now you'll +be settin' the neighbors ag'in' me an' ruinin' my trade. If you +was freezin' in the snow I wouldn't heave a blanket to you! If +you was starvin' I wouldn't fling either of you a crust! Never +shall you darken my doors again, an' never shall you git a penny +o' my money, not if I have to throw it into the river to spite +you!" + +Here his breath failed, and he stumbled out into the barn +whimpering between his broken sentences like a whipped child. + +"Here I am with nobody to milk, nor feed the hens; nobody to +churn to-morrow, nor do the chores; a poor, mis'able creeter, +deserted by my children, with nobody to do a hand's turn 'thout +bein' paid for every step they take! I'11 give 'em what they +deserve; I don' know what, but I'll be even with 'em yet." And +the Deacon set his Baxter jaw in a way that meant his +determination to stop at nothing. + + + +XXXI + +SENTRY DUTY + +IVORY BOYNTON drove home from the woods that same afternoon by +way of the bridge, in order to buy some provisions at the brick +store. When he +was still a long distance from the bars that divided the lane +from the highroad, he espied a dark-clad little speck he knew to +be Rodman leaning over the fence, waiting and longing as usual +for his home-coming, and his heart warmed at the thought of the +boyish welcome that never failed. + +The sleigh slipped quickly over the hard-packed, shining road, +and the bells rang merrily in the clear, cold air, giving out a +joyous sound that had no echo in Ivory's breast that day. He had +just had a vision of happiness through another man's eyes. was he +always to stand out-side the banqueting-table, he wondered, and +see others feasting while he hungered + +Now the little speck bounded from the fence, flew down the road +to meet the sleigh, and jumped in by the driver's side. + +"I knew you'd come to-night," Rodman cried eagerly. "I told Aunt +Boynton you'd come." + +"How is she, well as common?" + +"No, not a bit well since yesterday morning, but Mrs. Mason says +it's nothing worse than a cold. Mrs. Mason has just gone home, +and we've had a grand house-cleaning to-day. She's washed and +ironed and baked, and we've put Aunt Boynton in clean sheets and +pillow-cases, and her room's nice and warm, and I carried the eat +in and put it on her bed to keep her company while I came to +watch for you. Aunt Boynton let Mrs. Mason braid her hair, and +seemed to like her brushing it. It's been dreadful lonesome, and +oh! I am glad you came back, Ivory. Did you find any more spruce +gum where you went this time?" + +"Pounds and pounds, Rod; enough to bring me in nearly a hundred +dollars. I chanced on the greatest place I've found yet. I +followed the wake of an old whirlwind that had left long furrows +in the forest,--I've told you how the thing works,--and I tracked +its course by the gum that had formed wherever the trees were +wounded. It's hard, lonely work, Rod, but it pays well." + +"If I could have been there, maybe we could have got more. I'm +good at shinning up trees." + +"Yes, sometime we'11 go gum-picking together. We'll climb the +trees like a couple of cats, and take our knives and serape off +the precious lumps that are worth so much money to the druggists. +You've let down the bars, I see." + +"'Cause I knew you'd come to-night," said Rodman. "I felt it in +my bones. We're going to have a splendid supper." + +"Are we? That's good news." Ivory tried to make his tone bright +and interested, though his heart was like a lump of lead in his +breast. "It's the least I can do for the poor little chap," he +thought, "when he stays as caretaker in this lonely spot.--I +wonder if I hadn't better drive into the barn, Rod, and leave the +harness on Nick till I go in and see mother? Guess I will." + +"She's hot, Aunt Boynton is, hot and restless, but Mrs. Mason +thinks that's all." + +Ivory found his mother feverish, and her eyes were unnaturally +bright; but she was clear in X mind and cheerful, too, sitting up +in bed to r^ breathe the better, while the Maltese eat snuggled +under her arm and purred peacefully + +"The cat is Rod's idea," she said smilingly but in a very weak +voice. "He is a great nurse I should never have thought of the +eat myself but she gives me more comfort than all the medicine." + +Ivory and Rodman drew up to the supper table, already set in the +kitchen, but before Ivory took his seat he softly closed the door +that led into the living-room. They ate their beans and brown +bread and the mince pie that had been the "splendid" feature of +the meal, as reported by the boy; and when they had finished, and +Rodman was clearing the table, Ivory walked to the window, +lighting his pipe the while, and stood soberly looking out on the +snowy landscape. One could scarcely tell it was twilight, with +such sweeps of whiteness to catch every gleam of the dying day. + +"Drop work a minute and come here, Rod," he said at length. "Can +you keep a secret?" + +"'Course I can! I'm chock full of 'em now, and nobody could dig +one of 'em out o' me with a pickaxe!" + +"Oh, well! If you're full you naturally couldn't hold another!" + +"I could try to squeeze it in, if it's a nice one," coaxed the +boy. + +"I don't know whether you'11 think it's a nice one, Rod, for it +breaks up one of your plans. I'm not sure myself how nice it is, +but it's a very big, unexpected, startling one. What do you +think? Your favorite Patty has gone and got married." + +"Patty! Married!" cried Rod, then hastily putting his hand over +his mouth to hush his too-loud speaking. + +"Yes, she and Mark Wilson ran away last Monday, drove over to +Allentown, New Hampshire, and were married without telling a +soul. Deacon Baxter discovered everything this afternoon, like +the old fox that he is, and turned Patty out of the house." + +"Mean old skinflint!" exclaimed Rod excitedly, all the incipient +manhood rising in his ten-year-old breast. "Is she gone to live +with the Wilsons?" + +"The Wilsons don't know yet that Mark is married to her, but I +met him driving like Jehu, just after I had left Patty, and told +him everything that had happened, and did my best to cool him +down and keep him from murdering his new father-in-law by showing +him it would serve no real purpose now." + +"Did he look married, and all different?" asked Rod curiously. + +"Yes, he did, and more like a man than ever he looked before in +his life. We talked everything over together, and he went home at +once to break the news to his family, without even going to take +a peep at Patty. I couldn't bear to have them meet till he had +something cheerful to say to the poor little soul. When I met her +by Uncle Bart's shop, she was trudging along in the snow like a +draggled butterfly, and crying like a baby." + +Sympathetic tears dimmed Rodman's eyes. "I can't bear to see +girls cry, Ivory. I just can't bear it, especially Patty." + +"Neither can I, Rod. I came pretty near wiping her eyes, but +pulled up, remembering she wasn't a child but a married lady. +Well, now we come to the point." + +"Isn't Patty's being married the point?" + +"No, only part of it. Patty's being sent away from home leaves +Waitstill alone with the Deacon, do you see? And if Patty is your +favorite, Waitstill is mine--I might as well own up to that." + +"She's mine, too," cried Rod. "They're both my favorites, but I +always thought Patty was the suitablest for me to marry if she'd +wait for me. Waitstill is too grand for a boy!" + +"She's too grand for anybody, Rod. There isn't a man alive that's +worthy to strap on her skates." + +"Well, she's too grand for anybody except--" and here Rod's shy, +wistful voice trailed off into discreet silence. + +"Now I had some talk with Patty, and she thinks Waitstill will +have no trouble with her father just at present. She says he +lavished so much rage upon her that there'll be none left for +anybody else for a day or two. And, moreover, that he will never +dare to go too far with Waitstill, because she's so useful to +him. I'm not afraid of his beating or injuring her so long as he +keeps his sober senses, if he's ever rightly had any; but I don't +like to think of his upbraiding her and breaking her heart with +his cruel talk just after she's lost the sister that's been her +only companion." And Ivory's hand trembled as he filled his pipe. +He had no confidant but this quaint, tender-hearted, +old-fashioned little lad, to whom he had grown to speak his mind +as if he were a man of his own age; and Rod, in the same way, had +gradually learned to understand and sympathize. + +"It's dreadful lonesome on Town-House Hill," said the boy in a +hushed tone + +"Dreadful lonesome," echoed Ivory with a sigh; "and I don't dare +leave mother until her fever dies down a bit and she sleeps. Now +do you remember the night that she was taken ill, and we shared +the watch?" + +Rodman held his breath. " Do you mean you 're going to let me +help just as if I was big? " he asked, speaking through a great +lump in his throat. + +"There are only two of us, Rod. You're rather young for this +piece of work, but you're trusty--you 're trusty!" + +"Am I to keep watch on the Deacon?" + +"That's it, and this is my plan: Nick will have had his feed; you +'re to drive to the bridge when it gets a little darker and hitch +in Uncle Bart's horse-shed, covering Nick well. You're to go into +the brick store, and while you're getting some groceries wrapped +up, listen to anything the men say, to see if they know what's +happened. When you've hung about as long as you dare, leave your +bundle and say you'll call in again for it. Then see if Baxter's +store is open. I don't believe it will be, and if it Isn't, look +for a light in his kitchen window, and prowl about till you know +that Waitstill and the Deacon have gone up to their bedrooms. +Then go to Uncle Bart's and find out if Patty is there." + +Rod's eyes grew bigger and bigger: "Shall I talk to her?" he +asked; "and what'll I say?" + +"No, just ask if she's there. If she's gone, Mark has made it +right with his family and taken her home. If she hasn't, why, God +knows how that matter will be straightened out. Anyhow, she has a +husband now, and he seems to value her; and Waitstill is alone on +the top of that wind-swept hill!" + +"I'll go. I'll remember everything," cried Rodman, in the seventh +heaven of delight at the responsibilities Ivory was heaping upon +him. +318 + +"Don't stay beyond eight o'clock; but come back and tell me +everything you've learned. Then, if mother grows no worse, I'll +walk back to Uncle Bart's shop and spend the night there, +just--just to be near, that's all." + +"You couldn't hear Waitstill, even if she called," Rod said. + +"Couldn't I? A man's ears are very sharp under certain +circumstances. I believe if Waitstill needed help I could hear +her--breathe! Besides, I shall be up and down the hill till I +know all's well; and at sunrise I'11 go up and hide behind some +of Baxter's buildings till I see +him get his breakfast and go to the store. Now wash your dishes"; +and Ivory caught up his cap from a hook behind the door. + +"Are you going to the barn? " asked Rodman. + +"No, only down to the gate for a minute. Mark said that if he had +a good chance he'd send a boy with a note, and get him to put it +under the stone gate-post. It's too soon to expect it, perhaps, +but I can't seem to keep still." + +Rodman tied a gingham apron round his waist, carried the +tea-kettle to the sink, and poured the dishpan full of boiling +water; then dipped the cups and plates in and out, wiped them and +replaced them on the table' gave the bean-platter a special +polish, and set the half mince pie and the butter-dish in the +cellar-way. + +"A boy has to do most everything in this family!" He sighed to +himself. +"I don't mind washing dishes, except the nasty frying-pan and the +sticky bean-pot; but what I'm going to do to-night is different." +Here he glowed and tingled with anticipation. "I know what they +call it in the story-books--it's sentry duty; and that's braver +work for a boy than dish-washing!" + +Which, however, depends a good deal upon circumstances, and +somewhat on the point of view. + + + +XXXII + +THE HOUSE OF AARON + +A FEELING that the day was to bring great things had dawned upon +Waitstill when she woke that morning, and now it was coming true. + +Climbing Saco Hill was like climbing the hill of her dreams; life +and love beckoned to her across the snowy slopes. + +At rest about Patty's future, though troubled as to her sorry +plight at the moment, she was conscious chiefly of her new-born +freedom. She revelled in the keen air that tingled against her +cheek, and drew in fresh hope with every breath. As she trod the +shining pathway she was full of expectancy, her eyes dancing, her +heart as buoyant as her step. Not a vestige of confusion or +uncertainty vexed her mind. She knew Ivory for her true mate, and +if the way to him took her through dark places it was lighted by +a steadfast beacon of love. + +At the top of the hill she turned the corner breathlessly, and +faced the length of road that led to the Boynton farm. Mrs. +Mason's house was beyond, and oh, how she hoped that Ivory would +be at home, and that she need not wait another day to tell him +all, and claim the gift she knew was hers before she asked it. +She might not have the same exaltation to-morrow, for now there +were no levels in her heart and soul. She had a sense of mounting +from height to height and lighting fires on every peak of her +being. She took no heed of the road she was travelling; she was +conscious only of a wonderful inward glow. + +The house was now in sight, and a tall figure was issuing from +the side door, putting on a fur cap as it came out on the steps +and down the lane. Ivory was at home, then, and, best of all, he +was unconsciously coming to meet her--although their hearts had +been coming to meet each other, she thought, ever since they +first began to beat. + +As she neared the bars she called Ivory's name. His hands were in +the pockets of his great-coat, and his eyes were fixed on the +ground. Sombre he was, distinctly sombre, in mien and gait; could +she make him smile and flush and glow, as she was smiling and +flushing and glowing? As he heard her voice he raised his head +quickly and uncomprehendingly. + +"Don't come any nearer," she said, "until I have told you +something!" His mind had been so full of her that the sight of +her in the flesh, standing twenty feet away, bewildered him. + +She took a few steps nearer the gate, near enough now for him to +see her rosy face framed in a blue hood, and to catch the +brightness of her eyes under their lovely lashes. Ordinarily they +were cool and limpid and grave, Waitstill's eyes; now a sunbeam +danced in each of them. And her lips, almost always tightly +closed, as if she were holding back her natural speech,--her lips +were red and parted, and the soul of her, free at last, shone +through her face, making it luminous with a new beauty. + +"I have left home for good and all," she said. "I'll tell you +more of this later on, but I have left my father's house with +nothing to my name but the clothes I stand in. I am going to look +for work in the mills to-morrow, but I stopped here to say that +I'm ready to marry you whenever you want me--if you do want me." + +Ivory was bewildered, indeed, but not so much so that he failed +to apprehend, and instantly, too, the real significance of this +speech. + +He took a couple of long strides, and before Waitstill had any +idea of his intentions he vaulted over the bars and gathered her +in his arms. + +"Never shall you go to the mills, never shall you leave my sight +for a single hour again, my one-woman-in-all-the-world! Come to +me, to be loved and treasured all your life long! I've worshipped +you ever since I was a boy; I've kept my heart swept and +garnished for you and no other, hoping I might win you at last." + +How glorious to hear all this delicious poetry of love, and to +feel Ivory's arms about her, making the dream seem surer! + +"Oh, how like you to shorten the time of my waiting!" he went on, +his words fairly chasing one another in their eagerness to be +spoken +How like you to count on me, to guess my hunger for your love, to +realize the chains that held me back, and break them yourself +with your own dear, womanly hands! How like you, oh, wonderful +Waitstill!" + +Ivory went on murmuring phrases that had been lying in his heart +unsaid for years, scarcely conscious of what he was saying, +realizing only that the miracle of miracles had happened. + +Waitstill, for her part, was almost dumb with joy to be lying so +close to his heart that she could hear it beating; to feel the +passionate tenderness of his embrace and his kiss falling upon +her hair. + +"I did not know a girl could be so happy!" she whispered. "I've +dreamed of it, but it was nothing like this. I am all a-tremble +with it." + +Ivory held her off at arm's length for a moment, reluctantly, +grudgingly. "You took me fairly off my feet, dearest," he said, +"and forgot everything but the one supreme fact you were telling +me. Had I been on guard I should have told you that I am no +worthy husband for you, Waitstill. I haven't enough to offer such +a girl as you." + +"You're too late, Ivory! You showed me your heart first, and now +you are searching your mind for bugbears to frighten me." + +"I am a poor man." + +"No girl could be poorer than I am." + +"After what you've endured, you ought to have rest and comfort." + +"I shall have both--in you!" This with eyes, all wet, lifted to +Ivory's. + +"My mother is a great burden--a very dear and precious, but a +grievous one." + +"She needs a daughter. It is in such things that I shall be your +helpmate." + +"Will not the boy trouble you and add to your cares?" + +"Rod? I love him; he shall be my little brother." + +"What if my father were not really dead?--I think of this +sometimes in the night!--What if he should wander back, broken in +spirit, feeble in body, empty in purse?" + +"I do not come to you free of burdens. If my father is deserted +by all, I must see that he is made comfortable. He never treated +me like a daughter, but I acknowledge his claim." + +"Mine is such a gloomy house!" + +"Will it be gloomy when I am in it?" and Waitstill, usually so +grave, laughed at last like a care-free child. + +Ivory felt himself hidden in the beautiful shelter of the girl's +love. It was dark now, or as dark as the night ever is that has +moonlight and snow. He took Waitstill in his arms again +reverently, and laid his cheek against her hair. "I worship God +as well as I know how," he whispered; "worship him as the maker +of this big heaven and earth that surrounds us. But I worship you +as the maker of my little heaven and earth, and my heart is +saying its prayers to you at this very moment!" + +"Hush, my dear! hush! and don't value me too much, or I shall +lose my head--I that have never known a sweet word in all my life +save those that my sister has given me.--I must tell you all +about Patty now." + +"I happen to know more than you, dear. I met her at the bridge +when I was coming home from the woods, and I saw her safely to +Uncle Bart's door.--I don't know why we speak of it as Uncle +Bart's when it is really Aunt Abby's!--I next met Mark, who had +fairly flown from Bridgton on the wings of love, arriving hours +ahead of time. I managed to keep him from avenging the insults +heaped upon his bride, and he has driven to the Mills to confide +in his father and mother. By this time Patty is probably the +centre of the family group, charming them all as is her custom." + +"Oh, I am so glad Mark is at home! Now I can be at rest about +Patty. And I must not linger another moment, for I am going to +ask Mrs. Mason to keep me overnight," cried Waitstill, bethinking +herself suddenly of time and place. + +"I will take you there myself and explain everything. And the +moment I've lighted a fire in Mrs. Mason's best bedroom and +settled you there, what do you think I am going to do? I shall +drive to the town clerk's house, and if he is in bed, rout +him out and have the notice of our intended marriage posted +in a public place according to law. Perhaps I shall save a day +out of the fourteen I've got to wait for my wife. 'Mills,' +indeed! I wonder at you, Waitstill! As if Mrs. Mason's house was +not far enough away, without your speaking of 'mills.'" + +"I only suggested mills in case you did not want to marry me," +said Waitstill. + + +"Walk up to the door with me," begged Ivory. + +"The horse is all harnessed, and Rod will slip him into the +sleigh in a jiffy." + +"Oh, Ivory! do you realize what this means?"--and Waitstill clung +to his arm as they went up the lane together--"that whatever +sorrow, whatever hardship comes to us, neither of us will ever +have to bear it alone again?" + +"I believe I do realize it as few men could, for never in my +five-and-twenty years have I had a human creature to whom I could +pour myself out, in whom I could really confide, with whom I +could take counsel. You can guess what it will be to have a +comprehending woman at my side. Shall we tell my mother? Do say +'yes'; I believe she will understand.--Rod, Rod! come and see +who's stepping in the door this very minute!" + +Rodman was up in his bedroom, attiring himself elaborately for +sentry duty. His delight at seeing Waitstill was perhaps slightly +tempered by the thought that flashed at once through his +mind,--that if she was safe, he would not be required to stand +guard in the snow for hours as he had hoped. But this grief +passed when he fully realized what Waitstill's presence at the +farm at this unaccustomed hour really meant. After he had been +told, he hung about her like the child that he was,--though he +had a bit of the hero in him, at bottom, too,--embracing her +waist fondly, and bristling with wondering questions. + +"Is she really going to stay with us for always, Ivory?" he +asked. + +"Every day and all the days; every night and all the nights. +'Praise God from whom all blessings flow!'" said Ivory, taking +off his fur cap and opening the door of the living-room. "But +we've got to wait for her a whole fortnight, Rod. Isn't that a +ridiculous snail of a law?" + +"Patty didn't wait a fortnight." + +"Patty never waited for anything," Ivory responded with a smile; +"but she had a good reason, and, alas! we haven't, or they'11 say +that we haven't. And I am very grateful to the same dear little +Patty, for when she got herself a husband she found me a wife!" + +Rodman did not wholly understand this, but felt that there were +many mysteries attending the love affairs of grown-up people that +were too complicated for him to grasp; and it did not seem to be +just the right moment for questions. + +Waitstill and Ivory went into Mrs. Boynton's room quietly, hand +in hand, and when she saw Waitstill she raised herself from her +pillow and held out her arms with a soft cry of delight. + +"I haven't had you for so long, so long!" she said, touching the +girl's cheek with her frail hand. + +"You are going to have me every day now, dear," whispered +Waitstill, with a sob in her voice; for she saw a change in the +face, a new transparency, a still more ethereal look than had +been there before. + +"Every day?" she repeated, longingly. Waitstill took off her +hood, and knelt on the floor beside the bed, hiding her face in +the counterpane to conceal the tears. + +"She is coming to live with us, dear.--Come in, Rod, and hear me +tell her.--Waitstill is coming to live with us: isn't that a +beautiful thing to happen to this dreary house?" asked Ivory, +bending to take his mother's hand. + +"Don't you remember what you thought the first time I ever came +here, mother?" and Waitstill lifted her head, and looked at Mrs. +Boynton with swimming eyes and lips that trembled. "Ivory is +making it all come true, and I shall be your daughter!" + +Mrs. Boynton sank farther back into her pillows, and closing her +eyes, gave a long sigh of infinite content. Her voice was so +faint that they +had to stoop to catch the words, and Ivory, feeling the strange +benediction that seemed to be passing from his mother's spirit to +theirs, took Rod's hand and knelt beside Waitstill. + +The verse of a favorite psalm was running through Lois Boynton's +mind, and in a moment the words came clearly, as she opened her +eyes, lifted her hands, and touched the bowed heads. "Let the +house of Aaron now say that his mercy endureth forever!" she +said, slowly and reverently; and Ivory, with all his heart, +responded, "Amen!" + + + +XXXIII + +AARON'S ROD + +"IVORY! IVORY!" + +Ivory stirred in a sleep that had been troubled by too great +happiness. To travel a dreary path alone, a path leading +seemingly nowhere, and then suddenly to have a companion by one's +side, the very sight of whom enchanted the eye, the very touch of +whom delighted the senses--what joy unspeakable! Who could sleep +soundly when wakefulness brought a train of such blissful +thoughts? + +"Ivory! Ivory!" + +He was fully awake now, for he knew his mother's voice. In all +the years, ever thoughtful of his comfort and of the constant +strain upon his strength, Lois had never wakened her son at +night. + +"Coming, mother, coming!" he said, when he realized she was +calling him; and hastily drawing on some clothing, for the night +was bitterly cold, he came out of his room and saw his mother +standing at the foot of the stairway, with a lighted candle in +her hand. + +"Can you come down, Ivory? It is a strange hour to call you but I +have something to tell you; something I have been piecing +together for weeks; something I have just clearly remembered." + +"If it's something that won't keep till morning, mother, you +creep back into bed and we'll hear it comfortably," he said, +coming downstairs and leading her to her room. "I'll smooth the +covers, so; beat up the pillows,--there, and throw another log on +the sitting-room fire. Now, what's the matter? Couldn't you +sleep?" + +"All summer long I have been trying to remember something; +something untrue that you have been believing, some falsehood for +which I was responsible. I have pursued and pursued it, but it +has always escaped me. Once it was clear as daylight, for Rodman +read me from the Bible a plain answer to all the questions that +tortured me." + +"That must have been the night that she fainted," thought Ivory. + +"When I awoke next morning from my long sleep, the old puzzle had +come back, a thousand times worse than before, for then I knew +that I had held the clue in my own hand and had lost it. Now, +praise God! I know the truth, and you, the only one to whom I can +tell it, are close at hand." + +Ivory looked at his mother and saw that the veil that had +separated them mentally seemed to five vanished in the night that +had passed. Often and often it had blown away, as it were, for +the fraction of a moment and then blown back again. Now her eyes +met his with an altogether new clearness that startled him, while +her health came with ease and she seemed stronger than for many +days. + +"You remember the winter I was here at the farm alone, when you +were at the Academy?" + +"Yes; it was then that I came home and found you so terribly ill. +Do you think we need go back to that old time now, mother dear?" + +"Yes, I must, I must! One morning I received a strange letter, +bearing no signature, in which the writer said that if I wished +to see my husband I had only to go to a certain address in +Brentville, New Hampshire. The letter went on to say that Mr. +Aaron Boynton was ill and longed for nothing so much as to speak +with me; but there were reasons why he did not wish to return to +Edgewood,--would I come to him without delay." + +Ivory now sat straight in his chair and listened keenly, feeling +that this was to be no vague, uncertain, and misleading memory, +but something true and tangible. + +"The letter excited me greatly after your father's long absence +and silence. I knew it could mean nothing but sorrow, but +although I was half ill at the time, my plain duty was to go, so +I thought, and go without making any explanation in the village." + +All this was new to Ivory and he hung upon his mother's words, +dreading yet hoping for the light that they might shed upon the +past. + +"I arrived at Brentville quite exhausted with the journey and +weighed down by anxiety and dread. I found the house mentioned in +the letter at seven o'clock in the evening, and knocked at the +door. A common, hard-featured woman answered the knock and, +seeming to expect me, ushered me in. I do not remember the room; +I remember only a child leaning patiently against the window-sill +looking out into the dark, and that the place was bare and +cheerless. + +"I came to call upon Mr. Aaron Boynton,' I said, with my heart +sinking lower and lower as I spoke. The woman opened a door into +the next +room and when I walked in, instead of seeing your father, I +confronted a haggard, death-stricken young woman sitting up in +bed, her great eyes bright with pain, her lips as white as her +hollow cheeks, and her long, black hair streaming over the +pillow. The very sight of her struck a knell to the little hope I +had of soothing your father's sick bed and forgiving him if he +had done me any wrong. + +"'Well, you came, as I thought you would,' said the girl, looking +me over from head to foot in a way that somehow made me burn with +shame. 'Now sit down in that chair and hear what I've got to say +while I've got the strength to say it. I haven't the time nor the +desire to put a gloss on it. Aaron Boynton isn't here, as you +plainly see, but that's not my fault, for he belongs here as much +as anywhere, though he wouldn't have much interest in a dying +woman. If you have suffered on account of him, so have I and you +haven't had this pain boring into you and eating your life away +for months, as I have.' + +"I pitied her, she seemed so distraught, but I was in terror of +her all the same, and urged her to tell her story calmly and I +would do my best to hear it in the same way. + +"'Calm,' she exclaimed, 'with this agony tearing me to pieces! +Well, to make beginning and end in one, Aaron Boynton was my +husband for three years.' + +"I caught hold of the chair to keep myself from falling and +cried: 'I do not believe it!' 'Believe it or not, she answered +scornfully, 'it makes no difference to me, but I can give you +twenty proofs in as many seconds. We met at a Cochrane meeting +and he chose me from all the others as his true wife. For two +years we travelled together, but long before they came to an end +there was no happiness for either of us. He had a conscience--not +much of a one, but just enough to keep him miserable. At last I +felt he was not believing the doctrines he preached and I caught +him trying to get news of you and your boy, just because you were +out of reach, and neglecting my boy and me, who had given up +everything to wander with him and live on whatever the brethren +and sisters chose to give us.' + +"'So there was a child, a boy,' I gasped. 'Did--did he live?' +'He's in the next room,' she answered, 'and it's him I brought +you here for. Aaron Boynton has served us both the same. He left +you for me and me for Heaven knows who. If I could live I +wouldn't ask any favors, of you least of all, but I haven't a +penny in the world, though I shan't need one very long. My friend +that's nursing me hasn't a roof to her head and she wouldn't +share it with the boy if she had--she's a bigoted Orthodox.' + +"'But what do you expect me to do?' I asked angrily, for she was +stabbing me with every word. + +"'The boy is your husband's child and he always represented you +as a saint upon earth. I expect you to take him home and provide +for him. He doesn't mean very much to me--just enough so that I +don't relish his going to the poorhouse, that's all.' + +"'He'll go to something very like that if he comes to mine,' I +said. + +"'Don't worry me with talk, for I can't stand it,' she wailed, +clutching at her nightgown and flinging back her hair. 'Either +you take the child or I send somebody to Edgewood with him, +somebody to tell the whole story. Some of the Cochranites can +support him if you won't; or, at the worst, Aaron Boynton's town +can take care of his son. The doctor has given me two days to +live. If it's a minute longer I've warned him and I warn you, +that I'll end it myself; and if you don't take the boy I'll do +the same for him. He's a good sight better off dead than knocking +about the world alone; he's innocent and there's no sense in his +being punished for the sins of other folks.'" + +"I see it all! Why did I never think of it before; my poor, poor +Rod!" said Ivory, clenching his hands and burying his head in +them. + +"Don't grieve, Ivory; it has all turned out so much better than +we could have hoped; just listen to the end. She was frightful to +hear and to look at, the girl was, though all the time I could +feel that she must have had a gipsy beauty and vigor that +answered to something in your father. + +"'Go along out now,' she cried suddenly. 'I can't stand anybody +near. The doctor never gives me half enough medicine and for the +hour before he comes I fairly die for lack of it--though little +he cares! Go upstairs and have your sleep and to-morrow you can +make up your mind.' + +"'You don't leave me much freedom to do that,' I tried to answer; +but she interrupted me, rocking her body to and fro. 'Neither of +us wi11 ever see Aaron Boynton again; you no more than I. He's in +the West, and a man with two families and no means of providing +for them doesn't come back where he's known.--Come and take her +away, Eliza! Take her away, quick!' she called. + +"I stumbled out of the room and the woman waved me upstairs. 'You +mustn't mind Hetty,' she apologized; 'she never had a good +disposition at the best, but she's frantic with the pain now, and +good reason, too. It's about over and I'11 be thankful when it +is. You'd better swallow the shame and take the child; I can't +and won't have him and it'11 be easy enough for you to say he +belongs to some of your own folks.' + +"By this time I was mentally bewildered. When the iron first +entered my soul, when I first heard the truth about your father, +at that moment my mind gave way--I know it now." + +"Poor, poor mother! My poor, gentle little mother!" murmured +Ivory brokenly, as he asked her hand. + +"Don't cry, my son; it is all past; the sorrow and the bitterness +and the struggle. I will just finish the story and then we'11 +close the book forever. The woman gave me some bread and tea, and +I flung myself on the bed without undressing. I don't know how +long afterward it was, but the door opened and a little boy stole +in; a sad, strange, dark-eyed little boy who said: 'Can I sleep +up here? Mother's screaming and I'm afraid.' He climbed to the +couch. I covered him with a blanket, and I soon heard his deep +breathing. But later in the night, when I must have fallen asleep +myself, I suddenly awoke and felt him lying beside me. He had +dragged the blanket along and crept up on the bed to get close to +my side for the warmth I could give, or the comfort of my +nearness. The touch of him almost broke my heart; I could not +push the little creature away when he was lying there so near and +warm and confiding--he, all unconscious of the agony his mere +existence was to me. I must have slept again and when the day +broke I was alone. I thought the presence of the child in the +night was a dream and I could not remember where I was, nor why I +was there." + +"Mother, dear mother, don't tell me any more to-night. I fear for +your strength," urged Ivory, his eyes full of tears at the +remembrance of her sufferings. + +"There is only a little more and the weight will be off my heart +and on yours, my poor son. Would that I need not tell you! The +house was still and I thought at first that no one was awake, but +when I opened the sitting-room door the child ran towards me and +took my hand as the woman came in from the sick-room. 'Go into +the kitchen, Rodman,' she said, 'and lace up your boots; you're +going right out with this lady. Hetty died in the night,' she +continued impassively. 'The doctor was here about ten o'clock and +I've never seen her so bad. He gave her a big dose of sleeping +powder and put another in the table drawer for me to mix for her +towards morning. She was helpless to move, we thought, but all +the same she must have got out of bed when my back was turned and +taken the powder dry on her tongue, for it was gone when I looked +for it. It didn't hasten things much and I don't blame her. If +ever there was a wild, reckless creature it was Hetty Rodman, but +I, who am just the opposite, would have done the same if I'd been +her.' + +"She hurriedly gave me a cup of coffee, and, putting a coat and a +cap on the boy, literally pushed me out of the house. 'I've got +to report things to the doctor,' she said, 'and you're better out +of the way. Go down that side street to the station and mind you +say the boy belonged to your sister who died and left him to you. +You're a Cochranite, ain't you? So was Hetty, and they're all +sisters, so you'll be telling no lies. Good-bye, Rodman, be a +good boy and don't be any trouble to the lady.' + +"How I found the station I do not know, nor how I made the +journey, nor where I took the stage-coach. The snow began to fall +and by noon there was a drifting storm. I could not remember +where I was going, nor who the boy was, for just as the snow was +whirling outside, so it was whirling in my brain." + +"Mother, I can hardly bear to hear any more; it is too terrible!" +cried Ivory, rising from his chair and pacing the floor. + +"I can recall nothing of any account till I awoke in my own bed +weeks afterwards. The strange little boy was there, but Mrs. Day +and Dr. Perry told me what I must have told them--that he was the +child of my dead sister. Those were the last words uttered by the +woman in Brentville; I carried them straight through my illness +and brought them out on the other side more firmly intrenched +than ever." + +"If only the truth had come back to you sooner!" sighed Ivory, +coming back to her bedside. "I could have helped you to bear it +all these years. Sorrow is so much lighter when you can share it +with some one else. And the girl who died was called Hetty +Rodman, then, and she simply gave the child her last name?" + +"Yes, poor suffering creature. I feel no anger against her now; +it has burned itself all away. Nor do I feel any bitterness +against your father. I forgot all this miserable story for so +long, loving and watching for him all the time, that it is as if +it did not belong to my own life, but had to do with some unhappy +stranger. Can you forgive, too, Ivory?" + +"I can try," he answered. "God knows I ought to be able to if you +can!" + +"And will it turn you away from Rod?" + +"No, it draws me nearer to him than ever. He shall never know the +truth--why should he? Just as he crept close to you that night, +all unconscious of the reason you had for shrinking from him, so +he has crept close to me in these years of trial, when your mind +has been wandering." + +"Life is so strange. To think that this child, of all others, +should have been a comfort to you. The Lord's hand is in it!" +whispered Mrs. Boynton feebly. + +"His boyish belief in me, his companionship, have kept the breath +of hope alive in me--that's all I can say." + +"The Bible story is happening over again in our lives, then. +Don't you remember that Aaron's rod budded and blossomed and bore +fruit, and that the miracle kept the rebels from murmuring?" + +"This rebel never will murmur again, mother, and Ivory rose to +leave the room. "Now that you have shed your burden you will grow +stronger and life will be all joy, for Waitstill will come to us +soon and we can shake off these miseries and be a happy family +once more." + +"It is she who has helped me most to find the thread; pouring +sympathy and strength into me, nursing me, loving me, because she +loved my wonderful son. Oh! how blest among women I am to have +lived long enough to see you happy!" + +And as Ivory kissed his mother and blew out the candle, she +whispered to herself: "Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" + + + +XXXIV + +THE DEACON'S WATERLOO + +MRS. MASON'S welcome to Waitstill was unexpectedly hearty--much +heartier than it would have been Six months before, when she +regarded Mrs. Boynton as little less than a harmless lunatic, of +no use as a neighbor; and when she knew nothing more of Ivory +than she could gather by his occasional drive or walk past her +door with a civil greeting. Rodman had been until lately the only +member of the family for whom she had a friendly feeling; but all +that had changed in the last few weeks, when she had been allowed +to take a hand in the Boyntons' affairs. As to this newest +development in the life of their household, she had once been +young herself, and the veriest block of stone would have become +human when the two lovers drove up to the door and told their +exciting story. + +Ivory made himself quickly at home, and helped the old lady to +get a room ready for Waitstill before he drove back for a look at +his mother and then on to carry out his impetuous and romantic +scheme of routing out the town clerk and announcing his intended +marriage. +345 + +Waitstill slept like the shepherd boy in "The Pilgrim's +Progress," with the "herb called Heart's Ease" in her bosom. She +opened her eyes next morning from the depths of Mrs. Mason's best +feather bed, and looked wonderingly about the room, with all its +unaccustomed surroundings. She heard the rattle of fire-irons and +the flatter of dishes below; the first time in all her woman's +life that preparations for breakfast had ever greeted her ears +when she had not been an active participator in them. + +She lay quite still for a quarter of an hour, tired in body and +mind, but incredibly happy in spirit, marvelling at the changes +wrought in her during the day preceding, the most eventful one in +her history. Only yesterday her love had been a bud, so closely +folded that she scarcely recognized its beauty or color or +fragrance; only yesterday, and now she held in her hand a perfect +flower. When and how had it grown, and by what magic process? + +The image of Ivory had been all through the night in the +foreground of her dreams and in her moments of wakefulness, both +made blissful by the heaven of anticipation that dawned upon her. +Was ever man so wise, so tender and gentle, so strong, so +comprehending? What mattered the absence of worldly goods, the +presence of care and anxiety, when n woman had a steady hand to +hold, a steadfast heart to trust, a man who would love her and +stand by her, whate'er befell? + +Then the face of Ivory's mother would swim into the mental +picture; the pale face, as white as the pillow it lay upon; the +face with its aureole of ashen hair, and the wistful blue eyes +that begged of God and her children some peace before they closed +on life. + +The vision of her sister was a joyful one, and her heart was at +peace about her, the plucky little princess who had blazed the +way out of the ogre's castle. + +She saw Patty clearly as a future fine lady, in velvets and +satins and furs, bewitching every-body by her gay spirits, her +piquant vivacity, and the loving heart that lay underneath all +the nonsense and gave it warmth and color. + +The remembrance of her father alone on the hilltop did indeed +trouble Waitstill. Self-reproach, in the true sense of the word, +she did not, could not, feel. Never since the day she was born +had she been fathered, and daughterly love was absent; but she +suffered when she thought of the fierce, self-willed old man, +cutting himself off from all possible friendships, while his +vigor was being sapped daily and hourly by his terrible greed of +money. + +True housewife that Waitstill was, her mind reverted to every +separate crock and canister in her cupboards, every article of +her baking or cooking that reposed on the swing-sheh in the +cellar, thinking how long her father could be comfortable without +her ministrations, and so, how long he would delay before +engaging the u inevitable housekeeper. She revolved the number of +possible persons to whom the position would be offered, and +wished that Mrs. Mason, who so needed help, might be the chosen +one: but the fact of her having been friendly to the Boyntons +would strike her at once from the list. + + When she was thankfully eating her breakfast with Mrs. Mason a +little later, and waiting for Ivory to call for them both and +take them to the Boynton farm, she little knew what was going on +at her old home in these very hours, when to tell the truth she +would have liked to slip in, had it been possible, wash the +morning dishes, skim the cream, do the week's churning, make her +father's bed, and slip out again into the dear shelter of love +that awaited her. + + The Deacon had passed a good part of the night in scheming and +contriving, and when he drank his self-made cup of muddy coffee +at seven o'clock next morning he had formed several plans that +were to be immediately frustrated, had he known it, by the +exasperating and suspicious nature of the ladies involved in +them. + +At eight he had left the house, started Bill Morrill at the +store, and was on the road in search of vengeance and a +housekeeper. Old Mrs. Atkins of Deerwander sniffed at the wages +offered. Miss Peters, of Union Falls, an aged spinster with weak +lungs, had the impertinence to tell him that she feared she +couldn't stand the cold in his house; she had heard he was very +particular about the amount of wood that was burned. A four-mile +drive brought him to the village poetically named the Brick Kiln, +where he offered to Mrs. Peter Upham an advance of twenty-five +cents a week over and above the salary with which he had sought +to tempt Mrs. Atkins. Far from being impressed, Mrs. Uphill, +being of a high temper and candid turn of mind, told him she'd +prefer to starve at home. There was not another free woman within +eight miles, and the Deacon was chafing under t e mortification +of being continually obliged to state the reason for his needing +a housekeeper. The only hope, it seemed, lay in going to Saco +and hiring a stranger, a plan not at all to his liking, as it was +sure to involve him in extra expense. + +Muttering threats against the universe in general, he drove home +by way of Milliken's Mills, thinking of the unfed hens, the +unmilked cow, the unwashed dishes, the unchurned cream and above +all of his unchastened daughters; his rage increasing with every +step until it was nearly at the white heat of the night before. + +A long stretch of hill brought the tired old mare to a slow walk, +and enabled the Deacon to see the Widow Tillman clipping the +geraniums that stood in tin cans on the shelf of her kitchen +window. + +Now, Foxwell Baxter had never been a village Lothario at any age, +nor frequented the society of such. Of late years, indeed, he had +frequented no society of any kind, so that he had missed, for +instance, Abel Day's description of the Widow Tillman as a +"reg'lar syreen," though he vaguely remembered that some of the +Baptist sisters had questioned the authenticity of her conversion +by their young and attractive minister. She made a pleasant +picture at the window; she was a free woman (a little too free, +the neighbors would have said; but the Deacon didn't know that); +she was a comparative newcomer to the village, and her mind had +not been poisoned with feminine gossip--in a word, she was a +distinctly hopeful subject, and, acting on a blind and sudden +impulse, he turned into the yard, 'dung the reins over the mare's +neck, and knocked at the back door. + +"Her character 's no worse than mine by now if Aunt Abby Cole's +on the road," he thought grimly, "an' if the Wilsons see my +sleigh inside of widder's fence, so much the better; it'll give +'em a jog.--Good morning Mis' Tillman," he said to the smiling +lady. "I'll come to the p'int at once. My youngest daughter has +married Mark Wilson against my will, an' gone away from town, an' +the older one's chosen a husband still less to my likin'. Do you +want to come and housekeep for me?" + +"I surmised something was going on," re-turned Mrs. Tillman. "I +saw Patty and Mark drive away early this morning, with Mr. and +Mrs. Wilson wrapping the girl up and putting a hot soapstone in +the sleigh, and consid'able kissing and hugging thrown in." + +This knowledge added fuel to the flame that was burning fiercely +in the Deacon's breast. +"Well, how about the housekeeping he asked, trying not to show +his eagerness, and not recognizing himself at all in the +enterprise in which he found himself indulging. + +"I 'm very comfortable here," the lady responded artfully, "and I +don't know 's I care to make any change, thank you. I didn't like +the village much at first, after living in larger places, but now +I'm acquainted, it kind of gains on me. + +Her reply was carefully framed, for her mind worked with great +rapidity, and she was mistress of the situation almost as soon as +she saw the Deacon alighting from his sleigh. He was not the sort +of man to be a casual caller, and his manner bespoke an urgent +errand. She had a pension of six dollars a month, but over and +above that sum her living was precarious. She made coats, and she +had never known want, for she was a master hand at dealing with +the opposite sex. Deacon Baxter, according to common report, had +ten or fifteen thousand dollars stowed away in the banks, so the +situation would be as simple as possible under ordinary +circumstances; it was as easy to turn out one man's pockets as +all-other's when he was a normal human being; but Deacon Baxter +was a different proposition. + +"I wonder how long he's likely to live," she thought, glancing at +him covertly, out of the tail of her eye. "His evil temper must +have driven more than one nail in his coffin. I wonder, if l +refuse to housekeep, whether I '11 get--a better offer. I wonder +if I could manage him if I got him! I'd rather like to sit in the +Baxter pew at the Orthodox meeting-house after the way some of +the Baptist sisters have snubbed me since I come here." + +Not a vestige of these incendiary thoughts showed in her comely +countenance, and her soul might have been as white as the +high-bibbed apron that covered it, to judge by her genial smile. + +"I'd make the wages fair," urged the Deacon, looking round the +clean kitchen, with the break-fast-table sitting near the sunny +window and the odor of corned beef and cabbage issuing temptingly +from a boiling pot on the fire. "I hope she ain't a great +meat-eater," he thought, "but it's too soon to cross that bridge +yet a while." + +"I've no doubt of it," said the widow, wondering if her voice +rang true; "but I've got a pension, and why should I leave this +cosy little home? Would I better myself any, that's the question? +I'm kind of lonesome here, that's the only reason I'd consider a +move." + +"No need o' bein' lonesome down to the Falls," said the Deacon. +"And I'm in an' out all day, between the barn an' the store." + +This, indeed, was not a pleasant prospect, but Jane Tillman had +faced worse ones in her time. + +"I'm no hand at any work outside the house," she observed, as if +reflecting. "I can truthfully say I'm a good cook, and have a +great faculty for making a little go a long ways." (She +considered this a master-stroke, and in fact it was; for the +Deacon's mouth absolutely watered at this apparently unconscious +comprehension of his disposition.) "But I'm no hand at any chores +in the barn or shed," she continued. "My first husband would +never allow me to do that kind of work." + +"Perhaps I could git a boy to help out; I've been kind o' +thinkin' o' that lately. What wages would you expect if I paid a +boy for the rough work?" asked the Deacon tremulously. "Well, to +tell the truth, I don't quite fancy the idea of taking wages. +Judge Dickinson wants me to go to Alfred and housekeep for him, +and I'd named twelve dollars a month. It's good pay, and I +haven't said 'No'; but my rent is small here, I'm my own +mistress, and I don't feel like giving up my privileges." + +"Twelve dollars a month!" He had never thought of approaching +that sum; and he saw the heap of unwashed dishes growing day by +day, and the cream souring on the milk-pans. Suddenly an idea +sprang full-born into the Deacon's mind (Jed Morrill's "Old +Driver" must have been close at hand!). Would Jane Tillman marry +him? No woman in the three villages would be more obnoxious to +his daughters; that in itself was a distinct gain. She was a +fine, robust figure of a woman in her early forties, and he +thought, after all, that the hollow-chested, spindle-shanked kind +were more ex-pensive to feed, on the whole, than their +better-padded sisters. He had never had any difficulty in +managing wives, and thought himself quite equal to one more bout, +even at sixty-five, though he had just the faintest suspicion +that the high color on Mrs. Tillman's prominent cheek-bones, the +vigor shown in the coarse black hair and handsome eyebrows, might +make this task a little more difficult than his previous ones. +But this fear vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, for he +kept saying to himself: "A judge of the County Court wants her at +twelve dollars a month; hadn't I better bid high an' git settled? + +"If you'd like to have a home o' your own 'thout payin' rent, +you've only got to say the word an' I'll make you Mis' Baxter," +said the Deacon. "There'll be nobody to interfere with you, an' a +handsome legacy if I die first; for none o' my few savin's is +goin' to my daughters, I can promise you that!" + +The Deacon threw out this tempting bait advisedly, for at this +moment he would have poured his hoard into the lap of any woman +who would help him to avenge his fancied wrongs. + +This was information, indeed! The "few savings" alluded to +amounted to some thousands, Jane Tillman knew. Had she not better +burn her ships behind her, take the risks, and have faith in her +own powers? She was getting along in ears, and her charms of +person were lessening with every day that passed over her head. +If the Deacon's queer ways grew too queer, she thought an appeal +to the doctor and the minister might provide a way of escape and +a neat little income to boot; so, on the whole, the marriage, +though much against her natural inclinations, seemed to be +providentially arranged. + +The interview that succeeded, had it been reported verbatim, +deserved to be recorded in local history. Deacon Baxter had met +in Jane Tillman a foeman more than worthy of his steel. She was +just as crafty as he, and in generalship as much superior to him +as Napoleon Bonaparte to Cephas Cole. Her knowledge of and her +experiences with men, all very humble, it is true, but decidedly +varied, enabled her to play on every weakness of this particular +one she had in hand, and at the same time skilfully to avoided +alarming him. + +Heretofore, the women with whom the Deacon had come in contact +had timidly steered away from the rocks and reefs in his nature, +and had been too ignorant or too proud to look among them for +certain softer places that were likely to be there--since man is +man, after all, even when he is made on a very small pattern. + +If Jane Tillman became Mrs. Baxter, she intended to get the whip +hand and keep it; but nothing was further from her intention than +to make the Deacon miserable if she could help it. That was not +her disposition; and so, when the deluded man left her house, he +had made more concessions in a single hour than in all the former +years of his life. + +His future spouse was to write out a little paper for his +signature; just a friendly little paper to be kept quite private +and confidential between themselves, stating that she was to do +no work outside of the house; that her pension was to be her own; +that she was to have five dollars in cash on the first of every +month in lieu of wages; and that in ease of his death occurring +first she was to have a third of his estate, and the whole of it +if at the time of his decease he was still pleased with his +bargain. The only points in this contract that the Deacon really +understood were that he was paying only five dollars a month for +a housekeeper to whom a judge had offered twelve; that, as he had +expected to pay at least eight, he could get a boy for the +remaining three, and so be none the worse in pocket; also, that +if he could keep his daughters from getting his money, he didn't +care a hang who had it, as he hated the whole human race with +entire impartiality. If Jane Tillman didn't behave herself, he +had pleasing visions of converting most of his fortune into cash +and having it dropped off the bridge some dark night, when the +doctor had given him up and proved to his satisfaction that death +would occur in the near future. + +All this being harmoniously settled, the Deacon drove away, and +caused the announcement of his immediate marriage to be posted +directly below that of Waitstill and Ivory Boynton. + +"Might as well have all the fat in the fire to once," he +chuckled. "There won't be any house-work done in this part of the +county for a week to come. If we should have more snow, nobody'll +have to do any shovellin', for the women-folks'll keep all the +paths in the village trod down from door to door, travellin' +round with the news." + +A "spite match," the community in general called the Deacon's +marriage; and many a man, and many a woman, too, regarding the +amazing publishing notice in the frame up at the meeting-house, +felt that in Jane Tillman Deacon Baxter had met his Waterloo. + +"She's plenty good enough for him," said Aunt Abby Cole, "though +I know that's a terrible poor compliment. If she thinks she'll +ever break into s'ciety here at the Falls, she'll find herself +mistaken! It's a mystery to me why the poor deluded man ever done +it; but ain't it wonderful the ingenuity the Lord shows in +punishin' sinners? I couldn't 'a' thought out such a good +comeuppance myself for Deacon Baxter, as marryin' Jane Tillman! +The thing that troubles me most, is thinkin' how tickled the +Baptists'11 be to git her out o' their meetin' an' into ourn!" + + + +XXXV + +TWO HEAVENS + +AT the very moment that Deacon Baxter was I starting out on his +quest for a housekeeper, Patty and Mark drove into the Mason +dooryard and the sisters flew into each other's arms. The dress +that Mark had bought for Patty was the usual charting and +unsuitable offering of a man's spontaneous affection, being of +dark violet cloth with a wadded cape lined with satin. A little +brimmed hat of violet velvet tied under her chin with silk +ribbons completed the costume, and before the youthful bride and +groom had left the ancestral door Mrs. Wilson had hung her own +ermine victorine (the envy of all Edgewood) around Patty's neck +and put her ermine willow muff into her new daughter's hands; +thus she was as dazzling a personage, and as improperly dressed +for the journey, as she could well be. + +Waitstill, in her plain linsey-woolsey, was entranced with +Patty's beauty and elegance, and the two girls had a few minutes +of sisterly talk, of interchange of radiant hopes and confidences +before Mark tore them apart, their cheeks wet with happy tears. + +As the Mason house faded from view, Patty having waved her muff +until the last moment, turned in her seat and said:-- + +"Mark, dear, do you think your father would care if I spent the +twenty-dollar gold-piece he gave me, for Waitstill? She will be +married in a fortnight, and if my father does not give her the +few things she owns she will go to her husband more ill-provided +even than I was. I have so much, dear Mark, and she so little." + +"It's your own wedding-present to use as you wish," Mark +answered, "and it's exactly like you to give it away. Go ahead +and spend it if you want to; I can always earn enough to keep +you, without anybody's help!" and Mark, after cracking the whip +vaingloriously, kissed his wife just over the violet ribbons, and +with sleigh-bells jingling they sped over the snow towards what +seemed Paradise to them, the New Hampshire village where they had +been married and where + +So a few days later, Waitstill received a great parcel which +relieved her of many feminine anxieties and she began to shape +and cut and stitch during all the hours she had to herself. They +were not many, for every day she trudged to the +Boynton farm and began with youthful enthusiasm the household +tasks that were so soon to be hers by right. + +"Don't waste too much time and strength here, my dearest," said +Ivory. "Do you suppose for a moment I shall keep you long on this +lonely farm? I am ready for admission to the Bar or I am fitted +to teach in the best school in New England. Nothing has held me +here but my mother, and in her present condition of mind we can +safely take her anywhere. We will never live where there are so +many memories and associations to sadden and hamper us, but go +where the best opportunity offers, and as soon as may be. My wife +will be a pearl of great price," he added fondly, and I intend to +provide a right setting for her!" + +This was all said in a glow of love and joy, pride and ambition, +as Ivory paced up and down before the living-room fireplace while +Waitstill was hanging the freshly laundered curtains. + +Ivory was right; Waitstill Baxter was, indeed, a jewel of a +woman. She had little knowledge, but much wisdom, and after all, +knowledge stands for the leaves on a tree and wisdom for the +fruit. There was infinite richness in the girl, a richness that +had been growing and ripening through the years that she thought +so gray and wasted. The few books she owned and loved had +generally lain unopened, it is true, upon her bedroom table, and +she held herself as having far too little learning to be a worthy +companion for Ivory Boynton; but all the beauty and cheer a +comfort that could ever be pressed into the arid life of the +Baxter household had come from Waitstill's heart, and that heart +had grown in warmth and plenty year by year. + +Those lonely tasks, too hard for a girl's hands, those unrewarded +drudgeries, those days of faithful labor in and out of doors, +those evenings of self-sacrifice over the mending-basket; the +quiet avoidance of all that might vex her father's crusty temper, +her patience with his miserly exactions; the hourly holding back +of the hasty word,--all these had played their part; all these +had been somehow welded into a strong, sunny, steady, +life-wisdom, there is no better name for it; and so she had +unconsciously the best of all harvests to bring as dower to a +husband who was worthy of her. Ivory's strength called to hers +and answered it, just as his great need awoke such a power of +helpfulness in her as she did not know she possessed. She loved +the man, but she loved the task that beckoned her, too. The +vision of it was like the breath of wind from a hill-top, putting +salt and savor into the new life that opened before her. + +These were quietly happy days at the farm, for Mrs. Boynton took +a new, if transient, hold upon life that deceived even the +doctor. Rodman was nearly as ardent a lover as Ivory, hovering +about Waits ill and exclaiming, "You never stay to supper and +it's so lonesome evenings without you! Will it never be time for +you to come and Eve with us, Waity dear? The days crawl so +slowly!" At which Ivory would laugh, push him away and draw +Waitstill nearer to his own side, saying: "If you are in a hurry, +you young cormorant, what do you think of me?" And Waitstill +would look from one to the other and blush at the heaven of love +that surrounded her on every side. + +"I believe you are longing to begin on my cooking, you two big +greedy boys!" she said teasingly. "What shall we have for New +Year's dinner, Rod? Do you like a turkey, roasted brown and +crispy, with giblet gravy and cranberry jelly? Do you fancy an +apple dumpling afterwards,--an apple dumpling with potato +crust,--or will you have a suet pudding with +foamy sauce?" + +"Stop, Waitstill!" cried Ivory. "Don't put hope into us until you +are ready to satisfy it; we can't bear it!" + +"And I have a box of goodies from my own garden safely stowed +away in Uncle Bart's shop," Waitstill went on mischievously. +"They were to be sold in Portland, but I think they'll have to be +my wedding-present to my husband, though a very strange one, +indeed! There are peaches floating in sweet syrup; there are +tumblers of quince jelly; there are jars of tomato and citron +preserves, and for supper you shall eat them with biscuits as +light as feathers and white as snowdrifts." + +"We can never wait two more days, Rod; let us kidnap her! Let us +take the old bob-sled and run over to New Hampshire where one can +be married the minute one feels like it. We could do it between +sunrise and moonrise and be at home for a late supper. Would she +be too tired to bake the biscuits for us, do you think? What do +you say, Rod, will you be best man?" And there would be youthful, +unaccustomed laughter floating out from the kitchen or +living-room, bringing a smile of content to Lois Boynton's face +as she lay propped up in bed with her open Bible beside her. "He +binds up the broken-hearted," she whispered to herself. "He gives +unto them a garland for ashes; the oil of joy for mourning; the +garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." + +The quiet wedding was over. There had been neither feasting, nor +finery, nor presents, nor bridal journey; only a home-coming that +meant deep and sacred a joy, as fervent gratitude as any four +hearts ever contained in all the world. But the laughter ceased, +though the happiness flowed silently underneath, almost forgotten +in the sudden sorrow that overcame them, for it fell out that +Lois Boynton had only waited, as it were, for the marriage, and +could stay no longer. + + ". . . There are two heavens . . . + Both made of love,--one, inconceivable + Ev'n by the other, so divine it is; + The other, far on this side of the stars, + By men called home." + +And these two heavens met, over at Boyntons', during these cold, +white, glistening December days. + +Lois Boynton found hers first. After a windy moonlit night a +morning dawned in which a hush seemed to be on the earth. The +cattle huddled together in the farmyards and the fowls shrank +into their feathers. The sky was gray, and suddenly the first +white heralds came floating down like scouts seeking for paths +and camping-places. + +Waitstill turned Mrs. Boynton's bed so that she could look out of +the window. Slope after slope, dazzling in white crust, rose one +upon another and vanished as they slipped away into the dark +green of the pine forests. +Then, + + ". . . there fell from out the skies + A feathery whiteness over all the land; + A strange, soft, spotless something, pure as light." + +It could not be called a storm, for there had been no wind since +sunrise, no whirling fury, no drifting; only a still, steady, +solemn fall of crystal flakes, hour after hour, hour after hour. + +Mrs. Boynton's Book of books was open on the bed and her finger +marked a passage in her favorite Bible-poet. + +"Here it is, daughter," she whispered. "I have found it, in the +same chapter where the morning stars sing together and the sons +of God shout for joy. The Lord speaks to Job out of the whirlwind +and says: 'HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE TREASURES OF THE SNOW? OR +HAST THOU SEEN THE TREASURES OF THE HAIL?' Sit near me, +Waitstill, and look out on the hills. 'HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE +TREASURES OF THE SNOW?' No, not yet, but please God, I shall, and +into many other treasures, soon"; and she closed her eyes. + +All day long the air-ways were filled with the glittering army of +the snowflakes; all day long the snow grew deeper and deeper on +the ground; and on the breath of some white-winged wonder that +passed Lois Boynton's window her white soul forsook its +"earth-lot" and took flight at last. + +They watched beside her, but never knew the moment of her going; +it was just a silent flitting, a ceasing to be, without a tremor, +or a flutter that could be seen by mortal eye. Her face was so +like an angel's in its shining serenity that the few who loved +her best could not look upon her with anything but reverent joy. +On earth she had known nothing but the "broken arcs," but in +heaven she would find the "perfect round"; there at last, on the +other side of the stars, she could remember right, poor Lois +Boynton! + + +For weeks afterwards the village was shrouded in snow as it had +never been before within memory, but in every happy household the +home-life deepened day by day. The books came out in the long +evenings; the grandsires told old tales under the inspiration of +the hearth-fire: the children gathered on their wooden stools to +roast apples and pop corn; and hearts came closer together than +when summer called the housemates to wander here and there in +fields and woods and beside the river. + +Over at Boyntons', when the snow was whirling and the wind +howling round the chimneys of the high-gabled old farmhouse; when +every window had its frame of ermine and fringe of icicles, and +the sleet rattled furiously against the glass, then Ivory would +throw a great back log on the bank of coals between the +fire-dogs, the kettle would begin to sing, and the eat come from +some snug corner to curl and purr on the braided hearth-rug. + +School was in session, and Ivory and Rod had their textbooks of +an evening, but oh! what a new and strange joy to study when +there was a sweet woman sitting near with her workbasket; a woman +wearing a shining braid of hair as if it were a coronet; a woman +of clear eyes and tender lips, one who could feel as well as +think, one who could be a man's comrade as well as his dear love. + +Truly the second heaven, the one on "this side of the stars, by +men called home," was very present over at Boyntons'. + +Sometimes the broad-seated old haircloth sofa would be drawn in +front of the fire, and Ivory, laying his pipe and his Greek +grammar on the +table, would take some lighter book and open it on his knee. +Waitstill would lift her eyes from her sewing to meet her +husband's glance that +spoke longing for her closer companionship, and gladly leaving +her work, and slipping into the place by his side, she would put +her elbow on his shoulder and read with him. + +Once, Rod, from his place at a table on the other side of the +room, looked and looked at them with a kind of instinct beyond +his years, and finally crept up to Waitstill, and putting an arm +through hers, nestled his curly head on her shoulder with the +quaint charm and grace that belonged to him. + +It was a young and beautiful shoulder, Waitstill's, and there had +always been, and would always be, a gracious curve in it where a +child's head might lie in comfort. Presently with a shy pressure, +Rod whispered: "Shall I sit in the other room, Waitstill and +Ivory?--Am I in the way?" + +Ivory looked up from his book quietly shaking his head, while +Waitstill put her arm around the boy and drew him closer. + +"Our little brother is never in the way," she said, as she bent +and kissed him. + + +Men may come and men may go; Saco Water still tumbles +tumultuously over the dam and rushes under the Edgewood bridge on +its way to the sea; and still it listens to the story of to-day +that will sometime be the history of yesterday. + +On midsummer evenings the windows of the old farmhouse over at +Boyntons' gleam with unaccustomed lights and voices break the +stillness, lessening the gloom of the long grass-grown lane of +Lois Boynton's watching in days gone by. On sunny mornings there +is a merry babel of children's chatter, mingled with gentle +maternal warnings, for this is a new brood of young things and +the river is calling them as it has called all the others who +ever came within the circle of its magic. The fragile harebells +hanging their blue heads from the crevices of the rocks; the +brilliant columbines swaying to and fro on their tall stalks; the +patches of gleaming sand in shallow places beckoning little bare +feet to come and tread them; the glint of silver minnows darting +hither and thither in some still pool; the tempestuous journey of +some weather-beaten log, fighting its way downstream;--here is +life in abundance, luring the child to share its risks and its +joys. + +When Waitstill's boys and Patty's girls come back to the farm, +they play by Saco Water as their mothers and their fathers did +before them. The paths through the pine woods along the river's +brink are trodden smooth by their restless, wandering feet; their +eager, curious eyes search the waysides for adventure, but their +babble and laughter are oftenest heard from the ruins of an old +house hidden by great trees. The stones of the cellar, all +overgrown with blackberry vines, are still there; and a fragment +of the brick chimney, where swallows build their nests from year +to year. A wilderness of weeds, tall and luxuriant, springs up to +hide the stone over which Jacob Cochrane stepped daily when he +issued from his door; and the polished stick with which +three-year-old Patty beats a tattoo may be a round from the very +chair in which he sat, expounding the Bible according to his own +vision. The thickets of sweet clover and red-tipped grasses, of +waving ferns and young alder bushes hide all of ugliness that +belongs to the deserted spot and serve as a miniature forest in +whose shade the younglings foreshadow the future at their play of +home-building and housekeeping. In a far corner, altogether +concealed from the passer-by, there is a secret treasure, a +wonderful rosebush, its green leaves shining with health and +vigor. When the July sun is turning the hay-fields yellow, the +children part the bushes in the leafy corner and little Waitstill +Boynton steps cautiously in, to gather one splendid rose, "for +father and mother." + +Jacob Cochrane's heart, with all its faults and frailties has +long been at peace. On a chill, dreary night in November, all +that was mortal of him was raised from its unhonored +resting-place not far from the ruins of his old abode, and borne +by three of his disciples far away to another state. The +gravestones were replaced, face downward, deep, deep in the +earth, and the sod laid back upon them, so that no man thence +forward could mark the place of the prophet's transient burial +amid the scenes of his first and only triumphant ministry. + +"It is a sad story, Jacob Cochrane's," Waitstill said to her +husband when she first discovered that her children had chosen +the deserted spot for their play; "and yet, Ivory, the red rose +blooms and blooms in the ruins of the man's house, and perhaps, +somewhere in the world, he has left a message that matches the rose." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext Story Of Waitstill Baxter, by Wiggin + diff --git a/old/tsowb10.zip b/old/tsowb10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4874d21 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tsowb10.zip diff --git a/old/tsowb10h.htm b/old/tsowb10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..14dfbc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tsowb10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7928 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>The Project Gutenberg ebook of The Story Of Waitstill Baxter</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +</head> + +<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> +<H1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of Waitstill Baxter</H1> + +<PRE> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Story of Waitstill Baxter + +Author: Kate Douglas Wiggin + +Release Date: April, 1999 [EBook #1701] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER *** +</pre><div align="center"> + <p align="left"> </p> + <p> </p> + <p>THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER </p> +</div> +<p align="center">by KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN</p> +<h4 align="center"></h4> +<p align="center">CONTENTS</p> +<p>SPRING</p> +<p>I. SACO WATER<br> + II. THE SISTERS<br> + III. DEACON BAXTER'S WIVES<br> + IV. SOMETHING OF A HERO<br> + V. PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE<br> + VI. A KISS<br> + VII. WHAT DREAMS MAY COME</p> +<p>SUMMER</p> +<p>VIII. THE JOINER'S SHOP<br> + IX. CEPHAS SPEAKS<br> + X. ON TORY HILL<br> + XI. A JUNE SUNDAY<br> + XII. THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER<br> + XIII. HAYING TIME<br> + XIV. UNCLE BART DISCOURSES<br> + XV. IVORY'S MOTHER<br> + XVI. LOCKED OUT</p> +<p></p> +<p>AUTUMN</p> +<p>XVII. A BRACE OF LOVERS<br> + XVIII. A STATE O' MAINE PROPHET<br> + XIX. AT THE BRICK STORE<br> + XX. THE ROD THAT BLOSSOMED<br> + XXI. LOIS BURIES HER DEAD<br> + XXII. HARVEST-TIME<br> + XXIII. AUNT ABBY'S WINDOW<br> + XXIV. PHOEBE TRIUMPHS<br> + XXV. LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM</p> +<p>WINTER</p> +<p>XXVI. A WEDDING-RING<br> + XXVII. THE CONFESSIONAL<br> + XXVIII.PATTY IS SHOWN THE DOOR<br> + XXIX. WAITSTILL SPEAKS HER MIND<br> + XXX. A CLASH OF WILLS<br> + XXXI. SENTRY DUTY<br> + XXXII. THE HOUSE OF AARON<br> + XXXIII.AARON'S ROD<br> + XXXIV. THE DEACON'S WATERLOO<br> + XXXV. TWO HEAVENS</p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h1 align="center">THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER</h1> +<h3 align="center"> </h3> +<h2 align="center">SPRING</h2> +<p align="left"></p> +<p align="left">THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER</p> +<p>I</p> +<p>SACO WATER</p> +<p>FAR, far up, in the bosom of New Hampshire's granite hills, the Saco has its + birth. As the mountain rill gathers strength it takes </p> +<p> + "Through Bartlett's vales its tuneful way, + Or hides in Conway's fragrant brakes, + Retreating from the glare of day."</p> +<p>Now it leaves the mountains and flows through "green Fryeburg's + woods and farms." In the course of its frequent turns and twists + and bends, it meets with many another stream, and sends it, + fuller and stronger, along its rejoicing way. When it has + journeyed more than a hundred miles and is nearing the ocean, it + greets the Great Ossipee River and accepts its crystal tribute. + Then, in its turn, the Little Ossipee joins forces, and the + river, now a splendid stream, flows onward to Bonny Eagle, to + Moderation and to Salmon Falls, where it dashes over the dam like + a young Niagara and hurtles, in a foamy torrent, through the + ragged defile cut between lofty banks of solid rock.</p> +<p>Widening out placidly for a moment's rest in the sunny reaches + near Pleasant Point, it gathers itself for a new plunge at Union + Falls, after which it speedily merges itself in the bay and is + fresh water no more.</p> +<p>At one of the falls on the Saco, the two little hamlets of + Edgewood and Riverboro nestle together at the bridge and make one + village. The stream is a wonder of beauty just here; a mirror of + placid loveliness above the dam, a tawny, roaring wonder at the + fall, and a mad, white-flecked torrent as it dashes on its way to + the ocean.</p> +<p>The river has seen strange sights in its time, though the history + of these two tiny villages is quite unknown to the great world + outside. They have been born, waxed strong, and fallen almost to + decay while Saco Water has tumbled over the rocks and spent + itself in its impetuous journey to the sea.</p> +<p>It remembers the yellow-moccasined Sokokis as they issued from + the Indian Cellar and carried their birchen canoes along the + wooded shore. It was in those years that the silver-skinned + salmon leaped in its crystal depths; the otter and the beaver + crept with sleek wet skins upon its shore; and the brown deer + came down to quench his thirst at its brink while at twilight the + stealthy forms of bear and panther and wolf were mirrored in its + glassy surface.</p> +<p>Time sped; men chained the river's turbulent forces and ordered + it to grind at the mill. Then houses and barns appeared along its + banks, bridges were built, orchards planted, forests changed into + farms, white-painted meetinghouses gleamed through the trees and + distant bells rang from their steeples on quiet Sunday mornings.</p> +<p>All at once myriads of great hewn logs vexed its downward course, + slender logs linked together in long rafts, and huge logs + drifting down singly or in pairs. Men appeared, running hither + and thither like ants, and going through mysterious operations + the reason for which the river could never guess: but the + mill-wheels turned, the great saws buzzed, the smoke from tavern + chimneys rose in the air, and the rattle and clatter of + stage-coaches resounded along the road.</p> +<p>Now children paddled with bare feet in the river's sandy coves + and shallows, and lovers sat on its alder-shaded banks and + exchanged their vows just where the shuffling bear was wont to + come down and drink.</p> +<p>The Saco could remember the "cold year," when there was a black + frost every month of the twelve, and though almost all the corn + along its shores shrivelled on the stalk, there were two farms + where the vapor from the river saved the crops, and all the seed + for the next season came from the favored spot, to be known as + "Egypt" from that day henceforward. </p> +<p>Strange, complex things now began to happen, and the river played its own part + in some of these, for there were disastrous freshets, the sudden breaking-up + of great jams of logs, and the drowning of men who were engulfed in the dark + whirlpool below the rapids. </p> +<p> + Caravans, with menageries of wild beasts, crossed the bridge now + every year. An infuriated elephant lifted the side of the old + Edgewood Tavern barn, and the wild laughter of the roistering + rum-drinkers who were tantalizing the animals floated down to the + river's edge. The roar of a lion, tearing and chewing the arm of + one of the bystanders, and the cheers of the throng when a plucky + captain of the local militia thrust a stake down the beast's + throat,--these sounds displaced the former war-whoop of the + Indians and the ring of the axe in the virgin forests along the + shores.</p> +<p>There were days, and moonlight nights, too, when strange sights + and sounds of quite another nature could have been noted by the + river as it flowed under the bridge that united the two little + villages.</p> +<p>Issuing from the door of the Riverboro Town House, and winding + down the hill, through the long row of teams and carriages that + lined the roadside, came a procession of singing men and singing + women. Convinced of sin, but entranced with promised pardon; + spiritually intoxicated by the glowing eloquence of the + latter-day prophet they were worshipping, the band of + "Cochranites "marched down the dusty road and across the bridge, + dancing, swaying, waving handkerchiefs, and shouting hosannas.</p> +<p>God watched, and listened, knowing that there would be other + prophets, true and false, in the days to come, and other + processions following them; and the river watched and listened + too, as it hurried on towards the sea with its story of the + present that was sometime to be the history of the past.</p> +<p>When Jacob Cochrane was leading his overwrought, ecstatic band + across the river, Waitstill Baxter, then a child, was watching + the strange, noisy company from the window of a little brick + dwelling on the top of the Town-House Hill.</p> +<p>Her stepmother stood beside her with a young baby in her arms, + but when she saw what held the gaze of the child she drew her + away, saying: "We mustn't look, Waitstill; your father don't like + it! "</p> +<p>"Who was the big man at the head, mother? "</p> +<p>"His name is Jacob Cochrane, but you mustn't think or talk about + him; he is very wicked."</p> +<p>"He doesn't look any wickeder than the others," said the child. + "Who was the man that fell down in the road, mother, and the + woman that knelt and prayed over him? Why did he fall, and why + did she pray, mother?"</p> +<p>"That was Master Aaron Boynton, the schoolmaster, and his wife. + He only made believe to fall down, as the Cochranites do; the way + they carry on is a disgrace to the village, and that's the reason + your father won't let us look at them."</p> +<p>"I played with a nice boy over to Boynton's," mused the child. </p> +<p>"That was Ivory, their only child. He is a good little fellow, + but his mother and father will spoil him with their crazy ways."</p> +<p>"I hope nothing will happen to him, for I love him," said the + child gravely. "He showed me a humming-bird's nest, the first + ever I saw, and the littlest!"</p> +<p>"Don't talk about loving him," chided the woman. "If your father + should hear you, he'd send you to bed without your porridge."</p> +<p>"Father couldn't hear me, for I never speak when he's at home," + said grave little Waitstill. "And I'm used to going to bed + without my porridge."</p> +<p></p> +<p> </p> +<p>II</p> +<p>THE SISTERS</p> +<p>THE river was still running under the bridge, but the current of time had swept + Jacob Cochrane out of sight, though not out of mind, for he had left here and + there a disciple to preach his strange and uncertain doctrine. Waitstill, the + child who never spoke in her father's presence, was a young woman now, the mistress + of the house; the stepmother was dead, and the baby a girl of seventeen. </p> +<p> + The brick cottage on the hilltop had grown only a little + shabbier. Deacon Foxwell Baxter still slammed its door behind him + every morning at seven o'clock and, without any such cheerful + conventions as good-byes to his girls, walked down to the bridge + to open his store.</p> +<p>The day, properly speaking, had opened when Waitstill and + Patience had left their beds at dawn, built the fire, fed the + hens and turkeys, and prepared the breakfast, while the Deacon + was graining the horse and milking the cows. Such minor "chores" + as carrying water from the well, splitting kindling, chopping + pine, or bringing wood into the kitchen, were left to Waitstill, + who had a strong back, or, if she had not, had never been unwise + enough to mention the fact in her father's presence. The almanac + day, however, which opened with sunrise, had nothing to do with + the real human day, which always began when Mr. Baxter slammed + the door behind him, and reached its high noon of delight when he + disappeared from view.</p> +<p>"He's opening the store shutters!" chanted Patience from the + heights of a kitchen chair by the window. "Now he's taken his + cane and beaten off the Boynton puppy that was sitting on the + steps as usual,--I don't mean Ivory's dog" (here the girl gave a + quick glance at her sister)," but Rodman's little yellow cur. + Rodman must have come down to the bridge on some errand for + Ivory. Isn't it odd, when that dog has all the other store steps + to sit upon, he should choose father's, when every bone in his + body must tell him how father hates him and the whole Boynton + family."</p> +<p>"Father has no real cause that I ever heard of; but some dogs + never know when they've had enough beating, nor some people + either." said Waitstill, speaking from the pantry.</p> +<p>"Don't be gloomy when it's my birthday, Sis!--Now he's opened the + door and kicked the cat! All is ready for business at the Baxter + store."</p> +<p>"I wish you weren't quite so free with your tongue, Patty."</p> +<p>"Somebody must talk," retorted the girl, jumping down from the + chair and shaking back her mop of red-gold curls. "I'll put this + hateful, childish, round comb in and out just once more, then it + will disappear forever. This very after-noon up goes my hair!"</p> +<p>"You know it will be of no use unless you braid it very plainly + and neatly. Father will take notice and make you smooth it down."</p> +<p>"Father hasn't looked me square in the face for years; besides, + my hair won't braid, and nothing can make it quite plain and + neat, thank goodness! Let us be thankful for small mercies, as + Jed Morrill said when the lightning struck his mother-in-law and + skipped his wife."</p> +<p>"Patty, I will not permit you to repeat those tavern stories; + they are not seemly on the lips of a girl!" And Waitstill came + out of the pantry with a shadow of disapproval in her eyes and in + her voice.</p> +<p>Patty flung her arms round her sister tempestuously, and pulled + out the waves of her hair so that it softened her face.--"I'll be + good," she said, "and oh, Waity! let's invent some sort of cheap + happiness for to-day! I shall never be seventeen again and we + have so many troubles!</p> +<p>Let's put one of the cows in the horse's stall and see what will + happen! Or let's spread up our beds with the head at the foot and + put the chest of drawers on the other side of the room, or let's + make candy! Do you think father would miss the molasses if we + only use a cupful? Couldn't we strain the milk, but leave the + churning and the dishes for an hour or two, just once? If you say + 'yes' I can think of something wonderful to do!"</p> +<p>"What is it?" asked Waitstill, relenting at the sight of the + girl's eager, roguish face.</p> +<p>"PIERCE MY EARS!" cried Patty. "Say you will!"</p> +<p>"Oh! Patty, Patty, I am afraid you are given over to vanity! I + daren't let you wear eardrops without father's permission."</p> +<p>"Why not? Lots of church members wear them, so it can't be a mortal sin. + Father is against all adornments, but that's because he doesn't want to buy + them. You've always said I should have your mother's coral pendants when I was + old enough. Here I am, seventeen today, and Dr. Perry says I am already a well-favored + young woman. I can pull my hair over my ears for a few days and when the holes + are all made and healed, even father cannot make me fill them up again. Besides, + I'll never wear the earrings at home!"</p> +<p> + "Oh! my dear, my dear!" sighed Waitstill, with a half-sob in her + voice. "If only I was wise enough to know how we could keep from + these little deceits, yet have any liberty or comfort in life!"</p> +<p>"We can't! The Lord couldn't expect us to bear all that we bear," + exclaimed Patty, "without our trying once in a while to have a + good time in our own way. We never do a thing that we are ashamed + of, or that other girls don't do every day in the week; only our + pleasures always have to be taken behind father's back. It's only + me that's ever wrong, anyway, for you are always an angel. It's a + burning shame and you only twenty-one yourself. I'll pierce your + ears if you say so, and let you wear your own coral drops!"</p> +<p>"No, Patty; I've outgrown those longings years ago. When your + mother died and left father and you and the house to me, my + girlhood died, too, though I was only thirteen."</p> +<p>"It was only your inside girlhood that died," insisted Patty + stoutly, "The outside is as fresh as the paint on Uncle Barty's + new ell. You've got the loveliest eyes and hair in Riverboro, and + you know it; besides, Ivory Boynton would tell you so if you + didn't. Come and bore my ears, there's a darling!"</p> +<p>"Ivory Boynton never speaks a word of my looks, nor a word that + father and all the world mightn't hear." And Waitstill flushed.</p> +<p>"Then it's because he's shy and silent and has so many troubles + of his own that he doesn't dare say anything. When my hair is + once up and the coral pendants are swinging in my ears, I shall + expect to hear something about MY looks, I can tell you. Waity, + after all, though we never have what we want to eat, and never a + decent dress to our backs, nor a young man to cross the + threshold, I wouldn't change places with Ivory Boynton, would + you?" Here Patty swept the hearth vigorously with a turkey wing + and added a few corncobs to the fire.</p> +<p>Waitstill paused a moment in her task of bread-kneading. "Well," + she answered critically, "at least we know where our father is."</p> +<p>"We do, indeed! We also know that he is thoroughly alive!"</p> +<p>"And though people do talk about him, they can't say the things + they say of Master Aaron Boynton. I don't believe father would + ever run away and desert us."</p> +<p>"I fear not," said Patty. "I wish the angels would put the idea + into his head, though, of course, it wouldn't be the angels; + they'd be above it. It would have to be the 'Old Driver,' as Jed + Morrill calls the Evil One; but whoever did it, the result would + be the same: we should be deserted, and live happily ever after. + Oh! to be deserted, and left with you alone on this hilltop, what + joy it would be!"</p> +<p>Waitstill frowned, but did not interfere further with Patty's + intemperate speech. She knew that she was simply serving as an + escape-valve, and that after the steam was "let off" she would be + more rational.</p> +<p>"Of course, we are motherless," continued Patty wistfully, "but + poor Ivory is worse than motherless."</p> +<p>"No, not worse, Patty," said Waitstill, taking the bread-board + and moving towards the closet. "Ivory loves his mother and she + loves him, with all the mind she has left! She has the best blood + of New England flowing in her veins, and I suppose it was a great + come down for her to marry Aaron Boynton, clever and gifted + though he was. Now Ivory has to protect her, poor, daft, innocent + creature, and hide her away from the gossip of the village. He is + surely the best of sons, Ivory Boynton!"</p> +<p>"She is a terrible care for him, and like to spoil his life," + said Patty.</p> +<p>"There are cares that swell the heart and make it bigger and + warmer, Patty, just as there are cares that shrivel it and leave + it tired and cold. </p> +<p>Love lightens Ivory's afflictions but that is something you and I + have to do without, so it seems."</p> +<p>"I suppose little Rodman is some comfort to the Boyntons, even if + he is only ten." Patty suggested.</p> +<p>"No doubt. He's a good little fellow, and though it's rather hard + for Ivory to be burdened for these last five years with the + support of a child who's no nearer kin than a cousin, still he's + of use, minding Mrs. Boynton and the house when Ivory's away. + The school-teacher says he is wonderful at his books and likely + to be a great credit to the Boyntons some day or other."</p> +<p>"You've forgot to name our one great blessing, Waity, and I + believe, anyway, you're talking to keep my mind off the + earrings!"</p> +<p>"You mean we've each other? No, Patty, I never forget that, day + or night. 'Tis that makes me willing to bear any burden father + chooses to put upon us.--Now the bread is set, but I don't + believe I have the courage to put a needle into your tender + flesh, Patty; I really don't."</p> +<p>"Nonsense! I've got the waxed silk all ready and chosen the + right-sized needle and I'll promise not to jump or screech more + than I can help. We'll make a tiny lead-pencil dot right in the + middle of the lobe, then you place the needle on it, shut your + eyes, and JAB HARD! I expect to faint, but when I 'come to,' we + can decide which of us will pull the needle through to the other + side. Probably it will be you, I'm such a coward. If it hurts + dreadfully, I'll have only one pierced to-day and take the other + to-morrow; and if it hurts very dreadfully, perhaps I'll go + through life with one ear-ring. Aunt Abby Cole will say it's just + odd enough to suit me!"</p> +<p></p> + +"You'll never go through life with one tongue at the rate you use +it now," chided Waitstill, "for it will never last you. Come, +we'll take the work-basket and go out in the barn where no one +will see or hear us." +<p>"Goody, goody! Come along!" and Patty clapped her hands in triumph. + "Have you got the pencil and the needle and the waxed silk? Then bring + the camphor bottle to revive me, and the coral pendants, too, just to give me + courage. Hurry up! It's ten o'clock. I was born at sun-rise, so I'm 'going on' + eighteen and can't waste any time!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p>III</p> +<p>DEACON BAXTER'S WIVES</p> +<p>FOXWELL BAXTER was ordinarily called "Old Foxy" by the boys of the + district, and also, it is to be feared, by the men gathered for evening conference + at the various taverns, or at one of the rival village stores. </p> +<p> + He had a small farm of fifteen or twenty acres, with a pasture, a + wood lot, and a hay-field, but the principal source of his income + came from trading. His sign bore the usual legend: "WEST INDIA + GOODS AND GROCERIES," and probably the most profitable articles + in his stock were rum, molasses, sugar, and tobacco; but there + were chests of rice, tea, coffee, and spices, barrels of pork in + brine, as well as piles of cotton and woolen cloth on the shelves + above the counters. His shop window, seldom dusted or set in + order, held a few clay pipes, some glass jars of peppermint or + sassafras lozenges, black licorice, stick-candy, and sugar + gooseberries. These dainties were seldom renewed, for it was only + a very bold child, or one with an ungovernable appetite for + sweets, who would have spent his penny at Foxy Baxter's store.</p> +<p>He was thought a sharp and shrewd trader, but his honesty was + never questioned; indeed, the only trait in his character that + ever came up for general discussion was his extraordinary, + unbelievable, colossal meanness. This so eclipsed every other + passion in the man, and loomed so bulkily and insistently in the + foreground, that had he cherished a second vice no one would have + observed it, and if he really did possess a casual virtue, it + could scarcely have reared its head in such ugly company.</p> +<p>It might be said, to defend the fair name of the Church, that Mr. + Baxter's deaconhood did not include very active service in the + courts of the Lord. He had "experienced religion" at fifteen and + made profession of his faith, but all well-brought-up boys and + girls did the same in those days; their parents saw to that! If + change of conviction or backsliding occurred later on, that was + not their business! At the ripe age of twenty-five he was + selected to fill a vacancy and became a deacon, thinking it might + be good for trade, as it was, for some years. He was very active + at the time of the "Cochrane craze," since any defence of the + creed that included lively detective work and incessant spying on + his neighbors was particularly in his line; but for many years + now, though he had been regular in attendance at church, he had + never officiated at communion, and his diaconal services had + gradually lapsed into the passing of the contribution-box, a task + of which he never wearied; it was such a keen pleasure to make + other people yield their pennies for a good cause, without adding + any of his own!</p> +<p>Deacon Baxter had now been a widower for some years and the + community had almost relinquished the idea of his seeking a + fourth wife. This was a matter of some regret, for there was a + general feeling that it would be a good thing for the Baxter + girls to have some one to help with the housework and act as a + buffer between them and their grim and irascible parent. As for + the women of the village, they were mortified that the Deacon had + been able to secure three wives, and refused to believe that the + universe held anywhere a creature benighted enough to become his + fourth. </p> +<p>The first, be it said, was a mere ignorant girl, and he a beardless youth of + twenty, who may not have shown his true qualities so early in life. She bore + him two sons, and it was a matter of comment at the time that she called them, + respectively, Job and Moses, hoping that the endurance and meekness connected + with these names might somehow help them in their future relations with their + father. Pneumonia, coupled with profound discouragement, carried her off in + a few years to make room for the second wife, Waitstill's mother, who was of + different fibre and greatly his superior. She was a fine, handsome girl, the + orphan daughter of up-country gentle-folks, who had died when she was eighteen, + leaving her alone in the world and penniless.</p> +<p> + Baxter, after a few days' acquaintance, drove into the dooryard + of the house where she was a visitor and, showing her his two + curly-headed boys, suddenly asked her to come and be their + stepmother. She assented, partly because she had nothing else to + do with her existence, so far as she could see, and also because + she fell in love with the children at first sight and forgot, as + girls will, that it was their father whom she was marrying.</p> +<p>She was as plucky and clever and spirited as she was handsome, + and she made a brave fight of it with Foxy; long enough to bring + a daughter into the world, to name her Waitstill, and start her a + little way on her life journey,--then she, too, gave up the + struggle and died. Typhoid fever it was, combined with complete + loss of illusions, and a kind of despairing rage at having made + so complete a failure of her existence.</p> +<p>The next year, Mr. Baxter, being unusually busy, offered a man a + good young heifer if he would jog about the country a little and + pick him up a housekeeper; a likely woman who would, if she + proved energetic, economical, and amiable, be eventually raised + to the proud position of his wife. If she was young, healthy, + smart, tidy, capable, and a good manager, able to milk the cows, + harness the horse, and make good butter, he would give a dollar + and a half a week. The woman was found, and, incredible as it may + seem, she said "yes" when the Deacon (whose ardor was kindled at + having paid three months' wages) proposed a speedy marriage. The + two boys by this time had reached the age of discretion, and one + of them evinced the fact by promptly running away to parts + unknown, never to be heard from afterwards; while the other, a + reckless and unhappy lad, was drowned while running on the logs + in the river. Old Foxy showed little outward sign of his loss, + though he had brought the boys into the world solely with the + view of having one of them work on the farm and the other in the + store.</p> +<p>His third wife, the one originally secured for a housekeeper, + bore him a girl, very much to his disgust, a girl named Patience, + and great was Waitstill's delight at this addition to the dull + household. The mother was a timid, colorless, docile creature, + but Patience nevertheless was a sparkling, bright-eyed baby, who + speedily became the very centre of the universe to the older + child. So the months and years wore on, drearily enough, until, + when Patience was nine, the third Mrs. Baxter succumbed after the + manner of her predecessors, and slipped away from a life that had + grown intolerable. The trouble was diagnosed as "liver + complaint," but scarcity of proper food, no new frocks or kind + words, hard work, and continual bullying may possibly have been + contributory causes. Dr. Perry thought so, for he had witnessed + three most contented deaths in the Baxter house. The ladies were + all members of the church and had presumably made their peace + with God, but the good doctor fancied that their pleasure in + joining the angels was mild compared with their relief at parting + with the Deacon.</p> +<p>"I know I hadn't ought to put the care on you, Waitstill, and you + only thirteen," poor Mrs. Baxter sighed, as the young girl was + watching with her one night when the end seemed drawing near. + "I've made out to live till now when Patience is old enough to + dress herself and help round, but I'm all beat out and can't try + any more."</p> +<p>"Do you mean I'm to take your place, be a mother to Patience, and + keep house, and everything?" asked Waitstill quaveringly. </p> +<p>"I don't see but you'll have to, unless your father marries + again. He'll never hire help, you know that!"</p> +<p>"I won't have another mother in this house," flashed the girl. + "There's been three here and that's enough! If he brings anybody + home, I'll take Patience and run away, as Job did; or if he + leaves me alone, I'll wash and iron and scrub and cook till + Patience grows up, and then we'll go off together and hide + somewhere. I'm fourteen; oh, mother, how soon could I be married + and take Patience to live with me? Do you think anybody will ever + want me?"</p> +<p>"Don't marry for a home, Waitstill! Your own mother did that, and + so did I, and we were both punished for it! You've been a great + help and I've had a sight of comfort out of the baby, but I + wouldn't go through it again, not even for her! You're real smart + and capable for your age and you've done your full share of the + work every day, even when you were at school. You can get along + all right." +</p> + +"I don't know how I'm going to do everything alone," said the +girl, forcing back her tears. "You've always made the brown +bread, and mine will never suit father. I suppose I can wash, but +don't know how to iron starched clothes, nor make pickles, and +oh! I can never kill a rooster, mother, it's no use to ask me to! +I'm not big enough to be the head of the family." +<p>Mrs. Baxter turned her pale, tired face away from Waitstill's + appealing eyes.</p> +<p>"I know," she said faintly. "I hate to leave you to bear the + brunt alone, but I must! . . . Take good care of Patience and + don't let her get into trouble. . . . You won't, will you?"</p> +<p>"I'll be careful," promised Waitstill, sobbing quietly; "I'll + do + my best."</p> +<p>"You've got more courage than ever I had; don't you s'pose you can stiffen + up and defend yourself a little mite? . . . Your father'd ought to be opposed, + for his own good . . . but I've never seen anybody that dared do it." Then, + after a pause, she said with a flash of spirit,--"Anyhow, Waitstill, he's + your father after all. He's no blood relation of mine, and I can't stand him + another day; that's the reason I'm willing to die."</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>IV</p> +<p>SOMETHING OF A HERO</p> +<p>IVORY BOYNTON lifted the bars that divided his land from the highroad and walked + slowly toward the house. It was April, but there were still patches of snow + here and there, fast melting under a drizzling rain. It was a gray world, a + bleak, black-and-brown world, above and below. The sky was leaden; the road + and the footpath were deep in a muddy ooze flecked with white. The tree-trunks, + black, with bare branches, were lined against the gray sky; nevertheless, spring + had been on the way for a week, and a few sunny days would bring the yearly + miracle for which all hearts were longing.</p> +<p> + Ivory was season-wise and his quick eye had caught many a sign as + he walked through the woods from his schoolhouse. A new and + different color haunted the tree-tops, and one had only to look + closely at the elm buds to see that they were beginning to swell. + Some fat robins had been sunning about in the school-yard at + noon, and sparrows had been chirping and twittering on the + fence-rails. Yes, the winter was over, and Ivory was glad, for it + had meant no coasting and -skating and sleighing for him, but + long walks in deep snow or slush; long evenings, good for study, + but short days, and greater loneliness for his mother. He could + see her now as he neared the house, standing in the open doorway, + her hand shading her eyes, watching, always watching, for some + one who never came.</p> +<p>"Spring is on the way, mother, but it isn't here yet, so don't + stand there in the rain," he called. "Look at the nosegay I + gathered for you as I came through the woods. Here are pussy + willows and red maple blossoms and Mayflowers, would you believe + it?"</p> +<p>Lois Boynton took the handful of budding things and sniffed their + fragrance.</p> +<p>"You're late to-night, Ivory," she said. "Rod wanted his supper + early so that he could go off to singing-school, but I kept + something warm for you, and I'll make you a fresh cup of tea."</p> +<p>Ivory went into the little shed room off the kitchen, changed his + muddy boots for slippers, and made himself generally tidy; then + he came back to the living-room bringing a pine knot which he + flung on the fire, waking it to a brilliant flame.</p> +<p>"We can be as lavish as we like with the stumps now, mother, for + spring is coming," he said, as he sat down to his meal.</p> +<p>"I've been looking out more than usual this afternoon," she + replied. "There's hardly any snow left, and though the walking is + so bad I've been rather expecting your father before night. You + remember he said, when he went away in January, that he should be + back before the Mayflowers bloomed?"</p> +<p>It did not do any good to say: "Yes, mother, but the Mayflowers + have bloomed ten times since father went away." He had tried + that, gently and persistently when first her mind began to be + confused from long grief and hurt love, stricken pride and sick + suspense.</p> +<p>Instead of that, Ivory turned the subject cheerily, saying, + "Well, we're sure of a good season, I think. There's been a grand + snow-fall, and that, they say, is the poor man's manure. Rod and + I will put in more corn and potatoes this year. I shan't have to + work single-handed very long, for he is growing to be quite a + farmer." </p> +<p>"Your father was very fond of green corn, but he never cared for + potatoes," Mrs. Boynton said, vaguely, taking up her knitting. "I + always had great pride in my cooking, but I could never get your + father to relish my potatoes."</p> +<p>"Well, his son does, anyway," Ivory replied, helping himself + plentifully from a dish that held one of his mother's best + concoctions, potatoes minced fine and put together into the + spider with thin bits of pork and all browned together.</p> +<p>"I saw the Baxter girls to-day, mother," he continued, not + because he hoped she would give any heed to what he said, but + from the sheer longing for companionship. "The Deacon drove off + with Lawyer Wilson, who wanted him to give testimony in some case + or other down in Milltown. The minute Patty saw him going up Saco + Hill, she harnessed the old starved Baxter mare and the girls + started over to the Lower Corner to see some friends. It seems + it's Patty's birthday and they were celebrating. I met them just + as they were coming back and helped them lift the rickety wagon + out of the mud; they were stuck in it up to the hubs of the + wheels. I advised them to walk up the Town-House Hill if they + ever expected to get the horse home."</p> +<p>Town-House Hill!" said Ivory's mother, dropping her knitting. + "That was where we had such wonderful meetings! Truly the Lord + was present in our midst, and oh, Ivory! the visions we saw in + that place when Jacob Cochrane first unfolded his gospel to us. + Was ever such a man!"</p> +<p>"Probably not, mother," remarked Ivory dryly.</p> +<p>"You were speaking of the Baxters. I remember their home, and the + little girl who used to stand in the gateway and watch when we + came out of meeting. There was a baby, too; isn't there a Baxter + baby, Ivory?"</p> +<p>"She didn't stay a baby; she is seventeen years old to-day, + mother."</p> +<p>"You surprise me, but children do grow very fast. She had a + strange name, but I cannot recall it."</p> +<p>"Her name is Patience, but nobody but her father calls her + anything but Patty, which suits her much better."</p> +<p>"No, the name wasn't Patience, not the one I mean."</p> +<p>"The older sister is Waitstill, perhaps you mean her?"-and Ivory + sat down by the fire with his book and his pipe.</p> +<p>"Waitstill! Waitstill! that is it! Such a beautiful name!"</p> +<p>"She's a beautiful girl."</p> +<p>"Waitstill! 'They also serve who only stand and wait.' 'Wait, I + say, on the Lord and He will give thee the desires of thy + heart.'--Those were wonderful days, when we were caught up out of + the body and mingled freely in the spirit world." Mrs. Boynton + was now fully started on the topic that absorbed her mind and + Ivory could do nothing but let her tell the story that she had + told him a hundred times.</p> +<p>"I remember when first we heard Jacob Cochrane speak." (This was + her usual way of beginning.) "Your father was a preacher, as you + know, Ivory, but you will never know what a wonderful preacher he + was. My grandfather, being a fine gentleman, and a governor, + would not give his consent to my marriage, but I never regretted + it, never! Your father saw Elder Cochrane at a revival meeting of + the Free Will Baptists in Scarboro', and was much impressed with + him. A few days later we went to the funeral of a child in the + same neighborhood. No one who was there could ever forget it. The + minister had made his long prayer when a man suddenly entered the + room, came towards the coffin, and placed his hand on the child's + forehead. The room, in an instant, was as still as the death that + had called us together. The stranger was tall and of commanding + presence; his eyes pierced our very hearts, and his marvellous + voice penetrated to depths in our souls that had never been + reached before." +</p> + +"Was he a better speaker than my father?" asked Ivory, who +dreaded his mother's hours of complete silence even more than her +periods of reminiscence. +<p>"He spoke as if the Lord of Hosts had given him inspiration; as + if the angels were pouring words into his mouth just for him to + utter," replied Mrs. Boynton. "Your father was spell-bound, and I + only less so. When he ceased speaking, the child's mother crossed + the room, and swaying to and fro, fell at his feet, sobbing and + wailing and imploring God to forgive her sins.</p> +<p>They carried her upstairs, and when we looked about after the + confusion and excitement the stranger had vanished. But we found + him again! As Elder Cochrane said: 'The prophet of the Lord can + never be hid; no darkness is thick enough to cover him!' There + was a six weeks' revival meeting in North Saco where three + hundred souls were converted, and your father and I were among + them. We had fancied ourselves true believers for years, but + Jacob Cochrane unstopped our ears so that we could hear the + truths revealed to him by the Almighty!-It was all so simple and + easy at the beginning, but it grew hard and grievous afterward; + hard to keep the path, I mean. I never quite knew whether God was + angry with me for backsliding at the end, but I could not always + accept the revelations that Elder Cochrane and your father had!"</p> +<p>Lois Boynton's hands were now quietly folded over the knitting + that lay forgotten in her lap, but her low, thrilling voice had a + note in it that did not belong wholly to earth.</p> +<p>There was a long silence; one of many long silences at the + Boynton fireside, broken only by the ticking of the clock, the + purring of the cat, and the clicking of Mrs. Boynton's needles, + as, her paroxysm of reminiscence over, she knitted ceaselessly, + with her eyes on the window or the door.</p> +<p>"It's about time for Rod to be coming back, isn't it? " asked + Ivory.</p> +<p>"He ought to be here soon, but perhaps he is gone for good; it + may be that he thinks he has made us a long enough visit. I don't + know whether your father will like the boy when he comes home. He + never did fancy company in the house."</p> +<p>Ivory looked up in astonishment from his Greek grammar. This was + an entirely new turn of his mother's mind. Often when she was + more than usually confused he would try to clear the cobwebs from + her brain by gently questioning her until she brought herself + back to a clearer understanding of her own thought. Thus far her + vagaries had never made her unjust to any human creature; she was + uniformly sweet and gentle in speech and demeanor.</p> +<p>"Why do you talk of Rod's visiting us when he is one of the + family?" Ivory asked quietly.</p> +<p>"Is he one of the family? I didn't know it," replied his mother + absently.</p> +<p>"Look at me, mother, straight in the eye; that's right: now + listen, dear, to what I say."</p> +<p>Mrs. Boynton's hair that had been in her youth like an aureole of + corn-silk was now a strange yellow-white, and her blue eyes + looked out from her pale face with a helpless appeal.</p> +<p>"You and I were living alone here after father went away," Ivory + began. "I was a little boy, you know. You and father had saved + something, there was the farm, you worked like a slave, I helped, + and we lived, somehow, do you remember?"</p> +<p>"I do, indeed! It was cold and the neighbors were cruel. Jacob + Cochrane had gone away and his disciples were not always true to + him. When the magnetism of his presence was withdrawn, they could + not follow all his revelations, and they forgot how he had + awakened their spiritual life at the first of his preaching. Your + father was always a stanch believer, but when he started on his + mission and went to Parsonsfield to help Elder Cochrane in his + meetings, the neighbors began to criticize him. They doubted him. + You were too young to realize it, but I did, and it almost broke + my heart."</p> +<p>"I was nearly twelve years old; do you think I escaped all the + gossip, mother?"</p> +<p>"You never spoke of it to me, Ivory." </p> +<p>"No, there is much that I never spoke of to you, mother, but + sometime when you grow stronger and your memory is better we will + talk together.--Do you remember the winter, long after father + went away, that Parson Lane sent me to Fairfield Academy to get + enough Greek and Latin to make me a schoolmaster?"</p> +<p>"Yes," she answered uncertainly.</p> +<p>"Don't you remember I got a free ride down-river one Friday and + came home for Sunday, just to surprise you? And when I got here I + found you ill in bed, with Mrs. Mason and Dr. Perry taking care + of you. You could not speak, you were so ill, but they told me + you had been up in New Hampshire to see your sister, that she had + died, and that you had brought back her boy, who was only four + years old. That was Rod. I took him into bed with me that night, + poor, homesick little fellow, and, as you know, mother, he's + never left us since."</p> +<p>"I didn't remember I had a sister. Is she dead, Ivory? " asked + Mrs. Boynton vaguely.</p> +<p>"If she were not dead, do you suppose you would have kept Rodman + with us when we hadn't bread enough for our own two mouths, + mother?" questioned Ivory patiently.</p> +<p>"No, of course not. I can't think how I can be so forgetful. It's + worse sometimes than others. It 's worse to-day because I knew + the Mayflowers were blooming and that reminded me it was time for + your father to come home; you must forgive me, dear, and will you + excuse me if I sit in the kitchen awhile? The window by the side + door looks out towards the road, and if I put a candle on the + sill it shines quite a distance. The lane is such a long one, and + your father was always a sad stumbler in the dark! I shouldn't + like him to think I wasn't looking for him when he's been gone + since January."</p> +<p>Ivory's pipe went out, and his book slipped from his knee + unnoticed.</p> +<p>His mother was more confused than usual, but she always was when + spring came to remind her of her husband's promise. Somehow, well + used as he was to her mental wanderings, they made him uneasy + to-night. His father had left home on a fancied mission, a duty + he believed to be a revelation given by God through Jacob + Cochrane. The farm did not miss him much at first, Ivory + reflected bitterly, for since his fanatical espousal of + Cochranism his father's interest in such mundane matters as + household expenses had diminished month by month until they had + no meaning for him at all. Letters to wife and boy had come at + first, but after six months--during which he had written from + many places, continually deferring the date of his return-they + had ceased altogether. The rest was silence. Rumors of his + presence here or there came from time to time, but though Parson + Lane and Dr. Perry did their best, none of them were ever + substantiated.</p> +<p>Where had those years of wandering been passed, and had they all + been given even to an imaginary and fantastic service of God? Was + his father dead? If he were alive, what could keep him from + writing? Nothing but a very strong reason, or a very wrong one, + so his son thought, at times.</p> +<p>Since Ivory had grown to man's estate, he understood that in the + later days of Cochrane's preaching, his "visions," + "inspirations," and "revelations" concerning the marriage + bond + were a trifle startling from the old-fashioned, orthodox point of + view. His most advanced disciples were to hold themselves in + readiness to renounce their former vows and seek "spiritual + consorts," sometimes according to his advice, sometimes as their + inclinations prompted. +</p> + +Had Aaron Boynton forsaken, willingly, the wife of his youth, the +mother of his boy? If so, he must have realized to what straits +he was subjecting them. Ivory had not forgotten those first few +years of grinding poverty, anxiety, and suspense. His mother's +mind had stood the strain bravely, but it gave way at last; not, +however, until that fatal winter journey to New Hampshire, when +cold, exposure, and fatigue did their worst for her weak body. +Religious enthusiast, exalted and impressionable, a natural +mystic, she had probably always been, far more so in temperament, +indeed, than her husband; but although she left home on that +journey a frail and heartsick woman, she returned a different +creature altogether, blurred and confused in mind, with clouded +memory and irrational fancies. +<p>She must have given up hope, just then, Ivory thought, and her + love was so deep that when it was uprooted the soil came with it. + Now hope had returned because the cruel memory had faded + altogether. She sat by the kitchen window in gentle expectation, + watching, always watching.</p> +<p>And this is the way many of Ivory Boynton's evenings were spent, while the + heart of him, the five-and-twenty-year-old heart of him, was longing to feel + the beat of another heart, a girl's heart only a mile or more away. The ice + in Saco Water had broken up and the white blocks sailed majestically down towards + the sea; sap was mounting and the elm trees were budding; the trailing arbutus + was blossoming in the woods; the robins had come;-everything was announcing + the spring, yet Ivory saw no changing seasons in his future; nothing but winter, + eternal winter there!</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>V</p> +<p>PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE</p> +<p>PATTY had been searching for eggs in the barn chamber, and coming + down the ladder from the haymow spied her father washing the + wagon by the well-side near the shed door. Cephas Cole kept store + for him at meal hours and whenever trade was unusually brisk, and + the Baxter yard was so happily situated that Old Foxy could watch + both house and store.</p> +<p>There never was a good time to ask Deacon Baxter a favor, therefore this moment + would serve as well as any other, so, approaching him near enough to be heard + through the rubbing and splashing, but no nearer than was necessary Patty said:--</p> +<p> + "Father, can I go up to Ellen Wilson's this afternoon and stay to + tea? I won't start till I've done a good day's work and I'll come + home early. "</p> +<p>"What do you want to go gallivantin' to the neighbors for? I + never saw anything like the girls nowadays; highty-tighty, + flauntin', traipsin', triflin' trollops, ev'ry one of 'em, that's + what they are, and Ellen Wilson's one of the triflin'est.</p> +<p>You're old enough now to stay to home where you belong and make + an effort to earn your board and clothes, which you can't, even + if you try."</p> +<p>Spunk, real, Simon-pure spunk, started some-where in Patty and + coursed through her blood like wine.</p> +<p>"If a girl's old enough to stay at home and work, I should think + she was old enough to go out and play once in a while." Patty was + still too timid to make this remark more than a courteous + suggestion, so far as its tone was concerned.</p> +<p>"Don't answer me back; you're full of new tricks, and you've got + to stop 'em, right where you are, or there'll be trouble. You + were whistlin' just now up in the barn chamber; that's one of the + things I won't have round my premises,--a whistlin' girl."</p> +<p>"'T was a Sabbath-School hymn that I was whistling!" This with a + creditable imitation of defiance.</p> +<p>"That don't make it any better. Sing your hymns if you must make + a noise while you're workin'."</p> +<p>"It's the same mouth that makes the whistle and sings the song, + so I don't see why one's any wickeder than the other."</p> +<p>"You don't have to see," replied the Deacon grimly; "all you + have + to do is to mind when you're spoken to. Now run 'long 'bout your + work."</p> +<p>"Can't I go up to Ellen's, then?"</p> +<p>"What's goin' on up there?"</p> +<p>"Just a frolic. There's always a good time at Ellen's, and I + would so like the sight of a big, rich house now and then!"</p> +<p>"'Just a frolic.' Land o' Goshen, hear the girl! 'Sight of a big, + rich house,' indeed!--Will there be any boys at the party?"</p> +<p>"I s'pose so, or 't wouldn't be a frolic," said Patty with awful + daring; "but there won't be many; only a few of Mark's friends."</p> +<p>"Well, there ain't goin' to be no more argyfyin'! I won't have + any girl o' mine frolickin' with boys, so that's the end of it. + You're kind o' crazy lately, riggin' yourself out with a ribbon + here and a flower there, and pullin' your hair down over your + ears. Why do you want to cover your ears up? What are they for?"</p> +<p>"To hear you with, father," Patty replied, with honey-sweet voice + and eyes that blazed.</p> +<p>"Well, I hope they'll never hear anything worse," replied her + father, flinging a bucket of water over the last of the wagon + wheels.</p> +<p>"THEY COULDN'T!" These words were never spoken aloud, but oh! how + Patty longed to shout them with a clarion voice as she walked + away in perfect silence, her majestic gait showing, she hoped, + how she resented the outcome of the interview.</p> +<p>I've stood up to father!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she + entered the kitchen and set down her yellow bowl of eggs on the + table. "I stood up to him, and answered him back three times!"</p> +<p>Waitstill was busy with her Saturday morning cooking, but she + turned in alarm.</p> +<p>"Patty, what have you said and done? Tell me quickly!"</p> +<p>"I 'argyfied,' but it didn't do any good; he won't let me go to + Ellen's party."</p> +<p>Waitstill wiped her floury hands and put them on her sister's + shoulders.</p> +<p>"Hear what I say, Patty: you must not argue with father, whatever + he says. We don't love him and so there isn't the right respect + in our hearts, but at least there can be respect in our manners."</p> +<p>"I don't believe I can go on for years, holding in, Waitstill!" + Patty whimpered.</p> +<p>"Yes, you can. I have!"</p> +<p>"You're different, Waitstill."</p> +<p>"I wasn't so different at sixteen, but that's five years ago, and + I've got control of my tongue and my temper since then. Sometime, + perhaps, when I have a grievance too great to be rightly borne, + sometime when you are away from here in a home of your own, I + shall speak out to father; just empty my heart of all the + disappointment and bitterness and rebellion. Somebody ought to + tell him the truth, and perhaps it will be me!"</p> +<p>"I wish it could be me," exclaimed Patty vindictively, and with + an equal disregard of grammar.</p> +<p>"You would speak in temper, I'm afraid, Patty, and that would + spoil all. I'm sorry you can't go up to Ellen's," she sighed, + turning back to her work; "you don't have pleasure enough for one + of your age; still, don't fret; something may happen to change + things, and anyhow the weather is growing warmer, and you and I + have so many more outings in summer-time. Smooth down your hair, + child; there are straws in it, and it's all rough with the wind. + I don't like flying hair about a kitchen."</p> +<p>"I wish my hair was flying somewhere a thousand miles from here; + or at least I should wish it if it did not mean leaving you; for + oh. I'm so miserable and disappointed and unhappy!"</p> +<p>Waitstill bent over the girl as she flung herself down beside the + table and smoothed her shoulder gently.</p> +<p>"There, there, dear; it isn't like my gay little sister to cry. + What is the matter with you to-day, Patty?"</p> +<p>"I suppose it's the spring," she said, wiping her eyes with her + apron and smiling through her tears. "Perhaps I need a dose of + sulphur and molasses."</p> +<p>"Don't you feel well as common?"</p> +<p>"Well? I feel too well! I feel as if I was a young colt shut up + in an attic. I want to kick up my heels, batter the door down, + and get out into the pasture. It's no use talking, Waity;--I + can't go on living without a bit of pleasure and I can't go on + being patient even for your sake. If it weren't for you, I'd run + away as Job did; and I never believed Moses slipped on the logs; + I'm sure he threw himself into the river, and so should I if I + had the courage!" +</p> + +"Stop, Patty, stop, dear! You shall have your bit of pasture, at +least. I'll do some of your indoor tasks for you, and you shall +put on your sunbonnet and go out and dig the dandelion greens for +dinner. Take the broken knife and a milkpan and don't bring in so +much earth with them as you did last time. Dry your eyes and look +at the green things growing. Remember how young you are and how +many years are ahead of you! Go along, dear!" +<p>Waitstill went about her work with rather a heavy heart. Was life + going to be more rather than less difficult, now that Patty was + growing up? Would she he able to do her duty both by father and + sister and keep peace in the household, as she had vowed, in her + secret heart, always to do? She paused every now and then to look + out of the window and wave an encouraging hand to Patty. The + girl's bonnet was off, and her uncovered head blazed like red + gold in the sunlight. The short young grass was dotted with + dandelion blooms, some of them already grown to huge disks of + yellow, and Patty moved hither and thither, selecting the younger + weeds, deftly putting the broken knife under their roots and + popping them into the tin pan. Presently, for Deacon Baxter had + finished the wagon and gone down the hill to relieve Cephas Cole + at the counter, Patty's shrill young whistle floated into the + kitchen, but with a mischievous glance at the open window she + broke off suddenly and began to sing the words of the hymn with + rather more emphasis and gusto than strict piety warranted.</p> +<blockquote> + <blockquote> + <p>"There'll be SOMEthing in heav-en for chil-dren to do,<br> + None are idle in that bless-ed land: <br> + There'll be WORK for the heart. There'll be WORK for the mind, <br> + And emPLOYment for EACH little hand. <br> + "There'll be SOME-thing to do, <br> + There'll be SOME-thing to do, <br> + There'll be SOME-thing for CHIL-dren to do! <br> + On that bright blessed shore where there's joy evermore,<br> + There'll be SOME-thing for CHIL-DREN to do."<br> + </p> + </blockquote> +</blockquote> +<p> Patty's young existence being full to the brim of labor, this view of heaven + never in the least appealed to her and she rendered the hymn with little sympathy. + The main part of the verse was strongly accented by jabs at the unoffending + dandelion roots, but when the chorus came she brought out the emphatic syllables + by a beat of the broken knife on the milkpan. </p> +<p>This rendition of a Sabbath-School classic did not meet + Waitstill's ideas of perfect propriety, but she smiled and let it + pass, planning some sort of recreation for a stolen half-hour of + the afternoon. It would have to be a walk through the pasture + into the woods to see what had grown since they went there a + fortnight ago. Patty loved people better than Nature, but failing + the one she could put up with the other, for she had a sense of + beauty and a pagan love of color. There would be pale-hued + innocence and blue and white violets in the moist places, thought + Waitstill, and they would have them in a china cup on the + supper-table. No, that would never do, for last time father had + knocked them over when he was reaching for the bread, and in a + silent protest against such foolishness got up from the table and + emptied theirs into the kitchen sink.</p> +<p>"There's a place for everything," he said when he came back, "and + the place for flowers is outdoors."</p> +<p>Then in the pine woods there would be, she was sure, Star of + Bethlehem, Solomon's Seal, the white spray of groundnuts and + bunchberries. Perhaps they could make a bouquet and Patty would + take it across the fields to Mrs. Boynton's door. She need not go + in, and thus they would not be disobeying their father's command + not to visit that "crazy Boynton woman."</p> +<p>Here Patty came in with a pan full of greens and the sisters sat + down in the sunny window to get them ready for the pot.</p> +<p>"I'm calmer," the little rebel allowed." That's generally the + way + it turns out with me. I get into a rage, but I can generally sing + it off!"</p> +<p>"You certainly must have got rid of a good deal of temper this + morning, by the way your voice sounded."</p> +<p>"Nobody can hear us in this out-of-the-way place. It's easy enough to + see that the women weren't asked to say anything when the men settled where + the houses should be built! The men weren't content to stick them on the top + of a high hill, or half a mile from the stores, but put them back to the main + road, taking due care to cut the sink-window where their wives couldn't see + anything even when they were washing dishes."</p> +<p> + "I don't know that I ever thought about it in that way"; and + Waitstill looked out of the window in a brown study while her + hands worked with the dandelion greens. "I've noticed it, but I + never supposed the men did it intentionally."</p> +<p>"No, you wouldn't," said Patty with the pessimism of a woman of + ninety, as she stole an admiring glance at her sister. Patty's + own face, irregular, piquant, tantalizing, had its peculiar + charm, and her brilliant skin and hair so dazzled the masculine + beholder that he took note of no small defects; but Waitstill was + beautiful; beautiful even in her working dress of purple calico. + Her single braid of hair, the Foxwell hair, that in her was + bronze and in Patty pale auburn, was wound once around her fine + head and made to stand a little as it went across the front. It + was a simple, easy, unconscious fashion of her own, quite + different from anything done by other women in her time and + place, and it just suited her dignity and serenity. It looked + like a coronet, but it was the way she carried her head that gave + you the fancy, there was such spirit and pride in the poise of it + on the long graceful neck. Her eyes were as clear as mountain + pools shaded by rushes, and the strength of the face was softened + by the sweetness of the mouth.</p> +<p>Patty never let the conversation die out for many seconds at a + time and now she began again. "My sudden rages don't match my + name very well, but, of course, mother didn't know how I was + going to turn out when she called me Patience, for I was nothing + but a squirming little bald, red baby; but my name really is too + ridiculous when you think about it."</p> +<p>Waitstill laughed as she said: "It didn't take you long to change + it! Perhaps Patience was a hard word for a baby to say, but the + moment you could talk you said, 'Patty wants this' and 'Patty + wants that."'</p> +<p>"Did Patty ever get it? She never has since, that's certain! And + look at your name: it's 'Waitstill,' yet you never stop a moment. + When you're not in the shed or barn, or chicken-house, or kitchen + or attic, or garden-patch, you are working in the Sunday School + or the choir."</p> +<p>It seemed as if Waitstill did not intend to answer this + arraignment of her activities. She rose and crossed the room to + put the pan of greens in the sink, preparing to wash them.</p> +<p>Taking the long-handled dipper from the nail, she paused a moment + before plunging it into the water pail; paused, and leaning her + elbow on a corner of the shelf over the sink, looked steadfastly + out into the orchard.</p> +<p>Patty watched her curiously and was just going to offer a penny + for her thoughts when Waitstill suddenly broke the brief silence + by saying: "Yes, I am always busy; it's better so, but all the + same, Patty, I'm waiting,--inside! I don't know for what, but I + always feel that I am waiting!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>VI</p> +<p>A KISS</p> +<p>"SHALL we have our walk in the woods on the Edgewood side of the river, + just for a change, Patty?" suggested her sister. "The water is so + high this year that the river will be splendid. We can gather our flowers in + the hill pasture and then you'll be quite near Mrs. Boynton's and can carry + the nosegay there while I come home ahead of you and get supper. I'll take to-day's + eggs to father's store on the way and ask him if he minds our having a little + walk. I've an errand at Aunt Abby's that would take me down to the bridge anyway."</p> +<p> + "Very well," said Patty, somewhat apathetically. "I always like + a + walk with you, but I don't care what becomes of me this afternoon + if I can't go to Ellen's party."</p> +<p>The excursion took place according to Waitstill's plan, and at + four o'clock she sped back to her night work and preparations for + supper, leaving Patty with a great bunch of early wildflowers for + Ivory's mother. Patty had left them at the Boyntons' door with + Rodman, who was + picking up chips and volunteered to take the nosegay into the + house at once.</p> +<p>"Won't you step inside? " the boy asked shyly, wishing to be + polite, but conscious that visitors, from the village very seldom + crossed the threshold.</p> +<p>"I'd like to, but I can't this afternoon, thank you. I must run + all the way down the hill now, or I shan't be in time to supper."</p> +<p>"Do you eat meals together over to your house?" asked the boy.</p> +<p>"We're all three at the table if that means together."</p> +<p>"We never are. Ivory goes off early and takes lunch in a pail. So + do I when I go to school. Aunt Boynton never sits down to eat; + she just stands at the window and takes a bite of something now + 'and then. You haven't got any mother, have you?"</p> +<p>"No, Rodman."</p> +<p>"Neither have I, nor any father, nor any relations but Aunt + Boynton and Ivory. Ivory is very good to me, and when he's at + home I'm never lonesome."</p> +<p>"I wish you could come over and eat with sister and me," said + Patty gently." Perhaps sometime, when my father is away buying + goods and we are left alone, you could join us in the woods, and + we would have a picnic? We would bring enough for you; all sorts + of good things; hard-boiled eggs, doughnuts, apple-turnovers, and + bread spread with jelly."</p> +<p>"I'd like it fine!" exclaimed Rodman, his big dark eyes sparkling + with anticipation. "I don't have many boys to play with, and I + never went to a picnic Aunt Boynton watches for uncle 'most all + the time; she doesn't know he has been away for years and years. + When she doesn't watch, she prays. Sometimes she wants me to pray + with her, but praying don't come easy to me."</p> +<p>"Neither does it to me," said Patty.</p> +<p>"I'm good at marbles and checkers and back-gammon and + jack-straws, though."</p> +<p>"So am I," said Patty, laughing, "so we should be good friends. + I'll try to get a chance to see you soon again, but perhaps I + can't; I'm a good deal tied at home."</p> +<p>"Your father doesn't like you to go any-wheres, I guess," + interposed Rodman. "I've heard Ivory tell Aunt Boynton things, + but I wouldn't repeat them. Ivory's trained me years and years + not to tell anything, so I don't."</p> +<p>"That's a good boy!" approved Patty. Then as she regarded him + more closely, she continued, "I'm sorry you're lonesome, Rodman, + I'd like to see you look brighter."</p> +<p>"You think I've been crying," the boy said shrewdly." So I have, + but not because I've been punished. The reason my eyes are so + swollen up is because I killed our old toad by mistake this + morning. I was trying to see if I could swing the scythe so's to + help Ivory in haying-time. I've only 'raked after' and I want to + begin on mowing soon's I can. Then somehow or other the old toad + came out from under the steps; I didn't see him, and the scythe + hit him square. I cried for an hour, that's what I did, and I + don't care who knows it except I wouldn't like the boys at school + to hector me. I've buried the toad out behind the barn, and I + hope Ivory'll let me keep the news from Aunt Boynton. She cries + enough now without my telling her there's been a death in the + family. She set great store by the old toad, and so did all of + us."</p> +<p>"It's too bad; I'm sorry, but after all you couldn't help it."</p> +<p>"No, but we should always look round every-wheres when we're + cutting; that's what Ivory says. He says folks shouldn't use + edged tools till they're old enough not to fool with 'em."</p> +<p>And Rodman looked so wise and old-fashioned for his years that + Patty did not know whether to kiss him or cry over him, as she + said: "Ivory's always right, and now good-bye; I must go this + very minute. Don't forget the picnic."</p> +<p>"I won't!" cried the boy, gazing after her, wholly entranced with + her bright beauty and her kindness. "Say, I'll bring something, + too,--white-oak acorns, if you like 'em; I've got a big bagful up + attic!"</p> +<p>Patty sped down the long lane, crept under the bars, and flew + like a lapwing over the high-road.</p> +<p>"If father was only like any one else, things might be so + different!" she sighed, her thoughts running along with her feet. + "Nobody to make a home for that poor lonesome little boy and that + poor lonesome big Ivory. . . . I am sure that he is in love with + Waitstill. He doesn't know it; she doesn't know it; nobody does + but me, but I'm clever at guessing. I was the only one that + surmised Jed Morrill was going to marry again. . . . I should + almost like Ivory for myself, he is so tall and handsome, but of + course he can never marry anybody; he is too poor and has his + mother to look after. I wouldn't want to take him from Waity, + though, and then perhaps I couldn't get him, anyway. . . . If I + couldn't, he'd be the only one! I've never tried yet, but I feel + in my bones, somehow, that I could have any boy in Edgewood or + Riverboro, by just crooking my forefinger and beckoning to him. . + . . I wish--I wish--they were different! They don't make me want + to beckon to them! My forefinger just stays straight and doesn't + feel like crooking! . . . There's Cephas Cole, but he's as stupid + as an owl. I don't want a husband that keeps his mouth wide open + whenever I'm talking, no matter whether it's sense or nonsense. + There's Phil Perry, but he likes Ellen, and besides he's too + serious for me; and there's Mark Wilson; he's the best dressed, + and the only one that's been to college. He looks at me all the + time in meeting, and asked me if I wouldn't take a walk some + Sunday afternoon. I know he planned Ellen's party hoping I'd be + there!--Goodness gracious, I do believe that is his horse coming + behind me! There's no other in the village that goes at such a + gait!"</p> +<p>It was, indeed, Mark Wilson, who always drove, according to Aunt + Abby Cole, "as if he was goin' for a doctor." He caught up with + Patty almost in the twinkling of an eye, but she was ready for + him. She had taken off her sunbonnet just to twirl it by the + string, she was so warm with walking, and in a jiffy she had + lifted the clustering curls from her ears, tucked them back with + a single expert movement, and disclosed two coral pendants just + the color of her ear-tips and her glowing cheeks.</p> +<p>"Hello, Patty!" the young man called, in brusque country fashion, + as he reined up beside her. "What are you doing over here? Why + aren't you on your way to the party? I've been over to Limington + and am breaking my neck to get home in time myself."</p> +<p>"I am not going; there are no parties for me!" said Patty + plaintively. + "Not going! Oh! I say, what's the matter? It won't be a bit of + fun without you! Ellen and I made it up expressly for you, + thinking your father couldn't object to a candy-pull!"</p> +<p>"I can't help it; I did the best I could. Wait-still always asks + father for me, but I wouldn't take any chances to-day, and I + spoke to him myself; indeed I almost coaxed him!"</p> +<p>"He's a regular old skinflint!" cried Mark, getting out of the + wagon and walking beside her.</p> +<p>"You mustn't call him names," Patty interposed with some dignity. + "I call him a good many myself, but I'm his daughter."</p> +<p>"You don't look it," said Mark admiringly. " Come and have a + little ride, Won't you?"</p> +<p>"Oh, I couldn't possibly, thank you. Some one would be sure to + see us, and father's so strict."</p> +<p>"There isn't a building for half a mile! Just jump in and have a + spin till we come to the first house; then I'll let you out and + you can walk the rest of the way home. Come, do, and make up to + me a little for my disappointment. I'll skip the candy-pull if + you say the word."</p> +<p>It was an incredibly brief drive, at Mark's rate of speed; and as + exciting and blissful as it was brief and dangerous, Patty + thought. Did she imagine it, or did Mark help her into the wagon + differently from--old Dr. Perry, for instance?</p> +<p>The fresh breeze lifted the gold thread of her curls and gave her + cheeks a brighter color, while her breath came fast through her + parted lips and her eyes sparkled at the unexpected, unaccustomed + pleasure. She felt so grown up, so conscious of a new power as + she sat enthroned on the little wagon seat (Mark Wilson always + liked his buggies "courtin' size" so the neighbors said), that + she was almost courageous enough to agree to make a royal + progress through the village; almost, but not quite.</p> +<p>"Come on, let's shake the old tabbies up and start 'em talking, + shall we?" Mark suggested." I'll give you the reins and let Nero + have a flick of the whip."</p> +<p>"No, I'd rather not drive," she said. "I'd be afraid of this + horse, and, anyway, I must get out this very minute; yes, I + really must. If you hold Nero I can just slip down between the + wheels; you needn't help me."</p> +<p>Mark alighted notwithstanding her objections, saying gallantly, + "I don't miss this pleasure, not by a jugful! Come along! Jump!"</p> +<p>Patty stretched out her hands to be helped, but Mark forestalled + her by putting his arms around her and lifting her down. A second + of time only was involved, but in that second he held; her close + and kissed her warm cheek, her cheek that had never felt the + touch of any lips but those of Waitstill. She pulled her + sunbonnet over her flaming face, while Mark, with a gay smile of + farewell, sprang into the wagon and gave his horse a free rein.</p> +<p>Patty never looked up from the road, but walked faster and + faster, her heart beating at breakneck speed. It was a changed + world that spun past her; fright, triumph, shame, delight, a + gratified vanity swam over her in turn.</p> +<p>A few minutes later she heard once more the rumble of wheels on + the road. It was Cephas Cole driving towards her over the brow of + Saco Hill. "He'll have seen Mark," she thought, "but he can't + know I've talked and driven with him. Ugh! how stupid and common + he looks!" + "I heard your father blowin' the supper-horn jest as I come over + the bridge," remarked Cephas, drawing up in the road. " He stood + in the door-yard blowin' like Bedlam. I guess you 're late to + supper."</p> +<p>"I'll be home in a few minutes," said Patty, "I got delayed + and + am a little behindhand."</p> +<p>"I'11 turn right round if you'11 git in and lemme take you + back-along a piece; it'll save you a good five minutes," begged + Cephas, abjectly.</p> +<p>"All right; much obliged; but it's against the rules and you must + drop me at the foot of our hill and let me walk up."</p> +<p>"Certain; I know the Deacon 'n' I ain't huntin' for trouble any + more'n you be; though I 'd take it quick enough if you jest give + me leave! I ain't no coward an' I could tackle the Deacon + to-morrow if so be I had anything to ask him."</p> +<p>This seemed to Patty a line of conversation distinctly to be + discouraged under all the circumstances, and she tried to keep + Cephas on the subject of his daily tasks and his mother's + rheumatism until she could escape from his over-appreciative + society.</p> +<p>"How do you like my last job?" he inquired as they passed his + father's house. "Some think I've got the ell a little dite too + yaller. Folks that ain't never handled a brush allers think they + can mix paint better 'n them that knows their trade."</p> +<p>"If your object was to have everybody see the ell a mile away, + you've succeeded," said Patty cruelly. She never flung the poor + boy a civil word for fear of getting something warmer than + civility in return.</p> +<p>"It'll tone down," Cephas responded, rather crestfallen. "I + wanted a good bright lastin' shade. 'T won't look so yaller when + father lets me paint the house to match, but that won't be till + next year. He makes fun of the yaller color same as you; says a + home's something you want to forget when you're away from it. + Mother says the two rooms of the ell are big enough for somebody + to set up housekeepin' in. What do you think?"</p> +<p>"I never think," returned Patty with a tantalizing laugh. + "Good-night, Cephas; thank you for giving me a lift!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>VII</p> +<p>"WHAT DREAMS MAY COME</p> +<p>SUPPER was over and the work done at last; the dishes washed, the beans put + in soak, the hens shut up for the night, the milk strained and carried down + cellar. Patty went up to her little room with the one window and the slanting + walls and Waitstill followed and said good-night. Her father put out the lights, + locked the doors, and came up the creaking stairs. There was never any talk + between the sisters before going to bed, save on nights when their father was + late at the store, usually on Saturdays only, for the good talkers of the village, + as well as the gossips and loafers, preferred any other place to swap stories + than the bleak atmosphere provided by old Foxy at his place of business.</p> +<p> + Patty could think in the dark; her healthy young body lying not + uncomfortably on the bed of corn husks, and the patchwork + comforter drawn up under her chin. She could think, but for the + first time she could not tell her thoughts to Waitstill. She had + a secret; a dazzling secret, just like Ellen Wilson and some of + the other girls who were several years older. Her afternoon's + experience loomed as large in her innocent mind as if it had been + an elopement.</p> +<p>"I hope I'm not engaged to be married to him, EVEN IF HE DID--" + The sentence was too tremendous to be finished, even in thought. + "I don't think I can be; men must surely say something, and not + take it for granted you are in love with them and want to marry + them. It is what they say when they ask that I should like much + better than being married, when I'm only just past seventeen. I + wish Mark was a little different; I don't like his careless ways! + He admires me, I can tell one; that by the way he looks, but he + admires himself just as much, and expects me to do the same; + still, I suppose none of them are perfect, and girls have to + forgive lots of little things when they are engaged. Mother must + have forgiven a good many things when she took father. Anyway, + Mark is going away for a month on business, so I shan't have to + make up my mind just yet!" Here sleep descended upon the slightly + puzzled, but on the whole delightfully complacent, little + creature, bringing her most alluring and untrustworthy dreams.</p> +<p>The dear innocent had, indeed, no need of haste! Young Mr. + Marquis de Lafayette Wilson, Mark for short, was not in the least + a gay deceiver + or ruthless breaker of hearts, and, so far as known, no scalps of + village beauties were hung to his belt. He was a likable, + light-weight young chap, as indolent and pleasure-loving as the + strict customs of the community would permit; and a kiss, in his + mind, most certainly never would lead to the altar, else he had + already been many times a bridegroom. Miss Patience Baxter's + maiden meditations and uncertainties and perplexities, therefore, + were decidedly premature. She was a natural-born, unconsciously + artistic, highly expert, and finished coquette. She was all this + at seventeen, and Mark at twenty-four was by no means a match for + her in this field of effort, yet!--but sometimes, in getting her + victim into the net, the coquette loses her balance and falls in + herself. There wasn't a bit of harm in Marquis de Lafayette, but + he was extremely agile in keeping out of nets!</p> +<p>Waitstill was restless, too, that night, although she could not + have told the reason. She opened her window at the back of the + house and leaned out. The evening was mild with a soft wind + blowing. She could hear the full brook dashing through the edge + of the wood-lot, and even the "ker-chug" of an occasional + bull-frog. There were great misty stars in the sky, but no moon.</p> +<p>There was no light in Aunt Abby Cole's kitchen, but a faint + glimmer shone through the windows of Uncle Bart's joiner's shop, + showing that the old man was either having an hour of peaceful + contemplation with no companion but his pipe, or that there might + be a little group of privileged visitors, headed by Jed Morrill, + busily discussing the affairs of the nation.</p> +<p>Waitstill felt troubled and anxious to-night; bruised by the + little daily torments that lessened her courage but never wholly + destroyed it. Any one who believed implicitly in heredity might + have been puzzled, perhaps, to account for her. He might + fantastically picture her as making herself out of her ancestors, + using a free hand, picking and choosing what she liked best, with + due care for the effect of combinations; selecting here and there + and modifying, if advisable, a trait of Grandpa or Grandma + Foxwell, of Great-Uncle or Great-Aunt Baxter; borrowing qualities + lavishly from her own gently born and gently bred mother, and + carefully avoiding her respected father's Stock, except, perhaps, + to take a dash of his pluck and an ounce of his persistence. Jed + Morrill remarked of Deacon Baxter once: "When Old Foxy wants + anything he'11 wait till hell freezes over afore he'll give up." + Waitstill had her father's firm chin, but there the likeness + ended. The proud curve of her nostrils, the clear well-opened eye + with its deep fringe of lashes, the earnest mouth, all these came + from the mother who was little more than a dim memory.</p> +<p>Waitstill disdained any vague, dreary, colorless theory of life + and its meaning. She had joined the church at fifteen, more or + less because other girls did and the parson had persuaded her; + but out of her hard life she had somehow framed a courageous + philosophy that kept her erect and uncrushed, no matter how great + her difficulties. She had no idea of bringing a poor, weak, + draggled soul to her Maker at the last day, saying "Here is all I + have managed to save out of what you gave me!" That would be + something, she allowed, immeasurably something; but pitiful + compared with what she might do if she could keep a brave, + vigorous spirit and march to the last tribunal strengthened by + battles, struggles, defeats, victories; by the defense of weaker + human creatures, above all, warmed and vitalized by the pouring + out and gathering in of love.</p> +<p>Patty slept sweetly on the other side of the partition, the + contemplation of her twopenny triumphs bringing a smile to her + childish lips: but even so a good heart was there (still perhaps + in the process of making), a quick wit, ready sympathy, natural + charm; plenty, indeed, for the stronger sister to cherish, + protect, and hold precious, as she did, with all her mind and + soul.</p> +<p>There had always been a passionate loyalty in Waitstill's + affection, wherever it had been bestowed. Uncle Bart delighted in + telling an instance of it that occurred when she was a child of + five. Maine had just separated amicably from her mother, + Massachusetts, and become an independent state. It was in the + middle of March, but there was no snow on the ground and the + village boys had built a bonfire on a plot of land near Uncle + Bart's joiner's shop. There was a large gathering in celebration + of the historic event and Waitstill crept down the hill with her + homemade rag doll in her arms. She stood on the outskirts of the + crowd, a silent, absorbed little figure clad in a shabby woollen + coat, with a blue knit hood framing her rosy face. Deborah, her + beloved, her only doll, was tightly clasped in her arms, for + Debby, like her parent, had few pleasures and must not be denied + so great a one as this. Suddenly, one of the thoughtless young + scamps in the group, wishing to create a new sensation and add to + the general excitement, caught the doll from the child's arms, + and running forward with a loud war-whoop, flung it into the + flames. Waitstill did not lose an instant. She gave a scream Of + anguish, and without giving any warning of her intentions, + probably without realizing them herself, she dashed through the + little crowd into the bonfire and snatched her cherished + offspring from the burning pile. The whole thing was over in the + twinkling of an eye, for Uncle Bart was as quick as the child and + dragged her out of the imminent danger with no worse harm done + than a good scorching. +</p> + +He led the little creature up the hill to explain matters and +protect her from a scolding. She still held the doll against her +heaving breast, saying, between her sobs: " I couldn't let my +Debby burn up! I couldn't, Uncle Bart; she's got nobody but me! +Is my dress scorched so much I can't wear it? You'11 tell father +how it was, Uncle Bart, won't you?" +<p>Debby bore the marks of her adventure longer than her owner, for + she had been longer in the fire, but, stained and defaced as she + was, she was never replaced, and remained the only doll of + Waitstill's childhood. At this very moment she lay softly and + safely in a bureau drawer ready to be lifted out, sometime, + Waitstill fancied, and shown tenderly to Patty's children. Of her + own possible children she never thought. There was but one man in + the world who could ever be the father of them and she was + separated from him by every obstacle that could divide two human + beings.</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2 align="center"></h2> +<h2 align="center">SUMMER</h2> +<p></p> +<p>VIII</p> +<p>THE JOINER'S SHOP</p> +<p>VILLAGE "Aunts" and "Uncles" were elected to that relationship + by the common consent of the community; their fitness being established by great + age, by decided individuality or eccentricity of character, by uncommon lovableness, + or by the possession of an abundant wit and humor. There was no formality about + the thing; certain women were always called "Aunt Sukie," or "Aunt + Hitty," or what not, while certain men were distinguished as "Uncle + Rish," or "Uncle Pel," without previous arrangement, or the consent + of the high contracting parties.</p> +<p> + Such a couple were Cephas Cole's father and mother, Aunt Abby and + Uncle Bart. Bartholomew Cole's trade was that of a joiner; as for + Aunt Abby's, it can only be said that she made all trades her own + by sovereign right of investigation, and what she did not know + about her neighbor's occupations was unlikely to he discovered on + this side of Jordan. One of the villagers declared that Aunt Abby + and her neighbor, Mrs. Abel Day, had argued for an hour before + they could make a bargain about the method of disseminating a + certain important piece of news, theirs by exclusive right of + discovery and prior possession. Mrs. Day offered to give Mrs. + Cole the privilege of Saco Hill and Aunt Betty-Jack's, she + herself to take Guide-Board and Town-House Hills. Aunt Abby + quickly proved the injustice of this decision, saying that there + were twice as many families living in Mrs. Day's chosen territory + as there were in that allotted to her, so the river road to + Milliken's Mills was grudgingly awarded to Aunt Abby by way of + compromise, and the ladies started on what was a tour of mercy in + those days, the furnishing of a subject of discussion for long, + quiet evenings.</p> +<p>Uncle Bart's joiner's shop was at the foot of Guide-Board Hill on + the Riverboro side of the bridge, and it was the pleasantest spot + in the whole village. The shop itself had a cheery look, with its + weather-stained shingles, its small square windows, and its + hospitable door, half as big as the front side of the building. + The step was an old millstone too worn for active service, and + the piles of chips and shavings on each side of it had been there + for so many years that sweet-williams, clove pinks, and purple + phlox were growing in among them in the most irresponsible + fashion; while a morning-glory vine had crept up and curled + around a long-handled rake that had been standing against the + front of the house since early spring. There was an air of cosy + and amiable disorder about the place that would have invited + friendly confabulation even had not Uncle Bart's white head, + honest, ruddy face, and smiling welcome coaxed you in before you + were aware. A fine Nodhead apple tree shaded the side windows, + and underneath it reposed all summer a bright blue sleigh, for + Uncle Bart always described himself as being "plagued for shed + room" and kept things as he liked at the shop, having a "p'ison + neat " wife who did exactly the opposite at his house.</p> +<p>The seat of the sleigh was all white now with scattered fruit + blossoms, and one of Waitstill's earliest remembrances was of + going downhill with Patty toddling at her side; of Uncle Bart's + lifting them into the sleigh and permitting them to sit there and + eat the ripe red apples that had fallen from the tree. Uncle + Bart's son, Cephas (Patty's secret adorer), was a painter by + trade, and kept his pots and cans and brushes in a little + outhouse at the back, while Uncle Bart himself stood every day + behind his long joiner's bench almost knee-deep in shavings. How + the children loved to play with the white, satiny rings, making + them into necklaces, hanging them to their ears and weaving them + into wreaths. </p> +<p>Wonderful houses could always be built in the corner of the shop, + out of the little odds and ends and "nubbins" of white pine, and + Uncle Bart was ever ready to cut or saw a special piece needed + for some great purpose.</p> +<p>The sound of the plane was sweet music in the old joiner's ears. + "I don't hardly know how I'd a made out if I'd had to work in a + mill," he said confidentially to Cephas. "The noise of a saw + goin' all day, coupled with your mother's tongue mornin's an' + evenin's, would 'a' been too much for my weak head. I'm a quiet + man, Cephas, a man that needs a peaceful shop where he can get + away from the comforts of home now and then, without shirkin' his + duty nor causin' gossip. If you should ever marry, Cephas,--which + don't look to me likely without you pick out a dif'rent girl,--I + 'd advise you not to keep your stock o' paints in the barn or the + shed, for it's altogether too handy to the house and the + women-folks. Take my advice and have a place to yourself, even if + it's a small one. A shop or a barn has saved many a man's life + and reason Cephas, for it's ag'in' a woman's nature to have you + underfoot in the house without hectorin' you. Choose a girl + same's you would a horse that you want to hitch up into a span; + 't ain't every two that'll stan' together without kickin'. When + you get the right girl, keep out of her way consid'able an' + there'll be less wear an' tear."</p> +<p>It was June and the countryside was so beautiful it seemed as if + no one could be unhappy, however great the cause. That was what + Waitstill Baxter thought as she sat down on the millstone step + for a word with the old joiner, her best and most understanding + friend in all the village.</p> +<p>"I've come to do my mending here with you," she said brightly, as + she took out her well-filled basket and threaded her needle. + "Isn't it a wonderful morning? Nobody could look the world in the + face and do a wrong thing on such a day, could they, Uncle Bart?"</p> +<p>The meadows were a waving mass of golden buttercups; the shallow + water at the river's edge just below the shop was blue with + spikes of arrow- weed; a bunch of fragrant water-lilies, gathered + from the mill-pond's upper levels, lay beside Waitstill's + mending-basket, and every foot of roadside and field within sight + was swaying with long-stemmed white and gold daisies. The June + grass, the friendly, humble, companionable grass, that no one + ever praises as they do the flowers, was a rich emerald green, a + velvet carpet fit for the feet of the angels themselves. And the + elms and maples! Was there ever such a year for richness of + foliage? And the sky, was it ever so blue or so clear, so far + away, or so completely like heaven, as you looked at its + reflection in the glassy surface of the river?</p> +<p>"Yes, it's a pretty good day," allowed Uncle Bart judicially as + he took a squint at his T-square. "I don' know's I should want to + start out an' try to beat it! The Lord can make a good many kinds + o' weather in the course of a year, but when He puts his mind on + to it, an' kind o' gives Himself a free hand, He can turn out a + June morning that must make the Devil sick to his stomach with + envy! All the same, Waity, my cow ain't behavin' herself any + better'n usual. She's been rampagin' since sun-up. I've seen + mother chasin' her out o' Mis' Day's garden-patch twice + a'ready!--It seems real good an' homey to see you settin' there + sewin' while I'm workin' at the bench. Cephas is down to the + store, so I s'pose your father's off somewheres?"</p> +<p>Perhaps the June grass was a little greener, the buttercups + yellower, the foliage more lacey, the sky bluer, because Deacon + Baxter had taken his luncheon in a pail under the wagon seat, and + departed on an unwilling journey to Moderation, his object being + to press the collection of some accounts too long overdue. There + was something tragic in the fact, Waitstill thought, that + whenever her father left the village for a whole day, life at + once grew brighter, easier, more hopeful. One could breathe + freely, speak one's heart out, believe in the future, when father + was away.</p> +<p>The girls had harbored many delightful plans at early breakfast. As it was + Saturday, Patty could catch little Rod Boynton, if he came to the bridge on + errands as usual; and if Ivory could spare him for an hour at noon they would + take their luncheon and eat it together on the river-bank as Patty had promised + him. At the last moment, however, Deacon Baxter had turned around in the wagon + and said: "Patience, you go down to the store and have a regular house-cleanin' + in the stock-room. Git Cephas to lift what you can't lift yourself, move everything + in the place, sweep and dust it, scrub the floor, wash the winder, and make + room for the new stuff that they'11 bring up from Mill-town 'bout noon. If you + have any time left over, put new papers on the shelves out front, and clean + up and fix the show winder. Don't stand round gabbin' with Cephas, and see't + he don't waste time that's paid for by me. Tell him he might clean up the terbaccer + stains round the stove, black it, and cover it up for the summer if he ain't + too busy servin' cust'mers."</p> +<p> + "The whole day spoiled!" wailed Patty, flinging herself down in + the kitchen rocker. "Father's powers of invention beat anything I + ever saw! </p> +<p>That stock-room could have been cleaned any time this month and + it's too heavy work for me anyway; it spoils my hands, grubbing + around those nasty, sticky, splintery boxes and barrels. Instead + of being out of doors, I've got to be shut up in that smelly, + rummy, tobacco-y, salt-fishy, pepperminty place with Cephas Cole! + He won't have a pleasant morning, I can tell you! I shall snap + his head off every time he speaks to me."</p> +<p>"So I would!" Waitstill answered composedly. "Everything is + so + clearly his fault that I certainly would work off my temper on + Cephas! Still, I can think of a way to make matters come out + right. I've got a great basket of mending that must be done, and + you remember there's a choir rehearsal for the new anthem this + afternoon, but anyway I can help a little on the cleaning. Then + you can make Rodman do a few of the odd jobs, it will be a + novelty to him; and Cephas will work his fingers to the bone for + you, as you well know, if you treat him like a human being."</p> +<p>"All right!" cried Patty joyously, her mood changing in an instant. + "There's Rod coming over the bridge now! Toss me my gingham apron and the + scrubbing-brush, and the pail, and the tin of soft soap, and the cleaning cloths; + let's see, the broom's down there, so I've got everything. If I wave a towel + from the store, pack up luncheon for three. You come down and bring your mending; + then, when you see how I'm getting on, we can consult. I'm going to take the + ten cents I've saved and spend it in raisins. I can get a good many if Cephas + gives me wholesale price, with family discount substracted from that. Cephas + would treat me to candy in a minute, but if I let him we'd have to ask him to + the picnic! Good-bye!" And the volatile creature darted down the hill singing, + "There'll be something in heaven for children to do," at the top of + her healthy young lungs.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>IX</p> +<p>CEPHAS SPEAKS </p> +<p>THE waving signal, a little later on, showed that Rodman could go + to the picnic, the fact being that he was having a holiday from + eleven o'clock until two, and Ivory was going to drive to the + bridge at noon, anyway, so his permission could then be asked.</p> +<p>Patty's mind might have been thought entirely on her ugly task as she swept + and dusted and scrubbed that morning, but the reverse was true. Mark Wilson + had gone away without saying good-bye to her. This was not surprising, perhaps, + as she was about as much sequestered in her hilltop prison as a Turkish beauty + in a harem; neither was it astonishing that Mark did not write to her. He never + had written to her, and as her father always brought home the very infrequent + letters that came to the family, Mark knew that any sentimental correspondence + would be fraught with danger. No, everything was probably just as it should + be, and yet,--well, Patty had expected during the last three weeks that something + would happen to break up the monotony of her former existence. She hardly knew + what it would be, but the kiss dropped so lightly on her cheek by Mark Wilson + still burned in remembrance, and made her sure that it would have a sequel, + or an explanation. </p> +<p> + Mark's sister Ellen and Phil Perry were in the midst of some form + of lover's quarrel, and during its progress Phil was paying + considerable attention to Patty at Sabbath School and + prayer-meeting, occasions, it must be confessed, only provocative + of very indirect and long-distance advances. Cephas Cole, to the + amazement of every one but his (constitutionally) exasperated + mother, was "toning down" the ell of the family mansion, + mitigating the lively yellow, and putting another fresh coat of + paint on it, for no conceivable reason save that of pleasing the + eye of a certain capricious, ungrateful young hussy, who would + probably say, when her verdict was asked, that she didn't see any + particular difference in it, one way or another.</p> +<p>Trade was not especially brisk at the Deacon's emporium this + sunny June Saturday morning. Cephas may have possibly lost a + customer or two by leaving the store vacant while he toiled and + sweated for Miss Patience Baxter in the stockroom at the back, + overhanging the river, but no man alive could see his employer's + lovely daughter tugging at a keg of shingle nails without trying + to save her from a broken back, although Cephas could have + watched his mother move the house and barn without feeling the + slightest anxiety in her behalf. If he could ever get the "heft" + of the "doggoned" cleaning out of the way so that Patty's mind + could be free to entertain his proposition; could ever secure one + precious moment of silence when she was not slatting and banging, + pushing and pulling things about, her head and ears out of sight + under a shelf, and an irritating air of absorption about her + whole demeanor; if that moment of silence could ever, under + Providence, be simultaneous with the absence of customers in the + front shop, Cephas intended to offer himself to Patience Baxter + that very morning.</p> +<p>Once, during a temporary lull in the rear, he started to meet his + fate when Rodman Boynton followed him into the back room, and the + boy was at once set to work by Patty, who was the most consummate + slave-driver in the State of Maine. After half an hour there was + another Heavensent chance, when Rodman went up to Uncle Bart's + shop with a message for Waitstill, but, just then, in came Bill + Morrill, a boy of twelve, with a request for a gallon of + molasses; and would Cephas lend him a stone jug over Sunday, for + his mother had hers soakin' out in soap-suds 'cause 't wa'n't + smellin' jest right. Bill's message given, he hurried up the road + on another errand, promising to call for the molasses later.</p> +<p>Cephas put the gallon measure under the spigot of the molasses + hogshead and turned on the tap. The task was going to be a long + one and he grew impatient, for the stream was only a slender + trickle, scarcely more than the slow dripping of drops, so the + molasses must be very never low, and with his mind full of + weightier affairs he must make a note to tell the Deacon to + broach a new hogshead. Cephas feared that he could never make + out a full gallon, in which case Mrs. Morrill would be vexed, for + she kept mill boarders and baked quantities of brown bread and + gingerbread and molasses cookies for over Sunday. He did wish + trade would languish altogether on this particular morning. The + minutes dragged by and again there was perfect quiet in the + stock-room. As the door opened, Cephas, taking his last chance, + went forward to meet Patty, who was turning down the skirt of her + dress, taking the cloth off her head, smoothing her hair, and + tying on a clean white ruffed apron, in which she looked as + pretty as a pink.</p> +<p>"Patty! "stammered Cephas, seizing his golden opportunity, + "Patty, keep your mind on me for a minute. I've put a new coat o' + paint on the ell just to please you; won't you get married and + settle down with me? I love you so I can't eat nor drink nor + 'tend store nor nothin'!"</p> +<p>"Oh, I--I--couldn't, Cephas, thank you; I just couldn't,--don't + ask me," cried Patty, as nervous as Cephas himself now that her + first offer had really come; "I'm only seventeen and I don't feel + like settling down, Cephas, and father wouldn't think of letting + me get married."</p> +<p>"Don't play tricks on me, Patty, and keep shovin' me off so, an' + givin' wrong reasons," pleaded Cephas. "What's the trouble with + me? I know mother's temper's onsartain, but we never need go into + the main house daytimes and father'd allers stand up ag'in' her + if she didn't treat you right. I've got a good trade and father + has a hundred dollars o' my savin's that I can draw out to-morrer + if you'll have me."</p> +<p>"I can't, Cephas; don't move; stay where you are; no, don't come + any nearer; I'm not fond of you that way, and, besides,--and, + besides-"</p> +<p>Her blush and her evident embarrassment gave Cephas a new fear.</p> +<p>"You ain't promised a'ready, be you?" he asked anxiously; "when + there ain't a feller anywheres around that's ever stepped foot + over your father's doorsill but jest me?"</p> +<p>"I haven't promised anything or anybody," </p> +<p>Patty answered sedately, gaining her self-control by degrees, + "but I won't deny that I'm considering; that's true!"</p> +<p>"Considerin' who?" asked Cephas, turning pale.</p> +<p>"Oh,--SEVERAL, if you must know the truth"; and Patty's tone was + cruel in its jauntiness.</p> +<p>"SEVERAL!" The word did not sound like ordinary work-a-day + Riverboro English in Cephas's ears. He knew that "several" meant + more than one, but he was too stunned to define the term properly + in its present strange connection.</p> +<p>"Whoever 't is wouldn't do any better by you'n I would. I'd take + a lickin' for you any day," Cephas exclaimed abjectly, after a + long pause.</p> +<p>"That wouldn't make any difference, Cephas," said Patty firmly, + moving towards the front door as if to end the interview. "If I + don't love you UNlicked, I couldn't love you any better licked, + now, could I?--Goodness gracious, what am I stepping in? Cephas, + quick! Something has been running all over the floor. My feet are + sticking to it."</p> +<p>"Good Gosh! It's Mis' Morrill's molasses!" cried Cephas, brought + to his senses suddenly.</p> +<p>It was too true! Whatever had been the small obstruction in the + tap, it had disappeared. The gallon measure had been filled to + the brim ten minutes before, and ever since, the treacly liquid + had been overflowing the top and spreading in a brown flood, + unnoticed, over the floor. Patty's feet were glued to it, her + buff calico skirts lifted high to escape harm.</p> +<p>"I can't move," she cried. "Oh! You stupid, stupid Cephas, how + could you leave the molasses spigot turned on? See what you've + done! You've wasted quarts and quarts! What will father say, and + how will you ever clean up such a mess? You never can get the + floor to look so that he won't notice it, and he is sure to miss + the molasses. You've ruined my shoes, and I simply can't bear the + sight of you!"</p> +<p>At this Cephas all but blubbered in the agony of his soul. It was + bad enough to be told by Patty that she was "considering + several," but his first romance had ended in such complete + disaster that he saw in a vision his life blasted; changed in one + brief moment from that of a prosperous young painter to that of a + blighted and despised bungler, whose week's wages were likely to + be expended in molasses to make good the Deacon's loss.</p> +<p>"Find those cleaning-cloths I left in the hack room," ordered + Patty with a flashing eye. "Get some blocks, or bits of board, or + stones, for me to walk on, so that I can get out of your nasty + mess. Fill Bill Morrill's jug, quick, and set it out on the steps + for him to pick up. I don't know what you'd do without me to plan + for you! Lock the front door and hang father's sign that he's + gone to dinner on the doorknob. Scoop up all the molasses you can + with one of those new trowels on the counter. Scoop, and scrape, + and scoop, and scrape; then put a cloth on your oldest broom, + pour lots of water on, pail after pail, and swab! When you've + swabbed till it won't do any more good, then scrub! After that, I + shouldn't wonder if you had to fan the floor with a newspaper or + it'll never get dry before father comes home. I'll sit on the + flour barrel a little while and advise, but I can't stay long + because I'm going to a picnic. Hurry up and don't look as if you + were going to die any minute! It's no use crying over spilt + molasses. You don't suppose I'm going to tell any tales after + you've made me an offer of marriage, do you? I'm not so mean as + all that, though I may have my faults."</p> +<p>It was nearly two o'clock before the card announcing Deacon Baxter's absence + at dinner was removed from the front doorknob, and when the store was finally + reopened for business it was a most dejected clerk who dealt out groceries to + the public. The worst feature of the affair was that every one in the two villages + suddenly and contemporaneously wanted molasses, so that Cephas spent the afternoon + reviewing his misery by continually turning the tap and drawing off the fatal + liquid. Then, too, every inquisitive boy in the neighborhood came to the back + of the store to view the operation, exclaiming: "What makes the floor so + wet? Hain't been spillin' molasses, have yer? Bet yer have! Good joke on Old + Foxy!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>X</p> +<p>ON TORY HILL</p> +<p>It had been a heavenly picnic the little trio all agreed as to that; and when + Ivory saw the Baxter girls coming up the shady path that led along the river + from the Indian Cellar to the bridge, it was a merry group and a transfigured + Rodman that caught his eye. The boy, trailing on behind with the baskets and + laden with tin dippers and wildflowers, seemed another creature from the big-eyed, + quiet little lad he saw every day. He had chattered like a magpie, eaten like + a bear, is torn his jacket getting wild columbines for Patty, been nicely darned + by Waitstill, and was in a state of hilarity that rendered him quite unrecognizable. +</p> +<p> + "We've had a lovely picnic!" called Patty; "I wish you had been + with us!"</p> +<p>"You didn't ask me!" smiled Ivory, picking up Waitstill's + mending-basket from the nook in the trees where she had hidden it + for safe-keeping.</p> +<p>"We've played games, Ivory," cried the boy. 'Patty made them up herself. + First we had the 'Landing of the Pilgrims,' and Waitstill made believe be the + figurehead of the Mayflower. She stood on a great boulder and sang:-- </p> +<blockquote> + <p>'The breaking waves dashed high <br> + <p>On a stern and rock-bound coast'--</p> +</blockquote> +<p>and, oh! she was splendid! Then Patty was Pocahontas and I was + Cap'n John Smith, and look, we are all dressed up for the Indian + wedding!"</p> +<p>Waitstill had on a crown of white birch bark and her braid of hair, twined + with running ever-green, fell to her waist. Patty was wreathed with columbines + and decked with some turkey feathers that she had put in her basket as too pretty + to throw away. Waitstill looked rather conscious in her unusual finery, but + Patty sported it with the reckless ease and innocent vanity that characterized + her. </p> +<p> + "I shall have to run into father's store to put myself tidy," + Waitstill said, "so good-bye, Rodman, we'll have another picnic + some day. Patty, you must do the chores this afternoon, you know, + so that I can go to choir rehearsal,"</p> +<p>Rodman and Patty started up the hill gayly with their burdens, + and Ivory walked by Waitstill's side as she pulled off her + birch-bark crown and twisted her braid around her head with a + heightened color at being watched.</p> +<p>"I'11 say good-bye now, Ivory, but I'11 see you at the + meeting-house," she said, as she neared the store. "I'll go in + here and brush the pine needles off, wash my hands, and rest a + little before rehearsal. That's a puzzling anthem we have for + to-morrow."</p> +<p>"I have my horse here; let me drive you up to the church."</p> +<p>"I can't, Ivory, thank you. Father's orders are against my + driving out with any one, you know."</p> +<p>"Very well, the road is free, at any rate. I'll hitch my horse + down here in the woods somewhere and when you start to walk I + shall follow and catch up with you. There's luckily only one way + to reach the church from here, and your father can't blame us if + we both take it!"</p> +<p>And so it fell out that Ivory and Waitstill walked together in + the cool of the afternoon to the meeting-house on Tory Hill. + Waitstill kept the beaten path on one side and Ivory that on the + other, so that the width of the country road, deep in dust, was + between them, yet their nearness seemed so tangible a thing that + each could feel the heart beating in the other's side. + Their talk was only that of tried friends, a talk interrupted by + long beautiful silences; silences that come only to a man and + woman whose understanding of each other is beyond question and + answer. Not a sound broke the stillness, yet the very air, it + seemed to them, was shedding meanings: the flowers were exhaling + a love secret with their fragrances, the birds were singing it + boldly from the tree-tops, yet no word passed the man's lips or + the girl's. Patty would have hung out all sorts of signals and + lures to draw the truth from Ivory and break through the walls of + his self-control, but Waitstill, never; and Ivory Boynton was + made of stuff so strong that he would not speak a syllable of + love to a woman unless he could say all. He was only + five-and-twenty, but he had been reared in a rigorous school, and + had learned in its poverty, loneliness, and anxiety lessons of + self-denial and self-control that bore daily fruit now. He knew + that Deacon Baxter would never allow any engagement to exist + between Waitstill and himself; he also knew that Waitstill would + never defy and disobey her father if it meant leaving her younger + sister to fight alone a dreary battle for which she was not + fitted. If there was little hope on her side there seemed even + less on his. His mother's mental illness made her peculiarly + dependent upon him, and at the same time held him in such strict + bondage that it was almost impossible for him to get on in the + world or even to give her the comforts she needed. In villages + like Riverboro in those early days there was no putting away, + even of men or women so demented as to be something of a menace + to the peace of the household; but Lois Boynton was so gentle, so + fragile, so exquisite a spirit, that she seemed in her sad + aloofness simply a thing to be sheltered and shielded somehow in + her difficult life journey. Ivory often thought how sorely she + needed a daughter in her affliction. If the baby sister had only + lived, the home might have been different; but alas! there was + only a son,--a son who tried to be tender and sympathetic, but + after all was nothing but a big, clumsy, uncomprehending + man-creature, who ought to be felling trees, ploughing, sowing, + reaping, or at least studying law, making his own fortune and + that of some future wife. Old Mrs. Mason, a garrulous, + good-hearted grandame, was their only near neighbor, and her + visits always left his mother worse rather than better. How such + a girl as Waitstill would pour comfort and beauty and joy into a + lonely house like his, if only he were weak enough to call upon + her strength and put it to so cruel a test. God help him, he + would never do that, especially as he could not earn enough to + keep a larger family, bound down as he was by inexorable + responsibilities. Waitstill, thus far in life, had suffered many + sorrows and enjoyed few pleasures; marriage ought to bring her + freedom and plenty, not carking care and poverty. He stole long + looks at the girl across the separating space that was so + helpless to separate,--feeding his starved heart upon her womanly + graces. Her quick, springing step was in harmony with the fire + and courage of her mien. There was a line or two in her + face,--small wonder; but an "unconquerable soul" shone in her + eyes; shone, too, in no uncertain way, but brightly and steadily, + expressing an unshaken joy in living. Valiant, splendid, + indomitable Waitstill! He could never tell her, alas! but how he + gloried in her!</p> +<p>It is needless to say that no woman could be the possessor of + such a love as Ivory Boynton's and not know of its existence. + Waitstill never heard a breath of it from Ivory's lips; even his + eyes were under control and confessed nothing; nor did his hand + ever clasp hers, to show by a tell-tale touch the truth he dared + not utter; nevertheless she felt that she was beloved. She hid + the knowledge deep in her heart and covered it softly from every + eye but her own; taking it out in the safe darkness sometimes to + wonder over and adore in secret. Did her love for Ivory rest + partly on a sense of vocation?--a profound, inarticulate divining + of his vast need of her? He was so strong, yet so weak because of + the yoke he bore, so bitterly alone in his desperate struggle + with life, that her heart melted like wax whenever she thought of + him. When she contemplated the hidden mutiny in her own heart, + she was awestruck sometimes at the almost divine patience of + Ivory's conduct as a son.</p> +<p>"How is your mother this summer, Ivory?" she asked as they sat + down on the meeting-house steps waiting for Jed Morrill to open + the door. + "There is little change in her from year to year, Waitstill.--By + the way, why don't we get out of this afternoon sun and sit in + the old graveyard under the trees? We are early and the choir + won't get here for half an hour.--Dr. Perry says that he does not + understand mother's + case in the least, and that no one but some great Boston + physician could give a proper opinion on it; of course, that is + impossible at present."</p> +<p>They sat down on the grass underneath one of the elms and + Waitstill took off her hat and leaned back against the + tree-trunk.</p> +<p>"Tell me more," she said; "it is so long since we talked together + quietly and we have never really spoken of your mother."</p> +<p>"Of course," Ivory continued, "the people of the village all + think and speak of mother's illness as religious insanity, but to + me it seems nothing of the sort. I was only a child when father + first fell ill with Jacob Cochrane, but I was twelve when father + went away from home on his 'mission,' and if there was any one + suffering from delusions in our family it was he, not mother. She + had altogether given up going to the Cochrane meetings, and I + well remember the scene when my father told her of the revelation + he had received about going through the state and into New + Hampshire in order to convert others and extend the movement. She + had no sympathy with his self-imposed mission, you may be sure, + though now she goes back in her memory to the earlier days of her + married life, when she tried hard, poor soul, to tread the same + path that father was treading, so as to be by his side at every + turn of the road.</p> +<p>"I am sure" (here Ivory's tone was somewhat dry and satirical) + "that father's road had many turns, Waitstill! He was a + schoolmaster in Saco, you know, when I was born but he soon + turned from teaching to preaching, and here my mother followed + with entire sympathy, for she was intensely, devoutly religious. + I said there was little change in her, but there is one new + symptom. She has ceased to refer to her conversion to Cochranism + as a blessed experience. Her memory of those first days seems to + have faded, As to her sister's death and all the circumstances of + her bringing Rodman home, her mind is a blank. Her expectation of + father's return, on the other hand, is much more intense than + ever."</p> +<p>"She must have loved your father dearly, Ivory, and to lose him + in this terrible way is much worse than death. Uncle Bart says he + had a great gift of language!"</p> +<p>"Yes, and it was that, in my mind, that led him astray. I fear + that the Spirit of God was never so strong in father as the + desire to influence people by his oratory. That was what drew him + to preaching in the first place, and when he found in ,Jacob + Cochrane a man who could move an audience to frenzy, lift them + out of the body, and do with their spirits as he willed, he + acknowledged him as master. Whether his gospel was a pure and + undefiled religion I doubt, but he certainly was a master of + mesmeric control. My mother was beguiled, entranced, even + bewitched at first, I doubt not, for she translated all that + Cochrane said into her own speech, and regarded him as the + prophet of a new era. But Cochrane's last 'revelations' differed + from the first, and were of the earth, earthy. My mother's pure + soul must have revolted, but she was not strong enough to drag + father from his allegiance. Mother was of better family than + father, but they were both well educated and had the best + schooling to be had in their day. So far as I can judge, mother + always had more 'balance' than father, and much better + judgment,--yet look at her now!"</p> +<p>"Then you think it was your father's disappearance that really + caused her mind to waver? " asked Waitstill.</p> +<p>"I do, indeed. I don't know what happened between them in the way + of religious differences, nor how much unhappiness these may have + caused. I remember she had an illness when we first came here to + live and I was a little chap of three or four, but that was + caused by the loss of a child, a girl, who lived only a few + weeks. She recovered perfectly, and her head was as clear as mine + for a year or two after father went away. As his letters grew + less frequent, as news of him gradually ceased to come, she + became more and more silent, and retired more completely into + herself. She never went anywhere, nor entertained visitors, + because she did not wish to hear the gossip and speculation that + were going on in the village. Some of it was very hard for a wife + to bear, and she resented it indignantly; yet never received a + word from father with which to refute it. At this time, as nearly + as I can judge, she was a recluse, and subject to periods of + profound melancholy, but nothing worse. Then she took that winter + journey to her sister's deathbed, brought home the boy, and, + hastened by exposure and chill and grief, I suppose, her mind + gave way,--that's all!" And Ivory sighed drearily as he stretched + himself on the greensward, and looked off towards the snow-clad + New Hampshire hills." I've meant to write the story of the + 'Cochrane craze' sometime, or such part of it as has to do with + my family history, and you shall read it if you like. I should + set down my child-hood and my boyhood memories, together with + such scraps of village hearsay as seem reliable. You were not so + much younger than I, but I was in the thick of the excitement, + and naturally I heard more than you, having so bitter a reason + for being interested. Jacob Cochrane has altogether disappeared + from public view, but there's many a family in Maine and New + Hampshire, yes, and in the far West, that will feel his influence + for years to come."</p> +<p>"I should like very much to read your account. Aunt Abby's + version, for instance, is so different from Uncle Bart's that one + can scarcely find the truth between the two; and father's bears + no relation to that of any of the others."</p> +<p>"Some of us see facts and others see visions, replied Ivory, "and + these differences of opinion crop up in the village every day + when anything noteworthy is discussed. I came upon a quotation in + my reading last evening that described it:</p> +<p>'One said it thundered . . . another that an angel spake'"</p> +<p>"Do you feel as if your father was dead, Ivory?"</p> +<p>"I can only hope so! That thought brings sadness with it, as one + remembers his disappointment and failure, but if he is alive he + is a traitor."</p> +<p>There was a long pause and they could see in the distance + Humphrey Barker with his clarionet and Pliny Waterhouse with his + bass viol driving up to the churchyard fence to hitch their + horses. The sun was dipping low and red behind the Town-House + Hill on the other side of the river.</p> +<p>"What makes my father dislike the very mention of yours?" asked + Waitstill. "I know what they say: that it is because the two men + had high words once in a Cochrane meeting, when father tried to + interfere with some of the exercises and was put out of doors. It + doesn't seem as if that grievance, seventeen or eighteen years + ago, would influence his opinion of your mother, or of you."</p> +<p>"It isn't likely that a man of your father's sort would forget or forgive + what he considered an injury; and in refusing to have anything to do with the + son of a disgraced man and a deranged woman, he is well within his rights."</p> +<p> + Ivory's cheeks burned red under the tan, and his hand trembled a + little as he plucked bits of clover from the grass and pulled + them to pieces absent-mindedly. "How are you getting on at home + these days, Waitstill?" he asked, as if to turn his own mind and + hers from a too painful subject.</p> +<p>"You have troubles enough of your own without hearing mine, + Ivory, and anyway they are not big afflictions, heavy sorrows, + like those you have to bear. Mine are just petty, nagging, + sordid, cheap little miseries, like gnat-bites;--so petty and so + sordid that I can hardly talk to God about them, much less to a + human friend. Patty is my only outlet and I need others, yet I + find it almost impossible to escape from the narrowness of my + life and be of use to any one else." The girl's voice quivered + and a single tear-drop on her cheek showed that she was speaking + from a full heart. "This afternoon's talk has determined me in + one thing," she went on. "I am going to see your mother now and + then. I shall have to do it secretly, for your sake, for hers, + and for my own, but if I am found out, then I will go openly. + There must be times when one can break the lower law, and yet + keep the higher. Father's law, in this case, is the lower, and I + propose to break it."</p> +<p>"I can't have you getting into trouble, Waitstill," Ivory + objected. "You're the one woman I can think of who might help my + mother; all the same, I would not make your life harder; not for + worlds!"</p> +<p>"It will not be harder, and even if it was I should 'count it all + joy' to help a woman bear such sorrow as your mother endures + patiently day after day"; and Waitstill rose to her feet and tied + on her hat as one who had made up her mind.</p> +<p>It was almost impossible for Ivory to hold his peace then, so full of gratitude + was his soul and so great his longing to pour out the feeling that flooded it. + He pulled himself together and led the way out of the churchyard. To look at + Waitstill again would be to lose his head, but to his troubled heart there came + a flood of light, a glory from that lamp that a woman may hold up for a man; + a glory that none can take from him, and none can darken; a light by which he + may walk and live and die.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XI</p> +<p>A JUNE SUNDAY</p> +<p>IT was a Sunday in June, and almost the whole population of + Riverboro and Edgewood was walking or driving in the direction of + the meeting-house on Tory Hill.</p> +<p>Church toilettes, you may well believe, were difficult of attainment by Deacon + Baxter's daughters, as they had been by his respective helpmates in years gone + by. When Waitstill's mother first asked her husband to buy her a new dress, + and that was two years after marriage, he simply said: "You look well enough; + what do you want to waste money on finery for, these hard times? If other folks + are extravagant, that ain't any reason you should be. You ain't obliged to take + your neighbors for an example:--take 'em for a warnin'!" </p> +<p> + "But, Foxwell, my Sunday dress is worn completely to threads," + urged the second Mrs. Baxter.</p> +<p>"That's what women always say; they're all alike; no more idea o' + savin' anything than a skunk-blackbird! I can't spare any money + for + gew-gaws, and you might as well understand it first as last. Go + up attic and open the hair trunk by the winder; you'll find + plenty there to last you for years to come."</p> +<p>The second Mrs. Baxter visited the attic as commanded, and in + turning over the clothes in the old trunk, knew by instinct that + they had belonged to her predecessor in office. Some of the + dresses were neat, though terribly worn and faded, but all were + fortunately far too short and small for a person of her fine + proportions. Besides, her very soul shrank from wearing them, and + her spirit revolted both from the insult to herself and to the + poor dead woman she had succeeded, so she came downstairs to darn + and mend and patch again her shabby wardrobe. + Waitstill had gone through the same as her mother before her, but + in despair, when she was seventeen, she began to cut over the old + garments for herself and Patty. Mercifully there were very few of + them, and they had long since been discarded. At eighteen she had + learned to dye yarns with yellow oak or maple bark and to make + purples from elder and sumac berries; she could spin and knit as + well as any old "Aunt" of the village, and cut and shape a + garment as deftly as the Edgewood tailoress, but the task of + making bricks without straw was a hard one, indeed.</p> +<p>She wore a white cotton frock on this particular Sunday. It was + starched and ironed with a beautiful gloss, while a touch of + distinction was given to her costume by a little black sleeveless + "roundabout" made out of the covering of an old silk umbrella. + Her flat hat had a single wreath of coarse daisies around the + crown, and her mitts were darned in many places, nevertheless you + could not entirely spoil her; God had used a liberal hand in + making her, and her father's parsimony was a sort of boomerang + that flew back chiefly upon himself.</p> +<p>As for Patty, her style of beauty, like Cephas Cole's ell had to + be toned down rather than up, to be effective, but circumstances + had been cruelly unrelenting in this process of late. Deacon + Baxter had given the girls three or four shopworn pieces of faded + yellow calico that had been repudiated by the village housewives + as not "fast" enough in color to bear the test of proper washing. + This had made frocks, aprons, petticoats, and even underclothes, + for two full years, and Patty's weekly objurgations when she + removed her everlasting yellow dress from the nail where it hung + were not such as should have + fallen from the lips of a deacon's daughter. Waitstill had taken + a piece of the same yellow material, starched and ironed it, cut + a curving, circular brim from it, sewed in a pleated crown, and + lo! a hat for Patty! What inspired Patty to put on a waist ribbon + of deepest wine color, with a little band of the same on the pale + yellow hat, no one could say.</p> +<p>"Do you think you shall like that dull red right close to the + yellow, Patty? " Waitstill asked anxiously.</p> +<p>"It looks all right on the columbines in the Indian Cellar," + replied Patty, turning and twisting the hat on her head. "If we + can't get a peek at the Boston fashions, we must just find our + styles where we can!"</p> +<p>The various roads to Tory Hill were alive with vehicles on this + bright Sunday morning. Uncle Bart and Abel Day, with their + respective wives on the back seat of the Cole's double wagon, + were passed by Deacon Baxter and his daughters, Waitstill being + due at meeting earlier than others by reason of her singing in + the choir. The Deacon's one-horse, two-wheeled "shay" could hold + three persons, with comfort on its broad seat, and the + twenty-year-old mare, although she was always as hollow as a + gourd, could generally do the mile, uphill all the way, in half + an hour, if urged continually, and the Deacon, be it said, if not + good at feeding, was unsurpassed at urging.</p> +<p>Aunt Abby Cole could get only a passing glimpse of Patty in the + depths of the "shay," but a glimpse was always enough for her, as + her opinion of the girl's charms was considerably affected by the + forlorn condition of her son Cephas, whom she suspected of being + hopelessly in love with the young person aforesaid, to whom she + commonly alluded as "that red-headed bag-gage."</p> +<p>"Patience Baxter's got the kind of looks that might do well + enough at a tavern dance, or a husking, but they're entirely + unsuited to the Sabbath day or the meetin'-house," so Aunt Abby + remarked to Mrs. Day in the way of backseat confidence. "It's + unfortunate that a deacon's daughter should be afflicted with + that bold style of beauty! Her hair's all but red; in fact, you + might as well call it red, when the sun shines on it: but if + she'd ever smack it down with bear's grease she might darken it + some; or anyhow she'd make it lay slicker; but it's the kind of + hair that just matches that kind of a girl,--sort of up an' + comin'! Then her skin's so white and her cheeks so pink and her + eyes so snappy that she'd attract attention without half trying + though I guess she ain't above makin' an effort."</p> +<p>"She's innnocent as a kitten," observed Mrs. Day impartially.</p> +<p>"Oh, yes, she's innocent enough an' I hope she'll keep so! + Waitstill's a sight han'somer, if the truth was told; but she's + the sort of girl that's made for one man and the rest of em never + look at her. The other one's cut out for the crowd, the more the + merrier. She's a kind of man-trap, that girl is!--Do urge the + horse a little mite, Bartholomew! It makes me kind o' hot to be + passed by Deacon Baxter. It's Missionary Sunday, too, when he + gen'ally has rheumatism too bad to come out."</p> +<p>"I wonder if he ever puts anything into the plate," said Mrs. + Day. "No one ever saw him, that I know of."</p> +<p>"The Deacon keeps the Thou Shalt Not commandments pretty well," + was Aunt Abby's terse response. "I guess he don't put nothin' + into the plate, but I s'pose we'd ought to be thankful he don't + take nothin' out. The Baptists are gettin' ahead faster than + they'd ought to, up to the Mills. Our minister ain't no kind of a + proselyter, Seems as if he didn't care how folks got to heaven so + long as they got there! The other church is havin' a service this + afternoon side o' the river, an' I'd kind o' like to go, except + it would please 'em too much to have a crowd there to see the + immersion. They tell me, but I don't know how true, that that + Tillman widder woman that come here from somewheres in Vermont + wanted to be baptized to-day, but the other converts declared + THEY wouldn't be, if she was!"</p> +<p>"Jed Morrill said they'd have to hold her under water quite a + spell to do any good," chuckled Uncle Bart from the front seat.</p> +<p>"Well, I wouldn't repeat it, Bartholomew, on the Sabbath day; not + if he did say it. Jed Morrill's responsible for more blasphemious + jokes than any man in Edgewood. I don't approve of makin' light + of anybody's religious observances if they're ever so foolish," + said Aunt Abby somewhat enigmatically. "Our minister keeps + remindin' us that the Baptists and Methodists are our brethren, + but I wish he'd be a little more anxious to have our S'ceity keep + ahead of the others."</p> +<p>"Jed's 'bout right in sizin' up the Widder Tillman," was Mr. + Day's timid contribution to the argument." I ain't a readin' man, + but from what folks report I should think she was one o' them + critters that set on rocks bewilderin' an' bedevilin' men-folks + out o' their senses--SYREENS, I think they call 'em; a reg'lar + SYREEN is what that woman is, I guess!"</p> +<p>"There, there, Abel, you wouldn't know a syreen if you found one + in your baked beans, so don't take away a woman's character on + hearsay." And Mrs. Day, having shut up her husband as was her + bounden duty as a wife and a Christian, tied her bonnet strings a + little tighter and looked distinctly pleased with herself.</p> +<p>"Abel ain't startin' any new gossip," was Aunt Abby's opinion, as + she sprung to his rescue. "One or two more holes in a colander + don't make much dif'rence.--Bartholomew, we're certainly goin' to + be late this mornin'; we're about the last team on the road"; and + Aunt Abby glanced nervously behind. "Elder Boone ain't begun the + openin' prayer, though, or we should know it. You can hear him + pray a mile away, when the wind's right. I do hate to be late to + meetin'. The Elder allers takes notice; the folks in the wing + pews allers gapes an' stares, and the choir peeks through the + curtain, takin' notes of everything you've got on your back. I + hope to the land they'll chord and keep together a little mite + better 'n they've done lately, that's all I can say! If the Lord + is right in our midst as the Bible says, He can't think much of + our singers this summer!"</p> +<p>"They're improvin', now that Pliny Waterhouse plays his fiddle," + Mrs. Day remarked pacifically. "There was times in the anthem + when they kept together consid'able well last Sunday. They didn't + always chord, but there, they chorded some!--we're most there + now, Abby, don't fret! Cephas won't ring the last bell till he + knows his own folks is crossin' the Common!"</p> +<p>Those were days of conscientious church-going and every pew in the house was + crowded. The pulpit was built on pillars that raised it six feet higher than + the floor; the top was cushioned and covered with red velvet surmounted by a + huge gilt-edged Bible. There was a window in the tower through which Cephas + Cole could look into the church, and while tolling the bell could keep watch + for the minister. Always exactly on time, he would come in, walk slowly up the + right-hand aisle, mount the pulpit stairs, enter and close the door after him. + Then Cephas would give one tremendous pull to warn loiterers on the steps; a + pull that meant, "Parson's in the pulpit!" and was acted upon accordingly. + Opening the big Bible, the minister raised his right hand impressively, and + saying, "Let us pray," the whole congregation rose in their pews with + a great rustling and bowed their heads devoutly for the invocation.</p> +<p> + Next came the hymn, generally at that day one of Isaac Watts's. + The singers, fifteen or twenty in number, sat in a raised gallery + opposite the pulpit, and there was a rod in front hung with red + curtains to hide them when sitting down. Any one was free to + join, which perhaps accounted for Aunt Abby's strictures as to + time and tune. Jed Morrill, "blasphemious" as he was considered + by that acrimonious lady, was the leader, and a good one, too. + There would be a great whispering and buzzing when Deacon Sumner + with his big fiddle and Pliny Waterhouse with his smaller one + would try to get in accord with Humphrey Baker and his clarionet. + All went well when Humphrey was there to give the sure key-note, + but in his absence Jed Morrill would use his tuning-fork. When + the key was finally secured by all concerned, Jed would raise his + stick, beat one measure to set the time, and all joined in, or + fell in, according to their several abilities. It was not always + a perfect thing in the way of a start, but they were well + together at the end of the first line, and when, as now, the + choir numbered a goodly number of voices, and there were three or + four hundred in the pews, nothing more inspiring in its peculiar + way was ever heard, than the congregational singing of such + splendid hymns as "Old Hundred," "Duke Street," or " + Coronation."</p> +<p>Waitstill led the trebles, and Ivory was at the far end of the + choir in the basses, but each was conscious of the other's + presence. This morning he could hear her noble voice rising a + little above, or, perhaps from its quality, separating itself + somehow, ever so little, from the others. How full of strength + and hope it was, her voice! How steadfast to the pitch; how + golden its color; how moving in its crescendos! How the words + flowed from her lips; not as if they had been written years ago, + but as if they were the expression of her own faith. There were + many in the congregation who were stirred, they knew not why, + when there chanced to be only a few "carrying the air" and they + could really hear Waitstill Baxter singing some dear old hymn, + full of sacred memories, like:-</p> +<blockquote> + <p> "While Thee I seek, protecting Power, <br> + <p>Be my vain wishes stilled! <br> + <p>And may this consecrated hour <br> + <p>With better hopes be filled."</p> +</blockquote> +<p>"There may be them in Boston that can sing louder, and they may be able + to run up a little higher than Waitstill, but the question is, could any of + 'em make Aunt Abby Cole shed tears?" This was Jed Morrill's tribute to + his best soprano. </p> +<p> + There were Sunday evening prayer-meetings, too, held at "early + candlelight," when Waitstill and Lucy Morrill would make a duet + of "By cool Siloam's Shady Rill," or the favorite "Naomi," + and + the two fresh young voices, rising and falling in the tender + thirds of the old tunes, melted all hearts to new willingness of + sacrifice.</p> +<blockquote> + <p> "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss <br> + Thy sov'reign will denies, <br> + Accepted at Thy Throne of grace <br> + Let this petition rise!</p> +</blockquote> + +<blockquote> +"Give me a calm, a thankful heart, <br> + From every murmur free! <br> + The blessing of Thy grace impart <br> + And let me live to Thee!"<br> + +</blockquote> +<p>How Ivory loved to hear Waitstill sing these lines! How they eased his burden + as they were easing hers, falling on his impatient, longing heart like evening + dew on thirsty grass!</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XII</p> +<p>THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER</p> +<p>"WHILE Thee I seek, protecting Power," was the first hymn on this + particular Sunday morning, and it usually held Patty's rather vagrant attention + to the end, though it failed to do so to-day. The Baxters occupied one of the + wing pews, a position always to be envied, as one could see the singers without + turning around, and also observe everybody in the congregation,--their entrance, + garments, behavior, and especially their bonnets,--without being in the least + indiscreet, or seeming to have a roving eye. </p> +<p> + Lawyer Wilson's pew was the second in front of the Baxters in the + same wing, and Patty, seated decorously but unwillingly beside + her father, was impatiently awaiting the entrance of the family, + knowing that Mark would be with them if he had returned from + Boston. Timothy Grant, the parish clerk, had the pew in between, + and afforded a most edifying spectacle to the community, as there + were seven young Grants of a church-going age, and the ladies of + the congregation were always counting them, reckoning how many + more were in their cradles at home and trying to guess from Mrs. + Grant's lively or chastened countenance whether any new ones had + been born since the Sunday before.</p> +<p>Patty settled herself comfortably, and put her foot on the wooden + "cricket," raising her buff calico a little on the congregation + side, just enough to show an inch or two of petticoat. The + petticoat was as modestly long as the frock itself, and + disclosing a bit of it was nothing more heinous than a casual + exhibition of good needlework. Deacon Baxter furnished only the + unbleached muslin for his daughters' undergarments; but twelve + little tucks laboriously done by hand, elaborate inch-wide + edging, crocheted from white spool cotton, and days of bleaching + on the grass in the sun, will make a petticoat that can be shown + in church with some justifiable pride.</p> +<p>The Wilsons came up the aisle a moment later than was their usual + habit, just after the parson had ascended the pulpit. Mrs. Wilson + always entered the pew first and sat in the far end. Patty had + looked at her admiringly, and with a certain feeling of + proprietorship, for several Sundays. There was obviously no such + desirable mother-in-law in the meeting-house. Her changeable silk + dress was the latest mode; her shawl of black llama lace + expressed wealth in every delicate mesh, and her bonnet had a + distinction that could only have emanated from Portland or + Boston. Ellen Wilson usually came in next, with as much of a + smile to Patty in passing as she dared venture in the Deacon's + presence, and after her sidled in her younger sister Selina, + commonly called "Silly," and with considerable reason.</p> +<p>Mark had come home! Patty dared not look up, but she felt his + approach behind the others, although her eyes sought the floor, + and her cheeks hung out signals of abashed but certain welcome. + She heard the family settle in their seats somewhat hastily, the + click of the pew door and the sound of Lawyer Wilson's cane as he + stood it in the corner; then the parson rose to pray and Patty + closed her eyes with the rest of the congregation.</p> +<p>Opening them when Elder Boone rose to announce the hymn, they + fell--amazed, resentful, uncomprehending--on the spectacle of + Mark Wilson finding the place in the book for a strange young + woman who sat beside him. Mark himself had on a new suit and wore + a seal ring that Patty had never observed before; while the + dress, pelisse, and hat of the unknown were of a nature that no + girl in Patty's position, and particularly of Patty's + disposition, could have regarded without a desire to tear them + from her person and stamp them underfoot; or better still, flaunt + them herself and show the world how they should be worn!</p> +<p>Mark found the place in the hymn-book for the--creature, shared + it with her, and once, when the Grant twins wriggled and Patty + secured a better view, once, Mark shifted his hand on the page so + that his thumb touched that of his pretty neighbor, who did not + remove hers as if she found the proximity either unpleasant or + improper. Patty compared her own miserable attire with that of + the hated rival in front, and also contrasted Lawyer Wilson's + appearance with that of her father; the former, well dressed in + the style of a gentleman of the time, in broadcloth, with fine + linen, and a tall silk hat carefully placed on the floor of the + pew; while Deacon Baxter wore homespun made of wool from his own + sheep, spun and woven, dyed and finished, at the fulling-mill in + the village, and carried a battered felt hat that had been a + matter of ridicule these dozen years. (The Deacon would be buried + in two coats, Jed Morrill always said, for he owned just that + number, and would be too mean to leave either of 'em behind him!)</p> +<p>The sermon was fifty minutes long, time enough for a deal of + thinking. Many a housewife, not wholly orthodox, cut and made + over all her children's clothes, in imagination; planned the + putting up of her fruit, the making of her preserves and pickles, + and arranged her meals for the next week, during the progress of + those sermons. Patty watched the parson turn leaf after leaf + until the final one was reached. Then came the last hymn, when + the people stretched their aching limbs, and rising, turned their + backs on the minister and faced the choir. Patty looked at + Waitstill and wished that she could put her throbbing head on her + sisterly shoulder and cry,--mostly with rage. The benediction was + said, and with the final "Amen" the pews were opened and the + worshippers crowded into the narrow aisles and moved towards the + doors.</p> +<p>Patty's plans were all made. She was out of her pew before the + Wilsons could possibly leave theirs, and in her progress down the + aisle securely annexed her great admirer, old Dr. Perry, as well + as his son Philip. Passing the singing-seats she picked up the + humble Cephas and carried him along in her wake, chatting and + talking with her little party while her father was at the + horse-sheds, making ready to go home between services as was his + habit, a cold bite being always set out on the kitchen table + according to his orders. By means of these clever manoeuvres + Patty made herself the focus of attention when the Wilson party + came out on the steps, and vouchsafed Mark only a nonchalant nod, + airily flinging a little greeting with the nod,--just a "How d'ye + do, Mark? Did you have a good time in Boston?"</p> +<p>Patty and Waitsill, with some of the girls who had come long + distances, ate their luncheon in a shady place under the trees + behind the meeting-house, for there was an afternoon service to + come, a service with another long sermon. They separated after + the modest meal to walk about the Common or stray along the road + to the Academy, where there was a fine view.</p> +<p>Two or three times during the summer the sisters always went + quietly and alone to the Baxter burying-lot, where three + grassgrown graves lay beside one another, unmarked save by narrow + wooden slabs so short that the initials painted on them were + almost hidden by the tufts of clover. The girls had brought roots + of pansies and sweet alyssum, and with a knife made holes in the + earth and planted them here and there to make the spot a trifle + less forbidding. They did not speak to each other during this + sacred little ceremony; their hearts were too full when they + remembered afresh the absence of headstones, the lack of care, in + the place where the three women lay who had ministered to their + father, borne him children, and patiently endured his arbitrary + and loveless rule. Even Cleve Flanders' grave,--the Edgewood + shoemaker, who lay next,--even his resting-place was marked and, + with a touch of some one's imagination marked by the old man's + own lapstone twenty-five pounds in weight, a monument of his + work-a-day life.</p> +<p>Waitstill rose from her feet, brushing the earth from her hands, + and Patty did the same. The churchyard was quiet, and they were + alone with the dead, mourned and unmourned, loved and unloved.</p> +<p>"I planted one or two pansies on the first one's grave," said + Waitstill soberly. "I don't know why we've never done it before. + There are no children to take notice of and remember her; it's + the least we can do, and, after all, she belongs to the family."</p> +<p>"There is no family, and there never was!" suddenly cried Patty. + "Oh! Waity, Waity, we are so alone, you and I! We've only each + other in all the world, and I'm not the least bit of help to you, + as you are to me! I'm a silly, vain, conceited, ill-behaved + thing, but I will be better, I will! You won't ever give me up, + will you, Waity, even if I'm not like you? I haven't been good + lately!"</p> +<p>"Hush, Patty, hush!" And Waitstill came nearer to her sister with + a motherly touch of her hand. "I'll not have you say such things; + you that are the helpfullest and the lovingest girl that ever + was, and the cleverest, too, and the liveliest, and the best + company-keeper!"</p> +<p>"No one thinks so but you!" Patty responded dolefully, although + she wiped her eyes as if a bit consoled.</p> +<p>It is safe to say that Patty would never have given Mark Wilson a second thought + had he not taken her to drive on that afternoon in early May. The drive, too, + would have quickly fled from her somewhat fickle memory had it not been for + the kiss. The kiss was, indeed, a decisive factor in the situation, and had + shed a rosy, if somewhat fictitious light of romance over the past three weeks. + Perhaps even the kiss, had it never been repeated, might have lapsed into its + true perspective, in due course of time, had it not been for the sudden appearance + of the stranger in the Wilson pew. The moment that Patty's gaze fell upon that + fashionably dressed, instantaneously disliked girl, Marquis Wilson's stock rose + twenty points in the market. She ceased, in a jiffy, to weigh and consider and + criticize the young man, but regarded him with wholly new eyes. His figure was + better than she had realized, his smile more interesting, his manners more attractive, + his eyelashes longer; in a word, he had suddenly grown desirable. A month ago + she could have observed, with idle and alien curiosity, the spectacle of his + thumb drawing nearer to another (feminine) thumb, on the page of the Watts and + Select Hymn book; now, at the morning service, she had wished nothing so much + as to put Mark's thumb back into his pocket where it belonged, and slap the + girl's thumb smartly and soundly as it deserved.</p> +<p> + The ignorant cause of Patty's distress was a certain Annabel + Franklin, the daughter of a cousin of Mrs. Wilson's. Mark had + stayed at the Franklin house during his three weeks' visit in + Boston, where he had gone on business for his father. The young + people had naturally seen much of each other and Mark's + inflammable fancy had been so kindled by Annabel's doll-like + charms that he had persuaded her to accompany him to his home and + get a taste of country life in Maine. Such is man, such is human + nature, and such is life, that Mark had no sooner got the whilom + object of his affections under his own roof than she began to + pall.</p> +<p>Annabel was twenty-three, and to tell the truth she had palled + before, more than once. She was so amiable, so + well-finished,--with her smooth flaxen hair, her neat nose, her + buttonhole of a mouth, and her trim shape,--that she appealed to + the opposite sex quite generally and irresistibly as a worthy + helpmate. The only trouble was that she began to bore her suitors + somewhat too early in the game, and they never got far enough to + propose marriage. Flaws in her apparent perfection appeared from + day to day and chilled the growth of the various young loves that + had budded so auspiciously. She always agreed with everybody and + everything in sight, even to the point of changing her mind on + the instant, if circumstances seemed to make it advisable. Her + instinctive point of view, when she went so far as to hold one, + was somewhat cut and dried; in a word, priggish. She kept a young + man strictly on his good behavior, that much could be said in her + favor; the only criticism that could be made on this estimable + trait was that no bold youth was ever tempted to overstep the + bounds of discretion when in her presence. No unruly words of + love ever rose to his lips; his hand never stole out + involuntarily and imprudently to meet her small chilly one; the + sight of her waist never even suggested an encircling arm; and as + a fellow never desired to kiss her, she was never obliged to warn + or rebuke or strike him off her visiting list. Her father had an + ample fortune and some one would inevitably turn up who would + regard Annabel as an altogether worthy and desirable spouse. That + was what she had seemed to Mark Wilson for a full week before he + left the Franklin house in Boston, but there were moments now + when he regretted, fugitively, that he had ever removed her from + her proper sphere. She did not seem to fit in to the conditions + of life in Edgewood, and it may even be that her most glaring + fault had been to describe Patty Baxter's hair at this very + Sunday dinner as "carroty," her dress altogether "dreadful," + and + her style of beauty "unladylike." Ellen Wilson's feelings were + somewhat injured by these criticisms of her intimate friend, and + in discussing the matter privately with her brother he was + inclined to agree with her.</p> +<p>And thus, so little do we know of the prankishness of the blind god, thus was + Annabel Franklin working for her rival's best interests; and instead of reviling + her in secret, and treating her with disdain in public, Patty should have welcomed + her cordially to all the delights of Riverboro society.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XIII</p> +<p>HAYING -TIME </p> +<p>EVERYBODY in Riverboro, Edgewood, Milliken's Mills, Spruce Swamp, Duck Pond, + and Moderation was "haying." There was a perfect frenzy of haying, + for it was the Monday after the "Fourth," the precise date in July + when the Maine farmer said good-bye to repose, and "hayed" desperately + and unceasingly, until every spear of green in his section was mowed down and + safely under cover. If a man had grass of his own, he cut it, and if he had + none, he assisted in cutting that of some other man, for "to hay," + although an unconventional verb, was, and still is, a very active one, and in + common circulation, although not used by the grammarians. </p> +<p> + Whatever your trade, and whatever your profession, it counted as + naught in good weather. The fish-man stopped selling fish, the + meat-man ceased to bring meat; the cobbler, as well as the judge, + forsook the bench; and even the doctor made fewer visits than + usual. The wage for work in the hay-fields was a high one, and + every man, boy, and horse in a village was pressed into service.</p> +<p>When Ivory Boynton had finished with his own small crop, he + commonly went at once to Lawyer Wilson, who had the largest + acreage of hay-land in the township. Ivory was always in great + demand, for he was a mighty worker in the field, and a very giant + at "pitching," being able to pick up a fair-sized hay-cock at one + stroke of the fork and fling it on to the cart as if it were a + feather. Lawyer Wilson always took a hand himself if signs of + rain appeared, and Mark occasionally visited the scene of action + when a crowd in the field made a general jollification, or when + there was an impending thunderstorm. In such cases even women and + girls joined the workers and all hands bent together to the task + of getting a load into the barn and covering the rest.</p> +<p>Deacon Baxter was wont to call Mark Wilson a "worthless, + whey-faced, lily-handed whelp," but the description, though + picturesque, was decidedly exaggerated. Mark disliked manual + labor, but having imbibed enough knowledge of law in his father's + office to be an excellent clerk, he much preferred travelling + about, settling the details of small cases, collecting rents and + bad bills, to any form of work on a farm. This sort of life, on + stage-coaches and railway trains, or on long driving trips with + his own fast trotter,suited his adventurous disposition and gave + him a sense of importance that was very necessary to his peace of + mind. He was not especially intimate with Ivory Boynton, who + studied law with his father during all vacations and in every + available hour of leisure during term time, as did many another + young New England schoolmaster. Mark's father's praise of Ivory's + legal ability was a little too warm to please his son, as was the + commendation of one of the County Court judges on Ivory's + preparation of a brief in a certain case in the Wilson office. + Ivory had drawn it up at Mr. Wilson's request, merely to show how + far he understood the books and cases he was studying, and he had + no idea that it differed in any way from the work of any other + student; all the same, Mark's own efforts in a like direction had + never received any special mention. When he was in the hay-field + he also kept as far as possible from Ivory, because there, too, + he felt a superiority that made him, for the moment, a trifle + discontented. It was no particular pleasure for him to see Ivory + plunge his fork deep into the heart of a hay-cock, take a firm + grasp of the handle, thrust forward his foot to steady himself, + and then raise the great fragrant heap slowly, and swing it up to + the waiting haycart amid the applause of the crowd. Rodman would + be there, too, helping the man on top of the load and getting + nearly buried each time, as the mass descended upon him, but + doing his slender best to distribute and tread it down properly, + while his young heart glowed with pride at Cousin Ivory's + prowess.</p> +<p>Independence Day had passed, with its usual gayeties for the + young people, in none of which the Baxter family had joined, and + now, at eleven o'clock on this burning July morning, Waitstill + was driving the old mare past the Wilson farm on her way to the + river field. Her father was working there, together with the two + hired men whom he took on for a fortnight during the height of + the season. If mowing, raking, pitching, and carting of the + precious crop could only have been done at odd times during the + year, or at night, he would not have embittered the month of July + by paying out money for labor: but Nature was inexorable in the + ripening of hay and Old Foxy was obliged to succumb to the + inevitable. Waitstill had a basket packed with luncheon for three + and a great demijohn of cool ginger tea under the wagon seat. + Other farmers sometimes served hard cider, or rum, but her + father's principles were dead against this riotous extravagance. + Temperance, in any and all directions, was cheap, and the Deacon + was a very temperate man, save in language.</p> +<p>The fields on both sides of the road were full of haymakers and + everywhere there was bustle and stir. There would be three or + four men, one leading, the others following, slowly swinging + their way through a noble piece of grass, and the smell of the + mown fields in the sunshine was sweeter than honey in the comb. + There were patches of black-eyed Susans in the meadows here and + there, while pink and white hardhack grew by the road, with day + lilies and blossoming milkweed. The bobolinks were fluting from + every tree; there were thrushes in the alder bushes and orioles + in the tops of the elms, and Waitstill's heart overflowed with + joy at being in such a world of midsummer beauty, though life, + during the great heat and incessant work of haying-time, was a + little more rigorous than usual. The extra food needed for the + hired men always kept her father in a state of mind closely + resembling insanity. Coming downstairs to cook breakfast she + would find the coffee or tea measured out for the pot. The + increased consumption of milk angered him beyond words, because + it lessened the supply of butter for sale. Everything that could + be made with buttermilk was ordered so to be done, and nothing + but water could be used in mixing the raised bread. The corncake + must never have an egg; the piecrust must be shortened only with + lard, or with a mixture of beef-fat and dripping; and so on, and + so on, eternally.</p> +<p>When the girls were respectively seventeen and thirteen, + Waitstill had begged a small plot of ground for them to use as + they liked, and beginning at that time they had gradually made a + little garden, with a couple of fruit trees and a thicket of red, + white, and black currants raspberry and blackberry bushes. For + several summers now they had sold enough of their own fruit to + buy a pair of shoes or gloves, a scarf or a hat, but even this + tiny income was beginning to be menaced. The Deacon positively + suffered as he looked at that odd corner of earth, not any bigger + than his barn floor, and saw what his girls had done with no + tools but a spade and a hoe and no help but their own hands. He + had no leisure (so he growled) to cultivate and fertilize ground + for small fruits, and no money to pay a man to do it, yet here + was food grown under his very eye, and it did not belong to him! + The girls worked in their garden chiefly at sunrise in spring and + early summer, or after supper in the evening; all the same + Waitstill had been told by her father the day before that she was + not only using ground, but time, that belonged to him, and that + he should + expect her to provide "pie-filling" out of her garden patch + during haying, to help satisfy the ravenous appetites of that + couple of "great, gorming, greedy lubbers" that he was hiring + this year. He had stopped the peeling of potatoes before boiling + because he disapproved of the thickness of the parings he found + in the pig's pail, and he stood over Patty at her work in the + kitchen until Waitstill was in daily fear of a tempest of some + sort.</p> +<p>Coming in from the shed one morning she met her father just + issuing from the kitchen where Patty was standing like a young + Fury in front of the sink. "Father's been spying at the eggshells + I settled the coffee with, and said I'd no business to leave so + much good in the shell when I broke an egg. I will not bear it; + he makes me feel fairly murderous! You'd better not leave me + alone with him when I'm like this. Oh! I know that I'm wicked, + but isn't he wicked too, and who was wicked first?"</p> +<p>Patty's heart had been set on earning and saving enough pennies for a white + muslin dress and every day rendered the prospect more uncertain; this was a + sufficient grievance in itself to keep her temper at the boiling point had there + not been various other contributory causes. Waitstill's patience was flagging + a trifle, too, under the stress of the hot days and the still hotter, breathless + nights. The suspicion crossed her mind now and then that her father's miserliness + and fits of temper might be caused by a mental malady over which he now had + little or no control, having never mastered himself in all his life. Her power + of endurance would be greater, she thought, if only she could be certain that + this theory was true, though her slavery would be just as galling. </p> +<p> + It would be so easy for her to go away and earn a living; she who + had never had a day of illness in her life; she who could sew, + knit, spin, weave, and cook. She could make enough money in + Biddeford or Portsmouth to support herself, and Patty, too, until + the proper work was found for both. But there would be a truly + terrible conflict of wills, and such fierce arraignment of her + unfilial conduct, such bitter and caustic argument from her + father, such disapproval from the parson and the neighbors, that + her very soul shrank from the prospect. If she could go alone, + and have no responsibility over Patty's future, that would be a + little more possible, but she must think wisely for two.</p> +<p>And how could she leave Ivory when there might perhaps come a + crisis in his life where she could be useful to him? How could + she cut herself off from those Sundays in the choir, those dear + fugitive glimpses of him in the road or at prayer-meeting? They + were only sips of happiness, where her thirsty heart yearned for + long, deep draughts, but they were immeasurably better than + nothing. Freedom from her father's heavy yoke, freedom to work, + and read, and sing, and study, and grow,--oh! how she longed for + this, but at what a cost would she gain it if she had to harbor + the guilty conscience of an undutiful and rebellious daughter, + and at the same time cut herself off from the sight of the one + being she loved best in all the world.</p> +<p>She felt drawn towards Ivory's mother to-day. Three weeks had passed since + her talk with Ivory in the churchyard, but there had been no possibility of + an hour's escape from home. She was at liberty this afternoon--relatively at + liberty; for although her work, as usual, was laid out for her, it could be + made up somehow or other before nightfall. She could drive over to the Boynton's + place, hitch her horse in the woods near the house, make her visit, yet be in + plenty of time to go up to the river field and bring her father home to supper. + Patty was over at Mrs. Abel Day's, learning a new crochet stitch and helping + her to start a log-cabin quilt. Ivory and Rodman, she new, were both away in + the Wilson hay-field; no time would ever be more favorable; so instead of driving + up Town-House Hill when she returned to the village she kept on over the bridge.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XIV</p> +<p>UNCLE BART DISCOURSES</p> +<p>UNCLE BART and Cephas were taking their nooning hour under the + Nodhead apple tree as Waitstill passed the joiner's shop and went + over the bridge.</p> +<p>"Uncle Bart might somehow guess where I am going," she thought, + "but even if he did he would never tell any one."</p> +<p>"Where's Waitstill bound this afternoon, I wonder?" drawled Cephas, + rising to his feet and looking after the departing team. "That reminds + me, I'd better run up to Baxter's and see if any-thing's wanted before I open + the store."</p> +<p> + "If it makes any dif'rence," said his father dryly, as he filled + his pipe, "Patty's over to Mis' Day's spendin' the afternoon. + Don't s'pose you want to call on the pig, do you? He's the only + one to home."</p> +<p>Cephas made no remark, but gave his trousers a hitch, picked up a + chip, opened his jack-knife, and sitting down on the greensward + began idly whittling the bit of wood into shape.</p> +<p>"I kind o' wish you'd let me make the new ell two-story, father; + 't wouldn't be much work, take it in slack time after hayin'."</p> +<p>"Land o' Liberty! What do you want to do that for, Cephas? You + 'bout pestered the life out o' me gittin' me to build the ell in + the first place, when we didn't need it no more'n a toad does a + pocketbook. Then nothin' would do but you must paint it, though I + shan't be able to have the main house painted for another year, + so the old wine an' the new bottle side by side looks like the + Old Driver, an' makes us a laughin'-stock to the village;--and + now you want to change the thing into a two-story! Never heerd + such a crazy idee in my life."</p> +<p>"I want to settle down," insisted Cephas doggedly.</p> +<p>"Well, settle; I'm willin'! I told you that, afore you painted + the ell. Ain't two rooms, fourteen by fourteen, enough for you to + settle down in? If they ain't, I guess your mother'd give you one + o' the chambers in the main part."</p> +<p>"She would if I married Phoebe Day, but I don't want to marry + Phoebe," argued Cephas. "And mother's gone and made a summer + kitchen for herself out in the ell, a'ready. I bet yer she'll + never move out if I should want to move in on a 'sudden."</p> +<p>"I told you you was takin' that risk when you cut a door through + from the main part," said his father genially. "If you hadn't + done that, your mother would 'a' had to gone round outside to git + int' the ell and mebbe she'd 'a' stayed to home when it stormed, + anyhow. Now your wife'11 have her troopin' in an' out, in an' + out, the whole 'durin' time."</p> +<p>"I only cut the door through to please so't she'd favor my + gittin' married, but I guess 't won't do no good. You see, + father, what I was thinkin' of is, a girl would mebbe jump at a + two-story, four-roomed ell when she wouldn't look at a smaller + place."</p> +<p>"Pends upon whether the girl's the jumpin' kind or not! Hadn't + you better git everything fixed up with the one you've picked + out, afore you take your good savin's and go to buildin' a bigger + place for her?"</p> +<p>"I've asked her once a'ready," Cephas allowed, with a burning + face. "I don't s'pose you know the one I mean?"</p> +<p>"No kind of an idee," responded his father, with a quizzical wink + that was lost on the young man, as his eyes were fixed upon his + whittling. "Does she belong to the village?"</p> +<p>"I ain't goin' to let folks know who I've picked out till I git a + little mite forrarder," responded Cephas craftily. "Say, father, + it's all right to ask a girl twice, ain't it?</p> +<p>"Certain it is, my son. I never heerd there was any special limit + to the number o' times you could ask 'em, and their power o' + sayin' 'No' is like the mercy of the Lord; it endureth forever. + --You wouldn't consider a widder, Cephas? A widder'd be a good + comp'ny-keeper for your mother."</p> +<p>"I hain't put my good savin's into an ell jest to marry a + comp'ny-keeper for mother," responded Cephas huffily. "I want to + be number one with my girl and start right in on trainin' her up + to suit me."</p> +<p>"Well, if trainin' 's your object you'd better take my advice an' + keep it dark before marriage, Cephas. It's astonishin' how the + female sect despises bein' trained; it don't hardly seem to be in + their nature to make any changes in 'emselves after they once + gits started."</p> +<p>"How are you goin' to live with 'em, then?" Cephas inquired, + looking up with interest coupled with some incredulity.</p> +<p>"Let them do the training responded his father, peacefully + puffing out the words with his pipe between his lips. "Some of + 'em's mild and gentle in discipline, like Parson Boone's wife or + Mis' Timothy Grant, and others is strict and firm like your + mother and Mis' Abel Day. If you happen to git the first kind, + why, do as they tell you, and thank the Lord 't ain't any worse. + If you git the second kind, jest let 'em put the blinders on you + and trot as straight as you know how, without shying nor kickin' + over the traces, nor bolting 'cause they've got control o' the + bit and 't ain't no use fightin' ag'in' their superior + strength.--So fur as you can judge, in the early stages o' the + game, my son,--which ain't very fur,--which kind have you picked + out?"</p> +<p>Cephas whittled on for some moments without a word, but finally, + with a sigh drawn from the very toes of his boots, he responded + gloomily,--</p> +<p>"She's awful spunky, the girl is, anybody can see that; but she's + a young thing, and I thought bein' married would kind o' tame her + down!"</p> +<p>"You can see how much marriage has tamed your mother down," + observed Uncle Bart dispassionately; "howsomever, though your + mother can't be called tame, she's got her good p'ints, for she's + always to be counted on. The great thing in life, as I take it, + Cephas, is to know exactly what to expect. Your mother's gen'ally + credited with an onsartin temper, but folks does her great + injustice in so thinking for in a long experience I've seldom + come across a temper less onsartin than your mother's. You know + exactly where to find her every mornin' at sun-up and every night + at sundown. There ain't nothin' you can do to put her out o' + temper, cause she's all out aforehand. You can jest go about your + reg'lar business 'thout any fear of disturbin' her any further + than she's disturbed a'ready, which is consid'rable. I don't mind + it a mite nowadays, though, after forty years of it. It would + kind o' gall me to keep a stiddy watch of a female's disposition + day by day, wonderin' when she was goin' to have a tantrum. A + tantrum once a year's an awful upsettin' kind of a thing in a + family, my son, but a tantrum every twenty-four hours is jest + part o' the day's work." There was a moment's silence during + which Uncle Bart puffed his pipe and Cephas whittled, after which + the old man continued: "Then, if you happen to marry a temper + like your mother's, Cephas, look what a pow'ful worker you + gen'ally get! Look at the way they sweep an' dust an' scrub an' + clean! Watch 'em when they go at the dish-washin', an' how they + whack the rollin'-pin, an' maul the eggs, an' heave the wood int' + the stove, an' slat the flies out o' the house! The mild and + gentle ones enough, will be settin' in the kitchen rocker + read-in' the almanac when there ain't no wood in the kitchen box, + no doughnuts in the crock, no pies on the swing shelf in the + cellar, an' the young ones goin' round without a second shift to + their backs!"</p> +<p>Cephas's mind was far away during this philosophical dissertation + on the ways of women. He could see only a sunny head fairly + rioting with curls; a pair of eyes that held his like magnets, + although they never gave him a glance of love; a smile that + lighted the world far better than the sun; a dimple into which + his heart fell headlong whenever he looked at it!</p> +<p>"You're right, father; 'tain't no use kickin' ag'in 'em," he said + as he rose to his feet preparatory to opening the Baxter store. + "When I said that 'bout trainin' up a girl to suit me, I kind o' + forgot the one I've picked out. I'm considerin' several, but the + one I favor most-well, I believe she'd fire up at the first sight + o' training and that's the gospel truth."</p> +<p>"Considerin' several, be you, Cephas?" laughed Uncle Bart. "Well, + all I hope is, that the one you favor most--the girl you've asked + once a'ready--is considerin' you!"</p> +<p>Cephas went to the pump, and wetting a large handkerchief put it + in the crown of his straw hat and sauntered out into the burning + heat of the open road between his father's shop and Deacon + Baxter's store.</p> +<p>"I shan't ask her the next time till this hot spell's over," he thought, + "and I won't do it in that dodgasted old store ag'in, neither; I ain't + so tongue-tied outdoors an' I kind o' think I'd be more in the sperit of it + after sundown, some night after supper!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XV</p> +<p>IVORY'S MOTHER</p> +<p>WAITSTILL found a cool and shady place in which to hitch the old + mare, loosening her check-rein and putting a sprig of alder in + her headstall to assist her in brushing off the flies.</p> +<p>One could reach the Boynton house only by going up a long grass-grown lane + that led from the high-road. It was a lonely place, and Aaron Boynton had bought + it when he moved from Saco, simply because he secured it at a remarkable bargain, + the owner having lost his wife and gone to live in Massachusetts. Ivory would + have sold it long ago had circumstances been different, for it was at too great + a distance from the schoolhouse and from Lawyer Wilson's office to be at all + convenient, but he dreaded to remove his mother from the environment to which + she was accustomed, and doubted very much whether she would be able to care + for a house to which she had not been wonted before her mind became affected. + Here in this safe, secluded corner, amid familiar and thoroughly known conditions, + she moved placidly about her daily tasks, performing them with the same care + and precision that she had used from the beginning of her married life. All + the heavy work was done for her by Ivory and Rodman; the boy in particular being + the fleetest-footed, the most willing, and the neatest of helpers; washing dishes, + sweeping and dusting, laying the table, as deftly and quietly as a girl. Mrs. + Boynton made her own simple dresses of gray calico in summer, or dark linsey-woolsey + in winter by the same pattern that she had used when she first came to Edgewood: + in fact there were positively no external changes anywhere to be seen, tragic + and terrible as had been those that had wrought havoc in her mind.</p> +<p> + Waitstill's heart beat faster as she neared the Boynton house. + She had never so much as seen Ivory's mother for years. How would + she be met? Who would begin the conversation, and what direction + would it take? What if Mrs. Boynton should refuse to talk to her + at all? She walked slowly along the lane until she saw a slender, + gray-clad figure stooping over a flower-bed in front of the + cottage. The woman raised her head with a fawn-like gesture that + had something in it of timidity rather than fear, picked some + loose bits of green from the ground, and, quietly turning her + back upon the on coming stranger, disappeared through the open + front door.</p> +<p>There could be no retreat on her own part now, thought Waitstill. + She wished for a moment that she had made this first visit under + Ivory's protection, but her idea had been to gain Mrs. Boynton's + confidence and have a quiet friendly talk, such a one as would be + impossible in the presence of a third person. Approaching the + steps, she called through the doorway in her clear voice: "Ivory + asked me to come and see you one day, Mrs. Boynton. I am + Waitstill Baxter, the little girl on Town House Hill that you + used to know."</p> +<p>Mrs. Boynton came from an inner room and stood on the threshold. + The name "Waitstill" had always had a charm for her ears, from + the time she first heard it years ago, until it fell from Ivory's + lips this summer; and again it caught her fancy.</p> +<p>"'WAITSTILL!"' she repeated softly; "'WAITSTILL!' Does Ivory + know + you?"</p> +<p>"We've known each other for ever so long; ever since we went to + the brick school together when we were girl and boy. And when I + was a child my stepmother brought me over here once on an errand + and Ivory showed me a humming-bird's nest in that lilac bush by + the door."</p> +<p>Mrs. Boynton smiled "Come and look!" she whispered. "There is + always a humming-bird's nest in our lilac. How did you remember?"</p> +<p>The two women approached the bush and Mrs. Boynton carefully + parted the leaves to show the dainty morsel of a home thatched + with soft gray-green and lined with down. "The birds have flown + now," she said. "They were like little jewels when they darted + off in the sunshine."</p> +<p>Her voice was faint and sweet, as if it came from far away, and + her eyes looked, not as if they were seeing you, but seeing + something through you. Her pale hair was turned back from her + paler face, where the veins showed like blue rivers, and her + smile was like the flitting of a moonbeam. She was standing very + close to Waitstill, closer than she had been to any woman for + many years, and she studied her a little, wistfully, yet + courteously, as if her attention was attracted by something fresh + and winning. She looked at the color, ebbing and flowing in the + girl's cheeks; at her brows and lashes; at her neck, as white as + swan's-down; and finally put out her hand with a sudden impulse + and touched the knot of wavy bronze hair under the brimmed hat.</p> +<p>"I had a daughter once," she said. "My second baby was a girl, + but she lived only a few weeks. I need her very much, for I am a + great care to Ivory. He is son and daughter both, now that Mr. + Boynton is away from home.--You did not see any one in the road + as you turned in from the bars, I suppose?"</p> +<p>"No," answered Waitstill, surprised and confused, "but I didn't + really notice; I was thinking of a cool place for my horse to + stand."</p> +<p>"I sit out here in these warm afternoons," Mrs. Boynton + continued, shading her eyes and looking across the fields, + "because I can see so far down the lane. I have the supper-table + set for my husband already, and there is a surprise for him, a + saucer of wild strawberries I picked for him this morning. If he + does not come, I always take away the plate and cup before Ivory + gets here; it seems to make him unhappy."</p> +<p>"He doesn't like it when you are disappointed, I suppose," + Waitstill ventured. "I have brought my knitting, Mrs. Boynton, so + that I needn't keep you idle if you wish to work. May I sit down + a few minutes? And here is a cottage cheese for Ivory and Rodman, + and a jar of plums for you, preserved from my own garden."</p> +<p>Mrs. Boynton's eyes searched the face of this visitor from a + world she had almost forgotten and finding nothing but tenderness + there, said with just a trace of bewilderment: "Thank you yes, do + sit down; my workbasket is just inside the door. Take that + rocking-chair; I don't have another one out here because I have + never been in the habit of seeing visitors."</p> +<p>"I hope I am not intruding," stammered Waitstill, seating herself + and beginning her knitting, to see if it would lessen the sense + of strain between them.</p> +<p>"Not at all. I always loved young and beautiful people, and so + did my husband. If he comes while you are here, do not go away, + but sit with him while I get his supper. If Elder Cochrane should + be with him, you would see two wonderful men. They went away + together to do some missionary work in Maine and New Hampshire + and perhaps they will come back together. I do not welcome + callers because they always ask so many difficult questions, but + you are different and have asked me none at all."</p> +<p>"I should not think of asking questions, Mrs. Boynton."</p> +<p>"Not that I should mind answering them," continued Ivory's + mother, "except that it tires my head very much to think. You + must not imagine I am ill; it is only that I have a very bad + memory, and when people ask me to remember something, or to give + an answer quickly, it confuses me the more. Even now I have + forgotten why you came, and where you live; but I have not + forgotten your beautiful name."</p> +<p>"Ivory thought you might be lonely, and I wanted so much to know + you that I could not keep away any longer, for I am lonely and + unhappy too. I am always watching and hoping for what has never + come yet. I have no mother, you have lost your daughter; I + thought--I thought--perhaps we could be a comfort to each other!" + And Waitstill rose from her chair and put out her hand to help + Mrs. Boynton down the steps, she looked so frail, so transparent, + so prematurely aged. "I could not come very often--but if I could + only smooth your hair sometimes when your head aches, or do some + cooking for you, or read to you, or any little thing like that, + as I would fer my own mother--if I could, I should be so glad!"</p> +<p>Waitstill stood a head higher than Ivory's mother and the glowing + health of her, the steadiness of her voice, the warmth of her + hand-clasp must have made her seem like a strong refuge to this + storm-tossed derelict. The deep furrow between Lois Boynton's + eyes relaxed a trifle, the blood in her veins ran a little more + swiftly under the touch of the young hand that held hers so + closely. Suddenly a light came into her face and her lip + quivered.</p> +<p>"Perhaps I have been remembering wrong all these years," she + said. "It is my great trouble, remembering wrong. Perhaps my baby + did not die as I thought; perhaps she lived and grew up; perhaps" + (her pale cheek burned and her eyes shone like stars) "perhaps + she has come back!"</p> +<p>Waitstill could not speak; she put her arm round the trembling + figure, holding her as she was wont to hold Patty, and with the + same protective instinct. The embrace was electric in its effect + and set altogether new currents of emotion in circulation. + Something in Lois Boynton's perturbed mind seemed to beat its + wings against the barriers that had heretofore opposed it, and, + freeing itself, mounted into clearer air and went singing to the + sky. She rested her cheek on the girl's breast with a little sob. + "Oh! let me go on remembering wrong," she sighed, from that safe + shelter." Let me go on remembering wrong! It makes me so happy!"</p> +<p>Waitstill gently led her to the rocking-chair and sat down beside + her on the lowest step, stroking her thin hand. Mrs. Boynton's + eyes were closed, her breath came and went quickly, but presently + she began to speak hurriedly, as if she were relieving a + surcharged heart.</p> +<p>"There is something troubling me," she began, "and it would + ease + my mind if I could tell it to some one who could help. Your hand + is so warm and so firm! Oh, hold mine closely and let me draw in + strength as long as you can spare it; it is flowing, flowing from + your hand into mine, flowing like wine. . . . My thoughts at + night are not like my thoughts by day, these last weeks. . . . I + wake suddenly and feel that my husband has been away a long time + and will never come back. . . . Often, at night, too, I am in + sore trouble about something else, something I have never told + Ivory, the first thing I have ever hidden from my dear son, but I + think I could tell you, if only I could be sure about it."</p> +<p>"Tell me if it will help you; I will try to understand," said + Waitstill brokenly.</p> +<p>"Ivory says Rodman is the child of my dead sister. Some one must + have told him so; could it have been I? It haunts me day and + night, for unless I am remembering wrong again, I never had a + sister. I can call to mind neither sister nor brother."</p> +<p>"You went to New Hampshire one winter," Waitstill reminded her + gently, as if she were talking to a child. "It was bitter cold + for you to take such a hard journey. Your sister died, and you + brought her little boy, Rodman, back, but you were so ill that a + stranger had to take care of you on the stage-coach and drive you + to Edgewood next day in his own sleigh. It is no wonder you have + forgotten something of what happened, for Dr. Perry hardly + brought you through the brain fever that followed that journey."</p> +<p>"I seem to think, now, that it is not so!" said Mrs. Boynton, + opening her eyes and looking at Waitstill despairingly. "I must + grope and grope in the dark until I find out what is true, and + then tell Ivory. God will punish false speaking! His heart is + closed against lies and evil-doing!"</p> +<p>"He will never punish you if your tired mind remembers wrong," + said Waitstill. "He knows, none better, how you have tried to + find Him and hold Him, through many a tangled path. I will come + as often as I can and we will try to frighten away these worrying + thoughts."</p> +<p>"If you will only come now and then and hold my hand," said + Ivory's mother,--"hold my hand so that your strength will flow + into my weakness, perhaps I shall puzzle it all out, and God will + help me to remember right before I die."</p> +<p>"Everything that I have power to give away shall be given to + you," promised Waitstill. " Now that I know you, and you trust + me, you shall never be left so alone again,--not for long, at any + rate. When I stay away you will remember that I cannot help it, + won't you?"</p> +<p>"Yes, I shall think of you till I see you again I shall watch the long + lane more than ever now. Ivory sometimes takes the path across the fields but + my dear husband will come by the old road, and now there will be you to look + for!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XVI</p> +<p>LOCKED OUT</p> +<p>AT the Baxters the late supper was over and the girls had not sat at the table + with their father, having eaten earlier, by themselves. The hired men had gone + home to sleep. Patty had retired to the solitude of her bedroom almost at dusk, + quite worn out with the heat, and Waitstill sat under the peach tree in the + corner of her own little garden, tatting, and thinking of her interview with + Ivory's mother. She sat there until nearly eight o'clock, trying vainly to put + together the puzzling details of Lois Boynton's conversation, wondering whether + the perplexities that vexed her mind were real or fancied, but warmed to the + heart by the affection that the older woman seemed instinctively to feel for + her. "She did not know me, yet she cared for me at once," thought + Waitstill tenderly and proudly; "and I for her, too, at the first glance."</p> +<p> + She heard her father lock the barn and shed and knew that he + would be going upstairs immediately, so she quickly went through + the side yard and lifted the latch of the kitchen door. It was + fastened. She went to the front door and that, too, was bolted, + although it had been standing open all the evening, so that if a + breeze should spring up, it might blow through the house. Her + father supposed, of course, that she was in bed, and she dreaded + to bring him downstairs for fear of his anger; still there was no + help for it and she rapped smartly at the side door. There was no + answer and she rapped again, vexed with her own carelessness. + Patty's face appeared promptly behind her screen of mosquito + netting in the second story, but before she could exchange a word + with her sister, Deacon Baxter opened the blinds of his bedroom + window and put his head out.</p> +<p>"You can try sleepin' outdoors, or in the barn to-night," he + called. "I didn't say anything to you at supper-time because I + wanted to see where you was intendin' to prowl this evenin'."</p> +<p>"I haven't been 'prowling' anywhere, father," answered Waitstill; + "I've been out in the garden cooling off; it's only eight + o'clock."</p> +<p>"Well, you can cool off some more," he shouted, his temper now + fully aroused; "or go back where you was this afternoon and see + if they'll take you in there! I know all about your deceitful + tricks! I come home to grind the scythes and found the house and + barn empty Cephas said you'd driven up Saco Hill and I took his + horse and followed you and saw where you went Long's you couldn't + have a feller callin' on you here to home, you thought you'd call + on him, did yer, you bold-faced hussy?"</p> +<p>"I am nothing of the sort," the girl answered him quietly; "Ivory + Boynton was not at his house, he was in the hay-field. You know + it, and you know that I knew it. I went to see a sick, unhappy + woman who has no neighbors. I ought to have gone long before. I + am not ashamed of it, and I don't regret it. If you ask + unreasonable things of me, you must expect to be disobeyed once + in a while.</p> +<p>"Must expect to be disobeyed, must I?" the old man cried, his + face positively terrifying in its ugliness. "We'll see about + that! If you wa'n't callin' on a young man, you were callin' on a + crazy woman, and I won't have it, I tell you, do you hear? I + won't have a daughter o' mine consortin' with any o' that Boynton + crew. Perhaps a night outdoors will teach you who's master in + this house, you imperdent, shameless girl! We'11 try it, anyway!" + And with that he banged down the window and disappeared, + gibbering and jabbering impotent words that she could hear but + not understand.</p> +<p>Waitstill was almost stunned by the suddenness of this + catastrophe. She stood with her feet rooted to the earth for + several minutes and then walked slowly away out of sight of the + house. There was a chair beside the grindstone under the Porter + apple tree and she sank into it, crossed her arms on the back, + and bowing her head on them, burst into a fit of weeping as + tempestuous and passionate as it was silent, for although her + body fairly shook with sobs no sound escaped.</p> +<p>The minutes passed, perhaps an hour; she did not take account of + time. The moon went behind clouds, the night grew misty and the + stars faded one by one. There would be rain to-morrow and there + was a great deal of hay cut, so she thought in a vagrant sort of + way.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Patty upstairs was in a state of suppressed excitement + and terror. It was a quarter of an hour before her father settled + him-self in bed; then an age, it seemed to her, before she heard + his heavy breathing. When she thought it quite safe, she slipped + on a print wrapper, took her shoes in her hand, and crept + noiselessly downstairs, out through the kitchen and into the + shed. Lifting the heavy bar that held the big doors in place she + closed them softly behind her, stepped out, and looked about her + in the darkness. Her quick eye espied in the distance, near the + barn, the bowed figure in the chair, and she flew through the wet + grass without a thought of her bare feet till she reached her + sister's side and held her in a close embrace.</p> +<p>"My darling, my own, own, poor darling!" she cried softly, the + tears running down her cheeks. "How wicked, how unjust to serve + my dearest sister so! Don't cry, my blessing, don't cry; you + frighten me! I'11 take care of you, dear! Next time I'll + interfere; I'll scratch and bite; yes, I'll strangle anybody that + dares to shame you and lock you out of the house! You, the + dearest, the patientest, the best!"</p> +<p>Waitstill wiped her eyes. "Let us go farther away where we can + talk," she whispered.</p> +<p>"Where had we better sleep?" Patty asked. "On the hay, I think, + though we shall stifle with the heat"; and Patty moved towards + the barn.</p> +<p>"No, you must go back to the house at once, Patty dear; father + might wake and call you, and that would make matters worse. It's + beginning to drizzle, or I should stay out in the air. Oh! I + wonder if father's mind is going, and if this is the beginning of + the end! If he is in his sober senses, he could not be so + strange, so suspicious, so unjust."</p> +<p>"He could be anything, say anything, do anything," exclaimed + Patty. "Perhaps he is not responsible and perhaps he is; it + doesn't make much difference to us. Come along, blessed darling! + I'll tuck you in, and then I'll creep back to the house, if you + say I must. I'll go down and make the kitchen fire in the + morning; you stay out here and see what happens. A good deal will + happen, I'm thinking, if father speaks to me of you! I shouldn't + be surprised to see the fur flying in all directions; I'll seize + the first moment to bring you out a cup of coffee and we'll + consult about what to do. I may tell you now, I'm all for running + away!"</p> +<p>Waitstill's first burst of wretchedness had subsided and she had + recovered her balance. "I'm afraid we must wait a little longer, + Patty," she advised. "Don't mention my name to father, but see + how he acts in the morning. He was so wild, so unlike himself, + that I almost hope he may forget what he said and sleep it off. + Yes, we must just wait."</p> +<p>"No doubt he'll be far calmer in the morning if he remembers + that, if he turns you out, he faces the prospect of three meals a + day cooked by me," said Patty. "That's what he thinks he would + face, but as a matter of fact I shall tell him that where you + sleep I sleep, and where you eat I eat, and when you stop cooking + I stop! He won't part with two unpaid servants in a hurry, not at + the beginning of haying." And Patty, giving Waitstill a last hug + and a dozen tearful kisses, stole reluctantly back to the house + by the same route through which he had left it.</p> +<p>Patty was right. She found the fire lighted when she went down + into the kitchen next morning, and without a word she hurried + breakfast on to the table as fast as she could cook and serve it. + Waitstill was safe in the barn chamber, she knew, and would be + there quietly while her father was feeding the horse and milking + the cows; or perhaps she might go up in the woods and wait until + she saw him driving away.</p> +<p>The Deacon ate his breakfast in silence, looking and acting very + much as usual, for he was generally dumb at meals. When he left + the house, however, and climbed into the wagon, he turned around + and said in his ordinary gruff manner: "Bring the lunch up to the + field yourself to-day, Patience. Tell your sister I hope she's + come to her senses in the course of the night. You've got to + learn, both of you, that my 'say-so' must be law in this house. + You can fuss and you can fume, if it amuses you any, but 't won't + do no good. Don't encourage Waitstill in any whinin' nor + blubberin'. Jest tell her to come in and go to work and I'11 + overlook what she done this time. And don't you give me any more + of your eye-snappin' and lip-poutin' and head-in-the-air + imperdence!</p> +<p>You're under age, and if you don't look out, you'll get something + that's good for what ails you! You two girls jest aid an' abet + one another that's what you do, aid an' abet one another, an if + you carry it any further I'll find some way o' separatin' you, do + you hear?"</p> +<p>Patty spoke never a word, nor fluttered an eyelash. She had a + proper spirit, but now her heart was cold with a new fear, and + she felt, with Waitstill, that her father must be obeyed and his + temper kept within bounds, until God provided them a way of + escape.</p> +<p>She ran out to the barn chamber and, not finding Waitstill, + looked across the field and saw her coming through the path from + the woods. Patty waved her hand, and ran to meet her sister, joy + at the mere fact of her existence, of being able to see her + again, and of hearing her dear voice, almost choking her in its + intensity. When they reached the house she helped her upstairs as + if she were a child, brought her cool water to wash away the dust + of the haymow, laid out some clean clothes for her, and finally + put her on the lounge in the darkened sitting-room.</p> +<p>"I won't let anybody come near the house," she said, "and you + must have a cup of tea and a good sleep before I tell you all + that father said. Just comfort yourself with the thought that he + is going to 'overlook it' this time! After I carry up his + luncheon, I shall stop at the store and ask Cephas to come out on + the river bank for a few minutes. Then I shall proceed to say + what I think of him for telling father where you went yesterday + afternoon."</p> +<p>"Don't blame Cephas!" Waitstill remonstrated. "Can't you see + just + how it happened? He and Uncle Bart were sitting in front of the + shop when I drove by. When father came home and found the house + empty and the horse not in the stall, of course he asked where I + was, and Cephas probably said he had seen me drive up Saco Hill. + He had no reason to think that there was any harm in that."</p> +<p>"If he had any sense he might know that he shouldn't tell + anything to father except what happens in the store," Patty + insisted. "Were you frightened out in the barn alone last night, + poor dear?"</p> +<p>"I was too unhappy to think of fear and I was chiefly nervous + about you, all alone in the house with father."</p> +<p>"I didn't like it very much, myself! I buttoned my bedroom door + and sat by the window all night, shivering and bristling at the + least sound. Everybody calls me a coward, but I'm not! Courage + isn't not being frightened; it's not screeching when you are + frightened. Now, what happened at the Boyntons'?"</p> +<p>"Patty, Ivory's mother is the most pathetic creature I ever saw!" + And Waitstill sat up on the sofa, her long braids of hair hanging + over her shoulders, her pale face showing the traces of her heavy + weeping. "I never pitied any one so much in my whole life! To go + up that long, long lane; to come upon that dreary house hidden + away in the trees; to feel the loneliness and the silence; and + then to know that she is living there like a hermit-thrush in a + forest, without a woman to care for her, it is heart-breaking!"</p> +<p>"How does the house look,--dreadful?"</p> +<p>"No: everything is as neat as wax. She isn't 'crazy,' Patty, as + we understand the word. Her mind is beclouded somehow and it + almost seems as if the cloud might lift at any moment. She goes + about like somebody in a dream, sewing or knitting or cooking. It + is only when she talks, and you notice that her eyes really see + nothing, but are looking beyond you, that you know there is + anything wrong."</p> +<p>"If she appears so like other people, why don't the neighbors go + to see her once in a while?"</p> +<p>"Callers make her unhappy, she says, and Ivory told me that he + dared not encourage any company in the house for fear of exciting + her, and making her an object of gossip, besides. He knows her + ways perfectly and that she is safe and content with her fancies + when she is alone, which is seldom, after all."</p> +<p>"What does she talk about?" asked Patty.</p> +<p>"Her husband mostly. She is expecting him to come back daily. We + knew that before, of course, but no one can realize it till they + see her setting the table for him and putting a saucer of wild + strawberries by his plate; going about the kitchen softly, like a + gentle ghost."</p> +<p>"It gives me the shudders!" said Patty. "I couldn't bear it! + If + she never sees strangers, what in the world did she make of you? + How did you begin?"</p> +<p>"I told her I had known Ivory ever since we were school children. + She was rather strange and indifferent at first, and then she + seemed to take a fancy to me."</p> +<p>"That's queer!" said Patty, smiling fondly and giving Waitstill's + hair the hasty brush of a kiss.</p> +<p>"She told me she had had a girl baby, born two or three years + after Ivory, and that she had always thought it died when it was + a few weeks old. Then suddenly she came closer to me--</p> +<p>"Oh! Waity, weren't you terrified?"</p> +<p>"No, not in the least. Neither would you have been if you had + been there. She put her arms round me and all at once I + understood that the poor thing mistook me just for a moment for + her own daughter come back to life. It was a sudden fancy and I + don't think it lasted, but I didn't know how to deal with it, or + contradict it, so I simply tried to soothe her and let her ease + her heart by talking to me. She said when I left her: 'Where is + your house? I hope it is near! Do come again and sit with me. + Strength flows into my weakness when you hold my hand!' I somehow + feel, Patty, that she needs a woman friend even more than a + doctor. And now, what am I to do? How can I forsake her; and yet + here is this new difficulty with father?"</p> +<p>"I shouldn't forsake her; go there when you can, but be more + careful about it. You told father that you didn't regret what you + had done, and that when he ordered you to do unreasonable things, + you should disobey him. After all, you are not a black slave. + Father will never think of that particular thing again, perhaps, + any more than he ever alluded to my driving to Saco with Mrs. Day + after you had told him it was necessary for one of us to go there + occasionally. He knows that if he is too hard on us, Dr. Perry or + Uncle Bart would take him in hand. They would have done it long + ago if we had ever given any one even a hint of what we have to + endure. You will be all right, because you only want to do kind, + neighborly things. I am the one that will always have to suffer, + because I can't prove that it's a Christian duty to deceive + father and steal off to a dance or a frolic. Yet I might as well + be a nun in a convent for all the fun I get! I want a white + book-muslin dress; I want a pair of thin shoes with buckles; I + want a white hat with a wreath of yellow roses; I want a volume + of Byron's poems; and oh! nobody knows--nobody but the Lord could + understand--how I want a string of gold beads."</p> +<p>"Patty, Patty! To hear you chatter anybody would imagine you + thought of nothing but frivolities. I wish you wouldn't do + yourself such injustice; even when nobody hears you but me, it is + wrong."</p> +<p>"Sometimes when you think I'm talking nonsense it's really the + gospel truth," said Patty. "I'm not a grand, splendid character, + Waitstill, and it's no use your deceiving yourself about me; if + you do, you'll be disappointed."</p> +<p>"Go and parboil the beans and get them into the pot, Patty. Pick + up some of the windfalls and make a green-apple pie, and I'll be + with you in the kitchen myself before long. I never expect to be + disappointed in you, Patty, only continually surprised and + pleased."</p> +<p>"I thought I'd begin making some soft soap to-day," said Patty mischievously, + as she left the room. "We have enough grease saved up. We don't really + need it yet, but it makes such a disgusting smell that I'd rather like father + to have it with his dinner. It's not much of a punishment for our sleepless + night."</p> +<p> </p> +<h2 align="center"></h2> +<h2 align="center">AUTUMN</h2> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XVII</p> +<p>A BRACE OF LOVERS</p> +<p>HAYING was over, and the close, sticky dog-days, too, and August was slipping + into September. There had been plenty of rain all the season and the countryside + was looking as fresh and green as an emerald. The hillsides were already clothed + with a verdant growth of new grass and</p> +<blockquote> + <p>"The red pennons of the cardinal flowers <br> + Hung motionless upon their upright staves." </p> +</blockquote> +<p></p> +<p>How they gleamed in the meadow grasses and along the brooksides + like brilliant flecks of flame, giving a new beauty to the + nosegays that Waitstill carried or sent to Mrs. Boynton every + week.</p> +<p>To the eye of the casual observer, life in the two little + villages by the river's brink went on as peacefully as ever, but + there were subtle changes taking place nevertheless. Cephas Cole + had "asked" the second time and again had been refused by Patty, + so that even a very idiot for hopefulness could not urge his + father to put another story on the ell.</p> +<p>"If it turns out to be Phoebe Day," thought Cephas dolefully, + "two rooms is plenty good enough, an' I shan't block up the door + that leads from the main part, neither, as I thought likely I + should. If so be it's got to be Phoebe, not Patty, I shan't care + whether mother troops out 'n' in or not." And Cephas dealt out + rice and tea and coffee with so languid an air, and made such + frequent mistakes in weighing the sugar, that he drew upon + himself many a sharp rebuke from the Deacon.</p> +<p>"Of course I'd club him over the head with a salt fish twice a + day under ord'nary circumstances," Cephas confided to his father + with a valiant air that he never wore in Deacon Baxter's + presence; "but I've got a reason, known to nobody but myself, for + wantin' to stan' well with the old man for a spell longer. If + ever I quit wantin' to stan' well with him, he'll get his + comeuppance, short an sudden!"</p> +<p>"Speakin' o' standin' well with folks, Phil Perry's kind o' + makin' up to Patience Baxter, ain't he, Cephas?" asked Uncle Bart + guardedly. "Mebbe you wouldn't notice it, hevin' no partic'lar + int'rest, but your mother's kind o got the idee into her head + lately, an' she's turrible far-sighted."</p> +<p>"I guess it's so!" Cephas responded gloomily. "It's nip an' + tuck + 'tween him an' Mark Wilson.</p> +<p>That girl draws 'em as molasses does flies! She does it 'thout + liftin' a finger, too, no more 'n the molasses does. She just + sets still an' IS! An' all the time she's nothin' but a flighty + little red-headed spitfire that don't know a good husband when + she sees one. The feller that gits her will live to regret it, + that's my opinion! "And Cephas thought to himself: "Good Lord, + don't I wish I was regrettin' it this very minute!"</p> +<p>"I s'pose a girl like Phoebe Day'd be consid'able less trouble to + live with?" ventured Uncle Bart.</p> +<p>"I never could take any fancy to that tow hair o' hern! I like + the color well enough when I'm peeling it off a corn cob, but I + don't like it on a girl's head," objected Cephas hypercritically. + "An' her eyes hain't got enough blue in 'em to be blue: they're + jest like skim-milk. An' she keeps her mouth open a little mite + all the time, jest as if there wa'n't no good draught through, + an' she was a-tryin' to git air. An' 't was me that begun callin' + her 'Feeble Phoebe in school, an' the scholars'll never forgit + it; they'd throw it up to me the whole 'durin' time if I should + go to work an' keep company with her!"</p> +<p>"Mebbe they've forgot by this time," Uncle Bart responded + hopefully; "though 't is an awful resk when you think o' + Companion Pike! Samuel he was baptized and Samuel he continued to + be, "till he married the Widder Bixby from Waterboro. Bein' as + how there wa'n't nothin' partic'ly attractive 'bout him,--though + he was as nice a feller as ever lived,--somebody asked her why + she married him, an' she said her cat hed jest died an' she + wanted a companion. The boys never let go o' that story! Samuel + Pike he ceased to be thirty year ago, an' Companion Pike he's + remained up to this instant minute!"</p> +<p>"He ain't lived up to his name much," remarked Cephas. "He's + to + home for his meals, but I guess his wife never sees him between + times."</p> +<p>"If the cat hed lived mebbe she'd 'a' been better comp'ny on the + whole," chuckled Uncle Bart. "Companion was allers kind o' dreamy + an' absent-minded from a boy. I remember askin' him what his + wife's Christian name was (she bein' a stranger to Riverboro) an' + he said he didn't know! Said he called her Mis' Bixby afore he + married her an' Mis' Pike afterwards!"</p> +<p>"Well, there 's something turrible queer 'bout this marryin' + business," and Cephas drew a sigh from the heels of his boots. + "It seems's if a man hedn't no natcheral drawin' towards a girl + with a good farm 'n' stock that was willin' to have him! Seems + jest as if it set him ag'in' her somehow! And yet, if you've got + to sing out o' the same book with a girl your whole lifetime, it + does seem's if you'd ought to have a kind of a fancy for her at + the start, anyhow!"</p> +<p>"You may feel dif'rent as time goes on, Cephas, an' come to see + Feeble--I would say Phoebe--as your mother does. 'The best fire + don't flare up the soonest,' you know." But old Uncle Bart saw + that his son's heart was heavy and forbore to press the subject.</p> +<p>Annabel Franklin had returned to Boston after a month's visit and + to her surprise had returned as disengaged as she came. Mark + Wilson, thoroughly bored by her vacuities of mind, longed now for + more intercourse with Patty Baxter, Patty, so gay and unexpected; + so lively to talk with, so piquing to the fancy, so skittish and + difficult to manage, so temptingly pretty, with a beauty all her + own, and never two days alike.</p> +<p>There were many lions in the way and these only added to the zest + of pursuit. With all the other girls of the village opportunities + multiplied, but he could scarcely get ten minutes alone with + Patty. The Deacon's orders were absolute in regard to young men. + His daughters were never to drive or walk alone with them, never + go to dances or "routs" of any sort, and never receive them at + the house; this last mandate being quite unnecessary, as no youth + in his right mind would have gone a-courtin' under the Deacon's + forbidding gaze. And still there were sudden, delicious chances + to be seized now and then if one had his eyes open and his wits + about him. There was the walk to or from the singing-school, when + a sentimental couple could drop a few feet, at least, behind the + rest and exchange a word or two in comparative privacy; there + were the church "circles" and prayer-meetings, and the intervals + between Sunday services when Mark could detach Patty a moment + from the group on the meeting-house steps. More valuable than all + these, a complete schedule of Patty's various movements here and + there, together with a profound study of Deacon Baxter's habits, + which were ordinarily as punctual as they were disagreeable, + permitted Mark many stolen interviews, as sweet as they were + brief. There was never a second kiss, however, in these casual + meetings and partings. The first, in springtime, had found Patty + a child, surprised, unprepared. She was a woman now; for it does + not take years to achieve that miracle; months will do it, or + days, or even hours. Her summer's experience with Cephas Cole had + wonderfully broadened her powers, giving her an assurance sadly + lacking before, as well as a knowledge of detail, a certain + finished skill in the management of a lover, which she could ably + use on any one who happened to come along. And, at the moment, + any one who happened to come along served the purpose admirably, + Philip Perry as well as Marquis Wilson.</p> +<p>Young Perry's interest in Patty, as we have seen, began with his + alienation from Ellen Wilson, the first object of his affections, + and it was not at the outset at all of a sentimental nature. + Philip was a pillar of the church, and Ellen had proved so + entirely lacking in the religious sense, so self-satisfied as to + her standing with the heavenly powers, that Philip dared not + expose himself longer to her society, lest he find himself + "unequally yoked together with an unbeliever," thus defying the + scriptural admonition as to marriage.</p> +<p>Patty, though somewhat lacking in the qualities that go to the + making of trustworthy saints, was not, like Ellen, wholly given + over to the fleshpots and would prove a valuable convert, Philip + thought; one who would reflect great credit upon him if he + succeeded in inducing her to subscribe to the stern creed of the + day.</p> +<p>Philip was a very strenuous and slightly gloomy believer, + dwelling considerably on the wrath of God and the doctrine of + eternal punishment. There was an old "pennyroyal" hymn much in + use which describes the general tenor of his meditation:--</p> +<blockquote> + <p>"My thoughts on awful subjects roll, <br> + Damnation and the dead. <br> + What horrors seize the guilty soul <br> + Upon a dying bed."</p> +</blockquote> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p> + (No wonder that Jacob Cochrane's lively songs, cheerful, hopeful, + militant, and bracing, fell with a pleasing sound upon the ear of + the believer of that epoch.) The love of God had, indeed, entered + Philip's soul, but in some mysterious way had been ossified after + it got there. He had intensely black hair, dark skin, and a liver + that disposed him constitutionally to an ardent belief in the + necessity of hell for most of his neighbors, and the hope of + spending his own glorious immortality in a small, properly + restricted, and prudently managed heaven. He was eloquent at + prayer-meeting and Patty's only objection to him there was in his + disposition to allude to himself as a "rebel worm," with frequent + references to his "vile body." Otherwise, and when not engaged in + theological discussion, Patty liked Philip very much. His own + father, although an orthodox member of the fold in good and + regular standing, had "doctored" Phil conscientiously for his + liver from his youth up, hoping in time to incite in him a + sunnier view of life, for the doctor was somewhat skilled in + adapting his remedies to spiritual maladies. Jed Morrill had + always said that when old Mrs. Buxton, the champion convert of + Jacob Cochrane, was at her worst,--keeping her whole family awake + nights by her hysterical fears for their future,--Dr. Perry had + given her a twelfth of a grain of tartar emetic, five times a day + until she had entire mental relief and her anxiety concerning the + salvation of her husband and children was set completely at rest.</p> +<p>The good doctor noted with secret pleasure his son's growing + fondness for the society of his prime favorite, Miss Patience + Baxter. "He'll begin by trying to save her soul," he thought; + "Phil always begins that way, but when Patty gets him in hand + he'll remember the existence of his heart, an organ he has never + taken into consideration. A love affair with a pretty girl, good + but not too pious, will help Phil considerable, however it turns + out."</p> +<p>There is no doubt but that Phil was taking his chances and that + under Patty's tutelage he was growing mellower. As for Patty, she + was only amusing herself, and frisking, like a young lamb, in + pastures where she had never strayed before. Her fancy flew from + Mark to Phil and from Phil back to Mark again, for at the moment + she was just a vessel of emotion, ready to empty herself on she + knew not what. Temperamentally, she would take advantage of + currents rather than steer at any time, and it would be the + strongest current that would finally bear her away. Her idea had + always been that she could play with fire without burning her own + fingers, and that the flames she kindled were so innocent and + mild that no one could be harmed by them. She had fancied, up to + now, that she could control, urge on, or cool down a man's + feeling forever and a day, if she chose, and remain mistress of + the situation. Now, after some weeks of weighing and balancing + her two swains, she found herself confronting a choice, once and + for all. Each of them seemed to be approaching the state of mind + where he was likely to say, somewhat violently: "Take me or leave + me, one or the other!" But she did not wish to take them, and + still less did she wish to leave them, with no other lover in + sight but Cephas Cole, who was almost, though not quite, worse + than none.</p> +<p>If matters, by lack of masculine patience and self-control, did + come to a crisis, what should she say definitely to either of her + suitors? Her father despised Mark Wilson a trifle more than any + young man on the river, and while he could have no objection to + Phil Perry's character or position in the world, his hatred of + old Dr. Perry amounted to a disease. When the doctor had closed + the eyes of the third Mrs. Baxter, he had made some plain and + unwelcome statements that would rankle in the Deacon's breast as + long as he lived. Patty knew, therefore, that the chance of her + father's blessing falling upon her union with either of her + present lovers was more than uncertain, and of what use was an + engagement, if there could not be a marriage?</p> +<p>If Patty's mind inclined to a somewhat speedy departure from her + father's household, she can hardly be blamed, but she felt that + she could not carry any of her indecisions and fears to her + sister for settlement. Who could look in Waitstill's clear, + steadfast eyes and say: "I can't make up my mind which to marry"? + Not Patty. She felt, instinctively, that Waitstill's heart, if it + moved at all, would rush out like a great river to lose itself in + the ocean, and losing itself forget the narrow banks through + which it had flowed before. Patty knew that her own love was at + the moment nothing more than the note of a child's penny flute, + and that Waitstill was perhaps vibrating secretly with a deeper, + richer music than could ever come to her. Still, music of some + sort she meant to feel. "Even if they make me decide one way or + another before I am ready," she said to herself, "I'll never say + 'yes' till I'm more in love than I am now!"</p> +<p>There were other reasons why she did not want to ask Waitstill's + advice. Not only did she shrink from the loving scrutiny of her + sister's eyes, and the gentle probing of her questions, which + would fix her own motives on a pin-point and hold them up + unbecomingly to the light; but she had a foolish, generous + loyalty that urged her to keep Waitstill quite aloof from her own + little private perplexities.</p> +<p>"She will only worry herself sick," thought Patty. "She won't + let + me marry without asking father's permission, and she'd think she + ought not to aid me in deceiving him, and the tempest would be + twice as dreadful if it fell upon us both! Now, if anything + happens, I can tell father that I did it all myself and that + Waitstill knew nothing about it whatever. Then, oh, joy! if + father is too terrible, I shall be a married woman and I can + always say: 'I will not permit such cruelty! Waitstill is + dependent upon you no longer, she shall come at once to my + husband and me!</p> +<p>This latter phrase almost intoxicated Patty, so that there were + moments when she could have run up to Milliken's Mills and + purchased herself a husband at any cost, had her slender savinges + permitted the best in the market; and the more impersonal the + husband the more delightedly Patty rolled the phrase under her + tongue.</p> +<p>"I can never be 'published' in church," she thought, "and perhaps + nobody will ever care enough about me to brave father's + displeasure and insist on running away with me. I do wish + somebody would care 'frightfully' about me, enough for that; + enough to help me make up my mind; so that I could just drive up + to father's store some day and say: 'Good afternoon, father! I + knew you'd never let me marry--'" (there was always a dash here, + in Patty's imaginary discourses, a dash that could be filled in + with any Christian name according to her mood of the moment)"'so + I just married him anyway; and you needn't be angry with my + sister, for she knew nothing about it. My husband and I are sorry + if you are displeased, but there's no help for it; and my + husband's home will always be open to Waitstill, whatever + happens.'"</p> +<p>Patty, with all her latent love of finery and ease, did not weigh + the worldly circumstances of the two men, though the reflection + that she would have more amusement with Mark than with Philip may + have crossed her mind. She trusted Philip, and respected his + steady-going, serious view of life; it pleased her vanity, too, + to feel how her nonsense and fun lightened his temperamental + gravity, playing in and out and over it like a butterfly in a + smoke bush. She would be safe with Philip always, but safety had + no special charm for one of her age, who had never been in peril. + Mark's superior knowledge of the world, moreover, his careless, + buoyant manner of carrying himself, his gay, boyish audacity, all + had a very distinct charm for her;--and yet--</p> +<p>But there would be no "and yet" a little later. Patty's heart would + blaze quickly enough when sufficient heat was applied to it, and Mark was falling + more and more deeply in love every day. As Patty vacillated, his purpose strengthened; + the more she weighed, the more he ceased to weigh, the difficulties of the situation; + the more she unfolded herself to him, the more he loved and the more he respected + her. She began by delighting his senses; she ended by winning all that there + was in him, and creating continually the qualities he lacked, after the manner + of true women even when they are very young and foolish.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XVIII</p> +<p>A STATE O' MAINE PROPHET</p> +<p>SUMMER was dying hard, for although it had passed, by the + calendar, Mother Nature was still keeping up her customary + attitude.</p> +<p>There had been a soft rain in the night and every spear of grass was brilliantly + green and tipped with crystal. The smoke bushes in the garden plot, and the + asparagus bed beyond them, looked misty as the sun rose higher, drying the soaked + earth and dripping branches. Spiders' webs, marvels of lace, dotted the short + grass under the apple trees. Every flower that had a fragrance was pouring it + gratefully into the air; every bird with a joyous note in its voice gave it + more joyously from a bursting throat; and the river laughed and rippled in the + distance at the foot of Town House Hill. Then dawn grew into full morning and + streams of blue smoke rose here and there from the Edgewood chimneys. The world + was alive, and so beautiful that Waitstill felt like going down on her knees + in gratitude for having been born into it and given a chance of serving it in + any humble way whatsoever. </p> +<p> + Wherever there was a barn, in Riverboro or Edgewood, one could + have heard the three-legged stools being lifted from the pegs, + and then would begin the music of the milk-pails; first the + resonant sound of the stream on the bottom of the tin pail, then + the soft delicious purring of the cascade into the full bucket, + while the cows serenely chewed their cuds and whisked away the + flies with swinging tails. + Deacon Baxter was taking his cows to a pasture far over the hill, + the feed having grown too short in his own fields. Patty was + washing dishes in the kitchen and Waitstill was in the + dairy-house at the butter-making, one of her chief delights. She + worked with speed and with beautiful sureness, patting, + squeezing, rolling the golden mass, like the true artist she was, + then turning the sweet-scented waxen balls out of the mould on to + the big stone-china platter that stood waiting. She had been up + early and for the last hour she had toiled with devouring + eagerness that she might have a little time to herself. It was + hers now, for Patty would be busy with the beds after she + finished the dishes, so she drew a folded paper from her pocket, + the first communication she had ever received in Ivory's + handwriting, and sat down to read it.</p> +<p> + MY DEAR WAITSTILL:--</p> +<p>Rodman will take this packet and leave it with you when he finds + opportunity. It is not in any real sense a letter, so I am in no + danger of incurring your father's displeasure. You will probably + have heard new rumors concerning my father during the past few + days, for Peter Morrill has been to Enfield, New Hampshire, where + he says letters have been received stating that my father died in + Cortland, Ohio, more than five years ago. I shall do what I can + to substantiate this fresh report as I have always done with all + the previous ones, but I have little hope of securing reliable + information at this distance, and after this length of time. I do + not know when I can ever start on a personal quest myself, for + even had I the money I could not leave home until Rodman is much + older, and fitted for greater responsibility. Oh! Waitstill, how + you have helped my poor, dear mother! Would that I were free to + tell you how I value your friendship! It is something more than + mere friendship! What you are doing is like throwing a life-line + to a sinking human being. Two or three times, of late, mother has + forgotten to set out the supper things for my father. Her ten + years' incessant waiting for him seems to have subsided a little, + and in its place she watches for you. [Ivory had written "watches + for her daughter" but carefully erased the last two words.] You + come but seldom, but her heart feeds on the sight of you. What + she needed, it seems, was the magical touch of youth and health + and strength and sympathy, the qualities you possess in such + great measure. </p> +<p>If I had proof of my father's death I think now, perhaps, that I + might try to break it gently to my mother, as if it were fresh + news, and see if possibly I might thus remove her principal + hallucination. You see now, do you not, how sane she is in many, + indeed in most ways,--how sweet and lovable, even how sensible?</p> +<p>To help you better to understand the influence that has robbed me + of both father and mother and made me and mine the subject of + town and tavern gossip for years past, I have written for you + just a sketch of the "Cochrane craze"; the romantic story of a + man who swayed the wills of his fellow-creatures in a truly + marvellous manner. Some local historian of his time will + doubtless give him more space; my wish is to have you know + something more of the circumstances that have made me a prisoner + in life instead of a free man; but prisoner as I am at the + moment, I am sustained just now by a new courage. I read in my + copy of Ovid last night: "The best of weapons is the undaunted + heart." This will help you, too, in your hard life, for yours is + the most undaunted heart in all the world.</p> +<blockquote> + <p> IVORY BOYNTON</p> +</blockquote> +<p> The chronicle of Jacob Cochrane's career in the little villages near the Saco + River has no such interest for the general reader as it had for Waitstill Baxter. + She hung upon every word that Ivory had written and realized more clearly than + ever before the shadow that had followed him since early boyhood; the same shadow + that had fallen across his mother's mind and left, continual twilight there. +</p> +<p> + No one really knew, it seemed, why or from whence Jacob Cochrane + had come to Edgewood. He simply appeared at the old tavern, a + stranger, with satchel in hand, to seek entertainment. Uncle Bart + had often described this scene to Waitstill, for he was one of + those sitting about the great open fire at the time. The man + easily slipped into the group and soon took the lead in + conversation, delighting all with his agreeable personality, his + nimble tongue and graceful speech. At supper-time the hostess and + the rest of the family took their places at the long table, as + was the custom, and he astonished them by his knowledge not only + of town history, but of village matters they had supposed unknown + to any one.</p> +<p>When the stranger had finished his supper and returned to the + bar-room, he had to pass through a long entry, and the landlady, + whispering to her daughter, said:--</p> +<p>"Betsy, you go up to the chamber closet and get the silver and + bring it down. This man is going to sleep there and I am afraid + of him. He must be a fortune-teller, and the Lord only knows what + else!"</p> +<p>In going to the chamber the daughter had to pass through the + bar-room. As she was moving quietly through, hoping to escape the + notice of the newcomer, he turned in his chair, and looking her + full in the face, suddenly said:--</p> +<p>"Madam, you needn't touch your silver. I don't want it. I am a + gentleman."</p> +<p>Whereupon the bewildered Betsy scuttled back to her mother and + told her the strange guest was indeed a fortune-teller.</p> +<p>Of Cochrane's initial appearance as a preacher Ivory had told + Waitstill in their talk in the churchyard early in the summer. It + was at a child's funeral that the new prophet created his first + sensation and there, too, that Aaron and Lois Boynton first came + under his spell. The whole countryside had been just then wrought + up to a state of religious excitement by revival meetings and + Cochrane gained the benefit of this definite preparation for his + work. He claimed that all his sayings were from divine + inspiration and that those who embraced his doctrine received + direct communication from the Almighty. He disdained formal + creeds and all manner of church organizations, declaring + sectarian names to be marks of the beast and all church members + to be in Babylon. He introduced re-baptism as a symbolic + cleansing from sectarian stains, and after some months advanced a + proposition that his flock hold all things in common. He put a + sudden end to the solemn "deaconing-out" and droning of psalm + tunes and grafted on to his form of worship lively singing and + marching accompanied by clapping of hands and whirling in + circles; during the progress of which the most hysterical + converts, or the most fully Cochranized," would swoon upon the + floor; or, in obeying their leader's instructions to "become as + little children," would sometimes go through the most + extraordinary and unmeaning antics.</p> +<p>It was not until he had converted hundreds to the new faith that + he added more startling revelations to his gospel. He was in turn + bold, mystical, eloquent, audacious, persuasive, autocratic; and + even when his self-styled communications from the Almighty" + controverted all that his hearers had formerly held to be right, + he still magnetized or hypnotized them into an unwilling assent + to his beliefs. There was finally a proclamation to the effect + that marriage vows were to be annulled when advisable and that + complete spiritual liberty was to follow; a liberty in which a + new affinity might be sought, and a spiritual union begun upon + earth, a union as nearly approximate to God's standards as faulty + human beings could manage to attain.</p> +<p>Some of the faithful fell away at this time, being unable to + accept the full doctrine, but retained their faith in Cochrane's + original power to convert sinners and save them from the wrath of + God. Storm-clouds began to gather in the sky however, as the + delusion spread, month by month and local ministers everywhere + sought to minimize the influence of the dangerous orator, who + rose superior to every attack and carried himself like some + magnificent martyr-at-will among the crowds that now criticized + him here or there in private and in public.</p> +<p>"What a picture of splendid audacity he must have been," wrote + Ivory, "when he entered the orthodox meeting-house at a huge + gathering where he knew that the speakers were to denounce his + teachings. Old Parson Buzzell gave out his text from the high + pulpit: Mark XIII, 37, 'AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, + WATCH!' Just here Cochrane stepped in at the open door of the + church and heard the warning, meant, he knew, for himself, and + seizing the moment of silence following the reading of the text, + he cried in his splendid sonorous voice, without so much as + stirring from his place within the door-frame: "'Behold I stand + at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice I will come in to + him and will sup with him,--I come to preach the everlasting + gospel to every one that heareth, and all that I want here is my + bigness on the floor.'"</p> +<p>"I cannot find," continued Ivory on another page, "that my father + or mother ever engaged in any of the foolish and childish + practices which disgraced the meetings of some of Cochrane's most + fanatical followers and converts. By my mother's conversations + (some of which I have repeated to you, but which may be full of + errors, because of her confusion of mind), I believe she must + have had a difference of opinion with my father on some of these + views, but I have no means of knowing this to a certainty; nor do + I know that the question of choosing spiritual consorts' ever + came between or divided them. This part of the delusion always + fills me with such unspeakable disgust that I have never liked to + seek additional light from any of the older men and women who + might revel in giving it. That my mother did not sympathize with + my father's going out to preach Cochrane's gospel through the + country, this I know, and she was so truly religious, so burning + with zeal, that had she fully believed in my father's mission she + would have spurred him on, instead of endeavoring to detain him."</p> +<p>"You know the retribution that overtook Cochrane at last," wrote + Ivory again, when he had shown the man's early victories and his + enormous influence. "There began to be indignant protests against + his doctrines by lawyers and doctors, as well as by ministers; + not from all sides however; for remember, in extenuation of my + father's and my mother's espousal of this strange belief, that + many of the strongest and wisest men, as well as the purest and + finest women in York county came under this man's spell for a + time and believed in him implicitly, some of them even unto the + end.</p> +<p>"Finally there was Cochrane's arrest and examination, the order + for him to appear at the Supreme Court, his failure to do so, his + recapture and trial, and his sentence of four years imprisonment + on several counts, in all of which he was proved guilty. Cochrane + had all along said that the Anointed of the Lord would never be + allowed to remain in jail, but he was mistaken, for he stayed in + the State's Prison at Charlestown, Massachusetts, for the full + duration of his sentence. Here (I am again trying to plead the + cause of my father and mother), here he received much sympathy + and some few visitors, one of whom walked all the way from + Edgewood to Boston, a hundred and fifteen miles, with a petition + for pardon, a petition which was delivered, and refused, at the + Boston State House. Cochrane issued from prison a broken and + humiliated man, but if report says true, is still living, far out + of sight and knowledge, somewhere in New Hampshire. He once sent + my father an epitaph of his own selection, asking him to have it + carved upon his gravestone should he die suddenly when away from + his friends. My mother often repeats it, not realizing how far + from the point it sounds to us who never knew him in his glory, + but only in his downfall.</p> +<blockquote> + <p> "'He spread his arms full wide abroad <br> + His works are ever before his God, <br> + His name on earth shall long remain, <br> + <p>Through envious sinners fret in vain.'"</p> +</blockquote> +<p>"We are certain," concluded Ivory, "that my father preached + with Cochrane in Limington, Limerick, and Parsonsfield; he also wrote from Enfield + and Effingham in New Hampshire; after that, all is silence. Various reports + place him in Boston, in New York, even as far west as Ohio, whether as Cochranite + evangelist or what not, alas! we can never know. I despair of ever tracing his + steps. I only hope that he died before he wandered too widely, either from his + belief in God or his fidelity to my mother's long-suffering love." </p> +<p> + Waitstill read the letter twice through and replaced it in her + dress to read again at night. It seemed the only tangible + evidence of Ivory's love that she had ever received and she + warmed her heart with what she felt that he had put between the + lines.</p> +<p>"Would that I were free to tell you how I value your friendship!" + "My mother's heart feeds on the sight of you!" "I want you to + know something of the circumstances that have made me a prisoner in life, instead + of a free man." "Yours is the most undaunted heart in all the world!" + These sentences Waitstill rehearsed again and again and they rang in her ears + like music, converting all the tasks of her long day into a deep and silent + joy.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XIX</p> +<p>AT THE BRICK STORE</p> +<p>THERE were two grand places for gossip in the community; the old + tavern on the Edgewood side of the bridge and the brick store in + Riverboro. The company at the Edgewood Tavern would be a trifle + different in character, more picturesque, imposing, and eclectic + because of the transient guests that gave it change and variety. + Here might be found a judge or lawyer on his way to court; a + sheriff with a handcuffed prisoner; a farmer or two, stopping on + the road to market with a cartful of produce; and an occasional + teamster, peddler, and stage-driver. On winter nights champion + story-tellers like Jed Morrill and Rish Bixby would drop in there + and hang their woollen neck-comforters on the pegs along the + wall-side, where there were already hats, topcoats, and fur + mufflers, as well as stacks of whips, canes, and ox-goads + standing in the corners. They would then enter the room, rubbing + their hands genially, and, nodding to Companion Pike, Cephas + Cole, Phil Perry and others, ensconce themselves snugly in the + group by the great open fireplace. The landlord was always glad + to see them enter, for their stories, though old to him, were new + to many of the assembled company and had a remarkable greet on + the consumption of liquid refreshment.</p> +<p> + On summer evenings gossip was languid in the village, and if any + occurred at all it would be on the loafer's bench at one or the + other side of the bridge. When cooler weather came the group of + local wits gathered in Riverboro, either at Uncle Bart's joiner's + shop or at the brick store, according to fancy. The latter place + was perhaps the favorite for Riverboro talkers. It was a large, + two-story, square, brick building with a big-mouthed chimney and + an open fire. When every house in the two villages had six feet + of snow around it, roads would always be broken to the brick + store, and a crowd of ten or fifteen men would be gathered there + talking, listening, betting, smoking, chewing, bragging, playing + checkers, singing, and "swapping stories."</p> +<p>Some of the men had been through the War of 1812 and could + display wounds received on the field of valor; others were still + prouder of scars won in encounters with the Indians, and there + was one old codger, a Revolutionary veteran, Bill Dunham by name, + who would add bloody tales of his encounters with the "Husshons." + His courage had been so extraordinary and his slaughter so + colossal that his hearers marvelled that there was a Hessian left + to tell his side of the story, and Bill himself doubted if such + were the case.</p> +<p>"'T is an awful sin to have on your soul," Bill would say from + his place in a dark corner, where he would sit with his hat + pulled down over his eyes till the psychological moment came for + the "Husshons" to be trotted out. "'T is an awful sin to have + on + your soul,--the extummination of a race o' men; even if they + wa'n't nothin' more 'n so many ignorant cockroaches. Them was the + great days for fightin'! The Husshons was the biggest men I ever + seen on the field, most of 'em standin' six feet eight in their + stockin's,--but Lord! how we walloped 'em! Once we had a cannon + mounted an' loaded for 'em that was so large we had to draw the + ball into it with a yoke of oxen!"</p> +<p>Bill paused from force of habit, just as he had paused for the + last twenty years. There had been times when roars of incredulous + laughter had greeted this boast, but most of this particular + group had heard the yarn more than once and let it pass with a + smile and a wink, remembering the night that Abel Day had asked + old Bill how they got the oxen out of the cannon on that most + memorable occasion.</p> +<p>"Oh!" said Bill, "that was easy enough; we jest unyoked 'em + an' + turned 'em out o' the primin'-hole!"</p> +<p>It was only early October, but there had been a killing frost, + and Ezra Simms, who kept the brick store, flung some shavings and + small wood on the hearth and lighted a blaze, just to induce a + little trade and start conversation on what threatened to be a + dull evening. Peter Morrill, Jed's eldest brother, had lately + returned from a long trip through the state and into New + Hampshire, and his adventures by field and flood were always + worth listening to. He went about the country mending clocks, and + many an old time-piece still bears his name, with the date of + repairing, written in pencil on the inside of its door.</p> +<p>There was never any lack of subjects at the brick store, the + idiosyncrasies of the neighbors being the most prolific source of + anecdote and comment. Of scandal about women there was little, + though there would be occasional harmless pleasantries concerning + village love affairs; prophecies of what couple would be next + "published" in the black-walnut frame up at the meeting-house; a + genial comment on the number and chances of Patience Baxter's + various beaux; and whenever all else failed, the latest story of + Deacon Baxter's parsimony, in which the village traced the + influence of heredity.</p> +<p>"He can't hardly help it, inheritin' it on both sides," was Abel + Day's opinion. "The Baxters was allers snug, from time 'memorial, + and Foxy's the snuggest of 'em. When I look at his ugly mug an' + hear his snarlin' voice, I thinks to myself, he's goin' the same + way his father did. When old Levi Baxter was left a widder-man in + that house o' his'n up river, he grew wuss an' wuss, if you + remember, till he wa'n't hardly human at the last; and I don't + believe Foxy even went up to his own father's funeral."</p> +<p>"'T would 'a' served old Levi right if nobody else had gone," + said Rish Bixby. "When his wife died he refused to come into the + house till the last minute. He stayed to work in the barn until + all the folks had assembled, and even the men were all settin' + down on benches in the kitchen. The parson sent me out for him, + and I'm blest if the old skunk didn't come in through the crowd + with his sleeves rolled up,--went to the sink and washed, and + then set down in the room where the coffin was, as cool as a + cowcumber."</p> +<p>"I remember that funeral well," corroborated Abel Day. "An' + Mis' + Day heerd Levi say to his daughter, as soon as they'd put poor + old Mrs. Baxter int' the grave: 'Come on, Marthy; there 's no use + cryin' over spilt milk; we'd better go home an' husk out the rest + o' that corn.' Old Foxy could have inherited plenty o' meanness + from his father, that's certain, an' he's added to his + inheritance right along, like the thrifty man he is. I hate to + think o' them two fine girls wearin' their fingers to the bone + for his benefit."</p> +<p>"Oh, well! 't won't last forever," said Rish Bixby. "They're + the + handsomest couple o' girls on the river an' they'll get husbands + afore many years. Patience'll have one pretty soon, by the looks. + She never budges an inch but Mark Wilson or Phil Perry are + follerin' behind, with Cephas Cole watchin' his chance right + along, too. Waitstill don't seem to have no beaux; what with + flyin' around to keep up with the Deacon, an' bein' a mother to + Patience, her hands is full, I guess."</p> +<p>"If things was a little mite dif'rent all round, I could + prognosticate who Waitstill could keep house for," was Peter + Morrill's opinion.</p> +<p>"You mean Ivory Boynton? Well, if the Deacon was asked he'd never + give his consent, that's certain; an' Ivory ain't in no position + to keep a wife anyways. What was it you heerd 'bout Aaron Boynton + up to New Hampshire, Peter?" asked Abel Day.</p> +<p>"Consid'able, one way an' another; an' none of it would 'a' been + any comfort to Ivory. I guess Aaron 'n' Jake Cochrane was both of + 'em more interested in savin' the sisters' souls than the + brothers'! Aaron was a fine-appearin' man, and so was Jake for + that matter, 'n' they both had the gift o' gab. There's nothin' + like a limber tongue if you want to please the women-folks! If + report says true, Aaron died of a fever out in Ohio somewheres; + Cortland's the place, I b'lieve. Seems's if he hid his trail all + the way from New Hampshire somehow, for as a usual thing, a man + o' book-larnin' like him would be remembered wherever he went. + Wouldn't you call Aaron Boynton a turrible larned man, Timothy?"</p> +<p>Timothy Grant, the parish clerk, had just entered the store on an + errand, but being directly addressed, and judging that the + subject under discussion was a discreet one, and that it was too + early in the evening for drinking to begin, he joined the group + by the fireside. He had preached in Vermont for several years as + an itinerant Methodist minister before settling down to farming + in Edgewood, only giving up his profession because his quiver was + so full of little Grants that a wandering life was difficult and + undesirable. When Uncle Bart Cole had remarked that Mis' Grant + had a little of everything in the way of baby-stock now,--black, + red, an' yaller-haired, dark and light complected, fat an' lean, + tall an' short, twins an' singles,--Jed Morrill had observed + dryly: "Yes, Mis' Grant kind o' reminds me of charity."</p> +<p>"How's that?" inquired Uncle Bart.</p> +<p>"She beareth all things," chuckled Jed.</p> +<p>"Aaron Boynton was, indeed, a man of most adhesive larnin'," + agreed Timothy, who had the reputation of the largest and most + unusual vocabulary in Edgewood. "Next to Jacob Cochrane I should + say Aaron had more grandeloquence as an orator than any man + we've ever had in these parts. It don't seem's if Ivory was goin' + to take after his father that way. The little feller, now, is + smart's a whip, an' could talk the tail off a brass monkey."</p> +<p>"Yes, but Rodman ain't no kin to the Boyntons," Abel reminded + him. "He inhails from the other side o' the house."</p> +<p>"That's so; well, Ivory does, for certain, an' takes after his + mother, right enough, for she hain't spoken a dozen words in as + many years, I guess. Ivory's got a sight o' book-knowledge, + though, an' they do say he could talk Greek an' Latin both, if we + had any of 'em in the community to converse with. I've never paid + no intention to the dead languages, bein' so ocker-pied with + other studies."</p> +<p>"Why do they call 'em the dead languages, Tim?" asked Rish Bixby.</p> +<p>"Because all them that ever spoke 'em has perished off the face + o' the land," Timothy answered oracularly. "Dead an' gone they + be, lock, stock, an' barrel; yet there was a time when Latins an' + Crustaceans an' Hebrews an' Prooshians an' Australians an' + Simesians was chatterin' away in their own tongues, an' so + pow'ful that they was wallopin' the whole earth, you might say."</p> +<p>"I bet yer they never tried to wallop these here United States," + interpolated Bill Dunham from the dark corner by the molasses + hogs-head.</p> +<p>"Is Ivory in here?" The door opened and Rodman Boynton appeared + on the threshold.</p> +<p>"No, sonny, Ivory ain't been in this evening replied Ezra Simms. + "I hope there ain't nothin' the matter over to your house?"</p> +<p>"No, nothing particular," the boy answered hesitatingly; "only + Aunt Boynton don't seem so well as common and I can't find Ivory + anywhere."</p> +<p>"Come along with me; I'll help you look for him an' then I'll go + as fur as the lane with yer if we don't find him." And kindly + Rish Bixby took the boy's hand and left the store.</p> +<p>"Mis' Boynton had a spell, I guess!" suggested the storekeeper, + peering through the door into the darkness. "'T ain't like Ivory + to be out nights and leave her to Rod."</p> +<p>"She don't have no spells," said Abel Day. "Uncle Bart sees + consid'able of Ivory an' he says his mother is as quiet as a + lamb.--Couldn't you git no kind of a certif'cate of Aaron's death + out o' that Enfield feller, Peter? Seems's if that poor woman'd + oughter be stopped watchin' for a dead man; tuckerin' herself all + out, an' keepin' Ivory an' the boy all nerved up."</p> +<p>"I've told Ivory everything I could gether up in the way of + information, and give him the names of the folks in Ohio that had + writ back to New Hampshire. I didn't dialate on Aaron's goin's-on + in Effingham an' Portsmouth, cause I dassay 't was nothin' but + scandal. Them as hates the Cochranites'll never allow there's any + good in 'em, whereas I've met some as is servin' the Lord good + an' constant, an' indulgin' in no kind of foolishness an' + deviltry whatsoever."</p> +<p>"Speakin' o' Husshons," said Bill Dunham from his corner, "I + remember--"</p> +<p>"We wa'n't alludin' to no Husshons," retorted Timothy Grant. "We + was dealin' with the misfortunes of Aaron Boynton, who never fit + valoriously on the field o' battle, but perished out in Ohio of + scarlit fever, if what they say in Enfield is true."</p> +<p>"Tis an easy death," remarked Bill argumentatively. "Scarlit + fever don't seem like nothin' to me! Many's the time I've been + close enough to fire at the eyeball of a Husshon, an' run the + resk o' bein' blown to smithereens!--calm and cool I alters was, + too! Scarlit fever is an easy death from a warrior's p'int o' + view!"</p> +<p>"Speakin' of easy death," continued Timothy, "you know I'm a + great one for words, bein' something of a scholard in my small + way. Mebbe you noticed that Elder Boone used a strange word in + his sermon last Sunday? Now an' then, when there's too many + yawnin' to once in the congregation, Parson'll out with a reg'lar + jaw-breaker to wake 'em up. The word as near as I could ketch it + was 'youthinasia.' I kep' holt of it till noontime an' then I run + home an' looked through all the y's in the dictionary without + findin' it. Mebbe it's Hebrew, I thinks, for Hebrew's like his + mother's tongue to Parson, so I went right up to him at afternoon + meetin' an' says to him: 'What's the exact meanin' of + "youthinasia"? There ain't no sech word in the Y's in my + Webster,' says I. 'Look in the E's, Timothy; "euthanasia"' says + he, 'means easy death'; an' now, don't it beat all that Bill + Dunham should have brought that expression of 'easy death' into + this evenin's talk?"</p> +<p>"I know youth an' I know Ashy," said Abel Day, "but blessed + if I + know why they should mean easy death when they yoke 'em + together." + "That's because you ain't never paid no 'tention to entomology," + said Timothy. "Aaron Boynton was master o' more 'ologies than you + could shake a stick at, but he used to say I beat him on + entomology. Words air cur'ous things sometimes, as I know, hevin' + had consid'able leisure time to read when I was joggin' 'bout the + country an' bein' brought into contack with men o' learnin'. The + way I worked it out, not wishin' to ask Parson any more + questions, bein' something of a scholard myself, is this: The + youth in Ashy is a peculiar kind o' youth, 'n' their religion + disposes 'em to lay no kind o' stress on huming life. When + anything goes wrong with 'em an' they get a set-back in war, or + business, or affairs with women-folks, they want to die right + off; so they take a sword an' stan' it straight up wherever they + happen to be, in the shed or the barn, or the henhouse, an' they + p'int the sharp end right to their waist-line, where the bowels + an' other vital organisms is lowcated; an' then they fall on to + it. It runs 'em right through to the back an' kills 'em like a + shot, and that's the way I cal'late the youth in Ashy dies, if my + entomology is correct, as it gen'ally is."</p> +<p>"Don't seem an easy death to me," argued Okra, "but I ain't + no + scholard. What college did thou attend to, Tim?"</p> +<p>"I don't hold no diaploma," responded Timothy, "though I attended + to Wareham Academy quite a spell, the same time as your sister + was goin' to Wareham Seminary where eddication is still bein' + disseminated though of an awful poor kind, compared to the old + times."</p> +<p>"It's live an' larn," said the storekeeper respectfully. "I + never + thought of a Seminary bein' a place of dissemination before, but + you can see the two words is near kin."</p> +<p>"You can't alters tell by the sound," said Timothy instructively. + "Sometimes two words'll start from the same root, an' branch out + diff'rent, like 'critter' an' 'hypocritter.' A 'hypocritter' must + natcherally start by bein' a 'critter,' but a critter ain't + obliged to be a 'hypocritter' 'thout he wants to."</p> +<p>"I should hope not," interpolated Abel Day, piously. "Entomology + must be an awful interest-in' study, though I never thought of + observin' words myself, kept to avoid vulgar language an' + profanity."</p> +<p>"Husshon's a cur'ous word for a man," inter-jected Bill Dunham + with a last despairing effort. "I remember seein' a Husshon once + that--"</p> +<p>"Perhaps you ain't one to observe closely, Abel," said Timothy, + not taking note of any interruption, simply using the time to + direct a stream of tobacco juice to an incredible distance, but + landing it neatly in the exact spot he had intended. "It's a + trade by itself, you might say, observin' is, an' there's another + sing'lar corraption! The Whigs in foreign parts, so they say, + build stone towers to observe the evil machinations of the + Tories, an' so the word 'observatory' come into general use! All + entomology; nothin' but entomology."</p> +<p>"I don't see where in thunder you picked up so much larnin', Timothy!" + It was Abel Day's exclamation, but every one agreed with him.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XX</p> +<p>THE ROD THAT BLOSSOMED</p> +<p>IVORY BOYNTON had taken the horse and gone to the village on an errand, a rare + thing for him to do after dark, so Rod was thinking, as he sat in the living-room + learning his Sunday-School lesson on the same evening that the men were gossiping + at the brick store. His aunt had required him, from the time when he was proficient + enough to do so, to read at least a part of a chapter in the Bible every night. + Beginning with Genesis he had reached Leviticus and had made up his mind that + the Bible was a much more difficult book than "Scottish Chiefs," not + withstanding the fact that Ivory helped him over most of the hard places. At + the present juncture he was vastly interested in the subject of "rods" + as unfolded in the book of Exodus, which was being studied by his Sunday-School + class. What added to the excitement was the fact that his uncle's Christian + name, Aaron, kept appearing in the chronicle, as frequently as that of the great + lawgiver Moses himself; and there were many verses about the wonder-working + rods of Moses and Aaron that had a strange effect upon the boy's ear, when he + read them aloud, as he loved to do whenever he was left alone for a time. When + his aunt was in the room his instinct kept him from doing this, for the mere + mention of the name of Aaron, he feared, might sadden his aunt and provoke in + her that dangerous vein of reminiscence that made Ivory so anxious.</p> +<p> + "It kind o' makes me nervous to be named 'Rod,' Aunt Boynton," + said the boy, looking up from the Bible. "All the rods in these + Exodus chapters do such dreadful things! They become serpents, + and one of them swallows up all the others: and Moses smites the + waters with a rod and they become blood, and the people can't + drink the water and the fish die! Then they stretch a rod across + the streams and ponds and bring a plague of frogs over the land, + with swarms of flies and horrible insects."</p> +<p>"That was to show God's power to Pharaoh, and melt his hard heart + to obedience and reverence," explained Mrs. Boynton, who had + known the Bible from cover to cover in her youth and could still + give chapter and verse for hundreds of her favorite passages.</p> +<p>"It took an awful lot of melting, Pharaoh's heart!" exclaimed the + boy. "Pharaoh must have been worse than Deacon Baxter! I wonder + if they ever tried to make him good by being kind to him! I've + read and read, but I can't find they used anything on him but + plagues and famines and boils and pestilences and thunder and + hail and fire!--Have I got a middle name, Aunt Boynton, for I + don't like Rod very much?"</p> +<p>"I never heard that you had a middle name; you must ask Ivory," + said his aunt abstractedly. </p> +<p>"Did my father name me Rod, or my mother?'</p> +<p>"I don't really know; perhaps it was your mother, but don't ask + questions, please."</p> +<p>"I forgot, Aunt Boynton! Yes, I think perhaps my mother named me. + Mothers 'most always name their babies, don't they? My mother + wasn't like you; she looked just like the picture of Pocahontas + in my History. She never knew about these Bible rods, I guess."</p> +<p>"When you go a little further you will find pleasanter things + about rods," said his aunt, knitting, knitting, intensely, as was + her habit, and talking as if her mind were a thousand miles away. + "You know they were just little branches of trees, and it was + only God's power that made them wonderful in any way."</p> +<p>"Oh! I thought they were like the singing-teacher's stick he + keeps time with."</p> +<p>"No; if you look at your Concordance you'll finds it gives you a + chapter in Numbers where there's something beautiful about rods. + I have forgotten the place; it has been many years since I looked + at it. Find it and read it aloud to me." The boy searched his + Concordance and readily found the reference in the seventeenth + chapter of Numbers.</p> +<p>"Stand near me and read," said Mrs. Boynton. "I like to hear + the + Bible read aloud!"</p> +<p>Rodman took his Bible and read, slowly and haltingly, but with + clearness and understanding:</p> +<p>1. AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING,</p> +<p>2. SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND TAKE OF EVERY ONE OF + THEM A ROD ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS, OF ALL THEIR + PRINCES ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS TWELVE RODS: + WRITE THOU EVERY MAN'S NAME UPON HIS ROD.</p> +<p>Through the boy's mind there darted the flash of a thought, a sad + thought. He himself was a Rod on whom no man's name seemed to be + written, orphan that he was, with no knowledge of his parents!</p> +<p>Suddenly he hesitated, for he had caught sight of the name of + Aaron in the verse that he was about to read, and did not wish to + pronounce it in his aunt's hearing.</p> +<p>"This chapter is most too hard for me to read out loud, Aunt + Boynton," he stammered. " Can I study it by myself and read it to + Ivory first?" + "Go on, go on, you read very sweetly; I can not remember what + comes and I wish to hear it."</p> +<p>The boy continued, but without raising his eyes from the Bible.</p> +<p>3. AND THOU SHALT WRITE AARON'S NAME UPON THE ROD OF LEVI: FOR + ONE ROD SHALL BE FOR THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS.</p> +<p>4. AND THOU SHALT LAY THEM UP IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE + CONGREGATION BEFORE THE TESTIMONY, WHERE I WILL MEET WITH YOU.</p> +<p>5. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT THE MAN'S ROD, WHOM I SHALL + CHOOSE, SHALL BLOSSOM: AND I WILL MAKE TO CEASE FROM ME THE + MURMURINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, WHEREBY THEY MURMUR AGAINST + YOU.</p> +<p>Rodman had read on, absorbed in the story and the picture it + presented to his imagination. He liked the idea of all the + princes having a rod according to the house of their fathers; he + liked to think of the little branches being laid on the altar in + the tabernacle, and above all he thought of the longing of each + of the princes to have his own rod chosen for the blossoming.</p> +<p>6. AND MOSES SPOKE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND EVERY ONE OF + THEIR PRINCES GAVE HIM A ROD A PIECE, FOR EACH PRINCE ONE, + ACCORDING TO THEIR FATHER'S HOUSES, EVEN TWELVE RODS; AND THE ROD + OF AARON WAS AMONG THEIR RODS.</p> +<p>Oh! how the boy hoped that Aaron's branch would be the one chosen + to blossom! He felt that his aunt would be pleased, too; but he + read on steadily, with eyes that glowed and breath that came and + went in a very palpitation of interest.</p> +<p>7. AND MOSES LAID UP THE RODS BEFORE THE LORD IN THE TABERNACLE + OF WITNESS.</p> +<p>8. AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT ON THE MORROW MOSES WENT INTO THE + TABERNACLE OF WITNESS; AND, BEHOLD, THE ROD OF AARON WAS BUDDED + AND BROUGHT FORTH BUDS, AND BLOOMED BLOSSOMS, AND YIELDED + ALMONDS.</p> +<p>It was Aaron's rod, then, and was an almond branch! How + beautiful, for the blossoms would have been pink; and how the + people must have marvelled to see the lovely blooming thing on + the dark altar; first budding, then blossoming, then bearing + nuts! And what was the rod chosen for? He hurried on to the next + verse.</p> +<p>9. AND MOSES BROUGHT OUT ALL THE RODS FROM BEFORE THE LORD UNTO + ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: AND THEY LOOKED, AND TOOK EVERY MAN + HIS ROD.</p> +<p>10. AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES, BRING AARON'S ROD AGAIN BEFORE + THE TESTIMONY TO BE KEPT FOR A TOKEN AGAINST THE REBELS; AND THOU + SHALT QUITE TAKE AWAY THEIR MURMURINGS FROM ME, THAT THEY DIE + NOT.</p> +<p>"Oh! Aunt Boynton!" cried the boy, "I love my name after I've + heard about the almond rod! </p> +<p>Aren't you proud that it's Uncle's name that was written on the + one that blossomed?"</p> +<p>He turned swiftly to find that his aunt's knitting had slipped on + the floor; her nerveless hands drooped by her side as if there + were no life in them, and her head had fallen against the back of + her chair. The boy was paralyzed with fear at the sight of her + closed eyes and the deathly pallor of her face. He had never seen + her like this before, and Ivory was away. He flew for a bottle of + spirit, always kept in the kitchen cupboard for emergencies, and + throwing wood on the fire in passing, he swung the crane so that + the tea-kettle was over the flame. He knew only the humble + remedies that he had seen used here or there in illness, and + tried them timidly, praying every moment that he might hear + Ivory's step. He warmed a soapstone in the embers, and taking off + Mrs. Boynton's shoes, put it under her cold feet. He chafed her + hands and gently poured a spoonful of brandy between her pale + lips. Then sprinkling camphor on a handkerchief he held it to her + nostrils and to his joy she stirred in her chair; before many + minutes her lids fluttered, her lips moved, and she put her hand + to her heart.</p> +<p>"Are you better, Aunt dear?" Rod asked in a very wavering and + tearful voice.</p> +<p>She did not answer; she only opened her eyes and looked at him. + At length she whispered faintly, "I want Ivory; I want my son."</p> +<p>"He's out, Aunt dear. Shall I help you to bed the way Ivory does? + If you'll let me, then I'll run to the bridge 'cross lots, like + lightning, and bring him back."</p> +<p>She assented, and leaning heavily on his slender shoulder, walked + feebly into her bedroom off the living-room. Rod was as gentle as + a mother and he was familiar with all the little offices that + could be of any comfort; the soapstone warmed again for her feet, + the bringing of her nightgown from the closet, and when she was + in bed, another spoonful of brandy in hot milk; then the camphor + by her side, an extra homespun blanket over her, and the door + left open so that she could see the open fire that he made into a + cheerful huddles contrived so that it would not snap and throw + out dangerous sparks in his absence.</p> +<p>All the while he was doing this Mrs. Boynton lay quietly in the + bed talking to herself fitfully, in the faint murmuring tone that + was habitual to her. He could distinguish scarcely anything, only + enough to guess that her mind was still on the Bible story that + he was reading to her when she fainted. "THE ROD OF AARON WAS + AMONG THE OTHER RODS," he heard her say; and, a moment later, + "BRING AARON'S ROD AGAIN BEFORE THE TESTIMONY."</p> +<p>Was it his uncle's name that had so affected her, wondered the + boy, almost sick with remorse, although he had tried his best to + evade her command to read the chapter aloud? What would Ivory, + his hero, his pattern and example, say? It had always seen Rod's + pride to carry his little share of every burden that fell to + Ivory, to be faithful and helpful in every task given to him. He + could walk through fire without flinching, he thought, if Ivory + told him to, and he only prayed that he might not be held + responsible for this new calamity.</p> +<p>"I want Ivory!" came in a feeble voice from the bedroom.</p> +<p>"Does your side ache worse?" Rod asked, tip-toeing to the door.</p> +<p>"No, I am quite free from pain."</p> +<p>"Would you be afraid to stay alone just for a while if I lock + both doors and run to find Ivory and bring him back?"</p> +<p>"No, I will sleep," she whispered, closing her eyes. "Bring + him + quickly before I forget what I want to say to him."</p> +<p>Rod sped down the lane and over the fields to the brick store + where Ivory usually bought his groceries. His cousin was not + there, but one of the men came out and offered to take his horse + and drive over the bridge to see if he were at one of the + neighbors' on that side of the river. Not a word did Rod breathe + of his aunt's illness; he simply said that she was lonesome for + Ivory, and so he came to find him. In five minutes they saw the + Boynton horse hitched to a tree by the road-side, and in a trice + Rod called him and, thanking Mr. Bixby, got into Ivory's wagon to + wait for him. He tried his best to explain the situation as they + drove along, but finally concluded by saying: "Aunt really made + me read the chapter to her, Ivory. I tried not to when I saw + Uncle's name in most every verse, but I couldn't help it."</p> +<p>"Of course you couldn't! Now you jump out and hitch the horse + while I run in and see that nothing has happened while she's been + left alone. Perhaps you'11 have to go for Dr. Perry."</p> +<p>Ivory went in with fear and trembling, for there was no sound + save the ticking of the tall clock. The fire burned low upon the + hearth, and the door was open into his mother's room. He lifted a + candle that Rod had left ready on the table and stole softly to + her bedside. She was sleeping like a child, but exhaustion showed + itself in every line of her face. He felt her hands and feet and + found the soapstone in the bed; saw the brandy bottle and the + remains of a cup of milk on the light-stand; noted the + handkerchief, still strong of camphor on the counterpane, and the + blanket spread carefully over her knees, and then turned + approvingly to meet Rod stealing into the room on tiptoe, his + eyes big with fear.</p> +<p>"We won't wake her, Rod. I'll watch a while, then sleep on the + sitting-room lounge."</p> +<p>"Let me watch, Ivory! I'd feel better if you'd let me, honest I + would!"</p> +<p>The boy's face was drawn with anxiety. Ivory's attention was + attracted by the wistful eyes and the beauty of the forehead + under the dark hair. He seemed something more than the child of + yesterday--a care and responsibility and expense, for all his + loving obedience; he seemed all at once different to-night; + older, more dependable, more trustworthy; in fact, a positive + comfort and help in time of trouble.</p> +<p>"I did the best I knew how; was anything wrong?" asked the boy, + as Ivory stood regarding him with a friendly smile.</p> +<p>"Nothing wrong, Rod! Dr. Perry couldn't have done any better with + what you had on hand. I don't know how I should get along without + you, boy!" Here Ivory patted Rod's shoulder. "You're not a child + any longer, Rod; you're a man and a brother, that's what you are; + and to prove it I'll take the first watch and call you up at one + o'clock to take the second, so that I can be ready for my school + work to-morrow! How does that suit you?"</p> +<p></p> + +"Tip-top!" said the boy, flushing with pride. "I'll lie down with +my clothes on; it's only nine o'clock and I'll get four hours' +sleep; that's a lot more than Napoleon used to have!" +<p>He carried the Bible upstairs and just before he blew out his + candle he looked again at the chapter in Numbers, thinking he + would show it to Ivory privately next day. Again the story + enchanted him, and again, like a child, he put his own name and + his living self among the rods in the tabernacle.</p> +<p>"Ivory would be the prince of our house," he thought. "Oh! how + I'd like to be Ivory's rod and have it be the one that was chosen to blossom + and keep the rebels from murmuring!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXI</p> +<p>LOIS BURIES HER DEAD</p> +<p>THE replies that Ivory had received from his letters of inquiry concerning + his father's movements since leaving Maine, and his possible death in the West, + left no reasonable room for doubt. Traces of Aaron Boynton in New Hampshire, + in Massachusetts, in New York, and finally in Ohio, all pointed in one direction, + and although there were gaps and discrepancies in the account of his doings, + the fact of his death seemed to be established by two apparently reliable witnesses. +</p> +<p> + That he was not unaccompanied in his earliest migrations seemed + clear, but the woman mentioned as his wife disappeared suddenly + from the reports, and the story of his last days was the story of + a broken-down, melancholy, unfriended man, dependent for the last + offices on strangers. He left no messages and no papers, said + Ivory's correspondent, and never made mention of any family + connections whatsoever. He had no property and no means of + defraying the expenses of his illness after he was stricken with + the fever. No letters were found among his poor effects and no + article that could prove his identity, unless it were a small + gold locket, which bore no initials or marks of any kind, but + which contained two locks of fair and brown hair, intertwined. + The tiny trinket was enclosed in the letter, as of no value, + unless some one recognized it as a keepsake. + Ivory read the correspondence with a heavy heart, inasmuch as it + corroborated all his worst fears. He had sometimes secretly hoped + that his father might return and explain the reason of his + silence; or in lieu of that, that there might come to light the + story of a pilgrimage, fanatical, perhaps, but innocent of evil + intention, one that could be related to his wife and his former + friends, and then buried forever with the death that had ended + it.</p> +<p>Neither of these hopes could now ever be realized, nor his + father's memory made other than a cause for endless regret, + sorrow, and shame. His father, who had begun life so handsomely, + with rare gifts of mind and personality, a wife of unusual beauty + and intelligence, and while still young in years, a considerable + success in his chosen profession. His poor father! What could + have been the reasons for so complete a downfall?</p> +<p>Ivory asked Dr. Perry's advice about showing one or two of the + briefer letters and the locket to his mother. After her fainting + fit and the exhaustion that followed it, Ivory begged her to see + the old doctor, but without avail. Finally, after days of + pleading he took her hands in his and said: "I do everything a + mortal man can do to be a good son to you, mother; won't you do + this to please me, and trust that I know what is best?" Whereupon + she gave a trembling assent, as if she were agreeing to something + indescribably painful, and indeed this sight of a former friend + seemed to frighten her strangely.</p> +<p>After Dr. Perry had talked with her for a half-hour and examined + her sufficiently to make at least a reasonable guess as to her + mental and physical condition, he advised Ivory to break the news + of her husband's death to her.</p> +<p>"If you can get her to comprehend it," he said, "it is bound + to + be a relief from this terrible suspense."</p> +<p>"Will there be any danger of making her worse? Mightn't the shock + Cause too violent emotion?" asked Ivory anxiously.</p> +<p>"I don't think she is any longer capable of violent emotion," the + doctor answered. Her mind is certainly clearer than it was three + years ago, but her body is nearly burned away by the mental + conflict. There is scarcely any part of her but is weary; weary + unto death, poor soul. One cannot look at her patient, lovely + face without longing to lift some part of her burden. Make a + trial, Ivory; it's a justifiable experiment and I think it will + succeed. I must not come any oftener myself than is absolutely + necessary; she seemed afraid of me."</p> +<p>The experiment did succeed. Lois Boynton listened breathlessly, + with parted lips, and with apparent comprehension, to the story + Ivory told her. Over and over again he told her gently the story + of her husband's death, trying to make it sink into her mind + clearly, so that there should be no consequent bewilderment She + was calm and silent, though her face showed that she was deeply + moved. She broke down only when Ivory showed her the locket.</p> +<p>"I gave it to my husband when you were born, my son!" she sobbed. + "After all, it seems no surprise to me that your father is dead. + He said he would come back when the Mayflowers bloomed, and when + I saw the autumn leaves I knew that six months must have gone and + he would never stay away from us for six months without writing. + That is the reason I have seldom watched for hint these last + weeks. I must have known that it was no use!"</p> +<p>She rose from her rocking-chair and moved feebly towards her + bedroom. "Can you spare me the rest of the day, Ivory?" she + faltered, as she leaned on her son and made her slow progress + from the kitchen. "I must bury the body of my grief and I want to + be alone at first. . . If only I could see Waitstill! We have + both thought this was coming: she has a woman's instinct. . . she + is younger and stronger than I am, and she said it was braver not + to watch and pine and fret as I have done. . . but to have faith + in God that He would send me a sign when He was ready. . . . She + said if I could manage to be braver you would be happier too. . . + ." Here she sank on to her bed exhausted, but still kept up her + murmuring faintly and feebly, between long intervals of silence.</p> +<p>"Do you think Waitstill could come to-morrow?" she asked. "I + am so much braver when she is here with me. . . . After supper I will put away + your father's cup and plate once and for all, Ivory, and your eyes need never + fill with tears again, as they have, sometimes, when you have seen me watching. + . . . You needn't worry about me; I am remembering better these days, and the + bells that ring in my ears are not so loud. If only the pain in my side were + less and I were not so pressed for breath, I should be quite strong and could + see everything clearly at last. . . . There is something else that remains to + be remembered. I have almost caught it once and it must come to me again before + long. . . . Put the locket under my pillow, Ivory; close the door, please, and + leave me to myself. . . . I can't make it quite clear, my feeling about it, + but it seems just as if I were going to bury your father and I want to be alone."</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXII</p> +<p>HARVEST-TIME</p> +<p>NEW ENGLAND'S annual pageant of autumn was being unfolded day by + day in all its accustomed splendor, and the feast and riot of + color, the almost unimaginable glory, was the common property of + the whole countryside, rich and poor, to be shared alike if + perchance all eyes were equally alive to the wonder and the + beauty.</p> +<p>Scarlet days and days of gold followed fast one upon the other; + Saco Water flowing between quiet woodlands that were turning red + and russet and brown, and now plunging through rocky banks all + blazing with crimson.</p> +<p>Waitstill Baxter went as often as she could to the Boynton farm, though never + when Ivory was at home, and the affection between the younger and the older + woman grew closer and closer, so that it almost broke Waitstill's heart to leave + the fragile creature, when her presence seemed to bring such complete peace + and joy.</p> +<p> + "No one ever clung to me so before," she often thought as she was + hurrying across the fields after one of her half-hour visits. + "But the end must come before long. Ivory does not realize it + yet, nor Rodman, but it seems as if she could never survive the + long winter. Thanksgiving Day is drawing nearer and nearer, and + how little I am able to do for a single creature, to prove to God + that I am grateful for my existence! I could, if only I were + free, make such a merry day for Patty and Mark and their young + friends. Oh! what joy if father were a man who would let me set a + bountiful table in our great kitchen; would sit at the head and + say grace, and we could bow our heads over the cloth, a united + family! Or, if I had done my duty in my home and could go to that + other where I am so needed--go with my father's blessing! If only + I could live in that sad little house and brighten it! I would + trim the rooms with evergreen and creeping-Jenny; I would put + scarlet alder berries and white ever-lastings and blue fringed + gentians in the vases! I would put the last bright autumn leaves + near Mrs. Boynton's bed and set out a tray with a damask napkin + and the best of my cooking; then I would go out to the back door + where the woodbine hangs like a red waterfall and blow the + dinner-horn for my men down in the harvest-field! All the woman + in me is wasting, wasting! Oh! my dear, dear man, how I long for + him! Oh! my own dear man, my helpmate, shall I ever live by his + side? I love him, I want him, I need him!</p> +<p>And my dear little unmothered, unfathered boy, how happy I could + make him! How I should love to cook and sew for them all and wrap + them in comfort! How I should love to smooth my dear mother's + last days,--for she is my mother, in spirit, in affection, in + desire, and in being Ivory's!"</p> +<p>Waitstill's longing, her discouragement, her helplessness, + overcame her wholly, and she flung herself down under a tree in + the pasture in a very passion of sobbing, a luxury in which she + could seldom afford to indulge herself. The luxury was + short-lived, for in five minutes she heard Rodman's voice, and + heard him running to meet her as he often did when she came to + their house or went away from it, dogging her footsteps or + Patty's whenever or wherever he could waylay them.</p> +<p>"Why, my dear, dear Waity, did you tumble and hurt yourself?" the + boy cried.</p> +<p>"Yes, dreadfully, but I'm better now, so walk along with me and + tell me the news, Rod."</p> +<p>"There isn't much news. Ivory told you I'd left school and am + studying at home? He helps me evenings and I'm 'way ahead of the + class."</p> +<p>"No, Ivory didn't tell me. I haven't seen him lately."</p> +<p>"I said if the big brother kept school, the little brother ought + to keep house," laughed the boy.</p> +<p>"He says I can hire out as a cook pretty soon! Aunt Boynton's + 'most always up to get dinner and supper, but I can make lots of + things now,-- things that Aunt Boynton can eat, too."</p> +<p>"Oh, I cannot bear to have you and Ivory cooking for yourselves!" + exclaimed Waitstill, the tears starting again from her eyes. "I + must come over the next time when you are at home, Rod, and I can + help you make something nice for supper.</p> +<p>"We get along pretty well," said Rodman contentedly. "I love + book-learning like Ivory and I'm going to be a schoolmaster or a + preacher when Ivory's a lawyer. Do you think Patty'd like a + schoolmaster or a preacher best, and do you think I'd be too + young to marry her by and by, if she would wait for me?"</p> +<p>"I didn't think you had any idea of marrying Patty," laughed + Waitstill through her tears. "Is this something new?"</p> +<p>"It's not exactly new," said Rod, jumping along like a squirrel + in the path. " Nobody could look at Patty and not think about + marrying her. I'd love to marry you, too, but you re too big and + grand for a boy. Of course, I'm not going to ask Patty yet. Ivory + said once you should never ask a girl until you can keep her like + a queen; then after a minute he said: 'Well, maybe not quite like + a queen, Rod, for that would mean longer than a man could wait. + Shall we say until he could keep her like the dearest lady in the + land?' That 's the way he said it.--You do cry dreadfully easy + to-day, Waity; I'm sure you barked your leg or skinned your knee + when you fell down.--Don't you think the 'dearest lady in the + land ' is a nice-sounding sentence?"</p> +<p>"I do, indeed!" cried Waitstill to herself as she turned the + words over and over trying to feed her hungry heart with them.</p> +<p>"I love to hear Ivory talk; it's like the stories in the books. + We have our best times in the barn, for I'm helping with the + milking, now. Our yellow cow's name is Molly and the red cow used + to be Dolly, but we changed her to Golly, 'cause she's so + troublesome. Molly's an easy cow to milk and I can get almost all + there is, though Ivory comes after me and takes the strippings. + Golly swishes her tail and kicks the minute she hears us coming; + then she stands stiff-legged and grits her teeth and holds on to + her milk HARD, and Ivory has to pat and smooth and coax her every + single time. Ivory says she's got a kind of an attachment inside + of her that she shuts down when he begins to milk."</p> +<p>"We had a cross old cow like that, once," said Waitstill + absently, loving to hear the boy's chatter and the eternal + quotations from his beloved hero.</p> +<p>"We have great fun cooking, too," continued Rod. "When Aunt + Boynton was first sick she stayed in bed more, and Ivory and I + hadn't got used to things. One morning we bound up each other's + burns. Ivory had three fingers and I two, done up in buttery rags + to take the fire out. Ivory called us 'Soldiers dressing their + Wounds after the Battle.' Sausages spatter dreadfully, don't + they? And when you turn a pancake it flops on top of the stove. + Can you flop one straight, Waity?"</p> +<p>"Yes, I can, straight as a die; that's what girls are made for. + Now run along home to your big brother, and do put on some warmer + clothes under your coat; the weather's getting colder."</p> +<p>"Aunt Boynton hasn't patched our thick ones yet, but she will + soon, and if she doesn't, Ivory'll take this Saturday evening and + do them himself; he said so."</p> +<p>"He shall not!" cried Waitstill passionately. "It is not seemly + for Ivory to sew and mend, and I will not allow it. You shall + bring me those things that need patching without telling any one, + do you hear, and I will meet you on the edge of the pasture + Saturday afternoon and give them back to you. You are not to + speak of it to any one, you understand, or perhaps I shall pound + you to a jelly. You'd make a sweet rosy jelly to eat with turkey + for Thanksgiving dinner, you dear, comforting little boy!"</p> +<p>Rodman ran towards home and Waitstill hurried along, scarcely + noticing the beauties of the woods and fields and waysides, all + glowing masses of goldenrod and purple frost flowers. The stone + walls were covered with wild-grape and feathery clematis vines. + Everywhere in sight the cornfields lay yellow in the afternoon + sun and ox carts heavily loaded with full golden ears were going + home to the barns to be ready for husking.</p> +<p>A sudden breeze among the orchard boughs as she neared the house + was followed by a shower of russets, and everywhere the red + Baldwins gleamed on the apple-tree boughs, while the wind-falls + were being gathered and taken to the cider mills. There was a + grove of maples on the top of Town-House Hill and the Baxters' + dooryard was a blaze of brilliant color. To see Patty standing + under a little rock maple, her brown linsey-woolsey in I one with + the landscape, and the hood of her brown cape pulled over her + bright head, was a welcome for anybody. She looked flushed and + excited as she ran up to her sister and said, "Waity, darling, + you've been crying! Has father been scolding you?"</p> +<p>"No, dear, but my heart is aching to-day so that I can scarcely + bear it. A wave of discouragement came over me as I was walking + through the woods, and I gave up to it a bit. I remembered how + soon it will be Thanksgiving Day, and I'll so like to make it + happier for you and a few others that I love."</p> +<p>Patty could have given a shrewd guess as to the chief cause of + the heartache, but she forebore to ask any questions. "Cheer up, + Waity," she cried. "You never can tell; we may have a thankful + Thanksgiving, after all! Who knows what may happen? I'm 'strung + up' this afternoon and in a fighting mood. I've felt like a new + piece of snappy white elastic all day; it's the air, just like + wine, so cool and stinging and full of courage! Oh, yes, we won't + give up hope yet awhile, Waity, not until we're snowed in!"</p> +<p>"Put your arms round me and give me a good hug, Patty! Love me + hard, HARD, for, oh! I need it badly just now!"</p> +<p>And the two girls clung together for a moment and then went into the house + with hands close-locked and a kind of sad, desperate courage in their young + hearts. What would either of them have done, each of them thought, had she been + forced to endure alone the life that went on day after day in Deacon Baxter's + dreary house?</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXIII</p> +<p>AUNT ABBY'S WINDOW</p> +<p>MRS. ABEL DAY had come to spend the afternoon with Aunt Abby Cole + and they were seated at the two sitting-room windows, sweeping + the land- + scape with eagle eyes in the intervals of making patchwork.</p> +<p>"The foliage has been a little mite too rich this season," remarked + Aunt Abby. "I b'lieve I'm glad to see it thinin' out some, so 't we can + have some kind of an idee of what's goin' on in the village." </p> +<p> + "There's plenty goin' on," Mrs. Day answered unctuously; "some + of + it aboveboard an' some underneath it."</p> +<p>"An' that's jest where it's aggravatin' to have the leaves so + thick and the trees so high between you and other folks' houses. + Trees are good for shade, it's true, but there's a limit to all + things. There was a time when I could see 'bout every-thing that + went on up to Baxters', and down to Bart's shop, and, by goin' up + attic, consid'able many things that happened on the bridge. Bart + vows he never planted that plum tree at the back door of his + shop; says the children must have hove out plum stones when they + was settin' on the steps and the tree come up of its own accord. + He says he didn't take any notice of it till it got quite a start + and then 't was such a healthy young bush he couldn't bear to + root it out. I tell him it's kind O' queer it should happen to + come up jest where it spoils my view of his premises. Men folks + are so exasperatin' that sometimes I wish there was somebody + different for us to marry, but there ain't,--so there we be!"</p> +<p>"They are an awful trial," admitted Mrs. Day. " Abel never + sympathizes with my head-aches. I told him a-Sunday I didn't + believe he'd mind if I died the next day, an' all he said was: + 'Why don't you try it an' see, Lyddy?' He thinks that's + humorous."</p> +<p>"I know; that's the way Bartholomew talks; I guess they all do. + You can see the bridge better 'n I can, Lyddy; has Mark Wilson + drove over sence you've been settin' there? He's like one o' them + ostriches that hides their heads in the sand when the + bird-catchers are comin' along, thinkin' 'cause they can't see + anything they'll never BE seen! He knows folks would never tell + tales to Deacon Baxter, whatever the girls done; they hate him + too bad. Lawyer Wilson lives so far away, he can't keep any watch + o' Mark, an' Mis' Wilson's so cityfied an' purse-proud nobody + ever goes to her with any news, bad or good; so them that's the + most concerned is as blind as bats. Mark's consid'able stiddier'n + he used to be, but you needn't tell me he has any notion of + bringin' one o' that Baxter tribe into his family. He's only + amusin' himself."</p> +<p>Patty'll be Mrs. Wilson or nothin'," was Mrs. Day's response. + "Both o' them girls is silk purses an' you can't make sows' ears + of 'em. We ain't neither of us hardly fair to Patty, an' I s'pose + it 's because she didn't set any proper value on Cephas."</p> +<p>"Oh, she's good enough for Mark, I guess, though I ain't so sure + of his intentions as you be. She's nobody's fool, Patty ain't, I + allow that, though she did treat Cephas like the dirt in the + road. I'm thankful he's come to his senses an' found out the + diff'rence between dross an' gold."</p> +<p>"It's very good of you to put it that way, Abby," Mrs. Day + responded gratefully, for it was Phoebe, her own offspring, who + was alluded to as the most precious of metals. "I suppose we'd + better have the publishing notice put up in the frame before + Sunday? There'll be a great crowd out that day and at + Thanksgiving service the next Thursday too!"</p> +<p>"Cephas says he don't care how soon folks hears the news, now + all's settled," said his mother. "I guess he's kind of anxious + that the village should know jest how little truth there is in + the gossip 'bout him bein' all upset over Patience Baxter. He + said they took consid'able notice of him an' Phoebe settin' + together at the Harvest Festival last evenin'. He thought the + Baxter girls would be there for certain, but I s'pose Old Foxy + wouldn't let 'em go up to the Mills in the evenin', nor spend a + quarter on their tickets."</p> +<p>"Mark could have invited Patty an' paid for her ticket, I should + think; or passed her in free, for that matter, when the Wilsons + got up the entertainment; but, of course, the Deacon never allows + his girls to go anywheres with men-folks."</p> +<p>"Not in public; so they meet 'em side o' the river or round the + corner of Bart's shop, or anywhere they can, when the Deacon's + back's turned. If you tied a handkerchief over Waitstill's eyes + she could find her way blindfold to Ivory Boynton's house, but + she's good as gold, Waitstill is; she'll stay where her duty + calls her, every time! If any misfortune or scandal should come + near them two girls, the Deacon will have no-body but himself to + thank for it, that's one sure thing!"</p> +<p>"Young folks can't be young but once," sighed Mrs. Day. "I + thought we had as handsome a turn-out at the entertainment last + evenin' as any village on the Saco River could 'a' furnished: an' + my Phoebe an' your Cephas, if I do say so as shouldn't, was about + the best-dressed an' best-appearin' couple there was present. + Also, I guess likely, they're startin' out with as good prospects + as any bride an' groom that's walked up the middle aisle o' the + meetin'-house for many a year. . . . How'd you like that Boston + singer that the Wilsons brought here, Abby?--Wait a minute, is + Cephas, or the Deacon, tendin' store this after-noon?"</p> +<p>"The Deacon; Cephas is paintin' up to the Mills."</p> +<p>"Well, Mark Wilson's horse an' buggy is meanderin' slowly down + Aunt Betty-Jack's hill, an' Mark is studyin' the road as if he + was lookin' for a four-leafed clover."</p> +<p>"He'll hitch at the tavern, or the Edgewood store, an' wait his + chance to get a word with Patience," said Aunt Abby. "He knows + when she takes milk to the Morrills', or butter to the parsonage; + also when she eats an' drinks an' winks her eye an' ketches her + breath an' lifts her foot. Now he's disappeared an' we'll wait. . + . . Why, as to that Boston singer,--an' by the way, they say + Ellen Wilson's goin' to take lessons of her this winter,--she + kind o' bewildered me, Lyddy! Of course, I ain't never been to + any cities, so I don't feel altogether free to criticise; but + what did you think of her, when she run up so high there, one + time? I don't know how high she went, but I guess there wa'n't no + higher to go!"</p> +<p>"It made me kind o' nervous," allowed Mrs. Day.</p> +<p>"Nervous! Bart' an' I broke out in a cold sweat! He said she + couldn't hold a candle to Waitstill Baxter. But it's that little + fly-away Wilson girl that'll get the lessons, an' Waitstill will + have to use her voice callin' the Deacon home to dinner. Things + ain't divided any too well in this world, Lyddy."</p> +<p>"Waitstill's got the voice, but she lacks the trainin'. The + Boston singer knows her business, I'll say that for her," said + Mrs. Day.</p> +<p>"She's got good stayin' power," agreed Aunt Abby. "Did you notice + how she held on to that high note when she'd clumb where she + wanted to git? She's got breath enough to run a gristmill, that + girl has! And how'd she come down, when she got good and ready to + start? Why, she zig-zagged an' saw-toothed the whole way! It kind + o' made my flesh creep!"</p> +<p>"I guess part o' the trouble's with us country folks," Mrs. Day + responded, "for folks said she sung runs and trills better'n any + woman up to Boston."</p> +<p>"Runs an' trills," ejaculated Abby scornfully. "I was talkin' + 'bout singin' not runnin'. My niece Ella up to Parsonfield has + taken three terms on the pianner an' I've heerd her practise. + Scales has got to be done, no doubt, but they'd ought to be done + to home, where they belong; a concert ain't no place for 'em. . . + . There, what did I tell yer? Patience Baxter's crossin' the + bridge with a pail in her hand. She's got that everlastin' + yeller-brown, linsey-woolsey on, an' a white 'cloud' wrapped + around her head with con'sid'able red hair showin' as usual. You + can always see her fur's you can a sunrise! And there goes Rod + Boynton, chasin' behind as usual. Those Baxter girls make a + perfect fool o' that boy, but I don't s'pose Lois Boynton's got + wit enough to make much fuss over the poor little creeter!"</p> +<p>Mark Wilson could certainly see Patty Baxter as far as he could a sunrise, + although he was not intimately acquainted with that natural phenomenon. He took + a circuitous route from his watch-tower, and, knowing well the point from which + there could be no espionage from Deacon Baxter's store windows, joined Patty + in the road, took the pail from her hand, and walked up the hill beside her. + Of course, the village could see them, but, as Aunt Abby had intimated, there + wasn't a man, woman, or child on either side of the river who wouldn't have + taken the part of the Baxter girls against their father.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXIV</p> +<p>PHOEBE TRIUMPHS</p> +<p>MEANTIME Feeble Phoebe Day was driving her father's horse up to the Mills to + bring Cephas Cole home. It was a thrilling moment, a sort of outward and visible + sign of an inward and spiritual tie, for their banns were to be published the + next day, so what did it matter if the community, nay, if the whole universe, + speculated as to why she was drawing her beloved back from his daily toil? It + had been an eventful autumn for Cephas. After a third request for the hand of + Miss Patience Baxter, and a refusal of even more than common decision and energy, + Cephas turned about face and employed the entire month of September in a determined + assault upon the affections of Miss Lucy Morrill, but with no better avail. + His heart was not ardently involved in this second wooing, but winter was approaching, + he had moved his mother out of her summer quarters back to the main house, and + he doggedly began papering the ell and furnishing the kitchen without disclosing + to his respected parents the identity of the lady for whose comfort he was so + hospitably preparing.</p> +<p> + Cephas's belief in the holy state of matrimony as being the only + one proper for a man, really ought to have commended him to the + opposite (and ungrateful) sex more than it did, and Lucy Morrill + held as respectful an opinion of the institution and its manifold + advantages as Cephas himself, but she was in a very unsettled + frame of mind and not at all susceptible to wooing. She had a + strong preference for Philip Perry, and held an opinion, not + altogether unfounded in human experience, that in course of time, + when quite deserted by Patty Baxter, his heart might possibly be + caught on the rebound. It was only a chance, but Lucy would + almost have preferred remaining unmarried, even to the withering + age of twenty-five, rather than not be at liberty to accept + Philip Perry in case she should be asked.</p> +<p>Cephas therefore, by the middle of October, could be + picturesquely and alliteratively described as being raw from + repeated rejections. His bruised heart and his despised ell + literally cried out for the appreciation so long and blindly + withheld. Now all at once Phoebe disclosed a second virtue; her + first and only one, hitherto, in the eyes of Cephas, having been + an ability to get on with his mother, a feat in which many had + made an effort and few indeed had succeeded. Phoebe, it seems, + had always secretly admired, respected, and loved Cephas Cole! + Never since her pale and somewhat glassy blue eye had opened on + life had she beheld a being she could so adore if encouraged in + the attitude.</p> +<p>The moment this unusual and unexpected poultice was really + applied to Cephas's wounds, they began to heal. In the course of + a month the most ordinary observer could have perceived a + physical change in him. He cringed no more, but held his head + higher; his back straightened; his voice developed a gruff, + assertive note, like that of a stern Roman father; he let his + moustache grow, and sometimes, in his most reckless moments, + twiddled the end of it. Finally he swaggered; but that was only + after Phoebe had accepted him and told him that if a girl + traversed the entire length of the Saco River (which she presumed + to be the longest in the world, the Amazon not being familiar to + her), she could not hope to find his equal as a husband.</p> +<p>And then congratulations began to pour in! Was ever marriage so + fortuitous! The Coles' farm joined that of the Days and the union + between the two only children would cement the friendship between + the families. The fact that Uncle Bart was a joiner, Cephas a + painter, and Abel Day a mason and bricklayer made the alliance + almost providential in its business opportunities. Phoebe's + Massachusetts aunt sent a complete outfit of gilt-edged china, a + clock, and a mahogany chamber set. Aunt Abby relinquished to the + young couple a bedroom and a spare chamber in the "main part," + while the Days supplied live-geese feathers and table and + bed-linen with positive prodigality. Aunt Abby trod the air like + one inspired. "Balmy" is the only adjective that could describe + her.</p> +<p>"If only I could 'a' looked ahead," smiled Uncle Bart quizzically + to himself, "I'd 'a' had thirteen sons and daughters an' married + off one of 'em every year. That would 'a' made Abby's good temper + kind o' permanent."</p> +<p>Cephas was content, too. There was a good deal in being settled + and having "the whole doggoned business" off your hands. Phoebe + looked a very different creature to him in these latter days. Her + eyes were just as pale, of course, but they were brighter, and + they radiated love for him, an expression in the female eye that + he had thus far been singularly unfortunate in securing. She + still held her mouth slightly open, but Cephas thought that it + might be permissible, perhaps after three months of wedded bliss, + to request her to be more careful in closing it. He believed, + too, that she would make an effort to do so just to please him; + whereas a man's life or property would not be safe for a single + instant if he asked Miss Patience Baxter to close her mouth, not + if he had been married to her for thirty times three months!</p> +<p>Cephas did not think of Patty any longer with bitterness, in + these days, being of the opinion that she was punished enough in + observing his own growing popularity and prosperity.</p> +<p>"If she should see that mahogany chamber set going into the ell I + guess she'd be glad enough to change her tune!" thought Cephas, + exultingly; and then there suddenly shot through his mind the + passing fancy--"I wonder if she would!" He promptly banished the + infamous suggestion however, reinforcing his virtue with the + reflection that the chamber set was Phoebe's, anyway, and the + marriage day appointed, and the invitations given out, and the + wedding-cake being baked, a loaf at a time, by his mother and + Mrs. Day.</p> +<p>As a matter of fact Patty would have had no eyes for Phoebe's + magnificent mahogany, even had the cart that carried it passed + her on the hill where she and Mark Wilson were walking. Her + promise to marry him was a few weeks old now, and his arm + encircled her slender waist under the brown homespun cape. That + in itself was a new sensation and gave her the delicious sense of + belonging to somebody who valued her highly, and assured her of + his sentiments clearly and frequently, both by word and deed. + Life, dull gray life, was going to change its hue for her + presently, and not long after, she hoped, for Waitstill, too! It + needed only a brighter, a more dauntless courage; a little faith + that nettles, when firmly grasped, hurt the hand less, and a + fairer future would dawn for both of them. The Deacon was a + sharper nettle than she had ever meddled with before, but in + these days, when the actual contact had not yet occurred, she + felt sure of herself and longed for the moment when her pluck + should be tested and proved.</p> +<p>The "publishing" of Cephas and his third choice, their dull walk + up the aisle of the meeting-house before an admiring throng, on the Sunday when + Phoebe would "appear bride," all this seemed very tame as compared + with the dreams of this ardent and adventurous pair of lovers who had gone about + for days harboring secrets greater and more daring, they thought, than had ever + been breathed before within the hearing of Saco Water.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXV</p> +<p>LOVE'S YOUNG DREAMS</p> +<p>IT was not an afternoon for day-dreams, for there was a chill in + the air and a gray sky. Only a week before the hills along the + river might have been the walls of the New Jerusalem, shining + like red gold; now the glory had departed and it was a naked + world, with empty nests hanging to boughs that not long ago had + been green with summer. The old elm by the tavern, that had been + wrapped in a bright trail of scarlet woodbine, was stripped + almost bare of its autumn beauty. Here and there a maple showed a + remnant of crimson, and a stalwart oak had some rags of russet + still clinging to its gaunt boughs. The hickory trees flung out a + few yellow flags from the ends of their twigs, but the forests + wore a tattered and dishevelled look, and the withered leaves + that lay in dried heaps upon the frozen ground, driven hither and + thither by every gust of the north wind, gave the unthinking + heart a throb of foreboding. Yet the glad summer labor of those + same leaves was finished according to the law that governed them, + and the fruit was theirs and the seed for the coming year. No + breeze had been strong enough to shake them from the tree till + they were ready to forsake it. Now they had severed the bond that + had held them so tightly and fluttered down to give the earth all + their season's earnings. On every hillside, in every valley and + glen, the leaves that had made the summer landscape beautiful, + lay contentedly:</p> +<blockquote> + <p> "Where the rain might rain upon them, <br> + Where the sun might shine upon them, <br> + Where the wind might sigh upon them, <br> + And the snow might die upon them."</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Brown, withered, dead, buried in snow they might be, yet they were ministering + to all the leaves of the next spring-time, bequeathing to them in turn the beauty + that had been theirs; the leafy canopies for countless song birds, the grateful + shade for man and beast. </p> +<p> + Young love thought little of Nature's miracles, and hearts that + beat high and fast were warm enough to forget the bleak wind and + gathering clouds. If there were naked trees, were there not full + barrels of apples in every cellar? If there was nothing but + stubble in the frozen fields, why, there was plenty of wheat and + corn at the mill all ready for grinding. The cold air made one + long for a cheery home and fireside, the crackle of a hearth-log, + the bubbling of a steaming kettle; and Patty and Mark clung + together as they walked along, making bright images of a life + together, snug, warm, and happy.</p> +<p>Patty was a capricious creature, but all her changes were sudden + and endearing ones, captivating those who loved her more than a + monotonous and unchanging virtue. Any little shower, with Patty, + always ended with a rainbow that made the landscape more + enchanting than before. Of late her little coquetries and + petulances had disappeared as if by magic. She had been melted + somehow from irresponsible girlhood into womanhood, and that, + too, by the ardent affection of a very ordinary young man who had + no great gift save that of loving Patty greatly. The love had + served its purpose, in another way, too, for under its influence + Mark's own manhood had broadened and deepened. He longed to bind + Patty to him for good and all, to capture the bright bird whose + fluttering wings and burnished plumage so captured his senses and + stirred his heart, but his longings had changed with the quality + of his love and he glowed at the thought of delivering the girl + from her dreary surroundings and giving her the tenderness, the + ease and comfort, the innocent gayety, that her nature craved.</p> +<p>"You won't fail me, Patty darling?" he was saying at this moment. + "Now that our plans are finally made, with never a weak point any + where as far as I can see, my heart is so set upon carrying them + out that every hour of waiting seems an age!"</p> +<p>"No, I won't fail, Mark; but I never know the day that father + will go to town until the night before. I can always hear him + making his preparations in the barn and the shed, and ordering + Waitstill here and there. He is as excited as if he was going to + Boston instead of Milltown."</p> +<p>"The night before will do. I will watch the house every evening + till you hang a white signal from your window."</p> +<p>"It won't be white," said Patty, who would be mischievous on her + deathbed; "my Sunday-go-to-meetin' petticoat is too grand, and + everything else that we have is yellow."</p> +<p>"I shall see it, whatever color it is, you can be sure of that!" + said Mark gallantly. "Then it's decided that next morning I'11 + wait at the tavern from sunrise, and whenever your father and + Waitstill have driven up Saco Hill, I'll come and pick you up and + we '11 be off like a streak of lightning across the hills to New + Hampshire. How lucky that Riverboro is only thirty miles from the + state line!--It looks like snow, and how I wish it would be + something more than a flurry; a regular whizzing, whirring storm + that would pack the roads and let us slip over them with our + sleigh-bells ringing!"</p> +<p>"I should like that, for they would be our only wedding-bells. + Oh! Mark! What if Waitstill shouldn't go, after all: though I + heard father tell her that he needed her to buy things for the + store, and that they wouldn't be back till after nightfall. Just + to think of being married without Waitstill!"</p> +<p>"You can do without Waitstill on this one occasion, better than + you can without me," laughed Mark, pinching Patty's cheek. "I've + given the town clerk due notice and I have a friend to meet me at + his office. He is going to lend me his horse for the drive home, + and we shall change back the next week. That will give us a fresh + horse each way, and we'll fly like the wind, snow or no snow, + When we come down Guide Board Hill that night, Patty, we shall be + man and wife; isn't that wonderful?"</p> +<p>"We shall be man and wife in New Hampshire, but not in Maine, you + say," Patty reminded him dolefully. "It does seem dreadful that + we can't be married in our own state, and have to go dangling + about with this secret on our minds, day and night; but it can't + be helped! You'll try not to even think of me as your wife till + we go to Portsmouth to live, won't you?"</p> +<p>You're asking too much when you say I'm not to think of you as my + wife, for I shall think of nothing else, but I've given you my + solemn promise," said Mark stoutly, "and I'll keep it as sure as + I live. We'll be legally married by the laws of New Hampshire, + but we won't think of it as a marriage till I tell your father + and mine, and we drive away once more together. That time it will + be in the sight of everybody, with our heads in the air. I've got + the little house in Portsmouth all ready, Patty: it's small, but + it's in a nice part of the town. Portsmouth is a pretty place, + but it'll be a great deal prettier when it has Mrs. Mark Wilson + living in it. We can be married over again in Maine, afterwards, + if your heart is set upon it. I'm willing to marry you in every + state of the Union, so far as I am concerned."</p> +<p>"I think you've been so kind and good and thoughtful, Mark dear," + said Patty, more fondly and meltingly than she had ever spoken to + him before, "and so clever too! I do respect you for getting that + good position in Portsmouth and being able to set up for yourself + at your age. I shouldn't wonder a bit if you were a judge some + day, and then what a proud girl I shall be!"</p> +<p>Patty's praise was bestowed none too frequently, and it sounded + very sweet in the young man's ears.</p> +<p>"I do believe I can get on, with you to help me, Patty," he said, + pressing her arm more closely to his side, and looking down + ardently into her radiant face. "You're a great deal cleverer + than I am, but I have a faculty for the business of the law, so + my father says, and a faculty for money-making, too. And even if + we have to begin in a small way, my salary will be a certainty, + and we'11 work up together. I can see you in a yellow satin + dress, stiff enough to stand alone!"</p> +<p>"It must be white satin, if you please, not yellow! After having + used a hundred and ten yards of shop-worn yellow calico on myself + within two years, I never want to wear that color again. If only + I could come to you better provided, she sighed, with the + suggestion of tears in her voice. "If I'd been a common servant I + could have saved something from my wages to be married on; I + haven't even got anything to be married IN!"</p> +<p>"I'11 get you anything you want in Portland to-morrow."</p> +<p>"Certainly not; I'd rather be married in rags than have you spend + your money upon me beforehand!"</p> +<p>"Remember to have a box of your belongings packed and slipped + under the shed somewhere. You can't be certain what your father + will say or do when the time comes for telling him, and I want + you to be ready to leave on a moment's notice."</p> +<p>"I will; I'll do everything you say, Mark, but are you sure that + we have thought of every other way? I do so hate being + underhanded."</p> +<p>"Every other way! I am more than willing to ask your father, but + we know he would treat me with contempt, for he can't bear the + sight of me! He would probably lock you up and feed you on bread + and water. That being the state of things, how can I tell our + plans to my own father? He never would look with favor on my + running away with you; and mother is, by nature, set upon doing + things handsomely and in proper order. Father would say our + elopement would be putting us both wrong before the community, + and he'd advise me to wait. 'You are both young'--I can hear him + announcing his convictions now, as clearly as if he was standing + here in the road--'You are both young and you can well afford to + wait until something turns up.' As if we hadn't waited and waited + from all eternity!"</p> +<p>"Yes, we have been engaged to be married for at least five + weeks," said Patty, with an upward glance peculiar to her own + sparkling face,--one that always intoxicated Mark. "I am + seventeen and a half; your father couldn't expect a confirmed old + maid like me to waste any more time. </p> +<p>But I never would do this--this--sudden, unrespectable thing, if + there was any other way. Everything depends on my keeping it + secret from Waitstill, but she doesn't suspect anything yet. She + thinks of me as nothing but a child still. Do you suppose Ellen + would go with us, just to give me a little comfort?"</p> +<p>"She might," said Mark, after reflecting a moment. "She is very + devoted to you, and perhaps she could keep a secret; she never + has, but there's always a first time. You can't go on adding to + the party, though, as if it was a candy-pull! We cannot take Lucy + Morrill and Phoebe Day and Cephas Cole, because it would be too + hard on the horse; and besides, I might get embarrassed at the + town clerk's office and marry the wrong girl; or you might swop + me off for Cephas! But I'll tell Ellen if you say so; she's got + plenty of grit."</p> +<p>"Don't joke about it, Mark, don't. I shouldn't miss Waitstill so + much if I had Ellen, and how happy I shall be if she approves of + me for a sister and thinks your mother and father will like me in + time."</p> +<p>"There never was a creature born into the world that wouldn't + love you, Patty!"</p> +<p>"I don't know; look at Aunt Abby Cole!" said Patty pensively. + "Well, it does not seem as if a marriage that isn't good in + Riverboro was really decent! How tiresome of Maine to want all + those days of public notice; people must so often want to get + married in a minute. If I think about anything too long I always + get out of the notion."</p> +<p>"I know you do; that's what I'm afraid of!"--and Mark's voice + showed decided nervousness. "You won't get out of the notion of + marrying me, will you, Patty dear?"</p> +<p>"Marrying you is more than a 'notion,' Mark," said Patty soberly. + "I'm only a little past seventeen, but I'm far older because of + the difficulties I've had. I don't wonder you speak of my + 'notions.' I was as light as a feather in all my dealings with + you at first."</p> +<p>"So was I with you! I hadn't grown up, Patty."</p> +<p>"Then I came to know you better and see how you sympathized with + Waitstill's troubles and mine. I couldn't love anybody, I + couldn't marry anybody, who didn't feel that things at our house + can't go on as they are! Father has had a good long trial! Three + wives and two daughters have done their best to live with him, + and failed. I am not willing to die for him, as my mother did, + nor have Waitstill killed if I can help it. Sometimes he is like + a man who has lost his senses and sometimes he is only grim and + quiet and cruel. If he takes our marriage without a terrible + scene, Mark, perhaps it will encourage Waitstill to break her + chains as I have mine."</p> +<p>"There's sure to be an awful row," Mark said, as one who had + forecasted all the probabilities. "It wouldn't make any + difference if you married the Prince of Wales; nothing would suit + your father but selecting the man and making all the + arrangements; and then he would never choose any one who wouldn't + tend the store and work on the farm for him without wages."</p> +<p>"Waitstill will never run away; she isn't like me. She will sit + and sit there, slaving and suffering, till doomsday; for the one + that loves her isn't free like you!"</p> +<p>"You mean Ivory Boynton? I believe he worships the ground she + walks on. I like him better than I used, and I understand him + better. Oh! but I'm a lucky young dog to have a kind, liberal + father and a bit of money put by to do with as I choose. If I + hadn't, I'd be eating my heart out like Ivory!"</p> +<p>"No, you wouldn't eat your heart out; you'd always get what you + wanted somehow, and you wouldn't wait for it either; and I'm just + the same. I'm not built for giving up, and enduring, and + sacrificing. I'm naturally just a tuft of thistle-down, Mark; but + living beside Waitstill all these years I've grown ashamed to be + so light, blowing about hither and thither. I kept looking at her + and borrowing some of her strength, just enough to make me worthy + to be her sister. Waitstill is like a bit of Plymouth Rock, only + it's a lovely bit on the land side, with earth in the crevices, + and flowers blooming all over it and hiding the granite. Oh! if + only she will forgive us, Mark, I won't mind what father says or + does."</p> +<p>"She will forgive us, Patty darling; don't fret, and cry, and + make your pretty eyes all red. I'11 do nothing in all this to + make either of you girls ashamed of me, and I'll keep your father + and mine ever before my mind to prevent my being foolish or + reckless; for, you know, Patty, I'm heels over head in love with + you, and it's only for your sake I'm taking all these pains and + agreeing to do without my own wedded wife for weeks to come!"</p> +<p>"Does the town clerk, or does the justice of the peace give a + wedding-ring, just like the minister?" Patty asked. "I shouldn't + feel married without a ring."</p> +<p>"The ring is all ready, and has 'M.W. to P.B.' engraved in it, + with the place for the date waiting; and here is the engagement + ring if you'11 wear it when you're alone, Patty. My mother gave + it to me when she thought there would be something between + Annabel Franklin and me. The moment I looked at it--you see it's + a topaz stone--and noticed the yellow fire in it, I said to + myself: 'It is like no one but Patty Baxter, and if she won't + wear it, no other girl shall!' It's the color of the tip ends of + your curls and it's just like the light in your eyes when you're + making fun!"</p> +<p>"It's heavenly!" cried Patty. "It looks as if it had been made + of + the yellow autumn leaves, and oh! how I love the sparkle of it! + But never will I take your mother's ring or wear it, Mark, till + I've proved myself her loving, dutiful daughter. I'll do the one + wrong thing of running away with you and concealing our marriage, + but not another if I can help it."</p> +<p>"Very well," sighed Mark, replacing the ring in his pocket with + rather a crestfallen air. "But the first thing you know you'll be + too good for me, Patty! You used to be a regular + will-o'-the-wisp, all nonsense and fun, forever laughing and + teasing, so that a fellow could never be sure of you for two + minutes together."</p> +<p>"It's all there underneath," said Patty, putting her hand on his + arm and turning her wistful face up to his. "It will come again; + the girl in me isn't dead; she isn't even asleep; but she's all + sobered down. She can't laugh just now, she can only smile; and + the tears are waiting underneath.</p> +<p>ready to spring out if any one says the wrong word. This Patty is + frightened and anxious and her heart beats too fast from morning + till night. She hasn't any mother, and she cannot say a word to + her dear sister, and she's going away to be married to you, + that's almost a stranger, and she isn't eighteen, and doesn't + know what's coming to her, nor what it means to be married. She + dreads her father's anger, and she cannot rest till she knows + whether your family will love her and take her in; and, oh! she's + a miserable, worried girl, not a bit like the old Patty."</p> +<p>Mark held her close and smoothed the curls under the loose brown + hood. "Don't you fret, Patty darling! I'm not the boy I was last + week. Every word you say makes me more of a man. At first I would + have run away just for the joke; anything to get you away from + the other fellows and prove I was the best man, but now' I'm + sobered down, too. I'll do nothing rash; I'll be as staid as the + judge you want me to be twenty years later. You've made me over, + Patty, and if my love for you wasn't the right sort at first, it + is now. I wish the road to New Hampshire was full of lions and I + could fight my way through them just to show you how strong I + feel!" +</p> + +"There'll be lions enough," smiled Patty through her tears, +"though they won't have manes and tails; but I can imagine how +father will roar, and how my courage will ooze out of the heels +of my boots!" +<p>"Just let me catch the Deacon roaring at my wife!" exclaimed Mark + with a swelling chest. "Now, run along, Patty dear, for I don't want you + scolded on my account. There's sure to be only a day or two of waiting now, + and I shall soon see the signal waving from your window. I'll sound Ellen and + see if she's brave enough to be one of the eloping party. Good-night! Good-night! + Oh! How I hope our going away will be to-morrow, my dearest, dearest Patty!"</p> +<p> </p> +<h2 align="center"></h2> +<h2 align="center">WINTER</h2> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXVI</p> +<p>A WEDDING-RING</p> +<p>THE snow had come. It had begun to fall softly and steadily at the beginning + of the week, and now for days it had covered the ground deeper and deeper, drifting + about the little red brick house on the hilltop, banking up against the barn, + and shrouding the sheds and the smaller buildings. There had been two cold, + still nights; the windows were covered with silvery landscapes whose delicate + foliage made every pane of glass a leafy bower, while a dazzling crust bediamonded + the hillsides, so that no eye could rest on them long without becoming snow-blinded. +</p> +<p> + Town-House Hill was not as well travelled as many others, and + Deacon Baxter had often to break his own road down to the store, + without waiting for the help of the village snow-plough to make + things easier for him. Many a path had Waitstill broken in her + time, and it was by no means one of her most distasteful + tasks--that of shovelling into the drifts of heaped-up whiteness, + tossing them to one side or the other, and cutting a narrow, + clean-edged track that would pack down into the hardness of + marble.</p> +<p>There were many "chores" to be done these cold mornings before + any household could draw a breath of comfort. The Baxters kept + but one cow in winter, killed the pig,--not to eat, but to + sell,--and reduced the flock of hens and turkeys; but Waitstill + was always as busy in the barn as in her own proper domain. Her + heart yearned for all the dumb creatures about the place, + intervening between them and her father's scanty care; and when + the thermometer descended far below zero she would be found + stuffing hay into the holes and cracks of the barn and hen-house, + giving the horse and cow fresh beddings of straw and a mouthful + of extra food between the slender meals provided by the Deacon.</p> +<p>It was three o'clock in the afternoon and a fire in the Baxters' + kitchen since six in the morning had produced a fairly temperate + climate in that one room, though the entries and chambers might + have been used for refrigerators, as the Deacon was as + parsimonious in the use of fuel as in all other things, and if + his daughters had not been hardy young creatures, trained from + their very birth to discomforts and exposures of every sort, they + would have died long ago.</p> +<p>The Baxter kitchen and glittered in all its accustomed + cleanliness and order. Scrubbing and polishing were cheap + amusements, and nobody grudged them to Waitstill. No tables in + Riverboro were whiter, no tins more lustrous, no pewter brighter, + no brick hearths ruddier than hers. The beans and brown bread and + Indian pudding were basking in the warmth of the old brick oven, + and what with the crackle and sparkle of the fire, the gleam of + the blue willow-ware on the cupboard shelves, and the scarlet + geraniums blooming on the sunny shelf above the sink, there were + few pleasanter place to be found in the village than that same + Baxter kitchen. Yet Waitstill was ill at ease this afternoon; she + hardly knew why. Her father had just put the horse into the pung + and driven up to Milliken's Mills for some grain, and Patty was + down at the store instructing Bill Morrill (Cephas Cole's + successor) in his novel task of waiting on customers and learning + the whereabouts of things; no easy task in the bewildering + variety of stock in a country store; where pins, treacle, + gingham, Epsom salts, Indian meal, shoestrings, shovels, brooms, + sulphur, tobacco, suspenders, rum, and indigo may be demanded in + rapid succession.</p> +<p>Patty was quiet and docile these days, though her color was more + brilliant than usual and her eyes had all their accustomed + sparkle. She went about her work steadily, neither ranting nor + railing at fate, nor bewailing her lot, but even in this + Waitstill felt a sense of change and difference too subtle to be + put in words. She had noted Patty's summer flirtations, but + regarded them indulgently, very much as if they had been the + irresponsible friskings of a lamb in a meadow. Waitstill had more + than the usual reserve in these matters, for in New England at + that time, though the soul was a subject of daily conversation, + the heart was felt to be rather an indelicate topic, to be + alluded to as seldom as possible. Waitstill certainly would never + have examined Patty closely as to the state of her affections, + intimate as she was with her sister's thoughts and opinions about + life; she simply bided her time until Patty should confide in + her. She had wished now and then that Patty's capricious fancy + might settle on Philip Perry, although, indeed, when she + considered it seriously, it seemed like an alliance between a + butterfly and an owl. Cephas Cole she regarded as quite beneath + Patty's rightful ambitions, and as for Mark Wilson, she had grown + up in the belief, held in the village generally, that he would + marry money and position, and drift out of Riverboro into a + gayer, larger world. Her devotion to her sister was so ardent, + and her admiration so sincere, that she could not think it + possible that Patty would love anywhere in vain; nevertheless, + she had an instinct that her affections were crystallizing + somewhere or other, and when that happened, the uncertain and + eccentric temper of her father would raise a thousand obstacles.</p> +<p>While these thoughts coursed more or less vagrantly through + Waitstill's mind, she suddenly determined to get her cloak and + hood and run over to see Mrs. Boynton. Ivory had been away a good + deal in the woods since early November chopping trees and helping + to make new roads. He could not go long distances, like the other + men, as he felt constrained to come home every day or two to look + after his mother and Rodman, but the work was too lucrative to be + altogether refused. With Waitstill's help, he had at last + overcome his mother's aversion to old Mrs. Mason, their nearest + neighbor; and she, being now a widow with very slender resources, + went to the Boyntons' several times each week to put the forlorn + household a little on its feet.</p> +<p>It was all uphill and down to Ivory's farm, Waitstill reflected, + and she could take her sled and slide half the way, going and + coming, or she could cut across the frozen fields on the crust. + She caught up her shawl from a hook on the kitchen door, and, + throwing it over her head and shoulders to shield herself from + the chill blasts on the stairway, ran up to her bedroom to make + herself ready for the walk.</p> +<p>She slipped on a quilted petticoat and warmer dress, braided her + hair freshly, while her breath went out in a white cloud to meet + the freezing air; snatched her wraps from her closet, and was + just going down the stairs when she remembered that an hour + before, having to bind up a cut finger for her father, she had + searched Patty's bureau drawer for an old handkerchief, and had + left things in disorder while she ran to answer the Deacon's + impatient call and stamp upon the kitchen floor.</p> +<p>"Hurry up and don't make me stan' here all winter!" he had + shouted. "If you ever kept things in proper order, you wouldn't + have to hunt all over the house for a piece of rag when you need + it!"</p> +<p>Patty was very dainty about her few patched and darned + belongings; also very exact in the adjustment of her bits of + ribbon, her collars of crocheted thread, her adored coral + pendants, and her pile of neat cotton handkerchiefs, hem-stitched + by her own hands. Waitstill, accordingly, with an exclamation at + her own unwonted carelessness, darted into her sister's room to + replace in perfect order the articles she had disarranged in her + haste. She knew them all, these poor little trinkets,--humble, + pathetic evidences of Patty's feminine vanity and desire to make + her bright beauty a trifle brighter.</p> +<p>Suddenly her hand and her eye fell at the same moment on + something hidden in a far corner under a white "fascinator," one + of those head-coverings of filmy wool, dotted with beads, worn by + the girls of the period. She drew the glittering, unfamiliar + object forward, and then lifted it wonderingly in her hand. It + was a string of burnished gold beads, the avowed desire of + Patty's heart; a string of beads with a brilliant little stone in + the fastening. And, as if that were not mystery enough, there was + something slipped over the clasped necklace and hanging from it, + as Waitstill held it up to the light--a circlet of plain gold, a + wedding-ring!</p> +<p>Waitstill stood motionless in the cold with such a throng of + bewildering thoughts, misgivings, imaginings, rushing through her + head that they were like a flock of birds beating their wings + against her ears. The imaginings were not those of absolute dread + or terror, for she knew her Patty. If she had seen the necklace + alone she would have been anxious, indeed, for it would have + meant that the girl, urged on by ungoverned desire for the + ornament, had accepted present from one who should not have given + it to her secretly; but the wedding-ring meant some-thing + different for Patty,-- something more, something certain, + something unescapable, for good or ill. A wedding-ring could + stand for nothing but marriage. Could Patty be married? How, + when, and where could so great a thing happen without her + knowledge? It seemed impossible. How had such a child surmounted + the difficulties in the path? Had she been led away by the + attractions of some stranger? No, there had been none in the + village. There was only one man who had the worldly wisdom or the + means to carry Patty off under the very eye of her watchful + sister; only one with the reckless courage to defy her father; + and that was Mark Wilson. His name did not bring absolute + confidence to Waitstill's mind. He was gay and young and + thoughtless; how had he managed to do this wild thing?--and had + he done all decently and wisely, with consideration for the + girl's good name? The thought of all the risks lying in the train + of Patty's youth and inexperience brought a wail of anguish from + Waitstill's lips, and, dropping the beads and closing the drawer, + she stumbled blindly down the stairway to the kitchen, intent + upon one thought only--to find her sister, to look in her eyes, + feel the touch of her hand, and assure herself of her safety.</p> +<p>She gave a dazed look at the tall clock, and was beginning to put + on her cloak when the door opened and Patty entered the kitchen + by way of the shed; the usual Patty, rosy, buoyant, alert, with a + kind of childlike innocence that could hardly be associated with + the possession of wedding-rings.</p> +<p>"Are you going out, Waity? Wrap up well, for it's freezing cold. + Waity, Waity, dear! What's the matter?" she cried, coming closer + to her sister in alarm.</p> +<p>Waitstill's face had lost its clear color, and her eyes had the look of some + dumb animal that has been struck and wounded. She sank into the flag-bottomed + rocker by the window, and leaning back her head, uttered no word, but closed + her eyes and gave one long, shivering sigh and a dry sob that seemed drawn from + the very bottom of her heart.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXVII</p> +<p>THE CONFESSIONAL</p> +<p>"WAITY, I know what it is; you have found out about me! Who has + been wicked enough to tell you before I could do so--tell me, + who?"</p> +<p>"Oh, Patty, Patty!" cried Waitstill, who could no longer hold back + her tears. "How could you deceive me so? How could you shut me out of your + heart and keep a secret like this from me, who have tried to be mother and sister + in one to you ever since the day you were born? God has sent me much to bear, + but nothing so bitter as this--to have my sister take the greatest step of her + life without my knowledge or counsel!" </p> +<p> + "Stop, dear, stop, and let me tell you!"</p> +<p>"All is told, and not by you as it should have been. We've never + had anything separate from each other in all our lives, and when + I looked in your bureau drawer for a bit of soft cotton--it was + nothing more than I have done a hundred times--you can guess now + what I stumbled upon; a wedding-ring for a hand I have held ever + since it was a baby's. My sister has a husband, and I am not even + sure of his name!</p> +<p>"Waity, Waity, don't take it so to heart!" and Patty flung + herself on her knees beside Waitstill's chair. "Not till you hear + everything! When I tell you all, you will dry your eyes and smile + and be happy about me, and you will know that in the whole world + there is no one else in my love or my life but you and my--my + husband."</p> +<p>"Who is the husband?" asked Waitstill dryly, as she wiped her + eyes and leaned her elbow on the table.</p> +<p>"Who could it be but Mark? Has there ever been any one but Mark?"</p> +<p>"I should have said that there were several, in these past few + months."</p> +<p>Waitstill's tone showed clearly that she was still grieved and + hurt beyond her power to conceal. + "I have never thought of marrying any one but Mark, and not even + of marrying him till a little while ago," said Patty. "Now do not + draw away from me and look out of the window as if we were not + sisters, or you will break my heart. Turn your eyes to mine and + believe in me, Waity, while I tell you everything, as I have so + longed to do all these nights and days. Mark and I have loved + each other for a long, long time. It was only play at first, but + we were young and foolish and did not understand what was really + happening between us."</p> +<p>"You are both of you only a few months older than when you were + 'young and foolish,'" objected Waitstill.</p> +<p>"Yes, we are--years and years! Five weeks ago I promised Mark + that I would marry him; but how was I ever to keep my word + publicly? You have noticed how insultingly father treats him of + late, passing him by without a word when he meets him in the + street? You remember, too, that he has never gone to Lawyer + Wilson for advice, or put any business in his hands since + spring?"</p> +<p>"The Wilsons are among father's aversions, that is all you can + say; it is no use to try and explain them or rebel against them," + Waitstill answered wearily.</p> +<p>"That is all very well, and might be borne like many another + cross; but I wanted to marry this particular 'aversion,"' argued + Patty. Would you have helped me to marry Mark secretly if I had + confided in you?"</p> +<p>"Never in the world--never!"</p> +<p>"I knew it," exclaimed Patty triumphantly. "We both said so! + And + what was Mark to do? He was more than willing to come up here and + ask for me like a man, but he knew that he would be ordered off + the premises as if he were a thief. That would have angered Mr. + and Mrs. Wilson, and made matters worse. We talked and talked + until we were hoarse; we thought and thought until we nearly had + brain fever from thinking, but there seemed to be no way but to + take the bull by the horns."</p> +<p>"You are both so young, you could well have bided awhile."</p> +<p>"We could have bided until we were gray, nothing would have + changed father; and just lately I couldn't make Mark bide," + confessed Patty ingenuously. "He has been in a rage about + father's treatment of you and me. He knows we haven't the right + food to eat, nothing fit to wear, and not an hour of peace or + freedom. He has even heard the men at the store say that our very + lives might be in danger if we crossed father's will, or angered + him beyond a certain point. You can't blame a man who loves a + girl, if he wants to take her away from such a wretched life. His + love would be good for nothing if he did not long to rescue her!"</p> +<p>"I would never have left you behind to bear your slavery alone, + while I slipped away to happiness and comfort--not for any man + alive would I + I have done it!" This speech, so unlike Waitstill in its + ungenerous reproach, was repented of as soon as it left her + tongue. "Oh, I did not mean that, my darling!" she cried. "I + would have welcomed any change for you, and thanked God for it, + if only it could have come honorably and aboveboard."</p> +<p>"But, don't you see, Waity, how my marriage helps everything? + That is what makes me happiest; that now I shall have a home and + it can be yours. Father has plenty of money and can get a + housekeeper. He is only sixty-five, and as hale and hearty as a + man can be. You have served your time, and surely you need not be + his drudge for the rest of your life. Mark and I thought you + would spend half the year with us."</p> +<p>Waitstill waived this point as too impossible for discussion. + "When and where were you married, Patty?" she asked.</p> +<p>"In Allentown, New Hampshire, last Monday, the day you and father + went to Saco. Ellen went with us. You needn't suppose it was much + fun for me! Girls that think running away to be married is + nothing but a lark, do not have to deceive a sister like you, nor + have a father such as mine to reckon with afterwards."</p> +<p>"You thought of all that before, didn't you, child?"</p> +<p>"Nobody that hasn't already run away to be married once or twice + could tell how it was going to feel! Never did I pass so unhappy + a day! If Mark was not everything that is kind and gentle, he + would have tipped me out of the sleigh into a snowbank and left + me by the roadside to freeze. I might have been murdered instead + of only married, by the way I behaved; but Mark and Ellen + understood. Then, the very next day, Mark's father sent him up to + Bridgton on business, and he had to go to Allentown first to + return a friend's horse, so he couldn't break the news to father + at once, as he intended."</p> +<p>"Does a New Hampshire marriage hold good in Maine?" asked + Waitstill, still intent on the bare facts at the bottom of the + romance.</p> +<p>"Well, of course," stammered Patty, some-what confused, "Maine + has her own way of doing things, and wouldn't be likely to fancy + New Hampshire's. But nothing can make it wicked or anything but + according to law. Besides, Mark considered all the difficulties. + He is wonderfully clever, and he has a clerkship in a Portsmouth + law office waiting for him; and that's where we are going to + live, in New Hampshire, where we were married, and my darling + sister will come soon and stay months and months with us."</p> +<p>"When is Mark coming back to arrange all this?"</p> +<p>"Late to-night or early to-morrow morning. + 283 + "Where did you go after you were married?" </p> +<p>"Where did I go?" echoed Patty, in a childish burst of tears. + "Where could I go? It took all day to be married--all day long, + working and driving hard from sunrise to seven o'clock in the + evening. Then when we reached the bridge, Mark dropped me, and I + walked up home in the dark, and went to bed without any supper, + for fear that you and father would come back and catch me at it + and ask why I was so late."</p> +<p>"My poor, foolish dear!" sighed Waitstill.</p> +<p>Patty's tears flowed faster at the first sound of sympathy in + Waitstill's voice, for self-pity is very enfeebling. She fairly + sobbed as she continued:--</p> +<p>"So my only wedding-journey was the freezing drive back from + Allentown, with Ellen crying all the way and wishing that she + hadn't gone with us. Mark and I both say we'll never be married + again so long as we live!"</p> +<p>"Where have you seen your husband from that day to this?"</p> +<p>"I haven't laid eyes on him!" said Patty, with a fresh burst of + woe. "I have a certificate-thing, and a wedding-ring and a + beautiful frock and hat that Mark bought in Boston, but no real + husband. I'm no more married than ever I was! Don't you remember + I said that Mark was sent away on Tuesday morning? And this is + Thursday. I've had three letters from him; but I don't know, till + we see how father takes it, when we can tell the Wilsons and + start for Portsmouth. We shan't really call ourselves married + till we get to Portsmouth; we promised each other that from the + first. It isn't much like being a bride, never to see your + bridegroom; to have a father who will fly into a passion when he + hears that you are married; not to know whether your new family + will like or despise you; and to have your only sister angered + with you for the first time in her life!"</p> +<p>Waitstill's heart melted, and she lifted Patty's tear-stained + face to hers and kissed it. "Well, dear, I would not have had you + do this for the world, but it is done, and Mark seems to have + been as wise as a man can be when he does an unwise thing. You + are married, and you love each other. That's the comforting thing + to me."</p> +<p>"We do," sobbed Patty. "No two people ever loved each other + better than we; but it's been all spoiled for fear of father."</p> +<p>"I must say I dread to have him hear the news"; and Waitstill + knitted her brows anxiously. "I hope it may be soon, and I think + I ought to be here when he is told. Mark will never under-stand + or bear with him, and there may be trouble that I could avert."</p> +<p>"I'll be here, too, and I'm not afraid! And Patty raised her head + defiantly. "Father can unmarry us, that's why we acted in this + miserable, secret, underhanded way. Somehow, though I haven't + seen Mark since we went to Allentown, I am braver than I was last + week, for now I've got somebody to take my part. I've a good mind + to go upstairs and put on my gold beads and my wedding-ring, just + to get used to them and to feel a little more married.--No: I + can't, after all, for there is father driving up the hill now, + and he may come into the house. What brings him home at this + hour?"</p> +<p>"I was expecting him every moment"; and Waitstill rose and + stirred the fire." He took the pung and went to the Mills for + grain."</p> +<p>"He hasn't anything in the back of the pung--and, oh, Waity! he + is standing up now and whipping the horse with all his might. I + never saw him drive like that before: what can be the matter? He + can't have seen my wedding-ring, and only three people in all the + world know about my being married."</p> +<p>Waitstill turned from the window, her heart beating a little faster." + What three people know, three hundred are likely to know sooner or later. It + may be a false alarm, but father is in a fury about something. He must not be + told the news until he is in a better humor!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXVIII</p> +<p>PATTY IS SHOWN THE DOOR</p> +<p>DEACON BAXTER drove into the barn, and flinging a blanket over + the wheezing horse, closed the door behind him and hurried into + the house without even thinking to lay down his whip.</p> +<p>Opening the kitchen door and stopping outside long enough to kick + the snow from his heavy boots, he strode into the kitchen and + confronted the two girls. He looked at them sharply before he + spoke, scanning their flushed faces and tear-stained eyes; then + he broke out savagely:--</p> +<p>"Oh! you're both here; that's lucky. Now stan' up and answer to me. What's + this I hear at the Mills about Patience,--common talk outside the store?"</p> +<p> + The time had come, then, and by some strange fatality, when Mark + was too far away to be of service.</p> +<p>"Tell me what you heard, father, and I can give you a better + answer," Patty replied, hedging to gain time, and shaking + inwardly.</p> +<p>"Bill Morrill says his brother that works in New Hampshire + reports you as ridin' through the streets of Allentown last + Monday with a young man."</p> +<p>There seemed but one reply to this, so Patty answered + tremblingly: "He says what's true; I was there."</p> +<p>"WHAT!" And it was plain from the Deacon's voice that he had + really disbelieved the rumor. A whirlwind of rage swept through + him and shook him from head to foot.</p> +<p>"Do you mean to stan' there an' own up to me that you was thirty + miles away from home with a young man?" he shouted.</p> +<p>"If you ask me a plain question, I've got to tell you the truth, + father: I was."</p> +<p>"How dare you carry on like that and drag my name into scandal, + you worthless trollop, you? Who went along with you? I'll skin + the hide off him, whoever 't was!"</p> +<p>Patty remained mute at this threat, but Waitstill caught her hand + and whispered: "Tell him all, dear; it's got to come out. Be + brave, and I'11 stand by you."</p> +<p>"Why are you interferin' and puttin' in your meddlesome oar?" the + Deacon said, turning to Waitstill. "The girl would never 'a' been + there if you'd attended to your business. She's nothin' but a + fool of a young filly, an' you're an old cart-horse. It was your + job to look out for her as your mother told you to. Anybody might + 'a' guessed she needed watchin'!"</p> +<p>"You shall not call my sister an old cart-horse! I'll not permit + it!" cried Patty, plucking up courage in her sister's defence, + and as usual comporting herself a trifle more like a spitfire + than a true heroine of tragedy.</p> +<p>"Hush, Patty! Let him call me anything that he likes; it makes no + difference at such a time."</p> +<p>"Waitstill knew nothing of my going away till this afternoon," + continued Patty. "I kept it secret from her on purpose, because I + was afraid she would not approve. I went with Mark Wilson, + and--and--I married him in New Hampshire because we couldn't do + it at home without every-body's knowledge. Now you know all."</p> +<p>"Do you mean to tell me you've gone an' married that reckless, + wuthless, horse-trottin', card-playin' sneak of a Wilson boy + that's courted every girl in town? Married the son of a man that + has quarrelled with me and insulted me in public? By the Lord + Harry, I'll crack this whip over your shoulders once before I'm + done with you! If I'd used it years ago you might have been an + honest woman to-day, instead of a--"</p> +<p>Foxwell Baxter had wholly lost control of himself, and the + temper, that had never been governed or held in check, lashed + itself into a fury that made him for the moment unaccountable for + his words or actions.</p> +<p>Waitstill took a step forward in front of Patty. "Put down that + whip, father, or I'll take it from you and break it across my + knee!" Her eyes blazed and she held her head high. "You've made + me do the work of a man, and, thank God, I've got the muscle of + one. Don't lift a finger to Patty, or I'11 defend her, I promise + you! The dinner-horn is in the side entry and two blasts will + bring Uncle Bart up the hill, but I'd rather not call him unless + you force me to."</p> +<p>The Deacon's grasp on the whip relaxed, and he fell back a little + in sheer astonishment at the bravado of the girl, ordinarily so + quiet and self-contained. He was speechless for a second, and + then recovered breath enough to shout to the terrified Patty: "I + won't use the whip till I hear whether you've got any excuse for + your scandalous behavior. Hear me tell you one thing: this little + pleasure-trip o' yourn won't do you no good, for I'11 break the + marriage! I won't have a Wilson in my family if I have to empty a + shot-gun into him; but your lies and your low streets are so + beyond reason I can't believe my ears. What's your excuse, I + say?"</p> +<p>"Stop a minute, Patty, before you answer, and let me say a few + things that ought to have been said before now," interposed + Waitstill. "If Patty has done wrong, father, you've no one but + yourself to thank for it, and it's only by God's grace that + nothing worse has happened to her. What could you expect from a + young thing like that, with her merry heart turned into a lump in + her breast every day by your cruelty? Did she deceive you? Well, + you've made her afraid of you ever since she was a baby in the + cradle, drawing the covers over her little head when she heard + your step. Whatever crop you sow is bound to come up, father; + that's Nature's law, and God's, as well."</p> +<p>"You hold your tongue, you,--readin' the law to your elders an' + betters," said the old man, choking with wrath. "My business is + with this wuthless sister o' yourn, not with you!--You've got + your coat and hood on, miss, so you jest clear out o' the house; + an' if you're too slow about it, I'll help you along. I've no + kind of an idea you're rightly married, for that young Wilson + sneak couldn't pay so high for you as all that; but if it amuses + you to call him your husband, go an' find him an' stay with him. + This is an honest house, an' no place for such as you!"</p> +<p>Patty had a good share of the Baxter temper, not under such + control as Waitstill's, and the blood mounted into her face.</p> +<p>"You shall not speak to me so!" she said intrepidly, while + keeping a discreet eye on the whip. "I'm not a--a--caterpillar to + be stepped on, I'm a married woman, as right as a New Hampshire + justice can make me, with a wedding-ring and a certificate to + show, if need be. And you shall not call my husband names! Time + will tell what he is going to be, and that's a son-in-law any + true father would be proud to own!"</p> +<p>"Why are you set against this match, father? " argued Waitstill, + striving to make him hear reason. "Patty has married into one of + the best families in the village. Mark is gay and thought-less, + but never has he been seen the worse for liquor, and never has he + done a thing for which a wife need hang her head. It is something + for a young fellow of four-and-twenty to be able to provide for a + wife and keep her in comfort; and when all is said and done, it + is a true love-match." </p> +<p>Patty seized this inopportune moment to forget her father's + presence, and the tragic nature of the occasion, and, in her + usual impetuous fashion, flung her arms around Waitstill's neck + and gave her the hug of a young bear.</p> +<p>"My own dear sister," she said. "I don't mind anything, so long + as you stand up for us."</p> +<p>"Don't make her go to-night, father," pleaded Waitstill. "Don't + send your own child out into the cold. Remember her husband is + away from home."</p> +<p>"She can find another up at the Mills as good as he is, or + better. Off with you, I say, you trumpery little baggage, you!"</p> +<p>"Go, then, dear, it is better so; Uncle Bart will keep you + overnight; run up and get your things"; and Waitstill sank into a + chair, realizing the hopelessness of the situation.</p> +<p>"She'11 not take anything from my house. It's her husband's + business to find her in clothes."</p> +<p>"They'll be better ones than ever you found me," was Patty's + response.</p> +<p>No heroics for her; no fainting fits at being disowned; no + hysterics at being turned out of house and home; no prayers for + mercy, but a quick retort for every gibe from her father; and her + defiant attitude enraged the Deacon the more.</p> +<p>"I won't speak again," he said, in a tone that could not be + mistaken. "Into the street you go, with the clothes you stand up + in, or I'11 do what I said I'd do."</p> +<p>"Go, Patty, it's the only thing to be done. Don't tremble, for + nobody shall touch a hair of your head. I can trust you to find + shelter to-night, and Mark will take care of you to-morrow."</p> +<p>Patty buttoned her shabby coat and tied on her hood as she walked + from the kitchen through the sitting-room towards the side door, + her heart heaving with shame and anger, and above all with a + child's sense of helplessness at being parted from her sister.</p> +<p>"Don't tell the neighbors any more lies than you can help," + called her father after her retreating form; "an' if any of 'em + dare to come up here an' give me any of their imperdence, they'll + be treated same as you. Come back here, Waitstill, and don't go + to slobberin' any good-byes over her. She ain't likely to get out + o' the village for some time if she's expectin' Mark Wilson to + take her away."</p> +<p>"I shall certainly go to the door with my sister," said Waitstill + coldly, suiting the action to the word, and following Patty out + on the steps. "Shall you tell Uncle Bart everything, dear, and + ask him to let you sleep at his house?"</p> +<p>Both girls were trembling with excitement; Waitstill pale as a + ghost, Patty flushed and tearful, with defiant eyes and lips that + quivered rebelliously.</p> +<p>"I s'pose so," she answered dolefully; "though Aunt Abby hates + me, on account of Cephas. I'd rather go to Dr. Perry's, but I + don't like to meet Phil. There doesn't seem to be any good place + for me, but it 's only for a night. And you'11 not let father + prevent your seeing Mark and me to-morrow, will you? Are you + afraid to stay alone? I'11 sit on the steps all night if you say + the word."</p> +<p>"No, no, run along. Father has vented his rage upon you, and I + shall not have any more trouble. God bless and keep you, darling. + Run along!"</p> +<p>"And you're not angry with me now, Waity? You still love me? And + you'll forgive Mark and come to stay with us soon, soon, soon?"</p> +<p>"We'll see, dear, when all this unhappy business is settled, and you are + safe and happy in your own home. I shall have much to tell you when we meet + to-morrow."</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXIX</p> +<p>WAITSTILL SPEAKS HER MIND</p> +<p>Patty had the most ardent love for her elder sister, and something that resembled + reverence for her unselfishness, her loyalty, and her strength of character; + but if the truth were told she had no great opinion of Waitstill's ability to + feel righteous wrath, nor of her power to avenge herself in the face of rank + injustice. It was the conviction of her own superior finesse and audacity that + had sustained patty all through her late escapade. She felt herself a lucky + girl, indeed, to achieve liberty and happiness for herself, but doubly lucky + if she had chanced to open a way of escape for her more docile and dutiful sister. +</p> +<p> + She would have been a trifle astonished had she surmised the + existence of certain mysterious waves that had been sweeping + along the coasts of Waitstill's mind that afternoon, breaking + down all sorts of defences and carrying her will along with them + by sheer force: but it is a truism that two human beings can live + beside each other for half a century and yet continue strangers.</p> +<p>Patty's elopement with the youth of her choice, taking into + account all its attendant risks, was Indeed an exhibition of + courage and initiative not common to girls of seventeen; but + Waitstill was meditating a mutiny more daring yet--a mutiny, too, + involving a course of conduct most unusual in maidens of puritan + descent.</p> +<p>She walked back into the kitchen to find her father sitting + placidly in the rocking-chair by the window. He had lighted his + corn-cob pipe, in which he always smoked a mixture of dried + sweet-fern as being cheaper than tobacco, and his face wore + something resembling a smile--a foxy smile--as he watched his + youngest-born ploughing down the hill through the deep snow, + while the more obedient Waitstill moved about the room, setting + supper on the table.</p> +<p>Conversation was not the Deacon's forte, but it seemed proper for + some one to break the ice that seemed suddenly to be very thick + in the immediate vicinity.</p> +<p>"That little Jill-go-over-the-ground will give the neighbors a + pleasant evenin' tellin' 'em 'bout me," he chuckled. "Aunt Abby + Cole will run the streets o' the three villages by sun-up + to-morrer; but nobody pays any 'tention to a woman whose tongue + is hung in the middle and wags at both ends. I wa'n't intending + to use the whip on your sister, Waitstill," continued the Deacon, + with a crafty look at his silent daughter, "though a trouncin' + would 'a' done her a sight o' good; but I was only tryin' to + frighten her a little mite an' pay her up for bringin' disgrace + on us the way she's done, makin' us the talk o' the town. Well, + she's gone, an' good riddance to bad rubbish, say I! One less + mouth to feed, an' one less body to clothe. You'll miss her jest + at first, on account + o' there bein' no other women-folks on the hill, but 't won't + last long. I'll have Bill Morrill do some o' your outside chores, + so 't you can take on your sister's work, if she ever done any."</p> +<p>This was a most astoundingly generous proposition on the Deacon's + part, and to tell the truth he did not himself fully understand + his mental processes when he made it; but it seemed to be drawn + from him by a kind of instinct that he was not standing well in + his elder daughter's books. Though the two girls had never made + any demonstration of their affection in his presence, he had a + fair idea of their mutual dependence upon each other. Not that he + placed the slightest value on Waitstill's opinion of him, or + cared in the smallest degree what she, or any one else in the + universe, thought of his conduct; but she certainly did appear to + advantage when contrasted with the pert little hussy who had just + left the premises. Also, Waitstill loomed large in his household + comforts and economies, having a clear head, a sure hand, and + being one of the steady-going, reliable sort that can be counted + on in emergencies, not, like Patty, going off at half-cock at the + smallest provocation. Yes, Waitstill, as a product of his + masterly training for the last seven years, had settled down, + not without some trouble and friction, into a tolerably + dependable pack-horse, and he intended in the future to use some + care in making permanent so valuable an aid and ally. She did not + pursue nor attract the opposite sex, as his younger daughter + apparently did; so by continuing his policy of keeping all young + men rigidly at a distance he could count confidently on having', + Waitstill serve his purposes for the next fifteen or twenty + years, or as long as he, himself, should continue to ornament and + enrich the earth. He would go to Saco the very next day, and cut + Patty out of his will, arranging his property so that Waitstill + should be the chief legatee as long as she continued to live + obediently under his roof. He intended to make the last point + clear if he had to consult every lawyer in York County; for he + wouldn't take risks on any woman alive.</p> +<p>If he must leave his money anywhere--and it was with a bitter + pang that he faced the inexorable conviction that he could + neither live forever, nor take his savings with him to the realms + of bliss prepared for members of the Orthodox Church in good and + regular standing--if he must leave his money behind him, he would + dig a hole in the ground and bury it, rather than let it go to + any one who had angered him in his lifetime.</p> +<p>These were the thoughts that caused him to relax his iron grip + and smile as he sat by the window, smoking his corn-cob pipe and + taking one of his very rare periods of rest.</p> +<p>Presently he glanced at the clock. "It's only quarter-past four," + he said. "I thought 't was later, but the snow makes it so light + you can't jedge the time. The moon fulls to-night, don't it? Yes; + come to think of it, I know it does. Ain't you settin' out supper + a little mite early, Wait still? "This was a longer and more + amiable speech than he had made in years, but Waitstill never + glanced at him as she said: "It is a little early, but I want to + get it ready before I leave." </p> +<p>"Be you goin' out? Mind, I won't have you follerin' Patience + round; you'll only upset what I've done, an' anyhow I want you to + keep away from the neighbors for a few days, till all this blows + over."</p> +<p>He spoke firmly, though for him mildly, for he still had the + uneasy feeling that he stood on the brink of a volcano; and, as a + matter of fact, he tumbled into it the very next moment.</p> +<p>The meagre supper was spread; a plate of cold; soda biscuits, a + dried-apple pie, and the usual brown teapot were in evidence; and + as her father ceased speaking Waitstill opened the door of the + brick oven where the bean-pot reposed, set a chair by the table, + and turning, took up her coat (her mother's old riding-cloak, it + was), and calmly put it on, reaching then for her hood and her + squirrel tippet.</p> +<p>"You are goin' out, then, spite o' what I said?" the Deacon + inquired sternly.</p> +<p>"Did you really think, father, that I would sleep under your roof + after you had turned my sister out into the snow to lodge with + whoever might take her in--my seventeen year-old-sister that your + wife left to my care; my little sister, the very light of my + life?"</p> +<p>Waitstill's voice trembled a trifle, but other-wise she was quite + calm and free from heroics of any sort.</p> +<p>The Deacon looked up in surprise. "I guess you're kind o' + hystericky," he said. "Set down--set down an' talk things over. I + ain't got nothin' ag'in' you, an' I mean to treat you right. Set + down!"</p> +<p>The old man was decidedly nervous, and intended to keep his + temper until there was a safer chance to let it fly.</p> +<p>Waitstill sat down. "There's nothing to talk over," she said. "I + have done all that I promised my stepmother the night she died, + and now I am going. If there's a duty owed between daughter and + father, it ought to work both ways. I consider that I have done + my share, and now I intend to seek happiness for myself. I have + never had any, and I am starving for it."</p> +<p>"An' you'd leave me to git on the best I can, after what I've + done for you?" burst out the Deacon, still trying to hold down + his growing passion.</p> +<p>"You gave me my life, and I'm thankful to you for that, but + you've given me little since, father."</p> +<p>"Hain't I fed an' clothed you?"</p> +<p>"No more than I have fed and clothed you. You've provided the raw food, + and I've cooked and served it. You've bought and I have made shirts and overalls + and coats for you, and knitted your socks and comforters and mittens. Not only + have I toiled and saved and scrimped away my girlhood as you bade me, but I've + earned for you. Who made the butter, and took care of the hens, and dried the + apples, and 'drew in' the rugs? Who raised and ground the peppers for sale, + and tended the geese that you might sell the feathers? No, father, I don't consider + that I'm in your debt!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXX</p> +<p>A CLASH OF WILLS</p> +<p>DEACON FOXWELL BAXTER was completely non-plussed for the first time in his + life. He had never allowed "argyfyin'" in his household, and there + had never been a clash of wills before this when he had not come off swiftly + and brutally triumphant. This situation was complicated by the fact that he + did not dare to apply the brakes as usual, since there were more issues involved + than ever before. He felt too stunned to deal properly with this daughter, having + emptied all the vials of his wrath upon the other one, and being, in consequence, + somewhat enfeebled. It was always easy enough to cope with Patty, for her impertinence + evoked such rage that the argument took care of itself; but this grave young + woman was a different matter. There she sat composedly on the edge of her wooden + chair, her head lifted high, her color coming and going, her eyes shining steadily, + like fixed stars; there she sat, calmly announcing her intention of leaving + her father to shift for himself; yet the skies seemed to have no thought of + falling! He felt that he must make another effort to assert his authority.</p> +<p> + "Now, you take off your coat," he said, the pipe in his hand + trembling as he stirred nervously in his chair. "You take your + coat right off an' set down to the supper-table, same as usual, + do you hear? Eat your victuals an' then go to your bed an' git + over this crazy fit that Patience has started workin' in you. No + more nonsense, now; do as I tell you!"</p> +<p>"I have made up my mind, father, and it's no use arguing. All who + try to live with you fail, sooner or later. You have had four + children, father. One boy ran away; the other did not mind being + drowned, I fear, since life was so hard at home. You have just + turned the third child out for a sin of deceit and disobedience + she would never have committed--for her nature is as clear as + crystal--if you had ever loved her or considered her happiness. + So I have done with you, unless in your old age God should bring + you to such a pass that no one else will come to your assistance; + then I'd see somehow that you were cared for and nursed and made + comfortable. You are not an old man; you are strong and healthy, + and you have plenty of money to get a good house-keeper. I should + decide differently, perhaps, if all this were not true."</p> +<p>"You lie! I haven't got plenty of money!" And the Deacon struck + the table a sudden blow that made the china in the cupboard + rattle. "You've no notion what this house costs me, an' the feed + for the stock, an' you two girls, an' labor at the store, an' the + hay-field, an' the taxes an' insurance! I've slaved from sunrise + to sunset but I ain't hardly been able to lay up a cent. I s'pose + the neighbors have been fillin' you full o' tales about my + mis'able little savin's an' makin' 'em into a fortune. Well, you + won't git any of 'em, I promise you that!"</p> +<p>"You have plenty laid away; everybody knows, so what's the use of + denying it? Anyway, I don't want a penny of your money, father, + so good-bye. There's enough cooked to keep you for a couple of + days"; and Waitstill rose from her chair and drew on her mittens.</p> +<p>Father and daughter confronted each other, the secret fury of the + man met by the steady determination of the girl. The Deacon was + baffled, almost awed, by Waitstill's quiet self-control; but at + the very moment that he was half-uncomprehendingly glaring at + her, it dawned upon him that he was beaten, and that she was + mistress of the situation.</p> +<p>Where would she go? What were her plans?--for definite plans she + had, or she could not meet his eye with so resolute a gaze. If + she did leave + him, how could he contrive to get her back again, and so escape + the scorn of the village, the averted look, the lessened trade?</p> +<p>"Where are you goin' now?" he asked, and though he tried his best + he could not for the life of him keep back one final taunt. "I + s'pose, like your sister, you've got a man in your eye?" He chose + this, to him, impossible suggestion as being the most insulting + one that he could invent at the moment.</p> +<p>"I have," replied Waitstill, "a man in my eye and in my heart. + We + should have been husband and wife before this had we not been + kept apart by obstacles too stubborn for us to overcome. My way + has chanced to open first, though it was none of my contriving."</p> +<p>Had the roof fallen in upon him, the Deacon could not have been + more dumbfounded. His tongue literally clove to the roof of his + mouth; his face fell, and his mean, piercing eyes blinked under + his shaggy brows as if seeking light.</p> +<p>Waitstill stirred the fire, closed the brick oven and put the + teapot on the back of the stove, hung up the long-handled dipper + on its accustomed nail over the sink, and went to the door.</p> +<p>Her father collected his scattered wits and pulled himself to his + feet by the arms of the high-backed rocker. "You shan't step + outside this 306 + room till you tell me where you're goin'," he said when he found + his voice.</p> +<p>"I have no wish to keep it secret: I am going to see if Mrs. + Mason will keep me to-night. To-morrow I shall walk down river + and get work at the mills, but on my way I shall stop at the + Boyntons' to tell Ivory I am ready to marry him as soon as he's + ready to take me."</p> +<p>This was enough to stir the blood of the Deacon into one last + fury.</p> +<p>"I might have guessed it if I hadn't been blind as a bat an' deaf + as an adder!" And he gave the table another ringing blow before + he leaned on it to gather strength. "Of course, it would be one + o' that crazy Boynton crew you'd take up with," he roared. + "Nothin' would suit either o' you girls but choosin' the biggest + enemies I've got in the whole village!"</p> +<p>"You've never taken pains to make anything but enemies, so what + could we do?"</p> +<p>"You might as well go to live on the poor-farm! Aaron Boynton was + a disrep'table hound; Lois Boynton is as crazy as a loon; the boy + is a no-body's child, an' Ivory's no better than a common + pauper."</p> +<p>"Ivory's a brave, strong, honorable man, and a scholar, too. I + can work for him and help him earn and save, as I have you."</p> +<p>"How long's this been goin' on?" The Deacon was choking, but he + meant to get to the bottom of things while he had the chance.</p> +<p>"It has not gone on at all. He has never said a word to me, and I + have always obeyed your will in these matters; but you can't hide + love, any more than you can hide hate. I know Ivory loves me, so + I'm going to tell him that my duty is done here and I am ready to + help him."</p> +<p>"Goin' to throw yourself at his head, be you?" sneered the + Deacon. "By the Lord, I don' know where you two girls got these + loose ways o' think-in' an' acting mebbe he won't take you, an' + then where'll you be? You won't git under my roof again when + you've once left it, you can make up your mind to that!"</p> +<p>"If you have any doubts about Ivory's being willing to take me, + you'd better drive along behind me and listen while I ask him."</p> +<p>Waitstill's tone had an exultant thrill of certainty in it. She + threw up her head, glorying in what she was about to do. If she + laid aside her usual reserve and voiced her thoughts openly, it + was not in the hope of convincing her father, but for the bliss + of putting them into words and intoxicating herself by the sound + of them.</p> +<p>"Come after me if you will, father, and watch the welcome I shall + get. Oh! I have no fear of being turned out by Ivory Boynton. I + can hardly wait to give him the joy I shall be bringing! It 's + selfish to rob him of the chance to speak first, but I'11 do it!" + And before Deacon Baxter could cross the room, Waitstill was out + of the kitchen door into the shed, and flying down Town-House + Hill like an arrow shot free from the bow.</p> +<p>The Deacon followed close behind, hardly knowing why, but he was + no match for the girl, and at last he stood helpless on the steps + of the shed, shaking his fist and hurling terrible words after + her, words that it was fortunate for her peace of mind she could + not hear.</p> +<p>"A curse upon you both!" he cried savagely. "Not satisfied with + disobeyin' an' defyin' me, you've put me to shame, an' now you'll + be settin' the neighbors ag'in' me an' ruinin' my trade. If you + was freezin' in the snow I wouldn't heave a blanket to you! If + you was starvin' I wouldn't fling either of you a crust! Never + shall you darken my doors again, an' never shall you git a penny + o' my money, not if I have to throw it into the river to spite + you!"</p> +<p>Here his breath failed, and he stumbled out into the barn + whimpering between his broken sentences like a whipped child.</p> +<p>"Here I am with nobody to milk, nor feed the hens; nobody to churn to-morrow, + nor do the chores; a poor, mis'able creeter, deserted by my children, with nobody + to do a hand's turn 'thout bein' paid for every step they take! I'11 give 'em + what they deserve; I don' know what, but I'll be even with 'em yet." And + the Deacon set his Baxter jaw in a way that meant his determination to stop + at nothing.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXXI</p> +<p>SENTRY DUTY</p> +<p>IVORY BOYNTON drove home from the woods that same afternoon by + way of the bridge, in order to buy some provisions at the brick + store. When he + was still a long distance from the bars that divided the lane + from the highroad, he espied a dark-clad little speck he knew to + be Rodman leaning over the fence, waiting and longing as usual + for his home-coming, and his heart warmed at the thought of the + boyish welcome that never failed.</p> +<p>The sleigh slipped quickly over the hard-packed, shining road, and the bells + rang merrily in the clear, cold air, giving out a joyous sound that had no echo + in Ivory's breast that day. He had just had a vision of happiness through another + man's eyes. was he always to stand out-side the banqueting-table, he wondered, + and see others feasting while he hungered</p> +<p> + Now the little speck bounded from the fence, flew down the road + to meet the sleigh, and jumped in by the driver's side.</p> +<p>"I knew you'd come to-night," Rodman cried eagerly. "I told + Aunt + Boynton you'd come."</p> +<p>"How is she, well as common?"</p> +<p>"No, not a bit well since yesterday morning, but Mrs. Mason says + it's nothing worse than a cold. Mrs. Mason has just gone home, + and we've had a grand house-cleaning to-day. She's washed and + ironed and baked, and we've put Aunt Boynton in clean sheets and + pillow-cases, and her room's nice and warm, and I carried the eat + in and put it on her bed to keep her company while I came to + watch for you. Aunt Boynton let Mrs. Mason braid her hair, and + seemed to like her brushing it. It's been dreadful lonesome, and + oh! I am glad you came back, Ivory. Did you find any more spruce + gum where you went this time?"</p> +<p>"Pounds and pounds, Rod; enough to bring me in nearly a hundred + dollars. I chanced on the greatest place I've found yet. I + followed the wake of an old whirlwind that had left long furrows + in the forest,--I've told you how the thing works,--and I tracked + its course by the gum that had formed wherever the trees were + wounded. It's hard, lonely work, Rod, but it pays well."</p> +<p>"If I could have been there, maybe we could have got more. I'm + good at shinning up trees."</p> +<p>"Yes, sometime we'11 go gum-picking together. We'll climb the + trees like a couple of cats, and take our knives and serape off + the precious lumps that are worth so much money to the druggists. + You've let down the bars, I see."</p> +<p>"'Cause I knew you'd come to-night," said Rodman. "I felt it + in + my bones. We're going to have a splendid supper."</p> +<p>"Are we? That's good news." Ivory tried to make his tone bright + and interested, though his heart was like a lump of lead in his + breast. "It's the least I can do for the poor little chap," he + thought, "when he stays as caretaker in this lonely spot.--I + wonder if I hadn't better drive into the barn, Rod, and leave the + harness on Nick till I go in and see mother? Guess I will." </p> +<p>"She's hot, Aunt Boynton is, hot and restless, but Mrs. Mason + thinks that's all."</p> +<p>Ivory found his mother feverish, and her eyes were unnaturally + bright; but she was clear in X mind and cheerful, too, sitting up + in bed to r^ breathe the better, while the Maltese eat snuggled + under her arm and purred peacefully </p> +<p>"The cat is Rod's idea," she said smilingly but in a very weak + voice. "He is a great nurse I should never have thought of the + eat myself but she gives me more comfort than all the medicine."</p> +<p>Ivory and Rodman drew up to the supper table, already set in the + kitchen, but before Ivory took his seat he softly closed the door + that led into the living-room. They ate their beans and brown + bread and the mince pie that had been the "splendid" feature of + the meal, as reported by the boy; and when they had finished, and + Rodman was clearing the table, Ivory walked to the window, + lighting his pipe the while, and stood soberly looking out on the + snowy landscape. One could scarcely tell it was twilight, with + such sweeps of whiteness to catch every gleam of the dying day.</p> +<p>"Drop work a minute and come here, Rod," he said at length. "Can + you keep a secret?"</p> +<p>"'Course I can! I'm chock full of 'em now, and nobody could dig + one of 'em out o' me with a pickaxe!"</p> +<p>"Oh, well! If you're full you naturally couldn't hold another!"</p> +<p>"I could try to squeeze it in, if it's a nice one," coaxed the + boy.</p> +<p>"I don't know whether you'11 think it's a nice one, Rod, for it + breaks up one of your plans. I'm not sure myself how nice it is, + but it's a very big, unexpected, startling one. What do you + think? Your favorite Patty has gone and got married."</p> +<p>"Patty! Married!" cried Rod, then hastily putting his hand over + his mouth to hush his too-loud speaking.</p> +<p>"Yes, she and Mark Wilson ran away last Monday, drove over to + Allentown, New Hampshire, and were married without telling a + soul. Deacon Baxter discovered everything this afternoon, like + the old fox that he is, and turned Patty out of the house."</p> +<p>"Mean old skinflint!" exclaimed Rod excitedly, all the incipient + manhood rising in his ten-year-old breast. "Is she gone to live + with the Wilsons?"</p> +<p>"The Wilsons don't know yet that Mark is married to her, but I + met him driving like Jehu, just after I had left Patty, and told + him everything that had happened, and did my best to cool him + down and keep him from murdering his new father-in-law by showing + him it would serve no real purpose now."</p> +<p>"Did he look married, and all different?" asked Rod curiously.</p> +<p>"Yes, he did, and more like a man than ever he looked before in + his life. We talked everything over together, and he went home at + once to break the news to his family, without even going to take + a peep at Patty. I couldn't bear to have them meet till he had + something cheerful to say to the poor little soul. When I met her + by Uncle Bart's shop, she was trudging along in the snow like a + draggled butterfly, and crying like a baby."</p> +<p>Sympathetic tears dimmed Rodman's eyes. "I can't bear to see + girls cry, Ivory. I just can't bear it, especially Patty."</p> +<p>"Neither can I, Rod. I came pretty near wiping her eyes, but + pulled up, remembering she wasn't a child but a married lady. + Well, now we come to the point."</p> +<p>"Isn't Patty's being married the point?"</p> +<p>"No, only part of it. Patty's being sent away from home leaves + Waitstill alone with the Deacon, do you see? And if Patty is your + favorite, Waitstill is mine--I might as well own up to that."</p> +<p>"She's mine, too," cried Rod. "They're both my favorites, but + I + always thought Patty was the suitablest for me to marry if she'd + wait for me. Waitstill is too grand for a boy!"</p> +<p>"She's too grand for anybody, Rod. There isn't a man alive that's + worthy to strap on her skates."</p> +<p>"Well, she's too grand for anybody except--" and here Rod's shy, + wistful voice trailed off into discreet silence.</p> +<p>"Now I had some talk with Patty, and she thinks Waitstill will + have no trouble with her father just at present. She says he + lavished so much rage upon her that there'll be none left for + anybody else for a day or two. And, moreover, that he will never + dare to go too far with Waitstill, because she's so useful to + him. I'm not afraid of his beating or injuring her so long as he + keeps his sober senses, if he's ever rightly had any; but I don't + like to think of his upbraiding her and breaking her heart with + his cruel talk just after she's lost the sister that's been her + only companion." And Ivory's hand trembled as he filled his pipe. + He had no confidant but this quaint, tender-hearted, + old-fashioned little lad, to whom he had grown to speak his mind + as if he were a man of his own age; and Rod, in the same way, had + gradually learned to understand and sympathize.</p> +<p>"It's dreadful lonesome on Town-House Hill," said the boy in a + hushed tone </p> +<p>"Dreadful lonesome," echoed Ivory with a sigh; "and I don't + dare + leave mother until her fever dies down a bit and she sleeps. Now + do you remember the night that she was taken ill, and we shared + the watch?"</p> +<p>Rodman held his breath. " Do you mean you 're going to let me + help just as if I was big? " he asked, speaking through a great + lump in his throat.</p> +<p>"There are only two of us, Rod. You're rather young for this + piece of work, but you're trusty--you 're trusty!"</p> +<p>"Am I to keep watch on the Deacon?"</p> +<p>"That's it, and this is my plan: Nick will have had his feed; you + 're to drive to the bridge when it gets a little darker and hitch + in Uncle Bart's horse-shed, covering Nick well. You're to go into + the brick store, and while you're getting some groceries wrapped + up, listen to anything the men say, to see if they know what's + happened. When you've hung about as long as you dare, leave your + bundle and say you'll call in again for it. Then see if Baxter's + store is open. I don't believe it will be, and if it Isn't, look + for a light in his kitchen window, and prowl about till you know + that Waitstill and the Deacon have gone up to their bedrooms. + Then go to Uncle Bart's and find out if Patty is there."</p> +<p>Rod's eyes grew bigger and bigger: "Shall I talk to her?" he + asked; "and what'll I say?"</p> +<p>"No, just ask if she's there. If she's gone, Mark has made it + right with his family and taken her home. If she hasn't, why, God + knows how that matter will be straightened out. Anyhow, she has a + husband now, and he seems to value her; and Waitstill is alone on + the top of that wind-swept hill!"</p> +<p>"I'll go. I'll remember everything," cried Rodman, in the seventh + heaven of delight at the responsibilities Ivory was heaping upon + him. + 318</p> +<p>"Don't stay beyond eight o'clock; but come back and tell me + everything you've learned. Then, if mother grows no worse, I'll + walk back to Uncle Bart's shop and spend the night there, + just--just to be near, that's all."</p> +<p>"You couldn't hear Waitstill, even if she called," Rod said.</p> +<p>"Couldn't I? A man's ears are very sharp under certain + circumstances. I believe if Waitstill needed help I could hear + her--breathe! Besides, I shall be up and down the hill till I + know all's well; and at sunrise I'11 go up and hide behind some + of Baxter's buildings till I see + him get his breakfast and go to the store. Now wash your dishes"; + and Ivory caught up his cap from a hook behind the door.</p> +<p>"Are you going to the barn? " asked Rodman.</p> +<p>"No, only down to the gate for a minute. Mark said that if he had + a good chance he'd send a boy with a note, and get him to put it + under the stone gate-post. It's too soon to expect it, perhaps, + but I can't seem to keep still."</p> +<p>Rodman tied a gingham apron round his waist, carried the + tea-kettle to the sink, and poured the dishpan full of boiling + water; then dipped the cups and plates in and out, wiped them and + replaced them on the table' gave the bean-platter a special + polish, and set the half mince pie and the butter-dish in the + cellar-way.</p> +<p>"A boy has to do most everything in this family!" He sighed to + himself. + "I don't mind washing dishes, except the nasty frying-pan and the + sticky bean-pot; but what I'm going to do to-night is different." + Here he glowed and tingled with anticipation. "I know what they + call it in the story-books--it's sentry duty; and that's braver + work for a boy than dish-washing!"</p> +<p>Which, however, depends a good deal upon circumstances, and somewhat on the + point of view.</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXXII</p> +<p>THE HOUSE OF AARON</p> +<p>A FEELING that the day was to bring great things had dawned upon + Waitstill when she woke that morning, and now it was coming true.</p> +<p>Climbing Saco Hill was like climbing the hill of her dreams; life + and love beckoned to her across the snowy slopes.</p> +<p>At rest about Patty's future, though troubled as to her sorry plight at the + moment, she was conscious chiefly of her new-born freedom. She revelled in the + keen air that tingled against her cheek, and drew in fresh hope with every breath. + As she trod the shining pathway she was full of expectancy, her eyes dancing, + her heart as buoyant as her step. Not a vestige of confusion or uncertainty + vexed her mind. She knew Ivory for her true mate, and if the way to him took + her through dark places it was lighted by a steadfast beacon of love.</p> +<p> + At the top of the hill she turned the corner breathlessly, and + faced the length of road that led to the Boynton farm. Mrs. + Mason's house was beyond, and oh, how she hoped that Ivory would + be at home, and that she need not wait another day to tell him + all, and claim the gift she knew was hers before she asked it. + She might not have the same exaltation to-morrow, for now there + were no levels in her heart and soul. She had a sense of mounting + from height to height and lighting fires on every peak of her + being. She took no heed of the road she was travelling; she was + conscious only of a wonderful inward glow.</p> +<p>The house was now in sight, and a tall figure was issuing from + the side door, putting on a fur cap as it came out on the steps + and down the lane. Ivory was at home, then, and, best of all, he + was unconsciously coming to meet her--although their hearts had + been coming to meet each other, she thought, ever since they + first began to beat.</p> +<p>As she neared the bars she called Ivory's name. His hands were in + the pockets of his great-coat, and his eyes were fixed on the + ground. Sombre he was, distinctly sombre, in mien and gait; could + she make him smile and flush and glow, as she was smiling and + flushing and glowing? As he heard her voice he raised his head + quickly and uncomprehendingly.</p> +<p>"Don't come any nearer," she said, "until I have told you + something!" His mind had been so full of her that the sight of + her in the flesh, standing twenty feet away, bewildered him.</p> +<p>She took a few steps nearer the gate, near enough now for him to + see her rosy face framed in a blue hood, and to catch the + brightness of her eyes under their lovely lashes. Ordinarily they + were cool and limpid and grave, Waitstill's eyes; now a sunbeam + danced in each of them. And her lips, almost always tightly + closed, as if she were holding back her natural speech,--her lips + were red and parted, and the soul of her, free at last, shone + through her face, making it luminous with a new beauty.</p> +<p>"I have left home for good and all," she said. "I'll tell you + more of this later on, but I have left my father's house with + nothing to my name but the clothes I stand in. I am going to look + for work in the mills to-morrow, but I stopped here to say that + I'm ready to marry you whenever you want me--if you do want me."</p> +<p>Ivory was bewildered, indeed, but not so much so that he failed + to apprehend, and instantly, too, the real significance of this + speech.</p> +<p>He took a couple of long strides, and before Waitstill had any + idea of his intentions he vaulted over the bars and gathered her + in his arms.</p> +<p>"Never shall you go to the mills, never shall you leave my sight + for a single hour again, my one-woman-in-all-the-world! Come to + me, to be loved and treasured all your life long! I've worshipped + you ever since I was a boy; I've kept my heart swept and + garnished for you and no other, hoping I might win you at last."</p> +<p>How glorious to hear all this delicious poetry of love, and to + feel Ivory's arms about her, making the dream seem surer!</p> +<p>"Oh, how like you to shorten the time of my waiting!" he went on, + his words fairly chasing one another in their eagerness to be + spoken + How like you to count on me, to guess my hunger for your love, to + realize the chains that held me back, and break them yourself + with your own dear, womanly hands! How like you, oh, wonderful + Waitstill!"</p> +<p>Ivory went on murmuring phrases that had been lying in his heart + unsaid for years, scarcely conscious of what he was saying, + realizing only that the miracle of miracles had happened.</p> +<p>Waitstill, for her part, was almost dumb with joy to be lying so + close to his heart that she could hear it beating; to feel the + passionate tenderness of his embrace and his kiss falling upon + her hair.</p> +<p>"I did not know a girl could be so happy!" she whispered. "I've + dreamed of it, but it was nothing like this. I am all a-tremble + with it." </p> +<p>Ivory held her off at arm's length for a moment, reluctantly, + grudgingly. "You took me fairly off my feet, dearest," he said, + "and forgot everything but the one supreme fact you were telling + me. Had I been on guard I should have told you that I am no + worthy husband for you, Waitstill. I haven't enough to offer such + a girl as you."</p> +<p>"You're too late, Ivory! You showed me your heart first, and now + you are searching your mind for bugbears to frighten me."</p> +<p>"I am a poor man."</p> +<p>"No girl could be poorer than I am."</p> +<p>"After what you've endured, you ought to have rest and comfort."</p> +<p>"I shall have both--in you!" This with eyes, all wet, lifted to + Ivory's.</p> +<p>"My mother is a great burden--a very dear and precious, but a + grievous one."</p> +<p>"She needs a daughter. It is in such things that I shall be your + helpmate."</p> +<p>"Will not the boy trouble you and add to your cares?"</p> +<p>"Rod? I love him; he shall be my little brother."</p> +<p>"What if my father were not really dead?--I think of this + sometimes in the night!--What if he should wander back, broken in + spirit, feeble in body, empty in purse?"</p> +<p>"I do not come to you free of burdens. If my father is deserted + by all, I must see that he is made comfortable. He never treated + me like a daughter, but I acknowledge his claim."</p> +<p>"Mine is such a gloomy house!"</p> +<p>"Will it be gloomy when I am in it?" and Waitstill, usually so + grave, laughed at last like a care-free child.</p> +<p>Ivory felt himself hidden in the beautiful shelter of the girl's + love. It was dark now, or as dark as the night ever is that has + moonlight and snow. He took Waitstill in his arms again + reverently, and laid his cheek against her hair. "I worship God + as well as I know how," he whispered; "worship him as the maker + of this big heaven and earth that surrounds us. But I worship you + as the maker of my little heaven and earth, and my heart is + saying its prayers to you at this very moment!"</p> +<p>"Hush, my dear! hush! and don't value me too much, or I shall + lose my head--I that have never known a sweet word in all my life + save those that my sister has given me.--I must tell you all + about Patty now."</p> +<p>"I happen to know more than you, dear. I met her at the bridge + when I was coming home from the woods, and I saw her safely to + Uncle Bart's door.--I don't know why we speak of it as Uncle + Bart's when it is really Aunt Abby's!--I next met Mark, who had + fairly flown from Bridgton on the wings of love, arriving hours + ahead of time. I managed to keep him from avenging the insults + heaped upon his bride, and he has driven to the Mills to confide + in his father and mother. By this time Patty is probably the + centre of the family group, charming them all as is her custom."</p> +<p>"Oh, I am so glad Mark is at home! Now I can be at rest about + Patty. And I must not linger another moment, for I am going to + ask Mrs. Mason to keep me overnight," cried Waitstill, bethinking + herself suddenly of time and place.</p> +<p>"I will take you there myself and explain everything. And the + moment I've lighted a fire in Mrs. Mason's best bedroom and + settled you there, what do you think I am going to do? I shall + drive to the town clerk's house, and if he is in bed, rout + him out and have the notice of our intended marriage posted + in a public place according to law. Perhaps I shall save a day + out of the fourteen I've got to wait for my wife. 'Mills,' + indeed! I wonder at you, Waitstill! As if Mrs. Mason's house was + not far enough away, without your speaking of 'mills.'"</p> +<p>"I only suggested mills in case you did not want to marry me," + said Waitstill.</p> +<p> + "Walk up to the door with me," begged Ivory.</p> +<p>"The horse is all harnessed, and Rod will slip him into the + sleigh in a jiffy."</p> +<p>"Oh, Ivory! do you realize what this means?"--and Waitstill clung + to his arm as they went up the lane together--"that whatever + sorrow, whatever hardship comes to us, neither of us will ever + have to bear it alone again?"</p> +<p>"I believe I do realize it as few men could, for never in my + five-and-twenty years have I had a human creature to whom I could + pour myself out, in whom I could really confide, with whom I + could take counsel. You can guess what it will be to have a + comprehending woman at my side. Shall we tell my mother? Do say + 'yes'; I believe she will understand.--Rod, Rod! come and see + who's stepping in the door this very minute!"</p> +<p>Rodman was up in his bedroom, attiring himself elaborately for + sentry duty. His delight at seeing Waitstill was perhaps slightly + tempered by the thought that flashed at once through his + mind,--that if she was safe, he would not be required to stand + guard in the snow for hours as he had hoped. But this grief + passed when he fully realized what Waitstill's presence at the + farm at this unaccustomed hour really meant. After he had been + told, he hung about her like the child that he was,--though he + had a bit of the hero in him, at bottom, too,--embracing her + waist fondly, and bristling with wondering questions.</p> +<p>"Is she really going to stay with us for always, Ivory?" he + asked.</p> +<p>"Every day and all the days; every night and all the nights. + 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow!'" said Ivory, taking + off his fur cap and opening the door of the living-room. "But + we've got to wait for her a whole fortnight, Rod. Isn't that a + ridiculous snail of a law?"</p> +<p>"Patty didn't wait a fortnight."</p> +<p>"Patty never waited for anything," Ivory responded with a smile; + "but she had a good reason, and, alas! we haven't, or they'11 say + that we haven't. And I am very grateful to the same dear little + Patty, for when she got herself a husband she found me a wife!"</p> +<p>Rodman did not wholly understand this, but felt that there were + many mysteries attending the love affairs of grown-up people that + were too complicated for him to grasp; and it did not seem to be + just the right moment for questions.</p> +<p>Waitstill and Ivory went into Mrs. Boynton's room quietly, hand + in hand, and when she saw Waitstill she raised herself from her + pillow and held out her arms with a soft cry of delight.</p> +<p>"I haven't had you for so long, so long!" she said, touching the + girl's cheek with her frail hand.</p> +<p>"You are going to have me every day now, dear," whispered + Waitstill, with a sob in her voice; for she saw a change in the + face, a new transparency, a still more ethereal look than had + been there before.</p> +<p>"Every day?" she repeated, longingly. Waitstill took off her + hood, and knelt on the floor beside the bed, hiding her face in + the counterpane to conceal the tears.</p> +<p>"She is coming to live with us, dear.--Come in, Rod, and hear me + tell her.--Waitstill is coming to live with us: isn't that a + beautiful thing to happen to this dreary house?" asked Ivory, + bending to take his mother's hand.</p> +<p>"Don't you remember what you thought the first time I ever came + here, mother?" and Waitstill lifted her head, and looked at Mrs. + Boynton with swimming eyes and lips that trembled. "Ivory is + making it all come true, and I shall be your daughter!"</p> +<p>Mrs. Boynton sank farther back into her pillows, and closing her + eyes, gave a long sigh of infinite content. Her voice was so + faint that they + had to stoop to catch the words, and Ivory, feeling the strange + benediction that seemed to be passing from his mother's spirit to + theirs, took Rod's hand and knelt beside Waitstill.</p> +<p>The verse of a favorite psalm was running through Lois Boynton's mind, and + in a moment the words came clearly, as she opened her eyes, lifted her hands, + and touched the bowed heads. "Let the house of Aaron now say that his mercy + endureth forever!" she said, slowly and reverently; and Ivory, with all + his heart, responded, "Amen!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXXIII</p> +<p>AARON'S ROD</p> +<p>"IVORY! IVORY!"</p> +<p>Ivory stirred in a sleep that had been troubled by too great happiness. To + travel a dreary path alone, a path leading seemingly nowhere, and then suddenly + to have a companion by one's side, the very sight of whom enchanted the eye, + the very touch of whom delighted the senses--what joy unspeakable! Who could + sleep soundly when wakefulness brought a train of such blissful thoughts?</p> +<p> + "Ivory! Ivory!"</p> +<p>He was fully awake now, for he knew his mother's voice. In all + the years, ever thoughtful of his comfort and of the constant + strain upon his strength, Lois had never wakened her son at + night.</p> +<p>"Coming, mother, coming!" he said, when he realized she was + calling him; and hastily drawing on some clothing, for the night + was bitterly cold, he came out of his room and saw his mother + standing at the foot of the stairway, with a lighted candle in + her hand.</p> +<p>"Can you come down, Ivory? It is a strange hour to call you but I + have something to tell you; something I have been piecing + together for weeks; something I have just clearly remembered."</p> +<p>"If it's something that won't keep till morning, mother, you + creep back into bed and we'll hear it comfortably," he said, + coming downstairs and leading her to her room. "I'll smooth the + covers, so; beat up the pillows,--there, and throw another log on + the sitting-room fire. Now, what's the matter? Couldn't you + sleep?"</p> +<p>"All summer long I have been trying to remember something; + something untrue that you have been believing, some falsehood for + which I was responsible. I have pursued and pursued it, but it + has always escaped me. Once it was clear as daylight, for Rodman + read me from the Bible a plain answer to all the questions that + tortured me."</p> +<p>"That must have been the night that she fainted," thought Ivory.</p> +<p>"When I awoke next morning from my long sleep, the old puzzle had + come back, a thousand times worse than before, for then I knew + that I had held the clue in my own hand and had lost it. Now, + praise God! I know the truth, and you, the only one to whom I can + tell it, are close at hand."</p> +<p>Ivory looked at his mother and saw that the veil that had + separated them mentally seemed to five vanished in the night that + had passed. Often and often it had blown away, as it were, for + the fraction of a moment and then blown back again. Now her eyes + met his with an altogether new clearness that startled him, while + her health came with ease and she seemed stronger than for many + days.</p> +<p>"You remember the winter I was here at the farm alone, when you + were at the Academy?"</p> +<p>"Yes; it was then that I came home and found you so terribly ill. + Do you think we need go back to that old time now, mother dear?"</p> +<p>"Yes, I must, I must! One morning I received a strange letter, + bearing no signature, in which the writer said that if I wished + to see my husband I had only to go to a certain address in + Brentville, New Hampshire. The letter went on to say that Mr. + Aaron Boynton was ill and longed for nothing so much as to speak + with me; but there were reasons why he did not wish to return to + Edgewood,--would I come to him without delay."</p> +<p>Ivory now sat straight in his chair and listened keenly, feeling + that this was to be no vague, uncertain, and misleading memory, + but something true and tangible.</p> +<p>"The letter excited me greatly after your father's long absence + and silence. I knew it could mean nothing but sorrow, but + although I was half ill at the time, my plain duty was to go, so + I thought, and go without making any explanation in the village."</p> +<p>All this was new to Ivory and he hung upon his mother's words, + dreading yet hoping for the light that they might shed upon the + past.</p> +<p>"I arrived at Brentville quite exhausted with the journey and + weighed down by anxiety and dread. I found the house mentioned in + the letter at seven o'clock in the evening, and knocked at the + door. A common, hard-featured woman answered the knock and, + seeming to expect me, ushered me in. I do not remember the room; + I remember only a child leaning patiently against the window-sill + looking out into the dark, and that the place was bare and + cheerless.</p> +<p>"I came to call upon Mr. Aaron Boynton,' I said, with my heart + sinking lower and lower as I spoke. The woman opened a door into + the next + room and when I walked in, instead of seeing your father, I + confronted a haggard, death-stricken young woman sitting up in + bed, her great eyes bright with pain, her lips as white as her + hollow cheeks, and her long, black hair streaming over the + pillow. The very sight of her struck a knell to the little hope I + had of soothing your father's sick bed and forgiving him if he + had done me any wrong.</p> +<p>"'Well, you came, as I thought you would,' said the girl, looking + me over from head to foot in a way that somehow made me burn with + shame. 'Now sit down in that chair and hear what I've got to say + while I've got the strength to say it. I haven't the time nor the + desire to put a gloss on it. Aaron Boynton isn't here, as you + plainly see, but that's not my fault, for he belongs here as much + as anywhere, though he wouldn't have much interest in a dying + woman. If you have suffered on account of him, so have I and you + haven't had this pain boring into you and eating your life away + for months, as I have.' </p> +<p>"I pitied her, she seemed so distraught, but I was in terror of + her all the same, and urged her to tell her story calmly and I + would do my best to hear it in the same way.</p> +<p>"'Calm,' she exclaimed, 'with this agony tearing me to pieces! + Well, to make beginning and end in one, Aaron Boynton was my + husband for three years.'</p> +<p>"I caught hold of the chair to keep myself from falling and + cried: 'I do not believe it!' 'Believe it or not, she answered + scornfully, 'it makes no difference to me, but I can give you + twenty proofs in as many seconds. We met at a Cochrane meeting + and he chose me from all the others as his true wife. For two + years we travelled together, but long before they came to an end + there was no happiness for either of us. He had a conscience--not + much of a one, but just enough to keep him miserable. At last I + felt he was not believing the doctrines he preached and I caught + him trying to get news of you and your boy, just because you were + out of reach, and neglecting my boy and me, who had given up + everything to wander with him and live on whatever the brethren + and sisters chose to give us.'</p> +<p>"'So there was a child, a boy,' I gasped. 'Did--did he live?' + 'He's in the next room,' she answered, 'and it's him I brought + you here for. Aaron Boynton has served us both the same. He left + you for me and me for Heaven knows who. If I could live I + wouldn't ask any favors, of you least of all, but I haven't a + penny in the world, though I shan't need one very long. My friend + that's nursing me hasn't a roof to her head and she wouldn't + share it with the boy if she had--she's a bigoted Orthodox.'</p> +<p>"'But what do you expect me to do?' I asked angrily, for she was + stabbing me with every word.</p> +<p>"'The boy is your husband's child and he always represented you + as a saint upon earth. I expect you to take him home and provide + for him. He doesn't mean very much to me--just enough so that I + don't relish his going to the poorhouse, that's all.'</p> +<p>"'He'll go to something very like that if he comes to mine,' I + said.</p> +<p>"'Don't worry me with talk, for I can't stand it,' she wailed, + clutching at her nightgown and flinging back her hair. 'Either + you take the child or I send somebody to Edgewood with him, + somebody to tell the whole story. Some of the Cochranites can + support him if you won't; or, at the worst, Aaron Boynton's town + can take care of his son. The doctor has given me two days to + live. If it's a minute longer I've warned him and I warn you, + that I'll end it myself; and if you don't take the boy I'll do + the same for him. He's a good sight better off dead than knocking + about the world alone; he's innocent and there's no sense in his + being punished for the sins of other folks.'"</p> +<p>"I see it all! Why did I never think of it before; my poor, poor + Rod!" said Ivory, clenching his hands and burying his head in + them.</p> +<p>"Don't grieve, Ivory; it has all turned out so much better than + we could have hoped; just listen to the end. She was frightful to + hear and to look at, the girl was, though all the time I could + feel that she must have had a gipsy beauty and vigor that + answered to something in your father.</p> +<p>"'Go along out now,' she cried suddenly. 'I can't stand anybody + near. The doctor never gives me half enough medicine and for the + hour before he comes I fairly die for lack of it--though little + he cares! Go upstairs and have your sleep and to-morrow you can + make up your mind.'</p> +<p>"'You don't leave me much freedom to do that,' I tried to answer; + but she interrupted me, rocking her body to and fro. 'Neither of + us wi11 ever see Aaron Boynton again; you no more than I. He's in + the West, and a man with two families and no means of providing + for them doesn't come back where he's known.--Come and take her + away, Eliza! Take her away, quick!' she called.</p> +<p>"I stumbled out of the room and the woman waved me upstairs. 'You + mustn't mind Hetty,' she apologized; 'she never had a good + disposition at the best, but she's frantic with the pain now, and + good reason, too. It's about over and I'11 be thankful when it + is. You'd better swallow the shame and take the child; I can't + and won't have him and it'11 be easy enough for you to say he + belongs to some of your own folks.'</p> +<p>"By this time I was mentally bewildered. When the iron first + entered my soul, when I first heard the truth about your father, + at that moment my mind gave way--I know it now."</p> +<p>"Poor, poor mother! My poor, gentle little mother!" murmured + Ivory brokenly, as he asked her hand.</p> +<p>"Don't cry, my son; it is all past; the sorrow and the bitterness + and the struggle. I will just finish the story and then we'11 + close the book forever. The woman gave me some bread and tea, and + I flung myself on the bed without undressing. I don't know how + long afterward it was, but the door opened and a little boy stole + in; a sad, strange, dark-eyed little boy who said: 'Can I sleep + up here? Mother's screaming and I'm afraid.' He climbed to the + couch. I covered him with a blanket, and I soon heard his deep + breathing. But later in the night, when I must have fallen asleep + myself, I suddenly awoke and felt him lying beside me. He had + dragged the blanket along and crept up on the bed to get close to + my side for the warmth I could give, or the comfort of my + nearness. The touch of him almost broke my heart; I could not + push the little creature away when he was lying there so near and + warm and confiding--he, all unconscious of the agony his mere + existence was to me. I must have slept again and when the day + broke I was alone. I thought the presence of the child in the + night was a dream and I could not remember where I was, nor why I + was there."</p> +<p>"Mother, dear mother, don't tell me any more to-night. I fear for + your strength," urged Ivory, his eyes full of tears at the + remembrance of her sufferings.</p> +<p>"There is only a little more and the weight will be off my heart + and on yours, my poor son. Would that I need not tell you! The + house was still and I thought at first that no one was awake, but + when I opened the sitting-room door the child ran towards me and + took my hand as the woman came in from the sick-room. 'Go into + the kitchen, Rodman,' she said, 'and lace up your boots; you're + going right out with this lady. Hetty died in the night,' she + continued impassively. 'The doctor was here about ten o'clock and + I've never seen her so bad. He gave her a big dose of sleeping + powder and put another in the table drawer for me to mix for her + towards morning. She was helpless to move, we thought, but all + the same she must have got out of bed when my back was turned and + taken the powder dry on her tongue, for it was gone when I looked + for it. It didn't hasten things much and I don't blame her. If + ever there was a wild, reckless creature it was Hetty Rodman, but + I, who am just the opposite, would have done the same if I'd been + her.'</p> +<p>"She hurriedly gave me a cup of coffee, and, putting a coat and a + cap on the boy, literally pushed me out of the house. 'I've got + to report things to the doctor,' she said, 'and you're better out + of the way. Go down that side street to the station and mind you + say the boy belonged to your sister who died and left him to you. + You're a Cochranite, ain't you? So was Hetty, and they're all + sisters, so you'll be telling no lies. Good-bye, Rodman, be a + good boy and don't be any trouble to the lady.'</p> +<p>"How I found the station I do not know, nor how I made the + journey, nor where I took the stage-coach. The snow began to fall + and by noon there was a drifting storm. I could not remember + where I was going, nor who the boy was, for just as the snow was + whirling outside, so it was whirling in my brain."</p> +<p>"Mother, I can hardly bear to hear any more; it is too terrible!" + cried Ivory, rising from his chair and pacing the floor.</p> +<p>"I can recall nothing of any account till I awoke in my own bed + weeks afterwards. The strange little boy was there, but Mrs. Day + and Dr. Perry told me what I must have told them--that he was the + child of my dead sister. Those were the last words uttered by the + woman in Brentville; I carried them straight through my illness + and brought them out on the other side more firmly intrenched + than ever."</p> +<p>"If only the truth had come back to you sooner!" sighed Ivory, + coming back to her bedside. "I could have helped you to bear it + all these years. Sorrow is so much lighter when you can share it + with some one else. And the girl who died was called Hetty + Rodman, then, and she simply gave the child her last name?"</p> +<p>"Yes, poor suffering creature. I feel no anger against her now; + it has burned itself all away. Nor do I feel any bitterness + against your father. I forgot all this miserable story for so + long, loving and watching for him all the time, that it is as if + it did not belong to my own life, but had to do with some unhappy + stranger. Can you forgive, too, Ivory?"</p> +<p>"I can try," he answered. "God knows I ought to be able to if + you + can!"</p> +<p>"And will it turn you away from Rod?"</p> +<p>"No, it draws me nearer to him than ever. He shall never know the + truth--why should he? Just as he crept close to you that night, + all unconscious of the reason you had for shrinking from him, so + he has crept close to me in these years of trial, when your mind + has been wandering."</p> +<p>"Life is so strange. To think that this child, of all others, + should have been a comfort to you. The Lord's hand is in it!" + whispered Mrs. Boynton feebly.</p> +<p>"His boyish belief in me, his companionship, have kept the breath + of hope alive in me--that's all I can say."</p> +<p>"The Bible story is happening over again in our lives, then. + Don't you remember that Aaron's rod budded and blossomed and bore + fruit, and that the miracle kept the rebels from murmuring?"</p> +<p>"This rebel never will murmur again, mother, and Ivory rose to + leave the room. "Now that you have shed your burden you will grow + stronger and life will be all joy, for Waitstill will come to us + soon and we can shake off these miseries and be a happy family + once more."</p> +<p>"It is she who has helped me most to find the thread; pouring + sympathy and strength into me, nursing me, loving me, because she + loved my wonderful son. Oh! how blest among women I am to have + lived long enough to see you happy!"</p> +<p>And as Ivory kissed his mother and blew out the candle, she whispered to herself: + "Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXXIV</p> +<p>THE DEACON'S WATERLOO</p> +<p>MRS. MASON'S welcome to Waitstill was unexpectedly hearty--much heartier than + it would have been Six months before, when she regarded Mrs. Boynton as little + less than a harmless lunatic, of no use as a neighbor; and when she knew nothing + more of Ivory than she could gather by his occasional drive or walk past her + door with a civil greeting. Rodman had been until lately the only member of + the family for whom she had a friendly feeling; but all that had changed in + the last few weeks, when she had been allowed to take a hand in the Boyntons' + affairs. As to this newest development in the life of their household, she had + once been young herself, and the veriest block of stone would have become human + when the two lovers drove up to the door and told their exciting story.</p> +<p> + Ivory made himself quickly at home, and helped the old lady to + get a room ready for Waitstill before he drove back for a look at + his mother and then on to carry out his impetuous and romantic + scheme of routing out the town clerk and announcing his intended + marriage. + 345</p> +<p>Waitstill slept like the shepherd boy in "The Pilgrim's + Progress," with the "herb called Heart's Ease" in her bosom. + She + opened her eyes next morning from the depths of Mrs. Mason's best + feather bed, and looked wonderingly about the room, with all its + unaccustomed surroundings. She heard the rattle of fire-irons and + the flatter of dishes below; the first time in all her woman's + life that preparations for breakfast had ever greeted her ears + when she had not been an active participator in them.</p> +<p>She lay quite still for a quarter of an hour, tired in body and + mind, but incredibly happy in spirit, marvelling at the changes + wrought in her during the day preceding, the most eventful one in + her history. Only yesterday her love had been a bud, so closely + folded that she scarcely recognized its beauty or color or + fragrance; only yesterday, and now she held in her hand a perfect + flower. When and how had it grown, and by what magic process?</p> +<p>The image of Ivory had been all through the night in the + foreground of her dreams and in her moments of wakefulness, both + made blissful by the heaven of anticipation that dawned upon her. + Was ever man so wise, so tender and gentle, so strong, so + comprehending? What mattered the absence of worldly goods, the + presence of care and anxiety, when n woman had a steady hand to + hold, a steadfast heart to trust, a man who would love her and + stand by her, whate'er befell?</p> +<p>Then the face of Ivory's mother would swim into the mental + picture; the pale face, as white as the pillow it lay upon; the + face with its aureole of ashen hair, and the wistful blue eyes + that begged of God and her children some peace before they closed + on life.</p> +<p>The vision of her sister was a joyful one, and her heart was at + peace about her, the plucky little princess who had blazed the + way out of the ogre's castle.</p> +<p>She saw Patty clearly as a future fine lady, in velvets and + satins and furs, bewitching every-body by her gay spirits, her + piquant vivacity, and the loving heart that lay underneath all + the nonsense and gave it warmth and color.</p> +<p>The remembrance of her father alone on the hilltop did indeed + trouble Waitstill. Self-reproach, in the true sense of the word, + she did not, could not, feel. Never since the day she was born + had she been fathered, and daughterly love was absent; but she + suffered when she thought of the fierce, self-willed old man, + cutting himself off from all possible friendships, while his + vigor was being sapped daily and hourly by his terrible greed of + money.</p> +<p>True housewife that Waitstill was, her mind reverted to every + separate crock and canister in her cupboards, every article of + her baking or cooking that reposed on the swing-sheh in the + cellar, thinking how long her father could be comfortable without + her ministrations, and so, how long he would delay before + engaging the u inevitable housekeeper. She revolved the number of + possible persons to whom the position would be offered, and + wished that Mrs. Mason, who so needed help, might be the chosen + one: but the fact of her having been friendly to the Boyntons + would strike her at once from the list. </p> +<p> When she was thankfully eating her breakfast with Mrs. Mason a + little later, and waiting for Ivory to call for them both and + take them to the Boynton farm, she little knew what was going on + at her old home in these very hours, when to tell the truth she + would have liked to slip in, had it been possible, wash the + morning dishes, skim the cream, do the week's churning, make her + father's bed, and slip out again into the dear shelter of love + that awaited her.</p> +<p> The Deacon had passed a good part of the night in scheming and + contriving, and when he drank his self-made cup of muddy coffee + at seven o'clock next morning he had formed several plans that + were to be immediately frustrated, had he known it, by the + exasperating and suspicious nature of the ladies involved in + them.</p> +<p>At eight he had left the house, started Bill Morrill at the + store, and was on the road in search of vengeance and a + housekeeper. Old Mrs. Atkins of Deerwander sniffed at the wages + offered. Miss Peters, of Union Falls, an aged spinster with weak + lungs, had the impertinence to tell him that she feared she + couldn't stand the cold in his house; she had heard he was very + particular about the amount of wood that was burned. A four-mile + drive brought him to the village poetically named the Brick Kiln, + where he offered to Mrs. Peter Upham an advance of twenty-five + cents a week over and above the salary with which he had sought + to tempt Mrs. Atkins. Far from being impressed, Mrs. Uphill, + being of a high temper and candid turn of mind, told him she'd + prefer to starve at home. There was not another free woman within + eight miles, and the Deacon was chafing under t e mortification + of being continually obliged to state the reason for his needing + a housekeeper. The only hope, it seemed, lay in going to Saco + and hiring a stranger, a plan not at all to his liking, as it was + sure to involve him in extra expense.</p> +<p>Muttering threats against the universe in general, he drove home + by way of Milliken's Mills, thinking of the unfed hens, the + unmilked cow, the unwashed dishes, the unchurned cream and above + all of his unchastened daughters; his rage increasing with every + step until it was nearly at the white heat of the night before.</p> +<p>A long stretch of hill brought the tired old mare to a slow walk, + and enabled the Deacon to see the Widow Tillman clipping the + geraniums that stood in tin cans on the shelf of her kitchen + window.</p> +<p>Now, Foxwell Baxter had never been a village Lothario at any age, + nor frequented the society of such. Of late years, indeed, he had + frequented no society of any kind, so that he had missed, for + instance, Abel Day's description of the Widow Tillman as a + "reg'lar syreen," though he vaguely remembered that some of the + Baptist sisters had questioned the authenticity of her conversion + by their young and attractive minister. She made a pleasant + picture at the window; she was a free woman (a little too free, + the neighbors would have said; but the Deacon didn't know that); + she was a comparative newcomer to the village, and her mind had + not been poisoned with feminine gossip--in a word, she was a + distinctly hopeful subject, and, acting on a blind and sudden + impulse, he turned into the yard, 'dung the reins over the mare's + neck, and knocked at the back door.</p> +<p>"Her character 's no worse than mine by now if Aunt Abby Cole's + on the road," he thought grimly, "an' if the Wilsons see my + sleigh inside of widder's fence, so much the better; it'll give + 'em a jog.--Good morning Mis' Tillman," he said to the smiling + lady. "I'll come to the p'int at once. My youngest daughter has + married Mark Wilson against my will, an' gone away from town, an' + the older one's chosen a husband still less to my likin'. Do you + want to come and housekeep for me?"</p> +<p>"I surmised something was going on," re-turned Mrs. Tillman. "I + saw Patty and Mark drive away early this morning, with Mr. and + Mrs. Wilson wrapping the girl up and putting a hot soapstone in + the sleigh, and consid'able kissing and hugging thrown in."</p> +<p>This knowledge added fuel to the flame that was burning fiercely + in the Deacon's breast. + "Well, how about the housekeeping he asked, trying not to show + his eagerness, and not recognizing himself at all in the + enterprise in which he found himself indulging.</p> +<p>"I 'm very comfortable here," the lady responded artfully, "and + I + don't know 's I care to make any change, thank you. I didn't like + the village much at first, after living in larger places, but now + I'm acquainted, it kind of gains on me.</p> +<p>Her reply was carefully framed, for her mind worked with great + rapidity, and she was mistress of the situation almost as soon as + she saw the Deacon alighting from his sleigh. He was not the sort + of man to be a casual caller, and his manner bespoke an urgent + errand. She had a pension of six dollars a month, but over and + above that sum her living was precarious. She made coats, and she + had never known want, for she was a master hand at dealing with + the opposite sex. Deacon Baxter, according to common report, had + ten or fifteen thousand dollars stowed away in the banks, so the + situation would be as simple as possible under ordinary + circumstances; it was as easy to turn out one man's pockets as + all-other's when he was a normal human being; but Deacon Baxter + was a different proposition.</p> +<p>"I wonder how long he's likely to live," she thought, glancing at + him covertly, out of the tail of her eye. "His evil temper must + have driven more than one nail in his coffin. I wonder, if l + refuse to housekeep, whether I '11 get--a better offer. I wonder + if I could manage him if I got him! I'd rather like to sit in the + Baxter pew at the Orthodox meeting-house after the way some of + the Baptist sisters have snubbed me since I come here."</p> +<p>Not a vestige of these incendiary thoughts showed in her comely + countenance, and her soul might have been as white as the + high-bibbed apron that covered it, to judge by her genial smile.</p> +<p>"I'd make the wages fair," urged the Deacon, looking round the + clean kitchen, with the break-fast-table sitting near the sunny + window and the odor of corned beef and cabbage issuing temptingly + from a boiling pot on the fire. "I hope she ain't a great + meat-eater," he thought, "but it's too soon to cross that bridge + yet a while."</p> +<p>"I've no doubt of it," said the widow, wondering if her voice + rang true; "but I've got a pension, and why should I leave this + cosy little home? Would I better myself any, that's the question? + I'm kind of lonesome here, that's the only reason I'd consider a + move."</p> +<p>"No need o' bein' lonesome down to the Falls," said the Deacon. + "And I'm in an' out all day, between the barn an' the store."</p> +<p>This, indeed, was not a pleasant prospect, but Jane Tillman had + faced worse ones in her time.</p> +<p>"I'm no hand at any work outside the house," she observed, as if + reflecting. "I can truthfully say I'm a good cook, and have a + great faculty for making a little go a long ways." (She + considered this a master-stroke, and in fact it was; for the + Deacon's mouth absolutely watered at this apparently unconscious + comprehension of his disposition.) "But I'm no hand at any chores + in the barn or shed," she continued. "My first husband would + never allow me to do that kind of work."</p> +<p>"Perhaps I could git a boy to help out; I've been kind o' + thinkin' o' that lately. What wages would you expect if I paid a + boy for the rough work?" asked the Deacon tremulously. "Well, to + tell the truth, I don't quite fancy the idea of taking wages. + Judge Dickinson wants me to go to Alfred and housekeep for him, + and I'd named twelve dollars a month. It's good pay, and I + haven't said 'No'; but my rent is small here, I'm my own + mistress, and I don't feel like giving up my privileges." </p> +<p>"Twelve dollars a month!" He had never thought of approaching + that sum; and he saw the heap of unwashed dishes growing day by + day, and the cream souring on the milk-pans. Suddenly an idea + sprang full-born into the Deacon's mind (Jed Morrill's "Old + Driver" must have been close at hand!). Would Jane Tillman marry + him? No woman in the three villages would be more obnoxious to + his daughters; that in itself was a distinct gain. She was a + fine, robust figure of a woman in her early forties, and he + thought, after all, that the hollow-chested, spindle-shanked kind + were more ex-pensive to feed, on the whole, than their + better-padded sisters. He had never had any difficulty in + managing wives, and thought himself quite equal to one more bout, + even at sixty-five, though he had just the faintest suspicion + that the high color on Mrs. Tillman's prominent cheek-bones, the + vigor shown in the coarse black hair and handsome eyebrows, might + make this task a little more difficult than his previous ones. + But this fear vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, for he + kept saying to himself: "A judge of the County Court wants her at + twelve dollars a month; hadn't I better bid high an' git settled?</p> +<p>"If you'd like to have a home o' your own 'thout payin' rent, + you've only got to say the word an' I'll make you Mis' Baxter," + said the Deacon. "There'll be nobody to interfere with you, an' a + handsome legacy if I die first; for none o' my few savin's is + goin' to my daughters, I can promise you that!"</p> +<p>The Deacon threw out this tempting bait advisedly, for at this + moment he would have poured his hoard into the lap of any woman + who would help him to avenge his fancied wrongs.</p> +<p>This was information, indeed! The "few savings" alluded to + amounted to some thousands, Jane Tillman knew. Had she not better + burn her ships behind her, take the risks, and have faith in her + own powers? She was getting along in ears, and her charms of + person were lessening with every day that passed over her head. + If the Deacon's queer ways grew too queer, she thought an appeal + to the doctor and the minister might provide a way of escape and + a neat little income to boot; so, on the whole, the marriage, + though much against her natural inclinations, seemed to be + providentially arranged.</p> +<p>The interview that succeeded, had it been reported verbatim, + deserved to be recorded in local history. Deacon Baxter had met + in Jane Tillman a foeman more than worthy of his steel. She was + just as crafty as he, and in generalship as much superior to him + as Napoleon Bonaparte to Cephas Cole. Her knowledge of and her + experiences with men, all very humble, it is true, but decidedly + varied, enabled her to play on every weakness of this particular + one she had in hand, and at the same time skilfully to avoided + alarming him. </p> +<p>Heretofore, the women with whom the Deacon had come in contact + had timidly steered away from the rocks and reefs in his nature, + and had been too ignorant or too proud to look among them for + certain softer places that were likely to be there--since man is + man, after all, even when he is made on a very small pattern.</p> +<p>If Jane Tillman became Mrs. Baxter, she intended to get the whip + hand and keep it; but nothing was further from her intention than + to make the Deacon miserable if she could help it. That was not + her disposition; and so, when the deluded man left her house, he + had made more concessions in a single hour than in all the former + years of his life.</p> +<p>His future spouse was to write out a little paper for his + signature; just a friendly little paper to be kept quite private + and confidential between themselves, stating that she was to do + no work outside of the house; that her pension was to be her own; + that she was to have five dollars in cash on the first of every + month in lieu of wages; and that in ease of his death occurring + first she was to have a third of his estate, and the whole of it + if at the time of his decease he was still pleased with his + bargain. The only points in this contract that the Deacon really + understood were that he was paying only five dollars a month for + a housekeeper to whom a judge had offered twelve; that, as he had + expected to pay at least eight, he could get a boy for the + remaining three, and so be none the worse in pocket; also, that + if he could keep his daughters from getting his money, he didn't + care a hang who had it, as he hated the whole human race with + entire impartiality. If Jane Tillman didn't behave herself, he + had pleasing visions of converting most of his fortune into cash + and having it dropped off the bridge some dark night, when the + doctor had given him up and proved to his satisfaction that death + would occur in the near future.</p> +<p>All this being harmoniously settled, the Deacon drove away, and + caused the announcement of his immediate marriage to be posted + directly below that of Waitstill and Ivory Boynton.</p> +<p>"Might as well have all the fat in the fire to once," he + chuckled. "There won't be any house-work done in this part of the + county for a week to come. If we should have more snow, nobody'll + have to do any shovellin', for the women-folks'll keep all the + paths in the village trod down from door to door, travellin' + round with the news."</p> +<p>A "spite match," the community in general called the Deacon's + marriage; and many a man, and many a woman, too, regarding the + amazing publishing notice in the frame up at the meeting-house, + felt that in Jane Tillman Deacon Baxter had met his Waterloo.</p> +<p>"She's plenty good enough for him," said Aunt Abby Cole, "though + I know that's a terrible poor compliment. If she thinks she'll ever break into + s'ciety here at the Falls, she'll find herself mistaken! It's a mystery to me + why the poor deluded man ever done it; but ain't it wonderful the ingenuity + the Lord shows in punishin' sinners? I couldn't 'a' thought out such a good + comeuppance myself for Deacon Baxter, as marryin' Jane Tillman! The thing that + troubles me most, is thinkin' how tickled the Baptists'11 be to git her out + o' their meetin' an' into ourn!"</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p>XXXV</p> +<p>TWO HEAVENS</p> +<p>AT the very moment that Deacon Baxter was I starting out on his quest for a + housekeeper, Patty and Mark drove into the Mason dooryard and the sisters flew + into each other's arms. The dress that Mark had bought for Patty was the usual + charting and unsuitable offering of a man's spontaneous affection, being of + dark violet cloth with a wadded cape lined with satin. A little brimmed hat + of violet velvet tied under her chin with silk ribbons completed the costume, + and before the youthful bride and groom had left the ancestral door Mrs. Wilson + had hung her own ermine victorine (the envy of all Edgewood) around Patty's + neck and put her ermine willow muff into her new daughter's hands; thus she + was as dazzling a personage, and as improperly dressed for the journey, as she + could well be.</p> +<p> + Waitstill, in her plain linsey-woolsey, was entranced with + Patty's beauty and elegance, and the two girls had a few minutes + of sisterly talk, of interchange of radiant hopes and confidences + before Mark tore them apart, their cheeks wet with happy tears.</p> +<p>As the Mason house faded from view, Patty having waved her muff + until the last moment, turned in her seat and said:--</p> +<p>"Mark, dear, do you think your father would care if I spent the + twenty-dollar gold-piece he gave me, for Waitstill? She will be + married in a fortnight, and if my father does not give her the + few things she owns she will go to her husband more ill-provided + even than I was. I have so much, dear Mark, and she so little."</p> +<p>"It's your own wedding-present to use as you wish," Mark + answered, "and it's exactly like you to give it away. Go ahead + and spend it if you want to; I can always earn enough to keep + you, without anybody's help!" and Mark, after cracking the whip + vaingloriously, kissed his wife just over the violet ribbons, and + with sleigh-bells jingling they sped over the snow towards what + seemed Paradise to them, the New Hampshire village where they had + been married and where</p> +<p>So a few days later, Waitstill received a great parcel which + relieved her of many feminine anxieties and she began to shape + and cut and stitch during all the hours she had to herself. They + were not many, for every day she trudged to the + Boynton farm and began with youthful enthusiasm the household + tasks that were so soon to be hers by right.</p> +<p>"Don't waste too much time and strength here, my dearest," said + Ivory. "Do you suppose for a moment I shall keep you long on this + lonely farm? I am ready for admission to the Bar or I am fitted + to teach in the best school in New England. Nothing has held me + here but my mother, and in her present condition of mind we can + safely take her anywhere. We will never live where there are so + many memories and associations to sadden and hamper us, but go + where the best opportunity offers, and as soon as may be. My wife + will be a pearl of great price," he added fondly, and I intend to + provide a right setting for her!"</p> +<p>This was all said in a glow of love and joy, pride and ambition, + as Ivory paced up and down before the living-room fireplace while + Waitstill was hanging the freshly laundered curtains.</p> +<p>Ivory was right; Waitstill Baxter was, indeed, a jewel of a + woman. She had little knowledge, but much wisdom, and after all, + knowledge stands for the leaves on a tree and wisdom for the + fruit. There was infinite richness in the girl, a richness that + had been growing and ripening through the years that she thought + so gray and wasted. The few books she owned and loved had + generally lain unopened, it is true, upon her bedroom table, and + she held herself as having far too little learning to be a worthy + companion for Ivory Boynton; but all the beauty and cheer a + comfort that could ever be pressed into the arid life of the + Baxter household had come from Waitstill's heart, and that heart + had grown in warmth and plenty year by year.</p> +<p>Those lonely tasks, too hard for a girl's hands, those unrewarded + drudgeries, those days of faithful labor in and out of doors, + those evenings of self-sacrifice over the mending-basket; the + quiet avoidance of all that might vex her father's crusty temper, + her patience with his miserly exactions; the hourly holding back + of the hasty word,--all these had played their part; all these + had been somehow welded into a strong, sunny, steady, + life-wisdom, there is no better name for it; and so she had + unconsciously the best of all harvests to bring as dower to a + husband who was worthy of her. Ivory's strength called to hers + and answered it, just as his great need awoke such a power of + helpfulness in her as she did not know she possessed. She loved + the man, but she loved the task that beckoned her, too. The + vision of it was like the breath of wind from a hill-top, putting + salt and savor into the new life that opened before her.</p> +<p>These were quietly happy days at the farm, for Mrs. Boynton took + a new, if transient, hold upon life that deceived even the + doctor. Rodman was nearly as ardent a lover as Ivory, hovering + about Waits ill and exclaiming, "You never stay to supper and + it's so lonesome evenings without you! Will it never be time for + you to come and Eve with us, Waity dear? The days crawl so + slowly!" At which Ivory would laugh, push him away and draw + Waitstill nearer to his own side, saying: "If you are in a hurry, + you young cormorant, what do you think of me?" And Waitstill + would look from one to the other and blush at the heaven of love + that surrounded her on every side. </p> +<p>"I believe you are longing to begin on my cooking, you two big + greedy boys!" she said teasingly. "What shall we have for New + Year's dinner, Rod? Do you like a turkey, roasted brown and + crispy, with giblet gravy and cranberry jelly? Do you fancy an + apple dumpling afterwards,--an apple dumpling with potato + crust,--or will you have a suet pudding with + foamy sauce?"</p> +<p>"Stop, Waitstill!" cried Ivory. "Don't put hope into us until + you + are ready to satisfy it; we can't bear it!"</p> +<p>"And I have a box of goodies from my own garden safely stowed + away in Uncle Bart's shop," Waitstill went on mischievously. + "They were to be sold in Portland, but I think they'll have to be + my wedding-present to my husband, though a very strange one, + indeed! There are peaches floating in sweet syrup; there are + tumblers of quince jelly; there are jars of tomato and citron + preserves, and for supper you shall eat them with biscuits as + light as feathers and white as snowdrifts."</p> +<p>"We can never wait two more days, Rod; let us kidnap her! Let us + take the old bob-sled and run over to New Hampshire where one can + be married the minute one feels like it. We could do it between + sunrise and moonrise and be at home for a late supper. Would she + be too tired to bake the biscuits for us, do you think? What do + you say, Rod, will you be best man?" And there would be youthful, + unaccustomed laughter floating out from the kitchen or + living-room, bringing a smile of content to Lois Boynton's face + as she lay propped up in bed with her open Bible beside her. "He + binds up the broken-hearted," she whispered to herself. "He gives + unto them a garland for ashes; the oil of joy for mourning; the + garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."</p> +<p>The quiet wedding was over. There had been neither feasting, nor + finery, nor presents, nor bridal journey; only a home-coming that + meant deep and sacred a joy, as fervent gratitude as any four + hearts ever contained in all the world. But the laughter ceased, + though the happiness flowed silently underneath, almost forgotten + in the sudden sorrow that overcame them, for it fell out that + Lois Boynton had only waited, as it were, for the marriage, and + could stay no longer.</p> +<blockquote> + <p>". . . There are two heavens . . . <br> + Both made of love,--one, inconceivable <br> + Ev'n by the other, so divine it is; <br> + The other, far on this side of the stars, <br> + <p>By men called home."</p> +</blockquote> +<p>And these two heavens met, over at Boyntons', during these cold, + white, glistening December days.</p> +<p>Lois Boynton found hers first. After a windy moonlit night a morning dawned + in which a hush seemed to be on the earth. The cattle huddled together in the + farmyards and the fowls shrank into their feathers. The sky was gray, and suddenly + the first white heralds came floating down like scouts seeking for paths and + camping-places. </p> +<p> + Waitstill turned Mrs. Boynton's bed so that she could look out of + the window. Slope after slope, dazzling in white crust, rose one + upon another and vanished as they slipped away into the dark + green of the pine forests. + Then,</p> +<blockquote> + <p>". . . there fell from out the skies <br> + A feathery whiteness over all the land; <br> + A strange, soft, spotless something, pure as light."</p> +</blockquote> +<p>It could not be called a storm, for there had been no wind since + sunrise, no whirling fury, no drifting; only a still, steady, + solemn fall of crystal flakes, hour after hour, hour after hour.</p> +<p>Mrs. Boynton's Book of books was open on the bed and her finger + marked a passage in her favorite Bible-poet.</p> +<p>"Here it is, daughter," she whispered. "I have found it, in + the same chapter where the morning stars sing together and the sons of God shout + for joy. The Lord speaks to Job out of the whirlwind and says: 'HAST THOU ENTERED + INTO THE TREASURES OF THE SNOW? OR HAST THOU SEEN THE TREASURES OF THE HAIL?' + Sit near me, Waitstill, and look out on the hills. 'HAST THOU ENTERED INTO THE + TREASURES OF THE SNOW?' No, not yet, but please God, I shall, and into many + other treasures, soon"; and she closed her eyes.</p> +<p> + All day long the air-ways were filled with the glittering army of + the snowflakes; all day long the snow grew deeper and deeper on + the ground; and on the breath of some white-winged wonder that + passed Lois Boynton's window her white soul forsook its + "earth-lot" and took flight at last.</p> +<p>They watched beside her, but never knew the moment of her going; + it was just a silent flitting, a ceasing to be, without a tremor, + or a flutter that could be seen by mortal eye. Her face was so + like an angel's in its shining serenity that the few who loved + her best could not look upon her with anything but reverent joy. + On earth she had known nothing but the "broken arcs," but in + heaven she would find the "perfect round"; there at last, on the + other side of the stars, she could remember right, poor Lois + Boynton!</p> +<p> + For weeks afterwards the village was shrouded in snow as it had + never been before within memory, but in every happy household the + home-life deepened day by day. The books came out in the long + evenings; the grandsires told old tales under the inspiration of + the hearth-fire: the children gathered on their wooden stools to + roast apples and pop corn; and hearts came closer together than + when summer called the housemates to wander here and there in + fields and woods and beside the river.</p> +<p>Over at Boyntons', when the snow was whirling and the wind + howling round the chimneys of the high-gabled old farmhouse; when + every window had its frame of ermine and fringe of icicles, and + the sleet rattled furiously against the glass, then Ivory would + throw a great back log on the bank of coals between the + fire-dogs, the kettle would begin to sing, and the eat come from + some snug corner to curl and purr on the braided hearth-rug.</p> +<p>School was in session, and Ivory and Rod had their textbooks of + an evening, but oh! what a new and strange joy to study when + there was a sweet woman sitting near with her workbasket; a woman + wearing a shining braid of hair as if it were a coronet; a woman + of clear eyes and tender lips, one who could feel as well as + think, one who could be a man's comrade as well as his dear love.</p> +<p>Truly the second heaven, the one on "this side of the stars, by + men called home," was very present over at Boyntons'.</p> +<p>Sometimes the broad-seated old haircloth sofa would be drawn in + front of the fire, and Ivory, laying his pipe and his Greek + grammar on the + table, would take some lighter book and open it on his knee. + Waitstill would lift her eyes from her sewing to meet her + husband's glance that + spoke longing for her closer companionship, and gladly leaving + her work, and slipping into the place by his side, she would put + her elbow on his shoulder and read with him.</p> +<p>Once, Rod, from his place at a table on the other side of the + room, looked and looked at them with a kind of instinct beyond + his years, and finally crept up to Waitstill, and putting an arm + through hers, nestled his curly head on her shoulder with the + quaint charm and grace that belonged to him. </p> +<p>It was a young and beautiful shoulder, Waitstill's, and there had + always been, and would always be, a gracious curve in it where a + child's head might lie in comfort. Presently with a shy pressure, + Rod whispered: "Shall I sit in the other room, Waitstill and + Ivory?--Am I in the way?"</p> +<p>Ivory looked up from his book quietly shaking his head, while + Waitstill put her arm around the boy and drew him closer.</p> +<p>"Our little brother is never in the way," she said, as she bent + and kissed him.</p> +<p> + Men may come and men may go; Saco Water still tumbles + tumultuously over the dam and rushes under the Edgewood bridge on + its way to the sea; and still it listens to the story of to-day + that will sometime be the history of yesterday. </p> +<p>On midsummer evenings the windows of the old farmhouse over at + Boyntons' gleam with unaccustomed lights and voices break the + stillness, lessening the gloom of the long grass-grown lane of + Lois Boynton's watching in days gone by. On sunny mornings there + is a merry babel of children's chatter, mingled with gentle + maternal warnings, for this is a new brood of young things and + the river is calling them as it has called all the others who + ever came within the circle of its magic. The fragile harebells + hanging their blue heads from the crevices of the rocks; the + brilliant columbines swaying to and fro on their tall stalks; the + patches of gleaming sand in shallow places beckoning little bare + feet to come and tread them; the glint of silver minnows darting + hither and thither in some still pool; the tempestuous journey of + some weather-beaten log, fighting its way downstream;--here is + life in abundance, luring the child to share its risks and its + joys.</p> +<p>When Waitstill's boys and Patty's girls come back to the farm, + they play by Saco Water as their mothers and their fathers did + before them. The paths through the pine woods along the river's + brink are trodden smooth by their restless, wandering feet; their + eager, curious eyes search the waysides for adventure, but their + babble and laughter are oftenest heard from the ruins of an old + house hidden by great trees. The stones of the cellar, all + overgrown with blackberry vines, are still there; and a fragment + of the brick chimney, where swallows build their nests from year + to year. A wilderness of weeds, tall and luxuriant, springs up to + hide the stone over which Jacob Cochrane stepped daily when he + issued from his door; and the polished stick with which + three-year-old Patty beats a tattoo may be a round from the very + chair in which he sat, expounding the Bible according to his own + vision. The thickets of sweet clover and red-tipped grasses, of + waving ferns and young alder bushes hide all of ugliness that + belongs to the deserted spot and serve as a miniature forest in + whose shade the younglings foreshadow the future at their play of + home-building and housekeeping. In a far corner, altogether + concealed from the passer-by, there is a secret treasure, a + wonderful rosebush, its green leaves shining with health and + vigor. When the July sun is turning the hay-fields yellow, the + children part the bushes in the leafy corner and little Waitstill + Boynton steps cautiously in, to gather one splendid rose, "for + father and mother."</p> +<p>Jacob Cochrane's heart, with all its faults and frailties has + long been at peace. On a chill, dreary night in November, all + that was mortal of him was raised from its unhonored + resting-place not far from the ruins of his old abode, and borne + by three of his disciples far away to another state. The + gravestones were replaced, face downward, deep, deep in the + earth, and the sod laid back upon them, so that no man thence + forward could mark the place of the prophet's transient burial + amid the scenes of his first and only triumphant ministry.</p> +<p>"It is a sad story, Jacob Cochrane's," Waitstill said to her husband + when she first discovered that her children had chosen the deserted spot for + their play; "and yet, Ivory, the red rose blooms and blooms in the ruins + of the man's house, and perhaps, somewhere in the world, he has left a message + that matches the rose."</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p>End of The Project Gutenberg Etext Story Of Waitstill Baxter, by Wiggin</p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p> </p> +<p></p> +<p></p> +<p> </p> +<PRE> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE STORY OF WAITSTILL BAXTER *** + +This file should be named tsowb10h.htm or tsowb10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, tsowb11h.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tsowb10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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