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diff --git a/23781.txt b/23781.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f5d1200 --- /dev/null +++ b/23781.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10976 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Little Girl of Long Ago, by Amanda Millie Douglas + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Little Girl of Long Ago + +Author: Amanda Millie Douglas + +Release Date: December 9, 2007 [EBook #23781] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE GIRL OF LONG AGO *** + + + + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. Fraser, Mary +Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + A LITTLE GIRL OF LONG AGO + + OR HANNAH ANN + + A SEQUEL TO A LITTLE GIRL IN OLD NEW YORK + + By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS + + + + +A. L. BURT COMPANY +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + +COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY +DODD, MEAD & COMPANY + +_All rights reserved_ + + + + + TO + EDNA ESTELLE CORNER. + + THE LITTLE GIRLS OF LONG AGO ARE GROWING OLD WITH + THE CENTURY, BUT GIRLHOOD BLOSSOMS AFRESH + WITH SPRING AND REMAINS + FOREVER A JOY. + + A. M. D. + NEWARK, 1897. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. 1846 + + II. AN INTERVIEW WITH A TIGER + + III. CHANCES AND CHANGES + + IV. A WEDDING + + V. WINTER HAPPENINGS + + VI. THE LAND OF OPHIR + + VII. THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUTH + + VIII. GOING VISITING + + IX. ANNABEL LEE + + X. WITH A POET + + XI. THE KING OF TERRORS + + XII. UP-TOWN + + XIII. OUT-OF-THE-WAY CORNERS + + XIV. AMONG GREAT THINGS + + XV. THE BEGINNINGS OF ROMANCE + + XVI. COUNTING UP THE COST + + XVII. A GLAD SURPRISE + + XVIII. THE LITTLE GIRL GROWN UP + + XIX. THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE + + XX. MISS NAN UNDERHILL + + XXI. THE OLD, OLD STORY, EVER NEW + + XXII. 1897 + + + + +HANNAH ANN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +1846 + + +New Year's came in with a ringing of bells and firing of pistols. Four +years more, and the world would reach the half-century mark. That seemed +very ancient to the little girl in Old New York. They talked about it at +the breakfast-table. + +"Do you suppose any one could live to see nineteen hundred?" asked the +little girl, with wondering eyes. + +Father Underhill laughed. + +"Count up and see how old you would be, Hanny," he replied. + +"Why, I should be--sixty-five." + +"Not as old as either grandmother," said John. + +"If the world doesn't come to an end," suggested Hanny, cautiously. She +remembered the fright she had when she was afraid it would come to an +end. + +"It isn't half developed," interposed Benny Frank. "And we haven't half +discovered it. What do we know about the heart of Africa or the +interior of China--" + +"The great Chinese wall will shut us out of that," interrupted the +little girl. "But it can't go all around China, for the missionaries get +in, and some Chinese get out, like the two little girls." + +"There is some outside to China," laughed Benny Frank. "And India is a +wonderful country. There is all of Siberia, too, and British America, +and, beyond the Rocky Mountains, a great country belonging to us that we +know very little about. I believe the world is going to stand long +enough for us to learn all about it. Some day I hope to go around a good +bit and see for myself." + +"Some people," began Mrs. Underhill, "reason that, as it was two +thousand years from the Creation to the Deluge, and two thousand years +more to the birth of Christ, that the next two thousand will see the end +of the world." + +"They are beginning to think the world more than four or five thousand +years old," said Benny Frank. He had quite a taste for science. + +"It'll last my time out, I guess," and there was a shrewd twinkle in +Father Underhill's eye. "And I think there'll be a big piece left for +Hanny." + +The little girl of eleven mused over it. She had a great many things to +think about, and her mother suggested presently that there were some +things to do. Margaret went upstairs to straighten the parlor and +arrange a table in the end of the back room for callers. Hanny found +plenty of work, but her small brain kept in a curious confusion, as if +it was running back and forth from the past to the future. Events were +happening so rapidly. And the whole world seemed changed since her +brother Stephen's little boy had been born on Christmas morning. + +It was curious, too, to grow older, and to understand books and lessons +so much better, to feel interested in daily events. There was a new +revolution in Mexico; there was a talk of war. But everything went on +happily at home. New York was stretching out like a big boy, showing +rents and patches in his attire, but up-town he was getting into a new +suit, and people exclaimed about the extravagance. + +As for Stephen's baby, there wasn't any word in Webster's Dictionary to +do him justice. He grew fat and fair, his nose became shapely, his +dimple was deeper, his chin double, and his pretty hands began to grasp +at everything. Stephen said the only drawback was that his hair would be +red. Hanny felt curiously teased about it. She couldn't be sure that it +was quite a subject for prayer; but she took great comfort in two lines +of the old hymn-- + + "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, + Uttered or unexpressed," + +and she hoped God would listen to the sincere desire of her heart. + +Early in February the children were all excitement about Mr. Bradbury's +concert. The Dean children were among the chorus singers, and Charles +Reed had a prominent part. Would his mother let him go?--the children +all wondered. + +"Mr. Reed can manage it," said Josie Dean, confidently. "Wives have to +mind their husbands about boys, because the men know best, and the boys +are to grow up into men." + +Hanny's interest was divided by Margaret being made ready for the +Valentine ball. Everybody was to go in a fancy dress. Dr. Hoffman chose +Margaret's, which was to be a lady of 1790. Miss Cynthia came and looked +over the old green-and-white brocade that had descended from Miss Lois. +It had a low square neck, and a bodice with deep points back and front, +laced with a silver cord. The front breadth, "petticoat," as it was +called, was white satin, creamy now with age, embroidered with pink and +yellow roses and mossy green leaves. The brocade fell away in a long +train, and at the joining was a cascade of fine old lace called Mechlin. +The elbow-sleeves were edged with it, and at the neck, the lace had a +fine wire run through it at the back that made it stand up, while in +front, it fell to a pretty point, and was clasped with a brooch. It had +been made for Miss Lois' wedding outfit when she was a happy young girl, +dreaming over a joyous future that had never come to pass. + +But Margaret's hair they all thought the crowning glory. Miss Cynthia +was very fond of adorning people for parties, and so deft that she was +in frequent demand. She had brought a great high comb of beautiful, +clear shell that had belonged to her mother. There was a loose twist +made like the figure eight at the back, and in front, rows of dainty +puffs and ends of curls, that dropped down on her white forehead. + +The brooch, too, was curious. It was a portrait painted on ivory of the +Marquis de Lafayette, and set round with beautiful pearls, one of Miss +Cynthia's precious belongings also. + +When Margaret looked at herself in her mother's tall glass, she was so +mystified that she felt for a moment as if she was Miss Lois come back. +For when the gown fitted her, she must have been tall and slim and +young. + +Hanny had begged to ask in all the girls, and was delighted to have +Daisy Jasper and her mother. + +But when Dr. Hoffman came in Continental costume, with buff +small-clothes and black velvet coat, great buckles of brilliants at his +knees and lace ruffles at his wrists and shirt front, and his hair +powdered, they all exclaimed. He carried his three-cornered hat under +his arm as he bowed to the ladies. + +John Underhill declared laughingly that he felt honoured by being the +footman to such a grand couple, as he helped them into the carriage. + +"Why don't people dress as beautifully now?" said Daisy Jasper, with a +sigh. "Everything looks so plain." + +Then the elders began to talk of past fashions. Miss Cynthia said her +mother's wedding gown was made with a full straight skirt six yards +around, and had one little hoop at the hips to hold it out. When Miss +Cynthia's elder sisters were grown, she cut it up and made them each a +frock, with skirts two and a quarter yards wide, short full waists, and +puffed sleeves. Big poke bonnets were worn with great bunches of flowers +inside, and an immense bow at the top, where the strings were really +tied. If you wanted to be very coquettish, you had the bow rather on one +side. The skirts barely reached the ankles, and black satin slippers +were to be worn on fine occasions; white or sometimes pale colours to +parties. + +"And now we have come back to wide full skirts," said Miss Cynthia. +"We're putting stiffening in to hold them out. And there's talk of +hoops." + +Another odd custom was coming into vogue. It was considered much more +genteel to say "dress." Frock had a sort of common country sound, +because the farmers wore tow frocks at their work. The little girl had +been laughed at for saying it, and she was trying very hard to always +call the garment a "dress." Gown was considered rather reprehensible, as +it savoured of old ladies' bed-gowns. Now we have gone back to frocks +and gowns. + +"The Continental fashions were extremely picturesque," said Mrs. Jasper. +"And the men were strong and earnest, and equal to the emergencies of +the day, if they did indulge in adornments considered rather feminine +now. But I like the variety. The newly-arrived emigrants in their +native garb interest me." + +"There are some around in Houston Street," laughed Ben. "Dutch girls +with flaxen hair and little caps, and those queer waists with shoulder +straps, and thick woollen stockings. Some of them wear wooden shoes. And +Irish women with great plaid cloaks and little shawls tied over their +heads, short skirts and nailed shoes that clatter on the sidewalk." + +"I should like to see them," said Daisy. + +"Joe ought to take you out on St. Patrick's day," returned Ben. "But +they soon reach the dead level of uniformity." + +"Fancy an Indian in coat and trousers instead of blanket, war-paint, and +feathers," and Jim laughed at the idea. + +"I think we shall hardly be able to reduce him to modern costumes. He +does not take kindly to civilisation." + +"He's shamefully treated anyway." + +"Oh, Jim, it won't do to take your noble red men from romance. The +heroes of King Philip's time have vanished." + +Jim was reading Cooper, and had large faith in the children of the +forest. The next generation of school-boys called them "sneaking red +dogs," and planned to go out on the plains and shoot them. + +"If we absorb all these people, we shall be a curiously conglomerate +nation by and by," exclaimed Mrs. Jasper. + +"As we were in the beginning," returned Father Underhill. "We started +from most of the nations of Europe. We have had a French state, Dutch +and German, English and Scotch, but the one language seems a great +leveler." + +The little girls talked about the concert. Doctor Joe said he thought +Daisy might venture. She was beginning to grow quite courageous, though +the comments on her lameness always brought a flush to her cheek. +Sometimes he stopped at school for both girls, and the wheeling-chair +went home empty. His strong, tender arm was help enough. + +Mr. Reed had quite a battle to win the day for his son. "The +singing-school was foolishness and a waste of time; and there was not a +moment to waste in this world, when you had to give a strict account of +it in the next." Mrs. Reed had never considered whether so much scouring +and scrubbing was not a waste of time, when everything was as clean as a +pin. When a very polite note from Mr. Bradbury reached Mr. Reed, begging +that Charles might be allowed to take a prominent part in the concert, +there was war, a more dreadful time than going to the barber had caused. + +"Charles"--she occasionally left off the John Robert--"was too big a boy +for such nonsense! It spoiled children to put them forward. He ought to +be thinking of his lessons and forming his character, instead of +spending his time over silly songs. And to sing on a public stage!" + +"Some of the best families are to let their children participate in it. +I don't think it will hurt them," her husband said decisively. + +Then she actually sobbed. + +"You will ruin that child, after all the trouble I've taken. I've worked +and slaved from morning till night, made him get his lessons and be +careful of his clothes, and kept him out of bad company; and now I'm +not allowed to say a word, but just stand by while you let him go to +ruin. The next thing we'll have him in a nigger minstrel band, or +playing on a fiddle!" + +"I've known some very worthy men who played on a fiddle. And all the +children growing up can't be minstrels, so perhaps our boy will be +compelled to find some other employment. I am going to have him like +other boys; and if it can't be so at home, I'll send him away to +school." + +That was a terrible threat. To be gone months at a time, with no one to +look after his clothes! + +Mrs. Reed went about the house sighing, and scrubbed harder than ever. +She made Charles feel as if he brought in dirt by the bushel, and +scattered it about in pure spite. She even refused his help in clearing +away the dishes; and she tried to make him wear his second-best clothes +that eventful evening. + +Oh, what an evening it was! The hall was crowded. The stage was full of +children, one tier of seats rising above another. The girls were dressed +in white, and most of them had their hair curled. The boys had a white +ribbon tied in the buttonhole of their jackets. How eager and pretty +they looked! Hanny thought of the day at Castle Garden when the +Sunday-schools had walked. + +It was a simple cantata, but a great success. Charles Reed sang +charmingly. His father had said, "Don't get frightened, my boy, and do +your very best;" and he was just as desirous of pleasing his father as +any one, even Mr. Bradbury. + +Daisy Jasper could have listened all night, entranced. Tall Doctor Joe +sat beside her, easing her position now and then, while Hanny smiled and +made joyful comments of approval in so soft a tone they disturbed no +one. + +"I've never been so happy in all my life," Daisy Jasper said to Doctor +Joe. "It seems as if I could never feel miserable again. There are so +many splendid things in the world that I am glad to live and be among +them, if I can't ever be quite straight and strong." + +"My dear child!" Doctor Joe's eyes said the rest. + +They waited for the crowd to get out. Charles came down the aisle with +his father and Mr. Bradbury, and Mr. Dean was escorting his little +girls. They had a very delightful chat, and were charmed with the leader +of the children's concert. + +"Charles must take good care of his voice," said Mr. Bradbury. "It may +sometime prove a fortune to him. He is a fine boy, and any father might +well be proud of him." + +"I just wish mother had wanted to be there," Charles said, as his +father was opening the door with his latch-key. The light was turned low +in the hall, and Mrs. Reed had gone to bed, an unprecedented step with +her. + +Hanny found that she couldn't spend all the Saturdays with little +Stevie. She wished they were twice as long; but they always seemed +shorter than any other day. Dolly came down now and then, and was just +as bright and merry as ever. + +But old Mr. Beekman grew more feeble, and was confined to the house most +of the time. Hanny had to go down-town and visit him and Katschina. He +was delighted to have her come, and Katschina purred her tenderest +welcome. She was like a bit of sunshine, with her cheerful smile and her +sweet, merry wisdom. She told him about the school and Daisy, their +plays and songs; and they were never tired of talking about Stephen's +baby. It could laugh aloud now; the reddish fuzz was falling out, and +the new soft hair shone like pale gold on his pink scalp. + +There were so many other friends, the Bounett cousins, and Dele Whitney, +who was just as jolly as ever, with the old aunts down in Beach Street, +and who declared the little girl was the sweetest thing in the world, +and that some day she should just steal her, and carry her off to +fairyland. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AN INTERVIEW WITH A TIGER + + +There came to New York in May a menagerie. A chance like this roused the +children to a pitch of the wildest enthusiasm. Wonderful posters were +put up. It was not considered a circus at all, but a moral and +instructive show, if it did not have delightful Artemas Ward to +expatiate upon it. There were a great many children who had never seen +an elephant. Hanny Underhill had not. + +Jim said, "There was a live lion stuffed with straw; a zebra that had +fifty stripes from the tip of his nose to his tail, nary stripe alike; a +laughing hyena of the desert, who could cry like a child when he was +hungry, and who devoured the people who came to his assistance, thereby +showing the total depravity of human nature; an elephant that could +dance; and monkeys who climbed the highest trees and swung in the gentle +zephyrs by the tail." The crowning point was that he had money enough +saved up to go. + +The celebrated lion-tamer, a Mr. Van Amburgh, was to perform with some +trained animals. Oh, what a crowd there was!--most people going early +so they could walk around and view the animals in their cages. There +were two beautiful striped hyenas, lithe as cats, and so restless you +were almost afraid they would find some loose bar and spring out at you. +The two lions roared tremendously when disturbed. A great cage full of +the funniest chattering monkeys, ready for nuts or cake or bits of +apples, and who could swing with their heads downward and turn +astonishing somersaults. Many other curious animals that we see nowadays +in Central Park; but, alas! there was no Park then, and such indulgences +had to be paid for. + +The big elephant was very gentle, or in a gentle mood, which answered +the same purpose. The keeper had to have eyes everywhere to see that the +boys did not torment him. How he could take a peanut or a bit of candy +in his trunk, and carry it up to his mouth without dropping it, puzzled +Hanny. For of course all the First Street children went. Mr. Underhill +and Margaret and Mrs. Dean were to keep them safe and in order. + +It seemed so hard to leave Daisy Jasper out. But her father could not +go, and her mother was much too timid. + +"I'll be her knight," said Doctor Joe. "I will take her up in the buggy, +and we'll squeeze through the crowd." + +That settled it. Seeing real live animals was so different from the +stuffed and moth-eaten ones at Barnum's. + +There was a great tent and some temporary sheds, with one or two +side-shows. They went quite early, and Doctor Joe paid a man to stand +guard over some seats while they walked around and inspected the cages. +There was a smaller trick elephant, but even Columbus was not as big as +the famous Jumbo. + +One of the great pleasures or curiosities was a ride on his back in a +howdah. This was ten cents extra, and only for children. Most of the +boys had spent their money for refreshments at the booths, so they could +only look longingly. The little girls were afraid at first. + +"I am going," declared Charles Reed. "Oh, you will not be afraid!"--to +the Deans. + +"Don't you want to?" asked Mr. Underhill of his little girl. + +Hanny drew a long breath and her eyes dilated. The howdah filled up, and +the ponderous creature moved slowly down to the end of the space and up +again, amid childish exclamations and laughter. + +"Yes--I would like to go," said Hanny, when she realised the safety of +the proceeding. + +"Oh, Doctor Joe, couldn't you help me up? It would be such a wonderful +thing to ride on an elephant that I should be glad all my life." + +Daisy Jasper looked so eager and pleading out of her beseeching blue +eyes. So many pleasures must be foregone that he had not the heart to +deny this. + +"Are you quite sure you will not be afraid up there?" he asked +earnestly. + +"Oh, no, not with Hanny, dear Doctor Joe!" + +He looked at Hanny. The little girl could climb trees and walk out to +the ends of the limbs and jump; she had swung her arms and said one, +two, three, and gone flying over the creek without falling in; she could +do "vinegar" with a skipping rope; she could walk the edge of the +curb-stone without tilting over; she could swing ever so high and not +wink; she wasn't afraid to go up stairs in the dark; but when the +elephant took the first long, rocking step, she felt something as she +had when Luella Bounett had run downstairs with her in her arms. She +grasped Daisy's hand on the one side and Charlie's arm on the other. + +"Oh, Hanny, you're not afraid?" + +"It's like being out at sea," and Daisy laughed. + +But the back of the huge creature seemed up so high and his steps so +long. Then she summoned all her courage, and resolved that she would not +be a "little 'fraid cat." + +The keeper interspersed the rides with stories of elephants in India +taking care of babies, fanning flies away from them, watching over sick +masters, and moving great timbers. Even if his eyes were small, he could +see any danger. You could trust him when he was once your friend; but he +never forgave an injury. + +The big india-rubber feet came down with scarcely a sound. He flapped +his ears lazily, he turned around without spilling them out, and marched +up the line as if it was just nothing at all. + +Daisy was thrilling with enjoyment. Her eyes shone and her cheeks were +like roses. She even put her hand on the elephant's crumply back, as +they came down the steps, and smiled in Doctor Joe's face, as he held +her by the arm. + +"You were so good to let me go. Thank you a thousand times. It was just +splendid!" + +They were all in a burst of enthusiasm with "ohs and ahs." But Hanny was +very glad to get back to her father's protecting hand. She felt as if +she had been on a long and perilous journey. + +They took their seats, and after one more caravan the performances +began. The trick elephant did several odd things rather clumsily. Then +he stood on his head, and the boys clapped their hands with delight. He +trumpeted, and the very ground seemed to shake. Then he looked around in +a queer sort of fashion, as if he was sure he had frightened everybody. + +But what would they have said to the later acrobatic feats and going +through the figures of a quadrille! Half-a-dozen elephants would have +startled any audience. + +Presently a big cage was uncovered, and Mr. Van Amburgh went into the +lions' den. Everybody shuddered a little. Hanny thought of the story of +Daniel--perhaps other people did. He shook hands and rubbed shoulders +with them; and they put their paws on his shoulders and shook their +shaggy heads. + +Charles said they ought to have finer bodies for such magnificent heads. + +Then the lion-tamer told them to lie down. He made a bed of one and a +pillow of the other, and threw himself upon them, hugging them up. He +made them open their mouths, and he thrust in his hand. They pranced up +and down, sprang over the stick he held in his hand, jumped over him; +and it really seemed as if they had a tender regard for him. But Doctor +Joe observed that he always faced them, and kept his eyes steadily upon +them. The applause was tremendous. + +Then an incident occurred that was not down in the programme. A handsome +tiger walked out from between two of the cages as if he had a part to +play. He scanned the audience in a deliberate manner; he gave his lithe +body a twist, and switched his tail in a graceful fashion, while his +yellow eyes illumined the space about him. The attention of the audience +was concentrated upon him, while he appeared to be considering what to +do next. + +Two keepers came out, while a man in the space between the cages shook +something in his hand. The tiger turned and followed him, and the men +watched until a bar snapped. + +Then one of them faced the audience. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "I wish to announce that there is not +the slightest danger. The tiger is securely caged. The animals are under +perfect control." + +Two or three women screamed, and one fainted. Several hurried to the +entrance; but the keeper begged them to be tranquil. There had not been +the slightest danger. + +Doctor Joe motioned to his party to remain seated while he went to +attend to the women. The performance was mostly over, and the audience +began to disperse, from a sense of insecurity. + +"Was he really loose?" asked Tudie Dean, in a little fright. + +"Of course he was," replied Charles. "I'm not sure but it was done +purposely after all." + +Doctor Joe returned, and they appealed to him. + +"Well,"--with a gay air,--"the tiger was quite obedient, wasn't he? You +were not frightened, Daisy?" + +"But you stood right there,"--Doctor Joe had given his seat to a lady +just as the performance began. "Why, he looked at you," and Daisy's +nerves gave a little quiver. + +"I supposed Mr. Van Amburgh would come and put him through some paces," +returned Joe. + +"It was immense, wasn't it?" exclaimed Jim. "But why did the woman +squeal when it was all over?" + +Doctor Joe laughed. + +To make amends, a pretty trick pony came out, who really could dance, +and he looked as if he laughed, too. He did a number of amusing things, +and the audience stopped going out. Then the monkeys set up such a +shrill chatter that the people began to laugh. The lion started to roar; +and it seemed as if the tigers joined the chorus. For a few moments it +was a forest concert. + +"If only the hyena would laugh," said Jim. The girls were a little +nervous. Joe had gone to get Prince. "Oh, you needn't be a mite afraid. +Mr. Van Amburgh would just have thrown a cloth over his head; and in his +surprise they would have had him all right in a moment. I would not have +missed it for a dollar; though I wouldn't care to encounter him in his +native wilds." + +"He did look grand surveying the audience," said Daisy. "I am so glad I +could come--for everything." + +The Doctor put Hanny and Daisy in the buggy, as they were both so slim. +Hanny hugged his arm, and said in a voice still a trifle shaky,-- + +"Weren't you the least bit frightened, Joe?" + +"Why, I never imagined there was any danger until it was over. I think +so many people rather dazed Mr. Tiger." + +"Oh, if anything had happened to you, what should I do?" asked Daisy, +with lustrous eyes. + +"Nothing is going to happen to me. You have been a brave girl this +afternoon, and it is not the first time either." + +Her cheek flushed with pleasure. + +It was a great thing to talk over, that and the ride on the elephant. +Hanny found her natural history, and she and her father read about +elephants most of the evening. + +The days were so pleasant that the children often took Daisy out in her +chair to see them at their plays. They went around to Houston Street, to +the German settlement, as it was beginning to be called. Lena and +Gretchen were out on their stoop with their knitting, and the baby +between them. They were Lutherans, and they looked quite different from +the Jews. + +There were still quaint old houses in Ludlow and Orchard streets,--two +stories with dormer windows in the roof, and some frame cottages with +struggling grass-plots. No one dreamed of the tall tenements that were +to take their places, the sewing-machines that were to hum while the +workers earned their scanty pittance, and swarms of children crowded the +streets. + +Everybody had more leisure then. Some of the women sat and chatted while +their little ones played about. + +A little girl came out of an alley way with a peculiar jerky movement, +like a hop and a skip, while she kept one hand on her knee. Her hip was +large, her shoulder pushed up and apparently bent over. + +"Hello!" she said to Hanny. "What's the matter with her?" nodding her +head. "Wish't I had a cheer like that. I'd cut a great swell. My! ain't +she pritty?" + +"She's been ill," returned Hanny. + +The child stared a moment and then hopped on. + +"Her father works about the stable," explained Hanny, with rising +colour. "She comes up sometimes. They're very poor. Mother gives them +ever so many things. She can't stand up straight; but she doesn't seem +to mind. And one leg is so much shorter. The boys call her Cricket, and +Limpy Dick." + +"Oh, Hanny, if I were poor and like that!" The tears came in Daisy's +eyes. "I can stand up straight, and I am getting to walk quite well. I +have so much that is lovely and comforting; and oughtn't one be thankful +not to be real poor?" + +The little lameter went hopping across the street, and called to some +children "to look at the style!" + +Down by the corner there was a candy and notion store, kept by an old +woman with a queer wrinkled face framed in with a wide cap-ruffle. She +had a funny turned-up nose, as if it had hardly known which way to grow, +and such round red-apple cheeks. When it was pleasant, she sat in the +doorway, regardless of the fate of the heroic young woman of Norway. + +"Good day!" she ejaculated. "The Lord bless ye. Yon's got a pretty face, +an' I hope it will bring her good fortune." She nodded, and her +cap-ruffle flapped over her face. + +"If ye see that omadhawn of a Biddy Brady in yer travels, jist send her +home. The babby's screamin' himself into fits. Won't her mother give it +to her whin she comes in!" + +Down below the next corner, there was a throng of children. One big boy +was whistling a jig tune, and clapping on his knee. + +"That's old Mrs. McGiven," explained Hanny. "The school-children go +there for cake and candy and slate pencils, because hers have such nice +sharp points. And--Biddy Brady!" + +Jim was with the boys. He gave Hanny a nod and laughed and joined the +whistling. + +"Oh, Jim--Biddy's baby is crying--" + +"Come, start up again, Biddy. You haven't given us half a cent's worth! +You don't dance as good as the little Jew girl on the next block." + +"Arrah now--" + +"Go on wid yer dancin'." + +Biddy was a thin, lanky girl with straight dark hair that hung in her +eyes and over her shoulders. A faded checked pinafore, with just plain +arm-holes, covered her nearly all up. To her spindle legs were attached +mismatched shoes, twice too large, tied around the ankles. One had a +loose sole that flapped up and down. It really wasn't any dancing, for +she just kicked out one foot and then the other, with such vigor that +you wondered she didn't go over backward. Her very earnestness rendered +it irresistibly funny. She certainly danced by main strength. + +Hanny began again. "Jim, her baby is crying--" + +"He gets his living by crying. I've never heard of his doing anything +else." + +Biddy brought her foot down with an emphatic thump. + +"There now, not another step do yees get out o' me fur that cint. I've +give ye good measure and fancy steps throwed in. An' me shoe is danced +off me fut, an' me mammy'll lick me. See that now!" and she held up her +flapping sole. + +They had to yield to necessity, for none of the crowd had another penny. +When Biddy realised the fact, she ran off home and bought a stick of +candy to solace herself and the baby. Mrs. Brady went out washing, and +Biddy cared for the baby when she wasn't in the street. It must be +admitted the babies languished under her care. + +The school-children had a good deal of fun hiring her to dance. Biddy +was shrewd enough about the pennies. + +Jim joined the cavalcade as the boys went their way. + +"Why, she likes the money," he said in answer to an upbraiding remark +from Hanny. "That's what she does it for." + +"It was very funny," declared Daisy. "She's such a straight, slim child +in that long narrow apron. If it hadn't been for the baby, I would have +given her a penny." + +They went on down the street. There were several fancy-goods stores and +some pretty black-eyed Jewish children with the curliest hair +imaginable. There was the big school across the way, and a great lock +factory, then a row of comparatively nice dwellings. They turned into +Avenue A., and were in a crowd of Germans. The children and babies all +had flaxen or yellow hair and roundish blue eyes. The mothers were +knitting and sewing and chattering in their queer language. Even the +little girls were knitting lace and stockings. The boys seemed fat and +pudgy. They stared at the chair and its inmate, but Sam went quietly +along. Here were German costumes sure enough. + +They turned up Second Street, and so around First Avenue, home. + +"Why, it's like going to foreign countries," Daisy said. "Some of the +children were very pretty. But that Biddy Brady--I can see her yet." + +The very next day Daisy drew two pictures, and held them before Hanny. + +"Why, that's Biddy Brady!" the little girl said, with a bright wondering +laugh. "And that's old Mrs. McGiven! They're splendid! How could you do +it?" + +"I don't know. It came to me." + +Mrs. Craven said the old lady was excellent. And she laughed about Biddy +Brady's dancing. + +Sometimes they went up to Tompkins' Square. They would study their +lessons or do a bit of crocheting. Daisy was learning a great many +things. Or they went a little farther up and over to the river, which +was much wider at that time. The old farms had been cut up into blocks; +but while they were waiting for some one to come along and build them +up, the thrifty Germans had turned them into market gardens, and they +presented a very pretty appearance. + +They could see the small clusters of houses on Long Island, and the end +of Blackwell's Island,--a terrible place to them. The boys had seen the +"Black Maria," which the little girl thought must be some formidable +giant negress capable of driving the criminals along as one would a +flock of sheep, and she was quite surprised when she learned it was a +wagon merely. The East River was quite pretty up here, and the +ferry-boats made a line of foam that sparkled in the sun. + +Occasionally Doctor Joe joined the party, and took them in other +directions. He had accepted the offer of an old physician on East +Broadway, which was then considered very aristocratic. The basement +windows had pretty lace curtains, and the dining-rooms had beaufets in +the corners, on which the glass and silver were arranged. The brass +doorknobs and the name-plate shone like gold, and the iron railings of +the stoops were finished with quite pretentious newels, that the +children called sentry boxes. + +Grand Street, at the eastern end, had many private dwellings. Ridge and +Pitt and Willet streets were quite steep and made splendid coasting +places in winter. There was the Methodist church, in which many famous +worthies had preached, and even at the end of the century the old place +keeps its brave and undaunted front. + +Strawberries did not come until June; and the girls took them round the +streets in tiny deep baskets. There were no such mammoth berries as we +have now; but, oh, how sweet and luscious they were! Little girls +carried baskets of radishes from door to door, and first you heard +"strawbrees," then something that sounded like "ask arishee," which I +suppose was brief for "ask any radishes." + +The fish and clam men were a great delight to the children. One curious, +weather-beaten old fellow who went through First Street had quite a +musical horn, and a regular song. + + "Fine clams, fine clams, fine clams, to-day, + That have just arrived from Rockaway. + They're good to boil, and they're good to fry, + And they're good to make a clam pot-pie. + My horse is hired, and my waggon isn't mine. + Look out, little boys, don't cut behind!" + +Where the rhyme was lame, he made up with an extra flourish and trill to +the notes. The cats used to watch out for him. They seemed to know when +Friday came, and they would be sitting on the front stoops, dozing until +they heard the welcome sound of the horn. There were huckster waggons +with vegetables, and a buttermilk man. + +An old coloured woman used to come round with brewer's yeast, and one +morning she had a great piece of black cambric twisted about her bonnet. + +"Who are you in mourning for, auntie?" asked Margaret. + +"My ol' man, Miss Margret. Happened so lucky! He jest died Sat'day +night, an' we buried him on Sunday, an' here I am goin' round on +Monday,--not losin' any time. Happened so lucky!" + +Jim went into spasms of merriment over the economy of the incident. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CHANCES AND CHANGES + + +The Whitneys had moved in May, to the great regret of everybody. Their +family had changed considerably through the winter. Archibald, the +younger son, was married, and Mr. Theodore had an opportunity to go +abroad for a year. + +The widowed cousin in Beach Street was married and went to Baltimore +with her two children. That left the two old aunts who owned the house +quite alone. Mrs. Whitney and Delia had taken turns staying with them. + +The children were all sorry to lose Nora and Pussy Gray. + +"People say it's bad luck to move a cat," said Nora, in her sententious +fashion; "but we don't believe in it. We've moved him twice already. And +you just put a little butter on his feet--" + +"Butter!" interrupted the children, amazed. + +"Why, yes. That's to make him wash his paws. If you can make him wash +and purr in a new place, he will stay. And then you must take him round +and show him every room and every closet. And you must come down real +often, Hanny. There's the lovely little park, you know. Aunt Boudinot +has a key. They're such nice queer old ladies, you'll be sure to like +them." + +"I don't always like queer people," said Hanny, rather affronted. + +"I don't mean cross or ugly. Aunt Clem has soft down all over her +cheeks, and such curly white hair. She's awful old and wrinkled and +deaf; but Dele can make her hear splendid. Aunt Patty isn't so old. Her +real name is Patricia. And Aunt Clem's is Clementine." + +The children were not alone in regret. Ben was almost broken-hearted to +lose Mr. Theodore. The boy and the man had been such good friends. And +Ben was quite resolved, when he had served his apprenticeship, and was +twenty-one, to be a newspaper man and travel about the world. + +Delia had told them quite a wonderful secret the day she came up after +some articles her mother had left. She had written some verses, and had +them printed unknown to any one. The. had said they were very fair. And +she had actually been paid for a story; and the editor of the paper +offered to take others, if they were just as good. She had changed her +check for a five-dollar goldpiece, which she carried about with her for +luck. She showed it to them; and they felt as if they had seen a +mysterious object. + +Hanny was greatly amazed, puzzled as well. That a grown man like Mr. +Theodore should write grave columns of business matters for a newspaper +had not surprised her; she had a vague idea that people who wrote +verses and stories must needs be lovely. She pictured them with floating +curls and eyes turned heavenward for inspiration. It seemed to her that +beautiful thoughts must come from the clouds. Then their voices should +be soft, their hands delicate. And the divine something that no +dictionary has ever yet found a word to describe must surround them. +There was a fair-haired girl at school who had such an exquisite smile. +And Daisy Jasper! For her to write verses would be the supreme fitness +of things. + +But careless, laughing, untidy Dele Whitney, neither fair nor dark +and--yes, freckled, though her hair was more brown than red now. And to +laugh about it, and toss up her goldpiece and catch it with her other +hand! + +"Handsome!" Ben ejaculated when Hanny confided some of her difficulties +to him in a very timid fashion. "Great people don't need to run to +beauty. Still, Mr. Audubon had a lovely face, to my thinking," he added, +when he saw how disappointed the little girl looked. "And, oh! see here, +Mr. Willis is handsome and Gaylord Clark, and there is that picture of +Mrs. Hemans--" + +The little girl smiled. Dr. Hoffman had given Margaret a beautifully +bound copy of Mrs. Hemans's poems, and the steel engraving in the front +_was_ handsome. She had already learned two of the poems, and recited +them at school. + +"And I don't think Delia so very plain," continued Ben. "You just watch +what beautiful curves there are to her lips, and her brown eyes lighten +up like morning; and when they are a little sad, you can think that +twilight overshadows her. I like to watch them change so. I'm awfully +sorry they're gone away. If we _could_ have another big brother, I'd +like it to be Mr. Theodore." + +Hanny used to hope when she was as big as Margaret she would be as +pretty. She didn't think very much about it, only now and then some of +the cousins said,-- + +"Hanny doesn't seem to grow a bit. And how very light her hair keeps! +You'd hardly think she and Margaret were sisters." + +The little girls drew mysteriously closer after Nora went away. They all +kept on at the same school, and played together. But dolls and tea +parties didn't appear to have quite the zest of a year ago. + +One Saturday, Mr. Underhill took Hanny down to Beach Street. They were +all delighted to see her, even to Pussy Gray, who came and rubbed +against her, and stretched up until he reached her waist, and, oh, how +he did purr! + +"I think he's been kind of homesick for the children," remarked Nora, +gravely, as if she might be quite grown up. "You see he _was_ spoiled +among you all. I was a little afraid at first that he would run away." + +"Did you put butter on his paws?" + +"Oh, yes. He licked them, and then washed his face; but he kept looking +around and listening to strange noises. He'd sit on the window-sill and +watch the children, and cry to go out. But he doesn't mind now." + +He had a chair and a cushion to himself, and looked very contented. + +They went upstairs to see the old ladies. Aunt Clem had a round, full, +baby-face, for all she was so old. Nora said she was almost ninety. Aunt +Patty was twenty years younger, quite brisk and bright, with wonderful +blue eyes. They had the front room upstairs, and their bed stood in the +alcove. The furnishing looked like some of the country houses. Mrs. +Whitney had the back room, and Nora shared it with her. There were great +pantries between with shelves and drawers, and in one a large chest, +painted green, that Nora said was full of curiosities. + +Delia's room was up on the top floor. She had made it oddly pretty. +There was a book-case and the small desk. They had used, ever so many +pictures, and a pot of flowers on a little table. It had quite an +orderly aspect. + +"And I have another five-dollar goldpiece," laughed the girl. "I shall +be a nabob presently. I ought to invest my money; but it is so +comforting to look at, that I hate to let it go." + +Then Hanny had to tell them about the new neighbours. They were +foreigners, by the name of Levy; and there were four grown people, five +little children, and two servants. Mr. Levy was an importer, and they +all seemed jolly and noisy, but did not talk English, so there could +not be any friendliness, even if they cared. + +"We shall soon be a foreign city," declared Mrs. Whitney. "It's +astonishing how the foreigners do come in! No wonder people have to move +up-town." + +Nora and Hanny went over in the Park after dinner. But it wasn't much +fun to be alone; so they walked up and down the street, and then Delia +took them in the stage down to the Battery. People were promenading in +gala attire. Saturday afternoon had quite a holiday aspect. There was a +big steamer coming up the bay. The Whitneys had heard twice from Mr. +Theodore, who was now going over to Ireland. + +"Tell Ben that The. is going to write to him," remarked Dele. "He said +so in his last letter." + +When they returned to Beach Street, they found Doctor Joe waiting for +Hanny. But Ben said afterward he wished he had gone instead, he was +quite longing to see them all. And he was delighted with the prospect of +a letter. + +Whether they would have liked their new neighbours or not, if they could +have talked to them, made little difference to Mrs. Underhill. Margaret +was to be married in the early autumn. Dr. Hoffman had bought a house +not very far from Stephen's, in a new row that was just being finished. +He wouldn't like it to stand empty, and he did not want to rent it for a +year, and perhaps have the pretty fresh aspect spoiled. And then it was +better for a doctor to be married and settled. + +Father Underhill sighed. Mrs. Underhill said sharply that she couldn't +get ready; but for all that, pieces of muslin came into the house for +sheets and pillow-cases, and Margaret was busy as a bee. + +Another trouble loomed up before the anxious housekeeper. A sprightly +widower belonging to the same church as Martha, came home with her every +Sunday night, and class-meeting night, which was Thursday. + +"You ought to consider well," counseled Mrs. Underhill. "A stepmother is +a sort of thankless office. And two big boys!" + +"Well--I'm used to boys. They're not so bad when you know how to take +them, and they'll soon be grown up. Then he's quite forehanded. He owns +a house in Stanton Street, and has a good business, carting leather in +the Swamp." + +The Swamp was the centre for tanneries and leather importers and +dealers, and it still keeps its name and location. + +"I don't know what I shall do!" with a heavy sigh. + +"You'll have good long warning. I wouldn't be mean enough to go off and +leave you with all this fuss and worry on your hands. And, land sakes! +his wife hasn't been dead a year yet. I told him I couldn't think of +such a thing before Christmas, anyhow. But he has such a hard time with +both grandmothers. One comes and fixes things her way, and gets tired +and goes off, and then the other one comes and upsets them. It's just +dreadful! I do believe a man needs a second wife more than he did the +first. They're poor sticks to get along alone when they've had some one +to look after things. And when this affair is over, you'll kind of +settle down, and the family seem smaller. Just don't fret a bit, for the +whole thing may fall through." + +"I shouldn't want you to give up the prospect of a good home," rather +reluctantly. + +"Well, that's what I've thought about. And I ain't a young girl with +years of chances before me. But I'm not going to be caught too easy," +and Martha tossed her head. + +Ben was very much interested in the war that was going on now in good +earnest. The Americans had taken Fort Brown, crossed to the Rio Grande +and driven the Mexicans from Matamoras. A plan had been laid to attack +Mexico on the Pacific side, and to invade both Old and New Mexico. Santa +Anna had escaped from his exile in Cuba, and was longing to reconquer +Texas. The whole question seemed in great confusion; but there was a +great deal of enthusiasm among some of the younger men, who thought war +a rather heroic thing, and they were hurrying off to the scene of +action. There was a spirit of adventure and curiosity about the +wonderful western coast. + +George Horton used to talk all these matters over with Ben, when he came +down on his occasional visits. He was a fine big fellow now, but he was +getting tired of farming. It was quite lonely. Uncle Faid read the +county paper, but was not specially interested in the questions of the +day; and Retty and her husband never went beyond stock, and the crops, +and the baby. Ben kept his brother supplied with books that opened a +wider outlook for him, and made him a little discontented with the +humdrum round. + +"I wouldn't mind it if you were all there," he would say. "After all the +city is the only real live place! I've half a mind to come down and +learn a trade. Only I _do_ like the wide out of doors. I couldn't stand +being cooped up." + +"And I'm going round the world some day," returned Ben. + +"I'd like to go out with Fremont. The other side of our country seems so +curious to me, I want to see what it is like. The other side of the +Rocky Mountains! It's almost like saying the Desert of Sahara," and the +young fellow laughed. + +There was the usual spring and summer dress-making for the ladies. Even +Miss Cynthia, looking sharply at Hanny, said:-- + +"I don't see what's the matter with that child! I supposed she'd have +everything outgrown, and some of her last summer's skirts won't need any +letting down. They're wearing them shorter now; and you know, Cousin +Underhill, you would have them made rather long last summer." + +The little girl sometimes felt quite sore on the point. The Deans were +getting to be tall girls, and even Daisy Jasper had taken to growing. +And her lovely curls were quite long again. She certainly was very +pretty. + +But when Hanny took this trouble to her father, he only laughed and +squeezed her in his arms, and sometimes rubbed her soft cheeks with his +beard, his old trick, as he said:-- + +"But I want to keep you my little girl. I don't want you to grow big +like Margaret. For if you should, some nice fellow will come along and +insist upon carrying you off, and then I should lose you. Whatever would +I do?" + +That view of the matter was alarming to contemplate. She clung closer to +her father, and said, in a half-frightened tone, that she never would be +carried off. It quite reconciled her to the fact of not growing rapidly. + +The girls all went down to see Nora Whitney one Saturday in June. It +looked rather threatening in the morning, but a yard or two of blue sky +gave them hope. Mr. Underhill took them all in the family carriage. Oh, +how lovely the little park looked with its soft grass and waving trees! +And in the area windows there were pots of flowers: ten-weeks' stock, +and spice pinks, and geraniums that were considered quite a rarity. + +Nora was out on the front stoop with Pussy Gray, who arched his back and +waved his tail with an air of grandeur, and then sat down on the top +step and began to wash his face, while Father Underhill was planning to +take them all for a drive late in the afternoon. + +Pussy Gray watched his little mistress out of one green eye, and washed +over one ear. He was just going over the other when Nora caught him, +"Why do you stop him?" asked Daisy. + +"Because he wants to make it rain and spoil our day. Pussy Gray--if you +do!" + +"But it wouldn't really?" + +"Well, it's a sure sign when he goes over both ears. When I don't want +it to rain, I stop him." + +"But suppose he does it when he is by himself?" + +"I think sometimes he runs away and does it on the sly. Aunt Patty says +it is as sure as sure can be." + +Pussy Gray winked at Hanny, as if he said he didn't believe in signs, +and that he should wash over both ears when he found a chance. + +Dele was bright and merry. She "bossed" the house, for Mrs. Whitney had +subsided into novel-reading again, and now took books out of the +Mercantile Library. A woman was doing the Saturday morning's work, and +scrubbing the areas. After that she went over the front one with a red +wash that looked like paint, and freshened it. The girls took a run in +the yard. There was a long flower-bed down the side of the fence, and at +one end all manner of sweet herbs, lavender, thyme, and rosemary, sweet +verbena, and then tansy and camomile, and various useful things. + +"Camomile tea is good for you when you lose your appetite," said Nora; +"but it's awful bitter. Aunt Patty cuts off the leaves and blossoms of +the sweet herbs, and sews them up in little bags of fine muslin, and +lays them among the clothes and the nice towels and pillow-cases. And +it makes them all smell just delicious." + +The air was full of fragrance now. They played tag around the +grass-plot. Daisy sat on the stoop and said she didn't mind, though she +gave a little sigh, and wondered how it would feel to run about. The +little lame girl in Houston Street could get over the ground pretty +rapidly. She had interested Doctor Joe in her, and he had hunted up the +child's mother, who wouldn't listen to anything being done for her. + +"Sure," said she, "if it's the Lord's will to send this affliction to +her, I'll not be flying in the face of Providence. She can manage, and +she's impident enough now. There'd be no livin' with her if she had two +good legs. And I'll not have any doctor cuttin' her up into mince-meat." + +Pussy Gray came and sat beside Daisy with a flick of the ear and turn of +the tail, as if he said: "We'll let those foolish girls fly about and +squeal and laugh and get half roasted, while we sit here at leisure and +enjoy ourselves." + +Afterward they swung, and then went up to Nora's play-house. Aunt Patty +had given her a rag doll that she had when she was a little girl, and it +was over fifty years old. It was undeniably sweet, because it had been +steeped in lavender, but it was not very pretty. There was a curious +little wooden cradle Aunt Patty's brother had made. All the children's +story-books were up here in a case Dele had made out of a packing box. + +They thought after a little they would rather go over in the Park. Nora +took the key. It was very pleasant; and they watched the carts and +waggons going by, and the pedestrians. Presently a young woman unlocked +the gate at the lower end, and came in with two little children rather +queerly dressed. She had a white muslin cap on her head, very high in +front. We often see them now, but then they were a rarity. The little +children had very black eyes and curly black hair, and stared curiously +at the group of girls. + +"They're French," explained Nora. "They live a few doors down below. And +they can't speak a word of English, nor the maid either, though we do +sometimes talk a little. There are two quite big boys, then the mother +and father, and the grandmother and grandfather. The old people come out +and sit on the stoop, now that it is warm. He reads French books to her, +and she makes lace. About four o'clock, the servant brings out a +tea-table, and they have some tea and little bits of cake. They do it +all summer long, Aunt Patty says, and the old lady is beautiful,--just +like a picture." + +The girls walked down a little. The maid smiled and nodded. The children +made queer stiff bows, both alike, though they were girl and boy; but +they looked half afraid. The maid said "Bon jour" to Nora, who replied +with a longer sentence. And then she began to explain in English and her +scanty French that these were her friends, and that they were studying +French in school. The Deans talked a little; but Hanny was too shy, and +the conversation would have been very amusing to a spectator. But just +when it was getting quite exciting, and they couldn't make each other +understand at all, Hanny caught sight of Delia waving her handkerchief +from the front stoop, which was a signal that dinner was ready, so they +all curtsied and said good-bye. + +Afterward Aunt Patty showed them her "treasures," some very odd dishes +and pitchers that were more than a hundred years old, and some jewels, +and the gown Aunt Clem had worn to Washington's Inauguration, and told +them about Mrs. Washington and going to the old theatre in John Street. +She had some beautiful combs, and buckles that her father used to wear, +and kid-gloves that had long arms and came most up to her shoulders. She +told the children so many entertaining stories that before the afternoon +seemed half gone Mr. Underhill came for them. Nora wanted to go also. + +"You can take her home with you," said Dele; "and I'll come up for her +this evening. I'm just wild to see Mrs. Underhill and the boys. I hope +the children have had a good time. I've hardly had a glimpse of them +except at dinner." + +They crossed the ferry and went over to Jersey. It was still pretty wild +and country-like, but the trees and shrubs and bloom everywhere lent it +a glory. The children chatted merrily, and all agreed the day was too +short. + +"But you can come again," said Nora. + +When the Deans sprang out, Charles Reed stood by the stoop talking to +Mr. Dean. Nora said the place hadn't changed a bit, and she wished she +was back again. There were nothing but old people in Beach Street, and +she had no little girls to play with. She didn't know what she should do +when vacation came. + +They were just through supper when Delia arrived, and she insisted upon +sitting down at the table and having a cup of Mrs. Underhill's good tea. +She was her olden jolly self, and had her brother's letters almost by +heart. She thought them a great deal brighter and more amusing than +those published in the "Tribune." + +"But I like those," exclaimed Ben; "I'm cutting them out for a +scrap-book. I just wish I was with him!" + +"And he would like to have you," returned Dele. "I don't believe he ever +took so much of a fancy to any one as he did to you." + +They talked books a little. No, Dele had not written any more stories. +The old ladies took a good deal of her time. And she had been studying. +She wished she were going to school again; she should appreciate it so +much more. She was reading the English essayists and Wordsworth, and +learning about the great men and women. + +Ben walked out to the Bowery to put them in the stage; and Dele said, +rather ruefully:-- + +"I just wish we could study and read together. I miss The. so much, I +could always ask him questions; but now I have to look up everything +myself, and it's slow work." + +"Dele has quite a family on her hands," said John, when she had gone. +"She's getting to be rather good-looking, too. Her eyes are very fine." + +"But she doesn't grow much tidier," returned his mother. + +"Her hair is curly and always looks tumbled," was the half-apologising +rejoinder. "But she is very bright, and she'll do something with +herself." + +Mrs. Underhill glanced sharply at her son. There was no danger in Ben +being a little soft about Delia Whitney; but she was surprised at John's +commendation. + +Doctor Joe walked down to see how his patient had stood the day. Her +mother had been almost afraid to have her go, lest "something might +happen." She was very tired, of course, and glad to take to the +reclining chair with all the pillows; but her eyes were in a glow, and +her cheeks a pretty pink that Mrs. Jasper was quite sure was undue +excitement. + +"It was just splendid," Daisy declared; "Mamma, I do want to be like +other girls, and see what is going on in the world. The old ladies were +so quaint; and it was wonderful to have seen President Washington and so +many famous people. And what interested me, was her talking about them +just like ordinary persons. And Nora is so amusing. I want to learn +French so that I can really talk it. You can't imagine how funny it was +in the Park, trying to make each other understand. Oh, there are so many +things I want to learn." + +"There will be time enough," said her mother. + +When Doctor Joe took her hand and bent over her to say good-night, she +whispered softly,-- + +"I _did_ try to forget my own misfortune, and I was very happy. I am +going to be brave. It is such a lovely world; and it is such a splendid +thing to be happy. Doctor Joe, you are my Mr. Greatheart." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A WEDDING + + +There was a very fine noisy Fourth of July, and shortly after that came +vacation. The Jaspers were going to Lebanon Springs, and then to +Saratoga. Hanny came near to envying Daisy. She and Margaret had to +visit both grandmothers, and go over to Tarrytown, for the Morgans had +insisted upon it. + +Hanny and her father had been reading some of Washington Irving's +stories, beside his famous history. He was abroad now; he had been sent +as Minister to the Court of Madrid, that wonderful Spanish city with its +Court so full of interest and beauty. She had been learning about it in +her history. But this old house was not grand, only in its splendid elms +and maples and lindens and tall arbor-vitaes. Wolfert's Roost was almost +hidden by them; but you could catch glimpses of its curious roof, full +of quaint corners and projections, and the old-fashioned stone mansion +said to be modelled after the cocked hat of Peter the Headstrong. Its +low stories were full of nooks and angles. There were roses and +hollyhocks like rows of sentinels, and sweet brier clambering about. +The little girl thought of it many a time afterward, when it had become +much more famous, as Sunnyside. Indeed, she was to sit on the old piazza +overlooking the river and listen to the pleasant voice that had charmed +so many people, and study the drawings of Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy +Hollow, to hear about Katrina Van Tassel, and the churn full of water +that Fammetie Van Blarcom brought over from Holland because she was sure +there could be no water good to drink in the new country. + +Already she was coming to have a great interest in people who wrote +books and stories. It seemed such a wonderful gift. + +Dr. Hoffman paid the cousins the compliment of a visit. Afterward there +were mysterious communings between the sisters. + +Wedding presents were gifts of real preference and affection in those +days. A girl had her "setting out" from home, and perhaps some one gave +her an heirloom for her name, or because she was an especial favourite. + +"Dr. Hoffman's well-to-do," said Joanna; "and Margaret's folks won't let +her go empty-handed. But I'd like to have some of our things go where +they would be appreciated. We've no one of our very own to leave them +to," and Miss Morgan sighed. "Margaret doesn't consider store articles +so much better than those made long ago. Let's each give her a pair of +linen sheets. I've a dozen good ones now, and, land sakes! we sha'n't +wear out half our bedding. And my tablecloth of the basket pattern, and +two towels. And--let me see--that white wool blanket of Aunt Hetty's. It +was spun and woven in 1800; and the sheep were raised here on the old +farm. Some peculiar kind they were, with long, soft fleece." + +"Well," said Famie, slowly, "there's my snowball tablecloth and two +towels. 'Rastus's wife won't ever care for them with her fine Paris +things. But we won't give away the silver, nor the old pewter flagon, +nor the basin and cups. They've the crown mark on them, 1710 for a date. +Deary me, they'll outlast us," and she sighed also. + +Roseann agreed. Six sheets and pillow-cases, three tablecloths and +half-a-dozen towels, and two blankets, one spun and woven by their own +mother. The initials and date were marked on them in old-fashioned +cross-stitch, which was a little more ornate than regular +sampler-stitch. + +Aunt Hetty's blanket had been made from the wool of an especial cosset +lamb that had lost its mother and been brought up by hand. The little +girl was very much interested. + +"Did it follow her about?" she asked. + +"Dear sakes!" and Aunt Famie laughed. "I just guess it did. It grew very +troublesome, I've heard tell, and was quite quality, always wanting to +come into the sitting-room. And it would curl down at Aunt Hetty's feet +like a dog. She saved the wool every year, and spun it, and laid it away +until she had enough. But I don't believe it went to school, although +it could spell one word." + +"One word!" cried the little girl, in amaze. "What was that?" + +"Why b-a ba, of course. They said it could spell through the whole +lesson, and I don't see why not. I've heard lambs make a dozen different +sounds." + +The little girl laughed. She was very fond of listening to what Aunt +Famie did when she was little; and they went to call upon some curious +old people who kept to the Dutch ways and wore the old costume. Some of +them had wooden clogs for rainy weather. When they talked real Dutch, +Hanny found it was quite different from German. They had a picture of +some old ancestor's house with the windmill in the front yard. + +The drives about were beautiful then, and so many places had queer old +legends. Dr. Hoffman was very much interested, and it seemed to Hanny as +if she had strayed over into Holland. She resolved when she went home to +ask Ben to get her a history of Holland, so she and her father might +read it together. Her mother never had any time. + +Margaret was much surprised at her gifts, and thanked the cousins with +warmest gratitude. Even Grandmother Van Kortlandt had hinted "that she +wasn't going to save up everything for Haneran." But the elder people in +those days were fond of holding on to their possessions until the very +last. + +Uncle David came up for them and took them to White Plains, where they +had a nice visit; and grandmother selected some articles from her store +for the prospective bride. + +Hanny remembered what Cousin Archer had said about the mittens, and +asked Uncle David. He found his hook, and, sure enough, it was something +like a crochet-needle. He took what the little girls called single +stitch. But he admitted that Hanny's pretty edgings and tidies were +quite wonderful. + +"I thought the Germans must have brought the knowledge to the country," +she said. "How long have you known it?" + +"Oh, since my boyhood," and he gave a smile. "I heard a very old man say +once that Noah set his sons to work in the Ark making fishing-nets. +Perhaps Mrs. Noah set her daughter-in-laws to crocheting, as you call +it. Forty days was a pretty long spell of rainy weather, when they had +no books or papers to read, and couldn't go out to work in the garden." + +"Didn't they have any books?" Hanny's eyes opened wide. + +"All their writing was done on stone tablets, and very little of that." + +"I think I wouldn't have liked living then. Books are so splendid. And +you get to know about so many people. But there was the Bible," and the +child's voice dropped to a reverent tone. + +"Still, if Moses wrote the first books, that was a long while after the +Flood." + +Hanny's vague idea was that the Bible had been created in the beginning, +like Adam and Eve. + +Cousin Ann and Aunt Eunice were as much in love with the little girl as +ever, but were tremendously surprised at her stock of knowledge. It +didn't seem possible that one little girl could know so much. That she +could play tunes on the piano, and repeat ever so many French words, +then explain what they meant in English, was a marvel. But the child +never seemed spoiled by the admiration. + +They had to come down to Yonkers, for Uncle Faid and Aunt Crete would +have been hurt and jealous. Only it did not seem now to Hanny as if she +had ever lived there. The old kitchen, the creek that went purling +along, bearing fleets of ducks and geese, and the wide old porch looked +natural, but the daily living was so changed! Old black Aunt Mary was +dead. Some of the neighbours had gone away. Cousin Retty had a new baby, +a little girl; but she said it was the crossest thing alive, and it did +seem to cry a good deal. It couldn't compare with Stephen's baby, who +was always laughing and jolly. + +They had to stop at Fordham to see some cousins. When people live a +century or so in one place and intermarry, they get related to a good +many people. And there was a sweet little grandmother here, who, in her +girlhood, had the same name as the little visitor--Hannah Underhill. +There was no Ann in it to be sure. And now her name was Hannah Horton. + +There were lots of gay, rollicking cousins. The little girl felt almost +afraid of the big boys, and she was used to boys, too. + +Her mother had said she might make a visit with the Odell girls. They +had grown and changed; and Hanny felt quite as if she were undersized. +Mr. Odell had been building a new part to the house; and oh, what a +lovely garden they had! It made the little girl almost envious. + +Margaret left her there for several days. At least, Dr. Hoffman drove up +one afternoon and took Margaret home, as Hanny's visit wasn't near +finished. They had to talk about their schools and the girls they knew. +Polly and Janey wanted to hear about the First Street girls and Daisy +Jasper, who was getting well, and Nora, who had moved away, and the +quaint old ladies in Beach Street. + +There was a splendid big cat at the Odell's who liked nothing better +than being nursed, and two kittens that Hanny never tired of watching, +they were so utterly funny in their antics, and seemed to do so much +actual reasoning, as to cause and effect, that it amazed her. And, oh, +the beautiful country ways and wild flowers on every hand! + +It does not look so now. One wonders where all the people have come from +to fill the rows and rows of houses, and to keep busy about the mills +and factories. But then the great city had only about five hundred +thousand inhabitants, and did not need to overflow into suburban +districts. + +It seemed strange for the little girl to come home to a city street. It +looked narrow and bare, with its cobblestones and paved sidewalks. And, +oh, what a racket the waggons made! and she was amazed at the crowds of +people, as she thought there were then. + +But inside everything was homelike and delightful. She was so glad to +see her mother and father and the boys. Ben looked like a young man. Jim +was to go to a preparatory school for a year, and then enter Columbia +College. Mrs. Craven had sold her house, and gone up to Seventh Street, +and was to have quite a young ladies' school. Josie Dean had decided to +study for a teacher. That made her seem quite grown up. + +Old Mr. Beekman had died while the little girl was away; and Katschina +had grieved herself to death, and followed her master. Annette had a +lover, but of course she could not marry in some time. The old farm was +to be sold--at least, streets were to be cut through it, and the +outlying lots sold off. Mrs. Beekman was to keep the down-town house for +her part. + +And now it was considered that Stephen Underhill had done a grand thing +for himself in marrying Dolly Beekman. Mr. Beekman owned no end of real +estate, was indeed much richer than people imagined. The girls would +each have a big slice. But Dolly was just as sweet and plain, and as +much interested in everybody as before. She was so ready to help and +advise Margaret, and go out shopping with her. For was she not very +wise and experienced, having been married two whole years! + +Dr. Hoffman had bought his house up-town as well. Some people scouted +the idea that the city could be crowded even in fifty years. But the +long-headed ones reasoned that it must go up, as it could not expand in +breadth, and "down-town" must be given over to business. + +Hanny went up to see the new house one Saturday. The front basement was +to be the office, and was being fitted up with some shelves and +cabinets. The back basement was the kitchen. There were two large +parlors and a third room, that was the dining-room. And one thing +interested the little girl greatly,--this was the "dumb waiter." + +"Of course it can't talk," said she, laughingly. "And it can't hear; but +you can make it obey." + +"It can creak and groan when it gets dry for a little oil. And it will +be like a camel if you put too heavy a load on it," returned the Doctor. + +"Does the camel groan?" + +"Horribly! And he won't stir an inch toward getting up until you lighten +his load." + +There was a pretty pantry across the corner, with a basin to wash china +and silver, so it would not need to go downstairs. Hanny thought she +would like to come sometime and wash the pretty dishes. + +Upstairs there were three rooms and a bath, and beautiful closets, and +on the third floor three rooms again. + +"But what will you do with all of them?" asked Hanny. + +Margaret had said the same thing to her lover. And Mrs. Underhill said +it was an awful extravagance to have such a great house for two people. +But John Underhill declared Dr. Hoffman had done just the right thing, +buying up-town. He would settle himself in a first-class practice +presently, as the well-to-do people kept moving thither. + +There had been a good deal of discussion about the wedding. Dr. Hoffman +wanted to take Margaret to Baltimore, where his married sister resided, +and an aunt, his mother's sister, who was too feeble to undertake a +journey. They would go on to Washington as well. Wedding journeys were +not imperative, but often taken. An evening party at home seemed too +much for Mrs. Underhill; and Dolly, being in mourning, could not lead +any gaieties. + +She cut the Gordian knot, however,--a church wedding, with cards for all +the friends, and a reception at home. They would take the train at six +from Jersey City. Mr. Underhill was rather sorry not to have an +old-fashioned festivity. But Miss Cynthia said this was just the thing. + +So the marriage was at St. Thomas' church at two o'clock. A cousin of +Dolly's and a school friend were bridesmaids, though Annette Beekman had +been chosen. The bride wore a fine India mull that flowed around her +like a fleecy cloud, Dolly's veil, and orange blossoms, for it was good +luck to be married in something borrowed. The little girl headed the +procession, carrying a basket of flowers, and looked daintily sweet. + +The "Home Journal," the society paper of that day, spoke of the +beautiful young couple in quite extravagant terms. Mrs. Underhill said +rather tartly afterward, "That Margaret was well enough looking; but she +had never thought of setting her up for a beauty." Yet down in the +depths of her heart her mother love had a little ache because her last +born would never be as beautiful. But Mr. Underhill considered they had +not been praised a bit too much, and sent in a year's subscription to +the paper. + +Miss Cynthia was in her glory. She seemed one of the people who never +grow old, and though a great talker, was seldom sharp or severe. +Everybody knew she could get married if she desired to, so she rather +gloried in staying single. + +Margaret cut her wedding-cake, and the piece with the ring fell to +Dolly's cousin, who turned scarlet, which brought out a general laugh. +There was much wishing of joy, and presently Margaret went upstairs and +put on her pretty grey silk with the "drawn" bonnet to match, and the +grey cloth _visite_, looking as handsome as she had in her wedding gown. + +They left so many people behind no one had a chance to feel lonesome. +There were ever so many relations who were going to stay for a visit, +and shop a little. People were given to hospitality in those days. The +constricted living of flats had not come into existence. And your friend +would have felt insulted to be taken to a restaurant for dinner, instead +of at your own house. + +Hanny had quite a girls' tea-party afterward. Martha spread a table for +them upstairs. And the funny thing was, that her father and the boys +teased to come, and her mother really had to rush to the rescue. But +they did let Doctor Joe remain, and they had a delightful time. + +Josie and Tudie and Nora told how they would do when they were married. + +"Now, Hanny!" Daisy Jasper had not spoken. It was not likely any one +would want to marry a lame girl, and the others were too kind to make it +a matter of embarrassment. + +"I don't believe I _can_ get married," said Hanny, with sweet +seriousness. "I shouldn't like to leave father, and mother will want +somebody, for the boys will be away." + +Daisy stretched out her hand. "We'll just have a good time together," +she rejoined, smilingly. "And if Doctor Joe doesn't get married, we'll +work slippers for him and cigar cases, and if we could learn how, we +might make him a dressing-gown." + +"If you will be as good as that, I don't think I will get married. And +when I drop in, you can give me a cup of tea, and we'll have the best of +times. I hope I won't be very queer." + +He said it so seriously, they all laughed. + +Afterward he declared he was going to take all the girls home. That was +a bachelor's prerogative, and he would begin at once. He took the Deans +first, then Nora, whom he put in the Bowery stage. Daisy and Hanny spent +that leisure admiring baby Stephen, who had six cunning white teeth and +curly hair, which the little girl doted on. + +Daisy told the tea-party over to her aunt and her mother, and was very +happy. And she felt someway as if she had settled her life, and +shouldn't mind it very much. But husbands who were as tender as Dr. +Hoffman, and babies like laughing, dimpled Stevie! + +Were there some childish tears in her eyes? But the main thing for her +was to get strong and be courageous, and take her share of the world's +knowledges and beautiful things. She wondered sometimes why the Lord +Jesus, who was so wise and good and pitiful, should have let this +misfortune come upon her, or why, when all the doctors were so in +earnest, they could not have made her straight and well. And when people +said, "Oh, what a pity, with that lovely face!" she thought she could +have borne it better if she had been plainer. + +When the great love that thinks for its neighbour imbues us all, we +shall cease to make personal comments, and endeavour to bear each others +burdens with silent, tender grace. + +Doctor Joe was her comfort and inspiration. No one could ever estimate +what his kindly interest had done for her. He was so cheerful and full +of fun and sunshine. Elderly women had begun to pet up the young doctor, +in spite of his youth. + +In fact there were many virtues ascribed to experience in those days; +and now we have learned the truth is in the application, that living +through a great deal doesn't always bring wisdom. + +Grandmother Van Kortlandt and Aunt Katrina had a fine time visiting +Stephen. They were quite stylish, old-fashioned style, that wore fine +English thread-laces with the scent of lavender, and had their silvery +hair done up in puffs with side-combs. They were a little precise and +formal, and would have been horrified if the children had not said "Yes, +ma'am," and "No, ma'am." No free and easy manners for them! + +The little girl was quite sure she loved Grandmother Underhill the best. +Both called her Haneran, as if they were a little jealous of a full +share in her name. Grandmother made quite a long visit, for she said, +"She might never come again, she was getting rather feeble. She didn't +expect to live to see the little girl married." + +Hanny's father declared, "She couldn't be married until she was +twenty-five, just in time to save her from being an old maid." + +"But I won't be very old at twenty-five," she replied, smiling out of +her big innocent eyes. "And I thought I wouldn't get married at all." + +They _did_ miss Margaret. But the little girl had to study hard, and +wait on her mother, and practise her music, and visit. There were so +many places clamouring for her. + +The boys at Houston Street missed Jim Underhill also, though he often +came up that way when he could get off, which meant when he did not have +to stay for a recitation. Though they were up to pranks, they were not +cruel or malicious. If they could "make fun," and rhyme a fellow's name +ridiculously, and ring door-bells now and then, or leave a nicely +done-up parcel on some one's stoop, wrapped and tied and directed, +containing a box of ashes, or a brick, they were satisfied. They still +considered it fun to have Biddy Brady dance, and Limpy Dick, as they +called the lame girl, run a race. She hopped along with her hand on her +lame knee with surprising rapidity. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WINTER HAPPENINGS + + +Margaret came home and had a party at her house, "Infair" the older +people called it. Then a family tea at home, and another at Stephen's. +Mrs. Verplank, the Doctor's half-sister, gave her a very elegant +reception. + +She was oddly changed, somehow, just as sweet, but with more dignity and +composure; and Jim couldn't make her turn red by teasing her. The little +girl noticed that her mother treated Margaret with a peculiar deference +and never scolded her; and she said Philip to Dr. Hoffman. + +He had some serious talks with the little girl, for he pretended to be +afraid she would love Dolly and Stephen the best. Everybody had a desire +to hold her, because she was so little and light. She was not to make +the baby an excuse to go the oftenest to Dolly's. + +"Oh, dear," she rejoined, with a sigh, "and if John should get married, +and the rest of them, as they grow up, I wouldn't have any time left for +myself. But Joe isn't going to be married." + +Dr. Hoffman laughed at that. + +John had a sweetheart. He always dressed up in his best on Wednesday +night. Young men in those days thought of homes and families of their +own. There were no clubs to take them in. + +An odd little incident happened to Margaret's _menage_. Stephen had one +of Aunt Mary's grandsons as porter in the store. Another, who had been +brought up as a sort of house-servant to some elderly people that death +had visited, came to the city, and Stephen sent him to Dr. Hoffman, who +was inquiring about a factotum. He was a very well-looking and +well-mannered young coloured lad, and knew how to drive and care for a +horse. He was quite a cook also, and soon learned to do the marketing. + +Margaret kept house for herself, and enjoyed her pretty new china and +beautiful cut-glass. And after a month or two Dolly persuaded her to +rent two rooms to two ladies, the back room on the second floor, and one +on the third. She was glad to have some company when the Doctor had to +be out. One of the ladies coloured plates for magazines and illustrated +books. This was done by hand then, and was considered quite artistic +work. We had not printed in colours yet. The ladies were very refined, +and had a small income beside the work. + +The Doctor took Margaret out every pleasant afternoon. His practice was +not large enough to work him very severely. In the evening they read or +sang, as she played very nicely now. But she missed the breezy boys and +their doings, and her mother's cheery voice ordering every one about, +and, oh, she missed the little girl who didn't come half often enough. + +She began a choice piece of work for her, a silk quilt. No one had gone +insane over crazy work then. This was shapely, decorous diamonds, with +the name of the wearer, or a date, embroidered on each block. The +Morgans had given her pieces from Paris and Venice and Holland, and even +Hong Kong. Some were a hundred and more years old, and were gowns of +quite famous people. + +This fall the American Institute Fair was held at Niblo's Garden. There +were many curious things. Both telegraphs had been put up,--House's with +its letter printing, Morse's with its cabalistic signs. How words could +travel through a bit of wire puzzled most people. Uncle Faid went with +them one afternoon. + +"No use to tell me," he declared. "The fellow at one end knows just what +the fellow at the other end is going to say. Now if they sent it in a +box, or a letter, it would look reasonable." + +"I'll send you a message," said Ben; "you go down at the end, and see if +this doesn't come to you." + +He wrote on a slip of paper, and gave it to Uncle Faid, who went to the +other end with a disbelieving shake of the head. And when the receiver +wrote it out, and Uncle Faid compared it, the astonishment was +indescribable. + +"There's some jugglery about it," he still insisted. "Stands to reason a +bit of wire can't really know what you say." + +Hanny brought home her telegraph message; and when she showed it to Nora +Whitney, the child declared it was like the queer things in some books +her papa had, called hieroglyphics. But Doctor Joe told her a stranger +thing than that. He found the verses in the Psalms that were supposed to +prefigure the telegraph:-- + + "There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. + + "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to + the end of the world." + +"But they can't go across the ocean," said the little girl, confidently. + +"Why, they are discussing the feasibility of crossing the Hudson with +some kind of sunken cable. What we shall be doing fifty years from +now--and I shall not be such a dreadfully old man! We are learning how +to live longer as well." + +Fifty years! and she would be as old as the grandmothers! + +The other wonderful thing was the sewing-machine. Elias Howe had learned +how to thread the needle, the opposite way, by putting the eye in the +point. There was a little bent piece underneath that caught the loop +while a thread ran through it. They gave away samples, and everybody +admitted that it _was_ wonderful. + +The little girl said she could sew a great deal better. And her mother +declared such sewing was hardly good enough for a feed-bag. Her father +laughed, and told her rosy fingers were good enough sewing-machine for +him. + +Artificial legs and feet interested Doctor Joe very much. They had +curious springs and wires, and the outside was pink, like real +flesh,--in fact, they looked uncanny, they were so real. Hanny had seen +several old men stumping around on cork or wooden legs about which there +could be no deception. But when any one met with a mishap now, they +could fix him up "limber as an eel," Doctor Joe said. + +There was a deal of curious machinery and implements that some people +smiled over, which, like the sewing-machines, made fortunes for their +inventors presently; beautiful articles and jewelry; a great vegetable +and flower exhibit; a small loom; weaving; carving of all kinds; and +cloths and silks. Indeed, the Fair was considered a very great thing, +and the country people who came in to visit it felt almost as if they +had been to a strange country. Every afternoon and evening it was +crowded. + +Jim liked his new school very much, and soon flung his Latin words at +his little sister in perfect broadsides. Then he found that Ben had +somehow picked up a good deal of Latin, and knew all the Greek alphabet; +and instead of laughing at Charles Reed, as a Miss Nancy, he became +quite friendly with him. + +All the children came home for a Christmas dinner, and had a delightful +time. Then Martha was married, and went to her own housekeeping, and a +cousin of the little German girls who lived in Houston Street, who had +just come from Germany, petitioned for a trial. She was so bright and +clean and ambitious to learn American ways that after a fortnight, Mrs. +Underhill decided to keep her. + +When all the visitors had gone, Hanny found it very lonely sleeping in a +big room by herself. And as they couldn't move her downstairs, Mr. and +Mrs. Underhill went upstairs and changed their room to the +guest-chamber. Hanny missed her sister very much when night came. But +then she had so many lessons to study; and after the history of Holland, +they took up that of Spain, which was as fascinating as any romance. + +Everybody was a good deal excited this winter about a curious +phenomenon. At a small town in Western New York two sisters had +announced that they could hold communication with the spirit-world, and +receive messages from the dead. Little raps announced the spirit of your +friend or relative. To imaginative people, it was simply wonderful. And +now the Misses Fox were giving exhibitions and making converts. + +People recalled the old Salem witchcraft, and not a few considered it +direct dealing with the Evil One. Ben was deeply interested. He and Joe +talked over clairvoyance and mesmerism,--a curious power developed by a +learned German, Dr. Mesmer, akin to that of some of the old magicians. +Ben was very fond of abnormal things; but Joe set down communication +with another world as an impossibility. Still, a good many people +believed it. + +The children joined the singing-school again, and Charles Reed sang at +several concerts. He went quite often to the Deans, and occasionally +came over to the Underhills. Both houses were so delightful! If he only +had a sister, or a brother! Or if his mother would do something beside +scrub and clean the house! Social life was so attractive to him. + +One day she did do something else. It was February, and the snow and ice +had melted rapidly. All the air was full of the sort of chill that goes +through one. She wanted some windows washed, and the yard cleared up, +and was out in the damp a long while. That night she was seized with a +sudden attack of pleurisy. Mr. Reed sprang up and made a mustard +draught; but the pain grew so severe that he called Charles, and sent +him over for Doctor Joe. By daylight, fever set in, and it was so severe +a case that Doctor Joe called a more experienced doctor in consultation, +and said they must have a nurse at once. + +Charles had never seen her ill before. And when the doctors looked so +grave, and the nurse spoke in such low tones, he was certain she could +not live. He was so nervous that he could not get his lessons, and +roamed about the house in a frightened sort of way. The nurse was used +to housekeeping as well, and when she was needed downstairs Charles +stayed in the sick-room. His mother did not know him or any one, but +wandered in her mind, and was haunted by the ghosts of work in a manner +that was pitiful to listen to. The nurse said she had made work her +idol. There were two days when Mr. Reed stayed at home, though he sent +Charles off to school. They had a woman in the kitchen now, a relative +he had written for, Cousin Jane that Charles had once met in the +country. She was extremely tidy; but she put on an afternoon gown, and a +white apron, and found time in the evening to read the paper. + +On the second afternoon both doctors went away just as Charles came +home. His father was standing on the stoop with them, and Doctor Joe +looked down and smiled. The boy's heart beat with a sudden warmth, as he +went down the area steps, wiped his feet, and hung up his cap and +overcoat with as much care as if his mother's sharp eyes were on him. +There was no one in the room; but he sat down at once to his lessons. + +Presently his father entered. His eyes had a pathetic look, as if they +were flooded with tears. + +"The doctor gives us a little hope, Charles," he said, in a rather +tremulous voice. "It's been a hard pull. The fever was broken yesterday; +but she was so awful weak; indeed, it seemed two or three times in the +night as if she was quite gone. Since noon there has been a decided +change; and, if nothing new happens, she will come around all right. It +will be a long while though. She's worked too hard and steady; but it +has not been my fault. At all events, we'll keep Cousin Jane just as +long as we can. And now I must run down-town for a few hours. Tell +Cousin Jane not to keep tea waiting." + +Charles sat in deep thought many minutes. His father's unwonted emotion +had touched him keenly. Of course he would have been very sorry to have +his mother die, yet how often he had wished for another mother. The +thought shocked him now; and yet he could see so many places where it +would be delightful to have her different. Careful as she was of him, he +had no inner consciousness that she loved him, and he did so want to +have some one he could love and caress, and who would make herself +pretty. Hanny loved her father and mother so much. She "hung around" +them. She sat in her father's lap and threaded his hair with her soft +little fingers. She had such pretty ways with her mother. She didn't +seem ever to feel afraid. + +Neither did the Deans. Of course they were all girls; but there were Ben +and Jim and, oh, Doctor Joe teased his mother, and was sweet to her, and +even kissed her, grown man that he was! + +Charles could hardly decide which mother he liked the most, but he +thought Mrs. Dean. Mrs. Underhill sometimes scolded, though it never +seemed real earnest. + +He felt more at home with the Deans. Perhaps this was because Mrs. Dean +had always coveted a boy, and, like a good many mothers, she wanted a +real nice, smart, refined boy. Charles was obedient and truthful, neat +and orderly, and always had his lessons "by heart." He was very proud +of his standing in school. He could talk lessons over with more freedom +to Mr. Dean than with his own father. And Josie was always so proud of +him. Perhaps the reason he liked the Deans so well was because he was +such a favourite with them, and appreciation seemed very sweet to the +boy who had so little in his life. + +Mr. Dean seemed to think there was great danger of his growing up a +prig; but Mrs. Dean always took his part in any discussion. Mr. Dean was +very fond of having him over to sing; and Josie gave him her piano +lessons, only she kept a long way ahead. + +Oh, how many, many times Charles had wished he was their son! There were +so many boys in the Underhill family, he was quite sure they couldn't +want any more. + +But just now he felt curiously conscience-stricken, though greatly +confused. He supposed his mother _did_ want him, though she always +considered him so much trouble, and talked about her "working from +morning to night and getting no thanks for it." He had felt he would +like to thank her specially for some things, but ought he, _must_ he, be +grateful for the things he did not want and were only a trouble and +mortification to him? And was it wicked to wish for some other mother? + +He would try not to do it again. He might think of Mrs. Dean as his +aunt, and the girls his cousins. And he would endeavour with all his +might to love his own mother. + +Years afterward, he came to know how great an influence this hour had on +him in moulding his character. But he did not realise how long he had +dreamed until he heard Cousin Jane's brisk voice,--it was not a cross or +complaining voice,--saying:-- + +"Why, Charles, here in the dark! Well, we have had a pretty severe time; +but your mother's good constitution has pulled her through. And that +young doctor's just splendid! I haven't had much opinion of young +doctors heretofore. To be sure, there has been Dr. Fitch; but I think +Dr. Underhill works more as if his life depended on it. And if you +weren't very hungry, Charles, we might wait until your father comes +home. About seven, he said. I must confess that Cousin Maria has one of +the best and most faithful of husbands. He isn't sparing any expense, +either." + +Charles flushed with delight to hear his father praised for his devotion +to his mother. + +"I'd like to wait, Cousin Jane," he replied in an eager tone. + +"I'll make a cup of tea and take a bit of bread and cold meat up to Mrs. +Bond. Then I'll come back and set the table." + +She had lighted the lamps while she was talking, and Charles hurried up +with his neglected lessons, studying in earnest. + +It was half-past seven when his father came in. No one fretted, however. +His brisk walk had given him a good colour, and his eyes had brightened. +He seemed so pleased that they had waited for him. Cousin Jane did make +events go on smoothly. The tea was hot, as he liked it; and there was a +plate of toast, of which he was very fond. + +When he took out his paper, he said to Charles:-- + +"You might run over to the Deans and tell them the good news. They have +been so kind about inquiring. I wouldn't stay more than ten or fifteen +minutes." + +He had not been over in a week, and they were glad to see him, as well +as to hear the hopeful tidings. But the girls had quite a bit of +casuistry in their talk that night as they were going to bed, partly as +to how Charles could be so glad, and partly whether one ought to be glad +under all circumstances, when events happened that did not really tend +to one's comfort. + +"But Mary Dawson said she wasn't sorry when her stepmother died, and she +wouldn't tell a story about it. Her stepmother wasn't much crosser than +Mrs. Reed. You know Mrs. Dawson wouldn't let the girls go to +singing-school, and she made them wear their outgrown dresses, and she +did whip them dreadfully. I couldn't have been sorry either." + +"But it would be awful not to have any one sorry when you were dead." + +"I think," began Josie, gravely, "we ought to act so people _will_ be +sorry. If you are good and kind, and do things pleasantly--Mrs. Reed is +always doing; but I guess it is a good deal the _way_ you do. You see +mother and father do think of the things we like, when they are right +and proper. They show they love us and like to have us love them in +return." + +"Oh, I just couldn't live without mother!" and the tears overflowed +Tudie's eyes. + +"And I know it would break her heart, and father's, too, if they lost +us. And so we ought to try and make each other happy. I mean to think +more about it. And, oh, Tudie, if Mrs. Reed could be converted! People +are sometimes when they've been very ill. Suppose we pray for that." + +They did heartily; and Josie resolved not to miss one night. It would +make bonny Prince Charlie so happy to have his mother changed into a +sweet, tender woman. + +Charles didn't dare pray for that. God knew what was best for any one, +and He _did_ have the power. He wondered what things were right to put +in one's prayers. Some years after he came to know it was "all things," +just as one might ask of a human father, knowing that sometimes even the +father after the flesh, in his larger wisdom, saw that it was best to +deny. + +"Don't you want to look in on your mother?" Cousin Jane said the next +morning. He had not seen her in several days. + +"Oh, yes," answered Charles. + +Mrs. Reed had been thin before; but now she looked ghostly, with her +sunken eyes and sharpened nose and chin. Charles had a great desire to +kiss her; but she did not approve of such "foolishness." Her poor +skeleton hand, that had done so much hard and useless work, lay on the +spread in a limp fashion, as if it would never do anything again. + +Charles took it up and pressed it to his cheek. Mrs. Reed opened her +eyes, and a wavering light, hardly a smile, crossed her face. + +"I've been very sick," and, oh, how faint the sound was, quivering, too, +as if it had not the strength to steady itself! And then the thin lids +fell. The death-like pallor startled him. + +"But you're going to get well again." + +The boy's sweet, confident tone touched her. She did not dare open her +eyes, lest she should cry, she was so weak. Then he said, +"Good-morning," and went softly out of the room, feeling that he was +glad in every pulse of his being that God had given her back to them. + +Doctor Joe had a good deal of credit for the case. Dr. Fitch admitted +that it had been very severe, and required the utmost watchfulness. Mrs. +Underhill was very proud of her son's success "in his own country," as +she termed it. And she said when Mrs. Reed was well enough to see +visitors, she would go over and call. Indeed, it had created a good deal +of interest in the neighbourhood, and Charles found himself treated with +a peculiar deference among the children. + +Mrs. Reed's recovery was very slow, however. Mrs. Bond went away when +she could begin to go about the room and help herself. Cousin Jane was a +good nurse, and she declared, "There wasn't work enough to keep her +half busy." She did the mending and the ironing; Mr. Reed insisted they +should have a washerwoman. Mrs. Reed sighed when she thought of the +expense. It had been the pride of her life that she never had a fit of +illness, and had never hired a day's work done except when Charles was +born. + +She was sure now that the house must be in an awful plight. She never +found time to sit down in the morning and read a book or paper. Cousin +Jane changed her gown every afternoon, and wore lace ruffles at the +neck, just plain strips of what was called footing, that she pleated up +herself. Then, too, she wore white muslin aprons,--a very old fashion +that was coming back. And though Mrs. Reed couldn't find fault when she +saw Charles and his father always as neat as a pin, still she was sure +there must be a great need of thoroughness somewhere. She prided herself +upon being "thorough." + +Mrs. Underhill came over one day with the Doctor, and they had a really +nice call. Of course Mrs. Reed couldn't understand how she ever managed +with such a houseful of boys. Yet she was fresh and fair, and seemed to +take life very comfortably. Then they were always having so much company +at the Underhills. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Underhill, with a mellow sort of laugh that agreed +capitally with her ample person,--"yes, we have such a host of +cousins,--not all own ones, but second and third. And since my daughter +was married, the house seems lonesome at times. All the boys are away +at work but Jim; and Hanny has so many places to go, that, what with +lessons and all, I don't seem to get much good of her. But I've a nice +kitchen-girl. She was a great trial when she first came, with her not +knowing much English, and her German ways of cooking. But she's quite +like folks now, and very trusty. How fortunate you found a relative to +come in and do for you! And the Doctor says you must give up hard work +for a long while to come." + +Mrs. Reed sighed, and said she should be glad enough to get about again. + +The Deans came over, and some of the other neighbours; and Mrs. Reed +found it very pleasant. One afternoon late in March, Mr. Reed came home +quite early, and carried his wife down into the dining-room. He had +asked the Deans over to tea, and Doctor Joe. And there was the table, +spick and span, the silver shining, the windows so clean you couldn't +see there was any glass in them, the curtains fresh, the tablecloth +ironed so that every flower and leaf in it stood out. There wasn't a +speck of dust anywhere! + +The kitchen was in nice order; the range black and speckless, the +closets sweet with their fresh white paper. And Cousin Jane's bread and +biscuit were as good as anybody's, her ham tender and a luscious pink, +her two kinds of cake perfection. + +Charles sat next to his mother, a tall, smiling boy with a clean collar +and his best roundabout. It was the first tea-party he ever remembered, +and he was delighted. He was so polite and watchful of his mother that +it really went to her heart. + +For seven weeks the house had gone on without her, and she couldn't see +any change for the worse. Mr. Reed looked uncommonly well, and was a +very agreeable host. The Doctor complimented her, and said next week he +should come and take her out driving; and that, to do him real credit, +she must get some flesh on her bones. + +It was a very pleasant time; and Charles was so happy that his mother +wondered if there wasn't something better in the world than work and +care. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LAND OF OPHIR + + +Spring came on apace, and spring in New York had many beautiful features +then. The Battery, the Bowling Green, City Hall Park, with its fountain, +the College grounds, Trinity and St. Paul's churchyards, and the squares +coming into existence farther up-town. Trees and grass and flowers +delighted the eye, and lilacs made the air fragrant. All up the country +ways there were patches of wild honeysuckle,--pinxter flowers, as it was +called. + +The little girl had so many things to distract her attention that she +wondered how grown-up people could be so tranquil with all their +knowledges and their cares. She began to realise the great difference in +tastes and characteristics, though she would not have quite comprehended +that long word. Perhaps Ben, being in the midst of stories and books, +and hearing so much talk about the great men of the day, roused the same +train of thought in her, though I think hero-worship came natural to +her. The Dean girls read the sweet pretty domestic stories with great +relish. Miss Macintosh, Mary Howitt, and even Jane Austin were their +delight. Hanny and Daisy were deeply interested in history. And during +the last year some very spirited stories had been written on the Mexican +war, and all the struggles of a few years before. The wealth and +splendour of Montezuma and his sad ending, the wonders of that land of +ancient romance, were rendered more real on account of the present +struggle that Hanny and her father had followed closely. She kept in +touch with all the generals. The hero of Monterey, General Worth, +General Scott's entry into the city of Montezuma, General Watts Kearny, +who led his men a thousand miles through the desert to seize Santa Fe, +and hold New Mexico, and his brilliant young nephew, Philip, who was the +first man to enter the gate of San Antonio, and who lost his left arm at +the battle of Churubusco. Little did she dream, indeed, who could have +dreamed then, that he was to be one of the heroes of another war, nearer +and more dreadful to us! + +Then there was a great celebration over the final victory. City Hall was +crowded. There were some magnificent fireworks and much rejoicing. And +though there were questions for diplomacy to adjust, we had gained +California and New Mexico; and both were destined to have a great +bearing on the future of the country. + +When Hanny could spare time from this exciting topic and her lessons, +there was little Stevie, who was the sweetest and most cunning baby +alive, she was quite sure. He could run all over, and say ever so many +words. The hard ones he had to shorten, so he called the little girl +Nan, and Dolly and Stephen caught it up as well. When they came over to +First Street, the neighbourhood paid him the highest honours. All the +children wanted to see him, and walk up and down with him. He was so +merry, laughing at the least little thing, and chattering away in his +baby language, with a few words now and then in good English. And, oh, +delight! his hair curled all over his head, and had a golden gleam to +it. Certainly, as a baby, he was a tremendous success. + +But the crowning point of this May was Hanny's birthday party. She was +twelve years old. Dolly and Margaret came down to spend the day and +help. Oddly enough, Hanny knew very few boys. First, she thought she +would only have a girls' party. But there was Charlie, and some of her +schoolmates had brothers; and Jim said he knew two splendid boys in +school that he would like to ask; and when they counted them up, they +found there were plenty enough. + +They played games, of course,--pretty laughable things that had not gone +out of fashion. And the supper-table was a feast to the eye as well as +to the appetite. Toward the last, there were mottoes, and they had a +good deal of fun in exchanging. Doctor Joe was as merry as any boy, in +fact, he laid himself out, as people say, to make the party a success, +for Hanny would have been a timid little hostess. Dolly and Margaret +were not much behind. + +After they went upstairs some one proposed the Virginia Reel. The older +ones were not long in taking their places. + +"Come," said Doctor Joe to Daisy Jasper. "It's very easy. You will have +to learn some time." + +"Will I surely have to?" and she gave an arch little smile. + +"Yes. You are to learn all the things girls do, even if you can draw +portraits, which every girl can't do." + +"Oh, no," when she saw that he was in earnest; "I am afraid. And then, +I--" + +"You are not to be afraid." He put his arm about her and gently drew her +out. "You are to be my partner." + +Hanny stood second in the row, looking so bright and eager that she was +absolutely pretty. And Jim's chum, the handsomest lad in the room, had +chosen her. When she saw Daisy, she wanted to run down and kiss her, she +was so delighted. + +What with braces, and several appliances, Daisy now had only one +shoulder that was a little high; and as she had grown stronger, she +could get about without much of a limp. She was quite tall for her age, +and every gesture and motion was very graceful, in spite of the +misfortune. She sometimes danced at school. + +Dolly struck up some merry music, and Stephen called off. How prettily +they balanced and turned, and joined hands left and right, and marched +down and up again, and then the first couple chassed down the middle! +When it was Hanny's turn, she came down looking like a fairy, and smiled +over to her friend. + +Daisy was a good deal frightened at first, and would have run away but +for Doctor Joe's encouraging eyes. However, when her turn came, she did +very well. By this time they were all so intent upon their own pleasure +no one really noticed her. Oh, how jolly it was! + +After that some of the children tried the three-step polka, and found it +very fascinating. A little after ten, the plates of cream came in, and +at half-past, they began to disperse. + +Stevie was asleep upstairs on Nan's bed. All the girls had to go and +look at him; and when Dolly picked him up, and bundled his cloak about +him, and put on his cap, he only stretched a little and settled himself, +being as famous a sleeper as some of his Dutch ancestors. But the girls +had to kiss him; and then he did wake up and laugh and rub his eyes with +his fat fist. Before Stephen had him settled on his shoulder, he was +asleep again. + +"Oh!" cried Hanny, "it's _his_ first party as well as mine. And when he +gets old enough, I'll have to tell him all about it." + +"Yes," laughed his father. "His memory can hardly he depended upon now." + +Jim's friend came to wish Hanny good-night, and say that he had enjoyed +himself first rate,--quite a boy's word then. And he added, "I think +your doctor-brother is the nicest man I ever met. If my mother is ever +ill, I mean she shall have him. He is so sweet and kindly. And that +Miss Jasper is a beautiful girl!" + +Hanny flushed with delight. + +One day, not long afterwards, Mrs. Jasper took both little girls down to +Stewart's beautiful store at the corner of Chambers Street and Broadway. +When the ladies were out for a promenade, they used to drop in and see +the pretty articles. It was the finest store in New York; kid-gloves and +laces were specialties, but there were no end of elegant silks and India +shawls, which were considered family heir-looms when you became the +owner of one. + +Some of the more careful business-men shook their heads doubtfully over +the young merchant's extravagance, and predicted a collapse presently. +But he went on prospering, and even built another marble palace, and a +marble dwelling-place for himself. + +Then the Reeds and the Underhills were full of interest in their boys +who were to pass examinations for Columbia College. Charles stood high, +but he was rather nervous about it; and Jim never studied so hard in all +his life as the last three months. When there was any doubt, or even +when there wasn't, he pressed Joe into service. However, they both came +off with flying colours. Charles was the best scholar, undoubtedly; but +Jim had a way of making everything tell in his favour. + +Miss Lily Ludlow had quite given Jim the cold shoulder; but now she +smiled upon him again. Her sister had married very well; but Lily had +quite resolved upon a rich husband. Still it would be something to have +the young and good-looking collegian in her train. + +Mrs. Jasper pleaded to take Hanny with them to Saratoga for a little +while; and Margaret said she and her husband would go up and spend a +week and bring her home. The Jaspers were to stay at a quiet cottage; +and, after much persuasion, Mrs. Underhill consented, though she had an +idea a fashionable watering-place was hardly proper for little girls; +and her father was very loath to give her up even for a few weeks. + +To tell the truth, the little girl was rather homesick for a night or +two. There was so much to see, so many drives and all; but she had never +been away alone before. And she did so miss sitting in her father's lap, +and kissing him good-night. She was too big a girl of course; and one +time her mother asked her if she meant to keep up the habit when she was +a woman grown! + +She had not thought of being grown-up. And she wished she could stay a +little girl forever. Josie Dean was quite womanly already, and didn't +want to wear her hair in "pigtails" any more--indeed, quite fretted +because her mother wouldn't let her put it up. But Tudie confessed to +Hanny "that she should be awful sorry when she was too big to play with +dolls." + +"I put my beautiful doll away the Christmas Stevie was born," said +Hanny. + +"Oh, well, if we had a big brother married, and a lovely little baby +like that, I wouldn't mind so much. But Josie is going to study and +teach, and--oh, dear! Hanny Underhill, you're just the luckiest girl I +know." + +And the Deans thought it another piece of luck that she should go to +Saratoga. + +They went to Congress Hall, and drank some of the water that Hanny +thought just horrid. Daisy didn't like it very much; but it had proved +beneficial the summer before. And they used to watch the beautifully +attired ladies promenade the long piazza. Such lovely lawns and +organdies and embroidered white gowns; such laces and sashes and +ribbons! Every afternoon they were out in force. They promenaded up and +down the street too, with dainty parasols, and often times no bonnet, +but a little square of lace with long lappets. + +One evening after Margaret and the Doctor came, they all went in to the +hop to look on. Hanny thought the dancing a bewitching sight, and could +have stayed up until midnight watching it. There were a good many quite +famous people whom Dr. Hoffman knew, and Hanny had seen on Broadway or +up at Washington Square. + +Daisy was almost in despair at the thought of Hanny's return. Dr. +Hoffman had promised to take a brother physician's practice when he went +away to recuperate, so he felt that he really could not extend his stay +beyond the week. + +"Oh, I do wish I had a sister!" groaned Daisy. "Auntie is very nice, and +mamma is the sweetest mother in the world; but I like to have some one +who thinks real young thoughts. I don't want to be grown up and +sensible, and take an interest in tiresome things." + +"Let's just stay little," laughed Hanny. "Twelve isn't so very old." + +"But being in your 'teens' seems on the way to it. _You_ may stay +little; but see how tall I am getting. I grow like a weed." + +Hanny gave a soft sigh. How curious to want to stay little, and feel +sorry you were not getting big at the same time! + +When they returned to the city, Hanny found that Charles and his mother +had gone to the sea-side, out on Long Island. Mrs. Reed didn't seem to +get strong. She had thought all along first she could soon do without +Cousin Jane; and to give her the opportunity Cousin Jane went away on a +little visit. But Mr. Reed sent for her ten days later. + +"I'm never going to be good for anything again!" Mrs. Reed said +fretfully. + +"Oh, yes, there are a good many useful things in the world beside work," +replied Mr. Reed. "You've done your share. Cousin Jane is splendid to +have around. Anyhow, I think we will keep her for awhile." + +"You just go down on Great South Bay, and eat fish and clams, and have +the sea-breeze," advised Cousin Jane. "The Seamens will board you very +reasonably. And Charles looks as if something of the kind wouldn't hurt +him. He will have a pretty hard pull in college the first year, and he +ought to have some good backbone to start on." + +It was very extravagant to go away to board when they were paying +house-rent. And there had been a doctor's bill, and a nurse for three +weeks, and Cousin Jane-- + +"Never you mind," said Mr. Reed, "I'm not anywhere near the poor-house. +I've only you and Charles. He is going to be a credit to us if he keeps +his health; but he does look rather pale and thin. You ought to go for +his sake." + +The Reeds seemed insensibly to have changed places. It was Mr. Reed who +gave the orders and suggested the plans, and Mrs. Reed who acquiesced. + +"You've worked steadily all your life, harder than I ever wanted you +to," continued her husband. "We had better take the good of what we +have, and let Charles earn his own money when it comes his time to work. +And if you could improve a little,--at least I think it is your duty to +try for both our sakes. It will be a sad thing if, when Charles takes +his degree, you are not here to congratulate him." + +She was not anxious to die; very few people are. So she listened, and +allowed herself to be over-ruled. She was really proud of her son's +manliness, though she would not have admitted it. They went off to stay +a fortnight, and both improved so much they remained a whole month. + +Janey and Polly Odell and another cousin came to visit Hanny, and had a +fine time seeing the city sights. Then Daisy came home, school began, +and wonderful events were happening all the time. + +The old story of Eldorado repeated itself. Strange rumours ran about +like wildfire in meadow grass. A Captain Sutter was having his mill-race +on one of the forks of the Sacramento River deepened and repaired, when +a workman accidently discovered a shining nugget that proved to be gold. +Crowds flocked to the spot: men who had been in the army, adventurers +who had followed Fremont in his prospecting journeys; and they found +gold on every hand. + +When Congress opened, President Polk proudly announced the wealth of our +new possessions. It was Mexico and Peru over again. The Spaniards had +not despoiled the whole earth. + +Men talked themselves up to fever-heat. Why plod along years making a +fortune, when here you could dig it out of the ground in a few months! +As if wealth was the great and only good to mankind. + +Now, when one flies across the continent in a palace-car, it seems +strange indeed to think of the long journey of these pilgrims to the +land of Ophir, as it was called. The overland route, that across Mexico, +or the isthmus, comprised the sail to Vera Cruz, and then up the Pacific +coast, and was costly. That around Cape Horn took five months. Yet men +were selling their property or business that they had been years in +building up, leaving their families, and hurrying off, promising to be +back in a few years, millionaires perhaps. + +The Underhills were not seized with the mania. There were several other +matters that occupied their attention. John was to be married in +January, and to go in business with his employer, who would be his +father-in-law. And in December, two granddaughters were added to the +family. + +Hanny was quite dazed with the conflicting claims. Margaret's little +girl had large dark eyes like Dr. Hoffman, and dark, silky hair; while +Dolly's daughter was fair. Margaret's baby was really beautiful. + +But in her secret heart the little girl thought no baby in the world +could ever be the sweet and joyful surprise that Stevie had been,--the +Christmas gift to them all. Dr. Hoffman declared that he was really +jealous that she should not transfer all her affections to his little +daughter. "He should not call her Haneran now." + +"I should hope you wouldn't," declared Hanny, mirthfully. "You ought to +name her Margaret, and we could all call her Daisy. That's such a +cheerful, pretty name!" + +"But she won't be white and gold. She would have to be a Michaelmas +daisy. And we couldn't call her Pearl, with her dark eyes and hair. +Still, I think Margaret one of the noblest and sweetest of names." + +"I don't suppose any one will think Hannah a sweet name," said the +little girl, rather ruefully. "They all say--it's a _good_ name. But I +don't want to be just like Grandmother Van Kortlandt. When I am real old +I would rather be like Grandmother Underhill." + +"Luckily, the names do not endow us with the natures." + +In the end, it _was_ Margaret; and they called her Daisy, much to the +little girl's delight. When Mrs. Jasper heard of the name, she sent her +a beautiful pair of sleeve-pins. They were used to pin through the +shoulders and sleeves of babies' dresses. It seemed then as if all +babies had beautiful fat necks, and pretty dimpled arms. + +Dolly's little girl was called Annette Dorothea; but her household name +was Annie. + +Little Stevie had come to grandmother's to stay a week or so. He cried a +little the first night for mamma. Hanny begged to have him put in her +bed; and she sat and told him Mother Goose Melodies until he dropped +asleep. He was such a sweet, cunning roly-poly, that she couldn't help +kissing him when she came to bed; and she longed to take him in her arms +and hug him up; but she was afraid he might wake and cry. + +The next night he was quite ready to go to Nan's bed, and didn't cry a +bit. + +Hanny had a delightful time taking him round among the girls. Her mother +said, "You and your father will have that child spoiled." But Hanny +might have turned the tables, if she had seen grandmother when she had +to be in school. + +As for Grandfather Underhill, he thought with Hanny there never had been +such a smart and wonderful baby. Jim taught him some rather +reprehensible tricks. He was still full of fun and mischief, and already +had a crowd of admirers in college. + +And, oh, how they missed the baby when he was gone! It didn't seem as +if one little mite could fill the house; but it was big and empty now. + +John's courtship had not been so engrossing as Stephen's. They had met +Miss Bradley, to be sure; and Mr. Bradley was a well-to-do man with two +sons and one daughter who had been named Cleanthe, after the heroine of +a story Mrs. Bradley had read in her girlhood. Mr. Bradley had wanted +his daughter called Priscilla, after his mother; and Mrs. Bradley's +mother's name was Jemima. + +"I did think Mimy and Silly two of the worst names in the world. And +there isn't any nickname for Cleanthe," was Mrs. Bradley's explanation +when any one wondered at the name. + +Miss Cleanthe was a very nice, well-bred, rather conventional girl, with +none of Dolly's dash and spirit. She was a good housekeeper, and could +make all but her best dresses. They were to take the second floor of Mr. +Bradley's house, and set up their own home, until they felt rich enough +to indulge in a house owned by themselves. + +George came down about this time to spend a month. He was decidedly +tired of farming. + +"Of course, if I wanted to marry and build on the old place, it wouldn't +be so bad. Uncle Faid keeps in the same rut, and you can't shake him out +of it. Barton Finch is the kind of man who begins with a great flourish, +but flats out towards the end. I'm tired of them all!" + +"It will be your turn to marry next," said his mother. "And then I'll +seem quite a young woman with only three children. I _do_ suppose we'll +go up to Yonkers some time and spend our old age there; though I begin +to think your father is weaned away." + +George laughed. "Father seems about half Uncle Faid's age. And at +eighty, you won't be as old as Aunt Crete. If I had lots of money, to do +as I liked--but farming so near by doesn't amount to much." + +The Germans and Swiss had to come in and show us about market-gardening +and floriculture. + +George went down-town with Stephen, and talked with Ben, and listened to +the groups on every corner discussing the golden land. He was young and +strong; why shouldn't he go and seek his fortune? + +Miss Bradley had a very nice evening wedding, with dancing and a supper. +She was very well looking, but not as handsome as Margaret, or as pretty +and piquant as Dolly. She did not seem to come close to their hearts, as +Dolly had; though Mrs. Underhill was very well satisfied, and knew she +would make John happy. John was a sort of solid, sober-going fellow, +quite different from Steve and Joe. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUTH + + +Then George surprised everybody by his determination to go to +California. + +"There are chances to make fortunes here," declared Stephen. "With the +crowds going out there, and no homes and no provision made for them, +there must be a good deal of suffering. The stories of gold are too +fabulous for belief." + +"I want to see something of the world. And all the countries on the +Pacific Coast are rich in gold and treasures. I wonder what the history +of the world would have been if that side had been settled first?" + +"The history of Mexico and Peru. Wealth and indolence and degeneration. +And the East is nearer the commerce of the world. Oh, the old Pilgrim +fathers didn't go so far out of the way!" laughingly. + +"And they went in the face of almost everything. We have a little of +their love of adventure. I don't know as my heart is so set upon a +fortune. You wouldn't believe it; but I've wished myself that intrepid +explorer Fremont dozens of times. There is such a splendid excuse for +going now." + +At first, they were all strongly opposed. John told him to come and join +them, and keep turning his money over in up-town real estate. Mrs. +Underhill pleaded. She was very fond of having her children about her. +But when he went down-town, and heard the exciting talk, and saw the +vessels of every kind fitting out, he came home more resolved than ever. + +"And then we will build the house on that beautiful knoll,--a large, +rambling, commodious place, big enough to take us all in, a refuge for +our old age," laughed George. + +They found he was not to be talked out of it. Ben was on his side, and +not only gave him encouragement, but offered to lend him a little money +he had saved up, and proposed to go shares with him. + +Indeed, it was a time of great excitement. The ship-yards on the East +River were veritable bee-hives; and morning, noon, and night the streets +were thronged with workmen. The clipper-ships began to astonish the +world, and the steamers to compete with those of England. The new treaty +with China was opening possibilities of trade to that country. + +George decided to go by water to Vera Cruz. Round the Horn seemed too +long a journey for impatient youth. If he shouldn't like it, and should +not see any special prospect, he could come back the richer by his +experience, if nothing else. People went to China. They often stayed two +years in Europe. + +"Yes," said Ben; "there's Mr. Theodore Whitney. He has had no end of a +good time, and is in much better health then when he went away." + +"And Fremont has gone through a great many hardships, and been in some +battles, and still lives," added George, laughingly. "And some of the +people in Yonkers died who had never been more than ten miles away from +home." + +Mrs. Underhill gave in, as mothers of big sons are often forced to do. +Mr. Underhill was rather pleased with the boy's spirit. Doctor Joe felt +that it wasn't a bad thing altogether, and that it would be nice to have +an authentic account of that wonderful country. + +So the last of March, George said good-bye to everybody. His father, +Stephen, and Joe went down to see him off. It looked as if half the +sailing-craft in the world were gathered in New York harbour. + +Right on the top of this, something happened that engrossed the +attention of the younger members of the family. There had been a +disturbance in Paris; the old Bonaparte faction coming to the fore, and +Louis Philippe had fled from the throne to England. Napoleon Bonaparte +had shattered the divine right of kings nearly forty years earlier. + +But the most startling link in the chain of events, was that Louis +Napoleon, the son of Hortense Beauharnais and the once King of Holland, +who, for fomenting one revolution, had been confined in the Fortress of +Ham for life. He had escaped, and, with the prestige of the family +name, had roused the enthusiasm of France, and helped to form a +Republic. He was elected as one of the Deputies. Everybody was saying +then the French were too volatile, and too fond of grandeur, to accept +the democratic tendencies of a republic for any length of time. And they +wondered if he would not follow in the steps of his famous uncle, and +one day aim at a throne and an empire. Others hailed the step as a great +advancement in the rights of the people, and thought it prefigured that +Europe would be republican rather than Cossack, recalling the elder +Emperor's prediction. + +And Hanny learned that this young man, who was before long to be Emperor +of the French, had lived in New York, as well as Louis Philippe. Joe +took her down-town to the old Delmonico Restaurant, which was considered +quite elegant in its day, and had entertained many famous people. Here, +the young fellow who had been the son of a king, and was now an exile, +used to dine, and gather about him the flower of the fashionable world, +as it was called. And Lorenzo Delmonico, who rarely went into his +kitchen now, would go and cook a dinner for this guest, who had the high +art of persuasion in an eminent degree, it would seem. Afterward the +Prince would entertain the other guests with curious tricks with cards, +and conversation. Now his life bid fair to be almost as eventful as his +uncle's; and, like him, he was doomed to die an exile on English soil. + +Joe and Hanny took their dinner in the old place, though now the +Delmonicos were fitting up a hotel at the lower end of Broadway which +was destined to become quite as famous, and to house many notable +people. + +She was so engrossed with reading and studying that sometimes she hardly +found an hour for the babies. She and Daisy, like most very young girls, +had a passion for poetry. Mrs. Sigourney they thought rather grave and +dry; but Mrs. Hemans, with her soft flowing numbers and beautiful face, +was a great favourite. Longfellow was beginning to be appreciated, and +several other poets that one saw now and then on Broadway. There were +some pathetic poems by a Western writer, Alice Cary, that used to go +quite to the little girl's tender heart. She had a wonderful memory for +any rhythmic production, and used to say them over to her father. If she +didn't sit on his lap,--and her mother had almost laughed her out of +it,--she leaned her arms on his knee, or rested her head against his +shoulder, while her soft, sweet voice went purling along like,-- + + "A hidden brook + In the leafly month of June." + +The Dean girls did not care so much for poetry. They wanted stories; and +stories and books were beginning to spring up on every hand. Miss Delia +Whitney was writing a novel. She had accomplished some successful +stories, and had one in "The Ladies' Book," the pretty fashion magazine +of the day. + +Poor deaf Aunt Clem had dropped out of life like a child going to sleep. +Aunt Patty kept well and bright. Nora was growing up into a tall girl, +and went to Rutger's Institute, though she confessed to Hanny, "She just +hated all schools, and wouldn't go a day longer, only it was not quite +the thing to grow up an ignoramus." + +And there was Frederica Bremer, a Swedish novelist, whose "Home or +Family Cares and Family Joys" was Hanny's delight. And Irving was ever +new and bright. "Salmagundi" always amused her father so much. The +recent and delightful stories were the talk of every one. + +Daisy was not such a ravenous reader. She was quite taken up with +painting, and had done some very nice work in water-colours. She had a +decided gift for catching resemblances, and had sketched some excellent +likenesses. She confided to Hanny that her ambition was to paint +portraits on ivory. + +This spring a plan was mooted that almost rendered Hanny speechless. Mr. +Jasper had some business connections abroad that needed his personal +supervision, and he proposed to take his family. Tours to Europe were +not a common occurrence then, and one could hardly run over for a six +weeks' trip. Daisy had improved so much that she was sure to enjoy it; +and there were some German baths Doctor Joe thought he would like her to +try. + +Italy had been the children's land of romance. But the Deans never +expected to go; and Hanny was quite sure she should feel awfully afraid +on the ocean. But Joe said some time when he had grown quite rich, and +needed a rest for his tired-out body and nerves, he and Hanny might +go,--ten years hence, perhaps. It wasn't nearly so formidable when you +looked at it through the telescope of ten years; and Hanny could be +learning French and German, and may be Italian. She had picked up a good +deal of German already from Barbara, who had proved an excellent servant +after she had acquired American ways. + +The Jaspers would give up their house and store their choicest +furniture. Opposite, a great many foreigners were crowding in; and down +below, Houston Street and Avenue A. were filling up with them. We felt +so large and grand then, with our great stretches of unoccupied land, +that we invited the oppressed from everywhere. It was our boast that,-- + + "Uncle Sam was rich enough to give us all a farm." + +Very good thrifty citizens many of them made; but some of the early +experiences were not so agreeable. And people were beginning to think +"up-town" would be the choice for residences. Even Mr. Dean had a vague +idea of buying up there while property was cheap. Stephen and Margaret +were trying to persuade their parents to do the same thing. + +It would be dreadful to have Daisy go away for a whole year. When Daisy +considered the point, it didn't seem as if she could leave all her girl +friends and her dear Doctor Joe. But the days passed on, and the passage +was taken. Mrs. Jasper asked the children in to a supper, which would +have been delightful, except for the thought that it was a farewell +supper. The table was spread in most artistic array; and Sam waited upon +the company. They tried very hard to be merry; but every little while +they would all subside and glance at each other with apprehensive eyes. + +The grown people came in the evening. The most wonderful thing was that +Mr. and Mrs. Reed were among the parents. Cousin Jane was still at the +Reeds'; and, as she was "handy" about sewing, she had altered Mrs. +Reed's old-fashioned gowns, and made her some new ones. + +Mrs. Reed did not get real strong, and was troubled somewhat with a +cough when cold weather came on. But she lost her weather-beaten look, +and did gain a little flesh. She was very presentable in her black-silk +dress, with some lace at the throat and wrists that she had bought at +her marriage. She wore a little black-lace head-dress with a few purple +bows; and she admitted to Charles that the Jaspers were very fine +people, and she was sorry they were going away; but it would take a mint +of money for a whole family to travel around like that. + +The Jaspers' house was then dismantled; but they were going to board for +about ten days. Hanny and Josie Dean went down to see the state-room and +wish them _bon voyage_. Doctor Joe had given Mrs. Jasper counsel about +everything that might happen to Daisy. + +Then the signal was given for all who were not going to return on shore. +There were some tender kisses and tears; and Doctor Joe took both girls +by the arm and steadied them down the gang-plank. What a huge thing the +steamer looked! But it was nothing compared to the later ones. + +It was very lonesome. The night was pleasant, and Hanny sat out on the +stoop with her father; but, whenever she tried to talk, something +swelled up in her throat and made her feel like crying. But her father +hugged her up close. She would always have him. + +It had not seemed so sad to have Nora go away; in fact they could see +her any time. And she had not loved Nora quite so well. She didn't love +any girl as she loved Daisy, and it seemed as if she could not live a +whole year without her. + +They talked about it at school, and most of the girls envied her the +splendid journey. "I don't know as I would mind being a little lame, if +I could have such a beautiful face, and be taken everywhere," said one +of the girls. + +But Hanny didn't want to be anybody else, if she had to give up her own +mother and father, and dear Joe and Ben and, oh, little darling Stevie. + +Just after this a black-bordered envelope came up from Hammersley +Street. Grandfather Bounett, who had been very feeble of late, had died. +Hanny had seen him a number of times since her memorable introductory +visit. Luella had been sent to boarding-school, and was quite toned +down, was indeed a young lady. + +Doctor Joe had made frequent visits, and the old gentleman had told him +many striking incidents of his life. Hanny used to think how queer the +city must have been in seventeen hundred, when people had a black +servant to carry the lantern so one could see to get about. She knew so +much of the early history now,--the Dutch reign and the British reign +and the close of the war. + +Old Mr. Bounett looked like a picture in his handsome, old-fashioned +attire; and he just seemed asleep. The large rooms and the hall were +full, and men were standing out on the sidewalk. He had rounded out the +century. A hundred years was a long while to live. There were a number +of French people, and a chapter was read out of grandfather's well-worn +French Bible. + +Somehow it was not a sorrowful funeral. It was indeed bidding him a +reverent God speed on his journey to the better land. + +About ten days afterward, they were surprised by a visit from the eldest +married daughter, Mrs. French, whom Hanny had taken such a fancy to +years before. + +"I've come of a queer errand," she explained, when they had talked over +the ordinary matters. "I want a visit from little Miss Hanny. I have +been away with my husband a good many times since we first met, and now +he has gone to China, and will be absent still a year longer. I am +keeping house alone, except as I have some nieces now and then staying +with me. I want to take Hanny over on Friday, if I may, and she shall +come back in time for school on Monday morning. I have a great many +curiosities to show her. And perhaps some of her brothers will come over +and take tea with us Sunday evening." + +Hanny was a little shy and undecided. But her mother assented readily. +She thought a change would do her good, as she had moped since Daisy's +departure. + +So it was arranged that Mrs. French should come on the ensuing Friday. +Hanny almost gave out; but when the carriage drove up to the door, and +Mrs. French looked so winsome and smiling, she said good-bye to her +mother with a sudden accession of spirits. + +They drove to Grand Street Ferry and crossed over on the boat. +Williamsburg was a rather straggling place then. It was quite a distance +from the ferry, not closely built up, though the street was long and +straight. At the south side of the house was an extra lot in a flower +and vegetable garden. The house was quite pretty, two stories with a +peaked roof, and a wisteria going up to the top. There was a wide porch +with a hammock hung already. All the air was sweet with a great bed of +lilies of the valley,--quite a rarity then. + +There was a long parlor, and then a music-room; in a sort of an ell, a +dining-room and kitchen; upstairs, two beautiful sleeping chambers and a +small sewing-room with a writing-desk and some book-shelves. + +Hanny felt as if she were entering an Oriental palace. The doorways and +windows were hung with glistening silk that had flecks of gold and +silver in it; and there were such soft rugs on the floor your feet were +buried in them. It was almost like a museum, with the queer tables and +cabinets, and the curious fragrance pervading every corner. + +They went upstairs and took off their hats and capes, which were one of +this spring's fashions. + +"This is my room," explained Mrs. French. "And with the door open you +won't feel afraid in the guest-chamber." + +"I have had to sleep alone since Margaret was married," returned the +little girl. "No, I am not afraid." + +"I thought I would not ask any one else. I wanted you all to myself," +and Mrs. French smiled. "I have hosts of nieces and nephews. There was +such a large family of us." + +Hanny thought she would rather be the only guest now. She was quite +fascinated with Mrs. French. + +She bathed her face and brushed her hair. She had brought a pretty white +ruffled apron. The little girls didn't wear black-silk aprons now; but +they were taught to be careful of their clothes, and I think they were +quite proud of their pretty aprons. Hanny's had dainty little pockets +and a pink bow on each one. + +The frocks were made shorter, and the pantalets kept them company. All +that was really proper now, was a row of fine tucks and a ruffle, or an +edge of needlework. There was some fine imported French needlework, much +of it done in convents; but nearly every lady did it herself, and it was +quite a great thing for a little girl to bring out her work and show it +to aunts and cousins. No one dreamed then that there would be machines +to make the finest and most exquisite work, and save time and eyesight. + +Hanny looked very sweet and pretty in her pink lawn and white apron. Her +hair was braided in the two tails that every little girl wore who had +not curly hair. On grand occasions, Hanny's was put in curl-papers, and +it made very nice ringlets, though it was still a sort of flaxen brown. +But then she was fair, rather pale a good deal of the time. She flushed +very easily though. There was an expression of trustful innocence that +rendered her very attractive, without being beautiful like Margaret. + +"Come and let us walk about the garden," said Mrs. French. "It is light +enough to see the roses. They are my especial pride." + +Hanny took the outstretched hand. She could not have explained it, but +she did feel happy and at home with Mrs. French. There was a +graciousness about her that set one at ease. + +At the side was a long porch with curtains that rolled up when they were +not needed for shade. At the front of the garden, there was considerable +young shrubbery, then an arrangement of beds; the centre one, which was +a circle, was filled with the most beautiful roses. The middle was +raised somewhat, mound shape, with the dark red roses, then growing a +little paler to pure rose-colour and pink, tea-rose with the salmon +tint, and a border of white. And, oh, how fragrant! + +Beside this bed there were others in clusters, and one clump in an +exquisite yellow. + +"Some of them have been great travellers," said Mrs. French. "There are +roses from Spain, from France and Italy." + +Hanny opened her eyes very wide, and then she looked at them again in +surprise. + +"Oh, how could you get them?" she asked. + +"I brought them from their homes. You see I have been quite a traveller, +also." + +The child drew a long breath. "Did you go with Captain French?" she +inquired. + +"Yes. When we were first married, his vessel traded in the Levant, and +brought back fruits and silks and shawls and nuts, and ever so many +things. After that we went to India, Calcutta. We took one of my +sisters, and she married an English merchant, and has been home only +once since then." + +"Oh, I shouldn't like Margaret to live in Calcutta," the little girl +said, startled. + +Mrs. French smiled. "Then we were away almost four years. We went to the +Chinese ports as well, and to some of the curious islands. We took a +cargo of tea to London." + +"I know a little girl who has just gone to London, and who is to go on +to Germany to take some special kind of baths. She is my very dear +friend." + +"Is she ill?" + +"She is a great deal better now. When we first knew her, she couldn't +walk but a few steps. She was in the hospital where my brother used to +go when he was first a doctor. Then she came to live in our street." + +"With her parents?" + +"Oh, yes. She has one aunt, but no brothers or sisters. It must seem +strange not to have any," and Hanny glanced up. + +"It would be strange to me. I had ten in all, and there is only one +dead. Eugene is the oldest of the second family. One married brother +lives in Baltimore, one only a short distance from here. And you have +six brothers,--a good supply for one little girl." + +"I suppose some of them belong to Margaret," and she gave a soft, +rippling laugh. "We haven't ever divided them up. But Joe belongs to me. +When I get to be a woman, and he has a good big practice, I am going to +keep house for him." + +"But what will your father do?" + +"Why--" Hanny had not considered that point. "Oh, it won't be in a long +while! And then father will be old, and he will come and live with us, I +think. Dolly says she is going to have mother." + +Mrs. French thought the division rather amusing. + +"Where is Captain French gone now?" + +"To China again. He has been going back and forth to Liverpool; but he +had an excellent offer for the long trip. I concluded not to go, +grandpa was so old and feeble. And my sister is coming to England to +live. Her husband is heir now to a fine estate and a title; and they +have quite a family of children." + +"Then you will want to go to England to see her," said Hanny. + +"Indeed, I shall. I have not seen her in seven years; since the time she +was here." + +"We all liked Mr. Eugene so much," Hanny remarked. "And Luella has grown +so, I hardly knew her." + +"They have a trick of growing up. I hope you won't be in any hurry." + +"I am small of my age," and Hanny gave a soft sigh. + +"It will take you a long time to get as large as your mother." + +Hanny wasn't sure that she wanted to be quite so large. Yet she didn't +really want her mother changed. And, oh, she wouldn't have her as thin +as Mrs. Reed for all the world! + +They had been walking around the paths that were clean and solid as a +floor. What beautiful plants and flowers there were! Strange things, +too, that Hanny had never seen before. Then the tea-bell rang, and they +came up to the rose garden, where Mrs. French broke off several partly +opened buds and pinned them on the little girl's bodice. + +The dining-room windows opened on the porch, and they walked in that +way. It had a great beaufet with carved shelves and brackets going +nearly up to the ceiling, and full of the most curious articles Hanny +had ever seen. Then there was a cabinet in the corner containing rare +and beautiful china. The table was small and dainty, oval, with a vase +of flowers at the ends; and the two sat opposite each other, while a +tidy young coloured girl waited upon them. + +Hanny felt as if she was part of a story; and she tried to recall +several of her heroines who went visiting in some curiously elegant +house. It was different from the Jaspers, from anything she had ever +seen, and there was a subtle fragrance about it that made her feel +dreamy. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GOING VISITING + + +"Don't you want to tell me about your little friend?" Mrs. French said +when she had put Hanny in the hammock, and hedged her about with silken +cushions. She sat in a willow rocker that Hanny thought quite as +fascinating as the hammock. + +"Oh, yes," and Hanny smiled brightly, and, like a true biographer began +at the beginning, the first time the children had seen Daisy, with her +long golden curls and pallid face, like a snow-drift. And how Doctor Joe +had been in the hospital when she had the operation performed. + +"Poor little thing!" exclaimed Mrs. French. "And now there is something +they can use that gives a blessed unconsciousness, and when you wake up +the worst of the pain is over. I do not know how any one could endure +such torture." + +"Joe said she was very brave, though she fainted several times. And +she's growing straight and tall, and her hair curls lovely again. I have +always wished my hair curled naturally. It just twists a little at the +ends, but won't make ringlets." + +People in those days curled their hair a great deal; but they had to put +it in papers. Patent curlers, like a great many other things, had not +been invented. When you wanted to be very fine, you went to the +hair-dresser's. The real society ladies had some one come to the house +to "do" their hair; and sometimes it was very elaborate. + +Mrs. French thought curly hair would not improve the little girl. There +was something charming in her very simplicity, and her hair was like +floss silk. + +As she told about Daisy she detailed bits of neighbourhood life, and +descriptions of the other children. Mrs. French heard about John Robert +Charles and his mother. + +"But she's so different now. She is not real strong any more; and then +Charles is such a big boy, and goes out with his father. It's queer, but +Jim and he are great friends, and Jim goes over there to study with +Charles. Mrs. Reed did not use to like boys; and Jim is so full of fun +and pranks, mother calls them, and he knows so many funny stories! +Mother tries very hard not to laugh at them; but she can't always help +it." + +The evening passed so quickly that it was bed-time before either of them +realised it. Mrs. French took the large square pillows off the bed, and +laid one of the silken spreads over the footboard. How beautiful and +soft they were, with great flowers so natural it seemed as if you could +pick them up! And the fragrance was so delicate and puzzling: one moment +you thought it violets, then it suggested roses and lilies and the smell +of newly cut grass. + +Mrs. French kissed her, and said if she felt strange in the night to +call her; but she was asleep in five minutes, and never woke until quite +in the morning, it was so much more quiet than in First Street. + +When she did sit up in the bed and glance around, she had a queer +feeling that she was a part of a fairy story, like the white cat in her +enchanted palace, waiting for the Prince, or perhaps Psyche, blown from +the hill-top to her beautiful place of refuge, where she found and lost +Love, and had to do many hard tasks before she could regain him. + +She was quite sure, an hour or two later, that she _was_ in some +enchanted realm. There were such queer things,--some beautiful, and some +she thought very ugly, especially the grotesque idols. + +"I couldn't believe a god like that had any power. And I am sure I +couldn't worship him," Hanny said emphatically. + +"They beat their gods sometimes and break them to pieces, and go off and +get new ones. It seems very singular to us." + +The little girl had been deeply interested in Judson, the missionary to +Burmah. There had been a good deal of romance about his last marriage, +to "Fanny Forester," who wrote tales and sketches and poems, and had +made herself quite a name for brightness and gay humour, and then had +surprised her friends by going to India as a missionary's wife. And she +knew Bishop Heber's beautiful poem to his wife all by heart, and often +sang "From Greenland's icy mountains." So she had a feeling that she did +know something about India. + +But Mrs. French had really been there, and spent two months at Bombay, +and almost six months at Calcutta. There were so many gorgeous +things,--silks, and bright stuffs with threads of gold, jackets all +embroidery, and queer Eastern dresses, two made of pineapple cloth,--a +sheer, beautiful fabric,--and one had delicate flowers embroidered in +silk. + +But the oddest of all, Hanny thought, was burning incense. Mrs. French +had several curious incense bowls and jars. She lighted one, and in a +little while the room was filled with an indescribable fragrance and a +hazy purplish air. + +"They burn incense in the Roman Catholic churches. Joe took us one +Easter Sunday. It was very strange, I thought. And a little boy swung +the--something--" + +"Censer." + +"Oh, yes, censer. And the singing was beautiful. But we couldn't +understand the prayers; Joe said they were Latin. I suppose he could +follow them." + +"No doubt; I have attended some very grand services in churches abroad +and in England." + +The incense burned out presently, and they went downstairs to dinner. +Afterward, a niece and nephew, her brother's children, came. The girl +was not quite twelve, but most a head taller than Hanny, who felt rather +shy with her. The boy was older still, and his name was Harold, which +suggested to Hanny the last of the Saxon kings. But he was very dark, +and didn't look like a Saxon, she thought. + +Mrs. French sent to the livery and ordered a carriage, and they all went +to drive. Hanny was quite conversant with upper New York and Westchester +County; but she had only been once to Brooklyn. It had quite a country +aspect then; but there were beautiful drives, and Greenwood Cemetery had +already some extremely handsome monuments. + +There was something about Eva Bounett that suggested Lily Ludlow, and +kept Hanny from liking her cordially. She laughed at so many things, +made fun of them; and Hanny wondered if she was criticising her, and +would laugh at her when she returned home. + +Now and then, Mrs. French would remark, "Don't, Eva, that is not a nice +thing to say." Still she was bright, and at times Hanny had to laugh. +She found so many Dickens' people along the streets; and really they did +look like the pictures by Cruikshank. And one tall fierce old woman, +with wisps of hair hanging about her neck, and an old torn shawl, who +was brandishing her arms and talking wildly, she said was Meg Merrilies. + +The children remained to tea, and Harold played and sang some very +pretty songs afterward. + +"But you ought to hear our sister Helen," declared Eva. "She sings in +church, and sometimes at concerts; she's just magnificent. She's +nineteen now. And Mary has a good voice; while I sing like a crow! Do +you do any of the fine things,--draw or paint? I take music lessons; but +I make my teacher's hour vexation of spirit, not vanity," and she gave a +satisfied kind of laugh. + +"I study music and French. I embroider and crochet--" + +"I hate sewing; I'd like to be a man and a sea-captain. Uncle French is +just magnificent; I hope he will take me to sea sometime; I'm not a bit +sick; are you?" + +"I have never been to sea," replied Hanny. + +"Well, just a little ways; I've been down to the Fishing Banks; and it's +awful rough. And last summer we were at Great South Bay, and went out in +a yacht; and I learned to row. At all events, I mean to marry a +sea-captain; and I'll just go with him every time." + +One of the older brothers dropped in for the children. Eva was very +effusive in her good-bye, and kissed Hanny, and said she must surely +come to see her. + +Hanny felt quite relieved when she was alone again with Mrs. French, who +talked of Helen and Mary, and seemed to admire them very much. "But I +don't know what they will do with Eva. My half-sister, Luella, was just +such a noisy harum-scarum; but she had only boys to play with. Now, she +is getting to be a nice lady-like girl." + +Hanny recalled two visits in Hammersley Street when Luella had kept her +in a fright all the time. + +They went to church Sunday morning, and heard Helen Bounett sing. It was +very fine and moving. Hanny wished Charles could hear her. + +About mid-afternoon, as they were sitting on the front piazza, which was +shady now, Hanny espied her two brothers. Why, Ben was quite as tall as +Joe! He looked more like Stephen; but Joe was _very_ good-looking. + +She flew down to meet them, and gave one hand to each brother. + +"Oh," she cried joyfully, "I've had a lovely time! I've been to India +and China; and I've had incense and ginger preserve, and some beautiful +silks to take home, and a pineapple handkerchief, and a ginger-jar; and +I haven't been a bit homesick." + +Mrs. French was watching the eager little face that looked so pretty in +its enthusiasm of love. Doctor Joe stooped and kissed her; Ben waited +until he was up on the porch. + +They were very cordially welcomed. Mrs. French said she was afraid a +patient would come to hand at an inopportune moment. + +"The city is desperately healthy," returned Joe, laughingly. "That's a +young doctor's experience. When I am wrinkled and grey-haired, I shall +probably tell a different story." + +"What do you think I have?" turning to Hanny. "A letter from Mr. Jasper. +A steamer was just going out, so he sent a few lines." + +He handed it to her while he resumed his conversation with Mrs. French. + +Hanny devoured it with a thrill. A letter from across the ocean! + +They had a very pleasant journey, with only one storm worth mentioning. +Mrs. Jasper, who had dreaded sea-sickness, had only a slight attack. +Aunt Ellen was ill four days, and Daisy a whole week. Once they were +quite alarmed about her. But her recovery was more rapid than they had +expected; and now they were all well, and the ladies would write more at +length. + +An ocean voyage was quite an undertaking then. Some people of leisure +went by a packet, which took three weeks, occasionally longer. + +It was very odd to think of Daisy Jasper in England. But how many times +Mrs. French had come home safely. + +Of course they must go out and see the flowers: the beautiful red rose +whose mother, or grandmother, had come from the Escurial at Madrid; and +a real English hawthorn, from Windermere, just out of bloom now; and +several valuable and curious foreign plants, quite common at this day. +At the southern end there was a conservatory for the housing of the more +delicate ones. + +Ben was wonderfully interested with the indoor curiosities, and a case +of stuffed birds, the like of which he had never seen. They had a little +more incense too, and opened jars of rare perfume that was nobody knew +how many years old. There were some Chinese paintings on fine +transparent silk, and ivory carvings that were enough to puzzle the +most astute brain. Ben thought he would like to spend at least a month +over them. + +Supper-time came too soon. Mrs. French said she had enjoyed every moment +of Hanny's visit, and hoped to have her a whole week in the summer +vacation, and the young men must feel they would be welcome any time. + +"I've just been crowded full of delight," exclaimed Hanny, with her +good-bye kiss. + +It was quite a walk down to the ferry; then they had their sail across. +How still and tranquil everything seemed! When they reached the city, +people were going to church, and a few last bells were ringing. They +walked leisurely up Grand Street; and, at the junction of East Broadway, +Joe said he would run up to the office to see if he was needed for +anything. Then Ben and Hanny kept on. There were a good many private +residences in Grand Street, but the stores were creeping along. Already +they began to show foreign names, and on some stoops a whole Jewish +family would be sitting with their black-eyed children. And so many of +them had such beautiful curling hair that it made Hanny sigh. + +Across Norfolk Street to Houston, and a turn in their own First Street. +Mr. Underhill had walked down to the corner, and was sauntering about. +He was very glad to get his little girl home and hear about the good +time. + +A fortnight later, the little girl had a letter from Daisy Jasper, all +to herself. They had gone straight up to London on account of business, +and were at a hotel; but it was all so queer and unlike New York. She +certainly did like her own city best. But there would be so many things +to see; not the least among them would be the Queen and Prince Albert, +and the royal children, who were often out driving, and the Mall and the +Row, and the palaces, and the Tower, and the great British Museum! Daisy +thought, if she went everywhere, it would take a whole lifetime. She was +beginning to feel very well; but she admitted that she was awfully +seasick, and that it was "horrid." She wanted Hanny, and dear Doctor +Joe. And Hanny must tell her about everybody in the street. She must get +some thin foreign paper, so the postage wouldn't cost so much. + +For then postage was regulated by the distance, and we had no +international union. I think we were doing without a good many useful +things; yet the older generation professed to believe there was so much +luxury and ease that people would be soon demoralised. + +Jim had rather fallen behind, with all his fun and nonsense, and was +studying day and night. He wasn't going to have Charley Reed get so far +ahead of him! Examinations were coming on, and he didn't want any one to +be ashamed of him, neither did he want to be conditioned. + +The little girl was studying very hard also, and reading a great deal. +She had taken up the wonderful things of London that had been +accumulating year by year. She had thought New York was getting quite +ancient, but, oh, dear! England had been colonised by Julius Caesar, and +was a country with a government even before that. + +There was no one to go out with, and she was too old to play. Last +summer, they had gone around with Daisy in her wheeling-chair, and found +so many amusing incidents, beside being out of doors in the vivifying +air and sunshine. Josie Dean was almost a young lady, so tall that she +wore her hair in a French twist, with a pretty silver comb, which was as +much a girl's ambition as the big shell comb had been her mother's. And +Tudie was just crazy over worsted work. She was doing a pair of covers +for large ottomans, and then meant to go at the back and seat for a +daintily carved reception-chair. There were some nice schoolmates who +lived up above Mrs. Craven's; but they seldom came down to First Street. +And as the little girl never complained, no one seemed to notice that +she grew pale and thin, until one day Mrs. Underhill exclaimed:-- + +"Mercy me! What is the matter with that child! She looks like a ghost." + +"She never does have red cheeks except when she is excited," said her +father. "But she has fallen away." + +"Too hard study and too much staying in the house," said Doctor Joe. + +"But I _must_ study one week more," declared the little girl. "I'm going +to have a beautiful French exercise,"--they didn't always adapt their +adjectives to the fine shades of meaning,--"and I'm at the head in +history. I want to get in the senior grade. I feel well, only tired, and +my head aches sometimes." + +Doctor Joe examined her pulse and nodded. + +"I'll give you the week," he said; but her heart went up to her throat. +What if he had _not_ given her the week! + +They all came off with flying colours. Charles's Latin was the finest; +but he had been studying it several years. Jim's essay won him much +praise. And the little girl achieved her heart's desire. She was in the +second grade of the seniors, and would graduate in two years. + +They had hardly decided what to do with her; but one day Mrs. Odell came +down with Polly, who had cheeks like roses and was fat as a seal, her +mother said. + +"You just let her come up and stay awhile with us, and drink buttermilk, +and run out of doors and play in the hay. She's lived in the city long +enough for a country girl, and she wants a change to freshen up her +blood. She's fairly blue, she's so white." + +"That wouldn't be a bad idea," rejoined Mr. Underhill. "We could drive +up every few days and see her." + +Mrs. Underhill looked up much interested. + +Margaret was engrossed with her baby, and then she went out driving +every day, though they did talk of going away for a week the last of the +summer. She was very fond of having her little sister visit her, and +Hanny enjoyed the talks about books and the delightful people the +Hoffmans were always meeting. + +All the Beekman daughters were going to stay awhile at the farm and +discuss the settlement of the estate. The city authorities were to cut +two streets through it in the early autumn. They had a very fair offer +for the house, from a second or third cousin who fancied he wanted a +part of the old family estate. The ground, of course, was too valuable +for farming purposes. Annette's husband, who was in a shipping firm then +on Water Street, preferred living down-town. So Mrs. Beekman would keep +the old city house, and they would live together. + +Dolly proposed to take the little girl, for there would be a large +out-of-doors. + +"There are too many grown people," declared Doctor Joe. "She's too old +herself, and too anxious for knowledge of all kinds. She wants to run +and play with children. We must keep her a little girl as long as +possible, and not bother her brains with the wisdom of the ages. Send +her up to West Farms. As Father says, we can see her every few days." + +That settled the matter. Father Underhill did not care to give her up +anyhow, and he was best pleased with this plan. Mrs. Underhill imagined +she had so many things to do, as mothers of households did in those +days, and somehow she did not like to hurry Hanny about as she had +Margaret. There really was not so much sewing. Joe insisted upon +ordering his shirts made; and Margaret had sent Ben half-a-dozen for +Christmas. Then Barbara was very efficient, and, with true German +thrift, improved every moment. She insisted on darning the stockings and +knitting the woollen ones for winter. She was also a very neat hand at +sewing. + +Mrs. Underhill had learned another lesson in her city life. There were a +good many poor people who really needed work, and she found it a much +wiser plan to give them employment and pay them for it, and advise them +to lay in coal and various other matters for winter. She was not a +stingy woman; but she did not believe in confirming people in indolent +habits. + +Martha came often to see them; and at times she felt almost jealous of +Barbara. But she had a very pleasant home, and her stepchildren proved +tractable. She did a good deal of church work, and through her Mrs. +Underhill heard of really worthy poor people. + +Hanny wasn't a bit enthusiastic about going to West Farms. + +"Janey and Polly seem so childish," she said to her brother Joe. + +"And you are getting to be a little old woman. We don't want you to turn +old and grey before your time, and have to wear spectacles and all +that." + +"But I can see the least little thing," protested the child, earnestly. +"And if I do go, can't I take my 'Queens of England' with me? I had so +many lessons that I couldn't read them as I wanted to." + +Margaret had sent the volumes to her for a birthday gift. She had just +skimmed through them, and was saving them up for her leisure time. +Everybody was talking about them, and recommending them to girls. Miss +Strickland certainly knew how to interest readers. + +Doctor Joe shook his head, with a sort of mirthful regret which couldn't +help but soothe the disappointment a little. + +"I don't want you to read or to study, but just run out in the sunshine +and get fat. If we have such a poor pale little thing in our family, +people will wonder if I really am a good physician." + +He looked so grave, not a bit as if he was "making fun," that she gave a +sort of sighing assent. + +"If you get real homesick, you need not stay more than a fortnight. But +there is a good deal to learn out of doors. There are trees and wild +flowers and birds. I'll come up now and then and take you out driving." + +"I shall like that. I suppose I may write to Daisy Jasper?" she returned +with a flash of spirit. "You see I want to know about London, and +Berlin, and ever so many places, so that I won't seem like an ignoramus +when she comes back." + +"You will have all winter to learn about them." Then he kissed her and +went off about his own business. + +She had to go and say good-bye to Stevie, who was just too sweet for +anything, and Annie, and dark-eyed Daisy Hoffman. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ANNABEL LEE + + +It was queer up at West Farms, delightful, too. The house was old, with +a hall through the middle, and a Dutch door just as there was up at +Yonkers. The top part was opened in the morning, sometimes the whole +door. The front room was the parlour, and it had not been refurnished +since Mrs. Odell came there as a bride; so it looked rather antiquated +to modern eyes. The back room was the sleeping chamber; on the other +side, a living room with rag carpet on the floor; then a kitchen and a +great shed-kitchen, one side of which was piled up with wood. There was +a big back stoop that looked on the vegetable garden; there was an +orchard down below, and then cornfields and meadows. + +The old house was what was called a story and a half. The pointed roof +had windows in the end, but none in the front. There were two nice big +chambers upstairs, and a garret. Mr. Odell began to talk about building +a new house; and Mrs. Odell said the things--by which she meant the +carpets and furniture--were good enough for the old place, but they'd +have all new by the time the girls grew up, to fit the new house. + +Mr. Odell had a peach-orchard and a quince-orchard, and two long rows of +cherry-trees. Then he kept quite a herd of cows, and sold milk. He had a +splendid new barn, with two finished rooms in that, where the hands +slept in summer. The old barn was devoted to the hay and the horses. +There were chickens and ducks and geese, and a pen of pigs. This summer, +they were raising three pretty calves and one little colt, who was +desperately shy. But the calves would come up to be patted, and eat out +of your hand. + +Both of the girls were what their mother called regular tomboys. Polly +was a few months older than the little girl, and Janey two years her +senior. They were smart too. They could wash dishes and make beds and +sweep, weed in the garden, look after the poultry; and Janey could iron +almost as well as her mother. But they did love to run and whoop, and +tumble in the hay, and they laughed over almost everything. They were +not great students, though they went to school regularly. + +A second or third cousin lived with the Odells, and did a great deal of +the housework. She was not "real bright," and had some queer ways. Her +immediate relatives were dead; and the Odells had taken her from a +feeling of pity, and a fear lest at last she would be sent to the +poor-house. She had an odd way of talking incoherently to herself, and +nodding her head at almost everything; yet she was good-tempered and +always ready to do as she was told. But the worst was her lack of +memory; you had to tell her the same things everyday,--"get her started +in the traces," Mr. Odell said. + +Mrs. Odell put a cot in the girls' room for Hanny, since there was +plenty of space. And Polly seemed to find so many funny stories to tell +over that Hanny fell asleep in the midst of them, and woke up in the +morning without a bit of homesick feeling. Then Mr. Odell was going to +the mill, and he took Polly and Hanny along, and they had a rather +amusing time. + +Hanny was very much interested in the process, and amazed when she found +how they made the different things out of the same wheat. They used +"middlings" for pancakes at home, when her mother was tired of +buckwheat. Not to have had griddle-cakes for breakfast would have been +one of the hardest trials of life for men and boys through the winter. +It warmed them up of a cold morning, and they seemed to thrive on it. + +Mr. Odell was very willing to explain the processes to Hanny. Polly +wanted to know if she thought of going into the milling business, and +suggested that she never would be big enough. Then they ran round to +look at the water-wheel and the little pond where the stream was dammed +so there would be no lack of water in a dry time. + +They had a drawing pattern in school just like it, except that it lacked +the broken rustic bridge a little higher up. She would take a new +interest in drawing it now. + +It was noon when they reached home, and Hanny felt real hungry, though +Mrs. Odell declared she didn't eat more than a bird. She was glad her +girls were not such delicate little things. + +They went out on the shady back stoop afterward. Janey was sewing the +over-seam in a sheet that her mother wanted turned. When she had +finished, and picked out the old sewing, she was free. Then she said +they would go down to the Bristows' and have a good game of hide and +seek. They always had such fun at the Bristows'. + +Polly brought out her basket of carpet-rags,--a peach basket nearly +full. + +"I just hate to sew carpet-rags!" she declared. + +"Couldn't I help you?" asked Hanny. + +"Why, to be sure you _could_, if you would, and knew how to sew." + +"Of course I know how to sew," said Hanny, rather affronted. + +"Oh, I was only in fun! I'll find you a thimble. It's in my work-box +that was given me on Christmas. It's real silver, too. Mother's going to +change it when she goes to New York, only she never remembers. My +fingers are so fat. Oh, Hanny, what a little mite of a hand! It'll never +be good for anything." + +"I have made a whole shirt myself, and I have hemstitched, and done +embroidery, and I wipe dishes when I haven't too many lessons," +interposed the little girl. + +"You can't make your own frocks," in a tone of triumph. + +"No. Miss Cynthia Blackfan comes and does it. Can you?" + +"No, she can't," said Janey, while Polly threw her head back and +laughed, showing her strong white teeth. "And she could no more make a +shirt than she could fly. You're real smart, Hanny. I'm two years older, +and I've never made a whole one. I'm going to try though, and father's +promised me a dollar when I do it all by myself." + +Polly had found the thimble. It wasn't any prettier than Hanny's, though +Polly begged her "to be real careful and not lose it." + +"Now you can just sew hit or miss; and then you can put in a long strip +of black, 'cause there's more black than anything else. Oh, dear, I do +hate to sew rags!" + +"What kind of sewing do you like?" asked Janey, in a tone that would +have been sarcastic in an older person. + +"I just don't like any kind. Hanny, do _you_ know that some one has +invented a sewing-machine?" and Polly looked up with the triumph of +superior wisdom. + +"Oh, yes, I saw it at the Institute Fair. And there's a place on +Broadway where a woman sits in the window and sews. It's very queer; but +we think it doesn't sew real nice." + +Polly was for the moment nonplussed. Hanny _did_ seem to know almost +everything. Then curiosity overcame her. + +"Does it do really and truly sewing?" + +"Why, yes. When you come down, I'll ask Joe to take us over to see it." + +"Carpet-rags?" + +"Well--I don't know. Long straight seams, and hems and stitching." + +"Well, I'm going to have one when I'm married. I wonder if they cost +very much!" + +"There'll be lots of things for you to do before you are married. And +some girls don't have any chance. You'll want to know how to keep +house--" + +"I like housekeeping. You just go from one thing to another. I'll have +some one to cook and peel potatoes and all that. And we'll keep a horse +and waggon, and I shall go to ride every day." + +Janey laughed. "Just now, you had better sew carpet-rags." + +"And I'll never have any rag carpets. I will give away all the old +clothes." + +"I'm afraid you'll never have much of anything, nor a husband either, +Polly Odell," said her mother. "You talk, and leave the rags for Hanny +to sew." + +Polly turned scarlet, and sewed very industriously. + +"I'd like to see a sewing-machine," began Janey, presently. "How does it +go?" + +"There is a strap around a wheel that is fast to a frame. You put your +feet on, so, and just make them go up and down after you have started +the wheel with your hand. The needle goes through, and something catches +the thread, then it goes through again, and that makes the stitch. It is +very curious." + +"You know a good many things, don't you, Hanny?" said Janey, admiringly. + +Hanny coloured. + +"I can beat her all out running, I know; and I'll bet a penny she can't +jump over the creek." + +"And don't you dare her to, Polly. Remember how you fell in. Oh, Hanny, +she was a sight to behold!" + +"Well--it had been raining, and the ground was soft, so I slipped a +little on the start. But I've done it time and again." + +"And you're a regular tomboy. Girls don't train around that way in the +city." + +Janey had begun to rip out the old seam. She sighed a little, and wished +she was sewing carpet-rags. That was such easy work. + +"Hanny sews a great deal faster than you," she said to Polly. "See what +a pile she has. I will wind them up." + +It made quite a ball, and was a little rest from the ripping, that +sounded so easy and yet was tedious. But Janey persevered, and finally, +after turning about a time or two, came to the middle with a sigh of +relief. Polly had been working like a steam-engine for ten minutes, and +picked out a good many long pieces, so she had a ball as large as +Hanny's. + +Then they put on their sun-bonnets, and ran down to the Bristows', which +was in the turn of the road. There were three girls,--one of nine who +was almost as big as Hanny, and the one of eleven, much taller. + +They all had a good drink of buttermilk: Mrs. Bristow had just been +churning. Then they went out to the barn and played "hide-and-seek," and +had a noisy, jolly time. They sat down and fanned themselves with their +aprons, and presently started out for some blackberries. + +"There's a German settlement down below, and the children are up here +every day picking berries. You can't have anything now, unless it is +planted in your own garden. We have some lovely big blackberries, when +they get ripe." + +Then the girls ran a race. Hanny was out of breath presently, and +stopped, so did little Kitty Bristow. But Julie Bristow beat in the +race. Polly wanted to run again; but the others were tired. + +Mrs. Bristow gave Janey a beautiful, big pot-cheese to take home; and it +was just delicious. + +One of the cousins from Fordham had been down. The children were all to +come up and spend the day to-morrow, and Mrs. Odell was invited to +supper. + +Hanny felt a little lonely. If she could just see her father and Joe, +and her mother and the boys. But she slept very soundly; and truly she +wasn't homesick when they all came to breakfast in the morning. Janey +hurried around and did her work, and they were soon ready to be off. A +day meant all day, then. + +It was a pretty country walk, with here and there a house, and one +little nest of Irish emigrants. Some of the women had their wash-tubs +out of doors, and were working and gossiping. Then there was St. John's +College, with its pretty, shady grounds, and on the other side a hotel +where the trains stopped as they went up and down. After that, you +climbed a long hill that wound a little, and on one side there was a row +of beautiful, stately cherry-trees that were a sight to behold in their +early bloom and in the rich harvest of fruiting. + +Just at the brow of the hill stood a rather quaint house, with the end +to the street. It was built against the side of the hill. You ascended a +row of stone steps, and reached the lower floor, which was a dining-room +with a wide stone-paved area, then you went up several more steps to a +cheerful sunny room, and this was the kitchen. When you went upstairs +again, one side of the house was just even with the ground, and the +other up a whole story. Here was a parlour, a sitting-room, several +sleeping chambers; but what the little girl came to love most of all was +a great piazza built over the area downstairs, with a row of wide steps. +When you were up there, you were two stories above the street, and you +could look down the long hill and all about. It was a beautiful +prospect. Afterward, the little girl found some chalets in Switzerland +that made her think of this odd house that had been added to since the +first cottage was built. + +There was always a host of people in the old house. Hospitality must +have been written on its very gates, for relatives, unto the third and +fourth generation, were continually made welcome: a sweet, placid +grandmother who had seen her daughter, the housemother, laid away to her +silent resting-place, and who had tried to supply her place to the +children; the father; the aunt who took part of the care; the sons and +daughters, some of whom had grown up and married, and whose children +made glad the old home. + +There was a houseful of them now; but there was a wide out-of-doors for +them to play in. A few hundred feet farther up, where the road turned +and ran off to Kingsbridge, as well as to the Harlem River, stood the +village smithy; and the Major, who had been in the War of 1812, had +relegated the business mostly to his sons. He enjoyed the coming and +going, the bright young faces, and had a hearty welcome for the +children, though he sometimes pretended to scold them. + +A queer tract of land it was, with a great rift of rock running through +it where the children played house, and had parties, and occasionally +took their dinner out to eat in picnic fashion. Just beyond the strata +of rock, on the good ground, stood two splendid apple-trees called +"Jersey Sweetings," and for nearly two summer months their bounty was +the delight of the children. Farther down, the ground sloped abruptly +and settled into a pleasant orchard; then another sudden decline, and +here a pretty stream came purling through, making a tiny cascade as it +tumbled over the rocks. + +The little girl was deeply touched by beauty; and as they ran around she +stopped now and then to drink in the shady vistas and wild nooks that +seemed fairy-haunted. She had been reading a little mythology, and she +could believe in a great many things. There were places where she looked +to see Pan piping on his reed, and dryads and nymphs coming out of the +groves. + +How they did run and play! The air was merry with shouts and laughter. +Some of them took off their shoes and stockings, and waded in the brook. +And one of the big boys proposed that on Saturday afternoon they should +go down to the Harlem River and get some crabs and clams. + +There were enough children for a second table, and that was laid in the +upper kitchen. Auntie thought they must be starved; but instead they had +been stuffed with sweet apples. Still most of them did justice to the +bountiful dinner. + +"This little girl looks tired out," said grandmother. "I think she had +better stay in and rest a while." + +Hanny was very glad to do this. While grandmother took her nap, she went +upstairs where the grown-up people were talking and sewing. She wished +she had brought her crocheting; but Polly had laughed her out of it. +Then she took up a book, and was soon lost in that. It was an English +novel, as most of our novels were then, "Time the Avenger." + +"That is a rather sad book for a little girl," said Cousin Jennie. "I'll +see if I can't find you something better. You look as if you were fond +of reading. You are Vermilye Underbill's little girl. And your brother +George has gone to California. I know him quite well, and the Yonkers +family. I suppose he hasn't found his nugget of gold yet?" + +The little girl smiled, and said she did not think he had yet. His +letters had been full of the wonderful country; and it took so long to +get a letter. + +"Here are some magazines with pictures and verses. Are you fond of +poetry? Maybe you are a poet. You have a delicate, ethereal look." + +"Do poets have that?" asked Hanny. "I know a girl who writes verses and +stories; but she isn't at all ethereal. I'm quite sure I couldn't write +verses or anything," and she gave a soft laugh. + +"Well, I think geniuses look quite like other people. I've seen a number +of them lately. We have a genius living up the road, and ever so many +people come to see him. Some quite famous ladies." + +Hanny opened her eyes very wide. + +"Let me see--I think I can find one of his poems." She took a pile of +magazines from the top of the high old-fashioned bureau. "Oh, +yes,--though, like 'Time the Avenger,' I think it's too old for you. I +'m not very fond of poetry. Here is 'Annabel Lee.'" + +Then Cousin Jennie was called into the other room, where some one wanted +to talk about the best way to ruffle a lawn skirt. Should the ruffles be +on the straight or bias? + +Hanny read the verses over and over, and saw the city by the sea where +dwelt beautiful Annabel Lee, and how her high-born kinsman, who came in +great state in a chariot, carried her away from the one who loved her so +dearly. But when, later on, she came to know and understand the poem, +and the high-born kinsman had come for some of those she held most dear, +she could always go back to the vague mysterious awe that filled and +thrilled her then. She sat as if in a trance until grandmother, who had +taken her nap, came and took the arm-chair beside the open window. + +"Well, are you rested?" said grandmother, cheerfully. "I should think +Janey and Polly would wear you out. It isn't a good thing for little +girls to run too much. But everything has changed since my day. Although +I think they ran and played then; but they had to help work, there was +so much out-of-doors work. Everything is easier now. There are so many +improvements. And, oh, how much there is to read! I'm not sure that is +so good for them." + +"But it is very delightful," returned the little girl. + +"If it only made people wiser!" + +"But they are growing curiously wise," said Hanny. "There is the +telegraph. It seemed so queer that you could make a bit of wire talk, +that at first people didn't believe it. Uncle Faid did not when he saw +it at the Fair." + +"And people laughed about the steamboat, I remember, and the idea of +railroad trains drawn by an engine. Yes, there are a good many strange +things. And steamships crossing the ocean. There used to be +sailing-vessels, and it took such a long while." + +Hanny told grandmother about her friend who had gone abroad; and +grandmother, in return, told her about some Welsh ancestors who had to +fly for their lives on account of being mixed up with some insurrection +about a young prince, and the stormy time they had coming over,--how +they were driven up and down the coast, and their voyage consumed two +months. They were almost out of provisions, and suffered many hardships. +So the wisdom of the world had amounted to something. + +The children came in. They were going up the road, and didn't Hanny want +to join them? Mrs. Odell said they must not stay very long, she was +going home before supper. + +There was a protest about this; but Mrs. Odell said there were people +and children enough without them, and she had told her husband they +would be home to supper. + +"Do we go by the poet's house?" Hanny asked as they passed the +cross-road. + +"The poet?" Two or three of the children stared blankly. + +"Oh, Hanny means that Mr. Poe. Why, yes; it's the old Cromwell house. It +isn't much to see. There, that little cottage." + +No, it was not much to see,--a very bird's nest house with a great tree +shading it, and a little porch at the side. A rather thin elderly woman +sat sewing in a rocking-chair. She did not even look up at the children. + +They were full of fun and nonsense, and presently were joined by two +neighbouring girls. They went up by the old church, and then they +wandered to the graveyard. It was a rather neglected place, as country +graveyards were wont to be at that time. Some red clovers were in bloom, +and a few belated buttercups. The trees were rather straggling, a few +magnificent in their age. There were long-armed rose-trees that had done +their best in the earlier season, a few wild roses, pale from growing in +the shade, and the long slender blades of grass fell about in very +weakness. There were some curious inscriptions; there were places where +relatives of several of the children were buried. + +"Oh, Hanny, come here," said Cousin Ann. "That Mr. Poe's wife is buried +here. It's the Valentine plot. They're going to take her away sometime. +They're all very poor, you know. She died in the winter. People said she +was beautiful; but,"--Ann lowered her voice,--"they were awful poor, and +it is said she didn't have comfortable things. I should hate to be so +poor; shouldn't you?" + +Hanny shuddered. She was glad to get out in the sunshine again with her +few wild flowers in her hand. + +Bessie Valentine made them come in and have a chunk of cake, and it was +a chunk indeed. Those who liked had a glass of buttermilk. + +Cousin Jennie had gone up to the corner to look for them. Hanny espied +her, and ran forward. + +"Oh," she cried, "I've seen the house where Mr. Poe lives. And we went +in the graveyard. Who was the other lady sitting on the porch?" + +"That was Mrs. Clemm. I go up there to borrow books; and I like Mr. Poe, +only--well, he is rather unfortunate." + +"Was she so beautiful?" asked the child, irrelevantly. + +"Mrs. Poe? Yes; I think she must have been. She looked like a small +white wraith--do you know what a wraith is?" smilingly. + +"A kind of ghost. And were they very poor?" + +"It's a sad story. I think they were proud as well, for any one would +have come in and done any needed thing. They had friends in the city who +used to visit them. Mrs. Clemm was Mrs. Poe's mother and the poet's +aunt; and it is said Annabel Lee means his wife. It's a wild, musical +thing. Every story or poem of his has a curious ghostly sound." + +"But--the high-born kinsman--" + +The little girl's eyes were vague and puzzled. + +"You can't understand it. Poets say queer things. I'm not fond of +poetry, only here and there. And the stories make you shiver. You +wouldn't like them. He has all sorts of books, and he is very generous +with them. We've planned that you are to come up and stay a week with +us. Some of the folks are going away, and there will be plenty of room." + +Hanny squeezed her hand. The throng of children ran over the grassy path +from the shop; and they all began to clamour that Polly and Janey +should come up Saturday and go crabbing with them. + +Mrs. Odell said she'd see, if they could get their work done in time. + +There was a hubbub of good-byes, and the small cavalcade started down +the road. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WITH A POET + + +The city by the sea sung itself in Hanny's brain. The sweet, young, +beautiful wife, ruthlessly torn away, was somewhere in space, among the +stars perhaps, and not in the old graveyard. She was floating on and on +amidst all lovely things and divine fragrances. She could never grow +old; she would never want for anything. Ah, would she not want for the +mother and the poet who loved her? + +An incident that had moved her strongly only a few weeks before, was a +strange bit of reminiscence that could hardly be called a story. Ben had +brought home a volume of De Quincey, and "Suspiria de Profundis" was +among the papers. The others were too intellectual to interest her; but +the touching, tender, immeasurable longing for the little sister gone +out of life, filled her inmost soul with an emotion so sacred she could +not talk it over with any one. This was akin to it. + +Yet Hanny did not live in the clouds or in vague memories all the time. +Her father drove up the next day, and found she was not homesick; and +her mother was coming up the next week to spend the day; and everybody +was well. She had a great deal to tell him; and she seemed very merry. +He wasn't quite sure about the crabbing expedition; but Mrs. Odell said +there wasn't a mite of danger, for some of the big boys always went +along; and that it was a regular frolic for the children. + +So Saturday they put on their oldest clothes. Hanny wore an outgrown +frock of Polly's. Mr. Odell said he would drive them down to the river, +which would save half the walk. He had some business in that direction. + +He had the farm-waggon, and put some hay in the bottom, though he +insisted Hanny should sit on the seat with him. They stopped at Fordham, +and took in another relay; and the children were wild with the +unreasoning gladness of youth. Mr. Odell was in an uncommon good-humour, +and took them down the river quite a distance, to High Bridge, and then +up again, when they espied the boys and baskets and the net, which had a +long handle and looked to Hanny like a butterfly-net, only larger. + +A motley crew they were. The boys had their trousers rolled above their +knees, and some of the girls took off their shoes and stockings and +waded about in the wet, sedgy grass. There was a little dock where the +boats were tied; and soon two of them were loosened and filled up with a +jolly crew. Big, cheerful Cousin Ben took charge of the little girl, and +would not allow the others to frighten her. Ann was quite a famous hand +on these expeditions. + +They rowed out a short distance, and then began business. Oh, the +shrieks and laughter that came from the other boat, when some one dipped +up two hands full of water and dashed it over the others. And it is +strange how much you can make your hands hold at such a time. Hanny was +glad she was not in that boat, when they rocked it up and down. But most +of the children could swim, and they were not in the channel. + +"Quick!" exclaimed Cousin Ann, and the net was held out in a twinkling, +Ann drew up a great green fellow with a frightful lot of legs, and he +dropped in the net. They dumped him into a basket, and covered him with +a piece of old fish-net; and the more he struggled to get out, the more +he entangled himself. Hanny felt rather glad he was not down her end of +the boat. + +They had brilliant luck for a little while. Then the other boat shifted +about; they had not caught a single crab, and there were loud murmurs of +discontent. The others had the best place. + +"You make such a racket you frighten them away," said Ben. + +"Can they hear?" asked Hanny. + +"I think about everything in this world can see and hear in some +fashion." + +They certainly were dreadful looking. The laughter and the exclamations, +the disappointment at losing one, the funny conundrums the children +propounded to one another, and the limp appearance of the voyagers, +partly made amends for the sudden fright every time the great sprawling +things came up. Hanny would not even undertake the capture of one. + +The crabs grew wise presently. Not one of them could be aroused to the +faintest curiosity concerning bait. Ben's boat had nineteen, the other +eleven. They rowed up to the little dock, and managed to get them all in +one basket. Jack showed Hanny how you could take hold of a crab, and +render him helpless. It certainly did look funny to see him struggling +with all his might and main, and his numerous legs. The two front ones +were very fierce. + +"He could give you an awful pinch with them," said Jack; and he made +believe fling him at a group of girls, who scattered pellmell. + +"I suppose the legs are oars, and help him swim," said Hanny. + +"And help him grab his prey. He's a sort of savage fellow, and lives on +smaller folks." + +Then Ben and Jack went to dig for clams. There were very nice clam and +oyster beds along the river then. There were not many people to disturb +them, and no sewage to starve them out. + +Hanny thought planting oysters a very funny idea. They were put in their +beds like other babies. + +The boys, and some of the girls, picked up the clams, until they had a +half-bushel basket full. Tony Creese, the black man who did odd jobs, +was to drive down for the "freight;" but he seemed in no hurry. Some of +the boys went in swimming; and Janey Odell did wish she had brought +another frock along. She could swim very well. They waded instead. Ben +walked up to a little bank that, having lain in the sun all day, was +warm and dry, and stretched himself out. Ann was too big to go "larking" +about with the girls, so she and Hanny, and one or two others, sat down +on the soft, sunburned turf. + +How beautiful it all was! The sun was going down behind the New Jersey +hills. The little rise of ground between this and the Hudson shut out +the river; but it could not shut out the amethystine splendour. Back of +it all was heaven, to the child's faith. Miss Lois and her sister were +there, and old Mr. Bounett, and the poet's young wife, and ever so many +others. It was only the other side of the clouds, with their scarlet and +gold and green battlements. She could see the ships sailing into port. +She recalled "Pilgrim's Progress," and Christiana going across. In that +moment of ecstasy she could have gone herself. + +Tony came down the road singing "Oh, Susannah;" Ben answered "Hillo!" +and shook himself like a great bear. The two baskets were put into the +waggon. + +"Now you girls who are too delicate for a long walk, or too much worn +out by your day's toil, had better hop in. Ann, you go and keep an eye +on Hanny. Now who else?" + +They were all pretty tired with their racing about, and the three +smallest ones were picked out, as there was but one horse. The others +formed the rear-guard, and marched on behind, with their arms about +each other. They were too tired for even the tempting game of "tag," or +the ambition of running races. + +Mr. Odell was waiting at the uncle's, having come around the other way. +Supper was ready; but he thought they had better be "gettin' on," as +mother would wait supper for them. + +Hanny was very tired, and went to bed immediately after the meal. + +They had some splendid clam-fritters for breakfast. Ben had proposed to +divide the crabs; but Mr. Odell reckoned, "He'd go crabbing the first +leisure day," and was satisfied with part of the clams. + +And then, unexpected delight, Stephen and Dolly and the two babies came +up to dinner. Little Stevie captured everybody, he was so merry and +cunning; and Polly wished they could keep him. + +"When he gets to be a big boy, and has a school vacation, I'll be very +glad to send him up, I dare say," was the response. + +"But, dear me, we'll be big too," said Polly; "and it won't be any fun." + +Dolly told her little sister-in-law all the news, and what everybody was +doing. It seemed as if she had been away so long. Mother had spent a day +with Martha, which she had been promising to do ever since Martha was +married. + +The little girl almost wanted to go home with them; but no one invited +her, and she would not have been so silly or ungracious as to plead +homesickness, for she really wasn't homesick a bit. + +Then, on Tuesday, Joe came up with a letter from Daisy, who had gone to +some German baths, and was drinking water twice as horrid as that at +Saratoga. The things you had to eat were so very queer; but the music +everywhere was perfectly bewitching. Everything was so different. She +was taking lessons of a Fraeulein, and had to talk German at the table. +They had been through several churches, and one picture gallery that was +magnificent. A little withered-up old German was giving her some +painting lessons. If Hanny could only be there, she would be quite +content; yet she did think she loved America best. + +Hanny was so delighted that her eyes shone, and her cheeks were pink as +a rose-leaf. + +But Mrs. Odell said she could notice that her appetite was better, and +she was doing her best to fat her up a little, and make her look like a +country girl. + +Mr. Odell took her about with him when he could. There were so many +beautiful places up and down the valley of the Bronx. They went up to +White Plains, and took everybody by surprise. Grandmother up there was +quite feeble now. + +Then it happened, rather oddly, that when Cousin Jennie came down for +her, as there was no one scarcely at Fordham but the regular family, +Mrs. Odell was going to have a houseful of relatives from the West. She +just wished they had their new house at such times as these. She could +make a bed on the floor for Janey and Polly, and that would give her two +spare rooms. + +The girls didn't feel so badly, as there were two Western cousins of +their age, and they would bring them up to Fordham. + +The little girl was not at all tired of her pleasant hosts; but there +was a romantic side to the coming visit that she could not talk over +with Polly and Janey; and she was most famished for reading, as the +Odells were not of the intellectual sort. Mrs. Odell didn't like the +children to handle her parlour books, in their red morocco bindings, +that were spread around on the centre-table. + +Hanny's favourite place at the Fordham house was up on the high piazza. +To be sure, it was sunny in the morning; but then Doctor Joe said +sunshine was good for her, and one corner soon grew shady. There was +some one passing up and down continually: the priests from St. John's +College, in their long black coats and queer hats, generally reading as +they walked; the labourers who worked on the railroad; the people going +to the station; and the girls out calling in the afternoons in their +pretty white gowns. There was no Jerome Park for stylish driving. +Indeed, it was a plain little country village, and most of the life +centred about the corner grocery and the blacksmith shop, where men +talked politics and the discovery of California, and discussed the +merits of the heroes of the Mexican War. + +She sewed some patchwork for Cousin Jennie, who was making several +bed-quilts, and who had a lover,--a tall, bright-eyed young man who +drove a very handsome horse. Hanny felt quite wise on the subject of +lovers; and though no one said anything special, she understood what the +preparations meant. + +"Now," Cousin Jennie said the next afternoon, "I am going up to Mr. +Poe's, to return some books and get others. Will you go along?" + +Hanny was very glad. She had seen Mr. N. P. Willis and General Morris, +and some others, on the street; but that wasn't like going to their +houses. The dead young wife lent him a glamour of romance, to her +girlish imagination. + +Mrs. Clemm sat on the farther end of the porch. It almost seemed as if +she had not stirred since Hanny caught the first glimpse of her. She +rose, a tall, rather thin woman with a sad, quiet face and a grave +smile; and the two had a little chat. + +There was no hall to the house, at least the door opened into the front +room. A half closet stood at one side of the chimney, piled with books +and papers, an old sofa and some chairs, a table in the centre, strewn +with pamphlets and writing-materials, and the poet sitting beside it in +a melancholy pose, marking passages in a book. + +He glanced up and spoke. The little girl had an impression of a pallid +face framed in dark, tumbled hair, and luminous eyes that seemed to be +of some other world in their abstracted light. + +"You are quite welcome to any of the books, as you well know," said the +poet. "I am glad to have some one interested in them." + +Then the white hand went on turning pages and making notes. The little +girl stood by the window, almost expecting the frail ghost to walk down +from the graveyard and enter the door again. Later on, she understood +the impression of weirdness, the almost ghostly stillness of the room; +and she found herself thinking over the poem that had so impressed her. + +Fordham, in those days, was neither poetical nor intellectual. That a +man should starve on writing poetry, when there was other work to be +done in the world, seemed rather absurd. In some of the centres, +literature was becoming an honourable employment; but country places had +not emerged from the twilight of respect for brawn rather than brain. + +Jennie made her selections, and expressed her obligation. The poet +nodded absently. + +Mrs. Clemm rose, as they emerged from the door, and walked to the end of +the porch with them. There was something wonderfully pathetic in the +care-worn face, the reticent air, and gentle voice. + +"I wonder if you have a few eggs to spare," she asked, in a hesitating +manner. "My poor Edgar's appetite is so wretched. He has had a bad +spell, and eats next to nothing." + +"Yes, I can find you half-a-dozen, I know. Our hens are afflicted a +little with summer laziness," and Jennie smiled. "We have been baking +to-day, and I wish you would accept a loaf of bread. I'll send this +little cousin up with them." + +"Oh, don't trouble! I will come down." + +"I shall be glad to do it," said Hanny, with a gentle eagerness. + +Cousin Jennie put the bread and the eggs,--she found seven,--and part of +a cake, in a little basket, and said, "Run along, Little Red Riding +Hood. There are no wolves to catch you." + +They teased Cousin Jennie a little because the tall young man with +bright eyes was named Woolf. + +Mrs. Clemm received the little girl's parcel with her usual quiet air, +and thanked her for coming. And before she could hunt up her ever-scanty +purse the child had said Good-evening, and vanished. + +Hanny heard the "spells" rather rudely explained a day or two after, and +understood the melancholy shadow that hung about the house. People were +not any more delicate in gossiping about their neighbour's short-comings +then than now, when all the little faults and frailties of heroes are +paraded to the public gaze and comment. + +But the exquisite care with which the mother watched over the son of her +heart, made her one of the little girl's heroines later on, when she +could fully appreciate the tender solicitude that tried to shield him +and save him from temptation, when possible, bearing her burthen with +such heroic dignity that she was fain to persuade her own soul that she +covered it from critical eyes. When one woman suffers bravely to the +death, amid untold privation, and another takes up the dropped burthen +with a devotion no anxiety can wear out, is it not proof that there must +have been some charm in the poet seen more clearly by those who loved +him? + +There was a new book by Miss Macintosh among those they had brought +home; and this Hanny devoured eagerly, sitting on her high perch, while +the rest were busy in the household routine. In the afternoon, she read +aloud while the others sewed. Sometimes the Major came in to listen; but +he thought there were no novels written nowadays like "The Mysteries of +Udolpho," "The Children of the Abbey," and "The Vicar of Wakefield." + +"Oh," said the little girl, "isn't this funny! We have the first volume +of 'The Grumbler' and the second of 'The Grandfather.' I don't believe I +can piece them together," with a bright, mirthful expression. + +"And I picked those up myself. No; we are interested in the 'Grumbler' +now and must know what became of him." + +They were English novels by a Miss Pickering, long since forgotten, +while less worthy ones are remembered. + +"We'll walk up after supper and change them," continued Cousin Jennie. + +But visitors came in shortly afterward to stay to supper. People were +not specially invited then; and the hostess did not expect to prepare a +feast on ordinary occasions. So Jennie said Hanny might go up alone, if +she didn't mind. + +She started gladly, yet a sense of diffidence oppressed her as she stood +at the door, a half guilty consciousness, as if she had no right to the +secret Mrs. Clemm was trying so assiduously to hide. + +The poet was pacing up and down the room; but his pallid face and +strange, shining eyes seemed looking out from some other world. Mrs. +Clemm sat by the window with a magazine in her hand. + +Hanny preferred her request timidly. + +"Oh, come in and hunt them up. Your cousin is quite welcome to anything. +Then there are some upstairs, though I brought down that pile over in +the corner this very morning." + +The corner looked attractive. Hanny went thither, and knelt down on the +checked matting. There were two books of engravings containing portraits +of famous people, some old volumes of verse, some new ones, and +magazines. + +The volumes she wanted were not among them. But she exhumed something +else that made her forget the slight, nervous man pacing up and down, +and the woman at the window. Turning the leaves of an old novel that had +lost one cover, she came across the name of one of her heroes, "Richard +of the Lion Heart." She had a passion, just then, for English history. +And there was Bulwer's "White Rose of England," in paper covers with a +Harper imprint. + +"Could I take these beside?" she asked, with some hesitation. + +He glanced over at them as he came to that end of the room. + +"Those old novels? Yes. Do they let you read novels?" + +"I read almost anything," and Hanny glanced up with rising colour. "But +there are not so many books up here--I live in New York," she added, by +way of explanation. + +A half smile crossed his face, but its melancholy haunted the little +girl long afterward. + +Then she went over to the closet, and soon found her missing volumes, +and uttered her gentle Good-afternoon. Mrs. Clemm had folded her sewing, +and came out on the porch where the water-pail stood empty, so she +started to the well. + +"Please thank your cousin for her kindness," she said in a soft tone. "I +am glad she is fond of books." + +The modern realistic school, or even the analytic school, would flout +Madame Cottin's old novel of "The Saracen" to-day. Perhaps in the year +two thousand the novels of to-day will be wondered at. The next morning, +the little girl was up in her eyrie in the corner of the porch, and +began her story. She was deeply interested in the Crusaders as well. +Richard, Saladin, and his noble and knightly brother Melek held her +spell-bound. She let the patchwork lie unheeded. + +Queen Joan, Richard's sister, beautiful and unfortunate in her marriage, +almost a prisoner for years, rescued and taken to the Holy Land in +company with Berengaria, and treated with Oriental suavity and honour, +and loved by Melek Adel, indeed, almost married to him, though history +considers it only as one of the many feints of Eastern diplomacy, roused +all Hanny's youthful ardour. And Saladin's young nephew, taking +knighthood at Richard's hands on Easter morning, was so striking a +picture that the child could not understand why Turks and Christians +should be bitter enemies, when friendships like this could be cemented, +and apparently appreciated by men of such qualities. + +She lost interest in the "Grumbler," and I am afraid her mind wandered +as she read aloud. She was really glad that for several days there were +no children to play with. She sat out of doors, and was pretty sure that +would answer Doctor Joe's requirements; and the Major took her out +driving, but she smuggled in her book. She was not quite so pale, though +that might have been due to sun-burn. + +She had just finished her enchanting story one morning, and was glancing +idly down the hill, watching the toilers who bent over as if they were +carrying heavy loads, or drawing something behind them. Physical culture +had not yet been applied to the fine art of walking. + +A barouche, drawn by two nodding horses, came slowly along. There were +four ladies in it; but one especially attracted the child. She wore a +gown of softest cerulean blue, a bonnet of blue crape with delicate pink +roses, and a large bow of airy tulle tied under her chin. Her long +ringlets, the fashion of the day, drooped about her lovely face, that +smiled and dimpled as she talked. Her hands were daintily gloved, and +one held her parasol up high so she could glance about. Hanny was quite +sure she espied her, for her companion leaned out and looked also. + +She left the child in a daze as she went by. Hanny had a secret, +exultant consciousness that she had seen her ideal poet; then she smiled +and wondered if she could write poems. Dolly was quite as pretty, but +she couldn't; and Margaret was handsomer. She could not quite associate +the sad, abstracted man up the road with "Annabel Lee." What a puzzle it +all was! + +She went downstairs presently, and was sitting on the area steps +watching Cousin Jennie iron, when the tall figure in her shabby black +hat and veil, which she invariably wore, came up the outer steps. Hanny +ran to open the gate. + +Mrs. Clemm was always quietly dignified. It was the intangible good +breeding that distinguished her from the ordinary country-folk. She had +a small tin kettle in her hand, and her manner was apologetic. + +"They had some unexpected visitors from the city, dear friends of +Eddie's" (she oftener called him that than any other name, and she often +said "My poor dear Eddie!"). "Could they spare her some milk, and a few +eggs? They had no milk at the store." + +"With pleasure," said Jennie, who went to the milk-room, and cast a +glance around to see if there was not something else that would help out +the feast. + +The little girl wanted to ask some questions, but she hesitated from +diffidence. + +She wondered afterward how the quiet, almost listless woman could +concoct dainty feasts for these illustrious people out of her poverty; +for they were illustrious in their day. Were the wit and poesy and +knowledge the successive desserts, and bright gossip the sparkle of the +Barmecide wine? She thought of the little cottage, when she read of +Madame Scarron among the French wits. + +She described them to Cousin Jennie when the tall black figure was going +slowly up the road. + +"Yes, they have a good many visitors," said Jennie. "They did last +summer, when poor Mrs. Poe was alive." + +"Was _she_ very beautiful?" + +"Oh, child, beauty isn't everything!" and Jennie smiled. "Yes; it was +said she was. But she was so thin and pale. She used to sit out there on +the porch, wrapped in a white shawl, with his arm about her, or her head +resting on his shoulder. You see no one knew much about them then, and +they kept so to themselves. Then there is his unfortunate habit, that +you cannot help feeling ought not to belong to a person of his +intelligence. It is a great pity." + +Hanny sighed. She was to know a great deal more about the world later +on, and the appreciation that was spread as a garment about the poet +when his life's fitful fever ended. + +There was an influx of quite elderly people one afternoon; and Hanny, +gathering up some books, stole up to the little cottage, quite assured +no one would need her, or even miss her. + +The corner of books had been "cleared up." In the wide fireplace, there +was a jar of feathery asparagus, and on the table a vase of flowers. +There were a number of pictures, Hanny noticed. She had hardly glanced +about the room before,--the plain, low-ceiled room to which people were +to make pilgrimages as time went on. + +The poet sat by the table in a dreamy, indolent mood. + +"Did you find what you wanted the other day?" he asked gently. + +"Oh, yes! And I have read 'The Saracen.' It interested me so, I couldn't +leave it a moment. I didn't want to like Saladin so much; but I had to. +But I shall never give up Richard." + +He smiled a little at that, kindly, cordially, and her heart warmed to +him. The pervasive eyes were so deep and beautiful! In spite of the +pallor and attenuation, the face had a rare charm. + +"So Richard is your hero? Well, you will doubtless change your heroes a +good many times before you get through with life. I think I had a boy's +fancy for Saladin once. Yet heroes come to be quite common-place people +after all. I wonder if I have any more that you would like?" + +Hanny said they had several books yet, and she was going down to West +Farms in a few days. She wanted to finish "The White Rose of England." + +"History in romance,--I dare say that suits young people best." + +She stood in a sort of vague uncertainty. + +"Well?" in a voice of suggestive inquiry, as if she might ask him +anything. + +"Oh!" she cried, summoning all her courage, and flushing as she did so, +"will you please tell me who the pretty lady in blue was, who came up +the other day in the carriage? She looked like a poet!" + +He did laugh then, softly, as if laughing was a little strange. + +"Is that your idea of a poet? Well, she _is_ one,--an airy, light-winged +poet with dainty conceits, and a charming woman, too. I must tell her +she captured you at sight. That is Frances Sargent Osgood. And beside +her sat Mrs. Gove Nichols, one of the new lights. Stay, I think I can +find a poem or two of Fanny Osgood's for you." + +He hunted up two or three magazines. Hanny sat down on the door-sill; it +was so softly, so enchantingly bright out-of-doors, and the room a +little gloomy. She wanted to have a glimpse of sunshine, for Mrs. Osgood +looked as if she belonged to the brighter world. + +They were dainty and bright. One was set to music afterward; and the +little girl learned to sing it very prettily:-- + + "I've something sweet to tell you, + And the secret you must keep, + For remember, if it isn't night, + I'm talking in my sleep." + +Then they talked about poetry. I dare say he was amused at a little girl +whose ideal poem was "Genevieve," by Coleridge, and who knew +"Christobel," "The Ancient Mariner," and "The Lady of the Lake" half by +heart. When, in her young womanhood, she read some of his sharp, +scathing criticisms, she wondered at his sweetness that afternoon. With +a little more courage, she would have asked him what was really meant by +"the high-born kinsman;" but she did not know as it was quite proper to +talk to him about his own verses. + +The wood-robins were singing in the tall trees, and the sun made dancing +shadows on the stoop that was always clean as a floor. Mrs. Clemm +brought her splint rocker out, and begged her to try it, and asked after +the cousins, sending thanks for the cake that she had found in her +basket, and the pot-cheese that had proved such a treat to her visitors. + +She thanked Mrs. Clemm prettily for the chair, but said she must go +home. The poet nodded. He had taken up his pen then, and she wondered +what the spell was like that inspired a poem. + +The next forenoon, they saw Mr. Poe going down to the station. Cousin +Jennie shook her head; and the stout old Major said, "It was a pity Mrs. +Clemm couldn't keep him at home steadily." + +She was never to see him again; but when she heard of his tragic death, +her heart ached for the poor desolate mother. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE KING OF TERRORS + + +They all admitted that Hanny had improved a good deal. She seemed to +have grown every way. Her mother was sure she must let her skirts down; +and her last winter's frocks were too tight about the shoulders, and too +short in the sleeves. She had absolutely gained five pounds, and her +little face had rounded out. But still she was smaller than most girls +of her age. + +She had so much to talk about that her mother said she was a regular +little gossip. Her father liked to hear about grandmother and the +kindly, large-hearted Major. She had found out that when grandmother was +a young girl her name was Hannah Underhill, now it was Horton. So many +elderly people had been visiting at Fordham, and her father knew most of +them. But Ben and Doctor Joe were interested in the poet Poe; Joe knew +more about him than he confessed to his little sister. + +Oh, how glad she was to get back to school! There were so many things to +learn. But Dolly had to have her one Saturday; and Mrs. French came over +and took her to the house Beautiful. Ben was quite in love with Mrs. +French. And now they were filling up the conservatory for winter +blooming; and Hanny wished _they_ could have some house-flowers. Her +mother had hydrangeas and an oleander; but they were put in the end of +the stable for winter. + +Now and then she went up to Margaret's to stay all night. Daisy was +growing to be almost as lovely as Stevie had been; and though she did +not suggest Daisy Jasper, the name always recalled her dear friend. And +Stevie was quite a big boy. He was getting some rough ways, too, and +wanted to drive Hanny about for a horse, just as he did papa. +Great-grandmother Van Kortland had knit him some beautiful horse-lines. + +And Annie was such a sweet little thing! Stevie wished she was a little +brother, "'tause dirls ain't no dood," he said. "You'm dot to be so +tareful." He talked quite crooked, and could not pronounce "g" at all. +He said "umbebella" and "peaapoket" and "tea-tettletel." Philadelphia +always floored him. But then he had been Hanny's first love, and she +could never forget the Christmas morning when he came. + +There had been another exciting matter as well, and this was a +presidential election. Zachary Taylor, Old Rough and Ready, as he was +called, had become a great hero to her. She found that he had served +gallantly in the War of 1812, fought against the mighty Tecumseh, and +been in the Black Hawk War, beside all the late Mexican engagements, +where he had so distinguished himself. At the nomination, she had been a +little sorry to have her old favourite Harry Clay superseded, and +General Scott was a war-veteran as well. Then there had been famous +Daniel Webster, whose speeches were the favourite of school-boys, though +they had not banished Patrick Henry. But the real race was between Cass, +Van Buren, Charles Francis Adams and himself; and Old Rough and Ready +won. She wore a rough-and-ready straw bonnet this fall; all the girls +did. + +Margaret agitated the school question again. Hanny ought to be making +some useful friends, and though the "First Avenue and First Street girls +might be very nice--" + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Underhill. "She's too little to be sent so +far off. And I don't want any lovers put in her head this many a year." + +Margaret was getting to be rather aristocratic. She kept her whole house +now, and had a maid-servant beside the coloured "boy." Some stylish +people were building up-town. Dr. Hoffman had a good many friends, and +he was very proud of his handsome wife. But Mrs. Underhill sometimes +said, in the bosom of her family, that Margaret "put on airs." + +Hanny was well satisfied, and found a great many things to learn at Mrs. +Craven's. + +Then Mr. Theodore Whitney came home, and published a book of travel +letters. And another young man, one Bayard Taylor, had been abroad and +seen all of Europe with knapsack and staff, and had published his "Views +Afoot." Ben was so interested. He often stopped at the Whitneys for +supper and a talk. + +Nora grew like a weed, and developed a good deal of musical ability. +They had a steady servant now; and Mrs. Whitney was more "intellectual" +than ever, and beginning to be proud of Delia's stories. She was +generally paid for them; although young writers of that day were +satisfied with the chance of being heard of, and read. She was getting +quite a library together, and had her corner of the back parlour, which +Mr. Theodore took possession of at once. He had brought home some fine +engravings and studies, and half-a-dozen different "Virgins." The aspect +of the rooms changed altogether. Delia began to cultivate quite a +"circle." + +She and Ben were splendid comrades. She had plans for going abroad also; +and he entered into them with great zeal. She "didn't suppose she could +pay her way like The.; but she was saving up her money for that object." +Aunt Clem was real good to her; and when her quarterly allowance was +paid she often dropped five dollars into Dele's bank. + +"I don't know how much there is, and I am not going to open it under two +years. Of course a woman couldn't take matters as Bayard Taylor did; but +if she was economical and found cheap places! I do wonder if she could +go alone?" + +Tourists' parties had not been invented, though men occasionally +clubbed together and obtained accommodations more cheaply. + +"Two years," returned Ben, musingly. + +Dele was certainly growing prettier. Her hair wasn't even Titian colour +now, but a decided bright brown, and the curly roughness seemed just to +suit her. Then the freckles were disappearing. He didn't know as +freckles spoiled any one's complexion when it had that peachy softness +and the kind of creamy look. If her mouth was wide, it had some pretty +curves, and her teeth were beautiful. A Grecian nose would take all the +piquancy out of her face. + +"It may be a little more than two years," considered Delia, "and The. +may start off again. Oh, I'm pretty sure to go some time!" + +"I've quite made up _my_ mind to go some time," Ben announced gravely, +then laughed. + +"It would be such fun to go together," said Dele, in her harum-scarum +fashion, without a thought of any future contingency. "I'll try to make +The. wait until I get rich enough." + +Ben went home thinking what rare fun it would be to travel with some one +who saw the comical side of everything, and who could extract pleasure +straight along, as a bee could gather up honey. He enjoyed the fun +mightily, but he could not always bring it to pass. Joe and Jim had a +humourous side; but John had always been grave and steady-going. Ben +wanted some one to stir up the spirit of fun, and then he did his best +to keep it going. But he always had so much of the past seething in his +brain. The world had such a wonderful history! He was almost afraid that +now, when there was no war on hand, only Indian skirmishes, it would +grow common-place. There were no breathless romances about it, as there +were about Europe and Asia, where such conquerors as Tamerlane, Genghis +Khan, Alexander and Philip and Attila, Charlemagne and Napoleon had +stalked across the world as it was known then. Not that Ben had any +soldierly ambitions, but to youth everyday plodding along seems +unheroic. + +The pleasant neighbourhood-life went on, though it must be confessed +that Hanny often longed for Daisy Jasper. Mr. Jasper had returned; and +the plan was now that the others might stay abroad two or three years. +Daisy had improved wonderfully at the baths. They would spend the winter +at Naples, and go back to Germany in the summer. Daisy was taking +lessons in music and painting and Italian. + +She wrote about herself to Hanny. She only practised an hour a day, and +could stand it very well. Everything was so queer and foreign, though +often very beautiful. But the operas were enchanting beyond description. + +"I want to learn to play a little for myself," she wrote. "And I find I +have quite a good voice. I don't want to drop behind you all, and have +you ashamed of me when I come back, for I couldn't spend a whole +lifetime here, unless I had you, Hanny, and dear Doctor Joe. Tell me +everything about everybody." + +Hanny was always two or three days answering the letters. There were new +girls in school to talk about, and the many things the others were +doing. Charles and Jim were at the Deans so much; Mr. Dean was so +interested in them, and Mrs. Dean made it so pleasant! Mrs. Reed was +induced to come over now and then. She had softened considerably; but +she had never regained her strength, and sometimes she felt quite +useless, she declared to Mr. Reed. But he thought they had never been so +happy or comfortable. + +That left Hanny quite alone. Josie seemed such a very large girl, and +she classed Hanny and Tudie as "the children." Tudie was a good deal +engrossed with her first large piece of worsted work. Not that Hanny was +lonely! She read to her father when lessons were done, or he came +upstairs to hear her play. She was learning some of the old-fashioned +songs that he had loved in his youth, though I think sometimes he leaned +his head against the high back of his chair and went sound asleep. + +Everybody was always wanting her; and her mother said she was a sad +little gad-about. Even John's wife insisted upon a share of her. +Cleanthe wasn't bright and full of fun like Dolly, but she was very fond +of the little girl, and both she and John considered it a great treat to +have her come in to tea. + +There was a grand time when Zachary Taylor was inaugurated. Stephen and +Dolly and the Doctor and Margaret went on to Washington with many +others. They were fain to take Hanny. + +"Such a crowd is no place for children," said Mrs. Underhill. "There'll +be presidents likely, if the world should stand, and she'll have chances +to go when the journey will do her more good." + +Ben went with Mr. Whitney. And at the eleventh hour, Theodore gave in +and said Delia might go, and she needn't rob her bank either. + +Oh, what a splendid time they had! Washington has changed wonderfully +since then; but the White House and some of the government buildings are +just the same. Ben was a little startled at the splendour. Mr. Theodore +was much engrossed with some friends, so Ben and Delia rambled about, +lost themselves, and came to light in out-of-the-way places, hunted up +famous spots, and rehearsed old-time stories of brave men and notable +women. The sail down the Potomac was delightful. There was Alexandria +and Mount Vernon and Richmond, all of which were to become a hundred +times more famous in the course of a few years. Ben went over this +youthful trip, so full of delight, many a time when, as a soldier, he +slept under the stars, not knowing what the morrow would bring. + +They were just a big boy and girl, in search of fun and knowledge, and +they found plenty of both. Ben made up his mind that, when he did go +abroad, Delia certainly should be his companion. + +Margaret and her husband went to Baltimore at once, as they were not +partial to crowds; and Dolly felt that she must get back to the +children. But Mr. Theodore had some business on hand, so the young +people had their holiday lengthened. + +Still the season in New York had been a rather brilliant one, with +various noted singers. An opera troupe from Havana had been giving some +famous operas; and Hanny was delighted to hear "La Somnambula," because +now she could compare notes with Daisy Jasper. + +And in May, the famous rivalry between two leading theatres, that +culminated in a great riot, occurred. Edwin Forrest, the great tragedian +of that day, and many a year later, and Macready, a celebrated English +actor, seemed almost pitted against each other in the same play, Hamlet. +A certain party coming into existence had taken for its watchword +Americanism of a rather narrow sort, and was protesting against all +foreign influence. Macready had played, and then gone to fulfil another +engagement, but was to return and play again. Some of the hot heads +decided he should not; and though all precautions were taken, the +feeling was that the better sense of the community would prevent any +absolute disturbance. But the mob had grown larger and stronger in their +narrow prejudice, and, before the play was half through, an onslaught +was made on the opera-house. The rioters were in such force that the +famous Seventh Regiment had to be called out. It was a night of terror +and tragedy, and the whole city was wild with alarm. So serious did it +become, that it was not quelled without bloodshed; and for days the +whole city seemed amazed that such a thing could have happened. + +But before the surprise and regret had died away, a sudden sound of +alarm ran through the city, in curiously muffled tones that blanched the +bravest faces,--a visitant, then feared beyond measure, that science had +not been able to cope with. People spoke of it with bated breath. It was +not simply among the poor and destitute, or those indifferent to +cleanliness and order, but it spread everywhere,--the dreaded, +mysterious cholera. + +The older people remembered the scourge of almost twenty years before, +and many of them prepared to fly to places of safety. The plague spot of +the city was then the old Five Points, where the lowest and poorest, +beggars and thieves, and sometimes murderers, had crowded in until it +was a nest to be shunned and feared. Through this tract the plague swept +like wildfire. + +Margaret had accepted the urgent invitation of the cousins at Tarrytown, +and gone thither with her baby, insisting also upon taking her little +sister. Father Underhill was glad to have her out of danger, and was +fain to persuade his wife to follow. + +"No," she said stoutly; "Joe must remain; and you and Stephen cannot run +away from business. With Margaret and Hanny safe, I shall stay to keep +watch over the rest of you. I may be needed." + +Dolly had taken her two children up to her sisters', who lived on the +Hudson near Fort Washington. Stephen could drive up every day or two +with news of everybody. + +It did not seem at all alarming up at the Morgan's rural home. True, +Cousin Famie was aging fast, and had grown more feeble than her years +really warranted. Mrs. Eustis was quite the head of the house, and very +bright and chatty, with a rather romantic turn of mind, just as fond of +reading as some of the younger folks. + +And it seemed to them as if the world was quite full of famous people +then. For beside Cooper and Irving, there were Prescott's splendid +histories, that were full of romance. And for story-writers, Miss +Leslie, who was entertaining magazine-readers, and Miss Sedgwick and +Lydia Maria Child. Then there was Hanny's favourite Mrs. Osgood, Alice +Carey, and Mrs. Welby coming into notice, and Longfellow, Hawthorne and +Emerson. The Doctor brought them up the new magazines, and said +everybody kept well. Ben came up and stayed a week, and added to their +stock of books. + +They went down to Sleepy Hollow, though it had not become so famous for +pilgrimages. Mr. Irving had come home from Madrid, and friends dropped +in upon him. He always had a delightful welcome for them. They used to +sit out on the old porch and talk; or, when there were no guests, his +two nieces and some of his brothers' kept him company. + +Ben summoned up courage and went down to see the charming man, beloved +of so many friends, taking his little sister with him. What a +delightful hour it was! Hanny was too shy to talk much, although she had +been so brave on the poet's old stoop at Fordham. Perhaps, really, there +was no opportunity, Ben kept the floor so entirely. They went in and +looked at the drawings from Rip Van Winkle and Ichabod Crane and +Katrina. But she still loved the old history that had charmed her so at +first, and she would have given him her child's adoration freely, if he +had written nothing else. + +Ben had already seen a number of notable people. They often came in at +the Harpers'. He used to talk them over with Delia; and he thought now +what a fascinating story he should have to tell her. + +The next day they went over to see grandmother and Uncle David. Jim was +up making a visit. His mother preferred to have him out of danger. He +and Ben were to go down to Yonkers; and though they were loth to spare +the little girl, she went back to Tarrytown. + +It was October before the Doctor would let Margaret return to the city. +Daisy had grown so much, and was talking in a cunning, broken fashion. +Mrs. Underhill had made two brief visits; and though she seemed rather +nervous for her, she declared, "She had been very well all summer, and +that they had a great deal to be thankful for. She couldn't have left +father and the boys." + +She had never been so demonstrative to Hanny, much as she had loved her. +She kept one arm around her, and could hardly bear her out of her +sight. + +"Had she been content, and not made any trouble, and waited upon Cousin +Famie, and helped all she could? She was such a large girl now, and +ought to be useful." + +Hanny smiled, and kissed her mother, and said: "She had tried to do her +best. And she had been very, very happy." + +"Cousin Margaret, I do wonder if you appreciate that child," said +Roseann, when Hanny had gone out on the porch to have a romp with little +Daisy. "She's such a smart little thing, and not a bit set up about it. +I've been clear beat to see how she understands books, and people, too. +And she's so industrious and pleasant-tempered. She makes me think of +Grandmother Underhill and Aunt Eunice. I do hope you'll be able to keep +her. It's a providential mercy she hasn't been in the city all summer. +The cholera has been just awful! I don't see how you had the courage to +stay." + +"My sons were there." The tears came to Mrs. Underhill's eyes. "And +though they were spared, they often needed me. No one really can know +what it was, unless they have been through it. Joe came home one night +so worn out that he stayed in bed all the next day. I just prayed every +moment; I felt as if I'd never prayed before. And there was all of +John's trouble. Yes; many a one has been called upon to part with their +nearest and dearest." + +John Underhill's wife had lost both father and mother, within +twenty-four hours of each other. Then Cleanthe's little baby had been +born dead; and they had to move her to Mother Underhill's, more dead +than alive; but good care had at last restored her. The old Archer +cousins in Henry Street had gone; and many another among friends and +relatives. + +They did not tell Hanny until she came home who had gone out of the +neighbourhood. Mrs. Reed had been among the first. She was getting ready +to go away with Charles, when the summons came. But the greatest sorrow +of all to her was the loss of Tudie Dean. She had been rather drooping +for several days; and one night Doctor Joe had been summoned, but in +vain. Two of the prettiest of the little Jewish children who had come to +the Whitney house were buried on the same day. + +Cleanthe was still at home, as she called her mother-in-law's house. She +was very pale and wan, and just hugged Hanny to her heart, and cried +over her. + +Charlie Reed sorrowed deeply for his mother. + +"I don't just know how it came about," he said tremulously; "but we were +getting to be such friends; she took such a real interest in my studies; +and she seemed to want father to be happy in the things he liked. He's +most broken-hearted over it; and the house seems dreadful! Cousin Jane +advises father to break up and board; I think she's kind of nervous, and +wants a change. Oh, what a terrible time it has been; I am glad you +were away. And poor little Tudie Dean!" + +They both cried over her. And when she went in to see Josie, she was +almost heart-broken; for Josie looked so strange and grown-up, and was +so grave. + +Mrs. Dean pressed her to her heart. + +"Thank God, my little dear," she exclaimed, "that your mother hasn't to +sorrow over any loss. Your brother has been heroic; and there was one +time when we were all afraid. He was so dead-tired that I know he +couldn't have lived if it had been cholera. The doctors were all heroes; +and many of them have given their lives." + +Yet the world went on, over the thousands who had dropped out of it. +Business resumed its sway; even amusements started up. But there were +many sad households. + +And though the Underhills had not taken Cleanthe to their hearts with +quite the fervor Dolly had awakened, they loved her very tenderly now; +and she seemed to slip in among them with a new and closer bond. + +There would be a good deal of business to settle. John thought it better +to look about for a new partner. Mr. Bradley had left quite a fortune +for the times. He had been investing in up-town property, and John +thought it would be wise to build, and sell or rent as his wife desired. +The old home was dismantled, the best of the furniture stored for +further use. + +He tried to persuade his father to go farther up-town. Joe was also a +factor in this matter. + +For though the cholera had spared Dr. Fitch, the infirmities of age and +hard work had overtaken him. A nephew who had recently graduated, and +had the prestige of the same name, was anxious to take the practice. Joe +felt as if circumstances were shaping a change for him; and he was ready +now to take up a life of his own. + +Then the Deans sold, and were to go up a little farther. Sometime, and +before many years, there would be street-cars, instead of the slow, +awkward stages, and people could get to and fro more rapidly. The trend +was unmistakably up-town. + +Mr. Reed hired out his house furnished, and went over to the Deans to +board. + +It seemed to Hanny that no one was quite the same. Nora Whitney was +almost a head taller than Hanny, and was getting to be a very stylish +girl. Her voice was considered promising, and was being cultivated. But +poor old Pussy Gray had rounded out his life, and slept under a great +white rosebush at the end of the yard. Mrs. Whitney's hair was nearly +all white, and she was a very pretty woman. Mr. Theodore was showing +silver in both hair and beard; but Delia changed very little. Aunt Clem +went on living in her serene and cheerful fashion. + +And then the bells rang out for the mid-century, 1850! How wonderful it +seemed. + +"I wonder if any one of us will live to nineteen hundred," questioned +Hanny, with a strange thrill of awe in her voice. + +"I don't suppose I will," replied her father; "but some of you may. +Why, even Stephen wouldn't be much above eighty; and you'll be a little +past sixty!" He laughed with a mellow, amused sound. "And all you young +people of to-day will be telling your grandchildren how New York looked +at the half-century mark. Well, it has made rapid strides since eighteen +hundred. I sometimes wonder what there is to happen next. We have steam +on land and water. We have discovered Eldorado, and invented the +telegraph; and there are people figuring on laying one across the ocean. +That may come in your day." + +"And a sewing-machine," added the little girl, smilingly. + +The sewing-machine was attracting a good deal of attention now, and +making itself a useful factor. + +But to live to see nineteen hundred! That would be like discovering the +fountain of perpetual youth. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +UP-TOWN + + +There had been so many delightful things in First Street, the little +girl thought at first it would almost break her heart to go away. Her +father, with the inertia of coming years, hated to be disturbed. + +"I hoped, when we did make any change, we would build on the old place," +he said. "I'd like country life again. But I am getting too old to farm; +and none of the boys care about it. If George had stayed at home," and +Father Underhill sighed. + +George had not yet found his bonanza. There was gold in plenty in that +wonderful country. There were hardships, too. He kept those to tell of +in after years. It was a wild, rough, marvellous life; and every man of +them was waiting for a run of luck, that he might go East with his pile. +Meanwhile cities were begun. + +Mrs. Underhill sighed a little also, in an undecided fashion. All the +children were here, and surely they could not go away and leave them +behind. The attractive, rural aspect of Yonkers had changed, or was it +that she had changed? Some of her old friends had gone to new homes +some had died. Then she had grown so accustomed to the stirring life of +the city. + +"No, we should not want to go alone," she said. + +"Steve's a bright business-man. John's long-headed, if he isn't quite so +brilliant. Ben will be all for books and travel. And Jim--well, it's +odd, but there won't be a farmer among them." + +"No," returned their mother, not knowing whether to be glad or sorry. + +"Then farming is changing. And the near-by places are turning into +towns. What the next half of the century will bring--" + +Since there was no prospect of the homestead, they allowed themselves to +be persuaded to join the migration. Foreigners were crowding them a +little. There was a finer, freer air up-town. + +The Deans suited themselves, and Mr. Reed and Charles went with them. +Charles was now a tall, fair young fellow, rather grave from the shock +of the loss of his mother, intensified perhaps by his sympathy with Mrs. +Dean and Josie. It was a great comfort to keep together. + +John looked up a new home; but Cleanthe, with her arms around Mrs. +Underhill's neck, said, in a broken sort of tone:-- + +"Oh, you must be somewhere near us! I don't feel as if I could live, if +I did not see you every day. I have no mother but you." + +Twentieth Street seemed a long way up, to be sure. But there was an odd, +rather oldish house, with a two-story ell that seemed to have been added +as an after-thought. There was a stable and quite a garden. It had been +considered rather a country house in its inception. + +Joe insisted that it was just the thing. He could have an office and a +library, and a sleeping-room overhead, without disturbing the family. + +Mrs. Underhill declared there was twice too much room; and if any of the +other boys should marry and go away-- + +"There's only Ben. I am a fixture; and it will be years before Jim +reaches that tempting period. Oh, I think you need not worry!" comforted +the Doctor. + +Hanny was glad to go with everybody else. They had one sad sweet time at +the Deans, talking over old days and the tea in the back-yard, when +there had been Nora and the pussy, and the one who was not. It was +rather sad to outgrow childhood. Ah, how merry they had been! What a +simple idyllic memory this was to be for all her later years! Mrs. Reed +always lived in First Street to her; and Tudie Dean used to go up and +down the street, a blessed, beautiful ghost. The little girl was quite +sure she would not be afraid to clasp her white hand, if she should meet +her wandering about those sacred precincts. She could not have put her +idea into Longfellow's beautiful lines; but it haunted her in the same +shape of remembrance. + + "All houses wherein men have lived and died + Are haunted houses." + +They went down to the Jasper house also. There had been a family of +children to tramp over the flower-beds and leave debris about. There +was no pretty striped awning, no wheeling-chair, no slim, picturesque +negro lad, and no ladies in light lawns sitting about. It looked +common-place. + +"We can write Ichabod on it," said Charles, half regretfully. + +Hanny asked Joe why they should; and he showed her the verse, "Thy glory +has departed." + +"The glory has departed from the whole street," she said, glancing +around. The new-comers were of a different class. No one swept the +debris up to the crown of the street any more; and the city +street-sweepers were infrequent visitors. + +"It will be beginning all over again," Dr. Hoffman said to his +brother-in-law. "It seems a pity to waste so much endeavour. Yet if you +_can_ wait, the practice will be better worth while." + +"It wouldn't be the fair thing to crowd in on young Dr. Fitch. He did +suggest a partnership, but I thought I would rather strike out for +myself. And I prefer having all my interests at home. Mother begins to +miss the children that have gone out; and there were so many of us." + +When Mrs. Underhill looked back, she always thought those early years in +First Street were among the happiest of her life. They were broader and +richer than the first wedded years. They could not keep together always. +She wanted her children to know the sweetness of life and love. Steve +and Margaret were very happy. John and his wife had supped of sorrow; +but they were young and had each other; and children would come to +restore beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning. + +She was delighted with Joe's decision. That night, when Joe had come +home a very ghost of himself, and dropped down on Hanny's bed, because +he hadn't strength to go up another pair of stairs, and she had clasped +her arms about him and cried, in her terror: "Oh, Joe, my dear son, is +it cholera?" had been an awful moment for her. + +"No, mother dear; but if I can't have a few hours' rest, I shall die of +fatigue. Just let me sleep, but watch me well." + +She had sat beside him the rest of the night, from midnight to morning, +counting his pulse now and then, which showed no indication of collapse. +Other mothers had their sons snatched from them,--mothers who were +tender and worthy, and who loved as fervently as she did. + +When he awoke at the next noon, she felt as if he had been given back to +her out of a great danger. And she was glad now to have him plan for the +home-interest, glad there would be several years before she was called +upon to share him with any other woman. + +So they said good-bye to the old house again, and placed their household +gods in a new home. They had gone farther than any of the others, though +they were nearer Margaret and Dolly. The Deans were lower down and on +Second Avenue. Up above them were great open spaces. They had two lots, +which gave them a grassy space beside the drive. The lot being deeper +than usual, they could have a little garden where the fruit-trees did +not shade. There was a tall, gnarled old pear-tree, and they found it +bore excellent fruit. Right by the porch, in a lovely southern exposure, +was a delicious nectarine. + +The little girl was deeply interested in Joe's house, as she began to +call it. A door opened from the main hall, and one quite outside from +the flagged path. That would be the patients' entrance, when they began +to come. Joe went up to Yonkers and exhumed some old furniture. There +was a queer, brass-studded, leather-covered sofa, with high roll arms, +and a roll at the back that suggested a pillow. There were two small +spindle-legged tables; some high-backed, oaken chairs, rudely carved, +and almost black with age; and a curious old _escritoire_ that was said +to have come from France with the French grandmother who had landed with +the emigrants at New Rochelle. + +His office was plainly appointed, with an oil-cloth on the floor, a row +of shelves for jars of medicines; for even then many doctors compounded +their own prescriptions. There was a plain business-desk, a table, and +some chairs, and a small book-case. All the odd old things were to go in +his sitting-room. + +Across one end, he had it filled in with book-shelves. One corner was +for the little girl. And there was to be a special chair for her, so she +could come in and study her lessons, or read or talk to her dear Doctor +Joe. + +Mrs. French made a splendid addition to the room in a large Oriental rug +that Doctor Joe valued more highly as the years went on. For then we +were getting bright-hued carpets from French and English looms, and +these dull old things were not in any great favour. Only it was so thick +and soft, the little girl said it was good enough for a bed. + +Joe laughed. "I daresay I shall take many a nap on it. You must make me +a nice pillow-cushion, out of some of your bits of silk." + +People made real sensible patchwork then, or worked a cover in worsted, +with perhaps a pretty bunch of flowers. + +The house had a basement-kitchen at the back, and a dumb-waiter like +Margaret's. Mrs. Underhill thought at first she shouldn't like it. There +was a spacious area, which made Hanny think of Mrs. Dean's in First +Street, where they used to play tea. + +It took a long while to get settled, somehow. Ben thought it a great way +up-town; and he often went to the Whitneys to tea, when he wanted his +evening. Jim grumbled a little, too; there were no nice fellows around. +Joe insisted that he had better not hunt up any, but pay strict +attention to his studies, for he was falling dreadfully behind. But when +Jim had to work or study, he went at it with all his might and main, and +generally managed to catch up. + +The little girl and her father were perhaps the best pleased. He liked +the little garden spot. He was not confining himself very closely to +business now. There were so many pretty walks around, for it was still +quite rural, and you could find a few wild flowers. There was another +very amusing feature farther up-town, and that was the "squatters," with +their pigs and goats and geese, and their rich, wonderful brogue, their +odd attire, which was in the same style as when they landed. Connemara +cloaks had not then attracted the fashionable eye; but the women seemed +to wear them to keep out both heat and cold. Red, green, and plaided +seemed the favourites. The wide cap-ruffles caught the breeze, for one +always found a breeze in this vicinity. + +The little girl's happiness was rendered complete by the gift of a +beautiful Maltese kitten about half-grown. It had a black nose, and +black pads to its feet, and a fashion of pricking up its small ears like +a dog. There was a great discussion about a name; and Joe suggested +"Major," as she was still fond of military heroes. + +One evening Ben said: "Jim, the Whitneys are going over into Jersey on +an exploring expedition, to view some curious old places, Cockloft Hall +among them. Don't you want to go?" + +Jim glanced up lazily. The boys were to play ball, as they often did, on +Saturday afternoon. + +"Oh, that's the place where the Salmagundi Club used to meet," cried +Hanny, with eager interest. "It is in Newark." + +"Yes; and there's another queer nest on the Passaic where a great +sportsman lives, Henry William Herbert, the Frank Forrester of some +stirring adventures. Mr. Whitney is to see him. And there are some other +old haunts; Delia was looking them up,--the Kearny house, and an old +place that was once used as a sort of fort." + +"Dele Whitney goes round just like a boy!" said Jim, disdainfully. + +"Well, why shouldn't she go with her brother?" + +"Oh, Ben, can't I go with you?" pleaded Hanny. + +"Jersey's a queer sort of State," said Jim, teasingly. "The Blue Laws +are still in operation. You are not allowed to stay out after dark." + +"Are they printed in blue? And you don't mean to stay out after dark, do +you, Ben?" + +Hanny's expression was so simply honest they all laughed, which rather +disconcerted her. + +"It is because you feel pretty blue when you have to obey them; and +Jersey is out of the United States." + +"It just isn't, Mr. Jim!" cried Hanny, indignantly. "It's one of the +Middle States." + +It was quite the fashion then to laugh at New Jersey, in spite of the +geography; though even at that remote date New Jersey peaches were held +in high esteem. + +"But if you went with Dele Whitney, we shouldn't know when to look for +you--hardly where," and Jim winked. + +That was an allusion to an old visit at the Museum, when they stayed all +the evening, for the same admittance. + +"I've half suspected you were the ringleader of that scheme, Jim," said +his doctor-brother. "I have a mind to go. One good thing about the +Whitneys is that you can invite yourself, and no one takes umbrage." + +"Oh, do go!" said Ben; and Hanny came around to give his hand a tender, +persuasive squeeze. "I haven't explored the State very much, but it has +some curious features. The magnolia and many Southern flowers grow +there. I believe almost every kind of mineral, even to gold, is found in +the State. And it is rich in historic lore." + +"There was Valley Forge," said Hanny, softly. + +"Yes, the Delaware River is beautiful. And the Passaic winds half around +the State. It is twenty-seven miles by water,--a delightful sail we must +take some time, Hanny." + +"We shouldn't have time for that now. We are to start at one. Delia'll +be glad enough to have you go, Hanny." + +"Then you may count on us," returned Joe. + +"Well, I'll take the ball game," said Jim. + +Mrs. Underhill had been settling on a final negative. She had a little +feeling about Delia Whitney; she could not quite approve of grown girls +running about so much with boys. And she thought if she was going to set +up for a genius, she ought to be delicate and refined. But Joe always +carried the day, and she could trust her darling with him. + +It was Margaret's Saturday, so Hanny ran around in the morning to tell +her of the new arrangements. They were to meet the Whitneys at +Courtlandt Street, so they had an early lunch, and started in good time. +Hanny was so interested in everything that she was a charming companion. + +It seemed queer that Mr. Whitney could remember when there was no +railroad, and you travelled mostly by stage-coaches. It had cost almost +a quarter then, with the ferriage and toll-gates, if you walked to +Newark. And now you could go through to Washington on the train. + +She thought it quite a fearful thing to go through the Harlem tunnel; +but here there was a road cut through great, high, frowning rocks that +made you feel as if you were in a dungeon. Then a long, level stretch of +salt meadows with ditches cut across them, that suggested a vague idea +of Holland. We did not know the world quite so well then. + +Newark, in those days, was a sort of country town with country roads in +all directions. At intervals, a stage went up Broad Street, which was +handsome and wide and lined with stately trees. They thought it best to +wait awhile for this, lest Hanny should get too tired. + +"But you can't half see," declared Delia. + +"When we come to the curiosities, we will get out," said Mr. Whitney. +"We can't afford to miss them." + +They passed a pretty park full of magnificent elms, with an old grey +stone church standing in it, one of the oldest churches in the State. +There were a number of stores, interspersed with private dwellings, and +everything wore a sort of leisurely aspect. A little farther up was +another park,--commons, they were called then. The modest old houses and +large gardens and fields gave it a still more complete country aspect. + +The stage stopped at a tavern where some people were waiting. The sign +was "The Black Horse Tavern." + +"We will get out and begin our adventures," said Mr. Whitney, smilingly. +"This little sort of creek was called First River. I dare say in past +days it came rushing over the hill in quite a wild way." + +"Is there a Second River?" asked Delia, mirthfully. + +"Indeed there is, at Belleville. There used to be an old mill +hereabouts, and this was the mill brook. Once or twice, in a freshet, +the stream has risen so that it swept the bridge away." + +"It's meek enough now," said Ben. "Black Horse Tavern! That ought to be +in a book." + +It was a small one-story building, looking very old even then. Over +opposite, a pretty house stood on a slight elevation, that dated back to +1820, with its sloping lawn and green fields, its churn and bright +milkpans standing out in the sunshine. + +"We shall have to go round, as the frogs advise," said Mr. Whitney, +looking about him with an air of consideration. "We might get through +some of these driveways; but there seems to be no regular street." + +"And if we go round?" commented Delia, questioningly. + +"We go straight up this road until we come to a winding path called the +Gully, then down to the river, where we shall find Herbert's, thence +down the river to Cockloft Hall. But we will return by the upper +railroad, as we shall be near that." + +"Come on, then," said Dele, laughingly, when her brother had ended his +explanations, "if you _can_ go straight on a crooked road; and if Hanny +gets tired, Ben and I will make a chair and carry her." + +Joe smiled down at his little sister. He had linked his arm within hers. +Ben and Delia were fond of falling behind. They were so merry, that +Hanny was a little curious to know what they found to laugh about. It +does not take much to amuse healthy young people before their tastes +become complicated. + +The old road wound a little, and had the curves that prove no one horse +or man ever walks in a straight line. But, oh, how beautiful it was with +the fruit-trees and shrubbery in bloom, wild flowers, and stretches of +meadow, where cows were pastured, and here and there a small flock of +sheep! Up above, on the brow of a hill, a wooded background gave it a +still more picturesque appearance. + +They passed an old stone house on the west side that was really a +Revolutionary relic. The stone ran up to the eaves; but the two gables +were of timber. It was on quite a bit of hill then, and had broken stone +steps up to the first terrace, where great clumps of brownish yellow +lilies were in bloom. When strolling parties of British soldiery went +marauding about, the residents of this vicinity used to flee to the old +Plum house as a place of refuge. The heavy double doors and wooden +shutters could not well be battered down, though bullet-marks could be +traced here and there. + +A Captain Alden lived in it now, who was himself quite a character. He +had been in the British navy, with Admiral Nelson's command. When his +time in the service ended, he had shipped with what he understood was a +merchant vessel, but on learning it was a slaver, bound for Africa to +gather up a human cargo, he sprang overboard, when he saw a vessel +passing that halted for his signal. Several shots were fired at him, +which he escaped. Later on, he was impressed in the naval service again, +but at the first opportunity came to America. A hale, hearty old man, +rather short in stature, but lithe and active, and with a merry look on +his weather-beaten face, he was still proud of his schooner that lay at +Stone Dock, at the launching of which, in the early part of the century, +the Jersey Blues had turned out, and Major Stevens had christened it the +"Northern Liberties." It had been all built of Essex County lumber, and +constructed on the Passaic. But the river had been quite a famous stream +in those days. There were no factories using up its volume of water. + +They sat on the stone coping and listened to the Captain's stories, +indeed, could have spent all the afternoon, so entertaining did he +prove. Then he took them through the old house with its ample hall and +spacious rooms on one side. They concluded it must have been able to +stand quite a siege, judging from its present solidity. And Mrs. Alden +treated them to a pitcher of freshly churned buttermilk, and a slice of +excellent rye bread, which they found delightful. + +"I shall have to come over again, and get some material for a story," +declared Delia, when they were fairly started, tearing themselves away +with quite a struggle. "That experience on the 'Slaver' was very +graphic." + +"If you want to hear something that will make your hair stand on end," +said Doctor Joe, "come up and talk to father. When I was a little lad, +we had a farm-hand working for us who had gone through with it all, been +to Africa for a cargo, and come to the States with what was left of it. +He never spoke of it when sober; and though he was in the main steady, +once in a while he drank enough to start him going, and he always +rehearsed this horrible experience. I remember father used to lock him +in the barn to sober up; because he did not want us children to hear the +terrible story." + +"Were the slaves brought that way?" asked Hanny, with a shudder. + +"Most every civilised country condemns that part of the awful practice," +answered Ben. "But it is a fact that the native tribes in Africa sell +prisoners to one another, or whoever will buy them. Do you suppose +Africa will ever be explored?" and Ben looked up at Mr. Whitney. + +We did not know much about Africa even then. But Ben was afterward to +see the great explorer Stanley, whose journey across that country was a +wonderful romance. And although the question of slavery was seething +even then, he could not have dreamed, this lovely afternoon when all was +at peace, that one day he should be in the thick of the battle himself, +with many another brave soul, when his country was nearly rent in twain. + +A few lanes led up to places, the outline of streets, and lost +themselves in the fields. Cottages had been built to face nearly every +way. Here and there was an old colonial house of greater pretensions, +some of them at the end of a long driveway lined with stately trees. +Here also were the remnants of orchards, meadows where cows were +pasturing, thickets of shrubbery with bread-and-butter vine running over +them, showing glossy green leaves. + +Mr. Whitney paused at a queer, long, one-story house with a high-peaked +roof in which were set three small dormer windows. There was a little +dooryard in front, a Dutch hall door with an iron knocker, a well near +by with the old oaken bucket General Morris had immortalised, and back +of the house a picturesque ravine through which ran a clear stream of +water that presently found its way out to the Passaic. Willows bent over +it, elms and maples stood, tall and handsome, like guardian sentinels. + +A little old woman sat sewing by the window. + +"We haven't time to stop," said Mr. Whitney. "Hanny, that lady is your +hero's grandmother, and the mother of General Watts Kearny. He not only +distinguished himself in the Mexican War, but also in the War of 1812. +Then he was Governor of Vera Cruz and the City of Mexico." + +"And the hero of no end of stories," added Ben. "Jim and I were wild +over them a few years ago. Why do people keep saying we have no romance +in our own country, because we have no ruined old castles? Why, Mexico +itself is a land of historical romance!" + +"What a lovely cool dell!" exclaimed Dele. "Just the place to take your +book on a hot summer day." + +"I believe your young hero Philip was born in New York. But this is the +old home, one of the landmarks." + +Opposite was a rather pretty place,--a rambling brick house with sharp, +pointed roofs, and a long stretch of evergreens. It was beautiful in +this soft atmosphere. The birds made a swift dazzle now and then, and +filled the air with melody. + +"Up here is a hedge of hawthorn that was brought over from England by a +Yorkshireman living up above. It is out of bloom now; but another year +you can come over early in May and see the 'hawthorn blossoms white' +that poets never tire of praising." + +Dele broke off a sprig for herself, and one for Hanny. The spaces were +larger, the houses farther apart. On the west side was a tree-nursery +and garden, and two quaint old frame-houses that hardly looked large +enough for any one to live in; but there were children playing about; +and on the other side a cemetery. All this tract was known as Mount +Pleasant. + +At the north of the cemetery, they plunged down a stony way called a +road, mostly by courtesy, though it was the only way of getting up from +the river. Great trees overhung it on one side, and gave it a weird, +darkened aspect. + +"It might be a ghost-walk, at night," exclaimed Delia. "Edgar A. Poe +could have put a story here. I like the tragic; but I'm not so fond of +the horrible." + +Another turn showed them the river and the opposite shore crowned with +green glittering in the afternoon sunshine. They all paused, it was such +a wonderful outlook. + +And when they reached it, and glanced up and down, it was a picture +indeed. The river made little bends, and wound around tiny points, edged +with the greenest of sedge grass in some places, then grey stones with +mossy sea-growth, or willows dipping their branches in the lightly +ruffled water. Not a soul to be seen anywhere, not a sound save the +voices of birds; but while they looked, a flock of geese came floating +grandly down. + + "On thy fair bosom, silver lake, + The white swan spreads her snowy sail," + +quoted Delia. + +"It is not the first time swans have proved geese," said Mr. Theodore, +with a smile. "But for the sake of the picturesque we will let it pass." + +"I wonder if the Wye or the Severn would be so enchanting to us if poets +had not lived there and immortalised them?" + +"When we are an old country, we will, no doubt, sigh for relics. In +1666, this was called 'Neworke or Pesayak towne;' and a little more than +a hundred years ago this Gully was made the dividing line between the +towns. There are many historic spots in Belleville, and an old copper +mine that once made a great addition to her prosperity. But my quest +ends here. I don't know as I have a hero exactly, Miss Hanny, yet my +friend, Frank Forrester, has had a varied and eventful life. This way." + +Mr. Whitney led them up a path mostly over-grown with pale, spindling +grass that had no chance for sunshine, so close and tall were the trees. +It was undeniably gloomy, hidden away here. A little old brown, +weather-beaten house hung with vines, that even stretched up into the +trees; small, narrow windows, with diamond-shaped panes that could not +let in much light, it would seem. + +"It's a horrid place," cried Dele. "Hanny, we shall surely see a ghost. +The idea of living at the very foot of a burying-ground!" + +Hanny held tight to Joe's hand. She was beginning to have what Miss +Cynthia called the "creeps." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +OUT-OF-THE-WAY CORNERS + + +If the outside was gloomy, it had a queer, disorderly, and rather +cheerful aspect within, for the sun was pouring a flood of gold in one +window where it happened to strike a spot between two trees. And Frank +Forrester was by no means melancholy to-day. He shook hands cordially +with Mr. Whitney, and welcomed the rest of the party with the utmost +affability,--a fine-looking Englishman with a picturesque air, due +largely to his rather long hair, which fell about his forehead and neck +in a tumbled manner, suggesting a tendency to curls. + +"These young people may like to look over my curiosities, while we have +our talk," he said. "Take a cigar, and I'll bring a bottle of wine. +Won't you join us, Doctor? Here, young folks, are curiosities from +everywhere." + +He ushered them into a small room that was library and everything by +turns. There were trophies of hunting expeditions, some rare birds +stuffed and mounted, looking so alive Hanny would not have been +surprised if they had suddenly begun to warble; books in every stage of +dilapidation, some of them quite rare copies, Ben found; portfolios of +old engravings; curious weapons; foreign wraps; Grecian and Turkish bits +of pottery; and the odd things we call bric-a-brac nowadays. + +Delia began to make some notes. Ben laughed a little. Interviewing was +not such a fine art then; and people were considered greater subjects of +interest than their belongings. But Delia was saving up things for +stories which she meant to write as she found time. + +Doctor Joe had come in here with the young people, leaving the two +friends to discuss their business. He, too, found much to interest him; +and he was amused at Delia's running comments, some of them very bright +indeed. She was quite a spur to Ben, he found; and he was surprised at +the varied stock of knowledge Ben had accumulated. + +It did not seem as if they had explored half, when Mr. Whitney opened +the door. + +"Young folks, we must be going, if we expect to reach home that very +same night, like the old woman with her pig," he said. + +"Are you talked out?" asked Delia, archly; "for we haven't half looked +through things." + +"I want your brother to stay and have some supper with me. I'm my own +housekeeper now; but I think we could manage." + +"What fun it would be," said Delia. "As there are no stores, we should +have to start at the foundation of things." + +"I have a loaf of bread, and some cold mutton, and eggs, I think, and +tea and coffee. Come, you had better accept my hospitality." + +"I must be home in the early evening," remarked Doctor Joe. + +"And Hanny's not to stay out after dark," appended Ben. + +"We are going down to Cockloft Hall," explained Mr. Whitney. "I am sorry +we cannot accept." + +"Then you must bring your happy family again. If they are fond of +curiosities, the old house could entertain them all day long." + +"And if they are fond of adventures, which they are, they might put you +to the test," said Delia, daringly. + +Herbert laughed at the vivacious tone. + +"Then you'd have to find me in the mood. In that respect, I am +variable." + +"Do you have a mood for each day? Then your friends could be sure--" + +"A good idea, like the ladies' reception-days. Must I put on the card, +Serious, Jolly, Adventurous, etc.?" + +"And supernatural. I should come on the ghost days. For if ever a ghost +walked out of its earthy habitation, I should think it would be here. +Did you ever see a ghost, Mr. Herbert?" + +"I have seen some queer things. But these up here," nodding his head, +"seem a very well behaved community. I can't say that they have troubled +me; and I've come down the road at twelve or so at night. Perhaps my +imagination is not vivid enough in that line. Have you ever seen a +ghost, Miss Whitney?" + +"No, I have not, except the ghosts of my imagination. I can shut my eyes +now, and see them come trooping down that lonely road by twos and +threes." + +Herbert laughed again. "A vivid imagination is worth a good deal at +times," he said. "There ought to be a ghost-walk about here; and next +time you come over, we'll arrange one so perfectly that he shall defy +detection. I'll walk a bit with you, if I am not a ghost." + +When he put on his wide-brimmed, rather high-crowned hat, he looked more +Spanish than English. They went through another room that opened on a +porch, and, from thence, through the garden, or an attempt at one that +did not betoken signal success. + +The cemetery sloped down from a high hill that was such a thicket of +woods it hid all indications of the City of the Dead. The placid river, +in which there was only a gentle tide up here, lapped the shores with a +little murmur as it came up from the bay. The green, irregular shore +opposite showed here and there a house. The wood-robins were beginning +their vespers already. Hanny thought them the sweetest singers she had +ever heard. + +Just here there was a terraced garden-spot and an old house adorned with +all kinds of blossoming shrubbery. + +"You see we two are guardians of the place, at either end. Miss +Whitney, this house could tell some interesting tales of the bygone +time; but the glory is departing. In a few years the city will stretch +out and invade our solitude." + +A wild spot of ground it was below, hilly, gravelly, sloping sharply +down to the river. But people were beginning to take advantage of the +shore-edge for business. There were shops, and a foundry stretching out +smoky, dingy arms in various directions. + +They said their good-byes here, as they were in sight of the old +Gouverneur mansion. And no one guessed then that a tragedy of love and +desperation to madness was soon to follow, and that in the dreary old +house "Frank Forrester" was to lie, slain by his own hand, that he waved +so jauntily to them as he bade them "Come again." + +They scrambled up the small ascent, and sprang over the wall. Here was +where the Nine Worthies used to come for their merry-making in their +exuberant youth, and, as one of their number said afterward, "enlivened +the solitude by their mad-cap pranks and juvenile orgies." The house had +not been much modernised up to that period. Its young owner, Mr. Kemble, +who was the Patroon of the merry company, still held it. They found the +old honeydew cherry-tree standing; but some of its long-armed branches +were going to decay. The odd, octagonal summer-house had not then fallen +down. + +They went up to the old room in the south-western angle, the green +moreen chamber, as it had been called, where the Nine Worthies used to +congregate, and where Irving concocted some choice bits of fun for the +Salamagundi Club. And here was the great drawing-room where they +disposed themselves to sociable naps on Sunday afternoons, the +vine-covered porch on which they sat and smoked starlit evenings, and +the grassy lawn over which they rambled. And now Mr. Washington Irving +had been minister to Spain, and the guest of noted people in England and +on the continent. He had won fame in more than one line, and hosts of +appreciative readers. + +Hanny could hardly realise it all, as she thought of the still handsome +though rather delicate man, past middle life, gracious and dignified and +kindly, sitting on his own porch at Sunnyside. She couldn't help going +back to her first love, the old "Knickerbocker History" that seemed so +real to her, even now. + +The hand of improvement touched Cockloft Hall shortly after. The old +summer-house was taken down; the famous cherry-tree, where the robins +sang and reared their young for so many generations, succumbed to old +age and wintry blasts; but she was glad she had seen it in its romantic +halo. + +They were not far from the upper railroad station then,--the old Morris +and Essex that had stirred up the country people mightily when it first +went thundering through quiet vales, and screaming out at little +way-stations. They were just in time for a train. The sun had dropped +down behind the Orange Mountain, though the whole west was alive with +changeful gold and scarlet, melting to fainter tints, changing to +indescribable hues and visionary islands floating in seas of amber and +chrysoprase. + +Hanny was quite tired, and leaned her head on Joe's shoulder. Ben and +Delia were in front, and Mr. Whitney in the seat behind. They kept up an +animated conversation, and thought it had been a delightful afternoon. + +"And I feel like quoting a bit out of a letter of the Poet Gray," said +Ben. "'Do you not think a man may be the wiser, I had almost said +better, for going a hundred or two miles?' We have gone a tenth or so of +that, and I feel ever so much richer as well as wiser. How is it with +you, little Hanny?" + +"I've been to the land of heroes," she replied, with a soft smile. "I +shall insist that Jim must honour New Jersey in the future." + +"Bravo!" said Mr. Whitney. "And there are many more heroes in it, and I +think some heroines, that we must hunt up at a leisure day. There was +Ann Halsted of Elizabethtown, who saw the British foraging expedition +coming over from Staten Island, where the ship lay at anchor; and, +donning a suit of her father's clothes, and taking an old musket, she +went down to the only road they could come up, and blazed away at them +with such intrepidity that the red-coats were alarmed lest a whole squad +might be quartered there, and retreated in haste. It was said when +Washington heard of it, he toasted the young lady. And there were the +brave women of Valley Forge." + +"And Moll Pitcher, don't forget her," put in Ben. "We in New York don't +own quite everything." + +They went rumbling into the tunnel, and Hanny started. She was used to +the Harlem tunnel; but this came upon her unexpectedly. + +"And there are three considerable tunnels," laughed Delia. "Yet there +are people who believe the State is one vast sandy plain, and that the +agricultural products are solely watermelons and peaches. Some one +always stands ready to believe ridiculous things." + +"Hereafter, we will take up the cudgels for New Jersey," declared Ben. +"I am hungry as a bear! That rye bread was splendid, wasn't it! We must +ask mother to make some, Joe." + +Mr. Whitney begged them to stop to tea; but Doctor Joe thought they had +better get home. They were late, of course; but Mrs. Underhill had a +nice supper for them. + +When Jim heard about Captain Alden, he half wished he had gone. + +"But I had to come in and save the day, or we should have been beaten +out of sight, so I was of some use," he announced. + +Mrs. Underhill was put on her mettle by hearing about Mrs. Alden's rye +bread; and the very next week she made some quite as splendid. + +Hanny displayed her sprig of hawthorn,--real hawthorn. + +"Are you sure it isn't artificial?" asked Jim, teasingly. + +"An artificial branch can't grow," she said indignantly. + +The next week at school, the girls' compositions had to be read aloud; +and Hanny wrote about her tour, which received the highest commendation. + +Delia came up to get the story of the man who had been on board the +slave ship. She had a sketch of her own under way, and she wanted to +make it very thrilling. + +"And I shall have to give you half the money for it," she said +laughingly. + +It had a rather amusing hitch about its acceptance. The editor of the +paper to which it was offered liked it extremely for its vigourous +treatment, but begged her to use a masculine name, or simply initials, +because it didn't sound like a young girl's story. + +She told this over with great gusto, and showed her check for twenty +dollars. But Mr. Underhill magnanimously refused to accept the half of +it. + +"I don't approve of so much mannishness in a girl," Mrs. Underhill said +decisively. In her heart she wished Ben did not like her so well. But +they really were more like two boys than lovers. + +She took every occasion to make sharp little comments. Delia was rather +careless in her attire; and while she dressed her heroines in the styles +of their period, or in good taste, if they were modern, she had a rather +mismatched look herself, except when she wore white, which she nearly +always did evenings at home. + +And she made home a really delightful place. She was quite ambitious for +reception evenings. Mrs. Osgood was holding them for a literary circle. +Of course she could not aim at anything as elegant as that; but +newspaper men, young and old, were in the habit of dropping in upon Mr. +Whitney quite informally. About ten, they might be asked down to the +dining-room, where there was a dainty little spread, sometimes a Welsh +rarebit that Dele could concoct to perfection. To be sure, they smoked +the room blue; and Mr. Whitney often brought out a bottle of wine, as +was the custom then; true, he waited until Delia and Nora had gone +upstairs, and taken some of the younger men. Delia had made a strong +protest against it, in her humourous way. + +"I don't so much mind you old fellows, who, if you haven't sense enough +not to addle your brains, never will have. But the young men oughtn't +have the temptation thrust in their way. They think it looks smart and +manly; and they make themselves so silly that I'm like a lump of ice to +some of them. I like clear-brained people." + +So upstairs they had music and recitations. Every young man of any +elocutionary ability felt himself empowered to recite "The Raven," that +much admired and sharply discussed poem by the Poet Poe, whose +melancholy end still created much interest. Critical spirit ran high. +One party could see only a morbid faculty heightened by opium and +intoxicants; others found the spirit of true and fine genius in many of +his efforts, and believed the circumstances of his life had been against +him. + +Ben was reading one evening in Doctor Joe's cosy library, enjoying the +most capacious arm-chair, and improvising a foot-rest out of one not +quite so luxurious. The Doctor had been making out bills, and feeling +quite encouraged, perhaps lighter-hearted than he would when he had +waited a year for the payment of some of them. + +"Joe," began his brother, abruptly, "what do you suppose makes mother so +bitter about Delia Whitney?" + +"Bitter?" repeated Joe, in the tone of indecision people often use when +a proposition or question takes them by surprise. + +"Yes. We all used to be so nice and jolly together, and Delia likes us +all so much. Hanny has such good times down there, with the old lady who +sings such pretty old-fashioned songs, if her voice is rather cracked +and tremulous; and Nora is bright and entertaining. But the other day +mother wouldn't let her go; and she was dreadfully disappointed; and +mother is not as cordial to Delia as she used to be. Dele spoke of it." + +Ben looked straight at his brother, out of the frankest of eyes. It was +Joe who changed colour. + +"I hate things to go crosswise. And when something keeps you just a +little ruffled up all the time--" + +Ben drew his brows. Was he really unconscious of the trouble? + +"You go there a good deal, you know. Some of the men are not quite the +company a young fellow should choose, mother thinks." + +That was begging the main issue, of course. + +"I don't see much of the older men. They're mostly smoking downstairs, +and I don't care a bit for that. But their talk is often worth listening +to. People who just keep in one little round have no idea how rich the +world is growing intellectually, scientifically; and on what broad lines +it is being laid." + +"It is not the men altogether. Ben, you don't go anywhere else. Perhaps +it would be wisdom to enlarge your acquaintance among girls, young +ladies," and Joe gave a short laugh that betrayed the effort. + +"I don't care a penny for girls in general," said Ben, with elderly +gravity. "Delia sometimes asks them in; and we seldom have as good a +time. She's a host in herself; and I've always liked her." + +"You haven't had a very wide experience. And you are too young to make +up your mind about--anything." + +Ben started up suddenly and flushed. What a fine, strong, solid face he +had! It wasn't the face of one turned about with every wind of doctrine; +it was not as handsome as Jim's bid fair to be, but it had hardly a weak +or selfish line in it. Ben had always been such a good, generous, steady +boy. + +"You don't mean," he began with a little gasp,--"Joe, you can't think +that mother--that any one would object if the time came for me to--to +marry Delia?" + +"You are too young to think of such things, Ben," said his brother, +gently. + +"Why--I've been thinking of it ever since Mr. Theodore came home. We +were talking one time about going to Europe--" + +"Are you really engaged, Ben?" + +The young fellow laughed and blushed. + +"Well--I suppose not exactly," he answered slowly. "We've never come to +that boshy stuff you find now and then in stories. But we know all about +each other's plans; and we like so many of the same things; and we +always feel so comfortable together, not a bit as if we were trigged up +in Sunday clothes. I don't think she's the most beautiful girl in the +world; but she has lovely eyes, and I've never seen a handsome girl I +have liked as well. Steve chose his own wife, and so did John. +Cleanthe's a splendid housekeeper; but she doesn't have time to read a +newspaper. Dolly's well informed, and has something fresh to talk about. +But it seems to me Margaret is always caring about society and +etiquette, and who is in our set, and a hundred things that bore me. +Phil has all his life been used to style, so Margaret's just the one for +him. And why shouldn't I have just the one for me?" + +Joe laughed heartily then. + +"I'd wait a year or two," he answered drily. "You are not out of your +time; and it is an unwise thing to take the responsibilities of life too +early. Delia may fancy some one else." + +"Oh, no, she won't," replied Ben, confidently. "We just suit. I can't +explain it to you, Joe; but it is one of the things that seem to come +about without any talking. Are some things ordained? I should be awful +sorry to have mother object to it; but I know Dolly would stand by us +when the time came." + +"Well--don't hurry; and, Ben, take the little comments patiently. If +mother was convinced that it was for your happiness, she would consent. +We all know there are unwise marriages, unhappy ones, as well." + +"Oh, we're not in any hurry! You see, Delia is really needed at home. +The old aunt is awfully fond of her. And she's so interested in her +stories. We have such fun planning them out; and she does some capital +little sketches." + +Joe nodded in a friendly manner, as if he did not altogether disapprove. +But there was a belief that literary women could not make good wives. +People quoted Lady Bulwer and Lady Byron; and yet right in the city were +women of literary proclivities living happily with their husbands. + +And Joe had found careless, fretful, indifferent wives and poor +housekeepers among women who could not even have written a coherent +account-book. Come to think, he liked Delia a good deal himself. And if +she wasn't such a great worker, she did have the art of making a +cheerful, attractive home, and putting everybody at ease. + +The new woman and cooking-schools were in the far future. Every mother, +if she knew enough, trained her daughter to make a good wife, to buy +properly, to cook appetisingly if not always hygienically, to make her +husband's shirts, and do the general family sewing, to keep her house +orderly, to fight moths and mice, and to give company teas with the best +china and the finest tablecloth. + +To be sure there was a little seething of unrest. Mrs. Bloomer had put +forth a new costume that shocked the feminine world, though they were +complaining of the weight of heavy skirts and the various devices for +distending them. Lucretia Mott and some other really fine women were +advocating the wider education of the sex. Women were being brought to +the fore as teachers in schools, and higher institutions were being +discussed. There was a Mrs. Bishop who had preached; there were women +who lectured on various subjects. + +The sewing-machine was making its way; and the argument in its favour +was that it would save a woman's strength and give her more leisure. But +employment of any kind out of the house _was_ considered derogatory +unless one had no father or brother to supply her needs. + +Still, the old simple life was going out of date. There was more style; +and some leaders of opinion professed to be shocked at the extravagance +of the day. There was a sudden influx of people up-town. There were new +stores and offices. One wondered where all the people came from. But New +York had taken rapid strides in her merchant-marine. The fastest vessels +in the China trade went out of her ports. The time to both California +and China was shortened by the flying clippers. The gold of that +wonderful land of Ophir was the magic ring that one had only to rub, if +he could get hold of it, and work wonders. + +But the little girl went on her quiet way. They were finding friends in +the new neighbourhood; yet Daisy Jasper could not be superseded. Every +letter was carefully treasured; and, oh, how many things she found to +say in return. + +They kept up the intimacy with the Deans, though Josephine seemed almost +a young woman. Mr. Reed enjoyed the pleasant home wonderfully. Charles +spent much of his leisure over music, of which he was passionately fond. +He and Jim were not so intimate. Jim was going with a gayer lot of young +fellows, while Charles was seriously considering his life-plans. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AMONG GREAT THINGS + + +Were people more enthusiastic in old New York than they are at the end +of the century? We have done so much, we have had so many wonderful +happenings since then. To be sure, Dickens had been over and made, +people thought, a somewhat caustic return for the hospitable welcome; +Harriet Martineau had made a tour, and gone home rather favourably +impressed; and the winter before the intellectual circle--and it was +getting to be quite notable--had honoured the Swedish novelist, +Frederica Bremer, and been really charmed by her unaffected sweetness. +If they were not quite ready to take up her theories for the advancement +of women, they fell to reading the delightful "Neighbours" and "Home." +And now there was to be another visitant, "The Swedish Nightingale." + +For Mr. Barnum was still the prince of entertainers. Theatres waxed and +waned, and new stars came to the front who had still their laurels to +win; people strove for cards to the Steven's Terrace, just back of +Columbia College on Park Place. Bleecker Street was not out of date, +though Mrs. Hamilton Fish had gone up to Stuyvesant Square, and was +gathering about her a political clique. There were card-parties and +dances; there were Christy's Minstrels and the Hutchinson family; and +some of the more intellectual circles had conversaziones where the best +talent displayed itself. Still, Barnum could not be crowded out. No +sarcasm withered him; and his variety was infinite. It was a safe place +for mothers to go and take their children. The men had formed several +ambitious clubs, and were beginning to entertain themselves. + +Jenny Lind had already captivated Europe. Mr. Barnum judiciously brought +interest up to fever heat. After the bargain was made known, and the +young singer had taken her passage with her suite, a musical rage +pervaded the very city. The streets leading to the wharf were thronged +by crowds in the wildest enthusiasm. Triumphal arches were built across +Canal Street, and as she came down the gang-plank of the steamer, shouts +rent the very air. + +The young traveller and poet, Bayard Taylor, had captured the prize +offered for the finest ode to be sung at her first concert. Two hundred +dollars seemed a large price at that time, as Tennyson had not been +offered a thousand for a poem. So great was the inquiry for tickets, +that they were sold at auction a few days previous. And Mr. Genin, a +Broadway hatter, signalised himself by making the highest bid for a +ticket,--two hundred and twenty-five dollars. Over one thousand tickets +were sold on the first day. + +The concert was to be at Castle Garden. At five, the doors were opened, +and people began to throng in, though each seat had been secured to its +proper owner; and by eight, the audience was in a perfect transport of +expectation. It was said to be the largest audience assembled to listen +to her. And when she was led on the stage by her manager, the enthusiasm +was beyond description. It seemed to divine beforehand that the +fair-haired Swedish songstress would meet all expectations; and she +passed beyond it. + +Ben had been caught by the enthusiasm, and squandered his savings on a +ticket. He and Jim had been in the crowd around the hotel, that first +night when the New York musical society had serenaded her, and she had +bowed from the old stone balcony to the admiring crowds. + +"There isn't any word to express it," declared Ben, at the +breakfast-table the next morning. "Joe, you must hear her, and +Hanny--all of you. Never mind the cost." + +"Ben, you have lost your senses," said his mother, with a touch of her +old sharpness. "As if we were all millionaires! And I have heard people +sing before." + +"Not anything like that. You can't imagine such melody. And the +enthusiasm of the crowd is worth something!" + +The little girl looked up wistfully. She was beginning to understand the +value of money. + +"Yes," returned Joe; "Hanny must hear her. I wouldn't have her miss it +for anything. But the tickets won't be so high after a little." + +They dropped to regular prices, but that was high for the times; and the +rush continued unabated. New York broke out in a Jenny Lind furore. +There were gloves, and hats, and shawls, and gowns, beautiful little +tables, and consoles, and furniture of all sorts that bore her name. The +bakers made Jenny Lind cake. What a time there was! Enthusiastic adorers +took her carriage from its shafts, and dragged it from Castle Garden to +the hotel. Was New York old in those days? Rather, it was the glowing, +fervid impetuosity of early youth. + +And the serenade, when Broadway was jammed for blocks, and lighted by +torches in the street, and illuminations in the houses and stores. There +was a wonderful cornetist, Koenig, who could have won another Eurydice +from the shades with his playing. Out on the balcony he stood and moved +the crowd with his melody. Then she came out beside him, and, in the +hush, a thousand times more appreciative than the wildest applause, the +magnificent voice sang to its large, free audience, "Home, Sweet Home," +as no one will ever hear it sung again. That alone would be fame enough +for any writer of song! + +The furore did not abate. But they must all go,--Stephen and Dolly, +Margaret and her husband, Joe and the little girl, and her father. + +"It is nonsense for an old fellow like me," he declared, half +humourously. + +"But I shall like it so much better, and then we can talk it over +afterward. That's half the pleasure." + +She looked so wistful out of her soft eyes, and patted his hand with her +caressing little fingers, of course he couldn't say No. + +It was so much harder to persuade Mrs. Underhill. "It certainly _was_ +wicked to spend so much money just to hear one woman sing. She had heard +the 'Messiah,' with Madame Anna Bishop in it; and she never again +expected to hear anything so beautiful this side of heaven." + +They carried the day, however, in spite of her objections. Castle Garden +looked like fairyland, with its brilliant lights, its hundred ushers in +white gloves and rosettes, their wands tipped with ribbon as if for some +grand ball. The quiet was awe-inspiring. One did not even want to +whisper to his neighbour, but just sit in fascinated silence and wonder +what it would be like. + +Then Jenny Lind was led on the stage, and the entire audience rose with +one vast, deafening cheer,--a magnificent one, as hearty as on her first +night. It seemed as if they would never stop. There was a cloud of +waving handkerchiefs, shaking out fragrance in the air. + +A simple Swedish maiden in her gown of soft, white silk, with no blaze +of diamonds, and just one rose low down in her banded hair, only her +gracious sweetness and simplicity, a thousand times finer and more +effective than flashing beauty. She has heard the applause many a time +before, in audiences of crowned heads; and this from the multitude is +just as sweet. + +When all is listening, attentive silence, she begins "Casta Diva." "Hark +to the voice," and every one listens with such intensity that the +magnificent sound swells out and fills the farthest space. There is no +striving for effect. A woman singing with a God-given voice, in simple +thanks for its ownership, not a queen bidding for admiration. Had any +voice ever made such glorious melody, or so stirred human souls? + +The applause has in it an immensity of appreciation, as if it could +never get itself wholly expressed. + +Then another favourite, which everybody sang at for years afterward: "I +dreamt I dwelt in marble halls." In some of the sorrows of her +womanhood, the little girl was to recall the sweet refrain-- + + "That you loved me still the same." + +Then "Comin' thro' the Rye," with a lilt and dainty deliciousness that +one never can forget. But "Home, Sweet Home," moves to tears and +enthusiasm. Surely, no voice ever put such pathos, such marvellous +sweetness, into it! + +And sometimes now, when the little girl looks over to the other country, +one of the many joys she thinks will be hearing such blessed voices as +Jenny Lind's and Parepa Rosa's. You could not shake her faith in +immortality and all these precious joys to come. + +She was quite a heroine at school for many days to come. People did not +think it worth while to spend so much money on children at that time. + +Margaret and her mother had compromised on the school question, or +rather Margaret had yielded. + +Hanny would graduate at the end of the year. Margaret preferred a +stylish boarding-school after that. The Hoffmans were quite in the swim +of that period. The Doctor's connections, and Margaret's beauty, made +them welcome in circles that were beginning to grow a little exclusive, +and demand grandfathers for vouchers. There was a little talk, even +then, about _nouveaux riches_; but, after all, no one seemed to +absolutely despise wealth. + +Margaret was really very ambitious for the younger members of the +family. Jim, with his good looks and the brightness that was akin to +wit, was her favourite. Then he took naturally to elegance. + +Dolly was very happy and jolly with her husband and children. They lived +in a very pleasant manner; and society courted Dolly as well. Stephen +was prospering wonderfully, and had a fine standing among business-men. + +Hanny was extravagantly fond of the children. Stevie called her Auntie +Nan, now; but Annie said simply Nan. Margaret had adopted it as well. +Hannah was rather awkward and old-fashioned. Even Ben sometimes +warbled,-- + + "Nannie, wilt thou gang wi' me?" + +She had another great and unexpected treat a few weeks later. She had +gone on Friday to make a real visit at Dolly's, and go from there to +school on Monday morning. And, fortunately for her, she had taken her +best Sunday frock, which she was wearing a good deal lest she might +outgrow it. + +And who should drop in but Delia Whitney. Whether Dolly suspected all +was not clear sailing for the young people, no one could have told from +her friendly manner. She had taken quite a liking to Delia, and was much +interested in her success. + +They talked over the Jenny Lind concert. Delia had attended two. She was +going about quite a good deal among literary people. + +"And to-morrow night, The. and I are going to take Ben to the Osgoods. +Oh, Hanny, that's the author of the little song you sing:-- + + "'I love you, I adore you; but + I'm talking in my sleep.' + +And she's just lovely." + +"Oh," cried Hanny, "I should like to see her, truly. You know I told you +about seeing her in the carriage when she went up to Mr. Poe's." + +"Well, can't you go? The. has a standing invitation to bring friends. +Why, Nora has gone! She sang up there one evening, and did wonderfully +well. Her teacher thinks in a year or two she can try concerts; only it +isn't best to strain her voice now. And you may see some famous people, +and some yet to be famous, myself among them." + +"Oh, I don't care about the others," said Hanny, naively. "And if you +are quite sure--Dolly, ought I to go?" + +"Why not?" answered Dolly. "It's fortunate that you brought your best +frock; though we could have sent for it. Why, yes, if you would like +to." + +Hanny drew a long breath. Twice of late her mother had found excuses +when she had asked to go down to Beach Street. She, too, had a vague +feeling there was something in the air; but her simple nature was not +suspicious. And it wasn't like going to the Whitney's. She couldn't do +such a thing without asking permission. + +Delia finished her call, kissed the babies and Hanny, and said they +would all be up at eight, sharp. + +"I'll have Hanny in apple-pie order," answered Dolly, with her bright +smile. + +Stephen was delightful in his family; and he had the same odd little +look in his eye as her father, suggestive of fun. He was teaching her to +play checkers; and, although Dolly helped sometimes, she found it hard +work to beat him. Dolly sat by embroidering. + +The next morning they drove down-town and did some shopping, and called +on Annette, who made them stay to luncheon. Mrs. Beekman was quite +poorly now, and had grown very, very stout. She said, "she had lost all +her ambition. It was a great thing to be young, and have all your life +before you." + +It was so delightful; and Dolly was sure they wouldn't have many more +such Indian summery days, so they went over to Washington Parade-ground, +where the style promenaded on Saturday afternoon. Hanny wore her best +dress and a pretty cloth cape trimmed with a little edge of fur. They +took Stevie, who was delighted of course, and who ran about, very proud +of his new jacket and trousers. + +Many of the promenaders nodded to young Mrs. Stephen Underhill. Belles +and beaux went by; prettily dressed children; stylish little boys, who +carried canes, and had long tassels drooping over one side of their +caps. Hanny enjoyed it all very much. + +Then after supper, Dolly put a fine lace tucker over the edging at the +neck of her frock, and found a blue sash, and curled her hair so as to +make it all wavy at the edge of her forehead; and there was a very +sweet, attractive girl, if she wasn't a beauty. + +Mr. Theodore Whitney seemed very much amused and pleased, and politely +inquired if he might be Miss Underhill's escort. Delia looked unusually +nice in her new brown silk and some beautiful old lace Aunt Clem had +given her. + +People did not wait until ten o'clock for "functions" to begin; neither +did they give them that uneuphonious name. Hanny had read and heard a +good deal since her first visit to genius in the plain, poor, little +cottage; and this certainly had more of the true aspect one connects +with poesy. The two rooms were daintily furnished; pictures everywhere. +Mr. Osgood was a painter, and his portraits were quite celebrated. The +curtains fell with a graceful sweep. The light brocade of the chairs +threw out glisteny shades; the little tables set about held books and +engravings, and great portfolios leaned against the wall. There was a +case of choicely-bound books, and an open piano. Flowers were in vases +on brackets, and low, quaint china bowls. It was like a lovely picture +to the little girl; but she felt afraid of the people talking so +earnestly, and wondered if they were all poets and authors. + +The party greeted their hostess, and Hanny was introduced. Was it the +glamour of the summer and the blue gown that had made Mrs. Osgood so +lovely sitting there in the carriage? Now she was thin, and her hair was +banded down in the fashion of the day; then it had been flying in +ringlets. Her gown was black silk, and that made her look rather grave; +but when she smiled, all the old sweetness was there. Hanny knew her +then. + +Delia took charge of Hanny, and seated her by a table with a book of +choice engravings. Ben had found some one he knew, and Mr. Whitney had +gone to talk to General Morris. A tall young lady came over and began +complimenting Miss Whitney on her story in Godey's, and Delia flushed up +with pleasure. Then she begged to introduce her to a friend. She wrote +verses only, and her friend had composed music for them. + +Hanny kept watching her hostess. She knew some of the guests, from +having had them pointed out to her in the street. There was Mr. Greeley, +thin of face and careless of attire in those early days. In the street +he could always be told by a shaggy light coat that he wore. + +A very sweet-looking elderly lady came up presently and spoke to Delia, +who was in full flow of eager talk with the young musical composer. + +"Isn't that your sister, or your niece,--the one who sang here some time +ago? I saw her come in with Mr. Whitney." + +"Oh, no," returned Delia. "But she is a very dear friend,--Mr. +Underhill's sister." + +"Mr. Stephen Underhill?" + +"Yes, she is his sister; but it is Mr. Ben Underhill who is here." + +"I know Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Underhill very well. She was a Beekman. And +Dr. Hoffman's wife belongs to the family." + +Delia turned and introduced Mrs. Kirtland. + +She had such an attractive face, framed in with rows of snowy puffs, +quite gone out of date, but becoming to her nevertheless. + +"I feel that I almost know you," she said sweetly, "though I half +mistook you for Miss Whitney; but she is dark, and you are fair, so I +ought not to have made the blunder. I know your brother Stephen and his +wife." + +"Oh!" Hanny gave it a glad little sound, and smiled, as she put out her +small hand. + +Mrs. Kirtland took the unoccupied seat. + +"I suppose you have hardly begun life, you look so young. But no doubt +you are a genius of some sort. Mrs. Osgood is so extraordinarily good to +young geniuses." + +"No, I haven't any genius," and Hanny flushed, as she gave a beguiling +smile that lighted up her face. "And though there are a good many of +us, we have not even a family genius." + +"That depends upon whether you restrict the word to painting a picture +or writing a poem or a story. Mr. Stephen Underhill is very highly +spoken of as one of the promising young business-men. And is it your +brother who was in the office of old Dr. Fitch, and in the hospital?" + +"Yes, ma'am," returned Hanny, with a glow of pleasure. Young people were +still expected to say "Yes, sir," and "Yes, ma'am," to their elders, out +of respect. + +"That does very well for one family, though the Whitneys seem to have a +good share. Miss Delia is quite a success, I hear. And we always find +Mr. Whitney very entertaining. Have you known them long?" + +"Oh, for years, seven almost. And we used to be neighbours." + +"A friendship is said to be certain when you have held it seven years. +Have you met Mrs. Osgood before?" + +"No, ma'am; but I saw her quite a long while ago at Fordham." + +"At Fordham! Then you must have known the poet Edgar Allan Poe." + +"A little," returned Hanny, timidly. + +"There's such a romance to his life at that place,--his lovely young +wife dying, and the devotion of Mrs. Clemm. Oh, tell me about your +episode!" + +Hanny told the story, very simply, charmingly as well. + +"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Kirtland, "Frances must hear that!" Then she +glanced around. Mrs. Osgood was no longer receiving guests, but mingling +with the company. Some one was going to the piano; and everybody +listened to an exquisite voice singing a beautiful Italian melody. When +that was finished, a young man who was to be famous in after years read +a sweet, simple poem that touched every one's heart. Then the talk began +in little groups again. + +Mrs. Kirtland signalled to her hostess, who came over to them. + +"Frances," she said, "here is a youthful worshipper who remembers you as +a lovely lady all in cerulean blue, and with long curls, going up to the +Poe cottage. See how you have lived in the child's memory. And she sings +a song of yours." + +Hanny's face was scarlet for a moment; but Mrs. Osgood sat down beside +her, and they talked of the poet and Mrs. Clemm, and touched lightly +upon the sad after-happenings. He had at one time been a frequent guest. +There was even yet a deep interest in him, though opinion was sharply +divided. And Mrs. Osgood had known the beautiful Virginia, whose sad +fate even then was hardly realised. They talked a little about "Annabel +Lee" and the "high-born kinsman;" and Hanny thought she had a delightful +time. + +There was coffee and chocolate and lemonade, with plates of dainty cakes +and confectionery, in an ante-room. Then a gentleman sang a +hunting-song in a fine tenor voice; and another paper on Art was read. + +If people came early, they also dispersed at a reasonable hour. It was +not quite ten when Delia, Hanny, and Ben made their adieus to the +hostess, who stooped and kissed Hanny for "old remembrance' sake," she +said. + +Mr. Whitney was going down with some of the older men. Ben saw his +little sister safe in Stephen's hands, and then went on with Delia. + +"I've had such a splendid time!" exclaimed Hanny. "I wouldn't have +missed it for the world." + +When she told the home-folks about it, her mother made no comment; but +Joe and her father were very much interested. And when, not long after +that, "the high-born kinsman" came for the charming woman who had given +much pleasure in her brief way through the world, and who had not +disdained to write a verse and her name in many a society album, Hanny +felt quite as if she had lost a dear friend. + +Two other poets, sisters, Alice and Ph[oe]be Cary, came to New York, and +held receptions that were quite famous as time went on. To be sure, +there was the old name of blue-stocking applied to them now and then; +for people, women especially, were taking a wider interest in other +affairs beside literature, prefiguring the new woman. Miss Delia Whitney +was very much interested. They were not quite up to clubs in those days, +or she would have been a charter-member. + +But the child Hanny had enough to do to study her lessons, practise her +music, and make her visits, with a little sewing in between. She did +make her father a set of shirts; but underclothing of all kinds was +being manufactured; and though the older-fashioned women sneered at it, +as rather poor stuff, the men seemed to like it. At gentlemen's +furnishing stores, you could buy shirts cut and made in the latest +style, the neckbands of which always seemed to fit, or else the men +discreetly refrained from grumbling when they had spent so much money. +And women began to find it eased their burdens. + +No one wanted home-knit stockings, the English and French and Germans +sent us such perfect ones. White was still all the style, unless you +wore black, or blossom-coloured silk. Of course there were common people +who put slate-colour on their children, because white made so much +washing. And as for pantalets, there were none left. + +There were other people called away beside poets, and changes made in +families. Grandmother Underhill went to the country wherein the faithful +abide, and Aunt Katrina. Grandmother Van Kortlandt came to make her home +with her daughter. Aunt Crete and Cousin Joanna Morgan, and here and +there some of the old people, as well as the young, passed over the +narrow river. + +But there seemed new babies all around. Dolly and Margaret had little +sons, and Cleanthe a daughter. John was quite jealous of Hanny's notice; +for his little girl was fair, and had light hair, and they were quite +sure it looked like her. John wanted to call her Hannah Ann. + +"Oh, no," said Hanny; "there are so many beautiful names now!" Then she +laughed. "I shall not promise her a hundred dollars, nor my string of +gold beads. I am not sorry, for I have loved both grandmothers; and one +is gone--" + +"Why don't we name her after _her_ grandmothers?" exclaimed Cleanthe. +"One of hers is gone," and she sighed. "It seems such a long name for a +wee baby." + +"Margaret Elizabeth,--it is a beautiful name," said Hanny, with delight. +"Mother will give her something, I know. And I will be her godmother, +and endow her for the Elizabeth." + +"With all your worldly goods?" asked John. + +"Not _quite_ all--" + +"You'll be impoverished, Hanny," interrupted John, with a glint of +humour. "Six nephews and nieces already! And there are four of us still +to marry, if George ever comes back. He hasn't made his fortune yet. He +was crazy to go. The good times here suit me well enough." + +Grandmother Underhill put fifty dollars in the bank for the new baby, +and gave it a silver spoon. Hanny gave her a silver cup with her name +engraved on it, and, with Dolly's help, made her a beautiful christening +robe, which Cleanthe saved up for her, the sewing and tucking on it was +so exquisite. She used to show it to visitors with a great deal of +pride. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE BEGINNINGS OF ROMANCE + + +There was Saratoga and Newport; and Long Branch laid claim to some +distinction; even Cape May was not unknown to fame,--still the Jersey +coast, with all its magnificent possibilities, really had not been +discovered, and was rather contemptuously termed sand wastes. It was +getting to be quite the thing to go off awhile in the summer. Some of +the style had spent a "season" in London, and seen the young Queen and +the Prince Consort and the royal children, and gone over to Paris to see +"the nephew of his uncle," who was taking a hand in the new French +Republic. + +But plain people still visited their relatives a good deal. Ben had +taken a holiday, and gone up to Tarrytown after Hanny; and they had made +pilgrimages along to different cousins. They sat on the old porch at +Fordham; but one of the cousins was married, and gone to her own home, +taken the tall, bright-eyed young man who had been about so much the +olden summer. + +It was really a delightful walk over there. Ben was finding out odd +places for Delia, who was now interested in some Revolutionary sketches. +They had explored Kingsbridge; they had found Featherbed Lane; they +learned the Harlem River once had borne the Indian name of Umscoota. +Here, more than forty years before, Robert Macomb had built his dam, in +defiance of certain national laws, as he wanted a volume of water for +his mill. + +Many and ineffectual were the efforts made to remove it by the +surrounding property-owners who had large and beautiful estates. For no +one dreamed then that the great city would sometime absorb everything, +and that here was to stand a beautiful bridge, the pride of the city. +But the old dam was one dark night assaulted by a "piratical craft," +that demanded entrance, and, on being refused a right through the +waterway, demolished the old affair; and the freed and happy river went +on to the sea unvexed, and still kept Manhattan an island, to be bridged +over as convenience required. + +Down in one of the pretty valleys was the home of Cousin Jennie, that +Hanny always connected with Mrs. Clemm and the poet. All about were +green fields and orchards, hills and valleys. Between them and the +Harlem lay a high wooded ridge from whose top you could see the Hudson, +and the Harlem was like a cord winding in and out of green valleys. +There was Fort George and Harlem plains; and Hanny recalled the two old +Underhill ladies whose lives had reached back to Revolutionary times. + +They rambled about the historic ground, peaceful enough then. There was +the old Poole house, the De Voe house, and further up the Morris +mansion. What names they recalled!--Washington, Rochambeau, the Hessian +General Knyphausen. + +And then Cousin Jennie's husband pointed out a place with a romantic +story. When the Hessian Army had swept on in the steps of General +Washington's retreating men, they had been encamped for some time, +foraging about for food and demanding supplies of the farmers,--an +ill-fed, and ill-clothed set of conscripts, without much enthusiasm, +many of them torn from home and friends, neither knowing nor caring +about the land where they had gone to fight, and perhaps lay their +bones. + +Among them a young fellow, Anthony Woolf by name, whose mother, in a +district in distant Germany, had yielded to the blandishments of a +second husband, thus rendering her son liable to conscription, as he was +no longer her sole protector. Young Anthony knew his stepfather grudged +him the broad acres of his patrimony, and guessed whose influence had +sent the press-gang one night, and hurried him off, without even a +good-bye to his mother, to the nearest seaport town, and there embarked +him for a perilous ocean-journey, to fight against people struggling for +their liberty. + +He had fought, like many of the others, under a sort of rebellious +protest. Several had deserted: some joining the American army from +sympathy. But Anthony was sick of carnage and marching and +semi-starvation. Winter was coming on. So, one night, he stole out +unperceived, and hurried down to the river's edge. On the other side, +at some distance, he could see a faint gleam of light between the +leafless trees. He had watched it longingly. There were many kindly +disposed people who gave shelter to deserters. He threw off his heavy +coat, and his boots, with the soles worn through, and made a plunge. The +water was cold, the way longer than it looked; but he buffeted across +and crawled out in the autumn blast, dripping and shivering, and ran up +to the kitchen steps, that looked more friendly than the great wide +porch and stately doorway. The maids were frightened, and a man came, to +whom he told his story in broken English, and was taken in, warmed and +fed and clothed, and kept out of sight for several days. + +In his gratitude and delight, he made himself useful. He had been +accustomed to farming and herds and flocks. The old Morris estate was +large; and when the British Army was safely out of the way, there was +work in plenty; and a faithful hand Anthony Woolf proved. + +When the long summer days came the next year, there was no end of +spinning in the great house, where linen and woollen were made for the +family use. The farmers' daughters used to be eager for the chances; and +one day, when pretty Phebe Oakley's grandmother was going over to the +great house, as it was so often called, the young girl begged her to +speak a good word for her, as she could spin both wool and flax. + +"They'll be glad to have you," said grandmother on her return. "But, +Phebe, they have a young Woolf over there; so look out he doesn't catch +you." + +Phebe tossed her head. She was in no hurry to be caught. And yet it so +fell out that when Anthony Woolf had saved up a little money, and +negotiated for a farm over in the valley, he caught pretty Phebe Oakley, +and built a house for her, and prospered. + +They looked at the place where the Hessian Army had been encamped, and +traced the course of the young fellow's daring swim. And here was the +old part of the house he had built, and where he had outlived his own +son, but left grandsons behind him, one of whom had married Cousin +Jennie. Grandmother was still alive,--a little, rather-faded, and +shrunken old lady who had once been pretty Phebe Oakley, who lived with +her daughter in the old part. + +"There are lots of romances lying about unused," said Ben. "I should +like to have a story-teller's gift myself." + +Hanny was so interested in young Mr. Woolf that she had to tell Joe all +the story when she came home; and he said they must go up the historic +Harlem some day. And he said Umscoota meant "Stream among the green +sedge." + +This year it had to be Rutger's Institute for Hanny. There were a great +many new schools; but Dolly and Margaret carried the day. She thought at +first she shouldn't like it at all; but when she came to know the girls, +she began to feel quite at home, and, in some queer fashion, as if she +were growing up. But she didn't seem to grow very fast. + +Ben came to his twenty-first birthday. He was a tall, well-grown young +fellow, and often surprised Jim by the amount of knowledge he possessed. +And then he went over to the "Tribune" office, and sometimes tried his +hand at queer, out-of-the-way bits of past lore that people were almost +forgetting. Just how it came about, he never clearly remembered himself; +but one night, when Delia had seemed unusually attractive to three or +four young men who haunted the place, he rose abruptly and said he must +go. There was a set look in his usually pleasant face, and he shut his +lips, as if something had displeased him. + +Delia went to the hall door. As he turned, she caught his arm. + +"What is it, Ben?" she said in a hurried whisper. "Something has +happened to vex you." + +"Something!" with youthful bitterness. "We never have any good times any +more. There's always such a crowd--" + +"Oh, Ben! Are you jealous? Why, you know I like you better than any of +them! Gordon only comes to get ideas; he's so very anxious to do +something in literature. As if I could help anybody!" and she laughed. +"The others come for fun. You're worth them all, Ben. Oh, don't go away +angry!" with a voice of tender pleading. + +Ben felt suddenly foolish. Was he angry over such a trifle? Then he +glanced up in Delia's face; he was on the step below. What was there in +her eyes; and she had said she liked him better than any of them, even +that handsome Van Doren. Well, he was most jealous of Van Doren, who was +in his last year at Columbia, and whose father was rich and indulgent. + +"Oh," he said with an indrawn breath, "you must know that I love you. +I've always loved you, I think." + +She put her arms about his neck, and kissed him. It was very +reprehensible, I suppose. Young people were honestly friendly in those +days, and seldom had a chaperone; yet they did not play at love, unless +they were real flirts; and a flirt soon gained an unenviable reputation. + +"Come down a ways with me," he entreated, with a little tremulous sound +in his voice that touched her. + +The street was very quiet. He put his arm about her, and drew her close +to his side. + +"Oh, it's cool out here, and you've no wrap!" He was suddenly very +careful of her. "But I wanted to say--it isn't only a like, but a love. +You _do_ love me, Delia?" + +"I love you, love you! I love you and yours." + +"Of course we will have to wait. We are both young. But I'm doing a bit +of outside work, and have a chance to come up--" + +"If we did marry, you'd have to come and live with me; for I have +promised Aunt Patty never to leave her. I haven't really thought about +marriage. There is so much to my life all the time. Oh, yes, we can +wait. But you must not feel afraid, Ben. I like fun and nonsense, and +plenty of people to talk to. I'm not sure I shall make a good wife, +even, though both of my sisters do." + +"I want you, good or bad," said Ben, sturdily. + +They both laughed, and then he kissed her again. + +"Oh, you must go back! You'll get an awful cold." + +"I never do take cold. I'll run like a flash. Come to-morrow night. Oh, +Ben!" + +"Oh, Delia, my darling!" + +Then she flew back. How long had she been gone? She re-entered the room +with a most nonchalant air; and in two minutes she had them all in a +whirl of conversation, even if they did look rather curious. + +Ben sauntered up home. It was quite early. Hanny was upstairs reading to +grandmother, who went to bed at nine, and liked to have Hanny come in +and read to her. Joe sat in his office, poring over an abstruse medical +article. He glanced up and nodded. + +"Joe," the lad began, with a bright flush that gave a certain tenderness +to his eyes, which were dewy sweet,--"Joe, listen a minute. I am engaged +to Delia Whitney,--just to-night. But I hate mean, underhand things. I +wanted some one to know it. And--shall I tell mother? Of course she +won't like it; though I don't see why." + +"Ben, I don't believe I would just now. You are young, and you won't be +married under a year or two. No, I would wait a little. She may settle +to it presently," said the elder, thoughtfully. + +"I don't want her to feel hurt. I'd just like to go and tell her, I am +so happy." + +He looked so brave and manly that Joe was almost sorry not to send him. +But he _did_ know that his mother objected to it strenuously, and might +say something that would cut Ben to the heart. + +Latterly, he had been cherishing a vague belief that the affair would +end in a sort of a good comradeship. + +"Thank you," Ben laid his hand on the elder's shoulder. "You are a dear +good brother, Joe. Don't you suppose you will ever marry? No one will be +quite good enough for you. You're a splendid fellow." + +Joe went back to his book; but it had lost interest. Well--it was rather +queer. He had been made very welcome in several houses; and Margaret had +given delicate little suggestions. But he had never cared for any one. +He would be nine and twenty on his next birthday,--quite a bachelor. + +It was somewhat curious; but Ben, who had never cared for fixing up, +though he was always clean, suddenly developed a new care for his cuffs +and collars, and indulged in light-coloured neckties, and gloves that he +could no longer "run and jump in," as Jim had accused him of doing. He +went out Sunday evening to tea, which was a new thing, though he often +stayed at the Whitneys' through the week. There was a certain air of +being of supreme consequence to some one; Mrs. Underhill rather resented +it. + +Jim was very gay this winter. A good-looking young collegian who was +bright and full of fun, and could sing college glees in a fine tenor +voice, tell a capital story, and dance well, was not likely to go +begging. + +One evening he stumbled over his old friend Lily Ludlow, whom he had not +seen for two years,--a tall, stylish girl, handsome in the ordinary +acceptation of the word, but lacking some of the finer qualities, if you +studied her closely. There had been some great changes in her life. Her +father had died suddenly, leaving but small provision for them. Chris +had her hands full trying to live pretentiously on a rather small +income. + +They had found an elderly aunt of Mr. Ludlow's who, in her day, had been +quite a society woman. She had an old-fashioned but well furnished house +in Amity Street, and had not given up all her acquaintances. The house +was to go to her husband's family when she was done with it, there being +no children; and her income ended with her life, so there was nothing to +expect from her. + +"But I do want a housekeeper and a nurse, sometimes," she said to +Mrs. Ludlow. "If you like to fill the place, you will have a good home +and good wages. And Lily's fine looks ought to get her a husband." + +Amity Street still had a rather select air, if its fashion was falling +off a little. The house was old, but not out of date, and quite +imposing; and the big doorplate, with "Nicoll" on it, stamped it as +undeniably aristocratic, Miss Lily thought. She urged her mother to +accept it. + +"I don't feel as if I could be at that queer old woman's beck and call. +I remember when we were first married she said some very mean things. My +family was quite as good as your father's, Lily. Neither of his brothers +amounted to much, though his sister married a rich Southerner and went +off to forget all her relatives. We've never asked anything of the +Ludlows, and I don't want to now." + +"But it will only be for a year or two. Of course I shall marry; and +then you will have two homes." + +"I'd a sight rather go with Chris. And if you could teach--seems to me +you might, with your education. And you have had two lovers already." + +"Who couldn't take care of me. I am not going to marry that way. But, as +Aunt Nicoll says, 'We shall be sure of a good home.'" + +Lily gained her point. Early in the preceding spring they had gone to +Amity Street. The spacious, old-fashioned parlours were a little out of +date, but had been elegant in their day. Lily laid off her mourning, and +fell heir to some handsome gowns that Chris helped her remodel. Mrs. +Nicoll was queer and bad-tempered; and the difficulty had been to keep +servants who would submit to such exactions. Matters went a little +smoother; but poor Mrs. Ludlow had to suffer. + +Lily spent a month at Saratoga with Mrs. Nicoll and the maid. The old +lady was a good deal entertained by the airs and graces and bright ways +of her grand-niece. Lily made several conquests; but the desirable offer +of marriage was not forth-coming. + +Mrs. Nicoll gave a reception early in the season,--a thing she always +did; and her friends attended with a certain kindly feeling that she was +old, and the duty might never be required of them again. Miss Lily made +quite an impression; and cards and invitations were left for her. And +when she attended a dance at the Apollo Rooms, the height of her +ambition was reached. + +At a pretty private dance she met her school-day admirer again, and +tried her charms, which had increased notably since that youthful +period. She did dance beautifully, and had no lack of the small talk of +the day. Jim promised to call, and did so at an early date, rather +surprised at the solid elegance of the place. Lily expatiated skilfully +on dear old Aunt Nicoll, who _would_ have mother come and stay with her; +since they were alone it seemed the best thing to do; and Aunt Nicoll +had no near relatives of her own. There were plenty of her husband's +family "hungry for what she had," said Lily, with a sort of sneer, as if +they might find themselves mistaken in the end. + +Certainly, Jim thought, Lily had dropped in a clover-field. He found +that Mrs. Nicoll was considered a rich woman. Lily was handsomely +dressed, and no doubt she would be kindly remembered in the old lady's +will. Not that Jim was speculating on any part or lot in the matter. He +was too young; he would have his three years in the law school, and +after that, getting established. + +Lily begged him to bring some of his friends. The house was lonely, with +no young people for companionship; and she raised her eyes in the old +pleading fashion that even now had quite an effect upon him. + +Jim chose several young men that he associated with. Some of them had +sisters, who declared Miss Ludlow charming. She was not anxious now to +have any of the Underhills on her visiting-list; but she did mean to +make use of Jim. She had grown quite worldly-wise and experienced. + +Two of Jim's friends were generously supplied with pocket-money. One was +a young Virginian, Mr. Weir, the other, Harry Gaynor, and both spent +lavishly. Flowers were costly then; and Lily was the recipient of many a +handsome bouquet. In return, she now and then gave a dainty supper, +simple to be sure, or a card-party, with some delightful confections, +and a little coffee or chocolate. Mrs. Nicoll always retired early, and +took some drops to make sure of sleeping the first part of the night, so +she was not easily disturbed. + +Then there were stars at the theatres. Parodi was emulating Jenny Lind, +who had gone to Havana; and the houses were crowded, if the tickets were +not so high. It was so easy to spend money when an artful girl, with +softest voice and bewitching eyes, planned for you. And it was so easy +to borrow, when you had good friends. + +Miss Lily looked carefully over her ground; Harry Gaynor was gay and +delightful, but one couldn't be quite sure he was not flirting. And +though Mr. Weir had plenty of money, there was a large family of +brothers and sisters, and they lived on an extensive plantation miles +away from any considerable town. There was a Mr. Lewis, not so young, +who had an interest in an old well-established leather firm that had +been left him by an uncle. There were some non-eligibles. + +Mrs. Nicoll had said, in her caustic way:-- + +"You make the most of your time, Lily Ludlow. I'm past eighty, and you +may find me dead in my bed some morning. I have not a stiver to leave +any one; so don't you count on that. I can hardly pay my own way." + +Still she had every luxury for herself; for years she had considered +nothing but her own wants and indulgences. + +Poor Jim! In his young mannishness he was quite sure there was no danger +of falling in love; of course such a thing would be wildest folly. But +Lily was very fascinating and very flattering. She put it on the score +of old friendship; but, with a coquette's ardour, she did enjoy the +young fellow's struggles to keep himself on a firm footing. And when he +saw Gaynor's attentions, and listened to Weir's rhapsodies, a passion of +boyish jealousy sprang up in his heart. + +Miss Lily kept her other admirers out of the way, except as she might +meet them at dances or whist parties. She was not much in love with Mr. +Lewis; he was slow and really conceited, and, for a young man, rather +careful of his money. If she only dared run the risk, and take Mr. Weir, +who was to finish his college course in the summer! And then arose a new +star on her horizon. + +Mr. Williamson was forty and a widower; but he drove an elegant pair of +bays, belonged to a club, and had apartments at a hotel. She tried +captivating simplicity, and succeeded, to her great surprise, though she +knew his habits were not irreproachable. She had begged of Mr. Lewis a +little time for consideration, when one morning Mr. Williamson +astonished her by a call, and an offer of his hand and fortune. + +Miss Ludlow did not show her amazement, neither did she jump at the +offer. She was very delicately surprised. Was he quite certain of his +wishes? And--it was so unexpected! + +So certain indeed that he would bring her a ring that very afternoon, +and take her out driving,--a man of his years not to know his own mind! + +She could hardly believe her good fortune. For a fortnight she +engineered her way skilfully, still keeping Mr. Lewis in reserve. And +then she was convinced, and dismissed him. + +"Guess who is engaged?" Harry Gaynor cried, one morning. "I never was so +beat in my life! Jim, maybe this will hit you hard. Seems to me you've +been rather distraught of late and sighing like a furnace." + +"These exams are enough to make any one sigh. And I am way behind. I +must study day and night." + +"There are always engagements at this season, and weddings at Easter," +returned Weir, laughingly. + +"That isn't guessing, Jim!" + +"Oh, bother! What do I care?" + +"Then your charmer told you last night?" + +"My charmer? What are you driving at, Gaynor?" + +"Oh, how innocent! Miss Lily Ludlow." + +"I've met that Lewis there," returned Jim, with an air of bravado, +though he flushed a little. "He's a regular stick." + +"But it isn't Lewis. It's that Gerald Williamson,--a man about town. And +the queer thing is that he thinks he has struck a fortune. Do _you_ +know, Jim? Is she to be the old lady's heir?" + +Jim was silent. What should he say? + +"Of course she is," said Weir. "That is--I think it depends on whether +Mrs. Nicoll approves of the marriage." + +He had turned very pale. + +"Are you sure it is Williamson?" asked Jim. + +"He announced it himself. My cousin heard him. And as for the old +lady--the house is willed away. I've heard some talk; I can't just +remember what. She's been shrewdly giving the impression." + +"It would be a shame to sell her to the highest bidder! And Williamson's +double her age. No sister of mine would be allowed to do such a thing. +She can't love him! Why, she has only been driving out with him a few +times." + +"If she's sold, she has done the business herself. She's a girl to look +out for the main chance. Weir, I hope you haven't been hovering too near +the flame. The Ludlow is capital to flirt with,--quick, spicy, +sentimental by spells, not the kind of a girl to waste herself on a +young, impecunious fellow like our friend Jim, here, so he goes +scot-free. Weir, I hope you're not hard hit. We've all had a good time; +but I think now we must address ourselves to the examinations in hand, +and let the girls go. Though I am in for two big weddings, presently." + +There was a summons to the class-room that stopped the chaffing. Jim +felt very sober. Lily had indirectly led him to think she cared a great +deal about him, and if matters only _were_ a little different! He ought +not to get engaged; but the preference was flattering when a man like +Weir was head over heels in love with her! + +But to marry an old man like Gerald Williamson! thought the young +fellow, disdainfully. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +COUNTING UP THE COST + + +Jim failed miserably. What was the matter? He couldn't seem to remember +the simplest thing. Did it make any difference to him whom she married? +Well--if it _had_ been Weir; but that imperious, pretentious, +half-dissipated Williamson, who report said had run though with one +fortune, and two years ago had fallen heir to another! Why were some +people so lucky! Grandmother Van Kortlandt had some money; but Hanny was +named for her, and Joe was a great favourite. Then Jim flushed hotly. +The idea of counting on any one's money! + +Still he had a boyish, chivalric idea that he would like to snatch Lily +from this awful peril, as it seemed to him. Could it be really true? The +older men said Williamson was a braggart. There might be no truth in it. +He would ask Lily. + +Several days passed before Jim achieved his desire. Then, as he loitered +around one afternoon, he saw Williamson leave the house. After a few +moments he knocked. + +"Miss Lily is indisposed, and cannot see any one," announced the maid. + +"She will see me," returned Jim, with an air of dignity; and he walked +into the parlour that had an atmosphere of twilight, quite determined to +remain until she came down. + +She seemed in no hurry, and Jim's temper began to loose its serenity. +The maid came and lighted the gas jet in the hall. Then there was a +rustle of silken garments on the stair. + +"Oh, Jim dear," the entreating voice said, "I've had such a horrid +headache all the afternoon. I've been in the bed. I really did not feel +fit to see any one," with a languid, indifferent air. + +And Williamson had just gone away! + +"So you will excuse me, if I'm stupid--" + +"Is the story true about your--your engagement?" asked the young fellow, +abruptly. + +"My engagement? Well, I've had an offer of marriage,--two of them. +Wouldn't you advise me to take the best one?" rather archly. + +The tone rang flippantly. Jim felt she was evading. + +"You see I can't be young always. And Aunt Nicoll may go without a +moment's warning. She had a bad spell yesterday; and she does get in +such horrid tantrums! Mother is awfully tired of staying with her. And +most girls get married--those who have a chance." She ended with a +forced little laugh. + +"Is it Williamson? You don't know the sort of man he is," and Jim's +voice was husky with emotion. + +"Oh, everybody gets talked about sooner or later! He has been rather +wild; but he wants to settle down now. And I'm not a sentimental girl. +Yes, I do think I'll take him," hesitatingly. + +"Lily!" + +"Oh, Jim, you are very young and inexperienced! If you were ten years +older, there wouldn't be a man on the whole earth I'd marry as soon. But +you know I said we could only be friends; and I hope you haven't been +cherishing any silly romances about me," tossing her head coquettishly. +"I shall always like you, and I want us to keep friends. But you can't +understand all the reasons. Some girls might drag you into an +engagement, and waste all your young years; but I could not be so mean +to any friend I cared about. We have settled all this matter." + +Her tone took on a rather sharp business accent. It was almost curt. + +Yes, it had been settled. Yet she had demanded a lover-like devotion, +and allowed him to speculate on what might have been if she were rich or +he older. And though Jim's sturdy common-sense had kept him from going +very deep, he felt wretched and jealous that any other man should have +the supreme right; and yet he had a conviction that the friendship or +flirtation ought to end. + +"He thinks you are Mrs. Nicoll's heiress." + +She gave a light laugh. "Oh, that will do to talk about; and she may +leave me a little. If I was her heiress--" + +The glance roused Jim's anger. He rose suddenly. + +"I hope you love Williamson," he said, in a tone that he meant to sound +bitterly cutting. "A girl who sells herself for money to such a man--" + +"Nonsense, Jim!" She rose also. "You'll find most of the world will +consider it a good marriage; and anyhow, I have to look out for myself. +It's too bad to break up the pleasant times we've had this winter; but +you must not be angry. You will understand it better presently. I +wouldn't let you go off in this way if I hadn't such a wretched +headache; but you will come in again." + +Jim said good-evening with superb dignity. What a stylish fellow he was. +Of course he felt a little "huffy" now; but next winter, when she had a +home of her own, she would give attractive parties, and invite Jim among +the very first. By that time he would be over his boyish folly. And now, +what must she wear to the theatre to-night? She must look her prettiest. +Her wretched headache was gone. + +James Underhill felt as he had sometimes in the old school days, that he +had been duped. He was angry with her, with himself. He had brought his +friends to the house; and he knew Weir was really in love with her, yet +she had laughed daintily about some of his peculiarities. What if she +had laughed with Gaynor about him? She did satirise people. It was +strange how many faults he saw in her! Yet he did hate to have her +marry Williamson. + +He heard of her being at the theatre that evening with an array of +diamonds, which young girls seldom wore. In a week or so the marriage +was discussed with a little wonder. Mrs. Nicoll was one of the old New +Yorkers, a Ludlow herself. It was fortunate for Lily's prestige that her +plain, unambitious father was dead, and her mother kept well in the +background. No one quite knew about the fortune. + +Richard Weir was certainly hard hit. He made a pretence of devoting +himself to his studies to keep away from Gaynor's raillery. But one day +he said to Jim,-- + +"Something ought to be done to save Miss Ludlow from such an awful +sacrifice; don't you think so, Underhill? That old aunt has egged her +on, and she's doing this for her mother's sake. If I was in a position +to marry, I know I could persuade her to throw it up. What shall I do, +Jim? I know she really loves me. She is heroic about it. She thinks it +would spoil my life in the very beginning. I don't know how father would +take it; and there's such a family of us to provide for." + +"Let her alone," returned Jim, gruffly. So she had played with this +honest-hearted young fellow as well; and the saddest of all was that he +really believed in her. + +"She will marry Williamson, no matter what comes. Weir, I'm sorry enough +I introduced you, if you are going to take it that way. Lily Ludlow is +a flirt, pure and simple. I've never believed it until now. There is no +use in our wasting our sympathies upon her." + +"You don't half do her justice, Jim; if you could hear her side--" + +"I have heard it," laconically. "Weir, I'm awful sorry," and he wrung +the young fellow's hand. + +There was another aspect to Jim beside the mortification. He had dropped +behind in his standing. Late hours and planning all sorts of amusements +had distracted his attention. And there was another fact to face. He had +been spending money with a lavishness that he wondered at now. He had +borrowed of Weir, of Gaynor, of Ben. When he counted up the total he was +dismayed. His father had been generous. They had all been very proud of +him. How could he confess the miserable fiasco to any one? Perhaps, +after he had taken his degree-- + +But he had to study hard for that. No more frolicking about! He had a +good deal of resolution, when it was put to the test. He would ask +sober-going Ben to lend him a hundred dollars, which he would pay back +by degrees. No girl should ever win a smile out of him again. He would +never borrow when he was once out of this difficulty. + +He knew Dick Weir really needed his money, and this emboldened him to +apply to Ben. Alas! + +"I'd do it in a minute Jim; but I've been trying a sort of experiment. +I had a chance to buy some capital stock, five hundred dollars' worth, +and I just scraped up everything I had, and borrowed, so I'm behind, and +must catch up. You've been pretty gay, haven't you, Jim?" + +"I have been an idiot," replied Jim, sturdily. "But I have learned a +lesson." + +"You just go to Joe. He's the best fellow in all the world. Don't worry +father about it; he takes such pride in his young collegian," and Ben +smiled with generous kindliness upon his younger brother. + +That was the best thing certainly; yet it was days before Jim could +summon sufficient courage. And then he found, as he blundered a little +over the matter, that Joe thought it worse than it really was. + +"Have you been gambling?" the elder asked gravely. + +"No, not that, Joe. It's all been a silly sort of extravagance. I am mad +at myself when I think of it." He wouldn't say he had been tempted by a +girl into much unwise expenditure. How could he have been so weak! + +"It will be all right," returned Joe. "I am glad it is not gambling +debts; though a hundred dollars wouldn't cover much. I hope you are +coming through in good shape." + +"You may be sure of that. Oh, Joe, how kind you are!" + +"What is brotherhood for, if not that?" said Joe gravely. + +He would not put himself in the way of meeting Miss Ludlow, though she +did send him two rather plaintive notes. Early in June, the marriage +took place; and the bride's trousseau was quite magnificent, if it was +not made in Paris. Mrs. Nicoll was delighted with what she termed her +grandniece's good sense, and gave her a handsome set of rubies, beside +having her diamonds reset for her. And when she died, some two months +later, it was found she had made a new will on Lily's wedding day, in +which she bequeathed the bride all her personal effects and some +valuable bank-stock, if the amount was not very large. The next winter, +Mrs. Williamson took her place in society, and was quite a married +belle, managing her husband as adroitly as she had managed her lovers. + +Jim studied day and almost night to make up for the dissipation of the +winter, and passed with honour, though Joe had hoped he would have one +of the orations. He went immediately into the law office of a friend of +Stephen's as clerk and copyist while he was waiting for the new term of +the law school. + +Charles Reed did distinguish himself, and was one of the heroes of the +occasion. He was a fine, manly fellow now, and Mrs. Dean loved him like +a son. Indeed, it seemed as if he might be her son, the young people +were so much to each other. Josie would graduate the next year at the +high school. + +Ben and Delia had gone along through the winter with very little +change, except to learn how much they loved each other. The young men +did not have quite such rollicking good times, though Nora was +developing into a very attractive young girl and enchanted them with her +singing. Delia was very busy trying her best to come up to some high +standards of literary work. Everybody was not a genius in those days. +Colleges had not begun to turn them out by the score, and the elder +people were very often helpful to the younger ones. + +There was, it is true, a certain kind of Bohemianism among the men that +proved dangerous to more than one fine, promising mind. Ben liked the +bright wit and keen encounters, and the talk that ran through centuries +of intellectual activity as if it was only yesterday. He was taking a +curious interest in politics as well, for some great questions were +coming to the fore. + +Mrs. Underhill had preserved a cautious silence respecting Delia, +indeed, ignored the whole matter. Dolly was cordial when they met. Jim +had been so taken up with his engrossing experience that he rarely went +to Beach Street; and the two sets of society were widely apart. Delia +had supposed everything would come around straight; it generally did in +her happy-go-lucky fashion. + +But on Commencement day, when she was all smiles and gladness, Mrs. +Underhill's coolness and Mrs. Hoffman's stately distance quite amazed +her. + +"Ben," she said, "something has happened with your people. Your mother +hardly spoke to me, and Margaret was icy. And now that I come to think +of it, Hanny hasn't been near us since Nora's birthday--February that +was. Are they offended because--don't they like our engagement? And I +love them all so, from least to greatest; only Margaret is rather high +up." + +"Hanny's had such lots of lessons, and her music, and she's +corresponding with Daisy Jasper in French. Grandmother takes her time, +too. You don't have so much leisure out of childhood." + +"What jolly times we had back there in First Street! Oh, Ben, I did like +you all so much! And I can't bear to have the good feeling die out." + +There were tears in Delia's brown eyes. Ben was moved immeasurably. + +"May be I ought to have said something to mother; Joe counselled me to +wait." + +"Then it has been talked about!" Delia stood up very straight, and +looked like a spirited picture. "What is their objection to me? Your +family are all prospering. Stephen is really a man of mark; Of course +Dr. Hoffman was rich to begin with. And John's wife had quite a fortune +when her parents died. Joe is up among the important people; and Jim +will make a smart lawyer, every one says. You _are_ a splendid lot!" and +her honest admiration touched him. + +"I don't know. I've never felt very splendid." + +"You are solid, and strong, and sensible. What a pity that alliteration +won't do in a poem!" and she laughed in her joyous manner. "I don't +care if you never are rich, so long as we have good times. And as you +can't write a bit of verse, you dear, lovely old Ben, nor a story, I do +not believe our tastes will clash. Why shouldn't we agree just as well +when we are married as we do now? Even that tremendous, gloomy, erratic +Edgar Allan Poe adored not only his wife, but his mother-in-law. To be +sure, there was Milton and Byron, and Mrs. Hemans and Bulwer, and a host +of them; but Mr. and Mrs. Browning are going on serenely. And 'The +Scarlet Letter' hasn't made trouble in Hawthorne's family yet. I think +it is temper, rather than genius. And I have a good temper, Ben," +looking up out of honest, convincing eyes. + +"You just have," returned Ben, with emphasis, kissing her fondly. + +"Ben, I love you too well to make you unhappy." + +"You will never make me unhappy." + +"May be I'm not careful enough in little things." + +"I don't fret about the little things," said Ben. "We both like +easy-chairs, and evenings at home, and reading about famous people, or +queer people, and wonderful places. We both like a fire, and a cat; I +adore a nice cat, it is such a comfortable thing. And we like to go out +where people are bright and vivacious, and know something. We're fond of +music, and pictures, and like a good play. Oh, there are things enough +to agree upon all our lives; so what would be the use of hunting round +to find a few things to dispute about." + +"Why, there wouldn't be. But I want your mother to like me, and to feel +sure I shall do my best to make you happy. Of course, we may not get +rich." + +"Bother riches! But I'm not going to give you up for anybody in +Christendom." + +"You are very sweet, Ben." There was a sound of tears in Delia's voice. + +"I'll see what it is," subjoined Ben. "Oh, it will all come straight, I +know." + +"I shall not marry you for the next seven years, no, not for twenty, +until everybody is willing," said Delia, decisively. + +Why couldn't people be kindly affectioned one toward another, as the +Apostle enjoined, when there was nothing very objectionable in the +other? It puzzled Ben. He was passionately fond of his mother, too; but +the issue had to be met. And the very next evening when Mrs. Underhill +was out watering her garden, that had in it all manner of sweet herbs +and the old-time flowers dear to her heart, Ben came wandering down the +clean-cut path. + +"Mother," when they had both stood silently several minutes,--"mother, I +want to tell you--Delia Whitney and I are engaged." + +"I supposed as much," said his mother, tartly. Then she turned to come +up the path. + +"Mother, you have welcomed Dolly and Cleanthe; and we have all been like +brothers and sisters. Haven't you a tender word for Delia? You used to +like her." + +"Delia Whitney was well enough for a neighbour. You have run and run +there, Ben, and really never taken the trouble to look about. You are +young, and hardly know what is best for you. You could have looked +higher. But you've gotten in with those newspaper people; and they do +drink, and are not very choice in their company." + +"And lawyers drink; yet we are going to make a lawyer out of Jim. And we +have known country farmers addicted to the habit. Newspaper-men are +quite up to the average. But that has nothing to do with Delia." + +"No, women don't so often take to drinking. But she is in it all; and I +don't like such public business for a woman. A wife's place is at home; +and Mrs. Whitney is a very poor housekeeper. Ben, a great deal of a +man's happiness depends on the way his house is kept." + +"But their house is always bright and pleasant. And think how Delia used +to work in First Street. She can keep house good enough for me." + +"You have always had things so neat and orderly, Ben, that you don't +know how trying that sort of helter-skelter housekeeping can be. A woman +can't run hither and yon, and write stories and what not; and now they +are beginning to lecture and talk, and make themselves as mannish as +possible! No, I don't like it. And I pity the man who has to live in +that sort of neglected home. And then, Ben, come disputes and +separations." + +He had heard the narrow reasoning before. Mrs. Reed came into his mind. +With her passion for cleanliness and order, she certainly knew nothing +about a happy, comfortable home. His mother still scouted a +sewing-machine. Delia had hired one with a good operator, and declared +that in a week they had done up all the summer sewing. He knew his +mother would say it was only half-done. To be sure, Delia's mother was a +great novel-reader and had neglected her household many a time for an +interesting book. But _she_ wrote neither stories nor verses. + +"Of course, you will do as you like. And you think you are the only one +that will suffer. But a mother has many sorrowful hours over a son's +unhappiness and discomfort." + +Then she passed him, and went into the house. And, after the fashion of +unreasoning women, she hurried up to her own room and cried a few bitter +tears. Ben had been such a good, upright, pleasant son. He ought to have +the best wife in the world, for he was easy-going and would put up with +almost anything. She _was_ disappointed. + +She would have scouted the idea of being aristocratic or mercenary; yet +she did want him to look higher. There had been such an attractive +Hoffman cousin spending a month with Margaret, who thought Ben +delightful. There were two or three girls in the neighbourhood. In fact, +a young man might as well marry some one of distinction and character; +Dolly and Cleanthe were none the worse for their money. + +"I don't know what I can do," Ben said to Dolly, with a sigh. "Delia has +a suspicion that mother is against her. I'm not in a hurry to marry; +but Delia won't marry me until everybody is ready to welcome her." + +"Yes, you are young; and a good many things come around straight if you +give them time, just like a northeast wind. Ask Delia to come up to tea, +whenever she and you are at liberty." + +Dolly kissed Ben. In some respects he was still boyish. + +Margaret was vexed over the certainty. It was said Nora Whitney had a +chance to go abroad with a Madame Somebody who used to sing in operas. +She would be educated for a professional. Of course a Jenny Lind or a +Parodi or Malibran was different; but just an ordinary singer!--or one +could admire an acknowledged woman of genius who had a position, or any +social prestige! + +Ben said nothing to Delia; but she guessed his announcement had not been +satisfactory. She had not been to the Underhills for six months or more. +But, in her generous fashion, she made no comment. + +Late that summer a wonderful thing happened that filled everybody with +elation, and for twenty-four hours set the city wild. Every show-window +had a picture of a trim, spirited yacht that seemed to have triumph +written all over her; and men and boys crowded around to look at it, and +cheered it with an enthusiasm seldom inspired nowadays. We were all +going wild over our great triumph; for we had distanced England on the +seas and in British waters. The gallant "America" had borne off the +"Queen's Cup," the prize offered for the fleetest yacht in the great +race. + +We had been very proud of our fleet "clippers" that were scudding about +to different ports. Then the Steers brothers had built the "America" for +Mr. Stevens, of the New York Yacht Club; and he decided to take her over +to the great contest that was to be a race around the Isle of Wight. She +met with a little mishap in the beginning; but, nothing daunted, her +courageous captain kept on to the end, eighty-one miles, and distanced +all competitors. Other yachts of all nations were entered; and it must +have been a magnificent sight when she had eight minutes to spare, and +could glance back at her really splendid rivals. The pretty story of +Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort was told over many times. The +Queen asked the captain of the royal yacht who was first. + +"The 'America,' your Majesty." + +"And who is second?" + +"There is no second, your Majesty," returned the Captain, gallantly +admitting the defeat. + +So the brave "America," after being flattered and feted, brought home +her trophy; and thousands rushed to see that and the beautiful yacht. +But the English Club did not mean to resign honours so easily, and +announced that efforts would be made to win back the famous cup. And +to-day the cup is still ours, after many challenges and trials. + +But the enthusiasm then knew no bounds. There were little flags with a +miniature yacht and the American colours; and the patriotic boys wore +them in their jackets. Jim put up a handsome engraving in his room. + +He had been working like a Trojan all summer, except a brief fortnight, +and had begun to pay back his debt. + +Nora Whitney was to go abroad under the care of a well-known musician +and his wife, who was a fine concert-singer. It seemed such an excellent +opportunity; and Nora had an ambition to reach a high standard. The +Professor and Madame had visited the Whitneys, and both parties were +mutually satisfied. + +"I could never let a child of mine go away among strangers in that +manner," declared Mrs. Underhill. "No one can tell what will happen to +her. I shouldn't have thought it of Mr. Theodore. The women, of course, +are not overweighted with common sense, and the poor child has no +mother." + +"Oh, dear," sighed Hanny, "all the little girls are dropping out; and we +used to have such nice times. I do wonder if Daisy means ever to come +back. And Josie Dean is a young lady with long dresses, and does up her +hair." + +"Elenora Whitney is not worth worrying about," subjoined Mrs. Underhill, +tartly; "and Josie Dean is a very nice, modest girl." + +Charles Reed and Josie had dropped into a fashion of making frequent +calls during the summer. The young fellow made a confidant of Doctor +Joe, as young people were very apt to do, he was so sympathetic and +kindly. + +Mr. Reed had quite a fancy at first that he should study medicine. + +"It is a fine profession, when one's heart is in it," said Doctor Joe. +"And there are so many new discoveries and methods all the time. Still, +I can't quite fancy Charlie taking up the disagreeable side." + +"He could be a professor, I suppose," commented his father, rather +reluctantly. "He loves study and books, and he ought to turn his +education to some account. I would do anything for him; he knows that. +He is all I have; and he is a fine boy." + +It was odd; but Charlie talked his desire over with Josie first of all, +and she approved of it enthusiastically. Then he rather timidly +confessed it to his father. + +"I used to believe that I never wanted to be a clergyman; but, after +mother died, I began to think it over. She was so sort of sweet and +changed that last year, almost as if she had a presentiment; and though +she took such an interest in my studies, she never spoke of that, though +I know it was her heart's desire. All the time I seem to have had a +leaning towards it. It is a grand life, when one's heart and soul are in +it; and I am sure now mine would be. I should feel as if I was keeping +near to her, and doing something for her happiness. And if you would not +feel disappointed--" + +"My boy, I should be gratified," said his father, warmly. "I should not +have tried to influence your choice; but I do think, in certain ways, +you are especially fitted for this profession. I can trust you never to +bring discredit on so sacred a calling; and I think you are alive to +the true responsibility of it. Yes; it is what she would like, if she +were here." + +Jim declared he had felt sure of this decision all the last year. They +all decided Charles Reed would make a fine conscientious clergyman. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A GLAD SURPRISE + + +Doctor Joe stood at the doorway of the Institute. It was still in +Madison Street, though it was to go up-town and be transformed into a +college. The girls came trooping out,--they were really girls then, and +had a deliciously girlish air. + +"Oh, Joe!" cried Hanny, glancing up rather in amaze. What had happened? + +He bowed gravely to some of her compeers. They thought Jim splendid; but +they stood a little in awe of grave Doctor Joe. + +"I have come for you to go and make a call," he said. "Let me take your +books." + +She glanced up the street. + +"Oh, this isn't in style," he began laughingly. "I have neither coach +nor four." + +"Then we will have a nice walk. Where? Down at the Battery?" + +She had such a sweet, eager face, and she was so easily pleased. + +"We will go over to Broadway, first," he replied. "Then--well, wherever +you like." + +So they chatted as they walked along, across City Hall Square, where the +fountain was still playing on sunny days. + +The Astor House was yet in its glory. She wondered a little, as they +walked up the stone steps, through the hall, and then up the thickly +padded stairs, and into the spacious parlour. + +A lady, dressed in black, was standing by the window, and turned +smilingly. Hanny was bewildered by a familiar likeness. Then a young +girl sprang up from the sofa; and Hanny caught a glint of golden curls, +as she was clasped in the outstretched arms. + +"Oh, Hanny!" + +"Oh, Daisy!" + +That was all they said for a moment or two. They cried a little, as +people often do, out of pure gladness, and just hugged each other +tighter. + +"I was so afraid I never should see you again. Papa laughed. You know he +has crossed the ocean so many times. If I hadn't been coming home, I +suppose I shouldn't have been worried. But it seemed such a long, long +while, and I was just crazy to see you, to get home. I don't believe I +shall ever really want to go abroad again." + +Hanny raised her head from Daisy Jasper's shoulder. Oh, what a tall girl +she was! Her complexion was like pearl and blush roses; her hair was a +wonderful gold; and her eyes, somehow, suggested the starry heaven at +night. Hanny felt strangely abashed. + +Then Mrs. Jasper claimed a greeting. Hanny knew that a year ago they had +lost Aunt Ellen, with an attack of fever. Mrs. Jasper looked rather +pale, but she had not changed. + +"Why, you haven't grown a bit!" cried Daisy. "And look at me! You'll +have to go to German baths, and all that, to get a good start. What a +pity you did not go with us! I've had such a longing for girls. You +don't get acquainted with them on the continent. They are always in the +school-room. And I am just hungry, all the way through, for some one +young and enthusiastic, and foolish and merry things to laugh at." + +"But--I didn't know you were coming--" + +"No, dear Doctor Joe kept the secret well. We did hope to be in on +Saturday." + +"Then _you_ knew?" and she looked half reproachfully at her brother. + +He laughed. He had only done Daisy's bidding. + +"Now, if you want to keep Hanny to dinner, I'll come down this evening. +I have a few calls to make," he announced presently. + +"Indeed we do. You have so many folks, you might give me Hanny," and +Daisy glanced at Doctor Joe with a bright, arch smile. + +"If you took Hanny, you would have to take father and me, sure. The +others might squeeze along without her; but I am afraid they would get +thin on it." + +Then the Doctor nodded and went his way. + +"Now that you have Hanny, I will go and unpack one of the trunks," said +Mrs. Jasper. + +Hanny and Daisy went down in the corner of the long apartment, and took +possession of a _tete-a-tete_. + +"Oh, you are so changed!" cried the little girl "And so--so beautiful!" + +"And so well! That's the loveliest thing. I can take long walks and +dance, think of that! I am only a little lame. Just the merest crook in +my back, and one leg a tiny bit shorter, but a thick sole makes it all +right. And I've grown like a weed, while you are a tiny bit of something +very choice,--a dainty little white rose. And I am so glad to have you +again. Oh, don't let anything ever come between us! Let us be friends +all our lives long. I have brought you a beautiful ring to bind +friendship." + +"Oh," sighed Hanny, in delight. + +"And there have been so many changes! Oh, who do you think we met in +London? Not Whittington and his cat, but Nora Whitney without her cat. +And poor Pussy Gray is dead, and Nora is a tall young lady with a +splendid voice, and will make a famous singer, I suppose. And Delia is +getting to be famous too, I hear. It is odd, but she doesn't suggest a +genius to my mind. I think you often are disappointed in geniuses. We +saw some while abroad, and they did not come up to my expectations, or +else one expects too much. Still there are some lovely faces." + +"But she is just delightful! Only she keeps so busy, we do not see much +of her." + +"And poor little Tudie! How sad it was! I can sympathise with her sister +now, for being an only child." + +Then Hanny said Charlie had entered a theological seminary; and Daisy +agreed being a clergyman would prove just the calling for him, he was so +earnest and conscientious. Hanny had written everything, she thought; +but Daisy was so eager to hear it all over again. + +Mr. Jasper came in. He had been back and forth, and kept up the habit of +calling on the Underhills, so nothing about Hanny surprised him. + +The little girl felt rather startled when she went into the large +dining-room. At this period, there were people who spent the whole +season at the Astor House, though there were some newer hotels that were +very attractive. It was like a grand party, Hanny thought. The ladies +were so prettily attired, so bright and chatty. + +When they went back to the parlour, that looked like a party, too. Hanny +felt very plain in her school-dress. There were a number of Mr. Jasper's +business friends, that he brought up to introduce to his wife and the +two girls. But they were so busy talking, that they hardly noticed any +one else. + +Doctor Joe returned, armed with an invitation from Mrs. Underhill, for +Mrs. Jasper and Daisy, to come up and make them a visit; and Mrs. Jasper +said she should be glad to go somewhere, and find an old-fashioned +American home-feeling. Daisy could hardly let Hanny go. Doctor Joe +proposed that he should come for Daisy the next day, for she could not +be of any special service to her mother until some plans were decided +upon. That was a splendid thought. + +They kissed and kissed, as if they were never to see each other again. +Hanny's eyes were lustrous, and her cheeks pink with excitement. And +there was so much to tell her mother. + +"You must go to bed," declared Doctor Joe. "It is after ten." + +"But, oh, my lessons! I have not looked at them." + +"Never mind lessons now. You can get up early in the morning." + +She was very tired, she had talked so much and listened so intently. And +in five minutes she was asleep, in spite of the unlearned lessons. + +She studied every moment the next morning, and all the way down in the +stage, and managed to get through. She was a very good scholar +ordinarily, and ambitious to have perfect recitations. But she kept +counting the hours, for she could hardly believe Daisy Jasper was really +at home. + +Joe brought her up to the house when he had finished his round of calls. +He handed her out quite as if she was a stylish young lady, though she +was not in long gowns. But Joe was curiously proud of her, as being one +of his first cases. + +Everybody gave her a cordial welcome. Jim was at once her most devoted. +Mrs. Underhill soon concluded foreign ways had not spoiled her; and +grandmother said she was a pretty-behaved, intelligent girl. But, oh, +the things she had seen, and done! She could talk French and German; she +had taken painting-lessons from real artists, and had some pretty +studies for Hanny, in a box not yet unpacked. She had brought the +friendship ring, which was two tiny hands clasped over a sapphire with +diamond sparks around it. Hanny's eyes shone with delight; she was +getting quite a collection in the way of gifts. + +Daisy seemed to bring a fascinating atmosphere. She was not forward, +indeed there was often a pretty air of deprecation; but she had seen a +good deal of society without being actually in it, and, since her aunt's +death, had been her mother's companion. Her different lessons had mostly +been given at home, except those in oil-painting; and there was no air +of schools about her. She was so ready to be entertaining, so fresh, and +yet with a charming simplicity. + +"I am so glad for Hanny to have such a friend," her mother said to the +Doctor. "She hasn't seemed to take any one to her heart since we have +been up here; and it does make her seem a bit old-fashioned to be so +much with elderly people." + +"Yes. They seem to suit exactly." + +Jim took them over to the Deans' one evening. Oh, what a merry talk they +had about old times, for it did seem quite old to them. They recalled +the day in summer, when the "caravan" went down Broadway to the store +where Charles had been employed one vacation, and dear old First Street. +Biddy Brady, who had danced for them, had run away and married a young +Irishman. Old Mrs. McGiven still sold candies and cakes, and +slate-pencils, and, oh, Washington pie that was almost as great a +necessity to childhood then, as chewing-gum is now. + +Mr. Jasper brought up the pictures when he escorted his wife. There were +two pretty bits of landscape on the shore of Lake Geneva, and the other +a Holland scene, with a stretch of canal and a queer house that looked +as if it might topple over some day, if the foundation was washed out. + +"But they never do," explained Daisy. "It's all so curious, and most of +it so clean! And, oh, the windmills, and the queer costumes that have +not changed in a century!" + +Beside that there was a water-colour, a study of the most elegant +tulips, painted from a real bed. + +Hanny was wild with delight. They hung the pictures in her room, though +Doctor Joe declared they ought to go in his study. He pretended to feel +very badly that Daisy had not done anything for him. + +"I will wait until I can paint something really worthy," she replied +with a bright flush. "I owe you so much, that I ought to give you the +very best. I mean to go on with my lessons. I love the work, and if I +have any talent, it certainly is that." + +"But you used to draw figures, faces," said Hanny, "and they were so +real." + +"In the summer I took lessons in miniature painting on ivory. I must +confess that is my ambition; but it will take years to attain to +perfection. I suppose now I ought to go to studying solid branches," and +she laughed lightly. "I've begun wrong end first, with the +accomplishments. But I had to talk German, for mamma wouldn't bother. +And as she had not forgotten all her French, she went at that with me, +and so I am a tolerable scholar. But I dare say Hanny could twist me all +up with mathematics. I only know enough to count change. Still, I am +quite an expert in foreign money. And, Hanny, were my sentences +fearfully and wonderfully constructed, and did I slip up often on +spelling?" + +"I am quite sure you did not," protested Hanny. + +"I do suppose she ought to go to a good school," said Mrs. Jasper. + +"I am afraid I should not like school now. I could no longer be the +heroine. And how could I descend to an ordinary station in life? Oh, Dr. +Underhill, can't you interpose on the score of my still delicate +health." + +She had such a pretty colour in her cheeks, and her eyes shone with +merriment. + +"Doctor, you really must begin to be severe with her. She has her own +way quite too much." + +But it was a very charming way, they all thought. She roused Hanny to an +unwonted brightness. Even grandmother laid claim to her, for she was +delighted with her piquant description of places and people. She had +heard Jenny Lind, and several other noted singers; but it seemed to her +that the ovation to the Swedish Nightingale in New York must have been +magnificent. + +Jim claimed her when he was indoors; and they had many a merry bout. It +hardly seemed possible that the few years could have wrought such a +change in her. Ben took glowing accounts to Delia; and although she felt +hurt and sore over the coolness of the Underhills, she did not abate one +jot of her love for Ben. + +She had been very busy arranging Nora's wardrobe, and now most of the +care of the house devolved upon her. Mrs. Whitney would read for hours +to Aunt Patty; often the old lady went soundly asleep. To be sure, +matters were not attended to with the niceness of Mrs. Underhill; but +Barbara was a treasure with her German neatness, and Bridget kept her +kitchen at sixes and sevens. Mr. Theodore brought home one guest or +three, with the same indifference; and if Ben's mother could have seen +the cheerful manner in which Delia hurried about and arranged the table +on short notice, she must have modified her opinion a little. Theodore +was quite negligent about money-matters as well. Sometimes he was very +lavish; then he would declare he was "dead broke," and she must do the +best she could. Three or four of his friends would be in about ten, and +couldn't she fix up a bit of something? + +Sometimes she ran a little in debt; but when the good times came, she +was only too eager to get matters straight. And she was so bright and +gay with it all, and made Ben's visits so pleasant, that he sometimes +forgot there was any trouble. + +She had said decisively that they could not marry yet awhile; and Ben +had accepted her fiat. But they did begin to plan for the journey +abroad, and had a good deal of entertainment counting the cost, and +considering where they would go. + +"I should so like to see Daisy Jasper," she said. + +"I will ask her to come down," answered Ben. + +But Dolly invited them both up one Saturday, when Hanny and Daisy were +to be there to tea. And Daisy told Delia about meeting Nora, and how +happy she was in her new prospects. + +She had been a little homesick, she wrote to Delia, but only for a few +hours at a time. Madame Clavier was as careful as any mother could be, +fussy, she thought sometimes; but no doubt it was for her good. + +Daisy was very attractive to the children until Delia came, when they +deserted their new friend for stories. Delia had not lost her girlish +gift. + +The Jaspers were a month making up their minds what to do, and then +decided to board until spring at least. Joe found them a very pleasant +place in their neighbourhood, to Hanny's delight. She was so glad to get +her dear friend back again, sweet and unchanged; not but what she had +found several charming girls at school, and some of them were just wild +to see that lovely Miss Jasper, so her circle was widening all the time. + +Margaret thought she ought to wear long dresses. Girls not quite grown +up wore them to their gaiter-tops. Crisp, elegant button-boots had not +come in, like a good many other excellent things. And Hanny was +undeniably petite. Stretch up her very utmost, she hardly measured five +feet. Women had not, by taking thought, added an inch to their stature +by high heels. There were one or two "lifts" put in between the soles, +called spring-heels; but the hats helped out a little. + +"I haven't grown an inch this year," she declared ruefully. "And I am +afraid I never will be any taller. It's queer, when all the rest of you +are large." + +"You are just right," said her father. "You will be my little girl all +your life long." + +Doctor Joe comforted her with the asseveration that he liked little +women, "honest and true;" and Daisy also insisted she was just right. + +"For you see how admirably your head goes down on my shoulder; and if we +were the same size, we should be bumping heads. Queen Victoria is only +five feet, and she is very queenly." + +"But I am not queenly." + +"No, but you could be, if you set about it." + +She had some frocks to wear out that could not be let down; and her +mother settled the question according to that for the present. + +There was another thing that gave her a vague suspicion of being grown +up, and that was cards. + +The "quality" used visiting-cards; but it would have been considered +underbred and pretentious to sow them around in the modern manner. They +were kept for state occasions. Of course Dolly and Margaret had them; +and Hanny thought Joseph B. Underhill, M. D., looked extremely elegant. +Jim had some written ones in exquisite penmanship. He had not given up +society because one girl had proved false and deceitful. He made a +point of bowing distantly to Mrs. Williamson, and flushed even now at +the thought of having been such a ninny! + +Daisy Jasper's name was on her mother's cards. But you couldn't persuade +Mrs. Underhill into any such nonsense. She declared if Joe brought her +home any, she would put them in the fire. One day, however, he dropped a +small white box into Hanny's lap, as she sat in his easy-chair, studying +her lessons. It was too small for confectionery; it might be--she had +coveted a pair of bracelets. + +So she looked up with an inquiring smile. + +"Open it, and see if they suit." + +She was sure then it was bracelets. + +There was white tissue-paper and something stiff. She tumbled the +contents out in her lap. A few cards fell the plain side up. She turned +one over. In very delicate script she saw-- + +"Miss Nan Underhill." + +"Oh!" with a cry of delight. They called her Nan altogether at +Stephen's, and the school-girls wrote her name in that manner. She often +used it in writing notes. It looked so very attractive now. + +"Oh, you lovely Joe!" + +"They are nice to use with your girl-friends. There are a great many +little society regulations that show refinement and good breeding, and I +want you to observe them. When you get to be a middle-aged woman, Hannah +Ann will look solid and dignified. I consulted Daisy and Mrs. Jasper, +and both approved." + +"Just a thousand thanks," and she threw up her arms to bring his face +down within kissing reach. + +The long skirt was settled by a rather peculiar circumstance. + +We were beginning to have real literary aspirations, and some writers +who attracted attention abroad. Miss Bremer had found a great many +things to like in us; and Jenny Lind had been enthusiastic. Some +Englishmen of note had been over and found we were not a nation of +savages or red men, and that the best and highest in English literature +was not unknown to us. Several of our writers had been abroad; and there +was growing up a spirit of cordiality. + +Then Thackeray was coming over to lecture on The English Humourists. +Nearly everybody went to reading him. Some because it was, as we should +say now, a "fad;" others because they wanted to appear conversant with +his works; and a few because they had learned to understand and to love +the wonderful touches of the master-pen. Boston received him with open +arms. Then he was to visit the principal cities. + +Ben and Delia were tremendously interested; and most of their talk was +spiced with bits and quotations, and the telling scenes from his novels. +Delia was beginning to have a good deal of discrimination and judgment. +Sometimes, in moments of discouragement, she admitted to Ben that she +was afraid she really hadn't any genius. Her novel had been recast ever +so many times, and still languished. + +Ben brought up tickets for Mr. Thackeray's second lecture. He had gone +to the first one, and meant to hear them all. Joe must take Hanny, who +would always regret it if she didn't hear him. He had seen Mr. Jasper; +and they were all going the same evening. + +Joe had meant to hear him. He was fond of hearing and seeing notable +people, and kept his mind freshened up with all that was going on in the +great world. + +Hanny was delighted, of course, though the fact of listening with Daisy +beside her added a great deal. They had an enthusiastic, rather +school-girlish friendship. Daisy's mind was, of course, the more +experienced. But with youthful fervor they were training themselves into +perfect accord, _en rapport_, so they could look at each other and +understand. + +There was a really fine audience. And when the large, burly, +broad-chested Englishman stepped on the platform, he had a cordial and +enthusiastic welcome. + +This evening he was at his best. His manner was clear and engaging; he +moved his audience to tears and smiles. There was satire and tenderness +and the marvellous insight that made him absolutely personify the +writers he touched upon. The audience was charmed. + +Hanny could not decide upon him. She was being won against her will, +rather her preconceived notions; and yet her first feelings about him +would return to disturb her. Mr. and Mrs. Jasper were delighted beyond +expression; Joe was deeply interested, though he confessed he did not +know Thackeray as he ought. He had read only one or two of the novels +and the "Yellowplush Papers." + +"I am going to read 'Vanity Fair' over again," said Hanny, when they +reached home. "I didn't like it, really and truly." + +"You are hardly old enough to enjoy such things," returned Joe. "Even I +have not made up my mind, and I know I would not have liked them at +seventeen. We believe in heroes and great deeds then, and the +possibilities of life look grander to us than they do afterward. I +suppose it is right that we should want to be _pleased_ then." + +Hanny felt that she wanted to be pleased with a story, or else very +sorry for the misfortunes that no human power could seem to avert. But +when mean and shallow and selfish people caused their own trials, were +they worthy of sympathy? + +They talked at school with the wide diversity of crude, girlish +opinions. The papers were full of him as well. + +Ben was one of his enthusiastic admirers. And now they planned to give a +banquet,--printers and newspaper-men,--and Mr. Thackeray was to be the +guest of the occasion; there was to be a dinner, with some of the bright +literary lights, music, and dancing,--a really grand affair. Theodore +Whitney was on the committee; and Ben had a lesser position. They meant +to make it the affair of the season. Joe must surely take tickets. It +was such a shame Dolly couldn't go; and, of course, Steve wouldn't. +John and Cleanthe were not interested in such things; and, after +thinking it over, Mrs. Hoffman declined. + +"I shall have to look up a girl," said Joe. "Hanny, you have never been +to a ball. Would you like to go?" + +"Oh, I think a ball would be splendid! If Daisy could go, or Dolly." + +"Yes, Daisy's mother or Dolly would have to go." + +That gave him an idea, and he went down to see Mrs. Jasper. + +"Why, I really think I would like to go myself," she said. "We do not +consider Daisy quite a grown-up lady. I should like to keep her just a +young girl for a long while; but, perhaps, that will not be possible." + +"Hanny is a very young girl," returned Joe. "And I do not think father +could stand it to have her grown up. But she keeps so small, I don't +just know how we should get mother coaxed around. Both girls would enjoy +it immensely." + +"Oh, she would trust her with Mr. Jasper and me, if we were to take +Daisy. Dear me--one festivity doesn't really signify. And yet--" she +blushed and smiled with a certain girlishness. "They may be dangerous; I +went to a Christmas ball when I was sixteen, and met Mr. Jasper. I was +out on a holiday,--a mere school-girl." + +"I don't believe Hanny or Daisy will find any one to fall in love +with," said Joe, seriously; "they are so in love with each other." + +"Oh, yes. They are planning to live together. There must be a +settlement; for both will have to bring their respective families." + +Joe was a good deal amused at that. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE LITTLE GIRL GROWN UP + + +Mrs. Underhill said "No." It was not to be thought of for a moment. +Hanny in short frocks! + +"It would have to be made long in the skirt, I suppose," returned Joe, +gravely. + +"Long! What are you talking about!" + +"She would enjoy seeing the dancing. And when she was an old lady, and +Thackeray dead, she could tell her children she was at a banquet with +the great novelist." + +"What nonsense you do talk, Joe." + +Doctor Joe laughed, gave his mother a squeeze and a kiss that brought +the bright colour to her cheek, and then went off to comfort two rich +old patients who had nothing the matter with them, except the +infirmities of age. They thought there was no one like Dr. Underhill. + +Perhaps his mother thought so, too. She was taking a good deal of +comfort with him in these days, when she had cast Ben a little out of +her good graces. She had a hope that Ben's sturdy common sense would +convince him after a while that Delia would make a poor, improvident +wife. And there was a chance that, while Ben was waiting to get ready, +some one might capture Delia. She sincerely hoped it would be some one +well-to-do and deserving, and who could afford servants and a generous +household expenditure. Ben would get over it in time. + +And much as she enjoyed Joe, she wanted him to marry and have a home and +family of his very own. But was any one good enough for such a sweet, +generous, noble soul! + +Of course Hanny couldn't go; that was a foregone conclusion. But then +the Jaspers were going, and it wasn't like taking a young girl out in +society. Just one night would not matter. Daisy had been to several +grown-up festivities abroad, where they were ever so much more strenuous +about girls. There would be so many people, they would pass in the +throng unnoticed; and it was not like a public ball. + +It was a little odd, but Miss Cynthia settled it finally. Her verdict +seemed to settle a good many things. She did not "dress-make" very +steadily now; but there were some folks who thought they couldn't have a +wedding, or a large party, without Miss Cynthia's advice and assistance. + +She came to spend the day. Grandmother Van Kortlandt enjoyed her very +much, as she could not visit a great deal herself. Cynthia always had +the latest news about all the relatives. She gossiped in a bright social +fashion, with no especial ill-nature, or sharp criticism, indeed her +sharpnesses were amusing for the bit of real fun in them. + +"Why, of course she ought to go," declared Miss Cynthia. "I'd like to +see the great man myself, and shake hands with him, though I am not over +fond of the English; and I do hope and pray he won't go home and make +fun of us. As for the dancing, and all that, Peggy Underhill, you went +to lots of frolics before you were as old as Hanny, and had young men +beauing you round. I don't see but you have made a good and capable wife +and mother; and it didn't hurt you a bit." + +"But I was not going to school." + +"It wasn't the fashion then. And now women are in Oberlin College, +studying the same things as the men; and they fall in love and get +married just as they always did. The ball, or whatever you call it, +won't hurt Hanny a bit. There will be the Jaspers, and Joe, and Ben, and +I'm sure that's enough to take care of one little girl." + +"She has nothing to wear; she is still in short frocks. And the idea of +buying a ball-dress, that she won't want until next winter!" + +"Now see here. Let's look over the old things. There's her blue silk, +outgrown of course. They ruffle everything now, and it will be wide +enough for that. And I can just cover the waist, and ruffle the skirt +with white tarleton. It is nearly two yards wide, and makes lovely +trimming. There's no use saving it up for Stephen's children." + +They all laughed at that. + +"And, Aunt Marg'ret," to grandmother, "why didn't you keep _your_ little +girl shut up in a band-box, while all the other girls were having good +times and getting lovers? She might have been a queer, particular, +fidgety old maid, instead of having a nice family for us to quarrel +over." + +"I will buy her a new dress," said grandmother. + +"She doesn't want anything but a few yards of tarleton. She won't be +likely to get into the papers. She and Miss Daisy will sit and look on, +and just whisper to each other, and feel afraid to say their souls are +their own; but they'll enjoy the pretty dressing and the dancing, and +they will see how the thing is done when it comes their turn in good +earnest." + +So Mrs. Underhill had to give in. Grandmother slipped five dollars in +Miss Cynthia's hand, as she was going away. + +"If that falls short, I'll give you some more. And you just buy that +tarleton." + +Hanny wasn't quite sure, and never said a word at school until the very +day. But she and Daisy had a thrill of delight talking it over. Miss +Cynthia came armed with the tarleton. The skirt was let down; but girls' +long dresses were not sweeping length in those days. Then it was covered +with narrow ruffles that suggested drifting clouds over an azure sky. +The bodice was not outgrown, after all. It was covered with the +tarleton, and had a fall of beautiful old lace around the shoulders, a +pretty frill at the neck, and short sleeves. Joe bought her white +gloves, and she had a blue sash. + +Miss Cynthia came in to dress her; but the little girl had a quivering +fear that something had happened to her maid, for it was full eight +o'clock. She put her back hair in a French twist, much worn then, with +two big rings right on the top of her head that looked like a crown. Her +front hair she curled over an iron, and then combed it out; and it was a +mass of fluffy waves, gathered in bandeaux just above her ears. She had +her mother's beautiful pearl earrings, that had come from France with +the old French grandmother, and a handsome mother-of-pearl-topped comb +in her hair. + +They put on the ball-dress. "Now look at yourself," said Miss Cynthia, +"and get used to it before I let in the folks." + +Hanny stood before her mother's tall mirror. Oh, this was Miss Nan +Underhill, and she had never seen her before. There was a mystery about +her,--a sudden sense of a strange, beautiful, unseen world, a new +country she was going into, an old world left behind, an intangible +recreation that no words could explain, but that touched her with a +kind of exalted sacredness, as if a new life was unfolding all about +her. She hardly dared stir or breathe. + +"For a girl with no special beauty, I think you look very well. But, +land sakes! You'll see no end of handsome girls; Margaret and Jim +carried off the beauty of this family." + +Miss Cynthia's voice recalled her from the vision of coming womanhood, +that she was to live over again on her wedding night, with its holy +blessedness enshrining her within her bridal veil. + +Her father's eyes shone with a softness that looked like tears. Her +mother viewed her all over with a critical air. + +"I must say, Cynthia, you've done wonderfully. The dress looks very +nice. And now, Hanny, I do hope you won't be forward or silly. Mind +everything Mrs. Jasper says, and don't you and Daisy giggle. Be careful +and don't lose Margaret's handkerchief. I don't just know as you ought +to carry that." + +Joe said she was lovely; and Jim really was very complimentary. He _did_ +wish that he was going. But Jim counted the cost of everything now, for +he was trying to get out of debt. + +The coach came up from the Jaspers' and Hanny was put inside. Joe +insisted on sharing the box with the driver. + +When Daisy took off her wrap in the dressing-room, she had on a pale +pink silk. Part of her curls were tied up in a bunch on top of her head, +and fastened with a silver arrow and two roses. She would always wear it +in ringlets, or at least until she was so old she wouldn't mind about +her shoulders being not quite straight. + +The affair was a banquet primarily. To be sure they gathered in the +Assembly room; and there was Ben, and Delia, who looked very nice and +bright in maize colour and brown. + +"Oh, Hanny, you are as lovely as a picture," she whispered +enthusiastically. "But you _are_ a little mite; there is no denying it. +I was so afraid you couldn't come, that something would happen at the +last moment. Miss Cynthia is capital." + +Hanny coloured and almost sighed. She might as well give up hoping to be +tall, and accept the fact. + +They went into the banquet-room, where there were two long tables. They +passed around to where a circle of men stood, some of them very fine +looking indeed. The advancing group were presented to the great +novelist, and in future years Hanny was to treasure the cordial smile +and pressure of the hand. But he was to come again when the world had +learned to pay him a finer and more discriminating admiration. + +His end of the table was literary. The Jasper party were opposite, at +the other one. What brightness and wit spiced the party, they could +gather from the genial laughter. There were toasts and responses that +scintillated with gaiety and touched the border of pathos. + +It was long, and of course the younger people who came for the ball were +not compelled to stay. The novelist was to leave at the close of the +dinner. And presently most of the company found their way to the dancing +room, where the band was discoursing enchanting music, and where every +one enjoyed the promenade. + +But when the quadrille sets were formed and in motion, Hanny was +enraptured. Ben and Delia were among them. Delia certainly had a +frivolous side to her nature for a genius. She was very fond of fun and +pleasure and dancing, and had no lack of partners all the evening. + +Some there were who danced like a fairy dream; others who made blunders +and gave the wrong hand, and betrayed various awkwardnesses. Doctor Joe +found several lady friends, and danced two or three times, then +proposed that Hanny should try, which he was sure "would inspire Daisy +into making the attempt," he said with a persuasive smile. + +Hanny was very much afraid out on the large space. But Delia was in the +same set, and her bright merry eyes were full of encouragement. It was +not alarming. Indeed, in five minutes, the music had put a "spirit in +her feet," and she felt quite at home. + +Then a friend of Ben's came to ask her; and Doctor Joe sat down to +persuade Daisy. While abroad, she had taken what we should now term a +series of physical culture lessons to strengthen and develop her limbs, +and to learn how to overcome her misfortune in every possible manner. +Indeed, it was hardly noticeable now, and she had outgrown the +sensitiveness of her childhood. + +"Oh, mamma, do you think I could?" + +"Of course she can," declared Doctor Joe. "I can't have you playing wall +flower altogether at your first ball. And if you drop down in surprise, +or faint away, I will carry you to the dressing-room at once." + +He was so tender and full of nonsense, yet so much in earnest, that she +rose reluctantly. But like Hanny, with the eager joy of youth, she soon +forgot everything except the pure pleasure, and the delight of +gratifying dear Doctor Joe, who was so strong and gentle that she could +not even feel a bit nervous. + +As for Hanny, she was really enchanted. The room full of people, +smiling and happy, the changing figures, the light airy dresses, the +shimmer of silks, the cloudlets of lace, the soft flying curls, for so +many people wore ringlets still, the happy smiling faces, and the throb +of the music was intoxicating. It was a strange, delightful world that +she had gone into with her first long gown and her hair done up. + +She came back, flushed and excited, her pretty eyes shining, her red +lips all in a quiver. + +"Now you must sit down and rest," said Mrs. Jasper. "And if you are very +obedient, you may get up in that Spanish dance. I think that quite +delightful and bewildering." + +A lady sat on the other side of Mrs. Jasper, and resumed the incident +she was describing. Mr. Jasper came up with a young man. + +"Here is an old friend!" he exclaimed. "Where is Daisy?" + +"Somewhere with the Doctor. Oh, what a surprise!" and she took the young +man's hand. + +"I wasn't sure I could get here; and it would have been very ungrateful +to Mr. Jasper, when he sent me a ticket. I wanted to see Miss Daisy +again. But I have just come on a flying business tour, and must start +to-morrow for Philadelphia. Still, I may have a little leisure when I +return. What a gay scene." + +Hanny sat fanning herself, and feeling that her cheeks were scarlet. If +it only wouldn't culminate in her nose! Then Mr. Jasper turned and +introduced his young friend. Hanny moved a little, so he could sit +between her and Mrs. Jasper,--a very attractive young man, a Mr. +Andersen. + +"Miss Underhill," he repeated, as Mr. Jasper turned away, "I've been +speculating on a Miss Underhill for five minutes. I wonder if you will +consider it impertinent; but perhaps you never speculate upon people, +and then it might be reprehensible. Just as I entered the room, there +was a merry group talking, and a sort of 'nut brown mayde,' all in brown +and yellow with bright hair and laughing eyes said, 'Miss Nan +Underhill.' Of course I was too well bred, and in too great a hurry to +listen to any more, or I might have found out about her. I had just an +instant interior gleam of what she must be like with that English name. +And I wonder if the fates have directed my steps to her?" + +Mr. Andersen was not the tall, stern, gloomy hero of romance; he was +medium in height and figure, with a frank, eager sort of face, dark +hair, and eyes she thought black then, but afterwards came to know that +they were of the deep blue of a midnight sky in winter. He had such a +smiling mouth, and his voice had a curious, lingering cadence that +suggests that one may have heard it in a previous state. + +Hanny caught the spirit of the half badinage, and the laughing light in +his face. + +"I think I ought to know the ideal before I confess identity," she +replied. + +"Can't I change the ideal? Or repent my vague, wild fancy?" + +"Oh, was it wild? Then I must insist upon it. Miss Nan Underhill, an +English girl; of course she was tall, this vision of your imagination?" + +Hanny was quite sure her face grew redder. And this ideal girl was +beautiful. Oh, dear! + +"Yes, tall; a daughter of the gods, or the old Norse Vikings before they +were Anglicised, with fair hair. And you have the fair hair." + +"But I am not tall! I am sorry to have you disappointed." + +"I am not disappointed. What does a vagrant fancy amount to? I consider +myself fortunate in meeting Miss Underhill. Why, suppose I had gone +rambling about and missed you altogether? Have you known the Jaspers +long?" + +"Oh, years and years. Before they went abroad." + +"What a beautiful girl Daisy is! I am glad she is here enjoying herself. +Oh, isn't it the regulation thing to speak of the hero of the feast? Of +course when you heard he was coming to lecture you began to read his +novels--if you had not before." + +"I had not read them before. There are a great many books I have not +read. But I tried at 'Vanity Fair;' and I am afraid I don't like it." + +"I do not believe you will now. I can't imagine real young people liking +them. But when one has grown older and had sorrow and suffering and +experience, there are so many touches that go to one's heart. And +'Vanity Fair' is a novel without a hero. Still I always feel sorry for +poor Major Dobbins. I wonder if Amelia would have liked him better if +his name had been something else? Could you fall in love with such a +name?" + +They both laughed. She raised her eyes. How exquisitely fair and sweet +and dainty she was! The soft hair had shining lights; and her eyes had a +twilight look that suggested a pellucid lake, with evening shades +blowing over it. + +"A little more of something would have made him a hero, and spoiled the +book." + +"But I don't like Amelia, nor Becky; and the Crawleys are horrid. And +Thackeray seems holding up everybody and laughing at them. I like to +believe in people." + +"I am glad there is a time when we can believe in them: it is the +radiant time of youth. What did that little smile hide, and half betray? +Confess!" + +"Are you so very old?" + +The charming gravity was irresistible. + +"Seven and twenty, and I am beginning to worship Thackeray. At seven and +thirty, he will be one of my passions, I know. Now and then I come to a +sentence that goes to my heart. No, do not read him yet awhile, unless +it is some of the little things. There is 'Dr. Birch and his Young +Friends;' and if you want to be amused you must read his continuation of +'Ivanhoe.' But then you will have neither heroines nor heroes left. And +if you and Miss Daisy want to laugh beyond measure, get the 'Rose and +the Ring,' that he wrote for his two little girls." + +"Oh," said Hanny, "are they at home, in England?" + +"Yes, with an aunt." + +"Haven't they any mother?" + +"They have no mother," he said gravely. + +Years later, the novelist was to be one of the little girl's heroes, +when she knew all the bravery of his life, and why his little girls were +without a mother. + +Joe and Daisy returned, and there was a pleasant rencontre; then Delia +and Ben came up, and they had a merry chat and a promenade. + +"I wonder," as the musicians began tuning again, "if you are engaged for +all the dances. Could I be allowed one?" + +He took up her card. + +"I have been dancing so much already; but Mrs. Jasper said I might try +the Spanish dance." + +"Oh, then try it with me! I am not too old to dance, if I have come to +adoring Thackeray. And I am to go away soon." + +"To go away--where?" And she glanced up with an interest that gave him a +quick sense of pleasure. + +"To Hamburg first; then to find some relations." + +"In Germany? But you are not a German?" in surprise. + +"I ought to be a Dane, if one's birth counts for anything; and if one's +ancestors count, then an old Dutch Knickerbocker," he returned, with a +soft, amused laugh. "But I believe I cannot boast of any English +descent, such as the son of a hundred earls. That doesn't sound as +poetic as the daughter of a hundred earls." + +"Who was not one to be desired," interposed the young girl. + +"Ah, you read Tennyson then? It is odd, but a good many of us begin on +poetry. I like it very much myself." + +A touch of thought settled between Hanny's brows. + +"Are you wondering about my mixed lineage? Part of it came from the old +Dutch governor, Jacob Leisler. My grandfather went to Germany, and ran +away with a lady of high degree, and brought her back to America, where +my father was born, and lived all his young life, until his marriage. +Then business took him abroad, and I was born; and my mother died at +Copenhagen. My father is connected with the importing house of Strang, +Zahner, & Co., of which Mr. Jasper is a member. He is married again, to +a very sweet, amiable German woman. Oh, here we are to take our places!" + +Hanny hesitated an instant. She longed to have Mrs. Jasper's +approbation. + +"We have been looking for you," said Ben. "Let us begin in the one set. +Here is Daisy and Joe." + +Then it would be all right. She glanced up and smiled with cordial +assent. + +The old-fashioned Spanish dance was a great favourite at that time, when +germans were unknown. Its graceful turns and windings, its stately +balances, until the dancers seemed all one long elegant chain, that +moved to the perfect time of the music, was indeed fascinating. People +danced then. Youth never dreamed of being bored, and walking languidly. +Every movement was delicate and refined. + +Was she really in some enchanted country? When Mr. Andersen was +compelled to leave her, he glanced over or past his partner with an +expression so near a smile that Hanny's pulses quickened. When he came +back, the light touch of his hand gave her a little thrill that was +quite delicious. Now and then they had a bit of conversation. + +Once he said, in his charming fashion, that was admiration rather than +criticism:-- + +"Why, you _are_ very petite!" + +"Yes; I am not the tall, slim English girl." + +"I am very glad. We dance so well together; I wish I were not going away +so soon. And you can't guess--you will think it strange,--to American +ideas it is; but when I go back I have to hunt up a descendant of this +grandmother of high degree who has been making matrimonial overtures to +my father on my behalf." + +"Oh, that is like a story! And what will you do?" + +"I will think about it, and answer you when you return to me." + +He gave her to the next partner, with a graceful inclination of the +head. + +There were numberless evolutions before he could take her again. She +glanced up out of sweet, questioning eyes. + +"I've been considering," he resumed, as if they had not parted. "You +see, it is this way. My father is very, very fond of me, though there +are other children. Then I have my mother's fortune, which he has been +very watchful of. He is a splendid, upright, honourable man. Now, if +your father asked such a thing of you,--what I mean is, if he asked you +to see some one and learn how well you could like her or him--" + +She was off again. Oh, what a sweet little fairy she was! What poet +wrote about twinkling feet? Hers certainly twinkled in their daintiness. +He had not considered her prettiness at first; now it seemed as if she +was exquisitely fair, with that soft pink in her cheeks. + +"Yes. Do you not believe you would go to please him, and see? And you +might not like her, and she might not like you. But sometimes people do +take sudden fancies. What do you think, looking at it out of an American +girl's eyes?" + +"I should go for my father's sake." + +There was such a delicate gravity in her clear eyes as she raised them a +little. + +"Thank you," he returned softly. "What an odd thing to talk of in the +midst of our dancing! When you are older, you will find people making a +confidante of you very often, you seem so serious and truthful." + +They were coming down to the end of the winding chain; Mr. and Mrs. +Jasper stood there. One more figure, and the cornet and horns and +violins gave three long breaths of melody and stopped. + +"My dear children," said Mrs. Jasper, as she stretched out her hand. +"Daisy, you will be in bed all day to-morrow! Your mother will never +trust me with you again, Hanny; I didn't think it would be so long." + +"But it was so delightful, mamma." Daisy was in a tumult of pleasure. + +"We must go at once. Mr. Jasper will be back by the time we have found +our wraps. Doctor, I can't thank you for making such a patient martyr of +yourself, only you are always so good. Hanny, have you had a nice time?" + +"It has been splendid," with a long, long breath, and shining lights in +her eyes. + +Delia went to the dressing-room with them. + +"I'm going to have two more dances," she said. "It is the first real +ball I've been to in a long while. I'm so glad you came. Ben says he +never imagined you were so pretty. Think of that, from one's own +brother! And Daisy did not shine you down, either." + +Hanny kissed her with a sort of rapture. She couldn't understand; she +seemed to be walking on the azure clouds instead of solid earth. + +Mr. Andersen went to the carriage with them, and said he should surely +call when he returned from Philadelphia. + +Daisy leaned her head down on her mother's shoulder. She was more tired +than she would admit. Hanny's eyes were like stars, and her brain was +still filled with wonderful melodies and light airy figures trooping to +the ravishing sounds, the shimmering light and sparkle. Doctor Joe just +carried her up the steps, and opened the door with his latch-key. But +Mrs. Underhill had heard them, and she came downstairs, wrapped in a +shawl. + +"Oh, Joe, how could you keep her out so late! Do you know it's almost +three o'clock?" + +Then the mother folded her to her heart. It seemed as if she had been +snatched from some great danger; and now that she had her safe and +sound, she felt as if she should never let her go again. + +"You're all excitement, Hanny; you tremble like a leaf. Such +dissipations are bad for growing girls." + +"Oh, mother, I think I'm done growing," Hanny laughed, with a soft ring +of music in her voice. "I have wanted to be tall like Margaret; but now +I do not mind a bit. I think I shall always be father's little girl. And +the dancing was so delightful; but you can't think how queer and long +the supper was. And Mr. Thackeray really shook hands with me. He has two +little girls, and they haven't any mother. If you could have seen Daisy! +And she dances beautifully." + +"Hanny, your tongue runs like a mill-race. Do keep still, child. Cynthia +has you pinned in every fashion. I hope your dress looked nice enough +for a little girl. There, I'll take care of them all. You will never +want to get up in the morning." + +When she had hung the dress out of sight, she felt as if she had her +little girl once more. And the little girl fell asleep to the sound of +the most delicious music ever floating through one's brain. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE + + +Yes, Hanny Underhill was a little girl again in gaiter-length dresses, +and her braids tied across at the back of her head. They let her sleep +until the latest moment; and then she had to hurry off to school. But +her eyes were bright; and she could have danced along the street, if it +had been the proper thing to do. + +Daisy did not fare so well. She had a headache, and was very languid. +Joe said Hanny had better not go down; and that Daisy would be all right +to-morrow. So Hanny studied her lessons, and began to read "Vanity Fair" +aloud to grandmother. But grandmother said she didn't care about such a +silly girl as Amelia; and though there were wretched women in the world, +she didn't believe any one ever was quite so scheming and heartless as +Becky. + +Then Hanny told her father about the dancing, and the partners she had, +and Mr. Andersen, who was going back to Germany to marry some distant +cousin. Altogether, it was a splendid time, only she felt as if there +had been some kind of a Cinderella transformation; and that she was +safe only as long as she wore short frocks. + +A week afterward, Mr. Andersen returned to the city, and Hanny was +invited down to tea at the Jaspers. They had a nice time, only the talk +was not quite so charming as when it was interspersed with dancing. + +He was to go to Paris also. And now Louis Napoleon had followed in the +footsteps of his illustrious uncle, and was really Emperor of France. +What a strange, romantic history his had been! + +After this, life went on with tolerable regularity. There was plenty of +amusement. Old New York did not suffer. Laura Keene thrilled them with +the "Hunchback," and many another personation. Matilda Heron was doing +some fine work in Milman's "Fazio," and the play of "The Stranger" held +audiences spell-bound. Then there were lectures for the more +sober-minded people; and you heard youngish men who were to be famous +afterward. Spirit-rappings had fallen a trifle into disfavour; and +phrenology was making converts. It was the proper thing to go to +Fowler's and have your head examined, and get a chart, which sort of +settled you until something else came along. Young ladies were going +into Combe's physiology and hygiene and cold bathing. Some very hardy +and courageous women were studying medicine. Emerson was in a certain +way rivalling Carlyle. Wendell Phillips was enchanting the cities with +his silver tongue. There had been Brooke Farm; and Margaret Fuller had +flashed across the world, married her Italian lover, who fought while +she wrote for liberty; and husband, wife, and child had met their tragic +death in very sight of her native land. + +People were thinking really great thoughts; and there was a ferment of +moral, transcendental, and aesthetical philosophy. Women met to discuss +them in each other's parlours, prefiguring the era of clubs. Alice and +Ph[oe]be Cary's receptions had grown to be quite the rage; and Anne C. +Lynch was another figure in the social-literary world. Beecher was +drawing large audiences in Brooklyn, and telling the old truths in a new +fashion. There is always a great seething and tumult before the water +fairly boils and precipitates the dregs to the bottom. + +But whatever comes and goes, young girls are always growing up with the +flush and fragrance and elusive fascinations of spring. To-day, a +credulous tenderness and overwhelming faith in the past; to-morrow, a +little doubtful, hesitatingly anticipative, with the watchwords of "The +True, the Good, and the Beautiful;" and still concerned in the latest +style of doing one's back hair, and if silver combs and gilt pins would +keep in fashion; and flushing celestial rosy red, yet with an odd sense +of importance, when men began to lift their hats in a gravely polite +manner, as if the laughing, hoydenish girl of yesterday, who strung +herself out four or five wide on the sidewalk with books in hand, was +the shy, refined, hesitating, utterly delicious young woman of to-day. + +There were times when Hanny stood on the mysterious borderland. She used +to steal up and look at the wraith of a ball-dress hanging in the +third-floor closet, put away with the "choice" garments. The skirt +looked so long, almost uncanny. She could see the girl who had gone to +the banquet, who had danced with young men who asked "the pleasure" with +the politest inclination of the head. And, oh, the lovely dances she had +with Mr. Andersen! The bewitching Spanish movement floated through her +brain; and the young man's voice--what a curious, lingering sweetness it +had--went over her like a wave of music. Of course his German cousin +would fall in love with him,--how could she help it?--and they would +marry. They would go to Paris once a year or so, when business took him; +they would go over to London; but their real home would be in some +German town, or maybe in the castle from which the pretty grandmother +had run away with her American lover. She was so glad there were real +romances left in the world. It wasn't likely any would happen to her. +She was not tall, nor elegant, nor handsome; and though she could sing +"Bonnie Doon," "Annie Laurie," "A Rose-tree in Full Bearing," and "The +Girl I Left behind me," for her father, she was not a company singer. +But she really didn't mind. Her father would want her. She wasn't quite +resigned to being an old maid; but then she need not worry until she was +twenty-five. And when you came to that, half the relatives were fighting +for Miss Cynthia Blackfan; and Mr. Erastus Morgan had invited her over +to Paris to see the new Emperor, who was copying in every way his +granduncle who had ruled half Europe. + +Then she would close the closet door and run blithely downstairs with a +bit of song. That was Miss Nan Underhill up there; and in her short +school-girl frock she was plain household Hanny. + +But they had delightful times. Doctor Joe bought a new buggy, very wide +in the seat, and used to take her and Daisy out when the days were +pleasant. Then Charles and Josie came over evenings, or they went to +Mrs. Dean's, and talked and sang and discussed their favourite poems and +stories, and thought how rich the world was growing, and wondered how +their grandfathers and grandmothers had existed! + +The little rue in the Underhills' cup became sweetened presently with +the balm of love and forbearance, that time or circumstances usually +brings about when truth and good sense are at the helm. + +Matters had gone rather hard with Delia Whitney of late. In a certain +fashion, she had come to the parting of the intellectual ways. People +were as eager then as now to discover new geniuses. There were not so +many writing, and it was easier to gain a hearing. She had been +successful. She had been praised; her stories and poems were accepted, +published, and paid for. She had been made much of by her brother's +friends, and some of the literary women she had met. + +She began to realise it was not altogether wandering at one's sweet +will, unless one had a garden of unfailing bloom in which to gather the +flowers of poetry, or even prose. There were greater heights than even +girlhood's visions. But there must be training and study to reach them, +and she had been lilting along in a desultory way, like a careless +child. + +But had she any real genius? When she bent her whole mind to the +cultivation of every energy, what if she should find it was energy and +imagination merely? Her novel did not progress to her satisfaction. +Characters might be common-place; but there was to be force enough in +their delineation to keep the attention of the reader. They must be +clear-cut, vivid; and hers seemed all too much alike, with no salient +points. + +"Do you suppose no one ever felt discouraged before?" asked Ben, with +his brave, sweet smile. "That's no sign." + +"But if I really wasn't a genius? And I have had so many splendid plans +and plots in my brain; but when they come out, they are flat and weak. I +don't ever expect to stand on the top-most round; but I can't stay down +at the bottom always. I would rather not be anywhere." + +Ben comforted her in his quiet fashion. + +"Oh, what should I do without you!" she cried. "I want to achieve +something for your sake." + +"You will achieve. And if you do not, there is enjoyment left. You +inspire other people." + +"With a kind of girlish nonsense that passes for wit. But older minds +demand the real article." + +"You have a certain brightness of talk that brings out the best in other +people. That is a rare gift, I am beginning to observe. Put the novel by +for a little while." + +"But every time I take it out, it seems worse," she returned ruefully. + +Then she admitted another worry. + +"Aunt Patty stumbled and fell about a month ago in her room. She was +lame for some days; and I can see she isn't quite the same. Mother +thinks it was a stroke. She is old, you know, and if she should be laid +up! She clings to me so. You see, she misses Nora, who was running in +and out, and the young girls who came here, and--oh, Ben, I am afraid I +am growing stupid!" + +Ben laughed and kissed her, and told her not to cross bridges until she +came to them. + +Then Theodore went to Washington for a fortnight; and Ben felt that it +was hard for Delia to be bereft of that useful article, a man around the +house. When Theodore returned, there was an imperative journey to the +West. Already there were clouds rising that disquieted the wisest +statesmen who were studying how to prevent any outward clashing. Mr. +Whitney, with his _savoir faire_, was considered one of the best men to +send on a _quasi_ political mission. + +"You just drop in to supper every evening, Ben," he said with his +Good-bye. "Dele has a head worth that of any half-dozen women; but I +like to feel some one is looking after her. Mother is away a good deal." + +The. had a misgiving Ben and Delia might want to marry; but they +couldn't possibly spare Delia. So he was very friendly and obliging to +Ben. + +"Mother," oddly enough, was taking a great interest in the small end of +the woman question, that was pushing its way in among other things. Mr. +Whitney had been the most indulgent of husbands, and her sons had +accepted household discomforts with no grumbling. But she took most +kindly to the emancipation of women. She had a friend in Brooklyn who +was lecturing on the subject; and she had vague aspirations that way +herself. She was still a woman of fine presence and a fair share of +intelligence. + +Bridget had married, and been superseded by an untrained Katy. Aunt +Patty was growing rather weak-hearted and childish, so Delia did have +her hands full, and but little time for writing. + +Theodore had been absent hardly a week when the stroke came. One +morning, Aunt Patty was unable to move hand or foot on one side, and +could hardly speak intelligibly, though her face kept its sweet +expression. Mrs. Whitney had gone away somewhere with her friend. + +When Ben heard the sad story that night, and folded the trembling, +sobbing girl to his heart, his resolve was taken. A nurse had come, to +be sure; but Delia should not bear this trial alone. He must live here, +and comfort her with his love. + +He went home quite early that evening. His father and Hanny were in +Joe's study; his mother sat alone, darning stockings. + +She glanced up and smiled; but when she saw his grave face, she said, +"Oh, Ben, what has happened?" + +"They are in great trouble down at Beach Street. Old Aunt Boudinot has +had a stroke of paralysis. Mrs. Whitney has gone on a little journey +with a friend; and Delia is alone. Mother, I have resolved to be married +and help her bear her burthen. There is no immediate danger of Miss +Boudinot dying, I believe; but since The. is away--they need some one--" + +"Ben!" + +Then she looked in her boy's face. Benny Frank and Jim were still boys +to her. There was Joe to be married before it came their turn, and poor +George, if he should live to come back. But it was not a boy's face, nor +a boy's pleading eyes, that met hers. A man's grave sweetness, and sense +of responsibility, shone in the clear, deep grey orbs, and the whole +face had matured, so that she was amazed, bewildered. + +"Mother dear," he began, "can't you wish me God speed, as you have the +others? I've never loved any one but Delia; I never shall. I know I can +make her happy; and isn't there some duty on my side? Am I to demand +everything, and throw out a few crumbs of comfort now and then? We have +known each other long enough to be quite sure, quite satisfied. But she +has said all along she would not marry me until she could be considered +a daughter of the house. I shall persuade her to now, unless--mother, +can't you give her a welcome?" + +He put his arms about his mother's neck. Was there some mysterious +strength and manliness in him she had not realised before, even in his +very voice. When had she lost her boy? What a pang went to her inmost +heart. Yes, he was a man, and he had a right to himself. She was not a +selfish woman; but her face dropped down on his shoulder and she cried +softly. + +"Mother--dear." There was a sweet, faint break in his voice, and he +kissed her brow softly. + +"You have been such a good boy, Ben. I've been a little worried +sometimes about Jim; but you have gone on so straight and steadfast. I +do thank the Lord for all of you. And I have wanted you to have the +best--" + +"She is the best to me, mother. Like her a little for my sake," he +pleaded tenderly. + +"I _do_ like her. If she makes you happy--" + +That was all. If Delia made her son as happy as Dolly or Cleanthe-- + +Ben kissed his mother. Ten years ago she had thought kissing rather +foolish for anybody but the little girl. Now her big sons always kissed +her. Perhaps there was more love in the world. + +They began to make plans presently. Ben was in favour of a quiet +marriage; and of course he would remain at Beach Street. Delia had +promised to care for her aunt; and there was no one else to take +charge. + +"I don't know as I have been just right about it," said Mrs. Underhill. +"But Mrs. Whitney's carelessness and inefficiency have always tried me. +Still, the children have turned out well. Delia is smart, and capable; +and since you are quite resolved--" + +Ben smiled then; and it went to his mother's heart. He knew he had won +the victory. + +The next morning she said to him:-- + +"Ben, I've decided to go down and see Delia. I have never been there but +once, since they went to Beach Street. Could you stop and tell her? Give +her my love. I'm very sorry all this should happen, and she alone." + +Mrs. Underhill was not given to half-hearted measures. When the work was +done, and the dinner planned out, she dressed herself and went +down-town. Delia was a little embarrassed at first; but they talked +about Aunt Boudinot, and she went up to see her. The sweet old face +lighted up, and she reached out her "best hand," in a sad sort of +fashion; but she could utter only one word at a time. + +"Ben said, I must keep you to dinner, and he would come up," exclaimed +Delia, with a bright blush. It was so like old times to hear her +cheerful voice. "And you will be late at home." + +Delia ran down and put on a clean cloth, and wiped the dishes over with +a dry towel, to take off the roughness Katy always left behind in her +manipulations. And she broiled the steak herself. She could do that to +perfection. + +Then they arranged about the marriage. Delia certainly did need some +one. It was not worth while to make any fuss. Mrs. Whitney would surely +be back by Monday, and it was appointed for that evening. + +Dolly took the news with cordial sweetness. Margaret was sorry that Ben +had not looked a little higher; but since it must be, they would make +the best of it. Hanny was delighted. Joe went down that very evening, +and gave the young people his best love. + +Mrs. Whitney came home on Saturday. She considered the step very +judicious. She thought they had been engaged long enough. Then Ben and +The. were such good friends; and with The. away so much, it was +lonesome. "She was glad they had set the marriage for Monday evening, +for she had promised to go out to Buffalo on Tuesday with Mrs. Stafford. +A nurse was the proper thing for Aunt Patty. It was too bad, to be sure; +but at her time of life, one might expect almost anything. And she, Mrs. +Whitney, never had been any sort of a nurse; so it was folly for her to +undertake it." She was very sweet to Aunt Patty. She had a good deal of +the suavity that helps matters to run easily, and her sympathies were +boundless. + +Delia's sisters, and their children, and a few friends were invited. All +the Underhills came, and Hanny was bridesmaid; but she wore her last +summer's embroidered muslin, which was not long in the skirt. + +They missed Ben a good deal, though he ran up every now and then. And +Theodore was gone six weeks, instead of two or three. Now that Mrs. +Underhill had really "given in," she was most cordial and sympathetic to +her new daughter. Doctor Joe went down every day, though very little +could be done, since even a physician could not fight against old age. +Joe thought Delia very sweet and patient. + +There were two great undertakings engrossing the public mind. One was a +grand library. Old Mr. John Jacob Astor, some years previous, had left a +large sum of money for this purpose; and there were heated discussions +as to its scope and purpose. It would be a reference library rather than +an entirely free library for general readers. But it would be a fine +addition to the city. + +The other was the Crystal Palace. There had been the first famous +World's Fair at Sydenham, opened by the Prince Consort. And now, we were +trying our energy and ingenuity to have something worthy of attracting +the nations. Reservoir Square had been selected; and the great iron +braces and supports and ribs had been watched with curiously eager eyes, +as they spread out into a giant framework, and were covered with glass +that glinted in the sun like molten gold. When its graceful dome arose, +enthusiasm knew no bounds. + +We had not dreamed of the great White City then. But we were only in the +early middle part of the century. + +A park had been opened on the east side, out of an old tract known as +"Jones's Woods," and was quite a picnic-place for the working-people on +a holiday. There was a talk about another, and, perhaps, the inspiration +was evolved as the Fair grounds were being put in attractive order. A +short time afterward, the Central Park board was appointed, with +Washington Irving as president. + +The country was wild and rough all about. Here and there, clusters of +houses began to indicate the coming city. Kip farm had not disappeared; +and people talked of Strawberry Hill and Harlem Heights; and there +remained some fortifications of the old Rock House of 1812 memory. The +old times were recalled, as people went rambling around. + +Broadway still kept its vogue and elegance on the dollar side. There was +Thompson's and Taylor's, where the stylish young ladies stopped in the +afternoon for chocolate or cream and confections, and theatre parties +went after the play. But, on the whole, there were mysterious strides +up-town. + +The old streets were quaint and cool in summer, with the trees that had +grown for years in ungrudged spaces. The park in Beach Street was still +lovely; and now Hanny often went over from school and stayed to tea with +Ben and Delia. Daisy came down as well; and they talked of Nora, who was +getting on famously, and who had sung at an out-of-doors fete for a +children's charity. + +Delia was happy and charming; but she was very much engrossed with home +affairs. Nurses grew tired and went away; and Aunt Patty became more and +more helpless. + +Then came the great event to Hanny's life, and she was quite nervous +over it. This was graduation; but when she had passed the examinations +successfully, the real care was over. + +And the new clothes! The old ones had been made to do through the +spring; but now there was no question about long skirts. There were +pretty plaid summer-silks,--everybody wore them then, and they were +almost as cheap as now,--lawns, a light grey cashmere for ordinary +occasions, and a white India muslin for graduation. The very next +evening Dolly was to give her a party. + +Grandmother thought it ought to be at home, instead. + +"She will want one in the fall," said Dolly, "to announce that she is +really Miss Underhill, and ready for society. Home will be the place for +that. And she will be getting acquainted with young people through the +summer. She's never been anything but a little girl." + +There wasn't such a fuss made about sweet girl graduates then; and, +later on, Rutgers Institute was to wheel into line and become a college; +but even now they had bouquets and baskets of flowers. And some of the +girls had lovers, and were engaged, even if there was no co-education. +The chapel was crowded with admiring friends; and the girls looked sweet +and pretty in their white gowns and flowing curls; for youth has a charm +and beauty of its own that does not depend on regular features, or +style, or any of the later accessories of life. It is an enchanted land +of sunny skies and heavenly atmospheres. + +She came home out of it all with a curious new feeling. That night of +the banquet it had been almost a masquerade. Even now the blue shimmer +and clouds of white ruffles seemed to belong to some other state. She +wondered a little if she would ever wear it again. + +There were some pretty gifts for her at home. Josie Dean and Charlie +Reed came around in the evening. He had passed his first year's +examinations successfully. + +Doctor Joe and Jim and the elder people were talking very earnestly +about the duties and the purposes of life. Josie touched Hanny's hand, +and, with a little movement, the sign girls understand, drew her out on +the porch. + +"Let us walk down the path. Oh, Hanny, I've something to tell you!" and +her voice was in a sort of delicious tremble. "May be you have +suspected. I told Charlie I _must_ confess it to you; though we do not +mean to say much about it at present. Oh, Hanny, can't you guess?" + +There were so many things; it was something joyful, certainly. She +glanced up and smiled. Josie's face was all one roseate flush. + +"Oh!" with a mysterious throb. + +"We are engaged, dear. I don't know when we began to love each other. We +have been so much with each other, you know. He has helped me with my +lessons; and we have sung, and played, and read, and gone to church +together. It was like having a brother. Tudie and I used to envy you +the boys. And it was not quite like a brother either, for another +feeling came in. Sometimes I wanted to run away, such a queer tremble +came over me. Then there were hours when I could hardly wait for him to +come home from the seminary. And for a while, he was so grave, I +wondered if I had offended him. And then--do you suppose any one can +tell just _how_ it happens?--though they always do in books. All in an +instant, you know some one loves you. It's strange and beautiful and +exciting; and it seems as if the best and loveliest of all the world had +come to you. We have been engaged a whole week; and every day it grows +more mysteriously delightful." + +"It is so strange," said Hanny, with a long, indrawn breath. +"And--Charlie!" + +"Oh, don't you remember how we waylaid Mr. Reed one night, and begged +him to let Charlie go to singing-school? He laughed about it the other +night, though he said you were the bravest of the three. And he is +delighted with it. Then mother is so fond of Charles. Of course it will +be a two years' engagement. Mother doesn't want me to teach school now. +She thinks I ought to learn about housekeeping and sewing, and fit +myself for a minister's wife. That seems so solemn, doesn't it? Oh, I do +wonder if I can be good enough! And visiting the poor, and helping to +the right way, and being patient and sweet, and real religious! But he +will help me; and he is so good! I think he couldn't have been anything +but a minister. I _do_ suppose Mrs. Reed knows about it in heaven. She +was so different that last year, sweeter and kinder; and we feel sure +she has gone to heaven. But we want her to know; and dear little Tudie! +You must come over and spend the day, now that school is ended; and we +will do nothing but talk about it. Oh, Hanny, I hope some day you will +have a lover! But you seem such a sort of a little girl even yet. And I +have worn long skirts a whole year." + +A lover! Hanny's face was scarlet in the fragrant dusk. + +"We must go in. I promised mother we would not stay late. And Charlie +has some examinations for to-morrow. You may tell your mother and Daisy +Jasper." + +Joe said they needn't hurry off so; and Charles flushed as he looked at +Josie. They rose and said good-night; and Josie kissed Hanny in a +rapturous kind of fashion. + +"I'll bet a sixpence those two youngsters are engaged," said Jim. +"Hanny, what was all the long talk about?" + +She was not quite sure all the rest were to be taken in the confidence; +but she looked so conscious, and Jim was so positive, that she admitted +the fact. + +"That's just like a theological student." + +"It is a very suitable engagement. Mrs. Dean has brought Josie up +sensibly; and Charles is such a fine fellow. Of course they must all be +pleased about it," commented Mrs. Underhill. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +MISS NAN UNDERHILL + + +Just a few days later, Mrs. Odell came down for some advice and help, +for Janey was to be married. Her betrothed was a well-to-do young farmer +up in Sullivan County. He was coming down in August to go to the World's +Fair; and he wanted to be married and make a general holiday of it. + +"I am not much judge of such matters; but Stephen's wife will go +shopping with you. I don't know what we should do without her," said +Mrs. Underhill. + +That very morning two silver-embossed envelopes came for Miss Nan +Underhill. One schoolmate was to be married in church at noon, and go to +Niagara on a wedding journey. The other was an evening ceremony with a +reception afterward. Mr. James Underhill had an invitation to this also. + +Was all the world getting married, or being engaged! Standing on the +threshold, Hanny shrank back in dismay. It was looking out of a tranquil +cloister into a great, unknown world; and it gave her a mysterious +shiver. She didn't feel safe and warm until she had dropped on her +father's knee, and had his strong, fond arms about her. + +Dolly's party was a great success. The young people were invited to meet +Miss Nan Underhill. And Miss Nan wore her graduation dress and blue +ribbons. Blue gave her a sort of ethereal look; pink added a kind of +blossomy sweetness. + +Dolly knew so many young folks. True, there were some older ones. Ben +and Delia came up for an hour. Dolly said they were old-fashioned +married people already. Hanny thought there didn't seem much difference, +only Ben had a new strange sort of sweetness. She was very fond of +Delia; and it was a delight to feel free to go down to Beach Street. + +Peter and Paulus Beekman came; and they were nice, fine, rather stout +young men. Peter was a lawyer; he and Jim were quite friends. Paulus was +in shipping business. + +"Oh," said Peter to Nan, "you look just as you did when you were a +little girl and used to come to grandfather's. Do you remember that +beautiful Angora cat? That was grandfather's sign. He always took to +people Katschina liked. And your hair hasn't grown any darker. I like +light hair. Aunt Dolly has such beautiful hair! And I'm glad you have +not grown up into a great, tall May-pole. I just adore little women. +When I marry, I am going to choose a 'bonnie wee thing,' like the wife +in the song." + +Hanny flushed rosy red. Oh, why would people talk about being married, +and all that? And if Peter wouldn't look at her in just that way! It +gave her a touch of embarrassment. + +But oh, they had a splendid time! Modern young people would have been +bored, and voted it "no spread at all." They played Proverbs, and What +is my thought like? and everybody tried to bring out their very best, +and be as bright and witty and joyous as possible. They had plain cake +and fancy cake, and a new kind of dainty crisp crackers; candies, nuts, +raisins, and mottoes, which were the greatest fun of all. Afterward, +some dancing with the Cheat quadrille, and it was so amusing to "cut +out," or run away and leave your partner with his open arms, and a blank +look of surprise on his face. + +Doctor Joe came to take the little girl home; for he was quite sure Jim +would want to take some one else's sister. + +"Aunt Dolly," said Peter, when he was going away without any girl at +all, though he had hoped to walk home with Hanny, "isn't Nan Underhill +just the sweetest little thing in the world? I don't wonder grandfather +liked her so. With that soft, indescribable hair, and her +eyes,--twilight eyes, some one put in a poem,--and that cunning dimple +when she smiles, and so dainty altogether. What made you say she was not +pretty?" + +"Why, I said, she was not as handsome as Mrs. Hoffman." + +"She suits me ten times better. She is like this, + + "'A creature not too bright or good + For human nature's daily food.'" + +Dolly repeated the talk and the verses to Stephen. "And Peter is such a +solid, steady-going fellow. He was really smitten." + +"The idea! And with that child!" + +Dolly laughed gaily. "I suppose when our girls get to be eighteen, you +will still think them children. Why, I wasn't quite fifty when you fell +in love with me!" + +Fifty! How ridiculous it was to think of Dolly ever being fifty. Ah, it +is love alone that holds the secret of eternal youth! + +"Well, I hope there won't any one be foolish over Hanny, in a long +while," said Stephen, decisively. + +"Foolish!" repeated Dolly, in a tone of resentment. But then they both +laughed. + +The Odell girls came down to make a two days' visit. They went up to the +Deans' to tea; and the two engaged girls strayed off by themselves, with +their arms about each other, and had confidences in which the masculine +pronoun played an important part. And poor Polly bewailed the prospect +of being left alone. If she had a brother like Jim, she wouldn't mind. + +Jim's girls were a kind of standing amusement to the family. This was a +case where there was safety in numbers, Mrs. Underhill felt assured. If +she had known of the episode of Lily Ludlow, her confidence would have +been a little shaken. Jim was a general lover of the sex, and a +good-looking, entertaining young fellow is apt to be spoiled. + +Just now he had a penchant for Daisy, who teased him, and was as +uncertain as an April shower. She and Hanny were inseparables. Jim took +them round to Dolly's, or down to Ben's, or to Mrs. Hoffman, who had a +new grand piano, and had refurnished her parlor, quite changing the +simplicity of her first wedded life. Through the winter, she had given +fortnightly receptions, that had an air and grace of the highest +refinement. You always met some of the best and the most entertaining +people. It was not a crush and a jam; but men and women really talked at +that period, and brought out their best. Knowledge was not at a +discount. + +Young ladies came to call on Miss Underhill; and in the evenings, they +brought their brothers or admirers. When she knew of it beforehand, she +always had Daisy to help. Sometimes the whole party would go out for a +little walk, and have some cream or water ices. The city was still so +airy and open, you did not have to fly out of it at the first pleasant +day. + +This summer, nearly everybody was staying at home, and waiting for the +big fair to open. Rooms at hotels and private houses were engaged; and +the plainer country people came in to visit. There would be crowds, of +course. + +The Underhills had invited some of the elder relatives, since they had +plenty of room. + +And on July 4th, this great event occurred. The President, Mr. Franklin +Pierce at that time, was the grand master of the occasion. Oh, what a +Fourth of July it was! The grounds were crowded. The military were out +in force; and the fireworks would have done credit to the empire of +China. Never had the city seen such a gala time; the Victory of Peace it +was called. + +The men had it largely to themselves this day. It was more the +ceremonies, than the articles exhibited, that attracted attention. That +came later on. + +There was a great influx of visitors in the city. The streets were +thronged; the stages were crowded. One wonders what they did without +electric cars. But numbers of people still kept carriages, and temporary +lodging-houses were erected in the vicinity of the Palace. It certainly +was a great thing for that day. And the interior, with its handsome +dome, its galleries, its arched naves, and broad aisles, had a striking +and splendid effect. + +And, oh, the riches of the world that had contributed some of its +choicest treasures! There were many people who never expected to go to +Europe, and who were glad beyond measure to have it come to them. Here +was the largest collection of paintings and sculpture that had ever been +gathered in New York. Then, for the first time, we saw Powers' matchless +Greek slave, and Kiss' Amazon, and many another famous marble. There was +the row of the Apostles by the sculptor Thorwaldsen, about which there +was always a concourse of people; and some of the devout could almost +see them in the flesh. + +We have had a Centennial since, and a famous White City, and almost any +day, in New York, you can see some famous pictures and statuary. Then +people run over to Europe, and study up the galleries, and write books +of exquisite descriptions; but it was not so at that time. There is the +grand Museum of Art near to where the old Palace stood; but all was new +then. We had not been surfeited with beauty; we had not had a flood of +art critics, praising or denouncing, and schools of this or that fad. It +is good for cities, as well as nations, that they should once be young, +and revel in the enchanting sense of freshness and delight. + +Presently, it became a sort of regular thing to go,--a kind of +summer-day excursion. There were delightful walks and drives up above. +Bloomingdale was still a garden of sweetness. Riverside was unknown, +only as the beautiful bank of the Hudson. You went and carried your +lunch, or you found some simple cottage, where a country-woman dispensed +truly home-made bread, and delicious ham, and a glass of milk, +buttermilk on some days. + +The remembrance of it to Hanny Underhill, through all her after years, +was as of a golden summer. The little knot of young people kept +together. When Josie Dean recovered somewhat, from the first transports +of her engagement, she proved very companionable. Charles, in his long +vacation, was quite at their service. Jim couldn't always be at liberty; +but he did get off pretty often. Sometimes Joe, sometimes Father +Underhill, chaperoned the party; but they were allowed to go by +themselves as well. Girl friends joined them; Peter Beekman, and even +Paulus, thought it a great thing to be counted in. + +Oh, the wonderful articles! It was a liberal education. Sevres china, +Worcestershire with its wonderful tint, Wedgwood, Doulton, Cloisonnee, +some rare Italian; and the tragic stories of Palissy, of Josiah +Wedgwood, and Charles III. of Naples taking his secret to Spain; some +queer Chinese ware, and Delft and Dresden, until it seemed as if half +the genius of the world must have been expended in the exquisite +productions. + +And then the laces, the gossamer fabrics, the silks and velvets, the +jewels, the elegant things from barbaric Russia, the wonders of the +Orient, the plainer exhibit of our own land rich in mechanical wonders, +the natural products, the sewing-machine that now could do the finest of +work, the miniature looms weaving, the queer South American and Mexican +fabrications, the gold from California,--well, it seemed as if one never +could see it all. + +Hanny wondered why Peter Beekman should want to stay close by her when +Daisy was so bright and entertaining, and when there were other girls. +When he looked at her so earnestly her heart gave a great throb, her +cheeks burned, and she wanted to run away. + +He wished she wasn't so shy and so ready to shelter herself under +Charlie's wing, or her father's, or Joe's. And when she felt really safe +she was so merry and enchanting! + +It was a day in August, rather warm, to be sure; but Polly Odell had +come down just on purpose to go, "for now that Janey was married and +gone the house was too horrid lonesome!" They stopped for Josie. Doctor +Joe brought Daisy up in the afternoon, and they were all in the +picture-gallery, where they were ever finding something new. Perhaps +Polly had made big eyes at Peter; perhaps Peter liked her because she +talked so much about Hanny. Anyhow, they had rambled off way at one end. +Daisy was resting, and telling the doctor about some pictures in the +Berlin gallery. Hanny moved up and down slowly, not getting very far +away. She was fond of interiors, and the homely Dutch or French women +cooking supper, or tending a baby, or spinning. And there were two +kittens she had never seen before, scampering about an old kitchen where +a man in his shirt-sleeves had fallen asleep over his paper. It seemed +to her she could see them move. + +A man of six or seven and twenty, young for his years, yet with a +certain stamp of the world and experience, went slowly along, glancing +at the visitors in a casual manner. Of course he would know Miss Jasper +and Dr. Underhill. It was like looking for a needle in a hay-stack; but +Mrs. Jasper had suggested the picture-gallery; and suddenly he saw a +small figure and fair face under a big leghorn hat full of wild roses +and green leaves. She was smiling at the playful kittens. Oh, it surely +was Miss Nan Underhill! + +He came nearer; and she looked startled, as if she might fly. What a +delicious colour drenched her face! + +"Oh, you surely haven't forgotten me!" he cried. "I should remember you +thousands of years, and I could pick you out of a world full of women." + +"I--" Then she gave her soft little laugh, and the colour went +fluttering all over her face in a startled, happy manner. "But I +thought--" + +"Did you think me a fixture in German wilds? Well, I am not. It's a +long, long story; but I have come over now for good, to be a true +American citizen all the rest of my days. The steamer arrived last +night; but I couldn't get off until nearly noon. Then I went to a hotel +and had some dinner, and came up to see Mrs. Jasper. She sent me here. +Where are the others?" + +"Daisy is--" she glanced about--"oh, down there with my brother,--and +Miss Odell"--how queer that sounded! + +"Let us stop here and rest until I get my breath and summon enough +fortitude to encounter them. You are dreadfully surprised, I see by your +face, I don't wonder. I must seem to you dropped from the clouds." + +She wasn't a bit afraid, and sat down beside him. And she wondered if he +had married the German cousin and brought her over; but it was strange +not to mention her. It must be, however, if he was going to live in +America. + +"Oh, do you remember that night and the Spanish dance? I have shut my +eyes and danced it ever so many times in memory. And you sent me +away,"--with a soft, untranslatable laugh. + +"I--" She looked amazed. She seemed caught and held captive in the swirl +of some strange power. The colour fluttered up and down her sweet face, +and her eyelids drooped, their long, soft lashes making shadows. + +"Yes, you said I ought to go; and I shall always be glad I went,"--in a +confident tone. + +"Your cousin?" she said inquiringly, with no consciousness that a word +would swerve either way. + +"Yes. You know I told you my father's wishes. That sort of thing doesn't +seem queer to continental people. But it was not so much his as the +aunt's,--the relation is farther back than that; but it serves the same +purpose. She had known about my father, and was desirous of being +friends. So after I was home about a week, and had confessed to my +father that the prospect of the marriage was not agreeable to me, he +still begged me to go." + +Hanny looked almost as if she was disappointed. He smiled and resumed:-- + +"It is a lonely spot on the Rhine, not far from Ebberfeld. We will look +it up some day. I don't know how people can spend their lives in such +dreary places. I do not wonder my grandmother ran away with her brave +lover. The castle is fast going to ruins. There was a brother who wasted +a great deal of the patrimony before he died. The Baroness is the last +of her race. There is a poor little village at the foot of the mountain, +and some peasants who work the land; and then the cousin, who is +expected to rehabilitate the race by marrying a rich man." + +"Yes." There was such a pretty, eager interest and pity in her eyes that +he smiled. + +"She is six and twenty; tall, fair, with a sorrowful kind of face, that +has never been actually happy or pretty. Who could be happy in that +musty old rookery! The father, I believe, did very little for their +pleasure, but spent most of his time in town, wasting their little +substance." + +"Oh, poor girl!" cried Hanny, thinking of her own father, so loving and +generous. + +"She seemed to me almost as old as her mother. And then she told me her +troubles, poor thing, and I found her in heart and mind a sort of +inexperienced child. She has had a lover for two years; an enterprising +young man, who is superintendent of an iron mine some fifty miles +distant. It is the old story over again. I wish he had my grandfather's +courage and would run away with her. He has no title nor aristocratic +blood, and the mother will not consent. But I had made up my mind before +I went there, and even if I had been fancy free, I couldn't resign +myself to live in that old ruin." + +"Oh, what will she do?" + +"I advised her to run away." Herman Andersen laughed softly. "But I +think I persuaded them both to come to the city and visit my father. +They will find business isn't so shocking. They have lived in loneliness +until they know very little of the real world. The old castle is not +worth saving. Then I went home, and after a good deal of talking have +arranged my life in a way that is satisfactory to my father, and I hope +will be eminently so to myself. Some day I will tell you about that. Now +where shall we find the others?" and he rose. + +"Daisy is down here." Hanny rose also; but she had a queer sort of +feeling, as if the world was turning round. + +It seemed to Doctor Joe that he so rarely had a good talk with Daisy +now, that he would make the most of this opportunity. Jim was always +hovering about her. It was natural she should like the younger people. +He was like a very much older brother. She was looking pale and tired. +She could not stand continual dissipation. And while she often had a +brilliant color and Hanny very little, the latter possessed by far the +most endurance. + +She liked to be alone with Doctor Joe. There was something restful and +inspiriting, as if she absorbed his generous, superabundant strength. + +So they almost forgot about Hanny, or thought her with the others. And +now she came walking slowly down to them with a strange young man. + +"Why, who can it be?" in a tone of surprised inquiry. + +Daisy Jasper studied a moment. "Why, it looks like--no, it cannot +be--yes, it is Mr. Andersen." + +"I thought he was in Germany." + +Daisy looked puzzled. Then she sprang up with a quick colour and a smile +of pleasure, stretching out both hands. + +"Oh, Miss Jasper!" and Mr. Andersen took her hands in a fervent clasp. +"Do you know this is going to be a red-letter day in my life,--one of +the happiest of days? Your mother sent me up here on a venture. First, I +found Miss Underhill, and now you. And one might go all over the world +and miss one's best friends. Ah, Dr. Underhill!" + +A curious shock went over Dr. Underhill. He had to compel himself to +take the outstretched hand. For what had this young man "crossed the +seas?" He was not going to marry the cousin. + +"But when did you come?" inquired Daisy. It was odd, but he took the +seat the other side of her, and Hanny was by Joe. + +Then Mr. Andersen told his voyage all over again, and that he had come +for good. He was to take his father's money share in the house here, and +his father's was to be transferred to Paris, where one of the elderly +partners was in failing health and wished to retire. + +"I am just delighted," exclaimed Daisy, enthusiastically. "If you would +only come and board at our house! There are some people going away. +Wouldn't it be splendid, Hanny?" + +Hanny assented with a smile. + +"I will see if I can find the others," said the doctor, rising and +looking at his watch. "Father was to drive up with the Surrey at +half-past five. Don't go away from here." + +He walked slowly, looking a few moments in every room. Yes--there was +Charles. He caught his eye and beckoned. + +The estrays soon rejoined the others. Then they went out to the +southern entrance, and so along to the gateway. + +Yes, there was Mr. Underhill. He would take the four girls, and one +more, as he had a team. This was decided to be Mr. Andersen, as he was +to go to the Jaspers' to tea. The others would ride down in the stage. +The doctor said he must make a few calls. Mr. Beekman expressed his +intention of coming up in the evening, as Miss Odell was going to stay; +and Miss Odell's eyes shone with delight. + +Daisy having a lover! Dr. Underhill had not felt alarmed about Jim's +attentions, he had so many fancies. But this young man-- + +Would it be best or wise for Daisy to marry? She appeared quite well, +but she was not strong, and there was a remnant of the old spinal +trouble that came out now and then in excruciating nervous headaches. +Somehow she had seemed his especial property since she had cried in his +arms with all the pain and suffering, and he had encouraged her to bear +the little more. He had meant always to stand her friend. It wasn't +likely he would marry, for he had seen no one yet that he wanted. But if +this child went out of his life! For, alas! the child had grown to +womanhood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE OLD, OLD STORY, EVER NEW + + +When Mr. Underhill took Polly home the next day, it was with the +stipulation that she should come back and spend a week. Polly was wild +with delight, and packed up her best things. There were some other +visitors,--cousins of the elderly sort,--so the young people had their +own good times. Daisy and Mr. Andersen were in, and Charlie and they had +the happy enjoyment of youth. + +Peter Beekman seemed devoted to them. Jim wouldn't be crowded out where +Daisy was concerned, but he wanted to be first with her. Mr. Andersen +gave way generously, and went over to Hanny, who somehow clung to Polly. + +There was a good deal of business to be done for Mr. Herman Andersen. +His father's share in the New York firm was to be transferred to him, as +at the age of twenty-five he had come into possession of his mother's +fortune, that had been accumulating. His father was to take charge of +the Paris house. He spent some hours every morning with Mr. Jasper, +acquiring a knowledge of his new duties; but the afternoons were for +pleasure, until the autumnal business stirred up. + +"I do wish young Beekman wouldn't come over here so much," Mrs. +Underhill said in a fretted tone, "or that he would take a real fancy to +Polly." + +"They are just having a young people's good time," returned Joe. +"Polly's a nice girl. He might do worse." + +"But I am afraid it is not Polly. He watches Hanny like a cat watching a +mouse." + +"Nonsense!" declared Joe. + +"But he does. And I don't like it." + +"Oh, mother dear, you're a hen with one chick. If there is a rustle in +the leaves you think a hawk is going to pounce down." + +"Hanny's too young to have lovers." She tried to keep her face in severe +lines. + +"Hanny isn't thinking about lovers. And Peter is a fine, solid fellow, +who is going to make his mark, and who may be a sort of ballast to Jim. +I like him." + +"Oh, he is well enough. But if there was any fuss it might annoy Dolly. +And we have always been so cordial; Margaret was married too young." + +"And you were married too young. Now, if you had waited and done without +Steve and me, and begun with John--" + +There was a twinkle in Doctor Joe's eye. + +"I should have begun with the most sensible son," returned his mother; +but she could not keep her voice sharp. + +"Well, I will look after Hanny and the young man. I think myself that we +don't need any more lovers right away." + +She knew she could depend on him. + +Then they had some anxiety at Ben's, and Delia's mother was away. Aunt +Boudinot had her third stroke, and lay insensible for several days, then +slipped out of life. Mrs. Underhill was quite surprised with Delia's +good sense, as she called it, and really she wasn't such a bad +housekeeper for a girl with no training. + +There was the funeral, with some of New York's oldest families. +Afterward the will was read. Aunt Patty had made a new one on the death +of her sister. + +There was a small legacy to the niece who had married; a remembrance to +several relatives and friends. The use of the house was to be Mrs. +Whitney's while she lived; at her death to be sold and divided between +her niece, Delia Whitney, and her grand-niece, Eleanora Whitney. And to +Delia Whitney, if she took faithful care of her until her death, the sum +of five thousand dollars in bank-stock. + +She had taken faithful care of her, and would have done it out of the +kindness of her heart without any reward. + +"I thought it might be a thousand dollars," she said to Ben, "and I made +up my mind if it should be that, we would take it and go abroad. I had +some savings beside. When Bayard Taylor told us about his tour I felt +sure we could do something like it. We would keep out of the expensive +tourists' ways, and live cheaply, keeping house when we could. Oh, Ben, +won't it be splendid!" + +He thought it splendid to have her so generous, but he had some savings +as well. + +Five thousand dollars was considered quite a legacy in those days; and +the bank-stock was worth a good deal more than its face. + +Every one said they would be crazy to waste their money in such a +frivolous manner. + +"I don't mind if I shouldn't ever be rich," declared Ben. "I want a +piece of the big world, with its knowledges and wonders. I shouldn't +care to live there always, but it broadens one to see what other nations +have done; what has made their greatness and what has contributed to +their downfall. And the arts and sciences, the mysteries of the East and +of Egypt. We are young yet as a country, and we have a right to gather +up the riches of experience. I only hope we shall profit by it." + +So they planned and planned. Delia looked over the old things, and sent +Dolly and Hanny some antiquities of a century or more. Then she packed +and boxed hers, for she knew her mother might deal them out to +indifferent people. She thought it would be a good plan to hire out the +house to some one who would board her mother and Theodore; and presently +one of the married sisters, Mrs. Ferris, decided she would come. So then +they could plan to go away; and Delia might write her novel while she +was abroad. + +Meanwhile the summer was slipping away like a dream. The great fair +still attracted a large concourse. But September came in, and schools +opened. Jim went back to regular study; Charles to the seminary. Hanny +had some more schoolmates married. There was another baby at Margaret's; +and it was so delightful to go down to Delia's and hear all the plans! +Now that Hanny had learned so much at the Crystal Palace, she had quite +a longing for churches and museums and art galleries. Herman Andersen +had visited so many of them! + +Sometimes Daisy Jasper went down with her. Mr. Andersen came for them in +the evening. Delia he thought wonderfully bright and entertaining. Ben +liked him amazingly. + +"But if I had all that money," said Ben, "I wouldn't confine myself to +such puttering stuff as silks and laces and India shawls; I should want +to do something high up and fine, like a magazine or a paper, that had +influence and scope. Some day I mean to own a share in a paper, where +you have a chance to touch up public opinion." + +Herman Andersen seemed very happy and content. Mr. Jasper said he was +going to make a fine, reliable business man. He really felt he wouldn't +object to him for a son. + +Grandmother Van Kortlandt was growing more feeble, and now and then had +a bad spell. Doctor Joe made light of it, and told her red lavender and +aromatic hartshorn were good for old ladies. She seemed to want her +daughter near her. The young man who had alarmed Mrs. Underhill did not +come so frequently, so she began to feel quite safe. + +Oh, what a happy, happy summer it had been! The little girl was used to +her long frocks, and studied ways of doing her hair, and practised +Mendelssohn's "Songs without Words" because some one had said they were +the most beautiful things he had ever heard. She and Daisy and Mr. +Andersen talked German, and had no end of fun. + +One afternoon Mr. Andersen came in. + +"Let us go up to the Crystal Palace," he said. "It is the most glorious +afternoon imaginable. There is a sort of hazy red gold in the air, that +exhilarates one. You feel as if you could soar to heaven's gate." + +"We haven't been up in almost a fortnight," said Hanny, laughing. + +"The more need of our going now. I enjoy these superb days to the full." + +Hanny went to get her hat. Grandmother generally took her nap early in +the afternoon. Mother was not in her own room, she saw, as she looked +in, so she ran on down. She was not in the kitchen either. + +"Joe," she cried--there was no one in the office, and he sat with his +legs stretched out, and a book on the table beside him, looking very +comfortable,--"Joe, where is mother?" + +"Up with grandmother, dear. Don't disturb her. What did you want?" + +"Oh, nothing--only to say--we are going up to the fair." + +"Very well; run along. You look as sweet as a pink." + +A bright color flashed over her face, and settled in her dimple, making +it look like a rose as she smiled. + +She was putting on her blossom-coloured lace mitts as she entered the +room. Some one else thought she looked as sweet as a pink when he rose, +and led the way. + +She turned down the street. + +"Oh, Daisy is not going," he said. "She had a headache all the morning. +You don't mind?" + +"Oh, no. Poor dear Daisy! And I didn't go in!" Her voice was touched +with the sweetest regret and compassion. + +Doctor Joe went upstairs presently, to grandmother. + +"Her breathing is better," he said. "I have tried a new remedy. When she +has had some sleep she will be all right. This isn't quite a normal +state yet. Call me if there is any special change." + +Then he went down to the office again. People came more in the morning +or the evening, and he had attended to his urgent calls. He was glad not +to go out just then. But he thought of the young people on their way to +the palace of delight. Had he ever been young and joyous, as the youth +of to-day? He had studied and worked, taught some, used up all his time, +and had none for the passing vagaries. What made him feel old, and as if +some of the rarest delights would pass him by? + +There was a light tap at the office-door, though it stood ajar. He rose +and opened it wider. + +"Why, Daisy Jasper!" he cried in amazement. "Or is it your wraith? I +thought you had gone to the fair with Hanny." + +She had been very pale; now she flushed a little. There was a +tremulousness about her, and shadows under her eyes. + +"I had a headache all the morning; most of the night as well. It has +gone off somewhat, but I didn't feel well enough for that." + +"No, of course not." He led her to the pretty library, that was always +having a picture or a set of books added. You couldn't put in any more +easy-chairs. He placed her in one. As he touched her hand, he felt the +feverish tremble. + +"My dear child, what is it?" + +Her eyes drooped, and tears beaded the lashes. + +"You shouldn't have come out. Why did you not send for me?" + +"I--I wanted to come. I knew Hanny would be gone. I wanted to see you." +She was strangely embarrassed. + +He was standing by the side of the chair and took her hand again. How +limp and lifeless it seemed! + +"I wanted to see you--to ask you, to tell you--oh, how shall I say +it!--if you could help me a little. You are so wise, and can think of so +many ways--and I am so afraid he loves me--it would not be right--" + +Yes, that was it. This bright, charming, well-bred, fortunate young +fellow loved her. He could keep her like a little queen. And she had +some conscientious scruple about her health, and her trifling lameness, +and all. A word from him would keep her where she was. He had carried +her in his arms, his little ewe lamb. No man could ever give her the +exquisite care that he would be able to bestow. Oh, could he let any one +take her out of his life! + +Yet some one younger and richer loved her. Yes, he _must_ stand aside. + +"My child,"--he would be grave and fatherly,--"I think you are making +yourself needless trouble. Why should you refuse a good man's love? You +have your beauty, and a gift that is really a genius, and though you may +not be as strong as some women, that is no reason why you should deny +yourself the choicest blessing of a woman's life." + +"But"--she gave a little sob--"I thought you might blame me for being +heedless. We have all been such friends. And I don't want anything to +mar the perfect pleasantness. I know it is not right because--how can I +make you understand! It might wound you if I said it--I think it can +never be that kind of love--" + +Did he hear aright, or was it some subtle temptation? + +"You, of all other women, should be careful not to make a mistake. It +would mean more to you afterward--if matters went a little wrong." + +"And he is so gay, so full of life and fun, and always wanting one to +keep up to the highest pitch. It would not be the right thing for him." + +"But he is very gentle as well." + +"Dr. Underhill, tell me that it isn't the right step for me to take, +_ever_," Daisy said decisively. + +"I cannot tell you any such thing. I will not bar you out of any +happiness." + +Perhaps he really approved of it. They were all in a way proud of the +younger brother. And Jim thought there was no such splendid man in the +world as the doctor. Oh, if she only knew! She was heroic enough to +please them all for the sake of the past and present friendship. But she +had a doubt of Mrs. Underhill's approval. She might give in as she had +to Delia; and now she had really begun to find virtues in Ben's wife. +But with Jim's brilliant nature always on the alert for amusement, she, +Daisy, would be worn out trying to keep up to his standard. + +She rose slowly. "I ought not have come," she began in a despondent +tone. "I thought I could talk it all over with you; but I must decide, +and bear the pain. You may all feel hurt, even if you acknowledge the +wisdom of my decision. It would be a delight to come and live with you +all; I who have had no brothers or sisters. But I think Jim will soon +get over it, especially if _you_ point out the unwisdom of it all. Maybe +you will take me back into favour then, when the soreness is spent." + +"Jim," he repeated, in a vague, absent sort of way. "Jim! Who are you +talking about, Daisy?" + +Her face was scarlet, and her eyes full of tears. + +"Your brother James. It is a shame, I know, to betray one man's inmost +secrets to another. But I am quite sure that I ought not, that I cannot, +marry him. Oh, will you all forgive me, and help him to forget all but +the friendship?" + +She took a step toward the door. The scarlet went out of her face, and +she swayed as if her strength was all gone. He caught her, and put her +back in the chair. + +"Jim!" now in a tone of great surprise, and giving a little incredulous +laugh. "Why, I thought it was Herman Andersen." + +Joe's heart seemed suddenly to enlarge and fill his whole body. There +was a ringing in his ears, as of joy-bells. + +"Herman Andersen!" she said composedly. "Oh, have you all been blind? +Why, he is in love with Hanny! He came back to America to win her, and +he will if he serves seven years." + +Doctor Joe looked at her in amaze. Ah, yes, they had been blind. They +had fenced out young Peter Beckman, and opened the door wide to this +unsuspected lover. And he knew as well as it Hanny had confessed it, +that her heart had gone to meet his on the magic sea of love, and they +would come into port no longer twain, but one. + +He sat down on the broad arm of the chair. He could see Daisy's long +agitated breaths quiver through her body; and she looked tired and +spent. Poor little girl! + +"No, I had never thought of Jim," he began gravely, "because he is so +fond of girls; a general worshipper. Not but what he might be very true +and devoted to one. He seems so young yet. Daisy,"--his voice +fell,--"did he ask you--" + +Her head drooped a little, and her shining curls hid her face. + +"Oh, do believe that when I thought of it first I did try to evade, +to--to laugh him out of it. That was a month ago. He kept saying little +things I would not heed or seem to understand. It has been such a gay, +happy summer for us all! And there was Charlie's engagement. Last +evening mamma and papa had gone out to call on a friend, and we were +quite alone--" + +How much was volatile temperament and the love of pursuit, and how much +the deeper regard? Let him do his young brother justice. + +"Charlie is young, to be sure, but he is a very steady-minded fellow, +and his mother's and Tudie's death brought them together in a very +sympathetic manner. Then Charles is about certain of a good position. +Jim has his fortune all to make. And you are right about some other +qualities. Herman Andersen would be a much better companion for you. Jim +is strong and energetic, full of life, and will always be among the busy +bustling things, and deep in excitements. He would wear you out." + +"And don't you see that when he is five or six and twenty he will need +something better than an invalid wife, who might have to go to bed with +a headache when he was giving an important dinner, or having a brilliant +sort of evening with some stylish guests? He ought to have a wife +something like Mrs. Hoffman, who would help him to the finest things of +life. And though I seem well, I shall never be real strong; and I do not +care for grand society. I like a good deal of quiet and ease, and just +everyday living, a little painting when I feel inspired, a little +reading and talks with friends, and old-fashioned music. I sometimes +feel as if I was an old girl, and ought to have lived a century ago. +Perhaps I shall make a queer, stuffy old woman. And--I ought not to +marry." + +"You shall not give up the divine right," he made answer, earnestly. + +"Oh, I have a pretty face just now, and people, I find, _do_ admire +beauty. But that will fade." Then she sprang up suddenly, parted her +long ringlets, and stood with her back to him. "See," and her voice +trembled, he knew there were tears in her eyes, "I have a little crook +in my back, and one high shoulder. There has to be half an inch of cork +in one boot-sole to keep me straight and from limping. No, I shouldn't +do for a handsome young man like Jim, for I may grow lamer and crookeder +as I grow older; nor for any man, although you try to comfort me with an +almost divine compassion." + +She was sobbing in his arms then. It was not the first time she had wept +out her sorrow there. + +He raised the golden head a little, and kissed down amid the passionate +tears that were sweeping away a kind of regret that sometimes haunted +her. He had kissed her often as a little child, but rarely since her +return from abroad. Her girlhood had been a quality fine and rare and +sacred to him. + +"Except the one man who has always loved you from the poor little child +in her pitiful pain and anguish, and the little girl who began to take +courage and face the world, the larger girl who was brave and +sunny-hearted, and looked out with hopeful eyes on the world that had so +many blessings. And he knows now that no skill can ever shut out all +suffering; but his sympathy and tender affection will help her through +years that may be weary and sorrowful, and endure with her whatever +burden comes, make her pathway easy and pleasant and restful." + +"Oh, you must not," she cried, with a pang of renunciation. "Whatever +applies to another man applies with double force to you. You are so +noble, so tender; so worthy of what is best in life! And you have to +carry so many burdens for other people that you must have some one brave +and strong and full of energy and in perfect health--" + +"The woman I love will be better than all this to me," he returned, with +a sweetness in his voice that went to her very heart, and brought the +tears to her eyes again. Then he dropped down in the great chair and +took her gently in his arms, and he knew his case was as good as won. + +"When you were a little girl you once said to Hanny if you could have a +brother out of the clan you would like it to be me. And for days the +quaint, generous little soul could hardly resolve whether it was not her +duty to give me away. Then don't you remember you both planned to come +and keep my bachelor-home? Some one else will take her. And we will +wait, dear. We will go on in the same friendly, kindly fashion. You must +run in and out and come to me with your headaches and perplexities, and +I shall scold you a little and give you a bitter tonic; and when +everything is just right I shall ask you to marry me; but all the time I +shall be loving you so much that it will be impossible for you to refuse +me. So you know what is in store, and no one need trouble about the +future. You are not engaged, you are quite free; and, like Ben, I will +wait seven years or twenty years for you. But I think you never can +belong to any one else." + +Ah, what delightful security! + +"Dear, dear Doctor Joe. Oh, it would be too much happiness! No, I ought +not; mamma thinks I ought not to marry. And," raising her head and +showing a face full of scarlet flushes and tears, and eyes shining with +love's own light, "it looks just as if I had come in here and really +asked you to marry me. We have forgotten all about poor Jim. You will +think me a coquette, and you ought to despise me." + +His clasp tightened a little. + +"I am sorry that Jim should have been so heedless. Perhaps it will be +better to let him learn how much in earnest you are with your refusal. +It may not be flattering to a young girl to think a man will forget +her." + +"But I want him to forget that part," she interrupted eagerly. + +"I think he will. And if he comes to me for comfort, I will try to be a +wise father-confessor. And yet I can't help pitying the man a little who +will lose you. Only in this case it would be like having an exotic +without a conservatory, and not quite knowing how to build one." + +"Joseph!" his mother called from upstairs. + +Daisy sprang up and smoothed her ruffled plumes, Joe gave her one long, +dear kiss, and she flashed out of the little room. + +She held her head very high. It was the most splendid thing that could +happen to a girl; but she was not going to spoil her dear Doctor Joe's +life. + +Are there days that the Lord of all the earth has created for love? Some +days seem made especially for sorrow. But this had such an exquisite +serenity brooding in the air. It was not late enough to have any regrets +for the passing of summer, and oh, what a summer it had been! + +"Do you really want to go up to the fair?" Herman Andersen had asked, +when they reached the corner. + +"Why,--" Hanny hesitated,--"we have seen it a good many times," and she +gave her soft, rippling laugh. + +"Let us go over to Tompkin's Square." He had something to say to her +that would be easier said in those deserted walks. You could always find +them except on Saturday or Sunday. + +"Very well," with her graceful assent. + +The birds, done with their summer housekeeping and child-rearing, had +time to sing again. But it was all low, plaintive songs, as if they +said: "We must go away from the place in which we have been so happy. +Will we be sure to come another spring?" Now and then a branch stirred. +The grass had been cut for the last time, and there were sweet little +winrows that filled the air with fragrance. He was quiet, for he liked +to hear her enchanting talk. It had turned upon when she was a little +girl, and how queer things were! It didn't seem as if everything could +change so. And what a great gay time they had at the Beekmans' when +Stephen was married! So they walked around, and were at an entrance. A +cabman put down a woman and some children just as Mr. Andersen had said, +"We were going up there some day, you know; we ought to go before +everything has faded." + +"Yes," she made answer. + +"See here, we might get this cab and go up now"--looking up with eager +inquiry. + +Dickens had not created Mr. Wemmick with his delightful off-hand +premeditated happenings; but other people had them even then. + +She made no demur, but assented with her innocent eyes full of exquisite +sweetness. + +He helped her in and sat along side of her. He had all kinds of young +lover-like thoughts, and really he so seldom had her alone. He wanted to +snatch up the hand and kiss it. It made such a tempting background for +the lace mitt. No one but old ladies wore gloves, except on very fine +occasions. And her slim little fingers, with their pink nails, were so +pretty! If he could even hold her hand! + +But they jolted over rough streets, through little clumps of Irish +villages, and laughed over the pigs, and geese, and children. Then +wastes again, with long, straight lines where streets were to be. + +"That is the house over there," she said. + +"I wonder if you could walk back? Or shall I keep the cab?" + +"Oh, no. It is so delightful to walk!" + +Ah, how the hand of improvement had disfigured everything! leaving ugly, +square, naked blocks, with here and there a house, then a space where +the trees were still standing; but the children despoiled the lilacs and +dogwood in the spring, and thrashed the lindens and black walnuts all +the later summer, until the poor things had a weary, drooping aspect. +Over here was the great garden, and a street ran through it. The old +house was shabby, and needed painting; and most of the vines had been +cut away. The steps were broken. Several families inhabited it now. The +cousin had thrown it up in disgust. + +But the young man saw it through her eyes, glorified with the glamour of +childhood. Slim young Dolly, Aunt Gitty netting, the ladies in +rocking-chairs with their sewing under the trees, Mr. Beckman and +Katschina, and the tea on little tables; and the boys she was afraid of. + +"They were such pudgy little boys," she says, with a laugh in which +there is only a remembered mirth. "They were like some of Irving's +descriptions. You wouldn't expect them to grow up into such fine-looking +men, now, would you? I think Peter is almost handsome." + +It gives him a little twinge. He was jealous of Peter awhile ago; but he +admits bravely that Peter is very good-looking. + +And here are some poor willows. Oh, the lovely shrubbery that is +neglected and dying! + +"After all, it _is_ the people who give the charm to places,--the loving +care, the home delight. But no one could keep it up. Property gets too +valuable, and taxation is too high; and there are so many poorer people +who must have homes." + +These sententious bits of wisdom he considers utterly charming. She has +caught them from John. + +Then they sit down on a great stone and rest, though she protests she is +not tired. She can walk for hours. + +Now he ought to tell her all that is in his heart. If the world stands +thousands of years there will never be such a golden opportunity again. +She breaks off a bit of yarrow and sticks it in her belt. How +beautifully the lashes droop over her eyes, deepening and softening the +tint, until it looks like a glint of heaven! + +"Oh, we ought to go on," she says presently; and with a dainty smile and +motion, she rises. Ah, if she knew what he is wild to utter! + +They turn their steps homeward. A wood-robin in a thicket sings, +"Sweet, sweet, I love you, I l-o-v-e you," with a maddening, lingering +cadence. + +Why is he not as brave as the bird? Are there any choicer, more +exquisite words in which to say it? + +They come to a little stream. "Oh, just down here is Kissing Bridge," +she says, with a kind of girlish gleefulness. + +She had made her father tell the old Dutch story one evening, when they +were all sitting on the stoop. And as they go on, she, with a sort of +eager, heedless step, as if she was not walking on his heart, tells +about Stephen, and how he jumped out of the carriage and gathered a +great bunch of roses for her. They have reached the spot. The stream has +shrunken. You could step over it. + +"They were just there." She indicates the spot with a pretty gesture of +her head. "But there are no wild-roses now;" and a soft sigh escapes +her, as she turns to him, and their eyes meet. + +"Are there none?" he asks, his eyes drinking in the sudden radiance. For +if ever dainty, delicate, ethereal wild-roses bloomed, they are in her +cheeks; and oh, what are her scarlet lips that have meant to answer, and +are mysteriously tranfixed with the rarest sweetness! + +He kisses her--once, a dozen times. There is no one near. They own the +city,--the whole world, for love is Lord of all. + +He slips her hand in his arm. Its tremble thrills every nerve in his +body. He experiences the overwhelming joy of possessorship, for she _is_ +his. + +"My darling little Nan;" and his voice is unsteady with emotion. + +He has rechristened Baby Stevie's pet name; but it has never sounded so +enchanting before. + +Then they walk on in delicious silence. Another bird sings in a drowsy +afternoon tone,-- + +"Sweet, sweet, I love you, I l-o-v-e you." + +They glance at each other, and both translate it. Her cheeks are redder +than wild-roses now; and her dimple holds the sweetness of a great +mystery. They both smile, and he kisses her again. Why not? There is no +one about. + +"My darling, can you guess when I first began to love you?" He wants her +to know all the story. It seems as if his whole life will not be long +enough to get it told and he must begin at once. + +"When?" There is a startled sound in her voice, as if she was amazed +that love had a beginning. + +"That night in the dance,--the Spanish dance. We will go somewhere this +winter and dance it over again; and the music beats will say--'I love +you.'" + +"Oh, so long ago?" she exclaims. + +"Yes; and I have a visiting-card of yours." He hunts in his card-case. +"Here it is--'Miss Nan Underhill.' I've kissed it thousands of times. I +have almost worn it out. And when I went home I told my father about the +little girl in New York that I must come back and win." + +"Oh, did you!" She is touched by the revelation. + +"He is a delightful father. Some time I must take you over to see him, +or he may come here. But he had promised that I should go to Ebberfeld; +and so I did. The aunt had proposed the match." + +"And your poor cousin!" Her voice is full of such infinite pity that he +gives the little hand a tender pressure for thanks. + +"I couldn't have loved her anyhow. She seems older than I; and I am a +very boy in heart. Then she was too large. I like little women." + +"I am so glad," she cries, with unaffected joy, "for I am small; and I +never can grow any larger. But I don't mind now." + +"So when my father found how much in earnest I was, he planned the +business change. It was my own mother's money, you know. But he has been +a good father to me, and I am glad he has some other children. I was to +go to Paris." + +That seems so magnificent she is almost conscience smitten. + +Ah, how much there is to say! + +"But you will get tired with all this long walk," he exclaims anxiously. +Oh, blessed thought! he will have the right to keep her rested and +happy, and in a realm of joy. + +"Oh, no," she returns. "Why, the walk has not seemed long." The surprise +in her voice is enchanting. + +Is any walk ever too long for love? Is any day too long,--even all of +life? + +The crickets and peeps come out; a locust drones his slow tune. The sun +has dropped down. Well, they are in an enchanted country that needs no +sun but that of love. And if they walked all night they could not say +all that has been brought to light by the mighty touch that wakes human +souls. + +At home grandmother's difficult breathing has returned, and they have +had a troubled hour. But now she is all right, except that she will be +weaker to-morrow. Mrs. Underhill goes downstairs and bustles about the +supper as a relief from the strain. She makes a slice of +delicately-browned toast. Joe comes rushing in. + +"I'm sorry, but the servant at the Dentons has cut her hand badly. Don't +wait supper for me," he exclaims. + +"Jim has not come in, and no one can tell when those children will be +back. If the fair should keep open three months longer every one will be +dead with fatigue. Yes, we'll wait. I am going to take some toast up to +mother." + +"The children!" Doctor Joe has a strange, guilty sort of feeling. What +if to-night should bring her a new son, as some future night will bring +her a new daughter? + +Father Underhill sits on the front stoop reading his paper. He glances +up now and then. When he espies a small figure in soft gray with a +wide-brimmed leghorn hat, and a young man, he studies them more +attentively. What is this? She has the young man's arm,--that has gone +out of date for engaged people,--and her head inclines toward him. She +glances up and smiles. + +And then a great pang rends the father's soul. They come nearer, and she +smiles to him; but, oh! there is a light in her face, a gladness shining +in her eyes, a tremulous sweetness about the mouth. Did he read all this +in her mother's face years and years ago? Did _her_ mother have this +awful pang that seems to wrench body and soul asunder? + +They say good-evening and that it has been a glorious afternoon. The +young man will lose no time,--hasn't he been dangling three months +already? + +"Mr. Underhill, may I see you a moment?" + +How brave and sweet and assured the voice is! And he helps the little +girl up the steps, through the hall space, and the three stand in the +parlour, where the young man prefers his request with such a daring that +the elder man is almost dazed. Then the father holds out his arms as if +he was grasping for something lost. She comes to them, and her head is +on his breast, her hands reaching up to clasp him about the neck. + +"And this little girl, too!" + +His voice is broken, his face goes down to hers. The sweetest thing of +his life,--how can he give her up? + +"Oh, father, father!" The cry is so entreating, so piteous, and he feels +the tears on her sweet face. "Oh, father, can I not love you both?" + +She loosens one hand and holds it out to the young man. He feels the +motion, and accepts the fact that her heart is divided. She draws her +lover in the circle. "You will love him for my sake." + +Alas! alas! she is his little girl no longer. She is another man's +sweetheart, and will one day be his wife. It is the fashion in this +world; it has God's favor and sanction. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +1897 + + +All that was long ago. It is nearing the end of the century, and the +little girl who thought it a great thing to see the half-century mark, +bids fair to shake hands with the new one. There have been many changes, +there have been sorrows and deaths, and such exquisite satisfying +happiness that she could say with the poet,-- + + "Let come what come may + I shall have had my day." + +She is in the older generation now, and a grandmother. You may see her +in Central Park, or some of the surburban places, a fair, sweet small +personage, with a face more nearly beautiful than in her girlhood. Her +hair has that shining silvery tint, her complexion is clear and fine, +and her eyes, though they have wept bitter tears, still look out gladly, +serenely, on life. + +In the carriage will be her twin granddaughters, and sometimes a young +man, her son. They are pretty children, and will be "summer girls" when +their time comes, and "winter girls" as well, clad in cloth and velvet +and furs. They will dance Germans instead of the bewildering Spanish +dance she had that first night with her lover. Even children have +changed in half a century. Beauty is no longer considered a delusion and +a snare. Physical culture gives strength and grace and growth. + +The lover of her youth and the husband of her love, and her first-born +daughter, who was wedded, and who with her husband faced a railroad +tragedy and were its victims, have gone into that "goodly land and +large." It seems to many of us as we grow older that there is only a +thin wall between this and the other country where we shall see them +again. Sometimes she can almost fancy them leaning over the jasper +walls, like the Blessed Damosel, and smiling down on her. There are so +many of them now! And the children were given to her. They are spoiled, +all the aunts and cousins declare. But grandmamma lives another youth +over in them,--a delightful life, rich in love and interest. + +For conditions have changed. The world, and all that therein is, has +changed. It is Greater New York now, and it stretches out everywhere. +What was Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, and many a pretty town up above the +city, have all been merged into one grand metropolis. What it will do in +the next fifty years passes conjecture. + +As they drive around nothing interests them more than to have grandmamma +talk of what it was like when she was a little girl. They find the +places, and look at them through her eyes. There is no longer any +Bowling-Green, only in name, and though part of the Battery is left, the +elevated roads go winding about among the tree-tops; Castle Garden, +after many vicissitudes and debasements, is again a place of interest +and entertainment. Here was where she heard that sweet and wonderful +Jenny Lind, who, with Parepa Rosa, and many another divine voice, is +singing up in the New Jerusalem. And though hundreds in the glare of +light and blaze of diamonds listen to Patti, she wonders if the +enthusiasm is as deep and sincere. + +Over opposite where modest Brooklyn lived its simple, friendly life +fifty years ago, stretching out into country ways and green fields, +there are miles of houses, and the great bridge is such an everyday +affair one hardly gives it a second thought. And all is business now, +with tall buildings that the glance can hardly reach. There is no City +Hall Park, but a great space of flagging, though the fountain remains. +Business crowds hurry to and fro where ladies used to sit and chat while +the young people strolled about. + +Stewart's old marble building is common-place and dingy. Delmonico has +gone on up-town stride by stride, and people have forgotten the old +balcony where Jenny Lind sang, and Koenig played to a street packed with +people. And the Prince de Joinville was here; also Louis Napoleon, the +nephew of his uncle, who followed his steps as Emperor and loser of +crown and all, and exile. And the young Prince Imperial, whose birth, so +long desired and celebrated with state as was that of the young King of +Rome, met with as melancholy a fate and early death as the Duc de +Reichstadt. And here the young Prince of Wales dined. He came down +Broadway with his suite and procession, and the little wife thought it a +fine sight as she stood there to see. + +Broadway stretches on and on. Union Square is really a thoroughfare; but +she came up here with father and the boys when it was a grand new thing. + +Did she really live in First Street with Aunt Daisy for a playmate, and +Auntie Reed, and Nora, who was a much admired singer in her day, and who +married a Roman Count; and the little Tudie who died? Did she have that +splendid Christmas and the beautiful wax doll, that seems sacredly alive +to them both; only under some spell of enchantment laid upon her by +Merlin's clan? + +Oh, how full the streets are now with their great high tenement-houses, +pouring out their myriads of children all day long, of every +nationality! But you still hear the old plays, "Open the Gates," and +"Scotland's Burning," and "Uncle John is very Sick," and "Ring around a +Rosy." Little Sally Waters still sits in the sun,-- + + "Crying and sighing for a young man," + +though modern poesy advises her to-- + + "Rise, Sally, rise, + Wipe your eyes out with your frock." + +And the strange Chinatown, with its cabalistic signs, its men in blue +shirts and pigtails, and often snowy white stockings and queer pointed +slippers! + +They wind slowly about Central Park. Was the Crystal Palace here? And no +park? To them it seems as if New York must have been born this way, with +electric lights, and push-buttons, and telephones, and cars, and +telegraphs, and everything. And did grandmamma come up here to the Fair; +and was it anything like the Museum of Art? And wasn't there any +menagerie, or playground, or donkey-riding or bicyclers? + +Here is Washington Arch, with its memory of a great anniversary. Over on +the west side there is a curious spot fenced in with wooden palings, +where Alexander Hamilton planted thirteen trees for the Union, when +there were only thirteen States, and named them all. Even before his sad +death, South Carolina was braced to keep her from growing crooked; but +she went awry in spite of it all. They have moved the house in which he +lived, across the street, to save it from destruction; and it is in the +shadow of a church. And here is the old mansion where Aaron Burr lived a +brief while with Madame Jumel for his wedded wife,--a beautiful old +place on a hill. + +They go on up to the grand Washington Bridge. They are very fond of the +story of Anthony Woolf swimming across the Harlem that dark night to get +away from the Hessian regiment, and begging shelter of kindly hearts. +They turn into a shaded road, and pass by lovely grounds, where wealth +has made gardens and terraces akin to those of Paradise. And winding +down the old road leading to the vale, they find a little dark-eyed girl +whose great-great-grandfather was this same Anthony Woolf. And the +Revolutionary War was a century and a quarter ago! Here they have lived +for generations. The Cousin Jennie has gone, but the tall bright-eyed +man who married her is still hale and hearty, with snowy hair and beard. + +Yes, it is all New York up to Kingsbridge. There are many historic +spots, and several old manor houses still standing. But it has a city +aspect in spite of some wildness. They go around to Fordham; the old +house perched on the hill is there, though it has been enlarged, and the +street widened and straightened. Up on the old porch grandmamma sat and +read; and it still hangs out with a tempting aspect, just as when she +watched the pedestrians and the reverend fathers, who yet go up and +down. And here is the little old Poe Cottage, about which such a flavor +of romance lingers, though the place has been modernised into a +"Terrace," and built about with city pretentiousness. It is still the +same little low place, not a bit changed since she sat there on the +door-sill and talked over her heroes with the poet. She can still see +the tall spare figure of Mrs. Clemm in her rocking-chair doing her bit +of mending and casting anxious glances at the son of her love, about +whom so much has been written in later days. People still quote the +"Raven" and "Ullalume," but all she cares to remember is "Annabel Lee," +and the weird stories are not to her taste. + +The old Odell house at West Farms was swept away long ago; Janey is a +grandmother on a big farm that is crowded with summer boarders. Polly +is in Oregon, her sons coming up with the country. And up a short +distance, Jerome Park used to be thronged by the beauty and fashion of +the city on racing days. And that has gone, too. + +A little to the eastward is the beautiful Bronx Park, that is going to +tread closely on its down-town rival. Oh, is Central Park really +down-town? There are woods and wilds, ravines and the leisurely stream, +trees that have been brought from everywhere, walks and drives, hills +clothed with verdure, and the old Lorillard mansion still grand, with +its legend of love and tragedy. Its gardens have changed indeed. +Grandmamma remembers the small old man, who used to gather his rose +leaves day by day from the fragrant beds,--Lorillard's rose-snuff was a +great thing two generations ago. + +"Did they really take snuff?" asks Ethel, in disgust. "How queer!" + +"And you know," says Rose, "that Uncle Herman told us of a man who +declined to take snuff, because if nature had intended his nose for a +dust-pan, she would have put it the other side up." + +How they both laugh at that! + +They have a governess friend at home, but they are continually picking +up knowledge in their rides and rambles about. They know the old city +that was afraid to stray above Union Square, they know the modern city +with its fifty years of improvements, and they will grow up to womanhood +in Greater New York, the Star City of the Continent. + +Here in one of the pleasant streets overlooking the park, they live. +They are not rich; no one is now who doesn't go up in the millions. +There is a pretty house looking like a hotel, an apartment house,--very +moderate since it only accommodates three families. Joseph, the eldest +son, who should have been a doctor, but is a fine architect, is married, +and with his wife and two babies, and a dear friend who is an artist, +has one side, and the other is grandmamma's. It is quite like a house by +themselves, only there is a beautiful square hall, and a handsome +stairway one could hardly have space for in a small house. Herman, the +second son, lives with them, and is a scientist, and wields the pen of a +ready writer. He has no taste for the toil and moil of money-getting,--a +refined, studious, thoughtful young man. + +They have all had their share of happiness. Dolly and Stephen are really +old people, and have a flock of grandchildren. Hanny can see her own +father again in Stephen, and Dolly, since she has grown stout and +white-haired, suggests her mother. Stephen's sons are promising young +business-men. There is only one little grave marking their prosperous +pathway,--a baby girl, who went so soon they have hardly missed her. + +Margaret is still handsome and aristocratic. Dr. Hoffman long ago gave +up practice, his property interests increased so rapidly. Their sons and +daughters are of the higher society order, intellectual, fine and noble, +and a power in the land. One daughter has married an Englishman of +rank, the other is the wife of a Bishop. Margaret is serene and +satisfied, and still very fond of her little sister. + +Dear Doctor Joe lectures mostly, and attends to hospital surgery, still +keeping his tender sympathy for suffering humanity. After Grandmother +Van Kortlandt went away, he brought Daisy Jasper home, to help fill the +vacant spaces. And presently, when Mrs. Jasper was left alone, she came, +too, the house being so large. Two mothers-in-law, according to the +rules of family lore, ought to have quarrelled and sulked, but they +didn't. And the babies that came were a source of delight. Though there +was suffering in Daisy's life, there was so much joy that, to her, it +was the unalloyed delight of living. + +And Jim outgrew his fancy, and had many another one that did not strike +deep enough in the soil to lead him to ask a woman to marry him. But he +and Daisy were fast friends, and he saw that no one could ever have +cared for her as well and wisely as dear Doctor Joe, with his wonderful +tenderness. + +Jim, brilliant and gay and witty, was a fine, fluent speaker, studying +such eloquent models as Webster and Choate, and the vanished Clay. Did +Hanny remember, when they had lost his election, and he, Jim, had turned +out with the Democratic boys? There are grave questions now, on wider +than party lines, and sometimes the hearts of thoughtful statesmen beat +with an undefined fear. + +The fun-loving, dancing side of his nature often asserts itself. Women +adore him. Though he is not rich, the mothers smile on him for the +"promise yet to be." Even Lily Williamson tries her arts; admiration is +what she lives for now. She is one of the handsome, fascinating society +vampires, who make great capital out of matrimonial infelicities, to +appeal to the sympathies of really good and generous men, who are the +more easily caught in the silken nets. One day she leaves her worthless +drunken husband, when his money is all spent, and elopes with a young +fellow of excellent family who has just come into a fortune, and later +becomes one of the adventuresses that disgrace Americans in the eyes of +European propriety. + +Ben and Delia go abroad,--Ben in the interest of his paper, which is +next to his wife; Delia to write travel letters for a weekly, and find +material for her novel. It is quite a picnic, and they enjoy the +economies. + +Then the clouds that have been gathering a long, long while, break over +the country, and all is tumult from end to end. The Seventh Regiment +"boys" go down to Washington, with brave, laughing, high-hearted Jim, +who understands that it is no child's play, but a bitter struggle that +will call forth the best energies of the country, and who enlists for +"three years or the whole war." Ben hurries home, and takes his place in +the ranks. When things are at their lowest ebb, and men's hearts are +sinking with fear, quiet, grave John buckles on a soldier's haversack +and marches away. The others have substitutes. + +Ah, what times they were! It is well that flowers can spring up on a +battlefield. The little girl keeps track of her heroes. Kearny, who has +seen Magenta and Solferino, meets his fate at Chantilly. Many another +one who has come up to fame, many new ones, who are on the march to win +or die. + +John is wounded, patched up in a hospital, and honorably discharged, +lamed for life. But he has done good work. Ben has a slight mishap, and +Delia sends her two babies and their nurse to her sister's, and goes to +the hospital, and remains. Women of brains and kindly impulses are much +needed. + +And one night some wounded are brought in. There has been a fateful +reconnoisance, but it has saved the regiment from destruction on the +next day. This limp figure in a captain's uniform is laid tenderly on a +cot; but the surgeon, after a brief examination, shakes his head. Oh, +surely, she knows that handsome face with the clustering dark curls! + +He opens his eyes, and after an instant says in a faint voice, "Oh, +Dele, is that you?" then lapses into insensibility. There is nothing to +be done; that is the cruelest of all. Once again, after a long while, he +moves his head, and opens his eyes again, brave and clear even in death. + +"Delia," in a strange, strong voice that surprises her, "kiss them all +good-night for me;" and James Odell Underhill has gone to the land of +everlasting morning. + +The war ends; and Ben comes home none the worse. He has reached his +ambition, and is a "newspaper man" in every sense of the word. Delia +sets up housekeeping, takes home the babies, and in the course of time +adds two more to them. + +But there is another ferment, and women are coming to the fore. There +are clubs and suffrage meetings, lectures; women have even invaded +churches, and preach; and colleges for higher education are springing up +everywhere. There are poets and philosophers, there are teachers and +orators; some of them ill-judged, because they are fond of notoriety; +but there are always some wry sheep in the best of flocks. Have men +always been honest and wise and honourable and grand? + +Delia lectures and writes, and is one of the able women of the day. Mrs. +Hoffman on her serene heights _is_ mortified. Mother Underhill is sure +Ben has to go to a restaurant, that his stockings are never mended, his +buttons always off. But patent buttons are invented, and collar-buttons +that cannot be ironed off by the "washerwoman," supply a long-felt want. +Ben is stout and comfortable-looking, and the same grave, affectionate +fellow. The children seem to come up without much sickness or trouble. +When Mother Underhill feels disposed to cavil and criticise, for she +_is_ shocked by the new woman's heresies, she recalls the "last +good-night kiss," and is silent. What if there had been no one at hand +to bring it home? + +Delia's girls grow up into "modern women." It is true they do not spend +half a day a week darning stockings, neither have they learned to put +the exquisite over and under darns in tablecloths that the little girl +could do by the time she was ten. But they sing and play; they are ready +speech-makers, and clubs are glad to get them. They know about Greek +antiquities and Central American wonders; they can take up the questions +of the day intelligently; one paints really very well, and has entered +pictures at the Academy. One is interested in industrial schools for +girls, and the doctor, who is "Daisy Jasper," a tall, bright, +good-looking woman, has a big, tender heart for all babies who are +suffering, and trains many a poor mother how to care judiciously for her +offspring. + +But all the nieces think Aunt Nan just the loveliest and sweetest body +in the world. They send her flowers and bric-a-brac; they beg her to +come here and there to receptions and charity bazaars, and reunions of +all sorts. She is so small and dainty, and they are all growing up to +the new stature. + +George has come home at last, after varying fortunes. He has seen San +Francisco built and destroyed by fire, and rebuilt, and at last planned +into a handsome city. He has mined and been in the wild life known only +to the few remaining "forty-niners." He has gained and lost, been burned +out and robbed, been one of the heads of a Vigilance Committee, and +mayor of a town; and at last, when all is serene and prosperous, a great +wave of homesickness overtakes him. + +It is twenty years since he went away, though he has been home once in +the time. He is spare, and has a weather-beaten look, and is old for his +years. Is the money worth all the sacrifice? + +He will build a house on their part of the old farm at Yonkers, where +his heart has turned in many a weary hour; but Uncle Faid and Aunt Crete +are dead. Barton Finch and Retty are living in town, and Barton is a +thriving manufacturer. Yonkers has stretched out; and the suburbs are in +that ugly transition state of new unworked streets and dingy cottages, +for property has been cut up and lots sold cheaply. Father Underhill is +offered a great price for his, and sells it. It is no longer George's +ideal home. + +Mrs. Eustis begs him to come up to Tarrytown. All the other Morgans are +gone, and she is left alone. The place shall belong to George if he will +give her a home her few remaining years. + +He will not listen to this, but buys it, and builds on a new part. Then +he marries a nice girl whose youth is past, and who is delighted with +her kindly, indulgent husband. They have no children; but the nieces and +nephews flock hither for rest and recreation, and are always fascinated +with Uncle George's adventures. + +Delia is at middle life when she writes her book, but then it is no +young girl's story with an imperious Rochester-like hero, that we used +to shiver over and adore. It is a serious, inspiriting woman's book, and +carries weight in spite of the flood of new literature. + +Charles Reed has followed a manly, pure, and high-minded Christian +course, and left an impress on the hurrying world. Josie has grown +broader and more intelligent, and made a delightful household mother. +There have been children enough to satisfy Grandmamma Reed. + +These old friends meet now and then, and talk as people will when they +begin to go down the decline on the other side of the hill that they +climbed with such a light step and high heart. How simple life was then +compared with the ramifications of to-day! + +The old songs, the old poets, the old novelists are gone. "Jane Eyre" no +longer holds us spell-bound, though the three sisters in the bleak old +Haworth Rectory will never be forgotten; nor that strange "Rosemary," +and Huntingdon's "Lady Alice," thought to be so unsettling to the faith. +We read "Robert Elsmere," and "John Ward, Preacher," and go our way +tranquilly. Education has become almost a synonym for genius. + +The gold of the Pacific Coast, the oil wells, the rich spoils of the +earth, have been touched with the wand of industry and science. +Railroads run to and fro; vessels dot the ocean; we cross it now in less +than a week. Cables bring us hour-old news from everywhere. We go abroad +for seasons and touch elbows with royalty, and are not abashed. We +gather the beauty and wisdom of the old world. We build palaces, and +spend on an evening's entertainment what would have been a fortune fifty +years ago. We have private palace-cars, and luxurious yachts for +pleasure, and others for speed, so swift that the "America's Cup" has +remained in our keeping all these years. + +Will we presently utter the old cry of the wise man who "gat him +everything," "that all is vanity"? + +When the children are asleep the little grandmother goes down to her +son's study. He is not ambitious for show or wealth, but he has a rather +luxurious side. The rugs are soft; the chairs are easy, the library is +filled with choice books. Sometimes she sits and reads, and brave old +Thackeray is one of her favourites. It is as her lover said,--it takes +years and experience to see all the tender, hidden mysteries of his best +speech. + +Then she puts aside her book, and he his work, and they talk. "What your +father said" and "your father thought this way," always has a charm for +him, and he misses his father more than any one can imagine. He knows +about the trip to Germany, and the visit to grandfather, with Paris at +its highest estate and the beautiful Empress Eugenie. And London with +its Queen, who has reigned sixty years, and who, like his mother, has +made part of the pilgrimage with a great sorrow buried in her heart. +Some day he is going over it all; but he will not see the handsome, +golden-haired empress, who is but a pale, sorrowful ghost, and perhaps +not the Queen. He would go to-morrow, if he could take the little +mother. + +They talk, too, of the future. There have been fifty magical years when +you look back,--years of discovery, of perfection in art and invention, +of nations making rapid strides, of Africa illumined by explorers, of +Japan coming to the front when hardly fifty years have elapsed since she +first opened her gates to strangers. + +And of the great City that has gathered the little towns of children who +went out from her again in her arms,--will she be beautiful and grand +and wise, and a power among men and cities? She has gathered heroes, +living and dead, in her bosom, and for the greatest of all reared a +marble temple. Oh, what will she be in fifty more years? + +"You may live to see it," the little mother says, and smiles. + +For herself there is the other country, and the loves she holds most +dear. And because they go, when the worst sorrow is spent, one knows +they will be found again, and that immortality is no myth, but the crown +and seal of God's love to human love. + + +THE END + + * * * * * + +The "Little Girl" Series + +By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS + +In Handsome Cloth Binding + + +A Little Girl in Old New York + +A Little Girl of Long Ago A sequel to "A Little Girl in Old New York" + +A Little Girl in Old Boston + +A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia + +A Little Girl in Old Washington + +A Little Girl in Old New Orleans + +A Little Girl in Old Detroit + +A Little Girl in Old St Louis + +A little Girl in Old Chicago + +A Little Girl in Old San Francisco + +A Little Girl in Old Quebec + +A Little Girl in Old Baltimore + +A Little Girl in Old Salem + +A Little Girl in Old Pittsburg + + +A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS +52, 58 Duane Street New York + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Little Girl of Long Ago, by Amanda Millie Douglas + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE GIRL OF LONG AGO *** + +***** This file should be named 23781.txt or 23781.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/8/23781/ + +Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, J.P.W. Fraser, Mary +Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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