initial commit of ebook 2532HEADmain

11 files changed, 3353 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/2532-0.txt b/2532-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92d34b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2532-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,814 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Half-Brothers, by Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The Half-Brothers
+
+Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+Release Date: March, 2001 [eBook #2532]
+[Most recently updated: April 26, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: David Price, Jennifer Lee, Alev Akman and Andy Wallace
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HALF-BROTHERS ***
+
+
+
+
+The Half-Brothers
+
+by Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+
+
+
+My mother was twice married. She never spoke of her first husband, and
+it is only from other people that I have learnt what little I know
+about him. I believe she was scarcely seventeen when she was married to
+him: and he was barely one-and-twenty. He rented a small farm up in
+Cumberland, somewhere towards the sea-coast; but he was perhaps too
+young and inexperienced to have the charge of land and cattle: anyhow,
+his affairs did not prosper, and he fell into ill health, and died of
+consumption before they had been three years man and wife, leaving my
+mother a young widow of twenty, with a little child only just able to
+walk, and the farm on her hands for four years more by the lease, with
+half the stock on it dead, or sold off one by one to pay the more
+pressing debts, and with no money to purchase more, or even to buy the
+provisions needed for the small consumption of every day. There was
+another child coming, too; and sad and sorry, I believe, she was to
+think of it. A dreary winter she must have had in her lonesome
+dwelling, with never another near it for miles around; her sister came
+to bear her company, and they two planned and plotted how to make every
+penny they could raise go as far as possible. I can’t tell you how it
+happened that my little sister, whom I never saw, came to sicken and
+die; but, as if my poor mother’s cup was not full enough, only a
+fortnight before Gregory was born the little girl took ill of scarlet
+fever, and in a week she lay dead. My mother was, I believe, just
+stunned with this last blow. My aunt has told me that she did not cry;
+aunt Fanny would have been thankful if she had; but she sat holding the
+poor wee lassie’s hand and looking in her pretty, pale, dead face,
+without so much as shedding a tear. And it was all the same, when they
+had to take her away to be buried. She just kissed the child, and sat
+her down in the window-seat to watch the little black train of people
+(neighbours—my aunt, and one far-off cousin, who were all the friends
+they could muster) go winding away amongst the snow, which had fallen
+thinly over the country the night before. When my aunt came back from
+the funeral, she found my mother in the same place, and as dry-eyed as
+ever. So she continued until after Gregory was born; and, somehow, his
+coming seemed to loosen the tears, and she cried day and night, till my
+aunt and the other watcher looked at each other in dismay, and would
+fain have stopped her if they had but known how. But she bade them let
+her alone, and not be over-anxious, for every drop she shed eased her
+brain, which had been in a terrible state before for want of the power
+to cry. She seemed after that to think of nothing but her new little
+baby; she had hardly appeared to remember either her husband or her
+little daughter that lay dead in Brigham churchyard—at least so aunt
+Fanny said, but she was a great talker, and my mother was very silent
+by nature, and I think aunt Fanny may have been mistaken in believing
+that my mother never thought of her husband and child just because she
+never spoke about them. Aunt Fanny was older than my mother, and had a
+way of treating her like a child; but, for all that, she was a kind,
+warm-hearted creature, who thought more of her sister’s welfare than
+she did of her own and it was on her bit of money that they principally
+lived, and on what the two could earn by working for the great Glasgow
+sewing-merchants. But by-and-by my mother’s eye-sight began to fail. It
+was not that she was exactly blind, for she could see well enough to
+guide herself about the house, and to do a good deal of domestic work;
+but she could no longer do fine sewing and earn money. It must have
+been with the heavy crying she had had in her day, for she was but a
+young creature at this time, and as pretty a young woman, I have heard
+people say, as any on the country side. She took it sadly to heart that
+she could no longer gain anything towards the keep of herself and her
+child. My aunt Fanny would fain have persuaded her that she had enough
+to do in managing their cottage and minding Gregory; but my mother knew
+that they were pinched, and that aunt Fanny herself had not as much to
+eat, even of the commonest kind of food, as she could have done with;
+and as for Gregory, he was not a strong lad, and needed, not more
+food—for he always had enough, whoever went short—but better
+nourishment, and more flesh-meat. One day—it was aunt Fanny who told me
+all this about my poor mother, long after her death—as the sisters were
+sitting together, aunt Fanny working, and my mother hushing Gregory to
+sleep, William Preston, who was afterwards my father, came in. He was
+reckoned an old bachelor; I suppose he was long past forty, and he was
+one of the wealthiest farmers thereabouts, and had known my grandfather
+well, and my mother and my aunt in their more prosperous days. He sat
+down, and began to twirl his hat by way of being agreeable; my aunt
+Fanny talked, and he listened and looked at my mother. But he said very
+little, either on that visit, or on many another that he paid before he
+spoke out what had been the real purpose of his calling so often all
+along, and from the very first time he came to their house. One Sunday,
+however, my aunt Fanny stayed away from church, and took care of the
+child, and my mother went alone. When she came back, she ran straight
+upstairs, without going into the kitchen to look at Gregory or speak
+any word to her sister, and aunt Fanny heard her cry as if her heart
+was breaking; so she went up and scolded her right well through the
+bolted door, till at last she got her to open it. And then she threw
+herself on my aunt’s neck, and told her that William Preston had asked
+her to marry him, and had promised to take good charge of her boy, and
+to let him want for nothing, neither in the way of keep nor of
+education, and that she had consented. Aunt Fanny was a good deal
+shocked at this; for, as I have said, she had often thought that my
+mother had forgotten her first husband very quickly, and now here was
+proof positive of it, if she could so soon think of marrying again.
+Besides as aunt Fanny used to say, she herself would have been a far
+more suitable match for a man of William Preston’s age than Helen, who,
+though she was a widow, had not seen her four-and-twentieth summer.
+However, as aunt Fanny said, they had not asked her advice; and there
+was much to be said on the other side of the question. Helen’s eyesight
+would never be good for much again, and as William Preston’s wife she
+would never need to do anything, if she chose to sit with her hands
+before her; and a boy was a great charge to a widowed mother; and now
+there would be a decent steady man to see after him. So, by-and-by,
+aunt Fanny seemed to take a brighter view of the marriage than did my
+mother herself, who hardly ever looked up, and never smiled after the
+day when she promised William Preston to be his wife. But much as she
+had loved Gregory before, she seemed to love him more now. She was
+continually talking to him when they were alone, though he was far too
+young to understand her moaning words, or give her any comfort, except
+by his caresses.
+
+At last William Preston and she were wed; and she went to be mistress
+of a well-stocked house, not above half-an-hour’s walk from where aunt
+Fanny lived. I believe she did all that she could to please my father;
+and a more dutiful wife, I have heard him himself say, could never have
+been. But she did not love him, and he soon found it out. She loved
+Gregory, and she did not love him. Perhaps, love would have come in
+time, if he had been patient enough to wait; but it just turned him
+sour to see how her eye brightened and her colour came at the sight of
+that little child, while for him who had given her so much, she had
+only gentle words as cold as ice. He got to taunt her with the
+difference in her manner, as if that would bring love: and he took a
+positive dislike to Gregory,—he was so jealous of the ready love that
+always gushed out like a spring of fresh water when he came near. He
+wanted her to love him more, and perhaps that was all well and good;
+but he wanted her to love her child less, and that was an evil wish.
+One day, he gave way to his temper, and cursed and swore at Gregory,
+who had got into some mischief, as children will; my mother made some
+excuse for him; my father said it was hard enough to have to keep
+another man’s child, without having it perpetually held up in its
+naughtiness by his wife, who ought to be always in the same mind that
+he was; and so from little they got to more; and the end of it was,
+that my mother took to her bed before her time, and I was born that
+very day. My father was glad, and proud, and sorry, all in a breath;
+glad and proud that a son was born to him; and sorry for his poor
+wife’s state, and to think how his angry words had brought it on. But
+he was a man who liked better to be angry than sorry, so he soon found
+out that it was all Gregory’s fault, and owed him an additional grudge
+for having hastened my birth. He had another grudge against him before
+long. My mother began to sink the day after I was born. My father sent
+to Carlisle for doctors, and would have coined his heart’s blood into
+gold to save her, if that could have been; but it could not. My aunt
+Fanny used to say sometimes, that she thought that Helen did not wish
+to live, and so just let herself die away without trying to take hold
+on life; but when I questioned her, she owned that my mother did all
+the doctors bade her do, with the same sort of uncomplaining patience
+with which she had acted through life. One of her last requests was to
+have Gregory laid in her bed by my side, and then she made him take
+hold of my little hand. Her husband came in while she was looking at us
+so, and when he bent tenderly over her to ask her how she felt now, and
+seemed to gaze on us two little half-brothers, with a grave sort of
+kindness, she looked up in his face and smiled, almost her first smile
+at him; and such a sweet smile! as more besides aunt Fanny have said.
+In an hour she was dead. Aunt Fanny came to live with us. It was the
+best thing that could be done. My father would have been glad to return
+to his old mode of bachelor life, but what could he do with two little
+children? He needed a woman to take care of him, and who so fitting as
+his wife’s elder sister? So she had the charge of me from my birth; and
+for a time I was weakly, as was but natural, and she was always beside
+me, night and day watching over me, and my father nearly as anxious as
+she. For his land had come down from father to son for more than three
+hundred years, and he would have cared for me merely as his flesh and
+blood that was to inherit the land after him. But he needed something
+to love, for all that, to most people, he was a stern, hard man, and he
+took to me as, I fancy, he had taken to no human being before—as he
+might have taken to my mother, if she had had no former life for him to
+be jealous of. I loved him back again right heartily. I loved all
+around me, I believe, for everybody was kind to me. After a time, I
+overcame my original weakness of constitution, and was just a bonny,
+strong-looking lad whom every passer-by noticed, when my father took me
+with him to the nearest town.
+
+At home I was the darling of my aunt, the tenderly-beloved of my
+father, the pet and plaything of the old domestics, the “young master”
+of the farm-labourers, before whom I played many a lordly antic,
+assuming a sort of authority which sat oddly enough, I doubt not, on
+such a baby as I was.
+
+Gregory was three years older than I. Aunt Fanny was always kind to him
+in deed and in action, but she did not often think about him, she had
+fallen so completely into the habit of being engrossed by me, from the
+fact of my having come into her charge as a delicate baby. My father
+never got over his grudging dislike to his stepson, who had so
+innocently wrestled with him for the possession of my mother’s heart. I
+mistrust me, too, that my father always considered him as the cause of
+my mother’s death and my early delicacy; and utterly unreasonable as
+this may seem, I believe my father rather cherished his feeling of
+alienation to my brother as a duty, than strove to repress it. Yet not
+for the world would my father have grudged him anything that money
+could purchase. That was, as it were, in the bond when he had wedded my
+mother. Gregory was lumpish and loutish, awkward and ungainly, marring
+whatever he meddled in, and many a hard word and sharp scolding did he
+get from the people about the farm, who hardly waited till my father’s
+back was turned before they rated the stepson. I am ashamed—my heart is
+sore to think how I fell into the fashion of the family, and slighted
+my poor orphan step-brother. I don’t think I ever scouted him, or was
+wilfully ill-natured to him; but the habit of being considered in all
+things, and being treated as something uncommon and superior, made me
+insolent in my prosperity, and I exacted more than Gregory was always
+willing to grant, and then, irritated, I sometimes repeated the
+disparaging words I had heard others use with regard to him, without
+fully understanding their meaning. Whether he did or not I cannot tell.
+I am afraid he did. He used to turn silent and quiet—sullen and sulky,
+my father thought it: stupid, aunt Fanny used to call it. But every one
+said he was stupid and dull, and this stupidity and dullness grew upon
+him. He would sit without speaking a word, sometimes, for hours; then
+my father would bid him rise and do some piece of work, maybe, about
+the farm. And he would take three or four tellings before he would go.
+When we were sent to school, it was all the same. He could never be
+made to remember his lessons; the school-master grew weary of scolding
+and flogging, and at last advised my father just to take him away, and
+set him to some farm-work that might not be above his comprehension. I
+think he was more gloomy and stupid than ever after this, yet he was
+not a cross lad; he was patient and good-natured, and would try to do a
+kind turn for any one, even if they had been scolding or cuffing him
+not a minute before. But very often his attempts at kindness ended in
+some mischief to the very people he was trying to serve, owing to his
+awkward, ungainly ways. I suppose I was a clever lad; at any rate, I
+always got plenty of praise; and was, as we called it, the cock of the
+school. The schoolmaster said I could learn anything I chose, but my
+father, who had no great learning himself, saw little use in much for
+me, and took me away betimes, and kept me with him about the farm.
+Gregory was made into a kind of shepherd, receiving his training under
+old Adam, who was nearly past his work. I think old Adam was almost the
+first person who had a good opinion of Gregory. He stood to it that my
+brother had good parts, though he did not rightly know how to bring
+them out; and, for knowing the bearings of the Fells, he said he had
+never seen a lad like him. My father would try to bring Adam round to
+speak of Gregory’s faults and shortcomings; but, instead of that, he
+would praise him twice as much, as soon as he found out what was my
+father’s object.
+
+One winter-time, when I was about sixteen, and Gregory nineteen, I was
+sent by my father on an errand to a place about seven miles distant by
+the road, but only about four by the Fells. He bade me return by the
+road, whichever way I took in going, for the evenings closed in early,
+and were often thick and misty; besides which, old Adam, now paralytic
+and bedridden, foretold a downfall of snow before long. I soon got to
+my journey’s end, and soon had done my business; earlier by an hour, I
+thought, than my father had expected, so I took the decision of the way
+by which I would return into my own hands, and set off back again over
+the Fells, just as the first shades of evening began to fall. It looked
+dark and gloomy enough; but everything was so still that I thought I
+should have plenty of time to get home before the snow came down. Off I
+set at a pretty quick pace. But night came on quicker. The right path
+was clear enough in the day-time, although at several points two or
+three exactly similar diverged from the same place; but when there was
+a good light, the traveller was guided by the sight of distant
+objects,—a piece of rock,—a fall in the ground—which were quite
+invisible to me now. I plucked up a brave heart, however, and took what
+seemed to me the right road. It was wrong, nevertheless, and led me
+whither I knew not, but to some wild boggy moor where the solitude
+seemed painful, intense, as if never footfall of man had come thither
+to break the silence. I tried to shout—with the dimmest possible hope
+of being heard—rather to reassure myself by the sound of my own voice;
+but my voice came husky and short, and yet it dismayed me; it seemed so
+weird and strange, in that noiseless expanse of black darkness.
+Suddenly the air was filled thick with dusky flakes, my face and hands
+were wet with snow. It cut me off from the slightest knowledge of where
+I was, for I lost every idea of the direction from which I had come, so
+that I could not even retrace my steps; it hemmed me in, thicker,
+thicker, with a darkness that might be felt. The boggy soil on which I
+stood quaked under me if I remained long in one place, and yet I dared
+not move far. All my youthful hardiness seemed to leave me at once. I
+was on the point of crying, and only very shame seemed to keep it down.
+To save myself from shedding tears, I shouted—terrible, wild shouts for
+bare life they were. I turned sick as I paused to listen; no answering
+sound came but the unfeeling echoes. Only the noiseless, pitiless snow
+kept falling thicker, thicker—faster, faster! I was growing numb and
+sleepy. I tried to move about, but I dared not go far, for fear of the
+precipices which, I knew, abounded in certain places on the Fells. Now
+and then, I stood still and shouted again; but my voice was getting
+choked with tears, as I thought of the desolate helpless death I was to
+die, and how little they at home, sitting round the warm, red, bright
+fire, wotted what was become of me,—and how my poor father would grieve
+for me—it would surely kill him—it would break his heart, poor old man!
+Aunt Fanny too—was this to be the end of all her cares for me? I began
+to review my life in a strange kind of vivid dream, in which the
+various scenes of my few boyish years passed before me like visions. In
+a pang of agony, caused by such remembrance of my short life, I
+gathered up my strength and called out once more, a long, despairing,
+wailing cry, to which I had no hope of obtaining any answer, save from
+the echoes around, dulled as the sound might be by the thickened air.
+To my surprise I heard a cry—almost as long, as wild as mine—so wild
+that it seemed unearthly, and I almost thought it must be the voice of
+some of the mocking spirits of the Fells, about whom I had heard so
+many tales. My heart suddenly began to beat fast and loud. I could not
+reply for a minute or two. I nearly fancied I had lost the power of
+utterance. Just at this moment a dog barked. Was it Lassie’s bark—my
+brother’s collie?—an ugly enough brute, with a white, ill-looking face,
+that my father always kicked whenever he saw it, partly for its own
+demerits, partly because it belonged to my brother. On such occasions,
+Gregory would whistle Lassie away, and go off and sit with her in some
+outhouse. My father had once or twice been ashamed of himself, when the
+poor collie had yowled out with the suddenness of the pain, and had
+relieved himself of his self-reproach by blaming my brother, who, he
+said, had no notion of training a dog, and was enough to ruin any
+collie in Christendom with his stupid way of allowing them to lie by
+the kitchen fire. To all which Gregory would answer nothing, nor even
+seem to hear, but go on looking absent and moody.
+
+Yes! there again! It was Lassie’s bark! Now or never! I lifted up my
+voice and shouted “Lassie! Lassie! for God’s sake, Lassie!” Another
+moment, and the great white-faced Lassie was curving and gambolling
+with delight round my feet and legs, looking, however, up in my face
+with her intelligent, apprehensive eyes, as if fearing lest I might
+greet her with a blow, as I had done oftentimes before. But I cried
+with gladness, as I stooped down and patted her. My mind was sharing in
+my body’s weakness, and I could not reason, but I knew that help was at
+hand. A gray figure came more and more distinctly out of the thick,
+close-pressing darkness. It was Gregory wrapped in his maud.
+
+“Oh, Gregory!” said I, and I fell upon his neck, unable to speak
+another word. He never spoke much, and made me no answer for some
+little time. Then he told me we must move, we must walk for the dear
+life—we must find our road home, if possible; but we must move, or we
+should be frozen to death.
+
+“Don’t you know the way home?” asked I.
+
+“I thought I did when I set out, but I am doubtful now. The snow blinds
+me, and I am feared that in moving about just now, I have lost the
+right gait homewards.”
+
+He had his shepherd’s staff with him, and by dint of plunging it before
+us at every step we took—clinging close to each other, we went on
+safely enough, as far as not falling down any of the steep rocks, but
+it was slow, dreary work. My brother, I saw, was more guided by Lassie
+and the way she took than anything else, trusting to her instinct. It
+was too dark to see far before us; but he called her back continually,
+and noted from what quarter she returned, and shaped our slow steps
+accordingly. But the tedious motion scarcely kept my very blood from
+freezing. Every bone, every fibre in my body seemed first to ache, and
+then to swell, and then to turn numb with the intense cold. My brother
+bore it better than I, from having been more out upon the hills. He did
+not speak, except to call Lassie. I strove to be brave, and not
+complain; but now I felt the deadly fatal sleep stealing over me.
+
+“I can go no farther,” I said, in a drowsy tone. I remember I suddenly
+became dogged and resolved. Sleep I would, were it only for five
+minutes. If death were to be the consequence, sleep I would. Gregory
+stood still. I suppose, he recognized the peculiar phase of suffering
+to which I had been brought by the cold.
+
+“It is of no use,” said he, as if to himself. “We are no nearer home
+than we were when we started, as far as I can tell. Our only chance is
+in Lassie. Here! roll thee in my maud, lad, and lay thee down on this
+sheltered side of this bit of rock. Creep close under it, lad, and I’ll
+lie by thee, and strive to keep the warmth in us. Stay! hast gotten
+aught about thee they’ll know at home?”
+
+I felt him unkind thus to keep me from slumber, but on his repeating
+the question, I pulled out my pocket-handkerchief, of some showy
+pattern, which Aunt Fanny had hemmed for me—Gregory took it, and tied
+it round Lassie’s neck.
+
+“Hie thee, Lassie, hie thee home!” And the white-faced ill-favoured
+brute was off like a shot in the darkness. Now I might lie down—now I
+might sleep. In my drowsy stupor I felt that I was being tenderly
+covered up by my brother; but what with I neither knew nor cared—I was
+too dull, too selfish, too numb to think and reason, or I might have
+known that in that bleak bare place there was nought to wrap me in,
+save what was taken off another. I was glad enough when he ceased his
+cares and lay down by me. I took his hand.
+
+“Thou canst not remember, lad, how we lay together thus by our dying
+mother. She put thy small, wee hand in mine—I reckon she sees us now;
+and belike we shall soon be with her. Anyhow, God’s will be done.”
+
+“Dear Gregory,” I muttered, and crept nearer to him for warmth. He was
+talking still, and again about our mother, when I fell asleep. In an
+instant—or so it seemed—there were many voices about me—many faces
+hovering round me—the sweet luxury of warmth was stealing into every
+part of me. I was in my own little bed at home. I am thankful to say,
+my first word was “Gregory?”
+
+A look passed from one to another—my father’s stern old face strove in
+vain to keep its sternness; his mouth quivered, his eyes filled slowly
+with unwonted tears.
+
+“I would have given him half my land—I would have blessed him as my
+son,—oh God! I would have knelt at his feet, and asked him to forgive
+my hardness of heart.”
+
+I heard no more. A whirl came through my brain, catching me back to
+death.
+
+I came slowly to my consciousness, weeks afterwards. My father’s hair
+was white when I recovered, and his hands shook as he looked into my
+face.
+
+We spoke no more of Gregory. We could not speak of him; but he was
+strangely in our thoughts. Lassie came and went with never a word of
+blame; nay, my father would try to stroke her, but she shrank away; and
+he, as if reproved by the poor dumb beast, would sigh, and be silent
+and abstracted for a time.
+
+Aunt Fanny—always a talker—told me all. How, on that fatal night, my
+father,—irritated by my prolonged absence, and probably more anxious
+than he cared to show, had been fierce and imperious, even beyond his
+wont, to Gregory; had upbraided him with his father’s poverty, his own
+stupidity which made his services good for nothing—for so, in spite of
+the old shepherd, my father always chose to consider them. At last,
+Gregory had risen up, and whistled Lassie out with him—poor Lassie,
+crouching underneath his chair for fear of a kick or a blow. Some time
+before, there had been some talk between my father and my aunt
+respecting my return; and when aunt Fanny told me all this, she said
+she fancied that Gregory might have noticed the coming storm, and gone
+out silently to meet me. Three hours afterwards, when all were running
+about in wild alarm, not knowing whither to go in search of me—not even
+missing Gregory, or heeding his absence, poor fellow—poor, poor
+fellow!—Lassie came home, with my handkerchief tied round her neck.
+They knew and understood, and the whole strength of the farm was turned
+out to follow her, with wraps, and blankets, and brandy, and every
+thing that could be thought of. I lay in chilly sleep, but still alive,
+beneath the rock that Lassie guided them to. I was covered over with my
+brother’s plaid, and his thick shepherd’s coat was carefully wrapped
+round my feet. He was in his shirt-sleeves—his arm thrown over me—a
+quiet smile (he had hardly ever smiled in life) upon his still, cold
+face.
+
+My father’s last words were, “God forgive me my hardness of heart
+towards the fatherless child!”
+
+And what marked the depth of his feeling of repentance, perhaps more
+than all, considering the passionate love he bore my mother, was this:
+we found a paper of directions after his death, in which he desired
+that he might lie at the foot of the grave, in which, by his desire,
+poor Gregory had been laid with OUR MOTHER.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HALF-BROTHERS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 2532-0.txt or 2532-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+    https://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/2532/
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the
+United States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
+the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
+of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
+copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
+easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
+of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
+Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
+do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
+by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
+license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country other than the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
+  you are located before using this eBook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that:
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
+the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
+forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
+Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
+to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website
+and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without
+widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
diff --git a/2532-0.zip b/2532-0.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..557c64a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2532-0.zip
diff --git a/2532-h.zip b/2532-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12c039e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2532-h.zip
diff --git a/2532-h/2532-h.htm b/2532-h/2532-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64d9090
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2532-h/2532-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,960 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Half-Brothers, by Elizabeth Gaskell</title>
+
+<style type="text/css">
+
+body { margin-left: 20%;
+       margin-right: 20%;
+       text-align: justify; }
+
+h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight:
+normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;}
+
+h1 {font-size: 300%;
+    margin-top: 0.6em;
+    margin-bottom: 0.6em;
+    letter-spacing: 0.12em;
+    word-spacing: 0.2em;
+    text-indent: 0em;}
+h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;}
+h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;}
+h4 {font-size: 120%;}
+h5 {font-size: 110%;}
+
+.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */
+
+div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;}
+
+hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;}
+
+p {text-indent: 1em;
+   margin-top: 0.25em;
+   margin-bottom: 0.25em; }
+
+a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
+a:hover {color:red}
+
+</style>
+
+</head>
+
+<body>
+
+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Half-Brothers, by Elizabeth Gaskell</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Half-Brothers</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Elizabeth Gaskell</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March, 2001 [eBook #2532]<br />
+[Most recently updated: April 26, 2021]</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Price, Jennifer Lee, Alev Akman and Andy Wallace</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HALF-BROTHERS ***</div>
+
+<h1>The Half-Brothers</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">by Elizabeth Gaskell</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<p>
+My mother was twice married. She never spoke of her first husband, and it is
+only from other people that I have learnt what little I know about him. I
+believe she was scarcely seventeen when she was married to him: and he was
+barely one-and-twenty. He rented a small farm up in Cumberland, somewhere
+towards the sea-coast; but he was perhaps too young and inexperienced to have
+the charge of land and cattle: anyhow, his affairs did not prosper, and he fell
+into ill health, and died of consumption before they had been three years man
+and wife, leaving my mother a young widow of twenty, with a little child only
+just able to walk, and the farm on her hands for four years more by the lease,
+with half the stock on it dead, or sold off one by one to pay the more pressing
+debts, and with no money to purchase more, or even to buy the provisions needed
+for the small consumption of every day. There was another child coming, too;
+and sad and sorry, I believe, she was to think of it. A dreary winter she must
+have had in her lonesome dwelling, with never another near it for miles around;
+her sister came to bear her company, and they two planned and plotted how to
+make every penny they could raise go as far as possible. I can&rsquo;t tell you
+how it happened that my little sister, whom I never saw, came to sicken and
+die; but, as if my poor mother&rsquo;s cup was not full enough, only a
+fortnight before Gregory was born the little girl took ill of scarlet fever,
+and in a week she lay dead. My mother was, I believe, just stunned with this
+last blow. My aunt has told me that she did not cry; aunt Fanny would have been
+thankful if she had; but she sat holding the poor wee lassie&rsquo;s hand and
+looking in her pretty, pale, dead face, without so much as shedding a tear. And
+it was all the same, when they had to take her away to be buried. She just
+kissed the child, and sat her down in the window-seat to watch the little black
+train of people (neighbours&mdash;my aunt, and one far-off cousin, who were all
+the friends they could muster) go winding away amongst the snow, which had
+fallen thinly over the country the night before. When my aunt came back from
+the funeral, she found my mother in the same place, and as dry-eyed as ever. So
+she continued until after Gregory was born; and, somehow, his coming seemed to
+loosen the tears, and she cried day and night, till my aunt and the other
+watcher looked at each other in dismay, and would fain have stopped her if they
+had but known how. But she bade them let her alone, and not be over-anxious,
+for every drop she shed eased her brain, which had been in a terrible state
+before for want of the power to cry. She seemed after that to think of nothing
+but her new little baby; she had hardly appeared to remember either her husband
+or her little daughter that lay dead in Brigham churchyard&mdash;at least so
+aunt Fanny said, but she was a great talker, and my mother was very silent by
+nature, and I think aunt Fanny may have been mistaken in believing that my
+mother never thought of her husband and child just because she never spoke
+about them. Aunt Fanny was older than my mother, and had a way of treating her
+like a child; but, for all that, she was a kind, warm-hearted creature, who
+thought more of her sister&rsquo;s welfare than she did of her own and it was
+on her bit of money that they principally lived, and on what the two could earn
+by working for the great Glasgow sewing-merchants. But by-and-by my
+mother&rsquo;s eye-sight began to fail. It was not that she was exactly blind,
+for she could see well enough to guide herself about the house, and to do a
+good deal of domestic work; but she could no longer do fine sewing and earn
+money. It must have been with the heavy crying she had had in her day, for she
+was but a young creature at this time, and as pretty a young woman, I have
+heard people say, as any on the country side. She took it sadly to heart that
+she could no longer gain anything towards the keep of herself and her child. My
+aunt Fanny would fain have persuaded her that she had enough to do in managing
+their cottage and minding Gregory; but my mother knew that they were pinched,
+and that aunt Fanny herself had not as much to eat, even of the commonest kind
+of food, as she could have done with; and as for Gregory, he was not a strong
+lad, and needed, not more food&mdash;for he always had enough, whoever went
+short&mdash;but better nourishment, and more flesh-meat. One day&mdash;it was
+aunt Fanny who told me all this about my poor mother, long after her
+death&mdash;as the sisters were sitting together, aunt Fanny working, and my
+mother hushing Gregory to sleep, William Preston, who was afterwards my father,
+came in. He was reckoned an old bachelor; I suppose he was long past forty, and
+he was one of the wealthiest farmers thereabouts, and had known my grandfather
+well, and my mother and my aunt in their more prosperous days. He sat down, and
+began to twirl his hat by way of being agreeable; my aunt Fanny talked, and he
+listened and looked at my mother. But he said very little, either on that
+visit, or on many another that he paid before he spoke out what had been the
+real purpose of his calling so often all along, and from the very first time he
+came to their house. One Sunday, however, my aunt Fanny stayed away from
+church, and took care of the child, and my mother went alone. When she came
+back, she ran straight upstairs, without going into the kitchen to look at
+Gregory or speak any word to her sister, and aunt Fanny heard her cry as if her
+heart was breaking; so she went up and scolded her right well through the
+bolted door, till at last she got her to open it. And then she threw herself on
+my aunt&rsquo;s neck, and told her that William Preston had asked her to marry
+him, and had promised to take good charge of her boy, and to let him want for
+nothing, neither in the way of keep nor of education, and that she had
+consented. Aunt Fanny was a good deal shocked at this; for, as I have said, she
+had often thought that my mother had forgotten her first husband very quickly,
+and now here was proof positive of it, if she could so soon think of marrying
+again. Besides as aunt Fanny used to say, she herself would have been a far
+more suitable match for a man of William Preston&rsquo;s age than Helen, who,
+though she was a widow, had not seen her four-and-twentieth summer. However, as
+aunt Fanny said, they had not asked her advice; and there was much to be said
+on the other side of the question. Helen&rsquo;s eyesight would never be good
+for much again, and as William Preston&rsquo;s wife she would never need to do
+anything, if she chose to sit with her hands before her; and a boy was a great
+charge to a widowed mother; and now there would be a decent steady man to see
+after him. So, by-and-by, aunt Fanny seemed to take a brighter view of the
+marriage than did my mother herself, who hardly ever looked up, and never
+smiled after the day when she promised William Preston to be his wife. But much
+as she had loved Gregory before, she seemed to love him more now. She was
+continually talking to him when they were alone, though he was far too young to
+understand her moaning words, or give her any comfort, except by his caresses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last William Preston and she were wed; and she went to be mistress of a
+well-stocked house, not above half-an-hour&rsquo;s walk from where aunt Fanny
+lived. I believe she did all that she could to please my father; and a more
+dutiful wife, I have heard him himself say, could never have been. But she did
+not love him, and he soon found it out. She loved Gregory, and she did not love
+him. Perhaps, love would have come in time, if he had been patient enough to
+wait; but it just turned him sour to see how her eye brightened and her colour
+came at the sight of that little child, while for him who had given her so
+much, she had only gentle words as cold as ice. He got to taunt her with the
+difference in her manner, as if that would bring love: and he took a positive
+dislike to Gregory,&mdash;he was so jealous of the ready love that always
+gushed out like a spring of fresh water when he came near. He wanted her to
+love him more, and perhaps that was all well and good; but he wanted her to
+love her child less, and that was an evil wish. One day, he gave way to his
+temper, and cursed and swore at Gregory, who had got into some mischief, as
+children will; my mother made some excuse for him; my father said it was hard
+enough to have to keep another man&rsquo;s child, without having it perpetually
+held up in its naughtiness by his wife, who ought to be always in the same mind
+that he was; and so from little they got to more; and the end of it was, that
+my mother took to her bed before her time, and I was born that very day. My
+father was glad, and proud, and sorry, all in a breath; glad and proud that a
+son was born to him; and sorry for his poor wife&rsquo;s state, and to think
+how his angry words had brought it on. But he was a man who liked better to be
+angry than sorry, so he soon found out that it was all Gregory&rsquo;s fault,
+and owed him an additional grudge for having hastened my birth. He had another
+grudge against him before long. My mother began to sink the day after I was
+born. My father sent to Carlisle for doctors, and would have coined his
+heart&rsquo;s blood into gold to save her, if that could have been; but it
+could not. My aunt Fanny used to say sometimes, that she thought that Helen did
+not wish to live, and so just let herself die away without trying to take hold
+on life; but when I questioned her, she owned that my mother did all the
+doctors bade her do, with the same sort of uncomplaining patience with which
+she had acted through life. One of her last requests was to have Gregory laid
+in her bed by my side, and then she made him take hold of my little hand. Her
+husband came in while she was looking at us so, and when he bent tenderly over
+her to ask her how she felt now, and seemed to gaze on us two little
+half-brothers, with a grave sort of kindness, she looked up in his face and
+smiled, almost her first smile at him; and such a sweet smile! as more besides
+aunt Fanny have said. In an hour she was dead. Aunt Fanny came to live with us.
+It was the best thing that could be done. My father would have been glad to
+return to his old mode of bachelor life, but what could he do with two little
+children? He needed a woman to take care of him, and who so fitting as his
+wife&rsquo;s elder sister? So she had the charge of me from my birth; and for a
+time I was weakly, as was but natural, and she was always beside me, night and
+day watching over me, and my father nearly as anxious as she. For his land had
+come down from father to son for more than three hundred years, and he would
+have cared for me merely as his flesh and blood that was to inherit the land
+after him. But he needed something to love, for all that, to most people, he
+was a stern, hard man, and he took to me as, I fancy, he had taken to no human
+being before&mdash;as he might have taken to my mother, if she had had no
+former life for him to be jealous of. I loved him back again right heartily. I
+loved all around me, I believe, for everybody was kind to me. After a time, I
+overcame my original weakness of constitution, and was just a bonny,
+strong-looking lad whom every passer-by noticed, when my father took me with
+him to the nearest town.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At home I was the darling of my aunt, the tenderly-beloved of my father, the
+pet and plaything of the old domestics, the &ldquo;young master&rdquo; of the
+farm-labourers, before whom I played many a lordly antic, assuming a sort of
+authority which sat oddly enough, I doubt not, on such a baby as I was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gregory was three years older than I. Aunt Fanny was always kind to him in deed
+and in action, but she did not often think about him, she had fallen so
+completely into the habit of being engrossed by me, from the fact of my having
+come into her charge as a delicate baby. My father never got over his grudging
+dislike to his stepson, who had so innocently wrestled with him for the
+possession of my mother&rsquo;s heart. I mistrust me, too, that my father
+always considered him as the cause of my mother&rsquo;s death and my early
+delicacy; and utterly unreasonable as this may seem, I believe my father rather
+cherished his feeling of alienation to my brother as a duty, than strove to
+repress it. Yet not for the world would my father have grudged him anything
+that money could purchase. That was, as it were, in the bond when he had wedded
+my mother. Gregory was lumpish and loutish, awkward and ungainly, marring
+whatever he meddled in, and many a hard word and sharp scolding did he get from
+the people about the farm, who hardly waited till my father&rsquo;s back was
+turned before they rated the stepson. I am ashamed&mdash;my heart is sore to
+think how I fell into the fashion of the family, and slighted my poor orphan
+step-brother. I don&rsquo;t think I ever scouted him, or was wilfully
+ill-natured to him; but the habit of being considered in all things, and being
+treated as something uncommon and superior, made me insolent in my prosperity,
+and I exacted more than Gregory was always willing to grant, and then,
+irritated, I sometimes repeated the disparaging words I had heard others use
+with regard to him, without fully understanding their meaning. Whether he did
+or not I cannot tell. I am afraid he did. He used to turn silent and
+quiet&mdash;sullen and sulky, my father thought it: stupid, aunt Fanny used to
+call it. But every one said he was stupid and dull, and this stupidity and
+dullness grew upon him. He would sit without speaking a word, sometimes, for
+hours; then my father would bid him rise and do some piece of work, maybe,
+about the farm. And he would take three or four tellings before he would go.
+When we were sent to school, it was all the same. He could never be made to
+remember his lessons; the school-master grew weary of scolding and flogging,
+and at last advised my father just to take him away, and set him to some
+farm-work that might not be above his comprehension. I think he was more gloomy
+and stupid than ever after this, yet he was not a cross lad; he was patient and
+good-natured, and would try to do a kind turn for any one, even if they had
+been scolding or cuffing him not a minute before. But very often his attempts
+at kindness ended in some mischief to the very people he was trying to serve,
+owing to his awkward, ungainly ways. I suppose I was a clever lad; at any rate,
+I always got plenty of praise; and was, as we called it, the cock of the
+school. The schoolmaster said I could learn anything I chose, but my father,
+who had no great learning himself, saw little use in much for me, and took me
+away betimes, and kept me with him about the farm. Gregory was made into a kind
+of shepherd, receiving his training under old Adam, who was nearly past his
+work. I think old Adam was almost the first person who had a good opinion of
+Gregory. He stood to it that my brother had good parts, though he did not
+rightly know how to bring them out; and, for knowing the bearings of the Fells,
+he said he had never seen a lad like him. My father would try to bring Adam
+round to speak of Gregory&rsquo;s faults and shortcomings; but, instead of
+that, he would praise him twice as much, as soon as he found out what was my
+father&rsquo;s object.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One winter-time, when I was about sixteen, and Gregory nineteen, I was sent by
+my father on an errand to a place about seven miles distant by the road, but
+only about four by the Fells. He bade me return by the road, whichever way I
+took in going, for the evenings closed in early, and were often thick and
+misty; besides which, old Adam, now paralytic and bedridden, foretold a
+downfall of snow before long. I soon got to my journey&rsquo;s end, and soon
+had done my business; earlier by an hour, I thought, than my father had
+expected, so I took the decision of the way by which I would return into my own
+hands, and set off back again over the Fells, just as the first shades of
+evening began to fall. It looked dark and gloomy enough; but everything was so
+still that I thought I should have plenty of time to get home before the snow
+came down. Off I set at a pretty quick pace. But night came on quicker. The
+right path was clear enough in the day-time, although at several points two or
+three exactly similar diverged from the same place; but when there was a good
+light, the traveller was guided by the sight of distant objects,&mdash;a piece
+of rock,&mdash;a fall in the ground&mdash;which were quite invisible to me now.
+I plucked up a brave heart, however, and took what seemed to me the right road.
+It was wrong, nevertheless, and led me whither I knew not, but to some wild
+boggy moor where the solitude seemed painful, intense, as if never footfall of
+man had come thither to break the silence. I tried to shout&mdash;with the
+dimmest possible hope of being heard&mdash;rather to reassure myself by the
+sound of my own voice; but my voice came husky and short, and yet it dismayed
+me; it seemed so weird and strange, in that noiseless expanse of black
+darkness. Suddenly the air was filled thick with dusky flakes, my face and
+hands were wet with snow. It cut me off from the slightest knowledge of where I
+was, for I lost every idea of the direction from which I had come, so that I
+could not even retrace my steps; it hemmed me in, thicker, thicker, with a
+darkness that might be felt. The boggy soil on which I stood quaked under me if
+I remained long in one place, and yet I dared not move far. All my youthful
+hardiness seemed to leave me at once. I was on the point of crying, and only
+very shame seemed to keep it down. To save myself from shedding tears, I
+shouted&mdash;terrible, wild shouts for bare life they were. I turned sick as I
+paused to listen; no answering sound came but the unfeeling echoes. Only the
+noiseless, pitiless snow kept falling thicker, thicker&mdash;faster, faster! I
+was growing numb and sleepy. I tried to move about, but I dared not go far, for
+fear of the precipices which, I knew, abounded in certain places on the Fells.
+Now and then, I stood still and shouted again; but my voice was getting choked
+with tears, as I thought of the desolate helpless death I was to die, and how
+little they at home, sitting round the warm, red, bright fire, wotted what was
+become of me,&mdash;and how my poor father would grieve for me&mdash;it would
+surely kill him&mdash;it would break his heart, poor old man! Aunt Fanny
+too&mdash;was this to be the end of all her cares for me? I began to review my
+life in a strange kind of vivid dream, in which the various scenes of my few
+boyish years passed before me like visions. In a pang of agony, caused by such
+remembrance of my short life, I gathered up my strength and called out once
+more, a long, despairing, wailing cry, to which I had no hope of obtaining any
+answer, save from the echoes around, dulled as the sound might be by the
+thickened air. To my surprise I heard a cry&mdash;almost as long, as wild as
+mine&mdash;so wild that it seemed unearthly, and I almost thought it must be
+the voice of some of the mocking spirits of the Fells, about whom I had heard
+so many tales. My heart suddenly began to beat fast and loud. I could not reply
+for a minute or two. I nearly fancied I had lost the power of utterance. Just
+at this moment a dog barked. Was it Lassie&rsquo;s bark&mdash;my
+brother&rsquo;s collie?&mdash;an ugly enough brute, with a white, ill-looking
+face, that my father always kicked whenever he saw it, partly for its own
+demerits, partly because it belonged to my brother. On such occasions, Gregory
+would whistle Lassie away, and go off and sit with her in some outhouse. My
+father had once or twice been ashamed of himself, when the poor collie had
+yowled out with the suddenness of the pain, and had relieved himself of his
+self-reproach by blaming my brother, who, he said, had no notion of training a
+dog, and was enough to ruin any collie in Christendom with his stupid way of
+allowing them to lie by the kitchen fire. To all which Gregory would answer
+nothing, nor even seem to hear, but go on looking absent and moody.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yes! there again! It was Lassie&rsquo;s bark! Now or never! I lifted up my
+voice and shouted &ldquo;Lassie! Lassie! for God&rsquo;s sake, Lassie!&rdquo;
+Another moment, and the great white-faced Lassie was curving and gambolling
+with delight round my feet and legs, looking, however, up in my face with her
+intelligent, apprehensive eyes, as if fearing lest I might greet her with a
+blow, as I had done oftentimes before. But I cried with gladness, as I stooped
+down and patted her. My mind was sharing in my body&rsquo;s weakness, and I
+could not reason, but I knew that help was at hand. A gray figure came more and
+more distinctly out of the thick, close-pressing darkness. It was Gregory
+wrapped in his maud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh, Gregory!&rdquo; said I, and I fell upon his neck, unable to speak
+another word. He never spoke much, and made me no answer for some little time.
+Then he told me we must move, we must walk for the dear life&mdash;we must find
+our road home, if possible; but we must move, or we should be frozen to death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you know the way home?&rdquo; asked I.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought I did when I set out, but I am doubtful now. The snow blinds
+me, and I am feared that in moving about just now, I have lost the right gait
+homewards.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had his shepherd&rsquo;s staff with him, and by dint of plunging it before
+us at every step we took&mdash;clinging close to each other, we went on safely
+enough, as far as not falling down any of the steep rocks, but it was slow,
+dreary work. My brother, I saw, was more guided by Lassie and the way she took
+than anything else, trusting to her instinct. It was too dark to see far before
+us; but he called her back continually, and noted from what quarter she
+returned, and shaped our slow steps accordingly. But the tedious motion
+scarcely kept my very blood from freezing. Every bone, every fibre in my body
+seemed first to ache, and then to swell, and then to turn numb with the intense
+cold. My brother bore it better than I, from having been more out upon the
+hills. He did not speak, except to call Lassie. I strove to be brave, and not
+complain; but now I felt the deadly fatal sleep stealing over me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I can go no farther,&rdquo; I said, in a drowsy tone. I remember I
+suddenly became dogged and resolved. Sleep I would, were it only for five
+minutes. If death were to be the consequence, sleep I would. Gregory stood
+still. I suppose, he recognized the peculiar phase of suffering to which I had
+been brought by the cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is of no use,&rdquo; said he, as if to himself. &ldquo;We are no
+nearer home than we were when we started, as far as I can tell. Our only chance
+is in Lassie. Here! roll thee in my maud, lad, and lay thee down on this
+sheltered side of this bit of rock. Creep close under it, lad, and I&rsquo;ll
+lie by thee, and strive to keep the warmth in us. Stay! hast gotten aught about
+thee they&rsquo;ll know at home?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I felt him unkind thus to keep me from slumber, but on his repeating the
+question, I pulled out my pocket-handkerchief, of some showy pattern, which
+Aunt Fanny had hemmed for me&mdash;Gregory took it, and tied it round
+Lassie&rsquo;s neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Hie thee, Lassie, hie thee home!&rdquo; And the white-faced ill-favoured
+brute was off like a shot in the darkness. Now I might lie down&mdash;now I
+might sleep. In my drowsy stupor I felt that I was being tenderly covered up by
+my brother; but what with I neither knew nor cared&mdash;I was too dull, too
+selfish, too numb to think and reason, or I might have known that in that bleak
+bare place there was nought to wrap me in, save what was taken off another. I
+was glad enough when he ceased his cares and lay down by me. I took his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thou canst not remember, lad, how we lay together thus by our dying
+mother. She put thy small, wee hand in mine&mdash;I reckon she sees us now; and
+belike we shall soon be with her. Anyhow, God&rsquo;s will be done.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Dear Gregory,&rdquo; I muttered, and crept nearer to him for warmth. He
+was talking still, and again about our mother, when I fell asleep. In an
+instant&mdash;or so it seemed&mdash;there were many voices about me&mdash;many
+faces hovering round me&mdash;the sweet luxury of warmth was stealing into
+every part of me. I was in my own little bed at home. I am thankful to say, my
+first word was &ldquo;Gregory?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A look passed from one to another&mdash;my father&rsquo;s stern old face strove
+in vain to keep its sternness; his mouth quivered, his eyes filled slowly with
+unwonted tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I would have given him half my land&mdash;I would have blessed him as my
+son,&mdash;oh God! I would have knelt at his feet, and asked him to forgive my
+hardness of heart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I heard no more. A whirl came through my brain, catching me back to death.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I came slowly to my consciousness, weeks afterwards. My father&rsquo;s hair was
+white when I recovered, and his hands shook as he looked into my face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We spoke no more of Gregory. We could not speak of him; but he was strangely in
+our thoughts. Lassie came and went with never a word of blame; nay, my father
+would try to stroke her, but she shrank away; and he, as if reproved by the
+poor dumb beast, would sigh, and be silent and abstracted for a time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aunt Fanny&mdash;always a talker&mdash;told me all. How, on that fatal night,
+my father,&mdash;irritated by my prolonged absence, and probably more anxious
+than he cared to show, had been fierce and imperious, even beyond his wont, to
+Gregory; had upbraided him with his father&rsquo;s poverty, his own stupidity
+which made his services good for nothing&mdash;for so, in spite of the old
+shepherd, my father always chose to consider them. At last, Gregory had risen
+up, and whistled Lassie out with him&mdash;poor Lassie, crouching underneath
+his chair for fear of a kick or a blow. Some time before, there had been some
+talk between my father and my aunt respecting my return; and when aunt Fanny
+told me all this, she said she fancied that Gregory might have noticed the
+coming storm, and gone out silently to meet me. Three hours afterwards, when
+all were running about in wild alarm, not knowing whither to go in search of
+me&mdash;not even missing Gregory, or heeding his absence, poor
+fellow&mdash;poor, poor fellow!&mdash;Lassie came home, with my handkerchief
+tied round her neck. They knew and understood, and the whole strength of the
+farm was turned out to follow her, with wraps, and blankets, and brandy, and
+every thing that could be thought of. I lay in chilly sleep, but still alive,
+beneath the rock that Lassie guided them to. I was covered over with my
+brother&rsquo;s plaid, and his thick shepherd&rsquo;s coat was carefully
+wrapped round my feet. He was in his shirt-sleeves&mdash;his arm thrown over
+me&mdash;a quiet smile (he had hardly ever smiled in life) upon his still, cold
+face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My father&rsquo;s last words were, &ldquo;God forgive me my hardness of heart
+towards the fatherless child!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And what marked the depth of his feeling of repentance, perhaps more than all,
+considering the passionate love he bore my mother, was this: we found a paper
+of directions after his death, in which he desired that he might lie at the
+foot of the grave, in which, by his desire, poor Gregory had been laid with OUR
+MOTHER.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HALF-BROTHERS ***</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 2532-h.htm or 2532-h.zip</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/2532/</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Updated editions will replace the previous one&#8212;the old editions will
+be renamed.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
+States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG&#8482;
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
+the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
+of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
+copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
+easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
+of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
+Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may
+do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
+by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
+license, especially commercial redistribution.
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br />
+<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br />
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span>
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+To protect the Project Gutenberg&#8482; mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase &#8220;Project
+Gutenberg&#8221;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
+or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.B. &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&#8220;the
+Foundation&#8221; or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg&#8482; mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg&#8482; work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country other than the United States.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg&#8482; work (any work
+on which the phrase &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; appears, or with which the
+phrase &#8220;Project Gutenberg&#8221; is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+</div>
+
+<blockquote>
+  <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+    other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+    are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
+    of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
+  </div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase &#8220;Project
+Gutenberg&#8221; associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg&#8482; License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg&#8482;.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; License.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg&#8482; work in a format
+other than &#8220;Plain Vanilla ASCII&#8221; or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg&#8482; website
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original &#8220;Plain
+Vanilla ASCII&#8221; or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg&#8482; License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg&#8482; works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+provided that:
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'>
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+        the use of Project Gutenberg&#8482; works calculated using the method
+        you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+        to the owner of the Project Gutenberg&#8482; trademark, but he has
+        agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+        within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+        legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+        payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+        Section 4, &#8220;Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+        Literary Archive Foundation.&#8221;
+    </div>
+
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+        you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+        does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+        License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+        copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+        all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+        works.
+    </div>
+
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+        any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+        electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+        receipt of the work.
+    </div>
+
+    <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'>
+        &bull; You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+        distribution of Project Gutenberg&#8482; works.
+    </div>
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
+the Project Gutenberg&#8482; trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
+forth in Section 3 below.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain &#8220;Defects,&#8221; such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &#8220;Right
+of Replacement or Refund&#8221; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you &#8216;AS-IS&#8217;, WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg&#8482; work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg&#8482; work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg&#8482;
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg&#8482;&#8217;s
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg&#8482; collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg&#8482; and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation&#8217;s EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state&#8217;s laws.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+The Foundation&#8217;s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
+Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
+to date contact information can be found at the Foundation&#8217;s website
+and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
+public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
+visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg&#8482; electronic works
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg&#8482; concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg&#8482; eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Project Gutenberg&#8482; eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
+facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This website includes information about Project Gutenberg&#8482;,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+</div>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be97d96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #2532 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2532)
diff --git a/old/2532.txt b/old/2532.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2aca4be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/2532.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,826 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Half-Brothers, by Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+
+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: The Half-Brothers
+
+
+Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+Release Date: May 18, 2005  [eBook #2532]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HALF-BROTHERS***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcribed from the 1896 Smith, Elder and Co. "Lizzie Leigh and Other
+Tales" edition by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk.  Proofed by
+Jennifer Lee, Alev Akman and Andy Wallace.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HALF-BROTHERS
+by Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+
+My mother was twice married.  She never spoke of her first husband, and
+it is only from other people that I have learnt what little I know about
+him.  I believe she was scarcely seventeen when she was married to him:
+and he was barely one-and-twenty.  He rented a small farm up in
+Cumberland, somewhere towards the sea-coast; but he was perhaps too young
+and inexperienced to have the charge of land and cattle: anyhow, his
+affairs did not prosper, and he fell into ill health, and died of
+consumption before they had been three years man and wife, leaving my
+mother a young widow of twenty, with a little child only just able to
+walk, and the farm on her hands for four years more by the lease, with
+half the stock on it dead, or sold off one by one to pay the more
+pressing debts, and with no money to purchase more, or even to buy the
+provisions needed for the small consumption of every day.  There was
+another child coming, too; and sad and sorry, I believe, she was to think
+of it.  A dreary winter she must have had in her lonesome dwelling, with
+never another near it for miles around; her sister came to bear her
+company, and they two planned and plotted how to make every penny they
+could raise go as far as possible.  I can't tell you how it happened that
+my little sister, whom I never saw, came to sicken and die; but, as if my
+poor mother's cup was not full enough, only a fortnight before Gregory
+was born the little girl took ill of scarlet fever, and in a week she lay
+dead.  My mother was, I believe, just stunned with this last blow.  My
+aunt has told me that she did not cry; aunt Fanny would have been
+thankful if she had; but she sat holding the poor wee lassie's hand and
+looking in her pretty, pale, dead face, without so much as shedding a
+tear.  And it was all the same, when they had to take her away to be
+buried.  She just kissed the child, and sat her down in the window-seat
+to watch the little black train of people (neighbours--my aunt, and one
+far-off cousin, who were all the friends they could muster) go winding
+away amongst the snow, which had fallen thinly over the country the night
+before.  When my aunt came back from the funeral, she found my mother in
+the same place, and as dry-eyed as ever.  So she continued until after
+Gregory was born; and, somehow, his coming seemed to loosen the tears,
+and she cried day and night, till my aunt and the other watcher looked at
+each other in dismay, and would fain have stopped her if they had but
+known how.  But she bade them let her alone, and not be over-anxious, for
+every drop she shed eased her brain, which had been in a terrible state
+before for want of the power to cry.  She seemed after that to think of
+nothing but her new little baby; she had hardly appeared to remember
+either her husband or her little daughter that lay dead in Brigham
+churchyard--at least so aunt Fanny said, but she was a great talker, and
+my mother was very silent by nature, and I think aunt Fanny may have been
+mistaken in believing that my mother never thought of her husband and
+child just because she never spoke about them.  Aunt Fanny was older than
+my mother, and had a way of treating her like a child; but, for all that,
+she was a kind, warm-hearted creature, who thought more of her sister's
+welfare than she did of her own and it was on her bit of money that they
+principally lived, and on what the two could earn by working for the
+great Glasgow sewing-merchants.  But by-and-by my mother's eye-sight
+began to fail.  It was not that she was exactly blind, for she could see
+well enough to guide herself about the house, and to do a good deal of
+domestic work; but she could no longer do fine sewing and earn money.  It
+must have been with the heavy crying she had had in her day, for she was
+but a young creature at this time, and as pretty a young woman, I have
+heard people say, as any on the country side.  She took it sadly to heart
+that she could no longer gain anything towards the keep of herself and
+her child.  My aunt Fanny would fain have persuaded her that she had
+enough to do in managing their cottage and minding Gregory; but my mother
+knew that they were pinched, and that aunt Fanny herself had not as much
+to eat, even of the commonest kind of food, as she could have done with;
+and as for Gregory, he was not a strong lad, and needed, not more
+food--for he always had enough, whoever went short--but better
+nourishment, and more flesh-meat.  One day--it was aunt Fanny who told me
+all this about my poor mother, long after her death--as the sisters were
+sitting together, aunt Fanny working, and my mother hushing Gregory to
+sleep, William Preston, who was afterwards my father, came in.  He was
+reckoned an old bachelor; I suppose he was long past forty, and he was
+one of the wealthiest farmers thereabouts, and had known my grandfather
+well, and my mother and my aunt in their more prosperous days.  He sat
+down, and began to twirl his hat by way of being agreeable; my aunt Fanny
+talked, and he listened and looked at my mother.  But he said very
+little, either on that visit, or on many another that he paid before he
+spoke out what had been the real purpose of his calling so often all
+along, and from the very first time he came to their house.  One Sunday,
+however, my aunt Fanny stayed away from church, and took care of the
+child, and my mother went alone.  When she came back, she ran straight
+upstairs, without going into the kitchen to look at Gregory or speak any
+word to her sister, and aunt Fanny heard her cry as if her heart was
+breaking; so she went up and scolded her right well through the bolted
+door, till at last she got her to open it.  And then she threw herself on
+my aunt's neck, and told her that William Preston had asked her to marry
+him, and had promised to take good charge of her boy, and to let him want
+for nothing, neither in the way of keep nor of education, and that she
+had consented.  Aunt Fanny was a good deal shocked at this; for, as I
+have said, she had often thought that my mother had forgotten her first
+husband very quickly, and now here was proof positive of it, if she could
+so soon think of marrying again.  Besides as aunt Fanny used to say, she
+herself would have been a far more suitable match for a man of William
+Preston's age than Helen, who, though she was a widow, had not seen her
+four-and-twentieth summer.  However, as aunt Fanny said, they had not
+asked her advice; and there was much to be said on the other side of the
+question.  Helen's eyesight would never be good for much again, and as
+William Preston's wife she would never need to do anything, if she chose
+to sit with her hands before her; and a boy was a great charge to a
+widowed mother; and now there would be a decent steady man to see after
+him.  So, by-and-by, aunt Fanny seemed to take a brighter view of the
+marriage than did my mother herself, who hardly ever looked up, and never
+smiled after the day when she promised William Preston to be his wife.
+But much as she had loved Gregory before, she seemed to love him more
+now.  She was continually talking to him when they were alone, though he
+was far too young to understand her moaning words, or give her any
+comfort, except by his caresses.
+
+At last William Preston and she were wed; and she went to be mistress of
+a well-stocked house, not above half-an-hour's walk from where aunt Fanny
+lived.  I believe she did all that she could to please my father; and a
+more dutiful wife, I have heard him himself say, could never have been.
+But she did not love him, and he soon found it out.  She loved Gregory,
+and she did not love him.  Perhaps, love would have come in time, if he
+had been patient enough to wait; but it just turned him sour to see how
+her eye brightened and her colour came at the sight of that little child,
+while for him who had given her so much, she had only gentle words as
+cold as ice.  He got to taunt her with the difference in her manner, as
+if that would bring love: and he took a positive dislike to Gregory,--he
+was so jealous of the ready love that always gushed out like a spring of
+fresh water when he came near.  He wanted her to love him more, and
+perhaps that was all well and good; but he wanted her to love her child
+less, and that was an evil wish.  One day, he gave way to his temper, and
+cursed and swore at Gregory, who had got into some mischief, as children
+will; my mother made some excuse for him; my father said it was hard
+enough to have to keep another man's child, without having it perpetually
+held up in its naughtiness by his wife, who ought to be always in the
+same mind that he was; and so from little they got to more; and the end
+of it was, that my mother took to her bed before her time, and I was born
+that very day.  My father was glad, and proud, and sorry, all in a
+breath; glad and proud that a son was born to him; and sorry for his poor
+wife's state, and to think how his angry words had brought it on.  But he
+was a man who liked better to be angry than sorry, so he soon found out
+that it was all Gregory's fault, and owed him an additional grudge for
+having hastened my birth.  He had another grudge against him before long.
+My mother began to sink the day after I was born.  My father sent to
+Carlisle for doctors, and would have coined his heart's blood into gold
+to save her, if that could have been; but it could not.  My aunt Fanny
+used to say sometimes, that she thought that Helen did not wish to live,
+and so just let herself die away without trying to take hold on life; but
+when I questioned her, she owned that my mother did all the doctors bade
+her do, with the same sort of uncomplaining patience with which she had
+acted through life.  One of her last requests was to have Gregory laid in
+her bed by my side, and then she made him take hold of my little hand.
+Her husband came in while she was looking at us so, and when he bent
+tenderly over her to ask her how she felt now, and seemed to gaze on us
+two little half-brothers, with a grave sort of kindness, she looked up in
+his face and smiled, almost her first smile at him; and such a sweet
+smile! as more besides aunt Fanny have said.  In an hour she was dead.
+Aunt Fanny came to live with us.  It was the best thing that could be
+done.  My father would have been glad to return to his old mode of
+bachelor life, but what could he do with two little children?  He needed
+a woman to take care of him, and who so fitting as his wife's elder
+sister?  So she had the charge of me from my birth; and for a time I was
+weakly, as was but natural, and she was always beside me, night and day
+watching over me, and my father nearly as anxious as she.  For his land
+had come down from father to son for more than three hundred years, and
+he would have cared for me merely as his flesh and blood that was to
+inherit the land after him.  But he needed something to love, for all
+that, to most people, he was a stern, hard man, and he took to me as, I
+fancy, he had taken to no human being before--as he might have taken to
+my mother, if she had had no former life for him to be jealous of.  I
+loved him back again right heartily.  I loved all around me, I believe,
+for everybody was kind to me.  After a time, I overcame my original
+weakness of constitution, and was just a bonny, strong-looking lad whom
+every passer-by noticed, when my father took me with him to the nearest
+town.
+
+At home I was the darling of my aunt, the tenderly-beloved of my father,
+the pet and plaything of the old domestics, the "young master" of the
+farm-labourers, before whom I played many a lordly antic, assuming a sort
+of authority which sat oddly enough, I doubt not, on such a baby as I
+was.
+
+Gregory was three years older than I.  Aunt Fanny was always kind to him
+in deed and in action, but she did not often think about him, she had
+fallen so completely into the habit of being engrossed by me, from the
+fact of my having come into her charge as a delicate baby.  My father
+never got over his grudging dislike to his stepson, who had so innocently
+wrestled with him for the possession of my mother's heart.  I mistrust
+me, too, that my father always considered him as the cause of my mother's
+death and my early delicacy; and utterly unreasonable as this may seem, I
+believe my father rather cherished his feeling of alienation to my
+brother as a duty, than strove to repress it.  Yet not for the world
+would my father have grudged him anything that money could purchase.  That
+was, as it were, in the bond when he had wedded my mother.  Gregory was
+lumpish and loutish, awkward and ungainly, marring whatever he meddled
+in, and many a hard word and sharp scolding did he get from the people
+about the farm, who hardly waited till my father's back was turned before
+they rated the stepson.  I am ashamed--my heart is sore to think how I
+fell into the fashion of the family, and slighted my poor orphan step-
+brother.  I don't think I ever scouted him, or was wilfully ill-natured
+to him; but the habit of being considered in all things, and being
+treated as something uncommon and superior, made me insolent in my
+prosperity, and I exacted more than Gregory was always willing to grant,
+and then, irritated, I sometimes repeated the disparaging words I had
+heard others use with regard to him, without fully understanding their
+meaning.  Whether he did or not I cannot tell.  I am afraid he did.  He
+used to turn silent and quiet--sullen and sulky, my father thought it:
+stupid, aunt Fanny used to call it.  But every one said he was stupid and
+dull, and this stupidity and dullness grew upon him.  He would sit
+without speaking a word, sometimes, for hours; then my father would bid
+him rise and do some piece of work, maybe, about the farm.  And he would
+take three or four tellings before he would go.  When we were sent to
+school, it was all the same.  He could never be made to remember his
+lessons; the school-master grew weary of scolding and flogging, and at
+last advised my father just to take him away, and set him to some farm-
+work that might not be above his comprehension.  I think he was more
+gloomy and stupid than ever after this, yet he was not a cross lad; he
+was patient and good-natured, and would try to do a kind turn for any
+one, even if they had been scolding or cuffing him not a minute before.
+But very often his attempts at kindness ended in some mischief to the
+very people he was trying to serve, owing to his awkward, ungainly ways.
+I suppose I was a clever lad; at any rate, I always got plenty of praise;
+and was, as we called it, the cock of the school.  The schoolmaster said
+I could learn anything I chose, but my father, who had no great learning
+himself, saw little use in much for me, and took me away betimes, and
+kept me with him about the farm.  Gregory was made into a kind of
+shepherd, receiving his training under old Adam, who was nearly past his
+work.  I think old Adam was almost the first person who had a good
+opinion of Gregory.  He stood to it that my brother had good parts,
+though he did not rightly know how to bring them out; and, for knowing
+the bearings of the Fells, he said he had never seen a lad like him.  My
+father would try to bring Adam round to speak of Gregory's faults and
+shortcomings; but, instead of that, he would praise him twice as much, as
+soon as he found out what was my father's object.
+
+One winter-time, when I was about sixteen, and Gregory nineteen, I was
+sent by my father on an errand to a place about seven miles distant by
+the road, but only about four by the Fells.  He bade me return by the
+road, whichever way I took in going, for the evenings closed in early,
+and were often thick and misty; besides which, old Adam, now paralytic
+and bedridden, foretold a downfall of snow before long.  I soon got to my
+journey's end, and soon had done my business; earlier by an hour, I
+thought, than my father had expected, so I took the decision of the way
+by which I would return into my own hands, and set off back again over
+the Fells, just as the first shades of evening began to fall.  It looked
+dark and gloomy enough; but everything was so still that I thought I
+should have plenty of time to get home before the snow came down.  Off I
+set at a pretty quick pace.  But night came on quicker.  The right path
+was clear enough in the day-time, although at several points two or three
+exactly similar diverged from the same place; but when there was a good
+light, the traveller was guided by the sight of distant objects,--a piece
+of rock,--a fall in the ground--which were quite invisible to me now.  I
+plucked up a brave heart, however, and took what seemed to me the right
+road.  It was wrong, nevertheless, and led me whither I knew not, but to
+some wild boggy moor where the solitude seemed painful, intense, as if
+never footfall of man had come thither to break the silence.  I tried to
+shout--with the dimmest possible hope of being heard--rather to reassure
+myself by the sound of my own voice; but my voice came husky and short,
+and yet it dismayed me; it seemed so weird and strange, in that noiseless
+expanse of black darkness.  Suddenly the air was filled thick with dusky
+flakes, my face and hands were wet with snow.  It cut me off from the
+slightest knowledge of where I was, for I lost every idea of the
+direction from which I had come, so that I could not even retrace my
+steps; it hemmed me in, thicker, thicker, with a darkness that might be
+felt.  The boggy soil on which I stood quaked under me if I remained long
+in one place, and yet I dared not move far.  All my youthful hardiness
+seemed to leave me at once.  I was on the point of crying, and only very
+shame seemed to keep it down.  To save myself from shedding tears, I
+shouted--terrible, wild shouts for bare life they were.  I turned sick as
+I paused to listen; no answering sound came but the unfeeling echoes.
+Only the noiseless, pitiless snow kept falling thicker, thicker--faster,
+faster!  I was growing numb and sleepy.  I tried to move about, but I
+dared not go far, for fear of the precipices which, I knew, abounded in
+certain places on the Fells.  Now and then, I stood still and shouted
+again; but my voice was getting choked with tears, as I thought of the
+desolate helpless death I was to die, and how little they at home,
+sitting round the warm, red, bright fire, wotted what was become of
+me,--and how my poor father would grieve for me--it would surely kill
+him--it would break his heart, poor old man!  Aunt Fanny too--was this to
+be the end of all her cares for me?  I began to review my life in a
+strange kind of vivid dream, in which the various scenes of my few boyish
+years passed before me like visions.  In a pang of agony, caused by such
+remembrance of my short life, I gathered up my strength and called out
+once more, a long, despairing, wailing cry, to which I had no hope of
+obtaining any answer, save from the echoes around, dulled as the sound
+might be by the thickened air.  To my surprise I heard a cry--almost as
+long, as wild as mine--so wild that it seemed unearthly, and I almost
+thought it must be the voice of some of the mocking spirits of the Fells,
+about whom I had heard so many tales.  My heart suddenly began to beat
+fast and loud.  I could not reply for a minute or two.  I nearly fancied
+I had lost the power of utterance.  Just at this moment a dog barked.  Was
+it Lassie's bark--my brother's collie?--an ugly enough brute, with a
+white, ill-looking face, that my father always kicked whenever he saw it,
+partly for its own demerits, partly because it belonged to my brother.  On
+such occasions, Gregory would whistle Lassie away, and go off and sit
+with her in some outhouse.  My father had once or twice been ashamed of
+himself, when the poor collie had yowled out with the suddenness of the
+pain, and had relieved himself of his self-reproach by blaming my
+brother, who, he said, had no notion of training a dog, and was enough to
+ruin any collie in Christendom with his stupid way of allowing them to
+lie by the kitchen fire.  To all which Gregory would answer nothing, nor
+even seem to hear, but go on looking absent and moody.
+
+Yes! there again!  It was Lassie's bark!  Now or never!  I lifted up my
+voice and shouted "Lassie! Lassie! for God's sake, Lassie!" Another
+moment, and the great white-faced Lassie was curving and gambolling with
+delight round my feet and legs, looking, however, up in my face with her
+intelligent, apprehensive eyes, as if fearing lest I might greet her with
+a blow, as I had done oftentimes before.  But I cried with gladness, as I
+stooped down and patted her.  My mind was sharing in my body's weakness,
+and I could not reason, but I knew that help was at hand.  A gray figure
+came more and more distinctly out of the thick, close-pressing darkness.
+It was Gregory wrapped in his maud.
+
+"Oh, Gregory!" said I, and I fell upon his neck, unable to speak another
+word.  He never spoke much, and made me no answer for some little time.
+Then he told me we must move, we must walk for the dear life--we must
+find our road home, if possible; but we must move, or we should be frozen
+to death.
+
+"Don't you know the way home?" asked I.
+
+"I thought I did when I set out, but I am doubtful now.  The snow blinds
+me, and I am feared that in moving about just now, I have lost the right
+gait homewards."
+
+He had his shepherd's staff with him, and by dint of plunging it before
+us at every step we took--clinging close to each other, we went on safely
+enough, as far as not falling down any of the steep rocks, but it was
+slow, dreary work.  My brother, I saw, was more guided by Lassie and the
+way she took than anything else, trusting to her instinct.  It was too
+dark to see far before us; but he called her back continually, and noted
+from what quarter she returned, and shaped our slow steps accordingly.
+But the tedious motion scarcely kept my very blood from freezing.  Every
+bone, every fibre in my body seemed first to ache, and then to swell, and
+then to turn numb with the intense cold.  My brother bore it better than
+I, from having been more out upon the hills.  He did not speak, except to
+call Lassie.  I strove to be brave, and not complain; but now I felt the
+deadly fatal sleep stealing over me.
+
+"I can go no farther," I said, in a drowsy tone.  I remember I suddenly
+became dogged and resolved.  Sleep I would, were it only for five
+minutes.  If death were to be the consequence, sleep I would.  Gregory
+stood still.  I suppose, he recognized the peculiar phase of suffering to
+which I had been brought by the cold.
+
+"It is of no use," said he, as if to himself.  "We are no nearer home
+than we were when we started, as far as I can tell.  Our only chance is
+in Lassie.  Here! roll thee in my maud, lad, and lay thee down on this
+sheltered side of this bit of rock.  Creep close under it, lad, and I'll
+lie by thee, and strive to keep the warmth in us.  Stay! hast gotten
+aught about thee they'll know at home?"
+
+I felt him unkind thus to keep me from slumber, but on his repeating the
+question, I pulled out my pocket-handkerchief, of some showy pattern,
+which Aunt Fanny had hemmed for me--Gregory took it, and tied it round
+Lassie's neck.
+
+"Hie thee, Lassie, hie thee home!"  And the white-faced ill-favoured
+brute was off like a shot in the darkness.  Now I might lie down--now I
+might sleep.  In my drowsy stupor I felt that I was being tenderly
+covered up by my brother; but what with I neither knew nor cared--I was
+too dull, too selfish, too numb to think and reason, or I might have
+known that in that bleak bare place there was nought to wrap me in, save
+what was taken off another.  I was glad enough when he ceased his cares
+and lay down by me.  I took his hand.
+
+"Thou canst not remember, lad, how we lay together thus by our dying
+mother.  She put thy small, wee hand in mine--I reckon she sees us now;
+and belike we shall soon be with her.  Anyhow, God's will be done."
+
+"Dear Gregory," I muttered, and crept nearer to him for warmth.  He was
+talking still, and again about our mother, when I fell asleep.  In an
+instant--or so it seemed--there were many voices about me--many faces
+hovering round me--the sweet luxury of warmth was stealing into every
+part of me.  I was in my own little bed at home.  I am thankful to say,
+my first word was "Gregory?"
+
+A look passed from one to another--my father's stern old face strove in
+vain to keep its sternness; his mouth quivered, his eyes filled slowly
+with unwonted tears.
+
+"I would have given him half my land--I would have blessed him as my
+son,--oh God!  I would have knelt at his feet, and asked him to forgive
+my hardness of heart."
+
+I heard no more.  A whirl came through my brain, catching me back to
+death.
+
+I came slowly to my consciousness, weeks afterwards.  My father's hair
+was white when I recovered, and his hands shook as he looked into my
+face.
+
+We spoke no more of Gregory.  We could not speak of him; but he was
+strangely in our thoughts.  Lassie came and went with never a word of
+blame; nay, my father would try to stroke her, but she shrank away; and
+he, as if reproved by the poor dumb beast, would sigh, and be silent and
+abstracted for a time.
+
+Aunt Fanny--always a talker--told me all.  How, on that fatal night, my
+father,--irritated by my prolonged absence, and probably more anxious
+than he cared to show, had been fierce and imperious, even beyond his
+wont, to Gregory; had upbraided him with his father's poverty, his own
+stupidity which made his services good for nothing--for so, in spite of
+the old shepherd, my father always chose to consider them.  At last,
+Gregory had risen up, and whistled Lassie out with him--poor Lassie,
+crouching underneath his chair for fear of a kick or a blow.  Some time
+before, there had been some talk between my father and my aunt respecting
+my return; and when aunt Fanny told me all this, she said she fancied
+that Gregory might have noticed the coming storm, and gone out silently
+to meet me.  Three hours afterwards, when all were running about in wild
+alarm, not knowing whither to go in search of me--not even missing
+Gregory, or heeding his absence, poor fellow--poor, poor fellow!--Lassie
+came home, with my handkerchief tied round her neck.  They knew and
+understood, and the whole strength of the farm was turned out to follow
+her, with wraps, and blankets, and brandy, and every thing that could be
+thought of.  I lay in chilly sleep, but still alive, beneath the rock
+that Lassie guided them to.  I was covered over with my brother's plaid,
+and his thick shepherd's coat was carefully wrapped round my feet.  He
+was in his shirt-sleeves--his arm thrown over me--a quiet smile (he had
+hardly ever smiled in life) upon his still, cold face.
+
+My father's last words were, "God forgive me my hardness of heart towards
+the fatherless child!"
+
+And what marked the depth of his feeling of repentance, perhaps more than
+all, considering the passionate love he bore my mother, was this: we
+found a paper of directions after his death, in which he desired that he
+might lie at the foot of the grave, in which, by his desire, poor Gregory
+had been laid with OUR MOTHER.
+
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HALF-BROTHERS***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 2532.txt or 2532.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/3/2532
+
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/old/2532.zip b/old/2532.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0227ad1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/2532.zip
diff --git a/old/hlfbr10.txt b/old/hlfbr10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb0811e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/hlfbr10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,737 @@
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Half-Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell
+#7 in our series by Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
+the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!!
+
+Please take a look at the important information in this header.
+We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
+electronic path open for the next readers.  Do not remove this.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*
+
+Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
+further information is included below.  We need your donations.
+
+
+The Half-Brothers
+
+by Elizabeth Gaskell
+
+March, 2001  [Etext #2532]
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Half-Brothers by Elizabeth Gaskell
+******This file should be named hlfbr10.txt or hlfbr10.zip******
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, hlfbr11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, hlfbr10a.txt
+
+
+This etext was scanned by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk,
+from the 1896 Smith, Elder and Co. "Lizzie Leigh and Other Tales"
+edition.  Proofing by Jennifer Lee, Alev Akman and Andy Wallace.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions,
+all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a
+copyright notice is included.  Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any
+of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+
+Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.  To be sure you have an
+up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes
+in the first week of the next month.  Since our ftp program has
+a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a
+look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a
+new copy has at least one byte more or less.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text
+files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+
+If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the
+total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
+Files by December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion]
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users.
+
+At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third
+of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we
+manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly
+from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an
+assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few
+more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we
+don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+
+All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are
+tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.  (CMU = Carnegie-
+Mellon University).
+
+For these and other matters, please mail to:
+
+Project Gutenberg
+P. O. Box  2782
+Champaign, IL 61825
+
+When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director:
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org
+if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if
+it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . .
+
+We would prefer to send you this information by email.
+
+******
+
+To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser
+to view http://promo.net/pg.  This site lists Etexts by
+author and by title, and includes information about how
+to get involved with Project Gutenberg.  You could also
+download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here.  This
+is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com,
+for a more complete list of our various sites.
+
+To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any
+Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror
+sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed
+at http://promo.net/pg).
+
+Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better.
+
+Example FTP session:
+
+ftp metalab.unc.edu
+login: anonymous
+password: your@login
+cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg
+cd etext90 through etext99 etext00 and etext01
+dir [to see files]
+get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
+GET GUTINDEX.??  [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99]
+GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books]
+
+***
+
+**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor**
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
+you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-
+tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor
+Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at
+Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project").  Among other
+things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
+under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this
+etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors,
+officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost
+and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or
+indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause:
+[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification,
+or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word pro-
+     cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the
+     net profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon
+     University" within the 60 days following each
+     date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)
+     your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time,
+scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty
+free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution
+you can think of.  Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg
+Association / Carnegie-Mellon University".
+
+We are planning on making some changes in our donation structure
+in 2000, so you might want to email me, hart@pobox.com beforehand.
+
+
+
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+THE HALF-BROTHERS.
+
+
+
+
+My mother was twice married.  She never spoke of her first husband,
+and it is only from other people that I have learnt what little I
+know about him.  I believe she was scarcely seventeen when she was
+married to him:  and he was barely one-and-twenty.  He rented a small
+farm up in Cumberland, somewhere towards the sea-coast; but he was
+perhaps too young and inexperienced to have the charge of land and
+cattle:  anyhow, his affairs did not prosper, and he fell into ill
+health, and died of consumption before they had been three years man
+and wife, leaving my mother a young widow of twenty, with a little
+child only just able to walk, and the farm on her hands for four
+years more by the lease, with half the stock on it dead, or sold off
+one by one to pay the more pressing debts, and with no money to
+purchase more, or even to buy the provisions needed for the small
+consumption of every day.  There was another child coming, too; and
+sad and sorry, I believe, she was to think of it.  A dreary winter
+she must have had in her lonesome dwelling, with never another near
+it for miles around; her sister came to bear her company, and they
+two planned and plotted how to make every penny they could raise go
+as far as possible.  I can't tell you how it happened that my little
+sister, whom I never saw, came to sicken and die; but, as if my poor
+mother's cup was not full enough, only a fortnight before Gregory was
+born the little girl took ill of scarlet fever, and in a week she lay
+dead.  My mother was, I believe, just stunned with this last blow.
+My aunt has told me that she did not cry; aunt Fanny would have been
+thankful if she had; but she sat holding the poor wee lassie's hand
+and looking in her pretty, pale, dead face, without so much as
+shedding a tear.  And it was all the same, when they had to take her
+away to be buried.  She just kissed the child, and sat her down in
+the window-seat to watch the little black train of people
+(neighbours--my aunt, and one far-off cousin, who were all the
+friends they could muster) go winding away amongst the snow, which
+had fallen thinly over the country the night before.  When my aunt
+came back from the funeral, she found my mother in the same place,
+and as dry-eyed as ever.  So she continued until after Gregory was
+born; and, somehow, his coming seemed to loosen the tears, and she
+cried day and night, till my aunt and the other watcher looked at
+each other in dismay, and would fain have stopped her if they had but
+known how.  But she bade them let her alone, and not be over-anxious,
+for every drop she shed eased her brain, which had been in a terrible
+state before for want of the power to cry.  She seemed after that to
+think of nothing but her new little baby; she had hardly appeared to
+remember either her husband or her little daughter that lay dead in
+Brigham churchyard--at least so aunt Fanny said, but she was a great
+talker, and my mother was very silent by nature, and I think aunt
+Fanny may have been mistaken in believing that my mother never
+thought of her husband and child just because she never spoke about
+them.  Aunt Fanny was older than my mother, and had a way of treating
+her like a child; but, for all that, she was a kind, warm-hearted
+creature, who thought more of her sister's welfare than she did of
+her own and it was on her bit of money that they principally lived,
+and on what the two could earn by working for the great Glasgow
+sewing-merchants.  But by-and-by my mother's eye-sight began to fail.
+It was not that she was exactly blind, for she could see well enough
+to guide herself about the house, and to do a good deal of domestic
+work; but she could no longer do fine sewing and earn money.  It must
+have been with the heavy crying she had had in her day, for she was
+but a young creature at this time, and as pretty a young woman, I
+have heard people say, as any on the country side.  She took it sadly
+to heart that she could no longer gain anything towards the keep of
+herself and her child.  My aunt Fanny would fain have persuaded her
+that she had enough to do in managing their cottage and minding
+Gregory; but my mother knew that they were pinched, and that aunt
+Fanny herself had not as much to eat, even of the commonest kind of
+food, as she could have done with; and as for Gregory, he was not a
+strong lad, and needed, not more food--for he always had enough,
+whoever went short--but better nourishment, and more flesh-meat.  One
+day--it was aunt Fanny who told me all this about my poor mother,
+long after her death--as the sisters were sitting together, aunt
+Fanny working, and my mother hushing Gregory to sleep, William
+Preston, who was afterwards my father, came in.  He was reckoned an
+old bachelor; I suppose he was long past forty, and he was one of the
+wealthiest farmers thereabouts, and had known my grandfather well,
+and my mother and my aunt in their more prosperous days.  He sat
+down, and began to twirl his hat by way of being agreeable; my aunt
+Fanny talked, and he listened and looked at my mother.  But he said
+very little, either on that visit, or on many another that he paid
+before he spoke out what had been the real purpose of his calling so
+often all along, and from the very first time he came to their house.
+One Sunday, however, my aunt Fanny stayed away from church, and took
+care of the child, and my mother went alone.  When she came back, she
+ran straight upstairs, without going into the kitchen to look at
+Gregory or speak any word to her sister, and aunt Fanny heard her cry
+as if her heart was breaking; so she went up and scolded her right
+well through the bolted door, till at last she got her to open it.
+And then she threw herself on my aunt's neck, and told her that
+William Preston had asked her to marry him, and had promised to take
+good charge of her boy, and to let him want for nothing, neither in
+the way of keep nor of education, and that she had consented.  Aunt
+Fanny was a good deal shocked at this; for, as I have said, she had
+often thought that my mother had forgotten her first husband very
+quickly, and now here was proof positive of it, if she could so soon
+think of marrying again.  Besides as aunt Fanny used to say, she
+herself would have been a far more suitable match for a man of
+William Preston's age than Helen, who, though she was a widow, had
+not seen her four-and-twentieth summer.  However, as aunt Fanny said,
+they had not asked her advice; and there was much to be said on the
+other side of the question.  Helen's eyesight would never be good for
+much again, and as William Preston's wife she would never need to do
+anything, if she chose to sit with her hands before her; and a boy
+was a great charge to a widowed mother; and now there would be a
+decent steady man to see after him.  So, by-and-by, aunt Fanny seemed
+to take a brighter view of the marriage than did my mother herself,
+who hardly ever looked up, and never smiled after the day when she
+promised William Preston to be his wife.  But much as she had loved
+Gregory before, she seemed to love him more now.  She was continually
+talking to him when they were alone, though he was far too young to
+understand her moaning words, or give her any comfort, except by his
+caresses.
+
+At last William Preston and she were wed; and she went to be mistress
+of a well-stocked house, not above half-an-hour's walk from where
+aunt Fanny lived.  I believe she did all that she could to please my
+father; and a more dutiful wife, I have heard him himself say, could
+never have been.  But she did not love him, and he soon found it out.
+She loved Gregory, and she did not love him.  Perhaps, love would
+have come in time, if he had been patient enough to wait; but it just
+turned him sour to see how her eye brightened and her colour came at
+the sight of that little child, while for him who had given her so
+much, she had only gentle words as cold as ice.  He got to taunt her
+with the difference in her manner, as if that would bring love:  and
+he took a positive dislike to Gregory,--he was so jealous of the
+ready love that always gushed out like a spring of fresh water when
+he came near.  He wanted her to love him more, and perhaps that was
+all well and good; but he wanted her to love her child less, and that
+was an evil wish.  One day, he gave way to his temper, and cursed and
+swore at Gregory, who had got into some mischief, as children will;
+my mother made some excuse for him; my father said it was hard enough
+to have to keep another man's child, without having it perpetually
+held up in its naughtiness by his wife, who ought to be always in the
+same mind that he was; and so from little they got to more; and the
+end of it was, that my mother took to her bed before her time, and I
+was born that very day.  My father was glad, and proud, and sorry,
+all in a breath; glad and proud that a son was born to him; and sorry
+for his poor wife's state, and to think how his angry words had
+brought it on.  But he was a man who liked better to be angry than
+sorry, so he soon found out that it was all Gregory's fault, and owed
+him an additional grudge for having hastened my birth.  He had
+another grudge against him before long.  My mother began to sink the
+day after I was born.  My father sent to Carlisle for doctors, and
+would have coined his heart's blood into gold to save her, if that
+could have been; but it could not.  My aunt Fanny used to say
+sometimes, that she thought that Helen did not wish to live, and so
+just let herself die away without trying to take hold on life; but
+when I questioned her, she owned that my mother did all the doctors
+bade her do, with the same sort of uncomplaining patience with which
+she had acted through life.  One of her last requests was to have
+Gregory laid in her bed by my side, and then she made him take hold
+of my little hand.  Her husband came in while she was looking at us
+so, and when he bent tenderly over her to ask her how she felt now,
+and seemed to gaze on us two little half-brothers, with a grave sort
+of kindness, she looked up in his face and smiled, almost her first
+smile at him; and such a sweet smile! as more besides aunt Fanny have
+said.  In an hour she was dead.  Aunt Fanny came to live with us.  It
+was the best thing that could be done.  My father would have been
+glad to return to his old mode of bachelor life, but what could he do
+with two little children?  He needed a woman to take care of him, and
+who so fitting as his wife's elder sister?  So she had the charge of
+me from my birth; and for a time I was weakly, as was but natural,
+and she was always beside me, night and day watching over me, and my
+father nearly as anxious as she.  For his land had come down from
+father to son for more than three hundred years, and he would have
+cared for me merely as his flesh and blood that was to inherit the
+land after him.  But he needed something to love, for all that, to
+most people, he was a stern, hard man, and he took to me as, I fancy,
+he had taken to no human being before--as he might have taken to my
+mother, if she had had no former life for him to be jealous of.  I
+loved him back again right heartily.  I loved all around me, I
+believe, for everybody was kind to me.  After a time, I overcame my
+original weakness of constitution, and was just a bonny, strong-
+looking lad whom every passer-by noticed, when my father took me with
+him to the nearest town.
+
+At home I was the darling of my aunt, the tenderly-beloved of my
+father, the pet and plaything of the old domestics, the "young
+master" of the farm-labourers, before whom I played many a lordly
+antic, assuming a sort of authority which sat oddly enough, I doubt
+not, on such a baby as I was.
+
+Gregory was three years older than I.  Aunt Fanny was always kind to
+him in deed and in action, but she did not often think about him, she
+had fallen so completely into the habit of being engrossed by me,
+from the fact of my having come into her charge as a delicate baby.
+My father never got over his grudging dislike to his stepson, who had
+so innocently wrestled with him for the possession of my mother's
+heart.  I mistrust me, too, that my father always considered him as
+the cause of my mother's death and my early delicacy; and utterly
+unreasonable as this may seem, I believe my father rather cherished
+his feeling of alienation to my brother as a duty, than strove to
+repress it.  Yet not for the world would my father have grudged him
+anything that money could purchase.  That was, as it were, in the
+bond when he had wedded my mother.  Gregory was lumpish and loutish,
+awkward and ungainly, marring whatever he meddled in, and many a hard
+word and sharp scolding did he get from the people about the farm,
+who hardly waited till my father's back was turned before they rated
+the stepson.  I am ashamed--my heart is sore to think how I fell into
+the fashion of the family, and slighted my poor orphan step-brother.
+I don't think I ever scouted him, or was wilfully ill-natured to him;
+but the habit of being considered in all things, and being treated as
+something uncommon and superior, made me insolent in my prosperity,
+and I exacted more than Gregory was always willing to grant, and
+then, irritated, I sometimes repeated the disparaging words I had
+heard others use with regard to him, without fully understanding
+their meaning.  Whether he did or not I cannot tell.  I am afraid he
+did.  He used to turn silent and quiet--sullen and sulky, my father
+thought it:  stupid, aunt Fanny used to call it.  But every one said
+he was stupid and dull, and this stupidity and dullness grew upon
+him.  He would sit without speaking a word, sometimes, for hours;
+then my father would bid him rise and do some piece of work, maybe,
+about the farm.  And he would take three or four tellings before he
+would go.  When we were sent to school, it was all the same.  He
+could never be made to remember his lessons; the school-master grew
+weary of scolding and flogging, and at last advised my father just to
+take him away, and set him to some farm-work that might not be above
+his comprehension.  I think he was more gloomy and stupid than ever
+after this, yet he was not a cross lad; he was patient and good-
+natured, and would try to do a kind turn for any one, even if they
+had been scolding or cuffing him not a minute before.  But very often
+his attempts at kindness ended in some mischief to the very people he
+was trying to serve, owing to his awkward, ungainly ways.  I suppose
+I was a clever lad; at any rate, I always got plenty of praise; and
+was, as we called it, the cock of the school.  The schoolmaster said
+I could learn anything I chose, but my father, who had no great
+learning himself, saw little use in much for me, and took me away
+betimes, and kept me with him about the farm.  Gregory was made into
+a kind of shepherd, receiving his training under old Adam, who was
+nearly past his work.  I think old Adam was almost the first person
+who had a good opinion of Gregory.  He stood to it that my brother
+had good parts, though he did not rightly know how to bring them out;
+and, for knowing the bearings of the Fells, he said he had never seen
+a lad like him.  My father would try to bring Adam round to speak of
+Gregory's faults and shortcomings; but, instead of that, he would
+praise him twice as much, as soon as he found out what was my
+father's object.
+
+One winter-time, when I was about sixteen, and Gregory nineteen, I
+was sent by my father on an errand to a place about seven miles
+distant by the road, but only about four by the Fells.  He bade me
+return by the road, whichever way I took in going, for the evenings
+closed in early, and were often thick and misty; besides which, old
+Adam, now paralytic and bedridden, foretold a downfall of snow before
+long.  I soon got to my journey's end, and soon had done my business;
+earlier by an hour, I thought, than my father had expected, so I took
+the decision of the way by which I would return into my own hands,
+and set off back again over the Fells, just as the first shades of
+evening began to fall.  It looked dark and gloomy enough; but
+everything was so still that I thought I should have plenty of time
+to get home before the snow came down.  Off I set at a pretty quick
+pace.  But night came on quicker.  The right path was clear enough in
+the day-time, although at several points two or three exactly similar
+diverged from the same place; but when there was a good light, the
+traveller was guided by the sight of distant objects,--a piece of
+rock,--a fall in the ground--which were quite invisible to me now.  I
+plucked up a brave heart, however, and took what seemed to me the
+right road.  It was wrong, nevertheless, and led me whither I knew
+not, but to some wild boggy moor where the solitude seemed painful,
+intense, as if never footfall of man had come thither to break the
+silence.  I tried to shout--with the dimmest possible hope of being
+heard--rather to reassure myself by the sound of my own voice; but my
+voice came husky and short, and yet it dismayed me; it seemed so
+weird and strange, in that noiseless expanse of black darkness.
+Suddenly the air was filled thick with dusky flakes, my face and
+hands were wet with snow.  It cut me off from the slightest knowledge
+of where I was, for I lost every idea of the direction from which I
+had come, so that I could not even retrace my steps; it hemmed me in,
+thicker, thicker, with a darkness that might be felt.  The boggy soil
+on which I stood quaked under me if I remained long in one place, and
+yet I dared not move far.  All my youthful hardiness seemed to leave
+me at once.  I was on the point of crying, and only very shame seemed
+to keep it down.  To save myself from shedding tears, I shouted--
+terrible, wild shouts for bare life they were.  I turned sick as I
+paused to listen; no answering sound came but the unfeeling echoes.
+Only the noiseless, pitiless snow kept falling thicker, thicker--
+faster, faster!  I was growing numb and sleepy.  I tried to move
+about, but I dared not go far, for fear of the precipices which, I
+knew, abounded in certain places on the Fells.  Now and then, I stood
+still and shouted again; but my voice was getting choked with tears,
+as I thought of the desolate helpless death I was to die, and how
+little they at home, sitting round the warm, red, bright fire, wotted
+what was become of me,--and how my poor father would grieve for me--
+it would surely kill him--it would break his heart, poor old man!
+Aunt Fanny too--was this to be the end of all her cares for me?  I
+began to review my life in a strange kind of vivid dream, in which
+the various scenes of my few boyish years passed before me like
+visions.  In a pang of agony, caused by such remembrance of my short
+life, I gathered up my strength and called out once more, a long,
+despairing, wailing cry, to which I had no hope of obtaining any
+answer, save from the echoes around, dulled as the sound might be by
+the thickened air.  To my surprise I heard a cry--almost as long, as
+wild as mine--so wild that it seemed unearthly, and I almost thought
+it must be the voice of some of the mocking spirits of the Fells,
+about whom I had heard so many tales.  My heart suddenly began to
+beat fast and loud.  I could not reply for a minute or two.  I nearly
+fancied I had lost the power of utterance.  Just at this moment a dog
+barked.  Was it Lassie's bark--my brother's collie?--an ugly enough
+brute, with a white, ill-looking face, that my father always kicked
+whenever he saw it, partly for its own demerits, partly because it
+belonged to my brother.  On such occasions, Gregory would whistle
+Lassie away, and go off and sit with her in some outhouse.  My father
+had once or twice been ashamed of himself, when the poor collie had
+yowled out with the suddenness of the pain, and had relieved himself
+of his self-reproach by blaming my brother, who, he said, had no
+notion of training a dog, and was enough to ruin any collie in
+Christendom with his stupid way of allowing them to lie by the
+kitchen fire.  To all which Gregory would answer nothing, nor even
+seem to hear, but go on looking absent and moody.
+
+Yes! there again!  It was Lassie's bark!  Now or never!  I lifted up
+my voice and shouted "Lassie! Lassie! for God's sake, Lassie!"
+Another moment, and the great white-faced Lassie was curving and
+gambolling with delight round my feet and legs, looking, however, up
+in my face with her intelligent, apprehensive eyes, as if fearing
+lest I might greet her with a blow, as I had done oftentimes before.
+But I cried with gladness, as I stooped down and patted her.  My mind
+was sharing in my body's weakness, and I could not reason, but I knew
+that help was at hand.  A gray figure came more and more distinctly
+out of the thick, close-pressing darkness.  It was Gregory wrapped in
+his maud.
+
+"Oh, Gregory!" said I, and I fell upon his neck, unable to speak
+another word.  He never spoke much, and made me no answer for some
+little time.  Then he told me we must move, we must walk for the dear
+life--we must find our road home, if possible; but we must move, or
+we should be frozen to death.
+
+"Don't you know the way home?" asked I.
+
+"I thought I did when I set out, but I am doubtful now.  The snow
+blinds me, and I am feared that in moving about just now, I have lost
+the right gait homewards."
+
+He had his shepherd's staff with him, and by dint of plunging it
+before us at every step we took--clinging close to each other, we
+went on safely enough, as far as not falling down any of the steep
+rocks, but it was slow, dreary work.  My brother, I saw, was more
+guided by Lassie and the way she took than anything else, trusting to
+her instinct.  It was too dark to see far before us; but he called
+her back continually, and noted from what quarter she returned, and
+shaped our slow steps accordingly.  But the tedious motion scarcely
+kept my very blood from freezing.  Every bone, every fibre in my body
+seemed first to ache, and then to swell, and then to turn numb with
+the intense cold.  My brother bore it better than I, from having been
+more out upon the hills.  He did not speak, except to call Lassie.  I
+strove to be brave, and not complain; but now I felt the deadly fatal
+sleep stealing over me.
+
+"I can go no farther," I said, in a drowsy tone.  I remember I
+suddenly became dogged and resolved.  Sleep I would, were it only for
+five minutes.  If death were to be the consequence, sleep I would.
+Gregory stood still.  I suppose, he recognized the peculiar phase of
+suffering to which I had been brought by the cold.
+
+"It is of no use," said he, as if to himself.  "We are no nearer home
+than we were when we started, as far as I can tell.  Our only chance
+is in Lassie.  Here! roll thee in my maud, lad, and lay thee down on
+this sheltered side of this bit of rock.  Creep close under it, lad,
+and I'll lie by thee, and strive to keep the warmth in us.  Stay!
+hast gotten aught about thee they'll know at home?"
+
+I felt him unkind thus to keep me from slumber, but on his repeating
+the question, I pulled out my pocket-handkerchief, of some showy
+pattern, which Aunt Fanny had hemmed for me--Gregory took it, and
+tied it round Lassie's neck.
+
+"Hie thee, Lassie, hie thee home!"  And the white-faced ill-favoured
+brute was off like a shot in the darkness.  Now I might lie down--now
+I might sleep.  In my drowsy stupor I felt that I was being tenderly
+covered up by my brother; but what with I neither knew nor cared--I
+was too dull, too selfish, too numb to think and reason, or I might
+have known that in that bleak bare place there was nought to wrap me
+in, save what was taken off another.  I was glad enough when he
+ceased his cares and lay down by me.  I took his hand.
+
+"Thou canst not remember, lad, how we lay together thus by our dying
+mother.  She put thy small, wee hand in mine--I reckon she sees us
+now; and belike we shall soon be with her.  Anyhow, God's will be
+done."
+
+"Dear Gregory," I muttered, and crept nearer to him for warmth.  He
+was talking still, and again about our mother, when I fell asleep.
+In an instant--or so it seemed--there were many voices about me--many
+faces hovering round me--the sweet luxury of warmth was stealing into
+every part of me.  I was in my own little bed at home.  I am thankful
+to say, my first word was "Gregory?"
+
+A look passed from one to another--my father's stern old face strove
+in vain to keep its sternness; his mouth quivered, his eyes filled
+slowly with unwonted tears.
+
+"I would have given him half my land--I would have blessed him as my
+son,--oh God!  I would have knelt at his feet, and asked him to
+forgive my hardness of heart."
+
+I heard no more.  A whirl came through my brain, catching me back to
+death.
+
+I came slowly to my consciousness, weeks afterwards.  My father's
+hair was white when I recovered, and his hands shook as he looked
+into my face.
+
+We spoke no more of Gregory.  We could not speak of him; but he was
+strangely in our thoughts.  Lassie came and went with never a word of
+blame; nay, my father would try to stroke her, but she shrank away;
+and he, as if reproved by the poor dumb beast, would sigh, and be
+silent and abstracted for a time.
+
+Aunt Fanny--always a talker--told me all.  How, on that fatal night,
+my father,--irritated by my prolonged absence, and probably more
+anxious than he cared to show, had been fierce and imperious, even
+beyond his wont, to Gregory; had upbraided him with his father's
+poverty, his own stupidity which made his services good for nothing--
+for so, in spite of the old shepherd, my father always chose to
+consider them.  At last, Gregory had risen up, and whistled Lassie
+out with him--poor Lassie, crouching underneath his chair for fear of
+a kick or a blow.  Some time before, there had been some talk between
+my father and my aunt respecting my return; and when aunt Fanny told
+me all this, she said she fancied that Gregory might have noticed the
+coming storm, and gone out silently to meet me.  Three hours
+afterwards, when all were running about in wild alarm, not knowing
+whither to go in search of me--not even missing Gregory, or heeding
+his absence, poor fellow--poor, poor fellow!--Lassie came home, with
+my handkerchief tied round her neck.  They knew and understood, and
+the whole strength of the farm was turned out to follow her, with
+wraps, and blankets, and brandy, and every thing that could be
+thought of.  I lay in chilly sleep, but still alive, beneath the rock
+that Lassie guided them to.  I was covered over with my brother's
+plaid, and his thick shepherd's coat was carefully wrapped round my
+feet.  He was in his shirt-sleeves--his arm thrown over me--a quiet
+smile (he had hardly ever smiled in life) upon his still, cold face.
+
+My father's last words were, "God forgive me my hardness of heart
+towards the fatherless child!"
+
+And what marked the depth of his feeling of repentance, perhaps more
+than all, considering the passionate love he bore my mother, was
+this:  we found a paper of directions after his death, in which he
+desired that he might lie at the foot of the grave, in which, by his
+desire, poor Gregory had been laid with OUR MOTHER.
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg eText The Half-Brothers
diff --git a/old/hlfbr10.zip b/old/hlfbr10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a188773
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/hlfbr10.zip