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diff --git a/27930.txt b/27930.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a9353f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/27930.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10455 @@ +Project Gutenberg's David Fleming's Forgiveness, by Margaret Murray Robertson + +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: David Fleming's Forgiveness + +Author: Margaret Murray Robertson + +Illustrator: Geo. H. Edwards + +Release Date: January 29, 2009 [EBook #27930] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAVID FLEMING'S FORGIVENESS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +David Fleming's Forgiveness, by Margaret Murray Robertson. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +A CANADIAN SETTLEMENT. + +The first tree felled in the wilderness that lay to the south and west +of the range of hills of which Hawk's Head is the highest, was felled by +the two brothers Holt. These men left the thickly-settled New England +valley where they were born, passed many a thriving town and village, +and crossed over miles and miles of mountain and forest to seek a home +in a strange country. Not that they thought of it as a strange country, +for it was a long time ago, and little was known by them of limits or +boundary lines, when they took possession of the fertile Canadian valley +which had till then been the resort only of trappers and Indians. They +were only squatters, that is, they cut down the great trees, and built +log-houses, and set about making farms in the wilderness, with no better +right to the soil than that which their labour gave. They needed no +better right, they thought; at least, there was no one to interfere with +them, and soon a thriving settlement was made in the valley. It turned +out well for the Holts and for those who followed them, for after a good +many years their titles to their farms were secured to them on easy +terms by the Canadian Government, but they had held them as their own +from the first. + +Within ten years of the coming of the brothers, the cluster of dwellings +rising around the saw-mill which Gershom Holt had built on the Beaver +River--the store, the school-house, the blacksmith's shop--began to be +spoken of by the farmers as "the village." Every year of the ten that +followed was marked by tokens of the slow but sure prosperity which, +when the settlers have been men of moral lives and industrious habits, +has uniformly attended the planting of the later Canadian settlements. + +Gradually the clearings widened around the first log-houses, and the +unsightly "stumps" grew smaller and blacker under the frequent touch of +fire. The rough "slash fences" made of brushwood and fallen trees, gave +place to the no less ugly, but more substantial "zigzag" of cedar rails. +The low, log farm-houses began to be dwarfed by the great framed barns +which the increasing harvest rendered necessary, until a succession of +such harvests rendered possible and prudent the building of framed +dwellings as well. + +As the clearings widened and the farms became more productive, the +prosperity of the village advanced. A "grist-mill" was added to the +saw-mill, and as every year brought move people to the place, new arts +and industries were established. The great square house of Gershom +Holt, handsome and substantial, was built. Other houses were made neat +and pretty with paint, and green window-blinds, and door-yard fences, as +time went on. + +Primitive fashions and modes of life which had done for the early days +of the settlement, gave place by degrees to the more artificial +requirements of village society. The usual homespun suit, which even +the richest had considered sufficient for the year's wear, was +supplemented now by stuffs from other looms than those in the farm-house +garrets. Housewives began to think of beauty as well as use in their +interior arrangements. "Boughten" carpets took the place of the yellow +paint and the braided mats once thought the proper thing for the "spare +room" set apart for company, and articles of luxury, in the shape of +high chests of drawers and hard hair-cloth sofas, found their way into +the houses of the ambitious and "well-to-do" among them. The changes +which increasing means bring to a community were visible in the village +and beyond it before the first twenty years were over. They were not +all changes for the better, the old people declared; but they still went +on with the years, till Gershom, as the village came to be called, began +to be looked upon by the neighbouring settlements as the centre of +business and fashion to all that part of the country. + +The Holts were both rather indifferent as regarded religious matters, +but they had the hereditary respect of their countrymen for "school and +meeting privileges," and they were strong in the belief that the +ultimate prosperity of their community, even in material things, +depended mainly on the growing intelligence and morality of the people; +so it happened that much earlier than is usual in new settlements, +measures were taken to secure the means of secular and religious +instruction for the people. But it was not merely in material wealth +and prosperity that was evident the progress of which the inhabitants of +Gershom were becoming so justly proud. + +As the Holts were the first comers to Gershom, so for a long time they +kept the first place in the town, both in social and in business +matters. "The Holts had made Gershom," the Holts said, and other people +said it too, only sometimes it was added, that "they had also made +themselves, and that all the pains they had taken had been to that end." +But this was saying too much, for all the Holts had great pride in the +place and its prosperity, and almost all the industries that contributed +to its growth, as time went on, had been commenced by one or other of +them. + +Gershom Holt was the more successful of the two brothers, partly because +of his greater energy and capacity for business, and partly because he +had "located" at that point on the Beaver River where the water-power +could be made easily available for manufacturing purposes. No time was +lost by him in doing what skill and will could do with only limited +capital to make a beginning in that direction, and every new artisan who +came to the town, and did well for himself in it, did something to +increase the wealth of Gershom Holt also. So in course of time he +became the rich man of the place. He dealt closely in business matters, +he liked the best of a bargain, and, as a rule, got it; but he was of a +kindly nature, and was never hard to the poor, and many a man in Gershom +was helped to a first start in business through his means, so that he +was better liked and more entirely trusted than the one rich man in a +rising country place is apt to be. + +His brother Reuben was not so fortunate, either in making money or in +winning favours. His farm bordered on the river, but the meadows were +narrow, and the land rose abruptly into round rocky hills, fit only for +pasture. Beyond the hills, on the higher level, the land was fairly +good, but the cultivation of it was difficult, and he had never done +much with it. He was neither strong nor courageous. Some of his +children died, and others "went wrong," and he fell into misanthropic +ways, and for several years before his death he was seldom seen in the +village. + +For more than twenty years the Beaver River settlement, as it was at +first called, was occupied by people of American origin who had come in +with the Holts, or had followed after them. But about the time when the +land of which they had taken possession was secured to them by the +Government, a number of Scotch families came to settle in that part of +the town called North Gore, lying just under the morning shadows of +Hawk's Range. To these people, for whose land and ancestry they had a +traditional admiration and respect, the descendants of the Pilgrim +Fathers extended a warm welcome, and it was called a good day for the +town when they settled down in it. + +With the best intentions on the part of all concerned, affairs will go +wrong in the history of towns as well as of individuals. Unhappily the +new settlers were not at first brought into contact with the best and +kindest of the people. Some of them suffered in purse, not from "bad +men," but from men whose easy consciences did not refuse to take +advantage of their necessities, and of their ignorance of the country +and its ways; and some of them suffered in their feelings from what they +believed to be curiosity and "meddlesomeness" on the part of neighbours, +who in reality meant to be helpful and friendly. + +So the North Gore folk "kept themselves to themselves" as they expressed +it, and struggled on through some hard years, which more friendliness +with their neighbour; might have made easier. The old settlers watched +with an interest, on the whole kindly, the patient labour, the untiring +energy which did not always take the shortest way to success, but which +made its ultimate attainment sure. But to them the firm adherence of +the Scotchmen to their own opinions and plans and modes of life, looked +like obstinacy and ignorance, and they spoke of them as narrow and +bigoted, and altogether behind the times, and the last charge was the +most serious in their estimation. + +The new-comers refused to see anything admirable in the ease and +readiness with which most of the old settlers, disciplined by necessity, +could turn from one occupation to another, as circumstances required. +The farmer who made himself a carpenter to-day and a shoemaker to-morrow +was, in their estimation, a "Jack-of-all-trades," certainly not a farmer +in the dignified sense which they had been accustomed to attach to the +name. + +The strong and thrifty Scotchwomen, who thought little of walking and +carrying great baskets of butter and eggs the three or four miles that +lay between North Gore and the village, found matter for contemptuous +animadversion in the glimpses they got of their neighbours' way of life, +and spoke scornfully to each other of the useless "Yankee" wives, who +were content to bide within doors while their husbands did not only the +legitimate field-work, but the work of the garden, and even the milking +of the cows as well. The "Yankee" wives in their turn shrugged their +shoulders at the thought of what the housekeeping must be that was left +to children, or left altogether, while the women were in the hay or +harvest-field as regularly and almost as constantly as their husbands +and brothers. Of course they did not speak their minds to one another +about all this, but they knew enough about one another's opinions to +make them suspicious and shy when they met. + +And they did not meet often. The mistress of a new farm found little +time for visiting. Winter had its own work, and the snow and the bitter +cold kept them within doors. When winter was over they could only think +how best to turn to account the long days of the short Canadian summer +for the subduing of the soil, out of which must come food for their +hungry little ones. Every foot reclaimed from the swamp or the forest, +every unsightly thing burned out of the rough, new land, meant store of +golden grain and wholesome bread for the future. So, with brave hearts +and willing hands, the North Gore women laboured out of doors as well as +within, content to wait for the days when only the legitimate woman's +work should fall to their share. There were some exceptions, of course, +and friendly relations were established between individuals, and between +families, in the North Gore and the village; but a friendly feeling was +for a good many years by no means general, and two distinct communities +lived side by side in the town of Gershom. + +Even the good people among them--God's own people--who have so much in +common that all lesser matters may well be made nothing of between +them--even they did not come together across the wall which ignorance +and prejudice and circumstances had raised. At least they did not for a +time. The Grants and the Scotts and the Sangsters travelled Sabbath by +Sabbath the four miles between the North Gore and the village, and, +passing the house where a good man preached the Gospel in the name of +the Lord Jesus, travelled four miles further still for the sake of +hearing one of their own kirk and country preach the same Gospel in the +name of the same Lord. And so the Reverend Mr Hollister, and Deacon +Moses Turner, and other good men among them, thought themselves +justified in setting them down as narrow-minded and bigoted, and +incapable of appreciating the privileges which had fallen to their lot. + +There was really no good reason why they should not all have worshipped +together as one community, for in the doctrines which they held, the +descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers differed little from those who had +been taught in Scottish kirks the truth for which their fathers had +fought and died. The little band who kept together, and held to the +form of church government which they had learned to revere in their +native land, were by reason of their isolation, practically as +independent in regard to the matters of their kirk as were their Puritan +neighbours who claimed this independence as their right. + +In point of numbers, and in point of means, the older settlers were the +stronger of the two parties; in point of character and piety, even they +themselves were not sure that the superiority was on their side. +However that might be, all felt that the coming in among them of the +North Gore men and their families was much to be desired, and after a +time measures were taken to bring the subject of union before them in +the most favourable manner. + +So, accompanied and encouraged by Deacon Turner, Mr Hollister, the +minister, visited the North Gore folk family by family, and was +respectfully and kindly received by them all, but he did not make much +progress in the good work he had undertaken. His remarks about +brotherly love and the healing of breaches were for the most part +listened to in silence, and so were Deacon Turner's cautious allusions +to the subscription-list for the dealing with current expenses. Nowhere +did they meet with much encouragement to hope that their efforts to +bring the two communities together would be successful. For several +years after this the North Gore folk continued to make their +"Sabbath-day's journey" past the village church. Then for a while they +had the monthly ministrations of a preacher of their own order in their +own neighbourhood, and on other days kept up meetings among themselves, +and did what they could in various ways to keep themselves to themselves +as of old. + +But time wrought changes. The children who had come to the North Gore +grew up, and they did not grow up to be just such men and women as their +fathers and mothers had been. It is not necessary to say whether they +were worse men or better. They were different. There was not much +change in the manner of life in many of the homes. The Sabbath was as +strictly kept, and the young people were as strictly taught and +catechised and looked after in Scottish fashion as of old, and they bade +fair to grow up as cautious and as "douce," and as much attached to old +ways and customs as if they had been brought up on the other side of the +sea, quite beyond the reach of Yankee innovations and free-and-easy +colonial ways. But even the most "douce" and cautious amongst them were +without the stiffness and strength of the old-time prejudice, and the +young people of the different sections of the township, brought together +in the many pleasant ways that are open to young people in country +places, no longer kept apart as their fathers had done. + +There were troubles in Gershom still of various kinds, misunderstandings +and quarrels, and violations of the golden rule between individuals and +between families, and some of them took colour, and some of them took +strength, from national feeling and national prejudice; but there were +no longer two distinct communities living side by side in the town, as +there once had been. And by and by, when old Mr Grant and Deacon +Turner, and some others of the good men who had held with one or other +of them on earth, were gone to sit down to eat bread together in the +kingdom of heaven, the good men they had left behind them drew closer +together by slow degrees. And when Mr Hollister grew old and feeble, +and unable to do duty as pastor of the village church, all agreed that +the chief consideration, in the appointment of a successor, must be the +getting of such a man as might be able to unite the people of all +sections into one congregation at last. + +This was the state of things in Gershom when it began to be whispered +that there was serious trouble arising between Jacob Holt and old Mr +Fleming. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +THE FLEMINGS. + +There were already a good many openings in the North Gore woods when the +Flemings took possession of the partially cleared farm lying half-way +between it and the village, at a little distance from the road. They +built on it a house of grey, unhewn stone, long and low like the home +they had "left on the other side of the sea." They called the place +Ythan Brae, and the clear shallow brook that ran down from their rocky +pastures, through the swamp to Beaver River, they called the Ythan Burn +because the familiar names were pleasant on their lips and in their ears +in a strange land; but it was a long time before it seemed like home to +them. + +For a while the neighbours knew about them only what could be learned +from the fields visible from the North Gore road. That Mr Fleming had +experience, tireless industry, and some money, three things to insure +success in his calling, the canny Scotch farmers were not slow to +perceive in the change that gradually came over the once-neglected land. +Mr Fleming seemed a grave, silent man, with the traces of some severe +trouble showing in his face. And this trouble his wife had shared, for, +though she was still a young woman when she came to Gershom, there were +streaks of white in her brown hair, and on her fair, serene face there +was the look which "tells of sorrow meekly borne." The gloom and +sternness which sometimes made people shrink from coming in contact with +her husband was never seen in her. + +The eldest of their two sons was almost a man when they came to live at +Ythan Brae. He was a quiet, well-doing lad, reserved like his father, +but pleasant-spoken and friendly like his mother. His brother Hugh had +inherited his mother's good looks and sunny temper, and he had, besides, +the power which does not always accompany the possession of personal +beauty or cleverness--the power of winning love. + +Long afterward, when the mention of Hugh's name was a sorrowful matter, +the people of the North Gore who knew him best used to speak of him with +a kind of wonder. He was such "a bonny laddie," with eyes like stars, +and even at sixteen a head above his elder brother. He was so blithe +and kindly, and clever too. According to these people there was nothing +he could not do, and nothing that he would not trouble himself to do to +give pleasure to his friends. He was "the apple of his father's eye," +the delight of his life; and that his mother's heart did not break when +she lost him, was only because, even at the worst of times, God's grace +is sufficient for help and healing to those who stay themselves on Him. + +For Hugh "went wrong." Oh, sorrowful words! seeming so little and +meaning so much: care and fear, watching and waiting, sleepless nights +and days of dread to those who looked on with no power to bring him back +again. How he went wrong may be easily guessed. He had been led astray +by evil companions his mother always said. Not that to her knowledge, +or to the knowledge of any one, he had gone so very far astray till the +end came. There had been doubts and fears for him, and earnest +expostulations from those who loved him, but it was a great shock and +surprise to all the countryside when it came to be known that he had +gone away never to return. + +What he had done was certainly known only to two or three. There were +whispers of forgery, and even robbery, and some said it was only debt, +which his father refused to pay. There were others involved in the +matter, and it was kept quiet. Some of the young Holts were among the +number. Jacob, Gershom's eldest son, went away for a while. It was not +known whether they had gone together, but Jacob soon came home again, +and as far as he was concerned, everything was as before. + +But after a time there came heavy tidings to Ythan Brae. Hugh Fleming +was dead--in the very flower of his youth--"with all his sins on his +head;" his father cried out in the agony of the knowledge. There was +only a word or two in a strange handwriting to say that, after sharp and +sudden illness, he had died among strangers. + +The father and mother lived through the time that followed. How they +lived none knew, for they were alone at the Brae. They never passed the +bounds of their own farm through all that terrible winter, and the +neighbours, who sometimes went to see them, as a general thing only saw +Mrs Fleming. She stood between her husband and the sorrowful +curiosity, the real but painful sympathy which he could not have borne-- +which even she found it so hard to bear. Neither then, nor in all the +years that followed, did any one but his boy's mother hear him utter his +boy's name. They lived through it, but that winter was like the "valley +of the shadow of death" to them both. + +When spring came, the worst was over, the neighbours said, and in one +way so it was. Their son James brought his wife home to live with them, +and they settled down to their changed life, making the best of it. +Mrs Fleming's cheerfulness came back in the midst of many cares, for +her son's wife was a delicate woman, and the little children came fast +to their home. Mrs Fleming governed the household still, and in a +sense began life anew in their midst. + +But after his son came to live with them, Mr Fleming gave up to him all +that part of their affairs that would have taken him away from home. He +was a born farmer; his forefathers had been farmers for as many +generations as he could trace, and he had a hereditary reverence for +mother earth as the giver of bread to man. He took pleasure in the work +of the farm, labouring patiently and cheerfully to bring it to the +highest productiveness which the soil and the variable Canadian climate +would permit. Hollows were filled and heights were levelled, and the +wide stretch of lowland on either side of the Burn near its mouth, was +year by year made to yield. A road or two to be cleared and drained and +tilled, and one might have travelled a summer day through the fine +farming country without seeing a finer farm than he made it at last. + +And all this time the farm, with his interest in it and his labour on +it, was doing a good work for him, and he grew to love the place as his +home, and the home of the little children who were growing up about him. + +But just as a tranquil gloaming seemed to be closing over their +changeful day of life, a new and heavy sorrow fell upon them. Their son +James died, and the two old people found themselves left alone to care +for his delicate widow and her fatherless children. Other troubles +followed closely on this. James Fleming had never been a worldly-wise +man, and he died in debt. Some of the claims were just, some of them +were doubtful, none of them could have held against his father. But the +old man gave not a moment's hearing to those who made this suggestion. +The honour of his son's name and memory was at stake, and in his haste +and eagerness to settle all, and because he had so fallen out of +business ways, the best and wisest plans were not taken in the +arrangement of his affairs. + +When the time of settlement came, it was found that most of the claims +against James Fleming had passed into the hands of the Holts. It was +Jacob alone who was to be dealt with, for his father was an old man, and +his connection with the business had long been merely nominal. Jacob +Holt had changed since the days when he had been, as Hugh Fleming's +father firmly believed, the ruin of his son. He had changed from an +ill-doing, idle lad, into a man, noted even in that busy community for +his attention to business, a man who took pains to seek a fair +reputation for honesty and generosity among his fellow-townsmen. But +Mr Fleming liked the man as little as he had liked the lad, and it +added much to the misery of his indebtedness that his obligation was to +him. He was growing an old man, conscious of his increasing weakness +and inability to cope with difficulties, and he believed his "enemy," as +he called him, to be capable of taking advantage of these. His faith +failed him sometimes, and in his anxiety and unhappiness, he uttered +harder words than he knew. + +Everybody in Gershom knew of his debt, but no one knew what made the +bitterness of his indebtedness to the old man. The part which Jacob +Holt had had in the trouble, that had come on him through his son, had +never been clearly understood, and was now well-nigh forgotten in the +place. But the father had not forgotten it. He would gladly have +mortgaged his farm, or even have given up half of it altogether, to any +friend who could have advanced him the money to pay his debt, but no +such friend was at hand, and it ended, as all knew it must end, in a +seven years' mortgage being taken by Jacob Holt, and the only thing the +old man could do now was to keep silence and hope for better days. + +The little Flemings were growing up healthy and happy, a great comfort +and a great care to their grandparents. They were bright and pretty +children, and good children on the whole, the neighbours said, and they +said also, that there seemed to be no reason why the last days of the +old people should not be contented and comfortable, notwithstanding +their burden of debt. For the Holts would never be hard on such old +neighbours, and as the boys grew up, to take the weight of the farm-work +on them, the debt might be paid, and all would go well. This was the +hopeful view of the matter taken by Mrs Fleming also, but the old man +always listened in silence to such words. + +When five years had past, no part of the debt had yet been paid. Even +the interest had been in part paid with borrowed money, and there were +other signs and tokens that the Flemings were going back in the world. +It was not to be wondered at; for Mr Fleming was an old man, and the +greater part of the farm-work had to be done by hired help, at a cost +which the farm could ill bear. And the chances were, that for a while +at least the state of affairs would be worse rather than better. + +Then there came to Mr Fleming this proposal from Jacob Holt. If +twenty-five acres of the swampy land that bordered the Beaver River just +where the brook fell into it were given up to him the mortgage should be +cancelled, and the debt should be considered paid. He declared that the +proposal was made solely in the interest of the Fleming family, and +there were a good many people in Gershom who believed him. + +To this proposal, however, Mr Fleming returned a prompt and brief +refusal. He said little about it, but it was known that he believed +evil of Jacob Holt with regard to the matter, and though he kept +silence, others spoke. The North Gore people took the matter up, and so +did the people of the village. Mr Fleming had friends in both sections +of the town, and some of them did not spare hard words in the +discussion. + +Jacob Holt was now the rich man of Gershom, one of the chief supporters +of the church and of every good cause encouraged in the town, and all +this did not promise well for the union in church matters so earnestly +desired by many good people in Gershom. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +THE HOLTS. + +Gershom Holt was to all appearance a hale old man, but for a long time +before this he had had little to do with the management of the business +of Holt and Son. He still lived in the great square house which had +succeeded the log-house built by him in the early days of the +settlement. Two of his children lived with him--Elizabeth, the youngest +child of his first wife, and Clifton, the only child of his second wife, +who had died in giving him birth. + +Elizabeth was good, pretty, and clever, and still single at twenty-four. +The persons she loved best in the world were her father and her younger +brother. Her father loved and trusted her entirely, and every passing +day made him more dependent on her for comfort and for counsel; for he +was a very old man, and in many ways needed the care which it was his +daughter's first duty and pleasure to give. Her brother loved and +trusted her too in his way, but he was only a lad, and too well +contented with himself and his life to know the value of her love as +yet, and she was not without anxious thoughts about him. He was +supposed to be distinguishing himself in a New England College as he had +before distinguished himself in the High-School of the village, and only +spent his vacations at home. + +There was a difference of nearly twenty years in the ages of Gershom +Holt's two sons, and they had little in common except their father's +name. Elizabeth loved them both, and respected the youngest most. +Jacob was a little afraid of his sister, and took pains to be on the +best of terms with her, and he could not forget sometimes in her +presence that he had done some things in his life which he was glad she +did not know. + +He had married, early in life, a pretty, commonplace woman, who had +grown thin and querulous in the years that had passed since then, and +who was not at all fitted to be the great lady of Gershom, as the rich +man's wife might have been. That place was filled by Elizabeth, who +filled it well and enjoyed it. + +With its large garden and orchard, and its sloping lawn, shaded by trees +beginning to look old and venerable beside those of more recent growth +in the village street, the old square house looked far more like the +great house of the village than the finer mansion lately built by Jacob +further up the hill. Under Elizabeth's direction it had been modernised +and beautified by the throwing out of a bow-window and the addition of a +wide veranda on two sides. Everything about it, without and within, +indicated wealth moderately used, for comfort and not for display. It +was the pleasantest house in the village to visit at, everybody said; +for the squire--so old Mr Holt was generally called--was very +hospitable, and all sorts of people were made welcome there. + +There were by this time people in Gershom who had outlived the +remembrance of the days when all the settlers, rich and poor alike, were +socially on a level, and who spoke smoothly and loftily about "station" +and "position" and "the working classes," but the young Holts were not +among them. Elizabeth and Clifton deserved less credit than was given +them on account of their unassuming and agreeable manners with the +village people, for they did not need to assert themselves as some +others did. Miss Elizabeth, for all her unpretending ways, was the +great lady of the village, and liked it, and very likely would have +resented it had a rival appeared to call her right in question. + +The Holts of the Hill were, in most respects, very different from the +Holts of the village. They lived and worked and dressed and conducted +themselves generally very much as they had been used to do in the early +days of the settlement. The old man had been long dead, and his widow +and her two daughters lived on the farm. One of the daughters was a +childless widow, Betsey, the other had never married. "A good woman +with an uncertain temper," was the character which many of her friends +would have given her, and some of them might have added that she had had +a hard life and many cares, and no wonder that she was a little hard and +sour after all she had passed through. But this was by no means all +that could be said of Miss Betsey. + +There was little intercourse between the Holts of the Hill and the +village Holts, and it was not the fault of Elizabeth. It was Betsey who +decidedly withdrew from any intimacy with her cousins. She was too +old-fashioned, too "set" in her way to fall in with all their new +notions, she said, and from the time that Elizabeth came home from +school to be the mistress of her father's house, and the most popular +person in Gershom, she had had but little to do with her. It hurt +Elizabeth that it should be so, for she respected her cousin and would +have loved her, and would doubtless have profited--by their intercourse +if it had been permitted. But she never got beyond a certain point in +the intimacy with her, at least she did not for a time. + +The Hill Holts were much respected in the neighbourhood, and Miss Betsey +exerted an influence in its way almost as great as did Miss Elizabeth. +One or two persons who knew them both well, said they were very much +alike, though to people generally they seemed in temper, in tastes, and +in manner of life as different as well could be. They were alike and +they were different, and the chief difference lay in this, that Miss +Betsey was growing old and had passed through troubles in her time, and +Miss Elizabeth was young and had most of her troubles before her. + +The village of Gershom Centre, as it was called, at this time lay +chiefly on the north bank of the Beaver River. Its principal street ran +north and south at right angles to the river, and the village houses +clustered closest at the end of the bridge that crossed it. At the +south end of the bridge another street turned west down the river, and +at a little distance became a pleasant country road which led to the +hill-farm of the Holts, and past it to the neighbouring township of +Fosbrooke. Another street went east, on the north side of the river a +few hundred yards, and then turned north to the Scotch settlement at the +Gore. + +On this street, before it turned north, the new church stood. There was +a wide green common before it, shaded by young trees, and only the +inclosing fence and the road lay between this and the river, which was +broad and shallow, and flowed softly in this part of its course. The +church was a very pretty one of its kind--white as snow, with +large-paned windows, and green Venetian blinds. It had a tall slender +spire, in which hung the first bell that had ever wakened the echoes in +that part of the country for miles around, and of the church and the +bell, and the pretty tree-shaded common before it, the Gershom people +were not a little proud. + +Behind the church lay the graveyard, already a populous place, as the +few tall monuments and the many less pretentious slabs of grey or white +stone showed. It was inclosed by a white fence tipped with black, and +shaded by many young trees, and it was a quiet and pleasant place. +Between the church and the graveyard was a long row of wooden sheds. +They were not ornamental, quite the contrary; but they were very useful +as a shelter for the horses of the church-goers who came from a +distance, and they had been added by way of conciliating the North Gore +people when one and another of them began to come to the village church. + +Toward the church one fair Sabbath morning in June, many Gershom people +were hastening. Already there were vehicles of great variety in the +sheds, and horses were tied here and there along the fences under the +trees. There were groups of people lingering in Gershom fashion on the +church steps and on the grass, and the numbers, and the air of +expectation over all, indicated that the occasion was one of more than +usual interest. All Gershom had turned out hoping to see and hear the +new minister, whose coming was to bean assurance of peace to the church +and to the congregation. They were to be disappointed for that day, +however, for the minister had not come. Squire Holt and his son and +daughter came with the rest. The old man lingered at the gate +exchanging greetings with his neighbours, and the young people went on +toward the door. + +"Gershom is the place after all, Lizzie," said her brother. "It is +pleasant to see all the folks again. But I don't believe I'm going to +stay to see Jacob through this business. Well! never mind, Lizzie," he +added, as his sister looked grave. "I'll see you through, if you say +so. And here come Ben and Cousin Betsey; let us wait and speak to +them." + +"Clifton," said his sister, earnestly, "Ben is Cousin Betsey's best hand +this summer. It won't do to beguile him from his work, dear. You must +not try it." + +"Nonsense, Elizabeth. It is rather soon to come down on a fellow like +that, before I have even spoken to him. I never made Ben idle, quite +the contrary." + +Coming slowly up the green slope between the gate and the church were +the two persons recognised by Clifton as Ben and Cousin Betsey. They +moved along in a leisurely way, nodding to one and speaking to another, +so that there was time to discuss them as they approached. + +"Lizzie," said her brother, "do you suppose you'll ever come to look +like Cousin Betsey?" + +"I am quite sure I shall never wear such a bonnet," said Elizabeth, +pettishly. "Why will she make a fright of herself?" + +"It is as an offset to you--so fine as you are," said Clifton, laughing. +"She had that gown before Ben was born; I remember it perfectly." + +Miss Betsey Holt was a striking-looking person, notwithstanding the +oddness and shabbiness of her dress. Scantiness is a better word for it +than shabbiness, for her dress was of good material, neat and well +preserved, but it was without a superfluous fold or gather, and in those +days, when, even in country places, crinoline was beginning to assert +itself, she did look ludicrously straight and stiff. Miss Elizabeth's +dress was neither in material nor make of the fashion that had its +origin in the current year, and city people, wise in such matters, might +have set them both down as old-fashioned. But in appearance, as they +drew near one another, there was a great contrast between them, though +in feature there was a strong resemblance. + +There was more than fifteen years' difference in their ages, and Betsey +looked older than her forty years. She was above the middle height, +thin and dark and wrinkled, and there were white streaks in the brown +hair brought down low and flat upon the cheek, but in every feature the +bright youthful beauty of the girl had once been hers. Some of the +neighbours, who were regarding them as they met, would have said that +once Miss Betsey had been much handsomer than ever Miss Elizabeth would +be. For Miss Betsey had been young at a time when there was little +danger that indolence or self-indulgence could injure the full +development of healthful beauty, and as yet Miss Elizabeth had fallen on +easy days, and was languid at times, and delicate, and if the truth must +be told, a little discontented with what life had as yet brought her, +and a little afraid of what might lie before her, and there was a shadow +of this on her fair face to-day. + +They had not much to say to each other, and they stood in silence +watching the two lads. Clifton was considered in Gershom to have +learned very fine manners, since he went to college, but he had +forgotten them for the moment, and was as boyish and natural as his less +sophisticated cousin. They were only second cousins, Ben being the only +child of Reuben Holt's eldest son, who had died early. His Aunt Betsey +had brought the boy up, and "had not had the best of luck in doing it," +she sometimes told him; but he was the dearest person in the world to +her, for all her pretended discontent with her success. She watched the +two lads as they went into the eager discussion of something that +pleased them, and so did Elizabeth, for it was a pleasant sight to see. + +"Cousin," said Elizabeth, gently, "I do not think you need fear that my +boy will harm yours." + +"I am not afraid--not much. Ben is the stronger of the two, morally, if +he isn't so bright. My boy is to be trusted," and she looked as though +she would have added, "that is more than you can say for yours." + +Elizabeth looked grave. + +"Cousin Betsey, you were always hard on my brother Clifton." + +Betsey shrugged her shoulders. + +"You are harder on him this minute than I am. I don't suppose he has +done anything very bad this time--worse than usual, I mean." + +"Have you heard anything? Did you know he was sent home?" asked +Elizabeth in dismay. + +"He sent a letter to Ben a spell ago, and I saw it lying round. You +needn't tell him so. If it is as he says, there aint much wrong this +time. Here is Hepsey Bean." + +Miss Bean had come to inquire if anything had been heard of the +minister, but the cousins were too much occupied in watching the two +lads to answer her, and Hepsey's eyes followed theirs. + +"Are not they alike as two peas?" said she. "Not their fixings exactly, +I don't mean--" + +Miss Elizabeth laughed, even Miss Betsey smiled, touched with a grim +sense of humour as she regarded the lads. Their "fixings" were +certainly different. Everything, from the tips of Clifton's shining +boots to the crown of his shining hat, declared him to be a dandy. His +collar, necktie, coat, and all the rest, were in the latest fashion--a +fashion a sight of which, but for his coming home, the Gershom people +might not have been favoured with for a year to come. His compulsory +departure from the seat of learning had been delayed while the tailor +completed his summer outfit, so that there could be no mistake about his +"fixings." + +As for Ben, he was fine also, in a new suit of homespun, which, since it +came from the loom, and, indeed, before it went to the loom, had passed +through no hands but those of his Aunt Betsey. It was not handsome. +The home-made thick grey cloth of the country, which the farmers' wives +of those days took pride in preparing for the winter-wear of their "men +folks," was an article of superior wearing qualities, and handsome in +its way. But it was the half-cotton fabric, dingy and napless, +considered good enough for summer wear, in which Ben was arrayed. Made +as a loose frock and overall to be worn in the hay-field, or following +the plough, it was well enough; but made into a tight-fitting +Sunday-suit, it was not handsome, certainly. As far as "fixings" were +concerned, the cousins were a contrast. Betsey looked and laughed +again, but Elizabeth did not laugh. She knew that Cousin Betsey was +sensitive where Ben was concerned. + +"Clothes don't amount to much anyway," said Betsey. "Hepsey's right. +They are alike as two peas, but Ben is the strongest morally, because he +hasn't been spoiled by property, as Clifton has. Not that he is +altogether spoiled yet." + +"But about the minister?" interrupted Miss Bean. + +"He has not come, it seems," said Elizabeth. "There is to be a sermon +read to-day," but she did not say that her brother Jacob was to read it. + +The bell which had been delayed beyond the usual time pealed out, and +all faces were turned to the church door. Clifton and Ben lingered till +the last. + +"There is old Mr Fleming going off home," said Ben as he caught sight +of a figure on horseback turning the corner toward North Gore. "I +expect he don't care about your brother Jacob's preaching," he added, +gravely. + +"Isn't it his practice he don't care about?" said Clifton, laughing. + +"I shouldn't wonder," said Ben. + +"Well, I can't say I care much about his preaching either. Come, Ben, +let us go down to the big elm and talk things over." + +Ben shook his head, but followed. + +"It is not just the same as if the minister was there," said he, +doubtfully. + +"But then what will Aunt Betsey say?" + +"Oh, she won't care since it's only Jacob. And she needn't know it." + +"Oh, she's got to know it. But it is not any worse for us than for old +Mr Fleming. It's pleasant down here." + +It was pleasant. The largest elm tree in Gershom grew on the river +bank, and its great branches stretched far over to the other side, +making cool shadows on the rippling water. The place was green and +still, "a great deal more like Sunday than the inside of the +meeting-house," Clifton declared. But Ben shook his head. + +"That's one of the loose notions you've learned at college. Your sister +believes in going to meetings, and so does Aunt Betsey." + +So did Clifton it seemed, for there was a good deal more said after +that, and they quite agreed that whether it was altogether agreeable or +not, it was quite right that people generally should go to church, +rather than to the river, as they had done. How it happened, Ben hardly +knew, but in a little while they found themselves in Seth Fairweather's +boat, and were paddling up the river, out and in among the shadows, past +the open fields and the cedar swamp to the point where the Ythan Burn +fell into the Beaver. They paddled about a while upon the Pool, as a +sudden widening of the channel of the river was called, till the heat of +the sun sent them in among the shadows again. Then Clifton leaned back +at his ease, while Ben waved about a branch of odorous cedar to keep the +little black flies away. + +"Now tell me all about it, Cliff," said he. + +Clifton winced, but put a bold face on the matter, and told in as few +words as possible the story of his having been sent home. It was not a +pleasant story to tell, though he had been less to blame than some +others who had escaped punishment altogether. But sitting there in the +shadow of the cedars, with Ben's great eyes upon him, he felt more sorry +and ashamed, and more angry at himself, and those who had been concerned +with him in his folly, than ever he had felt before. + +"The fun didn't pay that time, did it, Cliff?" said Ben. "I don't +believe it ever does--that kind of fun." + +"That's what Aunt Betsey says, eh?" said Clifton. "Well, she's about +right." + +"And you'll never do so, any more; will you, Cliff?" + +Clifton laughed. + +"But, Cliff, you are almost a man now, you are a man, and it don't pay +in the long run to drink and have a good time. It didn't pay in my +father's case, and Aunt Betsey says--" + +"There, that will do. I would rather hear Aunt Betsey's sermons from +her own lips, and I am going up to the Hill some time soon." + +There was silence between them for a little while, then Ben said: + +"There's a meeting up in the Scott school-house 'most every Sunday +afternoon, Cliff; suppose we go up there, and then I can tell Aunt +Betsey all about it." + +Clifton had no objections to this plan; so pushing the boat in among the +bushes that hung low over the water, they left it there and took their +way by the side of Ythan Burn. But he would not be hurried. As a boy +he had liked more than anything else in the world, loitering through the +fields and woods with Ben, and it gave him great satisfaction to +discover that he had not outgrown this liking. He forgot his fine +manners and fine clothes, his college friends and pleasures and +troubles; and Ben forgot Aunt Betsey, and that he was doing wrong, and +they wandered on as they had done hundreds of times before. + +For though no one, not even his Aunt Betsey, thought Ben very bright, +Clifton would have taken his word about beast and bird and creeping +thing, and about all the growing life in the woods, rather than the word +of any other ten in Gershom. They made no haste, there fore, in the +direction of the Scott school-house, but wound in and out among the wood +paths, using eyes and ears in the midst of the rejoicing life of which +the forest was so full at that June season. + +They kept along the side of the brook, and by and by came out of the +woods on the edge of the fine strip of land which old Mr Fleming had +made foot by foot from the swamp. There was no finer land in the +township, none that had been more faithfully dealt with than this. Ben +uttered an exclamation of admiration as he looked over it to the hill +beyond. Even Clifton, who knew less and cared less about land than he +did, sympathised with his admiration. + +"He might mow it now, and have a second crop before fall," said Ben, +with enthusiasm. "It would be a shame to spoil so fine a meadow by +building a factory on it, wouldn't it?" + +"It would spoil it for hay, but factories are not bad in a place, I tell +you. It might be a good thing to put one here." + +"Not for Mr Fleming. He don't care for factories. He made the meadow +out of the swamp, and nobody else has any business with it, whatever +they may say about mortgages and things." + +"But who is talking about mortgages and things?" asked Clifton, +laughing. + +"Oh, most everybody in Gershom is talking. I don't know much about it +myself. And Jacob's one of your folks, and you'd be mad if I told you +all that folks say." + +Clifton laughed. + +"Jacob isn't any more one of my folks than you are--nor so much. Do you +suppose I would stay away from meeting to come out here with Jacob? Not +if I know it." + +"He wouldn't want you to, I don't suppose." + +"Not he. He doesn't care half so much about me as you do." + +"No, he don't. I think everything of you. And that's why Aunt Betsey +says you ought to be careful to set me a good example." + +"That's so," said Clifton, laughing. "Now tell me about old Fleming." + +Ben never had the power of refusing to do what his cousin asked him, but +he had little to tell that Clifton had not heard before. There was talk +of forming a great manufacturing company in Gershom; but there had been +talk of that since ever Clifton could remember. The only difference now +was that a new dam was to be built further up the river at a place +better suited for it, and with more room for the raising of large +buildings than was the point where Mr Holt had built his first saw-mill +in earlier times. It was supposed to be for this purpose that Jacob +Holt was desirous to obtain possession of that part of the Fleming farm +that lay on the Beaver River; for, though a company was to be formed, +everybody knew that he would have the most to say and do about it. But +Mr Fleming had refused to sell, "and folks had talked round +considerable," Ben said, and he went on to repeat a good deal that was +anything but complimentary to Jacob. + +"But I told our folks that you and Uncle Gershom would see Mr Fleming +through, and Aunt Betsey, she said if you were worth your salt you'd +stay at home and see to things for your father, and not let Jacob +disgrace the name. But I said you'd put it all straight, and Aunt +Betsey she said--" + +"Well, what did Aunt Betsey say?" for Ben stopped suddenly. + +"She told me to shut up," said Ben, hanging his head. + +Clifton laughed heartily. + +"And she doesn't think me worth my salt. Well, never mind. It is an +even chance that she is right. But I think she is hard on Jacob." + +There was time for no more talk. They had skirted the little brook till +they came to a grove of birch and wild cherry-trees that had been left +to grow on a rocky knoll where the water fell over a low ledge on its +way from the pasture above. The sound of voices made them pause before +they set foot on the path that led upwards. + +"It's the Fleming children, I suppose," said Ben. "They'll be telling +us, mayhap, that we're breaking the Sabbath, and I expect so we be." + +David Fleming's Forgiveness--by Margaret Murray Robertson + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +THE FLEMING CHILDREN. + +Instead of following the path, Clifton went round the knoll to the +brook, and paused again at the sight of a pair or two of little bare +feet in the water, and thus began his acquaintance with the Fleming +children. There were several of them, but Clifton saw first a beautiful +brown boyish face, and a pair of laughing eyes half hidden by a mass of +tangled curls, and recognised Davie. Close beside the face was another +so like it, and yet so different, that Clifton looked in wonder. The +features were alike, and the eyes were the same bonny blue, and the wind +was making free with the same dark curls about it. But it was a more +delicate face, not so rosy and brown, though the sun had touched it too. +There was an expression of sweet gravity about the mouth, and the eyes +that were looking up through the leaves into the sky had no laughter in +them. It was a fair and gentle face, but there was something in it that +made Clifton think of stern old Mr Fleming sitting on the Sabbath-day +among his neighbours in the church. + +"That must be sister Lizzie's wee Katie," said Clifton to himself. + +The slender girlish figure leaned against the rock on which the boy was +lying so that the two faces were nearly on a level, and a pretty picture +they made together. Clifton had been making facetious remarks to his +sister about the old-fashioned finery of the dressed-up village girls on +their way to church, but he saw nothing to criticise in the straight, +scant dress, of one dim colour, unrelieved by frill or collar, which +Katie Fleming wore. He did not think of her dress at all, but of the +slim, graceful figure and the bonny girlish face turned so gravely up to +the sky. He was not sure whether it was best to go forward and speak or +not. Ben stood still, looking also. + +"I say, Katie," said the boy, lifting his head, "what is the +seven-and-twentieth?" + +"Oh fie, Davie! to be thinking of propositions and such-like worldly +things, and this the Sabbath-day," said Katie, reprovingly. + +"Just as if you werena thinking of them yourself, Katie." + +"No, I'm no' thinking of them. They come into my head whiles. But I'm +no' fighting with them, or taking pleasure in them, as I do other days. +I'm just resting myself in this bonny quiet place, looking at the sky +and the bonny green grass. Eh, Davie, it's a grand thing to have the +rest and the quietness of the Sabbath-day." + +The girl shook her head at the answer which Clifton did not hear, and +went on. + +"It gives us time to come to ourselves, and to mind that there is +something else in the world besides just cheese and butter-making, and +these weary propositions. Of course it's right to go to the kirk, and I +promised grannie I would go this afternoon to the Scott school-house +with the bairns. But I like to bide quiet here a while, too." + +"I would far rather bide here," said Davie. + +"Yes, but, Davie, we mustna think light of the Sabbath-day. Think what +it is to grandfather. He would like it better if we were better bairns. +I'm just glad of the rest." + +"You're tired of your books," said Davie, with a little brotherly +contempt in his voice. "You're but a lassie, however, and it canna be +helped." + +"I canna do two things at once. I'm tired of making cheese and keeping +up with girls at the school too. And I'm glad it's the Sabbath-day for +the rest. And, Davie," she added, after a pause, "I'm not going to the +school after you stop. Grannie needs me at home, and I'm no' going." + +"Catch me staying at home if I could go," said Davie. + +"But, Davie, it is my duty to help grannie to make all the money we can +to pay the debt, and get grandfather out of the hands of those +avaricious Holts. What noise was yon, Davie?" + +Listeners seldom hear good of themselves, and the mention of the +"avaricious Holts" startled Clifton into the consciousness that he was +listening to that which was not intended for his ears, and he drew to +Ben's side. + +"It's the little Flemings," said Ben; "aint they Scotchy? That is the +way they always speak to one another at home." + +They went round the knoll through the trees among the broken pieces of +rock scattered over the little eminence. Before they reached the brook +the other way a voice hailed them. + +"Hallo, Ben! Does your Aunt Betsey know that you're going about in such +company on Sunday?" + +"If meeting's out she knows, or she mistrusts," said Ben, taking the +matter seriously. "We're going over to the Scott school-house to +meeting. Aunt Betsey'll like that, anyhow." + +They all laughed, for Ben and the Fleming children had long been +friends. + +"Here's Clif got home sooner than he expected to, and Jacob, he's +reading a sermon by himself because the minister didn't come, and so--we +came away. This is Clif." + +The smile which had greeted Ben went out of Katie's eyes, and surprise +and a little offence took its place, as she met Clifton's look. But she +laughed merrily when the lad, stepping back, took off his hat and bowed +low, as he might have done to any of the fine ladies of B--, where he +had been living of late. + +But in a little while she grew shy and uncomfortable, and conscious of +her bare feet, and moved away. Clifton noticed the change, and said to +himself that she was thinking of the mortgage, and of "those avaricious +Holts." + +"Your grandfather did not go to meeting, either," said Ben, anxious to +set himself right in Katie's eyes. "We saw him turning the corner as we +went down to the river." + +"Grandfather!" repeated Katie. "I wonder why?" + +"I suppose it was because Jacob was going to read the sermon," said Ben, +reddening, and looking at his cousin. + +Katie reddened too and turned to go. + +"Grandfather must be home, then, Davie; it's time to go in," and Kate +looked grave and troubled. + +"Davie," repeated she, "it's time to come home." + +Davie followed her a step or two, and they heard him saying: + +"There's no hurry, Katie; if my grandfather didna go to the kirk, he'll +be holding a meeting all by himself in Pine-tree Hollow, and he'll not +be at the house this while, and I want to speak to Ben." + +"Davie," said his sister, "mind it's the Sabbath-day." + +The chances were against his minding it very long. It was a good while +before he followed his sister to the house, and he brought the Holts +with him to share their dinners of bread and milk. + +"We're all going to the meeting together, grannie," said he, "and Kate," +he added in a whisper, "Clif Holt has promised to lend me the book that +the master gave you a sight of the other day, and I am to keep it as +long as I like; and he's not so proud as you would think from his fine +clothes and his fine manners; but he couldna tell me the +seven-and-twentieth, more shame to him, and him at the college." + +"He thinks much of himself," said Katie, "for all that." + +The little Flemings and their mother and the two Holts went to the Scott +school-house, as had been proposed, and the house was left to Mrs +Fleming as a general thing. This "remarkable old lady," as the Gershom +people had got into the way of calling her to strangers, greatly enjoyed +the rare hours of rest and quiet that came at long intervals in her busy +life, but she did not enjoy them to-day. Her Bible lay open upon the +table, and "Fourfold State" and her "Solitude Sweetened" were within +reach of her hand, but she could not settle to read either of them. She +wandered from the door to the gate and back again in a restless, anxious +way, that made her indignant with herself at last. + +"As gin he wasna to be trusted out of my sight an hour past the set +time," said she, going into the house and sitting resolutely down with +her book in her hand. "And it is not only to him, but to his master, +that my anxious thoughts are doing dishonour, as though I had really +anything to fear. But he was unco' downhearted when he went away." + +She looked a very remarkable old lady as she sat there, still and firm. +She was straight as an arrow, small and slender, wrinkled indeed, but +with nothing of the weazened, sunken look which is apt to fall on small +women when they grow old. She was a beautiful old woman, with clear +bright eyes, and a broad forehead, over which the bands of hair lay +white as snow. + +She had known a deal of trouble in her life, and, for the sake of those +she loved, had striven hard to keep her strength and courage through it +all, and the straight lines of her firmly-closed lips told of courage +and patience still. But a quiver of weakness passed over her face, and +over all her frame, as at last a slow, heavy footstep came up to the +door. She listened a moment, and then rising up, she said cheerfully: + +"Is this you, gudeman? You're late, arena you? Well, you're dinner is +waiting you." + +She did not wait for an answer, nor did she look at him closely till she +had put food before him. Then she sat down beside him. He, too, was +remarkable-looking. He had no remains of the pleasant comeliness of +youth as she had, but there were the same lines of patience and courage +in his face. He was closely shaven, with large, marked features and +dark, piercing eyes. It was a strong face, good and true, but still it +was a hard face, and it was a true index of his character. He was firm +and just always, and almost always he was kind, slow to take offence, +and slow to give it; but being offended, he could not forgive. He +looked tired and troubled to-night--a bowed old man. + +"Where are the bairns?" were the first words he uttered, and his face +changed and softened as he spoke. She told him where they had gone, and +that their mother had gone with them. Then she made some talk about the +bonny day and the people he had seen at church, speaking quietly and +cheerfully till he had finished his meal, and then, having set aside the +dishes, she came close to him, and, laying her hand on his arm, said +gently: "David, we are o'er lane in the house. Tell me what it is +that's troubling you." + +He did not answer her immediately. + +"Is it anything new?" she asked. + +"No, no. Nothing new," said he, turning toward her. At the sight of +her fond wet eyes he broke down. + +"Oh, Katie! my woman," he groaned, "it's ill with me this day. I hae +come to a strait bit o' the way and I canna win through. `Forgive, and +ye shall be forgiven,' the Book says, and this day I feel that I havena +forgiven." + +Instead of answering, she bent over him till his grey head lay on her +shoulder and rested there. He was silent for a little. + +"When I saw him younder to-day, smooth and smiling, standing so well +with his fellow-men, my heart rose up against him; I daredna bide, lest +I should cry out in the kirk before them all and call God's justice in +question--God that lets Jacob Holt go about in His sunshine, with all +men's good word on him, when our lad's light went out in darkness so +long ago. Is it just, Katie? Call ye it right and just?" + +She did not answer a word, but soothed him with hand and voice as she +might have soothed a child. She had done it many times before during +the forty years that she had been his wife, but she had never, even in +the time of their sorest troubles, seen him so moved. She sat down +quietly beside him and patiently waited. + +"Has anything happened, or is anything threatening that I dinna ken of?" +asked she after a little. + +"No, nothing new has happened. But I am growing an old failed man, +Katie, and no' able to stand up against my ain fears." + +"Ay, we are growing old and failed; our day is near over, and so are our +fears. Why should we fear? Jacob Holt canna move the foundations of +the earth. And even though he could, we needna fear, for `God is our +refuge and strength.'" + +He was leaning back with closed eyes, tired and fainthearted, and he did +not answer. + +"There's no fear for the bairns," she went on, cheerfully. "They are +good bairns. There are few that hae the sense and discretion of our +Katie, and her mother's no' without judgment, though she is but a +feckless body as to health, and has been a heavy handful to us. They'll +be taken care of. The Lord is ay kind." + +And so she went on, gentle soothing alternating with more gentle +chiding, all the time keeping away from the sore place in his heart, not +daring for his sake and for her own to touch it till this rare moment of +weakness should be past. + +"You are wearied, and no wonder, with the heat and your long fast; lie +down on your bed and rest till it be time to catechise the bairns-- +though I'm no' for Sabbath sleeping as an ordinary thing. Will you no' +lie down? Well, you might step over as far as the pasture-bars and see +if all is right with old Kelso and her foal, for here come the bairns +and their mother, and there will be no peace with them till they get +their supper, and your head will be none the better for their noise." + +And so she got him away, going with him a few steps up the field. She +turned in time to meet the troop of children who, in a state of subdued +mirthfulness suitable to the day and their proximity to their +grandfather, were drawing near. She had a gentle word of caution or +chiding to each, and then she said softly to Katie: + +"You'll go up the brae with your grandfather and help him if there is +anything wrong with old Kelso. And cheer him up, my lassie. Tell him +about the meeting, and the Sunday-school; say anything you think of to +hearten him. You ken well how to do it." + +"But, grannie," said Katie, startled, "there is nothing wrong, is +there?" + +"Wrong," repeated her grandmother. "Ken you anything wrong, lassie, +that you go white like that?" + +The brave old woman grew white herself as she asked, but she stood +between Katie and the rest, that none might see. + +"I ken nothing, grannie, only grandfather didna bide to the meeting +to-day, Ben told me." + +"Didna bide to the meeting? Where went he, then? He has only just come +home." + +"It was because of Jacob Holt," Ben said. + +"But Katie, my woman, you had no call surely to speak about the like of +that to Ben Holt?" + +"I didna, grannie. I just heard him and came away. And, grannie, I +think maybe grandfather was at Pine-tree Hollow. It would be for a +while's peace, you ken, as the bairns were at home." + +"Pine-tree Hollow! Well, and why not?" said grannie, too loyal to the +old man to let Katie see that she was startled by her words. "It has +been for a while's peace, as you say. And now you'll run up the brae +after him, and take no heed, but wile him from his vexing thoughts, like +a good bairn as you are." + +"And there's nothing wrong, grannie?" said Katie, wistfully. + +"Nothing more than usual; nothing the Lord doesna ken o', my bairn. Run +away and speak to him, and be blithe and douce, and he'll forget his +trouble with your hand in his." + +Katie's voice was like a bird's as she called: "Grandfather, +grandfather, bide for me." + +The old man turned and waited for her. + +"Doesna your grandmother need you, nor your mother, and can you come up +the brae with that braw gown on?" + +Katie smiled and took his hand. + +"My gown will wash, and I'll take care, and grannie gave me leave to +come." + +And so the two went slowly up the hill, saying little, but content with +the silence. When they came back again Mrs Fleming, who was waiting +for them at the door, felt her burden lightened, for her first glance at +her husband's face told her he was comforted. + +"My bonny Katie, gentle and wise, a bairn with the sense of a woman," +said she to herself, but she did not let her tenderness overflow. "We +have gotten the milking over without you, Katie, my woman. And now +haste you and take your supper, for it is time for the bairns' catechism +and we mustna keep your grandfather waiting." + +That night when Ben Holt went home he found the house dark and +apparently forsaken. Miss Betsey sat rocking in her chair in solitude +and darkness, and she rocked on, taking no notice when Ben came in. + +"Have you got a sick headache, Aunt Betsey?" said Ben after a little; he +did not ask for information, but for the sake of saying something to +break the ominous silence. He knew well Aunt Betsey always had a sick +headache and was troubled when he had been doing wrong. + +"I shall get over it, I expect, as I have before; talking won't help +it." + +Ben considered the matter a little. "I don't know that," said he, "it +depends some on what there is to say, and you don't need to have sick +headache this time, for I haven't been doing anything that you would +think bad." + +Miss Betsey laughed unpleasantly. + +"What has that to do with it?" + +"Well, I haven't been doing anything bad, anyhow." + +"Only just breaking Sunday in the face and eyes of all Gershom. You are +not a child to be punished now. Go to bed." + +"I don't know about breaking Sunday; I didn't any more than old Mr +Fleming. He didn't care about going to Jacob's meeting, and no more did +Clif and me. We went along a piece, and then we went to the Scott +school-house to meeting. It was a first-rate meeting." + +"What about Mr Fleming; has he and Jacob been having trouble?" asked +Miss Betsey, forgetting in her curiosity her controversy with Ben. + +"Nothing new, I don't suppose. And Clif, he says that he don't believe +but what Jacob'll do the right thing, and he says he'll see to it +himself." + +"There, that'll do," interrupted Miss Betsey. "If Clifton Holt was to +tell you that white was black you'd believe him." + +"I'd consider it," said Ben, gravely. + +"If you want any supper it's in the cupboard," said Miss Betsey, rising, +"I've had supper and dinner too, up to Mr Fleming's, and we went to +meeting at the Scott school-house. It wasn't Clif's fault this time, +Aunt Betsey, and we haven't done anything very bad either. And Clif, +he's going to be awful steady, I expect, and stick to his books more +than a little, and he sent his respects to you, Aunt Betsey, and he +says--" + +"There, that'll do. Go to bed if you don't want to drive me crazy." + +"I'll go to bed right off if you'll come and take away my candle, Aunt +Betsey. No, I don't want a candle; but if you'll come in and tuck me up +as you used to, for I haven't been doing anything this time, nor Clif +either. Will you, Aunt Betsey?" + +"Well, hurry up, then," said Aunt Betsey, with a break in her voice, +"for this day has been long enough for two, and I'm thankful it's done," +and then she added to herself: + +"I sha'n't worry about him if I can help it. But it is so much more +natural for boys to go wrong than to go right, that I can't help it by +spells. After all I've seen, it isn't strange either." + +"Ben," said she, when she took his candle in a little while, "you +mustn't think you haven't done wrong because the day turned out better +than it might have done. It only happened so. It was Sabbath-breaking +all the same to leave meeting and go up the river. There, I aint going +to begin again. But wrong is wrong, and sin is sin whichever way it +ends." + +"That's so," said Ben, penitently. + +"And there is only one way for sin to end, however it may look at the +beginning, and it won't help you to have Clif fall into the same +condemnation. There, good-night." + +"I don't know about that last," said Ben to himself. "It would seem +kind o' good to have Clif round 'most anywhere. But he's going to work +straight this time, I expect, and I guess he'll have all the better +chance to walk straight too." + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +THE MINISTER. + +The event of the summer to the people of Gershom was the coming of the +new minister. It is not to be supposed that with a population of a good +many hundreds there was uniformity of opinion in religious matters in +the town. To say nothing of the North Gore people, the people of +Gershom generally believed in the right of private judgment, and +exercised it to such purpose that, within the limits of the township, at +least a half dozen denominations were represented. The greater number +of these, however, had not had much success in establishing their own +peculiar form of worship, except for a little while at a time, and the +greater part of the people were at this time more or less closely +identified with the village corporation. So that it is scarcely an +exaggeration to say, that all Gershom was moved to welcome the Reverend +William Maxwell among them. + +Never, except perhaps in their most confidential whispers among +themselves, did the wise men of Gershom confess that they were +disappointed in their minister. They had not expected perfection, or +they said they had not, but each and every one of them had expected some +one very different from the silent, sallow, heavy-eyed young man whom +Jacob Holt, at whose home he was for the present to live, introduced to +them. + +Something had been said of the getting up of a monster tea-meeting to +welcome him, but uncertainty in the time of his coming, because of +illness, had prevented this, and as soon as he was seen there was a +silent, but general decision among those in authority that this would +not have been a successful measure. So he was conducted from house to +house by Jacob Holt, or some other of the responsible people, and he was +praised to his flock, and his flock were praised to him, but there was +not much progress made toward acquaintance for a while, and even the +least observing of them could see that there were times when contact +with strangers, to say nothing of the necessity of making himself +agreeable to them, was almost more than the poor young man could bear. + +Still, nobody confessed to disappointment. On the contrary, Jacob Holt +and the rest of the leaders of public opinion declared constantly that +he was "the right man in the right place." Of Scottish parentage, +brought up from his boyhood in Canada, and having received his +theological education in the United States, if he were not the man to +unite the various contending national elements in Gershom society, where +was such a man to be found? + +No man could have every gift, it was said, and whatever Mr Maxwell +might seem to lack as to social qualities, he was a preacher. All +agreed that his sermons were wonderful. It was the elaborately prepared +discourses of his seminary days, that the young man moved by a vague, +but awful dread of breaking down, gave to his people first. It was well +that the learned professor's opinion of them and of their author had +come to Gershom before him. There could be no doubt as to the sermons +after that testimony, so it was no uncertain sound that went forth about +his first pulpit efforts. + +They were clear, they were logical, they were profound. Above all, they +were pronounced by the orthodox North Gore people to be "sound." It is +true he read them, but even that did not spoil them; and it was a +decided proof that these people were sincere in their admiration, and in +earnest in their desire for union and "the healing of breaches" that +this was the case. In old times, that is, in the time of old Mr Grant, +and old Mr Sangster, to be a "proper minister" was in their opinion to +be a "dumb dog that could not bark," and such a one had ever been an +object of compassion, not to say of contempt among them. But Mr +Maxwell's sermons were worth reading, they said, and they waited. And +so the first months were got safely over. + +Safely, but, alas! not happily, for the young minister; scarcely +recovered from severe illness, weak in body and desponding in mind, he +had no power to accommodate himself to the circumstances toward which +all the preparation and discipline of his life had been tending. Over a +time of sickness and suffering he looked back to days of congenial +occupation and companionship, with a regret so painful that the future +seemed to grow aimless and hopeless in its presence. As men struggle in +dreams with unseen enemies, so he struggled with the sense of unfitness +for the work he had so joyfully chosen, and for which he had so +earnestly prepared, with the fear that he had mistaken his calling, and +that he might dishonour, by the imperfect fulfillment of his duty, the +Master that he loved. + +He despised himself for the weakness which made it a positive pain for +him to come in contact with strangers with whom he had no power to make +friends. He began to regard the hopes that had sustained him during the +time of preparation, the pleasure he had taken in such remnants of other +people's work in the way of preaching as had fallen to him as a student; +and the encouragement which had been given to him as to his gifts and +talents, as so many temptations of Satan. It was this sense of +unfitness for his work that made him fall back at first on the sermons +of his student days, and which made the pulpit services, praised by his +hearers, seem to him like a mockery. It was a miserable time to him. +He distrusted himself utterly, and at all points; which would not have +been so bad a thing if he had not also distrusted his Master. + +But such a state of things could not continue long. It must become +either worse or better, and better it was to be. As Mr Maxwell's +health improved, he became less despondent, and more capable of enjoying +society. Clifton Holt was at home again, but no one, not even Miss +Elizabeth, could have anticipated that he would be almost the first one +in Gershom to put the minister for the moment at his ease. + +Clifton had gone back to his college examinations at the appointed time; +and had so far retrieved his character for steadiness and scholarship, +that he was permitted to start fair another year, the last in his +college course. He was now at home for the regular vacation, and was +proving the sincerity and strength of his good resolutions to his +sister's satisfaction, by remaining in Gershom, and contenting himself +with the moderate enjoyments of such pleasures as village society, and +the neighbouring woods and streams afforded. + +Miss Elizabeth had seconded Jacob's rather awkward attempts to bring her +brother and the young minister together, taking a vague comfort in the +idea that the intercourse must do Clifton good. But as a general thing +Clifton kept aloof a little more decidedly than she thought either kind +or polite, so that it was a surprise to her, as well as a pleasure, when +one night they came in together; and they had not been long in the +house, before she saw that whether the minister was to do her brother +good or not, her brother had already done good to the minister. They +were dripping wet from a summer shower, that had overtaken them; but Mr +Maxwell looked a good deal more like other people, Miss Elizabeth +thought, than ever she had seen him look before. + +"Mr Maxwell was in despair at the thought of venturing with muddy boots +into Mrs Jacob's `spick and span' house, so I brought him here," said +Clifton. "We have been down at the Black Pool, and I have been taking a +lesson in fly-fishing. We have earned our tea, and we are ready for +it." + +"And you shall have it. But I thought we were to--well, never mind. Go +up-stairs and make yourselves comfortable, and tea will be ready when +you come down." + +"No one knows how to do things quite so well as Lizzie," said Clifton to +himself, when they came down to find the tea-table laid, not in the +great chilly dining-room, but in the smaller sitting-room, on the hearth +of which a bright wood-fire was burning. The old squire had been +examining their fish, and listened with almost boyish interest to his +son's description of their sport. In the effort he made to entertain +the old gentleman Mr Maxwell looked still more like other people, and +Clifton's coat, which he wore, helped to the same effect. + +"I stumbled over him lying on his face in Finlay's grove," said Clifton +to his sister. "He would have run away, if I had not been too much for +him. We borrowed Joe Finlay's rod, and he went fishing with me. It is +a great deal better for him than being stunned by women's talk at Mrs +Jacob's." + +"Yes, the sewing-circle!" said Elizabeth, "What will Mrs Jacob say? +Did he forget it? Of course he was expected home." + +"He said nothing about it, nor did I. Jacob asked me to go over in the +evening. Why are you not there?" + +"I have been there all the afternoon. I came home to make father's tea. +I told Mrs Jacob I would go back. I am afraid Mr Maxwell's coming +here to-night will offend her." + +"Of course, but what if it does?" + +"And do you like him? Does he improve on acquaintance?" + +"He turns out to be flesh and blood, not a skin stuffed with logic, and +the odds and ends of other people's theological opinions. He is a +dyspeptic being, homesick and desponding, but he is a man. And look +here, Lizzie; if you really want to do a good work, you must take him in +hand, and not let Mrs Jacob, and the deacons, and all the rest of them +sit on him." + +"How am I to help it, if such be their pleasure?" + +"I have helped it to-night. Don't say a word about the sewing-circle, +lest his conscience should take alarm. I hope I shall see Mrs Jacob's +face when she hears that he has spent the evening here." + +"I don't care for Mrs Jacob, but I am afraid the people may be +disappointed." For in Gershom the ladies met week by week in each +other's houses to sew for the benefit of some good cause, and their +husbands and brothers came to tea in the evening, and there was to be a +more than usually large gathering on this occasion, Elizabeth knew. +"However, I am not responsible," thought she. + +So she said nothing, and her father in a little while said rather +querulously, that he hoped she was not going out again. + +"Not if you want me, father. It will not matter much, I suppose." + +"You will not be missed," said her brother. + +Mr Maxwell did not seem to think it was a matter with which he had +anything to do. He made no movement to go away when tea was over, and +Elizabeth put away all thought of the disappointment of the people +assembled, and of her sister-in-law's displeasure, and enjoyed the +evening. Mr Maxwell seemed to enjoy it too, though he did not say +much. Clifton kept himself within bounds, and was amusing without being +severe or disagreeable in his descriptions of some of the village +customs and characters, and though he said some things to the minister +that made his sister a little anxious and uncomfortable for the moment, +she could see that their interest in each other increased as the evening +wore on. + +It came out in the course of the conversation that Mr Maxwell had made +the acquaintance of Ben Holt in his rambles, but he had never been at +the Hill-farm, and had very vague ideas as to the Hill Holts or their +circumstances, or as to their relationship to the Holts of the village. +Clifton professed to be very much surprised. + +"Has not Mrs Jacob introduced you to Cousin Betsey? Has she not told +you how many excellent qualities Cousin Betsey has? Only just a little +set in her ways," said Clifton, imitating so exactly Mrs Jacob's voice +and manner, that no one could help laughing. + +"Cousin Betsey is rather set in her ways, and not always agreeable in +her manners to Mrs Jacob," said Elizabeth. "But you are not to make +Mr Maxwell suppose that there is any disagreement between them." + +"By no means. They are the best of friends when they keep apart, and +they don't meet often. Mrs Jacob has company when the sewing-circle is +to meet at the Hill, and when it meets at Mrs Jacob's, Betsey has a +great soap-making to keep her at home, or a sick headache, or something. +To tell the truth, Cousin Betsey does not care a great deal about any +of her village relations, except the squire. But she is a good soul, +and a pillar in the church, though she says less about it than some +people. I'll drive you over to the farm some day. Cousin Betsey will +put you through your catechism, I can tell you, if she happens to be in +a good humour." + +Mr Maxwell laughed. "I have had some experience of that sort of thing +already," said he. "But I fear it has not been a satisfactory affair to +any one concerned." + +"Cousin Betsey will manage better," said Clifton. + +They went to the Hill at the time appointed, and the visit, and some +others that they made, were so far successful that the minister took +real pleasure in them, and that was more than could be said of any visit +he had made before. Miss Betsey did not put him through his catechism +in Clifton's presence; that ceremony was reserved for a future occasion. +She was rather stiff and formal in her reception of them, but she +thawed out and consented to be pleased and interested before the after +noon was over. She smiled and assented with sufficient graciousness +when Clifton not only bespoke Ben's company, on an expedition with gun +and rod, which he and Mr Maxwell were going to make further down the +river, but he invited himself and the minister to tea on their way home. + +"For you know, Cousin Betsey, that Ben and I won't be very likely to get +into mischief in the minister's company, and you can't object to our +going this time." + +"If anybody doesn't object to the minister's going in your company. +That is the thing to be considered, I should say," said Cousin Betsey, +smiling grimly. + +"Oh, cousin! do you mean that going fishing with me will compromise the +minister? No wonder that you are afraid to trust me with Ben. But I +say that a day in the woods with Ben and me will do Mr Maxwell more +good than two or three tea-meetings or sewing-circles. Only you have a +good supper ready for us, and I will bring him home hungry as a hunter." + +"Which hasn't happened very often to him of late, if one may judge from +his looks," said Miss Betsey. + +"No, he ought to be living here at the Hill. It would suit him better +than Jacob's. And when are you coming to see us? Lizzie wanted to come +with us to-day, but she was afraid you wouldn't be glad to see her. You +never come to our house, and she mustn't do all the visiting. And, +besides, you don't ask her." + +"It aint likely that she'll be so hard up for something to amuse her, +that she'll want to fall back on a visit to the Hill. But if she should +be, she can come along over, and try how it would seem to visit with +mother and Cynthy and me. She'll always find some of us here." + +"All right. I'll tell her you asked her, and she'll be sure to come." + +The success of this visit encouraged Clifton to try more in the +minister's company. For a reason that it was not difficult to +understand, Jacob in his rounds had not taken him to visit at Mr +Fleming's, nor had any one else, and Clifton, remembering his own visit +there, took the introduction of Mr Maxwell at Ythan Brae into his own +hands, and Elizabeth went with him. They sailed up the river, and went +through the woods as he and Ben had done. It was a lovely autumn day, +but there were few tokens of decay in the woods and fields through which +they took their way, and they lingered in the sweet air with a pleasure +that made them unconscious of the flight of time, and the afternoon was +far spent before they sat down to rest on the rocky knoll where Clifton +in Ben's company had renewed his acquaintance with the Fleming children. +The remembrance of the time and the scene came back so vividly, that he +could not help telling his companions about it. Elizabeth's face +clouded as he repeated Katie's words about "those avaricious Holts" +which had brought him to a sense of the indiscretion he was committing +in listening. + +"The Flemings are hard upon Jacob. Mr Maxwell might have been more +fortunate in his escort," said she. + +"Nonsense, Lizzie! Mrs Fleming is far too sensible to confound us with +Jacob; and, Lizzie, you used to be a pet of hers." + +"Yes," said Elizabeth, "long ago." + +And as they lingered, she went on to tell them about the Flemings, and +their opinions and manner of life, and about the troubles which had +fallen on them. She grew earnest as she went on, telling about poor +Hugh whom everybody had loved so well, whom she herself remembered as +the handsomest, gentlest, and best of all those who had frequented their +house, when her brothel Jacob was young and she was a child; and in her +earnestness she said some things that surprised her brother as he +listened. + +"My father and Mr Fleming were always friendly, and sometimes I went +with my father to their house. I did not often see Mr Fleming, but I +remember his coming into the room one day, when I was sitting on a low +stool, holding the first baby of his son's family in my lap. She was a +lovely little creature, little Katie, just beginning to coo, and murmur, +and smile at me with her bonny blue eyes, and I suppose the child, and +my pride and delight in her, must have been a pretty sight to see, for +the grandfather sat down beside us, and smiled as he looked and +listened, and made some happy, foolish talk with us both. My father was +very much surprised, he told me afterward; and in a little while, when I +went into another room, I found Mrs Fleming crying, with her apron over +her face. But they were happy tears, for she smiled when she saw us, +and clasped and kissed baby and me, with many sweet Scottish words of +endearment to us both. It was the first time she had seen her husband +smile since their troubles, she said. The dark cloud was lifting, and +wee Katie's smile would bring sunshine again. I was a favourite with +her a long time after that, but we have fallen out of acquaintance of +late." + +"Which is a great mistake on your part," said her brother. + +"Yes; I hope she will be glad to see us. She will be glad to see you, +Mr Maxwell." + +"She will be glad to see us all," said Clifton. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +A VISIT TO YTHAN BRAE. + +It was a great deal later in the afternoon than it ought to have been +for the first visit of the minister, and the chances were he would have +been told so in any other house in the parish. But Mrs Fleming +welcomed him warmly, and all the more warmly, she intimated, that he +came in such good company. The lateness of the hour made this +difference in the order of events: they had their tea first, and their +visit afterward; a very good arrangement, for their tramp through the +fields and woods had made them hungry, and Mrs Fleming's oat-cakes and +honey were delicious. There were plenty of other good things on the +table, but the honey and oat-cakes were the characteristic part of the +meal, never omitted in Mrs Fleming's preparations for visitors. She +had not forgotten the old Scottish fashion of pressing the good things +upon her guests, but there was not much of this needed now, and she +looked on with much enjoyment. + +"Will you go ben the house, or bide still where you are?" asked she, +when tea was over and they still lingered. "Ben the house"--in the +parlour there were tall candles burning, and other arrangements made, +but no one seemed inclined to move. The large kitchen in which they +were sitting was, at this time of the year, the pleasantest place in the +house. Later the cooking-stove, which in summer stood in the outer +kitchen would be brought in, and the great fire-place would be shut up, +but to-night there was a fire of logs on the wide hearth. It flickered +and sparkled, and lighted up the dark face of old Mr Fleming, and the +fair face of Miss Elizabeth, as they sat on opposite sides of the +hearth, and made shadows in the corners where the shy little Flemings +had gathered. It lighted, too, the beautiful old face of the +grandmother as she sat in her white cap and kerchief, with folded hands, +making, to the minister's pleased eye, a fair picture of the homely +scene. + +And so they sat still. Katie and her mother moved about quietly for a +while, removing the tea-things and doing what was to be done about the +house. When all this was over, and they sat down with the rest, +Clifton, and even Elizabeth, awaited with a certain curiosity and +interest the discussion of some important matter of opinion or doctrine +between the old people and the minister, as was the way during the +minister's visits to most of the old Scotch houses of the place. But +Mrs Fleming had changed, and the times had changed, since the days when +old Mr Hollister and his friend went about to discuss the question of a +union with the good folks of North Gore, and the household had changed +also. The children sitting there so quiet, yet so observant, came in +for a share of the minister's notice, and when their grandmother +proposed that they should arrange themselves before him in the order of +their ages to be catechised by him, he entered into the spirit of the +occasion as nobody in Gershom had seen him enter into anything yet. He +knew all about it. He had been catechised in his youth in the orthodox +manner of his country, and he acquitted himself well. From "What is the +chief end of man?" until one after another of the children stopped, and +even Katie hesitated, he went with shut book. It was very creditable to +him in Mrs Fleming's opinion, quite as satisfactory as a formal +discussion would have been in assuring her of the nature and extent of +his doctrinal knowledge, and the soundness of his views generally. + +"He'll win through," said she to herself; "he has been dazed with books +till he has fallen out of acquaintance with his fellow-creatures, and +he'll need to ken mair about them before he can do much good in his +work. But he'll learn, there is no fear." + +The minister had other questions to ask at "the bairns" that had never +been written in any catechism, and he had new things to tell them, and +old things to tell them in a new way, and, as she looked and listened, +Mrs Fleming nodded to her husband and said to herself again, "He'll win +through." + +"Bairns," said she impressively, "you see the good of learning your +Bible and your catechism when you are young; take an example from the +minister." + +And with this the bairns were dismissed from their position; for the +rest of the evening till bedtime it was expected that they were "to be +seen and not heard," as was the way with bairns when their grandmother +was young. The two eldest, Katie and Davie, were put forward a little, +in a quiet way, and encouraged to display their book-learning to their +visitors. But Katie was shy and uncomfortable, and did not do herself +as much credit as usual. Her grandfather put her forward as a little +girl, and the visitors treated her as a grown woman, and she did not +like it, and at last took refuge with her knitting at her grandfather's +side, and left the field to Davie. + +As for Davie, he was shy too, but in some things he was bold to a degree +that filled Katie with astonishment. He held his own opinion about +various things against the minister, who, to be sure, "was only just +trying him." And he and young Mr Holt wrangled together over their +opinions and questions good-humouredly enough, but still very much in +earnest. Young Mr Holt was the better of the two as to the subjects +under discussion, but he was not so well up as he thought he was, or as +he ought to have been, considering his advantages, and Davie knew enough +to detect his errors, though not enough to correct them. The minister, +appealed to by both, would not interfere, but listened smiling. Mr +Fleming sat silent, as his manner was, sometimes smiling, but oftener +looking grave. + +"Softly, Davie. Take heed to your words, my laddie," said his +grandmother now and then, and Elizabeth listened well pleased to see her +brother, about whom she was sometimes anxious and afraid, taking evident +pleasure in it all. + +By and by the Book was brought, and Mr Fleming, as head and priest of +the household, solemnly asked God's blessing on the Word they were to +read, before he gave it to the minister to conduct the evening worship. +It chanced that the chapter read was the one from which Mr Maxwell's +Sunday text had been taken; and in the pause that followed the +unwilling, but unresisting departure of the little ones to bed, Clifton +said so. Then he added that he wished Mrs Fleming had been there to +hear the sermon, as he would have liked to hear her opinion as to some +of the sentiments given in it by the minister. It was said with the +hope of drawing the old lady into one of the discussions of which they +had heard, Elizabeth knew, but it did not succeed. + +"I heard the sermon, and had no fault to find with it; had you?" said +Mrs Fleming. + +"Fault! No. One would hardly like to find fault with it before the +minister," said Clifton, laughing. "I am not very well up in theology +myself, but it struck me that the sermon was not just in the style of +old Mr Hollister's." + +"I doubt you werena in the way of taking much heed of Mr Hollister's +sermons, and you can ask Mr Maxwell the meaning of his words if you are +not satisfied. What was lacking in the sermon the years will supply to +those that are to follow it. It was written at the bidding of the +doctors o' divinity at the college, was it not?" + +"Yes," said Mr Maxwell with some hesitation, "it was written for them." + +"Oh! they would surely be pleased with it. It was sound and sensible +and conclusive; that is, you said in it what you set out to say, and +that doesna ay happen in sermons. You'll put more heart in your +ministrations when you have been a while among us, I hope." + +There was a few minutes' silence. + +"There is a grave charge implied in your words, Mrs Fleming, and I fear +a true one," said the minister. + +"I meant none," said Mrs Fleming earnestly. "As for your sermon, what +could you expect? It was all the work of your head, your heart had +little part in it. It was the doctors of divinity, and the lads, your +fellow-students--ilka ane o' them waiting to get a hit at you--that you +had in your mind when you were writing it, and no' the like of us poor +folk, who are needing to be guided and warned and fed. But it is a +grand thing to have a clear head, and to be able to put things in the +right way, and, according to the established rules: yon was a fine +discourse; though you seemed to take little pleasure in it yourself, +sir, I thought, as you went on." + +Mr Maxwell smiled rather ruefully. "I took little pleasure in it +indeed." + +"I saw that. But you have no call to be discouraged. We have the +treasure in earthen vessels, as Paul says himself. But a clear head and +a ready tongue are wonderful gifts for the Master's use, when they go +with a heart that He has made His dwelling. Have patience with +yourself. If you are the willing servant of your Master, His word is +given for your success in His work. It is Him you are to look to, and +not to yourself." + +"Ay! there is comfort in that." + +"It must be a great change for you coming to a place like this from the +companionship of wise men, living and dead, and you are but young and +likely to feel it. But you'll come to yourself when the strangeness +wears off. Your work lies at your hand, and plenty of it. You'll have +thraward folk to counter you, and folk kind and foolish to praise you +and your words and works, whatever they may be. A few will give you +wholesome counsel, and a smaller few wholesome silence, and you must +take them as they come, and carry them one and all to His feet, and +there's no fear of you." + +The minister said nothing. Clifton looked curiously at his grave face +over his sister's shoulder. + +"Wholesome silence! It's not much of that he is likely to get in +Gershom," said he. + +"But," said Mrs Fleming earnestly, "you are not to put on a grave face +like that, or I shall think your visit hasna done you good, and that +would grieve me. You have no call to look doubtfully before you. You +have the very grandest of work laid ready to your hand, and you have the +will to do it, and I daresay you are no just that ill prepared for it. +At least you are prepared to learn in God's school that He has put you +in. And you have His promise that you cannot fail. It is wonderful to +think of." + +"Who is sufficient for these things?" said the minister gravely. + +"Him that God sends He makes sufficient," said Mrs Fleming, cheerfully. +"Put your trust in Him, and take good care of yourself, and above all, +I would have you to beware of Mrs Jacob Holt's Yankee pies and cakes +and hot bread, for they would be just the ruination of you, health and +temper, and all. But you needna say I told you." + +Elizabeth and Clifton laughed heartily at the anticlimax. Mr Maxwell +laughed too, and hung his head, remembering Mrs Jacob's dainties, which +he had not yet been able to do justice to. Mrs Fleming might have +enlarged on the subject if time allowed, but they had a long walk before +them. + +"I hope you'll no be such a stranger now that you have found your way +back again," said Mrs Fleming, as Elizabeth was putting on her shawl. +"I mind the old days, and you have ay been kind to my Katie, who is +growing a woman now, and more in need of kindness and counsel than +ever," added she, looking wistfully from the one to the other. For +answer, Elizabeth turned and kissed Katie, and then touched with her +lips the brown wrinkled hand of the grandmother. + +"God bless you and keep you, and give you the desire of your heart," +said Mrs Fleming, "if it be the best thing for you," she added, moved +by a prudent after-thought, which came to her to-night more quickly than +such thoughts were apt to come to her. "I'm no feared for you or Katie. +Why should I be? You are both in good keeping. And if you are no +dealt with to your pleasure, you will be to your profit, and that is the +chief thing." + +They had a pleasant walk through the dewy fields in the moonlight, and +much to say to one another, but they had fallen into silence before they +paused at the gate to say "good-night." + +"I suppose on the whole our visit may be considered a success," said +Clifton as they lingered. + +"Altogether a success," said Elizabeth. + +"I am glad I went in your company," said the minister. + +"Thank you," said Elizabeth. + +"Your are welcome," said her brother, and then he added, laughing, "I +hope all the rest of the world will be as well pleased." + +This was to be doubted. Mrs Jacob was by no means pleased for one. +She had said nothing to Elizabeth on the occasion when Mr Maxwell had +stayed away from the sewing-circle, but Elizabeth knew that her silence +did not imply either forgetfulness or forgiveness. She could wait long +for an opportunity to speak, and could then put much into a few words +for the hearing of the offender. It was a renewal of the offence that +the minister should have been taken to the hill-farm by Clifton, and +then to Ythan Brae by him and his sister, though why she could not have +easily explained. Whatever Clifton did was apt to take the form of an +indiscretion in her eyes, but neither her sharp words nor her soft words +were heeded by him, and she rarely wasted them upon him. But it was +different where his sister was concerned. She had turns now and then of +taking upon herself the responsibility of Elizabeth, as of a young girl +to whom she stood as the nearest female relation, and she knew how to +hurt her when she tried. Elizabeth rarely resented openly her little +thrusts, but all the same, she unconsciously armed herself for defence +in Mrs Jacob's presence, and an attitude of defence is always +uncomfortable where relations who meet often are concerned. + +They had met a good many times, however, before any allusion was made to +the visits which had displeased her. She came one day into Elizabeth's +sitting-room to find Mr Maxwell there in animated discussion with +Clifton. She hardly recognised him in the new brightness of his face, +and the animation of his voice and manner. He was as unlike as possible +to the silent, constrained young man who daily sat at her table, and who +responded so inadequately to her efforts for his entertainment. She +liked the minister, and wished to make him happy in her house, and there +was real pain mingled with the unreasonable anger she felt as she +watched him. Her first few minutes were occupied in answering the old +squire's questions about Jacob and the children. She had startled him +from his afternoon's sleep, and he was a little querulous and exacting, +as was usual at such times. But in a little she said: + +"Mr Maxwell had good visits at the Hill, and at Mr Fleming's, he told +us. It is a good thing you thought of going with him, Elizabeth. You +and Cousin Betsey have become reconciled." + +"Reconciled!" repeated Elizabeth; "we have never quarrelled." + +"Oh, of course not. That would not do at all. But you have never been +very fond of one another, you know." + +"I respect Cousin Betsey entirely, though we do not often see one +another," said Elizabeth. "I did not go to the Hill the other day, +however. Clifton went with Mr Maxwell, and they enjoyed it, as you +say." + +The squire was a little deaf, and not catching what was said, needed to +have the whole matter explained to him. + +"Betsey is a good woman," said he; "I respect Betsey. Her mother isn't +much of a business woman, and it is well Betsey is spared to her. It'll +be all right about the place; I'll make it all right, and Jacob won't be +hard on them." + +And so the old man rambled on, till the talk turned to other matters, +and Mrs Jacob kept the rest of her remarks for Elizabeth's private ear. + +"I am so glad you like Mr Maxwell, Elizabeth. I was afraid you would +not; you are so fastidious, you know, and he seems to have so little to +say for himself." + +"I like him very much, and so does Clifton," said Elizabeth, waiting for +more. + +"I am very glad. He seems to be having a good influence on Clifton. He +hasn't been in any trouble this time, at all, has he? How thankful you +must be. Jacob is pleased. I only hope it may last." + +The discussion of her younger brother's delinquencies, real or supposed, +was almost the only thing that irritated Elizabeth beyond her power of +concealment; and if she had been in her sister-in-law's house, this +would have been the moment when she would have drawn her visit to a +close. Now she could only keep silence. + +"I hope Clifton may do well next year," went on Mrs Jacob; "you will +miss him, and so shall we." + +"We must do as well as we can without him. In summer he will be home +for good, I hope." + +"Yes, if he should conclude to settle down steadily to business. Time +will show, and this winter we have Mr Maxwell. It depends some on Miss +Martha Langden, I suppose, how long we shall have him in our house. You +have heard all about that, I suppose?" said she, smiling significantly. + +Elizabeth smiled too, but shook her head. + +"I have heard the name," said she. + +"Well, you must not ask me about her. I only know that she gets a good +many letters from Gershom about this time. It is not to be spoken of +yet." + +She rose to go, and Elizabeth went with her to the door, and she laughed +to herself as she followed her with her eye down the street. She had +heard Miss Martha Langden's name once. It was on the night when Mr +Maxwell called on his way from the Hill-farm. He had said that he liked +Miss Betsey, and that she reminded him of one of his best friends, Miss +Martha Langden, one who had been his mother's friend when he was a +child. + +Miss Elizabeth laughed again as she turned to go into the house, and she +might have laughed all the same, if she had known that the frequent +letters to Miss Martha Langden never went without a little note to some +one very different from Miss Martha. But she did not know this till +long after. + +Clifton Holt went back to college again, and Elizabeth prepared for a +quiet winter. She knew that, as in other winters, she would be held +responsible for a certain amount of entertainment to the young people of +the village in the way of gigantic sewing-circles, and no less gigantic +evening parties. But these could not fall often to her turn, and they +were not exciting affairs, even when the whole responsibility of them +fell on herself, as was the case when her brother was away. So it was a +very quiet winter to which she looked forward. + +And because she did not dread the utter quiet, as she had done in former +winters, and because she was able to dismiss from her thoughts, with +very little consideration of the matter, a tempting invitation to pass a +month or two in the city of Montreal, she fancied she was drawing near +to that period in a woman's life, when she is supposed to be becoming +content with the existing order of things, when the dreams and hopes, +and expectations vague and sweet, which make so large a part in girlish +happiness, give place to graver and more earnest thoughts of life and +duty, to a juster estimate of what life has to give, and an acquiescent +acceptance of the lot which she has not chosen, but which has come to +her in it. It is not very often that so desirable a state of mind and +heart comes to girls of four-and-twenty. It certainly had not come to +Elizabeth. However, it gave her pleasure--and a little pain as well--to +think so, and it was a good while before she found out that she had made +a mistake. + +As for Mr Maxwell, he was "coming to himself," as Mrs Fleming had +predicted. His health improved, and as he grew familiar with his new +circumstances, the despondency that had weighed him down was dispelled. +Before the snow came, he was making visits among the people, without any +one to keep him in countenance. Not regular pastoral visits, but quite +informal ones, to the farmer in his pasture or wood-lot, or as he +followed his oxen over the autumn fields. He dropped now and then into +the workshop of Samuel Green, the carpenter, and exchanged a word with +John McNider as he passed his forge, where he afterward often stopped to +have a talk. The first theological discussion he had in Gershom was +held in Peter Longley's shoe-shop, one morning when he found that +amiable sceptic alone and disposed--as he generally was--for a +declaration of his rather peculiar views of doctrine and practice; and +his first temperance lecture was given to an audience of one, as he +drove in Mark Varney's ox-cart over that poor man's dreary and neglected +fields. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +MINISTER AND PEOPLE. + +In Gershom in these primitive days, a deep interest in the affairs of +their neighbours, private, personal and relative, and a full and free +discussion of the same, implied to the minds of people in general no +violation of any law of morals or expediency. It was a part of the +established order of things, which had its advantages and disadvantages. +Almost everybody had a measure of enjoyment in it, and everybody had to +submit to it. + +Even those among the people who would have found little to interest them +in the comings and goings of their neighbours generally, took part in +the admiring discussion of the comings and goings of the minister. +There was a comfortable sense of duty about the matter, a feeling that +they were manifesting an interest in "the cause," and "holding up the +minister's hands" on such occasions that was agreeable. There was a +sense of satisfaction in the frequent allusions made to the Sunday's +sermon, in the repetition of the text and "heads," and in the admiring +remarks and comparisons which usually accompanied this, as if it were +religious conversation that was being carried on and enjoyed. The +pleasing delusion extended to the old people's endless talks about +subscription-lists, and ways and means of support and to the young +people's plans and preparations for a great fair to be held for the +purpose of obtaining funds for the future furnishing and adorning of the +parsonage. So it was a happy era in the history of the congregation and +the village. Everybody was interested, almost everybody was pleased. + +If Mr Maxwell had heard half the kind and admiring things that were +said of him, or if he had known a tenth part of what he was expected to +accomplish by his sermons, his example, his influence, he would have +been filled with confusion and dismay. But happily "a wholesome +silence" with regard to these things was at first for the most part +preserved toward him, and he took his way among his people unembarrassed +by any over-anxious effort to meet expectations too highly raised. + +To tell the truth, he was getting a good deal more credit than he +deserved just at this time. His devotion to his work, his labours "in +season and out of season," his zeal and energy, and kindness in the way +of visiting and becoming acquainted with the people, were due less to a +conscious desire to do them good, or to serve his Master, than to a +growing pleasure in friendly contact with his fellow-creatures. He was +entering on a new and wonderful branch of study, the study of living +men, and he entered upon it with earnestness and delight. + +Hitherto his most intimate acquaintance had been with men, the greater +number of whom had been dead for hundreds of years. His living friends +had, for the most part, been men of one type, men of more or less +intelligence, educated on the same plan, holding the same opinions--men +of whose views on most subjects he might have been sure without a word +from them. His intercourse with the greater number of them had been +formal and conventional; upon very few had he ever had any special claim +for sympathy or interest. + +All this was different now. The interest of the Gershom people was real +and evident, and he had a right to it; and he owed to them, for his +Master's sake, both love and service. They were real men he had to deal +with, not mere embodiments of certain views and opinions. They were men +with feelings and prejudices; they were men who, like himself, sinned +and suffered, and were afraid. They had opinions also, on most +subjects, firmly held and decidedly expressed. Indeed, some of them had +a way of putting things which was a positive refreshment and stimulus to +him. It had, for the moment, the effect of genius and originality, and +in the first pleasure of contact, he was inclined to give to some of his +new friends a higher place intellectually than he gave them afterward. +Happily, he kept his opinions of men and things very much to himself in +these first days, and scandalised no one by declaring Peter Longley to +be a genius, or John McNider to be a hero, or by taking the part of poor +Mark Varney, as one more sinned against than sinning. + +He owed his reputation for wisdom in these first months quite as much to +his silence as to his speech. His own superficial knowledge of men and +things got easily from books, seemed to him--as indeed it was--a poor +thing in comparison with the wisdom which some of these quiet, +unpretending men had almost unconsciously been gathering through the +experience of years. But it did not seem so to them. When he did +speak, he could, through the discipline of education and training, put +into clear right words the thoughts which they found it not easy to +utter, and they gave him credit for the thought as his, when often he +was only giving back to them what he had received. And he listened +well, and he chose his subjects judiciously when he did talk. It was +iron with the blacksmith, and wood with the carpenter, and seeds and +soils and the rotation of crops with the farmer, and without at all +meaning to exalt himself thereby, he would put the reading of some +leisure hour into a few well-chosen words, which seemed like treasures +of wisdom to men who had gathered their knowledge by the slow process of +hearsay and observation; and what with one thing, and what with another, +the minister grew in favour with them all. + +That there had ever been a latent sense of disappointment in the minds +of any great number of the people on his first appearance among them +would have been indignantly denied. Possibly, in the varied course of +events, some in the parish might have their eyes opened to see failings +and faults in him, but in the meantime there existed in the congregation +a wonderful unanimity of feeling with regard to him. + +"The cause was prospering in their midst," that was the usual formula by +which was expressed the satisfaction of the staid and elderly people +among them. It meant different things to different people: that the +church was well filled; that the weekly meetings were well attended; +that the subscription-list looked well; that the North Gore folks were +drawing in generally, and identifying themselves with the congregation. + +This last sign of prosperity was the one most generally seen and +rejoiced over. There had all along been a difference of opinion among +the wise men of the church as to the manner in which the desired union +was to be brought about. The bolder spirits, and the new-comers, who +did not remember the well-meant, but futile attempts of Mr Hollister +and Deacon Turner in that direction, were of opinion that formal +prospects for union should be made to the North Gore men; that matters +of doctrine and discipline should be discussed either publicly or +privately as might be decided, and that in some way the outsiders should +be made to commit themselves to a general movement in the direction of +union. But the more prudent and easy-going of the flock saw +difficulties in the way. It was not impossible, the prudent people +said, that in the course of discussion new elements of disagreement +might manifest themselves, and that the committing might be to the wrong +side. The easy-going souls among them were of opinion that it was best +"just to let things kind o' happen along easy"--saying that after a +while the sensible people of the North Gore would "realise their +privileges" and avail themselves of the advantages which church +fellowship offered to true Christians, and all agreed, before a year +were over, that Mr Maxwell's influence and teaching would help to bring +about all that was so much desired. + +And as time went on, one thing worked with another toward the desired +end. In the course of the winter, several of those who were looked upon +as leaders among the North Gore people, both for intelligence and piety, +cast in their lot with the village people by uniting formally with the +church. A good many more became constant hearers without doing so; some +hesitating for one reason, and some for another. Among these were the +Flemings, whose reason for keeping aloof was supposed to be Jacob Holt, +though no one had a right to speak by their authority, of the matter. + +Of course Mr Maxwell had been made acquainted with the peculiar +circumstances of the place, and he rejoiced with the rest at such +evidences of success in his work as the gathering in of the North Gore +implied, but no one had ever told him of any serious difficulty existing +between old Mr Fleming and Jacob Holt. It was Squire Holt who first +spoke to him about it, and the winter was nearly over before that time. + +The squire in one of his retrospective moods went over "the whole +story," speaking very kindly of the young lad who had gone astray, and +of his brother who had died. He spoke kindly, too, of the old man, with +whom he had always been on the most friendly terms, but he did not +hesitate to say that he thought him foolish and unreasonable in the +position he took toward Jacob. + +"It was because of something that happened when his son Hugh went away, +but Jacob was no more to blame than others; and it might have been all +right if the foolish young man had only stayed at home and taken the +risk. I tried at the time to talk things over with the old man, but he +never would hear a word. There are folks in Gershom who think hard of +Jacob, because of old Mr Fleming's opinion, though they did not know a +word about the matter. And I'm afraid it's going to do mischief in the +church." + +"It is strange that I should never have heard of all this before," said +Mr Maxwell, at a loss to decide how much of the regret and anxiety +evidently felt by Mr Holt was due to the weakness of age. "During all +my visits to Mr Fleming, and you know I saw him frequently during his +illness, not a word was ever spoken that could have reference to any +trouble between the two, nor has your son--" + +Mr Maxwell paused. He was not so sure of the exact correctness of what +he had been about to say. A good many hints and remarks of Jacob, and +of his wife also, which had seemed vague at the time, and which he had +allowed to pass without remark, occurred to him now as possibly having +reference to this trouble. + +"Probably there has been misunderstanding between them," said he after a +little. + +"Just so," said the old man eagerly. "Jacob aint the man to be hard on +anybody--to say hard; he likes to have what is his own, and being a good +man of business he hates shiftless doings, and so shiftless folks think +and say hard things of him. But as to taking the advantage of an old +man like Mr Fleming--why, it would be about as mean a thing as a man +could do, and Jacob aint the man to do it, whatever may be said of him. + +"Why, look here, Mr Maxwell. Just let me tell you all about it." And +the old man, with perfect fairness and sufficient clearness, went into +all particulars as to the state of Mr Fleming's affairs at the time of +his son's death, and of Jacob's claims upon him. His real respect and +friendship for the old man was evident in all he said, and when he +lamented that his old friend's unreasonableness should make a settlement +of his affairs so difficult, and should make unpleasant talk and hard +feelings in the community, Mr Maxwell could not but spare his regret. + +"Why, look here, Mr Maxwell. There hasn't been a cent paid on the +principal yet, and not all the interest, though it is years ago now, and +some of that has been borrowed money. And there is little prospect of +its being any different for years to come. If it had been almost any +one else but Jacob, he'd have foreclosed long ago, and I don't know but +he had better when the right time comes." + +It was on Mr Maxwell's lips to express assent to this, when a glance at +the face of Miss Elizabeth arrested his words. It wore a look which he +had sometimes seen on it when she wished to turn her father's thoughts +away from a subject which was becoming painful to him. There was +anxiety, even pain in her face as well, on this occasion, and these +deepened as her father went on. + +"Only the other day Jacob was talking to me about it. `Father,' says +he, `why can't you just say a word to the old man about letting me have +a piece of his land on the river, and settle matters all up. He'll hear +you,' says he. `I don't want to make hard feelings in the church, or +anywhere else,' says he. `It's as much for the old man's interest to +have his affairs all straightened out, as it is for me, and more. There +need be no trouble about it, if he'd only listen to reason.' I expect I +shall have to have a talk with Mr Fleming about it some time," added +the old man gravely. "Or you might speak, Mr Maxwell. He would listen +to you." + +"Only, father, it would be as well to wait till the old gentleman is +quite well and strong again," said Elizabeth, rising and folding up her +work, and moving about as if to prevent the chance of more talk. + +"Well, I guess so, and then I don't suppose it would amount to much +anything I could say to him. I wouldn't like to say anything to vex or +worry him. He has had a deal of trouble one way and another, since he +came to the place, and it has kind of soured him, but he is always as +sweet as milk to me. You aren't going away, are you, Mr Maxwell? +There, I have tired you all out with my talk, and I've tired myself too. +But don't you hurry away. I'll go and step round a little to get the +fresh air, and then I'll lie down a spell, and rest. And, Lizzie, you +find `The Puritan' for Mr Maxwell, and he can take a look at that in +the meantime." + +Elizabeth did as she was bidden, and managed to make the minister +understand, without saying so, that she would like him not to go away. +So he sat down to the doubtful enjoyment of the paper while Elizabeth +followed her father from the room. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +TAKING COUNSEL. + +It was one of those soft, bright days of early March that might beguile +a new-comer to the country into a temporary belief that spring had come +at last, and Elizabeth, tying her "cloud" over her head, followed her +father out into the yard. To take a walk just for the sake of the walk +was not likely to suit old Mr Holt, or to do him much good. But he and +Elizabeth went about here and there, in the yard and up and down the +well-swept walk from the gate to the door, where the snow lay still on +either side as high as the squire's shoulder, and Elizabeth talked to +him about the great wood-pile, and praised the industry and energy of +Nathan Pell, the hired man, and of his team, Dick and Doll, that were +making it longer every day. She spoke of the great drifts that must be +cleared away before the thaw came, of the bough which last night's wind +had brought down from the elm in the corner, of the broken bit of fence +beyond the gate, of anything to lead his thoughts away from the theme +which for the last hour had occupied and excited him. + +She succeeded so well, that he went away by himself, to get a hammer and +nails to mend the broken paling, and Elizabeth, leaning over the little +white gate while she waited for him to return, had an unexpected +pleasure--a little chat with Mrs Jacob. It was not the chat which gave +her the pleasure, it was her own thought that amused her, and the +knowledge of her sister-in-law's thoughts as well. + +She knew that though Mrs Jacob declined to come in now at her +invitation, she had come up the street with the full design of doing so, +and she knew that she was saying to herself that Mr Maxwell could not +be in the house, though Jacob had seen him going that way, or Lizzie +would never be standing so long at the gate, looking down the street. + +"I am waiting for father," said Elizabeth; "he has gone in for the +hammer to drive some nails in the fence. I suppose Nathan must have +driven against it last night in the dark." She was hoping that Mr +Maxwell was enjoying "The Puritan" so well that he would not be tempted +to look out of the window so as to be seen. + +"Here is father; he will be glad to see you; it is a long time since you +were here. Won't you change your mind and come in?" + +"Well, no, not to-day. I am going in to see Miss Ball a minute about my +bonnet, and I ought to hurry home." + +Mrs Jacob knew that she would have to answer many questions about Jacob +and the children. Probably the squire had seen them all to-day already, +and would see them all again before the day was over. + +"I think I'll go, and not hinder him about the fence, since he doesn't +know I am here. Why don't you come up sometimes? Well, good-bye; I +guess I'll go." + +"Good-bye," said Elizabeth. "And now when she finds out that Mr +Maxwell was here all the time, though I was standing at the gate, she +will make herself and Jacob, too, believe that I am a deceitful girl; +though why I should tell her, since she did not ask, I do not quite +see." + +She took the nail-box from her father's hand and followed him out of the +gate, giving him each nail as he wanted it, making suggestions and +praising his work as one might do with a child. It was soon finished to +the old man's satisfaction, and by that time his excitement and his +troubled thoughts were gone, and he was ready for his afternoon's rest. + +"You have something to say to me, Miss Holt," said the minister, when +she came again into the sitting-room. + +"No--I am not sure that I have, though a little ago I thought I had." + +"But, Miss Holt, I am almost sure you must have something to say," said +Mr Maxwell, after a pause. "I have sometimes found that I have got a +clearer view of vexed questions in village politics, and even in church +matters, where there are no vexations as yet, after a little talk with +you, than after many and long talks with other people." + +Elizabeth laughed. + +"Thank you. The reason is, that all the rest are on one side or the +other of all vexed questions, and not being specially concerned in them, +at least not personally concerned in them, I can see all sides: and +usually there is little to see that might not as well be ignored." + +"Well, does not that hold good in this case also?" + +"But in this case I may be supposed to take a side." + +The minister smiled. + +"But not so as to prevent you from seeing clearly all sides. You are +not going to tire of the task of keeping me right in village matters?" + +Even when the sunshine is bright above the March air is keen and cold, +and so Elizabeth, chilled with lingering so long at the gate, leaned +toward the open fire, shading her face with her hand. She was silent +for some time, thinking of several things. + +"At least tell me that in this case, also, there is little to see, or I +shall begin to fear that your father may be right when he says there may +be danger of trouble arising out of this matter to us all." + +"No. There need be no trouble, if people would only not talk," said +Elizabeth, raising her head and turning so as to look at the minister. +"I will tell you what I was thinking about before I went out; I was +sorry that my father had spoken to you about Mr Fleming's affairs, or +that he should have suggested the idea of your speaking to the old man +about them; I wanted you not to promise to speak--I mean I do not think +it would do any good were you to do so." + +"Well, I did not promise." + +"No; and I think my father may forget that he has spoken to you about +it; he forgets many things now. And if you would forget all about it +too, it would be all the better." + +"I will be silent, and that will answer every purpose of forgetfulness, +or ignorance, will it not?" + +Elizabeth shook her head. "Not quite; and since I have said so much, I +ought to say a little more. I can see all sides of this matter with +sufficient clearness to be aware that trouble to a good many people, or +at least discomfort and annoyance, might easily spring out of it. As to +the church, I am not sure. But if everybody would keep silence, there +need be no trouble. And to tell the truth, Mr Maxwell, I was not +thinking of Mr Fleming or of Jacob, or of what my father was telling +yon, except in its relation to you. It is a pity that you should have +been told any of those old grievances." + +Elizabeth rose and took the brush from its hook, and swept up the ashes +and embers that had fallen upon the hearth. Then she seated herself in +her own low chair by the window, and took up her work, but laid it down +again, and folded her hands on her lap. + +Mr Maxwell smiled. "I see I am not expected to stay much longer. But +really, Miss Holt, I don't quite see `the pity' of it. Why am I not to +know all that is going on as well as the rest? Besides, if your father +had not told me, some one else would have done so." + +"True." + +"And I might in such a case have committed myself to the doing or saying +of something foolish at a first hearing, as I should have done to-day +but that your face made me pause." + +"Did it?" said Elizabeth, demurely. + +"And if silence is the thing to be desired, I shall be all the more +likely to keep silence to others, if you give me the right and true +version of troubles past, and of troubles possible in the future, with +regard to this matter. Will you take up your work again, and tell me +all? Or shall I come another time, Miss Elizabeth?" + +But Miss Elizabeth had little to add to the story which her father had +told. Jacob was hard, she supposed, just as business men were obliged +to be hard sometimes. But then Mr Fleming was not to be regarded just +as another man in the same position might be regarded--especially he was +not to be so regarded by her brother Jacob. In the sore troubles that +had come into the old man's life. Jacob had had a part. What part +Elizabeth did not know she did not even know the nature of the trouble, +but she knew, though she had only learned it lately, that the very sight +of her brother was like wormwood to Mr Fleming; that even Mrs Fleming, +friendly and sweet to all the world, was cold and distant to Jacob. And +all this seemed to Elizabeth a sufficient reason why he should be more +gentle and forbearing with them than with others, that he should be +willing to forego his just claims rather than to lay himself open to the +charge of wishing or even seeming to be "hard on them." + +"For what is a little land, more or less, to Jacob, who has so much? +And why should he wish to take even a small part of what old Mr Fleming +has worked so hard to improve--has put his life into, as one may say?" + +"But does he want to take it? Have you ever spoken to your brother +about this?" + +"He is supposed to want it for the site of the new buildings to be put +up for the manufacturing company--if it ever comes into existence. But +he does not want it without a sufficient allowance to the old man for +it. Only, I suppose, the debt would cover it all. But I have never +spoken about it to Jacob. It is not easy to speak to him about business +unless he wishes," said Elizabeth, hesitating. "But Clifton, who is +quite inclined to be hard on Jacob, laughs at the idea of his doing +unjustly or even severely by Mr Fleming." + +"At least he has done nothing yet, it seems." + +"No, Clifton says that Mr Fleming's dislike of Jacob has become a sort +of mania with him, and that he would not yield to him even if it were +for his own advantage--he has brooded over his trouble so long and so +sadly, poor old man!" + +"That is quite possible," said Mr Maxwell, gravely. "And you think I +should not speak to him about his trouble?" + +"Not about his trouble with Jacob. Indeed, it is said that he will not +speak of it, nor hear of it. It would do no good. And then he likes +you so much, Mr Maxwell, and comes to church as he did not always do, +and seems to take such pleasure in hearing you. It would be a pity to +risk disturbing these pleasant relations between you with so small a +chance of any good being done by it. And besides," Elizabeth made a +long pause before she added: "besides, if trouble is before us because +of this, and if it should come to taking sides, as almost always happens +in the vexing questions of Gershom life, it would be far better that you +should know nothing about the matter--that at least you should not have +seemed to commit yourself to any decided opinion with regard to it. I +cannot bear to think that your comfort and usefulness may be endangered +through the affairs of those who should be your chief supports. Not +that I think this likely to happen," added Elizabeth, colouring with the +fear of having spoken too earnestly; "I daresay, after all, I am `making +mountains of mole-hills.'" + +Mr Maxwell rose and took his hat. + +"Well, to sum up," said he. + +"Oh, to sum up! I believe the whole of what I wanted to say was this, +that I don't want you to be vexed or troubled about it," said Elizabeth, +rising also. + +"It is kind in you to say so." + +"Yes, kind to ourselves. And I daresay I may have given you a wrong +impression about the matter after all, and that it looks more serious to +you than it needs do. I had much better have kept silent, as I would +have other people do." + +"Don't say that, Miss Elizabeth. What should I do without you to set me +right, and to keep me right about so many matters? Be anything but +silent, my friend." + +There was a good deal more said about Mr Fleming's affairs, and about +other affairs, though Mr Maxwell stood all the time with his hat in his +hand. But enough has been told to give an idea of the way in which +these young people talked to each other. Mr Maxwell never went from +the house without congratulating himself on the friendship of Miss Holt. +How much good she always did him! What a blessing it was for him that +there was one person in his congregation to whom he might speak +unreservedly, and who had sense and judgment to see and say just what +was best for him to do or to refrain from doing. + +This was putting it rather strongly. Elizabeth was far from assuming +such a position in relation to the minister. But she had sense and +judgment, and frankness and simplicity of manner, and no doubt she found +it pleasant to be listened to, and deferred to, as Mr Maxwell was in +the habit of doing. And she knew she could help him, and that she had +helped him, many a time. He was inexperienced, to say nothing more, and +she gave him many a hint with regard to some of the doubtful measures +and crooked natures in Gershom society, which prevented some stumbles, +and guided him safely past some difficult places on his first entrance +into it. But she had done more and better than that for him though she +herself hardly knew it. + +Squire Holt's house was a pleasant house to visit, and during the first +homesick and miserable days of his stay in Gershom, when he would gladly +have turned his back on his vocation and his duties, the bright and +cheerful welcome there that Elizabeth gave him on that first night when +Clifton took him home with him, and ever after that night, was like a +strengthening cordial to one who needed it surely. Miss Elizabeth was +several years younger than he, but she felt a great deal older and wiser +in some respects than the student whose experience of life had been so +limited and so different, and so it came to pass that, at the very +first, she had fallen into the way of advising him, and even of +expostulating with him on small occasions, and he had not resented it, +but had been grateful for it, and at last rather liked it. He had +brightened under her influence, and now the thought of her was +associated with all the agreeable and hopeful circumstances of his new +life and work. + +He said to himself often, and he wrote to his friend Miss Martha +Langden, that the friendship of Miss Elizabeth Holt was one of his best +helps in the faithful performance of his pastoral duties, and that +excellent and venerable lady at once assigned to Mr Maxwell's friend +the same place in his regard, and in his parish generally, that she +herself had occupied in the regard of several successive pastors, and in +her native parish for forty years at least. It never occurred to Miss +Langden, and it certainly never occurred to Mr Maxwell, that this +friendship could be in any danger of interfering with the wishes and +plans of former years. That it might affect in any way his future +relations with the pretty and amiable young person whom Miss Langden was +educating to be his wife, and the model for all the ministers' wives of +the generation, never came into the mind of either. Miss Elizabeth was +a true and useful friend, and the satisfaction that this afforded him +was not to his consciousness incompatible with a happy and just +appreciation of his good fortune in having a claim on the affection of +Miss Langden's niece. + +Elizabeth did not know at this time of the existence of Miss Langden's +niece. If she had known it, it is not at all likely that she would have +allowed such knowledge to interfere with the friendly relations into +which she had fallen with the minister. She would have liked him none +the less had she known of his tacit engagement to that young lady, and +would have manifested her friendliness none the less, but rather the +more because of it. And, on the whole, it was a pity that she did not +know it. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +MASTER AND PUPILS. + +At Ythan Brae the winter opened sadly. The grandfather had an illness +which kept both Davie and Katie at home from the school for a while; and +what was worse, when he grew better he would fain have kept them at home +still. This would have been a serious matter to Davie, and he vexed +Katie and his grandmother by suggesting possible and painful +consequences all round should his grandfather persist. For the lad had +been seized with a great hunger for knowledge. He desired it partly for +its own sake, but partly also because he had heard many a time and +implicitly believed that "knowledge is power," which is true in a +certain sense, but not in the sense or to the extent that it seemed true +to Davie. His grandfather was afraid of the boy's eager craving, and of +what might come of it, and would far rather have seen him content, as +his father had been, to plod through the winter, busy with the +occupations which the season brought, than so eager to get away to Mr +Burnet and his books. The grandfather had his sorrowful reasons for +wishing to keep the lad in the quiet and safe paths which his father had +trod. The grandmother knew how it was with him, and Katie and Davie +guessed something of what his reasons might be. "And, bairns," said +their grandmother, "ye are no to doubt that your grandfather is right, +though he doesna see as ye do in this matter. For knowledge is whiles a +snare and a curse; and a true heart, and an honest life, and a will to +do your duty in the place in which your Maker has putten you are better +than a' the uncanny wisdom that men gather from books, whether you +believe it or not, Davie, my man. I canna say that I have any special +fear for you myself, but one can never ken. And your grandfather, he +canna forget; it's no' his nature. There was once one like you, Davie +lad, that lost himself through ill-doing folk, and--I canna speak about +it--and what must it be to him?" + +"But, grannie," said Davie after a little, "it's different. Nobody will +follow after me because I am so handsome and clever and kindly. And +folk say it needna have been so bad with him, if my grandfather hadna +been hard on him." + +"Whisht, laddie," said his grandmother, with a gasp. Katie looked at +him with beseeching eyes, and Davie hung his head. + +"Davie, my laddie, have patience," said his grandmother in a little; +"what is a year or two out of a young life like yours compared with +giving a sore heart to an old man like your grandfather? He has had +sore trouble to thole in his lifetime, some that you can guess, and some +that you will never ken, and his heart is just set on Katie and you." + +"But, grannie, there's no fear of me. I'll have no time for ill +company. I'm no to be an idle gowk like Clifton Holt, to throw away my +chances. And here's Katie ay to take care of me and keep me out of +mischief." + +"My lad, speak no ill of your neighbours. You'll need all the sense you +have before you get far through the world. And you'll need grace and +wisdom from above, as well, whether your work lie in high places with +the great men of the earth, or just sowing and reaping in Ythan Brae. +And as for Katie and her care of you, there's many a true word spoken in +jest, and you maun be a good laddie, Davie." + +It was all settled with fewer words than the grandmother feared would be +needed, and a happy winter began to the brother and sister. They were +young and strong and hopeful. No serious trouble was pressing on them +or theirs. Just to be alive in such circumstances is happiness, only it +is a kind of happiness that is seldom realised while the time is going +on. When it is looked back upon over years of pain or care, it is seen +clearly and valued truely, and sometimes--oh, how bitterly regretted. + +They had their troubles. There was the mortgage about which they +fancied they were anxious and afraid. They were just enough anxious +about it to find in it an endless theme for planning and +castle-building--a motive for the wonderful things they were to +accomplish in the way of making money for their grandfather, and as a +means of triumphing over Jacob Holt, whom they were inclined to regard +as the villain of their life-story. + +From all the drawbacks common to the old-time schools in this part of +Canada, Gershom High-School had, to some extent, suffered. The +restraints of limited means, the value of the labour even of children on +a new farm, the frequent change of teachers, the endless variety of +text-books, the vexing elements of national prejudice and religious +differences, had told on its efficiency and success. Yet it had been a +power for good in Gershom and in all the country round. From the +earliest settlement of the place the leading men had taken pains to +encourage and support it. Its teachers had generally been college +students from the neighbouring States, who taught one year to get money +to carry them through the next, or graduates who were willing to pass a +year or two in teaching between their college course and their choice or +pursuit of a profession. Among them had come, now and then, a youth of +rare gifts, one, not only strong to govern and skilled to teach, but who +kindled in the minds of the pupils an eager desire for self-improvement, +an enthusiasm of mental activity which outlasted his term of office, and +which influenced for good a far greater number than those whom he +taught, or with whom he came personally in contact. + +Mr Burnet, Davie's teacher, was not one of these. His college days had +long been over, before he crossed the sea. He had been unfortunate in +many ways, but most of all in this, that he had been brought up to +consider wise and right that which became sin and misery to him, because +of the strength of his appetite and the weakness of his will. And so +woeful days came to him and his, and he was sent over the sea, as so +many another has been sent, to be out of sight. But on this side of the +sea, too, woeful days awaited him, and after many a to and fro, he was +stranded, an utter wreck as it seemed, on the village of Gershom. His +wife was dead by this time, and his two forlorn little daughters had +been sent home in rags to their mother's sister, and there was no +visible reason why the wretched man should not die also, except, as he +said to them who tried to help him, that, after all, his soul might have +a chance to be saved. + +He did not die; he lived a free man, and when the time came for Davie +and Katie to go back to die school, he had been its teacher for more +than a year. Not so good a teacher in some respects as two or three of +the orderly, methodical college lads, who were still remembered with +affection in Gershom; but in other respects he surpassed any of them-- +all of them together. It was said of him that he had forgotten more +than all the rest of Gershom ever knew; and that he had a tongue that +would wile the very birds from the trees. He was an eloquent man, and +he had not only "words," but he had something to say. From the +treasures of a highly-cultivated mind he brought, for the instruction of +his pupils, and sometimes for the instruction and delight of larger +audiences, things new and old. As an orator he was greatly admired, as +a man he was much esteemed, as a teacher he was regarded with the +respect due to his great powers, and with the tolerance which the +defects accompanying them needed. + +He had decided defects as a school-master. His government of his school +was imperfect; he took it up by fits and starts, having his stern days, +when the falling of a pin might be heard in his domain, and days when +the boys and girls were mostly left to their own devices; but there were +no idle days among them. No teacher who had ever ruled in the +High-School could compare with him in the power he had to make the young +people care for their books and their school-work, or to present to the +clever idle ones among them the most enticing motives to exertion. "He +got them on," the fathers and mothers said, and though he made no +pretension to being a very good man, and sometimes used sharper words +than were pleasant to hear, he loved the truth and hated a lie, and +lived an honourable life among them, and all men regarded him with +respect, and most men with affection. + +So, putting all things together, Davie and Katie and the other young +people of Gershom had a fair chance of a happy winter, and so it proved +to the brother and sister. There were plenty of amusements going on in +the village, but with these they had little to do. Their grandfather +fretted if they were not at home in the evening, and it was no +self-denial for them to stay away from all gay village doings--at least +it was none to Davie. Except the master's lectures, and those debates +and spelling-schools in which the reputation and honour of the +High-School were concerned, he scorned them all. Katie did not scorn +them. She would have enjoyed more of them than fell to her share, but +yet was willing to agree with her grandmother that more might not be +good for her, and was on the whole content without them. + +Very rarely does there come in a lifetime a triumph so unmixed as the +boy enjoys who is not only declared first, but shows himself before his +whole world to be first in the village school. It does not matter +whether he distinguishes himself by the spelling of many-syllabled +words, and the repeating of rules and the multiplication table, or by +his proficiency in higher branches, which are mysteries to the greater +part of the admiring audience. It is all the same a triumph, pure, +unmixed, satisfying. At least it possesses all these qualities in a +higher degree than any future triumph can possibly possess them. + +Such a triumph was Davie's. It was Katie's too in a way, but it was +Davie's chiefly on this occasion, because it was his for the first time. +But that did not spoil Katie's pleasure at all. Quite the contrary. +Davie's triumph was hers, and she almost forgot to answer when her own +name was called to receive her merited share of the honours, so full was +she of the thought of what her grandfather would say when she should +tell him about Davie. + +And Katie had a little triumph all her own. It troubled her for a +while, and did not come to anything after all, but still it was a +triumph, and acknowledged to be such by all Gershom. She was chosen out +of all the girls who had been Mr Burnet's pupils during the winter, to +teach the village school. The village school stood next to the +High-School, and for Katie Fleming, not yet sixteen, to be chosen a +teacher, was a feather in her cap indeed. Her grandfather was greatly +pleased and so was Miss Elizabeth. Mrs Fleming, coveting for her good +and clever Katie advantages which in their circumstances she could only +hope to enjoy through her own exertions, would have been willing to +spare her from home, and Miss Elizabeth, who had come to love the girl +dearly, knew that she could often have her with her, should she be in +the village during the summer. But Katie never kept the village school, +nor any school. Her grandfather did not like the idea of it, nor did +Davie. Miss Betsey Holt set her face against it from the very first, +though why she should interest herself especially in the matter did not +clearly appear. The chances were that it would be but a poor school +that a child like Katie Fleming would keep, clever scholar though she +was, Miss Betsey said, which was very possibly quite true. But it was +on Katie's own account that she did not approve of the place. + +"Not that it would hurt her as it might some girls to `board round' in +the village houses, a week at a time, as she would have to do, and leave +her evenings free to spend with the idle young folks of the place. It, +maybe, wouldn't spoil that pretty pot of violets to have the street dust +blow on them for an hour or two, but you wouldn't care about having them +set out to catch it. And Katie Fleming is better at home making butter +for her grandmother than she would be anywhere else, and happier too, if +she only knew it." + +Miss Betsey said this to Miss Elizabeth one day when she called, having +some business with the squire, and she said something like it to the +grandmother, which helped to a decision that Katie was to stay at home. +Katie was a little disappointed for the moment, but she acknowledged +that she might have failed with the school, and that she was much needed +at home; and Davie's satisfaction at the decision did much to reconcile +her to it. And all the rest were satisfied as well as Davie, for +Katie's being at home made a great deal of difference in the house. + +Even Mrs Fleming, with her hopeful nature and her firm trust in God, +had times of great anxiety with regard to Davie. He was so like the son +who had gone so early astray, who had darkened all his father's life, +and nearly broken his heart, that she could not but anxiously watch his +words and his ways, attaching to them sometimes an importance that was +neither wise nor reasonable. His grandfather's discipline was strict, +not to say severe, and Davie's resistance, or rather his unwilling +submission and obedience, for he seldom resisted his grandfather's will, +made her afraid. Though she would not have acknowledged it to Davie, +she knew that his grandfather was hard on him sometimes, far harder +than, for such faults as Davie's, she herself would have been, and she +feared that unwilling or resentful obedience might in time change to +rebellion, and beyond such a possibility as that the anxious grandmother +did not dare to look. + +But it was only once in a great while that she suffered herself to +contemplate the possibility of "anything happening" to Davie. The sore +troubles she had passed through had shaken her somewhat, and she was +growing old, but her bright and sunny nature generally asserted itself, +in spite of the weakness which troubles and old age bring. So when she +had occasion to speak to the old man about Davie, trying to make him +more hopeful concerning him, and more patient with his faults, she could +do so with a faith in the boy's future which could not fail sometimes to +inspire him with the same hopefulness. + +And indeed Davie was not more wilful and wayward than is often the case +with lads of his age, nor was he idle, or inclined to do less than his +just share of what was to be done. On the contrary, he had great good +sense and perseverance in carrying out any plans of work which suited +his ideas of how work ought to be done. But unfortunately his plans +were not always exactly those of his grandfather. Of course he did not +hesitate to acknowledge his grandfather's right to do as he pleased in +his own place, when his grandmother put it to him in that way, and he +was quite as ready to acknowledge that his wisdom as to matters in +general, and as to farm-work in particular, was "not to be mentioned in +the same day" with that of his grandfather. But when the work was to be +done, he did not yield readily to suggestions, or even to commands, and +had a way of coming back to the disputed point, and even of carrying it, +to a certain extent, which looked to his grandfather like sheer +perversity. + +And even when Davie's plans proved themselves to have been worthy of +consideration, because of the success that attended them now and then, +even success seemed a small matter to the stern old man, because of the +disobedience to his commands, or the ignoring of his known wishes which +the success implied. + +So dear, bright, patient grannie had "her own adoes" between these two +whom she loved so well, and her best hope and comfort in all matters +which concerned them was Katie. + +For Katie's first thought always was, her grandfather. That he should +have nothing to vex him, that his days should be brightened and his +cares lightened, seemed to Katie the chief thing there was to think +about. She had learned this from her grandmother, whose first thought +he had been for many a year and day, and Katie's many pretty ways of +"doing good to grandfather" did quite as much good to grannie. + +As to Davie's "fancies," as she called his many plans and projects, she +had great interest in some of them, and gave him good help in carrying +them out, but she had no sympathy or patience with any sign of +willfulness, or carelessness where their grandfather was concerned. But +she loved her brother dearly, and helped him through some difficulties +with others besides her grandfather, and Davie, having confidence in her +affections, submitted to her guidance, and was more influenced by her +opinions and wishes than he knew. And though she scolded him heartily +sometimes, and set her face against any disobedience or seeming +disrespect to their grandfather, she gave him good help often, and so +eagerly entered into all his plans, when she saw her way clearly to the +end of them, that he heeded her all the more readily when she differed +from him and refused her help. + +So Mrs Fleming's dependence on Katie was not misplaced, and she +wondered at herself, when she had time to think about it, that she +should ever have supposed it possible that she could be spared from +home. + +"But, oh, my dear!" said she one day to Katie's mother, "it's a woeful +thing to set up idols, and you must put me in mind, as I must put you, +that we're both in danger here. For who among them all is like our +Katie? Not but that she has her faults," added she, coming back to the +business of the moment, as she watched Katie letting her full pail run +over, while she enticed the kitten into a race after its tail: "Katie, +my woman, you should leave the like of that to wee Nannie; I think +you'll need all your time till supper-time.--But faults, did I say? It +is scarcely a fault to be lighthearted, and easily pleased. But oh, +Anne, my dear, we have need to take care." + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +KATIE'S FRIENDSHIPS. + +The life which healthy, good-tempered, unsophisticated children may live +on a farm has in it more of the elements of true enjoyment than can be +found in almost any other kind of life. If poverty or the necessity of +constant work press too severely upon them, of course the enjoyment is +interfered with, but not even poverty or hard work can spoil it +altogether. There are always the sunshine and the sweet air; there are +the freshness and the beauty of the early morning, which not one in ten +of the dwellers in town know anything of by experience; the dawn, the +sunrise, the glitter of dewdrops, the numberless sweet sounds and scents +that belong to no other time. Young people with open eyes and quick +sympathies find countless sources of interest and enjoyment in the +beautiful growing things of the woods and fields, and in the ceaseless +changes going on among them. Almost unconsciously they gain through all +these a wisdom which is better than book lore, a discipline of heart and +mind and temper which tends to soften and elevate the whole nature, +leaving them less open to the temptations incident to youth and evil +companionships. + +They were very happy together, these two fast and true friends, as they +never might have become had they had at this time more frequent +intercourse with other young people; and true friendship between brother +and sister is the perfect ideal of friendship. It does not always exist +even between brothers and sisters who love each other dearly. It is +something more than the natural affection which strengthens (as children +grow older) into brotherly and sisterly love. It implies something that +is not always found where the ties of blood and kindred are most warmly +cherished, not a blindness to each other's faults or defects of +character, but a full and loving appreciation of all admirable qualities +both of mind and heart, a harmony of feeling, sentiments, and tastes +which does not exist between brothers and sisters generally. + +Day by day Mrs Fleming grew more and more at ease about Davie, seeing +the love between the brother and sister. + +"A year or two and the laddie's restless time will be over, and all that +makes us anxious about him now, his plans and fancies, his craze for +books, and his longing to put his hand to the guiding of his ain life +will be modified by the knowledge that comes with experience. But, eh +me! What is the use of speaking o' experience? If only the good Father +above would take him in hand! And who shall say that He is not doing it +even now, and making our bonny Katie the instrument of His will for her +brother's good? And, Dawvid, we mustna be hard on the laddie, but just +let him have his fancies about things, and let him carry them out when +they are harmless, and when they dinna cost ower muckle money," added +grannie, with prudent afterthought, for some of Davie's fancies would +have cost money if he had been allowed "to go the full length of his +tether." + +"And after all is said, there is sense in his fancies. It would be a +grand thing to have a hundredweight or two of honey, as he says we +might, and never kill the bees. Think of that now! And nothing spent +on them, but all the blossom on the trees, and all the flowers of the +field theirs for the taking. And as for the new milk-house, with ice in +it, and running water, it would be a grand thing. And, as Katie says, +it's almost as easy to take care of the milk of ten cows as six, and +there is pasture enough. As to the churning, if it could be done by the +running water, wouldna that be a fine help? And we must just have +patience with him, as the Lord has had with us this many a year and +day." + +Mrs Fleming got no answer to all this. She did not expect one. This +was the way she took to familiarise the grandfather's mind with plans +that might come to something. The old man's habitual caution was +changing with the passing years into timidity and dread of change; and +his long dwelling on his state of indebtedness, and the subjection to +his "enemy" that it implied, made him afraid of anything that would +render it necessary to dispense the smallest sum for any other purpose +than the payment of this debt. His son James had let his money go from +him with a free hand, and though he might have got it back again had he +lived, his father could not but remember that it was through his plans, +through his desire to improve the fortunes of his family, which had +carried him beyond his means, that this debt, or a part of it, had been +left upon them. + +As for Davie, what could a lad like him know about such things? Fancies +that would lead to nothing but waste and want! And yet his wife's words +told upon him as all her words did sooner or later. + +"Would you like it then, Katie, my woman?" said he, as one night, when +all the work was over, he came on Katie sitting with Nannie and Sandy on +the bank of the burn. Davie was on the other side pacing up and down, +measuring out, as they had done together many times before, the site of +the new milk-house. Many thoughts and words had Davie expended upon it, +and so had Katie for that matter. So she rose and walked with her +grandfather along the burnside, out of Davie's hearing, and then she +answered brightly: + +"Ay, that I would, grandfather; not just now, ye ken, but after a while, +when it can be done without going into debt. It would be grand. And I +could sell twice as much butter as we make now, if we had it. I like +butter-making." And so on, touching on more of Davie's fancies than her +grandfather had heard of yet, till they came back to the lad, still +intent on his measurements, with his eyes fixed on a paper on which he +was industriously figuring. + +"The foundation must be of stone, Katie, because of the swelling of the +burn in spring and fall, but the stones are at hand, and cost no money. +And we might gather them on rainy days, grandfather, not to take time +from other work; I can make the frame myself, but the foundation must be +of stone." + +Katie stood still, surprised and a little frightened. She was not sure +how all this might be taken, for though they had made much enjoyment for +themselves out of the new dairy that was to be, and had spoken to +"grannie" and their mother about it, this was the first direct +intimation they had given to their grandfather. He smiled grimly, +however; indeed he laughed, which did not often happen with him. + +"A foundation! and stone, too! I didna think you needed foundations to +your fancies, Davie, lad." + +"Well, maybe no' just as long as they are fancies, grandfather," said +Davie, looking outwardly a little sheepish, but with inward triumph, as +Katie knew quite well. For to get his grandfather to listen to him was +a great step. "And now, Katie, I'll just ask grandfather which is +right, you or me. Come over here, grandfather, and tell us which you +think the best place for it. Katie thinks this is ower far from the +house, but I think not." + +The grandfather actually crossed the burn, and went with him, Katie +following with a smiling face and joyful heart. They did not decide +much that night, but ever after the new milk-house was considered a +settled thing, and much good they got out of it before either stone or +stick was laid down beside the burn. For Davie got on better with his +grandfather after that, and fifteen-year lad as he was, did a grown +man's work from day to day, growing thin upon it for a while, but +growing tall also, and losing his pretty boyish looks, of which Katie +and his mother had been so proud. + +So the summer work was done, and the summer pleasure, which was greater +than they knew, as the pleasure which comes with busy uneventful days +generally is. But it was a happy summer, and must have been so even if +the drawbacks had been more numerous and harder to bear. + +Katie had one pleasure which her brother could not share, but which +pleased her grandmother well: this was the friendship of Miss Elizabeth. +Ever since the night of her first visit with her brother and the +minister, Elizabeth had taken pains to renew her intimacy with Mrs +Fleming and Katie, to their mutual satisfaction. On stormy nights +during the winter, Elizabeth had sometimes sent for Katie to the school, +that she might be saved the long cold walk home, and Katie liked to go. +During the summer she could not be spared often, but she went now and +then, and their friendship grew apace. + +On Katie's part it was more than friendship. It was like "falling in +love." She did not say much about it, it was not her way. But she +thought of her friend's words and ways, and opinions, and seeing her +superiority to people in general, Miss Elizabeth became to her the ideal +of all womanly sweetness and excellence. Miss Elizabeth could not but +be touched and charmed by the affection which was thus rather betrayed +than expressed, and though she was sometimes amused by her devotion, it +greatly pleased her as well. + +"Yours must be such a happy life, Miss Elizabeth," said Katie one night +when she was visiting her friend, and they were sitting together after +Mrs Holt had gone to bed. + +Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. "Tell me what my life is like?" + +There was a pause, during which Katie considered. + +"You have a quiet life, and you are a comfort to your father, and +everybody loves you." + +"I am afraid there are some people who do not love me much. As to my +father, yes. I shall never be quite a useless person while he needs me. +But as to my life being a happy life--" + +"You have leisure," said Katie after a little, "and you take pleasure in +so many things--things going on far away, and that happened long ago. +And you care for books, and you understand people. And you believe in +great principles of action, and you are not afraid. I cannot say just +what I mean." + +"But, Katie, all that is as true of you as it is of me, except perhaps +the leisure." + +"I am only a child almost," said Katie, with a little rising colour. +"But when I am a woman I should like my life to be just like yours." + +There was silence for a minute or two, then Katie went on: + +"I once heard Mr Burnet tell my grandfather that you did more by the +real interest you take in everything that is good and right, and by your +bright, unselfish ways, to keep up a healthy, happy state of things +among the young people of the place, than even the minister's preaching. +That was in old Mr Hollister's time, however," added the truth-loving +Katie reflectively. + +Miss Elizabeth smiled. "Mr Burnet is partial in his judgment." + +"But you are happy, Miss Elizabeth," said Katie wistfully. + +"Am I? I ought to be, I suppose; yes, I think so. I am content, and +that is better than happiness, they say." + +This was something that required consideration. + +"`Godliness with contentment is great gain;' that is what Paul said. +Perhaps he thought it better than happiness too." + +"And Solomon says, `A contented mind is a continual feast,'" said Miss +Elizabeth, smiling at her face of grave consideration. + +"I wonder what is the difference?" said Katie. "Folk are contented +without knowing it, I suppose. I have been contented all my life, and +if I had my wish about some things I would be happy." + +"What things?" + +"If we had no debt," said Katie, decidedly. "And if we had a little +more money, so that we would not need to consider about things so much, +and so that Davie could go to school all the year, and perhaps to the +college, and the rest too, Nannie and Sandy and all. And we should have +the dairy built over the burn, with a store of ice in it, and marble +shelves, like one grandmother saw at Braemar. Well, not marble perhaps. +That might be foolish, but we should have everything to make the work +light, and there would be time for other things. My grandfather should +plant trees, and graft them and prime them and work away at his leisure, +not troubling himself as to how it was all to come out at the end of the +year. And my mother should have a low carriage, just like yours, Miss +Elizabeth, and old Kelso should have nothing to do but draw it for her +pleasure. And grannie--oh, grannie should wear a soft grey gown every +day of the year, and neck-kerchiefs of the finest lawn, as she used to +do--and such sheets and table-cloths as she should have, and she should +never need to wet her fingers--only I am not sure that she would be any +happier for that," said Katie, pulling herself up suddenly. + +"And what would you have for yourself?" said Miss Elizabeth, wishing to +hear more. + +"I should have leisure," said Katie decidedly, as though she had thought +it over and made up her mind. "I should have time for fine sewing, and +to learn things--not just making lessons of them, and hurrying over them +as they do at the school. I should have time to think about them, and I +should have books and music, and a room like yours. Oh, dear me! What +is the use of thinking about it," said Katie, with a sigh. + +"And after all, contentment with things as they are, would answer every +purpose," said Miss Elizabeth. + +"Yes, but there are some things with which it is impossible to be +contented--without wishing to change them, I mean--debt, and sickness, +and having too much to do. And there are some things in people's lives +that cannot be changed." + +"And with such things we must just try and content ourselves," said +Elizabeth. + +"Yes. And contentment depends more on ourselves, and less on other +folk, than happiness does. And so we are safer with just contentment," +said Katie, and in a little she added, "Submission to God's will, that +would be contentment." + +"That would be happiness," said Elizabeth, and there was nothing more +said for a long time. + +They were sitting in Miss Elizabeth's sitting-room, a perfect room to +Katie Fleming's mind, and the only light came from the red embers of the +wood-fire, now falling low. Miss Elizabeth was leaning back among the +cushions of her father's great arm-chair, and Katie sat on a low chair +opposite, with a book on her lap. Miss Elizabeth was "seeing things in +the fire," Katie knew, by the look on her face, wondering what she saw. +She looked "like a picture," sitting there in her pretty dress, with her +cheek upon her hand. What a soft white hand it was, with its one bright +ring sparkling in the firelight! Katie looked at it, and then at her +own. Hers was not very large, but it was red and roughened, bearing +traces of her daily work. She held it up and looked at it in the +firelight, not at all knowing why she did it, but with the strangest +feeling of discomfort. It was not the difference of the hands that +troubled her. Somehow she seemed to be looking, not at the two hands, +but at the two lives, hers and Miss Elizabeth's. + +For Miss Elizabeth's was a pleasant life, though she had looked grave +when she said so. She had so many things to enjoy--her music, her +reading, her flowers, with only pleasant household duties, and above all +she had leisure. Katie thought of her as she had seen her often, +sitting in the church, or in the garden among her flowers, or under the +trees in the village street, looking so fair and sweet, so different +from any one else, so very different from Katie herself, and a momentary +overpowering discontent seized her--discontent with herself, her home, +her manner of life, with the constant daily work which seemed to come to +nothing but just a bare living. It was the same thing over and over +again, housework and dairy-work, and waking and sleeping, with nothing +to show for it all at the year's end. What was the good of it all? + +Katie let her book fall on the floor as she put her hands together with +a sudden impatient movement, and the sound startled her out of her +vexing thoughts. + +"What would grannie say, I wonder, if she knew?" muttered she, as she +stooped to pick up the book. She felt her face grow hot, and then she +laughed at her foolishness, and looked up to meet Miss Elizabeth's eye. + +"What is it, Katie? What are you thinking about?" + +"I was thinking about--grannie," said Katie in confusion. + +"Well, what about her?" + +"Oh! I don't know. I cannot tell you. Only I shall never be so good a +woman as grannie, I'm afraid." + +"But then you have a long time before you. I don't think you need to be +discouraged yet," said Miss Elizabeth, laughing. + +But Katie was very much ashamed of herself, and did not forgive herself +till she had talked the matter over, first with her grandmother, and +then with Davie. Davie only laughed at her with a little good-natured +contempt. He did not share his sister's enthusiasm about Miss +Elizabeth, and did not quite approve of the great friendship between +them. But as to making a sin of a moment's envy of her friend, and a +moment's discontent with her own life--Davie laughed at the idea. + +But her grandmother did not laugh. + +"My dear lassie, it is the way with us all. We are ready to turn our +best helps into snares to catch our feet. Miss Elizabeth's kindness may +do you much good in many ways, but if it should make you envious, and +should fill you with discontent, that would be sad indeed. And I doubt +you'll need to watch yourself, and maybe punish yourself, by hiding away +from her for a while." + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +GERSHOM MANUFACTURING COMPANY. + +The possibility and desirableness of advancing the interests of the town +of Gershom by the still further "utilising" of the waters of the Beaver +River for manufacturing purposes, had long been a matter earnestly +discussed among the people. At various towns within the last five years +measures had been proposed, tending toward the accomplishment of this +object, but hitherto it had been with little result. + +As a rule, the various industries which now gave prosperity and +importance to the place had grown out of small beginnings. On the spot +where now stood Cartwright's Carriage Factory, well known through all +the countryside, old Joshua Cartwright had faithfully and laboriously +spent his days in making tubs and stools, sugar-troughs, and axe-helves +for the early settlers. The shed where, in those days, Simon Horton had +shod their horses and oxen, had grown in the course of years into the +Gershom axe-factory, which bade fair to make a rich man of his +daughter's son. + +But the slow and sure process which had served their fathers in their +advances toward wealth were not likely to content the men of Gershom +now, and there had been much talk among them about the forming of a +company to be called "The Gershom Manufacturing Company," the object of +which was to be the establishment of new industries in the town. + +Meetings were held, and speeches were made. The "enterprise and public +spirit of certain of our fellow-townsmen" were highly lauded, and a +wonderful future of prosperity for the town of Gershom and the +surrounding country was foretold as the result of the step about to be +taken. The Beaver River was made the subject of long and laudatory +discussion. Its motive power was calculated and valued, and the long +running to waste of its waters deplored. A committee was appointed for +the arranging of preliminaries, and that was as far as the matter +progressed at that time. + +Other attempts were made later in the same direction. Some of them +passed beyond preliminary arrangements, and more than once the more +sanguine among the promoters of these schemes made sure of a successful +issue, but all had failed when the practical part of the business had +been touched. + +The cause of this did not always clearly appear. Once at least it was +attributed by some of the disappointed towns-people to the obstinacy and +avarice of Jacob Holt. The old woollen-mill built by Gershom Holt in +the early days of the settlement had served a good purpose in the +country for a good many years. But it was time now, it was thought, for +the work to be carried on in Gershom on a larger scale. The old +building itself was of little value, and the old-fashioned machinery it +contained was of less, but the site was considered to be the best in +Gershom for a manufactory of the kind. Jacob Holt professed to be quite +ready to dispose of it to the company on reasonable terms; but when it +came to the point, no agreement could be made as to what were reasonable +terms, and so the old mill plodded on in the old way for a while, and +within a year a new mill was built in the neighbouring township of +Fosbrooke. There was much indignation expressed with regard to this +matter in Gershom, but Jacob troubled himself little about it. The old +mill had gone the way of most old mills since then; it had caught fire +one wintry night and burned to the ground, and the Gershom paper-mill +had been built on the site. + +Jacob had not come down in his ideas as to the value he set upon it, but +he had been content to take shares in the building instead of the "cash +down" which he had demanded before. In this way, and in other ways, he +came by and by to be the largest shareholder in the concern, and when +later, partly through the inefficiency of the person who had charge of +the business, and partly for other reasons, paper-making began to look +like a losing concern, the value of the shares went down, and in course +of time most of them fell into his hands. So it was "Holt's Paper-mill" +now, and there was no other manufacturing company as yet in existence in +Gershom. The chances were, it was said, that had the first company +succeeded with the woollen-mill it might have fallen into the same +hands, and as far as the general property of the town was concerned, it +might as well have been Jacob Holt's hands as others'. But those who +had lost, or who fancied they had lost, by his part in these two +transactions, were watchful and suspicious of his movements when once +more the wise men of Gershom began to see visions of what might be done +by the combined powers of the Beaver River, the enterprise of the +people, and the use of a moderate amount of capital to advance the +prosperity of their town. + +Their ideas had still advanced with the times. Their plans were not +limited to a woollen-mill now. Machine shops of all sorts, a match +factory, furniture-shops, even a cotton factory was spoken of. Indeed, +there were no limits to the manufacturing possibilities of the place, as +far as talk went. Money was needed, and a good deal of it, and the +people of Gershom wisely contemplated the propriety of making use of +other people's money in building up the town, and for this purpose it +was desirable that the company should embrace the rich men of other +towns as well. Some of those rich men came in an informal way and +looked about, and admired the Beaver River, and talked and thought a +good deal about the scheme. The banks of the river above and below the +town were examined with a view to deciding on the building of a new dam, +and Mr Fleming's refusal to sell any part of his land had been in +answer to Jacob Holt's offer on behalf of the prospective company. + +All this had taken place about the time when Mr Maxwell came to +Gershom, and when he had been there a year no advance had been made in +the way of actual work. + +The greater part of the land on the north side of the river, as far up +as Ythan Brae, had always belonged to the Holts. During the past year +the land of Mark Varney, on the south side, had also fallen into their +hands. For poor Mark's wife died, and any hope that his friends were +beginning to have that he might redeem his character was quite lost for +the time. He sold his place, already heavily burdened with debt, to +Jacob Holt; his mother became Mr Maxwell's housekeeper in the new +parsonage, taking her little grandchild with her, and poor Mark went +away--none for a while knew whither. + +But the chief thing that concerned the people of Gershom was that Jacob +Holt had got his land, and the conclusion at once arrived at was that at +the point on the river where his pasture and wood-lot met, the new dam +was to be made, and that on his land, and on the land opposite, the new +factories, and the new town that must grow out of them, were to be +built. + +"What Jacob ought to do now would be to go right on and make a good +beginning on his own account. If there is ever going to be anything +done in Gershom, that is the spot for it, and the company would have to +come to his terms at last." + +So said Gershom folks, wondering that the rich man of the place should +"kind o' hang back" when such a chance of money-making seemed to lie +before him. But Jacob knew several things as yet only surmised by +Gershom folks in general. It was by no means certain after all that the +Gershom Manufacturing Company would come into existence immediately. +And even if it should, the chances were that among its members would be +more than one man who would be little likely to yield himself to the +dictation or even to the direction of Jacob Holt, as his townsmen had +fallen into the way of doing where the outlay of capital was concerned. +It would be easy to make a beginning, but Jacob looked further than a +beginning. + +Gershom was not the only place whose inhabitants cherished the ambition +to become a manufacturing community and there were other rivers besides +the Beaver running to waste, which might be made available as a +manufacturing power. A company, with sufficient amount of stock +subscribed and paid for, might agree to put Fosbrooke, or Fairfax, or +Crowsville down as the name, and carry their money, and their influence, +and the chance of acquiring wealth to either of their thriving towns; +and a beginning in Gershom would amount to very little in such a case. + +And then the river bank on the Varney place was not, in Mr Holt's +opinion, the best place for the new mills and the new village. It was +not to be compared to the point just below which Bear's Creek, or, as +the Flemings called it, Ythan Brae, flowed into the Beaver, and this +also belonged to Mr Fleming. Jacob would have liked to make his +beginning there. He knew, for he had taken advice on the matter, that +at the Varney place no dam of sufficient capacity to answer all the +purposes which were contemplated by the company could be made, without +at certain seasons of the year so flooding the land above it as to +render it useless for any purpose. He might have taken the risk of +probable lawsuits, and gone on with the work, if it had depended on him +alone to decide the matter. But it did not. Or he would have bought +it, but that it belonged to David Fleming, who would listen to no +proposal from his "enemy." + +It was not that Mr Fleming was not satisfied with the terms offered. +He would listen to no terms. Indeed he refused to discuss the matter +with his neighbours, not only with those who might be suspected of +wishing for one reason or another to convince him of the folly of not +taking advantage of a good offer for his land, but with those who +sympathised with him in his dislike to Jacob Holt, who went further than +he did even, and called the rich man not only avaricious, but worse. He +would listen to nothing about it, but rose and turned his back on the +bold man who ventured to approach the subject in his presence. + +In all this Jacob Holt felt himself to be hardly used. He declared to +himself that he wished to do the right thing by Mr Fleming. He was +willing to give him the full value of every foot of his land, and above +its value. That the advancement of the interests of the town and the +welfare of the whole community should be interfered with, because of an +obstinate old man's whim, seemed to him intolerable; he did not want the +land. Let Mr Fleming treat with the company--there was no company as +yet, however--and let him pay him his just debt, that was all he asked +of him. + +He did not speak often about this to any one--not a man in Gershom but +had more to say about it than he. But he thought about it continually. +If it had been any other man in Gershom who had so withstood him, he +would long ago have taken such measures as would have brought him to his +senses. He could do so lawfully, by and by. The law had sustained him +in dealing with much harder cases than Mr Fleming's, though it was not +altogether pleasant to remember some of them. But there could be no +question but that it would be for the interest of the Flemings, old and +young, were his terms agreed to. No one would have a right to say a +word, though he were to carry his point against the old man, and claim +what was his due. + +All this he said to himself many times, but still he could not do it, at +least he could not bring himself to do it at once. His father, though +he acknowledged the unreasonableness of his friend, would yet be grieved +at the taking of extreme measures against him; his sister would be +indignant, and he was a little afraid of Elizabeth. The church union, +which he with all the rest of Gershom had earnestly desired, would be +endangered; for he knew by many tokens that some of the North Gore men +were hanging back because of him. Public opinion would not sustain him +in any steps taken against so old a man, and one who had seen so much +trouble since he came among them, and he did not wish to take severe +measures, he told himself many times. It is just possible that the +remembrance of the lad who had been his companion and friend, who had +been cut off in the flower of his youth, to the never-dying sorrow of +the old man who opposed him, had something to do with his hesitation in +this matter. But even to himself this was never acknowledged; all he +could do was to wait and see whether some sudden turn of events might +not serve to bring about his purpose better than severity could do. + +In the meantime, after many thoughts about it, when the few scanty +fields on the Varney place were harvested, he did make a beginning. He +brought old Joe Middlemas to the place, who walked about with all the +appliances for surveying it, and for laying it out in building lots. He +had some trees cut down, and some hillocks levelled, and kept several +men for a time employed in bringing loads of stone to the river's bank, +in a way that looked very much like making a beginning. But the heavy +autumn rains put an end to all this for a while, and as yet there +existed no manufacturing company in Gershom, nor was there any immediate +prospect that the hopes of the people with regard to it were likely to +be realised. + +"They're fine at speaking, grannie," said young Davie, who had been +keeping his eyes and his ears open to all that was going on in Gershom. +"But grandfather and you may be at peace about the dam and the mischief +it might do for a while anyway. It may come in my day, but it winna +come in yours, unless that should happen which is not very likely to +happen, and all the rich men in the country should put their names and +their money at the disposal of King Jacob. He may measure his land, and +gather his sticks and his stones together, but that is all it will come +to, this while at any rate. Though why grandfather should be so +unwilling to part with a few acres of poor land to Jacob Holt is more +than I can understand." + +"It is a wonder to me, Davie lad, where you got such a conceit of +yourself. One would think you were in folks' secrets, and spoke with +authority. It will do here at home with Katie and your mother and me, +but I am thinking other folk would laugh to hear you." + +But Mrs Fleming was relieved for all that, for Davie was, in her +opinion, a lad of sense and discretion for his years, though she did not +think it necessary to tell him so, and she took comfort in the thought +that her husband would have a while's peace, as little more could be +done till the spring opened again. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE TWO COUSINS. + +A great disappointment was preparing for Elizabeth. Her brother +completed his studies, and brought home his diploma, whether he deserved +it or not, and spent a pleasant six weeks at home, "resting from his +labours," as he said, and then he announced his intention of going to +reside in the city of Montreal, to pursue there the study of the law. +It had always been taken for granted that when his studies came to an +end, he was to go into the business of the Holts, and settle down in +Gershom. + +"And what good should I do in the business?" said he to his sister; +"should I stand behind the counter in the store and sell yards of calico +and pounds of tea? Or should I take the tannery in hand, or the +paper-mill? Or should I go into the new company that Jacob seems so +bent on getting up? Now, Lizzie, do be reasonable and tell me what good +I should do in the business." + +"I know that few young men in the country could hope for such a start in +life. It is not necessary that you should sell tea or calico either, +except by the hands of those you may employ--though if you were to do +it, it would be no discredit to you--and no more than your father did +before you many a day." + +"Discredit! No, that is not the thing. But I can do something better +for myself than that; I am going to try at least." + +"If self is your first consideration--But, Clifton, whether you think it +or not, you could do much in the business, and you are needed in it. +Jacob has more on his hands than he can do well, and even if he had not, +it is your affair that the business should prosper as well as his. All +we have is in it, and what do any of us know as to how our affairs +stand? We are altogether in Jacob's hands." + +"Come, now, Lizzie! Let Cousin Betsey and the rest of them run down +Jacob. It is rather hard on him that his own sister should join them. +I believe he is an honest man--as honesty among business men goes." + +"I am not speaking of honesty or dishonesty. But Jacob is not such a +man of business as our father was." + +"No, but with his chances, he cannot but be carrying on a prosperous +business. Oh, I'll risk Jacob." + +"But, Clifton, all that we have is in the business, and we ought to +know." + +"Why, Lizzie! who ever thought before that you were mercenary and +suspicious, and I don't know what else besides? What has Jacob been +doing to `aggravate' you lately, that you should be down on him?" + +"Clifton, you must not dismiss the matter so lightly. I am thinking far +more of you than of myself. You can never do better for yourself +anywhere, and why should you change your plans now, after all these +years?" + +"Have I ever said that I was to stay in Gershom? I don't say that I +won't come back for good, some time. Gershom does seem to be the place +for a halt but as to going into the business right away, no, I thank +you." + +"I think you are wrong." + +"Nonsense! What do you suppose, now, Jacob would do if I were to bring +him to book, and claim a right to know all about his business +transactions, and his plans and prospects? It would be a mere farce my +making believe to go into the business." + +"Possibly you might make it so, but it need not be so. But I cannot +think it wise or right for you to go to Montreal. It is like setting +aside the plans of your whole life to leave Gershom." + +"No; you are mistaken. Though I have said nothing about it, I have not +this many a day meant to settle down here. I may ultimately `hang out +my shingle' here, or I may be appointed judge of the district by and by, +and then I'll come back and be a bigger man than Jacob, even." + +But Elizabeth could not laugh at his nonsense. She was afraid for her +brother. She had longed for his return home, saying to herself that +home influence and a busy life would be better for him than the careless +life he had been living as a student; that with responsibility laid upon +him, he would forget his follies, and be all that she longed to see him. + +"Think of our father's disappointment. How can you ever tell him that +you are going away?" + +"While he has you he will be all right, and he will always be looking +forward to the time when I shall come home for good, for I fully intend +to settle here by and by. I confess it is hard for you to be kept +stationary here, Lizzie. It looks mean in me to go away and leave you, +doesn't it?" + +"If it were going to be for your good--But, Clifton I don't believe it." + +"I ought to give myself the best chance, ought I not? I must go to +Montreal. But, Lizzie, why don't you say at once that I am not to be +trusted in the city with its temptations? That is what you are thinking +of." + +Elizabeth did not deny it. She was thinking of it sadly enough. + +"That is one reason against it," said she. + +"Well, get rid of that fear. I am all right. I should be worse off +loafing round here with little to do, and I shall be home often. Now, +Lizzie, don't spoil the last days by fretting about what is not to be +helped. I'm bound to go." + +And go he did. Elizabeth could only submit in silence. His father +missed him less than she had feared he might. He was home several times +during the autumn and winter, and always spoke of the time when he was +coming for good, and his father was content with that. + +Whether her brother Jacob was really disappointed or not at Clifton's +decision, Elizabeth could not tell. "Jacob had never counted much on +any help he would be likely to get from his brother," Mrs Jacob said. +She was quite inclined to make a grievance of his going away, as she +would probably have made a grievance of his staying, if he had stayed. +But Jacob said little about it, and everything went on as before. + +Elizabeth had the prospect of a quieter winter than even the last had +been. Her father was less able to enjoy the company of his old friends +than he had been. He grew weary very soon now, and liked better the +quiet of the house when only Elizabeth was with him. His active habits +and his interest in the business had long survived any real +responsibility as to the affairs of the farm, but even these were +failing him now. When the weather was bright and fine he usually once a +day moved slowly down the village street, where every eye and voice +greeted him respectfully, and every hand was ready to guide his feeble +steps. He paid a daily visit to the store, or the tannery, or the +paper-mill, as he had done for so many years, but it was from habit +merely. He often came wearily home to slumber through the rest of the +day. + +He was querulous sometimes and exacting as to his daughter's care, and +she rarely left him for a long time. She looked forward to no social +duties in the way of merry-making for the young folks of the place this +year. Even Clifton's coming home now and then did not enliven the house +in this respect as it had done in former winters. Many a quiet day and +long, silent evening did she pass before the new year came in, and she +would have had more of them had it not been for her Cousin Betsey. + +Once or twice, when her father had suffered from some slight turn of +illness, Elizabeth had sent for her cousin, whose reputation as a nurse +had been long established, and Betsey had come at first, at some +inconvenience to herself, from a sense of duty. Afterward she came +because she knew she was welcome, and because she liked to come, and all +the work at home, most of which fell to her willing hands, was so +planned and arranged that she might at a moment's notice leave her +mother and her sister Cynthia to their own resources and the willing and +effective help of Ben. After a time, few weeks passed that she did not +look in upon them. + +"He may drop away most any time, mother," said she, "and she hasn't seen +trouble enough yet to be good for much to help him or herself either, at +a time like that." + +"And you are so good in sickness. And your uncle Gershom's been a good +friend to us always," said her mother. "I'm glad you should be with him +when you can, and with her too. And trouble may do Lizzie good." + +"Well, it may be. Some folks don't seem to need so much trouble as +others, at least they don't get so much, but Cousin Lizzie isn't going +to be let alone in that respect, I don't think. Well, I guess I'll go +along over, and I'll get back before night if nothing happens, and if I +am not, as it's considerable drifted between here and the corner, Ben +might come down after supper and see what is going on." + +"Trouble!" repeated Miss Betsey, as she gathered up the reins and laid +the whip lightly on the back of "old Samson." + +"Trouble is just as folks take it. I have had my own share in my day, +or I thought so," she added, with a sharp little laugh. "I just wonder +what I should have done now if the Lord had let me have my own way about +some things." + +Old Samson moved steadily along, past Joel Bean's, and the bridge, and +up the hill that brought Gershom in sight, and then she said aloud: "But +then things might have been different," and then old Samson felt the +whip laid on with a little more decision this time, and this, probably +with the anticipation of the measure of oats awaiting him in the +squire's stable, quickened his movements; and in a few minutes Miss +Betsey was shaking the snow from her cloak in Sally Griffith's back +kitchen. It had been snowing heavily for a while, and the movement of +the sleigh had been unheard by Elizabeth, or she would have taken the +shaking of the snowy garments into her own hands. + +"Folks as usual?" said Miss Betsey, as she came into the front kitchen, +where Sally reigned supreme, conscious of her value as "help," and +careful of her dignity as a citizen of Gershom, "as good as anybody." + +"Well, pretty much so, I guess. Kind of down these days, in general." + +They had been youthful companions, these two, and had plenty to say to +each other. So Betsey warmed her feet at the oven door, and they +discussed several questions before she went into the sitting-room. She +went in softly, so as not to disturb the old man, should he have fallen +asleep in his chair, as he sometimes did after dinner; so she had a +chance to see Elizabeth's face before she knew that she was not alone. +It was grave and paler than Betsey had ever seen it, and there was a +weary, far-away look in her eyes that were following the grey clouds +just beginning to drift over the clearing sky. They brightened, +however, as they turned at the sound of the opening door. + +"Cousin Betsey! I'm so glad to see you. You have come to stay?" + +Friendly as they had become of late, Elizabeth did not often venture to +kiss her cousin. She did this time, however, repeating: + +"You have come to stay?" + +"Well, yes. I came fixed so as to stay a spell if I was wanted. Joel +Bean's folks heard somewhere that Uncle Gershom hadn't been seen out in +the street these two days, and I thought I'd just come over and see how +he was keeping along." + +"That was good of you. He was not out yesterday, and to-day has been so +snowy. But he is no worse; a little better and brighter, if anything. +But all the same, I want you to stay." + +"Well, I don't care if I do a spell. You must be hard up for company to +be so glad to see me." + +Miss Betsey sat down by the fire, and took her knitting from her pocket. +There were tears in Elizabeth's eyes which Betsey pretended not to see, +and which Elizabeth did her best to keep back. She went into her +father's room for a minute, and looked cheerful enough as she took her +seat on the other side of the hearth opposite her cousin, with her work +in her hand. But when she began to answer Betsey's questions about her +father--his appetite, his strength, his nights, his days--the tears came +again, and this time they fell over her cheeks. For she found herself +sorrowfully telling that though he had comfortable days, and days when +he seemed just as he used to do, it was evident that his strength was +failing more rapidly than it had ever done during any winter before. +She let her work fall on her lap, and leaning her elbow on the table, +covered her face with her hands. + +"He is an old man," said Betsey, gravely. + +"Yes. But he is all I have got," said Elizabeth, speaking with +difficulty. + +"He is your father, but he is not all you've got. Don't say that." + +"There is no one else that cares very much about me. If I were sick or +in trouble, I think I would have a better right to come to you, Cousin +Betsey, than to any one else in the world." + +"Well, and why not? You ought to have had a sister," said Betsey. + +Elizabeth laughed a little hysterically. + +"I have--Jacob's wife," said she. + +"Humph," said Betsey. "I'll tell you what's the matter with you; you're +nervous, and no wonder." + +"Oh, Cousin Betsey! don't be hard on me. I'll be all right in a minute. +I know I'm foolish, and it is a shame now that you are here not to be +better company." + +"You are nervous," repeated Betsey. "And what you want is to feel the +fresh air blowing about you. See here, old Samson is right here in the +shed. You go and put on your things and have a drive. It will do you +all the good in the world." + +"And will you come with me?" + +"No, I guess not. Then you'd want to hurry right home again, because of +your father. I'll stay with him, and then you won't worry. If he's +pretty well, I want to have a talk with him anyway, and now will be as +good a time as any. So don't you hurry back." + +"Well, I won't. But it doesn't seem worth while to go alone." + +"Yes, it does. And see here! You go over as far as Mrs Fleming's. +She'll do you good, and maybe she'll let Katie come home with you to +stay a day or two. What you want is to have somebody to look at besides +Sally Griffith, and I don't know anybody any better for that than little +Katie Fleming. Her grandmother will let her come, seeing you are +alone." + +It was not a blight day even yet, though the snow had ceased to fall, +and the clouds were clearing away. Elizabeth looked out of the window, +hesitating. + +"If any one should come in," said she. + +"Well, I guess I could say all that need be said--unless it was anybody +very particular, and then I could keep them till you came home again." + +"Well, I'll go; and thank you, cousin," said Elizabeth, laughing. + +She did not drive old Samson. He was safely stabled by this time. She +drove her own horse and sleigh with its pretty robes, and acknowledged +herself better the very first breath of wind that fanned her cheek. The +snow had fallen so heavily as to make it not easy to drive rapidly, and +so she enjoyed all the more the winter sights and sounds that were about +her. The whole earth was dazzlingly white. The evergreen trees in the +graveyard looked like pyramids of snow. The trunks of the great maples +under which she passed as she drew near Mr Fleming's house, showed +black and rugged, and so did the leafless boughs that met each other +overhead. + +But even the great boughs were bending under their load of new-fallen +snow, and every now and then, as the wind stirred them, it fell in +great, soft masses silently to the ground. How still and restful it +was. The sleigh-bells tinkled softly, and there was a faint rushing of +the wind through the trees, and the sharp stroke of an axe was heard now +and then in the distance. That was all. Elizabeth put away all +troubled thoughts to enjoy it, and there were no traces of tears, no +signs of nerves visible, when she drove up to Mrs Fleming's door. She +had been there a good many times since the night she had made the visit +with Clifton and the minister, and she never came but that she was +heartily welcomed by them all. + +"Especially welcome to-day, when we never expected to see any one after +such a fall of snow. Come awa' ben, Miss Elizabeth, and when Davie +comes down with his load of wood, he'll put in the horse, and you'll +bide to your tea, and go home by light of the new moon." + +But Elizabeth could not stay long. Betsey, who was with her father, +would be anxious to be home early, and she must not leave her father +alone, though she would like to stay. + +"Well, you know best, and we winna spoil the time you're here by teasing +you about staying longer. So sit you down here by the fire and warm +your hands, though you look anything but chilled and cold. Your cheeks +are like twin roses." + +Elizabeth thought of Betsey's dismissal of her and laughed. + +"My drive has done me good." + +She stayed a good while and enjoyed every minute of it. It was a great +rest and pleasure to listen to Mrs Fleming's cheerful talk, with +Katie's quiet mother putting in a word, and now and then Katie herself. +Neither Katie nor Davie were at the school this winter. The studies +that Davie liked best he would have had to go on with alone, even if he +had gone, and he liked as well to get a little help from the master now +and then and stay at home. But he had not much time for study. For he +had taken "just a wonderful turn for work," his grandmother said, and +much was told of the land he was clearing and the cord-wood he was +piling for the market. Katie brought in a wonderful bee-hive he had +made, to show Miss Elizabeth, and told her how much honey they had had, +and how much more they were to have next year, because of Davie's skill. +Davie had made an ice-house too, for the summer butter--a rather +primitive one it seemed to be as Katie described it--on a plan of +Davie's own, and it had to be proved yet, but it gave great satisfaction +in the meantime. And the frame of the new dairy was lying ready beside +the burn to be put up as soon as the snow melted, and the water was to +be made to run round the milk-pans in the warm nights, and Katie, under +the direction of her grandmother, was to make the best butter in the +country. All this might not seem of much interest to any one but +themselves, but listening to them, and watching their happy, eager +faces, Elizabeth, who had more than the common power of enjoying other +people's happiness, felt herself to be refreshed and encouraged as she +listened, especially to what was said about Davie. The troubles of the +Flemings would soon be over should Davie prove to be a prop on which, in +their old age, they might lean. + +"He is wonderfully taken up about the work, and the best way of doing it +just now, and I only hope it may last," said Mrs Fleming, and then +Katie said, "Oh, grannie!" so deprecatingly that they all laughed at +her. + +When Mr Fleming came in, and had heard all about the squire, and how +Cousin Betsey was staying with him while Elizabeth made her visit and +got a breath of fresh air, she took courage to present her petition that +Katie might be allowed to go home with her and stay a day or two. It +needed some courage to urge it, for she knew that her grandfather was +never quite at peace when Katie was not at home. "It was Cousin Betsey, +Mrs Fleming, that bade me ask you for Katie for a little while. She +said her coming would do me good, and Katie no harm; and she said you +would be sure to let her come since I was so lonesome at home." + +Katie looked with wistful eyes at her grandmother, and she looked at the +old man. + +"We might spare her a while to Miss Elizabeth, who is kept so close at +home with her father. And you must take your seam with you, Katie, my +lassie," added the old lady, as no dissenting frown from the grandfather +followed her first words. "And maybe Miss Elizabeth has a new stitch, +or some other new thing to teach you. These things are easy carried +about with a person, and they ay have a chance to come in use sometime. +Oh, ay, you can take a while with a book, too, now and then when Miss +Elizabeth is occupied with her father. Only be reasonable, and don't +forget all else, as is awhiles the way with you. And you can put on +your bonny blue frock, but be sure and take good care o' it," and many +more last words the happy Katie heard, and then they went away. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +TWO FRIENDS. + +A day with Miss Elizabeth was one of Katie's chief pleasures, and it was +scarcely less a pleasure to Miss Elizabeth to have her with her; so the +faces of both were bright and smiling as they drove away from the door. + +"It's no' often that you see two like these two," said Mrs Fleming, as +they all stood looking after them for a minute. "And it's only good +that they are like to do one another. May the Lord have them both in +His keeping. There is nothing else that can keep them safe and happy; +but that is enough, and I'm not afraid." + +They drove slowly down the slope, and waited at the gate for a word with +Davie, who was coming from the wood with his great brown oxen, with the +last load for the night. He did not look more than half pleased to see +his sister at Miss Elizabeth's side. + +"You are not to grudge her to me, Davie, for a little while," said Miss +Holt. + +"Oh, she can please herself," said Davie, with a shrug. "When will you +be home again, Katie?" + +"Oh, in a day or two. I cannot just tell; but soon." + +They had not time to linger, and the horse did not care to stand, so +with a hurried good-bye they were away and moved on rapidly for a while. + +"I don't think Davie likes me very well," said Miss Elizabeth. + +"Oh, it's not you he doesn't like," said Katie eagerly. + +"It is Jacob, I suppose?" + +It was not Jacob that Katie meant, but she said nothing. + +"Well, never mind; we are going to think and speak only of pleasant +things for the next three days, and that was a bad beginning." + +Though the snow was deep it was light, and the horse, with the prospect +of home before him, was willing to go, and strong as well, so they flew +along, down the hill beneath the maples, past the graveyard and the +church, into the long street of the town; and then, though it was +growing late, Miss Elizabeth turned to the left over the bridge instead +of going up the hill toward home. They came into the road on the other +side of the bridge that brought most people to the town, and the snow +was already well beaten down, and they went on in perfect enjoyment of +the easiest of all movements. + +It was neither sunlight nor moonlight, or rather it was both, for the +clouds had all cleared away, and a red glow lingered in the west, and +high above hung the moon, a silver crescent, and in the sky beyond a +bright star here and there; all the rest was white, with streaks of +black where the fences were and the wayside trees, and far in the +distance a long stretch of forest hid the line where the white of the +earth touched the blue of the sky. + +In the light so faint, and yet so clear, that shone around them, all +things had an unfamiliar look--a look of mystery, and it seemed, even to +the sensible Katie, as though almost any strange adventure might happen +to them to-night. + +"I could almost fancy that we were going away together into some strange +country, into the country of the `wraiths' maybe, that grannie whiles +tells the bairns about. Don't all things seem to have a strange look +to-night, Miss Elizabeth?" + +Miss Elizabeth started. She had fallen into thought, and Katie could +see when she turned her face that her thoughts had not been happy. + +"What were you saying, Katie? Going away together? Oh, how I wish we +were, away beyond the hills yonder, to leave all our troubles behind +us." + +That was to be considered. Katie was not so ready to assent to her +friend's words as usual. + +"But we should be leaving our comforts behind us too, all the people who +love us, and all those whom we love." + +"Ah, yes, I know; and all our work as well. And it would be no good, +for we should carry our troubles with us. It was a foolish thing to +say, Katie, dear. It must be time to turn back when such foolish words +come to one's lips." + +Besides they had come to a place where turning was easy, and it might be +some time before they could get another chance, so deep was the snow on +either side. So they turned round toward home, and Katie thought it +more wonderful still, for the red glow in the sky was before them now, +and the new moon, and more stars shone as the glow faded. + +"But it would be fine to go away with you, Miss Elizabeth, to some far +country, to see strange sights--if we could be spared, I mean, and with +the thought of coming back again." + +"Wouldn't it be fine!" said Miss Elizabeth, rousing herself. "Some day +we'll go--you and I together, Katie. We'll cross the sea, and wander +through the countries that we read about in books, and among the great +cities that have stood for hundreds and hundreds of years. Wouldn't you +like to see Scotland, Katie, and the heather hills that grannie tells us +about; and the great castles that they used to hold against all comers +in the old times, and the parks, and the deer, and the gardens full of +wonderful flowers, and the lakes and the mountains--only we can see +lakes and mountains at home." + +"And the moors and glens where they worshipped in the dark days." + +And so they went on in turn, telling what they would like to see--they +were going slowly now--till they came to the bridge again. + +"I like to think about it, but it could never be," said Katie gravely. + +"And why not? It might very easily be, I think." + +"But it could never be for me, until--the saddest things had happened. +I could never leave my grandfather and my grandmother, and all the rest; +only the rest might live till I came back again; but grannie--and him--" + +"Yes, Katie, and it is as true for me as for you. Our work is here, and +our happiness too; and, after all, we have fallen into sad thoughts +again. But we are nearly home now." + +"There was no light in the minister's study to-night," said Katie, as +they went slowly up the hill. "Nor in the dining-room either. He must +be away from home." + +Elizabeth had noticed the darkened window, but she did not say so. +Indeed she said nothing. She was thinking: "Perhaps he went in to see +my father, knowing I was away." + +And so he had, for when they went into the hall they heard his voice, +indeed several voices in the sitting-room. But they went first +up-stairs to take off their wraps in Miss Elizabeth's room, and came +down just in time to find the tea-table ready, and the company waiting +for them. There was coffee on the table too, for Mr Burnet was there, +and Sally knew his tastes. + +"There! You feel better, don't you?" said Miss Betsey, who was the +first to notice their entrance. "You look better, anyway." + +"Like two roses," said Mr Burnet. + +Elizabeth laughed and thanked him, and then shook hands with Mr +Maxwell. + +"I hope you have had a good time, daughter. I have," said the squire. + +"Yes. I see you have had company." + +"Yes, Betsey is always good company. Mr Maxwell came when he saw you +pass down the street. He didn't know Betsey was here, and he thought I +might be lonesome." + +"It was very kind," said Elizabeth. + +All the rest sat down, but Mr Maxwell continued standing. The squire +would not listen to him, when he said that doubtless his tea would be +waiting for him at home, but urged him almost petulantly to remain. + +"Lizzie, why don't you ask the minister to stay?" + +For Elizabeth was listening to something that Mr Burnet was saying to +Katie, but she turned round when her father spoke to her. + +"We haven't Mr Burnet and Cousin Betsey here very often, Mr Maxwell. +You might stay to-night for their sakes." + +So he stayed, and the squire had a good time still, and so had all the +rest, it seemed, for they were in no haste to leave the table till Sally +came to take the things away. When she came in again it was to say that +"Ben had been waiting for his Aunt Betsey for the biggest part of an +hour, and it was getting on for nine o'clock." Even then Miss Betsey +seemed in no hurry to go, but when she went, Mr Burnet went also, and +Elizabeth went out of the room with her cousin, and did not come back +for what seemed to Katie a long time. Her father was tired and she went +out with him afterward. Mr Maxwell talked with Katie a while, about +her mother and her grandparents, about Davie and his bees, and the work +that had occupied him all the winter, and then he sat for a long time +looking into the fire in silence. When Miss Elizabeth came in again he +rose to go away. + +"It is not very late," said she. + +"No--and it is very pleasant here," said the minister, and he sat down +again. + +Miss Elizabeth took her work, and they were all silent for a while, and +in the silence a sudden sense of embarrassment and discomfort seized +Katie Fleming. She had a book in her hand, but she was not sure whether +she ought to read or not. She would have liked to go with it to the +side-table, where Miss Elizabeth had carried the lamp before she sat +down, or even out into the kitchen to see Sally for a while. + +"Are you deep in your story already? Well, take your book to the lamp, +if you like, for a little while," said Miss Elizabeth, just as if she +had known her thoughts. + +But Katie would not have liked her to know her thoughts. She was glad +to go to the lamp, but she did not care for her story. She was thinking +of something else, of a single word she had heard one day, which put +together significantly the names of the minister and her friend. She +had been indignant at first. "They were just friends," she had said to +herself. Afterward she could not help giving them a good many of her +thoughts, and she was not sure about it. As she sat with the book on +the table before her, shading her eyes with her hands, she felt a little +guilty and greatly interested, for the story before her was better than +any story in a book. + +Perhaps she ought to go away, she thought again. It was not right to +listen, and she could not help listening. But indeed there was nothing +said which all the world might not hear. Mrs Varney had burned her +hand. Old Mrs Lawrence was sick, and Miss Elizabeth promised to go and +see her. Then Mr Maxwell told her about a meeting he had attended in +Fairfax, and about another that he meant to attend, and so on. + +"It might be grannie and he," said Katie, with a little impatient +wonder. "Only grannie would say it all a great deal better, and not +just `yes' and `no,' and `I hope so indeed,' like Miss Elizabeth. What +has come to her, I wonder? Mrs Stacy's rheumatism, and the mothers' +meeting at North Gore. That is not how people talk, surely--when-- +when--" + +Suddenly looking up she met Miss Elizabeth's eye, and reddened, and hung +her head. Then she rose as Miss Elizabeth beckoned to her, and came to +the fireside again, still holding her book in her hand. + +After that Miss Elizabeth took a letter which she had that day received +from her brother Clifton, and read bits of it aloud. It was a very +amusing letter, she seemed to think, and so did the minister, but Katie +did not understand all the allusions in it, and missed the point. And +besides, Clifton Holt was not a favourite with her. She was a little +scornful of a lad who seemed to care so little for the opportunities he +had, and who did so little good work with them. He was idle, she +thought, and conceited, and she could not but wonder at Miss Elizabeth's +delight in him, and listened with some impatience to the discussion of +him and his affairs that followed the reading of the letter. + +"To be sure he is her brother, and she must make the best of him," said +Katie. + +By and by Mr Maxwell rose to go away, and Miss Elizabeth bade him +good-night in the sitting-room, and did not go with him to the hall, as +was her way usually with visitors who were going away. Then she said +she had to see Sally about something, and was so long away that Katie +had time to get fairly into her story, and so she read on after she came +in again, and it was a good while before she noticed that her friend was +gazing with a strange, fixed look into the embers, and that her roses +had paled sadly since Mr Burnet had praised them when they first came +in. But she smiled brightly enough when she turned and met Katie's +wistful look. + +"Well! How do you like it, Katie? But we must do something besides +reading to-morrow, dear, or grannie will not be pleased." + +And then she went on to tell of some pretty fancy-work that they were to +learn together, and was so full of it, and of all they were to do the +next three days, that Katie forgot her grave looks for that night. As +the days went on, and she saw how feeble Mr Holt had become, she did +not wonder at her sadness, and it did not come into Katie's mind that +there could be any other cause for her sadness and her grave looks than +her father's illness gave. + +"Except, perhaps, her brother may not be doing so well as he ought. And +that is enough of itself to make her sad," said Katie. "For what should +I do if it were our Davie?" + +Katie had a pleasant visit in many ways. The leisure was delightful to +her. They had a drive every day. Sometimes Mr Holt went with them, +and then they had the large sleigh and a pair of horses, and sometimes +Katie laughed, and made Miss Elizabeth laugh too, pretending that she +was a rich lady riding in her own sleigh, and taking her friends for a +drive. But she liked it best when Miss Elizabeth drove her own horse +Lion, and they went alone together. It seemed to Katie that the talks +they had at such times, in the keen, clear winter air, were different +from the talks they sometimes fell into sitting by the fireside, when +all the rest had gone to bed and they had the home to themselves. Under +the bright sunshine they seemed to get away from Gershom and its news +and its troubles and vexations, into a wider and brighter world, and +some of the things that Miss Elizabeth said to her then, Katie told +herself she would never forget while she lived. + +There were visitors now and then, and at such times, if they were +strangers to her, Katie took her book into a corner, or into Sally's +bright kitchen, and read it there; but if the visitors were her friends +as well, she stayed and enjoyed their visits also. Just one thing +happened that it was not pleasant to think about afterward. Indeed it +had been very unpleasant at the time, and Katie had some trouble in +deciding whether or not she should say anything about it to grannie and +her mother when she went home. + +This was a visit made one day to Elizabeth by Mrs Jacob Holt. Katie +did not go away this time, because she was afraid it might not please +her friend, but she did not join in the conversation. She sat beyond +the flower-stand in the bay-window, reading and knitting; but she was +not so interested in her book as not to hear something of what was said. +Mrs Jacob told some village news, and then spoke about Clifton, and +about a new dress that was to be finished for her to-day, and much more +of the same kind. + +It was not Mrs Jacob's fault that the conversation took the turn it +did. It was the squire, who questioned her about Jacob, and about +various matters connected with their business; and then he said +something about Silas Bean, who had got hurt in his employment, and the +difficulty was to make him understand what Silas Bean should be doing at +the Varney place with two yoke of oxen, and what Jacob had to do with +it. Elizabeth reminded him that Jacob had bought the Varney place, and +that Mark Varney had gone away, and tried to end the discussion of the +matter. But Mrs Jacob went still on to remind him of the Gershom +Manufacturing Company, that would no doubt be formed by and by, and how +Jacob hated to have time lost, and was taking advantage of the snow to +have stones and timber drawn that would be needed in the building of the +new dam; and that was the way that Silas Bean came to be there with his +oxen. + +"And the company will take the timber off his hands, I suppose," said +she. "Only it's likely Jacob will be pretty much the company himself-- +at least he will have most to say in it. He most generally does." + +"But it seems to me that Jacob should not have undertaken so much +without consulting me," said the squire, with some excitement. "It +seems to me he's going ahead pretty fast, isn't he?" + +"Oh! he's told you all about it, I expect. You've forgotten. Your +memory isn't what it once was, you know." + +But the squire was inclined to resent the idea that he could have +forgotten a matter of such importance, and though Mrs Jacob assured him +that his son had gone away for the day to Fosbrooke, it was all that his +daughter could do to prevent him from going in search of him. She +almost regretted not permitting him to go, however, for he would not +leave the subject, and insisted on Mrs Jacob telling him all about the +matter. She, with less sense and more malice than Elizabeth could have +supposed possible, went on to tell of what was to be done, and went over +the old grievance as to Mr Fleming's obstinacy in refusing to come to +terms for a piece of land which was the best for the mill-site, and good +for very little else, "just to spite Jacob." + +"We won't talk about that," said the squire, seeming to forget the first +cause of grievance. "Jacob knows my mind about that matter. And it is +doubtful whether the company they talk about will ever amount to much-- +at least for a time." + +"Well, it isn't for me to say. But I must go. They'll think at home +that I am lost," and as she rose and pushed away her chair, she added in +a voice that the squire could not hear, "It is not for me to say much +about it. But Jacob generally does get things fixed pretty much to his +mind, and I guess he sees his way clear to get this as well. Of course +it will be just as much for Mr Fleming's benefit as for the rest of the +town, and his land will be paid for, he needn't fear that." + +At the first mention of her grandfather's name, Katie had risen, and she +was standing with burning cheeks and shining eyes when Mrs Jacob turned +toward her to say good-bye. + +"I hope you'll come and make me a visit before you go home. If Lizzie +can spare you I shall be pleased to have you come any day--say +to-morrow. Will you come?" + +"No," said Katie, and then she sat down and put her book to her face +lest Mrs Jacob should see the angry tears which she feared would not be +kept back. For once in her life Mrs Jacob looked uncomfortable and +disconcerted in Elizabeth's presence. Elizabeth uttered not one of the +many angry words that had almost risen to her lips, but opened the door +and closed it again with only the usual words of good-bye. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +THE MINISTER'S FRIENDSHIP. + +When Mr Maxwell left Squire Holt's house that first night of Katie's +visit to Miss Elizabeth, he did not return directly to the parsonage. +He stood a moment at the gate considering which direction it would be +wisest for him to take for the long walk which he felt he must have +before he slept. For the minister to be seen walking at that hour of +the night to no particular place, and for no particular purpose, would +give matter for discussion among some of those who specially interested +themselves in his comings and goings, and though the interest might be +flattering, the discussion was to be avoided. + +So he hastened up the street in the direction of Jacob Holt's, and +turning into the field to the right, he took the path made as a short +cut by such of the North Gore boys as were this winter attending the +High-School. He would not be likely to meet any one there, nor on the +North Gore road, to which it led, certainly not in the field-path. The +snow had fallen heavily during the first part of the day, and now the +wind had risen, and when he came higher up the hill, it was with +difficulty that he got through the drifts that were growing deeper with +every blast. He soon lost the path, indeed every trace of it had long +disappeared, and if it had not been, that the broken line of the woods +which skirted the field on the other side of the hill was visible even +in the darkness, he might have lost himself altogether in his +wanderings. + +As it was he made a long journey of the fields that lay between the two +highways, and when he reached the North Gore road he found he had had +enough of it; and a little breathless, but glowing with the pleasant +warmth which the exercise had excited, and a good deal more cheerful in +spirits than when he left Squire Holt's gate, he turned toward home. +His buffet with the wind and the great drifts had done him good. He +would doubtless have a sounder sleep and a brighter waking because of +it. + +But something had to be done before he slept, and for this, too, it is +possible that the buffet with the snow and the wind was a preparation. + +That something had happened to disturb the friendly relations in which +he had from the first stood with regard to Miss Elizabeth he had long +felt, and he had never felt it more painfully than to-night. He could +scarcely make clear to himself the nature of the change that had come to +their intercourse, and he did not know the reason of it--or he had +hitherto told himself that he did not. There was nothing in his life, +nor in his plans and prospects, that had not been there before the +friendliness of Miss Holt had been given him. There was nothing to +which he looked forward in the future which could interfere to make her +friendship less precious to him--nothing which could be a sufficient +reason for its withdrawal on her part--nothing which could compensate +him for its loss. + +And yet it was slipping from him, or rather that which had made it +pleasant to him as no other friendship had ever been, and useful as no +other friendship in Gershom could ever be, was missed by him, to his +great loss and discomfort. Miss Holt was kind and frank and friendly +still. He would have used those very words--indeed he had used them--in +describing their relations to each other soon after their first +acquaintance, but there was a difference which, though it did not touch +the kindness and the friendliness, made itself felt still. + +Was the change in Miss Holt or in himself? or was it caused by +circumstances which neither of them could help? This was the point +which Mr Maxwell proposed to settle that night before he slept. He +must see this clearly, he said to himself, and then he might also see a +way to prevent the pain and loss which estrangement from his friend must +cause. + +It would be useless to follow him through all the troubled thoughts and +anxious questionings of the night. Out of them all came first a doubt, +and then a certainty, painful and not unmixed with shame, that the +friendship he feared to lose was more to him than was the love that put +it in jeopardy. Nay, that he had for many a month been mistaking love +for friendship, and friendship for love. + +There were more troubled thoughts and anxious questionings, and they +ended in the conviction that he had made a great mistake for which there +seemed no remedy. He must suffer, but he knew that with God's help he +would overcome. For a time he must submit to the loss of that society +which had been so much to him since he came to Gershom. By and by, when +he should be wiser and stronger, and when other changes should have come +into his life, as they must come, his friendship with Miss Holt might be +renewed and strengthened, and through all his thoughts and questionings +it never came into his mind that the suffering might not be his alone. + +About three months before this time, when Mr Maxwell had been a +resident of Gershom for a year and a half, circumstances occurred which +made it advisable for him to pay a visit to the place which had been his +home during the last years of his mother's life, and during the years +which followed her death while his course of study continued. It was a +visit which he anticipated with lively pleasure, and much enjoyed. His +home while there was, of course, in the house of his friend and his +mother's friend, Miss Martha Langden; and visiting her aunt at the same +time, as had frequently happened in former years when he had been this +lady's guest, was her niece, Miss Essie. She was a very pretty girl, +and a good girl as well, eight or ten years younger than Mr Maxwell, +but not too young to be his wife, his mother and her aunt had decided +long ago when Miss Essie was a child. These loving and rather romantic +friends had set their hearts on a union in every way to their view so +suitable, and they had been at less pains than was quite prudent to keep +their hopes and their plans to themselves. Indeed, as presented by a +fond mother to a studious and utterly inexperienced lad, such as young +Maxwell was at twenty, the prospect of a wife so pretty and winning and +well dowered could not but be agreeable enough, and though no formal +engagement was entered into between them, they had corresponded +frequently, and to an engagement it was taken for granted by all parties +this correspondence was to lead when the right time came. + +The idea that the time of this visit might be the right time had not +presented itself so clearly to Mr Maxwell as it had to his friend Miss +Martha. Still it was natural enough and pleasant enough for him to fall +into the old relations with the pretty and good Miss Essie. Not quite +the old relations, however, for Miss Essie was a child no longer, but +eighteen years of age, and a graduate of one of the most popular ladies' +seminaries of the State, and quite inclined to stand on her dignity and +claim due consideration for her years and acquirements. She had been +one of the model young ladies of the seminary, it seemed, and in various +pretty ways, and with words sufficiently modest, she sought to make her +admiring friends aware of the fact, and dwelt with untiring interest on +the trials and triumphs of the time. But she by no means considered her +education completed, she gravely assured Mr Maxwell. She had a plan of +study drawn out by the distinguished principal of the seminary, which, +after she should be quite rested from the work of the last years, she +intended steadily to pursue, to the further development of her powers, +and the acquisition of knowledge which should fit her for usefulness in +any sphere which she might be called to occupy. She had much to say on +these themes, her present self-improvement and her future work and +influence in the world, and Mr Maxwell sometimes smiled in secret as he +listened, but he liked to listen all the same. Her views were not very +clear to herself, nor very practical, but she was very earnest in +expressing them; and being perfectly sincere in her beliefs and honest +in her intentions, she had also perfect confidence in the success of +what she was pleased to call her "life's work," and never doubted that +she should accomplish through her labours find see with her eyes, all +the good which she planned. + +It was her earnestness and evident sincerity that charmed Mr Maxwell, +and though all this looked to him sometimes like a child's mimic +assumption of responsibilities and duties, with a child's power of +imagining what is desired, and ignoring all else, yet he was more +impatient of his own doubts than of her illusions. + +But dare he speak or think of them as illusions? He recalled his own +early youth--the plans he had formed, the hopes he had cherished of all +he was to dare and do for his Master's sake, the battles he was to win, +the souls he was to conquer, and he grew grave and self-reproachful at +the remembrance. He was young yet as to his work and his office, and +young in years, but in the presence of all his earnestness, this desire +to do good and true work in the world, he could not but acknowledge that +his own early zeal had cooled somewhat, that something had gone from him +in life, and in his discontent with himself his admiration for the +little enthusiast grew apace. And though he could not but smile now and +then, still as she made her modest little allusions to her private diary +and to certain "resolutions" written therein, and though he could not +always respond with sufficient heartiness to satisfy himself when she +showed him little letters on very thin paper that had come to her from +"distant lands," and confessed to anxious thoughts as to the claims +which the "foreign field" and the "dark places of the earth" might have +upon her, yet listening to her, and meeting Aunt Martha's admiring +glances, and hearing her more extended accounts of her self-devotion and +self-denial, he could not but consider himself fortunate in his +relations to them both, and desire almost as earnestly as Aunt Martha +did that the young girl should consent to share his life's work and make +it hers. To this end all their intercourse tended, and the course of +love, in their case, promised to be as smooth as could be desired for a +time. + +But an interruption occurred as the end of Mr Maxwell's visit drew +near, which, however, seemed hardly to be an interruption as they took +it, or rather, it should be said, as the young lady whom it was +specially designed to influence seemed to take it. + +Up to this time Miss Martha had been permitted to do very much as she +chose with her pretty niece. Miss Essie's mother, a dear friend of Miss +Martha's, had died when her daughter was an infant, and the child's +home, even after the second marriage of her father, had been almost as +often with her aunt as with him. Her aunt had chosen her teachers and +her schools, and had introduced her to a social circle far more refined +and intellectual than she could have found in the large manufacturing +town where her father lived. She had formed the girl's mind, and +possessed her affections, and had come to look upon her as her own child +rather than as the child of her hitherto somewhat indifferent father, +who had another family growing up around him. It certainly never came +into Miss Martha's mind that the future she had been planning for her +darling might be regarded by the father with unfavourable eyes. So that +his decided refusal to permit his daughter to enter into an engagement +of marriage with the young man was a surprise as well as a pain to her. + +The father was not unreasonable in his objections. Mr Maxwell might be +all that his partial old friend declared him to be, worthy in all +respects of his daughter. But that a child--he called her a child-- +should ignorantly make a blind promise that must affect her whole future +life, he would not allow. A girl just out of school, who had seen +nothing of the world, who could not possibly know her own mind on any +matter of importance, must not be suffered to do herself this wrong. He +smiled a little when Aunt Martha, hoping to move him, dwelt earnestly on +her dear Essie's views of life, her plans of usefulness, and her desire +above all things to do some good in the world. It was all right, he +said, just what he should expect from a girl brought up by a good woman +like Aunt Martha. But all the same she was only a child, and she could +not know whether she cared enough for Mr Maxwell to be happy in doing +her life's work in his company. + +Even when Miss Martha in her eagerness betrayed how long the thought of +her niece's engagement had been familiar to her, he only laughed, though +he saw that he had a good right to be angry, and he stood firm to his +first determination that for two years at least there should be no +engagement. Essie must have more experience of life; she must visit her +mother's relations, and see more of the world. He intended she should +spend the next winter with her aunt in New York, and he would not have +her hampered by any engagement, out of which, if she should find that +she had mistaken her own heart, trouble might spring. He was firm, and +poor Miss Martha was heart-broken at the turn which affairs had taken. + +Not so her niece. She had no words with her father with regard to the +matter, but she gave her aunt to understand that she considered a mere +formal engagement a matter of little consequence where true and loving +hearts were concerned. She must not disobey her father, but time would +show that he had been mistaken and not she. + +"And after all, auntie, a year, or even two, does not make so much +difference, and I rather like the idea of spending the winter with Aunt +Esther in New York." + +Aunt Martha sighed. She did not like the idea at all. She would miss +her darling, and she had no great confidence in her Aunt Esther, and she +dreaded some of the influences to which the child must be exposed, for +she was little more than a child, Aunt Martha acknowledged, a wise and +good child indeed, but one never could know what might come in the +course of two years to change her views of life. And altogether, the +dear old lady was not so hopeful as she felt she ought to be, knowing as +she so well did, that our days and our ways are all ordered by a higher +wisdom than our own. + +Miss Essie was not downhearted; on the contrary, her sweetness and +resignation in the presence of her aunt's sorrow and anxiety were +beautiful to see. She acknowledged with a readiness that pleased her +father greatly, that he was quite right in thinking her too young and +inexperienced to take the decision of so serious a matter into her own +hands; and when she added that the years which might be supposed to +bring wisdom as well as experience would find her unchanged as to the +purpose of her life, he only smiled and nodded his head a good many +times, and let it pass. + +Mr Maxwell may be said to have been resigned and hopeful also. Indeed +he had not expected to take the young lady to Gershom for a good while +to come. He acknowledged that Mr Langden's view of the case was just +and reasonable, and looking at it from a Gershom point of view, he +acknowledged to himself, though he did not think it necessary to say +anything of it to any one else, that a few more years and a wider +experience would be of advantage to a minister's wife in relation to +even the comparatively primitive community where his lot was cast. So +he went away cheerfully enough, content to wait. + +It must be confessed that Miss Martha was the greatest sufferer of the +three at this time. She too was obliged to allow that her niece was +very young, and she did not doubt that the years would add to her many +gifts and graces. Nor did she doubt her constancy, or she believed she +did not, but she knew that a change had come to the means and +circumstances of her brother of late. He had always been a prosperous +man in a safe and quiet way, but of late he had become a rich man, and +though no decided change had as yet been made in the manner of life of +his family, she knew by various signs and tokens that Miss Essie at +least was to have the benefit of those advantages which wealth can give. +And though she told herself that she did not doubt that she would be +brought safely through the temptations to which wealth might expose her, +she sometimes thought of her picture with a troubled heart. + +A short absence was just what Mr Maxwell had needed to prove to himself +how content he was to look upon Gershom as his home, and upon his church +and congregation and upon the people of the place generally, as his +friends. His visit had been so arranged as to include the New England +Thanksgiving Day, which falls in the end of November, and the winter, +which set in early this year, was beginning when he returned. Winter is +the time of leisure in Canada among farmers, and in country places +generally, for the long winter evenings give opportunity for doing many +things never undertaken at other seasons. So Gershom folks were busy +with special arrangements of one sort and another for pleasure and +profit, and Mr Maxwell made himself busy with the rest. Winter was the +time for special courses of lectures and sermons, for social gatherings +among the people of the congregation, and for a good deal more of +regular pastoral visiting than was ever undertaken by him at other +seasons, and it was with satisfaction, even with thankfulness, that he +found himself looking forward without dread to his work. + +A quiet and busy winter lay before him. Of course there must be the +usual anxieties and vexations, he thought; and he also thought that he +would have the kindly counsel and sympathy of Miss Elizabeth. But after +his first visit to the squire's house a difference made itself apparent +in their intercourse. It was not that Miss Holt was less friendly or +less ready with counsel or encouragement when it was needed. But there +was something wanting, and what this might be he set himself to consider +on that night after his walk in the snowy fields. + +He did not discover it, but he discovered something else which startled +him--something which could neither be helped nor hindered--something +which could only be borne silently and patiently. Through time and a +loyal devotion to the work which his Master had given him to do, the +pain should wear away. + +In one of the long letters which Mr Maxwell received about this time +from Miss Langden, there came, to his surprise and momentary +discomfiture, a little note to Miss Holt. He knew that Miss Essie was +very fond of writing little notes to her friends and also to the friends +of her friends, and when he came to think about it, the only wonder was +that she had not written to Miss Holt before. + +For, of course, he had spoken to her of Miss Elizabeth, as he had spoken +of others who were his special friends among his parishioners. Miss +Martha had been set right as to her age and her place in the world of +Gershom, and he had answered many questions with regard to her. He had +answered questions about other people too--about John McNider, and the +Flemings and Miss Betsey, and there might come a little letter to one of +them some day. He laughed when he thought of this, but he did not laugh +when he thought of giving the note to Miss Elizabeth. + +He need not have been troubled. It was a very innocent little letter, +which Miss Elizabeth received without any expression of surprise and +read in his presence. + +"It is not the first letter I have received from Miss Essie Langden. I +heard from her while you were still away." + +Miss Elizabeth's colour changed a little as she said this. + +"She did not tell me," said Mr Maxwell. + +"I was glad she wrote to me," said Miss Elizabeth. + +There had not been much in the first letter, either. Miss Essie had +thanked Miss Holt for her goodness to her friend "Will Maxwell," as she +called him. Then there was something about knowing and loving each +other at some future time, and something more about a common work and a +common purpose in life, and something about "the tie that binds," and +that was all. + +It might mean much or little according as it was read, and to Elizabeth +it had meant much. It did not find her altogether untroubled. She had +missed Mr Maxwell more than she had supposed possible, and had been +obliged to confess to herself that the winter in Gershom would be a very +different matter if he were not to be there. But then it would be a +different matter to all the rest of the people, as well as to her, and +so she had quieted herself till Miss Essie's letter came. It startled +her, but the pain it gave her made her glad of its coming. She was +frank with herself, or she meant to be so. She had been receiving and +enjoying more from Mr Maxwell's friendship than could possibly be hers +as time went on and circumstances changed, and then she might miss it +more than would be reasonable or pleasant. So she was very glad that +the letter had been written and awaited Mr Maxwell's return, expecting +to hear more, and preparing herself to be sympathetic and +congratulatory. + +But she had heard no more, and she could not but be surprised. For +though he might not for various reasons be ready to make known his +engagement to all Gershom, she thought he owed it to their friendship to +acknowledge it to her. + +"I have been longing to congratulate you, Mr Maxwell--though you have +told me nothing," said she as she folded the note and laid it down. + +"I have nothing to tell that would call for congratulation--in the way +you mean," said the minister. "But I would like to talk a little to +you, Miss Elizabeth, if you will be so kind as to listen to me." + +It was growing dark, and there was only the firelight in the room, and +taking her knitting in her hands, Miss Elizabeth sat down to listen. He +made rather a long story of it, telling of the friendship between his +mother and Miss Essie's aunt--of their hopes and plans for them, of +their correspondence, and lastly of Mr Langden's interference as to a +positive engagement because of his daughter's youth. Of course there +was no chance for congratulation, he said. + +But Miss Elizabeth had hopes to express and good wishes, and one good +thing came out of their talk: the coldness or distance, or whatever it +might be called, that had come between the friends for a while, seemed +to pass away, and they fell into their old ways again. + +Miss Elizabeth counselled and encouraged, and discussed church affairs +and Gershom affairs very much as she had always done, and no doubt the +minister was as much the better through it as he had been from the +first. Miss Essie sent letters to Mr Maxwell, many and long, and now +and then a note to Miss Elizabeth, but that young lady's name was not +very often mentioned between them. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +JACOB'S TROUBLES. + +This was by no means so happy a winter in Gershom church and society as +last winter had been. The various circumstances that had been thought +causes for congratulation last year were to be rejoiced over still. Mr +Maxwell was holding his own among them. His sermons were admired as +much as ever. The various meetings were well attended; there was no +perceptible falling off in the subscription-list, and many of the North +Gore people were as regular in their attendance, and to all appearance +as loyal to church interests as could be desired. Still it was not so +pleasant or so prosperous a winter as the last had been. + +There was not much said about it, even by the privileged grumblers among +them, for a while, and the people who made the best of things generally +saw only what was to be expected. In the best laid plans there will be +some points of doubtful excellence. In all new arrangements there will +be grating and friction which cannot even with the best intentions be at +first overcome. The only way was to have patience and be ready with +"the oil of gentleness and the feather of forbearance," so as to give a +touch here or there as it was needed, and everything would be sure to +move smoothly after a while. + +No special cause was assigned for this state of things. No one thought +of connecting Jacob Holt's name with it, but as the winter wore over a +good many eyes were turned toward him, and a good many tongues were busy +discussing his affairs, and chiefly his affairs as they had reference to +Mr Fleming. No one whose opinion or judgment he cared about blamed him +openly. It would have required some courage to do so. For Jacob was +the rich man of the church, as he was of the town, and had much in his +power in a community where voluntary offerings were depended upon as a +means of covering all expenses. But the work commenced on the Varney +place made matter for discussion among people who had not the motive for +silence that existed among Jacob's personal friends and brethren. + +That he meant to bring Mr Fleming to his own terms could not be +doubted. The mortgage on the farm had only another year to run. The +land above the Blackpool would be taken possession of, or if this should +be hindered in any way, the land would be ruined by the building of the +new dam at the Varney place. What would Jacob Holt care for the +bringing of a lawsuit against him by a poor man like Mr Fleming after +the dam should be built and operations commenced? + +True, it was the Gershom Manufacturing Company which was to decide as to +the site of the mills, and which would be called upon to pay all +damages. But how was that to help Mr Fleming? Within the memory of +the oldest inhabitant no enterprise commenced or carried on in Gershom +but had, at one point or mother in its course, felt the guiding or +restraining touch of a Holt, and so it was not easy for lookers-on in +general to put Jacob out of the question when the mind and will of the +future manufacturing company was under discussion. + +It is not to be supposed that all this time Mr Maxwell had heard no +other version of this trouble than that which the squire and Miss +Elizabeth had given him. He had heard at least ten corresponding +generally to theirs as to facts, but differing in spirit and colouring +according to the view of the narrator. He had not as yet found it +necessary to commit himself to any expression of opinion with regard to +it. He listened gravely, and often with a troubled heart, doubting that +evil to the people he had learned to love might grow out of it. But he +listened always as though he were listening for the first time. + +The matter could not be brought before him as pastor of the church, as +between Jacob Holt and Mr Fleming, for Mr Fleming was not a church +member. He still kept aloof, as did others of the elderly people of his +neighbourhood; and though Mr Maxwell had spoken with several of them as +to their duty in the circumstances, he had never spoken to Mr Fleming. +He was on the most friendly terms with the family, and had always been +kindly received and respectfully treated by the old man, but as to +personal matters Mr Fleming was as reserved with him as with the rest +of the world. It would have seemed to Mr Maxwell an impertinence on +his part to seek either directly or indirectly to force the confidence +of a man like him. And indeed he felt that he might have little to say +to the purpose should his confidence be spontaneously given. He thought +it possible that it might do Mr Fleming good to freely and fully tell +his troubles, real and imaginary, to a sympathising and judicious +listener, but he was far from thinking himself the right man to hear +him. + +He had a strong desire to help and comfort him. In church, when he saw, +as he now and then did, the stern old face softening and brightening +under some strong sweet word of his Lord, like the face of a little +child, he had an unspeakable longing to do him good. In his study the +remembrance of the look came often back to him, and almost unconsciously +the thought of him, and his wants, and possible experiences, influenced +his preparations for the Sabbath. His thoughts of him were always +gentle and compassionate. That there is likely to be wrong on both +sides, where anger, or coldness, or contempt comes between those who +acknowledge the Lord of love and peace as their Master, Mr Maxwell well +knew, but in thinking of the trouble between these two men, neither the +sympathy nor the blame was equally awarded. When he prayed that both +might be brought to a better mind through God's grace given and His word +spoken, he almost unconsciously assumed that this grace was to make the +word a light, a guide, a consoler to one, and to the other a fire and a +hammer to break the rock in pieces. + +It would not have been difficult at this time to bring back the old +state of things when two distinct communities lived side by side in +Gershom; and in the main the two communities would have stood in +relation to each other very much as the North Gore folk and the +villagers had stood in the old times. Not altogether, however. The +North Gore folk, as a general thing, sided with Mr Fleming, or they +would have done so if he had not been dumb and deaf to them and to all +others on the subject of his troubles, but all the towns-people would +not have been on the other side. + +For Jacob lacked some of the qualities that during the past years had +made his father so popular in the town. He was not the man his father +had been in any respect. "Jacob bored with a small auger," Mr Green, +the carpenter, used to say, and the miscellaneous company who were wont +to assemble in his shop for the discussion of things in general did not +differ from him in opinion. Jacob was small about small matters, they +said, and lost friends and failed to make money, where his father would +have made both friends and money safe. As a business man he had not of +late proved himself worthy of the respect of his fellow-townsmen as his +father had always done. + +Things had gone well with the Holts for a long time. They had had a +share in most of the well-established business of the town. In helping +others, as they had certainly done, to a living, they had helped +themselves to wealth, and on many farms in the vicinity, and on some of +the village homes, they had held claims. In many cases these claims had +been paid in time; in others the property had passed from the hands of +the original owners into the hands of the Holts, father and son. Very +rarely in old Mr Holt's active days had this happened in a way to +excite the feeling of the community against the rich man; but of late it +had been said that Jacob had done some hard things, and some of those +who discussed his affairs were indignant because of the people who +suffered, and some who did not like Jacob for reasons of their own +joined in the cry; but it was to David Fleming and his affairs that +attention was chiefly turned when any one wanted to say hard things of +Jacob Holt. + +Jacob was having a hard time altogether. Not because men were saying +hard things of him. Few of these hard sayings would be likely to reach +his ears. Some of the men who growled and frowned behind his back, +before his face were mild and deprecatory, and listened to his words and +smiled at his jokes, and carried themselves in his company very much as +they had done in years past. + +As for Mr Fleming's affairs, it was coming to that with Jacob, that he +would have done to him all the evil that he was accused of planning, if +he could have had his way; but, nevertheless, not with a desire to +harass and annoy the man who had always shunned him, and who now defied +him, as people sometimes declared. + +It cannot be said that he had not felt and secretly resented what he +called the folly of the unreasonable old man. But Mordecai might have +sat stiff and stern at the gate all day long for him and every day of +the year, if the refusal to rise with the rest and do him reverence had +been all the trouble between them. He knew that Mr Fleming had bitter +thoughts against him because of all that had befallen his son long ago, +and though he believed himself to have been no more guilty toward him +than others had been, he knew that they had all been guilty together, +and he had therefore submitted quietly, if not patiently, to the +constant rebuke which he felt, and which all Gershom felt, the old man's +stern silence to be. He could understand how the sight of him and his +prosperity should be an aggravation to the sorrow of this man, who did +not seem to be able to forget, and he had a sort of compassion for him +in his loss--not merely of the handsome, kindly lad who had gone away so +long ago, but of the man to which the much-loved Hugh might by this time +have grown. His desire to resent the father's manner to himself had +never been more than a momentary feeling and if he could have conferred +upon him some great benefit, and placed him under such obligation to him +as should be seen and acknowledged by all Gershom, he would gladly have +done so. Indeed he believed that in the terms agreed on by his father, +with regard to Mr Fleming's mortgage, such a benefit had been +conferred, and as he thought about it his anger grew. + +For now Mr Fleming's unreasonable obstinacy in refusing to dispose of +his land seemed the only hindrance in the way of the new enterprise +which promised so well. If he had had the power to make him yield, he +would have exerted it to the uttermost, even if it would have ruined the +old man, instead of placing him and the children dependent on him above +the fear of want forever. But as yet he had no power, and before the +year should be out, when the law would allow him to take possession of +the land, the ruin which men were saying might fall on Mr Fleming, +might, nay must, fall on himself. + +Ruin? Well, that was putting it strongly perhaps. But the delay would +cause loss and trouble terrible to anticipate--not to him only, but to +the whole town of Gershom--loss which years of common prosperity would +hardly make up for. Jacob rarely spoke of David Fleming or his +relations to him, but when he did so, this was the way he put it. The +prosperity of Gershom and of the country round was hindered by his +refusal to sell his land. But in his heart he knew that the prosperity +of Gershom was a very secondary consideration with him at the moment. + +For Jacob was in trouble, had been in trouble a long time, though he was +only just beginning to confess it to himself. To no one else would he +confess it, till nothing else could be done. He ought never to have +come to any such determination. He was not strong enough to bear the +weight of such trouble alone, and he was not wise enough to see the +right means of getting through it. + +There were times when he owned this to himself. He had not nerve for +great ventures. It made him sick to think of one or two transactions, +out of which he might have come triumphant as others had done, only that +his courage had failed to carry him through to the end. He needed more +courage, and less conscientiousness, he liked to add in his thoughts, +and perhaps he was not altogether without warrant in doing so. At any +rate, something had come between him and success where other men had +succeeded. + +Mr Green and his friends were right in their opinion that he was not +such a man as his father. Even in conducting his Gershom business, +which had almost come to be mere routine with him, they could see that +he sometimes made mistakes. His persistent way of standing out against, +or apart from, any movement that was to benefit the whole community, +unless it was made in his way or to his evident advantage, was very +unlike his father. It is true, that in his father's day there had been +fewer men in Gershom to share either responsibility or power. But the +squire had known when to yield, and by judicious yielding it frequently +happened that he was allowed to hold all the faster to his own plans. + +Jacob had to yield his own will also now and then, but at such times he +could not help seeing that his fellow-townsmen looked upon him as having +been beaten, and that they rather enjoyed it. Even when he succeeded in +getting his own way in some matters, it often happened that his success +was more in appearance than in reality. Still, if he had kept to his +legitimate business, he might have done well in it, and kept the +confidence of the community as being a man "who knew what he was about," +and certainly he would have had an easier mind. + +It was a little before this time that the discovery of the existence of +mineral wealth, and the speculation in mining property which has since +made a curious chapter in the history of this part of Canada, were +beginning to occupy the attention of moneyed men, and Jacob had made his +venture with the rest. But he had not come out of the affairs so well +as some others had done. A history of their operations as to buying and +selling would not interest. The result, as far as Jacob Holt was +concerned, was disastrous enough, for in one way and another he had +involved himself to an extent that to people generally would have +appeared incredible. But people generally knew little about it. Those +who did know were those who had been engaged with him, who had either +made much money or lost much in the course of their transactions, and a +prudent silence seemed to be considered best. Of course it could not +but be known in the country to some extent who were the gainers and who +the losers, but no one guessed that the Holts would be "In" for any +considerable amount. But in the giving up of much valuable property at +a great loss, in order to preserve his credit, Jacob was made to feel +his position bitterly. + +Squire Holt had bought and held for many years large tracts of wild +lands in various parts of the country, content to sink the +purchase-money and to pay the taxes for the present, in the certain +knowledge that as new settlers came in, and the country was opened up by +the making of roads and the building of bridges, the value of the lands +would be greatly increased. Many of these tracts Jacob was at this time +obliged to sacrifice. He rather ruefully congratulated himself on the +fact that the transfer of such property to other names might be done +quietly, so that his difficulties need not be fully known or discussed +in the community, but it was a terrible blow to him, and the necessity +of keeping the knowledge of it from his father made it all the harder. + +For the squire had given his voice against all operations in mining +matters. He was conscious that he was no longer equal to a contest with +younger men in a new field of action, and his advice to his son, whose +powers he had measured, had been "to let well alone," and leave to those +who had less to lose, the chance of being winners in the new game. It +would have been well if his words had been heeded, Jacob owned to +himself; and partly for his own sake and partly for the sake of his +father, he said little about his losses. He was willing to have him and +others believe that railroad matters were not prospering as he would +have liked, which indeed was true. "The Hawkshead and Dunn Valley" +railroad, which he had been chiefly instrumental in starting, and the +stock of which he held largely, had promised well for a time, and would +doubtless pay well in the end; but in the meantime, the big men of +Fosbrooke, who had been allowed to say less than they wished to say as +to the location of the road, were agitating the subject of another road +to connect more directly with the Grand Trunk, and with other lines on +the south side of the border, and "Hawkshead and Dunn Valley" stock had +gone down. + +So Jacob candidly acknowledged that "the banks were crowding a little," +whenever he found it necessary to ask for the use of a fellow-townsman's +name to his paper. He found it necessary a good many times these days, +and he was not very often refused. For there were few of the old +settlers whom he or his father had not obliged in the same way at one +time or the other, as he took occasion to tell the sons of some of them +now and then. And besides this, giving one's name was a mere form, very +convenient in the way of business, which in those days was supposed to +be done more rapidly than had been the way in old times. + +That any of the signers, "joint and several," ever imagined that they +might, in the course of untoward events, be called upon to make good the +promise to pay that stood over their names, is not likely. Nor did +Jacob himself ever contemplate so painful a possibility. Serious as he +saw his difficulties to be, he saw a way out of them--or he would have +done so, he said to himself bitterly, if the will of an unreasonable old +man had not stood in his way. + +In the establishment and success of the new Company, so long the subject +of discussion in the town, lay his best chance of freeing himself from +his present embarrassment. If he might have had his way as to the site, +so that the building might have been commenced, there would have been no +trouble about the Company. A few good names with his own, and a +moderate amount of capital, with the dam and the buildings commenced, +there would have been no trouble about the rest. He felt that he would +then have been master of the situation. Every cottage needed for the +Mill hands and their families must be built on his land; and the chances +were that by judicious management as to building, every one of them +might become his tenant; and he had already in view certain arrangements +by which most of the materials for building, and many of the supplies +for the work-people, should be made to pass through his hands. By these +means, and by the combination of other favourable circumstances, which +he foresaw, he did not doubt that he could not only escape from present +embarrassments, but recover much of what he had been obliged to +sacrifice. + +It is possible that he was quite mistaken in all this, but he believed +it all, and no wonder that his indignation grew and strengthened as he +thought of Mr Fleming. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +JACOB'S EXPERIENCE. + +Jacob spoke wonderfully little of all this, considering how much it was +in his mind. He sometimes spoke to his wife, but even to her he said +nothing of the losses that had fallen upon him, or of the fears that +were weighing him down; but he did allow the bitterness which was +gathering in his heart toward old Mr Fleming to overflow, once in a +while, in her hearing. He knew it was not a wise thing to do, for she +could only listen and add a word or two, which did no good, but harm. +She dropped bitter words to other people too, nay, poured them forth to +Elizabeth, and to Clifton when he came home, and to Miss Betsey, even, +when a rare opportunity occurred. + +It did not matter much as far as they were concerned, for they knew the +value of her words, and did not repeat them; but she uttered them to +other people as well, and they were repeated, as all village talk is +repeated, and commented upon, and exaggerated, and no one did more +toward the stirring up of strife, and the making of two parties in +Gershom, than did Mrs Jacob. She did her husband no good, but she did +him less harm than she might have done had she been a woman of a higher +and stronger nature. He did not have perfect confidence in her sense +and judgment, and was apt to hesitate rather than yield to her +suggestions even when he would have liked to do so. But her intense +interest and sympathy were very grateful to him, and all the more that +he neither asked nor expected sympathy from any one else. + +He often longed to ask it; there were several men in Gershom with whom +he would have liked to discuss his grievances, but he hardly dared to +enter upon the subject, lest in confessing how great a matter a six +months' delay was to him, he should betray how serious his losses had +been. He did not intend to make his wife aware of his embarrassments, +but she could not fail to see that all his anxiety could not spring from +doubts as to the company or indignation toward Mr Fleming. She could +not bring herself to speak of his losses while he remained silent, but +she was all the more bitter in speaking of the old man's obstinacy. + +"And there are people who call him a sincere and exemplary Christian! +The hard, selfish, sour old man!" + +"Well," said Jacob, after a pause of consideration, "I guess he is a +Christian--as Christians go. There are few Christians who live up to +their light in all respects, I'm afraid." + +"That's so; but then there is a difference between failings and +shortcomings, or even open yieldings to sudden temptations, and this +keeping up of anger and uncharitableness, as he has been doing, year in +and year out, since ever I can remember, almost." + +"We cannot judge him; he has had great troubles, and he is an old man," +said Jacob, rising. Any allusion to Mr Fleming's disapproval of him +fretted him more than it used to do, and once or twice lately he had +allowed himself to say more than he would have liked to reach the ears +of his neighbours, and so he rose to go. + +"He has never done me any hurt that I know of, and I don't suppose he'll +do enough to speak of now. It will come all round right I guess, and +then if I can do him a good turn I will." + +If he had stayed a minute longer, his wife would have told him that he +at least was showing a Christian spirit in thus saying, but being left +alone, it came into her mind that no better revenge could be taken upon +the hard old man than that his enemy should heap kindness upon him. + +"Not that such a thought was in Jacob's heart," she said to herself, +"but I guess he's got some new notion in his head. I never can tell +just what he means by what he says; it will be queer if he doesn't get +his own way first or last." + +It was no great stretch of charity on Jacob's part to allow that the +people who believed in the Christianity of Mr Fleming might be right, +notwithstanding the old man's unreasonable antipathy to himself. He had +never doubted it, and his wife's words had startled him. + +"If he is not a Christian, I am afraid some of the rest of us had better +be looking to our little deeds. I guess he has as fair a chance as the +most of us." + +He did not get rid of his thoughts when he sat down in his office and +began the work of the afternoon. The remembrance of some things that he +would gladly never have remembered came back to him even while he was +busy with his writing, and he said to himself that if the controversy +between him and Mr Fleming were to be decided according to his +character, it would go hard with him, and for a moment it seemed as if +the sins of his youth were to be remembered against him, and that his +punishment was coming upon him after all those years. But he pulled +himself up when he got thus far, saying he was growing foolish and as +nervous as a woman, and then he rose and took his hat and went down to +the mill. + +He met his father on the way, and the old man turned back with him down +the street again. There was always something the squire wanted to say +to his son about business, and Jacob owed more than he acknowledged--and +he acknowledged that he owed much--to the keen insight of his father. +He seemed to be able to see all sides of a matter at once, and though +Jacob liked to manage his affairs himself, and believed that he did so, +yet there had been occasions when a few words from his father had +modified his plans, and changed the character of important transactions +to his profit. At the first glimpse he got of him to-day, a great +longing came over him to tell him all his trouble and get the help of +his judgment and advice. + +It was possibly only a passing feeling which he might have acted on in +any circumstances. But his father's first querulous words made it +evident that he could not act upon it to-day. It is doubtful whether +any of Jacob's friends or acquaintances, whether even his wife or his +sister, would have believed in the sudden, sharp pain that smote through +Jacob's heart at the moment. He himself half believed that it was +disappointment because he could not get the benefit of his father's +experience and counsel at this juncture of affairs, but it was more than +that. He really loved his father and honoured him. He had been proud +of his abilities and his success, and of the respect in which he was +held by the community, both as a man of business and as a man. He had +tried since his manhood to atone to him for the sins of his youth, and +had striven as far as he knew how to be a dutiful son, and on the whole +he had satisfied his father, though doubtless a son with a larger heart +and higher capabilities would have satisfied him better. But they loved +one another, and the squire respected his son in a way, and they had +been much more to each other than people generally, knowing the two men, +would have supposed possible. + +When Jacob saw his father so feeble and broken that afternoon, and heard +his querulous lament over this thing and that which had gone wrong in +the mill, the thought came home to him that he was failing fast, and +that the end could not be very far away, and the pain that smote him was +real and sharp. A sense of loss such as had never touched him, though +he had long known that his days were numbered, made him sick for the +moment, and left a weight of despondency on him that he could not shake +off. He spoke soothingly to him, and walked with him over the mill, +telling him of changes that might be made, and asking him questions till +he grew cheerful again, and more like his usual self; then taking +possession of Silas Bean's sleigh that was "hitched" at the mill-door, +he proposed to drive him home, because the March sun had melted the +new-fallen snow, leaving the street both slippery and wet, as he took +care to explain, so that he need not suspect that he was more careful +than usual about him. + +When Elizabeth, a little startled, came to meet them at the door, he +repeated all this to her in cheerful tones, but when his father went in, +the look of care came back to his face as he said that he had been +afraid to let him try the long walk up the hill. + +"I was just thinking of going down to meet him," said Elizabeth. "It +was very kind of you to bring him home." + +"Kind!" repeated Jacob, and then he pulled his hat over his eyes and +went away. + +Elizabeth looked after him a moment in surprise. Even Elizabeth, who +thought more kindly of him than any one, except perhaps his father, did +not imagine how much the sight of the old man's increasing weakness had +moved him. + +Jacob went to a prayer-meeting that night, and, as his custom was, sat +on a back seat near the door. The rich man of the village was not a +power in the church when one looked beyond material things--the regular +subscription-list, the giving of money, the exercise of hospitality--and +except in regularity of attendance, he was certainly not a power in the +prayer-meeting. But regularity of attendance is something, and on +nights when winter storms, or bitter cold, or domestic contingencies of +any sort, kept the "regular stand-bys" at home, he could and did fill +the place of one or other of them by "taking a part." But he had no +"gift" in that way, and knew it, and kept himself in the background. +His neighbours knew it too, and some of them said sharp things, and some +of them said slighting things of him because of this. But "the +diversity of gifts" was pretty generally acknowledged, and people +generally were not hard on him because of silence. + +To-night there was no call on him. The school-room was well filled, as +there was a prospect of the winter roads breaking up early, so that +people from a distance could not come for a while. Besides, it was not +the usual prayer-meeting, but the preparatory lecture before the +communion, and Mr Maxwell had the meeting altogether in his own hands; +and perhaps there were others there as well as Jacob, who took the good +of the thought that there was no special responsibility resting upon +them for the night. + +If it had been the regular meeting, it is possible that Jacob might have +sat in his corner as usual, supposing himself to be attending to the +words of Deacon Scott and old Mr Wainwright, and all the rest of them, +and through habit and the associations of time and place, he might have +fallen into old trains of thought which did not always exclude a glance +over the business of the day, or a glance toward the business of +to-morrow; and so the unwonted stir of fears and feeling which had moved +him in the afternoon might have been set at rest, and the cloud of care +and pain dissolved for the time. But Mr Maxwell had the word, and +still moved and troubled, Jacob could not but listen with the rest. + +It was not the minister's usual way to give one of his elaborate written +discourses on such an occasion as the present. There might be a +difference of opinion among the people now and then, as to whether he +gave them something better, or something not so good. But to-night the +greater part of them did not remember to make any comparisons of that +kind, but found themselves wondering whether anything had happened to +the minister, so earnest and solemn was he both in word and manner +to-night. + +The words he spoke from were these, "If ye then be risen with Christ, +seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right +hand of God." I could not give the discourse, even if it would be wise +to do so. It was such an one as his hearers could not but listen to. + +As he went on to tell them some of the wondrous things implied in being +"risen with Christ," the Head, crowned and glorious of the Church, "His +body," of which they were "the members," and to insist on the seeking +the "things above" as the result and sole evidence of this life from the +dead, none listened more intently than did Jacob. And perhaps because +of the unusual experience of the afternoon, he did not listen, as he was +rather apt to do on common occasions, for the rest of the congregation, +this for Deacon Scott, that for Mr Wainwright, the other for some one +else, for whom it seemed a suitable portion; he listened for himself, +with his father all the while in his mind. And when it came to the +"result and evidence," he had not, for the moment, a word to say for +himself. + +As for his father--well, his father had never made a public profession +of faith in Christ. He had "kept aloof," as the village people said, +whatever had been his reasons. But it came into Jacob's mind--moved and +stirred out of its usual dull acceptance of things as they seemed--that +to eyes looking deeper than the surface, his father's life might count +for more as "evidence" than his own profession could do. And as the +minister put it, would even his father's life count for much as +"evidence" of his being "risen with Christ?" Whose life would? + +"Mine would amount to just nothing!" was Jacob's decision as he left the +house, when the meeting was over, and having got thus far it might +naturally be supposed that he would not rest until he got farther. He +had got thus far many a time before, but the cares of this world and the +deceitfulness of riches had done their part in the past to put the +thought away, and they did the same again. + +But not so readily this time. For Jacob was unsettled and anxious, +longing for the help and counsel which his father could never give +more--longing also, but not always, for the help which he knew his +younger brother was capable of giving him if he would; and he asked +himself often, whether it paid even for this world, to wear one's self +out for the making of money which one might lose, as he had done, and +which all must leave, as his father was about to do. + +But the day's work had to be done, and the day's cares met, and Jacob +found himself after a little moving on in the old paths, not altogether +satisfied with himself or his life, but pretty well convinced that +though it might be well to take higher ground as to some things, both in +his business and his religion, now was not the time for the change. And +besides, he also believed in "the diversity of gifts," as they were +pleased to term it in Gershom. If he could not lead a meeting, or speak +a word in season in private, as some of the brethren could do, he tried +to use his influence on the right side in all moral and religious +questions; and though he knew that there were several among the brethren +who, if they could have seen their way clear, would perhaps have called +in question the character of certain business transactions with which +his name had got mixed up, he set over against the unpleasant fact the +other fact, that no three of these men gave so much to sustain the cause +of religion in the place as he did. + +It might be considered doubtful whether the church itself would have +been built, if he had not taken hold of it as he did. That had helped +the coming in of the North Gore people, and that with other things had +brought Mr Maxwell to them as their minister. Gershom would have been +a different place, as to the state of morality and religion, if it had +not been for the Holts--and when Jacob said the Holts in this +connection, he meant himself, as far as the last ten years were +concerned. + +Of course he did not say, even to himself, that any amount of giving or +doing could make a man safe, either for this world or the next; but he +did say that doing and giving to the good cause must count for something +as evidence of one's state. And though he was not satisfied that he was +all that he ought to be, he thought that, taking all things into +account, he was as good as most of his neighbours, and with this for the +present he contented himself. + +A visit from his brother Clifton gave him about this time something to +think about, and something to do as well. Clifton had heard, though +their father had not, of Jacob's mining speculations, and he had heard +of several transactions of so serious a nature that he could not but be +curious, not to say anxious, as to results. It cannot be said that he +got either information or satisfaction from his inquiries. Jacob, never +communicative, was altogether silent to his brother as to the extent of +his loans, and as to the property he had been obliged to sacrifice to +satisfy pressing claims. + +To tell the truth, Clifton was disposed to take matters easily. The +Holts must expect their turn of reverses, as well as other people, and +they were better able to meet them, he imagined, than most people. If +Elizabeth at this time had pressed upon him the propriety of his making +himself aware of the exact state of their affairs, he might have +inquired to better purpose. As it was, he returned to his more +congenial pursuits in Montreal, not quite satisfied, but with no very +grave misgivings as to the state of their affairs. + +His visit was not without result, however. Though Jacob had only given +him the vaguest kind of talk as to mining matters, and had blamed his +unfortunate railroad ventures for such pressure as to money as could not +be concealed, he had much to say about the new mills, which at some +future time must be a source of wealth to the Holts, and to the town. +He did not succeed in making his brother believe all that he promised +from them should they be built and in running order within the year, but +he did succeed in getting more of his sympathy than ever he had got +before, as to his loss through the obstinacy of old Mr Fleming. As +Jacob put it, it did seem a pity that so much should be lost to the +Holts, and the town through him, when so much might be gained to Mr +Fleming and his family, by yielding the point at once. Of course it +must come to Jacob's having the land in the end, he acknowledged, and he +had never acknowledged so much before. + +"As it seems to be personal spite that keeps him to his resolution--for +of course a shrewd man like him must see the advantage that the building +of the mills so near his land must be--you should get some one else to +treat with him." + +But that had been tried. The Gershom Manufacturing Company had as +little prospect of success as a company as Jacob had had as an +individual, and Clifton could only suggest that everybody concerned +should wait patiently for another year for the chance of getting rich by +the mills, which was easy for him to say, but hard for Jacob to hear. +The hint which renewed his hope, and gave him another chance, was thrown +to him over his brother's shoulder when he rose to go away. + +"What about this Mr Langden, whose name I hear mentioned by Mr Maxwell +and others as a rich man? Why don't you suggest to him that he might do +a good thing for himself by putting some of his money into the new +mills? It would be a better investment than this mining business which +our neighbours on the other side of the line seem so eager about. If he +were to offer the money down to Mr Fleming, ten to one he would not +refuse to sell. You need not appear in the business." + +Jacob shook his head. + +"You might try it, anyway. It would not be a bad speculation for him. +It is up to-day and down to-morrow with some of these men over there, +and he might so manage it, that anything he put into mills in Canada +might be made secure to him in case of a smash on the other side. It +might be done, I suspect. If I were you I would make a move in that +direction." + +And then with a smile and a nod for good-bye, he went away, never +suspecting that he left his brother in a very different state of mind +from that in which he had found him. Jacob was not, as a general thing, +quick at taking up new ideas or in acting upon them, but this ought not +to have been a new idea to him, he said almost angrily to himself after +his brother was gone. Why had he not thought of Mr Langden and his +money before? + +Some correspondence had passed between them with regard to certain +mining operations in which Mr Langden had, or hoped to have, an +interest. At the time Jacob had been much occupied with similar +transactions, and had hoped, through Mr Langden's means, to advance +their mutual interests. But things had gone wrong with him beyond hope +of help, and later he had with a clear conscience advised him to have +nothing to do with any venture in mining stock within the area of which +he had any personal knowledge, and then the correspondence had ceased. +Now he greatly regretted that he had not thought of proposing the other +investment to him. + +After much consideration of the subject, and some rather indirect +discussion with Mr Maxwell as to Mr Langden's means, opinions, and +prejudices, he came to the conclusion that he could make the whole +matter clearer to him and more satisfactory to both if they were to meet +face to face, and so his plans were made for a visit to him. But spring +had come before this was brought about. He went south in May, and was +away from Gershom several weeks. When he returned nothing transpired as +to his success. Even to Clifton, who had come to Gershom to accompany +his father and sister to C. Springs, where the squire was to spend a +month or two, he only spoke of his intercourse with the rich man as one +of the pleasant circumstances attending his trip, and Clifton took it +for granted that there was not much to tell. + +Nor was there; but the rich man had spoken of a possible visit to Canada +during the summer, and he had promised that if this took place he should +come to Gershom and discuss the matter of the mills on the spot, and +though Jacob said little about it, he permitted himself to hope much +from the visit. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +SUGARING-TIME. + +The season opened cheerfully at Ythan Brae. It had been a peaceful +winter with them; there had been less frequent communication with the +village than usual. Davie had been both master and man for the most +part, and had had little time for anything else. Katie had been now and +then for a visit to Miss Elizabeth, and to other people too, for Katie +confessed to being fond of visiting, and above most things disliked the +idea of being called odd or proud, or whatever else one was liable to be +called in Gershom who "set out to be different from her neighbours." +The younger children were not yet considered to be beyond such teaching +as they had at the Scott school-house, so that there had been little +coming and going to the village, and all the talk that had been indulged +in there as to their affairs had hurt no one at Ythan. + +They had their own talks, that is, Davie and Katie had. Their +grandfather was as silent at home as elsewhere as to the ill that his +enemy meditated toward him, so silent that even hopeful grannie grew +first doubtful and then anxious, fearing more than she would have feared +any outburst of bitterness, this silent brooding over evils that might +be drawing near. She dropped a cheerful word now and then as to the +certainty that they would never be left in their old age to anxiety and +trouble; but though he usually assented to her words, it was almost +always silently. + +"It is all in God's hands," he said once, and he never got beyond that. + +But as for the young ones, there was no end to the talk they had as to +Jacob Holt and his plans, not that they knew much about them, or were in +the least afraid of them. Katie was troubled sometimes, but Davie made +light of her fears, and the rest followed Davie's lead. Davie was of +Mr Green's opinion: + +"It will never amount to anything, all that he'll do to my grandfather. +He'll stop before he gets to the end. Mind, I don't say that he won't +be as great a rogue as he knows how to be, but he is a small man, is +Jacob, and he'll make a muddle of it. He couldn't do his worst with the +eyes of all Gershom on him. He hasn't pluck to take even what is his +own against the general opinion." + +But Katie thought him hard on Jacob. + +"He is not a fool, Davie; and surely he's not a rogue altogether. But +I'm not caring for him; I'm only thinking of grandfather." + +And though Katie did not say it, she was thinking that her grandfather's +silence and gloom might do him more harm than even the loss of half of +Ythan. But Davie did not know her thoughts, and he answered the words a +little scornfully: + +"Of course it is grandfather that we all think of. Who thinks of Jacob, +or what may happen to him? And where is your faith, Katie lass? What +do you suppose the Lord would be thinking of to take sides with Jacob +Holt against such a man as our grandfather? `He will not suffer his +feet to be moved.' That's what the Psalm says, and after that we'll +just wait and see." + +"But, Davie," said Katie, her eyes wide with surprise and something that +felt like dismay, "I doubt that it is not what it means. The Lord +doesna take sides that way. And do you think that grandfather would let +go his hold--of the Lord even if--even if--and what would become of him +then?" added Katie, appalled. + +"But that is just what I am saying can never happen. We'll wait and +see." + +Katie was not satisfied. + +"But, Davie, even if trouble should come--the worst that could come, it +would not be the Lord taking sides against us. The Lord has let +trouble, great trouble, fall on grandfather already. And you mind the +other Psalm:-- + + "`Therefore, although the earth remove, + We will not be afraid.'" + +"We'll just wait and see," repeated Davie. + +"But, Davie, do you think it would be a sign that the Lord was against +grandfather if He should let Jacob Holt do his worst? I cannot bear to +hear you say such things, as though we were just trying him." + +"Well, and is not that just what we are bidden do? It's no' me that is +saying grandfather is to be forsaken in his old age." + +"And I'm sure its no' me. Grandfather forsaken! Never. And, Davie, +the loss of Ythan even wouldna mean that to grandfather. Do you no' +mind: `Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.' What is Ythan, and +what are any of us to grandfather, in comparison to having the Lord +Himself?" said Katie, with rising colour and shining eyes. + +"Well, it is no' me that say it. There are plenty of folk in Gershom +just waiting to see how it will turn--to see which is going to beat--the +Lord or--or the other side. I wouldna say that grandfather himself is +not among the number." + +"Davie," said Katie solemnly, "my grandfather kens how it must end. Do +you think he puts his trust in God on a venture like that? You little +ken." + +Davie made no reply at this time. But they were never weary of the +theme, and sometimes went so far as to plan what it would be best to do +should they have to leave Ythan. Grannie sometimes watched with sad +eyes the shadow on the old man's face, but no one was more ready than +grannie to laugh to scorn the idea that any real harm could happen to +them. + +So the season opened cheerfully to them all. Davie was indeed the chief +dependence now, and went about his work in a way that must have +gladdened his grandfather's heart, though he said little about it. +There was no other man about the place. They got a day's work now and +then from a neighbour, and later they must have a man to help, or +perhaps two, when the heaviest of the work should come on. But in the +meantime, Davie and his brothers did all that was to be done in the +sugar-place, and sometimes Katie helped them. + +Indeed, as far as sugaring-time was concerned, they might have had help +every day and all day. There was not so much sugar made in the vicinity +of Gershom as there used to be, and the idle lads of the place enjoyed +being in the Ythan woods, in the sweet spring air and sunshine, even on +days when working hard at carrying in the sap was all that could be +done. But there was always this drawback to Davie's pleasure in their +help or their company, that his grandfather did not like either the one +or the other. It was partly his own reserved nature that made the +presence of strangers distasteful to him, and it was partly, too, +because of painful remembrances of the time when one like Davie had been +led astray by the influence of such lads. So Davie did not encourage +his friends of the village to come, as he might have done in other +circumstances. + +On "sugaring-off" days there were usually plenty of visitors. +Sugaring-off is the final process of sugar-making, when the syrup into +which the sap has been made by long boiling down, is clarified and +skimmed and boiled still until it is clear as amber, ready, when cooled, +to become a solid mass of glittering sweetness. It is astonishing what +a quantity of the warm brown liquid can be consumed with pleasure, and +without satiety, and on sugaring-off days not even the half-acknowledged +dread of Mr Fleming and his stern looks and ways prevented a gathering +of young people larger than would have been welcome to less open-handed +folk. But the consumption of a few pounds of warm sugar, more or less, +was a small matter in the opinion of the old people, provided all +behaved themselves as they ought; and whatever might have been likely to +happen in Mr Fleming's absence, his presence was a sufficient check on +the most foolish among them. And even the wild young lads of the +village found the old man less grim and stern in the spring woods, with +the sunshine about them, than they had learned to think him as they +watched him sitting in the meeting-house on Sundays. + +Sugaring-time is a time of hard and unpleasant work, and this was a more +favourable year than usual. Davie had been too busy with other things +all the winter to be able to do much in the way of improving the tools +and utensils necessary in the making of sugar. By another year there +would be a change, he told Katie in confidence. But in the meantime, +the three great iron kettles that had been in use during his father's +lifetime made the only boiling apparatus; they hung over a fire of great +logs, on a strong pole the ends of which rested on the "crotch" of two +great logs or ports set up fifteen or twenty feet apart, and there was +no roof above them. + +The "camp" or "shanty" used for shelter if it rained, was close by the +fire, made of boards, one end of which rested in the ground, while the +other end was raised to rest on a pole extended between the boughs of +two overhanging trees; but the young people rarely cared to enter it. +It held the syrup tubs and such stores of food as were needed from day +to day, but it was small and low, and "out of doors" suited them better, +even at night when their work detained them. + +Into the great maple trees, scattered over an area of many acres, small +scooped spouts of cedar were fastened, and out of a tiny cutting, made +by a common axe above it, the sap flowed over these into a primitive +bucket of cedar, or a still more primitive trough placed beneath. This +sap was carried from all parts of the place in pails sustained by a +rough wooden yoke placed on the shoulders of the carrier, and emptied +into great wooden sap-holders beside the kettles. This part of the +work, to be done well, and with the smallest amount of labour, had to be +done in the early morning, before the sun had melted the crust which the +night's frost had made on the snow. For even when the open fields were +bare, the snow still lingered in the hollows of the wood, and to carry +full pails safely, when one's feet were sinking into the mass made soft +by the sunshine, was a feat not to be accomplished easily. + +This carrying of the sap and the cutting of the wood for fires, was the +hard part of the work; the boiling of the sap and all the rest of it was +considered by Davie and his brothers as only fun. When there was a +great run of sap, as usually happens several times in the season, the +boiling had to be carried on through the night, as well as during the +day, and when the weather was fine, this only made the fun the greater. +At such times Davie usually secured the companionship of a friend, and +the chances were the friend brought another friend or two with him; and +there were few things happening in Gershom or elsewhere that were not +freely discussed at such times. + +Katie had less to do with sugar-making this year than ever she had +before, and was inclined to murmur a little because of it. But she was +less needed in the wood now, her grandmother said, when the other bairns +were growing able to help their brother, and Katie was needed in the +house. Early as it was, there were calves to be fed and milk to be +cared for, and this year it was understood that Katie was to be +responsible for all that was done in the dairy. There was plenty to do; +Katie's mother was not strong, and grannie confessed that she was +feeling herself not so young as she used to be, and Katie was the main +stay now. + +And, besides, Katie was too nearly a grown woman now to play herself +with the bairns in the wood, grannie went on to say, and it was far +better for Davie to get Ben Holt or some other lad to help, when help +was needed, than to take his sister from her work at home to do work for +which she was not fit. Of course Katie assented, and yielded her own +pleasure, as she always did at any word of grannie's; but grannie +herself felt a little uncomfortable about it. For it was not her +thought that Katie should be kept, as a general thing, out of the wood, +but Davie's. Between indignation and amusement, she had had some +difficulty in keeping her countenance when the lad had spoken. + +"I dinna need her, grannie, and she's better at home. Help! There's no +fear but I'll get help enough. Jim Miller will be over, and Moses +Green, and more besides, very likely, and I'm no' wanting Katie." + +"You're well off for helpers, it seems, Davie, my lad. But as for +Katie's going--" + +"Grannie, she's no' going. As for helpers, they may come and go, and +help or not help, as suits themselves. But the less they have to say +about our Katie in the town, the better. Helpers! Do you suppose, +grannie dear, that they all come to help me?" + +His grandmother looked at him in amazement. + +"I doubt, laddie, you hardly ken what you are saying." + +"I ken fine, grannie. If they want to see Katie, they must come to the +house here, to my mother and you. I'm no' to have the responsibility." + +"Davie, lad," said grannie solemnly, "if you kenned what you are saying, +you would deserve the tawse. Responsibility, indeed! A laddie like +you; and my bonnie simple-hearted Katie." + +"I'm saying nothing about Katie, grannie. I'm speaking about other +folk. Jim to-day and Moses to-morrow, and maybe young Squire Holt--no +less, the next--with their compliments and their nonsense. And as for +Katie, she likes it well enough, or she might come to like it; she's but +a lassie after all." + +"Oh, laddie, laddie!" was all his astonished grandmother could say. + +"I'm no' needing her to-day," repeated Davie. + +"Davy, you are to say nothing of all this to your sister. I wouldna for +much that she would hear the like of that from you." + +"I thought it better to speak to you, grannie," said Davie with gravity. + +Grannie would have liked to box his ears. + +"Grannie, you needna be angry at me. I'm no saying that Katie is +heeding; but other folk call her bonnie Katie as well as you, and she's +almost a woman now, and it canna be helped." + +"Whisht, Davie. Well, never mind; I'm no' angry. But say nothing to +Katie to put things in her head. A laddie like you." And grannie +laughed in spite of her indignation. But she kept her "bonnie Katie" at +home for the most part, unless there was some special reason for her +going with the rest. + +There were many other visitors at the sugar-place--visitors whom even +Davie could not suspect of coming altogether for Katie's sake. Most +people who had a chance to do so, liked to go at least once into the +woods when the sugar-making was going on, and the Flemings' place was +not very far from the village, and lay high and dry and was easy of +access, so that few days passed without a visit from some one. + +Sometimes they were visitors to mind and sometimes they were not, but +the laws of hospitality held good in the woods as in the house, and they +were welcomed civilly at least. Once or twice, when particular friends +of his came on sap-boiling days, Davie ventured on an impromptu +sugaring-off on his own responsibility. He made use of a small kettle +for the purpose, so that the important matter of boiling down the sap +need not be interfered with. He told himself that he was not disobeying +his grandfather, but he knew that probably it had never come into his +mind that such a thing would be attempted, and he did not enjoy it much, +though his visitors did. He acknowledged afterward to Katie, that never +in the course of his life had he "felt so mean" as he did on the last +occasion of the kind. The sugar was just coming to perfection, when the +eager barking of the dog proclaimed the approach of some one, and Davie +never doubted that it was his grandfather. It was all that he could do +to prevent himself from snatching the sugar from the fire and putting it +out of sight. He did not do it, however, and it was not his +grandfather. But Davie's feeling of discomfort stayed with him, though +he had no reason to suppose that any one of the party had noticed his +trouble. + +But in this he was mistaken. The very last person to whom he would have +liked to betray himself had observed him. Mr Maxwell had only been a +few minutes at the camp, and was not one of those for whose +entertainment Davie had prepared. Of course he knew that whoever came +to the place on regular sugaring-off days, was made welcome to all that +could be enjoyed on the occasion, but even with his knowledge that the +Flemings were open-handed on all occasions, he did feel somewhat +surprised that such special pains should be taken for the entertainment +of chance comers. But it was the anxious look that came over Davie's +face that struck him painfully. + +That Davie, whose character for straightforwardness and courage no one +doubted--his grandfather's right hand, the staff and stay of the whole +household--that Davie should be found turning aside, ever so little, +from what was open and right, hurt the minister greatly. He loved the +lad too well to forbear from reproof, or at least a caution, so he +stayed till the others had left the wood to say a word to him. This was +not his first visit to the camp, for Davie and he were friends, and Mr +Maxwell had proved his friendship in a way that the boy liked--by +lending him books, and by helping him to a right appreciation of their +contents. He had a book in his hand now, as he waited while Davie +filled the kettles and stirred the fire, and it troubled him to think +that he was going to prove his friendship this time in a way the boy +would not like so well. He did not know what to say, and had not +decided, when Davie, perhaps surprised at his unwonted silence, looked +up and met his eye. + +"Davie, lad, was it your grandfather that you expected to see when +Collie barked a little while ago?" + +Davie reddened and hung his head, and then looking up, said with a touch +of anger in his voice: + +"You are thinking worse of me than I deserve, Mr Maxwell." + +"Well, I shall be glad to be set right, Davie." + +"You don't suppose my grandfather would grudge a few pounds of sugar in +such a year as this? Why, there has been no such season since I can +remember, at least we have never made so much." + +"No, I did not suppose that. It would not be like him." + +"And there was no time lost; I was helped rather than hindered. And +anybody would do the same in any sugar-place in the country, only--" +Davie hesitated. + +"It was not the sugar I thought of, it was the look that came over your +face when you thought your grandfather was coming, that accused you. +You accused yourself, Davie." + +After a moment's silence, Davie said: + +"My grandfather is not just like other folks in all things, and there +were two or three here that he does not like--and he might have spoken +hastily--being taken by surprise, and--I didn't like the thought of it." + +The hesitation was longer this time. + +"The chances are, he would--have given me--a blowing up, and that is not +so pleasant before folks." + +"Well," said the minister again. + +"Well, he might have been uneasy at the sight of Hooker and Piatt, and +he might have thought I was not to be trusted. And then it would have +vexed grannie and them all. My grandfather is queer about some things-- +I mean he is an old man, and has had trouble in his life, with more +ahead, if some folks get their way and so I would have been sorry to see +him just then." + +"And, Davie, should all this make you less careful to do his will, or +more, both as to the spirit and the letter?" + +"But, Mr Maxwell, it was not that I thought I was doing wrong, only I +hoped grandfather might not come; and even grannie has whiles to--to-- +No, I won't say it. Grannie is as true as steel. And I was wrong to do +anything to encourage Hooker and Piatt to stay, and I am sorry." + +"Davie," said the minister kindly and solemnly, "be always loyal in word +and deed, as I know you are in heart, to your grandparents. You are +everything to them. I know of no nobler work than you have been doing +all winter. I beg your pardon if I have been hard on you; but it hurt +me dreadfully to see that doubtful look on your face. I did not mean to +be hard." + +Davie told all this to Katie a few nights afterward, as they were going +home through the fields together. But he did not tell her that he made +an errand round behind the camp lest Mr Maxwell should see the tears +that came rushing to his eyes; nor did he tell her anything that was +said after that. + +Indeed, there was but a word or two about the Lord and Master, whose +claims to a loving loyalty are supreme, words which Davie never forgot, +and only alluded to long afterward, when he and Katie found it easier to +talk together about such things. And that the minister had not put +their friendship in jeopardy, Katie plainly saw. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +MR FLEMING'S TROUBLES. + +A few days after the minister's talk with Davie, the squire and Miss +Elizabeth came to pay a visit at Ythan Brae. The squire's visits were +rare now, and his coming gave them all pleasure; and as the day was +fine, and the old man expressed a wish to go to the sugar-place, they +lost no time after dinner in setting out. + +The squire and Mr Fleming went in Mr Holt's buggy, as far as it could +be taken, but Mrs Fleming went, with Miss Elizabeth and Katie, the near +way through the fields. It was an afternoon long to be remembered. +Katie could not tell which she liked best, the walk up the hill with +these two, or the walk home again with Davie when he told her of Mr +Maxwell's talk with him in the wood. It was pleasant sitting in the +sunshine too, and listening to the old squire, and grannie, and them +all, and if there had been nothing else to delight her, it would have +been enough to see Davie behave so well. For Davie did not think so +much of Miss Elizabeth's friendship as Katie did, and did not as a +general thing take so much pains as she thought he ought to do to be +polite to her friend. But to-day Davie, in his sister's opinion, was +kind and "nice" to them all. They heard the sharp ring of his axe as +they went up through the pasture, and when they came in among the trees +they heard him singing merrily to himself. He made much of grannie, +whose first visit it was for the season, and when he heard that his +grandfather and Mr Holt were coming by the road, he went off with great +strides, like a young giant, to meet them before they should reach a +certain hole in the wood road which was deeper than it looked, and where +possibly they might have to alight and leave the buggy. By and by he +came back with them, carrying the squire's great coat, which he had +found heavy in coming up the hill. Then with some boards and an old +buffalo-skin and quilt from the camp, he hastened to make comfortable +seats for them all. + +"I think, grandfather," said he, "since the squire and Miss Elizabeth +have come so far--to say nothing of grannie--we should make it worth +their while. If Katie will wash out the little kettle, while I make a +place for it on the fire, we will have a sugaring-off in an hour or two. +If you had come to-morrow, Miss Elizabeth, you would have seen us +turning off a hundredweight and more." + +"If there will be time for it," said Mr Fleming doubtfully. + +"Plenty of time, grandfather. I will set it a-going, and Katie can +attend to it, for there are some buckets east yonder that I have not +seen to-day, and I must gather the sap and make an end of it to-night, +if I can." + +"I think I might be trusted to set it a-going myself, Davie," said +Katie, laughing and turning up her sleeves. + +Davie had made his morning porridge in the kettle, having been busy very +early in the woods, and there were traces of former sugar-making on it +also, but of this Katie said nothing. It was pretty to see her quick, +light movements, as she busied herself with the work. Even the washing +of a porridge pot may be done in a way to interest on-lookers, and +well-pleased eyes followed her movements. + +A tub of syrup which was to form part of to-morrow's "batch" stood in +the camp, and from this a portion was carefully taken that the grounds +need not be disturbed, a beaten egg and a cup of sweet milk were added +for clarifying purposes, and it was placed on the fire. As it grew hot +a dark scum rose to the top, which Katie with her skimmer removed, and +by and by there was nothing to be done but to see that the clear, +amber-coloured liquid did not boil over. All the help that her brother +gave her was by way of advice, and of this she made as much use as +suited her, and Miss Elizabeth listened to them much amused. + +But neither Miss Elizabeth nor Katie lost a word of the quiet talk that +was going on between the old people. The squire and Mrs Fleming had +most of it to themselves, Mr Fleming putting in a word now and then. +Their talk was mostly of old times. If the squire had heard anything +new of his friend's trouble as to his debt to Jacob he had forgotten it, +as he forgot most things happening from day to day now. It was of the +old times in Gershom, even before Mr Fleming's coming, that he was +speaking; most of what he said he had said to them often before. He +called Davie Hughie, and did not notice that Elizabeth looked anxious +and tried to change the talk. + +Davie did his part in setting things right by bringing up the question +which Ben and he had been discussing lately, as to the salmon fishing on +the Beaver River, before the building of the saw-mills had kept the fish +away. Then Davie went to his sap-gathering, and after that the talk +fell upon graver matters; and though all took part, it was grannie who +had most to say, and Elizabeth liked to think afterward of the eager, +childlike way in which her father had listened and responded to it all. + +He was very fond of telling of his early days, and of his success in +life, poor old man, but to-day he acknowledged that this life, if it +were all, would be but a poor thing. + +"I might have done differently in some things, and I wish I had, though +I don't know that it would have amounted to much, anything that I could +do." + +"And it is well that it is not our ain doings we have to trust to when +life is wearing over," said Mrs Fleming, gravely. "I doubt the best of +us would find but poor comfort in looking back over our life, when the +end is drawing on; it is to Him who is able and willing to save to the +uttermost that we have, one and all, to look." + +"Yes, I know, there is no one else. And my life is most done, but I +haven't never confessed Him, not before men." + +"But it's no' too late for that even yet," said Mrs Fleming, gently; +"and you _have_ confessed Him in a way, for you have fed the hungry and +clothed the naked, and all men trust your word, which, God forgive them, +is more than can be said of some who have His name oftenest on their +lips." + +"Folks ought to get religion young, as Lizzie did here, and Jacob. I +hope it's all right with Jacob. I've seen the time when I would have +been glad to come forward and confess Him and do my part in the church, +before Lizzie's mother died. But when a man gets on in years it isn't +easy for him to come out before the world and do as he ought. I hope it +will be all right, and as I told Jacob the other day, when the time does +come for me to be judged I'd full as lief be standing on the same +platform with old David Fleming as with most any of the professors in +Gershom." + +"Eh, man! It would be but a poor place to stand in," said Mr Fleming, +with a startled movement. Mrs Fleming looked from one to the other a +little startled also. + +"It is just this," said she, quickly and softly. "Do we love Him best, +and honour Him most? No professing or doing will stand to us instead of +that, either now or afterwards. And it is our life rather than our lips +that should have the telling of our love. Though they should both +speak," added she, gravely. + +"Ay! that should they," said her husband. + +"And if we love Him best and honour Him, that is so far an evidence that +we are His, and we need fear no evil." + +"I love Him; I know I love Him," said the squire gravely. "As to having +honoured Him before the world all these years--I have little to say +about that. And now my life is most gone--most gone--" + +Davie came back for the last time with his full pails, and Miss +Elizabeth was glad that the talk should come to an end, for her father +was showing signs of weariness and weakness. There was a little +discussion about the propriety of boiling all the sap down to-night, so +that the morning's "batch" of sugar should be the larger. That was +Davie's plan, but his grandfather objected, and to Katie's intense +delight Davie yielded to his decision cheerfully enough. So he set to +work to build up the fires, that the process of boiling to syrup what +was now in the kettle might be hastened, for it must be taken from the +fire and strained and put safely into the camp before they went home. + +Katie's sugar was by this time pronounced ready to be tested, and Davie +hastened to bring from some distant hollow a bucketful of the snow which +still lingered in shady places. Over this a spoonful or two of the +clear brown liquid from the kettle was spread, and as it stiffened, and +after a little became solid, it was pronounced to be sugar--though to +unaccustomed eyes it would have seemed only a brown syrup still. But by +the time it cooled it would be mostly solid sugar, and when the +remaining moist part should be drawn off, it would be maple sugar of the +very best, Squire Holt declared, and no one knew better than be. + +It is not to be supposed that the old people had cared much to have the +sugar made for them, or that they tasted it very freely now that it was +done. But they had enjoyed seeing it made, and had had a pleasant +afternoon. They did not fall into much talk after this. It was nearly +sunset, and time for the squire to be at home. So he and Elizabeth did +not return to the house, but took the buggy at the point where it had +been left, and went straight to the village. Mr and Mrs Fleming went +home together over the fields, and Katie was left to help Davie with the +straining of the syrup, which was nearly ready now. + +"We have had a pleasant afternoon," said Katie; "I only wish the +minister had been here, and Miss Betsey, and Mr Burnet. If we had +known we might have sent for them." + +"It is better as it was. Grandfather liked it better," said Davie. +"The minister was here the other day." + +"And you didna tell us!" + +"Well--I'm telling you now." And in a little he had told the whole +story, shamefacedly, but quite honestly. Katie did not say that she +thought the minister had been hard on him--thought it for a while. +However, Davie did not think he had been hard, she could see, and no +harm was done. + +In Katie's opinion Davie had been wonderfully good and thoughtful all +winter. He had very rarely laid himself open to his grandfather's +doubts or displeasure. But after this time there was a difference that +made itself apparent to eyes that were less watchful than Katie's. +"Loving loyalty," that was just the name for it. In great things and +small, after this, the lad laid himself out to please his grandfather. + +He was captious with his sisters "whiles," she acknowledged in secret; +he was arbitrary with his little brothers when they neglected tasks of +his giving; and tried his mother and his grandmother, now and then, as +young lads always have, and always will try their mothers and +grandmothers, until old heads can be put on young shoulders. + +But with his grandfather he was gentle, patient, and considerate, to a +degree that surprised even Katie, who had been gentle, patient, and +considerate with him all her life. She used to wonder whether her +grandfather noticed it. He never spoke of it, but he found fault less +frequently, and was less exacting as to times and seasons for work, and +as to the lad's comings and goings generally. + +Mr Fleming had for a long time said little either of past troubles or +future fears, and it was on the past rather than the future that his +thoughts dwelt. The future looked dark enough in some of its aspects, +but it was by no means hopeless. Davie was more nearly right than Katie +was willing to believe, when he said that his grandfather, as well as a +good many others in Gershom, were waiting to see "what the Lord was +going to do about it," whether it was to be a case of "the righteous +never forsaken," or whether this time "the race was to be to the swift, +and the battle to the strong." + +It may be said of the old man, that on the whole he waited hopefully, +or, rather, he looked forward without any special anxiety as to what +might be the result of his long controversy with his enemy. Nothing so +terrible could happen as had come to him in the past, when his boy had +gone down to a dishonoured grave, beyond the reach of hope. Nothing so +terrible could happen to the bairns. Every summer and winter passing +over their heads, made them more able to meet hardship, if hardship lay +before them. Of Katie he had long been sure, and of Davie he was +growing surer every day. The rest were healthy, wholesome bairns, with +no special gift of beauty or cleverness to lay them open to special +temptation. They would do well by their mother, and by one another, and +God would guide them, the old man said. + +As for himself and his Katie, his dear old wife, their time was nearly +over, and they would soon be at peace. At peace! That was the way he +put it to himself always. He did not dwell at this time on all that has +been promised of the glory to be revealed. He never said that he shrank +from the thought of entering through the gates into the heavenly city, +out of which his boy must be shut. That would have been rebellion +against God, and he would not rebel. + +But he was walking in darkness. His eyes were turned away from His face +who is the light of the world, and even when he strove to lift them up, +there were clouds and shadows between, that grew darker for a while. + +All this had come upon him gradually. After the utter darkness of the +winter that followed his son's death, he might have ceased to think so +constantly of his loss and his son's ruin if it had not been for the +sight of Jacob Holt. If Jacob had never returned, or if he had gone on +in his old ways till the end came to him also, he might have forgiven +him, at least he might have outlived the bitterness of his anger, and in +time might have been comforted for his son, and as other fathers are +comforted. + +But Jacob came home, and had another chance, and became a changed man, +or so it was said of him. As years passed he did well for himself, and +had power and influence in the town, as his father had had before him. +And when James Fleming died, and the old man fell into his enemy's hand, +as he thought, his whole life was made bitter to him. + +It was not that he grudged to Jacob anything either of wealth or +consideration that he had won for himself. But with every thought of +him was joined the thought of the son who, in his father's eyes, had +been as much above him as one human being could well be above another, +in goodness, in cleverness, in beauty, in all that makes a man worthy of +love and honour from his fellows, and he grew sick sometimes with the +thought of it all. + +But he never spoke much of all this even to his wife. It was years +before the old squire knew that it was not all right between Mr Fleming +and Jacob, and he never knew all the bitterness of the old man's +feelings. Gershom people generally knew that there was no love lost +between them, but even Mrs Fleming hardly knew how utterly her husband +had become possessed of the feelings which embittered his life. + +All this hurt Jacob far less than it hurt himself. Indeed, it cannot be +said that it affected Jacob at all, in the way of making him ashamed or +remorseful. It affected in some measure the opinion of a few of his +fellow-townsmen, and gave to those who had a grudge against him for +other reasons, an opportunity of saying hard things against him. But +Jacob cared little for all this, and until he had been thwarted by him +in the matter of the land on the bank of the river, had given few of his +thoughts to Mr Fleming. + +But who can say what the stern old man had endured all these years while +his silent anger, which was almost hatred, was living and rankling in +his heart? Even while he believed that it was the sin that he hated, +and not the sinner, it had been like a canker within him. His +conscience permitted the stern avoidance of this man, but it was not +always silent as to the neglect or the positive avoidance of duties, +which the presence of this man made distasteful, and at times even +impossible to him. + +When Jacob, according to the hopeful verdict of his friends, became a +changed man, and cast in his lot with the people of God, it had needed +the utmost exercise of the strong restraint which he imposed on himself, +as far as outward acts were concerned, to keep him from crying out +against what seemed to him to be a profanation of God's ordinances. +After old Mr Hollister's death, when others fell in with the new order +of things, and one after another of his old friends found his place in +the church, he kept back and remained a spectator, even when he would +gladly have gone with them. + +It was only his strong sense of the duty he owed to his family, that +took him to the new church at all, and it was to be feared that had it +not been for his personal interest in Mr Maxwell, and his real love for +the word of truth as presented by him to the people, he would, during +the winter which saw the work at Varney's farm commenced and carried on +at Jacob Holt's bidding, have absented himself from the house of God +altogether. + +He went, but he did not derive the good from it he might have done in +other circumstances, as he longed to do. He was like one bound or +blinded; like one striving vainly to reach a hand held out to him, to +see clearly a face of love turned toward him, indeed, but with a veil +between. + +"Thou art a God that hidest Thyself," was his cry. And when this word +followed to his conscience, "Your sins have hid His face from you that +He will not hear," he laid his hand on his mouth, acknowledging that it +might well be so; but it was not the sin of his anger against Jacob Holt +that came home to him. He told himself that it was the man's daily +hypocrisy that he hated. And if he could not always separate the sinner +from the sin in his thoughts, he yet could quiet himself, taking refuge +in the knowledge that never by word or deed had he pleaded his own cause +against him. He left it to God to deal with him. + +But having waited long, and seeing many troubles drawing near, he asked +in moments of darkness whether God had indeed forgotten him. + +And so the days went on through the spring, and Mrs Fleming watched and +waited, saying little, but growing sad at heart to see how rapidly the +signs of old age were growing visible upon him. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +KATIE'S WORD. + +Grannie's brave heart did not fail her. She had much to comfort her at +this time of trouble. + +Seldom had there been a more favourable spring for the getting in of the +crops, and never even at Ythan Brae had the spring work been done +better, or in better time. + +Davie was far enough from being perfect yet in many respects, and his +grandmother did not consider it her duty, or for his good, to let him +forget his faults. But she made amends to herself, if not to him, by +rejoicing over him and his steadiness and goodness to his mother and +Katie. None of her rebukes or cautions were needed where his +grandfather was concerned, and she could not but wonder sometimes at the +lad's forbearance, for the old man's burden of care made him weary and +irritable often. + +Katie's dairy, so long talked of and planned for, was in use now, though +it was not quite finished to her mind yet. Davie made use of his spare +minutes on rainy days to add to its conveniences. In the meantime it +was clean and cool. The Ythan burn rippled softly through it, and with +a free use of its limpid waters, and a judicious use of the limited +treasure of ice which they had secured during the last winter months, +Katie made such butter as bade fair to win her a reputation which might +in course of time rival that of her grandmother. They had two more cows +in the pasture than ever they had had before; but ambitious to do much, +and to make much money for their possible time of need, and being +perfectly healthy and strong, Katie laughed at the idea of having too +much to do, and could have disposed, in the village, of twice as much of +her delicious butter as her dairy could produce. + +Everything seemed to promise a profitable summer, and a pleasant summer +too, notwithstanding the knowledge that whatever evil was to come on +them through Jacob Holt could not be long averted now. + +"Katie," said Davie, "do you ken what they are saying about grandfather +now? They say that--" + +"But who are saying it? If you tell me who they are, I'll soon tell you +what they are saying. Though it matters little anyway." + +"Well, you needna fly out at me. I'm no' saying it," said Davie, +laughing. "And as for _they_, I might as well say _he_, or maybe _she_. +It was Ben Holt who told me. He heard his Aunt Betsey telling his +grandmother. But it came from Mrs Jacob in the first place. She says +that poor old Mr Fleming is not right in his mind, and that something +will have to be done about it." + +"Davie!" gasped Katie, "how dare you?" + +Davie looked up startled. Katie's face crimsoned first, and then went +very white. + +"Oh, Davie, Davie! How could you say it?" and her tears gushed forth. + +"But, Katie--such nonsense! I didna say it. Do be reasonable. I +shouldna have told you. But why should we heed what they say?" + +It took Katie a good while to get over the shock she had received, and +Davie sat watching her a little shamefaced and sorry, saying to himself +what queer creatures girls were, and what an especially queer creature +Katie was, and he wished heartily that he had said nothing about it. + +But Katie was not shocked in the way that Davie supposed. It was not +that she was indignant at Mrs Jacob for saying such a thing of her +grandfather. That there should be anything in her grandfather's words +or ways to make the saying of such things possible made the pain. For a +terrible fear had come upon Katie. Or rather, by the constant watching +of her grandmother's looks and words, she had come to the knowledge that +she feared for the old man something which she had never put into words. + +It was Sunday afternoon, a lovely June day, and they were sitting at the +foot of the little knoll under the birch-tree, where the two Holts had +found them on that Sunday morning long ago. The rest of the bairns had +gone with their mother to the Sunday-school at the Scott school-house as +usual, and their grandfather and grandmother were sitting together in +the house. Davie had been sitting there too, with his book in his hand, +but he had not enjoyed it much; he had nodded over it at last and +dropped asleep, and then grannie had bidden him go out to the air for a +while and stretch himself, adding to his grandfather as he went: + +"He's wearied with his week's work, poor laddie, and canna keep his eyes +open, and it will do him good to stroll quietly down the brae to the +burn. And Katie, lassie, you can go with him for a little till the +bairns and your mother come home." + +So, her grandfather saying nothing, Katie went well pleased, and the two +soon found themselves at their favourite place of rest, at the point +where the Ythan begins to gurgle and murmur over the stones at the foot +of the birch knoll. + +They had both changed a good deal since the day the Holts found them +sitting there. There seemed a greater difference in their ages than +there had seemed then, for Katie, as bonnie and fresh as ever, was +almost a woman now. Davie was a boy still, long and lank, and not +nearly so handsome as he used to be, but there was promise of strength +and good looks too, when a few years should be over. He had worked +constantly and hard for the last year, and he stooped a little sometimes +when he was tired, and Katie was beginning to fear lest he should become +round-shouldered and "slouching," and was in the way of giving him +frequent hints about carrying himself uprightly, as he went about the +farm. But he was as fine a young fellow as one could wish to see, and +his looks promised well for the manhood that did not lie very far before +him. + +They were silent for a good while after Katie's outburst. She sat on +the grass, her hands clasped round her knees, and her eyes fixed on the +rippling water of the burn. Davie lay back on the grass with his head +on his clasped hands regarding her. She turned round at last with a +grave face. + +"I cannot understand it, Davie. I suppose Jacob Holt is not a good man, +and grandfather thinks he did him a great wrong long ago, and that he is +only waiting for an opportunity to do him still another. But yet it +seems strange to me that grandfather should care so much, and be so hard +on him. It should not matter so much to him, for Jacob Holt is but a +poor creature after all." + +Davie looked at her in astonishment. + +"Is that the way you look at it? Do you know what happened long ago?" + +"I don't know, nor do you; but we can guess. And even grannie thinks +him hard on Jacob. Oh, Davie; it is a terrible thing not to be able to +forget." + +Davie said nothing, and Katie went on: + +"I hate myself for thinking that grandfather may not be right in +everything, so good as he is, so upright and so true. He never did a +mean or unjust deed in all his life. If he is not one of God's people, +who is? And yet, Davie, the Bible says, `If ye forgive not men their +trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.' +And to think that one like Jacob Holt should have the power to harden a +good man's heart like that!" + +"What do you suppose grannie would think if she were to hear you?" said +Davie in amazement. + +"Of course I wouldna speak to grannie, or to any one else but you. And +whiles I think that grannie herself is feared at his silence, and--and +at his unchangeableness," said Katie, with an awed look. "And +grandfather is growing an old man now, and what will it matter to him in +a little while about Jacob Holt or any other man?" + +Davie got up and walked about restlessly for a while, and when he came +and stood before her on the other side of the burn, Katie want on again: + +"Grandfather must ken that the Lord knows about it all, and that it is +sure `to work for good' to him, as the Bible says it must. `All +things,' it says. And the Lord knew grandfather's trouble long ago, and +grandfather knows that He knew it, and it is a wonder that he should +never be comforted." + +"It is something that we canna understand," said Davie gravely. "But, +Katie, grandfather is not ay dwelling on it as you suppose. Did he ever +do an ill deed to Jacob Holt, or say an ill word of him? He canna be +friendly with him, because he canna trust him or respect him. But as to +not forgiving him--that is not likely." + +"But, Davie, he hasna spoken a word to Jacob Holt for years. He has not +heard his name spoken--unless by the old squire, who forgets things +whiles. None of us name him in his hearing, nor the neighbours. And +all this about the land and the site for the mills is not natural, is +it, if he has forgiven and forgotten? And it is not Christian, if he +has not," added Katie with a sob. + +"And what you mean by all this is, that--that something is the matter +with him--as Mr Jacob said," and Davie turned angry eyes on his sister. + +"Davie, I whiles think grannie is feared. She is ay longing for his +home-coming when he is away. And I hear her speaking softly to him when +they are alone. And I hear him often praying in the night; last night +it was for hours, I think. Oh, Davie! and then grannie went to him, and +he went back to his bed again, and grannie looked, oh, so white and +spent in the morning." + +"And he was at Pine-tree Hollow the other night," said Davie. + +"Yes! And grannie went to meet him, and my mother was waiting for them +at the gate, and she burst out crying when she saw them coming home +together through the gloaming." + +They sat for a long time silent after that. Indeed, there was not +another word spoken till they heard the children's voices, and knew that +it was time to go to the house again. Then Katie stooped and laved the +water on her tear-stained face before she turned to go. + +"It will all work for good, Katie, you may be sure of that," said her +brother huskily, as they went up the brae together. + +"Yes, to those who love Him. So the promise is good for grannie and +him--and, oh, Davie! if we were only sure for us all." + +There were smiles on Katie's face when she said this, and tears too, and +it was doubtful which of them would have way, till her grandfather's +voice settled it. She had only smiles for him, as he came out at the +door with his staff in his hand, and looking as if he needed it to lean +upon, but looking, at the same time, brighter and more like himself than +Katie had seen him for a while. She turned and went with him toward the +pasture-bars, his favourite walk. They went slowly on together, +speaking few words, content to be silent in each other's company. + +It was a bonny day, the old man said, and the grass was fine and green; +and Katie bade him look at the barley turning yellow already, and at the +purple shadows on the great hay-field as the wind passed over it. + +"I like to watch them," said Katie, "and, grandfather, doesna it mind +you of the waves of the sea?" + +Her grandfather shook his head. + +"It's a bonny sight, but it is no like the waves of the sea." + +And thus a word dropped here and there till they came to the +pasture-bars. The sheep and the young lambs crowded together close to +the bars over which they leaned, expecting the usual taste of salt from +their hands, and old Kelso and her colt neighed their welcome. It was a +peaceful, pleasant scene, and would do her grandfather good, Katie said +to herself joyfully. But in a minute her heart gave a sudden throb, as +with a look at her face, from which neither the water of the burn, nor +the mild sweet air had quite effaced the traces of tears, he said +gravely: + +"And what was it that Davie was saying to you as you came up the brae?" + +Katie gave a quick look into his face, and her eyes fell, and she could +not utter a word. + +"Was he vexing you with his nonsense? Was he scolding you, my lassie?" + +"Davie! Oh, grandfather! I would never heed Davie. And besides, it is +I who scolded Davie," added she with a laugh, much relieved. + +"I dare say he's no' out of the need of it whiles, though he maybe needs +it less than he once did." + +"Yes, indeed! grandfather. Is he not steady now? As good as gold?" + +"As gold? Well, gold is good in its place, if it could be kept there. +And what were you two discoursing about, down yonder by the burn?" + +It never came into Katie's mind that she could answer him otherwise than +indirectly. + +"We were speaking--about you, grandfather, and about--Jacob Holt." + +"Well?" + +"And Davie was saying how impossible it was that anything that that man +can do could hurt you, grandfather." + +"He thinks he kens, does he?" + +"But he says everybody kens that, though Jacob is a greedy man, he is +but a poor creature, and wouldna dare to harm you, because all Gershom +would cry out against him if he were to do his will." + +"I'm no' sure of that. But, indeed, I think he has done his worst on me +already." And the look, the dark look, that always brought the shadow +to grannie's eyes came over his face as he said it. Katie's heart beat +hard, but her courage rose to the occasion, and she said softly and +reverently: + +"It was God's will, grandfather, and surely Jacob must be sorry now." + +The old man uttered a sound between a groan and a cry. + +"Was it God's will? It was a great sin, and God has never punished him +for it. Lassie, you little ken." + +"No, grandfather, but God kens. And it was His will," repeated Katie, +not knowing what to say. + +"God's will! Ay, since He permitted it; we can say nothing else. But +that it should be God's will that yon man should have a name and a place +here--and it may be, hereafter--passes me." + +Except to his wife, Mr Fleming had never spoken such words before, and +the pain and anger on his face it was sorrowful to see. + +"Grandfather, don't you mind how, at the very last, our Lord said, +`Father, forgive them'?" + +He had been sitting, with his face averted from her, but he turned now +with a strange, dazed look in his eyes: + +"Ay. And He said, `Love your enemies,' and `Forgive and ye shall be +forgiven.' And Katie, my bonny woman, I canna do it." + +Katie slid down to the ground beside him, and laid her wet face on his +knee without a word. What was there to be said, only "God comfort him, +God comfort him?" and she said it many times in the silence that came +next. + +By and by the clouds drifted toward the west and hid the sun, and it +seemed to grow dreary and chill around them. + +"We'll go to the house to your grandmother," said he at last in a voice +that to Katie seemed hard and strange. + +Was he angry with her? Ought she not to have spoken? She dared not ask +him, but she touched his hand with her lips, and wet it with her tears +before she rose. He took no notice, but said again: "We'll go home to +your grandmother;" and no word was spoken till they reached the house, +and then Katie slipped away out of sight, lest her grandmother should +see her tears. + +But as the days went on she knew that he was not angry. He was very +grave and silent, and grannie was never quite at rest when he was long +out of sight. But summer wore on, and nothing happened to make one day +different from another till haying-time came. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +A DEMONSTRATION. + +Mr Fleming's failing strength, and the high rate of wages paid for farm +labour, had for several years made it necessary for him to depart from +what seemed to him the best mode of farming, in order to save both +strength and wages. So there was a larger part of the place in hay and +pasture-land than there had been at first, a larger proportion than +there ought to be for really good farming on such land as his, he was +willing to acknowledge. Haymaking was, therefore, the most important +part of summer work at Ythan. + +There was much to be done, both in the house and in the fields. Several +men were required to help for a month or more, and if they were not of +the right stamp, both as to character and capabilities, the oversight of +them became a trouble to the grandfather, and that, of course, troubled +them all. No choice could be exercised in the matter. They were +usually men who came along from the French country, either before or +after their own narrow fields were cut, in order to make a little money +by helping their English-speaking neighbours, and those who hired them +must take their chance. + +As a general thing the men were good workers, and did well when their +employers worked with them. But they were for the most part +eye-servants, who took things easy when it might be done, and with +eye-service Mr Fleming had less patience than with most things. + +But the "good luck" that had followed Davie and his doings on the farm +all the summer, followed him still. One night there came to Ythan a +stranger, who introduced himself as Ira Hemmenway, an American, sole +agent in Canada for the celebrated Eureka mowing-machine, and he +"claimed the privilege" of introducing this wonderful invention to the +notice of the discriminating and intelligent farmers of Gershom. He +asked nothing better for his own share of profit than a chance to show +what he could do with it on some of the smooth fields of Ythan. + +If he had been aware of Mr Fleming's distaste for all things untried, +or "new-fangled," it is likely he would have carried his request +elsewhere. But, greatly to Davie's surprise, his grandfather listened +to the proposition of Mr Hemmenway with no special signs of disfavour, +and he could only hope that the wonderful eloquence of their Yankee +friend might not hinder rather than help his cause. + +"With a fair start in the morning we calculate, with a middlin' span of +horses, to get over by noon as much ground as six men would get over, if +they worked from sunrise to sundown, if they didn't have to stop to eat +or drink or take a resting-spell. We cut clean and even. There'll be a +little clipping, maybe, round the stumps and stone piles, but you don't +seem to have many of them. You just see me go once round your big field +there with my team, and you'll never want to touch a scythe again. Only +give me the chance. The first day sha'n't cost you nothing but my +victuals and good feed of oats for my team. Now come, what do you say?" + +Mr Fleming listened with patience and with some amusement, Davie +thought. + +"That is cheap enough surely," said he. + +"And nothing risked," continued Mr Hemmenway. "It'll be good for you +and good for me, and it doesn't often happen that both sides get the +best of the bargain. Say yes, and I'll be along by sunrise, and if I +don't make this young man here open his eyes first time round, I shall +be some surprised." + +The only difficulty seemed lest there might be too much grass cut to be +properly cared for, since they had not as yet engaged help. + +"Don't you fret about that. You'll have the whole neighbourhood here +looking on, and I don't suppose they'll stand still and do it. I'll +risk the making of the hay that'll be cut to-morrow." + +The idea of the whole neighbourhood looking on, or even helping to make +hay, was not so agreeable to Mr Fleming as Mr Hemmenway might have +supposed, and Davie hastened to suggest that Ben Holt and two or three +others who had not yet commenced in their own fields might give help for +one day, and so the matter was arranged. Mr Hemmenway lost no time. +The machine was brought to Ythan that night, and when Mr Fleming came +out in the morning operations had long been commenced in Mr Hemmenway's +best style, and Davie was occupying his place on the high seat of the +machine, and driving "the team" steadily round the great square, which +was growing beautifully less at every turn. + +Not quite the whole neighbourhood came to look on, but a good many did. +Among the rest was Deacon Scott, who was almost as much averse to +"new-fangled" notions as was Mr Fleming. But he engaged the machine +for the next day, and paid a good price for it--which was all clear +gain, Mr Hemmenway admitted to Davie in confidence. Going about from +field to field for a few days in a neighbourhood was the company's way +of advertising. If it did not pay this year it would next, for half the +farmers in the country would have a machine by another year. + +"And I don't say it is any way among the impossibles that we should +conclude to give your little town a lift, by establishing a branch +factory in it. You've got a spry little stream here, and some good +land, and there'll be some handsome fields for the Eureka to operate +upon when the stumps get cleared out. But you are considerably behind +the times in the way of implements. You want to be put up to a dodge or +two, and we are the folks to do it, in the way of machinery," and so on. + +Two more days of the Eureka at Ythan laid low the grass in every field, +and within eight days of the time when Mr Hemmenway made his appearance +there, all the hay was well made and safely housed, without a drop of +rain having fallen upon it. + +Davie was tired, but triumphant. "Providence is ay kind," said grannie +softly, and grandfather's assent, though silent as usual, was pleased +and earnest, and he was "in better heart" than he had been for a while. + +Davie had some good hard work in other hay-fields in return for the help +they had had at Ythan, and it was done gratefully and heartily. + +And when most of the hay-fields in Gershom were bare and brown, waiting +for the showers that were to make them green and beautiful for the fall +pasture, in the short "resting-spell" that usually comes in this part of +Canada between the hay and grain harvest, thoughts of pleasure seemed to +take possession of young and old in Gershom. + +It would be impossible to say to whom was due the honour of originating +the idea of assembling for a grand pleasure party of some sort, all the +people of Gershom "and vicinity." A good many people claimed it, and it +is probable they all had a right to do so. For so natural and agreeable +a plan might well suggest itself to several minds at the same time. It +took different forms in different minds, however. All were for +pleasure, but there were various opinions as to how it could best be +secured. + +The young people generally were in favour of an expedition to Hawk's +Head, or to the more distant, but more accessible wonders of Clough's +Chasm, where in a sudden deep division of the hills lay a clear, still +lake, whose depths it was said had never yet been sounded. Others +approved rather of some plan that would allow a far larger number to +participate in it, than such an expedition would allow. And while this +was being discussed in a manner that threatened the falling through of +the whole affair, it was taken up by that part of the community who +considered themselves chiefly responsible for the well-being of the body +politic, and who considered themselves also, on the whole, eminently +qualified to perform the duties which the responsibilities implied. And +by them it was declared that a great temperance demonstration was at +this time desirable. + +Such a demonstration would do good in many ways. It would revive the +drooping spirits of those who were inclined to despond as to the +prosperity of the cause. It would rouse from slumber the consciences of +some who had once been its active friends, and it would strengthen the +hands of all faithful workers; it would bring on the field all the best +speakers of the country, and give an impulse to the cause generally. + +All this was said with much energy and reiteration, and a good deal of +it was believed; at any rate, all other plans for pleasure were made to +give way before it. It did not so much matter what might be made the +occasion of the gathering, so that folks got together to have a good +time, said the young and foolish, who thought much of whatever would +give enjoyment for the time, and little of anything else. As to +listening to speech-making--there need be no more of that than each +might choose; so in the end almost all fell in with the idea of the +great temperance demonstration, and notice was given to the country at +large accordingly. + +But it is only as far as two or three people concerned themselves with +it that we have anything to do with the matter, either as an occasion +for amusement or as a demonstration of principle. Davie brought home to +Katie the news of all that was intended, and added a good deal as to his +opinion of it, which he acknowledged he would have liked to give at a +meeting called to make arrangements, which he and Ben had just attended. + +"You should have heard them, grannie, and then you would shake your head +at them and not at me." + +And Davie gave them a specimen of the remarks that had been made and the +manner of them, that made even his grandfather smile. There had been a +great deal of inconsequent talking, as is usual on such occasions, and +the chances were that the meeting would have come to an end without +having definitely settled a single point which they had met for the +purpose of settling, if it had not happened that Clifton Holt--at home +for his vacation, he said--strayed into the school-house toward the end. + +"And it must be acknowledged that Clif has a head," said Davie +discontentedly. "He is a conceited fellow but he is smart. In ten +minutes they had decided on the place, the grove above Varney's place, +and had appointed committees for all manner of things. And he made them +all believe that the meeting had settled the whole and not himself. You +should have heard John McNider `moving,' and Sam Green `seconding,' and +Jim Scott `suggesting,' and every one of them believing that he was +doing it out of his own head. It is a good thing that Clif thinks +Gershom too small a place for him. He'd play the old squire in a new +way. He's got more gumption in his little finger than Jacob has in his +whole body;" and remembering that his grandfather was present, he +paused, and then added: "He'll make a spoon or spoil a horn, will Clif. +And, grannie, I'm hungry." + +"Well, there is milk and bread in the pantry. Bring it to your brother, +Katie, as he's tired. And we'll hope, Davie lad, that the spoon will be +made and the horn no' spoiled. You're over ready with your judgments, I +doubt." + +When Katie brought the bread and milk she ventured to ask some further +particulars as to arrangements. + +"Oh, you'll hear all about it. You are on two or three committees at +least. No, I don't remember what they are. Setting tables, I think. +You'll hear all about it, and if you don't, then all the better," said +Davie shortly. + +"And what have they given you to do? Surely they didna neglect the +general interest so far as to overlook you." + +For when Davie took that line with Katie, grannie considered that he +needed to be put down a bit. Davie laughed. He understood it quite +well. + +"No, grannie dear, I'm on two or three of their committees as well as +Katie--and so is half the town for that matter. And they think they are +doing it for `the cause,'" added Davie, laughing. "Grannie, I would +give something if I could write down every word just as it was spoken. +I never read anything half so ridiculous in a book." + +"My lad, things are just as folk look at them. I daresay your friends +Ben, and Sam and Jim Scott saw nothing ridiculous about it till you made +them see it. And the master was there, and John McNider--" + +"But the master didna bide long; and as for John--if you give him a +chance to make a speech, that is all he needs--" + +"Whisht, Davie lad, and take the good of things. It is a good cause +anyway." + +"Oh, grannie, grannie! as though the cause had anything to do with it, +at least with the most of them!" + +"Well, never mind. You can take the good of the play without making +folk think it's for the cause. And you'll need to help the +preparations. As for Katie, I doubt I canna so well spare her--except +for the day itself." + +The last few words had been between these two when the others had gone +out of the room. Grannie had a little of the spirit of which Katie had +a good deal. She was sociably inclined, and, though it troubled her +little that she or those belonging to her should be called odd, she know +it troubled Katie, and she wanted her to have the harmless enjoyment +that other young girls had, and to take the good of them. And she +desired for Davie, also, that he should be able to do and to enjoy +something else besides the work of the farm, which was certainly his +first duty. But she knew that his grandfather's desire to keep him from +evil companionship might keep him also from such companionship as might +correct some faults into which he was in danger of falling, being left +too much to himself, and might do him good in other ways. So, whenever +a fair opportunity occurred to give the young people a taste of +amusement which seemed harmless and enjoyable, she quietly gave her +voice in favour of it. And in her opinion this was one of the +occasions. + +"If we are to refuse to put a hand to any good work till all who wish to +help are models of discretion, we'll do little in this world, Davie lad. +And you'll do what you can to make the occasion what it ought to be for +the honour of the town, since it is to be in Gershom." + +"Oh, grannie, grannie! What would folk say to hear you? As though the +whole town werena agog for the fun of it, and as though I could make a +straw's difference." + +"You can make a difference to your mother and Katie and the bairns. And +I dinna like to hear you laughing at folk, as though you didna believe +in them and their doing. We canna all be among the wise of the earth, +and I would like Katie to get the good of this--she who gets so little +in the way of pleasure." + +"Oh, Katie! She's better at home than holding sham committee meetings +with a parcel of idle folk. There's plenty to do it all without her." + +"Oh, as to committee meetings, I doubt she could be ill spared to many +of them, but for the day itself, to hear the speaking and see the show +like the rest. And you are not to spoil it to her beforehand, Davie." + +"Well, I winna, grannie. It will be great fun I dare say." + +"And as it's a leisure time, you must do what you can to help with the +rest, and all the more as I canna spare Katie. And she will have +preparations to make at home. But we'll hear more about it, it is +likely." + +"Plenty more, grannie. Oh, yes; I'll help. It is to be a grand +occasion." + +"But the preparing beforehand is the best of all, they say," said Katie. + +But even her grandmother was as well pleased that Katie should have +nothing to do with general preparations. All sorts of young people were +to help, and it could hardly be but that some foolish things should be +said and done where there was so much to excite and nothing to restrain, +and her Katie's name was as well to be kept out of it all. But she put +no limit as to the preparations that were to be made at home in the way +of cakes and tartlets and little pats of butter, for it was to be a +great occasion for Gershom. + +There had been demonstrations of this kind before in Gershom and the +vicinity. Indeed, this was a favourite way of promoting the cause of +temperance, as it has more recently become the favourite way of +promoting other causes in Canada. In some spot chosen for general +convenience a great many people assembled. The greater the number the +greater the good accomplished, it was supposed. The usual plan was for +parties of friends to keep together, and either before or after the +speech-making--which was supposed to be the chief interest of the day-- +to seek some suitable spot in field or grove for the enjoyment in common +of the many nice things stored in the baskets with which all were +supplied. + +But Gershom folk aimed at something beyond the usual way. In Finlay +Grove, which had been chosen as the place of meeting, tables were to be +set up and covered for-- + +"Well--we'll say five hundred people," Clifton Holt suggested at one of +the meetings for the settling of preliminaries. "And let us show them +what Gershom can do." + +Of course he did not know in the least what he was undertaking for +Gershom in this off-hand way, nor did any one else till it was too late +to change the plan. Not that there was any serious thought of changing +it. The honour of Gershom was at stake, and "to spend and be spent" for +this--to say nothing of "the cause"--seemed to be the general desire. + +Davie Fleming did his part well. He drew loads of boards from the +saw-mill, and loads of crockery from the various village stores. He +helped to fix the tables and many seats, and to build the platform for +"the speakers from a distance," vaguely promised as a part of the day's +feast. Indeed, he distinguished himself by his zeal and efficiency, and +was in such request that he was obliged to promise that he would be on +the ground early in the morning of the day to help about whatever might +still have to be done. + +He had got quite into the spirit of it by this time. It was great fun, +he said, and he was a little ashamed of the part he had taken in keeping +Katie out of it all. So he proposed that she should go with him that +morning and stay for an hour or two. She could go quite easily, he +said, for he could put her over the river on a raft which he had made +for his own convenience, to save the walk round by the bridge. But +Katie could not be spared. The children were all expected to go with +the Scott's Corner Sunday-school to the High-School, from thence to walk +with several other Sunday-schools in procession to the Grove, and Katie +must help to get them ready and see them off. When Davie came back at +noon he had some news to give her. + +"The squire and Miss Elizabeth have come home, and they have company at +Jacob's--friends of Mr Maxwell's, they say; but it is likely they would +be staying at the parsonage if they were. They have come at a good +time. They'll see folks enough in their meeting-clothes for once." + +Davie had come home to put on his own "meeting-clothes," and declined +his dinner in his hurry to get away again. Katie took it more quietly. +In her joy at the prospect of seeing Miss Elizabeth again, the prospect +of seeing so many people "in their meeting-clothes" seemed a secondary +matter, and this was too openly acknowledged to please her brother. + +"Katie," said he discontentedly, "I think the less we have to do with +the Holts to-day the better." + +"Jacob and his wife, you mean," said Katie, laughing. "Oh, I shall have +nothing in the world to do with them." + +"I mean Jacob and his wife and all the rest of them. However, there +will be so many there to-day for Clif to show his fine clothes and his +fine manners to, that he'll have no time for the like of you." + +"But I'll see his fine clothes and his fine manners too, as well as the +rest. And there are some things that look best a little way off, you +know." + +"That's so. And if it's Holts you want, you'd better stick to Betsey." + +"Yes, and Ben," said Katie, laughing. + +"Bairns," said grannie gravely, "you're no quarrelling, I hope. Are you +ready, Katie? And, Davie lad, are you sure it's quite safe for your +sister to go over the river on your raft? And will she no' be in danger +of wetting her clean frock? It would save her a long walk, and the day +is warm, if you are sure it's safe." + +"It has carried me safe enough, grannie dear, and Ben Holt and more of +us. I ken Katie's precious gear beside me, to say nothing of her frock. +But it's safe enough." + +"Well, go away, like good bairns, and dinna be late in coming home." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +A TEMPERANCE SPEECH. + +Both Katie and her frock got safely over the river on Davie's raft, +which was a very primitive affair. They had a field or two to cross +from the landing-place, and at the opening made in the fence for the +people from the village to pass through on their way to the Grove, she +found the squire and Miss Elizabeth. They were sitting in Miss +Elizabeth's low carriage, at a loss what to do, because they had been +told that the committee had decided that no carriage was to be admitted +within the grounds, and Miss Elizabeth did not like to set rules and +regulations at defiance, but neither did she like that her father should +have to walk up the hill to the Grove. In this dilemma she appealed to +Davie. + +"Oh, never mind the committee, Miss Elizabeth. Go ahead up the hill; +and, besides, I'm on that committee, and I'll give you a pass," said +Davie, appreciating the situation. + +Miss Elizabeth laughed, and so did Katie; but when Miss Elizabeth +proposed that he should take her place in the carriage and drive her +father up to the stand where he was to sit, Katie laughed more than the +occasion required, Davie thought. Of course he could not refuse, and +yielded with a good grace. + +The field was none of the smallest, and the carriage moved slowly, so +that Elizabeth and Katie reached the neighbourhood of the speakers' +stand almost as soon as the squire. They were in time to see Clifton +help his father up the steps to his place on the stand, where a good +many other gentlemen were seated. Then they saw him hand into the +carriage a very pretty young lady, a stranger, and drive away with her. +Davie looked after them with a grimace. + +"That is cool! Holts indeed." + +"I hope my brother is not committing an indiscretion," said Miss +Elizabeth gravely. + +"Oh, I guess she likes it. And he is one of the managers; he may do as +he likes." + +"I am not so sure of that," said Miss Elizabeth. + +"But who is she?" asked Katie; "I think she is the prettiest girl I ever +saw--and such a pretty dress!" + +"Yes, she is very pretty. She is Miss Langden. She and her father came +last night. They are staying at my brother's. They are friends of Mr +Maxwell's, I hope Clifton has not done a foolish thing in taking her +away." + +The little carriage was making slow progress round the grounds, with +many eyes fixed upon it, and certainly the handsome young couple sitting +in it were a pleasant sight to see. Many a remark was passed upon them +by friends and strangers alike; admiring remarks generally they were, +and though they did not reach the ears of the young people, Clifton +could very easily imagine them. He enjoyed the situation, and if his +companion did not, as one observing lady remarked, "her looks belied +her." By and by they came round to the stand again and stopped to speak +with Elizabeth. + +"I am glad you brought the carriage, Lizzie," said her brother. "It is +a sight well worth seeing, and one gets the best view in going all the +way round." + +It was a sight worth seeing. There were already many hundreds of people +on the ground. It was a large grassy field, sloping down gradually +nearly to the river. The Grove, where the speakers' stand had been +placed, and where many long tables were spread, was toward the upper +part of it, but there were trees scattered through all the field, and +groups of people were sitting and walking about here and there through +the whole of it, and more were arriving every moment. + +There was a good deal of bright colour about the "meeting-clothes" of +some of them, and the effect at a distance was pleasing. In the lower +part of the field toward the right, where there were trees enough for +shade, but an open space also, many children were running about, and +their voices, possibly too noisy for the pleasure of those close beside +them, came up the hill with only a cheerful murmur that heightened the +effect of the scene. + +"I consider myself fortunate in being permitted to witness such a +gathering," said the young lady in the carriage. "You must feel it to +be very encouraging to see so many people showing themselves to be on +the right side." + +"Yes, there is a very respectable gathering. There are a great many +from neighbouring towns," said Elizabeth; "I am very glad we have so +fine a day." + +"We can make room for you, Miss Holt," said Miss Langden. + +"Yes, Lizzie, come; we will drive round again. You can have a far +better idea of the numbers when you see the whole field." + +But Elizabeth declined. Indeed, she ventured to express a doubt whether +it were the right thing to do. But Clifton only laughed, and asked her +who she supposed would be likely to object. + +"All the same; I would rather not do what others are not permitted to +do," said Elizabeth gravely. + +"All right, Lizzie," said her brother. + +The young lady at his side made no movement. + +"Shall we take another turn round the field?" said Clifton. "Oh, yes, +Lizzie, we shall be back before the speech-making begins. We would not +lose a word of that for a great deal," said Clifton, laughing. + +Elizabeth stood looking after them, with a feeling of some discomfort. +It was very foolish for Clifton to make himself so conspicuous, she +thought, and then she turned at somebody's suggestion to go and look at +the tables before they were disturbed. Here she fell in with Katie +again, and with her cousin Betsey, and they all went together round the +tables. + +They were twelve in number, and were capable of seating not quite five +hundred, but a great many people, and they were loaded with good things +of all sorts. The speakers' table was splendid with flowers and glass +and silver. The good and beautiful from all baskets, or a part of +whatever was best and most beautiful, had been reserved for it, and +Katie hoped that the stranger young lady had got a good view of it. The +other tables were leaded also. There did not seem to be a full supply +of plates and knives and things on some of them, but that would +doubtless be considered a secondary matter as long as the good things +lasted; and there seemed little chance of their failing. + +The supply reserved for the second tables, and even for the third and +fourth tables, seemed to Miss Elizabeth to be inexhaustible. Baskets of +cookies and doughnuts, and little cakes of all kinds; great trays of +tartlets and crullers, boxes of biscuits, and buns and rolls of all +shapes and sizes, fruit-pies, and crackers, and loaves of bread: there +seemed to be no end of them. + +"End of them! If they hold out, we may be glad," said Miss Betsey. +"Every child on the field is good for one of each thing, at least, +biscuits and cookies and all the rest, and there are hundreds of +children, to say nothing of the grown-up folks. They've been all +calculating to have the children come in at the last, but two or three +of us have concluded to fix it different." + +The speaking was to come before the eating, and as the crowd who would +wish to hear would leave no room for the children, Miss Betsey's plan +was that they should have their good things while the speaking was going +on, at a sufficient distance to prevent their voices from being +troublesome, and that the tables should be left undisturbed. Some +dozens of young people were detailed to carry out this arrangement, and +Davie and Katie were among them. Miss Elizabeth would have liked to go +with them; but she was a little anxious about her father, who had been +made the chairman of the occasion, and did not wish to be far away from +him. + +The children's tea was the best part of the entertainment, David said +afterward. There was some danger that the third, or even the second +tables would have little to show, for it had been agreed by those who +served the children that while any of them could eat a morsel, it should +be supplied. And it was a good deal more than Miss Betsey's "one apiece +all round" of everything. The quantity that disappeared was amazing. + +Miss Betsey came out wonderfully in her efforts in behalf of the young +people. Miss Elizabeth had been rather surprised to find her in the +Grove at all, and had quite unintentionally allowed her surprise to +appear. It was not like her cousin Betsey to take part in this sort of +thing, on pretence of its being a duty, and her thought was answered as +if she had spoken it. + +"I told mother I wasn't going to set up to be any wiser than the rest of +the folks this time. It's a good cause, and if we don't help it much, +we can't do much harm. I mean the children shall have a good time as +far as victuals are concerned." And so they did. + +Betsey sacrificed her chance of hearing some good speaking, which was a +greater disappointment to her than it would have been to some others, +and Katie stayed with her. But when the children were at last +satisfied, they turned their faces toward the stand, still hoping to +hear something. They passed along slowly, for there was a great crowd +of people, not half of whom were listening to what was said. At one +side of the stand, a little removed from it, but yet near enough to hear +if they cared to listen, they saw Miss Elizabeth and her brother, and +Miss Langden. Katie pointed her out to Miss Betsey. + +"How pretty she is, and such a pretty dress, and everything to match! +Look, Miss Betsey. Did you ever see anything prettier?" + +"Why, yes. I don't know but I have. The dress is well enough," said +Betsey. + +Which was faint praise. The dress was a marvel of elegant simplicity in +some light material of soft dim grey, with just enough of colour in +flowers and ribbons to make the effect perfect. It was worth while +coming a long way just to see it, more than one young person +acknowledged. The dress and the wearer made a very pretty picture to +many eyes. She was very modest and gentle in manner, and listened, or +seemed to listen, like the rest, but Clifton Holt claimed much of her +attention, smiling and whispering now and then in a way that made his +sister uncomfortable, she scarcely knew why, for the young lady herself +did not seem to resent it. + +Betsey had not lost much, it was several times intimated to her during +her progress up the hill. "The speakers from a distance" had all failed +to appear except two. The forte of one of these seemed to be +statistics. He astonished his audience if he did not edify them, +putting into round numbers every fact connected with the temperance +cause that could possibly be expressed by figures--the quantity of +spirits consumed in Canada, the money paid for it, the quantity of grain +employed in its manufacture, the loss in flour and meal to the country, +the money received for licences, the number of crimes caused by its use, +and the cost of these to the country. The other "went in" for "wit and +humour," and there was much clapping of hands and laughter from such of +the audience as had not heard his funny stories before, and his was +generally pronounced a first-rate speech. + +Squire Holt was in "the chair," but the duty of introducing the speakers +was performed by Mr Maxwell, for the squire was feeble, and not equal +to all that devolved upon him. Indeed, he dropped asleep, poor old +gentleman, while the statistics were being given, and lost the point of +the stories and got very tired, as Elizabeth could see. But Mr Maxwell +did his part well, and just as Betsey settled herself to hear, he +introduced Mr Langden, a friend of the cause from the States. + +Mr Langden gave them some statistics also, and expressed himself +delighted with the gathering, and the evidence of interest in the good +cause. He was delighted, too, with their little town and the +water-power, and with their country generally, which was a finer country +than he had imagined it to be, and not so far behind his own section. +He said a great many agreeable things, and though it did not, in the +opinion of the critical part of the audience, amount to much as a +temperance address, it was such a speech as it was pleasant to hear. + +Then Mr Burnet came forward and charmed the audience with his grand +flowing periods. But though his words were splendid, they were few; for +Mr Burnet did not care to waste his words on a weary and hungry people. +And then came the speech of the day. + +Just as Mr Maxwell was considering whether he should give the people a +ten minutes' address, as was of course expected, or dismiss them at once +to the tables, toward which some of them were already directing their +steps, Clifton Holt came on to the stand and whispered a few words to +him, and then came forward, asking leave, not to make a speech, but to +introduce a new speaker. He did make a speech, however, short, but +telling, and was cheered heartily; but the cheering rose to its loudest +and longest when Mark Varney came forward on the stand. + +Was it Mark Varney? It was a very different man from the down-looking, +heartless poor fellow who had disappeared from Gershom two years ago. +Erect and broad and brown he stood, with a look of strength and firmness +on his face, though his lips trembled, that no one remembered to have +seen there since his early youth, before his foe had mastered him. + +In the silence that fell after the first shout of welcome, the people +pressed forward, eager to see and hear. A movement toward the point of +interest took place through all the field. Those who had grown tired of +listening, and those who had not cared to listen, drew near, and several +of those on the platform pressed forward the better to see and hear. + +Mr Maxwell did not; he drew back rather, after a glance toward the spot +where Miss Holt and Miss Langden were sitting, and, resting his elbow on +the back of Squire Holt's chair, leaned his head on his hand. Miss +Langden did not see the glance, for she was listening to Clifton, who +had returned and was saying something to her. But Elizabeth saw that +there was a strange look, grave and glad, on his face, and that he was +very pale. + +Gradually the rustle and movements which had given Mark time to quiet +the trembling of his lips came to an end, and then he and all the throng +were startled by a sudden cry--loud and strong, though it was but one +man's voice: + +"Mark Varney, before all!" + +It might have terribly spoiled the effect, but it did not. It gave poor +Mark, who was no orator, and who, with his heart full, did not find the +right words ready, a beginning. + +"Yes, Tim Cuzner, it is Mark Varney, who hasn't been seen in these parts +for two years, nor for a good while before that, in his right mind--and +you are the very man I want to talk to, Tim, you and a few others. I've +got something to tell you. A few others? Yes, I've got something to +say to every man in this Grove. I am not going in for a temperance +lecture, though it wouldn't be the first time. I was a living +temperance lecture in the streets of Gershom for a long while, as Squire +Holt and Jacob and all the folks here know. + +"But I want to say a word to every young man here because there isn't a +young man in this Grove, I don't care who he is, whose feelings as to +liquor I don't know all about. I know, and I remember this minute, just +how it feels never to have tasted a drop. I remember how the first +temptation to drink came to me, and I know how it feels after the first +glass, and the second, and the third. I know just how strong and +scornful a young man feels when folks begin to warn him, and how +impossible it looks to him that danger should be near. I know every +step of the dark way that leads down to the gates of death--to the very +gates--for I have been there. + +"I don't know just how far down that road any of you young men may have +got by this time, but I know that some of you are on it somewhere. I +know where you used to be, Tim Cuzner, and you haven't been standing +still since then. No. Come now, don't get mad and go away. If my life +would help you to set your feet on solid ground in any other road, you +should have it and welcome. But it wouldn't; no, nor ten such lives. + +"But I'll tell you what will help you, and what every young man here who +feels the curse of strong drink needs as much as you do, and what we all +need to keep us safe from the temptations that are everywhere. There is +only one thing in the earth beneath or the heaven above that will touch +the spot, and that's the grace of God! + +"That doesn't seem much, does it? The grace of God! You've heard old +Mr Hollister tell about it time and again, and you've heard Mr +Maxwell, and the folks in conference meeting talk of it, and it has got +to seem to you just like a word, a name, and that's all. But I tell +you, Tim and boys, it is a power. I know it, for it has dealt with me +and broken me to pieces, and made me over new." + +Mark was no orator, though he had the clear, firm, penetrating voice of +one; but his words, because of the surprise of his presence, and the +change which had been wrought in him, and because of his earnestness and +simplicity, had on his audience all the effect of the loftiest +eloquence. He had a great deal more to tell them of the darkness and +misery and sin through which he was passing, when the minister found him +and laid hands on him, and followed him day in and day out, and never +got tired of him, nor discouraged about him, but laboured with him, and +encouraged him, and gave him the hope that though he could not save +himself, God could save him. + +He tried to say a word about the night which they two passed together +beside his wife's coffin, but he broke down there, and went on to tell +how he went away to give himself a chance, because it had seemed to him +then, that if he should stay among his old companions and the daily +temptations of his life nothing could save him. + +He did not tell his mother, and he did not write to her, because at +first he never knew what day his enemy might overcome him, and then she +would have had to put away hope and take up her old burden again. + +But he had fallen into good hands over yonder in the States, and he had +much to tell of the kindness shown him there, and the Lord had stood by +him and helped him, as He would help all who came to Him in their need. + +The people who heard all this were moved by it in a wonderful way. It +was like a miracle, they said to one another, that Mark Varney's lips +should be opened to speak as he was speaking. It was like life from the +dead to see him standing there, they said, as indeed it was. + +"And you must excuse me for saying so much about myself, because that is +just what I came here to do. I was coming home soon, at any rate; but +when I saw in a newspaper a notice of this gathering in Finlay's Grove, +I thought it would be as good a time as any to come and show which side +I am on now. And if I can, I mean to get back my farm again. And if I +can't, why, I shall have to get another, and if God will let me help Him +to save two or three such as I was when our minister found me, I'll be +content with my work. I can't talk. I don't suppose I shall ever speak +from a platform again as long as I live, but I mean to help some poor +souls I know of up out of the pit. + +"And I tell you, I'm glad to get home. I have only just seen mother a +minute and my little Mary. And I haven't seen Squire Holt yet to speak +to, nor the minister." + +Then he turned his back on his audience, and a good many people thought +that was a lame ending to a good speech, but all did not think so. At +least it was good to see the old squire holding his hand, and to hear +him telling him that he had got to his right place at last. And it was +good to see how he and Mr Maxwell were shaking hands, and all the rest +of the people on the stand crowding round to have their turn. Indeed, +it seemed to be a general business, for Mr Burnet was shaking hands +with Mr Maxwell, and so was the old squire, and John McNider clambered +up on the stand on purpose to do the same thing, and so did several +other people. + +By and by the minister came forward, and they all thought he was going +to make a speech. But he did not. He told them tea was ready, and that +all the elderly people were to go to the tables first, and that the +young people were to serve them. But nobody seemed in a hurry to move, +and then Squire Holt came forward, and instead of making a speech, he +asked them to sing the Doxology. + +And didn't they sing it? Mark Varney, who had led the choir once on a +time--and a good many in the crowd vowed that he should lead it again-- +began in his wonderful, clear tenor, and then the sound rose up like a +mighty wind, till all the hills echoed again. And then they all went to +tea. + +Elizabeth meant that her father should go home at this time, but when +Mr Maxwell brought him down to her, he declined to acknowledge himself +tired, and went to the table with the rest, and Elizabeth took her place +to serve. Miss Langden had a seat at the "speakers' table," and was +well served, as was right. Clifton had the grace to deny himself the +pleasure of sitting down beside her, as there were more than guests +enough for all the seats, but he devoted himself to her service, as +every lady said, and enjoyed it as well as he would have enjoyed his +tea. + +Davie was on the "tea and coffee committee," and his business at this +time was to be one of several to carry great pitchers of one or other of +those beverages from mighty cauldrons, where they were being made in a +corner of the field, to a point where cups could be conveniently filled +and distributed at the tables. + +But from the midst of the pleasant confusion that reigned supreme in +this department, Davie suddenly disappeared, leaving the zealous, but +less expert Ben to take his place. + +"He's got something else to do, I expect, Aunt Betsey, and you'll have +to get along with me somehow, for I saw him tearing down toward the +river like sixty, and there would be no catching him even if I was going +to try." + +"There was nothing the matter, was there, Ben?" asked Katie; but so +little did she think it possible, that she did not even wait for the +answer which Ben was very ready to give. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +POOR DAVIE. + +It was not that Davie thought anything serious was the matter that, as +Ben said, "he went tearing" down the hill toward the river, but that he +feared there might be before all was done, unless there was some way of +preventing it. + +"Where are them boys?" he heard one mother say to another, as he passed +with his empty pitcher in his hand, and the answer was-- + +"They've gone down to the river, I expect. But I don't suppose there's +any danger--not to Gershom boys, who swim there every summer day of +their lives." + +But there were many boys and girls also on the grounds who did not +belong to Gershom, and to some of them a river big enough for a boat to +sail on, would have a charm which must certainly draw them to its banks, +and it would have been a good plan to appoint a committee to see to +such, Davie thought. + +"I'll just have a look down there," he said to himself, and as soon as +he was over the fence and out of sight, he ran rapidly toward the river. +There were all sorts of children there, some of whom had wandered down +to the mill-pond. There were two boats on the river, but there were +grown people as well as children in them, and there were grown people +walking on the bank who might justly be considered responsible for the +safety of those who could not take care of themselves, and Davie was +about to turn up the hill again, when a little fellow hailed him. + +"I say, Davie, what do you suppose Dannie Green and Frankie Holt and two +more boys are doing? They have taken your raft and are going to have a +sail on the Black Pool--so they said." + +"They could never do it," said Davie, with a sudden fear rising. + +There was no turning up the hill after that. He ran across the two +fields to the point where the raft had been left. It was gone sure +enough, and he hastened on, stumbling over the stones and timber which +Jacob Holt had last winter accumulated on the Varney place. Then he +went through the strip of woods, and round the rocky point beyond, +thinking all the time that such little fellows never could have pushed +the raft so far up the stream, and that it was foolish for him to run. + +But he was not a minute too soon. He could never tell afterward, +whether he saw the raft, or heard the frightened cry first, but he knew +that a boy had overbalanced and fallen into the water while trying to +reach bottom with his pole in the deeper waters of the pool; and the +next moment he had thrown off boots and coat, and was striking out +toward the spot where he had disappeared. The boy would rise in a +minute, he thought, and he could get hold of him. + +But he did not rise for what seemed to Davie a very long time, and might +never rise of himself. There was not a particle of risk, Davie knew, in +diving to search for him, and if there had been, he would hardly have +considered it in the excitement of the moment. It would have been the +last of little Frank Holt if he had considered it long. The little +fellow had fallen head foremost, and possibly had struck his head on one +of the roots or sticks that had accumulated in the bottom of the pool, +for when Davie brought him to the surface, he seemed quite insensible, +and he struck out for the Ythan side of the pool. He did what he could +for the boy, letting the water flow from his mouth and ears, and rubbing +him rapidly for a time. + +He caught sight of the other lads as they reached the opposite shore +with the raft, and saw them running at full speed in the direction of +the Grove. But he felt that he must not wait for the help they would be +sure to send, and gently lifting the boy in his arms, he went with him +with all speed through the wood and up the hill to the house. + +A single sentence told the story, and in a minute little Frank was in a +warm bath and then in a warm bed. He soon showed such signs of life as +encouraged them to hope that there was not much the matter with him; and +then Davie thought of the consternation which the other lads would cause +when they carried the tale to the Grove. + +"I doubt you'll need to go as quick as you can, Davie. Think of the +poor father and mother if they should hear." + +"Ay, lad, make what haste you can," said his grandfather, and neither of +them were the less urgent that the child was the son of their "enemy." + +So Davie went down the field again in his wet clothes, but that mattered +the less as he had the river to swim, the raft being on the other side. +He put on his dry coat over his wet garments, and no one seemed to +notice as he entered the Grove. No rumour of the accident had as yet +spread through the crowd, and Davie spoke only to Miss Elizabeth, as he +met her on the way home with her father. Happily the father and mother +knew nothing of the matter, till by and by the boy, wrapped in one of +Mrs Fleming's best blankets, was carried and set with his bundle of wet +clothes in the hall. It was his uncle Clifton who took him home, and +all that he could tell about the matter was that he had fallen into the +Black Pool, and somebody had taken him out. + +Dan Green kept his own counsel, running straight home and putting +himself to bed. After his first sleep, however, he woke in such a +fright that he could keep the tale no longer, but told it to his mother +with many sobs and tears. His mother soothed and comforted him, +believing that he had been startled out of a troubled dream. But the +next day the story was told in Gershom at least a thousand times; and +when Davie went into the post-office for his grandfather's weekly paper, +he heard, with mingled amazement and disgust, extravagant praises of his +courage in saving the boy's life. + +"Courage? Nonsense! Risk? Stuff!" He never bathed in Black Pool that +he did not dive in at one side and come out at the other. Why, his +little brother could do that. There was no more danger for them than +for a musk-rat, and Davie hurried away to escape more words about it, +and to avoid meeting Mr Maxwell and his friends, who were coming down +the street. In his haste he nearly stumbled over Jacob Holt, who held +him fast, and that was worse than all the rest. For Jacob could not +utter a word, but choked and mumbled and shook his hand a great many +times, and when David fairly got away, he vowed that he should not be +seen at the post-office again for a while, and he was not, but it was +for a better reason than he gave to himself then. + +For Davie went about all next day with a heavy weight upon him, and a +dull aching at his bones, as new as it was painful. He refused his +dinner, and grew sick at the sight of his supper; and tossed, and +turned, and muttered all night upon his bed, longing for the day. But +the slow-coming light made him wish for the darkness again, for it +dazzled his heavy eyes, and put strange shapes on the most familiar +objects, and set them all in motion in the oddest way. A queer sort of +light it seemed to be, for though he closed his eyes he did not shut it +out, and the changes on things and the odd movements seemed to be going +on still within the lids. + +So in a little he rose and dressed, and roused his brothers to bring the +cows into the yard, meaning to help as usual with the milking. But the +milking was done and the breakfast over, and worship, and no one had +seen Davie. He was lying tossing and muttering on the hay in the big +barn, and there at last, in the course of his morning's work, his +grandfather found him. He turned a dull, dazed look upon him as he +raised himself up, but he did not speak. + +"Are you no' well, Davie? Why did you no' come to your breakfast?" + +"I'm coming," said Davie, but he did not move. + +His grandfather touched his burning hand and his heart sank. + +"Come awa' to your grandmother." + +"Yes, we'll go to grannie," said Davie. + +Blinded by the sunlight, he staggered on, and his grandfather put his +arm about him. Mrs Fleming met them at the door as they drew near. + +"What can ail the laddie?" asked his grandfather, with terror in his +eyes. + +They made him sit down, and Katie brought some cold water. He drank +some and put some on his head, and declared himself better. + +"It is some trash that he has eaten at that weary picnic," said grannie. + +"No, grannie, I hadna a chance to eat." + +"And you have eaten little since. Well, never mind. You'll go to your +bed, and I'll get your mother to make you some of her herb tea." + +"And I'll be better the morn, grannie," said Davie, with an uncertain +smile. + +He drank his mother's bitter infusion, and tossed and turned and moaned +and muttered, all day and all night, and for many days and nights, till +weeks had passed away, and a time of sore trial it was to them all. + +He was never very ill, they said. He was never many hours together that +he did not know those who were about his bed, and young Dr Wainwright, +who came every day to see him, never allowed that he was in great +danger. But as day after day went on, and he was no better, their +hearts grew sick with hope deferred. Grannie alone never gave way to +fear. She grew weak and weary, and could only sit beside him, little +able to help him; but he never opened his eyes but her cheerful smile +greeted him, and her cheerful words encouraged him. His mother waited +on him for a while, but she was not strong, and had no spring of hope +within her. Katie worked all day and watched all night, and scorned the +idea of weariness, but the Ythan water that trickled around her +milk-pans in the dairy, carried daily some tears of hers down to the +Black Pool. + +"It is grandfather I'm thinking about," said she one day when she burst +out crying in Miss Betsey's sight. "I am afraid I shall never be able +to keep from thinking that God has been hard on grandfather, if anything +should happen to Davie." + +"But God is not hard on your grandfather and there is nothing going to +happen to Davie," said Betsey, too honest to reprove the girl for the +expression of thoughts which she had not been able to keep out of her +own mind. It was the plunge into the Black Pool and the going about +afterward in his wet clothes that had brought on this illness, and that +it should be God's will that David Fleming's grandson, his hope and +stay, should lose his health, perhaps his life, in saving the son of +Jacob Holt, looked to Miss Betsey a terrible mystery. She did not say +that God was hard on him, as poor Katie was afraid of doing; but when, +now and then, there came a half hour when it seemed doubtful whether +Davie would get through, the thought that God would not afflict His +servant to the uttermost helped her to still hope for the lad. As far +as words and deeds went, she showed herself always hopeful for him, and +did more than even the doctor himself in helping him to pull through. + +In country places like Gershom, where professional nurses were not often +to be found, when severe sickness comes into a family necessitating +constant attention by night as well as by day, the neighbours, far and +near, might be relied upon for help, as far as it could be given by +persons coming and going for a night or a day. The Flemings had had +severe sickness among them more than once, but they had never called on +their neighbours for help, and they could not bring themselves to do so +now, even for night-watching. That she should trust Davie to any of the +kind young fellows who night after night offered, their services, was to +grannie impossible. She did not doubt their good-will, but she doubted +their wisdom and their power to keep awake after their long day's work. +"And it is no' our way," said Mrs Fleming, and that ended the +discussions, as it had ended them on former occasions. + +"But they never can get through it alone this time," said Miss Betsey, +"and I don't know but it is my duty to see about it, as much as +anybody." + +It was just in the hot days in the beginning of August when Betsey was +wont to give up butter-making and set to the making of cheese, the very +worst time of the year for her to get away from home. But she saw no +help for it. + +"You must do the best you can, mother, you and Cynthy, and Ben will give +what help you need with the lifting. If I should never make another +cheese as long as I live, I can't let Mrs Fleming wear herself out, and +maybe lose her boy after all." + +So Miss Betsey went over one morning "to inquire," she said, and some +trifling help being needed for a minute, she took off her bonnet, and +"concluded to stay a spell," and that night Ben brought her bag over +which she had packed in the morning, and she stayed as long as she was +needed, to the help and comfort of them all. + +As for the grandfather, it went hard with him these days. He was +outwardly silent and grave as usual, giving no voice to the anxiety that +devoured him. But at night when his wife slumbered, worn out with the +day's watching, or when she seemed to slumber, and in Pine-tree Hollow, +which in the time of his former troubles had become to him a refuge and +a sanctuary, his cry ascended to God in an agony of confession and +entreaty. He, too, wondered that it should be God's will that the child +of his enemy should be saved, and his child's life made the sacrifice; +but he did not consciously rebel against that will. It was God's doing; +Davie had not even known whose child it was whom he tried to save. This +was God's doing from beginning to end. + +Far be it from him to rebel against God, he said to his wife when, +fearing for him and all that he might be thinking, she spoke to him +about it. It was a terrible trouble, but it did not embitter him as +former trouble had done, and his enemy had fewer of his thoughts at this +time than might have been supposed. + +But he had not forgiven him. He knew in his heart that he had not +forgiven him. When Jacob came with his wife, grateful and sorry, and +eager to do something to express it, he kept quiet in a corner of +Davie's room, into which they were not permitted to enter. Mrs Fleming +said all that was needful on the occasion, and when Jacob broke down and +could not speak of his boy who had been given back to them almost from +the dead, she laid her hand gently upon his arm and said, "Let God's +goodness make a better man of you," and even Mrs Jacob did not feel +like resenting the words. But there was no one who could help them in +their present trouble, she repeated, as they went sorrowfully away. + +No one except Miss Betsey, grannie felt gratefully, as she turned into +the house again--Miss Betsey, who seemed made of iron, and never owned +to being tired. She slept one night in three, when Katie and her mother +kept the watching, and at other times she took "catnaps" in the +rocking-chair, or on Mrs Fleming's bed, when grannie was at her +brightest and could care for Davie in the early part of the day. + +And poor Davie tossed and muttered through many days and nights, never +so delirious as to have forgotten the summer's work, but never quite +clear in his mind, and always struggling with some unknown power that, +against his will, kept him back from doing his part in it. Till one day +he looked into his grandfather's face with comprehending eyes, and said +weakly, but clearly: + +"It must be time for the cutting of the wheat, grandfather; I have been +sick a good while, surely?" + +"Ay, have you; a good while. But you are better now, the doctor says. +But never heed about the cutting of the wheat. Mark Varney has done all +that, and more. We have had a good harvest, Davie." + +"Have we, grandfather?" said Davie, looking with surprise and dismay at +the tears on his grandfather's face. + +"God has been good to us, laddie," said Mr Fleming, trying to speak +calmly, and then he rose and went out. + +"So we've had a good harvest, have we? And Mark Varney! I wonder where +he turned up. Oh, well! it's all right I daresay--and--I'm tired +already." And he turned his head on the pillow and fell asleep. + +Yes, Mark Varney had taken Davie's work into his own hand. He came over +with Mr Maxwell as soon as he heard the lad was ill. He made no formal +offer of help, but just set himself to do what was to be done. He had +all his own way about it, for Mr Fleming was too anxious to take much +heed of the work, since some one else had taken it in hand; and no one +knew better how work should be done than Mark. He had all the help he +needed, for the neighbours were glad to offer help, and give it, too, in +this time of need. The harvest was got through and the grain housed as +successfully as the hay had been before Davie, lank and stooping, crept +out over the fields of Ythan. + +It was Sunday afternoon again when Katie and he went slowly down the +brae toward the cherry-trees. Their grandfather and grandmother looked +after them with loving eyes. + +"The Lord is ay kind," said Mrs Fleming, and then she read the 103rd +Psalm in the old Scottish version, which she "whiles" liked to do. She +paused now and then because her voice trembled, and on some of the +verses she lingered, reading them twice over, seeking from her husband +audible assent to the comfort they gave: + + "`The Lord our God is merciful, + And He is gracious, + Long-suffering, and slow to wrath, + In mercy plenteous.' + +"Ay is He! as we ken well this day. And again:-- + + "`Such pity as a father hath + Unto his children dear, + Like pity shows the Lord to such + As worship Him in fear.' + +"`Such pity as a father hath.' We ken well what that means, Dawvid; a +father's pity; such pity and love as we felt for our Davie, when he lay +tossing in his bed, poor laddie. And--as we felt for--him that's +gone--" + +She could say no more at the moment, even if it would have been wise to +do so. But by and by she rose and came toward him, and standing half +behind him, laying her soft, wrinkled old hand on his grey head, she +said softly: + +"If I could but hear you say that you forgive--Jacob Holt!" + +Then there was a long silence in which she did not move. + +"Because--I have been thinking that the Lord let our laddie do that-- +good turn for His--to put us in mind--" Again she paused. "And I would +fain hear you say it, for His sake who has loved us, and forgiven so +much to us." + +"I wish him no ill. I wouldna hurt a hair of his head. I leave him in +God's hands." + +He spoke huskily, with long pauses between the sentences. Whether he +would have said more or not she could not tell. There was no time for +more, for the bairns came in with their mother from the Sunday-school, +and quiet was at an end for the moment. + +It was a long time before the subject was touched upon between them +again, and it was he who spoke first. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +POOR GRANNIE. + +The Langdens had stayed ten days in Gershom. Half the time Miss Langden +had passed with Miss Holt, and they had both enjoyed the visit, though +not quite in the same way. Her father needed much of Elizabeth's care +and attention at this time, and it would not have been possible for her +to devote herself constantly to her visitor. But Miss Essie was not a +difficult person to entertain--quite the contrary. + +She took interest in many things. She had her journal to keep up, and +many letters to write. And then Mr Clifton Holt was at home, and at +her service. Mr Maxwell was a frequent visitor also; and when he came, +Miss Holt felt at liberty to attend to her own affairs, knowing that +they did not need her presence. Clifton was not so mindful of their old +friendship, or not so well aware of their present relation, for he did +not seem to think it was the thing to do to leave their visitors to +entertain each other; and certainly he was never made to feel himself to +be an intruder, though his sister often feared that he might be so. + +Then Miss Langden had a great desire to see as much as possible of "this +interesting country" as she politely called Canada; and as much of it as +could be seen while driving about with Clifton in his sister's low +carriage, or in the larger carriage with Clifton and Mr Maxwell, or her +father, she saw, and professed herself delighted with it. She admired +the farm-houses and the farmers, and the farmers' wives and daughters, +and laid herself out to captivate them in a way that Clifton declared to +be wonderful. To Elizabeth it seemed natural enough. + +They saw a good deal of company in a quiet way. The Holts took pains to +invite, at one time or another, the greater part of Mr Maxwell's +friends, in order that Mr Langden and his daughter might make their +acquaintance, and both in different ways won golden opinions among them. + +The good people of Gershom were naturally well-disposed toward the +friends of their minister, and Mr Langden was a quiet, shrewd business +man, without a particle of pretence, whose company they would have +enjoyed under even less favourable circumstances. He took much interest +in listening to the very things they liked best to tell about--the early +settlement of that part of the country, its features and resources, +agricultural, mineral, commercial; the history of railroads, +manufactures, and business ventures generally. If there were anything +worth knowing about any of these matters that Mr Langden did not know +before his visit came to an end, it was not for want of questions asked, +Clifton Holt said, laughing, to his daughter. Which was quite true--and +he had asked some questions and received some answers which neither +Clifton nor Jacob had heard, and knew more about some things in Gershom +than Clifton himself knew at that time. Some hints that there had been +thoughts of business as well as pleasure in his mind in visiting Gershom +had transpired, and it would have been agreeable to hear more about it, +but Mr Langden was better at asking questions than at answering them, +and no one knew any more about his plans when he went than when he came. +But people liked him, and liked to talk about him and his visit +afterward. + +And his daughter was very much admired also. That is to say, she was +admired in her character of visitor to Miss Elizabeth--as a pretty and +amiable and beautifully-dressed young lady from "the States." But when +the discussion went farther, and her possible future as a resident of +Gershom was hinted at, all were not so sure about her. A minister's +wife! That was another affair. Would she fit into that spot? She did +not look much like the ministers' wives that the Gershom people knew +most about. + +"I suppose it comes as natural to her to have gloves, and boots, and +bonnets to match every gown she puts on, as it does for the most of folk +to wear one pair as long as they'll last," said Miss Smith from +Fosbrooke--a much more primitive place than Gershom--"and she looks as +if she set a value on such things, as even good folks will do till +they've learned better." + +"And the minister's salary isn't equal to all that, and wouldn't be, not +if it was raised to eight hundred dollars, which isn't likely yet a +spell," said Mrs Coleman, the new deacon's wife. + +"Not unless she has money of her own. And if she has--well, ministers' +folks are pretty much so, wherever they be, or whatever they've got; and +such articles of luxury are not the thing for ministers' wives--not in +_this_ wooden country." + +"I know one thing," said Miss Hall, the dressmaker. "Her trunk was +never packed to come here short of five hundred dollars, to say nothing +of jewellery. I've handled considerable dry-goods in my time, and I +know that much." + +"Ah, well. I guess any one that's lived in `the States,' and that talks +as cool as a cucumber about going to travel in Europe, isn't very likely +to settle down in Gershom--not and be contented," said Myrilla Green, +who had lived in "the States" herself, and was supposed to know the +difference. + +"Ah! I guess there's as good folks as her in Gershom;" and so the talk +went on. + +But it was the opinion of several of the ladies interested in the +discussion, that clothes, and even money, did not amount to much in some +cases. The young lady had the missionary spirit, as any one who had +heard her talk must see, and she was not likely to be influenced by +secondary motives. + +Of course the discussion of the possibility implied by all this was +inevitable in the circumstances, though no one in Gershom _knew_ +anything about the matter; and the parties most concerned could have +given them little satisfactory information with regard to it. The first +of the two years of probation, which Mr Langden had insisted upon, had +not yet passed, and Mr Maxwell could not have renewed the question of +an engagement, if he had wished to do so, or if Miss Essie had given him +an opportunity, which she did not. Not a word was spoken between them +that all Gershom might not have heard, though nothing could be more +friendly and pleasant than their intercourse during these ten days. + +But then Miss Essie was on friendly terms with every one. Nothing could +be more charming than her manners, it was said. She was "not a bit +stuck up," the Gershom girls acknowledged. If she had any "citified +airs" they were not of the kind that are especially displeasing to +country people. She was friendly with every one, and before her visit +came to an end, it came into Elizabeth's mind that she was particularly +pleasant in words and ways with her brother Clifton. + +It had come into Clifton's mind also, and Elizabeth longed to tell him +just how matters stood between Miss Langden and Mr Maxwell. But she +did not feel at liberty to do so, and she could only hope that Clifton's +devotion would be in this case, as it had been in others, only +transitory, and that he would not suffer more than was reasonable for +his folly. Of what passed between Mr Langden and Jacob Holt very +little was known. They went together over the ground which Jacob had so +long coveted, and Mr Langden saw the advantages which the locality +offered for the purpose proposed. He would have considered the purchase +of the land to be a good investment, but Jacob could not bring himself +to urge the unpleasant subject of sale on Mr Fleming, now that Davie +was so ill, and he knew that urging would avail nothing, but it was a +great disappointment to him. + +He said little about it to Mr Langden; but that gentleman knew more of +the relations existing between him and Mr Fleming, and of other things +besides, than Jacob fancied. They saw a good many people who were +interested in the proposed enterprise, and got information which would +help him to decide about future investments, he said, but he took no +definite step with regard to the matter before he went away. + +It had been understood that Mr Maxwell was to take his "vacation" at +this time, and that he was to go with his friends through a part of +their travels. But Davie Fleming was at the worst, and his mother and +his grandparents were in great trouble, and the minister could not bring +himself to leave them. Of course his friends were disappointed, but not +unreasonably so, for they could understand his feeling, and it was +agreed that if it were possible he should join them at some point in +their route, and so they said good-bye lightly. + +Clifton Holt went with them to the city of Montreal, where they stayed a +few days, as all American tourists do. Then they sailed down the Saint +Lawrence to Quebec and farther, and up the Saguenay, and he sailed with +them, and doubtless added to their pleasure by the information he was +able to give as to events and places in which all travellers are +supposed to interest themselves. + +Clifton enjoyed it, and would have enjoyed going farther with them. But +on their return to Montreal, they met with a party of friends whom they +found it expedient to join, and so Clifton returned to Gershom, with the +intention of remaining at home for a time. His father was still feeble, +and Clifton seemed inclined to take the advice which his sister had long +ago given him, to seek to obtain some knowledge of the business which +Jacob had hitherto been carrying on in his own name and his father's. + +Elizabeth received a little note or two from Miss Langden before she +left Canada, in which much admiration was expressed for her friend's +"interesting country," and much pleasure in her remembrance of the days +spent in Gershom; and she had another after her return to her aunt's +house, where she was to pass some time. And then she did not hear from +her again for a long time. + +Davie got better, but not very rapidly. He remained gaunt and stooping, +and had little strength, and Miss Betsey, who still considered herself +responsible for his health, carried him away to the Hill; and then +giving Ben a holiday after his busy summer, sent them both away to visit +her cousin Abiah, who had a clearing and a saw-mill ten miles away. +There were partridges there, and rumours of a bear having been seen, and +there was fishing at any rate, and Davie was assured that ten days of +such sport as could be got there in the woods ought to make a new man of +him. + +But Betsey had another reason for sending him away. On the day of her +visit, Mrs Fleming, who had acknowledged herself to be weak and weary +from anxiety and watching, knew herself to be ill; not very ill, +however. She had often, in her younger days, kept about the house, and +done all her work when she felt far worse than she did now, she said. +But she could not "keep about" now, and that was the difference. Davie +would be well away, for he would fret about his grandmother, and that +would do neither of them any good. + +Davie's visit to the woods did not make a new man of him; but it did him +good, and he needed all his strength and courage when he came home +again, for grannie, who had been "not just very well" when he went away, +was no better when he returned. + +"And they never told me, grannie," said he, indignantly. + +"There was nothing to tell, my laddie, and you are better for going. +And now you must help Katie to cheer your grandfather, and keep your +brothers at their work." + +And Davie saw that his grandfather needed to be cheered. He seemed to +have grown a very old man during the last few months, he thought. He +had gone about the farm, and kept the boys at their work, and had helped +sometimes, Katie said, while Davie was away. But now he gave all that +up to him. Mark Varney came now and then when there was anything extra +to be done; and though Davie was not so strong as before his illness, +they were as well on with their fall work as the neighbours generally. + +But except with a word of advice, or an answer to questions, which Davie +was pertinacious in asking, as to what was to be done, and what left +undone, the old man took little part in what had filled his life before. +He went about the house and barns, with his head bowed, and his hands +clasped behind him, making Katie wild with the wistful, helpless longing +of his face. + +"It is no good for grannie to see you so downcast, grandfather. Courage +is what is needed more than anything in a time of sickness, Betsey says. +And, grandfather, grannie is no' so very ill." + +"Is she no', think you, Katie? She says it, but oh, my heart fails me." + +"She says it, and I think she is right. And, grandfather, she often +says, you ken that the Lord is ay kind." + +"Ay, lass! but His kindest touch cuts sore whiles. And if He were to +deal with me after my sins--" + +"But, grandfather; He never does, and He hurts to heal--as I have heard +you say yourself." + +"Ay. I have said it with my lips, but I doubt I was carrying a sore and +angry heart whiles, when I was putting the folk in mind. And, oh, +Katie, lassie, He is far awa'. He has hidden His face from me." + +"But only for a moment, grandfather; don't you mind, `For a small moment +have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I visit thee'? And +grannie is no' so very ill." + +She drew him gently from the room where grannie was slumbering, so that +she need not be disturbed. It seemed to her the strangest thing that +her grandfather should speak to her in this way, and that she should +have courage to answer him. He sat down on a seat by the door, and +leaned his chin on the hand that rested on his staff, and looked away +over Ythan fields to the hills beyond. But whether he saw them or not +was doubtful, for his eyes were dazed and heavy with trouble, and Katie +could not bear to see him so. + +"She is not so very ill," she repeated. "She is sometimes better and +sometimes worse, but she has no thought that she is going to die. She +will be better soon." + +"She is a good ten years younger than I am. I should go first by +rights. But she has had much to weary her, and she would doubtless be +glad to rest." + +"No, grandfather, she would not. She is glad at the thought that she +will be spared a little while for--all our sakes." + +"Who is that coming down the road? It is the minister, I think, and +Betsey Holt." + +The old man rose hastily. + +"I'll awa' up the brae," said he. "No, it is no disrespect to the +minister, but I canna hear his words to-day." + +And up the hill he went to the pasture-bars, and through the pasture "to +Pine-tree Hollow," Katie thought, as her eyes followed him anxiously. + +"But He may show him His face, up yonder," said Katie, with tears; "and +I am sure, and so is Miss Betsey, that she is no' so very ill." + +Grannie had never thought herself very ill. Even when all her days were +spent in bed, she only called herself weary at first. There had been a +very warm week about that time, and she had suffered from the heat, and +had kept herself quiet. But she did not think herself ill, and +certainly Katie did not think it. For though she was not strong, she +did not suffer much, except that she was feverish and restless now and +then, and she was always sweet and bright and easily pleased, and not at +all like the sick people that Katie had seen. It was a pleasure to be +with her, to wait on her, and to listen to her. For there were times +when she had much to say, soothing her own restlessness with happy talk +of many things which Katie liked to hear. + +She told her about her father--so grave and kind and trustworthy--and +about Hughie, who was so good and clever, but who had "gone wrong," and +been lost to them, leaving their life so dreary. And once or twice she +spoke of one over whom she had kept the silence of many a year. It was +Katie's own name she heard--but it was of another "bonnie Katie" that +her grandmother murmured so fondly, one who had been beguiled--who had +sinned and suffered, and died long ago. But she always spoke brokenly +of her when she was restless and feverish, and Katie, though she would +have liked to hear more, strove always to turn her thoughts away. + +But almost always her talk was happy and bright. In those days Katie +heard more of her grandmother's youthful days than she had ever heard +before. She spoke about her home, and her brothers and sisters, and +about "the gowany braes" and "the silver Ythan," and the songs they used +to sing, before it had ever come into her mind that there was trouble +and care before her. She even tried to sing again, in her faint sweet +voice, some of the dear old songs, laughing softly at her own +foolishness. + +But she never once spoke as though she thought she might not recover; +even when she gave Katie words of counsel or caution, it was just in the +way she used to do when they were going about their work together, and +the girl was sure that she would soon be well again, and that that was +Miss Betsey's thought too. + +But seeing her as she stood looking down on her grandmother's sleeping +face that morning, Katie was not so sure of what Miss Betsey's thoughts +might be. Still, her grandmother's eyes opened and she smiled her old +cheerful smile, as she said she was glad to see them. + +"You must tell grandfather that the minister is come, Katie," said she. + +Mr Maxwell had seen Mr Fleming stepping up the brae, and he knew well +that no words of his could comfort him. He could only hope as Katie +did, that his Lord and Master might show him His face in the solitude he +sought. + +He had few words to say to Mrs Fleming, for she seemed inclined to +slumber through the afternoon. + +"I wish you could stay with us to-night, Miss Betsey," said Katie's +mother. "I am afraid grandmother is not so well." + +"There is not much difference either way, I think. I would be glad to +stay, but Uncle Gershom has had another bad turn, and I promised cousin +Lizzie I would stay with her to-night. But I will come over to-morrow +morning before I go home if I can get away." + +"Do you think her very ill?" asked Mr Maxwell as they walked down the +hill together. + +"I have not thought her very ill. I don't know that she is worse +to-day, but she is certainly no better. I suppose it depends on whether +her strength holds out. She is an old woman now." + +These were anxious days to Katie; but her grandfather had more of her +thoughts than her grandmother. + +"And it is a wonder to me that he should be so broken down, a good man +like him, even by such sore trouble. Even the loss of grannie would be +but for a few days, and he has the Lord Himself in the midst of it all." + +But this was a mistake on Katie's part. For all this time, strangely +and sadly enough, he was ringing the changes on his old complaint: "Thou +art a God that hidest Thyself." He had not the Lord Himself in those +days. Even when he pleaded, as he did day and night, for Davie's life, +it was the cry of despair that came out of his sore trouble, rather than +the "prayer of faith" to which the promise of healing to the sick is +given. + +And as he bowed himself down beneath the pines, it was the same. He was +in a maze of perplexity and fear. Had he been sinning against God all +this time? Had he been hating not the sin, but the sinner? Had it been +beneath God's hand that he had been refusing to bow? And now was God +leaving him to hardness of heart? + +For he was utterly broken and spent, and in the weakness of mind which +exhaustion of body caused, he had almost lost the power to discriminate +or reason. He could not command his thoughts. The wind moaned in the +pines above him, and the sunshine came and went, flickering and fading, +and brightening again, and with the monotonous sound and the +ever-changing light, there came voices and visions, and he seemed to +listen as in a dream: + +"It was God's will, grandfather. God kens, and it was His will. I +would fain hear you say once that you have forgiven your enemy." + +His enemy! Was Jacob Holt his enemy? And if he were, could even an +enemy bring evil on him or his without permission? What had it all come +to--the long pain, the persistent shrinking from this man, whom God +alone might judge? Had he been hating him all this time--bringing +leanness to his own soul, and darkness, and all the evil that hatred +must ever bring? And where was it all to end? And what must he do, now +that his sin had found him out? + +For his time was short, and the end near. And then his thoughts +wandered away to the old squire lying on his death-bed--the man who had +declared himself willing to stand on the same platform with old David +Fleming, when his time should come to be judged. And that time was +close at hand now, and his own time could not be far away, and then he +must stand face to face with Him whose last words were, "Father, forgive +them!"--face to face with Him who had said, "Love your enemies," +"Forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you." + +Over and over the same round his thoughts went, till, worn out with +anxiety and watching, and lulled unconsciously by the soft "sough" of +the wind in the pines, he fell asleep. Pine-tree Hollow was all in +shadow when he awoke, but when he had gone a few steps, he saw the +sunlight lying on the high hills to the east. His first thoughts were +of what might have been happening at home while he slept, and he +quickened his steps. + +And as he walked he was conscious that his sleep had done him good. He +was stronger and calmer, and could command his thoughts again, and he +hurried eagerly on. The sight of Katie passing quietly out and in to +the dairy quieted him still more. It must be well with grannie or Katie +would not be there. + +"Well, my lassie?" + +"Yes. Grannie has been sleeping, but she is awake now, and has been +asking for you. Mother is with her now." + +He went into the house slowly and quietly. Katie's mother was sitting +by the bed, with her sad eyes fastened on the face of the grandmother, +who seemed to have fallen into slumber again. + +"She has been wandering a little, I think," said Mrs James. + +"Wandering?" repeated Mr Fleming drearily. + +Grannie opened her eyes, and looked first at one and then at the other. + +"No, my dear, it wasna that I was wandering. I was dreaming, I think--a +strange grand dream--of a far country. And--Dawvid--I saw our Katie +there, and her little bairn--and I saw our Hughie, and James, and many +another. But I saw them first and best; and we have no cause to fear." + +Even as she spoke her eyes closed again. The old man sat down with a +sinking heart. Did not these sound like "last words?" Had she not got +a first glimpse of the "far country" to which she was hastening? How +vain to struggle against God, he thought. He never uttered a word. His +daughter-in-law looked at him with compassionate eyes that he could +hardly bear. Katie came in with a glass of milk in her hand. + +"She is not asleep again, is she? Well, I must waken her, because she +must take something. The sleeping is good for her, but she must take +something to keep up her strength. Grannie dear, take this," and she +raised her gently. + +She opened her eyes and smiled. + +"Oh, ay! I'll take it. And I could take a bit of bread, I think." + +"Well, mother will bring a bit." But Katie was greatly surprised. + +"I think I'm better, if I were only stronger a bit," said grannie. + +Over Katie's bright face Mr Fleming saw the grave face of her mother, +and though he knew that it was her way rather to fear than to hope, his +heart sank. + +"I'll soon be better, I think. Are you there, Dawvid? You ken I +couldna go and stand before the Lord and tell Him that you hadna +forgiven your enemy." + +"She is wandering," whispered Katie's mother. + +"No; I'm no wandering, but whiles I feel--as if I were slipping awa'-- +and you'll give me your hand, Dawvid, and that will keep me back. Ay. +That will do," and her eyes closed again. + +Katie followed her mother from the room. + +"It is not far away now." + +"Mother, don't say it. She is not going to die. Oh, mother! mother! +Surely God is not going to take her from us yet. No. I'm not going to +cry; I havena time," said Katie. "And, mother, she says it herself, and +I don't think she is going to die. Oh, if Miss Betsey could have been +here to-night!" + +Katie resolutely put away her tears and her fears, and prepared for a +night of watching. First, she made her mother lie down with a warm +wrapper on her, so that she might be ready to come at any moment. Then +she sent the bairns to their beds, and wished that Davie would come +home. Then she remembered, with a pang of remorse, that her grandfather +had not had his supper, and she got his accustomed bowl of bread and +milk, and carried it into the room. Neither of them had moved, and +stooping and listening, it seemed to Katie that her grandmother was +sleeping naturally and sweetly. Her grandfather shook his head at the +sight of the food. + +"You must take it, grandfather," said Katie in a whisper. + +She put the bowl on a chair, and knelt down beside him. + +"You need not move," she said softly, and she fed him as he had often +fed her when she was a little child. + +"My good Katie!" said he, but it would not have been well for him to try +to say more. + +Davie came in before the supper was over. Katie nodded cheerfully, but +did not speak till they were both in the kitchen. + +"Well?" said Davie. + +"She is no worse. I think she seems better. She has eaten a wee bit of +bread, but mother says you cannot always tell by that. We must just +wait." + +It was a long and anxious night to these two. It was well that grannie +should sleep, but in her utter weakness it was also necessary that she +should have nourishment often. She had grown sick of the sight of +everything in the way of food, and she had had her choice of whatever +the best housewives of Gershom could supply. For days she had only +taken a little milk, and to-night she seemed to take it with relish. In +a little she woke and spoke: + +"Are you no' coming to your bed, Dawvid? It is time surely." + +Her clasp of his hand loosened as Katie offered the milk to her lips. +The old man rose, but he had been sitting in an uneasy posture, and +tottered as he moved to the door. + +"Grandfather," said Davie, "lie down on the other side. It will be +better for you and grannie too. Come grandfather. Katie, lay the +pillow straight." + +"But I might disturb her--and I might fall asleep." + +But he yielded. + +"She would like it, grandfather, and we can waken you if you fall +asleep." + +So the two old people slumbered together, and Katie had to steal away to +weep a few tears in the dark while her brother watched beside them, and +they did not dare to ask themselves whether they hoped or feared in the +stillness that fell on them. + +"They say this is the old squire's last night," whispered Davie at last. +"I saw Ben coming out as I passed." + +"Maybe no," said Katie, who was determined to be hopeful to-night. +"They have said that before. Maybe he'll win through this time too." + +"Ay. But he is an old man, and it must come soon." + +Now and then they exchanged a word or two, and Katie put the cup to her +grandmother's lips, and the night wore on. Whether their grandfather +slept or not they could not tell, but he made no movement that could +disturb her, and he still held her hand, to keep her from "slipping +away," as she had said. + +Once the mother came in and looked, but she only said she was sleeping +quietly, and they made her lie down again. Toward morning Katie brought +a quilt and a pillow, and Davie lay down on the floor beside the bed, +and Katie prayed and waited for the dawn. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +POOR OLD SQUIRE. + +Betsey Holt had not found the old squire so low as she expected to find +him when she went to his house after leaving Mr Fleming's, and seeing +him comfortable, and apparently no weaker than she had seen him before, +she hesitated as to what she ought to do. + +"There will be nights when you will need me more cousin," said she, "and +I think--" + +But Elizabeth's face made her pause. + +"Dear cousin, stay with me to-night. No, I do not think he is going to +die to-night, though Dr Wainwright thought it could not be long. But +do stay with me, cousin. I seem to be alone and good for nothing." + +"You are tired, and no wonder. You look sick. Yes, I'll stay. I +think, on the whole, I'd better." + +Betsey did not say that it was Mrs Fleming she had been thinking of +when she hesitated. She took off her bonnet and prepared to stay. + +"I made up my mind to be here to-night as soon as I heard that your +father wasn't well. I thought once I'd go home and come back after +sundown, but it doesn't matter about going. They'll know why I stay, +and I guess likely Ben will come along over after milking is done." + +"Is there no one we could get to help your mother and Cynthia for a few +days? I would send anywhere for help to them if you could only stay +with me till--" + +"Oh, I guess they'll get along, and Hepsey Bean is near by. If they get +into a fix they can send for her. I'll stay anyway. Isn't your brother +Clifton round?" + +"No, he went to the city yesterday; he left before we thought my father +worse. I hope he will be home to-morrow." + +"Well, I hope he will, and I guess he'd better stay a spell next time he +comes." + +Elizabeth had been up for the night, and after a visit to her father, +who was still sleeping quietly, Betsey persuaded her to go and lie down, +promising to call her at the turn of the night, or sooner if there +should be any change. Elizabeth was glad to go, for she was very tired. + +"I feel so safe in leaving him with you, cousin," said Elizabeth, the +tears starting in her eyes. "You must not think that I am always so-- +downhearted, but I feel as if I might give way--as if I might lay a +little of my burden on you, and--" + +"And so you may, with no _if_ about it, only there is a better place to +lay it, as you don't need me to tell you by this time. She thinks she +knows what trouble is, and perhaps she does," continued Betsey as she +followed Elizabeth with her thoughts. "For trouble is just as folks +take it, and she has been pretty tenderly dealt with hitherto. But I +guess she is not one that trouble can do any real harm to. The Lord +sees it all, and she is in His hand, and I needn't worry about her. +She'll be kept safe through it all." + +But she gave a good many thoughts to Elizabeth's possible troubles as +she sat there alone. Before the "turn of the night" Elizabeth came down +rested and refreshed, she said. Jacob came in and sat a while, but +scarcely a word was spoken. He offered to stay, but it was not +necessary, his sister said. + +"No! When is Clifton coming back?" asked he. + +"To-morrow, I hope," said Elizabeth. + +"He must not go away again." + +"No. Not for a time." + +Elizabeth's rest and refreshment "did not seem to amount to much," +Betsey thought as she watched her sitting in the firelight after Jacob +went away. Not many people had ever seen on Elizabeth's face the look +it wore now. She seemed to have forgotten that there was any one to +see. Except that she raised her head now and then to listen for sounds +in her father's room, she sat perfectly motionless, "limp and hopeless," +Betsey said to herself, and after a little she said aloud: + +"Cousin Lizzie, you are not going to be `swallowed up of overmuch +sorrow,' are you? That would be rebellion, and there is no deeper deep +of misery to a Christian than that." + +Elizabeth looked up startled. + +"I don't think I rebel, but--" + +"You have been expecting this for a good while. Your father is a very +old man now, Lizzie." + +"He is all I have got." + +"You said that to me before, but that is not so. He isn't all you've +got by many." + +"He is the only one who has needed me ever. When he is gone, there will +not be one left in the world who might not do without me as well as not, +though perhaps there are one or two who might not think so for a little +while." + +"Well, that may be said of most folks, I guess, but of you with less +truth than of most." + +Elizabeth made a movement of dissent. + +"You are young enough to make friends, and it is easy for you to make +them. I don't believe anybody ever saw your face who didn't want to see +it again. You want to do good in the world, and you have the means and +the natural gifts for doing it, and that is happiness." + +Elizabeth raised herself up and looked at her in amazement. + +"How you talk, Cousin Betsey!" said she. + +"Well, that's the way I feel about it. No matter what trouble you may +be going through now, there is the other side, and when you get there +you'll find good work to do, because you have the heart to do it. And +you'll get your wages--rest, and a quiet mind." + +Elizabeth's eyes were on the red embers again, but the expression of her +face had changed a little. Betsey moved so that her own face would be +in the shadow, and then she went on: + +"You may think it an unnatural thing for me to say, cousin, but I feel +as if there would be more gone from my life than from yours, when Uncle +Gershom goes. More in comparison with what will be left." + +Elizabeth said nothing to this. + +"Do you remember the two or three elms there are left on the side of the +hill, just beyond the Scott school-house? There were a great many more +there once, and we used to call it Elm Grove in old times. There are +only three or four left that are not dying. I hear the children calling +it the grove still. The young trees are growing up fast round them, not +elms, many of them but wild cherry-trees, and poplars, and a few spruces +but the poor old elms seem to be all the more alone because of the +second growth. When your father and my mother are gone, there won't be +a great many left to me. I suppose I shall find something to do, +however, till my time comes." + +There was a long silence after that. Betsey went once or twice into the +sick-room, but the old man slept peacefully. + +"It will not be to-night," said she softly. Then she sat down again. + +"Cousin," said she gravely in a little, "you are not worrying about your +father, as though it may--not be well with him now?" + +Elizabeth looked at her startled. + +Betsey went on: + +"I have been exercised about him considerably myself, one time and +another. I have felt as if I must have him to come out and acknowledge +himself on the Lord's side, confess Him before men, by openly uniting +himself with the Church. But he has been hindered. I do not know where +has been the stumbling-block altogether. But the Lord knows, and +actions speak louder than words. He has lived a Christian life since +ever I can remember. And it is by their fruits ye shall know them." + +Elizabeth's face had fallen on her hands again, and her tears were +falling fast, but she had no words with which to answer her. + +"A good many years ago, at communion seasons, I used to grieve over him +more than a little. I couldn't bear to have him miss the privilege-- +deprive himself of the privilege of remembering the Lord in the way He +appointed. He didn't consider himself worthy, he told me once, when I +said a word to him about it--at the time my father died that was. + +"I tell you, Lizzie, it made me feel poor and mean enough--a hypocrite, +almost, when I heard him say it. Not that any one can be worthy, in one +sense. But out Lord said, `Except ye be converted and become as little +children,' and he had the heart of a little child about some things, +more than any one I ever knew. + +"Cousin, if I were to tell you--but I couldn't begin to tell you, all he +has done for us--for father and the boys when they were in trouble, and +for me. And the way he did it, as though it was his business, that he +needn't be thanked for. The patience he showed, and the gentleness-- +yes, and the strength and firmness, when these were needed. I should +have fallen down under my burden in those days, if it hadn't been for +Uncle Gershom. I have often wondered, Lizzie, if you knew just what a +man your father was." + +Elizabeth turned her tearful face, smiling now, toward her cousin, but +she said nothing. + +"I never could tell you--never! My father, for a good while, wasn't +easy to get along with. Well, he wasn't himself all the time, and if it +hadn't been for Uncle Gershom-- + +"But there--I mustn't talk about it, not to-night," she said, rising and +walking about the room. "It kind of puts me off the balance to go back +to those days, and I'd better let it alone to-night." + +"Some time you will tell me," said Elizabeth. + +"Well, I don't promise. But if I could tell you just how like the face +of an angel your father's face has been to me many and many a time." + +"I think I know," said Elizabeth. + +"And I wish we were all as fit for heavenly places as he is. I don't +deny that I should have been glad for the sake of the cause, if he could +have seen his way clear to unite with the Church before he went--to sit +down at the Lord's table here on earth, before he goes to sit down at it +above, and I wish he might even yet." + +"I'll tell you what I would like. If he should revive a little, as he +may, and if the minister had no objections, a few might come in, mother +and Cynthia, and old Davie Fleming, and two or three others, and take +the cup and the bread with him, not that it would make any real +difference--" + +"Betsey," said the squire's voice from the other room. + +They were both with pale faces at his bedside in a moment. + +"Did I hear Betsey's voice? Or did you only say she was coming, Lizzie? +Oh, she is here, is she? Well, I've got something to say to Betsey. +It isn't best to put off these things too long." + +Poor old squire! He had said almost the same words every time he had +seen Betsey for the last year or two, and it never occurred to either of +them that he would not forget the words as soon as they were uttered. +After taking some nourishment he was much revived and strengthened. + +"Yes, I want to speak to Betsey about some business. Jacob isn't here, +is he? Because this is between Betsey and me. It was all over and done +with before Jacob knew anything about my business, and he needn't know +now. Go up-stairs, Lizzie, to the store-room where the old bureau is, +and your mother's little wheel, and you'll find what I want--the old +saddle-bag--in the left-hand, deep drawer. There are papers in it; but +you'd better bring the bag down." + +Elizabeth waited a moment, thinking he might drop asleep again, but he +did not. + +"I feel rested. It won't hurt me, Lizzie. Better go now, and have it +over with--" + +Elizabeth looked at her cousin. + +"You'd better go, I guess. It will satisfy him, even if he cannot do +anything about it." + +Elizabeth returned almost immediately, and spent a little time brushing +the dirt from the old bag, which she remembered as always taken by her +father on his journeys on horseback long ago, though she had not seen it +for years. + +"I brought it from Massachusetts with me well-nigh on fifty year ago," +said the old man, laying his hand on it. "Where are my glasses? But I +guess you'll find what I want, Lizzie." + +There was no lock to be opened. There were a number of folded papers, +laid loosely in the compartments. They were arranged with some order, +however, and Elizabeth read the few words written on the outside of each +as she lifted them out. They were a strange medley, notes of hand, +receipted accounts, the certificate of the squire's first marriage, his +wife's letter of dismissal from the Massachusetts church, dated, as the +squire said, "well-nigh on fifty year ago." Then there was a bundle of +papers marked "Brother Reuben." + +"That is it. I ought to look them all over myself. But you'll have to +do it, Lizzie." + +There were several acknowledgments of money received, and notes of hand +to a large amount that had passed between the brothers. On one was +written, "Paid for my Joe," and a date; on another, "Lent to my son. +Parley, at the time he went west," and several more of the same kind. +The dates ran over many years, and the father had made himself +responsible for all to the squire. + +"He was very independent, was my brother Reuben, always," said the +squire. "He wanted to mortgage his place to me, but I wouldn't have it. +I thought his notes good enough; more easily dealt with anyway than a +mortgage. He would have paid every cent if he could, and if he had it +would have all gone into the bank for the benefit of his womenfolk, who +have had a hard time mostly." + +He seemed to have forgotten Betsey's presence, for he went on: + +"I want you to give them to Betsey. Jacob needn't hear of them. He +might think he had some claim on them, but he hasn't a mite. Betsey +shall have the satisfaction of knowing that at no time to come they can +be claimed--the value of them, I mean. Betsey knew about them, I guess, +though her father didn't mean she should. She is a good woman, Betsey, +if ever there was one, and she has had her share of trouble." + +"Father, I will burn them now; that will be best," said Elizabeth, +eagerly. + +"And not say anything to Betsey? But she knows there is something due, +and it might worry her, thinking that some time or other it might be +claimed. If you burn them I think you should let her see you do it." + +"Yes, father; Betsey is here, and we shall burn them together." + +"Well, that is pretty much all, I guess; and I'm tired now. Look out +the rest of them when you have time, and you'll know what to burn. +There is nothing there that Jacob or Clifton has anything to do with. I +often have been sorry that I didn't just take old Mr Fleming's note, +instead of the mortgage. It might have saved some hard feelings. +There, that's all. I feel better, I'll try and sleep again." + +They sat beside him till he fell asleep, and then they moved into the +other room, Elizabeth carrying the bag with her. + +"Cousin Lizzie," said Betsey, "wait a minute. I don't more than half +believe it's lawful to burn these notes and things." + +"It is quite lawful. My father told me to burn them." + +"But wait. Do you know that folks are beginning to say that your +brother Jacob is hard up, that he is pressed for money?" + +"Yes, he told me so himself. He said the difficulty was only temporary, +and that--that I should hear more about it soon." + +"They say it's pretty bad, and you know everything has been mixed up in +the business, and your share might have to go with the rest. There is a +good deal represented by the papers you have in your hands, cousin." + +"I see what you mean. All the more this must be made safe." + +She rose, and going toward the hearth, dropped the papers one by one +into the fire. + +"Now, Cousin Betsey, that is done with. Forget all about it. We will +never speak of this again." + +Elizabeth took the old bag to carry it away. Several papers fell from +the other side as she moved it. She looked at each one as she put it in +the bag again, reading aloud what was written on each. One was a sealed +letter, thick and folded as letters used to be before envelopes were in +use. It was addressed to her father in very beautiful handwriting which +she had seen somewhere before. She held it before her cousin that she +might see it. + +"It is Hughie Fleming's writing! I know it well," said Betsey. + +"It looks as if it had never been opened," Elizabeth said, turning it +over and over in her hand. "How strange! My father must surely have +read it?" + +"Who knows? It is possible he never did." + +"I wonder if I should keep it and speak to him about it?" + +Betsey shook her head. + +"It isn't likely he'd remember it, and it might trouble him. It is +about that old trouble likely." + +"Perhaps I should drop it into the embers?" + +"It is hard to say. I should hate to know from it anything that would +make me think less of poor Hugh." + +"But it may be quite different. Ought I to open it? My father gave all +the papers to me to examine. I wonder if I should open it, cousin?" + +Miss Betsey took the letter in her hand and looked at it for a minute or +two. + +"It looks like a message from the dead," said she. + +"Open it, cousin. You remember him and his trouble better than I can. +Open it, and if there is nothing in it that his friends would be glad to +know, you shall burn it without a word." + +Betsey still hesitated. + +"It comes from the dead," said she, but she opened it at last, cutting +round the large seal with a pair of scissors. But their hesitation as +to what they ought to do was not over. There was an inclosure addressed +to David Fleming, at which Betsey looked as doubtfully as ever, and then +she gave it to Elizabeth. There were only a few words in the first +letter: + +"Honoured Sir:--I write to confess the sin I sinned against you, though +you must know it already. I ask your forgiveness, and I send this money +as the first payment of what I owe you, and if I live, full restitution +shall be made. If my father will read a letter of mine, will you take +the trouble to give him the lines I send with this?" + +And then was signed the name of Hugh Fleming. It was only a hint of the +sad story they knew something of before. There was an American bank +bill for a small sum, and the inclosure to his father, and that was all. + +"Poor Hughie! poor dear, bonnie laddie!" said Betsey softly. "Can it be +possible that your father never opened or read this? It was written +within a week of the poor boy's death," added she, looking at the date +on the letter. + +"My father never could have opened it or Mr Fleming would have had +this," said Elizabeth, holding up the inclosed note, "I wonder how it +could have happened that it was overlooked." + +She never knew, nor did any one. She tried next day to say something to +her father about it, but she could not make him understand. He said +nothing in reply that had any reference to the letter, or to poor Hugh, +or to his father. It must have been, by some unhappy chance, overlooked +and placed with other papers in the old saddle-bag, where it had lain +all these years. + +"And now what shall we do about this?" asked Elizabeth, still holding +the other letter in her hand. + +It was a single small leaf folded like a letter and one edge slipped in +as though it was to have been sealed or fastened with a wafer. But it +was open. + +"I don't know, the least in the world," said Betsey, much moved. "It +might hold a medicine for the old man over there, but it might also be +poison." + +"But since he wrote to my father of confession and restitution, we may +hope that there is a confession in this also." + +"Yes, there is something in that. But it was a great while ago now, and +all the old misery would come back again. Not that he has ever +forgotten it. And now I fear there is more trouble before him." + +They were greatly at a loss what to do. + +"If we could consult some one." + +"It would not help much. As it is not sealed you might just look at it. +If there is comfort in it the poor old father ought to have it. There +is no better time to give it." + +Elizabeth opened it with trembling fingers. + +"I hope it is not wrong." + +"It would be too great a risk either to give it or to withhold it +without having known its nature. It was written so long ago, and it +would be terrible to have sorrow added to sorrow now." + +A single glance was enough. + +"Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight." + +Elizabeth read no more. That was enough. She burst into sudden +weeping. + +"And he never saw his father again." + +"No. And the father never saw the words his son had written," said +Betsey, scarcely less moved. + +Daylight was coming in by this time and there was the sound of footsteps +at the door. Then Jacob's voice was heard, and remembering that the +squire had said that the papers were for Elizabeth's eyes alone, Betsey +lifted the bag from the table and carried it into the sick-room. Mr +Maxwell was with Jacob, and other people were waiting to hear how the +night had been passed. + +"He has had a good night, and is still sleeping quietly," said +Elizabeth. + +"And he seemed quite revived when he was awake last," Betsey added, as +she came out of his room. + +"Mr Maxwell, Jacob," said Elizabeth, "the strangest thing has happened. +Jacob, look at this," and she put into his hand the letter with the red +seal on it, on which his eyes had been fixed since ever he came in. + +He grew pale when he saw his father's name in the once familiar +handwriting, and when he saw the money, and read the words to his +father, written on the other side, he sat down suddenly without a word. +If Elizabeth had thought a moment, she might have hesitated about giving +it to him while others were looking on. Betsey was glad that she had +done it. Elizabeth took the letter which Jacob had laid down and gave +it to Mr Maxwell: + +"You have heard of Hugh Fleming, the lad who went wrong. Betsey can +tell you more than I can. I found the letter among some old papers of +my father's. I think he cannot have read it, for the seal was not +broken. There must have been some mistake." + +Mr Maxwell read it in silence. + +"But it is this that has troubled us. A letter from Hugh to his father. +Think of it, Jacob. After all these years!" + +Yes. After all these years! "Be sure your sin will find you out." +That is what Jacob was saying to himself. Even Betsey could have found +it in her heart to pity the misery seen in his face. + +"He can't be so cold-blooded as people suppose," thought she. + +"Should it be given to his father at once? I think the worst part of +the trouble to him has been the thought that his son was cut off so +suddenly--that he died unrepenting." + +Mr Maxwell looked at the folded paper and then at Jacob. + +"It may trouble the old man, but I do not think we have a right to +withhold it." + +Elizabeth was about to say that she had looked at the note, but Betsey +interrupted her: + +"He was sorry for his sin--whatever it was. His written words to Uncle +Gershom prove that. And if there is in it any kind of sorrow, or any +proof that others were more guilty than he, it might comfort the old +man." + +"Will you take it to him by and by, Mr Maxwell?" said Elizabeth. + +"If I am the best person to take it. But he has never spoken to me of +his son." + +"He has never spoken a word to any one but the mother. And I feel that +there is comfort to him in this little letter, and you will be glad to +carry him comfort, I know." + +"Thank you. Well, I will take it at once. Some one will be up at this +early hour with the grandmother. I will go now." + +Elizabeth put the folded paper in her father's letter with the money and +gave it to him. + +"I will go too," said Jacob, rising. + +"Had you better?" + +Both Elizabeth and Betsey spoke these words with a little excitement. +He turned a strange look from one to the other. Whether it was of pain +or anger, neither knew, and he went out with the minister. Elizabeth +watching, saw them turn into the path that led a near way to the North +Gore road. + +"Oh, Betsey! I hope we have done right. God comfort the poor father by +these words," cried Elizabeth, with a sudden rush of tears. + +"Amen!" said Betsey, solemnly. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +FORGIVENESS. + +The longed-for dawn came to Katie with a sudden chill and sinking of the +heart that felt for a minute like the utter failure of bodily strength. +When she put the lamp out, and put aside the curtain so that the +daylight fell on the two grey old faces lying on the same pillow, her +heart beat hard with sudden fear. + +How wan and sunken and spent they looked! What if they were both to +die? The little gleam of red that had now and then, through all her +illness, showed itself on grannie's cheeks was quite gone now, and she +would never be whiter, Katie thought, as she bent down to catch the +sound of her breath coming and going so faintly. The two wrinkled, +toil-worn hands still clasped each other in sleep. + +"They should go together," said Katie, with a sob, "but oh! not yet." + +She was not experienced enough to know whether this motionless sleep, so +different from the fitful, broken slumbers of the last few weeks, was a +hopeful sign or not; if her strength could be kept up, the doctor had +said, and so had Miss Betsey--and perhaps she ought to wake her and give +her something. As she stood looking at her, her grandfather opened his +eyes. + +"Grannie's better, I think," said she, with a quick impulse to give him +comfort. "She has been sleeping quietly, and her hand is cool and +moist. If you'll bide still beside her, I'll go and get a drop of warm +milk from Brownie, to be ready when she wakes." + +If she had stayed a minute longer she must have cried at the sight of +the old man's face as he raised himself up and bent over that other face +so white and still. She did cry a little when she went out, and +shivered in the chill of the September morning, but she did not linger +over her task. When she came in she found her grandfather risen, and +standing by the bed. Her grandmother was awake now. + +"Are you there, Katie? Is your tea masket? Give a cup of tea to your +grandfather now; it will refresh him; and I think I could take a cup +myself." + +"All right, grannie dear," said Katie, cheerfully; "and in the meantime +take a little milk," and she held the cup to her lips. "And now, if you +should fall asleep, it will be all the better till the tea be ready." + +Katie smoothed the pillows and put the bedclothes straight, and touched +her lips to the white cheek; then it was turned to rest on the thin hand +and grannie fell asleep. Davie rose up at Katie's bidding, and went to +get wood to kindle the fire. Katie let the curtain fall again over the +open window, and softly closed the door, as she followed her grandfather +out of the room. + +"We'll let her sleep," said the old man, and he went out with slow, +languid steps into the sunshine. + +It was hardly sunshine yet, for though the light lay clear on the +hill-tops, all the valley was in shadow, and the mist lay low along the +course of Beaver River in great irregular masses, white, but with great +"splatches" of colour here and there where the sun touched it. The dew +lay heavy on the grass, and the garden bushes and the orchard trees, and +on Katie's flowers, and the sweet breath of green things came pleasantly +to his sense as he sat down on his accustomed seat by the door. + +Birds were chirping in the orchard trees, and there was the scarcely +less pleasant sound of barn-door fowls near at hand. The sheep behind +the pasture-bars sent their greeting over the dewy fields, and the cows +in the yard "mowed" placidly as they stirred one another with soft, slow +movements. How fair and peaceful the place looked! How full of calm +and quiet, yet strong life! + +The old man closed his eyes on it all. He was not thinking, he was +hardly feeling. The night had brought broken slumbers, but not rest, +and he was very weary. A wondering question, whether she could be going +to die on such a day as this, passed through his mind. It did not seem +possible. + +"And besides, she and he said she could not die till I had forgiven my +enemy." + +But he was too weary to go over it all again--the long heart-breaking +story. He could only sit still with closed eyes, waiting. + +And it was thus that the minister and Jacob Holt found him. They had +said little to one another as they passed through the dewy fields, and +under the long shadows of the wayside trees together. Mr Maxwell at +first had said a word as to the mission they had undertaken, and asked a +question or two as to how they had better make it known, but Jacob had +answered in monosyllables, or not at all. + +The last part of their walk had been over the fields again, and they +came suddenly upon Mr Fleming sitting at the door. Katie had seen them +coming, and was standing at her grandfather's side, her hand laid on his +shoulder, and she looked at them as they drew near with questioning, +almost angry eyes. Mr Maxwell held out his hand to her. + +"Is he sleeping, Katie?" + +But as he spoke Mr Fleming looked up. He did not see Jacob for the +moment. He held out his hand and tried to rise. + +"No; sit still," and Mr Maxwell sat down beside him. + +"It is kind of you to come so early. Katie thinks her--no worse this +morning. But you must think her dying to come so soon again, and at +this hour." + +"No. I am glad she is no worse. It was not that I thought her dying. +I came for another reason." + +"Well, you are kindly welcome anyway." + +"I went to see Squire Holt this morning. No--he is not dying, though it +cannot be long now." + +"Ay! ay! Well, he is an old man, and he is ending a useful life." + +He spoke dreamily in his utter weariness, looking away over the fields +to the sunshiny hills beyond. + +"I have something to give you, Mr Fleming," said the minister gently, +"something which Miss Holt found among her father's papers." + +"Well, well," said the old man, waiting quietly, almost indifferently, +for what might be said. + +"It is a letter, written long ago by one dead and gone, who was very +dear to you." + +A change came over her grandfather's face, but whether it was because of +what Mr Maxwell had said, or because he saw Jacob Holt standing before +him, and quite near him, Katie could not tell. Jacob moistened his dry +lips, and tried twice to speak before a sound came. + +"It is a letter--and before you read it--I beg you to forgive me for any +harm I may ever have done--to you or yours." + +The little Flemings had gathered about the door, but their mother drew +them away into the house. Katie kept her place by her grandfather, and +so did Davie, but he was out of sight in the porch. Mr Fleming rose, +and stood face to face with his enemy; but when he spoke it was to Mr +Maxwell that he turned. + +"She said, she could never go--up yonder--till I have forgiven him--and +I am an old man, now." + +He tottered a little as he turned to Jacob, but he held out his hand: + +"God forgive you. And God help me to forgive you. And God forgive me +too, for I doubt it has been rebellion with me all this time." + +"Amen," said Jacob, and then he moved away, and Mr Fleming sank down on +the seat again. He seemed to have forgotten that there was anything +more to be said, and after a moment's hesitation, Mr Maxwell put the +letter into Katie's hand. + +"The letter, grandfather," said she softly. + +"Ay, the letter." + +He took it, holding it out at arm's length that he might see, but when +his eye rested on the familiar characters he uttered a sharp, +inarticulate cry and let it fall. The blood rushed to his face till it +was crimson, and then receding, left him pale as death. + +"Grandfather, come into grannie," said Katie, putting her arms about +him. "Davie, come and help our grandfather." + +"Grannie's better, grandfather," said Davie; "come." + +"But the letter," said the old man, faintly. "Oh, ay! Grandmother will +like to see the letter!" + +But he did not rise. + +"The letter. Where's the letter?" + +Jacob Holt stooped and lifted it from the grass where it had fallen, and +Davie looked at him with amazed and angry eyes, as he opened it and +taking out the folded slip of paper, offered it to him, while he kept +the squire's letter and the money in his hand. + +"Read that first," said Jacob hoarsely, and then he went away round the +corner of the house out of sight, and Mr Maxwell followed him. + +"Read it, Katie, lassie." + +With trembling fingers Davie opened the letter and gave it to his +sister. Kneeling beside him, Katie read: + +"Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more +worthy to be called thy son." + +There was more written, but she got no further, for a cry burst from his +lips--whether of joy or pain they could not tell--and his head fell on +Katie's shoulder. + +"Whisht, Davie. Lay him down gently, and get a little water. Be quiet, +man. Grannie will hear you." + +For Davie had cried out in his terror at the sight of his grandfather's +deathlike face. The cry brought out his mother, and Mr Maxwell and +Jacob hurried back again. He was better in a minute, and they led him +into the house, and made him lie down. In a little while Katie brought +him some tea. + +"Grannie bade me, grandfather, and you must take it you ken." + +She knelt beside him, holding the cup for him, and by coaxing and +entreating made him take a little food. + +"And now you must just rest a while." + +They had brought him into the front room "for quiet," Katie said, as he +looked round in surprise; "rest and think about it," she whispered, +hardly venturing to say more. Gradually it came back to him that +something had happened. By this time breakfast was over, and worship, +and Katie brought Mr Maxwell in and left him there. + +Jacob Holt would not stay to breakfast, though Davie and his mother had +asked him to stay. Before he went he gave the squire's letter to Davie. + +"Give it to your grandfather, but do not read it," said he. + +He had something to say to Mr Maxwell also. + +"I don't know just how much Mr Fleming knows of what happened long ago. +Hugh Fleming, after much entreaty from several of us, signed my +father's name where he ought not. He alone had the skill to do it. It +was to save--some of us from much trouble. He was not in the scrape. +He was not to be benefited personally by it, except that he was +persuaded that some foolish deed of his could be more easily kept from +his father's knowledge if he helped to screen the rest by yielding. If +he had stayed at home and met it, it would have been well; my father +made no trouble about it. But he went away--and died. And you must +tell his father--" + +Jacob turned his back upon the minister for a full minute, and then +without another word went away. + +It was Mr Maxwell who read the letter to Mr Fleming after all. There +were only a few lines more than Katie read: "I trust God has forgiven +me, and that He will keep me safe from sin. Forgive me, dear father and +mother and James." + +And then his name and another line: "I will make up to you, dear father, +for all you suffer now for me." + +"And He has kept him safe," said the minister, "all these years." + +Katie came now and then, and looked in, but she did not speak, except +once to say that grannie was sleeping still. Even Katie never knew how +the minister and her grandfather passed the long morning. It was noon +when she went in and told them that dinner was nearly ready, and that +grannie was awake and asking for them. Afterward Mr Maxwell told Miss +Elizabeth something about it. + +How as it gradually became clear to the father that his dear son's light +had not gone out in darkness, but that he had repented of his sin, and +confessed it, and had been as he trusted forgiven, his grief and shame +and penitence were even deeper than his joy. + +"To think that I should have been misdoubting the Lord all this time, as +though He had broken His promise to me! And how patient He has been-- +long-suffering and full of compassion. I have been hard on Jacob Holt. +If God had dealt with me as I have in my heart dealt with him!" + +The minister did not always know whether he was speaking to him, or to +himself. By and by, when he got calmer, and "better acquainted" with +the thought of the new joy, he told the minister, in broken words, the +story of his love for his son, and the bitterness of his loss, and his +wonder and sympathy grew as he listened. + +What depths of woe the old man had sounded! With what agonies of +bitterness and anger which had grown to be hatred almost, as the years +went on, had he struggled. And he had sometimes yielded to the misery +of doubt of God's care. He had thought the struggle vain. + +He had never been quite at peace with himself through it all. God had +never left him to an easy conscience, where Jacob Holt was concerned, +even at his quietest time, and when things were at their best with him. +He had never left him to himself, and now the evil spirit was cast out. + +"The patience He has had with me. It is wonderful!" he said again and +again. "And now I ask nothing but that He may do His will with me and +mine," he added, as Katie came in. + +"I think grannie is no worse, though she is very weak and cannot bear +much," was Katie's gentle caution, lest she should be excited overmuch. + +He did not answer her, but turned to Mr Maxwell and repeated his words: + +"I ask nothing but that God may do His will with me and mine." + +"That is always best," said the minister. + +Katie looked from one to the other. + +"Come, grandfather," said she. + +He went slowly out, touching the door and the walls to steady himself +by, and when he went in to grannie, Katie softly shut the door. There +was no one to tell what was said there between the two. If Mr Fleming +had needed anything utterly to break his heart with loving shame, and +thankfulness, and sorrow, the glad serenity and trust of his dear old +wife would have done it. He put restraint upon himself lest he should +excite her beyond her strength, but she smiled at him. + +"Joy seldom does harm, and I am better, though I am but weak and +feckless. I'll soon mend now." + +"And are you really better? I could almost find it in my heart to let +you go to Him, nay, I canna say gladly, but God's will be done, whether +you be to stay or go." + +"Surely. And in His good time He'll take me, but no' just yet. You +canna spare me yet." + +The old man laughed a glad, tremulous laugh, but the tears were not very +far from his eyes, and he patted gently the wrinkled hand, grown thin +and limp. + +"And you'll just go to your dinner with the minister and the bairns, and +I'll rest myself a wee while, for, oh! I have little strength. But +I'll soon have more." + +After dinner Mr Maxwell came in to say a few words to Mrs Fleming, and +"to give thanks," as she said, and then the old people were left alone +together again. Whether they slept or not, grannie could not tell. + +"But we didna think long, my dear," said she to Katie, with her faint, +glad smile. + +Mr Maxwell would have liked to lie all the afternoon on the orchard +grass, with Davie and his mother sitting near, and Katie and the rest +coming and going, as the work permitted, for it was sweet and restful +there. But the old squire might wish to see him. He had visited him +almost daily for a while, and so after a little he rose and said he must +go. + +"And grannie is better, but Miss Elizabeth will have no glad morning. +Oh, if we could comfort her," said Katie, gravely. + +"And don't you think that all that has comforted you all to-day, will +comfort her also?" said Mr Maxwell. + +"Miss Elizabeth has always rejoiced with the joyful, and sympathised +with those who were in sorrow," said Katie's mother. + +"And that is why she is loved so dearly," said Katie. + +"And she was ay fond of grannie," said Davie. + +"She will be comforted," said the minister. + +And Miss Betsey had her wish. One day her mother and Cynthia came down, +and Ben went over for Mr Fleming, and old Mrs Wainwright, and Deacon +Stone, and two or three others, and the minister, and they all +remembered their Lord together. The "cup of blessing" was passed from +the trembling hands of Mr Fleming to the hands of Jacob Holt, which +trembled also, and so the very last drop of bitterness passed out of the +old man's heart forever. + +The end was drawing near now, and the old squire, looking glad and +solemn too, held his daughter's hand, and welcomed them all by name as +they came, and bade them farewell as they went away, "hoping to see them +again," he said, but knowing, as did they all, that it must be on "the +other side." Mr Fleming stayed when the others went away, and +Elizabeth gave him her seat by her father for a little while. They had +not much to say to one another. In all their intercourse the squire had +been the talker, but he was past all that now. But he was not past +noticing the peaceful look that had already come to the face of his +friend. + +"You feel better, don't you? It has done you good?" meaning doubtless +the communion they had enjoyed together with their Lord and Master. + +Mr Fleming hardly knew what he meant, but he said gently, "Ay, it has +done me good." + +For a moment it came into his thoughts to speak to the squire about the +letter, and the joy it had brought to him at last. But he was tired and +his thoughts were beginning to wander, and he doubted whether he could +make him understand. + +"He'll ken where he is going," said he to himself, but to the dying man +he said nothing but "Fare ye well; and the Lord be with you in the +valley." And then he went away. + +But not without a word from Elizabeth. + +"Dear Mr Fleming," said she, holding his hand when they were at the +door, "you must let me say how glad I am for you and for his mother." + +"Ay, that you are, I am very sure." + +"If only it had come--long ago," said Elizabeth. + +A momentary shadow passed over his face. + +"Ay. It seems strange to us. There is only one thing sure--His time is +best." + +Then Elizabeth sent her love to Mrs Fleming and to Katie, and her +mother, and then she touched with her lips the old man's furrowed cheek, +and some who saw him leave his old friend's house could not but wonder +at the peaceful brightness of his face that day. + +There was another day of watching and waiting, and then a few days of +silence in the darkened house, and then the old squire was laid in his +grave with such marks of honour as his fellow-townsmen could give. +People from other towns, and from all the country round, came to Gershom +that day, and many a kindly word was spoken of the dead, and many a tale +told of good deeds done in secret, of friendly help and counsel given in +time of need, and all agreed that a good man and true had gone to his +rest from among them, and that not many like him were left behind. + +And though all that great multitude could not see the open grave and +Elizabeth and Clifton and Jacob at the head, and Betsey and her mother +and Ben and all the rest standing near, no man left Gershom that day who +had not heard how, when the first clods fell on the coffin-lid, and +Jacob shuddered and grew white as death, old David Fleming, one of the +bearers, went forward and gave him his arm to lean upon till the grave +was filled and the last word spoken. Of course these strangers did not +know all that this implied to both these men, but every one in Gershom +knew and was glad for them both. + +And then when all was over, and Mr Maxwell, in a voice that was not +quite firm, had, in the name of the mourners, thanked the assembled +friends for their presence and sympathy on the solemn occasion, +Elizabeth and Clifton and Jacob went home with the feeling strong upon +them that the old life was at an end forever, and it was truer for them +all than either of them knew. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +BUSINESS. + +It would have been no longer possible for Clifton Holt to refuse all +active interest in the business that had hitherto been carried on by +Jacob in the name of himself and father. The brothers had long known +the arrangements made by their father with regard to the division of his +property among his children after his death, and this division made it +necessary that Clifton should give both time and pains to a right +understanding of how affairs stood. + +Elizabeth was to have the house in the village and the home farm, +together with a certain sum of money, part of which was invested in the +business. She was not to be a partner in the business. It would be +wrong, her father said, at least it would be uncomfortable for her to be +made in that way responsible for risks of which she knew nothing. If +all should agree that her money should be retained in the business, then +of course her brothers would give her the same security that they would +give to any one else who intrusted property to them. The sum was a +large one, but, had all things been going well with them during the last +few years, not larger than was right as her share of her father's +wealth. + +For the rest, the business was to be equally in the hands of the two +brothers, and the real estate equally divided between them. All this +had been arranged at the time when Jacob was formally received as his +father's partner. It was a just arrangement, giving the younger brother +no undue advantage, though it might seem to do so, for Jacob had before +that time spent a large part of the share of the property to which, +according to Canadian law, he had a claim at his father's second +marriage. He had acknowledged the arrangement to be just at the time it +was made, and still acknowledged it, although the fact that his brother +had not, as was expected, come to take his share of the work and risks +of the business when he came of age might have given him some cause to +complain. + +He might have complained if all this time he had been prospering in his +management of their affairs; but as it was, he said little, and allowed +Clifton to come gradually to a knowledge of how it was with them. + +Up to a late date Clifton's plan had been, either to remain as a sort of +sleeping partner in the business, thus securing a certain income to +himself without trouble; or to claim a division of the property, and +take his share, leaving Jacob to carry on the business in his own name. +This was the course which his sister foresaw and feared, knowing that +such a course must bring trouble and loss to them all. + +But within the last few months Clifton's idea and plans had undergone a +change. By the way in which he set himself to work, intent on mastering +the details of the business in all its branches, it became evident that +before many years were over he would stand fair to take his father's +place as the first man in that part of the country. + +The more Clifton looked into the state of their affairs, the less +satisfaction he felt with regard to them. When, in the course of his +investigation, he discovered the extent of the sacrifice of real estate +which had attended the settling up of the mining operations, it is +scarcely too much to say that he was for the moment utterly appalled. +He was, upon the whole, moderate in his expression of surprise and +vexation at the state of things, and whatever he said which went beyond +moderation, his brother did not often resent, at least he rarely +answered otherwise than mildly. But Jacob's cool way of answering +questions and suggesting expedients that might serve for a time, as +though he had been freed by his brother's presence from any special +responsibility with regard to their present straits, amazed and provoked +Clifton. Of course he could not now abandon the concern without +dishonour to the name, and without the sacrifice of plans and projects +to which he had of late been giving many of his thoughts. + +No, there was nothing to be done but to make the best of matters as they +stood. + +"If you had come into the firm two years ago, as you should have done," +said Jacob one day, returning, as his manner was, to matters discussed +and dismissed too often already, in his brother's opinion; "if you had +thrown yourself right into it, you might have made the Gershom +Manufacturing Company go. I hadn't the time to give to it. And I +haven't the power of talking folks over to see a thing, as you have. It +was all square with us then, as far as folks generally knew, and if the +company had been formed, and the mills put right up and set a-going, it +would have made all the difference in the world to us." + +"It's too late to talk now," said Clifton, shortly, and he rose and left +the room. + +But he recognised the fact. If he had been in the business for the last +two years, he knew that he would now have been in a far better position +for carrying out the plans, which more than anything else had brought +him back to Gershom; and it was toward the forming of such a company-- +or, rather, it was toward the commencing and carrying on of the work +which such a company might be expected to do, that all his plans now +pointed. + +Business had not been a secondary consideration with Mr Langden when he +paid his visit to Gershom. The success which had been almost the +uniform result of his undertakings during the last ten years had been +very pleasant to him, and had made it difficult for him to resist the +temptation to engage in still other enterprises which offered fairly for +the making of money. It was not that he loved money for its own sake, +or for the sake of what it might bring. He parted with it readily +enough, and held himself responsible for more liberal giving in +proportion as his means increased. + +There was nothing added to the enjoyment of his life by the luxurious +appliances which wealth can command. He took a certain pride in being +regarded as a man who had built up his own fortune, and who had +benefited his native place and the community generally, by his +increasing wealth. But the highest enjoyment he had was in the actual +doing of work--in the beginning and carrying on to a successful end any +enterprise which it required skill and will and a strong hand to guide. + +It was not the passion for speculation--the passion of the gambler-- +which may take possession of the man of business as of the man of +pleasure. He made no daring ventures and took no special risks. He +investigated patiently and saw clearly, and then he acted. His +weakness, if it could be called weakness, lay in this, that he found it +difficult to refrain from entering into new schemes when opportunity +occurred. + +A less clear-sighted man than he might during a ten days' visit to +Gershom have seen enough of the state of affairs there, and enough of +Jacob Holt himself, to prevent him from entering into any serious +business relations with him. He had disappointed Jacob by his apparent +indifference to the evident advantages offered for the establishment of +new industries, and the opening of new sources of wealth to himself, and +of prosperity to Gershom. But he was not indifferent in the matter. He +saw the opportunity clearly enough, but he did not see in Jacob Holt, or +in any other man he met in Gershom, the right sort of agent by whom to +make the opportunity available. + +He changed his opinion as to this, however, when he came to know more of +Clifton. Their long sail together, down the Saint Lawrence, and up the +Saguenay, gave time for much talk between them. Jacob was right when he +said that Clifton had his father's head for business, and the shrewd and +observing Mr Langden was not long in discovering his powers. Squire +Holt had been engrossed with business during the boyhood of his younger +son, and Clifton had been on too familiar terms with him, not to have +acquired much knowledge with regard to the details of business matters +without any effort on his part. His views and opinions, modified and +enlarged by contact with others during the two years' residence in the +city of Montreal, commended themselves to the judgment of his new +friend, and Mr Langden expressed surprise that he should not have +preferred entering on such a business as that left by his father, rather +than to take a new and untried path. + +From one thing they went to another, till the capabilities of the Beaver +River as a water-power, and the chances of Gershom as a manufacturing +town, were fully discussed between them. The result was that Clifton +almost decided to give up for the present his legal studies, and take up +his abode in Gershom as Mr Langden's partner in such a business as it +had been Jacob's hope that the Gershom Manufacturing Company might +establish. Such an enterprise need not prevent him from going on as +Jacob's partner. On the contrary, his position in such a case would be +an advantage to him, and from his share of his father's wealth he +expected to obtain the means necessary as his part in the investment of +which Mr Langden was to supply the larger part. And so, to the +surprise and joy of Elizabeth, and of Jacob as well, Clifton came home +for good. Mr Langden did not see, or did not seem to see, one of the +chief motives that had influenced the young man in considering this +step. Clifton at first did not acknowledge to himself that his interest +in Mr Langden's daughter had much to do with the decision. There were +good reasons enough for it to fall back upon without this, and these +were so clearly and earnestly dwelt on in his talks with his sister, +that he went far toward convincing himself that to settle in Gershom and +do as his father had done before him was the most reasonable course to +take. + +He had greatly admired Miss Langden everybody saw, and a good many +people had seemed to see that the admiration was mutual. But if their +intercourse had ended when they left Gershom, it would hardly have gone +further than admiration between them. Up to that time Clifton had +shared the general opinion that Miss Essie would at some future day +probably become a resident of the parsonage, and he had his doubts, as +some others in Gershom had, whether that might prove the most suitable +place for the dainty little lady. + +But the sail together down the Saint Lawrence changed his opinion, and +set his doubts at rest. Mr Maxwell was almost her dearest friend, as +his mother had been the dearest friend of her Aunt Martha. He was like +a cousin or an elder brother, she said, admiring and praising him quite +openly, as no young lady would be likely to speak of her lover. And as +for the parsonage, well, the intimations, quite frankly given, as to +what she meant to see and to do in the future, did not point that way. +And Clifton told himself, as he listened to her, that having seen them +so much together, he might have known from the nature of their +intercourse that there was nothing but friendship between them. + +In the comparative isolation of the sail on the two great rivers, these +young people became more intimate than they could have become in so +short a time in almost any other circumstances, and Miss Essie was a +pretty and winning little creature. She was very frank and friendly +with him, and an occasional touch of shyness and reserve made her +frankness and friendliness all the more charming. What with the one way +and the other, she bewitched the happy young fellow, and she had +bewitched several others since the Thanksgiving visit of Mr Maxwell. + +Clifton scarcely knew what had happened to him till he stood in the +desolate station in Montreal, watching the train that carried her and +her friends to meet the upward-bound boat at Lachine. After that there +came with the thought of the pretty, bright little girl, the thought of +her father, who was a rich man, and who would not, he feared, be easily +approached in any matter that had reference to his daughter. Clifton +forth with came to what was probably the wisest resolution that he could +have taken in the circumstances, to keep silence at present, and to do +what might be done, at least to put himself in the way of becoming a +rich man also. + +A good deal had passed between the gentlemen as to possible future +business relations, but nothing had been definitely settled while Mr +Langden was in Canada. That is, Clifton had not fully decided whether +he should change his plans and settle in Gershom. But there had been a +full discussion of all that was to follow should he do so. + +The unsatisfactory state into which their own affairs had fallen under +his brother's management was doubly vexing to him, because of the +difficulties which were thus thrown in the way of the new enterprise. +Not only must there be delay, there must be a new plan of operations. + +There was far more than enough of property of one kind or another in +their possession still to cover all the liabilities of the firm, but +money was needed and the banks were pressing. An honourable settlement +might be made, and their good name preserved, and even their fortunes +retrieved to some extent--provided that time should be given them, and +provided also the settlement of their affairs should be left in their +own hands. An extensive and varied country business like theirs might +be carried on through years of ill-success without an utter breakdown, +and years of care and labour would be required, if the sacrifice of much +valuable property was to be avoided, and this care and labour he saw +must fall on him. He could no longer hope for a partnership with Mr +Langden in the new enterprise. It seemed even doubtful whether, +occupied as he must be with their own affairs for the next year or two, +Mr Langden would consider the question of making him his agent in +carrying out his plans. + +"You can but lay the matter before him," said his sister Elizabeth. + +To her alone had Clifton permitted himself to speak of Mr Langden's +plans, and of the disappointment that threatened his own hopes because +of the losses that had come upon them. + +"That is easily said," said he, impatiently. "A statement of our +affairs; such as it would be necessary to put before him, would be +almost impossible at the present moment, at least in writing." + +"Why don't you go and see him, then?" + +Clifton looked at her a moment in silence. + +"The matter ought to be settled in one way or another, at once," said +his sister. "You would feel quite differently about Jacob's troubles +and your own if you were not in suspense." + +And so it came about that Clifton found his opportunity, and went. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +CHANGES. + +A surprise awaited the people of Gershom--indeed a series of surprises. +But the greatest of all was this, David Fleming not only sold that part +of his farm which bordered on the Black Pool and lay beyond it, higher +up the river, but he sold it to the Holts. He sold it on such terms +that the longstanding debt to them was more than cancelled, and in so +doing did well for himself and for the Holts also. + +When the winter had fairly set in, and there was snow enough for good +winter roads, the stones and timber which Jacob Holt had accumulated on +the Varney place last year were all removed higher up the river, and +preparations on a larger scale than ever Jacob had attempted, commenced +for the making of the new dam, at the point long ago decided upon as the +best on the river for such a purpose. And the building of the dam was +to be but the beginning of what was to be done. + +Clifton Holt did not say much to any one, except his sister Elizabeth, +of all that was to be undertaken soon in Gershom. But the good people +took too much interest in him and his undertakings not to give much time +and talk to them. Clifton Holt's undertakings, they were always called, +though he was but the agent of Mr Langden, the complications in the old +business with which he had still to do making it wiser for him to occupy +that position for the present. But that he was to be at the head of all +that was to be done, as far as buildings were concerned, was easily +seen. + +And Mark Varney was to be one of his right hands. It was Mark who had +the immediate oversight of the numerous workmen who were employed during +the winter collecting the materials required. It was he who, when the +spring opened, superintended the digging and levelling, the cutting and +carting that were being carried on, on a scale and with a rapidity that +surprised even Jacob Holt, who in imagination had seen something like it +done a hundred times over. It was in Mark's pastures, once again his +own, that the horses and oxen used in the work found rest when it was +needed, and it was he who had all to say that was to be said of them, +and of much besides. And the surprise, as far as he was concerned, was +that he should be capable of taking all this in hand, and that being +trusted with it he should so quickly and clearly show that he was +capable of doing it all well. + +No one was surprised at Clifton. He had the old squire's head for +business, they said, as Jacob had said before, and he had such an +education as the squire had never had, which must tell in the long run. +Then he had so good an opinion of his own powers, that he would never +think any work too great to undertake, and being "backed" by Mr +Langden, and by several other rich men, both at home and at a distance, +to whom Mr Langden's movement in the matter of the new mills had given +confidence, the chances were, everybody said, that he would do what he +had set out to do. + +And so he did, as far as the new dam on the Beaver River, and the mills +and workshops, and many other works besides, which he put his hand to +for the benefit of Gershom and his own benefit, were concerned. And so +he did in the course of years in his own business--that is, he and Jacob +together did much to recover that which had been lost, and to make once +more the name of the firm a power in Gershom, and in all the +countryside. But a good many years passed before all that was brought +about. + +Mr Fleming parted with a portion of his farm, not without regret, +indeed; but with none of the bitterness of feeling which in former days +had always risen within him at the thought of possibly having to do so; +and Davie was triumphant. Katie grieved over the prospect of having the +"bonny quiet place" spoiled with mills and shops and other folks' +houses, and the clatter of looms and factory-bells. Grannie thought as +Katie did, and would have grieved over this also if anything except a +fear of the wrong-doing of any of the bairns could have moved her from +the sweet content which, since the joyful ending of her long illness, +had rested in her heart, and made itself evident in every word and deed. + +But still grannie found much that was to be rejoiced over in that which +made Katie grieve. It was a fine thing to be free of debt, and it was +well that since they must part with the land it was to be put to a good +use. + +As for grandfather there was no sign of grumbling in him. Indeed, when +the spring opened, and the work at the Pool made progress, he began to +take much interest in all that was going on there, and his evening walk +often took him in that direction. It was a silent, and not always an +approving interest. But there was neither bitterness nor anger in his +thoughts now. He was content, like his dear old wife, to let the world +move on and take its way, since he had so nearly done with it all. + +There was for Davie a constant fascination in the skill and power +displayed by those employed in directing the work that was going on. He +haunted the place at every spare moment, and even did a day's work +there, at leisure times, for the sake of getting an insight into the +principles of things of which he had read, but which he had never had an +opportunity of seeing applied. The engineer employed about the dam, a +scientific man, capable of doing far higher work than fell to him in +Gershom, well pleased with the lad's eager interest, gave him many a +hint that went beyond the work in hand, and lent him books, and +encouraged him in various other ways to educate himself in the direction +toward which his tastes and inclinations seemed to lead. He claimed his +help on occasions when intelligence and skill rather than strength were +needed, and Davie, well pleased, did his best. The end of it all was, +that the lad's vulgar wishes for other work and another kind of life +than that which had fallen to him on the farm, took a definite form, and +as usual his confidence was given to his sister, and as usual, also, +Katie's first thought was: + +"But, Davie, think of grandfather." + +"Oh, there is no special hurry about it, and we'll break it to him +easily. And you must mind that there is less land now, and Sandy and +Jamie are coming on. There is not room for so many of us here, Katie. +And I'll be first to slip out of the nest, that is all." + +"But that you should be so glad to think about it, Davie," said Katie +mournfully. + +"Oh, as to that, I'm no' awa' yet. You needna fear that I'll do +anything that grandfather will take to heart. And besides, Katie, +grandfather is different now." + +Davie said these last words with a little hesitation, because he had +been taken up rather sharply on a former occasion when he had said +something of the same kind. Katie seemed to have forgotten her old +unhappy thoughts about her grandfather and Jacob Holt, and how hard it +had been for her grandfather to forgive his enemy, and it almost seemed +like reflection on his past life when it was said how greatly he was +changed. + +"It is not so much that he is changed," said Katie; "it is just the +`shining more and more unto the perfect day.' It is that he is becoming +more like the `little child' our Lord speaks about, and so more fit for +the kingdom of heaven as the time draws nearer. For grandfather is +growing an old man now, Davie," said Katie, not without tears. + +"Yes, that's so. Well, I'll never grieve him, Katie, you needna fear. +There is no hurry, and I am not losing time while Mr Davenport is here. +And I don't despair of being a civil engineer, as good as the best of +them yet." + +"Shining more and more unto the perfect day." Yes, that was so. Mr +Fleming was almost as silent in these days as had been his way all his +life, but it was a different silence--a silence serene and peaceful, +that told better than words could have done, of the joy and confidence +with which he was waiting for all that life had to bring him, and for +all that lay beyond. + +One Sabbath-day in the beginning of the winter, when Mrs Fleming had +gathered a little strength after her illness, grandfather and she, with +Davie and Katie and their mother, went to the village church and sat +down together at the table of our Lord. Jacob Holt was there too, and a +good many more who had sympathised with one or the other of them when +trouble was between them, and every one who saw the old man's bowed +head, and the childlike look on his face as he sat there among them all, +knew that all hard feelings had passed out of his heart forever. + +Jacob Holt's head was bowed also, but his face did not tell of peace as +yet. That might come later, but Jacob was now in the midst of his +troubles, and was having a hard time. But there was peace between him +and Mr Fleming. In former days the old man's eyes had never lighted on +his enemy, either in church or market, as all the world knew. But +to-day it was Jacob who tied old Kelso in the shed, Davie not being at +hand. He helped Mrs Fleming up the steps too, Cousin Betsey and a good +many other people being there to see, and then the two men walked up the +church aisle together. + +"It was as good to Jacob as Mr Fleming's name to a note for a thousand +dollars," Mr Green said afterward. And that was quite true. For a +thousand dollars, more or less, would have made little difference to him +in the present state of affairs, and the open friendliness of the man +who had so long shunned and slighted him, was good and pleasant to him +to-day. + +"And it was done on purpose," Betsey told her mother afterward, for Mr +Fleming was not accustomed to say much to any one by salutation on +Sunday, and had passed several of his friends, Betsey herself among the +number, without a word or even a nod of recognition. But he seemed glad +of the chance to say a word to Jacob before them all. + +"And it was a good day for Gershom," people said. There was no longer +any question as to union now in church matters, and in other matters as +well. No one had said less about union and brotherly love and a +Christian spirit among brethren than Mr Fleming; but his silent +influence had always been stronger than most men's loudly-spoken +reasons, either for or against the union so much desired, and now his +open adherence to the church in the village did much to decide those who +had long hung back, and it was acknowledged to be a good day by them +all. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +CLIFTON'S SUCCESS. + +Jacob Holt was having a hard time, and it did not for the moment make +his troubles any lighter that his younger brother seemed likely, by and +by, to show him a way out of them all. Indeed, it was rather an +aggravation to his troubles to see Clifton's success. He was carrying +out with apparent ease an enterprise on which he had spent time and +strength in vain, and with fewer drawbacks than would have been likely +to come to him had the Gershom Manufacturing Company been formed when he +moved in the matter years ago. + +Of course success was for Jacob's benefit, and by and by he would be +able to appreciate and take advantage of it. But in the meantime it was +not a pleasant thing to find himself superseded--left on one side--as he +said to himself often. It was not pleasant to be second where he had so +long been first. + +On the whole, Clifton carried himself with as much moderation as could +have been expected toward his elder brother, and he made him useful in +various ways that told for the good of both. + +Elizabeth rejoiced greatly, as each month passed over, that her brother +not only showed himself equal to the duties of the position in which he +was placed, but that he seemed to enjoy them, and would, therefore, not +be likely to be tempted to seek other work elsewhere. + +Of his work and his plans, and all he meant to do and be in the future, +Clifton said more to his sister than to all the rest of Gershom put +together. He was as frank and free in his talk, and as eagerly claimed +her sympathy and approval as ever he had done in his boyish days about +less important matters, and the chief interest of her life now, as then, +was in throwing herself heartily into all his plans and prospects. + +But on one subject he was for the most part silent, and his sister could +only guess at the motives that had chiefly decided him in returning to +Gershom, and at the hopes he might be cherishing with regard to Miss +Langden, and of both motives and hopes she was afraid. She was afraid +that disappointment awaited him, and that the end of it would be to +unsettle him again, and to disgust him with the life he had chosen. + +Elizabeth's knowledge of the tacit engagement existing between Miss +Essie and Mr Maxwell made her anxious and unhappy about her brother, +and at the same time it made it difficult for her to say anything that +might incline him to speak more freely to her. For Clifton's first +successful visit to Mr Langden had by no means been his last. Business +took him southward several times during the year, and more than one +visit united business with pleasure. Once he had seen Miss Langden in +her aunt's house in New York, and once he had turned aside to one of the +fashionable summer resorts in the mountains where she was staying with +her aunt's family. He enjoyed both visits, as may be supposed. Miss +Essie was as bright and sweet as ever, and doubtless enjoyed them also. + +Even Mrs Weston, who had seen a good deal more of society, and of the +world in general, than her niece, acknowledged that the young Canadian +carried himself well, and held his place among the idle gentlemen who +were helping them and their friends to spend their summer days +agreeably. Mrs Weston would have been as well pleased if he had not +carried himself so well, or made himself so agreeable, as far as her +niece was concerned, though she did not allow him to suspect any such +feelings, and had self-respect enough to say nothing to her niece till +after their visitors had departed. + +She did not say much to her even then. She laughed a little at her and +the conquest she had made, declaring that if she were determined to +spend her life in the far North, it would be wise to give up all +thoughts of the parsonage, and make good her claim to be the great lady +of Gershom. Mrs Weston had always laughed at the idea of the +parsonage, and had no thought of allowing her pretty niece to betake +herself to the far North in any circumstances. But she did not express +herself very openly with regard to this. For, with all Miss Essie's +gentleness and sweetness, and her willingness to submit to guidance when +nothing of particular importance to herself was depending upon it, she +had a mind and will of her own, and did not hesitate to assert herself +on occasion, and her aunt had seen enough of this to make her cautious +in dealing with her when their opinions differed. Upon the whole, +however, she thought she had reason to congratulate herself on the +success that had hitherto attended her efforts on her niece's behalf. + +Miss Langden, who could "hold her own" among the scores of fine people-- +the fashionable and elegant ladies and gentlemen who formed the circle +in which they moved at present--was a very different creature from the +quaint and prudish little school-girl whom her father had brought to New +York a year and a half ago. + +"Improved! Yes, indeed," she said to herself, and Mr Langden agreed +with his sister in the main, but on all points was not so sure. +However, he doubted nothing less than that in all essential respects his +good and pretty daughter would come out right in the end. Whether that +might mean the parsonage and the far North, either or both, he did not +say to himself or any one else. He had exchanged no words with his +daughter on the subject, though they had been at Gershom together. + +Mrs Weston was not afraid of Mr Maxwell and the parsonage, but, after +his summer visit, she was a little afraid of Clifton Holt. She knew how +high he stood both as to character and capabilities in the opinion of +Essie's father, and though he had not liked the idea of his daughter's +marriage with the minister, she thought it possible that he might not +object seriously a second time, should Essie indeed prefer the new +aspirant to her favour. + +But all the same her aunt did not intend that either of them should have +her pretty niece if she could manage matters so as to prevent it. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +CONCLUSION. + +Clifton went southward again not long after his summer visit to the +mountains, and on his return he had more to say about what he had seen +and done and enjoyed than was usual with him. Whether he was led into +doing so by the fact that Mr Maxwell had come in for the evening, and +took pleasure in hearing about old friends and familiar scenes, or +whether he spoke with intention, Elizabeth could not afterward decide. + +He had not seen Miss Langden at this time. She was paying a visit to +friends at a distance. If she had been visiting her Aunt Maltha, he +would have gone there to see her, he said, as though it were quite his +right to do so, and a matter of course. Elizabeth listened to all this +with much discomfort, and glanced at Mr Maxwell now and then to see how +it was taken. The minister met her glance frankly and smilingly, and +certainly did not seem to have any thought of resenting the young man's +tone and manner. + +"He is sure of his ground," thought Elizabeth; "and he can wait; but, my +poor Clifton, I fear he has disappointment before him." + +She knew that such a disappointment might be got over, and he be none +the worse, but rather the better, for what he might have to pass +through. But it hurt her beforehand to think of his suffering, and to +think that it must come to him through his friend. Even as the talk +went on between them, she was trying to bring her courage to the point +of asking Mr Maxwell to tell her brother how matters stood between him +and Miss Langden. It was only that they were waiting for the end of the +two years of probation, she supposed, and they were nearly over now. +She came out of her own thoughts in time to hear Mr Maxwell say: + +"Yes, I mean to get away for a week or two by and by, and I mean to pass +Thanksgiving either there or with Miss Martha at New B--. If I cannot +get away at that time I shall certainly go later, but I should like to +be there on Thanksgiving Day for various reasons." + +Elizabeth looked from one to the other with some surprise. Mr Maxwell +spoke, and Clifton listened, with faces that were grave enough, but the +eyes of both were smiling as they met hers. + +"Mr Maxwell ought to tell him," thought she, with a touch of anger at +her heart. + +But he did not need to be told. When Mr Maxwell was gone, and Clifton +had returned from seeing him to the gate, he said to his sister: + +"Did you know, Lizzie, that Mr Maxwell had once asked Miss Langden to +marry him?" + +Elizabeth was moving about the room, putting things in order, as was her +way before going up-stairs for the night. She removed the lamp to the +side-table, and sat down before she answered him. + +"Yes, I have long known it. I have often, often wished to tell you, but +I did not feel at liberty to do so." + +"And why not, pray? One may surely repeat a rumour of that kind without +a breach of confidence." + +"But I did not hear it as a rumour, and I had no permission to repeat +it. And besides, it was Mr Maxwell who told me." + +"Rather queer--his telling you, wasn't it?" + +"No. In the circumstances it was natural enough. I knew it, or I had +guessed it before he told me." + +And then she went on to tell of the first note that Miss Essie had sent +her, because she was one of the Gershom friends of her friend "Will +Maxwell," as she called him. "But it is a long time now since one of +her pretty notes has come to me. But they correspond, and have always +done so, since he came to Gershom." + +Clifton said nothing, and his sister was silent for a time. Then she +asked: + +"Who told you of their engagement?" + +"Engagement! There is no engagement," said Clifton shortly. + +"No formal engagement, but that was only because her father thought Miss +Essie too young; but the time of waiting is nearly over now." + +"Lizzie, if I had been asked who had been most in Mr Maxwell's thoughts +for the last year I should not certainly have said it was Miss Langden." + +"Well, your penetration would have been at fault, that is all." + +"And I should not have said that Miss Langden had been giving many of +her thoughts to him, for the last year at least." + +"Of that I can say nothing. But who told you of the proposal? Not Mr +Maxwell?" + +"No. Mr Langden told me." + +"Mr Langden!" exclaimed Elizabeth, and by and by she added: "Is that +all I am to hear, brother?" + +"It is all I have to tell at present. Perhaps I may have more by and +by." + +"Or perhaps it may be Mr Maxwell who may have something to tell," said +Elizabeth gravely, "when he comes home from Thanksgiving." + +Clifton laughed. + +"Possibly he may--but--" + +"Clifton, I cannot bear to think that Mr Maxwell and you may not always +be friends." + +"Well, you needn't fret about it beforehand, need you?" and then he rose +and went away. + +They both had something to tell before Thanksgiving Day, but it was not +just what Elizabeth had expected to hear. Clifton did not tell his part +before Thanksgiving, however. Indeed, he never told it. He was away a +good deal about that time; and was so much occupied when he was at home, +that Elizabeth saw less of him, and heard less from him than had ever +been the case before during the same length of time, and she could only +wait till it should be his pleasure to speak. But Mr Maxwell lost no +time in saying to his friend what he had to say. + +One fair September morning, about a year after her father's death, +Elizabeth saw the minister coming in at the gate with an open letter in +his hand, and though she could give no reason for the thought, she told +herself at once to prepare for tidings. Her first impulse was to go +away, so as to gain time, for a sharp and sudden pain, which she could +not but fear was not all for her brother, smote her heart as she caught +sight of Mr Maxwell's moved and smiling face. But she felt that it was +better not to go, so she rose and met him at the door. + +"Well," she said, smiling and preparing to be glad for him, at least. + +Her face was moved out of its usual quiet too, as Mr Maxwell could not +but see, and he said: + +"Have you heard anything? Has your brother anything to tell?" + +"Clifton is not at home; I have heard nothing." + +"Ah, well! All in good time, I suppose." + +Mr Maxwell did not sit down, though Elizabeth did, but walked about the +room, looking out first at one window and then at the other in a way +that startled her. + +"Well," she said after a little, "I am waiting for your news." + +"News? I have no news--yes, I have something to say. I have been +waiting these two years to say it--may I speak, Elizabeth?" + +And then he sat down on the sofa beside her. To that which he had to +say Elizabeth listened with a surprise which would have been painful to +her friend if something more than surprise had not soon appeared. + +In a few words he told her of the discovery he had made soon after his +return home two years ago, and how he had thought nothing else right or +possible but to wait patiently till the two years of probation were over +to see what might befall. He had not always waited patiently, he +acknowledged. He had had little hope that Miss Holt had more than +friendship to give him, and believed himself to be content with that for +the present, till he had known how, after her father's death, some one +else was asking for the hand for which he had no right to ask, and then +it had gone hard with him. + +He had not been blind to Clifton's hopes and pretensions, and he had +been for some time quite aware that whatever Miss Langden might have to +give to Clifton, she had only friendship to give to him. But he had +remained silent because he believed himself bound not to speak to +Elizabeth till the two years were over. And now they were over. + +Mr Langden, knowing that his plan was to visit them soon, considered +that he ought to know how he was to be received, and had insisted that +his daughter should tell him her mind distinctly as to her future. It +is not be supposed that she did that altogether, but she acknowledged +that her views of life and duty had somewhat changed, and she feared it +would not be for their mutual happiness to renew her engagement with Mr +Maxwell. A little note to that effect was inclosed in her father's +letter which had reached him this morning, and certainly the minister +had lost no time. + +If Elizabeth hesitated to answer the question which came next, it was +not for a reason that seemed to trouble the questioner much. She was +not sure that she would make a good minister's wife--and especially she +was not sure that she would make a good minister's wife for Gershom. +But all that was put aside for the present. She was not afraid to trust +her happiness in the hands of her friend. She was willing to share his +life and his labours, and to do what she could to aid him in his work. +And with that her friend was well content. + +When he said something of the inequality of their relations to each +other, because of that which she possessed, she declared herself willing +to let all that pass into the hands of her brothers, and to share the +parsonage and comparative poverty with him. Whether she was showing her +usual wisdom and prudence in making such a declaration, there was no one +there to decide, and when the right time came for the decision it was +not left in her hands. + +Clifton did not return home triumphant, as Elizabeth had never doubted +that he would. He was well pleased to hear all she had to tell him of +the new happiness that had come into her life; but he had nothing to +tell her in return. By and by she heard, through Mr Maxwell, that Miss +Langden had gone with her aunt to pass at least a year in Europe, and +then Clifton told her that he had known her plans all along. He said +little about his disappointment, indeed he did not acknowledge himself +disappointed. But he did not succeed in concealing it from Elizabeth. +He went on as usual with all that he had to do, with no less interest +and energy, and with no less success than before. + +Mr Langden paid a visit to Gershom in the following spring, and there +was perfect confidence and satisfaction between him and Clifton as far +as business relations were concerned. And hearing his daughter's name +frequently mentioned by him, and taking some other things into +consideration, Elizabeth could not but hope that in good time all things +would end as her brother desired, and since he was silent, she did not +think it would be right for her to speak. + +But it did not all end as Clifton wished it to end. Miss Langden +returned with her aunt at the close of the year, as had been expected, +but she returned engaged to marry a New York gentleman whom they had met +abroad. She and Clifton had never been engaged. Her father had +forbidden the young man to speak to her till the two years of Mr +Maxwell's waiting were over, and before that time the European trip was +decided on and close at hand. + +This meeting and parting at that time had been all that Clifton could +desire, except that she had refused to bind herself by a promise to him, +and her aunt had sustained her in this, as was perhaps right, knowing +all that she knew. Without her promise Clifton had trusted her +entirely, and doubtless she meant to be true to him. + +But temptation came in the form of wealth and family and fashion, and +her aunt was at hand to show her the advantages of these things. +Indeed, it must be said the young lady saw them for herself only too +clearly, and was glad that she had no promise to break to secure them. + +If there was any comfort in the knowledge that her father was +disappointed and indignant at what she had done without his knowledge or +consent, Clifton had that comfort, but it possibly did not go far to +help him. He said little about it, but it went hard with him for a +while. + +However, he did not make his misery an excuse for neglecting his duty. +He was past the age for such folly now and besides, he was too really +interested in his work not to find it a resource in the time of his +trouble, and the changes which his sister had feared might follow such +disappointment, did not come. + +"And after all," she said, comforting herself, "he will get over it in +time." Which was perfectly true. + +The new dam and the new establishments of various sorts, which followed +its completion, did much for Gershom. That is to say, they increased +the population and the wealth of the place, and made it more than ever +the centre of the surrounding country as to all business transactions. +But it is a question whether it made it a pleasanter place of residence +for any of our friends there. A state of transition from a country +village to a country town of some importance is never pleasant for the +old residents for a time. But progress is to be desired for all that, +and Gershom is now an incorporated town with a mayor and council-men of +its own, and on the whole it may be considered that its prosperity is +established on a good foundation. + +Changes came to the people also, some of them to be rejoiced over, and +some of them not. The High-School lost Mr Burnet as a teacher, which, +considering his utter inability to fall in with certain new-fangled +notions as to schools and schoolmasters, which the influx of new-comers +brought with it, was not a bad thing for him, whatever it might be for +the school. He went home to Scotland to take possession of some money +left to him by an elder brother, who had been a rich man. He came back, +however, to make his home in Canada, as people who have lived in it for +any length of time are almost sure to do. + +He brought back with him his two daughters, bonnie lassies of fifteen +and sixteen, and took up his abode with them in the house that had been +the parsonage. The big house on the hill answered the purpose of a +parsonage now. His daughters were nice, merry girls, but they were +quite ignorant of housekeeping matters, and they did not get on very +well with the new ways of the place for a while. They had, perhaps, +been too much restrained by the friends who had brought them up, for +some of the staid people of Gershom thought that they did not know how +to use their liberty wisely. + +Perhaps their father thought so too, and that he needed help to guide +them; at any rate, to the surprise of most people, he asked Miss Betsey +Holt to come and take care of them, and of himself also, and after some +hesitation, caused by doubt as to how "mother and Cynthy and Ben would +get along without her," she consented. + +All eyes were on the household for a time, for dutiful submission on the +part of the young step-daughters was considered doubtful by a good many +of their friends. It is likely that Betsey had her own troubles with +them till they knew her better, but no one in Gershom was the wiser for +anything that she told them, and things righted themselves in time, as +they always do where good and sensible people are concerned. + +Mark Varney redeemed his farm and moor, and carried his mother and his +little daughter home again when Mr Maxwell was married. His farm was +not so large after a time, for a part of it was laid out in building +lots for the new village, and Mark, as the neighbours declared, was soon +"well-to-do," and doing well. + +And though he never made so good a speech again as he made that day at +the picnic, he has done for many a suffering and miserable man what in +the first days of his coming to Gershom, Mr Maxwell did for him. He +has followed, and comforted, and brought back to life and hope more than +one or two poor besotted wretches, whom the rising prosperity of Gershom +drew thither in the hope of getting bread. And he has never grown weary +of the work, though sometimes he has had to grieve over ill-success. + +It would be going beyond the truth to say that all Gershom was satisfied +when the engagement of Miss Holt and the minister was announced, because +there are some people who are never satisfied. But they whose opinion +they valued most were satisfied. Mrs Fleming and Cousin Betsey had +been hoping for it--almost expecting it all along, and one or two of +Elizabeth's special old-lady friends acknowledged that they had been +praying for such a marriage all the while. As for Katie, it was in her +eyes the only fitting end to the romance which she had guessed at long +ago, and which she had been secretly and silently watching all these +years. + +As to whether or not she made a good minister's wife, Elizabeth was +never quite sure. But the minister was content, and so were most of the +people. And even those who were never quite contented with anything, +acknowledged that "she did as well as she knew how," and that would be +high praise for the most of us. + +Clifton lived in the old home with them, for his good and their +pleasure, till the time came when he made a home of his own, which, +considering all things, was not so very long a time after all. + +Although Jacob's change from the first place to the second both in the +business and in the town was not pleasant to him, it was wholesome. He +had never been equal to the _role_ of the great man of the place, and +after the first feelings of humiliation wore away, and their affairs +began to look prosperous again, the fact that "two heads are better than +one" made itself apparent to him even more clearly than had been the +case in the days when he found his father unable, and his brother +unwilling, to give him help and counsel. + +He came to be much better liked by his neighbours than he used to be, +and was really a better man. He had fewer worries and fewer +temptations, and though he was not what might be called "a shining +light" either in the church or in the world, it was the opinion of his +brethren and townsmen that his troubles had been blessed to him, and +that he was getting along--not very fast, but in the right direction. + +But that which did most for Jacob in his time of trouble was the +knowledge of Mr Fleming's forgiveness and friendship. It is not likely +that he had ever acknowledged, even to himself, that he had sinned +against him through his son more than others had done, but a sense of +the old man's silent anger had always been in him, and had been painful +and humiliating to him--how painful he knew by the sense of relief he +experienced whenever they came in contact afterward. He no longer +stepped aside when he saw him approaching, so that the neighbours should +not remark about the old man's steadily averted face. They had never +much to say to each other, but they met and exchanged kindly greetings +as other men did, and all Gershom saw the change that had come over them +both. Even his cousin Betsey grew friendly and frank in her intercourse +with him and his wife, and that was a change certainly. + +Few people ever knew just what had brought about this changed state of +feeling. There was nothing to tell which Jacob cared to repeat. It +would have done no good to bring up the old, sad story again, he well +knew, and he said little about it even to his wife. + +As for Mr Fleming--and indeed all the Flemings--the joyful tidings that +the letter brought on that fair September morning were too sacred and +sweet to be discussed much even among themselves. Katie always held +that her grandfather would have forgiven Jacob Holt all the same if the +letter had never come, because there was the Lord's command clear and +plain, "Forgive and ye shall be forgiven," and it must have come to that +at last. + +"And, indeed, Davie, it was near at hand before the letter came. The +Lord had touched him. First there was the fear of losing you, and then +the fear of losing grannie, and then the letter came from the son he had +lost so long, and that was the last touch for which the rest had made +him ready. Oh! how good He has been to us! Surely, surely, Davie, we +can never through all our lives forget." + +Mrs Fleming thought as Katie did, though they had never spoken together +of the subject. In her innermost heart she had believed--though even to +herself she had hardly put the thought into words--that on the subject +of Jacob Holt's past misdeeds her husband was hardly responsible for his +thoughts. The misery of his son's loss, not for this brief life only, +but forever and ever, as he could not but believe, had taken such full +possession of him as to leave him no power to struggle against the +bitterness which became almost hatred as time went on. If he had died +unforgiving, the Lord would have still received him, she had believed, +and she had striven to content herself with this belief in silence, +feeling how vain were spoken words to him. + +"Only a miracle would make him see God's will in this; and I have no +right to ask for that." + +No miracle was wrought. The letter came, and was the last touch of the +loving Hand which even at the worst times had wounded but to heal; and +lying with his lips in the dust, but with eyes looking upward, the cloud +parted, and he saw the face of God, and was at peace. + +After this there came nothing to trouble these two old people as they +moved softly down the hill together. Grannie was never very strong +again after her long illness, and no longer took the lead in all that +was done in the house--that was Katie's part in life for several years +to come; but she was quite content to rest and to look at other folk +busy with the work which had once been hers, and that does not always +happen in the last days of a life so active and so full as hers had +been. + +And what was true of the grandmother was true of the grandfather as +well. He seemed to have no more anxious thoughts about anything. He +did not need to have while Davie stayed at home; but even after Davie +went away, and the management of the farm fell for the most part into +the less skillful hands of the younger brothers, their grandfather "took +things easy," the lads said, and rarely found fault. + +And so they had still a peaceful gloaming, these two old people, when +their changeful day of life was drawing to a close. Only it was like +the dawn rather than the gloaming, Katie said, because of the soft +brightness that shone on them both. It was "light at evening time," and +their last days were their best to themselves and to all by whom they +were beloved. + +For the last days were days of waiting for the change of which they +spoke often to the bairns so dear, and to one another. Once, as Katie +sat with her grandfather at the pasture-bars on Sabbath afternoon, she +said to him--after many other words had been spoken between them--that +she would like to put that verse on his grave-stone after he was gone: + +"At evening time it shall be light." + +But her grandfather said: + +"Na, na, my lassie! If I have a grave-stone--which matters little--and +if any verse at all be put upon it, let it be this:-- + +"`Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.'" Then Katie stooped and touched +his hand with her lips, as she had done once long ago, and said softly: +"Yes, grandfather, so it shall be." And so it was. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of David Fleming's Forgiveness, by +Margaret Murray Robertson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DAVID FLEMING'S FORGIVENESS *** + +***** This file should be named 27930.txt or 27930.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/9/3/27930/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +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. 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