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diff --git a/35765.txt b/35765.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a380e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/35765.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13058 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Lily Pearl and The Mistress of Rosedale, by Ida Glenwood + +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: Lily Pearl and The Mistress of Rosedale + +Author: Ida Glenwood + +Editor: Major Joseph Kirkland + +Release Date: April 4, 2011 [EBook #35765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LILY PEARL AND MISTRESS OF ROSEDALE *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine Aldridge +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. + +2. A list spelling corrections, word variations and other information + regarding the original text are located at the end of this e-text. + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: IDA GLENWOOD, (The Blind Bard of Michigan.)] + + + + + LILY PEARL + AND + THE MISTRESS OF ROSEDALE + + + BY + IDA GLENWOOD, + "The Blind Bard of Michigan." + + + AUTHOR OF + "THE FATAL SECRET," "KATE WYMANS AND THE + FORGER'S DAUGHTER," "BLACK + FRANCE," ETC. + + + EDITED BY + MAJOR JOSEPH KIRKLAND. + + + CHICAGO: + DIBBLE PUBLISHING CO. + 1892. + + + COPYRIGHT 1892 + BY DIBBLE PUBLISHING CO. + CHICAGO. + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It matters but little to the average reader whether a book be wholly +historical or purely imaginary if it be of sufficient interest to hold +the attention in a pleasurable excitement to its close. + +There are those however, who will be glad to know that the following +work was wrought out of historical facts gleaned from a large parcel of +letters written by a son while a soldier in the army of the rebellion, +to his widowed mother, then in Springfield, Mass. + +Graphic were his descriptions of scenes and incidents coming to his +personal knowledge during that memorable march from "Atlanta to the +sea." + +These I have woven into a web of fiction mingling their lights and +shadows, blending them as best I could amid denser shades, hoping that +peradventure their coming to you, gentle reader, may prove as great a +pleasure in the perusing as the author has enjoyed in the weaving. + + IDA GLENWOOD. + Fenton, Mich. + + + + +EDITOR'S PREFACE. + + +My editing of this most interesting story has been little more than +proof-correction. On reading the manuscript in advance of the +type-setting I soon found it safer to leave the author's style to take +care of itself, sure that it will strike the public, as it struck me, +with renewed respect and admiration for one who, sightless, can excel so +many of us having all the senses. + +It is touching to observe how the blind narrator dwells on outward +things,--color, light and shade, sunset skies, human features and +expressions,--which must come to her only in imagination. She seems to +dwell with peculiar intensity on a world of beauty which we others, +sated by abundance, pass by unrecorded if not unnoticed. + +Sightless she is not, for in her the mind's eye is of a brilliancy that +seems to make our mere physical vision useless by comparison. Better the +soul's sight without eyes, than the eyesight without soul. + + JOSEPH KIRKLAND. + + + + +PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT. + + +We would be pleased to have the reading public patronize "LILY PEARL AND +THE MISTRESS OF ROSEDALE," because of the benefit to the author, "The +Blind Bard of Michigan," and for the pleasure it will give the following +gentlemen and firms, who have freely and generously given their time to +the production of the work: Major Joseph Kirkland, editor; G. M. D. +Libby, printer; L. Braunhold, artist; A. Zeese & Co., electrotypers, and +Donohue & Henneberry, binders. But the best reason for buying will be +found in the charming story itself. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTERS. + + I MIDNIGHT AT "CLIFF HOUSE," 17 + + II THE LITTLE MARINER ALONE UPON THE OCEAN, 29 + + III THE WAIF AFTER THE STORM, 39 + + IV RECEPTION NIGHT AT THE NEW HOME, 50 + + V DEATH IN THE LITTLE COTTAGE, 61 + + VI "CRAZY DIMIS" AND THE TWILIGHT SCENE, 71 + + VII CHANGES IN THE COTTAGE HOME, 81 + + VIII OUT INTO THE WORLD, 91 + + IX AN UPPER ROOM IN THE HOTEL, 99 + + X THE OPENING OF A NEW LIFE, 108 + + XI ROSEDALE, 117 + + XII HEART'S SECRETS REVEALED, AND UNREVEALED, 127 + + XIII THE MOTHER'S CURSE, 137 + + XIV THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER, 147 + + XV SCENES UPON THE PLANTATION, 157 + + XVI THE BIRTHNIGHT ENTERTAINMENT, 167 + + XVII THE THRILLING REVELATION, 177 + + XVIII THE LITTLE PARTY AT THE WASHBURN'S, 189 + + XIX DEATH OF "UNCLE BOB," 201 + + XX THE ABDUCTION, 211 + + XXI BREAKING OF HOME TIES, 225 + + XXII LEADING HER ON, 237 + + XXIII A DAY IN THE HOSPITAL, 247 + + XXIV THE DARK, DARK WAVE, 259 + + XXV THE RECOGNITION, 271 + + XXVI THE "PHANTOM" REMOVED, 283 + + XXVII NEW RESOLVES AND NEW ADVENTURES, 295 + + XXVIII FLIGHT OF THE SOUTHERN SPY, 307 + + XXIX A NIGHT UPON THE BILLOWS, 319 + + XXX THE SHADOWS AS THEY FLY, 331 + + XXXI CHANGING CLOUDS, 343 + + XXXII THE DARKNESS THICKENS, 355 + + XXXIII LIGHT THROUGH THE RIFTED CLOUD, 367 + + XXXIV A STORM ABOUT THE WIDOW'S COTTAGE, 375 + + XXXV A PROUD SPIRIT BROKEN, 387 + + XXXVI UNFOLDINGS AND REVEALINGS, 397 + + XXXVII THE GOLDEN CLASP RELINKED, 407 + + XXXVIII CHANGES AND REVOLUTIONS, 417 + + XXXIX THE HAZY MISTS ARE LIFTING, 427 + + XL AUNT VINA IN THE NEW HOME, 441 + + XLI "GOOD BYE," 450 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PAGE + + Ida Glenwood, the Blind Bard of Michigan, Midnight, 17 + + The Cliffs, 28 + + By the Sea, 38 + + "Look at her, Shipmates," 42 + + At the New Home, 60 + + The Church Yard, 70 + + The Brook, 90 + + "Oh, Mrs. Gaylord, I am so Lonely!" 104 + + The Inn at Kirkham, 136 + + Park Scene, 145 + + "Give Me That Paper!" 146 + + Nest-building, 200 + + The Death of Uncle Bob, 207 + + The Haystacks, 210 + + "She Placed the Cup to His Lips," 253 + + The Capitol in War Times, 258 + + Scene in the Dismal Swamp, 294 + + Camp Fires, 306 + + "Did You Say Her Husband?" 312 + + The Night Train, 318 + + The Billows, 329 + + Lily Pearl, 342 + + Mrs. St. Clair, 354 + + Scene on the Schuylkill, 365 + + Lillian, 373 + + Plantation Scene, 385 + + Arrival at Kirkham, 406 + + Meeting of Lily Pearl and Her Mother, 408 + + Aunt Vina, 426 + + + +[Illustration: MIDNIGHT.] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MIDNIGHT AT "CLIFF HOUSE." + + +It was a dismal night out upon the ocean where the huge billows tossed +high their foaming crests, or dashed with maddening fury upon the rocky +shore as if unwilling longer to submit to the powers that shut them in; +while ever and anon the deep-mouthed thunder answered back through the +darkness "thus far shalt thou go, and no farther." + +Then ran the echoes along the shore and up the ragged cliff on whose +summit one feeble ray of light struggled through the narrow crevice of a +curtained window out into the midnight gloom. The howling winds made sad +music through the long corridors and curious wrought lattice work that +partially enclosed it; slamming the heavy iron gate that had broken +loose from its fastenings and kept swaying to and fro upon its rusty +hinges, wakening by its unusual noise the huge watch dog in his kennel, +who growled menacingly at being disturbed at such a late hour. The rain +beat furiously against the windows and ran in rapid cascades down the +steep declivity into the sea, falling on the sandy shore that extended +along the beach at the foot of the cliff. + +It was October, and the cottage on the summit was usually deserted +before this time, for the invalid who had resided there during five +successive seasons could not well endure the autumn breezes when the +frost-king had chilled them. + +To-night, however, a tall, richly-dressed lady sat alone in the spacious +parlor, her black gown lying in heavy folds on the white matting that +covered the floor, her head drooping wearily upon her hand as her elbow +rested on the table where the wasting candle flickered low in the +socket; but she heeded it not. Now and then she would raise her head +with a sudden start and look intently at the door opposite and then sink +back again into the same posture as before. + +There was sadness upon her face, such as awakens the deepest sympathy of +a human heart; but in the keen, glistening eye there was a deeper, +sterner look that would send a sister's tenderest love back to its +secret chamber, chilled and trembling! + +There are hours made so big with actions and resolves that _years_ full +of circumstances and results are made to hang their heavy weights upon +them. Such an one was now passing, bearing away on its dark wings the +fearful impress made by a silent finger, yet in characters that in after +years will reflect back upon the soul, filling it with horror and +dismay! A loud peal of thunder echoed through the apartment and then +rolled away in the distance, leaving behind the mingled voices of the +winds and waves, with the fast falling rain on the roof above. + +The door suddenly opened and a servant girl stealthily entered with a +newly lighted candle, placed it on the table exchanging it for the one +almost spent, and then as stealthily retired. + +The lady did not seem to notice the intruder, as she did not enter the +door where her expectant eyes had so often turned with a wild, weird +look, and she remained as motionless as before. + +Two o'clock. The little silvery bell on the mantel proclaimed the hour, +and the tall bent figure at the table gave a sudden start, as though a +new pang had penetrated her sensitive brain. + +A few moments after, the door toward which her eyes had so often +wandered slowly opened and a little girl scarcely ten years of age, +timidly entered and approached the lady. + +"Mother would like to come in," she said, with a faltering voice, while +her pale blue eyes were fixed on the matting at her feet. + +"Tell her to come," was the laconic reply, and the child hurried away +with a much quicker step than that with which she had entered. + +Immediately a small, nervous little woman appeared, with a cold, rigid, +sallow face, small gray eyes and sandy hair, bearing in her arms a +bundle of soft white flannel, which she pressed mechanically to her +well-rounded bust, and without any salutation seated herself upon a +wicker chair, and with the utmost _sang froid_ commenced unrolling the +white flannel she had laid upon her lap. + +"It's a wee darling," she said, after a lengthy pause, during which time +she had exposed a little red face and a pair of diminutive fists all +ready to begin the fierce battles of life, and towards which the lady +did not deign to look. + +"But it's a pretty thing," she continued. "Look at it, ma'am; it's as +fat and plump as a baby three weeks old, and sleeps as quietly as though +it had not been born in such a terrible storm. The pretty dear!" + +"How is she?" coolly interrupted the stately lady. "Your patient above +stairs, I mean; is she comfortable?" + +"Of course she is--they always are, ma'am." And she chuckled a low, +unmusical laugh which accorded well with the mingled murmurings of the +expiring storm without. + +"Tell me more of her," demanded the lady imperiously. "Will she recover +soon?" + +"I think so ma'am; but she will need a long rest. She is sleeping now as +gentle as a kitten. But she was pert enough, I can tell you, when she +knew she had a little girl. She actually laughed and said she was '_so_ +glad,' and was going to call it Lily Pearl. 'That will be _our_ pet +names joined; he called me Lily and I called him Pearl. Lily-Pearl, +_that_ shall be her name.' And I thought I would name her as she wished, +it will do no harm. It will be a queer thing to fix into Blunt; but we +shall get used to it." + +The lady frowned, but there might have been seen a moisture in her large +dark eyes, as though the heart had sent up a little maternal love from +its hidden depths, yet her stern cold words checked them, and they did +not reveal it. + +"You remember our contract?" she interrogated. + +"O yes, ma'am; I am to have two hundred dollars upon the spot, and a +hundred and fifty every year until the child is five years old; and then +we are to have a new bargain, and if I keep the girl I shall expect you +to do something handsome, for you know she will be of no earthly use to +_me_ before that time, nor after for that matter, if she is no better +than my Maria." Here the woman paused, for the infant on her lap threw +up its tiny fists and uttered a feeble cry. + +"Poor thing. It's cold, and will want something to eat pretty soon," she +continued as she folded the soft flannel again around it. + +"I see you have not forgotten the _reward_; your duties, I hope, are +equally clear to your memory." + +"O yes, ma'am." + +"Well then, I do not want _her_ to see the child again! It will be so +much easier for her to forget that she ever had one. It is no doubt a +lawful child as she asserts, as far as her age can make it so--but as I +told you she is only fifteen and a few years will cover up this night +forever! As soon as it is light, take it to your home and care for it as +you will; that is, be a mother to it and _I_ will take care of the rest. +But remember one thing! I demand you to forget that she _ever_ mentioned +the silly name of 'Lily Pearl!' Call her anything else you please; let +me see,--Phebe, yes--that will do! _Phebe Blunt!_ Now leave her with me +for a few moments and return to the chamber, she may need you by this +time. But stay a moment"; and the lady reached out her hands to receive +the little bundle. + +"Can you not keep her dozy--_sleepy_, I mean for a short time until she +gains a little strength? She will need it you know in order to bear the +news, she will be obliged to hear! Are you sufficiently skilled in your +profession to do this without injury?" + +"To be sure I am ma'am! It's what she needs, and if we don't there will +be no pacifying her about her baby." + +"You can tell her"; replied the lady, "If she is troublesome, that she +is not able to see it at present; she must wait awhile! Now go!" + +The woman obeyed and with a cat-like tread left the room a very +significant smile lighting her hard features; and the little babe who +had just entered upon a life of storms and tempests lay still and +motionless upon the rich dress of the beautiful lady who should have +wound her jeweled arms about the tiny form and vowed to protect the +helpless one in whose veins her own blood was coursing; from the terrors +of the threatening blasts. But pride and an unnatural ambition had taken +the place of the love that had once ruled her heart and better nature, +and the good God had give her knelt in humble subjugation at their feet. + +She uncovered the little features before her and gazed long and fixedly +upon them, while her thoughts ran back over the short path which had +wound so pleasantly along through the last fifteen years since her own +beautiful Lillian lay upon her lap, the idol of him who had fallen by +the flowery way over which her memory was wandering; and for a time it +stopped by a grassy mound at which she often knelt in the twilight hour +under the shadows of the fir tree, and a tear fell upon the innocent +upturned face; and a low wail penetrated her ear. For a moment she +pressed the tiny form to her heaving bosom and her heart whispered, "She +shall not want--_I_ will care for her--my Lillian's babe!" She took the +little hand in hers and pressed it to her lips, and then with an impulse +unpremeditated she unfastened its dress and exposed the pretty pink +shoulders to view. She started, and a faint cry broke from her lips +which awoke the slumbering echoes in the room. Upon either shoulder a +little purple spot was plainly visible, the same over which her maternal +pride had lamented sixteen years before! There they were--the very same! +With a tremor of deep regret she hastily covered them again and wrapped +the soft warm blankets about it tenderly as she laid it down once more +upon her lap. A few moments later the timid Maria entered to take the +babe to the kitchen, and with an assumed hauteur the lady yielded up her +charge and it was carried from the room. The fury of the storm had +passed, though there were clouds still lurking in the sky and the dismal +Atlantic kept up its fitful roar; but the winds had ceased and the rain +drops fell leisurely from the eaves down upon the gravel walks, and the +old house-dog slept quietly in his kennel by the gate. But greater than +the storm without had been, was the tumult of emotion that was still +raging in the bosom of her who now walked with unsteady step up and down +the spacious parlor with folded hands and care-worn expression on her +handsome face, which many long years with all their changes and +bereavements could not have placed there. "It must be!" she exclaimed at +last, and slowly leaving the room she ascended to a distant chamber +where her daughter,--her beautiful Lillian, lay pale and restless on her +bed in an unnatural sleep. + +The mother drew aside the thick folds of the curtains which shut her in +and gazed fixedly upon her waxen features. How wan they looked! The rose +tints were all faded from her cheeks and lips; and face seemed as cold +and white as though just chiseled from the unfeeling marble by the +cunning hand of art. By and by the white lips moved and a few audible +words escaped them. + +"She is dreaming" the mother thought, and bent her stately head to +listen. "It is ours--my Pearl--our sweet Lily--_ours_, I am +dying--dying--Pearl--Lily!" The curtains fell again around the uneasy +sleeper and with a wildly throbbing heart the wretched mother sank down +upon a chair and buried her face in her hands, while the angel of +maternal pity came and rolled away the stone from the sealed fountain of +her tears, and she wept! + +Three days with their gloomy nights dragged laggardly and wearily by, +and the tall lady in black bent tenderly over the pale languid form on +the bed, bathing the white brow and striving to arouse her from the long +stupor by endearing words and soft caresses. + +"Mother," she said at last; "bring my babe to me will you? I want to see +her sweet face before I die! Love her Mother, and call her your own +precious Lillian,--give her _my_ room and tell her when old enough to +understand that there the life began which withered and died when its +beautiful blossom budded into life! Will you Mother?" + +"You are not going to die my daughter! You are very weak now, it is +true, but you will soon be stronger. Wait until then, for it would be +disastrous for you to see her now. The excitement might overcome you. +Wait dear--your mother knows best. Close your eyes and rest. Just as +soon as it is proper you shall see your babe." And she kissed the pale +brow with hot quivering lips, and turned away to gain new strength from +the vile spirit within for the conflict through which it was to lead +her. + +A week more and the cry of the mother's heart for its first born would +not be hushed. + +"My daughter," whispered the weeping mother, "believe me, my poor, +_poor_ child! _This_ is the bitterest hour of my life, for the words +your entreaties compel me to utter will fall sadly on your heart my poor +Lillian! But it must be done! Bear them my daughter with all the +fortitude of which you are capable!" The lips that were already polluted +with the falsehoods they were about to utter pressed the white ashy ones +of her child as the demon of remorse was introduced into the chamber of +her soul which was to poison ever after the fountain of her existence, +and people her midnight vigils with spectral fears. + +"It is all for the best! Think so my darling and do not grieve that God +has transplanted your beautiful Lily to a more genial clime before its +purity was soiled by the contaminations of this tainted life. It is safe +now; and by and by it shall be given back to you, and with this +assurance do not murmur!" Her words fell unheeded upon ears that were +sealed from all earthly sounds; but _they were heard_! The dark, _dark_ +falsehood was registered in letters of fire where no mortal hand could +ever blot them out. How true that "upon the wicked he shall rain snares, +fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest, and this shall be the +portion of their cup." + +"I have killed her! I have killed her!" almost shrieked the miserable +mother, and with a trembling hand she frantically rang the bell. Little +Maria immediately appeared, and with as much composure as she could +command the lady asked if Mother was still in the house. + +"No ma'am, she's just gone," was the reply. + +"Then _run_ for her! Hasten, O hasten!" pleaded the miserable woman, and +the child obeyed. Rapidly did she chafe the cold hands of the insensible +Lillian, but no "comforter" came to the sin-stained heart to drive away +its despair. Many moments passed and she was alone with the motionless +form of her for whom she would sixteen years before have laid down her +life. What agonizing thoughts burned themselves into her brain as she +watched the feebly returning breath and saw with a bound of joy the soft +tint steal again into the closed lips. At last the eyes were slowly +opened and fixed themselves on the blanched face bending over her. Then +came a whisper so feeble that the stately head bent low to listen. "I am +better now. Kiss me Mother. Let me lay my head on your bosom, and sing +to me as you used to do! Hark! how the ocean roars! Listen--it is +calling--calling--my Lily, my noble Pearl. O my husband, when may he +come to me? We are not children! Am I not a mother? Is he not the father +of my child?" + +"Do _not_, Lillian, you are very ill! Have you forgotten what your +father told you? He is where your babe has gone you know; but his last +words were: 'My daughter; trust your mother always, and be guided by her +superior wisdom.' I am older than you and know what is best for one in +your present position; and if you will wait and be quiet all things will +come out right at last." + +"Yes, Mother. Let us go home where the odor of the orange-blossoms will +bring me back to life, and Old Auntie can tell me all about it! _Her_ +little ones were all taken, and I never knew how her poor heart ached. +I think I dreamed Mother, for I saw my pretty Lily carried away from me +and I could not reach it although I stretched out my arms to possess +her! O Mother! Mother! _Is my child dead_?" and the large eyes looked +with a steady gaze into the blanched face of her only parent, who was +chafing with a caressing motion the little white hand that was lying so +lifelessly in her own. In vain did the pallid lips strive to answer but +no word came to them. + +"_Is_ my _child dead_?" she asked again without removing her eyes. + +"_Dead_, my daughter," at last fell from her icy lips, and another +sin-stain was stamped on her already polluted soul that an ocean of +tears could never wash away. + +"_Dead_" she murmured, and the beautiful eyes again closed while the +wretched mother sat by and trembled. + +In the darkness that enveloped her how gladly would the soul have looked +up for one little ray of light and comfort, but the pall of sin, the +thick darkness of an abiding 'remorse' had settled down over every +glimmering hope and not a gladsome beam of light could penetrate its +dense folds. Poor soul! More terrible than the storm that had swept over +the sea, when the words of the dark falsehood were registered where no +mortal hand could blot them out, were the commotions of the tempest +tossed soul as the mother watched on and the moments went wearily by! + +"Dead!" again whispered the pale lips. "My Lily, my Pearl! Gone--all, +all are gone! Take me home Mother--the ocean roars--the dark waves are +rolling over your poor Lillian;--let us go home," and the beautiful +head turned wearily upon its pillow and the wretched watcher moaned in +her anguish; for she was _alone_! + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LITTLE MARINER ALONE UPON THE OCEAN. + + +Six years! How short each succeeding round appears when one has almost +reached the mountain's top-most peak of life's upward course and knows +that soon his feet must be going rapidly down upon the other side, where +his journey ends! But almost interminable their length to the weary +little foot-sore traveler who wanders alone at its base ever looking +upward to the green spots on the hillside with restless longings. Poor +little Phebe! The first words that fell upon her unappreciative ear were +mingled with the requiem notes over departed summer, and it had come for +the sixth time since that eventful night with its soft breezes and sweet +melodies--with its beautiful flowers and singing birds, and filled the +heart of the lonely child full of the glorious sunshine. Now she could +sit upon the beach and watch the white sails that floated away over the +waters where the golden beams kept dancing and skipping about upon the +waves, and listen to the deep, low murmurings of the sea that seemed to +sing to her mysterious songs, until the angry passions within would grow +calm and fairy forms would lead her away to that far-off land where in +dreams she often wandered. Poor little Phebe! She _was_ an unfortunate +child "always in the way, never good for anything, doing nothing she +ought but always the very thing she should _not_." Never in favor, at +least with her foster-mother, who almost daily declared "that the paltry +hundred and fifty dollars didn't begin to pay for the trouble and +expense of the disagreeable child," and yet it would have been no very +easy task to compute the cost of the scanty meal which twice each day +fell to the little outcast child to whom the thriving, ambitious Mrs. +Blunt gave a shelter. Sure it was that a goodly sum was stored away in +the old oak chest which would never have been there had the "troublesome +child" not found her way into the fisherman's cottage. + +True, there was nothing that was winning about the diminutive figure +with the sunburnt face. An unusual growth of thick dark-brown hair was +kept conveniently "cropped," in defiance of science or taste, close to +her well-rounded head, and a pair of large hazel eyes seemed to be +always penetrating the secret depths of hearts where no welcome greeted +them. Her dress too did not set off her little dumpy figure to the best +advantage, although it was often of the finest material, being generally +the cast-off garments of the "misses" of the Cliff House, which were +duly sent every season by a servant who was commanded to "inquire after +the little girl" and always returned with a favorable report. These the +child wore regardless of size or fitness, and as she wandered alone upon +the beach with her sad face and thoughtful eyes turned upward gazing +into the deep blue sky or away in the dreamy distance one might have +been pardoned for calling the queer little figure gnome, or witch, as +the fancy struck him. + +"Where under the sun has that little imp gone to now!" exclaimed Mrs. +Blunt entering the room one day where her daughter Maria, a pale, sickly +girl of sixteen, was sitting, as she deposited her basket of vegetables +upon the bare floor in no very amiable mood. + +"I do declare! She's the most provoking creature I ever saw! I told her +to have all the knives scoured before I came in from the garden and +positively there has only _two_ of them been touched and _they_ are +lying out there in the sun growing blacker than ever and she is nowhere +to be seen! I don't know _what_ to do with her! It don't do a bit of +good to whip her--not a bit--and I don't know as anything but _killing_ +would effect her at all!" She smiled feebly as this last observation +fell from her lips, while the daughter laughed outright. + +"No it don't!" said the girl, quickly seeing that the fury of the storm +had for the time passed and the mother was about to lift the basket and +pass into the kitchen; "it don't do a bit of good to whip her! It only +makes her mad and more willful! Suppose we try coaxing for a time just +to see how it will work. I think there is good in her but cross words +will never bring it out!" + +"There is one thing about it! If we don't hear from that woman before a +great while she may go and find some one to coax her besides _me_; I +don't like her well enough to begin!" + +"I presume she has not come back from Europe yet," said the daughter +musingly; then she spoke more audibly. "I wouldn't send her off yet, +Mother; remember we have almost enough for Father to buy a fishing smack +of his own, then we shall be quite rich," and the blue eyes of the pale +face lighted up with the anticipation. + +"_Humph!_ Well she has got to do better than she has if she wants to +stay here!" and with this satisfactory conclusion she disappeared with +her basket through the narrow door into the kitchen. Maria quietly laid +aside her knitting and went out where upon a wooden bench standing on +one side of the humble cottage lay the neglected knives which she in a +very short time polished and put away in the narrow wicker basket on the +dresser, then taking her neatly starched sun bonnet from its nail in the +entry and placing it on her head passed out through the garden down a +narrow footpath across the common to the sea shore. She was in quest of +the truant Phebe, and well did she know where to find her. Walking along +a few rods by the sandy beach she came suddenly to the foot of a steep +ascent whose side facing the sea was almost entirely composed of +precipitous rocks unevenly thrown together, while here and there a +stunted pine or a yellow clump of moss struggled for existence. Here +too, half way down the rugged descent Phebe lay concealed in her cozy +retreat, sheltered from the summer sun by the rocks above her, with an +uninterrupted view of the boundless ocean spread out to her delighted +gaze. In a few moments Maria was sitting by her side. She did not seem +at all surprised at the presence of her visitor, but raising herself +remarked quietly: "Maria how _can_ those birds stand on the water out +there? _I_ can't do it. I wish _I_ could lie down on that wave that +keeps rocking--rocking and singing--why can't I Maria? Hark! Do they +talk to you--the waves? Did they ever say 'come here? come here?' They +do to _me_." + +"You _are_ a queer child!" replied Maria impatiently, forgetting for the +time the grand purpose of her visit. "But why don't you try to be a good +girl and do as Mother wants to have you? This morning she told you to +scour the knives which you know is your work every day, and _why_ didn't +you stay and do it and not make her so cross with you?" + +"'Cause--" interrupted the child; "I don't like to scour knives and I +ain't a-going to!" + +"You don't like to be _whipped_ either," answered Maria; "but you know +Mother will do it if you don't mind her!" + +"_I_ don't much care," said the child, shrugging her shoulders, as she +settled herself down with calm composure. + +"_I_ don't care _much_. I'll be big some day, and then she won't _dare_! +O Maria, see that wave dash up on the rock, and break all to pieces. +Somehow--" + +"Never mind the waves; I want to talk to you. Do you love me, Phebe?" + +"Love you? What is _that_? I don't love nothing," and then starting up +and rubbing both her dirty hands across her brown forehead, an act she +always performed when some new thought flashed up from within, she +exclaimed: "O, Maria! last night, when Father and Mother thought I was +asleep in my trundle-bed, I heard her say that somebody had paid lots of +money for me or something; and then she laughed and said I didn't look +much like a 'lily,' and guessed that if my mother could see me now, +she'd be glad 'cause my name wasn't 'Lily-Pearl.' O Maria! _What_ did +she mean? '_Lily-Pearl!_' I keep saying it all the time. That's my name; +and O it's such a pretty one. Lily-Pearl! Pearls come up out of the +ocean. The teacher said so the other day, and I guess _that's_ what +makes _me_ love the sea so much. _Who_ is my mother, Maria? And what +makes you call me Phebe Blunt, when it's Lily-Pearl? I don't like it, +and I won't have such an ugly name. Tell me, who _is_ my mother?" Maria +was a long time silent, while a deeper pallor overspread her face. But +the large, wondering eyes of her interrogator were fixed intently upon +it. How _could_ she answer? It was a secret that never was to be +mentioned; yet well did she know that Phebe would never rest with this +sly peep into the exciting mystery, and it would be as well to satisfy +her now as any time, and so she said mildly: + +"I don't know, Phebe, who your mother is; but she was beautiful, and +without doubt rich, and, I think, would have been very glad to have kept +you, had it not been for her proud, wicked mother, who did not think it +best, and so you came to live with us. Now, wasn't Mother kind to take +care of you when a little baby, and shouldn't _you_ try to be good, and +do as she tells you, to pay her for her trouble?" + +Phebe was silent for a moment, while her thoughtful eyes were +penetrating the deep blue far away. "No," she said at last. "She might +have thrown me back into the sea, where the pearls grow. But I _knew she +wasn't my_ mother," she continued musingly, as she pointed her finger in +the direction of the cottage. + +"What made you think so?" asked Maria. + +"Because, if she was, she would kiss me like Lutie Grant's mother does. +She always says, 'good morning, daughter,' and kisses her when she goes +to school. I wonder what good it does, though," she continued, musingly. +"_I_ was never kissed in my life." + +"That is _one_ way to love," answered Maria with a smile. "Now will you +be a good little girl if _I_ kiss you and love you?" + +"Maybe so," was the laconic reply. + +Maria put her arms around the child's neck and drew her towards her, +imprinting upon her lips a hearty kiss. + +"Pshaw! _That's_ nothing!" she replied, disdainfully. "Is that love, +Maria?" + +"No; it was a kiss. If you loved me, you wouldn't say _pshaw!_ but kiss +me as I did you. Now come, let us go to the house. Remember, I have told +you a secret about your mother and this will make us friends. You must +not tell any one, or even speak about the beautiful lady for Mother +would be very angry because I talked about it; and don't forget that you +promised to be just as good as you can be, which I am sure will be all +right, and by and by we shall all love you. Come!" + +"I shan't go! She will want me to wash potatoes, or something, and I +_won't_ do it." + +"But you promised that you would be a good girl if I would love you, and +this is not keeping your promise." + +"O _you_ don't love me; you only want me to go home and scour knives, +and I don't like to scour knives, and I _won't_, either." + +"But Mother will whip you when you do come home, and I don't like to see +you whipped; why won't you come now?" + +Phebe looked at her companion with surprise. She had never heard her +talk so gently and feelingly before. For a moment she was almost tempted +to yield. Maria saw her advantage and once more urged the willful child +to accompany her. Phebe's eyes turned again towards the sea. + +"O Maria, Maria! see that big wave chase the other clear up on the +sand!" + +And the little dumpy form swayed to and fro while her large eyes +glistened. Maria turned hopelessly away. Her experiment had failed. "The +child is past redemption," she thought, as she walked moodily home. +Phebe sat a long time gazing out from her rocky "eyrie" by the sea, +thinking over and over again the little story to which she had just +listened, and wondering how the beautiful lady looked; and if she really +was her mother, and if, instead of being brought by an angel, as Lutie +Grant said her little sister was, she had been picked up from off the +ocean by somebody she had never seen, and so they called her +"Lily-Pearl!" By and by a sudden impulse took possession of her. + +"I _must_ go and see where that sail boat was going that had just +rounded the point yonder!" It had disappeared from sight, but _where_ +had it gone? With rapid steps she ascended the rocks, and ran up the +hill with her utmost speed and then descended into a broad, thick +woodland, where for a time she forgot her haste, listening to the music +of the birds and gathering wild flowers that were growing all about her. +Still she wandered on. It was past noonday when she emerged from the +woods and espied just before her, on a slight elevation, a beautiful +house--the house where she was born! There was nothing here, however, to +reveal the interesting fact to the little wanderer, and so she traveled +on, stopping only for a moment to peep through the heavy iron gate at +two pretty children who were playing in the yard, skipping and jumping +along the gravel walk; and then, as if fearful of being discovered, +started off as fast as possible, leaping down the edge of the cliff +until she reached the sandy beach far below. Here she stopped. The +pretty sail boat that had allured her hither was nowhere to be seen, and +weary and heated, she threw herself upon the ground and watched the +rising tide as it came dashing upon the beach. It had risen rapidly, +when suddenly she became aware that a dark object was floating near her +on the water. It was a small row boat often used by the inmates of Cliff +House, but which the tide had washed from its moorings, and was now with +its bow still clinging to the sandy beach, swaying impatiently at her +feet, restless as her own adventurous spirit. With a scream of delight +she sprang into the frail bark, and soon found herself floating steadily +and rapidly away from the shore. Now, for the first time, she was out +upon the waves where she had so longed to be, amid the sparkling gems +which the sunbeams were scattering all around her, while the huge +billows just beyond beckoned her to follow. A small oar lay by her feet, +and with this she caressed the ripples and drew, now and then from the +unknown depths, the dark-green seaweed that floated by. + +Thus she was borne away, unmindful of the danger into which her wild +spirit was leading her, and heeding not the sun descending into the +dark, gloomy clouds that hung about his ocean bed, for she was happy +now; alone upon the boundless sea, her life had become the fairy dream +in which she had so often revelled while closeted in her rocky retreat, +from which she was floating forever. + +She was no more a child, but a wave--a billow--one of those which had +sung to her so often while she sat and watched them, and her low, sweet +voice joined in the anthem of the sea as if it said-- + + "Rock me, Mother, gently rock me, + Sing the songs I love so well." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE WAIF AFTER THE STORM. + + +Phebe listened to the rolling music with an ecstasy never before +experienced in her wildest dreams, and as the winds moaned on the +distant shore and the sea-birds shrieked their sad accompaniment to the +chorus of her song, she fell asleep hungry and weary. + +Little slumberer, who shall guide thy frail bark, unseen by mortal eye, +over the trackless waves? Who shall check the rising storm and temper +the fury of the winds to the poor lone lamb? An eye is upon thee and +thou cans't not perish! A sure hand is at the helm, and the frail bark +shall ride gloriously over the angry deep, and a sweet voice near thee +shall whisper "peace, be still!" + +It was quite dark when the rolling thunder awoke the sleeper, and with a +scream of horror she sprang to her feet to find her alluring dreams, her +fancied bliss, all dispelled as the realities of danger burst upon her. +She called loudly, but the sea gave only a dismal echo to her ears; she +shouted but the deep-toned thunders alone sent back a reply. Where now +was the brightness that had so dazzled her? The sunbeams had gathered up +all their sparkling gems and with them had disappeared! The music of the +waves had died away, the little song which a few hours before had +bubbled up in her joyous heart was hushed, and all was darkness and +gloom. Ah, little mariner, life is full of just such changes! Sunshine +and tempest--noonday and darkness; all intermingling their lights and +shades! Thy first great lesson is a sad one, but it will never leave +thee. Better so than that it should be only half learned. + +Phebe lay in the bottom of the boat famished with hunger, wet with the +drenching rain, pale and sick, when the captain of a gallant yacht which +had "laid to" during the storm, espied from its deck a little speck far +away to leeward, apparently lying still upon the waters. + +"I say, Thornton," he remarked to a shipmate near him; "isn't that a +boat off yonder? Here--take the glass! I can hardly make it out. But +it's something, whether there's any life about it or not." + +"Yes, it's a boat clear enough," replied his companion eyeing it +intently; "but I imagine it's one that has been washed from some ship +during the storm for there is nothing alive about it as I can see." + +"I think you are right so we'll leave it to its fate." + +In a few moments the beautiful craft had disappeared and the little boat +with its helpless occupant was left unheeded except by Him who permits +not a sparrow to fall to the ground without his notice. Ah--thy fate was +near thee, little one but the unseen hand has removed it and it is well! +Through the waves the yacht ploughed its way, for the breakers were +rushing back from the shore and all on board save one returned to their +berths for the rest that had been deprived them by the howling winds +and the tossing of the staunch hull which the day before had seemed so +sure and safe in its strength, but which the billows bore high on their +foaming crests, then dashed as a helpless thing into the dark furrows +the storm-king had ploughed out from the angry deep as he marched +onward! O the horrors of a night spent amid a "storm at sea!" + +Seated in one of the state rooms was a tall, queenly woman, robed in a +rich _deshabille_ of gray silk, with her elbow resting on the window +sill, her hand supporting the head that bent wearily upon it, while her +dark eyes gazed through the heavy plate glass out upon the black waters +that kept dashing and surging against the victorious yacht proudly +crushing the intruding waves that presumed to cross its pathway. + +"Mother," said a winning voice near, "why will you not lie down awhile +before breakfast? The danger is all over, and listen! Hear how calmly +the seamen walk the deck! I presume everyone has concluded to make up +for the fearful lying awake and will not be astir for two hours at +least. Come Mother!" + +"No--I can rest here! We shall be out another night, and it may be +_two_," was the desponding reply. + +"You used to sing 'life on the ocean wave' Mother, and I remember your +saying once that you had no sympathy with Headley who declared that 'to +sing that song by a good warm fire and being in it were two very +different experiences,' for _you_ rather enjoyed the one you passed +through during your first voyage." + +"Yes, child, I remember! I was not as old then as now"; and she might +have added "and not as _guilty_ then as now"; but they passed on. + +It was nearly noon before a coasting vessel came in sight, and spying +the little boat that was floating amid the waves the kind-hearted +captain ordered three sturdy tars to go and capture it. + +"Not so great a job as we've had sometimes," remarked one playfully. + +"Pull away boys, see--there is something in the bottom! Steady,--" and +as they came alongside the speaker sprang into the boat. + +"Och--but she's dead!" exclaimed Mike, as he raised the insensible child +in his arms. "She is! Look at her, shipmates," he continued bringing her +forward as he would a coil of rope. + +"There isn't a bit of color in her face under the dirt; poor wee thing!" +and he passed her over to a man with a very brown, weather-beaten face, +who laid her tenderly on some blankets and began chafing her hands. + +"She is _alive_, boys," he said a few minutes after; "here Mike--pass me +that little bottle I saw you put in your pocket this morning, it looked +to me like very good brandy," he continued with a laugh, at the same +time reaching out for it. + +"Sorra a bit of _brandy_!" + +"Never mind, pass it over, whatever it is. For once I'll not expose you +for the good it may do now." The small bottle was passed and the kind +man placed it to the lips of the insensible girl. + +"Drink it, child," he said in tones as low and soft as a woman's; "it +will make you well." + +[Illustration: "LOOK AT HER, SHIPMATES!"] + +She did not hear him; yet she did swallow the few drops that were turned +into her mouth, and the good man's predictions proved correct, for in a +few moments she opened her eyes, but turned her head, hid her face in +the blankets on which she was lying. + +"She is afraid of our hard old faces," remarked the sailor who was +bending over her; "but we will soon be where there will be more +agreeable ones. Give way, boys, they are waiting for us," and rising, he +left the "wee" stranger to herself. + +"I should think she would have got used to ugly faces if she has been +where there's a glass," remarked the third of the party, rather cruelly, +but laughing and good-natured. They reached the schooner, and the +wearied child was handed on board, amid many exclamations and +intermingling remarks of sympathy and astonishment. + +There were two women down in the small cabin; one the wife of Mike, who, +in accordance with the kindness natural to her people, took the little +outcast mariner under her especial care, and, with feminine instincts, +provided for her wants. + +The next few days the diminutive figure of Phebe Blunt sat upon the +dark, dingy chest beneath the small narrow window in the cabin, looking +out upon the blue, blue sea her beating heart so much loved, as it +gathered up the jewels of emerald, and gold, and crystal pearls which +the sunbeams scattered upon the wavelets' snowy crests, and with them +her fancy built a palace of its own, to which in after years memory +would often return and bear away some precious stones to adorn her sober +real life. + +"Ye're a strange child," said Cathreen, one day, after watching her for +a long time, as she sat coiled up on the heavy chest, her large eyes +peering from the window at the dark waters over which they were +sailing. "What makes ye look so much at the sea? I'd rather see the land +any time; and I wouldn't care a farthing if I never put my eyes on a bit +of water again as long as I live." The child turned her beaming face +towards the speaker with an expression of wonder and incredulity playing +over it. + +"How _can_ it?" she asked at last, as her little brown hands brushed +back the mass of dark hair from her broad forehead. + +"Can what?" and the two women laughed heartily. + +"Walk on the water. I couldn't, and I don't believe _He_ could," and the +bewildered gaze was turned again out of the narrow window. + +"_Who_, child? Are you beside yourself?" + +"_He!_ Lutie Grant's mother said He walked on the great sea, but _I_ +don't believe it. How could He? _I_ can't." + +"Ye don't know what ye're talking about." + +"Yes she does," interrupted the other. "It's Christ, the Bible tells +about." + +"And he used to love little girls, and took 'em up and kissed 'em; she +said so; but, pshaw! that's nothing! Maria kissed _me_ once, but +'twasn't much. I'd like to walk on the water, though," and again the +eyes sought the far-off, and dropping her head upon her arms sat +motionless as before. + +"She's a puzzle," remarked Cathreen as she went about her work. + +"I'd just like to know who she is and where she came from," remarked her +companion, musingly. "I can almost believe that she _did_ come up out of +the sea, as she says, and that her name _is_ 'Lily-Pearl'," and she +laughed. + +There was a third one who had been listening to the conversation from +the narrow stairway that led to the deck, and entering at this moment, +said, gently: + +"I think I know some one who would enjoy working out this 'puzzle'," and +he laid his hand tenderly on the bushy head of the little girl. + +"Would you like to go home with me and live?" he asked. "You will find +one there who can tell you all about _Him_ who walked on the sea and +loved little children, and I imagine he would love _you_, too, for there +is more in this little heart and brain than is generally given to one so +young and ignorant," he continued, as he turned to the wondering women +who were listening. + +"Ye're not going to take her home with ye _sure_, Mr. Evans? Mike said +that _he_ guessed we'd take her; she's no trouble and likes the water." + +Phebe shrugged her shoulders and looked toward her friend who said, +pleasantly: + +"I think I will take her home with me; and perhaps we will hear from her +mother or somebody who will want her, some day," and patting the rounded +cheek, left the cabin and ascended to the deck while Phebe went on with +her musings, and the two women commented on her future and the "strange +conduct of the mate." Yet, all unseen a hand was tenderly leading the +little stray lamb back to its fold through "pastures green" and "by the +still waters," where the thorns and the briars were scattered along its +banks, and where the poor feet would many times get torn, and the heart +grow faint; but her way is onward, for the Father leadeth her. Somebody +has said that "God will make the blind bird's nest," and Faber once +declared that "there is hardly _ever_ a complete silence in our souls. +God is whispering to us well nigh continually. Whenever the sounds of +the world die out, then we hear these whisperings of God." Was He not +doing this to our little mariner? "They talk to me," she would say, and +in her innocence it was the waves that talked--it was the billows that +called, but the Father's tender voice was whispering, and his loving +care was continually over her. + +"The wind is coming up again pretty brisk, Mate, and I guess we shall +have another rough night," said the captain, as he met the other on his +rounds just as the darkness began to settle down about the vessel. + +"If it will keep in the northeast, all right; we will reach the harbor +by to-morrow," and he walked thoughtfully on. + +This prediction was true. In less than a half hour the gale was tossing +the billows high about the ship, and the sky was dark and lead-colored. +Phebe would not leave the little window, although the white foam dashed +against the small panes and the gloom without was impenetrable. + +"Come away, child," commanded one of the women, sharply, "what makes you +keep sitting there, when you can't see the nose on your face?" + +"I don't want to see it," was the quick reply; "I want to see them roll +and tumble over each other. _He_ couldn't walk on it now?" she queried, +turning to the mate who had entered. + +"But He could do something more wonderful than that," he said, coming to +her and laying his hand on her head. + +The wondering eyes that were looking into the face of the speaker grew +larger and brighter and she said-- + +"I don't believe it!" + +"The Bible says so, Phebe, and Willie believes it. Hark--how the wind +blows and the waves roar! but _He_ could say to them all, 'Peace, be +_still_!' and they would mind him." + +"Stop blowing?" + +"Yes, and the sea stop rolling." + +She looked at the smiling face for a moment and then with a shrug of the +shoulders turned her eyes again out of the window. The ship was plunging +madly in the darkness, and the occupants in the little cabin were +obliged to hold tightly on to the railing around it to prevent being +dashed together, but Phebe kept her seat on the old weather-beaten +chest, clinging to the window for power to hold her position, yet her +face did not lose its quiet expression for a moment. + +"Well, little girl, I see you are not afraid," remarked the mate, +pleasantly, as he turned to go above. "I didn't know but the storm would +make you think of your ride all alone, and would want some of my help +again." + +"It don't rain and thunder now," she remarked quietly. "It was awful; +the waves talked, and something said, 'Poor little Phebe! the pearls are +looking at you, and will take you down in their beautiful home, where +you belong, if the storm don't stop'--but it did, and I went to sleep. +Where are the pearls? It's cold down there, and what made them throw me +on the waves?" Thus Phebe mused while the winds died away and the waves +were calmed, and as the ship settled down into quiet on the dark sea, +she turned to the frightened inmates of the cabin with the expression: +"Guess He _did_," and getting off her seat crept softly to her bed. + +In the elegant yacht seen in the morning, another pair of dark eyes was +gazing through the window of the stateroom into the rapidly gathering +storm. Evidently it had changed its course, and instead of making its +way southward along the coast, it was now laboring to gain the open sea. +The eyes were wild in their burning excitement, as the blackness became +more intense and the billows roared as they dashed against the brave +craft. There was no gathering of the "precious gems" into the soul of +the stately lady, for her memory was full of a sad record, from which +she could not shut her thoughts. She turned almost fiercely towards the +calm figure reclining on the sofa opposite, exclaiming: "Lillian, you +anger me. What are you lying there for, when such a terrible storm is +out upon the sea? Do you not know that we are not going towards Mobile +at all, but are sailing as rapidly as the winds can drive us out +into--nobody knows where?" + +"Eternity, perhaps," was the quiet response. + +"Are you trying to torture me, child?" + +"This should not do it, Mother, for your pallid, pinched face tells me +that I have given you no new thought. We are in danger, as you know, and +many have come where we are never to a shore again." + +Mrs. Belmont was silent. Her wild gaze turned once more out of the +window, and the daughter mused on. + +At last. "If Pearl only knew, I could lie down under a friendly billow +peacefully--yes, gladly." + +"Will you persist, Lillian?" + +"He is my husband and the father of my child." + +A moment's silence. + +"How terrible! That peal was directly over us!" + +The stately head dropped upon the white arm extended across the heavy +bar of iron to which she was clinging, while the shouts and heavy +hurried feet made a dismal accompaniment to the confusion all about her. + +Lillian spoke. + +"Mother, with death in the air and on the sea, tell me, _where_ is my +child?" + +"In heaven, I hope," and for once she spoke truly. + +"If not there, do you know where she is?" + +"She is there. I will not endure your suspicions, Lillian! Never ask me +concerning your child again." + +The stately lady attempted to rise, but fell back insensible upon the +chair. When consciousness was restored the fury of the storm was passed, +and Mrs. Belmont, weak and dispirited, moaned upon her bed until the +sea-sick passengers landed safely at their destination. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +RECEPTION NIGHT AT THE NEW HOME. + + +Not many miles from Boston there stands a small, white cottage a few +rods back from the main road, with a cool, shady lane leading to the +lawn by which it is surrounded. Around this stands many wide-spreading +maples, which cast their shadows over roses and honeysuckles when the +sun is hottest, while the summer breezes linger among the branches to +fan the noonday loungers, who, weary with their morning's toil in the +field, seek rest beneath their shades. In the rear a garden stretches +its way down to a little brook, which winds itself hither and thither +through the tall meadow grass, singing softly to the gay lilies which +hang their heads over its banks. The brook passes on through the narrow +strip of pines that had carpeted the path on its margin with soft +matting until it reaches a fair and picturesque lake, lying snugly +nestled in the bright green basin the surrounding hills have made for +it. Trees stand upon the water's edge and dip their long, pendant +branches playfully into the blue beneath them, and white waxen lilies +with their pure petals deck the bosom of the sleeping beauty, and rise +and fall mechanically as the breezes pass over the surface. + +It was to this home, surrounded by green fields and nature's beauties +that George Evans, the kind-hearted sailor, brought the unpromising +prize whom he found floating upon the waters. + +It was a beautiful, calm summer evening when the two stepped from the +cars at the small village of Kirkham and began their pleasant walk of +some two miles to their journey's end. The road lay over a varied +country of hills and dales, on which the setting sun was throwing an +additional charm of golden hues, lighting up the tree tops and gilding +the quiet lake and brooklet with tints of changing glories, crowning the +distant mountain with a chaplet of beauty, as the retiring king sank +lower and lower in his chamber of purple and crimson behind a western +cloud. The sailor was walking slowly with bowed head, holding the little +brown hand of his _protegee_ tightly in his own, unheeding the departing +splendors of the dying day, for his thoughts were busy and his face +denoted a "mind ill at ease." + +"Look--look!" exclaimed his little companion, pulling away her small +hand from the weather-beaten one that was so gently leading her. + +"_That_ is 'most as pretty as the sea: But it don't talk to me," she +continued, after a moment's pause. He _did_ look as she requested, but +not where her finger pointed, for his attention suddenly became riveted +upon the little upturned face beside him. + +"If they could only see her _now_," he thought; "what eyes! But it will +be all gone when we get there, and nothing but the old look of +impishness will remain." A smile passed over his bronzed features as he +continued to gaze at her who was hurrying on before to gather some +flowers that grew by the road-side, and well might he be pardoned for +any remark he might be tempted to make, for a more unlovely little image +could not well be imagined. Her dress, which had originally been of very +fine material, had lost the most of its beauty before coming to her, and +what little might have been left disappeared during the night she lay +asleep in the bottom of the dirty fishing boat with the rain beating +upon her. To be sure it had been washed and mended by the kind-hearted +Cathreen on board the "Bay State," but even this process had failed to +add new charms to it, for there were many more colors (added by the +several patches) than were at first intended to be there. This outer +article of apparel, with an apology for one other garment, was the sole +covering of the little dumpy figure; and her hair, which was very thick +and much longer than it was generally permitted to grow, hung in +confusion about her sunburnt face. + +They had now ascended a slight eminence which overlooked the valley, and +before them was distinctly visible the blue lake with its green border, +and a long line of struggling sunbeams lingering upon its bosom, while +to the right, in the midst of the evening shadows, stood the neat white +cottage with its numerous adornings; still nearer and plainly +discernable in the broad light was a smooth white marble slab cold and +chilling as the form which had for many years rested beneath it. This +stone so motionless and still told the passer-by that "Henry Wood," the +former owner and proprietor of the pleasant home and those extensive +fields had long ago ceased from his labors, and the soil which his hands +had so productively tilled was now another's, yet they were not his who +was now so thoughtfully looking over them. When _he_, twelve years ago, +stood in the place of the buried husband, by the side of the widowed +wife, the reservation had been made. The farm with all its +accompaniments should belong to his future companion and _her_ heirs, of +whom her only daughter stood first in the rank of all succeeding +claimants. + +One child had been born to them, a poor crippled boy of ten years, +towards whom the father's heart always turned with all its fullness of +paternal love. + +"Come here, Phebe," said the sailor kindly to the busy little girl, who +had her hands full of gay flowers and leaves, as he seated himself on a +stone by the roadside. "Come here and see that house yonder! Don't you +think you would like to live there? See that lake, it isn't quite as +large as the one I found you on, but there is a boat much prettier, very +much, than the one you took your lonely ride in. Tell me, don't you +think you would like such a home as that?" he continued, seeing she was +gazing thoughtfully on the scene. + +"I'd like to go _there_," she answered at last, pointing to the green +hills that surrounded the lake. + +"But who would feed and take care of you? Besides, why would you not +like to live in that pretty house? There are flowers all around it, and +smooth paths through the garden down to the meadow brook, and beside it +you can walk to the lake where the bright little row-boat is fastened to +the oak tree. Willie thinks it is very nice! We always go there together +when I am at home, and while we are sailing I tell him all about my +voyage, what I saw and heard, and what I hope he will see and hear some +day." + +"Won't they make me scour knives and wash potatoes?" asked the child, +eagerly. "I don't like to do it, and I _won't_!" she exclaimed +emphatically. "Mother used to whip me because I wouldn't do it; but I +would run away down to the shore and talk to the waves. Do the waves +talk over there?" she said, pointing to the lake, around which the +nightly shadows were densely gathering. + +"If they do, they will tell you it is _very_ naughty not to do what +those who are so kind ask you to do. Mothers have to do many things that +are not pleasant, and every mother's girl ought to try to please her. +Don't you think so?" Phebe shrugged her shoulders, and drawing her hand +across her forehead, replied quickly-- + +"Well, I don't like to scour knives, and I hain't got no mother." + +"But I want Willie's mother to be yours, and I think she will be very +kind to you, if you are good and try to please her." + +A shadow passed over his face, and he was silent for a long time. When +he once more aroused himself to actual life it had grown quite dark and +the child was nowhere to be seen. He called, but she did not answer. +Hurrying down the hill he called again; but the echoes were his only +reply. For a moment a sense of relief came over him. He had pondered +much how he should introduce his little charge to the family circle in +her most attractive light, in order to avoid opposition as much as +possible. But she was gone, and he could now go to his home with the +expectation of a joyful greeting from all, unless it be save one. Then +his great heart spoke. + +No, he could not leave her to wander off alone to perish; he _must_ find +her. Besides, Willie needed a companion. Poor lonely boy, he was denied +the sports of other children, and was left alone with his thoughts and +books so much that he was growing morbid and silent. This was pitiful in +one so young, and it may be that he needed just such a play-fellow as +this to draw him away from himself; and he would find her. + +Hurrying on he did not stop until he had reached his own door, and to +his great surprise he beheld Phebe in the little sitting room surrounded +by the family circle, who seemed to be enjoying their strange guest to +the utmost. He stepped quickly back into the deeper shadows and +listened. They were evidently trying to find out something of her +history, for Willie asked: + +"But where did you come from? You can tell us _that_." + +"I came from way down in the ocean, where the pearls grow, that is what +my beautiful mother called me Lily-Pearl for." + +A hearty laugh succeeded this answer, while Fanny remarked, ironically: + +"I should imagine she had sprung out of _some_ dark cavern; but there is +not much of the appearance of the pearl family about her." + +"What made you come _here_?" inquired Mrs. Evans, kindly; "did any one +send you?" + +"I thought I'd just come and see if you'd make me scour knives and wash +potatoes; 'cause, if you would, I don't want to live here. I don't like +to do it and I _won't_!" + +"What a strange child," remarked Willie. "I wish I could keep her; I +should like her _so_ much." + +"Like me? Does _that_ mean _love_? Would you kiss me and say, 'Good-bye, +dear,' as Lutie Grant's mother does? Maria kissed me once, but _that_ +was nothing," and she shrugged her shoulders with an impatient gesture +of contempt. + +"Kiss her," exclaimed Fanny; "I would as soon kiss one of our pigs." + +Mr. Evans from the shadow saw the flash in the large dark eyes, as they +turned upon the speaker, and thought it time to make his appearance +known. As he entered the door Phebe ran to him with outstretched arms, +and exclamations of pleasure, while the eager hands of the little lame +boy were reached out towards him, and soon clasped in the strong, loving +embrace of the happy father. The wife came forward for her share of +joyful greetings, but the daughter kept her seat by the table where she +was sewing, extending her hand only as the father approached, but he +bowed his head and kissed her brow with a fondness that was not +returned. + +"Well, Phebe, what made you run away from me?" he asked, turning to the +little girl who was still clinging to him, and laying his hand tenderly +on her bushy head. "You wanted to introduce yourself, did you? Didn't +you know I was very much frightened? I thought, perhaps you had run away +to the woods where you seemed so anxious to go and live." + +"And where you picked her up, I should imagine," remarked Fanny, without +raising her eyes from her work. + +"Not quite so bad as that, is it, Phebe? But we will talk about that by +and by," and unfolding a large bundle which he had brought with him he +handed Willie some books which made his blue eyes sparkle; then a parcel +to his wife and another to the daughter, while a third he held in his +hand. + +"Here are some dresses for Phebe, which I think will serve to win for +herself a trifle more affection than she can expect to get in her +present outfit," he said with a smile. + +Unfolding some bright calicoes, he called the little girl to him. + +"Won't you look pretty when you have these new dresses on?" he asked +kindly. + +"Lutie Grant never wore prettier clothes than these will be!" + +This had the desired effect. How her eyes sparkled and danced with the +anticipation. + +"Why, isn't she handsome, Father? Where _did_ you find her?" + +He gave a communicating look to his son and said; + +"Tell Willie where I found you, will you?" + +"'Way out on the ocean," she said, evasively. + +"What were you doing there?" Willie again asked. + +"I wanted to go out on the waves and hear what they said. I couldn't +tell what they said when I was on the rocks." + +"You said you came from way down in the sea where the pearls grew." + +"And so I _did_, but not now. A beautiful lady picked me up. Will _you_ +call me Lily-Pearl?" she asked, coming close to Willie and taking his +soft, white hand in hers. "I'll be good, then." + +"And do what Willie's mother asks you to do?" interrupted Mr. Evans; but +there was no answer. + +"Let me call you Lily _Evans_; that's my name, you know, and if you are +to be my sister, we must love each other, and I shall want to have you +like my name, too. Shall I?" Phebe shrugged her shoulders, and the old +unpleasant look came back to her face. + +"Then you don't want me for your brother? I thought you were going to +love me, and we would be happy together." + +Phebe stole more closely to his side, and looking up into the pale face +whispered, timidly, "Will you kiss me, Willie?" + +"To be sure I will, and _love_ you, too--I know I shall!" and the boy +kissed heartily the little upturned face just as Fanny's sneering laugh +reached her. The flash of indignation darted to her dark eyes, which her +kind protector had seen there more than once, and well did he understand +the foe that was lurking beneath. + +"I think little Phebe must be tired; can you find a place for her to +sleep, Mother?" he asked soothingly, at the same time drawing her +towards him. "Good night, my little girl; I hope you will have pleasant +dreams, and to-morrow we will talk about the new dresses." He kissed her +fondly as he spoke, and the face beamed with joy as she left the room. + +There was a long family consultation that night after the child had been +shown to her bed, and for the first time in her whole life made to +repeat the simple prayer: "Now I lay me down to sleep," which she did +reluctantly, and with many shrugs. But the quiet, earnest voice of Mrs. +Evans subdued her, and she at last submitted with a very good grace. It +was finally decided before the family separated for the night, that the +new-comer should for a time, at least, become an inmate of the home +circle, and through Willie's solicitations she should be considered his +exclusive property. He would be her teacher, guiding all her studies, +filling her little untutored mind with the knowledge he had gained, as +well as endeavoring to correct her faults; while she in return would be +his companion, drawing him in his carriage and amusing him generally. It +was with a light heart that the poor lame boy lay down to sleep that +night. Bright visions of coming happiness flitted through his mind, and +succeeded in driving away his usually quiet slumbers. + +The next morning he arose early and soon after "Lily," as he persisted +at the time in calling her, notwithstanding Fanny's sarcastic +protestations, appeared in a neat chintz frock and pink apron which had +not been taken out from their hiding place since the baby boy had grown +too large for their use. Her hair was smoothly parted back from the +forehead and her face was beaming and animated. She bounded quickly to +Willie's side as she entered the room where breakfast was waiting, and +inquired eagerly: "Do I look pretty?" "To be sure you do; just as pretty +as any other girl!" + +"I want to tell you something," she leaned over to whisper as she was +being lifted to her seat by the side of her future companion; "I love +_you_, but I _hate_ Fanny!" "You must not hate any one," replied Willie. +"Fanny is my sister and you are going to be, so we must _all_ love each +other." "I can't," and the little dumpy figure raised itself to its +fullest dimensions as she looked into the face of Fanny, who was coming +into the room with the coffee. "I _won't_ love _her_, but I love _you_," +and she clasped the little white hand fervently in her own. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DEATH IN THE LITTLE COTTAGE. + + +Phebe was not mistaken in her heart's emotions, as the years proved. She +_did_ love Willie with all of the ardor of her young affections. His +wish was her law; his reproofs her severest chastisements. But the +stern, cold Fanny found no place in her love. She trembled under her +frowns and anger only to hasten from them that she might hide the +bitterness which her secret tears could alone soothe. There was no need +of all this. Fanny did not _hate_ the child; no, not even dislike her; +but there was no summer within her soul--no glad sunshine in her +obdurate heart. Yet beneath the icy covering the world saw, which +chilled and frosted the tendrils of love her woman's nature possessed, +there was a clear silvery fountain of emotion, which would have driven +away many a dark hour, with the merry music of its gushing waters, had +not a thick cloud of selfishness shut it in, and the frosts of +discontent sealed it from human vision. But God saw it all, and looked +pityingly into the perverted heart where its rich treasures lay hidden. +"The child is very well," she would say, "as good as children usually +are, I suppose, but of no use. She does not pay for the salt she eats." + +"I do not agree with you," replied the mother. "See how much happier +your brother is since he has a companion to talk to and confide in. _I_ +was too old to understand his little wants, or even to sympathize with +his poor heart's sorrows. I feel it all now. This is the lesson I have +learned since Phebe has been with us. We were too selfish, Fanny--your +mother and yourself. It may be I was at fault in not tilling and +uprooting the evils in your young heart when it was in my power to do +so, my daughter, and I am willing to confess it to you now. There should +be more flowers growing in the garden of our souls, and less hardy, +sturdy shrubs that yield no fragrance and woo no summer birds to come +and make music for us. Life has changed its aspects for me within a few +short months. It seems all spread out where I can look back upon it; +_not_ sparkling and glowing with good works and love and gentleness, as +it should be; but there are dark places--cold, chill damps that creep +over me at times when I scan the crooked paths over which I have led +you, while one so smooth and flowery, so full of pleasant places and +radiant with beauty, is plainly discernable close beside it, into which +our feet should have turned. God forgive me!" she murmured, while a tear +glistened for one moment in her clear blue eyes. "I did not mean to do +you a wrong; I was worldly and ambitious for your _temporal_ good, but +blinded to your spiritual prosperity. God forgive me!" + +"I cannot see where you have committed any such a great sin," replied +the daughter with much feeling. "I have no doubt but that you intended +to to do your duty, and must say my opinion is that you succeeded well. +We had to toil hard to gain our present ease and comfort, but no one can +accuse us of either crime or dishonesty, Mother. I did not speak of the +child because I did not want her here. I only think she might make +herself more useful. I am willing she should read when Willie wants her +to, but she would never do anything else if she could help it." + +The door was suddenly opened and Phebe came rushing in, with a light +buoyant step, her cheeks glowing with exercise and her dark eyes +sparkling with joy and animation. + +"O Mother! Father is in Boston, but will not be home for two or three +days. You can _never_ guess what he has for Willie," and the happy child +danced about the floor in the exuberance of her glee. + +"What business have you to open our letters?" inquired Fanny, beneath +the dark cloud that had gathered during the short recital. + +The mirth of the little girl suddenly ceased as she looked at her +interrogator for a moment, but made no reply. Willie, however, appeared +in the door and answered for her. + +"The letter was written to _us_, wasn't it, Phebe?" + +"It was written to _you_; and Father is going to bring him a large dog +all trained to draw him. O Willie, was there ever anything so nice!" Her +quick anger was gone, and the brightness of the joyous anticipations of +the _something_ that was to bring so much to one she so dearly loved +daguerreotyped itself on her expressive features. Willie saw it all, and +when he had seated himself by the side of his mother on the lounge he +beckoned Phebe to him. + +"You are sorry about something, my little sister," he said; "tell me +what it is." + +"No, no; I am not sorry. I was only thinking. You will not want little +Phebe when Rover comes. And--and I _do_ like to draw you so much!" and +her lips quivered as she strove to keep back the tears. + +"Why, my pretty sister, your eyes were so bright when I first told you, +and I thought that my new possessions were going to make _you_ as happy +as myself; and only a moment ago you exclaimed, 'was there ever anything +so _nice_!' Can you not think so now? It is true I shall not need you +for my horse," he continued, laughing. "But just think how dreary it +will be to ride alone, with no one to speak to or enjoy the sunshine and +cool breezes with me, or gather the pretty flowers along the road, or +the lilies from off the lake! No, no, Phebe; I _cannot_ go alone, and +Father may take the dog back, if you will not go with me. Or perhaps you +imagine that Rover can talk, as well as do many other remarkable things. +Besides you must have forgotten that Father wrote that the wagon is +large enough for two such 'chicks' as we are. So do not feel badly; you +are to go with me, and Rover is to draw us both." + +Mrs. Evans clasped them in her arms and drew them tenderly to her. + +"My dear children, will you always love each other as you do now? Will +you always be his sister Phebe, and never take away the affection that +makes him so happy? I shall not always be with with you, my children; +but before I leave you, promise me, Phebe, that you will _never_ forsake +him, and I will trust you, young as you are. The time will come when +both of you will pass beyond these years of childhood, and great changes +may come to you; there will be separations, and other homes where it may +be you will live apart. But, Phebe, he is your brother; remember _I_ +have given him to you. It is a sacred trust, but you understand it. Will +it be kept safe and firm when he has no mother to lean upon, and no hand +but yours to attend to his wants? Phebe, I love you, and thank God every +day that he sent the lonely 'mariner' to our home, and for the sake of +that love will you be true to my dear boy?" + +"I could never live without Willie," and she threw her arms passionately +around the neck of the crippled boy. "I will never leave him Mother; he +couldn't do without _me_, could you Willie?" The boy drew her more +closely to him but could not speak, for his heart was full of his +mother's sad words. He had noticed that her cheek had paled with the +fading of the summer flowers; that her step had grown more feeble and +her kiss more tender as she smoothed his pillow at night and whispered +"God will take care of you my dear, dear boy." And now as he looked into +the pale face and saw the tear-drops glisten on her drooping lashes a +fearful foreboding stole over him, and placing an arm about her neck he +sobbed: + +"Mother, do _not_ talk of leaving me! What could your helpless boy do +without you? I must always creep about in the dust for the thoughtless +and cruel to point at, and there is nothing in the future to hope for or +look forward to. O Mother! It is dreadful to be a _cripple_ with no +prospect of being any body or doing any good to others; only a poor, +helpless boy for every passer-by to _pity_!" + +"Please do not Willie; it breaks my heart! Remember what God has said, +'the Lord thy God is a merciful God, He will not forsake thee, neither +destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto +them.' I have many times laid you, all helpless as you are, as a +cheerful testimony of my poor trembling faith at His feet, and somehow, +Willie, I have felt that he has accepted my precious gift, and that my +boy will be ever under his especial care and love. Look up, there is +sunshine on the other side of the clouds, and its bright beams will gild +your darkness if you will permit them to do so." The slumbering fountain +of the daughter's love was stirred at the sight before her and bowing +her head she wept! + +"Mother," she said at last with much emotion; "have you forgotten that +_I_ am his sister? Can you not leave him to _my_ care? I will never +forsake him, and all that I can do to make his life pleasanter _I_ will +gladly do! Did you forget _me_ Mother?" + +"Forget you Fanny? You were my first born--my _all_ for many years! +Together we have worked and talked, but, my daughter, you are older and +sterner by nature than my poor helpless one. He wants companionship, +sympathy in his little trials that must ever be peculiar to himself, and +no one can do this as well as one who has suffered and been lonely as he +will always be. No Fanny, _you_ will of course be kind to him and your +reward will be sure." + +Phebe had been an inmate of the new home for more than three years. +Happy years they had been, notwithstanding the many trials she had been +obliged to encounter. Her foster-parents were always kind, and it was +there her heart had first learned the luxury of loving and being loved. +How true had been the promise to her "when thy father and thy mother +forsake thee then the Lord will take thee up!" He had taken her and she +was being fitted by his providences for the life that was before her. A +dark shadow was creeping over her path with its sombre forebodings, and +young as she was her soul was chilled by it. She had not noticed it +before, and it was hard to realize even now that it was so distinctly +brought before her. Of one thing, however, she was sure. Willie was +suffering and her little heart poured itself out in words of tenderness +and sympathy. + +It was a happy day when Mr. Evans returned from his long voyage and +introduced Rover to his new master. The shadows which had been lingering +over the home circle for two long days suddenly vanished. Then came the +long rides, for as the father had said, "the wagon was ample for the +two," and Rover was able and willing. + +But in the pleasant sitting-room that looked out upon the fading lawn +where the leaves were falling from the crimson maples there were sad +talks about a coming separation, and faint, wistful looks into the +far-off future. There were smiles and caresses that fell into "life's +eventide" like sunbeams darting through the western clouds as night +approaches. The wife and mother knew that her days were numbered, and +when the winter storms came and mantled the hillside and spread a pall +over the lonely grave beyond the garden where the cold marble stood, and +the winds mingled their sighs with the sobs and moans of bereaved ones, +the chamber of the slumbering one was entered and the loving mother +slept in a dreamless sleep. + +A pall of gloom settled down on the inmates of this once cheerful home! +The cord that had so long bound them all together was broken. What would +the future present to each? Where the wisdom to choose; the firmness and +strength to battle and maintain? + +The winds moaned and the snow came and went; the "frost-king" fettered +and unloosed; then the spring appeared and with it changes not only in +the outward world but into the little circle of murmuring ones. The +father must go to sea; a summer voyage was before him. It was harder now +than ever to leave his almost helpless boy without a mother's love to +comfort and cheer him; but it must be done! + +"I will take as good care of him as I _can_," Fanny remarked one evening +as the father's solicitude broke out into words. + +"To be sure I shall have a great deal more to attend to now, but I +suppose Phebe can help me more than she has done. She is a great stout +girl and might make herself useful if she had a mind to do so. She ought +to be made to understand that she is dependent and should do something +to earn her own living! I cannot afford to keep her for nothing!" + +"This home is yours, I am fully aware, Fanny," replied Mr. Evans with +some warmth; "and if you wish it I will take my children out of it and +find them another." Fanny burst into tears and arose to leave the room. + +"I will endeavor to be a sister to _both_ of them," she stopped to say +in a subdued tone, and the father was alone. + +"I must believe her," he thought at last; "she cannot be _cruel_ to her +poor brother at least!" So in a few days, before the early flowers +decked the garden walks, the father and protector was away upon the +waves, and the home was once more desolate! + +Ah, there are sad times in life when even hope seems arrayed in the +sombre habiliments of mourning. The future grows darker and darker as we +gaze upon it; there is no light because we are powerless to penetrate +the clouds that are hanging over us. Who shall lead us out? Timid and +shrinking we stretch our trembling hands out into the gloom when to the +surprise of the fainting heart we feel the gentle grasp of love, while +the way brightens and the faltering feet gain a firmer tread as they +step forward where the shadows are broken and the rugged road appears in +full view. + +If Phebe had been a _strange_ child when she entered the cottage, the +intimate companionship of the thoughtful studious cripple had not made +her less so. The events of each passing day had imparted their impress +upon her susceptible nature. Her mind had been an open chalice into +which her foster-brother had poured the hoarded wealth of his own; and +she was learned beyond her years. The little "dumpy figure" was now tall +and well-proportioned for her age, and Willie looked upon her with pride +and admiration. More than this, her heart with its far-reaching +mysteries had been guided close to the cross and around it the tendrils +of its unsolved longings twined themselves. Her dreams of the unreal +were no less, but her realizations of the sterner demands of life were +more. Willie had early learned to tell the pitying Redeemer his tales of +sorrow and deprivations, and where he found comfort and sympathy the +restless Phebe had been led. How kind in the potter to prepare the clay +for his grand purposes of use, although sometimes with a rough as well +as masterly hand! And how can its powers be manifested without the +"fashioning process" or its durability secured in the absence of the +"mouldings" and the fire? The master understood his work and Phebe lay +passively in his hands. + +Down by the lake where the wild honeysuckle yielded up its luscious +fruits to the children when the blossoms had disappeared, was a little +arbor where tender fingers had woven the slender branches of the +whispering pines together, and in this sweet bower Willie and his +companion sat every day when the snow and frosts were gone and talked of +the absent mother, wishing that the gentle spirit might be ever near to +check the turbulent winds and smooth down the angry waves. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +"CRAZY DIMIS" AND THE TWILIGHT SCENE. + + +"What are you thinking about, Phebe? I have watched you ever since we +turned the corner down by the big pine tree, and not a muscle of your +face has moved, as far as I can discover. Tell Willie, won't you?" + +Phebe, thus addressed, drew herself up with a long sigh, and passing her +hand mechanically across her forehead, replied, while her eyes remained +seemingly fixed on some far-off object: + +"I do not know. See how the sunshine falls in golden patches on the pond +yonder, like what you read about this morning. Willie, I _don't_ want to +be _Phebe_--nothing but little Phebe. I--I want to _fly_! See that bird +going up, up. He will get away beyond the clouds--far above the top of +the mountain yonder. _I_ want to be like him, or something, I do not +know what; don't you, Willie?" + +"Yes; though ambitions are not for one like me; but you will be +something besides 'little Phebe,' by and by. I see it in your beaming +face and deep dark eyes; while I must always be 'poor little Willie,' +nothing else. I have for a long time been watching you, and reading my +destiny of loneliness and utter dreariness in your strange, mysterious +words, and knew that they all came from a heart that would never be +satisfied with the plodding life where _I_ must remain. Two paths are +open to us, and I can even now see that they must branch off from each +other. O Phebe, hard as it is to be as I am, I would not hold you, +little bird, from your upward flight; but just think what a terrible +night my future will be without my little Phebe! Then I shall have no +sweet sister to comfort and cheer me when out of patience with myself +and cross because of my infirmity. And I shall not be your own Willie as +now. It is wrong, I know, to feel so, but I cannot help it! It is bitter +enough to know that I must lose you, but your love, little sister, how +can I live without that?" + +Phebe was taking a seat beside him, where he had made room for her while +speaking. And, without answering his moan of anguish, she clasped her +arms about his neck and kissed his pale face over and over again. + +"Love you?" she exclaimed. "I shall always love you. I do not believe at +all in those paths you have been telling about. What would I want to go +off in another for if you could not follow me? No, no, Willie, I would +not fly away up into the clouds without you; or be something that I so +long to be, for I always want to be your little Phebe--nothing else. I +was only thinking while I sat here and saw Rover draw you out of sight, +how _I_ wanted to go off somewhere! and then I thought of the +_waves_--how they used to talk to me--and just then, Willie, the patches +fell down on the water, and a strange feeling came over me; but it is +gone now, and I want to stay with you. Did not Mother give you to me and +say that I must never leave you? You are my own Willie, just as you +always will be." And with one more kiss she took the reins from his +hand and gave the order for Rover to proceed. + +"Ha! ha! ha!" came to them from the thicket near where they had been +sitting, and at the same time two large, wild eyes peered through the +opening a pair of thin bony hands had made in the thick foliage. + +"It is Crazy Dimis; don't be afraid," said Willie, as his companion gave +a startled look; "she has been at our house many times when I was a +little boy, and she will not hurt any one. She has escaped from her +imprisonment as she used often to do, but they know she is harmless." + +The figure of a woman, tall and straight, but very plainly clad, now +stood before them. + +"It is wonderful sweet to love, isn't it silly children? Kisses are like +honey--good on the lips; but they kill sometimes. Ha! ha! Waste them! +throw them away, silly children. They'll be bitter by and by. It's +coming--coming! Don't I know it? Kisses are like candy, mustn't eat too +much, little fools! Beware! the roses will fade and the thorns are +sharp! They'll prick you! Don't I know? Flowers are not for +everybody--plant cabbage! Ha! ha! Crazy, am I? _He_ said so, too. But it +was the adder's tongue that poisoned _my_ life. _His_ love--_his_ kiss. +Beware! Remember I tell you, _beware_!" and with a bound she darted +again into the thicket and was lost from sight. + +Willie had taken the reins from his companion as this unwelcome +apparition appeared, but as she vanished Phebe exclaimed: + +"What a horrid creature! What makes her talk so strangely? _Who_ is the +one she spoke of? Do you know her?" + +"Mother said she was once the brightest, prettiest girl anywhere around; +but her husband disappointed her, and was unkind. It was this, I +believe, that made her what she is. There used to be much good sense in +what she said--shrewd, cunning, and not wholly gibberish. But let us +hurry home; Fanny may want you." + +"Flowers are not for everybody. Did she mean me, Willie? Her words make +me shiver!" + +While yet speaking they came round to the kitchen door, where Fanny met +them. Something had evidently gone wrong, for she was flushed, and her +step was quick and prophetic. She had many cares, and her temper had not +grown sweeter by their constant pressure. + +"You might as well have staid out the rest of the morning, and let me do +everything," was her first exclamation. She was hurrying past, and did +not, therefore, wait for a reply. + +"Never mind," said Willie, in a low voice, as he saw the flash of anger +dart up in his companion's eyes. "Take off Rover's harness and hasten +around to help her about the dinner, will you? I will go and read, and +perhaps think over what poor old Dimis said until you have got through. +But promise me," he continued, playfully; "don't you think of her or a +word she said, for it is not true." + +"Perhaps we may better do as Fanny suggested, and go out for the rest of +the morning. I wish we could." Willie smiled and wheeled himself into +the house. + +There were busy hands in the kitchen until after the dinner hour that +day, but no cheerful word or kindly act were thrown in to lessen its +tediousness or lighten the irksome burdens of the unwilling Phebe. The +face upon which she looked was cold and hard, and a sort of oppressive +bustle seemed to fill the very atmosphere. The knives were to be scoured +and the potatoes washed for the noon meal, and her old dislike of this +work had in no degree left her since she was the "good-for-nothing +child" away in the fisherman's cot by the sea. The departed mother had +often laughed at her aversion, and shielded her from its performance, +but not so with the thrifty Fanny. Indeed, Phebe imagined that these +were reserved for her for the reason that she "hated" to do them, and +this morning they seemed more distasteful than ever before. It was with +no very good grace, therefore, that she went about her task, and as she +stood by the window with the unpolished knives beside her, she thought +of her who was sleeping below the garden wall, and wondered if "she knew +what she was doing, of her impatience and anger." And then the crazy +woman's gibberings came back, "Flowers are not for everybody"; and "the +thorns are sharp, little fools." + +"I hope you will get them done in time to set the table," were the +quick, sharp words that broke in upon her reverie, and brought in her +gaze from the far-off to the labor before her. The door was open into +the sitting room, where Willie was amusing himself with a book, and +Phebe called out, "I don't like to scour knives and wash potatoes, and I +_won't_, either. Do you remember it, Willie?" she laughed. + +"Well, I guess you _will_," retorted Fanny. "I'd just like to know how +you expect to get a living if you are going to do nothing except what +you want to do. You are no better than I am, and I want you to do this +every day; so keep to work at it, and not be looking out of the window." + +Phebe turned, but caught sight of Willie's uplifted hand of warning just +as a bitter retort darted to her lips, and for his sake she smothered +her rage and resumed her hated labor. She did not enjoy any kind of +work, and never hesitated to express her dislike for it. Perhaps, had +circumstances altogether different from those that had surrounded her +brightened up each compulsory service; or a word of love or praise been +dropped now and then over the little burdens, it would have been +otherwise. But she was a dreamer, a child with inborn fancies, +possessing a soul where poetry and beauty reigned as twin sisters, +growing and thriving upon each other's life, but she knew it not. She +was only sure that her heart bounded in the sunshine of genial +associations, and sank with equal velocity beneath the clouds of +depressing influences. A cold word, a frown, would fill her soul with +gloomy shadows for many hours, unless a warm sunbeam from some loving +heart came to drive it away. Kind and cheerful as our little heroine +usually was, there lay coiled up in her nature a demon of anger which +sprang forth at every provocation with the fury of ungoverned passion. +Poor child! It had goaded her long for one so young, and many times she +had struggled to resist its power, but it proved stronger than her will. +Love alone can subdue such natures, while opposition only feeds and +nourishes their faults. + +"Get out of my way!" exclaimed Fanny, as Rover was leisurely crossing +her path, while a sudden movement of her substantial shoe gave a new +impetus to his velocity. Phebe saw it, and her heart bounded with +indignation. Dropping her work she darted forward, and throwing her arms +around the neck of the noble dog exclaimed vehemently: "Why didn't you +bite her, Rover? she shall not kick you!" A blow from the enraged Fanny, +and a command to return to her work silenced her for a moment, then with +the fierceness of a tiger she sprang upon her antagonist and dealt blow +after blow upon the astonished Fanny before she had time to recover from +her surprise, or to use her powers of defence. In a moment more, pale +with anger and fright, the child was torn from her position by superior +strength, and forced into her own little chamber with the command "not +to leave it until she received permission." Here was a new feature in +home affairs. + +"This child, this _pauper_, shall go where she belongs! The poor-house +is good enough for such as she! At any rate I shall not have such a +wild-cat beneath _my_ roof a great while!" + +Willie listened to the ravings of his sister, while his heart throbbed +with unconcealed emotion. + +"Yes, and _you_ uphold her no doubt! You pity her and think she has been +greatly wronged--but it makes no difference!" + +"I _do_ think, Sister, that had you sought for love you would have found +it, and love worketh no ill to his neighbor." + +"Love! I _don't_ want her love or _her_ either! To confess the truth I +am worn out with her and she must leave--that is all!" + +"I know very well that you do not like to have me advocate Phebe's +cause, but did you ever notice that her exhibitions of anger only +seemed to be the echo of your own? I have watched her, Sister, with the +most intense interest when laboring under personal difficulties and +perplexities, and I have seldom seen her lose her patience under any +trial. In all the years we have spent together she has never grieved me +by an ill-tempered word or gesture, because _I_ never gave her one." + +"So it is all _me_, of course! I must of necessity stand sponsor for my +own sins and her's too!" + +"No Fanny, but I would be plain. You _are_ too stern and cold, and at +times unjust! You forget that she is a child." + +"I have heard _enough_--she must leave the house!" So saying the enraged +Fanny left the room, the door closing behind her with a prophetic +firmness which Willie well understood. + +Phebe sat alone in her chamber until the golden twilight settled down +upon the waters of the little lake and tinted the tree tops that cast +their long shadows out over its bosom, and watched the "lights and +shades" which chased each other down the hillside and over the meadow +until they rested on _two_ graves just beyond the garden wall. + +"My mother! O, my mother!" gushed up from the overflowing heart. "Would +that I were beside you! You did not hate me--you did not make me so +wicked!" Tears choked her utterance and blinded her vision. Hours passed +and then a gentle tap was heard on her door, but she did not move. There +had been no steps on the stairs and well did she know who was pleading +outside to share her sorrows. + +"Phebe, may _I_ come in? It is your own Willie--come and open the door +if I may enter!" _That_ voice never pleaded in vain. Now it sank down +into the wildly throbbing heart as a soft lullaby, soothing every angry +passion and illuminating the dark chambers of her soul with the sweet +promises of peace. + +The door was opened and Phebe returned to her low seat by the window +without a word. Willie was soon beside her, sitting, on account of his +infirmity, at her feet; his calm blue eyes swimming with tears were +fixed intently upon her face, but she apparently did not heed him. + +"Will you not speak to me, Phebe? Let me look into your eyes--there is +no anger there for _me_! Nothing but love, I am sure of it! I have read +it there so many times, but let me read it there once more--may I not?" +The arms of the child were thrown about the suppliant's neck and her +tears fell fast as she kissed his pale cheek. + +"I am so wicked, Willie! I wish I were good like you and loved +everybody. _You_ never make me angry, but Fanny always does. I can't +help it!" + +"Phebe, I love you. What would my life be if you were away? Think how +long the days would be with no one to talk to and no one to say 'I am so +sorry' when sad. In a few years at most Willie will be out there by the +side of Mother, and until then I must creep about just as I always have +done; but I can bear it if I have you to cheer me," and clasping her to +his heart he was not ashamed that his tears mingled with hers. + +"I am so sorry, Willie!" she sobbed at length. "I heard Fanny say that +'I should not stay here.' I did not care then, but O, I cannot leave +you. O--I will be very good! If Mother was only here I think I could do +anything--but I am so wicked!" + +Darkness had settled down upon the occupants of that little chamber when +Fanny called: "Willie, _your_ supper is ready! Come down immediately and +let Phebe stay where she is!" The child darted to her feet and hastened +to open the door. + +"Fanny," she said, with a slight hesitation; "I want to stay here, but +won't you let me ask you to forgive me? I know I am very wicked but I +will try to do better!" The stern, cold Fanny hesitated only a moment, +and then without a smile of encouragement or a cheering caress _agreed_ +to the proposition and promised to let her remain for a while until she +had tried her once more. "Now come down to supper," she continued, "for +I am in a hurry to get my work done!" Was _this_ forgiveness? A balm to +heal the wounds of injury? Poor, sin-sick soul! Did thy heavenly friend +ever look so coldly upon thy penitence? When did He ever pour the "gall +of bitterness" into the wounds of a humiliated heart? Small would be the +reward of "human justice" if the intercessor did not continually stand +between us and our petition, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive +them that trespass against us." + +"You are a noble girl!" exclaimed Willie as Phebe returned to her seat +by the window. "I will leave you now; you may come or stay as you +choose--all will yet be right." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CHANGES IN THE COTTAGE HOME. + + +Be kind to the child! Build with great care and skill the foundations +upon which is to be reared a life whose influences are to reach into the +ages that have no end. There is no living by one's self, and the great +net-work of human existence may be warped and misshapen by _one_ +chilling neglect or a palpable wrong! Even so does the individual life +often become marred beyond remedy when it is tender and susceptible to +the guiding hand. There are natures so finely and sensitively +constituted that every rude blast twists and bends the silver wires of +the organization until the music is dead, and the case, although +polished and beautiful to the eye, stands a wreck of what it should have +been. Such were the surroundings of our little heroine. For fourteen +years she had been the child of "circumstances," her days filled up with +tears and laughter and her nights with idle dreams. No mother's love had +ever twined itself about her young heart to nourish and foster the +tender plants of sweetness and purity which was to make her life +beautiful with their variegated blossoms, or root up the entangling +weeds with which she must ever after contend. Mrs. Evans had indeed been +kind to her as the "companion of her afflicted boy," as she would also +have been to a pet kitten or anything that would have added to the +happiness or comfort of her child. Yet she did not fail to perceive when +her vision began to grow dim to the world that the "casket" which had +been thus opportunely cast at her feet contained jewels which were worth +securing. The last few days and weeks of the only one whom her heart +ever claimed as _Mother_ left their impress on her soul which never +faded away. It was a taste at least of that love for which she had so +often longed--such as a child must have or be miserable! But even that +was all over now. True, Willie had been her dear brother ever since, her +comfort when sorrows overshadowed her, her help through scenes of +trouble. But a cloud darker and denser than any of its predecessors was +spreading itself over them both. Sad news had come to them from over the +sea--the far off dark, dark sea. Alone they sat together in the doorway +one evening where the last rays of the setting sun came and played about +their bowed forms, caressing their damp cheeks; but for once they were +not heeded. + +"We are orphans now, Phebe--poor, lone _orphans_! Never did I feel the +miseries of my decrepitude as now! I am helpless, and _who_ will take +care of you? The thought doubles my sorrow! I ought to be a man and +comfort rather than to add to your depression; but I am a weak, helpless +child, even more so, my sister, than you to-night." Phebe raised her +head from her hand where it had been resting and fixed her large eyes +upon the pale face before her. + +"Willie, do _I_ look like a child?" she asked. "It has not been +twenty-four hours since we received the sad news that our father had +been swallowed up by the great sea I love so well; still he is not dead +to me, but has only gone where _I_ in my childish fancy so longed to go, +therefore I cannot 'make him dead'; he's only resting while he calls +upon me to act! Willie, I am no longer a child, for every hour has +seemed to add a year to my life since that letter came! I am strong, and +thanks to you and the dear ones who have so long sheltered me from the +storms, I have a little stock of knowledge to begin my future with; I +shall act." Her gaze had wandered off to the golden clouds that were +hanging over the little lake as she spoke, and a look of firm resolve +stole over her features. + +"I see my fate written upon your face!" replied Willie mournfully. "How +can I endure the lonely hours, the lengthening days? But I am ashamed of +myself. Somehow the fates have turned against me, Phebe, and have taken +away my years to add them to yours. I will not be so childishly selfish. +But Sister, you will need a friend. How can you go out into the world +alone?" + +"I _have_ a friend! Do not, I beg of you, think me so destitute Willie. +Have you forgotten Crazy Dimis?" A low subdued laugh escaped the lips of +both at the suggestion and mingled itself with the soft evening breeze. +Suddenly they started for a voice harsh and cold as a winter's wind was +near them which chilled the soft melody and sent it back to their +wounded hearts in a low sad wail. It was Fanny who spoke. + +"Your grief must have been terrible to have been forgotten so soon!" she +exclaimed. "You can go in, Phebe, and take care of the supper table if +you have got through crying," she continued bitterly. + +Phebe arose without a word. For once her anger did not rise to goad her. +Could it be that her power over this her greatest enemy had gained +strength also with her seemingly multiplied years? + +Fanny took the seat that was just vacated by the side of her brother. + +"What is Phebe going to do?" was the abrupt question. + +"What would you like her to do? I suppose she will be willing to be +guided by your counsel." + +"Humph! Willing! It would be the first time that she was ever willing to +do anything I wanted her to do, and I have not the least doubt that she +would be more unwilling to accede to my wishes at this time than ever +before, for I want her to leave the house! _You_ do not need her now for +you are old enough to amuse yourself I should think, and _I_ certainly +do not! There is to be a new master here before the fall work begins, as +I suppose you know." The last remark was made in a lower tone of voice +and Willie readily understood that she referred to her approaching +marriage with Mr. Hopkins, a young farmer living a few miles away; but +as he made no reply she continued. "I do not suppose he would be pleased +to have _too_ many incumbrances, and Phebe is old enough and able to +take care of herself." + +"Perhaps he would like to have me also vacate his prospective premises," +responded the brother with an unnatural bitterness in his voice. + +"O, no! He is well aware that _you_ can do nothing for yourself and has +made no objections to _your_ remaining." + +There were sleepless eyes wet with weeping that night beneath the +homestead roof as the midnight hour spread over it her dark wings, but +it bore away on its upward pinions the trusting faith--the childlike +submission of _one_ heart at least to Him who is ever a "father to the +fatherless ones." + +"Now for a long ride down by the pond and along the sandy beach, where +we can see the lilies on the water, and if the boat is not fastened I +will gather a few for you once more," prattled Phebe, as on the ensuing +forenoon she walked by the little wagon (which was now too small for +both), as was her usual custom when the morning's work was done. + +How could Willie ever forego these pleasures? He would continue his +rides, drawn by the faithful Rover, who had seemed to enjoy these +excursions equally with his young master and mistress. But Phebe always +walked by his side, now patting his soft coat, or gathering flowers for +him who could not skip about so blithely and easily as did she, or now +and then helping the faithful Rover over the rough places, praising and +caressing him for his valor and strength in overcoming difficulties. +Happy trio! And was it possible that all this must end? + +"Have you forgotten, Willie, what my true name is? You have not called +me Lily-Pearl for a _long_ time," she remarked, as they came in sight of +the pure white blossoms that dotted the surface of the lake. "_I_ shall +never forget it. See, Willie, that beautiful lily yonder by that large +leaf. How the ripples that come sweeping around the sandbar keep tossing +it up and down, never allowing it to be quiet a moment. O, it really +makes me tired to look at it. Yet that is _me_, Willie! That is +'Lily-Pearl!' I am going to get it for you to keep. When I am gone, and +you look at it, think that I am no more 'little Phebe,' but your own +'Lily,' who will never forget or forsake you, my brother." Saying this +she bounded into the little open boat, and with accustomed dexterity +soon made her way to the point designated. It was no unusual labor for +her willing hands, it being one of her greatest amusements when the +little pond was decked with these fragrant blossoms to gather them. + +Willie watched her for a moment, as she glided away from him, and then +his coming desolation swept over his soul like a flood, and her form was +hidden from his sight. + +"See, Willie, I have it!" she exclaimed, as she held up the coveted +treasure, exposing the long, smooth stem, by which, as she said, the +mother pearl held it fast. "It came near pulling me in. Did you see me, +Willie?" + +But he did not. See her? How could he through all those blinding tears +that came bubbling up rapidly from his bursting heart? He had crept from +his seat in the wagon and made his way to a grassy knoll close by, and +there beneath the shade of the old oak tree where they had often sat +together he gave free vent to his emotions. The sky was calm and blue +above him, and here and there a soft, fleecy cloud floated through the +clear sunbeams of the July morning; the lake, beautiful in its gorgeous +frame-work of hills and woods, lay spread out like a mirror, upon which +the rays danced and sported close to the water's edge, penetrating the +shadows, and lulling the murmur of the leaves, throwing over the +prostrate figure of the weeping boy a net-work of lights and shades +from the branches above him. Phebe had seen him from the boat, and in a +moment more was standing beside him, her heart throbbing with sympathy +and grief. She had thought to keep away this dark shadow for awhile by +her merry words, but it was over now; and throwing her arms about his +neck, she exclaimed: + +"Willie, my dear brother, do not feel so badly. It is true, I must go +and leave you for a time, but you are mine--all I have to love and work +for. What do I care for any but you? Yes, I must go. I heard what Fanny +said last night, but it was no more than I have heard before, or than I +expected. Yet it makes me strong. I can leave you now, but only for a +little while. We will not be separated long. _I_ will come to you. Our +mother gave you to me, and I promised to cling to you. O Willie, you +shall see how I can work, how much I can accomplish! I will do more than +was ever done before me by a 'cast-away.' Do you not believe me?" + +Putting her hand under his head, she turned his pale wet face up to her +view. He did not try to prevent her, but lay quietly as she placed him. + +"Look into my eyes, Willie. _I_ am not weeping. It seems to me I can +never shed another tear. I feel so strong! The future, Brother! O the +future! What a great huge painting it seems! But it is not full yet. _I_ +shall do something there; _my_ hands will help to color it. Yes, _I_, +little Phebe." + +"I do not doubt it. There is a destiny for such as you. A mission awaits +you. I will be more brave, more manly. You could not remain with me. A +higher position than the partnership with a cripple or hostler to a big +mastiff is meted out to you." + +A smile for an instant broke over his clouded face, and Phebe laughed +outright. + +"Give me the lily," he said, at last, reaching out his hand for the +coveted treasure. "We will divide it. You shall have the long smooth +stalk while _I_ will keep the flower. Henceforth you are my lily, sweet +and precious to me; while _I_--_I_--well, I am nothing but the withered, +crooked tendril seeking to wind itself about your loving heart." + +She darted from his side before the last sentence was finished, and her +companion following with his eyes her light, buoyant figure, saw +standing on an elevation of ground not far off, the well known form of +Crazy Dimis. + +"I have found a double blackberry," she called, holding up something +between her long, bony thumb and finger, "come and see it." + +Phebe went to her. + +"Those are not double, Aunt Dimis," she exclaimed. + +"Don't two make a double? Put them together and then they do--there! +It's a good omen for you, silly child. Make them double, help the time. +We must help. Ha! ha! And help Fate! Don't _I_ know, child? Fate is +waiting for you! Go and help her make omens. But make them good! Ha! ha! +_I_ didn't but I will. Silly fools. Cry and love; by and by it will be +love and cry. Don't I now? Go back to _him_! _I_ don't want you." And +with a bound she sprang over the fence and was lost in the thick +underbrush of the honeysuckle swamp. + +Phebe called loudly after her but she was not heeded. She wanted to ask +her about a certain good lady, Mrs. Ernest, for this same half-crazed +gibbering woman had awakened an interest for Phebe in the heart of Mrs. +Ernest, and it was no idle jest when she told Willie that "Crazy Dimis" +was her friend. She now returned slowly to her companion, who was +watching her. + +"What did that crazy creature say to you?" he asked, somewhat +impatiently. "Nothing good, I know." + +"Yes it was. She told me to go and help Fate. I suppose she meant to +have me fill up that picture I was telling you about, and I must go. +To-morrow I shall start. Do not look at me so! you shall know +all--everything I do or hope to do; and I shall come to see you often. +Mrs. Ernest has promised to help me all she can, and I think I can make +her my friend. It will be only a short run for Rover, and you must ride +over there often--as often as you would like to hear from me, will you?" + +She kissed his white forehead, then giving a low shrill whistle, which +the faithful dog well understood, she said: "We must go home, for it is +time to help get dinner." + +In a moment more Rover with his wagon came up in good style, and they +started down the path which wound around by the meadow brook through the +clump of pine trees which stood as sentinels over the two graves beyond +the garden wall. + +"How I wish Father were sleeping there instead of beneath the waves," +cried Willie; and no other word was spoken. What wonder? How soon the +paths were to branch off from each other! Already the lonely cripple +felt the shadows creeping over him that were surely to cover his dreary +pathway as he wandered on alone. His heart was full of these sad +forebodings, and he pressed the memento of his helplessness more closely +in his hand as the spirit of rebellion for a moment arose to goad him. +Then "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" came as a soft and +gentle whisper to his soul, and looking up as Rover halted by the +kitchen door he said mildly: "We shall all come together again, Phebe." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OUT INTO THE WORLD. + + +"There! That is the _third_ time I have called that girl this morning! +She can lie in bed now until she gets tired of it! It is so provoking! +And after telling her last night that I should want her early. I am out +of all patience!" + +Willie could not suppress a smile as this volley of indignation greeted +him upon entering the breakfast room on the morning following the scenes +related in our last chapter, although his heart was sad, but he made no +reply and Fanny continued: "I _had_ made up my mind to let her stay a +while longer; perhaps through the winter, for after all it is hard to be +sent out into the world to earn one's own living! Besides, _she_ would +never get along! No one would have patience with her, for work she will +not! And how can a poor girl get her living if she will not work? But it +is all up now! I can't and won't support her for nothing!" Fanny's rapid +step and the brisk rattling of the breakfast dishes kept up all the time +an active accompaniment to her words as she continued talking while +preparing their early morning meal. + +Willie listened to it all as he sat by the window and looked out upon +the dewy grass and took in the soft beauties of the variegated landscape +that lay stretched out before him, over which the first rays of the +summer sun came gently stealing, driving back the dark shadows into the +thick woodland upon the hillside. He then opened the window. There was +music in the maple trees near where the robins had built their +nests--there was fragrance in the cool fresh breeze that came and fanned +his troubled brow. Just outside the yard the hay-makers stood with +laughter and jest while they whetted their glittering scythes +preparatory to their daily labor, while all the time their brown faces +wore the pleasant smile of health and contentment. Poor Willie! He could +only sit and look at them and pray for patience and resignation. + +A remark from Fanny recalled him, and he replied: "I would go and call +her but it would be useless for she is not here!" + +"Not here? What do you mean? Has she gone?" + +"Yes, she has gone, and it is my opinion Sister that you will miss her +nearly if not quite as much as _I_." + +"Gone! The heartless creature! This is all the thanks one ever gets for +taking care of a good-for-nothing nobody for years! It is pretty pay now +to clear out just as she _might_ have been of some use, and without a +word too!" + +"You must have forgotten all you have been saying to her ever since we +received the sad news of Father's death," replied Willie with some +bitterness. "Still you are mistaken; she did not leave without a word. +She has told me several times that she was going, although I could not +believe it, and when I came out of my room I found this letter under my +door. You can read it if you wish when you have time." + +Without a word she took it from his hand and read as follows: "I cannot +_say_ good-bye Willie, and so as soon as the gray dawn creeps over the +mountain top I shall steal from this house and go--God only knows where! +I came here eight years ago a little strange child, leaving the first +real friend in all my life far behind on the road to grieve at my +absence, and now I _go_ leaving only you my brother to be sad because I +am not here. _You_ will miss me; and when I think how lonely you will be +without your 'little Phebe' to talk to I shall shed many tears. O, +Willie! It is dreadful to leave the only one who loves us to go off +alone, but I shall find friends, I know I shall! Do not be unhappy. Tell +Fanny sometime, if she _ever_ inquires as to my welfare, that I should +have been happier to-night if she had loved me, or at least had +exercised more patience with my many faults. I know I have tried her. +Somehow I am not like the other girls about here; they are satisfied, +but _I_--yes, Willie, I want to fly--go up among the clouds or down +among the pearls--I don't know which, but some spirit goads me on--God +only knows where. I am looking out to-night upon the world where I am +going for my new life with more fear and trembling than when in a little +open boat I drifted away over a stormy ocean all alone. But it is better +so. A hundred times I have shivered and shrunk before the storm of +Fanny's indignation, and as I remember it, a peace steals over me even +now with the great unknown future before me. I did desire to do all she +asked of me, but I could not and so I must go! Perhaps she may yet +think kindly of me, who knows? I am strong to-night dear Willie, +notwithstanding this paper has so many tear-stains upon it! How a few +days have changed me--no longer a child but a woman going forth, as +Crazy Dimis commanded me, 'to make my fate, make omens.' So good-bye; +remember what I told you you of Mrs. Ernest. PHEBE." + +It was finished and Fanny handed it back to her brother without +speaking. O how long that day seemed! The sun came out hot and sultry, +drinking up the dew from the grass and withering the soft petals of the +flowers; the locust sang his monotonous song in the shade and the mowers +went busily on with their work, and the hours crept slowly by. Fanny was +unusually silent; her busy hands seemed never to tire, but her face all +day wore a weary, anxious look such as betokened thought. + +It was late in the afternoon, just before the time for milking, that she +came and seated herself on the lounge by her brother. Perhaps the memory +of that mother who once sat there on just such a bright summer evening +four years before came back to her, for it was then when she told Phebe +never to leave her poor lame boy, always to love and comfort him. Who +was to blame that the child was now an outcast, or that the poor +motherless cripple sat there in that very spot lonely and sad? She did +not speak for a moment as if ashamed of the womanly emotion that swelled +her bosom. At last she said hurriedly: "What did Phebe mean about Mrs. +Ernest?" + +"She has told me that I could hear about her by going there +occasionally." + +"Why did you not go to-day?" + +"I thought I would wait until to-morrow, then perhaps I might hear +more," was the low reply. "She can have no definite plans as yet, but I +will go in the morning." + +"I will harness Rover any time for you," continued Fanny as she moved +away to attend to her evening duties. + +Willie dropped his head upon the pillow beside him and lay there +motionless and still until the twilight shadows came creeping in at the +window, covering him with a thick black pall. He could have wished that +night that they might have buried him forever with their sombre folds, +so harshly did life's greatest joys contrast with his overwhelming +griefs! + +Early the next morning Willie was on his way to the village drawn by the +faithful Rover. It was a long time since he had been over that road +alone, and at first he felt like shrinking from the task. + +A carriage came and swept over the brow of the hill, drew nearer, then +passed him. A lady occupied the back seat alone. She was a stranger but +their eyes met. Hers so full of tenderness and pity--his bright with +apprehension and suspense. He was sure that a tear glistened in her blue +eye, but when he turned to look again she was gone. The driver he knew. +The carriage belonged to the village hotel, and "Frank" always drove +that span of grays. Once more Willie turned to look, and as he did so +saw that the lady had bent forward as if to speak to him. "She knows how +to sympathize with such as _I_," he thought, "for her expression was so +kindly and gentle. Those eyes--they were so like my mother's. A deep, +heavenly look as if wishing for something she had not yet received, +which found its way into hers before they closed forever!" and a tear +dimmed his own vision for a moment only; then his thoughts returned to +the beauties around him and to _her_ he was going perhaps to see again. +The roads were fine and Rover was in excellent spirits, so that in a +short time the village church loomed up in sight. Close by it was the +parsonage--beyond the long row of neatly-painted dwellings surrounded +with bright green shrubbery and a pleasant lawn reaching to the road, +finally the hotel with its balconies and lofty cupola, which overtopped +the principal business portion of the unassuming little town. To the +farther store on the main street Willie was to go on an errand for his +sister, but first of all he would call at the parsonage. How his heart +bounded with the prospect of coming joy, then sank again as the +uncertainty rolled over him. Where was Phebe? + +And where was Phebe? That morning, with her eyes full of tears she had +stood in the little chamber where she had spent so many pleasant hours +and dreamed so many pleasant dreams; the room she must now leave, with +all of its hallowed associations, its garnered memories, to prove the +Father's unfailing promises of care and protection! + +"You could not have forseen all this dear, dear Mother!" she mused as +she turned to the window where the white marble stood so chill and +comfortless in the morning shadows, "or you would never have placed your +helpless boy in my care. But I must go. This pleasant cottage is my home +no more! The flowers I have planted in the garden yonder--the bed of +lilies these hands have tended so long for _your_ sake must bloom on +without me." + +The first rays of the morning sun crept up from behind the eastern hills +and rested as a sweet prophetic peace on the tree-tops that reared their +stately heads above the lingering night shades, and taking the letter +she had written the night previously stole softly from the room and +thrust it under the door where Willie was sleeping all unconscious of +the wretchedness that was wringing such bitter tears from her loving +heart as she thought how he would miss her, and how lonely would be his +morning ride down by the little pond without her. "Farewell!" she +whispered, and then descended the stairs, stopping a moment to kiss the +noble Rover and quickly passed on out in the world! The short past with +its changes, its reachings and its longings were to be left behind, +while the broad future with its hopes, allurements and ambitions lay +before her. With a shrinking heart but firm tread she stepped into the +untried path and walked steadily forward. Someone has said that "the +secret of true blessedness is _character_, not condition; that happiness +consists in not _where_ we are but _what_ we are. Our lives resemble +much the Alpine countries, where winter is found at the side of summer, +and where it is but a step from a garden to a glacier." Our little +heroine found this to be so. It had been summer in the little cottage, +not all sunshine nor all storms, for the days were as ever changeful and +the years scattered over her life their shadows and their peaceful +calms. "Go help fate make omens" Crazy Dimis had said, and with many a +firm resolve she had said to Willie, "I will do it!" There was a world +of mysteries before her out of which the "omens" were to be created, and +little did she understand the way in which she was to be led. The +perjured woman whose daughter had given birth to "Lily-Pearl" had +listened to the whisperings of the serpent, and the great problem of +justice was to be worked out in the ever changing adventures of "poor +little Phebe," and now with a satchel in her hand she had left _all_ she +had known of love, and was alone upon the road where the cool morning +zephyrs petted and caressed her. "My life!" she thought as she walked on +towards the parsonage. "If we are God's children we need not fear the +developments of His changing providences," Mr. Ernest had said to her +one day while speaking to him of her future, and now these words came to +her as bright and cheering as the rays of the morning sun, for both had +driven away the darkness from her faith. Years after did memory return +to this early morn to tread again the sandy road and listen to the +chorus of the birdling's song, or watch with palpitating heart the +silvery glories as they spread themselves over the eastern sky; and then +return to the noonday scenes of an eventful life through which she had +been guided. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AN UPPER ROOM IN THE HOTEL. + + +Mrs. Ernest while bustling about in her kitchen saw her visitor +approaching, and with broom in hand came out to welcome him. He was no +stranger here, and few ever came who received a warmer greeting. + +"How bright and fresh you look from your early morning ride," was the +good lady's salutation, and throwing down a piece of carpet on the damp +ground stood patting Rover and chatting merrily all the while as Willie +crept into the house. + +"I suppose _I_ am not to feel at all flattered by this early call, for +already something tells me that Phebe is the object of your visit," she +laughingly said, while following him into the house; "so I will turn you +over to Mr. Ernest with all the indignation I can muster," and patting +him on the shoulder she cheerily invited him to the study. + +The occupant of the quiet room was stretched in an attitude of languid +repose upon the sofa as they entered, but probably in deep meditation. +When, however, he discovered who had intruded into his season of +reveries, he arose with a face all beaming with smiles, and took the +little extended hand in his own and placing an arm about his visitor +lifted him with ease into a chair close by. + +"Now, Ella, you may go and give Rover that plate of chicken bones you +saved for 'some hungry dog,' for he above all others deserves it." + +Here was a happy home. + +"There was always sunshine at the parsonage," Willie would say. If +clouds ever came they were so effectually concealed that they never fell +upon another. The brightest spot on earth--the place more to be coveted +than palaces or posts of honor--is the peaceful, happy home, the nucleus +around which fond hearts are gathered, where the compact of love remains +unbroken only as death comes and steals away a link of the golden chain +that binds fond hearts together. + +"Is not Phebe here?" Willie asked after a few moments conversation. + +"O no; she did not remain with us many hours; but she is not far away," +replied Mr. Ernest, pleasantly. "I will tell you about her. There is a +lady boarding at the hotel, an invalid, I believe, who has come to our +village, as gossip tells us, after health,--happiness, rather, as I +believe, for she seems very sad at times. I have called on her often, +and at one visit she expressed an earnest wish for some one to read to +her. I thought of Phebe at once, and when she came to us yesterday +morning and told her story, of which, we were not wholly ignorant, I +thought nothing could have been more _apropos_, and so I went over there +with her. The lady seemed much pleased, and I have no doubt Phebe will +be very happy there." + +"I think I must have seen her when I was coming," interrupted Willie. "A +lady passed me in the hotel carriage who had a sad, pensive look; I am +sure it was she." + +"I have no doubt you are right, for she rides out every day. I wonder, +however, that Phebe does not take the opportunity to run over here for a +moment." + +But she did not. + +Willie stayed longer than he first intended, hoping to see her again, +but finally started for the store on his errand, passing the place where +_she_ had found her new home without even catching a glimpse of her, +although he sought diligently to do so. Had he known that she was then +engaged in penning a long sisterly letter to him he would not have been +so thoroughly wretched all that day and the next. + +It was some consolation, however, that Fanny seemed so much interested +in her now that she was away. She was minute in her inquires on his +return, yet did not appear _quite_ pleased when told that Phebe was +_only_ to read to her new mistress. + +"Worse and worse," was her exclamation, "she was good for nothing +before, what will she be now?" + +"We shall see," was Willie's quick reply. + +But he was thinking how much he would enjoy being there to listen as she +read. He was not mistaken in regard to his conclusions about the lady in +the carriage. It was Mrs. Gaylord, in whom Phebe had found a friend and +protector. She had taken rooms at the hotel only a short time before, +having no other company than a young mulatto girl about Phebe's age, who +seemed devoted to her mistress, and mild and affable to all, yet she +answered very few of the questions that were put to her by the +inquisitive. + +"They had come from Virginny, and would go back dare when Missus had got +nuff of dis 'ere norf," was about the extent of the knowledge obtained +from "Tiny" on any occasion. + +Three weeks passed away and Phebe had not once seen "dear Willie." Mr. +Ernest had told her of his frequent visits to the parsonage, and of the +pleasure that would beam in his blue eyes as he received her letters +from him; but no amount of persuasion could prevail upon him to make a +visit to the hotel, which was much to Phebe's disappointment. She was +always busy now. When she was tired of reading or the lady of listening, +she was engaged with her needle. + +"Young people are inclined to home-sickness if not employed," Mrs. +Gaylord would say, pleasantly, and so Phebe was seldom idle. + +During these seasons of occupation they had talked much. Phebe had told +her all she knew about her early history, and her listener had many +times laughed heartily at the recital, but not a word had she ever +spoken of her own life. There was a dark cloud resting upon her, it was +evident, for her companion had often looked up suddenly from her book to +see the tears falling silently from the calm eyes, who would brush them +hurriedly away as she said "go on"; and Phebe obeyed. At one time she +smiled when detected, and drying her eyes she said, mildly-- + +"What is jealousy, little one? You have just been reading about it. What +is _your_ definition of the word?" + +"Willie would say 'an unjust suspicion; a sense of imaginary wrong +without proof';" answered Phebe, hesitatingly. + +She laughed now. + +"O you little novice! How far you are behind the times. That definition +might have done for your grandmother, but it will never do for these +modern days. I will tell you, child, what it is, or what it means now. +It is a wail of despair which the heart gives over the loss of its +dearest treasure. The anguish of its desolation when the fire of love +burns low; the cry of woe when it sees the vacant chair in its most +secret chamber, and desolation looks with hungry eyes out from among the +shadows of its former trysting place! Does the poor heart murmur? Does +it put on the sackcloth and the sprinkling of ashes? Love is not dead, +but straying, _straying_! This is jealousy. The vacation of one heart +for--for--well, child, _you_ know nothing about it, and may you long +remain in ignorance." + +She bowed her head and wept long and bitterly. + +Phebe moved the ottoman on which she was sitting close by the side of +the agitated lady and laid her head upon her knee. A bond of sympathy +drew them together. A chord had been touched to which the heart of each +vibrated in unison. Desolation was creeping among the shadows in the +secret chamber of both hearts, and the feeble wail of woe which came +from the lonely hearth-stones mingled in low, solemn cadence, and they +two were united by these bonds of sympathy. A soft, white hand nestled +lovingly among the braids of the young girl's hair as the bowed head +still rested its heavy weight on the lady's rich dress, and from that +moment a sweet confidence took possession of them both. + +Ah! there is nothing so invigorating and comforting in this ever +changing life as the sweet assurance of reciprocal affection in the +hour of despondency and gloom. A mother's kiss, a father's fond caress, +soon dries the tear and soothes the pain of childhood, and can it be +that their power grows less towards the children of accumulated years? + +"Did I speak bitterly just now; my child?" the lady asked, after a long +silence. "I hope I did not frighten you." + +Phebe looked up into the sad face that was beaming now with a full glory +of consolation as she answered: + +"O no; I was not frightened. Even in my short life I have seen sorrow, +and know well what it means. Ever since we have been together I have +believed that something troubled you, and it has made me--" + +"Made you what, my child?" + +"Made me love you, O may I do this? Will you let little Phebe creep into +your heart and find a resting place there? O Mrs. Gaylord, I am so +lonely! Nobody but Willie--and he is lost to me now." + +The large eyes were gazing with their far-off, mysterious look, which +Willie had so often watched with a tremor of apprehension in his heart; +but there were no tears in them. The wail was from the secret chamber, +and the lady recognized it. + +[Illustration: "O, MRS. GAYLORD, I AM SO LONELY."] + +"Yes, dear," was her answering refrain. "You shall nestle cosily in this +poor quivering heart if you desire it. I was once a lonely orphan like +yourself, and I pined for a love I could not find. It is dreadful--this +chilling desolation of life. At twenty I married, and was alone no +longer. My yearning heart was satisfied, not because of the luxury that +surrounded me, or the honors with which I was crowned as the bride of +the rich young southerner. No, no. Sweeter by far than all of this was +the assurance that I was loved. That was many years ago, when my face +was fair and my cheeks covered with bloom. It is over now, and with my +youth and beauty went the love which was more precious than all. _His_ +hair has lost its glossy hue and his step its elastic bound; but for +these my heart has suffered no reaction, yet it bears to-day the scars +of _many_ wounds. Some are not yet healed, and memory often rends them +anew until the tears _will_ come trickling through the torn fissures. +But I must not grieve you, my child. The world calls me happy, for it +penetrates not the covering that my proud spirit has thrown over all, +and I am willing it should be deceived. I came to this quiet village to +gain strength to endure; when I have accomplished my object I shall +return to my Virginia home. It is a bright spot to the looker on, full +of plenty and repose for one whose soul has power to take them in; and +to this home, my sweet comforter, I would take you." + +Phebe started. + +"Smother that refusal in those bewitching eyes, for I shall take none of +it," she laughed. "You have just pleaded for my love. What good under +the sun will it do you when hundreds of miles are piled up between us? +No, no. We need each other. The days we have been together have made you +a necessity to me. Do not answer me now," she continued, gently placing +her white hand over the lips of her companion, as she saw them move for +utterance. "Take a few more days to think of it. We have plenty of time. +Talk to me now about this Willie, of whom you have spoken. You did not +tell me that you loved him, but is it not so, my child?" + +"Yes, I love him more and better than any one else. He is a poor +cripple, four years older than I, and we have been together every day +since his father brought me to him. His mother loved us both, and when +she was about to die, she gave him to me, and told me never to forget or +forsake him. How can I leave him to go with you? He has been such a dear +brother to me for so many years; _you_ would love him, too, I am sure, +if you knew him as well as I." + +"How your cheeks glow, little enthusiast! Now let me ask, is your hero +drawn by a dog usually?" + +"Yes. I was sure you must have seen him during some of your rides for he +has come to the village often since I have been here." + +"I have met him only twice, but even these faint glimpses into his +peaceful face takes away my wonder at your heart's bestowal. It was pity +that caused me to notice him and long for another beam from the liquid +eyes, and now that I know who he is I can but feel hurt that you have +not invited him to our rooms. It would do me good I know to study that +character and learn resignation from its teachings." + +"May I? O--you do not know how much I thank you! I will go this very day +to the parsonage, with your permission, to tell him. He may be there, +when it is cooler, to hear from me; and _if_ I could meet him!" + +"Did I not say that it was _my_ wish to study him for sake of the good +it might do me?" and she kissed the glowing cheek of the young girl with +a passion unusual to her. "Then go at once if you hope to see him, but +hasten back for I am too selfish to permit you to remain long away. It +is lonely, darling, and I cannot understand how I ever lived without +you." + +"You are so good!" and Phebe pressed the soft caressing hand to her +trembling lips. + +Nothing is more sweet than to be guided into this realm of thought by +the precious foretaste of the love that awaited her when the end should +be reached. She had gone out into the darkness expecting nothing but +chilliness and gloom, but instead she was walking "by the side of still +waters" and there was freshness and beauty all along the way. Still a +portentous cloud was floating in the clear blue of her gilded sky, for +how could she ever leave Willie to go with Mrs. Gaylord to her southern +home? The weeks were rapidly passing, and when the hot summer days had +all flitted away there would come a change, and her life had received so +many already! "Where would the next one take her?" As she stepped in +front of the mirror for a moment a smile of satisfaction stole over her +young face. The new hat Mrs. Gaylord had purchased for her was very +becoming, as that lady had asserted, and she thought how it would please +Willie to see her looking so well. He had often lamented during the last +two years that it was not in his power to procure these little luxuries, +and she went on her way with a happy heart. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE OPENING OF A NEW LIFE. + + +"And whether we be afflicted, it is for our consolation and salvation, +which is effectual for the enduring of the same sufferings which we also +suffer; or whether we be comforted it is for our consolation; for as all +hearts suffer, all have the power of consolation." + +"Mrs. Gaylord had suffered, and out of the sad experience of her +eventful life had come the power to administer to others." Such was +Phebe's thought when on her way to the parsonage, which stood in the +suburbs of the village surrounded by its fresh green lawn that had +always appeared so winning to the lovers of beauty, and peaceful to the +seeker after "consolation." + +Mr. Ernest also knew how to bestow this gift on the weary heart. His +early days had not been filled with the bright things that rightfully +belong to childhood, and his after years were those of toil and +strugglings. He understood well how to apply the sympathies so consoling +to those whose feet are torn with the thorns by the way. + +Our little pedestrian was walking away from one minister of comfort to +another who was equally skilled, and it was with the greatest difficulty +that she could keep her airy feet down upon the well-beaten track which +ran along by the side of the broad highway to the pleasant home of the +village pastor, where she hoped to find Willie and extend to him Mrs. +Gaylord's pressing invitation. Mr. Ernest had told her that he usually +came in the early morning or in the cool of the evening, and now the sun +was fast sinking down behind the western clouds. There might be a storm +approaching, for the breezes were fresh and cool, and she could but +think how the ripples were sweeping around the "sand-bar" and lifting +the broad lily-pads among the rushes not far out from where the pleasant +row-boat was fastened to the old oak tree. Should she ever glide in the +little boat over the lovely blue waters again? And then, when the stern +old winter had thrown his coverlet of ice across its throbless bosom, +when the lilies were all asleep in their cozy beds, what delightful +rides she and Willie had enjoyed on its smooth surface as Lloyd Hunter +drew them on his large comfortable sled. Was all this gone forever? She +reached the door, and as no one was in sight, stopped a moment while her +thoughts went on. + +Willie was not there, for his visit had been made in the morning. + +"I am going by there to-morrow." + +Phebe's eyes brightened. + +"May _I_ go with you? Mrs. Gaylord will not let me walk so far, it not +being 'lady-like,'" she smiled. "She has invited him to our rooms, and I +am so anxious." + +"Certainly, my dear; but be all ready, for I have an engagement at nine, +eight miles away." + +There had been no need for this last suggestion, for Phebe felt quite +sure that with such a prospect before her she could not sleep at all. +Still, after talking the matter over with Mrs. Gaylord, and getting her +consent for the proposed visit, her heart felt a reaction at the thought +of again meeting Fanny. It seemed long since she had been there, and the +partition wall which had divided them while still together, had not been +lowered by a single act, and now really appeared more formidable than +ever when viewed at such a distance. How could she ever meet her? + +When the morning sun sent his bright beams into her window she sprang +from her bed with the question still unanswered. + +"Good morning," said Mrs. Gaylord, putting her head in at the door at +that very moment. + +Phebe was surprised. Seldom did the lady leave her room before all of +the rest had breakfasted. + +"O, you needn't look so wonderingly at me," she continued, laughing. "I +only thought I would tell you to put on your new white dress, as it is +such a lovely morning, and then I want you to appear your best, for I +know _he_ will appreciate it," and she was gone. + +"Well does she know how to be a comforter," thought Phebe. + +How well she remembered at that moment the last walk she had with Willie +down by the little pond, and his mournful wail of desolation as they +talked of his lonely future without her! + +The bell sounded along the hall telling all who desired an early +breakfast that it was now ready, so hastening with her toilet, she +opened the door leading to Mrs. Gaylord's room, and to her surprise +found her also ready to go with her. + +"I have had a new thought," she said gaily, "and have ordered the +carriage. We will go together and take him out for a little airing. +Rover, I have no doubt, will be much obliged to be excused for one day. +Two miles and a half is a pretty long road for such a brute to draw so +heavy a load." + +Phebe made no answer, for she was a little disappointed. She had +anticipated the walk back and the uninterrupted talk more than she had +herself been aware of. + +"Do you not like my arrangement?" queried the lady, artlessly. + +Phebe expressed much pleasure at the prospect, and, come to think of it, +"the new plan was preferable, as it would take away all embarrassment in +the meeting with Fanny." + +The carriage was at the door when the two were ready, and in a few +minutes they halted before the parsonage to report the change. Then away +they rolled on their delicate errand of pleasure and comfort. + +Never had Phebe looked so fresh and pretty as now. Her plain hat of +white straw sat jauntily on her heavy braids of jetty hair, from beneath +which her dark eyes shone with a new brilliancy, her dress, about which +Mrs. Gaylord had been so particular, set off her well rounded form to +the best advantage, and as she sat by the richly attired lady no one +would have imagined that the two were mistress and menial. Some such +thoughts must have passed through the mind of the young girl, for her +cheeks glowed, and an air of worth if not superiority, sat with easy +dignity upon her every movement. + +"There he is," she exclaimed, as they came in sight of the white cottage +among the maples. "He is waiting for us." + +"Hurry Frank," said the lady, "he does not yet recognize you Phebe." + +"Willie, dear brother Willie!" she called out as the carriage drew up +before the gate, and in a moment she had darted down by his side, and +throwing her arms around his neck said cheerily: "Come, Willie, Mrs. +Gaylord wants to take you out for a ride! It is lovely, and Rover can +have a rest!" His face crimsoned as he realized that strangers were +witnessing their joyful meeting. Unperceived Mrs. Gaylord had +approached, and holding out her hand said pleasantly: "Phebe was so +selfish that she was going to have you all to herself but I concluded to +defeat her plans. Will you be so kind as to go with us and spend the day +at our rooms? We will try to make it very pleasant for you." All this +was said with so much tenderness that it would have been impossible for +the poor boy to refuse. + +"Let me get your hat, for I see that you are all ready as usual," and +Phebe forgetting her dread of the "frigid Fanny" rushed into the house, +meeting that important personage on the very threshold. + +"Good morning" was her cheerful salutation; "we are going to take Willie +away from you for a few hours, and I have come for his hat." + +"He has not been to breakfast yet," was the chilling reply. "I think you +had better wait and give him time to eat." + +"Perhaps it would be better," ejaculated Phebe as she passed her, hat in +hand. + +"In the meantime would you not like to go with me down our pleasant walk +to the pond?" asked Phebe, as she came back where Mrs. Gaylord and +Willie were conversing familiarly. The lady cheerfully consented and +they were soon out of sight among the trees that skirted the meadow +brook. When they returned, Willie was sitting by the side of Frank and +his usually pale face was flushed with excitement. + +"If you like we will go around by the old town road," said the driver as +the rest of his company became seated. "It will be two miles farther +back but it is cool and shady." "All right!" and the happy trio were +rapidly borne away. Phebe had told her friend how her "dear brother" +became so helpless and his sensitiveness in regard to it, and had more +than once seen the tears of sympathy glisten in the fine eyes of the +listener at the narration. + +"His feet and limbs below the knees have not grown since he was a baby," +she had said; "and of course they cannot bear the body, which is well +developed. He can creep about very well, but is unwilling that any one +outside of his own home should see him. When a mere child he has told me +his manner of locomotion was to sit and _hitch_ himself about, which +gave him the appellation among the boys of 'hitch Evans' which so +mortified his pride that he would not appear among them." + +"Poor boy!" was the low response. Now, however, Mrs. Gaylord chatted +pleasantly with him about the beauties of the landscape--the fading +glories of the passing summer and of her own home in the sunny south, +until as he said after, "I forgot that I was a mere cypher amid it all." +At last they arrived at the hotel, and as Frank with his strong arms set +him on the broad winding stairway he scrambled up to the top on his +hands and knees, laughing as he did so because Phebe would wait for his +slow movements rather than trip forward with Mrs. Gaylord, who wanted to +see if Tiny had all things in readiness. + +It was a delightful day to them all. Dinner was served in the upper +room, and Phebe thought as she watched the glowing face of her brother +that it was never before half so beautiful as now. Was it because Phebe +was again near him? Or had the kind words and suggestions of his new +friend aroused energies of which before he was not conscious? It was +true that every moment had been filled with reading and conversation and +it was all so new to Willie! "It is a fact," continued Mrs. Gaylord +after Tiny had taken off the last dish from the table; "that many with +far less brains and more inefficient than yourself have filled important +places in the world's history. With exercise I do not see why your body +should not become sturdy and robust. I have a friend in Boston who has a +large clothing store and manufactures his own goods, and the great +object of insisting upon your company to-day was to tell you that I +will, if you desire it, bring your case to his notice, and if he favors +my suggestions will let you know all about it." + +"O--if I could!" came from his overflowing heart. "If I could only do +something! I have always been told that it was no use for me to exert +myself for I was helpless, and I had settled down as far as it was +possible on that supposition." + +"But you are not! Your present skill with the needle has its advantages +and in a very short time you would be independent at least. Labor +brings contentment and with it the years would not pass so laggardly." +Phebe had come up behind him and was smoothing his brown curls with her +gentle hand, and reaching up his trembling one he clasped hers tightly +as he asked: + +"Phebe, more than sister, can I do this? Will the time ever come when I +shall cease to eat the bread of dependence? Tell me Phebe, for your +words have ever given me strength; am I truly only the long withered +stalk you hold as the emblem of myself?" + +"No, Willie! Believe what Mrs. Gaylord has said and grow firm! You +can--you will! I feel it in my heart you 'will go up the stairs' and +leave some at the foot who do not now expect to stay there! I thought of +it to-day and determined not to let you go ahead of me, and so kept +close by your side." She laughed while he warmly pressed the hand he had +been holding. + +"You see," interposed Mrs. Gaylord, "Phebe and I have talked a little +about this but I did not mention, even to her, the plans which for more +than two weeks I have been maturing. To-morrow we will go to the city, +Phebe and I, and see what can be done, and if you will come to us on the +following day all can be decided." + +It _was_ decided! Mr. Bancroft of Boston would do well by him; take him +into his own home and see that his wants were attended to until he had +become efficient in the business, and then give him a place in his +establishment if he proved himself worthy. + +"Worthy?" exclaimed Phebe; "he is noble--he will be all you can +desire!" + +"The hearts of young ladies are not always reliable in _business_ +relations," replied the gentleman with a mischievous twinkle in his +bright eye. "However, Mrs. Gaylord, upon your maturer judgment I will +try him, for really you have excited in me an interest for the young +man; and I see no reason why he cannot be a master workman. _I_ began +life by coiling my feet under me on the bench, and I could have done it +just as well had they not been incased in No. 9's." He laughed. "His +Rover will be just the thing; he can soon be taught to bring his master +to his work and return to his kennel for protection. And by the way, I +shall be obliged to see that _his_ animal has an 'ordinance' of its own. +They kill dogs here so promiscuously." + +"_I_ had thought of that and concluded to set Pompy at work training +another for his use as soon as I return home. You know he is famous at +such work." + +Willie received the report of their successful mission in the city +with almost ecstatic joy. "Can it be true?" he thought. There would +be difficulties; any amount of pride must be overcome--shrinking +sensitiveness subdued--but he would try! To have aspirations--anticipations +of success--what more could he desire? + +In three days Mrs. Gaylord would go with Willie to his new home and +Phebe was to accompany them. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"ROSEDALE." + + +Come with me, gentle reader, to the sunny south, to the land of orange +groves, where the air is sweetest and the sky is bluest; where nature's +lyre does not of necessity get unstrung or lose her summer melodies as +winter breaks in with harsh, discordant notes to jar the ear and chill +the rich, warm blood. Come to the land of flowers, of poetry, of dreams. +Hard seems the fate which thrusts a "serpent into every paradise," in +whose trail death follows, withering up its freshness and throwing a +net-work of decay over its richest beauties. Yet such is the intruder +blighting many homes in the cold regions of the bustling north, as well +as in the clime where the sweet singers of the faded woods delight to +pour out their winter's songs. Alas! that it should be so. + +"Why, my Lily-Bell, how faded you look this morning! Worse than the rose +you wore in your hair last night. Now let me wager something. What shall +it be? Ah! my yesterday's letter against your's of yesterday, also, that +I can divine the cause. Shall it be? Ah! that smile! It was like the +morning zephyrs sporting with the withered petals of my 'Lily-Bell.' Let +me kiss back its beauty, or breath some of my exuberance into it, which +seems so worthless in its prodigality," and the lively little lady bent +over the invalid's chair and kissed over and over again the brow of her +companion. + +"There! there! Look quickly! Two little rose leaves of unquestionably +pinkish hue are fluttering in close proximity to those lovely dimples. +But they have flitted away again. What a pity that beauty is so +fleeting." + +"I should think you would despair, dear Grace, of charming one into life +who has been so long dead. The task would be more congenial to your +taste, I imagine, to roll me up and lay me away in your casket of +precious relics for memory to grow sentimental over in future years. Why +do you not do it, _la Petite_? Own that you are weary, as the rest do, +and thrust me out of sight." + +"No, indeed; I have no passion for musty relics. Come, let us away to +the drawing-room. It is nearly time for breakfast." + +"Are you aware, cousin mine, of the compliments you have been showering +upon me, 'fading, withering,' etc.? To tell the truth, I am quite +unwilling, under their pressure, to appear before our brilliant guests, +understanding now the full array of blemishes of which I am the +possessor." + +"I was only prattling, Lily-Bell. Nothing human could be purer or +sweeter than that face of yours. Let me picture it," and kneeling on the +carpet before her companion, she took a little white hand and pressed it +lovingly in her own. + +"No, no; do not call me silly. There, keep that smile. That little mouth +was just made for such glowing sunbeams to play about. How I would like +to tear away those lines of sadness which so mar its exquisite +formation, and bring back the soft tints to those lips. Not that it +would enhance its perfection, but it would denote health of body and +heart. Then those eyes, so dark, deep and fathomless! I cannot look into +their depths without a feeling of purity and holiness stealing into my +soul, as though I had taken a peep into the land of spirits where there +is no sin. What, a tear? Forgive me, darling. I should have known +better. I too often pelt the door of your heart's sepulcher with the +pebbles of my thoughtless volubility. Thank you for that look of +forgiveness. Now let me depart before I sin again. But, just a moment. +Whenever I plant my tripping feet on sacred ground, bid me hush, begone. +Check me, dearest. I want to be your sunbeam, not the east wind that +blows up dark clouds; will you?" + +"I will let you act and talk naturally. I like it. If at times you +discover tears, it need not frighten or silence you. They seem as +necessary to my existence as the rain to the summer flowers. Now begone; +_I_ shall go out among the zephyrs awhile that they may freshen up these +'withered petals.' Do not mention me below. Good bye," and Lillian, +kissing her hand to her companion, glided through the open door and away +out of sight. + +At the time of which I write there could not be found in all Georgia a +more charming home retreat from the cares and tumults of the bustling +world than the home of the Belmont's. + +"Rosedale" was what its name would seem to designate, a garden of roses. +The house was built around three sides of a hollow square in the center +of which a fountain sent up its sparkling jets above the cool twinkling +shadows of the trees which surrounded it, up into the sunlight, +catching its rainbow tints and falling back into the marble basin +beneath, with a cool trickling sound that charmed the weary and +enervated into quiet and repose, lulling the restless spirit into dreams +of future peace and rest. The open side looked towards the north, and as +far as the eye could reach the most charming landscape was extended. A +thoroughly cultivated cotton field was near by, but it wound around to +the right and was lost sight of behind the orange grove. On the left the +white rude huts of the negroes were just discernable. On--on, the +distant hills kept rising, over which the blue sky seemed to hover +lovingly, giving to the bright green fields a darker hue, and to the +little busy river below the terrace, a robe of its own soft color. + +The constructor of this beautiful home had been sleeping for many years +where the fir trees nestled together and the purling river sang all day +its rippling song as if to hush to more silent repose the quiet +slumberer. The widow, however, who had never laid aside her weeds, had +well maintained her position. There was no plantation in all that region +more thrifty or prosperous than this. It was a pleasure to visit +Rosedale, particularly now, as Charles, the only son, had returned from +his European tour as reputed heir and proprietor of the beautiful +estate, and of course the spacious drawing-rooms were crowded. + +One hour after Lillian had left her chamber she was sitting alone in a +quiet summer house at the foot of the terrace looking dreamily out upon +the landscape, listlessly plucking the roses which drooped about her and +scattering their bright petals on the ground at her feet. Perhaps she +imagined who would look for her there at that hour, still when the sound +of a footstep fell on her ear she started and her pale cheek flushed for +a moment; but when George St. Clair entered she smiled and extended her +hand in welcome. He took it tenderly in his own and seated himself at +her feet. + +"You have carpeted the ground for me with rose leaves which these little +hands have wantonly spoiled," he said with his usual gallantry. "O, +Lillian, how cruel you are!" + +"Do not George; I want to talk with you! I have spent a sleepless night +trying to summon sufficient resolution for this interview. I feel that +you deserve some share of my confidence at least, and it is sweet to +know that after all this struggling I can give it to you." + +"And I shall be glad to receive it, although I have a presentiment that +it is my death doom!" + +She bowed her head and her white lips touched his forehead. "I love you, +George, with the purest sisterly affection, and in my poor heart your +sorrows will ever find a sympathetic response. I feel that I shall give +you pain by what I must say, and God knows how gladly I would save you +from it if it was in my power. But bear with me; I have long loved +another! You have surmised it--_I_ now confess it! I was not yet fifteen +when I met and loved Pearl Hamilton. You remember the time I went north +to school? He was a Philadelphian by birth and a nobler, truer heart +never beat! Could you see him George you would not blame me for what I +did! I was a child--a petted, spoiled child! My wishes had never been +disputed and why should they be then? In a very few weeks I became his +wife. Do not look at me so wildly! It is _all_ true--_I am a wife!_" + +"Lillian, _why_ have you deceived the world and me so long? Why did you +not tell me this three years ago when I returned from Europe? Had you +done so I would have spared you all of the torment my repeated proffers +of love must have caused; and it might have been had I known the truth +at that time less bitter for me to-day. But I will not chide you." The +young man had risen to his feet while speaking and paced to and fro the +full length of the arbor. + +"Come and sit by me," she pleaded; "I have not yet finished." He obeyed. +"It was not _my_ fault, George, that you did not know all at the time, +but let me continue my narrative. It will not detain you long. I was +married, not however without the approbation of my aunt, with whom I +resided. As soon as it was over a sudden fear took possession of me. I +did not dare tell my mother. For the first time in all my life I had +acted without her approval, and now I was fearful of her displeasure. It +came at last. After much persuasion from my husband and friends I told +her all. One bright day when Pearl was absent from home my aunt sent for +me. I obeyed the summons, and there met my mother after a separation of +more than a year. Her greeting was cold, her manner stern and +commanding. It seems that she had been in the city three days, and +during that time had accumulated legal documents sufficient to prove to +_me_, at least, that as neither of us was of age our marriage was null +and void. Her words overpowered me. But I will not picture the scene +that followed. I was a _child_ again obedient to her will. We left the +city before the return of my husband, and I have never seen him since. I +have written many letters, but have received none in return. Only _once_ +have I heard that he yet lived. My aunt wrote that he stood very high in +the estimation of the people and remained true to his boyish vows. That +letter was not intended for my eyes, but they saw it, and my heart +responded to his fidelity. Thus to-day you find me what I am. Now, tell +me, George, do you hate me for what I have done? I had not the power to +break away from the injunction laid upon me. My mother said that in time +I would not only regret but forget, my folly, and would thank her for +placing me in a position to marry some one equal to myself. O George, +think of these long years I have carried this aching, desolate heart. My +whole being has seemed enervated. But this fresh proffer of your love +has aroused me. I _am_ a _woman_, and there is _injustice_ in all this. +_You_ are good and noble; for this reason I have confided in you, +breathed into your ear words that were never before spoke by me." + +"Thank you! But, Lillian, what proof has your aunt that _he_ remains +true to his early vows? Do you think _any_ earthly power could keep _me_ +from you were you _my_ wife? And yet you tell me that you have not +received one answer to your many letters." + +"Did I not also tell you that there was _injustice_ in all this? And +more--I am fully convinced that there has been and _now is_ a _criminal_ +wrong being enacted of which _I_ am the subject." + +"It _cannot_ be! O Lillian! henceforth I am your friend and your +brother. Command me at all times, and I am your obedient servant. +Henceforth my country only shall be my bride. I will wed her with good +faith. I will suffer, I will die for her. But you will be my sister, +Lillian. Call me _Brother_. Let that appellation, at least, fall from +those sweet lips like the refreshing dew, for I feel that my heart is +withering, and then I must go. I came to bid you farewell. New duties +are calling me, and I am glad that it is so." + +"God bless you, my brother," came like low, plaintiff music to his ear. + +For one moment he held her close to his heart, and gazed into the +beautiful eyes where a world of love and suffering lay hidden; then +imprinting a kiss upon her fair cheek fled from her presence. He was +gone. + +For a long time Lillian sat like one in a dream. Could it be? Had the +friend of so many years really spoken the last farewell? How much she +had prized his love; his demonstrations of tenderness; and now they were +to be hers no more. How much it had cost her to sever this sparkling +chain of gold which the heart of woman ever covets, God only knows. But +the work had been accomplished at last, and the thought brought more of +relief with it than pain after all. She had pondered it so long and +shrank from its performance until the burden of her coming duty pressed +heavily upon her; but it was lifted now, and a sense of peace stole into +her mind as she realized the truth. Then there came a wave of +apprehension that suddenly dashed its murky waters over her. "What would +her mother say?" She had so long been the submissive _child_ in her +strength and power that it was a marvel _how_ she had dared to loosen +herself from them or act for once upon her own responsibility. There was +one reason why that mother had so insisted upon her wedding George St. +Clair, but the daughter had never been able to obtain it from her. + +"But I could _not_--O I could not," she exclaimed, rising and standing +in the door way of the arbor as she looked away down the road where her +lover had ridden at full speed, taking with him, as she well knew, an +aching heart, but one not more wretched than her own. + +Raphael made the transfiguration a subject for his pencil, but died +before it was finished, and how many of us will do the same? We begin +life with glowing tints, but the sombre colors are demanded. We lay +aside the brush as incapable of the task, and other hands interfere to +spoil its designs or destroy the first intention altogether. Lillian's +life had opened with a few glowing outlines, but a masterly hand had +changed the subject, and the canvas was yet to receive its filling up, +and God was marking the designs upon it for her; and, discovering this, +she bowed her head with reverential awe before the solemn realization, +and with a firmer and steadier step than had been hers for years, she +walked to the house and entered her own room. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HEART'S SECRETS REVEALED AND UNREVEALED. + + +"He--he--he! Didn't Massa George make Spit-fire fly, tho'? Gorry! +'specks them bobolishenis 'll have to take it now, no 'stake. +He--he--he!" + +"O you get out. What you talk 'bout bobolishenis anyhow? Think you're +mighty smart nigger, don't ye? It's my opinion ye don't know +nothin'--that's all." And Aunt Lizzy moved away with the air of one who +did understand and utterly despised one who was not as fortunate as +herself, as the toss of her lofty turban perfectly demonstrated. + +"'Specks old woman, ye'd jus' like to know all what dis nig' duz. +'Mighty smart! He--he--he! Gals ain't 'speeted to know nothin' no how," +and Pete, who was the especial favorite of his young master, turned away +from his unappreciative auditor with all the dignity supposed to have +been handed over to him with the last suit of young massa's cast-off +clothing in which he was pompously arrayed. + +Just then the soft folds of a white dress peeped out from behind the +foliage of the "Prairie Queen," which scrambled about in native +abandonment everywhere over the corridor on one side of the moss-covered +terrace. Pete saw it as it waved in the noonday breeze, which was +scarcely sufficient to move a leaf or flower, so stealthily it came +ladened with its burden of perfume. Discovering that some one was so +near, the astonished slave was about to retreat in much confusion, when +Grace Stanley stepped from behind the massive vine and stood before him. + +Evidently there had been tears in her brilliant eyes that were unused to +weeping, but they had succeeded only in leaving transparent shadows over +their brightness. Sad traces, to be sure, of what had been, as well as +presentiments of what might be. Her soft cheek wore a deeper tint than +was usual to it, and her long lashes drooped lower, casting a sombre +shade beneath them, and that was all. Yet the little heart, all unused +to sorrow, throbbed beneath the pure white bodice with a wound it +seemingly had not the power to bind up. She had come to Rosedale as free +and joyous as the birds that flitted among the orange blossoms where the +zephyrs were then gathering their sweets, and the future over which her +feet would gladly tread decked with the brightest and sweetest flowers, +among which the trailing serpent had never for a moment showed his +treacherous head; but she had found that the blossom of hope will wither +and the golden sunshine fade; and this consciousness had pierced her +sensitive nature as a cruel dart, and the pain had made her cheek +tear-stained and brought shadows of disappointment. She had met George +St. Clair two years before her present visit, and thought him the most +noble and true of all his sex, and who can tell of the dreams that came +uninvited into her nightly visions as well as in her peaceful day +reveries? Can you, gentle reader? There comes a day to us all when the +kaleidoscope of every heart's experience gives a sudden turn as it +presents to view more complex minglings of brilliant colors and +perplexing designs than has ever been seen in any previous whirl, weird +fancies through which we are all looking. + +Grace Stanley had been watching their ever changing glow until the +brilliant tints had imprinted their rosy hues over every hope and +promise of her life; but on this very morning there had been another +turn, and the sombre shades were now uppermost. He loved "Lily-Bell," +and had flown from her presence a rejected lover, but without one word +of farewell to her. "My country shall henceforth be my bride," she had +heard him say, and who could tell what the terrible war might bring to +them all. He was gone, and this fact alone was sufficient to sadden her +future, still "no one shall know it," she thought as she walked across +the garden and stepped upon the moss-covered terrace. "This hour shall +be covered from sight forever, even from myself." She had grown calm as +she stood there listening to the conversation just outside, and with a +faint smile flitting among the sombre tints of sadness that were +retreating from her pretty face, she bluntly asked the bewildered Pete-- + +"What did I hear you say about Master George?" + +She had drawn more closely the thick veil of indifference, and suddenly +her face was wreathed in smiles as she stood there looking into the +dark, perplexed visage of the scared negro boy; just as flowers will +grow and thrive in beauty on the graves where our idols lie buried. + +"O nothin', Miss Grace--nothin', nothin' at all. But he did make +Spit-fire look buful, sartin, sure. _Gorry!_ didn't she _go_, tho'? +Dat's all, Miss Grace, sure dat's all." + +"I thought I heard you say something about his going to shoot the +abolitionists, Pete, was I mistaken? Do you know what they are?" + +"Don't know nothin', Miss Grace, sartin. 'Spects dey be somethin' what +hunts a nigger mighty sharp, 'cause I heard Massa Charles say he'll pop +'em over--dat's all, young missus, sartin, sure, dat's all." + +"Well, Pete, let me tell you something. In my opinion you will be wiser +than you are now, and that before many years; only keep your eyes open." + +"Neber you mind, Miss Gracy. Dis nig' 'll keep his eyes peeled, dat's +what he will." + +Grace Stanley passed leisurely into the hall which ran through the main +building leading to the open court beyond where the fountain was +throwing its cool, sparkling jets into the sunshine. She did not heed +it, however, but passed on up the broad winding stairway, meeting no one +on the way as she ascended to the hall above. The sun had nearly reached +his meridian glory, and the oppressive heat had as usual driven the +inmates of that elegant home to their shaded retreats, where in +comfortable deshabille they lounged on beds and sofas drawn up by the +open windows, that perchance they might catch some stray breeze that +would flit up from the orange groves or come from the woodland far away +on the hill side. + +"Grace," called a sweet voice through the half-open door of Lillian's +room, "I thought it was your light step I heard on the stairs. Come in +here, darling. See how nice and cool it is." Grace obeyed, but Lillian +did not notice the sombre shadows that were playing over the usually +sunny face of her cousin, so absorbed was she with the hovering glooms +that had fallen from her own passing clouds, and so she continued, +pleasantly: "Perhaps you would like to make yourself a little more +comfortable? Put on this wrapper, dear, and then come and sit by me, +will you? I want to talk a little." + +This was just what her companion did not care to do; still, remembering +that her mission to Rosedale was to cheer by her lively mirth and +vivacity her drooping cousin, she hastened to obey. Yet how was she to +accomplish her task? Only three weeks had passed since her arrival, yet +weeks so heavy with their weight of circumstance that her very soul +seemed pressed down beneath their weight. Where now was her native +joyousness? The cheering powers she was expected to impart to others? +She must recall them. Yet she was chilled and oppressed; what was she to +do? Act. Her retreating volubility could only be summoned again to its +post through action, and it _must_ be done! + +"What a sweet little bouquet," she exclaimed, arousing herself to her +work. "A delicate spray of jesamine, a few tiny rose-buds and geranium +leaves. Do you know that I never could have done that? There is +something so exquisite in their arrangement. Somehow as a whole they +send an impressive appeal to the inner senses, my 'Lily-Bell.' There +must be such a bubbling fountain of poesy in a soul like yours. Teach +me, dear cousin, to be like you." And the pensive speaker dropped upon +the floor at the feet of Lillian, where she most delighted to sit, and +drooping her head wearily upon her companion's knee. + +Both were silent. One heart had that morning drawn back the rusty bolt +on the door of its inner chamber and rejoiced to find itself strong +enough to drive out at last, its long imprisoned secret of gloom that +had made it so wretched through the revolving changes of many years, +while the other was even then busy with the fastenings of the secret +closet where the unsightly skeleton of her lost love was to be hidden +from the world, from herself. Yet so doing might eat the bloom from her +cheek and the joy from her buoyant nature. Why did she wish to be like +Lillian? She had not asked even her aching heart this question, but all +unconsciously to herself a response came up from the hidden recesses of +her soul where a fresh grave had been dug by trembling hands and into it +a dead hope had been lowered and closely covered, while the damp earth +was trodden down hard about it, and the low whisper said, "If like her, +this poor heart to-day would not be draped with its sombre emblems of +bereavement." To be as she was, to possess the power to win. O the poor +throbbing hearts all over the world that must keep on through the years +with their wounds and pains, for in them are many graves hidden away +among the cypress shades, where the passer-by can never spy them out; +but the eye of the eternal one sees them all, and at every burial the +tear of sympathy mingles with the liquid drops of bereavement that must +fall on the stone at the mouth of the sepulcher which by and by will be +rolled away at His command. + +Lillian aroused herself after a long silence. + +"You give me more praise, darling, than I deserve," she said. "I am as +incapable as yourself in performing these little touches of the fine +arts which you see every day on my table. Black Tezzie can alone teach +you the mysteries of a skill she so fortunately possesses. Do not look +so incredulous, or I shall be obliged to prove it to you," she smiled. + +"I am not unbelieving, sweet Lily-Bell," she answered, "but I confess +that you have surprised me. I should sooner have suspected either of the +other servants of such a gift as that ungainly biped," Grace laughed, +but Lillian remained silent. + +"This only proves that it is sometimes impossible to read the soul from +the outside, my pretty cousin. I learned long ago that there was more +beauty and a brighter reflection of heavenly glory shut up in that ebony +casket, so unprepossessing in its general make-up, than in half the more +graceful and elegant ones. But perhaps you are among the number who +believe that these dark forms we see every day have no souls within +them?" + +"Why, Lily-Bell! what a suspicion. Still, how am I supposed to have any +knowledge regarding the matter, seeing I have never dissected one of +them?" + +A gesture of impatience followed this remark, but her companion did not +appear to notice it, for she continued: + +"I believe that Old Auntie has as pure and white a soul as ever +inhabited an earthly tenement. I have laid my head on her bosom with a +deeper sense of rest than it was possible for me to obtain elsewhere. +Her prayers that have gone up so continually for 'de poor wee lamb' have +imparted more real comfort and hope to this tempest-tossed soul of mine +than any that could have ascended from consecrated temples. No soul? +What could I ever have done without her in this life? And my +anticipations regarding the brighter one to follow are stronger to-day +because of her." + +Grace Stanley arose from her seat and walked to the window, while her +companion did not fail to perceive that a cloud had risen and was +spreading itself over her features. Not wishing to press the subject +further, she remarked calmly: + +"Some of our company are leaving to-day, and George St. Clair wished me +to hand over to you his adieus, as he departed in great haste, +regretting the fact that he was not able to meet you again." + +At the first sound of her voice Grace had returned to her seat upon the +carpet, and Lillian, taking the sweet face between her little hands, +gazed tenderly into it, as she continued: + +"You will pardon me, darling cousin, I know, but did you not hear our +conversation in the rose arbor, at the foot of the lower terrace, two +hours ago?" + +The dimples stole out of the cheeks the soft, white hands of the +interrogator was pressing so lovingly, and the light joyousness in her +bright, sparkling eyes became dimmed, while a veil of crimson spread +itself over it all. The head bowed low as it released itself from its +imprisonment, and tears that had long been struggling to be free came +now unrestrainedly. + +"I do not chide you, darling; I knew you were not far away, for I had +espied a portion of your white dress fluttering through a crevice of +the vine outside of the trestle-work, and rejoiced that it was so." + +"I would not have remained, Lillian, had not my dress become so +entangled that I could not loosen it without revealing my presence. +Believe me, cousin, I was not a willing listener. You will not doubt +this?" + +"Certainly not; and, darling, let me assure you that my heart is lighter +for the circumstance, for we are confidants now. I have had such a +longing to tell you all; but this one secret had become habitual to me. +The very thought of revealing it filled me with a nervous horror. But it +is over now, and by and by I want to impart to your tender sympathies +half of the burden I have so long carried. You do not know how +unendurable its weight has become. O Grace, it is dreadful to be obliged +to endure for years the pains of a wounded heart. To feel its throbbings +day after day without the power to claim a panacea from another's love." + +Grace started. + +"It must be true," she thought, "and am I to thus endure?" + +Ah! little did she know how the first deep wounds, that seemingly "will +never heal," can be soothed in some hearts, while in others no power can +assuage the pain. Grace Stanley could forget, for the sunshine of her +nature was salutary. + +At this juncture Tezzie appeared in the doorway, and announced that +"Missus wanted do young ladies to dress fine for dinner, for Massa +Charles was coming back wid a strange gemman." + +"Very well, we will be ready in good time," replied Lillian. "Now go and +call Agnes to arrange my hair." + +The dark, dumpy figure disappeared from sight, and Lillian, bowing her +head, kissed again the pure white forehead of her companion. + +"To-morrow, dear, I want your little heart to beat in sympathy with my +own. Good by," and Grace left the room. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE MOTHER'S CURSE. + + +"There, Agnes, you may go now. How do you like my looks? Will I do to +appear before the the strange gentleman?" + +"Look, Miss Lily? Why you look like the buful cloud I seed lyin' so soft +and still in de sunshine, honey. But I like the white dress more, for +den you look just like de angels, waiting for de wings." + +"That will do. You have imagination sufficient for a poet, Agnes, but +you may go now." + +She smiled as she waved her hand towards the door with a delicate +movement, and she was alone. Only a moment, however, for the faithful +servant had just disappeared when the door reopened and Mrs. Belmont +entered the apartment. She was still graceful and queenly in her +bearing, and her long black dress swept the rich carpet with an +imperious air. Time had been very gentle with that fair face, touching +lightly her brow with his unwelcome traces, neither quenching the fire +in her dark eyes nor dulling the lustre of her glossy hair. Yet her +regal head had a habit of drooping, as if weary of its weight of +thought, and her lips became more and more compressed as their color +faded and lines of anxious care grew deeper as the years rolled by. + +"I came to tell you that there was to be company at dinner." + +"Not before? I understood Tezzie to say there would be a stranger here +at lunch." + +"It may be so; Charles is to bring home a college friend, I believe." + +This would have been very unsatisfactory under some circumstances, but +Lillian was not curious. As her mother entered the room she discovered +that strange, wild light in her eyes which she had seen there many times +before, and well knew that beneath it a hidden fire was raging. Mrs. +Belmont had not once looked into the face of her daughter, but had +seated herself by the open window, her elbow on the heavy frame-work, +while her head rested wearily upon her hand. A soft, warm breeze came +softly and caressed her with its perfumed wings, fanning her heated +brow, and whispering all the time the sweetest words of purity and peace +through the interwoven branches of the luxurious vine outside. In her +heart, however, were discordant notes to which she was listening, having +no ear for other sounds, were they ever so melodious. + +"Lillian," she said, at last, "did you reject George St. Clair this +morning?" + +"I did, Mother." + +"You did?" + +"Yes, I did." + +The daughter spoke quietly and calmly, but Mrs. Belmont arose hurriedly +from the chair and stood before her. + +Lillian did not quail before the burning look which was fixed upon her, +but returned it with a determined gaze, out of which pity and filial +affection beamed their gentle rays. + +"Child! child! this must not--cannot be! I command you to recall him. It +is not too late. He loves you, and would, without doubt, overlook this +unparalleled freak of foolishness in which you have been so +unaccountably indulging. Recall him, Lillian; your whole future +happiness depends upon it." + +"You are mistaken, Mother; I never could have been happy had I accepted +that true, noble heart, and given in exchange my poor broken and divided +one, and certainly he never could have taken me into his great love +after knowing me as I am, which he surely must have done, or I, at +least, would have been eternally wretched." + +"You did not tell him?" was the quick inquiry. + +"I told him that _I was a wife_. That my heart was forever bound up in +those matrimonial vows still unsevered, and that I loved him as a +brother, and no more." + +"You are mad! a fool! You know not what you do," and trembling with +excitement she sank back on the chair from which she had risen. + +Lillian did not speak or move, but tears came welling up through the +freshly opened wounds in her poor heart, and filled her large pensive +eyes with their bitter moisture. + +Again the mother spoke. + +"I feel disposed, just now, to enlighten you a little in regard to your +future prospects if you persist in this silly sentimental mood, which +you seem to think so becoming! I have striven hard to keep it from you +and your brother for many years, and to surround you with every luxury +your inherited station really demanded. More than this, I have planned, +wrought, and guided with true maternal skill and instinct the fortunes +of you both in such a manner that you might, if you would, ever retain +your enviable position in the social world, for which I have exerted +myself to fit you." + +"I do not understand you, Mother. Be merciful and enlighten me, as you +offered to do." + +"Yes, I will; but you will not find much mercy in it. Know, then, that +we are not owners of this beautiful estate. On the contrary, it was +mortgaged to the father of George St. Clair by your own father some time +before his death. Think, if you can, of the long years of toil I have +experienced since that time, and ask if you are right in pulling down +about our heads the whole structure of prosperity and affluence that I +have been so long in building." + +"I discern your intricate plans, my Mother, and pity you." + +"Pity me? Do you then persist in your folly? I have proven to you then +that it is in your power to avert this ruin! Mr. St. Clair told me not +long since that Rosedale would eventually belong to his son, and he was +happy to feel quite sure that my daughter would share it with him. I +cannot much longer keep the Gorgon from devouring us! All we can then +call our own will be the negroes, and these, without doubt, will +depreciate much in value if the anticipated war of the North really +comes upon us! Decide Lillian! Tell me that you will accede to my wishes +in recalling George St. Clair! That northern mud-sill has, without +doubt, long before this returned to his native element. He is dead to +you--as wholly, truly so as though you had never been guilty of so great +an indiscretion!" Lillian started to her feet. + +"Mother, one question! Did you not receive a letter from my aunt in +Philadelphia not many months ago saying that my husband had risen high +in the estimation of the people and was true to his early vows? Has that +information ever been contradicted? I read in the pallor of your face +that it has not! His heart beats as truly for me to-day as it did +sixteen years ago--and I am _his wife_! He is the father of my sweet +Lily-bud, and this bond can never be severed! No, no! I cannot, I _will +not_, wed another!" + +"_The curse of the heart-broken then rest upon you!_" She had moved away +with rapid steps while speaking, and although Lillian reached out her +hand imploringly the stately figure disappeared through the open door. O +the speechless agony of the next hour! O the suffering in that lonely, +sad, luxurious chamber! All the misery of her eventful life came rushing +over her! Spectral thoughts, that she had supposed were long since +banished forever, haunted her brain! How vivid and real they now +appeared in this new darkness. Then the future! Where was the black hand +of destiny to lead her? Even now she could see it reaching out its bony +fingers from among the mysteries that enveloped her hidden path! The +thick folds of an interminable gloom seemed to have fallen about her, +and everywhere she beheld that "mother's curse" written in letters of +fire! A rap was heard on the door and she arose mechanically and turned +the key. Soon the sound of a heavy tread was heard along the hall--then +down the winding staircase and lost in the distance. It was Tezzie, and +she was alone again! By and by the echoes of music and laughter came +floating up through the open window and mingled harshly with the +dreariness which pervaded that silent chamber! There was a merry group +in the spacious drawing-room before the dinner hour arrived. Where was +the wretched mother? Could it be that those rigid features which +disappointment, consternation and rage had blanched with their inhuman +concoctions was covered with a mask of conviviality and pleasure? +Lillian wept! It was well that tears came at last or the poor brain +would have become parched with the fever of its wild despair! The +sunshine at last departed from the window and night let down its black, +silken curtains around a weary tumultuous world. O, how many hearts sink +helplessly beneath their weight of woe, crushing under it the joy from +the outside world with its wealth of pomp and gaiety! Yet there are +those who, when the day departs, throw aside the sackcloth with which +they hide their misery and come with all their sorrows to the feet of +Him whose smiles alone have the power to dispel their gloom. Lillian did +not know how to pray! In all her years of perplexity and doubt she had +not reached out her hand to the only one who could have led her safely +out of it all. Now her heart called for something it had not yet +divined, but the perplexed soul was wistfully gazing upward through the +thick clouds that drooped so closely about her, and a feeble wail issued +from beneath the sombre darkness. Another low tap was heard on the door +which again aroused her. There had been many during the hours of her +self-imprisonment, but she had not heeded them. However, a low, sweet +voice penetrated her solitude and fell with soothing cadence upon her +ear. + +"It's Auntie, honey--open the door, poor lamb"; and Lillian's quick step +revealed the willingness with which she complied. The faithful old slave +came in and the door was relocked. + +"What fo' you killin' yo'self here all alone, honey? I know'd dar was +trouble all day and I just been askin' de good Lord to take care of you; +but I did want to come and see if he'd done it--poo' lamb!" Aunt Vina +had drawn her chair close to the side of Lillian, and the weary head +with its heavy weight of sorrow had fallen upon the shoulder of her +faithful friend. "Dar--bress you honey--cry all yo' trouble out. Dat's +de way de bressed Lord helps us to get rid on 'em. By an' by sweet lamb +He'll wipe 'em all away; den ye'll hab no mo' sorrow, honey, bress de +Lord!" + +"But I have now more than I can bear! You don't know what a terrible +load I am being crushed beneath!" + +"I know a good deal, chile. Missus told me to-day dat you wouldn't marry +Massa St. Clair, and she 'spects you was pinin' at somethin' she said! I +axed her if I might come and see you and she didn't care, but wanted I +should make you ''bey yo' mudder'; now de Lord knows better dan she do." + +"Did she tell you that she cursed me? O--Auntie! I could bear all the +rest, even the miserable future she has pictured to me; but it is +dreadful to carry through life the terrible burden of a mother's curse." + +"Neber you min', honey; de Lord'll pay no 'tention to such cussin', an' +it won't hurt ye a bit, if ye don't keep thinkin' on it. Why can't ye +tell Him all about it, poor chile, den t'row it all away? He'll take +good care ob it, sure, and it won't hurt you." + +"Do you believe, Aunt Vina, that God cares anything about me? Would He +listen if I should ask Him to take my cause into His hands?" + +"Sartin He would, honey. He lubs you ten times mo' dan Old Auntie, and +wouldn't she take ebery bit ob it if she could?" + +The rough hand of the slave woman touched with soft caress the +tear-stained cheek that was resting so near her own, and the cheering +words fell into her aching heart with a soothing influence. + +"Pray for me, Auntie, and I will try to do as you have bidden. The road +is very dark and gloomy where my faltering feet are standing, but it may +be as you say, that God will drive it all away." + +"O bress de Lord, bress de Lord! Auntie knows ye'll fin' it. Never mind +nothin', go tell Him eberythin', and see how de dark will all go 'way. +Dar, honey; old Vina'll go and get ye a good cup o' tea, and bring in de +lamp and make it more cheery like. De good Lord'll take care ob de +lamb!" + +"Where is Grace?" was the plaintive query. + +"O Miss Grace, she's 'most crazy 'bout you. I seed her alone in de +little arbor cryin' dreadful awhile ago; but den she puts 'em 'way +quick, and her pretty face looks all happy agin. She was singin' at de +pianner when I come up." + +"Tell her, Auntie, not to come to me until to-morrow. I wish to be left +alone to-night. You may bring me a cup of tea, then tell Agnes that I +shall not want her," was the pleading wail of the sorrowing heart as the +slave woman disappeared on her errand of love and tenderness. + +Fold thy wings lovingly over the bowed form of the humble suppliant, O +angel of pity, for the Father hears the cry of his suffering children; +not one ever pleaded in vain, and Lillian prayed! + +[Illustration] + + +[Illustration: "GIVE ME THAT PAPER." (See page 153).] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE MYSTERIOUS LETTER. + + +It was not until late the next day that Lillian granted the oft repeated +request of her cousin to be allowed to come to her, and not a moment was +lost ere the two friends were together. + +"It was cruel in you, my sweet Lillian, to banish me so long, but how +ill you look," and Grace Stanley clasped her arms about the dear form +and kissed the pale cheek tenderly. + +"You are mistaken, pretty cousin, in my general appearance, for I have +not been so well in a long time. In fact, your 'poor despondent cousin' +is almost happy to-day." + +Lillian was looking into the face of her companion while her pure liquid +eyes were overflowing with the new-found joy that was filling her heart. + +"I have been troubled, Grace. Yesterday a heavy wave rolled over me, +that came near burying your 'Lily-Bell' beneath it. But it has passed +on, and I was left out of the tempest, and a hand reached out to hold me +as I was going down beneath the roaring billows. At any rate I am +standing firm to-day, and have no fears of winds or storms. Somehow I +feel secure in the belief that I shall be shielded and brought through +it all," and the fair head drooped for awhile on her hand, and the +joyful tears came and baptised afresh her trembling new-born hope. +Grace had no word of trust to lay on the altar of consecration, and +could only sit at the feet of her who was casting her all upon it, and +be silent. + +"Forgive me cousin, my heart and thoughts have been straying. I wanted +to talk with you that I might, if possible, break the last cord that +binds me so tenaciously to the dark scenes of the past that I would bury +forever." + +"Are you able, Lillian, to bear the agitation such a conversation would +subject you to?" interposed Grace, with much feeling. "It would make me +very happy to know you had opened wide the door of your poor heart and +taken me into its sacred places, yet I would not give you the slightest +needless pain." + +"Thoughtful as ever, darling; but I feel quite sufficient for the task. +Yesterday you heard me tell George St. Clair of my marriage, and how my +mother came to the city and influenced me to go with her. No doubt you +think it strange, as he did, that no greater effort has been made by my +husband to reclaim his lost bride. I could not tell him all, the old +habitual fear made me silent. I am free to-day, and my confidence is +unfettered. No power could have kept him but the one this guilty hand +set up between us." + +"You, Lillian?" + +"Yes, Grace, I did it. Not willingly, not quite consciously, yet I did +it." + +Grace looked puzzled, and her bright eyes were fixed intently on the +sweet face she so loved, then she said, "Go on." + +"It was the night before our departure from Philadelphia when, seeing +the postman coming down the street, I ran out to meet him, for something +seemed to tell me he had a letter that would gladden my poor heart. I +was not mistaken. It was from Pearl, and O what a wealth of love it +contained. He would be at home in a week. The business that had called +him away was almost finished. 'Then, dearest,' he added, 'no king was +ever more ecstatic over his crown than I shall be with my own pure +Lily.'" + +"'Pure!' How that word thrust itself home to my poor quivering heart. I +had run with the precious missive to my room, and there, as the evening +shades settled down about me, I raved in my agony with the madness of +delirium. _I would not leave him!_ Alone that night I would fly into the +darkness leaving behind me forever those who would tear me from him. By +and by my mother came in with her soft, soothing tones, she pitied and +caressed me. It was not at all strange, she said, that I, a child, +should struggle in the arms of wisdom. I was weak now, but by-and-by I +could walk alone, then would come her reward. She was laboring for my +good only, and when I could look at it I calmly would bless her for it. +We would go to England, where my father's relatives were living, and she +would cause pleasure to fall around me as bountiful as summer rain. +After a few years of travel and study, if I then should find my heart +still clinging to its 'imaginary' love, I should return to the object of +my tried devotion. O how gradually but surely did my silly heart yield +to this sophistry! In a few hours I was her submissive tool. The +fascination of a European tour, the pictures of Parisian frivolities, +and the glitter of pomp and fashion in the society into which I might +plunge and come forth sparkling with its polished gems for all future +adorning, captured my bewildered senses and stilled my whirling brain. +In the morning we were to start on our journey, would I like to leave a +few words for him who would probably for a while grieve at my absence +and mourn over his disappointment? It would not, however, last long, +such troubles never do with these of his sex, she said, and I should not +certainly make myself uncomfortable about it. Nothing could be more to +my wishes, and then I was told that she had written a short letter which +I had better copy, as my head was not clear enough to think +intelligently. It would help him to forget his disappointment and make +him happy, just as I wished him to be. O _that letter!_ I can only give +you its purport; that I can never forget. It told him that terrible +falsehood that I went from him willingly believing it not only to be my +duty, but better for us both. Then it went on to say that I had come to +the conclusion since his absence, that my affections were fleeting with +my childhood; but if in after years I found that I was mistaken I would +frankly write and tell him so; until then I wished he would not try to +see or hear from me. Georgia would not be a pleasant place for a +northern 'abolitionist' like himself to visit, and should he presume +upon so rash an act, I had no doubt my mother would not fail to incense +the people against him, and pleaded that for my sake he would not +attempt it. He might have suspected the origin of that infamous epistle, +had not a cunning brain devised and executed it. O Grace, dear Grace! +how can you hold that perjured hand so closely in your own?" + +"It is pure and white my Lily-Bell; no sin-stain mars its beauty. Heart +and hand are free from such implications. But you told him also that you +were going to Europe?" + +"O, yes, and that it would be uncertain when we should return. We went +as anticipated the next morning, taking with us one hired servant. This +seemed strange to me at that time, as I supposed we were to return to +our southern home immediately and would need no one if this be so. I +soon found, however, our route lay in a different direction. I cannot +tell where we spent the summer months, but it was in a small cottage in +a wild, dreary place not so far from human habitation but that Margeret +could go twice a week in a few hours to procure the necessities on which +we subsisted. The first of October we left this retreat where I had +spent so many wretched hours under the surveillance of my mother, and +after two days of tiresome travel by private carriage and cars we +arrived at the seashore. There we took possession of a summer residence +on a high cliff that overlooked the water, which showed signs of not +having been long vacated. Here in less than three weeks I became a +mother! Can I tell you about it? O the terrible suspicions that arise in +my poor brain as I remember that scene! Only once did I look on my sweet +lily bud! I cannot make you understand the rapture of that moment! It +was _mine_--it was _his_! How I longed that he should see our beautiful +flower; and then I said 'her name shall be Lily-Pearl, and that shall be +the inseparable tie between us.' I was very ill for a long time they +told me, and when my fluttering life came back with its full powers I +was informed that my beautiful bud had withered and died and lay +sleeping in the elegant robe my hands had taken such pleasure in +forming. Grace--God forgive me if I impute wrong to the innocent; but +here in the presence of Him into whose hands I have committed my cause I +assert my belief that the terrible blow that came near severing the +brittle, trembling thread of life was a base fabrication and that my +child is not dead!" + +"Lillian! Lillian! I know it is a dreadful accusation, but listen! You +know I was in London five years and then my mother came for me. In one +year more we returned home. Not many weeks after my arrival I was +passing through the east hall when little Tommy came running to me with +a folded paper in his hand. He said he had picked it up from the floor +and I took it. It proved to be a letter written to my mother without +date or signature. It was hardly legible, for it was evident that the +hand by which it was written was unused to the pen. The writer, however, +complained of neglect and said the bargain made in regard to the child +had not been complied with; that she was worthless to them, and if the +three hundred dollars did not come soon my mother must find another +place for her. _What child can_ my mother possibly have any interest in? +Something further was said about her being six years old which I could +not make out. A terrible conviction took possession of me! _This was my +child! My Lily!_ And who knows but ere this she has been sent out into +the world in default of this paltry three hundred! Goaded by my +suspicions I rushed into the presence of my mother with that mysterious +paper burning in my hand! 'What is this? _What_ does it mean? _What_ +child is the heartless wretch talking about?' I almost gasped so +ungovernably did my brain reel beneath the weight of this fearful +apprehension. Never shall I forget the look that greeted me! She was +standing before the mirror in her dressing-room as I entered, but turned +quickly as my tremulous voice fell upon her ear. Her face was as pale +and livid as the marble statuette near which she was standing, while her +eyes flashed with the inward fire she vainly endeavored to conceal. +'_Give me that paper!_' she demanded with extended hand; 'how did you +come by it?' 'Tell me first!' I exclaimed; '_who is the child_ spoken of +in it? I _must_--I _will_ know!' She stared wildly at me, while a +ghastly smile spread itself over her pallid features and suddenly her +voice sank to a low musical cadence peculiar to herself as you well +know, Grace, and somehow it has never failed to bring my most stubborn +will in meek subjection to her feet. 'Lillian, my child,' she said; +'_why_ are you so much agitated? Compose yourself; such fits of anger is +not at all becoming! The story of the child in whom you seem so much +interested is a very short one. I should have confided it to you long +ago, if by so doing I would not have been obliged to reveal a secret +which I could not have told with honor. I will now, however, satisfy +your curiosity in a measure. You know that I have both relatives and +friends in Savannah, one of these had a daughter who a few years ago +became a mother of an illegitimate child; of course the mortification +must be hidden if possible from the world, and much against my will I +became an accomplice in the affair. This is the one alluded to in that +document you hold so tenaciously in your hand. Now give it to me and +forget the subject altogether.' She reached for it, and with her eyes +gazing steadily into mine took it from me and walked with a firm tread +through an opposite door, leaving me standing alone conquered but not +convinced. Do not think harshly of me, dear Grace, I know my mother is +your beloved aunt, and for this reason I confide in you. I would not let +my suspicions loose upon the world, but something has whispered to me +many times since that day that Lily did not die in her infancy, and can +you imagine my agony when I realize that now she may be homeless and +friendless, or what is equally dreadful to me surrounded perhaps with +evil associations growing up into womanhood unlovely and unloved?" The +head of the agitated Lillian sank down on the shoulder of her companion, +and clasped in each other's arms the two mingled their tears of sorrow +and sympathy. During all this time Lillian had spoken kindly of the +cause of all this treachery and guilt! She was dealing with the great +sad past--unclasping it link by link from her present and future as one +throws off accumulated burdens when preparing for laborious action. She +had secretly before this laid them all at the feet of Him who had said, +"cast thy burdens on the Lord and he will sustain thee." His promises +she felt were true and she expected to be assisted over the road that +seemed stretching itself among the thick shadows farther than her faith +could penetrate. + +A few hours before this conversation when alone with her blessed Saviour +she had said with quivering lips and wildly throbbing heart: "Forgive +the poor wailing cry, for I cannot hush its sobbings! Rachel wept for +her children and would not be comforted--my child is not--not dead, or +the mother love would cease its calling," and then she prayed: "Thou who +noticest the fall of a little sparrow watch over and protect my Lily! +Shield her--lead her in a path where I may find her." + +Did the Father hear? + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SCENES ON THE PLANTATION. + + +Autumn came at last. The heart of the great Republic throbbed with +unsteady pulsation, and, every nerve in the body politic thrilled with +excitement as the looked-for crisis drew near. There were faint +whisperings in each breeze, so low at first that every ear was strained +to the uttermost tension to catch the vibrating strains, but soon they +became louder and louder until the foundations of peace and prosperity +were shaken to their very center. "War, war!" It was talked of +everywhere. In the salon, in the dining hall, not even were the parlor +and boudoir exempt from the unwelcome sounds. The politicians discussed +it over their wine, and unfledged aspirants for fame probed the bare +possibilities in secret conclaves. Ebony forms crowded beneath windows +and balconies with eyes and lips protruded, eager to catch the +mysterious meaning of the universal subject, "war!" Aristocracy in the +brilliant halls of pleasure and revelry saw the strange hand appear and +the finger writing upon the wall. How flushed cheeks paled, and rosy +lips changed to ashy hue, and how knees smote together with fear. "War! +war!" A cloud, dark and murky, rolled up from the horizon full of +terrible mutterings, and loaded with death and devastation, moving +steadily onward, until the broad clear sky was covered, and the rays +that had so long fallen upon a prosperous people were shut out, and +shadows deep and portentous drooped their heavy folds about the agitated +nation. Mothers all over the land gazed through blinding tears upon +their noble sons, who stood with elevated brows around the home fires. +Wives thrust back their true devotion into the secret chambers of +agonized hearts, and pressed more closely the pallid lips, and remained +silent. + +Perhaps there was not another in the whole land who was more bitter +towards those who had caused these preparations of calamity than was +Mrs. Belmont. True, she had her own ideas who these were, as well as all +others throughout both sections of the Republic. Having been for so many +years upheld in her present position of luxury and ease by sable hands, +it was no very agreeable prospect, surely, to discover a mere +possibility that they might at some future time be giving way beneath +her. + +The lady of Rosedale with her son and daughter had been in the habit of +spending several weeks during the winter in Savannah, but now her +arrangements for the season were materially changed, Lillian having gone +to New Orleans with her cousin Grace for an unlimited time, the mother +and son would go immediately without her. + +The cloud had never disappeared from the family horizon since that +eventful day when George St. Clair left Rosedale a rejected lover. The +daughter would not recall him with a promise of her love or her hand, +and consequently the shadow of her mother's anger hung over her, dark +and gloomy. There were no filial tears shed at parting, nor were there +words of regret, or even one sweet, maternal kiss. How sad, how very +sad, that such things must be. Can human love die? That healthful seed +which God planted so tenderly in every heart to make life endurable as +well as beautiful with its buds and blossoms--can all this ever be +rooted up? True, its flowers may wither, its bright green leaves may +fade and fall, its tender stalks even be broken, but the roots, the +deeply imbedded roots--_they_ can never, never die. Smother them with +cruelties and wrongs, if you will, bury them beneath the accumulated +rubbish of selfishness and misconduct, there will come a time when the +warm sunshine of tender memories and the soft dews of genial affections, +which the hand of divinity shall scatter over it, will bring forth fresh +shoots from the hidden life of the heart's immortal love. + +No, it cannot die; or why did Mrs. Belmont hurry into her private +apartment, as soon as the sound of the rolling wheels that were bearing +her daughter from her was lost in the distance, to give vent there to +pent up tears? It might have been remorse, it is true, for the last look +on that pale face, as Lillian waved her adieus from the carriage window, +would not leave her. There were tears also on Aunt Vina's cheeks, +although she endeavored to hide them, amid her merry laughter, as she +took off her well-worn shoe to throw after her departing darling. But +Lillian felt that there was more good luck in her parting words and +benediction than in this. "De good Lord bress ye, honey, and bring ye +back to poo' old Vina!" + +"Pray for me, Auntie, while I am gone," was the feeble response from the +sore and aching heart. + +"Dat I will ebery day, sartin! And don't ye mind nothin'! Just ye be +happy; dat's all!" + +But there came an hour when the warm sunshine gathered up its little +gems of joy from out the poor twisted life of the humble slave, and left +the heart bleeding beneath the gloomy shadows where it had been +stricken. No one knew how it came about--but one bright morning when the +orange groves were full of birds, who had arrived from their northern +homes before the wintry blasts had reached them, little Shady was found +in the store-house lying beneath a huge bale of cotton quite dead! The +overseer "had seen him frolicking like a kitten among them and told him +not to climb to the top one, as he seemed inclined to do"; and that was +all that could be revealed of the sad story! It was night now to old +Vina! Nowhere in her desolate heart could she find the sweet balm she +had so often poured into the wounds of other's griefs. Above her shone +no star with silvery ray to light up the dark despair! Grief has many +fangs, all sharp and poisonous and hard to be borne as they pierce +through the sensitive nerves of the human heart; but some strike deeper +than others, letting out the very life of the soul and flooding the +secret chambers with the malaria of woe! Aunt Vina felt all this when at +last the little form she had so loved and cherished was laid away in its +cheerless bed among the buttonwood trees, where her hand could reach him +no more with its cheery good-night. What was there now to keep her tired +feet from faltering by the way, or her heart from sinking under its +weight of life's sorrows? When the last sod was laid tenderly on the +little grave, and "Parson Tom" had said in his most solemn tones "de +Lord gabe and de Lord hab taken away; and bressed be de name ob de +Lord," she turned away from it all with no responsive "bress de Lord" +bubbling up through the torn fissures of her bleeding heart, and sought +her accustomed place by the kitchen grate. Without a tear or moan she +sank down upon a chair, her head drooping low upon her broad chest, +sitting there as motionless and still as though the lamp of her +existence had also been blown out. In vain did dark forms gather about +her with their tears of sympathy and words of condolence and love! She +heeded them not! The soft, warm beams of the noonday sun came in through +the door and gathered themselves about her bowed form, but she moved +not. When the shadows of night crept in she arose and stole away into +the thick darkness of her chamber to pray alone! No eye but His who wept +tears of sympathy at the tomb of Lazarus witnessed the agony that night +of the poor heart-broken slave. No ear but His who will wipe away all +tears listened to the moans and prayers that were borne upward on the +wings of departing night from that humble chamber! God heard them, +however, and a register was made in that book which is to be opened on +that great day of accounts when one more spotless robe of white was +ready for her who had "come up through much tribulation!" + +The next morning, earlier than usual, Aunt Vina appeared in her +accustomed place. Her cheeks were hollow and her eyes sunken, yet she +moved about with steady step gathering up every trace of her lost +darling, burning the few scattered blocks he had brought in that sad day +he went out to come in no more, throwing far back into the dark closet +the tattered hat and much-used whip, as if by so doing she could hide +the sorrow that was eating away her life. And thus she labored on. + +The house was indeed empty now! "Pete" had gone with his young master, +and Emily, the particular favorite of her mistress, was with her in +Savannah, and poor Aunt Vina turned her heart's longings towards the +absent Lillian. "If she was only here," she would say over and over +again; "de wee lamb! De Lord knows how to pity dem dat lub Him!" + +"And don't you lub Him, Vina?" asked the kind old preacher, who strove +in his feeble way to comfort the bereaved one. + +"Yes--yes--brudder Tom; but somehow dese old eyes can't see out +straight. He was all that was left; it seems as how I might hab dat one +little head to lie on dis lone bosom! It won't be long 'fore I shall be +'tro wid it all--and it wouldn't 'a' hurt nothin' if he been lef till I +went home!" Tears mingled with her sobs as she bewailed her loneliness. + +"De Lord say 'come unto me when tired and can't find nowhere for de sole +ob de foot, and He will gib you rest"; and the good man laid his ebony +hand on the bowed head as he spoke. + +"Don't I know it, brudder Tom? He's all right; but it's hard to bress de +Lord when He makes it so dark; maybe by and by old Vina can look up! If +Miss Lillian was here _she_ would tell me how." + +How many have thus bent beneath the rod as they hid the light of faith +from them, "refusing to be comforted" when the pitying Father was so +ready to bind up the heart His careful love had wounded? "Before I was +stricken I went astray" is the testimony of many a happy soul. The +clouds are about us but the sun shines above them all. + +Lillian was gone and Rosedale somehow seemed deserted and dreary. +Perhaps it was because the flowers were all withered and nature seemed +going to sleep; at any rate Mrs. Belmont and her son concluded to go to +the city immediately, even should one or both of them be obliged to +return to the plantation during Christmas week. + +"The servants always expect their holiday gifts, and it would be too bad +to disappoint them," so the mistress said, "but it is insufferable +here!" Besides, Ellen St. Clair was to give a birthday entertainment in +two or three weeks, and as everybody hinted the betrothal of the fair +heiress with Charles Belmont it really did seem a necessity that he at +least should be there. The mother of the young gentleman also was +exceedingly desirous of satisfying herself upon this one point, not +feeling quite as sure as the veracious "Mrs. Grundy." The reason being, +no doubt, that the said son, who had inherited from the maternal side an +abundance of the very commendable element of secretiveness, did not seem +at all disposed to satisfy any one in regard to the matter as _he_ +understood it. Neither was the mother quite sure that he would from any +cause be persuaded to sacrifice any of his self-will for her +accommodation, for he was fully aware that her heart was unswervingly +set on this union. Thus she was kept in ignorance which she was +determined should, if possible, be dispelled. All these things were +taken into consideration by the intriguing mother--and the son, not at +all averse to the arrangements, the next week found Aunt Vina sole +mistress of the great house at Rosedale. + +Little Shady was in high spirits. Every day the hall door was thrown +wide open for the free circulation of fresh air, then such a scrambling +up the broad stairs on all fours and such rapid rides down the heavy +balustrades! "Bress de chile! Can't see no hurt no how! Missus say she +lick him, but she don't see him!" and the good old grandmother turned +her own head that her eyes might not be at fault in the matter. The love +for this child was all the earth-spot the withered old heart contained. +All of her children, not excepting her last, the mother of little Shady, +had been taken from her, some by death, others by the greedy hands that +snapped the tenderest cords of the human hearts that its own mercenary +ends might be reached. "But it's a mercy dat I'se got dis one," she +would often repeat to herself as if not quite sure of her resignation in +the matter. Certain it was that the merry gambols of the frolicsome boy +as her loving eyes followed him through the day, and the joy of feeling +his plump arms around her neck at night, shut out in a great measure the +dark agonizing past from her view. + +Outside of the elegant appointments of the home and its surroundings all +was left as usual in the hands of the overseer, who was expected to +administer kindness and justice with wisdom, if not with discretion; but +as Pete had often said in the quiet of Aunt Vina's kitchen fire, "Massa +Firey and old Tige look jist like 's do' day was brudders," and as to +disposition and characters it could not be disputed that they were +similar. Still, at the "quarters" he was not only feared but regarded +with a kind of respect and awe. Three weeks passed away and little had +been thought of the dark cloud spreading itself over the nation, for +"Massa Firey" said nothing to those under his care, if indeed he knew +what was really going on in the outside world. + +There was plenty of work in the cotton-fields, for Mrs. Belmont had said +before her departure that Charles would want some money and the product +of the plantation must be put into the market as soon as it was open. +Shady was in high glee, snapping his whip at some imaginary intruder +about the extensive grounds or rolling his hoop, when the sweet voice of +the child would steal in through the open windows and doors into Aunt +Vina's kitchen, awaking the worn-out melodies of her own heart which +would come forth in answering chorus. A little curly head was often +thrust in through some aperture near, when the song would suddenly +change as the dark eyes sparkled with mock terror at the words caught +from the sabbath services, + + "Git away you Satan, fo' de Lo'd is on the way," + +and the rotund figure of the old grandmother would shake with suppressed +merriment. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE BIRTHDAY ENTERTAINMENT. + + +During the night, when poor Aunt Vina was bemoaning her loss, very +different scenes were being enacted at the residence of the St. Clair's, +in which Mrs. Belmont was happily participating. It was the birthday of +Ellen St. Clair, the youngest and pet of the family, who had but a few +weeks previously returned from New York, where she had been for three +years at school; and this, her twentieth birthday, was to be the +occasion of unlimited enjoyment. The grounds as well as the mansion were +brilliantly illuminated, and the spacious apartments crowded with wealth +and beauty. Nothing was left undone that could add grandeur to the fete +or pleasure to the loved one for whom all this magnificence and display +were brought out. + +Mrs. Belmont was a very particular friend and distant relative of the +family, and therefore had gone over at an early hour that her +suggestions and experiences might not be wanting. She was immediately +shown to the private dressing-room of Mrs. St. Clair, who was patiently +suffering under the skillful hands of her French dressing-maid. + +"I am exceedingly glad that you came so early. Pauline, ring the bell +for a servant. You see the house is to be crowded before dinner with +friends and relatives from New Orleans and Atlanta, and it is as much as +I can endure to be dressed three times in one day. O you need not laugh +at my indolence, as you usually do." + +No one laughed, however, but the lady herself. + +"Why, Pauline, you make me look like a fright," she exclaimed, catching +a glimpse of herself in the mirror before which she was sitting. "Can +you not bring those puffs back a little?" + +"_C'est a la mode, chere Madame_," replied the maid, smiling. + +"You mean to say by that, I suppose, that it is the latest style, and I +must submit." + +"_Oui, madame_." + +"Very well, proceed then with the inevitable," and settling herself down +quietly she went on chatting with her visitor. + +Mrs. Mason, a widowed daughter, who had returned the year before to her +childhood's home with her three little children, came in for a moment, +then retreated as silently as she entered. + +"Poor Bertha," exclaimed Mrs. Belmont, with much feeling, "what a look +of suffering she wears upon her face. She seems to bemoan her loss now +as deeply as when first bereaved. How I pity her!" + +"Yes, the dear child, she misses her husband much; but I tell her it is +far better to rejoice over the living than to mourn over the dead. Every +widowed mother has not three such beautiful and interesting children as +she. This, in time will, I have no doubt, take away the acuteness of her +sorrow, but we must wait for the work to be accomplished." + +"Yes." + +Was Mrs. Belmont thinking of the time when, years ago, beautiful +children nestled into the inner chamber of _her_ soul, which had been +desolated by the hand of death? Or did her memory go no farther back +than the last parting scene with her only daughter? There were many dark +pictures that might have been brought up, but the volubility of Mrs. St. +Clair drove them from her sight. She continued: + +"I dare say I shall shock your sensibilities very much, but Ellen has +declared her intention of bringing the governess out to-night as one of +her honored guests." And the lady laughed heartily as she looked into +the face of her visitor. + +"But _you_ are not going to permit it, certainly. The affair would be +decidedly absurd. You ought most positively to interfere." + +"But you know, my dear, that I was never emphatic about anything. I have +not the needed strength for a battle. And then, on this occasion, I am +left perfectly powerless, as her father declares that for this once she +shall have her own way in everything, just as if she did not always have +it"; added Mrs. St. Clair with much merriment. + +"But does she not know that she may offend many of her dear friends by +such folly?" interposed the lady of Rosedale. + +"I imagine she cares but little as to that; she is so much like her +father--and mother, too, it may be"; and the thick folds of her rich +brocade rustled with the contagion of her mirth. "The fact is, cousin, +she is such a fine musician that I have no doubt you will be charmed +with her yourself. To be sure she holds a menial position in our home, +but I cannot help admiring and loving her too. There is something so +mild and unassuming about her. I often tell Ellen that I wish she would +imitate her manners." + +"No doubt she is well enough in her place; but the drawing-room, which +is to be filled with the elegant and affluent who are to come from +aristocratic homes, bringing with them refinement and culture, must +overshadow her. She ought certainly to have sufficient sense to +understand this, and refuse such publicity. Why not as hostess appeal to +her yourself? If she is as amiable as you have represented, she would +not act in a way contrary to your wishes." + +All this was spoken hurriedly and with much feeling. + +"I presume she would; but the trouble is that I _have_ no objections. +Under these circumstances you will discover that I would make a poor +deputy to do the business"; and the merry peals startled the demure maid +who was putting the finishing touches to her lady's toilet. Then turning +to the mirror she continued, without giving her visitor time to reply: + +"There--how do I look? Not much like Venus, as I can readily perceive. +Is not that trail too long? and these hoops too large? But it will have +to do, I suppose. Now I will go and see what the girls are doing, while +Pauline's skillful fingers put you in order. I had your dressing case +brought here so as to be ready"; and the good lady bustled out of the +room, leaving her cousin in no very amiable mood. + +At an early hour the sound of mirth and gayety was heard everywhere in +the elegant home of the St. Clair's. The drawing-rooms were filled with +gay, flitting forms which kept humming and buzzing like a swarm of busy +bees, mingling and changing their bright colors until with kaleidoscopic +distinctness the last brooch was fastened and each delicate toilet had +received its finishing touch from skillful hands, and on the broad +stairway the tripping of feet and the rustling of silks mingled with +joyous laughter as the chorus of many voices were heard coming up from +the hall below. It was a brilliant sight! So many happy faces gleaming +with the excitement of the hour as they gathered together in little +circling eddies in the drawing-rooms, radiant with gems which flashed +and sparkled in the full glare of the overhanging gas-lights that glowed +in subdued brilliancy upon them. + +"How very strange!" was heard from many a rosy lip that night as +familiar friends met in sly nooks where confidential words could be +interchanged. It was true that Ellen St. Clair had never appeared at +such an entertainment so plainly dressed; what could it mean? A rumor +had been floating about purporting to have originated with her sister +Bertha "that it was to please some one," but who was the honored one? +Then there came the response. "A governess who had declared her dislike +to appear in so large a company because of her unfitting toilet!" But +why this should so strangely influence the "pretty heiress" was still a +mystery. "And where was the governess?" No one was more eager to be +satisfied on this point than was Mrs. Belmont; and no one was more +anxious to hide that desire which so fretted her. + +"I never saw Miss Ellen look prettier or fresher than she does +to-night," remarked a gentleman to the captivating young Mrs. Mason. +"That spotless dress of white becomes her airy figure and combines with +her purity of look and manner. Her appearance is truly ethereal--and +that one diamond star at the throat reminds me of something in the good +book my mother used to read! In fact I like it." A toss of the regal +head beside him was the only answer. "I am sorry, however, that her +motive for throwing aside her little feminine adornings is so much +beneath her," continued the young man with some volubility. "But where +is the governess? I beg pardon!" and the head of the speaker bowed low +with mock seriousness. + +"I do not know, sir; I have not troubled myself about her!" was the +haughty reply. "Exquisite! Pray tell me who is that at the piano? A +wonderful voice! So sweet and flexible!" exclaimed a lady near where the +two were standing. "Listen! I wish I could get a peep at her!" + +"I do not know," interrupted Mrs. Belmont who had been addressed. "I +will inquire," and she pressed her way through the crowd and was lost +from sight by the enraptured listeners. The melodious voice soared aloft +in little rippling eddies to die away in the distance, then fell like +liquid drops of silvery cadence upon the ear, while it hushed into +silence the sound of mingling voices until the spacious apartments were +filled with naught but the wonderful music of the unknown singer. Mrs. +Belmont had made her way to a group of grave gentlemen and ladies in the +parlor opposite, where they had been discussing the great topic of the +day. + +"I cannot see well," replied Mrs. St. Clair with a merry twinkle in +her gray eyes as she returned to the sofa she had just left to look +about her for a moment. "But it is some one Professor Edwards seems +to honor, for he is beside her turning the music. Ah, there is +'Cathesdra'--listen," and the same voice came floating and circling +about their heads in the very ecstacy of delight. + +"You never heard that _sung_ before"; interposed Mr. St. Clair +laughingly. "I mean as now!" + +"You know who it is, cousin; tell us, will you?" But Mr. St. Clair was +wholly intent upon the music and only shook his finger menacingly at +Mrs. Belmont for interrupting it. + +"There! That is over! Now who says he _ever_ heard anything better than +that?" and the kind-hearted old gentleman gazed appealingly about him. + +"Let me see, cousin. What was it you were saying about the 'uncultured +females' of the north? Well, I remember but will not repeat, so you may +save your blushes," and his plump hand came down with emphasis upon his +well-developed knee. "Yes--they do soil their fingers with toil it is a +fact. Ellen has often spoken of her visit to the home of a schoolmate +who lives on the banks of the old historic Hudson, and she declares that +the home into which she was ushered on her arrival was superior to +almost anything she had seen in our sunny clime; but the mistress many +times during her stay of two weeks actually made tea with her own hands +and served it at her own table! And what was even worse, there was not a +day that she did not visit her kitchen--order her own dinner--and, it +may be, stuffed her own turkeys--made her own jellies, puddings, etc.! I +should not be at all surprised!" Here the speaker burst forth into a +merry peal of laughter, which did not seem at all contagious as no one +but the wife joined in his glee. "Ah, there is the singer. I know her by +the blue silk," interposed one of the ladies who had striven to get a +look at her while she was at the piano. "Prof. Edwards seems to +monopolize her entirely." "She is _very_ pretty," remarked another. "All +but those blue eyes," chimed in Mr. St. Clair; "those tell the tale of +frosts and snows--do you not think so, cousin?" + +"You annoy me, somehow," said Mrs. Belmont with much feeling; "perhaps +it is because I do not understand you. I would like to cover your lack +of gallantry with a soft cloak of charity you see." + +"It is the war, madam, that had fired his bitter animosities," suggested +a gallant knight near by. + +"Have I indeed then been so boorish? I beg your pardon," and he bowed +obsequiously. "Now for plain dealing, as I feel you will like that +better! The young lady to whom we have been so rapturously listening, +and who has drawn such a large circle about her yonder," pointing with +his finger towards where she was sitting, "including your honored son, I +perceive, is Miss Anna Pierson--our governess. Look at her now! Her face +is like her music, all soul, all feeling. Now clear and smooth with the +most exquisite pathos, yet never blank or uninteresting; now brilliant +and sparkling, rippling all over with enthusiasm; a face one never tires +of watching through all its changes; never growing weary no matter how +often the repetition comes." + +Immediately after supper Mrs. Belmont ordered her carriage. She was +anxious to return and bury her chagrin in the privacy of her own +chamber. Why was she so wretched? She asked herself over and over again, +yet received no definite answer. It might be that a gentleman with whom +she had been talking assured her that the war so much commented upon +could not, or would not be averted. "Even now," he added, "extensive +preparations are going on in Charleston for its early commencement." But +certainly this could not be the cause of her disquietude, as she scanned +over the immensity of southern political power. After all that has been +done the fight must be short and the victory speedy and glorious. The +pall lifted slowly from about her heart, and before she reached her own +door she stigmatized herself as a coward for retiring so soon from the +gay scene, appearing, as she imagined, like retreating before a phantom +foe. In her own room, however, the fire broke out anew. There was +something in the tones of her cousin's voice that angered her. "What +right had he to allude to my words, spoken in private, and display my +peculiar views, as he called them, before such a company? But above all, +what could have induced Charles to hand that detestable governess to the +table and leave Ellen St. Clair to another?" Nothing had gone right, and +the indignant woman paced the floor goaded by her agitating thoughts +until the footsteps of her offending son were heard entering his room. +How true it is that when the heart opens its "guest chamber" to evil +spirits and gives them welcome, it will wake ere long to find its most +sacred place invaded, and its halls of innocence desecrated by the +madness of associated passions that come to take up their abode in it! +Poor heart! What a struggle for purity must follow with opposing foes +before it ever again becomes a fit temple for the high dignitaries of a +God-like nature to enter and dwell in! Better far to bar the door at +their first approach and set its seal of truth and nobleness upon it +which, like the "blood of sprinkling," turns away the footsteps of Death +with his destructive power. Alas, with Mrs. Belmont it was too late. She +had not counted the cost of her misdeeds from the beginning, and now +found herself in a labyrinth of difficulties that were thickening about +her, and out of which she could see no way of escape. + +She was angry, too, for Bertha had said that Ellen was indignant that +her name should have been coupled in an outside gossip with that of her +son, and had improved every opportunity to contradict the rumor. Here +was another disappointment to be thrown into her cherished plans; and +the very depths of her soul seemed embittered. + +Chafing under the accumulating power of her goading thoughts, she walked +her room with rapid steps, while her angry soul went down among the +roaring billows. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A THRILLING REVELATION. + + +Charles Belmont was twenty-six years of age at the time of our writing, +but owing to the indolence of his disposition and the selfishness which +had always governed him, he had not as yet stepped into the position as +"master" of the plantation to which he supposed himself heir; nor had he +troubled himself regarding his prosperity. It was enough for him to know +that a hundred pairs of hands were laboring for his comfort and fully +capable of supplying every desired luxury. "Mother has never failed me +yet," he would say, "and when she does it will be time enough for me to +dabble in business." + +Thus did the years roll by while his manliness became more and more +engulfed in the lethargy of indolence until his whole being was +enervated and possessed not the power to sever the manacles that were +destroying the pure and noble within, even had he the disposition to do +so. How many efficient natures have thus been destroyed! The soul of man +is progressive; it is ambitious to go onward and upward; fetter these +propensities, press them down, and the whole being becomes groveling, +its aspirations dwarfed or twisted in the process. The mind is conscious +of an unrest, and with its unsatisfied longings, turns away from the +ennobling and fills itself with debasing habits that will certainly +prostitute all loftier aspirations. Charles Belmont had not, however, +sunk so low as all this. But with his most frivolous wants supplied, and +the prospect of a large estate before him, why should he be perplexed +about anything? He had gone through college, as thousands of others had +done before him, had spent two years in Europe seeing what in his +opinion was worth looking at, and now what was left for him to do but to +look out for an heiress or some one worthy to share his honors, or wait +while he smoked his meerschaum or sipped his wine after the physical +part of his nature had been satisfied by the bounties which menial hands +had provided? + +The next day after the events of our last chapter, the young master of +Rosedale learned from his mother that for the first time since his +remembrance the slaves were to be disappointed in their Christmas gifts, +as the lady declared she "would not trouble herself about them." + +This piece of information aroused the better feelings of the son, who +immediately set about providing himself with the means to carry out in +its fullness the long established custom that would make more than three +score hearts happy. It was a frail spirit, however, that aroused for the +first time the slumbering attributes of his better nature. + +"If such is your determination, Mother," was the quick reply, "then I +shall for once perform your duties for you." And, true to his resolve, +Christmas morning found him standing amid well filled baskets at the end +of the long corridor leading to the kitchen, looking upon the happy +faces of the merry group as he called their names, and with a cheery +word or jest presented their gifts. + +"Where is Old Auntie?" he inquired at last, as the sable faces one by +one turned away, and he was being left alone. "And here is a drum for +Shady, but he must promise not to make too much noise with it before I +shall hand it over to him. Here, Shady, you rascal, where are you?" he +continued, holding up the exhilarating toy. Poor Old Auntie came out +from the kitchen and walked slowly towards him. + +"O Massa, Shady am dead--gone--and poor old Vina's heart is done broke. +I don' want nothin', Massa, on'y dat what ye got fer him. Let auntie +have it--'twon't make no noise." She reached out her hand for the +coveted prize, and again Charles Belmont felt the promptings of the +inward nobility that makes the man. Those plaintive words that came +sobbing up from the wounded, bleeding heart, all dripping with tears, +touched a chord of sympathy in his own, hitherto unknown to its +possessor. + +"How did this happen?" he asked quickly, "and why was not my mother +informed of an event so important? Something is wrong. How did little +Shady die?" + +"Don' know, Massa. He's done dead. It's night all de time now; dere +ain't no more sunshine for poor Old Auntie. Will ye gib me dat, Massa? I +_couldn't_ hear de chil'ens makin' a noise on it--'twould be like dey +was poundin' dis heart, all broke, Massa Charles. Couldn't bear it--no +how." + +"You shall have it, Auntie," he said, with much feeling, as he placed +the toy drum in the outstretched hands. "I do not wonder it is dark, +and if Massa Charles can scatter a few rays of light across your +sorrow, be sure he will do it." + +"O thank ye; thank ye, Massa Charles. The Lord will bless ye, Vina knows +he will," and the poor old slave returned again to her night of dreary +loneliness. + +It was a little transient ray that had been sent athwart her darkness, +and no one understood its fleetingness better than did she. + +The next day Charles Belmont went again to the scenes of pleasure he had +so unceremoniously left, but he could not forget the bitter potion the +cup of others contained. For a long time "Poor Old Auntie's" wail of +bereavement would dart into his pleasures and leave a touch of sadness +upon their brightness. + +On reaching Savannah he found that his mother had gone with the St. +Clair's to spend a week on a plantation about thirty miles distant, and +accepting the invitation left for him, he prepared to follow. It was a +lovely morning when the party set out on their short journey. They had +determined upon a carriage-ride for the whole distance, while the others +went by rail as far as they could, and were waiting for the carriage to +overtake them. George St. Clair, his sister Ellen and Miss Pierson +composed the little party, as they wheeled over the hard road as fast as +the spirited horses could take them, while the cool, fresh breeze +invigorated their young spirits. + +"This air may be a little too bracing; shall I not have the curtains +unrolled?" asked George St. Clair. + +"O no, indeed!" replied Miss Pierson who was addressed; "this reminds me +of a spring day in the north when there is snow yet upon the mountains +while the valleys are green." + +"Perfectly natural that it should, for this wind comes directly from +your snow-capped hills"; was the answer, while the young man experienced +a very perceptible shiver. "I wish it were not quite so cold!" + +"You would soon learn to like it as I do! Do you perceive it has given +me new life already? But I have discovered my selfishness! Please put +down the curtains for you are looking quite miserable," she concluded, +as she noticed on the face opposite an expression not usual to it. It +was his thoughts, not the cool breeze however that had chilled him. The +raillery of his sister recalled him, and he for a time put away the +absorbing subject. "Look Ellen! Really that pile of brush and mud yonder +is inhabited! Just see what miserable creatures are coming out of it. +One--two--three! I wonder if that can be the mother now following. She +looks half-starved and utterly dejected! Do look at them, Ellen!" + +"You must not expend all your sympathy on that one family," remarked +Ellen carelessly; "for you will see them all along the road. These +belong to the 'poor white trash,' as the coachman would tell you with a +curl of his ebony lip. They are a small portion of that miserable class +who are so thoroughly steeped in degradation that there is no hope of +improving them." + +Anna made no reply, but sat a long time silently gazing out of the +carriage window. Ellen too was silent, while their companion watched the +speaking face of the humble governess as its color came and went like +the sunshine and shadows through which they were passing. At last she +awoke as from a dream, and laying her gloved hand upon that of George +St. Clair exclaimed: "You are good and noble! Tell me, is there no +remedy for all this? I have heard so much of these while in my northern +home that my heart truly aches for them! To be so utterly outcast as the +family appears to be that we have just passed, and without the ambition +or power to rise out of it, is truly pitiful! What sad blots on the +grand picture of American civilization! Is there _no_ remedy?" + +"No remedy!" was the low reply. They seemed to be the echo only of her +own words and brought with them no consolation. "Pardon me," he said a +moment after; "we shall get dreadfully entangled in a web of our own +weaving if we continue on this train of thought. Let us weave a few +brighter garlands for memory's sake in the remaining days I am to be +with you. We will talk of peace lest war should send its mutterings +among us; let us anticipate love, not hate! Miss Pierson, I deputize you +to gather up the stray sunbeams for me that memory may have a regal +crown to wear when I am far away. They elude my grasp and always did!" +he continued, bitterly. "But you seem to be more fortunate." + +"And I am to be left out, am I, my brother? You do not know how expert I +am in chasing butterflies and riding on sunbeams! You may better engage +me!" + +"I would like to have you both interested in this benevolent work," he +replied. "Still you are aware, Ellen, that I have very little regard for +butterflies, and beg that you will not put yourself to any extra +trouble to procure one for me"; and they rode on in silence for some +minutes. "Ten miles as sure as you live and we have not thought of our +lunch," he cried, a little later, as they wheeled by the corners of a +cross road. "We must examine the hamper for good old Katie's sake, if +not for our own." Ample justice was done to Aunt Katie's skill amid +jests and laughter while the gloomy clouds that had flecked each heart +were forgotten. + +The station was reached at last and the four ladies were soon snugly +seated in the family coach, while the gentlemen followed in a hired +vehicle. It was almost night when the travelers found themselves at +their journey's end. + +The residence of the "Washburn's" was a large ancient house, for it had +been the home of the father who had bequeathed it to the son many years +before with an abundance of hospitality and good cheer, as our visitors +were soon made to understand. The ladies were hurried off to their warm, +comfortable rooms to prepare for dinner, which had been waiting for "two +whole hours" the hostess had said, and now she bustled about the +dining-room to see that everything was in perfect order and the +finishing touches had been completed. All were gathered in the parlors +at last, merry and refreshed, and as Mrs. St. Clair protested they were +dreadfully hungry after their long cold ride. + +"What a brilliant party!" exclaimed Mrs. Washburn, entering at the +moment to announce dinner; "and yet, my dear Mrs. St. Clair, I have not +told you that my brother's wife, Mrs. Gaylord, is here from Virginia! +You remember you met her two years ago." + +"That is good news, certainly. I did not know that she had returned from +the north, where she went after fresh air I believe." + +"She has an adopted daughter, a beautiful girl who has brightened her up +wonderfully. I never saw an _own_ daughter more idolized." + +Mrs. Gaylord my readers have met before; will they also recognize the +adopted daughter? She is almost a young lady now, having been with her +new friends nearly two years, and, during the time, received every +opportunity for improvement, not one of which had been lost. She is +taller than when we last met her, her manners winning and graceful, +while her eyes had not forgotten their mysterious wonderings or her +heart its ambitious longings. At this home in the far south where she +had been nearly a week there was much upon which to feed her +sensibilities and awaken her imaginings. + +"_I_ go in for making money off from my plantation," remarked the host +in reply to a suggestion from one of the party as they seated themselves +at the table when all were at last gathered. "I long ago learned who is +king over this broad land, and like well to do my share in keeping the +crown on his head." A hearty laugh followed when he continued: "And if +this war, which is so much talked of just now, should really become a +fact, I reckon some others will feel his power." + +"You must be chary of your words, sir, for we have a northerner in our +party," interposed Mrs. Belmont, her keen eyes fixed on the face of Anna +Pierson, which crimsoned beneath her gaze. + +"Miss Pierson's principles, whatever they are, must be shielded from +irony or ridicule while in our party," said George St. Clair, with some +warmth, although in a low tone of voice, intended for Mrs. Belmont's +ears only. + +The lady was awed and silenced. She would not for the world offend the +young man, for in him too many of her fondest hopes were still centered. +She had not for a moment given up the idea that Lillian would, after a +little sensible consideration, accede to her wishes and recall her +rejected lover, whom she was sure only waited permission to return. + +The conversation soon became sprightly and animated, but the ladies +remained silent, while the face of one, at least, expressed more than +words could utter. + +A movement to leave the table by George St. Clair put an end to it all, +and it was not resumed while the little party remained together. + +Upon entering the parlor Mrs. Belmont found herself _tete a tete_ with +the young lady from Virginia. The company had gathered themselves into +little groups or pairs, and each seemed intent upon some individual +topic separate from the others, and nothing was left for the stately +lady to do but to commence conversation with her companion or remain +moodily silent, which she felt greatly inclined to do. However, her +position required action, and she inquired: + +"How long have you been in Virginia? I understand that you are an +adopted daughter of Mrs. Gaylord." + +"That is all. I have been with her not yet two years." + +The answer was concise and gentle. Still the deep, thoughtful eyes that +had remained fixed with their wondering look on the face of the +questioner as she spoke, disturbed the lady, and she moved uneasily. +Somehow it penetrated more deeply under the covering of her soul than +was comfortable, but she continued: + +"Where was your previous home, my child?" + +"In Massachusetts." + +"Ah, a Northerner, then?" + +"I do not know," replied the interrogated with a smile. + +"Not know? You are an orphan I suppose?" + +"I do not know." + +At almost any other time Lily would have been indignant at such close +questionings, but there was something about the tall stately lady in +black that interested her and during the few moments they had sat there +together she had read much in the dark face before her. Therefore, when +she was asked further: "Have you no remembrance of a mother or of early +years?" she determined to prolong the conversation, and watch closely +for a peep beneath the mask she felt sure was there. + +"No, I do not remember my mother, and very little about my childhood. +There are, however, a few bright memories I have treasured on account of +their distinctness, and which will never leave me. The rest of my life, +before I was six years of age, is but a dream." + +The eyes of Mrs. Belmont were fixed with their burning gaze upon the +face of the speaker, and although her heart beat more quickly and the +color deepened on her cheek, yet she did not quail or remove her own +calm look from them. + +"A little deeper," she thought, "and curiosity will be satisfied." Ah! +how little you know those hidden depths! The bloom would die on that +full round cheek, and the light of the joyous eyes would be quenched +could their gaze penetrate that external covering of affability. +Therefore be content. + +"What are those memories, child? Tell me all." + +Lily hesitated for a moment. The command embodied in the request +disturbed her not a little, but she silenced her heart and continued: + +"I remember being in a small cottage by the great ocean somewhere; I do +not know where, and of being unhappy, yet there were bright spots here +and there, standing out with such brilliancy that the darkness seems +hidden by them. I loved the ocean, and as I learned the fact that at +some time I had been called 'Lily Pearl,' this awoke in me most +inconceivable emotions; for this reason, no doubt, connected with a +little dream that I had lived down among the pearls, and that a +beautiful lady had picked me up from the waves--that dream made me love +the music of its waters and long to become a part of the mighty whole. +But you are ill!" + +She was about to spring from her seat when an iron grasp was laid upon +her shoulder and a husky voice demanded her to "sit down!" Still they +could not remain longer unnoticed, and were soon surrounded. + +"The ride was too much for you," suggested the hostess. + +"It is sitting in such a warm room after being out in the cold," +suggested another, all of which met with no contradiction, and excusing +herself, Mrs. Belmont retired to her private room. There we will leave +her alone with her wretchedness and remorse. Dreary companions are they +both through the long hours of one wearisome night; but when the morning +draws near, and we find that no kind hand for us to clasp is reached +down through the dreary shades, the gray dawn shrinks back and the dark +pall of despair drops its thick folds around us, shutting out the +glorious day beams from our vision, while the night of the soul still +goes on! Wearisome night! full of spectral forms which glide in and out +through the darkness, bringing from the past unwished for memories which +tell us ever of what we _are_ and what we might have been. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE LITTLE PARTY AT THE WASHBURN'S. + + +Rose, the youngest and only unmarried of the three daughters, was not at +home on the arrival of the visitors. She came the next day, however, as +was expected. + +"The same wild Rose as ever," the father exclaimed, as he lifted her +from the carriage and continued to look after her, as she bounded up the +steps of the piazza, upsetting a little urchin on the way, sending him +rolling down among the shrubbery at its foot, without stopping to heed +the pitiful cry that came up from the thick shade any more than she did +the familiar salutation of her father. Yet this insensibility is not +unusual to that class of young ladies who have been reared from +childhood under the destroying influences of "caste," wherever it can be +found. Why should it be otherwise? The first impression made upon the +susceptible heart is, "I am your superior; wealth and inherited power +have determined our positions. Wealth and poverty cannot affiliate." +Thus does the cultivating of selfishness begin which grows and expands +until its hard, crooked, knotty branches reach out and smother the more +tender plants of kindness and love, which must by necessity droop and +become wholly extinct. Yet Rose Washburn was not wholly cruel or +selfish. She had been used to seeing the little dark forms that sprung +up everywhere all over the plantation rolling about from accident or +design. "It did not seem to hurt them," therefore the silvery chords of +tenderness and love which ever make such sweet music in the truly +feminine heart, had ceased to vibrate as they always do when the spirit +of selfishness rusts and corrodes them. + +"The same wild Rose of two years ago," echoed Mr. St. Clair, as he met +her in the door, imprinting a kiss on her cheek. + +"I should think you would not dare touch me, for fear of being +scratched," she replied, pettishly, as she bounded past him into the +hall. + +The young lady was not aware that Anna Pierson, the governess, was one +of the guests she was expected to entertain, until entering the parlor a +half-hour after her arrival. It was a fact not at all anticipated by the +party themselves when the invitation was accepted, but George St. Clair +most frankly expressed the opinion that it was a shame to give her no +pleasure during the short vacation, and there was no reason under the +sun why she should not take the place of Bertha, who had positively +refused to accompany them, which Ellen echoed with great earnestness. +There were many misgivings, however, in the mind of the humble Anna as +to the propriety of accepting, after all, for she well knew that Mrs. +Belmont, at least, looked upon her with an unloving eye, and how was she +to be made sure that her presence would not be distasteful to those they +went to visit? But Ellen laughed away every objection, declaring, "I +will not go without you; we will stay at home together." + +This, of course, was not to be thought of, and Anna found herself happy +in the assurance that, although far from home, she was still with those +who loved her. + +The penetrating eye of the governess saw the sudden flash of scorn that +passed over the face of the new-comer at their introduction; nor did the +slight pressure of the finger tips betray a cordial welcome. + +"I am so glad to get home again!" she exclaimed languidly, throwing +herself upon the sofa. "I have heard nothing for the last week but war, +war, war! and if I was ever tired of anything it is that hateful +subject. One thing, however, I have made up my mind to do. If those cold +blooded northerners should presume to raise their plebeian hands against +us, you will see me shoulder my musket and go forth to try my skill in +popping over a few of them." She rang the bell violently as the mother +replied: + +"If I were so tired of a hateful subject I would not again introduce +it." + +A servant girl entered. + +"Roll the sofa up nearer the grate." Then turning to Ellen, she +continued: + +"I feel chilly after riding. It is provokingly cold just now. Did you +suffer much from your long journey? Miss Pierson, I suppose, is used to +such weather." + +They decided promptly that they both had a "lovely ride," and Rose +settled herself down in her warm seat by the fire. + +"Where is Mrs. Belmont?" she asked a moment after, "I have not seen her +yet. The gentlemen, I reckon, are in the library discussing the war." + +The mother thought they were, and added that Mrs. Belmont had gone up +stairs sometime before inviting Miss Gaylord to accompany her. + +"She seems to have taken a great fancy to your daughter, Mrs. Gaylord," +remarked Mrs. St. Clair, "you must be careful, or she will win her from +you." + +"Lily does not appear at all fickle in her affections; I think I am +safe," replied the lady, smiling. + +"Are you always so industrious, Miss Pierson?" interrogated Rose, +blandly. "I beg your pardon; I forgot for the moment that you are from +the land of industry. As true as I live, Ellen, she has drawn you into +the same graceless habit. What is that on the table by you? A stocking, +'pon my word!" Ellen only laughed as she held up a portion of a worsted +scarf in process of manufacture. + +"We plebeians do not call this work; only a little amusement," +interposed Anna, without raising her eyes. "We awkward people find it +difficult sometimes to dispose of our hands, and so we employ them." + +"I suppose so." + +A toss of the head and some trivial remark to her mother was the only +answer given by the young lady addressed. + +The door opened and lunch was announced. The gentlemen entered soon +after, and the conversation became spirited and general. + +One thing Rose Washburn could not understand, she was heard to declare +to Mrs. Belmont, and that was how George St. Clair could "devote so much +time and attention to 'that menial.'" Of course it was only his +excessive gallantry, but he ought to know that it does him no honor. + +Mrs. Belmont fully agreed with her young friend, yet showed no +disposition to prolong the conversation. Rose also wondered at the +unusual dignity and stateliness of the lady, and with renewed admiration +for her queenly bearing she remained silent. + +The dinner hour arrived at last. The bell had just called but all were +not present, and so they waited. The host was in fine spirits. "Always +happy," as he declared, but pretty generally more so as the day +continued to advance. He was a lover of good wine, and unless +attentively watched by his careful wife would often lose his boasted +manliness after dinner. She had determined to use her influence during +the stay of her guests to keep him the genial gentleman she so much +desired him to be. He had, however, unknown to her, ordered wine to the +library in the morning, but was quite sure he had been temperate in his +potations. + +"What do you suppose they call those two girls 'Rose' and 'Lily' for?" +he asked, slapping Mr. St. Clair on the shoulder as the bell rang again +and the party arose. "Not because their names are appropriate; that is a +fact," he continued, after his boisterous laugh had died away. "You +never saw a lily with such black spots on it, did you?" + +"I have," remarked the young lady, playfully. "You will discover that my +eyes are not 'black,' but a positive 'red brown,' as Aunt Dinah would +say. We have lilies in our garden at home with just such colored spots +on them, and we call them 'tiger lilies.' Now is not my name +appropriate?" + +"Ha! ha! just so. And I reckon you have roses with terrible sharp things +about them which say as plainly as words can do, 'hands off,' haven't +you?" + +"He-he-he, sharp-toed slippers," squeaked a piping voice from the stairs +where they were passing. + +"Yes, and see how you like it," exclaimed Rose, making a spring towards +him, but with the sprightliness of a squirrel he darted behind a heavy +post of the balustrades, which unfortunately for the occupant of that +dainty slipper received the full force of the blow that was not designed +for it. + +"I like it, Missus," called back the provoking little rascal, as he +scrambled on all fours up the broad stairway. + +"I'll pay him off," exclaimed Rose, excited with pain and anger. "If I +was not so hungry I would do it now." + +The laugh became general, and to avoid further remark the young lady +joined in with them. Yet her cheek burned and she found it difficult to +throw aside the unpleasant incident or make herself believe that George +St. Clair, who was unusually attentive to her, did not also remember. +But the hour of feasting passed agreeably enough, and when the ladies +arose to retire, the young gentleman, who seldom took wine, asked the +privilege of going with them. This broke up the after dinner _tete a +tete_, and they all returned to the parlor. Anna stood by the window +looking out over the beautiful landscape, when a voice near her asked in +low tones: + +"Are you very unhappy here, Anna?" She hesitated a moment before +answering, as she looked into the manly face beside her. It was full of +truth and anxiety. + +"I am very happy, and have to thank you for my pleasure," was the quiet +response. + +"I feared I should have to crave your pardon, as I perceive that Miss +Rose does not look upon you kindly." + +"You may think it strange, but even this does not give me pain; it only +amuses me." + +"That is right. I rejoice that I have not been the means of troubling +you when so much desiring your pleasure." + +"Do you play?" inquired Rose, coming up to the window where the two were +standing. "I think Ellen has told me that music is one of the branches +you teach." + +"Yes; and I play a little occasionally, as example is more forcible than +theory," was the mischievous response. "Mr. St. Clair, however, will, +without doubt, prefer hearing you, as my attempts would be only a story +many times told." + +George looked into the beaming face of his companion, and his own caught +the light. "She spoke truthfully when she said she enjoyed it," he +thought, and taking the hand of the hostess' daughter, drew her arm +within his own and led her away to the piano. + +"Rose sings very well," remarked Mr. St. Clair to Mrs. Belmont, who was +sitting beside him on the sofa. + +"One more," called out the father, as the last words of the song "Will +You Sometimes Think of Me?" died away or were swallowed up in the dense +volume of the elaborate accompaniment. + +"What would you like, Father? 'Do They Miss Me at Home?'" + +The remembrance of these words as sung in a distant home brought tears +into the eyes of _one_ of her listeners, as the scenes of that last +night came rolling in upon the mind, and when at last the voice of Mr. +St. Clair was heard calling: "Now, Anna, for Cathesdra," she arose +mechanically to obey while the dew of love still glistened in her mild +blue orbs. "It is my favorite, you know," remarked the old gentleman, +apologetically. + +"And it is my delight to gratify you," was the characteristic response. + +Anna never sang better. There was something in the wail of the poor +exile pining for the scenes of her Italian home which chimed in smoothly +yet pensively with the low sighing of her own heart, and when the words +"O let me die where my mother died," came bubbling up from the full font +of her filial affections, a burst of applause mingled harshly with her +flute-like tones. The hand that clasped hers as George St. Clair led her +back to the window where they had been standing some time before, did +not seem at all willing to relinquish its task when its duty was over; +and not until he espied a smile ripple over her illumined features did +he speak. + +"A little homesick," he remarked, quietly, and changed the subject. + +Mrs. Gaylord always retired early, and Lily, either from force of habit +or affection, seldom failed to sit by her to talk or read until quietly +resting for the night. That evening, as the pale face settled itself +into the snowy pillow, the young girl stooped to kiss the weary brow as +she asked: + +"Do you see anything peculiar about Mrs. Belmont? I do not like to be +prejudiced, but somehow she strikes a chill over me every time I catch +her gaze fastened upon me; and yet there is a fascination about her from +which I find it impossible to disentangle myself. She commands me with +the beck of her hand, while a look consigns me to silence, and yet I +have met her so recently. Can you tell me what it all means?" + +"You love her, my child." + +"O no; it is not that. I almost fear her." + +"Then she loves you." + +"I do not think she does. For some reason I cannot divine she seems +greatly interested in my early history. I told you of her strange +conduct last evening. To-day she inquired if I had any idea where upon +the Atlantic shore my childhood's home had been situated; and when I +answered that I had no idea whatever, I could but notice the gleam of +joy that flashed over her face. I should have called it satisfaction, if +I had found a reason for supposing that the attitude of indifference she +assumed was not perfectly legitimate. But I am wearying you when you +ought to be resting. All of these are 'idle dreamings,' as Willie would +say, so good night," and with another kiss the young girl stole +noiselessly from the room. + +Mrs. Gaylord, however, could not sleep. It did not seem at all like +dreaming to her, and an indescribable sensation of fearful forebodings +had taken possession of her, as one feels sure that a storm is +approaching, although far away. "But it is only for a week," she +concluded, "then she will forget it all and rest." + +Ellen St. Clair and Anna roomed together by special request, and long +that night did the two friends lie side by side and talk. + +"I do wonder so much," said Anna, at last "how Mrs. Washburn could have +given her love to one so unlike herself in everything." + +"It was strange. I have heard my mother tell the story many times. You +know _they_ were very dear friends in their school days, and have always +kept their affections warm and bright by frequent communications and +visits. If it were not for that tie I hardly think we should be drawn +here for so long a time. But I hope you enjoy it just a little." + +"More than that. I shall always remember you with love for giving me +this pleasure. But you have excited my 'plebeian' curiosity regarding +this strange marriage. Will you satisfy it?" + +"O yes. Know, then, that Mary Gaylord was the daughter of a Virginia +planter, who was very wealthy, and fearing to send his daughter north on +account of the enmity existing between the sections, he posted her off +to Augusta, where she found a husband who did not at all suit his taste. +It was an elopement, I believe, and after all was over it was +ascertained that the boasted wealth of the newly made groom consisted in +the _prospect_ of a few acres of pine swamp, which would probably become +altogether unproductive before it should pass into his possession. The +father, however, at last relented, and revoked his decree to cast her +off forever, and gave them a few thousand with which he has by dint of +buying and selling amassed quite a large fortune. This added to the +estate that has since been left him by his father, has placed him on an +equal footing with the planters of the State. Were it not for the +wealth he is supposed to possess, Jack Washburn would hardly be +tolerated in good society. I have heard, Anna, that in your section of +country worth, not wealth, is more generally the passport up the +ascending scale." + +"This should be true, but there is not such a vast difference between +us. The social edicts are about the same. I often wonder how it will be +when, as the Bible tells us, there will be a new earth, and we shall +live in the society of the 'Sons of God.'" + +Ellen laughed. + +"Not much like the present state of affairs, I reckon. One thing I am +sure of, there will be no master, no slave, nor shall there be war any +more. It is dreadful to think of. Do you believe, after all, that the +north will be so foolish as to fight? George says he is sure of it, but +I hope he is not a prophet." + +"You, I am convinced, will pardon almost anything in me, even if I tell +you that I am of the opinion that God has this whole matter in hand, and +will work it our according to His wise purposes. There have been a +million prayers going up to Him for a century or more out of crushed +hearts, dripping with the bitterest tears ever shed by human eyes, and +will He not hear? Whether there is war or not, His will be done." + +"Mrs. Belmont would call that treason, dear Anna, but I feel that it is +true. If there is a pitying Father anywhere He will defend and protect +His children and bring the guilty to their reward when the proper time +comes, and in my opinion the 'mistress of Rosedale' will be obliged to +put her keen eyes to a good use if she at last finds a way to escape. +But I am getting sleepy; good night," and in a few moments Ellen St. +Clair had forgotten the wonder she had planted in the bosom of her +companion. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE DEATH OF UNCLE BOB. + + +"There is no such thing as a trifle in the world," says the Spanish +proverb. "When we remember how inextricably the lives of all mankind are +tangled together, it seems as if every word and action moved a lever +which set in motion a gigantic machine whose effect is beyond our +control." Such has been the workings of those of whom our little history +treats, and yet the labor is not completed. + +Charles Belmont would arrive before dinner the next day after the +incidents of our last chapter, and Ellen St. Clair was expected, of +course, to be nervous and excited; but much to the chagrin of the mother +of the young gentleman, at least, she was neither. One might well accuse +her of indifference or disinterestedness, so calm and quiet did she +appear. It was proposed that they should ride over to the depot to meet +him, but she thought it "tiresome." + +"Then let us go to the village for the letters," suggested Rose; but +even that was "unnecessary," and, besides, it was Jim's work, and for +one she did not "like to infringe upon the rights of others," she +declared, with the merriest of laughs. + +"Then," said George, coming to the rescue, "we will take Anna out and +show her the orange groves." + +"That is just the thing; a walk was what was most needed." + +"And Ellen is suited at last," exclaimed Rose, in a pet. + +"But you will go without me. Southern luxury is no rarity to one who has +always been used to it"; and the insinuating eyes darted to the calm +face of her for whom the pretty speech was intended. "I will remain +within doors, and listen to the chit-chat of the old ladies, or it may +be, finish the 'Missing Bride,' which I consider far more agreeable." + +"Do you find entertainment in the works of Mrs. Southworth? There are +those who consider them rather effervescent--to speak mildly." + +"Of whom you are included." + +"Certainly so," replied George St. Clair with a touch of irony in his +voice, it must be confessed, for he had seen the glow deepen on the +cheek of Anna too many times beneath her scathing words, not to realize +the uprising of his knightly indignation, which submerged, for the +moment, his native gallantry. But one glance into the mirthful face of +his companion, who was already equipped for her walk, brought to his +mind her previous assertion, that she really enjoyed it; and he +smothered the glowing fire and stepped into the hall for his hat. + +Lily was bathing the aching head of her suffering mother, and could not +be prevailed upon to leave her post, and so the three started on without +her. On the piazza, however, they encountered "Toddy," who was rolling +in the sunshine and trying to sing like Aunt Millie. + +"Here, you rascal," called George, "come and show us where we can find +the store-house. I want you to see first how they prepare and store away +the cotton," he continued, turning to Anna. + +"Wants to see where dey works 'em?" asked Toddy with a very knowing +look. + +"Yes, where the gins are." + +"Yes, Massa." And the boy started off in a rollicking trot, much to the +amusement of the young people who followed close after him. On he went, +slapping his sides at every step, and casting a sly look over his +shoulder at the ladies. + +"Here, you monkey--don't you ever walk?" again called George, as he was +getting far ahead. + +"Yes, Massa." + +"When, I should like to know?" + +"When Miss Rose wants dis child to hurry quick," he shouted back, at the +same time bestowing one of his side-long glances. + +There was another merry laugh when Anna inquired: + +"What do they call you Toddy for? It seems like a queer name for a +little boy." + +"Don' know Missus; 'spects it's 'cause massa likes me." + +This was too much even for the staid bachelor, and he joined heartily in +the laugh that followed this bit of wit. + +"I reckon they do not give you many whippings," suggested Ellen. + +"Right smart, sometimes, Missus." + +"Where are you taking us, madcap? Here, this is the way to the gin +house." + +"Yes, Massa," and turning in the direction designated he proceeded with +the same swinging trot as before. "Uncle Bob drefful bad ober dar," he +added a moment after, pointing to a small cabin a little apart from the +rest. "Reckon he's goin t' die," and he renewed with vigor the peculiar +movement of his strange gait, yet this time the drumming of his chubby +hands kept up a running accompaniment to the song he had left unfinished +when disturbed in the attempt to imitate poor Aunt Millie. + +Anna did not join in the amusement of the moment, for her thoughts were +with the old man who "was mighty bad ober dar," and she longed to visit +him in his humble home. She walked through the extensive warehouse, +listened to the explanations regarding the work of the world-famed +cotton gin, looked at the huge piles of bales not yet shipped, yet felt +no interest in what she heard or saw, so great had become her desire to +go to the little cabin where the poor negro was dying; and when they +again emerged into the open air, she said, calmly: + +"Why not make a visit to the sick now? I have heard so much in the north +about the piety and resignation of the negro people in the dying hour +that I long to witness it for myself." + +The young man looked into the face of the speaker with a shadow of +perplexity covering his own. Ellen, however, quietly remarked: + +"All of these things have been greatly exaggerated, without doubt, and +yet I shall never forget how triumphantly old Peter went home. I was +quite small, but my heart learned a great lesson from that death. If you +desire, Anna, I will go with you." + +"I think, ladies, you had better commission me to carry the wine and +oil, for having had one peep into the sensitive nature of our northern +friend, I must consider you very thoughtless, my sister, in forwarding +her desires." + +This was said with apparent carelessness, yet Anna did not fail to +perceive that he did not want them to go. Still she was not willing to +give it up, and, laying her hand on his arm, she said, playfully: + +"Miss Rose will require a little of your Samaritan kindness, if she is +still weeping over the tortures of the 'Missing Bride,' and if you will +pardon us we will go to the cabin while you administer balm in another +direction. To-morrow, remember, we are to finish our rambles through the +orange groves." + +"Of course he will excuse us," interposed Ellen, "we will not remain a +great while." And with a "Just as you please, ladies," their chaperon, +with a most obsequious bow, walked away. + +"He hasn't gone to the house at all," remarked the sister looking after +him, but Toddy unperceived by either had appeared on the scene and with +one of his knowing glances remarked quaintly: "Miss Lily ober dar wid de +turkeys; I seed her goin' down de walk. Dis be ole Bob's," and rolling +up to the door he opened it, then stepped back for the ladies to enter. +"A little gentleman after all," remarked Anna _sotto voce_; but they +were in the room where in the farther part lay the old man with closed +eyes apparently asleep. "Do not disturb him," whispered Ellen +approaching the bedside; but the large eyes opened as she drew near and +a smile spread itself over the thin features. + +"De young ladies from de house has come to see you," said the girl in +attendance. "Bress ye'se honey. I'se most home, got most t'ro' wid de +work and de cryin'! Old Bob's done heaps of dem both--bress de Lord!" +And the heavy lids drooped again over the large eyes where such a joyous +light seemed burning. Anna could not resist the impulse to take the bony +hand of the dying man in her own, and as it lay in her warm clasp he +looked again upon her. "Does ye pray, honey? De good Lord help ye! It's +but a little way down to de ribber whar old Bob's a-goin'! Poo' massa! +I'se told de Lord all 'bout him. It's de liquor what keeps de good +away--but den I'se most t'ro'--goin' home--bress de Lord!" A spoon was +placed to his lips and as he swallowed the few drops he murmured: +"_Poo_' massa! It's de liquor," and his voice died away in a prayer Anna +was sure for his lips moved almost imperceptibly. There was a moment's +silence, then Anna as she raised the hand she had been holding from the +feebly heaving breast asked softly: "What are all the sorrows of life to +you now? With heaven so near can you feel sad for a moment over what has +past? Are you very happy poor, dying saint?" O that look! "It must have +been a ray that had darted through the opening gate that so lighted up +the wan features," said Anna after, "for it was like nothing I ever saw +before." The poor girl by his side was weeping quietly, but she caught +the glance of the heavenly eyes, and laying her hand on the white head +said soothingly: "Dar's a crown for poor old Bob where dis head won't +ache no mo'"; and the fervent "bress de Lord!" fell again from the thin +lips. + +[Illustration: THE DEATH OF UNCLE BOB.] + +"Are you not afraid to stay here alone?" whispered Ellen. + +"O, no; de Lord and de holy angels are close by, and Fanny will be here +when de days work is t'ro'. But Bob an I isn't 'fraid. We'll both be dar +by and by." Fearing to intrude longer upon the last moments of a +departing soul the two stole noiselessly from the humble room which was +so soon to prove the gate of heaven to the liberated spirit, and they +stepped out into the cool, bracing air, yet not a word was spoken. + +"There come the carriages from the depot," remarked Ellen as they turned +towards the house. Yes, Charles Belmont had arrived; as also Mr. St. +Clair, in company with the host, from where they had been taking a drive +over a neighboring plantation; and shortly after a merry party, to all +appearance, sat down to a bountiful dinner. How little we know of the +grief, bitterness, disappointment, anger and rage that can be crowded +into one dark chamber of the soul over which the spirit of evil keeps +its faithful watch, holding in its right hand the keys of its secret +domain! + +"Old Bob gone dead, sure," piped a voice through a narrow aperture of +the door close to the master's chair. + +"_Get out_ you scoundrel!" exclaimed the host, at the same time throwing +a chicken bone at the intruder's curly head which failed in its aim, +while the gleeful "he-he-he!" mingled itself with the sound of Toddy's +rapid scrambling up the broad staircase outside. + +"Did you know Bob was so bad?" inquired the wife, stopping for a moment +in her duties as hostess. + +"Bad? Bob wasn't bad about anything! But I knew he was going this +morning, the old boy! Well, he did have one fault; he loved his +good-for-nothing old master and I reckon things won't go quite as brisk +now that he has gone." + +"One of the faithful ones, I take it?" interrogated Charles Belmont. + +"Yes, and a pet of my father's, who, when he was dying, told me to be +good to 'Bob' and I reckon I've done it"; and the little ripple caused +by the departure of a human soul closed up, and the dinner with its +accompaniments of mirth and laughter went on as though the waters had +never been stirred. Death! Mrs. Belmont retired to her room almost +immediately after the party returned to the parlor, for a flood of +contending emotions had rolled in upon her guilty soul at the very +thought of the "king of terrors." Then, too, there came to her through +the surgings of the inward tempest the last words of him who was +sleeping in the shadows at Rosedale, "Teach the children to be true, +noble and better than we have been, for somehow I can but feel that Aunt +Vina is right 'we must have the Lord sometime or be wretched!'" "The +Lord! Wretched! Am I not all that now?" and the miserable woman paced +the floor as her thoughts went on. Where was Lillian? She was to teach +to be good and noble! Under that very roof was her child! The babe she +had so desired to thrust out of sight--out of the world! Every motion of +the childish figure--every look sent a barb of anguish to her already +tortured soul! "It will all be brought to light" something had +continually whispered to her awakened conscience for the last two days, +and how could she ever meet it? How gladly she would have throttled the +power that was so resistlessly carrying her forward! O the agony of a +sin-cursed soul! The stately lady stood by the window and looked out +upon the scenes before her. Yonder were the rays of the setting sun yet +lingering in the tree-tops; near was the rude cabin where the still form +of the humble slave was lying. How joyfully would the proud, haughty +mistress of Rosedale at that moment have exchanged places with the poor +despised menial! But she must live; the future was unfolding itself to +her every moment and what _was_ to be done? Again the record of a mortal +life was sadly closed, for on its pages was written the guilt of a +perjured soul! + +"It must be done!" she mentally exclaimed, while her long slender +fingers clasped each other so tightly that the nails pressed painfully +into the flesh. "I never could live with such a tornado of disgrace +howling around me! _Never! It must be done!_" + + "O what a tangled web we weave + When first we practice to deceive"; + +what a concourse of evil spirits will enter when the door of the heart +is thrown open to the first invited guests! + +The miserable occupant of the upper chamber was realizing it all now as +she had never done before. She had flattered herself that the great +secret that was gnawing at her very life was wholly in her power; but +the fantasy was being dispelled! Lillian was--she knew not where! +Perhaps at that very moment probing the long-concealed mystery and if +discovered would _hate_ her mother! This was torture indeed! She halted +in her walk and stood again by the window. "I must go down," she thought +after a moments pause; "they will wonder at my absence. Secrecy and +hypocrisy is my future work! To draw the veil of indifference over the +boiling cauldron--smother the fire and be the gentlewoman of fashion and +society! O for a mask with which to cover it all!" + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE ABDUCTION. + + +Mrs. Gaylord did not expect to return to her Virginia home for some +time, it being her intention to spend the winter as far south as +convenient, her physician having ordered a warmer climate and an entire +change of scene. She thought her health was improving, and so she would +remain until the crocus peeped from its bed beneath its brown covering, +and then she would return. But it was a pity that Lily should be shut up +so closely when there was so much in the city to give her enjoyment. +Tiny could do all her mistress really needed, and "we will make it so +pleasant for her," Ellen pleaded; and Mrs. Belmont, who stood behind the +curtain, calm and dignified, had, unconsciously to all, set the plan in +active operation. + +"I suppose I shall be permitted to add my mite to the young lady's +happiness, which I shall not fail to do if she will favor us, before I +leave the city," she said quietly. All the time she was speaking her +fingers slowly turned the leaves of a book on the table as though it was +of very small moment whether the invitation was or was not accepted, and +as the young lady left the room remarked, quietly: + +"I believe I have taken quite a fancy to your daughter, Mrs. Gaylord. It +seems sometimes that she resembles in some respects my Lillian; their +eyes certainly are similar. Do you not think so, George?" + +"Yes; I have often been reminded of her. The same deep, thoughtful +expression, and at times the same sad look I have noticed on Lillian's +face since I returned from Europe." + +George St. Clair did not remove his gaze from the face before him while +speaking, yet she answered calmly: + +"I can see no reason why one so young should have such a look." + +The young man bent his head almost to her ear, as he whispered: "And +there is no reason under heaven why your daughter's face should wear it. +There is a curse in a false ambition like the one that is blackening +your soul. Unbend yourself and do what every mother's heart should +prompt her to do. Seek your child's happiness and despise, as every +noble character will, the worldly lust that is governing you." + +"How dare you!" she exclaimed, rising to her feet and fixing her keen +eyes upon him. But she said no more. The power of his calm, unflinching +gaze awed her into silence, and turning she left the room. Yet the +slumbering demon in her heart had been aroused and as she strolled out +into the open air seemed ready to overpower her. + +"What does he know about my false ambition? Could she have told him? Ah, +but she knew nothing of her child; let her revelations be what they may, +this secret is not his to taunt me with. Lost, lost! Poverty is to crush +my pride after all I have done. 'A curse!' Yes, a curse has already set +its seal upon my ambition--my life." She walked on until calm once more +stole in among her the contending spirits, and she returned to the +house. + +"Mrs. Belmont seems like one who has experienced some great reverse," +remarked Mrs. Gaylord, after her abrupt departure from the parlor. "I +have noticed several times since she has been here a disquietude +perfectly unaccountable in one of her position." + +The young man made a casual reply, and others entering at the moment the +little incident was seemingly forgotten. + +"It has been decided," remarked Ellen to her brother the next morning; +"Lily Gaylord will return with us, and Anna seems delighted. I had not +thought until last evening that a tie of native land drew them +together." + +"A land of very favorable productions," replied the brother, with a +mischievous smile. + +During the short visit the war excitement was spreading wider and wider, +and its symptoms became more and more positive. In the cities the alarm +raged like an epidemic in certain circles, while there were a few who +denounced the whole affair, a cooling draught quite inefficient to keep +down the devouring fever. Great preparations were being made in +Charleston, and a few other places were following its lead, so that, +should the campaign really open in the spring, as was prophesied, they +might be ready. Mr. St. Clair was one of the number who thought it not +well to go to fighting. "To be sure," he would say, good-naturedly, +"Uncle Sam is getting rather plethoric, and it may be well to give him a +little fright," but he never would advocate the idea of the breaking up +of households. "No doubt it would be a very fine thing to tumble down +the old national structure after it was done we were sure of walking in +over the ruins and building up to suit our own notions." But to tell the +truth he was a little afraid of the old giant. He had learned that his +locks might grow again, crop them ever so short. The safest way, he +thought, was to let well enough alone. + +His son was much of the same opinion, but if the house must be divided +against itself he would not let it fall into ruin without a struggle. +Therefore, in a few days after the little party had returned to the +city, George St. Clair started for Charleston. Lily was in ecstacy as +they drew near Savannah. The sea, the great glorious sea, was before +her, and the music of its distant waves thrilled every fibre of her +being. It recalled the fancied dream of her childhood when she longed to +go out and lay her head on the billows and become a part of its restless +life. + +Charles Belmont, who had gone to the city a few days before, was at the +St. Clair's on their arrival and gave them a hearty welcome. Had he +thought that little Phebe, as the adopted daughter of the wealthy +Virginia planter, would do to reign at Rosedale? + +A long programme was soon made out for the pleasures of the next few +weeks. There were rides and public entertainments, select dinner parties +and little _tete a tete's_, besides one grand, brilliant soiree at the +senator's mansion which Lily must not fail to attend! + +"It is so lucky that Charles Belmont has not left us," remarked Ellen +while talking it all over. "He is a most graceful _chaperon_ and it +stands us in hand to court his favor. You will not refuse him, Lily?" +she continued with an arch smile. "He seems well pleased to be called +into service." Thus the weeks passed away. The violets peered out from +their beds of green along the garden borders and the daffodils turned +their broad faces to the sun, and yet Mr. Gaylord did not come south +after his wife. He was in Richmond with the leading men of the day +discussing the great topics under consideration, while Mrs. Gaylord grew +weary with her long visit and more and more nervous with its daily +protraction. After much urging and earnest solicitation by her friends +she consented to follow Lily to the city, and she soon found herself +forgetting, when once the guest of Mrs. St. Clair, that the time had +hung heavily. The widowed Bertha became much attached to the pale little +visitor, and found great consolation in pouring her sorrows into her +attentive ear. One day she came abruptly into the room where Mrs. +Gaylord was sitting alone and saw tears upon her cheeks still undried. +"Then you too grieve sometimes," she remarked, laying her white hand +affectionately on the bowed head. "How true it is that we find shadows +where we should least expect them! But then it must be sad never to feel +well!" + +"O no, dear; it is not that! I seldom if ever have wept because of +physical suffering. I consider my pains and aches an indispensable part +of the programme of life. We all need a certain amount of refining in +order to ascertain how much gold will remain, if any; therefore I bear +all this because there is wisdom in it and an end to be accomplished." + +"One would scarcely imagine that you could have a greater reason for +sorrow." + +"Perhaps not, and yet I surprised you with tears. Shall I tell you why? +No idle fancy of mine but only a few innocent lines, the product, no +doubt, of an experience similar to my own. Let me read them to you. 'We +cannot judge of what the heart contains by the laughter that escapes the +lips or the smiles that flit across and illumine the face, any more than +we can fathom the soundless deep or discover the contents of its dark +chambers by the sunbeams that lie upon its surface. A crown of diamonds +and precious stones is a thing of beauty, but when lined with thorns and +pressed down by its heavy weight of wealth on the pierced and bleeding +temples it will lose its preciousness as it becomes a crown of torture! +Thus many blessings, priceless in themselves, may become our greatest +source of misery if a cruel hand twines thorns among them. Our most +serious wounds are those that no eye can discover because of their +depth.' May you not realize all this Mrs. Mason. _I_ know it! This is +the reason why your words, dropped one by one into the fountain of my +soul, create such a melancholy echo!" + +"I confess that I am astonished. Rich, talented and beloved; how can +there be such pitiful wailings in your poor heart? Were I expecting my +husband as you are yours, or had he died where his last words could have +been breathed into my ear I think I could hush every other saddened echo +and call myself happy. But to have the light of life suddenly blown out, +and with a great shock find yourself in total darkness, covers the heart +with a pall hard to remove. Then to feel through the whole night that +it need not have been! O--you never can know! '_The code of honor!_' My +soul detests such chivalry!" and the bright eyes glared wildly into the +face of her companion. + +"My poor friend! The tenderest sympathies of my heart are yours! I am +ashamed of my weakness; and yet there are many avenues to the soul +through which the bitter waters flow. One of these, it may be, is the +closing up of those through which the real practical benefits are +expected to enter, leaving room only for the unreal and the unpractical. +Here I feel is my fault. It is this binding up of my whole being with +these silver cords, upon which every external incident has a power like +the touch of electricity to fill my whole soul with discord. In my youth +I very foolishly drew my own panorama of coming events, in which I left +out everything that was rough or unsightly; in a word, filling up the +future with ideal loveliness. I thought my life's path would soon begin +to wind along through the valley of roses where no harsh winds ever blow +and no dark shadows ever shut out the glowing sunlight. But the time +when my slippered feet were to tread on thornless flowers has not +arrived. I ought to be ashamed of myself ever to have expected it. It is +not in my power to disjoint my nature and reconstruct it with iron! That +I was so organized is my misfortune, not my crime!" + +"Does all this make you unhappy? It seems to me that a nature so full of +beauty or what you term 'unrealities' ought to have a source of joy all +its own." + +"If one could live to herself it might be so; but it is for the +practical that we were created, for this we are chosen. Fail in the +power of bestowal and verily we are guilty of the whole. I am a failure! +It is my mission to sow dew-drops where wheat should have been +scattered, to covet sunbeams when clouds are more to the purpose! It is +not pleasant, surely, to awaken after a gentle nap of self-repose to +find that a grave has been dug with your 'incapacities' which has +swallowed up the love you once fondly expected would gild a whole life +with roseate hues!" + +"_Love you?_ Why everyone loves _you_! Your husband idolizes you! Is it +not so?" + +"Go look at my wardrobe; is anything deficient there? My jewels--are +they not the richest and rarest? But with it all my woman's heart is +still unsatisfied. Ah, there is Lily; I hear her coming up the stairs. +She has, the foolish child, the same wild longings, the same idealities +that goad me. It was these that woke my heart to her cry for love." + +Lily came bounding into the room her cheeks and eyes bright with the +excitement of her morning ride. + +"I am so sorry you did not go with us," she said as she kissed the pale +lips of her dearest friend. "I am sure it would have taken all of the +pain out of your head, the air is so pure and sweet. Besides Charles is +to return to Rosedale to-morrow where his mother will follow in a few +days, and Ellen will not trust herself with the new coachman, he is so +easily frightened, the horses are so spirited; and Mrs. Belmont is +almost as bad. She says she really believes he would jump from the box +and run if they should put up their ears a little higher than usual. But +you shall have one more ride, and if he deserts his post I will take it. +That would be only the exercise of one of my early accomplishments. +Dear old Rover," she continued, half to herself. Where was Willie? +Frequent letters assured her that he was doing nicely in his new +vocation, while her constant memories of him added to his content as new +prospects opened before him. + +Mrs. Belmont insisted that Lily should spend one day at least with her +before leaving the city, and as Mr. Gaylord was expected soon her +request was speedily granted. + +"We are to have a drive along the beach," Lily went on to say, +"returning just as the moon rises. I wish we were to have a larger +party, but it was not spoken of until yesterday. It will be delightful I +know! Already I feel the uprising of that childhood's memory when I used +to steal away to look at the moon as it lay on the water and wished I +could go where it was." + +It was a delightful evening as the little party started for their +pleasant ride with the scent of far-off flowers coming to them on the +soft wings of the southern breeze and the music of the great ocean in +their ears. Into this the bright day-king was about to take his nightly +plunge from behind the royal colors of purple and gold. + +"What a little enthusiast you are about the ocean!" remarked Mrs. +Belmont in response to some exclamation of admiration. "Perhaps you +would like to take another such a ride upon it as you told me of?" + +"I do not think I should be more afraid now than I then was if I were on +those rose-colored waves yonder rocking and rolling as they are doing. I +believe I should still imagine that the voice of my mother was mingled +with their song lulling me to sleep!" Lily did not notice the agitation +of her companion or perceive that her lips were of an ashy hue and her +cheeks sunken and pale, so much engrossed was she in the excitement of +the scene about her. + +"Turn to the right here," commanded Mrs. Belmont. + +"Lor! Lor, Missus! _Dat_ road?" + +"Turn to the right and keep silent!" she repeated. + +"This _does_ seem like an unfrequented path leading into the woods," +remarked Lily without any seeming agitation. + +"Yes, dear; I am going to take you around a little then come down +abruptly to the beach. I have been here and understand the way +perfectly." + +"Have we come a long way?" + +"Only a few miles." Both were again silent. + +"How soon it gets dark after the sun goes down," said Lily a few moments +after. "May we not better think of returning?" + +"Presently. There, take to the left now, it will bring us around to the +beach." + +Sam made no objection to the command this time, but his shoulders +evinced unmistakable signs of inward dissatisfaction as he turned the +horses into the road which was narrow and half overgrown with grass. +Soon they came to a thickly-wooded elevation, when Mrs. Belmont +commanded that they should halt! "We must turn to the left again here in +order to gain the main road; but I want to show you, dear, more of the +ocean than you ever saw before at one view. We will walk a little +way--to the opening yonder, while you will remain here with the +carriage, Sam, until we return." + +"It's _drefful_ dark, Missus! Sam don't like it nohow!" + +"I am very much of Sam's opinion," remarked Lily who had alighted. "The +moon will be up in a few moments; besides, it is these trees that make +it so dark here!" Once more on firm footing the fearlessness and +buoyancy of her nature returned to her, and the young girl darted away +toward the spot designated with a light and rapid step. + +"Do not leave me to grope my way alone," called Mrs. Belmont. + +"I beg your pardon and will stand here and wait for you," came the +reply. "I have not gained the light yet, but it is a little way ahead; +come!" She waited for a moment as she had said, and hearing a step on +the right called out: "This way Mrs. Belmont; where are you?" + +At this moment a pair of strong arms were thrown about her and a voice +hissed in her ear: "Don't ye bawl, and ye shan't be hurt! I'se got a +strong grip and so ye'd better be quiet!" She gave one shriek, and then +finding he had bound her hands while speaking shouted again the name of +"Mrs. Belmont!" Quick as thought a bandage was thrust over her mouth +which almost suffocated her. "Thar, thar--I reckon yese'll be quiet +now!" and taking her in his powerful grasp bore her rapidly away. + +"Sam! Sam!" screamed Mrs. Belmont; "come quickly! Do you not hear the +dear child calling? Something has happened! Run and find her!" She was +close to the carriage and there was no need of calling so loudly; but +the poor, frightened negro did not move. + +"_Why do you not run?_" + +"O Lor, Lor, Missus! Dis nigger can't do nothin'! I'se mighty 'fraid, +Missus! Can't go nohow!" + +Mrs. Belmont wrung her hands in the very abandonment of grief! "Poor, +poor girl!" Then darting into the woods she called with a loud voice: +"Lily! Lily!" But the roaring of the waves not far away was her only +answer. After many exclamations of sorrow and outbursts of grief; after +much calling and many remonstrances with the poor frightened negro for +his good-for-nothingness on _all_ occasions, and this trying one in +particular, Mrs. Belmont reseated herself in the carriage and commanded +that Sam should drive as rapidly as possible to the city. + +"Dat I will, Missus; but what ye do wid di young lady?" + +"Drive to the city as I command you!" was the emphatic answer. + +"Yes, Missus"; and after some hesitation and audible ejaculations from +Sam they gained the highway and an hour after drove up to the door of +the St. Clair's. + +"What the deuce does this mean!" exclaimed the old gentleman as Mrs. +Belmont entered the parlor with haggard looks and her long black hair in +disorder about her face. The sad story was soon told amid sobs and +exclamations from her hearers. + +"What possessed you to remain down to the beach at such a late hour?" +interrogated Mr. St. Clair angrily. "One could almost suspect you of +design." + +"My dear husband," said the wife; "do not be too rash! The question is, +what can we do for the poor girl?" + +"Send to headquarters of the police immediately! The place must be +thoroughly searched by moonlight and continued until she is found!" + +All this time Mrs. Belmont sat like one who had suddenly lost the power +of motion, while her keen, dark eyes seemed to burn the carpet at her +feet. At last she arose and with the dignity of former days walked from +the room, and her carriage was soon after heard rolling away from the +door. + +"You have offended your cousin Mr. St. Clair," said the wife. + +"I do not care if I have! She had no business to be out in such a place +without being better attended at any rate!" + +"Mrs. Gaylord must not hear of this to-night," continued the good lady +musingly as her husband left the room. "How can I tell her! It is +terrible!" + +Day after day was the search continued but with no success. Mrs. Belmont +had closed her doors against all visitors, taking the precaution, +however, to station her servants where they would be able to bring her +the first news concerning the missing one. Mr. Gaylord reached Savannah +in time to join in the search and administer consolation to his +newly-afflicted wife. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +BREAKING OF HOME TIES. + + +Let the human soul wander where it will with its burden of guilt; let it +try as best it can to hide its deformity under the covering of +complacency, the eye that never slumbers is upon it and an accusing +conscience will continue to repeat "thy sin shall find thee out!" Poor +Mrs. Belmont! Step by step had she been led forward on the path where +she little expected to walk, but in her stepping down from true +womanhood she had been met by the spirit of evil and he had guided her +tremblingly on. + +The third evening after the close of our last chapter a tall figure in +feminine attire might have been seen in the street opposite her +residence. A half hour after, the side door of that house opened softly +and closed again as a closely-veiled woman emerged into the darkness. +Passing down the main avenue it came to a street more unfrequented where +the two met and walked on together a few moments in silence. At last +stopping suddenly the voice of Mrs. Belmont inquired in a subdued tone, +"Well--what are you going to say? _Quick!_" + +"I'se goin' to tell ye. I took the gal down to the boat, but 'twas a +mighty hard tug. She didn't make no fuss tho', so I took off the +handkerchief and told her to be aisy and I'd treat her well. Then came +lots of questions but I didn't tell her nothin'. The sea was mighty high +and I know'd there was no gettin' to the ship, so I jest hugged the +shore as near as I dast to 'til I got away where nobody could find us, +then I pulled up where I know'd was good shelter to wait for the tide, +when gorry! I'd no more than sot foot on a hard rock than the gal sprung +to her feet and was off quick as a wink! How she got her hands untied +nobody knows! But she couldn't ha' kept up five minutes for the wind was +risin' and the waves was _awful_, so I reckon there's no more trouble +for nobody!" + +"You are a blunderer!" gasped his listener. + +"I'se done my best, that's all!" + +"Here--take that--and remember next week you go to Charleston as a +volunteer to fight, and if you get shot so much the better for you! This +is the bounty to be given your family! Go--and let me and this +transaction die from your memory forever! _Go!_" + +They separated and Mrs. Belmont returned to her home with the same +stealthy tread as that with which she had left it. Alone in her chamber +the wretched woman listened once more long and helplessly to the +terrible upbraidings of conscience! + +"I did not intend all this," she cried. "O, no! The stain of _murder_ +cannot be found on my soul! I only thought--the great Judge knows I +would never have injured my own flesh and blood! The great Judge!" she +repeated, while a tremor ran through her frame. "Yes, He knows I did not +mean all this! I was compelled--having taken the first step there was +no retreating! Ah, that first act! Whither will it lead me?" + +In the morning the storm had passed and Mrs. Belmont came forth to light +and life more rigid and stern than before. It was said that "her sorrows +had made her grave; yet more grand and dignified," and soon the +"presumptuous" whispers of blame were hushed, for one so _noble_ as the +"Mistress of Rosedale" _could not_ be guilty of crime! And the wave of +public opinion closed over the scene and the waters of social life were +calm again. + +George St. Clair had remained in Charleston during these excitements, +watching the progress of other scenes even more sad and cruel, yet free +from the plague spots of crime, and bearing aloft the banner held to be +of glory and honor for the reason that a nation, not an individual, had +demanded the sacrifice of many lives, not one! South Carolina had drawn +her ample robes more closely about her and with one pitiful leap had +plunged over the fearful precipice down into the dark and unexplored +depths of the yawning chasm of disunion, dragging after her a few of her +unfortunate sisters. No wonder they stood and trembled upon the brink +when it was once reached, for there were mysteries wholly unlooked for +which seemed to lose their golden tints upon nearer approach and assume +the dignity of practical realities. The little "affair" at Fort Sumter +somehow had cast a shadow of foreboding over more than one chivalric +heart. + +Col. St. Clair met his commanding officer the morning after the +surrender of the little half-starved garrison, standing alone viewing +through his glass the noble fort with the new emblem of glory floating +over it. + +"Well--how do you like the looks of that, Colonel? The Morning Star with +_healing_ in its beams--ha?" Taking down his glass he turned to his +companion, who had not yet spoken, and continued; "what the deuce is the +matter with you St. Clair? Your face ought to be shining with victory, +but instead it presents a perfect blank!" + +"As unreadable as our future," he replied with an attempt at a smile. + +"Ah! A discovery! Getting tired already! Hope the white feather has not +began to grow as soon as this!" There was a sneer on the face of the +speaker which his companion did not fail to notice. + +"General," he said mildly, "I acknowledge with deference your +superiority in military rank, but do not forget that the blood of the +St. Clair's runs through my veins, disseminating through my being no +mean cowardice, as you well know!" The general laughed. + +"You are awake now my brave boy and more like yourself! I only wanted to +arouse you! Now tell us, what is the matter? Something more than our +surroundings disturbs you. Out with it!" + +"What time do the Eaton's go north?" was the calm inquiry. + +"Next Wednesday in the steamer from New Orleans," the general replied in +the same indifferent tone. + +Another short silence ensued when St. Clair again remarked: "We have won +such a victory that we can afford to rest for a time, I suppose? The +fact is, general," he continued, "I have received a telegram this +morning that has disturbed me not a little!" + +"I am glad your ill humor can be accounted for. I never saw you appear +so unlike yourself; no bad news I hope!" + +The manner of his companion was particularly offensive just then, but +smothering his rage St. Clair replied: "You understand that I would like +a furlough to return home for a few days! It seems that my father must +leave Savannah, where he has been an honored and beloved citizen for +nearly half a century, or forfeit his life, for no other reason than +that he cannot at his advanced age learn immediately the act of +dissembling nor tear from his heart the live-long love for the old +flag." + +"What do you mean, St. Clair?" + +"I mean just _this_! My father was fired upon last night while sitting +quietly in his own library, the ball passing a little above his head and +lodged in the wall opposite." + +The general was excited. "A blood-thirsty _wretch_!" escaped from his +lips, while his companion continued calmly: "In order to save our loved +ones we must push them off into the enemy's country; now honestly, +general, has not that a smack of the ridiculous about it?" Without +waiting for a reply he turned, remarking: "It is time that I was at work +if I am permitted to go on the next train." + +Anna Pierson was alone in the school room, her head bowed upon the desk +before which she was sitting. A sheet of letter paper with a few lines +written upon it was lying beside her, while the idle pen with the ink +dried upon it had apparently fallen on the page blearing and spoiling +it. Poor Anna! She had sat there a long time silent and motionless, +seemingly unconscious even when little May stole softly into the room to +tell "Miss Anna" that Uncle George had come; she was obliged to run back +with the intelligence that Miss Anna was asleep; neither did the tread +of heavier feet arouse her when nearly half an hour later George St. +Clair quietly pushed back the half-open door and stood irresolutely for +a moment on the threshold. She was not asleep as he well knew, for a +low, deep sigh reached him, and the little hand that hung so listlessly +over the corner of the desk on which her head was resting trembled. In a +moment he was beside her, and taking the bowed head between his hands he +raised it tenderly and looked down into the tear-stained face. + +"Anna!" + +"George St. Clair!" she exclaimed with almost a shriek, at the same time +attempting to rise. But he held her fast. + +"No, Anna! It takes a longer time than you have given me to get a +perfect daguerreotype! I want the memory of this just as I found it, +tear-stained and all! It is no more than I deserve. I should not have +been so cruelly selfish as not to have told you weeks ago to leave +Savannah and return to your northern home." + +"Is it too late now?" + +"No, but you must be speedy! More than this, you must take my father and +mother and Ellen with you!" + +"With me?" + +"Yes, Anna; we cannot leave them here after what has happened." + +"O, no; I shall be so happy! But George--" + +"What, Anna?" + +"My mother is a widow in humble circumstances--" + +"Do you imagine that I would burden yourself or your mother?" + +"Not that," she interrupted. "I was only thinking of the change from a +home of luxury to one of only comfort, yet very peaceful and dear, at +least to me. But it would be delightful if I could make them as happy +and joyous in _my_ humble home as they have made me in theirs. Will they +let me try?" + +"Has no one but the three you have mentioned added a morsel to your +enjoyment since you have been an inmate of this home?" + +The blood rushed to her cheeks and brow and she struggled to liberate +herself that he might not look so intently down into her swimming eyes, +which she well knew would tell him more than she would have him know. + +"Then there was no one else! Well--take them; I will consign them to +your care until the detestable struggle is over! When this is done I +will relieve you. Bertha is a true rebel and will have no fears in +remaining where she is." + +The voice of the speaker was low and tremulous as he uttered these +words, and Anna thought that she had never before seen his face so pale +and thin. He had permitted her to rise and she now stood before him. Did +she love him? She had asked herself that question many months +previously, and although her lips were prompt in their denial her heart +had remained silent. It throbbed now as she met his troubled gaze and +beheld the look of sorrow on his face. It was for a moment only. For +the first time her eyes fell upon his military dress; it was a rebel +uniform! A flood of recollections rolled in upon her in deadly combat. +Would that hand which had so lately touched her cheek spill the +life-blood of those who were so dear to her? The thought sent the blood +back to her heart and left cheek and lip pallid and cold! With an +involuntary shudder she laid her trembling hand on his shoulder and +tried to speak, but the words died on her pale lips. George St. Clair +passed his arm about her and drew her to a seat on the sofa. "You are +ill; sit here until I procure some water!" + +"No, no; I am not ill; it is over now. You came to talk to me about +going home. It is very kind of you"; and, rising, she extended her hand. +He took it tenderly in his as she continued: "I joyfully accept the +charge you have placed in my care, and will endeavor to be to them all +you could wish; and now, before our last farewell, make me one promise, +will you." Her lips quivered, but with an effort she thrust back the +tears that were welling up from her full heart, while her hand lay +motionless in his. "It is this: Should one or both of my brothers, +through the fickleness of war, be thrown into your power, that you will +let the memories of the last eighteen months soften your heart with +mercy toward them." + +"Has this uniform converted me into a monster? I do not wonder? Yet I +promise you all and more! God only knows what those memories of which +you speak will do with me. Now we will go and talk the departure over +with the rest, yet not with that pale face, Anna. It would add a new +pang to the sorrows of my parents, who are now unhappy with the +prospects of expulsion, as they term it. Have you not one kind word for +me now that we are so soon to part, perhaps never to meet again? O, +Anna, I had torn from my life's history several pages which I had +determined to read to you to-day, but cannot now." He raised her hand to +his lips. "Farewell! we will go. To-morrow, no doubt, you will be busy; +the next day we must be in Charleston to intercept a New Orleans steamer +going north. This route will be a little longer but more agreeable, as +every train is thoroughly searched for any who may be going thither with +more information concerning our plans than would be desirable. Again +farewell." He dropped her hand and left the room. + +Anna sank down again on the sofa, and for a few moments gave vent to her +pent-up tears. The succeeding day was full of sadness and bustle. Many +tears were shed, and presentiments indulged in. The invincible Bertha +alone stood firm and apparently unmoved. Only once did the son and +brother appear with the family. He came to dinner, but disappeared as +soon as it was over. Anna tried to think of her home, where she would +soon be, of the joy of her fond mother at the reunion, but it was +piercing the cloud to draw the sunshine from beyond. + +In one week the little party arrived safely in Washington; from there +they took the cars for Baltimore, and thence to New York. + +A few miles back from the noble old Hudson stands a pleasant little +village, nestled in among the green hills and wide-spreading trees, cosy +and quiet, excepting where the rapid stream comes rushing down through +the valley, turning in its course two huge splashing wheels that never +grow weary as they keep on with their work, propelling the machinery of +the massive cotton mills which were the life and pride of the +inhabitants for many miles around. It looked calm and peaceful as seen +from the deck of the steamer, where Anna was sitting, and her heart +bounded with ecstacy as the pleasant remembrances of her home life came +sweeping over her. She had been sitting with the hand of Ellen St. Clair +clasped tightly in her own, apparently listening to her exclamations of +delight at the grand scenery through which they were passing, while in +truth she was harkening to other voices that came up from the past, and +gazing on the many sweet faces that filled her heart with a new joy, and +drew back for a while the dark curtains that seemed to hang between her +and the shadowed future. + +"I declare, I do not believe you have heard one word I have been +saying." This from Ellen at last. "All of that ecstasy is wasted; and I +indulge in it so seldom! Tell me, Anna, what were you thinking about?" + +"Of home, dear Ellen, and how happy we will all be together." + +"But Father thinks we may better take rooms at the hotel; he is afraid." + +"I understand all. They will be better acquainted with our habits soon, +and, it may be, will think more leniently of us; but I am responsible +for your safe-keeping, you know, and could not think of extending my +care over more than a mile to the hotel." Anna smiled, while Ellen's +laugh reached the parents who were sitting some distance from them. + +"They are happy, wife," suggested Mr. St. Clair, "and I reckon we might +as well be so too, and make the best of circumstances." + +The little circle in the widow's cottage would have been happy, yes +joyous, had there not been two vacant chairs at the evening gatherings +and at the morning devotions, while the sound of war came to them from +the distance, telling of bloodshed, of anguish, of heart-strings +breaking and homes made desolate forever. It was sad; but the widow +never ceased to pray, and with her petitions there went up a meed of +praise that He had given her the power to offer, on the altar of +sacrifice, her first born, with his brother, both true and noble. + +Colonel St. Clair's letters were frequent, and although full of love and +solicitude for his parents and Ellen, he had never more than casually +mentioned the name of Anna in any of them. But his sister was with her +and she was happy. Having never herself known the love of a sister, she +fancied that in this dear friend she had at last found a recompense for +her years of unsatisfied longing. Milton has said "The happiness of a +nation consists in true religious piety, justice, prudence, temperance, +fortitude, and the contempt of avarice and ambition; they in whom these +virtues dwell eminently need not kings to make them happy; but are the +architects of their own happiness, and whether to themselves or others +are not less than kings." And we add, the country who has these virtues +and lives upon the principles emanating therefrom needs not war to wipe +out injustice and wrong. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +LEADING HER ON. + + +The path downward is easy of descent, even though the end thereof be +eternal ruin! There were thousands at the time of which we are writing +(as well as in all stages of human life) who threw themselves from the +lofty pinnacle of true nobility to grovel awhile in the slough of +wickedness, then perish forever! How terrible must be the awakening of +such a soul, if the kind Ruler should ever permit the awakening to come, +and yet worse, sadly worse, would be the unconscious sleep that plunges +its victim over the precipice of ruin to be aroused at last beyond the +boundaries of hope! + +One night after the first signal defeat of the southern army, which +seemed to dim for awhile the bright halo of victory that had darted up +the horizon from northern skies, a circle of ladies were gathered in a +spacious parlor in Charleston, doubtless for business purposes, and +those of no ordinary character, if we should judge by the earnest +debates that were carried on in one corner by a group apart from the +rest, or by the sage countenances and serious deportment of the others. + +One of the number, a tall lady in black, had arisen from her seat on the +sofa, where she had been discussing for a long time some important +subject in which all appeared particularly interested, and was now +walking with measured tread and folded arms up and down the long +parlors, seemingly unconscious of the low buzz of subdued voices which +fell on her ear at every turn, for her dark, keen eyes had never once +been raised from the carpet on which she was treading. + +Just outside of the window stood a large magnolia tree whose upper +branches reached the narrow opening made by letting down the window to +admit the fragrant air from the blossoms outside. To-night this had not +been neglected, and as the heavy lace curtains were pushed slightly to +one side a pair of dark, wondering eyes peered down upon the scene +below. In the kitchen another group had gathered; their faces were +darker and their clothing coarser and homelier than those upon which the +slave boy was gazing from his elevated seat in the magnolia tree, but +the all-absorbing subject had fired the blood and quickened the pulse +alike of each. Harry had determined to learn as much as possible about +the excitement, and his heart had beat rapidly as he listened to much +that had been said by those who had occupied the sofa directly under the +window; but he could hear little now and he waited impatiently for the +return of the principal speaker who provokingly continued her thoughtful +promenade. He was thinking of the light, frail mulatto girl down stairs +who was nervously waiting for his appearance and the new secret he was +to confide in her; and the half hour seemed to extend to an interminable +length. + +It ended at last. The tall figure reseated itself in the chair, and the +eager face of the listener pressed hard to the frame of the window that +his ear might not lose a word. + +"Yes; _I will go!_" were the first that reached him. + +"You have decided nobly!" exclaimed several in a breath. + +"It is just what I knew you would do after deliberating upon it!" +replied the one who seemed to be particularly addressed. "You are so +much better fitted for the mission than any one present! Your queenly +bearing and imperious manners would command the confidence and respect +of strangers. Then your acquaintance in Washington would so materially +assist you! It has been proven that our army must act with skill as well +as power, and as the colonel says, 'we _must_ learn something of their +plans before they are brought against us, if we are to overthrow them.' +For this you are well adapted as you will have no trouble in mingling +with the most refined, or in select circles where such things are ably +discussed." Mrs. Belmont had been sitting during this speech seemingly +absorbed in her meditations, but the listener outside lost not a word. + +"You will disguise yourself in some way, I suppose," suggested another. +Mrs. Belmont aroused herself at this. + +"I will take one hundred dollars only of the money subscribed, and will +return to this house one week from to-day without a card and my name +shall be 'Mrs. Southey.' If Harry does not recognize me I shall feel +secure. His keen eyes and quick perceptions would penetrate my mask I +know if it could be done. I intend it shall be complete, but this shall +be my test!" + +An approving hum went round the circle. "But supposing he _should_ know +you?" suggested the mistress. "I fear that half-blooded rascal--he knows +altogether too much if I can read aright the merry twinkle in his eyes +and the inquiring look with which he scrutinizes every stranger who +visits here. But we will try him. We must not shrink from any imaginary +ill when you are to risk so much for our good," continued the lady. + +Harry gave a low chuckle as he thought, "Neber you fear dis chile; he +won't know nothin' dis time su' as de worl'! Jus' you watch his eye when +Mrs.--Mrs.--what de name; well, 'twant Belmont, dat's sartin! +He-he--reckon dis 'half-blood rascal' got 'nuf dis time!" And the nimble +figure scrambled noiselessly down to the ground and darted away to find +Nelly who was anxiously waiting for him. + +"O Harry!" she exclaimed as he caught her in his arms; "I was _so_ +'feared you'd be wanted! I heard de bell ring and de ladies are agoin'!" + +"Let 'em go, Nelly; you'll be a lady some day jes' as good as any on +'em! I heered lots and we's goin' t' be free! Hurrah!" + +"O Harry, hush; somebody'll hear ye, sartin'." + +"Oh I could yell jus' like de sojers! Hurrah! But dis chile's got to +wait; de good time's comin', Nelly, de good time's comin'; but dar's de +bell--dat means dis rascal, su'," and away the light figure bounded, +leaping up two steps at once as he proceeded to the upper hall where +some ladies were standing ready to take their departure. + +"Where were you, boy, to make Mrs. Belmont wait so long? I rang twice," +exclaimed the mistress, as he came slowly into their presence. + +"'Spects I must 'a' fell asleep Missus. Didn't hear only dis once." + +"You had better keep awake another time. Now hand the ladies to their +carriages, and see if you cannot be as polite as your young master would +be if he were here." There was a hearty laugh as the servant opened the +door, bowing most obsequiously as several passed out before him, he +following to do the honors of the "young gentleman." + +At the appointed time Mrs. Belmont appeared at the door of her friend, +and was ushered into the parlor by the facetious Harry, who bowed as +unconcernedly as the lady herself could desire. Upon extending his hand +for the card he was supposed to expect, she said, blandly: "Tell your +mistress that Mrs. Southey is waiting for her"; and bowing low the +servant left the room to obey her command. On the staircase he halted to +perform several ludicrous gyrations, while the merry twinkle in his eyes +laughed itself out, and when he reached his lady's private boudoir they +told no tale of inward excitement. + +"Mis' Southey is a waitin', Missus." The sharp eyes of the mistress were +upon him, but he remained unmoved, whistling a few low notes at the same +time beating a subdued tattoo upon the door. + +"Mrs. Southey?" repeated the lady, without removing her gaze, but not a +muscle moved in the face she was scanning. + +"Tell her to come to me," she continued, and the servant departed. Great +would have been the chagrin of the mistress had she seen the humble +slave boy as he descended to the parlor below. Catching a glimpse of +Nelly at the farther end of the long hall, he threw himself into the +most laughable contortions, which provoked in her convulsive chuckles +at the same time adding a reproof by a dubious shake of the head. In a +few moments more the door closed behind Mrs. Belmont as she entered her +friend's room and the two were alone together. + +"I am sure he had not the least idea who you were, and no wonder! I do +not believe I should recognize you myself if we should meet on the +street"; remarked the lady as her visitor seated herself. "How strangely +you look in that gray traveling suit!" + +"Not more so to you than to myself"; was the low reply. + +"Your hair put back so plainly, and those glasses, have really added +half a score to your years. No one will doubt your origin, or that you +are an English lady of the old school." The speaker laughed merrily, but +the visitor remained calm and silent, having been led by her companion +far away into the future where new scenes and new duties awaited her. It +was a perilous task she had undertaken, and no one understood it better +than herself. But the last few years had been fitting her for the risks +she were to encounter. + +"It was true that no one within the circle of my acquaintances was so +well fitted to act this part in the great drama of war," was her +conclusion, and no one had such a reason for hating the foe as had she, +and while she was performing this great service for her country she +could at the same time pay off the debt of her blighted hopes. During +the short visit quite another scene was being enacted below stairs. +Harry and Nelly were standing together in one corner of the large +kitchen engaged in close conversation, notwithstanding the +protestations of Aunt Nancy, who reiterated a dozen times a day at least +the declaration "Dat boy Harry don't arn de salt in his porridge." For +once her words rattled away in the air and fell unheeded on the ears +they were aimed at. + +"I tell you, Nell," said the slave, "dar's somethin' goin' t' happen jes +suits dis chap. We'll have a fine house all our own, and some little +Sambo to take care ob de chilerns, and, and--" + +"Go away, you Harry," and the girl slapped his round cheek, with a +yellow hand that delighted to push back the curtains hanging about her +future as well as did her lover. + +"Well, I hearn 'em talk, and old Ben sang 'de Good Time's Comin', louder +last Sabba-day dan he eber did afore. It's comin' Nell. I jes +thought--I'll tell Ben, and set him praying for it. He'll make it all +right, sartin, sure; and when we get de big house we'll take old Ben to +mind de chilerns. He'll like dat for pay, sartin." Nelly laughed, and +declared again that Aunt Nancy wanted her, then darted away, followed by +the laugh of her lover. + +Three weeks after Mrs. Belmont arrived safely in Washington. In due time +she took up her lodging with the family whom she had known several years +previously, and who well understood her mission in the city. + +As the "wealthy English lady who had fled from the South on account of +her anti-war principles," she was admitted to the most private circles, +where she promulgated her "abolition" doctrines to the evident +satisfaction of her numerous admirers. It did seem a very strange thing +that the anticipated movements of the Union army should be known to the +enemy long before they were brought to maturity. But had the puzzled +authorities seen the tall gentleman who came leisurely up the long +avenue three times a week until he reached the farther end, where he +would look carelessly about him, and stopping under a certain tree take +from beneath a stone a folded paper, then walk as slowly on, they would +have easily imagined that in this was the mystery concealed. Yet it +would have required a great amount of credulity to believe that Mrs. +Southey, who had so won the hearts of the people, could have possibly +known of, much less have written, those mysterious epistles. Only once +did her large eyes lose their determined look, or the crimson wave of +self reproach roll over her stern face, but the calm face of our noble +President, as he held her hand in his, scrutinizing her face, brought +them both to view. Did those penetrating eyes pierce the mask she was +wearing? Did that manly soul discover the spirit of rebellion looking +out through those orbs that so shrank back at his gaze? It was only for +a moment. He bowed while the old smile returned to his plain face as he +extended his hand to the next visitor. + +Abraham Lincoln sleeps to-day in a martyr's grave, but the touch of his +warm hand, without one stain of human blood upon it, and that look from +those reproachful eyes, so full of love and good will to all, sank with +a heavy weight down into the traitor's heart that night and were living, +real things to the wretched woman, who lived to mourn over the sin of +treachery, not only to her country but her home-loves. Alas! that any +should think to subdue the tempest of remorse which comes to beat upon +it, by prevarication or crime. The eye of justice cannot be deceived. +Did these thoughts sometimes come to the miserable woman, who tossed +upon her bed as the memories from the past came back to torment her? +Where was her child? Her Lillian? It had been many months since she had +heard from her directly, and there were times when the terrible +presentiment of coming disgrace would haunt her dreams and fill her +waking moments with dread. The war--the terrible war! Her son was +probably in it, surrounded with the dangers of a common soldier. George +St. Clair was in it. The mighty wave of devastation was rolling +southward, and Rosedale was cut off from her approach, perhaps forever. +Where was the end to be? What wonder that she trembled at every report +of aggression or conflict that sped towards her! But worse than all this +was the terrible consciousness that sin had stained her soul with blood. +Never for a moment did the awakened conscience cease its upbraidings. In +vain did she answer back: "Say not this of me. Murder is _not_ one of my +transgressions. I did _not_ mean all that!" + +But the voice would not be silenced. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A DAY IN THE HOSPITAL. + + +On almost every breeze came the sounds of conflicts or victories, or +defeats, or mournings and heart-breakings, which chimed harshly with the +shouts of exultations and cheers of the conquering hosts. On every +breeze went up also to the great Father and God of battles the wail of +anguish, the cry for mercy from breaking hearts, as well as the earnest +plea for protection for loved ones in the perils of war; and the gentle +spirit whispered to the despairing soul, "What I do ye know not now, but +ye shall know." Blessed comforter! What could be done with all the +mysteries of life that continually creep about us to chill and paralyze +our being were it not for its peaceful influences? But let us return to +glance at the terrible battle of Bull Run, which sent dismay into +thousands of homes where the dearest ties of love were severed and the +strongest links of earth broken forever. Let history paint the dark +cloud that hung over the blood-stained field, casting their sombre +shadows on the lonely graves of the early sacrificed. + +There was much wondering in high circles how the plan of attack was so +well known to the opposite forces, which would have ceased could they +have looked in upon the "wealthy English lady" for a moment, who with +her hostess, was waiting for their private messenger who was expected +every moment with the latest news from the seat of conflict, which was +to assure them that the Union army was defeated. The dignity of the +mistress of Rosedale was for the time laid aside while she reveled in +the very abandonment of her exuberant joy. + +"This pays me after all for the risks I have run," she exclaimed with a +toss of her regal head. "Wondering eyes will flash to-day, and aching +hearts exult. I have been waiting for this. The hour of vengeance never +loses itself though the whole world should turn over in wholesale +confusion." + +"Do not, Mrs. Southey!" pleaded her companion, "for it seems even to me +that there is a sure prophecy in your words. Vengeance! Will it hunt us +out at last?" + +"Hush! I was not speaking of such minor facts as ourselves. The +prophecy, as you term it, only incidentally bubbled up with the shouts +of victory; that was all." But the stern face paled perceptibly as she +uttered these careless words. + +"It may be well to shout, still I advise you not to be too highly +elated, for remember the reports are not all in yet, and I am in +possession of a few drawbacks as to the final results. By the way, did +you notice the remark of that senator last night about traitors and +spies? I looked up to see if you experienced any peculiar sensations +about the throat." + +"Did I show any signs of suffocation?" + +"I did not perceive it." + +"Then your look was not very penetrating. I hope all of my friends will +be equally considerate." + +"Then you did feel a little uncomfortable?" + +"Only for a moment. I might, of course, make a misstep that would +slightly disarrange my mask, and it would, as you know, be uncomfortable +to have curious eyes peering beneath it, and the possibility, at times, +causes a little unpleasantness." A smile played feebly across the face +of the speaker, which soon died away, leaving cheek and brow a shade +paler than before. No doubt her soul had taken another peep through the +rifted curtain that was shutting out her future, and beheld something +that must have appalled her. And what wonder? "The way of the +transgressor is hard." + +"I have been thinking," continued the other lady, after a long pause, +"that we must follow the noble example of the patriotic ladies of +Washington and visit the hospitals. We might do great good there. Kindly +hearts and willing hands will, without doubt, be in great demand on the +present occasion. As for me, I am anxious to be about the work," and she +turned to the window. + +"A grand thought, and shows conclusively that you have remarkable +diplomatic powers, altogether unlooked for in our sex. I shall be ready +to follow your lead in such a noble suggestion at our earliest +convenience; but it will never do to go empty-handed. The poor fellows +will need many things. If we are to be ministering angels, you know, we +must take the oil and wine." + +How different from all this were the feelings and aspirations of the +little group gathered together in the widow's cottage on the banks of +the grand old Hudson. Three days after the above conversation in +Washington, Anna Pierson returned from the village post-office, as was +her custom, bearing in her hand several papers, which were distributed +as usual. + +"No letters, Mother," was the prompt reply to the anxious, inquiring +look as she entered. "It is not time, unless they were written +immediately, and we should not expect that." + +Her words were cheerful, for she had carefully prepared them during her +walk; but her heart was troubled with fearful apprehensions, and she +dared not consult one of those silent messengers that were clasped so +tightly in her hand until she had entered her own room and seated +herself by the window. Then she cast her eyes over the long columns: +"The Great Battle! From our own Correspondent." Why did she not read +further? She had longed all day for that very article, and now that it +was before her, her eyes turned towards the clouds in the west as though +her thoughts were all centered within their shadowy folds. Ah, there are +many hearts to-day wherein these sad memories still linger. _They_ could +tell why Anna Pierson did not read, why she shrank from the terrible +revelations that might be before her. There were many names included in +the correspondent's letter over which her eyes hurriedly ran. + +"Thank God!" Fell from her lips as she reached the end of the list +without seeing a familiar name; but below was a P. S.: + +"I have just learned that Col. St. Clair of the Confederate army has +been brought into our lines dangerously wounded." + +The paper dropped upon the floor beside her as she sat silent and +motionless among the falling shadows, until a timid rap on the door +startled her. In a moment Ellen entered, and without a word threw +herself at Anna's feet, and, hiding her face in her companion's dress, +wept aloud. An arm stole softly about her neck and a hand smoothed +caressingly the dark braids of her hair. + +"Don't, O don't, dear Ellen," she said; "let us talk together. I have +been a full half-hour coming to a conclusion regarding my duty in this +terrible crisis. Listen, now, while I tell you my determination." These +words of love were so gentle and kind, and her voice so full of +sympathy, that Ellen soon found herself soothed and comforted under +their tender influences. + +"Yes, Anna, do tell me, for I was never at such a loss regarding my own +duty as now, and perhaps your decision may aid me." + +"Perhaps it will. Well, it is this: I am going to him. He will need +tender care, and I will bestow it. You, dear girl, must take my place +here; will you?" + +"Yes, Anna, but--" + +"No matter; you know I was to give you my matured decision, so do not +imagine that it is possible for me to waver." + +"Your mother, Anna; what will she say?" + +"She will not hinder me. But I shall expect you to be a daughter to her +as well as to your own parents. All will need you to cheer them during +my absence. I shall place them in your care with the full faith that all +will be well." + +"I cannot understand you, Anna. I came here faint and trembling at the +very thought of his sufferings, to find you all ready to go to his +relief, willing to sacrifice home for only a friend, while I, his +sister, had not supposed such a thing possible." + +"Only a friend." Was this true? Could sympathy alone have compelled such +a sacrifice? Memories of other days came stealing in upon her senses +like sweet odors from a far-off land, but she thrust them aside, and +kissing the upturned face before her, said, smilingly: + +"Never mind, dear; perhaps you will know me better some day. You are, +however, mistaken in thinking me all ready, for I shall be obliged to +wait until Monday to finish my preparations. I shall gather a few +luxuries with many little things that I feel I shall require; so let us +go to work and banish present sorrow with busy hands." + +True to her purpose, in three days Anna emerged from her baptism of +benedictions and farewells, and, laden with endearing messages and +tokens of love for the suffering one, stepped on board the "Vanderbilt," +that was to bear her forward on her chosen errand of mercy. Numerous and +varied were the emotions that took possession of her heart as, when +alone seated on the deck of the noble steamer, she found time at last +for calm reflection. Would she find him alive? And would he be glad to +see her? Then came stealing into her thoughts the unwelcome fact, like +the whisperings of the serpent in the garden of flowers: "He is a +rebel!" The suggestions ran on; "will it be possible to minister to the +necessities of one like him without incurring censure? A _rebel_!" Tears +came to her eyes. She had taken no time for weeping since the sad news +reached her, but now she gave free vent to them although knowing that +curious eyes were upon her. But sorrow was no uncommon spectacle in +those days of bereavement and heart-breakings. Then came a thought as +softly as steals the soft sunbeam that dries up the summer rain: "My +brothers are safe; his hand is powerless now to do them harm. Who knows +but he will cease to contend for a cause he has not loved; to struggle +for a victory his heart never desired." + +[Illustration: "SHE PLACED THE CUP TO HIS LIPS."] + +One who had not looked on the scenes in a hospital after a battle, has +no idea of the soul-depressing sights that everywhere present +themselves. So thought Anna who, after two days of restlessness and +anxiety in Washington, at last obtained permission to go to Alexandria +where she was most needed. While standing among the dead and dying, what +wonder that her cheeks paled and her eyes were filled with tears of +pity? It was where new accessions were almost continually being made of +such as had not previously been able to be moved from the field-tents +and private houses where they had been carried. The poor sufferers were +brought in upon stretchers or blankets and laid on the floor, waiting +for their wounds to be examined, or the stumps of amputated limbs to be +redressed, and weather-beaten bodies to be made more comfortable +generally; before being taken to the next ward, where nice clean beds +were waiting them. Just before her a young man with dark brown hair and +deep blue eyes was lying on a mattress where two men had placed him. One +leg was gone, and a blood-stained bandage was about his forehead. How +pale and wan he looked! His gaze was upon her, and his lips moved. In a +moment she was beside him. "Water," was all she could make out. Here was +work; why should she be looking for any other? She placed the cup to his +lips and raised his head tenderly while he drank. A cup of cold water! +How sweet were the blessings that came in upon her soul as she gave it +to him! "Thank you," and a feeble smile came to his lips. + +"Will you take this basin and wash some of their hands and faces?" asked +a cheery voice near her. "I will get another. Poor fellows; they sadly +need soap and water before clean clothing can be put on them." + +It was a kind, sympathizing face into which she looked while listening +to the request, and although she hesitated to commence so strange a +task, it was but for a moment. There was a world of thankfulness in the +blue eyes that looked into hers as she took away the blood-stained +bandage and smoothed back the dark locks from the brow while she bathed +and cooled it with a soft, gentle hand. + +"You are so kind," he murmured at last; "God bless you." + +"He does," was the quiet answer, and the mild eyes closed, but not to +sleep. + +"Do you suffer much?" she asked as she laid the hand she had been +washing back on the heaving breast. + +"Not much; yet I shall not live. My mother, O my mother!" A tear escaped +from beneath the closed lids and dropped down upon the hard pillow. Anna +saw it as she turned to leave and stopped to wipe it away. "I will see +you again," she whispered and then passed on. + +A burly son of Erin was lying near with an arm missing and a foot +thickly bandaged. With an encouraging smile from the nurse who was +engaged in administering to one who might have been his brother, Anna +bared her arms to the work. + +"Shall I try to improve your appearance a little?" she asked, at the +same time kneeling beside him. + +"Holy Vargin bless ye, Miss," he ejaculated. "It's not the likes of ye's +who should be doin' it; but the Son of Mary will bless ye, Miss. Look +yonder," he continued, "d'ye see that gray-back in the corner there? +He's a reb; ye's wont wash his face, sure?" + +"Certainly we will," replied Anna, who could not help smiling at the +eagerness of her questioner. "The Bible tells us to 'do good to them +that despitefully use us.' I have no doubt his face needs washing as +much as your's, and should I not do it?" + +"Faith and I'd put lots of soap in his eyes, and wash up instead of +down, if I did it at all, at all." + +The girl sighed as she tugged away at the worn out boot that seemed +unwilling to yield to her powers, but it came off at last, and with +elevated nostrils she continued her labor of mercy. While thus engaged +she looked occasionally towards the rebel coat in the corner; but it was +not he for whom she had been anxiously searching, yet her heart did not +fail to upbraid her for an apparent neglect. She had inquired as often +as she thought judicious, but had learned nothing. "Perhaps he will soon +be brought in," she thought, and her eyes turned searchingly upon every +new-comer. Close by was one who had just finished his mortal sufferings, +and beyond another so still that one might have thought him dead; but as +Anna laid her hand upon his forehead he opened his eyes and looked at +her. + +The surgeons were busy with their work, and all day her hands were never +idle. Three times had she received the last words of love from pallid +lips for loved ones far away, and each time had promised to send their +precious remembrances or tokens of undying affection from the lost whom +they never in life would look upon again; and no wonder that at last she +should return to her lodgings weary and sick at heart! + +"I fear I have kept you waiting," she said as she passed her landlady in +the hall; "but I have been very busy." + +"I understand it; how worn-out you must be! Katy is in the kitchen +keeping a cup of tea for you," and with a thankful heart Anna proceeded +thither followed by the lady. + +"I hope you will pardon me," she continued, "but a soldier has been +almost thrust upon me to-day, and I have been obliged to change your +room. I was sure you would forgive me after you knew all. He is an +officer whom the general did not like to take to the hospital, as it +would not be very pleasant for him, being a prisoner from the +Confederate army." + +"A Confederate?" queried Anna, with some agitation. "Do you know his +name?" + +"Colonel St. Clair. Why, my dear girl, how strangely you look! Is he a +friend of yours?" + +"He is. Is he severely wounded?" + +"Badly, I believe, yet I do not know how. Would you like to see him +to-night?" + +"No, unless he needs my services." + +"I think he was sleeping when I came down. The surgeon was here an hour +ago, and his negro servant is with him now." + +"Then I will not disturb him. In the morning I will go." + +Anna Pierson forgot her weariness as she seated herself with her writing +desk to finish up her day's toils by penning the promised letters of +sympathy and condolence to the friends of those who had that day entered +the silent land where there would be no more war; and when all was +finished thoughts of home, and loved ones waiting there, came and she +wrote on, closing with the promise to finish on the morrow after she had +seen him whom she came to seek. And then she slept. + +Before the night had gathered up all its dark shadows there came a low +rap on her door which aroused her, and, springing from her bed, wondered +how she could have slept so long. Mrs. Howard entered. + +"I am sorry to awake you so soon," she said, "but he seems so anxious to +have you come to him, that I could not well wait longer. I told him +there was a lady here to see him, but would not tell him your name. He +appears a little brighter this morning, and says he rested pretty well," +she continued. "Shall I tell him you are coming?" + +"Yes, in just a minute; for you know it does not take us Yankee girls +long to dress," she responded, assuming a playfulness she did not at all +feel. True to her word, however, in a marvelously short time she opened +the door of the sick man's chamber softly and closed it again as +noiselessly behind her. His face was turned towards the wall, and he did +not move until she stood beside him. Softly laying her hand on his she +whispered his name, "George St. Clair." A sudden flush of joy +overspread his face as his fingers closed tightly over hers, while the +response, "Anna, my good angel, how came you here?" burst from his lips. +"How glad I am that I have not on that hated uniform. You will not +despise me now? But tell me first how came you here?" + +"Just as any one would who had not wings to fly; but my mission is to +take care of you until you get well." + +"I am unworthy. But talk to me of loved ones, of yourself, of +everything." + +A pleasant hour followed, and both were happier than they had been for +many a day. Clouds were rising that were to cover the calm blue of the +clear sky above them, but they saw them not. + +How kind in the Father to deal out his chastenings as he does his +blessings, one by one, else the poor heart could not bear them! + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE DARK, DARK WAVE. + + +"Anna." It was a faint, tremulous voice that called through the +half-open door of the wounded man's chamber, as the young girl was +passing; but it was sufficiently clear to arrest her progress, and she +stood still for a moment, listening and wondering that she should be +called at such a time. The surgeon was in attendance, as was his custom, +although the hour was an early one, he being, as St. Clair had told her, +an old friend and traveling companion in Europe a few years before, +which accounted without doubt for his unusual attention at such a busy +time. Anna had not met him during the few days she had been in the house +as her services had not been required during his visits, wherefore her +surprise at now hearing her name. While thinking the matter over the +call was repeated, and without farther hesitation she hastened to him. +The wounded man was lying on his side, partly supported by his servant, +whose tears of sympathy were rapidly flowing. The surgeon was bending +over the prostrate form with face unmoved, probing and dressing the +fearful wound. In a moment Anna was kneeling by the drooping head which +hung faintly down on the side of the bed, and, with a sudden impulse of +feeling, raised it tenderly to her shoulder and pressed her lips on his +cold, damp forehead. + +"Poor George," she whispered, as she smoothed back his dark hair, "it is +very hard. How sorry I am for you." + +"I can bear it all now, and more if need be," and the strained eyes +which looked up into the pale anxious face bore testimony to his words. + +"It is hard to suffer with no loving hand to wipe the drops of agony +from the brow, but endurable when fond lips kiss them away. Dear girl!" +he added, in a whisper, just as the surgeon finished his work, bidding +the servant to lay him down gently upon the pillow. When this was done +he turned, and apparently for the first time discovered that another had +joined their number. + +"There, my good fellow," he remarked, cheerfully, "I hope you will not +be obliged to go through that operation again. It is healing nicely; and +if we can keep the inflammation down and the wound open under the +shoulder-blade for a few days, the best results may be hoped for. The +trouble is, St. Clair, you have too many chicken-hearted ones to care +for you. Your servant must be more thorough." While making this remark +his eyes were fixed intently on the face of Anna. + +"Miss Pierson, doctor," said St. Clair, with an attempt to a formal +introduction, "and let me tell you, she would never be worthy of the +slur you have just cast. Should you tell her to perform your most +disagreeable commands, I feel positive they would be carried out to the +very letter." + +"You are welcome to try me," said Anna. + +"Can I trust you?" + +"I came for that very purpose." + +"Then listen." Whereupon followed a long list of commands and +injunctions. + +"You will perceive he has also a fever, which must be kept in +subjection, not only by strictly administering the medicines but by +shielding him from every excitement. I may not be here again for two or +three days, but shall feel comparatively easy now that I can leave him +in your hands." + +"I shall endeavor to do my duty, as far as I am able, sir." + +"I believe you; good morning." + +And, taking the hand of each, the busy doctor left the room. + +Mrs. Howard met him in the hall below to inquire about the patient. + +"Did I understand that young lady's name was Pierson?" he asked, as he +was about to depart. + +"Yes." + +"Has she any friends in the army?" + +"She has two brothers, she told me." + +"Then one of them was buried yesterday. I was sure of it as soon as I +looked into her face. They were very much alike. Poor fellow! I found +him near the rebel colonel up stairs, and the long exposure hastened his +death." + +Again the surgeon bowed and hurried away. + +The kind-hearted old lady stood for a moment stupefied with pity and +perplexity. + +"It was too bad he did not tell her," she thought as she looked after +him. Her mind wandered off to the widow on the banks of the Hudson of +whom Anna had spoken. She, too, was a widow, and had a son in the +Confederate army. It was hard for her that he was there, but how +heart-rending if he should die far away and be buried in an unknown +grave! Could she break the sad intelligence to the bereaved girl? The +colonel needed her. Should she advise her to do what her sympathizing +heart prompted? She pondered it over for a few minutes, and then her +decision was taken. She hastened up the stairway and rapped gently at +the door. It was opened immediately by Anna. + +"I would like to see you for a short time," she said, as the happy face +beamed upon her. + +"I will come soon," and turning to the bed she remarked: "You must sleep +now after such an expenditure of nerve power"; and arranging the pillows +that the head might more readily rest she placed her hand on the smooth +white forehead as she pressed her lips to his. + +"I can sleep sweetly now, good angel, since the old scorn has been taken +out of my memory!" and he settled quietly down. + +"Scorn! One like poor me bestowing such a commodity on one like you?" +and laughing she turned to leave. + +"It may be that attribute is not in your nature, but--" + +"Yes--the uniform," suggested Anna. "Well; you are never to play the +'wolf' again, you know?" + +"Never, no _never_!" With a joyous step she tripped from the room to +join Mrs. Howard below stairs. + +"I have some sad news for you--perhaps I ought not at such a time as +this trouble you, but my conscience would upbraid me should I keep it to +myself; besides, you must know it sometime." + +"O, _do_ tell me!" interrupted Anna impatiently. + +"I will! You have told me of your brothers and that you had found on +inquiry that both were uninjured. Nothing is easier than such mistakes +in these times." + +"Mistake? Was I mistaken? Are they not safe?" + +"I have heard only about one. He was found on the battle field not far +from the colonel upstairs. Both had been exposed so long to the rains +that your brother could not rally and he died and was buried yesterday!" + +"_Died?_ Are you _sure_ he died? It _cannot_ be! Where was he?" Anna did +not weep; such a flood of thought and feeling rushed in upon her brain +that it forced back the tears. More than a week had she been in +Washington and Alexandria while he had been suffering and dying! O, +_why_ could she not have found him--listened to his last words and +received his last blessing? Ah--this was a cold wave that was dashing +over her soul; but there was one to come more chilling, more furious and +overwhelming even than this! "They were together!" Could it be that +those hands that had so lately clasped hers as she listened to words of +love were stained with her brother's blood? They were opponents and +found near to each other when the conflict was over! _Enemies!_ O how +these thoughts maddened her! They seemed to tear her very _soul_! She +remained motionless and silent so long that Mrs. Howard ventured to say: + +"It may be you would like to find out where he died and where they have +buried him? You can, perhaps, procure his body and take it home for +interment. This would be a great consolation to his poor mother I am +sure; I know it would be to me!" + +Those words, "home" and "mother," opened the secret avenue to her soul, +and tears came plentifully to her relief. "O, yes!" she sobbed, after a +moment's pause; "I will go immediately! I have much to do and must not +waste my time in weeping; but it is so horrible! How will my mother +endure it?" Again the tears came, but with repeated efforts she drove +them back and arose to leave the room. "I will leave my patient with +you," she stopped to say. "I have no doubt you can do all that is +required; at any rate I must go! Do everything for him in your power and +be sure you will be amply rewarded. When he inquires for me tell him the +sad story; will you? I go to bury my brother by the side of his father, +and where loving hands can care for and protect his grave! He _can not_ +rest here!" + +Her companion looked at her in surprise. Her form was erect and firm; +her eyes sparkled with the fire of heroism! In half an hour Anna came +from her chamber prepared for a walk. She told her friend that she was +going first to the telegraph office and then to the hospital to learn +what she could for her mother's sake! "Ellen must come to take my place +by her brother's side," she concluded. "But must I see him no more? It +is hard! But the _stained hand_! My brother's blood!" How much agony can +be crowded into a phantom thought! Poor Anna! Then whispered her heart: +"He may die! To agitate him might bring very serious consequences"; she +had drawn this from the words of the surgeon. "Ellen must soothe and +comfort him"; and she hastened on her errand of love. In a few hours she +had done all she could, and was seated in her room, weary and +heart-sore, to think over the incidents of the morning. + +How full the moments had been crowded! In her hand she was holding the +locket that was his, in which was her own and her mother's pictures the +kind nurse had promised to send to them. How precious it would always be +to her! His last look of earth was on their faces; his last words were +blessings implored for them. She had learned it all from the kind one +who had bent over him at that moment when his noble spirit winged its +way from the poor mangled body towards the land of peace and rest. "How +kind in her to be so explicit! How soothing were the tears of sympathy +that fell from a stranger's eyes!" Then her thoughts returned to the +living. How was he? Had he wished for her? Was he very unhappy without +her? Could she ever meet him again? What should she do? What was her +duty? O the buffetings of a tempest-tossed soul! + +Poor Anna; there was an undefined longing in her heart she did not then +understand, and so was left to grieve as one who had no hope! It was a +fearful struggle between heart and judgment as she supposed, and _who_ +should settle it at last? An answer to the morning's telegram was +brought in; "Ellen will be here in three days," she concluded after +reading it, "and then I shall be at liberty to return home with my +dead!" Home! There was a sacredness in that word now--a sad solemnity +that oppressed the heart as she remembered the sombre emblems of +bereavement that were darkening it! There had been only the shadows of +separations in the loving circle for many years, and even these had been +lighted up with the bright gildings of hopeful reunion! How would that +mother bear the first great blow dealt by the crimson hand of war? Where +was Elmore? They had told her that he was probably safe and had been +hurried away with his regiment, but might be wounded or a prisoner. + +"How he will miss the absent one!" she thought. The mother, it was true, +had laid her two sons upon the altar of sacrifice, but never had failed +morning or evening to plead that the fire might not fall and consume +them. One had been taken; and the shadow from the dark-winged angel +would settle heavily down upon the widow's peaceful, quiet home! Tears +fell fast. She was so happy a few hours ago, now how dark life seemed to +her. How fickle are our joys and what a little breath will sometimes +blow them out! Strange that clouds should follow so closely in the wake +of the summer's sun! Lights and shadows; calms and storms; hopes and +despairs make up the individual lives. + +Troubled child! Why did she not in her perplexity turn her face towards +the source of all wisdom and grace? Why do not you, gentle reader? Her +eyes were steadfastly fixed on the ground where the shadows always lie +the thickest, rather than with the penetrating vision of faith +endeavoring to pierce the sombre clouds above her head. The sound of +footsteps along the hall aroused her. "Some one is going to _his_ room. +His room!" And the shadows clustered more closely about her heart! It +was so sad that the great phantom which had appeared the first time when +George St. Clair stood before her in the uniform of the confederate +army should come to her now with such an air of certainty! + +"They were found together!" She had dreamed of this; she had started +from her sleep at seeing that hand which pressed her cheek while he read +the secrets of her fluttering heart, stained with the blood of his +victim, and that victim her idolized brother! It had come at last, and +O, how terrible the realization! Rising hastily she replaced her bonnet +and hurried from the room. On the stairs she met Mrs. Howard. + +"Colonel St. Clair is very anxious you should come to him," she said; +"and seems distressed that you do not. He told me to bear to you his +deepest sympathy, and I saw a tear in his eye as he told me. Will you +not go to him to-day, Miss Pierson? I think his fever is a little higher +this afternoon. Do not refuse, for I fear it will do him harm." + +A sudden faintness came over her as she listened to these pleadings, and +she trembled so violently that she was obliged to seat herself for a +moment. At last with great effort she said: "Take to him my thanks for +the sympathy he sent me, and if I can by any means bind up the main +artery of my heart that I feel has been severed I will see him again"; +and without another word she arose and hastened from the house. + +"Is the child crazy?" muttered Mrs. Howard as she proceeded up the +stairway. "She has changed fearfully during the last few hours, that is +certain!" And this she told the wounded man when he anxiously inquired +for her a few minutes after. + +A groan escaped him, but he only added, "Poor Anna! The scourge! O the +terrible scourge of war!" + +All the afternoon the sad mourner flitted restlessly about among the +suffering and dying, speaking a gentle word to one, or administering a +soothing draught to another--ever active, carrying consolation and +comfort wherever she went. At last she missed the one in whom she had +previously taken such a great interest--the young soldier with +dark-brown hair and deep blue eyes. "Where is he?" she asked. + +"He died last night," answered the kind old nurse. + +"Died?" interrogated Anna, "I thought he was getting well." + +"We thought he was, but God knew best!" and the kindly lips quivered +that were so used to words of consolation. + +"More sad hearts!" mused Anna as she became attracted by another scene +not far away from where they were standing. A mother had just arrived +and now sat by the bed of her dying son, who for the first time, it may +be, failed to recognize the soft touch of that gentle hand, or respond +to the familiar tones of a mother's loving voice. Too late! He would +never look upon her again! The tempest-tossed soul forgot its own +tribulations as she watched the anguish of the stricken parent who sat +beside her boy with tearless eyes, but with cheek and brow as white as +those she was so hopefully gazing upon, pleading for "one word, only one +word!" But it came not. Anna turned away. "These scenes are too painful +for me to-day," she said to the sympathizing nurse, who softly touched +her arm to recall her. "Tell me where I can go and find peace!" + +"I will, poor child, follow me." In the next ward a young man was lying, +his face livid from the loss of blood, one limb entirely gone, the other +partially, yet a smile shone ever upon those wan features, and his +kindly greeting and words of cheerfulness were like rays of sunshine to +all who came under their influences. "Mr. Page," said the nurse as she +took his proffered hand, "here is a young lady who needs a few words of +resignation and comfort dropped into her wounded heart, and you have +always such a rich store on hand that I felt you would be willing to +administer a few to one who needs them so much." + +"I shall be obliged to give them second hand you know." How his pale +face lighted as he said this, and extending his hand to Anna invited her +to sit beside him. "It is hard to be afflicted," he said, "but you know +they sometimes provide a very white robe for such as we." Then he spoke +so calmly and soothingly as he inquired into her griefs, while he poured +oil of peace into her lacerated heart until the pain ceased and she was +soothed and comforted. "What was your brother's name?" he asked. + +"Herbert Pierson." + +"Herbert Pierson? You should not grieve for him! He had a noble soul. I +knew him well, and when the surgeon told me yesterday that he was dead I +thanked God for his release from suffering. Could he speak to you to-day +he would say as I have, 'do not grieve for me!' How often I have heard +him speak of his sister and mother, and pray for them too. Ah--there is +comfort for you beyond my poor powers of giving! The blessed sufferer +who atoned for you and me will bestow it! Your brother was mine in +heart; how I loved him!" + +"O thank you; thank you!" sobbed Anna as she clasped his thin hand in +hers! "His mother will bless and pray for you," she continued. + +"And will not you?" + +"I? I do not pray for myself! I wish to die." + +"Then you will! God be praised!" + +"I will see you again," she said rising, and catching one more glance of +his calm, blue eyes she hurried away. After tea she retired to her room, +much against the wishes of Mrs. Howard, who was urgent in her requests +that Anna should visit her patient that night, but all to no avail. +"Tell him," she said, "I will see him in the morning; I _can not_ go +to-night; O no, I can not!" and entering her seclusion she closed the +door, much to the chagrin of the good lady, and seated herself to +collect her thoughts. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE RECOGNITION. + + +Anna awoke the next morning with the half-dreamy consciousness of some +impending evil or gloomy foreboding or trial she was expected to meet or +avert. For a long time she lay on her bed balanced between a peaceful +unconsciousness and the stern realities of duty that were rising before +her, until at last the full burden of life rolled in upon her mind. +Springing from her bed she dropped upon her knees beside it. For the +first time in her life she discovered her utter helplessness; her +inability to go alone! Before her were heavy loads she was expected to +take up and carry along, but with this consciousness came also the +invitations whispered to her shrinking heart, "come unto me"--"cast thy +burden on the Lord and He will sustain thee." There in the solitude of +that early morn she came close to Him who had promised strength +sufficient in every time of trouble and perplexity. Firmer were her +purposes when she arose from her knees; more willing was she to +sacrifice all her dearest hopes at the feet of justice, if such stern +duty was in store for her. As tears are sometimes the gentle dew that +falls upon and refreshes the drooping flowers of life, so prayer is the +concentration of the golden rays of light that color and beautify the +re-animated petals, sending into the heart once filled with desolation +and despair the freshness of a new life, and driving out the dying fumes +that arise from the withered flowers where fond hopes lie buried. Softly +came this gentle influence into the soul of her who under the shadows +was kneeling and praying! Was it faith or love that was soothing her? +Perhaps neither. The burdened spirit may not yet have drunk from the +golden cup which the hand of mercy had proffered; but it had listened to +the music of pity's hovering wings as she brooded near while gathering +up the fragrance of the heart's petitions to bear away with the tears +from the overflowing soul. Anna felt these refreshing influences, yet +she knew not from whence they came. Her face bore the softening impress +as she entered the breakfast room and inquired regarding the wounded +colonel. + +"He is a little more quiet this morning," replied Mrs. Howard; "but was +very restless all night. I was up with him the greater part of the +time." Anna seated herself at the table but could not eat. + +"I think I will go over to the hospital for a few minutes," she said, +rising; "tell him I will soon return and then will come to him." + +"Why not go now, Miss Pierson? It is sad to witness his misery! Your +absence, I am sure, is now his greatest affliction!" + +"Indeed, I must go and get my own wounds dressed before I can attend to +others!" This last remark was made partly to herself as she left the +room, but enough fell on the ear of the listener to fill her with +astonishment. + +"What could the girl mean?" she asked herself over and over again, but +received no satisfactory reply. In the meantime Anna was making her way +to the hospital, and upon arriving proceeded immediately to the ward +where she had, on the day before, talked with the one who had known and +loved her brother. But he was not there. Even the cot had been removed, +and on the floor where it had stood a large dark spot was seen. Sick at +heart and without one word of inquiry she hurried into the next room +where the kind old nurse could, she was sure, tell her all. + +"Yes, dear, these things are dreadful for us to bear," was the reply to +her visitor's earnest questionings; "but could you have seen his face as +his life rapidly ebbed away you would have been satisfied that sometimes +'it is Christ to live, but to die is gain.' What you saw yesterday was +no comparison to it; so holy; so joyous! It was about four this morning +they called me, but so rapid was his going that I only caught a glimpse +of the glory that shone through as the gate to the 'city' opened for +him!" + +"Yet it seems so hard to me just now that he must die," interposed Anna +as she looked dreamily out over the long rows of cots where wounded men +were lying. "Was it because my poor heart reached out after him in its +sorest need? Must all be taken?" She had said this musingly, but the +nurse heard it and her face shone with interest. "Forgive me," she added +quickly, perceiving the look that was fastened upon her, "I was +bewildered for a moment." + +"There is a Comforter, and it was He that gave him his powers of +consolation! You know he said yesterday that he would be obliged to +bestow only second hand what he had received." + +"Yes, I remember, but tell me more of him." + +"It is the story of many others, yet it came all unexpectedly, as it has +often done. It was the giving way of the main artery that had been +severed so near the body that there was no chance for again securing it. +It was not five minutes after he discovered his position before he was +quietly sleeping! Such a death has no sadness in it my dear girl, for it +was only stepping out of pain and suffering into peace and rejoicing!" + +"Thank you," said Anna as she turned away, for kind words were needed +elsewhere. Alone in her room again she gave full vent to her feelings. +"I am ready now," she thought as she bathed her face that her swollen +lids might not grieve him, and prepared to fulfill her promise. It was +with trembling steps, however, that she entered the room where George +St. Clair was lying. He was alone and apparently asleep as she +approached the bedside and looked down into his face so calm in its +repose; so gentle in its outline; almost feminine it appeared to her in +its tenderness. Yet she had seen it when it was not as it was now. How +different! She placed her hand on his forehead that he might awake +before the dark thoughts should come back to her. He opened his eyes and +looked full into hers! A deep flush overspread his face, yet not a +muscle moved or a word escaped his lips. "George, will you not speak to +me?" she asked at last. + +"Yes, Anna; but why have you absented yourself so long? Have you desired +to revenge your brother's blood upon me? Upon my poor head, Anna? Are +you so cruel? Tell me that you lay not that sin at my door; or use the +dagger for my more immediate relief! Does this shock you? Am I the one +who is the most cruel after all?" + +Anna sank down upon a chair near by and buried her face in the pillow. +Both were silent for a long time; at length Mrs. Howard entering aroused +her. + +"You must not disturb my patient, you know," she said with an attempt at +pleasantry, for she was happy to see Anna at last where she thought she +ought to be. "You are to cheer him up, for he seems quite low spirited +to-day." + +"We shall, no doubt, do very well," replied St. Clair, impatiently; and +the kind-hearted lady after administering the medicine, left the room. + +"Anna, will you move your chair a little this way that I may see your +face? I want to talk candidly with you." She obeyed. He looked at her +for a moment, but there was more of sorrow than scrutiny in his gaze. At +last he said, "Mrs. Howard tells me you are going home." + +"Yes, I must go; my mother will want all that is left of him whom she +has so dearly loved! The staff is broken upon which she expected to lean +in her declining years. It is a hard task, but I have no power to shrink +from it!" + +"Have you made all of your calculations to do so?" + +"Not wholly. I shall wait for your father whom I am expecting here +to-morrow in company with Ellen." + +"Ellen? Is she coming? Then you will not return?" + +"No!" This was spoken with a tremulous voice, and she knew his eyes were +fixed intently upon her. "You will not need me," she continued, after a +moment's pause; "your sister Ellen can do all it would have been in my +power to perform, and my mother will be very lonely and sad without me." + +"You did not think Ellen was so efficient a few days ago, Anna. How +changed you are! Yes, I think I understand you; but can you not be +mistaken? Look at my hands, dear girl, are there any dark stains upon +them? Think of my prostrate form; is he the less guilty who spilled my +blood because this life did not escape through the wound? Blood for +blood, Anna, and justice is satisfied! Are you sterner than that +insatiate power?" + +Tears flooded her eyes and she bowed her head to conceal them. Where now +was the strength she had expected would sustain her through this trying +ordeal? O how weak she seemed! How flitting the sunshine that had but a +short time before gilded her darkness! + +"Anna," said her companion, "your heart is pleading for me! It is not +your better judgment that is sitting at my tribunal at this moment; I +know it all! I read it months ago as you stood before me so cold and +stern when you first beheld my uniform, and it has followed you ever +since. You loved me then and you cannot hate me now! Look up, Anna, and +tell me if my words are not true?" She obeyed. + +"They are true! I did love you, and God knows how hard it would be to +tear that love from my heart! But you will wait; the storm has burst in +upon my soul. When the fury is past and the clouds are broken, in the +calm you shall read what now is so bleared and illegible! George, you +can never know the depths of sadness that is permeating my every hope +and aspiration! If you knew the agony of the last few hours, that has +torn me like an evil spirit, you would pity me!" + +"I do pity you, Anna; and will trouble you no longer lest my words +should prove an infliction rather than a panacea, and I will, as you +have requested, bide patiently your time." The young lady arose and +stood before him. + +"Good-bye, George, make haste to recover," she said without emotion; +"your mother pines for you and many hearts will rejoice when you are +well again." He was looking steadily at her while she spoke, and their +eyes met. Her lips quivered, but quickly bowing her head she pressed a +kiss upon his brow and darted from the room. + +Early the next morning after a restless, sleepless night, Anna prepared +herself for another visit to the young lady who had so tenderly nursed +her brother during his days of suffering and death. She did so long to +look again into those deep, dark eyes, from which had beamed so much +sympathy, and to ask many questions which she had omitted at their +former interviews. It was a damp, chill morning, for the sun was hiding +behind dense leaden clouds and a thick fog had settled down upon the +city. However, she liked all this, for nature was in her most congenial +mood with such frowns upon her face, and so she hurried on. She received +a warm greeting from the beautiful nurse, whom she noticed was much +paler than when she saw her last, and was at the moment apparently +unusually agitated. Not far from her two ladies richly, but plainly +attired, were standing conversing in low, soothing tones with a sick +soldier. + +"Do you know those ladies?" she asked eagerly as she clasped the hand of +her visitor. + +"No, although I have caught a glimpse of their dresses several times in +the other wards during the last few days," replied Anna, stepping back a +little that she might look into their faces. But in vain. "I have heard +one of them spoken of as a very wealthy English lady who was at the +south, but was compelled to come north on account of her anti-war +principles; but have thought very little about them." + +"I must see that face again!" said the nurse, musingly. "See how +persistently they keep their backs toward me! They have been here an +hour and seem in no hurry to go, yet it is impossible for me to catch +the eye again of that one wearing the gray silk. I have seen her before, +Miss Pierson; I am sure of it!" A call from one of the patients +interrupted the conversation. Anna moved slowly down the apartment to +intercept, and if possible to engage them in conversation, while her +friend could have the privilege she so ardently coveted. She was +avoided, however, and the visitors soon passed out into the open air. + +"Do tell me what it was that came over you so suddenly with sufficient +power to shake your dry bones so effectually, and take all of the brass +out of your face?" inquired one of the worthies when once again clear of +searching eyes. + +"Do not jest!" entreated her companion. "Matters are becoming rather +serious to me, as you will acknowledge when I tell you that the young +nurse in whom you seemed so much interested is my own daughter!" + +"Your daughter! I do not wonder that you shook in your boots! Do you +suppose that she recognized you?" + +"I feel sure of it, for her cheek paled as she caught the glance of my +eye, and I felt all the time we were there that she was watching me!" + +"How do you suppose she came here? You told me she was with an aunt in +New Orleans!" + +"So she was, the idiot!" was the answering exclamation. "I have no +patience with her! She has been my tormentor for years! It was not +enough for her to throw away all of my cherished plans, depriving me of +home and fortune, but now she must appear to add the crowning act to my +discomfiture!" + +"Would you have me believe all this of one who is so mild and gentle, +with eyes as calm--" + +"Do not mention those eyes! They were her father's, and she is like him! +Yet he was good! I do not think I should be where I am to-day if he had +lived! I have been tumbling for years--yes, years! And what a depth I +have fallen!" The speaker endeavored to smile, but the attempt died upon +her pallid lips. "Let us hasten back to the city," she continued, seeing +her companion showed no desire to speak: "I must have time to think!" + +They walked on a short distance without another word, and then her +companion said, abruptly: "You have not told me why, in your opinion, +she is here? Was she always remarkable for tenderness and benevolence? +It seems to me that the mother-power was deficient in regard to the +little matter of early teaching in the science of patriotism!" + +"Your tones are annoying, but I will satisfy your plausible curiosity in +a measure! It was not 'tenderness or benevolence' that has drawn her +thither, but, in my opinion, an old love affair gotten up while in +Philadelphia at school when yet a child. She was supposed to be an +heiress, of course, and was wheedled into accepting the proffers of +undying adoration from a scheming fortune-hunter! It did not take me +long to end the affair after I learned of it, I can tell you; but it +spoiled her! It was then that she laid the corner stone of the sepulcher +which she has been rearing over me, and now, I suppose, will +deliberately pull down about my ears!" + +"The sea does look a little squally, I confess," replied her companion +sarcastically. + +"I own it does!" + +"Well, as I am aboard of your ship it may be well for me to be looking +out for breakers ahead. And yet I cannot understand how that 'love +affair' of which you have told me could affect her now!" + +"Well, I do! Without doubt she hopes to find him; but it does not matter +what are her ambitions she is here much against my wishes and +happiness!" + +Happiness! Ah, where can the transgressor find peace or rest? "Who is +wise shall understand these things; prudent and he shall know them, for +the ways of the Lord are right and the just shall walk in them, but the +transgressors shall fall therein." + +Anna might have joined in the confusion and agitation of her friend had +she caught a look as she desired from the keen, black eyes which had so +troubled her in former days. But, strange as it may seem, those +penetrating orbs failed to recognize in her whom they tried to avoid the +sweet singer of "Cathesdra." The "nobody" whom her cousin persisted in +raising out of her sphere had dropped from her mind. Neither had Anna +ever met the daughter of Mrs. Belmont during her stay in the home of the +St. Clair's, and could not, therefore, suspect that the meek, gentle +nurse who had so won her heart was the one of whom she had so often +heard. She had been told by Ellen of her brother's attachment and of +their final separation, and he, only two mornings since, had +substantiated her statement with the assurance that his imaginary love +had been proved to himself to be only a fostered brotherly affection for +his pretty cousin. They looked into each other's faces and smiled at the +parting, little thinking how much of mystery was concealed from view. + +"If one could only be seen in the light that falls upon them from the +eternal brightness what a transfiguration it would work! There are +estrangements and alienations," says some one, "that arise from +ignorance of one another that divide families into almost as distinct +and separate lives as rooms in the house they occupy." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE "PHANTOM" REMOVED. + + +"Hands to work and hearts to God," once said Emerson, while Tennyson +adds: "In this windy world what's up is faith, what's down is heresy!" +Anna was nervous and restless as she thought over these things, and all +of the next night lay tossing upon her bed, vainly endeavoring to woo +the gentle slumbers that would not come to her. It seemed so sad now +that it was all over, and it _was_ strange that George St. Clair should +have dismissed her so coldly! It was not her fault that she could not +dispel this "phantom" as he called it; yet he _pitied_ her! Was this the +panacea he strove so hard to apply to her wounded soul? True, she asked +him for it, yet pride rebelled at its application! Pity! The long, weary +hours were filled with exciting whispers, and ever and anon the chilling +words, "I will trouble you no longer," fell like hard, cold pebbles into +her sensitive soul. At last summoning all her fortitude she +congratulated herself that on the morrow Mrs. St. Clair and Ellen would +arrive. Then she could return home, where silently and alone she would +dig a grave in some lonely recess of her stricken heart and bury her two +great sorrows side by side! To-morrow! The clock struck five and the +sound of feet were heard below. The night had passed! She arose from +her bed and opened the window. One star yet faintly glimmered just above +the eastern horizon, up which the first morning beams were slowly +creeping. Calmly and peacefully it looked into the troubled upturned +face so full of sorrow and flushed with weeping, until Anna thought that +in its pensive gaze there was such pity as the angels might bestow upon +their weary earth-born sisters. Then her thoughts wandered away to those +who would be weary no more; whose foot-prints would never more be seen +along the dusty highway of life, for they were resting now, their +journeys over, their spirits freed from their crumbling prison-houses! +At rest! The pale tranquil light of the lonely star grew paler and more +feeble as she continued to gaze upon it, for a new day was approaching, +and in the glory of its brightness the tiny light was to be swallowed +up. Fading, changing, everywhere! How sad a lesson is life! How rugged +and thorny the way through it! "To look up is faith," repeated Anna +again; "Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness +of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore! Hush!" It was +not her own voice to which she was listening, but the echoing of her +poor pleading heart which had suddenly remembered that to look down +where all the dreary shadows were clustered was "heresy." The day was +before her heavily laden with duties. Why should she grope under the +clouds where were doubts and unbeliefs? By and by it may be she too +would rest! A step along the hall startled her. It was that of the black +servant leaving his master's room. "How faithful he has been," she +thought, "while I have only brought discomforts where I had so desired +to bring relief." It was over now; her dream of hope, of love, of life! +All was over; yet her hand still clasped the "golden bowl," and the +"silver cord" was not broken! There was sweet water still in the +fountain, although at times it might seem bitter to the taste. + +She was standing by the mirror arranging the braids of her dark hair as +these reflections were passing through her mind. "How changed I am," she +continued, "not only in mind but in face! Perplexities and +disappointments are making sad havoc with my good looks! I must away +from this," and after preparing herself for a walk she hastened to the +hospital. She filled the moments of the laggard morning full of untiring +work by the side of the young nurse who flitted among the cots where +anxious, loving eyes watched for her coming and grew dim as she +disappeared from their sight. Still her thoughts were roving and regrets +came to disturb her as she remembered that no more could she place the +cup of cold water to fevered lips, or with her words soothe troubled +minds. She was going home to bury her dead, while so many were to remain +to be buried by stranger hands! The voice of the nurse recalled her. + +"There was a big skirmish down the river last night and some of our +officers were disabled and are to be brought here to-day, we are +informed by telegram!" and she walked on where an upraised hand was +beckoning. + +"Who knows but my poor brother is one of the fallen?" Anna mused as she +proceeded towards her temporary home. + +It was nearly dinner-time and she must not let the whole day pass +without visiting the lonely one under her own roof. True, he had not +invited her to come again at the close of their last interview, but he +had hinted a wish that she should read the morning papers to him on her +return, Mrs. Howard had said. She had hoped to escape this, but she was +calmer now. Herbert was gone; men might be falling on the battle field +any day! It was the hand of war, not of individuals, that was slaying +the mothers' and sisters' loved ones all over the land! Poor heart! The +tidal wave was receding, but the waters underneath were black and +unfathomable! + +"He is better, I think," Mrs. Howard went on to say, "and in a few days, +no doubt, will be able to sit up in an easy chair part of the time. He +asked a while ago if you had returned from the hospital, and looked, as +he always does, a little out of patience that you should devote so much +of your time to others." + +Anna was not listening as her hostess bustled about the table prattling +in an unusual manner, as it was evident that she was probing with her +feminine curiosity deeper than had been her wont, and it seemed the duty +of her victim to push the intruding hand away. + +"But you will go to him?" was the abrupt query at last. + +"It is my intention," and Anna passed into the hall. The door of the +sick man's chamber was open, and before she had reached the upper +landing she heard her name called. + +"I want to see you Anna. Please bring the morning papers, will you?" + +She could not resist the pleading of the voice, and, besides, she had +expected to see him again; but how could she read to him. + +"I was intending to brush away a little of the dust of morning labor +before coming to you," she remarked with a smile as she entered and took +a seat beside the bed. + +"Do a better thing, Anna, and brush away the dust from my hopes and out +of my life! Would not that be a more merciful act?" + +"Can I do all that, George?" and she laid her hand soothingly upon his +white forehead. + +"You ought to be able to do so, since it was your hands scattered it." + +There was a long silence. + +"Is it your purpose to go home and leave me here with your bloody +spectre to haunt and distract me? Do I deserve such punishment? Should +loyalty to my native land be crowned with such terrible thorns? You have +confessed, Anna, that a few months ago you loved me, is that most holy +attribute so easily uprooted? If so, then I have been mistaken in +woman's heart?" He was looking in her face, that was thinner and, it may +be, paler than he had ever seen it, and his manly nature came to the +rescue. "Forgive me, Anna, I will not be so cruel! There is somewhere a +God who will make all right in His own good time, as Old Auntie would +say; and last night as Toby lay snoring on the lounge yonder, I thought +it all over. Yes, there is a God; and it may be He is at work in this +great war problem, and when the final result is summed up, we shall be +glad that the storm passed this way, because of the happy issues. Who +knows? But, dear girl, assure me of my guiltlessness in creating the +blast, or the terrible lightning that is desolating so many hearts and +homes! Will you?" + +She raised her eyes to his face, and a smile broke over her own. "How +low are the mighty fallen!" and a low, rippling laugh mingled itself +with her words. "Did you ever imagine that I thought you such a great +man, so strong and powerful?" + +"My own Anna!" he exclaimed, taking her hand passionately in his. "You +are not going to leave me comfortless, but will wipe away the mold from +hopes, and thus brighten up the future by letting the sunshine in upon +them again." He drew the beaming face down to his own and their lips +sealed the contract of mutual love and forgiveness. + +"I did not mean to grieve you," she said at last, "but the blow was a +heavy one, and all things seemed to combine their powers to keep my +'phantom' in active existence, but they are gone now." + +"Tell me that no more shall this murderous spectre stand between us. +This terrible war may have crippled me for life; my home and fortune be +taken from me through its ravages; but if you love and trust me, I +shall, notwithstanding all, be the happiest of men." + +"Is the wound then, so very bad." + +"The surgeon has more than hinted that my days of soldiering are over, +but was that all you heard of my long speech, made especially for your +ear?" he laughed. "You would not care to unite your destinies with a +cripple, and how would it be if the fortune was also gone? O, Anna!" + +"Do not, George. I had not thought of all that, my mind is not capable +of taking such fanciful leaps; I was only thinking how sad all this +would be for one like you. But I could not be sorry if assured that you +would fight no more." + +"Even though a broken back was my preventive?" + +"The glimpses that come to us at this moment from the overshadowed +future are too bright to be flecked with such dark presentiments; I +cannot believe them. But there is Mrs. Howard's steps, on the stairs. +How kind she has been, and what a miserable nurse I have proven myself." + +"Oh pshaw! I have improved more during the last half hour, under your +fostering care, than I should have done in three weeks of her nursing. +But you must not go yet or there will be great danger of a serious +relapse! I will send the good soul to Jericho as soon as I have +swallowed her potion, for I have much I want to say while the +opportunity is ours." + +"I think it will be necessary for you to begin again on these fever +drops, as I see your cheeks are quite red this afternoon," carelessly +remarked the good lady, as she placed the spoon to his lips. There was a +roguish twinkle in her eye, however, which Anna did not fail to +perceive. + +"Hang the fever drops!" exclaimed the patient; "I am ever so much +better, and am pondering the propriety of going home with Miss Pierson +to-morrow." + +The kind lady shook with suppressed mirth as she went from the room, for +her keen eyes had looked deeper than ever before. + +In the evening Ellen and her father arrived. It had been a weary morning +to Anna, for she had waited their coming with an anxious heart, but the +sky was clear now and she returned their greetings with fervor, wearing +her great grief, it was true, but the joys of the previous hours had so +covered it that the dear ones were astonished to find her bright beneath +the shadow of sorrow. + +"My poor son," exclaimed Mr. St. Clair, as the first greetings were +over. "Yes, Anna; show us the way to him." She obeyed, and as they were +ascending the stairs, the father remarked, "I have no doubt we shall +receive a favorable report of your nursing, for I am convinced by the +pallor of your cheeks that there have been sad hours of watching and +anxiety." + +"How I shrink from taking your place," interrupted the sister. "Poor +George! He will readily perceive the difference, I fear." + +Anna's heart sank within her as she listened to the words of her +companions, who were all unconscious of the wounds they were probing. +Ellen must not know it; and then she was so soon to leave him! This +would be harder now, but he was to fight no more and they might yet be +happy! It was a grief to her that she had ever neglected him and brought +sorrow instead of joy into his hours of suffering. She opened the door +of the sick man's chamber, and as the father and sister passed in +reclosed it and retired to her own room. More than one reason prompted +her to do this, yet they must know in time that a great joy had been +amid her throes of bereavement. She would not have them grieved by her +seeming idiosyncrasies. They might blame her for apparent neglect; and O +if it had not been! Still he had not suffered as had she; her heart +assured her of this, and it pressed the thought as a consolation over +the bleeding fissure as the wounded bird attempts to hide its ebbing +life's blood beneath its fluttering wing! But it was over, and now the +phantom had been driven, ah whither? Would it ever haunt her again? He +had said: "There is a God somewhere who will make it all right in His +own good time," and she would wait. + +Tea was ready and the three sat down together, Mr. St. Clair and Ellen +to satisfy a sharpened appetite after a long and tiresome journey, and +Anna to do the honors of the table after their home style in the north. + +"George is looking so much better than I had hoped to find him," said +the father. "I think I shall be obliged to bless you Miss Anna for his +rapid improvement. It has been so kind in you to think of others, +although you were so heavily burdened with your own bitter sorrow! What +a debt of gratitude you and yours are heaping upon us!" he continued, +musingly. "But war must always bear its 'apples of ashes' and God only +knows where the ax should be laid!" + +There were tears in Anna's eyes, for the fountain of grief had been for +so many days open that the liquid drops flowed now almost unconsciously +when the angel of pity stirred the bitter waters. Ellen saw them and the +dew-drops of sympathy moistened her own dark ones. "It would be so hard +to lose a brother," she thought. "How glad she was that George was +better!" + +"You must go with us," said Ellen as they arose from the table and went +out into the hall. "You must begin to initiate me in your skill of +hygiene; beside, George inquired for you. I see how it will be, you are +to be sadly missed when only my poor inexperienced hands are brought +into service!" She noticed the agitation of her companion, and placing +an arm affectionately around her said, soothingly: "You know my heart, +dear girl, and that it is full of sympathy, but my tongue is a miserable +medium with which to communicate it to another! Let it be sufficient +that I can feel that you are sure of this and will never doubt me!" + +"Doubt you, Ellen? Never for a moment! But my mother; how is she?" + +"Sorrow-stricken, of course, but strangely resigned. There is something +noble in such a grief as hers, Anna! No, you need not shrink from +meeting her; she will comfort you! I see by your face, poor sufferer, +that you need it! She will do you good, never fear!" + +"Just step in my room for a moment, Ellen; I would not have him see me +tear-stained again. I have wept so much for the last few days. You speak +truly, I do need my mother, for I am very weak. Ellen, there has been +more gall in the cup I have been draining than you can ever know! A +darker wave has rolled over my soul than can ever lift your bark, my +precious friend; but what matters it after all, when we find ourselves +sinking we are led to cry out 'save or I perish?' We shall be chided +some day for our faithlessness and doubtings, and it is better that we +should receive it while yet on the sea, for the calm, Ellen, is peaceful +after the storm." She had been bathing her face and arranging her hair +while speaking, and now turned toward her companion with the old smile +wreathing her lips. + +"You are like your mother," and again the arm of affection drew them +closer together as they proceeded to the room where the father and +brother were awaiting them. + +That night, contrary to the doctor's instructions, there was a long +conversation in the sick man's chamber, in which he earnestly joined. + +"Let it be settled, Father, that you return with Anna," he said at +length. "I shall get along all right with Ellen and Mrs. Howard, with +what Toby can help, I have not the least doubt; and, besides, we rebels +must not be too exacting or expect too much." His eyes were upon Anna, +and she knew it. Her cheeks flushed, but the great hope in her heart +kept back the haunting spectre his words might otherwise have summoned. + +"He is a rebel no more," she thought. His voice recalled her. + +"Besides, you will be needed in the widow's home to assist and cheer. It +will not be a great while before I shall be able to join you all there, +for immediately on being well enough to sit up for a few hours I shall +leave for the North--through my convalescence at least." + +There were quick glances into each other's faces, but he was silent. + +"I will do as you say, my son," was the father's conclusion, "but I fear +we are tiring you. Yes, you will feel better after a rest, and to-morrow +we will talk farther on the subject." + +Four days afterward a solemn cortege wended its way through the little +village of Glendale, bearing its dead from the station to the home of +bereavement and sorrow. There were warm hand claspings, and words of +sympathy and condolence, and tears, such as mothers alone can shed, when +maternal love is stricken; when heart answers to heart with the sad echo +of loneliness and desolation. + +And so they laid Edward Pierson away upon the hillside; the first martyr +in all the region on the altar of freedom! + +[Illustration: A SCENE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP, VIRGINIA.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +NEW RESOLVES--AND NEW ADVENTURES. + + +"Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine +enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, for false +witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty." + +These words Lillian Belmont repeated to herself as the carriage that was +bearing her away from home and early associations rolled down the +highway leading to the depot, where she with her cousin Grace Stanley +were to take the cars for New Orleans. Mrs. Stanley was the youngest +sister of the deceased master of Rosedale, but since his death very +little intimacy had been continued between the families, until Mrs. +Belmont meeting the vivacious, merry-hearted Grace had conceived the +idea of using her for a purpose, and so had invited her to spend a few +weeks with her "morbid" cousin. All things, however, had not worked to +that lady's satisfaction, as we have learned, and now with a mother's +curse weighing her down the daughter had joined with David in the +supplication, "lead me in a plain path." Was He leading her? The path as +yet was dark and overshadowed, but she had clasped the gentle hand and +the promise was, "I will never leave or forsake thee"; and with simple, +childlike trust she walked forward. During the winter she had written +several times to her mother, pleading she would clear away the mysteries +of the past, remove the maternal edicts, so that over the debris of +broken hopes and shattered ambitions they might again come together, +reconciled and loving. But no response to these pleadings came to her. +To be sure there were letters from loved ones telling of the early +removal of her family to the city, of the visit to the Washburn's, of +the sudden death of little Shady, with poor old Vina's wail of anguish, +but not a word of sympathy from the heart where the maternal love lay +buried. + +The bugle notes of war sounded through the streets of New Orleans, and +the passions of men were stirred as never before. Women too, who had +quaffed only from the chalice of ease and pleasure, awoke from the +lethargy of indulgence to find themselves tossing upon a sea of +excitement and alarm. Lillian was interested, and for a time her own +troubled life was swallowed up in the tumults that threatened the peace +and harmony of the nation's life. Bustle, energy and activity were +everywhere. + +"What a useless, helpless thing I am!" she said to her aunt one evening +as they sat alone, after the husband, who was wearied with his day's +toils in the unpretentious hardware store near the wharf had retired to +his room, and Grace was entertaining a friend in the parlor. "It seems +to me I am suddenly aroused by a storm, and unless I run for my life +shall be covered out of sight in its fury!" She laughed, but there was a +seriousness in her pale face her aunt had never seen upon it before. + +"I do not wonder you think yourself out in the wind," was the cheerful +response, "for Grace is enough to stir up the sleepy faculties of any +lover of her country. I do not know but she will 'shoulder arms' and go +into the field in defence of her native land!" and the good lady laughed +outright. There was a long silence, while Lillian never once removed her +gaze from the dying embers in the grate as she actively traced the +wanderings and leapings of her busy thoughts. + +At last she said in an undertone: "Grace is very gentle considering her +confederate proclivities; but has it occurred to you that I have a +_husband_ somewhere in that confusion and excitement among our enemies, +as we call them?" + +"O, Lillian!" and the cheerful face put on a look of serious +incredulity. "You will not now certainly desire to seek out a +relationship from among a people, who would, if in their power, kill or +enslave us all?" Lillian's dark eyes wandered slowly to the troubled +face of the speaker. "I have fully joined with my daughter in the +feeling that a great wrong has been perpetrated on you, still I did hope +that this terrible war would obliterate forever all such former ties and +leave you free, as free as though they had never been!" + +"And here I am shocking you with my heart's cry for its idol, for its +tenderest loves, for the purest longings known to woman's nature! Listen +to me, Aunt Sylvia, I am going north! The blow has been struck! Fort +Sumter has fallen! There will be wounded hearts to bind up and wounded +bodies to care for! Sorrow and lamentation will fill many homes, and the +cry for help and sympathy will sound over the land. I shall get out of +my life of indolence and plunge into the thickest scenes of labor!" + +"Yes, Lillian, you do shock me! Why go north? If you must work, will +there not be plenty of it to do among your own people? Are they not as +deserving of your care and sympathy as their enemies?" + +"Auntie, I have told Grace and now will tell you! Somewhere in the north +I have a husband and child! Do not look at me with that spirit of +incredulity peering out of your eyes, for it is no random suspicion--no +new thought. My husband lives, and the letter I received last night from +George St. Clair gives me the information that a 'Pearl Hamilton,' who +started with a captain's commission from Pennsylvania was promoted to +the position of colonel of his regiment by the entire vote of each +company upon reaching Washington. This he copied from a paper for my +especial benefit; and that Colonel Hamilton is _my husband_; _my Pearl!_ +He is true to me--our hearts are one, and the fast growing desire to go +to him has, since the receipt of that letter, become full-fledged; and +before communication between the two sections is entirely cut off I +shall go!" + +"Did not the knowledge of his notoriety help to feather the wings of +love, my child?" + +There was something in the tone of voice with which these words were +uttered that caused the listener's face to flush with amazement and +indignation. + +"This from you, Auntie!" she said at last. "Look at me; remember what I +have endured, realize for a moment from what I have been torn, consider +the burdens that are weighing me down, and then, if it be possible, +repeat the question. You do not know me! For this reason I forgive the +cruel thrust! Pearl Hamilton would hold my heart as firmly and truly if +he were now the humble clerk in the store where I first knew him, as an +honored officer in the enemy's army!" + +Mrs. Stanley took the little white hand that lay on the arm of the easy +chair where Lillian was sitting and holding it in her loving clasp, +said, soothingly: "My darling, I did not mean at all what I said. You +are too much like your father to be guilty of such unwomanly +selfishness. I was a little indignant that you should persist in keeping +faith with your childhood's love, and so uttered what I did not at all +feel! I cannot, however, endure the thought of your going through the +enemy's lines, and if he is a soldier as you hear, he may be brought to +you as a prisoner of war, when you could be more speedily reunited than +if you should follow out your own wild schemes." + +"Pearl is not all I have in that muddle! Did I not say a husband and +child? Grace has told you that I was a mother and that my pretty Lily +died and was buried; but my dear Aunt, I do not believe it! I never did +believe it! Still I had not the power to combat the story that was told +me! O, I have been so weak! But a letter received by my mother, and +which accidentally fell into my hands, and her confusion and evident +alarm as I held it before her, assured me that I was the subject of a +heartless fraud and that my child lived! Ever since I have pondered how +I could find her! If I knew the place where she was born; at what point +on the Atlantic shore stood the romantic 'Cliff House'; where I was +imprisoned those dreadful weeks, I should before this have visited it. +The weird old nurse would, I am sure, tell me all, notwithstanding her +bribes for secrecy!" + +"Surely you do not believe all this, Lillian? No wonder the hungering of +your heart has eaten the bloom from your cheek! But there must be some +mistake. No matter how lofty may be a mother's ambition she could not be +guilty of so vile an act!" + +"Auntie, my cry for months has been 'lead me in a plain path', and I +have been watching for the shadows to clear away that I might see the +road, and now that my plea has been seemingly answered and the 'path' +winds alone through the future mysteries so distinctly to my poor, +trembling vision shall I not walk therein? Indeed, I _must_ go! I can +not sit idly here with folded hands when there is so much to be done and +so many links to be gathered up! My mother well understood my inertness +and worthlessness; she knew too that my pride would not long allow me to +be a dependent on those upon whom I only had the claims of kinship. +This, she was sure, would in time bring me in humble penitence to her +feet. I cannot do this; and the other path leads me farther away from +her! I _must_ go!" + +True to her conclusions, in a few days Lillian Belmont, the petted child +of luxury, weak and enervated by indolence and indulgence, started alone +amid the protestations and pleadings of those who loved her, en route +for Philadelphia where she knew another aunt, the oldest sister of her +father, would give her a hearty welcome. It was a tiresome and exciting +journey. Quizzing eyes were upon her everywhere; suspicious glances +were thrust at her from every side, and not until she crossed the +southern lines did she settle calmly down. + +Mrs. Cheevers received her as one risen from the dead. Clasping the +slender form in her arms she gazed long and steadfastly into the pale +face without speaking. "To think it is Lillian!" she said at last. "O, +if Pearl were only here! How he has loved you my child." But tears, the +first that had moistened the beautiful eyes of the stricken Lillian for +many weeks, were now choking her utterance, and she lay as a weary child +on the tender, sympathizing breast where her poor head was pillowed. +Mrs. Cheevers had known what the longings of the mother love meant. Well +did she understand the hungerings of its unsatisfied greed, and as she +kissed over and over again the pure white forehead she thanked God that +her brother's child could nestle so closely to her empty breast! + +"You can never know how peaceful I feel!" Lillian said an hour after as +they sat at a well-filled board, where she was satisfying a keener +appetite than she had felt for many day. "I could fly for very joy, so +light and buoyant are my spirits! I have carried a burden so long that +the release seems almost oppressive!" + +"Poor child!" murmured the aunt, while the masculine face opposite wore +an expression of the deepest sympathy. + +"And to think," he said at last, "that we should have believed for a +moment what those letters contained! You will, however, do me the honor, +wife, to assure our little Lillian that I never did!" + +"I will do you the justice to acknowledge that if it had not been for +Pearl Hamilton your guilt would never have been a whit less than my +own." A merry laugh followed this remark, and when it died away Lillian +asked with as much calmness as she could summon if she might be +permitted to examine the letters spoken of. + +"Of course you may," interposed the uncle. "Read them, every one, and +then forgive your fickle relative for swallowing the absurd idea that +she who could believe one of the noblest of men was heartless! But he +will be around after the first three months are over, and then we shall +see how this matter is to be settled! In the meantime you just rest here +and grow fat, for we shall have regular news from the battle field, and +he is no private! His mother is the proudest woman in this immense city +to-night; and I am going to tell her that the dead is alive, and--" + +"Please do not Uncle!" pleaded Lillian. "Permit me to remain secluded +and unknown until--well, for the present at least. It would be so +awkward to explain, and so impossible to convince. Besides, I am in my +swaddling clothes yet; let me get a little stronger and firmer. I am so +happy that I fear any intrusion; and shall be jealous of every +interference." + +"Say no more; I am not a woman, and can govern the 'unruly member' with +true masculine power! Be happy, nothing shall interfere with your growth +or pleasure while you remain under my roof"; and he took his hat from +the rack and stepped nimbly from the house. + +Weeks passed. There had been a dead calm on the Potomac which only +served to agitate and stir up a greater excitement elsewhere. There +were murmurings of discontent; whisperings ever so faint of rebellion in +high places; there were impetuous longings and low mutterings of censure +because the wheels of progress were blocked and the final consummation +of overhanging difficulties was not speedily brought about; not +realizing that God was marking out the path to a grand and glorious +victory. How prone are human eyes to seek after their own paths and rely +upon their own strength to "overcome." + +But the great battle, which sent terror into thousands of hearts and +homes, came at last! Men gathered upon the street corners in the great +city, and quivering lips talked over the great defeat! The hearts of +women pressed silently the bleeding wounds from which life-blood was +ebbing, for loved ones were slain; and the dark cloud which had +heretofore seemed no larger than a man's hand was covering the whole +sky. Where was it all to end? + +Lillian was mute but not inactive. Reports heralded the startling facts +that many officers were wounded and many were killed. In the confusion +and excitement, names were withheld or not yet ascertained, and three +days cleared not away the uncertainties. + +"I shall go to Washington on the night train," said Lillian very calmly +as the little circle were talking it over at the table. + +"You, my child? Pray what could you do in such a place at a time like +this?" + +"Please do not think me entirely worthless Uncle; I can do many things +if sympathy compels me, I feel sure. Why not I, as well as others? +Nurses are called for and if my hands have never learned what belongs to +them, my heart has become familiar with the necessities sorrow demands. +I can speak soothing words to smooth the pillow of the dying. I can give +a cup of cold water if too weak to bind up a broken limb! There is work +and I am going to offer myself to aid in performing it. Do not oppose +me. I have passed through so many grades of opposition and contention +that I have become well skilled in the art of defeating, so do not +trouble yourself to combat me." She smiled, but the new resolve had left +its impress on the calm, mild face, and no further opposition was +raised. + +We have seen her in the hospital doing the work of kindness and sympathy +nobly and well. There was not one whose gentle voice could woo the +sufferer into repose as could hers. Not one whose nerves were firmer +when duty laid her demand upon them. + +"There was a serious skirmish down the river last night," she had said +to Anna Pierson during her last visit to the hospital, "and the wounded +were brought in." Colonel Hamilton, however, did not arrive for two or +three days, as his wounds were aggravated, being the fracture of an arm +and the dislocation of the opposite shoulder, caused by the falling from +his horse. A bullet had also lodged in his side at the time he was +disabled, and the uncertainties of his situation barred his removal. The +papers, however had not been silent, and the young nurse had learned, +before his coming, of the fears entertained regarding him. How she +longed to administer to his every need, while her heart shrank from the +very thought of standing before him. How would he meet her? He was +true, they had said; but could they read his secret thought, or be sure +of the emotions beneath his calm exterior? He was noble and good, but +years would deck the saddest grave with blossoms, and spread over it a +rich covering of emerald brightness. + +She wondered and trembled, and prayed until the day came when the +stately form was carried through the long ward and laid tenderly on a +neat white couch prepared for it. Then they came to her. + +"This new patient we will commit expressly to your care"; said one. "He +must soon be able to mount his horse again, and no one can soothe an +impatient soldier back to life and activity as soon as yourself, I am +told, so do your best. Let me introduce you," and the attendant turned +toward the bed where Colonel Hamilton was lying. + +How her knees trembled, and what a faintness came over her, yet she +walked mechanically forward. "Miss, Miss," and he turned towards Lillian +who was waiting for the introduction. "I think you will get along +rapidly with this young lady to care for you"; and he bowed graciously. +The eyes of the wounded man were fixed intently upon the pallid face +before him, as the attendant walked slowly away to conclude another +matter in the farther part of the ward. Neither spoke. Sixteen years +had, indeed, brought changes into the face of each. He had grown +handsomer and nobler, she thought. Her face had become thinner and +paler, but those eyes; no, no one could mistake their lustre or beauty. + +"Lillian?" he interrogated at last, with a doubtful tone, "It must be, +surely it must be Lillian!--my own--my wife!" + +She was beside him--her arms around his neck; + +"Pearl! O, my husband! Thank God, you are mine at last! You cannot leave +me now, and no one shall tear me from you." + +Let us drop the veil; there are scenes too holy for intruding eyes to +dwell upon. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +FLIGHT OF THE SOUTHERN SPY. + + +Swiftly the weeks sped onward, laden with the events of the nation's +disasters. Battles in the far west were being fought, and mourning and +bereavements swept as a terrible wave over the land, lighted up here and +there with the exultations of victory; but beneath all the waters lay +deep and turbid. Mrs. Southey remained secluded for some days after her +return from Alexandria. She had no doubt but her daughter had recognized +her, notwithstanding her disguise, and in all probability would endeavor +to hunt her out. "Would she expose me?" There was madness in the very +thought, but the question would often present itself. "Yet what else +could she do? Understanding, as she does, my Confederate sentiments, she +cannot be at a loss in regard to my mission here," was her daily +conclusion, and strongly was she tempted to fly from the city. But where +could she go? To Philadelphia? She had been criticised severely from +that source in regard to her treatment of that very one from whom she +was now contemplating hiding herself. It would not be pleasant going +there, and no other northern home was, to her knowledge, open to her. + +After thinking it over, she calmly informed her hostess that she +proposed to remain where she was, for the present at least, and trust +the pride and natural kindness of her daughter, who she must confess had +a goodly share of both these commodities. + +"She would not willingly disgrace herself, nor," and she added with some +hesitancy, "bring misery, perhaps death, upon her mother: at least I +must rely upon all this as the lesser of the two evils." + +"Then she is not wholly depraved, as you have been so willing I should +believe," remarked her companion. "I thought I could not be mistaken in +that face. What if you should go and throw yourself on her mercy? I can +but feel sure that you would receive it." + +"No, I cannot do that. And then you thought it impossible that she +should recognize me. It may be so. There certainly would be a want of +discretion should I wantonly expose myself without a surety of +protection. The only way I can discover is to trust in Providence and +wait results." + +"Providence!" sneered her companion. "Meager claims have we on its +friendly protection I imagine. The fact is, Mrs. Southey, we must figure +this whole matter for ourselves. There seems to be considerable spunk in +the plethoric old gentleman this war is stirring up, and I doubt if he +would treat such as we with a great amount of gallantry if introduced to +him, and, therefore, let us figure closely, and not trust to vagaries of +which we know so little. It may do for a _Christian like yourself_, but +you know that I am an outsider." This last remark was a little too +cynical, and the lady to whom it was addressed arose to her feet with +flashing eyes. Her companion only smiled, however, as she motioned her +to be reseated. + +"I beg your pardon, _mon amie_, I did not really think you would resent +the first compliment I ever gave you," she laughed, then continued. "I +have been hindering you all the time. Where were you going? Out for a +walk?" + +No sisters ever understood each other better than did these two women, +and seldom was it that two ever despised each other more. They had met +but seldom before "Mrs. Southey" came to Washington as a southern spy, +but well she knew that in the home she sought she would find +co-operation. In this she had not been mistaken. Her mission was +carefully guarded, but her everyday life underwent careful scrutiny. Her +dignity as the 'Mistress of Rosedale' was continually pierced and +wounded without mercy, while she remained powerless in the hands of her +tormentor. The morning scene we are chronicling was not an exceptional +one; still it left the lady in a burning rage. At dinner, however, the +hostess met her with many bland excuses for neglecting her so long, thus +pressing the thorns deeper that were sorely goading her victim all +unconsciously to other eyes. How true that the spirit of evil despises +and seeks to lacerate itself when its reflection is seen in the bosom of +another! + +"I have an invitation for you to take an airing in the elegant turn-out +of our pet senator, by the side of his queenly wife, this p. m., at +four." The bustling housekeeper said this amid the superintending of the +dinner arrangements. "You will go, of course, and so I told the servant +who brought in the card. You are looking so pale and thin that I am sure +the ride will do you good." + +At the hour appointed the carriage stood before the door, and the +senator's wife called out pleasantly, as the two ladies appeared in +sight, "the air is delicious, Mrs. Southey, and I can fully recommend +its sanitary powers, having been cured of an oppressive headache +already. You are not looking as well as usual," she continued, as the +lady addressed tripped down the stone steps where the footman was +waiting to hand her into the carriage. + +"Will it reach the heart and conscience and drive out its ailments?" +queried the hostess. + +The thin lips of Mrs. Southey parted slightly as she threw back a keen +glance at the speaker in the doorway. Without apparently noticing it she +continued, "If I thought it would I would order a carriage and perform +some long-neglected duties." + +It was a lovely afternoon, as the senator's wife had reported, and as +Mrs. Southey reclined dreamily in one corner of the luxurious barouche, +a sensation, almost peaceful, came stealing over her while she listened +to the agreeable words of her companion, and felt the cool soft breezes +playing about her. For a while, at least, she forgot herself with all +the attending perplexities of her situation, in the musical clatter of +the horses' hoofs on the hard road. At last she was waked from her +reveries as from a dream, by observing the carriage stop in the street +and hearing her companion accost some one outside. + +"I am happy to meet you," she said; "I have been so anxious about your +patient. How is he getting along?" + +"Slowly improving," came back the answer. + +"_Good heavens! That voice!_" How the guilty woman trembled! It was that +of her only daughter--her Lillian! Did she long to clasp again that +form, once so beloved, in her maternal embrace? Why did her cheeks and +lips suddenly become chill and pallid? Why should every nerve quiver as +she sat there mute with a palsying fear? Ah, she well knew that a pair +of large dark eyes were fastened upon her, reading the emotions of her +very soul, avoid them as she would! In vain did she endeavor to adjust +her veil, which was thoughtlessly thrown back from her face in her dream +of peace; but it became entangled with the trimmings of her bonnet, and +it was impossible to disengage it. With a sensation of despair she +settled back as far as possible among the shadows and painfully waited +for the issue. + +"Then you will come to-morrow?" she heard Lillian say. "I want much to +see you for more than one reason." + +"I think I will not fail," was the cheerful answer. + +"Then I will tell him. The prospect, I am sure, will speed his +convalescence." + +The carriage moved on. The crouching figure straightened a little for a +freer breath. + +"Did you see those beautiful eyes?" asked her companion turning towards +her. "I beg your pardon!" was the impulsive exclamation as she looked +into the face beside her. "I ought not to have kept you out so long. You +look as though you were chilled through; we will return immediately!" + +"O, no! I am not cold! A sudden--dizziness I think--must have come over +me! Do not return; indeed--I am not cold--the ride is exceedingly +pleasant! Let us go on." + +Her listener was surprised. Never had she seen the aristocratic Mrs. +Southey so beside herself. Her words and manner perplexed her, still she +made no reply. + +"The young lady--who was she? Her eyes? O, yes! They were very fine! I +think I must have seen her before!" + +"At the hospital then," was the reply; "for she seldom goes out. I must +tell you about her. She has been in Alexandria, doing good service I +believe, and has now come to the city to nurse her husband, who is badly +wounded and was brought thither for better accommodations, as he is an +officer in high rank and is much needed in the field." + +"Her husband!" almost shrieked the miserable woman; "did you say her +_husband_?" + +"Certainly! Why not? Do you know her? You astonish me by your looks and +appearance! Enlighten me, I beseech you, Mrs. Southey!" exclaimed the +lady. + +The wretched woman tried to speak, but found not the power to do so. + +At last she gasped, "I beg your pardon! I am strangely nervous to-day, I +confess. It is true, I thought at first that I had seen the lady some +years ago, but conclude I must have been mistaken or she would have +remembered me. The mother of the one she so much resembles is a very +dear friend of mine and her marriage was clandestine and seriously +against her parents' wishes. I knew that the news of their reunion would +greatly distress them, and so allowed my sympathies to run away with me +and frighten you. You will pardon me?" she interrogated, beseechingly, +as she laid her hand on her companion's arm. + +[Illustration: "DID YOU SAY HER HUSBAND?"] + +"Certainly. I do not wonder at your agitation! But really, I think your +friend ought not to distress herself about her daughter's choice were it +so. Colonel Hamilton is one of our noblest and most heroic officers, and +it is now being whispered in military circles that as soon as he is +recovered his promotion will be speedy to the rank of brigadier, whether +he is ever able to occupy it or not. I wish you would go with me +to-morrow and see him. He is certainly one of the finest looking men I +ever saw!" + +Mrs. Southey, however, declined the honor. She was "too weak and +sensitive to endure excitement," as she had given abundant proof during +the last hour. + +It was true, and the lady accepted the refusal gracefully. "Sometime you +must tell me more about this colonel's wife in whom we both are so much +interested, will you?" she asked, as they reached the street where was +Mrs. Southey's temporary home. + +"I shall be happy to keep you informed as to his recovery, and will call +as soon as possible after my next visit to the hospital." + +"Thank you!" and so they parted. + +How little either knew of the emotions or convictions of the other! What +a long catalogue of ills were being chronicled in the inner chamber of +the guilty soul! It was a slight peep the penetrating eyes caught +through the partially opened door ere the power of self-control returned +to close it, but no sophistry could dispose of the horrors thus +revealed! When again in her room she dropped into an easy chair +evidently exhausted. + +"Your ride must have been wearisome," suggested her hostess. "You do not +look as well as when you went out," she continued, carelessly, raising +her eyes from the paper she had in her hand. + +"I am not well," was the prompt reply. + +"Have you been driven under a halter? One would imagine that justice had +been close upon you"; and she turned the page with perfect _sang froid_. + +"Be merciful, I beseech you!" was the plaintive wail of her companion. +"I will tell you all! I have not been chased by _justice_ as you +intimate, but what is worse--I have seen Lillian and she has seen me! +The carriage stopped while the two friends talked, and all the time her +eyes were fixed upon my uncovered face; and to-morrow they meet at the +hospital! I know my uncontrollable agitation has betrayed much, and +there is little doubt but she will finish what I have so ignobly begun. +Beside this my daughter has found her husband, who is none other than +the Colonel Hamilton of whom so much has been said of late! Of course he +will aid her in performing what she would never have the strength to +accomplish herself!" The head of the wretched mother sank upon her hand, +while her whole frame shook with emotion. Her companion had risen and +now stood before her. + +"The time has come when you must leave!" she said with a tone as ringing +and metallic as the clinking of steel when rudely smiting its fellow. "I +have the arrangements all made, expecting it would come to this, for, as +you are well aware, it would not be very comfortable for the innocent +to be found in such bad company!" The tall figure became erect as her +keen eyes were fixed upon the face of the speaker, while she continued: +"Send your usual message and add in postscript a command to get that +horse ready as ordered and brought around at eleven to the spot +designated. I have a suit prepared, and at about ten miles there is a +friend who will grant you a retreat for the present. I can send you word +when you must fly farther. Now I will leave you, for it is nearly six +and the order must be written immediately!" + +Alone! What dismal horrors haunt the guilty mind when let loose upon +itself! A spy! And in the enemy's country, hemmed in by the barriers of +war with no way of escape to a land of safety, if such a place could be +found! A rebel! And truth all ready to whisper in the ear of offended +justice "behold the traitor!" + +"Where is my strength? My pride?" she murmured, as she arose and walked +across the room. "How I tremble! The gallows! What a reward for my +persevering and arduous labors! I understand it!" + +Then her mind wandered to the story of a German monarch who caused the +executioner to blow his death-blast before the door of his brother's +palace. "Ah, you tremble," said the king, "when the prospect of temporal +death is so near; but look a little farther and behold the eternal pangs +of the soul! How now? Does the sight appall thee? Go to thy home, my +brother, the king desires not thy life; but remember the errors of a +temporal death and shun the horrors of the second!" + +"If I had done this! O, Lillian, Lillian my child! You cannot see your +mother at this hour, and it is well! The first--yes the second death is +for such as I!" + +"I shall do no such thing!" she exclaimed aloud at last as she reseated +herself by the window. "The horse perish with its rider! I want neither; +I swear it! This hateful business stops here! O wretched, wretched woman +that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Was not +that in the Bible? Ah, I remember! The voice that has been silent for +many years once repeated those words in my hearing when his hour had +come. The Bible! I will go to Philadelphia. Mrs. Cheevers will not turn +me from her door for--for--she is a Christian! Pride? Away with it! O +the curse of a false ambition!" + +The shadows of twilight fell noiselessly about her, spreading over the +bent figure a pall of tender sympathy. Then she arose, lighted the gas +and hurriedly threw into her trunks the plain, rich wardrobe of the +elegant "English lady," and locking them prepared to go out. She had +remembered that the northern train left the depot at eight, and she was +going upon it! She passed out without interruption, and in a half hour +the drayman was standing in the hall ready to be shown where the trunks +were waiting. "This way," called Mrs. Southey; "you will need help for +they are large." + +"Where are you going?" asked the lady of the house with great +astonishment, opening the parlor door. "Surely you are not going to tear +yourself away so abruptly? How lonely I shall be without my aristocratic +English guest! But do tell me, where are you going?" + +"Out of death unto life," was the quick reply. "This way! Do not mar the +railing"; and the two men passed on with the last trunk. "Forty minutes +before train time, I believe?" she interrogated as she stepped forward +to close the door. "Yes, madam"; and she turned to the bewildered woman +who was silently gazing at her. + +"Well, I am going," she said calmly; "it matters not to you where, but +remember this! If there is a path for such as I back to womanhood I am +determined to find it!" A cynical laugh was her only response. +"Nevertheless, it is true! The miseries of the last few days have +completed the grave into which I have cast my pride and ambitions; would +that the bitter memories of the past could be buried with them! But I +must go. Farewell--do not wait to attempt your own rescue until the +quicksands have swallowed you up; again farewell!" + +Her companion did not speak, but turned coldly away, while Mrs. Belmont, +with a heart lighter than it had been for many months, tripped down the +steps. New resolutions had taken possession of her soul, and with them +had entered a ray of cheering light. The door had been thrown ajar for +the spirit of penitence, but how dark the long closed chamber appeared, +how ghostly the spectral memories that crouched among its shadows! The +"broken and contrite heart" had not as yet opened the windows to the +glories of the noonday sun of righteousness; and the door was reclosed, +and upon the outside the new resolves were laid with trembling hands. +She was Mrs. Belmont again--the mistress of Rosedale, and nevermore +would she stoop to fraud or ignominy! Her daughter would come to her and +ask for the mother-love her disobedience had forfeited, and she would +humbly grant it! Colonel Hamilton was not one to be ashamed of; and +then the dark night at the seashore, the cry of the abducted Lily rolled +its burden of remorse close where the new resolutions were lying, and +she trembled as the engine whistled its frightful alarm--something was +on the track! "O God! What if Thy anger should fall upon me, where O +where shall the sinner appear?" burst from her lips as she covered her +face with her hands. + +"There is no danger," shouted the brakeman at last; "the track is +clear." And with folded hands she rode on breathing freely once more. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A NIGHT UPON THE BILLOWS. + + +How the circumstances of life throw us about! Now, upon the revolving +wheel, we are raised high above our fellows, where, from our dizzy +elevation, we look about us with a sense of giddiness lest we fall; then +with sudden revolution we descend while those upon the low grounds are +carried up. Change! Change! + +Our little circle of actors in the present drama were on the "wheel," +but not one experienced more disagreeable sensations in its turnings +than did Mrs. Belmont, the once haughty mistress of Rosedale. Hers was +not alone in the experience of external disagreeables; but in her soul, +where the continual revolvings of the corresponding whirlings of good +resolutions and evil passions, which the hand of avarice was turning. +Poor soul; with only such a power to govern its weal or woe! + +Mrs. Gaylord lingered about the maelstrom where her darling had +disappeared from sight many weeks, loth to believe that she would not +rise again to bless and cheer her loneliness. "She was so like me," she +would repeat over and over again; "the same restless ambitions, the same +longings after something her hand could never reach! And now she is +gone! I could bear it if the beautiful casket, emptied of its treasure +had been left for my stricken heart to cherish and lay away in its bed +of flowers under the green grass; but to lose all but the memory of her +uncertain fate! This is the darkest cloud of all. Then what will Willie, +the poor struggling cripple, say? How shall I ever meet him." + +The shadows deepened in the home of the St. Clair's, and none rejoiced +more when the husband bore his weeping wife back to her Virginia life +than did the sympathizing Mrs. Mason. "It was dreadful," she said to her +mother, after the good-byes were over; "but as we could not help it +became a trifle monotonous,--this petting and soothing." + +"Well, as for me, I would give a pretty large sum to know the whole of +that transaction," remarked Mr. St. Clair, one day as the whole matter +was being talked over. "There is a wheel within a wheel or I am +mistaken. These old eyes are not so very blind when they have their +spectacles on." + +"I do wish you would never again throw out one of your wild and foolish +'perhaps so's!" exclaimed the wife pettishly. "I should not be surprised +if your cousin should bring you before the courts for slander." + +The husband threw up his broad hands high above his head while a merry +peal of laughter rang through the apartment. + +"Only to think, wife! Slander! I tell you there are chapters in that +woman's life that she would not like to have me or any one else be +fumbling over, and there is not much danger that she will ever turn the +leaves for my especial benefit." + +"You are too bad; the mother of Lillian Belmont ought to be above such +insinuations, Mr. St. Clair!" + +"That is a fact, but she is not, and there is where the too bad comes +in"; and the merry laugh again resounded. + +Mrs. Gaylord reached her home in safety. It was a fine old residence, +standing back from the highway, nearly hidden from the passer by because +of the large wide-spreading trees with which it was surrounded; yet the +broadly-paved walks that branched off in every direction as they wound +around among the cool shadows of the overhanging branches were +delightfully inviting to the weary traveler who looked in upon them. The +mistress of that pleasant retreat now, however, walked with languid step +up the winding path to the house with a heavy heart. The darker shades +of an overhanging gloom oppressed her. On the portico the servants were +collected to give her welcome, and as she took the tawny hand of each in +her own, said, "You too will miss your young mistress. You loved her, +Jenny,--she will make no more turbans for you, Phebe--and poor little +Pegs! who will fix his kite or teach him how to spin his top?" + +"Whar is she Missus?" asked Phebe, with the great tears rolling down her +ebony cheeks, and several other voices chimed in "Dar--dar--Missus, whar +is she?" + +"Dead! Swallowed up by the big sea, and we shall see her no more!" She +passed on, for Mr. Gaylord had taken her arm and was leading her into +the long drawing-room, where he bade her stop her prating and making a +simpleton of herself. + +"It might as well be she as any one," he continued, noticing the look of +distress on the pale face; "Seldom could there be found a young lady of +her attractions who would break fewer hearts by disappearing than would +she. But I am sorry for you. There was a little more color in your face, +and a slight return of the former sprightliness in your manner while she +was with you. But she is gone, Mrs. Gaylord, and what is the use of +throwing misery over every one who crosses your path because of it? If +you must pine away the few attractions you have left out of your life, +why, do it silently and alone." + +Her tears ceased at the commencement of this little sympathetic(?) +speech and she now stood before her husband cold and chilling. Servants +came and went with little acts of attention and considerable bustle of +ceremony, yet, with her arm resting upon the marble mantel, she moved +not, for her thoughts had driven away her weariness. A visitor was +announced and she turned to see that her husband had seated himself by +the window with his paper, and was deep in the perplexing problems it +had brought to him. + +"War! War!" Its columns were full. Preparations were going on +everywhere. Calls were made for every lover of his country and home to +see to it that his powers, of whatever sort, were immediately put in +working order. He yawned as he turned to the last page, and looked up as +if supposing his lady was still present, and he had something to say to +her, but he was alone. "Well," he said, between the snatches of a +military air which he was whistling; "I must away. 'The bugle sounds to +arms, to arms,' and Fred Gaylord can as well be spared from the loving +embraces of his adorable spouse as any one. Heigho! 'The echos are +ringing alarms, alarms.' Hello, my good fellow! Nero, come and greet +your master," and the huge mastiff walked boldly in through the open +window, and with many demonstrations of pleasure licked the hand that +caressed him. + +"Yes, Mrs. Gaylord," he said the next morning as they were sitting at +the breakfast table, "in a week I shall go to Richmond!" + +"To join the army?" + +"Well--no! I cannot say as I have any particular desire to set up this +six feet of flesh and bones as a target for designing men to shoot at! +It wouldn't be comfortable, you know! Besides, I can do a better thing +for my country. Mine is to plan, advise and superintend. There will be +plenty of this work to do, and you will get along very well without me." +He arose and sauntered out into the open air, whistling as he went "the +girl I left behind me." The wife watched the manly figure until it +disappeared among the trees. + +"Not much nobility in the character of a coward," she thought, as she +looked after him. "Our grandest and noblest men in the South, as well as +in the North, will enter the field of battle and--yes, will die and be +buried! Hearts will ache and homes will be saddened, and the great wheel +of destiny will keep on turning just as if nothing unusual was +happening! Lives are being continually thrown upon it, and as rapidly +hurled by its flying motion into darkness--into forgetfulness! Where is +it? Where do they go? Where is Lily? That soul so full of longings, of +ambitious, of unbounded faiths, hopes and shadowy desires, real to +itself but mysterious to the uninitiated? Surely such a being has not +been cast away among the rubbish of past ages as worthless, to find in +the darkness the end of all these? No! no! She was right! There is +something in these compounds of humanity that are not easily satisfied +and cannot readily be extinguished. My own wild, restless cravings tell +me this! Why should this 'hungering and thirsting' be given me if there +was nothing with which to satisfy it? I once foolishly imagined that +wealth and position would do this, but I starve with it all! I have said +in my heart, 'eat, drink, and be merry; get the brightest things out of +life that are possible, for the end cometh.' O Lily, my child! How much +I need you! The shadows were lifting--there was a faint light in the +east, the glimmering of a new day; but the darkness has set in again, +the night is not ended!" She was listlessly walking up and down the +elegant parlors as these thoughts ran through her mind. + +Weeks passed. Mr. Gaylord had long been away, swallowed up in the +excitements and business of war, and she seldom heard from him; still +she had no fears, for he was only "planning, engineering and advising!" +This was safe business surely! The grand old house had been filled with +friends and relatives who had fled from the immediate scenes of action +to take refuge out of harm's way; still when the hot July days were come +with their enervating oppressiveness Mrs. Gaylord thought of the quiet +village inn at the north where she had first met her Lily, and her heart +pined for its cooling shades once more. But the husband had said she +must not attempt to go into the enemy's country, or she would be taken +for a spy. + +"However," she thought one day, "I will write to Mr. Bancroft and hear +about Willie; this will do me a little good at least." She did write. +The tumults of war increased. The reports of conflicts were heard +everywhere! The dark wave was rolling up from the far south and +threatening to sweep over the boundary lines east and west, scorching +and destroying everything in its progress. Mrs. Gaylord watched its +coming with a great fear stirring her whole being. What would become of +them? Then there came an answer to her letter. How greedily she broke +the seal; how her heart bounded as she unfolded the well-filled sheet! + +"How glad I was to hear from you," it began. "I did not know but you had +been lost in the terrible fire! How it rages! Where will it end? When +the passions of men become aroused Justice and Mercy must fold their +arms and wait. But, my dear Mrs. Gaylord, cruelties, wrong dealings, +abominations are not confined to war or kept within the machinations of +my own sex. You speak of your loss and loneliness--come to us. You will +be happier here, and a great problem still unsolved requires your aid. +Next week a friend of mine will go to Washington for a few days only; +now if you can get through Baltimore meet him there and he will conduct +you safely to my home. I will see him to-day and write the particulars +to-morrow. Willie is not with me just now, there being greater +attractions elsewhere. All will be explained when you are with us. It is +best that you should follow out my suggestions. I should have written +you many weeks ago if I had not heard that you were not at home, and it +was very uncertain whether a letter would find you in these troublesome +times." + +"How strangely he writes," she thought, as the paper dropped from her +hand. "A problem! He had heard I was not at home; who told him? Why am I +needed to help solve the problem? There is a mystery in all this! It is +not like him. I must--yes, I will go! Mr. Gaylord's brother's widow, who +must remain here with her family, should do all that I could, and I must +go!" How restlessly she tossed upon her pillow that night! The problem! +The mystery! Mr. Gaylord might not like it; he had told her to remain +where she was; but something within bade her go. Another letter came, as +was expected. There was much advise, counsel and many directions, and +then it said: "I will just add for your perusal a short preface to a +most exciting story. It may be that the interest it will awaken will +have more power to draw you than anything I can say by way of +persuasion. You know that there is an assurance somewhere that 'the sea +shall give up its dead,' and that we 'shall meet our loved ones,' etc. +These are, without doubt, true, for we have many a foretaste of the good +things to come even here. One to the point is fresh before me. More than +two months ago Willie received a letter from over the ocean that the +good ship Constitution had picked up from off the dark billows a +floating waif alone in an open boat somewhere along the southern shore, +and as they were bound for Liverpool had no alternative but to take +their prize with them. They did so and it was then lying in a hospital +very sick, and the greater part of the time delirious. The physicians, +however, had prophesied a speedy recovery when the crisis was passed, +and as they had succeeded in learning the address of the one about whom +she had talked almost incessantly, concluded to write to him. 'Be not +alarmed' it went on to say, 'for it was not strange that such a night on +the billows of a stormy sea should have upset a stronger set of nerves, +or bewildered even a more massive brain.' But she would recover, and +when strong enough would be brought back to Boston where her home was, +as they had gathered from her talk. Still it was their desire to hear +immediately if a young lady had been missing from those parts; a Miss +'Lily Gaylord', the name found on the clothing." + +"My Lily!" almost shrieked the excited woman unable to read farther. +"Preserved again! What a wonderful power is holding her! But how did she +come on the sea? This is the problem--O, who can solve it?" Her burning +eyes again fell upon the paper. + +"And now she is with Willie in their old home. I was there a few days +ago and found her very pale and thin. I told her I was going to insist +that you should come north, when her dark eyes brightened and she said, +'O do!' Her story told Willie is a strange one; more wonderful than +fiction. But you will come now, and so I will reserve the rest until +your arrival." + +Did she go? How laggard were the days that intervened between the +receipt of this letter and the "next Thursday week" when she was to meet +Mr. Bancroft's friend in Washington. Then she thought it all over. The +strange incidents concerning the disappearance of her darling; the +suspicions so abruptly spoken by Mr. St. Clair on that sad evening! +True, he was excited and might have said what he did not feel; but Mrs. +Belmont's unsatisfactory explanations as to why she should be out in +such a place, at such a time, with no other attendant than a cowardly +servant, was all such a mystery! Why should that lady wish to injure the +child? Had she not said on several occasions that she "had taken a fancy +to the dear girl?" Yes, several times! And this was nothing strange; +everybody admired her! Certainly she had done nothing to the mistress of +Rosedale to excite in her a desire to do her harm! It could not be! The +more she thought it over, the more she recalled half-forgotten looks and +words, the more was she perplexed. + +"I will wait," she thought at last; "perhaps Lily can throw a little +light upon the transaction. Whatever were the designs of Mrs. Belmont, +Lily is safe! More than ever now will she believe that a mighty hand +kept her above the dark billows! Twice has she ridden alone and unguided +upon them, yet she did not sink! The picture in the old Bible in the +library, which I have pondered so many times, seems to impress itself +now upon my soul. Like Peter, Jesus must have walked beside her, upheld +and guided the frail boat with its precious freight; and it may be--it +may be He spoke to the angry deep 'peace, be still'! I wish I believed +it all. How cheering it must be--such faith I mean--to the lone mariner +on the dark billows of life to be cared for by one who can do these +things! Hush the storms and command the waves and they obey Him! I think +I should not toss about in my little boat as hopelessly, or shudder with +such fear as I look out over the dark waters that are rolling about me, +if this faith were mine. O Lily! So like me, yet so far removed, with +the great God of heaven for your father, and the Saviour for your friend +and protector! I will know more of this! I am disappointed, hungry and +thirsty. The waters are deep; the waves dash upon my frail bark!" + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE SHADOWS AS THEY FLY. + + +Mrs. Gaylord arrived safely in Boston, after a very wearisome journey +and was met by Mr. Bancroft with many demonstrations of delight. + +"It will please Willie so much," he said, after it was well over, by way +of apology. "That gentle little cripple of yours, Mrs. Gaylord," he +continued, "has taken a long hitch into my affections, and it does me +good to gratify his whims." + +"They are together, then?" + +"Yes, out on the farm. I was there last week and told them you were +coming, although I was not positive in the matter as I would like to +have been; but I guessed it! You know that is our Yankee privilege." + +No amount of persuasion could induce the lady to remain in the city for +a rest; she must go at once! "What a sad time poor Lily must have had of +it. I am so anxious to hear all about it!" + +"Your curiosity will not gain any great corpulency by what she can tell +you, I imagine," he laughed. "She seems very reticent when touching the +supposed reasons for her ride, and it is my opinion that there was more +in the tender solicitude of that precious friend she found down south +than was discernable to the naked eye!" + +"Was there ever an open transgression, or an imaginary evil perpetrated +that a woman was not at the bottom of it?" Mrs. Bancroft made this +little speech in the form of an inquiry with a very smiling face, and a +mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes. "There is my good husband, for +instance, who declared this very morning that if you did not come, it +would be because I did not more positively insist! Just as though you +did not know how much I loved you years ago, and, although a woman, love +you still!" + +"But she has come, wife," interposed the laughing husband, "and, no +doubt, is tired and hungry. You will wait until morning before +proceeding farther?" he queried, turning to the visitor. + +"I shall be obliged to, I suppose, for, if I remember correctly, there +is but one more train in that direction to-night, and that is at five, +while it is nearly four now." + +The following morning, on the first train going west was Mrs. Gaylord, +with her dusky-browed companion, who seldom was apart from her mistress. +Now they were going to the little village for the third time, where both +had spent so many pleasant days. "We will take dinner there," the lady +had said, "and then I will go for a drive and find Lily." + +Tiny had said nothing, but her eyes were open as well as those of her +mistress; and now a smile came and lingered around the well-formed +mouth. + +Mrs. Gaylord saw it. + +"How do you imagine Miss Lily came out on the ocean that dark night, +Tiny? There is that at times in your face which leads me to think you +know something about it." + +"O no, Missus; Tiny don't know nothin'; she 'spect tho', dat de good +Lord didn't take her dar." + +"But He took her off, Tiny?" + +"Yes, Missus, He duz that, but He neber got nobody to carry her dar." + +"Did any one do that?" + +"Don't know, but I'se see Missus Belmont talkin' to a white trash more'n +once, and I 'spects somthin'." + +"Who were they, Tiny?" + +"Couldn't tell; 'twas drefful dark down on secon' street, but I know'd +her. I went wid Cassa down to see Pliny, what was sick, and she was dar +by de carriage shop talkin'." + +Perplexities thickened. If she had done this, why was it done? There +must have been a reason for such a terrible act! + +The whistle blew, and the train stopped at the junction. Carriages were +waiting, and into one stepped Mrs. Gaylord, followed by her servant. + +"Ah! Glad to see you at Kirkham again." + +The lady turned quickly. "O, it is you, Frank. How warm you are here. +Drive on, there is a cool breath waiting for me under the maples." + +With the sensation of unburdening, Mrs. Gaylord went out before dinner +into the pleasant grove in the rear of the hotel, where she found the +cool breath waiting. Here, at least, the war could not reach her! The +sound of strife, of anger or oppression could not search her out! The +first great battle had been fought, and there was mourning as well as +exultation in the land, while the blood of patriots was at boiling heat. +Was it this that oppressed her? Had she grieved at the result, or had +her Southern tendencies made it joy? She asked herself this question +more than once; and as she sat under the shadows of the whispering +trees, concluded that, let the results be what they would, she loved the +cool, unimpassioned Northerners, with their independence and +self-sustaining powers. She would wait. She had found peace in days gone +by as she looked calmly out over the waste of waters whither she was +floating, and felt no hard throbbings of the heart where love was dying! +Would this peace come again? Not until she had seen Lily, and the +mysterious problem solved should she look for it. She did not like this +tangling up of broken threads; indeed, she did not want them to break at +all; but, since they must, why could they not dangle free from each +other? + +Soon after dinner, and while the sun was still high, the carriage came +around for her. + +"Going to see the cripple, Willie Evans?" interrogated the driver from +the box, with all the northern familiarity. "His sister is back again, +and a hard time she's had of it; so they say"; he continued, for the +lady had not answered. She spoke now. + +"She was with me, you remember, at the hotel." + +"Ah! yes, ma'am, I remember! There is something strange about her +adventure, but I dare say it will in time be all explained." + +She had not liked the way the simple-minded man gave his information. +What if, after all, gossip, should burden her shoulders with the strange +rumors. She had not thought of this! How would she be received at the +cottage? Would Willie blame her? But Lily had told all! She certainly +would relieve her from censure. + +The carriage stopped at the gate and Mrs. Hopkins appeared in the +doorway. + +"Are the young people at home?" inquired the lady without moving from +her seat. + +"They have gone for a short walk to the lake, but will be back soon," +was the reply. "Mrs. Gaylord, I believe? They will be glad to see you! +You had better come in and I will send for them." + +"I will go," said the driver; and Mrs. Gaylord stepped from her carriage +and entered the little parlor. + +"You will find that the girl is much changed," remarked Mrs. Hopkins, +handing the lady a chair. "She is very thin and pale. She has been +seriously ill, and I do not wonder! It _was_ dreadful! Her being out all +night in that terrible storm; and in an open boat all alone! I tell her +that she had better stay where her _friends_ are now, if it _is_ in the +lower walks of life! She has some very foolish notions that, in my +opinion, she would be much better without." Mrs. Hopkins had taken a +seat close by the window, and seemingly was communing with herself +rather than entertaining her visitor. Mrs. Gaylord allowed her to +proceed without interruption. "She is poor, homeless and friendless, and +the sooner she makes up her mind to settle down to these facts and go to +work, the happier she will be." + +"I think you are a little mistaken about her poverty, friendships or +home, for to my certain knowledge she has all. At any rate she can have +them by the acceptance." + +"It seems that she did accept, and you see how it has turned out. She +comes back without clothes or health and ready to seek shelter in the +home she once so foolishly left. Still," she continued, as she espied a +flush of indignation sweeping over the face of her listener, "I have +much to thank you for in regard to my poor brother. He is very happy in +being able to earn his board and provide for his own necessities. It was +kind in you to bestow such happiness on a poor cripple. We had never +thought it possible that he could ever be anything but a burden." The +lady moved nervously. "Of course we were willing to take care of him, +but it's so much pleasanter for one to take care of himself. Mr. +Bancroft has seemingly taken a great liking to him. He was out here last +week and wanted he should hurry through with his vacation as he was +lonely, so he said. I thought the change would be bad for him, but he +has grown quite fleshy and is looking well." The voice ceased, for +suddenly she had awakened to the consciousness that she was talking all +alone. + +Mrs. Gaylord was busy with her thoughts. This then was the Fanny of whom +Lily had told her. What wonder that her sensitive nature had shrank from +her! Such exhibitions of a selfish spirit! It was not strange the +atmosphere of such a home had chilled and frozen her warm, tender +affections. But it was over. She should not remain a day longer where +such storms of frost and snow must continually pelt her! She was +indignant. "Glad to get back to the home she had left" without friends +or clothing! She looked up and saw a pair of stern eyes fixed upon her. + +"I beg your pardon, I was wandering with my thoughts just then." "And I +was waiting for them to come back," was the response. "Of course you +will let the girl remain now where she rightfully belongs? She can help +me and pay her way if she feels so disposed, and it's time that she +should. If she is let alone I have no doubt she will make quite a woman. +She wanted to see you and I had no objections; but you had better not +trouble yourself farther about her. Don't you think so?" + +"I can answer your question better at nightfall," Mrs. Gaylord replied, +ironically. "I shall take them both with me to the hotel if they will +go, and after talking the matter over can conclude with greater wisdom." + +"Of course they will! Some people are very willing to seek for aid when +helpless and in trouble, but have no idea of returning the favors +received when an opportunity is offered for them to do so!" + +The little party were coming up the garden walk and Mrs. Gaylord arose +to meet them. With a bound and a cry of pleasure Lily sprang into the +open arms ready to receive her. + +"O Lily, Lily, my darling!" exclaimed the sweet voice, while the lips +that spoke these words were kissing brow and cheek passionately. Willie +was hitching himself over the green grass towards them. "You are +changed! How very sick you must have been!" and she held the weeping +girl off at arm's length that she might look at her. "Get yourself +ready, as the carriage must be back to the hotel in three hours and it +is nearly two already." She stepped forward and clasped the cripple's +extended hand. "It makes me more happy than I can tell to meet you both +again. You will go with us? I so pine for one of our old talks +duplicated. Frank, help Willie to the carriage." And she turned to find +that Lily had disappeared, and in her place stood the veritable Mrs. +Hopkins. + +"I do not want you to think," she said, meekly, "that I am not willing +that you should be her friend, but I do think that if you are, you will +advise her to remain in her present home, where she seems to have been +placed, and not attempt to be what she is not or ever can be!" + +Lily's appearance put an end to further conversation, and without a +moment's delay the horses were turned towards the village. + +"You see I have changed my plumage," Lily said with a smile. "I returned +to Boston with a very small wardrobe, only what had been provided for me +at the hospital by some kind visitors, and Willie out of his little +accumulations insisted upon this French lawn, which I keep for my +'dress-up.' It is very pretty, is it not?" + +"Yes, but it seems to me that you have not 'picked up' as much as you +ought in three months. You are looking much thinner than I had thought +of finding you!" + +"It is such a mystery! I cannot sleep! That voice in the darkness under +the trees that called me so feebly and with such perfect indifference! +This haunts me whenever I close my eyes. The whole scene; the masked +face, the rolling billows, the sound of the huge waves as they dashed +against the rocks; all, all terrify and distract me! How can the flesh +ever creep back upon my bones or the color to my cheek or lips? O that +terrible night! Its horrors even as I recall them well nigh curdle my +blood!" + +"Poor child!" But Willie interrupted them. + +"It is only two years, or a little more, since we rode together over +this road. Dear old Rover; he must have one drive to the village before +he returns to his city life. I do not think he likes it as well as his +master, Mrs. Gaylord," he continued, with an air of pleasantry. + +"We understand you, Willie," Lily laughed, wholly recalled from her dark +remembrances. "Two years, and very eventful ones too; but Rover must +have his pleasure now as well as we." + +The horses trotted briskly forward, and very little more was said until +the trio were cosily seated in the little upper parlor of the inn. + +"My child, I conclude, from one little remark you have made, that Mrs. +Belmont, in your opinion, knew something of the sad affair before the +hour in which you were carried away." + +"Yes, I do believe it!" + +"Why?" + +"You would not have asked had you noticed her while we were sitting on +the sofa, the first time of our meeting at the Washburn's, when she +quizzed me about my early life,--my parentage, and my fanciful name of +'Lily Pearl,' which I took occasion to tell her after my suspicions were +aroused! Mrs. Gaylord, she knows something of my history. I feel it; I +cannot be mistaken!" + +"Why did you not ask her about it?" + +"I did. When she came to my room the next day while I was dressing for +dinner, and in her caressing way patted my neck and spoke of its +whiteness and beauty, at the same time inadvertently, as she would +evidently have me think, bared my shoulders, and, as she did so, gave a +little shriek. As I looked up into her face I saw it was deadly pale! +'What is it?' I asked, as calmly as possible. 'Do those purple spots +remind you of anything?' 'Remind me? What do you mean, child?' 'Just +what I said. Do they remind you of anything in the past? Mrs. Belmont, +you know something about me or you would not appear so strangely. Tell +me, will you? Who am I? and where are my parents?' I was looking her +directly in the eye and she trembled under my gaze. 'You are mistaken, +my dear,' she replied blandly, 'I have no knowledge of you whatever! How +could I? I never heard of you till last night, and certainly never +looked into your face; a very pretty one, however, and I hope you will +not spoil it by allowing anger or unjust suspicion to creep into your +heart, for they always leave an impress upon the countenance.' She was +turning to leave the room when I stopped her. 'This is all very well, +still I am not convinced that you are ignorant of my early life! Why did +these unusual spots upon my shoulder startle you, as the mentioning of +my name, Lily Pearl, did last night? Why do you gaze at me so fixedly +while at the table, and shrink with such pallor when I return the look? +Tell me, Mrs. Belmont, who am I?' 'Satan's own, I believe,' she said +furiously, as she rushed from the room. + +"Her manner changed after. She was kind and conciliating; her attentions +nattering to one like myself. I feared her, yet she fascinated me! I +strove to break away from her enchantments, but her power over my silly +heart was wholly unaccounted for. I had read somewhere of the serpent +who could charm its victim to destroy it; and I felt that I was that +victim! I could not tell, for I did not understand it myself. It would +have been impossible to explain. And then, her manner on that night! I +feared to take that ride, but had no power to refuse. Willie says that +the Father was permitting all this and holding my opposition in check +for some great purpose yet unforeseen, and, as I look back upon it, +wonder if it is so." + +"Did you not get some idea from the men who had you in charge?" + +"No, they said but little. They had bound my hands and threw me into the +boat, supposing I had fainted. They spoke about the impossibility of +getting to the ship in such a sea; and expressed a little sympathy for +my situation as nearly as I could understand; but said nothing about +their reasons for doing what they had. I had succeeded in getting my +hands loose, and, without any premeditation, pushed away from their +power as they stepped on the rocks to fasten the boat. Here I think was +where the Father took the matter into His own hands. I was severed from +all earthly connections; had broken all human ties, and was alone with +God upon the waters! As the first wave lifted my boat high upon its +foaming crest I cried out at the top of my voice, 'Lord, save or I +perish!' Then the billow rolled from under me and a sweet peace came +into my soul. Then I remembered the little upper chamber at the cottage, +when one night I found that the angry billows of life's ocean were +dashing themselves around me, and heard Willie's prayer. 'Keep her safe, +O my Father, when the troubles of this world fall upon her! Help her to +bear them, and give her strength to battle every storm!' Then I knew I +should not be drowned--I should be kept safely. + +"All night the winds howled, and the sea roared, and I was safe on the +deep. But it was cold and I was thinly dressed. I do not know at what +time the mantle of unconsciousness was thrown over me, but it was in the +early morn that the 'Constitution' picked me up. I was very ill, and +unconscious on ship-board and in the hospital, and when sufficiently +restored, they asked me 'who was Willie and where could they find him.' +I told them. His name broke the fetters that had bound me so long. I was +better, and almost two months ago they sent me to him. Now tell me; what +does it all mean?" + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +CHANGING CLOUDS. + + +Reader, did you ever stand and watch the waving crimson curtains hanging +in the western sky on some calm summer eve while they were trying to +shut out the glorious sunset from view? As you wondered at their +changing beauties, did you remember that the objects of so much gorgeous +display were only cold, damp, gray clouds, unsightly in themselves, +without attraction, and that it was only the reflection of a hidden +power upon which you were gazing with so much rapture? So it is in our +lives, and a chill, sombre day we would have of it did not some power +behind the throne cast a few golden rays upon the clouds of gray. + +"The problem cannot be solved!" thought Mrs. Gaylord, as she settled +down in her old life, with Lily as her companion, after the fashion of +former days. Lily was no longer without friends, home or clothing, as +the extra large trunk in the store-room with those of Mrs. Gaylord's +amply proved. + +Mrs. Hopkins did not fail to express her indignation in very +characteristic style when the conclusion was fully reached that the +"girl" would return to her former life and associations. "The foolish +thing!" she exclaimed. "One more ride, I imagine, will finish the whole +matter. I don't see why she cannot be satisfied with well enough. +She'll find out her mistake when it's too late. One thing I am decided +upon. She mustn't come here again when thrown off by those who pretend +to be her friends. I won't have anything more to do with her." + +All this was said to Willie that evening after his return from the +village. "She might have stayed here and worked to pay her way as she +ought to do. She's no better than I am, and should be made to keep where +she belongs. But that silly woman likes her pretty face and enjoys her +reading, and so will dress her up and spoil her for the sake of +gratifying her own wishes for a little time, and by and by will send her +back, I suppose, for me to wait upon. But she'll find herself mistaken. +I won't do it!" + +"It seems to me, Sister, that you are making yourself unnecessarily +unhappy," replied Willie very mildly, when Fanny had stopped for a +moment to get her breath. "I do not think that 'Phebe' will ever trouble +you again. She shall never know of this conversation, however, for I +believe when you think it calmly over you will be sorry. It does not +seem to have been any fault of Mrs. Gaylord's that she had her +unpleasant ride, and I cannot think her foolish in the choice she has +made." + +Mr. Hopkins coming in put an end to the conversation. He inquired kindly +if "Phebe" had concluded to remain at the hotel? + +"Mrs. Gaylord claims her on the old contract, I believe," replied +Willie. + +"Sensible to the last," he supplemented. And Fanny went on with her +work. + +All this time clouds were shifting in other portions of our historical +firmament, and bright rays from behind the curtain were falling +elsewhere on damp, gray lives. Mrs. Belmont had reached Philadelphia, +and was not very agreeably or graciously received, though her relative +knew nothing of her residence in Washington, or of the public life she +had been leading. Lillian had been careful to throw upon her mother's +actions regarding her the brightest colors possible; still enough had +been known of the incidents of the last few years to cast a shadow over +the present reception, and the lady felt its chilliness. + +Anna Pierson, too, was watching the summer sky with its chill, gray +clouds, and wondering why the misty folds sometimes crimsoned with a +far-off beauty. Her dead had been buried, and frequent news of the +absent brother told of safety. As the days flew by, there came reports +of exchange of prisoners, of furloughs and release from hospital +treatment and restraints. These, it must be, were the bright reflections +that gilded her western sky as she carefully watched it. Ellen St. +Clair's letters were frequent, and usually contained very cheering +reports. "George was getting better, could sit up a little, and was as +impatient and peevish as a naughty child." Still the October haze would +paint the leaves before the exiles could be expected at the widow's +cottage. + +"It is terribly dreary here," Ellen wrote one day while the September +rains were falling; "and I have petitioned for a removal to other +quarters, and next week George is to be taken to Washington, where I +shall be permitted to follow. He has fully recanted his Southern faith, +and very marked honors are being showered on him. It is somewhat +grateful to my feelings to be the sister of so noted a personage at this +time. Can you realize it? I have stood in the presence of the chief +magistrate himself. Yes, it is true. In one of his visits at the +hospitals yesterday he was officially escorted to our rooms by a little +negro about two feet high, and I--well, I did almost fall in love with +him. No one must ever call him ugly in my presence. I think him +decidedly good-looking. When he said at parting, 'Miss St. Clair, take +extra good care of your brother--and yourself,' the work was done; I am +his friend for ever more!" + +George St. Clair bore his short transfer remarkably well, and upon +arriving in the city was placed in the ward of convalescents, where his +spirits soon revived, notwithstanding the hard shots that were so often +thrown with unerring aim at his well-established prejudices. Here were a +few highly educated and popular men, some of high rank in the army, and +our soldier found himself in very congenial society. + +Then there came another letter to the widow's cottage, saying: "I am +most ignobly discharged. 'Do not need a nurse any more,' etc., etc. So +you will greet your disconsolate daughter immediately after a little +sight-seeing." + +It was true. All that was now required was patience while the old +strength slowly returned, and Toby was fully capable of attending to his +master's necessities. The second morning after the new arrival dawned +cold and rainy. The poor torn back fretted in such an atmosphere and was +very painful. Not feeling able to join the others in the morning meal, +George St. Clair returned to his bed, and was lying moodily watching his +companions, when a lady entered, and walked directly up to a +noble-looking officer with whom he had been much pleased the day before, +but whose name he had not learned, as all addressed him as "Colonel." +There was something strangely familiar about that walk and movement of +the head and shoulders, and, as he had nothing better to do, gazed at +her, wishing all the time that she would turn a little, that he might +have a view of her face, but she was busily engaged, and seemed in no +hurry to gratify our hero. All apparently had met her before, for each +received a word of greeting, as he judged, although too far away to hear +more than the murmuring of voices. Then the Colonel monopolized her +attention, and after a moments talk both turned abruptly in the +direction where he was reclining. + +"Then he has been telling her of me!" + +They moved forward. "Coming to see the 'Rebel,' no doubt. Who can she +be?" That walk! That form! They neared him. A veil had partially covered +her face, but now it was thrown back as she sprang forward with a cry of +surprise and joy. "George St. Clair! My brother!" + +With an impulse unusual to the young lady of Rosedale, she clasped her +arms about his neck and kissed his forehead with a sisterly +demonstration. + +"I did not know,--I had not heard that you were here! How glad I am to +meet you." + +"Lillian! I never was so astonished! You in such a place as this! The +delicate, frail, 'Lily-Bell?' Let me take your hand; It cannot be!" + +She had stepped back from him as he spoke, and now a low rippling laugh +floated away from her parted lips. + +"Well, well! am I of no account?" exclaimed her companion, joining in +the laugh. "This may be very interesting to the parties immediately +concerned, but to look mutely on is another thing." + +Lillian shook her finger at him menacingly. + +"Yes, George, you remember I told you of my husband. I have found him; +Colonel Hamilton! Two brave soldiers who have bled for their country's +weal. You will be brothers? Let me perform the ceremony of uniting +hands,--the hearts will be sure to come together." + +"Surprises thicken! Why did you not tell me during our long chat last +evening, that you were the thief who robbed me of my coveted 'Lily +Bell?' All this, and yet the world moves on! The war is developing and +unraveling! What will come next?" + +"Not to be known as there are no headings to the chapters!" Then there +was a long talk, and many little items of news imparted that brought the +deepening color to more than one cheek. + +"It would, without doubt, be a little unpleasant for me to return to my +Southern home just at present," said St. Clair, when the conversation +lagged. "And I am told from headquarters that I shall not be able for +active service for months yet; so I propose to go farther north where my +parents are, and, perhaps, burrow for the winter. It will be pretty cold +for Confederate blood, but it is about the best I can do." + +"A capital idea! Get acquainted with us low fellows,--I think you will +like us when you know us better." + +"Have you seen Ellen?" He had turned to Lillian now. + +"Ellen? Is she here?" + +"Out sight-seeing somewhere. She is to return to her temporary home in a +day or two." + +All this time, Mrs. Hamilton had not spoken of her mother,--not inquired +for her. She had met and recognized her; but where was she now? For +weeks she had watched for the familiar face; had looked everywhere for +the flutter of the gray silk; and thus far it had been in vain. "Where +was she? Would she come no more?" A great disappointment had found its +way into the happy heart, where love had for so many years been weeping, +but where all tears were now wiped away in a blissful reunion. Lillian +loved her mother. She had been petted and fondled by her through all her +childhood's days; but the memory of the bitter curse would creep in +among her joys, dragging after it the cold, dark shadows that for a time +would exclude the warmth. + +Mrs. Hamilton called upon Ellen St. Clair at her lodgings, where new +interests were brought out, and many little feminine secrets unveiled, +which tangled themselves together in a very perplexing sort of way. The +story of Lily Gaylord's disappearance, and her father's "unjust censure +of Mrs. Belmont" was duly discussed and commented upon. + +"An adopted daughter, you said, of the lady?" queried Lillian. + +"Yes, and George said from the first that she resembled you in many +ways. Her eyes certainly were as large and dreamy. 'Beautiful,' as Grace +would say, 'as those of my Lily-Bell.' It was a stormy night on the sea, +and, as every one declared, no small boat could keep up any length of +time, and as nothing could be heard from her, it was concluded she must +be lost," Ellen went on to say. + +"Dreadful! A young girl of----?" + +"Of sixteen, I believe." + +Lillian started. "Sixteen! How strange!--and my mother was with her--and +unattended!" + +"You seem excited; well we all were shocked! It was so inexplicable. +Such a mystery! But it was soon forgotten in the greater interests of +the war. You know one is not missed when so many are being lost." + +It was Ellen who had said this, but her visitor sat motionless, her +large eyes dilated as though striving to penetrate some dark +uncertainty. + +"I cannot but think how strange it is for you to be here--and with a +_husband_! Why did you never tell us?" + +"It was only one of my secrets, dear Ellen," was the hesitating reply. +"But I am detaining you. We are a very busy people in Washington, and +you are to leave here soon?" + +"In three days." + +Ellen went as she intended. It was a long, tiresome journey to take +alone, but her heart had become brave. There was a pleasant reunion at +the widow's home on the evening of her arrival. George was better, and +the hearts of the parents beat with a steady pulsation once more. +Bertha and the children were well, as late letters from the dear old +home had assured them, and now Ellen had safely returned. + +"George will write a few words every day and mail it once a week," was +the glad response to the inquiry as to how they were to hear from him. +"And in a month, the physician says, he will probably be able to travel +a short distance each day, and will get to his chair at our table before +it is very cold. He has ordered me to engage rooms for us all at the +hotel for the winter, but I hate hotels, and it is so cozy here!" + +"Anna and I would be very lonely without you now," interposed the widow, +calmly. "Our rooms are small, but we have a goodly number of them." + +"And I will call it 'Maple Grove Inn' and write that I have secured a +suite of rooms ample for us all! Bravo! And I want to learn to make pies +and cakes and put my own hands into the biscuits, for I am a Yankee girl +from henceforth! No more black fingers in my bread. Dear old Katy," she +said, after a moment's pause. "How good everything tasted that her poor +old ebony hands made! If I could find such a noble looking northerner as +Lillian has for her husband he wouldn't have to ask me more than once to +be his wife!" + +"Lillian's husband, my child?" interrogated both father and mother in a +breath. + +"Certainly; but I have not told you. One cannot say everything in an +hour!" And then the story was reproduced with the details George had +added, having known it for months, yes almost a year and never told it, +not forgetting her abstracted manner as the disappearance of Lily +Gaylord was rehearsed. "One might have imagined to look at her that the +girl was a near kin. She asked me about her general appearance, and when +I said that some thought there was a very striking resemblance between +her and Mrs. Gaylord's adopted daughter you ought to have seen the +look!" + +"You are quite imaginative, my dear," remarked Mrs. St. Clair warmly. +"It was the shock, her mother being with Lily at the time that gave her +the look you speak of. I do not wonder, for there was room at least for +censure!" + +"That's a fact, wife! I should like to know where the mistress of +Rosedale is keeping herself? Bertha writes that she disappeared soon +after leaving the city, and Charles has never heard from her since. +Didn't meet her in Washington I suppose?" + +"No, Father," and a hearty laugh followed. When quiet was restored Ellen +asked: "Where is Charles, Father?" + +"Skulking around without doubt for fear of being drafted, and the +negroes have it all their own way at Rosedale now, I believe." + +That night as the mother and daughter were left alone, the former +interrupted a prolonged silence by the abrupt question: "Anna, my child, +what about this George St. Clair? Has a secret crept into your confiding +heart that you would keep hidden from the careful, watchful eye of your +parent? Tell me, what about this rebel colonel?" + +A long silence followed. At last, "I was waiting, Mother," she said, +"for my heart to be sure of its first great lesson before imparting it +to you. But first let me tell you he is true, loyal, to the old flag +under which my brother fought and died. It was the circumstances of his +life that has placed him where he was, and not the convictions of his +better judgment." + +The mother watched the beaming face. "And you can excuse him?" + +"Yes, Mother, my heart pleads for him! I cannot deny it; I do love +George St. Clair! My brother has been slain upon the altar of sacrifice, +but his hand has not the stain of his blood upon it!" There were tears +in the mild blue eyes and the mother saw them. + +"Does he know all this?" + +"All, Mother! This was the storm that rolled about me when in +Alexandria. The waves dashed high, but it cannot be wrong; I do love +George St. Clair!" + +"Do you realize the great difference in your social positions? You the +daughter of a poor widow--he the heir of large possessions and a devotee +to aristocracy. O my daughter, I fear for your future happiness!" The +dear face showed the inward struggle of the mother's heart, and the hand +upon which her head was languidly resting trembled. + +"Wait until you see him," pleaded the daughter; "he is good and noble!" + +"My basket is getting full of bitter fruit in the commencement of this +terrible war; what will it be when the harvest is wholly gathered?" + +"Mother, have you forgotten that 'all things shall work together for +good to those who trust God?' Can you not trust now as surely as when +you laid your two sons where the fire might consume them?" She was +standing by the side of that mother now, and an arm had stolen softly +about her neck. + +"I will trust Him!" came from the compressed lips, and drawing her +daughter upon her knee as in the years gone by she looked into her +flushed face. "Whatever God wills my selfish heart will not pronounce +unkind!" + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE DARKNESS THICKENS. + + +"Pass those letters over to me, Mr. Cheevers," suggested the wife, as +the gentlemen addressed drew several from his pocket while waiting for +his supper. "One from New Orleans--that is good--one from Washington! +Lillian! It has been some time since we have had such a pleasure," +continued the lady more calmly, for she had not intended to let Mrs. +Belmont know of her correspondence with her daughter, but her glad +surprise on this occasion had betrayed the secret. The husband was +peering over the top of his paper at the mother as the exclamation fell +on her ear, and saw the sudden start and pallor of her face as she +endeavored to appear uninterested. Mrs. Cheevers had opened the welcome +missive and was reading. "How strange," she murmured as she turned the +page. Mrs. Belmont stirred uneasily in her chair. "_Well, I declare!_" + +"A good many exclamation points"; this from the husband, carelessly. + +"Lillian seems very happy with her husband and in her new vocation as +nurse. How little we ever imagined, Charlotte, that your daughter would +make such a noble woman! It takes a good many hard winds to bring out +the strength of the 'sapling,' but it will do it!" The letter was +finished and Mrs. Cheevers sat motionless with it lying upon her lap. + +"No bad news, I hope?" interrogated Mrs. Belmont with some trepidation. + +"No. I was trying, however, to guess it out! You did not tell us, +Charlotte, that you had been in Washington; why did you not call upon +your daughter? She writes that she saw you and has been looking +everywhere and cannot find you, and has come to the conclusion that you +are not in the city, and then adds 'she can hardly think of going back +to Rosedale at present, as traveling in that direction would be very +unpleasant with the whole army of the Potomac to encounter; and I have +thought perhaps she would visit you. If she does, detain her if possible +until my return to Philadelphia. Pearl is recovering, and before cold +weather will probably go back to his duties. The realization of that +coming good-bye envelopes me with its terrible presentiments. How can I +ever permit him to go from my sight again! You will say I am foolish and +Uncle would scold me if he could, for I propose going with him; not as a +soldier but as assistant in the hospitals, which will spring up in the +trail of our advancing army. But we will talk this over, when on his +furlough we visit for a few days his mother and my dear uncle and aunt.' +Now, why did you not like an affectionate mother go to see Lillian and +get an introduction to your son-in-law?" + +"You have explained the reason. I did not desire to meet her husband, +and having learned that she was with him was compelled to leave the city +without going to her as I would have wished. The time may come when my +'prejudices,' as you call them, can be overcome, but as yet my whole +soul recoils from the contact!" + +Mr. Cheevers laid down his paper and laughed ironically. "It seems to me +that Irene is unusually slow. I must get back to the store." He walked +across the floor impatiently. + +"I will go and see what is the matter and let Sylvia's letter go until +after tea." The bell soon rang, and while the husband was satisfying his +appetite with the evening bounties the wife ran over Sylvia's letter. + +"All well--but in a flutter of fearful forebodings," was the report as +she proceeded. "Grace is dreadfully worried about Lillian," she added +when the missive was finished. "I think the mails are not very regular, +for I sent a full report of her doings and experiences a month ago." + +"Write again, wife. All who love Lillian are anxious about her of +course. It must be dreadful to them to have her up here among her +enemies! This is the strangest war on record! Who ever read of the +families of the belligerents rushing into the arms of their bitter foes +for protection and safety? Here is Mrs. Belmont, for instance, who is +shrinking and shivering at the very thought of the contaminations of her +son-in-law, but who settles down as cozily as may be in the very midst +of those whom she would be glad to see annihilated." He laughed heartily +as he arose from the table and left the house. + +Their guest was irritated, excited and alarmed! Had her daughter said +more than had been imparted? There was something in the manner of both +husband and wife that had made her feel this was so. But what was it? O, +if she could only get that letter! If her eyes could devour its +contents! She saw it go into the ample pocket of the lady's dress and +her mind was made up; she would read it if in any way possible! She was +coming, that was sure, and he would be with her. Could she meet them? +How was it to be avoided? She had told him without doubt; but what if +she had not? What if after all Lillian was anxious to bury the +past--what if she did not know? "It was an error that I did not speak to +her as she stood beside the carriage that afternoon; but how could I +have explained? O the miseries of such a life. O the wretchedness of +wrong-doing! While she is beloved, petted and sought after, I am +suspected and growled at by every churlish dog who feels inclined to +show his teeth menacingly! O if there was a place on the broad earth +where such as I could find rest and concealment, thither would I go! But +that letter I must have! If, as I suspect, a secret is divulged or a +hint regarding my reasons for being in Washington, then I will not meet +them, even if to avoid it I must hide myself beneath the muddy waters of +the Schuylkill. No! no! Witness his exultations? Never!" It was a firm +conclusion, but the haughty mistress of Rosedale never faltered when a +resolve was fully taken. + +The next morning when Mrs. Cheevers was superintending the kitchen, Mrs. +Belmont might have been seen standing before the door of that lady's +wardrobe, with a look of cynical scorn upon her still handsome features +as her keen eyes were running over the page of the coveted letter she +was holding in her hand. "Ah! I thought so. Could not tell what could +have been my mission to Washington, but feared it was for no good, and +that justice might overtake me. Kind, certainly! Yes, truly! The look on +my face did 'reveal much,'" and she turned the page. "Here was where the +'exclamation points' came in. 'Revealed much, and my prayer +is'--bosh!--'that she may be wise enough to run no risks. I have learned +that she passed herself off as an English lady who had left the South on +account of her anti-war proclivities, and was admitted to the most +select circles on this account. If she is with you, or shall come, +detain her until'--O yes, she could hear this. But why not the rest? The +truth is clear. I am suspected! What if that splendid colonel of hers +should take it into his noble head to pay off a few of the old scores?" +A step was heard in the lower hall, and trusting the letter into the +lower pocket, from whence it had been taken, she glided through an +opposite door, and returned to her own room. + +"This is no place for me," she thought, as, seating herself by the +window, she prepared to look at the whole matter as it now appeared. "I +am not wanted; but where can I go? Not to Rosedale? That is utterly +impossible. Not to Charleston? There I shall be branded as a coward and +disloyal to the trust imposed in me. Where can I go?" She sat a long +time apparently watching the pedestrians who were leisurely walking past +the house, and wondered if there was another in that vast city more +wretched, more forlorn than was she. What a contrast to the years that +were gone! "And it has all come about by the silliness of that girl. Her +impudent and foolish marriage has covered me with shame and confusion." +Ah, woman, not that! + +"I'll do it!" she said at last. "How stupid in me not to have thought of +that before! It will be dreary and desolate, but better so than to +remain here. Then the check for that last paltry five hundred dollars +must be cashed. A meager sum for the mistress of Rosedale to go out into +the world with, but it will do." She arose from her seat and crossed +over to the mirror. "Not the same face that was there--let me see--yes, +seventeen years ago. Then those lines were not at the corners of the +eyes, nor about the mouth; then there was no silver in these dark locks, +for no such transgressions scorched my soul." She sank down upon a chair +close by, and buried her face in her jeweled hands, and for the first +time for many months tears came to moisten the hard ground where the +roots of womanly affection were buried. + +"My child! O, my child!" she murmured at last, as her long taper fingers +were clasping themselves tightly together. "I have wronged you. It was +cruel, fiendish, to take your babe from you; but doubly so--wretch that +I am!--to plot her ruin by sending her off to a foreign port, where I +thought she could never return. What a curse has fallen upon me! I did +not intend all that was done. Those terrible black stains cannot be upon +my soul." + +The autumnal winds came and blew gently over the great city, scattering +upon the tree-tops and velvety carpets of its many parks and lawns their +tracery of change. The birds gathered themselves together among the +branches to finish their arrangements for the long journey. Yet Mrs. +Belmont lingered in her pleasant quarters, loth to exchange them for +less comfortable ones. Then letters of inquiry, letters of solicitation, +had been written, and answers must be waited for--and so she stayed. + +All this time the two colonels were slowly but positively improving. +George St. Clair might endure the jar and fatigue of travel, and Pearl +Hamilton his former position at the head of his regiment, and word was +sent to their respective destinations to this effect. + +"In a week Pearl and Lillian will be here," was the report brought by +Mrs. Cheevers on returning one day from a short round of calls, and her +air was a trifle exultant. "We must do them honor, Mr. Cheevers. A +colonel who has suffered and bled for our good, and to maintain the +dignity of a free government, deserves all the glory an appreciative +people can bestow." + +The husband straightened himself back in his chair, and indulged in a +most mirthful "encore." "Bravo, wife! The war is making personal +developments as well. Who ever imagined there was so much of the truly +eloquent in the bosom of my sweet little half? And such patriotism!" + +"Pshaw! All of that fine speech, I tell you, came from the brain where +such evolutions of respect for the brave boys are expected to be in +action. We must give honor where honor is due." + +"True as you live, wife; and now what is to be done?" + +"Perhaps Charlotte can suggest, for if our fraternal strife has not +awakened as much _patriotism_ in her heart as in yours, in the present +case her _interest_ should be greater." + +The lady thus appealed to was listening with more interest than her +companions were aware of, but the queries that were perplexing her were +not how she could bestow honors upon the worthy, but how she, the +unworthy, could escape dishonor! "I cannot stay longer," she thought; "I +must away!" At being thus appealed to, however, she replied blandly; "I +have waited weeks already that I might bestow my congratulations, but, +as they have delayed coming so long, have made other arrangements that +will be impossible to postpone. I have been loitering that letters from +home might reach me, and cannot understand why Charles does not write. +In a day or two, at the farthest, I shall be compelled to leave for my +winter quarters." + +"Leave here!" exclaimed Mrs. Cheevers, with surprise. + +"Certainly. You did not suppose I was to impose myself on my friends as +a settled fact, did you?" She smiled, but it was only as a feeble ray +struggling across the chill, damp cloud, where the winter's snows were +gathering. + +"But it will look strangely, and I beg your pardon, one might think a +trifle suspicious; it may be a fear lest you should meet them. I do not +say that I think so, but such things might be said!" + +"A new development, my dear! Is it prescience or imagination that is now +whirling in your prolific brain?" + +"Do not jest, Hiram; really there is a seriousness in all this. Why +could you not have been a good staid old Quaker, like your father, so +that you could have been sensible when circumstances seemed to demand +it?" + +"Hardly, according to nature, wife, to be old, like my honored sire, as +our birthdays did not come in the same year." + +This little humorous parley gave their guest ample time to recover from +her shock of indignation and alarm. How was this to end? Would her +departure excite suspicion? But it was known here, without doubt,--a +part, if not the whole truth--for letters had been received from +Washington into which she had not been permitted to have a peep. Lillian +knew where her mother had taken refuge, and, probably, was expecting to +meet her. + +"What shall I do?" darted up through her accumulating perplexities, and +burst from her quivering lips. + +"Do? Why stay where you are, and welcome your child as a mother should, +greet her husband cordially and sensibly. It must be done, and what have +you to fear? Are you a criminal fleeing from justice and dare not come +in contact with honest people? You need not look at me so, certainly if +you abscond on the very eve of their arrival these are the only +conclusions that can be adduced. Is it not so husband?" + +"Face the music, Charlotte; face the music! If your native zeal has +carried you outside the track, switch on again, and go ahead. But here I +am wasting my precious time listening to two silly women, and on an +empty stomach at that! Charlotte, why did you not bring along one of +your ebony faithfuls? I am getting tired of waiting three times a day +for my meals." + +"Irene is slow, but I ought to have attended to my duties better. The +fact is, I am getting out of house-keeping and gone into the business of +minding other people's affairs," and the good lady walked out of the +room. + +"Mrs. Cheevers is right on this subject; you cannot leave here at this +time without drawing censure and, it may be, suspicion down upon +yourself. I would not do it." + +Supper was announced, and Mrs. Belmont, trembling with emotion, as her +pride went on battling with fear and indignation, seated herself at the +table, but not to eat. There was a vein of proffered wisdom in the +advice given that irritated her. "Can I not judge for myself? Am I not +supposed to know more about my own business than others." + +Mr. Cheevers rallied her upon such a loss of appetite and the saving it +would be to his pocket, a pleasantry in which the lady endeavored to +join, but the _repartee_ died on her lips, and, excusing herself, she +went without farther delay to her own room. + +"That woman, wife, has her own reasons for desiring to escape doing +honor to Colonel Hamilton and lady, that we are not advised of. As for +me, I begin to pity her! She looks as though she had lost her hold on +earth and her hope of heaven!" + +"How can you, Hiram." + +"It is true. Perhaps Lillian ought to have written to her mother, and +yet, as she declared, what could she say? It is a muddle, my good wife, +sure enough, still we must keep her here until they come. That is the +only clear thing I can get out of it," and he left the table. + +In the room above, a tall, stately form was standing by the window, her +dark eyes wandering with a listless gaze out over the gray waters of the +Schuylkill, where the evening shades were slowly creeping, while within +her soul the conflicting elements of warring tumults were raging. "O, +wretched woman that I am!" she repeated, "What power can deliver me from +myself! Great God! If Thou didst ever pity, pity now! Are there not +stains on my soul that He will never blot out? Stains of--murder! O +misery! 'The wicked shall not go unpunished,'--I have read it; it is +true! The God I have offended has said it! What if the curtain that +hides the last seventeen years from the world should be torn away!" She +paced the floor as the night stole in and covered her with its darkness. +O, the gloom! O, the forebodings of a sin-cursed soul. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +LIGHT THROUGH THE RIFTED CLOUD. + + +"She's gone, as true as you live! The carriage was at the door for +herself and baggage before I knew a word about it." + +With these exclamations, Mrs. Cheevers met her husband the day after the +events of our last chapter. He had come to dinner with the cheering news +that there was to be an ovation given to Colonel Hamilton at the Girard +House on his arrival, but found his wife too much excited to appreciate +the honors thus to be conferred on her pet. + +"That looks squally. Perhaps she has good reasons for skulking, but it +does not look to me like her original shrewdness. It would have been +more natural to see her stand by and fight it out. But let her go; there +is more room for the new-comers." + +The matter being thus disposed of, quiet was again wooed to the peaceful +home of the good uncle and aunt, who had nothing to do now but to +anticipate coming pleasures. Colonel St. Clair was to remain with them +also for a short rest, before finishing his journey up the Hudson. + +"Lillian has told me so much about him that he will not seem like a +stranger." + +"Lillian's lovers are our friends, my good wife; so he will come in for +a share of attention." + +The hour came when a carriage containing the happy trio rolled up to the +door of Mrs. Cheevers' very inviting home on Race street, where Mrs. +Cheevers unceremoniously rushed out with open arms to greet them. The +host was not far behind. When the first joyous greetings had partially +subsided, he took Colonel St. Clair under his kind protection, and +helped him gently to an easy chair in the warm, cheerful parlor. + +"You will excuse me," called out Colonel Hamilton, as he stepped back +into the carriage; "there is a little woman down on Twentieth street who +wants a kiss from her soldier boy. I'll be back in time for that roast +beef!" And the carriage turned the corner and was out of sight. + +"Well, that is cool! But, wife, we are not so smart as we take ourselves +to be. Why did we not have that mother who wants to be kissed up here, +so that it could all be done at once? It is terrible to have such things +dragging." + +"I did ask her and insisted, but she said 'No' every time. 'Pearl will +come right here,' she declared, 'and it is in his own home where I want +to give him welcome.'" + +"Noble woman!" interposed St. Clair from his chair by the grate. + +"You say she is gone?" asked Mrs. Hamilton in her aunt's dressing room, +where she had been escorted by the hostess herself. + +"We tried hard to have her remain, but no amount of persuasion could +accomplish it. She is dreadfully troubled about something. I attempted +to draw her out, but you know how difficult such a thing would be. And, +having watched her manner and face, I do believe that something weighs +heavily on her mind." + +"She need not have flown from me. My mother's reputation is sacred to +her daughter. She should have known this. And you have no idea where she +has gone?" + +"Not in the least. She said she had been waiting for letters before +going to her winter quarters, and was surprised that she received +nothing from Charles." + +"It is too bad! But, Auntie, I have much I want to pour into your dear +heart, for somehow I feel that in stirring up its pure waters, I may +step in and, perhaps, be healed a little!" and she kissed the smiling +face. "What should I do without you? But I fear the gentlemen though +will think we have deserted them." + +There was so much to be said; so much calling to be done, and such a +large circle of friends to receive, that it was not until the third day, +when the dinner was being given at the Girard in honor of the wounded +soldier (to which Colonel St. Clair had been officially invited), that +Mrs. Cheevers and Lillian found an opportunity for the "stirring of the +waters." + +"Do not let me frighten you, Auntie; and may the dear Father keep me +from injustice and wrong! How shall I tell you? There is no use in +trying to smooth it over; I do believe that up to six months ago my +child lived!" + +"Lillian!" + +"Yes, I do believe it! George St. Clair, and the whole family saw her! +She was just sixteen, and had the same eyes and ways that I have! It +was remarked by all, and my mother, at times, betrayed an unusual degree +of interest in her." + +"Where was this?" + +"In Savannah. She was the adopted daughter of a Mrs. Gaylord, who was +visiting friends in that city, and farther down in the country. I did +want to see my mother so much! A dark suspicion oppresses me!" + +"Lillian!" + +"I cannot help it; and you will not blame me when I have told you all! +My mother took that child into a carriage, with only one servant, a +dastardly coward, and drove one evening down the river, in sight of the +beach; then, getting her to alight, that (as she said), a better view of +the sea might be obtained, the child was kidnapped in the darkness and +borne away; and with every effort that could be made, no trace has ever +been found of her! O, Auntie, _that was my child_! Will God permit such +a deed to remain uncovered? Will not his anger search it out?" + +"But, my dear Lillian, you must have greater proof than this before you +so grievously accuse another! There is some mistake; she _could_ not +have done such a deed! Why not write to Mrs. Gaylord and learn where she +found the child, and all that she knows about her?" + +"I did, Auntie, but was answered by her husband, who said that his wife +had very unexpectedly taken it into her head to go north while he was +away, and could not say when she would return, etc. Now where that +'north' is, cannot be ascertained, as he was to immediately return to +his post, in the army, I suppose." + +"Have you told Pearl?" + +"No, I cannot. If Mother had remained here, it may be that she could +have cleared away the cloud, but how can I breathe this most humiliating +suspicion into his ear? He knows of her transaction in regard to our +separation, and was magnanimous enough to bury it; but it would be agony +to tell him more. He does not know of that heart-breaking curse, that +would be almost unendurable, were it not for the great joy that has come +to me. But, Auntie; what do you think? Was Lily Gaylord my child? My +Lily-Pearl?" Her large eyes were fixed with a burning gaze on the +troubled face before her. + +"Your child, Lillian? I do not wonder at your earnestness! yet I cannot +tell you; but confide in Pearl, he will know better how to counsel." + +"I cannot! This work I must do myself! But one thing is certain; my +heart shall be satisfied! If alive she is mine; if dead I must know it! +This poisonous canker-worm has been for years gnawing at my very soul! +My convictions have been, and still are, that there was a grievous wrong +done me when I was told that she had been transplanted to a purer clime! +It was not death that stole her from me!" + + * * * * * + +Where was the subject of all this anxiety and solicitude on this calm, +hazy October day? In Boston; as happy and peaceful as a young girl of +sixteen ever desired to be. + +Mrs. Gaylord had received letters from her husband saying that he was +glad she had taken it into her silly head to go north, and it was his +opinion she might better remain until the immediate danger that was +threatening Western Virginia had passed. His brother's widow, with her +children, could take care of "Birch Wood." Acting upon these suggestions +she had returned to Boston and hired a suite of rooms, and, taking +Willie with them, was ensconced amid all desired comforts and luxuries. +Tiny was entrusted with extraordinary responsibilities and her yellow +face grew brighter when enstalled as mistress of the kitchen, while Lily +superintended the whole establishment. Willie was exuberant and Mrs. +Gaylord peaceful. Rover had at all times his full share of attention, +and his bed by the kitchen stove was soft and warm. + +Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft often called, with their sunny faces, during the +long winter months, but Mrs. Gaylord seldom left her warm rooms. + +"Here we will stay until the war is over," said that lady one evening as +they gathered around the table preparatory to an hour of reading and +listening. The wind roared threateningly up from the "Bay" and the snow +beat outside against the windows, but within that comfortable home +reigned peace and love. Lily was again by the great sea, and, when she +sat at her chamber window and looked over the dark waters and watched +the rolling waves as they dashed upon the piers in the harbor, the old +days came back to her; the dreams of her childhood; the longings of her +restless heart while she thought of the beautiful lady who had picked +her up from the billows; of the pearls deep down in the waters, where +she had grown, and called her "Lily Pearl." Should she ever know how she +had come by that name? She was "Lily Gaylord" now; the Phebe of other +days had been put aside among the disagreeables of the past; except with +Willie, who declared that she must ever be his own precious Phebe, or +the brightness would be all taken out of the sunny memories; and she had +answered "call me what you will, my brother, only let me live in your +heart and thoughts": and so the days went on. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +A STORM ABOUT THE WIDOW'S COTTAGE. + + +It was a damp and chilly morning when George St. Clair left the home of +the Cheevers. A shadow of pain had settled down upon the handsome face +of the heroic officer, and as Pearl Hamilton saw it he exclaimed with +all the fervor of the brotherly love which had grown up between them: +"You shall not go alone, even to New York, for you look as disconsolate +as a rejected lover; and what if your father should miss you in that +terrific hub-bub? I can get back to-night, so please excuse me to my +mother at dinner, Lillian"; and snatching his hat and coat from the rack +he took the arm of his companion and went with him down the marble +steps. + +"Please, George," called out Lillian from the door; "do not let Pearl +get lost by the way. My heart tells me to throw the old shoe of good +luck after you, with the wish that your visit at the North may be as +productive of joy as was mine nearly eighteen years ago, without any of +its shadows!" It was a bright face that now beamed from the carriage, +and as St. Clair waved his hand to the ladies it rolled rapidly away. + +"I am glad after all that he was not obliged to go alone," remarked Mrs. +Cheevers as they turned to enter the house. "I am fearful his poor back +will never be strong again! In my opinion his days of fighting are +over." + +"I wish those days were ended for all," said Lillian, thoughtfully. "The +papers bring us sad records of late. So many precious lives lost; so +many loving hearts desolated! I liked Dr. Wadsworth's sermon yesterday +morning from the text 'show thyself a man,' but I could but think that +David meant in his living rather than in his dying! It may be noble in +one to lay down his life for the preservation of his country's honor, +but love is as surely bereft after all!" + +They were seated now by the warm grate where the red coals were piled up +in a cheerful glow, and while the aunt took some work from the basket on +the table her companion gazed pensively into them. At last turning +quickly around, while a smile lighted up her face she remarked: "I am +dizzy! I am reminded so often of our little trick of 'whirling' in +childhood, until, unable to stand we would drop down on the green grass +and wait for the sensation of giddiness to pass off. But what is to be +done, Auntie, when the whirling never ceases?" + +"Fall down upon the grass my child and wait, but be sure that in the +falling you gain the power to wait!" + +"True, Aunt; and yet how like Peter we are prone to look about us while +walking over the waves, until our faith gives way and we begin to sink!" + +"And what did Peter do? Sit down on the first billow he met and declare +'he was dizzy' and perplexed?" + +Lillian laughed. "Not much like Peter am I after all?" + +While this conversation was going on in the little parlor the two +colonels were crossing the Delaware, and were soon in the cars rolling +rapidly towards the great metropolis. + +"But, Colonel Hamilton, you must confess that it was not pleasant while +receiving the sympathies and kindnesses of the people, to remember I was +wounded in the army that would, if they could, annihilate yours." + +"But they cannot!" + +"That does not take away my chagrin! Here I am in the midst of those +whom I once hoped, it may be, to conquer or slay, and from their hands +receiving the 'coals of fire' that are scorching my heart instead of my +head. It is this that makes me wish to bury myself away from it all." + +"But, my dear fellow; you are not the only one who ever changed his +convictions! Just make yourself comfortable! See how rapidly we are +getting along! Here is Burlington. I wish there were a boat going up the +river as soon as you arrive in the city, so that you could lie down the +rest of the way." + +"I am getting so 'yankeeized' that I could never wait for the slow +motion of a steamer. I must take the lightning express." + +"And be at your destination before tea-time?" + +"So Ellen has written me." + +"Well, take good care of your heart. This mixing up of fractions makes +very serious troubles sometimes." + +"But in the final union of whole numbers there is bliss! Why not work +out the sum and hand over the product in your advice?" A merry laugh +followed this query, while the long train whirled on. + +There was a happy reunion in the widow's cottage when Mr. St. Clair +returned with his son to occupy the easy chair that had been especially +procured for him. The mother had not seen him since the time when in his +rebel uniform he had bid her good-bye in the far-away home, and her eyes +were swimming with tears as she looked upon his changed face. + +"They did not tell me you were so thin and pale," she said as she kissed +him tenderly. + +"But I am very weary now; you have no idea what a night's rest will do +for my good looks." Still the mother's heart beat with a low, sad +throbbing. + +Anna was placid and reserved. Her greetings were cordial, while none +save the maternal eye peered beneath the external calm. + +"Well this is cozy," he remarked, as the two young ladies drew his chair +close to the table. "Still it is a little mortifying to my masculine +dignity--this being waited upon by ladies instead of slaves!" + +"It is the way with us up here," replied the sister; "and all you can +possibly do is to submit with as much grace as you can muster for the +purpose. Where is Toby?" she continued, as though missing him for the +first time. + +"Taking good care of his liberty. I have not seen him since he concluded +to use his privileges as a free man." + +The days sped rapidly by. The cool winds came sweeping up from the broad +Hudson, while the frosts painted the trees with gaudy tints, blighting +the flowers and searing the green grass. + +"Are we not imposing upon good nature?" the son asked one morning, as, +leaning on the arm of his father, they walked out among the fallen +leaves that were carpeting the smoothly shorn lawn. "It seems to me we +must be burdensome. Why do we not go to our rooms at the hotel?" + +"Are you not more comfortable here? Mrs. Pierson is so kind, and we have +all become so fully domesticated at a home fireside that it would be a +sad change to take up our quarters at the public inn." + +"But Ellen wrote--" + +"Ah, yes--'that she had secured rooms at Maple Grove,' which, after all, +meant here under these maple trees. But if you desire it, my son--" + +"I am not the only one to be considered. It seems that the mother and +daughter have altogether too much work to do, with only one servant in +the kitchen, and she a white girl." + +The father laughed. "You have no idea how easily they perform their +labor. Even the servant sings as cheerfully as though she was mistress +of all, and indeed it would be hard to tell who fills that important +position in this home. But I will do just as you and Ellen shall +decide." + +They had reached the door, and were entering as the last sentence was +being finished. + +"Decide what?" interrogated Ellen. + +"About those rooms at the hotel"; laughed the father. + +"They will remain _in statu quo_ as long as they are paid for, will they +not? As for me, I am in no hurry to leave my present quarters. My +diploma is not yet secured in bread and pie making, and it would be +unmanly in you to be the means of crushing my ambition." + +"I think it my duty to nip in the bud any attempt at conspiracy. So +while you all remain here in this pleasant sitting room, I will go into +the parlor with my easy chair. Will you, my sister, invite Miss Anna to +join me there? Unless your influence has diluted her frankness, she will +reveal the whole matter. At any rate, this must be settled." + +"A capital suggestion! Anna shall be judge, jury and all, and we poor +subjects will cheerfully abide by her decision." And Ellen darted away +after the young lady in question. + +"For shame, to put me in such a dilemma!" exclaimed Anna, as she placed +the flakey crust she was preparing on the pie tin; but the crimson wave +that rolled over neck, cheek and brow did not escape the notice of her +companion. + +"O, you need not appear so much shocked at the thought of meeting him, +for he will not make love to you. Never fear! The little foot of Lillian +Belmont crushed all the romance out of his heart a long time ago. So, +away; I can finish that pie while Rhoda is making the pudding." + +Anna obeyed without a word, and we will let her enter alone that quiet, +pretty parlor where the wounded soldier was waiting. + +"Two hours as I live!" exclaimed Ellen, as the clock on the mantel +struck twelve. + +"It takes time to settle long accounts," replied the mother, quaintly. + +"He is determined to go, I reckon"; interposed the father, cheerily; but +Mrs. Pierson was silent. + +"Dinner is all ready, and I am just as hungry! Can't I go and see how +the matter stands?" This question was addressed to the widow, who was +sitting by the window, looking out on the seared and fading grass. + +There was a sad expression about the mouth, and a tremor in the voice +not usually there, as she answered: "Yes, dear; Rhoda does not like to +wait without a cause." + +Amid laughing and jesting, the easy chair was drawn out, still +containing its occupant, while Anna disappeared through an opposite +door, and was not seen until the family had gathered around the +well-filled table. + +"Well, how is it, my boy?" queried Mr. St. Clair. "How about Maple Grove +Inn? Are we to leave such delicacies as these for others untried?" + +"Anna is chairman of that committee, and is to hand over the report," +replied George. + +There was an expression on the face of the young lady thus appealed to +that caused Ellen St. Clair to look quickly towards her brother, who met +her wondering gaze with a comical smile very significant in itself, and +made the sister exclaim: "I should think both of you are 'chairmen,' if +one was to judge from the amount of knowledge that seems lurking in your +eyes. Out with it! What is the report?" + +"Patience is one of the cardinal virtues, my dear," suggested the +father, gravely. "Such an extended consultation requires much thought in +the summing up." + +"I conclude by Miss Anna's silence that the pleasing office of +'reporter' is conferred upon her unworthy servant; therefore listen to +the 'summing up';" and laying down his fork, with folded arms, George +St. Clair leaned back in his easy chair. "The question propounded, with +its prelude, was something after this sort: I said, My dear girl, when I +was well and strong I gave into your love and tender watchful care my +two honored parents and one pretty little sister, and most faithfully +have you regarded my trust; and now a fourth comes creeping and hobbling +into your paradise of peace and comfort, and although he has nothing to +recommend him, would pray to be admitted, not to your care, but to your +heart and enduring love. Will you as cheerfully grant my petition in +this, as in the former instance? And her reply, after brushing away a +few of the cobwebs of the past, was 'I will, with the permission of my +mother, who has a right to be consulted upon all such articles of +transfer.'" + +"I do declare!" burst from the lips of the sister. "The great subject of +remaining as honorary members of this most hospitable family, I believe, +was not broached by the committee." + +"As to myself," interposed the father, "I am very naturally inclined, +after placing in the hands of our hostess a sufficient sum for every +expense, including the perplexities such an increase of family would +cause, to remain in our present quarters until further developments." + +"Very likely!" interposed the mother with with a beaming face. + +Anna had left her seat at the head of the table at the very commencement +of this little speech, and the hostess sat with folded hands pale and +trembling as one in a troubled dream. Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair looked at +each other with surprise written all over their good-natured faces, but +the sister was lost in amazement. She had not once thought such a union +possible, and was not ready to give it sanction. + +"Mrs. Pierson, tell me frankly, do you wish that the bullet which so +ignobly tore my back had finished its work, so that the present summing +up would have been avoided? It would not, however, have saved your +daughter's heart, for she loved me before all that." + +The widow looked calmly into the face of the speaker as she answered +tremulously: "My daughter's happiness is my highest ambition. Not so +much as to the comforts of this life as to the assurances of the life to +come. Wealth or honorable position socially have not been included in my +aspirations for her. Congenial companionship and a true heart are the +highest blessings of life I could wish." Tears came into her eyes and +she arose from the table to hide them. + +"I am not going to let my dinner spoil at any rate!" exclaimed Mr. St. +Clair, with a composing laugh: "This roast lamb is capital." + +"And you would like some coffee"; suggested Anna, appearing at her post, +while Mrs. Pierson returned to her seat at the table. + +"Now that is sensible. Let us appoint an hour for congratulations and +proceed with present duties unmolested. George, my boy, replenish the +stomach if you would restore the back. For my part I think this a most +capital arrangement. With the old homestead, 'West Lawn' and 'Rosedale,' +which I shall be obliged to take into my possession, will yield us all +what bread and butter we shall require--not as good as this perhaps, but +it will do. By the way, I would like to know where Mrs. Belmont is." + +"Gone back to Rosedale!" suggested Mrs. St. Clair with emphasis. + +"Not a bit of it! If she could indulge in such an unwomanly sneak as to +fly from the presence of her daughter, she would never risk her neck +down among the bullets that are whizzing so near her home. No--no!" + +He rattled on as a merry accompaniment to the monotonous sounds of knife +and fork; but the responses were few and subdued. A hush had fallen upon +more than one heart in that little circle around the well-filled board, +yet to none was it dark or gloomy. There were sunbeams streaming through +bright golden tints lighting them up, but Ellen St. Clair did not raise +her eyes. She loved Anna, but had not thought of her as the bride of her +peerless brother. "And what would Bertha say?" It was so unexpected! + +So intent were they with their own thoughts that no notice had been +given to the dark cloud that had suddenly risen up from the south, +spreading itself over the sky, until a fearful gust of wind dashed +against the windows and made all start to their feet in alarm. + +"A regular southern hurricane," remarked Mrs. St. Clair. "See how those +trees bend and what a shower of bright leaves are in the air." + +The rain dashed against the panes, while the gale blew the clouds at a +rapid speed northward, stripping the branches of their gaudy dress and +strewing the faded grass with a carpet of gay colors. George St. Clair +watched it with mingled emotions. It was noonday, yet the darkness was +oppressive. He saw the dense cloud sweep over the sun, leaving in its +trail the hazy blue of an autumn sky. He listened to the fitful wail of +the angry blast and thought of the tornado that was at that moment +devastating the beautiful fields and groves of his sunny land, and the +spirit of rebellion arose in his heart. "What was the need of this +noonday storm? Why must war rifle the land of its beauty and crimson the +earth with the shed blood of thousands?" + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +A PROUD SPIRIT BROKEN. + + +Only a week and Colonel Hamilton was ordered back to Washington. The +right wing of the army was to swing round over West Virginia, to +intercept, if possible, the progressive movements of General Lee's +forces that were threatening a northern aggression; and every officer +able for action was ordered to report at headquarters. Lillian would not +remain behind. How could she fold her hands and wait? She must work; her +mind must be employed or the dizzy whirl would overpower her. Besides, +she had a mission, of which all others, unless it was her Aunt Cheevers, +were ignorant. The plan of operation had been secretly marked out by +herself, and she must go. + +"I can never let that Mason and Dixon line divide us again," was her +closing remark after listening to a long list of reasons why she should +remain in her comfortable surroundings amid friends and luxuries. + +The fond husband could not refuse, and together they entered the +National Capital, and were greeted cordially by sympathizers and army +officials. As, however, we are not writing the history of the rebellion, +but only narrating incidents gathered during its progress, we will not +trace the march of Colonel Hamilton's corps, but will meet him again +when the warm days return to deck the blood-stained land with beauty and +breathe freshness once more into the trampled vegetation. + +There had been skirmishes along the line of march, fightings, repulses +and victories; and Lillian had not been permitted to fold her hands. +There were the sick to be attended to, and wounded to be dressed; while +the 'cup of cold water' and the 'oil and wine' were needed everywhere: +Whether friend or foe; Confederate or Unionist, it made no difference, +in each she discovered a brother, and withheld no comfort or +ministration in her power. + +"You seem young to be in the army," she said one day to a beardless +youth who had been severely wounded by a sharpshooter and was placed +under her care. + +"Eighteen, ma'am," was the laconic reply. + +"Will you tell me your name?" she asked, while tenderly bathing the pale +face and combing the rich brown hair from a full rounded forehead. + +"Rufus Gaylord." + +She started. + +"Gaylord!" + +How her thoughts flew! What a sweep over they took in that intervening +moment of silence! + +"Is your father's name Hudson Gaylord?" + +"No; he is my uncle. Do you know him? I thought you were a Northerner!" + +"I know him only by reputation. Where is he?" + +"Down in Richmond, _talking_ about arming the niggers, I reckon"; was +his answer, while a sneer curled his lip. "Beechwood is only a few miles +from here and I want to be taken back to it as soon as I can ride so +far, as Mother does not know where I am." + +Here was an opening to the cloud; should she enter it? How she trembled +at the thought. + +"Is your aunt at Beechwood?" she found breath to inquire at last. + +"No, she is in Boston, and Uncle Hud says will stay there until the army +leaves Virginia. I don't reckon she cares how long she stays though, for +she has her girl back again, every one thought was drowned, and----" + +"Her adopted daughter! did you say?" + +"Well, y-e-s! But what do you know about her? I'll be hanged if I +shouldn't think you were her sister; I never saw eyes more alike. She is +splendid, and I am glad she has come to life again"; and in spite of a +deep wound in the shoulder, and the presence of a bullet somewhere in +the chest, his cheek flushed with boyish admiration as he talked of his +foster cousin, and Lillian did not fail to discover the cause of the +deepening blush. + +"Are you sure of what you have been saying?" + +"Sure that Aunt Nell is in Boston, and that she has Lily with her; but +not quite sure as to you being her sister." In spite of her emotion, +Mrs. Hamilton smiled at the ingenuity of this remark. Her resolution was +taken. She would return to Washington, and, as soon as possible, go to +Boston, and find this girl who bore such a striking resemblance to +herself. She arose to answer a call and found that her trembling limbs +refused to do her bidding. As she reseated herself the boy said kindly. + +"I reckon you are not feeling very well. I would rest a bit, for it must +be dreadful taking care of such a lot!" + +True to her purpose, within a week she had communicated with Colonel +Hamilton and obtained a leave of absence, and was on her way to +Philadelphia. A little breathing spell was necessary; she would stop and +tell auntie all about it! + +It was night when she reached the city, and, taking a carriage, she was +soon in Race street. Stopping at the corner, she had a fancy to go alone +to look in upon the peaceful home-scene, if perchance the curtain was +left up at the side window. Was auntie thinking of her? She would give +her a pleasant surprise. + +How little we know what is to fill the next moment that sweeps through +our eventful lives! The curtain was left up, as she had imagined, and +sitting by the table in the center of the room were two ladies, instead +of the one she had expected to find alone. The gas shone directly upon +the face of Mrs. Cheevers, but the head of the other was turned away. +Still there was no mistaking that imperious posture and stateliness of +form, or the braids of jetty hair. It was her mother! They were talking, +but she could not distinguish a word. What caused that guilty mother to +move so uneasily in her chair, and turn towards the spot where her +daughter stood trembling in the shadows? Had conscience touched a note +of warning? + +"I must enter," thought Lillian, and passing around to the front door, +rang the bell. Mrs. Cheevers answered it in person. "Do not speak, +Auntie; it is I," she said, hurriedly, as the door opened. "My mother +is in there; I saw her through the window. How shall I meet her?" + +"Promptly and boldly, my child. Come right in." + +She led the way, while her visitor followed trembling in every limb. +"What has brought you back at this time?" she went on cheerfully to ask. +"You said nothing about it in your last letter." Mrs. Belmont arose as +they approached, and stood pale and haggard before her injured child. + +"My mother!" Lillian exclaimed, with outstretched arms. "How I have +wanted to meet you! Why did you flee from me?" + +"You wanted to see me? Lillian, is that true?" + +"It is true, Mother. Why do you look so sternly? Has your daughter +committed the unpardonable sin because she felt disposed to forsake all +others, if need be, and cleave to her husband?" + +"Well, do you understand it? See where I now am! Look at the shame, the +disgrace, the poverty, you have brought upon me! I am a wanderer without +home or country, a pauper in a strange land, and you have done it. Once +I would have died for you; but what have you sacrificed for me?" She +turned slowly and reseated herself by the table. + +"This is my mother! Cold, stern and unloving!" And sinking down upon the +sofa her pent-up feelings found vent in tears. + +"It is my opinion, Charlotte," said Mrs. Cheevers, calmly, "that the day +will come when you will repent the injustice of this hour. If all you +have said is true in regard to yourself, how can you afford to throw +away so wantonly a daughter's proffered affection? If she can overlook +the wrongs of her mother, that mother ought to clasp her tightly in the +arms of love." + +"What do you mean, Mrs. Cheevers? What have I done to her that should +call forth such a remark from a third party?" + +"O, you need not take the trouble to tell me to mind my own business; +for whatever affects my brother's wife or his child is my affair; and I +repeat, it is your duty to lay aside that stately indignation, and if +Lillian will extend the hand of filial love, it is yours to clasp it." + +Mr. Cheevers coming home from the store, turned the current of +conversation into another channel. + +"Well, well!" he exclaimed, as he recognized the bowed figure on the +sofa. "Mrs. Hamilton, as I live! Just put down that little white hand +and kiss your old uncle. Just as glad to see you as though you were my +own daughter. How is Pearl? Now, look here, Lillian," he continued, as +he perceived the quivering lips attempting to answer; "none of that +toward me! Anybody who draws the moisture out of those beautiful eyes +while I am around must answer for the offence. There isn't another in +this great city to-night who has more reason to laugh and be glad than +have you, so be about it! Let that statue of dignity mump it out if she +is determined to do so, but the wife of Colonel Hamilton has no good +reason for tears." + +"Hiram!" interposed the wife, and she shook her head menacingly at him. + +"It is all very well; but what brought you to us so unexpectedly?" + +"A little business, Uncle," Lillian replied, finding voice to speak. "I +am going farther north, perhaps to Boston, and shall return here when my +object is accomplished." + +Mrs. Belmont turned hastily in her chair, and glared at the speaker with +dilated eye balls. + +"To Boston!" cried Mr. Cheevers. "Well, now if I were a woman I would +ask 'What under the sun are you going there for?'" + +"But as you are a gentleman you will wait patiently until I can tell you +all." + +"Just so. Did you come on the eight train?" + +"Yes." + +"Have you thought, wife, of food and rest?" + +"Stupid as ever! I will go immediately." + +Mrs. Belmont soon followed the lady out of the room. An hour afterward, +while sitting at the table, where a bountiful lunch had been prepared, +Mrs. Cheevers told Lillian that her mother had retired to her room +feeling very unwell. + +"Probably!" retorted her husband, with a merry twinkle in his eye. + +"That is not fair Hiram; she has been sick ever since she returned; and +I think she was fearful of an approaching illness or she would not have +come here. I went with her to-day to see Dr. Kehn about her head, and it +was his opinion that there was some trouble with the brain that might +prove serious, and you know that you have spoken of the wild look in her +eyes." + +"And have not wondered at it, wife; but you are looking well, Lillian, +field life agrees with you." + +"Tired though, and have come to Uncle Hiram's for a little rest." + +"That's right, my child. I only wish you could have brought Pearl +along." + +There was a long talk in an upper room that night not far from the +guest-chamber to which Mrs. Belmont had retired; for Lillian had desired +to tell her aunt all about it, and the good lady listened and wondered. + +"Boston is a great city, my child, and what if you could not find Mrs. +Gaylord?" + +"Her husband mentioned in his letter the name of a Mr. Bancroft, +merchant I believe, and through him I thought to learn all I desired. At +any rate I must try to find this girl! It is not because I am told that +her eyes are like mine, as there is nothing remarkable in this; many +have large dark optics," and she laughed, "but because something +continually goads me with the conviction that she is my child." + +"And have you not told Pearl?" + +"No, I could not bear to trouble him as my poor heart is agitated; and +it would be an additional grief to have him treat the matter with +incredulity. He too must wait for the unfolding." + +"But your mother? How will she ever account for the young lady's +disappearance? How can either of you forgive what she has done if it is +proven that Lily Gaylord is your child?" + +Lillian started to her feet, while Mrs. Cheevers looked wildly towards +the door. A low, wailing cry as if a heart was being crushed had reached +them from the outside, and their cheeks blanched as they listened. For a +moment the two listened to their heart's throbbings as the stillness of +death settled down about them; then a sound as of one falling broke the +silence. Lillian rushed to the door in time to clasp the inanimate form +of her mother before the poor head struck the floor upon which she was +kneeling. It was true! _She had been listening!_ The upper part of the +door did not close tightly, and it was to this opening that her ear had +been placed until the brain reeled and she sank upon her knees. + +"O my mother!" almost shrieked the distracted daughter as she attempted +to raise her. + +Mr. Cheevers heard the cry and came rushing up the stairs, and the +wretched woman was soon carried to her bed, where, in a short time, the +family physician was in attendance. For many weeks the proud, erring +Mrs. Belmont lay tossing upon her bed in wild delirium, and Lillian +stood by and listened to her ravings. + +"I did not do it! Look--there is no blood on my hands! It was _she_! It +was she! Let me look again; yes--the same purple spots; Lillian! +Lillian! Why won't you come to me? I did not do it! It was the sea--the +wicked, cruel sea! O my curse! It has fallen back upon my poor head! It +is burning up my brain! O God! But he won't hear! The fires--_the +fires!_" + +In vain did the untiring watcher breathe into her ears the words of +sympathy and forgiveness, but the whirling brain caught them not. The +tenderest of hands bathed the burning brow and administered to her every +necessity. It was a long, a fearful struggle between life and death; but +when the spring days were all past, and the warm summer sun shone down +upon the fresh young grass in the public squares, Mrs. Belmont lay with +folded hands and worn-out frame in quiet helplessness upon the bed, +where for so many weeks she had tossed in frantic delirium. The poor +clogged brain had been relieved of its heavy load and the burdened +conscience quieted, and now the reaction had come and Lillian again +prayed and waited! + +"If she would but speak to me or show some signs of recognition," +Lillian had said one day to her aunt, as they stood looking at the pale, +wan face upon the pillow. "It is so hard to see her lying there day +after day so still and passive, taking all that is given her without a +word or gesture! Terrible fears at times take possession of me--what if +she never recovers her reason! The doctor has hinted such a possibility +if I am not mistaken, and I dare not ask him if my suspicions are +correct." The quivering lids were slowly raised for one moment from over +the large eyes, where a most pitiful pleading look was hidden, and the +longing glance fastened itself on the troubled face beside her. + +"Mother, dear Mother, do you know me? Speak just one word to your poor +Lillian"; and she kissed tenderly the firmly set lips. Again the lids +slowly fell and the dark orbs were shut in with their unfathomed +mysteries. + +"This is dreadful!" and with tears streaming down her face the aunt +turned and walked from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +UNFOLDINGS AND REVELATIONS. + + +Weeks passed away and Mrs. Belmont was able to sit for hours in her easy +chair, but the once active, energetic and massive intellect was weak and +inefficient as that of a child. The large eyes would follow the flitting +forms about her with a weird wistful look, yet she seldom spoke, and +when she did, the words revealed the sad truth that the powers that had +long sat enthroned in the realm of reason ruled no more. + +"I must go," Lillian said to her aunt one day, as they drew the invalid +chair close to the window where a cool breeze from the Schuylkill could +fan her pale face, and, as the words fell on the ears of Mrs. Belmont a +quick flush overspread it. The daughter noticed the change with joy and +a strange wondering. "Mrs. Jackson can do all that is needed to be done +now," she continued, without removing her gaze from the placid features. +"I will not be absent more than a week at most, and Pearl, you know, +writes that if he can obtain leave for a few days will be here by my +return." + +"Pearl?" + +"Yes, Mother; would you like to see him?" + +There was a struggling among the buried memories which were not dead but +sleeping, for the eyes gleamed with a new light, and the face resumed +its look of intelligence. It was only for a moment, however, and then +the former inertness returned, as she repeated, "Pearl!" + +"He loves you, Mother; shall I read what he wrote last?" There was no +response, and taking the letter from her pocket, she read slowly and +distinctly. "She is our mother, Lillian, and, no matter what she has +done, it is the duty of her children to forgive, and never refer to the +past. I am anxious to meet her for her daughter's sake. My heart opens +wide to take in her love and bury the whole hateful past. Whisper my +name to her gently, familiarize her brain with associations concerning +me." + +"He is coming to see you, Mother, to love you; are you glad?" + +"Forgive? Did he say forgive?" + +"He certainly did, and he is true to his word. Shall I tell him to +come?" The large eyes fixed intently on the beaming face before her, as +if endeavoring to pierce the shadows. + +After a moment's silence the mother slowly answered "Tell him come," and +settled back in her chair wearied and exhausted. + +Lillian was exuberant. "She is better," was her conclusion as she +adjusted the pillows and brushed back the thin hair from the white +temples. The heavy braids were gone, and the queenly bearing lost in +helpless weakness. + +It was finally concluded that Mrs. Hamilton should leave her mother in +the care of the efficient nurse who had been in attendance during her +long sickness, and, without speaking to her upon the subject, proceed on +her journey to Boston, to return as soon as possible. Therefore on the +following morning she started on her exciting mission. What a threefold +cord was drawing her! The mother, to whose helplessness her filial love +was clinging; the idolized husband for whom her heart was pining; and +now the living tendrils of a buried affection had sprung up, and were +twining themselves with an unseen power around the vibrating cord that +bound her life to earthly loves and earthly hopes. The mother-love had +awakened with its pleadings and would not be hushed. A little more than +a year ago, and the brittle thread that held her was feeble, and the +fibres frail; now other strands had been added, and as the car rolled +over the space that separated her from the consummation of her +long-cherished hopes she thanked God for the tender hand that had led +her. The great joy, however, that would sweep over her soul, as she +recalled the reasons of her present mission, was not without its gloomy +apprehensions. What if, after all, Mrs. Gaylord's adopted daughter was +not her Lily? How was she to be sure? and then the mother's ravings, her +wild confessions; her cries of innocence; certainly these must have come +from the hidden consciousness of an appalling truth! She sat by the open +window and watched the receding fields, the trees and villages, as the +train sped through them, with a sensation of alarm, for she realized +that every puff of the tireless engine brought her nearer and nearer to +the acme of her hopes or to disappointment. + +How her limbs trembled when, on reaching Boston, she entered a carriage +and gave orders to be driven to the Parker House! In Boston at last! In +this boiling cauldron of living souls should she find her child? What a +thought! What a hope! She must rest. Sleep alone could give her strength +of body for the trying ordeal. She partook of a hasty lunch and retired +to her room. What if Mrs. Gaylord had left the city. It had been so long +since the boy had told her she was here. Here was a new agony! She had +not thought of that; and ringing the bell asked for a directory. + +Bowing, the servant turned to bring it. + +"Stay, perhaps you can tell me how far it is to Mr. Bancroft's store." + +"Peter Bancroft, ma'am?" + +"I do not know." + +"He is just one block away, ma'am: Shall we send your card?" + +"Yes." She had not known before what were her wishes, and she wrote her +address opposite her name and requested an interview. In a half hour the +servant returned. + +"Mr. Bancroft is in the parlor, ma'am, and will meet you there. Will you +be kind enough to come immediately as his business is pressing?" + +Lillian arose quickly and followed the servant. + +"I beg your pardon for troubling you, but I am anxious to find a Mrs. +Hudson Gaylord. Are you the Mr. Bancroft with whom she is acquainted?" + +"O, yes, if you are her friend I rejoice to meet you"; and he extended +his hand. + +"I am not acquainted with her, but would like to learn if she has a +young lady whom she claims as an adopted daughter?" + +"Lily? Certainly! But they are not in the city." She started and he +hurried to say: "She is only an hour's ride away. You can get to her +before ten in the morning. There is a little hotel out in Kirkham where +she has a fancy to spend her summers rather than at a fashionable +watering place, and I believe it was in that vicinity where she found +her two protegees. If I can assist you in any way I shall be happy to do +so." He arose to depart. Lillian extended her hand; with many thanks and +exchanging good-nights they separated, the merchant to forget perhaps +the trifling incident in the press of business, the other to her lonely +room and rest. + +"Yes--I am glad," she thought as she closed and bolted the door; +"she--my child--is not here and her mother has an hour's ride to get to +her!" Peacefully she rested on the threshold of a new experience. Her +heart throbbed wildly with hope and fear as it peered through at the +coming possibilities, with new loves clamoring to be fed and old ones +struggling for precedence, and yet she slept! The morning came and +looked in through the narrow aperture of the closed shutters, but she +did not wake. The gong sent its warning echoes up through the broad +halls but she slept on. Eight o'clock and a loud knocking upon the door +awoke her, and bounding from her bed she answered the summons. + +"A gentleman in the parlor, ma'am, and wishes to see Mrs. Hamilton." + +"In just one moment!" and she hurriedly made herself ready to meet her +visitor. + +"The train would leave for Kirkham in a half hour, and Mr. Bancroft +would be happy to see her safely upon it." This was the word he sent +her. + +"Mrs. Hamilton is grateful and will be ready after a hasty cup of +coffee." + +So soon! The time had come but how strong she was! Not a tremor shook +her frame; not an emotion quickened her pulse! Mr. Bancroft assisting +her to a seat in the carriage, entered and took one beside her. + +"We shall not be late? I slept so soundly. Really I forgot to wake this +morning, and must thank you for reminding me of it." + +Mrs. Hamilton laughed and Mr. Bancroft looked into the beaming eyes and +thought "how like Lily Gaylord's they are!" + +"You spoke last evening of two protegees?" + +"Yes, a brother of the young lady--and a cripple." + +"A brother, did you say?" and the heart of his listener gave a great +bound of pain. The carriage suddenly wheeled up at the station, and "all +aboard for the West" was shouted. + +"This way Mrs. Hamilton," and her escort handed her into the car, and +wishing her success waved his adieus as the train moved on. + +"Her brother! Then she is not my child! Have I been led thus far only to +find the fruit that allured me with its golden brightness nothing but +ashes? Can it be?" With fearful apprehensions the hour flew by; the +junction was reached at last. + +It was a short ride to the hotel, and as she entered the spruce-looking +village inn sensation of suffocation caused her to throw back her veil +that she might breathe more freely. + +"Is Mrs. Gaylord in?" she asked of a sweet-faced little woman who +appeared. + +"They have gone for their morning ride, but will be back in a half hour +at most." + +"I will take a room and wait their coming," was Lillian's response, and +the hostess was ready to conduct her thither. It was a pleasant chamber +overlooking the maple grove where the "lady from the south" had found so +many cool breaths, and which now presented its most winning aspect to +her who was gazing with anxious agitation into its shades. They had +gone! In half an hour! Could she wait? And yet how she dreaded its +passing! But the wings of time never cease their rapid motion, and +before she had bathed her face or removed her bonnet a rap upon the door +announced that her hour had come. Mrs. Gaylord was ready to receive her +visitor. + +"Will you ask her to grant me the favor to come to my room?" + +This request was made with trembling voice, and the hostess wonderingly +went with her message. Then a step was heard along the hall and the door +again opened, and the same gentle voice to which she had twice listened +announced "Mrs. Gaylord." + +Lillian arose and the two ladies stood face to face with a world of +hidden mysteries between them. Mrs. Gaylord extended her hand, and +Lillian smiled as the door closed behind the retreating figure of the +curious landlady. + +"You are surprised at this intrusion from a stranger, but you will +neither wonder or blame when you have listened to my story, and as it is +a long one let us sit by the window." + +Mrs. Gaylord affably obeyed. + +"Have you a young lady with you; an adopted daughter, I believe?" + +"Yes." The lady moved uneasily in her chair. + +"Will you tell me what you know about her history?" + +"She can do this better than I. Shall I call her?" + +"No, no! I want to talk with you; but first answer this one question: +Has she a brother?" + +"A foster-brother as she calls the noble cripple, who is now with her in +our private parlor." + +A gleam of joy darted into her beautiful eyes at this clearing away of +the shadows, and she proceeded. + +"Another question; by what name was she called before you bestowed your +own upon her?" + +Her listener laughed. "In her years of babyhood she gloried in the +appellation of 'Phebe Blunt,' and in six years or thereabouts this was +changed to 'Phebe Evans'; at fourteen it was again changed to 'Lily +Gaylord,' the one to which she will now answer." + +"Why Lily?" + +"Because of a little fanciful dream of her early childhood. She was born +near the sea, and lived in a fisherman's cabin, but somehow learned that +somebody had called her 'Lily Pearl,' and from this she drew the +conclusion that a beautiful lady had picked her up off the waves where +the pearls had thrown her." + +The speaker looked up to behold the face of her listener as ashy pale as +though the hand of death had chilled it with its icy touch, while the +pallid lips were vainly endeavoring to speak; and, darting from her +chair, Mrs. Gaylord exclaimed with alarm. "What is the matter with you? +Are you dying?" + +"No, no!" she answered feebly, as the reaction came and the blood rushed +back to face and brow. "Not dying, but entering a double life. Mrs. +Gaylord, your adopted daughter is my child! My Lily Pearl! Oh, how can I +explain! How prove to you or her my assertion! How my heart has hungered +and starved for the love my baby awoke in it! Seventeen years have I +endured this thirsting which cruel hands imposed upon me. O, for +strength to bear the change!" And she raised her clasped hands +supplicatingly, while her companion looked on wonderingly. + +"Let me explain," she added, and went on to tell as well as she could, +without reflecting blame on the weak, helpless one far away, the story +of her wrongs and years of suspicion. + +"Is Mrs. Belmont, of Rosedale, your mother?" was the abrupt question +that startled the narrator, and caused her folded hands to tremble under +the soft pressure those of her interrogator placed on them. + +"Yes; she is my mother, and is now in Philadelphia, a wreck of what she +was when with you in Savannah." + +"The mystery is explained, the problem solved! Lily, my Lily, is your +child! I might have known such a blessing could not be retained by me. I +am selfish, and, although I pity you, would rejoice at your continued +thirst if the sweetest luxury my heart has ever known could have been +spared to me. You have a husband to adore, a mother to forgive, a God +your soul worships, while I am starving, with none of these things to +satisfy my undying cravings. Is there no pity in your woman's heart for +such as I?" + +"Certainly. You have a husband, wealth and position. More than this, God +waits for you. How then can you be so desolate?" + +"Ask your daughter by and by why she never ceased to pine for the +'beautiful lady' that picked her up from off the sea where the pearls +had thrown her? Did the bright picture that cast its glittering rays +only on the surface of her unsatisfied heart feed or nourish the +cravings of her growing love? Can such cold star-beams warm the frozen +fountain? Do the fleshly ties of life unite the aspiring soul with its +higher destinies? Love is the strong cord that draws us heavenward. Can +woman with her immortality be happy when its drawings are all earthward? +But I am troubling you with my individual perplexities when I ought to +be lifting yours. I cannot, however, tell you how much anguish and +desolation your story has thrown into my prospective future. I was +lonely and sad, and she came to fill the void. I am childless, and her +presence has satisfied my heart's longings. But it is over now. Come +with me while with my own hand I tear the brightness out of my life. +Come!" + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE GOLDEN CLASP RELINKED. + + +Lillian Hamilton followed her guide with unsteady step along the hall +toward the little front parlor where her heart was to take up the broken +link which had been for so many years severed in the chain of her +eventful life; and her thoughts stood still with a mingled sensation of +awe and fear, as her shrinking feet bore her forward to the relinking. + +The door opened, and opposite on a sofa sat two young people, evidently +in close conversation. Lillian stepped back. + +"'Make omens, go make omens,' Crazy Dimis once said, you remember." It +was Willie who was speaking, but Mrs. Gaylord interrupted him. + +"Omens will make themselves sometimes without our help, my boy. Lily, +dear Lily, the hour has come for you to gather them." Mrs. Hamilton +stepped forward into the room. "Here is a lady, my child, who wants to +see you," and she motioned Willie to come to her as she darted back into +the hall. Without a moment's hesitation, the boy dropped from his seat +and sped across the floor after his usual manner, for the old timidity +had left him during his years in Boston; but the tearful eyes of the +visitor were upon him. + +When the door closed Lily said, "Did I understand that you wanted to see +me?" She had risen from the sofa, and now stood before the new-comer, +her large, dreamy eyes full of wonder and amazement. + +"Lily Pearl!" fell from the quivering lips in a low minor strain, as the +mother bird cries for its lost. "Lily Pearl! My Lily! My baby!" and the +pleading arms were outstretched. With a shriek of excitement and joy the +young girl sprang forward, and the head was once more pillowed on on the +breast where so many years ago in infancy it had rested for a few short +moments. + +"My mother! It is, it must be, my mother!" Tears such as seldom moisten +woman's eyes fell in a baptismal shower on the beautiful face that lay +so lovingly over the wildly throbbing heart, where the sweet flowers of +God's purest affections had blossomed, faded, died. The minutes flew +past on airy wings, and still the mother and daughter remained clasped +in each other's arms, and heart pulsated against heart, and life mingled +itself with life, until parent and child were bound together, never to +be rudely torn asunder until the icy hand of death should break the +welded link. Raising the head tenderly, she looked into the lovely face +long and lovingly. "Pearl's noble brow and expressive mouth," she said +at last. "But they were right; you have your mother's eyes, my darling. +May they never weep such hopeless tears as have mine." + +"Who is 'Pearl,' Mother? And who am I?" The dreamy eyes had put away +their beams of ecstacy, and the old wondering light had come back as she +asked these questions, "Who am I? And who is Pearl?" + +[Illustration: MEETING OF LILY PEARL AND HER MOTHER.] + +"You shall know all, _everything_, my child; but my heart is too full of +its present joy to relish the thought of bringing up the hateful past +for one moment. But you must know. 'Pearl' is my husband and your +father, and a truer or nobler man never lived. We were married before I +was as old as you, my darling, while a school girl in Philadelphia, but +my mother, who was proud and aspiring, looked with disfavor upon our +union, for he was the son of a poor widow. And coming on from her +southern home she compelled me by her resistless power to go with her, +leaving the idol of my young heart behind--forever as she intended, but +it has proved otherwise. In 'Cliff House,' by the sea, you were born; +and as I clasped you to my heart, overflowing with maternal love, I +said, 'She shall be called Lily-Pearl (_our_ names combined), and then +they took you from me, and days after, when reason and consciousness +returned, I was told that my beautiful Lily had been 'transplanted to a +purer clime,' and my soul was desolate. We traveled in Europe, and every +pleasure that could be gleaned from social life and the pleasures of +sight-seeing were thrown into my years, yet my heart was unsatisfied. I +loved Pearl Hamilton; the little life that had sprung from our union had +grievously torn my own in the severing, and nothing could heal the +wound. Added to this was the continuous suspicion that a bitter wrong +had been done me. The more I thought it over and reviewed the attending +circumstances, the more did this suspicion fasten itself upon my soul. I +accused my mother of treachery, attempted to draw from her some +explanations regarding certain things, but her superior power always +succeeded in silencing my wailing cry, and time rolled on. It was by +accident that I heard of a Mrs. Gaylord's adopted daughter. George St. +Clair, whom my mother had insisted upon my accepting as her son-in-law, +joined the army about the time that I left my home under a mother's +curse. With an aunt in New Orleans I found refuge. Here I conceived the +idea of drowning my long-endured sorrows in the engrossing cares of the +hospitals. Almost a year ago, while nursing my husband, who had been +badly wounded, George St. Clair was brought in, who also had been laid +aside from duty by a fearful wound. From his sister, who had come to +nurse him, I heard the sad story of your disappearance and probable +loss." + +Lily had slipped from her mother's knee, and, sitting at her feet, was +gazing intently into the dear face, as the dear voice ceased. "Tell me, +O, tell me!" she exclaimed, pushing back her dark hair with the old +childhood's gesture: "Is Mrs. Belmont your mother, and my--" + +"Yes, darling; but notwithstanding all, you shall see and will forgive +her! Think, my dear, how strangely we have been led together! Had it not +been for that terrible experience I might never have heard of Mrs. +Gaylord's adopted daughter, or the resemblance between us. Then how +strange was it that, in my first burst of bliss, with feeble hands, not +knowing what I did, I should have fastened to your fluttering, +struggling life the cord that was to draw us together after so many +years of separation! I had called you 'Lily-Pearl,' and the strange +appellation could not be lost! Sixteen years afterward, the end of this +unbroken cord was again put into my hands, and with a continuous +yearning it has brought us together. Old Vina was right! 'De Lord will +take care ob His childerns, neber fear!' I know you have many questions +to ask and there is much to be told you, but, darling, Mrs. Gaylord and +your friend will desire to come back to their room and we must not +exclude them. First tell me, how is it that he is called your brother? +How did you come here when you were left somewhere on the Maryland +shore?" + +"Because of my love for the sea and my desire to get out upon the waves +'where the pearls had thrown me, and my beautiful mother had picked me +up.' When lying in my trundle bed one night I heard my foster parents +talking about 'the five hundred dollars' that had been paid them, and +laughed as one said, 'I guess her mother would not think her much of a +'Lily-Pearl' could she see her now.' Lily-Pearl! I asked Maria about it, +and she told me that my beautiful mother had cast me off and hers had +taken me in, and I ought to love her. But the pretty story grew in my +little heart until it became a part of it, and I lived and loved the sea +for its sake. I was a pearl, and had grown down where the pearls grew +and the waves talked to me about it, and one day as I was wandering on +the beach I sprang into a boat and floated out on the billows where I +had so longed to go. I was happy, and sang and played with the bright +sunbeams on the waters until the night came and a storm arose; and O how +the billows roared and the winds howled! My beautiful dream of happiness +was gone, and I sank down into the wet, dirty boat, for the rain to +pelt and the salt waves to dash over me. I do not know when it was, but +Willie's father found me. On board his ship we came to Boston. Upon its +arrival he took me to his home, only a little way from here, where I was +to be a companion to his crippled boy, who has been the dearest brother +to me ever since. He is four years older than I. His mother before she +died gave him to me and told me never to leave him, but his sister Fanny +did not like my being there for her to support, and so I went away. Mr. +Ernest, the pastor of the church yonder, told Mrs. Gaylord about me, and +I came here to read to her; here you have found me. But, Mother, I can +never forget or forsake him. It was he who taught me to seek knowledge +and read good books and love God; all I am he put it into my heart to +be." + +"My dear child, your mother would have you cherish tenderly these early +tokens of love. But call your friends, darling, and let us talk together +of what must be. It is hard after all I have experienced to compel my +hand to sever a single earthly tie; but what can be done to lighten the +blow shall not be withheld." + +It took days to clear away the mysteries and shadows and dig thorns out +of the path where so many feet were to walk unitedly, although not +together at all times under the sunshine and the clouds; but at last the +work was done and Mrs. Hamilton was to return to Philadelphia alone, as +she had come. Here she was to meet her husband and break to him the +joyful tidings that the dead was alive and the lost found. Here also she +was to make ready for her daughter's reception as soon as the cold winds +of autumn should sweep down from the north, and Mrs. Gaylord desired to +return to her southern home. + +"I shall have no wish to remain here alone," was her plaintive +conclusion when the results were being finally talked over. "No more +music lessons or German from poor Mrs. Rouche, Lily, and another heart +will grieve at your going." + +"Better so than to have any one sorrow at my coming," and Lily's happy +face beamed with joy. "You will remain a few days longer?" she pleaded, +breaking a short silence, and the wistful eyes seconded the petition. + +"Until after the sabbath," was Mrs. Hamilton's quiet response. "Somehow +I have a fancy to go to that little church yonder; it reminds me so much +of one I attended in the suburbs of a Scottish village. And then too, +darling, I have been thinking I must have your full length photograph to +show your father on my return, for it will be hard to make him believe +my story without this pretty face to corroborate it." And she patted the +full-rounded cheek fondly. "If Mrs. Gaylord will favor me with hers I +will be very glad to be its possessor." + +"Do you not want Willie's?" The mother smiled. + +"Are you so jealous for your friend? Certainly I do want his just as I +saw it yesterday when coming up to the door of the hotel--carriage, +Rover and all. It was a beautiful picture, and I have no desire that it +should fade from my memory. But we are to ride to his home after dinner, +I believe. Will the sister give me welcome? I must thank her for the +part she has taken in the preservation of my child!" + +Mrs. Hopkins met them at the gate, for she had become pleased with the +frequent visits of her stylish acquaintance at the hotel, +notwithstanding her indignation at the interference in regard to her +wishes as to "Phebe's" remaining "where she could make herself useful"; +but that was passed, and to-day she was smiling and genial. When the +carriage stopped Lily called out: "Where is Willie?" + +"Down by the pond, I suppose; he went out immediately after dinner." + +"Go with me, Mother, will you? It is lovely, and I want you to see the +spot where I have spent so many hours listening to the waves as they +came around the sand-bar." + +Mrs. Hamilton consented, and the ladies alighted while Lily was saying, +"Fanny, my mother has come to thank you for all your kindness and care +of her child for so many years. Mrs. Colonel Hamilton--my mother!" + +This introduction was given hurriedly and with a tremulous voice. The +lady extended her hand to the astonished Fanny, who took it in her own +without a word. Her eyes turned to the face of Mrs. Gaylord, who +answered the inquiring look. + +"Did Willie not tell you? It is true the drifting waif has found a home +and loving friends who have long mourned for her, and her days of +orphanage are over." + +There were tears in Fanny's eyes, and Lily, wishing to turn the current +of thought, said playfully, "It was by this gate that my little bare +feet entered alone to reconnoitre in advance of my guide, to hand over +the information that I did not like to scour knives or wash potatoes, +and I 'wouldn't do it either!'" + +"You were very good to take in my poor child and give her shelter so +long, while my heart was breaking to find her. I have a great debt of +gratitude to pay, and if I can cancel the obligations due for any +expense she may have been to you or yours, nothing would give me greater +pleasure than to do so." + +Mrs. Hopkins found her voice now, and with great distinctness informed +the lady that there was no debt to pay, either of gratitude or money. +"Willie told me that 'Phebe' had found a friend, and I was glad, but did +not know that a mother had come to take her away from us forever." Here +she broke down, and, turning, hid her face in her hands. + +"Not forever, my dear Mrs. Hopkins, for while we both shall live the +friends of these dark days shall not be forgotten or forsaken." + +Lily had placed an arm about the weeping woman, as she whispered "Fanny, +you do not know how much I love you. I have given you any amount of +trouble, have been selfish and indolent, oftentimes grieving you with my +bad temper and willful ways. Will you forgive me?" + +She did not speak, but an arm gently stole around the neck of the +suppliant, while the ladies looked on with moistened eyes. + +Then Lily said, "Under the white marble yonder lies Fanny's mother and +my friend. She loved us both, and if she were here now her soft, blue +eyes would brighten with my great joy." She had turned toward her mother +as she said this, and her own beautiful orbs glistened as she talked. + +Fanny bent her head, and for the first time in all the years kissed the +glowing face of the poor "little Phebe." "You are the one to forgive," +she said, bluntly. "I have been cold and harsh, but it was not because I +did not want you. The years have been lonely ones with you away, and I +could not be reconciled to your leaving us after once more being thrown +back into my home; and you are going to return no more." + +"No, Fanny; we will ever be sisters, and you must come to me. Besides, +we will have time to talk this over, for I am to remain through the +summer with Mrs. Gaylord, and will visit you many times. My dear mother, +let us go to the lake for Willie while Mrs. Gaylord rests herself in the +cool parlor." And the two walked together down through the garden to the +meadow brook, thence under the pines, where the carpet of fragrant +leaves lay soft and smooth, until reaching the summit of the gentle +slope, Lily espied the object of her search stretched out upon the green +grass under the old oak tree, where he had often watched her fragile +form in the little open boat as she gleefully pulled the long-stemmed +lily from the clear waters, where the 'pearls were holding it fast,' +until she was hidden from his view by the thick cloud of scalding tears +that had welled up from his desolate heart. Lily remembered it all now, +as she stood for a moment and looked at him. + +"You do not know how sorry I am for him," she said, turning her eyes +full upon her companion. "He will be very lonely without me." + +"My child, tell me truly, do you love Willie Evans?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +CHANGES AND REVOLUTIONS. + + +Pearl Hamilton, at nineteen, had been a clerk in a flourishing +mercantile house, nobly supporting a widowed mother on his limited +salary; but at thirty-six, by dint of industry and "good luck" as his +fellows called his success, he was the owner of an elegant home on Broad +street, which his conservative parent refused positively to occupy. +Besides this he had a good business and an income adequate to his every +desire. When the call was made for seventy-five thousand men to maintain +the dignity of a free people he hastened to enroll his name. "Why not?" +he inquired of his weeping mother, who protested against the separation; +"I leave only you to mourn me if I find a soldier's grave, and what can +this short existence do for me but to crown it with duties well done? +There are not many who would have fewer ties to break or a less number +of hearts to make wretched." He went, and in the first great battle was +taken from the ranks helpless as we have seen. + +Mrs. Hamilton returned to her friends in Philadelphia buoyant and happy. +Still it was sad for her to look upon the wreck of a once proud +intellect, and when the mother's eyes turned upon her with their +greetings she was glad that it had been in her heart to smooth over the +parent's transgressions. But how would Pearl feel? How could she +reconcile him to all that had been? Would he forgive when the whole +truth was revealed? These thoughts troubled her, and when at last he +arrived in the city on an unlimited leave, and she looked into his fine +manly face, her heart rebuked her for the distrust she had experienced. +Mrs. Cheevers had been told the whole story of the finding and waiting, +and the uncle had many times vented his indignation at "the foolish idea +of leaving her so near the water, where she might at any time be +compelled through inclination or force of arms to take another ride not +quite so successful in its ending," but Lillian had said: "I could not +bring her here dear uncle just at this time, for fear the struggling +intellect would again totter. Then Pearl--how _could_ I present her to +him? It is better as it is, for I want my husband's advice regarding the +future." + +"Woman's propensity! Delightful independence when the current is all the +right way! But I tell you, Lillian, I want to see that girl! The same +independent looking little queen that her mother used to be! And this +boy--he has a fine head, and without doubt is a smart young fellow"; and +he handed back the photographs at which he had been gazing. + +"Mrs. Gaylord has such a pensive expression on her face that one might +imagine her the possessor of some secret sorrow," remarked the wife, +thoughtfully. "Her eyes and compressed lips." + +"Not sad perhaps, Auntie, but disappointed! As nearly as I could +understand by the long conversations we had together she belongs to that +class of mature women who in early years dressed up their future in +spotless white, with very bright adornings, and because they found it +wearing a most common, practical garb, turned away from its proffers of +good to grieve and grow discontented. Mrs. Gaylord has a truly poetical +mind, whose creations are pure and ideal. She thought love was a holy +aspiration unmixed with earthly blemishes, but has awakened to the +realization of her mistake, therefore cannot be reconciled to the +practical side of life. Her last words at parting unsealed the book of +her history. 'Good-bye!' she said: 'If a heart that is feasting can pity +a hungry, starving one then think of me!'" + +"Poor soul; I am sorry for her!" remarked Mrs. Cheevers sympathetically. + +"Because of the bond of sympathy twisted out of a similar experience, I +suppose," laughed the husband as he arose to leave the room. "By the +way, I imagine that Colonel Hamilton will be here to-day, wife; shall I +send up something nice from the market?" + +"Not before to-morrow morning, Uncle; he writes he will take the night +train from Washington to save time!" + +"Horrors! He is as slow as molasses in winter"; and the front door gave +an expressive bang as it closed behind him. + +Colonel Hamilton arrived in due time, however, and was received with +open arms. "Tell her I have come, Lillian," he said, before proceeding +to the invalid's room. "I am in a hurry to meet her. The shock may be +too great if I go unannounced." + +Lillian obeyed and sprang with light step up the stairway and entered +her mother's room. She was sitting by the window while Mrs. Jackson was +putting the finishing touches to her toilet, for, weak as were her +faculties, pride had not become inactive. Her dress must be perfect and +her adornings ample as in other days. + +"How nicely you are looking this beautiful morning," said the daughter, +adjusting the rich lace at the throat. "All ready for company I +see--whom shall I invite?" + +The large eyes looked steadily into the beaming face for a moment, then +as they turned languidly away said, hesitatingly: "Charles." + +"You want to see your boy, don't you Mother? Well you shall if he can be +found! He was at Uncle Stanley's the last I heard of him. We will look +him up by and by." A smile darted quickly over the pale face. + +"Is there no one else you would like to see? What if Pearl should come; +shall I bring him to you?" Again the eyes darted a keen glance into the +inquiring face. "You will love him; he is so good and forgiving!" + +"Forgive? No! no! Pearl,--Can he forgive?" And the tears came into her +eyes. + +"He will forgive! It is all over now, and we are very happy. Let me +bring him to you, and from his own lips you shall hear it. May I?" + +"No! no! I was wicked, cruel! He cannot, no, he cannot!" And the stately +head dropped wearily upon her hand, while the elbow rested on the arm of +her easy chair. + +"How nice that dainty cap, with its bright ribbons, makes you look. He +will be proud of our mother, and it will make me so happy!" + +"You happy?" + +"Yes, Mother; your Lillian; may I go for him?" + +There was a long pause, for the poor brain was struggling with itself, +as one battles with sleep when the morning dawns. The answer came at +last. + +"Yes, go get--Pearl. I am ready!" + +Lillian smoothed the soft dark hair, petted her sunken cheek with her +white hand, and, as she kissed the broad forehead, remarked playfully, +"You are as pretty as a young girl waiting for her lover." + +She encountered her husband just outside the door. "Come in," she said, +"Mother is waiting to see you"; and, for the first time Pearl Hamilton +stood in the presence of Mrs. Belmont. + +With a quick step he approached her chair, and kneeling at her feet, +said gently, "Mother, bless your son, it was I who disappointed you, I +who tempted you to do wrong; will you forgive me? There have been dark +clouds, but they are gone now; put your hand on my head and call me +Pearl, this will make us happy." + +She did not move or raise her hand, but sat motionless as a marble +statue, with her gaze riveted on the upturned face. + +Lillian took the thin hand and laid it tenderly on the bowed head as she +whispered, "forgive him, Mother." + +"No, no!" she exclaimed, drawing it quickly back. "Forgive? I did not +know! See! there is no blood on my hand; look!" and she held it up +before the wondering suppliant, who turned his inquiring eyes towards +his trembling wife. + +"I did not do it!" she continued; "'twas the sea--the wicked sea! +Forgive? O God! But He will not hear me! I did not do it!" and the head +sank back upon its resting place. + +"I ought not to have come; how her mind wanders!" whispered Colonel +Hamilton, rising. + +"Mother, listen to me," said Lillian, taking the hand which lay so +motionless on the rich dress, "I know there is no blood there, for the +sea was not wicked, and the little boat was taken care of by the +precious One, who will hear when you call. There is much for you to know +that will make you happy; but first let us brush the cobwebs out of the +present. Old Vina would say, 'Bress de Lord for what ye now hab,' and +you have not made me happy yet by receiving and loving my husband. Open +your arms, Mother, to your son, for he is waiting." + +She raised her head, and with outstretched arms said, plaintively, "My +son, my son!" + +The strong arms of love and forgiveness were thrown about her, and, +weary as a child, she laid her head upon his shoulder and remained +motionless as a sleeping infant. He would not disturb her and the +moments went slowly by. + +"Put me on the bed," she said at last; "the sea!--O the sea!" + +The arms that were folding her so gently, lifted her in their strong +grasp, laying her gently on the bed, where, turning her face to the +wall, she lay motionless. + +"I think you may better leave her now," remarked Mrs. Jackson, coming in +at the heavy tread. "She needs rest and a little sleep will refresh +her." + +"I did not expect to find her as she is," remarked Colonel Hamilton, as +they seated themselves in the parlor below. "What did she mean about the +'sea,' and the 'blood on her hands,' Lillian? I noticed you understood +it all." + +"Yes, Pearl, I do understand! You are to know as well as I. But how can +I tell you! O, my husband, there is much yet to be forgiven! Is your +heart large enough for the demands to be made upon it?" + +"You startle me, Lillian! Do not make me fear for the sanity of my +darling wife! What can there be that will draw harder upon my powers of +forgiveness than what I have already experienced? Do not fill those +beautiful eyes with such a strange look. I am Pearl Hamilton, who has +become familiar with injustice and wrongs; and if there are more to +confront, know then that they cannot daunt or alarm me! I wait, Lillian, +what is it?" + +She looked at him a moment in surprise and admiration. "And this noblest +type of man is my husband!" she said, earnestly. "I will tell you about +my trip to Boston." + +"Not now; I can wait for that. What about the sea?" + +"We must go around a little to get there, so permit me to lead as I +choose." + +With an air of martyrdom he folded his arms over the golden bands of his +military coat and prepared to suffer. + +"You have never once inquired as to my business. A careful officer +should be more interested in the affairs of those under his command." + +"Well, imagine my interest wide awake, and hurry on to the sea." + +"I will not trifle with you, Pearl. I went in search of a young girl in +whose history I had become nervously interested. George and Ellen St. +Clair told me about her; and in Virginia a young soldier, who was +brought to the hospital, added some information that awakened an +uncontrollable desire in my heart to see her. I went to Boston for that +purpose." + +"Woman's curiosity!" he laughed. "Did you find her?" + +"I did." + +"What was she like?" + +"I have her picture. Shall I show it to you?" + +"Yes, if it will hasten you to the sea." + +Lillian arose, and taking from the table the three photographs, returned +to the sofa. "This is a Mrs. Gaylord, who has the girl in her care--a +southern lady of great wealth, I believe." + +"Gaylord? Let me see. There was a rebel scout of that name brought +before me just as I left, and I ordered him kept in the guard-house +until my return." + +"Hudson Gaylord?" + +"That was it, as sure as you live. Hudson Gaylord! A fine-looking +fellow, but caught in a pretty bad trap, I am thinking." + +"Pearl, he is this lady's husband. You must do all you can for him. +Promise me this." + +"Why? I see no reason for interfering with justice because you have in +your possession a photograph of his wife. But go on." + +"This, Pearl, is the picture of the young lady in whom I was so much +interested." She held it up before him. + +He started back in surprise. "Who is she?" he gasped. "I should say it +was yours, dress and all, just as I saw you first in this very house. +Who is she?" + +"Look at that brow and the _hauteur_ of the compressed lips. They are +not mine." + +"But the eyes and the queenly bearing, the slender form and white +dress--. Taken as a whole, there could scarcely be a better +representation of yourself when fourteen." + +"Believe me, my husband, for what I am going to tell you is true. That +picture is our child!" + +"Lillian, are you mad?" And he started to his feet and stood gazing at +her. "Our child! You told me she was dead. And how can this be?" + +"She is ours! Our Lily-Pearl! She did not die, but was taken from me and +given to the wife of a fisherman who was to care for her for a paltry +sum; but God interfered and has twice saved her from the sea and many +dangers, and she is now called the adopted daughter of this Mrs. +Gaylord, for whose husband I have been pleading." + +"Lillian, are you awake? Or am I dreaming? Tell me again. Is this our +child?" + +"Our Lily-Pearl! Worthy the name she bears, and as true and noble as +your child must be. Can you forgive? There is a long story for you to +listen to, but it was to hide her wrongs that the wicked sea now haunts +our mother's weakened brain. The blood upon her hands is the mark +conscience has placed there, but how thankful am I that no such crime +blackens her soul." + +He was walking the floor with rapid steps, and apparently not listening, +for he held in his hand the picture that was entrancing him. + +Lillian said no more, but waited. At last he stopped before her and +asked huskily, "Why did you not bring her to me? This is cruel! You have +feasted your eyes on her beauty, heard her sweet voice speak words of +love that have satisfied your heart, and now is this Mrs. Gaylord to +retain her and rob me? I believe I am angry with you, my precious wife." + +"No, no, Pearl; she is coming to us just as soon as we are ready to +receive her. I could not well burden them farther here, and so I waited +to consult you. Mrs. Gaylord is very sad about giving her up, but she is +ours; and Lily is anxious to meet her father." + +"Then I shall go for her. If there is no room in Philadelphia for the +daughter of Pearl Hamilton, then I will take her to Washington with me. +Get yourself ready, for to-morrow we start for Boston. I will see this +child, our daughter." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE HAZY MISTS ARE LIFTING. + + +Colonel and Mrs. Hamilton arrived in Boston in due time. There had been +long talks by the way, much questioning and wondering, but true to the +dictates of a noble, generous soul, he had said, "Notwithstanding all, I +will forgive." + +When the train left the station for Kirkham on the following morning, +many eyes were turned on the glittering colonel who, with his wife, +entered the car and took a seat near the door. + +"Let us go farther on"; requested Lillian, as he stepped back for her to +enter. "There is a seat yonder." + +"Yes, but twelve steps farther away from her"; and he laughed at the +absurdities of his own heart. + +"Do you know," she said at last, "there is a greater conflict before you +than any in which you have engaged during the war? Mrs. Gaylord is no +enemy, yet I believe you will be hardly able to resist her pleadings." + +"Shall I remove my regimental straps now, or wait to lay my sword at her +feet?" + +"You may wait, but be assured it must be done! You can laugh now but you +will pity her. Lily is fresh, sweet and pure, and has nestled close +under the drooping wings of her pining love, and a wound must be made +in the severing. Can you do this?" + +"Little novice! Do you ask a soldier such a question as that?" + +There was a serious look on his face, notwithstanding his careless +words, but his heart was buoyant! It was his child that was so soon to +rest her beautiful head so near it! His own darling who was to drive +away the last of its desolation, and how could he intrude into its +bright chambers, so full of sunshine, the sombre shadow of another's +grief? He pitied her, and would use his influence to liberate her +husband and send him out of harm's way. What more could he do for her? +"She will ever have a claim on my sympathies, and every kindness I can +bestow to ease her aching heart shall be cheerfully given; but Lillian, +the wound must be made"; he said, after a long silence. "Our daughter, +my dear, was taken by Mrs. Gaylord for the purpose of administering to +this drooping love you are speaking of, and if by her gentleness, +sweetness and purity, she has succeeded in awakening the sleepy bird, it +is her glory, not her debt. But when you talk about the cripple, that is +quite another thing. My warlike propensities beat a retreat immediately +before the power of that battalion. They were children together; and it +was only love and kindness in its purest guise that has united them, and +to wound such a heart is a little hard." + +Mrs. Hamilton sat a long time thinking of the prostrate form beneath the +old oak tree as it first met her gaze. It was all over--the shady +resorts were to be vacated forever; the path by the meadow brook would +be trodden by other feet, while the little pond with all its +enchantments was to be cast among the fond memories of the past. +Lillian's heart grew sad as these gloomy prospects came to her. She was +aroused at length by the call, "Kirkham--next station," and turned to +behold her husband looking intently at her. + +"As fine as a panorama, my dear," he said with a merry twinkle in his +eye. "Your face has had all the changes of the 'dissolving views,' and I +have been permitted to look at them without paying the usual quarter." + +"A trifle dishonest, though, for a gentleman," was the playful retort; +then added, seriously: "When two weeks ago I alone neared this station +every nerve quivered with excitement! I was nearing my child--crossing +the gulf of treachery that had so long separated me from happiness! My +limbs trembled and nerves quivered! Instead of all this you are as calm +and expectant as on the eve of meeting an old friend." + +"Why not, little wife? You see the banks of this terrible gulf were +lowered a little, when, nearly two years ago, my Lillian came over to +meet me!" + +"Here we are," interrupted the happy wife, rising from her seat; "gulf +or no gulf we are coming together!" + +The coachman bowed obsequiously as the two emerged from the car. + +"Is Mrs. Gaylord still at the hotel?" inquired the lady. + +"She is ma'am." And he closed the door and drove away. Not a word was +spoken during the short ride, for an oppressive lull such as sometimes +precedes a storm had settled down over the hearts of each, and it did +not lift until the carriage stopped. + +Mrs. Gaylord came into the parlor to greet the visitors with a +hesitating step. She was alone! After the introductions Mrs. Hamilton +asked for Lily. "Her father is so impatient to meet her," was the +supplementary remark. + +"She is spending the day with Willie, for the purpose, no doubt, of +giving me a foretaste of what is to be." + +"How far away," asked the colonel impatiently. + +"Over two miles, yet she insisted upon walking there, as he had come for +her before breakfast." + +"I will speak for the carriage"; and he left the room hurriedly. + +"My shadows which were almost impenetrable are nevertheless thickening," +remarked Mrs. Gaylord when alone with Mrs. Hamilton. "News has just +reached me that takes the light out of the borders of my clouds!" + +"From the war?" + +"Yes. Mr. Gaylord, it seems, has been taken prisoner while in citizen's +dress, when out on a scouting expedition, and it is quite uncertain what +will become of him. So many ties severed without time given for the +healing, empties life too rapidly for the pulse to maintain its steady +motion." + +"It may be I can steady it a little! Your husband is in the hands of the +regiment of which Colonel Hamilton has command, and he will use his +powers to secure his liberty." + +"Do you know this?" + +"He has told me. Mr. Gaylord was brought in just as he was leaving for +Washington. The debt of gratitude we owe would, if nothing else, have +this influence." + +"We are ready," called Colonel Hamilton from the hall, and Lillian +taking the hand of Mrs. Gaylord said, soothingly: + +"Cheer up, my dear friend, there is sunshine enough for us all if we +will only secure it, and we will attempt to woo a little of it when all +together once more"; and then went out to join her husband who was +impatiently waiting. + +"A true little country miss to take such a walk," he remarked as they +rolled on towards the farm. + +"She is used to it," interposed the coachman with true "Yankee" freedom; +"she has gone over this road lots of times when she wasn't the young +lady she is to-day! You are her father I suppose?" + +Lillian laughed. "I have not introduced you, Frank. This is my husband, +and I suppose you learned that Lily was my daughter when I was here +before." + +"Yes ma'am; and I'm glad! But I needn't 'a' been told that for one would +know it to look at you." + +"But a little more doubt about the father?" and Colonel Hamilton brought +his hand down firmly on the shoulder of the Yankee questioner, while a +merry peal of laughter rang out on the summer air. + +"Wal--no; but there's the house--and the wheat is ripe enough this +minute to harvest!" + +"_I_ will go to the door," said Lillian as they came to a halt at the +gate; "Mrs. Hopkins, without doubt, is very busy with her dinner, and we +will not disturb her by waiting for a reception." She stepped down while +speaking and walked briskly towards the house. Before reaching it, +however, the door flew open and Lily darted into the outstretched arms +of her mother. + +"I am so glad!" she exclaimed. "Come--Willie is sick and it may be you +can help him!" + +"But, my dear, just wait for one moment; your father wants to see you!" + +In her excitement she had not thought of the carriage, or the reasons +for the unexpected visit, or anything but that the companion of many +years had been lying insensible on the bed where the departed one had +bid them both farewell so long ago! But the words startled her, and she +raised her head from its sweet rest on the dear shoulder to discover a +tall military officer standing before them. All the dreams of her +maturer years, winged as they had been with glowing aspirations of "what +might be." She had so longed to be something besides "little Phebe," to +have wings and fly away up among the clouds; to be a bird on the highest +tree on the summit of the mountain; and now what was she? + +"My daughter! My Lily!" and as he looked at the wondering face his arms +were outstretched for the sweet love his great heart was longing for. +Without a word the fairy form sprang into them and a pair of clinging +arms were placed about his neck. Long and silent was the embrace for the +heart was content. + +"Darling, can you love your father? I am not as good-looking as the one +you so much resemble, but will I do?" + +The large eyes gleamed, and looking intently at him, said: "I think you +will!" + +He caught her again in his arms and covered her beaming face with +kisses. + +"There, darling; now let us go to Willie, for I confess that my warmed +heart is reaching out for him also." + +"O thank you! You will love him I know!" and she preceded her parents +into the house. Mrs. Hopkins came forward to greet her visitors with +traces of tears still on her cheeks. + +"He is better now, and the doctor says it is only overexertion in the +hot sun and perhaps a little worry with it," and she led the way to his +room. + +"I am so glad," Lily was saying with her arms about his neck as they +entered. "We will not go out again until it is cooler!" + +"But--" He saw Mrs. Hamilton and reached out his hand. + +"Here is my husband, Willie, who has learned your worth before seeing +you." + +"A dull scholar I should be certainly if I had not." + +"And you find me only a poor cripple who is obliged to creep through the +dust just like any other worm!" He tried to smile but it proved a +failure. + +"No, my boy; not through the 'dust' just now, but into my heart, where, +thank God, there is plenty of room for you!" + +The physician, who had stepped out as they entered now returned, and +walking up to the bed said, kindly: "You are all right now, Willie, but +you must be a little careful of yourself for a few days and keep in the +shade." And then he went away. + +"You will stay to dinner?" pleaded Mrs. Hopkins; "I have nothing very +nice to give you." + +"Shall we, darling?" This to his daughter. + +The beautiful eyes added their plea, and the carriage was ordered back +to the hotel to return for them at five. + +While sitting in the parlor Lily told her father of the mother's gift in +the years gone by, adding: "He is my brother--I can never forsake him"; +and the answer had been: "He shall not be forsaken. I am too grateful +for what I have received willingly to sever a single thread that binds +you to the friends of your past." + +Mrs. Hopkins was standing in the door when these words were spoken, but +turned away with a pain in her heart and a strange pallor on her usually +flushed face. + +That evening there was a long consultation in the little upper parlor of +the village inn, and Mrs. Gaylord had repeated the plea: "You will let +her remain with me until the summer heat is over? I cannot return home +now if I would, and it would be insufferable here without her! As soon +as the maple leaves shall crimson and the birds go where I cannot +follow, I will come with her to Philadelphia and stand between you no +more. It will take the intervening weeks to prepare my heart to endure +the separation. Certainly you cannot refuse me this!" And the whole +matter was given to the daughter for a decision. She whispered it at +last in the ear of her doting father, as she hung about his neck while +he petted and caressed her: "For Willie's sake, until he is stronger and +able to return to Boston I will remain." + +"Pretty hard, my darling, but as there is no appeal the subject is of +course closed." + +"But there is another of whom I have not told you, whose heart will +rejoice at this decision," Lily remarked playfully. + +"Not a lover I hope," interposed the father. + +"Yes--a true lover! One who has helped me in many a trying hour, and +whose advice it has always been safe to follow. You need not draw down +that military mustache so threateningly, for this 'lover' is no other +than 'Crazy Dimis,' who is even now free from the restraints of the +'county house' and is roaming about somewhere. She appeared to us +yesterday out of the honeysuckle swamp, and with her usual earnestness +exclaimed, as she pointed her long bony finger at me, 'Little fool, kiss +and cry, kiss and cry, don't I know? Life is full of 'em; go, love is +waiting--get it; + + Eyes must weep--and eyes must hunger, + Love must sleep and life must wonder; + +don't I know?' And with a loud laugh she darted into the thick shades +and life was left to 'wonder.' There is a good deal of common sense in +her gibberings, and when three years ago she told me to 'go and make +omens' I obeyed, and came to Mrs. Gaylord, whose hands were full of +cheering 'omens.'" + +One week after the northern visit Colonel Hamilton received very decided +orders from headquarters to return immediately to his regiment. "Lee +must be intercepted." + +"You must do it all alone, Lillian," was the quick remark when the +telegram was read. "Howe & Brother will furnish all in the upholstery +line that will be desired, and be sure that our home is made fitting +the reception of our daughter." + +How full the succeeding days were to the hopeful wife and mother! "She +will be here at the first tinging of the maple trees." This she had said +to her aunt. "Only a little more than two months in which to make all +ready." + +"Such a dainty bit of precious girlhood must not be allowed to step on +the common ingrain that covers your old uncle's floors, I take it." This +was a little improvised indignation as the good old uncle listened to +the plannings and recountings of the luxuries that were to surround her +in the home to be prepared. "But the fisherman's cot shouldn't be +forgotten, Lillian, and so sometimes you will let her come to us?" + +"What a wicked, naughty uncle you are!" Lillian exclaimed, while she +smothered all further ebullitions of assumed anger by placing a little +white hand over his mouth. "There! Now to punish you for those words I +shall be at the store at five for you to go with me and look over the +premises!" + +"Want to blacken my fingers with the guilt of spoiling her do you? Well, +well! A full half hour lost in palavering; good-bye," and the jovial +uncle went out from his home leaving it full of sunshine. + +October dawned bright and beautiful. The hazy mist that brooded over the +city was tinted with hues of purple and gold as they became tangled with +the many colored leaves that fell through the cool shadows in the public +squares, and in a week Lily-Pearl Hamilton would arrive! One cloud only +was shadowing the path of Mrs. Hamilton, and that the absence and +dangers of him to whom her heart had clung through all the gloomy days; +but in a few months his "three years" would close and then--how happy +they would all be! + +"If Pearl can succeed in getting Old Auntie and Lizzy safely here, as he +assured me he could do," she had said, "my cup will be full to +overflowing!" + +"How will your mother bear all this?" queried Mrs. Cheevers. + +"With no serious result I imagine. The doctor told me the other day that +she was not susceptible of a very severe shock, her brain having become +so inactive that no injury would probably come to it through +excitement." + +Suddenly recollecting that Pearl's mother was to meet her at the new +home at ten she hastened away. + +"Everything was _perfect_ in the new home," was Mrs. Hamilton's +conclusion, as with Lillian she walked from room to room. "Not massive +and oppressive with a superabundance of heavy carvings and marble, but +bright and cheerful in its display of luxury and beauty. Your taste is +good, my daughter, and I think Pearl will commend it." + +While at the tea-table that night a letter was brought in for Lillian. +"From George," she said, breaking the seal. "A long one for an invalid +certainly," and she unfolded the well-filled sheet and began its +perusal. Finishing the first page she laid it upon her lap and folded +her hand over it. + +"Well," she said at length; then perceiving that her uncle and aunt were +gazing quizzingly at her; "wonders are multiplying!" and she +recommenced its perusal. + +"Do stop her, wife, and make her tell what it is that brings such a +queer look into her face! If I were a woman; but pshaw!" The wife +laughed. + +"In just one moment, Uncle," and Lillian turned the page. "He is nearly +well, and--yes--he will accept my invitation to be here in Christmas +week with his bride!" + +"Hurrah! Another southern aristocrat mixing up with northern plebeianism +I reckon! What's that quotation, wife? 'To be seen is to be loved?'" + +"No, no! You are talking about vice! 'To be hated needs only to be +seen.' But _this_ is a wife!" + +"O, well I never could remember poetry. George to be married! All right! +I will give him welcome to his miseries! But who is the fair one?" + +"The daughter of the widow with whom they are staying; one fully worthy +to bear the honored name of St. Clair. So he writes." + +"The same old silly story; but I am glad of it! Let me see--when is that +'Lily-Pearl' to get here? I cannot wait much longer!" + +"And you will not be obliged to do so. I shall expect her now on every +train, for there was something in her letter that appeared like +surprising. She said 'a week at the farthest, but I am so impatient to +get close to my mother once more that I fear I cannot wait much longer +for Mrs. Gaylord to smooth down her ruffles.'" + +She did wait, however, but the day came when the carriage containing the +long lost daughter with her escort and servant stopped before the door +of Mrs. Hamilton's temporary home and alighted. What a rush of emotion +came into the heart of the young girl when she remembered that beneath +that roof was the one who had been the cause of all her desolations and +roamings! But they were over now, and with a light tread she darted up +the marble steps and rang the bell. + +"By surprise after all," she remarked, turning to Mrs. Gaylord, who was +following. The door flew open and with an exclamation of joy she sprang +into her mother's embrace. + +"The train is not due for five minutes," Lillian said at last, finding +breath to speak. "I was just coming to the door to watch down the street +as I have done for many days." + +But why attempt to picture the scenes of bliss that followed? All hearts +in the broad circle of love save one opened wide to receive its new +accessions. Mrs. Cheevers could never tire of eulogizing her pretty ways +and simplicity of manners, while the husband reiterated fully twice each +day that even his pet, Lillian, never came up to her daughter in good +looks or winning ways. + +Still Mrs. Belmont utterly refused to see her grandchild. In vain did +Lillian assure her that the past had been severed forever, and Lily only +waited to tell her this, but her answering wail of agony was truly +pitiful to hear. + +"No--no!" she would say, "I cannot, O, I cannot! Keep her away! Keep her +away! O God! But he will not hear? Don't let her come, Lillian my child. +I did it! So cruel! So wicked!" With streaming eyes Lillian would pet +and caress her mother with most earnest solicitude. + +Day after day passed with no better results. She would not see Lily, +neither would she be taken to the beautiful home on Broad street. "Let +me die here," she would plead, when told of the pretty room that had +been fitted up for her--so nearly like the one at Rosedale. But she +shrank at the very recital and settled down in her easy chair like a +weary child who desires to be let alone. + +"What shall I do!" This from Mrs. Hamilton, one morning coming into the +presence of her daughter, after one more fruitless attempt. "She will +never consent to leave here, and I cannot go without her. Neither do I +like to use compulsion." + +"Why not wait for Father? Perhaps he can persuade her." + +"For two months, darling?" + +"If no better thing can be done." + +The mother smiled. "Perhaps you are correct. This may be best. I think +we will wait." + +[Illustration] + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +AUNT VINA IN THE NEW HOME. + + +The weeks succeeding the incidents of our last chapter sped rapidly by. +Winter came with its chilling winds, rifling the waving branches of +their many colors, leaving them bare and unsightly; while it spread now +and then over the seared lawns a pure white covering of snow, to hide +for a time its sad work; and upon all this Mrs. Belmont looked with +dreamy listlessness from her window. What was beauty, death, or change +to her now, shut out as she was from the past, and in fear of the +future? When kind hearts attempted to gain her consent to have the +monotony of life broken she would plead: "No, no, let me stay here! It +is cold, I cannot go! Lillian, my child, don't let her come! She will +look at me with her large eyes, so much like my baby's! It would kill +me!" + +What was Mrs. Hamilton to do? The elegant home on Broad street was +waiting, and Christmas week approaching. She could not leave her mother +to be a burden to others, and Lily said, "perhaps Father can persuade +her"; and so they lingered for his coming. + +"Unless some imperative duties shall arise to prevent I will run home +for a Christmas dinner," he had written. + +The opening of the holidays came at last, as all bright places in life +come and flit past, and Colonel Hamilton returned on leave to his home +with buoyant spirits, for he did not come alone. Aunt, Vina, with her +broad, good-natured face, followed the gaily dressed officer from the +carriage, and close behind her walked Lizzie and little Bobby. "For Miss +Lillian, I'se couldn't leave him," was the earnest exclamation preceding +the greeting. + +"No more could you Lizzie, and we could never have gotten along without +little Bobby," and Mrs. Hamilton caught the diminutive mulatto of ten in +her arms and kissed his plump yellow cheek. + +Never was a mother more heartily welcomed by her child than was 'old +Aunt Vina,' by her pet of former years. "Bress de Lord, honey! I thought +dese old arms wouldn't neber hold my sweet darlin' no more!" she +exclaimed, as tears coursed rapidly over her cheeks. "But de Missus, +honey? Old Vina's eyes ache to look on her once more; de poor dear! +Massa says she's dreffle bad, but de Lord knows what's bes'!" + +"Why did you not tell me about this?" asked Lillian of her husband as +soon as the dear old arms had liberated her sufficiently to permit her +to do so. "It would have helped in the waiting if I had had the +opportunity of anticipating a little?" + +"I was not sure of succeeding in my project myself until three days +ago," he answered, between the repeated caresses he was lavishing on his +beautiful daughter. + +"She's just like her mudder," interposed Aunt Vina; "and dis old heart's +got her fast!" + +"Let it hold her, Vina, and permit her young life to draw as much good +from its hidden treasures as my darling wife has received," and Colonel +Hamilton placed the hand of his child in the old negress's grasp. "Let +your motherly love widen sufficiently to make room for both of my +treasures, will you?" + +"Dat I will, and place enough for de missus too!" Here a hearty laugh +all around, in which Mr. and Mrs. Cheevers joined in merrily. + +The day after to-morrow would be Christmas, and a small party was +expected in the new home. How much there was to be done before that +time! "The first thing of all," said Lillian, emphatically, "is to get +Mother to Broad street! We have everything in readiness--a cook and maid +of all work secured." + +"And nobody wants 'em," chimed in Lizzie. "Reckon Vina an' me knows all +dat!" + +"Yes, and after our little fete is over you two shall be fully enstalled +as advisory committee in our quiet domain, while Bobby can wait on the +door and learn to be a man. I suppose you know that you are no longer +slaves, and, unless I am very good to you, some day you may take into +your kind old heads to leave me." + +"Neber, Missus!" chimed in two voices at the same time. + +Dinner was now ready for the hungry travelers, but Mrs. Hamilton could +not eat. "I will go to Mother," she said, "for she will hear the voices +and perhaps recognize them." + +Mrs. Belmont was alone, for Mrs. Jackson had been dismissed upon the +arrival of the daughter into the household; and Mrs. Gaylord had +immediately gone to visit a relative in another part of the city with a +promise to return to them for a few weeks after all were settled. +Lillian opened the door of the chamber with some trepidation. As she did +so two large eyes were fastened upon her with a speechless wonder +lighting up their slumbering fires. + +"I came to eat dinner with you, Mother," the daughter said cheerily, +coming to her side. "Not tasted it? I am in good time then. It will +spoil if you allow it to get cold. This chicken pie is not the way Aunt +Vina used to get it up, is it? But I like it quite as well. Let us try +it." + +"Has she come?" + +"Who, Mother?" + +"Vina." + +"Yes, and Lizzie, with little Bobby." + +"And he?" + +"Who?" + +"Charles." + +"No, Mother, but he is at Rosedale, well and hopeful. You know some one +is needed there to take care of the place and servants. But Pearl is +below stairs and will be here to see you after dinner." + +The good things on the small table, however, remained untouched, for the +once proud mistress of Rosedale was silently watching the curtain, that +had fallen around her world, slowly move one side, as the panorama of +the past came laggardly to view. Lillian watched the changing expression +on the thin face with interest, unwilling to interrupt the ebbing +emotions she was sure were casting their flitting shadows upon it. Not +until the sound of feet coming along the hall, and then halting before +the door, was a word spoken. "Mother; Pearl has come," and, without +permission, Lillian arose and opened the door. + +"Just as I left you"; he exclaimed, cheerfully, stepping to the side of +the invalid's chair. "Surely you have not been sitting here all the +time?" + +She did not move or look at him. + +"It is too bad to stay in this one room so long, and to-day we will have +a change. In an hour, Lillian, there will be a carriage at the door, and +we will take Mother to another room, where she will not be obliged to +look upon the same wall of brick and stone always." + +She started, and her gaze rested on the manly face so near her own. + +"Not a word," he responded, playfully, placing his hand over her mouth, +"I am going to show you one of the brightest rainbows that has ever +spanned your blue sky of life. All the brighter, dear Mother, for the +dark clouds behind it. You are looking much better than when I went +away; and that scarlet shawl gives quite a healthy glow to your cheeks. +How happy we shall be! In a few months my army life will come to an end; +then I will throw up my commission and be one among you, and let +Rosedale go to its rightful owner,--we can be happier without it." + +"Charles?" said the feeble voice. + +"Shall be where his mother can enjoy him. In an hour, remember, we will +go. Wrap warmly, for it is cold outside"; and, without another word, +Colonel Hamilton left the room. + +"Now, Mother, you must eat something, for you will want strength for +your ride." + +She obeyed, and, without speaking, did good justice to the ample meal. +The firm will of a strong controlling mind had conquered, and Mrs. +Belmont submitted to every suggestion without an opposing gesture. + +The servants, immediately after dinner, were taken to their new +quarters, with Lily as their mistress, and then the Colonel returned in +the carriage for his wife and mother. He found her warmly cloaked and +shawled, but every nerve trembled as one shivering with ague. Not +apparently noticing it, he said, merrily, "How the boys in blue would +envy me," and he placed his arm around the shrinking form to aid the +timid feet down the long flight of stairs. "To be a lady's gallant is a +luxury not often indulged in by us poor soldiers. The air is delicious +out of doors; it will give you new life and strength. There now, you are +all right, safe on terra firma!" And slowly he led her on. + +Mechanically she moved through the hall to the outer door, down the +marble steps, and was lifted into the carriage with many a lively sally +from Lillian, who followed full of wonder. As carefully was she assisted +out again on arriving at her destination; and entering the splendid +drawing-room looked wildly about her. + +"Right here, Mother, in this easy chair"; and her tender escort seated +her near the register. + +"Jus' you let me do dis"; calmly said Vina, coming up to her once +stately mistress, and she began removing her wrappings. "Dar's no use ob +dese old hands forgettin' how. And Missus, I'se mighty glad de good +Lord sent 'way down to Georgy after this ere gal, 'cause He knowed dar +was no one like old Vina could do for de missus." + +All the time the faithful hands were at work, while the brightening eyes +of the invalid were scanning the kindly face of the old slave. + +When all wraps were removed and passed to Lizzy to take from the room, +she took her thin white hand in her dusky palm, and, kneeling by the +chair, said plaintively; "Bress de Lord! Let ebery body bress Him, for +He is good! O Missus! Vina's heart is big, 'cause it's so glad! Bress de +Lord!" + +The other white hand was lifted slowly and placed on the bowed head of +the negress as the pale lips muttered, "Bless the Lord! Pray, pray!" + +"Glory!" and the old servant sprang to her feet. + +"De angels will clap dar hands wid joy! Missus is goin' to de mansions +by-and-by!" + +A quiet glow of peace stole into the restless eyes, as Mrs. Belmont +listened, and settling down in her easy chair, she really looked like +the picture of contentment, as the Colonel asserted, entering as Vina +went out. + +Mr. and Mrs. Cheevers were to take a quiet tea with them, and, as the +uncle declared, "would bring along the horse-shoe, as there would be no +good luck without it." And soon all were seated in the drawing-room in +pleasant conversation, to which Mrs. Belmont apparently gave no heed. An +hour passed, when the careful mistress, who was, indeed, troubled about +many things, took the arm of her husband and went into the parlor +opposite. + +"She is so tranquil; how can we disturb her?" was the first ejaculation. + +"We will not disturb her my dear." + +"But what about Lily?" + +"What about her? Why she's the sweetest darling--" + +"No, no! How shall we bring them together?" + +"In the most natural way possible. When tea is ready I will escort her +out to the table and introduce our daughter. She is a child and will +submit to be governed and led. But where is Lily? I have not seen her +for a long time." + +"Gone to her room with a letter from Willie, I imagine, as her cheeks +put on an unusual glow when a small package was placed in her hand by +the carrier." + +"What makes you say that, Lillian? Do you suppose that the heart of our +child is in any way entangled with that boy's love?" + +"I do not know." + +The subject of this conversation came tripping down the broad staircase, +and with a buoyant step entered the room where her father and mother +were standing by the window. + +"See what Willie has sent me for Christmas!" she exclaimed, holding up a +finger adorned by a ring set with precious stones. + +"An engagement ring my darling?" + +"O no! We never thought of such a thing. He is my brother, that is all!" +The sweet face could but crimson as she looked into that of her father. + +"I believe you, darling; and as a brother he will be loved by us all." + +"Is it not beautiful?" + +"It has cost him many a day of hard work, without doubt," was the reply, +while the mother was carefully examining the costly gift. "Poor Willie! +He writes that he is not very well." + +"He misses his companion of so many years, and the bestowing of this +gift has brightened up his loneliness more than anything else could have +done." This from the mother thoughtfully. + +The bell announcing tea was heard in the hall, and the colonel, bidding +his daughter see that all was ready, went to the drawing-room for the +invalid. It was as he had said. Placing his arm tenderly about her +shrinking form he led her into the dining-room where she met her +granddaughter with only a slight quivering of the hand that was clinging +so closely to the arm supporting her. + +Lily kissed the pale cheek as she said: "I will take her to the seat +where Aunt Vina says she must sit." During this the peaceful glow did +not fade from her eyes, or the expression of resignation from her face. + +"You are a magician as well as a prophet," whispered Lillian, returning +to the head of the table. + +They were happy now. The rainbow was spanning the dark clouds, and its +cheering colors were reflected in every face. + +"Charles," feebly whispered Mrs. Belmont. + +"Yes, and Mrs. Gaylord, who ought also to be here," remarked the +colonel, "for I have good news of her husband. He will be liberated and +sent north in a very short time." How bright the sky can be after the +clouds are driven out of it! + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +"GOOD BYE." + + +Gentle reader, would you like to follow the friends whom you have met in +this simple narrative still farther in the histories of their eventful +lives? Has your acquaintance thus far been a pleasant one? This is not +all. Every thoughtful mind will draw from the characters of history or +romance such lessons of hope and faith as cheer the heart in sorrow or +beneath the depressions of despondency something that will guide when +the soul is perplexed or shrinking. Sad indeed would the writer of this +story be, if in the delineations of the history of our little heroine no +lonely wayfarer should be comforted, or no friendless waif taught to +look up for the hand that safely leads. God is kind and watchful towards +his children, assuring them that they are "better than many sparrows," +and therefore cannot fall to the ground without his notice; but is also +just to punish and chasten those who oppose his little ones. + +Have these truths been set impressively before you? If so we will raise +the curtain yet a little higher and glance for one moment into the lives +and homes of the few in whom you are interested, after the terrible war +is over and peace again settles down like a holy benediction over our +beautiful land. + +Colonel Hamilton could not be spared from the important position he had +occupied from the commencement of the struggle, and although his visits +home were frequent, the elegant house on Broad street wore an air of +desolation as the shadows of realities and uncertainties crept into it. +The reports of victories and defeats brought terror and dismay into +every heart, for loved ones were in jeopardy and mourning was in the +land. + +One day there came a letter from the absent husband that thickened the +veil of apprehension and spread a new gloom over the hearts of those who +read it. "We must expect bad news my dear wife," it went on to say; "and +although I would shield my cherished ones from war's disasters I cannot +do it. Reports were brought in last night by our scouts that Rosedale +was in ashes and your brother, in a desperate hand to hand encounter +with some of the boys in blue, received a wound from which he died +before reaching the hospital camp. I was hoping to be able to shield +him, and for our mother's sake send him north. But now he is beyond our +reach." + +"My poor, poor brother!" cried Mrs. Hamilton, as the letter dropped from +her hands. "I had placed so much hope on his coming! What can I tell +Mother? She is so much better, and was asking only this morning when +Charles would be here?" + +"We cannot break the new sad news to her," replied the daughter; "let us +wait for Father. Somehow he is able to do everything without +difficulty." + +Lillian smiled in spite of her tears. "Yes, darling, we will wait." But +it could not be. The hungry heart of the mother was enduring the agony +of famishing, and her cries for her only son were truly pitiful. + +"Let the consequences be what they may I cannot longer endure her +appeals; she must know the truth," she said to Lily one morning some +weeks after. "Mother--Pearl cannot send him to you--how gladly he would +do it if he could; but it is too late!" + +"Too late?" + +"Yes, Mother; the war you know. It has destroyed Rosedale, scattered the +servants and--" + +"Charles?" + +"Charles has fallen into the ruin." + +"Charles? Will he not come?" + +"Never Mother; he is dead! And we are alone!" + +"Dead! Dead! And he will not come! Gone! All, all gone!" and the white +fingers linked themselves together, twisting and untwisting with a slow +nervous motion as they lay upon her lap, while her large eyes never +moved their gaze from the face before her. + +"Dead! Dead!" she murmured. + +"Pearl will be here by and by, and he will love you and be as true a son +as my brother would have been. Let us wait and watch for him now." + +"Dead! Dead! My boy--my Charles!" From this one subject nothing could +divert her thoughts. The sad, mournful wail bubbled up from her stricken +heart as naturally as her breath issued from her lungs, moaning and +breathing; yet not a tear moistened the burning eyeballs, until one +morning while Vina was arranging her dress for the day and telling her +how "de poor heart broke when little Shady went out and neber more come +back," the unseen hand laid a finger upon the main-spring of human life +and it stopped. Mrs. Belmont, the ambitious mistress of Rosedale was +also dead! The flickering light of a once massive brain was blown out; +the prison door opened, and the pent-up soul was gone! Now indeed were +the shadows deepened! The emblems of mourning were upon the door and +reflected their sombre shade's over everything within. + +Colonel Hamilton could not leave his regiment, as they were engaged in +active duty; and so the daughter laid her away in Woodland cemetery +under the cool shadows, as the setting sun was scattering its last rays +upon the sparkling waters at the base of the hill. As the birds were +chanting their good-night songs the solemn cortege turned away--back to +life with all of its coming and stirring events, yet with heavy hearts. + +"Yes, darling, we will leave Aunt Vina sole mistress of all and go to +Kirkham for a few weeks at least," Mrs. Hamilton said a few mornings +after, in answer to her daughter's plea. + +"Willie is so anxious to tell me something and ask me about it. It has +been a whole year since my visit, and two since our separation, he +writes. I am so glad you have consented." + +Few preparations were needed, and in a week Willie and "Phebe" were once +more sitting together in the little parlor, where as a diminutive waif +she had entered more than twelve years before, alone and unattended. +What power of prescience could have pictured the changes? What +vicissitudes and pleasures; what a mixing up of joys and sorrows, of +snarls and hair-breadth escapes there had been crowded into the rolling +years. + +"I guess I may better read the letter, for I can never tell you what is +in it," said Willie, taking the well-worn missive from his pocket. "No, +you may have that pleasure, while I will watch your face, reading as +well as you." + +"How you puzzle me, Willie. I have a good mind to run away alone to read +it; you have made me nervous!" + +"Not a step shall you go." But her quick eyes were following the page +down at a rapid rate, and did not listen. + +"O Willie!" she exclaimed as she turned the paper and went on. "Do you +believe it? Can it be true?" + +"He says so!" + +"And he knows. 'I have written Mr. Palmer,' he says, 'and am informed +that there will be no difficulty in the operation, but it will require +considerable practice on your part to be able to walk firmly as he +does.' I know that he has two cork feet or legs, as one day while behind +him on Chestnut street a friend pointed him out with the expression, +'who would imagine that his walkers were artificial?' But those poor +little feet! O Willie, there is no joy without its gloomy side!" + +But Willie did walk; never without his cane, but his creeping days came +to an end, and a thankful heart blessed God for its unexpected bliss. +Social life now has no horrors for his sensitive nature, and he mingled +freely with the refined and intelligent who frequented the parlors of +the honored colonel and his lovely family. + +Reader, are you curious to see him? If so look for him in one of the +largest clothing stores in the city of Philadelphia. Not as clerk or +seamster as in former days, but as half owner and proprietor. Be good, +pure and noble if you would succeed in reaching the eminence ambition +points out to you. "Carve out your niche and place yourself in it," was +the advice of a true philosopher to his son, and will answer for the +young of all ages. Look up, and if too weak to climb, the hand above you +will lend its willing aid. + +The war came to a close at last, and Mr. St. Clair with his wife and +daughter returned to their southern home. Mrs. Mason received them +joyfully, but declared that she could "never, _never_ forgive George for +his silly freak of connecting himself with such plebeianism! My +daughter's governess! He may better remain where such follies are +tolerated!" But the parents only laughed, and the sister remained +silent. + +Rosedale would be rebuilt, not in as magnificent style as before, for +its owner's long stay in the north had taught him many lessons. + +"It may be I shall not care to occupy it," the son had remarked at the +parting; "but my sweet sister will make a noble mistress for it." + +And so it proved. George St. Clair became a northern man in deed as well +as in feelings. He proved a successful tradesman and government officer +in New York city in company with Elmore Pierson, who had been spared to +his mother. + +A happy family gathered in the home circle, blessed with fresh young +blossoms of human life who were to adorn the world and bring comfort +into the declining years of those whose feet were going downward. It is +but a short journey between the two great rival cities, and the friends +bound together by so many vicissitudes kept up a pleasant intimacy, +often reviving past memories by tales of pleasant scenes or strange +coincidences that would otherwise fade from sight in the moving panorama +of human existence. + +"We will have that Christmas dinner we were to have had three years +ago," exclaimed Colonel Hamilton a week before the world-famed day. "A +regular house warming! Let me see! Can we not get Willie's sister here +with her family, and not let the dear boy know anything about it until +then? Gaylord and his wife have gone back to their home, and I suppose +he would not come with any amount of coaxing! He has grown so sour and +ugly during the last six years that I pity that feeble little wife of +his! O my letter! I have not even told you what has set me in such a +commotion! Just like one of my freaks of forgetfulness!" + +"I was wondering," laughed Mrs. Hamilton, for he was skipping around the +room with the joyousness of a little boy, while searching in his pockets +for the letter that was to make the revelations. + +"Where is the thing? Well I declare, if it is not down to the office on +the desk, as true as the world! If Willie gets hold of it! But no +matter." + +"Do, tell me, Pearl! I am glad you have doffed your regimentals. How you +would look in a Colonel's uniform at this moment!" + +"Honor and glory must pass away, but the St. Clair's will not pass away; +they are coming and may be here to-day, Mrs. Mason and all!" + +"And remain till after the holidays?" + +"Longer, my dear! Christmas dinner, however, is the main subject under +consideration. Let me see; Vina is getting pretty old for such an +occasion, and if she will keep little Charlie safe in the nursery, it is +about all we ought to ask of her. Lizzie is good in her place, and +little Bobby is a treasure; but we must have another cook. What makes +you look so solemn, my dear wife?" + +"O, no--only----." + +"Well--only what?" + +"Is that Major Belknap to be here?" + +"Do you not like him, Lillian? He was one of the bravest and noblest +officers in the whole regiment." + +"It is not that. But how can I ever spare my darling child?" + +"This will have to be done some day; and I know of no one to whom I +could more easily transfer our daughter's happiness. It is evident that +her heart is not wholly her own, and it would not look well: for you or +me to interfere with any arrangement of this kind," he laughed. The +sunshine of the husband's cheerfulness fell into the chilly places of +the mother's fears, warming them into brightness. + +The Christmas festivities were a secured success. + +George St. Clair came down from New York, to be clasped in the arms of +his devoted mother; and receive the hearty hug from the dear old father, +and loving embrace from one sister, and the cold salutations of the +second. "If this does not take away my breath," he exclaimed, drawing +his hesitating wife towards the stately Mrs. Mason, while disengaging +herself from the demonstrative greetings of others. + +"Sister," he said, "this is my wife, who has generously consented to add +an additional lustre to the St. Clair escutcheon, and, without doubt, +would as kindly place you on her list of friends!" + +Anna extended her hand, which Mrs. Mason took with a stiff bow of +recognition. + +This did not escape the quick eye of Colonel Hamilton. "A trifle freezy +for so warm a room," he whispered, sotto voce, as he turned to meet +Willie, who was approaching, leaning on the arm of his foster-sister. + +"This way, my boy. A Merry Christmas," and he opened the door into the +family sitting-room, where Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins, with their own small +Willie, were waiting his coming. + +He drew back. "Am I dreaming! Fanny, my sister! Is this really you?" A +tear found its way to the calm blue eyes, whose fountain had been closed +for many a happy month by the blessings that had been piled upon it. + +"We are all here, my brother! You would not come to us, so we came to +you! If Mother could see--and know!" + +Her voice choked and she turned to the window. + +What a happy circle gathered around that bountifully-loaded table on +that Christmas day! Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, friends +and lovers! While the host stood with uplifted hands, asking the Lord to +bless and draw all hearts together, an "Amen" found its way out of every +answering soul; and the feast went on. + +Here we leave them, gentle reader,--bid them all good bye, with a wish +and a prayer for their future happiness and success. + +[FINIS.] + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +3. Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without comment and +consisted primarily of placing or removing missing or incorrectly placed +single and double quote marks, end periods, etc.. + +4. Throughout the text words denoting family or other close relations, +"Mother," "Father," "Aunt," "Auntie," "Old Auntie," "Brother," "Sister," +"Uncle," "Massa," "Missus" and "Crazy Dimis" were inconsistently +capitalized when appearing immediately before a proper name, (_i.e._ +aunt Nell and Aunt Nell, aunt Vina,) or when standing unmodified as a +substitute for a person's name, (_i.e._ "Poor Old Auntie came out from +the kitchen," or; "Take me home Mother." or; "Yes Massa"), and have been +correctly capitalized in this e-text. + +5. SPELLING CORRECTIONS: + +p. 20, "cooly" to "coolly" (coolly interrupted the stately lady.) +p. 33, "Mary" to "Maria" ("... either," answered Maria;) +p. 39, "ectasy" to "ecstasy" (ecstasy never before experienced) +p. 63, "bouyant" to "buoyant" (5) (a light buoyant step) +p. 64, "remarkably" to "remarkable" (many other remarkable things.) +p. 70, "blosssoms" to "blossoms" (the blossoms had disappeared) +p. 73, "musnt't" to "mustn't" ( mustn't eat too much) +p. 88, "bouyant" to "buoyant" (her light, buoyant figure) +p. 97, "though" to "thought" (as she thought how he would miss her) +p. 98, "Lillie-Pearl" to "Lily-Pearl" (21) (had given birth to + "Lily-Pearl") +p. 101, "semed" to "seemed" (that Fanny seemed so much) +p. 103, "wo" to "woe" (3) (cry of woe) and (feeble wail of woe) +p. 109, "lilly-pads" to "lily-pads" (the broad lily-pads) +p. 119, "supulcher" to "sepulcher" (2) (your heart's sepulcher) +p. 122, "pursuasion" to "persuasion" (4) (After much persuasion) +p. 123, "form" to "from" (break away from the injunction) +p. 129, "Lilly Bell" to "Lily-Bell" (5) (He loved "Lily-Bell") +p. 132, "bouyant" to "buoyant" (5) (from her buoyant nature) +p. 133, "Lilly Bell" to "Lily-Bell" (5) (Lily-Bell! what a suspicion) +p. 143, "Nebber" to "Neber" (3) (Neber you min') +p. 149, "darkdess" to "darkness" (fly into the darkness) +p. 160, "frolicing" to "frolicking" (frolicking like a kitten) +p. 172, "etherial" to "ethereal" (is truly ethereal) +p. 173, "cathesdra" to "Cathesdra" (Ah, there is 'Cathesdra'--listen,) +p. 175, "destestable" to "detestable" (that detestable governess) +p. 176, "see" to "she" (she could see no way of escape.) +p. 180, "cantained" to "contained" (cup of others contained.) +p. 187, "sheek" to "cheek" (that full round cheek,) +p. 194, "bullustrades" to "balustrades" (1) (heavy post of the + balustrades) +p. 198, "plebian" to "plebeian" (my 'plebeian' curiosity) +p. 204, "youg" to "young" (The young man looked) +p. 210, "hypocricy" to "hypocrisy" (Secrecy and hypocrisy) +p. 220, "percieve" to "perceive" (12) (perceive that her lips) +p. 226, "upraidings" to "upbraidings" (2) (terrible upbraidings of + conscience!) +p. 255, "nor" to "not" (who could not help smiling) +p. 281, "cathesdra" to "Cathesdra" (the sweet singer of "Cathesdra.") +p. 287, "old aunty" to "Old Auntie" (as Old Auntie would say) +p. 292, "hygeine" to "hygiene" (in your skill of hygiene;) +p. 297, "proclivites" to "proclivities" (1) (her confederate + proclivities) +p. 297, "perpertrated" to "perpetrated" (1) (perpetrated on you) +p. 311, "become" to "became" (but it became entangled) +p. 315, "apall" to "appall" (2) (Does the sight appall thee?) +p. 323, "unitiated" to "uninitiated" (to the uninitiated?) +p. 325, "uncontrolable" to "uncontrollable" (uncontrollable agitation) +p. 332, "proceding" to "proceeding" (15) (before proceeding farter?) +p. 339, "carrid" to "carried" (you were carried away.) +p. 339, "inadvertantly" to "inadvertently" (same time inadvertently) +p. 356, "trepidition" to "trepidation" (2) (with some trepidation) +p. 371, "greivous" to "grievous" (2) (a grievous wrong) +p. 372, "enconsed" to "ensconced" (was ensconced amid) +p. 372, "reponsibilities" to "responsibilities" (with extraordinary + responsibilities) +p. 388, "severly" to "severely" (3) (severely wounded by a sharpshooter) +p. 389, "he" to "be" (I'll be hanged) +p. 421, "whith" to "with" (with her white hand) +p. 422, "oustretched" to "outstretched" (with outstretched arms) +p. 424, "uncontrolable" to "uncontrollable" (uncontrollable desire) +p. 428, "batallion" to "battalion" (power of that battalion.) +p. 447, "removod" to "removed" (all wraps were removed) +p. 454, "sensative" to "sensitive" (8) (his sensitive nature) +p. 457, "consideratien" to "consideration" (4) (subject under + consideration) +p. 458, "escutchion" to "escutcheon" (to the St. Clair escutcheon) + +6. TYPOGRAPHICAL CORRECTIONS: + +p. 9, removed duplicate word "in" (manuscript in advance) +p. 62, removed duplicate word "with" (Phebe has been with us) +p. 97, added paragraph break after quote ("... bloom on without me.") +p. 104, removed duplicate word "but" (but there were no tears) +p. 167, The title of Chapter XVI on the Contents Page is "The Birthnight + Entertainment" however the Chapter title on the given page is + "The Birthday Entertainment" and has been retained as written. +p. 182, added word "our" to (a web of our own weaving) +p. 230, added word "with" (you must take my father and mother and Ellen + with you) +p. 234, removed duplicate word "the" (take rooms at the hotel) +p. 252, removed duplicate word "the" (like the whisperings of) +p. 305, added second "as" (activity as soon as yourself) +p. 318, removed duplicate word "the" (where the new resolutions) +p. 320, removed duplicate word "it" (we could not help it) +p. 322, changed word order "use the" to "the use" (what is the use of + throwing misery) +p. 387, removed duplicate word "over" (swing round over West Virginia) +p. 442, added word "a" (Never was a mother more hartily welcomed) +p. 458, removed duplicate word "the" (and the feast went on) + +7. WORD VARIATIONS: + +"a-goin'" (1) and "agoin" (1) +"ecstacy" (4) and "ecstasy" (2) +"gaiety" (1) and "gayety" (1) +"Lizzie" (5) and "Lizzy" (3) +"nuf" (1) and "nuff" (1) (slang for enough) +"road-side" (1) and "roadside" (1) +"sand-bar" (2) and "sandbar" (1) +"swear" (1) and "sware" (1) (archaic version) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lily Pearl and The Mistress of Rosedale, by +Ida Glenwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LILY PEARL AND MISTRESS OF ROSEDALE *** + +***** This file should be named 35765.txt or 35765.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/7/6/35765/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Christine Aldridge +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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