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padding-top: 1px } + + .coverpage, .titlepage, + .contents, .foreword, .preface, .introduction, .dedication, .prologue, + .epilogue, .appendix, .glossary, .bibliography, .index, .colophon, + .footnotes, + .cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 1px } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} +</style> +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 37476 ***</div> +<div class="document" id="jessie-graham"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">JESSIE GRAHAM</h1> +</div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<div class="container" id="pg-produced-by"> +<p class="noindent pfirst">Produced by Roger Frank, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>.</p> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line">OR,</div> +<div class="line">LOVE AND PRIDE.</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line">By MARY J. HOLMES</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line">1878</div> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="contents level-2 section" id="id1"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title">CONTENTS</h2> +<ul class="compact simple toc-list"> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-i-the-inmates-of-the-farm-house" id="id2">CHAPTER I.—THE INMATES OF THE FARM-HOUSE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-ii-mr-graham-and-jessie" id="id3">CHAPTER II.—MR. GRAHAM AND JESSIE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-iii-eight-years-later" id="id4">CHAPTER III.—EIGHT YEARS LATER.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-iv-jessie-and-ellen" id="id5">CHAPTER IV.—JESSIE AND ELLEN.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-v-walter-and-jessie" id="id6">CHAPTER V.—WALTER AND JESSIE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-vi-old-mrs-bartow" id="id7">CHAPTER VI.—OLD MRS. BARTOW.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-vii-human-nature" id="id8">CHAPTER VII.—HUMAN NATURE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-viii-a-retrospect" id="id9">CHAPTER VIII.—A RETROSPECT.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-ix-nellie" id="id10">CHAPTER IX.—NELLIE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-x-a-disclosure" id="id11">CHAPTER X.—A DISCLOSURE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xi-the-night-after-the-burial" id="id12">CHAPTER XI.—THE NIGHT AFTER THE BURIAL.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xii-a-crisis" id="id13">CHAPTER XII.—A CRISIS.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xiii-explanations" id="id14">CHAPTER XIII.—EXPLANATIONS.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xiv-the-stranger-nurse" id="id15">CHAPTER XIV.—THE STRANGER NURSE.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xv-glorious-news" id="id16">CHAPTER XV.—GLORIOUS NEWS.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xvi-thanksgiving-day-at-deerwood" id="id17">CHAPTER XVI.—THANKSGIVING DAY AT DEERWOOD.</a></span></li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><span class="first"><a class="reference internal pginternal" href="#chapter-xvii-conclusion" id="id18">CHAPTER XVII.—CONCLUSION.</a></span></li> +</ul> +</div> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-i-the-inmates-of-the-farm-house"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id2">CHAPTER I.—THE INMATES OF THE FARM-HOUSE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Old Deacon Marshall sat smoking +beneath the maple tree which he had +planted many years before, when he was +scarcely older than the little girl sitting on the broad +doorstep and watching the sun as it went down +behind the western hills. The tree was a sapling +then, and himself a mere boy. The sapling now was +a mighty tree, and its huge branches swept the gable +roof of the time-worn building, while the boy was a +gray-haired man, sitting there in the glorious sunset +of that bright October day, and thinking of all which +had come to him since the morning long ago, when, +from the woods near by, he brought the little twig, +and with his mother's help secured it in its place, +watching anxiously for the first indications of its +future growth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Across the fields and on a shady hillside, there +were white headstones gleaming in the fading sunlight. +He could count them all from where he sat,—could +tell which was his mother's, which his father's, +and which his fair-haired sister's. Then there came a +blur before his eyes, and great tears rolled down his +furrowed cheek, as he remembered that in that yard +there were more graves of his loved ones than there +were chairs around his fireside, even though he +counted the one which for years had not been used, +but stood in the dark corner of the kitchen, just +where it had been left that dreadful night when his +only son was taken from him. On the hillside there +was no headstone for that boy, but there were two +graves, which had been made just as many years as +the arm-chair of oak had stood in the dark corner, and +on the handsome monument which a stranger's hand +had reared, was cut the name of the deacon's wife and +the deacon's daughter-in-law.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fourteen times the forest tree had cast its leaf +since this last great sorrow came, and the old man +had in a measure recovered from the stunning blow, +for new joys, new cares, new loves had sprung into +existence, and few who looked into his calm, unruffled +face, ever dreamed of the anguish he had suffered. +Time will soften the keenest grief, and in all the town +there was not apparently a happier man than the +deacon; though as often as the autumn came, bringing +the frosty nights and hazy October days, there +stole a look of sadness over his face, and the pipe, his +never-failing friend, was brought into requisition +more frequently than ever.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It drove the blues away," he said; but on the +afternoon of which we write, <em class="italics">the blues</em> must have +dipped their garments in a deeper dye than usual, for +though the thick smoke curled in graceful wreaths +about his head, it did not dissipate the gloom which +weighed upon his spirits as he sat beneath the maple, +counting the distant graves, and then casting his eye +down the long lane, through which a herd of cows +was wending its homeward way. They were the +deacon's cows, and he watched them as they came +slowly on, now stopping to crop the tufts of grass +growing by the wayside, now thrusting their slender +horns over the low fence in quest of the juicy cornstalk, +and then quickening their movements as they +heard the loud, clear whistle of their driver, a lad of +fourteen, and the deacon's only grandson.</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter Marshall was a handsome boy, and none +ever looked into his frank, open face, and clear, honest +eyes, without turning to look again, he seemed so +manly, so mature for his years, while about his slightly +compressed lips there was an expression as if he +were constantly seeking to force back some unpleasant +memory, which had embittered his young life and +fostered in his bosom a feeling of jealousy or distrust +of those about him, lest they, too, were thinking of +what was always uppermost in his mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">To the deacon, Walter was dear as the apple of his +eye, both for his noble qualities and the cloud of sorrow +which had overshadowed his babyhood. A dying +mother's tears had mingled with the baptismal waters +sprinkled on his face, and the first sound to which he +ever seemed to listen was that of the village bell tolling, +as a funeral train wound slowly through the lane +and across the field to the hillside, where the dead of +the Marshall family were sleeping. He had lain in his +grandmother's arms that day, but before a week went +by, a stranger held him in her lap, while the deacon +went again to the hillside and stood by an open grave. +Then the remaining inmates of the farm-house fell +back to their accustomed ways, and the prattle of the +orphan boy,—for so they called him,—was the only +sunshine which for many a weary month visited the +old homestead.</p> +<p class="pnext">Since that time the deacon's daughter had married, +had wept over her dead husband, and smiled upon a +little pale-faced, blue-eyed girl, to whom she gave the +name of Ellen, for the sake of Walter's mother.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aunt Debby, the deacon's maiden sister, occupied +a prominent position in the family, who prized her +virtues and humored her whims in a way which spoke +volumes in her praise. Although unmarried, Aunt +Debby declared that it was not her fault, and insisted +that her husband, who was to have been, was killed in +the war of 1812. Not that she ever saw him, but her +fortune had been told for fifty cents by one who pretended +to read the future, and as she placed implicit +confidence in the words of the seer, she shed a few +tears to the memory of the widower who marched +bravely to his death, leaving to the world four little +children, and to her a life of single-blessedness. For +the sake of the four children whose step-mother she +ought to have been, she professed a great affection for +the entire race of little ones, and especially for Walter, +whose father had been her pet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter was the very image of him," she said, +and when, on the night of which we are writing, she +heard his clear whistle in the distance, she drew her +straight-backed chair nearer to the window, and +watched for the first appearance of the boy. "That's +Seth again all over," she thought, as she saw him make +believe set the dog on Ellen, who had gone to meet +him. "That's just the way Seth used to pester +Mary," and she glanced at the meek-eyed woman, +moulding biscuits on the pantry shelf. As was usual +with Aunt Debby, when Seth was the burden of her +thoughts, she finished her remarks with, "Seth allus +was a good boy," and then, as she saw Walter take a +letter from his pocket and pass it to his grandfather, +she hastened to the door, while her pulses quickened +with the hope that it might contain some tidings of +the wanderer.</p> +<p class="pnext">The letter bore the New York postmark, and +glancing at the signature, the deacon said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's from Richard Graham," while both Walter +and Aunt Debby drew nearer to him, waiting patiently +to know the nature of its contents.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's nothing about my boy," the old man said, +when he had finished reading, and with a gesture of +impatience Walter turned away, saying to himself, +"I'd thank him not to write if he can't tell us something +we want to hear," while Aunt Debby went back +to her knitting, and the polished needles were wet as +they resumed their accustomed click.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mary," called the deacon, to his daughter, "this +letter concerns you more than it does me. Richard's +wife is dead,—killed herself with fashion and fooleries."</p> +<p class="pnext">Advancing toward her father, Mary said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"When did she die, and what will he do with his +little girl?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's it," returned the father, "that's the very +thing he wrote about," and opening the letter a second +time, he read that the fashionable and frivolous Mrs. +Graham, worn out by a life of folly and dissipation, +had died long before her time, and that the husband, +warned by her example, wished to remove his daughter, +a little girl eight years of age, from the city, or +rather from the care of her maternal grandmother, +who was sure to ruin her.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is true the letter was not exactly worded thus, +but that was what it meant. Mr. Graham had once +lived in Deerwood, and knew the old Marshall homestead +well,—knew how invigorating were the breezes +from the mountains,—how sweet the breath of the newly +mown hay, or soil freshly plowed,—knew how bracing +were the winter winds which howled around the +farm-house,—how healthful the influences within, and +when he decided to shut up his grand house and go to +Europe for an indefinite length of time, his thoughts +turned toward rustic Deerwood as a safe asylum for +his child. In the gentle Mary Howland she would +find a mother's care, such as she had never known, +and after a little hesitation, he wrote to know if at +the deacon's fireside there was room for Jessie Graham.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She is a wayward, high-spirited little thing," he +wrote, "but warm-hearted, affectionate and truthful,—willing +to confess her faults, though very apt to do +the same thing again. If you take her, Mrs. Howland, +treat her as if she were your own; punish her when +she deserves it, and, in short, train her to be a healthy, +useful woman."</p> +<p class="pnext">The price offered in return for all this was exceedingly +liberal, and would have tempted the deacon had +there been no other inducement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's an enormous sum to pay for one little +girl," he said, when he finished reading the letter. +"It will send Ellen through the seminary, and maybe, +buy her a piano, if she's thinking she must have one to +drum upon."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Piano!" repeated Walter. "I'll earn one for her +when she needs it. I don't like this Jessie with her +city airs. Don't take her, Aunt Mary. We have +suffered enough from the Grahams;" and Walter tossed +his cap into the tree, with a low rejoinder, which +sounded very much like "<em class="italics">darn 'em!</em>"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter," said the deacon, "you do wrong to +cherish such feelings toward Mr. Graham. He only +did what he thought was right, and were your father +here now, he'd say Richard was the best friend he +ever had."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was the place for Aunt Debby to put in her +accustomed "Seth allus was a good boy," while Walter, +not caring to discuss the matter, laughed good-humoredly, +and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"But that's nothing to do with this minx of a +Jessie. Why does he write her name s-i-e? Why +don't he spell it s-y-sy, and be sensible? Of course +she's as stuck up as she can be,—afraid of cows and +snakes and everything," and Walter sneered at the +idea of a girl who was afraid of snakes and everything.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," chimed in Ellen, who Aunt Debby said was +born for no earthly use except to "take Walter down." +"I shouldn't suppose you'd say anything, for don't you +remember when you went to Boston with Mr. Smith +to see the caravan, and stopped at the Tremont, and +when they pounded that big thing for dinner you were +scared almost to death, and hid behind the door +screaming, 'The lion's out! the lion's out! Don't +you hear him roar?'"</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter colored crimson, and replied apologetically:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pshaw, Nell, I was a little shaver then, only ten +years old. I'd never heard a gong before, and why +shouldn't I think the lion out?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And why shouldn't Jessie be afraid of snakes if +she never saw one? She's only eight, and you were +ten," was the reply of Ellen, whose heart bounded at +the thoughts of a companion, and who had unwittingly +avowed herself the champion of the unknown +Jessie Graham.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hush, children," interrupted the deacon. "It +isn't worth while to quarrel. Folks raised in the city +are sometimes green as well as country people, and +this Jessie may be one of 'em. But the question +now is, shall she come to Deerwood or not?" and he +turned inquiringly toward his daughter. "Mary, +are you willing to be a mother to Richard Graham's +child?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Howland started, and sweeping her hand +across her face, answered: "I am willing," while +Aunt Debby, in her straight-backed chair mumbled:</p> +<p class="pnext">"To think it should come to that,—Mary taking +care of his and another woman's child; but, law! it's +no more than I should have done if he hadn't been +killed," and with a sigh for the widower and his four +motherless offspring, Aunt Debby also gave her assent, +thinking how she would knit lamb's-wool stockings for +the little girl, whose feet she guessed were about the +size of Ellen's.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Ellen, when it was settled, +"for now there'll be somebody to play with when +my head aches too hard to go to school. I hope she'll +bring a lot of dolls; and, Walter, you won't ink their +faces and break their legs as you did that cob baby +Aunt Debby made for me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">When thus appealed to, Walter was reading for +himself the letter which had fallen at his grandfather's +feet, and his clear hazel eyes were moist with tears, as +he read the postscript:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have as yet heard nothing from Seth, poor fellow! +I hoped he would come back ere this. It may +be I shall meet him in my travels."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He isn't so bad a man after all," thought Walter, +and with his feelings softened toward the father, he +was more favorably disposed toward the daughter's +dolls, and to Ellen's question he replied, "Of course I +shan't bother her if she lets me alone and don't put on +too many airs."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't see to write as well as I used to," said the +deacon, after everything had been arranged, "and +Walter must answer the letter."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter won't do any such thing," was the mental +comment of the boy, whose animosity began to return +toward one who he fancied had done his father a +wrong.</p> +<p class="pnext">After a little, however, he relented, and going to +his room wasted several sheets of paper before he was +at all satisfied with the few brief lines which were to +tell Mr. Graham that his daughter Jessie would be +welcome at Deerwood. Great pains he took to spell +her name according to his views of orthography, making +an extra flourish to the "y" with which he finished +up the "Jessy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now, that's sensible," he said. "I wonder Aunt +Debby don't spell her name b-i-e-by. She would, I +dare say, if she lived in New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter's ideas of city people were formed entirely +from the occasional glimpses he had received of his +proud Boston relatives, who had been highly indignant +at his mother's marriage with a country youth, the +most of them resenting it so far as to absent themselves +from her funeral. His lady grandmother, they +told him, had been present, and had held him for a +moment upon her rich black mourning dress, but from +that day she had not looked upon his face. These +things had tended to embitter Walter toward his +mother's family, and judging all city people by them, +it was hardly natural that he should be very favorably +disposed toward little Jessie. Still, as the time for +her arrival drew near, none watched for her more vigilantly +or evinced a greater interest in her coming than +himself, and on the day when she was expected, it was +observed by his cousin Ellen that he took more than +usual pains with his toilet, and even exchanged his +cowhide boots for a lighter pair, which would make +less noise in walking; then as he heard the whistle in +the distance, he stationed himself by the gate, where +he waited until the gray horses which drew the village +omnibus appeared over the hill. The omnibus itself +next came in sight, and the head of a little girl was +thrust from the window, a profusion of curls falling +from beneath her brown straw hat, and herself evidently +on the lookout for her new home.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Curls, of course," said Walter. "See if I don't +cut some of 'em off," and he involuntarily felt for his +jack-knife.</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time the carriage was so near that he vacated +his post, lest the strangers should think he was +waiting for them, and returning to the house, looked +out of the west window, whistling indifferently, and +was apparently quite oblivious of the people alighting +at the gate, or of the chubby form tripping up the +walk, and with sunny face and laughing round bright +eyes, winning at once the hearts of the four who, unlike +himself, had gone out to receive her.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ii-mr-graham-and-jessie"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id3">CHAPTER II.—MR. GRAHAM AND JESSIE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">She was a little fat, black-eyed, black-haired +girl, with waist and ankles of no Lilliputian +size, and when at last Walter dared +to steal a look at her, she had already divested herself +of her traveling habiliments, and with the household +cat in her arms, was looking about for a chair which +suited her. She evidently did not fancy the high, old-fashioned +ones which had belonged to Deacon Marshall's +wife, for, spying the one which was never used, +and into which even Ellen dared not climb, she unhesitatingly +wheeled it from its place, and seated herself +in its capacious depths, quite as a matter of course.</p> +<p class="pnext">A good deal shocked, and somewhat amused, +Walter watched her proceedings, thinking to himself:</p> +<p class="pnext">"By and by I'll tell her that is father's chair, and +then she won't want to sit in it; but she's a stranger +now, so I guess I'll let her alone."</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time the cat, unaccustomed to quite so +hard a squeeze as Jessie gave it, escaped from her lap, +and jumping down, Jessie ran after it, exclaiming:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, boy, boy, stop her!"</p> +<p class="pnext">A peculiar whistle from Walter sent the animal +flying faster from her, and shaking back her curls, +Jessie's black eyes flashed up into his face, as she +said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're the meanest boy, and I don't like you a +bit."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," said the stern voice of her father, and +for the first time since his entrance, Walter turned to +look at him, and as he looked he felt the bitterness +gradually giving way, for the expression of Mr. +Graham's face was not proud and overbearing as he +had fancied it to be.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the contrary, it was mild and gentle as a +woman's, while there was something in his pleasant +blue eyes which would prompt an entire stranger to +trust him at once. He had seen much of the world, +and of what is called best society, and his manners +were polished and pleasing. Still there was nothing +ostentatious about him, no consciousness of superiority, +and when Deacon Marshall, pointing to Walter, +said to him, "This is Seth's child," he took the boy's +hand in his own, and for a moment, stood gazing +down into the frank, open face, then pushing the +brown hair from off the forehead, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You look as your father did, when we were boys +together, and he was the dearest friend I knew."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What made you turn against him then?" trembled +on Walter's lips, but the words were not uttered, +for Mr. Graham's manner had disarmed him of all +animosity, and he said instead:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope I may be as good and true a man as I +believe him to have been."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment longer Mr. Graham held the hand +in his, while he looked admiringly at the boy, who +had paid this tribute to one whom the world considered +an outcast, then releasing it, he turned away, +and Walter was sure that his eyes were moist with +something which looked like tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I like him for that," was his mental comment, as +he watched Mr. Graham talking with his aunt of little +Jessie, who, when he bade her farewell,—for he went +back that night,—clung sobbing to his neck, refusing +to be comforted, until Walter whispered to her of a +bright-eyed squirrel playing in its cage up in the +maple tree.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then her arms relaxed their grasp, and she went +with Ellen to see the sight, while Walter accompanied +Mr. Graham to the depot. There was a bond of sympathy +between the man and boy, and they grew to +liking each other very fast during the few moments +they talked together upon the platform of the Deerwood +station. Numerous were the charges Mr. +Graham gave to Walter concerning his little girl, +bidding him care for her as if she were his sister, and +Walter felt a boyish pride in thinking how well he +would fulfill his trust.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham could never tell what prompted him +to say it, but as his mind went forward to the future, +when Jessie would be grown, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"She will make a beautiful woman, I think, and I +hope she will be as good and pure as beautiful, so that +her future husband, should she ever have one, will not +look to her in vain for happiness."</p> +<p class="pnext">It might have been that Mr. Graham was thinking +of his own wife, and the little congeniality there had +been between them. If so, he hastened to thrust such +thoughts aside by adding, laughingly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Her grandmother is a remarkably scheming old +lady, and has already set her heart on William Bellenger, +or rather on his family; but I would rather +see her buried than the wife of any of that race."</p> +<p class="pnext">Unconsciously Mr. Graham had wounded Walter +deeply, for in his veins the blood of the Bellengers +was flowing, and he did not care to hear another +speak thus disparagingly of a race from which his +gentle mother sprung, though he had no love for it +himself. William Bellenger was his cousin, and even +now he felt his finger tips tingle as he recalled the +only time they had met. It was on the occasion of +that first visit to Boston, to which Ellen had alluded. +His uncle's family were then boarding at the Tremont +and William was making a constrained effort to entertain +him in the public parlor, when he became so +frightened with the gong, mistaking it for a roaring +lion, and taking refuge behind the door as Ellen had +said. With explosive shouts of laughter William +repeated the story to all whose ear he could gain, and +Walter had never forgotten the sneering tone of his +voice as he called after him at parting:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The lion's out! the lion's out!"</p> +<p class="pnext">They had never seen each other since,—he hoped +they never should see each other again,—and though +sure that he disliked Jessie very much, he shrank even +from the thought of associating her with William +Bellenger, though he did not like to have Mr. Graham +speak so slightingly of him. Something like this must +have shown itself upon his face, for Mr. Graham saw +the shadow resting there and quickly divining the +cause, hastened to say:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Forgive me, Walter, for speaking thus thoughtlessly +of your mother's family. I did not think of the +relationship. You are not like them in the least, I am +sure, for you remind me each moment of your father."</p> +<p class="pnext">Around the curve the train appeared in view, but +Walter must ask one question of his companion, and +as the latter sprang upon the steps of the forward car, +he held his arm, and said to him entreatingly, as it +were:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you think my father guilty?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh, how Mr. Graham longed to say no to the impulsive +boy, whose handsome face looked up to him so +wistfully. But he could not, and he answered sadly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did think so, years ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes; but now? Do you think so now?" +and Walter held fast to the arm, even though the train +was moving slowly on.</p> +<p class="pnext">The ringing of the bell, the creaking of the machinery, +and the puffing of the engine increased each +moment; but above the din of them all Walter caught +the reply:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have had no reason to change my mind," and +releasing Mr. Graham, he sprang to the ground and +walked slowly back to the farm-house, his bosom swelling +with resentment, and his eyes filling with tears, +for upon no subject was the high-spirited boy so sensitive +as the subject of his father's honor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll never believe it till he himself tells me it is +true," he said, and then, as he had often done before, +he began to wonder if his father ever thought of the +child he had never seen, and if in this world they +would ever meet.</p> +<p class="pnext">While thus meditating, he reached home, where +he found the entire family assembled around little +Jessie, who, with flushed cheeks and angry eyes, was +stamping her fat feet furiously, and, by way of variety, +occasionally bumping her hard head against the harder +door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it?" he asked, pressing forward until he +caught sight of the little tempest.</p> +<p class="pnext">The matter was soon explained. Always accustomed +to her own way with her indulgent grandmother, +Jessie had insisted upon opening the cage +and taking the squirrel in her hands, and when her +request was refused she had flown into a most violent +passion, screaming for her father to come and take her +away from such dirty, ugly people. It was in vain that +they tried by turns to soothe her. Her spirit was the +ruling one as yet, and she raved on till Walter came +and learned the cause of her wrath.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can make her mind, I'll bet," he thought, and +advancing toward her, he said sternly: "Jessie!" but +a more decided stamp of the foot was her only answer, +and seizing her arm, he shook her violently, +while he said more sternly than before: "Stop, +instantly!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Like coals of fire the black eyes flashed up into his, +meeting a look so firm and decided that they quailed +beneath the glance. Jessie had met her master, and +after a few hysterical sobs, she became as gentle as a +lamb, nestling so close to Walter, who had seated +himself upon the chintz-covered lounge, that he involuntarily +wound his arm around her, as if to make +amends for his recent harshness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie was as affectionate and warm-hearted as +she was high-tempered and rebellious. Her tears +were like April showers, and before Walter had been +with her one half hour, all traces of the storm had +disappeared, and in her own way she was cultivating +his acquaintance, and occasionally inflicting upon him +a pang by criticising some of his modes of speech. +Particularly was she shocked at his favorite expression, +"Darn it!" and looking wonderingly into his +face, she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You mustn't use such naughty words. Nobody +but vulgar folks do that."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter colored painfully, and that night, in the +little diary which he kept, he wrote:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Resolved to break myself of using the word +'darn;' not because a pert city miss wishes it, but because—"</p> +<p class="pnext">He didn't know quite what reason to assign, so he +left the sentence to be finished at some future time.</p> +<p class="pnext">In less than three weeks Jessie was the pet of the +household, not even excepting Walter, whose prejudices +gradually gave way, and who at last admitted +that she would be "a niceish kind of a little girl, if +she wasn't so awful spunky."</p> +<p class="pnext">To no one of the family did Jessie take so kindly +as to him. He had been the first to conquer her, and +she clung to him with a childish, trusting love, whose +influence he could not resist. Naturally full of life +and fond of exercise, she was his constant companion +in the fields and in the woods, where, fearless of complexion +or dress, she gathered the rich butternuts, or +sought among the yellow leaves for the brown chestnuts +which the hoar frost had cast from their prickly +covering. She liked the country, she said, and when +her grandmother wrote, as she often did, begging her +to come back, if only for a week, she absolutely refused +to go, bidding Walter, who was her amanuensis, +say that she liked staying where she was, and never +meant to live in the city again. To Walter she was +of inestimable advantage, for she cured him of more +than one bad habit, both of word and manner, and +though he, perhaps, would not have acknowledged it, +he was very careful not to offend her ladyship by a +repetition of the offense, until at last his schoolmates +more than once called him stuck-up and proud, while +even Ellen thought him greatly changed.</p> +<p class="pnext">And thus the autumn passed away, and the breath +of winter was cold and keen upon the New England +hills, while the grim old mountain frowned gloomily +down upon the pond, or tiny lake, whose surface was +covered over with a coat of polished glass, tempting +the skaters far and near, and bringing to its banks +one day Walter and Jessie Graham. It was in vain +that Mrs. Howland and Aunt Debby both urged upon +the latter the propriety of remaining at home and +knitting on the deacon's socks, just as gentle, domestic +Ellen did. Jessie was not to be persuaded, and, +wrapped in her warm fur cape and mittens, she went +with Walter to the pond, receiving many a heavy fall +upon the ice, but always saying it was no matter, particularly +if Walter were within hearing. The surest +way to win his favor, she knew, was to be brave and +fearless, and when, as the bright afternoon drew to +its close, some boy, more mischievous than the rest, +caught off Walter's cap and sent it flying toward the +southern boundary of the pond, she darted after it, +unmindful of the many voices raised to stay the rash +adventure.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stop, Jessie! stop! The deep hole lies just +there!" was shouted after her. But she did not hear; +she thought only of Walter's commendation when she +returned him his cap, and she kept on her way, while +Walter, with blanched cheek, looked anxiously after +her, involuntarily shutting his eyes as the dreadful cry +rose upon the air:</p> +<p class="pnext">"She's gone! she's gone!"</p> +<p class="pnext">When he opened them again the space where he +had seen her last, with her bright face turned toward +him, was vacant, and the cold, black waters were +breaking angrily over the spot where she had stood, +Walter thought himself dying, and almost hoped he +was, for the world would be very dreary with no little +Jessie in it; then as he caught sight of the crimson +lining to Jessie's cape fluttering above the ice, and +thought of her father's trust in him, he cried, "I'll +save her, or perish too!" and rushed on to the +rescue.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a fierce struggle in the water, and the +ice was broken up for many yards around, and then, +just as those who stood upon the shore, breathlessly +awaiting the result, were beginning to despair, the +noble boy fell fainting in their midst, his arms clasped +convulsively around Jessie, whose short black curls +and dripping garments clung tightly to her face and +form. Half an hour later and Deacon Marshall, +smoking by his kitchen fire, looked from the western +window, and, starting to his feet, exclaimed:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are all those people coming this way, and +what do they carry with them? It's Walter,—it's +Walter!" he cried, as the setting sun shone on the +white face, and hurrying out, he asked, huskily, "Is +my boy dead?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, not dead," answered one of the group, "his +heart is beating yet, but she——" and he pointed to +little Jessie, whom a strong man carried in his arms.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Jessie was not dead, although for a long time +they thought she was, and Walter, who had recovered +from his fainting fit, was not ashamed to cry as he +looked upon the still white face and wished he had +never been harsh to the little girl, or shaken her so +hard on that first day of her arrival at Deerwood. +Slowly, as one wakes from a heavy slumber, Jessie +came back to life, and the first words she uttered +were:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell Walter I did get his cap, but somebody took +it from me and hurt my hand so bad," and she held up +the tiny thing on which was a deep cut made by the +sharp-pointed ice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, darling, I know it," Walter whispered, and +when no one saw him he pressed his lips to the +wounded hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was a good deal for Walter to do. Never +had he called any one darling before, never kissed +even his blue-eyed cousin Ellen, but the first taste +inspired him with a desire for more, and he wondered +at himself for having refrained so long.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will she live?" he asked eagerly of the physician, +who replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is now no reason why she should not," and +Walter hastened away to his own room, where, unobserved, +he could weep out his great joy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually, as the days went by, Jessie comprehended +what Walter had done for her, and her first +impulse was that some one should write to her father,—somebody +who would say just what she told them +to, and as Aunt Debby was the most likely to do this, +the poor old lady was pressed into the service, groaning +and sweating over the task.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now, pa," Aunt Debby wrote, after telling of +the accident, "Walter must be paid, and I'll tell you +how to pay him. I heard him one night talking with +his grandpa about going to school and college, and his +grandpa said he couldn't, they were not worth enough +in the whole world for that. Then Walter said he +should never know anything, and cried so hard that I +was just going to cry too, when I fell asleep and forgot +it. You are rich, I know, for one of ma's rings +cost five hundred dollars, and her shawl a thousand, +and I want you to send me money enough for Walter +to go to college. It will take a lot, I guess, for I heard +him say he'd only studied the things they learn in district +schools; but you have got enough. Let me give +it to him with my own hands, because he saved me +with his, will you, father? Walter is the nicest kind +of a boy."</p> +<p class="pnext">The letter was sent, and in course of time there +came a response with a draft for two thousand dollars, +the whole to be used for the noble lad who had saved +the life of the father's only child. Wild with delight +Jessie listened while Aunt Debby, the only one in the +secret, spelled out the words, then seizing the draft, +she hastened out in quest of Walter, whom she found +in the barn, milking the speckled cow. Running up +to him she cried:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's come,—the money! You're going to school,—to +college, and to be a great big man like father. +Here it is," and thrusting the paper into his hand she +crouched so near to him that the milk-pail was upset, +and the white drops spattered her jet black hair.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first Walter could not understand it, but Jessie +managed to explain how she had asked her father for +money to pay for his education.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because," she said, "if it hadn't been for you I +should have been a little dead girl now, and the boys, +next winter, would have skated right over me lying +there on the bottom of the pond."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter's first emotion was one of joy in having +within his reach what he had so greatly desired, but +considered impossible. Then there arose a feeling +of unwillingness to receive his education from Mr. +Graham, to whom they were already indebted. It +seemed too much like charity, and that he could not +endure. Still he did not say so to Jessie,—he would +wait, he thought, until he had talked with his grandfather. +Greatly surprised, Deacon Marshall listened +to the story, saying, when it was finished:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You'll accept it, of course."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I shan't," returned Walter. "We owe Mr. +Graham now more than we can ever pay, and I would +rather work all my life on the old homestead than be +dependent on his bounty. You may send it back to +your father," he added, giving the draft to Jessie. +"Tell him I thank him, but I can't accept his favor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Walter!" and climbing into a chair, for +Walter was standing up, Jessie wound her arms +around his neck and poured forth a torrent of entreaties +which led him finally to waver, and at last to +decide upon accepting it, provided Mr. Graham would +allow him to pay it back as soon as he was able.</p> +<p class="pnext">To this Mr. Graham, who was immediately written +to upon the subject, assented, for he readily understood +the feeling of pride which had prompted the +suggestion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not respect you less," he wrote to Walter in +reply, "for wishing to take care of yourself, and the +time may come when the money so cheerfully loaned +to you now will be sorely needed by me and mine. +Until then, give yourself no trouble about it, but devote +all your energies to the acquirement of an education. +Were my advice asked in reference to a college, +I should tell you Yale, but you must do as you +think best. I shall need a partner by-and-by, perhaps, +and nothing could please me more than to see the +names of Graham and Marshall associated together in +business again. God bless your father, wherever he +may be."</p> +<p class="pnext">This letter touched the right chord, and often in +his sleep Walter saw the sign whose yellow letters +read "Graham & Marshall," and the junior partner of +this firm sometimes was himself, but oftener a mild-faced +man wearing the sad, weary look he always saw +in dreams upon his father's face. The day would +come, too, he said, when the honor of the Marshall +name would be redeemed, and he looked eagerly forward +to the time when he was to enter as a student +the Wilbraham Academy, where it was decided that +he should fit himself for college.</p> +<p class="pnext">Very delightful was the bustle and confusion attendant +upon the preparations in the deacon's household, +the entire family entering into the excitement +with a zest which told how much the boy was beloved. +Every one wished to do something for him, even to +little Jessie, who, having never been taught to do a +really useful thing until she came to Deerwood, +worked perseveringly, but with small hope of success, +upon a pair of socks like those which Ellen had knit +for the deacon the winter before. But alas for Jessie! +knitting was not her forte, and Walter himself +could not forbear a smile at the queer-looking thing +which grew but slowly in her hands. At last, in despair, +she gave it up, and one night, when no one was +near, threw it into the fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I must give him something for a keepsake," she +thought, and remembering that he had sometimes +smoothed her hair as if he liked it, she seized the +shears, and cutting from her head the longest, handsomest +curl, gave it to him with the explanation +that "her father had taken a lock of her hair when he +went away, and perhaps he would like one too."</p> +<p class="pnext">Affecting an indifference he did not feel, Walter +laughingly accepted a gift which in future years +would be very dear to him, because of the fair donor.</p> +<p class="pnext">The bright April morning came at last on which +Walter left his home, and with tearful eyes the family +watched him out of sight, and then, with saddened +hearts, went back to their usual employments, feeling +that the sunshine of the house had gone with the +stirring, active boy, who, in one corner of the noisy +car, was winking hard and counting the fence posts as +they ran swiftly past, to keep himself from crying. +Anon this feeling left him, and with the hopefulness of +youth he looked eagerly into the far future, catching +occasional glimpses of the day which would surely +come to him when the names of Graham and Marshall +would be associated together again.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iii-eight-years-later"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id4">CHAPTER III.—EIGHT YEARS LATER.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It is the pleasant summer time, and on the +college green groups of people hurry to +and fro, some seeking their own pleasure +beneath the grateful shade of the majestic elms, others +wending their way to the hotel, while others still are +hastening to the Center Church to hear the valedictory, +which rumor says will be all the better received +for the noble, manly beauty of the speaker chosen to +this honor. Flushed with excitement, he stands before +the people, his clear hazel eye wandering uneasily +over the sea of upturned faces, as if in quest of one +from whose presence he had hoped to catch his inspiration. +But he looked in vain. Two figures alone +met his view,—one a bent and gray-haired old man +leaning on his staff, the other a mustached, stylish-looking +youth of nearly his own age, who occupied a +front seat, and with his glass coolly inspected the +young orator.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a calm, dignified mien, Walter returned the +gaze, wondering where he had seen that face before. +Suddenly it flashed upon him, and with a feeling of +gratified pride that it was thus they met again, he +glanced a second time at the calm, benignant expression +of the old man, who had come many miles to hear +the speech his boy was to make. In the looks of the +latter there was that which kindled a thrill of enthusiasm +in Walter's frame, and when at last he opened his +lips, and the tide of eloquence burst forth, the audience +hung upon his words with breathless interest, +greeting him at the close with shouts of applause +which shook the solid walls and brought the old man +to his feet. Then the tumult ceased, and amid the +throng the hero of the hour was seen piloting his aged +grandfather across the green to the hotel.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish your father was here to-day," the deacon +said, as they reached the public parlor; but before +Walter could reply he saw approaching them the +stranger who had so leisurely inspected him with his +quizzing-glass, and who now came forward, offering +his hand and saying, laughingly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Allow me to congratulate you upon having become +yourself a <em class="italics">lion</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">It did not need this speech to tell Walter that his +visitor was William Bellenger, and he answered in the +same light strain:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I'm not afraid of the lion now;" "nor of the +baboon, either," was his mental rejoinder, as he saw +the wondrous amount of hair his cousin had brought +back from Europe, where for the last two years he had +been traveling.</p> +<p class="pnext">William Bellenger could be very gracious when he +tried, and as his object in introducing himself to Walter's +notice was not so much to talk with him particularly, +as to inquire after a certain young girl and +heiress, whose bright, sparkling beauty was beginning +to create something of a sensation, he assumed a +friendliness he did not feel, and was soon conversing +familiarly with Walter of the different people they +both knew, mentioning incidentally Mr. Graham, the +wealthy New York banker, whom he had met in +Europe, for Mr. Graham had remained abroad six +years. From him William had heard the warmest +eulogies of Walter Marshall, and there had been +kindled in his bosom a feeling of jealous enmity, +which the events of the day had not in the least +tended to diminish. Still if his cousin had not interfered +with him in another matter of greater importance +than the being praised by Mr. Graham and the +people, he was satisfied, and it was to ascertain this +fact that he had followed young Marshall to the hotel.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before going to New Haven William had called +at the home of Jessie's grandmother in the city, to inquire +for the young lady. The house was shut up +and the family were in the country, the servant said, +who answered William's ring, but the sharp eyes of +the young man caught the outline of a figure listening +in the upper hall, and readily divining who the +figure was, he answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, but Mrs. Bartow is here. Carry her my +card and say that I will wait."</p> +<p class="pnext">The name of Bellenger brought down at once a +bundle of satin and lace, which Jessie called her +grandmother, and which was supposed to be showing +off its diamonds at some fashionable hotel, instead of +fanning itself in the back chamber of that brownstone +front. From her William learned that Jessie +was in Deerwood, and would probably attend the commencement +exercises at Yale, as a boy of some kind, +whom Mr. Graham had taken up, was to be graduated +at that time. To New Haven, then, he went, examining +the books at every hotel, and scanning the faces +of those he met with an eager gaze, and at last, as he +became convinced she was not there, he determined to +seek an interview with his cousin, and question him +of her whereabouts. After speaking of the father as +a man whose acquaintance every one was proud to +claim, he said, quite indifferently:</p> +<p class="pnext">"By the way, Walter, his daughter Jessie is in +Deerwood, is she not?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," returned Walter; "she has been there for +some weeks. She lived with us all the time her father +was in Europe, except when she was away at school," +and Walter felt his pulses quicken, for he remembered +what Mr. Graham had said of Mrs. Bartow's +having set her heart on William as her future grandson.</p> +<p class="pnext">William knew as well as Walter that Jessie had +lived at Deerwood, but he seemed to be surprised, and +continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wonder, then, she is not here to-day. She must +feel quite a sisterly interest in you," and the eyes, not +wholly unlike Walter's, save that they had in them a +sinister expression, were fixed inquiringly upon young +Marshall, who replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did expect her, and my cousin too; but my +grandfather says that Ellen was not able to come, and +Jessie would not leave her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She must be greatly attached to her country +friends," returned William, and the slight sneer which +accompanied the words prompted Walter to reply:</p> +<p class="pnext">"She is attached to some of us, I trust. At all +events, I love her as a sister, for such she has been to +me, while Mr. Graham has been a second father. I +owe him everything——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not your education, certainly. You don't mean +that?" interrupted William, who had from the first +suspected as much, for he knew that Deacon Marshall +was comparatively poor.</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter hesitated, for he had not yet outlived the +pride which caused him to shrink from blazoning it +abroad that a stranger's money had made him what he +was. Deacon Marshall, on the contrary, had no such +sensitiveness, and observing Walter's embarrassment, +he answered for him:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Mr. Graham did pay for his education, and +an old man's blessing on his head for that same deed +of his'n."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Graham is very liberal," returned William, +with a supercilious bow, which brought the hot blood +to Walter's cheek. "Do you go home immediately?" +he continued, and Walter replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My grandfather has a desire to visit Medway, in +Massachusetts, where he married his wife, and as I +promised to go with him in case he came to New +Haven, I shall not return to Deerwood for a week."</p> +<p class="pnext">Instantly the face of William Bellenger brightened, +and Walter felt a strong desire to knock him down +when he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Allow me, then, to be the bearer of any message +you may choose to send, for I am resolved upon seeing +Miss Graham, and shall, accordingly, go to Deerwood. +She will need a gallant in your absence, and +trust me, I will do my best, though I cannot hope to +fill the place of a <em class="italics">lion</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">Involuntarily Walter clenched his fist, while in the +angry look of defiance he cast upon his cousin, the impudent +William read all the withering scorn he felt +for him. Ay, more, for he read, too, or thought he +did, that the beautiful Jessie Graham, whose father +was worth a million, had a warm place in the young +plebeian's heart, and this it was which brought the +wrathful scowl to his own face as he compelled himself +to offer his hand at parting.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What message did you bid me carry?" he asked, +and taking his extended hand, Walter looked fiercely +into his eyes as he replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"None; I can tell her myself all I have to say."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well," said William, with another bow, and +stroking the little forest about his mouth, he walked +away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't put much faith in presentiments," said the +deacon, when he was gone, "but all the time that +chap was here I felt as if a snake were crawling at my +feet. Believe me, he's got to cross my path or yourn, +mebby both," and the deacon resumed his post by the +window, watching the passers-by, while Walter hurriedly +paced the floor with a vague, uneasy sensation, +for though he knew of no way in which the unprincipled +Bellenger could possibly cross his grandfather's +path, he did know how he could seriously disturb himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Not that he had any confessed hope of winning +Jessie Graham. She was far above him, he said. Yet +she was the one particular star he worshiped, feeling +that no other had a right to share the brightness with +him, and when he remembered the shady, winding +paths in the pleasant old woods at Deerwood, and the +long afternoons when Ellen would be too languid to +go out, and William and Jessie free to go alone, he +longed for his grandfather to give up his favorite +project and go back with him to Deerwood. But +when he saw how the old man was set upon the visit, +wondering if he should know the place, and if the +thorn-apple tree were growing still where he sat with +Eunice and asked her to be his wife, he put aside all +thoughts of self, and went cheerfully to Medway, +while his cousin, with an eye also to the shadowy +woods and the quiet mountain walks, was hurrying on +to Deerwood.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iv-jessie-and-ellen"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id5">CHAPTER IV.—JESSIE AND ELLEN.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It was a glorious afternoon, and not a single +feathery cloud flecked the clear blue of the +sky. The refreshing rain of the previous +night had cooled the sultry August air, and all about +the farm-house the grass had taken a brighter green +and the flowers a brighter hue. Away to the westward, +at the distance of nearly one-fourth of a mile, +the woods were streaked with an avenue of pines, +which grew so closely together that the scorching rays +of the noontide sun seldom found entrance to the velvety +plat where Walter had built a rustic bench, with +Jessie looking on, and where Jessie and Ellen now +were sitting, the one upon the seat and the other on +the grass filling her straw hat with cones, and talking +to her companion of the young graduate, wondering +where he was, and if he didn't wish he were there +with them beneath the sheltering pines.</p> +<p class="pnext">Eight years had changed the little girls of nine +and eight into grown-up, graceful maidens, and though +of an entirely different style, each was beautiful in her +own way, Jessie as a brunette, and Ellen as a blonde. +Full of frolic, life and fun, Jessie carried it all upon +her sparkling face, and in her laughing eyes of black. +Now, as of old, her raven hair clustered in short, thick +curls around her forehead and neck, giving her the +look of a gypsy, her father said, as he fondly stroked +the elfin locks, and thought how beautiful she was. +Five years she had lived in Deerwood, and then, at +her father's request, had gone to a fashionable boarding-school, +for the only child of the millionaire must +have accomplishments such as could not be obtained +among the New England mountains. No process of +polishing, however, or course of discipline had succeeded +as yet in making her forget her country home, +and when Mr. Graham, whose business called him +West, offered her the choice between Newport and +Deerwood, she unhesitatingly chose the latter, greatly +to the vexation of her grandmother, who delighted in +society now even more than she did when young. If +Jessie went to Deerwood she must remain at home, +for she could not go to Newport alone, and what was +worse, she must live secluded in the rear of the house +for Mrs. Bartow would not for the world let her fashionable +acquaintances know that she passed the entire +summer in the city. She should lose <em class="italics">caste</em> at once, +she thought, and she used every possible argument to +persuade Jessie to give up her visit to Deerwood, and +go with her instead. But Jessie would not listen. +"Grandma could accompany old Mrs. Reeves," she +said, "they'd have a splendid time quarreling over +their respective granddaughters, herself and Charlotte, +but as for her, she should go to Deerwood;" and she +accordingly went there, and took with her a few city +airs and numerous city fashions.</p> +<p class="pnext">The former, however, were always laid aside when +talking to Ellen, who was by some accounted the more +beautiful of the two, with her wealth of golden hair, +her soft eyes of violet blue, and her pale, transparent +complexion. As gentle and quiet as she was lovely, +she formed a striking contrast to the merry, frolicsome +Jessie, with her darker, richer style of beauty, +and neither ever appeared so well as when they were +together. In all the world there was no one, except +her father, whom Jessie loved as she did Ellen Howland, +and though, amid the gay scenes of her city +home, she frequently forgot her, and neglected to send +the letters which were so precious to the simple country +girl, her love returned the moment the city was +left behind, and she breathed the exhilarating air of +the Deerwood hills.</p> +<p class="pnext">She called Walter her brother, and had watched +him through his college course with all a sister's pride, +looking eagerly forward to the time when he would +be in her father's employ, for it was settled that he +was to enter Mr. Graham's bank as soon as he was +graduated. And as on that summer afternoon she sat +upon the grassy ridge and talked with Ellen of him, +she spoke of the coming winter when he would be +with her in the city.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will be so nice," she said, "to have such a +splendid beau, for I mean to get him introduced right +away. I shall be seventeen in a month, and I'm coming +out next season. I wish you could spend the winter +with me, and see something of the world. I mean +to ask your mother. Father will buy your dresses to +wear to parties, and concerts, and the opera. Only +think of having a box all to ourselves,—you and I and +Walter, and maybe Charlotte Reeves once in a great +while, or cousin Jennie. Wouldn't you love to go?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, not for anything," answered Ellen, who +liked early hours and quiet rooms, and always experienced +a kind of suffocation in the presence of fashionable +people, and who continued: "I don't believe +Walter will like it either, unless he changes greatly. +He used to have a horror of city folks, and I do believe +almost hated <em class="italics">you</em> before you came to Deerwood, +just because you were born in New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hated <em class="italics">me</em>, Ellen!" repeated Jessie. "He shook +me, I know, and I've been a little afraid of him ever +since, but it did me good, for I deserved it, I was such +a high-tempered piece; but I did not know he hated +me. Do you suppose he hates me now?" and Jessie's +manner evinced a deeper interest in Walter than she +herself believed existed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ellen saw it at once, and so did the man who for +the last ten minutes had been watching the young +girls through the pine tree boughs. William Bellenger +had reached Deerwood on the afternoon train, +and gone at once to the farm-house, whose gable roof, +small window panes, and low walls had provoked +a smile of derision, while he wondered what Jessie +Graham could find to attract her there. Particularly +was he amused with the quaint expressions of +Aunt Debby, who, in her high-crowned cap, with +black handkerchief smoothly crossed in front, and her +wide check apron on, sat knitting by the door, stopping +occasionally to take a pinch of snuff, or "shoo" +the hens when they came too near.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The gals was in the woods," she said, when he +asked for Miss Graham, and she bade him "make +Ellen get up if he should find her setting on the damp +ground, as she presumed she was. Ellen was weakly," +she said, "and wasn't an atom like Walter, who was +as trim a chap as one could wish to see. Did the +young man know Walter?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes," returned William. "He is my cousin."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your cousin!" and the needles dropped from the +old lady's hands. "Bless me!" and adjusting her +glasses a little more firmly upon her nose she peered +curiously at him. "I want to know if you are one of +them Bellengers? Wall, I guess you do favor +Walter, if a body could see your face. It's the fashion, +I s'pose, to wear all that baird."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, all the fashion," returned William, who was +certainly good-natured, even if he possessed no other +virtue, and having asked again the road to the woods, +he set off in that direction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Following the path Aunt Debby pointed out, he +soon came near enough to catch a view of the white +dress Jessie wore, and wishing to see her first, himself +unobserved, he crept cautiously to an opening +among the pines, where he could see and hear all that +was passing. Jessie's sparkling, animated face was +turned toward him, but he scarcely heeded it in his +surprise at another view which greeted his vision. A +slender, willowy form was more in accordance with +Will's taste than a fat chubby one, and in Ellen +Howland his idea of a beautiful woman was, if possible, +more than realized. She was leaning against a +tree, her blue gingham morning gown,—for she was an +invalid,—wrapped gracefully about her her golden +hair, slightly tinged with red, combed back from +her forehead, her long eyelashes veiling her eyes of +blue, and shading her colorless cheek, while her lily-white +hands were folded together, and rested upon +her lap.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jupiter!" thought William, "I did not suppose +Deerwood capable of producing anything like that. +Why, she's the realization of what I've often fancied +my wife should be. Now, if she were only rich I'd +yield the black-eyed witch of a Jessie to my milksop +cousin. But, pshaw! it shan't be said of me that I +fell in love at first sight with a vulgar country girl. +What the deuce, they talk of Walter, do they! I'll +try eavesdropping a little longer," and bending his +head, he listened while their conversation proceeded.</p> +<p class="pnext">He heard what Ellen said of Walter; he saw the +startled look upon the face of Jessie as she exclaimed, +"Does he hate me now?" and in that look he read +what Jessie did not know herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The wretch!" he muttered, between his teeth; +"why couldn't he take the other one? I would, if the +million were on her side," and in the glance he cast on +Ellen there was more than a mere passing fancy.</p> +<p class="pnext">She must have felt its influence, for as that look +fell upon her she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's cold,—I shiver as with a chill. Let's go back +to the house," and she arose to her feet, just as the +pine boughs parted asunder, and William appeared +before them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Bellenger!" Jessie exclaimed. "When did +you come?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Half an hour since," he returned, "and not finding +you in the house I came this way, little thinking I +should stumble upon two wood nymphs instead of +one," and again the peculiar glance rested upon Ellen, +who had sunk back upon her seat, and whose soft eyes +fell beneath his gaze.</p> +<p class="pnext">The brief introduction was over, and then Ellen +rose to go, complaining that she was cold and tired.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We will go, too," said Jessie, putting on her hat, +when Mr. Bellenger touched her arm, and said in a low +voice of entreaty:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Stay here with me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, stay," rejoined Ellen, who caught the words. +"It is pleasant here, and I can go alone."</p> +<p class="pnext">So Jessie stayed, and when the slow footsteps had +died away in the distance William sat down beside +her, and after expressing his delight at meeting her +again, said, indifferently as it were:</p> +<p class="pnext">"By the way, I have just come from New Haven, +where I had the pleasure of hearing the charity boy's +valedictory. It is strange what assurance some people +have."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Charity boy!" repeated Jessie; "I thought +Walter Marshall was to deliver the valedictory."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And isn't he a charity scholar? Don't your +father pay his bills?" asked William, in a tone which +Jessie did not like.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, yes," she answered, "but somehow I +don't like to hear you call him that, because——" she +hesitated, and William's face grew dark while waiting +for her answer, which, when it came, was, "because +he saved my life;" and then Jessie told her companion +how, but for Walter Marshall, she would not +have been sitting there that summer afternoon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Was Walter's speech a good one?" she asked, +her manner indicating that she knew it was.</p> +<p class="pnext">Not a change in her speaking face escaped the +watchful eye of William, and knowing well that insinuations +are often stronger and harder to refute than +any open assertion, he replied, with seeming reluctance:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, very good; though some of it sounded +strangely familiar, and I heard others hinting pretty +strongly at plagiarism."</p> +<p class="pnext">This last was in a measure true, for one of Walter's +class, chagrined that the honor was not conferred +upon himself, had taken pains to say that the valedictory +was not all of it Walter's,—that an older and +wiser head had helped him in its composition. William +did not believe this, but it suited his purpose to +repeat it, and he watched narrowly for the effect. +Jessie Graham was the soul of truth, and no accusation +could have been brought against Walter which would +have pained her so much as the belief that he had been +dishonorable in the least degree.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter would never pass off what was not his +own!" she exclaimed. "It isn't like him, or like any +of the Marshall family."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You forget his father," said the man beside her, +carelessly thrusting aside a cone with his polished +boot.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did his father do?" Jessie asked in some +surprise, and her companion replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You astonish me, Miss Graham, by professing +ignorance of what Walter's father did. You know, of +course."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Indeed I do not," she returned. "I only know +that there is something unpleasant connected with +him,—something which annoys Walter terribly, but I +never heard the story. I asked my father once and he +seemed greatly agitated, saying he would rather not +talk of it. Then I asked Ellen, but if she knew she +would not tell, and she evaded all my questioning, so +I gave it up, for I dare not ask Deacon Marshall or +Walter either. What was it, Mr. Bellenger?"</p> +<p class="pnext">William understood just how proud Jessie Graham +was, and how she would be shocked at the very idea +of public disgrace. Once convince her of the parent's +guilt, and she will sicken of the son, he thought, so +when she said again, "What was it? What did Mr. +Marshall do?" he replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"If your father has kept it from you, I ought not +to speak of it, perhaps; but this I will say, if Seth +Marshall had his just deserts, he would now be the +inmate of a felon's cell."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter's father a felon!" Jessie exclaimed, +bounding to her feet. "I never thought of anything +as bad as that. Is it true? Oh! is it true?" and +in the maiden's heart there was a new-born feeling, +which, had Walter been there then, would have +prompted her to shrink from him as if he, too, had +been a sharer of his father's sin.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You seem greatly excited," said William. "It +must be that you are more deeply interested in young +Marshall than I supposed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am interested," she replied. "I have liked him +so much that I never dreamed of associating him with +dishonor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why need you now?" asked the wily Will. +"Walter had nothing to do with it, though, to be +sure, it is but natural to suppose that the child is +somewhat like the father, particularly if it does not +inherit any of its mother's virtues, as Walter, I suppose, +does not. He is a Marshall through and +through," and William smiled exultingly as he saw +how well his insinuation was doing its work.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell me more," Jessie whispered. "<em class="italics">What</em> did +Mr. Marshall do?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would rather not," returned William, at the +same time hinting that it was something she ought +not to hear. "If your father had good reason for +keeping it from you, so have I. Suffice it to know +that it killed his young wife, my father's sister, and +that our family since have scarcely recognized Walter +as belonging to us. It wasn't any fault of mine," he +continued, as he saw the flash of Jessie's eyes, and +readily divined that she did not wish to have Walter +slighted. "I cannot help it. Our family are very +proud, my grandmother particularly; and when my +aunt married a poor ignorant country youth, it was +natural that she should feel it, and when the disgrace +came it was ten times worse. There is such a thing +as marrying far beneath one's station, and you can +imagine my grandmother's feelings by fancying what +your own father's would be if you were to throw +yourself away upon—well, upon this Waiter, who +may be well enough himself, but who can never hope +to wipe away the stain upon his name," and William +looked at her sideways, to see the effect of what he +had said.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie Graham was easily influenced, and she attached +far more importance to William's words than +she would have done had she known his real design; +so when he spoke of her marrying Walter as a preposterous +and impossible event, she accepted it as such, +and wondered why her heart should throb so painfully +or why she should feel as if something had +been wrested from her,—something which, all unknown +to herself, had made her life so happy. She +had taken her first lesson in distrust, and the poison +was working well.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a long time they sat there among the pines, +not talking of Walter, but of the city and the wondrous +sights which Will had seen in his foreign +travels. There was something very soothing to Jessie +in William's manner, so different from that which +Walter assumed toward her. Like most young girls +she was fond of flattery, and Walter had more than +once offended her by his straightforward way of telling +her faults. William, on the contrary, sang her +praises only; and, while listening to him, she wondered +she had never thought before how very agreeable +he was. He saw the impression he was making, +and when at last, as the sun was nearing the western +horizon, she arose to go, proposing that they should +take the Marshall grave-yard in their route, he assented, +for this, he knew, would keep him longer with +her alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Your aunt is buried here," Jessie said, as they +drew near to the fence which surrounded the home of +dead; "that is hers," and she pointed to the monument +gleaming in the sunlight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you bury your bodies above the ground?" +asked William, directing her attention to the flutter of +a blue morning dress, plainly visible beyond the taller +stone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that is Ellen!" cried Jessie, hurrying on +until she reached the gate, where she stopped suddenly, +and beckoned her companion to approach as +noiselessly as possible.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ellen also had come that way, and seating herself +by her grandmother's grave, had fallen asleep, and +like some rare piece of sculpture, she lay among the +tall, rank grass—so near to a rose tree that one of the +fading blossoms had dropped its leaves upon her face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Isn't she beautiful?" Jessie said to her companion, +who replied; "Yes, wonderfully beautiful," so +loud that the fair sleeper awoke and started up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was so tired," she said, "that I sat down and +must have gone to sleep, for I dreamed that I was +dead, and that the man who came to us in the pines +dug my grave. Where is he, Jessie!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am here," said William, coming forward, "and +believe me, my dear Miss Howland, I would dig the +grave of almost any one sooner than your own. Allow +me to assist you," and he offered her his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ellen was really very weak, and when he saw how +pale she was he made her lean upon him as they +walked down the hillside to the house. And once, +when Jessie was tripping on before, he slightly +pressed the little blue-veined hand trembling on his +arm, while in a very tender voice he asked if she felt +better. Ellen Howland was wholly unaccustomed to +the world, and had grown up to womanhood as ignorant +of flattery or deceit as the veriest child. Pure +and innocent herself, she did not dream of treachery +in others. Walter to her was a fair type of all mankind, +and she could not begin to fathom the heart of +the man who walked beside her, touching her hand +more than once before they reached the farm-house +door.</p> +<p class="pnext">They found the supper table neatly spread for five, +and though William's intention was to spend the night +at the village hotel, he accepted Mrs. Howland's invitation +to stay to tea, making himself so much at home, +and chatting with all so familiarly, that Aunt Debby +pronounced him a clever chap, while Mrs. Howland +wondered why people should say the Bellengers of +Boston were proud and overbearing. It was late that +night when William left them, for there was something +very attractive in the blue of Ellen's eyes, and +the shining black of Jessie's, and when at last he left +them, and was alone with himself and the moonlight, +he was conscious that there had come to him that day +the first unselfish, manly impulse he had known for +years. He had mingled much with fashionable ladies. +None knew how artificial they were better than himself, +and he had come at last to believe that there was +not among them a single true, noble-hearted woman. +Jessie Graham might be an exception, but even she +was tainted with the city atmosphere. Her father's +purse, however, would make amends for any faults +she might possess, and he must win that purse at all +hazards; but while doing that he did not think it +wrong to pay the tribute of admiration to the golden-haired +Ellen, whose modest, refined beauty had impressed +him so much, and whose artless, childlike +manner had affected him more than he supposed. +"Little Snow-Drop" he called her to himself, and sitting +alone in his chamber at the hotel, he blessed the +happy chance which had thrown her in his way.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is like the refreshing shower to the parched +earth," he said, and he thought what happiness it +would be to study that pure girl, to see if, far down +in the depths of her heart, there were not the germs of +vanity and deceit, or better yet, if there were not +something in her nature which would sometime respond +to him. He did not think of the harm he +might do her. He did not care, in fact, even though +he won her love only to cast it from him as a useless +thing. Country girls like her were only made for +men like him to play with. No wonder then if in her +dreams that night Ellen moaned with fear of the +beautiful serpent which seemed winding itself, fold on +fold, about her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie, too, had troubled dreams of felon's cells, of +clanking chains, and even of a gallows, with Walter +standing underneath beseeching her to come and share +the shame with him. Truly the serpent had entered +this Eden and left its poisonous trail.</p> +<p class="pnext">For nearly a week William staid in town, and the +village maidens often looked wistfully after him as he +drove his fast horses, sometimes with Jessie at his side, +and sometimes with Ellen, but never with them both, +for the words he breathed into the ear of one were not +intended for the other. Drop by drop was he infusing +into Jessie's mind a distrust of one whom she had +heretofore considered the soul of integrity and honor. +Not openly, lest she should suspect his motive, but +covertly, cautiously, always apparently seeking an +excuse for anything the young man might hereafter +do, and succeeding at last in making Jessie thoroughly +uncomfortable, though why she could not tell. She +did not blame Walter for his father's sins, but she +would much rather his name should have been without +a blemish.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually the brightness of Jessie's face gave way +to a thoughtful, serious look, her merry laugh was +seldom heard, and she would sit for hours so absorbed +in her own thoughts as not to heed the change which +the last few days had wrought in Ellen, too. Never +before had the latter seemed so happy, so joyous, so +full of life as now, and Aunt Debby said the rides +with Mr. Bellenger upon the mountains had done her +good. William had pursued his study faithfully, and, +in doing so, had become so much interested himself +that he would have asked Ellen to be his wife had she +been rich as she was lovely. But his bride must be +an heiress; and so, though knowing that he could +never be to Ellen Howland other than a friend, he led +her on step by step until at last she saw but what he +saw, and heard but what he heard. He was not deceiving +her, he said, sometimes when conscience +reproached him for his cruelty. She knew how widely +different their stations were; she could not expect +that one whom half the belles of Boston and New +York would willingly accept could think of making +her his wife. He was only polite to her, only giving +a little variety to her monotonous life. She would +forget him when he was gone. And at this point he +was conscious of an unwillingness to be forgotten.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If we were only Mormons," he thought, the last +night of his stay at Deerwood, when out under the +cherry trees in the garden he talked with her alone, +and saw the varying color on her cheek, as he said, +"We may never meet again." "If we were only +Mormons, I would have them both, Nellie and Jessie, +the one for her gilded setting, the other because——"</p> +<p class="pnext">He did not finish the sentence, for he was not willing +then to acknowledge to himself the love which +really and truly was growing in his heart for the fair +girl beside him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But you'll surely come to us again," Nellie said. +"Jessie will be here. You'll want to visit her," and a +tear trembled on her long eyelashes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can see Jessie in the city, and if I come to +Deerwood it will be you who brings me. Do you +wish me to come and see you, Nellie?" and the dark, +handsome face bent so low that the rich brown hair +rested on the golden locks of the artless, innocent girl, +who answered, in a whisper,</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I wish you to come."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then you must give me a kiss," he said, "as a +surety of my welcome, and when the trees on the +mountain where we have been so happy together are +casting their dense leaves in the autumn, I will surely +be with you again."</p> +<p class="pnext">The kiss was given—not one—not two—but many, +for William Bellenger was greedy, and his lips had +never touched aught so pure and sweet before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wouldn't tell Walter that I'm coming," he +said, "for he does not like me, I fancy, and I cannot +bear to have him prejudice you against me. I +wouldn't tell my mother either, or any one——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not Jessie?" Ellen asked, for she had a kind of +natural pride in wishing her friend to know that she, +who never aspired to notice of any kind, had succeeded +in pleasing the fastidious William Bellenger.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, not Jessie," he said, "because,—well, because +you better not," and knowing well his power over the +timid girl, he felt sure that his wishes would be regarded, +and with another good-by, he left her.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had hoped that Jessie would be induced to accompany +him to New York, and as there was a secret +understanding between himself and Mrs. Bartow, the +old lady had written, entreating her granddaughter to +return with William.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have stayed in the country long enough," +she wrote, "and I dare say you are as sunburnt and +freckled as you can be, so pray come home. Everybody +is gone, I know, and New York is just like +Sunday, while I stay like a guilty thing in the rear of +the house, to make folks think I'm off to some watering +place. I wouldn't for the world let old Mrs. +Reeves know that I have been cooped up here the +blessed summer. It's all owing to your obstinacy, too, +and I think you ought to come back and entertain me. +Mr. Bellenger will attend to you, and you couldn't +ask for a more desirable companion. Old Mrs. Reeves +says he is the most eligible match in the city, his +family are so aristocratic. There isn't a single mechanic +or working person in the whole line, for she +spent an entire season in tracing back their ancestry, +finding but one blot, and that an unfortunate marriage +of a Miss Ellen Bellenger with some ignorant country +loafer she met at boarding-school, and who she says +was hung, or sent to State prison, I forgot which. I +am sorry she discovered this last, as in case you cut +out Charlotte, and of course you will, it will be like +the spiteful old wretch to blazon it abroad, though +William ain't to blame, of course."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wonder I never told grandma that Walter was +connected with the Bellengers," Jessie thought, as she +finished reading this letter, which came to her the +night when William, beneath the cherry trees, was +whispering words to Ellen which should never have +been spoken. "It's probably because I've not been +much with her of late, and she never seemed at all interested +in him, except indeed, to say that pa ought to +get him a situation in a grocery, or something to pay +him for saving my life. I wish she wasn't so foolishly +proud," and as Jessie read the letter again, she felt +glad that her grandmother did not know how nearly +Walter Marshall was connected with the man who +"was hung, or sent to State prison."</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually, too, there arose before her mind the +whole array of her city friends, with old Mrs. Reeves +and Charlotte at their head, and the idea of having +Walter with her in the city the coming winter was +not as pleasant as it once had been. Her grandmother +might find out who he was; William would +tell, perhaps, and she could not bear the thought of +seeing him slighted, as he was sure to be if the tide, +of which the old lady Reeves was the under-current, +should set in against him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've half a mind to go home," she thought, "before +anything definite is arranged, and persuade father +to secure Walter just as good a situation in some other +place where he won't be slighted."</p> +<p class="pnext">This allusion to her father was a fortunate one, for +in her cool moments of reflection there was no one +whose judgment Jessie regarded so highly as her +father's. He knew Walter,—he respected him, too, +and had often spoken with pleasure of the time when +he would be with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"People dare not laugh if father takes him up," +she thought, while something whispered to her that +she, too, could, if she would, do much toward helping +Walter to the position in society he was fitted to +occupy. "I won't go," she said, at last. "I'll stay +and see Walter again, at all events, though I do wish +Will hadn't told me about his speech, and his father, +too. I mean to ask him some time to tell me the exact +truth." And having reached this resolution Jessie +sat down and wrote to her grandmother that she +could not come yet, she was so happy in the country.</p> +<p class="pnext">This she intended taking to William in the morning, +for she had promised to meet him at the depot +and see him off. "I shall be rather lonely when he is +gone," she thought, and walking to the window of her +room, she wondered if Charlotte Reeves would succeed +in winning William Bellenger.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Her grandmother will strain every nerve," she +thought, "but by just saying a word I can supplant +her, I know, else why has he stayed here a whole +week? Nell, is that you?" and Jessie started as the +young girl glided into the room, her face unusually +pale, and her whole appearance indicative of some +secret agitation. "Where have you been?" asked +Jessie, "and who was it that shut the gate?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where? I didn't hear any gate," Ellen replied, +trembling lest she should betray what she had been +forbidden to divulge.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had she confessed it then it would have saved her +many a weary heartache, and her companion from +many a thoughtless act, but she did not, and when +Jessie, caressed her white cheek, and said laughingly, +"Has my prudish Nell a secret love affair?" she made +some incoherent answer, and, seeking her pillow, lived +over again the scene in the garden, blushing to herself +as she recalled the dark face which had bent so near +to hers, and the tender voice which had whispered in +her ear the name so recently given to her. "Little +Snow-Drop," he called her when he bade her adieu, +and the moon went down behind the mountain ere she +fell asleep thinking of that name and the time when +the forest tree would cast its leaf and he be with +her again.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-v-walter-and-jessie"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id6">CHAPTER V.—WALTER AND JESSIE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"So you won't go with me," William said to +Jessie, next morning, when she met him +at the depot and gave him the note +intended for her grandmother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," she replied. "The city is dull as yet, and +I'd rather remain here with Ellen."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes, Ellen," and William spoke quite indifferently. +"Why didn't she come to bid me good-by?" +and he looked curiously at Jessie to see how much she +knew.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Jessie suspected nothing, and replied at once:</p> +<p class="pnext">"She has a headache this morning and was still in +bed when I left her."</p> +<p class="pnext">The heartless man was conscious of a pleasurable +sensation,—a feeling of gratified vanity,—for he knew +that headache was for him. But he merely said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell her that I'm sorry she's sick; she is a pleasant, +quiet little girl, quite superior to country girls in +general."</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's the train," cried Jessie, and in a moment +the cars rolled up before them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will seem a young eternity until you come +home," said William, clasping Jessie's hand. "Good-bye," +he added, as "all aboard" was shouted in his +ear, and as he turned away his place was taken by +another, who had witnessed the parting between the +two, and at whom Jessie looked wonderingly, exclaiming:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Walter, I didn't expect you to-day."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And shall I infer that I am the less welcome from +that?" the young man asked, for with his inborn +jealousy, which no amount of discipline could quite +subdue, he thought he detected in Jessie's tone and +manner something cold and constrained.</p> +<p class="pnext">Nor was he wholly mistaken, for Jessie did not +feel toward him just as she had done before. Still +she greeted him cordially,—thought how handsome he +was, and came pretty near telling him so,—but told +him instead, that she thought he resembled his cousin +William. This brought the conversation to a point +Walter longed to reach, and as they walked slowly +towards home he questioned her of William,—asking +when he came, and if she had seen much of him previous +to his visit there.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I saw him almost every day before he went to +Europe," she replied. "You know he lives in New +York now, and grandma thinks there's nobody like +him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," returned Walter, "I remember your father +told me once that she had set her heart upon your +marrying him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"People would think it a splendid match," returned +Jessie, a little mischievously, for as she had +known that William disliked Walter, so she now felt +that Walter disliked William, and she continued: +"Charlotte Reeves would give the world to have him +spend a week in the country with her," and the saucy +black eyes looked roguishly up at Walter, who +frowned gloomily for an instant, and then rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shall I tell you what your father said about it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, do. I think everything of his opinion."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He said, then, that he would rather see you +buried than the wife of any of that race," and Walter +laid a great stress upon the last two words.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a time Jessie walked on in silence, then stopping +short and looking up from under her straw hat, +she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ain't <em class="italics">you</em> one of that race?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose I am," answered Walter, smiling at +a question which admitted of two or three significations.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie thought of but one. Her father liked +Walter very much, even though his mother was a +Bellenger; consequently it must be something about +William himself which prompted that remark, and as +Jessie usually echoed her father's sentiments, she felt, +the old disagreeable sensation giving way, and before +they reached the farm-house she was chatting as +gayly with Walter, as if nothing had ever come between +them.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night Walter and Jessie sat together in the +little portico, which was securely shaded from the sun +by Aunt Debby's thrifty hop vines. Walter was telling +Jessie of his recent visit, and how his grandfather +cried when he stood in the room where he was married +nearly fifty years before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I supposed old people outlived all their romance," +said Jessie, adding laughingly, as she plucked the +broad green leaves growing near her head, "I don't +think I could love any body but father fifty years,—could +you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"It would depend a good deal upon the person I +loved," returned Walter, and the look he gave Jessie +seemed to say that it would not be a hard matter to +love her through all time.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie saw the look, and while it thrilled her with +a sudden emotion of pleasure, it involuntarily reminded +her of what William had said of the valedictory, +and abruptly changing the conversation she +said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Bellenger told me your speech was very +good. May I see it for myself?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter was a fine orator, and knew that the favor +with which his speech had been received was in a +great measure owing to the manner in which it was +delivered. He was willing for Jessie to have heard it, +but he felt a natural reluctance in permitting her to +read it. Jessie saw his hesitancy, and it strengthened +the suspicion which before had hardly existed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, let me see it," she said. "You are surely +not afraid of me!" and she persisted in her entreaties +until he gave it into her hands, and then joined his +grandfather, while she returned to her room, and +striking a light, abandoned herself to the reading of +the valedictory; and as she read it seemed even to her +that she had heard some portion of it before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I have!" she exclaimed, as she came upon a +strikingly expressed and peculiar idea. "I have read +that in print," and in Jessie's heart there was a sore +spot, for the losing confidence in Walter was terrible +to her. "He is not strictly honorable," she said, and +laying her face upon the roll of paper, she cried to +think how she had been deceived.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next morning Walter was not long in observing +her cold distant manner, and he accordingly became +as cold and formal toward her, addressing her +as Miss Graham, when he spoke to her at all, and +after breakfast was over, going to the village, where +he remained until long past the dinner hour, hearing +that which made him in no hurry to return home and +make his peace with the little dark-eyed beauty. +Everybody was talking of Miss Graham's city beau, +who had taken her to ride so often, and who, when +joked by his familiar landlord, had partially admitted +that an engagement actually existed between them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"So you've lost her, sleek and clean," said the +talkative Joslyn to Walter, who replied that "it was +difficult losing what one never had," and said distinctly +that "he did not aspire to the honor of Miss +Graham's hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">But whether he did or not, the story he had +heard was not calculated to improve his state of mind, +and his dejection was plainly visible upon his face +when he at last reached home.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie was up among the pines," Aunt Debby +said, advising him "to join her and cheer her up a +bit, for she seemed desput low spirited since Mr. +Bellenger went away."</p> +<p class="pnext">Had Aunt Debby wished to keep Walter from +Jessie, she could not have devised a better plan than +this, for the high spirited young man had no intention +of intruding upon a grief caused by William Bellenger's +absence, and hour after hour Jessie sat alone +among the pines, starting at every sound, and once, +when sure a footstep was near, hiding behind a rock, +"so as to make him think she wasn't there." Then, +when the footstep proved to be a rabbit's tread, she +crept back to her seat upon the grass, and pouted because +it was not Walter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He might know I'd be lonesome," she said, "after +receiving so much attention, and he ought to entertain +me a little, if only to pay for all father has done for +him. If there is anything I dislike, it is ingratitude," +and having reached this point, Jessie burst into tears, +though why she should cry, she could not tell.</p> +<p class="pnext">She only knew that she was very warm and very +uncomfortable, and that it did her good to cry, so she +lay with her face in the grass, while the rabbit came +several times very near, and at last fled away as a +heavier, firmer step approached.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not likely Jessie would stay in the pines all +the afternoon, Walter thought, and as the sun drew +near the western horizon, he said to his grandfather:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will go for the cows to-night just as I used to +do," and though the pasture where they fed lay in the +opposite direction from the pines, he bent his footsteps +toward the latter place, and came suddenly upon Jessie, +who was sobbing like a child.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," he exclaimed, laying his hand gently +upon her arm, "what <em class="italics">is</em> the matter."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nothing," she replied, "only I'm lonesome and +homesick, and I wish I'd gone to New York with Mr. +Bellenger."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why didn't you then?" was Walter's cool reply, +and Jessie answered, angrily:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I would, if I had known what I do now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And pray what do you know now?" Walter +asked, in the same cold, calm, tone, which so exasperated +Jessie that she replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know you hate me, and I know you didn't write +all that valedictory, and everything."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," Walter said, sternly, "what do you mean +about that valedictory. Come, sit by me and tell me +at once."</p> +<p class="pnext">In Walter's voice there was a tone which, as a +child, Jessie had been wont to obey, and now at his +command she stole timidly to his side upon the rustic +bench, and told him all her suspicions, and the source +from which they originated.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a sudden flash of anger in Walter's eye +at his cousin's meanness, and then, with a merry laugh, +he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And it sounded familiar to you, too, did it? +Some parts of it might, I'll admit, for you had heard +them before. Do you remember being at any examination +in Wilbraham, when I took the prize in composition, +or rather declamation? It was said then +that my essay was far beyond my years, and I am +inclined to think it was; for I have written nothing +since which pleased me half so well. I was appointed +valedictorian, as you know, and in preparing my oration +I selected a few of those old ideas and embodied +them in language to suit the occasion. I am hardly +willing to call it plagiarism, stealing from myself, and +I am sure you would never have recognized it either +if Mr. Bellenger had not roused your suspicions. Is +my explanation satisfactory?"</p> +<p class="pnext">It was perfectly so, for Jessie now remembered +where she had heard something like Walter's valedictory, +and with her doubts removed she became much +like herself again, though she would not admit that +William's insinuations were mere fabrications of his +own. He never heard it before, she knew, but some +of Walter's old Wilbraham associates might have +been present and said in his hearing that it seemed +familiar, and then it would be quite natural for him to +think so too.</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter did not dispute her, but said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What else did my amiable cousin say against +me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Clasping her hands over her burning face, Jessie +answered faintly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He told me that your father had done a horrible +thing, though he didn't explain what it was. I knew +before that there was something unpleasant, and once +asked father about it, but he wouldn't tell, and I want +so much to know. What was it, Walter?"</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment Walter hesitated, then drawing +Jessie nearer to him, he replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will pain me greatly to tell you that sad story, +but I would rather you should hear it from my lips +than from any other," and then, unmindful of the +cows, which, having waited long for their accustomed +summons, were slowly wending their way homeward, +he began the story as follows:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You know that old stone building on the hill +near the village, and you have heard also that it was +a flourishing high school for girls. There one pleasant +summer my mother came. She was spending several +months with a family who occupied what is now +that huge old ruin down by the river side. Mother +was beautiful, they say, and so my father thought, +for every leisure moment found him at her side."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But wasn't she a great deal richer than he," Jessie +asked, unconscious of the pang her question inflicted +upon her companion, who replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, he was poor, while Ellen Bellenger was rich, +but she had a soul above the foolish distinction the +world will make between the wealthy and the working +class. She loved my father, and he loved her. At +last they were engaged, and then he proposed writing +to her parents, as he would do nothing dishonorable; +but she begged him not to do it, for she knew how +proud they were, and that they would take her home +at once. And so, in an unguarded moment, they went +together over the line into New York, where they +were married. The Bellengers, of course, were fearfully +enraged, denouncing her at once, and bidding +her never cross their threshold again. But this only +drew her nearer to her husband, who fairly worshiped +her, as did the entire family,—for she lived in the old +gable-roofed house,—and was happy in that little +room which we call yours now. Father was anxious +that she should have everything she wanted, and it is +said was sometimes very extravagant, buying for her +costly luxuries which he could not well afford."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But <em class="italics">my</em> father," said Jessie. "What had he to +do with it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Everything," returned Walter, with bitterness. +"Old Mr. Graham had a bank in Deerwood. Your +father was cashier, while mine was teller, and in consideration +of a large remuneration, performed a menial's +part, such as sweeping the rooms, building the +fires in winter, and of course he kept the keys. They +were great friends, Richard Graham and Seth Marshall, +and people likened them to David and Jonathan. +At last one of the large bills my father had made +came due, and on that very night the bank was robbed +of more than a thousand dollars."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Walter, how could he do it?" cried Jessie, +and Walter replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He didn't! He was as innocent as I, who was +then unborn. Listen while I tell you. There was in +town a dissipated, good-natured fellow, named Heyward, +who had sometimes taught singing-school, and +sometimes fiddled for country dances. No one knew +how he managed to subsist, for he dressed well, traveled +a great deal, and was very liberal with his money, +when he had any. Still none suspected him of dishonesty; +he did not know enough for that, they said. +Everybody liked him, and when on that night he came +to our house, apparently intoxicated, and asked for a +shelter, grandfather bade him stay, and assigned him +a back room in which was an outer door. In the +morning he was, or seemed to be, still in a drunken +sleep. Your father brought the news of the robbery, +and while he talked he looked suspiciously at mine, +especially when my mother said innocently:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'The burglars must have tried this house, too, +for I woke in the night, and finding my husband gone, +called to him to know where he was. Presently he +came in, saying he thought he heard a noise and got +up to find what it was.'</p> +<p class="pnext">"When she said this Mr. Graham changed color, +and pointing to my father's shoes, which stood upon +the hearth, he asked:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'How came these so muddy? It was not raining +at bedtime last night.'</p> +<p class="pnext">"This was true. A heavy storm had arisen after +ten and subsided before twelve, so that the shoes must +have been worn since that hour, as there was fresh +dirt still upon them. The robber had been tracked to +our door, while there were corresponding marks from +our door to the bank. My father's shoes just fitted in +these tracks, for they measured them with the wretched +man looking on in a kind of torpid apathy, as if utterly +unable to comprehend the meaning of what he saw; +but when Richard, his best friend, whispered to him +softly, 'Confess it, Seth. Give up the money and it +won't go so hard against you,' the truth burst upon +him, and he dropped to the ground like one scathed +with the lightning's stroke. For hours he lay in that +death-like swoon, and when he came back to consciousness +he was guarded by the officers of the law. +They led him off in the care of a constable, he all the +time protesting his innocence, save at intervals when +he refused to speak, but sat with a look upon his face +as if bereft of reason.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The examination came on, and the upper room, +where the court was held, was crowded to overflowing, +all anxious to gain a sight of my father, though they +had known him from boyhood up. Grandpa was +there, and close behind sat or rather crouched my +wretched mother. She would not be kept back, and +with a face as white as marble, and hands locked +firmly together, she sat to hear the testimony. Once +the counsel for my father thought to clear him by +throwing suspicion upon Heyward, who with a most +foolish expression upon his face had declared that he +heard nothing during the night. People would rather +it had been he than Seth Marshall, and the tide was +turning in favor of the latter when Richard Graham +was called to the stand. He was known to be my +father's dearest friend, and the audience waited +breathlessly to hear what he would say. He testified +that, having been very restless, he got up about two +o'clock in the morning, and as his window commanded +a full view of the bank, he naturally looked in that +direction. The moon was setting, but he could still +discern objects with tolerable distinctness, and he saw +a man come out of the bank, lock the door, put the +key in his pocket, and hurry down the street. My +father then wore a light gray coat and cap of the +same color, so did this man, and thinking it must be +he, Mr. Graham called him by name; but if he heard +he did not stop. Mr. Graham then remembered that +the day before my father had procured some medicine +for my mother, and had forgotten to take it home. +This threw some light upon the matter, and thinking +that mother had probably been taken suddenly ill and +my father had gone for the medicine, Mr. Graham retired +again to rest, and gave it no further thought +until the robbery was discovered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Do you believe the man you saw leaving the +bank to have been the prisoner?' asked the lawyer, +and for an instant Mr. Graham hesitated, for with the +white stony face of his early friend upturned to his +and the supplicating eyes of the young wife fixed +upon him, how could he answer yes? But he did, +Jessie,—he did it at last. He said, 'I do,' and over +the white face there passed a look of agony which +wrung a groan even from your father's lips, while the +pale young creature not far away rocked to and fro in +her hopeless desolation."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Walter, Walter!" cried Jessie, "don't tell +me any more. I see now so plain that fair girl-wife +crouching on the floor and my father testifying +against her. How could he?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter had asked himself that question many a +time, and his bosom had swelled with resentment at +the act; but now, when Jessie, too, questioned the +justice of the proceeding, he answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was right I suppose,—all right. Mr. Graham +believed that to which he testified, and when he left +the stand he wound his arms around my father's neck +and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'God forgive me, Seth, I couldn't help it.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"But he could," said Jessie; "he needn't have +told all he knew."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter made no reply to this; he merely went on +with his story:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then the decision came. There was proof sufficient +for the case to be presented before the grand +jury, and unless bail could be found to the amount of +one thousand dollars, my father must go to jail, there +to await his trial at the county court, which would +hold its next session in three weeks. When the decision +was made known, my father pressed his hands +tightly over his heart for a moment, and then he +clasped them to his ears as the deep stillness in the +room was broken by the plaintive cry:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Save my husband, somebody. Oh, save my darling +husband!'</p> +<p class="pnext">"The next moment my mother fell at his feet, a +crushed, lifeless thing, her hair falling down her face +and a blue, pinched look about her lips, while my +father bent over her, his tears falling like rain upon +her face. Everybody cried, and when the question +was asked, 'Who will go the prisoner's bail?' your +father answered aloud:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'I will.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I am so glad!" gasped Jessie, while Walter +continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"With Mr. Graham for security, they let my poor +father go home; but a mighty blow had fallen upon +him, benumbing all his faculties; he could neither +think, nor talk, nor act, but would sit all day with +mother's hands in his, gazing into her face and whispering +sometimes:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'What will my darling do when I am in State +prison?'</p> +<p class="pnext">"Such would be his fate, everybody said. It +could not be avoided, and in a kind of feverish +despair he waited the result. Your father was with +him often, 'keeping watch,' the villagers said; but if +so, he was not vigilant enough, for one dark, stormy +night, the last before the dreadful sitting of the court, +when the wind roared and howled about the old farm-house, +and the heavy autumnal rain beat against the +windows, my father drew his favorite chair, the one +which always stands in that dark corner, and which +none save you has ever used since then, he drew it, I +say, to my mother's side, and winding his arms about +her neck, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Ellen, do you believe me guilty?'</p> +<p class="pnext">"'No, never for a moment,' she replied, and he +continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Heaven bless you, precious one, for that. Teach +our child to think the same, and give it a father's +blessing.'</p> +<p class="pnext">"My mother was too much bewildered to answer, +and with a kiss upon her lips, my father turned to his +father and standing up before him, said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'I know what's in your heart; but, father, I +swear to you that I am innocent. Bless me, father—bless +your only boy once more.'</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then grandpa put his trembling hand upon the +brown locks of his son and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'I would lay down my life to know that you are +not guilty; but I bless you all the same, and may God +bless you too, my boy!'</p> +<p class="pnext">"In the bedroom grandmother lay sick, and kneeling +by her side, my father said to her:</p> +<p class="pnext">"'Do you believe I did it?'</p> +<p class="pnext">"'No,' she answered faintly, and without his asking +it, she gave him her blessing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He kissed his sister,—kissed Aunt Debby, and +then he went away. They saw his face, white as a +corpse, pressed against the window pane, while his +eyes were riveted upon his beautiful young wife,—then +the face was gone, and only the storm went sobbing +past the place where he had stood. All that night the +light burned on the table, and they waited his return, +but from that hour to this he has not come back. He +could not go to prison, and so he ran away. Mr. +Graham paid the bail, and was heard to say that he +was glad poor Seth escaped. I did not quite understand +the matter when I was a boy, and I almost +hated your father for testifying against him, but I +know now he did what he thought was right. It is +said he loved my Aunt Mary, Ellen's mother, and that +she loved him in return, but after this sad affair there +arose a coolness between them. He went to New +York and married a more fashionable woman, while +she, too, chose another."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did they ever find the money?" Jessie asked, +and Walter replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never, though Aunt Debby says that Heyward +indulged in a new suit of clothes soon after, and gave +various other tokens of being abundantly supplied. +No one knows where he is now, for he left Deerwood +years ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And your mother," interrupted Jessie, "tell me +more of her."</p> +<p class="pnext">The night shadows were falling, and she could not +see the look of pain on Walter's face as he replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"For a few days she watched to see father coming +back, for suspense was more terrible than reality, and +those who were his friends before said his going off +looked badly. From Boston her proud relatives sent +her a double curse for bringing this disgrace upon +them, and then she took her bed, never to rise again. +The first October frosts had fallen when they laid me +in her arms and bade her live for her baby's sake. +But five days after I was born she lay dead beneath +that western window where you so often sit. Then +the proud mother relented and came to the funeral, +but she has never been here since. Your father was +present, too,—he bought the monument; he cried over +me, and wished that he could fill my father's place."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish he could, too," cried the impulsive Jessie, +"I wish you were my brother," and she involuntarily +laid her hand in his. "Have you never heard from +your father?" she asked, and Walter replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Only once. Six months after mother died he +wrote to Mr. Graham from Texas, and that is the very +last. But, Jessie, I shall find him. I shall prove him +innocent, and until then there will always be a load in +my heart,—a something which makes me irritable, +cross and jealous of those I love the best, lest they +should despise me for what I cannot help."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And is that why you speak so coldly to me sometimes +when I don't deserve it?" Jessie asked, twining +her snowy fingers about his own.</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh, how Walter longed to fold her in his arms +and tell her how dear she was to him, and that because +he loved her so much he was oftenest harsh with +her. But he dared not. She would not listen to such +words, he knew. She thought of him as her brother, +and he would not disturb the dream, so he answered +her gently:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Am I cross to you, Jessie? I do not mean to be, +and now that you know all, I will be so no longer. +You do not hate me, do you, because of my misfortune?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hate you, Walter! Oh, no! I love,—I mean +I like you so much better than I did when I came up +here this afternoon and cried with my face in the +grass. I pity you, Walter, for it seems terrible to +live with that disgrace hanging over you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter winced at these last words, and Jessie, as +if speaking more to herself than him, continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope Will won't tell grandma who you are, for +she is so proud that she might make me feel very uncomfortable +by fretting every time I spoke to you. +Walter," and the tone of Jessie's voice led Walter to +expect some unpleasant remark, "you know father +has intended to have you live with us, but if William +tells grandma, it will be better for you to board somewhere +else,—grandma can be very disagreeable if she +tries, and she would annoy us almost to death."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie was perfectly innocent in all she said, but in +spite of his recent promise Walter felt his old jealousy +rising up, and whispering to him that Jessie +spoke for herself rather than her grandmother. +With a great effort, however, he mastered the emotion +and replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It will be better, I think, and I will write to your +father at once."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie little dreamed what it cost Walter thus deliberately +to give up seeing her every day, and living +with her beneath the same roof. It had been the +goal to which he had looked forward through all his +college course, for when he entered on his first year +Mr. Graham had written:</p> +<p class="pnext">"After you are graduated I shall take you into +business, and into my own family, as if you were my +son."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Jessie herself had vetoed this,—had said it +must not be.</p> +<p class="pnext">For an instant Walter felt that he would not go to +New York at all; but when he saw how closely Jessie +nestled to his side, and heard her say, "You can come +to see me every day, and when I am going to concerts, +or the opera, I shall always send word to you +by father," he rejected his first suspicions as unjust.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was not ashamed of him,—she only wished to +screen him from her grandmother's ill nature, and, +winding his arm around her, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are a good girl, Jessie, and I'm glad you +think of me as a brother."</p> +<p class="pnext">But he was not glad. He did not wish her to be +his sister, but he tried to make himself believe he did, +and as in the pines where they sat it was already very +dark, he proposed their returning home. Jessie was +unusually silent during the walk, for she was thinking +of Walter's young mother, and as they passed the +grave-yard in the distance, she sighed:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor dear lady! I don't wonder you are often +sad with that memory haunting you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should not be sad," he returned, "if I could +bring the world to my opinion; but nearly all except +Aunt Debby believe him guilty."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Does my father?" asked Jessie, and as Walter +replied, "Yes," she rejoined: "Then I'm afraid I +think so too, for father knows; but," she hastily +added, as she felt the gesture of impatience Walter +made, "I like you just the same,—yes, a great deal +better than before I heard the story. It isn't as bad +as I supposed, and I am so glad you told it. Will +Bellenger won't make me distrust you again."</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time they had reached the house, where +the deacon sat smoking his accustomed pipe, and saying +to Walter as he entered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where are the cows you went after more than +three hours ago?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter colored, and so did Jessie, while the matter-of-fact +Aunt Debby rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Amos, the cows is milked and the cream is +nigh about riz."</p> +<p class="pnext">That night, after all had retired except the deacon +and Walter, the former said to his grandson:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What kept you and Jessie so late?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I was telling her of my father, and why he went +away," returned Walter.</p> +<p class="pnext">The deacon groaned as he always did when that +subject was mentioned,—then after a moment he +added:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am glad it was no worse,—that is, I'm glad you +are not betraying Mr. Graham's trust by making love +to his daughter."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter was very pale, but he did not speak, and +his grandfather continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am old, Walter, but I have not forgotten the +days when I was young; and remembering my disposition +then, I can see why you should love Jessie +Graham. God bless her! She's worthy of any man's +best love, and she's wound herself round my old heart +till the sound of her voice is sweet to me almost as +Ellen's; but she isn't for you, Walter. I know Mr. +Graham better than you do. He's noble and good, +but very proud, and the daughter of a millionaire +must never marry the son of a poor——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't!" cried Walter, catching his grandfather's +arm. "I understand it all,—I know that I am poor, +know what the world says of my father, and I will +suffer through all time sooner than ask the bright-faced +Jessie to share one iota of our shame. But +were my father innocent, I would never rest until I +made myself a name which even Jessie Graham would +not despise, for I love her, grandpa,—love her better +than my life," and as after this confession he could +not look his grandfather in the face, he stared hard at +the candle dying in its socket, as if he would fain read +there some token that what he so much desired would +one day come to pass.</p> +<p class="pnext">And he did read it too, for with a last great effort +the expiring flame sent up a flash of light, which shone +on Walter's face and that of the gray-haired man regarding +him with a look of tender pity. Then it +passed away, and the darkness fell between them just +as the old man said, mournfully:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is no hope, my boy,—no hope for you."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vi-old-mrs-bartow"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id7">CHAPTER VI.—OLD MRS. BARTOW.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The good lady sat in her chamber wiping +the perspiration from her ruddy face, and +occasionally peering out into the pleasant +street, with a longing desire to escape from her +self-imposed prison, and breathe the air again in her +accustomed walks. But this she dared not do, lest it +should be discovered that she was not away from +home and enjoying some little pent-up room in the +third story of a crowded hotel. Occasionally, too, +she thought with a sigh of the clover fields, the +fresh, green grass and shadowy woods, where Jessie +was really enjoying herself, without the trouble of +dressing three times a day, and then swelling with +vexation because some one else out-did her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If she don't come with William, I mean to go +down there and see what this family are like that she +makes such a fuss about," she said. "Marshall? Marshall? +The name sounds familiar, but it isn't likely I +ever knew them. If I supposed I had, I wouldn't stir +a step."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this point in her soliloquy a servant appeared, +saying "Mr. Bellenger wished to see her," and putting +in her teeth, for it tired her to wear them all the time, +and adjusting her lace cap, the old lady went down to +meet the young man, who had just returned from +Deerwood. Numberless were the questions she asked +concerning her granddaughter. Was she well? was +she happy? was she sun-burned? were her hands +scratched with briers? and what kind of people were +these Marshalls?</p> +<p class="pnext">To this last William hastened to reply:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Clever country people, very kind to Jessie, and +well they may be, for if I've the least discernment, +they hope to have her in their family one of these +days."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What can you mean?" and the old lady's salts +were brought into frequent use, while William, in his +peculiar way, told her of Walter Marshall, who he +said "was undoubtedly presuming enough to aspire to +Jessie's hand."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What, that boy that Richard educated?" Mrs. +Bartow asked, growing very red and very warm +withal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," returned William; "but the fact of his +being a charity student is not the worst feature in the +case. It pains me greatly to talk upon the subject, +but duty requires me to tell you just who Walter is," +and assuming a half-reluctant, half-mortified tone, +Will told Mrs. Bartow how Walter was connected +with himself and the "terrible disgrace" of which she +had written to Jessie in her last letter.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment the old lady fancied herself choking +to death, but she managed at last to scream:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You don't say that he has dared to think of +Jessie, the daughter of a millionaire, and the granddaughter +of a——"</p> +<p class="pnext">She was too much overcome to finish the sentence, +and she sank back in her chair, while her cap-strings +floated up and down with the rapid motion of her fan.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll go for her at once," she said, when at last she +found her voice. "I'll see this Mr. Impudence for +myself. I'll teach him what is what. Oh, I hope +Mrs. Reeves won't find it out. Don't tell her, Mr. +Bellenger."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am as anxious to conceal the fact as you are," +he replied, "for he, you know, is a relative of mine, +although our family do not acknowledge him." And +having done all he came to do, the nice young man +departed, while the greatly disturbed lady began to +pack her trunk preparatory to a start for Deerwood.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the midst of her preparations she was surprised +by the unexpected return of Mr. Graham, to whom she +at once disclosed the cause of her distress, asking him +"if he wished his daughter to marry Walter Marshall, +whose father was a——"</p> +<p class="pnext">She didn't quite know what, for William had not +made that point very clear.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not wish her to marry any one as yet," +returned Mr. Graham, at the same time asking if +Walter had proposed, or shown any signs of so doing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course he's shown signs," returned Mrs. Bartow, +"but I trust Jessie has enough of the Stanwood +about her to keep him at a proper distance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Enough of the what?" asked Mr. Graham, with +the least possible smile playing about his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, enough of the Bartow," returned the lady. +"The very idea of receiving into our family a person +of his antecedents!"</p> +<p class="pnext">In a few words Mr. Graham gave her his opinion +of Walter Marshall, adding:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not say that I would like him to marry Jessie,—very +likely I should not,—and still, if I knew +that she loved him and he loved her, I should not +think it my duty to oppose them seriously, though I +would rather, of course, that the unfortunate affair of +his father's had never occurred."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was all the satisfaction Mrs. Bartow could +gain from him, and doubly strengthened in her determination +to remove Jessie from Walter's society, +she started the next morning for Deerwood, reaching +there toward the close of the day succeeding Jessie's +interview with Walter in the pines.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not this tumble-down shanty, surely?" she said +to the omnibus driver when he stopped before the +gate of the farm-house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes'm, this is Deacon Marshall's," he replied, and +mounting his box again he drove off, while she went +slowly up the walk, casting contemptuous glances at +the well-sweep, the smoke-house, the bee-hives, the +hollyhocks, poppies and pinks, which, in spite of herself, +carried her back to a time, years and years and +years ago, when she had lived in just such a place as +this, save that it was not so cheerful or so neat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aunt Debby was the first to spy her, and she called +to her niece:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Mary, just look-a-here! There's a lady all +dressed up in her meetin' clothes, a-comin' in. I wish +we had mopped the kitchen floor to-day. There, she's +gone to the front door. I presume the gals has littered +the front hall till it's a sight to behold."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bartow's loud knock was now distinctly heard, +and as Mrs. Howland had not quite finished her afternoon +toilet, Aunt Debby herself went to answer the +summons. Holding fast to her knitting, with the ball +rolling after her, and Jessie's kitten running after that, +she presented herself before her visitor, courtesying +very low, and asking if "she'd walk into the t'other +room, or into the kitchen, where it was a great deal +cooler."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bartow chose the "t'other room," and taking +the Boston rocker, asked "if Miss Graham was staying +here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You mean Jessie," returned Aunt Debby. "It's +so cool this afternoon that she's gone out ridin' hossback +in the mountains with Walter and Ellen. Be +you any of her kin?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm her grandmother, and have come to take her +home," answered the lady, frowning wrathfully at the +idea of Jessie's riding with Walter Marshall.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I want to know!" returned Aunt Debby. +"We'll be desput sorry to lose her jest as Walter has +come home, and he thinks so much of her, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bartow was too indignant to speak, but Aunt +Debby, who was not at all suspicious, talked on just +the same, praising first Walter, then Ellen, then Jessie, +and then giving an outline history of her whole +family, even including Seth, who she said "allus was +a good boy."</p> +<p class="pnext">If Aunt Debby expected a return of confidence +she was mistaken, for Mrs. Bartow had nothing to say +of her family, and after a little Aunt Debby began to +question her. Was she city-born, and if not, where +was she born?</p> +<p class="pnext">"That red mark on your chin makes me think of +a girl, Patty Loomis by name, that I used to know in +Hopkinton," she said, and the mark upon the chin +grew redder as she continued: "I did housework +there once, in Squire Fielding's family, and this Patty +that I was tellin' you about done chores in a family +close by. She was some younger than me, but I remember +her by that mark, similar to your'n, and because +she was connected to them three Thayers that +was hung in York State for killin' John Love. There +was some han'some verses made about it, and I used +to sing the whole of 'em, but my memory's failin' me +now. I wonder what's become of Patty. I haven't +thought of her before in an age. I heard that a rich +old widder took her for her own child, and that's all I +ever knew. She was smart as steel, and could milk +seven cows while I was milkin' three. There they come, +on the full canter of course. Ellen 'll get her neck +broke some day," and greatly to the relief of Mrs. Bartow +she changed the conversation from Patty Loomis +and the three Thayers who were hung, to the three +riders dashing up to the gate, Jessie a little in advance, +with her black curls streaming out from under her +riding hat, and her cheeks glowing with the exercise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, grandma!" she exclaimed, as holding up +her long skirt, she bounded into the house, and nearly +upset the old lady before she was aware of her presence. +"Where in the world did you come from? +Isn't it pleasant and nice out here?" and throwing off +her hat, Jessie sat down by the window to cool herself +after her rapid ride.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, grandma, you are as cross as two sticks," +she said, when Aunt Debby had left the room, and +grandma replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's a very lady-like expression. Learned it +of Mr. Marshall, I suppose."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, I didn't," returned Jessie. "I learned it of +Will Bellenger when he was here. It's his favorite +expression. Did he bring you my note?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Certainly; and I've come down to see what the +attraction is which keeps you here so contentedly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, it's so nice," returned Jessie, and Mrs. Bartow +rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should think it was. Who ever heard of a bed +in the parlor now-a-days?" and she cast a rueful glance +at the snowy mountain in the corner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's a little out of date, I know," answered +Jessie; "but the house is rather small, and they keep +the spare bed in here for such visitors as you are. +The sheets are all of Aunt Debby's make, she spun +the linen on a wheel that treads so funny. Did you +ever see a little wheel, grandma?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The question reminded Mrs. Bartow of Patty Loomis +and the three Thayers, and she did not reply +directly to it, but said instead:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you call that woman?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aunt Debby Marshall, the deacon's sister," returned +Jessie, and Mrs. Bartow relapsed into a +thoughtful mood, from which she was finally aroused +by hearing Walter's voice in the kitchen.</p> +<p class="pnext">Instantly she glanced at Jessie, who involuntarily +blushed; and then the old lady commenced the battle +at once, telling Jessie plainly that "she had come +down to take her home before she disgraced them all +by suffering a boy of Walter Marshall's reputation to +make love to her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter never thought of making love to me," +returned the astonished and slightly indignant Jessie; +"and if he had it wouldn't have been anybody's business +but mine and father's. He isn't a boy, either. +He's a splendid-looking man. Pa thinks the world of +him; and he knows, too, about that old affair, which +wasn't half as bad as Will and Mrs. Reeves seem to +think. Walter told it to me last night up in the +pines, and I'll tell it to you. It wasn't murder nor +anything like it. Now, even I shouldn't wish it said +that any of my friends were hung."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hung!" repeated the old lady. "Who said +anybody's friends were hung? It's false!" and the +red mark around the lip wore a scarlet hue.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course it's false," answered Jessie. "That's +what I said. Nobody knows for certain that he stole, +either," and forgetting her own belief, founded on her +father's, Jessie tried to prove that Seth Marshall was +as innocent as Walter himself had declared him to +be.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Whether he's guilty or not," returned Mrs. Bartow, +"you are going home, and you're to have nothing +to say to Walter. It would sound pretty, wouldn't it, +for Mrs. Reeves to be telling that Jessie Graham +liked a poor charity boy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie was proud, and the last words grated harshly, +but she would stand by Walter, and she replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mrs. Reeves forever! I believe you'd stop +breathing if she said it was fashionable. I wonder +who she was in her young days. Somebody not half +so good as Walter, I dare say. I mean to ask Aunt +Debby. She has lived since the flood, and knows the +history of everybody that ever was born in New England, +or out of it either, for that matter."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bartow was not inclined to doubt this after +her own experience, and as in case there was anything +about Mrs. Reeves, she wished to know it, she secretly +hoped Jessie would carry her threat into execution. +Just then they were summoned to supper, and following +her granddaughter into the pleasant sitting-room, +Mrs. Bartow frowned majestically upon Walter, bowed +coldly to the other members of the family, and then +took her seat, thinking to herself:</p> +<p class="pnext">"The boy has a little of the Bellenger look, and, if +anything, is handsomer than William."</p> +<p class="pnext">The tea being passed, with the biscuit and butter +and honey, and the cheese contemptuously refused by +the city guest, Jessie said to Aunt Debby:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you ever know anybody by the name of +Gregory? That was Mrs. Reeves' maiden name, +wasn't it, grandma?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bartow nodded, and Aunt Debby, after withdrawing +within herself for a moment, came out again +and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I knew Tim and Ben Gregory in Spencer. +Ben was the best of the two, but he wa'n't none too +likely. He had six boys, and Tim had six gals."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What were their names?" asked Jessie, and Aunt +Debby replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There was Zeruah, and Lyddy, and Charlotty——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That'll do!" cried Jessie, her delight dancing in +her eyes. "What was their father, and where are the +girls now?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Their father was a tin peddler, and what he +didn't get that way folks said he used to steal, though +they never proved it ag'in him. Charlotty and I was +'bout of an age."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I knew she was older than she pretended," +thought Mrs. Bartow, and in her joy at having probably +discovered her dear friend's genealogy, she took +two biscuits instead of one.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She worked in Lester factory a spell, and then, +after she was quite along in years, say thirty or more, +she married somebody who was a storekeeper, and +went somewhere, and I believe I've heard that she +finally moved to New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can't you think of her husband's name," persisted +Jessie, and Aunt Debby replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Twan't very far from Reed, but it's so long ago, +and I've been through so much since, that I can't +justly remember."</p> +<p class="pnext">Neither was it necessary that she should, for Mrs. +Bartow and Jessie were satisfied with what she could +remember, and nothing doubting that Charlotte +Gregory was now the exceedingly aristocratic and +purse-proud Mrs. Reeves, whose granddaughter was a +kind of rival to Jessie, they returned to the parlor, +Mrs. Bartow repeating at intervals:</p> +<p class="pnext">"A tin peddler and a factory girl, and she holding +her head so high."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She's none the worse for that, if she'd behave +herself, and not put on such airs," said Jessie. "I +wouldn't wonder if some of my ancestors were tinkers +or chimney sweeps. I mean to ask Aunt Debby. +Let's see. Your name wasn't really Martha Stanwood, +was it? Weren't you an adopted child?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie!" and in the startled lady's voice there +was such unmitigated alarm and distress that Jessie +turned quickly to look at her. "Do let that old crone +alone. If there's anything I hate it's a person that +knows everybody's history, they are so disagreeable, +and make one so uncomfortable, though I'm glad to +be sure, that I've found out who Mrs. Reeves was. +Just to think how she talks about high birth and all +that,—born in a garret, I dare say."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She don't put on a bit more than you do," said +the saucy Jessie, thinking to herself that she would +some time quiz Aunt Debby concerning her grandmother's +past.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night, after Jessie had retired, Mrs. Bartow +asked for a few moments' conversation with Walter, to +whom she had scarcely spoken the entire evening +Quick to detect a slight, he assumed his haughtiest +bearing, and rather overawed the old lady, who fidgetted +in her chair, and pulled at her cap, and then began:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is very unpleasant for me to say to you what I +must, but duty to Miss Graham, and justice to you, +demands that I should speak. From things which I +have heard and seen, I infer that you,—or rather I'm +afraid that you,—in short, it's just possible you are +thinking too much of Miss Graham," and having +gotten thus far, the old lady gave a sigh of relief, +while the young man, with a proud inclination of the +head, said coolly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And what then?"</p> +<p class="pnext">This roused her, and muttering to herself, "Such +impudence!" she continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should suppose your own sense would tell you +what then! Of course nothing can ever come of it, +for even were you her equal in rank and wealth, you +must know there is a stain upon your name which +must never be imparted to the Grahams."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Madam," said Walter, "you will please confine +your remarks to me personally, and say nothing of my +father."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then," returned the lady. "You, personally, +are not a fit husband for Jessie."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have I ever asked to be her husband?" he said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not in words, perhaps, but you show it in your +manner both to me and others, and this is what +brought me here. Jessie is young and easily influenced, +and might possibly, in an unguarded moment, +do as foolish a thing as your mother did."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a feeling of intense delight beaming in +Walter's eyes, for the idea that Jessie could in any +way be induced to marry him was a blissful one; but +it quickly passed off as Mrs. Bartow continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It would break her father's heart should she thus +throw herself away, while you would prove yourself +most ungrateful for all he has done for you."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was touching Walter in a tender point, and +the pride of his nature flashed in his dark eyes as he +replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me know Mr. Graham's wishes, and they +shall be obeyed."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then," returned the lady, "I asked him if +he would like to have his daughter marry you, and he +replied—" she hesitated before uttering the falsehood, +while Walter bent forward eagerly to listen. "He +said he certainly would not, and with his approbation +I came down to remove her from temptation."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter was very white, and something like a +groan escaped him, for he felt that Jessie was indeed +wrested from him, and he began to see that he had +always cherished a secret hope of winning her some +day. But the dream was over now. She, he knew, +would never disobey her father, while he himself +would not return the many kindnesses received from +his benefactor with ingratitude.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell Mr. Graham from me," he said at last, +almost in a whisper, "that he need have no fears, for +I pledge you my word of honor that I will never ask +Jessie Graham to be my wife, unless the time should +come when I am by the world acknowledged her +equal, and when I promise this, Mrs. Bartow, I tear +out, as it were, the dearest, purest affection of my +heart, for I do love Jessie Graham; I see it now as +clearly as I see that I must kill that love. Not because +you ask it of me, Madam," and he assumed a +haughty tone, "but because it is the wish of the best +friend I ever knew. He need not fear when I am +with her in New York. I will keep my place, whatever +that may be, and when I call on Jessie, as I shall +sometimes do, it will be a brother's call, and nothing +more. Will you be satisfied with this?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, more than satisfied," and Mrs. Bartow +offered him her hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">He took it mechanically, and as he turned away +the lady thought to herself:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is a noble fellow, and so handsome, too, but +William looks almost as well. Didn't he give it up +quick when I mentioned Mr. Graham. I wonder if +that was a lie I told. I only left off a little, that was +all," and framing excuses for her duplicity, the old +lady retired for the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were to leave in the morning, and Jessie +seemed unusually sad when she came out to breakfast, +for the inmates of the farm-house were very dear to +her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You'll come to New York soon, won't you?" she +said to Walter, when, after breakfast, she joined him +under the maple tree.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the sound of her voice he started, and looking +down into her bright, sunny face, felt a thrill of pain. +Involuntarily he took her hand in his, and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have been thinking that I may not come at +all."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Walter, yes you will; father will be so +disappointed. I believe he anticipates it even more +than I."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But your grandmother," he suggested, and Jessie +rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't mind grandma; she's always fidgetty if +anybody looks at me, but when she sees that we really +and truly are brother and sister, she'll get over it."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a tremulous tone in Jessie's voice, as she +said this, and it fell very sweetly on Walter's ear, +for it said to him that he might possibly be something +more than a brother to the beautiful girl who +stood before him with blushing cheeks and half-averted +eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie, Jessie!" called Mrs. Bartow from the +house, and Jessie ran in to finish packing her trunks +and don her traveling dress.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once, as Aunt Debby slipped into her satchel a +paper of "doughnuts and cheese, to save buying a +dinner," Jessie could not forbear saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Aunt Debby! I think I know that Charlotty +Gregory, who used to live in Leicester. She's +Mrs. Reeves now, and the greatest lady in New York; +rides in her carriage with colored coachman and footman +in livery, wears a host of diamonds, and lives in +a brownstone house up town."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wall, if I ever," Aunt Debby exclaimed, sitting +down in her surprise on Mrs. Bartow's bonnet. +"Reeves was the name, come to think. Drives a nigger, +did you say? She used to be as black as one herself, +but a clever, lively gal for all of that. With her +first earnin's in the factory she bought her mother a +calico gown, and her sister Betsey a pair of shoes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Betsey," repeated Jessie, turning to her +grandmother, "that must be Mrs. Reeves' invalid sister, +whom Charlotte calls Aunt Lizzie. Very few people +ever see her."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wa'n't over bright," whispered Aunt Debby, +continuing aloud: "How I'd like to see Miss Reeves +once more. Give her my regrets, and tell her if I +should ever come to the city I shall call on her; but +she mustn't feel hurt if I don't. I'm getting old fast."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie laughed aloud as she fancied Mrs. Reeves' +amazement at receiving Aunt Debby's regrets, and as +the omnibus was by that time at the door, she +hastened her preparations, and soon stood at the gate, +bidding her friends good-by. For an instant Walter +held her hand in his, but his manner was constrained, +and Jessie bit her lip to keep back the tears which +finally found a lodgment on Ellen's neck. The two +young girls were tenderly attached, and both wept +bitterly at parting, Jessie crying for Ellen and +Walter, too, and Ellen for Jessie and the man whom +she, ere long, would meet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What shall I tell Will for you?" Jessie asked, +leaning from the omnibus and looking in Ellen's face, +which had never been so white and thin before.</p> +<p class="pnext">From the maple tree above her head a withered +leaf came rustling down, and fell upon Ellen's hair. +Brushing it away, she answered mournfully:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell him the leaves are beginning to fade."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's a strange message for her to send, but she +speaks the truth," Walter thought, and after the +omnibus had rolled away, and he walked slowly to the +house, he felt that for him more than the leaves were +fading,—that the blossoms of hope which he had nurtured +in his heart were torn from their roots, and +dying beneath the chilly breath of fashion and caste.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vii-human-nature"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id8">CHAPTER VII.—HUMAN NATURE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It was the night of Charlotte Reeves' grand +party, which had been talked about for +weeks, and more than one passer-by +paused in the keen February air to look at the brilliantly-lighted +house, where the song, the flirtation, +the dance, and the gossip went on, and to which, at a +late hour, Mrs. Bartow came, and with her Jessie +Graham. Walter accompanied them, for Mr. Graham +had asked him to be their escort, and Walter never +refused a request from one who, since his residence in +the city, had been to him like a father rather than a +friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham had evinced much surprise when told +that Walter would rather some other house should be +his home, but Jessie, too, had said that it was better +so, and looking into her eyes, which told more tales +than she supposed, Mr. Graham saw that Walter was +not indifferent to his only child, nor was he displeased +that it was so, and when Walter came to the city he +found to his surprise that he was not to be the clerk, +but the junior partner of his friend, who treated him +with a respect and thoughtful kindness which puzzled +him greatly. Especially was he astonished when Mr. +Graham, as he often did, asked him to go with Jessie +to the places where he could not accompany her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He wishes to show me," he thought, "that after +what I said to Mrs. Bartow, he dare trust his daughter +with me as if I were her brother," and Walter felt +more determined than ever not to betray the trust, +but to treat Jessie as a friend and nothing more.</p> +<p class="pnext">So he called occasionally at the house, where he +often found William Bellenger, and compelled himself +to listen in silence to the flattering speeches his cousin +made to Jessie, who, a good deal piqued at Walter's +apparent coldness, received them far more complacently +than she would otherwise have done, and so the +gulf widened between them, while in the heart of each +there was a restless pain, which neither the gay world +in which Jessie lived, nor yet the busy one where +Walter passed his days, could dissipate. He had absented +himself from Jessie's "come-out party," and +for this offense the young lady had been sorely indignant.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She wanted Charlotte Reeves and all the girls to +see him, and then to be treated that way was perfectly +horrid," and the beautiful belle pouted many a day +over the young man's obstinacy.</p> +<p class="pnext">But Charlotte Reeves did see him at last, and +when she learned that he was Mr. Graham's partner, +and much esteemed by that gentleman, she partially +took him up as a card to be played whenever she +wished to annoy William Bellenger, who kept an eye +on her in case he should lose Jessie. The relationship +between the two was not known, for Walter had +no desire to speak of it, and as William vainly fancied +it might reflect discredit on himself, he, too, kept +silent on the subject, while Mrs. Bartow, having received +instructions both from Jessie and her father, +never hinted to her bosom friend and deadliest enemy, +Mrs. Reeves, that the young Marshall whom Charlotte +was patronizing, and who was noticed by all for his +gentlemanly bearing and handsome face, was in any +way connected with the Bellenger disgrace.</p> +<p class="pnext">After her return from Saratoga, Mrs. Reeves had +been sick for several months, and at the time of the +party was still an invalid, and claimed the privilege of +sitting during the evening. Consequently Mrs. Bartow +had not yet found a favorable opportunity for +wounding her as she intended doing, and when, on the +evening of the party, she entered the crowded rooms, +she made her way to the sofa, and greeting the lady +with her blandest words, told her how delighted she +was to see her in society again, how much she had +been missed, and all the other compliments which +meant worse than nothing. Then taking a mental inventory +of the different articles which made up her +dear friend's dress and comparing them with her own, +she set her costly fan in motion and watched to see +which received the more attention,—Charlotte Reeves +or Jessie. The latter certainly looked the best, as, +arm in arm with Walter, she walked through the parlor, +oblivious to all else in her delight at seeing him +appear so much like himself as he did to-night.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's such a pity he's poor," said Mrs. Reeves, as +he was passing. "Do you know I think him by far +the most distinguished looking man in the room, +always excepting, of course, Mr. Bellenger," and she +nodded apologetically to a little pale-faced lady sitting +beside her on the sofa.</p> +<p class="pnext">This lady she had not seen fit to introduce to her +dear friend, who had scanned her a moment with her +glass, and then pronounced her "somebody." Twice +Walter and Jessie passed, stopping the second time, +while the latter received from her grandmother the +whispered injunction "not to walk with him until +everybody talked."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pshaw!" was Jessie's answer, while Mrs. Reeves +slyly congratulated Mr. Marshall on his good luck in +having the belle of the evening so much to himself, +and as they stood there thus the face of the little +silent lady flashed with a sudden light, and touching +Mrs. Reeves when they were gone, she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who was that young man? You called him +Marshall, didn't you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Walter Marshall, and he is Mr. Graham's +partner. You know of Mr. Graham,—people call him +a millionaire, but my son says he don't believe it."</p> +<p class="pnext">This last was lost upon the little lady, who cared +nothing for Mr. Graham, and who continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where did he come from?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Really, I don't know. Perhaps Mrs. Bartow can +enlighten you," and Mrs. Reeves went through with a +form of introduction, speaking the stranger's name so +low, that in the surrounding hum it was entirely lost +on Mrs. Bartow, who bowed, and briefly stated that +Walter was from Deerwood, Mass.</p> +<p class="pnext">The lady's hands worked nervously together, and +when Walter again drew near, the white, thin face +looked wistfully after him, while the lips moved as if +they would call him back. He was disengaged at last. +Jessie had another gallant in the person of William +Bellenger, Mrs. Bartow's fan moved faster than before, +and Mrs. Reeves was about to make some remark +to her companion, when the latter rose, and crossing +over to where Walter stood, said to him in a low, +pleasant voice:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Excuse me, Mr. Marshall, but would you object +to walking with me,—an old lady?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter started, and looking earnestly into the +dark eyes, which were full of tears, offered her his +arm, and the two were soon lost amid the gay +throng.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who is she? I didn't understand the name," +Mrs. Bartow asked, her lip dropping suddenly, as Mrs. +Reeves replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, that's the honorable Mrs. Bellenger, returned +from a ten years' residence abroad."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mrs. Bellenger," Mrs. Bartow repeated. "Is it +possible? I have always had a great desire to make +her acquaintance. How plain, and yet how elegantly +she dresses."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She is not the woman she used to be," returned +Mrs. Reeves. "She is very much changed, and they +say that during the last year of her sojourn in London +she spent her time in distributing tracts among the +poor, and all that sort of thing. I wonder what she +wants of Mr. Marshall. Wasn't it queer the way she +introduced herself to him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very," Mrs. Bartow said; but she thought, "not +strange at all," and she was half tempted to tell her +friend the relationship existing between the two.</p> +<p class="pnext">This she would perhaps have done had not Mrs. +Reeves at that moment directed her attention to William +and Jessie, saying of the former that he seemed +very unhappy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The fact is," she whispered, confidentially, "he +never appears at ease unless he is somewhere near +Charlotte. I think he monopolizes her altogether too +much. I tell her so too. But she only laughs, and +says he don't go with her any more than with Jessie +Graham, though everybody knows he does. He likes +Jessie, of course, but Charlotte is his first choice," and +the old lady glanced complacently toward the spot +where her sprightly granddaughter stood surrounded +by a knot of admirers, each of whom had an eye to +her father's coffers as well as to herself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The wretch!" thought Mrs. Bartow. "Just as +though William preferred that great, long-necked +thing to Jessie; but I'll be even with her yet. I'll be +revenged when Mrs. Bellenger comes back," and the +fan moved rapidly as Mrs. Bartow thought how crest-fallen +her dear friend would be when she said what +she meant to say to her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meantime Mrs. Bellenger had led Walter to a little +ante-room where they would be comparatively free +from observation, and sitting down upon an ottoman, +she bade him, too, be seated. He complied with her +request, and then waited for her to speak, wondering +much who she was, and why she had sought this interview +with him. As Mrs. Reeves had said, Mrs. Bellenger +had for the last ten years resided in different +parts of Europe. She had gone there with her husband +and only surviving daughter, both of whom she +had buried, one among the Grampian Hills, and the +other upon the banks of the blue Rhine. Her youngest +son, who was still unmarried, had joined her there, +but he had become dissipated, and eighteen months +before her return to America she had lain him in a +drunkard's grave. With a breaking heart she returned +to her lonely home in London, dating from that hour +the commencement of another and better life, and now +there was not in the whole world an humbler or more +consistent Christian than the once haughty Mrs. Bellenger. +Many and many a time, when away over the +sea, had her thoughts gone back to her youngest born, +the gentle brown-eyed Ellen, whom she had disowned +because the man she chose was poor, and in bitterness +of heart she had cried:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, that I had her with me now!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, as she remembered the helpless infant which +she had once held for a brief moment upon her lap, +her heart yearned toward him with all a mother's love, +and she said to herself:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will find the boy, and it may be he will comfort +my old age."</p> +<p class="pnext">On her return to Boston she went to the house of +William's father, but everything there was cold and +ostentatious. They greeted her warmly, it is true, +and paid her marked attention, but she suspected they +did it for the money she had in her possession, for the +family was extravagant and deeply involved in debt. +Once she asked if they knew anything of Ellen's child, +and her son replied that he believed he was a clerk of +some kind in New York, but none of the family had +ever seen him save Will, who had met him once or +twice, and who spoke of him as having a little of the +Bellenger look and bearing.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then she came to New York and found her grandson +Will, who was less her favorite than ever when +she heard how sneeringly he spoke of Walter. From +his remarks, she did not expect to meet the latter +at the party, but she would find him next day, she +said, and when he entered the room she was too much +absorbed in her own thoughts to notice him, but when +he passed her with Jessie she started, for there was in +his face a look like her dead daughter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Can it be that handsome young man is Ellen's +child?" she said, and she waited anxiously till he +appeared again.</p> +<p class="pnext">He stopped before her then, and with a beating +heart she listened to what they called him, and then +asked who he was.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is my boy,—it is," she murmured between her +quivering lips, and as soon as she saw that he was free +she joined him, as we have seen, and led him to another +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment she hesitated, as if uncertain what +to say, then, as they were left alone, she began:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My conduct may seem strange to you, but I cannot +help it. Twenty-five years ago a sweet girlish +voice called me mother, and the face of her who called +me thus was much like yours, young man. She left +me one summer morning, and our house was like a +tomb without her; but she never came back again, +and when I saw her next she lay in her coffin. She +was too young to be lying there, for she was scarcely +twenty. She died with the shadow of my anger resting +on her heart, for when I heard she had married +one whom the world said was not her equal, I cast her +off, I said she was not mine, and from that day to this +the worm of remorse has been gnawing at my heart, +for I hear continually the dying message they said she +left for me: 'Tell mother to love my baby for the +sake of the love she once bore me.' I didn't do it. I +steeled my proud heart even against the little boy. +But I'm yearning for him now,—yearning for that +child to hold up my feeble hands,—to guide my trembling +feet and smooth my pathway down into the valley +which I must tread ere long."</p> +<p class="pnext">She paused, and covering her face, wept aloud. +Glancing hurriedly around, Walter saw that no one +was very near, and going up to her, he wound his arm +round her, and whispered in her ear:</p> +<p class="pnext">"My mother's mother,—my grandmother,—I never +expected this from you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Before Mrs. Bellenger could reply, footsteps were +heard approaching, and William appeared with Jessie. +He had told her of his grandmother's unexpected +arrival that morning, and when she expressed a wish +to see her, he started in quest of her at once. He +knew that he was not a favorite with her, but she +surely would like Jessie, and that might make her +more lenient toward himself; so he had sought for +her everywhere, learning at last from Mrs. Bartow +that she had gone off with Walter.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Upon my word," he thought, "he has commenced +his operations soon," and a sudden fear came over him +lest Walter should be preferred to himself by the rich +old lady.</p> +<p class="pnext">And this suspicion was not in the least diminished +by the position of the parties when he came suddenly +upon them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is playing his cards well," he said, involuntarily, +while Jessie was conscious of a feeling of +pleasure at seeing Walter thus acknowledged by his +grandmother.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a tolerably good grace, Will introduced his +companion, his spirits rising when he saw how pleasantly +and kindly his grandmother received them both. +Once, as they stood together talking, Mrs. Bellenger +spoke of Deerwood, where her daughter was buried, +and instantly over William's face there flitted the +same uneasy look which Mrs. Reeves had seen and +imputed to his desire to be with Charlotte.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you heard from Miss Howland recently?" +he asked Walter, who replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I heard some three weeks since, and she was then +about as usual. She is always feeble in the winter, +though I believe they think her worse this season than +she has ever been before."</p> +<p class="pnext">William thought of a letter received a few days +before, the contents of which had written the look +upon his face which Mrs. Reeves had noticed, and +had prompted him to ask the question he did.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor Ellen!" sighed Jessie. "I fear she's not +long for this world."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What did you call her?" Mrs. Bellenger asked, +and Walter replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ellen, my mother's namesake, and my cousin."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shall see her," returned the lady, "for I am +going to Deerwood by-and-by."</p> +<p class="pnext">William was going, too, but he would rather not +meet his grandmother there, and he said to her, indifferently, +as it were:</p> +<p class="pnext">"When will you go?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"In two or three weeks," she answered, and satisfied +that she would not then interfere with him, he +offered Jessie his arm a second time and walked away, +hearing little of what was passing around him, and +caring less, for the words "Oh, William, I am surely +dying! Won't you come?" rang in his ears like a +funeral knell.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a long time Mrs. Bellenger talked with +Walter, asking him at last of his father, and if any +news had been heard of him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It does not matter," she said, when he replied in +the negative. "I have outlived all that foolish pride, +and love you just the same."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her words were sweet and soothing to Walter, and +he did not care much now even if William did keep +Jessie continually at his side, walking frequently past +the door where he could see them. Once, as they +passed, Mrs. Bellenger remarked:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Miss Graham is a beautiful young woman. Is +she engaged to William?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no! oh, no!" and in the voice Mrs. Bellenger +learned all she wished to know.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pardon me," she continued, taking Walter's +hand, "pardon the liberty, but you love Jessie +Graham," and her mild eyes look gently into his.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hopelessly," he answered, and his grandmother +rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not hopelessly, my child; for as one woman can +read another, so I saw upon her face that which told +me she cared only for you. Be patient and wait," and +with another pleasant smile she arose, saying to him, +laughingly: "I am going to acknowledge you now. +You say they do not know that my blood is flowing in +your veins," and she passed again into the crowd, who +fell back at her approach, for by this time every body +knew who she was, and numerous were the surmises +as to what kept her so long with young Marshall.</p> +<p class="pnext">The matter was soon explained, for she only +needed to say to those about her, "This is my grandson,—my +daughter Ellen's child," for the news to +spread rapidly, reaching at last to Mrs. Reeves, still +seated on her throne. Greatly she wondered how it +could be, and why William had not told her before; +then, as she remembered her investigations with regard +to the Bellengers, she added what was wanting to +complete the tale, leaving out the robbery, and merely +saying that Mr. Marshall's poverty had been the chief +objection to his marriage with Miss Ellen Bellenger. +This she did because she knew that, with his grandmother +for a prop, Walter could not be trampled +down, and she meant to be the first to hold him up.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the midst of a group of ladies, to whom she was +enumerating Jessie's many virtues, Mrs. Bartow heard +the news, and answered very carelessly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, I knew that long ago. Mr. Marshall is a +fine young man," and as she spoke, she wondered if +he would share with William in his grandmother's +property.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Even if he does," she thought, "William will +have the most, for his father is very wealthy,—then +there is the name of Bellenger, which is something," +and having thus balanced the two, and found the +heavier weight in William's favor, she looked after +him, as he led Jessie away to the dancing-room, with +a most benignant expression, particularly as she saw +that Mrs. Reeves was looking at him too.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wonder what she thinks now about his wishing +to be with Charlotte?" she thought, and she longed +for the moment when she could pay the lady for her +ill-natured remarks.</p> +<p class="pnext">By this time Mrs. Bellenger had returned to her +seat by Mrs. Reeves, and thinking this a favorable +opportunity, Mrs. Bartow took her stand near them +and began:</p> +<p class="pnext">"By the way, Mrs. Reeves, did you ever know any +one in Leicester, Massachusetts, by the name of Marshall—Debby +Marshall, I mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Reeves started, with a look upon her face as +if that which she had long feared and greatly dreaded +had come upon her at last. Then, resuming her composure, +she repeated the name:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Debby Marshall?—Debby Marshall? I certainly +do not number her among my acquaintances."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I knew it must be a mistake," returned Mrs. +Bartow, "particularly as she was malicious enough to +say that your father was a tin peddler."</p> +<p class="pnext">"A tin peddler!" gasped Mrs. Reeves, making +a furious attack upon her smelling salts. "I believe +I'm going to faint. The idea! It's perfectly preposterous! +Where is this mischief-maker?" and the +black eyes flashed round the room, as if in search of +the offending Aunt Debby.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pray don't distress yourself," said the delighted +Mrs. Bartow. "Of course it isn't true, and if it were, +it's safe with me. I met this woman last summer in +Deerwood, when I went down for Jessie. I chanced +to mention your name, as I frequently do when away +from you, and this Debby, who is an old maid, seventy +at least, said she used to know a factory girl,—Charlotty +Ann Gregory, of about her age, who married a +man by the name of Reeves, a storekeeper, she called +him. It's a remarkable coincidence, isn't it, that there +should be two Charlotte Ann Gregorys, with sister +Lizzies, and that both should marry merchants of the +same name and come to New York. But nothing is +strange now-a-days, so don't let it worry you. This +old Debby is famous for knowing everybody's history."</p> +<p class="pnext">Like a drowning man, Mrs. Reeves caught at this +last remark. If Debby Marshall knew everybody's +history, she of course knew Mrs. Bartow's, and the +disconcerted lady hastened to ask:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where did you say she lived?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"In Deerwood, with her brother, Deacon Amos +Marshall, about half a mile from the village," returned +the unsuspecting Mrs. Bartow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Silently Mrs. Reeves wrote the information upon +the tablets of her memory, and then, in a low voice of +entreaty, said to her friend:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You know it is all false, as well as you know that +there are, in this city, envious people who would delight +in just such scandal, and I trust you will not repeat +it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Certainly,—certainly," said Mrs. Bartow, but +whether the certainly were affirmative or negative was +doubtful.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Reeves accepted the latter, and then turned +to Mrs. Bellenger to remove from her mind any unpleasant +impression she might have received. This, +however, was wholly unnecessary, for Mrs. Bellenger +was too much absorbed in her own reflections to hear +what Mrs. Bartow had been saying, and to Mrs. +Reeves' remark, "I trust you do not credit the ridiculous +story," she answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What story? I heard nothing."</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus relieved in that quarter, Mrs. Reeves became +rather more composed, and for the remainder of the +evening addressed Mrs. Bartow as "my dear," complimenting +her once or twice upon her youthful looks, +and saying several flattering things of Jessie.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-viii-a-retrospect"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id9">CHAPTER VIII.—A RETROSPECT.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The flowers in the garden and the leaves on +the trees were withered and dead. The +luxuriant hop-vine, which grew about the +farm-house door, had yielded its bountiful store, and +loosened from its summer fastening trailed upon the +ground. The cows no longer fed among the hills, the +winter stores had been gathered in, there was a thin +coating of ice upon the pond, and a dark, cold mist +upon the mountain. There was a pallid hue upon +Ellen's cheek, and a look of strange unrest in her eyes +as day after day, all through the autumn time, she +watched for the coming of one who had said, "I will +be with you when the forest casts its leaf."</p> +<p class="pnext">The time appointed had come, and the brown +leaves were "heaped in the hollow of the wood" or +tossed by the autumn wind, and the pain in Ellen's +heart grew heavier to bear, as morning after morning +she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He will come to-day," and night after night she +wept at his delay.</p> +<p class="pnext">But there came a day at last, a bright November +day, when she saw him in the distance, and with a cry +of joy she buried her face in the pillows of the lounge, +saying to her mother:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am faint and sick."</p> +<p class="pnext">She lay very white and still, while kind Aunt +Debby chafed her clammy hands, and when they said +to her, "Mr. Bellenger is here," she simply answered, +"Is he?" for she had never told them that she expected +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He said he was passing through the town, and for +old acquaintance sake had stopped over one train, and +the unsuspecting family believed it all, and when he +said that Ellen stayed too much indoors, that a ride +would do her good, they offered no remonstrance, but +wrapping her up in warm shawls sent her out with +him upon the mountain, where he told her how, +through all the dreary months of his absence, one face +alone had shone on him, one voice had sounded in his +ear, and that the voice which now said to him so +mournfully:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I almost feared you had forgotten me, and it +seemed so dreadful after all were gone, Walter, Jessie, +and everybody. Forgive me, William, but when I +remembered Jessie's sparkling beauty and knew she +was a belle, I feared you would not come."</p> +<p class="pnext">William Bellenger was conscious of a pang, for he +knew how terribly he was deceiving the trusting girl +sitting there upon the rock beside him, the color coming +and going upon her marble cheek, and a tear dimming +the luster of her eyes. On his way thither he +had resolved to rouse her from the dream, to tell her +she must forget him, but when he looked upon her +unearthly beauty, and saw how she clung to him, he +could not do it. So when she spoke of Jessie as one +who might rival her, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Miss Graham is charming, but believe me, +Nellie, I can love but one, and that one you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The bright round spot deepened on her cheek, and +William felt for an instant that had he the means, he +would bear the poor invalid away to a sunnier clime, +and by his tender care nurse her back to health. But +he had not. There were bills on bills which he could +not pay. His father, too, was straitened, for old Mr. +Bellenger had left his entire fortune by will to his +wife, who had refused to sanction the reckless extravagance +of her son's family. A rich bride, then, must +cancel William's debts, and as Ellen was not rich, he +dared not talk to her of marriage, but whispered only +of the love he felt for her. And Ellen grew faint and +chill listening to this idle mockery, for the November +wind blew cold upon the bleak mountain side. It was +in vain that William wrapped both shawl and arm +about her, hugging her closer to him until her golden +hair rested on his bosom. He could not make her +warm, and at last he took her home, telling her by the +way that he would come again ere long and stay with +her a week.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will explain to your mother then," he said, +"and until that time you'd better say nothing of +the matter, lest it should reach the ears of my proud +family. I would write to you, but that would create +surprise. So you'll have to be content with knowing +that I do most truly love you."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Ellen tried to be content, though after he was +gone she cried herself to sleep, and for a time forgot +her wretchedness. She had taken a severe cold upon +the mountain, and for many weeks she stayed indoors, +thinking through all the long winter evenings of +William, and wishing he would come again, or send +her some message.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last, as her desire to see him grew stronger, she +resolved to write and bid him come, for she was +dying.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know that it is so," she wrote. "I see it in the +faces of my friends, I hear it in my mother's voice, I +feel it in my failing strength. Yes, I am surely dying, +won't you come? It is but a little thing for you, and +it will do me so much good. Do you really love me, +William? I have sometimes feared you didn't as I +loved you. I sometimes thought you might be glad +when the grass was growing on my grave, because you +then would have no dread lest your proud relatives +should know how you paused a moment to look at the +frail blossom fading by the wayside. If it is so, William, +don't tell it to me now; let me die believing that +you really do love me. Come and tell me so once +more, let me hear your voice again; then when I am +dead, and they go to lay me down in the very spot +where you found me sleeping that summer afternoon, +you needn't join the mourners, for the world might ask +why you were there. But when I'm buried, William, +and the candles are lighted in my dear old home, then +go alone where Nellie lies. It will make you a better +man to pray above my grave, and if you know in your +secret heart that you have been deceiving me, God +will forgive you then. I am growing tired, William, +there's a blur before my eyes and I cannot see. Come +quickly, William, do."</p> +<p class="pnext">This letter Ellen carried to the office herself, for +she sometimes rode as far as the village with her +grandfather, and thus none of the family knew that it +was sent, or guessed why, for many days, her face +grew brighter with a joyous, expectant look, which +Aunt Debby said "came straight from Heaven." The +letter reached William just as he was dressing for +Charlotte Reeves' party, and tearing open the envelope, +he read it with dim eye and quivering lip, for +the writer had a stronger hold on his affections than +he had at first supposed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will go and see her," he said to himself, "though +I can carry her no comfort unless I fabricate some lie. +Poor, darling Nellie! It will not be a falsehood to +tell her that I love her best of all the world, even +though I cannot make her my wife. Perhaps she +don't expect me to do that," and crushing into his +pocket the letter, stained with Nellie's tears and his, +he went, as we have seen, to the house of festivity, +mingling in the gay scene, and letting no opportunity +pass for showing to those around that Jessie Graham +was the chosen one, though all the while his thoughts +were away in Deerwood, where the dying Nellie +waited so anxiously his coming, and whither in a few +days he went, taking care to say to Jessie that he was +going into the country, and might possibly visit the +farm-house before he returned.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ix-nellie"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id10">CHAPTER IX.—NELLIE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The winter sun was setting, and its fading +light fell upon the golden hair and white, +beautiful face of Nellie, who lay upon the +lounge in the room where Walter's mother died, and +which Jessie now called hers. She was weaker than +usual, and the hectic spot upon her cheek was larger +and brighter, while her eyes shone like diamonds as she +looked wistfully in the direction of the village, where +the smoke of the New York train was slowly dying +away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mother," she said at last, "isn't the omnibus +coming over the hill?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," Mrs. Howland answered. "Possibly it is +Walter, though I did not tell him in my last how +weak you are, as you know you bade me not, lest he +should be unnecessarily alarmed."</p> +<p class="pnext">Ellen knew it was not Walter, and the spot on her +cheek was almost a blood-red hue when she heard the +dear familiar voice, and knew that William had come.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mother," she said faintly, "it's Mr. Bellenger, +and you must let me see him alone,—all the evening +alone;—will you? It's right," she continued, as she +met her mother's look of inquiry. "I'll explain it, +perhaps, when he's gone."</p> +<p class="pnext">In an instant the truth flashed upon Mrs. Howland, +bringing with it a feeling of gratified pride that the +elegant William Bellenger had condescended to think +of her child. She did not know the whole. She could +not guess how thoroughly selfish was the man who +was deliberately breaking her daughter's heart, or she +would not have left them to themselves that long winter +evening, saying to her father and Aunt Debby, +when they questioned the propriety of the proceeding:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He wants to tell her of Walter and Jessie, I suppose, +and the fine times they have in the city."</p> +<p class="pnext">This satisfied Aunt Debby, but the deacon was not +quite at ease, and more than once after finishing his +fourth pipe, he started to join them, but was as often +kept back by some well-timed remark addressed to +him by Mrs. Howland; and so William was left undisturbed +while he poured again into Ellen's ear the +story of his love, telling her how inexpressibly dear +she was to him, and that but for circumstances which +he could not control, he would prove his assertion +true by making her at once his wife. Then the long +eyelashes drooped beneath their weight of tears, for +there flitted across Ellen's mind a vague consciousness +that if these circumstances existed when he first talked +to her of love, he had done very wrong. Still she +could not accuse him even in thought, and she hastened +to say:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know as I really ever supposed that you +wished me to be your wife; and if I did it don't matter +now, for I am going to die; death has a prior +claim, and I never can be yours."</p> +<p class="pnext">He held her hot hand in his,—felt the rapid pulse,—saw +the deep color on her cheek,—the unnatural luster +of her eye,—and felt that she told him truly. And +thinking that anything which he could say to comfort +and please her would be right, he whispered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope there are many years in store for you. If +I should take you to Florida as my wife, do you think +you would get well?"</p> +<p class="pnext">She had said to him that it could not be,—that +death would claim her first, but now that he had asked +her this, all the energies of life were roused within +her, and her whole face said yes, even before the +answer dropped from her pale lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, William, dear, are you in earnest? Can I +go?" and raising herself up, she wound her arms +around his neck so that her head rested on his bosom.</p> +<p class="pnext">And William held it there, caressing the fair hair, +while he battled with all his better nature, and tried +to think of some excuse,—some good reason for retracting +the proposition which had been received so differently +from what he expected. He thought of it at +last, and laying his burden gently back upon her pillow, +he answered mournfully:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Forgive me, darling. In my great love for you +I spoke inadvertently. I wish I were free to do what +my heart dictates, but I am not. Listen, Nellie, and +then you shall decide. Perhaps you have never heard +that Jessie and I were long ago intended for each +other by our parents?"</p> +<p class="pnext">William's voice trembled as he uttered this falsehood, +but not one-half as much as did the young girl +on the lounge.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," she answered faintly; "Jessie never told +me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Some girls are not inclined to talk of those they +love," said William, and fixing her clear blue eyes on +him, Ellen asked:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Does Jessie love you, William?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And suppose she does?" he replied; "suppose +she had always been taught to look upon me as her +future husband? Suppose that even when I first came +here there was an understanding that, unless Jessie +should prefer some one else, we were to be married +when she was eighteen, and suppose that since we +have been so much together as we have this winter, +Jessie had learned to love me very much, and that my +marrying another now would break her heart, what +would you have me do? I know you must think it +wrong in me to talk of love to you, knowing what I +did, but struggle as I would, I could not help it. You +are my ideal of a wife. I love you better than I do +Jessie,—better than I do any one, and you shall decide +the matter. I will leave Jessie, offend her father, and +incur the lasting displeasure of my own family, if you +say so. Think a moment, darling, and then tell me +what to do."</p> +<p class="pnext">Had he held a knife at her heart, and a pistol at +her head, bidding her take her choice between the +two, he could scarcely have pained her more. Folding +her hands together, she lay so still that it seemed almost +like the stillness of death, and William once +bent down to see if she were sleeping. But the large +blue eyes turned toward him, and a faint whisper met +his ear:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't disturb me. I am thinking," and as she +thought the cold perspiration stood in the palms of +her hands and about her mouth, for it was like tearing +out her very life, deciding to give William up, +and bidding him marry another, even though she +knew she could never be his wife.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie Graham was very dear to the poor invalid, +as the first and almost only girl friend she had ever +known. Jessie had been kind to her, while Mr. +Graham had been most kind to them all. Jessie +would make William a far more suitable wife than +she could. His proud relatives would scoff at her, +and perhaps if she should live and marry him he +might some day be sorry that he did not take the +more brilliant Jessie. But was there any probability +that she could live? She wished she knew, and she +said to William:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do people always get well if they go to +Florida?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sometimes, darling, if the disease is not too far +advanced," was the answer, and Ellen went back to +her reflections.</p> +<p class="pnext">Her disease was too far advanced, she feared, and +if she could not live, why should she wish to trammel +William for so short a time, even if there were no +Jessie, and would it not be better to give him up at +once? Yes, it would, she said, and just as William +began a second time to think she had fallen away to +sleep she beckoned him to come near, and in a voice +which sounded like the wail of a broken heart, she +whispered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have decided, William. You must marry Jessie,—but +not till I am dead. You'll love poor me till +then, won't you?" and burying her face in his bosom, +she sobbed bitterly. He kissed her tears away; he +told her he would not marry Jessie, that she alone +should be his wife; and when she answered that it +must not be, that at the longest she could live but a +short time, he felt in his villainous, selfish heart that +he was glad she was so sensible. He had told her no +lie, he thought. He had merely supposed a case, and +she, taking it for granted, had deliberately given him +up. He could not help himself, for had she not virtually +refused him?</p> +<p class="pnext">By such arguments as these did the wicked man +seek to quiet his guilty conscience, but when he saw +how much it had cost the young girl to say what she +had said, he was half tempted to undeceive her, to tell +her it was all false, that story of himself and Jessie,—but +gold was dearer to him than aught else on earth, +and so he did not do it. He merely told her that so +long as she lived he should love her the best, but advised +her not to talk with Jessie on the subject, as it +would only make them both unhappy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You may tell your mother that I love you, but I +would say nothing of Jessie, who might not like to +have the matter talked about, as it is not positively +settled yet, at least not enough to proclaim it to the +world."</p> +<p class="pnext">Like a submissive child, Ellen promised compliance +with all his wishes, and as the deacon by this +time had declared "there was no sense in them two +staying in there any longer," he appeared in the door, +and thus put an end to the conversation.</p> +<p class="pnext">All the next day William stayed, improving every +opportunity to whisper to Ellen of his love, but the +words were almost meaningless to her now. She +knew that she loved him; she believed that he loved +her, but there was a barrier between them, and when +at night he left her, she was so strangely calm that he +felt a pang lest he might have lost a little of her love, +which, in spite of his selfishness, was very dear to him. +After he was gone, Ellen told her mother of their +mutual love, which never could be consummated, because +she must die; but she said nothing of Jessie, +and the deluded woman, gazing on her beautiful +daughter, prayed that she might live, and so one day +grace the halls of the proud Bellengers. After this +there often came to the farm-house dainty luxuries for +the invalid, and though there was no name, Ellen +knew who sent them, and smiling into her mother's +face would say:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Isn't he good to me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">At last the stormy March had come, and one night +a lady stood at the farm-house door, asking if Deacon +Marshall lived there.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have no claim upon your hospitality," she said, +"but a mother has a right to visit her daughter's +grave and the home where her daughter died."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Mrs. Bellenger, but so changed from the +haughty woman who years ago had been there, that +the family could scarcely believe it was the same. +It is true they had heard from Walter of his grandmother's +kindness, and how the effect of that kindness +was already beginning to be apparent in the treatment +he received from those who before had scarcely +noticed him, but they could not understand it until +they saw the lady in their midst, affable and friendly +to them all, but especially to poor sick Nellie, to whom +she attached herself at once. Very rapidly each grew +to liking the other. Mrs. Bellenger, because the gentle +invalid bore her daughter's name; and Nellie, because +the lady was William's grandmother, and sometimes +spoke of him. For many days Mrs. Bellenger +lingered, for there was something very soothing in +the quiet of the farm-house, and very attractive about +the sick girl, who once as they sat together alone, +opened her whole heart and told the story of her +love.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It surely is not wrong for me to confide in you," +she said, "and I must talk of it to somebody."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bellenger had heretofore distrusted William, +but the fact that he had won the love of so pure a +being as Ellen Howland changed her feelings toward +him, and when the latter said, "He spoke of taking +me to Florida," she thought at once that her money +should pay the bills, and that she too would go and +help her grandson nurse the beautiful young girl back +to life and strength. This last she said to Ellen, who +answered mournfully:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It cannot be, for I have given him up to Jessie, +whose claim was better than mine," and then she repeated +all that William had said to her.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It doesn't matter," she continued. "I can't live +very long, and Jessie has been so kind to me that I +want to give her something, and William is the most +precious thing I have.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It hurt me to give him up. But it is best, even +if there were no Jessie Graham. His parents are not +like you; they might teach him in time to despise +me, and I'd rather die now."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Bellenger turned away to hide her tears, and +could William have seen what was in her heart,—could +he have known how easily Ellen's wasted hand +could unlock her coffers and give him the money he +craved, the proud house of Bellenger would have +mourned over a second <em class="italics">mesalliance</em>.</p> +<p class="pnext">For nearly two weeks Mrs. Bellenger remained in +Deerwood, and then, promising to come again ere +long, returned to the city, where rumor was already +busy with the marriage which the world said was soon +to take place between William Bellenger and the +beautiful Miss Graham.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-x-a-disclosure"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id11">CHAPTER X.—A DISCLOSURE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Much surprise was expressed, and a good +deal of interest manifested, when it was +known that the handsome house up-town +which had recently been bought by a stranger it was +said, and elegantly furnished, was the property of +Mrs. Bellenger, who, not long after her return from +Deerwood, took possession of it, and made it also the +home of Walter Marshall. The latter was now +courted and admired as a most "delightful young +man," and probably the principal heir of the rich old +lady, who did not hesitate to show how greatly she +preferred him to her other grandson, William. Even +Mrs. Reeves was especially gracious to him now, saying +she believed him quite as good a match as Mr. +Bellenger, who was welcome to Jessie Graham if he +wanted her. And it would seem that he did, for almost +every evening found him at her side, while +Walter frequently met them in the street, or heard of +them at various places of amusement.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still Jessie was very kind to him whenever he +called upon her, unless William chanced to be present, +and then she seemed to take delight in annoying +him, by devoting herself almost entirely to one whom +he at last believed was really his rival. This opinion +he expressed one day to his grandmother, who had +come to the same conclusion, and who as gently as +possible repeated to him all that Ellen had told her. +It was the first intimation Walter had received that +William Bellenger had pretended to care for his +cousin, and it affected him deeply.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The wretch!" he exclaimed. "He won Ellen's +love only to cast it from him at his will, for he never +thought of making her his wife."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, as his own gloomy future arose before him, +he groaned aloud, for he never knew before how dear +Jessie was to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It may not be so," his grandmother said, laying +her hand upon his head. "I cannot quite think Jessie +would prefer him to you, and she has known you +always, too. Suppose you talk with her upon the subject. +It will not make the matter worse."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Grandmother," said Walter, "I have promised +never to speak of love to Jessie Graham until I am +freed from the taint my father's misfortune has fastened +upon my name, and as there is no hope that this +will ever be, I must live on and see her given to another. +Were my rival anybody but William, I could +bear it better, for I want Jessie to be happy, and I +believe him to be—a villain, and I would far rather +that Jessie would die than be his bride."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter was very much excited, and as the atmosphere +of the room seemed oppressive, he seized his hat +and rushed out into the street, meeting by the way +William and Jessie. They were walking very slowly, +and apparently so absorbed with themselves, that +neither observed him till just as he was passing, when +Jessie looked up and called after him:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you never coming to see me again?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know,—perhaps not," was the cool answer, +and Walter hastened on, while William, who +never let an opportunity pass for a sly insinuation +against his cousin, asked Jessie if she had not observed +how consequential Walter had grown since his +grandmother took him up and pushed him into society. +"Everybody is laughing about it," said he, "but that +is the way with people of his class. They cannot bear +prosperity."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think Walter has too much good sense," Jessie +replied, "to be lifted up by the attentions of those +who used to slight him, but who notice him now just +because Mrs. Bellenger likes him. There's Mrs. +Reeves, for instance,—it's perfectly sickening to hear +her talk about 'dear Mr. Marshall,' when she used to +speak of him as 'that poor young man in Mr. Graham's +employ.' Charlotte always liked him."</p> +<p class="pnext">This last was not very agreeable to Will, for in +case he failed to secure Jessie, Charlotte was his next +choice.</p> +<p class="pnext">Money he must have, and soon too, for there was +a heavy burden on his mind, and unless that burden +was lifted disgrace was sure to follow. Twice +recently he had written to his father for money and +received the same answer:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have nothing for you; go to your grandmother, +who has plenty."</p> +<p class="pnext">Once he had asked Mrs. Bellenger for a hundred +dollars; but she had said that "a young man in perfect +health ought to have some occupation, and as he had +none he had no right to live as expensively as he +did."</p> +<p class="pnext">Several times he had borrowed of Walter, making +an excuse that he had forgotten his purse, or "that +the old man's remittances had not come," but never +remembering to pay or mention it again. In this +state of affairs it was quite natural that he should be +looking about for something to ease his mind and fill +his pocket at the same time. A rich wife could do +this, and as Jessie and Charlotte both were rich, one +of them must come to the rescue. Jessie's remark +about Charlotte disturbed him, and as he had not of +late paid her much attention, he resolved to call +upon her as soon as he had seen Jessie to her own +door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile Walter had gone to his office, where he +found upon the desk a letter in his grandfather's +handwriting, and hastily breaking the seal, he read, +that he must come quickly if he would see his cousin +alive. The letter inclosed a note for Jessie, and +Walter was requested to give it to her so that she +might come with him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor Ellen talks of Jessie and Mrs. Bellenger all +the time," the deacon wrote, "and perhaps your +grandmother would not mind coming too. She +seemed to take kindly to the child."</p> +<p class="pnext">Not a word was said of William, for Ellen would +not allow her mother to send for him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It would only make him feel badly," she said, +"and I would save him from unnecessary pain." So +she hushed her longing to see him again and asked +only for Jessie.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will go to-morrow morning," Walter thought, +and as Mr. Graham was absent for a day or two he +was thinking of taking the note to Jessie himself, +when William came suddenly upon him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, old fellow," said he, "what's up now? +Your face is long as a gravestone."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ellen is dying," returned Walter, "and they +have sent for me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ellen dying!" and the man, who a moment +before had spoken so jeeringly, staggered into a chair +as if smitten by a heavy blow.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I did not suppose he cared so much for her," +thought Walter, and in a kinder tone he told what he +knew, and passing William the note intended for +Jessie, he bade him take it to her that night, and tell +her to meet him at the depot in the morning. "And +William," said Walter, fixing his eye earnestly upon +his cousin, "what message shall I take to Ellen for +you? or will you go too?"</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment William hesitated, while his better +nature battled with his worse, urging him to give up +the game at which he was playing, and comfort the +dying girl he had so cruelly deceived, and acknowledge +to the world how dear she was to him; then, as +another frightful thought intruded itself upon him, he +murmured, "I can't, I can't," and with that resolution +he sealed his future destiny. "No, I cannot go," he +said, and thrusting the note into his pocket went out +into the open air, a harder man, if possible, than he +had been before. "Jessie must not go to Deerwood +if I can prevent it," he thought to himself. "Nellie +may tell her all, and that would be fatal to my +plans."</p> +<p class="pnext">So he resolved not to call at Mr. Graham's that +night, and in case an explanation should afterward +be necessary, he would say that he had sent the +note by a boy, who, of course, had neglected to +deliver it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly the next morning Walter and his +grandmother waited impatiently for Jessie at the +depot, and then, when they found she was not coming, +took their seats in the cars with heavy hearts, for +both knew how terrible would be the disappointment +to Ellen, who loved Jessie Graham better almost than +herself.</p> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<p class="pfirst">"Where's Jessie? Didn't I hear her voice in the +other room?" the sick girl asked, when, one after the +other, Mrs. Bellenger and Walter bent over her pillow +and kissed her wasted face.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She isn't here," said Walter, and the color faded +from Ellen's face as she replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Isn't here? Where is she, Walter?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He answered that he did not see her himself, but +had sent the message by William, and at the mention +of his name the blood came surging back to the pallid +cheeks.</p> +<p class="pnext">"William would carry the note, I know," she said, +"and why does she stay away when I want so much +to see her before I die?" And turning her face to the +wall, she wept silently over her friend's apparent +neglect.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter," said Mrs. Bellenger, drawing him aside, +"it may be possible there is some mistake, and Jessie +does not know. Suppose you telegraph to her father +and be sure."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter immediately acted upon this suggestion, +and that evening as Jessie sat listlessly drumming her +piano, wondering why Walter seemed so changed, and +wishing somebody would come, she received the telegram, +and with feverish impatience waited for the +morning, when she set off for Deerwood, where she +was hailed with rapture by Ellen, who could now only +whisper her delight and press the hands of her early +friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why didn't you come with Walter?" she asked, +and Jessie replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"How could I, when I knew nothing of his coming?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Didn't William give you a note?" asked Walter, +who was standing near, and upon Jessie's replying +that she had neither seen nor heard from William, a +sudden suspicion crossed his mind that the message +had purposely been withheld.</p> +<p class="pnext">No such thought, however, intruded itself upon +Ellen; the neglect was not intentional, she was sure; +and in her joy at having Jessie with her at last, she +forgot her earlier disappointment. Earnestly and +lovingly she looked up into Jessie's bright, glowing +face, and, pushing back her short black curls, whispered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Darling Jessie, I am glad you are so beautiful, so +good."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Jessie, listening to these oft-repeated words +did not dream of the pure, unselfish love which +prompted them.</p> +<p class="pnext">If Jessie were beautiful and good, she would make +the life of William Bellenger happier than if she were +otherwise; and this was all that Ellen asked or +wished.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hidden away in a little rosewood box, which Jessie +had given her, was a blurred and blotted letter, which +she had written at intervals, as her failing strength +would permit. It was her farewell to William, and +she would trust it to no messenger but Jessie.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell them all to go out," she said, as the shadows +stretched farther and farther across the floor, and she +knew it was growing late. "Tell them to leave us together +once more, just as we used to be."</p> +<p class="pnext">Her request was granted, and then laying her hand +upon her pillow, she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lie down beside me, Jessie, and put your arms +around my neck while I tell you how I love you. It +wasn't my way to talk much, Jessie, and when you +used to say so often that I was very dear to you, I +only kissed you back, and did not tell you how +full my heart was of love. Dear Jessie, don't cry. +What makes you? Are you sorry I am going to +die?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A passionate hug was Jessie's answer, and Ellen +continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's right, darling, that I should go, for neither +of us could be quite happy in knowing that another +shared the love we coveted for ourselves. Forgive +me, Jessie, I never meant to interfere, and when I'm +dead, you won't let it cast a shadow between you that +he loved me a little, too."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do not understand you," said Jessie, "I love +nobody but father,—no man, I mean.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Jessie, don't profess to be ignorant of my +meaning," said Ellen. "It may be wrong for me to +speak of it, but at the very last, I cannot forbear +telling you how willingly I gave William up to +you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">William!</em>" Jessie exclaimed. "I never loved +William Bellenger,—never <em class="italics">could</em> love him. What +do you mean!"</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no color in Ellen's face, and she trembled +in every limb, as she answered, faintly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You wouldn't tell me a lie when I am dying?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, darling, no," and passing her arm around +the sick girl, Jessie raised her up, and continued, +"explain to me, will you? for I do not comprehend."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then as briefly as possible Nellie told the story of +her love, and how William had said that Jessie stood +between them.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If it is not so," she gasped, "if he has deceived +me, don't tell me. I could not endure losing faith in +him. Don't, don't," she continued, entreatingly, as +Jessie cried indignantly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is false,—false as his own black heart! There +is no understanding between our parents. I never +thought of loving him. I hate him now, the monster. +And you are dying for me, Nellie, but he killed you, +the wretch!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie paused, for there was something in Nellie's +face which awed her into silence. It was as white as +ashes, and Jessie never forgot its grieved, heart-broken +expression, or the spasmodic quivering of the lips, +which uttered no complaint against the perfidious +man, but whispered faintly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bring me my little box, and bring the candle, +too."</p> +<p class="pnext">Both were brought, and taking out the letter so +deeply freighted with her love, the sick girl held it in +the blaze, watching it as it blackened and charred, and +dropped upon the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"With that I burned up my very heart," she said, +and a cold smile curled her lips. "The pain is over +now. I do not feel it any more."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, taking a pencil and a tiny sheet of note +paper from the box, she wrote:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Heaven forgive you, William. Pray for pardon +at my grave. You have much need to pray."</p> +<p class="pnext">Passing it to Jessie, she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Give this to William when I am dead; and now +draw the covering closer over me, for I am growing +cold and sleepy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie folded the blanket about her shoulders and +chest, and then sat down beside her, while the family, +hearing no sound, stole softly across the threshold +into the room where the May moonshine lay; where +the candle burned dimly on the table, and where the +light of a young life flickered and faded with each +tick of the tall old clock, which in the kitchen without +could be distinctly heard measuring off the time.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fainter and fainter, dimmer and dimmer, grew the +light, until at last, as the swinging pendulum beat the +hour of midnight, it went out forever, and the moon-beams +fell on the golden hair and white face of the +beautiful dead.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xi-the-night-after-the-burial"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id12">CHAPTER XI.—THE NIGHT AFTER THE BURIAL.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Down the lane, over the rustic bridge +beneath the shadow of the tasseled pines +and up the grassy hillside, where the headstones +of the dead gleamed in the warm sunlight, the +long procession wended its way, and the fair May +blossoms were upturned, and the moist earth thrown +out to make room for the fair sleeper, thus early gone +to rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then back again, down the grassy hillside, under +the tasseled pines, and up the winding lane the +mourners came, and all the afternoon the villagers +talked of the beautiful girl,—but in the home she had +left so desolate, her name was not once mentioned. +They could not speak of her yet, and so the mother +sat in her lonely room, rocking to and fro, just as she +used to do when there was pillowed on her breast the +golden head, now lying across the fields, where the +dim eyes of the deacon wandered often, as the old +man whispered to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"One grave more, and one chair less. Our store +grows fast in Heaven."</p> +<p class="pnext">For once Aunt Debby forgot to knit, and the kitten +rolled the ball at pleasure, pausing sometimes in +her play, and looking up in Jessie's face, as if to ask +her the reason of its unwonted sadness, and why the +hug and squeeze had been so long omitted.</p> +<p class="pnext">To Walter, Ellen had been like a sister, and he +went away to weep alone, while Mrs. Bellenger, not +wishing to intrude on any one, withdrew to the quiet +garden, and so the dreary afternoon went by, and +when the sun was set and the moon was shining on +the floor of the little portico the family assembled +there, and drawing a little stool to the deacon's side +Jessie laid her bright head on his knee.</p> +<p class="pnext">The moonlight fell softly on her upturned face, +heightening its dark, rich beauty, and Walter was +gazing admiringly upon her, when a sound in the distance +caught his ear, and arrested the attention of all.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was the sound of horse's feet, and as the sharp +hoofs struck the earth with a rapidity which told how +swiftly the rider came, Jessie's heart beat faster with +a feeling that she knew who the rider was. He passed +them with averted face, and they heard the clatter +of the iron shoes, as the steed dashed down the +lane, over the rustic bridge, and up the grassy hillside.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie had not told the family the story which +broke poor Nellie's heart, for she would not inflict an +unnecessary pang upon the mother, or the grandfather, +but she wanted Walter to know it, and as the +sound of the horse's feet died away in the distance, +she said to him:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Will you walk with me, Walter? It is so light +and pleasant."</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed a strange request to him, but he complied +with it, and as if by mutual consent, the two +went together, toward the grave, whither another had +preceded them.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the city William had heard of the telegram sent +to Jessie, and with a feeling of restless impatience, he +at last took the cars, as far as the town adjoining +Deerwood, where he stopped and heard of Ellen's +death. He heard, too, that she was buried that very +afternoon, and his pulses quickened with a painful +throb, as as he heard the landlord's daughter, who had +attended the funeral, telling her mother how beautiful +the young girl was, all covered with flowers, and +how Miss Graham from New York cried when she +bent over the coffin.</p> +<p class="pnext">He would see her grave, he said, he would kiss the +earth which covered her, and so when the "candle was +lighted in her dear old home," he came, a weary, +wretched man, and stood by the little mound. He +had almost felt that he should find her there, just as +she was that August afternoon, when she lay sleeping +with the withered roses drooping on her face.</p> +<p class="pnext">She had told him of this hour, and bidden him +pray when he stood so near to her, but he could not, +and he only murmured through his tears:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor Nellie. She deserved a better fate. I wish +I had never crossed her path."</p> +<p class="pnext">There were voices in the distance, and not caring +to be found there, he knelt by the pile of earth, and +burying his face in the dust, said aloud:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish that I were dead and happy as you are, +little Snow Drop," then leaving the inclosure, he +mounted his horse, and rode rapidly off, just as Walter +and Jessie came up on the opposite side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That was William Bellenger," Jessie cried. "I +thought so when he passed the house, and I wanted so +much to see him here by Ellen's grave."</p> +<p class="pnext">"William Bellenger," Walter repeated. "Do you +know why he was here?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I do," Jessie answered, "and I wanted to +reproach him with it. Walter, William Bellenger is a +villain!</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sit down with me," she continued, "here, beside +your mother's grave, and Nellie's, and listen while I +repeat to you what Nellie told me just before she +died."</p> +<p class="pnext">He obeyed, and in a voice of mingled sorrow and +resentment, Jessie told him of the falsehood which +had been imposed upon the gentle girl lying there so +near them.</p> +<p class="pnext">It would be impossible to describe Walter's anger +and disgust, as he listened to the story of Ellen's +wrongs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The wretch! He killed her!" he exclaimed, +"killed her through love for him, and her unselfish +devotion to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But he <em class="italics">did</em> love her," interposed Jessie, "or he +had never been here to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter could not comprehend a love like this. It +was not what he felt for the dark-haired girl at his +side, and in his joy at finding that she, too, thoroughly +despised one whom he had feared might be his rival, +he came near telling her so, but he remembered in +time the promise made to Mrs. Bartow, and merely +said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Forgive me, Jessie. I have fancied you loved +this rascally fellow, and it made me very unhappy, for +I knew he was unworthy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you not sometimes unreasonably suspicious +of me?" Jessie asked, and Walter replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"If I am, it is because,—because,—I would have +my sister happy, and now that Nellie is dead, you are +all I have to love."</p> +<p class="pnext">It surely was not wrong for him to say so much, +he thought, and Jessie must have thought so too, for +impulsively laying her hand in his, she looked up into +his face and answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There must never be another cloud between us."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a long time they sat together among the +graves, and then, as it was growing late, they retraced +their steps toward the farm-house, where only Mrs. +Bellenger was waiting for them, the others having retired +to rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">To her, with Jessie's consent, Walter told what he +had heard, but not till Jessie had left them for the +night. Covering her face with her hands, Mrs. Bellenger +groaned aloud at this fresh proof of William's +perfidy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is one comfort, however," she said, at last, +"Jessie is not bound to him," and she spoke hopefully +to Walter of his future.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It may be," he said, "but my father must first +be proved innocent. I am going to find him, too," +and then he told his grandmother that Mr. Graham +had long contemplated sending him to California on +business connected with the firm. "Next September +is the time appointed for me to go, and something +tells me that I shall find my father in my +travels."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he told her that if he could arrange it, he +should spend several weeks at home, as the family +were now so lonely, and as Mrs. Bellenger was herself, +ere long, going to Boston, she offered no remonstrance +to the plan.</p> +<p class="pnext">The moon by this time had reached a point high +up in the heavens, and bidding him good night she +left him sitting there alone, dreaming bright dreams +of the future, when the little hand which not long ago +had crept of its own accord into his own, should be +his indeed. But what if it should never be proved +that his father was innocent? Could he keep his +promise forever? He dared not answer this, but +there swept over him again, as it had done many +times of late, the belief that ere a year had passed, +Seth Marshall would stand before the world an +honored and respected man. Until that time he was +willing to wait, he said, and the moon had long since +passed the zenith and was shining through the +western window into the room where Jessie Graham +lay sleeping ere he left his seat beneath the vines and +sought his pillow to realize in dreamland the happiness +in store for him.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xii-a-crisis"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id13">CHAPTER XII.—A CRISIS.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The next morning, Mrs. Bellenger, Jessie +and Walter returned to the city, the latter +promising his family that he would if +possible obtain leave of absence from his business for +several weeks, and be with them in the first stages of +their bereavement.</p> +<p class="pnext">To this plan Mr. Graham made no objection, and +without seeing William, who chanced to be out of +the city, Walter went back to Deerwood, while his +grandmother also started on her projected visit to +Boston.</p> +<p class="pnext">Lonely indeed was Walter's life at the farm-house, +and not even the cheering letters of Mr. Graham, +which always contained a pleasant message from +Jessie, had the power to enliven his solitude. He had +tasted of the busy world, and a life of inactivity +could not satisfy him now. So he wrote at last to +Mr. Graham, asking why he could not start at once +for California, instead of waiting until September.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a father's ready tact, Mr. Graham understood +exactly the nature of Walter's feelings toward +his daughter, and as Mrs. Bartow had told him of +the young man's promise, he watched him narrowly +to see how well it would be kept.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is a noble fellow," he thought, "and he shall +not wait for what may never be. I am sure Jessie +loves him quite as much as he does her, and I will +bring them together in my own way, and when +September comes he shall not go to California alone;" so +in reply to Walter's letter, he wrote: "You can go +at once if you like, though I have in mind a pleasant +surprise if you will wait until autumn," and as he +wrote his own heart grew young and warm again, +with fancying Walter's joy when he should say to +him, "I know your secret, and you need not wait. +Jessie loves you. Take her and be happy."</p> +<p class="pnext">And as thoughts of his own daughter's possible +bridal suggested to him another, he dipped his pen a +second time, and added as a postscript:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is a rumor of a marriage to take place +before long, and Jessie, I dare say, will wish you to be +present, so perhaps you'd better wait."</p> +<p class="pnext">Over the postscript Walter lingered long and +anxiously. Was Jessie to be the bride? It would +seem so, and yet there was madness in the thought. +Once he resolved to go and see, and this he would +perhaps have done had not the next mail brought him +a confirmation of his fears. It was from his cousin, +and read as follows:</p> +<blockquote><div> +<p class="pfirst">"<span class="small-caps">Dear Walt</span>:—You will be greatly surprised, I +dare say, to hear that I have caught the bird at last, +and the tenth of July, at eleven A. M., will see us +one. It is sudden, I know; but all the better for that. +She wanted to wait until fall and have a grand smash-up, +but I, with her grandmother to back me, insisted +upon its taking place immediately, and in a quiet way. +We shall be married in church, and then go off to +some watering-place. Her father does the handsome +thing, and comes down with a cool 50,000 on her +bridal day, but that's nothing for a millionaire. I'm +more obliged to you, Walt, than I can well express +for not interfering. At one time I was deuced +jealous, but you behaved like a gentleman, and left +me an open field, for which I thank you, and cordially +invite you to the wedding.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By the way, Jessie says you know about that +unfortunate affair with poor Nellie. Believe me, +Walt, I loved that girl, and even now the thought of +her takes my breath away; but she was too poor. +Isn't it lucky Jessie is rich? You ought to see how +delighted my grandmother-elect is with the match. +But time hastens, and I must finish. Remember, July +10th, hour 11, from —— Church. Adieu.</p> +</div></blockquote> +<p class="pfirst right">"<span class="small-caps">Bill Bellenger</span>."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a time after reading the letter Walter sat +powerless to act or think. Then the storm burst upon +him with overwhelming fury, and he raved like one +bereft of reason. Jessie was lost to him forever, and, +what was worse than all, she had proved herself +unworthy of esteem by her heartless treachery. How +could she so soon forget the little grave on the hillside? +How could she plight her faith to one whom, +only a few weeks since, she had denounced so +strongly? Was there no truth in woman? Were +they all as false as fair? Yes, they were, he said; +and he laughed bitterly as he thought how, hereafter, +he should hate the entire sex. Walter was growing +desperate, and, in his desperation, he resolved to put +the width of the western hemisphere between himself +and the fickle Jessie Graham. He could go to California +now as well as later, and he determined to start +for New York that night. So with a hurried good-by +to his family he left them, and scarcely knowing +whether he were dead or alive, he took the express +for the city.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was morning when he reached there, and the +Wall street thunder had already commenced. His +first business was to ascertain that a vessel would sail +that day for California,—his next to call on Mr. +Graham and make the necessary explanations.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham was not at the office,—he was sick, +the clerk said, and as Walter had neither the time nor +the inclination to go all the way up-town to find him, +he sat down and wrote to him what he would have +said.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was going to California, and the reason why he +went Mr. Graham could perhaps divine; if not, Walter +would tell him frankly that he could not stay in +New York and see a man of William Bellenger's +character married to the girl he loved better than he +loved his life.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I understand the business on which I am going +thoroughly, I believe," he added in conclusion; "but +if there is anything more which you wish to say, you +can write it by the next steamer, and your directions +shall be attended to most strictly."</p> +<p class="pnext">This letter he left for Mr. Graham, and when the +night shadows fell again on Deerwood, where in the +large old kitchen the family talked of him, he sat +upon the upper deck, listening, with an aching heart, +to the surging of the waves, as they dashed against +his floating home.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiii-explanations"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id14">CHAPTER XIII.—EXPLANATIONS.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">After Jessie's return to the city, several +days had elapsed ere she met with William; +and when at last she did, he saw at +once that there was a change in her demeanor,—that +she was unusually reserved; but this he hoped might +arise from the sad scene through which she had +recently passed, and as he was fast nearing a point +when something must be done, he resolved upon a +decisive step.</p> +<p class="pnext">His attentions to Jessie must have prepared her +for a proposal, he thought, and as it would be better +for him to know his fate at once, so that in case she +refused him, he could look elsewhere for aid, he determined +to improve the present opportunity, which, +so far as outward circumstances were concerned, +seemed propitious.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham was away, and Mrs. Bartow kindly +absented herself from the room, as was her custom +when William was present. The night was rainy, +too, and they would not be liable to interruption. +Accordingly when Jessie spoke to him of Nellie's +death, and gave him the note which had been entrusted +to her, he drew his chair to her side, and, after +a few preliminary coughs, plunged at once into business, +and made her a formal offer of himself, saying +that he knew he was very faulty, but she could mould +him as she pleased, and make him a good and useful +man.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a cold, haughty look upon her face, Jessie +Graham listened to him until he finished, and then +said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You astonish me more than I can express, for if +you do not respect yourself, I hoped you had too much +respect for me to offer me a hand reeking, as it were, +with the blood of sweet Nellie Howland. I know it +all,—know the lie you imposed upon the poor, weak +girl, whose only fault was loving you too well. And +now do you think I would marry you? I have never +seen the hour when I would have done so,—much less +will I do it now. I despise you, William Bellenger,—despise +you more than I can tell."</p> +<p class="pnext">She ceased speaking, but her eyes never for a +moment left the white face, which had grown whiter +as she proceeded, and which was now almost livid +with chagrin, disappointment and rage.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have nothing to offer which can extenuate my +sin toward Nellie," he answered, at last, "though I +did love her,—better than I love you,—but for certain +reasons, I preferred that you should be my wife. +You refuse me, and I know well to whom I am +indebted for the good opinion you are pleased to +entertain of me; but I warn you now, fair lady, that +my precious cousin is no better than myself."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hush!" interrupted Jessie. "You are not to +speak of Walter in that way. Shall I consider our +interview at an end?"</p> +<p class="pnext">She spoke with dignity, and motioned him toward +the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," he stammered, as he started to leave the +room, "I'll admit that I'm a wretch, but I trust that +you will not think it necessary to repeat this to everybody."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have no desire to injure you," she answered, +and walking to the window she stood until she heard +him leave the house; then her unwonted calmness +gave way, and she burst into a flood of tears, sometimes +wishing she had spoken more harshly to him, +and again regretting that she had been harsh at all.</p> +<p class="pnext">She might have spared herself this last feeling, +for at that moment the man she had discarded was +pouring into the ear of Charlotte Reeves words similar +to those he had breathed to her not an hour before. +And Charlotte, knowing nothing of Nellie,—nothing +of Jessie, save that the latter had been a dreaded +rival, said <em class="italics">yes</em> to him, on condition that her father's +consent could be won.</p> +<p class="pnext">This last was an easy matter; for Mr. Reeves, who +scarcely had an identity save that connected with his +business, answered that in this thing Charlotte would +do as she pleased, just as she did in everything else, +adding in a kind of absent way:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I always intended giving her fifty thousand the +day she was married, and after that my duty will be +done."</p> +<p class="pnext">William could scarcely refrain from hugging his +prospective father-in-law, but he wisely withheld the +hug for the daughter, who, while he was closeted +with the father, ran with the news to the grandmother.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next morning, as Jessie sat at her work, she +was surprised at a call from Charlotte, who, seating +herself upon the sofa began at once to unfold the +object of her visit.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She was engaged, and Jessie could not guess to +whom if she guessed a year."</p> +<p class="pnext">"William Bellenger," Jessie said at once, her lip +curling with scorn, and her cheek growing slightly pale.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You wicked creature," exclaimed Charlotte, +jumping up and giving her a squeeze. "What made +you think of him? I always supposed he would marry +you, and used to be awful jealous. Yes, it's William. +He came in last night and as pa chanced to be home +in his room, the whole thing was arranged at once. +I wanted so badly to wait till fall, and have a grand +affair, but William is in such a hurry, and says it will +be so much nicer to be a bride and belle, too, at Newport +or Nahant, that I gave it up, and we are to be +married the 10th of July, and go right off. Won't it +be fun? I'm going to employ every dressmaker in +the city, that is, every fashionable one. Father gave +me a thousand dollars this morning to begin my shopping +with," and the thoughtless light-hearted Charlotte +clapped her hands and danced around the room +in childish delight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shall I tell her? Ought I to tell her?" Jessie +thought, looking into the bright face of the young +girl.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then as she remembered how really good-natured +William was, and that after all he might make a kind +husband, she resolved to throw no cloud over the +happiness of her friend, and congratulated her as cordially +as it was possible for her to do. But Charlotte +detected the absence of something in her manner, and +imputing it to a feeling of chagrin at having lost Mr. +Bellenger, she soon brought her visit to a close, +and hastened home, telling her grandmother that she +believed Jessie Graham was terribly disappointed, for +she was as white as a ghost, and could scarcely keep +from crying.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meantime William, in a most singular state of +mind, tried to play the part of a devoted lover to +Charlotte,—avoided an interview with Jessie,—received +quite indifferently the congratulations of his +friends, and spent the remainder of his time in hating +Walter, who, he believed, stood between him and +Jessie Graham, just as he was sure he stood between +him and his rich grandmother.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll torment him while I can," he thought. "I'll +make him think for a time, at least, that Jessie is +lost," and sitting down he wrote the carefully-worded +letter which had sent Walter so suddenly from home. +"There," said he, as he read it over, "he can infer +what he pleases. I don't say it's Jessie I'm going to +marry; but he can think so, if he likes, and I don't +envy him his cogitations."</p> +<p class="pnext">William could not have devised a way of wounding +Walter more deeply than the letter had wounded +him, or of affecting Jessie more sensibly than she was +affected, when she heard that Walter had gone to +California.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not gone!" she cried, when her father brought +to her the news. "Not gone, without a word for me. +Oh, father, it was cruel! Didn't he leave a message +for you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, read it if you choose," and Mr. Graham +passed to her the letter which had greatly puzzled +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Was it possible he had been deceived? Was it +Charlotte Reeves, and not his daughter, whom Walter +Marshall loved? It would seem so, and yet he could +not be so mistaken; Walter must have been misinformed +as to the bride. Jessie, perhaps, could explain; +and he stood watching her face as she read the +letter.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first it turned very red, then spotted, and then, +as the horrible truth burst upon her, it became as +white as marble, and stretching out her arms she +moaned:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, father, I never thought that he loved Charlotte +Reeves. I most wish I were dead;" and with +another cry, Jessie lay sobbing in her father's arms. +Very gently he tried to soothe her; and then, when +she was better, laid her upon the sofa, and kneeling +beside her, kissed away the tears which rolled down +her cheeks so fast.</p> +<p class="pnext">She had betrayed her secret, or rather it had been +betrayed to herself, and winding her arms around her +father's neck, she whispered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I didn't know that before I,—that I,—oh, father,—I +guess I do love Walter better than I supposed; +and I guess I thought that he loved me. You won't +tell anybody, will you?" and she laid her burning +cheek against his own.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," he said, "I have known for a long +time that you loved Walter Marshall. Once I +believed that he loved you. I believe so still. +There is surely some mistake. I will inquire of +William."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham did not know why he should seek for +an explanation from William Bellenger, but he could +think of nothing else, and after Jessie was somewhat +composed, he sought an interview with that young +man, asking him if he knew of any reason why his +cousin should start so suddenly for California, without +a word from any one.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should suppose he might have waited until after +your marriage with <em class="italics">Miss Reeves</em>?" and Mr. Graham +fixed his eyes upon Will, who colored slightly as +he replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, yes, I wrote to him about it, and invited him +to be present."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham was puzzled. If William wrote as he +said, Walter could not have been deceived, and he +wended his way homeward, quite uncertain how to act. +At last, he decided that as he must write to Walter by +the next steamer, he would take particular pains to +speak of Charlotte as having been the bride, and this +might, perhaps, bring Walter back sooner than was +expected. Still he would not tell this to Jessie, lest +she should be disappointed, and day after day her face +grew less merry than of old, until at last the kind-hearted +Charlotte, who watched her narrowly, threw +her arms around her neck, and said to her, entreatingly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, Jessie? Did you love William, +and does it make you so unhappy to have him marry +me?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No, no," and Jessie recoiled from her in horror. +"I never loved William Bellenger,—never saw the +day when I would have married him,—never, as I +live!" and she spoke so indignantly that Charlotte, a +little piqued, replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't scream so loud, if you didn't. I only +asked you because I knew something had ailed you +ever since I was engaged. Others notice it too; +and, if I were you, I'd try to appear cheerful, even if +I did not feel it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Greatly as Jessie was annoyed, she resolved to act +upon this advice, for she would not have people think +that she cared for William Bellenger. So she roused +herself from the state of listless indifference into +which she had fallen, and Charlotte Reeves no longer +had reason to complain of her dullness, or non-appreciation +of the bridal finery, which was so ostentatiously +displayed, and which greatly annoyed Mrs. +Bartow.</p> +<p class="pnext">This lady was secretly chagrined at what she considered +Charlotte's good luck, and at Mrs. Reeves' +evident exultation, and she took great pains to let the +latter know that she did not care and on the whole +was glad William was going to do so well. Jessie +would never have accepted him, even if she had had +a chance; and for the sake of dear Mrs. Bellenger +she was pleased to think the Reeves family was so +respectable. Of course she never did believe that +ridiculous story about the tin-peddler, and she +couldn't see who had reported it. She had been +asked about it, two or three times, and had always +told exactly how the story originated, and said it was +not true.</p> +<p class="pnext">This speech she made in substance several times to +Mrs. Reeves, when that lady was congratulating herself +upon her granddaughter's brilliant prospects, and +insisting that "Jessie was a year the oldest; basing +her assertion upon the fact that she bought her +camel's hair shawl so many years ago, and Jessie was +born that very day."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I," retorted Mrs. Bartow, "remember +that my daughter Graham's silver tea-set was sent +home the morning after Jessie was born, and that +has the date on it, so I can't be wrong. And another +thing which makes me sure, is that a raw country +girl we had just hired insisted that it was tin, saying +her father was a peddler, and she guessed she +knew."</p> +<p class="pnext">At the mention of tin of any kind, Mrs. Reeves +always seemed uneasy; and as Mrs. Bartow frequently +took occasion to name the offensive article in +her hearing, she resolved at last to steal a day or so +from the excitement at home, and see if she too, +could not find a weapon with which to fight her +friend.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, one morning, when Mrs. Bartow +called to tell her that "people said William Bellenger +would drink and gamble too," she was informed that +the lady was out of town, and so she contented herself +with repeating the story to Charlotte, adding that she +didn't believe it herself and she wondered why people +would talk so.</p> +<p class="pnext">Charlotte wondered too, and said that those who +repeated such scandal were quite as bad as the originators, +a remark in which Mrs. Bartow fully concurred, +saying, "if there was anything she despised it was a +talebearer."</p> +<p class="pnext">The next day about one as she sat with Jessie in her +little sewing-room, Mrs. Reeves was announced, and +after a few preliminary remarks, began:</p> +<p class="pnext">"By the way, my dear Mrs. Bartow, I have been +to Springfield, and remembering what you said about +that woman in Deerwood, I thought I'd run over there +and see her just to convince her that she was mistaken +in thinking she ever knew me or my father."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes. It's pretty warm in here, isn't it? +Jessie, hadn't you better go where it is cooler?" said +Mrs. Bartow, and Jessie replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not uncomfortable, and I want to hear about +Deerwood. Isn't it a pleasant old town?" and she +turned to Mrs. Reeves, who answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Charming! and those Marshalls are such kind, +worthy people. But what an odd specimen that Aunt +Debby is; and what a wonderful memory she has, +though, of course, she remembers some things which +never could have been, for instance——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie, will you bring me my salts, or will you go +away, it's so close in here," came faintly from the distressed +lady, who had dropped her work, and was nervously +unbuttoning the top of her dress.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you feel choked?" asked Mrs. Reeves, while +Jessie answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll get your salts, grandma; but I don't wish to +go out, unless Mrs. Reeves has something to tell which +I must not hear."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Certainly not," returned Mrs. Reeves. "It's +false, I'm sure, just as false as that ridiculous story +about the tin peddler and factory girl. I convinced +Aunt Debby that she was wrong. It was some other +Charlotte Gregory she used to know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course it was; I always said so," and a violent +sneeze followed the remark and a too strong inhalation +of the salts.</p> +<p class="pnext">"As I was saying," persisted Mrs. Reeves, "Aunt +Debby knows everybody who has lived since the flood, +and even pretended to have known you, after I told +her your name was Lummis, before you were adopted +by Mrs. Stanwood."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, delightful," cried Jessie. "Do pray give us +the entire family tree, root and all. Was grandma's +father a cobbler, or did he make the <em class="italics">tin things</em> yours +used to <em class="italics">peddle</em>?" and the saucy black eyes looked +archly at both the ladies.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know what her father was," said Mrs. +Reeves, "but Aunt Debby pretends that Martha +Lummis,—Patty, she called her——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's the name in the old black book, grandma, +that you said belonged to a friend," interrupted +Jessie, and while grandma groaned, Mrs. Reeves continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Said that Patty did housework in Hopkinton, +and I believe could milk <em class="italics">seventeen</em> cows to her +one!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh," said Jessie, "how I wish I could milk. It's +such fun. I did try once, but got the tiniest stream, +and Walter said I'd dry the cows all up. I wish you +could hear <em class="italics">him</em> when he first begins. It sounds like +hail stones rattling on the <em class="italics">tin pail</em>. Did yours sound +so, grandma, and did you buy the pail of Mr. +Gregory?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Reeves, by this time, began to think that +Jessie might be making fun of her, and smothering +her wrath, she proceeded:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I shouldn't care anything about the housework or +the milking, but I'll confess I <em class="italics">was</em> shocked, when she +spoke of——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I certainly am going to faint, Jessie, do go +out," gasped the white figure in the rocking chair, +while Jessie rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't see how my going out can help you." +Then crossing over to her grandmother, she whispered, +"Brave it out. <em class="italics">Don't</em> let her see that you +care."</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus entreated Mrs. Bartow became somewhat +composed, and her tormentor went on:</p> +<p class="pnext">"This Patty Lummis, Aunt Debby said, was +blood relation to <em class="italics">three Thayers</em>, who were hung +some years ago for murdering <em class="italics">John Love</em>, or some +such name. I remember hearing of it at the time, +but did not suppose I knew any of their relatives."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Horrid!" cried Jessie, and then, as she saw how +white her grandmother was, she added quickly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And didn't she say too, that the Gregorys <em class="italics">ought</em> +to have been hung if they weren't?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Such impertinence," muttered Mrs. Reeves, while +Jessie rejoined:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There are very few families, which, if traced to +the fountain head, have not a halter, or a peddler's +cart, or a smell of tallow, or shoemaker's wax——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Or a woollen factory, Jessie. Don't forget +that," suggested Mrs. Bartow, and Jessie added, +laughingly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, a woollen factory, and as you and grandma +do not belong to the few who are exempt from a stain +of any kind, if honorable work can be called a stain, +I advise you to drop old scores, and let the past be +forgotten."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm sure I'm willing," sobbed Mrs. Bartow. "I +never did tell that ridiculous story to but one, and +she promised not to breathe it as long as she +lived."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And will you take it back?" chimed in Mrs. +Reeves.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ye-es. I'll do everything I can toward it," answered +the distracted old lady. "I couldn't help +those <em class="italics">Thayers</em>. I never saw them in my life, and they +were only second cousins."</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Fourth</em> to you, then," and Mrs. Reeves nodded +to Jessie, who replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't care if they were <em class="italics">first</em>. Everybody +knows me, and my position in society does not depend +upon what my family have been before me, but upon +what I am myself. Isn't it so, father?" and she +turned to Mr. Graham, who had just entered the +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know the nature of your conversation," +he replied, "but I overheard your last remarks, and +fully concur with you, that persons are to be respected +for themselves and not for their family; neither are +they to be despised for what their family or any member +of it may do."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a tremor in his voice, and looking at +him closely, Jessie saw that he was very pale, and +evidently much agitated.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, father?" she cried, forgetting the +<em class="italics">three Thayers</em> and thinking only of Walter. "What +has happened?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham did not reply to her, but turning to +Mrs. Reeves, he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Excuse me, madam, but I think your duty calls +you home, where poor Charlotte needs your sympathy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why <em class="italics">poor</em> Charlotte?" replied Jessie, grasping +his arm. "Is William sick or dead?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"He has been arrested for forgery. I may as +well tell it first as last," and the words dropped slowly +from Mr. Graham's lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Forgery!</em> William arrested! It's false!" shrieked +Mrs. Reeves, and the salts which Mrs. Bartow had used +so vigorously a little time before changed hands, +while Jessie passed her arm around the lady to keep +her from falling to the floor. "It's false. He never +forged. Why should he? Isn't he rich, and a Bellenger?" +she kept repeating, until at last Mr. Graham +answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is too true, my dear madam, that for some +time past Mr. Bellenger has been engaged in a systematic +course of forging, managing always to escape +detection, until now, it has been clearly proved against +him, and he is in the hands of the law."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no reason why Mrs. Reeves, at this +point, should think of Walter, but she did, and fancying +that her auditors might possibly be drawing comparisons +between the two cousins she said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's the <em class="italics">Marshall</em> blood with which he is tainted."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Marshall blood!" repeated Jessie, indignantly. +"I'd like to know by what chemical process you have +mingled the Marshall blood with William Bellenger's."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Reeves could not explain. She only knew +that she was completely overwhelmed with surprise +and mortification, and she seemed so bewildered and +helpless that Mr. Graham ordered his carriage, and +sent her to No.—, whither the sad news had preceded +her, and where Charlotte lay fainting and moaning in +the midst of her bridal finery, which would never be +worn. She had noticed William's absence from the +house for the last twenty-four hours, and was wondering +at it, when her father, roused by the shock from +his usual state of quiet passiveness, rushed in, telling +her in thunder tones that her affianced husband had +been guilty of forging Graham & Marshall's name, +not once, not twice, but many times, until at last he +was detected and under arrest.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He'll go to State prison, girl—do you hear? To +State prison! Why don't you speak, and not sit staring +at me with that milky face?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Poor Charlotte could not speak, but she fainted +and fell at the feet of her father, who became himself +at once, and bending kindly over her brought her +back to life. It was not that Charlotte loved William +so very much. It was rather her pride which was +wounded, and she moaned and wept until her grandmother +came, and with her lamentations and reproaches, +so wholly out-did all Charlotte had done, +that the latter grew suddenly calm, and without a +word or a tear, sat motionless, while the old lady +raved on, one moment talking as if they were all going +to prison together, and the next giving Charlotte +most uncomfortable squeezes to think she was not the +wife of a forger after all.</p> +<hr class="docutils"/> +<p class="pfirst">The <em class="italics">three Thayers</em> were for the time forgotten, +and when at Charlotte's request Jessie came to see +her, accompanied by her grandmother, Mrs. Reeves +kissed the latter affectionately, whispering in her ear:</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll not mind the past, for the present has +enough of trouble and disgrace."</p> +<p class="pnext">Great was the excitement among William's friends, +the majority of whom turned against him, saying +"they expected it and knew all the time that something +was wrong."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham stood by and pitied the cowed and +wretched young man, and pitied him all the more that +his father kept aloof, saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's made his bed and he may lie in it."</p> +<p class="pnext">At the first intimation of the sad affair, Mrs. Bellenger +hastened home, but neither her money nor her +influence, and both were freely used, could disprove +the guilt of the young man, who awaited his trial in a +state of mind bordering on despair.</p> +<p class="pnext">Only once did he speak of Charlotte, and that on +the day which was to have seen her his bride. Then, +with Mr. Graham, he talked of her freely, asking what +effect it had on her, and appearing greatly agitated +when told that she was very ill, and would see none of +her friends but Jessie.</p> +<p class="pnext">"God bless her,—Jessie, I mean," he said, "and +bless poor Lottie, too. I am sorry I brought this +trouble upon her. I thought to pay the notes with +her money, and I resolved after that to be a better +man. I am glad Nellie did not live to see this day. +Do you think that up in Heaven she knows what I +have done and prays for me still?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, as talking of Nellie naturally brought Walter +to his mind, he confessed to Mr. Graham how his +letter had sent his cousin away.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought once to win Jessie for myself," he said, +"and so I broke poor Nellie's heart. I purposely +withheld the note the deacon sent to Jessie, bidding +her come ere Nellie died. And this I did, because I +feared what the result might be of Jessie's going +there. But my sin has found me out, and I shall +never cross Walter's path again; it's Jessie he loves; +tell her so, and bring the light back to her eyes, which +were heavy with tears when I saw her last."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Graham did tell her, and when next she went +to the chamber where Charlotte lay sick of a slow +fever, there was an increased bloom upon her cheek +and a brighter flash in her dark eye, while from her +own great happiness she strove to draw some comfort +for her friend, who would suffer no other one of her +acquaintance to approach her.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jessie alone could comfort her, Jessie alone knew +what to say, and the right time to say it, and when at +last the trial came, and the verdict of "guilty" was +pronounced, it was Jessie who broke the news as +gently as possible to the pale invalid.</p> +<p class="pnext">Locked in each others' arms they wept together; +the one, tears of pity; the other, tears of regret and +mortification over the misguided man whose home for +the next five years would be a dreary prison.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no going to Saratoga that summer, no +trip to Newport; and when the gay world congregated +there asked for the sprightly girl who had been +with them the season before, and for the old lady who +carried her head so proudly and sported such superb +diamonds, the answer was a mysterious whisper of +some dire misfortune or disgrace which had befallen +them, and then the dance and the song in which +Charlotte had ever been the first to join, went on the +same as before.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually as Charlotte recovered her strength and +her spirits, she began to wish for some quiet spot +where no one knew her, and remembering dear old +Deerwood, now a thousand times more dear since she +knew of Walter's love, Jessie told her of its shadowy +woods, its pleasant walks, its musical pines with the +rustic seat beneath, and Charlotte, pleased with her +rural picture, bade her write and ask if she could come.</p> +<p class="pnext">So Jessie wrote, and in less than one week's time +two girls walked again upon the mountain side, or +paused by the little grave where Nellie was buried. +Upon the bank close to the mound a single rose was +growing,—the last of the sisterhood. It had been late +in unfolding its delicate leaves, and when at last, it +was full blown, Jessie picked it, and pressing it carefully, +sent it with the message, "it grew near Nellie's +grave," to the weary man whose life was now one of +toil and loneliness.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiv-the-stranger-nurse"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id15">CHAPTER XIV.—THE STRANGER NURSE.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The regular boarders at the —— Hotel were +discussing their dinner with all the haste +and greediness which characterizes their +Eastern brethren. The first and second courses had +been removed, and the merits of the dessert were about +to be tested when for a moment the operation ceased, +while the operators welcomed back to their midst a +middle-aged man, who for a few weeks had been +absent from the city.</p> +<p class="pnext">That Captain Murdock was a general favorite, +could readily be seen by the heartiness of his greeting +from his friends, and that he was worthy of +esteem, none knew better than the hundreds of poor +and destitute who had often been relieved and comforted +by his well-filled purse, and words of genuine +sympathy. Possessed of unbounded wealth, he scattered +it about him with no miserly hand, and many a +child of poverty blessed him for the great good done +to him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, captain," said one of the boarders, "glad +to see you back. We've been mighty lonesome +without you. Found your room occupied, didn't +you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," returned the man addressed as captain, +"the landlord tells me he took the liberty to put the +young man in there because the house was so full. +Of course, he couldn't know that he would be too sick +to vacate the premises in the morning; but it's all +right. I, who have slept so often on the ground, don't +mind camping on the floor now and then."</p> +<p class="pnext">Here a dozen voices interposed offering him a part +or the whole of their rooms, but the good-natured +captain declined them all, saying "he should do very +well, and perhaps the young man would not be sick +long. Did they know where he came from? Was he +a stranger or a resident in California?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A stranger, they replied, adding that he came +from New York about two weeks before, and had almost +immediately been taken sick, and that was all +they knew about him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dinner being over, Captain Murdock went up to +his room, not to see the sick man particularly, but because +he wished to remove to another apartment a +few articles which he would probably need.</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter, for it was he, was sleeping, while near him, +in an arm-chair, dozed the old crone who had been +hired to nurse him. One glance at the former convinced +the captain that he was poorly cared for and +must necessarily be very uncomfortable. Still he +might not have interfered, had not the sick man +moaned uneasily in his sleep, and turning on his side, +murmured the name of <em class="italics">father</em>.</p> +<p class="pnext">Never had Captain Murdock been thus addressed,—no +infant arms had ever twined themselves around his +neck,—no sweet voice called him <em class="italics">father</em>,—and yet this +one word thrilled him with an undefinable emotion, +awakening at once within his bosom feelings of tender +pity for the sick man, who seemed so young and helpless.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Poor boy," he whispered, "he is dreaming of his +home away in the East, and of the loved ones who +little know how much he needs their care," and advancing +toward the bedside, he adjusted the tumbled +pillows, smoothed the soiled spread, pushed back the +tangled hair from the burning forehead, and was turning +away when Walter awoke, and fixing his bright +eyes upon him, said faintly, "Don't go."</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus entreated the captain sat down beside him, +while the old nurse roused up, exclaiming:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sakes alive, captain! is that you? Ain't you +feared the fever's catching? He's got it mightily +in his head, and keeps a goin' on about Jessy, +his brother, I guess, or some chap he know'd at +home."</p> +<p class="pnext">At the mention of Jessie, Walter turned his eyes +again upon the captain, and said.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie's married. Did you know it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, I know it," answered the captain, thinking +it best to humor the whim. "Whom did she +marry?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"William," was the reply, "and I loved her so +much."</p> +<p class="pnext">At this point the nurse arose, saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bein' you're here, I'll go out a bit," and she left +the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Walter looked uneasily after her, and when she +was gone, said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lock the door, and keep her out. Don't let her +come back. She's one of Macbeth's witches, and +makes one think of Jessie's grandmother, who won't +let me talk of love to Jessie, until I am—well, no +matter what. Do you know my father?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," and the captain shook his head mournfully, +while Walter continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you anybody's father?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know," and the voice was sadder than +when it spoke before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm looking for my father," Walter said, "just +as Telemachus looked for his. Do you know +Ulysses?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain had heard of Ulysses, and the mention +of him carried him back to an old stone house on +the hill, where he had read the wonderful adventures +of the hero.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well," Walter continued, "I am hunting for my +father, and Jessie cried up in the pines when I told +her about him, and how her father testified against +him. Do you know Mr. Graham?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who?" screamed the captain, bounding to his +feet, and bending so near to Walter that his hot +breath stirred the thick brown hair. "Do I know +whom?"</p> +<p class="pnext">But Walter refused to answer, or even to speak; +the captain's manner had startled him, or it may be +there was something in the keen eye fixed so earnestly +upon him, which held him speechless.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a moment the two gazed fixedly at each other,—the +old man and the young,—the latter with a +bright, vacant stare, while the other sought for some +token to tell him that it was not without a reason his +heart beat so fast with a hope of he scarcely knew +what.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will inquire below," he said at last, as he +failed to elicit any information from Walter, and +going to the office, he turned the leaves of the +register back to the day when he had left three +weeks before.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then with untiring patience he read on and on, +read Jones and Smith, and Smith and Brown, some +with wives and some without, some with daughters, +some with sisters, and some alone, but none as yet +were sent to No. 40. So he read on again and then at +last he found the name he sought,—<span class="small-caps">Walter Marshall</span>.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank God! thank God!" he uttered faintly, +and those who heard only the last word thought to +themselves:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I never knew the captain <em class="italics">swore</em> before."</p> +<p class="pnext">With great effort he compelled himself to be calm, +and when at last he spoke none detected in his voice +a trace of the shock that name had given him, bringing +back at once the gable-roofed farm-house far +away, the maple tree where his name was cut, the +brown-haired wife, the stormy night when the wind +rushed sobbing past the window where he stood and +looked his last on her, the mother long since dead, and +the father who believed him guilty.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this passed in rapid review before his mind, and +then his thoughts came back to the present time, and +centered themselves upon the restless, tossing form +which, up in No. 40, had said to him:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you know my father?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it, captain?" the landlord asked. "Your +face is white as paper."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am thinking," and the captain spoke naturally, +"I am thinking that I will take care of that young +man. I find I know his people, or used to know them, +rather. Dismiss that imbecile old woman," and having +said so much he left the room and fled up the stairs +seeing nothing but that name as it looked upon the +page,—<span class="small-caps">Walter Marshall</span>.</p> +<p class="pnext">He repeated it again and again, and in the tone +with which he did so there was a peculiar tenderness, +such as mothers are only supposed to feel toward their +children.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter Marshall,—my boy,—Ellen's and mine," +and over the boy, which was Ellen's and his, the man, +old before his time, bent down and wept great teardrops, +which fell upon the white handsome face, which +grew each moment more and more like the young girl +wife, whose grave the broken-hearted husband had +never looked upon.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why do you cry?" asked Walter, and the captain +replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I had a son once like you, and it makes me cry +to see you here so sick. I am going to take care of +you, too, and send that woman off."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh! will you?" was Walter's joyful cry, "and +will you stay until I find my father?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes, I will stay with you always," and again +Seth Marshall's lips touched those of his son.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Isn't it funny for men to kiss men?" Walter +asked, passing his hand over the spot. "I thought +they only kissed women, girls like Jessie, and I don't +kiss her now. I haven't since she was a little thing +and gave me one of her curls. It's in my trunk, with +a lock of mother's hair. Did you know <em class="italics">mother</em>, +man?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes, oh, Heaven, yes," and the man thus +questioned fell upon his knees, and hiding his face in +the bed-clothes, sobbed aloud.</p> +<p class="pnext">His grief distressed Walter, who, without understanding +it clearly, felt that he was himself in some +way connected with it, and laying his hand upon the +gray hair within his reach, he smoothed it caressingly, +saying:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't cry. It won't do any good. I used to +cry when I was a boy and thought of poor, dear +father."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Say it again. Say, 'poor, dear father,' once +more," and the white, haggard face lifted itself slowly +up and crept on until it lay beside the feverish one +upon the pillow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus it was the father met his son, and all +through the afternoon he sat by him, soothing him to +sleep, and then bending fondly over him to watch +him while he slept.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is some like Ellen," he whispered, "but more +like me, as I was in my early manhood, and yet, as he +lies sleeping, there is a look about him that I have +often seen on Ellen's face when she was asleep. +Darling wife, we little thought when we talked together +of our child, that the first time I beheld him +would be beneath the California skies, and he a +bearded man."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, as he remembered what Walter had said of +the hair, he opened the lid of the trunk, and hunted +until he found Jessie's raven curl, and the longer, +browner tress. He knew in a moment that it was +Ellen's hair,—and kissing it reverently he twined it +about his fingers just as he used to when the soft eyes +it shaded looked lovingly into his.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter's is like it," he said, stealing to the bedside, +and laying it among the brown locks of his son. +"Bless my boy,—bless my boy!" and going back +again, he placed the lock of hair beside this jet black +ringlet wondering who Jessie was, and why she had +married another.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was growing dark when Walter awoke, but +between himself and the window he saw the outline +of his friend, and knowing he was not alone, fell +away again to sleep, resting better that night than he +had done before since the commencement of his illness.</p> +<p class="pnext">For many days Captain Murdock watched by him, +and when at last the danger was passed, and Walter +restored to consciousness, he was the first to know it, +and bending over him he breathed a prayer of thanksgiving +for the restoration of his son.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" Walter asked after objects and +events had assumed a rational form. "Who are you, +and why have you been so kind to me, as I am sure +you have?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am called Captain Murdock," was the answer +"This is my room; the one I have occupied for a long, +long time. I left the city some weeks ago on business +and during my absence you came. As the house was +full the landlord put you in here for one night, but in +the morning you were too ill to be moved. You have +been very sick, and as your nurse was none of the best, +I dismissed her and took care of you myself, because +if I had a son in a strange land I should want some +one to care for him, and I only did what your father +would wish me to do. You have a father, young +man?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The question was put affirmatively, and without +looking at the eyes fixed so intently upon him, Walter +colored crimson as he replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I hope I have, though I don't know. I never +saw him except in dreams."</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Murdock turned toward the window for a +moment, and then in a calm voice continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will not seek your confidence. You said some +strange things in your delirium, but they are safe with +me,—as safe as if I were the father you never saw. +This came for you some days ago," and he held up +Mr. Graham's letter, the sight of which had wrung a +cry of pain from his own lips, for he knew whose hand +had traced the name that letter bore.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And has anybody written to the people at home?" +Walter asked, and Captain Murdock replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, the landlord sent a few lines, saying that +you were ill, but well cared for. He directed to +'Walter Marshall's Friends, Deerwood, Mass.,' for by +looking over your papers, we found your family lived +there. A grandfather, perhaps, if you have no father?" +and Seth Marshall waited anxiously for the answer +which would tell him if his aged sire were yet numbered +among the living.</p> +<p class="pnext">In his ravings Walter had never spoken of him, +and the heart, not less a child's because its owner was +a man, grew faint with fear lest his father should be +dead. Walter's reply, however, dissipated all his +doubt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, my grandfather lives there, but this is not +from him," and breaking open the envelope, Walter +read what Mr. Graham had written, heeding little +what was said of business, scarcely knowing, indeed, +that business was mentioned at all, in his great joy at +finding that Charlotte and not Jessie was William's +chosen bride.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He deceived me purposely," he thought, and +then, as he realized more and more that Jessie was not +married, he said aloud, "I am so glad, so glad."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You must have good news," the captain suggested, +and Walter answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, blessed news," then as there came over him +a strong desire to talk of the good news with some +one, he continued:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Tell me, Captain Murdock, have I talked of +Jessie Graham?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain started, for he had not thought of +Jessie as the daughter of Richard Graham.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes," he answered, "you said that she was +married."</p> +<p class="pnext">"But she isn't," interrupted Walter. "It was a +lie imposed upon me by that false-hearted William +Bellenger."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You spoke of him, too," said the captain, "and +I fancied he might be your cousin. You see I am +tolerably well posted in your affairs," and the pleasant +smile which accompanied these words, disarmed +Walter at once from all fear that his secrets would be +betrayed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What else did you learn?" he asked, and the +captain replied:</p> +<p class="pnext">"There is some trouble about your father. He +robbed a bank, didn't he?" and there was a strange +look in the keen eyes which did not now rest on +Walter's face, but sought the floor as if doubtful of the +answer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Never, never!" Walter exclaimed, with an +energy which brought the blood to his pale cheek, +and tears to the eyes riveted upon the carpet. "He +never did that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"He has been proved innocent, then?" and in the +voice which asked the question there was a trembling +eagerness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not proved so to the world, but I need no +proof," returned Walter. "I never for a moment +thought him guilty."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then after a pause, he added. "I have, I see, +unwittingly divulged much of my family history, +and lest you should have received a wrong impression, +I may as well confess the whole to you, but +not now, I am too much excited, too tired to talk +longer."</p> +<p class="pnext">He was indeed exhausted, and for several hours he +lay quite still, saying but little and thinking happy +thoughts of home and <em class="italics">Jessie</em>, who Mr. Graham wrote, +"mourned sadly over his absence."</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly remembering the message he had left, +and which would seem to say he loved Charlotte +Reeves, he bade the captain bring to him pen and +paper, and with a shaking hand he wrote to Mr. +Graham:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am getting better fast, thanks to Captain +Murdock, who, though a stranger, has been the +best of friends, and kindest nurse. Forgive me, +Mr. Graham. I thought the bride was Jessie. +Don't hate me, I could not help it, and I had +learned to love her before I heard from Mrs. Bartow +that you would be displeased. I will overcome +it if I can, for I promised the grandmother I would +not talk of love to Jessie, until my father was +proved innocent."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was all he had strength to write, and when the +letter was finished, he relapsed into a thoughtful, half +dreamy state, from which he did not rouse for a day +or two. Then, with strength renewed, he called the +captain to him, and bidding him sit down beside him, +told him the whole story of his life, even to his love +for Jessie Graham,—which he must not tell until his +father were proved innocent.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a smothered groan in the direction +where Mr. Marshall sat, and inwardly the unfortunate +man prayed:</p> +<p class="pnext">"How long, dear Lord, oh, how long must thy servant +wait?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Graham may release you from that promise," +he said, "and then you surely would not hesitate."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps not," Walter answered, for in spite of +what Mrs. Bartow had said, he, too, entertained a +secret hope that Mr. Graham would in some way +interfere for him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What would be the result if your father should +return to Deerwood?" Captain Murdock asked. +"Would they proceed against him?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, no! oh, no;" said Walter. "It was so long ago, +and everybody who knew him speaks well of him now. +I have often wished he would come home, and when I +was a little boy, I used to watch by the window till it +grew dark, and then cry myself to sleep. Did I tell +you his arm-chair stands in the kitchen corner now +just where he left it that night he went away! It was +a fancy of grandpa's that no one should ever sit in it +again, and no one has, but Jessie. She would make +a playhouse of it, in spite of all we could say. I +wish you could see Jessie and grandfather and +all."</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain wished so, too, and in his dreams +that night, he was back again by the old hearth +stone, sitting in the chair kept for him so long, +and listening to his father's voice blessing his long-lost +son.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this might be again, he said, when he awoke +but his young wife, whose face he saw, just as it +looked on her bridal day, would not be there to meet +him, and the strong man wept again as he had not +done in many years, over the blight which had fallen +so heavily upon him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rapidly the days and weeks went by, and then +there came letters both from Mr. Graham and Mrs. +Bellenger, telling how the wedding song had been +changed into a wail of sorrow, and that the elegant +William Bellenger was branded as a villain. Mr. +Graham, too, spoke of Jessie, saying toward the +close:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You told me no news, dear Walter, when you +said you loved my daughter. I knew it long ago and +I have watched you narrowly, to see if you were +worthy of her. That I think you are, I prove to you +by saying, that to no young man of my acquaintance, +would I entrust her happiness so willingly as to you, +and had you talked to me freely upon the subject, +you would not, perhaps, have been in California now. +Your remark concerning Mrs. Bartow reminded me of +what she once told me, and when I questioned her +again upon the subject, demanding to know the truth, +she confessed the falsehood she imposed on you, by +saying I did not wish you to marry Jessie. I can find +nothing to excuse her save her foolish pride, which +will probably never be subdued. Still she is your +stanch friend now, just as she is poor William's bitter +enemy. You have said you would not talk of love to +Jessie until your father was proved innocent. This, +my dear Walter, may never be, even if he is living, +which is very doubtful. So why should you hesitate. +You have my free consent to say to her whatever you +think best to say. She is in Deerwood, now, with +poor Lottie, who is sadly mortified at what she considers +her disgrace. I am doing what I can for William, +so is his grandmother; but his father refuses to +see him or even hear his name spoken. Unfortunate +Will, he seems penitent, and has acknowledged everything +to me, even the wicked part he acted toward +you, by deceiving you. I thank Heaven every day +that Jessie's choice fell on you, and not on him."</p> +<p class="pnext">This letter made Walter supremely happy, and to +Captain Murdock, in whom he now confided everything, +he told how, immediately on his return to +New York, he should ask the young lady to be +his wife.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And would you like your father to come back +even though his guilt could not be disproved?" the +captain asked, and Walter answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, oh, yes; but I'm afraid he never will. +Poor father, if I could once look upon his face."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You shall—you do!" sprang to the lips of Captain +Murdock, but he forced the wild words back, and +going away alone, he prayed, as he often did, that the +load he had borne so long might be lifted from his +heart, and that the sun of domestic peace, which had +early set in gloom, might shine upon his later life.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xv-glorious-news"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id16">CHAPTER XV.—GLORIOUS NEWS.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">There was a package for Walter, who had +now been some months in California,—a +package of letters and papers both,—and +with a beating heart he sat down to read, taking Mr. +Graham's letter first, for that might have a message +from Jessie.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was glorious news which the letter contained, +and it wrung a cry of delight from Walter, which +was heard by the captain, who turned to see what it +was that thus affected his companion.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Listen, Captain Murdock," Walter exclaimed, +"listen to this. <em class="italics">My father is proved innocent. Heyward +was the robber,—he came back and confessed it +the night before he died</em>, and——"</p> +<p class="pnext">He did not finish the sentence, for, like a wild beast +startled from its lair by a sudden fright, Captain Murdock +bounded to his side, and, snatching the letter +from him, devoured its contents at a glance then +striking his hands together, he fairly screamed:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thank God! the year of jubilee has come,—the +day I've waited for so long!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Earnestly and half fearfully Walter gazed up into +the marble face, and into the eyes that burned like +coals of fire, seeing in them now, for the first time, a +look like his grandfather. Then a suspicion of truth +burst upon him, and springing up he caught the gray-haired +captain by the arm, demanding faintly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you? Tell me, or I shall die."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am your father, boy," and, opening his arms, +the father received to his embrace his fainting son.</p> +<p class="pnext">The news and the surprise combined were too +much for Walter, and for some little time he lay upon +the bed, whither his father had borne him, unconscious +of the caresses, the words of love, the whispered +blessings showered on him by one who felt now that +he trod a different earth, and breathed a different +air from what he had done for twenty-four long +years.</p> +<p class="pnext">"<em class="italics">Father</em>,"—how like music that word sounded in +his ear when Walter said it at last, and how it wrung +tears from eyes which, until recently, were unused to +weep.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Say it again, my son. Call me father often. +'Tis the name I've thirsted for, but never expected to +hear," and the strong man, weak now as a woman, +kissed lovingly the face of the handsome boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Read it aloud," Walter said, pointing to the +crumpled letter lying on the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Marshall complied, and read in tremulous +tones how Ralph Heyward, after an absence of +eighteen years, had again asked shelter at the farm-house, +saying he was tired and sick. His request was +granted, and when the morning came he was too ill to +leave his bed, but lay there for many days, kindly +cared for by the deacon, to whom he made a full +confession of his guilt, saying that <em class="italics">he</em>, and not Seth +Marshall, robbed the Deerwood Bank; that it was +what he intended to do when he came there that +night, feigning drunkenness the better to cover his +design.</p> +<p class="pnext">He knew that Seth kept the keys in his pocket, +and when sure that the household were asleep, he +arose, and putting on his victim's coat, cap and shoes, +left the house stealthily, committed the theft, hid the +money, and then as cautiously returned to his room, +and was settling himself a second time into an apparently +drunken sleep, when he heard some one up, +looking, as he supposed, for the cause of the disturbance +he had made in accidentally upsetting a chair as +he left Seth Marshall's room. Then he was still +again until the morning came, and the arrest was +made.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the examination, when he saw the terrible +anguish of the young wife, he was half tempted to +confess, but dared not, for fear of what might follow; +so he kept his own counsel, and for a few years remained +in the vicinity of Deerwood, hoping to hear +something of the man he had so wronged, and then he +went away to the West, wandering up and down with +that burden of guilt upon his soul, until at last, knowing +that he must die, he returned to Deerwood, and +seeking out the farm-house, asked permission to lay +his head again beneath its hospitable roof. This done, +he acknowledged to the father how he had sinned +against the son, and after making an affidavit of his +guilt, died a penitent and, it was to be hoped, a better +man.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now," wrote Mr. Graham in conclusion, "I +wish I could convey to you some little idea of the +present excitement in Deerwood. Everybody is talking +of the disclosure, and of your father, who, were +he here, would be a greater lion even than Lafayette +in his day. And I wish that he were here. Poor +Seth! God forgive me that I testified against him. +I verily believed him guilty up to the hour when Heyward +proved him innocent. Oh, if he only could +come back to me again, and to the home where your +aged grandfather prays continually that his sun may +not go down until he has seen once more the face of +his boy. Poor old man, it is a touching sight to see +his lips move continually, and hear the words he +whispers: 'God send him back, God send him back.' +You know Aunt Debby always said, 'Seth allus was a +good boy;' she repeats it now with ten-fold earnestness, +as if it were a fact in which everybody concurred. +It may be that your father is dead, and if so he cannot +return; but if still living, I am sure we shall see +him again, for I shall take means to have the story +inserted in the papers far and near, so that it will be +sure to meet his eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Meanwhile, Walter, come home as soon as you +are able to bear the journey. We want you here to +share in our great joy. Leave the business, if it is +not arranged, and come. We are waiting anxiously +for you, and none more anxiously than Jessie. She +has been wild with delight ever since I told her your +father was innocent. Mrs. Bellenger, too, shares the +general joy, and were yourself and your father here +our happiness would be complete."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We will go, too," cried Walter, "you as Captain +Murdock at first, to see if they will know you. Oh, I +wish it were now that we were there," and Walter's +dark eyes danced as he anticipated the meeting +between the deacon and his son.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, we will go," Mr. Marshall answered, and +then, after looking over the papers which Mr. Graham +had sent, and which contained Heyward's confession, +he sat down by Walter and told of his wanderings +since that dreadful night when he left his home, +branded as a thief and robber. "But first," said he, +"let me tell you how I chanced to run away. I +should never have done it but for Mr. Graham, who +begged and entreated me to go."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Graham!" exclaimed Walter. "Why, he, I +thought, was your bail."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So he was," returned the father, "but he wished +me to come away for all that. He would rather lose +all his fortune, he said, than know I was in prison, +and sent there on his testimony. So he urged me to +leave, contriving a way for me to do so, and even +carrying me himself, that stormy night, many miles +from Deerwood. I dreaded the State prison. I +believe I would rather have been hung, and I yielded +to his importunities on one condition only. I knew +his father would be very indignant, and that people +would censure him severely, too, if it were known he +was in my secret, and, as I would not have him +blamed, I made him promise to me solemnly that he +would never tell that he first suggested my going and +then helped me away. He has kept his promise, and +it is well. I have ample means, now, for paying him +all I owe, and many a time I have thought to send it +to him, but I have been dead to all my friends so long +that I decided to remain so. I wrote to him from +Texas, asking for you all, and learning from him of +Ellen's death, and of your birth. You were a feeble +child, he said, and probably would not live. I had +never seen you, my son, and when I heard that my +darling was gone,—my mother, too,—and that my +father and best friend still believed me guilty, I felt a +growing coldness toward you all. I would never +write home again, I said. I would forget that I ever +had a home, and for a time I kept this resolution, +plunging into vices of every kind,—swearing, gambling, +drinking——"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh father,—father!" said Walter, with a shudder. +"You do not tell me true."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's all true, my boy, and more," returned the +father, "but I was overtaken at last, by a terrible +sickness, the result of dissipation in New Orleans. A +sister of charity saved my life, and opened my heart +to better things. Her face was like Ellen's, and it +carried me back to other days, until I wept like a little +child over my past folly. From that sick bed, I +arose a different man, and then for years I watched +the Northern papers to see if they contained anything +like what we have just read. But they did not, and I +said I cannot go home yet. I sometimes saw Mr. +Graham's name, and knew that he was living, but +whether you were dead or alive I could not even +guess. Here, in California, where I have been for the +last ten years, I have never met a single person from +the vicinity of Deerwood. At first I worked among +the mines, amassing money so fast as even to astonish +myself. At length, weary of the labor, I left the +mines and came to the city, where I am known as +Captain Murdock, the title having been first given to +me in sport by some of my mining friends. Latterly +I have thought of going home, for it is so long since +the robbery, that I had no fears of being arrested, and +I was about making up my mind to do so, when +chance threw you in my way, and it now remains for +you to say when we both shall start."</p> +<p class="pnext">"At once,—at once," said Walter, who had listened +intently to the story, giving vent to an occasional exclamation +of surprise. "We will go in the very next +steamer. I shall not have a chance to write, but it +will be just as well. I wish to see if grandpa or Mr. +Graham will recognize you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Marshall had no objections to testing the recollections +of his father, and he readily consented to +go, saying to his friends that as New England was his +birthplace he intended accompanying his young +friend home.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can write the truth back to them," he thought, +"and save myself much annoyance."</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus it was arranged, and the next steamer for +New York which left the harbor of San Francisco, +bore on its deck the father and his son, both eager +and expectant and anxious to be at the end of the +voyage.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvi-thanksgiving-day-at-deerwood"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id17">CHAPTER XVI.—THANKSGIVING DAY AT DEERWOOD.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The dinner table was nicely arranged in the +"best room" of the farm-house, and Jessie +Graham, with a happy look on her bright +face, flitted in and out, arranging the dishes a little +more to her taste, smoothing the snowy cloth, pausing +a moment before the fire blazing so cheerfully upon +the hearth, and then glancing from the window, across +the frozen fields to the hillside where a new grave had +been made since the last Thanksgiving Day.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Dear Ellen!" she sighed, "there is no plate for +her now,—no chair." Then, as she remembered an +absent one, dearer far than Ellen, she thought, "I'll +make believe <em class="italics">he's</em> here," and seeking Mrs. Howland, +who was busy with her turkey, she said: "May I +put a plate for Walter? It will please him when he +hears of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, child," was the ready answer, and Jessie +was hastening off, when a feeble voice from the +kitchen corner where the deacon sat, called her +back:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," the old man said. "Put Seth's arm-chair +next to mine. It is the last Thanksgiving I +shall ever see, and I would fancy him with me once +more," and as Jessie turned toward the place where +the leathern chair stood, she heard the words:</p> +<p class="pnext">"God send him back,—God send him back."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is the deacon's wish," she whispered to her +father, who, with Mrs. Bellenger, was also spending +Thanksgiving at the farm-house, and who looked up +surprised, as Jessie dragged from its accustomed post, +the ponderous arm-chair, and wheeling it into the +other room, placed it to the deacon's right.</p> +<p class="pnext">The dinner was ready at last, and Mrs. Howland +was only waiting for the oysters to boil, before she +served them up, when Jessie gave a scream of joy, +and dropping the dish of cranberries she held, ran off +into the pantry, where, as Aunt Debby affirmed, she +hid herself in the closet, though from what she was +hiding it were difficult to tell. There was surely +nothing appalling in the sight of <em class="italics">Walter</em>, who, alighting +from the village omnibus, now stood upon the +threshold, with Captain Murdock.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had stayed all night in the city, where +Walter had learned that Mr. Graham, Jessie and his +grandmother, had gone to Deerwood to spend +Thanksgiving Day.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We shall be there just in time," he said to his +father, when at an early hour they took their seat in +the cars; but his father paid little heed, so intent was +he upon noting the changes which more than twenty +years had wrought in the localities with which he was +once familiar.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the day wore on, and he drew near to Deerwood, +he leaned back in his seat, faint and sick with +the crowd of memories which came rushing over +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Deerwood!" shouted the conductor, and looking +from the window, he could scarcely believe it possible +that this flourishing village was the same he had +known among the hills. When he went away <em class="italics">one</em> +spire alone pointed heavenward, now he counted <em class="italics">four</em>, +while in the faces of some who greeted Walter +again he saw the looks of those who had been boys +with him, but who were fathers now to these grown-up +young men.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am old," he sighed, and mechanically entering +the omnibus, he folded his arms in moody silence, as +they rattled down the street. But when the brow of +the hill was reached, and Walter said: "See, father, +there's our orchard," he started, and looked, not at +the orchard, nor at the gable roof now fully in view, +nor at the maple tree, but down the lane, along the +beaten path, to where a tall monument gleamed white +and cold in the gray November light.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's her's,—that's mother's," Walter said, following +the direction of his father's eyes; then fearing +that his father, by his emotions, should betray +himself too soon, he arose and sat by him, taking his +hand, and saying tenderly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't give way. You have me left, and grandpa, +and Aunt Mary, and Jessie,—won't you try to be +calm?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, yes," whispered the agitated man, and with +a tremendous effort he was calm, as, standing in the +well-remembered kitchen, he waited till the noisy +outburst had somewhat subsided, and Walter been +welcomed home.</p> +<p class="pnext">But not a single thing escaped the notice of his +keen eyes, which wandered round the room taking in +each familiar object, and noticing where there had +been a change.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was none in Aunt Debby, he said,—wrinkled, +gray, slight and straight as her high-backed +chair,—just as he remembered her years ago,—just so +she was now—her kerchief crossed as she wore it then,—her +spectacles on her forehead,—her apron long, +and meeting almost behind, and on the chair-post her +satin bag with the knitting visible therefrom. She +was the same, but the comely matron Walter called +Aunt Mary, was she the blooming maiden he had left +so long ago, and the elegant-looking stranger, with +the unmistakable city polish, was that his early +friend? It took him but an instant to think all this, +and then his eyes fell upon the old man by the fire,—the +man with the furrowed cheek, the bowed form, +the silvery hair and shaking limbs,—who, like some +giant oak which has yielded to the storms of many a +winter, sat there the battered wreck of a once noble +man. That was his father, but he would not call him +so just then, and when Walter, turning at last, said: +"This is Captain Murdock, the kind friend who took +care of me," he went forward, taking first Aunt +Debby's hand, then his sister Mary's, then Mr. +Graham's, and now there was a slight faltering of +manner, while his eyes sought the floor, for they +could not meet the gaze fixed so curiously upon +him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Grandpa, this is Captain Murdock," said Walter, +while Captain Murdock advanced a step or so and +took the shriveled hand, which had so often rested +fondly on his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">Oh, how Seth longed to kiss that feeble hand; but +he dared not, and he was glad that Walter, by his +loud, rapid talking, attracted the entire attention, +leaving him to sit down unobserved, when the meeting +between himself and Mrs. Bellenger was over. +At her he had looked rather inquisitively, for she +was his Ellen's mother, and his heart yearned toward +her for the sake of his gentle wife.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile Walter, without seeming to do so, +had been watching for somebody, who, behind the +pantry door, was trying to gain courage to come +out.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll look at him, anyway," she said, and Walter +glanced that way just in time to see a profusion of +raven curls and a shining, round black eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jessie," called Mr. Graham, who saw them too, +"Jessie, hadn't you better come out and gather up +the cranberries you dropped so suddenly when the +omnibus drove up?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Father, how can you?" and the young lady +immediately appeared, and greeted Walter quite +naturally.</p> +<p class="pnext">He evidently was embarrassed, for he hastened to +present her to Captain Murdock, who, feeling, intuitively, +that he beheld his future daughter-in-law, took +both her soft chubby hands in his and held them +there, while he said, a little mischievously:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have heard much of you, Miss Jessie, from my +so—, my friend, I mean," he added, quickly, correcting +himself, but not so quickly that Jessie did not +detect what he meant to say.</p> +<p class="pnext">One by one she scanned his features, then the deacon's, +then Walter's, and then, with a flash of intelligence +in her bright eyes, turned to the latter for a +confirmation of her suspicions. Walter understood +her meaning, and with an answering nod, said softly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"By and by."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The dinner will be cold," suggested Mrs. Howland, +and then the deacon rose, and leaning on his +cane, walked into the adjoining room, when he took +his seat at the head of the table.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's a chair for you," Jessie said to Walter +who, following the natural laws of attraction, kept +close to her side. "There's one for <em class="italics">you</em> and him, too, +my old playhouse," and she pointed to the leathern +chair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sit here, Captain Murdock,—here," said Walter, +hurrying on as he saw Mrs. Howland giving the stranger +another seat than that.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Walter," and there was reproach in the deacon's +voice, "not in your father's chair."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, grandpa," said Walter, "Captain Murdock +has been a father to me,—let him sit there for +once."</p> +<p class="pnext">So Captain Murdock sat there, his heart throbbing +so loudly that Jessie, who was next to him, could hear +it beat, and see his chin quiver, when the voice nearly +eighty years old, was asking God's blessing on their +Thanksgiving Dinner; thanking God for returning +their boy to them, and finishing the prayer with the +touching petition: "Send the other back! oh, send +the other back!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Owing to the presence of the captain, who was +considered a stranger, not a word was spoken of Seth, +until they arose from the table, when Walter, unable +longer to keep still, said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so my father is free from all blame?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Involuntarily Jessie went up to him and put her +arm in his, waiting breathlessly for what would follow +next.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Walter," returned the deacon, "my Seth is +innocent. Heaven bless him wherever he may be, +and send him to me before I die, so I can hear him say +he didn't lay it up against me,—my hardening my heart +and thinking he was guilty. Poor Seth, poor Seth! +I'd give my life to blot out all the past and have him +with me just as he was before he went away."</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Murdock was standing with his face to +the window, but, as the deacon ceased speaking, he +turned, and going up to him, placed his hand on +either shoulder and looked into his eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">The movement was a most singular one, and to +Mr. Graham, who knew that there must be a powerful +motive for the action, there came a suspicion of the +truth; but none to the old man, whose eyes fell +beneath the burning gaze riveted upon him.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" he asked in a bewildered tone, +"why do you look at me so hard? He scares me; +Walter, take him away."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Grandpa, don't you know him?" and Walter +drew near to them, but not until the old man's ear +had caught the whispered name of "<em class="italics">Father</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, with a scream of joy, he wound his feeble +arms round the stranger's neck.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seth, boy, darling, Walter, am I going mad, or +is it true? <em class="italics">Is it Seth?</em> Is it my boy? Tell me, +Walter," and releasing their grasp, the shaking +hands were stretched supplicatingly toward Walter, +who answered:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, grandpa. <em class="italics">It's Seth.</em> I found him, and I +have brought him home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, Seth, Seth," and the hoary head bowed itself +upon the neck of the stranger, while the poor old man +sobbed like a little child. "I didn't expect it, Seth, +though I've prayed for it so hard. Bless you, bless +you, boy, I didn't mean to go against you. I would +have died at any time to know that you were innocent. +Forgive me, Seth, because I am so old and +weak."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I do forgive you," answered Seth. "It's all forgotten +now, and I've come home to stay with you +always till you die."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a hand laid lightly on Seth's shoulder, +and turning, he looked into the face of Mr. Graham, +which quivered with emotion, as he said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I, too, have need of your forgiveness."</p> +<p class="pnext">"None, Richard, none," and locked in each other's +arms, the friends long parted cancelled the olden +debt, and in the heart of neither was there a feeling +save that of perfect love.</p> +<p class="pnext">Long and passionately Mrs. Howland wept over +her brother, for his return brought back the past, and +all that she had suffered since the night he went +away.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aunt Debby, too, was much affected, but did not +omit her accustomed "He allus was a good boy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then Mrs. Bellenger approached, and offering her +hand, said to him very kindly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are dear to me for Ellen's sake, and though +I never saw you until to-day, my heart claims you for +a child. Shall I be your mother, Mr. Marshall?"</p> +<p class="pnext">He could only reply by pressing the hand she extended, +for his heart was all too full for utterance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Let me go away alone," he said at last, "to weep +out my great joy," and opening the door of what +was once his room, he passed for a time from their +midst.</p> +<p class="pnext">The surprise had apparently disturbed the deacon's +reason, for even after his son had left him he continued +talking just the same: "Poor Seth,—poor child, +to think your hair should be so gray, and you but a +little boy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, when Seth returned to them he made him +sit down beside him, and holding both his hands, +smiled up into his face a smile far more painful than +tears would have been.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seth's come home. Did you know it?" he +would say to those around him, as if it were to them +a piece of news, and often as he said it, he would +smoothe the gray hair which seemed to trouble him so +much.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gradually, however, his mind became clearer, and +he was able to understand all that Seth was telling +them of his experience since the night he went +away.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last, just as the sun was setting, Mr. Marshall +arose, and without a word, passed into the open air. +No one watched him to see whither he went, for all +knew that before he returned to them he would go +down the lane, along the beaten path, to where the +moonlight fell upon a little grave.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was long before he came back, and when he did, +and entered the large kitchen, two figures stood by +the western window, and he thought the arm of the +taller was thrown about the waist of the shorter, +while the face of the shorter was very near to +that of the taller. Advancing toward them and +stroking the dark curls, he said, half playfully, half +earnestly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"I believe that as Mr. Marshall I have not greeted +Jessie yet, so I will do it now. Are you to be my +daughter, little girl?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, she is," answered Walter, while Jessie +broke away from them, and was not visible again that +night.</p> +<p class="pnext">But when, at a late hour, Mrs. Bellenger left the +happy group still assembled around the cheerful fire, +and sought her room, from the depths of the snowy +pillows, where Jessie lay nestled, there came a +smothered voice, saying, half timidly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is the nicest Thanksgiving I ever had, and I +shall remember it forever."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvii-conclusion"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref pginternal" href="#id18">CHAPTER XVII.—CONCLUSION.</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Four years have passed away since that +Thanksgiving dinner, and for the deacon, +who, then, did not expect to see another, +there seem to be many yet in store. Hale, hearty +and happy, he sits in his arm-chair, smoking his accustomed +pipe; and when the villagers, who come often +to see him, tell him how the old farm-house is +improved, and how they should scarcely know it, he +always answers:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, Seth has good taste, and Seth is rich. He +could buy Deerwood, if he tried. He built those +new houses for the poor down there by the river; he +built the factory, too, and gives them all employment. +Seth is a blessed boy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Others, too, there were, besides the deacon, who +called Seth Marshall blessed, and never since his +return had a voice been raised against him.</p> +<p class="pnext">After becoming somewhat accustomed to his new +position as a free and respected man, his first wish +was to modernize the farm-house a little more according +to his ideas of taste and comfort. Once he +thought to build a splendid mansion near by, but to +this suggestion the father said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"No; I like the old place best. The new house +might be handsomer, but it would not be the one +where you and I, and all of us were born, and your +mother died. Wait till I'm dead, and then do as you +please."</p> +<p class="pnext">And so Seth is waiting, and as he waits he sets out +trees and shrubbery, and beautifies a plot of ground, +on which he will sometime erect a dwelling as a summer +residence for his son, who lives in the city, and +calls Mrs. Bartow grandma.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the first Christmas snows were falling after +his father's return, Walter made Jessie his bride, and +there now plays at his fireside a chubby, black-eyed +boy, whom they call Graham Marshall, and who +spends more time in Deerwood than he does in New +York. Quite as old as the hoary man in the corner, +who sometimes calls him Walter, but oftener Seth, he +"rides to Boston" on the deacon's knee, pulls the deacon's +beard, wears the deacon's glasses, smokes a stick +of candy, and spits in imitation of the deacon, and +then falls away to sleep in the deacon's lap,—the two +forming a most beautiful picture of old age and infancy +together.</p> +<p class="pnext">At Mr. Graham's house, there is a beautiful six-months' +baby, whose hair looks golden in the sunlight, +and whose eyes of blue are much like those of Ellen +Howland. They call her Nellie, and in all the world +there is nothing one-half so precious as this child +to the broken, melancholy man, who often comes to +see her, and when no one can hear him, whispers +sadly:</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sweet Nellie,—darling Nellie,—little snow +drop!" But whether he means the infant in the crib, +or the Nellie dead long ago, is difficult to tell.</p> +<p class="pnext">For eighteen months he toiled inside the prison +walls, and then the powerful influence of Mr. Graham, +Seth Marshall and Walter combined, procured him a +pardon. An humbled and a better man, he would not +leave the city. He would rather remain, he said, and +live down his disgrace, than have it follow him as it +was sure to do. So he stayed, accepting thankfully a +situation which Walter procured for him, and Mrs. +Bellenger, when she saw that he was really changed, +gladly gave him a home with herself, for she was +lonely now that Walter was gone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Old Mrs. Reeves was very much astonished that +the Grahams and Marshalls should make so much of +one who had been in State prison, and said:</p> +<p class="pnext">"She was glad that Charlotte had married a +Southern planter and gone to Mississippi, as there +was no knowing what notions might have entered her +brain."</p> +<p class="pnext">Every summer there is a family gathering of the +Grahams and Marshalls with Mrs. Bellenger and +Mrs. Bartow at Deerwood, where the deacon seems as +young and happy as any of them. And now, where +our story opened we will bring it to a close, at the +farm-house where the old man sits smoking in the +twilight with his son and grandson, and great-grandson +around him,—representatives of four generations, +with a difference of nearly eighty years between the +first and fourth.</p> +<div class="center level-3 section" id="the-end"> +<h3 class="level-3 pfirst section-title title"><span class="small-caps">The End</span>.</h3> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 5em"> +</div> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 37476 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |