diff options
Diffstat (limited to '37515-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/37515-h.htm | 12429 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33082 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/gs01.jpg | bin | 0 -> 40402 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/gs02.jpg | bin | 0 -> 44770 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/gs03.jpg | bin | 0 -> 50586 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/gs04.jpg | bin | 0 -> 25764 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/gs05.jpg | bin | 0 -> 52209 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 37515-h/images/logo.jpg | bin | 0 -> 6992 bytes |
8 files changed, 12429 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/37515-h/37515-h.htm b/37515-h/37515-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8970af --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/37515-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12429 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> + +<html> + +<head> + + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> + + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of In a Mysterious Way, by Anne Warner. + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + blockquote { + text-align:justify; + } + + body { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + } + + #booktitle { + letter-spacing:3px; + } + + .centered { + text-align:center; + font-weight:bold; + } + + div.centered { + text-align:center; + } + + div.centered table { + margin-left:auto; + margin-right:auto; + text-align:left; + } + + .figcenter { + padding:1em; + text-align:center; + font-size:0.8em; + border:none; + margin:auto; + text-indent:1em; + } + + .h1 { + font-size:2em; + margin:.67em 0; + } + + .h1, + .h2, + .h3, + .h4, + .h4c, + .h5, + .h5c { + font-weight:bolder; + text-align:center; + text-indent:0; + } + + h1, + h2, + h3, + h4, + h5, + hr { + text-align:center; + } + + .h2 { + font-size:1.5em; + margin:.75em 0; + } + + .h3 { + font-size:1.17em; + margin:.83em 0; + } + + .h4 { + margin:1.12em 0 ; + } + + .h4c { + margin:0; + } + + .h5 { + font-size:.83em; + margin:1.5em 0 ; + } + + .h5c { + font-size:.83em; + margin:0; + } + + h5 { + margin-bottom:1%; + margin-top:1%; + } + + hr.chapter { + margin-top:6em; + margin-bottom:4em; + } + + hr.short { + margin-right:35%; + margin-left:35%; + text-align:center; + width:30%; + } + + hr.thin { + margin-right:47%; + margin-left:47%; + margin-top:0%; + margin-bottom:0%; + width:6%; + } + + p { + text-align:justify; + margin-top:.75em; + margin-bottom:.75em; + text-indent:0; + } + + p.caption { + text-indent:0; + text-align:center; + font-weight:bold; + margin-bottom:2em; + } + + p.spacer { + margin-top:2em; + margin-bottom:3em; + } + + .pagenum { +/* visibility:hidden; remove comment out to hide page numbers */ + position:absolute; + right:2%; + font-size:75%; + color:gray; + background-color:inherit; + text-align:right; + text-indent:0; + font-style:normal; + font-weight:normal; + font-variant:normal; + } + + .smcap { + font-variant:small-caps; + } + + .tdlsc { + text-align:left; + font-variant:small-caps; + } + + .tdr { + text-align:right; + padding-right:1em; + } + + .tdrfirst { + text-align:right; + padding-right:1em; + font-size:80%; + } + + .topbox { + margin-left:15%; + margin-right:15%; + margin-top:5%; + margin-bottom:5%; + padding:1em; + color:black; + border:2px solid black; + } + + </style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In a Mysterious Way, by Anne Warner + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: In a Mysterious Way + +Author: Anne Warner + +Illustrator: J. V. McFall + +Release Date: September 23, 2011 [EBook #37515] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<div> + +<br> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="617" alt="" title=""> +</div> + +<p class="caption">In a Mysterious Way<br>Anne Warner</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h1">IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="gs01" id="gs01"></a> +<img src="images/gs01.jpg" width="400" height="608" alt=""THE ONLY REAL HOLE IS WHERE HE SAT DOWN ON AN ENGINE SPARK AT THE STATION." +(Frontispiece See p. 129)" title=""> +</div> + +<p class="caption">"THE ONLY REAL HOLE IS WHERE HE SAT DOWN ON AN ENGINE SPARK AT THE STATION." +(Frontispiece <a href="#Page_129"><i>See p.</i> 129)</a></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h1 id="booktitle">IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY</h1> + +<p class="h2">BY ANNE WARNER</p> + +<p class="h5">AUTHOR OF "THE REJUVENATION OF AUNT MARY"<br> +"SUSAN CLEGG AND HER FRIEND MRS. LATHROP"<br> +"AN ORIGINAL GENTLEMAN," ETC.</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h5c"><i>Illustrated by</i></p> + +<p class="h4c">J. V. McFALL</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h3">BOSTON<br> +LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY<br> +1909</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4"><i>Copyright, 1909</i>,<br> +<span class="smcap">By Little, Brown, and Company</span>.</p> + +<hr class="thin"> + +<p class="h4"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4">Published April, 1909</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4">Electrotyped and Printed at<br> +THE COLONIAL PRESS:<br> +C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U.S.A.</p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdrfirst">Chapter</td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdrfirst">Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Introducing Mrs. Ray</td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Coming of the Lassie</td> + <td class="tdr">9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Introducing Lassie to Mrs. Ray</td> + <td class="tdr">28</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Difference</td> + <td class="tdr">43</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">That Dispassionate Observer, Mrs. Ray</td> + <td class="tdr">68</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">When Differences Lead to What is Ever the Same</td> + <td class="tdr">90</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Lathbuns</td> + <td class="tdr">104</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Miss Lathbun's Story</td> + <td class="tdr">112</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Pleasant Converse</td> + <td class="tdr">125</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Broader Meaning</td> + <td class="tdr">137</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The War-Path</td> + <td class="tdr">148</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Another Path</td> + <td class="tdr">156</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">And Still Another Path</td> + <td class="tdr">161</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Devoted to Coats and Case-Knives</td> + <td class="tdr">170</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Learning Lessons</td> + <td class="tdr">181</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Walk to the Lower Falls</td> + <td class="tdr">195</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Righteous Justice</td> + <td class="tdr">210</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">In the Hour of Need</td> + <td class="tdr">218</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Doubts</td> + <td class="tdr">225</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Shifting Sunshine and Clouds</td> + <td class="tdr">238</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Post-Office</td> + <td class="tdr">250</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Aftermath</td> + <td class="tdr">259</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Darkness Before</td> + <td class="tdr">265</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Dawn</td> + <td class="tdr">274</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Breaking of Another Day and Way</td> + <td class="tdr">284</td> + </tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<p class="h2">ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations"> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">"The only real hole is where he sat down on an engine spark at the station"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#gs01"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">"It's her that bought the old Whittacker house"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#gs02">21</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">"Surely you remember me"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#gs03">95</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Alva</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#gs04">166</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlsc">"If you've lent money to the Lathbuns you're going to lose it"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#gs05">224</a></td> + </tr> +</table></div> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<p class="h1">IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY</p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<span class="pagenum">[1]</span> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="h3">INTRODUCING MRS. RAY</p> + +<p>"'He moves in a mysterious way His wonders to +perform,'" sang Mrs. Ray, coming in from +the wood-shed and proceeding to fill up the stove, +with the energy which characterized her whole person. +A short, well-knit, active person it was, too,—a figure +of health and compact muscular strength, a well-shaped +head with a tight wad of neat hair on top, +bright eyes, and a firm mouth.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley, a near neighbor, sat by the table and +watched her friend with the after-nightfall passivity +of a woman who has to be very active during daylight. +Mrs. Wiley was not small and well-knit, neither was +she energetic. Life for Mrs. Wiley had gone mainly +in a minor key composed largely of sharps, and as a +consequence she sighed frequently and sighed even now.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray slammed the stove door and caroled louder +than ever, as if to drown even the echo of a sigh in her +kitchen. "'He moves in a mysterious way His wonders +to perform,'" she sang, and then, folding her arms on +top of her bosom in a manner peculiarly her own, she<span class="pagenum">[2]</span> +spoke to Mrs. Wiley in that obtrusively cheerful tone +which we use to those who sigh when feeling no desire +to sigh with them: "That's my motto—that song—yes, +indeed. It fits everything and accounts for everything +and comes in handy anywhere any time, even if +I never have wondered myself, but have been dead +sure all along. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley sighed again, and her eyes moved towards +a large, awkward parcel rolled in newspaper, which +lay on the end of the table by her. "I'm so glad you +feel able to undertake it, Mrs. Ray. I don't know how +I ever could have managed it, if you'd said no. Mr. +Wiley <i>will</i> have a new pig-pen this year, and the pigs +never can pay for it themselves. So you were my only +way to a new winter coat. I'm so glad you didn't +say no. Besides it's father's suit, and I shall love +to wear it for that reason, too."</p> + +<p>"I never do say no to any kind of work, do I?" +said Mrs. Ray, looking at the clock, and then all over +the room; "this would be a nice time of life for me to +begin to sit around and say no to work. What with +Mr. Ray's second wife's children not all educated yet, +and his first wife's children getting along to where +they're beginning to be left widows with six apiece +and no life insurance, I'm likely to want all the work +I can get for some years, as far as I can see. Yes, +indeed."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley sighed heavily.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Wiley thinks we'd ought to insure our lives +in favor of Lottie Ann," she said, feeling for her pocket-handkerchief +at the thought; "she's so dreadful +delicate—but I think it's foolish—she's so <i>dreadful</i> +delicate."<span class="pagenum">[3]</span></p> + +<p>"Why don't you insure Lottie Ann, then?" Mrs. +Ray glanced at the clock again, frowned a little and +puckered her lips. "If you don't mind taking that +chair the cat's in, Mrs. Wiley, I believe I've got just +about time enough to sprinkle the clothes before the +mail comes in; it looks so to me."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley slowly and gravely exchanged seats with +the cat. "Do you take much washing in now? I +shouldn't think you had time."</p> + +<p>"Time!" Mrs. Ray was dragging a clothes-basket +from under the table and filling a dipper with water. +"I never stop to think whether I have time or not, any +more. 'He moves in a mysterious way—' there's +where my motto comes in again. Yes, indeed. I +move just the same way myself. I don't see how I +get so much done, but I've no time to stop and study +over it, or I'd be behind just that much. There's more +than you wonder where I get time from, Mrs. Wiley. +They asked me if I had time for the post-office. And I +said I had. They asked first if I could read and write, +and I said I could; and then they asked me if I had time, +and I said I had. And that settled it."</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Ray," said Mrs. Wiley, watching the +clothes-sprinkling, which was now going forward, +attentively, "that's one of the waists from that girl +at Nellie O'Neil's, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. She asked Nellie for a French +laundress, and Nellie put her shawl right over her head +and run up and asked me if I had time for that, too. I +said I was willing to try, so I'm a French laundress +too, now. 'He moves'—"</p> + +<p>"What do you think of those two young people at +Nellie's, anyway?" Mrs. Wiley dropped her voice<span class="pagenum">[4]</span> +confidentially. "I was meaning to ask you that, right +at first."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you ask <i>me</i>," said Mrs. Ray, "I can't +make him out, and I think she's mooney. I'm a great +judge of mooney people ever since I first knew Mr. +Ray, and that girl looks very mooney to me. Look +at her coming here and hiking right over and buying +the Whittacker house next day—a house I wouldn't +send a rat to buy—not if I had a real liking for the +rat. And now the way she's pulling it to pieces and +nailing on new improvements, with the trees all boxed +up, as though trees weren't free as air—oh, she's +mooney, very mooney—yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Nellie don't think they act loving," said Mrs. +Wiley; "and Joey Beall says they don't act loving even +when they're alone together. He's been building a +culvert for Mr. Ledge, and he's seen 'em alone together +twice. Joey knows how people ought to act when +they're alone together. He always knows when folks +are in love, before they know themselves. He tells +by seeing them alone together. Why, he knew when +you was going to be married—he saw you and Mr. +Ray alone together that day you walked to the Lower +Falls."</p> + +<p>"But it wasn't through our acting loving that he knew +it," said Mrs. Ray, energetically ruminative between +the dipper of water and the clothes to be sprinkled; +"my, but I was mad that day! It was the first and +last time anybody ever fooled <i>me</i> into walking to the +Lower Falls. Yes, indeed. I like to of died! If Mr. +Ray hadn't asked me to marry him, I'd never have +forgiven him getting me to go on that walk. Those +flights of steps! And those paths! All the way down<span class="pagenum">[5]</span> +I was wanting to turn round and go back. I made up +my mind never to take Mr. Ray's word for nothing +again. And I never did. He fooled me into that walk, +but he never fooled me again. Yes, indeed. Never!"</p> + +<p>"But Joey Beall saw you that day," said Mrs. Wiley, +whose mind was of that strength which is not to be +swept beyond its gait by any other mind's rapidity, +"and he said right off that night you'd marry +him."</p> + +<p>"Maybe he saw Mr. Ray take his first and second +wife down to the Lower Falls, and knew it from his +looks with them—Mr. Ray took 'em both down there, +and asked 'em each to marry him coming back. All +the way down he was telling me what they each said to +everything they saw. And coming back he showed me +where he asked 'em each. Mr. Ray never made any +secret of his first and second wife to me. I'll say that +for him. Yes, indeed. And like enough Joey was +around then. He's always round when people are alone +together."</p> + +<p>"But he doesn't think these young people act loving," +Mrs. Wiley went on, recurring to the main issue under +discussion. "Joey says they don't have the right way +at all. He says they don't disagree right, either. +They're on opposite sides of the dam, the same as if +they were married folks, but they don't seem to feel +interested in their discussing. Nellie says they're real +pleasant, but she can't understand them; Nellie's +very far from making them out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nellie can't make nothing out. She and Jack +is dead easy. Look at those other boarders they've +got. She says she can't make them out, either. I +should think not."<span class="pagenum">[6]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley's standpoint refused to stretch to the +other boarders. She sighed again.</p> + +<p>"She seems a very nice girl," she said, sadly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, nice enough—but mooney," said Mrs. +Ray. "I know the kind as soon as I see 'em. I could +almost tell 'em by their legs, when they get down from +the train on the side away from me. She's got ideas +about souls and scenery, that girl has; but that young +man's got his living to earn, and he hasn't no time for +any ideas. I like him! We both work for the United +States Government, and that's a great bond. Yes, +indeed. That young man knows if the dam goes +through here, he'll be fixed for life digging it, and the +girl's just the kind he wants, for he's practical and she's +mooney—she's so mooney she's bought a house to +live in while he digs the dam, and yet she's solemnly +hoping there won't be no dam. She says so."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she don't mean it," suggested Mrs. +Wiley.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she does mean it," said Mrs. Ray; "yes, +indeed, she means it. I'm a great judge of character +and that girl means what she says."</p> + +<p>"About the dam?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, about everything. She's very friendly with +me. She buys lots of stamps, and cancels up like a +lady. I'm very fond of her."</p> + +<p>"What did she say about the dam?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, lots of things. She said it was a desecration +for one thing, and then I was singing one day and she +said I was very right, for the Lord did move in a very +mysterious way, and He would save the falls."</p> + +<p>"Was she as sure as that?" asked Mrs. Wiley, +appalled.<span class="pagenum">[7]</span></p> + +<p>"She seemed to be. Oh, but she's very mooney."</p> + +<p>"She's expecting a friend on to-night's train," said +Mrs. Wiley; "Nellie says it's a girl younger than she +is."</p> + +<p>"There'll be trouble then," said Mrs. Ray, with the +calmness of all prophets of evil; "a girl younger than +she is is going to make her look awful old."</p> + +<p>"I wonder how long they'll stay!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. You never can tell how long any +one will stay here. Some come and say 'Oh, it's so +quiet,' and the next morning the express has got to be +flagged to take 'em right away; and others come and +say 'Oh, it's so quiet,' and send for their trunks and +paint-boxes that night. You never can tell how this +place is going to strike any one. Mr. Ray's first wife +cried all the time, till she died of asthma brought on +by hay-fever; and his second wife liked to be where +she could go without her false teeth, and she just loved +it here! Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"It isn't so very long till the train now," said Mrs. +Wiley; "I guess I'll go down to the station. I always +like to see the train come in. It's so sort of amusing to +think it's going to Buffalo. Lottie Ann says it's so +funny to think of something being right here with us, +and then going right to Buffalo. I wish Lottie Ann +could travel more. Lottie Ann would be a great traveller +if she could travel any."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray took up the lamp. "Well, if you must go," +she said, "I'll put the light in the post-office and get +down cellar, myself. I'm raising celery odd minutes +this year, and getting the beds ready to lay it under +is a lot of work."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley rose and moved slowly towards the door.<span class="pagenum">[8]</span> +"I wonder how long those other two will stay at +Nellie's," she said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray's lips drew tightly together. "I can't say +I'm sure," she said; "I know nothing about them. +Folks who never write letters nor get letters don't +cut any figure in my life. Good night, Mrs. Wiley,"—she +opened the door as she spoke—"good-by."</p> + +<p>"They've been there—" murmured Mrs. Wiley, +but the door closing behind her ended her speech.<span class="pagenum">[9]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE COMING OF THE LASSIE</p> + +<p>On that same evening Alva and Ingram, the main +subject of Mrs. Ray's and Mrs. Wiley's discourse, +sat in the dining-room of the O'Neil House, waiting for +train time. They had the dining-room to themselves, +except for occasional vague and interjectional appearances +of Mary Cody in the door, to see "if they wanted +anything." Ingram had been eating,—he was late, +always late,—and Alva sat watching him in the absent-minded +way in which she was apt to contemplate the +doings of other people, while she talked to him with +the earnest interest which she always gave to talking,—when +she talked at all. The contrast between her +dreamy eyes and the intentness of her tone was as +great as the contrast between the first impression +wrought by a glance at her colorless face and simple +dress, and the second, when, with a start, the onlooker +realized that here was some one well worth looking +at, well worth studying, and well worth meditating +later. Perhaps she was not beautiful—I am not +quite sure as to that—but she was surely lovely, with +the loveliness which a certain sort of life brings to some +faces.</p> + +<p>Ingram, on the other side of the table, was just the +ordinary good-looking, professional man of thirty to +thirty-five. Tall, straight, slightly tanned, as would be<span class="pagenum">[10]</span> +natural for a civil engineer who had spent September in +the open; especially well-groomed for a man sixty +miles from what he called civilization, fine to see in +his knickerbockers and laced shoes, genial, jolly, and +appreciative to the limit, apparently.</p> + +<p>The contrast between the two was very great, and +was felt by more than Mrs. Ray, for there had been +many who had watched them during the week of Alva's +stay. "He's a awful nice man," Mrs. O'Neil had said +to Mrs. Ray, "but I don't see how she ever came to +fancy him. They seem happy together, but it's such a +funny way to be happy together."</p> + +<p>This had been the original form of the statement +which Mrs. Ray had later repeated to Mrs. Wiley.</p> + +<p>It was true that they seemed very far apart, but were +nevertheless apparently happy together. The week +had been a pleasant week to both. Not, perhaps, as +the town supposed, but pleasant anyway.</p> + +<p>"I'm selfish enough to wish that it wasn't at an end +to-night," Ingram said, as he took his piece of blackberry +pie from Mary Cody; "you're a godsend in this +place, Alva."</p> + +<p>"But you'll like Lassie," his companion replied; +"she's a charming little girl,—and I love her so. I +always have loved the child, and just now it seemed to +me as if it would do both her and me good to be together. +Life for me is so wonderful—I don't like to +be selfish with these days. My thoughts are too happy +to keep to myself. I want some one to share my +joy."</p> + +<p>Ingram looked at her quizzically. "And I won't +do at all?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"You,—oh, you're away all day. And then,<span class="pagenum">[11]</span> +besides, you're still so material, so awfully material. +You can't deny it, Ronald, you're frightfully material—practical—commonplace. +Of the world so very +worldly."</p> + +<p>He laughed lightly. "Just because I don't agree +with you about the dam," he said; "there, that's it, +you know. Why, my dear girl, suppose all America +had been reserved for its beauty, set aside for the perpetual +preservation of the buffaloes and the scenery,—where +would you and I be now?"</p> + +<p>She looked away from him in her curious, contemplative +way. "If you knew," she said, after a minute, +"how silly and petty and trivial such arguments sound +to thinking people, you'd positively blush with shame +to use them. It's like arguing with a baby to try to +talk Heaven's reason with the ordinary man; he just +sees his own little, narrow, earthly standpoint. I wonder +whether it's worth while to ever try to be serious with +you. You know very well that the most of your +brethren would be willing to wreck the Yellowstone +from end to end, if they could make their own private +and personal fortunes building railways through it."</p> + +<p>Ingram laughed again. "Where would the country +be without railroads?" he asked.</p> + +<p>She withdrew the meaning in her gaze out of the +infinite beyond, where it seemed to float easily, and +centred it on him.</p> + +<p>"Just to think," she said, with deep meaning, +"that ten years ago I might have married you, and had +to face your system of logic for life!"</p> + +<p>"Is it as bad as that?"</p> + +<p>"It might have been. We might have made it so +before we knew better. That's the rub in marriage.<span class="pagenum">[12]</span> +Every one does it before he or she has settled his or +her own views. I wasn't much of an idealist ten years +ago, and you were not much of anything. But if I +could have married any one then, I should have married +you."</p> + +<p>A shadow fell upon his face. He turned his chair +a little from the table. "If I was not the right one, I +wish that you had married some other man then,—I +wish it with all my heart. You would have been so +much happier. You're not happy now—you know +that. It would have been so much better for you if +you had married."</p> + +<p>She smiled and shook her head. "Oh, no. It is +much better as it is. Infinitely better. It's like coming +up against a great granite wall to try and talk to you, +Ronald, because you simply cannot understand what +I mean when I say words, but nevertheless, believe me, +I'm on my knees day and night, figuratively speaking, +thanking God that I didn't marry then. I wasn't +meant to marry then. I've been needed single."</p> + +<p>He took out his cigarette case. "What were you +meant for, then, do you think?" he queried; "nothing +except as a convenience for others?"</p> + +<p>"I was meant to learn, and then later, perhaps, to +teach."</p> + +<p>"To learn?" He looked his question with a quick +intensity. "To teach?—" the question deepened +sharply.</p> + +<p>She smiled. "Yes. To learn so that I could teach. +I feel some days that I was born to teach, and of course +no one may hope to teach until he has learned first."</p> + +<p>He shrugged his shoulders and laughed a little. She +smiled again. "You great, granite wall, you don't<span class="pagenum">[13]</span> +understand a bit, do you? Never mind, light your +cigarette, and then tell me what time it is. We must +not forget Lassie, you know."</p> + +<p>He looked at his watch. "Ten minutes yet."</p> + +<p>"Dear child, how tired she'll be. Never mind, +she'll have a good rest during the next ten days."</p> + +<p>"Will she stay ten days? She'll be here as long as +you will then, won't she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I'm going when she does."</p> + +<p>"You think that the house will be done by that +time?"</p> + +<p>"I know that it will be done. It must be done."</p> + +<p>He took his cigarette up in his fingers, turned it +about a little, and then looked suddenly straight at +her. "Alva, tell me the mystery, tell me the story, +please. What is the house for?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him and was silent.</p> + +<p>"Why won't you tell me?"</p> + +<p>Still silence. Still she looked at him.</p> + +<p>"You'll tell her when she comes. Why not me?"</p> + +<p>She spoke then: "She'll be able to understand, +perhaps. You couldn't."</p> + +<p>Ingram compressed his lips. "And am I so awfully +dense?" he asked, half hurt.</p> + +<p>"Not so dense, but, as yet, too ignorant. Or else +it is that I am still too little myself to be able to rise +above some human sentiments. And there is one point +where endurance of the world's opinion is such refinement +of torture, that only the very strongest and +greatest can go willingly forward to meet and suffer +the inevitable. The inevitable is close to me these days; +it is approaching closer hourly, and there is no possible +way for me to make you or the world understand<span class="pagenum">[14]</span> +how I feel in regard to it all. And I shrink +from facing the kind of thing that I shall soon have to +face any sooner than is absolutely necessary. And +so I won't tell you."</p> + +<p>She stopped. Although her voice was firm, her eyes +had again become far away in their expression, and she +seemed almost to have forgotten him even while making +this explanation for his sake. He was watching her +with deepest interest, and the curiosity in his eyes +burned more brightly than ever.</p> + +<p>"But if it is all as terrible as you make out," he said, +"how can you make that young girl understand what +you suppose to be so far beyond me?"</p> + +<p>"Because I can teach her."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"She'll be with me night and day for ten days. We'll +have a good deal of time together. And then, too, she +is a woman. Women learn some lessons easily. Easier +far than men."</p> + +<p>"Is it right to teach her such a lesson as this?"</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask that, when you do not know what +my lesson will be? How can you dare fancy that it +could possibly be wrong?"</p> + +<p>Ingram paused for a minute, a little staggered. +Then he said, bluntly: "The world is made up of +reasonable men and women, and it seems to me best +that all men and women should be reasonable. What +isn't reasonable is wrong. Forgive me, Alva, but you +don't sound reasonable."</p> + +<p>"You think that I am not reasonable? Therefore +I must be wrong. That's your logic?"</p> + +<p>He hesitated. "Perhaps I think you wrong. I must +confess that to me you often seem so."<span class="pagenum">[15]</span></p> + +<p>She thought a minute, considering his standpoint.</p> + +<p>"Ronald," she said then, "'reasonable' is a term +that is given its meaning by those in power, isn't that +so? 'Reasonable' is what best serves the ends of +those who generally seek to serve no ends except their +own. It's true that I don't at all care what a few +selfish and near-sighted individuals think of me. I +have thrown in my lot with the unreasonable majority, +the poor, the suffering, and those yet to be born who +are being robbed of their birthright. To leave my +mystery and go back to our familiar difference, there's +the dam to illustrate my exact meaning. The 'reasonable' +use of the river out there is to build a dam, and +so make a few more millionaires and give employment +for a few years to a few thousands of Italians. The +'unreasonable' use to make of the river is to preserve +it intact for tired, weary souls to flee to through all the +future, so that their bodies may breathe God and life +into their being again, and go forth strong. You know +you don't agree with me as to that view of that case, +so how can I expect you to disagree with the general +opinion that the 'reasonable' thing for me to do personally +is to take my life and get all the pleasure that +I can from it? The 'unreasonable' view, the one I +hold myself, is that I have elected to take it and give—not +get—all the pleasure that I can with it. Of +course you don't understand that unreasonableness, +and so you don't agree with me; but I can tell you one +thing, Ronald," she leaned forward and suddenly +threw intense meaning into her words, "and that is +this. My story—my mystery as you call it so often—is +at once a very old mystery and a very new one. I +have suffered, and I am to suffer, most terribly. The<span class="pagenum">[16]</span> +happiness to which I am looking forward is going to +be an ordeal for which all that I have undergone until +now will be none too much preparation. But in the +hour of my keenest agony I shall be happier and more +hopeful than you will ever be able to realize in your life. +Unless you change completely. Take my word for +that."</p> + +<p>She rose as she spoke, and he rose, too, looking +towards her with eyes that plainly subscribed to Mrs. +Ray's opinion as expressed in the simple vernacular.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I can't understand, and I don't believe," +he said: "but I am able to meet trains, anyhow."</p> + +<p>A large cape lay on an empty chair near by, and she +took it up now.</p> + +<p>"But I'm going alone," she said, as she slipped +into it.</p> + +<p>"What nonsense. Of course I am not going to let +you go alone."</p> + +<p>She looked at him, buttoning the woolen cross-straps +upon the cape as she did so; then she threw one corner +back over her forearm and laid that hand on his, +speaking decidedly.</p> + +<p>"I'm going alone to meet her. You know what I +asked you to promise when I came here a week ago, +and you know that you gave me your word that you'd +never interfere with me. Lassie is almost a stranger +to you, and after you have learned to know her as a +young lady there will come years for you two to talk +together, but for me this meeting is something that I +don't want to share. Don't say any more."</p> + +<p>"But what will she think," he queried, "when she +and you return together, and here sits a cavalier who<span class="pagenum">[17]</span> +didn't trouble himself to accompany one lady through +the dark night to meet another's train?"</p> + +<p>"She will think nothing, because she will not see +the cavalier. When we come in, we shall go straight +up-stairs."</p> + +<p>Ingram more than smiled now. "Forgive me, Alva, +but you and I are such old, such near, such dear friends, +that I can say to you frankly, as I do say to you frankly +over and over again, I don't understand you."</p> + +<p>She laughed at that, and turned towards the +door.</p> + +<p>"I know—I know. I'm very queer, most awfully +queer, in the eyes of every one. But I can tell you, as +I tell them, that the worst of it is only for a little while. +Just a few brief weeks and I shall be again, in most +ways, a normal woman. A woman just like all the +rest again," her back was towards him now, "in most +thing—in most things."</p> + +<p>"Never! You never have been like other women,—you've +always been different from other women; you +always will be."</p> + +<p>"Have I? Shall I? Well, perhaps it's so. I'm +rather glad of it. Most women are stupid, I think. +Poor things!" she sighed.</p> + +<p>He followed her as she moved towards the door, +half-vexed, half-laughing:</p> + +<p>"And men, Alva, and men. Are they all stupid in +your eyes?"</p> + +<p>She had her hand on the knob, and her great cape +was gathered about her in heavy folds.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ronald," she said, looking into his look, "if +you had any idea how fearfully stupid they seem to me. +Often and often in the last three years. Even yourself.<span class="pagenum">[18]</span> +And ten years ago, when we were eighteen and twenty-five, +I thought you so interesting, too."</p> + +<p>He burst out laughing at that,—it wasn't in him +to take her seriously enough to really mind her "ways" +long.</p> + +<p>"But what are we to do, when we are such mere +ordinary creatures? And you know, my dear, that if +the transcendentals like to muse on bridges by moonlight, +some well-educated, commonplace individuals +must build them the bridges first."</p> + +<p>"Ah, there you go again. Yes, that's true. One +should never forget that, of course. Particularly when +talking with a man who uses a man's logic."</p> + +<p>Then she opened the door, passed quickly into the +hall, and let it close after her.</p> + +<p>A lantern was resting on the floor outside, as if in +waiting, and she picked it up and went at once into +the night—a dark night through which the station +lights and signals, red and yellow, sparkled brightly.</p> + +<p>It was a brisk October air that filled that outer world, +and the superabundant vitality of God's country came +glinting, storming, down, up, and across earth, sky, +and ether in between.</p> + +<p>"This glorious night!" she thought prayerfully. +"If one might only realize just all it means to be existing +right now." She held the lantern behind her, and saw +her shadow spread forth into space and fade away +beyond. "The train isn't in the block yet," she +thought, glancing at the signal; "that means minutes +long to wait." Quickly she ran down the cinder-path +beside the tracks, and entered the little station where a +crowd of men lounged.</p> + +<p>"Is the train on time to-night?" she asked one.<span class="pagenum">[19]</span></p> + +<p>He shook his head. "Half an hour late," he said; +"wreck on the road. Wheel off a car of thrashing-machines +at Kent's."</p> + +<p>"A whole half hour?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I heard Joey Beall say they was making it +up," said the man; "the station agent's gone home to +supper, or you could ask him."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," Alva said, and turned and +went out.</p> + +<p>The night appeared even fairer than before. Her +eyes roamed widely. She thought for a minute of going +back to the hotel and bidding Ingram come out with +her, but then her own mood cried for relief from the +labor of his companionship. We do not give our spirits +credit for what they learn through adapting themselves +to uncongenial companionship. Alva felt hers craved +a rest. "I'll go out on the bridge and wait there," she +told herself; "that will be the right thing,—to stand +above the gorge and say my evening prayers."</p> + +<p>So, stepping carefully over the switch impedimenta, +she walked on, following the embankment that led out +to the Long Bridge.</p> + +<p>It is very long—that Long Bridge—and very high +as well. I believe that the first bridge, the wooden one, +was close to a world's wonder in its days. Even now +the skilfully combined network of iron, steel, joist and +cable seems a species of marvel, as it springs across the +great cleft that the glacier sawed through several +million layers of Devonian stratum several million +years ago. I forget how many tons of metal went into +its structure, but so intricate and delicately poised is +the whole, that while trains roar forth upon its length +and find no danger, yet does it echo quick and responsive<span class="pagenum">[20]</span> +to the light step of a lithe treading woman or even of +the littlest child. On this night Alva, wrapped close +in her cape, fared fearlessly out into the black beyond. +The high braces and beams creaked all along its vanishing +length, and she smiled at the sound. "I wonder +if sometime, years from now, I shall return and walk +out here again, and find the bridge crying me a welcome!" +she thought; "I wonder!" A narrow, +boarded way led to the right of the rails, and she was +soon directly over the gorge. It was far too dark to see +the ribbon of river hundreds and hundreds of feet +below, or the steep picture-crevasse that encased the +water's way. Beyond and below, to the left, she could +have seen the windows of Ledgeville, had she turned +that way, but she did not do so. It was the gorge that +always claimed her, whether by day or by night, and +now she leaned upon the steel guard and stared below. +"I can see it plainly, even in the dark," she murmured +to herself. "I can see every rock and eddy down there, +the great curve of whirlpool, and the place where the +water slides so smoothly off and then goes mad and +foams below. It is all distinct to me. I remember the +day that I first saw it, years ago, when—right here, +where I stand to-night—he came to me for the first +time, and we knew one another directly. And I shall +see it just so plainly in the years to come, when it will +never enter into my daily life any more, and yet will +be the background of all my living."</p> + +<p>She stood there for a long time, wrapped in the depth +of her own thoughts. The shadows below seemed to +shift and drift in their variations of intensity, and her +eyes found rest in their profundity. "It's like drawing +water out of a well when one is very thirsty," she said, +<span class="pagenum">[21]</span>at last, straightening herself and sighing; "it's unexplainable, +but oh, it's so good,—the lesson of darkness +and water and trees and sky. How grateful I am to be +able to spell out a little in that primer!"</p> + +<p>Then she clasped her hands and said a prayer, and +as she finished the signal flashed the train's entrance +within the block. That meant only two minutes until +its arrival, and so she turned herself back at once. +The crowd at the station had perceptibly increased +and began now to surge forth upon the platform. Mrs. +Dunstall was there and Pinkie, and Joey Beall and Mrs. +Wiley, and Clay Wright Benton, and old Sammy +Adams, and Lucia Cosby.</p> + +<p>"Been out on the Bridge, I suppose?" Mrs. Dunstall +said pleasantly to Alva.</p> + +<p>"Yes; it's lovely to-night," the latter replied.</p> + +<p>Every one smiled. They all felt that any one who +would go out on the bridge on a pitch black night must +be mildly insane, but they looked upon Alva as mildly +insane anyhow. Mrs. Ray had many beside Ingram +to uphold her opinion.</p> + +<p>"It's her that bought the old Whittacker house and +is putting a bath-tub in it," Joey Beall whispered to +a man who was waiting to leave by the last train out.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="gs02" id="gs02"></a> +<img src="images/gs02.jpg" width="400" height="633" alt=""IT'S HER THAT BOUGHT THE OLD WHITTACKER HOUSE."" title=""> +</div> + +<p class="caption">"IT'S HER THAT BOUGHT THE OLD WHITTACKER HOUSE."</p> + +<p>"I know it," said the man; he was one of those men +who never let Joey or anybody else feel that he had any +advantage of him, in even the slightest way.</p> + +<p>Just then the train charged madly in beside them.</p> + +<p>Lassie, out on the Pullman's rear platform, preparatory +to climbing down the steep steps the instant that +it should be allowable, saw a well-known figure wrapped +in a dark cloak, and gave a little cry of joy—</p> + +<p>"Alva! Here I am—all safe."<span class="pagenum">[22]</span></p> + +<p>Then she was enwrapped in the same dark cloak +herself, for the space of one warm, all-embracing hug, +her friend repeating over and over, "I'm so happy to +have you—so happy to have you." And then they +moved away through the little group of bystanders, +and started up the cinder-path towards the hotel.</p> + +<p>"I'm so happy to have you!" Alva exclaimed again, +when they were alone. She did not even seem to know +that she had said so before.</p> + +<p>"It was so good of you to ask me! How did you come +to think of it? And oh, Alva, what are you doing here, +in this lonely place?"</p> + +<p>"It will take me all your visit to properly answer +those questions, dear; but I'll tell you this much at +once. I asked you because I wanted to have you with +me, and because I thought that you and I could help +one another a great deal right now. And I am here, +dear, because I am the happiest woman that the world +has ever seen, and because the greatest happiness that +the world has ever known is to be here in a few weeks."</p> + +<p>Lassie stopped short, astonished.</p> + +<p>Alva went on, laughing gaily: "Yes, it is so! Come +on,—or you will stumble without my lantern to guide +you. I'm going to tell you all about everything when we +get alone in our room, but now, little girl, hurry, hurry. +Don't stop behind."</p> + +<p>So Lassie swallowed her astonishment for the time +being, and followed.</p> + +<p>The hotel stood on the crest of the hill above the +station and the railway's path curved by it. They were +there in a minute, and in another minute alone up-stairs +in their room—or rather, rooms—for there +were two bedrooms, opening one into the other.<span class="pagenum">[23]</span></p> + +<p>"Why, how pretty you have made them," the young +girl cried; "pictures, and a real live tea-table. And a +work-stand! How cosy and dear! It's just as if you +meant to live here always."</p> + +<p>Her face glowed, as she absorbed the surprising +charm of her new abode. One does not need to be very +old or to have travelled very extensively to recognize +some comforts as pleasingly surprising in the +country.</p> + +<p>Alva was hanging up her cloak, and now she came +and began to undo the traveller's with a loving touch.</p> + +<p>"Why, in one way I do mean to live here always, +dear. I never am anywhere that I do not—in a certain +sense—live there ever after. People and places never +fade out of my life. Wherever I have once been is +forever near and dear to me, so dear that I can't bear +to remember anybody or anything there as ugly. The +difference between a pretty room and an ugly one is +only a little money and a few minutes, after all, and I'm +beginning to learn to apply the same rule to people. +It only takes a little to find something interesting about +each. We'll be so happy here, Lassie; how we will talk +and sew and drink tea in these two tiny rooms! I've +been just feasting on the thought of it every minute +since you wrote that you could come."</p> + +<p>Lassie hugged her again. "I can't tell you how overjoyed +I was to think of coming and having a whole +fortnight of you to myself. Every one thought it was +droll, my running off like this when I ought to be deep +in preparations for my début, but mamma said that the +rest and change would do me good. And I was so +glad!"</p> + +<p>Alva had gone to hang up the second cloak and now<span class="pagenum">[24]</span> +she turned, smiling her usual quiet sweet smile as she +did so.</p> + +<p>"It's a great thing for me to have you, dear; I +haven't been lonely, but my life has been so happy here +that I have felt selfish over keeping so much rare, +sweet, unutterable joy all to myself,—I wanted to +share it."</p> + +<p>She seated herself on the side of the bed, and held +out her hand in invitation, and Lassie accepted the +invitation and went and perched beside her.</p> + +<p>"Tell me all about it," she said, nestling childishly +close; "how long have you been here anyway?"</p> + +<p>"A week to-day."</p> + +<p>"Only a week! Why, you wrote me a week ago."</p> + +<p>"No, dear, six days ago."</p> + +<p>"But you spoke as if you had been here ever so long +then."</p> + +<p>"Did I? It seemed to me that I had been here a long +time, I suppose. Time doesn't go with me as regularly +as it should, I believe. Some years are days, and the +first day here was a year."</p> + +<p>"And why are you here, Alva?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's a long story."</p> + +<p>"But tell it me, can't you?"</p> + +<p>"Wait till to-morrow, dearest; wait until to-morrow, +until you see my house."</p> + +<p>"Your house!"</p> + +<p>"I've bought a house here,—a dear little old +Colonial dwelling hidden behind a high evergreen +wall."</p> + +<p>"A house here—in Ledge?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear, not in Ledge—in Ledgeville. Across +the bridge—"<span class="pagenum">[25]</span></p> + +<p>"But when—"</p> + +<p>"A week ago—the day I came."</p> + +<p>"But why—"</p> + +<p>Alva leaned her face down against the bright brown +head.</p> + +<p>"I wanted a home of my own, Lassie."</p> + +<p>"But I thought that you couldn't leave your father +and mother?"</p> + +<p>"I can't, dear."</p> + +<p>"Are they coming here to live?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear."</p> + +<p>"But I don't understand—"</p> + +<p>"But you will to-morrow; I'll tell you everything +to-morrow; I'd tell you to-night, only that I promised +myself that we would go to a certain dear spot, and sit +there alone in the woods while I told you."</p> + +<p>"Why in the woods?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Lassie, because I love the woods; I've gotten +so fond of woods, you don't know how fond; trees and +grass have come to be such friends to me; I'll tell you +about it all later. It's all part of the story."</p> + +<p>"But why did you come here, Alva,—here of all +places, where you don't know any one. For you don't +know any one here, do you?"</p> + +<p>"I know a man named Ronald Ingram here; he is +the chief of the engineering party that is surveying for +the dam."</p> + +<p>"Is he an old friend?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, from my childhood."</p> + +<p>Lassie turned quickly, her eyes shining:</p> + +<p>"Alva, are you going to marry him?"</p> + +<p>Her face was so bright and eager that something +veiled the eyes of the other with tears as she answered:<span class="pagenum">[26]</span></p> + +<p>"No, dear; he's nothing but a friend. I was looking +for a house—a house in the wilderness—and he sent +for me to come and see one here. And I came and +saw it and bought it at once; I expect to see it in +order in less than a fortnight."</p> + +<p>"Then you're going to spend this winter here?"</p> + +<p>Alva nodded. "Part of it at any rate."</p> + +<p>"Alone?"</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head.</p> + +<p>Lassie's big eyes grew yet more big. "Do you +mean—you don't mean—oh, what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>She leaned forward, looking eagerly up into the +other's face. "Alva, Alva, it isn't—it can't be—oh, +then you are really—"</p> + +<p>Two great tears rolled down that other woman's +face. She simply bowed her head and said nothing.</p> + +<p>Lassie stared speechless for a minute; then—"I'm +so glad—so glad," she stammered, "so glad. And +you'll tell me all about it to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear," Alva whispered, "I'll tell you all +to-morrow. I'll be glad to tell it all to you. The truth +is, Lassie, that I thought that I was strong enough to +live these days alone, but I learned that I am weaker +than I thought. You see how weak I am. I am weeping +now, but they are tears of joy, believe me—they are +tears of joy; I am the happiest and most blessed +woman in the whole wide world. And yet, it is your +coming that leads me to weep. I had to have some +outlet, dear, some one to whom to speak. And I +want to live, Lassie, and be strong, very, very strong—for +God."</p> + +<p>Lassie sat staring.</p> + +<p>"You don't understand, do you?" Alva said to<span class="pagenum">[27]</span> +her, with the same smile with which she had put the +same question to Ingram.</p> + +<p>But Lassie did not answer the question as Ingram +had answered it.</p> + +<p>"You will teach me and I shall learn to understand," +she said.<span class="pagenum">[28]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="h3">INTRODUCING LASSIE TO MRS. RAY</p> + +<p>The next morning dawned gorgeous.</p> + +<p>When Lassie, in her little gray kimono, stole +gently in to wake her friend, she found Alva already +up and dressed, standing at the window, looking out +over the October beauty that spread afar before her. +It was a wonderful sight, all the trees bright and yet +brighter in their autumn gladness, while the grass +sparkled green through the dew that had been frost +an hour before. The view showed the radiance fading +off into the distant blue, where bare brown fields told +of the harvest garnered and the ground made ready +for another spring.</p> + +<p>Lassie pressed Alva's arm as she peeped over her +shoulder, and the other turned in silence and kissed +her tenderly.</p> + +<p>Side by side they looked forth together for some +minutes longer, and then Lassie whispered:</p> + +<p>"I could hardly get to sleep last night—for thinking +of it all, you know. You don't guess how interested +I am. I do so want to know everything."</p> + +<p>Alva turned to regard her with her calm smile.</p> + +<p>"But when you did get to sleep, you slept well, +didn't you?" she asked; "tell me that, first of all."</p> + +<p>"Why, is it late? Did I sleep too awfully long? +Why didn't you call me?"<span class="pagenum">[29]</span></p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear, why? It's barely nine, and that +isn't late at all for a girl who spent all yesterday on the +train. I let you sleep on purpose. What's the use of +waking up before the mail comes? And that isn't in +till half-past under the most favorable circumstances; +and even then it never is distributed until quarter to +ten. I thought we'd get our letters after our breakfast, +and then carry them across the bridge with us. Would +you like to do that? I have to cross the bridge every +morning."</p> + +<p>"Cross the bridge? That means to go to your +house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear."</p> + +<p>"How nice! I'm crazy to see your house. Is it far +from here to the post-office? Will that be on our way?"</p> + +<p>"That is the post-office there—by the trees." +Alva pointed to a brown, two-story, cottage-like +structure three hundred yards further up the track.</p> + +<p>"The little house with the box nailed to the gate-post?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't such a little house, Lassie; it's quite a +mansion. The lady who lives in it rents the upper +part for a flat and takes boarders down-stairs."</p> + +<p>"Does she take many?"</p> + +<p>Alva laughed. "She told me that she only had a +double-bed and a half-bed, so she was limited to eight."</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"I know, my dear, I thought that very same 'Oh' +myself; but that's what she said. And that really is as +naught compared to the rest of her capabilities."</p> + +<p>"What else does she do?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't remember it all at once, but +among other things she runs a farm, raises chickens,<span class="pagenum">[30]</span> +takes in sewing, cuts hair, canes chairs and is sexton +of the church. She's postmistress, too, and does +several little things around town."</p> + +<p>Lassie drew back in amazement. "You're joking."</p> + +<p>"No, dear, I'm not joking. She's the eighth wonder +in the world, in my opinion."</p> + +<p>"She must be quite a character."</p> + +<p>"Every one's quite a character in the country. +Country life develops character. I expect to become +a character myself, very soon; indeed I'm not very +positive but that I am one already."</p> + +<p>"But how does the woman find time to do so much?"</p> + +<p>"There is more time in the country than in the +city; you'll soon discover that. One gets up and +dresses and breakfasts and goes for the mail, and reads +the letters and answers them, and then its only quarter +past ten,—in the country."</p> + +<p>Lassie withdrew from the arm that held her. "It +won't be so with me to-day, at all events," she laughed. +"What will they think of me if every one here is as +prompt as that?"</p> + +<p>"It doesn't matter to-day; we'll be prompt ourselves +to-morrow. But you'd better run now. I'm in a hurry +to get to my house; I'm as silly over that house as a +little child with a new toy,—sillier, in fact, for my +interest is in ratio with my growth, and I've wanted a +home for so long."</p> + +<p>"But you've had a home."</p> + +<p>"Not of my very ownest own, not such as this will +be."</p> + +<p>The young girl looked up into her face. "I'm so <i>very</i> +curious," she said, with emphasis; "I want so to +know the story."<span class="pagenum">[31]</span></p> + +<p>Alva touched her cheek caressingly, "I'll tell you +soon," she promised, "after you've seen the house."</p> + +<p>Lassie went back into her room and proceeded to +make her toilet, which was soon finished.</p> + +<p>They went down into the little hotel dining-room +then for breakfast, and found it quite deserted, but +neat and sweet, and pleasantly odorous of bacon.</p> + +<p>"Such a dolls' house of a hotel," said Lassie.</p> + +<p>"It's a cozy place," Alva answered. "I like this +kind of hotel. It's sweet and informal. If they forget +you, you can step to the kitchen and ask for more +coffee. I'm tired of the world and the world's conventionality. +I told Mrs. Lathbun yesterday that Ledge +would spoil me for civilization hereafter. I like to +live in out-of-the-way places."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lathbun is the hostess, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mrs. O'Neil is the hostess, or rather, she's +the host's wife. You must meet her to-day. Such a +pretty, brown-eyed, girlish creature,—the last woman +in the world to bring into a country hotel. She says +herself that when you've been raised with a faucet +and a sewer, it's terrible to get used to a cistern and a +steep bank. She was born and brought up in Buffalo."</p> + +<p>By this time Mary Cody had entered, beaming good +morning, and placed the hot bacon and eggs, toast and +coffee, before them.</p> + +<p>"I'm going for the mail after breakfast, Mary," +Alva said; "shall I bring yours?"</p> + +<p>"Can't I bring yours?" said Mary Cody. "I can +run up there just as well as not." Mary Cody was all +smiles at the mere idea.</p> + +<p>"No, I'll have to go myself to-day, I think. I'm +expecting a registered letter."<span class="pagenum">[32]</span></p> + +<p>"I'll be much obliged then if you will bring mine."</p> + +<p>"If there are any for the house, I'll bring them all," +Alva said; "will you tell Mrs. Lathbun that?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell her if I see her, but they're both gone. They +went out early—off chestnutting, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"Who is Mrs. Lathbun?" Lassie asked, when Mary +Cody had gone out of the room.</p> + +<p>"I spoke of her before and you asked about her +then, didn't you? And I meant to tell you and forgot. +She's another boarder, a lady who is here with her +daughter. Such nice, plain, simple people. You'll +like them both."</p> + +<p>"I thought that we were to be here all alone."</p> + +<p>"We are, to all intents and purposes. The Lathbuns +won't trouble us. They are not intrusive, only interesting +when we meet at table or by accident."</p> + +<p>"Every one interests you, Alva; but I don't like +strangers."</p> + +<p>Alva sighed and smiled together.</p> + +<p>"I learned to fill my life with interest in people long +ago," she said simply; "it's the only way to keep from +getting narrow sometimes."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked at her earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Does every one that you meet interest you really?" +she asked.</p> + +<p>"I think so; I hope so, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Don't you ever find any one dull?"</p> + +<p>Alva looked at her with a smile, quickly repressed. +"No one is really dull, dear, or else every one is dull; +it's all in the view-point. The interest is there if we +want it there; or it isn't there, if we so prefer. That's +all."<span class="pagenum">[33]</span></p> + +<p>There was a little pause, while the young girl thought +this over.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that one is happiest in always trying to +find the interest," she said then slowly; "but do tell +me more about the Lathbuns."</p> + +<p>"Presupposing them in the dull catalogue?"</p> + +<p>Lassie blushed, "Not necessarily," she said, half +confusedly.</p> + +<p>Alva laughed at her face, "I don't know so very +much about them, except that they interest me. The +mother is large and rather common looking, but a very +fine musician, and the daughter is a pale, delicate girl +with a romance."</p> + +<p>Lassie's face lit up: "Oh, a romance! Is it a nice +romance? Tell me about it."</p> + +<p>"It's rather a wonderful romance in my eyes. I'll +tell it all to you sometime, but that was the train that +came in just now, and I want to get the mail and go +on over to the house, so we'll have to put off the romance +for the present, I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>"I don't hear the train."</p> + +<p>"Maybe not—but it went by."</p> + +<p>"Went by! And the mail! How does the mail get +off by itself?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear, I must leave you to learn about the +mail from Mrs. Ray. She'll explain to you all about +what happens to the Ledge mail when the train rushes +by. It's one of her pet subjects."</p> + +<p>"Do you know you're really very clever, Alva; you +seem to be plotting to fill me full of curiosity about +everything and everybody in this little out-of-the-way +corner in the world? Nobody could ever be dull where +you are."<span class="pagenum">[34]</span></p> + +<p>A sudden shadow fell over the older's face at that; +a wistful wonder crept to her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I wish I could believe that," she said.</p> + +<p>"But you can, dear. You've always seemed to me +to be just like that French woman who was the only +one who could amuse the king, even after she'd been +his wife for forty years. You'd be like that."</p> + +<p>Alva rose, laughing a little sadly. "God grant that +it may be so," she said, "there are so many people who +need amusing after forty years. But, dear, you know +I told you last night that I sent for you to come and +teach and learn, and you are teaching already."</p> + +<p>"What am I teaching?" Lassie's eyes opened +widely.</p> + +<p>"You are teaching me what I really am, and that's +a lesson that I need very much just now. It would be +so very easy to forget what I really am these days. My +head is so often dizzy."</p> + +<p>"Why, dear? What makes you dizzy?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, because the world seems slipping from me so +fast. I could so easily quit it altogether. And I must +not quit it. I have too much to do. And I am to have +a great task left me to perform, perhaps. Oh, Lassie, +it's hopeless to tell you anything until I have begun by +telling you everything. You'll see then why I want to +die, and why I can't."</p> + +<p>"Alva!"</p> + +<p>"Don't be shocked, dear; you don't know what I +mean at all now, but later you will. Come, we must be +going. No time to waste to-day."</p> + +<p>They went up-stairs for hats and wraps, and then came +down ready for the October sunshine. It was fine to +step into the crispness and breathe the ozone of its<span class="pagenum">[35]</span> +glory. On the big stone cistern cover by the door a +fat little girl sat, hugging a cat and swinging her feet +so as to kick caressingly the brown and white hound +that lay in front of her.</p> + +<p>"A nice, round, rosy picture of content," Alva said, +smiling at the tot. "I love to see babies and animals +stretched out in the sun, enjoying just being alive."</p> + +<p>"I enjoy just being alive myself," said Lassie.</p> + +<p>They went up the path that ran beside the road and, +arriving at the post-office, turned in at the gate and +climbed the three steps. The post-office door stuck, +and Alva jammed it open with her knee. Then she +went in, followed by Lassie.</p> + +<p>The post-office was just an extremely small room, +two thirds of which appeared reserved for groceries, +ranged upon shelves or piled in three of its four corners. +The fourth corner belonged to the United States +Government, and was screened off by a system of +nine times nine pigeonholes, all empty. Behind the +pigeonholes Mrs. Ray was busy stamping letters for +the outgoing mail.</p> + +<p>"You never said that she kept a grocery store, too," +whispered Lassie.</p> + +<p>"No, but I told you that I'd forgotten ever so many +things that she did," whispered Alva in return.</p> + +<p>The lady behind the counter calmly continued her +stamping, and paid not the slightest attention to them.</p> + +<p>They sat down upon two of the three wooden chairs +that were ranged in front of a pile of sacks of flour and +remained there, meekly silent, until some one with a +basket came in and took the remaining wooden chair. +All three united then in adopting and maintaining the +reverential attitude of country folk awaiting the mail's<span class="pagenum">[36]</span> +distribution, and Lassie learned for the first time in her +life how strong and binding so intangible a force as +personal influence and atmosphere may become, even +when it be only the personal influence and atmosphere +of a country postmistress. It may be remarked in +passing, that not one of the letters then being post-marked +received an imprint anything like as strong as +that frame of mind which the postmistress of Ledge +had the power to impress upon those who came under +her sceptre. She never needed to speak, she never +needed to even glance their way, but her spirit reigned +triumphant in her kingdom, and, as she carried her +governmental duties forward with as deep a realization +of their importance as the most zealous political +reformer could wish, no onlooker could fail to feel +anything but admiration for her omniscience and +omnipotence. Mrs. Ray's governmental attitude towards +life showed itself in an added seriousness of expression. +Her dress was always plain and severe, and +in the post-office she invariably put over her shoulders +a little gray shawl with fringe which she had a way of +tucking in under her arms from time to time as she +moved about.</p> + +<p>Lassie had ample time to note all this while the +stamping went vigorously forward. Meanwhile the +mail-bag which had just arrived lay lean and lank +across the counter, appearing as resigned as the three +human beings ranged on the chairs opposite. Finally, +when the last letter was post-marked, the postmistress +turned abruptly, jerked out a drawer, drew therefrom +a key which hung by a stout dog-chain to the drawer +knob and held it carefully as if for the working up of +some magic spell. Lassie, contemplating every move<span class="pagenum">[37]</span> +with the closest attention, could not but think just +here that if the postal key of Ledge ever had decided +to lose its senses and rush madly out into the whirlwind +of wickedness which it may have fancied existing +beyond, it would assuredly not have gotten far with +that chain holding it back, and Mrs. Ray holding the +chain. It was a fearfully large and imposing chain, +and seemed, in some odd way, to be Mrs. Ray's assistant +in maintaining the dignity necessary to their dual +position in the world's eyes.</p> + +<p>The lady of the post-office now unlocked the bag +and, thrusting her hand far in, secured two packets +containing nine letters in all from the yawning depths. +She carefully examined each letter, and then turned the +bag upside down and gave it one hard, severe, and +solemn shake. Nothing falling out, she placed it on +top of a barrel, took up the nine letters, and went to +work upon them next.</p> + +<p>When they were all duly stamped, she laid them, +address-side up, before her like a pack of fortune-telling +cards, folded her arms tightly across her bosom, +and, standing immovable, directed her gaze straight +ahead.</p> + +<p>Now seemed to be the favorable instant for consulting +the sacred oracle. Alva and the third lady rose +with dignity and approached the layman's side of the +counter; Lassie sat still, thrilled in spite of herself.</p> + +<p>Alva, being a mere visitor, drew back a little with +becoming modesty and gave the native a chance to +speak first.</p> + +<p>"I s'pose there ain't nothing for me," said that +other, almost apologetically, "but if there's anything +for Bessie or Edward Griggs or Ellen Scott I can take<span class="pagenum">[38]</span> +it; and John is going down the St. Helena road +this afternoon, so if there's anything for Judy and +Samuel—"</p> + +<p>"Here's yours as usual," said Mrs. Ray, rising +calmly above the other's speech and handing Alva +three letters as she did so; "the regular one, and the +one you get daily, and then here's a registered one. +I shall require a receipt for the registered one, as the +United States Government holds me legally liable +otherwise, and after my husband died I made up my +mind I was all done being legally liable for anything +unless I had a receipt. Yes, indeed. I'd been liable +sometimes legally in my married life, but more often +just by being let in for it, and I quit then. Yes, indeed. +When they tell me I'm legally liable for anything now, +I never fail to get a receipt, and I read every word of +the President's message over twice every year to be +sure I ain't being given any chance to get liable accidentally +when I don't know it—when I ain't took +in what was being enacted, you know. Here,—here's +the things and the ink; you sign 'em all, please."</p> + +<p>Alva bent above the counter obediently and proceeded +to fill out the forms as according to law. Mrs. +Ray watched her sharply until the one protecting her +own responsibility had been indorsed, and then she +turned to the other inquirer:</p> + +<p>"Now, what was you saying, Mrs. Dunstall? Oh, +I remember,—no, of course there ain't anything for +you. Nor for any of them except the Peterkins, and +I daren't give you their mail because they writ me last +time not to ever do so again. I told Mrs. Peterkin you +meant it kindly, but she don't like that law as +lets you open other people's letters and then write<span class="pagenum">[39]</span> +on 'Opened by accident.' Mrs. Peterkin makes a +point of opening her own letters. She says her husband +even don't darst touch 'em. It's nothing against you, +Mrs. Dunstall, for she's just the same when I write +on 'Received in bad order.' She always comes right +down and asks me why I did it. Yes, indeed. I suppose +she ain't to blame; some folks is funny; they never +will be pleasant over having their letters opened."</p> + +<p>Alva bent closer over her writing; Lassie was +coughing in her handkerchief. Mrs. Dunstall stood +before the counter as if nailed there, and continued to +receive the whole charge full in her face.</p> + +<p>"But I've got your hat done for you; yes, I have. +I dyed the flowers according to the Easter egg recipe, +and it's in the oven drying now. And I made you that +cake, too. And I've got the setting of hens' eggs all +ready. Just as soon as the mail is give out, I'll get 'em +all for you. It's pretty thick in the kitchen, or you +could go out there to wait, but Elmer Haskins run his +lawn-mower over his dog's tail yesterday, and the dog's +so lost confidence in Elmer in consequence, that Elmer +brought him up to me to take care of. He's a nice +dog, but he won't let no one but me set foot in the +kitchen to-day. I don't blame him, I'm sure. He was +sleepin' by Deacon Delmar's grave in the cemetery +and woke suddenly to find his tail gone. It's a lesson +to me never to leave the grave-cutting to no one else +again. I'd feel just as the dog does, if I'd been through +a similar experience. Yes, indeed. I was telling +Sammy Adams last night and he said the same."</p> + +<p>"There, Mrs. Ray," said Alva, in a stifled voice, +straightening up as she spoke, "I think that will set +you free from all liability; I've signed them all."<span class="pagenum">[40]</span></p> + +<p>"Let me see,—you mustn't take it odd that I'm +so particular, because a government position is a +responsibility as stands no feeling." She looked at the +signatures carefully, one after the other. "Yes, they're +right," she said then; "it wasn't that I doubted you, +but honesty's the best policy, and I ought to know, for +it was the only policy my husband didn't let run out +before he died without telling me. He had four when +I married him—just as many as he had children by +his first wife—he had six by his second—and his name +and the fact that it was a honest one, was all he left +me to live on and bring up his second wife's children +on. Goodness knows what he done with his money; he +certainly didn't lay it by for the moths and rust, for +I'm like the text in the Bible—wherever are moths +and rust there am I, too. Yes, indeed, and with +pepper and sapolio into the bargain; but no, the money +wasn't there, for if it was where it could rust it would +be where I could get it."</p> + +<p>Alva smiled sympathetically, and then she and +Lassie almost rushed out into the open air. When +they were well out of hearing, they dared to +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my gracious me," Lassie cried; "how can +you stand it and stay sober?"</p> + +<p>"I can't, that's the trouble!" Alva gasped. "My +dear, she felt strange before you, and was rather +reticent, but wait till she knows you well—until to-morrow. +Oh, Lassie, she's too amusing! Wait till +she gets started about the dam, or about Niagara, or +about her views on running a post-office, or anything—" +she was stopped by Lassie's seizing her +arm.<span class="pagenum">[41]</span></p> + +<p>"Look quick, over there,—who is that? He looks +so out of place here, somehow. Don't he? Just like +civilization."</p> + +<p>Alva looked. "That? Oh, that's Ronald—Ronald +Ingram, you know, coming across lots for his letters. +You remember him, surely, when you were a little girl. +He was always at our house then. You'll meet him +again to-night. I'd stop now and introduce you, only +I want to hurry."</p> + +<p>"I suppose that he knows all about it?"</p> + +<p>"All about what?"</p> + +<p>"The secret."</p> + +<p>"Ronald? Oh, no, dear. No one knows. No one—that +is, except—except we two. You will be the +only outsider to share that secret."</p> + +<p>"For how long?"</p> + +<p>"Until I am married."</p> + +<p>"Until you are married! Why, when are you to be +married?—Soon?"</p> + +<p>"In a fortnight."</p> + +<p>"And no one is to know!"</p> + +<p>"No one."</p> + +<p>"Not his family? Not yours?"</p> + +<p>"No one."</p> + +<p>"How strange!"</p> + +<p>Alva put out her hand and stayed the words upon +her friend's lips. "Look, dear, this is the Long Bridge. +You've heard of it all your life; now we're going to +walk across it. Look to the left; all that lovely scene +of hill and valley and the little white town with green +blinds is Ledgeville; and there to the right is the +famous gorge, with its banks of gray and its chain of +falls, each lovelier than the last. Stand still and just +<span class="pagenum">[42]</span> +look; you'll never see anything better worth looking +at if you travel the wide world over."</p> + +<p>They stopped and leaned on the bridge-rail in +silence for several minutes, and then Alva continued +softly, almost reverently: "This scene is my existence's +prayer. I can't make you understand all that it means +to me, because you can't think how life comes when one +is crossing the summit—the very highest peak. I've +climbed for so long,—I'll be descending upon the other +side for so long,—but the hours upon the summit are +now, and are wonderful! I should like to be so intensely +conscious that not one second of the joy could +ever fade out of my memory again. I feel that I want +to grave every rock and ripple and branch and bit of +color into me forever. Oh, what I'd give if I might +only do so. I'd have it all to comfort me afterwards +then—afterwards in the long, lonely years to come."</p> + +<p>"Why, Alva," said her friend, turning towards her +in astonishment, "you speak as if you didn't expect +to be happy but for a little while."</p> + +<p>A sad, faint smile crept around Alva's mouth, and +then it altered instantly into its usual sweet serenity.</p> + +<p>"Come, dear," she said; "we'll hurry on to the +house, and then after you've seen it we'll go to my own +dear forest-seat, and there I'll tell you the whole +story."</p> + +<p>"Oh, let us hurry!" Lassie said, impetuously; "I +can't wait much longer."</p> + +<p>So they set quickly forward across the Long Bridge.<span class="pagenum">[43]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE DIFFERENCE</p> + +<p>On the further side of the Long Bridge the railway +tracks swept off in a smooth curve to the right, +and, as there was a high embankment to adapt the +grade to the hillside, a long flight of steps ran down beside +it into the glen below.</p> + +<p>A pretty glen, dark with shadows, bright with dancing +sun-rays. A glen which bore an odd likeness to +some lives that we may meet (if we have that happiness), +lives that lead their ways in peace and beauty, with the +roar and smoke of the world but a stone's throw distant.</p> + +<p>Lassie's eyes, looking down, were full of appreciation.</p> + +<p>"Is it there that you are going to live?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head. "Oh, no, not there; that is +Ledge Park, the place that all the hue and cry is being +raised over just now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," Lassie turned eagerly; "tell me about +that. I read something in the papers, but I forgot +that it was here."</p> + +<p>"It is 'here,' as you say. But it concerns all the +country about here, only it's much too big a subject +for us to go into now. There are two sides, and then +ever so many sides more. I try to see them all, I try +to see every one's side of everything as far as I can,<span class="pagenum">[44]</span> +but there is one side that overbalances all else in my +eyes, and that happens to be the unpopular one."</p> + +<p>"That's too bad."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear," Alva spoke very simply; "but what +makes <i>you</i> say so?"</p> + +<p>"Why? Why, because then you won't get what +you want."</p> + +<p>Her friend laughed. "Don't say that in such a +pitying tone, Lassie. Better to be defeated on the +right side, than to win the most glorious of victories +for the wrong. Who said that?"</p> + +<p>Lassie looked doubtful.</p> + +<p>Alva laughed again and touched her cheek with a +finger-caress. "I'll tell you just this much now, +dear;—all of both the river banks—above, below and +surrounding the three falls—belong to Mr. Ledge, and he +has always planned to give the whole to the State as a +gift, so that there might be one bit of what this country +once was like, preserved. He made all his arrangements +to that end, and gave the first deeds last winter. +What do you think followed? As soon as the State +saw herself practically in possession, it appointed a +commission to examine into the possibilities of the +water power!" Alva paused and looked at her friend.</p> + +<p>"But—" Lassie was clearly puzzled.</p> + +<p>"The engineers are here surveying now. Ronald +Ingram is at the head and the people of all the neighborhood +are so excited over the prospect of selling +their farms that no one stops to think what it would +really mean."</p> + +<p>"What would it really mean?"</p> + +<p>"A manufacturing district with a huge reservoir +above it."<span class="pagenum">[45]</span></p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"Back there," she turned and pointed; "they say +that there was a great prehistoric lake there once, and +they will utilize it again."</p> + +<p>"But there's a town down there."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, Ledgeville. Ledgeville and six +other towns will be submerged."</p> + +<p>Lassie stopped short on the railroad track and +stared. She had come to a calamity which she could +realize now.</p> + +<p>"Why, what ever will the people do then?"</p> + +<p>"Get damages. They're so pleased over being +drowned out. You must talk it over with Mrs. Ray. +You must get Mrs. Ray's standpoint, and then get +Ronald's standpoint. Theirs are the sensible, practical +views, the world's views. My views are never +practical. I'm not practical. I'm only heartbroken +to think of anything coming in to ruin the valley. Mr. +Ledge and I share the same opinions as to this valley; +it seems to us too great a good to sell for cash."</p> + +<p>"You speak bitterly."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, I'm afraid that I do speak bitterly. On +that subject. But we won't talk of it any more just +now. See, here's the wood road that leads to my +kingdom; come, take it with me."</p> + +<p>They turned into a soft, pine-carpeted way on the +left, and in the length of a bow-shot seemed buried in +the forest.</p> + +<p>"Lassie, wait!"</p> + +<p>Turning her head, Lassie saw that Alva had stopped +behind, and was standing still beside where a little +pine-tree was growing out from under a big glacial +boulder. She went back to her.<span class="pagenum">[46]</span></p> + +<p>"Dear, look at this little tree. Here's my daily text."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"Do you see how it has grown out and struggled +up from under the rock?"</p> + +<p>Lassie nodded.</p> + +<p>"You know very little of what makes up life, dear. +I've sent for you to teach you." She lifted her eyes +earnestly to the face near hers, and her own eyes were +full of appeal. "Lassie, try to understand all I say to +you these days; try to believe that it's worth learning. +See this little tree—" she touched her fingers caressingly +to the pine branches as she spoke—"it's a +very little tree, but it has taught me daily since I +came, and I believe that you can learn of it, too."</p> + +<p>Lassie's big eyes were very big indeed. "Learn of +a tree!"</p> + +<p>Alva lifted one of the little stunted uneven branches +tenderly in her fingers. "This is its lesson," she said; +"the pine-cone fell between the rocks; it didn't choose +where it would fall, it just found itself alive and under +the rocks; there wasn't much earth there, but it took +root and grew. There was no room to give out branches, +so it forced its way crookedly upward; crookedly because +there was no room to grow straight, but always +upward; there wasn't much sunlight, but it was as +bravely green as any other tree; the big rock made it +one-sided, but it put out thickly on the side where it +had space. My life hasn't been altogether sunlit. I +was born between rocks, and I have been forced to +grow one-sided, too. But the tree's sermon came +home to me the first day that I saw it. Courageous +little tree, doing your best in the woods, where +<span class="pagenum">[47]</span>no one but God could take note of your efforts,—you'll +be straight and have space and air and sunshine +in plenty next time—next time! Oh, blessed 'next +time' that is to surely right the woes of those who +keep up courage and continue fighting. That's the +reward of all. That's the lesson."</p> + +<p>Lassie listened wonderingly. "Next time!" she +repeated questioningly, "what next time? Do you +believe in a heaven for trees?"</p> + +<p>"I am not sure of a heaven for anything," said +Alva, "not an orthodox heaven. But I believe in an +endless existence for every atom existing in the universe, +and I believe that each atom determines the +successive steps of its own future, and so a brave little +pine-tree fills me with just as sincere admiration as +any other species of bravery. 'Next time'! It will +have a beautiful 'next time' in the heaven which +means something so different from what we are +taught, or here again on earth, or wherever its little +growing spirit takes form again. I'm not wise +enough to understand much of that, but I'm wise +enough to know that there is a next time of so +much infinitely greater importance than this time, +that this time is really only of any importance at +all in comparison just according to how we use it in +preparation. That's part of the lesson that the tree +teaches. But you can't understand me, Lassie, unless +you are able to grasp my belief—my fixed conviction—that +this world is only an instant in eternity. I +couldn't live at all unless I had this belief and hope, +and it's the key to everything with me; so please—please—give +me credit for sincerity, at least."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked thoroughly awed. "I'll try to see +everything just as you do," she said.<span class="pagenum">[48]</span></p> + +<p>Alva pressed her hand. "Thank you, dear."</p> + +<p>Then they went on up the road.</p> + +<p>Presently the sound of hammer and saw was heard, +and the smell of wet plaster and burning rubbish came +through the trees.</p> + +<p>"Is it from your house?" Lassie asked, with her +usual visible relief at the approach of the understandable.</p> + +<p>"Yes, from my house," Alva answered. "They are +very much occupied with my house; fancy buying a +dear, old, dilapidated dwelling in the wilderness, and +having to make it new and warm and bright and cheerful +in a fortnight! Why, the tale of these two weeks +will go down through all the future history of the country, +I know. Such a fairy tale was never before. I +shall become the Legend of Ledge, I feel sure."</p> + +<p>The road, turning here, ended sharply in a large, solid, +wooden gate, set deep in a thick hedge of pine trees.</p> + +<p>"It is like a fairy tale!" Lassie cried delightedly; +"a regular Tourangean <i>porte</i> with a <i>guichet</i>!"</p> + +<p>"It is better than any fairy tale," said Alva; "it +is Paradise, the lovely, simple-minded, Bible-story +Paradise, descending upon earth for a little while." She +pushed one half of the great gate-door open, and they +went through.</p> + +<p>A small, old-fashioned, Colonial dwelling rose up +before them in the midst of dire disorder. Shingling, +painting, glass-setting, and the like were all going +forward at once. Workmen were everywhere; wagons +loading and unloading were drawn up at the side; +mysterious boxes, bales and bundles lay about; confusion +reigned rampant.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly evolution, but rather revolution,"<span class="pagenum">[49]</span> +laughed Alva, ceasing transcendentalism with great +abruptness, and becoming blithely gay. "And oh, +Lassie, the joy of it, the downright childish fun of it! +Don't you see that I couldn't be alone through these +days; they are too grand to be selfish over. I had +to have some one to share my fun. We'll come here and +help every day after this; the pantries will be ready +soon, and you and I will do every bit of the putting +them in order. Screw up the little hooks for the cups, +you know, and arrange the shelves, and oh, won't we +have a good time?"</p> + +<p>Lassie's eyes danced. "I just love that kind of +work," she said, fully conscious of the pleasant return +to earth, "I can fit paper in drawers beautifully."</p> + +<p>"Which proves that after all women stay women in +spite of many modern encouragements to be men," Alva +said. "You know really I'm considered to be most +advanced, and people look upon me as quite intellectual; +but I'm fairly wild over thinking how we'll scrub the +pantries, and put in the china—and then there's a +fine linen-closet, too. We'll set that in order afterwards, +and put all the little piles straight on the shelves."</p> + +<p>By this time they had gone up the plank that bridged +over the present hiatus between ground and porch, and +entered the living-room, which was being papered in +red with a green dado and ceiling.</p> + +<p>"How pretty and bright!" Lassie exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"It's going to be furnished in the same red and +green, with little book-shelves all around and the dining +table in the middle," Alva explained. "Oh, I do love +this room. It's my ideal sitting-room. It has to be the +dining-room, too, but I don't mind that."</p> + +<p>"Won't the table have to be very small?"<span class="pagenum">[50]</span></p> + +<p>"Just big enough for two."</p> + +<p>"But when you have company?"</p> + +<p>"We shall never have any company."</p> + +<p>"I mean when you have friends with you here."</p> + +<p>"I shall never have any friends with me, dear."</p> + +<p>"Alva! Why—I can come—can't I?—Sometime?"</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head.</p> + +<p>"That's part of the story, Lassie, part of the story +that I am going to tell you in a few minutes now. But +be a little patient, dear; give me a few minutes more. +Come in here first; see—this was the dining-room, +but it has been changed into—I don't know what. +A sort of bedroom, I suppose one would call it. I've +had it done in blue, with little green vines and birds +and bees and butterflies painted around it. Birds and +bees and butterflies are always so lively and bright, so +busy and cheerful. All the pictures here are going to +be of animals, either out in the wild, free forest or else +in warm, sunshiny farmyards. I have a lovely print +of Wouverman's 'Im Stall' to hang in the big space. +You know the picture, don't you?—the shadowy +barn-room with one whole side open, and the hay +dripping from above, and the horses just ridden in, +and the chickens scratching, and some little children +playing in the corner by the well. It's such a sweet +<i>gemuthliche</i> picture—so full of fresh country air—I +felt that it was the picture of all others to hang in this +room. There will be a big sofa-bed at one side, and my +piano, and pots of blooming flowers. And you can't +think, little Lassie, of all that I look forward to accomplishing +in this room. I expect to learn to be a very +different woman, every atom and fibre of my being will<span class="pagenum">[51]</span> +be altered here. All of my faults will be atoned for—" +she stopped abruptly, and Lassie turned quickly with +an odd impression that her voice had broken in +tears.</p> + +<p>"Alva!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"It's nothing, dear, only that side of me that keeps +forgetting the lesson of the tree. Don't mind me,—I +am so happy that you must not mind anything nor +must I mind anything either; but—when I come into +this room and think—" her tone suddenly turned +dark, full of quivering emotion, and she put her hand +to her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Alva, tell me what you mean? I feel frightened,—I +must know what's back of it all now. Tell me. Tell +me!"</p> + +<p>"I'm going to tell you in just a minute, as soon as +I've shown you all over the house." She took her +handkerchief, pressed it to her eyes, made a great, +choking effort at self-control, and then managed to go +on speaking. "See," pushing open a door, "this is a +nice little dressing-room, isn't it? And then around +and through this narrow back hall comes the kitchen. +There is an up-stairs, but I've done nothing there +except make a room comfortable and pleasant for the +Japanese servant who will do the work, that is, all +that I don't do myself."</p> + +<p>"Won't you want but one servant?"</p> + +<p>"I think so. A man from outside will take the +extras, and really it's a very small house, dear. The +laundry will be sent out. Dear me, how I do enjoy +hearing that kind of speech from my own lips. 'The +laundry will be sent out!' That sounds so delightfully +commonplace, so sort of everyday and like other<span class="pagenum">[52]</span> +people. I can't express to you what the commonplaces, +the little monotonies of ordinary lives, mean +to me here. You'll divine later, perhaps. But fancy +a married life where nothing is too trivial to be +glorified! That is how things will be with us."</p> + +<p>"Are you so sure?" Lassie tried to smile and speak +archly. Tried very hard to do both, because an intangible +atmosphere of sorrow was beginning to press +heavily on her spirits.</p> + +<p>"Very sure,—really, quite confident. You must +not think that, because I sob suddenly as I did just +now, I am ever weak or ever doubt myself or any one +else. I never doubt or waver. It is only that no matter +how hard one tries, one can hardly rise completely out +of the thrall of one existence into the freedom of another +at only a week's notice."</p> + +<p>"Is that what you are trying to do?"</p> + +<p>"Dear, I'm not only trying to do it, but the greater +part of the time I do do it. It's only very seldom that +my soul faints and the tears come. I am really happy! +You are not going to be able to comprehend how happy +I am. Every one who wants anything in this world +always wants it in such a narrow, finite way,—no one +can understand joy too limitless to be finite. The +difficulty is that occasionally I get blind myself, or else +in mercy God sometimes veils the splendor for a few +minutes. When I faint or struggle, it is just that my +soul is absent; you must not mind when you see me +suffer, for the suffering has no meaning. It's just a sort +of discipline,—it doesn't count." She smiled with +wonderful brightness into Lassie's troubled face, and +then, pushing open the outer door,—"You don't +quite see how it is, but be patient with yourself,<span class="pagenum">[53]</span> +dearie; it will come. All things come to him who +waits."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I don't understand, not one bit," Lassie +cried, almost despairingly.</p> + +<p>They were in the yard now; Alva looked at her and +took her hand within her own. "Come," she said, +"we'll go down through the woods to a certain lovely, +bright spot where the view is big and wide, and there +I'll tell you all about it."</p> + +<p>"I so want to know!"</p> + +<p>"I know you do, dear, and I want to tell you, too. +I'm not purposely tormenting you, but there is no +one else to whom I can speak. And that human, sobbing +part of me needs companionship just as much +these days, as the merry, house-loving spirit, or the +beatifically blessed soul. Can't you see, dear, that with +all my affection for you, I dread telling you my story, +and the reason for that is that it will be too much for +you to comprehend at first, and that I know perfectly +well that it is going to shock and pain you." The last +words burst forth like a storm repressed.</p> + +<p>"Shock and pain me!" Lassie opened mouth and +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, of a certainty."</p> + +<p>They were in the woods, quite alone.</p> + +<p>Involuntarily Lassie drew a little away; a common, +cruel suspicion flashed through her head. "Alva, is +it—is it that you do not mean to marry the man?"</p> + +<p>Alva laughed then, not very loudly, but clearly and +sweetly. "No, Lassie, it isn't that. I am going to be +married in the regular way and, besides, I will tell you +in confidence that I fully believe that I have been married +to the same man hundreds of times before, and<span class="pagenum">[54]</span> +shall be married to him countless times again. Does +that help you?"</p> + +<p>"Alva!"</p> + +<p>"There! I told you that you wouldn't understand, +and you don't."</p> + +<p>"No, I certainly don't, when you talk like that."</p> + +<p>"It's natural that you shouldn't, dear; but at the +end of the week you will, perhaps. We'll hope so, +any way. Oh, Lassie, how much we are both to live +and learn in the next week."</p> + +<p>Lassie turned her eyes to the eyes of the other.</p> + +<p>"It's queer, Alva; you talk as if you were crazy, but +I know you're not crazy, and yet I'm worried."</p> + +<p>"You don't need to be worried,—"</p> + +<p>"I'll try not to be." She raised her sweet eyes to +her friend's face as she spoke, and her friend bent +and kissed her. "Don't keep me waiting much longer," +she pleaded.</p> + +<p>They were passing through the little, tree-grown way +which led out on the brow of the hill. All the wide, +radiant wonder of that October morning unrolled before +them there. For an instant Lassie stood entranced, +forgetting all else; and then:</p> + +<p>"Tell me now!" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Let us sit down here," Alva said, pointing to a +rough seat made out of a plank laid across two stumps. +They sat down side by side.</p> + +<p>"Alva, it seems as if I cannot wait another minute; +I must know it all now. Tell me who he is, first; is it +some one that I know?"</p> + +<p>Alva's eyes rested on the wide radiance beyond.</p> + +<p>"You know of him, dear," she replied quietly.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?"<span class="pagenum">[55]</span></p> + +<p>The woman laid her arm around the girl and +drew her close and kissed her gently. Then she whispered +two words in her ear.</p> + +<p>With a scream, Lassie started to her feet. "Oh—no!—no!—<i>no!</i>"</p> + +<p>Alva looked straight up at her where she stood there +above her and smiled, steadily.</p> + +<p>"No, no,—it can't be! I didn't hear right."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you heard quite right."</p> + +<p>The girl's hands shook violently; tears came fast +pouring down her face. "But, Alva, he is—he +can't—"</p> + +<p>Tears filled the other's eyes, too, at that, and stole +thickly out upon her cheeks. "I know, my dear child, +but didn't I tell you how to me—to us—this life is +only a small part of the whole?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but—but—oh, it's too horrible!" She +sank down on the seat again and burst out sobbing.</p> + +<p>"No, dear," Alva exclaimed, her voice suddenly +firm, "not horrible, just that highest summit of life of +which I spoke before—the point toward which I've +lived, the point from which I shall live ever afterwards,—my +point of infinite joy,—my all. For he is the +man I love—have always loved—shall always love. +Only, dear, don't you see?—he isn't a <i>man</i> as you +understand the word; the love isn't even <i>love</i> as you +understand love. It's all so different! So different!"</p> + +<p>A long, keenly thrilling silence followed, broken +only by the sound of the younger girl's repressed +weeping.</p> + +<p>It was one of those pauses during which men and +women forget that they are men and women, that the +world is the world, or that life is life. Every human<span class="pagenum">[56]</span> +consideration loses weight, and one is stunned into +heaven or oblivion, according to his or her preparation +for such an entry to either state.</p> + +<p>The two friends remained seated side by side, facing +the wonderful valley in all its rich beauty of varied +colorings; but neither saw valley or color, neither remembered +for a little what she was or where she was. +Alva, with her hands linked around her knees, was out +and away into another existence; Lassie, her eyes +deadened and darkened with a horror too acute for any +words to relieve, sat still beside her, and knew nothing +for the time being but a fearful throbbing in her temples—a +black cloud smothering her whole brain—and +tears.</p> + +<p>It was Lassie who broke the silence at last, trying +hard to speak evenly. "But, Alva, I never knew ... +when did you learn to love him ... why—" her +voice died again just there, and she buried her face on +the other's shoulder.</p> + +<p>Alva laid her hand upon the little hand that shook +under a fresh stress of emotion, and said gently, her +tone one of deepest pity: "Shall I tell you all about it? +Would you like to know the whole story?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, yes,—so much."</p> + +<p>"You'll try to be patient and give yourself time to +really see how things may be to one who is altogether +outside of your way of thinking, won't you, dear? +You won't pass judgment too quickly?"</p> + +<p>"I'll try. Indeed, I will, as well as I can—"</p> + +<p>Alva pressed the hand. "Dear little girl," she said, +very tenderly, "you see I look at even you with quite +different eyes from those with which the ordinary person +sees you. If you could only see things as I do,<span class="pagenum">[57]</span> +you'd see everything so much more clearly. How can +I put it all straight for you? When even my love for +you is not at all what any other gives you."</p> + +<p>Lassie lifted up her head. "How do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"There are two Lassies to me, dear,—the pretty, +sweet-looking girl, and the Lassie who loves me. Most +people confuse the two, and think them one and the +same; I don't. No matter what happened to you, the +Lassie whom I love could never alter—she is unchangeable. +She is not subject to change; she doesn't +belong to this world; she cannot die. And just as I +feel about you, I feel about everybody. What I can +see and touch in those I love is what I love least in +them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Alva!" it was like a little moan—the girl's +voice.</p> + +<p>"That is my earnest belief. Bodies and what they +suffer don't count. That has come to me bit by bit +under the pressure of these last years. But it has come +in its completest form in the end. I am entirely +satisfied as to the only truth in the universe being the +fact that only Truth is eternal. Please try to remember +all this, while you listen to my story; try not to forget +it. You will, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"I'll try, but it isn't clear to me."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't suppose so—" Alva sighed—"but do +your best, my dear;" she paused a moment, then drew +the hand that she held close between her own two, and +went on slowly; "I must tell you first of all that I +have never seen him but three times in my life. Just +think—only three times!"</p> + +<p>"Only three—" Lassie looked up in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Only three times. And hardly any one knows that<span class="pagenum">[58]</span> +I saw him even those times. No one knows to-day +that we love one another, or that we are to be married, +except the surgeons and nurses, who had to be told, of +course. It's a very great secret."</p> + +<p>"Tell me how it all began, Alva."</p> + +<p>"I don't know when I first heard his name. It +all began here, dear, five years ago. When I stopped +off for a few days to visit the Falls. I've always loved +this country, and from the time that I was born I've +always been here for a few days now and then. I +always had a queer feeling that something drew me +here. I have those queer feelings about things and +places and people, you know, and out there on the +bridge has always seemed to me a sort of pivot in my +life. Every time I go there, the clock seems to strike +some hour for me—" she stopped.</p> + +<p>Lassie opened and shut her free hand with a sensation +of being very uneasy; the suspicion that Alva was +not quite sane just lightly crossed her mind. It certainly +was not sane to talk as she did.</p> + +<p>"So I came here again, on my way home from New +York, just five years ago now. And he was here then, +staying at Ledge Park, and I saw him for the first time; +we met out there on the bridge;" she stopped for just a +second or so, then went steadily on. "I think I read +about him in the papers. I had learned to admire him +intensely—who could help it?—but of course I'd +never for one instant thought of loving him. He was +like a sort of a story-hero to me; he never seemed like +a man; I never thought of any woman's loving him. +He just seemed to be himself, all alone—always +alone. He had seemed quite above and apart from all +other men to me. He interested me; I wanted to learn<span class="pagenum">[59]</span> +all that I could about him and his work, and I did learn +a great deal, but I'd never dreamed of meeting him +face to face, of really speaking to him, of having his +eyes really looking at me; he seemed altogether beyond +and away from my existence. As if he lived on another +world. And then I met him that evening on the bridge, +in just the simplest sort of way. Oh, it was very wonderful."</p> + +<p>"Did you know him right off?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he looked just like his picture; but then I +knew him in another way, too. I can't describe it; +it was all very—very strange. It doesn't seem strange +to me now, but it would seem almost too strange to +you."</p> + +<p>"Won't you try to tell me?"</p> + +<p>"I will some day, dear, perhaps. I can't tell you +now, I couldn't explain it all to you; but, anyway, we +met and I looked at him and he looked at me—" she +pressed the hand within her own yet closer, adding +simply, "I believe that love—real love—comes like +that, first of all that one look, and then all the past +rushes in and makes the bridge to all the future. Oh, +Lassie," her voice sank to a whisper, "when I think +of that meeting and of all that it brought me, I am so +happy that I want to take the whole wide world into my +confidence, and beg every one not to play at love or to +take Love's name in vain; but to be patient, and wait, +and starve, or beg, or endure anything, just so as to +merit the joy which may perhaps be going to be. I +never had thought of what love might be; at least I +had never been conscious of such thinking. My life +all these years had been bound so straitly and narrowly +there at home. How could I think of anything that<span class="pagenum">[60]</span> +would take me from those duties! And yet I see now +that it was all preparation, all the getting ready. If I +had only known it, though,—if I had only known it +then! It would all have been so much easier."</p> + +<p>The whisper died away; she sat quite still looking +out over the hills. Lassie's eyes gazed anxiously upon +her; nothing in her own spirit tuned to this key; instead, +flashes of recollection kept lighting up the present with +forgotten paragraphs out of the newspaper accounts of +the accident. She shivered suddenly.</p> + +<p>Alva did not notice. After a while she went on again.</p> + +<p>"Some day you'll learn to love some one, and then +you'll know something of what I feel. I don't want +you to suffer enough to know all that I feel. But, +believe me, whatever one suffers, love is worth it. In +that first instant I learned—that first look showed +me—that it can mean all, everything, more even than +happiness itself; oh, yes, a great, great deal more than +happiness itself. In one way they're not synonymous at +all, love and happiness. I have been happy without love +all my life, and now I shall love without being what +the world calls 'happy'; but I <i>shall</i> be happy—happy +in my own way, just as I am happy now in something +that makes you tremble only to think of."</p> + +<p>She paused; her eyelids fell over her eyes and the +lashes quivered where they lay on her cheeks, but her +hand continued to hold Lassie's, warm and close. +There was another long pause. And then another +sigh.</p> + +<p>"So in that first hour—it was only one hour—I +learned the beginning of life's biggest lesson—what +life may be, what love may be, and also what for me +could never be. For just as soon as I really saw him,<span class="pagenum">[61]</span> +I saw why he had remained alone. It was perfectly +plain to me. It was that he didn't live for himself; he +lived to carry out his purpose. One reads of such people, +but I never had met any one who was unable to see +himself in his own life before. It was a tremendous +lesson to me. It was like opening a door and looking +suddenly out upon a new order of universe. Everything +whirled for the first minutes, and then I saw that +my own life had been sufficiently unselfish to have +made me capable of comprehending his. It rose like +a flood through my soul, that everything has a reason, +and that my blind, stupid, hopeless years there at +home had all been leading straight up to that minute. +It was such a revelation, and such a new light on all +things. I was born anew, myself; I have never been +the same woman since. Never, never!"</p> + +<p>Lassie's brows drew together; the revelation did not +appeal to her personal reason as reasonable.</p> + +<p>"We talked for quite a while—not about ourselves—we +understood each other too well to need do that. +It seems to me now that we were almost one then, but +I didn't know it. All I knew was that I could measure +a little of what he was, and that there was a bond +between us of absolute content in working out God's +will rather than our own. I believe now that that is +really the only true love or the only true basis for any +marriage, and that when that mutual bond is once +accepted, nothing can alter, not even an ocean rolling +between—not even ten oceans. He spoke of the Falls, +and he spoke of his own work. I listened and thanked +God that I knew what he meant, and comprehended +what it meant to me. At the end of the hour we parted, +and I came back to the hotel and started for home the<span class="pagenum">[62]</span> +morning after.... He went away, too, and it was +later—when we began to write letters—that our life +together, our beautiful ideal life together, began. You +can't realize its happiness any more than you can +measure all that my words really mean. I can't explain +myself any better, either. After a while it will +all come to you, I hope. I went on with the work at +home, and he continued his labors which allowed him +neither home nor family. Nobody knew and nobody +would have known, even if he or she thought that they +knew. The very best and loveliest things lie all around +the most of us, and the best and loveliest of all treasures +are within our own hearts—and yet very few +of us know anything about them. Perhaps better +that the world in general shouldn't understand the +joy of my kind of love, anyhow; it isn't time for +that yet."</p> + +<p>"How, Alva?"</p> + +<p>She smiled almost whimsically, "Dearest, as soon +as the whole world understands that sort of life, its +own mission will be fulfilled, and then there will be no +more of this particular world. You see!"</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"So then, dear, time went on and on, and I was +happy, very happy. And he was very happy, also. +There was something truly childlike in his happiness; +he had never expected love in his life, because he had +never thought of meeting any one who would be able to +adapt herself to his circumstances. We never met, +because it didn't seem best or wise. We just loved, +and I don't believe that any two people have ever been +happier together than we were, apart, for these five +years—these happy, happy five years."<span class="pagenum">[63]</span></p> + +<p>Lassie felt a deepening misery; the last horrible +part must be going to come now.</p> + +<p>Alva passed her hand over her eyes and drew a long +breath.</p> + +<p>"It's so difficult to be different from other people, +and then to bear their way of looking at things. It's +so hopeless to try to translate one's feeling into their +language all the time. How can I go on, when I know +just how it all looks to you. It's fearfully hard for me."</p> + +<p>"I won't say a word,"—the girl's cry was pitiful.</p> + +<p>Alva threw both arms quickly about her and held her +close. "Bless you, darling, I know it. But you'll +suffer and I know that, too; and I feel your suffering +more than you guess. I know just how it all seems to +you. There is that within me which shudders too, +sometimes, and would shrink and weep only for the +strong, divine power that fills me with something better +than I can describe, something big enough and high +enough to fight down the coward. You have that same +divinity within you, dear, and you can't tell when or +where it will be called out, but once it is called out, you +never will be weak in the face of this earth's woes."</p> + +<p>Lassie was weeping softly again.</p> + +<p>"One morning—you know when—I opened the +paper to read it to papa after breakfast, and I saw on +the first page, across the top in bright red letters, that +he had been killed."</p> + +<p>There was a little sharp cry—"But he wasn't?"—and +then a great sob.</p> + +<p>"No, dear, but that was the first report."</p> + +<p>"And you thought—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course I believed it. But, Lassie, try to +calm yourself—because it wasn't to me what you<span class="pagenum">[64]</span> +think. I was calm; I had learned so much, he had +taught me so much, during the five years, that I astonished +myself with my strength; really, I did. I went +about all that day just as usual, only thinking with a +white sort of numbness how long the rest of life would +seem; and then, in the evening, the paper said that he +was still alive. Then I telegraphed and the next day I +went to him. I knew that I must go to him and see +him once more, so I arranged things and went. I was +surprised all the journey at my own courage; it was +like a miracle, my power over myself. It was a long +journey, but I knew that I should see him again at the +end. I knew that he would not leave me without saying +good-bye, now that he was conscious that he was going. +I was sure of that. So confident can love and strength +be in love and strength.</p> + +<p>"I arrived—I went to the hospital—they had the +room darkened because—well, you can guess. I +went to where the bed stood and knelt down beside +him, and laid my hand on his bosom. I felt his heart +beating—ever so faintly, but still beating,—and I +heard his voice. Only think, I had not heard his voice +for five years! To you or to any one else it might have +all been frightful, because, of course, the reality was +frightful. The man, as you understand men, was +mangled and dying, and could not possibly be with me +except for a few brief days. But, oh, my dearest,—with +me it was so different; it was all so absolutely +different. The man that <i>I</i> loved was unhurt, and the +evil chance had only made us nearer and dearer forever. +I don't say that I was not trembling, and that I was +not almost unnerved by the shock; but I can say, too, +and say truly, that the Something Divine which had<span class="pagenum">[65]</span> +filled me from the first day, filled and upheld me and +made me know that all was good even then, even in +that dark hour and in that dark room, where he whom +I held dearest on earth was chained to pain beneath my +hand. The nurses were very kind. They left me there +beside him while he was conscious and unconscious +for some hours. They saw very quickly that it was +different with us from most people; and when I went +out two of the surgeons took me into a room alone +and told me the truth.</p> + +<p>"I think that then was the greatest moment of my +life—when I comprehended that one who was not +killed outright by such a shock might live even months +until—until—Well, if a man so injured has vitality +enough to live at all, he may—live—"</p> + +<p>"Don't go on, Alva, please,—I don't want to know +how long he may live."</p> + +<p>"No, dear, I won't go into that. Only you must +think that to me it was such unexpected heaven. +Instead of death, he was alive. Instead of separation +for this life, we were to have some days of absolute +companionship. It was something so much more than +I had ever thought of hoping. A life—even for a day—together! +Companionship! Not letters, but words. +I to be his nurse, his solace, to have him for my own. +I stayed awake all night thinking. I knew what being +swept suddenly away meant to him. I knew of his +life plans, and what made death hardest to him. It +came to me that I might ease that bitterness. That +his need could go forth through the medium of my love +and interest. That his work would pass on into other +hands through mine. That all the golden web of Fate +had been woven directly to this end."<span class="pagenum">[66]</span></p> + +<p>Lassie continued sobbing.</p> + +<p>"I saw what we could do. In the morning I went +to the surgeons, and they said that each day added a +week of possible life, and that although it would be +many days before anything could be done, after that, +he could be moved and wait for the end—with me. +I went to him then, and again I knelt there by the bed, +and this time I told him how I was going to spend the +weeks, and what he must look forward to. He was +unable to talk, but he looked at me and—like the +first time—we understood one another absolutely. +He accepted the happiness that was to be as gratefully +as I did myself. As I said before, it was so much more—so +much more—than we had ever expected! +He took up his burden of agony as cheerfully and +courageously as he had taken everything in life, and I +came away. There was no use in my remaining there, +as he would be either unconscious or—I could not +remain there; the surgeons forbade it.</p> + +<p>"Then I had to find a place quickly, a place where +no one would come or would see. A place where he and +I could share life and God, who is Life, without any +outsiders breaking in to stare and wonder."</p> + +<p>Her voice suddenly became broken and hurried. +"Of course I thought of Ledge, where we had first +met, and I wrote to Ronald at once. He found me that +dear little nest back there, and—" she stopped, for +Lassie had suddenly started to her feet. "What is it, +dear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't bear it at all. To me it is horrible—horrible! +Why, he can never stand up again—he—Oh, +I want to be alone. I must be alone. I'll—I'll +come back—in time—"<span class="pagenum">[67]</span></p> + +<p>She did not wait to finish; she gave one low, bitter +cry, and wrung her hands. Then she ran down the +steep, little path that led to Ledgeville, leaving her +friend on the hilltop, with the October sun pouring its +splendor all about her.<span class="pagenum">[68]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="h3">THAT DISPASSIONATE OBSERVER, MRS. RAY</p> + +<p>THERE never was the human tragedy, comedy, +or melodrama, yet, which did not have one or +more dispassionate observers. This is strictly true +because, even if a man goes off into the wilderness to +fight his fight out utterly alone, there are moments +when one part of his own spirit will dissever itself +from all the rest and, standing forth, tell him of his +progress or retrogression with a pitiless, unbiassed +truth. The wilderness is advisable for that very +reason, but no one makes a greater mistake than when +he or she goes to a small far-away village and pleasantly +terms it "the wilderness," supposing soul-solitude an +integral part thereof. It is very right, proper, and conventional +to view life from one's own standpoint, but +the real facts of the case are old and trite enough to +warrant me in repeating the statement that all doings +in this world have their dispassionate observer.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray was the natural observer for the town of +Ledge. The town was not quite aware that added to +her keen powers of observation she was also the Voice +of the community. People never expressed themselves +fully, without first knowing what she said. Public +opinion simmered all over the township, so to speak, +and then finally boiled over in Mrs. Ray.</p> + +<p>It will be quite impossible to impress upon the<span class="pagenum">[69]</span> +ordinary reader the importance of such Public Opinion, +unless a few paragraphs are devoted to the town of +Ledge and its history. If one fails to properly appreciate +the town of Ledge, the tale might just as +well have been located in North Ledge, South +Ledge, Ledgeville, Ledge Centre, or any of the other +Ledges.</p> + +<p>Therefore on behalf of the lovely little hamlet of +Ledge itself, I will state in as few words as possible +that it lies upon a hill overlooking one of the most +beautiful and picturesque scenes in all Northeastern +America; that it took its name and being from a great +and noble-hearted man, who, passing that way by +chance, half a century since, paused near its site to +sadly contemplate the denuded banks of the little river +winding its way amidst the débris and desolation left +by the lumber barons of the period. Time was when +the same banks had been smiling terraces covered thick +with primeval pines, but "civilization" had demanded +their downfall and they fell. Fell without warning, +and also without discretion. Fell forever, flinging the +riches of all the future aside for the plenty of one man's +day. Blackened stumps, great beds of unsightly chips, +waste which would never have been called waste in any +other land, ruthless destruction,—all this disfigured +the landscape that stretched before that visitor of fifty +years ago. His heart was heavy, for he was one who +loved everything good, and trees and beauty are two of +man's best gifts from above; but while he gazed over +what to him and many others was almost as much desecration +as desolation, he saw, forever flowing—however +choked—the little river below. Like the thread of +idealism which illuminates the most despairing situation,<span class="pagenum">[70]</span> +so flowed the silvery stream down through the scene +before him. Its bed was clogged with drift, its banks +covered with rotting rubbish, yet the promise of its +beauty remained; and then and there the traveller +formulated a plan for its redemption to the end that +unborn generations might revel in the realization of +that of which he alone seemed then conscious.</p> + +<p>The town of Ledge was a part of what resulted. +There had to be a town, and Ledge came into existence. +Where there is work to be done, come the workers, and +with them come towns. Ledge came and grew. To +the call of prosperity many other Ledges gathered a +little later; but they never enjoyed the dignity of the +one and original. The first Ledge was tenacious of +its priority. It held to its privileges as rigidly as any +medieval knight held to his. Castled upon the hill +above, it simulated power in more ways than one. For +many years all the others had to go to Ledge for their +mail. Ledge also owned the sheriff, the blacksmith, +and the lawyer, and kept a monopoly on the summer +excursionist; the express office was its natural perquisite; +a bend of the canal took it in, and when the +canal went the railroad came to console the losers. +Mr. Ledge's plans, which had turned his private estate +into a public park for the gently disposed, also held +Ledge in high honor. To visit Ledge Park from any of +the other Ledges was rendered well-nigh impossible. +The little town stood like a sentinel at the end of the +Long Bridge, and at the top of the First Fall. Every +picnicker had to go through it, had to check such +articles as could not conveniently be carried all day, in +its hotel; had to get whatever he might feel disposed +to drink in the same place. During the summer,<span class="pagenum">[71]</span> +visitors were so plenteous that it became the fashion +in Ledge to despise them, and that right heartily, +too. The people who brought the town most of +its means of livelihood received much that species +of sentiment with which an irritating husband and +father is frequently viewed. It was the fashion in +Ledge to despise city people and their ways in all +things; even their coming to see the Falls was referred +to as special proof of their singularly feeble minds, +while the way in which the visitors climbed and walked +was the favorite topic of mirthful criticism, all summer +long. Criticism is a strange habit. It is contagious, +thrives in any soil or no soil at all, and is far more +destructive to him or her who gives it birth than it can +possibly be to any other person. Not that it really is +destructive, but that the weight of criticism rarely falls +where it is supposed to be most needed.</p> + +<p>The summer visitors evoked so much comment between +May and November that a great longing to have +something to talk about between November and May +followed. It therefore became the fashion in Ledge to +talk of everything and everybody, and as the summer +visitors were rated low, the rest of the world was pretty +freely given over to the same cataloguing. It was +usual to rate Ledgeville and all the other Ledges particularly +low, and this opinion held firm, until a biting +edge was given it by a second railroad which came +down the valley's bottom to the unspeakable wrath of +the hills on either side and of Ledge in special. It +took several years to assimilate the second railroad, and +resume the even tenor of life. But the adjustment was +finally made, and at the date of this story Ledge +was a wee country idyll set like a pearl amidst the<span class="pagenum">[72]</span> +beautiful environment of that fairest of country counties. +He who was responsible for town and environment +lived on his own estate near by, and came in for +his share of consideration from the tongues of his +namesake. The great philanthropist was busily engaged +in his battle to preserve intact, for the good of +the many to come, that matchless picture with its open +Bible of Nature's Own History. Of the picture and its +practical value, Ledge had its own opinion. It had its +own opinion of the dam, too. It had its own opinion +of Alva. And of Lassie. And of Ingram. And all +these opinions flowed freely forth through the medium +of Mrs. Ray. As that lady herself put it: "Whether +I'm picking chickens or digging fence-posts, or carting +the United States mail down to the train in the wheelbarrow +that I had to buy and the United States Government +won't pay for,—I never am idle; I'm always +taking in something."</p> + +<p>And it was quite true. Whatever Mrs. Ray was +working at, her brain was never idle; it was always +absorbing something. It was not uncommon to see a +neighbor walking with her while she ploughed, conversation +going briskly on meanwhile. She swept the +church with company, and she almost never sat alone +between mail times. It was a full, busy life, and an +interesting one. It was full of importance and responsibility, +too. Mrs. Ray liked to be responsible and was +naturally important. Her opinions were in the main +correct, but sometimes she did draw wrong conclusions. +For instance, when she looked down the road the morning +after Lassie's arrival, and saw the two friends +departing over the Long Bridge.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," she said to whoever was near by at the<span class="pagenum">[73]</span> +minute, "I smell trouble for that oldest one if she's +planning to keep that pretty girl here long. That man +is going to fall in love with that pretty girl. He never +has cared much for her, anyway. He don't even seem to +like to go over to their house with her; she goes alone +mostly. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>The somebody sitting near by at the minute was +Mrs. Dunstall. And Pinkie, of course. They had +dropped in to see if they had any mail, and had found +Mrs. Ray cutting the hair of the three youngest children +left her, first by her predecessor and then by Mr. Ray +himself.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," she had said cordially; "the second +train isn't in yet, and it's got to come in and go out and +let the mail-train come in, even if the mail ain't late, +on account of the wreck."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is there a wreck?" Mrs. Dunstall asked +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Forty-four run into a open switch up at +Cornell. If the switch is open, I never see why the +train don't just run on out the other end and keep right +along; but all the accidents is as often open switches +as anything, so I guess there's a reason. At any rate, +the wrecking-train's gone up and the second mail's +going to be late. Tip your head a little, Billy. Yes, +indeed."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if we'd better wait," said Mrs. Dunstall, +unwrapping her shawl somewhat and taking a chair. +"What do you say, Pinkie?"</p> + +<p>Pinkie was already seated. She weighed two hundred +pounds and never stood up when she could help +it. "I say 'Wait,'" said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dunstall thereupon sat down, too, and after<span class="pagenum">[74]</span> +ten minutes of a most solemn silence Mrs. Ray finished +her task and dismissed the children. She faced her +callers, then, folding her little gray shoulder-wrap +tightly across her bosom as she did so, and tucking the +ends in close beneath her armpits. The little gray +shawl was one of the first signs of winter in Ledge; +Mrs. Ray always donned it at the beginning of October, +and never took it off before the last day of May.</p> + +<p>"Well!" she said now; "anything new come up?"</p> + +<p>"Millicent come on the same train with that girl," +Mrs. Dunstall began at once. "I wasn't really expecting +any mail this morning, but I thought I might as +well come down about now and tell you how Millicent +come on the train with her. You know who I mean, of +course?"</p> + +<p>"She knows," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"I s'posed you would. And so Millicent come on +the same train with her. Seems too curious of Millicent +coming on the same train with her, when Millicent +hasn't been on a train but twice in her life before, and +then to think that she would come back with that girl. +Things do fall out queer in this world. She sit right +in the seat behind her, too. That was awful curious, +I think."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray gave the ends of her shawl a fresh tuck, +and drew in some extra breath.</p> + +<p>"You never can tell," she began; "things do come +about mighty strange in this world. Yes, indeed. It's +the unexpected that has happened so much that it's +got to be a proverb in the end. I always feel when a +thing has been coming about till it gets to be proverb, +it's no use me disputing it. Dig around in smoking +ashes long enough, and I've never failed to find some<span class="pagenum">[75]</span> +sparks yet. And what you just said is all true as true +can be. It's the unexpected as always happens. Look +at me, for instance. Look at how the post-office fell +out of a clear sky on me, and Mr. Ray much the same, +too. I never had any idea of either of 'em beforehand, +and now here I am stamping letters morning and night +to keep up the payments on his tombstone. Things do +work in circles so in this world. I always say if I hadn't +been postmistress no one would have expected to see +my husband have a fringed cloth hang on a pillar over +his dead body, and if I hadn't been postmistress I +never could have paid for such a thing. But where +there's a will there's a way, which is another proverb +as I've never found go wrong, unless your way is to +stay in bed while you're willing."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you never could have put anything plain +on Mr. Ray—not in your circumstances, and him +passing the plate every Sunday and you the sexton +yourself." Mrs. Dunstall looked almost shocked at +the mere fancy.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't I! Well, I guess I could if I'd had my +own way. But I wasn't allowed my own way. Nobody +is. That's what holds us back in this world; it's +the being expected to live up to what we've got; and in +this country, where the garden is open to the public, +most of us has to live up to a good deal more'n we've +got. If America ever takes to walls, it'll show it's going +to begin to economize. It'll mean we're giving up +tulips and going in for potatoes. And you'll see, Mrs. +Dunstall, that just as soon as we really have to economize +we'll begin to build walls. There's something +about economy as likes walls around the house—high +ones."<span class="pagenum">[76]</span></p> + +<p>"You was raised with walls, wasn't you?" said +Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>"I should think I was. I'm English-born—I am."</p> + +<p>"How old was you when you come to this country, +Mrs. Ray?"</p> + +<p>"I've lived here thirty-eight years; that's how old I +was."</p> + +<p>"You wasn't here before Mr. Ledge?"</p> + +<p>"No, I wasn't, nor before the Falls, neither."</p> + +<p>"Why, the Falls was here before Mr. Ledge," said +Mrs. Dunstall, enlarging her eyes. "Oh, I see, you're +making a joke, Mrs. Ray."</p> + +<p>"I do occasionally make a joke," said Mrs. Ray, +giving her shawl another tuck.</p> + +<p>"Well, to go back to the girl," said Mrs. Dunstall, +"she sit right behind Millicent too, and what makes it +all the stranger, is, she asked Millicent the name of the +next station. Millicent told her it was going to be +Ledge, and asked her if she was for Ledge, because if +she was for East Ledge she ought to stay on one station +more. You know, Mrs. Ray, how folks are always getting +off here for East Ledge, and having to stay all +night or hire a buggy to drive over—two shillings +either way; and Millicent asked her, too, if she was +for Ledge's Crossing, because if she was for the Crossing +the train don't stop there, and Millicent always was +kind-hearted and wanted her to know it right off. You +know how Millicent is, Pinkie; the last time she rode on +a train she threw the two bags off to the old lady who +forgot them, and they weren't the old lady's bags; they +were the conductor's, and he had to run the train way +back for them; he did feel so vexed about them, +Millicent said."<span class="pagenum">[77]</span></p> + +<p>"So vexed," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"And so then Millicent asked her if maybe she was +for Ledgeville, because if she was for Ledgeville she +was on the wrong train, and had ought to have took the +Pennsylvania, unless she telegraphed from Ledge +Centre for the omnibus to come up, which nobody ever +knows to do; and then it come into Millicent's head +as maybe she was going to visit Mr. Ledge, in which +case goodness knows what she would do, for although +he gets his mail at Ledge, he gets his company at Castile, +and here was that poor child five miles of bridge and +walk out of her way, and Millicent's heart just bleeding +for her, she looked so tired. But she said she was for +Ledge."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I could have told you she was for Ledge," +said Mrs. Ray; "there was two letters for her here. +When I have letters for people without having the +people for the letters, it always means one or two things,—either +the people are coming or the letters are +addressed wrong. I learned that long ago. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Millicent says she liked her looks from the first," +pursued Mrs. Dunstall, "only her hat did amuse her. +I must say the hats folks from town wear is about the +most amusing things we ever see here. One year they +pin 'em to their fronts and next year to their backs, and +Millicent says this one was on hindside before with a +feather duster upside down on top. She never saw anything +like it; but she said the girl was so innocent of +what a sight she was that she wouldn't have let her see +her laughing behind her back for anything. What do +you think of city people anyhow, Mrs. Ray?"</p> + +<p>"City people are always mooney," responded Mrs. +Ray; "such mooney ideas as come into their heads in<span class="pagenum">[78]</span> +the country always. Seems like they save all their +mooney ideas for the country. Yes, indeed. They take +off their hats and their shoes and carry stones around in +their handkerchiefs; and when I see 'em slipping and +scrambling up and down that steep bank all the hot +summer long, and taking that walk to the Lower Falls +that's enough to kill any Christian with brains, I most +humbly thank our merciful Father in heaven that I've +stayed in the country and kept my good senses. Yes, +indeed. And then what they lug back to town with +them! That's what uses me all up! Roots and stones! +Why, I saw some one bring a root from the Lower Falls +last year, yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"That walk to the Lower Falls is terrible," said Mrs. +Dunstall, meditatively. "I took it once,—and you, +too,—didn't you, Pinkie?"</p> + +<p>"Twice," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"I took it once, too," said Mrs. Ray, who was never +loath to discuss that famous promenade. "Mr. Ray +and me took it together. It was when we first met. He +took me, and we walked to the Lower Falls. It was a +awful walk; I never see a worse one, myself. They say +it isn't so bad now. Of course, the time I went with +Mr. Ray was while he was still alive. It was harder +then. He asked me to marry him coming back. Oh, +I'll never forget that awful walk!"</p> + +<p>"It's bad enough yet," said Mrs. Dunstall. "Mr. +Ledge has done all he could to build things to catch +hold of where you'd go head over heels to heaven if he +hadn't, but it's a awful walk still. And then the steps! +Why, Nathan and Lizzie was there last summer, and +Lizzie says all the way down she was thinking how she +was ever going to be able to get back, and all the way<span class="pagenum">[79]</span> +back she was thinking just the same thing. Going, you +go down steps till it seems like there never would come +the bottom, and coming back you come up steps till +you're ready to move to Ledgeville and live on the +bottoms for life. You know how that is, Pinkie?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't do any good to move to Ledgeville to +get rid of the Lower Falls," said Mrs. Ray, "because +the dam is going to do away with the Lower Falls and +drown Ledgeville entirely. That's the next little surprise +the city folks will be giving us."</p> + +<p>"I shall like to stand on the bridge the day they let +the water in over the dam the first time," said Mrs. +Dunstall. "It'll be a great sight to see the valley turn +into a lake, and South Ledge and Ledgeville go under."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't look forward to it too much if I was you," +said Mrs. Ray; "it's going to take three or four years +to dig that dam, they tell me. You can't lay out a lake +and break up three sets of falls in a minute."</p> + +<p>"They haven't got to do something to all the Falls," +said Mrs. Dunstall. "Josiah Bates was holding stakes +for one of the surveyors yesterday, and he heard him +say as the Lower Falls wouldn't need a thing, for it was +a mill-race already."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a blessing if there's one thing ready to +their hands," said Mrs. Ray, "for I must say the way +the State has took hold of us, since Mr. Ledge set out to +give it something for nothing, is a caution. If he'd +offered to sell the Falls at cost price, we'd of had a +petition and our taxes increased and been marked +'keep off the grass,' in all directions; but just because +he offered to give it to 'em all cleared up and in order, +they must tear around and build a dam and drown<span class="pagenum">[80]</span> +five villages and go cutting up monkey-shines generally. +Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"They do say that the dam will keep the Falls, +instead of spoiling them," said Mrs. Dunstall; "they +say the Falls is stratifying backward, and is most +through being falls, anyway, and if the dam is built, +we'll all have that to look at always."</p> + +<p>"It'll be all one to me," said Mrs. Ray; "I never get +time to look at nothing, anyway, unless it's folks waiting +for their mail, and goodness knows they've long ceased +to interest me."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dunstall looked a bit uncertain as to how to +receive this outburst of confidence. "It does you good +to take a little rest," she said at last; "you work too +hard for a woman of your time of life, Mrs. Ray."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd like to know how I can help it, with my +farm and my chickens and my grocery business, not +to speak of the boarders and the children and the post-office. +When one's a mother and a farmer and a sexton +and an employee under bond to the United States +Government one has to keep on the jump."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dunstall rearranged the set of her lips slightly. +"The mail's very late, ain't it?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Late! I should think it was late. I guess that +open switch has settled Forty-four for to-day. But +that train's always late. It isn't in the block yet, and +the mail-train follows it."</p> + +<p>"If it don't come soon, I can't wait," said Mrs. +Dunstall; "this is one of my awful days, and speaking +of awful days, what do you think of the doings over at +the old Whittaker house, Mrs. Ray?"</p> + +<p>"I've heard she's wrecking it completely."</p> + +<p>"Josiah Bates' been doing some carting there. He<span class="pagenum">[81]</span> +says it's enough to make old Grandma Whittaker +shiver in her grave. He says they've turned the house +just about inside out. That girl must be crazy."</p> + +<p>"She is crazy," said Mrs. Ray with decision; "she's +in love."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Mrs. Dunstall, "with him, you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. But she's crazy two ways, I think, to +go bringing that pretty girl here, and she so thin and +white herself. You can't tell me that that man doesn't +know a pretty girl when he sees her, even if he ain't +seen her yet—which he hasn't, for he didn't see 'em +this morning. I know that, for I was watching."</p> + +<p>"That's the train now, isn't it?" said Mrs. Dunstall, +listening.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray pricked up her ears. "Yes, that's the +train, rushing along and sprinkling soot over everything. +Picking hops used to be such nice clean work, +but now they're all over soot."</p> + +<p>"The canal was better, I think," said Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray made no answer; she was absorbed in +looking out of the window.</p> + +<p>"It was cleaner, anyhow," Mrs. Dunstall continued; +"but they do say the men swore most awful locking +boats through in the night. I never lived on the canal, +myself, but you did, Pinkie; did they swear much or +not?"</p> + +<p>"They swore," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Ray, now facing about and making +certain active preparations for the reception of the +mail, "it must be nice to spend your days ways +that lets you lay awake nights listening to anything +swear. I've never had time nor money to lay awake +nights. I leave that for those who can, but I can't.<span class="pagenum">[82]</span> +Walking to the Lower Falls and laying awake nights is +pleasant, I've no doubt, but I need my days other ways. +Summer folks is always coming in here and saying, +'Oh, have you seen the gorge this morning, Mrs. Ray,' +and me like enough out ploughing in the opposite +direction since sun up. I haven't got any time to lay +awake or to look at views. If the weeds grew up all +around my fence-posts while I was hanging over the +bridge looking at the gorge, I guess you'd hear of it, +and since I've taken to raising chickens, there's hen-houses +to spray and me busier than ever. If I was a +hen, my day's work would be over when I'd laid my egg +and I could run out with a free mind and look at the +gorge, but as it stands now, I ain't got time to look at +nothing,"—in testimony whereof she disappeared +into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you who's got time," said Mrs. Dunstall +as soon as she reappeared; "it's those Lathbuns down at +Nellie's. How long are they going to stay around here, +do you suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know; I don't know anything about them. +They don't get any mail, so I've no way of knowing a +thing. My own opinion is that if I was Nellie I'd keep +a sharp eye on my shawls, for folks who come walking +along without baggage, can go walking off without +baggage, too. Those are her shawls they're wearing, +you know; they haven't got so much as a jacket +between them of their own."</p> + +<p>"Nellie says they're very nice people," said Mrs. +Dunstall; "and the girl has got a love affair. She +don't mind their wearing her shawls."</p> + +<p>"Why don't he write her, then," said Mrs. Ray; +"that's the time even the poorest letter-writer writes<span class="pagenum">[83]</span> +letters. Mr. Ray wrote me the first Thursday after he +was in love. I've got the letter yet."</p> + +<p>"What did he write you for, when you was keeping +house for him, anyway?" asked Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>"He was gone to Ledge Centre for the license."</p> + +<p>"I never see why you married him," said Mrs. +Dunstall; "he paid you for keeping house for him before +that, didn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he had his mind set on marrying some one, +and I thought I'd better marry him than any one else. +And I was fond of the children, and I didn't know +nothing about the mortgages. I always say we was +real fashionable. I didn't know nothing about +the mortgages, and he thought I had some money +in the bank. Well, it was an even thing when +it all came out. I guess marriage generally is. Everything +else, too."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why the mail don't come, if it's in," said +Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray went to the window and looked out.</p> + +<p>"It'll come soon now," she declared, hopefully.</p> + +<p>"But I can't wait any longer," said Mrs. Dunstall, +rising, "I wasn't expecting anything, anyway. Come, +Pinkie."</p> + +<p>They both rose and started to go out together.</p> + +<p>But just at the door they met one of the surveyors.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that reminds me why I come," said Mrs. +Dunstall, stopping; "young man, do you know Sallie +Busby?"</p> + +<p>The young surveyor looked startled.</p> + +<p>"Chestnuts in a blue and white sunbonnet, mainly?" +said Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>"I don't recollect."<span class="pagenum">[84]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, you might not have noticed, or she might +not have had it on, but either way she's been most +amused watching your young men pegging those little +flags all through her meadow, but she says that when +you got through last night you forgot seven, and she +saw 'em when she went out to pick the two trees up +the cow-path this morning, and run down and got 'em, +and has 'em all laid by for you whenever you want to +send for 'em."</p> + +<p>The young man stood speechless.</p> + +<p>Finally he said: "But they were meant to be left +there."</p> + +<p>"Were—were they?" said Mrs. Dunstall, in great +surprise; "well, you ought to have told her so then. +She saw you pull some up, so she thought you meant to +pull them all up. Too bad! Now you'll have to get +your machine and go peeking all over her land again, +won't you?"</p> + +<p>"We will if she's pulled up the flags, certainly."</p> + +<p>"Well, she's pulled up the flags. If Sallie set out to +pull them up, they'd up, you can count on that! +How's the dam coming on, anyway?"</p> + +<p>The young man laughed. "Why, there's no question +of the dam yet. You all seem to think that we're here +to build it. We have to make a report to the commission +first, and the commission will lay the report before the +legislature. That's how it is."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray folded her arms and joined in suddenly, +"So—that's how it is, is it? Well, I don't wonder it's +difficult to run a post-office, when anything as plain as +a dam has to be fussed over like that. By the way, +you're one of the surveyors and you ought to know,—is +it true that if they do build the dam, it may get a<span class="pagenum">[85]</span> +little too full and run over into our valley or burst altogether +and drown Rochester? I'm interested to +know."</p> + +<p>"That's what we want to know, too," said Ingram's +assistant; "that's what we're surveying for."</p> + +<p>"How long will it take you to tell? I've got a friend—maybe +you know him, Sammy Adams?—and he +owns most of the valley back here. He's the worrying +kind, and he's worried. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't make so much difference about Rochester," +said Mrs. Dunstall; "it's a deal easier to go for +our shopping to Buffalo from here; but wouldn't it be +awful for Sammy Adams! Why, his house is right in +the valley."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Ray, "and as a general thing +Sammy's right in his house. It's bad enough now, with +the freshets scooping sand all over the farm every other +spring, but if the dam goes and scoops Sammy Adams, +the legislature'll have something else to settle besides +the Capitol at Albany. Sammy Adams looks meek, but +he'd never take being drowned quietly; he's got too +much spirit for that. Yes, indeed!"</p> + +<p>"We're going to do away with the freshets, Mrs. +Ray," the young man said; "the dam—if it comes—will +be the biggest blessing that ever came this way, let +me tell you. In the summer you'll have a beautiful +lake to sail on, and no end of excursions."</p> + +<p>"Why, I thought they were going to store up the +water in spring, and draw it off in the summer," said +Mrs. Dunstall. "A man told my husband that that +was what they wanted the dam for,—to save the high +water in the spring so as to use it in the summer. Wasn't +that what Ebenezer said, Pinkie?"<span class="pagenum">[86]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, it was," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"How do you explain that?" asked Mrs. Ray, turning +an inquisitorial eye sternly on the surveyor. "Where's +your beautiful lake going to be by July? Marsh and +mosquitoes, that's what we'll have left. Don't tell me; +I've seen too many kind thoughts about making folks +happy end that way, and I've seen one or two reservoirs, +too. The dam'll drown Sammy Adams, +that's what it'll do, and Ledge'll be left high and dry +with a lot of dead fish lying all over the fields. I know!"</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll see!" said the young man, laughing.</p> + +<p>"But I thought you was all for the dam, Mrs. Ray," +said Mrs. Dunstall, a little surprised. "Whatever +has changed you so?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray shut her mouth tightly and then opened it +with a snap. "I've been thinking," she said abruptly; +"and I don't mind changing my opinion when I must. +Any one who wants to hold a position under the United +States Government has got to have brains and use 'em +freely in changing their opinion."</p> + +<p>"But you said—" began Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>"What if I did? Like enough I'll say it again. I +will, if I feel like it. Yes, indeed. 'He moves in a +mysterious way,' you know, and I'm one of His ways, +and I've got a right to keep my own counsel about my +own work. But—speaking of work—the mail-train +was in before you come up. I wonder what's become +of the bag!" She went to the window and looked +down towards the station. "I do have such trouble +to get hold of that bag. That's one of the hardest +things about keeping a post-office, is the getting hold of +the bag. They don't have any sort of understanding +of what a United States Government position means,<span class="pagenum">[87]</span> +down at our station; they kick the mail-bag around +like it was a crate of hens. Once they asked me if they +couldn't have the key at the station, and open the +mail because there's always more inhabitants in the +station than in the post-office. They seemed to think +that was a glory to the station, and a reflection on me. +But I don't want to have men sitting around here. I +won't have it. The only man who has any legal right +to sit around me is in heaven, and just because I'm the +postmistress is no reason why I should take chances. +If you don't want men sitting around, you can easily +keep 'em from doing it by having no chairs for them +to sit on. I never have."</p> + +<p>"Don't you want me to go down and get the mail?" +suggested the young surveyor, somewhat uneasily.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray turned a severe eye his way. "Have +you go down and get the mail! Well, young man, +I guess you don't know that it's a penitentiary +offence to lay hands on a mail-sack, unauthorized by +the United States Government! Yes, indeed. It is, +though, and I've had such hard work getting it into +people's heads that it is, that I wouldn't authorize no +one. <i>No one!</i> Why, when we first was a post-office, +I had the most awful time. Everybody coming this +way brought the bag with 'em. It's a penitentiary +offence to touch the bag, and here Sammy Adams forgot +he had it in his buggy one night, and drove home +with it. It was when Mrs. Allen's cousin Eliza was +dying, and she was so anxious, and no mail-bag at all +that night. I tell you I took a firm stand after that; I +made the rule and made it for keeps, that no matter if +there wasn't but one postal, and all the men in the +station had felt the bag to see that there wasn't, the<span class="pagenum">[88]</span> +bag must come up to me just the same. You'll find, +young man, that if you hold a United States Government +position, you'll be expected to uphold the United +States Government, and if you're building the dam and +employ the men around here, you'll find that to impress +them you must keep a bold front. That's why +I have my arms folded most of the time."</p> + +<p>The young surveyor listened with reverent attention.</p> + +<p>"Whose business is it to bring the bag, anyway?" +asked Mrs. Dunstall. "I can't wait much longer."</p> + +<p>"It isn't anybody's business,—that's what's the +trouble. The United States Government don't provide +nothing but penalties for touching the mail-bag. That's +another hard thing about holding a government position +when your hands are as full as mine. At first I couldn't +get the mail-bag respected, in fact they used it to keep +the door to the station open windy days; and then, +when I got it respected by explaining what we was liable +to if we didn't respect it, I couldn't get no one to touch +it any more. I had to wheel it up and down in the +baby-carriage for a while, and then I looked up the +law and found I could delegate my authority; so since +then Mr. Hopkins has delegated for me except when he +goes to Ledge Lake, and when he does that I take it in +a wheelbarrow. I give the baby-carriage to Lucy. +She had that baby, you know. Well, of course a baby +needs a carriage, so I give her ours."</p> + +<p>"A baby's lots of trouble," said Mrs. Dunstall, +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but we're here for trouble," said Mrs. Ray, +cheerfully. "I've got the post-office, Lucy's got the +baby, and poor Clay Wright Benton's got his mother +and the parrot. Everybody's got something!"<span class="pagenum">[89]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, I can't wait any longer," said Mrs. Dunstall; +"good-bye. Come, Pinkie."</p> + +<p>They went out.</p> + +<p>"Who is Pinkie?" the young man asked, when he +was alone with Mrs. Ray. "I d'n know," said Mrs. +Ray, "she don't, either. They adopted her when she +weighed six pounds and named her Pinkie, and that's +what come of it."</p> + +<p>"I see." Just then the mail-bag was brought in.<span class="pagenum">[90]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="h3">WHEN DIFFERENCES LEAD TO WHAT IS EVER THE SAME</p> + +<p>Lassie fled down the path. Not even that +primeval river which once rushed wildly across +the old Devonian rocks just here was more thoughtless +as to whither it was going. All that she +was conscious of in that instant was irresistible +revolt against the horror of what she had just +heard, and which bred in her a sudden and utter +rebellion. A vivid imagination will have already +pictured the possible effect of Alva's story upon +her friend, and that vast majority whose imaginations +are not vivid will be happy to be spared +such details. It is sufficient to say that tears, pain, +groans, and a coffin suspended, like Damocles' sword, +above all the rest, was Lassie's background to her +friend's romance; and the picture thus held in her +mind was so benumbing to her other senses that as she +ran she tripped, stumbled, almost fell, down the hill, +so blind and careless of all else had she become. The +restraint of Alva's presence was now removed; nothing +stood between the young girl and her sensation of +appalling wretchedness. As she ran she shook, she +shuddered; the path was steep, and her knees +seemed to crumble beneath her; twice she almost +went headlong, and at the minute she felt that a<span class="pagenum">[91]</span> +broken neck was but a trifle in comparison to +coming face to face with anything like what she had +just been told. "Of course he was a great man," she +gasped half aloud; "but he'll never be able to even +feed himself again—it said so in the paper. Why, at +first it said his back was broken. Oh, oh, if Alva can +be so crazy as that, who is sane, and what can one +believe? Oh, dear—oh, dear—oh, dear! And she +calls it love, too!"</p> + +<p>The village of Ledgeville lay below, and a few more +minutes of precipitous flight brought Lassie in sight +of its houses. Still a few more minutes, and she was in +the middle of the village—a very small village, consisting +of two streets composing the usual American +town cross, and half a dozen stores. Every one whom +she met knew just who she was (for had she not arrived +upon the evening previous?), and they all regarded her +with earnest scrutiny. The inhabitants of Ledgeville +themselves were never in the habit of coming down from +the Long Bridge with tear-stained faces, heaving bosoms +and a catch in their breath, but that Lassie did so, +caused them no surprise. Was she not of that unaccountable +multitude called "city folks?"</p> + +<p>Lassie herself neither thought nor cared how she +appeared to the ruminative gaze of Ledgeville at first, +but as soon as she did notice the attention which she +was attracting, she wanted to get away from it as quickly +as possible, eyes being quite unbearable in her present +distress. She stopped and asked a kindly looking old +man where the bridge—the lower bridge—might +be, knowing that it would take her to solitude again. +The kindly old man pointed to where the bridge could +be seen, a block or so beyond, and she thanked him and<span class="pagenum">[92]</span> +hurried on. It was a wooden bridge, very long; and the +river here glided in wonderful contrast to that other +aspect of itself which plunged so furiously from cataract +to cataract, a quarter of a mile further down the +course. How curious to think that all smooth-flowing +rivers have it in them to foam and rage and gnaw and +rend away the backbone of the globe itself, if driven in +among narrow and hard environment. Is there ever +any simile to those conditions in human lives, I wonder! +And then to consider on the other hand that there is +no volume of watery menace which, if spread between +banks of green with space to flow untrammeled, will +not become the greatest and most beneficial of all the +helpers of need and seed! That is also a simile—one +more cheerful and happy than the former, praise be to +God.</p> + +<p>The river by Ledgeville is one of those flowing +smoothly and broadly between banks of green. So +smoothly and sweetly does it flow just there that it +might well have brought some quieting mood, some +gracious, even current of gently rippling peace, into +poor Lassie's throbbing heart, had she but been able to +receive any comfort at that moment. But meditation was +as far from her at this juncture as her mental attitude +was from Alva's, and more than that cannot be said +for either proposition.</p> + +<p>So the river carried its lesson unread, while the girlish +figure traversed the bridge as quickly as it had +flown through the town, and, hurriedly turning at +the forking of the road beyond, started up the +hill. She knew that that way must lead to Ledge, +and eventually her own little hotel bedroom, that +longed for haven where she would be able to sit down<span class="pagenum">[93]</span> +quietly, away from the sunlight and omnipresent +people, away from everything and everybody. Oh, +but it was freshly awful to think of Alva, her beautiful +Alva, and of what Alva was going to do! Marry that +man! Why, he would never even sit up again; he could +hardly see, the paper had said—the newspapers had +said—everybody had said.</p> + +<p>She stopped suddenly and stood perfectly still. A +choking pain gripped her in the throat and side. Her +spiritual torment had suddenly yielded to her physical +lack of breath.</p> + +<p>Beyond a doubt there is nothing that will curb any +sentiment of any description so quickly as walking up +hill. Without in the slightest degree intending to be +flippant, I must say that in all my experience, personal +and observed, I have never yet felt or seen the emotion +which does not have to give way somewhat under that +particular form of exercise. In Lassie's case she found +herself to be so suddenly and completely exhausted +that she could hardly stand. Her knees, which had +seemed on the verge of giving out as she hurried down +the opposite bank, now really did fail her and, looking +despairingly about and feeling tears to be again perilously +near, she turned off of the road into the woods +that stretched down the bank and, treading rapidly +over soft turf and softer moss, came in a minute to a +solitude sufficiently removed to allow of her sinking +upon the ground and there giving out completely.</p> + +<p>Oh, how she cried then! Cried in the unrestrained, +childish way that gasps for breath, and chokes and then +sobs afresh and aloud. She thought herself so safely +alone in the depths of the wood that she could gasp +and choke and sob to her heart's uttermost content, not<span class="pagenum">[94]</span> +at all knowing that Fate, who does indeed weave a +mesh of the most intricate patterning, had even now +begun to interweave her destiny with that of—well, +let us say—of the dam at Ledgeville.</p> + +<p>Alva's talk about the dam had gone in one ear and +out the other; Alva's words regarding Ingram had been +driven into the background of Lassie's brain by the +later surprises; but now things were to begin to alter. +We never can tell, when we weep over the frightful +love affair of a friend, what delightful plans that same +little Cupid may have for our own immediate comforting, +or how deftly he and the dark-veiled goddess may +have combined in future projects.</p> + +<p>Sorrow is sorrow, but sometimes it comes with the +comforter close upon its heels, and when the sorrow is +really another's, and the comforter is unattached and +therefore may quite easily become one's own!—</p> + +<p>Ah, but all this is anticipating. It is true that disinterested +parties (like Joey Beall) always know everything +before those most interested have the slightest +suspicion of what is going on; but still it seems to me +unfair to take any advantage of two innocent people +as early in the game as the Sixth Chapter.</p> + +<p>Therefore it shall only be said here that the party of +surveyors had employed that morning in sighting and +flagging up and down the banks beneath the Long +Bridge, and Ingram, having spent two hours in their +company, was now climbing the hillside for pure +athletic joy, being one of those who prefer a scramble +to a smooth road any day. As he came lightly up the +last long swing that measured the bank for him, he +surely was looking for nothing less in life than that +which he found at the top,—and yet that which he +<span class="pagenum">[95]</span>found at the top was not so disagreeable a surprise, +after all. For Lassie, even now when indubitably +miserable, pink-eyed and wretched, was still a very +pretty girl. A pretty girl is very much like a rose in the +rain—a few drops of water only add to its charm; +and so when Ingram came suddenly upon her, crying +there under a tree, and caused her to look up with a +little scream at the man crashing out of the bushes with +such a force of interruption as made her jump to her +feet and shrink quickly away—why, really it was all +far less startling and alarming than it sounds to read +about. For he at once exclaimed, "Surely you remember +me." And she saw who it was, stared at him +dazedly for an instant, and then dropped her face in +her hands again, realizing that he was the first of the +big world that "hadn't been told," and that he would +ask what was the matter, and that she must not tell +him. And so—and so—there was nothing to do but +hide her face—and collect her wits—and listen.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="gs03" id="gs03"></a> +<img src="images/gs03.jpg" width="400" height="604" alt=""SURELY YOU REMEMBER ME."" title=""> +</div> + +<p class="caption">"SURELY YOU REMEMBER ME."</p> + +<p>"What is it?" he said, and as she felt for her handkerchief +she could but think how hard it was to resist +sympathy when one's dearest friend was doing such +unheard-of things, and one had just learned about +them. Not that she would tell him why she was crying, +of course.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" he asked again then—he was very +near now. "You know who I am. I used to know you +when you were a little girl. You remember?"</p> + +<p>She was still feeling for her handkerchief, and he put +a great white one into her seeking hand. She wiped +her eyes with it and thought again that he must not be +told, and so said, with quivering lips:</p> + +<p>"Oh, please leave me, please go away. Nothing is<span class="pagenum">[96]</span> +the matter, but I must be alone. I want to be alone. +Please go away and leave me."</p> + +<p>Ingram looked down upon her and, laying his hand +on her arm with a grasp that was so firm as to feel +brotherly (to one not yet a débutante), said in a tone of +fascinating authority (to one not yet a débutante):</p> + +<p>"What is it? What is the trouble? You've had a +letter with bad news?" In his own mind he set it +down that she and Alva had had a misunderstanding +of some sort, but that opinion he would not +voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," sobbed Lassie; "it isn't a letter—it is +Alva!" She paused and Ingram had just time enough +to reflect how quickly a man could see straight through +any woman, when Lassie could bear the burden of +reserve no longer, and with a wild burst of accelerated +woe cried: "She has told me her secret, and I listened +'way through to the end and then—then when I really +understood and realized what it all meant, then I could +not bear it, and so—and so—I ran away from her +and down the hill and across the bridge and came here +to be alone. And I wish you would go away and leave +me alone; oh, I want to be alone so very, very much, +for I cannot keep still unless I am alone; I am too +unhappy over it all. Too unhappy. And I have +promised her not to tell."</p> + +<p>Ingram looked his startled sympathy. "What is the +trouble?" he asked. "Tell me; perhaps I can help +you. Why should you keep 'it' a secret? I'm her +friend, too, you know."</p> + +<p>"But it isn't my secret, it's hers," Lassie sobbed; +"and I've promised; and, anyway, nobody or nothing +can help her. Nothing! Nobody!"<span class="pagenum">[97]</span></p> + +<p>"Is it really as bad as that?" said the man, looking +very serious.</p> + +<p>Lassie was wringing her hands. "Oh, it's ever so +much worse than that; it's the very worst thing I ever +heard of. And that shows how bad I am; for Alva is +good, and it makes her happy!"</p> + +<p>Naturally Ingram could not follow the reasoning +which caused her terminal phrase to serve as a sort of +mental apology for her way of looking at the affair, +but he was not alarmed by the breadth of her confession +of guilt, only unspeakably distressed by her distress, and +its mysterious cause.</p> + +<p>"But what <i>is</i> it?" he asked. "What has Alva +done?"</p> + +<p>"I musn't tell."</p> + +<p>"Alva's not in any difficulty across the river there, +is she?" he hazarded.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; she isn't in any difficulty; she is very, +very happy. That's what seems so awful about +it."</p> + +<p>"What? I can't understand."</p> + +<p>"I can't explain, either. And I musn't tell you. +It's going to drive me crazy to keep still, but I must not +tell."</p> + +<p>"You can tell me;" his tone was suddenly authoritative +again (quite thrilling its young listener).</p> + +<p>"No, I can't. I can't tell any one," but <i>her</i> tone was +wavering, with a catch in its note.</p> + +<p>Ingram became instantly imperious.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you can tell me! You must tell me! It will +relieve your mind, and perhaps I can help Alva."</p> + +<p>"No, you can't help her; she doesn't want to be +helped."<span class="pagenum">[98]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, I can help you, anyway. Just telling me will +help you."</p> + +<p>Lassie choked.</p> + +<p>"Tell me at once," said Ingram, sternly; "I insist +upon knowing."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him.</p> + +<p>"Don't stop to think," he commanded; "tell me."</p> + +<p>Oh, the intense relief of having a burdensome secret +torn from your keeping! Lassie felt that when in +trouble, a man was the friend to find—even before +one's début.</p> + +<p>"You won't ever let her know that I told?" she +faltered.</p> + +<p>"Of course not."</p> + +<p>"She didn't ask me really to promise; she only said +that I should be the only one to ever know."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, I don't count. Go on."</p> + +<p>"Well, she is going to marry—" and then she told +him, with many halts and gasps, who; and then she +told him further, when.</p> + +<p>Ingram listened, silent, turning white all about his +mouth. "She can't do it," he said, after a minute. +"That man may die any hour. It said so in last night's +paper."</p> + +<p>"She is going to do it," Lassie said; "she doesn't +mind his dying—that is, she doesn't mind his dying +as most people do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but that's horrible," he said then; "you were +right—it is awful. No wonder you were frightened +and ran away. She must be insane. I never heard of +such a thing." He went to the edge of the bank and +looked off for a little, standing there still, and then, +after a while, "Oh, my God!" he said; and then<span class="pagenum">[99]</span> +again "Oh, my God!" and came back beside her. +His action, his evident emotion, quieted her own +strangely.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it terrible?" she asked, almost timidly, when +he was close again; "it seems to me the most terrible +thing that I ever knew about."</p> + +<p>"Very terrible," said the man, briefly. "We will +walk on up the hill," he added, after a little; "it's +near dinner time." She did as he said.</p> + +<p>"You won't tell Alva that I told you?" she +asked.</p> + +<p>He shook his head. "No, indeed," and then both +were silent.</p> + +<p>Towards the top, he asked: "How long shall you be +with her?"</p> + +<p>"A week."</p> + +<p>"That means until she leaves to marry him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"That's good; I am glad that you can stay."</p> + +<p>She tried to say something then, and her voice died in +one of those same strange gasps, but she tried a second +time and succeeded. "I suppose that nothing could be +done?" she questioned.</p> + +<p>"What would you do?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she said.</p> + +<p>He smiled a little oddly. "I am afraid that we should +be fools," he said; "those fools that rush in, you know. +It is beginning to come back to me how Alva looked and +how she spoke when I took her to see the house. It all +had no meaning to me then, but it has meaning now. +It comes back to me more and more. Perhaps you and +I are—are—not up to seeing it quite as she does. +Perhaps. It's possible."<span class="pagenum">[100]</span></p> + +<p>"That is what she says over and over—that I cannot +understand," Lassie said, faintly.</p> + +<p>"I can't understand either, but—perhaps she does. +I <i>can</i> understand <i>that</i>."</p> + +<p>"I am glad that you know, anyway;" her tone was +sweet and confiding. He looked down into her pretty +eyes.</p> + +<p>"I am, too," he said, heartily.</p> + +<p>"But I hope that it wasn't very wrong for me to tell +you; it seemed as if I could not bear it alone!"</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about that; Alva shall never know. +And now, if you cannot bear it (as you say) again, you +know that you can come to me and say what you like. +We shall have that comfort."</p> + +<p>She smiled a little. "You don't seem like a stranger; +you seem like an old, old friend."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad. Because I am an old, old friend in +reality, you know."</p> + +<p>"But, if—if I—when I want—" she hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you don't know where to find me if you want +me?" He laughed. "It's true that I am an uncertain +quantity, but I take supper at the hotel every evening, +and sometimes I go to the post-office afterwards." +He smiled roundly at that, and she smiled, too. "We +must go to the post-office together, sometimes," he +added; "it's the great social diversion of Ledge." +He was glad to see her face and manner getting +easier. That was what he was trying for—to lift the +weight from her.</p> + +<p>"Alva took me there this morning," she said.</p> + +<p>They came now to the Soldiers' Monument and the +tracks.</p> + +<p>"I hope that she isn't going to mind the way that I<span class="pagenum">[101]</span> +left her!" the young girl exclaimed suddenly, smitten +with anxiety. "I ran away, you know; I couldn't +bear it another minute."</p> + +<p>"She won't mind that," said Ingram; "all the +little things of life won't cut any figure with her any +more, if she's the kind that has made up her mind to do +such a thing. That's what I've been thinking all the +time that we were coming along; a woman who has +decided to marry in the way that Alva has, must of +course look at everything in life by a different light from +that of the rest of us; I don't know really that we have +the right even to criticize her. We don't understand her +at all; that's all it is."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked astonished. "You don't mean to say +that you think that she isn't crazy?" she said.</p> + +<p>Ingram smiled again, "I mean that I hardly think it +possible to judge what one cannot measure; savages +reverence the Unknown, you know, and I'm not sure +that reverence is not a fitter attitude towards mystery +than condemnation or ridicule, although of course it +isn't the civilized or popular standpoint."</p> + +<p>"But do you think it's—it's—it's the thing, to +do—" Lassie could not get on further.</p> + +<p>"I think it's just as awful as you do," he said quietly; +"but I've had time since you told me to see that just +because it seems awful to me, it's very plain to me that +I see it differently from the way in which she does. +She isn't a girl, she's a woman; and she's a very good +and sweet and true woman at that. If she is making +this marriage, the really awful part isn't the part that +you or I or the world are going to think about, it's +something else."</p> + +<p>Lassie's glance rose doubtfully upward. "You<span class="pagenum">[102]</span> +think that it's all right for her to do it, then?" she asked +miserably.</p> + +<p>"I think that we aren't wise enough to talk about it +at all," said Ingram with determined cheerfulness. +"Let's change the subject. I am going to be here on +and off for a year, likely, and digging holes to hold little +flags, and drilling to keep track of what one drills +through isn't the liveliest fun in the world to look +forward to; so when Alva doesn't need you, do give me +some of your time and make me some jolly memories +to live on later, when I'm alone—will you?"</p> + +<p>"You won't ever be able to go and see Alva in her +house afterwards, will you?" said Lassie, her mind +apparently unequal to changing the subject on short +notice; "because no one is ever to go there, she +says."</p> + +<p>"I shall never go unless she asks me, surely."</p> + +<p>They were now quite near the little hotel.</p> + +<p>"Before we part, let us be a little conventional and +say that we are glad to have met one another," Ingram +suggested; "will you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm glad that I met you," she said; "it will be a +great comfort—as you said."</p> + +<p>Ingram was looking at her and that turned his face +towards the gorge. "I see Alva coming across the +bridge," he exclaimed; "go and meet her. Go to her +quite frankly, openly,—as if nothing had happened. +That will be easiest—and kindest—and best all +around."</p> + +<p>She flashed a grateful glance to his eyes, and ran at +once down the tracks and out upon the bridge.</p> + +<p>Alva came towards her, with a rapid step, her open +coat floating lightly back on either side. She smiled +<span class="pagenum">[103]</span> +sweetly as she saw the girlish figure. "You beat me +home," she called out, gaily.</p> + +<p>Lassie swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled, +too. "It's such a beautiful day, and I'm so happy and +so glad that you are happy!"</p> + +<p>The pretty young voice rang fresh and true. The +next instant they were close, side by side.</p> + +<p>Alva stood still. What Ingram had said proved most +truly true; she did not seem to hold any recollection of +that parting an hour before. She drew Lassie close +beside her and pointed over the bridge-rail. A rainbow +was spanning the Upper Falls, and its brilliant, evanescent +promise seemed to reflect in the face above. What +is so fragile, illusive, uncertain as a rainbow? And yet +it is the mirrored mirage of all the Eternal Purpose's +immutable law. Form is there, and color; hope is +there, and the will-o'-the-wisp of human struggles +evolving continually and, in their evolution, fading to +human eyes as they take their place up higher. From +the foaming, dashing water, which during the centuries +was strong enough to eat into the rock, arose the light, +lovely mist that in cycles of time was in its turn strong +enough to wear it away. Through the mist floated the +impalpable radiance that, in æons to come, when rock +should again flash fiery through unending space, and +water should have evaporated to await fresh form, +would still continue to illuminate the Divine Will.<span class="pagenum">[104]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE LATHBUNS</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley, dropping into the post-office that +evening along about seven, was frankly disappointed +at finding her newspaper bundle still undisturbed +on the table in the adjoining kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Why, I made sure you'd have laid 'em out, anyhow," +she said, looking at Mrs. Ray, who was busily beating +batter; "you haven't even made a start." And she +sighed, seating herself in unwilling resignation.</p> + +<p>"Made a start," said Mrs. Ray, glancing at her +placidity with an air of tart exasperation, "made fifty +starts, you mean. This has been what I call <i>a day</i>. +Mrs. Catt came in early this afternoon to ask me to +make Sally's wedding-cake, and Clay Wright Benton +was here about the parrot. He's awful tired of that +parrot 'cause it keeps his mother so tired and cross from +getting up nights to wait on it. It routs her up at all +hours for things, and if she don't hurry it calls her +names in Spanish that it learned on the ship coming +from Brazil, and, oh, they're having an awful time of +it. And then Sammy Adams was here too; he was here +from four o'clock on, asking me to marry him again. +I don't know as anything gives me a lower opinion of +Sammy than the way he sticks to wanting to marry me. +The older I get, the worse he wants to marry me, which +<span class="pagenum">[105]</span> +shows me only too plainly as it ain't me at all he wants—it's +just my work."</p> + +<p>"You ain't even unrolled it," said Mrs. Wiley, +fingering the bundle sadly. "I've been fixing onion-syrup +for Lottie Ann and thinking of you unrolling all +day. And you wasn't ever unrolling, even."</p> + +<p>"He set right where you're setting now," said Mrs. +Ray, beating briskly. "I was stoning raisins, so he +wasn't in my way, but I do get tired of being asked to +marry men. They don't make no bones about the +business any more, and even a woman of my age likes +a <i>little</i> fluff of romance. Sammy always goes into how +we could join our chickens and our furniture. Like +they was going to be married, too. Oh, Sammy's +very mooney—he's very much like Mr. Ray. Most +men are too much like Mr. Ray to please me. There +was days when Mr. Ray 'd sit all day and tell me how he +had yellow curls and blue eyes before he had smallpox. +Those were his mooney days. When Mr. Ray +wanted to be specially nice, he always used to tell me +how pretty he was when he was a baby. Men are so +awful silly. It's too bad I ever married. I had so many +pleasant thoughts about men before. But now all I +think is they're all spying round for women to work for +'em."</p> + +<p>"I never shall know no peace till I know whether +you can get my two backs out of these legs," said Mrs. +Wiley, handling the bundle. "Father was such a sitter +the last year, his legs was very wore at the top." +She sighed.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Catt was here this afternoon, too," continued +Mrs. Ray, never ceasing to beat; "he wants to get up +a petition about the dam. He's afraid they won't pay<span class="pagenum">[106]</span> +him for his orchard. He's against it. He says Mr. +Ledge is right. He says if he's going to lose money, +he'd rather see the Falls preserved for the blessings of +unborn generations. He says he doesn't believe we +think enough about unborn generations in this country. +He says his orchard is worth a lot."</p> + +<p>"If they're too wore out to cut over, I suppose we'll +have to give it all up," said Mrs. Wiley. "Oh, Mrs. +Ray, Lottie Ann's so thin! I don't know what to do! +I say to her 'Lottie Ann, do eat,' and then she tries +and chokes. I think she ought to go to Buffalo and be +examined with a telescope. Rubbing her in goose-grease +don't do a bit of good, and it does ruin her flannels +so."</p> + +<p>"I was sorry for Clay Wright Benton," pursued Mrs. +Ray; "he kind of wants me to take his mother and the +parrot for the winter. He says besides the nights, his +mother and the parrot quarrels so days that he's afraid +Sarah just won't have 'em in the house much longer. +She's losing all patience."</p> + +<p>"If you <i>can't</i> get my fronts out of his legs, do you +suppose there'll be any way to get them out of his +fronts?" Mrs. Wiley propounded.</p> + +<p>"I told Clay I'd see," continued Mrs. Ray. "I'm +pretty full now, but there's a proverb about room for +one more, and if I can't do nothing else my motto'll +help me out. 'He moves in a mysterious way' you +know, and maybe I can put her in my room with Willy +and move into the kitchen myself with the parrot. Yes, +indeed. Only I won't get up and wait on it. I don't +care what I get called in Spanish, if I'm once asleep for +the night, that parrot won't get me up again; or +there'll be more Spanish than his around." +<span class="pagenum">[107]</span></p> + +<p>"You'll be able to use the same buttons, anyhow," +mused Mrs. Wiley. "Oh, Mrs. Ray, we've had a letter +from Uncle Purchase and the colt didn't die. It'll be +lame and blind in one eye, but anyway it's alive and it's +such a valuable colt. The father cost six thousand +dollars, and if it lives to have grandchildren maybe +they'll race. Uncle Purchase does so want a race-horse +in his stock. He says a race-horse even raises the value +of your pigs and cattle."</p> + +<p>"Does a parrot sleep on its side or sit up all night, do +you know? I forgot to ask Clay."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that reminds me, speakin' of sleepin'," exclaimed +Mrs. Wiley, suddenly arousing to the realization +of other woes than her own, "do you know Cousin +Granger Catterwallis was over this morning, and he +says those Lathbuns stayed at Sammy's the night afore +they came here. You know they come in a pourin' rain. +Did Sammy ever tell you about it?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray stopped her beating. She stood seemingly +transfixed.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Granger says they wanted to stay all night, +with him, but he's too afraid of a breach of promise suit +since his wife died, so he wouldn't keep them, but he +took his spy-glass and watched them through the gap +and they clum Sammy's fence," (Mrs. Ray's face was a +sight), "and then he went up to his cupalo and watched +them through a break in the trees, and he says he knows +they went in the house!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray folded her arms firmly. "Well," she said, +"I never heard the beat! Sammy never said one word +to me!"</p> + +<p>"And Cousin Catterwallis says he doesn't believe +they've got any trunks or any money or any real love +<span class="pagenum">[108]</span> +affair, except what they may manage to pick up along +the way. He says he wouldn't trust the young one as +far as you can throw a cat, and he says he wouldn't +trust the old one as far as that. Hannah Adele, indeed! +He says he don't believe she's even Hannah."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray drew a long breath. "Oh, well, I wasn't +meaning to marry him, anyhow," she said, a little +absent-mindedly. "I told him that to-day. Sammy's +mooney, and I've been married to one mooney man. +There were days when Mr. Ray would upset everything, +from the beehives to his second wife's baby—those +were his mooney days. I don't want to have no +more of that!"</p> + +<p>"Cousin Catterwallis says it wasn't just proper taking +them in that way, either," Mrs. Wiley continued; "he's +going to see Jack O'Neil this afternoon, and tell him +his opinion. Cousin Catterwallis says the dam is +bringing very queer folks our way. He doesn't take no +interest in the dam because he's so far inland, but he +says when the canal was put through the Italians stole +one of his father's hens, and he hasn't any use for any +kind of improvements since then."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray began slowly beating her batter again. Her +lips were firm and her attitude painfully decided.</p> + +<p>"The old lady says she's Mrs. Ida Lathbun," Mrs. +Wiley went on; "I wonder if their name is really +Lathbun."</p> + +<p>"I d'n know, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley turned her eyes on the bundle.</p> + +<p>"When do you think you can get at my coat, Mrs. +Ray?" the tone was sadly earnest.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, I guess. I haven't much on hand +to-morrow, except to sweep out the church and do some<span class="pagenum">[109]</span> +baking. I was planning to dig potatoes and go to South +Ledge to fit a dress, but I'll leave that till early Monday. +Think of his keeping them all night and never telling +me!"</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll go down to Nellie's," said Mrs. Wiley, +rising slowly; "the Lathbuns sit in her kitchen evenings, +and I'll just throw a few hints about and see how +they take it."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could go, too," Mrs. Ray's eyes suddenly +became keenly bright, "but I can't. The mail's due."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley shook her head with the air of understanding +the weightiness of her friend's excuse. "I'll +stop in on my way back, and tell you what I find out," +she said, kindly.</p> + +<p>She went away and was absent all of an hour. When +she returned, Mrs. Ray's duties, both as postmistress +and stepmother, were over for that day, her cake was +safe in the oven, and she sat by the lamp, knitting.</p> + +<p>"What'd you find out?" she said, as the door +yielded to Mrs. Wiley's push.</p> + +<p>"Well, not much." Mrs. Wiley came in and sat +down. "They was both there in the kitchen, and +there's no use denying it's hard to find out anything +about folks when they're looking right at you. +But I did hear one thing you'll like to know, Mrs. +Ray?"</p> + +<p>"What was it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, those two girls went off walking this morning, +and the young one came back with the man."</p> + +<p>"Don't surprise me one bit," said Mrs. Ray. "I've +been saying that was what would happen from the +minute I knew she was coming."</p> + +<p>"I'm sort of sorry for the older one," said Mrs.<span class="pagenum">[110]</span> +Wiley; "she's real nice. I'm sorry for any one who's +thinnish—Lottie Ann's so thin."</p> + +<p>"Those kind of blind-eyed people always have +trouble, and nobody can help it for 'em," said Mrs. +Ray; "they make their own troubles as they go along—if +they don't come bump on to them while they're stargazing. +That girl's made for trouble; you can see it in +her eyes. But didn't you ask anything about Sammy?"</p> + +<p>"I just couldn't—with them right there. The old +lady sits with her feet in the oven the whole time. I +don't see how Nellie cooks."</p> + +<p>"Feet in the oven! I should say so! Well, I'll ask +Sammy just as soon as I see him—I know that! Did +you hear anything new about the dam?"</p> + +<p>"No; Nellie says the surveyors say it'll be six months +before any one can tell anything."</p> + +<p>"Huh!" Mrs. Ray's note was highly contemptuous.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Ray, don't you believe the surveyors?"</p> + +<p>"I never say what I believe, Mrs. Wiley, it's enough +for me to say what I think; but I <i>will</i> say just this, and +that is that if we get the dam, it's precious little good +it'll ever do us here in Ledge. It's fine work talking, but +the legislature and the Dam Commission aren't working +day and night for our good. It's men in Rochester +and Buffalo who'll get the good out of the dam, and +we'll be left to find ourselves high and dry as usual."</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Ray, you talk as if you was against the +dam, or is it only because Sammy took those women in +that night?"</p> + +<p>Poor Mrs. Wiley! She had inadvertently hit the +bull's-eye. Mrs. Ray laid down her knitting and rose +at once.</p> + +<p>"No, Mrs. Wiley, it <i>isn't</i> because Sammy took those<span class="pagenum">[111]</span> +women in that night. As if I'd care whether Sammy +took two women in or not! Did I ever care about Mr. +Ray's other two wives? or about their children? I +guess if I can stand all I've stood from Mr. Ray's first +wife's children, I won't care who Sammy Adams takes +in out of the wet. I'm surprised at you, Mrs. Wiley."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley got up in great confusion. "I hope you'll +excuse what I said, Mrs. Ray; you see I wasn't really +thinking what I did say. And it may not have been +them, anyhow. I must be goin', I guess; I don't like +to leave Lottie Ann alone like that. Good-by, Mrs. +Ray."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray folded her arms severely.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, Mrs. Wiley," she said, with reserve. +<span class="pagenum">[112]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">MISS LATHBUN'S STORY</p> + +<p>Curiously enough, just as Mrs. Wiley abruptly +terminated her call on her friend Mrs. Ray, +owing to the unpleasant twist given their conversation +by the Lathbun family, Lassie and Alva were +speaking of the same two ladies, whom Lassie had +met in the dining-room an hour before. Alva had +introduced her to both with that pleasant courtesy +which was given to none too careful social scrutiny. +It was Alva's habit to deal with all humanity on +a broad footing of equality—a habit which her well-born +friends politely termed a failing, and which those +of other classes accepted as the thirsty accept water, +just with content.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm glad I've seen them; now I feel as if I'd +seen everything, except the Lower Falls." Thus spoke +Lassie, when the bedroom door was shut, and she and +her friend seemed well away from all the rest of the +world for the next ten hours, at least. Lassie, be it +said, <i>en passant</i>, had now sufficiently digested her first +shock of surprise over her friend's future, to be able +to be pleasantly happy again.</p> + +<p>"What did you think of them?" Alva answered, +half absent-mindedly. She held in her hand a letter +which the belated mail had brought, and her thoughts +seemed to quit it with difficulty.<span class="pagenum">[113]</span></p> + +<p>"I thought that they were rather common," said +Lassie, frankly. Lassie was well-born, and had judged +Mrs. Lathbun and her daughter by no higher standard +than that of their blouses.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, I thought so, too,—at first," her +friend replied, putting the letter down and going to the +window where she remained with her back to Lassie, +looking out into the dark. "I thought at first that Mrs. +Lathbun looked like a cook—"</p> + +<p>"She dresses exactly like one," interposed Lassie.</p> + +<p>"But I've come to like them very much, indeed. Of +course so few days are not enough to really know any +one, but the night before you came such a curious thing +happened. You know I told you that the daughter had +a love affair? Well, that was the night that I learned +about it. I never had anything come to me more +strangely. Do you know, dear, I am continually more +and more convinced that nothing happens by chance, +never."</p> + +<p>"What did she tell you?"</p> + +<p>Alva turned from the window and sat down by the +lamp-table. "I'll tell you; only you mustn't misjudge +Miss Lathbun for confiding in me. People +become friends very quickly in a lonely place like this, +you know."</p> + +<p>"I won't misjudge her; I'll be glad to change my +opinion of her. She looks so like a restaurant girl."</p> + +<p>"Lassie, you're incorrigible."</p> + +<p>"But that dress, with that black cotton lace over +that old red silk."</p> + +<p>"I never even noticed it."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say you've never noticed that dirty +red silk front?"<span class="pagenum">[114]</span></p> + +<p>Alva shaded her eyes with her hand. "Lassie," +she said, almost sadly, "why does nothing count in this +world except the front of one's frock?"</p> + +<p>Contrition smote the young girl. "Oh, forgive me, +forgive me," she pleaded; "I didn't think. I am +interested! Play I didn't speak in that way; I won't +again. Indeed, I won't."</p> + +<p>"Of course I'll forgive you, dear; it's nothing to +forgive, anyway; but it makes it so hard to tell anything +serious when one sets out in such a way. I wonder how +many good and beautiful thoughts have died unexpressed, +just because their first breath was met with +mocking!"</p> + +<p>"Don't say that; I won't be that way—I'll never +be that way again. I do like Miss Lathbun—truly I +do; I think she has sort of a sweet face, and she must +be clever to have been able to make a front of any kind +out of that lace. See, I'm quite serious now; and so +interested. Do go on!"</p> + +<p>Alva looked at her for a minute with a smile.</p> + +<p>"You can't possibly overlook the front, can you?" +she said; "but I will go on, and you will learn never to +judge again, as I learned myself; for I must tell you, +Lassie, that all you feel about them, I felt at first—until +I learned to know better. I didn't notice the front, +but I noticed some other things—little things like +grammar; but American grammar isn't a hard and +fast proposition, anyway, you know."</p> + +<p>"They just call it 'dialect' in so many places," said +Lassie, wisely.</p> + +<p>Alva smiled again. "Yes, they do," she assented.</p> + +<p>"And now for Miss Lathbun's story?" suggested +the girl.<span class="pagenum">[115]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly. Well, my dear, you see, I was sitting +here alone one evening, and she came to the door +and—and somehow she came in and we fell to talking. +You know how easy it is for any one to talk to me, and +after a while she told me her romance."</p> + +<p>Lassie's eyes opened. "To think of a girl like that +having a romance! Please go on."</p> + +<p>Alva hesitated, then smiled a little. "I suppose I can +trust you to keep a secret?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Lassie began: "Why, of—" and then stopped +suddenly, remembering the morning's betrayal, and +blushed crimson.</p> + +<p>Alva leaned forward and touched her cheek with one +petting finger.</p> + +<p>"Dear," she said, "don't feel distressed. I know +that you told Ronald and I don't mind."</p> + +<p>"You know!" cried Lassie, astonished.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, I know. I saw it in both your faces when +I came across the bridge. I don't mind—I think it's +better so. Truly, I do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Alva—" the young girl's tone was full of +feeling.</p> + +<p>"But you mustn't tell him Hannah Adele's love +affair," Alva went on, smiling; "remember that, my +dear."</p> + +<p>"I promise. Now tell me all about it." Lassie drew +close, her face full of eager curiosity mixed with content +over being pardoned so simply.</p> + +<p>"It's just like a story," Alva said, thoughtfully; "it's +more wonderful—almost—than my own. I never +heard anything quite so wonderfully story-like before. +Tell me, did you notice at supper how Mrs. Lathbun +watched every one that came off of the train? She<span class="pagenum">[116]</span> +can see the station through the window from where she +sits, you know."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't notice. Does it matter?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; only I used to notice it and now I know +why she does it."</p> + +<p>"Is she looking for the lover?"</p> + +<p>"She's afraid of him, dear."</p> + +<p>"Afraid!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, afraid he'll find them."</p> + +<p>"Goodness, are they hiding from him?"</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Lathbun thinks that they are."</p> + +<p>"And aren't they?"</p> + +<p>Alva lowered her voice to a whisper. "He watches +outside of this house every night!" she said impressively.</p> + +<p>Lassie quite jumped. "Watches! Outside this +house! Oh, is he there now?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, perhaps so."</p> + +<p>"What fun! Who does he watch for?"</p> + +<p>"For Miss Lathbun, of course."</p> + +<p>"But why does he do it?"</p> + +<p>"She doesn't know; she only knows that he watches +there."</p> + +<p>"And her mother doesn't know that he is there?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"How perfectly thrilling! Do go on!"</p> + +<p>"It's really a very long story."</p> + +<p>"I'll be patient."</p> + +<p>"It taught me a big lesson, Lassie; it taught me not +to judge. Just see how quiet and simple these two look +to be, and yet that plain, ordinary appearing woman is +trying to hide her daughter from a rich man."</p> + +<p>"A rich man!"<span class="pagenum">[117]</span></p> + +<p>"He's a millionaire."</p> + +<p>"Who told you so?"</p> + +<p>"She did."</p> + +<p>Lassie stared. "Alva!—you don't believe that! +That woman's never hiding that girl from a millionaire. +It isn't possible!"</p> + +<p>"But she is, my dear. She's a true, good mother; +she doesn't want her daughter to marry him, because he +is so dissipated."</p> + +<p>"But I should think that they would run away and +get married. I'd marry a man, anyway, if I loved him."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Lassie, you don't know what you'd do if you +were in the position of that poor girl. Her mother has +taken her away and is stopping here in this very quiet +and unassuming way to avoid all notice or being found +out."</p> + +<p>"But he has found them out!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but Mrs. Lathbun doesn't know it."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked almost incredulous. "Mrs. Lathbun +doesn't look a bit like a woman who would hide her +daughter away from a millionaire," she said, obstinately.</p> + +<p>"You see how easy it is to misjudge any one, Lassie; +because that's what she's doing."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. O'Neil says they haven't any trunks or any +clothes. She said so this afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I know; I've heard her say that before."</p> + +<p>"Well, tell me the whole story."</p> + +<p>Alva looked at her for a long dozen of seconds and +then her lips curved slightly. "I'm going to tell you," +she said; "but, do you know, it just comes over me +that you are surely going to disbelieve it."</p> + +<p>"Why do you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Because it's so strange."<span class="pagenum">[118]</span></p> + +<p>"But you believed it?"</p> + +<p>"But I can believe anything. Believing is my forte. +Once 'heretic' and 'unbeliever' meant the same thing; +well, I am a believer."</p> + +<p>Lassie laughed a little. "Go on and tell me the +story," she said, "I'll try to believe;" then, her face +changing suddenly, she added, "it can have a happy +ending—can't it? Sometime?"</p> + +<p>Alva flashed a quick, sad flash of understanding at +her. "All stories will have that some day," she said, +gently. It was the first reference on the lips of either to +that morning's revelation.</p> + +<p>"Do tell me the story," Lassie begged, after a +minute's pause; "tell me the whole. Do you think +that perhaps he is out there now?"</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head in protestation of ignorance as +to that. "It seems very medieval and devoted for him +to be out there at all, don't you think? And these +nights are so cold, too."</p> + +<p>"I should think that some one would see him sometimes?"</p> + +<p>"I should, too."</p> + +<p>"Well, go on. Has she known him always?"</p> + +<p>"No; it seems that he lives in Cromwell where her +mother was born, and she met him there two years ago +when they went there to visit."</p> + +<p>"Did he fall in love with her at first sight?"</p> + +<p>"I think so. She said the first thing that she knew he +was talking about her all the time, and then he began +watching outside of their house at night."</p> + +<p>"Didn't he ever talk to her, or come inside the +house?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lassie, what makes you say things like that?<span class="pagenum">[119]</span> +They make the story seem absurd; and I began it +by telling you that her mother was bitterly opposed to +him on account of his reputation."</p> + +<p>"I forgot," said Lassie, contritely; "is he so very +bad?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so. He drinks and gambles and does +everything that he shouldn't, she says."</p> + +<p>"But if he's rich he can afford it, can't he?"</p> + +<p>Alva turned quickly. "How can you say a thing like +that? As if money can condone sin. Don't you know +that a thoroughly bad man is a soulless thing, and that +to marry a man like that is either heroic or deeply degrading, +just according to whether one does it for love +or for money."</p> + +<p>"But you said that she loved him."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but you said he could afford to be wicked!"</p> + +<p>Lassie clasped her hands meditatively. "To think +of that girl having a millionaire watching outside her +window, nights! And Mrs. O'Neil says she hasn't even +a nightgown with her, so she can't possibly get up in the +cold to peep out through the blinds."</p> + +<p>"I suppose she couldn't do that, anyway," said Alva; +"you see her mother doesn't know he's there, so she +couldn't get up to look."</p> + +<p>"How does she know herself that he is there, then? +perhaps he tells her he watches and really stays in bed +at some hotel."</p> + +<p>"Lassie!"</p> + +<p>"What's the use of his watching, anyway? Does it +do any good? I should think that she'd be afraid that +he'd take cold. I—"</p> + +<p>"Lassie, don't you see that it's his only way to prove +his devotion? He can't write her, so he watches outside<span class="pagenum">[120]</span> +her window, nights. She says that he takes a handful +of sand and throws it against the side of the house, and +she hears it and knows that he's there."</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that?"</p> + +<p>"I believe the whole story."</p> + +<p>Lassie regarded her friend with amazement.</p> + +<p>"I don't see how you can;" she said; "why, those +two women would go almost wild for joy if any man +wanted to marry either of them."</p> + +<p>"No, dear," Alva said, smiling; "no, they wouldn't. +The world isn't altogether worldly; there are simple, +true, wholesome natures in it that look at life in a +straightforward way without any illusions. And Mrs. +Lathbun is one of those. Poor she may be, but she +knows very well that no possible happiness can come to +her child from marrying a bad man who has money."</p> + +<p>"But her daughter wants to marry him, and he wants +to marry her."</p> + +<p>Alva paused before replying; then she said slowly:</p> + +<p>"Lassie, there's the puzzle. Does he want to marry +her?"</p> + +<p>Lassie looked startled. "Doesn't he?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"She doesn't know," said Alva; "you see, they have +hardly ever exchanged a word."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the young girl, "this is the craziest +love story I ever heard in my life. Do you mean to say +that you believe that a man who had never heard a girl +speak would go and stay outside her window, all night +long? What does he do all night, anyhow; walk about, +or sit down? Alva, you can't believe that story? +Not possibly!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe it," said Alva, cheerfully. "I believe +it for two or three very good reasons. One is that there<span class="pagenum">[121]</span> +is no reason why the girl should construct such a silly +lie for my benefit; another is that truth is always +stranger than fiction; and the third is that she has a +little picture of him, and as soon as I saw the picture I +saw why Fate brought the Lathbuns and me together, +and why the man waited outside her window all night."</p> + +<p>"Why?" Lassie's tone became suddenly curious.</p> + +<p>"My dear, the man is the image of the man that I +love. They might be twin brothers. And men of such +strength put through whatever they lay their hands +unto."</p> + +<p>Lassie appeared dumbfounded.</p> + +<p>"He looks like—" she stammered and halted.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear," Alva said, simply; "he looks exactly +like him! Now you see why I am interested. Now you +see why I find it easy to believe. A bad man—a +thoroughly bad man—is a creature that for some +reason has not come into his heavenly birthright. If +that girl, plain and pale and unassuming as she looks, +has the power to draw him from nights of dissipation +to nights in the cold outside her window, she has the +power to call a soul to him or waken his own that is but +sleeping. It takes a great deal of living and learning to +attain to the faith which I have, but I have it and I am +firm in it, and I believe the story and I believe that +good is brewing for that man. I'm sure of it."</p> + +<p>Alva spoke with such energetic earnestness, such dominating +force, that Lassie was silenced for the minute.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that I am just stupid," she said, after a +little; "I've had so much that was different to try and +learn to-day."</p> + +<p>There was a pathos in her tone that led the older +girl to lean quickly near and take one of her hands,<span class="pagenum">[122]</span> +drawing her close as she did so. "I know it, dear, +I know it. And I appreciate it all more than you +guess. We won't talk of Miss Lathbun any more +just now, and, dear, believe me when I say that +I'm truly very glad that you met Ronald just as +you did this morning and told him what I had told +you. I see all this from all its sides, and the views +that differ from mine don't hurt me—believe me, +they don't. I understand exactly how Ronald's fine, +robust manhood would revolt quite as you yourself +revolted; but, you and he, with all the possibilities of +your gorgeous, glorious youth, can no more measure the +joy of these days to my love and myself, than the gay +little birds measure what life is to you. To us, you two +and your ideas are very much like the birds; we are +glad to see you enjoy the sunshine, and our better gladness +we know is quite beyond you."</p> + +<p>Lassie turned her face upward to the earnest look +and tender kiss, and then they sat still for a little until +Alva rose and began to make ready for bed.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," she said, as she loosened her hair; "it +was like this, wasn't it? At first Ronald was almost +angry; and then his feeling changed and he felt that +because it was I, it was rather a different thing from +what it would have been if it had been any one else."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lassie, in an awestruck tone, "it was +just like that. How did you know?"</p> + +<p>Alva laughed. "Not because I am a witch," she +said, "but just because I know Ronald. You see, +Lassie, I am much stronger than Ronald; I am stronger +than Ronald, just as Ronald is stronger than you. He +could not condemn me; he has to own I am right. Right +is a might so great that wherever it holds good it rules<span class="pagenum">[123]</span> +its kind. Ronald gives me my due; you will, too, after a +while. Only I must not drive either of you forward too +quickly." She laughed a little. "I must give you +time," she added.</p> + +<p>Lassie was taking down her own hair. She shook it +apart now, and looked forth from between the parted +waves, her expression one of deeply stirred interest. +"I believe that this is going to be the most wonderful +time in my life," she said; "I feel as if everything were +getting deeper around me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, dearest," said her friend, with a sigh that was +not sad—only a long breath; "that's very true. I +should not have sent for you, only that I knew that +when you came to leave me and go back to the world to +wear your white gown and make your début, you would +have become a stronger, better, wiser, sweeter woman +all your life through, for this experience. You see, dear +child, the rarest thing in the world of to-day is sincerity—absolute +truth. I am not especially gifted or very +remarkable in any way, but I have learned the value of +being sincere. It isn't a small thing to learn in life, Lassie, +and it isn't a small privilege to live for a few days +with one who has learned the lesson. When you see +what truth really is, and what it may really do for one, +you won't be revolted by my marriage; you will never +wonder over me any more, and you'll learn to look at +strange stories with a new light of comprehension."</p> + +<p>Lassie went close to her, put up her lips and kissed +her.</p> + +<p>"And I can tell Mr. Ingram about Miss Lathbun, +too?" she asked very simply; "or must I keep that +secret, as you said at first?"</p> + +<p>Alva put her arms fondly about the pretty young<span class="pagenum">[124]</span> +thing. "Lassie," she said, "you are a dear, and I +don't mind how much you discuss me with Ronald; +but you musn't tell him Miss Lathbun's secret. It +wouldn't be right."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, I won't," said Lassie; "and I +will keep my word, too."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," Alva said, patting her face caressingly; +"thank you, and heaven bless you and give you a good +understanding."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked up with a smile. "You think I may +learn to look at things in your way?"</p> + +<p>"I think so," said Alva; "looking at things in my +way has made me a very happy woman, and so I desire +the same for you."</p> + +<p>Then she kissed her good night.<span class="pagenum">[125]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="h3">PLEASANT CONVERSE</p> + +<p>"Well, what did I tell you?" said Mrs. Ray to +Mrs. Catt, a day or so later, when that lady +had dropped in for a little call. "Those two young +people up at Nellie O'Neil's have fallen in love just +as sure as beans are beans. Not that he's so young, +either, but a man's always able to fall in love whenever +he gets a chance. Age don't matter. There was Mr. +Ray. He was always in love unless he was married. +Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"If he's engaged to that other one, I shouldn't +think he'd find it very easy to fall in love right under her +nose, so to speak," said Mrs. Catt.</p> + +<p>"She wouldn't notice," said Mrs. Ray, adjusting +her shawl, and turning the needlework in her hands; +"she's the kind who don't even see the things they go +headlong over. She's the mooney kind. I know. Yes, +indeed. Mr. Ray had mooney days. There were days +when Mr. Ray called me by his first wife's name all +day. Those were his mooney days."</p> + +<p>"My cousin Eliza thinks she's crazy too. She says +she's seen her time and again setting on stumps in the +woods, and she turns out in the road for sparrows. +And then that house. They're at it tooth and nail +from dawn to dark. I never see nothing like it."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Ray; "there's others say that, too.<span class="pagenum">[126]</span> +She is queer! Nellie says she often doesn't eat breakfast—nor +any meat either. And she talks about the +dam as if we was all heathens laying the axe at the +root of our own mothers. She says all the trees ought +to belong to the United States Government. As if +we wasn't singing 'Pass under the rod of the Republican +party' from dawn to dark now. Such a country!"</p> + +<p>"She goes down to see Mr. Ledge, too," pursued +Mrs. Catt; "of course he don't want the dam, and he +makes her more so. Josiah Bates was driving home +from Castile the other day, and he saw her coming +from there. Josiah said he was sure she'd been to see +Mr. Ledge, 'cause she wasn't ten feet from the house, +and they was waving their hands to her from the window. +You can always depend on Josiah Bates knowing +what he's talking about."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. Ray, turning her work about; +"yes, Josiah Bates is a very careful observer. He'll +never die of no fish-bone in his throat for want of +watching the fish."</p> + +<p>"Speaking of fish-bones," said Mrs. Catt, "have +you seen Lottie Ann Wiley lately? There's a bag of +bones for you!"</p> + +<p>"Not for a week or so. Why? Is she thinner than +she was?"</p> + +<p>"Thinner! Well, I should say so. I don't know +what the Wileys will do with that girl if she keeps on +getting thinner and paler."</p> + +<p>"She isn't any paler than that girl at Nellie O'Neil's."</p> + +<p>"Which one?"</p> + +<p>"That Lathbun girl. Do you know anything about +them?"</p> + +<p>"That's what every one's asking."<span class="pagenum">[127]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray threaded her needle. "They're a queer +pair," she remarked.</p> + +<p>"Well, I should say so. They don't eat any breakfast, +either; make it up on chestnuts. They're picking +chestnuts all over. Lizzie says she never saw people +making so free. Folks don't know what to say, but +it riles a good many. They pick that little gray bag +they've got full three or four times a day."</p> + +<p>"Well, I declare," said Mrs. Ray; "do you suppose +they eat 'em all?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Catt rose. "I only stopped for a minute," she +said. "Oh, I don't know, I'm sure. Chestnuts is +hearty, but seems to me they ought to ask at the houses, +anyway. Mrs. Wiley says if they come to her trees +again, she'll turn the bull in the lot."</p> + +<p>"Must you go?" Mrs. Ray asked. "I thought +Mrs. Wiley was afraid of the bull."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I must. What you making?"</p> + +<p>"I'm putting a new lining in this vest for Elmer +Hoskins. His dog chewed it up, while he was asleep."</p> + +<p>"Did he have it on?" Mrs. Catt asked in great +surprise.</p> + +<p>"No; he had it on the chair and it fell off."</p> + +<p>"Fell off! I s'pose you've heard about Gran'ma +Benton's parrot falling off?"</p> + +<p>"Falling off what? No, I haven't heard."</p> + +<p>"Fell off the perch. I saw poor Clay this morning, +and he's half mad. The parrot and Gran'ma Benton +have been discussing most all night lately, and the +parrot gets so mad he hops all over and last night he +got in a rage and fell off the perch. Broke the perch, +too."</p> + +<p>"Well, I declare," said Mrs. Ray; "why don't Clay +<span class="pagenum">[128]</span> +show some spirit and put a stop to all that? I +would."</p> + +<p>"He can't. Gran'ma Benton's so fond of discussing, +and if she didn't have the parrot she'd soon wear them +all out."</p> + +<p>"I thought she was wearing them out as it is."</p> + +<p>"Well, yes—" Mrs. Catt looked cornered, "but, +anyhow, they don't have to do the talking now—the +parrot does it. I'd like to see my husband's mother +have a parrot—that's all!" Mrs. Catt twitched her +shawl expressively.</p> + +<p>"Poor Clay Wright Benton," said Mrs. Ray. "Just +to look at him you'd know it all. I do despise men who +haven't got any spirit; but if they have spirit of course +they're almost worse to get on with. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed!" said Mrs. Catt with meaning; +"well, good-by, Mrs. Ray."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Good-by."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Catt went out.</p> + +<p>It was only a few minutes later that Mrs. Wiley +arrived, with another large bundle wrapped up in +newspaper.</p> + +<p>"Don't stop your work," she said, putting it down +with a sigh. "Oh, you ain't sewing on my coat," she +added, in a tone of deep disappointment, evidently +seeing interruption in a changed light at once.</p> + +<p>"No, but I've cut it out. What you got there?"</p> + +<p>"I've got another suit of father's."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray eyed the bundle with thoughtfully compressed +lips, and gave her shawl a fresh tuck.</p> + +<p>"What you want made out of this one?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley hesitated. "It's such a handsome piece +of cloth," she said, "I'm willing to leave the cut to you, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +but I thought maybe you could get a winter jacket for +Lottie Ann out of this one?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray compressed her lips more, and frowned. +"I don't know about that," she said, shaking her head. +"I've had trouble enough with the last."</p> + +<p>"This was his new when he died. After he reached +three hundred. And it isn't worn anywhere. You can +get her big sleeves out of the hips, I think."</p> + +<p>"There's a good deal to a coat beside the sleeves," +said Mrs. Ray; "that coat of yours has most drove +me mad. I never thought of your bringing me another. +Well, unroll it and let me look at it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley began to unfasten the package.</p> + +<p>"Any moth-holes in this one?" Mrs. Ray asked, +with professional interest.</p> + +<p>"None to speak of. The only real hole is where he +sat down on a engine spark at the station, the day of +his last shock."</p> + +<p>"It isn't the suit he had on when the oil-tank exploded, +then?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Wiley; "that was the last but one. +The oil-tank was the middle one of his three shocks."</p> + +<p>She unfolded the garments and spread them out. +Mrs. Ray watched her, and continued her work at the +same time.</p> + +<p>"How's Lottie Ann?" she asked, presently.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's poorly," said Mrs. Wiley. "We're +getting awful worried over Lottie Ann. I thought +maybe you could get her fronts out of his fronts; you +see, she's slimmer than I am."</p> + +<p>"But her big spread will come lower than yours," +said Mrs. Ray; "is there any up and down to the +cloth? How much does she weigh, anyhow?"<span class="pagenum">[130]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, there is an up and down. Ninety-six last time. +That's mighty little for her height. She only wanted it +short, anyway."</p> + +<p>"It'll have to be short. Yes, indeed. Why you must +have weighed most double that at her age. It's too +bad men always have pockets."</p> + +<p>"He would have them; you know how father always +set store by pockets. There, that's the engine spark. +I don't know, I'm sure, what we'll do about her. Mr. +Wiley says his grandmother went just so—" Mrs. +Wiley's voice broke suddenly; she took out her handkerchief +and dried her eyes. "Do you see any way to +getting the fronts out?" she asked, falteringly, after a +minute.</p> + +<p>"You musn't look to the worst that way," said Mrs. +Ray, soothingly; "those thin girls pick up wonderfully. +The only way I see is if you've got braid. If +you've got any braid, I can piece it back of the braid. +She may marry and be as well as any one. Look at +her great-grandmother you just spoke of. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"I haven't got any braid. But I can buy some. Judy +was up from the St. Helena road yesterday, and she +said to give her milk—all she'll drink."</p> + +<p>"Turn it over so I can see the back," said Mrs. Ray; +"will she drink it, though? That's the question. She +was up for the mail two nights ago, and I thought she +looked pretty well-willed. That's a nice piece of cloth. +My, but you were lucky he didn't have it on when the +oil-tank exploded. Yes, indeed. It's better cloth than +the other."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what I think. That's just the trouble, +Mrs. Ray; she will <i>not</i> drink it."</p> + +<p>"You never was severe enough with her. Not but<span class="pagenum">[131]</span> +what if it hadn't burnt through you could get the oil +out, maybe."</p> + +<p>"I know it, but she's my only girl. I thought you +could use the same buttons. Eleven boys, and then that +one girl. She's named for Mr. Wiley's mother and my +mother. Charlotte, you know. See, Mrs. Ray, there's +six of each size, one on each cuff, too. And all so stout +but her. The boys and their father got together on the +hay scales the other day, and they went up over two +thousand pounds. Did you hear about it?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray stopped sewing and scanned the new +proposition with one eye half closed.</p> + +<p>"I'd have to piece the sleeves; you'd have to make +up your mind to that. Were they in the wagon?"</p> + +<p>"No, just standing on the scales. You think you can +manage it if you piece them—don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can manage it then. I can get my backs out +below the knee, and get her sides out of his backs."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Ray, you've taken a load off my mind. +I'm so glad to get these awful sad remembrances done +some good with. I made pillow-slips out of his nightshirts, +but his flannels will haunt me till I die. Eddy's +the only one of the boys that is ever going to grow to +them, and Eddy never wears flannel."</p> + +<p>"I should think you could use 'em up to cover the +ironing-table. Who did you say was picking chestnuts,—Mrs. +Lathbun and her daughter?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't said a word about them." Mrs. Wiley +opened her eyes widely. "But I'm hearing about them +all over. I don't believe she's her daughter any more +than you are. They're a nice pair, those two. Chestnuts +six dollars a bushel, and they picking them morn, +noon, and night. Have you seen Sammy Adams? He<span class="pagenum">[132]</span> +took them in the night before they got here, you know. +You heard of that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I did." Mrs. Ray's lips came together; "I +shall ask him all about that taking them in, the first +time I see him. Never bought a stamp yet! Such +doings! They're not respectable. Don't tell <i>me</i>."</p> + +<p>"You're terrible prejudiced in your opinions, Mrs. +Ray; you judge everybody by the stamps they buy."</p> + +<p>"It's all I have to judge strangers by," said Mrs. +Ray, "and it's a pretty good guide, too. Mrs. Lathbun +don't buy stamps and nobody can't tell me that she's +on the square. Wait till I see Sammy!"</p> + +<p>"When do you think you can try mine on?" asked +Mrs. Wiley.</p> + +<p>"Will next Thursday do?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I don't want to wear it till Thanksgiving; +I won't go to Buffalo till Christmas. Lottie Ann won't +want hers till then."</p> + +<p>"I can do them both by Thanksgiving," said Mrs. +Ray. "I've got a few little jobs to do for others, +and I want to build a new back fence, and I guess +I'm going to get the contract for whitewashing the +church cellar, I'm bidding on it. But after that, except +for my house-cleaning and my boarders and my +regular duties under the United States Government, I +haven't got anything particular on hand."</p> + +<p>"I'll be so glad," said Mrs. Wiley, moving towards +the door. "We're all so kind of upset about not knowing +whether Uncle Purchase will come and live with +us or not if the dam goes through, that I want to have +my things in order, anyhow. He wrote, you know."</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't know, but I guess he'll come and live +with you, anyway," said Mrs. Ray; "good-by."<span class="pagenum">[133]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley went out, and before long there was +another caller,—Clay Wright Benton himself this +time, usually called "poor Clay Wright Benton" by his +friends, for the simple reason that he was Sarah Benton's +husband, and his mother's son.</p> + +<p>"How d'ye do," he said, opening the door a few +inches and looking in through it. "No, I won't come +in; I only stopped to speak about the hay. You said +I could have it, you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," said Mrs. Ray; "but I said, if you +came before October first. That's past now, and Elmer +took it off yesterday. Him and his dog was here at +sun up and away again by noon. You see now what it +is to take your own time."</p> + +<p>Clay Wright Benton stood still, turning his cap about +and about.</p> + +<p>"I thought you knew I wanted it," he said, finally; +"I couldn't come sooner."</p> + +<p>"I did know. But I thought you needed a lesson. +Nobody that wants to get ahead in this world can take +their own time. You've got to be a little ahead of other +people's time if you really want to make your mark. +How's Susan? Got back from her father's yet?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the man; "she's going to stay till +Thanksgiving. She was so awful tired of the parrot."</p> + +<p>"Look out you don't leave her too long—same as +the hay," said Mrs. Ray, cheerfully. "Who's that +coming up the steps behind you? I can feel the draught +as long as you stand there in the crack, but I can't see +through your body."</p> + +<p>Clay Wright Benton moved aside, and Mrs. Dunstall +pushed past him. "I'm sorry I was late about the<span class="pagenum">[134]</span> +hay," he said then, and went slowly away. Mrs. Benton +and his mother had left very little spirit in him.</p> + +<p>"What did he come for?" asked Mrs. Dunstall, +shutting the door tightly. "I'm sorry for Susan. She +married him for his looks, and looks is all he ever had +to give her." The attitude of the community was that +of larger communities towards the humbly unsuccessful +in life.</p> + +<p>"He ain't giving her even looks, any more," said +Mrs. Ray; "she's gone home, and his looks is gone +heaven knows where. No man was ever so handsome +yet that he could rise above needing to shave."</p> + +<p>"He'll make his fortune if the dam goes through, +though," observed Mrs. Dunstall; "he owns all the +land above Ledgeville."</p> + +<p>"He'll never see her for dust then," said Mrs. Ray, +drily. "She'll leave him to keep house for Gran'ma +Benton and the parrot. Well, what did you come for?"</p> + +<p>"I was walking by, and I thought I'd just stop and +ask you if you'd heard about that Mrs. Lathbun and +her daughter staying all night with Sammy Adams? +Josiah Bates was up that way for a load of apples and +he heard of it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray became rigid. "I have heard of it," she +said; "but not from Sammy. He was here and never +said a thing about it, but some one else told me. So +it's all over town now, is it?"</p> + +<p>"They was walking across country and there came +on a rain and they stopped for shelter and it was +Sammy's where they stopped."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray sewed very fast. "I always said they were +tramps anyway," she said, haughtily; "now you'll all +see."<span class="pagenum">[135]</span></p> + +<p>"Seems funny Sammy never told you about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, he never did."</p> + +<p>"He tells you everything—don't he?"</p> + +<p>"I thought so."</p> + +<p>"It couldn't be he really took a fancy to either of +'em," reflected Mrs. Dunstall; "I don't think they're +good-looking."</p> + +<p>"Good-looking!"</p> + +<p>"But you know, men are queer, Mrs. Ray. There +was Mr. Ray. He was queer."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray gave her thread a jerk that broke it.</p> + +<p>"They never get any letter, do they? You said +they never did, didn't you?" Mrs. Dunstall was all +query.</p> + +<p>"No, they never get any letters."</p> + +<p>"They claim to come from Cromwell, don't they?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I never heard. I wouldn't believe +anything they said. No trunks and stealing +chestnuts all over. I never!"</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it be a funny thing if, after all these +years, some stranger like those two was to come in from +saints-know-where and marry Sammy?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it would be funny," said Mrs. Ray, "very +funny. Yes, indeed. Yes, it would be <i>very</i> funny!"</p> + +<p>"I thought I'd just stop and tell you," said Mrs. +Dunstall. "I knew you'd be interested. I know you're +such a friend of Sammy's. I thought if you knew, +maybe you could look 'em up a little. Nathan's got +an aunt living in Cromwell. If I was you I'd look 'em +up, Mrs. Ray."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray opened her scissors like the jaws of a +shark.</p> + +<p>"I <i>am</i> looking 'em up," she said, and the scissors<span class="pagenum">[136]</span> +closed with a snap full of meaning; "they'll soon find +what it means to get no letters and write no letters and +stop with Sammy Adams when it rains. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>Two hours later every one in the township—that +is, every one except the boarders of the O'Neil House—knew +that Mrs. Ray was actively advocating an investigation +into the Lathbuns' history.</p> + +<p>"I guess she'll find out a good deal," said Samuel +Peterkin to Judy, as they drove home towards the St. +Helena road.</p> + +<p>The scene far and near was one maddest autumn +blaze of beauty.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Ray will never let up on him till she does," +said Judy; "she's awful mad at Sammy."</p> + +<p>The road bent between giant pines, and revealed the +gray facade of the High Banks beyond, stretching in +gigantic grandeur between the black shadows below +and the bewildering colors above.</p> + +<p>"If these trees was down, what a long ways we could +see along the river," said Samuel.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Judy, "trees is dreadfully in the way +when you want to see. And to think that Mr. Ledge is +always talking about having planted ten thousand of +them. People are curious."</p> + +<p>The sun came out upon the horizon behind them at +that minute, and shot a shaft of glory down the cañon, +illuminating all the gray rock with silver.</p> + +<p>"There, now," said Judy; "it's late when it's like +that. It's right in our eyes, too. We must hurry."</p> + +<p>"I told you you were staying too long," said Samuel; +"and you know as well as I do that nobody can trot +the St. Helena hill."<span class="pagenum">[137]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE BROADER MEANING</p> + +<p>It is surprising how quickly any situation can be assimilated. +Be it ever so pleasant or ever so painful, +we get accustomed to its demands surprisingly soon, +and whether it is the fact that one has just gotten a +fortune, or just gotten the toothache, in either case it +seems as if one had had it always, before one has +hardly had it at all.</p> + +<p>Lassie learned this with great rapidity. Before three +days had passed by, she discovered that the deep and +earnest joy in Alva's mind had eradicated all the horror +in her own. Alva's love ceased to seem shocking—it +seemed, instead, more like some beautiful, mysterious +wonder. Lassie came to hear her friend talk without +any distress—only with a sort of wistful ignorance—a +longing to fathom depths not before even apprehended.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't strike me as it did at first at all," she +said to Ingram one night, as they went for the mail +together. "All that I think of now is how happy she +looks. Did you ever see any one look as happy as +she does?"</p> + +<p>"She's very happy, surely," said Ingram; "but +what uses me up is that she is looking forward +so. Why, that man is dying—he may die any day<span class="pagenum">[138]</span>—and +she thinks that he will come here. He can't +ever come here, not possibly!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, can't he?" Lassie cried, in real distress, +"are you sure of that?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. He knows it, too."</p> + +<p>"But she doesn't know it?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think that he ought to tell her, then?"</p> + +<p>Ingram did not speak for a minute. "Perhaps some +miracle may come to pass, and he may live," he said +then; "you see, he has lived three weeks longer than +any man in his circumstances ought to expect to +live."</p> + +<p>"Oh, then he hasn't got to die soon?"</p> + +<p>Ingram knit his brows in the dark. "I can't explain +myself clearly," he said; "but it seems to me that he +and Alva sort of rise above rules, so to speak. Part of +the time she's as she always was—just as we are—and +then again I feel as if she herself had gone and left +me sitting with just a figure of some sort.—" He +paused. "I expect he's the same way," he added, +after a second; "it's all beyond me."</p> + +<p>"It's strange, isn't it?" Lassie spoke thoughtfully. +"She's very sweet and lovely, and dear with it all. +But I know just what you mean; I've seen it, too. She +is talking, and then she stops and that white look comes +over her face, and I never speak then until she does. +Do you know," she said, almost timidly, "I keep +thinking of things I've read in books about the Middle +Ages,—about saints; about 'ecstasy,' they called it. +We say 'ecstasies' about hats, or little dogs, or the +flowers at Easter; but when Alva has been talking +about her life in that house and stops to think, and I<span class="pagenum">[139]</span> +see her face, I feel as if I understood what the word +really and truly meant."</p> + +<p>"I suppose there's no danger of her converting you," +said Ingram; "it's all very well for her, but I should +hate to have you that way."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked the girl, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"It isn't human, that's why," the man declared, +energetically. "We're past the Middle Ages," he +added, with a little laugh, "far past now."</p> + +<p>"You think that people can be too good?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do. I wouldn't marry a woman like her for +anything!"</p> + +<p>"But you thought differently once," said Lassie, +shyly.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, easily, "I wanted to marry her once, +but she wouldn't have it at all. Droll—isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"We're ever so far by the post-office; do you know +it?" she said.</p> + +<p>"So we are; I'd forgotten all about the mail."</p> + +<p>They turned back.</p> + +<p>"But I don't believe that Alva ever could make you +see life in the way that she does," Ingram said, tentatively; +"does she ever try?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," said Lassie; "she just talks +to me of her happiness."</p> + +<p>"What would become of the world, I wonder, if +every one adopted her views," suggested the man.</p> + +<p>They turned in at Mrs. Ray's gate just here. The +mail was distributed, and every one else had taken +theirs and gone.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're a little late," said Mrs. Ray, cheerfully. +"Mary Cody run up for the house letters when +she saw you go by. Have a nice walk?"<span class="pagenum">[140]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, very," said Ingram.</p> + +<p>"You're great walkers down your way. Mrs. Lathbun +and her daughter walk all day long, seems to +me."</p> + +<p>"They do walk a good deal," said Lassie.</p> + +<p>Then she and Ingram went back to the hotel. They +found Alva standing by the dining-room door with +her lamp and her letters in her hand. Mrs. O'Neil +stood close before her.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't worry," said Alva to Mrs. O'Neil; +"I don't believe one word of it."</p> + +<p>"When they're out to-morrow I shall sweep the room +<i>myself</i>," said Mrs. O'Neil, decidedly; "you can learn +a good deal about people by sweeping their room." +Then they all separated, Ingram going to his letters, +their hostess to her husband, and Alva and Lassie to +their cosy nest up-stairs.</p> + +<p>"What was the matter?" Lassie asked, directly +their doors were shut.</p> + +<p>"Nothing especial," Alva said, laughing; "it was +just that Mrs. Ray came here this afternoon and +rather upset Mrs. O'Neil by talking about Mrs. Lathbun +and her daughter."</p> + +<p>"What did she say?"</p> + +<p>"She didn't say anything in particular—she just +talked."</p> + +<p>"What did she talk, then?"</p> + +<p>"She talked all sorts of things; she doesn't like +them at all. She doesn't consider them nice."</p> + +<p>Lassie was silent. She was conscious of a painful +lack of admiration for either Mrs. Lathbun or her +daughter, herself.</p> + +<p>A freight train began to roll by and ended conversation<span class="pagenum">[141]</span> +for the time being. Alva went to the window and +stood there. After a while she spoke musingly.</p> + +<p>"Everything must have a purpose. Every action +has to have a thought behind it. If we could only +see through the veil!"</p> + +<p>The train, which had come to a standstill, now began +to move again, cracking and straining at first, then +going on with a terrific roar.</p> + +<p>"They serve their purpose surely—the freight +trains," Alva said; "even if they did nothing else, +their noise accomplishes something. One might forget +life so easily in this corner of the world, if it were +not for them."</p> + +<p>Lassie laughed. "But they serve a few more purposes +than that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. I never deny the broader meaning +in life—if the world's view <i>is</i> the broader one—but +trains mean such a great deal besides what they carry, +in a little bit of a town. I used to think that they came +pretty close to being all the meaning that life had to the +people there, and I still wonder sometimes if it isn't +so. I've lived here well over one week now, and really +it seems to me that the trains, their comings and goings, +and whether they do them on time or not, are the only +topics of conversation that are ever broached."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they talk about other things when we're +not around," suggested Lassie, wisely.</p> + +<p>"I hadn't thought of that. Or perhaps they think +the trains our only mutual interest. You know, +Lassie, there really is no one that is stupid, unless you +do your half towards being stupid, too. It's like the +crash in the wilderness, which doesn't mean sound +unless there are ears to hear it."<span class="pagenum">[142]</span></p> + +<p>"I never thought of that," said Lassie; "isn't +there really any sound in the wilderness? What happens +when the tigers roar?"</p> + +<p>"But of course they do talk about other things here," +Alva continued, paying no attention to her friend's +flippancy. "They talk about the dam, and they talk +about me."</p> + +<p>"What do you suppose they say about you?" +Lassie asked, curiously.</p> + +<p>"I know exactly what they say," Alva replied, a +real amusement curling her lips; "they say that +Ronald and I are going to be married and live in that +house while he builds the dam."</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"But I didn't know that the dam was decided on."</p> + +<p>"It isn't, my dear, and I don't believe myself that +there ever will be any dam. I can't believe that this +State, even in her grossest materialism, will have the +face to accept a royal gift and then turn around and +give it away in direct contradiction of the terms of its +acceptance."</p> + +<p>"Is it as bad as that?"</p> + +<p>"It's very bad. That dear old gentleman has made +the preservation of this wonder of nature the realized +dream of his whole life. He's carried through no end +of other big philanthropic schemes, but he never for +one instant allowed anything to turn him aside from +this one. He told me himself how he had rewooded +the banks—he has planted thousands and thousands +of trees—and now to have the whole threatened. +It's shameful, shameful!"</p> + +<p>"Does every one know how you feel?"<span class="pagenum">[143]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, every one knows how I feel."</p> + +<p>"What do they think themselves?"</p> + +<p>"I believe the predominant sentiment in Ledge is +that it will be entertaining to see Ledgeville drowned +for good and all."</p> + +<p>Lassie laughed.</p> + +<p>The freight train was all gone by now. Alva turned +from the window and came back to a seat beside her +friend, sinking upon it with a little sigh.</p> + +<p>"All this goes very near with me, dear," she said, +gently; "loving Nature and fighting for the future has +been <i>his</i> life-work, you know."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Lassie said, softly.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the older one leaned close and put her arms +about the young girl. "It's so heaven-blessed to have +you here,—it makes me so happy."</p> + +<p>"I'm very happy, too," said Lassie. "I never had +just the feeling before in my life that I have with you +these days—it's as if nothing could ever come between +us. Sort of as if we had been sealed to a compact."</p> + +<p>Alva patted the brown waves of hair. "That's the +understanding of true friendship, dear," she said; +"nothing ever can come between us. Once two people +realize mutual truth, how can anything come between +them again? All the trouble in the world arises out of +falseness. Search in your mind, and see if it isn't +so?"</p> + +<p>Lassie reflected. "You're putting so many new ideas +into my head," she said, "I suppose I'll go home with +nothing of my old self left in me."</p> + +<p>"Not quite that," said Alva. "Your old self +wasn't so bad, Lassie, dear. But the world has a way +of hammering all its votaries into a certain set of molds,<span class="pagenum">[144]</span> +and I'd like to see you casting, instead of cast,—do +you know the difference?"</p> + +<p>"Alva," said Lassie, with sudden appealing earnestness, +"you weren't like this when I saw you last; what +changed you?"</p> + +<p>"I had the convictions then, but not the courage. +Now I have the courage, too."</p> + +<p>"What gave you the courage?"</p> + +<p>"Surely you can divine?"</p> + +<p>"Love."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, love. Love for him. All courage has +its root in love of some kind."</p> + +<p>"Alva, you teach me more each day."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I'll teach you more and more and more +yet, and so on and so on until we part, and then I'll go +on learning myself."</p> + +<p>"Hasn't your lesson any end?"</p> + +<p>"Love hasn't any end, dear, any more than it has +any beginning. And so my lesson hasn't any end, +either."</p> + +<p>"But—"</p> + +<p>"I know what you are going to say, but that isn't +real love. That which can end has never been,—all +the real things in existence are eternal."</p> + +<p>"But they—the people that—well, you know, +they thought that it was love—didn't they?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, and little children think that there are +bears in dark closets, and ever so many people think +that money buys happiness. The world is full of lies, +Lassie, but if one puts the test to them they all fade +away. You don't understand yet—but wait."</p> + +<p>"I want to understand."</p> + +<p>"But you are not ready to understand yet."<span class="pagenum">[145]</span></p> + +<p>"But I am ready, I will learn to be ready."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I'm going to teach you. But I have to +go slowly because I have to hunt for the words. You +are such a little thing—such a baby—to be trusted +with life; because you see most people never live—they +just exist. They are only a few steps up on the +staircase, and when they are dragged or pushed above +the place that they are in by nature, they are apt to be +dizzy. I want to teach you life, Lassie; but I don't +want to make you dizzy." She paused, and a whimsical +little smile danced across her face; "and besides, dear, +we must get undressed. It is after ten o'clock."</p> + +<p>"Just a minute more, Alva; it seems as if I cannot +break off right here. And I won't be dizzy. I know +that whatever you think and do must be right and best. +I want to learn to think just as you do. I want to be +told how you learned. I always knew you were so +very good, and truly, dear, I wouldn't have been surprised +if you'd chosen to marry a missionary or to go +to that island where the lepers are—not after the first +minute, you know; it would have been just like you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, Lassie, it wouldn't have been like me at +all. For ever so many reasons. My first duty in life—the +duty that comes before every other—is to my +father and mother. No claim could be strong enough +to justify my leaving them; and then, besides, I'm +not a Christian, except in the sense that I believe with +Christ, and that isn't enough for any mission or any +leper nowadays."</p> + +<p>There was a little pause; then Lassie said: "But +you are going to leave your father and mother now, +aren't you?"</p> + +<p>Alva smiled. "But for such a little while, dear,"<span class="pagenum">[146]</span> +she said, gently; "you forget how short the time is +to be!" There was an instant's pause and then she +turned suddenly and her face had the bright color +of deep emotion flaming in it. "Lassie, Lassie," she +exclaimed, with a strength of feeling that startled +the other into a sudden cry, "I'm trying to be calm, +I'm trying to talk to you quietly,—I don't want you +to think me a mad woman,—but I am so much closer +to some other keener, sharper world of soul and sensation +than you or any one can realize, that I can hardly +curb myself to the dull, unknowing, unfeeling, throb, +throb, of this one. Don't you know, Lassie, that +people are getting married every day,"—she stopped +and pressed her hands tightly together, her eyes starring +the pallor of her face with that curious radiance of which +the young girl had spoken to Ronald. "Oh," she +went on, "to think that people are getting married +every day because they need cooks or because they need +care, or because the man has money or because the +girl is pretty, and they go forth un-understanding, and +they live along somehow; and the word that means +their sort of companionship is all that I can use to +speak of the evening that I shall return here, his wife, +and fall on my knees beside him and realize that +all my loneliness and waiting and hoping has ended, +and that at last—at last—we are to be together, +even if only for a few weeks, a few days, a few hours. +A foretaste of eternity! A memory of what was in the +beginning of all things!"</p> + +<p>Ceasing to speak, she clasped her hands more tightly +yet, and her eyes closed slowly. Lassie sat still and +trembling. Her breath came unevenly, but she saw +that Alva's swept in and out of her bosom with a wide<span class="pagenum">[147]</span> +evenness that belies unconquered emotion. After a +minute the other opened her eyes and laid her hand +lightly upon the girl's head. "I frighten you, I know +that I frighten you," she said; "you think that I am +crazy after all."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't, Alva; but I can't think what kind of +a man the man can be to make you feel that marrying +him will be so different from marrying any other man."</p> + +<p>"You can't think, because you don't know what love +can mean to people—what it has meant to him or +what it has meant to me."</p> + +<p>Then she sprang up and began to undress herself +rapidly.</p> + +<p>"I don't see how you can bring yourself back to +earth, Alva, after you have felt like that."</p> + +<p>Alva smiled. "But we must live on the earth, Lassie, +and be of the earth. We are made for the earth. God +gave us our souls, and he gave us our bodies, too. +And he meant both to work together."</p> + +<p>Lassie sat still and meditative. She had herself +been carried out beyond her depth and could not get +back easily. She was, in truth, a little dizzy.<span class="pagenum">[148]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE WAR-PATH</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray in the post-office managed to keep track +of Mrs. O'Neil's personal sweeping of the +Lathbun bedroom until it was terminated. Then +she left the United States Government's appointment +in charge of Mr. Ray's first wife's youngest daughter, +and hied herself down the hill.</p> + +<p>Mary Cody and Mrs. O'Neil were in the kitchen +discussing the results of the investigation when she +entered.</p> + +<p>"Well, you'll never guess what I found," said the +landlord's wife; "you'd never guess if you guessed +till Doomsday."</p> + +<p>"What did you find?" Mrs. Ray tucked in the ends +of her shawl with fierce joy,—"a pistol?"</p> + +<p>"No;" Nellie O'Neil's brown eyes glowed and her +face shone; "guess again."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't guess," said Mrs. Ray, impatiently. +"A monkey? A love-letter from the king of England? +A lot of stamps? I don't know,—I can't guess."</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil nodded her head very slowly, and with +deeply seated meaning.</p> + +<p>"Go on," said Mrs. Ray, "tell me. I'm in a hurry. +Yes, I am."</p> + +<p>"I found six case-knives!"</p> + +<p>"Six case-knives!"<span class="pagenum">[149]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what I found."</p> + +<p>"Six case-knives! Well, of all the—What did +they want them for?"</p> + +<p>"One was broke off short."</p> + +<p>"Any blood on it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Ray!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I just asked."</p> + +<p>"They were all clean."</p> + +<p>"And one broke off?—hum!"</p> + +<p>"What do you think about it, Mrs. Ray?"</p> + +<p>"I hope it'll be a lesson to Sammy Adams never to +take two strange women in on a rainy night again. +The Bible, even, is severe on strange women."</p> + +<p>"Did he take them in?" Mrs. O'Neil opened her +brown eyes widely.</p> + +<p>"Take them in! He kept them all night. Haven't +you heard about it? And never told me, either. That's +just like a man. Flattering himself that I'd give a +second thought to any woman living. Six, you say, +Nellie, and one broke off?"</p> + +<p>"The broken one is one of the six."</p> + +<p>"They could have broken it off in his heart, just +as easy! My, to think of the chances that man took! +Didn't they have anything else? Did you look under +the mattress?"</p> + +<p>"Yes,—I looked everywhere. There's a hair-brush +that I'd have thrown into the gorge a year ago +if it had been mine, and a bent pin and a broken mirror, +and that's all."</p> + +<p>"I declare. Well, it's a very good thing that I set +you to looking them up. Yes, indeed. I shall look +them up in all directions now, myself. I shan't leave a +stone unturned that I can even tip up on one side. To<span class="pagenum">[150]</span> +think of those case-knives! And one broke off! And +Sammy Adams taking them in like that! But then, it +isn't for you to criticize him, Nellie, for you've taken +them in yourself. You can thank your stars you +haven't had a case-knife stuck in you before now. +How do they carry them, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"They were wrapped in a piece of red flannel."</p> + +<p>"Red flannel! Why, you said all they had beside +the knives was the hair-brush and the mirror. Red +flannel,—hum! So blood wouldn't show on it, I +expect. Was the edge of the blade of the broken one +rusted at all?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I noticed."</p> + +<p>"Noticed!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you want to come up and see for yourself, +Mrs. Ray?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. They might come in. It wouldn't +look well for any one in the employ of the United States +Government to be found spying about, you know. I'm +always having to consider my country. Yes, indeed. +But what do you suppose they have those knives for? +I never heard of such a thing in all my life. Even if +they used them for tooth-brushes, they'd only want +one apiece."</p> + +<p>"I think you'd better come up-stairs."</p> + +<p>"And Sammy Adams taking them in like that! +That poor innocent! Not but what he was a fool; +think of me opening my doors to two tramps!"</p> + +<p>"Come on up-stairs. They won't be back till noon. +They've gone chestnutting in the Wiley wood. They +can't be back till noon."</p> + +<p>The door opened just here, and Alva came in with +Lassie behind her.<span class="pagenum">[151]</span></p> + +<p>"Have you told them?" Mrs. Ray asked.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" Alva asked.</p> + +<p>"We don't know what to think about Mrs. Lathbun +and her daughter," said Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>Alva glanced quickly into both their faces and then +at Lassie.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray tucked the ends of her shawl in, folded +her arms, and closed her lips tightly for a second before +opening them to speak. "I never did like their +looks," she declared. "I'm not surprised over what's +come out!"</p> + +<p>"I never liked their looks, either," said Lassie, +"but what is it? Has anything happened?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Ray, "nothing in particular, only +we're beginning to find them out. You can't pretend +to be somebody forever without any trunks. Case-knives +are good in their way, but they don't take the +place of trunks."</p> + +<p>"Case-knives!" Alva exclaimed. "Oh, what do +you mean?"</p> + +<p>"There, Nellie, you see how they strike any one," +said Mrs. Ray, with deep meaning.</p> + +<p>"But have they case-knives with them?" Alva asked,—"not +really?"</p> + +<p>Then Mrs. O'Neil told her story.</p> + +<p>"You'd better all lock your doors nights after this," +said Mrs. Ray; "you don't want to take Sammy +Adams' chances if you can help it."</p> + +<p>"But what should they have the knives for?" Lassie +asked.</p> + +<p>"They have their reasons," said Mrs. Ray, darkly; +"you know you told me the other day, Nellie, that the +reason why they sat in the kitchen with their feet in<span class="pagenum">[152]</span> +the oven so much was because their shoes was all wore +out; they've got their reasons for everything they do, +depend on it. If they're honest, why don't they have +their shoes patched when they're wore out? If they +were respectable, why didn't that girl buy some black +laces instead of wearing brown ones. I always keep +black shoe-laces in my grocery business."</p> + +<p>"Maybe she doesn't know that," suggested Lassie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she does know," said Mrs. Ray, "for I told +her so one day when she played come for mail."</p> + +<p>"I didn't know you kept shoe-laces," said Mrs. +O'Neil. "I've always bought them in Buffalo."</p> + +<p>"Well, I do. Yes, indeed. I keep pretty nearly +everything—except case-knives. There's nothing out +of place in keeping shoe-laces in a grocery business, +not until after you begin to wear them, and for my own +part they seem to me just as decent as shoe buttons +which all the town would be up in surprise if I didn't +have them in my grocery business."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I knew you kept shoe buttons," said Mrs. +O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"I keep everything, except strange women travelling +after dark. My store is a general one. I thank heaven +there's nothing of the specialist in me. I'd of starved +if there was, or been obliged to charge very high for +very little work, which would mean starving in a while +anyhow, so being no doctor I couldn't stay a specialist +long even if I tried."</p> + +<p>"I think you ought to come up-stairs and see their +room, Mrs. Ray," Mrs. O'Neil said, going back to the +main question.</p> + +<p>"What is it about their room?" Lassie asked.</p> + +<p>"There isn't anything about it—that's what it is,"<span class="pagenum">[153]</span> +said Mrs. Ray; "respectable people always have things +about their room. Yes, indeed. But of course women +walking across country nights can't carry much fancy +fixings even if they don't mind stopping all night wherever +the rain catches them."</p> + +<p>"Did they stop over night anywhere?" Lassie +asked.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray adjusted her shawl. "Such doings!" +she muttered; "I never heard the like. That's one +way to work the game. I never had any game. I +just had the work. Whenever there came up something +as had to be done that nobody in town could do, I +was glad to learn how for the money. Yes, indeed. +And now they come along and live on the fat of the land, +case-knives and all."</p> + +<p>"Do let's go up and see the room," pleaded Mrs. +O'Neil.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray wavered. "Well, if Mary Cody will +stand in the hall and watch?" she stipulated.</p> + +<p>"And you must come, too," said Mrs. O'Neil to +her two guests; "there isn't anything to see—it +isn't prying—it's just the wonder how they can get +along without anything at all that way."</p> + +<p>Alva was rather pale.</p> + +<p>"Do let's go," Lassie whispered.</p> + +<p>Alva smiled sadly. "Yes, we'll go," she said.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil called Mary Cody and stationed her +below. Then they all four mounted the stairs and went +along the plain hall to the plain door at the end.</p> + +<p>"You keep everything very neat, Nellie," said Mrs. +Ray; "it's a pity you don't stick to nice people who can +appreciate nice things. If you go taking in people like +the Lathbuns too often, you might just as well give up<span class="pagenum">[154]</span> +and get the name for it. I wouldn't dare stay under the +same roof with them, myself."</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil made no answer, simply pressing the +door at the end of the hall and—as the door yielded—entering +first.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray and Lassie were next. Alva did not go +in, but stood still in the doorway.</p> + +<p>It is hard to conceive the special effect of that interior +on each of the four.</p> + +<p>"Did you have any little things around before you +swept?" Mrs. Ray asked, standing in the middle like +the head of some royal commission in the days of the +Dissolution.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil—in the capacity of the layman left +to represent the monks flown—replied that she had +found all as bare as now.</p> + +<p>"Well, you told the truth, Nellie," her friend remarked; +"there's the hair-brush and here's the mirror. +But where are the knives?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil pulled open the upper drawer, and in +one corner lay the roll of red flannel.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray unrolled the knives and examined them +with care. A case-knife is rather limited as to its power +of revelation, however, and she soon laid them down.</p> + +<p>"Well, I never!" she said, with heaviest emphasis.</p> + +<p>"What do they sleep in, or wash with?" Mrs. O'Neil +suggested.</p> + +<p>"The towels are yours, of course, Nellie?"</p> + +<p>"Of course."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked around the simple bedroom with its +absolute bareness. She felt pitiful.</p> + +<p>"They're comin' over the post-office hill!" Mary +Cody suddenly yelled below. The effect was magical.<span class="pagenum">[155]</span></p> + +<p>Lassie and Alva fled into their room.</p> + +<p>"I feel like a burglar myself," exclaimed the young +girl, as she shut their door.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray was going down the stairs in the hall outside. +"There," she exclaimed, "did you hear that? +That's the way it goes when you harbor criminals. +They're very catching."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you really think they're criminals?" Mrs. +O'Neil asked, in great distress.</p> + +<p>"Well, Nellie, put the case-knives and Sammy +Adams together, and then the way they pick up other +folks' chestnuts and having no comb and only half a +brush for the two of 'em—it looks bad in my eyes."</p> + +<p>"But what shall I do?" Mrs. O'Neil asked.</p> + +<p>"Ask Jack if they pay their board regularly; that'll +help you to know some," propounded the postmistress +solemnly, and then she returned to her government +duties forthwith.<span class="pagenum">[156]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="h3">ANOTHER PATH</p> + +<p>As Lassie closed the door, Alva moved to her +favorite post by the window and stood there +looking out; the young girl looked anxiously towards +her friend. "What happens to those people doesn't +really matter to us, does it?" she asked after a minute, +some atmosphere of trouble permeating her.</p> + +<p>"Everything matters, dear."</p> + +<p>"But, Alva, you hardly know them, and they <i>are</i> +common."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so, dear, but that room,—two weeks in +that room with nothing, no comforts such as we think +absolutely essential—oh, it makes me feel terribly. +Life is such a puzzle. Ledge seemed such a simple-hearted, +secluded little nook,—and first I ran into +the big, soul-wringing problem of the dam, and now +here are these two lives. Lassie, whatever else they may +or may not be, they are human. It can't be joy to +live like that. There must be some reason for their +doing as they do, and I can see no reason except the +one the girl told me."</p> + +<p>Lassie began to wash and brush for dinner; Alva +continued to stand at the window.</p> + +<p>"That was the first time that I ever went into a +room where I was possibly not wanted," she continued, +presently. "It seemed so strange. And such a room,<span class="pagenum">[157]</span> +too. Oh, it all has made me fairly heart-sick. I +wonder what the end is to be. As I say so often, +there are no accidents, no chance happenings in life; +if anything enters within my circle, there is a reason for +it. Either they are to do for me, or I am to do for them, +and I wish I knew which it were to be. I am so sorry +for them!"</p> + +<p>"Then you don't think that they can be doing wrong—are +perhaps bad?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Alva, firmly; "I'll never think that of +any one. Nobody is ever bad. The word is too complete. +It says more than it means to express."</p> + +<p>"They couldn't be going to do anything for you."</p> + +<p>"How can you tell, Lassie? Sometimes in doing +for others we do a thousand times more for ourselves. +Haven't you learned that yet?"</p> + +<p>"No, not yet—not with people of that sort."</p> + +<p>"They don't look to be so wrong," Alva spoke half-musingly. +"They just look like plain, quiet people. +I'm sure there's no evil in them!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she made up the love affair?"</p> + +<p>"She never made that man up, Lassie; that man is +a real man. You can't 'make up' men like that."</p> + +<p>"But if he is rich and loves her, would he let her +be living this way and chasing her around that way. +That does seem so awfully funny, to me,—for a rich +man to spend the nights outside the window of a girl +who hasn't even a change of pocket-handkerchiefs,—and +she isn't pretty either, you have to admit that, +Alva?"</p> + +<p>"Lassie, you do look at everything from such a +petty, worldly standpoint. Of course it isn't your fault, +but you judge too easily. How do you know what rule<span class="pagenum">[158]</span> +governs that man; there are some men that no one can +understand,—they seem to be a race apart. All their +springs of action differ from the usual sources. I've +been in love with such a man—I'm in love with him +now—I am going to marry him. The ordinary woman +wouldn't care much for a love that had to be set aside +for bigger things, as his for me was at first. But I +understood. I accepted the situation. All situations +have their key—their clue—if one can get a little +way outside of body and senses, and then study them +thoughtfully."</p> + +<p>"Well, but if the man is an exceptional man as yours +is, what can interest him in such a girl?"</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head. "You don't find her interesting, +and you will never go near enough to her spirit +to change your view; but she interests me, and some day +you'll come to see that every human being is full of +interest, if we will but take the trouble to hunt the +interest out. I have learned that lesson, and all that I +can think of is the apparent trouble and need of these +two."</p> + +<p>"Would you have a man as great as the man you +love, marry such a girl with such a mother, Alva?"</p> + +<p>"I would have people who love sincerely always +marry, whoever they love."</p> + +<p>"But if he is so wild that a woman who hasn't even +an extra hairpin wants to hide her daughter from him, +do you think he'll make her happy?"</p> + +<p>There was a pause.</p> + +<p>"Lassie," her friend said, presently, "do you know +I used to be just like you. I saw only the finite, +too."</p> + +<p>"Yes?"<span class="pagenum">[159]</span></p> + +<p>"Yes, and I often wonder what would have become +of me if I had not learned through love to finally escape +out of the bonds and shackles of ordinary conditions, +and to contemplate them only as either behind or below +me. How can we judge in the case of another? All +that I know absolutely in this case is that I have strayed +into the midst of a pitiful story. All I can do is to try +to help that pain. That poor girl is nothing but a +passing ghost to you; to me she is a link in the chain-armor +of life that covers my spirit during its earthly war. +As I said before, there are no chance meetings, there +are no accidents; there's nothing trivial in life after +one once grasps the greatness of the whole. You can +make things trivial by belittling them, or you can make +them great. I make Miss Lathbun great because a +man who is great is interested in her."</p> + +<p>"But how do you know that he's great? Or that he +is interested in her? She may have made it all up; I +think that she did, myself."</p> + +<p>Alva turned from the window.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," she said, approaching the girl +and laying her hand on her shoulder, "I feel as if there +were a thick veil between us; how can I tell you what I +think, when you don't want to understand what I try +to say? Suppose she did make it up? Suppose she +and her mother are anything you please? Still, I'd +be glad that I believed in them. One little grain of +real belief may possibly be the seed of a new life for +them; and even if it isn't, think what it means to me to +be able to believe in people. It means that I am looking +for good, instead of looking for evil. Can't you see how +much better that must be for me personally?"</p> + +<p>Lassie lifted her eyes to see what she called "the<span class="pagenum">[160]</span> +white look," on Alva's face. She felt ashamed of her +own standpoint.</p> + +<p>At that instant the dinner-bell rang loudly below.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll see them now!" Lassie exclaimed, all +other thoughts fading.</p> + +<p>Alva gave her a quiet glance. "Yes, we'll see them +now," she said, turning towards the door.<span class="pagenum">[161]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">AND STILL ANOTHER PATH</p> + +<p>It is difficult for one who has never taken an ocean +voyage or lived in a small village to realize the +tremendous strides which interest, friendship, love, or +confidence can make in a very few days, or even hours. +I met three girls once whose kind parents had provided +them with a chaperon and sent them abroad to improve +their minds. They met men on the Lusitania (a record +trip, too) going over, and all three were engaged when +they landed. Instead of improving their minds in +Europe, they bought their trousseaux, and then came +home (another record trip) and were married. A small +village is just the same; one is introduced and after +that it goes like the wind. Women tell each other everything +that they shouldn't, and virtues which would never +be noticed in a city beget the deepest and sincerest +admiration and affection. The dearth of conventionality +and variety draw spirits easily together. Perhaps +the purer air is a universal solvent for pride and prejudice. +At any rate, to make a long story short, Lassie +and Ingram were in love with each other before Alva +had finished having the porch of her house painted, +or before Mrs. Ray had succeeded in tracking the case-knives +to their suspicious lair of crime.</p> + +<p>It's delightful to fall in love on the sea or in the +country, quite as delightful as to fall in love anywhere<span class="pagenum">[162]</span> +else. It is too bad that fickleness is rated so low, for +really the emotion of slowly discovering that one is +entering Elysium should be too great an experience to +be foregone forever after. However, we must not +forget that fickleness is rated low because humanity +long since discovered that being in Elysium is still +better than making an entrance there, and furthermore +that of all sharp edges known, Love is the one most +easily dulled by usage. Therefore it is best to adhere +to the dear old rules for the dear old game, and only +thank Fate with special reverence when sea-breezes +or country zephyrs float around one's own personal +setting-out.</p> + +<p>Lassie didn't know that she was in love; she only +knew that she was very happy. Ingram didn't know +that he was in love; he only knew that he was very +happy. Alva, whose soul sank daily deeper into the +near approaching abyss of her profound longings, +noticed nothing. But every one else knew, of course. +Joey Beall, the invisibly omnipresent, saw them alone +together somewhere nearly every day. Mrs. Ray +watched them come and go together for mail. Mrs. +O'Neil, who never had believed that Ingram was in love +with Alva, wished them well with all her heart. For she +felt sure that Alva wasn't in love with Ingram, either.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad to have something pleasant before my +eyes just now," she said to Mary Cody, and Mary Cody +knew that she referred to the feeling over the dam, +which daily grew keener, and to the Lathbuns, who, +it was now openly known, had never paid any board +since their arrival, but merely referred to their banker +in Cromwell, who, it appeared, was out of town, and +could not send on their October check until his return.<span class="pagenum">[163]</span></p> + +<p>"I don't know what there is about looking at them," +said Mary Cody, who was fifteen and grown up at that +(and who did not refer to Mrs. Lathbun and her +daughter); "but every time he looks at her while I'm +waiting on them, I feel as if I'd just about die of joy +if Ed Griggs would look at me once that way."</p> + +<p>"Don't talk nonsense," said Mrs. O'Neil, severely.</p> + +<p>The days which bore such momentous happenings +upon their bosom flowed swiftly on, and the week +was speeding by—was gone, in fact.</p> + +<p>"It doesn't seem possible, does it?" Lassie said, +as she came across the bridge with Ingram one afternoon. +He had happened to return from the long-distance +telephone in Ledgeville by way of Alva's +house; and she had happened to be ready to go home, +and Alva had happened not to be ready. "It doesn't +seem that it can be only a week. I feel as if it were +months, instead. Do you remember that first day, +when Alva told me, how I cried and how horrible I +thought it was. And now I feel as if it were too sad +for words, but something so great and lovely and sacred, +that I'm sort of hushed in joy to have seen it all. I +can see her side now, and when I go back to the world +and hear people say the things that I thought myself +when she first told me, I know that they are going to +hurt me awfully. And yet she says that they will not +hurt her."</p> + +<p>"No," said Ingram, thoughtfully, "she seems to +be quite beyond being hurt. I never saw any one who +impressed me just as Alva does."</p> + +<p>"It's very wonderful to be with her all the time," +Lassie went on; "nothing seems to affect her for herself, +but only things about other people. She doesn't<span class="pagenum">[164]</span> +seem to think her thoughts for herself any more, but +just for others. It's how she can study and learn and +carry on some part of his work for him after he's gone; +it's how she can teach the people around here that +Ledge won't profit in the end by being turned into a +big lake or a big manufacturing district; it's how she +can only prove to people that those two queer women +are really honest, and really nice to know."</p> + +<p>"And do you agree with all her views now?" +Ingram asked, recalling the first of their meetings +and the difference in Lassie's views from her friend's +then.</p> + +<p>"I think it's very splendid how she loves. I thought +it was terrible at first, but now I—" she hesitated; +"I"—she stopped altogether.</p> + +<p>"Go on," said Ingram; "what were you going to +say?"</p> + +<p>The girl looked down the cañon of gray, barren +beauty, and then up towards the sunlit valley of sweet, +sunshiny, farming country. "Perhaps you won't +believe me," she said, her eyes for the minute almost as +distant in their withdrawal as Alva's own; "but now, +I—truly—I envy her. I would give anything to +love as she does. I would almost give the world to +see life as she sees it. You see, I have begun to understand +what she means when she says things."</p> + +<p>Ingram was deeply stirred by pathos of which Lassie +herself was ignorant. The young desire to learn to +drink of bitter waters! The longing towards the crown +of thorns stirs them, because they can appreciate the +sublimity of martyrdom, and cannot measure the +agony!</p> + +<p>She had stopped and laid her hand upon the bridge-rail.<span class="pagenum">[165]</span> +Involuntarily he laid his hand upon it, holding +it within his strength and warmth.</p> + +<p>"When she talks to me of him," Lassie went on, +seeming unconscious of the hand and looking far +ahead, "I forget myself, I forget Mamma, I forget +my début; I live only in her and her hope. I never +saw love like hers; she lives in him—in it—not in +the world, and she's so sure of the next world and of +their future. It goes all through me, the wonder of it. +I can't tell you how I envy her. She said when I came +that she would send me back home all different, and +I see now that she will do it."</p> + +<p>"But I don't want you different." The words burst +from the man's lips. Mountain tops are serene and +glorious and very close to the clouds, but oh, the good +warmth, the dear, cosy loveliness of those soft green +slopes far—so far—below.</p> + +<p>Lassie was too deeply engrossed to notice. "I shall +go back to my home a better girl," she said; "and I +shan't let myself forget what I've learned here."</p> + +<p>Ingram thought that she had heard, and felt himself +silenced.</p> + +<p>There was a minute of stillness, and then they walked +on. The October evening was falling chill, and the +night wind came winding up the gorge.</p> + +<p>"Do you agree with her about the dam, too?" +the man asked finally, as they approached the end +of the bridge, striving against an echo of bitterness.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, she has converted me about that, too. +She took me down to call on Mr. Ledge, and when I +saw that dear, courtly, old gentleman, and heard how +quietly and earnestly and sadly he and Alva talked<span class="pagenum">[166]</span> +about it, I came to see how different all that was, +too."</p> + +<p>Ingram waited a second or two; then he said:</p> + +<p>"And Mrs. Lathbun,—do you believe in her too, +now?"</p> + +<p>Lassie laughed. "No, I don't," she said, very +positively; "I'm awfully sorry for them both, but I +cannot believe in them."</p> + +<p>"Alva does."</p> + +<p>"Yes,—but Alva—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, well,—go on."</p> + +<p>"I mustn't. Indeed I mustn't. I promised, and +this time I must keep my word. But Alva has a reason +for believing in them."</p> + +<p>"Is it a good reason?"</p> + +<p>Lassie reflected. "No," she said, finally; "I don't +think that it is a good reason at all."</p> + +<p>They were at the hotel door now.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sorry for Alva," said Ingram, "because +I hate to see ideals shattered."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but they may justify her faith."</p> + +<p>"I am more inclined to think that they will justify +your doubts."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked pleased. She valued Ingram's opinion +highly.</p> + +<p>A little later Alva herself came home, pale as she +always was, but more weary looking than nightfall +usually found her.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="gs04" id="gs04"></a> +<img src="images/gs04.jpg" width="400" height="710" alt="ALVA." title=""> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ALVA.</p> + +<p>"Lie down before supper," Lassie suggested; and +her friend accepted the suggestion.</p> + +<p>"Come and sit beside me," she said, in a tone that +was almost pleading; "give me your hand. I'm really +quite used up."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[167]</span></p><p>Lassie perched beside her on the bed, and took the +long slender hand between her own pretty little white +ones.</p> + +<p>"You are a wise little maiden," Alva said, smiling +into her face. "I shall fight this away quickly. I +know much better than to be weak. I understand the +scientific, spiritual reasons for it quite well—it is +that I am under a double strain these days, and also—" +she hesitated—"I think that I am really under a triple +strain," she said, "you do not guess how close to my +heart that poor girl has come through her description +of her lover. I think of her so often, and such a strange +undercurrent sweeps up in me. I try to understand it, +and I can't; but I wonder if it can be some troubling +of myself because the one whose life is so valuable +must go, and the one whose life has no value will +remain. I do not begrudge any one anything, God +knows; but my heart winces when I think that his +soul will go on and leave me alone, while a body that +is the same as his will live and live for another. I am +brave, I am strong; my higher self has courage and +understanding to cope with any problem that may +come, but it seems as if this one laid me on a rack, +because—because—" she stopped, and then in a +low cry: "Lassie, she doesn't seem to me to be worthy +of even his body. Perhaps I misjudge her, but even +the human presentment of such a man should have a +wife of greater caliber. Somehow it hurts me, somehow +everything hurts me to-night. You see, dear, you +were right. In some ways. Yes, you were right."</p> + +<p>There was a pause, during which Lassie just gently +stroked the hand between her own.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what I believe?" Alva continued.<span class="pagenum">[168]</span> +"Some crisis is preparing. I don't at all know +what it is, but I feel it coming. I am certain—confident—that +God has some new wisdom close in +hand for me. Happy or sad—it is coming very close +to-night. And whatever it is, I must go bravely forward +to meet it."</p> + +<p>Lassie shuddered ever so slightly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you think that it is some sorrow," Alva said; +"my dear, would you credit me with telling you the +truth, if I told you that there is a comfort in understanding +that verse about whom He loveth He chasteneth? +He doesn't call upon the weak among His +children to bear what He has sent to me, to us. And +if there is some heavy sorrow,"—she stopped, and presently +added quite low,—"'not my will, but Thine be +done!'"</p> + +<p>Lassie was deeply touched. She felt tears rolling +down her cheeks. The dusk had closed in and she +could not see Alva's face, but she felt that she, too, was +weeping.</p> + +<p>Presently a freight train, going by, drowned everything +by its roaring clank for five minutes, and when +all was still again, Alva said: "Come, let us dress for +supper!"</p> + +<p>She rose at once and lit the light, and Lassie saw with +astonishment that she was smiling and bright as usual. +Alva caught her surprised look. "I'm a creature of +strong belief, dear," she said, laughing, "and I know +that whatever is hard, is worth itself. That is what one +must try never to forget. I wouldn't wish any one else +my life to live, but it is its own reward. The best +thing in the world is to measure the real standards of +earth and heaven. That is what I am doing."<span class="pagenum">[169]</span></p> + +<p>"Don't you think perhaps you're overdoing, Alva?" +the girl said, putting the question in the way of timid +suggestion. "Don't you think you crowd even yourself +too fast?"</p> + +<p>"Can any one learn to be good too fast? And then +the great strain is for such a little while, dear. Don't +you see that in the world's eyes my giving will be limited +to these few weeks, and that in heaven's eyes I shall +then give all that I have and all that I am. Like him, +I have pawned my existence for a purpose. I shall +redeem both." The look of ecstasy that had opened to +Lassie the gate of Medieval faith, flooded her face. +"What a life I shall live in those few brief days," she +said, softly; "how we shall enjoy our little oasis of +bliss in the desert of loneliness. I shall learn so much—so +much. And the best of the learning will be that I +shall learn it from him."</p> + +<p>Lassie watched the uplifted look. The enthusiasm +of the novice was hers. As she had confessed to Ingram, +envy dwelt at her heart. I wonder whether envy +is a vice or a virtue when it stirs a longing to emulate +one whom we recognize as better than ourselves?<span class="pagenum">[170]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="h3">DEVOTED TO COATS AND CASE-KNIVES</p> + +<p>"'He moves in a mysterious way His wonders +to perform,'" chanted Mrs. Ray, briskly, +turning from the stove, with a hot iron in her hand, +towards the visitor then entering the door. "Yes, +I'm just pressing the seams. The mail was awful late—they +had a bad wreck on the road, killed three pigs—and +the crowd is just gone. When the mail's late I'm +always late, too. Yes, indeed. Those two in love come +up for the hotel mail, while that poor, blind thing went +over alone to look at what she fondly supposes is going +to be her happy home. Take a chair. How's Lottie +Ann? And, Mrs. Wiley, what do you think about those +case-knives in the bureau drawer?" for the case-knives +were now the main topic of conversation all +over Ledge and its attendant villages.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley had dropped in to see how her new winter +jacket, now in process of active manufacture, was getting +on. She sank down on a seat with a sigh which the +chair echoed in a groan.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know what to do," she said, wearily. +"Uncle Purchase came yesterday for a week, driving +his colts, and last night one of the colts had colic; and +Lottie Ann gets thinner every day. Seems like I do +have so much trouble. Sister Anna got so tired with +the improvements she's making, that she just up and<span class="pagenum">[171]</span> +off for Buffalo Wednesday, and that left Eliza to run +things; and Eliza up and bit a chestnut and broke two +teeth, so she had to go off to Rochester yesterday early. +That leaves me with the whole thing now, and I'm +running back and forth between houses from dawn to +dark. I wanted to make the dress for Cousin Dolly's +graduation, too, and the sewing machine always does +for my legs; and yesterday here come Uncle Purchase!"</p> + +<p>"Joey Beall is all used up over those case-knives," +said Mrs. Ray, pressing assiduously; "he won't say +what he thinks."</p> + +<p>"How's it getting on?" asked Mrs. Wiley, hitching +her chair nearer to the ironing-board. "Oh, Mrs. +Ray, you'll never know the sacred feelings this coat +will give me in church. Father was a true Christian, +I always have that to remember. He had his faults, +but he was a true Christian. Whatever went through +his hands in the week, it was the plate at church that +they held on Sunday."</p> + +<p>"You don't need to worry over your father, Mrs. +Wiley," said Mrs. Ray; "nobody doubted his religion—it +was only that he charged such awful interest."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley sighed. "I know," she said; "it wasn't +so much what he charged as bothered—"</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Ray, "it was his way of insisting +on being paid."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley sighed again.</p> + +<p>"Well, thanks to the braid, the land is saved," +Mrs. Ray went on cheerfully. "Mrs. Wiley, do tell +me, what do you think of all this at the O'Neil House,—and +did you bring the buttons?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I thought you said you could use the buttons +on the suit," Mrs. Wiley answered, with an unhappy<span class="pagenum">[172]</span> +start; "you ain't going to tell me that you can't, are +you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I ain't," said Mrs. Ray, "it's only that it's so +common for folks to forget to bring me their buttons +that I forgot that you had brought yours. It's awful, +isn't it, about those two Lathbuns?"</p> + +<p>"I thought you'd lost 'em by accident," said Mrs. +Wiley, seating herself again with a huge relief; "I +don't know what I'd of done if you had, for my money +is all in the chickens, and I never saw anything like +the way my chickens have acted lately. I wondered +if it could be that the surveyors upset them. They +haven't been a bit regular, and so many weasels!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the surveyors keep the weasels stirred up. +I must say it would stir me up to have the sharp end of +one of their little flags suddenly driven into the bosom +of my family. Not but what a flag is better than a case-knife. +You've heard about the case-knives, of course?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I heard about the case-knives. Mrs. Ray, +don't you want me to try it on? What do you think +they had 'em for, anyway?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know; you might on account of the +sleeves, maybe. I don't know what to think—of +course they never got any mail; when any one never +gets any mail, it blocks my observation in all directions. +I never saw any strangers that stayed so long, that never +got any mail before. Why, those other girls are getting +letters by the dozens. Such nice mail, too,—thick +white paper and thin blue paper, and little prints of +flags, such real, pretty mail. There, what do you think +of that,—that's your back; like it?"</p> + +<p>"Wait till I get out my glasses. But of course they +must of bought postals, didn't they? Mrs. Ray, you<span class="pagenum">[173]</span> +have done that fine! You're the only one in the world +that could ever fit me like that out of a suit of father's. +I take such a number of under-the-arm pieces."</p> + +<p>"Well, that isn't your fault, Mrs. Wiley; you come +of a large family and you ought to be very grateful, +because if you hadn't you'd never have had this jacket. +If there hadn't been close on to two full breadths in +each of his legs, I never could have got it out. There's +nothing takes more skill than making a man's clothes +over for any one but a boy. Yes, indeed. Very few +can think how difficult it is to adapt a man's legs with +the knees bagged, to either the front or back of a coat +for you. No, they never even bought postals. They +never write at all. What would they write with? You +can't write with a case-knife."</p> + +<p>"No, that's so. I must say I think you've put that +braid on beautiful. Do you want me to slip it on now, +or shall I wait? Uncle Purchase is up at the house +always, you know, and I mustn't be gone too long, but +Lottie Ann's there, so it don't matter much, after all."</p> + +<p>"I'll be ready in a second. I'd be further along, +only Sammy Adams was in last evening, and he hates +to see me sew every minute. I sewed a good deal of +his visit—I don't know why I should consider Sammy +Adams's ideas when he don't consider mine. Taking +in any one nights that way! I tell you I had that out +with him once for all. There,—that's your pocket; +big enough?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I wouldn't make it any bigger. What did +he tell you about his taking 'em in? Mrs. Ray, I took +your advice and tried milk on Lottie Ann, and she +can't take any but buttermilk. Will that do her as +much good as milk in its first?"<span class="pagenum">[174]</span></p> + +<p>"I don't know why it shouldn't. I tell you frankly, +Mrs. Wiley, you'll need every inch of the room in this +pocket. You may have your prayer-book and a box of +peppermint, and two or three other little things, and +you'll find this pocket very handy; the way I've got +it cut it'll hold as much as a small valise. I wouldn't cut +it off, if it was my coat. I always need all my pockets. +But then I always have to carry so many things, a +corkscrew and a monkey-wrench and the key to my +hens. He said the rain was pouring down, and he didn't +see anything to do but take them in. Of course, if +you're Sammy's easy kind, and it's raining, too, you can +see how that would be. He'd take a snake in, if it asked +him with a smile."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of cutting off about a half +inch? I don't wonder that he took them in, myself. +But, Mrs. Ray, she don't like milk, anyhow, and +shouldn't you think morning and night was enough?"</p> + +<p>"I'll do it if you say so, of course, Mrs. Wiley. But +I can't see myself cutting them off, if they were mine. +Of course, two glasses is better than none, but two +isn't six. I only know if it was me I'd never of let them +in, in this world."</p> + +<p>"I'll try to get her to take four. Shall I slip it on +now? Do tell me what else he said?"</p> + +<p>"If she was my girl, I'd see she took what I told her; +I don't believe in spoiling children. No, you'll have to +wait. Why, Mrs. Wiley, would you believe that that +poor innocent didn't know a thing about the case-knives +till I told him. You know he don't often come +to town."</p> + +<p>"Well, I never! I told Uncle Purchase all about it, +and he promised me he'd never take any one in. I<span class="pagenum">[175]</span> +thought I'd better be on the safe side, even if Uncle +Purchase hasn't let any one come into his house for +twenty years. Isn't it strange? But then Uncle Purchase +is strange. The last time I was in his house +was when Abner was a baby. He had a dozen tissue-paper +hyacinths planted in real pots with the earth +watered, to make them look real. Uncle Purchase's +quite a character."</p> + +<p>"Sammy said they rapped—that was how he came +to first know that they were at the door."</p> + +<p>"Uncle Purchase never goes to the door. He's so +deaf he couldn't hear a peal of thunder if it stood outside +rapping all night, and that last time I was there he +had his trunk all packed standing in the hall. He never +unpacked it after he went to the Centennial. He said +it would be all ready for the next Centennial. They +have them so often now, you know. He's so odd. He +went to the Insane Asylum once for a little while, +you know, but it didn't do him a bit of good, so he came +back home. Uncle Purchase is so odd."</p> + +<p>"Sammy said they were a sight. He said two +drowned rats washed up by a spring flood would be dry +and slick beside them. Sammy always did talk just +like a poet. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Uncle Purchase says very pretty things, too. He's +so loving to Lottie Ann, he said yesterday she winged +her way about the house like an angel. I thought that +was a sweet way of putting it, but it kind of depressed +me, too, she's so awful thin. Shall I slip it on now?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet. Don't you think maybe he just meant a +fly? The last ones go so slow that they might make +him think of an angel."</p> + +<p>"No, he meant Lottie Ann. Uncle Purchase always<span class="pagenum">[176]</span> +says what he means. He brought Lottie Ann a daguerreotype +of his mother. It's so black you can't see +a thing, but it showed his kindness. I thought Lottie +Ann would bring the chimney down trying to thank +him—he's so awful deaf. He thought she was asking +who it was, and he just roared about it's being his +mother, until I called Lottie Ann for her milk. He's +always been so fond of Lottie Ann. If she outlives +him, I'm most sure he'll leave her the farm. I wish +she'd drink more milk."</p> + +<p>"I was speaking about her to Nathan and Lizzie +when they were up yesterday. You know Lizzie was +delicate, too. Nathan thinks the Lathbuns had those +knives to pry open windows."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my heavens!"</p> + +<p>"He says you can pry open any window-catch with a +case-knife. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley opened her eyes. "Any window?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's what he said. And poor Clay Wright +Benton was in here, too, and I spoke to him about +them, too, and he said that you could, too."</p> + +<p>"My!" Mrs. Wiley's tone was appalled. "Did +Clay seem frightened? I suppose they aren't afraid +of anything,—they've got the parrot, you know."</p> + +<p>"I don't know how that would help them. It +hangs upside down, yelling 'Fire, Fire,' rainy days, +until nobody can possibly think it means it."</p> + +<p>"Well, but it wouldn't make any difference what +it said, would it, if it woke them?"</p> + +<p>"But they're so tired being woke, it can't wake +'em any more. Clay says nothing wakes 'em now. +Even Gran'ma Benton falls asleep while it's calling +her names."<span class="pagenum">[177]</span></p> + +<p>"Dear me," said Mrs. Wiley, seriously. "I wouldn't +care about having one for myself. I never let the +children call names, and I just couldn't be called names +by a parrot."</p> + +<p>"Clay says his mother don't like it. She's tried +to teach it Bible verses. But names are so much +easier. Bible verses are so long. And they don't +come in where they make sense. The short ones +are worse yet. There's 'Jesus wept'—that's the +shortest verse in the Bible, and that never would make +sense. The parrot says 'Twenty-three,' and that +always makes sense. This world is meant to go wrong, +seems to me. Case-knives just swim along without +paying board, while an honest woman has to scrub +her church once a week on her knees and labor like a +heathen Chinese in between times."</p> + +<p>"Well, Mrs. Ray, what are we coming to?"</p> + +<p>"I told Edward Griggs what Nathan said, but +Edward thinks they're government spies sent out to +keep track of the surveyors, and they have the knives +to dig with."</p> + +<p>"To dig with!" Mrs. Wiley was full of amazement.</p> + +<p>"You know they do scour the country pretty freely, +and that would account for one being broke."</p> + +<p>"There's more strength in a broke knife than in +one that isn't, of course. Government spies!"</p> + +<p>"It would account for a lot of things. Edward +Griggs is a pretty smart man; he was at the Chautauqua +last year."</p> + +<p>"Didn't they used to call them scouts, Mrs. Ray? +Seems to me I've heard of them in the war."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they call a spy anything—spies don't mind +what they're called as long as nobody knows who they<span class="pagenum">[178]</span> +really are. If they are government spies, I'm glad to +know it, because they'll be having an eagle eye out in +every government direction. I think I'll wash the post-office +to-morrow, just on the chance. I didn't want to +wash it till after I'd filed my bond. I sort of like to +get my bond off my mind first, and clean up afterwards."</p> + +<p>"I'll ask Abner if he's heard anything from Josiah +Bates lately. Joey Beall is going over to Foxtown +to-morrow or next day, and he says his cousin there +married a Cromwell girl; he's going to ask all about +them there. Mrs. Ray, seems like those women must +be something out of the ordinary. It would be too +barefaced never to pay your board, otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Well, whatever they are, we'll soon know now. +People are looking them up in all directions. Mrs. +Kendall's got an aunt in Cromwell, and she's written +her about the case-knives. But she says her aunt never +writes letters, so she don't expect to find out much that +way; still, you never can tell."</p> + +<p>"Well, Joey may find out a good deal. My cousin +Eliza always says you'll find out all there is to find +out, if you get hold of Joey Beall. Mrs. Ray, can't +I slip it on now? I've <i>got</i> to go back to Uncle Purchase, +Lottie Ann is so weak she won't be able to make him +hear a thing by this time; and if he can't hear, it always +worries him because he's so afraid of growing deaf."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray thoughtfully regarded the jacket. "I'd +like to of got the collar on," she said; "but you can +put it on now, I guess."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley stood up and donned the garment.</p> + +<p>"The sleeves are short," said Mrs. Ray; "but +that's fashionable this year. There was no other way,<span class="pagenum">[179]</span> +anyhow. I had to get 'em out from the knee down, +and he was short there—like an elephant."</p> + +<p>"How does it look in the back?"</p> + +<p>"It's a little short in the back, but nothing to speak +of. You see I had to swing the backs to get the coat +skirts free of his side-seams; it sets very well, considering +that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I like it," said Mrs. Wiley; "and I have my +fur to sort of piece it up at the neck, anyway. You +know, Mrs. Ray, if those two women are spies, I should +think they'd wear nightgowns. I shouldn't think +they'd want to attract so much attention, and of course +not wearing nightgowns attracts lots of attention."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray—having her mouth full of pins—made +no reply.</p> + +<p>"Lucia Cosby thinks they're tramps and nothing +better," Mrs. Wiley continued; "nobody can understand +Jack's keeping them so long."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray continued silent.</p> + +<p>"Ellen Scott says she's afraid of them; she thinks +it's so queer they're not having any coats. But Ellen +was always timid. She never got over that time the +boys dressed up like Indians and kidnapped her on +April Fool's Day when she was little."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray stuck in the last pin and freed her mouth. +"Well, all I can say is, we'll soon know now," she said; +"all the wheels in the gods of the mills is turning now, +and in the end the Lathbuns will be ground out exceeding +small I hope and trust and am pretty sure of."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley looked down over herself with an air of +intense satisfaction. "I don't see how you ever got +it out," she repeated with deeply appreciative emphasis.</p> + +<p>"You know those are Nellie O'Neil's shawls they<span class="pagenum">[180]</span> +wear," Mrs. Ray went on, beginning to unpin the new +winter coat from its owner. "Nellie's an awful idiot +to let them have those shawls; they'll walk off some day, +and leave her without shawls or pay,—that's the kind +they are. Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Nellie's too good-hearted."</p> + +<p>"She and Jack are both too good-hearted."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley went to the door and took hold of the +knob. "Well, I must go now. Lottie Ann will be all +tired out if I stay any longer. And we never leave +Uncle Purchase alone. He always takes the clock to +pieces or does something we can't get together again, +if he's left alone. He asked after Susan Cosby last +night, and I told him she was dead four times and then +I got Lottie Ann and the boys in, and they took turns +telling him she was dead till nine o'clock, and then +Joey brought our mail and we got him to tell him she +was dead, and then all Uncle Purchase said was: +'Is she, indeed? When did she die?' Oh, my +heavens!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you must be going," said Mrs. Ray, "we +may as well part now. The Giffords are coming here +for dinner, and I've got to begin to cook it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley thereupon departed.<span class="pagenum">[181]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class="h3">LEARNING LESSONS</p> + +<p>The wide range of standpoints is one of the most +interesting studies in this world. A man on a +hill can look to the horizon in all directions, and wonder +about all the little black specks which he may see +thereon, and all on the horizon can see the little black +speck on the hill and draw their own conclusions as +to what it may be. Ledge thought city people lacking +in intellect because of the way they "took the Falls," +and the visitors thought the townspeople lacking because +of the way in which they "took the Falls." Mrs. Ray +knew that Ingram and Lassie were in love, and Ingram +and Lassie didn't know it; and Ingram and Lassie +had been told by Mrs. O'Neil that Mrs. Ray would +eventually marry Sammy Adams, while Mrs. Ray herself +not only didn't know that, but had declared herself +to be "dead set" against the proposition. The State +had appointed a commission, and Mr. Ledge was +troubled over its results; and all the while Creation, +in the first of its creating, had settled the outcome of +the commission's task definitely and forever. And so +they all went merrily, blindly forward, Alva, like the +evening star, moving serenely in the centre, almost as +unconscious of her own position in people's eyes as the +evening star is unconscious of telescopes. She was<span class="pagenum">[182]</span> +happy in her ideal existence, and always hopeful of +good to come for others. Her aims were high and +true, her sincerity splendid, and Lassie was learning +a great deal—more than either of them guessed, in +fact. And the second week was now going blithely +forward, while Alva worked and waited, hoping each +hour for the telegram that should summon her to bring +her lover into the haven her love was building. But +the telegram came not.</p> + +<p>"Lassie," she said, one noon, as they stood on the +bridge looking down into the tumbling waters below, +"I wonder if I were ever like you, and I wonder if you +will ever be like me!"</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"If you will ever be really in love? I can't believe +that very many people really know what love means,—that +is, in the way that I mean it. If they did, it could +not possibly be a shock to any one to see me doing +what I am going to do. It would seem the only thing +to do."</p> + +<p>Lassie made no reply for a little, then she said, +slowly: "When we love, we look forward to life +together generally; that is why people won't understand +you." She hesitated again. "I mean-that seems +to me to be the reason; perhaps I'm wrong."</p> + +<p>Alva reflected, too, her eyes upon the autumn glory +flaunting its color over the deep gray shadows before +her. "Even if one puts it all on the material plan, +I should think that the whole world would recognize +by this time that it isn't the man that a woman loves +that fills her soul with ringing joy; it's the way in which +she loves the man. It's herself and the effect of himself +upon her thoughts that counts. It isn't the house,<span class="pagenum">[183]</span> +but the life within the house that makes a home, you +know."</p> + +<p>Some shy, latent color rose up in Lassie's face. +"I never thought about it in just that way," she said; +"but I suppose it's the truth."</p> + +<p>"My dear, it is the truth. Of course it is the truth. +No one to whom sufficient has been revealed can doubt +it. If you can't see it so, it is because you are not yet +old enough to comprehend. When I say 'old enough' +I don't mean the Lassie who is eighteen; I mean the +Lassie who began long before this mass of rock became +even so stable as to be shifting ocean sand. I mean the +Lassie who departed out of God to work in His way +until she shall return to Him in some divine and distant +hereafter."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Alva, you do say such queer things!"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps; but you see I <i>know</i> all this. It came to +me through dire hours of need. I've demonstrated +its truth, step by step. Try to grasp the idea."</p> + +<p>"Do people ever think you crazy?" The question +came timidly.</p> + +<p>"Every one always thinks any one or anything that +they can't understand, crazy. Mrs. Ray thinks me crazy, +and it's very difficult for me not to consider her so."</p> + +<p>"Alva!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, really."</p> + +<p>"I'll try to consider you sane."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much, dear." She smiled brightly. +"Oh, Lassie, it's such joy to have you to speak to. +I was so choked and crowded with thoughts before you +came. It was so blessedly good that if I could not stay +with him, I could come to this quiet spot and have the +house and you to help me wait the days away. You see,<span class="pagenum">[184]</span> +Lassie, one has to be part body in spite of everything, +and it's so hard to keep your body up to your soul. +Sometimes it seems to me that all of a sudden I am +drawn into a whirlpool and cannot get hold of +anything solid. I don't know just what it is, but I +imagine that I feel as they say the Saxons felt when +they saw the comet flaming in the year of the Conquest, +that something portends. And it seems to me so hard +that I could not have stayed with him. But they +wouldn't hear to that."</p> + +<p>Lassie pressed her hand. "I don't wonder at the +way you feel," she said, sympathetically; "there must +be so much that is hard in your mind these days."</p> + +<p>"Words are poor to tell what I feel," said her friend; +"that is what binds me to him,—it is that he and I +do not need to speak. We can feel without translation."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if I shall ever be loved like that," Lassie +murmured wistfully, and at her words the delicate +flame illumined her face again.</p> + +<p>Alva did not notice; she was looking down into the +cleft beneath, and watching the little river fret itself +into foam and spray.</p> + +<p>"Look!" she said suddenly. "Isn't it lovely in +the noon sunlight? Fancy the countless centuries +on centuries that it must have taken the river to cut +itself this path. There was once a great lake on the +other side—the side above the bridge—and it is with +the idea of restoring that lake that the State is having +this survey made. The difficulty is that the State isn't +geologist enough to know that the lake's outlet flowed +out there to our left, and that this river is comparatively +a new thing. If they remade the lake, the lake would +be desperately likely to remake its old outlet."<span class="pagenum">[185]</span></p> + +<p>"Would it hurt?"</p> + +<p>"Hurt! My dear, it would be another Johnstown +Flood."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear! Do many know that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear; but it wouldn't drown the men who +will own the water-power, so what does it matter to +this world of yours."</p> + +<p>"But is that right—to look at anything in that +horribly selfish way?"</p> + +<p>"In what other way do rich financiers look at anything? +But there will come a time when a change will +dawn. Look, dear, down there; see the rainbow +dancing on the spray. Well, that's the way that public +opinion is going to come in among us soon—in a rainbow +of truth."</p> + +<p>"It will be beautiful everywhere then?" Lassie +asked, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Very beautiful!" Alva stared down upon the +writhing, leaping waters below; "and I shall have +given my all towards the dream's fulfilment. And I +shall have learned from him how to devote my life to +the same great ends that he served. Lassie, when one +comprehends that not happiness but usefulness is the +end to be worked towards, then one begins to see +what living really means."</p> + +<p>"How much it is all going to mean to +you!"</p> + +<p>"How much? Ah, only he and I can guess at that! +There will be something quite different from all the +imaginings, in our sweet, sad days of work and suffering +and comforting. I dare not try to picture it to myself. +I only think often of how I shall pause here in my walks +to come, and steal a long look over this scene, so as to<span class="pagenum">[186]</span> +go home and describe it. He loves beauty and he loves +wood and water."</p> + +<p>"You'll go back and forth across the bridge often +then, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"When I'm married, you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, when you're married."</p> + +<p>"My dear, fancy what a joy Mrs. Ray will be to us. +I shall go for the mail expressly so as to tell all that Mrs. +Ray said to me when I went for the mail." She paused +and smiled and sighed. "Lassie, I wish I were +strong enough not to mind one thing. I know so well—so +very well—just how it will look to every one,—above +all to my parents, who are to be driven half mad, +even though I shall only ask a few months' freedom, +in return for all my life before and after. I wish that +I might be spared the sharp, keen realization of all +that."</p> + +<p>Lassie's eyes sought hers quickly. "But you have +a right to do as you please, Alva."</p> + +<p>"Have I, dear? It seems to me sometimes as if I +were the one person who had no right to do as she +pleases, not even in that which concerned her most. +You know that every one thinks that if a woman marries +with a prospect of years of happiness taken or given, +she is justified in going her own way. Any one would +feel that, would understand that view. I never could +have done that, because my life was too heavily loaded +with burdens and responsibilities; and his was the same. +It was because we were so hopeless of happiness for +so long that we do not cavil over the wonder of what +is offered us. Because if it had come in the form that +it comes to others, we must have refused it. It did come +to us in that form, and we did refuse it. It was only<span class="pagenum">[187]</span> +when it returned in a guise that the world calls tragic, +that we could accept it for our own."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Alva, I understand," her tone was a cry, +almost.</p> + +<p>"Lassie, remember one thing, and don't forget it +during any of these hours that we shall spend together. +If I read life by another light than yours, it isn't because +it was natural to my eyes. Once I might have recoiled +even more than you did, when I first told you. God's +best purposes for humanity require that we recoil from +what seems unnatural. But there are exceptions to +all rules, and in return for two human lives freely +offered up on the altar of His world, He gives, sometimes, +a few days of unutterable happiness to their +spirits. Lassie, he was big, he was splendid; you know +all that he was as every one else does. If I had been +young, if I had been ignorant enough to dare to be +selfish, and if he had been young and ignorant enough +not to know how necessary he was to thousands,—why, +then, we might have been happy in the way that +two people out of a million sometimes are. But we had +gone beyond all that, or else we passed beyond it the +instant we realized; at any rate, we knew too well that +I was bound hand and foot on the wheel of my life +and he was bound on his. We had to set our faces in +opposite directions and go on. Straight ahead. The +world for which we sacrificed ourselves will never +even be grateful. The world could not have understood +why we should make any sacrifice; the world generally +disdains those who do the most for it. Isn't that so? +If you tell any one in these days that your first duty +is to do right by your own soul, and that that means +doing what is best for all other souls, they stare. If<span class="pagenum">[188]</span> +I say to you that I could bear to live alone and he could +bear to live alone, because we both knew absolutely +that we had had centuries of one another and should +win eternity united, you'd stare, too."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't quite—" faltered Lassie.</p> + +<p>"Don't try to, dear; only think how it is to him and to +me now, when we are to have this short, this pitifully +short space of time together—to have to take it in +the face of such an outcry as will be made. When I +creep back into life again, with my heart broken and +my dress black always from then on, I shall be so +notorious, such an object of curiosity for all time to +come, that my friends will prefer not to be seen in +public with me. When I think of my home-going to +tell them, my very soul faints. My father abhors +any form of physical deformity; what he is going to +say to my marrying one who is so maimed and crushed +that he can not use his right hand, I can't think. And +then there is my mother, to whom sentiment and religion +are alike quixotic. What will she say?"</p> + +<p>She was silent, and then she suddenly left the rail +and moved on.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well, if it could only stay bright like this until +we came back together! But that is impossible. What +we shall see together will be the snow lying softly over +all, and the brown, curving line of the tree-tops and the +pink sunset glow in the west. He will lie in his chair +and I shall sit on a cushion thrown close beside him, +and with that one hand that they have left him pressed +to my face, we shall look out over all the wide, still +world and talk of that future which no one can bar +us out of, except our own two selves. God can say +'Well done, thou good and faithful servant,' but He<span class="pagenum">[189]</span> +proves in the saying that the doing and the goodness +and the faith all emanated from the one who served. +Religion is such a grand thing, Lassie; I can't understand +any one with intelligence choosing to be an +atheist. And lately, since I have realized that the real +trinity is two who love and their God, I have been +overcome at the mysticism of what life really means. +Oh, I'm truly very, very happy. As I look over these +hills and valleys, I think how all my life long I shall +be coming back here—not to weep, but to remember. +I shall be left lonely to a degree that hardly any one +can comprehend, because for me there will be no possible +chance of any earthly consolation; but in another +sense I shall never know grief at all, for I know, with +the absolute knowledge that I have attained to, that +grief like all other finite things is unreal, and that my +happiness is eternal."</p> + +<p>They were now on the tracks quite near the hotel.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if Mrs. Lathbun got a letter from her +lawyer to-day," Lassie said, changing the subject +suddenly.</p> + +<p>They went up the steps and opened the door, and +there in the hall, on her hurried way out to meet them, +was Mrs. O'Neil, her face quite pale with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what do you think?" she cried, opening the +door into the dining-room; "come right in here. What +<i>do</i> you think?"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" both asked together.</p> + +<p>"The biggest surprise you ever got in your life. +They're swindlers!"</p> + +<p>Alva stepped in quickly and shut the door. "What?" +she stammered; "who?"</p> + +<p>"They're swindlers, both of them! It's all in the<span class="pagenum">[190]</span> +Kinnecot paper." She held out a paper which she +had in her hand to Alva. "You can read it; it isn't +a bit of doubt but what it's them."</p> + +<p>Alva, turning quite pale, took the paper and read:</p> + +<blockquote><p>A PRETTY FOXY PAIR</p> + +<p>Two women, claiming to be mother and daughter, +came to the Walker House in this village a few nights +ago and inquired for supper and a night's lodging, +claiming they were very tired, as they had walked over +from Warsaw. Landlord Walker thought it a little +strange that they should have walked over when there +were two railroads that run from that village through +here, but said nothing and gave them supper and furnished +them a room. They remained in their room +until about noon the next day, when they paid their +bill and left, taking the overland route for Ledge, or +in that direction. They registered at the Walker House +as Mrs. Ida M. Lathbun and Miss H. A. Lathbun, +which are the same names given by a pair who had been +spending the summer in the vicinity of Silver Lake and +Perry. As stated above, they came here from Warsaw, +and our esteemed brother editor in that place paid +them the following compliment in a recent issue:</p> + +<p>'A woman and daughter who are going from town +to town, boarding in one place until compelled to seek +another because of their inability to pay their board, +have been found to be in this town, coming here +from Perry and Silver Lake, where their record is one +of unpaid bills. They are smart, clever, female tramps, +who have no income and no visible means of support.'</p> + +<p>It is said at Silver Lake they stated they were +<span class="pagenum">[191]</span>expecting some money, and would stay at one boarding-place +as long as they could, and when fired out would +settle at another. They finally went to Perry, and, when +compelled to leave there, walked across the country to +Warsaw, stopping at Mr. Samuel Adams's overnight, +while en route.</p> + +<p>The older Mrs. Lathbun is said to be an own cousin +of Arthur Rehman, who has been before the public +for one escapade or another for many years. She is +said to have been well-to-do at one time, and is living +in expectations of more money from some relative. +The couple were fairly well dressed and intelligent +looking women.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Alva's hand holding the paper fell limply at her side. +She looked at Mrs. O'Neil and Mrs. O'Neil looked at +her; while Mary Cody, who had come in from the +kitchen, and Lassie looked at them both.</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of it?" Mrs. O'Neil +said, finally.</p> + +<p>"I can't believe it," Alva gasped; "it can't be +true!"</p> + +<p>"Just what I said! You know I said that right off, +Mary Cody? But Jack believes it. He's gone to Ledge +Centre to see Mr. Pollock."</p> + +<p>"Who is Mr. Pollock?"</p> + +<p>"The lawyer."</p> + +<p>"And where are they now?"</p> + +<p>"Up-stairs. They never get up till noon, you know."</p> + +<p>"How long have they been here?"</p> + +<p>"Two weeks and a little over."</p> + +<p>"Haven't they paid you anything?"</p> + +<p>"Not a cent."<span class="pagenum">[192]</span></p> + +<p>Alva became more distressed. "And the girl is so +delicate, too," she said.</p> + +<p>"Delicate! I should think that she was. Every +third day the old lady has all my flat-irons wrapped in +towels to put around her. And then, think of it! +October, and not a coat or a flannel have either of +them got."</p> + +<p>A slight shiver ran over Alva.</p> + +<p>"You're cold," said Mrs. O'Neil; "come into the +kitchen. Mary Cody, you stand at the door and listen, +for that old lady is a sly one."</p> + +<p>Mary Cody stood at the door, and the other three +went into the kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Won't Mrs. Ray be pleased," said Mrs. O'Neil. +"She was down at the church, or I'd have gone right +up to her with the paper. It was she that set every +one after 'em, because she was so crazy over their +staying at the Adams farm that night. She's so jealous +of Sammy."</p> + +<p>"Ow!" exclaimed Mary Cody, interrupting; "I +hear the stairs creaking!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil grabbed the newspaper and thrust it +back of a clothes basket. The next instant Mrs. +Lathbun, with an empty pitcher in her hand, came in +through the dining-room door.</p> + +<p>The large, heavily-built woman, not stout but very +robust in appearance, had on her usual dress, and smiled +pleasantly at them all in greeting.</p> + +<p>"Was there any mail?" she asked, going to the stove +and beginning to fill her pitcher from the reservoir +as she spoke.</p> + +<p>"No," said Mary Cody; "I went myself."</p> + +<p>"Dear me, how annoying," said Mrs. Lathbun;<span class="pagenum">[193]</span> +and then, having finished filling her pitcher, she quietly +retired again.</p> + +<p>"To think maybe she'll be in the jail at Geneseo +to-morrow!" Mary Cody exclaimed, in an awestruck +whisper.</p> + +<p>Alva turned interrogative eyes towards Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Jack is going to have them arrested," she said.</p> + +<p>"Merciful heavens!"</p> + +<p>"Isn't it awful? I'm sorry for them, myself."</p> + +<p>"But—but suppose there's some mistake?"</p> + +<p>"There can't be, Jack says."</p> + +<p>Alva shut her eyes and stood still for a few seconds. +"The poor creatures," she said, softly and pitifully,—then: +"How did you say you came to find out about +it?"</p> + +<p>"A man from Kinnecot had the paper in the station, +and Josiah Bates brought him over to our bar this +morning and asked Jack if he could see how folks like +that could get trusted. Jack said yes, he could see, and +then he told the man from Kinnecot that just at present +he was trusting the same people, himself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," Alva passed her hand wearily across +her forehead; "it's awful."</p> + +<p>"Yes, isn't it? The man gave him the paper then. +And Jack's first idea was to take it right up-stairs to +them, but then he thought they might skip before he +could have them arrested, so he decided to drive over +and see Mr. Pollock first."</p> + +<p>"I can't make it seem true."</p> + +<p>"No, I can't, either. Of course they never paid +anything, but they're nice people. I've liked them."</p> + +<p>"Then they won't know anything about all this until +they are really arrested?"<span class="pagenum">[194]</span></p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. O'Neil; "they'll eat dinner just +as calm as they've eaten all their other dinners."</p> + +<p>"Come, Lassie," said Alva; "that reminds me that +we must get ready for dinner, ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Do you want to take the paper up-stairs with you?" +Mrs. O'Neil asked; "right after dinner I want to take +it up to Mrs. Ray, but you can keep it till then if you +like."</p> + +<p>"No, thank you," said Alva, with her strange, white +smile; "I read it all through."</p> + +<p>When they were up-stairs Lassie exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"There, now you see—"</p> + +<p>But her friend stopped her with a gesture. "It's +too terrible to talk about," she said, simply. "I must +think earnestly what ought to come next."</p> + +<p>Lassie became silent.<span class="pagenum">[195]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE WALK TO THE LOWER FALLS</p> + +<p>"I certainly am going with Mrs. O'Neil when +she carries that paper to the post-office after +dinner," Lassie exclaimed, as soon as they reached their +rooms. "Oh, Alva, this is the most interesting experience +I ever had. I'm just wild. It's such fun!"</p> + +<p>Alva came straight to her, laid her two hands on the +girl's shoulders and looked into her face.</p> + +<p>"Lassie!" she said, in a tone of appalled meaning, +"Lassie!"</p> + +<p>Lassie laughed a little, just a very little. "I didn't +make them bad," she said; "it's just that I enjoy the +fun of the developments."</p> + +<p>"The fun!" said Alva, "the fun! When there +isn't anything except tragedy, misery, and shame!"</p> + +<p>"But, Alva, if they are that kind of women, isn't it +right that they should be found out?"</p> + +<p>Her friend dropped her hands and turned away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear—oh, dear," she said, with a sigh that +was almost a moan.</p> + +<p>Later they went down to the dining-room. Ingram +had not come that noon, and Mrs. Lathbun and her +daughter were sitting placidly at their table. Alva and +Lassie took their own seats as usual.</p> + +<p>There are not many sensations so complexly curious +as to be obliged to eat your dinner within five feet of<span class="pagenum">[196]</span> +two ladies who perhaps are to be arrested as soon as +a man who drives a fast horse can get back from Ledge +Centre with the sheriff.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil's criminal code, reinforced by such stray +bits of procedure as she could recollect on short notice, +led to a supposition on her part that the case would +go almost in a bee-line from Mr. Pollock the attorney +to the Geneseo jail. Therefore Mary Cody's eyes were +full of rounded curiosity as she waited at table, and +Lassie could not forbear to glance often at the quiet +and simple-looking pair,—the mother in her dark +blue print, with its bands of stitched silk, and the +daughter with the red silk front that had so impressed +her from the beginning. Alva could not look at them,—her +mind was full of devious wondering. Mrs. O'Neil +glanced in from time to time, her pretty face darkened +by vague distress, mixed with some righteous indignation.</p> + +<p>The door opened and Ronald Ingram entered. It +was a surprise and a great relief, for of course he knew +nothing and was consequently under no constraint.</p> + +<p>Mary Cody rushed to lay a place for him.</p> + +<p>"This would be a grand day to walk to the Lower +Falls," he said, as he sat down; "why don't you do it? +You haven't been yet, have you?"</p> + +<p>"No," Alva said; "there hasn't ever been time."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you go this afternoon, then? I'll go +with you, if you like. I'm free."</p> + +<p>"I can't go this afternoon; take Lassie. That will +take care of you both at once."</p> + +<p>"I think that would be fine," said Ingram, heartily, +"if Lassie will like to go."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked helplessly from Alva to the Lathbun<span class="pagenum">[197]</span> +family. "I couldn't go right after dinner," she said, +hesitatingly, and stopped short to meet Alva's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" the latter asked; "wouldn't you like +the walk?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should like it very much," Lassie declared, +her face flushing. It seemed to her very cruel that no +such delightful plan had ever been broached before, +when it was only just to-day that she wanted to stay at +home. She looked at Ingram, and the wistful expression +on his face was weighed in the balance against the +thrill to come at the post-office when Mrs. Ray should +read the Kinnecot paper. Such was the effect of the +past week in Ledge upon a very human young girl.</p> + +<p>"Why can't you come, too?" Ingram asked +Alva.</p> + +<p>Alva lifted her eyes to his, and in the same second +Miss Lathbun at the other table lifted hers, and fixed +them on the other's face.</p> + +<p>"I can't this afternoon," she said, very stilly but +decidedly; "I have something that keeps me here."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked at her reproachfully. She was going +to stay and hear Mrs. Ray! For the minute Lassie +felt that she could not go herself.</p> + +<p>"I think I'll stay with Alva," she said, suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Lassie!" Alva exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come," urged Ingram; "it's such a grand day. +You both ought to go. Come, do."</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head. "I've a letter to write," +she said; "I—" she stopped. There was a noise +outside. It was Mr. O'Neil, driving up the hill +towards the house! Mary Cody gave an exclamation +in spite of herself, and darted into the kitchen. +Mrs. Lathbun, who faced the window, said calmly:<span class="pagenum">[198]</span></p> + +<p>"Why, there's Mr. O'Neil, just in time for his +dinner."</p> + +<p>Alva turned her head, feeling cold, and saw there +was no sheriff with him. Mrs. Ray could be seen +standing out on her back porch, shading her eyes to +make out anything visible. Of course Mrs. Ray did +not know full particulars, but Josiah Bates had been +to Ledge Centre on horseback and had seen the O'Neil +mare hitched in front of Mr. Pollock's. The postmistress +knew that something was up.</p> + +<p>Alva drew a breath of relief. The sheriff had not +come back, so they could not be arrested at once. Or +else they could not be arrested at all. There seemed to +be a hush of suspense in the room, but Mr. O'Neil +did not enter to relieve it. Only Mary Cody entered, +and Mary Cody's face was as easy to read as a blank +book.</p> + +<p>"Then you'll go?" Ingram asked again.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Lathbun and her daughter rose and went up-stairs, +leaving the other three alone.</p> + +<p>"Of course she'll go," Alva answered; "go, dear, +and get your wraps."</p> + +<p>Lassie cast one last appealing look towards her, and +then she also left the room.</p> + +<p>"Ronald," Alva then said, hurriedly, "Lassie will +tell you what has happened here. I feel confident +that there is some error in it all, but whatever you +think, try to be charitable, merciful. Don't be narrow +in your judgment."</p> + +<p>"Are you referring to your own affairs?" he asked +in surprise.</p> + +<p>"I am not the only one who craves mercy," she said, +smiling; "there are many others."<span class="pagenum">[199]</span></p> + +<p>"Sharing your views?" he asked, smiling in his +turn.</p> + +<p>"Lassie will tell you," she repeated.</p> + +<p>"Alva," the man said suddenly, earnestly, "don't +teach her too many ideals. We are mortal, and life +is a real thing."</p> + +<p>"I understood that perfectly," she replied; "but +the world is not immortal and immortality is a real +thing, too. A desirable thing, too."</p> + +<p>"To be achieved by working on the mortal plane, +remember."</p> + +<p>"I have worked all my life upon the mortal plane; +I shall be back there next summer, you know. Yet +Lassie has learned to see only beauty in my immortal +winter to be between."</p> + +<p>"Ah, there is your error," said Ingram; "you +expect to live this winter and return to your old life +in the summer. But that's something that you never +will be able to do."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"You won't be able to go back next summer."</p> + +<p>She looked at him sadly. "But I shall have to go +back next summer," she said; "do not deceive yourself +as to that. And now excuse me, I want to speak to +her before she goes."</p> + +<p>She left him and ran up-stairs. Lassie was putting +on the hat that looked to the eyes of Ledge like a +feather duster upside down.</p> + +<p>"You're going to stay here and have all the fun," +she protested; "oh, I'd give anything to see Mrs. +Ray read that paper."</p> + +<p>"But I shall not see her."</p> + +<p>"You won't see her!"<span class="pagenum">[200]</span></p> + +<p>"No, dear;" then she went and stood at the window +in her favorite posture. "Oh, Lassie," she said, "I +like to hear Mrs. Ray talk and I enjoy the funny things +she says, but do you think that to look on at the hunting +down of these two women is any pleasure for me? +When I know why they are destitute—why they are +in hiding."</p> + +<p>"Alva," cried Lassie, "you don't mean you still +believe that story?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do."</p> + +<p>"You're crazy!"</p> + +<p>"I expect so. But I still believe the story."</p> + +<p>Lassie stood still, staring at her friend's back. Then +she went hastily forward, seized her impetuously in her +arms and kissed her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, little girl," Alva said, turning, "don't you +see that it's charity, and if they really are not what they +pretend to be and if it all really is a lie, it may be long +before charity will cross their path again?"</p> + +<p>"Alva," Lassie said, with her little whimsical smile, +"you've taken all that nice, agreeable, aching desire +to go to the post-office and see the paper read, completely +out of me."</p> + +<p>"Well, are you sorry for that?"</p> + +<p>Lassie lifted her pretty brown eyes. "No," she +said, frankly; "I'm not."</p> + +<p>Then she ran down to Ingram and they set forth at +once, for it is a long walk to the Lower Falls.</p> + +<p>The day was magnificent. The bright autumn sun +shone on the lines of steel that glinted beside their way +across the bridge, and there was a silvery glisten dancing +in all the world of earth and heaven and in the rainbow +of the mist, too,—a glisten that bespoke the approach<span class="pagenum">[201]</span> +of the Frost King and the further glory soon to be. +The glints of brown and yellow here and there amidst +the red presaged that Nature's festival was daily drawing +nearer to its white close. Ingram, looking ahead +towards the trees that hid the little Colonial house, +wondered and wondered, but was recalled by Lassie's +bursting forth with the whole story of the fresh developments +which they had left behind them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, by George," Ingram exclaimed; "I'd like +to have seen Mrs. Ray get the news myself."</p> + +<p>Lassie felt herself fall with a crash back into the pit +of ordinary views.</p> + +<p>"Would you?" she asked eagerly; "oh, but we +couldn't go back now; Alva would be too disgusted."</p> + +<p>"Of course we can't go back now, but we've missed +a lot of fun."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I thought it would be fun."</p> + +<p>Quite a little pall of gloom fell over both, in the +consideration of what they had missed, and both stared +absent-mindedly up and down the valley, seeing nothing +except the vision of Mrs. Ray perusing the Kinnecot +paper.</p> + +<p>"Alva is so serious over everything," Lassie said +presently, with a mournful note in her voice.</p> + +<p>"She's too serious," declared Ingram.</p> + +<p>"She's looking forward to so much happiness that +she says she can't bear to add even a breath to any +one's misery."</p> + +<p>"And she isn't going to have any happiness at +all."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think there's any hope?"</p> + +<p>"Of course there isn't any hope."</p> + +<p>"What will become of that house?"<span class="pagenum">[202]</span></p> + +<p>"I don't know, I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"Shall you be here this winter?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that. I don't know just how +long it will take for the survey."</p> + +<p>"But you will be here while they build the dam, +too, won't you? And that will take years. Won't you +live here a long time?"</p> + +<p>"The dam is not a fixed fact as yet, you know; far +from it."</p> + +<p>"Isn't it? Every one talks as if it were,—that is, +every one except Alva."</p> + +<p>"But I couldn't live in that house, anyway; I +wouldn't live there for anything, would you?"</p> + +<p>"No, it would be full of ghosts to me. I'd feel about +it just as you—" the words died on her lips, as she +suddenly realized how their unconscious phrasing +sounded. It was the first sunburst of the idea to her, +and it stormed her cheeks with pink.</p> + +<p>"No," said Ingram, unobserving, "that house would +not affect any one but you or I, in that way; but for +us—" thereupon he stopped; the idea which had come +over the girl like a sunburst came over the man like +a cloudburst. He was almost scared as he tried to +think what he had said.</p> + +<p>"Alva is—is—so set against it—the dam, I +mean," he stammered, hurriedly; "she—she has—told +me all her views."</p> + +<p>"But she's different," said Lassie, catching her +breath. "I don't know very much, but I know that it +doesn't look just that way to others."</p> + +<p>"The ultra-altruistic vaccine is already beginning +to work again," Ingram said, trying to laugh; "but +you must not attack me, you know—"<span class="pagenum">[203]</span></p> + +<p>"I'm not attacking you," Lassie interposed, hoping +her face would cool soon.</p> + +<p>"Because, you see, I am nothing in the world but +a mere ordinary, humble, civil engineer, sent up here +by a commission to see what the situation is in feet and +inches, and sand and gravel. I wholly refuse to take +sides as to the controversy;" he had regained composure +now.</p> + +<p>"I suppose that you haven't really anything to say +about it, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Nothing except to make a report. That's all."</p> + +<p>Both felt relieved to be back on firm, friendly ground, +but both were saturated through and through by the +wonderful new conception of life bred by the accidental +speeches. They did not look at one another, but went +down the steps and along the curving road with a sort +of keyed up determination not to let a single break +come in the flow of language.</p> + +<p>"But you must be glad to work on a popular project," +Lassie said.</p> + +<p>"But it isn't altogether popular," Ingram rejoined; +"it's only popular in spots, you see. If every one around +here was as wild as I have seen some people become +when the business threatened their trees or their river, +we might be mobbed."</p> + +<p>"Why, I thought that every one wanted it. Alva +said that the difficulty was that all the people who +would do anything to save the Falls were not born +yet."</p> + +<p>"She was partly right, but not altogether. The +difficulty is that, with the exception of Mr. Ledge, the +people who are interested in preserving the Falls do +not live here, and the people who will make money<span class="pagenum">[204]</span> +by the destruction of the Falls are right on the spot +and own the land."</p> + +<p>"Why, you talk as if you didn't want the dam, +either."</p> + +<p>"It is no use discussing my views; the dam will be +a great thing. Very possibly there will be no more +Falls, but the high banks will remain—until commercial +interests demand their quarrying—and all we can do +is to go with the tide and remember that while man +is destroying in one place, Nature is building in another. +There will always be plenty of wild grandeur somewhere +for those who have the money and leisure to seek +it."</p> + +<p>"But Alva says that Mr. Ledge is trying to save +this for those who love beautiful spots, and haven't +time or money to go far."</p> + +<p>"America isn't made for such people," said Ingram, +simply.</p> + +<p>Lassie thought seriously for a moment, until a glance +from her companion hurried her on to say: "I suppose +that we are too progressive to let anything just go to +waste, and that's what it would be if we let all this +water-power flow unused."</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Ingram; "here would be this +great tract of woodland, which might be making eight +or ten men millionaires, and instead of that one man +tries to save it for thousands who never can by any +chance become well-to-do. No wonder the one man +has spent most of his life investigating insane asylums; +he is evidently more than slightly sympathetic with +the weak-minded."</p> + +<p>"Are you being sarcastic?"</p> + +<p>"No, not at all. I like to look at the Falls, but then<span class="pagenum">[205]</span> +I like to look at a big dam, too; and sluice gates always +did seem to me the most interesting wonder in nature."</p> + +<p>They were deep in the quiet peace of Ledge Park +by this time, and only the squirrels had eyes and ears +there. (They didn't know about Joey Beall.)</p> + +<p>"Oh, how still and lovely!" Lassie exclaimed; +"how almost churchlike."</p> + +<p>The broad, evenly graded road wound away before +them, and the double rank of trees followed its course +on either side.</p> + +<p>"I used to camp out here summers, when I was a +boy. You've read Cooper's novels?"</p> + +<p>"'Deerslayer' and all those? Oh, yes."</p> + +<p>"Their scene was not so far away from here, you +know; only a few score miles."</p> + +<p>"There must be all sorts of stories about here, too?"</p> + +<p>"Did you ever hear tell of the Old White Woman?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"She lived around here. She was stolen by the +Indians and grew up and married one."</p> + +<p>"How interesting! I wonder how it would seem to +really love an Indian?" Then Lassie choked—blushing +furiously at this approach of the painful subject.</p> + +<p>"You speak as one who has had a wide experience +with white men." (Ingram felt this to be fearfully +daring.)</p> + +<p>"I've never been in love in my life." (Lassie felt +this to be fearfully pointed.)</p> + +<p>"How funny," said the man, "neither have I! +Not really in love, you know."</p> + +<p>Such thin ice! But the lure of the forest was there, +and the lure of the absence of interruption, too. Lassie +felt very remarkable. This was so delightful! So novel!<span class="pagenum">[206]</span> +Better than Mrs. Ray and the Kinnecot paper even. +Why, this was even better than all Alva's love affair. +Ten thousand times better! How stupid she had been.</p> + +<p>"How funny!" she said, looking up.</p> + +<p>"Why do you say that?" Ingram asked, quickly.</p> + +<p>He seemed quite anxious to know why she thought +it funny that he had never been in love before, and that +was so delightful, too. A big, handsome man anxious +as to what she thought! She felt as wise as if she had +already made her début.</p> + +<p>"I don't know why I said it," she answered, laughing; +"it just came to me to say it. Was it silly to +say? If so, please forgive me, because I didn't mean +it."</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to forgive," said Ingram; "only +I never expected you to say anything of that sort. You +don't know anything about me and you haven't any +right to judge me." He spoke in quite a vexed, serious +way, and Lassie felt as wise now as if she had made +two débuts.</p> + +<p>"But you were in love with Alva years ago, you +know," she said.</p> + +<p>"I wasn't really in love; I only thought that I +was."</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>There followed a silence for a little while. Lassie +was much impressed by the statement just made. Of +course it wouldn't be polite to repeat to Alva, but it +was very interesting to know, oneself. The road ran +sweetly, greenly on before them, all strewn with piney +needles. There was no sound except a little breeze +rustling overhead, and the occasional fall of an acorn +or pine-cone.<span class="pagenum">[207]</span></p> + +<p>"How does Alva's story affect you, now?" the man +asked, suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Differently from at first. When she first told me +what she meant to do, it just pounded in my ears +that he was going to die in that very house over there; +and that they would have to carry him into it just as +they would later carry him out of it. Oh, it did seem so +terrible to think of this winter, and of her, sitting +there beside him,—so terrible—so terrible!"</p> + +<p>"And doesn't it seem terrible at all to you now?"</p> + +<p>"Not in the same way. She has talked to me so +much; she has made me know so much more of her +way of looking at it. You know—"she hesitated a +little—"she feels about death so strangely,—it +doesn't seem to count to her at all. She feels that in +some way he will be always near her; she says that he +promised her not to leave her again."</p> + +<p>"Poor Alva!"</p> + +<p>"I suppose that he is such a very great man that he +can affect one like that. I am beginning to see what +very different kinds of people there are in the +world."</p> + +<p>"Thank God for that!" Ingram exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Alva says that he is one of the greatest men that +ever lived. She says that to share even a few days of +life with a man who has been a world-force for the +world-betterment, would overpay all the hardship and +loneliness to come."</p> + +<p>They emerged into the sunshine just here, and the +roar of the Middle Falls burst upon their ears. The +fence of Mr. Ledge's house-enclosure stretched before +them, and to the right, along the bank, towered two +groups of dark evergreens.<span class="pagenum">[208]</span></p> + +<p>"We can go through here," Ingram said, unlatching +the gate.</p> + +<p>So they entered the private grounds and passed +around the simple, pretty home and out upon the road +beyond.</p> + +<p>"Everything is as sweet and quiet here as in the +forest," said Lassie.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's a beautiful place," Ingram assented.</p> + +<p>They went on and entered the wood path that goes +to the Lower Falls.</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand one thing," the man said, +suddenly; "if they loved one another so much, why +didn't they marry long ago? If I loved a woman, I +should want to marry her."</p> + +<p>Here was the thin ice again—delight again.</p> + +<p>"They never thought of it," Lassie said, revelling +in the sense of danger; "they couldn't. They recognized +other claims."</p> + +<p>Ingram walked on for a little, and then he said: +"I suppose that what you say is true, and that with +people like them everything is different from what it +is with you and me."</p> + +<p>(You and me!)</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lassie, "Alva doesn't seem to have +minded that his work meant more to him than she did, +and I suppose that he thought it quite right that she +should do her duty unselfishly."</p> + +<p>"It makes our view of things seem rather small and +petty—don't you think? Or shall we call her crazy, +as the world generally does call all such people?"</p> + +<p>"I know that she's not crazy," the girl said.</p> + +<p>"Shall we have to admit then that she is right in +what she is going to do, and that instead of its being<span class="pagenum">[209]</span> +horrible, it is sublime?" He looked at her, and she +raised tear-filled eyes to his. But she was silent.</p> + +<p>"I think that we must admit it—for Alva," he +added; "but not for ourselves."</p> + +<p>The girl was silent and her lips trembled. Finally +she said: "I believe that what she said is coming true, +and that I am changing and that you are changing, +too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm changed all the way through," he admitted.</p> + +<p>It was a long walk to the Lower Falls, and yet it +was short to them. Very short! But too long to follow +them step by step. It was a beautiful walk, and one +which they were to remember all their lives to come. +It was such a walk as should form a powerful argument +in favor of the preservation of the Falls.<span class="pagenum">[210]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class="h3">RIGHTEOUS JUSTICE</p> + +<p>Leaving Mary Cody to watch over the house, Mrs. +O'Neil, the instant dinner was over, threw something +over her head and hurried to the post-office.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray met her at the door. "What is it?" was +her greeting; "I know it's come out about the case-knives! +Hasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"You'll never guess what they are," said Mrs. O'Neil, +entering the house and closing the door behind her. +"Mrs. Ray, they're swindlers!"</p> + +<p>"I knew it; I knew it all the time. How did you +find it out?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil told her.</p> + +<p>"Give me the paper."</p> + +<p>The paper was unfolded, but as she unfolded it Mrs. +Dunstall and Pinkie came running in one way, and Mrs. +Wiley rushed panting up the other steps.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard?" Mrs. Dunstall cried.</p> + +<p>"Heard! I've heard it a dozen ways." Mrs. Ray +was devouring the article as she spoke. "Sit down," +she said briefly, without looking around.</p> + +<p>"They can't be arrested till Saturday," Mrs. O'Neil +said. "There isn't a mite of doubt but what it's them, +but Mr. Pollock told Jack that the law is that he must +give them notice, and then he must let them go before +he can arrest them."<span class="pagenum">[211]</span></p> + +<p>"Why, I never heard the equal," exclaimed Mrs. +Wiley. "I didn't know that you must let anybody +who'd done anything go, ever! What will Uncle Purchase +say to that!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if that isn't the greatest I ever heard, either," +said Mrs. Ray, never ceasing to read; "that's a funny +law. If the United States Government run its business +that way, every one would be skipping out with the +stamps."</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Pollock said," broke in Mrs. O'Neil, +"that no matter how big swindlers they were, we +couldn't arrest them until some one whom they'd +swindled swore to the fact."</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you swear, then?" interrupted +Mrs. Ray still reading.</p> + +<p>"Because Mr. Pollock says they haven't actually +swindled us, till they really leave without paying, you +see," explained Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"Lands!" commented Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Which means," said Mrs. Ray, always reading, +"that the law is that you mustn't try to catch 'em until +after you let 'em go."</p> + +<p>"Seems so," said Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"I never hear the beat!" exclaimed Mrs. Ray. +"Why, this paper says they'd been jumping their +board all summer!"</p> + +<p>"All summer?" said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Well, I always knew they were no good," said Mrs. +Ray, still reading; "they never got any letters. They +come to the post-office sometimes to try to give themselves +a reputation, but they didn't fool me, for they +never got any letters. I don't misjudge folks if they +don't get many, and if they cancel up good it says just<span class="pagenum">[212]</span> +as much for their characters as if they got a lot—maybe +more, for a lot of letters may be just duns—but when +there's no income and no outgo, better look out, I say. +Yes, indeed. Do they owe you much, Nellie?"</p> + +<p>"About thirty-five dollars," said Mrs. O'Neil; "but +oh, dear! Why, they've made fudge and worn my +shawls and roasted chestnuts—"</p> + +<p>"Nellie, Nellie," it was a strange voice at the kitchen +door. Everybody looked up to see Mrs. Kendal, almost +purple from rapid walking. "I've just heard! Lucia +Cosby ran down to tell me. We've got a Foxtown +Signal that's got some more about them in. I run right +over to bring it to you. I was sure I'd find you here. +That's why the old lady always wore her rubbers—her +shoes were clean wore through with walking, skipping +out, all the time."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kendal sank on a seat, and the Foxtown Signal +was spread out upon the table with the other +paper.</p> + +<p>"I thought that was a funny story about the trunks," +said Mrs. Wiley.</p> + +<p>"They've worn the same clothes for three weeks, +to my certain knowledge," said Mrs. O'Neil, "and not +so much as an extra hairpin!"</p> + +<p>"And they haven't any toilet things except a hair-brush +that isn't good enough to throw at a cat, and a +mirror that's broken," interposed Mrs. Ray; "you said +so, Nellie, and I saw it, too."</p> + +<p>"A broken mirror's bad luck," said Mrs. Wiley; +"I hope you'll see that it's bad luck for you too, Nellie. +Your husband's too soft-hearted to keep a hotel as we +always tell every one who goes there to board."</p> + +<p>"Well, he isn't soft-hearted this time," said his wife;<span class="pagenum">[213]</span> +"he's mad enough to-day, and he says he'll pay for +his own ticket to Geneseo to bear witness against them."</p> + +<p>Just here Mrs. Wellston, who lived in the first house +over the hill from the schoolhouse, came rushing in.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just heard!" she panted, "they left a lot of +bills at King's and at Race's Corners, where my sister +Molly lives, they left a board-bill of eighteen dollars! +They're known all over!"</p> + +<p>"What do you think of that?" Mrs. Ray said, turning +to Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil gasped.</p> + +<p>"The man who told Jack told Nathan and Lizzie +that the old woman's husband died in the penitentiary," +she said. "That's a nice kind of people to have around +your house."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wiley gasped this time. Mrs. O'Neil gasped +again.</p> + +<p>"Jack said we must tell you all the first thing for +fear she'd try to borrow money of some one. I told him +he was foolish, because if they borrowed money of any +one then they could pay us."</p> + +<p>"He was only joking," said Mrs. Ray; "if they paid +you, you wouldn't really take the money, for you'd know +that they must have gotten it from some of us."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, you ought to have taken it, I +think," said Mrs. Dunstall solemnly, "and then returned +it to whoever give it to them."</p> + +<p>Lottie Ann and Uncle Purchase now arrived to add +to the festivity of the occasion.</p> + +<p>"I guess nobody need worry over that pair's paying +anybody any money they get their hands on," observed +Mrs. Ray, fetching a chair for Uncle Purchase. "What +are you going to do about it, when they come down and<span class="pagenum">[214]</span> +want to go out to walk next time, Nellie? Give 'em +your shawls the same as usual, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Why, we've got to let 'em go or they can't skip and +make themselves liable to arrest, of course, but the old +lady said she could surely get money by to-morrow, and +Jack has hired a boy to hang around the house and if +they go out, track them."</p> + +<p>"My sakes, ain't it interesting?" said Mrs. Dunstall. +"And to think that they're up there this minute and +have no idea of it all."</p> + +<p>"I dare say they have been laughing at you all the +time they were off chestnutting our chestnuts," said Mrs. +Wiley. "My husband says if they'd sold all they've +picked up, they could have paid their board honestly."</p> + +<p>"But they weren't honest, you see," said Mrs. Ray; +"honest people all get letters, or anyhow they buy +postal cards of the Falls. And you ought to have taken +my word for it when I suspected them, Nellie; those +case-knives ought to have set you on to them."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, and us seeing them walking all around +for a fortnight," said Mrs. Dunstall; "and we so +innocent, and they swindlers, and you boarding them +for nothing,—dear, dear!"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mrs. Ray, "here's your paper, Nellie; +what will happen next, I wonder?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do, too," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"You'd better all come down about five, and see if +they did go out," said Mrs. O'Neil, with the air of +extending an invitation to a party. "Why, that old +lady told me that she'd been to the Boston Academy +of Music."</p> + +<p>"Boston!" said Mrs. Dunstall with a sniff; "they +never saw Boston. Not those two. Not much."<span class="pagenum">[215]</span></p> + +<p>"Oh, but they have," said Mrs. O'Neil; "I know +that they have, for I've been there myself, and we +talked about it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess Boston has its crooks as well as other +places," said Mrs. Ray, pacifically; "I guess if we can +harbor swindlers and not know it, Boston can, too."</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't believe it," Mrs. O'Neil said again. +"But these papers make me have to; you see, there's +the names, and Hannah Adele, and no paper would +dare to print that if it wasn't true."</p> + +<p>"True! Of course it's true," said Mrs. Ray; "I +never would be surprised over anything anybody 'd do +that would wear brown laces in black shoes and go in +out of the rain at a strange house at midnight."</p> + +<p>"Did she have brown laces in black shoes?" asked +Lottie Ann, in a tone penetrated with horror.</p> + +<p>"She did, and what's more, she pinned herself +together. I see the pins sticking out of her, time and +again, when she come in to stand around and wait for +mail like a honest person would. No man is ever going +to marry a girl who bristles with pins like that,—it'll +be a job I wouldn't like myself to be the sheriff and +have to arrest her. He'd better look sharp where he +lays his hand on that girl, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Will she really be arrested?" Lottie Ann cried.</p> + +<p>"Why, I should hope so," said her mother.</p> + +<p>"As a law-abiding citizen yourself, who may take +boarders some day, you wouldn't wish her not to be, +would you?" said Mrs. Ray.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Lottie Ann; "it seems to me +very—very terrible to think that two women should go +to jail."</p> + +<p>"But they haven't any money, and they're swindlers,"<span class="pagenum">[216]</span> +said Mrs. Dunstall; "they belong in jail. That's +why we have jails."</p> + +<p>"If they'd had money, they'd have received at +least two or three letters," said Mrs. Ray. "If people +have any money at all, there's always some one who +wants to keep posted as to their health. Yes, indeed. +No, they haven't any money. People that have money +and never get up till noon is generally buying tea and +matches, at any rate, but they didn't even do that. No, +they ain't got any money."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't believe it myself at first," repeated Nellie +O'Neil; "and they certainly ate like people that aren't +holding anything back. Two helps of everything, and +didn't she go and take half a loaf of gingerbread up-stairs +yesterday afternoon? As cool as a cucumber."</p> + +<p>"They were both cool as cucumbers," said Mrs. Ray; +"that's why they borrowed your shawls all the time, I +guess. Cooler than cucumbers they would have been +without them, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Jack went up and gave the old lady warning right +after dinner," said Mrs. O'Neil. "He only stopped to +just get a bite first."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope he didn't get a bite last, too," said +Mrs. Ray, tucking in the ends of her shawl. "That +pair was too comfortable with you to want to be warned +to leave. Making fudge, indeed! I'm surprised at +you, Nellie; I'd no more think of letting my boarders +make fudge than I would of keeping them for nothing. +You and Jack don't belong in the hotel business. You +can't possibly make boarding people pay, unless you +make them pay for their board."</p> + +<p>"No, you can't," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Josiah was driving down to North Ledge yesterday,<span class="pagenum">[217]</span> +and he saw them getting over a fence in that direction," +said Mrs. Wiley, rising. "He said they seemed to be +learning the country by all means, fair or foul."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't want to seem unfriendly," said Mrs. +Ray; "but I guess you'll all have to go. I found some +ants in my grocery business this morning for the first +time, and while I'm give to understand it's the regular +thing in most grocery businesses, no ant need flatter +himself that it is in mine. I'm going to clean out the +whole of the three shelves this afternoon and sprinkle +borax everywhere where it can't taste. So I must have +this room. I'll be down to-night after mail, Nellie; +good-by."</p> + +<p>Thereupon they all departed.<span class="pagenum">[218]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">IN THE HOUR OF NEED</p> + +<p>In the meantime Alva, left alone in her room, felt +troubled, vastly troubled, by the sorrow and shame +gathering so close to her. The emotions of those near +by affect one keenly attuned, in a degree that the less +sensitive would hardly believe possible.</p> + +<p>She went and locked the door after Lassie left, and +going to a chair that happened to stand close to the +bureau, sat down there, leaned her face on her hand +and thought earnestly of the whole matter.</p> + +<p>"Why must I trouble so?" she said to herself, presently; +"no one else does," and then she smiled sadly. +"It is because I have set my face in that direction," +she said; "I have vowed myself to service, just as he +has vowed himself, for the love of God and God in +humanity."</p> + +<p>A light tap on her own door sounded, and she started, +crying "Come in," quite forgetting that the door was +locked.</p> + +<p>Some one tried the door and then Alva sprang up +and unfastened it. It opened, and Miss Lathbun stood +there in the crack.</p> + +<p>"May I come in for a few minutes?" she asked, +pale and with frightened eyes.</p> + +<p>"Yes, come in," Alva said quickly; "come in and sit<span class="pagenum">[219]</span> +down." She drew a chair near to the one that she had +been occupying.</p> + +<p>"I have come to you on a—" began the girl, "on +a—on a—" she stammered and stopped.</p> + +<p>"You are in trouble," Alva said gently; "tell me +all about it."</p> + +<p>"I am going to tell you; I have come on purpose +to tell you. You were so kind and friendly the other +day, and I—I—wasn't truthful; I didn't tell you +everything."</p> + +<p>Alva rested her face on her hand again and looked +straight at her. "Then tell me everything now," she +said.</p> + +<p>Miss Lathbun returned her look. "Mr. O'Neil has +just been up to tell Mother that we must pay our bill +here, or leave," she said. "Mother is desperate. She +doesn't know what to do, and I don't know what to do. +I told you so little of the whole story. The truth is +that he is actually driving Mother and me into poverty. +The truth is that I don't know whether he ever really +has thought of marrying me. Mother never has +believed that he has. She doesn't think that he would +put us to such straits if he was honest. Of course she +doesn't know about his watching nights. I can't tell +her. She'd go mad."</p> + +<p>Alva contemplated her quietly. "But you love him?" +she said.</p> + +<p>Miss Lathbun's eyes filled with tears. "I do love +him, and I believe that he loves me."</p> + +<p>"You feel sure of it, don't you?"</p> + +<p>The girl looked at her earnestly. "Doesn't one +always know?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Alva smiled a little. "One ought to," she assented;<span class="pagenum">[220]</span> +"well, then, how can he bear to make your life so +miserable?"</p> + +<p>The white girl clasped her delicate hands tightly in +her thin black merino lap. "I don't know," she said, +in a voice almost like a wail; "but oh, we have been +very miserable! We have such little income and it +comes through the lawyer. He sent the lawyer to +Seattle on business in July, and Mamma and I haven't +had any money since. We have gone from place to +place—we have almost fled from place to place; our +trunks are held for bills; we are penniless, winter is +coming, and—oh, I don't know what to do; I don't +know what to do!" She bit her lip so as not to cry, +but her pale face worked pitifully.</p> + +<p>Alva looked at her in a curiously speculative but +not at all heartless way. "Isn't it strange," she murmured, +"that the resolution that drives one man to any +heights will drive another of the same calibre to any +depths?" She rose and went to her table. "Tell me," +she said, taking a framed picture from before the +mirror, "is he really like this? You said so before. +Say it again."</p> + +<p>Miss Lathbun took the picture in her two hands. +"Oh, yes, yes!" she said, eagerly; "it is the same. +They are just the same."</p> + +<p>"What did you say his name was?" Alva asked, +taking the picture from her and restoring it to its place.</p> + +<p>Miss Lathbun told her: "Lisle C. Bayard."</p> + +<p>Alva sat down again, and rested her chin on her +hand as before. "I wonder how I can really help +you. I am trying to be big enough to see."</p> + +<p>Miss Lathbun's lips parted slightly; she looked at her +breathlessly, and held her peace.<span class="pagenum">[221]</span></p> + +<p>"Even if you were lying to me still," Alva said presently, +"I should want just as much to help you. If +you cheated me and laughed at me afterwards, I should +still want to help you. If you are an adventuress and +I succored you, what would count to me would be that +I tried to do right."</p> + +<p>She spoke in a strange, meditative manner; Miss +Lathbun continued to watch her, always white, and +whiter.</p> + +<p>"I cannot see why you and your mother came into +my life," Alva went on; "but you have come, and I have +been interested in you. Our paths seemed ready to +diverge and yet just now they join again. Do you know, +that a week or so ago I knelt in a church and took two +vows; one was to accept without murmur whatever +life might bring because for the moment I was so superlatively +blessed; the other was to never again pass any +trouble by carelessly. No matter what is brought to +me, I must deal with it as earnestly and justly as I +know how,—as I shall try to deal with you."</p> + +<p>She got up, took a key from the pocket of a coat +hanging on a hook near by, unlocked her trunk, opened +a purse therein, and extracted some bills.</p> + +<p>The girl watched her like one fascinated.</p> + +<p>Alva came to her side and put the roll in her hands +and closed her fingers over it. "It will settle everything," +she said; "there, take it, go. Be honest again. +Surprise every one. God be with you."</p> + +<p>Hannah Adele looked down at her hand as if in a +dream. "I was going to ask you for a little money," +she faltered; "but this—this—"</p> + +<p>"I know," said Alva, "I knew when you came in. +Now, please don't say any more. Go back to your<span class="pagenum">[222]</span> +mother and tell her. I shall not say one word about it, +you can depend upon me."</p> + +<p>The girl rose in a blind, stupid kind of way and left +the room. When she was gone, Alva went to the window +for a minute and looked out. The glisten of coming +cold was in the air. The thistles were loosing their +down and it floated on the wind like ethereal snow. +She stood there for a long time. "Something is to be," +she murmured, "I feel it coming. What is it?"</p> + +<p>Then she went to her table, picked up a pen and +wrote:</p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Lisle C. Bayard</span>,</p> + +<p><i>Dear Sir</i>:—I am acting under an impulse which +I cannot overcome. It may be only a folly, but it is too +strong within me to be resisted.</p> + +<p>You may or may not know two ladies of the name +of Lathbun; you may or may not be interested in +them; but if by any chance you are interested in them, +you ought to know that both have been threatened with +terrible trouble. If the story which I have been told +be really true it ought to make you not sorry, but very +glad, to learn that in their hour of stress they found +a friend.</p> + +<p>Yours very truly ...</p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>and she signed her full name.</p> + +<p>After that she wrote another letter, with full particulars +of the story. And when that letter, too, was +finished, she slipped on her wraps and walked up the +cinder-path to the post-office.</p> + +<p>She found Mrs. Ray just in the fevered finale of her +chase after ants.</p> + +<p>"Put the letters on the counter," said the postmistress;<span class="pagenum">[223]</span> +"I'm standing on the post-box, and the +Republican party is getting one good, useful deed to +its credit this term, anyhow. I tried a soap box and +bu'st through, and I haven't had a worse shock since I +stepped down the wrong side of the step-ladder last +spring, when I was kalsomining for Mrs. Clinch. But +the post-box is as steady as the Bank of England and I +feel as if for this one occasion, at least, my grocery +business was coming out on top. Well, has anything +new come up down your way since noon? Haven't +paid their bill yet, have they?"</p> + +<p>"I think they'll pay it," said Alva, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Pay it! Those two? Well, not much! You're +from the city and don't get a chance to judge character +like I do, but I tell you every one that is honest has got +to have a change of undershirts, at least. I've heard +of people as turned them hind side before one week, and +inside out the next, but they washed 'em the week after +that, if they had any reputations at all to keep up."</p> + +<p>"Do you want to bet with me as to Mrs. Lathbun's +paying her bill, Mrs. Ray?" Alva asked.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray turned and looked sharply down from her +government perch. "My goodness me," she said, +"you surely ain't been fool enough to lend her money, +have you?"</p> + +<p>Alva was too startled to collect herself.</p> + +<p>"Well, you deserve to lose it then," said Mrs. Ray, +climbing down abruptly; "see here, it isn't any of my +business, but I'm going to make it my business and +tell you the plain truth, and if you take offence I'll have +done my duty, anyhow. Now you listen to me and +bear in mind that I'm twice your age and have got all +the experience of a postmistress and a farmer, and a<span class="pagenum">[224]</span> +sexton and a grocery business and a married woman +and a widow and a stepmother; if you've lent money to +the Lathbuns you're going to lose it, for they're just +what the paper said—they're a foxy pair and no mistake, +and furthermore, with all the money you're spending +on that house, you'd better be keeping your eyes +open, mark my words."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="gs05" id="gs05"></a> +<img src="images/gs05.jpg" width="400" height="624" alt=""IF YOU'VE LENT MONEY TO THE LATHBUNS YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE IT."" title=""> +</div> + +<p class="caption">"IF YOU'VE LENT MONEY TO THE LATHBUNS YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE IT."</p> + +<p>"Why, Mrs. Ray, what makes you say that?"</p> + +<p>"Because I've got eyes of my own," said Mrs. Ray; +"and I've been married too. I've been married and I +walked to the Lower Falls beforehand, too. I saw 'em +come up the road the first day, and I saw 'em going +down it to-day. I'd send her packing, if I was you."</p> + +<p>Alva laughed ringingly. "Oh, Mrs. Ray," she exclaimed; +"I'm not going to marry that man, and +besides, let me tell you something else; I haven't <i>lent</i> +any money to the Lathbuns."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray stared fixedly into her face for a long +minute, then she said abruptly: "You tell Nellie not +to send up for mail to-night. I'll bring the letters +down. I'll be out filin' my bond, and I can just as well +bring 'em down. It won't do any good your coming +for 'em, because the post-office will be closed and me +gone, so you couldn't get 'em if you did come."</p> + +<p>Alva smiled. "We'll wait at the house," she said, +laying her hand on the door-knob.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray watched her take her departure.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad she's give up the man so pleasant," she +said; "and she's give up the money just as pleasant. +Poor thing! She thought she was smart enough to keep +me from seeing how she meant it. As if any one from a +city could fool me!"</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[225]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<p class="h3">DOUBTS</p> + +<p>Alva was sitting in her room, her hands clasped +behind her head in her favorite thinking attitude +when Lassie returned from her walk to the Lower +Falls. The face of the older friend wore its habitual +look of far-away absorption as the young girl entered, +but the look was almost rivalled by Lassie's own look—for +Lassie had returned from the Lower Falls with +what was to be her own private and personal absorption +forever after.</p> + +<p>"Had you a pleasant time?" Alva asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it was beautiful!" the young girl exclaimed, +"we had such fun, too," she stopped, and hesitated; +then something in the other's face made her ask: "Are +they gone?"</p> + +<p>Alva shook her head. "No, dear, they've received +their warning, but they've not gone."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Lassie, relieved, "then they won't be +in jail this night, anyway."</p> + +<p>"No, nor any other night," Alva said, quietly; "I +shall not let those women suffer shame and humiliation +when a little money can prevent it."</p> + +<p>"You are going to pay their bills!"</p> + +<p>"No, but I am going to help them pay them."</p> + +<p>"You are going to give them money?"</p> + +<p>"I have given it."<span class="pagenum">[226]</span></p> + +<p>Lassie stood still in surprise, and yet, even surprised +as she was, there was a perfunctory aspect which had +not been present in the morning.</p> + +<p>"And I have written a little letter to the hero of Miss +Lathbun's romance, too."</p> + +<p>Lassie came close. "Alva!" she asked, "then you +really believe that there is such a man?"</p> + +<p>Alva put out her hand and pulled the girl down upon +her lap. "I do believe it," she said. "I may be deceived +in some ways, but the man is real, I know. As I +said before, one cannot invent that kind of character."</p> + +<p>"And you wrote him? What did you say?"</p> + +<p>"Only a few simple words. I felt that it was the +right thing to do; I did it for the same reason that I do all +things. Out of the might of my love. If you ever come +to love as I do, you'll understand how wide and deep +one's interest in all love can become—yes, in all love +and in all things."</p> + +<p>Lassie leaned her cheek upon her friend's hair for a +moment and did not speak.</p> + +<p>"I know what you're thinking," Alva went on then +(but she did not know, really). "But do you know +what I have been thinking? I have been wondering. +Surely no two people could seem further out of my +realm than these two forlorn women, but I always said +there must be a reason and a strong one, or else they +would not interest me so, and now you see what it was. +They were brought to me to succor, and that is almost +the greatest joy that I know now."</p> + +<p>Lassie felt real life slipping from her, just as it always +did when Alva talked. She was silent and thoughtful, +even her new sensation in abeyance for the minute.<span class="pagenum">[227]</span> +Love was drawing back a step and letting Mercy have +its hour.</p> + +<p>"But if they deserved punishment?" she asked +finally, in a timid voice.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they do deserve it, but not at my hands. +If I, feeling as I do, suffered them to go down yet deeper +into the pit, I should do a cruel wrong. I can't do such +a wrong, I must do right in so far as I know how,—and +it's their good luck to have met me just now." She +smiled.</p> + +<p>"Alva," said Lassie, kissing her, "that's a very new +view to me. The evil-doers deserve to be punished, +but others ought to be doing good; so on account of +those others and on their account mainly we are taught +forgiveness of sins;" she laughed softly.</p> + +<p>Alva opened her eyes. "What a forward leap your +intellect has taken this afternoon," she commented. +"I never dreamed that Ronald was such a Jesuit. Come +now, jump up, we must go down to supper."</p> + +<p>"But you'll just tell me what Mrs. Ray said when +she saw the paper."</p> + +<p>"My dear, I really haven't asked."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear; then perhaps she took it calmly! Have +you seen her since?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she took this afternoon to clean ants out of +the government precincts. She seemed calm to me."</p> + +<p>"Goodness! Then I'm glad that I went."</p> + +<p>Alva laughed a little. For some odd reason the +laugh caused Lassie to blush deeply, although the +laugh was absolutely innocent of innuendo.</p> + +<p>Down-stairs, Ingram awaited them. At the other +small table Mrs. Lathbun and her daughter sat as +placidly as ever. The long table was full as usual, but<span class="pagenum">[228]</span> +there was a keen subtlety of interest abroad which +rendered the conversation there fitful and jerky in the +extreme. The mother and daughter began to feel +uneasy, and before Mary Cody had placed the soup for +the later comers, they rose and went quietly up-stairs.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what they said when Mr. O'Neil +gave them warning?" Lassie asked, when the others +had also left the room.</p> + +<p>"They said they'd pay the money just as soon as a +letter could get to Cromwell and back," Alva replied. +"They had been waiting for their own lawyer to return +from day to day, but if it came to the question of real +necessity they could get money from some one else."</p> + +<p>The squeak of the outside door was heard; it was +Mrs. Ray, and the next second she was in their +midst.</p> + +<p>"Good evening," she said briskly.</p> + +<p>At the sound of her voice Mrs. O'Neil hurried in +from the kitchen and Mary Cody followed her as far as +the door and stood there, spellbound with eager interest.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray was out of breath and had her shawl over +her head and her bond under her arm. "I just run +down before the mail to get Jack to sign this and find out +if anything more 's come up. Sammy Adams was in to +see me about five, and he's scared white over their being +swindlers. He says to think of them swindling around +his house all that night long! He's afraid to stay in his +house now, and he's afraid to leave it. He was running +to the window to look out that way all the time. I'm +afraid Sammy's getting mooney. There were days +when Mr. Ray used to be always looking out the window. +Those were always his mooney days."</p> + +<p>"Nothing new 's come up," said Mrs. O'Neil; "the<span class="pagenum">[229]</span> +old lady took her two cups of coffee same as usual, +didn't she, Mary?"</p> + +<p>"She took three to-night," said Mary Cody.</p> + +<p>"Loading up to skip," said Mrs. Ray, significantly; +"well, Nellie, where's your husband? He's got to sign +this before I can go back. The United States Government +won't trust me after seventeen years without my +bondsmen are still willing to support their view."</p> + +<p>"Jack's in the bar," said his wife; "I'll go and fetch +him."</p> + +<p>"Do sit down, Mrs. Ray," Alva begged. Ingram +jumped up and drew out a chair. Mrs. Ray seated +herself.</p> + +<p>"Are they up-stairs, Mary?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, went right up after supper," said Mary +Cody.</p> + +<p>"I thought they looked troubled," said Lassie.</p> + +<p>"Well, they did post a letter, after all," said Mrs. +Ray, turning to Alva. "I never malign any one, so I +wanted to tell you that. They didn't come in and lay +it on the counter, like honest people, but they put it in +that box that the United States Government requires +me to keep nailed up outside and unlock and peek into +twice every day of the year around. Theirs was the +first letter any one ever put in, I guess, because although +folks feel I'm honest enough to be postmistress, they +don't think I'm silly enough to look in that box twice +a day, just because I said I would on my oath. The +boys put June-bugs and garter-snakes in to try if I do; +but I always find 'em before they've quit being lively."</p> + +<p>"What did you do with the letter?" Mary Cody +asked.</p> + +<p>"Do with it! Don't I have to put any letter into<span class="pagenum">[230]</span> +the next mail and lock the bag, no matter what my +feelings are? Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Where was it addressed?" asked Ingram, leaning +back and putting his hands in his pockets.</p> + +<p>"That I can't tell you," said Mrs. Ray; "my oath +keeps my mouth closed on all business connected with +the United States Mail, but I'll tell you what I did do. +I copied the address off, and then I looked through the +little book of post-office regulations and I couldn't +find one word to prevent my bringing you a copy, so +here it is."</p> + +<p>She opened her hand as she spoke and showed a +piece of paper. Lassie, who was nearest her, took it +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she exclaimed disappointedly, "this is the +letter that she told Mr. O'Neil she'd write. It's to +their lawyer. It isn't anything new."</p> + +<p>"Well, give it back to me so I can tear it up," said +Mrs. Ray; "I meant to tear it up, anyway. But where +is Mr. O'Neil? I want to get my bond filed. By the +way," she said, turning to Ingram, "you owe me two +cents."</p> + +<p>"Two cents!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; the stamp come off of one of your letters, and +I put on a new one. I've saved the other for you. It +was a letter addressed to New York. You'll have to +buy some glue if you're ever meaning to get your money's +worth out of that stamp. I licked it good, but it won't +stick. Too many been at it before you and me, I guess. +That's the way with most stamps that won't stick, I +always think."</p> + +<p>"Here's the two cents," said Ingram.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much. Well, every one in town<span class="pagenum">[231]</span> +is wondering what the lawyer will answer them. He's +a real man, for Nathan says he got beat for the Legislature +once. But will he send them any money? That's +the question!"</p> + +<p>"What do you think?" asked Ingram.</p> + +<p>"I can't have any opinion. Any one who's had anything +to do with the Government closes my lips as a +servant to the United States. It was very hard for me +to give up having opinions when I first came into politics, +but I'm so used to it now that I wouldn't feel easy if I +could speak freely any more."</p> + +<p>"But if you weren't postmistress what would you +think?" Ingram queried.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't think anything; I'd know they'd skip! +They'll skip to-night; mark my words."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but they won't," said Alva, smiling; "they'll +pay their bill—wait and see."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will wait and see," said Mrs. Ray, darkly. +"I'll wait a long while and see very little. Yes, indeed. +What sticks in my mind is poor Sammy Adams. He +says he's afraid to sleep alone in his house, and he's too +afraid of dogs and cats to have any to watch. He's +going to put two hens in his kitchen to-night and roll +a sofa against the front door. He says he knows every +time the hens stir he'll go most out of his senses. Sammy +says he wasn't meant to live alone."</p> + +<p>"What did you say to that?"</p> + +<p>"Said it didn't look to me as if he was meant to live +with hens, neither. But where is your husband, Nellie?" +(Mrs. O'Neil had just re-entered the room). "I've got +to get hold of him. I'm in a awful hurry to get home. +There's the mail, and I've got Sally Catt's dress to +finish, too."<span class="pagenum">[232]</span></p> + +<p>"He'll be in in just a minute," said Mrs. O'Neil; +"did Sally decide to line it, after all?"</p> + +<p>"No, she didn't decide to line it; but she decided to +have me line it, which is more to my point. I'm sure +I'm glad not to be Joey Beall and have to adapt myself +to Sally; but then, if folks are still calling a fellow Joey +after he's forty, I don't know that it matters much who +marries him, and Sally hasn't changed her mind as to +liking the house on the hill since he moved it up on the +hill to please her."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry for Joey," said Mrs. O'Neil, warmly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm not," said Mrs. Ray. "I'm not sorry +for any one who's a fool. Speaking of fools, if +they don't pay to-morrow, how much longer are you +intending to keep them for nothing? I'd just like to +know that."</p> + +<p>"They can't get an answer to the letter before to-morrow +night."</p> + +<p>"Huh! So you're going to feed them all day to-morrow, +too! Well, I don't know how you and Jack +keep clothes on your backs the way you go on. I never +saw people like you two. If I ever want to live free, I +know where to come."</p> + +<p>"Indeed you do, Mrs. Ray," said Mrs. O'Neil, her +bright eyes filling suddenly; "indeed you do. You +come right down here any day you want to, and you can +stay here till you die. You know I've told you that a +thousand times."</p> + +<p>"You're easy," said Mrs. Ray, drawing herself up +with great dignity. "I just believe you mean it, too, +Nellie, and I just suppose if I was to come and borrow a +hundred dollars without witnesses, Jack would be +plenty idiot enough to give it to me, too."<span class="pagenum">[233]</span></p> + +<p>"Well, I should hope so," said his wife; "who'd +he trust sooner?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray looked around the table. "And it's this +sort of people that those two up-stairs are cheating," +she said; "well, it's a queer world. But if I ain't +signed and witnessed and back up at my house before +long, the United States Government will likely go swearing +out something against me; where <i>is</i> your husband, +Nellie?"</p> + +<p>"He said he'd be right in. Mary Cody, you go and +tell him to hurry."</p> + +<p>Mary Cody disappeared obediently.</p> + +<p>"Joey Beall says you won't have her, long," said +Mrs. Ray, significantly; "he saw her and Edward +Griggs climbing down the bank Sunday. He saw you +two walking to the Lower Falls, too," she added, turning +suddenly on Ingram and Lassie.</p> + +<p>The inference fell like a sledge-hammer. Alva +started violently, and looked from one confused face +to the other.</p> + +<p>But before any one could say anything Mr. O'Neil +walked into the room.</p> + +<p>"Well, there you are at last," said Mrs. Ray. "I +am glad to see you! Here I sit, filing away at my bond +and can't make any headway because you're the first +to sign."</p> + +<p>"It's hard to get away from the bar to-night," said +Mr. O'Neil, bringing pen and ink. "They're betting +I never see my money."</p> + +<p>"We'll never see it in the world, Jack," said his wife; +"everybody says so."</p> + +<p>"Except me," interposed Alva, her eyes on Lassie.</p> + +<p>"And you haven't had any experience with swindlers,<span class="pagenum">[234]</span>" +said Mrs. Ray; "that's easy seen. You ain't +any more fit to be trusted with a pair of sharpers than +Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil, or poor Sammy Adams alone in +his house to-night, relying on hens in the hour of need."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not," Alva said sighing. She was deeply +shaken by the new conception of what was transpiring +around her, in the discovery of how much might go on +without her ever noticing. Lassie in love with Ingram! +And the girl was not even out yet! What would her +mother say!</p> + +<p>"There, there's my name for another year for you, +Mrs. Ray," said Jack O'Neil, pushing the bond towards +its owner.</p> + +<p>"And remember, Mrs. Ray," added his wife, laughing, +"remember, if you ever want a place to live or to +borrow any money, you come straight here."</p> + +<p>"I'll remember," said Mrs. Ray, rising and adjusting +her shawl. "Well, it's back to duty and the mail-bag, +now. So good night."</p> + +<p>She went out and Ingram felt an intolerable longing +to avoid Alva's eyes until she should have had a little +time to think. Lassie shared the feeling; she, too, was +greatly upset by Mrs. Ray's loquacity.</p> + +<p>"Let us go out and walk until it's time to get the +letters," the man suggested to the girl. His tone was +curiously imperative, and she welcomed its command +and jumped up quickly to fetch her wraps.</p> + +<p>"Ronald," Alva said, gently, then, "she's very +young."</p> + +<p>He met her eyes squarely. "I know," he said; +"but I'm not." She said no other word, but sat +silent until they were gone. Mr. O'Neil returned to +the bar at once, and in a minute—when Alva was<span class="pagenum">[235]</span> +alone—his wife came and sat opposite her. Alva was +supporting her chin on her hands, trying to disentangle +three urgent trains of thought.</p> + +<p>"I'll be so glad when they're gone," Mrs. O'Neil +said, with a sigh. "They've worn on me terribly, and +now that I know what they are, it's awful. There's no +possible chance of their being straight any more. They +wear their heels off on the outside, and Mary Cody says +Edward Griggs worked in a shoe store once, and knows +for a fact that that's the sign of dishonesty."</p> + +<p>"But have you ever seen their shoes?" Alva asked, +with a slight smile.</p> + +<p>"Why, I haven't put anything into the oven without +having to take their heels out first, since they came."</p> + +<p>"I'd forgotten." Alva sighed.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil glanced at her quickly.</p> + +<p>"You musn't take them so much to heart," she said, +gently. "They could be good if they wanted to."</p> + +<p>"It isn't them, altogether," the other replied. Mrs. +O'Neil looked at her in a sort of blind sympathy. She +thought that the youth and sweetness of the young girl +was what weighed so heavily on the young woman +opposite. "But men will be men," she reflected, and +tried to think of something to say, and couldn't.</p> + +<p>The evening freight went roaring by.</p> + +<p>"Why, I thought it went up before," Alva said.</p> + +<p>"I did, too, but that must have been the wrecking-train; +there must be a wreck on the road."</p> + +<p>"Let's go out on the bridge!" Alva suggested. +"I feel choked; I want fresh air, and there is a moon."</p> + +<p>"Shall I go with you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, do."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell Mary Cody."<span class="pagenum">[236]</span></p> + +<p>While Mrs. O'Neil went for a shawl and to tell Mary +Cody, Alva sought her big cape. Then they went out +together into the frost, for the frost was sharp in the air.</p> + +<p>"The woods will soon end being beautiful," the +little woman said.</p> + +<p>Alva walked swiftly on and made no reply. In less +than five minutes they stood out over the gorge and +looked down on its matchless glory of silver illuminating +blackest shadow.</p> + +<p>"I hope that the dam won't spoil all this," the girl +said suddenly.</p> + +<p>"You like to look at it, don't you?" Mrs. O'Neil +said softly.</p> + +<p>"Living here on its banks, as you do, I don't believe +you can appreciate it!" Alva exclaimed. "Can it +possibly mean to any one what it does to me, I wonder."</p> + +<p>"I think it's pretty and I love so to look at it," said +Mrs. O'Neil in gentlest sympathy.</p> + +<p>Alva caught her hand and pressed it hard in both her +own. "Do you know, Mrs. O'Neil, if I were very +happy I should love best to be happy here, and if more +sorrow were to be, I would choose to have that here, too. +I am so close to God when I live in His country."</p> + +<p>She took the warm hand that she held and pressed +it close against her heart.</p> + +<p>"I wish that every one was so good as you are," Mrs. +O'Neil said, impulsively.</p> + +<p>"Every one is better than we give them credit for +being."</p> + +<p>"Even those two?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, even those two."</p> + +<p>"I can't quite believe that," said the little woman.</p> + +<p>"Wait and you'll see."<span class="pagenum">[237]</span></p> + +<p>Then they stood quiet, until a cold wind, coming +down the gorge, smote them bitterly.</p> + +<p>"We must go in," Alva said, regretfully; "the wind +comes so strongly here."</p> + +<p>They turned and were only a few steps on their way +when Alva stopped suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe in signs?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Why—I don't know."</p> + +<p>Alva put both hands up to her head. "That cold +wind was a sign," she said, her voice trembling. "Oh, +I feel so strangely. Something strong and fearful is +sweeping into my life to-night."</p> + +<p>In her heart she hoped that it was only the shock of +learning that Lassie loved.</p> + +<p>But in her soul she knew that it must be something +else. The long strain of the waiting days had worn +anxiety to its sharpest edge. When Truth mercifully +veils itself, Time—the softener—wears the veil thin +until at last, when we have gained strength enough to +bear, we have learned to know.<span class="pagenum">[238]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<p class="h3">SHIFTING SUNSHINE AND CLOUDS</p> + +<p>Ingram and Lassie went out but not on the bridge; +they did not even turn their heads that way.</p> + +<p>"Alva says that she can see the gorge even when +it's pitch-dark," Lassie said. "She says she shall see +it plainly to the end of her life, wherever she may be in +the world." She felt quite safe now that they were +alone; she didn't even mind that embarrassing speech +of Mrs. Ray's.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Ingram; they went calmly and happily +up the road. He didn't mind the speech either, now.</p> + +<p>"Alva and I never walk this way," Lassie said +after a minute. "We always walk the other, except +just a little bit to the post-office, of course."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the man again, and they went on, up the +hill.</p> + +<p>The peculiar charm of the ordinary mode of +falling in love is that it is so simple; it requires so +little effort, so to speak. If it was harder work, it +might produce bigger results—results nearer the +millennium than those we are now getting. Perhaps, +however, the results are a lesson to be learned, and we +are still so deep in the primer of that learning, that +love remains the cheapest, easiest, and most common +of all its tasks.<span class="pagenum">[239]</span></p> + +<p>Ingram thought Lassie's remarks fascinating, and +she thought his two "Yes's" both clever and original. +They were each thoroughly satisfied with one another, +and were deeply interested each minute. Ingram had +never tramped along a country road in starlight with +this pretty young girl before, and Lassie had never +walked anywhere, with any man, in all her life. It was +not perhaps remarkable that what had happened was +happening. Not at all.</p> + +<p>"How fast the time has gone," Lassie said, as they +mounted the Wiley hill; "to think that I have been +here over a week!"</p> + +<p>"And to think of all that has happened," said +Ingram.</p> + +<p>"I know; isn't it strange?"</p> + +<p>"I shall be awfully lonesome after you go."</p> + +<p>This sounded so mournful and pathetic that it +brought a lump into her throat and she could not speak +for a minute.</p> + +<p>"Alva will go, too," Ingram went on, presently.</p> + +<p>"But she'll come back."</p> + +<p>"Let us hope so."</p> + +<p>They walked over the Wiley hill.</p> + +<p>"Poor Mrs. Lathbun and her daughter won't go +chestnutting any more after to-morrow," Lassie said, +after they passed under the heavy shadows cast by Mrs. +Wiley's huge trees. "I think that we ought to go back +now, the mail will be in."</p> + +<p>They turned around to walk back and enjoyed every +step of the way. There is really nothing that lights up +a lack of conversation like being in love.</p> + +<p>As they passed the post-office they saw Mrs. Ray +standing on the porch, tucked up in her shawl.<span class="pagenum">[240]</span></p> + +<p>"There was a wreck," she called; "the mail's +late."</p> + +<p>"All right!" Ingram called in response.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray watched them vanish out of the light cast +by her open door, and then turned, went inside, and +shut it. "I like that young man," she said to herself; +"he's got a good face. I wish we were as sure of getting +the dam as he is of getting that girl. We need the dam +full as much as he thinks he needs her. It'll bring men +and lots of money to this section, and this section needs +men and money. All we've got around here is women +and land, and women and land can't get very far without +men and money. It's about time we was getting +some show at prosperity. I do wonder how Sammy's +getting along with his hens!"</p> + +<p>Arrived at the hotel, Ingram bade Lassie good night +and she went up-stairs, one trembling tumult of tangling +sentiments as to the conversation now to ensue.</p> + +<p>Alva's room was dark, but when Lassie whispered +her name at the door, the answer came quickly.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, dear? come to me. Lassie, how I +have wanted you!"</p> + +<p>Lassie crossed to the bed, from whence the voice +came. She thought she knew why she was wanted, +but she only said: "What is it, dear?"</p> + +<p>"I am in the grip of an awful fear."</p> + +<p>The girl stood still, much startled.</p> + +<p>"Alva! What do you mean? What has happened?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I went out on the bridge for a +minute after you left, and it came blowing down the +gorge—a wind of horrid presentiment; oh, I am +beside myself, I don't know what to do. There is no +mail to-night—" she stopped, and Lassie felt that she<span class="pagenum">[241]</span> +was weeping. Finally she added: "I ought to have +stayed there at the hospital. I should not have obeyed +his wishes or what the surgeon said. I ought to have +obeyed my own heart. I ought to have stayed with +him!"</p> + +<p>The young girl was frightened, silent.</p> + +<p>Finally she managed to stammer:</p> + +<p>"But you said that he was not conscious—that it +was not possible for you to stay there—that no purpose +could be served. Oh, what do you fear? What do you +think may have happened?"</p> + +<p>Alva controlled herself and drew Lassie down beside +her upon the bed. "Dear, I don't know; but I do +know that I shall go away to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"I shall, dear. I must see him; I have telegraphed—" +Again tears choked her.</p> + +<p>"You think something has happened?" Lassie +faltered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, something warns me. It has come over me +heavily to-night. I must go and face it. What is the +reason of my love, if it seems to fail him when the +strain comes. It shall not fail. They shall not trick +me into failing. Perhaps they are trying to spare me or +shield me, but I'll go to receive the blow. An instant +swept him out of his life-work—I saw his spirit of +resignation—I will be resigned, too—"</p> + +<p>Lassie felt the bed shaken by the fierceness of sobs. +She was dumb, not knowing what to say. The orbit of +Alva's love was so infinitely greater than that of her +own, that the feebler suffered eclipse in that hour. She +saw herself and Ingram completely swept aside, and +was not even conscious of the fact.<span class="pagenum">[242]</span></p> + +<p>"It is my heart that suffers," Alva pressed on after a +minute, "only my heart, Lassie; my soul is strong, +very strong. There is nothing else for my spirit to +learn, but half of my being still suffers; it cannot +remember every second how it was when I knelt beside +him and he told me in whispers that he was content +and that if I loved him I also would be content. I have +tried to be content, I have been content until to-day—until +to-night. But now, as I lay here in the dark, it +seemed as if content had fled not only me but the whole +universe. I feel as if content had ceased to exist. +Rebellion is in the air. In some strange way I'm sure +that he has abjured resignation and renunciation; I +feel that he is in the throes of something—he is suffering, +suffering agony; and I want to be with him. I +<i>must</i> be with him! I shall leave to-morrow!"</p> + +<p>Lassie trembled; she had never seen any one like +this before.</p> + +<p>"When do you want me to go, Alva," she whispered, +presently.</p> + +<p>"Could you go to-morrow at four, and I will take the +train the opposite way at eight?"</p> + +<p>"I'll be ready; don't mind about me a bit, +dear."</p> + +<p>"We must go. Oh, listen to that wind coming down +the gorge; doesn't it sound as if some spirit were in +travail? So sad, so melancholy! Something tremendous +is taking place, and I am far from him while he +endures."</p> + +<p>The wind was surely rising, and its moan shook the +window sash.</p> + +<p>"I'm going mad," Alva exclaimed, springing from +the bed; "why did I leave him? No matter what they<span class="pagenum">[243]</span> +said, I should have stayed there. My place was there. +Oh, I have been cast in so many moulds these last +years; I have taken so many prizes, only to find them +dust in my hands; and now God will not—must not +take this one from me! I have learned the folly of the +material, I have bent my head beneath the yoke enough +to be spared another lash of the goad. I pray—oh, +I pray—that this cup may pass me by."</p> + +<p>Lassie sat still, now quite terrified.</p> + +<p>Alva paced up and down the little room. "I have +been dragged—or I have managed to drag myself—up +one step above the ordinary. I had accepted the +loneliness that comes when one gets where no one else +stands. I learned not to expect companionship. But +we are not the less lonely because we go our way +alone,—we are not the less lonely. And that same rule +holds all through. Lassie, I tell you, that one does not +crave companionship the less because one chooses to +marry a dying man; one does not crave caresses the +less when one loves as I do." She wrung her hands +miserably. "I'm weak—weak—weak! This is the +test and I am failing. I, who have worked so far, am +being carried down—down—down—now—to-night. +Oh, the struggle, the tragedy, the lesson! +Life's lessons are always so terrible." Then, her +emotions seeming for the moment to exhaust all her +strength, she came back to the bed, and said, with some +approach to calmness:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it is that I preached too much to you, dear, +or was too sure of myself. Perhaps my joy was a selfish +joy, or perhaps I did wrong in planning to leave my +parents, even for a little while. Just in proportion as +one rises, so do the subtlety of their problems increase.<span class="pagenum">[244]</span> +To love a man whose life was too big for any one to +share unless she could give herself wholly—that was +hard but I learned that lesson; I would have given my +life wholly. Then to have my duty chain me away from +him—that was terrible but I accepted that, too. Then +to have him struck down—I thought that that was the +worst of all, but something held me up through that. +But—but," she broke out in a wail of absolute, heartbroken +desolation, "but if he is going to leave me +before we—" and there she stopped short, shivered +violently, and became stilly rigid.</p> + +<p>Lassie dared to put her arms about her.</p> + +<p>"Why do you think such dreadful things? You +don't know that anything has happened."</p> + +<p>Alva drew a long, sharp breath. "But I do know +it," she said; "something has happened. You will +see in the morning. Oh, I would have given up my +life while he was giving up his, and minded it so little; +but to have to give him up! What shall I do? +I wanted those weeks, even if they shrank to days—to +hours. It seemed to me that we had earned the right +to a little, so little, happiness. The memories would +have given me strength to bear the hereafter. If I +could only be a soul, and a brave one, like him,—but +to-night I am all heart, all quivering fear." She paused +to control her voice again.</p> + +<p>"But, Alva, let me give you back your own speeches +in comfort. How often you've told me how only his +soul counted, and how that was yours for eternity, and +how, because of that, you found yourself equal to all +things. And you've told me, too, dear, how his renunciation, +how his exchange of power, strength and life +<span class="pagenum">[245]</span>for weakness and death—and all without a murmur—made +you quite confident that you would never fail, +either."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Alva murmured, "yes, I remember, but—"</p> + +<p>"And you said that the way that he ignored his poor, +crushed body and looked straight towards another +future life of fresh labor made you full of courage, too. +You remember."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I remember." Then she tried to dry her +eyes. "I won't admit that the world has a right to +shudder, and yet I am shuddering myself," she said, +sadly. "I must learn to be braver. I can't fight down +foreboding, but I must be braver. But, dear, I do so +love him—I have so wanted him—he is so dear to +me. I have so lived upon the picture of our hours +together. That little house across the river is full of +him for me. I saw him in it well and strong of spirit, +fighting against the desecration of the gorge, and showing +me how I might help on the work when he was gone. +I meant to give him the joy of one more crusade, and one +more victory to his credit. He would have known how to +act, even if his only sympathizers were the poor and +those yet to be born. He understood the claims of the +poor and the unborn; he gave his life for them."</p> + +<p>Lassie enfolded her in her tender arms; the little star +was in eclipse, yet even in eclipse it was gathering power +on high. Alva leaned her cheek against the head on her +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"How I suffer," she murmured. "Lassie, I feel +that I have entered into a maelstrom—a whirlwind. +I seem to hear a dirge in that wind outside. I must go +to-morrow—we must go to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll go," said Lassie, soothingly.</p> + +<p>"It is my heart, just my heart. It is so hard to strike<span class="pagenum">[246]</span> +an even balance between the heart and the soul. My +poor, thin, trembling flesh has ruled to-night, truly."</p> + +<p>"Let me sleep with you," Lassie pleaded; "let me +hold you fast and love you dearly."</p> + +<p>Alva smiled in the dark. "Come, then," she said; +"I fancy that I shall sleep if my hand clasps yours—and +if I know that we leave to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Later, after Lassie had slept thus for some hours, she +was awakened by Alva's rising and going to the window.</p> + +<p>"What is it, dear, you are not faint?"</p> + +<p>Alva turned, the pale, early sunrise illuminated her +face.</p> + +<p>"Some riddle has been solved somewhere, dear," +she said; "I'm quite calm now. The struggle for him +as well as for me is over."</p> + +<p>"Then come back and sleep with my arms tight +round your neck," said the friend, stretching forth +her arms.</p> + +<p>Alva came back like an obedient child, crept in close +beside her, and in a few minutes was sleeping as a +child sleeps.</p> + +<p>Later, when the real morning came and the real, +enduring wakefulness with it, it was Alva who roused +first again, and, sitting up in bed, put back her hair with +both hands and smiled into her friend's eyes.</p> + +<p>"You're all right, now?" Lassie said, joyfully.</p> + +<p>"Very right, dear; the crisis is over. Forget last +night. I shall never be like that again."</p> + +<p>Lassie turned her face towards the window; looking +out from where she lay she could see the valley one burst +of flame, its wave of color sweeping off afar and the +hoar frost sparkling over all the glory. "I feel as if I +never had seen anything so beautiful in all my life<span class="pagenum">[247]</span> +before," the girl exclaimed; "I don't know what it +makes me think of, but it is as if my soul were growing, I +am so happy to see you happy again."</p> + +<p>Alva sat there with the white coverlet heaped about +her and smiled. "Thank you, dear," she said, with +simplicity. "I am happy, and last night and this morning +have caused both our souls to grow."</p> + +<p>"It's too beautiful!" the girl said, after a long pause; +"the valley is more beautiful than I ever realized +before."</p> + +<p>Presently Alva left the bed and went to close the +window. "There's a mist lying low in the valley," +she said then; "it lies there like an emblem of peace. +Omens are curious. That cold, sad wind last night had +its message, and the morning mist has another. I know +that some change is at hand, but I know that whatever +it is its burden is good. I feel equal to anything this +morning. I feel as if God had come to me in the night +and told me that he was charging Himself with my +care."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked at her with freshly awakened +anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't look at me that way," she begged; "that +is the very hardest of all—to have those to whom you +talk regard you as if you were mad."</p> + +<p>"But you astonish me so. Last night you were so +frightened."</p> + +<p>"Last night some struggle was on, my dear; this +morning it is settled." She stopped and spoke very +slowly. "I think, perhaps, that he knows now that he +can never come to the house," she said, and although +her lips quivered slightly her voice was clear and composed.<span class="pagenum">[248]</span></p> + +<p>"Alva," Lassie cried, in sudden horror, "you think +that he is dead—that is what you think."</p> + +<p>As soon as the words had passed her lips, she was +frightened at her own temerity; but Alva, whose back +was towards her, now turned towards her smiling.</p> + +<p>"He is not dead," she said; "he was thinking of me +all last night and this morning. He is not dead. That +I know."</p> + +<p>"How can you be sure?"</p> + +<p>"When people love as we do, they can be very sure. +I was awfully shaken last night, Lassie; I confess it. +Something big, that we shall know all about later, hung +in the balance and I trembled. But it's settled now."</p> + +<p>There came a tap at the door just then, announcing +Mary Cody with their hot water.</p> + +<p>"They're still asleep," she said in a whisper; "if the +letter from the lawyer don't come in this morning's +mail, Mr. O'Neil is going to eject them. Only think!"</p> + +<p>Naturally this remark gave quite a new turn to the +conversation.</p> + +<p>"Unless they pay, you know," Alva reminded Mary +Cody.</p> + +<p>"How do you eject people?" Lassie asked, rejoicing +in the cheerfulness of the commonplace. "If +he puts them out the front door and they just walk +around and come into the kitchen, what can any +one do?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Mary Cody, apparently +thunderstruck at the mental vision of the O'Neil House +besieged by Mrs. and Miss Lathbun, trying to get in +again. "I don't know what we could do. There's +seven doors to this house."</p> + +<p>"Will Mr. O'Neil pull them out, or push them out?"<span class="pagenum">[249]</span> +Lassie asked further; "or will he just drive them +out?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Mary Cody; "everybody in +town'll be up at the post-office waiting to see if the letter +from the lawyer comes, I expect. If it doesn't come, +Mr. O'Neil is going to Ledge Centre and get a warrant."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear," said Lassie.</p> + +<p>"You won't get any mail this morning," said Mary +Cody; "there's a wreck on the road. Two coal trucks +and a car of cabbages. There'll be no eastern mail +till noon."</p> + +<p>Then Mary Cody went away again.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it strange that all this should happen just +during the little time that we're here?" Lassie said; +"it's made it very exciting."</p> + +<p>Alva went on brushing her hair.</p> + +<p>Lassie looked at her then, and saw that she bore +many traces of her violent emotion of the night before.</p> + +<p>"You won't try to go to-day, will you?" she said, +suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I shall go." Then she turned and looked +straight into the girl's eyes. "I <i>must</i> go," she said; +"something has happened."<span class="pagenum">[250]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE POST-OFFICE</p> + +<p>From 8.30 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> on, the tide of travel in Ledge +always tended towards the post-office, but on the +famous morning when Mrs. Lathbun expected to hear +from her lawyer, the post-office's vicinity resembled +nothing so much as its own appearance upon Election +Day. Every one that ever had received a letter intended +to be there to see if Mrs. Lathbun would get hers. +Long before train time not only the office itself, but +the adjoining rooms and the porch outside, were comfortably +crowded with a pleasantly anticipative collection +of interested observers.</p> + +<p>"The United States Government doesn't allow me +to interfere in politics, or I'd come right square out with +my views," said Mrs. Ray, who held public interest +with a tight rein, while awaiting the mail. "My views +may be uninteresting, but I hit enough nails on the head +to box up a good many people a year."</p> + +<p>"What <i>do</i> you think?" some one asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't think anything," said Mrs. Ray; "I know!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you know, then?"</p> + +<p>"I know that a letter-getter stays a letter-getter, and +the reverse the reverse. Just as I know that case-knives +are suspicious and that picking chestnuts may be a +bunco game as easy as anything else. I've found it +nothing but a bunco game, myself. I've never made<span class="pagenum">[251]</span> +my chestnuts pay, just because they were so easy picked +up by other people; and you can't hire boys to do your +nutting for you,—boys eat up all the profits and most +of the chestnuts into the bargain. Yes, indeed. And +as for those two up at Nellie's—they'll get no letter. +Wait and see."</p> + +<p>"But what will happen to them then?" asked Joey +Beall, aching to discuss the details of the arrest and the +journey to Geneseo.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but I can tell you one piece of news, +and it isn't gossip either; it come straight from Nellie +O'Neil herself; she's been here this morning."</p> + +<p>"Have they found out anything new?"</p> + +<p>"Not about them; but her other two is leaving."</p> + +<p>"What!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, going this afternoon." Mrs. Ray folded her +arms and leaned back against the shelves containing +her grocery business.</p> + +<p>The sensation caused by this extra and wholly unexpected +bit of news was thorough and sincere. Everybody +looked at everybody else.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dunstall pressed forward. "Haven't they +paid, either?" she asked, with horror in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, they've paid." Mrs. Ray was quickly +reassuring on this point. "But with them, it's something +else. I don't know for sure just what, but I +guess that eldest one's beginning to see that it's no use +as far as she's concerned; but she'll have to do something +with that house she was fixing up to live in. Sarah +Catt told me she never heard anything so crazy as +building a house to live in while a dam that Mr. Ledge +don't want built is being built. She says her husband +says that dam never will be built. She says Mr. Ledge<span class="pagenum">[252]</span> +is very quiet, but he's very sensible and he says there's +quicksands all under us."</p> + +<p>This statement caused another flutter of sensation.</p> + +<p>"Can't you dam a quicksand? I thought it run just +like water." Thus Joey Beall's fiancée from the +back.</p> + +<p>"No, you can't," said Pinkie. "I know."</p> + +<p>"I'd be sorry to see the dam go," said Mrs. Wiley. +"Cousin Catterwallis Granger looked to see it raise all +the property around here."</p> + +<p>"Drown all the property around here, you mean," +said Mrs. Ray. "I thank heaven it's the Dam Commission +and not me who'll have to adjust all that dam's +going to drown before it gets done. Josiah Bates says +he heard that they'll have to take up all the cemeteries +from here to Cromwell."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Why? Why, because no matter what powers a +commission can hold over the living, no legislature can +find a law for drowning the dead, I guess. They've all +got to be moved and set out in rows again in a new +place. Seems like I never will see the last of Mr. Ray's +two wives! But I shan't have to pay for their new +start in life this time, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Where will they put them next, do you suppose?" +said Mrs. Dunstall, referring to the cemeteries—not +to Mr. Ray's former wives.</p> + +<p>"I guess we'll all want to know that," said Mrs. Ray, +turning her head as if she heard the train (the tension +in the room was increasing momentarily,—so was the +crowd). "I'm sure I wonder what will become of Mr. +Ray. I never could feel that I really was done with him, +and now it seems maybe I ain't. I wish they'd buy my<span class="pagenum">[253]</span> +three-cornered cow pasture for a new cemetery. Then +I could cut his grass when I went to milk my cow."</p> + +<p>"The dam'll have to pay for the new cemeteries, +won't it?" asked Lucia Cosby in some trepidation.</p> + +<p>"The dam'll pay for everything. That's why every +one wants it so bad," said Mrs. Ray.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," said Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Which room have the Lathbuns got?" some one +asked, looking down towards the O'Neil House.</p> + +<p>"The end one," said Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>"The curtains are down," said Nathan, elbowing +his way to the window.</p> + +<p>"They never get up till noon."</p> + +<p>There was a hush,—sudden but intense. The train +was approaching.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's the train," said Mrs. Ray; "well, we'll +soon know now." She tucked her shawl tighter than +ever, and got the key ready.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. O'Neil'll be pretty lonesome to-night with +them all gone at once," hazarded a bystander.</p> + +<p>"She'll miss those girls," said Mrs. Dunstall; "they're +real nice young ladies, she says. But she won't miss the +Lathbuns."</p> + +<p>"We'll miss the Lathbuns," said Mrs. Wiley; +"they've been so interesting to talk about. We've even +got Uncle Purchase to where he knows they live at +Nellie's. I tell you that was work. He's so deaf +now." She sighed.</p> + +<p>"I guess it wasn't any worse than what the Bentons +went through with Gran'ma Benton teaching the parrot +when they lived at Nellie's," said Mrs. Ray. "Poor +Clay Wright Benton was in here yesterday to see if I'd +board Gran'ma Benton and the parrot again. He says<span class="pagenum">[254]</span> +Sarah says she won't come home till the parrot leaves, +and he's most wild. Gran'ma Benton's been teaching +the parrot to say something new. She says 'Where's +the Lathbuns, Polly?' and the parrot says 'Out chestnutting,' +only it won't say it days. It just says it nights. +And nights it's wild over saying it. Last night no one +in the house got one wink of sleep. Clay sit up till midnight +to ask it where the Lathbuns was, and then +Gran'ma Benton sit up and asked it where they was till +morning. Poor Clay! He says it's too awful how she's +spoiled that parrot. It's afraid of spiders, and it's so +afraid of them at night that they have to keep a night-light +burning so it can see all over whenever it wakes."</p> + +<p>"Such doings!" said Mrs. Wiley, in disgust.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Ray. "I'd like to see myself +burning a night-light for a parrot. If it boards with +me, it'll take its spiders just as they come."</p> + +<p>"That's right," said Pinkie, with decision.</p> + +<p>"Well, we don't need any parrot," said Mrs. Wiley. +"We've got Uncle Purchase. Not but what I'm amused +hearing about the parrot. But then, I've been amused +hearing about the Lathbuns, too," she sighed heavily.</p> + +<p>"Something else'll come up," said Mrs. Dunstall, +cheerfully, "and you don't really need anything to talk +about while you've got your Uncle Purchase, you +know."</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose maybe not," said Mrs. Wiley, and +sighed again.</p> + +<p>"Well, thank Heaven," said Mrs. Ray, "I'm never +short of two things,—work and talk." She began to +finger the key as she spoke, and all ears were at once +strained to listen for the sound of the feet of the bearer +of the mail-bag.<span class="pagenum">[255]</span></p> + +<p>Deathly silence reigned. In a few seconds the footsteps +did approach, the gate creaked and then banged. +Mrs. Ray stepped with majestic haste to the window and +called out:</p> + +<p>"Wipe your feet!"</p> + +<p>The obedience that ensued whetted curiosity to more +ravenous desire than ever. People had lost sight of the +main issue and were all riveted to the single question—would +Mrs. Lathbun get her letter?</p> + +<p>The door opened and Clay Wright Benton came in +with the bag.</p> + +<p>"Lay it here," commanded Mrs. Ray, and Clay +Wright Benton laid it there and fell back into the crowd +behind. Mrs. Ray put on her spectacles and adjusted +her shawl. In the intense excitement of the moment, +nobody said a word. The room was as full as it would +hold, and people who had apparently been secreted in +other portions of the house now came pouring in +through the doors connecting therewith. The one window +facing the porch had turned into a mere honey-comb +of faces.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray took up the key. A thrill went around as +she inserted it in the padlock and slowly turned it. +Then she took it out of the padlock and the padlock +out of the lock. She laid key and padlock carefully +aside. "Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note," +as she slowly drew the lengthwise iron from the rings +and laid that aside. A sort of fresh intenseness pervaded +the atmosphere as she opened the mouth of the +bag and inserted her arm. While her arm was in and +her hand was feeling for the mail, a boy sneezed and +every one turned and looked at him witheringly. This +little incident was taken in the same light as the inter-<span class="pagenum">[256]</span>mission +between two numbers of a concert, for all who +were at the doors at once took advantage of it to squeeze +inside. The small room, which had been unpleasantly +full before, was now packed to suffocation. Mrs. Ray +drew out her arm. The interest was mounting each +second. She laid two packages, tied each with United +States Government twine, upon the counter, turned the +bag upside down and shook it. If a pin had fallen out, +any one could have heard it, but nothing fell out. Mrs. +Ray folded the bag carefully and laid it on the floor +behind her. The atmosphere was breathless in every +sense of the word. Mrs. Ray untied the first package, +taking a full minute to pick out the knot. She hung up +the string. The string fell off from where she hung it, +and she picked it up and hung it up a second time, this +time more slowly and carefully. Then she took out the +postmarking machine. A sudden sigh went around; +every one had forgotten the necessity of the postmark. +Mrs. Ray turned the package face down and post-marked +every piece carefully without reading a single +address. Then she turned them over, gave her shawl a +fresh and most careful adjustment, and proceeded to +sort the mail. When it was sorted, she called the roll +of names amidst a hush that was awe-inspiring. The +few who had letters crowded to the fore, received them +and stayed there, greatly to the aggravation of those +who had none, and got shoved to the rear accordingly.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray now untied the second package, and hung +up that string. Both strings fell off together. She took +up both strings at once, smoothed them out and hung +them up again. They stayed hung this time. Then +she post-marked the second package. It was a never-to-be-forgotten +scene,—the wrought-up faces, the<span class="pagenum">[257]</span> +fixed calm of Mrs. Ray herself. Then she called the +roll for the second batch. Each time a name was read +off, a wave of psychic emotion swept the room. One +has to get into the real true life of the country to appreciate +the tremendous tumulus which gossip had erected +upon which to rear the monument of this moment. +One by one the names were all called; one by one the +pile of letters in Mrs. Ray's hand diminished. When +it came to the last one, and the last one was for Joey +Beall, Joey received it almost as if it were some species +of sacrament.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" some one in the back asked.</p> + +<p>"That's all," said Mrs. Ray.</p> + +<p>All turned to go. The outburst of pent-up feelings +was tremendous.</p> + +<p>"I told you so," Mrs. Ray said over and over again. +"I knew they'd got no letter." The babel all of a sudden +rose into so much noise that it was evident that the +heights to which popular feeling had risen were going +a bit higher yet. The egress from the stifling room +ceased. Nobody knew just what it was, but all became +aware that something fresh had happened. +Nobody knew what had happened, and nobody seemed +able to find out. All that was known was that something +held every one spellbound and motionless in +spite of their individual desire to go on out.</p> + +<p>After what seemed a deadlock of long duration but +which was in fact a matter of but a few seconds, it developed +that the trouble arose around the door leading +on to the porch. Then it appeared that while every one +in the post-office was trying to get out by that door, Mary +Cody was trying to get in by the same way, and Mary +Cody was young, strong, and determined.<span class="pagenum">[258]</span></p> + +<p>For a few seconds the battle pressed wildly. Then +Mary Cody won out and entered. She was out of +breath and disheveled.</p> + +<p>"Why, what is the matter?" Joey Beall, who was +nearest, asked; "there's something new down your way, +I'll bet a peanut."</p> + +<p>Mary Cody gasped. "Oh, my," she said, "I run +right up to tell you. We've just found out as their +room is empty. They must of skipped in the night."</p> + +<p>"Skipped in the night!" cried Mrs. Dunstall.</p> + +<p>"Skipped!" cried Pinkie.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Ray," wailed Mrs. Wiley, "how'll we +ever be able to tell Uncle Purchase!"</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Ray stood forth like a modern Medusa in +her rage.</p> + +<p>"I've been expecting it all along," she exclaimed +wrathfully. "I'm a great judge of character, and I +never looked for nothing else. Now, how can they be +arrested? We must catch 'em!"</p> + +<p>"If we can catch 'em!" said Josiah Bates.</p> + +<p>"<i>If</i> we can catch them!" said Mrs. Ray,—"if! +Young man, they'll be caught. You wait and see!" She +hastily threw her shawl over her head, and rushed wildly +out with the excited crowd. It is proverbial that there +are times when a common sentiment merges all classes +into one.<span class="pagenum">[259]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<p class="h3">AFTERMATH</p> + +<p>The excitement broke up into wide-spreading waves. +All divided at once into two distinct parties,—those +who wanted to discuss the matter further, +and those who were filled with the hunter instinct and +so craved to set off at once in pursuit of "the foxy +pair." Mrs. Ray justly remarked that "they couldn't +possibly get more than twelve hours' start, in just one +night," and as it was incredible to suppose that they +would return in the direction from which they had +originally come, it followed that there was only two-thirds +of the horizon to scour in any case. Elmer Hoskins +and his dog lost no time, but set forth at once.</p> + +<p>Mary Cody walked back down the hill telling a +deeply interested circle the story of how, etc. (and that +for the fifth time in ten minutes); another group stood +excitedly on Mrs. Ray's porch; another set off to break +the news to Ledgeville, and still others spread here and +there, after the manner of distracted bees into whose +hive some great and disturbing force has suddenly +penetrated.</p> + +<p>"We won't be able to begin to get this in Uncle Purchase's +head for two days, at least," mourned Mrs. +Wiley; "and Uncle Purchase is so awful fond of +knowing things, too."</p> + +<p>"They'll never catch them," said Lucia Cosby;<span class="pagenum">[260]</span> +"they know all the roads too well. They know every +road there is to know."</p> + +<p>"I should think they did!" said Mrs. Dunstall. +"They've not got out of practice walking in this +locality, I can tell you. Josiah Bates was down at the +bottom of the St. Helena hill the other day, and if he +didn't see them there. Oh, they know the roads."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry for the girl," said Clay Wright Benton.</p> + +<p>"I ain't a bit sorry for her," said Mrs. Ray; "as a +woman who works from before dawn to far on into the +night to make a honest living by eleven different kinds +of sweat on her brow, I ain't a bit sorry for either of +them. And Jack O'Neil ain't going to be sorry for them, +either; he told me last night if they was men, he'd get +hold of 'em and take 'em out behind the wood-pile and +he knew what they'd get. To-day isn't going to alter +<i>his</i> views."</p> + +<p>"If I was Mrs. O'Neil, I'd wash that shawl Mrs. +Lathbun wore all the time," said Sarah Catt, one of the +party escorting Mary Cody back to the hotel.</p> + +<p>"It's in the tub already," said Mary Cody.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil came running forth to meet them, her +brown eyes shining more than ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, but they were a 'foxy pair,'" she exclaimed; +"haven't they gone and left that hair-brush done up +in a paper so that it's 'baggage,' and shows they want +the room held for them till they come back. Oh, they've +got the law at their finger-tips—those two."</p> + +<p>The whole crowd entered the house. Alva and +Lassie, packing in their room, had heard the news ten +minutes earlier from Mrs. O'Neil herself. Lassie had +watched her friend's face curiously, but Alva had too<span class="pagenum">[261]</span> +much else pressing upon her to be more than simply saddened.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. O'Neil had gone Lassie had said almost +hesitatingly: "They were adventuresses, weren't they, +and Miss Lathbun's romance wasn't true, was it?"</p> + +<p>"Let us not judge, even now," said Alva, quietly; +"let us try to hope in some way. After all, what little +things they were in life—so little, and probably beset +beyond their strength. And such great things are +pressing on me to-day. What do they matter? God +forgive me for saying it."</p> + +<p>Lassie was silenced.</p> + +<p>When the Eastern mail train arrived about noon, +belated as usual, their packing was quite finished. +Mary Cody brought up the letters. Alva took hers +into her room and a minute later she came to the door.</p> + +<p>"Lassie," she said, "there is something here that I +must attend to at once. Go down and have dinner, and +I'll come a little late."</p> + +<p>So Lassie went down to dine alone, and found Ingram +waiting for her. She told him that Alva would come in +a little.</p> + +<p>"Has she had bad news?" he asked, startled by a +presentiment of immediate sorrow.</p> + +<p>"No, I think not," Lassie said; "she didn't +speak so."</p> + +<p>But Ingram stayed, distressed. "She has had bad +news," he said; "poor girl—her tragedy is closing +in fast. I can feel its end, myself."</p> + +<p>His eyes went to the window. "Couldn't you go out +with me for just an hour after dinner?" he asked wistfully. +Then he smiled a little. "We can talk about the +dam," he said—"or help hunt the Lathbuns."<span class="pagenum">[262]</span></p> + +<p>She looked at him and they both knew that she would +go. It was a very simple, almost childish, romance, +theirs—but its lack of stress made it all the more +alluring to two who were living under the wings of so +much tragedy.</p> + +<p>"I'll get my hat," Lassie said, and ran up-stairs. +Alva's door was closed. "I'm lying down, please let +me sleep. It's nothing but my head," she called from +behind it. Lassie slipped on her wraps quickly and ran +down; and they went out towards the Falls.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray saw them go from the post-office window. +The excitement having somewhat subsided, she was +now left alone with Joey Beall's fiancée, who was there +to try on her wedding dress.</p> + +<p>"Such is life," Mrs. Ray commented; "that woman's +pulled her shades down for a nice nap, and off they +skip for a good-by down by the Falls. Oh, my, but +those Falls are a blessing to the young! It's too far +between roots and rocks for children to get down there, +and as soon as anybody's married they never want to +have nothing to do with love-making any more; so +steep romantic places is just made for the only kind +of people that have any reason for wanting to get to +them."</p> + +<p>"The Falls is full of meaning for lovers," said +Joey Beall's fiancée, sentimentally. "Joey and I never +get tired of them."</p> + +<p>"You wait till you're married," said Mrs. Ray; +"you'll find no meaning in climbing up and down +those banks and having Joey jerk your arms out of the +sockets, then. Yes, indeed. They call it tempestuous +affection beforehand, but it comes to a plain jerk in the +end. Life is full of learning."<span class="pagenum">[263]</span></p> + +<p>"Gran'ma Benton's learning the parrot a great +deal," said Sarah Catt. "I come by there just now +and she's beginning already to teach it a new sentence. +She says: 'Where are the Lathbuns, now?' and the +parrot's got to learn to say 'Skipped,'—she's just set +her heart on it."</p> + +<p>"I d'n know but what I'm going to end by being +sorry for that parrot," remarked Mrs. Ray, thoughtfully. +"I think Gran'ma Benton's overdoing it a little, +if she means it to keep up with the Lathbuns. You +can force even a parrot beyond its strength. She's made +it nervous, already. She's got to hold its claw all +through every thunderstorm all summer long, and if +a fly gets in its milk, it won't touch either the fly or +the milk, which I call spoiling the parrot—not to +speak of the fly and the milk, for of course no one +else in a house is going to eat a fly or drink milk that +a parrot won't look at."</p> + +<p>"Sarah told me they had to take away all the looking-glasses +every spring, or it cried the whole time it +was moulting—over its tail feathers, you know," +said the caller, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Well, if they come to live here, I shan't spoil it, I +know that," said Mrs. Ray. "I shall be pleasant to it +and I shall be kind, and it can run after me all it likes +and I'll be careful never to step on it for the very simple +reason that I don't want to take the time to clean up +any sort of smashed creature, but it won't have no +night-light here, nor get its claw held when it thunders, +nor have the looking-glasses took down to spare its +feelings. No one ever took a looking-glass down to +spare my feelings, and I can't begin to take them +down to spare a parrot's. Well, Sarah, I guess you can<span class="pagenum">[264]</span> +try on now. Wait till I fill up on pins. Oh, my lands +alive, I wish I knew where those foxy Lathbuns are +this minute."</p> + +<p>"I guess Mr. Adams'll be glad to know they're +caught," said Sarah Catt; "he's so nervous for fear +they'll stop with him to-night. Joey saw him just after +dinner. He was more scared even than Gran'ma Benton's +parrot in a thunderstorm."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray was thoughtfully putting pins in her mouth. +"There's a great difference between a man's hand and +a parrot's claw," she said with some difficulty. "Yes, +indeed. Even in a thunderstorm."<span class="pagenum">[265]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE DARKNESS BEFORE</p> + +<p>When Lassie came back from that last walk to +the Falls she went straight up to Alva's room, +and found her lying on the bed, the faint light from +the shaded window throwing a deep shadow upon her +face and form. Her head and shoulders were a little +propped up against the pillows, and her hands were +clasped on her bosom instead of behind her head, +as was her favorite position.</p> + +<p>Lassie's eyes were shining and her heart was very +full and happy with the bubbling joy of that bubbling +joyous emotion which Youth in its ingenuous innocence, +ignorance, and arrogance has elected to call "love." +It had come very vividly to both herself and Ingram +during their walk, and instead of discussing Alva's +affairs, they had suddenly become more than ever +keenly alive to their own. Ingram, conscious of good +looks, good health, and a good income, had for some +time faced the position very cheerfully and gratefully; +but Lassie, conscious of no personal advantages at all +equalling those pertaining to her demigod, was, of +course, thrilled through and through. Certainly these +be topsy-turvy days for chivalric standards, but perhaps +a century later, people will quote with reverence from +the stories of grandmother's experiences before grandpapa +was finally secured.<span class="pagenum">[266]</span></p> + +<p>Lassie was very happy. She felt sure that nothing +so ideally beautiful and altogether remarkable as +Ingram's speeches during the walk had ever been +heard before. She was not engaged, but she was "as +good as engaged." And before her début, too. Fancy +the faces of the girls when she really announced it! +She would be the first one of the whole set to be married! +Life was nothing but vistas of joy. Ingram was +absolutely going to take the same train that she did at +six o'clock, and go two hours of the way with her. Oh!</p> + +<p>And now she was back in Alva's room, standing at +the bedside, looking down at her friend. Something +in the other's lax position made her look more closely +even in the semi-darkness.</p> + +<p>"Your head is worse?" she asked, startled.</p> + +<p>"No, dear," said Alva, and her voice rang strangely—like +a low toned bell, chiming afar.</p> + +<p>"Something has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear."</p> + +<p>"Oh—" the young girl could not put the question.</p> + +<p>Alva did not speak. Lassie felt her heart freezing +harder every instant. It was always so, when one came +within the circle of that greater existence. Part of the +attraction of Ingram was that he was just so ordinarily +human. Alva was never ordinary, and scarcely ever +human. Oh, dear! Her lovely dream seemed suddenly +slipping out to sea before this tremendous, quiet storm +of resistless stress!</p> + +<p>"You have had a letter?" she whispered timidly, +at last.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, and he is dead." Alva spoke quite +steadily.</p> + +<p>"Dead!"<span class="pagenum">[267]</span></p> + +<p>"I had a letter from his friend—his doctor—the +one who wrote for him. You were right in what you +thought. He died last night, in the night, while +I slept. He was unconscious when he died. He +struggled first and suffered—while I was struggling and +suffering, you remember—and then he grew still when +I grew still, and then when I slept he slept and began to +die, and while I still slept he died—that is—his body +died."</p> + +<p>Lassie sank down upon the bed beside her, took the +clasped hands into her own, and burst into bitter tears, +hiding her face in the four hands at once.</p> + +<p>After a little Alva spoke again, still in the same low, +ringing voice.</p> + +<p>"It came so close that I did believe that it would be, +but there are some dreams that may not be realized on +earth. Mine was such a one."</p> + +<p>Lassie lifted her head to look into her face; she was +sufficiently accustomed to the dim light by this time to +be able to see distinctly the pure and noble outlines, the +large, tragic eyes. She felt herself crushed into speechlessness.</p> + +<p>"He wrote me himself," Alva continued presently; +"just the merest word. I read it. I read it twice. Then +I sat still for a long, long time. Lassie," she pressed +the girl's hands warmly, "it was good to think that I +had shown my happiness to you, for no one will ever +know that I was ever happy, now. Oh, it was so long +that I sat here, thinking. I told you once, how, in the +first day of my supreme joy, I went into the cathedral +near the hospital and thanked God on my knees for all +the past and made a vow to accept with courage all +that might come to me, in return for that joy. I<span class="pagenum">[268]</span> +thought, as I prayed, that I'd go forth and gladly +starve and freeze till I died, if it were the purchase +price of such happiness. I am remembering that hour. +I will not cry out, nor weep, nor say one word. I have +had him; we shall be one again. My desire has always +been only to be worthy him—to be worthy him—to be +worthy him! And now I have the chance to prove myself +so; and I will not fail,—though the heart in my +body burst, my spirit will not fail."</p> + +<p>Lassie was still, overawed.</p> + +<p>"I had to search to be thankful at first," Alva went +on, "but now I have found something to be very +thankful for. I am so glad that it came before I had +told my mother. She is spared. She will never know. +Every one is spared except him and me, and we are +strong—we can endure. We have endured. We can +endure again."</p> + +<p>"If you only could have gone and been with him!" +wailed the girl, softly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how I have wished that! You don't know how +I have wished that! It has been sweeping through me +and rending me cruelly, but he did not wish it, or he +would have sent for me. And I have tried never even +to wish anything unless he wished it, too. You know +how I have wished that I might have stayed there with +him. But he begged me to go. They would not let me +stay. I had to yield!"</p> + +<p>"Shall you go as you planned, to-night?"</p> + +<p>"No, dear, I want to stay here alone for three or +four days, and then go home,—back to my duty to +my parents, you know. I never meant to leave for +long. Yes," she almost whispered, "I must hurry +back home, forever."<span class="pagenum">[269]</span></p> + +<p>"Never to return here?"</p> + +<p>"I think, never. I cannot see how or why I should +return."</p> + +<p>Lassie's lips quivered. "And your house?" she +whispered.</p> + +<p>A long, sad breath passed over lips that did not +quiver. "Ah, yes, my house," she answered softly; +"I thought of going to it this afternoon, and then I +could not. Dear little home nest,—there are nothing +but happy thoughts there; all my best is there—unselfish +dreams, devoted hopes, great aims, longings +to make some one and every one glad."</p> + +<p>She paused. Lassie leaned close.</p> + +<p>"May I lie down beside you, Alva, and put my arms +around you and hold you tightly, dear? It will be +good-by, for you want me to go just the same, I know."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear, you must go. What time is it?"</p> + +<p>"It's over an hour till the train. Let me hold you +close, dear, I—I love you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lassie, come; I'll be glad to have you. Your +head will lie on my arm, and I shall like to draw you +near as I might have drawn a little child, had life fallen +out differently long ago."</p> + +<p>Lassie crept up on the bed, clasped her arms about +her and tried not to weep.</p> + +<p>"You don't mind my talking of him, do you?" the +woman asked, presently. "You know after you go I +shall never have any one again;" her voice wailed +desolate with the last words so that its very sound +caused Lassie's sobs to renew their force.</p> + +<p>"I don't mind anything that you want to do, Alva."</p> + +<p>"It's storming in upon me what life was to have been. +What does the world know of love? Love is something<span class="pagenum">[270]</span> +too great to comprehend. It costs blood and years and +tears. It goes so deep that the very joy in it cuts like a +knife. I knew that I was only to have had him a few +weeks, that I should have to compress all that I felt +for him into them. But what those few weeks would +have meant! When to be quiet together was in itself +all that we asked! When we should have had a library +and a piano, and the gorge to look out over, and one +another to talk to,—to be with!" She stopped—her +breath failed her.</p> + +<p>There was a pause, as if to let the tide of grief sweep +up and out again.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lassie, we had waited so long and hopelessly," +she went on finally, her sentences short and tense and +broken. "I tried to be so patient. I tried so hard to +do well with the bit of life dealt out to me. As much as +I could, I followed in his path in the giving of my all to +others and neither asking nor expecting for myself. I +hoped nothing for us—nothing for us! And then I +had to see him stretched out—crushed—maimed, +and I had to live still, and smile into his eyes, and tell +him that even that was more than I had deserved. +And then came our dream—our precious dream—the +promise of those few, sweet, perfect days! Oh, +but why should I repine? I have been so happy. I +have contemplated the heights, even if it was not given +me to reach them."</p> + +<p>There was another pause.</p> + +<p>"Lassie, it is not my soul that is wailing; my soul is +very strong and resolute. He left work undone and +even this afternoon it came to me that that work was +part of him and that in doing it I should do for him. +If we could suffer annihilation in a good cause, we<span class="pagenum">[271]</span> +should survive in the cause. If I carry forward all that +he held in heart, I shall continue to be one with him. +I know it. I longed unutterably to be with him, to +make his pain lighter, to share his hours at the last. +I thought a great deal of our happiness, but I thought +also of what he would teach me to do for the world. +Oh, I can believe that he suffered last night. It was +only the edge of the storm that brushed over me, but +I know how <i>I</i> suffered. There are some men who cannot +die, who are too sorely needed; and he was such a +one. He did not want to leave his work."</p> + +<p>She stopped, and Lassie felt the tide of grief rise full +and ebb again.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't love or marriage as the world understands +it; but it was the supreme self sacrifice that my spirit +cried for in consecration. I thought that I was to be +greatly fitted for a great work."</p> + +<p>Lassie whispered: "Perhaps you have been fitted."</p> + +<p>"No. No! Heaven ordained that the sacrifice and +the consecration should be greater than I had ever +imagined. It ordained that he should pass away alone +and leave me alone, too; and now it is left me to work +out a new salvation. I try not to doubt, I do trust God +completely. But I cannot see why—or how! Not +yet. But, at any rate, the worst for me is come. I have +touched bottom. Battle for me is past."</p> + +<p>Then she rose from the bed, went to the window and +let up the shade. The night of Nature's world, always +full of potency, calmed her suddenly into another mood.</p> + +<p>"It is snowing," she exclaimed; "that means that +rain is falling on new-made graves." She came back +from the window. "Lassie," she said, "my heart is +broken, my future is crushed, and yet I feel <i>so strong</i>!<span class="pagenum">[272]</span> +It floods me fresh. I see now that wherever his soul +passed last night, it must have passed in triumph—gone +on to further work. I shall work, too. That is +the legacy his letter left me—an intense desire to serve. +How small I am, how great God is; all life's misery +results from setting our little wills in opposition to His +plan for our best. It is borne in upon me clearly; I +recognize the fact well. Now when I leave this room +next time and forever henceforth, so long as I live, I am +willing with my whole soul to do whatever work there +is laid out for me. I feel in my heart that no stumbling +or even ridicule for stumbling can ever again cause me +to falter. I have found Truth. I will be strong."</p> + +<p>Lassie looked at her in wonder. The white look of +unearthly radiance which men once knew as "Ecstasy" +was indeed on her face now—on her pale, sad, worn +face, filling it with a glow of wondrous resolution.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Alva!" the girl exclaimed, and then, even as +the exclamation left her lips, she was conscious of an +upleaping of warm, human joy to think of the six +o'clock train and Ingram's companionship. The higher +plane was very high above her yet.</p> + +<p>Alva pressed her hands to her eyes and face. "That +was like a lightning flash, dear," she said; "oh, if I +may only live by its light forever after. If only!" +There was a brief silence; then,—</p> + +<p>"I must pick up my things, I guess," the girl suggested.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear," Alva tried to smile; "yes, you must +pick up your things. That's what life here means."</p> + +<p>Lassie slipped into her own room. She was glad that +Alva was quiet and that she could smile upon her again; +it was truly what life meant to her. She was very little<span class="pagenum">[273]</span> +yet and very blind, and the angels might have been +smiling meaningly and mercifully at one another over +her pretty, childish head that hour.</p> + +<p>But over Alva the Spirits of Heaven might have +wept,—as they weep for any on earth who fancy that +they have sounded either the depths or the heights of +any design wrought out above.</p> + +<p>Above is so far above, and we and all our hopes and +joys and sorrows are so far beneath. So far beneath +that radiant serenity which moves eternally forward in +its fulfilling of the Divine Plan. His Divine Plan for +the uplifting of all that He has made.<span class="pagenum">[274]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<p class="h3">DAWN</p> + +<p>As the train pulled out, a half hour later, Alva, now +quite steady and serene, waved her hand, and then +turned away so as not to see Lassie, weeping, yet +clinging close to the strong arm thrown before her like +a guard.</p> + +<p>"You'll come home with me, my dear," said Mrs. +O'Neil, who had come to the station, too; "you look +a little tired and pale, and I'll help you finish your own +packing, and then you must have some good hot tea +and gingerbread."</p> + +<p>Alva laid her hand in the kindly, warm hand of the +other. "Yes, let us go home," she said; "but I'm not +going to-night, so my packing can wait."</p> + +<p>"You aren't going! Oh, I am glad. Then you'll +have a little time for rest. You need it." Mrs. O'Neil +was so frankly pleased that Alva was forced to thank +her kindliness in spirit. The racked are so grateful to +a tender touch after their sharpest agony.</p> + +<p>They went across the tracks and up the little cinder-path. +Mary Loretta and the cat came running out to +meet them, and Mary Cody had the teakettle boiling.</p> + +<p>"She's not going to-night," said Mrs. O'Neil, getting +out the tea and handing it to Mary Cody, who was now +cutting gingerbread. "I'm so glad; it would be so +lonesome without her."<span class="pagenum">[275]</span></p> + +<p>Mary Cody assented.</p> + +<p>"And those two young people are happy, too," Mrs. +O'Neil said to Alva, in the dining-room a minute +later, "such a nice-looking couple!"</p> + +<p>"I hope she'll be happy," said Alva, staring out of +the window as she sat by the table waiting idly. "She +will have everything to make for her happiness now." +Lassie and Ingram had ceased to matter to her. Her +brain could not include them in this hour.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil's eyes filled as she glanced that way. +The still, quiet face and form by the window had some +tragedy written in every line, although the lips stayed +closed and the bright-faced hostess felt what she could +not know.</p> + +<p>"There, my dear, there's the tea; let me pour your +cup," she said. "Do put in some cream just for once, +it's so nourishing; and why, I declare, if here isn't Mrs. +Ray, just in time to have a cup with us!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray had passed the window and now opened +the door and came in. There was an air of strongly +repressed excitement about her.</p> + +<p>"So she's gone," she said briskly. "I was peeking +out watching the mail-bag to see that no one else +stuck a letter in the strap on me, and I saw you all +seeing her off. Pretty she is,—and it's plain to be +seen what's going to happen next, and I'm very glad for +them both."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mrs. O'Neil, smiling; "we're all +that."</p> + +<p>"I come down for several reasons," said Mrs. Ray. +"First," she turned to Alva, "there's a letter that come +this morning, and heaven knows how it happened—with +all my care—but it slipped under those pesky<span class="pagenum">[276]</span> +government scales and I found it when I dusted out this +afternoon. I hope it isn't very important."</p> + +<p>Alva took the letter with its typewritten address and +put it in her pocket. "Don't worry, Mrs. Ray," she +said, "Lassie's gone; I'm going very soon; nothing +can matter much now, can it?" She managed to smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know," said Mrs. Ray. "That's +your view because you're going, but I can't say that I +shall feel really settled in my mind till the dam's settled."</p> + +<p>"But I thought the quicksand was going to settle +the dam," said Mrs. O'Neil; "somebody said so."</p> + +<p>"You can't settle even a quicksand with a legislature," +said Mrs. Ray; "I guess I know. The United +States Government is a great eye-opener, especially +when you have to tend a post-office according to any new +rules it finds time to have printed and mail you. I've +had four pages of new rules sent me to-day."</p> + +<p>"Here's your tea, Mrs. Ray," said Mrs. O'Neil; +"do sit down. Bring some more gingerbread, Mary. +And won't you have a little jam? I've a lot of nice +fresh this-autumn, plum jam."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want any jam," said Mrs. Ray, seating +herself; "but, Nellie, I've been hearing that legally +your husband can't do nothing with the Lathbuns."</p> + +<p>"Well, that isn't the worst," said Mrs. O'Neil, her +face clouding considerably; "what do you think I've +up and done? I was so mad I threw that old hair-brush +over into the gorge, and I've thereby made Jack +liable for a suit of damage for breaking into the luggage +a guest leaves without due cause, or else for willful destruction +of personal property belonging to another and +unoffending party who has reposed trust only to be +betrayed. Jack will have to go to the lawyer to-morrow<span class="pagenum">[277]</span> +to find out which. Oh, they were slick—those two. +They've got the law down fine."</p> + +<p>"Well, did you know they're caught?" Mrs. Ray +brought this statement forth as the cannon does the +cannon ball.</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil jumped in her chair. "Caught? No, +I did not know it. When?"</p> + +<p>"They just told me over at the station that they were +arrested about three o'clock. I guess it's true. I hope +so."</p> + +<p>"Oh, to think of it," said Mrs. O'Neil, "to think of +them sleeping here last night and in Geneseo to-night!"</p> + +<p>"The complaints will come pouring in," said Mrs. +Ray; "everybody has got a bill against 'em. I don't +believe they'll be out of jail in years."</p> + +<p>Alva turned her face again to the window. She had +not thought much of the two unfortunate creatures +during the past few hours, and their misery bore in upon +her with a vivid, headlong shock.</p> + +<p>"And those case-knives, too," Mrs. Ray continued; +"did they have 'em on, I wonder."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the case-knives don't count," said Mrs. O'Neil; +"they were left here by a travelling man. He was +around to-day and asked if it was here that he left them. +I meant to tell you, but dear, dear, I've had so much +to do, seems like."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Ray was much taken aback, but quickly recovered +herself.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, they could have used a hat-pin just as +well. Anyhow, they might have got up in the night and +murdered him some way. Mrs. Lathbun could have +held him while Hannah Adele just stuck anything +handy into him in every direction. I never could see<span class="pagenum">[278]</span> +what they had the case-knives for, anyhow, if it wasn't +on the chance of some such game. For two women to +carry six case-knives instead of combs and tooth-brushes +is very suspicious in itself, I think."</p> + +<p>"But, they weren't carrying them," said Mrs. O'Neil. +"Jack thought they had them for opening windows, but +to think of them staying here three weeks and no baggage. +It makes me wild."</p> + +<p>"Well, you and Mr. O'Neil are easy," said Mrs. Ray; +"you're very mooney, both of you. You can't deny +that, Nellie,—you and your husband haven't got real +good common sense, or you'd have nailed their windows +on from the outside the day you first mistrusted them."</p> + +<p>"Well, we won't be mooney any more, anyhow," +said Mrs. O'Neil; "the drillers came to-day with two +freight cars of machinery, but Jack had them pay a +week in advance. He says he won't even trust the +State after this."</p> + +<p>"I don't trust the United States any further than I +can see 'em," said Mrs. Ray; "but this has been a good +lesson for you, Nellie. You won't be letting any sharper +that comes along wear your gran'mother's Paisley shawl +while he spies out the road he's going to skip out over +next, again."</p> + +<p>"Indeed and I won't," said Mrs. O'Neil feelingly.</p> + +<p>"Sammy Adams was in to spend the afternoon," +Mrs. Ray went on. "We talked the question of my +marrying him all over again. He always asks me when +he comes for the whole afternoon like that, and he +had such a hard time getting it all out to-day with +people running in to talk about the Lathbuns every +second, that I just had to appreciate the way he stuck +to it clear through to the end."<span class="pagenum">[279]</span></p> + +<p>"What did you say?" asked Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"I didn't say much. I was too busy talking to the +others, you know. Yes, indeed. But I was sorry for +him. He's <i>so</i> scared sleeping alone in his house for fear +of maybe being swindled in his bed before he knows it. +And now he's worried for fear the dam is going to +drown him unexpectedly, too. They say if that dam is +built and does bu'st, the Johnstown Flood won't be in +it with Rochester. The folks that want the Falls saved +'ll get their chance to say, 'I told you so' then; but +that won't help Sammy much."</p> + +<p>"What did you say?" Mrs. O'Neil asked +again.</p> + +<p>"Well, when I got a chance, I told him I'd despise +a man who'd let me keep on working as hard as I work +now, but that if any man was to ask me to give up the +church, or the post-office, or my chickens, that would +show he didn't know me, right in the start."</p> + +<p>"What did he say to that?" Mrs. O'Neil asked with +interest.</p> + +<p>"He didn't know what to say at first, but then he's +the kind of man that never does know what to say. I +declare, Nellie, I do think men that want to marry +women act too foolish for words. Yes, indeed. If +a man wants to do anything else in the world he gets +to work and does it; but if he wants to marry a woman +he just sits still and looks silly and leaves it to the +woman to be done or not."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" said Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"Think so," said Mrs. Ray; "I know so. I've had +men acting foolish around where I was all my life. +I've tripped over 'em while sweeping, cooking, washing, +tending Mr. Ray's family by his second wife, sorting<span class="pagenum">[280]</span> +mail,—why, I've had men thinking what a good +wife I'd make all my life, and looking so like idiots +while they thought it that I wouldn't look at it like +they did for any money. They stop by the fence when +I'm ploughing, and just grin with thinking what a +hired man I'd make. I was cleaning the long aisle +carpet at the church last Wednesday, and that minister +that's visiting our minister couldn't keep away from the +window. When I take my eggs and chickens to market, +the buyer down there looks at how I've got those eggs +packed and pinches my chickens, and then he turns +to me and goodness, but his glance is loving."</p> + +<p>"Well, you're a very smart woman, you know," +said Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"I know that; I know it just as well as you do. +But I'm a woman, and I'd like to meet one man as was +a man. I know men pretty well; I knew Mr. Ray +better than he knew himself. Mr. Ray thought he +was doing me an honor to marry me, and I knew he +wasn't, and I lived with him fifteen years and never threw +it in his face once. I let him talk about his ancestors +and I never talked about mine. He thought I didn't +have any; he never realized I kept still so as to keep +from telling such stories as he did. His ancestors! I'd +like to know what sort of ancestors he had! If he'd +had any ancestors, he'd have been bound to be descended +from them, I should think, in which case he wouldn't +have been a Ray. The fact that he and his father called +themselves Jared and spelt it Jarrod was enough for +me; but to make a long story short I'm going to marry +Sammy Adams, and I ran down to tell you that at the +same time that I brought the letter."</p> + +<p>There was an outbreak of exclamations and then a<span class="pagenum">[281]</span> +beginning at congratulations, but Mrs. Ray stopped +those.</p> + +<p>"I don't want congratulations," she said; "there +isn't anything to congratulate me about, for I never +tried to get him, so I haven't had a success or anything +to be proud of. It's just that the dam is so likely to +be going to drown him out that he wants to rent my +second floor and pay the rent every first Monday in +the month. I'm going to go straight on with my life, +and continue to save my own money to finish educating +Mr. Ray's children by his second wife. We shall go +to church together, and he'll sit with me evenings +when I ain't too tired, or when he's nervous over case-knives +and swindling. He's going to pay me for all his +tailoring and all his hair-cuts, but he's to say when he +thinks he needs anything new or it's getting too long. +He'll buy our potatoes and chickens of me at the regular +price, but I'll furnish my own eggs, like I always have."</p> + +<p>"It's settled, then?" said Mrs. O'Neil, with a slight +smile.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's settled. I don't believe the dam will ever +be dug, but I'll marry Sammy all the same."</p> + +<p>"You're right about the dam, Mrs. Ray," Alva said, +speaking for the first time. "I don't believe it will +ever be built, either; the Falls have too many friends. +Besides, there must come a time when the God of All +will say to our American Mammon, 'So far and no +further shalt thou go,' and I believe the time is now and +that the place is here."</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know about all that," said Mrs. +Ray; "but Josiah Bates drove the surveyors home +yesterday, and he gathered from them that if they built +that dam and made that lake, the lake was pretty sure<span class="pagenum">[282]</span> +to burst out around back of the Wiley place—that +low place you know—and we'd have a new waterfall +in through the Wiley cow-pasture, even if we didn't +have nothing worse."</p> + +<p>"Goodness me!" cried Mrs. O'Neil, "what would +the Wileys say to that!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know what the Wileys would say to that," +said Mrs. Ray; "but it made me know what I'd say to +Sammy. Yes, indeed. If there isn't going to be any +dam, the summers here are going to go on exactly as +they used to, and I've got to have a man to bring up +my ice! You know my motto, 'He moves in a mysterious +way,' and I can see now why the Lathbuns +and the dam both come. I had a dreadful time last +summer getting my ice up, and as long as everybody's +been betting all along that I'd always marry Sammy +some day, I might as well do it now as any time. Yes, +indeed."</p> + +<p>"You are very sensible," said Alva, rising, "and I'm +sure that you will be very happy. I congratulate you." +She held out her hand. "Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry you're going so soon," said Mrs. Ray, +clasping it warmly, "you've meant such a lot of cancellation, +and then I've got very fond of you, too."</p> + +<p>Alva smiled. "I'm only going out on the bridge +just now for a little," she said, turning to Mrs. O'Neil. +"I'll be back shortly."</p> + +<p>Mrs. O'Neil glanced towards the window. "It's +snowing harder and harder," she said; "wrap up +warm."</p> + +<p>Alva went quietly out. When they were alone, Mrs. +Ray shook her head. "She looks bad," she said; "I'm +not sure that she didn't care for him, after all. She's<span class="pagenum">[283]</span> +got that mooney look. I know just the look. I'd have +looked just that way by spring, if I'd taken Gran'ma +Benton and the parrot. I'm glad I've decided to marry +Sammy, instead."</p> + +<p>"You won't take them, then?" asked Mrs. O'Neil.</p> + +<p>"No, I couldn't stand Sammy and a parrot at once, +and then, too, he might quarrel with the parrot, or +Gran'ma Benton might make trouble between Sammy +and me. I never allowed any one to make trouble +between Mr. Ray and me, and I won't allow trouble +this time, either. If I'm going to be unhappy married, +I won't marry. That's flat."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if Jack knows they're arrested!" said +Mrs. O'Neil, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"I stopped in the bar on purpose," said Mrs. Ray, +"I thought he ought to know right away."</p> + +<p>"Was he there?" asked the wife.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said Mrs. Ray, calmly, "but I did what I +could, Nellie, and nobody can be expected to pass <i>that</i>, +you know."<span class="pagenum">[284]</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<p class="h3">THE BREAKING OF ANOTHER DAY AND WAY</p> + +<p>Alva slipped into her cape, and drawing some fur +up round her throat, set swiftly forth upon the +Long Bridge—for the last time, she told herself.</p> + +<p>The snow was falling fast, but not thickly as yet, +and she had it in her heart to steal under cover of +the fast-approaching twilight to her house, and look +upon that also for the last time. Her sorrow was too +deep to leave any room to mourn the background of +her dream, but the background was consecrated by the +dream and she longed to stand once more close to +those walls, even if only to sob her heart out alone +under the rustle of dead leaves, amidst the fast deepening +snow.</p> + +<p>There was in her that awful strength that saves +one's reason in the first shock of the otherwise unbearable. +Years were ahead and yet her heart did not +shrink; endless gray duties stretched between their +mile-stones, but to her it mattered not. Nothing +mattered, she told herself over and over. Life would +go on, other lives in especial would go on; their demands +would be hers to meet, their cares and troubles, their +joys and sorrows would be hers to reflect, but to her +personally nothing would—nothing could—matter +more. Her unseeing eyes looked out over the gorge;<span class="pagenum">[285]</span> +the matchless beauty, for the preservation of which her +dead love had fought so hard, came to a blind market +now; she could not see, she could not feel, for her life +and all that makes life worth living was over.</p> + +<p>So she swept on, her dark cape fluttering wide like +wings on either side of her steady swiftness. The snow +crystals clung to the wool and quickly starred its night +with stars, but she saw no night except her own, and +noted no stars. "And yet I must not give way too +much," she thought suddenly, with a quick stabbing +sense of proving unworthy; "if I am what I have told +Lassie that one should be—if I am what one who has +truly loved should surely be—I shall be strong and live +resolutely as he lived, even though I have been so +crushed. Pain could not crush his spirit; shall sorrow +crush mine? I <i>will</i> be strong."</p> + +<p>The letter which she had brought out with her came +to her mind then, and she paused and read it. It was +from the surgeon and told her what she had lately +mistrusted,—that there had never been the slightest +chance of moving him, that she had been sent away as +a child is banished from a painful scene, and that +she had been beguiled as a child is beguiled. She did +not resent the truth, she was too big to resent such a +truth; but she felt freshly mournful, and the home that +was to have been seemed to fade utterly out of her +consciousness, leaving her with no desire to ever see it +again.</p> + +<p>But there was another sheet within the envelope. +She took that out, too. It was printed—in a hand +that trembled. Her heart contracted as she saw +the crooked lines,—so much ran deep between +them.<span class="pagenum">[286]</span></p> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Alva</span>:—I have struggled. I shall not give up. +I believe sometimes God has given a new body to +serve a needed end. I cannot go. I must come back. +Not for your sake. But for theirs—for the sake +of those who will never know. If I come, help me +again. For you and for me help is the only bond. I +am not sure that there is any other that endures. Not +in this present world of ours.</p></blockquote> + +<p>She shook a little. Something especially cold and +piercing struck to her heart. She raised her eyes +quickly, and there, close beside her on the bridge, the +dead man stood.</p> + +<p>His bright dark eyes looked straight into hers.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know who I am?" he said.</p> + +<p>She would have fallen but for his quick grasp, and +the grasp choked the cry that was rising, for it was the +grasp of flesh and of strength.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know who I am?" he asked again. "I +thought that I saw in your eyes that you knew. I +thought that she had described me to you. I'm Lisle +Bayard. You wrote to me, you know."</p> + +<p>She drew away from him, and leaned heavily against +the bridge-rail. If it were true that this were he! A +new body to serve a great purpose. If that Mystery +that is the rooting of all that is or is to be had been +building this man and this hour, and weaving and twisting +and shaping both to its ends! She seemed to stand +motionless, but within herself she was dizzy and +reeling. "He moves in a mysterious way, His wonders +to perform."</p> + +<p>"You have freed them?" she said, divining truth +with a prescience that startled herself.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," he said, "I have been to Geneseo. They<span class="pagenum">[287]</span> +are free. But you never really believed that I had any +interest in them, did you?"</p> + +<p>His voice was no strange voice in her ears, nor was +his manner that of a stranger. She had to press her +temples hard with her two hands. "You are like the +man whom I loved," she said; "he—he died yesterday. +That was what drew me to her; she described +you and said that you loved her."</p> + +<p>"Poor thing," he said, simply.</p> + +<p>"And that you pursued her," Alva went on; "you +can think that I befriended her then. I tried to help +her. Because I, too, loved—and hoped."</p> + +<p>"It was good of you," he said; "but they are +mere adventuresses—not worth your troubling."</p> + +<p>"But you have helped them?"</p> + +<p>"I? Oh, yes. But," he hesitated; "I am tired +of my life," he added suddenly. "I've turned over a +new leaf—I've reformed."</p> + +<p>"Since when?"</p> + +<p>"Since yesterday."</p> + +<p>She held hard to the bridge-rail. "Since yesterday," +she repeated; "since yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, since yesterday."</p> + +<p>Her eyes were staring into his now. "Tell me +about it?" she cried, as the starving cry out for food—"at +once."</p> + +<p>"I don't know about it. I just turned in disgust +from myself. It was all in a minute. I wandered about +all day and all last night. I tried to drink—you know +I drink?—and then all of a sudden I realized what a +beast I'd been, and I turned from it all. Something +stronger than myself drew me to Geneseo this morning; +something stronger yet drew me here; what led me out<span class="pagenum">[288]</span> +upon the bridge was strongest of all. I don't know +what it all means, but perhaps you do."</p> + +<p>For a long minute she looked at him, and then she +spoke. "The man who died is guiding you," she said; +"I know it is that."</p> + +<p>He smiled a little. "Can I trust him?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"I think so," she answered; "because his appeal is +to your better self. You will learn."</p> + +<p>"And you will teach me?" he said, quickly.</p> + +<p>She was silent.</p> + +<p>"You will teach me?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"I am going home," she said. "I live far from here. +I have duties which will chain me there for life. You +will learn of him alone. You will be guided; do not +fear."</p> + +<p>He looked at her, and his eyes blazed suddenly. +She shrank back with a cry. "Oh, no—not that—not +that!" +she exclaimed; "I loved him and he is +dead. His work descends on us to do, that is all. +All!"</p> + +<p>The man, looking down at her with the dead man's +eyes, was silent.</p> + +<p>"I am not able to talk to you," she said, "I can +hardly control my voice. He died yesterday, and to-day +you speak to me with his voice. And it is so strange,—your +coming. It is all so strange."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is all strange," he said; "but it cannot +stop here, you know. The Purpose that has brought +this about will not cease to exist now."</p> + +<p>She felt herself agitated, unnerved, trembling. She +took hold of the bridge-rail again. "The Purpose +works for great ends," she said; "we must learn that.<span class="pagenum">[289]</span> +I have learned it. Even a little respite from daily +life is not allowed, when one has once crossed the +border and left self behind. I have had to learn that +in a bitter school. For God's sake, lift burdens; do +not add to them. And do not make my lot harder +than it is to be. You are not him, and I know it. Do +not seek friendship with me; it is torture."</p> + +<p>"But if I were he," he said, "if I do his work, live +towards his goal, accomplish his purposes. Who shall +say what soul I bear? I never had a soul till yesterday. +I have one now. Where did it come from, this new soul +of mine. Perhaps from him. I've read stories like +that."</p> + +<p>"I cannot bear it," she said, suddenly; "my head +refuses to understand. All that I have believed is +rolling and crashing around me. Let us say good-by. +In a few hours I shall be far away. Oh, I shall be +glad—so glad—to go."</p> + +<p>"But I shall remain," he declared. "I shall take +up the battle, and I shall win his unfinished fight. +Let us leave the future wrapped in its mystery. I +have been impatient all my life, but now I can wait."</p> + +<p>She walked away through the snow.</p> + +<p>And then suddenly, as she moved, she felt her steps +stayed—she stopped. It was not the man who had +stayed her; he was standing where she had left him, +behind her—there on the bridge. But she was stopped +by a thought; at that thought she turned.</p> + +<p>"If you are to live here," she said faltering, her +voice quite unlike its usual firm, low purpose,—"if +you are to live here, you will want a home. There is +a house—"</p> + +<p>She paused. Her hand had drawn a key from her<span class="pagenum">[290]</span> +pocket, and without further explanation she held it out +to him.</p> + +<p>He approached and took the key. He asked no question. +He spoke no word. They did not even exchange +a glance.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later a veil of snowflakes divided them, +and the gorge lay black between.</p> + +<p>What is there to be said further? Nothing unless +perhaps the single line that can so fitly begin and end +all:</p> + +<p>"He moves in a mysterious way."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> +<img src="images/logo.jpg" width="200" height="179" alt="" title=""> +</div> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<p class="h4"><i>An International Love Comedy</i></p> + +<div class="topbox"> +<p class="h1">A WOMAN'S WILL</p> +</div> + +<p class="h4">By ANNE WARNER</p> + +<p class="h5">Author of "Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop."</p> + +<p>It is a relief to take up a volume so absolutely free from +stressfulness. The love-making is passionate, the +humor of much of the conversation is thoroughly delightful. +The book is as refreshing a bit of fiction as one often finds; +there is not a dull page in it.—<i>Providence Journal.</i></p> + +<p>It is bright, charming, and intense as it describes the +wooing of a young American widow on the European +Continent by a German musical genius.—<i>San Francisco +Chronicle.</i></p> + +<p>A deliciously funny book.—<i>Chicago Tribune.</i></p> + +<p>There is a laugh on nearly every page.—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + +<p>Most decidedly an unusual story. The dialogue is nothing +if not original, and the characters are very unique. There +is something striking on every page of the book.—<i>Newark +Advertiser.</i></p> + +<p>A more vivacious light novel could not be found.—<i>Chicago +Record-Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="h4"> +Illustrated by I. H. Caliga. 360 pages. 12mo.<br> +Decorated cloth, $1.50.<br> + +<hr class="short"> + +<p class="h4">LITTLE, BROWN, & CO., <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, BOSTON<br> +<i>At all Booksellers'</i><br> +</p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<p class="h4"><i>New Edition with Pictures from the Play</i></p> + +<div class="topbox"> +<p class="h1">THE REJUVENATION OF AUNT MARY</p> +</div> + +<p class="h4"><i>By</i> ANNE WARNER</p> + +<p class="h5"><i>Author of "Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop," +"A Woman's Will," etc.</i><br> +<br> +Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50</p> + +<hr class="short"> + +<p>Always amusing and ends in a burst of sunshine.—<i>Philadelphia +Ledger.</i></p> + +<p>Impossible to read without laughing. A sparkling, +hilarious tale.—<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p> + +<p>The love story is as wholesome and satisfactory as the +fun. In its class this book must be accorded the first +place.—<i>Baltimore Sun.</i></p> + +<p>The humor is simply delicious.—<i>Albany Times-Union.</i></p> + +<p>Every one that remembers Susan Clegg will wish also to +make the acquaintance of Aunt Mary. Her "imperious +will and impervious eardrums" furnish matter for uproarious +merriment.... A book to drive away the blues +and make one well content with the worst weather.—<i>Pittsburg +Gazette.</i></p> + +<hr class="short"> + +<p>Cheerful, crisp, and bright. The comedy is sweetened +by a satisfying love tale.—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p> + +<p class="h4"> +LITTLE, BROWN, & CO., <span class="smcap">Publishers</span></p> + +<p class="h5"><span class="smcap">254 Washington Street, Boston</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<p class="h4"><i>An exceedingly clever volume.</i>—<span class="smcap">Boston Globe</span></p> + +<div class="topbox"> +<p class="h1">AN ORIGINAL GENTLEMAN</p> +</div> + +<p class="h3"><i>By</i> ANNE WARNER</p> + +<p class="h4">Author of "The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary," the "Susan +Clegg" books, etc.<br> +<br> +Frontispiece by Alice Barber Stephens. Cloth. $1.50</p> + +<hr class="short"> + +<p>Merry reading indeed.—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + +<p>All are humorous.... In none is dialect used.—<i>New +York Sun.</i></p> + +<p>The book brings out new possibilities in the author's +work and will add much to her popularity.—<i>Springfield +Republican.</i></p> + +<p>Humor and novelty of plot characterize most of the +stories, and they are entirely worthy of the creator of +"Susan Clegg" and "Aunt Mary."—<i>Syracuse Herald.</i></p> + +<p>Crisply told, quaintly humorous.... Only a woman +with discernment and tenderness, and only an artist +could make characters live and breathe as hers do.—<i>Boston +Transcript.</i></p> + +<p>Exhibits her cleverness and her sense of humor.... +Show much of that humor in the conception and that skill +in droll delineation of character which first brought Anne +Warner into notice with her "Susan Clegg" stories.—<i>New +York Times.</i></p> + +<hr class="short"> + +<p class="h4c"> +LITTLE, BROWN, & CO., <span class="smcap">Publishers</span></p> + +<p class="h5c"><span class="smcap">254 Washington Street, Boston</span></p> + +<hr class="chapter"> + +<p class="h4"><i>Anne Warner's "Susan Clegg" Books</i></p> + +<div class="topbox"> +<p class="h1">SUSAN CLEGG AND HER +FRIEND MRS. LATHROP</p> +</div> + +<p class="h3"><i>By</i> ANNE WARNER</p> + +<p class="h5c">With Frontispiece, $1.00</p> + +<hr class="short"> + +<p>Nothing better in the new homely philosophy style +of fiction has been written.—<i>San Francisco Bulletin.</i></p> + +<p>One of the most genuinely humorous books ever written.—<i>St. +Louis Globe-Democrat.</i></p> + +<p>Anything more humorous than the Susan Clegg stories +would be hard to find.—<i>The Critic, New York.</i></p> + +<p class="h5"><i>By the Same Author</i>:</p> + +<p class="h3">SUSAN CLEGG AND HER +NEIGHBORS' AFFAIRS</p> + +<p class="h5c">With Frontispiece, $1.00</p> + +<p>All the stories brim over with quaint humor, caustic +sarcasm, and concealed contempt for male and matrimonial +chains.—<i>Philadelphia Ledger.</i></p> + +<p class="h3">SUSAN CLEGG AND A MAN IN +THE HOUSE</p> + +<p class="h5c">Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Alice Barber Stephens</span>. $1.50</p> + +<p>Susan is a positive joy, and the reading world owes +Anne Warner a vote of thanks for her contribution to +the list of American humor.—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + +<p class="h4c">LITTLE, BROWN, & CO.,</p> + +<p class="h5c"><span class="smcap">254 Washington Street, Boston</span></p> + +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In a Mysterious Way, by Anne Warner + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN A MYSTERIOUS WAY *** + +***** This file should be named 37515-h.htm or 37515-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/5/1/37515/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/37515-h/images/cover.jpg b/37515-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b8e48e --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/37515-h/images/gs01.jpg b/37515-h/images/gs01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..43a4194 --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/gs01.jpg diff --git a/37515-h/images/gs02.jpg b/37515-h/images/gs02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2dbb640 --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/gs02.jpg diff --git a/37515-h/images/gs03.jpg b/37515-h/images/gs03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..806c6fc --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/gs03.jpg diff --git a/37515-h/images/gs04.jpg b/37515-h/images/gs04.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cda7810 --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/gs04.jpg diff --git a/37515-h/images/gs05.jpg b/37515-h/images/gs05.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bd909f --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/gs05.jpg diff --git a/37515-h/images/logo.jpg b/37515-h/images/logo.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dcd1d73 --- /dev/null +++ b/37515-h/images/logo.jpg |
