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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3806-h.zip b/3806-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ba1bfd --- /dev/null +++ b/3806-h.zip diff --git a/3806-h/3806-h.htm b/3806-h/3806-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..73e50d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/3806-h/3806-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6159 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of A Modern Cinderella, by Louisa May Alcott +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Modern Cinderella, by Louisa May Alcott + +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: A Modern Cinderella + or The Little Old Show and Other Stories + +Author: Louisa May Alcott + +Posting Date: May 28, 2009 [EBook #3806] +Release Date: March, 2003 +First Posted: September 16, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MODERN CINDERELLA *** + + + + +Produced by Joe Hogan. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +A Modern Cinderella +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +or The Little Old Shoe +<BR> +And Other Stories +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LOUISA MAY ALCOTT +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<H4> + <A HREF="#cinderella">A MODERN CINDERELLA: OR, THE LITTLE OLD SHOE</A><BR> + <A HREF="#debby">DEBBY'S DEBUT</A><BR> + <A HREF="#brothers">BROTHERS</A><BR> + <A HREF="#nelly">NELLY'S HOSPITAL</A><BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="cinderella"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +A MODERN CINDERELLA +<BR> +OR, +<BR> +THE LITTLE OLD SHOE +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW IT WAS LOST +</H3> + +<P> +Among green New England hills stood an ancient house, many-gabled, +mossy-roofed, and quaintly built, but picturesque and pleasant to the +eye; for a brook ran babbling through the orchard that encompassed it +about, a garden-plat stretched upward to the whispering birches on the +slope, and patriarchal elms stood sentinel upon the lawn, as they had +stood almost a century ago, when the Revolution rolled that way and +found them young. +</P> + +<P> +One summer morning, when the air was full of country sounds, of mowers +in the meadow, black-birds by the brook, and the low of kine upon the +hill-side, the old house wore its cheeriest aspect, and a certain +humble history began. +</P> + +<P> +"Nan!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Di." +</P> + +<P> +And a head, brown-locked, blue-eyed, soft-featured, looked in at the +open door in answer to the call. +</P> + +<P> +"Just bring me the third volume of 'Wilhelm Meister,' there's a dear. +It's hardly worth while to rouse such a restless ghost as I, when I'm +once fairly laid." +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, Di PUlled up her black braids, thumped the pillow of the +couch where she was lying, and with eager eyes went down the last page +of her book. +</P> + +<P> +"Nan!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Laura," replied the girl, coming back with the third volume for +the literary cormorant, who took it with a nod, still too content upon +the "Confessions of a Fair Saint" to remember the failings of a certain +plain sinner. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't forget the Italian cream for dinner. I depend upon it; for it's +the only thing fit for me this hot weather." +</P> + +<P> +And Laura, the cool blonde, disposed the folds of her white gown more +gracefully about her, and touched up the eyebrow of the Minerva she was +drawing. +</P> + +<P> +"Little daughter!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, father." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me have plenty of clean collars in my bag, for I must go at once; +and some of you bring me a glass of cider in about an hour;—I shall be +in the lower garden." +</P> + +<P> +The old man went away into his imaginary paradise, and Nan into that +domestic purgatory on a summer day,—the kitchen. There were vines +about the windows, sunshine on the floor, and order everywhere; but it +was haunted by a cooking-stove, that family altar whence such varied +incense rises to appease the appetite of household gods, before which +such dire incantations are pronounced to ease the wrath and woe of the +priestess of the fire, and about which often linger saddest memories of +wasted temper, time, and toil. +</P> + +<P> +Nan was tired, having risen with the birds,—hurried, having many cares +those happy little housewives never know,—and disappointed in a hope +that hourly "dwindled, peaked, and pined." She was too young to make +the anxious lines upon her forehead seem at home there, too patient to +be burdened with the labor others should have shared, too light of +heart to be pent up when earth and sky were keeping a blithe holiday. +But she was one of that meek sisterhood who, thinking humbly of +themselves, believe they are honored by being spent in the service of +less conscientious souls, whose careless thanks seem quite reward +enough. +</P> + +<P> +To and fro she went, silent and diligent, giving the grace of +willingness to every humble or distasteful task the day had brought +her; but some malignant sprite seemed to have taken possession of her +kingdom, for rebellion broke out everywhere. The kettles would boil +over most obstreperously,—the mutton refused to cook with the meek +alacrity to be expected from the nature of a sheep,—the stove, with +unnecessary warmth of temper, would glow like a fiery furnace,—the +irons would scorch,—the linens would dry,—and spirits would fail, +though patience never. +</P> + +<P> +Nan tugged on, growing hotter and wearier, more hurried and more +hopeless, till at last the crisis came; for in one fell moment she tore +her gown, burnt her hand, and smutched the collar she was preparing to +finish in the most unexceptionable style. Then, if she had been a +nervous woman, she would have scolded; being a gentle girl, she only +"lifted up her voice and wept." +</P> + +<P> +"Behold, she watereth her linen with salt tears, and bewaileth herself +because of much tribulation. But, lo! Help cometh from afar: a strong +man bringeth lettuce wherewith to stay her, plucketh berries to comfort +her withal, and clasheth cymbals that she may dance for joy." +</P> + +<P> +The voice came from the porch, and, with her hope fulfilled, Nan looked +up to greet John Lord, the house-friend, who stood there with a basket +on his arm; and as she saw his honest eyes, kind lips, and helpful +hands, the girl thought this plain young man the comeliest, most +welcome sight she had beheld that day. +</P> + +<P> +"How good of you, to come through all this heat, and not to laugh at my +despair!" she said, looking up like a grateful child, as she led him in. +</P> + +<P> +"I only obeyed orders, Nan; for a certain dear old lady had a motherly +presentiment that you had got into a domestic whirlpool, and sent me as +a sort of life-preserver. So I took the basket of consolation, and came +to fold my feet upon the carpet of contentment in the tent of +friendship." +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, John gave his own gift in his mother's name, and bestowed +himself in the wide window-seat, where morning-glories nodded at him, +and the old butternut sent pleasant shadows dancing to and fro. +</P> + +<P> +His advent, like that of Orpheus in hades, seemed to soothe all +unpropitious powers with a sudden spell. The Fire began to slacken, the +kettles began to lull, the meat began to cook, the irons began to cool, +the clothes began to behave, the spirits began to rise, and the collar +was finished off with most triumphant success. John watched the +change, and, though a lord of creation, abased himself to take +compassion on the weaker vessel, and was seized with a great desire to +lighten the homely tasks that tried her strength of body and soul. He +took a comprehensive glance about the room; then, extracting a dish +from he closet, proceeded to imbrue his hands in the strawberries' +blood. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John, you needn't do that; I shall have time when I've turned the +meat, made the pudding and done these things. See, I'm getting on +finely now:—you're a judge of such matters; isn't that nice?" +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, Nan offered the polished absurdity for inspection with +innocent pride. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh that I were a collar, to sit upon that hand!" sighed John,—adding, +argumentatively, +</P> + +<P> +"As to the berry question, I might answer it with a gem from Dr. Watts, +relative to 'Satan' and idle hands,' but will merely say, that, as a +matter of public safety, you'd better leave me alone; for such is the +destructiveness of my nature, that I shall certainly eat something +hurtful, break something valuable, or sit upon something crushable, +unless you let me concentrate my energies by knocking on these young +fellows' hats, and preparing them for their doom." +</P> + +<P> +Looking at the matter in a charitable light, Nan consented, and went +cheerfully on with her work, wondering how she could have thought +ironing an infliction, and been so ungrateful for the blessings of her +lot. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Sally?" asked John, looking vainly for the functionary who +usually pervaded that region like a domestic police-woman, a terror to +cats, dogs, and men. +</P> + +<P> +"She has gone to her cousin's funeral, and won't be back till Monday. +There seems to be a great fatality among her relations; for one dies, +or comes to grief in some way, about once a month. But I don't blame +poor Sally for wanting to get away from this place now and then. I +think I could find it in my heart to murder an imaginary friend or two, +if I had to stay here long." +</P> + +<P> +And Nan laughed so blithely, it was a pleasure to hear her. +</P> + +<P> +"Where's Di?" asked John, seized with a most unmasculine curiosity all +at once. +</P> + +<P> +"She is in Germany with 'Wilhelm Meister'; but, though 'lost to sight, +to memory clear'; for I was just thinking, as I did her things, how +clever she is to like all kinds of books that I don't understand at +all, and to write things that make me cry with pride and delight. Yes, +she's a talented dear, though she hardly knows a needle from a crowbar, +and will make herself one great blot some of these days, when the +'divine afflatus' descends upon her, I'm afraid." +</P> + +<P> +And Nan rubbed away with sisterly zeal at Di's forlorn hose and inky +pocket-handkerchiefs. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Laura?" proceeded the inquisitor. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I might say that she was in Italy; for she is copying some fine +thing of Raphael's or Michael Angelo's, or some great creatures or +other; and she looks so picturesque in her pretty gown, sitting before +her easel, that it's really a sight to behold, and I've peeped two or +three times to see how she gets on." +</P> + +<P> +And Nan bestirred herself to prepare the dish Wherewith her picturesque +sister desired to prolong her artistic existence. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is your father?" John asked again, checking off each answer with +a nod and a little frown. +</P> + +<P> +"He is down in the garden, deep in some plan about melons, the +beginning of which seems to consist in stamping the first proposition +in Euclid all over the bed, and then poking a few seeds into the middle +of each. Why, bless the dear man! I forgot it was time for the cider. +Wouldn't you like to take it to him, John? He'd love to consult you; +and the lane is so cool, it does one's heart good to look at it." +</P> + +<P> +John glanced from the steamy kitchen to the shadowy path, and answered +with a sudden assumption of immense industry,— +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't possibly go, Nan,—I've so much on my hands. You'll have +to do it yourself. 'Mr. Robert of Lincoln' has something for your +private ear; and the lane is so cool, it will do one's heart good to +see you in it. Give my regards to your father, and, in the words of +'Little Mabel's' mother, with slight variation,— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + 'Tell the dear old body<BR> + This day I cannot run,<BR> + For the pots are boiling over<BR> + And the mutton isn't done.'"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +"I will; but please, John, go in to the girls and be comfortable; for I +don't like to leave you here," said Nan. +</P> + +<P> +"You insinuate that I should pick at the pudding or invade the cream, +do you? Ungrateful girl, leave me!" And, with melodramatic sternness, +John extinguished her in his broad-brimmed hat, and offered the glass +like a poisoned goblet. +</P> + +<P> +Nan took it, and went smiling away. But the lane might have been the +Desert of Sahara, for all she knew of it; and she would have passed her +father as unconcernedly as if he had been an apple-tree, had he not +called out,— +</P> + +<P> +"Stand and deliver, little woman!" +</P> + +<P> +She obeyed the venerable highwayman, and followed him to and fro, +listening to his plans and directions with a mute attention that quite +won his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"That hop-pole is really an ornament now, Nan; this sage-bed needs +weeding,—that's good work for you girls; and, now I think of it, you'd +better water the lettuce in the cool of the evening, after I'm gone." +</P> + +<P> +To all of which remarks Nan gave her assent; the hop-pole took the +likeness of a tall figure she had seen in the porch, the sage-bed, +curiously enough, suggested a strawberry ditto, the lettuce vividly +reminded her of certain vegetable productions a basket had brought, and +the bobolink only sung in his cheeriest voice, "Go home, go home! he is +there!" +</P> + +<P> +She found John—he having made a free-mason of himself, by assuming her +little apron—meditating over the partially spread table, lost in amaze +at its desolate appearance; one half its proper paraphernalia having +been forgotten, and the other half put on awry. Nan laughed till the +tears ran over her cheeks, and John was gratified at the efficacy of +his treatment; for her face had brought a whole harvest of sunshine +from the garden, and all her cares seemed to have been lost in the +windings of the lane. +</P> + +<P> +"Nan, are you in hysterics?" cried Di, appearing, book in hand. "John, +you absurd man, what are you doing?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm helpin' the maid of all work, please marm." And John dropped a +curtsy with his limited apron. +</P> + +<P> +Di looked ruffled, for the merry words were a covert reproach; and with +her usual energy of manner and freedom of speech she tossed "Wilhelm" +out of the window, exclaiming, irefully.— +</P> + +<P> +"That's always the way; I'm never where I ought to be, and never think +of anything till it's too late; but it's all Goethe's fault. What does +he write books full of smart 'Phillinas' and interesting 'Meisters' +for? How can I be expected to remember that Sally's away, and people +must eat, when I'm hearing the 'Harper' and little 'Mignon?' John, how +dare you come here and do my work, instead of shaking me and telling me +to do it myself? Take that toasted child away, and fan her like a +Chinese mandarin, while I dish up this dreadful dinner." +</P> + +<P> +John and Nan fled like chaff before the wind, while Di, full of +remorseful zeal, charged at the kettles, and wrenched off the potatoes' +jackets, as if she were revengefully pulling her own hair. Laura had a +vague intention of going to assist; but, getting lost among the lights +and shadows of Minerva's helmet, forgot to appear till dinner had been +evoked from chaos and peace was restored. +</P> + +<P> +At three o'clock, Di performed the coronation ceremony with her +father's best hat; Laura retied his old-fashioned neckcloth, and +arranged his white locks with an eye to saintly effect; Nan appeared +with a beautifully written sermon, and suspicious ink-stains on the +fingers that slipped it into his pocket; John attached himself to the +bag; and the patriarch was escorted to the door of his tent with the +triumphal procession which usually attended his out-goings and +in-comings. Having kissed the female portion of his tribe, he ascended +the venerable chariot, which received him with audible lamentation, as +its rheumatic joints swayed to and fro. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, my dears! I shall be back early on Monday morning; so take +care of yourselves, and be sure you all go and hear Mr. Emerboy preach +to-morrow. My regards to your mother. John. Come, Solon!" +</P> + +<P> +But Solon merely cocked one ear, and remained a fixed fact; for long +experience had induced the philosophic beast to take for his motto the +Yankee maxim, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead! He knew things were +not right; therefore he did not go ahead. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, by the way, girls, don't forget to pay Tommy Mullein for bringing +up the cow: he expects it to-night. And Di, don't sit up till +daylight, nor let Laura stay out in the dew. Now, I believe I'm off. +Come, Solon!" +</P> + +<P> +But Solon only cocked the other ear, gently agitated his mortified +tail, as premonitory symptoms of departure, and never stirred a hoof, +being well aware that it always took three "comes" to make a "go." +</P> + +<P> +"Bless me! I've forgotten my spectacles. They are probably shut up in +that volume of Herbert on my table. Very awkward to find myself +without them ten miles away. Thank you, John. Don't neglect to water +the lettuce, Nan, and don't overwork yourself, my little 'Martha.' +Come—" +</P> + +<P> +At this juncture Solon suddenly went off, like "Mrs. Gamp," in a sort +of walking swoon, apparently deaf and blind to all mundane matters, +except the refreshments awaiting him ten miles away; and the benign old +pastor disappeared, humming "Hebron" to the creaking accompaniment of +the bulgy chaise. +</P> + +<P> +Laura retired to take her siesta; Nan made a small carbonaro of herself +by sharpening her sister's crayons, and Di, as a sort of penance for +past sins, tried her patience over a piece of knitting, in which she +soon originated a somewhat remarkable pattern, by dropping every third +stitch, and seaming ad libitum. If John bad been a gentlemanly +creature, with refined tastes, he would have elevated his feet and made +a nuisance of himself by indulging in a "weed;" but being only an +uncultivated youth, with a rustic regard for pure air and womankind in +general, he kept his head uppermost, and talked like a man, instead of +smoking like a chimney. +</P> + +<P> +"It will probably be six months before I sit here again, tangling your +threads and maltreating your needles, Nan. How glad you must feel to +hear it!" he said, looking up from a thoughtful examination of the +hard-working little citizens of the Industrial Community settled in +Nan's work-basket. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I'm very sorry; for I like to see you coming and going as you used +to, years ago, and I miss you very much when you are gone, John," +answered truthful Nan, whittling away in a sadly wasteful manner, as +her thoughts flew back to the happy times when a little lad rode a +little lass in a big wheelbarrow, and never spilt his load,—when two +brown heads bobbed daily side by side to school, and the favorite play +was "Babes in the Wood," with Di for a somewhat peckish robin to cover +the small martyrs with any vegetable substance that lay at hand. Nan +sighed, as she thought of these things, and John regarded the battered +thimble on his finger-tip with increased benignity of aspect as he +heard the sound. +</P> + +<P> +"When are you going to make your fortune, John, and get out of that +disagreeable hardware concern?" demanded Di, pausing after an exciting +"round," and looking almost as much exhausted as if it had been a +veritable pugilistic encounter. +</P> + +<P> +"I intend to make it by plunging still deeper into 'that disagreeable +hardware concern;' for, next year, if the world keeps rolling, and John +Lord is alive, he will become a partner, and then—and then—" +</P> + +<P> +The color sprang up into the young man's cheek, his eyes looked out +with a sudden shine, and his hand seemed involuntarily to close, as if +he saw and seized some invisible delight. +</P> + +<P> +"What will happen then, John?" asked Nan, with a wondering glance. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell you in a year, Nan, wait till then." and John's strong hand +unclosed, as if the desired good were not to be his yet. +</P> + +<P> +Di looked at him, with a knitting-needle stuck into her hair, saying, +like a sarcastic unicorn,— +</P> + +<P> +"I really thought you had a soul above pots and kettles, but I see you +haven't; and I beg your pardon for the injustice I have done you." +</P> + +<P> +Not a whit disturbed, John smiled, as if at some mighty pleasant fancy +of his own, as he replied,— +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Di; and as a further proof of the utter depravity of my +nature, let me tell you that I have the greatest possible respect for +those articles of ironmongery. Some of the happiest hours of my life +have been spent in their society; some of my pleasantest associations +are connected with them; some of my best lessons have come to me among +them; and when my fortune is made, I intend to show my gratitude by +taking three flat-irons rampant for my coat of arms." +</P> + +<P> +Nan laughed merrily, as she looked at the burns on her hand; but Di +elevated the most prominent feature of her brown countenance, and +sighed despondingly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Dear, dear, what a disappointing world this is! I no sooner build a +nice castle in Spain, and settle a smart young knight therein, than +down it comes about my ears; and the ungrateful youth, who might fight +dragons, if he chose, insists on quenching his energies in a saucepan, +and making a Saint Lawrence of himself by wasting his life on a series +of gridirons. Ah, if I were only a man, I would do something better +than that, and prove that heroes are not all dead yet. But, instead of +that, I'm only a woman, and must sit rasping my temper with absurdities +like this." And Di wrestled with her knitting as if it were Fate, and +she were paying off the grudge she owed it. +</P> + +<P> +John leaned toward her, saying, with a look that made his plain face +handsome,— +</P> + +<P> +"Di, my father began the world as I begin it, and left it the richer +for the useful years he spent here,—as I hope I may leave it some +half-century hence. His memory makes that dingy shop a pleasant place +to me; for there he made an honest name, led an honest life and +bequeathed to me his reverence for honest work. That is a sort of +hardware, Di, that no rust can corrupt, and which will always prove a +better fortune than any your knights can achieve with sword and shield. +I think I am not quite a clod, or quite without some aspirations above +money-getting; for I sincerely desire that courage that makes daily +life heroic by self-denial and cheerfulness of heart; I am eager to +conquer my own rebellious nature, and earn the confidence of innocent +and upright souls; I have a great ambition to become as good a man and +leave as good a memory behind me as old John Lord." +</P> + +<P> +Di winked violently, and seamed five times in perfect silence; but +quiet Nan had the gift of knowing when to speak, and by a timely word +saved her sister from a thunder-shower and her stocking from +destruction. +</P> + +<P> +"John, have you seen Philip since you wrote about your last meeting +with him?" +</P> + +<P> +The question was for John, but the soothing tone was for Di, who +gratefully accepted it, and perked up again with speed. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and I meant to have told you about it," answered John, plunging +into the subject at once. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw him a few days before I came home, and found him more +disconsolate than ever,—' just ready to go to the Devil,' as he +forcibly expressed himself. I consoled the poor lad as well as I could, +telling him his wisest plan was to defer his proposed expedition, and +go on as steadily as he had begun,—thereby proving the injustice of +your father's prediction concerning his want of perseverance, and the +sincerity of his affection. I told him the change in Laura's health +and spirits was silently working in his favor, and that a few more +months of persistent endeavor would conquer your father's prejudice +against him, and make him a stronger man for the trial and the pain. I +read him bits about Laura from your own and Di's letters, and he went +away at last as patient as Jacob ready to serve another 'seven years' +for his beloved Rachel." +</P> + +<P> +"God bless you for it, John!" cried a fervent voice; and, looking up, +they saw the cold, listless Laura transformed into a tender girl, all +aglow with love and longing, as she dropped her mask, and showed a +living countenance eloquent with the first passion and softened by the +first grief of her life. +</P> + +<P> +John rose involuntarily in the presence of an innocent nature whose +sorrow needed no interpreter to him. The girl read sympathy in his +brotherly regard, and found comfort in the friendly voice that asked, +half playfully, half seriously,— +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I tell him that he is not forgotten, even for an Apollo? that +Laura the artist has not conquered Laura the woman? and predict that +the good daughter will yet prove the happy wife?" +</P> + +<P> +With a gesture full of energy, Laura tore her Minerva from top to +bottom, while two great tears rolled down the cheeks grown wan with +hope deferred. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell him I believe all things, hope all things, and that I never can +forget." +</P> + +<P> +Nan went to her and held her fast, leaving the prints of two loving but +grimy hands upon her shoulders; Di looked on approvingly, for, though +stony-hearted regarding the cause, she fully appreciated the effect; +and John, turning to the window, received the commendations of a robin +swaying on an elm-bough with sunshine on its ruddy breast. +</P> + +<P> +The clock struck five, and John declared that he must go; for, being an +old-fashioned soul, he fancied that his mother had a better right to +his last hour than any younger woman in the land,—always remembering +that "she was a widow, and he her only son." +</P> + +<P> +Nan ran away to wash her hands, and came back with the appearance of +one who had washed her face also: and so she had; but there was a +difference in the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Play I'm your father, girls, and remember that it will be six months +before 'that John' will trouble you again." +</P> + +<P> +With which preface the young man kissed his former playfellows as +heartily as the boy had been wont to do, when stern parents banished +him to distant schools, and three little maids bemoaned his fate. But +times were changed now; for Di grew alarmingly rigid during the +ceremony; Laura received the salute like a graceful queen; and Nan +returned it with heart and eyes and tender lips, making such an +improvement on the childish fashion of the thing that John was moved to +support his paternal character by softly echoing her father's +words,—"Take care of yourself, my little 'Martha.'" +</P> + +<P> +Then they all streamed after him along the garden-path, with the +endless messages and warnings girls are so prone to give; and the young +man, with a great softness at his heart, went away, as many another +John has gone, feeling better for the companionship of innocent +maidenhood, and stronger to wrestle with temptation, to wait and hope +and work. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's throw a shoe after him for luck, as dear old 'Mrs. Gummage' did +after 'David' and the 'willin' Barkis!' Quick, Nan! you always have old +shoes on; toss one, and shout, 'Good luck!'" cried Di, with one of her +eccentric inspirations. +</P> + +<P> +Nan tore off her shoe, and threw it far along the dusty road, with a +sudden longing to become that auspicious article of apparel, that the +omen might not fail. +</P> + +<P> +Looking backward from the hill-top, John answered the meek shout +cheerily, and took in the group with a lingering glance: Laura in the +shadow of the elms, Di perched on the fence, and Nan leaning far over +the gate with her hand above her eyes and the sunshine touching her +brown hair with gold. He waved his hat and turned away; but the music +seemed to die out of the blackbird's song, and in all the summer +landscape his eyes saw nothing but the little figure at the gate. +</P> + +<P> +"Bless and save us! here's a flock of people coming; my hair is in a +toss, and Nan's without her shoe; run! fly, girls! or the Philistines +will be upon us!" cried Di, tumbling off her perch in sudden alarm. +</P> + +<P> +Three agitated young ladies, with flying draperies and countenances of +mingled mirth and dismay, might have been seen precipitating themselves +into a respectable mansion with unbecoming haste; but the squirrels +were the only witnesses of this "vision of sudden flight," and, being +used to ground-and-lofty tumbling, didn't mind it. +</P> + +<P> +When the pedestrians passed, the door was decorously closed, and no one +visible but a young man, who snatched something out of the road, and +marched away again, whistling with more vigor of tone than accuracy of +tune, "Only that, and nothing more." +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW IT WAS FOUND. +</H3> + +<P> +Summer ripened into autumn, and something fairer than +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Sweet-peas and mignonette<BR> + In Annie's garden grew."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Her nature was the counterpart of the hill-side grove, where as a child +she had read her fairy tales, and now as a woman turned the first pages +of a more wondrous legend still. Lifted above the many-gabled roof, yet +not cut off from the echo of human speech, the little grove seemed a +green sanctuary, fringed about with violets, and full of summer melody +and bloom. Gentle creatures haunted it, and there was none to make +afraid; wood-pigeons cooed and crickets chirped their shrill +roundelays, anemones and lady-ferns looked up from the moss that kissed +the wanderer's feet. Warm airs were all afloat, full of vernal odors +for the grateful sense, silvery birches shimmered like spirits of the +wood, larches gave their green tassels to the wind, and pines made airy +music sweet and solemn, as they stood looking heavenward through veils +of summer sunshine or shrouds of wintry snow. +</P> + +<P> +Nan never felt alone now in this charmed wood; for when she came into +its precincts, once so full of solitude, all things seemed to wear one +shape, familiar eyes looked at her from the violets in the grass, +familiar words sounded in the whisper of the leaves, grew conscious +that an unseen influence filled the air with new delights, and touched +earth and sky with a beauty never seen before. Slowly these Mayflowers +budded in her maiden heart, rosily they bloomed and silently they +waited till some lover of such lowly herbs should catch their fresh +aroma, should brush away the fallen leaves, and lift them to the sun. +</P> + +<P> +Though the eldest of the three, she had long been overtopped by the +more aspiring maids. But though she meekly yielded the reins of +government, whenever they chose to drive, they were soon restored to +her again; for Di fell into literature, and Laura into love. Thus +engrossed, these two forgot many duties which even bluestockings and +inamoratos are expected to perform, and slowly all the homely humdrum +cares that housewives know became Nan's daily life, and she accepted it +without a thought of discontent. Noiseless and cheerful as the +sunshine, she went to and fro, doing the tasks that mothers do, but +without a mother's sweet reward, holding fast the numberless slight +threads that bind a household tenderly together, and making each day a +beautiful success. +</P> + +<P> +Di, being tired of running, riding, climbing, and boating, decided at +last to let her body rest and put her equally active mind through what +classical collegians term "a course of sprouts." Having undertaken to +read and know everything, she devoted herself to the task with great +energy, going from Sue to Swedenborg with perfect impartiality, and +having different authors as children have sundry distempers, being +fractious while they lasted, but all the better for them when once +over. Carlyle appeared like scarlet-fever, and raged violently for a +time; for, being anything but a "passive bucket," Di became prophetic +with Mahomet, belligerent with Cromwell, and made the French Revolution +a veritable Reign of Terror to her family. Goethe and Schiller +alternated like fever and ague; Mephistopheles became her hero, Joan of +Arc her model, and she turned her black eyes red over Egmont and +Wallenstein. A mild attack of Emerson followed, during which she was +lost in a fog, and her sisters rejoiced inwardly when she emerged +informing them that +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "The Sphinx was drowsy,<BR> + Her wings were furled."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Poor Di was floundering slowly to her proper place; but she splashed up +a good deal of foam by getting out of her depth, and rather exhausted +herself by trying to drink the ocean dry. +</P> + +<P> +Laura, after the "midsummer night's dream" that often comes to girls of +seventeen, woke up to find that youth and love were no match for age +and common sense. Philip had been flying about the world like a +thistle-down for five-and-twenty years, generous-hearted, frank, and +kind, but with never an idea of the serious side of life in his +handsome head. Great, therefore, were the wrath and dismay of the +enamored thistle-down, when the father of his love mildly objected to +seeing her begin the world in a balloon with a very tender but very +inexperienced aeronaut for a guide. +</P> + +<P> +"Laura is too young to 'play house' yet, and you are too unstable to +assume the part of lord and master, Philip. Go and prove that you have +prudence, patience, energy, and enterprise, and I will give you my +girl,—but not before. I must seem cruel, that I may be truly kind; +believe this, and let a little pain lead you to great happiness, or +show you where you would have made a bitter blunder." +</P> + +<P> +The lovers listened, owned the truth of the old man's words, bewailed +their fate, and yielded,—Laura for love of her father, Philip for love +of her. He went away to build a firm foundation for his castle in the +air, and Laura retired into an invisible convent, where she cast off +the world, and regarded her sympathizing sisters through a grate of +superior knowledge and unsharable grief. Like a devout nun, she +worshipped "St. Philip," and firmly believed in his miraculous powers. +She fancied that her woes set her apart from common cares, and slowly +fell into a dreamy state, professing no interest in any mundane matter, +but the art that first attracted Philip. Crayons, bread-crusts, and +gray paper became glorified in Laura's eyes; and her one pleasure was +to sit pale and still before her easel, day after day, filling her +portfolios with the faces he had once admired. Her sisters observed +that every Bacchus, Piping Faun, or Dying Gladiator bore some likeness +to a comely countenance that heathen god or hero never owned; and +seeing this, they privately rejoiced that she had found such solace for +her grief. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Lord's keen eye had read a certain newly written page in her son's +heart,—his first chapter of that romance, begun in paradise, whose +interest never flags, whose beauty never fades, whose end can never +come till Love lies dead. With womanly skill she divined the secret, +with motherly discretion she counselled patience, and her son accepted +her advice, feeling that, like many a healthful herb, its worth lay in +its bitterness. +</P> + +<P> +"Love like a man, John, not like a boy, and learn to know yourself +before you take a woman's happiness into your keeping. You and Nan +have known each other all your lives; yet, till this last visit, you +never thought you loved her more than any other childish friend. It is +too soon to say the words so often spoken hastily,—so hard to be +recalled. Go back to your work, dear, for another year; think of Nan in +the light of this new hope: compare her with comelier, gayer girls; and +by absence prove the truth of your belief. Then, if distance only +makes her dearer, if time only strengthens your affection, and no doubt +of your own worthiness disturbs you, come back and offer her what any +woman should be glad to take,—my boy's true heart." +</P> + +<P> +John smiled at the motherly pride of her words, but answered with a +wistful look. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems very long to wait, mother. If I could just ask her for a +word of hope, I could be very patient then." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my dear, better bear one year of impatience now than a lifetime of +regret hereafter. Nan is happy; why disturb her by a word which will +bring the tender cares and troubles that come soon enough to such +conscientious creatures as herself? If she loves you, time will prove +it; therefore, let the new affection spring and ripen as your early +friendship has done, and it will be all the stronger for a summer's +growth. Philip was rash, and has to bear his trial now, and Laura +shares it with him. Be more generous, John; make your trial, bear your +doubts alone, and give Nan the happiness without the pain. Promise me +this, dear,—promise me to hope and wait." +</P> + +<P> +The young man's eye kindled, and in his heart there rose a better +chivalry, a truer valor, than any Di's knights had ever known. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll try, mother," was all he said; but she was satisfied, for John +seldom tried in vain. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, girls, how splendid you are! It does my heart good to see my +handsome sisters in their best array," cried Nan, one mild October +night, as she put the last touches to certain airy raiment fashioned by +her own skilful hands, and then fell back to survey the grand effect. +</P> + +<P> +"Di and Laura were preparing to assist at an event of the season," and +Nan, with her own locks fallen on her shoulders, for want of sundry +combs promoted to her sisters' heads and her dress in unwonted +disorder, for lack of the many pins extracted in exciting crises of the +toilet, hovered like an affectionate bee about two very full-blown +flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"Laura looks like a cool Undine, with the ivy-wreaths in her shining +hair; and Di has illuminated herself to such an extent with those +scarlet leaves that I don't know what great creature she resembles +most," said Nan, beaming with sisterly admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"Like Juno, Zenobia, and Cleopatra simmered into one, with a touch of +Xantippe by way of spice. But, to my eye, the finest woman of the three +is the dishevelled young person embracing the bed-post: for she stays +at home herself, and gives her time and taste to making homely people +fine,—which is a waste of good material, and an imposition on the +public." +</P> + +<P> +As Di spoke, both the fashion-plates looked affectionately at the +gray-gowned figure; but, being works of art, they were obliged to nip +their feelings in the bud, and reserve their caresses till they +returned to common life. +</P> + +<P> +"Put on your bonnet, and we'll leave you at Mrs. Lord's on our way. It +will do you good, Nan; and perhaps there may be news from John," added +Di, as she bore down upon the door like a man-of-war under full sail. +</P> + +<P> +"Or from Philip," sighed Laura, with a wistful look. +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon Nan persuaded herself that her strong inclination to sit down +was owing to want of exercise, and the heaviness of her eyelids a freak +of imagination; so, speedily smoothing her ruffled plumage, she ran +down to tell her father of the new arrangement. +</P> + +<P> +"Go, my dear, by all means. I shall be writing; and you will be lonely +if you stay. But I must see my girls; for I caught glimpses of certain +surprising phantoms flitting by the door." +</P> + +<P> +Nan led the way, and the two pyramids revolved before him with the +rapidity of lay-figures, much to the good man's edification: for with +his fatherly pleasure there was mingled much mild wonderment at the +amplitude of array. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I see my geese are really swans, though there is such a cloud +between us that I feel a long way off, and hardly know them. But this +little daughter is always available, always my 'cricket on the hearth.'" +</P> + +<P> +As he spoke, her father drew Nan closer, kissed her tranquil face, and +smiled content. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if ever I see picters, I see 'em now, and I declare to goodness +it's as interestin' as playactin', every bit. Miss Di with all them +boughs in her head, looks like the Queen of Sheby, when she went +a-visitin' What's-his-name; and if Miss Laura ain't as sweet as a +lally-barster figger, I should like to know what is." +</P> + +<P> +In her enthusiasm, Sally gambolled about the girls, flourishing her +milk-pan like a modern Miriam about to sound her timbrel for excess of +joy. +</P> + +<P> +Laughing merrily, the two Mont Blancs bestowed themselves in the family +ark, Nan hopped up beside Patrick, and Solon, roused from his lawful +slumbers, morosely trundled them away. But, looking backward with a +last "Good-night!" Nan saw her father still standing at the door with +smiling countenance, and the moonlight falling like a benediction on +his silver hair. +</P> + +<P> +"Betsey shall go up the hill with you, my dear, and here's a basket of +eggs for your father. Give him my love, and be sure you let me know +the next time he is poorly," Mrs. Lord said, when her guest rose to +depart, after an hour of pleasant chat. +</P> + +<P> +But Nan never got the gift; for, to her great dismay, her hostess +dropped the basket with a crash, and flew across the room to meet a +tall shape pausing in the shadow of the door. There was no need to ask +who the new-comer was; for, even in his mother's arms, John looked over +her shoulder with an eager nod to Nan, who stood among the ruins with +never a sign of weariness in her face, nor the memory of a care at her +heart.—for they all went out when John came in. +</P> + +<P> +"Now tell us how and why and when you came. Take off your coat, my +dear! And here are the old slippers. Why didn't you let us know you +were coming so soon? How have you been? and what makes you so late +to-night? Betsey, you needn't put on your bonnet. And—oh, my dear +boy, have you been to supper yet?" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Lord was a quiet soul, and her flood of questions was purred +softly in her son's ear; for, being a woman, she must talk, and, being +a mother, must pet the one delight of her life, and make a little +festival when the lord of the manor came home. A whole drove of fatted +calves were metaphorically killed, and a banquet appeared with speed. +</P> + +<P> +John was not one of those romantic heroes who can go through three +volumes of hair-breadth escapes without the faintest hint of that +blessed institution, dinner; therefore, like "Lady Letherbridge," he +partook, copiously of everything, while the two women beamed over each +mouthful with an interest that enhanced its flavor, and urged upon him +cold meat and cheese, pickles and pie, as if dyspepsia and nightmare +were among the lost arts. +</P> + +<P> +Then he opened his budget of news and fed them. +</P> + +<P> +"I was coming next month, according to custom; but Philip fell upon and +so tempted me, that I was driven to sacrifice myself to the cause of +friendship, and up we came to-night. He would not let me come here +till we had seen your father, Nan; for the poor lad was pining for +Laura, and hoped his good behavior for the past year would satisfy his +judge and secure his recall. We had a fine talk with your father; and, +upon my life, Philip seemed to have received the gift of tongues, for +he made a most eloquent plea, which I've stored away for future use, I +assure you. The dear old gentleman was very kind, told Phil he was +satisfied with the success of his probation, that he should see Laura +when he liked, and, if all went well, should receive his reward in the +spring. It must be a delightful sensation to know you have made a +fellow-creature as happy as those words made Phil to-night." +</P> + +<P> +John paused, and looked musingly at the matronly tea-pot, as if he saw +a wondrous future in its shine. +</P> + +<P> +Nan twinkled off the drops that rose at the thought of Laura's joy, and +said, with grateful warmth,— +</P> + +<P> +"You say nothing of your own share in the making of that happiness, +John; but we know it, for Philip has told Laura in his letters all that +you have been to him, and I am sure there was other eloquence beside +his own before father granted all you say he has. Oh, John, I thank +you very much for this!" +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Lord beamed a whole midsummer of delight upon her son, as she saw +the pleasure these words gave him, though he answered simply,— +</P> + +<P> +"I only tried to be a brother to him, Nan; for he has been most kind to +me. Yes, I said my little say to-night, and gave my testimony in +behalf of the prisoner at the bar; a most merciful judge pronounced his +sentence, and he rushed straight to Mrs. Leigh's to tell Laura the +blissful news. Just imagine the scene when he appears, and how Di will +open her wicked eyes and enjoy the spectacle of the dishevelled lover, +the bride-elect's tears, the stir, and the romance of the thing. +She'll cry over it to-night, and caricature it to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +And John led the laugh at the picture he had conjured up, to turn the +thoughts of Di's dangerous sister from himself. +</P> + +<P> +At ten Nan retired into the depths of her old bonnet with a far +different face from the one she brought out of it, and John, resuming +his hat, mounted guard. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't stay late, remember, John!" And in Mrs. Lord's voice there was a +warning tone that her son interpreted aright. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll not forget, mother." +</P> + +<P> +And he kept his word; for though Philip's happiness floated temptingly +before him, and the little figure at his side had never seemed so dear, +he ignored the bland winds, the tender night, and set a seal upon his +lips, thinking manfully within himself. "I see many signs of promise in +her happy face; but I will wait and hope a little longer for her sake." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is father, Sally?" asked Nan, as that functionary appeared, +blinking owlishly, but utterly repudiating the idea of sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"He went down the garding, miss, when the gentlemen cleared, bein' a +little flustered by the goin's on. Shall I fetch him in?" asked Sally, +as irreverently as if her master were a bag of meal. +</P> + +<P> +"No, we will go ourselves." And slowly the two paced down the +leaf-strewn walk. +</P> + +<P> +Fields of yellow grain were waving on the hill-side, and sere corn +blades rustled in the wind, from the orchard came the scent of ripening +fruit, and all the garden-plots lay ready to yield up their humble +offerings to their master's hand. But in the silence of the night a +greater Reaper had passed by, gathering in the harvest of a righteous +life, and leaving only tender memories for the gleaners who had come so +late. +</P> + +<P> +The old man sat in the shadow of the tree his own hands planted; its +fruit boughs shone ruddily, and its leaves still whispered the low +lullaby that hushed him to his rest. +</P> + +<P> +"How fast he sleeps! Poor father! I should have come before and made it +pleasant for him." +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, Nan lifted up the head bent down upon his breast, and +kissed his pallid cheek. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John, this is not sleep." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear, the happiest he will ever know." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the shadows flickered over three white faces and the +silence deepened solemnly. Then John reverently bore the pale shape in, +and Nan dropped down beside it, saying, with a rain of grateful tears,— +</P> + +<P> +"He kissed me when I went, and said a last good-night!'" +</P> + +<P> +For an hour steps went to and fro about her, many voices whispered near +her, and skilful hands touched the beloved clay she held so fast; but +one by one the busy feet passed out, one by one the voices died away, +and human skill proved vain. +</P> + +<P> +Then Mrs. Lord drew the orphan to the shelter of her arms, soothing her +with the mute solace of that motherly embrace. +</P> + +<P> +"Nan, Nan! here's Philip! come and see!" The happy call re-echoed +through the house, and Nan sprang up as if her time for grief were past. +</P> + +<P> +"I must tell them. Oh, my poor girls, how will they bear it?—they have +known so little sorrow!" +</P> + +<P> +But there was no need for her to speak; other lips had spared her the +hard task. For, as she stirred to meet them, a sharp cry rent the air, +steps rang upon the stairs, and two wild-eyed creatures came into the +hush of that familiar room, for the first time meeting with no welcome +from their father's voice. +</P> + +<P> +With one impulse, Di and Laura fled to Nan, and the sisters clung +together in a silent embrace, more eloquent than words. John took his +mother by the hand, and led her from the room, closing the door upon +the sacredness of grief. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we are poorer than we thought; but when everything is settled, we +shall get on very well. We can let a part of this great house, and +live quietly together until spring; then Laura will be married, and Di +can go on their travels with them, as Philip wishes her to do. We +shall be cared for; so never fear for us, John." +</P> + +<P> +Nan said this, as her friend parted from her a week later, after the +saddest holiday he had ever known. +</P> + +<P> +"And what becomes of you, Nan?" he asked, watching the patient eyes +that smiled when others would have wept. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall stay in the dear old house; for no other place would seem like +home to me. I shall find some little child to love and care for, and +be quite happy till the girls come back and want me." +</P> + +<P> +John nodded wisely, as he listened, and went away prophesying within +himself,— +</P> + +<P> +"She shall find something more than a child to love; and, God willing, +shall be very happy till the girls come home and—cannot have her." +</P> + +<P> +Nan's plan was carried into effect. Slowly the divided waters closed +again, and the three fell back into their old life. But the touch of +sorrow drew them closer; and, though invisible, a beloved presence +still moved among them, a familiar voice still spoke to them in the +silence of their softened hearts. Thus the soil was made ready, and in +the depth of winter the good seed was sown, was watered with many +tears, and soon sprang up green with a promise of a harvest for their +after years. +</P> + +<P> +Di and Laura consoled themselves with their favorite employments, +unconscious that Nan was growing paler, thinner, and more silent, as +the weeks went by, till one day she dropped quietly before them, and it +suddenly became manifest that she was utterly worn out with many cares +and the secret suffering of a tender heart bereft of the paternal love +which had been its strength and stay. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm only tired, dear girls. Don't be troubled, for I shall be up +to-morrow," she said cheerily, as she looked into the anxious faces +bending over her. +</P> + +<P> +But the weariness was of many months' growth, and it was weeks before +that "to-morrow" came. +</P> + +<P> +Laura installed herself as nurse, and her devotion was repaid +four-fold; for, sitting at her sister's bedside, she learned a finer +art than that she had left. Her eye grew clear to see the beauty of a +self-denying life, and in the depths of Nan's meek nature she found the +strong, sweet virtues that made her what she was. +</P> + +<P> +Then remembering that these womanly attributes were a bride's best +dowry, Laura gave herself to their attainment, that she might become to +another household the blessing Nan had been to her own; and turning +from the worship of the goddess Beauty, she gave her hand to that +humbler and more human teacher, Duty,—learning her lessons with a +willing heart, for Philip's sake. +</P> + +<P> +Di corked her inkstand, locked her bookcase, and went at housework as +if it were a five-barred gate; of course she missed the leap, but +scrambled bravely through, and appeared much sobered by the exercise. +Sally had departed to sit under a vine and fig-tree of her own, so Di +had undisputed sway; but if dish-pans and dusters had tongues, direful +would have been the history of that crusade against frost and fire, +indolence and inexperience. But they were dumb, and Di scorned to +complain, though her struggles were pathetic to behold, and her sisters +went through a series of messes equal to a course of "Prince +Benreddin's" peppery tarts. Reality turned Romance out of doors; for, +unlike her favorite heroines in satin and tears, or helmet and shield, +Di met her fate in a big checked apron and dust-cap, wonderful to see; +yet she wielded her broom as stoutly as "Moll Pitcher" shouldered her +gun, and marched to her daily martyrdom in the kitchen with as heroic a +heart as the "Maid of Orleans" took to her stake. +</P> + +<P> +Mind won the victory over matter in the end, and Di was better all her +days for the tribulations and the triumphs of that time; for she +drowned her idle fancies in her wash-tub, made burnt-offerings of +selfishness and pride, and learned the worth of self-denial, as she +sang with happy voice among the pots and kettles of her conquered realm. +</P> + +<P> +Nan thought of John, and in the stillness of her sleepless nights +prayed Heaven to keep him safe, and make her worthy to receive and +strong enough to bear the blessedness or pain of love. +</P> + +<P> +Snow fell without, and keen winds howled among the leafless elms, but +"herbs of grace" were blooming beautifully in the sunshine of sincere +endeavor, and this dreariest season proved the most fruitful of the +year; for love taught Laura, labor chastened Di, and patience fitted +Nan for the blessing of her life. +</P> + +<P> +Nature, that stillest, yet most diligent of housewives, began at last +that "spring cleaning" which she makes so pleasant that none find the +heart to grumble as they do when other matrons set their premises +a-dust. Her hand-maids, wind and rain and sun, swept, washed, and +garnished busily, green carpets were unrolled, apple-boughs were hung +with draperies of bloom, and dandelions, pet nurslings of the year, +came out to play upon the sward. +</P> + +<P> +From the South returned that opera troupe whose manager is never in +despair, whose tenor never sulks, whose prima donna never fails, and in +the orchard bona fide matinees were held, to which buttercups and +clovers crowded in their prettiest spring hats, and verdant young +blades twinkled their dewy lorgnettes, as they bowed and made way for +the floral belles. +</P> + +<P> +May was bidding June good-morrow, and the roses were just dreaming that +it was almost time to wake, when John came again into the quiet room +which now seemed the Eden that contained his Eve. Of course there was a +jubilee; but something seemed to have befallen the whole group, for +never had they appeared in such odd frames of mind. John was restless, +and wore an excited look, most unlike his usual serenity of aspect. +</P> + +<P> +Nan the cheerful had fallen into a well of silence and was not to be +extracted by any Hydraulic power, though she smiled like the June sky +over her head. Di's peculiarities were out in full force, and she +looked as if she would go off like a torpedo at a touch; but through +all her moods there was a half-triumphant, half-remorseful expression +in the glance she fixed on John. And Laura, once so silent, now sang +like a blackbird, as she flitted to and fro; but her fitful song was +always, "Philip, my king." +</P> + +<P> +John felt that there had come a change upon the three, and silently +divined whose unconscious influence had wrought the miracle. The +embargo was off his tongue, and he was in a fever to ask that question +which brings a flutter to the stoutest heart; but though the "man" had +come, the "hour" had not. So, by way of steadying his nerves, he paced +the room, pausing often to take notes of his companions, and each pause +seemed to increase his wonder and content. +</P> + +<P> +He looked at Nan. She was in her usual place, the rigid little chair +she loved, because it once was large enough to hold a curly-headed +playmate and herself. The old work-basket was at her side, and the +battered thimble busily at work; but her lips wore a smile they had +never worn before, the color of the unblown roses touched her cheek, +and her downcast eyes were full of light. +</P> + +<P> +He looked at Di. The inevitable book was on her knee, but its leaves +were uncut; the strong-minded knob of hair still asserted its supremacy +aloft upon her head, and the triangular jacket still adorned her +shoulders in defiance of all fashions, past, present, or to come; but +the expression of her brown countenance had grown softer, her tongue +had found a curb, and in her hand lay a card with "Potts, Kettel & Co." +inscribed thereon, which she regarded with never a scornful word for +the "Co." +</P> + +<P> +He looked at Laura. She was before her easel as of old; but the pale +nun had given place to a blooming girl, who sang at her work, which was +no prim Pallas, but a Clytie turning her human face to meet the sun. +</P> + +<P> +"John, what are you thinking of?" +</P> + +<P> +He stirred as if Di's voice had disturbed his fancy at some pleasant +pastime, but answered with his usual sincerity,— +</P> + +<P> +"I was thinking of a certain dear old fairy tale called 'Cinderella.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" said Di; and her "Oh" was a most impressive monosyllable. "I see +the meaning of your smile now; and though the application of the story +is not very complimentary to all parties concerned, it is very just and +very true." +</P> + +<P> +She paused a moment, then went on with softened voice and earnest +mien:— +</P> + +<P> +"You think I am a blind and selfish creature. So I am, but not so blind +and selfish as I have been; for many tears have cleared my eyes, and +much sincere regret has made me humbler than I was. I have found a +better book than any father's library can give me, and I have read it +with a love and admiration that grew stronger as I turned the leaves. +Henceforth I take it for my guide and gospel, and, looking back upon +the selfish and neglectful past, can only say, Heaven bless your dear +heart, Nan!" +</P> + +<P> +Laura echoed Di's last words; for, with eyes as full of tenderness, she +looked down upon the sister she had lately learned to know, saying, +warmly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, 'Heaven bless your dear heart, Nan!' I never can forget all you +have been to me; and when I am far away with Philip, there will always +be one countenance more beautiful to me than any pictured face I may +discover, there will be one place more dear to me than Rome. The face +will be yours, Nan, always so patient, always so serene; and the dearer +place will be this home of ours, which you have made so pleasant to me +all these years by kindnesses as numberless and noiseless as the drops +of dew." +</P> + +<P> +"Dear girls, what have I ever done, that you should love me so?" cried +Nan, with happy wonderment, as the tall heads, black and golden, bent +to meet the lowly brown one, and her sisters' mute lips answered her. +</P> + +<P> +Then Laura looked up, saying, playfully,— +</P> + +<P> +"Here are the good and wicked sisters;-where shall we find the Prince?" +</P> + +<P> +"There!" cried Di, pointing to John; and then her secret went off like +a rocket; for, with her old impetuosity, she said,— +</P> + +<P> +"I have found you out, John, and am ashamed to look you in the face, +remembering the past. Girls, you know when father died, John sent us +money, which he said Mr. Owen had long owed us and had paid at last? +It was a kind lie, John, and a generous thing to do; for we needed it, +but never would have taken it as a gift. I know you meant that we +should never find this out; but yesterday I met Mr. Owen returning from +the West, and when I thanked him for a piece of justice we had not +expected of him, he gruffly told me he had never paid the debt, never +meant to pay it, for it was outlawed, and we could not claim a +farthing. John, I have laughed at you, thought you stupid, treated you +unkindly; but I know you now, and never shall forget the lesson you +have taught me. I am proud as Lucifer, but I ask you to forgive me, +and I seal my real repentance so—and so." +</P> + +<P> +With tragic countenance, Di rushed across the room, threw both arms +about the astonished young man's neck and dropped an energetic kiss +upon his cheek. There was a momentary silence; for Di finally +illustrated her strong-minded theories by crying like the weakest of +her sex. Laura, with "the ruling passion strong in death," still tried +to draw, but broke her pet crayon, and endowed her Clytie with a +supplementary orb, owing to the dimness of her own. And Nan sat with +drooping eyes, that shone upon her work, thinking with tender +pride,—"They know him now, and love him for his generous heart." +</P> + +<P> +Di spoke first, rallying to her colors, though a little daunted by her +loss of self-control. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't laugh, John,—I couldn't help it; and don't think I'm not +sincere, for I am,—I am; and I will prove it by growing good enough to +be your friend. That debt must all be paid, and I shall do it; for +I'll turn my books and pen to some account, and write stories full of +clear old souls like you and Nan; and some one, I know, will like and +buy them, though they are not 'works of Shakespeare.' I've thought of +this before, have felt I had the power in me; now I have the motive, +and now I'll do it." +</P> + +<P> +If Di had Proposed to translate the Koran, or build a new Saint Paul's, +there would have been many chances of success; for, once moved, her +will, like a battering-ram, would knock down the obstacles her wits +could not surmount. John believed in her most heartily, and showed it, +as he answered, looking into her resolute face,— +</P> + +<P> +"I know you will, and yet make us very proud of our 'Chaos,' Di. Let +the money lie, and when you have a fortune, I'll claim it with enormous +interest; but, believe me, I feel already doubly repaid by the esteem +so generously confessed, so cordially bestowed, and can only say, as we +used to years ago,—'Now let's forgive and so forget." +</P> + +<P> +But proud Di would not let him add to her obligation, even by returning +her impetuous salute; she slipped away, and, shaking off the last +drops, answered with a curious mixture of old freedom and new respect,— +</P> + +<P> +"No more sentiment, please, John. We know each other now; and when I +find a friend, I never let him go. We have smoked the pipe of peace; +so let us go back to our wigwams and bury the feud. Where were we when +I lost my head? and what were we talking about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Cinderella and the Prince." +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, John's eye kindled, and, turning, he looked down at Nan, +who sat diligently ornamenting with microscopic stitches a great patch +going on, the wrong side out. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes,—so we were; and now taking pussy for the godmother, the +characters of the story are well personated,—all but the slipper," +said Di, laughing, as she thought of the many times they had played it +together years ago. +</P> + +<P> +A sudden movement stirred John's frame, a sudden purpose shone in his +countenance, and a sudden change befell his voice, as he said, +producing from some hiding-place a little wornout shoe,— +</P> + +<P> +"I can supply the slipper;—who will try it first?" +</P> + +<P> +Di's black eyes opened wide, as they fell on the familiar object; then +her romance-loving nature saw the whole plot of that drama which needs +but two to act it. A great delight flushed up into her face, as she +promptly took her cue, saying— +</P> + +<P> +"No need for us to try it, Laura; for it wouldn't fit us, if our feet +were as small as Chinese dolls; our parts are played out; therefore +'Exeunt wicked sisters to the music of the wedding-bells.'" +</P> + +<P> +And pouncing upon the dismayed artist, she swept her out and closed the +door with a triumphant bang. +</P> + +<P> +John went to Nan, and, dropping on his knee as reverently as the herald +of the fairy tale, he asked, still smiling, but with lips grown +tremulous,— +</P> + +<P> +"Will Cinderella try the little shoe, and—if it fits—go with the +Prince?" +</P> + +<P> +But Nan only covered up her face, weeping happy tears, while all the +weary work strayed down upon the floor, as if it knew her holiday had +come. +</P> + +<P> +John drew the hidden face still closer, and while she listened to his +eager words, Nan heard the beating of the strong man's heart, and knew +it spoke the truth. +</P> + +<P> +"Nan, I promised mother to be silent till I was sure I loved you +wholly,—sure that the knowledge would give no pain when I should tell +it, as I am trying to tell it now. This little shoe has been mv +comforter through this long year, and I have kept it as other lovers +keep their fairer favors. It has been a talisman more eloquent to me +than flower or ring; for, when I saw how worn it was, I always thought +of the willing feet that came and went for others' comfort all day +long; when I saw the little bow you tied, I always thought of the hands +so diligent in serving any one who knew a want or felt a pain; and when +I recalled the gentle creature who had worn it last, I always saw her +patient, tender, and devout,—and tried to grow more worthy of her, +that I might one day dare to ask if she would walk beside me all my +life and be my 'angel in the house.' Will you, dear? Believe me, you +shall never know a weariness or grief I have the power to shield you +from." +</P> + +<P> +Then Nan, as simple in her love as in her life, laid her arms about his +neck, her happy face against his own, and answered softly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John, I never can be sad or tired any more!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="debby"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +DEBBY'S DEBUT. +</H2> + +<P> +On a cheery June day Mrs. Penelope Carroll and her niece Debby Wilder, +were whizzing along on their way to a certain gay watering-place, both +in the best of humors with each other and all the world beside. Aunt +Pen was concocting sundry mild romances, and laying harmless plots for +the pursuance of her favorite pastime, match-making; for she had +invited her pretty relative to join her summer jaunt, ostensibly that +the girl might see a little of fashionable life, but the good lady +secretly proposed to herself to take her to the beach and get her a +rich husband, very much as she would have proposed to take her to +Broadway and get her a new bonnet: for both articles she considered +necessary, but somewhat difficult for a poor girl to obtain. +</P> + +<P> +Debby was slowly getting her poise, after the excitement of a first +visit to New York; for ten days of bustle had introduced the young +philosopher to a new existence, and the working-day world seemed to +have vanished when she made her last pat of butter in the dairy at +home. For an hour she sat thinking over the good-fortune which had +befallen her, and the comforts of this life which she had suddenly +acquired. Debby was a true girl, with all a girl's love of ease and +pleasure; it must not be set down against her that she surveyed her +pretty travelling-suit with much complacency, rejoicing inwardly that +she could use her hands without exposing fractured gloves, that her +bonnet was of the newest mode, needing no veil to hide a faded ribbon +or a last year's shape, that her dress swept the ground with +fashionable untidiness, and her boots were guiltless of a patch,—that +she was the possessor of a mine of wealth in two of the eight trunks +belonging to her aunt, that she was travelling like any lady of the +land with man- and maid-servant at her command, and that she was +leaving work and care behind her for a month or two of novelty and rest. +</P> + +<P> +When these agreeable facts were fully realized, and Aunt Pen had fallen +asleep behind her veil, Debby took out a book, and indulged in her +favorite luxury, soon forgetting past, present, and future in the +inimitable history of Martin Chuzzlewit. The sun blazed, the cars +rattled, children cried, ladies nodded, gentlemen longed for the solace +of prohibited cigars, and newspapers were converted into sun-shades, +nightcaps, and fans; but Debby read on, unconscious of all about her, +even of the pair of eves that watched her from the Opposite corner of +the car. A Gentleman with a frank, strong-featured face sat therein, +and amused himself by scanning with thoughtful gaze the countenances of +his fellow-travellers. Stout Aunt Pen, dignified even in her sleep, +was a "model of deportment" to the rising generation; but the student +of human nature found a more attractive subject in her companion, the +girl with an apple-blossom face and merry brown eyes, who sat smiling +into her book, never heeding that her bonnet was awry, and the wind +taking unwarrantable liberties with her ribbons and her hair. +</P> + +<P> +Innocent Debby turned her pages, unaware that her fate sat opposite in +the likeness of a serious, black-bearded gentleman, who watched the +smiles rippling from her lips to her eyes with an interest that +deepened as the minutes passed. If his paper had been full of anything +but "Bronchial Troches" and "Spalding's Prepared Glue," he would have +found more profitable employment; but it wasn't, and with the usual +readiness of idle souls he fell into evil ways, and permitted +curiosity, that feminine sin, to enter in and take possession of his +manly mind. A great desire seized him to discover what book his pretty +neighbor; but a cover hid the name, and he was too distant to catch it +on the fluttering leaves. Presently a stout Emerald-Islander, with her +wardrobe oozing out of sundry paper parcels, vacated the seat behind +the two ladies; and it was soon quietly occupied by the individual for +whom Satan was finding such indecorous employment. Peeping round the +little gray bonnet, past a brown braid and a fresh cheek, the young +man's eye fell upon the words the girl was reading, and forgot to look +away again. Books were the desire of his life; but an honorable +purpose and an indomitable will kept him steady at his ledgers till he +could feel that he had earned the right to read. Like wine to many +another was an open page to his; he read a line, and, longing for more, +took a hasty sip from his neighbor's cup, forgetting that it was a +stranger's also. +</P> + +<P> +Down the page went the two pairs of eyes, and the merriment from +Debby's seemed to light up the sombre ones behind her with a sudden +shine that softened the whole face and made it very winning. No wonder +they twinkled, for Elijah Pogram spoke, and "Mrs. Hominy, the mother of +the modern Gracchi, in the classical blue cap and the red cotton +pocket-handkerchief, came down the room in a procession of one." A low +laugh startled Debby, though it was smothered like the babes in the +Tower; and, turning, she beheld the trespasser scarlet with confusion, +and sobered with a tardy sense of his transgression. Debby was not a +starched young lady of the "prune and prism" school, but a frank, +free-hearted little body, quick to read the sincerity of others, and to +take looks and words at their real value. Dickens was her idol; and +for his sake she could have forgiven a greater offence than this. +</P> + +<P> +The stranger's contrite countenance and respectful apology won her +good-will at once; and with a finer courtesy than any Aunt Pen would +have taught, she smilingly bowed her pardon, and, taking another book +from her basket, opened it, saying, pleasantly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Here is the first volume if you like it, Sir. I can recommend it as +an invaluable consolation for the discomforts of a summer day's +journey, and it is heartily at your service." +</P> + +<P> +As much surprised as gratified, the gentleman accepted the book, and +retired behind it with the sudden discovery that wrongdoing has its +compensation in the pleasurable sensation of being forgiven. Stolen +delights are well known to be specially saccharine: and much as this +pardoned sinner loved books, it seemed to him that the interest of the +story flagged, and that the enjoyment of reading was much enhanced by +the proximity of a gray bonnet and a girlish profile. But Dickens soon +proved more powerful than Debby, and she was forgotten, till, pausing +to turn a leaf, the young man met her shy glance, as she asked, with +the pleased expression of a child who has shared an apple with a +playmate,— +</P> + +<P> +"Is it good?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, very!"—and the man looked as honestly grateful for the book as +the boy would have done for the apple. +</P> + +<P> +Only five words in the conversation, but Aunt Pen woke, as if the +watchful spirit of propriety had roused her to pluck her charge from +the precipice on which she stood. +</P> + +<P> +"Dora, I'm astonished at you! Speaking to strangers in that free manner +is a most unladylike thing. How came you to forget what I have told +you over and over again about a proper reserve?" The energetic whisper +reached the gentleman's ear, and he expected to be annihilated with a +look when his offence was revealed; but he was spared that ordeal, for +the young voice answered, softly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Don't faint, Aunt Pen: I only did as I'd be done by; for I had two +books, and the poor man looked so hungry for something to read that I +couldn't resist sharing my 'goodies.' He will see that I'm a +countrified little thing in spite of my fine feathers, and won't be +shocked at my want of rigidity and frigidity; so don't look dismal, and +I'll be prim and proper all the rest of the way,—if I don't forget it." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder who he is; may belong to some of our first families, and in +that case it might be worth while to exert ourselves, you know. Did you +learn his name, Dora?" whispered the elder lady. +</P> + +<P> +Debby shook her head, and murmured, "Hush!"—but Aunt Pen had heard of +matches being made in cars as well as in heaven; and as an experienced +general, it became her to reconnoitre, when one of the enemy approached +her camp. Slightly altering her position, she darted an +all-comprehensive glance at the invader, who seemed entirely absorbed, +for not an eyelash stirred during the scrutiny. It lasted but an +instant, yet in that instant he was weighed and found wanting; for that +experienced eye detected that his cravat was two inches wider than +fashion ordained, that his coat was not of the latest style, that his +gloves were mended, and his handkerchief neither cambric nor silk. +That was enough, and sentence was passed forthwith,—"Some respectable +clerk, good-looking, but poor, and not at all the thing for Dora"; and +Aunt Pen turned to adjust a voluminous green veil over her niece's +bonnet, "To shield it from the dust, dear," which process also shielded +the face within from the eye of man. +</P> + +<P> +A curious smile, half mirthful, half melancholy, passed over their +neighbor's lips; but his peace of mind seemed undisturbed, and he +remained buried in his book Till they reached ——-, at dusk. As he +returned it, he offered his services in procuring a carriage or +attending to luggage; but Mrs. Carroll, with much dignity of aspect, +informed him that her servants would attend to those matters, and, +bowing gravely, he vanished into the night. +</P> + +<P> +As they rolled away to the hotel, Debby was wild to run down to the +beach whence came the solemn music of the sea, making the twilight +beautiful. But Aunt Pen was too tired to do anything but sup in her +own apartment and go early to bed; and Debby might as soon have +proposed to walk up the great Pyramid as to make her first appearance +without that sage matron to mount guard over her; so she resigned +herself to pie and patience, and fell asleep, wishing it were to-morrow. +</P> + +<P> +At five, a. m., a nightcapped head appeared at one of the myriad +windows of the ——- Hotel, and remained there as if fascinated by the +miracle of sunrise over the sea. Under her simplicity of character and +girlish merriment Debby possessed a devout spirit and a nature full of +the real poetry of life, two gifts that gave her dawning womanhood its +sweetest charm, and made her what she was. As she looked out that +summer dawn upon the royal marriage of the ocean and the sun, all petty +hopes and longings faded out of sight, and her young face grew luminous +with thoughts too deep for words. Her day was happier for that silent +hour, her life richer for the aspirations that uplifted her like +beautiful strong angels, and left a blessing when they went. The smile +of the June sky touched her lips, the morning red seemed to linger on +her cheek, and in her eye arose a light kindled by the shimmer of that +broad sea of gold; for Nature rewarded her young votary well, and gave +her beauty, when she offered love. How long she leaned there Debby did +not know; steps from below roused her from her reverie, and led her +back into the world again. Smiling at herself, She stole to bed, and +lay wrapped in waking dreams as changeful as the shadows, dancing on +her chamber-wall. +</P> + +<P> +The advent of her aunt's maid, Victorine, some two hours later, was the +signal to be "up and doing"; and she meekly resigned herself into the +hands of that functionary, who appeared to regard her in the light of +an animated pin-cushion, as she performed the toilet-ceremonies with an +absorbed aspect, which impressed her subject with a sense of the +solemnity of the occasion. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Mademoiselle, regard yourself, and pronounce that you are +ravishing," Victorine said at length, folding her hands with a sigh of +satisfaction, as she fell back in an attitude of serene triumph. +</P> + +<P> +Debby obeyed, and inspected herself with great interest and some +astonishment; for there was a sweeping amplitude of array about the +young lady whom she beheld in the much-befrilled gown and embroidered +skirts, which somewhat alarmed her as to the navigation of a vessel +"with such a spread of sail," while a curious sensation of being +somebody else pervaded her from the crown of her head, with its shining +coils of hair, to the soles of the French slippers, whose energies +seemed to have been devoted to the production of marvellous rosettes. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I look very nice, thank you; and yet I feel like a doll, helpless +and fine, and fancy I was more of a woman in my fresh gingham, with a +knot of clovers in my hair, than I am now. Aunt Pen was very kind to +get me all these pretty things; but I'm afraid my mother would look +horrified to see me in such a high state of flounce externally and so +little room to breath internally." +</P> + +<P> +"Your mamma would not flatter me, Mademoiselle; but come now to Madame; +she is waiting to behold you, and I have yet her toilet to make "; and, +with a pitying shrug, Victorine followed Debby to her aunt's room. +</P> + +<P> +"Charming! really elegant!" cried that lady, emerging from her towel +with a rubicund visage. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop that braid half an inch lower, and pull the worked end of her +handkerchief out of the right-hand pocket, Vic. There! Now, Dora, +don't run about and get rumpled, but sit quietly down and practice +repose till I am ready." +</P> + +<P> +Debby obeyed, and sat mute, with the air of a child in its Sunday-best +on a week-day, pleased with the novelty, but somewhat oppressed with +the responsibility of such unaccustomed splendor, and utterly unable to +connect any ideas of repose with tight shoes and skirts in a rampant +state of starch. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Well, you see, I bet on Lady Gay against Cockadoodle, and if you'll +believe me—Hullo! there's Mrs. Carroll, and deuse take me if she +hasn't got a girl with her! Look, Seguin!"—and Joe Leavenworth, a +"man of the world," aged twenty, paused in his account of an exciting +race to make the announcement. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Seguin, his friend and Mentor, as much his, senior in worldly +wickedness as in years, tore himself from his breakfast long enough to +survey the new-comers, and then returned to it, saying, briefly,— +</P> + +<P> +"The old lady is worth cultivating,—gives good suppers, and thanks you +for eating them. The girl is well got up, but has no style, and blushes +like a milkmaid. Better fight shy of her, Joe." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think so? Well, now I rather fancy that kind of thing. She's +new, you see, and I get on with that sort of girl the best, for the old +ones are so deused knowing that a fellow has no chance of a—By the +Lord Harry, she's eating bread and milk!" +</P> + +<P> +Young Leavenworth whisked his glass into his eye, and Mr. Seguin put +down his roll to behold the phenomenon. Poor Debby! her first step had +been a wrong one. +</P> + +<P> +All great minds have their weak points. Aunt Pen's was her breakfast, +and the peace of her entire day depended upon the success of that meal. +Therefore, being down rather late, the worthy lady concentrated her +energies upon the achievement of a copious repast, and, trusting to +former lessons, left Debby to her own resources for a few fatal +moments. After the flutter occasioned by being scooped into her seat by +a severe-nosed waiter, Debby had only courage enough left to refuse tea +and coffee and accept milk. That being done, she took the first +familiar viand that appeared, and congratulated herself upon being able +to get her usual breakfast. With returning composure, she looked about +her and began to enjoy the buzz of voices, the clatter of knives and +forks, and the long lines of faces all intent upon the business of the +hour; but her peace was of short duration. Pausing for a fresh relay of +toast, Aunt Pen glanced toward her niece with the comfortable +conviction that her appearance was highly creditable; and her dismay +can be imagined, when she beheld that young lady placidly devouring a +great cup of brown-bread and milk before the eyes of the assembled +multitude. The poor lady choked in her coffee, and between her gasps +whispered irefully behind her napkin,— +</P> + +<P> +"For Heaven's sake, Dora, put away that mess! The Ellenboroughs are +directly opposite, watching everything you do. Eat that omelet, or +anything respectable, unless you want me to die of mortification." +</P> + +<P> +Debby dropped her spoon, and, hastily helping herself from the dish her +aunt pushed toward her, consumed the leathery compound with as much +grace as she could assume, though unable to repress a laugh at Aunt +Pen's disturbed countenance. There was a slight lull in the clatter, +and the blithe sound caused several heads to turn toward the quarter +whence it came, for it was as unexpected and pleasant a sound as a +bobolink's song in a cage of shrill-voiced canaries. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a jolly little thing and powerful pretty, so deuse take me if I +don't make up to the old lady and find out who the girl is. I've been +introduced to Mrs. Carroll at our house: but I suppose she won't +remember me till I remind her." +</P> + +<P> +The "deuse" declining to accept of his repeated offers (probably +because there was still too much honor and honesty in the boy,) young +Leavenworth sought out Mrs. Carroll on the Piazza, as she and Debby +were strolling there an hour later. +</P> + +<P> +"Joe Leavenworth, my dear, from one of our first families,—very +wealthy,—fine match,—pray, be civil,—smooth your hair, hold back +your shoulders, and put down your parasol," murmured Aunt Pen, as the +gentleman approached with as much pleasure in his countenance as it was +consistent with manly dignity to express upon meeting two of the +inferior race. +</P> + +<P> +"My niece, Miss Dora Wilder. This is her first season at the beach, +and we must endeavor to make it pleasant for her, or she will be +getting homesick and running away to mamma," said Aunt Pen, in her +society-tone, after she had returned his greeting, and perpetrated a +polite fiction, by declaring that she remembered him perfectly, for he +was the image of his father. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Leavenworth brought the heels of his varnished boots together with +a click, and executed the latest bow imported, then stuck his glass in +his eye and stared till it fell out, (the glass, not the eye,) upon +which he fell into step with them, remarking,— +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be most happy to show the lions: they are deused tame ones, so +you needn't be alarmed. Miss Wilder." +</P> + +<P> +Debby was good-natured enough to laugh; and, elated with that success, +he proceeded to pour forth his stores of wit and learning in true +collegian style, quite unconscious that the "jolly little thing" was +looking him through and through with the smiling eyes that were +producing such pleasurable sensations under the mosaic studs. They +strolled toward the beach, and, meeting an old acquaintance, Aunt Pen +fell behind, and beamed upon the young pair as if her prophetic eye +even at this early stage beheld them walking altarward in a proper +state of blond white vest and bridal awkwardness. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you skip a stone, Mr. Leavenworth? asked Debby, possessed with a +mischievous desire to shock the piece of elegance at her side. +</P> + +<P> +"Eh? what's that?" he inquired, with his head on one side, like an +inquisitive robin. +</P> + +<P> +Debby repeated her question, and illustrated it by sending a stone +skimming over the water in the most scientific manner. Mr. Joe was +painfully aware that this was not at all "the thing," that his sisters +never did so, and that Seguin would laugh confoundedly, if he caught +him at it; but Debby looked so irresistibly fresh and pretty under her +rose-lined parasol that he was moved to confess that he had done such a +thing, and to sacrifice his gloves by poking in the sand, that he might +indulge in a like unfashionable pastime. +</P> + +<P> +"You'll be at the hop to-night, I hope, Miss Wilder," he observed, +introducing a topic suited to a young lady's mental capacity. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed; for dancing is one of the joys of my life, next to +husking and making hay"; and Debby polked a few steps along the beach, +much to the edification of a pair of old gentlemen, serenely taking +their first constitutional. +</P> + +<P> +"Making what?" cried Mr. Joe, poking after her. +</P> + +<P> +"Hay; ah, that is the pleasantest fun in the world,—and better +exercise, my mother says, for soul and body, than dancing till dawn in +crowded rooms, with everything in a state of unnatural excitement. If +one wants real merriment, let him go into a new-mown field, where all +the air is full of summer odors, where wild-flowers nod along the +walls, where blackbirds make finer music than any band, and sun and +wind and cheery voices do their part, while windrows rise, and great +loads go rumbling through the lanes with merry brown faces atop. Yes, +much as I like dancing, it is not to be compared with that; for in the +one case we shut out the lovely world, and in the other we become a +part of it, till by its magic labor turns to poetry, and we harvest +something better than dried buttercups and grass." +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, Debby looked up, expecting to meet a glance of +disapproval; but something in the simple earnestness of her manner had +recalled certain boyish pleasures as innocent as they were hearty, +which now contrasted very favorably with the later pastimes in which +fast horses, and that lower class of animals, fast men, bore so large a +part. Mr. Joe thoughtfully punched five holes in the sand, and for a +moment Debby liked the expression of his face; then the old +listlessness returned, and, looking up, he said, with an air of ennui +that was half sad, half ludicrous, in one so young and so generously +endowed with youth, health, and the good gifts of this life,— +</P> + +<P> +"I used to fancy that sort of thing years ago, but I'm afraid I should +find it a little slow now, though you describe it in such an inviting +manner that I would be tempted to try it, if a hay-cock came in my way; +for, upon my life, it's deused heavy work loafing about at these +watering-places all summer. Between ourselves, there's a deal of +humbug about this kind of life, as you will find, when you've tried it +as long as I have." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I begin to think so already; but perhaps you can give me a few +friendly words of warning from the stones of your experience, that I +may be spared the pain of saying what so many look,—'Grandma, the +world is hollow; my doll is stuffed with sawdust; and I should 'like to +go into a convent, if you please.'" +</P> + +<P> +Debby's eyes were dancing with merriment; but they were demurely +down-cast, and her voice was perfectly serious. +</P> + +<P> +The milk of human kindness had been slightly curdled for Mr. Joe by +sundry college-tribulations; and having been "suspended," he very +naturally vibrated between the inborn jollity of his temperament and +the bitterness occasioned by his wrongs. +</P> + +<P> +He had lost at billiards the night before, had been hurried at +breakfast, had mislaid his cigar-case, and splashed his boots; +consequently the darker mood prevailed that morning, and when his +counsel was asked, he gave it like one who bad known the heaviest +trials of this "Piljin Projiss of a wale." +</P> + +<P> +"There's no justice in the world, no chance for us young people to +enjoy ourselves, without some penalty to pay, some drawback to worry us +like these confounded 'all-rounders.' Even here, where all seems free +and easy, there's no end of gossips and spies who tattle and watch till +you feel as if you lived in a lantern. 'Every one for himself, and the +Devil take the hindmost'; that's the principle they go on, and you have +to keep your wits about you in the most exhausting manner, or you are +done for before you know it. I've seen a good deal of this sort of +thing, and hope you'll get on better than some do, when it's known that +you are the rich Mrs. Carroll's niece; though you don't need that fact +to enhance your charms,—upon my life, you don't." +</P> + +<P> +Debby laughed behind her parasol at this burst of candor; but her +independent nature prompted her to make a fair beginning, in spite of +Aunt Pen's polite fictions and well-meant plans. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you for your warning, but I don't apprehend much annoyance of +that kind," she said, demurely. "Do you know, I think, if young ladies +were truthfully labelled when they went into society, it would be a +charming fashion, and save a world of trouble? Something in this +style:—'Arabella Marabout, aged nineteen, fortune $100,000, temper +warranted'; 'Laura Eau-de-Cologne, aged twenty-eight, fortune $30,000, +temper slightly damaged'; Deborah Wilder, aged eighteen, fortune, one +pair of hands, one head, indifferently well filled, one heart, (not in +the market,) temper decided, and no expectations.' There, you see, that +would do away with much of the humbug you lament, and we poor souls +would know at once whether we were sought for our fortunes or +ourselves, and that would be so comfortable!" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Leavenworth turned away, with a convicted sort of expression, as +she spoke, and, making a spyglass of his hand, seemed to be watching +something out at sea with absorbing interest. He had been guilty of a +strong desire to discover whether Debby was an heiress, but had not +expected to be so entirely satisfied on that important subject, and was +dimly conscious that a keen eye had seen his anxiety, and a quick wit +devised a means of setting it at rest forever. Somewhat disconcerted, +he suddenly changed the conversation, and, like many another distressed +creature, took to the water, saying briskly,— +</P> + +<P> +"By-the-by, Miss Wilder, as I've engaged to do the honors, shall I have +the pleasure of bathing with you when the fun begins? As you are fond +of hay-making, I suppose you intend to pay your respects to the old +gentleman with the three-pronged pitchfork?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Aunt Pen means to put me through a course of salt water, and any +instructions in the art of navigation will be gratefully received; for +I never saw the ocean before, and labor under a firm conviction, that, +once in, I never shall come out again till I am brought, like Mr. +Mantilini, a 'damp, moist, unpleasant body.'" +</P> + +<P> +As Debby spoke, Mrs. Carroll hove in sight, coming down before the wind +with all sails set, and signals of distress visible long before she +dropped anchor and came along-side. The devoted woman had been +strolling slowly for the girl's sake, though oppressed with a mournful +certainty that her most prominent feature was fast becoming a fine +copper-color; yet she had sustained herself like a Spartan matron, till +it suddenly occurred to her that her charge might be suffering a like +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "sea-change<BR> + Into something rich and strange."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Her fears, however, were groundless, for Debby met her without a +freckle, looking all the better for her walk; and though her feet were +wet with chasing the waves, and her pretty gown the worse for salt +water, Aunt Pen never chid her for the destruction of her raiment, nor +uttered a warning word against an unladylike exuberance of spirits, but +replied to her inquiry most graciously,— +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, my love, we shall bathe at eleven, and there will be just +time to get Victorine and our dresses; so run on to the house, and I +will join you as soon as I have finished what I am saying to Mrs. +Earl,"—then added, in a stage-aside, as she put a fallen lock off the +girl's forehead, "You are doing beautifully! He is evidently struck; +make yourself interesting, and don't burn your nose, I beg of you." +</P> + +<P> +Debby's bright face clouded over, and she walked on with so much +stateliness that her escort wondered "what the deuse the old lady had +done to her," and exerted himself to the utmost to recall her merry +mood, but with indifferent success. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Now I begin to feel more like myself, for this is getting back to +first principles, though I fancy I look like the little old woman who +fell asleep on the king's highway and woke up with abbreviated drapery; +and you look funnier still, Aunt Pen," said Debby, as she tied on her +pagoda-hat, and followed Mrs. Carroll, who walked out of her +dressing-room an animated bale of blue cloth surmounted by a gigantic +sun-bonnet. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Leavenworth was in waiting, and so like a blond-headed lobster in +his scarlet suit that Debby could hardly keep her countenance as they +joined the groups of bathers gathering along the breezy shore. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour each day the actors and actresses who played their +different roles at the ——- Hotel with such precision and success put +off their masks and dared to be themselves. The ocean wrought the +change, for it took old and young into its arms, and for a little while +they played like children in their mother's lap. No falsehood could +withstand its rough sincerity; for the waves washed paint and powder +from worn faces, and left a fresh bloom there. No ailment could +entirely resist its vigorous cure; for every wind brought healing on +its wings, endowing many a meagre life with another year of health. No +gloomy spirit could refuse to listen to its lullaby, and the spray +baptized it with the subtile benediction of a cheerier mood. No rank +held place there; for the democratic sea toppled down the greatest +statesman in the land, and dashed over the bald pate of a millionnaire +with the same white-crested wave that stranded a poor parson on the +beach and filled a fierce reformer's mouth with brine. No fashion +ruled, but that which is as old as Eden,—the beautiful fashion of +simplicity. Belles dropped their affectations with their hoops, and +ran about the shore blithe-hearted girls again. Young men forgot their +vices and their follies, and were not ashamed of the real courage, +strength, and skill they had tried to leave behind them with their +boyish plays. Old men gathered shells with the little Cupids dancing +on the sand, and were better for that innocent companionship; and young +mothers never looked so beautiful as when they rocked their babies on +the bosom of the sea. +</P> + +<P> +Debby vaguely felt this charm, and, yielding to it, splashed and sang +like any beach-bird, while Aunt Pen bobbed placidly up and down in a +retired corner, and Mr. Leavenworth swam to and fro, expressing his +firm belief in mermaids, sirens, and the rest of the aquatic +sisterhood, whose warbling no manly ear can resist. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Wilder, you must learn to swim. I've taught quantities of young +ladies, and shall be delighted to launch the 'Dora,' if you'll accept +me as a pilot. Stop a bit; I'll get a life-preserver," and leaving +Debby to flirt with the waves, the scarlet youth departed like a flame +of fire. +</P> + +<P> +A dismal shriek interrupted his pupil's play, and looking up, she saw +her aunt beckoning wildly with one hand, while she was groping in the +water with the other. Debby ran to her, alarmed at her tragic +expression, and Mrs. Carroll, drawing the girl's face into the privacy +of her big bonnet, whispered one awful word, adding, distractedly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Dive for them! oh, dive for them! I shall be perfectly helpless, if +they are lost!" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't dive, Aunt Pen; but there is a man, let us ask him," said +Debby, as a black head appeared to windward. +</P> + +<P> +But Mrs. Carroll's "nerves" had received a shock, and, gathering up her +dripping garments, she fled precipitately along the shore and vanished +into her dressing-room. +</P> + +<P> +Debby's keen sense of the ludicrous got the better of her respect, and +peal after peal of laughter broke from her lips, till a splash behind +her put an end to her merriment, and, turning, she found that this +friend in need was her acquaintance of the day before. The gentleman +seemed pausing for permission to approach, with much the appearance of +a sagacious Newfoundland, wistful and wet. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm very glad it's you, Sir!" was Debby's cordial greeting, as she +shook a drop off the end of her nose, and nodded, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +The new-comer immediately beamed upon her like an amiable Triton, +saying, as they turned shoreward,— +</P> + +<P> +"Our first interview opened with a laugh on my side, and our second +with one on yours. I accept the fact as a good omen. Your friend +seemed in trouble; allow me to atone for my past misdemeanors by +offering my services now. But first let me introduce myself; and as I +believe in the fitness of things, let me present you with an +appropriate card"; and, stooping, the young man wrote "Frank Evan" on +the hard sand at Debby's feet. +</P> + +<P> +The girl liked his manner, and, entering into the spirit of the thing, +swept as grand a curtsy as her limited drapery would allow saying, +merrily,— +</P> + +<P> +"I am Debby Wilder, or Dora, as aunt prefers to call me; and instead of +laughing, I ought to be four feet under water, looking for something we +have lost; but I can't dive, and my distress is dreadful, as you see." +</P> + +<P> +"What have you lost? I will look for it, and bring it back in spite of +the kelpies, if it is a human possibility," replied Mr. Evan, pushing +his wet locks out of his eyes, and regarding the ocean with a +determined aspect. +</P> + +<P> +Debby leaned toward him, whispering with solemn countenance,— +</P> + +<P> +"It is a set of teeth, Sir." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Evan was more a man of deeds than words, therefore he disappeared +at once with a mighty splash, and after repeated divings and much +laughter appeared bearing the chief ornament of Mrs. Penelope Carroll's +comely countenance. Debby looked very pretty and grateful as she +returned her thanks, and Mr. Evan was guilty of a secret wish that all +the worthy lady's features were at the bottom of the sea, that he might +have the satisfaction of restoring them to her attractive niece; but +curbing this unnatural desire, he bowed, saying, gravely,— +</P> + +<P> +"Tell your aunt, if you please, that this little accident will remain a +dead secret, so far as I am concerned, and I am very glad to have been +of service at such a critical moment." +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon Mr. Evan marched again into the briny deep, and Debby trotted +away to her aunt, whom she found a clammy heap of blue flannel and +despair. Mrs. Carroll's temper was ruffled, and though she joyfully +rattled in her teeth, she said, somewhat testily, when Debby's story +was done,— +</P> + +<P> +"Now that man will have a sort of claim on us, and we must be civil, +whoever he is. Dear! dear! I wish it had been Joe Leavenworth instead. +Evan,—I don't remember any of our first families with connections of +that name, and I dislike to be under obligations to a person of that +sort, for there's no knowing how far he may presume; so, pray, be +careful, Dora." +</P> + +<P> +"I think you are very ungrateful, Aunt Pen; and if Mr. Evan should +happen to be poor, it does not become me to turn up my nose at him, for +I'm nothing but a make-believe myself just now. I don't wish to go down +upon my knees to him, but I do intend to be as kind to him as I should +to that conceited Leavenworth boy; yes, kinder even; for poor people +value such things more, as I know very well." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll instantly recovered her temper, changed the subject, and +privately resolved to confine her prejudices to her own bosom, as they +seemed to have an aggravating effect upon the youthful person whom she +had set her heart on disposing of to the best advantage. +</P> + +<P> +Debby took her swimming-lesson with much success, and would have +achieved her dinner with composure, if white-aproned gentlemen had not +effectually taken away her appetite by whisking bills-of-fare into her +hands, and awaiting her orders with a fatherly interest, which induced +them to congregate mysterious dishes before her, and blandly rectify +her frequent mistakes. She survived the ordeal, however, and at four +p.m. went to drive with "that Leavenworth boy" in the finest turnout +——- could produce. Aunt Pen then came off guard, and with a sigh of +satisfaction subsided into a peaceful doze, still murmuring, even in +her sleep,— +</P> + +<P> +"Propinquity, my love, propinquity works wonders." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Aunt Pen, are you a modest woman?" asked the young crusader against +established absurdities, as she came into the presence-chamber that +evening ready for the hop. +</P> + +<P> +"Bless the child, what does she mean?" cried Mrs. Carroll, with a start +that twitched her back-hair out of Victorine's hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Would you like to have a daughter of yours go to a party looking as I +look?" continued her niece, spreading her airy dress, and standing very +erect before her astonished relative. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, of course I should, and be proud to own such a charming +creature," regarding the slender white shape with much +approbation,—adding, with a smile, as she met the girl's eye,— +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I see the difficulty, now; you are disturbed because there is not +a bit of lace over these pretty shoulders of yours. Now don't be +absurd, Dora; the dress is perfectly proper, or Madame Tiphany never +would have sent it home. It is the fashion, child; and many a girl with +such a figure would go twice as decolletee, and think nothing of it, I +assure you." +</P> + +<P> +Debby shook her head with an energy that set the pink heather-bells +a-tremble in her hair, and her color deepened beautifully as she said, +with reproachful eyes,— +</P> + +<P> +"Aunt Pen, I think there is a better fashion in every young girl's +heart than any Madame Tiphany can teach. I am very grateful for all +you have done for me, but I cannot go into public in such an undress as +this; my mother would never allow it, and father never forgive it. +Please don't ask me to, for indeed I cannot do it even for you." +</P> + +<P> +Debby looked so pathetic that both mistress and maid broke into a laugh +which somewhat reassured the young lady, who allowed her determined +features to relax into a smile, as she said,— +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Aunt Pen, you want me to look pretty and be a credit to you; but +how would you like to see my face the color of those geraniums all the +evening?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Dora, you are out of your mind to ask such a thing, when you know +it's the desire of my life to keep your color down and make you look +more delicate," said her aunt, alarmed at the fearful prospect of a +peony-faced protegee. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I should be anything but that, if I wore this gown in its +present waistless condition; so here is a remedy which will prevent +such a calamity and ease my mind." +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, Debby tied on her little blonde fichu with a gesture +which left nothing more to be said. +</P> + +<P> +Victorine scolded, and clasped her hands; but Mrs. Carroll, fearing to +push her authority too far, made a virtue of necessity, saying, +resignedly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Have your own way, Dora, but in return oblige me by being agreeable to +such persons as I may introduce to you; and some day, when I ask a +favor, remember how much I hope to do for you, and grant it cheerfully." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I will, Aunt Pen, if it is anything I can do without disobeying +mother's 'notions' as you call them. Ask me to wear an orange-colored +gown, or dance with the plainest, poorest man in the room, and I'll do +it; for there never was a kinder aunt than mine in all the world," +cried Debby, eager to atone for her seeming wilfulness, and really +grateful for her escape from what seemed to her benighted mind a very +imminent peril. +</P> + +<P> +Like a clover-blossom in a vase of camellias little Debby looked that +night among the dashing or languid women who surrounded her; for she +possessed the charm they had lost,—the freshness of her youth. +Innocent gayety sat smiling in her eyes, healthful roses bloomed upon +her cheek, and maiden modesty crowned her like a garland. She was the +creature that she seemed, and, yielding to the influence of the hour, +danced to the music of her own blithe heart. Many felt the spell whose +secret they had lost the power to divine, and watched the girlish +figure as if it were a symbol of their early aspirations dawning +freshly from the dimness of their past. More than one old man thought +again of some little maid whose love made his boyish days a pleasant +memory to him now. More than one smiling fop felt the emptiness of his +smooth speech, when the truthful eyes looked up into his own; and more +than one pale woman sighed regretfully with herself, "I, too, was a +happy-hearted creature once!" +</P> + +<P> +"That Mr. Evan does not seem very anxious to claim our acquaintance, +after all, and I think better of him on that account. Has he spoken to +you to-night, Dora?" asked Mrs. Carroll, as Debby dropped down beside +her after a "splendid polka." +</P> + +<P> +"No, ma'am, he only bowed. You see some people are not so presuming as +other people thought they were; for we are not the most attractive +beings on the planet; therefore a gentleman can be polite and then +forget us without breaking any of the Ten Commandments. Don't be +offended with him yet, for he may prove to be some great creature with +a finer pedigree than any of your first families.' Mr. Leavenworth, as +you know everybody, perhaps you can relieve Aunt Pen's mind, by telling +her something about the tall, brown man standing behind the lady with +salmon-colored hair." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Joe, who was fanning the top of Debby's head with the best +intentions in life, took a survey, and answered readily,— +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that's Frank Evan. I know him, and a deused good fellow he +is,—though he don't belong to our set, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed! pray, tell us something about him, Mr. Leavenworth. We met in +the cars, and he did us a favor or two. Who and what is the man?" +asked Mrs. Carroll, relenting at once toward a person who was favorably +spoken of by one who did belong to her "set." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, let me see," began Mr. Joe, whose narrative powers were not +great. "He is a bookkeeper in my Uncle Josh Loring's importing concern, +and a powerful smart man, they say. There's some kind of clever story +about his father's leaving a load of debts, and Frank's working a +deused number of years till they were paid. Good of him, wasn't it? +Then, just as he was going to take things easier and enjoy life a bit, +his mother died, and that rather knocked him up, you see. He fell +sick, and came to grief generally, Uncle Josh said; so he was ordered +off to get righted, and here he is, looking like a tombstone. I've a +regard for Frank, for he took care of me through the smallpox a year +ago, and I don't forget things of that sort; so, if you wish to be +introduced, Mrs. Carroll, I'll trot him out with pleasure, and make a +proud man of him." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll glanced at Debby, and as that young lady was regarding Mr. +Joe with a friendly aspect, owing to the warmth of his words, she +graciously assented, and the youth departed on his errand. Mr. Evan +went through the ceremony with a calmness wonderful to behold, +considering the position of one lady and the charms of the other, and +soon glided into the conversation with the ease of a most accomplished +courtier. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I must tear myself away, for I'm engaged to that stout Miss +Bandoline for this dance. She's a friend of my sister's, and I must do +the civil, you know; powerful slow work it is, too, but I pity the poor +soul,—upon my life, I do;" and Mr. Joe assumed the air of a martyr. +</P> + +<P> +Debby looked up with a wicked smile in her eyes, as she said,— +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, that sounds very amiable here; but in five minutes you'll be +murmuring in Miss Bandoline's earm—'I've been pining to come to you +this half hour, but I was obliged to take out that Miss Wilder, you +see—countrified little thing enough, but not bad-looking, and has a +rich aunt; so I've done my duty to her, but deuse take me if I can +stand it any longer." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Evan joined in Debby's merriment; but Mr. Joe was so appalled at +the sudden attack that he could only stammer a remonstrance and beat a +hasty retreat, wondering how on earth she came to know that his +favorite style of making himself agreeable to one young lady was by +decrying another. +</P> + +<P> +"Dora, my love, that is very rude, and 'Deuse' is not a proper +expression for a woman's lips. Pray, restrain your lively tongue, for +strangers may not understand that it is nothing but the sprightliness +of your disposition which sometimes runs away with you." +</P> + +<P> +"It was only a quotation, and I thought you would admire anything Mr. +Leavenworth said, Aunt Pen," replied Debby, demurely. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll trod on her foot, and abruptly changed the conversation, +by saying, with an appearance of deep interest,— +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Evan, you are doubtless connected with the Malcoms of Georgia; for +they, I believe, are descended from the ancient Evans of Scotland. They +are a very wealthy and aristocratic family, and I remember seeing their +coat-of-arms once: three bannocks and a thistle." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Evan had been standing before them with a composure which impressed +Mrs. Carroll with a belief in his gentle blood, for she remembered her +own fussy, plebeian husband, whose fortune had never been able to +purchase him the manners of a gentleman. Mr. Evan only grew a little +more erect, as he replied, with an untroubled mien,— +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot claim relationship with the Malcoms of Georgia or the Evans +of Scotland, I believe, Madam. My father was a farmer, my grandfather +a blacksmith, and beyond that my ancestors may have been +street-sweepers, for anything I know; but whatever they were, I fancy +they were honest men, for that has always been our boast, though, like +President Jackson's, our coat-of-arms is nothing but 'a pair of +shirt-sleeves.'" +</P> + +<P> +From Debby's eyes there shot a bright glance of admiration for the +young man who could look two comely women in the face and serenely own +that he was poor. Mrs. Carroll tried to appear at ease, and, gliding +out of personalities, expatiated on the comfort of "living in a land +where fame and fortune were attainable by all who chose to earn them," +and the contempt she felt for those "who had no sympathy with the +humbler classes, no interest in the welfare of the race," and many more +moral reflections as new and original as the Multiplication-Table or +the Westminster Catechism. To all of which Mr. Evan listened with +polite deference, though there was something in the keen intelligence +of his eye that made Debby blush for shallow Aunt Pen, and rejoice when +the good lady got out of her depth and seized upon a new subject as a +drowning mariner would a hen-coop. +</P> + +<P> +"Dora, Mr. Ellenborough is coming this way; you have danced with him +but once, and he is a very desirable partner; so, pray, accept, if he +asks you," said Mrs. Carroll, watching a far-off individual who seemed +steering his zigzag course toward them. +</P> + +<P> +"I never intend to dance with Mr. Ellenborough again, so please don't +urge me, Aunt Pen;" and Debby knit her brows with a somewhat irate +expression. +</P> + +<P> +"My love, you astonish me! He is a most agreeable and accomplished +young man,—spent three years in Paris, moves in the first circles, and +is considered an ornament to fashionable society. +</P> + +<P> +"What can be your objection, Dora?" cried Mrs. Carroll, looking as +alarmed as if her niece had suddenly announced her belief in the Koran. +</P> + +<P> +"One of his accomplishments consists in drinking champagne till he is +not a 'desirable partner' for any young lady with a prejudice in favor +of decency. His moving in 'circles' is just what I complain of; and if +he is an ornament, I prefer my society undecorated. Aunt Pen, I cannot +make the nice distinctions you would have me, and a sot in broadcloth +is as odious as one in rags. Forgive me, but I cannot dance with that +silver-labelled decanter again." +</P> + +<P> +Debby was a genuine little piece of womanhood; and though she tried to +speak lightly, her color deepened, as she remembered looks that had +wounded her like insults, and her indignant eyes silenced the excuses +rising to her aunt's lips. Mrs. Carroll began to rue the hour she ever +undertook the guidance of Sister Deborah's headstrong child, and for an +instant heartily wished she had left her to bloom unseen in the shadow +of the parsonage; but she concealed her annoyance, still hoping to +overcome the girl's absurd resolve, by saying, mildly,— +</P> + +<P> +"As you please, dear; but if you refuse Mr. Ellenborough, you will be +obliged to sit through the dance, which is your favorite, you know." +</P> + +<P> +Debby's countenance fell, for she had forgotten that, and the Lancers +was to her the crowning rapture of the night. She paused a moment, and +Aunt Pen brightened; but Debby made her little sacrifice to principle +as heroically as many a greater one had been made, and, with a wistful +look down the long room, answered steadily, though her foot kept time +to the first strains as she spoke,— +</P> + +<P> +"Then I will sit, Aunt Pen; for that is preferable to staggering about +the room with a partner who has no idea of the laws of gravitation." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I have the honor of averting either calamity?" said Mr. Evan, +coming to the rescue with a devotion beautiful to see; for dancing was +nearly a lost art with him, and the Lancers to a novice is equal to a +second Labyrinth of Crete. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, thank you!" cried Debby, tumbling fan, bouquet, and handkerchief +into Mrs. Carroll's lap, with a look of relief that repaid him fourfold +for the trials he was about to undergo. They went merrily away +together, leaving Aunt Pen to wish that it was according to the laws of +etiquette to rap officious gentlemen over the knuckles, when they +introduce their fingers into private pies without permission from the +chief cook. How the dance went Debby hardly knew, for the conversation +fell upon books, and in the interest of her favorite theme she found +even the "grand square" an impertinent interruption, while her own +deficiences became almost as great as her partner's; yet, when the +music ended with a flourish, and her last curtsy was successfully +achieved, she longed to begin all over again, and secretly regretted +that she was engaged four deep. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you like our new acquaintance, Dora?" asked Aunt Pen, following +Joe Leavenworth with her eye, as the "yellow-haired laddie" whirled by +with the ponderous Miss Flora. +</P> + +<P> +"Very much; and I'm glad we met as we did, for it makes things free and +easy, and that is so agreeable in this ceremonious place," replied +Debby, looking in quite an opposite direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'm delighted to hear you say so, dear, for I was afraid you had +taken a dislike to him, and he is really a very charming young man, +just the sort of person to make a pleasant companion for a few weeks. +These little friendships are part of the summer's amusement, and do no +harm; so smile away. Dora, and enjoy yourself while you may." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Aunt, I certainly will, and all the more because I have found a +sensible soul to talk to. Do you know, he is very witty and well +informed, though he says he never had much time for self-cultivation? +But I think trouble makes people wise, and he seems to have had a good +deal, though he leaves it for others to tell of. I am glad you are +willing I should know him, for I shall enjoy talking about my pet +heroes with him as a relief from the silly chatter I must keep up most +of the time." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll was a woman of one idea; and though a slightly puzzled +expression appeared in her face, she listened approvingly, and +answered, with a gracious smile,— +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, I should not object to your knowing such a person, my love; +but I'd no idea Joe Leavenworth was a literary man, or had known much +trouble, except his father's death and his sister Clementina's +runaway-marriage with her drawing-master." +</P> + +<P> +Debby opened her brown eyes very wide, and hastily picked at the down +on her fan, but had no time to correct her aunt's mistake, for the real +subject of her commendations appeared at that moment, and Mrs. Caroll +was immediately absorbed in the consumption of a large pink ice. +</P> + +<P> +"That girl is what I call a surprise-party, now," remarked Mr. Joe +confidentially to his cigar, as he pulled off his coat and stuck his +feet up in the privacy of his own apartment. "She looks as mild as +strawberries and cream till you come to the complimentary, then she +turns on a fellow with that deused satirical look of hers, and makes +him feel like a fool. I'll try the moral dodge to-morrow and see what +effect that will have; for she is mighty taking, and I must amuse +myself somehow, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"How many years will it take to change that fresh-hearted little girl +into a fashionable belle, I wonder?" thought Frank Evan, as he climbed +the four flights that led to his "sky-parlor." +</P> + +<P> +"What a curious world this is!" mused Debby, with her nightcap in her +hand. "The right seems odd and rude, the wrong respectable and easy, +and this sort of life a merry-go-round, with no higher aim than +pleasure. Well, I have made my Declaration of Independence, and Aunt +Pen must be ready for a Revolution if she taxes me too heavily." +</P> + +<P> +As she leaned her hot cheek on her arm, Debby's eye fell on the quaint +little cap made by the motherly hands that never were tired of working +for her. She touched it tenderly, and love's simple magic swept the +gathering shadows from her face, and left it clear again, as her +thoughts flew home like birds into the shelter of their nest. +</P> + +<P> +"Good night, mother! I'll face temptation steadily. I'll try to take +life cheerily, and do nothing that shall make your dear face a +reproach, when it looks into my own again." +</P> + +<P> +Then Debby said her prayers like any pious child, and lay down to dream +of pulling buttercups with Baby Bess, and singing in the twilight on +her father's knee. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The history of Debby's first day might serve as a sample of most that +followed, as week after week went by with varying pleasures and +increasing interest to more than one young debutante. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll did her best, but Debby was too simple for a belle, too +honest for a flirt, too independent for a fine lady; she would be +nothing but her sturdy little self, open as daylight, gay as a lark, +and blunt as any Puritan. Poor Aunt Pen was in despair, till she +observed that the girl often "took" with the very peculiarities which +she was lamenting; this somewhat consoled her, and she tried to make +the best of the pretty bit of homespun which would not and could not +become velvet or brocade. Seguin, Ellenborough, & Co. looked with +lordly scorn upon her, as a worm blind to their attractions. Miss +MacRimsy and her "set" quizzed her unmercifully behind her back, after +being worsted in several passages of arms; and more than one successful +mamma condoled with Aunt Pen upon the terribly defective education of +her charge, till that stout matron could have found it in her heart to +tweak off their caps and walk on them, like the irascible Betsey +Trotwood. +</P> + +<P> +But Debby had a circle of admirers who loved her with a sincerity few +summer queens could boast; for they were real friends, won by gentle +arts, and retained by the gracious sweetness of her nature. Moon-faced +babies crowed and clapped their chubby hands when she passed by their +wicker-thrones; story-loving children clustered round her knee, and +never were denied; pale invalids found wild-flowers on their pillows; +and forlorn papas forgot the state of the moneymarket when she sang for +them the homely airs their daughters had no time to learn. Certain +plain young ladies poured their woes into her friendly ear, and were +comforted; several smart Sophomores fell into a state of chronic +stammer, blush, and adoration, when she took a motherly interest in +their affairs; and a melancholy old Frenchman blessed her with the +enthusiasm of his nation, because she put a posy in the button-hole of +his rusty coat, and never failed to smile and bow as he passed by. Yet +Debby was no Edgworth heroine preternaturally prudent, wise, and +untemptable; she had a fine crop of piques, vanities, and dislikes +growing up under this new style of cultivation. She loved admiration, +enjoyed her purple and fine linen, hid new-born envy, disappointed +hope, and wounded pride behind a smiling face, and often thought with a +sigh of the humdrum duties that awaited her at home. But under the +airs and graces Aunt Pen cherished with such sedulous care, under the +flounces and furbelows Victorine daily adjusted with groans, under the +polish which she acquired with feminine ease, the girl's heart still +beat steadfast and strong, and conscience kept watch and ward that no +traitor should enter in to surprise the citadel which mother-love had +tried to garrison so well. +</P> + +<P> +In pursuance of his sage resolve, Mr. Joe tried the "moral dodge," as +he elegantly expressed it, and, failing in that, followed it up with +the tragic, religious, negligent, and devoted ditto; but acting was not +his forte, so Debby routed him in all; and at last, when he was at his +wit's end for an idea, she suggested one, and completed her victory by +saying pleasantly,— +</P> + +<P> +"You took me behind the curtain too soon, and now the paste-diamonds +and cotton-velvet don't impose upon me a bit. Just be your natural +self, and we shall get on nicely, Mr. Leavenworth." +</P> + +<P> +The novelty of the proposal struck his fancy, and after a few relapses +it was carried into effect and thenceforth, with Debby, he became the +simple, good-humored lad Nature designed him to be, and, as a proof of +it, soon fell very sincerely in love. +</P> + +<P> +Frank Evan, seated in the parquet of society, surveyed the dress-circle +with much the same expression that Debby had seen during Aunt Pen's +oration; but he soon neglected that amusement to watch several actors +in the drama going on before his eyes, while a strong desire to perform +a part therein slowly took possession of his mind. +</P> + +<P> +Debby always had a look of welcome when he came, always treated him +with the kindness of a generous woman who has had an opportunity to +forgive, and always watched the serious, solitary man with a great +compassion for his loss, a growing admiration for his upright life. +More than once the beach-birds saw two figures pacing the sands at +sunrise with the peace of early day upon their faces and the light of a +kindred mood shining in their eyes. More than once the friendly ocean +made a third in the pleasant conversation, and its low undertone came +and went between the mellow bass and silvery treble of the human voices +with a melody that lent another charm to interviews which soon grew +wondrous sweet to man and maid. Aunt Pen seldom saw the twain +together, seldom spoke of Evan; and Debby held her peace, for, when she +planned to make her innocent confessions, she found that what seemed +much to her was nothing to another ear and scarcely worth the telling; +so, unconscious as yet whither the green path led, she went on her way, +leading two lives, one rich and earnest, hoarded deep within herself, +the other frivolous and gay for all the world to criticize. But those +venerable spinsters, the Fates, took the matter into their own hands, +and soon got the better of those short-sighted matrons, Mesdames Grundy +and Carroll; for, long before they knew it, Frank and Debby had begun +to read together a book greater than Dickens ever wrote, and when they +had come to the fairest part of the sweet story Adam first told Eve, +they looked for the name upon the title-page, and found that it was +"Love." +</P> + +<P> +Fight weeks came and went,—eight wonderfully happy weeks to Debby and +her friend; for "propinquity" had worked more wonders than poor Mrs. +Carroll knew, as the only one she saw or guessed was the utter +captivation of Joe Leavenworth. He had become "himself" to such an +extent that a change of identity would have been a relief; for the +object of his adoration showed no signs of relenting, and he began to +fear, that, as Debby said, her heart was "not in the market." She was +always friendly, but never made those interesting betrayals of regard +which are so encouraging to youthful gentlemen "who fain would climb, +yet fear to fall." She never blushed when he pressed her hand, never +fainted or grew pale when he appeared with a smashed trotting-wagon and +black eye, and actually slept through a serenade that would have won +any other woman's soul out of her body with its despairing quavers. +Matters were getting desperate; for horses lost their charms, "flowing +bowls" palled upon his lips, ruffled shirt-bosoms no longer delighted +him, and hops possessed no soothing power to allay the anguish of his +mind. Mr. Seguin, after unavailing ridicule and pity, took compassion +on him, and from his large experience suggested a remedy, just as he +was departing for a more congenial sphere. +</P> + +<P> +"Now don't be an idiot, Joe, but, if you want to keep your hand in and +go through a regular chapter of flirtation, just right about face, and +devote yourself to some one else. Nothing like jealousy to teach +womankind their own minds, and a touch of it will bring little Wilder +round in a jiffy. Try it, my boy, and good luck to you!"—with which +Christian advice Mr. Seguin slapped his pupil on the shoulder, and +disappeared, like a modern Mephistopheles, in a cloud of cigar-smoke. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad he's gone, for in my present state of mind he's not up to my +mark at all. I'll try his plan, though, and flirt with Clara West; +she's engaged, so it won't damage her affections; her lover isn't here, +so it won't disturb his; and, by Jove! I must do something, for I +can't stand this suspense." +</P> + +<P> +Debby was infinitely relieved by this new move, and infinitely amused +as she guessed the motive that prompted it; but the more contented she +seemed, the more violently Mr. Joe flirted with her rival, till at last +weak-minded Miss Clara began to think her absent George the most +undesirable of lovers, and to mourn that she ever said "Yes" to a +merchant's clerk, when she might have said it to a merchant's son. +Aunt Pen watched and approved this stratagem, hoped for the best +results, and believed the day won when Debby grew pale and silent, and +followed with her eyes the young couple who were playing battledore and +shuttle-cock with each other's hearts, as if she took some interest in +the game. But Aunt Pen clashed her cymbals too soon; for Debby's +trouble had a better source than jealousy, and in the silence of the +sleepless nights that stole her bloom she was taking counsel of her own +full heart, and resolving to serve another woman as she would herself +be served in a like peril, though etiquette was outraged and the +customs of polite society turned upside down. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Look, Aunt Pen! what lovely shells and moss I've got! Such a splendid +scramble over the rocks as I've had with Mrs. Duncan's boys! It seemed +so like home to run and sing with a troop of topsy-turvy children that +it did me good; and I wish you had all been there to see." cried Debby, +running into the drawing-room, one day, where Mrs. Carroll and a circle +of ladies sat enjoying a dish of highly flavored scandal, as they +exercised their eyesight over fancy-work. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear Dora, spare my nerves; and if you have any regard for the +proprieties of life, don't go romping in the sun with a parcel of noisy +boys. If you could see what an object you are, I think you would try +to imitate Miss Clara, who is always a model of elegant repose." +</P> + +<P> +Miss West primmed up her lips, and settled a fold in her ninth flounce, +as Mrs. Carroll spoke, while the whole group fixed their eyes with +dignified disapproval on the invader of their refined society. Debby +had come like a fresh wind into a sultry room; but no one welcomed the +healthful visitant, no one saw a pleasant picture in the bright-faced +girl with windtossed hair and rustic hat heaped with moss and +many-tinted shells; they only saw that her gown was wet, her gloves +forgotten, and her scarf trailing at her waist in a manner no well-bred +lady could approve. The sunshine faded out of Debby's face, and there +was a touch of bitterness in her tone, as she glanced at the circle of +fashion-plates, saying with an earnestness which caused Miss West to +open her pale eyes to their widest extent,— +</P> + +<P> +"Aunt Pen, don't freeze me yet,—don't take away my faith in simple +things, but let me be a child a little longer,—let me play and sing +and keep my spirit blithe among the dandelions and the robins while I +can; for trouble comes soon enough, and all my life will be the richer +and the better for a happy youth." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll had nothing at hand to offer in reply to this appeal, and +four ladies dropped their work to stare; but Frank Evan looked in from +the piazza, saying, as he beckoned like a boy,— +</P> + +<P> +"I'll play with you, Miss Dora; come and make sand pies upon the shore. +Please let her, Mrs. Carroll; we'll be very good, and not wet our +pinafores or feet." +</P> + +<P> +Without waiting for permission, Debby poured her treasures into the lap +of a certain lame Freddy, and went away to a kind of play she had never +known before. Quiet as a chidden child, she walked beside her +companion, who looked down at the little figure, longing to take it on +his knee and call the sunshine back again. That he dared not do; but +accident, the lover's friend, performed the work, and did him a good +turn beside. The old Frenchman was slowly approaching, when a +frolicsome wind whisked off his hat and sent it skimming along the +beach. In spite of her late lecture, away went Debby, and caught the +truant chapeau just as a wave was hurrying up to claim it. This +restored her cheerfulness, and when she returned, she was herself again. +</P> + +<P> +"A thousand thanks; but does Mademoiselle remember the forfeit I might +demand to add to the favor she has already done me?" asked the gallant +old gentleman, as Debby took the hat off her own head, and presented it +with a martial salute. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, I had forgotten that; but you may claim [text missing in original +copy] do something more to give you pleasure;" and Debby looked up into +the withered face which had grown familiar to her, with kind eyes, full +of pity and respect. +</P> + +<P> +Her manner touched the old man very much; he bent his gray head before +her, saying, gratefully,— +</P> + +<P> +"My child, I am not good enough to salute these blooming checks; but I +shall pray the Virgin to reward you for the compassion you bestow on +the poor exile, and I shall keep your memory very green through all my +life." +</P> + +<P> +He kissed her hand, as if it were a queen's, and went on his way, +thinking of the little daughter whose death left him childless in a +foreign land. +</P> + +<P> +Debby softly began to sing, "Oh, come unto the yellow sands!" but +stopped in the middle of a line, to say,— +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I tell you why I did what Aunt Pen would call a very unladylike +and improper thing, Mr. Evans?" +</P> + +<P> +"If you will be so kind;" and her companion looked delighted at the +confidence about to be reposed in him. +</P> + +<P> +"Somewhere across this great wide sea I hope I have a brother," Debby +said, with softened voice and a wistful look into the dim horizon. +"Five years ago he left us, and we have never heard from him since, +except to know that he landed safely in Australia. People tell us he +is dead; but I believe he will yet come home; and so I love to help and +pity any man who needs it, rich or poor, young or old, hoping that as I +do by them some tender-hearted woman far away will do by Brother Will." +</P> + +<P> +As Debby spoke, across Frank Evan's face there passed the look that +seldom comes but once to any young man's countenance; for suddenly the +moment dawned when love asserted its supremacy, and putting pride, +doubt, and fear underneath its feet, ruled the strong heart royally and +bent it to its will. Debby's thoughts had floated across the sea; but +they came swiftly back when her companion spoke again, steadily and +slow, but with a subtile change in tone and manner which arrested them +at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Dora, if you should meet a man who had known a laborious youth, a +solitary manhood, who had no sweet domestic ties to make home beautiful +and keep his nature warm, who longed most ardently to be so blessed, +and made it the aim of his life to grow more worthy the good gift, +should it ever come,—if you should learn that you possessed the power +to make this fellow-creature's happiness, could you find it in your +gentle heart to take compassion on him for the love of 'Brother Will'?" +</P> + +<P> +Debby was silent, wondering why heart and nerves and brain were stirred +by such a sudden thrill, why she dared not look up, and why, when she +desired so much to speak, she could only answer, in a voice that +sounded strange to her own ears,— +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot tell." +</P> + +<P> +Still, steadily and slow, with strong emotion deepening and softening +his voice, the lover at her side went on,— +</P> + +<P> +"Will you ask yourself this question in some quiet hour? For such a +man has lived in the sunshine of your presence for eight happy weeks, +and now, when his holiday is done, he finds that the old solitude will +be more sorrowful than ever, unless he can discover whether his summer +dream will change into a beautiful reality. Miss Dora, I have very +little to offer you; a faithful heart to cherish you, a strong arm to +work for you, an honest name to give into your keeping,—these are all; +but if they have any worth in your eyes, they are most truly yours +forever." +</P> + +<P> +Debby was steadying her voice to reply, when a troop of bathers came +shouting down the bank, and she took flight into her dressing-room, +there to sit staring at the wall, till the advent of Aunt Pen forced +her to resume the business of the hour by assuming her aquatic attire +and stealing shyly down into the surf. +</P> + +<P> +Frank Evan, still pacing in the footprints they had lately made, +watched the lithe figure tripping to and fro, and, as he looked, +murmured to himself the last line of a ballad Debby sometimes sang,— +</P> + +<P> + "Dance light! for my heart it lies under your feet, love!"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Presently a great wave swept Debby up, and stranded her very near him, +much to her confusion and his satisfaction. Shaking the spray out of +her eyes, she was hurrying away, when Frank said,— +</P> + +<P> +"You will trip, Miss Dora; let me tie these strings for you;" and, +suiting the action to the word, he knelt down and began to fasten the +cords of her bathing shoe. +</P> + +<P> +Debby stood Looking down at the tall head bent before her, with a +curious sense of wonder that a look from her could make a strong man +flush and pale, as he had done; and she was trying to concoct some +friendly speech, when Frank, still fumbling at the knots, said, very +earnestly and low,— +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, if I am selfish in pressing for an answer; but I must go +to-morrow, and a single word will change my whole future for the better +or the worse. Won't you speak it, Dora?" +</P> + +<P> +If they had been alone, Debby would have put her arms about his neck, +and said it with all her heart; but she had a presentiment that she +should cry, if her love found vent; and here forty pairs of eyes were +on them, and salt water seemed superfluous. Besides, Debby had not +breathed the air of coquetry so long without a touch of the infection; +and the love of power, that lies dormant in the meekest woman's breast, +suddenly awoke and tempted her. +</P> + +<P> +"If you catch me before I reach that rock, perhaps I will say 'Yes,'" +was her unexpected answer; and before her lover caught her meaning, she +was floating leisurely away. +</P> + +<P> +Frank was not in bathing-costume, and Debby never dreamed that he would +take her at her word; but she did not know the man she had to deal +with; for, taking no second thought, he flung hat and coat away, and +dashed into the sea. This gave a serious aspect to Debby's foolish +jest. A feeling of dismay seized her, when she saw a resolute face +dividing the waves behind her, and thought of the rash challenge she +had given; but she had a spirit of her own, and had profited well by +Mr. Joe's instructions: so she drew a long breath, and swam as if for +life, instead of love. Evan was incumbered by his clothing, and Debby +had much the start of him; but, like a second Leander, he hoped to win +his Hero, and, lending every muscle to the work, gained rapidly upon +the little hat which was his beacon through the foam. Debby heard the +deep breathing drawing nearer and nearer, as her pursuer's strong arms +cleft the water and sent it rippling past her lips, something like +terror took possession of her; for the strength seemed going out of her +limbs, and the rock appeared to recede before her; but the +unconquerable blood of the Pilgrims was in her veins, and "Nil +desperandum" her motto; so, setting her teeth, she muttered, +defiantly,— +</P> + +<P> +"I'll not be beaten, if I go to the bottom!" +</P> + +<P> +A great splashing arose, and when Evan recovered the use of his eyes, +the pagoda-hat had taken a sudden turn, and seemed making for the +farthest point of the goal. "I am sure of her now," thought Frank; and, +like a gallant seagod, he bore down upon his prize, clutching it with a +shout of triumph. But the hat was empty, and like a mocking echo came +Debby's laugh, as she climbed, exhausted, to a cranny in the rock. +</P> + +<P> +"A very neat thing, by Jove! Deuse take me if you a'n't 'an honor to +your teacher, and a terror to the foe,' Miss Wilder," cried Mr. Joe, as +he came up from a solitary cruise and dropped anchor at her side. +"Here, bring along the hat, Evan; I'm going to crown the victor with +appropriate what-d'ye-call-'ems," he continued, pulling a handful of +sea-weed that looked like well-boiled greens. +</P> + +<P> +Frank came up, smiling; but his lips were white, and in his eye a look +Debby could not meet; so, being full of remorse, she naturally assumed +an air of gayety, and began to sing the merriest air she knew, merely +because she longed to throw herself upon the stones and cry violently. +</P> + +<P> +"It was 'most as exciting as a regatta, and you pulled well, Evan; but +you had too much ballast aboard, and Miss Wilder ran up false colors +just in time to save her ship. What was the wager?" asked the lively +Joseph, complacently surveying his marine millinery, which would have +scandalized a fashionable mermaid. +</P> + +<P> +"Only a trifle," answered Debby, knotting up her braids with a +revengeful jerk. +</P> + +<P> +"It's taken the wind out of your sails, I fancy, Evan, for you look +immensely Byronic with the starch minus in your collar and your hair in +a poetic toss. Come, I'll try a race with you; and Miss Wilder will +dance all the evening with the winner. Bless the man, what's he doing +down there? Burying sunfish, hey?" +</P> + +<P> +Frank had been sitting below them on a narrow strip of sand, absently +piling up a little mound that bore some likeness to a grave. As his +companion spoke, he looked at it, and a sudden flush of feeling swept +across his face, as he replied,— +</P> + +<P> +"No, only a dead hope." +</P> + +<P> +"Deuse take it, yes, a good many of that sort of craft founder in these +waters, as I know to my sorrow;" and, sighing tragically. Mr. Joe +turned to help Debby from her perch, but she had glided silently into +the sea, and was gone. +</P> + +<P> +For the next four hours the poor girl suffered the sharpest pain she +had ever known; for now she clearly saw the strait her folly had +betrayed her into. Frank Evan was a proud man, and would not ask her +love again, believing she had tacitly refused it; and how could she +tell him that she had trifled with the heart she wholly loved and +longed to make her own? She could not confide in Aunt Pen, for that +worldly lady would have no sympathy to bestow. She longed for her +mother; but there was no time to write, for Frank was going on the +morrow,—might even then be gone; and as this fear came over her, she +covered up her face and wished that she were dead. Poor Debby! her +last mistake was sadder than her first, and she was reaping a bitter +harvest from her summer's sowing. She sat and thought till her cheeks +burned and her temples throbbed; but she dared not ease her pain with +tears. The gong sounded like a Judgment-Day trump of doom, and she +trembled at the idea of confronting many eyes with such a telltale +face; but she could not stay behind, for Aunt Pen must know the cause. +She tried to play her hard part well; but wherever she looked, some +fresh anxiety appeared, as if every fault and folly of those months had +blossomed suddenly within the hour. She saw Frank Evan more sombre and +more solitary than when she met him first, and cried regretfully within +herself, "How could I so forget the truth I owed him?"—She saw Clara +West watching with eager eyes for the coming of young Leavenworth, and +sighed,—"This is the fruit of my wicked vanity!" She saw Aunt Pen +regarded her with an anxious face, and longed to say, "Forgive me, for +I have not been sincere!" At last, as her trouble grew, she resolved to +go away and have a quiet "think,"—a remedy which had served her in +many a lesser perplexity; so, stealing out, she went to a grove of +cedars usually deserted at that hour. But in ten minutes Joe +Leavenworth appeared at the door of the summer house, and, looking in, +said, with a well-acted start of pleasure and surprise,— +</P> + +<P> +"Beg pardon, I thought there was no one here, My dear Miss Wilder, you +look contemplative; but I fancy it wouldn't do to ask the subject of +your meditations, would it?" +</P> + +<P> +He paused with such an evident intention of remaining that Debby +resolved to make use of the moment, and ease her conscience of one care +that burdened it; therefore she answered his question with her usual +directness,— +</P> + +<P> +"My meditations were partly about you." +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Joe was guilty of the weakness of blushing violently and looking +immensely gratified; but his rapture was of short duration, for Debby +went on very earnestly,— +</P> + +<P> +"I believe I am going to do what you may consider a very impertinent +thing; but I would rather be unmannerly than unjust to others or untrue +to my own sense of right. Mr. Leavenworth, if you were an older man, I +should not dare to say this to you; but I have brothers of my own, and, +remembering how many unkind things they do for want of thought, I +venture to remind you that a woman's heart is a perilous plaything, and +too tender to be used for a selfish purpose or an hour's pleasure. I +know this kind of amusement is not considered wrong; but it is wrong, +and I cannot shut my eyes to the fact, or sit silent while another +woman is allowed to deceive herself and wound the heart that trusts +her. Oh, if you love your own sisters, be generous, be just, and do not +destroy that poor girl's happiness, but go away before your sport +becomes a bitter pain to her!" +</P> + +<P> +Joe Leavenworth had stood staring at Debby with a troubled countenance, +feeling as if all the misdemeanors of his life were about to be paraded +before him; but, as he listened to her plea, the womanly spirit that +prompted it appealed more loudly than her words, and in his really +generous heart he felt regret for what had never seemed a fault before. +Shallow as he was, nature was stronger than education, and he admired +and accepted what many a wiser, worldlier man would have resented with +anger or contempt. He loved Debby with all his little might; he meant +to tell her so, and graciously present his fortune and himself for her +acceptance; but now, when the moment came, the well-turned speech he +had prepared vanished from his memory, and with the better eloquence of +feeling he blundered out his passion like a very boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Dora, I never meant to make trouble between Clara and her lover; +upon my soul, I didn't, and wish Seguin had not put the notion into my +head, since it has given you pain. I only tried to pique you into +showing some regret, when I neglected you; but you didn't, and then I +got desperate and didn't care what became of any one. Oh, Dora, if you +knew how much I loved you, I am sure you'd forgive it, and let me prove +my repentance by giving up everything that you dislike. I mean what I +say; upon my life I do; and I'll keep my word, if you will only let me +hope." +</P> + +<P> +If Debby had wanted a proof of her love for Frank Evan, she might have +found it in the fact that she had words enough at her command now, and +no difficulty in being sisterly pitiful toward her second suitor. +</P> + +<P> +"Please get up," she said; for Mr. Joe, feeling very humble and very +earnest, had gone down upon his knees, and sat there entirely +regardless of his personal appearance. +</P> + +<P> +He obeyed; and Debby stood looking up at him with her kindest aspect, +as she said, more tenderly than she had ever spoken to him before,— +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you for the affection you offer me, but I cannot accept it, for +I have nothing to give you in return but the friendliest regard, the +most sincere good-will. I know you will forgive me, and do for your +own sake the good things you would have done for mine, that I may add +to my esteem a real respect for one who has been very kind to me." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll try,—indeed, I will, Miss Dora, though it will be powerful hard +without yourself for a help and a reward." +</P> + +<P> +Poor Joe choked a little, but called up an unexpected manliness, and +added, stoutly,— +</P> + +<P> +"Don't think I shall be offended at your speaking so or saying 'No' to +me,—not a bit; it's all right, and I'm much obliged to you. I might +have known you couldn't care for such a fellow as I am, and don't blame +you, for nobody in the world is good enough for you. I'll go away at +once, I'll try to keep my promise, and I hope you'll be very happy all +your life." +</P> + +<P> +He shook Debby's bands heartily, and hurried down the steps, but at the +bottom paused and looked back. Debby stood upon the threshold with +sunshine dancing on her winsome face, and kind words trembling on her +lips; for the moment it seemed impossible to part, and, with an +impetuous gesture, he cried to her,— +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Dora, let me stay and try to win you! for everything is possible +to love, and I never knew how dear you were to me till now!" +</P> + +<P> +There were sudden tears in the young man's eyes, the flush of a genuine +emotion on his cheek, the tremor of an ardent longing in his voice, +and, for the first time, a very true affection strengthened his whole +countenance. Debby's heart was full of penitence; she had given so +much pain to more than one that she longed to atone for it—longed to +do some very friendly thing, and soothe some trouble such as she +herself had known. She looked into the eager face uplifted to her own +and thought of Will, then stooped and touched her lover's forehead with +the lips that softly whispered, "No." +</P> + +<P> +If she had cared for him, she never would have done it; poor Joe knew +that, and murmuring an incoherent "Thank you!" he rushed away, feeling +very much as he remembered to have felt when his baby sister died and +he wept his grief away upon his mother's neck. He began his +preparations for departure at once, in a burst of virtuous energy quite +refreshing to behold, thinking within himself, as he flung his +cigar-case into the grate, kicked a billiard-ball into a corner, and +suppressed his favorite allusion to the Devil,— +</P> + +<P> +"This is a new sort of thing to me, but I can bear it, and upon my life +I think I feel the better for it already." +</P> + +<P> +And so he did; for though he was no Augustine to turn in an hour from +worldly hopes and climb to sainthood through long years of inward +strife, yet in aftertimes no one knew how many false steps had been +saved, how many small sins repented of, through the power of the memory +that far away a generous woman waited to respect him, and in his secret +soul he owned that one of the best moments of his life was that in +which little Debby Wilder whispered "No," and kissed him. +</P> + +<P> +As he passed from sight, the girl leaned her head upon her hand, +thinking sorrowfully to herself,— +</P> + +<P> +"What right had I to censure him, when my own actions are so far from +true? I have done a wicked thing, and as an honest girl I should undo +it, if I can. I have broken through the rules of a false propriety for +Clara's sake; can I not do as much for Frank's? I will. I'll find him, +if I search the house,—and tell him all, though I never dare to look +him in the face again, and Aunt Pen sends me home to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +Full of zeal and courage, Debby caught up her hat and ran down the +steps, but, as she saw Frank Evan coming up the path, a sudden panic +fell upon her, and she could only stand mutely waiting his approach. +</P> + +<P> +It is asserted that Love is blind; and on the strength of that popular +delusion novel heroes and heroines go blundering through three volumes +of despair with the plain truth directly under their absurd noses: but +in real life this theory is not supported; for to a living man the +countenance of a loving woman is more eloquent than any language, more +trustworthy than a world of proverbs, more beautiful than the sweetest +love-lay ever sung. +</P> + +<P> +Frank looked at Debby, and "all her heart stood up in her eyes," as she +stretched her hands to him, though her lips only whispered very low,— +</P> + +<P> +"Forgive me, and let me say the 'Yes' I should have said so long ago." +</P> + +<P> +Had she required any assurance of her lover's truth, or any reward for +her own, she would have found it in the change that dawned so swiftly +in his face, smoothing the lines upon his forehead, lighting the gloom +of his eye, stirring his firm lips with a sudden tremor, and making his +touch as soft as it was strong. For a moment both stood very still, +while Debby's tears streamed down like summer rain; then Frank drew her +into the green shadow of the grove, and its peace soothed her like a +mother's voice, till she looked up smiling with a shy delight her +glance had never known before. The slant sunbeams dropped a +benediction on their heads, the robins peeped, and the cedars +whispered, but no rumor of what further passed ever went beyond the +precincts of the wood; for such hours are sacred, and Nature guards the +first blossoms of a human love as tenderly as she nurses May-flowers +underneath the leaves. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll had retired to her bed with a nervous headache, leaving +Debby to the watch and ward of friendly Mrs. Earle, who performed her +office finely by letting her charge entirely alone. In her dreams Aunt +Pen was just imbibing a copious draught of champagne at the +wedding-breakfast of her niece, "Mrs. Joseph Leavenworth," when she was +roused by the bride elect, who passed through the room with a lamp and +a shawl in her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"What time is it, and where are you going, dear?" she asked, dozily +wondering if the carriage for the wedding-tour was at the door so soon. +</P> + +<P> +"It's only nine, and I am going for a sail, Aunt Pen." +</P> + +<P> +As Debby spoke, the light flashed full into her face, and a sudden +thought into Mrs. Carroll's mind. She rose up from her pillow, looking +as stately in her night-cap as Maria Theresa is said to have done in +like unassuming head-gear. +</P> + +<P> +"Something has happened, Dora! What have you done? What have you +said? I insist upon knowing immediately," she demanded, with somewhat +startling brevity. +</P> + +<P> +"I have said 'No' to Mr. Leavenworth and 'Yes' to Mr. Evan; and I +should like to go home to-morrow, if you please," was the equally +concise reply. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Carroll fell flat in her bed, and lay there stiff and rigid as +Morlena Kenwigs. Debby gently drew the curtains, and stole away +leaving Aunt Pen's wrath to effervesce before morning. +</P> + +<P> +The moon was hanging luminous and large on the horizon's edge, sending +shafts of light before her till the melancholy ocean seemed to smile, +and along that shining pathway happy Debby and her lover floated into +that new world where all things seem divine. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="brothers"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE BROTHERS. +</H2> + +<P> +Doctor Franck came in as I sat sewing up the rents in an old shirt, +that Tom might go tidily to his grave. New shirts were needed for the +living, and there was no wife or mother to "dress him handsome when he +went to meet the Lord," as one woman said, describing the fine funeral +she had pinched herself to give her son. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Dane, I'm in a quandary," began the Doctor, with that expression +of countenance which says as plainly as words, "I want to ask a favor, +but I wish you'd save me the trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"Can I help you out of it? +</P> + +<P> +"Faith! I don't like to propose it, but you certainly can, if you +please." +</P> + +<P> +"Then give it a name, I beg." +</P> + +<P> +"You see a Reb has just been brought in crazy with typhoid; a bad case +every way; a drunken, rascally little captain somebody took the trouble +to capture, but whom nobody wants to take the trouble to cure. The +wards are full, the ladies worked to death, and willing to be for our +own boys, but rather slow to risk their lives for a Reb. Now you've had +the fever, you like queer patients, your mate will see to your ward for +a while, and I will find you a good attendant. The fellow won't last +long, I fancy; but he can't die without some sort of care, you know. +I've put him in the fourth story of the west wing, away from the rest. +It is airy, quiet, and comfortable there. I'm on that ward, and will do +my best for you in every way. Now, then, will you go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I will, out of perversity, if not common charity; for some +of these people think that because I'm an abolitionist I am also a +heathen, and I should rather like to show them, that, though I cannot +quite love my enemies, I am willing to take care of them." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good; I thought you'd go; and speaking of abolition reminds me +that you can have a contraband for servant, if you like. It is that +fine mulatto fellow who was found burying his Rebel master after the +fight, and, being badly cut over the head, our boys brought him along. +Will you have him?" +</P> + +<P> +"By all means,—for I'll stand to my guns on that point, as on the +other; these black boys are far more faithful and handy than some of +the white scamps given me to serve, instead of being served by. But is +this man well enough?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, for that sort of work, and I think you'll like him. He must have +been a handsome fellow before he got his face slashed; not much darker +than myself; his master's son, I dare say, and the white blood makes +him rather high and haughty about some things. He was in a bad way +when he came in, but vowed he'd die in the street rather than turn in +with the black fellows below; so I put him up in the west wing, to be +out of the way, and he's seen to the captain all the morning. When can +you go up?" +</P> + +<P> +"As soon as Tom is laid out, Skinner moved, Haywood washed, Marble +dressed, Charley rubbed, Downs taken up, Upham laid down, and the whole +forty fed." +</P> + +<P> +We both laughed, though the Doctor was on his way to the dead-house and +I held a shroud on my lap. But in a hospital one learns that +cheerfulness is one's salvation; for, in an atmosphere of suffering and +death, heaviness of heart would soon paralyze usefulness of hand, if +the blessed gift of smiles had been denied us. +</P> + +<P> +In an hour I took possession of my new charge, finding a +dissipated-looking boy of nineteen or twenty raving in the solitary +little room, with no one near him but the contraband in the room +adjoining. Feeling decidedly more interest in the black man than in the +white, yet remembering the Doctor's hint of his being "high and +haughty," I glanced furtively at him as I scattered chloride of lime +about the room to purify the air, and settled matters to suit myself. +I had seen many contrabands, but never one so attractive as this. All +colored men are called "boys," even if their heads are white; this boy +was five-and-twenty at least, strong-limbed and manly, and had the look +of one who never had been cowed by abuse or worn with oppressive labor. +He sat on his bed doing nothing; no book, no pipe, no pen or paper +anywhere appeared, yet anything less indolent or listless than his +attitude and expression I never saw. Erect he sat with a hand on +either knee, and eyes fixed on the bare wall opposite, so rapt in some +absorbing thought as to be unconscious of my presence, though the door +stood wide open and my movements were by no means noiseless. His face +was half averted, but I instantly approved the Doctor's taste, for the +profile which I saw possessed all the attributes of comeliness +belonging to his mixed race. He was more quadroon than mulatto, with +Saxon features, Spanish complexion darkened by exposure, color in lips +and cheek, waving hair, and an eye full of the passionate melancholy +which in such men always seems to utter a mute protest against the +broken law that doomed them at their birth. What could he be thinking +of? The sick boy cursed and raved, I rustled to and fro, steps passed +the door, bells rang, and the steady rumble of army-wagons came up from +the street, still he never stirred. I had seen colored people in what +they call "the black sulks," when, for days, they neither smiled nor +spoke, and scarcely ate. But this was something more than that; for +the man was not dully brooding over some small grievance,—he seemed to +see an all-absorbing fact or fancy recorded on the wall, which was a +blank to me. I wondered if it were some deep wrong or sorrow, kept +alive by memory and impotent regret; if he mourned for the dead master +to whom he had been faithful to the end; or if the liberty now his were +robbed of half its sweetness by the knowledge that some one near and +dear to him still languished in the hell from which he had escaped. My +heart quite warmed to him at that idea; I wanted to know and comfort +him; and, following the impulse of the moment, I went in and touched +him on the shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +In an instant the man vanished and the slave appeared. Freedom was too +new a boon to have wrought its blessed changes yet, and as he started +up, with his hand at his temple and an obsequious "Yes, Ma'am," any +romance that had gathered round him fled away, leaving the saddest of +all sad facts in living guise before me. Not only did the manhood seem +to die out of him, but the comeliness that first attracted me; for, as +he turned, I saw the ghastly wound that had laid open cheek and +forehead. Being partly healed, it was no longer bandaged, but held +together with strips of that transparent plaster which I never see +without a shiver and swift recollections of scenes with which it is +associated in my mind. Part of his black hair had been shorn away, and +one eye was nearly closed; pain so distorted, and the cruel sabre-cut +so marred that portion of his face, that, when I saw it, I felt as if a +fine medal had been suddenly reversed, showing me a far more striking +type of human suffering and wrong than Michel Angelo's bronze prisoner. +By one of those inexplicable processes that often teach us how little +we understand ourselves, my purpose was suddenly changed, and though I +went in to offer comfort as a friend, I merely gave an order as a +mistress. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you open these windows? this man needs more air." +</P> + +<P> +He obeyed at once, and, as he slowly urged up the unruly sash, the +handsome profile was again turned toward me, and again I was possessed +by my first impression so strongly that I involuntarily said,— +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, Sir." +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps it was fancy, but I thought that in the look of mingled +surprise and something like reproach which he gave me there was also a +trace of grateful pleasure. But he said, in that tone of spiritless +humility these poor souls learn so soon,— +</P> + +<P> +"I ain't a white man, Ma'am, I'm a contraband." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know it; but a contraband is a free man, and I heartily +congratulate you." +</P> + +<P> +He liked that; his face shone, he squared his shoulders, lifted his +head, and looked me full in the eye with a brisk— +</P> + +<P> +"Thank ye, Ma'am; anything more to do fer yer?" +</P> + +<P> +"Doctor Franck thought you would help me with this man, as there are +many patients and few nurses or attendants. Have you had the fever?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"They should have thought of that when they put him here; wounds and +fevers should not be together. I'll try to get you moved." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed a sudden laugh,—if he had been a white man, I should have +called it scornful; as he was a few shades darker than myself, I +suppose it must be considered an insolent, or at least an unmannerly +one. +</P> + +<P> +"It don't matter, Ma'am. I'd rather be up here with the fever than down +with those niggers; and there ain't no other place fer me." +</P> + +<P> +Poor fellow! that was true. No ward in all the hospital would take him +in to lie side by side with the most miserable white wreck there. Like +the bat in Aesop's fable, he belonged to neither race; and the pride of +one, the helplessness of the other, kept him hovering alone in the +twilight a great sin has brought to overshadow the whole land. +</P> + +<P> +"You shall stay, then; for I would far rather have you than any lazy +Jack. But are you well and strong enough?" +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I'll do, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke with a passive sort of acquiescence,—as if it did not much +matter, if he were not able, and no one would particularly rejoice, if +he were. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I think you will. By what name shall I call you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bob, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +Every woman has her pet whim; one of mine was to teach the men +self-respect by treating them respectfully. Tom, Dick, and Harry would +pass, when lads rejoiced in those familiar abbreviations; but to +address men often old enough to be my father in that style did not suit +my old-fashioned ideas of propriety. This "Bob" would never do; I +should have found it as easy to call the chaplain "Gus" as my +tragical-looking contraband by a title so strongly associated with the +tail of a kite. +</P> + +<P> +"What is your other name?" I asked. "I like to call my attendants by +their last names rather than by their first." +</P> + +<P> +"I've got no other, Ma'am; we have our masters' names, or do without. +Mine's dead, and I won't have anything of his about me." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll call you Robert, then, and you may fill this pitcher for +me, if you will be so kind." +</P> + +<P> +He went; but, through all the tame, obedience years of servitude had +taught him, I could see that the proud spirit his father gave him was +not yet subdued, for the look and gesture with which he repudiated his +master's name were a more effective declaration of independence than +any Fourth-of-July orator could have prepared. +</P> + +<P> +We spent a curious week together. Robert seldom left his room, except +upon my errands; and I was a prisoner all day, often all night, by the +bedside of the Rebel. The fever burned itself rapidly away, for there +seemed little vitality to feed it in the feeble frame of this old young +man, whose life had been none of the most righteous, judging from the +revelations made by his unconscious lips; since more than once Robert +authoritatively silenced him, when my gentler bushings were of no +avail, and blasphemous wanderings or ribald camp-songs made my cheeks +burn and Robert's face assume an aspect of disgust. The captain was a +gentleman in the world's eye, but the contraband was the gentleman in +mine;—I was a fanatic, and that accounts for such depravity of taste, +I hope. I never asked Robert of himself, feeling that somewhere there +was a spot still too sore to bear the lightest touch; but, from his +language, manner, and intelligence, I inferred that his color had +procured for him the few advantages within the reach of a quick-witted, +kindly treated slave. Silent, grave, and thoughtful, but most +serviceable, was my contraband; glad of the books I brought him, +faithful in the performance of the duties I assigned to him, grateful +for the friendliness I could not but feel and show toward him. Often I +longed to ask what purpose was so visibly altering his aspect with such +daily deepening gloom. But I never dared, and no one else had either +time or desire to pry into the past of this specimen of one branch of +the chivalrous "F.F.Vs." +</P> + +<P> +On the seventh night, Dr. Franck suggested that it would be well for +some one, besides the general watchman of the ward, to be with the +captain, as it might be his last. Although the greater part of the two +preceding nights had been spent there, of course I offered to +remain,—for there is a strange fascination in these scenes, which +renders one careless of fatigue and unconscious of fear until the +crisis is passed. +</P> + +<P> +"Give him water as long as he can drink, and if he drops into a natural +sleep, it may save him. I'll look in at midnight, when some change will +probably take place. Nothing but sleep or a miracle will keep him now. +Good night." +</P> + +<P> +Away went the Doctor; and, devouring a whole mouthful of grapes, I +lowered the lamp, wet the captain's head, and sat down on a hard stool +to begin my watch. The captain lay with his hot, haggard face turned +toward me, filling the air with his poisonous breath, and feebly +muttering, with lips and tongue so parched that the sanest speech would +have been difficult to understand. Robert was stretched on his bed in +the inner room, the door of which stood ajar, that a fresh draught from +his open window might carry the fever-fumes away through mine. I could +just see a long, dark figure, with the lighter outline of a face, and, +having little else to do just then, I fell to thinking of this curious +contraband, who evidently prized his freedom highly, yet seemed in no +haste to enjoy it. Doctor Franck had offered to send him on to safer +quarters, but he had said, "No, thank yer, Sir, not yet," and then had +gone away to fall into one of those black moods of his, which began to +disturb me, because I had no power to lighten them. As I sat listening +to the clocks from the steeples all about us, I amused myself with +planning Robert's future, as I often did my own, and had dealt out to +him a generous hand of trumps wherewith to play this game of life which +hitherto had gone so cruelly against him, when a harsh, choked voice +called,— +</P> + +<P> +"Lucy!" +</P> + +<P> +It was the captain, and some new terror seemed to have gifted him with +momentary strength. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, here's Lucy," I answered, hoping that by following the fancy I +might quiet him,—for his face was damp with the clammy moisture, and +his frame shaken with the nervous tremor that so often precedes death. +His dull eye fixed upon me, dilating with a bewildered look of +incredulity and wrath, till he broke out fiercely.— +</P> + +<P> +"That's a lie! she's dead,—and so's Bob, damn him!" +</P> + +<P> +Finding speech a failure, I began to sing the quiet tune that had often +soothed delirium like this; but hardly had the line, +</P> + +<P> + "See gentle patience smile on pain,"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +passed my lips, when he clutched me by the wrist, whispering like one +in mortal fear,— +</P> + +<P> +"Hush! she used to sing that way to Bob, but she never would to me. I +swore I'd whip the Devil out of her, and I did; but you know before she +cut her throat she said she'd haunt me, and there she is!" +</P> + +<P> +He pointed behind me with an aspect of such pale dismay, that I +involuntarily glanced over my shoulder and started as if I had seen a +veritable ghost; for, peering from the gloom of that inner room, I saw +a shadowy face, with dark hair all about it, and a glimpse of scarlet +at the throat. An instant showed me that it was only Robert leaning +from his bed's-foot, wrapped in a gray army-blanket, with his red shirt +just visible above it, and his long hair disordered by sleep. But what +a strange expression was on his face! The unmarred side was toward me, +fixed and motionless as when I first observed it,—less absorbed now, +but more intent. His eye glittered, his lips were apart like one who +listened with every sense, and his whole aspect reminded me of a hound +to which some wind had brought the scent of unsuspected prey. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know him, Robert? Does he mean you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Lord, no, Ma'am; they all own half a dozen Bobs: but hearin' my name +woke me; that's all." +</P> + +<P> +He spoke quite naturally, and lay down again, while I returned to my +charge, thinking that this paroxysm was probably his last. But by +another hour I perceived a hopeful change, for the tremor had subsided, +the cold dew was gone, his breathing was more regular, and Sleep, the +healer, had descended to save or take him gently away. Doctor Franck +looked in at midnight, bade me keep all cool and quiet, and not fail to +administer a certain draught as soon as the captain woke. Very much +relieved, I laid my head on my arms, uncomfortably folded on the little +table, and fancied I was about to perform one of the feats which +practice renders possible,—"sleeping with one eye open," as we say: a +half-and-half doze, for all senses sleep but that of hearing; the +faintest murmur, sigh, or motion will break it, and give one back one's +wits much brightened by the permission to "stand at ease." On this +night, the experiment was a failure, for previous vigils, confinement, +and much care had rendered naps a dangerous indulgence, Having roused +half a dozen times in an hour to find all quiet, I dropped my heavy +head on my arms, and, drowsily resolving to look up again in fifteen +minutes, fell fast asleep. +</P> + +<P> +The striking of a deep-voiced clock woke me with a start. "That is +one," thought I, but, to my dismay, two more strokes followed; and in +remorseful haste I sprang up to see what harm my long oblivion had +done. A strong hand put me back into my seat, and held me there. It +was Robert. The instant my eye met his my heart began to beat, and all +along my nerves tingled that electric flash which foretells a danger +that we cannot see. He was very pale, his mouth grim, and both eyes +full of sombre fire,—for even the wounded one was open now, all the +more sinister for the deep scar above and below. But his touch was +steady, his voice quiet, as he said,— +</P> + +<P> +"Sit still, Ma'am; I won't hurt yer, nor even scare yer, if I can help +it, but yer waked too soon." +</P> + +<P> +"Let me go, Robert,—the captain is stirring,—I must give him +something." +</P> + +<P> +"No, Ma'am, yer can't stir an inch. Look here!" +</P> + +<P> +Holding me with one hand, with the other he took up the glass in which +I had left the draught, and showed me it was empty. +</P> + +<P> +"Has he taken it?" I asked, more and more bewildered. +</P> + +<P> +"I flung it out o' winder, Ma'am; he'll have to do without." +</P> + +<P> +"But why, Robert? why did you do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I hate him!" +</P> + +<P> +Impossible to doubt the truth of that; his whole face showed it, as he +spoke through his set teeth, and launched a fiery glance at the +unconscious captain. I could only hold my breath and stare blankly at +him, wondering what mad act was coming next. I suppose I shook and +turned white, as women have a foolish habit of doing when sudden danger +daunts them; for Robert released my arm, sat down upon the bedside just +in front of me, and said, with the ominous quietude that made me cold +to see and hear,— +</P> + +<P> +"Don't yer be frightened, Ma'am: don't try to run away, fer the door's +locked an' the key in my pocket; don't yer cry out, fer yer'd have to +scream a long while, with my hand on yer mouth, before yer was heard. +Be still, an' I'll tell yer what I'm goin' to do." +</P> + +<P> +"Lord help us! he has taken the fever in some sudden, violent way, and +is out of his head. I must humor him till some one comes"; in +pursuance of which swift determination, I tried to say, quite +composedly,— +</P> + +<P> +"I will be still and hear you; but open the window. Why did you shut +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sorry I can't do it, Ma'am; but yer'd jump out, or call, if I did, +an' I'm not ready yet. I shut it to make yer sleep, an' heat would do +it quicker'n anything else I could do." +</P> + +<P> +The captain moved, and feebly muttered, "Water!" Instinctively I rose +to give it to him, but the heavy hand came down upon my shoulder, and +in the same decided tone Robert said,-= +</P> + +<P> +"The water went with the physic; let him call." +</P> + +<P> +"Do let me go to him! he'll die without care!" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean he shall;—don't yer interfere, if yer please, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of his quiet tone and respectful manner, I saw murder in his +eyes, and turned faint with fear; yet the fear excited me, and, hardly +knowing what I did, I seized the hands that had seized me, crying,— +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, you shall not kill him! it is base to hurt a helpless man. +Why do you hate him? He is not your master?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's my brother." +</P> + +<P> +I felt that answer from head to foot, and seemed to fathom what was +coming, with a prescience vague, but unmistakable. One appeal was left +to me, and I made it. +</P> + +<P> +"Robert, tell me what it means? Do not commit a crime and make me +accessory to it—There is a better way of righting wrong than by +violence;—let me help you find it." +</P> + +<P> +My voice trembled as I spoke, and I heard the frightened flutter of my +heart; so did he, and if any little act of mine had ever won affection +or respect from him, the memory of it served me then. He looked down, +and seemed to put some question to himself; whatever it was, the answer +was in my favor, for when his eyes rose again, they were gloomy, but +not desperate. +</P> + +<P> +"I will tell you, Ma'am; but mind, this makes no difference; the boy is +mine. I'll give the Lord a chance to take him fust; if He don't, I +shall." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no! remember, he is your brother." +</P> + +<P> +An unwise speech; I felt it as it passed my lips, for a black frown +gathered on Robert's face, and his strong hands closed with an ugly +sort of grip. But he did not touch the poor soul gasping there before +him, and seemed content to let the slow suffocation of that stifling +room end his frail life. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not like to forget that, Ma'am, when I've been thinkin' of it all +this week. I knew him when they fetched him in, an' would 'a' done it +long 'fore this, but I wanted to ask where Lucy was; he knows,—he told +to-night,—an' now he's done for." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Lucy?" I asked hurriedly, intent on keeping his mind busy with +any thought but murder. +</P> + +<P> +With one of the swift transitions of a mixed temperament like this, at +my question Robert's deep eyes filled, the clenched hands were spread +before his face, and all I heard were the broken words,— +</P> + +<P> +"My wife,—he took her—" +</P> + +<P> +In that instant every thought of fear was swallowed up in burning +indignation for the wrong, and a perfect passion of pity for the +desperate man so tempted to avenge an injury for which there seemed no +redress but this. He was no longer slave or contraband, no drop of +black blood marred him in my sight, but an infinite compassion yearned +to save, to help, to comfort him. Words seemed so powerless I offered +none, only put my hand on his poor head, wounded, homeless, bowed down +with grief for which I had no cure, and softly smoothed the long +neglected hair, pitifully wondering the while where was the wife who +must have loved this tender-hearted man so well. +</P> + +<P> +The captain moaned again, and faintly whispered, "Air!" but I never +stirred. God forgive me! just then I hated him as only a woman +thinking of a sister woman's wrong could hate. Robert looked up; his +eyes were dry again, his mouth grim. I saw that, said, "Tell me more," +and he did,—for sympathy is a gift the poorest may give, the proudest +stoop to receive. +</P> + +<P> +"Yer see, Ma'am, his father,—I might say ours, if I warn't ashamed of +both of 'em,—his father died two years ago, an' left us all to Marster +Ned,—that's him here, eighteen then. He always hated me, I looked so +like old Marster: he don't—only the light skin an' hair. Old Marster +was kind to all of us, me 'specially, an' bought Lucy off the next +plantation down there in South Car'lina, when he found I liked her. I +married her, all I could, Ma'am; it warn't much, but we was true to one +another till Marster Ned come home a year after an' made hell fer both +of us. He sent my old mother to be used up in his rice swamp in Georgy; +he found me with my pretty Lucy, an' though young Miss cried, an' I +prayed to him on my knees, an' Lucy run away, he wouldn't have no +mercy; he brought her back, an'—took her, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! what did you do?" I cried, hot with helpless pain and passion. +</P> + +<P> +How the man's outraged heart sent the blood flaming up into his face +and deepened the tones of his impetuous voice, as he stretched his arm +across the bed, saying, with a terribly expressive gesture,— +</P> + +<P> +"I half murdered him, an' to-night I'll finish." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes,—but go on now; what came next?" +</P> + +<P> +He gave me a look that showed no white man could have felt a deeper +degradation in remembering and confessing these last acts of brotherly +oppression. +</P> + +<P> +"They whipped me till I couldn't stand, an' then they sold me further +South. Yer thought I was a white man once;—look here!" +</P> + +<P> +With a sudden wrench he tore the shirt from neck to waist, and on his +strong brown shoulders showed me furrows deeply ploughed, wounds which, +though healed, were ghastlier to me than any in that house. I could +not speak to him, and, with the pathetic dignity a great grief lends +the humblest sufferer, he ended his brief tragedy by simply saying,— +</P> + +<P> +"That's all. Ma'am. I've never seen her since, an' now I never shall +in this world,—maybe not in t' other." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Robert, why think her dead? The captain was wandering when he +said those sad things; perhaps he will retract them when he is sane. +Don't despair; don't give up yet." +</P> + +<P> +"No, Ma'am, I guess he's right; she was too proud to bear that long. +It's like her to kill herself. I told her to, if there was no other +way; an' she always minded me, Lucy did. My poor girl! Oh, it warn't +right! No, by God, it warn't!" +</P> + +<P> +As the memory of this bitter wrong, this double bereavement, burned in +his sore heart, the devil that lurks in every strong man's blood leaped +up; he put his hand upon his brother's throat, and, watching the white +face before him, muttered low between his teeth,— +</P> + +<P> +"I'm lettin' him go too easy; there's no pain in this; we a'n't even +yet. I wish he knew me. Marster Ned! it's Bob; where's Lucy?" +</P> + +<P> +From the captain's lips there came a long faint sigh, and nothing but a +flutter of the eyelids showed that he still lived. A strange stillness +filled the room as the elder brother held the younger's life suspended +in his hand, while wavering between a dim hope and a deadly hate. In +the whirl of thoughts that went on in my brain, only one was clear +enough to act upon. I must prevent murder, if I could,—but how? What +could I do up there alone, locked in with a dying man and a +lunatic?—for any mind yielded utterly to any unrighteous impulse is +mad while the impulse rules it. Strength I had not, nor much courage, +neither time nor wit for stratagem, and chance only could bring me help +before it was too late. But one weapon I possessed,—a tongue,—often +a woman's best defence: and sympathy, stronger than fear, gave me power +to use it. What I said Heaven only knows, but surely Heaven helped me; +words burned on my lips, tears streamed from my eyes, and some good +angel prompted me to use the one name that had power to arrest my +hearer's hand and touch his heart. For at that moment I heartily +believed that Lucy lived, and this earnest faith roused in him a like +belief. +</P> + +<P> +He listened with the lowering look of one in whom brute instinct was +sovereign for the time,—a look that makes the noblest countenance +base. He was but a man,—a poor, untaught, outcast, outraged man. Life +had few joys for him; the world offered him no honors, no success, no +home, no love. What future would this crime mar? and why should he +deny himself that sweet, yet bitter morsel called revenge? How many +white men, with all New England's freedom, culture, Christianity, would +not have felt as he felt then? Should I have reproached him for a human +anguish, a human longing for redress, all now left him from the ruin of +his few poor hopes? Who had taught him that self-control, +self-sacrifice, are attributes that make men masters of the earth and +lift them nearer heaven? Should I have urged the beauty of +forgiveness, the duty of devout submission? He had no religion, for he +was no saintly "Uncle Tom," and Slavery's black shadow seemed to darken +all the world to him and shut out God. Should I have warned him of +penalties, of judgments, and the potency of law? What did he know of +justice, or the mercy that should temper that stern virtue, when every +law, human and divine, had been broken on his hearthstone? Should I +have tried to touch him by appeals to filial duty, to brotherly love? +How had his appeals been answered? What memories had father and brother +stored up in his heart to plead for either now? No,—all these +influences, these associations, would have proved worse than useless, +had I been calm enough to try them. I was not; but instinct, subtler +than reason, showed me the one safe clue by which to lead this troubled +soul from the labyrinth in which it groped and nearly fell. When I +paused, breathless, Robert turned to me, asking, as if human assurances +could strengthen his faith in Divine Omnipotence,— +</P> + +<P> +"Do you believe, if I let Marster Ned live, the Lord will give me back +my Lucy?" +</P> + +<P> +"As surely as there is a Lord, you will find her here or in the +beautiful hereafter, where there is no black or white, no master and no +slave." +</P> + +<P> +He took his hand from his brother's throat, lifted his eyes from my +face to the wintry sky beyond, as if searching for that blessed +country, happier even than the happy North. Alas, it was the darkest +hour before the dawn!—there was no star above, no light below but the +pale glimmer of the lamp that showed the brother who had made him +desolate. Like a blind man who believes there is a sun, yet cannot see +it, he shook his head, let his arms drop nervously upon his knees, and +sat there dumbly asking that question which many a soul whose faith is +firmer fixed than his has asked in hours less dark than this,— +</P> + +<P> +"Where is God?" I saw the tide had turned, and strenuously tried to +keep this rudderless lifeboat from slipping back into the whirlpool +wherein it had been so nearly lost. +</P> + +<P> +"I have listened to you, Robert; now hear me, and heed what I say, +because my heart is full of pity for you, full of hope for your future, +and a desire to help you now. I want you to go away from here, from +the temptation of this place, and the sad thoughts that haunt it. You +have conquered yourself once, and I honor you for it, because, the +harder the battle, the more glorious the victory; but it is safer to +put a greater distance between you and this man. I will write you +letters, give you money, and send you to good old Massachusetts to +begin your new life a freeman,—yes, and a happy man; for when the +captain is himself again, I will learn where Lucy is, and move heaven +and earth to find and give her back to you. Will you do this, Robert?" +</P> + +<P> +Slowly, very slowly, the answer came; for the purpose of a week, +perhaps a year, was hard to relinquish in an hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Ma'am, I will." +</P> + +<P> +"Good! Now you are the man I thought you, and I'll work for you with +all my heart. You need sleep, my poor fellow; go, and try to forget. +The captain is still alive, and as yet you are spared the sin. No, +don't look there; I'll care for him. Come, Robert, for Lucy's sake." +</P> + +<P> +Thank Heaven for the immortality of love! for when all other means of +salvation failed, a spark of this vital fire softened the man's iron +will until a woman's hand could bend it. He let me take from him the +key, let me draw him gently away and lead him to the solitude which now +was the most healing balm I could bestow. Once in his little room, he +fell down on his bed and lay there as if spent with the sharpest +conflict of his life. I slipped the bolt across his door, and unlocked +my own, flung up the window, steadied myself with a breath of air, then +rushed to Doctor Franck. He came; and till dawn we worked together, +saving one brother's life, and taking earnest thought how best to +secure the other's liberty. When the sun came up as blithely as if it +shone only upon happy homes, the Doctor went to Robert. For an hour I +heard the murmur of their voices; once I caught the sound of heavy +sobs, and for a time a reverent hush, as if in the silence that good +man were ministering to soul as well as sense. When he departed he +took Robert with him, pausing to tell me he should get him off as soon +as possible, but not before we met again. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing more was seen of them all day; another surgeon came to see the +captain, and another attendant came to fill the empty place. I tried +to rest, but could not, with the thought of poor Lucy tugging at my +heart, and was soon back at my post again, anxiously hoping that my +contraband had not been too hastily spirited away. Just as night fell +there came a tap, and opening, I saw Robert literally "clothed and in +his right mind." The Doctor had replaced the ragged suit with tidy +garments, and no trace of that tempestuous night remained but deeper +lines upon the forehead, and the docile look of a repentant child. He +did not cross the threshold, did not offer me his hand,—only took off +his cap, saying, with a traitorous falter in his voice,— +</P> + +<P> +"God bless you, Ma'am! I'm goin'." +</P> + +<P> +I put out both my hands, and held his fast. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-bye, Robert! Keep up good heart, and when I come home to +Massachusetts we'll meet in a happier place than this. Are you quite +ready, quite comfortable for your journey? +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Ma'am, Yes; the Doctor's fixed everything; I'm goin' with a +friend of his; my papers are all right, an' I'm as happy as I can be +till I find,—" +</P> + +<P> +He stopped there; then went on, with a glance into the room,— +</P> + +<P> +"I'm glad I didn't do it, an' I thank yer, Ma'am, fer hinderin' +me,—thank yer hearty; but I'm afraid I hate him jest the same." +</P> + +<P> +Of course he did; and so did I; for these faulty hearts of ours cannot +turn perfect in a night, but need frost and fire, wind and rain, to +ripen and make them ready for the great harvest-home. Wishing to divert +his mind, I put my poor mite into his hand, and, remembering the magic +of a certain little book, I gave him mine, on whose dark cover whitely +shone the Virgin Mother and the Child, the grand history of whose life +the book contained. The money went into Robert's pocket with a +grateful murmur, the book into his bosom with a long took and a +tremulous— +</P> + +<P> +"I never saw my baby, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +I broke down then; and though my eyes were too dim to see, I felt the +touch of lips upon my hands, heard the sound of departing feet, and +knew my contraband was gone. +</P> + +<P> +When one feels an intense dislike, the less one says about the subject +of it the better; therefore I shall merely record that the captain +lived,—in time was exchanged; and that, whoever the other party was, I +am convinced the Government got the best of the bargain. But long +before this occurred, I had fulfilled my promise to Robert; for as soon +as my patient recovered strength of memory enough to make his answer +trustworthy, I asked, without any circumlocution,— +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Fairfax, where is Lucy?" +</P> + +<P> +And too feeble to be angry, surprised, or insincere, he straightway +answered,— +</P> + +<P> +"Dead, Miss Dane." +</P> + +<P> +"And she killed herself, when you sold Bob?" +</P> + +<P> +"How the Devil did you know that?" he muttered, with an expression +half-remorseful, half-amazed; but I was satisfied, and said no more. +</P> + +<P> +Of course, this went to Robert, waiting far away there in a lonely +home,—waiting, working, hoping for his Lucy. It almost broke my heart +to do it; but delay was weak, deceit was wicked; so I sent the heavy +tidings, and very soon the answer came,—only three lines; but I felt +that the sustaining power of the man's life was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I'd never see her any more; I'm glad to know she's out of +trouble. I thank yer, Ma'am; an' if they let us, I'll fight fer yer +till I'm killed, which I hope will be 'fore long." +</P> + +<P> +Six months later he had his wish, and kept his word. +</P> + +<P> +Every one knows the story of the attack on Fort Wagner; but we should +not tire yet of recalling how our Fifty-Fourth, spent with three +sleepless nights, a day's fast, and a march under the July sun, stormed +the fort as night fell, facing death in many shapes, following their +brave leaders through a fiery rain of shot and shell, fighting +valiantly for God and Governor Andrew,—how the regiment that went into +action seven hundred strong came out having had nearly half its number +captured, killed, or wounded, leaving their young commander to be +buried, like a chief of earlier times, with his body-guard around him, +faithful to the death. Surely, the insult turns to honor, and the wide +grave needs no monument but the heroism that consecrates it in our +sight; surely, the hearts that held him nearest see through their tears +a noble victory in the seeming sad defeat; and surely, God's +benediction was bestowed, when this loyal soul answered, as Death +called the roll, "Lord, here I am, with the brothers Thou hast given +me!" +</P> + +<P> +The future must show how well that fight was fought; for though Fort +Wagner still defies us, public prejudice is down; and through the +cannon smoke of that black night the manhood of the colored race shines +before many eyes that would not see, rings in many ears that would not +hear, wins many hearts that would not hitherto believe. +</P> + +<P> +When the news came that we were needed, there was none so glad as I to +leave teaching contrabands, the new work I had taken up, and go to +nurse "our boys," as my dusky flock so proudly called the wounded of +the Fifty-Fourth. Feeling more satisfaction, as I assumed my big apron +and turned up my cuffs, than if dressing for the President's levee, I +fell to work on board the hospital-ship in Hilton-Head harbor. The +scene was most familiar, and yet strange; for only dark faces looked up +at me from the pallets so thickly laid along the floor, and I missed +the sharp accent of my Yankee boys in the slower, softer voices calling +cheerily to one another, or answering my questions with a stout, "We'll +never give it up, Ma'am, till the last Reb's dead," or, "If our +people's free, we can afford to die." +</P> + +<P> +Passing from bed to bed, intent on making one pair of hands do the work +of three, at least, I gradually washed, fed, and bandaged my way down +the long line of sable heroes, and coming to the very last, found that +he was my contraband. So old, so worn, so deathly weak and wan, I never +should have known him but for the deep scar on his cheek. That side +lay uppermost, and caught my eye at once; but even then I doubted, such +an awful change had come upon him, when, turning to the ticket just +above his head, I saw the name, "Robert Dane." That both assured and +touched me, for, remembering that he had no name, I knew that he had +taken mine. I longed for him to speak to me, to tell how he had fared +since I lost sight of him, and let me perform some little service for +him in return for many he had done for me; but he seemed asleep; and as +I stood re-living that strange night again, a bright lad, who lay next +him softly waving an old fan across both beds, looked up and said,— +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you know him, Ma'am?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are right. Do you?" +</P> + +<P> +"As much as any one was able to, Ma'am." +</P> + +<P> +"Why do you say 'was,' as if the man were dead and gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"I s'pose because I know he'll have to go. He's got a bad jab in the +breast, an' is bleedin' inside, the Doctor says. He don't suffer any, +only gets weaker 'n' weaker every minute. I've been fannin' him this +long while, an' he's talked a little; but he don't know me now, so he's +most gone, I guess." +</P> + +<P> +There was so much sorrow and affection in the boy's face, that I +remembered something, and asked, with redoubled interest,— +</P> + +<P> +"Are you the one that brought him off? I was told about a boy who +nearly lost his life in saving that of his mate." +</P> + +<P> +I dare say the young fellow blushed, as any modest lad might have done; +I could not see it, but I heard the chuckle of satisfaction that +escaped him, as he glanced from his shattered arm and bandaged side to +the pale figure opposite. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord, Ma'am, that's nothin'; we boys always stan' by one another, an' +I warn't goin' to leave him to be tormented any more by them cussed +Rebs. He's been a slave once, though he don't look half so much like +it as me, an' was born in Boston." +</P> + +<P> +He did not; for the speaker was as black as the ace of spades,—being a +sturdy specimen, the knave of clubs would perhaps be a fitter +representative,—but the dark freeman looked at the white slave with +the pitiful, yet puzzled expression I have so often seen on the faces +of our wisest men, when this tangled question of Slavery presents +itself, asking to be cut or patiently undone. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me what you know of this man; for, even if he were awake, he is +too weak to talk." +</P> + +<P> +"I never saw him till I joined the regiment, an' no one 'peared to have +got much out of him. He was a shut-up sort of feller, an' didn't seem +to care for anything but gettin' at the Rebs. Some say he was the fust +man of us that enlisted; I know he fretted till we were off, an' when +we pitched into old Wagner, he fought like the Devil." +</P> + +<P> +"Were you with him when he was wounded? How was it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Ma'am. There was somethin' queer about it; for he 'peared to +know the chap that killed him, an' the chap knew him. I don't dare to +ask, but I rather guess one owned the other some time,—for, when they +clinched, the chap sung out, 'Bob!' an' Dane, 'Marster Ned! then they +went at it." +</P> + +<P> +I sat down suddenly, for the old anger and compassion struggled in my +heart, and I both longed and feared to hear what was to follow. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, when the Colonel—Lord keep an' send him back to us!—it +a'n't certain yet, you know, Ma'am, though it's two days ago we lost +him—well, when the Colonel shouted, 'Rush on, boys, rush on!' Dane +tore away as if he was goin' to take the fort alone; I was next him, +an' kept close as we went through the ditch an' up the wall. Hi! warn't +that a rusher!" and the boy flung up his well arm with a whoop, as if +the mere memory of that stirring moment came over him in a gust of +irrepressible excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"Were you afraid?" I said,—asking the question women often put, and +receiving the answer they seldom fail to get. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Ma'am!"—emphasis on the "Ma'am,"—"I never thought of anything +but the damn Rebs, that scalp, slash, an' cut our ears off, when they +git us. I was bound to let daylight into one of 'em at least, an' I +did. Hope he liked it!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is evident that you did, and I don't blame you in the least. Now +go on about Robert, for I should be at work." +</P> + +<P> +"He was one of the fust up; I was just behind, an' though the whole +thing happened in a minute. I remember how it was, for all I was +yellin' an' knockin' round like mad. Just where we were, some sort of +an officer was wavin' his sword an' cheerin' on his men; Dane saw him +by a big flash that come by; he flung away his gun, give a leap, an' +went at that feller as if he was Jeff, Beauregard, an' Lee, all in one. +I scrabbled after as quick as I could, but was only up in time to see +him git the sword straight through him an' drop into the ditch. You +needn't ask what I did next, Ma'am, for I don't quite know myself; all +I 'm clear about is, that I managed somehow to pitch that Reb into the +fort as dead as Moses, git hold of Dane, an' bring him off. Poor old +feller! we said we went in to live or die; he said he went in to die, +an' he 's done it." +</P> + +<P> +I had been intently watching the excited speaker; but as he regretfully +added those last words I turned again, and Robert's eyes met +mine,—those melancholy eyes, so full of an intelligence that proved he +had heard, remembered, and reflected with that preternatural power +which often outlives all other faculties. He knew me, yet gave no +greeting; was glad to see a woman's face, yet had no smile wherewith to +welcome it; felt that he was dying, yet uttered no farewell. He was +too far across the river to return or linger now; departing thought, +strength, breath, were spent in one grateful look, one murmur of +submission to the last pang he could ever feel. His lips moved, and, +bending to them, a whisper chilled my cheek, as it shaped the broken +words,— +</P> + +<P> +"I would have done it,—but it 's better so,—I'm satisfied." +</P> + +<P> +Ah! well he might be,—for, as he turned his face from the shadow of +the life that was, the sunshine of the life to be touched it with a +beautiful content, and in the drawing of a breath my contraband found +wife and home, eternal liberty and God. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="nelly"></A> +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +NELLY'S HOSPITAL +</H2> + +<P> +Nelly sat beside her mother picking lint; but while her fingers flew, +her eyes often looked wistfully out into the meadow, golden with +buttercups, and bright with sunshine. Presently she said, rather +bashfully, but very earnestly, "Mamma, I want to tell you a little plan +I've made, if you'll please not laugh." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I can safely promise that, my dear," said her mother, putting +down her work that she might listen quite respectfully. +</P> + +<P> +Nelly looked pleased, and went on confidingly, +</P> + +<P> +"Since brother Will came home with his lame foot, and I've helped you +tend him, I've heard a great deal about hospitals, and liked it very +much. To-day I said I wanted to go and be a nurse, like Aunt Mercy; but +Will laughed, and told me I'd better begin by nursing sick birds and +butterflies and pussies before I tried to take care of men. I did not +like to be made fun of, but I've been thinking that it would be very +pleasant to have a little hospital all my own, and be a nurse in it, +because, if I took pains, so many pretty creatures might be made well, +perhaps. Could I, mamma?" +</P> + +<P> +Her mother wanted to smile at the idea, but did not, for Nelly looked +up with her heart and eyes so full of tender compassion, both for the +unknown men for whom her little hands had done their best, and for the +smaller sufferers nearer home, that she stroked the shining head, and +answered readily: "Yes, Nelly, it will be a proper charity for such a +young Samaritan, and you may learn much if you are in earnest. You +must study how to feed and nurse your little patients, else your pity +will do no good, and your hospital become a prison. I will help you, +and Tony shall be your surgeon." +</P> + +<P> +"O mamma, how good you always are to me! Indeed, I am in truly earnest; +I will learn, I will be kind, and may I go now and begin?" +</P> + +<P> +"You may, but tell me first where will you have your hospital?" +</P> + +<P> +"In my room, mamma; it is so snug and sunny, and I never should forget +it there," said Nelly. +</P> + +<P> +"You must not forget it anywhere. I think that plan will not do. How +would you like to find caterpillars walking in your bed, to hear sick +pussies mewing in the night, to have beetles clinging to your clothes, +or see mice, bugs, and birds tumbling downstairs whenever the door was +open?" said her mother. +</P> + +<P> +Nelly laughed at that thought a minute, then clapped her hands, and +cried: "Let us have the old summer-house! My doves only use the upper +part, and it would be so like Frank in the storybook. Please say yes +again, mamma." +</P> + +<P> +Her mother did say yes, and, snatching up her hat, Nelly ran to find +Tony, the gardener's son, a pleasant lad of twelve, who was Nelly's +favorite playmate. Tony pronounced the plan a "jolly" one, and, leaving +his work, followed his young mistress to the summer-house, for she +could not wait one minute. +</P> + +<P> +"What must we do first?" she asked, as they stood looking in at the +dusty room, full of garden tools, bags of seeds, old flower-pots, and +watering-cans. +</P> + +<P> +"Clear out the rubbish, miss," answered Tony. +</P> + +<P> +"Here it goes, then," and Nelly began bundling everything out in such +haste that she broke two flower-pots, scattered all the squash-seeds, +and brought a pile of rakes and hoes clattering down about her ears. +</P> + +<P> +"Just wait a bit, and let me take the lead, miss. You hand me things, +I'll pile 'em in the barrow and wheel 'em off to the barn; then it will +save time, and be finished up tidy." +</P> + +<P> +Nelly did as he advised, and very soon nothing but dust remained. +</P> + +<P> +"What next?" she asked, not knowing in the least. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll sweep up while you see if Polly can come and scrub the room out. +It ought to be done before you stay here, let alone the patients." +</P> + +<P> +"So it had," said Nelly, looking very wise all of a sudden. "Will says +the wards—that means the rooms, Tony—are scrubbed every day or two, +and kept very clean, and well venti-something—I can't say it; but it +means having a plenty of air come in. I can clean windows while Polly +mops, and then we shall soon be done." Away she ran, feeling very busy +and important. Polly came, and very soon the room looked like another +place. The four latticed windows were set wide open, so the sunshine +came dancing through the vines that grew outside, and curious roses +peeped in to see what frolic was afoot. The walls shone white again, +for not a spider dared to stay; the wide seat which encircled the room +was dustless now,—the floor as nice as willing hands could make it; +and the south wind blew away all musty odors with its fragrant breath. +</P> + +<P> +"How fine it looks!" cried Nelly, dancing on the doorstep, lest a +foot-print should mar the still damp floor. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd almost like to fall sick for the sake of staying here," said Tony, +admiringly. "Now, what sort of beds are you going to have, miss? +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose it won't do to put butterflies and toads and worms into beds +like the real soldiers where Will was?" answered Nelly, looking anxious. +</P> + +<P> +Tony could hardly help shouting at the idea; but, rather than trouble +his little mistress, he said very soberly: "I'm afraid they wouldn't +lay easy, not being used to it. Tucking up a butterfly would about +kill him; the worms would be apt to get lost among the bed-clothes; and +the toads would tumble out the first thing." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall have to ask mamma about it. What will you do while I'm gone?" +said Nelly, unwilling that a moment should be lost. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll make frames for nettings to the windows, else the doves will come +in and eat up the sick people. +</P> + +<P> +"I think they will know that it is a hospital, and be too kind to hurt +or frighten their neighbors," began Nelly; but as she spoke, a plump +white dove walked in, looked about with its red-ringed eyes, and +quietly pecked up a tiny bug that had just ventured out from the crack +where it had taken refuge when the deluge came. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we must have the nettings. I'll ask mamma for some lace," said +Nelly, when she saw that; and, taking her pet dove on her shoulder, +told it about her hospital as she went toward the house; for, loving +all little creatures as she did, it grieved her to have any harm befall +even the least or plainest of them. She had a sweet child-fancy that +her playmates understood her language as she did theirs, and that +birds, flowers, animals, and insects felt for her the same affection +which she felt for them. Love always makes friends, and nothing seemed +to fear the gentle child; but welcomed her like a little sun who shone +alike on all, and never suffered an eclipse. +</P> + +<P> +She was gone some time, and when she came back her mind was full of new +plans, one hand full of rushes, the other of books, while over her head +floated the lace, and a bright green ribbon hung across her arm. +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma says that the best beds will be little baskets, boxes, cages, +and any sort of thing that suits the patients; for each will need +different care and food and medicine. I have not baskets enough, so, as +I cannot have pretty white beds, I am going to braid pretty green nests +for my patients, and, while I do it, mamma thought you'd read to me the +pages she has marked, so that we may begin right." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, miss; I like that. But what is the ribbon for?" asked Tony. +</P> + +<P> +"O, that's for you. Will says that, if you are to be an army surgeon, +you must have a green band on your arm; so I got this to tie on when we +play hospital." +</P> + +<P> +Tony let her decorate the sleeve of his gray jacket, and when the +nettings were done, the welcome books were opened and enjoyed. It was a +happy time, sitting in the sunshine, with leaves pleasantly astir all +about them, doves cooing overhead, and flowers sweetly gossiping +together through the summer afternoon. Nelly wove her smooth, green +rushes. Tony pored over his pages, and both found something better +than fairy legends in the family histories of insects, birds, and +beasts. All manner of wonders appeared, and were explained to them, +till Nelly felt as if a new world had been given her, so full of +beauty, interest, and pleasure that she never could be tired of +studying it. Many of these things were not strange to Tony, because, +born among plants, he had grown up with them as if they were brothers +and sisters, and the sturdy, brown-faced boy had learned many lessons +which no poet or philosopher could have taught him, unless he had +become as child-like a s himself, and studied from the same great book. +</P> + +<P> +When the baskets were done, the marked pages all read, and the sun +began to draw his rosy curtains round him before smiling "Good night," +Nelly ranged the green beds round the room, Tony put in the screens, +and the hospital was ready. The little nurse was so excited that she +could hardly eat her supper, and directly afterwards ran up to tell +Will how well she had succeeded with the first part of her enterprise. +Now brother Will was a brave young officer, who had fought stoutly and +done his duty like a man. But when lying weak and wounded at home, the +cheerful courage which had led him safely through many dangers seemed +to have deserted him, and he was often gloomy, sad, or fretful, because +he longed to be at his post again, and time passed very slowly. This +troubled his mother, and made Nelly wonder why he found lying in a +pleasant room so much harder than fighting battles or making weary +marches. Anything that interested and amused him was very welcome, and +when Nelly, climbing on the arm of his sofa, told her plans, mishaps, +and successes, he laughed out more heartily than he had done for many a +day, and his thin face began to twinkle with fun as it used to do so +long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she chatted like any affectionate +little magpie, till Will was really interested; for when one is ill, +small things amuse. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you expect your patients to come to you, Nelly?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I shall go and look for them. I often see poor things suffering in +the garden, and the wood, and always feel as if they ought to be taken +care of, as people are." +</P> + +<P> +"You won't like to carry insane bugs, lame toads, and convulsive +kittens in your hands, and they would not stay on a stretcher if you +had one. You should have an ambulance and be a branch of the Sanitary +Commission," said Will. +</P> + +<P> +Nelly had often heard the words, but did not quite understand what they +meant. So Will told her of that great never-failing charity, to which +thousands owe their lives; and the child listened with lips apart, eyes +often full, and so much love and admiration in her heart that she could +find no words in which to tell it. When her brother paused, she said +earnestly: "Yes, I will be a Sanitary. This little cart of mine shall +be my amb'lance, and I'll never let my water-barrels go empty, never +drive too fast, or be rough with my poor passengers, like some of the +men you tell about. Does this look like an ambulance, Will?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit, but it shall, if you and mamma like to help me. I want +four long bits of cane, a square of white cloth, some pieces of thin +wood, and the gum-pot," said Will, sitting up to examine the little +cart, feeling like a boy again as he took out his knife and began to +whittle. Upstairs and downstairs ran Nelly till all necessary materials +were collected, and almost breathlessly she watched her brother arch +the canes over the cart, cover them with the cloth, and fit an upper +shelf of small compartments, each lined with cotton-wool to serve as +beds for wounded insects, lest they should hurt one another or jostle +out. The lower part was left free for any larger creatures which Nelly +might find. Among her toys she had a tiny cask which only needed a peg +to be water-tight; this was filled and fitted in before, because, as +the small sufferers needed no seats, there was no place for it behind, +and, as Nelly was both horse and driver, it was more convenient in +front. On each side of it stood a box of stores. In one were minute +rollers, as bandages are called, a few bottles not yet filled, and a +wee doll's jar of cold-cream, because Nelly could not feel that her +outfit was complete without a medicine-chest. The other box was full of +crumbs, bits of sugar, bird-seed, and grains of wheat and corn, lest +any famished stranger should die for want of food before she got it +home. Then mamma painted "U.S. San. Com." in bright letters on the +cover, and Nelly received her charitable plaything with a long sigh of +satisfaction. +</P> + +<P> +"Nine o'clock already. Bless me, what a short evening this has been," +exclaimed Will, as Nelly came to give him her good-night kiss. +</P> + +<P> +"And such a happy one," she answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you very, very much, dear Will. I only wish my little amb'lance +was big enough for you to go in,—I'd so like to give you the first +ride." +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing I should like better, if it were possible, though I've a +prejudice against ambulances in general. But as I cannot ride, I'll +try and hop out to your hospital to-morrow, and see how you get +on,"—which was a great deal for Captain Will to say, because he had +been too listless to leave his sofa for several days. +</P> + +<P> +That promise sent Nelly happily away to bed, only stopping to pop her +head out of the window to see if it was likely to be a fair day +to-morrow, and to tell Tony about the new plan as he passed below. +</P> + +<P> +"Where shall you go to look for your first load of sick folks, miss?" +he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"All round the garden first, then through the grove, and home across +the brook. Do you think I can find any patients so?" said Nelly. +</P> + +<P> +"I know you will. Good night, miss," and Tony walked away with a merry +look on his face, that Nelly would not have understood if she had seen +it. +</P> + +<P> +Up rose the sun bright and early, and up rose Nurse Nelly almost as +early and as bright. Breakfast was taken in a great hurry, and before +the dew was off the grass this branch of the S. C. was all astir. +Papa, mamma, big brother and baby sister, men and maids, all looked out +to see the funny little ambulance depart, and nowhere in all the summer +fields was there a happier child than Nelly, as she went smiling down +the garden path, where tall flowers kissed her as she passed and every +blithe bird seemed singing a "Good speed!" +</P> + +<P> +"How I wonder what I shall find first," she thought, looking sharply on +all sides as she went. Crickets chirped, grasshoppers leaped, ants +worked busily at their subterranean houses, spiders spun shining webs +from twig to twig, bees were coming for their bags of gold, and +butterflies had just begun their holiday. A large white one alighted +on the top of the ambulance, walked over the inscription as if spelling +it letter by letter, then floated away from flower to flower, like one +carrying the good news far and wide. +</P> + +<P> +"Now every one will know about the hospital and be glad to see me +coming," thought Nelly. And indeed it seemed so, for just then a +black-bird, sitting on a garden wall, burst out with a song full of +musical joy, Nelly's kitten came running after to stare at the wagon +and rub her soft side against it, a bright-eyed toad looked out from +his cool bower among the lily-leaves, and at that minute Nelly found +her first patient. In one of the dewy cobwebs hanging from a shrub +near by sat a fat black and yellow spider, watching a fly whose +delicate wings were just caught in the net. The poor fly buzzed +pitifully, and struggled so hard that the whole web shook: but the more +he struggled, the more he entangled himself, and the fierce spider was +preparing to descend that it might weave a shroud about its prey, when +a little finger broke the threads and lifted the fly safely into the +palm of a hand, where he lay faintly humming his thanks. +</P> + +<P> +Nelly had heard much about contrabands, knew who they were, and was +very much interested in them; so, when she freed the poor black fly she +played he was her contraband, and felt glad that her first patient was +one that needed help so much. Carefully brushing away as much of the +web as she could, she left small Pompey, as she named him, to free his +own legs, lest her clumsy fingers should hurt him; then she laid him in +one of the soft beds with a grain or two of sugar if he needed +refreshment, and bade him rest and recover from his fright, remembering +that he was at liberty to fly away whenever he liked, because she had +no wish to male a slave of him. +</P> + +<P> +Feeling very happy over this new friend, Nelly went on singing softly +as she walked, and presently she found a pretty caterpillar dressed in +brown fur, although the day was warm. He lay so still she thought him +dead, till he rolled himself into a ball as she touched him. +</P> + +<P> +"I think you are either faint from the heat of this thick coat of +yours, or that you are going to make a cocoon of yourself, Mr. Fuzz," +said Nelly. +</P> + +<P> +"Now I want to see you turn into a butterfly, so I shall take you, and +if get lively again I will let you go. I shall play that you have given +out on a march, as the soldiers sometimes do, and been left behind for +the Sanitary people to see to." +</P> + +<P> +In went sulky Mr. Fuzz, and on trundled the ambulance till a golden +green rose-beetle was discovered, lying on his back kicking as if in a +fit. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear me, what shall I do for him?" thought Nelly. "He acts as baby did +when she was so ill, and mamma put her in a warm bath. I haven't got +my little tub here, or any hot water, and I'm afraid the beetle would +not like it if I had. Perhaps he has pain in his stomach; I'll turn +him over, and pat his back, as nurse does baby's when she cries for +pain like that." +</P> + +<P> +She set the beetle on his legs, and did her best to comfort him; but he +was evidently in great distress, for he could not walk, and instead of +lifting his emerald overcoat, and spreading the wings that lay +underneath, be turned over again, and kicked more violently than +before. Not knowing what to do, Nelly put him into one of her soft +nests for Tony to cure if possible. She found no more patients in the +garden except a dead bee, which she wrapped in a leaf, and took home to +bury. When she came to the grove, it was so green and cool she longed +to sit and listen to the whisper of the pines, and watch the +larch-tassels wave in the wind. But, recollecting her charitable +errand, she went rustling along the pleasant path till she came to +another patient, over which she stood considering several minutes +before she could decide whether it was best to take it to her hospital, +because it was a little gray snake, with bruised tail. She knew it +would not hurt her, yet she was afraid of it; she thought it pretty, +yet could not like it: she pitied its pain, yet shrunk from helping it, +for it had a fiery eye, and a keep quivering tongue, that looked as if +longing to bite. +</P> + +<P> +"He is a rebel, I wonder if I ought to be good to him," thought Nelly, +watching the reptile writhe with pain. "Will said there were sick +rebels in his hospital, and one was very kind to him. It says, too, in +my little book, 'Love your enemies.' I think snakes are mine, but I +guess I'll try and love him because God made him. Some boy will kill +him if I leave him here, and then perhaps his mother will be very sad +about it. Come, poor worm, I wish to help you, so be patient, and +don't frighten me." +</P> + +<P> +Then Nelly laid her little handkerchief on the ground, and with a stick +gently lifted the wounded snake upon it, and, folding it together, laid +it in the ambulance. She was thoughtful after that, and so busy +puzzling her young head about the duty of loving those who hate us, and +being kind to those who are disagreeable or unkind, that she went +through the rest of the wood quite forgetful of her work. A soft +"Queek, queek!" made her look up and listen. The sound came from the +long meadow-grass, and, bending it carefully back, she found a +half-fledged bird, with one wing trailing on the ground, and its eyes +dim with pain or hunger. +</P> + +<P> +"You darling thing, did you fall out of your nest and hurt your wing?" +cried Nelly, looking up into the single tree that stood near by. No +nest was to be seen, no parent birds hovered overhead, and little Robin +could only tell its troubles in that mournful "Queek, queek, queek!" +</P> + +<P> +Nelly ran to get both her chests, and, sitting down beside the bird, +tried to feed it. To her joy it ate crumb after crumb, as if it were +half starved, and soon fluttered nearer a confiding fearlessness that +made her very proud. Soon baby Robin seemed quite comfortable, his eye +brightened, he "queeked" no more, and but for the drooping wing would +have been himself again. With one of her bandages Nelly bound both +wings closely to his sides for fear he should hurt himself by trying to +fly; and though he seemed amazed at her proceedings, he behaved very +well, only staring at her, and ruffling up his few feathers in a funny +way that made her laugh. Then she had to discover some way of +accommodating her two larger patients so that neither should hurt nor +alarm the other. A bright thought came to her after much pondering. +Carefully lifting the handkerchief, she pinned the two ends to the roof +of the cart, and there swung little Forked-tongue, while Rob lay easily +below. +</P> + +<P> +By this time, Nelly began to wonder how it happened that she found so +many more injured things than ever before. But it never entered her +innocent head that Tony had searched the wood and meadow before she was +up, and laid most of these creatures ready to her hands, that she might +not be disappointed. She had not yet lost her faith in fairies, so she +fancied they too belonged to her small sisterhood, and presently it did +really seem impossible to doubt that the good folk had been at work. +</P> + +<P> +Coming to the bridge that crossed the brook, she stopped a moment to +watch the water ripple over the bright pebbles, the ferns bend down to +drink, and the funny tadpoles frolic in quieter nooks, where the sun +shone, and the dragon-flies swung among the rushes. When Nelly turned +to go on, her blue eyes opened wide, and the handle of the ambulance +dropped with a noise that caused a stout frog to skip into the water +heels over head. Directly in the middle of the bridge was a pretty +green tent, made of two tall burdock leaves. The stems were stuck into +cracks between the boards, the tips were pinned together with a thorn, +and one great buttercup nodded in the doorway like a sleepy sentinel. +Nelly stared and smiled, listened, and looked about on every side. +Nothing was seen but the quiet meadow and the shady grove, nothing was +heard but the babble of the brook and the cheery music of the bobolinks. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Nelly softly to herself, "that is a fairy tent, and in it I +may find a baby elf sick with whooping-cough or scarlet-fever. How +splendid it would be! only I could never nurse such a dainty thing." +</P> + +<P> +Stooping eagerly, she peeped over the buttercup's drowsy head, and saw +what seemed a tiny cock of hay. She had no time to feel disappointed, +for the haycock began to stir, and, looking nearer, she beheld two +silvery gray mites, who wagged wee tails, and stretched themselves as +if they had just waked up. Nelly knew that they were young field-mice, +and rejoiced over them, feeling rather relieved that no fairy had +appeared, though she still believed them to have had a hand in the +matter. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall call the mice my Babes in the Wood, because they are lost and +covered up with leaves," said Nelly, as she laid them in her snuggest +bed, where they nestled close together, and fell fast asleep again. +</P> + +<P> +Being very anxious to get home, that she might tell her adventures, and +show how great was the need of a sanitary commission in that region, +Nelly marched proudly up the avenue, and, having displayed her load, +hurried to the hospital, where another applicant was waiting for her. +On the step of the door lay a large turtle, with one claw gone, and on +his back was pasted a bit of paper, with his name,—"Commodore Waddle, +U.S.N." Nelly knew this was a joke of Will's, but welcomed the ancient +mariner, and called Tony to help her get him in. +</P> + +<P> +All that morning they were very busy settling the new-comers, for both +people and books had to be consulted before they could decide what diet +and treatment was best for each. The winged contraband had taken Nelly +at her word, and flown away on the journey home. Little Rob was put in +a large cage, where he could use his legs, yet not injure his lame +wing. Forked-tongue lay under a wire cover, on sprigs of fennel, for +the gardener said that snakes were fond of it. The Babes in the Wood +were put to bed in one of the rush baskets, under a cotton-wool +coverlet. Greenback, the beetle, found ease for his unknown aches in +the warm heart of a rose, where he sunned himself all day. The +Commodore was made happy in a tub of water, grass, and stones, and Mr. +Fuzz was put in a well-ventilated glass box to decide whether he would +be a cocoon or not. +</P> + +<P> +Tony had not been idle while his mistress was away, and he showed her +the hospital garden he had made close by, in which were cabbage, +nettle, and mignonette plants for the butterflies, flowering herbs for +the bees, chick-weed and hemp for the birds, catnip for the pussies, +and plenty of room left for whatever other patients might need. In the +afternoon, while Nelly did her task at lint-picking, talking busily to +Will as she worked, and interesting him in her affairs, Tony cleared a +pretty spot in the grove for the burying-ground, and made ready some +small bits of slate on which to write the names of those who died. He +did not have it ready an hour too soon, for at sunset two little graves +were needed, and Nurse Nelly shed tender tears for her first losses as +she laid the motherless mice in one smooth hollow, and the gray-coated +rebel in the other. She had learned to care for him already, and when +she found him dead, was very glad she had been kind to him, hoping that +he knew it, and died happier in her hospital than all alone in the +shadowy wood. +</P> + +<P> +The rest of Nelly's patients prospered, and of the many added afterward +few died, because of Tony's skilful treatment and her own faithful +care. Every morning when the day proved fair the little ambulance went +out upon its charitable errand; every afternoon Nelly worked for the +human sufferers whom she loved; and every evening brother Will read +aloud to her from useful books, showed her wonders with his microscope, +or prescribed remedies for the patients, whom he soon knew by name and +took much interest in. It was Nelly's holiday; but, though she studied +no lessons, she learned much, and unconsciously made her pretty play +both an example and a rebuke for others. +</P> + +<P> +At first it seemed a childish pastime, and people laughed. But there +was something in the familiar words "sanitary," "hospital" and +"ambulance" that made them pleasant sounds to many ears. As reports of +Nelly's work went through the neighborhood, other children came to see +and copy her design. Rough lads looked ashamed when in her wards they +found harmless creatures hurt by them, and going out they said among +themselves, "We won't stone birds, chase butterflies, and drown the +girls' little cats any more, though we won't tell them so." And most of +the lads kept their word so well that people said there never had been +so many birds before as all that summer haunted wood and field. +Tender-hearted playmates brought their pets to be cured; even busy +farmers bad a friendly word for the small charity, which reminded them +so sweetly of the great one which should never be forgotten; lonely +mothers sometimes looked out with wet eyes as the little ambulance went +by, recalling thoughts or absent sons who might be journeying painfully +to some far-off hospital, where brave women waited to tend them with +hands as willing, hearts as tender, as those the gentle child gave to +her self-appointed task. +</P> + +<P> +At home the charm worked also. No more idle days for Nelly, or fretful +ones for Will, because the little sister would not neglect the helpless +creatures so dependent upon her, and the big brother was ashamed to +complain after watching the patience of these lesser sufferers, and +merrily said he would try to bear his own wound as quietly and bravely +as the "Commodore" bore his. Nelly never knew how much good she had +done Captain Will till he went away again in the early autumn. Then he +thanked her for it, and though she cried for joy and sorrow she never +forgot it, because he left something behind him which always pleasantly +reminded her of the double success her little hospital had won. +</P> + +<P> +When Will was gone and she had prayed softly in her heart that God +would keep him safe and bring him home again, she dried her tears and +went away to find comfort in the place where he had spent so many happy +hours with her. She had not been there before that day, and when she +reached the door she stood quite still and wanted very much to cry +again, far something beautiful had happened. She had often asked Will +for a motto for her hospital, and he had promised to find her one. She +thought he had forgotten it; but even in the hurry of that busy day he +had found time to do more than keep his word, while Nelly sat indoors, +lovingly brightening the tarnished buttons on the blue coat that had +seen so many battles. +</P> + +<P> +Above the roof, where the doves cooed in the sun, now rustled a white +flag with the golden "S.C." shining on it as the wind tossed it to and +fro. Below, on the smooth panel of the door, a skilful pencil had +drawn two arching ferns, in whose soft shadow, poised upon a mushroom, +stood a little figure of Nurse Nelly, and underneath it another of Dr. +Tony bottling medicine, with spectacles upon his nose. Both hands of +the miniature Nelly were outstretched, as if beckoning to a train of +insects, birds and beasts, which was so long that it not only circled +round the lower rim of this fine sketch, but dwindled in the distance +to mere dots and lines. Such merry conceits as one found there! A +mouse bringing the tail it had lost in some cruel trap, a dor-bug with +a shade over its eyes, an invalid butterfly carried in a tiny litter by +long-legged spiders, a fat frog with gouty feet hopping upon crutches, +Jenny Wren sobbing in a nice handkerchief, as she brought dear dead +Cock Robin to be restored to life. Rabbits, lambs, cats, calves, and +turtles, all came trooping up to be healed by the benevolent little +maid who welcomed them so heartily. +</P> + +<P> +Nelly laughed at these comical mites till the tears ran down her +cheeks, and thought she never could be tired of looking at them. But +presently she saw four lines clearly printed underneath her picture, +and her childish face grew sweetly serious as she read the words of a +great poet, which Will had made both compliment and motto:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "He prayeth best who loveth best<BR> + All things, both great and small;<BR> + For the dear God who loveth us,<BR> + He made and loveth all."<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Modern Cinderella, by Louisa May Alcott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MODERN CINDERELLA *** + +***** This file should be named 3806-h.htm or 3806-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/0/3806/ + +Produced by Joe Hogan. 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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: A Modern Cinderella + or The Little Old Show and Other Stories + +Author: Louisa May Alcott + +Posting Date: May 28, 2009 [EBook #3806] +Release Date: March, 2003 +First Posted: September 16, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MODERN CINDERELLA *** + + + + +Produced by Joe Hogan. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + +A Modern Cinderella + +or The Little Old Shoe + +And Other Stories + + +by + +LOUISA MAY ALCOTT + + + + +CONTENTS + + A MODERN CINDERELLA: OR, THE LITTLE OLD SHOE + DEBBY'S DEBUT + BROTHERS + NELLY'S HOSPITAL + + + + +A MODERN CINDERELLA + +OR, + +THE LITTLE OLD SHOE + + +HOW IT WAS LOST + +Among green New England hills stood an ancient house, many-gabled, +mossy-roofed, and quaintly built, but picturesque and pleasant to the +eye; for a brook ran babbling through the orchard that encompassed it +about, a garden-plat stretched upward to the whispering birches on the +slope, and patriarchal elms stood sentinel upon the lawn, as they had +stood almost a century ago, when the Revolution rolled that way and +found them young. + +One summer morning, when the air was full of country sounds, of mowers +in the meadow, black-birds by the brook, and the low of kine upon the +hill-side, the old house wore its cheeriest aspect, and a certain +humble history began. + +"Nan!" + +"Yes, Di." + +And a head, brown-locked, blue-eyed, soft-featured, looked in at the +open door in answer to the call. + +"Just bring me the third volume of 'Wilhelm Meister,' there's a dear. +It's hardly worth while to rouse such a restless ghost as I, when I'm +once fairly laid." + +As she spoke, Di PUlled up her black braids, thumped the pillow of the +couch where she was lying, and with eager eyes went down the last page +of her book. + +"Nan!" + +"Yes, Laura," replied the girl, coming back with the third volume for +the literary cormorant, who took it with a nod, still too content upon +the "Confessions of a Fair Saint" to remember the failings of a certain +plain sinner. + +"Don't forget the Italian cream for dinner. I depend upon it; for it's +the only thing fit for me this hot weather." + +And Laura, the cool blonde, disposed the folds of her white gown more +gracefully about her, and touched up the eyebrow of the Minerva she was +drawing. + +"Little daughter!" + +"Yes, father." + +"Let me have plenty of clean collars in my bag, for I must go at once; +and some of you bring me a glass of cider in about an hour;--I shall be +in the lower garden." + +The old man went away into his imaginary paradise, and Nan into that +domestic purgatory on a summer day,--the kitchen. There were vines +about the windows, sunshine on the floor, and order everywhere; but it +was haunted by a cooking-stove, that family altar whence such varied +incense rises to appease the appetite of household gods, before which +such dire incantations are pronounced to ease the wrath and woe of the +priestess of the fire, and about which often linger saddest memories of +wasted temper, time, and toil. + +Nan was tired, having risen with the birds,--hurried, having many cares +those happy little housewives never know,--and disappointed in a hope +that hourly "dwindled, peaked, and pined." She was too young to make +the anxious lines upon her forehead seem at home there, too patient to +be burdened with the labor others should have shared, too light of +heart to be pent up when earth and sky were keeping a blithe holiday. +But she was one of that meek sisterhood who, thinking humbly of +themselves, believe they are honored by being spent in the service of +less conscientious souls, whose careless thanks seem quite reward +enough. + +To and fro she went, silent and diligent, giving the grace of +willingness to every humble or distasteful task the day had brought +her; but some malignant sprite seemed to have taken possession of her +kingdom, for rebellion broke out everywhere. The kettles would boil +over most obstreperously,--the mutton refused to cook with the meek +alacrity to be expected from the nature of a sheep,--the stove, with +unnecessary warmth of temper, would glow like a fiery furnace,--the +irons would scorch,--the linens would dry,--and spirits would fail, +though patience never. + +Nan tugged on, growing hotter and wearier, more hurried and more +hopeless, till at last the crisis came; for in one fell moment she tore +her gown, burnt her hand, and smutched the collar she was preparing to +finish in the most unexceptionable style. Then, if she had been a +nervous woman, she would have scolded; being a gentle girl, she only +"lifted up her voice and wept." + +"Behold, she watereth her linen with salt tears, and bewaileth herself +because of much tribulation. But, lo! Help cometh from afar: a strong +man bringeth lettuce wherewith to stay her, plucketh berries to comfort +her withal, and clasheth cymbals that she may dance for joy." + +The voice came from the porch, and, with her hope fulfilled, Nan looked +up to greet John Lord, the house-friend, who stood there with a basket +on his arm; and as she saw his honest eyes, kind lips, and helpful +hands, the girl thought this plain young man the comeliest, most +welcome sight she had beheld that day. + +"How good of you, to come through all this heat, and not to laugh at my +despair!" she said, looking up like a grateful child, as she led him in. + +"I only obeyed orders, Nan; for a certain dear old lady had a motherly +presentiment that you had got into a domestic whirlpool, and sent me as +a sort of life-preserver. So I took the basket of consolation, and came +to fold my feet upon the carpet of contentment in the tent of +friendship." + +As he spoke, John gave his own gift in his mother's name, and bestowed +himself in the wide window-seat, where morning-glories nodded at him, +and the old butternut sent pleasant shadows dancing to and fro. + +His advent, like that of Orpheus in hades, seemed to soothe all +unpropitious powers with a sudden spell. The Fire began to slacken, the +kettles began to lull, the meat began to cook, the irons began to cool, +the clothes began to behave, the spirits began to rise, and the collar +was finished off with most triumphant success. John watched the +change, and, though a lord of creation, abased himself to take +compassion on the weaker vessel, and was seized with a great desire to +lighten the homely tasks that tried her strength of body and soul. He +took a comprehensive glance about the room; then, extracting a dish +from he closet, proceeded to imbrue his hands in the strawberries' +blood. + +"Oh, John, you needn't do that; I shall have time when I've turned the +meat, made the pudding and done these things. See, I'm getting on +finely now:--you're a judge of such matters; isn't that nice?" + +As she spoke, Nan offered the polished absurdity for inspection with +innocent pride. + +"Oh that I were a collar, to sit upon that hand!" sighed John,--adding, +argumentatively, + +"As to the berry question, I might answer it with a gem from Dr. Watts, +relative to 'Satan' and idle hands,' but will merely say, that, as a +matter of public safety, you'd better leave me alone; for such is the +destructiveness of my nature, that I shall certainly eat something +hurtful, break something valuable, or sit upon something crushable, +unless you let me concentrate my energies by knocking on these young +fellows' hats, and preparing them for their doom." + +Looking at the matter in a charitable light, Nan consented, and went +cheerfully on with her work, wondering how she could have thought +ironing an infliction, and been so ungrateful for the blessings of her +lot. + +"Where's Sally?" asked John, looking vainly for the functionary who +usually pervaded that region like a domestic police-woman, a terror to +cats, dogs, and men. + +"She has gone to her cousin's funeral, and won't be back till Monday. +There seems to be a great fatality among her relations; for one dies, +or comes to grief in some way, about once a month. But I don't blame +poor Sally for wanting to get away from this place now and then. I +think I could find it in my heart to murder an imaginary friend or two, +if I had to stay here long." + +And Nan laughed so blithely, it was a pleasure to hear her. + +"Where's Di?" asked John, seized with a most unmasculine curiosity all +at once. + +"She is in Germany with 'Wilhelm Meister'; but, though 'lost to sight, +to memory clear'; for I was just thinking, as I did her things, how +clever she is to like all kinds of books that I don't understand at +all, and to write things that make me cry with pride and delight. Yes, +she's a talented dear, though she hardly knows a needle from a crowbar, +and will make herself one great blot some of these days, when the +'divine afflatus' descends upon her, I'm afraid." + +And Nan rubbed away with sisterly zeal at Di's forlorn hose and inky +pocket-handkerchiefs. + +"Where is Laura?" proceeded the inquisitor. + +"Well, I might say that she was in Italy; for she is copying some fine +thing of Raphael's or Michael Angelo's, or some great creatures or +other; and she looks so picturesque in her pretty gown, sitting before +her easel, that it's really a sight to behold, and I've peeped two or +three times to see how she gets on." + +And Nan bestirred herself to prepare the dish Wherewith her picturesque +sister desired to prolong her artistic existence. + +"Where is your father?" John asked again, checking off each answer with +a nod and a little frown. + +"He is down in the garden, deep in some plan about melons, the +beginning of which seems to consist in stamping the first proposition +in Euclid all over the bed, and then poking a few seeds into the middle +of each. Why, bless the dear man! I forgot it was time for the cider. +Wouldn't you like to take it to him, John? He'd love to consult you; +and the lane is so cool, it does one's heart good to look at it." + +John glanced from the steamy kitchen to the shadowy path, and answered +with a sudden assumption of immense industry,-- + +"I couldn't possibly go, Nan,--I've so much on my hands. You'll have +to do it yourself. 'Mr. Robert of Lincoln' has something for your +private ear; and the lane is so cool, it will do one's heart good to +see you in it. Give my regards to your father, and, in the words of +'Little Mabel's' mother, with slight variation,-- + + 'Tell the dear old body + This day I cannot run, + For the pots are boiling over + And the mutton isn't done.'" + +"I will; but please, John, go in to the girls and be comfortable; for I +don't like to leave you here," said Nan. + +"You insinuate that I should pick at the pudding or invade the cream, +do you? Ungrateful girl, leave me!" And, with melodramatic sternness, +John extinguished her in his broad-brimmed hat, and offered the glass +like a poisoned goblet. + +Nan took it, and went smiling away. But the lane might have been the +Desert of Sahara, for all she knew of it; and she would have passed her +father as unconcernedly as if he had been an apple-tree, had he not +called out,-- + +"Stand and deliver, little woman!" + +She obeyed the venerable highwayman, and followed him to and fro, +listening to his plans and directions with a mute attention that quite +won his heart. + +"That hop-pole is really an ornament now, Nan; this sage-bed needs +weeding,--that's good work for you girls; and, now I think of it, you'd +better water the lettuce in the cool of the evening, after I'm gone." + +To all of which remarks Nan gave her assent; the hop-pole took the +likeness of a tall figure she had seen in the porch, the sage-bed, +curiously enough, suggested a strawberry ditto, the lettuce vividly +reminded her of certain vegetable productions a basket had brought, and +the bobolink only sung in his cheeriest voice, "Go home, go home! he is +there!" + +She found John--he having made a free-mason of himself, by assuming her +little apron--meditating over the partially spread table, lost in amaze +at its desolate appearance; one half its proper paraphernalia having +been forgotten, and the other half put on awry. Nan laughed till the +tears ran over her cheeks, and John was gratified at the efficacy of +his treatment; for her face had brought a whole harvest of sunshine +from the garden, and all her cares seemed to have been lost in the +windings of the lane. + +"Nan, are you in hysterics?" cried Di, appearing, book in hand. "John, +you absurd man, what are you doing?" + +"I'm helpin' the maid of all work, please marm." And John dropped a +curtsy with his limited apron. + +Di looked ruffled, for the merry words were a covert reproach; and with +her usual energy of manner and freedom of speech she tossed "Wilhelm" +out of the window, exclaiming, irefully.-- + +"That's always the way; I'm never where I ought to be, and never think +of anything till it's too late; but it's all Goethe's fault. What does +he write books full of smart 'Phillinas' and interesting 'Meisters' +for? How can I be expected to remember that Sally's away, and people +must eat, when I'm hearing the 'Harper' and little 'Mignon?' John, how +dare you come here and do my work, instead of shaking me and telling me +to do it myself? Take that toasted child away, and fan her like a +Chinese mandarin, while I dish up this dreadful dinner." + +John and Nan fled like chaff before the wind, while Di, full of +remorseful zeal, charged at the kettles, and wrenched off the potatoes' +jackets, as if she were revengefully pulling her own hair. Laura had a +vague intention of going to assist; but, getting lost among the lights +and shadows of Minerva's helmet, forgot to appear till dinner had been +evoked from chaos and peace was restored. + +At three o'clock, Di performed the coronation ceremony with her +father's best hat; Laura retied his old-fashioned neckcloth, and +arranged his white locks with an eye to saintly effect; Nan appeared +with a beautifully written sermon, and suspicious ink-stains on the +fingers that slipped it into his pocket; John attached himself to the +bag; and the patriarch was escorted to the door of his tent with the +triumphal procession which usually attended his out-goings and +in-comings. Having kissed the female portion of his tribe, he ascended +the venerable chariot, which received him with audible lamentation, as +its rheumatic joints swayed to and fro. + +"Good-bye, my dears! I shall be back early on Monday morning; so take +care of yourselves, and be sure you all go and hear Mr. Emerboy preach +to-morrow. My regards to your mother. John. Come, Solon!" + +But Solon merely cocked one ear, and remained a fixed fact; for long +experience had induced the philosophic beast to take for his motto the +Yankee maxim, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead! He knew things were +not right; therefore he did not go ahead. + +"Oh, by the way, girls, don't forget to pay Tommy Mullein for bringing +up the cow: he expects it to-night. And Di, don't sit up till +daylight, nor let Laura stay out in the dew. Now, I believe I'm off. +Come, Solon!" + +But Solon only cocked the other ear, gently agitated his mortified +tail, as premonitory symptoms of departure, and never stirred a hoof, +being well aware that it always took three "comes" to make a "go." + +"Bless me! I've forgotten my spectacles. They are probably shut up in +that volume of Herbert on my table. Very awkward to find myself +without them ten miles away. Thank you, John. Don't neglect to water +the lettuce, Nan, and don't overwork yourself, my little 'Martha.' +Come--" + +At this juncture Solon suddenly went off, like "Mrs. Gamp," in a sort +of walking swoon, apparently deaf and blind to all mundane matters, +except the refreshments awaiting him ten miles away; and the benign old +pastor disappeared, humming "Hebron" to the creaking accompaniment of +the bulgy chaise. + +Laura retired to take her siesta; Nan made a small carbonaro of herself +by sharpening her sister's crayons, and Di, as a sort of penance for +past sins, tried her patience over a piece of knitting, in which she +soon originated a somewhat remarkable pattern, by dropping every third +stitch, and seaming ad libitum. If John bad been a gentlemanly +creature, with refined tastes, he would have elevated his feet and made +a nuisance of himself by indulging in a "weed;" but being only an +uncultivated youth, with a rustic regard for pure air and womankind in +general, he kept his head uppermost, and talked like a man, instead of +smoking like a chimney. + +"It will probably be six months before I sit here again, tangling your +threads and maltreating your needles, Nan. How glad you must feel to +hear it!" he said, looking up from a thoughtful examination of the +hard-working little citizens of the Industrial Community settled in +Nan's work-basket. + +"No, I'm very sorry; for I like to see you coming and going as you used +to, years ago, and I miss you very much when you are gone, John," +answered truthful Nan, whittling away in a sadly wasteful manner, as +her thoughts flew back to the happy times when a little lad rode a +little lass in a big wheelbarrow, and never spilt his load,--when two +brown heads bobbed daily side by side to school, and the favorite play +was "Babes in the Wood," with Di for a somewhat peckish robin to cover +the small martyrs with any vegetable substance that lay at hand. Nan +sighed, as she thought of these things, and John regarded the battered +thimble on his finger-tip with increased benignity of aspect as he +heard the sound. + +"When are you going to make your fortune, John, and get out of that +disagreeable hardware concern?" demanded Di, pausing after an exciting +"round," and looking almost as much exhausted as if it had been a +veritable pugilistic encounter. + +"I intend to make it by plunging still deeper into 'that disagreeable +hardware concern;' for, next year, if the world keeps rolling, and John +Lord is alive, he will become a partner, and then--and then--" + +The color sprang up into the young man's cheek, his eyes looked out +with a sudden shine, and his hand seemed involuntarily to close, as if +he saw and seized some invisible delight. + +"What will happen then, John?" asked Nan, with a wondering glance. + +"I'll tell you in a year, Nan, wait till then." and John's strong hand +unclosed, as if the desired good were not to be his yet. + +Di looked at him, with a knitting-needle stuck into her hair, saying, +like a sarcastic unicorn,-- + +"I really thought you had a soul above pots and kettles, but I see you +haven't; and I beg your pardon for the injustice I have done you." + +Not a whit disturbed, John smiled, as if at some mighty pleasant fancy +of his own, as he replied,-- + +"Thank you, Di; and as a further proof of the utter depravity of my +nature, let me tell you that I have the greatest possible respect for +those articles of ironmongery. Some of the happiest hours of my life +have been spent in their society; some of my pleasantest associations +are connected with them; some of my best lessons have come to me among +them; and when my fortune is made, I intend to show my gratitude by +taking three flat-irons rampant for my coat of arms." + +Nan laughed merrily, as she looked at the burns on her hand; but Di +elevated the most prominent feature of her brown countenance, and +sighed despondingly,-- + +"Dear, dear, what a disappointing world this is! I no sooner build a +nice castle in Spain, and settle a smart young knight therein, than +down it comes about my ears; and the ungrateful youth, who might fight +dragons, if he chose, insists on quenching his energies in a saucepan, +and making a Saint Lawrence of himself by wasting his life on a series +of gridirons. Ah, if I were only a man, I would do something better +than that, and prove that heroes are not all dead yet. But, instead of +that, I'm only a woman, and must sit rasping my temper with absurdities +like this." And Di wrestled with her knitting as if it were Fate, and +she were paying off the grudge she owed it. + +John leaned toward her, saying, with a look that made his plain face +handsome,-- + +"Di, my father began the world as I begin it, and left it the richer +for the useful years he spent here,--as I hope I may leave it some +half-century hence. His memory makes that dingy shop a pleasant place +to me; for there he made an honest name, led an honest life and +bequeathed to me his reverence for honest work. That is a sort of +hardware, Di, that no rust can corrupt, and which will always prove a +better fortune than any your knights can achieve with sword and shield. +I think I am not quite a clod, or quite without some aspirations above +money-getting; for I sincerely desire that courage that makes daily +life heroic by self-denial and cheerfulness of heart; I am eager to +conquer my own rebellious nature, and earn the confidence of innocent +and upright souls; I have a great ambition to become as good a man and +leave as good a memory behind me as old John Lord." + +Di winked violently, and seamed five times in perfect silence; but +quiet Nan had the gift of knowing when to speak, and by a timely word +saved her sister from a thunder-shower and her stocking from +destruction. + +"John, have you seen Philip since you wrote about your last meeting +with him?" + +The question was for John, but the soothing tone was for Di, who +gratefully accepted it, and perked up again with speed. + +"Yes; and I meant to have told you about it," answered John, plunging +into the subject at once. + +"I saw him a few days before I came home, and found him more +disconsolate than ever,--' just ready to go to the Devil,' as he +forcibly expressed himself. I consoled the poor lad as well as I could, +telling him his wisest plan was to defer his proposed expedition, and +go on as steadily as he had begun,--thereby proving the injustice of +your father's prediction concerning his want of perseverance, and the +sincerity of his affection. I told him the change in Laura's health +and spirits was silently working in his favor, and that a few more +months of persistent endeavor would conquer your father's prejudice +against him, and make him a stronger man for the trial and the pain. I +read him bits about Laura from your own and Di's letters, and he went +away at last as patient as Jacob ready to serve another 'seven years' +for his beloved Rachel." + +"God bless you for it, John!" cried a fervent voice; and, looking up, +they saw the cold, listless Laura transformed into a tender girl, all +aglow with love and longing, as she dropped her mask, and showed a +living countenance eloquent with the first passion and softened by the +first grief of her life. + +John rose involuntarily in the presence of an innocent nature whose +sorrow needed no interpreter to him. The girl read sympathy in his +brotherly regard, and found comfort in the friendly voice that asked, +half playfully, half seriously,-- + +"Shall I tell him that he is not forgotten, even for an Apollo? that +Laura the artist has not conquered Laura the woman? and predict that +the good daughter will yet prove the happy wife?" + +With a gesture full of energy, Laura tore her Minerva from top to +bottom, while two great tears rolled down the cheeks grown wan with +hope deferred. + +"Tell him I believe all things, hope all things, and that I never can +forget." + +Nan went to her and held her fast, leaving the prints of two loving but +grimy hands upon her shoulders; Di looked on approvingly, for, though +stony-hearted regarding the cause, she fully appreciated the effect; +and John, turning to the window, received the commendations of a robin +swaying on an elm-bough with sunshine on its ruddy breast. + +The clock struck five, and John declared that he must go; for, being an +old-fashioned soul, he fancied that his mother had a better right to +his last hour than any younger woman in the land,--always remembering +that "she was a widow, and he her only son." + +Nan ran away to wash her hands, and came back with the appearance of +one who had washed her face also: and so she had; but there was a +difference in the water. + +"Play I'm your father, girls, and remember that it will be six months +before 'that John' will trouble you again." + +With which preface the young man kissed his former playfellows as +heartily as the boy had been wont to do, when stern parents banished +him to distant schools, and three little maids bemoaned his fate. But +times were changed now; for Di grew alarmingly rigid during the +ceremony; Laura received the salute like a graceful queen; and Nan +returned it with heart and eyes and tender lips, making such an +improvement on the childish fashion of the thing that John was moved to +support his paternal character by softly echoing her father's +words,--"Take care of yourself, my little 'Martha.'" + +Then they all streamed after him along the garden-path, with the +endless messages and warnings girls are so prone to give; and the young +man, with a great softness at his heart, went away, as many another +John has gone, feeling better for the companionship of innocent +maidenhood, and stronger to wrestle with temptation, to wait and hope +and work. + +"Let's throw a shoe after him for luck, as dear old 'Mrs. Gummage' did +after 'David' and the 'willin' Barkis!' Quick, Nan! you always have old +shoes on; toss one, and shout, 'Good luck!'" cried Di, with one of her +eccentric inspirations. + +Nan tore off her shoe, and threw it far along the dusty road, with a +sudden longing to become that auspicious article of apparel, that the +omen might not fail. + +Looking backward from the hill-top, John answered the meek shout +cheerily, and took in the group with a lingering glance: Laura in the +shadow of the elms, Di perched on the fence, and Nan leaning far over +the gate with her hand above her eyes and the sunshine touching her +brown hair with gold. He waved his hat and turned away; but the music +seemed to die out of the blackbird's song, and in all the summer +landscape his eyes saw nothing but the little figure at the gate. + +"Bless and save us! here's a flock of people coming; my hair is in a +toss, and Nan's without her shoe; run! fly, girls! or the Philistines +will be upon us!" cried Di, tumbling off her perch in sudden alarm. + +Three agitated young ladies, with flying draperies and countenances of +mingled mirth and dismay, might have been seen precipitating themselves +into a respectable mansion with unbecoming haste; but the squirrels +were the only witnesses of this "vision of sudden flight," and, being +used to ground-and-lofty tumbling, didn't mind it. + +When the pedestrians passed, the door was decorously closed, and no one +visible but a young man, who snatched something out of the road, and +marched away again, whistling with more vigor of tone than accuracy of +tune, "Only that, and nothing more." + + + +HOW IT WAS FOUND. + +Summer ripened into autumn, and something fairer than + + "Sweet-peas and mignonette + In Annie's garden grew." + +Her nature was the counterpart of the hill-side grove, where as a child +she had read her fairy tales, and now as a woman turned the first pages +of a more wondrous legend still. Lifted above the many-gabled roof, yet +not cut off from the echo of human speech, the little grove seemed a +green sanctuary, fringed about with violets, and full of summer melody +and bloom. Gentle creatures haunted it, and there was none to make +afraid; wood-pigeons cooed and crickets chirped their shrill +roundelays, anemones and lady-ferns looked up from the moss that kissed +the wanderer's feet. Warm airs were all afloat, full of vernal odors +for the grateful sense, silvery birches shimmered like spirits of the +wood, larches gave their green tassels to the wind, and pines made airy +music sweet and solemn, as they stood looking heavenward through veils +of summer sunshine or shrouds of wintry snow. + +Nan never felt alone now in this charmed wood; for when she came into +its precincts, once so full of solitude, all things seemed to wear one +shape, familiar eyes looked at her from the violets in the grass, +familiar words sounded in the whisper of the leaves, grew conscious +that an unseen influence filled the air with new delights, and touched +earth and sky with a beauty never seen before. Slowly these Mayflowers +budded in her maiden heart, rosily they bloomed and silently they +waited till some lover of such lowly herbs should catch their fresh +aroma, should brush away the fallen leaves, and lift them to the sun. + +Though the eldest of the three, she had long been overtopped by the +more aspiring maids. But though she meekly yielded the reins of +government, whenever they chose to drive, they were soon restored to +her again; for Di fell into literature, and Laura into love. Thus +engrossed, these two forgot many duties which even bluestockings and +inamoratos are expected to perform, and slowly all the homely humdrum +cares that housewives know became Nan's daily life, and she accepted it +without a thought of discontent. Noiseless and cheerful as the +sunshine, she went to and fro, doing the tasks that mothers do, but +without a mother's sweet reward, holding fast the numberless slight +threads that bind a household tenderly together, and making each day a +beautiful success. + +Di, being tired of running, riding, climbing, and boating, decided at +last to let her body rest and put her equally active mind through what +classical collegians term "a course of sprouts." Having undertaken to +read and know everything, she devoted herself to the task with great +energy, going from Sue to Swedenborg with perfect impartiality, and +having different authors as children have sundry distempers, being +fractious while they lasted, but all the better for them when once +over. Carlyle appeared like scarlet-fever, and raged violently for a +time; for, being anything but a "passive bucket," Di became prophetic +with Mahomet, belligerent with Cromwell, and made the French Revolution +a veritable Reign of Terror to her family. Goethe and Schiller +alternated like fever and ague; Mephistopheles became her hero, Joan of +Arc her model, and she turned her black eyes red over Egmont and +Wallenstein. A mild attack of Emerson followed, during which she was +lost in a fog, and her sisters rejoiced inwardly when she emerged +informing them that + + "The Sphinx was drowsy, + Her wings were furled." + +Poor Di was floundering slowly to her proper place; but she splashed up +a good deal of foam by getting out of her depth, and rather exhausted +herself by trying to drink the ocean dry. + +Laura, after the "midsummer night's dream" that often comes to girls of +seventeen, woke up to find that youth and love were no match for age +and common sense. Philip had been flying about the world like a +thistle-down for five-and-twenty years, generous-hearted, frank, and +kind, but with never an idea of the serious side of life in his +handsome head. Great, therefore, were the wrath and dismay of the +enamored thistle-down, when the father of his love mildly objected to +seeing her begin the world in a balloon with a very tender but very +inexperienced aeronaut for a guide. + +"Laura is too young to 'play house' yet, and you are too unstable to +assume the part of lord and master, Philip. Go and prove that you have +prudence, patience, energy, and enterprise, and I will give you my +girl,--but not before. I must seem cruel, that I may be truly kind; +believe this, and let a little pain lead you to great happiness, or +show you where you would have made a bitter blunder." + +The lovers listened, owned the truth of the old man's words, bewailed +their fate, and yielded,--Laura for love of her father, Philip for love +of her. He went away to build a firm foundation for his castle in the +air, and Laura retired into an invisible convent, where she cast off +the world, and regarded her sympathizing sisters through a grate of +superior knowledge and unsharable grief. Like a devout nun, she +worshipped "St. Philip," and firmly believed in his miraculous powers. +She fancied that her woes set her apart from common cares, and slowly +fell into a dreamy state, professing no interest in any mundane matter, +but the art that first attracted Philip. Crayons, bread-crusts, and +gray paper became glorified in Laura's eyes; and her one pleasure was +to sit pale and still before her easel, day after day, filling her +portfolios with the faces he had once admired. Her sisters observed +that every Bacchus, Piping Faun, or Dying Gladiator bore some likeness +to a comely countenance that heathen god or hero never owned; and +seeing this, they privately rejoiced that she had found such solace for +her grief. + +Mrs. Lord's keen eye had read a certain newly written page in her son's +heart,--his first chapter of that romance, begun in paradise, whose +interest never flags, whose beauty never fades, whose end can never +come till Love lies dead. With womanly skill she divined the secret, +with motherly discretion she counselled patience, and her son accepted +her advice, feeling that, like many a healthful herb, its worth lay in +its bitterness. + +"Love like a man, John, not like a boy, and learn to know yourself +before you take a woman's happiness into your keeping. You and Nan +have known each other all your lives; yet, till this last visit, you +never thought you loved her more than any other childish friend. It is +too soon to say the words so often spoken hastily,--so hard to be +recalled. Go back to your work, dear, for another year; think of Nan in +the light of this new hope: compare her with comelier, gayer girls; and +by absence prove the truth of your belief. Then, if distance only +makes her dearer, if time only strengthens your affection, and no doubt +of your own worthiness disturbs you, come back and offer her what any +woman should be glad to take,--my boy's true heart." + +John smiled at the motherly pride of her words, but answered with a +wistful look. + +"It seems very long to wait, mother. If I could just ask her for a +word of hope, I could be very patient then." + +"Ah, my dear, better bear one year of impatience now than a lifetime of +regret hereafter. Nan is happy; why disturb her by a word which will +bring the tender cares and troubles that come soon enough to such +conscientious creatures as herself? If she loves you, time will prove +it; therefore, let the new affection spring and ripen as your early +friendship has done, and it will be all the stronger for a summer's +growth. Philip was rash, and has to bear his trial now, and Laura +shares it with him. Be more generous, John; make your trial, bear your +doubts alone, and give Nan the happiness without the pain. Promise me +this, dear,--promise me to hope and wait." + +The young man's eye kindled, and in his heart there rose a better +chivalry, a truer valor, than any Di's knights had ever known. + +"I'll try, mother," was all he said; but she was satisfied, for John +seldom tried in vain. + +"Oh, girls, how splendid you are! It does my heart good to see my +handsome sisters in their best array," cried Nan, one mild October +night, as she put the last touches to certain airy raiment fashioned by +her own skilful hands, and then fell back to survey the grand effect. + +"Di and Laura were preparing to assist at an event of the season," and +Nan, with her own locks fallen on her shoulders, for want of sundry +combs promoted to her sisters' heads and her dress in unwonted +disorder, for lack of the many pins extracted in exciting crises of the +toilet, hovered like an affectionate bee about two very full-blown +flowers. + +"Laura looks like a cool Undine, with the ivy-wreaths in her shining +hair; and Di has illuminated herself to such an extent with those +scarlet leaves that I don't know what great creature she resembles +most," said Nan, beaming with sisterly admiration. + +"Like Juno, Zenobia, and Cleopatra simmered into one, with a touch of +Xantippe by way of spice. But, to my eye, the finest woman of the three +is the dishevelled young person embracing the bed-post: for she stays +at home herself, and gives her time and taste to making homely people +fine,--which is a waste of good material, and an imposition on the +public." + +As Di spoke, both the fashion-plates looked affectionately at the +gray-gowned figure; but, being works of art, they were obliged to nip +their feelings in the bud, and reserve their caresses till they +returned to common life. + +"Put on your bonnet, and we'll leave you at Mrs. Lord's on our way. It +will do you good, Nan; and perhaps there may be news from John," added +Di, as she bore down upon the door like a man-of-war under full sail. + +"Or from Philip," sighed Laura, with a wistful look. + +Whereupon Nan persuaded herself that her strong inclination to sit down +was owing to want of exercise, and the heaviness of her eyelids a freak +of imagination; so, speedily smoothing her ruffled plumage, she ran +down to tell her father of the new arrangement. + +"Go, my dear, by all means. I shall be writing; and you will be lonely +if you stay. But I must see my girls; for I caught glimpses of certain +surprising phantoms flitting by the door." + +Nan led the way, and the two pyramids revolved before him with the +rapidity of lay-figures, much to the good man's edification: for with +his fatherly pleasure there was mingled much mild wonderment at the +amplitude of array. + +"Yes, I see my geese are really swans, though there is such a cloud +between us that I feel a long way off, and hardly know them. But this +little daughter is always available, always my 'cricket on the hearth.'" + +As he spoke, her father drew Nan closer, kissed her tranquil face, and +smiled content. + +"Well, if ever I see picters, I see 'em now, and I declare to goodness +it's as interestin' as playactin', every bit. Miss Di with all them +boughs in her head, looks like the Queen of Sheby, when she went +a-visitin' What's-his-name; and if Miss Laura ain't as sweet as a +lally-barster figger, I should like to know what is." + +In her enthusiasm, Sally gambolled about the girls, flourishing her +milk-pan like a modern Miriam about to sound her timbrel for excess of +joy. + +Laughing merrily, the two Mont Blancs bestowed themselves in the family +ark, Nan hopped up beside Patrick, and Solon, roused from his lawful +slumbers, morosely trundled them away. But, looking backward with a +last "Good-night!" Nan saw her father still standing at the door with +smiling countenance, and the moonlight falling like a benediction on +his silver hair. + +"Betsey shall go up the hill with you, my dear, and here's a basket of +eggs for your father. Give him my love, and be sure you let me know +the next time he is poorly," Mrs. Lord said, when her guest rose to +depart, after an hour of pleasant chat. + +But Nan never got the gift; for, to her great dismay, her hostess +dropped the basket with a crash, and flew across the room to meet a +tall shape pausing in the shadow of the door. There was no need to ask +who the new-comer was; for, even in his mother's arms, John looked over +her shoulder with an eager nod to Nan, who stood among the ruins with +never a sign of weariness in her face, nor the memory of a care at her +heart.--for they all went out when John came in. + +"Now tell us how and why and when you came. Take off your coat, my +dear! And here are the old slippers. Why didn't you let us know you +were coming so soon? How have you been? and what makes you so late +to-night? Betsey, you needn't put on your bonnet. And--oh, my dear +boy, have you been to supper yet?" + +Mrs. Lord was a quiet soul, and her flood of questions was purred +softly in her son's ear; for, being a woman, she must talk, and, being +a mother, must pet the one delight of her life, and make a little +festival when the lord of the manor came home. A whole drove of fatted +calves were metaphorically killed, and a banquet appeared with speed. + +John was not one of those romantic heroes who can go through three +volumes of hair-breadth escapes without the faintest hint of that +blessed institution, dinner; therefore, like "Lady Letherbridge," he +partook, copiously of everything, while the two women beamed over each +mouthful with an interest that enhanced its flavor, and urged upon him +cold meat and cheese, pickles and pie, as if dyspepsia and nightmare +were among the lost arts. + +Then he opened his budget of news and fed them. + +"I was coming next month, according to custom; but Philip fell upon and +so tempted me, that I was driven to sacrifice myself to the cause of +friendship, and up we came to-night. He would not let me come here +till we had seen your father, Nan; for the poor lad was pining for +Laura, and hoped his good behavior for the past year would satisfy his +judge and secure his recall. We had a fine talk with your father; and, +upon my life, Philip seemed to have received the gift of tongues, for +he made a most eloquent plea, which I've stored away for future use, I +assure you. The dear old gentleman was very kind, told Phil he was +satisfied with the success of his probation, that he should see Laura +when he liked, and, if all went well, should receive his reward in the +spring. It must be a delightful sensation to know you have made a +fellow-creature as happy as those words made Phil to-night." + +John paused, and looked musingly at the matronly tea-pot, as if he saw +a wondrous future in its shine. + +Nan twinkled off the drops that rose at the thought of Laura's joy, and +said, with grateful warmth,-- + +"You say nothing of your own share in the making of that happiness, +John; but we know it, for Philip has told Laura in his letters all that +you have been to him, and I am sure there was other eloquence beside +his own before father granted all you say he has. Oh, John, I thank +you very much for this!" + +Mrs. Lord beamed a whole midsummer of delight upon her son, as she saw +the pleasure these words gave him, though he answered simply,-- + +"I only tried to be a brother to him, Nan; for he has been most kind to +me. Yes, I said my little say to-night, and gave my testimony in +behalf of the prisoner at the bar; a most merciful judge pronounced his +sentence, and he rushed straight to Mrs. Leigh's to tell Laura the +blissful news. Just imagine the scene when he appears, and how Di will +open her wicked eyes and enjoy the spectacle of the dishevelled lover, +the bride-elect's tears, the stir, and the romance of the thing. +She'll cry over it to-night, and caricature it to-morrow." + +And John led the laugh at the picture he had conjured up, to turn the +thoughts of Di's dangerous sister from himself. + +At ten Nan retired into the depths of her old bonnet with a far +different face from the one she brought out of it, and John, resuming +his hat, mounted guard. + +"Don't stay late, remember, John!" And in Mrs. Lord's voice there was a +warning tone that her son interpreted aright. + +"I'll not forget, mother." + +And he kept his word; for though Philip's happiness floated temptingly +before him, and the little figure at his side had never seemed so dear, +he ignored the bland winds, the tender night, and set a seal upon his +lips, thinking manfully within himself. "I see many signs of promise in +her happy face; but I will wait and hope a little longer for her sake." + +"Where is father, Sally?" asked Nan, as that functionary appeared, +blinking owlishly, but utterly repudiating the idea of sleep. + +"He went down the garding, miss, when the gentlemen cleared, bein' a +little flustered by the goin's on. Shall I fetch him in?" asked Sally, +as irreverently as if her master were a bag of meal. + +"No, we will go ourselves." And slowly the two paced down the +leaf-strewn walk. + +Fields of yellow grain were waving on the hill-side, and sere corn +blades rustled in the wind, from the orchard came the scent of ripening +fruit, and all the garden-plots lay ready to yield up their humble +offerings to their master's hand. But in the silence of the night a +greater Reaper had passed by, gathering in the harvest of a righteous +life, and leaving only tender memories for the gleaners who had come so +late. + +The old man sat in the shadow of the tree his own hands planted; its +fruit boughs shone ruddily, and its leaves still whispered the low +lullaby that hushed him to his rest. + +"How fast he sleeps! Poor father! I should have come before and made it +pleasant for him." + +As she spoke, Nan lifted up the head bent down upon his breast, and +kissed his pallid cheek. + +"Oh, John, this is not sleep." + +"Yes, dear, the happiest he will ever know." + +For a moment the shadows flickered over three white faces and the +silence deepened solemnly. Then John reverently bore the pale shape in, +and Nan dropped down beside it, saying, with a rain of grateful tears,-- + +"He kissed me when I went, and said a last good-night!'" + +For an hour steps went to and fro about her, many voices whispered near +her, and skilful hands touched the beloved clay she held so fast; but +one by one the busy feet passed out, one by one the voices died away, +and human skill proved vain. + +Then Mrs. Lord drew the orphan to the shelter of her arms, soothing her +with the mute solace of that motherly embrace. + +"Nan, Nan! here's Philip! come and see!" The happy call re-echoed +through the house, and Nan sprang up as if her time for grief were past. + +"I must tell them. Oh, my poor girls, how will they bear it?--they have +known so little sorrow!" + +But there was no need for her to speak; other lips had spared her the +hard task. For, as she stirred to meet them, a sharp cry rent the air, +steps rang upon the stairs, and two wild-eyed creatures came into the +hush of that familiar room, for the first time meeting with no welcome +from their father's voice. + +With one impulse, Di and Laura fled to Nan, and the sisters clung +together in a silent embrace, more eloquent than words. John took his +mother by the hand, and led her from the room, closing the door upon +the sacredness of grief. + +"Yes, we are poorer than we thought; but when everything is settled, we +shall get on very well. We can let a part of this great house, and +live quietly together until spring; then Laura will be married, and Di +can go on their travels with them, as Philip wishes her to do. We +shall be cared for; so never fear for us, John." + +Nan said this, as her friend parted from her a week later, after the +saddest holiday he had ever known. + +"And what becomes of you, Nan?" he asked, watching the patient eyes +that smiled when others would have wept. + +"I shall stay in the dear old house; for no other place would seem like +home to me. I shall find some little child to love and care for, and +be quite happy till the girls come back and want me." + +John nodded wisely, as he listened, and went away prophesying within +himself,-- + +"She shall find something more than a child to love; and, God willing, +shall be very happy till the girls come home and--cannot have her." + +Nan's plan was carried into effect. Slowly the divided waters closed +again, and the three fell back into their old life. But the touch of +sorrow drew them closer; and, though invisible, a beloved presence +still moved among them, a familiar voice still spoke to them in the +silence of their softened hearts. Thus the soil was made ready, and in +the depth of winter the good seed was sown, was watered with many +tears, and soon sprang up green with a promise of a harvest for their +after years. + +Di and Laura consoled themselves with their favorite employments, +unconscious that Nan was growing paler, thinner, and more silent, as +the weeks went by, till one day she dropped quietly before them, and it +suddenly became manifest that she was utterly worn out with many cares +and the secret suffering of a tender heart bereft of the paternal love +which had been its strength and stay. + +"I'm only tired, dear girls. Don't be troubled, for I shall be up +to-morrow," she said cheerily, as she looked into the anxious faces +bending over her. + +But the weariness was of many months' growth, and it was weeks before +that "to-morrow" came. + +Laura installed herself as nurse, and her devotion was repaid +four-fold; for, sitting at her sister's bedside, she learned a finer +art than that she had left. Her eye grew clear to see the beauty of a +self-denying life, and in the depths of Nan's meek nature she found the +strong, sweet virtues that made her what she was. + +Then remembering that these womanly attributes were a bride's best +dowry, Laura gave herself to their attainment, that she might become to +another household the blessing Nan had been to her own; and turning +from the worship of the goddess Beauty, she gave her hand to that +humbler and more human teacher, Duty,--learning her lessons with a +willing heart, for Philip's sake. + +Di corked her inkstand, locked her bookcase, and went at housework as +if it were a five-barred gate; of course she missed the leap, but +scrambled bravely through, and appeared much sobered by the exercise. +Sally had departed to sit under a vine and fig-tree of her own, so Di +had undisputed sway; but if dish-pans and dusters had tongues, direful +would have been the history of that crusade against frost and fire, +indolence and inexperience. But they were dumb, and Di scorned to +complain, though her struggles were pathetic to behold, and her sisters +went through a series of messes equal to a course of "Prince +Benreddin's" peppery tarts. Reality turned Romance out of doors; for, +unlike her favorite heroines in satin and tears, or helmet and shield, +Di met her fate in a big checked apron and dust-cap, wonderful to see; +yet she wielded her broom as stoutly as "Moll Pitcher" shouldered her +gun, and marched to her daily martyrdom in the kitchen with as heroic a +heart as the "Maid of Orleans" took to her stake. + +Mind won the victory over matter in the end, and Di was better all her +days for the tribulations and the triumphs of that time; for she +drowned her idle fancies in her wash-tub, made burnt-offerings of +selfishness and pride, and learned the worth of self-denial, as she +sang with happy voice among the pots and kettles of her conquered realm. + +Nan thought of John, and in the stillness of her sleepless nights +prayed Heaven to keep him safe, and make her worthy to receive and +strong enough to bear the blessedness or pain of love. + +Snow fell without, and keen winds howled among the leafless elms, but +"herbs of grace" were blooming beautifully in the sunshine of sincere +endeavor, and this dreariest season proved the most fruitful of the +year; for love taught Laura, labor chastened Di, and patience fitted +Nan for the blessing of her life. + +Nature, that stillest, yet most diligent of housewives, began at last +that "spring cleaning" which she makes so pleasant that none find the +heart to grumble as they do when other matrons set their premises +a-dust. Her hand-maids, wind and rain and sun, swept, washed, and +garnished busily, green carpets were unrolled, apple-boughs were hung +with draperies of bloom, and dandelions, pet nurslings of the year, +came out to play upon the sward. + +From the South returned that opera troupe whose manager is never in +despair, whose tenor never sulks, whose prima donna never fails, and in +the orchard bona fide matinees were held, to which buttercups and +clovers crowded in their prettiest spring hats, and verdant young +blades twinkled their dewy lorgnettes, as they bowed and made way for +the floral belles. + +May was bidding June good-morrow, and the roses were just dreaming that +it was almost time to wake, when John came again into the quiet room +which now seemed the Eden that contained his Eve. Of course there was a +jubilee; but something seemed to have befallen the whole group, for +never had they appeared in such odd frames of mind. John was restless, +and wore an excited look, most unlike his usual serenity of aspect. + +Nan the cheerful had fallen into a well of silence and was not to be +extracted by any Hydraulic power, though she smiled like the June sky +over her head. Di's peculiarities were out in full force, and she +looked as if she would go off like a torpedo at a touch; but through +all her moods there was a half-triumphant, half-remorseful expression +in the glance she fixed on John. And Laura, once so silent, now sang +like a blackbird, as she flitted to and fro; but her fitful song was +always, "Philip, my king." + +John felt that there had come a change upon the three, and silently +divined whose unconscious influence had wrought the miracle. The +embargo was off his tongue, and he was in a fever to ask that question +which brings a flutter to the stoutest heart; but though the "man" had +come, the "hour" had not. So, by way of steadying his nerves, he paced +the room, pausing often to take notes of his companions, and each pause +seemed to increase his wonder and content. + +He looked at Nan. She was in her usual place, the rigid little chair +she loved, because it once was large enough to hold a curly-headed +playmate and herself. The old work-basket was at her side, and the +battered thimble busily at work; but her lips wore a smile they had +never worn before, the color of the unblown roses touched her cheek, +and her downcast eyes were full of light. + +He looked at Di. The inevitable book was on her knee, but its leaves +were uncut; the strong-minded knob of hair still asserted its supremacy +aloft upon her head, and the triangular jacket still adorned her +shoulders in defiance of all fashions, past, present, or to come; but +the expression of her brown countenance had grown softer, her tongue +had found a curb, and in her hand lay a card with "Potts, Kettel & Co." +inscribed thereon, which she regarded with never a scornful word for +the "Co." + +He looked at Laura. She was before her easel as of old; but the pale +nun had given place to a blooming girl, who sang at her work, which was +no prim Pallas, but a Clytie turning her human face to meet the sun. + +"John, what are you thinking of?" + +He stirred as if Di's voice had disturbed his fancy at some pleasant +pastime, but answered with his usual sincerity,-- + +"I was thinking of a certain dear old fairy tale called 'Cinderella.'" + +"Oh!" said Di; and her "Oh" was a most impressive monosyllable. "I see +the meaning of your smile now; and though the application of the story +is not very complimentary to all parties concerned, it is very just and +very true." + +She paused a moment, then went on with softened voice and earnest +mien:-- + +"You think I am a blind and selfish creature. So I am, but not so blind +and selfish as I have been; for many tears have cleared my eyes, and +much sincere regret has made me humbler than I was. I have found a +better book than any father's library can give me, and I have read it +with a love and admiration that grew stronger as I turned the leaves. +Henceforth I take it for my guide and gospel, and, looking back upon +the selfish and neglectful past, can only say, Heaven bless your dear +heart, Nan!" + +Laura echoed Di's last words; for, with eyes as full of tenderness, she +looked down upon the sister she had lately learned to know, saying, +warmly,-- + +"Yes, 'Heaven bless your dear heart, Nan!' I never can forget all you +have been to me; and when I am far away with Philip, there will always +be one countenance more beautiful to me than any pictured face I may +discover, there will be one place more dear to me than Rome. The face +will be yours, Nan, always so patient, always so serene; and the dearer +place will be this home of ours, which you have made so pleasant to me +all these years by kindnesses as numberless and noiseless as the drops +of dew." + +"Dear girls, what have I ever done, that you should love me so?" cried +Nan, with happy wonderment, as the tall heads, black and golden, bent +to meet the lowly brown one, and her sisters' mute lips answered her. + +Then Laura looked up, saying, playfully,-- + +"Here are the good and wicked sisters;-where shall we find the Prince?" + +"There!" cried Di, pointing to John; and then her secret went off like +a rocket; for, with her old impetuosity, she said,-- + +"I have found you out, John, and am ashamed to look you in the face, +remembering the past. Girls, you know when father died, John sent us +money, which he said Mr. Owen had long owed us and had paid at last? +It was a kind lie, John, and a generous thing to do; for we needed it, +but never would have taken it as a gift. I know you meant that we +should never find this out; but yesterday I met Mr. Owen returning from +the West, and when I thanked him for a piece of justice we had not +expected of him, he gruffly told me he had never paid the debt, never +meant to pay it, for it was outlawed, and we could not claim a +farthing. John, I have laughed at you, thought you stupid, treated you +unkindly; but I know you now, and never shall forget the lesson you +have taught me. I am proud as Lucifer, but I ask you to forgive me, +and I seal my real repentance so--and so." + +With tragic countenance, Di rushed across the room, threw both arms +about the astonished young man's neck and dropped an energetic kiss +upon his cheek. There was a momentary silence; for Di finally +illustrated her strong-minded theories by crying like the weakest of +her sex. Laura, with "the ruling passion strong in death," still tried +to draw, but broke her pet crayon, and endowed her Clytie with a +supplementary orb, owing to the dimness of her own. And Nan sat with +drooping eyes, that shone upon her work, thinking with tender +pride,--"They know him now, and love him for his generous heart." + +Di spoke first, rallying to her colors, though a little daunted by her +loss of self-control. + +"Don't laugh, John,--I couldn't help it; and don't think I'm not +sincere, for I am,--I am; and I will prove it by growing good enough to +be your friend. That debt must all be paid, and I shall do it; for +I'll turn my books and pen to some account, and write stories full of +clear old souls like you and Nan; and some one, I know, will like and +buy them, though they are not 'works of Shakespeare.' I've thought of +this before, have felt I had the power in me; now I have the motive, +and now I'll do it." + +If Di had Proposed to translate the Koran, or build a new Saint Paul's, +there would have been many chances of success; for, once moved, her +will, like a battering-ram, would knock down the obstacles her wits +could not surmount. John believed in her most heartily, and showed it, +as he answered, looking into her resolute face,-- + +"I know you will, and yet make us very proud of our 'Chaos,' Di. Let +the money lie, and when you have a fortune, I'll claim it with enormous +interest; but, believe me, I feel already doubly repaid by the esteem +so generously confessed, so cordially bestowed, and can only say, as we +used to years ago,--'Now let's forgive and so forget." + +But proud Di would not let him add to her obligation, even by returning +her impetuous salute; she slipped away, and, shaking off the last +drops, answered with a curious mixture of old freedom and new respect,-- + +"No more sentiment, please, John. We know each other now; and when I +find a friend, I never let him go. We have smoked the pipe of peace; +so let us go back to our wigwams and bury the feud. Where were we when +I lost my head? and what were we talking about?" + +"Cinderella and the Prince." + +As she spoke, John's eye kindled, and, turning, he looked down at Nan, +who sat diligently ornamenting with microscopic stitches a great patch +going on, the wrong side out. + +"Yes,--so we were; and now taking pussy for the godmother, the +characters of the story are well personated,--all but the slipper," +said Di, laughing, as she thought of the many times they had played it +together years ago. + +A sudden movement stirred John's frame, a sudden purpose shone in his +countenance, and a sudden change befell his voice, as he said, +producing from some hiding-place a little wornout shoe,-- + +"I can supply the slipper;--who will try it first?" + +Di's black eyes opened wide, as they fell on the familiar object; then +her romance-loving nature saw the whole plot of that drama which needs +but two to act it. A great delight flushed up into her face, as she +promptly took her cue, saying-- + +"No need for us to try it, Laura; for it wouldn't fit us, if our feet +were as small as Chinese dolls; our parts are played out; therefore +'Exeunt wicked sisters to the music of the wedding-bells.'" + +And pouncing upon the dismayed artist, she swept her out and closed the +door with a triumphant bang. + +John went to Nan, and, dropping on his knee as reverently as the herald +of the fairy tale, he asked, still smiling, but with lips grown +tremulous,-- + +"Will Cinderella try the little shoe, and--if it fits--go with the +Prince?" + +But Nan only covered up her face, weeping happy tears, while all the +weary work strayed down upon the floor, as if it knew her holiday had +come. + +John drew the hidden face still closer, and while she listened to his +eager words, Nan heard the beating of the strong man's heart, and knew +it spoke the truth. + +"Nan, I promised mother to be silent till I was sure I loved you +wholly,--sure that the knowledge would give no pain when I should tell +it, as I am trying to tell it now. This little shoe has been mv +comforter through this long year, and I have kept it as other lovers +keep their fairer favors. It has been a talisman more eloquent to me +than flower or ring; for, when I saw how worn it was, I always thought +of the willing feet that came and went for others' comfort all day +long; when I saw the little bow you tied, I always thought of the hands +so diligent in serving any one who knew a want or felt a pain; and when +I recalled the gentle creature who had worn it last, I always saw her +patient, tender, and devout,--and tried to grow more worthy of her, +that I might one day dare to ask if she would walk beside me all my +life and be my 'angel in the house.' Will you, dear? Believe me, you +shall never know a weariness or grief I have the power to shield you +from." + +Then Nan, as simple in her love as in her life, laid her arms about his +neck, her happy face against his own, and answered softly,-- + +"Oh, John, I never can be sad or tired any more!" + + + +DEBBY'S DEBUT. + +On a cheery June day Mrs. Penelope Carroll and her niece Debby Wilder, +were whizzing along on their way to a certain gay watering-place, both +in the best of humors with each other and all the world beside. Aunt +Pen was concocting sundry mild romances, and laying harmless plots for +the pursuance of her favorite pastime, match-making; for she had +invited her pretty relative to join her summer jaunt, ostensibly that +the girl might see a little of fashionable life, but the good lady +secretly proposed to herself to take her to the beach and get her a +rich husband, very much as she would have proposed to take her to +Broadway and get her a new bonnet: for both articles she considered +necessary, but somewhat difficult for a poor girl to obtain. + +Debby was slowly getting her poise, after the excitement of a first +visit to New York; for ten days of bustle had introduced the young +philosopher to a new existence, and the working-day world seemed to +have vanished when she made her last pat of butter in the dairy at +home. For an hour she sat thinking over the good-fortune which had +befallen her, and the comforts of this life which she had suddenly +acquired. Debby was a true girl, with all a girl's love of ease and +pleasure; it must not be set down against her that she surveyed her +pretty travelling-suit with much complacency, rejoicing inwardly that +she could use her hands without exposing fractured gloves, that her +bonnet was of the newest mode, needing no veil to hide a faded ribbon +or a last year's shape, that her dress swept the ground with +fashionable untidiness, and her boots were guiltless of a patch,--that +she was the possessor of a mine of wealth in two of the eight trunks +belonging to her aunt, that she was travelling like any lady of the +land with man- and maid-servant at her command, and that she was +leaving work and care behind her for a month or two of novelty and rest. + +When these agreeable facts were fully realized, and Aunt Pen had fallen +asleep behind her veil, Debby took out a book, and indulged in her +favorite luxury, soon forgetting past, present, and future in the +inimitable history of Martin Chuzzlewit. The sun blazed, the cars +rattled, children cried, ladies nodded, gentlemen longed for the solace +of prohibited cigars, and newspapers were converted into sun-shades, +nightcaps, and fans; but Debby read on, unconscious of all about her, +even of the pair of eves that watched her from the Opposite corner of +the car. A Gentleman with a frank, strong-featured face sat therein, +and amused himself by scanning with thoughtful gaze the countenances of +his fellow-travellers. Stout Aunt Pen, dignified even in her sleep, +was a "model of deportment" to the rising generation; but the student +of human nature found a more attractive subject in her companion, the +girl with an apple-blossom face and merry brown eyes, who sat smiling +into her book, never heeding that her bonnet was awry, and the wind +taking unwarrantable liberties with her ribbons and her hair. + +Innocent Debby turned her pages, unaware that her fate sat opposite in +the likeness of a serious, black-bearded gentleman, who watched the +smiles rippling from her lips to her eyes with an interest that +deepened as the minutes passed. If his paper had been full of anything +but "Bronchial Troches" and "Spalding's Prepared Glue," he would have +found more profitable employment; but it wasn't, and with the usual +readiness of idle souls he fell into evil ways, and permitted +curiosity, that feminine sin, to enter in and take possession of his +manly mind. A great desire seized him to discover what book his pretty +neighbor; but a cover hid the name, and he was too distant to catch it +on the fluttering leaves. Presently a stout Emerald-Islander, with her +wardrobe oozing out of sundry paper parcels, vacated the seat behind +the two ladies; and it was soon quietly occupied by the individual for +whom Satan was finding such indecorous employment. Peeping round the +little gray bonnet, past a brown braid and a fresh cheek, the young +man's eye fell upon the words the girl was reading, and forgot to look +away again. Books were the desire of his life; but an honorable +purpose and an indomitable will kept him steady at his ledgers till he +could feel that he had earned the right to read. Like wine to many +another was an open page to his; he read a line, and, longing for more, +took a hasty sip from his neighbor's cup, forgetting that it was a +stranger's also. + +Down the page went the two pairs of eyes, and the merriment from +Debby's seemed to light up the sombre ones behind her with a sudden +shine that softened the whole face and made it very winning. No wonder +they twinkled, for Elijah Pogram spoke, and "Mrs. Hominy, the mother of +the modern Gracchi, in the classical blue cap and the red cotton +pocket-handkerchief, came down the room in a procession of one." A low +laugh startled Debby, though it was smothered like the babes in the +Tower; and, turning, she beheld the trespasser scarlet with confusion, +and sobered with a tardy sense of his transgression. Debby was not a +starched young lady of the "prune and prism" school, but a frank, +free-hearted little body, quick to read the sincerity of others, and to +take looks and words at their real value. Dickens was her idol; and +for his sake she could have forgiven a greater offence than this. + +The stranger's contrite countenance and respectful apology won her +good-will at once; and with a finer courtesy than any Aunt Pen would +have taught, she smilingly bowed her pardon, and, taking another book +from her basket, opened it, saying, pleasantly,-- + +"Here is the first volume if you like it, Sir. I can recommend it as +an invaluable consolation for the discomforts of a summer day's +journey, and it is heartily at your service." + +As much surprised as gratified, the gentleman accepted the book, and +retired behind it with the sudden discovery that wrongdoing has its +compensation in the pleasurable sensation of being forgiven. Stolen +delights are well known to be specially saccharine: and much as this +pardoned sinner loved books, it seemed to him that the interest of the +story flagged, and that the enjoyment of reading was much enhanced by +the proximity of a gray bonnet and a girlish profile. But Dickens soon +proved more powerful than Debby, and she was forgotten, till, pausing +to turn a leaf, the young man met her shy glance, as she asked, with +the pleased expression of a child who has shared an apple with a +playmate,-- + +"Is it good?" + +"Oh, very!"--and the man looked as honestly grateful for the book as +the boy would have done for the apple. + +Only five words in the conversation, but Aunt Pen woke, as if the +watchful spirit of propriety had roused her to pluck her charge from +the precipice on which she stood. + +"Dora, I'm astonished at you! Speaking to strangers in that free manner +is a most unladylike thing. How came you to forget what I have told +you over and over again about a proper reserve?" The energetic whisper +reached the gentleman's ear, and he expected to be annihilated with a +look when his offence was revealed; but he was spared that ordeal, for +the young voice answered, softly,-- + +"Don't faint, Aunt Pen: I only did as I'd be done by; for I had two +books, and the poor man looked so hungry for something to read that I +couldn't resist sharing my 'goodies.' He will see that I'm a +countrified little thing in spite of my fine feathers, and won't be +shocked at my want of rigidity and frigidity; so don't look dismal, and +I'll be prim and proper all the rest of the way,--if I don't forget it." + +"I wonder who he is; may belong to some of our first families, and in +that case it might be worth while to exert ourselves, you know. Did you +learn his name, Dora?" whispered the elder lady. + +Debby shook her head, and murmured, "Hush!"--but Aunt Pen had heard of +matches being made in cars as well as in heaven; and as an experienced +general, it became her to reconnoitre, when one of the enemy approached +her camp. Slightly altering her position, she darted an +all-comprehensive glance at the invader, who seemed entirely absorbed, +for not an eyelash stirred during the scrutiny. It lasted but an +instant, yet in that instant he was weighed and found wanting; for that +experienced eye detected that his cravat was two inches wider than +fashion ordained, that his coat was not of the latest style, that his +gloves were mended, and his handkerchief neither cambric nor silk. +That was enough, and sentence was passed forthwith,--"Some respectable +clerk, good-looking, but poor, and not at all the thing for Dora"; and +Aunt Pen turned to adjust a voluminous green veil over her niece's +bonnet, "To shield it from the dust, dear," which process also shielded +the face within from the eye of man. + +A curious smile, half mirthful, half melancholy, passed over their +neighbor's lips; but his peace of mind seemed undisturbed, and he +remained buried in his book Till they reached -----, at dusk. As he +returned it, he offered his services in procuring a carriage or +attending to luggage; but Mrs. Carroll, with much dignity of aspect, +informed him that her servants would attend to those matters, and, +bowing gravely, he vanished into the night. + +As they rolled away to the hotel, Debby was wild to run down to the +beach whence came the solemn music of the sea, making the twilight +beautiful. But Aunt Pen was too tired to do anything but sup in her +own apartment and go early to bed; and Debby might as soon have +proposed to walk up the great Pyramid as to make her first appearance +without that sage matron to mount guard over her; so she resigned +herself to pie and patience, and fell asleep, wishing it were to-morrow. + +At five, a. m., a nightcapped head appeared at one of the myriad +windows of the ----- Hotel, and remained there as if fascinated by the +miracle of sunrise over the sea. Under her simplicity of character and +girlish merriment Debby possessed a devout spirit and a nature full of +the real poetry of life, two gifts that gave her dawning womanhood its +sweetest charm, and made her what she was. As she looked out that +summer dawn upon the royal marriage of the ocean and the sun, all petty +hopes and longings faded out of sight, and her young face grew luminous +with thoughts too deep for words. Her day was happier for that silent +hour, her life richer for the aspirations that uplifted her like +beautiful strong angels, and left a blessing when they went. The smile +of the June sky touched her lips, the morning red seemed to linger on +her cheek, and in her eye arose a light kindled by the shimmer of that +broad sea of gold; for Nature rewarded her young votary well, and gave +her beauty, when she offered love. How long she leaned there Debby did +not know; steps from below roused her from her reverie, and led her +back into the world again. Smiling at herself, She stole to bed, and +lay wrapped in waking dreams as changeful as the shadows, dancing on +her chamber-wall. + +The advent of her aunt's maid, Victorine, some two hours later, was the +signal to be "up and doing"; and she meekly resigned herself into the +hands of that functionary, who appeared to regard her in the light of +an animated pin-cushion, as she performed the toilet-ceremonies with an +absorbed aspect, which impressed her subject with a sense of the +solemnity of the occasion. + +"Now, Mademoiselle, regard yourself, and pronounce that you are +ravishing," Victorine said at length, folding her hands with a sigh of +satisfaction, as she fell back in an attitude of serene triumph. + +Debby obeyed, and inspected herself with great interest and some +astonishment; for there was a sweeping amplitude of array about the +young lady whom she beheld in the much-befrilled gown and embroidered +skirts, which somewhat alarmed her as to the navigation of a vessel +"with such a spread of sail," while a curious sensation of being +somebody else pervaded her from the crown of her head, with its shining +coils of hair, to the soles of the French slippers, whose energies +seemed to have been devoted to the production of marvellous rosettes. + +"Yes, I look very nice, thank you; and yet I feel like a doll, helpless +and fine, and fancy I was more of a woman in my fresh gingham, with a +knot of clovers in my hair, than I am now. Aunt Pen was very kind to +get me all these pretty things; but I'm afraid my mother would look +horrified to see me in such a high state of flounce externally and so +little room to breath internally." + +"Your mamma would not flatter me, Mademoiselle; but come now to Madame; +she is waiting to behold you, and I have yet her toilet to make "; and, +with a pitying shrug, Victorine followed Debby to her aunt's room. + +"Charming! really elegant!" cried that lady, emerging from her towel +with a rubicund visage. + +"Drop that braid half an inch lower, and pull the worked end of her +handkerchief out of the right-hand pocket, Vic. There! Now, Dora, +don't run about and get rumpled, but sit quietly down and practice +repose till I am ready." + +Debby obeyed, and sat mute, with the air of a child in its Sunday-best +on a week-day, pleased with the novelty, but somewhat oppressed with +the responsibility of such unaccustomed splendor, and utterly unable to +connect any ideas of repose with tight shoes and skirts in a rampant +state of starch. + + +"Well, you see, I bet on Lady Gay against Cockadoodle, and if you'll +believe me--Hullo! there's Mrs. Carroll, and deuse take me if she +hasn't got a girl with her! Look, Seguin!"--and Joe Leavenworth, a +"man of the world," aged twenty, paused in his account of an exciting +race to make the announcement. + +Mr. Seguin, his friend and Mentor, as much his, senior in worldly +wickedness as in years, tore himself from his breakfast long enough to +survey the new-comers, and then returned to it, saying, briefly,-- + +"The old lady is worth cultivating,--gives good suppers, and thanks you +for eating them. The girl is well got up, but has no style, and blushes +like a milkmaid. Better fight shy of her, Joe." + +"Do you think so? Well, now I rather fancy that kind of thing. She's +new, you see, and I get on with that sort of girl the best, for the old +ones are so deused knowing that a fellow has no chance of a--By the +Lord Harry, she's eating bread and milk!" + +Young Leavenworth whisked his glass into his eye, and Mr. Seguin put +down his roll to behold the phenomenon. Poor Debby! her first step had +been a wrong one. + +All great minds have their weak points. Aunt Pen's was her breakfast, +and the peace of her entire day depended upon the success of that meal. +Therefore, being down rather late, the worthy lady concentrated her +energies upon the achievement of a copious repast, and, trusting to +former lessons, left Debby to her own resources for a few fatal +moments. After the flutter occasioned by being scooped into her seat by +a severe-nosed waiter, Debby had only courage enough left to refuse tea +and coffee and accept milk. That being done, she took the first +familiar viand that appeared, and congratulated herself upon being able +to get her usual breakfast. With returning composure, she looked about +her and began to enjoy the buzz of voices, the clatter of knives and +forks, and the long lines of faces all intent upon the business of the +hour; but her peace was of short duration. Pausing for a fresh relay of +toast, Aunt Pen glanced toward her niece with the comfortable +conviction that her appearance was highly creditable; and her dismay +can be imagined, when she beheld that young lady placidly devouring a +great cup of brown-bread and milk before the eyes of the assembled +multitude. The poor lady choked in her coffee, and between her gasps +whispered irefully behind her napkin,-- + +"For Heaven's sake, Dora, put away that mess! The Ellenboroughs are +directly opposite, watching everything you do. Eat that omelet, or +anything respectable, unless you want me to die of mortification." + +Debby dropped her spoon, and, hastily helping herself from the dish her +aunt pushed toward her, consumed the leathery compound with as much +grace as she could assume, though unable to repress a laugh at Aunt +Pen's disturbed countenance. There was a slight lull in the clatter, +and the blithe sound caused several heads to turn toward the quarter +whence it came, for it was as unexpected and pleasant a sound as a +bobolink's song in a cage of shrill-voiced canaries. + +"She's a jolly little thing and powerful pretty, so deuse take me if I +don't make up to the old lady and find out who the girl is. I've been +introduced to Mrs. Carroll at our house: but I suppose she won't +remember me till I remind her." + +The "deuse" declining to accept of his repeated offers (probably +because there was still too much honor and honesty in the boy,) young +Leavenworth sought out Mrs. Carroll on the Piazza, as she and Debby +were strolling there an hour later. + +"Joe Leavenworth, my dear, from one of our first families,--very +wealthy,--fine match,--pray, be civil,--smooth your hair, hold back +your shoulders, and put down your parasol," murmured Aunt Pen, as the +gentleman approached with as much pleasure in his countenance as it was +consistent with manly dignity to express upon meeting two of the +inferior race. + +"My niece, Miss Dora Wilder. This is her first season at the beach, +and we must endeavor to make it pleasant for her, or she will be +getting homesick and running away to mamma," said Aunt Pen, in her +society-tone, after she had returned his greeting, and perpetrated a +polite fiction, by declaring that she remembered him perfectly, for he +was the image of his father. + +Mr. Leavenworth brought the heels of his varnished boots together with +a click, and executed the latest bow imported, then stuck his glass in +his eye and stared till it fell out, (the glass, not the eye,) upon +which he fell into step with them, remarking,-- + +"I shall be most happy to show the lions: they are deused tame ones, so +you needn't be alarmed. Miss Wilder." + +Debby was good-natured enough to laugh; and, elated with that success, +he proceeded to pour forth his stores of wit and learning in true +collegian style, quite unconscious that the "jolly little thing" was +looking him through and through with the smiling eyes that were +producing such pleasurable sensations under the mosaic studs. They +strolled toward the beach, and, meeting an old acquaintance, Aunt Pen +fell behind, and beamed upon the young pair as if her prophetic eye +even at this early stage beheld them walking altarward in a proper +state of blond white vest and bridal awkwardness. + +"Can you skip a stone, Mr. Leavenworth? asked Debby, possessed with a +mischievous desire to shock the piece of elegance at her side. + +"Eh? what's that?" he inquired, with his head on one side, like an +inquisitive robin. + +Debby repeated her question, and illustrated it by sending a stone +skimming over the water in the most scientific manner. Mr. Joe was +painfully aware that this was not at all "the thing," that his sisters +never did so, and that Seguin would laugh confoundedly, if he caught +him at it; but Debby looked so irresistibly fresh and pretty under her +rose-lined parasol that he was moved to confess that he had done such a +thing, and to sacrifice his gloves by poking in the sand, that he might +indulge in a like unfashionable pastime. + +"You'll be at the hop to-night, I hope, Miss Wilder," he observed, +introducing a topic suited to a young lady's mental capacity. + +"Yes, indeed; for dancing is one of the joys of my life, next to +husking and making hay"; and Debby polked a few steps along the beach, +much to the edification of a pair of old gentlemen, serenely taking +their first constitutional. + +"Making what?" cried Mr. Joe, poking after her. + +"Hay; ah, that is the pleasantest fun in the world,--and better +exercise, my mother says, for soul and body, than dancing till dawn in +crowded rooms, with everything in a state of unnatural excitement. If +one wants real merriment, let him go into a new-mown field, where all +the air is full of summer odors, where wild-flowers nod along the +walls, where blackbirds make finer music than any band, and sun and +wind and cheery voices do their part, while windrows rise, and great +loads go rumbling through the lanes with merry brown faces atop. Yes, +much as I like dancing, it is not to be compared with that; for in the +one case we shut out the lovely world, and in the other we become a +part of it, till by its magic labor turns to poetry, and we harvest +something better than dried buttercups and grass." + +As she spoke, Debby looked up, expecting to meet a glance of +disapproval; but something in the simple earnestness of her manner had +recalled certain boyish pleasures as innocent as they were hearty, +which now contrasted very favorably with the later pastimes in which +fast horses, and that lower class of animals, fast men, bore so large a +part. Mr. Joe thoughtfully punched five holes in the sand, and for a +moment Debby liked the expression of his face; then the old +listlessness returned, and, looking up, he said, with an air of ennui +that was half sad, half ludicrous, in one so young and so generously +endowed with youth, health, and the good gifts of this life,-- + +"I used to fancy that sort of thing years ago, but I'm afraid I should +find it a little slow now, though you describe it in such an inviting +manner that I would be tempted to try it, if a hay-cock came in my way; +for, upon my life, it's deused heavy work loafing about at these +watering-places all summer. Between ourselves, there's a deal of +humbug about this kind of life, as you will find, when you've tried it +as long as I have." + +"Yes, I begin to think so already; but perhaps you can give me a few +friendly words of warning from the stones of your experience, that I +may be spared the pain of saying what so many look,--'Grandma, the +world is hollow; my doll is stuffed with sawdust; and I should 'like to +go into a convent, if you please.'" + +Debby's eyes were dancing with merriment; but they were demurely +down-cast, and her voice was perfectly serious. + +The milk of human kindness had been slightly curdled for Mr. Joe by +sundry college-tribulations; and having been "suspended," he very +naturally vibrated between the inborn jollity of his temperament and +the bitterness occasioned by his wrongs. + +He had lost at billiards the night before, had been hurried at +breakfast, had mislaid his cigar-case, and splashed his boots; +consequently the darker mood prevailed that morning, and when his +counsel was asked, he gave it like one who bad known the heaviest +trials of this "Piljin Projiss of a wale." + +"There's no justice in the world, no chance for us young people to +enjoy ourselves, without some penalty to pay, some drawback to worry us +like these confounded 'all-rounders.' Even here, where all seems free +and easy, there's no end of gossips and spies who tattle and watch till +you feel as if you lived in a lantern. 'Every one for himself, and the +Devil take the hindmost'; that's the principle they go on, and you have +to keep your wits about you in the most exhausting manner, or you are +done for before you know it. I've seen a good deal of this sort of +thing, and hope you'll get on better than some do, when it's known that +you are the rich Mrs. Carroll's niece; though you don't need that fact +to enhance your charms,--upon my life, you don't." + +Debby laughed behind her parasol at this burst of candor; but her +independent nature prompted her to make a fair beginning, in spite of +Aunt Pen's polite fictions and well-meant plans. + +"Thank you for your warning, but I don't apprehend much annoyance of +that kind," she said, demurely. "Do you know, I think, if young ladies +were truthfully labelled when they went into society, it would be a +charming fashion, and save a world of trouble? Something in this +style:--'Arabella Marabout, aged nineteen, fortune $100,000, temper +warranted'; 'Laura Eau-de-Cologne, aged twenty-eight, fortune $30,000, +temper slightly damaged'; Deborah Wilder, aged eighteen, fortune, one +pair of hands, one head, indifferently well filled, one heart, (not in +the market,) temper decided, and no expectations.' There, you see, that +would do away with much of the humbug you lament, and we poor souls +would know at once whether we were sought for our fortunes or +ourselves, and that would be so comfortable!" + +Mr. Leavenworth turned away, with a convicted sort of expression, as +she spoke, and, making a spyglass of his hand, seemed to be watching +something out at sea with absorbing interest. He had been guilty of a +strong desire to discover whether Debby was an heiress, but had not +expected to be so entirely satisfied on that important subject, and was +dimly conscious that a keen eye had seen his anxiety, and a quick wit +devised a means of setting it at rest forever. Somewhat disconcerted, +he suddenly changed the conversation, and, like many another distressed +creature, took to the water, saying briskly,-- + +"By-the-by, Miss Wilder, as I've engaged to do the honors, shall I have +the pleasure of bathing with you when the fun begins? As you are fond +of hay-making, I suppose you intend to pay your respects to the old +gentleman with the three-pronged pitchfork?" + +"Yes, Aunt Pen means to put me through a course of salt water, and any +instructions in the art of navigation will be gratefully received; for +I never saw the ocean before, and labor under a firm conviction, that, +once in, I never shall come out again till I am brought, like Mr. +Mantilini, a 'damp, moist, unpleasant body.'" + +As Debby spoke, Mrs. Carroll hove in sight, coming down before the wind +with all sails set, and signals of distress visible long before she +dropped anchor and came along-side. The devoted woman had been +strolling slowly for the girl's sake, though oppressed with a mournful +certainty that her most prominent feature was fast becoming a fine +copper-color; yet she had sustained herself like a Spartan matron, till +it suddenly occurred to her that her charge might be suffering a like + + "sea-change + Into something rich and strange." + +Her fears, however, were groundless, for Debby met her without a +freckle, looking all the better for her walk; and though her feet were +wet with chasing the waves, and her pretty gown the worse for salt +water, Aunt Pen never chid her for the destruction of her raiment, nor +uttered a warning word against an unladylike exuberance of spirits, but +replied to her inquiry most graciously,-- + +"Certainly, my love, we shall bathe at eleven, and there will be just +time to get Victorine and our dresses; so run on to the house, and I +will join you as soon as I have finished what I am saying to Mrs. +Earl,"--then added, in a stage-aside, as she put a fallen lock off the +girl's forehead, "You are doing beautifully! He is evidently struck; +make yourself interesting, and don't burn your nose, I beg of you." + +Debby's bright face clouded over, and she walked on with so much +stateliness that her escort wondered "what the deuse the old lady had +done to her," and exerted himself to the utmost to recall her merry +mood, but with indifferent success. + + +"Now I begin to feel more like myself, for this is getting back to +first principles, though I fancy I look like the little old woman who +fell asleep on the king's highway and woke up with abbreviated drapery; +and you look funnier still, Aunt Pen," said Debby, as she tied on her +pagoda-hat, and followed Mrs. Carroll, who walked out of her +dressing-room an animated bale of blue cloth surmounted by a gigantic +sun-bonnet. + +Mr. Leavenworth was in waiting, and so like a blond-headed lobster in +his scarlet suit that Debby could hardly keep her countenance as they +joined the groups of bathers gathering along the breezy shore. + +For an hour each day the actors and actresses who played their +different roles at the ----- Hotel with such precision and success put +off their masks and dared to be themselves. The ocean wrought the +change, for it took old and young into its arms, and for a little while +they played like children in their mother's lap. No falsehood could +withstand its rough sincerity; for the waves washed paint and powder +from worn faces, and left a fresh bloom there. No ailment could +entirely resist its vigorous cure; for every wind brought healing on +its wings, endowing many a meagre life with another year of health. No +gloomy spirit could refuse to listen to its lullaby, and the spray +baptized it with the subtile benediction of a cheerier mood. No rank +held place there; for the democratic sea toppled down the greatest +statesman in the land, and dashed over the bald pate of a millionnaire +with the same white-crested wave that stranded a poor parson on the +beach and filled a fierce reformer's mouth with brine. No fashion +ruled, but that which is as old as Eden,--the beautiful fashion of +simplicity. Belles dropped their affectations with their hoops, and +ran about the shore blithe-hearted girls again. Young men forgot their +vices and their follies, and were not ashamed of the real courage, +strength, and skill they had tried to leave behind them with their +boyish plays. Old men gathered shells with the little Cupids dancing +on the sand, and were better for that innocent companionship; and young +mothers never looked so beautiful as when they rocked their babies on +the bosom of the sea. + +Debby vaguely felt this charm, and, yielding to it, splashed and sang +like any beach-bird, while Aunt Pen bobbed placidly up and down in a +retired corner, and Mr. Leavenworth swam to and fro, expressing his +firm belief in mermaids, sirens, and the rest of the aquatic +sisterhood, whose warbling no manly ear can resist. + +"Miss Wilder, you must learn to swim. I've taught quantities of young +ladies, and shall be delighted to launch the 'Dora,' if you'll accept +me as a pilot. Stop a bit; I'll get a life-preserver," and leaving +Debby to flirt with the waves, the scarlet youth departed like a flame +of fire. + +A dismal shriek interrupted his pupil's play, and looking up, she saw +her aunt beckoning wildly with one hand, while she was groping in the +water with the other. Debby ran to her, alarmed at her tragic +expression, and Mrs. Carroll, drawing the girl's face into the privacy +of her big bonnet, whispered one awful word, adding, distractedly,-- + +"Dive for them! oh, dive for them! I shall be perfectly helpless, if +they are lost!" + +"I can't dive, Aunt Pen; but there is a man, let us ask him," said +Debby, as a black head appeared to windward. + +But Mrs. Carroll's "nerves" had received a shock, and, gathering up her +dripping garments, she fled precipitately along the shore and vanished +into her dressing-room. + +Debby's keen sense of the ludicrous got the better of her respect, and +peal after peal of laughter broke from her lips, till a splash behind +her put an end to her merriment, and, turning, she found that this +friend in need was her acquaintance of the day before. The gentleman +seemed pausing for permission to approach, with much the appearance of +a sagacious Newfoundland, wistful and wet. + +"Oh, I'm very glad it's you, Sir!" was Debby's cordial greeting, as she +shook a drop off the end of her nose, and nodded, smiling. + +The new-comer immediately beamed upon her like an amiable Triton, +saying, as they turned shoreward,-- + +"Our first interview opened with a laugh on my side, and our second +with one on yours. I accept the fact as a good omen. Your friend +seemed in trouble; allow me to atone for my past misdemeanors by +offering my services now. But first let me introduce myself; and as I +believe in the fitness of things, let me present you with an +appropriate card"; and, stooping, the young man wrote "Frank Evan" on +the hard sand at Debby's feet. + +The girl liked his manner, and, entering into the spirit of the thing, +swept as grand a curtsy as her limited drapery would allow saying, +merrily,-- + +"I am Debby Wilder, or Dora, as aunt prefers to call me; and instead of +laughing, I ought to be four feet under water, looking for something we +have lost; but I can't dive, and my distress is dreadful, as you see." + +"What have you lost? I will look for it, and bring it back in spite of +the kelpies, if it is a human possibility," replied Mr. Evan, pushing +his wet locks out of his eyes, and regarding the ocean with a +determined aspect. + +Debby leaned toward him, whispering with solemn countenance,-- + +"It is a set of teeth, Sir." + +Mr. Evan was more a man of deeds than words, therefore he disappeared +at once with a mighty splash, and after repeated divings and much +laughter appeared bearing the chief ornament of Mrs. Penelope Carroll's +comely countenance. Debby looked very pretty and grateful as she +returned her thanks, and Mr. Evan was guilty of a secret wish that all +the worthy lady's features were at the bottom of the sea, that he might +have the satisfaction of restoring them to her attractive niece; but +curbing this unnatural desire, he bowed, saying, gravely,-- + +"Tell your aunt, if you please, that this little accident will remain a +dead secret, so far as I am concerned, and I am very glad to have been +of service at such a critical moment." + +Whereupon Mr. Evan marched again into the briny deep, and Debby trotted +away to her aunt, whom she found a clammy heap of blue flannel and +despair. Mrs. Carroll's temper was ruffled, and though she joyfully +rattled in her teeth, she said, somewhat testily, when Debby's story +was done,-- + +"Now that man will have a sort of claim on us, and we must be civil, +whoever he is. Dear! dear! I wish it had been Joe Leavenworth instead. +Evan,--I don't remember any of our first families with connections of +that name, and I dislike to be under obligations to a person of that +sort, for there's no knowing how far he may presume; so, pray, be +careful, Dora." + +"I think you are very ungrateful, Aunt Pen; and if Mr. Evan should +happen to be poor, it does not become me to turn up my nose at him, for +I'm nothing but a make-believe myself just now. I don't wish to go down +upon my knees to him, but I do intend to be as kind to him as I should +to that conceited Leavenworth boy; yes, kinder even; for poor people +value such things more, as I know very well." + +Mrs. Carroll instantly recovered her temper, changed the subject, and +privately resolved to confine her prejudices to her own bosom, as they +seemed to have an aggravating effect upon the youthful person whom she +had set her heart on disposing of to the best advantage. + +Debby took her swimming-lesson with much success, and would have +achieved her dinner with composure, if white-aproned gentlemen had not +effectually taken away her appetite by whisking bills-of-fare into her +hands, and awaiting her orders with a fatherly interest, which induced +them to congregate mysterious dishes before her, and blandly rectify +her frequent mistakes. She survived the ordeal, however, and at four +p.m. went to drive with "that Leavenworth boy" in the finest turnout +----- could produce. Aunt Pen then came off guard, and with a sigh of +satisfaction subsided into a peaceful doze, still murmuring, even in +her sleep,-- + +"Propinquity, my love, propinquity works wonders." + + + +"Aunt Pen, are you a modest woman?" asked the young crusader against +established absurdities, as she came into the presence-chamber that +evening ready for the hop. + +"Bless the child, what does she mean?" cried Mrs. Carroll, with a start +that twitched her back-hair out of Victorine's hands. + +"Would you like to have a daughter of yours go to a party looking as I +look?" continued her niece, spreading her airy dress, and standing very +erect before her astonished relative. + +"Why, of course I should, and be proud to own such a charming +creature," regarding the slender white shape with much +approbation,--adding, with a smile, as she met the girl's eye,-- + +"Ah, I see the difficulty, now; you are disturbed because there is not +a bit of lace over these pretty shoulders of yours. Now don't be +absurd, Dora; the dress is perfectly proper, or Madame Tiphany never +would have sent it home. It is the fashion, child; and many a girl with +such a figure would go twice as decolletee, and think nothing of it, I +assure you." + +Debby shook her head with an energy that set the pink heather-bells +a-tremble in her hair, and her color deepened beautifully as she said, +with reproachful eyes,-- + +"Aunt Pen, I think there is a better fashion in every young girl's +heart than any Madame Tiphany can teach. I am very grateful for all +you have done for me, but I cannot go into public in such an undress as +this; my mother would never allow it, and father never forgive it. +Please don't ask me to, for indeed I cannot do it even for you." + +Debby looked so pathetic that both mistress and maid broke into a laugh +which somewhat reassured the young lady, who allowed her determined +features to relax into a smile, as she said,-- + +"Now, Aunt Pen, you want me to look pretty and be a credit to you; but +how would you like to see my face the color of those geraniums all the +evening?" + +"Why, Dora, you are out of your mind to ask such a thing, when you know +it's the desire of my life to keep your color down and make you look +more delicate," said her aunt, alarmed at the fearful prospect of a +peony-faced protegee. + +"Well, I should be anything but that, if I wore this gown in its +present waistless condition; so here is a remedy which will prevent +such a calamity and ease my mind." + +As she spoke, Debby tied on her little blonde fichu with a gesture +which left nothing more to be said. + +Victorine scolded, and clasped her hands; but Mrs. Carroll, fearing to +push her authority too far, made a virtue of necessity, saying, +resignedly,-- + +"Have your own way, Dora, but in return oblige me by being agreeable to +such persons as I may introduce to you; and some day, when I ask a +favor, remember how much I hope to do for you, and grant it cheerfully." + +"Indeed I will, Aunt Pen, if it is anything I can do without disobeying +mother's 'notions' as you call them. Ask me to wear an orange-colored +gown, or dance with the plainest, poorest man in the room, and I'll do +it; for there never was a kinder aunt than mine in all the world," +cried Debby, eager to atone for her seeming wilfulness, and really +grateful for her escape from what seemed to her benighted mind a very +imminent peril. + +Like a clover-blossom in a vase of camellias little Debby looked that +night among the dashing or languid women who surrounded her; for she +possessed the charm they had lost,--the freshness of her youth. +Innocent gayety sat smiling in her eyes, healthful roses bloomed upon +her cheek, and maiden modesty crowned her like a garland. She was the +creature that she seemed, and, yielding to the influence of the hour, +danced to the music of her own blithe heart. Many felt the spell whose +secret they had lost the power to divine, and watched the girlish +figure as if it were a symbol of their early aspirations dawning +freshly from the dimness of their past. More than one old man thought +again of some little maid whose love made his boyish days a pleasant +memory to him now. More than one smiling fop felt the emptiness of his +smooth speech, when the truthful eyes looked up into his own; and more +than one pale woman sighed regretfully with herself, "I, too, was a +happy-hearted creature once!" + +"That Mr. Evan does not seem very anxious to claim our acquaintance, +after all, and I think better of him on that account. Has he spoken to +you to-night, Dora?" asked Mrs. Carroll, as Debby dropped down beside +her after a "splendid polka." + +"No, ma'am, he only bowed. You see some people are not so presuming as +other people thought they were; for we are not the most attractive +beings on the planet; therefore a gentleman can be polite and then +forget us without breaking any of the Ten Commandments. Don't be +offended with him yet, for he may prove to be some great creature with +a finer pedigree than any of your first families.' Mr. Leavenworth, as +you know everybody, perhaps you can relieve Aunt Pen's mind, by telling +her something about the tall, brown man standing behind the lady with +salmon-colored hair." + +Mr. Joe, who was fanning the top of Debby's head with the best +intentions in life, took a survey, and answered readily,-- + +"Why, that's Frank Evan. I know him, and a deused good fellow he +is,--though he don't belong to our set, you know." + +"Indeed! pray, tell us something about him, Mr. Leavenworth. We met in +the cars, and he did us a favor or two. Who and what is the man?" +asked Mrs. Carroll, relenting at once toward a person who was favorably +spoken of by one who did belong to her "set." + +"Well, let me see," began Mr. Joe, whose narrative powers were not +great. "He is a bookkeeper in my Uncle Josh Loring's importing concern, +and a powerful smart man, they say. There's some kind of clever story +about his father's leaving a load of debts, and Frank's working a +deused number of years till they were paid. Good of him, wasn't it? +Then, just as he was going to take things easier and enjoy life a bit, +his mother died, and that rather knocked him up, you see. He fell +sick, and came to grief generally, Uncle Josh said; so he was ordered +off to get righted, and here he is, looking like a tombstone. I've a +regard for Frank, for he took care of me through the smallpox a year +ago, and I don't forget things of that sort; so, if you wish to be +introduced, Mrs. Carroll, I'll trot him out with pleasure, and make a +proud man of him." + +Mrs. Carroll glanced at Debby, and as that young lady was regarding Mr. +Joe with a friendly aspect, owing to the warmth of his words, she +graciously assented, and the youth departed on his errand. Mr. Evan +went through the ceremony with a calmness wonderful to behold, +considering the position of one lady and the charms of the other, and +soon glided into the conversation with the ease of a most accomplished +courtier. + +"Now I must tear myself away, for I'm engaged to that stout Miss +Bandoline for this dance. She's a friend of my sister's, and I must do +the civil, you know; powerful slow work it is, too, but I pity the poor +soul,--upon my life, I do;" and Mr. Joe assumed the air of a martyr. + +Debby looked up with a wicked smile in her eyes, as she said,-- + +"Ah, that sounds very amiable here; but in five minutes you'll be +murmuring in Miss Bandoline's earm--'I've been pining to come to you +this half hour, but I was obliged to take out that Miss Wilder, you +see--countrified little thing enough, but not bad-looking, and has a +rich aunt; so I've done my duty to her, but deuse take me if I can +stand it any longer." + +Mr. Evan joined in Debby's merriment; but Mr. Joe was so appalled at +the sudden attack that he could only stammer a remonstrance and beat a +hasty retreat, wondering how on earth she came to know that his +favorite style of making himself agreeable to one young lady was by +decrying another. + +"Dora, my love, that is very rude, and 'Deuse' is not a proper +expression for a woman's lips. Pray, restrain your lively tongue, for +strangers may not understand that it is nothing but the sprightliness +of your disposition which sometimes runs away with you." + +"It was only a quotation, and I thought you would admire anything Mr. +Leavenworth said, Aunt Pen," replied Debby, demurely. + +Mrs. Carroll trod on her foot, and abruptly changed the conversation, +by saying, with an appearance of deep interest,-- + +"Mr. Evan, you are doubtless connected with the Malcoms of Georgia; for +they, I believe, are descended from the ancient Evans of Scotland. They +are a very wealthy and aristocratic family, and I remember seeing their +coat-of-arms once: three bannocks and a thistle." + +Mr. Evan had been standing before them with a composure which impressed +Mrs. Carroll with a belief in his gentle blood, for she remembered her +own fussy, plebeian husband, whose fortune had never been able to +purchase him the manners of a gentleman. Mr. Evan only grew a little +more erect, as he replied, with an untroubled mien,-- + +"I cannot claim relationship with the Malcoms of Georgia or the Evans +of Scotland, I believe, Madam. My father was a farmer, my grandfather +a blacksmith, and beyond that my ancestors may have been +street-sweepers, for anything I know; but whatever they were, I fancy +they were honest men, for that has always been our boast, though, like +President Jackson's, our coat-of-arms is nothing but 'a pair of +shirt-sleeves.'" + +From Debby's eyes there shot a bright glance of admiration for the +young man who could look two comely women in the face and serenely own +that he was poor. Mrs. Carroll tried to appear at ease, and, gliding +out of personalities, expatiated on the comfort of "living in a land +where fame and fortune were attainable by all who chose to earn them," +and the contempt she felt for those "who had no sympathy with the +humbler classes, no interest in the welfare of the race," and many more +moral reflections as new and original as the Multiplication-Table or +the Westminster Catechism. To all of which Mr. Evan listened with +polite deference, though there was something in the keen intelligence +of his eye that made Debby blush for shallow Aunt Pen, and rejoice when +the good lady got out of her depth and seized upon a new subject as a +drowning mariner would a hen-coop. + +"Dora, Mr. Ellenborough is coming this way; you have danced with him +but once, and he is a very desirable partner; so, pray, accept, if he +asks you," said Mrs. Carroll, watching a far-off individual who seemed +steering his zigzag course toward them. + +"I never intend to dance with Mr. Ellenborough again, so please don't +urge me, Aunt Pen;" and Debby knit her brows with a somewhat irate +expression. + +"My love, you astonish me! He is a most agreeable and accomplished +young man,--spent three years in Paris, moves in the first circles, and +is considered an ornament to fashionable society. + +"What can be your objection, Dora?" cried Mrs. Carroll, looking as +alarmed as if her niece had suddenly announced her belief in the Koran. + +"One of his accomplishments consists in drinking champagne till he is +not a 'desirable partner' for any young lady with a prejudice in favor +of decency. His moving in 'circles' is just what I complain of; and if +he is an ornament, I prefer my society undecorated. Aunt Pen, I cannot +make the nice distinctions you would have me, and a sot in broadcloth +is as odious as one in rags. Forgive me, but I cannot dance with that +silver-labelled decanter again." + +Debby was a genuine little piece of womanhood; and though she tried to +speak lightly, her color deepened, as she remembered looks that had +wounded her like insults, and her indignant eyes silenced the excuses +rising to her aunt's lips. Mrs. Carroll began to rue the hour she ever +undertook the guidance of Sister Deborah's headstrong child, and for an +instant heartily wished she had left her to bloom unseen in the shadow +of the parsonage; but she concealed her annoyance, still hoping to +overcome the girl's absurd resolve, by saying, mildly,-- + +"As you please, dear; but if you refuse Mr. Ellenborough, you will be +obliged to sit through the dance, which is your favorite, you know." + +Debby's countenance fell, for she had forgotten that, and the Lancers +was to her the crowning rapture of the night. She paused a moment, and +Aunt Pen brightened; but Debby made her little sacrifice to principle +as heroically as many a greater one had been made, and, with a wistful +look down the long room, answered steadily, though her foot kept time +to the first strains as she spoke,-- + +"Then I will sit, Aunt Pen; for that is preferable to staggering about +the room with a partner who has no idea of the laws of gravitation." + +"Shall I have the honor of averting either calamity?" said Mr. Evan, +coming to the rescue with a devotion beautiful to see; for dancing was +nearly a lost art with him, and the Lancers to a novice is equal to a +second Labyrinth of Crete. + +"Oh, thank you!" cried Debby, tumbling fan, bouquet, and handkerchief +into Mrs. Carroll's lap, with a look of relief that repaid him fourfold +for the trials he was about to undergo. They went merrily away +together, leaving Aunt Pen to wish that it was according to the laws of +etiquette to rap officious gentlemen over the knuckles, when they +introduce their fingers into private pies without permission from the +chief cook. How the dance went Debby hardly knew, for the conversation +fell upon books, and in the interest of her favorite theme she found +even the "grand square" an impertinent interruption, while her own +deficiences became almost as great as her partner's; yet, when the +music ended with a flourish, and her last curtsy was successfully +achieved, she longed to begin all over again, and secretly regretted +that she was engaged four deep. + +"How do you like our new acquaintance, Dora?" asked Aunt Pen, following +Joe Leavenworth with her eye, as the "yellow-haired laddie" whirled by +with the ponderous Miss Flora. + +"Very much; and I'm glad we met as we did, for it makes things free and +easy, and that is so agreeable in this ceremonious place," replied +Debby, looking in quite an opposite direction. + +"Well, I'm delighted to hear you say so, dear, for I was afraid you had +taken a dislike to him, and he is really a very charming young man, +just the sort of person to make a pleasant companion for a few weeks. +These little friendships are part of the summer's amusement, and do no +harm; so smile away. Dora, and enjoy yourself while you may." + +"Yes, Aunt, I certainly will, and all the more because I have found a +sensible soul to talk to. Do you know, he is very witty and well +informed, though he says he never had much time for self-cultivation? +But I think trouble makes people wise, and he seems to have had a good +deal, though he leaves it for others to tell of. I am glad you are +willing I should know him, for I shall enjoy talking about my pet +heroes with him as a relief from the silly chatter I must keep up most +of the time." + +Mrs. Carroll was a woman of one idea; and though a slightly puzzled +expression appeared in her face, she listened approvingly, and +answered, with a gracious smile,-- + +"Of course, I should not object to your knowing such a person, my love; +but I'd no idea Joe Leavenworth was a literary man, or had known much +trouble, except his father's death and his sister Clementina's +runaway-marriage with her drawing-master." + +Debby opened her brown eyes very wide, and hastily picked at the down +on her fan, but had no time to correct her aunt's mistake, for the real +subject of her commendations appeared at that moment, and Mrs. Caroll +was immediately absorbed in the consumption of a large pink ice. + +"That girl is what I call a surprise-party, now," remarked Mr. Joe +confidentially to his cigar, as he pulled off his coat and stuck his +feet up in the privacy of his own apartment. "She looks as mild as +strawberries and cream till you come to the complimentary, then she +turns on a fellow with that deused satirical look of hers, and makes +him feel like a fool. I'll try the moral dodge to-morrow and see what +effect that will have; for she is mighty taking, and I must amuse +myself somehow, you know." + +"How many years will it take to change that fresh-hearted little girl +into a fashionable belle, I wonder?" thought Frank Evan, as he climbed +the four flights that led to his "sky-parlor." + +"What a curious world this is!" mused Debby, with her nightcap in her +hand. "The right seems odd and rude, the wrong respectable and easy, +and this sort of life a merry-go-round, with no higher aim than +pleasure. Well, I have made my Declaration of Independence, and Aunt +Pen must be ready for a Revolution if she taxes me too heavily." + +As she leaned her hot cheek on her arm, Debby's eye fell on the quaint +little cap made by the motherly hands that never were tired of working +for her. She touched it tenderly, and love's simple magic swept the +gathering shadows from her face, and left it clear again, as her +thoughts flew home like birds into the shelter of their nest. + +"Good night, mother! I'll face temptation steadily. I'll try to take +life cheerily, and do nothing that shall make your dear face a +reproach, when it looks into my own again." + +Then Debby said her prayers like any pious child, and lay down to dream +of pulling buttercups with Baby Bess, and singing in the twilight on +her father's knee. + + + +The history of Debby's first day might serve as a sample of most that +followed, as week after week went by with varying pleasures and +increasing interest to more than one young debutante. + +Mrs. Carroll did her best, but Debby was too simple for a belle, too +honest for a flirt, too independent for a fine lady; she would be +nothing but her sturdy little self, open as daylight, gay as a lark, +and blunt as any Puritan. Poor Aunt Pen was in despair, till she +observed that the girl often "took" with the very peculiarities which +she was lamenting; this somewhat consoled her, and she tried to make +the best of the pretty bit of homespun which would not and could not +become velvet or brocade. Seguin, Ellenborough, & Co. looked with +lordly scorn upon her, as a worm blind to their attractions. Miss +MacRimsy and her "set" quizzed her unmercifully behind her back, after +being worsted in several passages of arms; and more than one successful +mamma condoled with Aunt Pen upon the terribly defective education of +her charge, till that stout matron could have found it in her heart to +tweak off their caps and walk on them, like the irascible Betsey +Trotwood. + +But Debby had a circle of admirers who loved her with a sincerity few +summer queens could boast; for they were real friends, won by gentle +arts, and retained by the gracious sweetness of her nature. Moon-faced +babies crowed and clapped their chubby hands when she passed by their +wicker-thrones; story-loving children clustered round her knee, and +never were denied; pale invalids found wild-flowers on their pillows; +and forlorn papas forgot the state of the moneymarket when she sang for +them the homely airs their daughters had no time to learn. Certain +plain young ladies poured their woes into her friendly ear, and were +comforted; several smart Sophomores fell into a state of chronic +stammer, blush, and adoration, when she took a motherly interest in +their affairs; and a melancholy old Frenchman blessed her with the +enthusiasm of his nation, because she put a posy in the button-hole of +his rusty coat, and never failed to smile and bow as he passed by. Yet +Debby was no Edgworth heroine preternaturally prudent, wise, and +untemptable; she had a fine crop of piques, vanities, and dislikes +growing up under this new style of cultivation. She loved admiration, +enjoyed her purple and fine linen, hid new-born envy, disappointed +hope, and wounded pride behind a smiling face, and often thought with a +sigh of the humdrum duties that awaited her at home. But under the +airs and graces Aunt Pen cherished with such sedulous care, under the +flounces and furbelows Victorine daily adjusted with groans, under the +polish which she acquired with feminine ease, the girl's heart still +beat steadfast and strong, and conscience kept watch and ward that no +traitor should enter in to surprise the citadel which mother-love had +tried to garrison so well. + +In pursuance of his sage resolve, Mr. Joe tried the "moral dodge," as +he elegantly expressed it, and, failing in that, followed it up with +the tragic, religious, negligent, and devoted ditto; but acting was not +his forte, so Debby routed him in all; and at last, when he was at his +wit's end for an idea, she suggested one, and completed her victory by +saying pleasantly,-- + +"You took me behind the curtain too soon, and now the paste-diamonds +and cotton-velvet don't impose upon me a bit. Just be your natural +self, and we shall get on nicely, Mr. Leavenworth." + +The novelty of the proposal struck his fancy, and after a few relapses +it was carried into effect and thenceforth, with Debby, he became the +simple, good-humored lad Nature designed him to be, and, as a proof of +it, soon fell very sincerely in love. + +Frank Evan, seated in the parquet of society, surveyed the dress-circle +with much the same expression that Debby had seen during Aunt Pen's +oration; but he soon neglected that amusement to watch several actors +in the drama going on before his eyes, while a strong desire to perform +a part therein slowly took possession of his mind. + +Debby always had a look of welcome when he came, always treated him +with the kindness of a generous woman who has had an opportunity to +forgive, and always watched the serious, solitary man with a great +compassion for his loss, a growing admiration for his upright life. +More than once the beach-birds saw two figures pacing the sands at +sunrise with the peace of early day upon their faces and the light of a +kindred mood shining in their eyes. More than once the friendly ocean +made a third in the pleasant conversation, and its low undertone came +and went between the mellow bass and silvery treble of the human voices +with a melody that lent another charm to interviews which soon grew +wondrous sweet to man and maid. Aunt Pen seldom saw the twain +together, seldom spoke of Evan; and Debby held her peace, for, when she +planned to make her innocent confessions, she found that what seemed +much to her was nothing to another ear and scarcely worth the telling; +so, unconscious as yet whither the green path led, she went on her way, +leading two lives, one rich and earnest, hoarded deep within herself, +the other frivolous and gay for all the world to criticize. But those +venerable spinsters, the Fates, took the matter into their own hands, +and soon got the better of those short-sighted matrons, Mesdames Grundy +and Carroll; for, long before they knew it, Frank and Debby had begun +to read together a book greater than Dickens ever wrote, and when they +had come to the fairest part of the sweet story Adam first told Eve, +they looked for the name upon the title-page, and found that it was +"Love." + +Fight weeks came and went,--eight wonderfully happy weeks to Debby and +her friend; for "propinquity" had worked more wonders than poor Mrs. +Carroll knew, as the only one she saw or guessed was the utter +captivation of Joe Leavenworth. He had become "himself" to such an +extent that a change of identity would have been a relief; for the +object of his adoration showed no signs of relenting, and he began to +fear, that, as Debby said, her heart was "not in the market." She was +always friendly, but never made those interesting betrayals of regard +which are so encouraging to youthful gentlemen "who fain would climb, +yet fear to fall." She never blushed when he pressed her hand, never +fainted or grew pale when he appeared with a smashed trotting-wagon and +black eye, and actually slept through a serenade that would have won +any other woman's soul out of her body with its despairing quavers. +Matters were getting desperate; for horses lost their charms, "flowing +bowls" palled upon his lips, ruffled shirt-bosoms no longer delighted +him, and hops possessed no soothing power to allay the anguish of his +mind. Mr. Seguin, after unavailing ridicule and pity, took compassion +on him, and from his large experience suggested a remedy, just as he +was departing for a more congenial sphere. + +"Now don't be an idiot, Joe, but, if you want to keep your hand in and +go through a regular chapter of flirtation, just right about face, and +devote yourself to some one else. Nothing like jealousy to teach +womankind their own minds, and a touch of it will bring little Wilder +round in a jiffy. Try it, my boy, and good luck to you!"--with which +Christian advice Mr. Seguin slapped his pupil on the shoulder, and +disappeared, like a modern Mephistopheles, in a cloud of cigar-smoke. + +"I'm glad he's gone, for in my present state of mind he's not up to my +mark at all. I'll try his plan, though, and flirt with Clara West; +she's engaged, so it won't damage her affections; her lover isn't here, +so it won't disturb his; and, by Jove! I must do something, for I +can't stand this suspense." + +Debby was infinitely relieved by this new move, and infinitely amused +as she guessed the motive that prompted it; but the more contented she +seemed, the more violently Mr. Joe flirted with her rival, till at last +weak-minded Miss Clara began to think her absent George the most +undesirable of lovers, and to mourn that she ever said "Yes" to a +merchant's clerk, when she might have said it to a merchant's son. +Aunt Pen watched and approved this stratagem, hoped for the best +results, and believed the day won when Debby grew pale and silent, and +followed with her eyes the young couple who were playing battledore and +shuttle-cock with each other's hearts, as if she took some interest in +the game. But Aunt Pen clashed her cymbals too soon; for Debby's +trouble had a better source than jealousy, and in the silence of the +sleepless nights that stole her bloom she was taking counsel of her own +full heart, and resolving to serve another woman as she would herself +be served in a like peril, though etiquette was outraged and the +customs of polite society turned upside down. + + + +"Look, Aunt Pen! what lovely shells and moss I've got! Such a splendid +scramble over the rocks as I've had with Mrs. Duncan's boys! It seemed +so like home to run and sing with a troop of topsy-turvy children that +it did me good; and I wish you had all been there to see." cried Debby, +running into the drawing-room, one day, where Mrs. Carroll and a circle +of ladies sat enjoying a dish of highly flavored scandal, as they +exercised their eyesight over fancy-work. + +"My dear Dora, spare my nerves; and if you have any regard for the +proprieties of life, don't go romping in the sun with a parcel of noisy +boys. If you could see what an object you are, I think you would try +to imitate Miss Clara, who is always a model of elegant repose." + +Miss West primmed up her lips, and settled a fold in her ninth flounce, +as Mrs. Carroll spoke, while the whole group fixed their eyes with +dignified disapproval on the invader of their refined society. Debby +had come like a fresh wind into a sultry room; but no one welcomed the +healthful visitant, no one saw a pleasant picture in the bright-faced +girl with windtossed hair and rustic hat heaped with moss and +many-tinted shells; they only saw that her gown was wet, her gloves +forgotten, and her scarf trailing at her waist in a manner no well-bred +lady could approve. The sunshine faded out of Debby's face, and there +was a touch of bitterness in her tone, as she glanced at the circle of +fashion-plates, saying with an earnestness which caused Miss West to +open her pale eyes to their widest extent,-- + +"Aunt Pen, don't freeze me yet,--don't take away my faith in simple +things, but let me be a child a little longer,--let me play and sing +and keep my spirit blithe among the dandelions and the robins while I +can; for trouble comes soon enough, and all my life will be the richer +and the better for a happy youth." + +Mrs. Carroll had nothing at hand to offer in reply to this appeal, and +four ladies dropped their work to stare; but Frank Evan looked in from +the piazza, saying, as he beckoned like a boy,-- + +"I'll play with you, Miss Dora; come and make sand pies upon the shore. +Please let her, Mrs. Carroll; we'll be very good, and not wet our +pinafores or feet." + +Without waiting for permission, Debby poured her treasures into the lap +of a certain lame Freddy, and went away to a kind of play she had never +known before. Quiet as a chidden child, she walked beside her +companion, who looked down at the little figure, longing to take it on +his knee and call the sunshine back again. That he dared not do; but +accident, the lover's friend, performed the work, and did him a good +turn beside. The old Frenchman was slowly approaching, when a +frolicsome wind whisked off his hat and sent it skimming along the +beach. In spite of her late lecture, away went Debby, and caught the +truant chapeau just as a wave was hurrying up to claim it. This +restored her cheerfulness, and when she returned, she was herself again. + +"A thousand thanks; but does Mademoiselle remember the forfeit I might +demand to add to the favor she has already done me?" asked the gallant +old gentleman, as Debby took the hat off her own head, and presented it +with a martial salute. + +"Ah, I had forgotten that; but you may claim [text missing in original +copy] do something more to give you pleasure;" and Debby looked up into +the withered face which had grown familiar to her, with kind eyes, full +of pity and respect. + +Her manner touched the old man very much; he bent his gray head before +her, saying, gratefully,-- + +"My child, I am not good enough to salute these blooming checks; but I +shall pray the Virgin to reward you for the compassion you bestow on +the poor exile, and I shall keep your memory very green through all my +life." + +He kissed her hand, as if it were a queen's, and went on his way, +thinking of the little daughter whose death left him childless in a +foreign land. + +Debby softly began to sing, "Oh, come unto the yellow sands!" but +stopped in the middle of a line, to say,-- + +"Shall I tell you why I did what Aunt Pen would call a very unladylike +and improper thing, Mr. Evans?" + +"If you will be so kind;" and her companion looked delighted at the +confidence about to be reposed in him. + +"Somewhere across this great wide sea I hope I have a brother," Debby +said, with softened voice and a wistful look into the dim horizon. +"Five years ago he left us, and we have never heard from him since, +except to know that he landed safely in Australia. People tell us he +is dead; but I believe he will yet come home; and so I love to help and +pity any man who needs it, rich or poor, young or old, hoping that as I +do by them some tender-hearted woman far away will do by Brother Will." + +As Debby spoke, across Frank Evan's face there passed the look that +seldom comes but once to any young man's countenance; for suddenly the +moment dawned when love asserted its supremacy, and putting pride, +doubt, and fear underneath its feet, ruled the strong heart royally and +bent it to its will. Debby's thoughts had floated across the sea; but +they came swiftly back when her companion spoke again, steadily and +slow, but with a subtile change in tone and manner which arrested them +at once. + +"Miss Dora, if you should meet a man who had known a laborious youth, a +solitary manhood, who had no sweet domestic ties to make home beautiful +and keep his nature warm, who longed most ardently to be so blessed, +and made it the aim of his life to grow more worthy the good gift, +should it ever come,--if you should learn that you possessed the power +to make this fellow-creature's happiness, could you find it in your +gentle heart to take compassion on him for the love of 'Brother Will'?" + +Debby was silent, wondering why heart and nerves and brain were stirred +by such a sudden thrill, why she dared not look up, and why, when she +desired so much to speak, she could only answer, in a voice that +sounded strange to her own ears,-- + +"I cannot tell." + +Still, steadily and slow, with strong emotion deepening and softening +his voice, the lover at her side went on,-- + +"Will you ask yourself this question in some quiet hour? For such a +man has lived in the sunshine of your presence for eight happy weeks, +and now, when his holiday is done, he finds that the old solitude will +be more sorrowful than ever, unless he can discover whether his summer +dream will change into a beautiful reality. Miss Dora, I have very +little to offer you; a faithful heart to cherish you, a strong arm to +work for you, an honest name to give into your keeping,--these are all; +but if they have any worth in your eyes, they are most truly yours +forever." + +Debby was steadying her voice to reply, when a troop of bathers came +shouting down the bank, and she took flight into her dressing-room, +there to sit staring at the wall, till the advent of Aunt Pen forced +her to resume the business of the hour by assuming her aquatic attire +and stealing shyly down into the surf. + +Frank Evan, still pacing in the footprints they had lately made, +watched the lithe figure tripping to and fro, and, as he looked, +murmured to himself the last line of a ballad Debby sometimes sang,-- + + "Dance light! for my heart it lies under your feet, love!" + +Presently a great wave swept Debby up, and stranded her very near him, +much to her confusion and his satisfaction. Shaking the spray out of +her eyes, she was hurrying away, when Frank said,-- + +"You will trip, Miss Dora; let me tie these strings for you;" and, +suiting the action to the word, he knelt down and began to fasten the +cords of her bathing shoe. + +Debby stood Looking down at the tall head bent before her, with a +curious sense of wonder that a look from her could make a strong man +flush and pale, as he had done; and she was trying to concoct some +friendly speech, when Frank, still fumbling at the knots, said, very +earnestly and low,-- + +"Forgive me, if I am selfish in pressing for an answer; but I must go +to-morrow, and a single word will change my whole future for the better +or the worse. Won't you speak it, Dora?" + +If they had been alone, Debby would have put her arms about his neck, +and said it with all her heart; but she had a presentiment that she +should cry, if her love found vent; and here forty pairs of eyes were +on them, and salt water seemed superfluous. Besides, Debby had not +breathed the air of coquetry so long without a touch of the infection; +and the love of power, that lies dormant in the meekest woman's breast, +suddenly awoke and tempted her. + +"If you catch me before I reach that rock, perhaps I will say 'Yes,'" +was her unexpected answer; and before her lover caught her meaning, she +was floating leisurely away. + +Frank was not in bathing-costume, and Debby never dreamed that he would +take her at her word; but she did not know the man she had to deal +with; for, taking no second thought, he flung hat and coat away, and +dashed into the sea. This gave a serious aspect to Debby's foolish +jest. A feeling of dismay seized her, when she saw a resolute face +dividing the waves behind her, and thought of the rash challenge she +had given; but she had a spirit of her own, and had profited well by +Mr. Joe's instructions: so she drew a long breath, and swam as if for +life, instead of love. Evan was incumbered by his clothing, and Debby +had much the start of him; but, like a second Leander, he hoped to win +his Hero, and, lending every muscle to the work, gained rapidly upon +the little hat which was his beacon through the foam. Debby heard the +deep breathing drawing nearer and nearer, as her pursuer's strong arms +cleft the water and sent it rippling past her lips, something like +terror took possession of her; for the strength seemed going out of her +limbs, and the rock appeared to recede before her; but the +unconquerable blood of the Pilgrims was in her veins, and "Nil +desperandum" her motto; so, setting her teeth, she muttered, +defiantly,-- + +"I'll not be beaten, if I go to the bottom!" + +A great splashing arose, and when Evan recovered the use of his eyes, +the pagoda-hat had taken a sudden turn, and seemed making for the +farthest point of the goal. "I am sure of her now," thought Frank; and, +like a gallant seagod, he bore down upon his prize, clutching it with a +shout of triumph. But the hat was empty, and like a mocking echo came +Debby's laugh, as she climbed, exhausted, to a cranny in the rock. + +"A very neat thing, by Jove! Deuse take me if you a'n't 'an honor to +your teacher, and a terror to the foe,' Miss Wilder," cried Mr. Joe, as +he came up from a solitary cruise and dropped anchor at her side. +"Here, bring along the hat, Evan; I'm going to crown the victor with +appropriate what-d'ye-call-'ems," he continued, pulling a handful of +sea-weed that looked like well-boiled greens. + +Frank came up, smiling; but his lips were white, and in his eye a look +Debby could not meet; so, being full of remorse, she naturally assumed +an air of gayety, and began to sing the merriest air she knew, merely +because she longed to throw herself upon the stones and cry violently. + +"It was 'most as exciting as a regatta, and you pulled well, Evan; but +you had too much ballast aboard, and Miss Wilder ran up false colors +just in time to save her ship. What was the wager?" asked the lively +Joseph, complacently surveying his marine millinery, which would have +scandalized a fashionable mermaid. + +"Only a trifle," answered Debby, knotting up her braids with a +revengeful jerk. + +"It's taken the wind out of your sails, I fancy, Evan, for you look +immensely Byronic with the starch minus in your collar and your hair in +a poetic toss. Come, I'll try a race with you; and Miss Wilder will +dance all the evening with the winner. Bless the man, what's he doing +down there? Burying sunfish, hey?" + +Frank had been sitting below them on a narrow strip of sand, absently +piling up a little mound that bore some likeness to a grave. As his +companion spoke, he looked at it, and a sudden flush of feeling swept +across his face, as he replied,-- + +"No, only a dead hope." + +"Deuse take it, yes, a good many of that sort of craft founder in these +waters, as I know to my sorrow;" and, sighing tragically. Mr. Joe +turned to help Debby from her perch, but she had glided silently into +the sea, and was gone. + +For the next four hours the poor girl suffered the sharpest pain she +had ever known; for now she clearly saw the strait her folly had +betrayed her into. Frank Evan was a proud man, and would not ask her +love again, believing she had tacitly refused it; and how could she +tell him that she had trifled with the heart she wholly loved and +longed to make her own? She could not confide in Aunt Pen, for that +worldly lady would have no sympathy to bestow. She longed for her +mother; but there was no time to write, for Frank was going on the +morrow,--might even then be gone; and as this fear came over her, she +covered up her face and wished that she were dead. Poor Debby! her +last mistake was sadder than her first, and she was reaping a bitter +harvest from her summer's sowing. She sat and thought till her cheeks +burned and her temples throbbed; but she dared not ease her pain with +tears. The gong sounded like a Judgment-Day trump of doom, and she +trembled at the idea of confronting many eyes with such a telltale +face; but she could not stay behind, for Aunt Pen must know the cause. +She tried to play her hard part well; but wherever she looked, some +fresh anxiety appeared, as if every fault and folly of those months had +blossomed suddenly within the hour. She saw Frank Evan more sombre and +more solitary than when she met him first, and cried regretfully within +herself, "How could I so forget the truth I owed him?"--She saw Clara +West watching with eager eyes for the coming of young Leavenworth, and +sighed,--"This is the fruit of my wicked vanity!" She saw Aunt Pen +regarded her with an anxious face, and longed to say, "Forgive me, for +I have not been sincere!" At last, as her trouble grew, she resolved to +go away and have a quiet "think,"--a remedy which had served her in +many a lesser perplexity; so, stealing out, she went to a grove of +cedars usually deserted at that hour. But in ten minutes Joe +Leavenworth appeared at the door of the summer house, and, looking in, +said, with a well-acted start of pleasure and surprise,-- + +"Beg pardon, I thought there was no one here, My dear Miss Wilder, you +look contemplative; but I fancy it wouldn't do to ask the subject of +your meditations, would it?" + +He paused with such an evident intention of remaining that Debby +resolved to make use of the moment, and ease her conscience of one care +that burdened it; therefore she answered his question with her usual +directness,-- + +"My meditations were partly about you." + +Mr. Joe was guilty of the weakness of blushing violently and looking +immensely gratified; but his rapture was of short duration, for Debby +went on very earnestly,-- + +"I believe I am going to do what you may consider a very impertinent +thing; but I would rather be unmannerly than unjust to others or untrue +to my own sense of right. Mr. Leavenworth, if you were an older man, I +should not dare to say this to you; but I have brothers of my own, and, +remembering how many unkind things they do for want of thought, I +venture to remind you that a woman's heart is a perilous plaything, and +too tender to be used for a selfish purpose or an hour's pleasure. I +know this kind of amusement is not considered wrong; but it is wrong, +and I cannot shut my eyes to the fact, or sit silent while another +woman is allowed to deceive herself and wound the heart that trusts +her. Oh, if you love your own sisters, be generous, be just, and do not +destroy that poor girl's happiness, but go away before your sport +becomes a bitter pain to her!" + +Joe Leavenworth had stood staring at Debby with a troubled countenance, +feeling as if all the misdemeanors of his life were about to be paraded +before him; but, as he listened to her plea, the womanly spirit that +prompted it appealed more loudly than her words, and in his really +generous heart he felt regret for what had never seemed a fault before. +Shallow as he was, nature was stronger than education, and he admired +and accepted what many a wiser, worldlier man would have resented with +anger or contempt. He loved Debby with all his little might; he meant +to tell her so, and graciously present his fortune and himself for her +acceptance; but now, when the moment came, the well-turned speech he +had prepared vanished from his memory, and with the better eloquence of +feeling he blundered out his passion like a very boy. + +"Miss Dora, I never meant to make trouble between Clara and her lover; +upon my soul, I didn't, and wish Seguin had not put the notion into my +head, since it has given you pain. I only tried to pique you into +showing some regret, when I neglected you; but you didn't, and then I +got desperate and didn't care what became of any one. Oh, Dora, if you +knew how much I loved you, I am sure you'd forgive it, and let me prove +my repentance by giving up everything that you dislike. I mean what I +say; upon my life I do; and I'll keep my word, if you will only let me +hope." + +If Debby had wanted a proof of her love for Frank Evan, she might have +found it in the fact that she had words enough at her command now, and +no difficulty in being sisterly pitiful toward her second suitor. + +"Please get up," she said; for Mr. Joe, feeling very humble and very +earnest, had gone down upon his knees, and sat there entirely +regardless of his personal appearance. + +He obeyed; and Debby stood looking up at him with her kindest aspect, +as she said, more tenderly than she had ever spoken to him before,-- + +"Thank you for the affection you offer me, but I cannot accept it, for +I have nothing to give you in return but the friendliest regard, the +most sincere good-will. I know you will forgive me, and do for your +own sake the good things you would have done for mine, that I may add +to my esteem a real respect for one who has been very kind to me." + +"I'll try,--indeed, I will, Miss Dora, though it will be powerful hard +without yourself for a help and a reward." + +Poor Joe choked a little, but called up an unexpected manliness, and +added, stoutly,-- + +"Don't think I shall be offended at your speaking so or saying 'No' to +me,--not a bit; it's all right, and I'm much obliged to you. I might +have known you couldn't care for such a fellow as I am, and don't blame +you, for nobody in the world is good enough for you. I'll go away at +once, I'll try to keep my promise, and I hope you'll be very happy all +your life." + +He shook Debby's bands heartily, and hurried down the steps, but at the +bottom paused and looked back. Debby stood upon the threshold with +sunshine dancing on her winsome face, and kind words trembling on her +lips; for the moment it seemed impossible to part, and, with an +impetuous gesture, he cried to her,-- + +"Oh, Dora, let me stay and try to win you! for everything is possible +to love, and I never knew how dear you were to me till now!" + +There were sudden tears in the young man's eyes, the flush of a genuine +emotion on his cheek, the tremor of an ardent longing in his voice, +and, for the first time, a very true affection strengthened his whole +countenance. Debby's heart was full of penitence; she had given so +much pain to more than one that she longed to atone for it--longed to +do some very friendly thing, and soothe some trouble such as she +herself had known. She looked into the eager face uplifted to her own +and thought of Will, then stooped and touched her lover's forehead with +the lips that softly whispered, "No." + +If she had cared for him, she never would have done it; poor Joe knew +that, and murmuring an incoherent "Thank you!" he rushed away, feeling +very much as he remembered to have felt when his baby sister died and +he wept his grief away upon his mother's neck. He began his +preparations for departure at once, in a burst of virtuous energy quite +refreshing to behold, thinking within himself, as he flung his +cigar-case into the grate, kicked a billiard-ball into a corner, and +suppressed his favorite allusion to the Devil,-- + +"This is a new sort of thing to me, but I can bear it, and upon my life +I think I feel the better for it already." + +And so he did; for though he was no Augustine to turn in an hour from +worldly hopes and climb to sainthood through long years of inward +strife, yet in aftertimes no one knew how many false steps had been +saved, how many small sins repented of, through the power of the memory +that far away a generous woman waited to respect him, and in his secret +soul he owned that one of the best moments of his life was that in +which little Debby Wilder whispered "No," and kissed him. + +As he passed from sight, the girl leaned her head upon her hand, +thinking sorrowfully to herself,-- + +"What right had I to censure him, when my own actions are so far from +true? I have done a wicked thing, and as an honest girl I should undo +it, if I can. I have broken through the rules of a false propriety for +Clara's sake; can I not do as much for Frank's? I will. I'll find him, +if I search the house,--and tell him all, though I never dare to look +him in the face again, and Aunt Pen sends me home to-morrow." + +Full of zeal and courage, Debby caught up her hat and ran down the +steps, but, as she saw Frank Evan coming up the path, a sudden panic +fell upon her, and she could only stand mutely waiting his approach. + +It is asserted that Love is blind; and on the strength of that popular +delusion novel heroes and heroines go blundering through three volumes +of despair with the plain truth directly under their absurd noses: but +in real life this theory is not supported; for to a living man the +countenance of a loving woman is more eloquent than any language, more +trustworthy than a world of proverbs, more beautiful than the sweetest +love-lay ever sung. + +Frank looked at Debby, and "all her heart stood up in her eyes," as she +stretched her hands to him, though her lips only whispered very low,-- + +"Forgive me, and let me say the 'Yes' I should have said so long ago." + +Had she required any assurance of her lover's truth, or any reward for +her own, she would have found it in the change that dawned so swiftly +in his face, smoothing the lines upon his forehead, lighting the gloom +of his eye, stirring his firm lips with a sudden tremor, and making his +touch as soft as it was strong. For a moment both stood very still, +while Debby's tears streamed down like summer rain; then Frank drew her +into the green shadow of the grove, and its peace soothed her like a +mother's voice, till she looked up smiling with a shy delight her +glance had never known before. The slant sunbeams dropped a +benediction on their heads, the robins peeped, and the cedars +whispered, but no rumor of what further passed ever went beyond the +precincts of the wood; for such hours are sacred, and Nature guards the +first blossoms of a human love as tenderly as she nurses May-flowers +underneath the leaves. + + + +Mrs. Carroll had retired to her bed with a nervous headache, leaving +Debby to the watch and ward of friendly Mrs. Earle, who performed her +office finely by letting her charge entirely alone. In her dreams Aunt +Pen was just imbibing a copious draught of champagne at the +wedding-breakfast of her niece, "Mrs. Joseph Leavenworth," when she was +roused by the bride elect, who passed through the room with a lamp and +a shawl in her hand. + +"What time is it, and where are you going, dear?" she asked, dozily +wondering if the carriage for the wedding-tour was at the door so soon. + +"It's only nine, and I am going for a sail, Aunt Pen." + +As Debby spoke, the light flashed full into her face, and a sudden +thought into Mrs. Carroll's mind. She rose up from her pillow, looking +as stately in her night-cap as Maria Theresa is said to have done in +like unassuming head-gear. + +"Something has happened, Dora! What have you done? What have you +said? I insist upon knowing immediately," she demanded, with somewhat +startling brevity. + +"I have said 'No' to Mr. Leavenworth and 'Yes' to Mr. Evan; and I +should like to go home to-morrow, if you please," was the equally +concise reply. + +Mrs. Carroll fell flat in her bed, and lay there stiff and rigid as +Morlena Kenwigs. Debby gently drew the curtains, and stole away +leaving Aunt Pen's wrath to effervesce before morning. + +The moon was hanging luminous and large on the horizon's edge, sending +shafts of light before her till the melancholy ocean seemed to smile, +and along that shining pathway happy Debby and her lover floated into +that new world where all things seem divine. + + + +THE BROTHERS. + +Doctor Franck came in as I sat sewing up the rents in an old shirt, +that Tom might go tidily to his grave. New shirts were needed for the +living, and there was no wife or mother to "dress him handsome when he +went to meet the Lord," as one woman said, describing the fine funeral +she had pinched herself to give her son. + +"Miss Dane, I'm in a quandary," began the Doctor, with that expression +of countenance which says as plainly as words, "I want to ask a favor, +but I wish you'd save me the trouble." + +"Can I help you out of it? + +"Faith! I don't like to propose it, but you certainly can, if you +please." + +"Then give it a name, I beg." + +"You see a Reb has just been brought in crazy with typhoid; a bad case +every way; a drunken, rascally little captain somebody took the trouble +to capture, but whom nobody wants to take the trouble to cure. The +wards are full, the ladies worked to death, and willing to be for our +own boys, but rather slow to risk their lives for a Reb. Now you've had +the fever, you like queer patients, your mate will see to your ward for +a while, and I will find you a good attendant. The fellow won't last +long, I fancy; but he can't die without some sort of care, you know. +I've put him in the fourth story of the west wing, away from the rest. +It is airy, quiet, and comfortable there. I'm on that ward, and will do +my best for you in every way. Now, then, will you go?" + +"Of course I will, out of perversity, if not common charity; for some +of these people think that because I'm an abolitionist I am also a +heathen, and I should rather like to show them, that, though I cannot +quite love my enemies, I am willing to take care of them." + +"Very good; I thought you'd go; and speaking of abolition reminds me +that you can have a contraband for servant, if you like. It is that +fine mulatto fellow who was found burying his Rebel master after the +fight, and, being badly cut over the head, our boys brought him along. +Will you have him?" + +"By all means,--for I'll stand to my guns on that point, as on the +other; these black boys are far more faithful and handy than some of +the white scamps given me to serve, instead of being served by. But is +this man well enough?" + +"Yes, for that sort of work, and I think you'll like him. He must have +been a handsome fellow before he got his face slashed; not much darker +than myself; his master's son, I dare say, and the white blood makes +him rather high and haughty about some things. He was in a bad way +when he came in, but vowed he'd die in the street rather than turn in +with the black fellows below; so I put him up in the west wing, to be +out of the way, and he's seen to the captain all the morning. When can +you go up?" + +"As soon as Tom is laid out, Skinner moved, Haywood washed, Marble +dressed, Charley rubbed, Downs taken up, Upham laid down, and the whole +forty fed." + +We both laughed, though the Doctor was on his way to the dead-house and +I held a shroud on my lap. But in a hospital one learns that +cheerfulness is one's salvation; for, in an atmosphere of suffering and +death, heaviness of heart would soon paralyze usefulness of hand, if +the blessed gift of smiles had been denied us. + +In an hour I took possession of my new charge, finding a +dissipated-looking boy of nineteen or twenty raving in the solitary +little room, with no one near him but the contraband in the room +adjoining. Feeling decidedly more interest in the black man than in the +white, yet remembering the Doctor's hint of his being "high and +haughty," I glanced furtively at him as I scattered chloride of lime +about the room to purify the air, and settled matters to suit myself. +I had seen many contrabands, but never one so attractive as this. All +colored men are called "boys," even if their heads are white; this boy +was five-and-twenty at least, strong-limbed and manly, and had the look +of one who never had been cowed by abuse or worn with oppressive labor. +He sat on his bed doing nothing; no book, no pipe, no pen or paper +anywhere appeared, yet anything less indolent or listless than his +attitude and expression I never saw. Erect he sat with a hand on +either knee, and eyes fixed on the bare wall opposite, so rapt in some +absorbing thought as to be unconscious of my presence, though the door +stood wide open and my movements were by no means noiseless. His face +was half averted, but I instantly approved the Doctor's taste, for the +profile which I saw possessed all the attributes of comeliness +belonging to his mixed race. He was more quadroon than mulatto, with +Saxon features, Spanish complexion darkened by exposure, color in lips +and cheek, waving hair, and an eye full of the passionate melancholy +which in such men always seems to utter a mute protest against the +broken law that doomed them at their birth. What could he be thinking +of? The sick boy cursed and raved, I rustled to and fro, steps passed +the door, bells rang, and the steady rumble of army-wagons came up from +the street, still he never stirred. I had seen colored people in what +they call "the black sulks," when, for days, they neither smiled nor +spoke, and scarcely ate. But this was something more than that; for +the man was not dully brooding over some small grievance,--he seemed to +see an all-absorbing fact or fancy recorded on the wall, which was a +blank to me. I wondered if it were some deep wrong or sorrow, kept +alive by memory and impotent regret; if he mourned for the dead master +to whom he had been faithful to the end; or if the liberty now his were +robbed of half its sweetness by the knowledge that some one near and +dear to him still languished in the hell from which he had escaped. My +heart quite warmed to him at that idea; I wanted to know and comfort +him; and, following the impulse of the moment, I went in and touched +him on the shoulder. + +In an instant the man vanished and the slave appeared. Freedom was too +new a boon to have wrought its blessed changes yet, and as he started +up, with his hand at his temple and an obsequious "Yes, Ma'am," any +romance that had gathered round him fled away, leaving the saddest of +all sad facts in living guise before me. Not only did the manhood seem +to die out of him, but the comeliness that first attracted me; for, as +he turned, I saw the ghastly wound that had laid open cheek and +forehead. Being partly healed, it was no longer bandaged, but held +together with strips of that transparent plaster which I never see +without a shiver and swift recollections of scenes with which it is +associated in my mind. Part of his black hair had been shorn away, and +one eye was nearly closed; pain so distorted, and the cruel sabre-cut +so marred that portion of his face, that, when I saw it, I felt as if a +fine medal had been suddenly reversed, showing me a far more striking +type of human suffering and wrong than Michel Angelo's bronze prisoner. +By one of those inexplicable processes that often teach us how little +we understand ourselves, my purpose was suddenly changed, and though I +went in to offer comfort as a friend, I merely gave an order as a +mistress. + +"Will you open these windows? this man needs more air." + +He obeyed at once, and, as he slowly urged up the unruly sash, the +handsome profile was again turned toward me, and again I was possessed +by my first impression so strongly that I involuntarily said,-- + +"Thank you, Sir." + +Perhaps it was fancy, but I thought that in the look of mingled +surprise and something like reproach which he gave me there was also a +trace of grateful pleasure. But he said, in that tone of spiritless +humility these poor souls learn so soon,-- + +"I ain't a white man, Ma'am, I'm a contraband." + +"Yes, I know it; but a contraband is a free man, and I heartily +congratulate you." + +He liked that; his face shone, he squared his shoulders, lifted his +head, and looked me full in the eye with a brisk-- + +"Thank ye, Ma'am; anything more to do fer yer?" + +"Doctor Franck thought you would help me with this man, as there are +many patients and few nurses or attendants. Have you had the fever?" + +"No, Ma'am." + +"They should have thought of that when they put him here; wounds and +fevers should not be together. I'll try to get you moved." + +He laughed a sudden laugh,--if he had been a white man, I should have +called it scornful; as he was a few shades darker than myself, I +suppose it must be considered an insolent, or at least an unmannerly +one. + +"It don't matter, Ma'am. I'd rather be up here with the fever than down +with those niggers; and there ain't no other place fer me." + +Poor fellow! that was true. No ward in all the hospital would take him +in to lie side by side with the most miserable white wreck there. Like +the bat in Aesop's fable, he belonged to neither race; and the pride of +one, the helplessness of the other, kept him hovering alone in the +twilight a great sin has brought to overshadow the whole land. + +"You shall stay, then; for I would far rather have you than any lazy +Jack. But are you well and strong enough?" + +"I guess I'll do, Ma'am." + +He spoke with a passive sort of acquiescence,--as if it did not much +matter, if he were not able, and no one would particularly rejoice, if +he were. + +"Yes, I think you will. By what name shall I call you?" + +"Bob, Ma'am." + +Every woman has her pet whim; one of mine was to teach the men +self-respect by treating them respectfully. Tom, Dick, and Harry would +pass, when lads rejoiced in those familiar abbreviations; but to +address men often old enough to be my father in that style did not suit +my old-fashioned ideas of propriety. This "Bob" would never do; I +should have found it as easy to call the chaplain "Gus" as my +tragical-looking contraband by a title so strongly associated with the +tail of a kite. + +"What is your other name?" I asked. "I like to call my attendants by +their last names rather than by their first." + +"I've got no other, Ma'am; we have our masters' names, or do without. +Mine's dead, and I won't have anything of his about me." + +"Well, I'll call you Robert, then, and you may fill this pitcher for +me, if you will be so kind." + +He went; but, through all the tame, obedience years of servitude had +taught him, I could see that the proud spirit his father gave him was +not yet subdued, for the look and gesture with which he repudiated his +master's name were a more effective declaration of independence than +any Fourth-of-July orator could have prepared. + +We spent a curious week together. Robert seldom left his room, except +upon my errands; and I was a prisoner all day, often all night, by the +bedside of the Rebel. The fever burned itself rapidly away, for there +seemed little vitality to feed it in the feeble frame of this old young +man, whose life had been none of the most righteous, judging from the +revelations made by his unconscious lips; since more than once Robert +authoritatively silenced him, when my gentler bushings were of no +avail, and blasphemous wanderings or ribald camp-songs made my cheeks +burn and Robert's face assume an aspect of disgust. The captain was a +gentleman in the world's eye, but the contraband was the gentleman in +mine;--I was a fanatic, and that accounts for such depravity of taste, +I hope. I never asked Robert of himself, feeling that somewhere there +was a spot still too sore to bear the lightest touch; but, from his +language, manner, and intelligence, I inferred that his color had +procured for him the few advantages within the reach of a quick-witted, +kindly treated slave. Silent, grave, and thoughtful, but most +serviceable, was my contraband; glad of the books I brought him, +faithful in the performance of the duties I assigned to him, grateful +for the friendliness I could not but feel and show toward him. Often I +longed to ask what purpose was so visibly altering his aspect with such +daily deepening gloom. But I never dared, and no one else had either +time or desire to pry into the past of this specimen of one branch of +the chivalrous "F.F.Vs." + +On the seventh night, Dr. Franck suggested that it would be well for +some one, besides the general watchman of the ward, to be with the +captain, as it might be his last. Although the greater part of the two +preceding nights had been spent there, of course I offered to +remain,--for there is a strange fascination in these scenes, which +renders one careless of fatigue and unconscious of fear until the +crisis is passed. + +"Give him water as long as he can drink, and if he drops into a natural +sleep, it may save him. I'll look in at midnight, when some change will +probably take place. Nothing but sleep or a miracle will keep him now. +Good night." + +Away went the Doctor; and, devouring a whole mouthful of grapes, I +lowered the lamp, wet the captain's head, and sat down on a hard stool +to begin my watch. The captain lay with his hot, haggard face turned +toward me, filling the air with his poisonous breath, and feebly +muttering, with lips and tongue so parched that the sanest speech would +have been difficult to understand. Robert was stretched on his bed in +the inner room, the door of which stood ajar, that a fresh draught from +his open window might carry the fever-fumes away through mine. I could +just see a long, dark figure, with the lighter outline of a face, and, +having little else to do just then, I fell to thinking of this curious +contraband, who evidently prized his freedom highly, yet seemed in no +haste to enjoy it. Doctor Franck had offered to send him on to safer +quarters, but he had said, "No, thank yer, Sir, not yet," and then had +gone away to fall into one of those black moods of his, which began to +disturb me, because I had no power to lighten them. As I sat listening +to the clocks from the steeples all about us, I amused myself with +planning Robert's future, as I often did my own, and had dealt out to +him a generous hand of trumps wherewith to play this game of life which +hitherto had gone so cruelly against him, when a harsh, choked voice +called,-- + +"Lucy!" + +It was the captain, and some new terror seemed to have gifted him with +momentary strength. + +"Yes, here's Lucy," I answered, hoping that by following the fancy I +might quiet him,--for his face was damp with the clammy moisture, and +his frame shaken with the nervous tremor that so often precedes death. +His dull eye fixed upon me, dilating with a bewildered look of +incredulity and wrath, till he broke out fiercely.-- + +"That's a lie! she's dead,--and so's Bob, damn him!" + +Finding speech a failure, I began to sing the quiet tune that had often +soothed delirium like this; but hardly had the line, + + "See gentle patience smile on pain," + +passed my lips, when he clutched me by the wrist, whispering like one +in mortal fear,-- + +"Hush! she used to sing that way to Bob, but she never would to me. I +swore I'd whip the Devil out of her, and I did; but you know before she +cut her throat she said she'd haunt me, and there she is!" + +He pointed behind me with an aspect of such pale dismay, that I +involuntarily glanced over my shoulder and started as if I had seen a +veritable ghost; for, peering from the gloom of that inner room, I saw +a shadowy face, with dark hair all about it, and a glimpse of scarlet +at the throat. An instant showed me that it was only Robert leaning +from his bed's-foot, wrapped in a gray army-blanket, with his red shirt +just visible above it, and his long hair disordered by sleep. But what +a strange expression was on his face! The unmarred side was toward me, +fixed and motionless as when I first observed it,--less absorbed now, +but more intent. His eye glittered, his lips were apart like one who +listened with every sense, and his whole aspect reminded me of a hound +to which some wind had brought the scent of unsuspected prey. + +"Do you know him, Robert? Does he mean you?" + +"Lord, no, Ma'am; they all own half a dozen Bobs: but hearin' my name +woke me; that's all." + +He spoke quite naturally, and lay down again, while I returned to my +charge, thinking that this paroxysm was probably his last. But by +another hour I perceived a hopeful change, for the tremor had subsided, +the cold dew was gone, his breathing was more regular, and Sleep, the +healer, had descended to save or take him gently away. Doctor Franck +looked in at midnight, bade me keep all cool and quiet, and not fail to +administer a certain draught as soon as the captain woke. Very much +relieved, I laid my head on my arms, uncomfortably folded on the little +table, and fancied I was about to perform one of the feats which +practice renders possible,--"sleeping with one eye open," as we say: a +half-and-half doze, for all senses sleep but that of hearing; the +faintest murmur, sigh, or motion will break it, and give one back one's +wits much brightened by the permission to "stand at ease." On this +night, the experiment was a failure, for previous vigils, confinement, +and much care had rendered naps a dangerous indulgence, Having roused +half a dozen times in an hour to find all quiet, I dropped my heavy +head on my arms, and, drowsily resolving to look up again in fifteen +minutes, fell fast asleep. + +The striking of a deep-voiced clock woke me with a start. "That is +one," thought I, but, to my dismay, two more strokes followed; and in +remorseful haste I sprang up to see what harm my long oblivion had +done. A strong hand put me back into my seat, and held me there. It +was Robert. The instant my eye met his my heart began to beat, and all +along my nerves tingled that electric flash which foretells a danger +that we cannot see. He was very pale, his mouth grim, and both eyes +full of sombre fire,--for even the wounded one was open now, all the +more sinister for the deep scar above and below. But his touch was +steady, his voice quiet, as he said,-- + +"Sit still, Ma'am; I won't hurt yer, nor even scare yer, if I can help +it, but yer waked too soon." + +"Let me go, Robert,--the captain is stirring,--I must give him +something." + +"No, Ma'am, yer can't stir an inch. Look here!" + +Holding me with one hand, with the other he took up the glass in which +I had left the draught, and showed me it was empty. + +"Has he taken it?" I asked, more and more bewildered. + +"I flung it out o' winder, Ma'am; he'll have to do without." + +"But why, Robert? why did you do it?" + +"Because I hate him!" + +Impossible to doubt the truth of that; his whole face showed it, as he +spoke through his set teeth, and launched a fiery glance at the +unconscious captain. I could only hold my breath and stare blankly at +him, wondering what mad act was coming next. I suppose I shook and +turned white, as women have a foolish habit of doing when sudden danger +daunts them; for Robert released my arm, sat down upon the bedside just +in front of me, and said, with the ominous quietude that made me cold +to see and hear,-- + +"Don't yer be frightened, Ma'am: don't try to run away, fer the door's +locked an' the key in my pocket; don't yer cry out, fer yer'd have to +scream a long while, with my hand on yer mouth, before yer was heard. +Be still, an' I'll tell yer what I'm goin' to do." + +"Lord help us! he has taken the fever in some sudden, violent way, and +is out of his head. I must humor him till some one comes"; in +pursuance of which swift determination, I tried to say, quite +composedly,-- + +"I will be still and hear you; but open the window. Why did you shut +it?" + +"I'm sorry I can't do it, Ma'am; but yer'd jump out, or call, if I did, +an' I'm not ready yet. I shut it to make yer sleep, an' heat would do +it quicker'n anything else I could do." + +The captain moved, and feebly muttered, "Water!" Instinctively I rose +to give it to him, but the heavy hand came down upon my shoulder, and +in the same decided tone Robert said,-= + +"The water went with the physic; let him call." + +"Do let me go to him! he'll die without care!" + +"I mean he shall;--don't yer interfere, if yer please, Ma'am." + +In spite of his quiet tone and respectful manner, I saw murder in his +eyes, and turned faint with fear; yet the fear excited me, and, hardly +knowing what I did, I seized the hands that had seized me, crying,-- + +"No, no, you shall not kill him! it is base to hurt a helpless man. +Why do you hate him? He is not your master?" + +"He's my brother." + +I felt that answer from head to foot, and seemed to fathom what was +coming, with a prescience vague, but unmistakable. One appeal was left +to me, and I made it. + +"Robert, tell me what it means? Do not commit a crime and make me +accessory to it--There is a better way of righting wrong than by +violence;--let me help you find it." + +My voice trembled as I spoke, and I heard the frightened flutter of my +heart; so did he, and if any little act of mine had ever won affection +or respect from him, the memory of it served me then. He looked down, +and seemed to put some question to himself; whatever it was, the answer +was in my favor, for when his eyes rose again, they were gloomy, but +not desperate. + +"I will tell you, Ma'am; but mind, this makes no difference; the boy is +mine. I'll give the Lord a chance to take him fust; if He don't, I +shall." + +"Oh, no! remember, he is your brother." + +An unwise speech; I felt it as it passed my lips, for a black frown +gathered on Robert's face, and his strong hands closed with an ugly +sort of grip. But he did not touch the poor soul gasping there before +him, and seemed content to let the slow suffocation of that stifling +room end his frail life. + +"I'm not like to forget that, Ma'am, when I've been thinkin' of it all +this week. I knew him when they fetched him in, an' would 'a' done it +long 'fore this, but I wanted to ask where Lucy was; he knows,--he told +to-night,--an' now he's done for." + +"Who is Lucy?" I asked hurriedly, intent on keeping his mind busy with +any thought but murder. + +With one of the swift transitions of a mixed temperament like this, at +my question Robert's deep eyes filled, the clenched hands were spread +before his face, and all I heard were the broken words,-- + +"My wife,--he took her--" + +In that instant every thought of fear was swallowed up in burning +indignation for the wrong, and a perfect passion of pity for the +desperate man so tempted to avenge an injury for which there seemed no +redress but this. He was no longer slave or contraband, no drop of +black blood marred him in my sight, but an infinite compassion yearned +to save, to help, to comfort him. Words seemed so powerless I offered +none, only put my hand on his poor head, wounded, homeless, bowed down +with grief for which I had no cure, and softly smoothed the long +neglected hair, pitifully wondering the while where was the wife who +must have loved this tender-hearted man so well. + +The captain moaned again, and faintly whispered, "Air!" but I never +stirred. God forgive me! just then I hated him as only a woman +thinking of a sister woman's wrong could hate. Robert looked up; his +eyes were dry again, his mouth grim. I saw that, said, "Tell me more," +and he did,--for sympathy is a gift the poorest may give, the proudest +stoop to receive. + +"Yer see, Ma'am, his father,--I might say ours, if I warn't ashamed of +both of 'em,--his father died two years ago, an' left us all to Marster +Ned,--that's him here, eighteen then. He always hated me, I looked so +like old Marster: he don't--only the light skin an' hair. Old Marster +was kind to all of us, me 'specially, an' bought Lucy off the next +plantation down there in South Car'lina, when he found I liked her. I +married her, all I could, Ma'am; it warn't much, but we was true to one +another till Marster Ned come home a year after an' made hell fer both +of us. He sent my old mother to be used up in his rice swamp in Georgy; +he found me with my pretty Lucy, an' though young Miss cried, an' I +prayed to him on my knees, an' Lucy run away, he wouldn't have no +mercy; he brought her back, an'--took her, Ma'am." + +"Oh! what did you do?" I cried, hot with helpless pain and passion. + +How the man's outraged heart sent the blood flaming up into his face +and deepened the tones of his impetuous voice, as he stretched his arm +across the bed, saying, with a terribly expressive gesture,-- + +"I half murdered him, an' to-night I'll finish." + +"Yes, yes,--but go on now; what came next?" + +He gave me a look that showed no white man could have felt a deeper +degradation in remembering and confessing these last acts of brotherly +oppression. + +"They whipped me till I couldn't stand, an' then they sold me further +South. Yer thought I was a white man once;--look here!" + +With a sudden wrench he tore the shirt from neck to waist, and on his +strong brown shoulders showed me furrows deeply ploughed, wounds which, +though healed, were ghastlier to me than any in that house. I could +not speak to him, and, with the pathetic dignity a great grief lends +the humblest sufferer, he ended his brief tragedy by simply saying,-- + +"That's all. Ma'am. I've never seen her since, an' now I never shall +in this world,--maybe not in t' other." + +"But, Robert, why think her dead? The captain was wandering when he +said those sad things; perhaps he will retract them when he is sane. +Don't despair; don't give up yet." + +"No, Ma'am, I guess he's right; she was too proud to bear that long. +It's like her to kill herself. I told her to, if there was no other +way; an' she always minded me, Lucy did. My poor girl! Oh, it warn't +right! No, by God, it warn't!" + +As the memory of this bitter wrong, this double bereavement, burned in +his sore heart, the devil that lurks in every strong man's blood leaped +up; he put his hand upon his brother's throat, and, watching the white +face before him, muttered low between his teeth,-- + +"I'm lettin' him go too easy; there's no pain in this; we a'n't even +yet. I wish he knew me. Marster Ned! it's Bob; where's Lucy?" + +From the captain's lips there came a long faint sigh, and nothing but a +flutter of the eyelids showed that he still lived. A strange stillness +filled the room as the elder brother held the younger's life suspended +in his hand, while wavering between a dim hope and a deadly hate. In +the whirl of thoughts that went on in my brain, only one was clear +enough to act upon. I must prevent murder, if I could,--but how? What +could I do up there alone, locked in with a dying man and a +lunatic?--for any mind yielded utterly to any unrighteous impulse is +mad while the impulse rules it. Strength I had not, nor much courage, +neither time nor wit for stratagem, and chance only could bring me help +before it was too late. But one weapon I possessed,--a tongue,--often +a woman's best defence: and sympathy, stronger than fear, gave me power +to use it. What I said Heaven only knows, but surely Heaven helped me; +words burned on my lips, tears streamed from my eyes, and some good +angel prompted me to use the one name that had power to arrest my +hearer's hand and touch his heart. For at that moment I heartily +believed that Lucy lived, and this earnest faith roused in him a like +belief. + +He listened with the lowering look of one in whom brute instinct was +sovereign for the time,--a look that makes the noblest countenance +base. He was but a man,--a poor, untaught, outcast, outraged man. Life +had few joys for him; the world offered him no honors, no success, no +home, no love. What future would this crime mar? and why should he +deny himself that sweet, yet bitter morsel called revenge? How many +white men, with all New England's freedom, culture, Christianity, would +not have felt as he felt then? Should I have reproached him for a human +anguish, a human longing for redress, all now left him from the ruin of +his few poor hopes? Who had taught him that self-control, +self-sacrifice, are attributes that make men masters of the earth and +lift them nearer heaven? Should I have urged the beauty of +forgiveness, the duty of devout submission? He had no religion, for he +was no saintly "Uncle Tom," and Slavery's black shadow seemed to darken +all the world to him and shut out God. Should I have warned him of +penalties, of judgments, and the potency of law? What did he know of +justice, or the mercy that should temper that stern virtue, when every +law, human and divine, had been broken on his hearthstone? Should I +have tried to touch him by appeals to filial duty, to brotherly love? +How had his appeals been answered? What memories had father and brother +stored up in his heart to plead for either now? No,--all these +influences, these associations, would have proved worse than useless, +had I been calm enough to try them. I was not; but instinct, subtler +than reason, showed me the one safe clue by which to lead this troubled +soul from the labyrinth in which it groped and nearly fell. When I +paused, breathless, Robert turned to me, asking, as if human assurances +could strengthen his faith in Divine Omnipotence,-- + +"Do you believe, if I let Marster Ned live, the Lord will give me back +my Lucy?" + +"As surely as there is a Lord, you will find her here or in the +beautiful hereafter, where there is no black or white, no master and no +slave." + +He took his hand from his brother's throat, lifted his eyes from my +face to the wintry sky beyond, as if searching for that blessed +country, happier even than the happy North. Alas, it was the darkest +hour before the dawn!--there was no star above, no light below but the +pale glimmer of the lamp that showed the brother who had made him +desolate. Like a blind man who believes there is a sun, yet cannot see +it, he shook his head, let his arms drop nervously upon his knees, and +sat there dumbly asking that question which many a soul whose faith is +firmer fixed than his has asked in hours less dark than this,-- + +"Where is God?" I saw the tide had turned, and strenuously tried to +keep this rudderless lifeboat from slipping back into the whirlpool +wherein it had been so nearly lost. + +"I have listened to you, Robert; now hear me, and heed what I say, +because my heart is full of pity for you, full of hope for your future, +and a desire to help you now. I want you to go away from here, from +the temptation of this place, and the sad thoughts that haunt it. You +have conquered yourself once, and I honor you for it, because, the +harder the battle, the more glorious the victory; but it is safer to +put a greater distance between you and this man. I will write you +letters, give you money, and send you to good old Massachusetts to +begin your new life a freeman,--yes, and a happy man; for when the +captain is himself again, I will learn where Lucy is, and move heaven +and earth to find and give her back to you. Will you do this, Robert?" + +Slowly, very slowly, the answer came; for the purpose of a week, +perhaps a year, was hard to relinquish in an hour. + +"Yes, Ma'am, I will." + +"Good! Now you are the man I thought you, and I'll work for you with +all my heart. You need sleep, my poor fellow; go, and try to forget. +The captain is still alive, and as yet you are spared the sin. No, +don't look there; I'll care for him. Come, Robert, for Lucy's sake." + +Thank Heaven for the immortality of love! for when all other means of +salvation failed, a spark of this vital fire softened the man's iron +will until a woman's hand could bend it. He let me take from him the +key, let me draw him gently away and lead him to the solitude which now +was the most healing balm I could bestow. Once in his little room, he +fell down on his bed and lay there as if spent with the sharpest +conflict of his life. I slipped the bolt across his door, and unlocked +my own, flung up the window, steadied myself with a breath of air, then +rushed to Doctor Franck. He came; and till dawn we worked together, +saving one brother's life, and taking earnest thought how best to +secure the other's liberty. When the sun came up as blithely as if it +shone only upon happy homes, the Doctor went to Robert. For an hour I +heard the murmur of their voices; once I caught the sound of heavy +sobs, and for a time a reverent hush, as if in the silence that good +man were ministering to soul as well as sense. When he departed he +took Robert with him, pausing to tell me he should get him off as soon +as possible, but not before we met again. + +Nothing more was seen of them all day; another surgeon came to see the +captain, and another attendant came to fill the empty place. I tried +to rest, but could not, with the thought of poor Lucy tugging at my +heart, and was soon back at my post again, anxiously hoping that my +contraband had not been too hastily spirited away. Just as night fell +there came a tap, and opening, I saw Robert literally "clothed and in +his right mind." The Doctor had replaced the ragged suit with tidy +garments, and no trace of that tempestuous night remained but deeper +lines upon the forehead, and the docile look of a repentant child. He +did not cross the threshold, did not offer me his hand,--only took off +his cap, saying, with a traitorous falter in his voice,-- + +"God bless you, Ma'am! I'm goin'." + +I put out both my hands, and held his fast. + +"Good-bye, Robert! Keep up good heart, and when I come home to +Massachusetts we'll meet in a happier place than this. Are you quite +ready, quite comfortable for your journey? + +"Yes, Ma'am, Yes; the Doctor's fixed everything; I'm goin' with a +friend of his; my papers are all right, an' I'm as happy as I can be +till I find,--" + +He stopped there; then went on, with a glance into the room,-- + +"I'm glad I didn't do it, an' I thank yer, Ma'am, fer hinderin' +me,--thank yer hearty; but I'm afraid I hate him jest the same." + +Of course he did; and so did I; for these faulty hearts of ours cannot +turn perfect in a night, but need frost and fire, wind and rain, to +ripen and make them ready for the great harvest-home. Wishing to divert +his mind, I put my poor mite into his hand, and, remembering the magic +of a certain little book, I gave him mine, on whose dark cover whitely +shone the Virgin Mother and the Child, the grand history of whose life +the book contained. The money went into Robert's pocket with a +grateful murmur, the book into his bosom with a long took and a +tremulous-- + +"I never saw my baby, Ma'am." + +I broke down then; and though my eyes were too dim to see, I felt the +touch of lips upon my hands, heard the sound of departing feet, and +knew my contraband was gone. + +When one feels an intense dislike, the less one says about the subject +of it the better; therefore I shall merely record that the captain +lived,--in time was exchanged; and that, whoever the other party was, I +am convinced the Government got the best of the bargain. But long +before this occurred, I had fulfilled my promise to Robert; for as soon +as my patient recovered strength of memory enough to make his answer +trustworthy, I asked, without any circumlocution,-- + +"Captain Fairfax, where is Lucy?" + +And too feeble to be angry, surprised, or insincere, he straightway +answered,-- + +"Dead, Miss Dane." + +"And she killed herself, when you sold Bob?" + +"How the Devil did you know that?" he muttered, with an expression +half-remorseful, half-amazed; but I was satisfied, and said no more. + +Of course, this went to Robert, waiting far away there in a lonely +home,--waiting, working, hoping for his Lucy. It almost broke my heart +to do it; but delay was weak, deceit was wicked; so I sent the heavy +tidings, and very soon the answer came,--only three lines; but I felt +that the sustaining power of the man's life was gone. + +"I thought I'd never see her any more; I'm glad to know she's out of +trouble. I thank yer, Ma'am; an' if they let us, I'll fight fer yer +till I'm killed, which I hope will be 'fore long." + +Six months later he had his wish, and kept his word. + +Every one knows the story of the attack on Fort Wagner; but we should +not tire yet of recalling how our Fifty-Fourth, spent with three +sleepless nights, a day's fast, and a march under the July sun, stormed +the fort as night fell, facing death in many shapes, following their +brave leaders through a fiery rain of shot and shell, fighting +valiantly for God and Governor Andrew,--how the regiment that went into +action seven hundred strong came out having had nearly half its number +captured, killed, or wounded, leaving their young commander to be +buried, like a chief of earlier times, with his body-guard around him, +faithful to the death. Surely, the insult turns to honor, and the wide +grave needs no monument but the heroism that consecrates it in our +sight; surely, the hearts that held him nearest see through their tears +a noble victory in the seeming sad defeat; and surely, God's +benediction was bestowed, when this loyal soul answered, as Death +called the roll, "Lord, here I am, with the brothers Thou hast given +me!" + +The future must show how well that fight was fought; for though Fort +Wagner still defies us, public prejudice is down; and through the +cannon smoke of that black night the manhood of the colored race shines +before many eyes that would not see, rings in many ears that would not +hear, wins many hearts that would not hitherto believe. + +When the news came that we were needed, there was none so glad as I to +leave teaching contrabands, the new work I had taken up, and go to +nurse "our boys," as my dusky flock so proudly called the wounded of +the Fifty-Fourth. Feeling more satisfaction, as I assumed my big apron +and turned up my cuffs, than if dressing for the President's levee, I +fell to work on board the hospital-ship in Hilton-Head harbor. The +scene was most familiar, and yet strange; for only dark faces looked up +at me from the pallets so thickly laid along the floor, and I missed +the sharp accent of my Yankee boys in the slower, softer voices calling +cheerily to one another, or answering my questions with a stout, "We'll +never give it up, Ma'am, till the last Reb's dead," or, "If our +people's free, we can afford to die." + +Passing from bed to bed, intent on making one pair of hands do the work +of three, at least, I gradually washed, fed, and bandaged my way down +the long line of sable heroes, and coming to the very last, found that +he was my contraband. So old, so worn, so deathly weak and wan, I never +should have known him but for the deep scar on his cheek. That side +lay uppermost, and caught my eye at once; but even then I doubted, such +an awful change had come upon him, when, turning to the ticket just +above his head, I saw the name, "Robert Dane." That both assured and +touched me, for, remembering that he had no name, I knew that he had +taken mine. I longed for him to speak to me, to tell how he had fared +since I lost sight of him, and let me perform some little service for +him in return for many he had done for me; but he seemed asleep; and as +I stood re-living that strange night again, a bright lad, who lay next +him softly waving an old fan across both beds, looked up and said,-- + +"I guess you know him, Ma'am?" + +"You are right. Do you?" + +"As much as any one was able to, Ma'am." + +"Why do you say 'was,' as if the man were dead and gone?" + +"I s'pose because I know he'll have to go. He's got a bad jab in the +breast, an' is bleedin' inside, the Doctor says. He don't suffer any, +only gets weaker 'n' weaker every minute. I've been fannin' him this +long while, an' he's talked a little; but he don't know me now, so he's +most gone, I guess." + +There was so much sorrow and affection in the boy's face, that I +remembered something, and asked, with redoubled interest,-- + +"Are you the one that brought him off? I was told about a boy who +nearly lost his life in saving that of his mate." + +I dare say the young fellow blushed, as any modest lad might have done; +I could not see it, but I heard the chuckle of satisfaction that +escaped him, as he glanced from his shattered arm and bandaged side to +the pale figure opposite. + +"Lord, Ma'am, that's nothin'; we boys always stan' by one another, an' +I warn't goin' to leave him to be tormented any more by them cussed +Rebs. He's been a slave once, though he don't look half so much like +it as me, an' was born in Boston." + +He did not; for the speaker was as black as the ace of spades,--being a +sturdy specimen, the knave of clubs would perhaps be a fitter +representative,--but the dark freeman looked at the white slave with +the pitiful, yet puzzled expression I have so often seen on the faces +of our wisest men, when this tangled question of Slavery presents +itself, asking to be cut or patiently undone. + +"Tell me what you know of this man; for, even if he were awake, he is +too weak to talk." + +"I never saw him till I joined the regiment, an' no one 'peared to have +got much out of him. He was a shut-up sort of feller, an' didn't seem +to care for anything but gettin' at the Rebs. Some say he was the fust +man of us that enlisted; I know he fretted till we were off, an' when +we pitched into old Wagner, he fought like the Devil." + +"Were you with him when he was wounded? How was it?" + +"Yes, Ma'am. There was somethin' queer about it; for he 'peared to +know the chap that killed him, an' the chap knew him. I don't dare to +ask, but I rather guess one owned the other some time,--for, when they +clinched, the chap sung out, 'Bob!' an' Dane, 'Marster Ned! then they +went at it." + +I sat down suddenly, for the old anger and compassion struggled in my +heart, and I both longed and feared to hear what was to follow. + +"You see, when the Colonel--Lord keep an' send him back to us!--it +a'n't certain yet, you know, Ma'am, though it's two days ago we lost +him--well, when the Colonel shouted, 'Rush on, boys, rush on!' Dane +tore away as if he was goin' to take the fort alone; I was next him, +an' kept close as we went through the ditch an' up the wall. Hi! warn't +that a rusher!" and the boy flung up his well arm with a whoop, as if +the mere memory of that stirring moment came over him in a gust of +irrepressible excitement. + +"Were you afraid?" I said,--asking the question women often put, and +receiving the answer they seldom fail to get. + +"No, Ma'am!"--emphasis on the "Ma'am,"--"I never thought of anything +but the damn Rebs, that scalp, slash, an' cut our ears off, when they +git us. I was bound to let daylight into one of 'em at least, an' I +did. Hope he liked it!" + +"It is evident that you did, and I don't blame you in the least. Now +go on about Robert, for I should be at work." + +"He was one of the fust up; I was just behind, an' though the whole +thing happened in a minute. I remember how it was, for all I was +yellin' an' knockin' round like mad. Just where we were, some sort of +an officer was wavin' his sword an' cheerin' on his men; Dane saw him +by a big flash that come by; he flung away his gun, give a leap, an' +went at that feller as if he was Jeff, Beauregard, an' Lee, all in one. +I scrabbled after as quick as I could, but was only up in time to see +him git the sword straight through him an' drop into the ditch. You +needn't ask what I did next, Ma'am, for I don't quite know myself; all +I 'm clear about is, that I managed somehow to pitch that Reb into the +fort as dead as Moses, git hold of Dane, an' bring him off. Poor old +feller! we said we went in to live or die; he said he went in to die, +an' he 's done it." + +I had been intently watching the excited speaker; but as he regretfully +added those last words I turned again, and Robert's eyes met +mine,--those melancholy eyes, so full of an intelligence that proved he +had heard, remembered, and reflected with that preternatural power +which often outlives all other faculties. He knew me, yet gave no +greeting; was glad to see a woman's face, yet had no smile wherewith to +welcome it; felt that he was dying, yet uttered no farewell. He was +too far across the river to return or linger now; departing thought, +strength, breath, were spent in one grateful look, one murmur of +submission to the last pang he could ever feel. His lips moved, and, +bending to them, a whisper chilled my cheek, as it shaped the broken +words,-- + +"I would have done it,--but it 's better so,--I'm satisfied." + +Ah! well he might be,--for, as he turned his face from the shadow of +the life that was, the sunshine of the life to be touched it with a +beautiful content, and in the drawing of a breath my contraband found +wife and home, eternal liberty and God. + + + +NELLY'S HOSPITAL + +Nelly sat beside her mother picking lint; but while her fingers flew, +her eyes often looked wistfully out into the meadow, golden with +buttercups, and bright with sunshine. Presently she said, rather +bashfully, but very earnestly, "Mamma, I want to tell you a little plan +I've made, if you'll please not laugh." + +"I think I can safely promise that, my dear," said her mother, putting +down her work that she might listen quite respectfully. + +Nelly looked pleased, and went on confidingly, + +"Since brother Will came home with his lame foot, and I've helped you +tend him, I've heard a great deal about hospitals, and liked it very +much. To-day I said I wanted to go and be a nurse, like Aunt Mercy; but +Will laughed, and told me I'd better begin by nursing sick birds and +butterflies and pussies before I tried to take care of men. I did not +like to be made fun of, but I've been thinking that it would be very +pleasant to have a little hospital all my own, and be a nurse in it, +because, if I took pains, so many pretty creatures might be made well, +perhaps. Could I, mamma?" + +Her mother wanted to smile at the idea, but did not, for Nelly looked +up with her heart and eyes so full of tender compassion, both for the +unknown men for whom her little hands had done their best, and for the +smaller sufferers nearer home, that she stroked the shining head, and +answered readily: "Yes, Nelly, it will be a proper charity for such a +young Samaritan, and you may learn much if you are in earnest. You +must study how to feed and nurse your little patients, else your pity +will do no good, and your hospital become a prison. I will help you, +and Tony shall be your surgeon." + +"O mamma, how good you always are to me! Indeed, I am in truly earnest; +I will learn, I will be kind, and may I go now and begin?" + +"You may, but tell me first where will you have your hospital?" + +"In my room, mamma; it is so snug and sunny, and I never should forget +it there," said Nelly. + +"You must not forget it anywhere. I think that plan will not do. How +would you like to find caterpillars walking in your bed, to hear sick +pussies mewing in the night, to have beetles clinging to your clothes, +or see mice, bugs, and birds tumbling downstairs whenever the door was +open?" said her mother. + +Nelly laughed at that thought a minute, then clapped her hands, and +cried: "Let us have the old summer-house! My doves only use the upper +part, and it would be so like Frank in the storybook. Please say yes +again, mamma." + +Her mother did say yes, and, snatching up her hat, Nelly ran to find +Tony, the gardener's son, a pleasant lad of twelve, who was Nelly's +favorite playmate. Tony pronounced the plan a "jolly" one, and, leaving +his work, followed his young mistress to the summer-house, for she +could not wait one minute. + +"What must we do first?" she asked, as they stood looking in at the +dusty room, full of garden tools, bags of seeds, old flower-pots, and +watering-cans. + +"Clear out the rubbish, miss," answered Tony. + +"Here it goes, then," and Nelly began bundling everything out in such +haste that she broke two flower-pots, scattered all the squash-seeds, +and brought a pile of rakes and hoes clattering down about her ears. + +"Just wait a bit, and let me take the lead, miss. You hand me things, +I'll pile 'em in the barrow and wheel 'em off to the barn; then it will +save time, and be finished up tidy." + +Nelly did as he advised, and very soon nothing but dust remained. + +"What next?" she asked, not knowing in the least. + +"I'll sweep up while you see if Polly can come and scrub the room out. +It ought to be done before you stay here, let alone the patients." + +"So it had," said Nelly, looking very wise all of a sudden. "Will says +the wards--that means the rooms, Tony--are scrubbed every day or two, +and kept very clean, and well venti-something--I can't say it; but it +means having a plenty of air come in. I can clean windows while Polly +mops, and then we shall soon be done." Away she ran, feeling very busy +and important. Polly came, and very soon the room looked like another +place. The four latticed windows were set wide open, so the sunshine +came dancing through the vines that grew outside, and curious roses +peeped in to see what frolic was afoot. The walls shone white again, +for not a spider dared to stay; the wide seat which encircled the room +was dustless now,--the floor as nice as willing hands could make it; +and the south wind blew away all musty odors with its fragrant breath. + +"How fine it looks!" cried Nelly, dancing on the doorstep, lest a +foot-print should mar the still damp floor. + +"I'd almost like to fall sick for the sake of staying here," said Tony, +admiringly. "Now, what sort of beds are you going to have, miss? + +"I suppose it won't do to put butterflies and toads and worms into beds +like the real soldiers where Will was?" answered Nelly, looking anxious. + +Tony could hardly help shouting at the idea; but, rather than trouble +his little mistress, he said very soberly: "I'm afraid they wouldn't +lay easy, not being used to it. Tucking up a butterfly would about +kill him; the worms would be apt to get lost among the bed-clothes; and +the toads would tumble out the first thing." + +"I shall have to ask mamma about it. What will you do while I'm gone?" +said Nelly, unwilling that a moment should be lost. + +"I'll make frames for nettings to the windows, else the doves will come +in and eat up the sick people. + +"I think they will know that it is a hospital, and be too kind to hurt +or frighten their neighbors," began Nelly; but as she spoke, a plump +white dove walked in, looked about with its red-ringed eyes, and +quietly pecked up a tiny bug that had just ventured out from the crack +where it had taken refuge when the deluge came. + +"Yes, we must have the nettings. I'll ask mamma for some lace," said +Nelly, when she saw that; and, taking her pet dove on her shoulder, +told it about her hospital as she went toward the house; for, loving +all little creatures as she did, it grieved her to have any harm befall +even the least or plainest of them. She had a sweet child-fancy that +her playmates understood her language as she did theirs, and that +birds, flowers, animals, and insects felt for her the same affection +which she felt for them. Love always makes friends, and nothing seemed +to fear the gentle child; but welcomed her like a little sun who shone +alike on all, and never suffered an eclipse. + +She was gone some time, and when she came back her mind was full of new +plans, one hand full of rushes, the other of books, while over her head +floated the lace, and a bright green ribbon hung across her arm. + +"Mamma says that the best beds will be little baskets, boxes, cages, +and any sort of thing that suits the patients; for each will need +different care and food and medicine. I have not baskets enough, so, as +I cannot have pretty white beds, I am going to braid pretty green nests +for my patients, and, while I do it, mamma thought you'd read to me the +pages she has marked, so that we may begin right." + +"Yes, miss; I like that. But what is the ribbon for?" asked Tony. + +"O, that's for you. Will says that, if you are to be an army surgeon, +you must have a green band on your arm; so I got this to tie on when we +play hospital." + +Tony let her decorate the sleeve of his gray jacket, and when the +nettings were done, the welcome books were opened and enjoyed. It was a +happy time, sitting in the sunshine, with leaves pleasantly astir all +about them, doves cooing overhead, and flowers sweetly gossiping +together through the summer afternoon. Nelly wove her smooth, green +rushes. Tony pored over his pages, and both found something better +than fairy legends in the family histories of insects, birds, and +beasts. All manner of wonders appeared, and were explained to them, +till Nelly felt as if a new world had been given her, so full of +beauty, interest, and pleasure that she never could be tired of +studying it. Many of these things were not strange to Tony, because, +born among plants, he had grown up with them as if they were brothers +and sisters, and the sturdy, brown-faced boy had learned many lessons +which no poet or philosopher could have taught him, unless he had +become as child-like a s himself, and studied from the same great book. + +When the baskets were done, the marked pages all read, and the sun +began to draw his rosy curtains round him before smiling "Good night," +Nelly ranged the green beds round the room, Tony put in the screens, +and the hospital was ready. The little nurse was so excited that she +could hardly eat her supper, and directly afterwards ran up to tell +Will how well she had succeeded with the first part of her enterprise. +Now brother Will was a brave young officer, who had fought stoutly and +done his duty like a man. But when lying weak and wounded at home, the +cheerful courage which had led him safely through many dangers seemed +to have deserted him, and he was often gloomy, sad, or fretful, because +he longed to be at his post again, and time passed very slowly. This +troubled his mother, and made Nelly wonder why he found lying in a +pleasant room so much harder than fighting battles or making weary +marches. Anything that interested and amused him was very welcome, and +when Nelly, climbing on the arm of his sofa, told her plans, mishaps, +and successes, he laughed out more heartily than he had done for many a +day, and his thin face began to twinkle with fun as it used to do so +long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she chatted like any affectionate +little magpie, till Will was really interested; for when one is ill, +small things amuse. + +"Do you expect your patients to come to you, Nelly?" he asked. + +"No, I shall go and look for them. I often see poor things suffering in +the garden, and the wood, and always feel as if they ought to be taken +care of, as people are." + +"You won't like to carry insane bugs, lame toads, and convulsive +kittens in your hands, and they would not stay on a stretcher if you +had one. You should have an ambulance and be a branch of the Sanitary +Commission," said Will. + +Nelly had often heard the words, but did not quite understand what they +meant. So Will told her of that great never-failing charity, to which +thousands owe their lives; and the child listened with lips apart, eyes +often full, and so much love and admiration in her heart that she could +find no words in which to tell it. When her brother paused, she said +earnestly: "Yes, I will be a Sanitary. This little cart of mine shall +be my amb'lance, and I'll never let my water-barrels go empty, never +drive too fast, or be rough with my poor passengers, like some of the +men you tell about. Does this look like an ambulance, Will?" + +"Not a bit, but it shall, if you and mamma like to help me. I want +four long bits of cane, a square of white cloth, some pieces of thin +wood, and the gum-pot," said Will, sitting up to examine the little +cart, feeling like a boy again as he took out his knife and began to +whittle. Upstairs and downstairs ran Nelly till all necessary materials +were collected, and almost breathlessly she watched her brother arch +the canes over the cart, cover them with the cloth, and fit an upper +shelf of small compartments, each lined with cotton-wool to serve as +beds for wounded insects, lest they should hurt one another or jostle +out. The lower part was left free for any larger creatures which Nelly +might find. Among her toys she had a tiny cask which only needed a peg +to be water-tight; this was filled and fitted in before, because, as +the small sufferers needed no seats, there was no place for it behind, +and, as Nelly was both horse and driver, it was more convenient in +front. On each side of it stood a box of stores. In one were minute +rollers, as bandages are called, a few bottles not yet filled, and a +wee doll's jar of cold-cream, because Nelly could not feel that her +outfit was complete without a medicine-chest. The other box was full of +crumbs, bits of sugar, bird-seed, and grains of wheat and corn, lest +any famished stranger should die for want of food before she got it +home. Then mamma painted "U.S. San. Com." in bright letters on the +cover, and Nelly received her charitable plaything with a long sigh of +satisfaction. + +"Nine o'clock already. Bless me, what a short evening this has been," +exclaimed Will, as Nelly came to give him her good-night kiss. + +"And such a happy one," she answered. + +"Thank you very, very much, dear Will. I only wish my little amb'lance +was big enough for you to go in,--I'd so like to give you the first +ride." + +"Nothing I should like better, if it were possible, though I've a +prejudice against ambulances in general. But as I cannot ride, I'll +try and hop out to your hospital to-morrow, and see how you get +on,"--which was a great deal for Captain Will to say, because he had +been too listless to leave his sofa for several days. + +That promise sent Nelly happily away to bed, only stopping to pop her +head out of the window to see if it was likely to be a fair day +to-morrow, and to tell Tony about the new plan as he passed below. + +"Where shall you go to look for your first load of sick folks, miss?" +he asked. + +"All round the garden first, then through the grove, and home across +the brook. Do you think I can find any patients so?" said Nelly. + +"I know you will. Good night, miss," and Tony walked away with a merry +look on his face, that Nelly would not have understood if she had seen +it. + +Up rose the sun bright and early, and up rose Nurse Nelly almost as +early and as bright. Breakfast was taken in a great hurry, and before +the dew was off the grass this branch of the S. C. was all astir. +Papa, mamma, big brother and baby sister, men and maids, all looked out +to see the funny little ambulance depart, and nowhere in all the summer +fields was there a happier child than Nelly, as she went smiling down +the garden path, where tall flowers kissed her as she passed and every +blithe bird seemed singing a "Good speed!" + +"How I wonder what I shall find first," she thought, looking sharply on +all sides as she went. Crickets chirped, grasshoppers leaped, ants +worked busily at their subterranean houses, spiders spun shining webs +from twig to twig, bees were coming for their bags of gold, and +butterflies had just begun their holiday. A large white one alighted +on the top of the ambulance, walked over the inscription as if spelling +it letter by letter, then floated away from flower to flower, like one +carrying the good news far and wide. + +"Now every one will know about the hospital and be glad to see me +coming," thought Nelly. And indeed it seemed so, for just then a +black-bird, sitting on a garden wall, burst out with a song full of +musical joy, Nelly's kitten came running after to stare at the wagon +and rub her soft side against it, a bright-eyed toad looked out from +his cool bower among the lily-leaves, and at that minute Nelly found +her first patient. In one of the dewy cobwebs hanging from a shrub +near by sat a fat black and yellow spider, watching a fly whose +delicate wings were just caught in the net. The poor fly buzzed +pitifully, and struggled so hard that the whole web shook: but the more +he struggled, the more he entangled himself, and the fierce spider was +preparing to descend that it might weave a shroud about its prey, when +a little finger broke the threads and lifted the fly safely into the +palm of a hand, where he lay faintly humming his thanks. + +Nelly had heard much about contrabands, knew who they were, and was +very much interested in them; so, when she freed the poor black fly she +played he was her contraband, and felt glad that her first patient was +one that needed help so much. Carefully brushing away as much of the +web as she could, she left small Pompey, as she named him, to free his +own legs, lest her clumsy fingers should hurt him; then she laid him in +one of the soft beds with a grain or two of sugar if he needed +refreshment, and bade him rest and recover from his fright, remembering +that he was at liberty to fly away whenever he liked, because she had +no wish to male a slave of him. + +Feeling very happy over this new friend, Nelly went on singing softly +as she walked, and presently she found a pretty caterpillar dressed in +brown fur, although the day was warm. He lay so still she thought him +dead, till he rolled himself into a ball as she touched him. + +"I think you are either faint from the heat of this thick coat of +yours, or that you are going to make a cocoon of yourself, Mr. Fuzz," +said Nelly. + +"Now I want to see you turn into a butterfly, so I shall take you, and +if get lively again I will let you go. I shall play that you have given +out on a march, as the soldiers sometimes do, and been left behind for +the Sanitary people to see to." + +In went sulky Mr. Fuzz, and on trundled the ambulance till a golden +green rose-beetle was discovered, lying on his back kicking as if in a +fit. + +"Dear me, what shall I do for him?" thought Nelly. "He acts as baby did +when she was so ill, and mamma put her in a warm bath. I haven't got +my little tub here, or any hot water, and I'm afraid the beetle would +not like it if I had. Perhaps he has pain in his stomach; I'll turn +him over, and pat his back, as nurse does baby's when she cries for +pain like that." + +She set the beetle on his legs, and did her best to comfort him; but he +was evidently in great distress, for he could not walk, and instead of +lifting his emerald overcoat, and spreading the wings that lay +underneath, be turned over again, and kicked more violently than +before. Not knowing what to do, Nelly put him into one of her soft +nests for Tony to cure if possible. She found no more patients in the +garden except a dead bee, which she wrapped in a leaf, and took home to +bury. When she came to the grove, it was so green and cool she longed +to sit and listen to the whisper of the pines, and watch the +larch-tassels wave in the wind. But, recollecting her charitable +errand, she went rustling along the pleasant path till she came to +another patient, over which she stood considering several minutes +before she could decide whether it was best to take it to her hospital, +because it was a little gray snake, with bruised tail. She knew it +would not hurt her, yet she was afraid of it; she thought it pretty, +yet could not like it: she pitied its pain, yet shrunk from helping it, +for it had a fiery eye, and a keep quivering tongue, that looked as if +longing to bite. + +"He is a rebel, I wonder if I ought to be good to him," thought Nelly, +watching the reptile writhe with pain. "Will said there were sick +rebels in his hospital, and one was very kind to him. It says, too, in +my little book, 'Love your enemies.' I think snakes are mine, but I +guess I'll try and love him because God made him. Some boy will kill +him if I leave him here, and then perhaps his mother will be very sad +about it. Come, poor worm, I wish to help you, so be patient, and +don't frighten me." + +Then Nelly laid her little handkerchief on the ground, and with a stick +gently lifted the wounded snake upon it, and, folding it together, laid +it in the ambulance. She was thoughtful after that, and so busy +puzzling her young head about the duty of loving those who hate us, and +being kind to those who are disagreeable or unkind, that she went +through the rest of the wood quite forgetful of her work. A soft +"Queek, queek!" made her look up and listen. The sound came from the +long meadow-grass, and, bending it carefully back, she found a +half-fledged bird, with one wing trailing on the ground, and its eyes +dim with pain or hunger. + +"You darling thing, did you fall out of your nest and hurt your wing?" +cried Nelly, looking up into the single tree that stood near by. No +nest was to be seen, no parent birds hovered overhead, and little Robin +could only tell its troubles in that mournful "Queek, queek, queek!" + +Nelly ran to get both her chests, and, sitting down beside the bird, +tried to feed it. To her joy it ate crumb after crumb, as if it were +half starved, and soon fluttered nearer a confiding fearlessness that +made her very proud. Soon baby Robin seemed quite comfortable, his eye +brightened, he "queeked" no more, and but for the drooping wing would +have been himself again. With one of her bandages Nelly bound both +wings closely to his sides for fear he should hurt himself by trying to +fly; and though he seemed amazed at her proceedings, he behaved very +well, only staring at her, and ruffling up his few feathers in a funny +way that made her laugh. Then she had to discover some way of +accommodating her two larger patients so that neither should hurt nor +alarm the other. A bright thought came to her after much pondering. +Carefully lifting the handkerchief, she pinned the two ends to the roof +of the cart, and there swung little Forked-tongue, while Rob lay easily +below. + +By this time, Nelly began to wonder how it happened that she found so +many more injured things than ever before. But it never entered her +innocent head that Tony had searched the wood and meadow before she was +up, and laid most of these creatures ready to her hands, that she might +not be disappointed. She had not yet lost her faith in fairies, so she +fancied they too belonged to her small sisterhood, and presently it did +really seem impossible to doubt that the good folk had been at work. + +Coming to the bridge that crossed the brook, she stopped a moment to +watch the water ripple over the bright pebbles, the ferns bend down to +drink, and the funny tadpoles frolic in quieter nooks, where the sun +shone, and the dragon-flies swung among the rushes. When Nelly turned +to go on, her blue eyes opened wide, and the handle of the ambulance +dropped with a noise that caused a stout frog to skip into the water +heels over head. Directly in the middle of the bridge was a pretty +green tent, made of two tall burdock leaves. The stems were stuck into +cracks between the boards, the tips were pinned together with a thorn, +and one great buttercup nodded in the doorway like a sleepy sentinel. +Nelly stared and smiled, listened, and looked about on every side. +Nothing was seen but the quiet meadow and the shady grove, nothing was +heard but the babble of the brook and the cheery music of the bobolinks. + +"Yes," said Nelly softly to herself, "that is a fairy tent, and in it I +may find a baby elf sick with whooping-cough or scarlet-fever. How +splendid it would be! only I could never nurse such a dainty thing." + +Stooping eagerly, she peeped over the buttercup's drowsy head, and saw +what seemed a tiny cock of hay. She had no time to feel disappointed, +for the haycock began to stir, and, looking nearer, she beheld two +silvery gray mites, who wagged wee tails, and stretched themselves as +if they had just waked up. Nelly knew that they were young field-mice, +and rejoiced over them, feeling rather relieved that no fairy had +appeared, though she still believed them to have had a hand in the +matter. + +"I shall call the mice my Babes in the Wood, because they are lost and +covered up with leaves," said Nelly, as she laid them in her snuggest +bed, where they nestled close together, and fell fast asleep again. + +Being very anxious to get home, that she might tell her adventures, and +show how great was the need of a sanitary commission in that region, +Nelly marched proudly up the avenue, and, having displayed her load, +hurried to the hospital, where another applicant was waiting for her. +On the step of the door lay a large turtle, with one claw gone, and on +his back was pasted a bit of paper, with his name,--"Commodore Waddle, +U.S.N." Nelly knew this was a joke of Will's, but welcomed the ancient +mariner, and called Tony to help her get him in. + +All that morning they were very busy settling the new-comers, for both +people and books had to be consulted before they could decide what diet +and treatment was best for each. The winged contraband had taken Nelly +at her word, and flown away on the journey home. Little Rob was put in +a large cage, where he could use his legs, yet not injure his lame +wing. Forked-tongue lay under a wire cover, on sprigs of fennel, for +the gardener said that snakes were fond of it. The Babes in the Wood +were put to bed in one of the rush baskets, under a cotton-wool +coverlet. Greenback, the beetle, found ease for his unknown aches in +the warm heart of a rose, where he sunned himself all day. The +Commodore was made happy in a tub of water, grass, and stones, and Mr. +Fuzz was put in a well-ventilated glass box to decide whether he would +be a cocoon or not. + +Tony had not been idle while his mistress was away, and he showed her +the hospital garden he had made close by, in which were cabbage, +nettle, and mignonette plants for the butterflies, flowering herbs for +the bees, chick-weed and hemp for the birds, catnip for the pussies, +and plenty of room left for whatever other patients might need. In the +afternoon, while Nelly did her task at lint-picking, talking busily to +Will as she worked, and interesting him in her affairs, Tony cleared a +pretty spot in the grove for the burying-ground, and made ready some +small bits of slate on which to write the names of those who died. He +did not have it ready an hour too soon, for at sunset two little graves +were needed, and Nurse Nelly shed tender tears for her first losses as +she laid the motherless mice in one smooth hollow, and the gray-coated +rebel in the other. She had learned to care for him already, and when +she found him dead, was very glad she had been kind to him, hoping that +he knew it, and died happier in her hospital than all alone in the +shadowy wood. + +The rest of Nelly's patients prospered, and of the many added afterward +few died, because of Tony's skilful treatment and her own faithful +care. Every morning when the day proved fair the little ambulance went +out upon its charitable errand; every afternoon Nelly worked for the +human sufferers whom she loved; and every evening brother Will read +aloud to her from useful books, showed her wonders with his microscope, +or prescribed remedies for the patients, whom he soon knew by name and +took much interest in. It was Nelly's holiday; but, though she studied +no lessons, she learned much, and unconsciously made her pretty play +both an example and a rebuke for others. + +At first it seemed a childish pastime, and people laughed. But there +was something in the familiar words "sanitary," "hospital" and +"ambulance" that made them pleasant sounds to many ears. As reports of +Nelly's work went through the neighborhood, other children came to see +and copy her design. Rough lads looked ashamed when in her wards they +found harmless creatures hurt by them, and going out they said among +themselves, "We won't stone birds, chase butterflies, and drown the +girls' little cats any more, though we won't tell them so." And most of +the lads kept their word so well that people said there never had been +so many birds before as all that summer haunted wood and field. +Tender-hearted playmates brought their pets to be cured; even busy +farmers bad a friendly word for the small charity, which reminded them +so sweetly of the great one which should never be forgotten; lonely +mothers sometimes looked out with wet eyes as the little ambulance went +by, recalling thoughts or absent sons who might be journeying painfully +to some far-off hospital, where brave women waited to tend them with +hands as willing, hearts as tender, as those the gentle child gave to +her self-appointed task. + +At home the charm worked also. No more idle days for Nelly, or fretful +ones for Will, because the little sister would not neglect the helpless +creatures so dependent upon her, and the big brother was ashamed to +complain after watching the patience of these lesser sufferers, and +merrily said he would try to bear his own wound as quietly and bravely +as the "Commodore" bore his. Nelly never knew how much good she had +done Captain Will till he went away again in the early autumn. Then he +thanked her for it, and though she cried for joy and sorrow she never +forgot it, because he left something behind him which always pleasantly +reminded her of the double success her little hospital had won. + +When Will was gone and she had prayed softly in her heart that God +would keep him safe and bring him home again, she dried her tears and +went away to find comfort in the place where he had spent so many happy +hours with her. She had not been there before that day, and when she +reached the door she stood quite still and wanted very much to cry +again, far something beautiful had happened. She had often asked Will +for a motto for her hospital, and he had promised to find her one. She +thought he had forgotten it; but even in the hurry of that busy day he +had found time to do more than keep his word, while Nelly sat indoors, +lovingly brightening the tarnished buttons on the blue coat that had +seen so many battles. + +Above the roof, where the doves cooed in the sun, now rustled a white +flag with the golden "S.C." shining on it as the wind tossed it to and +fro. Below, on the smooth panel of the door, a skilful pencil had +drawn two arching ferns, in whose soft shadow, poised upon a mushroom, +stood a little figure of Nurse Nelly, and underneath it another of Dr. +Tony bottling medicine, with spectacles upon his nose. Both hands of +the miniature Nelly were outstretched, as if beckoning to a train of +insects, birds and beasts, which was so long that it not only circled +round the lower rim of this fine sketch, but dwindled in the distance +to mere dots and lines. Such merry conceits as one found there! A +mouse bringing the tail it had lost in some cruel trap, a dor-bug with +a shade over its eyes, an invalid butterfly carried in a tiny litter by +long-legged spiders, a fat frog with gouty feet hopping upon crutches, +Jenny Wren sobbing in a nice handkerchief, as she brought dear dead +Cock Robin to be restored to life. Rabbits, lambs, cats, calves, and +turtles, all came trooping up to be healed by the benevolent little +maid who welcomed them so heartily. + +Nelly laughed at these comical mites till the tears ran down her +cheeks, and thought she never could be tired of looking at them. But +presently she saw four lines clearly printed underneath her picture, +and her childish face grew sweetly serious as she read the words of a +great poet, which Will had made both compliment and motto:-- + + "He prayeth best who loveth best + All things, both great and small; + For the dear God who loveth us, + He made and loveth all." + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Modern Cinderella, by Louisa May Alcott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MODERN CINDERELLA *** + +***** This file should be named 3806.txt or 3806.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/0/3806/ + +Produced by Joe Hogan. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + +This edition produced by Jo Hogan. + + + + + +A Modern Cinderella +or The Little Old Shoe +And Other Stories + +by LOUISA MAY ALCOTT + + + + +CONTENTS + +A MODERN CINDERELLA: OR, THE LITTLE OLD SHOE +DEBBY'S DEBUT +BROTHERS +NELLY'S HOSPITAL + + + + +A MODERN CINDERELLA +OR, +THE LITTLE OLD SHOE + +HOW IT WAS LOST +Among green New England hills stood an +ancient house, many-gabled, mossy-roofed, and +quaintly built, but picturesque and pleasant to the +eye; for a brook ran babbling through the orchard +that encompassed it about, a garden-plat stretched +upward to the whispering birches on the slope, and +patriarchal elms stood sentinel upon the lawn, as +they had stood almost a century ago, when the +Revoiution rolled that way and found them young. + +One summer morning, when the air was full of +country sounds, of mowers in the meadow, black- +birds by the brook, and the low of kine upon the +hill-side, the old house wore its cheeriest aspect, +and a certain humble history began. + +"Nan!" + +"Yes, Di." + +And a head, brown-locked, blue-eyed, soft- +featured, looked in at the open door in answer +to the call. + +Just bring me the third volume of 'Wilhelm +Meister,' there's a dear. It's hardly worth while +to rouse such a restless ghost as I, when I'm +once fairly laid." + +As she spoke, Di PUlled up her black braids, +thumped the pillow of the couch where she was +lying, and with eager eyes went down the last +page of her book. + +"Nan!" + +"Yes, Laura," replied the girl, coming back +with the third volume for the literay cormorant, +who took it with a nod, still too content upon +the "Confessions of a Fair Saint" to remember +the failings of a certain plain sinner. + +"Don't forget the Italian cream for dinner. I +depend upon it; for it's the only thing fit for me +this hot weather." + +And Laura, the cool blonde, disposed the folds +of her white gown more gracefully about her, and +touched up the eyebrow of the Minerva she was +drawing. + +"Little daughter!" + +"Yes, father." + +"Let me have plenty of clean collars in my +bag, for I must go at once; and some of you bring +me a glass of cider in about an hour;--I shall be +in the lower garden." + +The old man went away into his imaginary +paradise, and Nan into that domestic purgatory +on a summer day, -- the kitchen. There were +vines about the windows, sunshine on the floor, +and order everywhere; but it was haunted by a +cooking-stove, that family altar whence such varied +incense rises to appease the appetite of household +gods, before which such dire incantations are +pronounced to ease the wrath and woe of the priestess +of the fire, and about which often linger saddest +memories of wasted temper, time, and toil. + +Nan was tired, having risen with the birds,-- +hurried, having many cares those happy little +housewives never know,--and disappointed in a +hope that hourly " dwindled, peaked, and pined." +She was too young to make the anxious lines upon +her forehead seem at home there, too patient to +be burdened with the labor others should have +shared, too light of heart to be pent up when +earth and sky were keeping a blithe holiday. But +she was one of that meek sisterhood who, thinking +humbly of themselves, believe they are honored +by being spent in the service of less conscientious +souls, whose careless thanks seem quite +reward enough. + +To and fro she went, silent and diligent, giving +the grace of willingness to every humble or distasteful +task the day had brought her; but some +malignant sprite seemed to have taken possession +of her kingdom, for rebellion broke out everywhere. +The kettles would boil over most obstreperously,-- +the mutton refused to cook with the +meek alacrity to be expected from the nature of +a sheep,--the stove, with unnecessary warmth of +temper, would glow like a fiery furnace,--the +irons would scorch,--the linens would dry,--and +spirits would fail, though patience never. + +Nan tugged on, growing hotter and wearier, +more hurried and more hopeless, till at last the +crisis came; for in one fell moment she tore her +gown, burnt her hand, and smutched the collar she +was preparing to finish in the most unexceptionable +style. Then, if she had been a nervous +woman, she would have scolded; being a gentle +girl, she only "lifted up her voice and wept." + +"Behold, she watereth her linen with salt tears, +and bewaileth herself because of much tribulation. +But, lo! Help cometh from afar: a strong man +bringeth lettuce wherewith to stay her, plucketh +berries to comfort her withal, and clasheth cymbals +that she may dance for joy." + +The voice came from the porch, and, with her +hope fulfilled, Nan looked up to greet John Lord, +the house-friend, who stood there with a basket +on his arm; and as she saw his honest eyes, kind +lips, and helpful hands, the girl thought this plain +young man the comeliest, most welcome sight she +had beheld that day. + +"How good of you, to come through all this +heat, and not to laugh at my despair!" she said, +looking up like a grateful child, as she led him in. + +"I only obeyed orders, Nan; for a certain dear +old lady had a motherly presentiment that you had +got into a deomestic whirlpool, and sent me as a +sort of life-preserver. So I took the basket of +consolation, and came to fold my feet upon the carpet +of contentment in the tent of friendship." + +As he spoke, John gave his own gift in his +mother's name, and bestowed himself in the wide +window-seat, where morning-glories nodded at him, +and the old butternut sent pleasant shadows +dancing to and fro. + +His advent, like that of Orpheus in hades, +seemed to soothe all unpropitious powers with a +sudden spell. The Fire began to slacken. the +kettles began to lull, the meat began to +cook, the irons began to cool, the clothes began to +behave, the spirits began to rise, and the collar was +finished off with most triumphant success. John +watched the change, and, though a lord of creation, +abased himself to take compassion on the +weaker vessel, and was seized with a great desire +to lighten the homely tasks that tried her strength +of body and soul. He took a comprehensive +glance about the room; then, extracting a dish +from he closet, proceeded to imbrue his hands in +the strawberries' blood. + +"Oh, John, you needn't do that; I shall have +time when I've turned the meat, made the pudding +and done these things. See, I'm getting on +finely now:--you're a judge of such matters; +isn't that nice?" + +As she spole, Nan offered the polished absurdity +for inspection with innocent pride. + +"Oh that I were a collar, to sit upon that +hand!" sighed John,--adding, argumentatively, + +"As to the berry question, I might answer it with +a gem from Dr. Watts, relative to 'Satan' and +idle hands,' but will merely say, that, as a matter +of public safety, you'd better leave me alone; for +such is the destructiveness of my nature, that I shall +certainly eat something hurtful, break something +valuable, or sit upon something crushable, unless +you let me concentrate my energies by knocking +on these young fellows' hats, and preparing them +for their doom." + +Looking at the matter in a charitable light, +Nan consented, and went cheerfully on with her +work, wondering how she could have thought +ironing an infliction, and been so ungrateful for +the blessings of her lot. + +"Where's Sally?" asked John, looking vainly +for the functionary who usually pervaded +that region like a domestic police-woman, a terror +to cats, dogs, and men. + +"She has gone to her cousin's funeral, and +won't be back till Monday. There seems to be +a great fatality among her relations; for one dies, +or comes to grief in some way, about once a month. +But I don't blame poor Sally for wanting to get +away from this place now and then. I think I +could find it in my heart to murder an imaginary +friend or two, if I had to stay here long." + +And Nan laughed so blithely, it was a pleasure +to hear her. + +"Where's Di?" asked John, seized with a +most unmasculine curiosity all at once. + +"She is in Germany with 'Wilhelm Meister'; +but, though 'lost to sight, to memory clear'; for +I was just thinking, as I did her things, how +clever she is to like all kinds of books that I don't +understand at all, and to write things that make +me cry with pride and delight. Yes, she's a +talented dear, though she hardly knows a needle +from a crowbar, and will make herself one great +blot some of these days, when the 'divine afflatus' +descends upon her, I'm afraid." + +And Nan rubbed away with sisterly zeal at +Di's forlorn hose and inky pocket-handkerchiefs. + +"Where is Laura?" proceeded the inquisitor. + +"Well, I might say that she was in Italy; for +she is copying some fine thing of Raphael's or +Michael Angelo's, or some great creatures or +other; and she looks so picturesque in her pretty +gown, sitting before her easel, that it's really a +sight to behold, and I've peeped two or three +times to see how she gets on." + +And Nan bestirred herself to prepare the dish +Wherewith her picturesque sister desired to +prolong her artistic existence. + +"Where is your father?" John asked again, +checking off each answewr with a nod and a little +frown. + +"He is down in the garden, deep in some plan +about melons, the beginning of which seems to +consist in stamping the first proposition in Euclid +all over the bed, and then poking a few seeds +into the middle of each. Why, bless the dear +man! I forgot it was time for the cider. Wouldn't +you like to take it to him, John? He'd love to +consult you; and the lane is so cool, it does one's +heart good to look at it." + +John glanced from the steamy kitchen to the +shadowy path, and answered with a sudden assumption +of immense industry,-- + +"I couldn't possibly go, Nan,--I've so much +on my hands. You'll have to do it yourself. 'Mr. +Robert of Lincoln' has something for your private +ear; and the lane is so cool, it will do one's heart +good to see you in it. Give my regards to your +father, and, in the words of 'Little Mabel's' +mother, with slight variation,-- + +'Tell the dear old body +This day I cannot run, +For the pots are boiling over +And the mutton isn't done.'" + +"I will; but please, John, go in to the girls and +be comfortable; for I don't like to leave you here," +said Nan. + +"You insinuate that I should pick at the pudding +or invade the cream, do you? Ungrateful +girl, leave me!" And, with melodramatic sterness, +John extinguished her in his broad-brimmed +hat, and offered the glass like a poisoned goblet. + +Nan took it, and went smiling away. But the +lane might have been the Desert of Sahara, for +all she knew of it; and she would have passed +her father as unconcernedly as if he had been an +apple-tree, had he not called out,-- + +"Stand and deliver, little woman!" + +She obeyed the venerable highwayman, and +followed him to and fro, listening to his plans and +directions with a mute attention that quite won +his heart. + +"That hop-pole is really an ornament now, +Nan; this sage-bed needs weeding,--that's good +work for you girls; and, now I think of it, you'd +better water the lettuce in the cool of the +evening, after I'm gone." + +To all of which remarks Nan gave her assent; +the hop-pole took the likeness of a tall +figure she had seen in the porch, the sage-bed, +curiously enough, suggested a strawberry ditto, +the lettuce vividly reminded her of certain vegetable +productions a basket had brought, and the +bobolink only sung in his cheeriest voice, "Go +home, go home! he is there!" + +She found John--he having made a free-mason +of himself, by assuming her little apron--meditating +over the partially spread table, lost in amaze +at its desolate appearance; one half its proper paraphernalia +having been forgotten, and the other +half put on awry. Nan laughed till the tears ran +over her cheeks, and John was gratified at the +efficacy of his treatment; for her face had brought +a whole harvest of sunshine from the garden, and +all her cares seemed to have been lost in the windings +of the lane. + +"Nan, are you in hysterics?" cried Di, appearing, +book in hand. "John, you absurd man, +what are you doing?" + +"I'm helpin' the maid of all work, please +marm." And John dropped a curtsy with his +limited apron. + +Di looked ruffled, for the merry words were a +covert reproach; and with her usual energy of +manner and freedom of speech she tossed "Wilhelm" +out of the window, exclaiming, irefully.-- + +"That's always the way; I'm never where I +ought to be, and never think of anything till it's +too late; but it's all Goethe's fault. What does +he write books full of smart 'Phillinas' and +interesting 'Meisters' for? How can I be expected +to remember that Sally's away, and people must +eat, when I'm hearing the 'Harper' and little +'Mignon?' John, how dare you come here and +do my work, instead of shaking me and telling +me to do it myself? Take that toasted child away, +and fan her like a Chinese mandarin, while I dish +up this dreadful dinner." + +John and Nan fled like chaff before the wind, +while Di, full of remorseful zeal, charged at the +kettles, and wrenched off the potatoes' jackets, +as if she were revengefully pulling her own hair. +Laura had a vague intention of going to assist; +but, getting lost among the lights and shadows of +Minerva's helmet, forgot to appear till dinner had +been evoked from chaos and peace was restored. + +At three o'clock, Di performed the coronation +ceremony with her father's best hat; Laura retied +his old-fashioned neckcloth, and arranged his white +locks with an eye to saintly effect; Nan appeared +with a beautifully written sermon, and suspicious +ink-stains on the fingers that slipped it into his +pocket; John attached himself to the bag; and the +patriarch was escorted to the door of his tent with +the triumphal procession which usually attended +his out-goings and in-comings. Having kissed the +female portion of his tribe, he ascended the venerable +chariot, which received him with audible +lamentation, as its rheumatic joints swayed to and +fro. + +"Good-bye, my dears! I shall be back early +on Monday morning; so take care of yourselves, +and be sure you all go and hear Mr. Emerboy +preach to-morrow. My regards to your mother. +John. Come, Solon!" + +But Solon merely cocked one ear, and remained +a fixed fact; for long experience had induced the +philosophic beast to take for his motto the Yankee +maxim, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead! +He knew things were not right; therefore he did +not go ahead. + +"Oh, by the way, girls, don't forget to pay +Tommy Mullein for bringing up the cow: he +expects it to-night. And Di, don't sit up till +daylight, nor let Laura stay out in the dew. Now, I +believe I'm off. Come, Solon!" + +But Solon only cocked the other ear, gently +agitated his mortified tail, as premonitory +symptoms of departure, and never stirred a hoof, +being well aware that it always took three "comes" +to make a "go." + +"Bless me! I've forgotten my spectacles. +They are probablv shut up in that volume of +Herbert on my table. Very awkward to find +myself without them ten miles away. Thank you, +John. Don't neglect to water the lettuce, +Nan, and don't overwork yourself, my little +'Martha.' Come--" + +At this juncture Solon suddenly went off, like +"Mrs. Gamp," in a sort of walking swoon, apparently +deaf and blind to all mundane matters, +except the refreshments awaiting him ten miles +away; and the benign old pastor disappeared, +humming "Hebron" to the creaking accompaniment +of the bulgy chaise. + +Laura retired to take her siesta; Nan made a +small carbonaro of herself by sharpening her +sister's crayons, and Di, as a sort of penance for +past sins, tried her patience over a piece of knitting, +in which she soon originated a somewhat remarkable +pattern, by dropping every third stitch, and seaming +ad libitum. If John bad been a gentlemanly creature, +with refined tastes, he would have elevated his feet +and made a nuisance of himself by indulging in a "weed;" +but being only an uncultivated youth, with a rustic +regard for pure air and womankind in general, he kept +his head uppermost, and talked like a man, instead of +smoking like a chimney. + +"It will probably be six months before I sit +here again, tangling your threads and maltreating +your needles, Nan. How glad you must feel +to hear it!" he said, looking up from a thoughtful +examination of the hard-working little citizens +of the Industrial Community settled in Nan's +work-basket. + +"No, I'm very sorry; for I like to see you +coming and going as you used to, years ago, and I +miss you very much when you are gone, John," +answered truthful Nan, whittling away in a sadly +wasteful manner, as her thoughts flew back to the +happy times when a little lad rode a little lass in a +big wheelbarrow, and never spilt his load,--when +two brown heads bobbed daily side by side to +school, and the favorite play was "Babes in the +Wood," with Di for a somewhat peckish robin +to cover the small martyrs with any vegetable +substance that lay at hand. Nan sighed, as she +thought of these things, and John regarded the +battered thimble on his finger-tip with increased +benignity of aspect as he heard the sound. + +"When are you going to make your fortune, +John, and get out of that disagreeable hardware +concern? " demanded Di, pausing after an +exciting "round," and looking almost as much +exhausted as if it had been a veritable pugilistic +encounter. + +"I intend to make it by plunging still deeper +into 'that disagreeable hardware concern;' for, +next year, if the world keeps rolling, and +John Lord is alive, he will become a partner, and then +--and then--" + +The color sprang up into the young man's +cheek, his eyes looked out with a sudden shine, +and his hand seemed involuntarily to close, as if +he saw and seized some invisible delight. + +"What will happen then, John?" asked Nan, +with a wondering glance. + +"I'll tell you in a year, Nan, wait till then." +and John's strong hand unclosed, as if the +desired good were not to be his yet. + +Di looked at him, with a knitting-needle stuck +into her hair, saying, like a sarcastic unicorn,-- + +"I really thought you had a soul above pots +and kettles, but I see you haven't; and I beg +your pardon for the injustice I have done you." + +Not a whit disturbed, John smiled, as if at some +mighty pleasant fancy of his own, as he replied,-- + +"Thank you, Di; and as a further proof of the +utter depravity of my nature, let me tell you that +I have the greatest possible respect for those articles +of ironmongery. Some of the happiest hours of my +life have been spent in their society; some of my +pleasantest associations are connected with them; +some of my best lessons have come to me among +them; and when my fortune is made, I intend to +show my gratitude by taking three flat-irons +rampant for my coat of arms. + +Nan laughed merrily, as she looked at the burns +on her hand; but Di elevated the most prominent +feature of her brown countenance, and sighed +despondingly,-- + +"Dear, dear, what a disappointing world this +is! I no sooner build a nice castle in Spain, and +settle a smart young knight therein, than down it +comes about my ears; and the ungrateful youth, +who might fight dragons, if he chose, insists on +quenching his energies in a saucepan, and making +a Saint Lawrence of himself by wasting his life +on a series of gridirons. Ah, if I were only a man, +I would do something better than that, and prove +that heroes are not all dead yet. But, instead +of that, I'm only a woman, and must sit rasping +my temper with absurdities like this." And Di +wrestled with her knitting as if it were Fate, and +she were paying off the grudge she owed it. + +John leaned toward her, saying, with a look +that made his plain face handsome,-- + +"Di, my father began the world as I begin +it, and left it the richer for the useful years he +spent here,--as I hope I may leave it some half- +century hence. His memory makes that dingy +shop a pleasant place to me; for there he made an +honest name, led an honest life and bequeathed +to me his reverence for honest work. That is a +sort of hardware, Di, that no rust can corrupt, and +which will always prove a better fortune than +any your knights can achieve with sword and +shield. I think I am not quite a clod, or quite +without some aspirations above money-getting; for +I sincerely desire that courage that makes daily +life heroic by self-denial and cheerfulness of heart; +I am eager to conquer my own rebellious nature, +and earn the confidence of innocent and upright +souls; I have a great ambition to become as good a +man and leave as good a memory behind me as +old John Lord." + +Di winked violently, and seamed five times in +perfect silence; but quiet Nan had the gift of +knowing when to speak, and by a timely word +saved her sister from a thunder-shower and her +stocking from destruction. + +"John, have you seen Philip since you wrote +about your last meeting with him? + +The question was for John, but the soothing +tone was for Di, who gratefully accepted it, and +perked up again with speed. + +"Yes; and I meant to have told you about it," +answered John, piunging into the subject at once. + +"I saw him a few days before I came home, and +found him more disconsolate than ever,--' just +ready to go to the Devil,' as he forcibly expressed +himself. I consoled the poor lad as well as I could, +telling him his wisest plan was to defer his proposed +expedition, and go on as steadily as he had +begun,--thereby proving the injustice of your +father's prediction concerning his want of perseverance, +and the sincerity of his affection. I told him +the change in Laura's health and spirits was silently +working in his favor, and that a few more months +of persistent endeavor would conquer your father's +prejudice against him, and make him a stronger +man for the trial and the pain. I read him bits +about Laura from your own and Di's letters, and +he went away at last as patient as Jacob ready to +serve another 'seven years' for his beloved +Rachel." + +"God bless you for it, John!" cried a fervent +voice; and, looking up, they saw the cold, listless +Laura transformed into a tender girl, all aglow +with love and longing, as she dropped her mask, +and showed a living countenance eloquent with +the first passion and softened by the first grief of +her life. + +John rose involuntarily in the presence of an +innocent nature whose sorrow needed no interpreter +to him. The girl read sympathy in his +brotherly regard, and found comfort in the friendly +voice that asked, half playfully, half seriously,-- + +"Shall I tell him that he is not forgotten, even +for an Apollo? that Laura the artist has not +conquered Laura the woman? and predict that the +good daughter will yet prove the happy wife?" + +With a gesture full of energy, Laura tore her +Minerva from top to bottom, while two great tears +rolled down the cheeks grown wan with hope +deferred. + +"Tell him I believe all things, hope all things, +and that I never can forget." + +Nan went to her and held her fast, leaving the +prints of two loving but grimy hands upon her +shoulders; Di looked on approvingly, for, though +stony-hearted regarding the cause, she fully +appreciated the effect; and John, turning to the +window, received the commendations of a robin +swaying on an elm-bough with sunshine on its +ruddy breast. + +The clock struck five, and John declared that he +must go; for, being an old-fashioned soul, he +fancied that his mother had a better right to his +last hour than any younger woman in the land,-- +always remembering that "she was a widow, and +he her only son." + +Nan ran away to wash her hands, and came +back with the appearance of one who had washed +her face also: and so she had; but there was a +difference in the water. + +"Play I'm your father, girls, and remember +that it will be six months before 'that John' will +trouble you again." + +With which preface the young man kissed his +former playfellows as heartily as the boy had been +wont to do, when stern parents banished him to +distant schools, and three little maids bemoaned +his fate. But times were changed now; for Di +grew alarmingly rigid during the ceremony; Laura +received the salute like a graceful queen; and Nan +returned it with heart and eyes and tender lips, +making such an improvement on the childish fashion +of the thing that John was moved to support +his paternal character by softly echoing her father's +words,--"Take care of yourself, my little +'Martha.'" + +Then they all streamed after him along the +garden-path, with the endless messages and warnings +girls are so prone to give; and the young man, +with a great softness at his heart, went away, as +many another John has gone, feeling better for the +companionship of innocent maidenhood, and +stronger to wrestle with temptation, to wait and +hope and work. + +"Let's throw a shoe after him for luck, as dear +old 'Mrs. Gummage' did after 'David' and the +'willin' Barkis!' Quick, Nan! you always have +old shoes on; toss one, and shout, 'Good luck!'" +cried Di, with one of her eccentric inspirations. + +Nan tore off her shoe, and threw it far along the +dusty road, with a sudden longing to become that +auspicious article of apparel, that the omen might +not fail. + +Looking backward from the hill-top, John answered +the meek shout cheerily, and took in the +group with a lingering glance: Laura in the shadow +of the elms, Di perched on the fence, and Nan +leaning far over the gate with her hand above her +eyes and the sunshine touching her brown hair +with gold. He waved his hat and turned away; +but the music seemed to die out of the blackbird's +song, and in all the summer landscape his eyes saw +nothing but the little figure at the gate. + +"Bless and save us! here's a flock of people +coming; my hair is in a toss, and Nan's without +her shoe; run! fly, girls! or the Philistines will be +upon us!" cried Di, tumbling off her perch in +sudden alarm. + +Three agitated young ladies, with flying draperies +and countenances of mingled mirth and dismay, +might have been seen precipitating themselves into +a respectable mansion with unbecoming haste; but +the squirrels were the only witnesses of this "vision +of sudden flight," and, being used to ground-and-lofty +tumbling, didn't mind it. + +When the pedestrians passed, the door was +decorously closed, and no one visible but a young +man, who snatched something out of the road, +and marched away again, whistling with more +vigor of tone than accuracy of tune, "Only that, +and nothing more." + + +HOW IT WAS FOUND. + +Summer ripened into autumn, and something +fairer than + +"Sweet-peas and mignonette +In Annie's garden grew." + +Her nature was the counterpart of the hill-side +grove, where as a child she had read her fairy +tales, and now as a woman turned the first pages +of a more wondrous legend still. Lifted above +the many-gabled roof, yet not cut off from the +echo of human speech, the little grove seemed a +green sanctuary, fringed about with violets, and +full of summer melody and bloom. Gentle creatures +haunted it, and there was none to make +afraid; wood-pigeons cooed and crickets chirped +their shrill roundelays, anemones and lady-ferns +looked up from the moss that kissed the wanderer's +feet. Warm airs were all afloat, full of vernal +odors for the grateful sense, silvery birches +shimmered like spirits of the wood, larches gave their +green tassels to the wind, and pines made airy +music sweet and solemn, as they stood looking +heavenward through veils of summer sunshine or +shrouds of wintry snow. + +Nan never felt alone now in this charmed wood; +for when she came into its precincts, once so full of +solitude, all things seemed to wear one shape, +familiar eyes looked at her from the violets in the +grass, familiar words sounded in the whisper of +the leaves, grew conscious that an unseen +influence filled the air with new delights, and +touched earth and sky with a beauty never seen +before. Slowly these Mayflowers budded in her +maiden heart, rosily they bloomed and silently they +waited till some lover of such lowly herbs should +catch their fresh aroma, should brush away the +fallen leaves, and lift them to the sun. + +Though the eldest of the three, she had long +been overtopped by the more aspiring maids. But +though she meekly yielded the reins of government, +whenever they chose to drive, they were soon restored +to her again; for Di fell into literature, and +Laura into love. Thus engrossed, these two forgot +many duties which even bluestockings and inamoratos +are expected to perform, and slowly all the +homely humdrum cares that housewives know +became Nan's daily life, and she accepted it without +a thought of discontent. Noiseless and cheerful +as the sunshine, she went to and fro, doing the +tasks that mothers do, but without a mother's sweet +reward, holding fast the numberless slight threads +that bind a household tenderly together, and +making each day a beautiful success. + +Di, being tired of running, riding, climbing, and +boating, decided at last to let her body rest and +put her equally active mind through what classical +collegians term "a course of sprouts." Having +undertaken to read and know everything, she devoted +herself to the task with great energy, going +from Sue to Swedenborg with perfect impartiality, +and having different authors as children have sundry +distempers, being fractious while they lasted, +but all the better for them when once over. Carlyle +appeared like scarlet-fever, and raged violently +for a time; for, being anything but a "passive +bucket," Di became prophetic with Mahomet, +belligerent with Cromwell, and made the French +Revolution a veritable Reign of Terror to her +family. Goethe and Schiller alternated like fever +and ague; Mephistopheles became her hero, Joan +of Arc her model, and she turned her black eyes +red over Egmont and Wallenstein. A mild attack of +Emerson followed, during which she was lost in a +fog, and her sisters rejoiced inwardly when she +emerged informing them that + +"The Sphinx was drowsy, +Her wings were furled." + +Poor Di was floundering slowly to her proper +place; but she splashed up a good deal of foam by +getting out of her depth, and rather exhausted +herself by trying to drink the ocean dry. + +Laura, after the "midsummer night's dream " +that often comes to girls of seventeen, woke up to +find that youth and love were no match for age and +common sense. Philip had been flying about the +world like a thistle-down for five-and-twenty years, +generous-hearted. frank, and kind, but with never +an idea of the serious side of life in his handsome +head. Great, therefore, were the wrath and dismay +of the enamored thistle-down, when the father +of his love mildly objected to seeing her begin the +world in a balloon with a very tender but very +inexperienced aeronaut for a guide. + +"Laura is too young to 'play house' yet, and +you are too unstable to assume the part of lord +and master, Philip. Go and prove that you have +prudence, patience, energy, and enterprise, and I +will give you my girl,--but not before. I must +seem cruel, that I may be truly kind; believe this, +and let a little pain lead you to great happiness, +or show you where you would have made a bitter +blunder." + +The lovers listened, owned the truth of the old +man's words, bewailed their fate, and yielded,-- +Laura for love of her father, Philip for love of her. +He went away to build a firm foundation for his +castle in the air, and Laura retired into an invisible +convent, where she cast off the world, and regarded +her sympathizing sisters throug a grate of superior +knowledge and unsharable grief. Like a devout nun, she +worshipped "St. Philip," and firmly believed in his +miraculous powers. She fancied that her woes set her +apart from common cares, and slowly fell into a dreamy +state, professing no interest in any mundane matter, but +the art that first attacted Philip. Crayons, bread-crusts, +and gray paper became glorified in Laura's eyes; and +her one pleasure was to sit pale and still before +her easel, day after day, filling her portfolios with +the faces he had once admired. Her sisters observed +that every Bacchus, Piping Faun, or Dying +Gladiator bore some likeness to a comely countenance +that heathen god or hero never owned; +and seeing this, they privately rejoiced that she +had found such solace for her grief. + +Mrs. Lord's keen eye had read a certain newly +written page in her son's heart,--his first chapter +of that romance, begun in paradise, whose interest +never flags, whose beauty never fades, whose end +can never come till Love lies dead. With +womanly skill she divined the secret, with motherly +discretion she counselled patience, and her son +accepted her advice, feeling that, like many a +healthful herb, its worth lay in its bitterness. + +"Love like a man, John, not like a boy, and +learn to know yourself before you take a woman's +happiness into your keeping. You and Nan have +known each other all your lives; yet, till this last +visit, you never thought you loved her more than +any other childish friend. It is too soon to say the +words so often spoken hastily,--so hard to be recalled. +Go back to your work, dear, for another year; think +of Nan in the light of this new hope: +compare her with comelier, gayer girls; and by +absence prove the truth of your belief. Then, +if distance only makes her dearer, if time only +strengthens your affection, and no doubt of your +own worthiness disturbs you, come back and offer +her what any woman should be glad to take,-- +my boy's true heart." + +John smiled at the motherly pride of her words, +but answered with a wistful look. + +"It seems very long to wait, mother. If I could +just ask her for a word of hope, I could be very +patient then." + +"Ah, my dear, better bear one year of impatience +now than a lifetime of regret hereafter. Nan +is happy; why disturb her by a word which will +bring the tender cares and troubles that come soon +enough to such conscientious creatures as herself? +If she loves you, time will prove it; therefore, let +the new affection spring and ripen as your early +friendship has done, and it will be all the stronger +for a summer's growth. Philip was rash, and has +to bear his trial now, and Laura shares it with him. +Be more generous, John; make your trial, bear +your doubts alone, and give Nan the happiness +without the pain. Promise me this, dear,--promise +me to hope and wait." + +The young man's eye kindled, and in his heart +there rose a better chivalry, a truer valor, than any +Di's knights had ever known. + +"I'll try, mother," was all he said; but she was +satisfied, for John seldom tried in vain. + +"Oh, girls, how splendid you are! It does +my heart good to see my handsome sisters in their +best array," cried Nan, one mild October night, +as she put the last touches to certain airy raiment +fashioned by her own skilful hands, and then fell +back to survey the grand effect. + +"Di and Laura were preparing to assist at an +event of the season," and Nan, with her own +locks fallen on her shoulders, for want of sundry +combs promoted to her sisters' heads and her dress +in unwonted disorder, for lack of the many pins +extracted in exciting crises of the toilet, hovered +like an affectionate bee about two very full-blown +flowers. + +"Laura looks like a cool Undine, with the ivy- +wreaths in her shining hair; and Di has illuminated +herself to such an extent with those scarlet leaves. +that I don't know what great creature she resembles +most," said Nan, beaming with sisterly admiration. + +"Like Juno, Zenobia, and Cleopatra simmered +into one, with a touch of Xantippe by way of +spice. But, to my eye, the finest woman of the +three is the dishevelled young person embracing +the bed-post: for she stays at home herself, and +gives her time and taste to making homely people +fine,--which is a waste of good material, and an +imposition on the public." + +As Di spoke, both the fashion-plates looked +affectionately at the gray-gowned figure; but, being +works of art, they were obliged to nip their feelings +in the bud, and reserve their caresses till they +returned to common life. + +"Put on your bonnet, and we'll leave you at +Mrs. Lord's on our way. It will do you good, +Nan; and perhaps there may be news from John," +added Di, as she bore down upon the door like a +man-of-war under full sail. + +"Or from Philip," sighed Laura, with a wistful +look. + +Whereupon Nan persuaded herself that her +strong inclination to sit down was owing to want +of exercise, and the heaviness of her eyelids a freak +of imagination; so, speedily smoothing her ruffled +plumage, she ran down to tell her father of the new +arrangement. + +"Go, my dear, by alll means. I shall be writing; +and you will be lonely if you stay. But I +must see my girls; for I caught glimpses of certain +surprising phantoms flitting by the door." + +Nan led the way, and the two pyramids revolved +before him with the rapidity of lay-figures, +much to the good man's edification: for with his +fatherly pleasure there was mingled much mild +wonderment at the amplitude of array. + +"Yes, I see my geese are really swans, though +there is such a cloud between us that I feel a long +way off, and hardly know them. But this little +daughter is always available, always my 'cricket +on the hearth.' + +As he spoke, her father drew Nan closer, kissed +her tranquil face, and smiled content. + +"Well, if ever I see picters, I see 'em now, and +I declare to goodness it's as interestin' as +playactin', every bit. Miss Di with all them boughs +in her head, looks like the Queen of Sheby, when +she went a-visitin' What's-his-name; and if Miss +Laura ain't as sweet as a lally-barster figger, I +should like to know what is." + +In her enthusiasm, Sally gambolled about the +girls, flourishing her milk-pan like a modern +Miriam about to sound her timbrel for excess of +joy. + +Laughing merrily, the two Mont Blancs bestowed +themselves in the family ark, Nan hopped +up beside Patrick, and Solon, roused from his +lawful slumbers, morosely trundled them away. +But, looking backward with a last "Good- +night!" Nan saw her father still standing at the +door with smiling countenance, and the moonlight +falling like a benediction on his silver hair. + +"Betsey shall go up the hill with you, my dear, +and here's a basket of eggs for your father. Give +him my love, and be sure you let me know the +next time he is poorly," Mrs. Lord said, when her +guest rose to depart, after an hour of pleasant chat. + +But Nan never got the gift; for, to her great +dismay, her hostess dropped the basket with a +crash, and flew across the room to meet a tall +shape pausing in the shadow of the door. There +was no need to ask who the new-comer was; for, +even in his mother's arms, John looked over her +shoulder with an eager nod to Nan, who stood +among the ruins with never a sign of weariness in +her face, nor the memory of a care at her heart.-- +for they all went out when John came in. + +"Now tell us how and why and when you came. +Take off your coat, my dear! And here are the +old slippers. Why didn't you let us know +you were coming so soon? How have you been? +and what makes you so late to-night? Betsey, +you needn't put on your bonnet. And--oh, my +dear boy, have you been to supper yet? + +Mrs. Lord was a quiet soul, and her flood of +questions was purred softly in her son's ear; for, +being a woman, she must talk, and, being a mother, +must pet the one delight of her life, and make a +little festival when the lord of the manor came +home. A whole drove of fatted calves were +metaphorically killed, and a banquet appeared +with speed. + +John was not one of those romantic heroes who +can go through three volumes of hair-breadth +escapes without the faintest hint of that blessed +institution, dinner; therefore, like "Lady Letherbridge," +he partook, copiously of everything." +while the two women beamed over each mouthful +with an interest that enhanced its flavor, and urged +upon him cold meat and cheese, pickles and pie, as +if dyspepsia and nightmare were among the lost +arts. + +Then he opened his budget of news and fed +them. + +"I was coming next month, according to custom; +but Philip fell upon and so tempted me, that +I was driven to sacrifice myself to the cause of +friendship, and up we came to-night. He would +not let me come here till we had seen your father, +Nan; for the poor lad was pining for Laura, and +hoped his good behavior for the past year would +satisfy his judge and secure his recall. We had a +fine talk with your father; and, upon my life, Philip +seemed to have received the gift of tongues, for he +made a most eloquent plea, which I've stored away +for future use, I assure you. The dear old gentleman +was very kind, told Phil he was satisfied with +the success of his probation, that he should see +Laura when he liked, and, if all went well, should +receive his reward in the spring. It must be a +delightful sensation to know you have made a +fellow-creature as happy as those words made Phil +to-night." + +John paused, and looked musingly at the matronly +tea-pot, as if he saw a wondrous future in +its shine. + +Nan twinkled off the drops that rose at the +thought of Laura's joy, and said, with grateful +warmth,-- + +"You say nothing of your own share in the +making of that happiness, John; but we know it, +for Philip has told Laura in his letters all that you +have been to him, and I am sure there was other +eloquence beside his own before father granted all +you say he has. Oh, John, I thank you very much +for this! + +Mrs. Lord beamed a whole midsummer of delight +upon her son, as she saw the pleasure these +words gave him, though he answered simply,-- + +"I only tried to be a brother to him, Nan; for +he has been most kind to me. Yes, I said my little +say to-night, and gave my testimony in behalf of +the prisoner at the bar; a most merciful judge +pronounced his sentence, and he rushed straight +to Mrs. Leigh's to tell Laura the blissful news. +Just imagine the scene when he appears, and how +Di will open her wicked eyes and enjoy the spectacle +of the dishevelled lover, the bride-elect's tears, +the stir, and the romance of the thing. She'll +cry over it to-night, and caricature it to-morrow. + +And John led the laugh at the picture he had +conjured up, to turn the thoughts of Di's dangerous +sister from himself. + +At ten Nan retired into the depths of her old +bonnet with a far different face from the one she +brought out of it, and John, resuming his hat, +mounted guard. + +"Don't stay late, remember, John!" And in +Mrs. Lord's voice there was a warning tone that +her son interpreted aright. + +"I'll not forget, mother." + +And he kept his word; for though Philip's happiness +floated temptingly before him, and the little +figure at his side had never seemed so dear, he +ignored the bland winds, the tender night, and set +a seal upon his lips, thinking manfully within himself. +"I see many signs of promise in her happy +face; but I will wait and hope a little longer for +her sake." + +"Where is father, Sally?" asked Nan, as that +functionary appeared, blinking owlishly, but utterly +repudiating the idea of sleep. + +"He went down the garding, miss, when the +gentlemen cleared, bein' a little flustered by the +goin's on. Shall I fetch him in?" asked Sally, as +irreverently as if her master were a bag of meal. + +"No, we will go ourselves." And slowly the +two paced down the leaf-strewn walk. + +Fields of yellow grain were waving on the +hill-side, and sere corn blades rustled in the wind, +from the orchard came the scent of ripening fruit, +and all the garden-plots lay ready to yield up their +humble offerings to their master's hand. But in +the silence of the night a greater Reaper had +passed by, gathering in the harvest of a righteous +life, and leaving only tender memories for the +gleaners who had come so late. + +The old man sat in the shadow of the tree his +own hands planted; its fruit boughs shone ruddily, +and its leaves still whispered the low lullaby +that hushed him to his rest. + +"How fast he sleeps! Poor father! I should +have come before and made it pleasant for +him." + +As she spoke, Nan lifted up the head bent down +upon his breast, and kissed his pallid cheek. + +"Oh, John, this is not sleep." + +"Yes, dear, the happiest he will ever +know." + +For a moment the shadows flickered over three +white faces and the silence deepened solemnly. +Then John reverently bore the pale shape in, and +Nan dropped down beside it, saying, with a rain +of grateful tears,-- + +"He kissed me when I went, and said a last +good-night!'" + +For an hour steps went to and fro about her, +many voices whispered near her, and skilful hands +touched the beloved clay she held so fast; but one +by one the busy feet passed out, one by one the +voices died away, and human skill proved vain. + +Then Mrs. Lord drew the orphan to the shelter of +her arms, soothing her with the mute solace of that +motherly embrace. + +"Nan, Nan! here's Philip! come and see!" +The happy call re-echoed through the house, +and Nan sprang up as if her time for grief were +past. + +"I must tell them. Oh, my poor girls, how +will they bear it?--they have known so little +sorrow!" + +But there was no need for her to speak; other +lips had spared her the hard task. For, as she +stirred to meet them, a sharp cry rent the air, steps +rang upon the stairs, and two wild-eyed creatures +came into the hush of that familiar room, for the +first time meeting with no welcome from their +father's voice. + +With one impulse, Di and Laura fled to Nan. +and the sisters clung together in a silent embrace, +more eloquent than words. John took his +mother by the hand, and led her from the room, +closing the door upon the sacredness of grief. + +"Yes, we are poorer than we thought; but +when everything is settled, we shall get on very +well. We can let a part of this great house, and +live quietly together until spring; then Laura will +be married, and Di can go on their travels with +them, as Philip wishes her to do. We shall be +cared for; so never fear for us, John." + +Nan said this, as her friend parted from her a +week later, after the saddest holiday he had ever +known. + +"And what becomes of you, Nan?" he asked, +watching the patient eyes that smiled when +others would have wept. + +"I shall stay in the dear old house; for no other +place would seem like home to me. I shall find +some little child to love and care for, and be quite +happy till the girls come back and want me." + +John nodded wisely, as he listened, and went +away prophesying within himself,-- + +"She shall find something more than a child to +love; and, God willing, shall be very happy till +the girls come home and--cannot have her." + +Nan's plan was carried into effect. Slowly the +divided waters closed again, and the three fell +back into their old life. But the touch of sorrow +drew them closer; and, though invisible, a beloved +presence still moved among them, a familiar voice +still spoke to them in the silence of their softened +hearts. Thus the soil was made ready, and in the +depth of winter the good seed was sown, was +watered with many tears, and soon sprang up +green with a promise of a harvest for their after +years. + +Di and Laura consoled themselves with their +favorite employments, unconscious that Nan was +growing paler, thinner, and more silent, as the +weeks went by, till one day she dropped quietly +before them, and it suddenly became manifest that +she was utterly worn out with many cares and the +secret suffering of a tender heart bereft of the +paternal love which had been its strength and stay. + +"I'm only tired, dear girls. Don't be troubled!, +for I shall be up to-morrow," she said cheerily, as +she looked into the anxious faces bending over +her. + +But the weariness was of many months' growth, +and it was weeks before that "to-morrow " came. + +Laura installed herself as nurse, and her devotion +was repaid four-fold; for, sitting at her sister's +bedside, she learned a finer art than that she had +left. Her eye grew clear to see the beauty of a +self-denying life, and in the depths of Nan's meek +nature she found the strong, sweet virtues that +made her what she was. + +Then remembering that these womanly attributes were +a bride's best dowry, Laura gave herself to their +attainment, that she might become to another household +the blessing Nan had been to her own; and turning +from the worship of the goddess Beauty, she gave +her hand to that humbler and more human teacher, +Duty,--learning her lessons with a willing heart, +for Philip's sake. + +Di corked her inkstand, locked her bookcase, +and went at housework as if it were a five-barred +gate; of course she missed the leap, but scrambled +bravely through, and appeared much sobered by +the exercise. Sally had departed to sit under a +vine and fig-tree of her own, so Di had undisputed +sway; but if dish-pans and dusters had tongues, +direful would have been the history of that crusade +against frost and fire, indolence and inexperience. +But they were dumb, and Di scorned to complain, +though her struggles were pathetic to behold, and +her sisters went through a series of messes equal to +a course of "Prince Benreddin's" peppery tarts. +Reality turned Romance out of doors; for, unlike +her favorite heroines in satin and tears, or helmet +and shield, Di met her fate in a big checked apron +and dust-cap, wonderful to see; yet she wielded +her broom as stoutly as "Moll Pitcher" shouldered +her gun, and marched to her daily martyrdom in the +kitchen with as heroic a heart as the "Maid of Orleans" +took to her stake. + +Mind won the victory over matter in the end, +and Di was better all her days for the tribulations +and the triumphs of that time; for she drowned her +idle fancies in her wash-tub, made burnt-offerings +of selfishness and pride, and learned the worth of +self-denial, as she sang with happy voice among +the pots and kettles of her conquered realm. + +Nan thought of John, and in the stillness of her +sleepless nights prayed Heaven to keep him safe, +and make her worthy to receive and strong enough +to bear the blessedness or pain of love. + +Snow fell without, and keen winds howled +among the leafless elms, but "herbs of grace" +were blooming beautifully in the sunshine of +sincere endeavor, and this dreariest season proved the +most fruitful of the year; for love taught Laura, +labor chastened Di, and patience fitted Nan for the +blessing of her life. + +Nature, that stillest, yet most diligent of housewives, +began at last that "spring cleaning" which +she makes so pleasant that none find the heart to +grumble as they do when other matrons set their +premises a-dust. Her hand-maids, wind and rain +and sun, swept, washed, and garnished busily, +green carpets were unrolled, apple-boughs were +hung with draperies of bloom, and dandelions, pet +nurslings of the year, came out to play upon the +sward. + +From the South returned that opera troupe +whose manager is never in despair, whose tenor +never sulks, whose prima donna never fails, and +in the orchard bona fide matinees were held, to +which buttercups and clovers crowded in their +prettiest spring hats, and verdant young blades +twinkled their dewy lorgnettes, as they bowed and +made way for the floral belles. + +May was bidding June good-morrow, and the +roses were just dreaming that it was almost time to +wake, when John came again into the quiet room +which now seemed the Eden that contained his +Eve. Of course there was a jubilee; but something +seemed to have befallen the whole group, for +never had they appeared in such odd frames of +mind. John was restless, and wore an excited +look, most unlike his usual serenity of aspect. + +Nan the cheerful had fallen into a well of +silence and was not to be extracted by any +Hydraulic power, though she smiled like the June sky +over her head. Di's peculiarities were out in full +force, and she looked as if she would go off like a +torpedo at a touch; but through all her moods +there was a half-triumphant, half-remorseful +expression in the glance she fixed on John. And +Laura, once so silent, now sang like a blackbird, +as she flitted to and fro; but her fitful song was +always, "Philip, my king." + +John felt that there had come a change upon +the three, and silently divined whose unconscious +influence had wrought the miracle. The embargo +was off his tongue, and he was in a fever to ask +that question which brings a flutter to the stoutest +heart; but though the "man" had come, the +"hour" had not. So, by way of steadying his +nerves, he paced the room, pausing often to take +notes of his companions, and each pause seemed to +increase his wonder and content. + +He looked at Nan. She was in her usual place, +the rigid little chair she loved, because it once +was large enough to hold a curly-headed +playmate and herself. The old work-basket was at +her side, and the battered thimble busily at work; +but her lips wore a smile they had never worn be- +fore, the color of the unblown roses touched her +cheek, and her downcast eyes were full of light. + +He looked at Di. The inevitable book was on +her knee, but its leaves were uncut; the strong- +minded knob of hair still asserted its supremacy +aloft upon her head, and the triangular jacket still +adorned her shoulders in defiance of all fashions, +past, present, or to come; but the expression of her +brown countenance had grown softer, her tongue +had found a curb, and in her hand lay a card with +"Potts, Kettel & Co." inscribed thereon, which +she regarded with never a scornful word for the +Co." + +He looked at Laura. She was before her easel +as of old; but the pale nun had given place to a +blooming girl, who sang at her work, which was +no prim Pallas, but a Clytie turning her human +face to meet the sun. + +"John, what are you thinking of?" + +He stirred as if Di's voice had disturbed his +fancy at some pleasant pastime, but answered with +his usual sincerity,-- + +"I was thinking of a certain dear old fairy tale +called 'Cinderella.'" + +"Oh!" said Di; and her "Oh" was a most +impressive monosyllable. "I see the meaning of +your smile now; and though the application of the +story is not very complimentary to all parties +concerned, it is very just and very true." + +She paused a moment, then went on with softened +voice and earnest mien:-- + +"You think I am a blind and selfish creature. +So I am, but not so blind and selfish as I have +been; for many tears have cleared my eyes, and +much sincere regret has made me humbler than I +was. I have found a better book than any father's +library can give me, and I have read it with +a love and admiration that grew stronger as I +turned the leaves. Henceforth I take it for my +guide and gospel, and, looking back upon the +selfish and neglectful past, can only say, Heaven +bless your dear heart, Nan!" + +Laura echoed Di's last words; for, with eyes +as full of tenderness, she looked down upon the +sister she had lately learned to know, saying, +warmly,-- + +"Yes, 'Heaven bless your dear heart, Nan!' +I never can forget all you have been to me; and +when I am far away with Philip, there will always +be one countenance more beautiful to me +than any pictured face I may discover, there will +be one place more dear to me than Rome. The +face will be yours, Nan, always so patient, always +so serene; and the dearer place will be this home of +ours, which you have made so pleasant to me all +these years by kindnesses as numberless and +noiseless as the drops of dew." + +"Dear girls, what have I ever done, that you +should love me so?" cried Nan, with happy +wonderment, as the tall heads, black and golden, +bent to meet the lowly brown one, and her sisters' +mute lips answered her. + +Then Laura looked up, saying, playfully,-- + +"Here are the good and wicked sisters;-where +shall we find the Prince? " + +"There!" cried Di, pointing to John; and +then her secret went off like a rocket; for, with her +old impetuosity, she said,-- + +"I have found you out, John, and am ashamed +to look you in the face, remembering the past. +Girls, you know when father died, John sent us +money, which he said Mr. Owen had long owed +us and had paid at last? It was a kind lie, John, +and a generous thing to do; for we needed it, but +never would have taken it as a gift. I know you +meant that we should never find this out; but +yesterday I met Mr. Owen returning from the +West, and when I thanked him for a piece of justice +we had not expected of him, he gruffly told me +he had never paid the debt, never meant to pay it, +for it was outlawed, and we could not claim a +farthing. John, I have laughed at you, thought +you stupid, treated you unkindly; but I know you +now, and never shall forget the lesson you have +taught me. I am proud as Lucifer, but I ask you +to forgive me, and I seal my real repentance so-- +and so." + +With tragic countenance, Di rushed across the +room, threw both arms about the astonished young +man's neck and dropped an energetic kiss upon his +cheek. There was a momentary silence; for Di +finally illustrated her strong-minded theories by +crying like the weakest of her sex. Laura, with "the +ruling passion strong in death," still tried to draw, +but broke her pet crayon, and endowed her Clytie +with a supplementary orb, owing to the dimness of +her own. And Nan sat with drooping eyes, that +shone upon her work, thinking with tender pride,-- +They know him now, and love him for his generous heart." + +Di spoke first, rallying to her colors, though a +little daunted by her loss of self-control. + +"Don't laugh, John,--I couldn't help it; and +don't think I'm not sincere, for I am,--I am; and +I will prove it by growing good enough to be your +friend. That debt must all be paid, and I shall +do it; for I'll turn my books and pen to some +account, and write stories full of clear old souls like +you and Nan; and some one, I know, will like and +buy them, though they are not 'works of Shakespeare.' +I've thought of this before, have felt I +had the power in me; now I have the motive, and +now I'll do it." + +If Di had Proposed to translate the Koran, or +build a new Saint Paul's, there would have been +many chances of success; for, once moved, her +will, like a battering-ram, would knock down the +obstacles her wits could not surmount. John +believed in her most heartily, and showed it, as he +answered, looking into her resolute face,-- + +"I know you will, and yet make us very proud +of our 'Chaos,' Di. Let the money lie, and when +you have a fortune, I'll claim it with enormous +interest; but, believe me, I feel already doubly +repaid by the esteem so generously confessed, so +cordially bestowed, and can only say, as we used +to years ago,--'Now let's forgive and so forget." + +But proud Di would not let him add to her obligation, +even by returning her impetuous salute; +she slipped away, and, shaking off the last drops, +answered with a curious mixture of old freedom +and new respect,-- + +"No more sentiment, please, John. We know +each other now; and when I find a friend, I never +let him go. We have smoked the pipe of peace; +so let us go back to our wigwams and bury the +feud. Where were we when I lost my head? and +what were we talking about?" + +"Cinderella and the Prince." + +As she spoke, John's eye kindled, and, turning, +he looked down at Nan, who sat diligently ornamenting +with microscopic stitches a great patch +going on, the wrong side out. + +"Yes,--so we were; and now taking pussy for +the godmother, the characters of the story are well +personated,--all but the slipper," said Di, laughing, +as she thought of the many times they had +played it together years ago. + +A sudden movement stirred John's frame, a +sudden purpose shone in his countenance, and a +sudden change befell his voice, as he said, +producing from some hiding-place a little +wornout shoe,-- + +"I can supply the slipper;--who will try it +first?" + +Di's black eyes opened wide, as they fell on +the familiar object; then her romance-loving nature +saw the whole plot of that drama which needs but +two to act it. A great delight flushed up +into her face, as she promptly took her cue, saying-- + +" No need for us to try it, Laura; for it wouldn't +fit us, if our feet were as small as Chinese dolls; +our parts are played out; therefore 'Exeunt +wicked sisters to the music of the wedding-bells.'" + +And pouncing upon the dismayed artist, she swept +her out and closed the door with a triumphant +bang. + +John went to Nan, and, dropping on his knee as +reverently as the herald of the fairy tale, he asked, +still smiling, but with lips grown tremulous,-- + +"Will Cinderella try the little shoe, and--if +it fits--go with the Prince?" + +But Nan only covered up her face, weeping +happy tears, while all the weary work strayed +down upon the floor, as if it knew her holiday had +come. + +John drew the hidden face still closer, and while +she listened to his eager words, Nan heard the +beating of the strong man's heart, and knew it +spoke the truth. + +"Nan, I promised mother to be silent till I was +sure I loved you wholly,--sure that the knowledge +would give no pain when I should tell it, as I am +trying to tell it now. This little shoe has been mv +comforter through this long year, and I have kept +it as other lovers keep their fairer favors. It has +been a talisman more eloquent to me than flower +or ring; for, when I saw how worn it was, I always +thought of the willing feet that came and went for +others' comfort all day long; when I saw the little +bow you tied, I always thought of the hands so +diligent in serving any one who knew a want or +felt a pain; and when I recalled the gentle creature +who had worn it last, I always saw her patient, +tender, and devout,--and tried to grow more +worthy of her, that I might one day dare to ask +if she would walk beside me all my life and be my +'angel in the house.' Will you, dear? Believe +me, you shall never know a weariness or grief I +have the power to shield you from." + +Then Nan, as simple in her love as in her life, +laid her arms about his neck, her happy face against +his own, and answered softly,-- + +"Oh, John, I never can be sad or tired any +more!" + + +DEBBY'S DEBUT. + +On a cheery June day Mrs. Penelope Carroll +and her niece Debby Wilder, were whizzing along +on their way to a certain gay watering-place, both +in the best of humors with each other and all the +world beside. Aunt Pen was concocting sundry +mild romances, and laying harmless plots for the +pursuance of her favorite pastime, match-making; +for she had invited her pretty relative to join her +summer jaunt, ostensibly that the girl might see a +little of fashionable life, but the good lady secretly +proposed to herself to take her to the beach and +get her a rich husband, very much as she would +have proposed to take her to Broadway and get her +a new bonnet: for both articles she considered +necessary, but somewhat difficult for a poor girl +to obtain. + +Debby was slowly getting her poise, after the +excitement of a first visit to New York; for ten +days of bustle had introduced the young philosopher +to a new existence, and the working-day +world seemed to have vanished when she made her +last pat of butter in the dairy at home. For an +hour she sat thinking over the good-fortune which +had befallen her, and the comforts of this life which +she had suddenly acquired. Debby was a true +girl, with all a girl's love of ease and pleasure; +it must not be set down against her that she +surveyed her pretty travelling-suit with much +complacency, rejoicing inwardly that she could use +her hands without exposing fractured gloves, that +her bonnet was of the newest mode, needing no +veil to hide a faded ribbon or a last year's shape, +that her dress swept the ground with fashionable +untidiness, and her boots were guiltless of a patch, +--that she was the possessor of a mine of wealth +in two of the eight trunks belonging to her aunt, +that she was travelling like any lady of the land +with man- and maid-servant at her command, and +that she was leaving work and care behind her for +a month or two of novelty and rest. + +When these agreeable facts were fully realized, +and Aunt Pen had fallen asleep behind her veil, +Debby took out a book, and indulged in her favorite +luxury, soon forgetting past, present, and future +in the inimitable history of Martin Chuzzlewit. +The sun blazed, the cars rattled, children +cried, ladies nodded, gentlemen longed for the +solace of prohibited cigars, and newspapers were +converted into sun-shades, nightcaps, and fans; +but Debby read on, unconscious of all about her, +even of the pair of eves that watched her from the +Opposite corner of the car. A Gentleman with a +frank, strong-featured face sat therin, and amused +himself by scanning with thoughtful gaze the +countenances of his fellow-travellers. Stout Aunt Pen, +dignified even in her sleep, was a "model of deportment" +to the rising generation; but the student +of human nature found a more attractive subject in +her companion, the girl with an apple-blossom face +and merry brown eyes, who sat smiling into her +book, never heeding that her bonnet was awry, +and the wind taking unwarrantable liberties with +her ribbons and her hair. + +Innocent Debby turned her pages, unaware that +her fate sat opposite in the likeness of a serious, +black-bearded gentleman, who watched the smiles +rippling from her lips to her eyes with an interest +that deepened as the minutes passed. If his paper +had been full of anything but "Bronchial +Troches" and "Spalding's Prepared Glue," he +would have found more profitable employment; +but it wasn't, and with the usual readiness of idle +souls he fell into evil ways, and permitted curiosity, +that feminine sin, to enter in and take possession +of his manly mind. A great desire seized him to +discover what book his pretty neighbor; +but a cover hid the name, and he was too +distant to catch it on the fluttering leaves. Presently +a stout Emerald-Islander, with her wardrobe +oozing out of sundry paper parcels, vacated the +seat behind the two ladies; and it was soon quietly +occupied by the individual for whom Satan was +finding such indecorous employment. Peeping +round the little gray bonnet, past a brown braid +and a fresh cheek, the young man's eye fell upon +the words the girl was reading, and forgot to look +away again. Books were the desire of his life; +but an honorable purpose and an indomitable will +kept him steady at his ledgers till he could feel +that he had earned the right to read. Like wine to +many another was an open page to his; he read a +line, and, longing for more, took a hasty sip from +his neighbor's cup, forgetting that it was a +stranger's also. + +Down the page went the two pairs of eyes, +and the merriment from Debby's seemed to light +up the sombre ones behind her with a sudden shine +that softened the whole face and made it very +winning. No wonder they twinkled, for Elijah +Pogram spoke, and "Mrs. Hominy, the mother +of the modern Gracchi, in the classical blue cap +and the red cotton pocket-handkerchief, came +down the room in a procession of one." A low +laugh startled Debby, though it was smothered +like the babes in the Tower; and, turning, she +beheld the trespasser scarlet with confusion, and +sobered with a tardy sense of his transgression. +Debby was not a starched young lady of the +"prune and prism" school, but a frank, free- +hearted little body, quick to read the sincerity of +others, and to take looks and words at their real +value. Dickens was her idol; and for his sake she +could have forgiven a greater offence than this. + +The stranger's contrite countenance and respecttul +apology won her good-will at once; and with +a finer courtesy than any Aunt Pen would have +taught, she smilingly bowed her pardon, and, +taking another book from her basket, opened it, +saying, pleasantly,-- + +"Here is the first volume if you like it, Sir. I +can recommend it as an invaluable consolation for +the discomforts of a summer day's journey, and it +is heartily at your service." + +As much surprised as gratified, the gentleman +accepted the book, and retired behind it with the +sudden discovery that wrongdoing has its compensation +in the pleasurable sensation of being forgiven. +Stolen delights are well known to be specially +saccharine: and much as this pardoned sinner loved +books, it seemed to him that the interest +of the story flagged, and that the enjoyment of +reading was much enhanced by the proximity of a +gray bonnet and a girlish profile. But Dickens +soon proved more powerful than Debby, and she was +forgotten, till, pausing to turn a leaf, the young +man met her shy glance, as she asked, with the +pleased expression of a child who has shared an +apple with a playmate,-- + +"Is it good?" + +"Oh, very!"--and the man looked as honestly +grateful for the book as the boy would have done +for the apple. + +Only five words in the conversation, but Aunt +Pen woke, as if the watchful spirit of propriety had +roused her to pluck her charge from the precipice +on which she stood. + +"Dora, I'm astonished at you! Speaking to +strangers in that free manner is a most unladylike +thing. How came you to forget what I have told +you over and over again about a proper reserve?" +The energetic whisper reached the gentleman's +ear, and he expected to be annihilated with a look +when his offence was revealed; but he was spared +that ordeal, for the young voice answered, +softly,-- + +"Don't faint, Aunt Pen: I only did as I'd be +done by; for I had two books, and the poor man +looked so hungry for something to read that I +couldn't resist sharing my 'goodies.' He will see +that I'm a countrified little thing in spite of my +fine feathers, and won't be shocked at my want of +rigidity and frigidity; so don't look dismal, and I'll +be prim and proper all the rest of the way,--if I +don't forget it." + +"I wonder who he is; may belong to some of our +first families, and in that case it might be worth +while to exert ourselves, you know. Did you +learn his name, Dora? " whispered the elder lady. + +Debby shook her head, and murmured, "Hush!"--but +Aunt Pen had heard of matches being made in cars as +well as in heaven; and as an experienced general, +it became her to reconnoitre, when one of the enemy +approached her camp. Slightly altering her position, +she darted an all-comprehensive glance at the invader, +who seemed entirely absorbed, for not an eyelash stirred +during the scrutiny. It lasted but an instant, yet in +that instant he was weighed and found wanting; for +that experienced eye detected that his cravat was +two inches wider than fashion ordained, that his +coat was not of the latest style, that his gloves +were mended, and his handkerchief neither cambric +nor silk. That was enough, and sentence was +passed forthwith,--"Some respectable clerk, +good-looking, but poor, and not at all the thing +for Dora"; and Aunt Pen turned to adjust a +voluminous green veil over her niece's bonnet, +"To shield it from the dust, dear," which process +also shielded the face within from the eye of man. + +A curious smile, half mirthful, half melancholy, +passed over their neighbor's lips; but his peace of +mind seemed undisturbed, and he remained buried +in his book Till they reached -----, at dusk. As he +returned it, he offered his services in procuring a +carriage or attending to luggage; but Mrs. Carroll, +with much dignity of aspect, informed him that her +servants would attend to those matters, and, bowing +gravely, he vanished into the night. + +As they rolled away to the hotel, Debby was +wild to run down to the beach whence came the +solemn music of the sea, making the twilight +beautiful. But Aunt Pen was too tired to do +anything but sup in her own apartment and go +early to bed; and Debby might as soon have +proposed to walk up the great Pyramid as to make +her first appearance without that sage matron to +mount guard over her; so she resigned herself to +pie and patience, and fell asleep, wishing it were +to-morrow. + +At five, a. m., a nightcapped head appeared +at one of the myriad windows of the ----- Hotel, +and remained there as if fascinated by the miracle +of sunrise over the sea. Under her simplicity of +character and girlish merriment Debby possessed a +devout spirit and a nature full of the real poetry of +life, two gifts that gave her dawning womanhood +its sweetest charm, and made her what she was. +As she looked out that summer dawn upon the +royal marriage of the ocean and the sun, all petty +hopes and longings faded out of sight, and her +young face grew luminous with thoughts too deep +for words. Her day was happier for that silent +hour, her life richer for the aspirations that uplifted +her like beautiful strong angels, and left a blessing +when they went. The smile of the June sky +touched her lips, the morning red seemed to linger +on her cheek, and in her eye arose a light kindled +by the shimmer of that broad sea of gold; for +Nature rewarded her young votary well, and gave +her beauty, when she offered love. How long she +leaned there Debby did not know; steps from below +roused her from her reverie, and led her back +into the world again. Smiling at herself, She stole +to bed, and lay wrapped in waking dreams as +changeful as the shadows. ancing on her charnber- +wall. + +The advent of her aunt's maid, Victorine, some +two hours later, was the signal to be "up and +doing"; and she meekly resigned herself into the +hands of that functionary, who appeared to regard +her in the light of an animated pin-cushion, as she +performed the toilet-ceremonies with an absorbed +aspect, which impressed her subject with a sense +of the solemnity of the occasion. + +"Now, Mademoiselle, regard yourself, and +pronounce that you are ravishing" Victorine said +at length, folding her hands with a sigh of +satisfaction, as she fell back in an attitude of +serene triumph. + +Debby robeyed, and inspected herself with great +interest and some astonishment; for there was a +sweeping amplitude of array about the young +lady whom she beheld in the much-befrilled gown +and embroidered skirts, which somewhat alarmed +her as to the navigation of a vessel "with such a +spread of sail," while a curious sensation of being +somebody else pervaded her from the crown of +her head, with its shining coils of hair, to the soles +of the French slippers, whose energies seemed to +have been devoted to the production of marvellous +rosettes. + +"Yes, I look very nice, thank you; and yet I +feel like a doll, helpless and fine, and fancy I was +more of a woman in my fresh gingham, with a knot +of clovers in my hair, than I am now. Aunt Pen +was very kind to get me all these pretty things; +but I'm afraid my mother would look horrified to +see me in such a high state of flounce externally +and so little room to breath internally." + +"Your mamma would not flatter me, Mademoiselle; +but come now to Madame; she is waiting to behold +you, and I have yet her toilet to make "; and, +with a pitying shrug, Victorine followed Debby +to her aunt's room. + +"Charming! really elegant!" cried that lady, +emerging from her towel with a rubicund visage. + +"Drop that braid half an inch lower, and pull the +worked end of her handkerchief out of the right-hand +pocket, Vic. There! Now, Dora, don't run about and +get rumpled, but sit quietly down and practice repose +till I am ready." + +Debby obeyed, and sat mute, with the air of +a child in its Sunday-best on a week-day, pleased +with the novelty, but somewhat oppressed with the +responsibility of such unaccustomed splendor, and +uttefly unable to connect any ideas of repose with +tight shoes and skirts in a rampant state of starch. + + +"Well, you see, I bet on Lady Gay against +Cockadoodle, and if you'll believe me -- Hullo! +there's Mrs. Carroll, and deuse take me if she +hasn't got a girl with her! Look, Seguin!"-- +and Joe Leavenworth, a "man of the world," +aged twenty, paused in his account of an exciting +race to make the announcement. + +Mr. Seguin, his friend and Mentor, as much his, +senior in worldly wickedness as in years, tore himself +from his breakfast long enough to survey the +new-comers, and then returned to it, saying, +briefly,-- + +"The old lady is worth cultivating,--gives +good suppers, and thanks you for eating them. +The girl is well got up, but has no style, and +blushes like a milkmaid. Better fight shy of her, +Joe." + +"Do you think so? Well, now I rather fancy +that kind of thing. She's new, you,see, and I get +on with that sort of girl the best, for the old ones +are so deused knowing that a fellow has no chance +of a -- By the Lord Harry, she's eating bread +and milk!" + +Young Leavenworth whisked his glass into his +eye, and Mr. Seguin put down his roll to behold +the phenomenon. Poor Debby! her first step had +been a wrong one. + +All great minds have their weak points. Aunt +Pen's was her breakfast, and the peace of her +entire day depended upon the success of that meal. +Therefore, being down rather late, the worthy +lady concentrated her energies upon the achievement +of a copious repast, and, trusting to former +lessons, left Debby to her own resources for a few +fatal moments. After the flutter occasioned by +being scooped into her seat by a severe-nosed +waiter, Debby had only courage enough left to +refuse tea and coffee and accept milk. That being +done, she took the first familiar viand that appeared, +and congratulated herself upon being able +to get her usual breakfast. With returning composure, +she looked about her and began to enjoy +the buzz of voices, the clatter of knives and forks, +and the long lines of faces all intent upon the business +of the hour; but her peace was of short duration. +Pausing for a fresh relay of toast, Aunt +Pen glanced toward her niece with the comfortable +conviction that her appearance was highly creditable; +and her dismay can be imagined, when she +beheld that young lady placidly devouring a great +cup of brown-bread and milk before the eyes of the +assembled multitude. The poor lady choked +in her coffee, and between her gasps whispered +irefully behind her napkin,-- + +"For Heaven's sake, Dora, put away that +mess! The Ellenboroughs are directly opposite, +watching everything you do. Eat that omelet, or +anything respectable, unless you want me to die of +mortification." + +Debby dropped her spoon, and, hastily helping +herself from the dish her aunt pushed toward her, +consumed the leathery compound with as much +grace as she could assume, though unable to +repress a laugh at Aunt Pen's disturbed countenance. +There was a slight lull in the clatter, and the blithe +sound caused several heads to turn toward the +quarter whence it came, for it was as unexpected +and pleasant a sound as a bobolink's song in a cage +of shrill-voiced canaries. + +"She's a jolly little thing and powerful pretty, +so deuse take me if I don't make up to the old lady +and find out who the girl is. I've been introduced +to Mrs. Carroll at our house: but I suppose she +won't remember me till I remind her." + +The "deuse" declining to accept of his repeated +offers (probably because there was still too +much honor and honesty in the boy,) young +Leavenworth sought out Mrs. Carroll on the +Piazza, as she and Debby were strolling there an +hour later. + +"Joe Leavenworth, my dear, from one of our +first families,--very wealthy,--fine match,--pray, +be civil,--smooth your hair, hold back your shoulders, +and put down your parasol," murmured +Aunt Pen, as the gentleman approached with as +much pleasure in his countenance as it was consistent +with manly dignity to express upon meeting +two of the inferior race. + +"My niece, Miss Dora Wilder. This is her +first season at the beach, and we must endeavor to +make it pleasant for her, or she will be getting +homesick and running away to mamma," said Aunt Pen, +in her society-tone, after she had returned his +greeting, and perpetrated a polite fiction, +by declaring that she remembered him perfectly, +for he was the image of his father. + +Mr. Leavenworth brought the heels of his varnished +boots together with a click, and executed the latest +bow imported, then stuck his glass in his eye and stared +till it fell out, (the glass, not the eye,) upon which +he fell into step with them, remarking,-- + +"I shall be most happy to show the lions: they +are deused tame ones, so you needn't be alarmed. +Miss Wilder." + +Debby was good-natured enough to laugh; and, +elated with that success, he proceeded to pour +forth his stores of wit and learning in true collegian +style, quite unconscious that the "jolly little thing" +was looking him through and through with the +smiling eyes that were producing such pleasurable +sensations under the mosaic studs. They strolled +toward the beach, and, meeting an old acquaintance, +Aunt Pen fell behind, and beamed upon the +young pair as if her prophetic eye even at this early +stage beheld them walking altarward in a proper +state of blond white vest and bridal awkwardness. + +"Can you skip a stone, Mr. Leavenworth? +asked Debby, possessed with a mischievous desire +to shock the piece of elegance at her side. + +"Eh? what's that? " he inquired, with his +head on one side, like an inquisitive robin. + +Debby repeated her question, and illustrated it +by sending a stone skimming over the water in the +most scientific manner. Mr. Joe was painfully +aware that this was not at all "the thing," that his +sisters never did so, and that Seguin would laugh +confoundedly, if he caught him at it; but Debby +looked so irresistibly fresh and pretty under her +rose-lined parasol that he was moved to confess +that he had done such a thing, and to sacrifice his +gloves by poking in the sand, that he might indulge +in a like unfashionable pastime. + +"You'll be at the hop to-night, I hope, Miss +Wilder," he observed, introducing a topic suited +to a young lady's mental capacity. + +"Yes, indeed; for dancing is one of the joys of +my life, next to husking and making hay"; and +Debby polked a few steps along the beach, much +to the edification of a pair of old gentlemen, +serenely taking their first constitutional." + +"Making what? " cried Mr. Joe, poking after +her. + +"Hay; ah, that is the pleasantest fun in the +world,--and better exercise, my mother says, for +soul and body, than dancing till dawn in crowded +rooms, with everything in a state of unnatural +excitement. If one wants real merriment, let him go +into a new-mown field, where all the air is full of +summer odors, where wild-flowers nod along the +walls, where blackbirds make finer music than any +band, and sun and wind and cheery voices do their +part, while windrows rise, and great loads go +rumbling through the lanes with merry brown faces +atop. Yes, much as I like dancing, it is not to be +compared with that; for in the one case we shut +out the lovely world, and in the other we become +a part of it, till by its magic labor turns to poetry, +and we harvest something better than dried buttercups +and grass." + +As she spoke, Debby looked up, expecting to +meet a glance of disapproval; but something in the +simple earnestness of her manner had recalled +certain boyish pleasures as innocent as they were +hearty, which now contrasted very favorably with +the later pastimes in which fast horses, and that +lower class of animals, fast men, bore so large a +part. Mr. Joe thoughtfully punched five holes in +the sand, and for a moment Debby liked the expression +of his face; then the old listlessness returned, +and, looking up, he said, with an air of +ennui that was half sad, half ludicrous, in one so +young and so generously endowed with youth, +health, and the good gifts of this life,-- + +"I used to fancy that sort of thing years ago, +but I'm afraid I should find it a little slow now, +though you describe it in such an inviting manner +that I would be tempted to try it, if a hay-cock +came in my way; for, upon my life, it's deused +heavy work loafing about at these watering-places +all summer. Between ourselves, there's a deal of +humbug about this kind of life, as you will find, +when you've tried it as long as I have." + +"Yes, I begin to think so already; but perhaps +you can give me a few friendly words of warning +from the stones of your experience, that I may be +spared the pain of saying what so many look,-- +'Grandma, the world is hollow; my doll is stuffed +with sawdust; and I should 'like to go into a +convent, if you please.'" + +Debby's eyes were dancing with merriment; +but they were demurely down-cast, and her voice +was perfectly serious. + +The milk of human kindness had been slightly +curdled for Mr. Joe by sundry college-tribulations; +and having been "suspended," he very naturally +vibrated between the inborn jollity of his +temperament and the bitterness occasioned by his wrongs. + +He had lost at billiards the night before, had been +hurried at breakfast, had mislaid his cigar-case, +and splashed his boots; consequently the darker +mood prevailed that morning, and when his counsel +was asked, he gave it like one who bad known +the heaviest trials of this "Piljin Projiss of a +wale." + +"There's no justice in the world, no chance +for us young people to enjoy ourselves, without +some penalty to pay, some drawback to worry us +like these confounded 'all-rounders.' Even here, +where all seems free and easy, there's no end of +gossips and spies who tattle and watch till you feel +as if you lived in a lantern. 'Every one for himself, +and the Devil take the hindmost'; that's the +principle they go on, and you have to keep your +wits about you in the most exhausting manner, or +you are done for before you know it. I've seen a +good deal of this sort of thing, and hope you'll get +on better than some do, when it's known that you +are the rich Mrs. Carroll's niece; though you don't +need that fact to enhance your charms,--upon my +life, you don't." + +Debby laughed behind her parasol at this burst +of candor; but her independent nature prompted +her to make a fair beginning, in spite of Aunt +Pen's polite fictions and well-meant plans. + +" Thank you for your warning, but I don't +apprehend much annoyance of that kind," she said, +demurely. "Do you know, I think, if young +ladies were truthfully labelled when they went into +society, it would be a charming fashion, and save a +world of trouble? Something in this style:-- +'Arabella Marabout, aged nineteen, fortune +$100,000, temper warranted'; 'Laura Eau-de-Cologne, +aged twenty-eight, fortune $30,000, +temper slightly damaged'; Deborah Wilder, +aged eighteen, fortune, one pair of hands, one head, +indifferently well filled, one heart, (not in the +market,) temper decided, and no expectations.' +There, you see, that would do away with much of +the humbug you lament, and we poor souls would +know at once whether we were sought for our fortunes +or ourselves, and that would be so comfortable!" + +Mr. Leavenworth turned away, with a convicted sort +of expression, as she spoke, and, making +a spyglass of his hand, seemed to be watching +something out at sea with absorbing interest. He +had been guilty of a strong desire to discover +whether Debby was an heiress, but had not expected +to be so entirely satisfied on that important +subject, and was dimly conscious that a keen eye +had seen his anxiety, and a quick wit devised a +means of setting it at rest forever. Somewhat +disconcerted, he suddenly changed the conversation, +and, like many another distressed creature, took to +the water, saying briskly,-- + +"By-the-by, Miss Wilder, as I've engaged to +do the honors, shall I have the pleasure of bathing +with you when the fun begins? As you are fond +of hay-making, I suppose you intend to pay your +respects to the old gentleman with the three- +pronged pitchfork?" + +"Yes, Aunt Pen means to put me through a course +of salt water, and any instructions in the art +of navigation will be gratefully received; for I +never saw the ocean before, and labor under a +firm conviction, that, once in, I never shall come +out again till I am brought, like Mr. Mantilini, a +'damp, moist, unpleasant body.'" + +As Debby spoke, Mrs. Carroll hove in sight, +coming down before the wind with all sails set, and +signals of distress visible long before she dropped +anchor and came along-side. The devoted woman +had been strolling slowly for the girl's sake, though +oppressed with a mournful certainty that her most +prominent feature was fast becoming a fine copper- +color; yet she had sustained herself like a Spartan +matron, till it suddenly occurred to her that her +charge might be suffering a like + +"sea-change +Into something rich and strange." + +Her fears, however, were groundless, for Debby +met her without a freckle, looking all the better +for her walk; and though her feet were wet with +chasing the waves, and her pretty gown the worse +for salt water, Aunt Pen never chid her for the +destruction of her raiment, nor uttered a warning +word against an unladylike exuberance of spirits, +but replied to her inquiry most graciously,-- + +"Certainly, my love, we shall bathe at eleven, +and there will be just time to get Victorine and our +dresses; so run on to the house, and I will join you +as soon as I have finished what I am saying to +Mrs. Earl,"--then added, in a stage-aside, as she +put a fallen lock off the girl's forehead, "You are +doing beautifully! He is evidently struck; make +yourself interesting, and don't burn your nose, I +beg of you." + +Debby's bright face clouded over, and she +wakked on with so much stateliness that her escort +wondered " what the deuse the old lady had done +to her," and exerted himself to the utmost to recall +her merry mood, but with indifferent success. + + +"Now I begin to feel more like myself, for this +is getting back to first principles, though I fancy I +look like the little old woman who fell asleep on +the king's highway and woke up with abbreviated +drapery; and you look funnier still, Aunt Pen," +said Debby, as she tied on her pagoda-hat, and +followed Mrs. Carroll, who walked out of her +dressing-room an animated bale of blue cloth +surmounted by a gigantic sun-bonnet. + +Mr. Leavenworth was in waiting, and so like a +blond-headed lobster in his scarlet suit that Debby +could hardly keep her countenance as they joined +the groups of bathers gathering along the breezy +shore. + +For an hour each day the actors and actresses +who played their different roles at the ----- Hotel +with such precision and success put off their masks +and dared to be themselves. The ocean wrought +the change, for it took old and young into its arms, +and for a little while they played like children in +their mother's lap. No falsehood could withstand +its rough sincerity; for the waves washed paint and +powder from worn faces, and left a fresh bloom +there. No ailment could entirely resist its vigorous +cure; for every wind brought healing on its wings, +endowing many a meagre life with another year +of health. No gloomy spirit could refuse to listen +to its lullaby, and the spray baptized it with the +subtile benediction of a cheerier mood. No rank +held place there; for the democratic sea toppled +down the greatest statesman in the land, and +dashed over the bald pate of a millionnaire with +the same white-crested wave that stranded a poor +parson on the beach and filled a fierce reformer's +mouth with brine. No fashion ruled, but that +which is as old as Eden,--the beautiful fashion of +simplicity. Belles dropped their affectations with +their hoops, and ran about the shore blithe-hearted +girls again. Young men forgot their vices and +their follies, and were not ashamed of the real +courage, strength, and skill they had tried to leave +behind them with their boyish plays. Old men +gathered shells with the little Cupids dancing on +the sand, and were better for that innocent +companionship; and young mothers never looked so +beautiful as when they rocked their babies on the +bosom of the sea. + +Debby vaguely felt this charm, and, yielding +to it, splashed and sang like any beach-bird, while +Aunt Pen bobbed placidly up and down in a +retired corner, and Mr. Leavenworth swam to and +fro, expressing his firm belief in mermaids, sirens, +and the rest of the aquatic sisterhood, whose warbling +no manly ear can resist. + +" Miss Wilder, you must learn to swim. I've +taught quantities of young ladies, and shall be +delighted to launch the 'Dora,' if you'll accept me +as a pilot. Stop a bit; I'll get a life-preserver +and leaving Debby to flirt with the waves, the scarlet +youth departed like a flame of fire. + +A dismal shriek interrupted his pupil's play, and +looking up, she saw her aunt beckoning wildly with +one hand, while she was groping in the water with +the other. Debby ran to her, alarmed at her +tragic expression, and Mrs. Carroll, drawing the +girl's face into the privacy of her big bonnet, +whispered one awful word, adding, distractedly,-- + +"Dive for them! oh, dive for them! I shall be +perfectly helpless, if they are lost!" + +"I can't dive, Aunt Pen; but there is a man, +let us ask him," said Debby, as a black head +appeared to windward. + +But Mrs. Carroll's "nerves" had received a +shock, and, gathering up her dripping garments, +she fled precipitately along the shore and vanished +into her dressing-room. + +Debby's keen sense of the ludicrous got the better +of her respect, and peal after peal of laughter +broke from her lips, till a splash behind her put an +end to her merriment, and, turning, she found that +this friend in need was her acquaintance of the day +before. The gentleman seemed pausing for permission +to approach, with much the appearance of a sagacious +Newfoundland, wistful and wet. + +"Oh, I'm very glad it's you, Sir!" was Debby's +cordial greeting, as she shook a drop off the end of +her nose, and nodded, smiling. + +The new-comer immediately beamed upon her +like an amiable Triton, saying, as they turned +shoreward,-- + +"Our first interview opened with a laugh on my +side, and our second with one on yours. I accept +the fact as a good omen. Your friend seemed in +trouble; allow me to atone for my past misdemeanors +by offering my services now. But first let me introduce +myself; and as I believe in the fitness of things, let +me present you with an appropriate card"; and, stooping, +the young man wrote "Frank Evan" on the hard sand at +Debby's feet. + +The girl liked his manner, and, entering into the +spirit of the thing, swept as grand a curtsy as her +limited drapery would allow saying, merrily,- +- +"I am Debby Wilder, or Dora, as aunt prefers +to call me; and instead of laughing, I ought to be +four feet under water, looking for something we +have lost; but I can't dive, and my distress is +dreadful, as you see." + +"What have you lost? I will look for it, and +bring it back in spite of the kelpies, if it is a human +possibility," replied Mr. Evan, pushing his wet +locks out of his eyes, and regarding the ocean with +a determined aspect. + +Debby leaned toward him, whispering with +solemn countenance,-- + +"It is a set of teeth, Sir." + +Mr. Evan was more a man of deeds than words, +therefore he disappeared at once with a mighty +splash, and after repeated divings and much +laughter appeared bearing the chief ornament of Mrs. +Penelope Carroll's comely countenance. Debby +looked very pretty and grateful as she returned her +thanks, and Mr. Evan was guilty of a secret wish +that all the worthy lady's features were at the +bottom of the sea, that he might have the satisfaction +of restoring them to her attractive niece; +but curbing this unnatural desire, he bowed, saying, +gravely,-- + +"Tell your aunt, if you please, that this little +accident will remain a dead secret, so far as I am +concerned, and I am very glad to have been of +service at such a critical moment." + +Whereupon Mr. Evan marched again into the +briny deep, and Debby trotted away to her aunt, +whom she found a clammy heap of blue flannel +and despair. Mrs. Carroll's temper was ruffled, +and though she joyfully rattled in her teeth, she +said, somewhat testily, when Debby's story was +done,-- + +"Now that man will have a sort of claim on us, +and we must be civil, whoever he is. Dear! dear! +I wish it had been Joe Leavenworth instead. +Evan,--I don't remember any of our first families +with connections of that name, and I dislike to be +under obligations to a person of that sort, for +there's no knowing how far he may presume; so, +pray, be careful, Dora." + +"I think you are very ungrateful, Aunt Pen; +and if Mr. Evan should happen to be poor, it does +not become me to turn up my nose at him, for I'm +nothing but a make-believe myself just now. I +don't wish to go down upon my knees to him, but +I do intend to be as kind to him as I should to that +conceited Leavenworth boy; yes, kinder even; for +poor people value such things more, as I know very +well." + +Mrs. Carroll instantly recovered her temper, +changed the subject, and privately resolved to +confine her prejudices to her own bosom, as they +seerned to have an aggravating effect upon the +youthful person whom she had set her heart on +disposing of to the best advantage. + +Debby took her swimming-lesson with much +success, and would have achieved her dinner with +composure, if white-aproned gentlemen had not +effectually taken away her appetite by whisking +bills-of-fare into her hands, and awaiting her orders +with a fatherly interest, which induced them to +congregate mysterious dishes before her, and +blandly rectify her frequent mistakes. She survived +the ordeal, however, and at four p.m. went to drive +with "that Leavenworth boy" in the finest turnout +----- could produce. Aunt Pen then came off guard, +and with a sigh of satisfaction subsided into a peaceful +doze, still murmuring, even in her sleep,- + +"Propinquity, my love, propinquity works +wonders." + + + +"Aunt Pen, are you a modest woman?" asked +the young cruisader against established absurdities, +as she came into the presence-chamber that evening +ready for the hop. + +"Bless the child, what does she mean? " cried +Mrs. Carroll, with a start that twitched her +back-hair out of Victorine's hands. + +"Would you like to have a daughter of yours +go to a party looking as I look?" continued her +niece, spreading her airy dress, and standing +very erect before her astonished relative. + +"Why, of course I should, and be proud to own +such a charming creature," regarding the slender +white shape with much approbation,--adding, +with a smile, as she met the girl's eye,-- + +"Ah, I see the difficulty, now; you are disturbed +because there is not a bit of lace over +these pretty shoulders of yours. Now don't be +absurd, Dora; the dress is perfectly proper, or +Madame Tiphany never would have sent it home. +It is the fashion, child; and many a girl with such +a figure would go twice as decolletee, and think +nothing of it, I assure you." + +Debby shook her head with an energy that set +the pink heather-bells a-tremble in her hair, and +her color deepened beautifully as she said, with +reproachful eyes,-- + +"Aunt Pen, I think there is a better fashion +in every young girl's heart than any Madame +Tiphany can teach. I am very grateful for all +you have done for me, but I cannot go into public +in such an undress as this; my mother would never +allow it, and father never forgive it. Please don't +ask me to, for indeed I cannot do it even for you." + +Debby looked so pathetic that both mistress +and maid broke into a laugh which somewhat +reassured the young lady, who allowed her +determined features to relax into a smile, +as she said,-- + +"Now, Aunt Pen, you want me to look pretty +and be a credit to you; but how would you like to +see my face the color of those geraniums all the +evening?" + +"Why, Dora, you are out of your mind to ask +such a thing, when you know it's the desire of +my life to keep your color down and make you +look more delicate," said her aunt, alarmed at the +fearful prospect of a peony-faced protegee. + +Well, I should be anything but that, if I wore +this gown in its present waistless condition; so here +is a remedy which will prevent such a calamity +and ease my mind." + +As she spoke, Debby tied on her little blonde +fichu with a gesture which left nothing more to be +said. + +Victorine scolded, and clasped her hands; but +Mrs. Carroll, fearing to push her authority too far, +made a virtue of necessity, saying, resignedly,-- + +"Have your own way, Dora, but in return +oblige me by being agreeable to such persons as I +may introduce to you; and some day, when I ask +a favor, remember how much I hope to do for you, +and grant it cheerfully." + +"Indeed I will, Aunt Pen, if it is anything I +can do without disobeying mother's 'notions' as +you call them. Ask me to wear an orange-colored +gown, or dance with the plainest, poorest man in +the room, and I'll do it; for there never was a +kinder aunt than mine in all the world," cried +Debby, eager to atone for her seeming wilfulness, +and really grateful for her escape from what seemed +to her benighted mind a very imminent peril. + +Like a clover-blossom in a vase of camellias little +Debby looked that night among the dashing or +languid women who surrounded her; for she possessed +the charm they had lost,--the freshness of +her youth. Innocent gayety sat smiling in her eyes, +healthful roses bloomed upon her cheek, and +maiden modesty crowned her like a garland. She +was the creature that she seemed, and, yielding to +the influence of the hour, danced to the music of +her own blithe heart. Many felt the spell whose +secret they had lost the power to divine, and +watched the girlish figure as if it were a symbol +of their early aspirations dawning freshly from the +dimness of their past. More than one old man +thought again of some little maid whose love made +his boyish days a pleasant memory to him now. +More than one smiling fop felt the emptiness of his +smooth speech, when the truthful eyes looked up +into his own; and more than one pale woman +sighed regretfully with herself, "I, too, was a +happy-hearted creature once!" + +"That Mr. Evan does not seem very anxious +to claim our acquaintance, after all, and I think +better of him on that account. Has he spoken to +you to-night, Dora?" asked Mrs. Carroll, as +Debby dropped down beside her after a "splendid +polka." + +"No, ma'am, he only bowed. You see some +people are not so presuming as other people +thought they were; for we are not the most +attractive beings on the planet; therefore a gentleman +can be polite and then forget us without breaking +any of the Ten Commandments. Don't be offended +with him yet, for he may prove to be some +great creature with a finer pedigree than any of +your first families.' Mr. Leavenworth, as you +know everybody, perhaps you can relieve Aunt +Pen's mind, by telling her something about the +tall, brown man standing behind the lady with +salmon-colored hair." + +Mr. Joe, who was fanning the top of Debby's +head with the best intentions in life, took a survey, +and answered readily,-- + +"Why, that's Frank Evan. I know him, and +a deused good fellow he is,--though he don't +belong to our set, you know." + +"Indeed! pray, tell us something about him, +Mr. Leavenworth. We met in the cars, and he +did us a favor or two. Who and what is the +man?" asked Mrs. Carroll, relenting at once +toward a person who was favorably spoken of by +one who did belong to her "set." + +"Well, let me see," began Mr. Joe, whose +narrative powers were not great." He is a +bookkeeper in my Uncle Josh Loring's importing +concern, and a powerful smart man, they say. There's +some kind of clever story about his father's leaving +a load of debts, and Frank's working a deused +number of years till they were paid. Good of him, +wasn't it? Then, just as he was going to take +things easier and enjoy life a bit, his mother died, +and that rather knocked him up, you see. He fell +sick, and came to grief generally, Uncle Josh said; +so he was ordered off to get righted, and here he +is, looking like a tombstone. I've a regard for +Frank, for he took care of me through the smallpox +a year ago, and I don't forget things of that +sort; so, if you wish to be introduced, Mrs. Carroll, +I'll trot him out with pleasure, and make a proud +man of him." + +Mrs. Carroll glanced at Debby, and as that +young lady was regarding Mr. Joe with a friendly +aspect, owing to the warmth of his words, she +graciously assented, and the youth departed on his +errand. Mr. Evan went through the ceremony +with a calmness wonderful to behold, considering +the position of one lady and the charms of the +other, and soon glided into the conversation with +the ease of a most accomplished courtier. + +"Now I must tear myself away, for I'm engaged +to that stout Miss Bandoline for this dance. +She's a friend of my sisLer's, and I must do the +civil, you know; powerful slow work it is, too, but +I pity the poor soul,--upon my life, I do;" and +Mr. Joe assumed the air of a martyr. + +Debby looked up with a wicked smile in her +eyes, as she said,-- + +"Ah, that sounds very amiable here; but in five +minutes you'll be murmuring in Miss Bandoline's +earm--'I've been pining to come to you this half +hour, but I was obliged to take out that Miss +Wilder, you see--countrified little thing enough, +but not bad-looking, and has a rich aunt; so I've +done my duty to her, but deuse take me if I can +stand it any longer." + +Mr. Evan joined in Debby's merriment; but +Mr. Joe was so appalled at the sudden attack that +he could only stammer a remonstrance and beat a +hasty retreat, wondering how on earth she came +to know that his favorite style of making himself +agreeable to one young lady was by decrying +another. + +"Dora, my love, that is very rude, and 'Deuse' +is not a proper expression for a woman's lips. +Pray, restrain your lively tongue, for strangers may +not understand that it is nothing but the sprightliness +of your disposition which sometimes runs away with you." + +"It was only a quotation, and I thought you +would admire anything Mr. Leavenworth said, +Aunt Pen," replied Debby, demurely. + +Mrs. Carroll trod on her foot, and abruptly +changed the conversation, by saying, with an +appearance of deep interest,-- + +"Mr. Evan, you are doubtless connected with +the Malcoms of Georgia; for they, I believe, are +descended from the ancient Evans of Scotland. +They are a very wealthy and aristocratic family, +and I remember seeing their coat-of-arms once: +three bannocks and a thistle." + +Mr. Evan had been standing before them with +a composure which impressed Mrs. Carroll with a +belief in his gentle blood, for she remembered her +own fussy, plebeian husband, whose fortune had +never been able to purchase him the manners of a +gentleman. Mr. Evan only grew a little more +erect, as he replied, with an untroubled mien,-- + +"I cannot claim relationship with the Malcoms +of Georgia or the Evans of Scotland, I believe, +Madam. My father was a farmer, my grandfather +a blacksmith, and beyond that my ancestors +may have been street-sweepers, for anything I +know; but whatever they were, I fancy they were +honest men, for that has always been our boast, +though, like President Jackson's, our coat-of-arms +is nothing but 'a pair of shirt-sleeves.'" + +From Debby's eyes there shot a bright glance +of admiration for the young man who could look +two comely women in the face and serenely own +that he was poor. Mrs. Carroll tried to appear at +ease, and, gliding out of personalities, expatiated +on the comfort of "living in a land where fame +and fortune were attainable by all who chose to +earn them," and the contempt she felt for those +"who had no sympathy with the humbler classes, +no interest in the welfare of the race," and many +more moral reflections as new and original as the +Multiplication-Table or the Westminster Catechism. +To all of which Mr. Evan listened with +polite deference, though there was something in +the keen intelligence of his eye that made Debby +blush for shallow Aunt Pen, and rejoice when the +good lady got out of her depth and seized upon a +new subject as a drowning mariner would a hen-coop. + +"Dora, Mr. Ellenborough is coming this way; +you have danced with him but once, and he is a +very desirable partner; so, pray, accept, if he asks +you," said Mrs. Carroll, watching a far-off individual +who seemed steering his zigzag course toward them. + +"I never intend to dance with Mr. Ellenborough +again, so please don't urge me, Aunt Pen; " +and Debby knit her brows with a somewhat irate +expression. + +"My love, you astonish me! He is a most agreeable +and accomplished young man,--spent three years in +Paris, moves in the first circles, and is considered +an ornament to fashionable society. + +"What can be your objection, Dora?" cried Mrs. +Carroll, looking as alarmed as if her niece had +suddenly announced her belief in the Koran. + +"One of his accomplishments consists in drinking +champagne till he is not a 'desirable partner' +for any young lady with a prejudice in favor of +decency. His moving in 'circles' is just what I +complain of; and if he is an ornament, I prefer +my society undecorated. Aunt Pen, I cannot +make the nice distinctions you would have me, +and a sot in broadcloth is as odious as one in rags. +Forgive me, but I cannot dance with that silver- +labelled decanter again." + +Debby was a genuine little piece of womanhood; +and though she tried to speak lightly, her +color deepened, as she remembered looks that had +wounded her like insults, and her indignant eyes +silenced the excuses rising to her aunt's lips. Mrs. +Carroll began to rue the hour she ever undertook +the guidance of Sister Deborah's headstrong child, +and for an instant heartily wished she had left her +to bloom unseen in the shadow of the parsonage; +but she concealed her annoyance, still hoping to +overcome the girl's absurd resolve, by saying, +mildly,-- + +"As you please, dear; but if you refuse Mr. +Ellenborough, you will be obliged to sit through +the dance, which is your favorite, you know." + +Debby's countenance fell, for she had forgotten +that, and the Lancers was to her the crowning +rapture of the night. She paused a moment, and +Aunt Pen brightened; but Debby made her little +sacrifice to principle as heroically as many a greater +one had been made, and, with a wistful look down +the long room, answered steadily, though her foot +kept time to the first strains as she spoke,-- + +"Then I will sit, Aunt Pen; for that is preferable +to staggering about the room with a partner +who has no idea of the laws of gravitation." + +"Shall I have the honor of averting either calamity?" +said Mr. Evan, coming to the rescue with +a devotion beautiful to see; for dancing was nearly +a lost art with him, and the Lancers to a novice is +equal to a second Labyrinth of Crete. + +"Oh, thank you!" cried Debby, tumbling fan, +bouquet, and handkerchief into Mrs. Carroll's lap, +with a look of relief that repaid him fourfold for +the trials he was about to undergo. They went +merrily away together, leaving Aunt Pen to wish +that it was according to the laws of etiquette to +rap officious gentlemen over the knuckles, when +they introduce their fingers into private pies +without permission from the chief cook. How the +dance went Debby hardly knew, for the conversation +fell upon books, and in the interest of her +favorite theme she found even the "grand square" +an impertinent interruption, while her own deficiences +became almost as great as her partner's; +yet, when the music ended with a flourish, and her +last curtsy was successfully achieved, she longed +to begin all over again, and secretly regretted that +she was engaged four deep. + +"How do you like our new acquaintance, Dora?" asked +Aunt Pen, following Joe Leavenworth with her eye, +as the "yellow-haired laddie" whirled by with the +ponderous Miss Flora. + +"Very much; and I'm glad we met as we did, +for it makes things free and easy, and that is so +agreeable in this ceremonious place," replied +Debby, looking in quite an opposite direction. + +"Well, I'm delighted to hear you say so, dear, +for I was afraid you had taken a dislike to him, +and he is really a very charming young man, just +the sort of person to make a pleasant companion +for a few weeks. These little friendships are part +of the summer's amusement, and do no harm; so +smile away. Dora, and enjoy yourself while you +may." + +"Yes, Aunt, I certainly will, and all the more +because I have found a sensible soul to talk to. +Do you know, he is very witty and well informed, +though he says he never had much time for self- +cultivation? But I think trouble makes people +wise, and he seems to have had a good deal, +though he leaves it for others to tell of. I am +glad you are willing I should know him, for I +shall enjoy talking about my pet heroes with him +as a relief from the silly chatter I must keep up +most of the time." + +Mrs. Carroll was a woman of one idea; and +though a slightly puzzled expression appeared in +her face, she listened approvingly, and answered, +with a gracious smile,-- + +"Of course, I should not object to your knowing +such a person, my love; but I'd no idea Joe +Leavenworth was a literary man, or had known +much trouble, except his father's death and his +sister Clementina's runaway-marriage with her +drawing-master." + +Debby opened her brown eyes very wide, and +hastily picked at the down on her fan, but had +no time to correct her aunt's mistake, for the real +subject of her commendations appeared at that +moment, and Mrs. Caroll was immediately absorbed +in the consumption of a large pink ice. + +"That girl is what I call a surprise-party, now," +remarked Mr. Joe confidentially to his cigar, as +he pulled off his coat and stuck his feet up in the +privacy of his own apartment. "She looks as mild +as strawberries and cream till you come to the +complimentary, then she turns on a fellow with +that deused satirical look of hers, and makes him +feel like a fool. I'll try the moral dodge to-morrow +and see what effect that will have; for she is +mighty taking, and I must amuse myself somehow, +you know." + +"How many years will it take to change that +fresh-hearted little girl into a fashionable belle, +I wonder?" thought Frank Evan, as he climbed +the four flights that led to his "sky-parlor." + +"What a curious world this is!" mused +Debby, with her nightcap in her hand. "The +right seems odd and rude, the wrong respectable +and easy, and this sort of life a merry-go-round, +with no higher aim than pleasure. Well, I have +made my Declaration of Independence, and Aunt +Pen must be ready for a Revolution if she taxes +me too heavily." + +As she leaned her hot cheek on her arm, +Debby's eye fell on the quaint little cap made +by the motherly hands that never were tired of +working for her. She touched it tenderly, and +love's simple magic swept the gathering shadows +from her face, and left it clear again, as her +thoughts flew home like birds into the shelter of +their nest. + +"Good night, mother! I'll face temptation steadily. +I'll try to take life cheerily, and do nothing that +shall make your dear face a reproach, when it looks +into my own again." + +Then Debby said her prayers like any pious +child, and lay down to dream of pulling +buttercups with Baby Bess, and singing in the +twilight on her father's knee. + + + +The history of Debby's first day might serve +as a sample of most that followed, as week after +week went by with varying pleasures and increasing +interest to more than one young debutante. + +Mrs. Carroll did her best, but Debby was too +simple for a belle, too honest for a flirt, too +independent for a fine lady; she would be nothing +but her sturdy little self, open as daylight, gay as +a lark, and blunt as any Puritan. Poor Aunt +Pen was in despair, till she observed that the girl +often "took" with the very peculiarities which +she was lamenting; this somewhat consoled her, +and she tried to make the best of the pretty bit +of homespun which would not and could not become +velvet or brocade. Seguin, Ellenborough, +& Co. looked with lordly scorn upon her, as a +worm blind to their attractions. Miss MacRimsy +and her "set" quizzed her unmercifully behind +her back, after being worsted in several passages +of arms; and more than one successful mamma +condoled with Aunt Pen upon the terribly defective +education of her charge, till that stout matron +could have found it in her heart to tweak off their +caps and walk on them, like the irascible Betsey +Trotwood. + +But Debby had a circle of admirers who loved +her with a sincerity few summer queens could +boast; for they were real friends, won by gentle +arts, and retained by the gracious sweetness of her +nature. Moon-faced babies crowed and clapped +their chubby hands when she passed by their +wicker-thrones; story-loving children clustered +round her knee, and never were denied; pale invalids +found wild-flowers on their pillows; and +forlorn papas forgot the state of the moneymarket +when she sang for them the homely airs their +daughters had no time to learn. Certain plain +young ladies poured their woes into her friendly +ear, and were comforted; several smart Sophomores +fell into a state of chronic stammer, blush, +and adoration, when she took a motherly interest +in their affairs; and a melancholy old Frenchman +blessed her with the enthusiasm of his nation, because +she put a posy in the button-hole of his +rusty coat, and never failed to smile and bow as +he passed by. Yet Debby was no Edgworth heroine +preternaturally prudent, wise, and untemptable; +she had a fine crop of piques, vanities, and +dislikes growing up under this new style of cultivation. +She loved admiration, enjoyed her purple +and fine linen, hid new-born envy, disappointed +hope, and wounded pride behind a smiling face, +and often thought with a sigh of the humdrum +duties that awaited her at home. But under the +airs and graces Aunt Pen cherished with such +sedulous care, under the flounces and furbelows +Victorine daily adjusted with groans, under the +polish which she acquired with feminine ease, the +girl's heart still beat steadfast and strong, and +conscience kept watch and ward that no traitor should +enter in to surprise the citadel which mother-love +had tried to garrison so well. + +In pursuance of his sage resolve, Mr. Joe tried +the "moral dodge," as he elegantly expressed it, +and, failing in that, followed it up with the tragic, +religious, negligent, and devoted ditto; but acting +was not his forte, so Debby routed him in all; and +at last, when he was at his wit's end for an idea, +she suggested one, and completed her victory by +saying pleasantly,-- + +"You took me behind the curtain too soon, and +now the paste-diamonds and cotton-velvet don't +impose upon me a bit. Just be your natural self, +and we shall get on nicely, Mr. Leavenworth." + +The novelty of the proposal struck his fancy, +and after a few relapses it was carried into effect +and thenceforth, with Debby, he became the +simple, good-humored lad Nature designed him +to be, and, as a proof of it, soon fell very sincerely +in love. + +Frank Evan, seated in the parquet of society, +surveyed the dress-circle with much the same +expression that Debby had seen during Aunt Pen's +oration; but he soon neglected that amusement +to watch several actors in the drama going on +before his eyes, while a strong desire to perform a +part therein slowly took possession of his mind. + +Debby always had a look of welcome when he +came, always treated him with the kindness of a +generous woman who has had an opportunity to +forgive, and always watched the serious, solitary +man with a great compassion for his loss, a growing +admiration for his upright life. More than +once the beach-birds saw two figures pacing the +sands at sunrise with the peace of early day upon +their faces and the light of a kindred mood shining +in their eyes. More than once the friendly ocean +made a third in the pleasant conversation, and its +low undertone came and went between the mellow +bass and silvery treble of the human voices +with a melody that lent another charm to interviews +which soon grew wondrous sweet to man +and maid. Aunt Pen seldom saw the twain together, +seldom spoke of Evan; and Debby held +her peace, for, when she planned to make her +innocent confessions, she found that what seemed +much to her was nothing to another ear and +scarcely worth the telling; so, unconscious as yet +whither the green path led, she went on her way, +leading two lives, one rich and earnest, hoarded +deep within herself, the other frivolous and gay +for all the world to criticize. But those venerable +spinsters, the Fates, took the matter into their own +hands, and soon got the better of those short-sighted +matrons, Mesdames Grundy and Carroll; +for, long before they knew it, Frank and Debby +had begun to read together a book greater than +Dickens ever wrote, and when they had come to +the fairest part of the sweet story Adam first told +Eve, they looked for the name upon the title-page, +and found that it was "Love." + +Fight weeks came and went,--eight wonderfully +happy weeks to Debby and her friend; for +"propinquity" had worked more wonders than poor +Mrs. Carroll knew, as the only one she saw or guessed +was the utter captivation of Joe Leavenworth. +He had become "himself" to such an extent that a +change of identity would have been a relief; for +the object of his adoration showed no +signs of relenting, and he began to fear, that, as +Debby said, her heart was "not in the market." +She was always friendly, but never made those +interesting betrayals of regard which are so +encouraging to youthful gentlemen "who fain would +climb, yet fear to fall." She never blushed when +he pressed her hand, never fainted or grew pale +when he appeared with a smashed trotting-wagon +and black eye, and actually slept through a +serenade that would have won any other woman's +soul out of her body with its despairing quavers. +Matters were getting desperate; for horses lost +their charms, "flowing bowls" palled upon his +lips, ruffled shirt-bosoms no longer delighted him, +and hops possessed no soothing power to allay +the anguish of his mind. Mr. Seguin, after +unavailing ridicule and pity, took compassion on +him, and from his large experience suggested a +remedy, just as he was departing for a more +congenial sphere. + +"Now don't be an idiot, Joe, but, if you want +to keep your hand in and go through a regular +chapter of flirtation, just right about face, and +devote yourself to some one else. Nothing like +jealousy to teach womankind their own minds, +and a touch of it will bring little Wilder round in +a jiffy. Try it, my boy, and good luck to you!" +--with which Christian advice Mr. Seguin slapped +his pupil on the shoulder, and disappeared, like +a modern Mephistopheles, in a cloud of cigar-smoke. + +"I'm glad he's gone, for in my present state of +mind he's not up to my mark at all. I'll try his +plan, though, and flirt with Clara West; she's +engaged, so it won't damage her affections; her +lover isn't here, so it won't disturb his; and, by +Jove! I must do something, for I can't stand this +suspense." + +Debby was infinitely relieved by this new move, +and infinitely amused as she guessed the motive +that prompted it; but the more contented she +seemed, the more violently Mr. Joe flirted with her +rival, till at last weak-minded Miss Clara began to +think her absent George the most undesirable of +lovers, and to mourn that she ever said "Yes" +to a merchant's clerk, when she might have said it +to a merchant's son. Aunt Pen watched and approved +this stratagem, hoped for the best results, +and believed the day won when Debby grew pale +and silent, and followed with her eyes the young +couple who were playing battledoor and shuttle-cock +with each other's hearts, as if she took some +interest in the game. But Aunt Pen clashed +her cymbals too soon; for Debby's trouble had a +better source than jealousy, and in the silence of +the sleepless nights that stole her bloom she was +taking counsel of her own full heart, and resolving +to serve another woman as she would herself be +served in a like peril, though etiquette was outraged +and the customs of polite society turned upside down. + + + +"Look, Aunt Pen! what lovely shells and moss +I've got! Such a splendid scramble over the rocks +as I've had with Mrs. Duncan's boys! It seemed +so like home to run and sing with a troop of +topsy-turvy children that it did me good; and I wish you +had all been there to see." cried Debby, running +into the drawing-room, one day, where Mrs. Carroll +and a circle of ladies sat enjoying a dish of +highly flavored scandal, as they exercised their +eyesight over fancy-work. + +"My dear Dora, spare my nerves; and if you +have any regard for the proprieties of life, don't go +romping in the sun with a parcel of noisy boys. If +you could see what an object you are, I think you +would try to imitate Miss Clara, who is always a +model of elegant repose." + +Miss West primmed up her lips, and settled a +fold in her ninth flounce, as Mrs. Carroll spoke, +while the whole group fixed their eyes with +dignified disapproval on the invader of their refined +society. Debby had come like a fresh wind into +a sultry room; but no one welcomed the healthful +visitant, no one saw a pleasant picture in the +bright-faced girl with windtossed hair and rustic +hat heaped with moss and many-tinted shells; they +only saw that her gown was wet, her gloves forgotten, +and her scarf trailing at her waist in a manner no +well-bred lady could approve. The sunshine faded out +of Debby's face, and there was a touch of bitterness +in her tone, as she glanced at the circle of fashion-plates, +saying with an earnestness which caused Miss West to +open her pale eyes to their widest extent,-- + +"Aunt Pen, don't freeze me yet,--don't take +away my faith in simple things, but let me be a +child a little longer,--let me play and sing and keep +my spirit blithe among the dandelions and the +robins while I can; for trouble comes soon enough, +and all my life will be the richer and the better for +a happy youth." + +Mrs. Carroll had nothing at hand to offer in +reply to this appeal, and four ladies dropped their +work to stare; but Frank Evan looked in from +the piazza, saying, as he beckoned like a boy,-- + +"I'll play with you, Miss Dora; come and make +sand pies upon the shore. Please let her, Mrs. +Carroll; we'll be very good, and not wet our +pinafores or feet." + +Without waiting for permission, Debby poured +her treasures into the lap of a certain lame Freddy, +and went away to a kind of play she had never +known before. Quiet as a chidden child, she +walked beside her companion, who looked down +at the little figure, longing to take it on his knee +and call the sunshine back again. That he dared +not do; but accident, the lover's friend, performed +the work, and did him a good turn beside. The +old Frenchman was slowly approaching, when a +frolicsome wind whisked off his hat and sent it +skimming along the beach. In spite of her late +lecture, away went Debby, and caught the truant +chapeau just as a wave was hurrying up to claim +it. This restored her cheerfulness, and when she +returned, she was herself again. + +"A thousand thanks; but does Mademoiselle +remember the forfeit I might demand to add to the +favor she has already done me?" asked the gallant +old gentleman, as Debby took the hat off +her own head, and presented it with a martial +salute. + +"Ah, I had forgotten that; but you may claim +[text missing in original copy] +do something more to give you pleasure;" and +Debby looked up into the withered face which +had grown familiar to her, with kind eyes, full +of pity and respect. + +Her manner touched the old man very much; +he bent his gray head before her, saying, +gratefully,-- + +"My child, I am not good enough to salute +these blooming checks; but I shall pray the Virgin +to reward you for the compassion you bestow on +the poor exile, and I shall keep your memory very +green through all my life." + +He kissed her hand, as if it were a queen's, +and went on his way, thinking of the little daughter +whose death left him childless in a foreign land. + +Debby softly began to sing, "Oh, come unto +the yellow sands! " but stopped in the middle of +a line, to say,-- + +"Shall I tell you why I did what Aunt Pen +would call a very unladylike and improper thing, +Mr. Evans? " + +"If you will be so kind;" and her companion +looked delighted at the confidence about to be +reposed in him. + +"Somewhere across this great wide sea I hope +I have a brother," Debby said, with softened voice +and a wistful look into the dim horizon." Five +years ago he left us, and we have never heard +from him since, except to know that he landed +safely in Australia. People tell us he is dead; but +I believe he will yet come home; and so I love to +help and pity any man who needs it, rich or poor, +young or old, hoping that as I do by them some +tender-hearted woman far away will do by Brother +Will." + +As Debby spoke, across Frank Evan's face +there passed the look that seldom comes but once +to any young man's countenance; for suddenly +the moment dawned when love asserted its supremacy, +and putting pride, doubt, and fear underneath +its feet, ruled the strong heart royally and bent it +to its will. Debby's thoughts had floated across +the sea; but they came swiftly back when her +companion spoke again, steadily and slow, but +with a subtile change in tone and manner which +arrested them at once. + +"Miss Dora, if you should meet a man who +had known a laborious youth, a solitary manhood, +who had no sweet domestic ties to make home +beautiful and keep his nature warm, who longed +most ardently to be so blessed, and made it the aim +of his life to grow more worthy the good gift, +should it ever come,--if you should learn that you +possessed the power to make this fellow-creature's +happiness, could you find it in your gentle heart +to take compassion on him for the love of 'Brother +Will'?" + +Debby was silent, wondering why heart and +nerves and brain were stirred by such a sudden +thrill, why she dared not look up, and why, when +she desired so much to speak, she could only +answer, in a voice that sounded strange to her own +ears,-- + +"I cannot tell." + +Still, steadily and slow, with strong emotion +deepening and softening his voice, the lover at her +side went on,-- + +"Will you ask yourself this question in some quiet +hour? For such a man has lived in the sunshine of +your presence for eight happy weeks, and +now, when his holiday is done, he finds that the +old solitude will be more sorrowful than ever, +unless he can discover whether his summer dream +will change into a beautiful reality. Miss Dora, +I have very little to offer you; a faithful heart to +cherish you, a strong arm to work for you, an +honest name to give into your keeping,--these are +all; but if they have any worth in your eyes, they +are most truly yours forever." + +Debby was steadying her voice to reply, when +a troop of bathers came shouting down the bank, +and she took flight into her dressing-room, there +to sit staring at the wall, till the advent of Aunt +Pen forced her to resume the business of the hour +by assuming her aquatic attire and stealing shyly +down into the surf. + +Frank Evan, still pacing in the footprints they +had lately made, watched the lithe figure tripping +to and fro, and, as he looked, murmured to himself +the last line of a ballad Debby sometimes sang,-- + +"Dance light! for my heart it lies under your feet, love!" + +Presently a great wave swept Debby up, and +stranded her very near him, much to her confusion +and his satisfaction. Shaking the spray out of her +eyes, she was hurrying away, when Frank said,-- + +"You will trip, Miss Dora; let me tie these +strings for you;" and, suiting the action to the +word, he knelt down and began to fasten the cords +of her bathing shoe. + +Debby stood Looking down at the tall head bent +before her, with a curious sense of wonder that a +look from her could make a strong man flush and +pale, as he had done; and she was trying to concoct +some friendly speech, when Frank, still fumbling +at the knots, said, very earnestly and low,-- + +"Forgive me, if I am selfish in pressing for an +answer; but I must go to-morrow, and a single +word will change my whole future for the better +or the worse. Won't you speak it, Dora?" + +If they had been alone, Debby would have put +her arms about his neck, and said it with all her +heart; but she had a presentiment that she should +cry, if her love found vent; and here forty pairs +of eyes were on them, and salt water seemed +superfluous. Besides, Debby had not breathed the air +of coquetry so long without a touch of the infection; +and the love of power, that lies dormant in +the meekest woman's breast, suddenly awoke and +tempted her. + +"If you catch me before I reach that rock, +perhaps I will say 'Yes,'" was her unexpected +answer; and before her lover caught her meaning, +she was floating leisurely away. + +Frank was not in bathing-costume, and Debby +never dreamed that he would take her at her +word; but she did not know the man she had to +deal with; for, taking no second thought, he flung +hat and coat away, and dashed into the sea. This +gave a serious aspect to Debby's foolish jest. A +feeling of dismay seized her, when she saw a +resolute face dividing the waves behind her, and +thought of the rash challenge she had given; but +she had a spirit of her own, and had profited well +by Mr. Joe's instructions: so she drew a long +breath, and swam as if for life, instead of love. +Evan was incumbered by his clothing, and Debby +had much the start of him; but, like a second +Leander, he hoped to win his Hero, and, lending +every muscle to the work, gained rapidly upon +the little hat which was his beacon through the +foam. Debby heard the deep breathing drawing +nearer and nearer, as her pursuer's strong arms +cleft the water and sent it rippling past her lips, +something like terror took possession of her; for +the strength seemed going out of her limbs, and +the rock appeared to recede before her; but the +unconquerable blood of the Pilgrims was in her +veins, and "Nil desperandum" her motto; so, +setting her teeth, she muttered, defiantly,-- + +"I'll not be beaten, if I go to the bottom!" + +A great splashing arose, and when Evan recovered +the use of his eyes, the pagoda-hat had +taken a sudden turn, and seemed making for the +farthest point of the goal. "I am sure of her +now," thought Frank; and, like a gallant seagod, +he bore down upon his prize, clutching it with a +shout of triumph. But the hat was empty, and like +a mocking echo came Debby's laugh, as she +climbed, exhausted, to a cranny in the rock. + +"A very neat thing, by Jove! Deuse take me +if you a'n't 'an honor to your teacher, and a terror +to the foe,' Miss Wilder," cried Mr. Joe, as he +came up from a solitary cruise and dropped anchor +at her side. "Here, bring along the hat, Evan; +I'm going to crown the victor with apropriate +what-d'ye-call-'ems," he continued, pulling a handful +of sea-weed that looked like well-boiled greens. + +Frank came up, smiling; but his lips were white, +and in his eye a look Debby could not meet; so, +being full of remorse, she naturally assumed an air +of gayety, and began to sing the merriest air she +knew, merely because she longed to throw herself +upon the stones and cry violently. + +"It was 'most as exciting as a regatta, and you +pulled well, Evan; but you had too much ballast +aboard, and Miss Wilder ran up false colors just +in time to save her ship. What was the wager?" +asked the lively Joseph, complacently surveying +his marine millinery, which would have scandalized +a fashionable mermaid. + +"Only a trifle," answered Debby, knotting up +her braids with a revengeful jerk. + +"It's taken the wind out of your sails, I fancy, +Evan, for you look immensely Byronic with the +starch minus in your collar and your hair in a +poetic toss. Come, I'll try a race with you; and +Miss Wilder will dance all the evening with the +winner. Bless the man, what's he doing down +there? Burying sunfish, hey?" + +Frank had been sitting below them on a narrow +strip of sand, absently piling up a little mound +that bore some likeness to a grave. As his +companion spoke, he looked at it, and a sudden flush +of feeling swept across his face, as he replied,-- + +"No, only a dead hope." + +"Deuse take it, yes, a good many of that sort +of craft founder in these waters, as I know to my +sorrow;" and, sighing tragically. Mr. Joe turned +to help Debby from her perch, but she had glided +silently into the sea, and was gone. + +For the next four hours the poor girl suffered +the sharpest pain she had ever known; for now +she clearly saw the strait her folly had betrayed +her into. Frank Evan was a proud man, and +would not ask her love again, believing she had +tacitly refused it; and how could she tell him that +she had trifled with the heart she wholly loved and +longed to make her own? She could not confide +in Aunt Pen, for that worldly lady would have +no sympathy to bestow. She longed for her +mother; but there was no time to write, for Frank +was going on the morrow, --might even then be +gone; and as this fear came over her, she covered +up her face and wished that she were dead. Poor +Debby! her last mistake was sadder than her first, +and she was reaping a bitter harvest from her summer's +sowing. She sat and thought till her cheeks +burned and her temples throbbed; but she dared +not ease her pain with tears. The gong sounded +like a Judgment-Day trump of doom, and she +trembled at the idea of confronting many eyes with +such a telltale face; but she could not stay behind, +for Aunt Pen must know the cause. She tried to +play her hard part well; but wherever she looked, +some fresh anxiety appeared, as if every fault and +folly of those months had blossomed suddenly +within the hour. She saw Frank Evan more +sombre and more solitary than when she met him +first, and cried regretfully within herself, "How +could I so forget the truth I owed him? -- She +saw Clara West watching with eager eyes for the +coming of young Leavenworth, and sighed, -- "This +is the fruit of my wicked vanity!" She saw Aunt +Pen regarded her with an anxious face, and longed +to say, "Forgive me, for I have not been sincere!" +At last, as her trouble grew, she resolved to go +away and have a quiet "think,"--a remedy which +had served her in many a lesser perplexity; so, +stealing out, she went to a grove of cedars usually +deserted at that hour. But in ten minutes Joe +Leavenworth appeared at the door of the summer +house, and, looking in, said, with a well-acted +start of pleasure and surprise,-- + +"Beg pardon, I thought there was no one here, +My dear Miss Wilder, you look contemplative; +but I fancy it wouldn't do to ask the subject of +your meditations, would it?" + +He paused with such an evident intention of +remaining that Debby resolved to make use of the +moment, and ease her conscience of one care that +burdened it; therefore she answered his question +with her usual directness,-- + +"My meditations were partly about you." + +Mr. Joe was guilty of the weakness of blushing +violently and looking immensely gratified; but +his rapture was of short duration, for Debby went +on very earnestly,-- + +"I believe I am going to do what you may +consider a very impertinent thing; but I would +rather be unmannerly than unjust to others or +untrue to my own sense of right. Mr. Leavenworth, +if you were an older man, I should not dare to say +this to you; but I have brothers of my own, and, +remembering how many unkind things they do for +want of thought, I venture to remind you that a +woman's heart is a perilous plaything, and too tender +to be used for a selfish purpose or an hour's +pleasure. I know this kind of amusement is not +considered wrong; but it is wrong, and I cannot +shut my eyes to the fact, or sit silent while another +woman is allowed to deceive herself and wound +the heart that trusts her. Oh, if you love your +own sisters, be generous, be just, and do not +destroy that poor girl's happiness, but go away +before your sport becomes a bitter pain to her!" + +Joe Leavenworth had stood staring at Debby +with a troubled countenance, feeling as if all the +misdemeanors of his life were about to be paraded +before him; but, as he listened to her plea, the +womanly spirit that prompted it appealed more +loudly than her words, and in his really generous +heart he felt regret for what had never seemed +a fault before. Shallow as he was, nature was +stronger than education, and he admired and +accepted what many a wiser, worldlier man would +have resented with anger or contempt. He loved +Debby with all his little might; he meant to tell +her so, and graciously present his fortune and +himself for her acceptance; but now, when the +moment came, the well-turned speech he had prepared +vanished from his memory, and with the +better eloquence of feeling he blundered out his +passion like a very boy. + +"Miss Dora, I never meant to make trouble between +Clara and her lover; upon my soul, I didn't, +and wish Seguin had not put the notion into my +head, since it has given you pain. I only tried to +pique you into showing some regret, when I +neglected you; but you didn't, and then I got +desperate and didn't care what became of any one. +Oh, Dora, if you knew how much I loved you, I +am sure you'd forgive it, and let me prove my +repentance by giving up everything that you dislike. +I mean what I say; upon my life I do; and I'll +keep my word, if you will only let me hope." + +If Debby had wanted a proof of her love for +Frank Evan, she might have found it in the fact +that she had words enough at her command now, +and no difficulty in being sisterly pitiful toward +her second suitor. + +"Please get up," she said; for Mr. Joe, feeling +very humble and very earnest, had gone down +upon his knees, and sat there entirely regardless +of his personal apearance. + +He obeyed; and Debby stood looking up at +him with her kindest aspect, as she said, more +tenderly than she had ever spoken to him before,-- + +"Thank you for the affection you offer me, but +I cannot accept it, for I have nothing to give you +in return but the friendliest regard, the most sincere +good-will. I know you will forgive me, and do +for your own sake the good things you would have +done for mine, that I may add to my esteem a real +respect for one who has been very kind to me." + +"I'll try,--indeed, I will, Miss Dora, though +it will be powerful hard without yourself for a +help and a reward." + +Poor Joe choked a little, but called up an +unexpected manliness, and added, stoutly,-- + +"Don't think I shall be offended at your speaking +so or saying 'No' to me,--not a bit; it's all +right, and I'm much obliged to you. I might have +known you couldn't care for such a fellow as I am, +and don't blame you, for nobody in the world +is good enough for you. I'll go away at once, +I'll try to keep my promise, and I hope you'll be +very happy all your life." + +He shook Debby's bands heartily, and hurried +down the steps, but at the bottom paused and +looked back. Debby stood upon the threshold +with sunshine dancing on her winsome face, and +kind words trembling on her lips; for the moment +it seemed impossible to part, and, with an +impetuous gesture, he cried to her,-- + +"Oh, Dora, let me stay and try to win you! +for everything is possible to love, and I never +knew how dear you were to me till now!" + +There were sudden tears in the young man's +eyes, the flush of a genuine emotion on his cheek, +the tremor of an ardent longing in his voice, and, +for the first time, a very true affection strengthened +his whole countenance. Debby's heart was full of +penitence; she had given so much pain to more than +one that she longed to atone for it--longed to do +some very friendly thing, and soothe some trouble +such as she herself had known. She looked into +the eager face uplifted to her own and thought +of Will, then stooped and touched her lover's +forehead with the lips that softly whispered, "No." + +If she had cared for him, she never would +have done it; poor Joe knew that, and murmuring +an incoherent "Thank you!" he rushed away, +feeling very much as he remembered to have felt +when his baby sister died and he wept his grief +away upon his mother's neck. He began his +preparations for departure at once, in a burst of +virtuous energy quite refreshing to behold, thinking +within himself, as he flung his cigar-case into the +grate, kicked a billiard-ball into a corner, and +suppressed his favorite allusion to the Devil,-- + +"This is a new sort of thing to me, but I can +bear it, and upon my life I think I feel the better +for it already." + +And so he did; for though he was no Augustine +to turn in an hour from worldly hopes and climb +to sainthood through long years of inward strife, +yet in aftertimes no one knew how many false +steps had been saved, how many small sins repented +of, through the power of the memory that +far away a generous woman waited to respect him, +and in his secret soul he owned that one of the best +moments of his life was that in which little Debby +Wilder whispered "No," and kissed him. + +As he passed from sight, the girl leaned her +head upon her hand, thinking sorrowfully to herself,-- + +"What right had I to censure him, when my +own actions are so far from true? I have done a +wicked thing, and as an honest girl I should undo +it, if I can. I have broken through the rules of a +false propriety for Clara's sake; can I not do as +much for Frank's? I will. I'll find him, if I +search the house,--and tell him all, though I never +dare to look him in the face again, and Aunt Pen +sends me home to-morrow." + +Full of zeal and courage, Debby caught up her +hat and ran down the steps, but, as she saw Frank +Evan coming up the path, a sudden panic fell +upon her, and she could only stand mutely waiting +his approach. + +It is asserted that Love is blind; and on the +strength of that popular delusion novel heroes and +heroines go blundering through three volumes of +despair with the plain truth directly under their +absurd noses: but in real life this theory is not +supported; for to a living man the countenance of a +loving woman is more eloquent than any language, +more trustworthy than a world of proverbs, more +beautiful than the sweetest love-lay ever sung. + +Frank looked at Debby, and "all her heart +stood up in her eyes," as she stretched her hands +to him, though her lips only whispered very +low,-- + +"Forgive me, and let me say the 'Yes' I +should have said so long ago." + +Had she required any assurance of her lover's +truth, or any reward for her own, she would have +found it in the change that dawned so swiftly in +his face, smoothing the lines upon his forehead, +lighting the gloom of his eye, stirring his firm lips +with a sudden tremor, and making his touch as soft +as it was strong. For a moment both stood very +still, while Debby's tears streamed down like +summer rain; then Frank drew her into the green +shadow of the grove, and its peace soothed her +like a mother's voice, till she looked up smiling +with a shy delight her glance had never known +before. The slant sunbeams dropped a benediction +on their heads, the robins peeped, and the +cedars whispered, but no rumor of what further +passed ever went beyond the precincts of the +wood; for such hours are sacred, and Nature +guards the first blossoms of a human love as +tenderly as she nurses May-flowers underneath +the leaves. + + + +Mrs. Carroll had retired to her bed with a +nervous headache, leaving Debby to the watch +and ward of friendly Mrs. Earle, who performed +her office finely by letting her charge entirely alone. +In her dreams Aunt Pen was just imbibing a copious +draught of champagne at the wedding-breakfast of +her niece, "Mrs. Joseph Leavenworth," +when she was roused by the bride elect, who +passed through the room with a lamp and a shawl +in her hand. + +"What time is it, and where are you going, +dear?" she asked, dozily wondering if the carriage +for the wedding-tour was at the door so soon. + +"It's only nine, and I am going for a sail, Aunt +Pen." + +As Debby spoke, the light flashed full into her +face, and a sudden thought into Mrs. Carroll's +mind. She rose up from her pillow, looking as +stately in her night-cap as Maria Theresa is said +to have done in like unassuming head-gear. + +"Something has happened, Dora! What have +you done? What have you said? I insist upon +knowing immediately," she demanded, with somewhat +startling brevity. + +"I have said 'No' to Mr. Leavenworth and 'Yes' to +Mr. Evan; and I should like to go home to-morrow, +if you please," was the equally concise reply. + +Mrs. Carroll fell flat in her bed, and lay +there stiff and rigid as Morlena Kenwigs. Debby +gently drew the curtains, and stole away leaving +Aunt Pen's wrath to effervesce before morning. + +The moon was hanging luminous and large on +the horizon's edge, sending shafts of light before +her till the melancholy ocean seemed to smile, and +along that shining pathway happy Debby and her +lover floated into that new world where all things +seem divine. + + +THE BROTHERS. + +Doctor Franck came in as I sat sewing up the +rents in an old shirt, that Tom might go tidily to his +grave. New shirts were needed for the living, and +there was no wife or mother to "dress him handsome +when he went to meet the Lord," as one +woman said, describing the fine funeral she had +pinched herself to give her son. + +"Miss Dane, I'm in a quandary," began the +Doctor, with that expression of countenance which +says as plainly as words, "I want to ask a favor, +but I wish you'd save me the trouble." + +"Can I help you out of it? + +"Faith! I don't like to propose it. but you +certainly can, if you please." + +"Then give it a name, I beg." + +"You see a Reb has just been brought in crazy +with typhoid; a bad case every way; a drunken, +rascally little captain somebody took the trouble +to capture, but whom nobody wants to take the +trouble to cure. The wards are full, the ladies +worked to death, and willing to be for our own +boys, but rather slow to risk their lives for a Reb. +Now you've had the fever, you like queer patients, +your mate will see to your ward for a while, and I +will find you a good attendant. The fellow won't +last long, I fancy; but he can't die without some +sort of care, you know. I've put him in the fourth +story of the west wing, away from the rest. It is +airy, quiet, and comfortable there. I'm on that +ward, and will do my best for you in every way. +Now, then, will you go?" + +"Of course I will, out of perversity, if not common +charity; for some of these people think that +because I'm an abolitionist I am also a heathen, +and I should rather like to show them, that, though +I cannot quite love my enemies, I am willing to +take care of them." + +"Very good; I thought you'd go; and speaking +of abolition reminds me that you can have a contraband +for servant, if you like. It is that fine +mulatto fellow who was found burying his Rebel +master after the fight, and, being badly cut over +the head, our boys brought him along. Will you +have him?" + +"By all means,--for I'll stand to my guns on +that point, as on the other; these black boys are +far more faithful and handy than some of the white +scamps given me to serve, instead of being served +by. But is this man well enough?" + +"Yes, for that sort of work, and I think you'll +like him. He must have been a handsome fellow +before he got his face slashed; not much darker +than myself; his master's son, I dare say, and the +white blood makes him rather high and haughty +about some things. He was in a bad way when +he came in, but vowed he'd die in the street rather +than turn in with the black fellows below; so I +put him up in the west wing, to be out of the way, +and he's seen to the captain all the morning. +When can you go up?" + +"As soon as Tom is laid out, Skinner moved, +Haywood washed, Marble dressed, Charley +rubbed, Downs taken up, Upham laid down, and +the whole forty fed." + +We both laughed, though the Doctor was on +his way to the dead-house and I held a shroud on +my lap. But in a hospital one learns that cheerfulness +is one's salvation; for, in an atmosphere of +suffering and death, heaviness of heart would soon +paralyze usefulness of hand, if the blessed gift of +smiles had been denied us. + +In an hour I took possession of my new charge, +finding a dissipated-looking boy of nineteen or +twenty raving in the solitary little room, with no +one near him but the contraband in the room adjoining. +Feeling decidedly more interest in the +black man than in the white, yet remembering the +Doctor's hint of his being "high and haughty," I +glanced furtively at him as I scattered chloride of +lime about the room to purify the air, and settled +matters to suit myself. I had seen many contrabands, +but never one so attractive as this. All +colored men are called "boys," even if their heads +are white; this boy was five-and-twenty at least, +strong-limbed and manly, and had the look of one +who never had been cowed by abuse or worn with +oppressive labor. He sat on his bed doing nothing; +no book, no pipe, no pen or paper anywhere +appeared, yet anything less indolent or listless than +his attitude and expression I never saw. Erect he +sat with a hand on either knee, and eyes fixed on +the bare wall opposite, so rapt in some absorbing +thought as to be unconscious of my presence, +though the door stood wide open and my movements +were by no means noiseless. His face was +half averted, but I instantly approved the Doctor's +taste, for the profile which I saw possessed all the +attributes of comeliness belonging to his mixed race. +He was more quadroon than mulatto, with Saxon +features, Spanish complexion darkened by exposure, +color in lips and cheek, waving hair, and +an eye full of the passionate melancholy which in +such men always seems to utter a mute protest +against the broken law that doomed them at their +birth. What could he be thinking of? The sick +boy cursed and raved, I rustled to and fro, steps +passed the door, bells rang, and the steady rumble +of army-wagons came up from the street, still he +never stirred. I had seen colored people in what +they call "the black sulks," when, for days, they +neither smiled nor spoke, and scarcely ate. But +this was something more than that; for the man +was not dully brooding over some small grievance,-- +he seemed to see an all-absorbing fact or fancy +recorded on the wall, which was a blank to me. +I wondered if it were some deep wrong or sorrow, +kept alive by memory and impotent regret; if he +mourned for the dead master to whom he had been +faithful to the end; or if the liberty now his were +robbed of half its sweetness by the knowledge that +some one near and dear to him still languished in +the hell from which he had escaped. My heart +quite warmed to him at that idea; I wanted to +know and comfort him; and, following the impulse +of the moment, I went in and touched him on the +shoulder. + +In an instant the man vanished and the slave +appeared. Freedom was too new a boon to have +wrought its blessed changes yet, and as he started +up, with his hand at his temple and an obsequious +"Yes, Ma'am," any romance that had gathered +round him fled away, leaving the saddest of all +sad facts in living guise before me. Not only did +the manhood seem to die out of him, but the comeliness +that first attracted me; for, as he turned, I +saw the ghastly wound that had laid open cheek +and forehead. Being partly healed, it was no +longer bandaged, but held together with strips of +that transparent plaster which I never see without +a shiver and swift recollections of scenes with +which it is associated in my mind. Part of his +black hair had been shorn away, and one eye was +nearly closed; pain so distorted, and the cruel +sabre-cut so marred that portion of his face, that, +when I saw it, I felt as if a fine medal had been +suddenly reversed, showing me a far more striking +type of human suffering and wrong than Michel +Angelo's bronze prisoner. By one of those inexplicable +processes that often teach us how little we +understand ourselves, my purpose was suddenly +changed, and though I went in to offer comfort as +a friend, I merely gave an order as a mistress. + +"Will you open these windows? this man needs +more air." + +He obeyed at once, and, as he slowly urged up +the unruly sash, the handsome profile was again +turned toward me, and again I was possessed by +my first impression so strongly that I involuntarily +said,-- + +"Thank you, Sir." + +Perhaps it was fancy, but I thought that in the +look of mingled surprise and something like +reproach which be gave me there was also a trace of +grateful pleasure. But he said, in that tone of +spiritless humility these poor souls learn so +soon,-- + +"I ain't a white man, Ma'am, I'm a contraband." + +"Yes, I know it; but a contraband is a free +man, and I heartily congratulate you." + +He liked that; his face shone, he squared his +shoulders, lifted his head, and looked me full in +the eye with a brisk-- + +"Thank ye, Ma'am; anything more to do fer +yer?" + +"Doctor Franck thought you would help me +with this man, as there are many patients and few +nurses or attendants. Have you had the fever?" + +"No, Ma'am." + +"They should have thought of that when they +put him here; wounds and fevers should not be +together. I'll try to get you moved." + +He laughed a sudden laugh,--if he had been a +white man, I should have called it scornful; as he +was a few shades darker than myself, I suppose it +must be considered an insolent, or at least an +unmannerly one. + +"It don't matter, Ma'am. I'd rather be up +here with the fever than down with those niggers; +and there ain't no other place fer me." + +Poor fellow! that was true. No ward in all +the hospital would take him in to lie side by side +with the most miserable white wreck there. Like +the bat in Aesop's fable, he belonged to neither +race; and the pride of one, the helplessness of the +other, kept him hovering alone in the twilight a +great sin has brought to overshadow the whole +land. + +"You shall stay, then; for I would far rather +have you than any lazy Jack. But are you well +and strong enough?" + +"I guess I'll do, Ma'am." + +He spoke with a passive sort of acquiescence,-- +as if it did not much matter, if he were not able, +and no one would particularly rejoice, if he +were. + +"Yes, I think you will. By what name shall +I call you?" + +"Bob, Ma'am." + +Every woman has her pet whim; one of mine +was to teach the men self-respect by treating them +respectfully. Tom, Dick, and Harry would pass, +when lads rejoiced in those familiar abbreviations; +but to address men often old enough to be my +father in that style did not suit my old-fashioned +ideas of propriety. This "Bob" would never do; +I should have found it as easy to call the chaplain +"Gus" as my tragical-looking contraband by a +title so strongly associated with the tail of a kite. + +"What is your other name?" I asked. "I like to call my +attendants by their last names rather than by their first." + +"I've got no other, Ma'am; we have our masters' names, +or do without. Mine's dead, and I won't have anything +of his about me." + +"Well, I'll call you Robert, then, and you may +fill this pitcher for me, if you will be so kind." + +He went; but, through all the tame, obedience +years of servitude had taught him, I could see that +the proud spirit his father gave him was not yet +subdued, for the look and gesture with which he +repudiated his master's name were a more effective +declaration of independence than any Fourth-of-July +orator could have prepared. + +We spent a curious week together. Robert +seldom left his room, except upon my errands; and +I was a prisoner all day, often all night, by the +bedside of the Rebel. The fever burned itself rapidly +away, for there seemed little vitality to feed it in +the feeble frame of this old young man, whose life +had been none of the most righteous, judging from +the revelations made by his unconscious lips; since +more than once Robert authoritatively silenced +him, when my gentler bushings were of no avail, +and blasphemous wanderings or ribald camp-songs +made my cheeks burn and Robert's face assume +an aspect of disgust. The captain was a gentleman +in the world's eye, but the contraband was +the gentleman in mine;--I was a fanatic, and that +accounts for such depravity of taste, I hope. I +never asked Robert of himself, feeling that somewhere +there was a spot still too sore to bear the +lightest touch; but, from his language, manner, and +intelligence, I inferred that his color had procured +for him the few advantages within the reach of a +quick-witted, kindly treated slave. Silent, grave, +and thoughtful, but most serviceable, was my contraband; +glad of the books I brought him, faithful +in the performance of the duties I assigned to him, +grateful for the friendliness I could not but feel and +show toward him. Often I longed to ask what purpose +was so visibly altering his aspect with such daily +deepening gloom. But I never dared, and no one else +had either time or desire to pry into the past of this +specimen of one branch of the chivalrous "F.F.Vs." + +On the seventh night, Dr. Franck suggested that +it would be well for some one, besides the general +watchman of the ward, to be with the captain, as +it might be his last. Although the greater part of +the two preceding nights had been spent there, of +course I offered to remain,--for there is a strange +fascination in these scenes, which renders one +careless of fatigue and unconscious of fear until the +crisis is passed. + +"Give him water as long as he can drink, and +if he drops into a natural sleep, it may save him. +I'll look in at midnight, when some change will +probably take place. Nothing but sleep or a +miracle will keep him now. Good night." + +Away went the Doctor; and, devouring a whole +mouthful of grapes, I lowered the lamp, wet +the captain's head, and sat down on a hard stool +to begin my watch. The captain lay with his +hot, haggard face turned toward me, filling the air +with his poisonous breath, and feebly muttering, +with lips and tongue so parched that the sanest +speech would have been difficult to understand. +Robert was stretched on his bed in the inner room, +the door of which stood ajar, that a fresh draught +from his open window might carry the fever-fumes +away through mine. I could just see a long, dark +figure, with the lighter outline of a face, and, having +little else to do just then, I fell to thinking of +this curious contraband, who evidently prized +his freedom highly, yet seemed in no haste to +enjoy it. Doctor Franck had offered to send him on +to safer quarters, but he had said, "No, thank +yer, Sir, not yet," and then had gone away to +fall into one of those black moods of his, which +began to disturb me, because I had no power to +lighten them. As I sat listening to the clocks from +the steeples all about us, I amused myself with +planning Robert's future, as I often did my own, +and had dealt out to him a generous hand of +trumps wherewith to play this game of life which +hitherto had gone so cruelly against him, when a +harsh, choked voice called,-- + +"Lucy!" + +It was the captain, and some new terror seemed +to have gifted him with momentary strength. + +"Yes, here's Lucy," I answered, hoping that +by following the fancy I might quiet him,--for +his face was damp with the clammy moisture, and +his frame shaken with the nervous tremor that so +often precedes death. His dull eye fixed upon +me, dilating with a bewildered look of incredulity +and wrath, till he broke out fiercely.-- + +"That's a lie! she's dead,--and so's Bob, +damn him!" + +Finding speech a failure, I began to sing the +quiet tune that had often soothed delirium like +this; but hardly had the line, + +"See gentle patience smile on pain," + +passed my lips, when he clutched me by the wrist, +whispering like one in mortal fear,-- + +"Hush! she used to sing that way to Bob, but +she never would to me. I swore I'd whip the +Devil out of her, and I did; but you know before +she cut her throat she said she'd haunt me, and +there she is!" + +He pointed behind me with an aspect of such +pale dismay, that I involuntarily glanced over +my shoulder and started as if I had seen a veritable +ghost; for, peering from the gloom of that inner +room, I saw a shadowy face, with dark hair all +about it, and a glimpse of scarlet at the throat. +An instant showed me that it was only Robert +leaning from his bed's-foot, wrapped in a gray +army-blanket, with his red shirt just visible above +it, and his long hair disordered by sleep. But +what a strange expression was on his face! The +unmarred side was toward me, fixed and motionless +as when I first observed it,--less absorbed +now, but more intent. His eye glittered, his lips +were apart like one who listened with every sense, +and his whole aspect reminded me of a hound to which +some wind had brought the scent of unsuspected prey. + +"Do you know him, Robert? Does he mean +you?" + +"Lord, no, Ma'am; they all own half a dozen +Bobs: but hearin' my name woke me; that's all." + +He spoke quite naturally, and lay down again, +while I returned to my charge, thinking that this +paroxysm was probably his last. But by another +hour I perceived a hopeful change, for the tremor +had subsided, the cold dew was gone, his breathing +was more regular, and Sleep, the healer, had +descended to save or take him gently away. +Doctor Franck looked in at midnight, bade me +keep all cool and quiet, and not fail to administer +a certain draught as soon as the captain woke. +Very much relieved, I laid my head on my arms, +uncomfortably folded on the little table, and +fancied I was about to perform one of the feats +which practice renders possible,--"sleeping with +one eye open," as we say: a half-and-half doze, for +all senses sleep but that of hearing; the faintest +murmur, sigh, or motion will break it, and give +one back one's wits much brightened by the +permission to "stand at ease." On this night, +the experiment was a failure, for previous vigils, +confinement, and much care had rendered naps +a dangerous indulgence, Having roused half a +dozen times in an hour to find all quiet, I dropped +my heavy head on my arms, and, drowsily resolving +to look up again in fifteen minutes, fell fast +asleep. + +The striking of a deep-voiced clock woke me +with a start. "That is one," thought I, but, to +my dismay, two more strokes followed; and in +remorseful haste I sprang up to see what harm my +long oblivion had done. A strong hand put me +back into my seat, and held me there. It was +Robert. The instant my eye met his my heart +began to beat, and all along my nerves tingled +that electric flash which foretells a danger that we +cannot see. He was very pale, his mouth grim, +and both eyes full of sombre fire,--for even the +wounded one was open now, all the more sinister +for the deep scar above and below. But his touch +was steady, his voice quiet, as he said,-- + +"Sit still, Ma'am; I won't hurt yer, nor even +scare yer, if I can help it, but yer waked too +soon." + +"Let me go, Robert,--the captain is stirring, +--I must give him something." + +"No, Ma'am, yer can't stir an inch. Look +here!" + +Holding me with one hand, with the other he +took up the glass in which I had left the draught, +and showed me it was empty. + +"Has he taken it?" I asked, more and more +bewildered. + +"I flung it out o' winder, Ma'am; he'll have to +do without." + +"But why, Robert? why did you do it?" + +"Because I hate him!" + +Impossible to doubt the truth of that; his whole +face showed it, as he spoke through his set teeth, +and launched a fiery glance at the unconscious +captain. I could only hold my breath and stare +blankly at him, wondering what mad act was coming +next. I suppose I shook and turned white, as women +have a foolish habit of doing when sudden danger +daunts them; for Robert released my arm, sat down +upon the bedside just in front of me, and said, with +the ominous quietude that made me cold to see and hear,-- + +"Don't yer be frightened, Ma'am: don't try +to run away, fer the door's locked an' the key +in my pocket; don't yer cry out, fer yer'd have to +scream a long while, with my hand on yer mouth, +before yer was heard. Be still, an' I'll tell yer +what I'm goin' to do." + +"Lord help us! he has taken the fever in some +sudden, violent way, and is out of his head. I +must humor him till some one comes"; in pursuance +of which swift determination, I tried to say, +quite composedly,-- + +"I will be still and hear you; but open the +window. Why did you shut it?" + +"I'm sorry I can't do it, Ma'am; but yer'd +jump out, or call, if I did, an' I'm not ready yet. +I shut it to make yer sleep, an' heat would do it +quicker'n anything else I could do." + +The captain moved, and feebly muttered, +"Water!" Instinctively I rose to give it to him, +but the heavy hand came down upon my shoulder, +and in the same decided tone Robert said,-= + +"The water went with the physic; let him +call." + +"Do let me go to him! he'll die without +care!" + +"I mean he shall;--don't yer interfere, if yer +please, Ma'am." + +In spite of his quiet tone and respectful manner, +I saw murder in his eyes, and turned faint with +fear; yet the fear excited me, and, hardly knowing +what I did, I seized the hands that had seized me, +crying,-- + +"No, no, you shall not kill him! it is base to +hurt a helpless man. Why do you hate him? +He is not your master?" + +"He's my brother." + +I felt that answer from head to foot. and +seemed to fathom what was coming, with a +prescience vague, but unmistakable. One appeal +was left to me, and I made it. + +"Robert, tell me what it means? Do not +commit a crime and make me accessory to it-- +There is a better way of righting wrong than by +violence;--let me help you find it." + +My voice trembled as I spoke, and I heard the +frightened flutter of my heart; so did he, and if +any little act of mine had ever won affection or +respect from him, the memory of it served me +then. He looked down, and seemed to put some +question to himself; whatever it was, the answer +was in my favor, for when his eyes rose again, +they were gloomy, but not desperate. + +"I will tell you, Ma'am; but mind, this makes +no difference; the boy is mine. I'll give the Lord +a chance to take him fust; if He don't, I shall." + +"Oh, no! remember, he is your brother." + +An unwise speech; I felt it as it passed my lips, +for a black frown gathered on Robert's face, and +his strong hands closed with an ugly sort of grip. +But he did not touch the poor soul gasping there +before him, and seemed content to let the slow +suffocation of that stifling room end his frail life. + +"I'm not like to forget that, Ma'am, when I've +been thinkin' of it all this week. I knew him when +they fetched him in, an' would 'a' done it long +'fore this, but I wanted to ask where Lucy was; +he knows,--he told to-night,--an' now he's done +for." + +"Who is Lucy?" I asked hurriedly, intent on +keeping his mind busy with any thought but +murder. + +With one of the swift transitions of a mixed +temperament like this, at my question Robert's +deep eyes filled, the clenched hands were spread +before his face, and all I heard were the broken +words,-- + +"My wife,--he took her--" + +In that instant every thought of fear was swallowed +up in burning indignation for the wrong, +and a perfect passion of pity for the desperate man +so tempted to avenge an injury for which there +seemed no redress but this. He was no longer +slave or contraband, no drop of black blood +marred him in my sight, but an infinite compassion +yearned to save, to help, to comfort him. +Words seemed so powerless I offered none, only +put my hand on his poor head, wounded, homeless, +bowed down with grief for which I had no +cure, and softly smoothed the long neglected hair, +pitifully wondering the while where was the +wife who must have loved this tender-hearted man +so well. + +The captain moaned again, and faintly whispered, +"Air!" but I never stirred. God forgive me! +just then I hated him as only a woman thinking +of a sister woman's wrong could hate. Robert +looked up; his eyes were dry again, his mouth +grim. I saw that, said, "Tell me more," and he +did,--for sympathy is a gift the poorest may give, +the proudest stoop to receive. + +"Yer see, Ma'am, his father,--I might say +ours, if I warn't ashamed of both of 'em,--his +father died two years ago, an' left us all to +Marster Ned,--that's him here, eighteen then. He +always hated me, I looked so like old Marster: he +don't--only the light skin an' hair. Old Marster +was kind to all of us, me 'specially, an' bought +Lucy off the next plantation down there in South +Car'lina, when he found I liked her. I married +her, all I could, Ma'am; it warn't much, but we +was true to one another till Marster Ned come +home a year after an' made hell fer both of us. +He sent my old mother to be used up in his +rice swamp in Georgy; he found me with my pretty +Lucy, an' though young Miss cried, an' I prayed +to him on my knees, an' Lucy run away, he +wouldn't have no mercy; he brought her back, +an'--took her, Ma'am." + +"Oh! what did you do?" I cried, hot with +helpless pain and passion. + +How the man's outraged heart sent the blood +flaming up into his face and deepened the tones +of his impetuous voice, as he stretched his arm +across the bed, saying, with a terribly expressive +gesture,-- + +"I half murdered him, an' to-night I'll finish." + +"Yes, yes,--but go on now; what came next?" + +He gave me a look that showed no white man could +have felt a deeper degradation in remembering and +confessing these last acts of brotherly +oppression. + +"They whipped me till I couldn't stand, an' +then they sold me further South. Yer thought +I was a white man once;--look here!" + +With a sudden wrench he tore the shirt from +neck to waist, and on his strong brown shoulders +showed me furrows deeply ploughed, wounds +which, though healed, were ghastlier to me than +any in that house. I could not speak to him, and, +with the pathetic dignity a great grief lends the +humblest sufferer, he ended his brief tragedy by +simply saying,-- + +"That's all. Ma'am. I've never seen her since, +an' now I never shall in this world,--maybe not +in t' other." + +"But, Robert, why think her dead? The +captain was wandering when he said those sad +things; perhaps he will retract them when he is +sane. Don't despair; don't give up yet." + +"No, Ma'am, I guess he's right; she was too +proud to bear that long. It's like her to kill +herself. I told her to, if there was no other way; +an' she always minded me, Lucy did. My poor +girl! Oh, it warn't right! No, by God, it warn't!" + +As the memory of this bitter wrong, this +double bereavement, burned in his sore heart, the +devil that lurks in every strong man's blood leaped +up; he put his hand upon his brother's throat, and, +watching the white face before him, muttered low +between his teeth,-- + +"I'm lettin' him go too easy; there's no pain in +this; we a'n't even yet. I wish he knew me. +Marster Ned! it's Bob; where's Lucy?" + +From the captain's lips there came a long faint +sigh, and nothing but a flutter of the eyelids +showed that he still lived. A strange stillness +filled the room as the elder brother held the +younger's life suspended in his hand, while wavering +between a dim hope and a deadly hate. In +the whirl of thoughts that went on in my brain, +only one was clear enough to act upon. I must +prevent murder, if I could,--but how? What +could I do up there alone, locked in with a dying +man and a lunatic?--for any mind yielded utterly +to any unrighteous impulse is mad while the impulse +rules it. Strength I had not, nor much +courage, neither time nor wit for stratagem, and +chance only could bring me help before it was +too late. But one weapon I possessed,--a tongue, +--often a woman's best defence: and sympathy, +stronger than fear, gave me power to use it. What +I said Heaven only knows, but surely Heaven +helped me; words burned on my lips, tears +streamed from my eyes, and some good angel +prompted me to use the one name that had power +to arrest my hearer's hand and touch his heart. +For at that moment I heartily believed that Lucy +lived, and this earnest faith roused in him a like +belief. + +He listened with the lowering look of one in +whom brute instinct was sovereign for the time,-- +a look that makes the noblest countenance base. +He was but a man,--a poor, untaught, outcast, +outraged man. Life had few joys for him; the +world offered him no honors, no success, no home, +no love. What future would this crime mar? and +why should he deny himself that sweet, yet bitter +morsel called revenge? How many white men, +with all New England's freedom, culture, Christianity, +would not have felt as he felt then? +Should I have reproached him for a human anguish, +a human longing for redress, all now left +him from the ruin of his few poor hopes? Who +had taught him that self-control, self-sacrifice, are +attributes that make men masters of the earth and +lift them nearer heaven? Should I have urged +the beauty of forgiveness, the duty of devout +submission? He had no religion, for he was no +saintly "Uncle Tom," and Slavery's black shadow +seemed to darken all the world to him and shut +out God. Should I have warned him of penalties, +of judgments, and the potency of law? What +did he know of justice, or the mercy that should +temper that stern virtue, when every law, human +and divine, had been broken on his hearthstone? +Should I have tried to touch him by appeals to +filial duty, to brotherly love? How had his +appeals been answered? What memories had +father and brother stored up in his heart to plead +for either now? No,--all these influences, these +associations, would have proved worse than useless, +had I been calm enough to try them. I was +not; but instinct, subtler than reason, showed me +the one safe clue by which to lead this troubled +soul from the labyrinth in which it groped and +nearly fell. When I paused, breathless, Robert +turned to me, asking, as if human assurances could +strengthen his faith in Divine Omnipotence,-- + +"Do you believe, if I let Marster Ned live, the +Lord will give me back my Lucy?" + +"As surely as there is a Lord, you will find her +here or in the beautiful hereafter, where there is +no black or white, no master and no slave." + +He took his hand from his brother's throat, +lifted his eyes from my face to the wintry sky +beyond, as if searching for that blessed country, +happier even than the happy North. Alas, it was +the darkest hour before the dawn!--there was no +star above, no light below but the pale glimmer +of the lamp that showed the brother who had +made him desolate. Like a blind man who believes +there is a sun, yet cannot see it, he shook +his head, let his arms drop nervously upon his +knees, and sat there dumbly asking that question +which many a soul whose faith is firmer fixed than +his has asked in hours less dark than this,-- + +"Where is God?" I saw the tide had turned, +and strenuously tried to keep this rudderless +lifeboat from slipping back into the whirlpool +wherein it had been so nearly lost. + +"I have listened to you, Robert; now hear me, +and heed what I say, because my heart is full of +pity for you, full of hope for your future, and a +desire to help you now. I want you to go away +from here, from the temptation of this place, and +the sad thoughts that haunt it. You have conquered +yourself once, and I honor you for it, because, +the harder the battle, the more glorious the +victory; but it is safer to put a greater distance +between you and this man. I will write you +letters, give you money, and send you to good old +Massachusetts to begin your new life a freeman, +--yes, and a happy man; for when the captain is +himself again, I will learn where Lucy is, and move +heaven and earth to find and give her back to +you. Will you do this, Robert?" + +Slowly, very slowly, the answer came; for the +purpose of a week, perhaps a year, was hard to +relinquish in an hour. + +"Yes, Ma'am, I will." + +"Good! Now you are the man I thought you, +and I'll work for you with all my heart. You +need sleep, my poor fellow; go, and try to forget. +The captain is still alive, and as yet you are spared +the sin. No, don't look there; I'll care for him. +Come, Robert, for Lucy's sake." + +Thank Heaven for the immortality of love! +for when all other means of salvation failed, a spark +of this vital fire softened the man's iron will until +a woman's hand could bend it. He let me take +from him the key, let me draw him gently away +and lead him to the solitude which now was the +most healing balm I could bestow. Once in his +little room, he fell down on his bed and lay there +as if spent with the sharpest conflict of his life. I +slipped the bolt across his door, and unlocked my +own, flung up the window, steadied myself with a +breath of air, then rushed to Doctor Franck. He +came; and till dawn we worked together, saving +one brother's life, and taking earnest thought how +best to secure the other's liberty. When the sun +came up as blithely as if it shone only upon happy +homes, the Doctor went to Robert. For an hour +I heard the murmur of their voices; once I caught +the sound of heavy sobs, and for a time a reverent +hush, as if in the silence that good man were +ministering to soul as well as sense. When he +departed he took Robert with him, pausing to tell +me he should get him off as soon as possible, but +not before we met again. + +Nothing more was seen of them all day; another +surgeon came to see the captain, and another +attendant came to fill the empty place. I tried to +rest, but could not, with the thought of poor Lucy +tugging at my heart, and was soon back at my +post again, anxiously hoping that my contraband +had not been too hastily spirited away. Just as +night fell there came a tap, and opening, I saw +Robert literally "clothed and in his right mind." +The Doctor had replaced the ragged suit with +tidy garments, and no trace of that tempestuous +night remained but deeper lines upon the forehead, +and the docile look of a repentant child. He did +not cross the threshold, did not offer me his hand, +--only took off his cap, saying, with a traitorous +falter in his voice,-- + +"God bless you, Ma'am! I'm goin'." + +I put out both my hands, and held his fast. + +"Good-bye, Robert! Keep up good heart, +and when I come home to Massachusetts we'll +meet in a happier place than this. Are you quite +ready, quite comfortable for your journey? + +"Yes, Ma'am, Yes; the Doctor's fixed everything; +I'm goin' with a friend of his; my papers +are all right, an' I'm as happy as I can be till I +find,--" + +He stopped there; then went on, with a glance +into the room,-- + +"I'm glad I didn't do it, an' I thank yer, +Ma'am, fer hinderin' me,--thank yer hearty; but +I'm afraid I hate him jest the same." + +Of course he did; and so did I; for these faulty +hearts of ours cannot turn perfect in a night, but +need frost and fire, wind and rain, to ripen and +make them ready for the great harvest-home. +Wishing to divert his mind, I put my poor mite +into his hand, and, remembering the magic of a +certain little book, I gave him mine, on whose +dark cover whitely shone the Virgin Mother and +the Child, the grand history of whose life the book +contained. The money went into Robert's pocket +with a grateful murmur, the book into his bosom +with a long took and a tremulous-- + +"I never saw my baby, Ma'am." + +I broke down then; and though my eyes were +too dim to see, I felt the touch of lips upon my +hands, heard the sound of departing feet, and +knew my contraband was gone. + +When one feels an intense dislike, the less one +says about the subject of it the better; therefore +I shall merely record that the captain lived,--in +time was exchanged; and that, whoever the other +party was, I am convinced the Government got +the best of the bargain. But long before this +occurred, I had fulfilled my promise to Robert; for +as soon as my patient recovered strength of memory +enough to make his answer trustworthy, I asked, without +any circumlocution,-- + +"Captain Fairfax, where is Lucy?" + +And too feeble to be angry, surprised, or insincere, +he straightway answered,-- + +"Dead, Miss Dane." + +"And she killed herself, when you sold Bob?" + +"How the Devil did you know that?" he +muttered, with an expression half-remorseful, +half-amazed; but I was satisfied, and said no more. + +Of course, this went to Robert, waiting far +away there in a lonely home,--waiting, working, +hoping for his Lucy. It almost broke my heart +to do it; but delay was weak, deceit was wicked; +so I sent the heavy tidings. and very soon the +answer came,--only three lines; but I felt that the +sustaining power of the man's life was gone. + +"I thought I'd never see her any more; I'm glad +to know she's out of trouble. I thank yer, Ma'am; +an' if they let us, I'll fight fer yer till I'm killed. +which I hope will be 'fore long." + +Six months later he had his wish, and kept his +word. + +Every one knows the story of the attack on +Fort Wagner; but we should not tire yet of +recalling how our Fifty-Fourth, spent with three +sleepless nights, a day's fast, and a march under +the July sun, stormed the fort as night fell, facing +death in many shapes, following their brave leaders +through a fiery rain of shot and shell, fighting +valiantly for God and Governor Andrew,"-- +how the regiment that went into action seven hundred +strong came out having had nearly half its +number captured, killed, or wounded, leaving +their young commander to be buried, like a chief +of earlier times, with his body-guard around him, +faithful to the death. Surely, the insult turns to +honor, and the wide grave needs no monument +but the heroism that consecrates it in our sight; +surely, the hearts that held him nearest see through +their tears a noble victory in the seeming sad defeat; +and surely, God's benediction was bestowed, +when this loyal soul answered, as Death called +the roll, "Lord, here I am, with the brothers +Thou hast given me!" + +The future must show how well that fight was +fought; for though Fort Wagner still defies us, +public prejudice is down; and through the cannon +smoke of that black night the manhood of the +colored race shines before many eyes that would +not see, rings in many ears that would not hear, +wins many hearts that would not hitherto believe. + +When the news came that we were needed, +there was none so glad as I to leave teaching +contrabands, the new work I had taken up, and +go to nurse "our boys," as my dusky flock so +proudly called the wounded of the Fifty-Fourth. +Feeling more satisfaction, as I assumed my big +apron and turned up my cuffs, than if dressing for +the President's levee, I fell to work on board the +hospital-ship in Hilton-Head harbor. The scene +was most familiar, and yet strange; for only dark +faces looked up at me from the pallets so thickly +laid along the floor, and I missed the sharp accent +of my Yankee boys in the slower, softer voices +calling cheerily to one another, or answering my +questions with a stout, "We'll never give it up, +Ma'am, till the last Reb's dead," or, "If our +people's free, we can afford to die." + +Passing from bed to bed, intent on making one +pair of hands do the work of three, at least, I +gradually washed, fed, and bandaged my way +down the long line of sable heroes, and coming to +the very last, found that he was my contraband. +So old, so worn, so deathly weak and wan, I +never should have known him but for the deep +scar on his cheek. That side lay uppermost, and +caught my eye at once; but even then I doubted, +such an awful change had come upon him, when, +turning to the ticket just above his head, I saw the +name, "Robert Dane." That both assured and +touched me, for, remembering that he had no +name, I knew that he had taken mine. I longed +for him to speak to me, to tell how he had fared +since I lost sight of him, and let me perform some +little service for him in return for many he had +done for me; but he seemed asleep; and as I +stood re-living that strange night again, a bright +lad, who lay next him softly waving an old fan +across both beds, looked up and said,-- + +"I guess you know him, Ma'am?" + +"You are right. Do you?" + +"As much as any one was able to, Ma'am." + +"Why do you say 'was,' as if the man were +dead and gone?" + +"I s'pose because I know he'll have to go. +He's got a bad jab in the breast, an' is bleedin' +inside, the Doctor says. He don't suffer any, +only gets weaker 'n' weaker every minute. I've +been fannin' him this long while, an' he's talked +a little; but he don't know me now, so he's most +gone, I guess." + +There was so much sorrow and affection in the +boy's face, that I remembered something, and +asked, with redoubled interest,-- + +Are you the one that brought him off? I +was told about a boy who nearly lost his life in +saving that of his mate." + +I dare say the young fellow blushed, as any +modest lad might have done; I could not see it, +but I heard the chuckle of satisfaction that escaped +him, as he glanced from his shattered arm and +bandaged side to the pale figure opposite. + +"Lord, Ma'am, that's nothin'; we boys always +stan' by one another, an' I warn't goin' to +leave him to be tormented any more by them +cussed Rebs. He's been a slave once, though +he don't look half so much like it as me, an' +was born in Boston." + +He did not; for the speaker was as black as the ace +of spades,--being a sturdy specimen, the knave of clubs +would perhaps be a fitter representative,-- but the dark +freeman looked at the white slave with the pitiful, yet +puzzled expression I have so often seen on the faces of +our wisest men, when this tangled question of Slavery +presents itself, asking to be cut or patiently undone. + +"Tell me what you know of this man; for, +even if he were awake, he is too weak to talk." + +"I never saw him till I joined the regiment, an' +no one 'peared to have got much out of him. He +was a shut-up sort of feller, an' didn't seem to +care for anything but gettin' at the Rebs. Some +say he was the fust man of us that enlisted; I know +he fretted till we were off, an' when we pitched +into old Wagner, he fought like the Devil." + +"Were you with him when he was wounded? +How was it?" + +"Yes, Ma'am. There was somethin' queer +about it; for he 'peared to know the chap that +killed him, an' the chap knew him. I don't dare +to ask, but I rather guess one owned the other +some time,--for, when they clinched, the chap +sung out, 'Bob!' an' Dane, 'Marster Ned! +then they went at it." + +I sat down suddenly, for the old anger and +compassion struggled in my heart, and I both longed +and feared to hear what was to follow. + +"You see, when the Colonel--Lord keep an' +send him back to us!--it a'n't certain yet, you +know, Ma'am, though it's two days ago we lost +him--well, when the Colonel shouted, 'Rush on. +boys, rush on!' Dane tore away as if he was +goin' to take the fort alone; I was next him, an' +kept close as we went through the ditch an' up +the wall. Hi! warn't that a rusher!" and the +boy flung up his well arm with a whoop, as if the +mere memory of that stirring moment came over +him in a gust of irrepressible excitement. + +"Were you afraid?" I said,--asking the question +women often put, and receiving the answer +they seldom fail to get. + +"No, Ma'am!"-- emphasis on the "Ma'am," +--"I never thought of anything but the damn +Rebs, that scalp, slash, an' cut our ears off, when +they git us. I was bound to let daylight into one +of 'em at least, an' I did. Hope he liked it!" + +"It is evident that you did, and I don't blame +you in the least. Now go on about Robert, for +I should be at work." + +"He was one of the fust up; I was just behind, +an' though the whole thing happened in a minute. +I remember how it was, for all I was yellin' an' +knockin' round like mad. Just where we were, +some sort of an officer was wavin' his sword an' +cheerin' on his men; Dane saw him by a big +flash that come by; he flung away his gun, give a +leap, an' went at that feller as if he was Jeff, +Beauregard, an' Lee, all in one. I scrabbled +after as quick as I could, but was only up in time +to see him git the sword straight through him an' +drop into the ditch. You needn't ask what I did +next, Ma'am, for I don't quite know myself; all +I 'm clear about is, that I managed somehow to +pitch that Reb into the fort as dead as Moses, +git hold of Dane, an' bring him off. Poor old +feller! we said we went in to live or die; he said +he went in to die, an' he 's done it." + +I had been intently watching the excited +speaker; but as he regretfully added those last +words I turned again, and Robert's eyes met mine, +--those melancholy eyes, so full of an intelligence +that proved he had heard, remembered, and reflected +with that preternatural power which often +outlives all other faculties. He knew me, yet +gave no greeting; was glad to see a woman's face, +yet had no smile wherewith to welcome it; felt +that he was dying, yet uttered no farewell. He +was too far across the river to return or linger +now; departing thought, strength, breath, were +spent in one grateful look, one murmur of submission +to the last pang he could ever feel. His lips +moved, and, bending to them, a whisper chilled +my cheek, as it shaped the broken words,-- + +"I would have done it,--but it 's better so,-- +I'm satisfied." + +Ah! well he might be,--for, as he turned his face +from the shadow of the life that was, the sunshine +of the life to be touched it with a beautiful +content, and in the drawing of a breath my +contraband found wife and home, eternal liberty +and God. + + +NELLY'S HOSPITAL + +Nelly sat beside her mother picking lint; but +while her fingers flew, her eyes often looked +wistfully out into the meadow, golden with +buttercups, and bright with sunshine. Presently she +said, rather bashfully, but very earnestly, "Mamma, +I want to tell you a little plan I've made, if +you'll please not laugh." + +I think I can safely promise that, my dear," +said her mother, putting down her work that she +might listen quite respectfully. + +Nelly looked pleased, and went on confidingly, + +"Since brother Will came home with his lame +foot, and I've helped you tend him, I've heard a +great deal about hospitals, and liked it very much. +To-day I said I wanted to go and be a nurse, like +Aunt Mercy; but Will laughed, and told me I'd +better begin by nursing sick birds and butterflies +and pussies before I tried to take care of men. I +did not like to be made fun of, but I've been +thinking that it would be very pleasant to have a +little hospital all my own, and be a nurse in it, +because, if I took pains, so many pretty creatures +might be made well, perhaps. Could I, mamma?" + +Her mother wanted to smile at the idea, but +did not, for Nelly looked up with her heart and +eyes so full of tender compassion, both for the +unknown men for whom her little hands had done +their best, and for the smaller sufferers nearer +home, that she stroked the shining head, and answered +readily: "Yes, Nelly, it will be a proper +charity for such a young Samaritan, and you may +learn much if you are in earnest. You must study +how to feed and nurse your little patients, else +your pity will do no good, and your hospital become +a prison. I will help you, and Tony shall +be your surgeon." + +"O mamma, how good you always are to me! +Indeed, I am in truly earnest; I will learn, +I will be kind, and may I go now and begin?" + +"You may, but tell me first where will you +have your hospital?" + +"In my room, mamma; it is so snug and sunny, +and I never should forget it there," said Nelly. + +"You must not forget it anywhere. I think +that plan will not do. How would you like to +find caterpillars walking in your bed, to hear sick +pussies mewing in the night, to have beetles clinging +to your clothes, or see mice, bugs, and birds +tumbling downstairs whenever the door was +open?" said her mother. + +Nelly laughed at that thought a minute, then +clapped her hands, and cried: "Let us have the +old summer-house! My doves only use the upper +part, and it would be so like Frank in the storybook. +Please say yes again, mamma." + +Her mother did say yes, and, snatching up her +hat, Nelly ran to find Tony, the gardener's son, +a pleasant lad of twelve, who was Nelly's favorite +playmate. Tony pronounced the plan a "jolly" one, and, +leaving his work, followed his young mistress to the +summer-house, for she could not wait one minute. + +"What must we do first?" she asked, as they +stood looking in at the dusty room, full of +garden tools, bags of seeds, old flower-pots, and +watering-cans. + +"Clear out the rubbish, miss," answered Tony. + +"Here it goes, then," and Nelly began bundling +everything out in such haste that she broke +two flower-pots, scattered all the squash-seeds, +and brought a pile of rakes and hoes clattering +down about her ears. + +"Just wait a bit, and let me take the lead, +miss. You hand me things, I'll pile 'em in the +barrow and wheel 'em off to the barn; then it +will save time, and be finished up tidy." + +Nelly did as he advised, and very soon nothing +but dust remained. + +"What next?" she asked, not knowing in the +least. + +"I'll sweep up while you see if Polly can +come and scrub the room out. It ought to +be done before you stay here, let alone the +patients." + +"So it had," said Nelly, looking very wise all +of a sudden. "Will says the wards--that means +the rooms, Tony--are scrubbed every day or +two, and kept very clean, and well venti-some- +thing--I can't say it; but it means having a plenty +of air come in. I can clean windows while Polly +mops, and then we shall soon be done." +Away she ran, feeling very busy and important. +Polly came, and very soon the room looked +like another place. The four latticed windows +were set wide open, so the sunshine came dancing +through the vines that grew outside, and curious +roses peeped in to see what frolic was afoot. The +walls shone white again, for not a spider dared +to stay; the wide seat which encircled the room +was dustless now,--the floor as nice as willing +hands could make it; and the south wind blew +away all musty odors with its fragrant breath. +" How fine it looks! " cried Nelly, dancing +on the doorstep, lest a foot-print should mar the +still damp floor. + +"I'd almost like to fall sick for the sake of +staying here," said Tony, admiringly. "Now, what +sort of beds are you going to have, miss? + +"I suppose it won't do to put butterflies and +toads and worms into beds like the real soldiers +where Will was?" answered Nelly, looking +anxious. + +Tony could hardly help shouting at the idea; +but, rather than trouble his little mistress, he said +very soberly: "I'm afraid they wouldn't lay +easy, not being used to it. Tucking up a butterfly +would about kill him; the worms would be apt to +get lost among the bed-clothes; and the toads +would tumble out the first thing." + +"I shall have to ask mamma about it. What will +you do while I'm gone?" said Nelly, unwilling +that a moment should be lost. + +"I'll make frames for nettings to the windows, +else the doves will come in and eat up the sick +people. + +"I think they will know that it is a hospital, +and be too kind to hurt or frighten their neighbors," +began Nelly; but as she spoke, a plump white dove walked +in, looked about with its red-ringed eyes, and quietly +pecked up a tiny bug that had just ventured out from +the crack where it had taken refuge when the deluge came. + +"Yes, we must have the nettings. I'll ask +mamma for some lace," said Nelly, when she saw +that; and, taking her pet dove on her shoulder, +told it about her hospital as she went toward the +house; for, loving all little creatures as she did, it +grieved her to have any harm befall even the least +or plainest of them. She had a sweet child-fancy +that her playmates understood her language +as she did theirs, and that birds, flowers, animals, +and insects felt for her the same affection which +she felt for them. Love always makes friends, +and nothing seemed to fear the gentle child; but +welcomed her like a little sun who shone alike on +all, and never suffered an eclipse. + +She was gone some time, and when she came +back her mind was full of new plans, one hand +full of rushes, the other of books, while over her +head floated the lace, and a bright green ribbon +hung across her arm. + +"Mamma says that the best beds will be little +baskets, boxes, cages, and any sort of thing that +suits the patients; for each will need different care +and food and medicine. I have not baskets +enough, so, as I cannot have pretty white beds, I +am going to braid pretty green nests for my +patients, and, while I do it, mamma thought you'd +read to me the pages she has marked, so that we +may begin right." + +"Yes, miss; I like that. But what is the ribbon +for?" asked Tony. + +"O, that's for you. Will says that, if you are +to be an army surgeon, you must have a green +band on your arm; so I got this to tie on when we +play hospital." + +Tony let her decorate the sleeve of his gray +jacket, and when the nettings were done, the +welcome books were opened and enjoyed. It +was a happy time, sitting in the sunshine, with +leaves pleasantly astir all about them, doves cooing +overhead, and flowers sweetly gossiping together +through the summer afternoon. Nelly wove her +smooth, green rushes. Tony pored over his pages, +and both found something better than fairy legends +in the family histories of insects, birds, and beasts. +All manner of wonders appeared, and were explained +to them, till Nelly felt as if a new world +had been given her, so full of beauty, interest, and +pleasure that she never could be tired of studying +it. Many of these things were not strange to +Tony, because, born among plants, he had grown +up with them as if they were brothers and sisters, +and the sturdy, brown-faced boy had learned +many lessons which no poet or philosopher could +have taught him, unless he had become as child-like a +s himself, and studied from the same great book. + +When the baskets were done, the marked pages +all read, and the sun began to draw his rosy +curtains round him before smiling "Good night," +Nelly ranged the green beds round the room, Tony +put in the screens, and the hospital was ready. +The little nurse was so excited that she could +hardly eat her supper, and directly afterwards +ran up to tell Will how well she had succeeded +with the first part of her enterprise. Now brother +Will was a brave young officer, who had fought +stoutly and done his duty like a man. But when +lying weak and wounded at home, the cheerful +courage which had led him safely through many +dangers seemed to have deserted him, and he was +often gloomy, sad, or fretful, because he longed +to be at his post again, and time passed very +slowly. This troubled his mother, and made +Nelly wonder why he found lying in a pleasant +room so much harder than fighting battles or +making weary marches. Anything that interested +and amused him was very welcome, and when +Nelly, climbing on the arm of his sofa, told her +plans, mishaps, and successes, he laughed out more +heartily than he had done for many a day, and his +thin face began to twinkle with fun as it used to +do so long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she +chatted like any affectionate little magpie, till +Will was really interested; for when one is ill, +small things amuse. + +"Do you expect your patients to come to you, +Nelly?" he asked. + +"No, I shall go and look for them. I often +see poor things suffering in the garden, and the +wood, and always feel as if they ought to be taken +care of, as people are." + +"You won't like to carry insane bugs, lame +toads, and convulsive kittens in your hands, and +they would not stay on a stretcher if you had +one. You should have an ambulance and be +a branch of the Sanitary Commission," said +Will. + +Nelly had often heard the words, but did not +quite understand what they meant. So Will told +her of that great never-failing charity, to which +thousands owe their lives; and the child listened +with lips apart, eyes often full, and so much love +and admiration in her heart that she could find no +words in which to tell it. When her brother +paused, she said earnestly: "Yes, I will be a +Sanitary. This little cart of mine shall be my +amb'lance, and I'll never let my water-barrels go +empty, never drive too fast, or be rough with my +poor passengers, like some of the men you tell +about. Does this look like an ambulance, Will?" + +"Not a bit, but it shall, if you and mamma +like to help me. I want four long bits of cane, a +square of white cloth, some pieces of thin wood, +and the gum-pot," said Will, sitting up to examine +the little cart, feeling like a boy again as +he took out his knife and began to whittle. +Upstairs and downstairs ran Nelly till all +necessary materials were collected, and almost +breathlessly she watched her brother arch the +canes over the cart, cover them with the cloth, +and fit an upper shelf of small compartments, each +lined with cotton-wool to serve as beds for +wounded insects, lest they should hurt one another +or jostle out. The lower part was left free for any +larger creatures which Nelly might find. Among +her toys she bad a tiny cask which only needed a +peg to be water-tight; this was filled and fitted +in before, because, as the small sufferers needed +no seats, there was no place for it behind, and, as +Nelly was both horse and driver, it was more +convenient in front. On each side of it stood a +box of stores. In one were minute rollers, as +bandages are called, a few bottles not yet filled, +and a wee doll's jar of cold-cream, because Nelly +could not feel that her outfit was complete without +a medicine-chest. The other box was full of +crumbs, bits of sugar, bird-seed, and grains of +wheat and corn, lest any famished stranger should +die for want of food before she got it home. Then +mamma painted "U.S. San. Com." in bright letters on +the cover, and Nelly received her charitable +plaything with a long sigh of satisfaction. + +"Nine o'clock already. Bless me, what a +short evening this has been," exclaimed Will, as +Nelly came to give him her good-night kiss. + +"And such a happy one," she answered. + +"Thank you very, very much, dear Will. I only +wish my little amb'lance was big enough for +you to go in,--I'd so like to give you the first +ride." + +"Nothing I should like better, if it were possible, +though I've a prejudice against ambulances in +general. But as I cannot ride, I'll try and hop out +to your hospital to-morrow, and see how you get +on,"--which was a great deal for Captain Will +to say, because he had been too listless to leave +his sofa for several days. + +That promise sent Nelly happily away to bed, +only stopping to pop her head out of the window +to see if it was likely to be a fair day to-morrow, +and to tell Tony about the new plan as he passed +below. + +"Where shall you go to look for your first load +of sick folks, miss?" he asked. + +"All round the garden first, then through the +grove, and home across the brook. Do you think +I can find any patients so? " said Nelly. + +"I know you will. Good night, miss," and +Tony walked away with a merry look on his face, +that Nelly would not have understood if she had +seen it. + +Up rose the sun bright and early, and up rose +Nurse Nelly almost as early and as bright. Breakfast +was taken in a great hurry, and before the +dew was off the grass this branch of the S. C. +was all astir. Papa, mamma, big brother and +baby sister, men and maids, all looked out to see +the funny little ambulance depart, and nowhere in +all the summer fields was there a happier child than +Nelly, as she went smiling down the garden path, +where tall flowers kissed her as she passed and +every blithe bird seemed singing a "Good speed!" + +"How I wonder what I shall find first," she +thought, looking sharply on all sides as she went. +Crickets chirped, grasshoppers leaped, ants +worked busily at their subterranean houses, +spiders spun shining webs from twig to twig, bees +were coming for their bags of gold, and butterflies +had just begun their holiday. A large white one +alighted on the top of the ambulance, walked +over the inscription as if spelling it letter by letter, +then floated away from flower to flower, like one +carrying the good news far and wide. + +"Now every one will know about the hospital +and be glad to see me coming," thought Nelly. +And indeed it seemed so, for just then a black- +bird, sitting on a garden wall, burst out with a +song full of musical joy, Nelly's kitten came +running after to stare at the wagon and rub her soft +side against it, a bright-eyed toad looked out +from his cool bower among the lily-leaves, and at +that minute Nelly found her first patient. In one +of the dewy cobwebs hanging from a shrub near +by sat a fat black and yellow spider, watching +a fly whose delicate wings were just caught in the +net. The poor fly buzzed pitifully, and struggled +so hard that the whole web shook: but the more +he struggled, the more he entangled himself, and +the fierce spider was preparing to descend that it +might weave a shroud about its prey, when a +little finger broke the threads and lifted the fly +safely into the palm of a hand, where he lay +faintly humming his thanks. + +Nelly had heard much about contrabands, knew who +they were, and was very much interested in them; +so, when she freed the poor black +fly she played he was her contraband, and felt +glad that her first patient was one that needed +help so much. Carefully brushing away as much +of the web as she could, she left small Pompey, +as she named him, to free his own legs, lest her +clumsy fingers should hurt him; then she laid him +in one of the soft beds with a grain or two of +sugar if he needed refreshment, and bade him rest +and recover from his fright, remembering that he +was at liberty to fly away whenever he liked, +because she had no wish to male a slave of him. + +Feeling very happy over this new friend, Nelly +went on singing softly as she walked, and presently +she found a pretty caterpillar dressed in +brown fur, although the day was warm. He lay +so still she thought him dead, till he rolled himself +into a ball as she touched him. + +"I think you are either faint from the heat of +this thick coat of yours, or that you are going to +make a cocoon of yourself, Mr. Fuzz," said Nelly. + +"Now I want to see you turn into a butterfly, so +I shall take you, and if get lively again I will +let you go. I shall play that you have given out +on a march, as the soldiers sometimes do, and +been left behind for the Sanitary people to see to." + +In went sulky Mr. Fuzz, and on trundled the +ambulance till a golden green rose-beetle was +discovered, lying on his back kicking as if in a fit. + +"Dear me, what shall I do for him?" thought +Nelly. "He acts as baby did when she was so +illl, and mamma put her in a warm bath. I haven't +got my little tub here, or any hot water, and I'm +afraid the beetle would not like it if I had. Perhaps +he has pain in his stomach; I'll turn him over, +and pat his back, as nurse does baby's when she +cries for pain like that." + +She set the beetle on his legs, and did her best +to comfort him; but he was evidently in great distress, +for he could not walk, and instead of lifting +his emerald overcoat, and spreading the wings +that lay underneath, be turned over again, and +kicked more violently than before. Not knowing +what to do, Nelly put him into one of her soft +nests for Tony to cure if possible. She found no +more patients in the garden except a dead bee, +which she wrapped in a leaf, and took home to +bury. When she came to the grove, it was so +green and cool she longed to sit and listen to the +whisper of the pines, and watch the larch-tassels +wave in the wind. But, recollecting her charitable +errand, she went rustling along the pleasant +path till she came to another patient, over which +she stood considering several minutes before she +could decide whether it was best to take it to her +hospital, because it was a little gray snake, with +bruised tail. She knew it would not hurt her, +yet she was afraid of it; she thought it pretty, +yet could not like it: she pitied its pain, yet shrunk +from helping it, for it had a fiery eye, and a keep +quivering tongue, that looked as if longing to bite. + +"He is a rebel, I wonder if I ought to be good +to him," thought Nelly, watching the reptile +writhe with pain. "Will said there were sick +rebels in his hospital, and one was very kind to +him. It says, too, in my little book, 'Love your +enemies.' I think snakes are mine, but I guess I'll +try and love him because God made him. Some boy +will kill him if I leave him here, and then perhaps +his mother will be very sad about it. Come, +poor worm, I wish to help you, so be patient, and +don't frighten me." + +Then Nelly laid her little handkerchief on the +ground, and with a stick gently lifted the wounded +snake upon it, and, folding it together, laid it in +the ambulance. She was thoughtful after that, +and so busy puzzling her young head about the +duty of loving those who hate us, and being kind +to those who are disagreeable or unkind, that she +went through the rest of the wood quite forgetful +of her work. A soft "Queek,queek!" made her +look up and listen. The sound came from the +long meadow-grass, and, bending it carefully +back, she found a half-fledged bird, with one +wing trailing on the ground, and its eyes dim with +pain or hunger. + +"You darling thing, did you fall out of your +nest and hurt your wing?" cried Nelly, looking +up into the single tree that stood near by. No +nest was to be seen, no parent birds hovered +overhead, and little Robin could only tell its troubles +in that mournful "Queek, queek, queek!" + +Nelly ran to get both her chests, and, sitting +down beside the bird, tried to feed it. To her +joy it ate crumb after crumb, as if it were +half starved, and soon fluttered nearer a +confiding fearlessness that made her very proud. +Soon baby Robin seemed quite comfortable, his +eye brightened, he "queeked" no more, and but +for the drooping wing would have been himself +again. With one of her bandages Nelly bound +both wings closely to his sides for fear he should +hurt himself by trying to fly; and though he seemed +amazed at her proceedings, he behaved very +well, only staring at her, and ruffling up his few +feathers in a funny way that made her laugh. +Then she had to discover some way of accommodating +her two larger patients so that neither should +hurt nor alarm the other. A bright thought came +to her after much pondering. Carefully lifting +the handkerchief, she pinned the two ends to the +roof of the cart, and there swung little Forked- +tongue, while Rob lay easily below. + +By this time, Nelly began to wonder how it +happened that she found so many more injured +things than ever before. But it never entered her +innocent head that Tony had searched the wood +and meadow before she was up, and laid most of +these creatures ready to her hands, that she +might not be disappointed. She had not yet lost +her faith in fairies, so she fancied they too +belonged to her small sisterhood, and presently it +did really seem impossible to doubt that the good +folk had been at work. + +Coming to the bridge that crossed the brook, +she stopped a moment to watch the water ripple +over the bright pebbles, the ferns bend down to +drink, and the funny tadpoles frolic in quieter +nooks, where the sun shone, and the dragon-flies +swung among the rushes. When Nelly turned to +go on, her blue eyes opened wide. and the handle +of the ambulance dropped with a noise that caused +a stout frog to skip into the water heels over head. +Directly in the middle of the bridge was a pretty +green tent, made of two tall burdock leaves. The +stems were stuck into cracks between the boards, +the tips were pinned together with a thorn, and +one great buttercup nodded in the doorway like a +sleepy sentinel. Nelly stared and smiled, listened, +and looked about on every side. Nothing was +seen but the quiet meadow and the shady +grove, nothing was heard but the babble of +the brook and the cheery music of the bobolinks. + +"Yes," said Nelly softly to herself, "that is a +fairy tent, and in it I may find a baby elf sick +with whooping-cough or scarlet-fever. How +splendid it would be! only I could never nurse
+such a dainty thing." + +Stooping eagerly, she peeped over the buttercup's +drowsy head, and saw what seemed a tiny +cock of hay. She had no time to feel disappointed, +for the haycock began to stir, and, looking +nearer, she beheld two silvery gray mites, who +wagged wee tails, and stretched themselves as if +they had just waked up. Nelly knew that they +were young field-mice, and rejoiced over them, +feeling rather relieved that no fairy had appeared, +though she still believed them to have had a hand +in the matter. + +"I shall call the mice my Babes in the Wood, +because they are lost and covered up with leaves," +said Nelly, as she laid them in her snuggest bed, +where they nestled close together, and fell fast +asleep again. + +Being very anxious to get home, that she might +tell her adventures, and show how great was the +need of a sanitary commission in that region, +Nelly marched proudly up the avenue, and, having +displayed her load, hurried to the hospital, +where another applicant was waiting for her. On +the step of the door lay a large turtle, with one +claw gone, and on his back was pasted a bit of +paper, with his name,-- Commodore Waddle, +U.S.N." Nelly knew this was a joke of Will's, +but welcomed the ancient mariner, and called +Tony to help her get him in. + +All that morning they were very busy settling +the new-comers, for both people and books had +to be consulted before they could decide what +diet and treatment was best for each. The +winged contraband had taken Nelly at her word, +and flown away on the journey home. Little +Rob was put in a large cage, where he could use +his legs, yet not injure his lame wing. Forked-tongue +lay under a wire cover, on sprigs of fennel, +for the gardener said that snakes were fond of it. +The Babes in the Wood were put to bed in one +of the rush baskets, under a cotton-wool coverlet. +Greenback, the beetle, found ease for his unknown +aches in the warm heart of a rose, where he sunned +himself all day. The Commodore was +made happy in a tub of water, grass, and stones, +and Mr. Fuzz was put in a well-ventilated glass +box to decide whether he would be a cocoon or not. + +Tony had not been idle while his mistress was +away, and he showed her the hospital garden he +had made close by, in which were cabbage, nettle, +and mignonette plants for the butterflies, flowering +herbs for the bees, chick-weed and hemp for +the birds, catnip for the pussies, and plenty of room +left for whatever other patients might need. In +the afternoon, while Nelly did her task at lint-picking, +talking busily to Will as she worked, and +interesting him in her affairs, Tony cleared a +pretty spot in the grove for the burying-ground, +and made ready some small bits of slate on which +to write the names of those who died. He did +not have it ready an hour too soon, for at sunset +two little graves were needed, and Nurse Nelly +shed tender tears for her first losses as she laid the +motherless mice in one smooth hollow, and the +gray-coated rebel in the other. She had learned +to care for him already, and when she found him +dead, was very glad she had been kind to him, +hoping that he knew it, and died happier in her +hospital than all alone in the shadowy wood. + +The rest of Nelly's patients prospered, and of +the many added afterward few died, because of +Tony's skilful treatment and her own faithful care. +Every morning when the day proved fair the little +ambulance went out upon its charitable errand; +every afternoon Nelly worked for the human +sufferers whom she loved; and every evening brother +Will read aloud to her from useful books, showed +her wonders with his microscope, or prescribed +remedies for the patients, whom he soon knew by +name and took much interest in. It was Nelly's +holiday; but, though she studied no lessons, she +learned much, and unconsciously made her pretty +play both an example and a rebuke for others. + +At first it seemed a childish pastime, and people +laughed. But there was something in the familiar +words "sanitary," "hospital" and "ambulance" +that made them pleasant sounds to +many ears. As reports of Nelly's work went +through the neighborhood, other children came to +see and copy her design. Rough lads looked +ashamed when in her wards they found harmless +creatures hurt by them, and going out they said +among themselves, "We won't stone birds, chase +butterflies, and drown the girls' little cats any +more, though we won't tell them so." And most +of the lads kept their word so well that people +said there never had been so many birds before +as all that summer haunted wood and field. Tender- +hearted playmates brought their pets to be +cured; even busy farmers bad a friendly word +for the small charity, which reminded them so +sweetly of the great one which should never be +forgotten; lonely mothers sometimes looked out +with wet eyes as the little ambulance went by, +recalling thoughts or absent sons who might be +journeying painfully to some far-off hospital, where +brave women waited to tend them with hands as +willing, hearts as tender, as those the gentle child +gave to her self-appointed task. + +At home the charm worked also. No more idle +days for Nelly, or fretful ones for Will, because +the little sister would not neglect the helpless +creatures so dependent upon her, and the big +brother was ashamed to complain after watching +the patience of these lesser sufferers, and merrily +said he would try to bear his own wound as +quietly and bravely as the "Commodore" bore +his. Nelly never knew how much good she had +done Captain Will till he went away again in the +early autumn. Then he thanked her for it, and +though she cried for joy and sorrow she never +forgot it, because he left something behind him +which always pleasantly reminded her of the +double success her little hospital had won. + +When Will was gone and she had prayed +softly in her heart that God would keep him safe +and bring him home again, she dried her tears +and went away to find comfort in the place where +he had spent so many happy hours with her. She +had not been there before that day, and when she +reached the door she stood quite still and wanted +very much to cry again, far something beautiful +had happened. She had often asked Will for a +motto for her hospital, and he had promised to +find her one. She thought he had forgotten it; +but even in the hurry of that busy day he had +found time to do more than keep his word, while +Nelly sat indoors, lovingly brightening the tarnished +buttons on the blue coat that had seen so +many battles. + +Above the roof, where the doves cooed in the +sun, now rustled a white flag with the golden +S.C." shining on it as the wind tossed it to and +fro. Below, on the smooth panel of the door, a +skilful pencil had drawn two arching ferns, in +whose soft shadow, poised upon a mushroom, +stood a little figure of Nurse Nelly, and undeneath +it another of Dr. Tony bottling medicine, with spectacles +upon his nose. Both hands of the miniature Nelly were +outstretched, as if beckoning to a train of insects, +birds and beasts, which was so long that it not only +circled round the lower rim of this fine sketch, but +dwindled in the distance to mere dots and lines. Such +merry conceits as one found there! A mouse bringing the +tail it had lost in some cruel trap, a dor-bug with +a shade over its eyes, an invalid butterfly carried +in a tiny litter by long-legged spiders, a fat frog +with gouty feet hopping upon crutches, Jenny +Wren sobbing in a nice handkerchief, as she +brought dear dead Cock Robin to be restored to +life. Rabbits, lambs, cats, calves, and turtles, all +came trooping up to be healed by the benevolent +little maid who welcomed them so heartily. + +Nelly laughed at these comical mites till the +tears ran down her cheeks, and thought she never +could be tired of looking at them. But presently +she saw four lines clearly printed underneath her +picture, ahd her childish face grew sweetly serious +as she read the words of a great poet, which +Will had made both compliment and motto:- + +"He prayeth best who loveth best +All things, both great and small; +For the dear God who loveth us, +He made and loveth all." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of A Modern Cinderella by Louisa May Alcott + diff --git a/old/mdcnd10.zip b/old/mdcnd10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31d805f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mdcnd10.zip |