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diff --git a/40525-8.txt b/40525-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 43eb13c..0000000 --- a/40525-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7216 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kathie's Soldiers, by Amanda Minnie Douglas, -Illustrated by C. Howard - - -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: Kathie's Soldiers - - -Author: Amanda Minnie Douglas - - - -Release Date: August 18, 2012 [eBook #40525] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATHIE'S SOLDIERS*** - - -E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustration. - See 40525-h.htm or 40525-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40525/40525-h/40525-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40525/40525-h.zip) - - - - - -KATHIE'S SOLDIERS - -by - -AMANDA M. DOUGLAS - - * * * * * - -BOOKS BY AMANDA M. DOUGLAS - - * * * * * - -THE HELEN GRANT BOOKS - - New Popular Edition. Nine volumes. ILLUSTRATED - Price per volume, $.60 - - HELEN GRANT'S SCHOOL-DAYS - HELEN GRANT'S FRIENDS - HELEN GRANT AT ALDRED HOUSE - HELEN GRANT IN COLLEGE - HELEN GRANT, SENIOR - HELEN GRANT, GRADUATE - HELEN GRANT, TEACHER - HELEN GRANT'S DECISION - HELEN GRANT'S HARVEST YEAR - - * * * * * - -LITTLE RED HOUSE SERIES - - ILLUSTRATED. Price per volume, Net $1.00; Postpaid $1.10 - - THE CHILDREN IN THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE - THE RED HOUSE CHILDREN AT GRAFTON - THE RED HOUSE CHILDREN'S VACATION - THE RED HOUSE CHILDREN'S YEAR - THE RED HOUSE CHILDREN GROWING UP - - * * * * * - - ALMOST AS GOOD AS A BOY. Illustrated _Net_ $1.25 - HEROES OF THE CRUSADES. Fifty - full-page Illustrations from - GUSTAVE DORE _Net_ 1.35 - LARRY (THE $2000 PRIZE - STORY) _Net_ 1.00 - THE KATHIE STORIES. Six Volumes. - Illustrated. Per volume .50 - THE DOUGLAS NOVELS. Twenty-four - Volumes. Per volume .60 - - * * * * * - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - * * * * * - - -[Illustration: "I WISH YOU AND I COULD GO OUT WITH THE GIFTS."--_Page -99._] - - -KATHIE'S SOLDIERS - -by - -AMANDA M. DOUGLAS - -Author of "Helen Grant Books," "Little Red -House Series," etc. - -Frontispiece by C. Howard - - - - - - - -[Illustration] - -Boston -Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. - -Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, -by Lee and Shepard, -In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. - -Copyright, 1899, by Amanda M. Douglas. - -All Rights Reserved. - - - - -KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. - PAGE - ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY 9 - - CHAPTER II. - DRAFTED 27 - - CHAPTER III. - TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS 42 - - CHAPTER IV. - LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY 60 - - CHAPTER V. - ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS 80 - - CHAPTER VI. - GIVING AND RECEIVING 98 - - CHAPTER VII. - A VISIT 116 - - CHAPTER VIII. - COMFORT IN NEED 135 - - CHAPTER IX. - THORNS IN THE PATH 151 - - CHAPTER X. - UNDER FIRE 172 - - CHAPTER XI. - IN ANOTHER'S STEAD 192 - - CHAPTER XII. - HOME AGAIN 208 - - CHAPTER XIII. - GOOD NEWS 223 - - CHAPTER XIV. - PUT TO THE TEST 241 - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. - - -"HURRAH!" exclaimed Robert Alston, swinging his hat in the air, as he -came up the path; "hurrah! there's going to be a draft at Brookside! -Won't it be jolly?" - -The group assembled glanced up at him,--a fair, fresh, rosy boy, without -any cowardly blood in his veins, as you could easily tell, but given, as -such natures often are, to underrating the silent bravery of others. - -"What will there be so jolly about it, Rob?" asked his uncle, with a -peculiar light in his eye. - -"Why,--the whole thing,"--and Rob made a little pause to think, though -it did not seem half so funny now as out on the street with a crowd of -boys, who had been singing at the top of their lungs, "John Brown's -Body," and "My Johnny has gone for a Soldier,"--"the surprise, Uncle -Robert, when some of the fellows who have been skulking back and afraid -to go find themselves compelled." - -"So you think it rather funny to be forced to do what you would not -choose of your free-will?" and Uncle Robert gave a queer little smile. - -"But--" and Rob looked around considerably perplexed at not finding his -argument at hand, and overwhelming. "O, you know what I mean!" throwing -himself down upon the grass. "If men haven't patriotism enough to -volunteer when their country needs them, why, I think they ought--I just -wish I was old enough! I'd go in a moment. I'd like the fun of 'marching -on'!" - -"There is something beside marching," said Kathie, in her soft voice, -thinking in a vague way of General Mackenzie. - -"Well, I'd like all of it!" - -"The being drafted as well?" - -It was Uncle Robert who spoke. - -"No, I'd never be drafted!" and Rob's fair face flushed with a boy's -impulsive indignation; "I'd go at once,--at the first call." - -"But if you were a man and had a wife, as well as bairnies, three or -four, or half a dozen, and were compelled to leave them to poverty?" - -"There is the bounty, and the pay." - -"Neither of which would be as much as a man could earn in a year at -home. And if he never came back--" - -"But, Uncle Robert, don't you think it right for a man to be patriotic?" -asked his nephew, in a little amaze. - -"Yes. One can never approve of cowardice in any act of life. Still, I -fancy there may be a great many brave and good men who have not -volunteered, and who, if they are drafted, will do their country loyal -service. It may not look quite so heroic, but God, who can see all sides -of the question, will judge differently." - -"The soldiers don't feel so, Uncle Robert. It seems to me that the men -who volunteer _do_ deserve a good deal of credit." - -"A great many of them do; but still numbers go for the novelty, or, as -you say, the fun. They like a rambling, restless life, and care little -for danger, little for death; but is it an intelligent courage,--the -highest and noblest kind? Does not the man who says, 'If my country in -her sorest strait needs me, I will go and do my duty to the utmost,' -deserve some credit, especially if he gives up what most men hold most -dear?" - -"I believe I didn't look at it in that light altogether. It seemed to me -that it was only the cowards and the selfish men who waited to be -drafted." - -"Then you think I ought to volunteer?" said Uncle Robert, with a dry but -good-natured smile. - -There was a very general exclamation. - -"You!" exclaimed Rob, aghast at the unlooked-for application. - -"I have neither wife nor children. I am young, strong, in good health, -and though I do not fancy a military life above all others, I still -think I could endure the hardships like a good soldier, and if I stood -in the front ranks to face the enemy I do not believe that I should run -away." - -He rose as he said this, and, folding his arms across his chest, leaned -against the vine-covered column of the porch, looking every inch a -soldier without the uniform. - -It would break his mother's heart to have Uncle Robert go, and there -was Aunt Ruth, and Kathie, and Freddy; but--what a handsome soldier he -would make! Major Alston, or Colonel Alston,--how grand it would sound! -So you see Rob was quite taken with military glory. - -Kathie came and slipped her hand within Uncle Robert's. "We could not -spare you," she whispered, softly. - -"But if I were drafted?" - -"Well," exclaimed Rob, stubbornly clinging to his point, "the boys over -in the village think it will make some fun. There's a queer little -recruiting shanty on the green, and a fifer and a drummer. If our quota -isn't filled by next Wednesday,--and they all say it won't be,--the -draft is to commence. I'm glad I'm not going away until the first of -October. I only wish--" - -"I wish you were, if that will do you any good," answered Mr. Meredith, -glancing up from his book which he had been pretending to read. - -"I'd rather enlist than go to school." - -"Maybe enlisting in the home-guard will prove a wise step for the first -one." - -"Home-guard?" and Rob looked a bit perplexed. - -"Yes. We all do considerable soldiering in our lives unconsciously; and -if it comes hard to obey our captains here, I am not sure that we should -always find it so easy out on the field. There are some things that take -more courage than to march down to the valley of death as did the 'Six -Hundred.'" - -"O," said Rob, fired again with a boy's enthusiasm, "that's just the -grandest thing that ever was written! I don't like poetry as a general -thing, it always sounds so girlish to me; but Marco Bozzaris and that -are so fine, especially the lines,-- - - 'Theirs not to reason why, - Theirs but to do and die.'" - -"After all, dying is not the grandest thing," said Aunt Ruth, quietly; -"and the detached instances of heroism in one's life have not always -required the most courage." - -"No, indeed," answered Mr. Meredith, warmly. "I know men who have -acquitted themselves bravely under fire, who at home possessed so small -an amount of moral courage that they really could not resist temptations -which were to their mental and physical detriment." - -"But it is the fighting that interests me," said Robert. - -"One may be a brave soldier with purely physical courage, but to be a -good soldier one needs moral courage as well." - -Just then Ada Meredith came down on the porch. She was Kathie's little -New York friend, and her uncle had brought her to Cedarwood for a few -days. She was growing tall rapidly, and considered herself quite a young -lady, especially as she had been to Saratoga with her mother. - -So this made a little break in the conversation. Rob somehow didn't get -on very well with her; but then he admitted that he didn't like girls -anyhow, except Miss Jessie. He was rather glad, therefore, to see Dick -Grayson coming up the path, taking it for an excuse to get away. - -Ada looked after them with secret mortification. Dick was quite a young -man in her estimation, and only that morning he had been very gallant. -She hated to have Rob take him off to the lake or any other haunt, so -she bethought herself of a little stratagem. - -"You promised me a game of croquet," she said to Kathie, with great -earnestness. - -Kathie glanced up in surprise. When she had proposed it that morning Ada -declared it stupid, and said she had grown tired of it. Uncle Robert, -knowing nothing of this, answered for her. "Of course," he said; "there -are the boys. Rob, don't go away, you are wanted." - -Rob made an impatient gesture with his hand, as if he would wave them -all out of sight. Uncle Robert walked down to the boys. "Ada would like -to play croquet," he remarked, pleasantly. - -"I'm just in the humor for a game myself," answered Dick; but Rob's brow -knit itself into a little frown. - -"Come, girls!" - -Mr. Meredith accompanied them. "We will be umpires," he declared. - -Ada chose Dick for a partner. Rob thought it wasn't much fun playing -with Kathie. He was rather careless, and in the first game they were -badly beaten, which made Rob altogether out of humor. Why couldn't the -girls have stayed on the balcony and talked? - -"I can't play!" he said, throwing down his mallet. - -Uncle Edward picked it up. "Now, Kathie, let us beat them all to ribbons -and fragments!" he exclaimed, gayly, taking her brother's place. - -Rob fell out of the ranks to where his uncle stood in the shade of a -great tulip-tree. - -"Soldiers!" he said, in a low, half-laughing tone. - -Rob colored. "I didn't want to play a bit! I wish girls--" - -"But a brave soldier goes off of the field after a defeat in good order. -If he has done his best, that is all that is required of him." - -Rob knew that he had not done his best at all, although he was angry -with the mortification of losing the game. - - "Theirs not to reason why, - Theirs but to do and die," - -said Uncle Robert, using his quotation against him. - -"But that doesn't mean paltry little matters like this!"--with all a -boy's disdain in his voice. - -"It means everything when one is right. As Mr. Meredith said a few -moments ago, there is a good deal of soldiering in life which must be -all voluntary. That ought to suit your ideas. And I think the great -Captain is often very patient with us, Rob. He bought us all with a -price, you know, whether we serve him or not." - -"But it is so hard for me to be"--Rob made a great effort and said, -frankly--"good-tempered." - -"I do not think that is it altogether." - -"What then?" and Rob looked up in a little astonishment. - -"We will put it on a military basis,--shirking one's duty because it is -not pleasant." - -"There was no particular duty about playing croquet!"--in the same -surprised tone. - -"Why did you do it at all then?" - -"Because--" - -"Courtesy to a guest becomes a duty in a host." - -"But there was Kathie. Dick and I were going down to take a row." - -"I have a fancy Dick likes the croqueting as well as he would have liked -the rowing." - -Dick Grayson's pleasant laugh floated over to them as he said, "Not so -bad a beat, after all, Mr. Meredith." - -"The life soldiering is not quite so arbitrary. A good deal of it is -left to conscience. But if a sentinel at some outpost followed his own -devices and let a spy pass the line--" - -"He would be shot, of course." - -"It seems hard, doesn't it, just for one little thing? Yet if one or two -men escaped punishment the army would soon be in a state of -insubordination. Then when a captain came to lead them in battle each -man might consider his way and opinion best. Would it answer?" - -"No, it wouldn't," replied the boy. "But, Uncle Robert, if God had made -us--stronger." - -"He offers us his strength daily." - -"But it is so--I mean you never can think of it at the right moment." - -"That is the secret of our duty to him,--to think of his wishes at the -right time. He means, in this life, that we shall not seek to please -ourselves altogether; but there is no guard-house, no bread-and-water -rations, only a still, small voice to remind us." - -Rob was silent for some moments, watching the players, and wondering why -everything fretted him so easily. Were all the rest of the world to have -their own way and pleasures, and he never? "Uncle Robert," he began, -presently, "don't you think it fair that I should follow out my own -wishes _sometimes_? Is it not unjust to ask me to give up always?" - -"Are you asked to give up always?"--and the elder smiled. - -"Well--" Rob grew rather red and confused. - -"Which would give you the most satisfaction,--to know that you had made -two or three people happy, or to enjoy some pleasure alone by yourself? -This is the chief thing the Captain asks of us voluntary soldiers; and -did not a wise man say that 'he who ruleth his own spirit is greater -than he who taketh a city'?" - -"There is more in volunteering than I thought," Rob said, gravely, after -a long pause; "I am afraid, after all, that I am one of the kind waiting -for a draft." - -"And, if you wait for that, you may be left out altogether. Rob, it is -not very easy work to march and countermarch, to dig trenches, throw up -earthworks, keep your eyes open and your senses keen through dreary -night-watches and the many other duties that fill up a soldier's life. -It is harder for some men to keep faithful to these than to go into -battle and die covered with glory. But on the other side there will be a -few questions asked. What was the man's life? I often think of what the -Saviour said,--not be faithful _in_ death, but be 'faithful _unto_ -death.' There, we have had quite a sermon. Next month you will be a new -recruit, you know." - -"Two games!" exclaimed Dick, as they advanced. "Each party has won one." - -"And I am tired," said Ada, languidly. - -"Just one more," pleaded Dick; "I know that I shall have better luck." - -"I can't," Ada replied. - -Rob's first impulse was to say, "I'll take her place"; but he felt that -would leave Ada to her own resources again. He did not care anything -about Ada's noticing him,--indeed, she rather ignored him when Dick was -around; but he had a fancy that Dick was _his_ friend, and did not -belong so exclusively to the girls. - -"Rob, I'll try you," Mr. Meredith exclaimed, remarking the wistful face. - -So Ada and Dick had a ramble about the grounds, as Kathie, feeling she -was not very earnestly desired, lingered to watch the players. It was a -pretty sharp game, but Robert beat. - -"Though I do not think you played your best at the last," the boy said. - -Uncle Edward gave a queer little smile that set Rob to musing. What if -people sometimes acted a little differently, for the sake of sparing his -unlucky temper! - -"I shall have to fight giants," he confessed to himself, understanding, -as he never had before, how serious a warfare life really is. - -Dick could not be persuaded to remain to supper, though Ada made herself -very charming. But they passed a pleasant evening without him. Indeed, -it seemed to Rob that there was some new element in their enjoyment. Was -it because Ada was more gracious than usual? - -Uncle Robert could have told the secret easily. - -"Don't you get dreadfully dull sometimes?" Ada asked as they were alone -in their room, for Ada had chosen to share Kathie's. - -"Dull!" and Kathie gave her pleasant little laugh. - -"When there is no company? For it is not quite like the city, where one -can have calls and evening amusements." - -"I hardly ever think of it. You know I was not here last winter, and the -summer has been so very delightful!" Kathie's cheeks glowed at the -remembrance. - -"But your brother will be away this coming winter." - -"Yes." It would make some difference, to be sure, but Kathie fancied -that she should not be entirely miserable. - -"If I were you, I should want to go to boarding-school. Where there is a -crowd of girls they always manage to have a nice time." - -"But I have nice times at home. I do not want to go away." - -"What a queer girl you are, Kathie!" - -It was not the first time she had been called queer. But she said, -rather gayly, "In what respect?" - -"I shouldn't like to do as you have to. Why, there are five servants in -our house, and only one in this great place! And we have only four -children, while your mother has three. It is hardly fair for you to be -compelled to do so much work when there is no necessity." - -"Mamma thinks it best," Kathie answered. - -"If you expected to be very poor--or would have to do housework--" - -"I might," returned Kathie, pleasantly. "People are sick sometimes, and -servants go away." - -"Isn't your uncle willing that you should have a chambermaid?" - -"I suppose he would be if mamma desired it." - -"So you have to keep your own room in order, and dust the parlor, and do -all manner of little odds and ends. I believe I saw you wiping some -dishes in the kitchen this morning." - -"And it did not injure me," returned Kathie, laughingly. - -"But all this work makes your hands hard and red. Mine are as soft as -satin. I believe no money would tempt me to sweep a room!" - -Ada uttered this in a very lofty fashion. - -"Mamma thinks it best for me to learn to do everything. She was brought -up in a good deal of luxury, but met with reverses afterward." - -Kathie smiled inwardly at the picture she remembered of the little room -where her mother used to sit and sew, and how _she_ did errands, swept, -washed dishes, and sometimes even scrubbed floors. Her hands were not -large or coarse, for all the work they had done. - -"I think it would be hard enough if one was compelled to do it. I am -thankful that I have no taste for such menial employments. I do not -believe that I could even toast a piece of bread"; and Ada leaned back -in the low rocker, the very picture of complacency. - -Kathie was silent, revolving several matters in her mind "all in a -jumble," as she would have said. She knew it would be useless to -undertake to explain to Ada the great difference between their lives. -Mamma, Aunt Ruth, and Uncle Robert believed in the great responsibility -of existence. Weeks, months, and years were not given to be squandered -away in frivolous amusement. To do for each other was one of the first -conditions, not merely the small family circle, but all the wide world -outside who needed help or sympathy. And if one did not know how to do -anything-- - -"But when you go to school you cannot do so much," pursued Ada. "There -will be all your lessons. I suppose you will study French and Italian. -You cannot think how I was complimented on my singing while I was at -Saratoga. Several gentlemen said my pronunciation was wonderful in one -so young. I hope I shall be able to come out next summer." - -"Come out!" repeated Kathie, bewildered. - -"Yes, be regularly introduced to society. I am past fifteen, and growing -tall rapidly. I hope I shall have an elegant figure. I want to be a -belle. Don't you suppose you shall ever go to Saratoga?" - -"I don't know,"--dubiously. - -"It would be a shame for you to grow up here where there is no society. -You would surely be an old maid, like your Aunt Ruth." - -"She isn't so very old," returned Kathie, warmly. - -"But every woman over twenty-five is an old maid. I mean to be married -when I am eighteen." - -Kathie brushed out her hair, hung up her clothes, and waited for Ada to -get into bed so that she might say her prayers in peace. Ada had -outgrown "Our Father which art in heaven," and "had no knack of making -up prayers," she said. - -But it seemed to Kathie that there were always so many things for which -to give thanks, so many fresh blessings to ask. She almost wondered a -little, sometimes, if God didn't get tired of listening. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -DRAFTED. - - -MISS JESSIE smiled a little at Ada's assumption of womanhood when the -two girls came over to drink tea. - -"Ah," said Grandmother Darrell, wiping her glasses, "she's no such a -girl as Kathie! The child's worth half a dozen of her. After all, -there's no place like the country to bring up boys and girls." - -For Grandmother Darrell, like a good many other people, fancied -everything that came from the city must be more or less contaminated. - -"I think Miss Darrell _would_ make your uncle a very nice wife," Ada -said, graciously. "Do you suppose there is anything in it?" - -Kathie flushed scarlet, remembering the pain and trouble of last winter. -"I don't want to talk about it," she answered, in a low tone. - -Ada nodded her head sagaciously. It was quite evident that she had hit -upon the truth. - -Some of the Brookside girls thought Ada "so splendid," Lottie Thorne -among them, who now treated Kathie in a very amiable manner, and always -took pains to speak with her as they came out of church. Of course, -Lottie was growing older and a little more sensible, as well as worldly -wise. - -They took Ada to all the pleasant haunts, rowed over the lake, made two -or three visits, and Mrs. Alston invited some girls, or rather young -ladies, to tea; but Ada showed a decided preference for the young -gentlemen. Even unsuspicious Kathie remarked how soon her headaches -disappeared, and how ready she was to sing if some of the boys would -stand at the piano and turn her music. - -"A budding coquette," said Aunt Ruth, with a quiet smile. - -"What a pity that girls should be reared to such idle, frivolous lives, -and have their minds so filled with vanity and selfishness!" Mrs. Alston -replied. "Can such blossoming bring forth good, wholesome fruit?" - -Mr. Meredith felt a little annoyed. The visit was not quite the success -he had hoped, and he saw more clearly than ever the difference between -the two girls; but ah, how unlike their mothers were! - -Was he growing more serious, clearer-eyed? What was there about this -family that charmed so insensibly? The higher motives, the worthier -lives, with a more generous outlook for neighbor and friend! - -Kathie was ashamed to confess it even to herself, but she said good by -at the station with a sense of relief. For days a horrible thought had -been haunting her,--suppose Uncle Robert _should_ be drafted! The -abruptly terminated conversation had not been renewed; indeed, there had -been so many pleasures at Cedarwood that one hardly wanted to bring in -such a subject. But if it did happen, Kathie felt she should want no -stranger eyes to witness her grief. - -For when the question came directly home, she felt that she could not -give him up; yet how brave she had been last winter! If General -Mackenzie could look into her heart, he would find that she hardly -deserved all his praise. - -But all Brookside was much excited over the prospect. Business was very -dull and bounties tempting; so numbers enlisted. - -"Uncle Robert," Kathie said, as they were riding homeward, "could a -drafted man offer a substitute just the same?" - -"Why, yes, to be sure." - -He uttered the words in such a light-hearted manner that she felt quite -relieved, but lacked courage to pursue the subject further. A little -quiver would keep rising from her heart to her throat, interfering with -the steadiness of her voice. - -By Monday night seventy men were still needed to complete the quota. -That gave Brookside about forty. - -Kathie wondered how they could all go on with their usual routine. Aunt -Ruth, even, sat by the window and sang "Bonnie Doon," as she sewed upon -Rob's outfit. His uncle had decided upon a school about sixty miles -distant, a flourishing collegiate institution, in a healthy locality,--a -quaint, quiet, old-fashioned town, with a river where the boys could -have boating and swimming. - -"It is so far!" Mrs. Alston had said at first. - -"Not too far, though. Of course we do not expect him to come home every -few weeks. That always unsettles a boy." - -So she made no further demur. The principal, Dr. Goldthwaite, was a -truly religious man, and the place was held in high esteem. Perhaps this -took their thoughts a little from the subject that was so absorbing to -Kathie. - -Rob went over to the hall and hung about all the morning. He did find a -good deal of amusement in it. The crowd was disposed to be rather jolly, -and several of the men took their luck with great good-humor. It was as -his uncle had said. While they would not willingly leave their homes and -families, still, if the country had need of them in her imminent peril, -they would go. Others, sure of a substitute, took the news with -unconcern. Only a few exhibited any anger, or declared loudly what they -would and what they would not do. - -At three o'clock the printed list was complete, and the notices were -being made up. - -"So your uncle's in for it, Rob!" exclaimed a voice at his side. - -"No, you're mistaken. I listened to every name." - -"Here it is,--Robert Conover!" - -Rob followed the grimy finger down the list. Sure enough! His heart -stood still for a moment. - -"He will get a sub, though! He'd be a fool to go when he's rich enough -to stay at home!" - -"Yes, that's it!" and a burly fellow turned, facing them with a savage -frown. "It's the poor man this 'ere thing comes hard on! Rich men are -all cowards! They kin stay to hum and nuss themselves in the -chimbly-corner. I say they're cowards!" - -Rob's heart swelled within him for a twofold reason. First, the shock. -He had not been able to believe that the draft would touch them, and the -surprise was very great. Then to have his uncle called a coward! All the -boy's hot, unreasoning indignation was ablaze. - -"He is not!" he answered, fiercely. - -"Say that agin and I'll knock you over!" - -Rob was not to be dared or to be bullied into silence. He stood his -ground manfully. - -"I say that my uncle is no coward, whether he gets a substitute or not!" - -The fellow squared off. It was Kit Kent, as he was commonly called, a -blacksmith of notoriously unsteady habits. - -"None of that!" and a form was interposed between Bob and his -assailant. "Hit a fellow of your size, Kent, not a boy like that." - -"Let the youngster hold his tongue then! Much he knows!" - -Rob did not stir, but his lips turned blue and almost cold with the -pressure. If he had been a little larger, it seemed to him that he could -not have let Kent alone. - -"There's a chance for you to make some money," exclaimed a voice in the -crowd. "Six or seven hundred dollars, and you're grumbling about being -out of work! It's a golden opportunity, and you'll never find another -like it." - -That turned the laugh upon Kent. Rob walked off presently. Turning into -a quiet street, he nearly ran over two men who stood talking. - -"The trouble is that you can hardly find a substitute. Most of the -able-bodied men who will go have enlisted or been drafted. The look is -mighty poor!" - -That startled Rob again. He began to feel pretty sober now. What if-- - -Kathie and Aunt Ruth had gone out into the garden, and were taking up -some flowers for winter. - -"O Rob!" exclaimed Kathie, with a cry, "is there any news? It's the -worst, I know," answering her own question, her breath almost strangling -her. - -"Yes, it is the worst!" - -"Uncle Robert has been drafted!" Kathie dropped her trowel and flew to -her mother. "But he won't go," she sobbed; "do you think he will? How -can we spare him?" - -"It would be no worse for us than for hundreds of others," replied her -mother. "Kathie, my darling, be brave until we know, at least." - -"Where is he?" - -"He went to Connor's Point with Mr. Langdon. Hush, dear, don't cry." - -Kathie wiped away her tears. "It is very hard," she said. "I never -realized before how hard it was." - -But the flowers lost their charm. Kathie put away her implements, laid -off her garden-dress, as she called it,--a warm woollen sack and -skirt,--and sat down, disconsolately enough, to practise her music. Next -week she was going to school. - -She heard Uncle Robert's voice on the porch at the side entrance. Rob -was talking in great earnest; but somehow she couldn't have gone out, or -trusted the voice still so full of tears. - -He came in at length. "You have heard the news, Kitty?" - -She rose and went to his arms, hid her face upon his shoulder. "O Uncle -Robert!" - -"What ought I to do, little one?" - -It was such a solemn question that she could not answer it readily, -selfishly. - -"Rob came very near getting into a row on my behalf. It was rather -funny. Poor boy! I believe he would go willingly in my stead." - -The story interested Kathie a good deal, and turned the current of her -feelings somewhat. Then one or two of the neighbors came in, and they -had no more quiet until they gathered round the supper-table. Freddy -thought it a great honor to be drafted. - -"Is it true that there is a scarcity of substitutes?" asked Rob of his -uncle. - -"I believe it is. Mr. Langdon put in one about a month ago, and paid a -thousand dollars." - -"But you could afford that," said Rob, decisively. - -"What about the cowardice of the proceeding?" - -Rob colored. The matter appeared so different to him now. - -"O Uncle Robert!"--in a most deprecating tone. - -"I will not perplex you, nor keep you in suspense," he said, gravely. -"If your father was alive I think I should not hesitate a moment. The -country is at her sorest need, and calls upon her loyal children for -assistance. It is the duty of every man who can be spared to answer the -call, to swell the list so that the struggle may be brief. It seems to -me that another year will certainly see our war ended, now that we have -such brave and able generals in the field, but if the stress should be -any greater, I _must_ respond. Now, however, I shall do my best to -procure a substitute." - -They all drew a relieved breath. Kathie looked up with a tender light in -her eyes. - -"I am so glad!" she said afterward, nestling beside him upon the sofa. -"Did it surprise you when you heard that you were drafted?" - -"I must confess that it did. I had a presentiment that I should escape, -so it seems such things are not always to be depended upon." - -Kathie was silent for some time, her eyes engrossed with a figure in the -carpet. - -"Well, Miss Thoughtful, what is it now? Are you not satisfied to have me -stay, or am I less of a hero in your eyes?" - -"No, Uncle Robert. I was only thinking of the men who were compelled to -go and did not want to, who had families to leave--" - -"My darling, it is not necessary to lay the cares of others so deeply to -heart. Instead, we must do all we can for those who are left behind." - -"I don't think a draft quite a fair thing, after all," declared Rob, -coming out of a brown study. - -Mrs. Alston entered the room. "Mr. Morrison is over here and wishes to -see you,--Ethel's father." - -Uncle Robert rose and went out. - -In the mean while Aunt Ruth and Rob had quite a warm discussion -concerning the draft. Kathie somehow felt very tender-hearted, and was -silent. - -Presently they heard steps in the hall and the door opened. - -"I have brought Mr. Morrison in to see you all," Mr. Conover said, "and -to explain to you that he desires to go in my stead, a willing -substitute." - -There was something very solemn and withal sweet in Uncle Robert's -voice. Rob winked away a tear, Kathie walked over to Mr. Morrison and -laid her hand in his,--a pretty white hand if she did dust the rooms and -do gardening with it. - -"It is so very kind and generous in you," she began, falteringly, -thinking of another love and another substitute. - -"No, Miss Kathie, it isn't all pure generosity, so don't praise me too -soon. If I'd been real lucky about getting work, maybe I shouldn't have -taken the idea so strongly into my mind, or if poor Ethel's mother had -lived. But times are unsettled, and business of all kinds is so very -dull that I'd half made up my mind to 'list and get the bounty. That -would be something for my little girl in case she didn't have me. Then -when I heard talk of the draft I thought to myself, 'If Mr. Conover gets -taken I'll offer to go in his place'; and so I waited. Being an -Englishman, I am not liable, you know." - -"And that makes it the more noble," returned Kathie, softly. "It was so -good to--to think of him"; and her voice sank to a whisper. - -"You have all been so kind to my poor old mother, and to me, for that -matter, as well. I seem to owe some sort of duty to you first." - -"Did you mean to enlist any way?" asked Kathie. - -"Yes, miss, it would have come to that; for, said I, 'Here is a country -and a government battling in a good cause, begging for men, and willing -to provide for the little ones they may leave behind.' Though I should -be no skulk, nor eye-server, Miss Kathie, if I did go for the money." - -"We should never think that of you," returned Uncle Robert, warmly. - -"So I'll be glad to go in your place, sir, if it's any favor; and if -you'll look after Ethel a little, if anything should happen to me. If -I'm too bold in asking--" - -"No," said Aunt Ruth; "it will be a sacred duty, and a pleasure as well; -but we shall count upon your return." - -"Life is uncertain with us all," was the grave reply. With that he rose -and bowed. Uncle Robert left the room with him, for he had much more to -say. - -"I couldn't have uttered a word," exclaimed Rob, his voice still a -little tremulous. "Why, it's just like a dream! There are noble and -heroic men who may go to war even for the money, though I think they are -a good deal sneered at,--subs, as the boys call them; but I shall never -ridicule them again,--never, although bad men may do the same thing." - -"It is not quite the same," subjoined Kathie. - -"No, the motive makes a great difference." - -Uncle Robert returned and took his seat between the children. He -appeared to be invested with a new virtue in their eyes, as if he had -just escaped an imminent and deadly peril. And there is something in the -simplest act of chivalry that touches one's soul. - -"It was so good in Mr. Morrison to think of you," Rob said, after a -while. - -"Yes; going farther back, I don't know but we owe it all to Kathie. If -she had not thought of our trusty and efficient gardener, we should -never have known his brother. The lodge has made a charming home for -them, and they feel deeply grateful." - -"It is worse to go away to war than I imagined," Rob continued, gravely -following out his own musings. - -"You have been looking at the glory and listening to the music, my boy; -but there is quite another side to it. It is one thing to go out as a -mounted officer, in glittering uniform, with a servant to wait upon you, -and if you fall in battle to have whole cities weep your loss, and quite -another to tramp as a common soldier, often weary and footsore, to be -subject to the caprice of those in authority, to work night and day -sometimes, to stand in the front rank and be swept down by a terrific -charge, be trampled under foot and thrown into a nameless grave, perhaps -forever lost to your kindred. It is no light matter, Rob, and requires a -good deal of courage when a man does it intelligently." - -"You wouldn't have gone out as a private, though!" - -A grave smile crossed Uncle Robert's face "I should not have gone for -the glory, but the duty. Yes, Rob, I should have taken my place in the -ranks, and if the great Captain of all had said, 'Friend, come up -higher,' I should have trusted through his grace to be ready for the -promotion. But one goes in my stead." - -Kathie thought of the One who had gone in the place of us all, been -mocked, derided, spit upon, and put to a cruel death. Maybe the rest -remembered it too, for there was no more talking. Their hearts were too -full. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. - - -THERE was a week of great excitement at Brookside. Head-quarters were -established on the confines of the town to render it accessible to -Taunton and the adjacent places. Hundreds thronged the camp daily; -uniforms were sent down, and drilling commenced in good earnest. - -Kathie began school on Monday morning. A large, pleasant room had been -obtained, and Mrs. Wilder opened with ten young ladies, though nearly as -many more had been enrolled. - -"I feel as if I were drafted," she declared to Uncle Robert. "I know it -is my duty to go and do the best that I can, but I would so much rather -have remained at home." - -"You find, then, that no one is quite exempt from the warfare?" and he -smiled. "Still, I think I can trust you to be a good soldier." - -"I am second in the regiment," she said. "Mr. Morrison must always stand -first." - -It seemed very quiet and lonesome in that large room, where you were put -upon your honor not to speak, and the silence was broken only by the -recitations, or some remark of Mrs. Wilder. A long, dull day, though the -session closed at two, there being no intermission. - -Lottie Thorne was the only girl Kathie was well acquainted with. That -ambitious young lady had pleaded very hard for boarding-school, and, -being disappointed, was rather captious and critical. Emma Lauriston sat -next to her, and Kathie fancied she might like her very much. She had -met her in the summer at the rowing-matches. - -But she was glad enough to get home. Rob had his head full of Camp -Schuyler, and Freddy had arrayed himself in gorgeous regimentals and sat -out on a post drumming fearfully. - -"I want a little more talk about this substitute business," said Uncle -Robert, at the table. "Mr. Morrison offered to go for seven hundred -dollars. He has three hundred of his own. Now what do you think we ought -to give him?" - -He addressed the question more particularly to Rob and Kathie. - -Rob considered. In his boy's way of thinking he supposed what any one -asked was enough. - -"Would a thousand dollars be too much?" Kathie ventured, timidly. "It -doesn't seem to me that any money could make up to Ethel for--" - -There Kathie stopped. - -"He will come back," exclaimed Rob. - -"We were talking over Ethel's future this morning. Mr. Morrison would -like to have her educated for a teacher. I am to be appointed her -guardian in case of any misfortune." - -"It ought not to be less than a thousand," said Aunt Ruth. - -"I thought so myself. And I believe I shall pledge my word to provide a -home for Ethel in case of any change at her uncle's." - -Kathie's deep, soft eyes thanked him. - -The next day the bargain was concluded. Mr. Morrison handed his small -sum over to Mr. Conover for safe-keeping, and the whole amount, thirteen -hundred dollars, was placed at interest. Then he reported himself at -Camp Schuyler for duty. - -Kathie tried bravely to like her school, but home was so much dearer and -sweeter. It was quite hard after her desultory life, and spasmodic -studying made so very entertaining by Uncle Robert's explanations, to -come down to methodical habits and details. She meant to be a good -soldier, even if it did prove difficult in the early marches. - -But this week was one of events. On Thursday afternoon Mr. Meredith -surprised them all again. It seemed to Kathie that there was something -unusual in his face. Uncle Robert was absent on important business, and -at first he appeared rather disappointed. - -"It is such a glorious afternoon, Kitty, that I think you will have to -invite me out to drive, by way of comfort. Are the ponies in good -order?" - -"Yes, and at home. How fortunate that Rob did not take them!" - -Kathie ordered them at once. - -"You have had great doings here. So you came near losing your dear -uncle, my child?" - -Kathie winked away a tear. There would always be a tender little spot in -her heart concerning the matter. - -"It is best under the circumstances," was Mr. Meredith's grave comment. -"I should not want him to go." - -They took their seats in the phaeton. "Where shall we drive?" Kathie -asked. "To--" breaking off her sentence with a little blush. - -"Miss Darrell is away from home. It is owing to that circumstance that -you are called upon to entertain me"; and he laughed a little, but less -gayly than usual. - -It was a soft, lovely autumn day, full of whisperings of oaks and pines -and cedars, fragmentary chirps of birds, and distant river music, Kathie -drew a few long breaths of perfect content, then with her usual -consideration for others she stole a shy glance to see if Mr. Meredith -was enjoying it as well, he was so very quiet. - -"I am afraid something troubles you," she said, softly; and her voice -sounded as if it might have been a rustle of maple branches close at -hand. "Is it about Uncle Robert?" - -"No, child," in a grave, reflective tone; "it is--about myself." - -She did not like to question him as she would have done with Uncle -Robert. - -"Kitten," he began, presently, "I have been thinking this good while, -and thinking slowly. A great many things puzzle me, and all my -perplexities have culminated at last in one grand step; but whether I am -quite prepared for it--" - -The sentence was a labyrinth to Kathie, and she was not quite sure that -she held the clew. - -"I am going to enlist--at least, I am going out for three months--with -my regiment. They have volunteered, most of them." - -"And what troubles you?" in her sweet, tender voice, and glancing up -with an expression that no other eyes save Kathie Alston's could have -had. - -"Child," he asked, "how did you stand fire last winter when you were so -suddenly brought to the front? About the singing, I mean." - -She understood. He referred to the Sunday evening at Mrs. Meredith's -when she had refused to join Ada in singing songs. The remembered pain -still made her shiver. - -"There _is_ something about you, Kathie, just a little different from -other children,--other girls. You often carry it in your face; and for -the life of me I cannot help thinking how the wise virgins must have -been illuminated with their tiny lamps while the others stood in -darkness. Is it a natural gift or grace?" - -She knew now what he meant. She was called upon to give testimony here, -and it was almost as hard as in Mrs. Meredith's grand drawing-room. She -felt the warm blood throbbing through every pulse. - -"You did a brave thing that night, little girl. I shall never forget -it--never. _Can_ you answer my question? What _is_ it?" - -She could only think of one thing, one sentence, amid the whirl and -confusion of ideas and the girlish shrinking back,--"The love of Christ -constraineth us." - -"It wasn't merely your regard for your mother or Uncle Robert?" - -"It was _all_,"--in her simple, earnest fashion. - -"I'm going out there, Kathie," nodding his head southward, "to stand -some pretty hard fire, doubtless. I am not afraid of physical pain, nor -the dropping out of life, though existence never was sweeter than now; -but if, in the other country, the record of my useless years rises sharp -against me, what shall I answer? I have never tried to do anything for -the glory of God! Child, you shame all our paltry lives!" - -"O, don't!" with a suggestion of pain in her voice; "what I can do is -such a very little." - -She would never know how the simple acts of her life, springing from the -hidden centre that was deeper even than her every-day thought, was to -bear fruit on wide-spread branches. - -"And yet we--I--do nothing. I should have to go empty-handed." - -She cast about for some words of comfort. As girl or woman Kathie Alston -would never be able to realize all the frivolousness, to say nothing of -vanity, selfishness, and deeper sins, crowded into this man's life, -which still looked so fair by outward comparison with others. - -"Ever since Mr. Morrison offered to go in Uncle Robert's place this -verse has been lingering in my mind: 'Greater love hath no man than -this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' It seems to me that -it doesn't mean physical life altogether, but all the times and places -when we take something precious out of our own lives and put it into -that of others. And every man who goes now may be called upon to suffer -in some other's stead. If he do it bravely, is it not a little of the -good fruit? I can't explain all I mean, only just as the Saviour loved -us we ought to love every one else." - -Edward Meredith had listened to many an eloquent sermon, and dissected -it in a purely intellectual fashion, his heart never warming with any -inward grace, or hungering after the true bread. But he understood now -the secret of this little girl's life. Not doctrine, not so much creed, -or form, or rule, "but the taking something precious out of her daily -existence and noiselessly placing it in that of others." And the same -love which enabled her to do this rendered her brave, pure, and sweet. A -child's religion, that a year or two ago he would have sneered at, and -now he had come to learn of her because he was too proud to ask others, -and perhaps ashamed. - -"But you had a substitute!" she said, presently, bethinking herself. - -"Yes. He has served his time out honorably, has had the good fortune to -come home without harm of any kind. You remember how Mackenzie bantered -me last winter, though he was in dead earnest. But the country is at her -extremest need now; if Grant, Sherman, and our other generals, are -strengthened by good reinforcements, it seems to me that in six months -we might have peace. I have done a good deal of holiday soldiering in my -life, but this is to be sober earnest." - -He looked as if it might be. - -"When will you go?" - -"We start for Washington on Saturday morning." - -"So soon! Does--Miss Jessie know?" Kathie could not help but ask it, -though the lids trembled over her shy, downcast eyes. - -"She should have received my note this morning. I suppose she did not, -or she would have been at home. Kathie, I ought to thank you for your -rare delicacy in keeping our secret. There are some matters that one -does not like to have talked about." - -What would Miss Jessie say? Of course she loved Mr. Meredith very much. -Kathie's heart ached a little in silence, but this was one of the -burdens that could not be borne by another. - -On they went through lovely scenery, now and then catching a glimpse of -the river that wound around like a silver cord through its bed of green. -Here in the stillness they heard the chatter of squirrels and the sound -of dropping nuts, or an autumn-tinted leaf went floating on the air like -some gorgeous bird with his wings all aflame. Golden-rod and great -clumps of purple Michaelmas daisies starred the roadside, with frequent -clusters of scarlet sumach, pendent bitter-sweet berries with the still -glossy green leaves, and the dark tint of spruce and fir. - -Kathie began to realize how her heart and intellect had expanded. She -was no longer a little girl. How she had grown within and without was a -great mystery, as well as how her soul had enriched itself with drawing -near to others, and going forth again with the sweet, half-comprehending -sympathies of girlhood. - -"I have been a dull companion," Mr. Meredith said, at length. "But, -Kathie, I shall never forget the happy days I have spent at Cedarwood. -To have known you is one of the bright events in my life." - -They were coming up the avenue, and saw Uncle Robert standing on the -broad porch. She might never have another opportunity to speak, and he -had been so peculiarly serious this afternoon. - -"O Mr. Meredith, you won't forget--when you are out there--that there is -another service, and another Captain--" - -"Pray for me, Kathie, that I may be one of His faithful soldiers to my -life's end." - -She ran up stairs afterward, and the two gentlemen had a long talk in -the library. After supper Mr. Meredith said good by, as he expected to -leave the Darrells' to take the early morning train. - -"I do believe everybody is going to war!" exclaimed Rob, rather -ruefully. "I wonder if we shall ever have such good times again." - -Rob spent the next forenoon in packing. - -"How all these things are to be gotten into one trunk I cannot imagine!" -he exclaimed, in despair. - -"I fancy that you had better put the clothes in first, and leave the -'things,' as you call them, until the last," said Aunt Ruth, with a -quiet smile. - -"But I shall want them all, I'm sure." - -"Not your whole tool-chest!" - -"Some of the articles would come in so handy." - -"To assist you in learning your lessons?" asked his mother. - -"O, you know what I mean. Now, mother, you won't let Freddy meddle with -them while I am gone,--will you? He always does manage to get into -everything." - -"The best way will be to put all that you can in the closet of your -play-room, and give Uncle Robert the key. Lock all your drawers as -well." - -One would have fancied that Rob was going to Europe, to say the very -least. After he had tumbled the articles in and out about twenty times, -he concluded that he would go down to the stable to see about some -trifle. - -So his mother soon had the trunk in order, though she quietly restored -half the "traps" to their place in the play-room, and I doubt if Rob -ever missed them. - -Saturday was another very busy time with him. He had to take a farewell -glimpse of Camp Schuyler, to visit hosts of the boys, to take a last -row, a last ride, a last game of ball, and one might have imagined from -all these preparations that he was about to enter a dungeon and leave -the cheerful ways of life behind. - -But Rob was beginning to have quite serious moods occasionally; and the -last Sunday at home was one of them. He did not feel nor understand the -transition state as keenly as Kathie, he was such a thorough, careless, -rollicking boy. He would play until the last gasp,--"until whiskers -began to sprout," he said,--and he would make one of the men to whom -recollections of boyish fun would always be sweet. - -The sermon in the morning touched him a little, and then the talk with -Charlie Darrell. The Darrells felt very badly over the present loss of -their dear friend; and Kathie just pressed Miss Jessie's fingers, but -spoke no word. - -"I do mean to _try_," Rob said, that evening, to Kathie. "It seems -almost as if I were really going to war, as well as the rest of them." - -"Yes," she answered, gravely; "you will find enough fighting to -do,--foes without and within." - -"I have learned some things, though,"--with a confident nod,--"and I -shall never forget about the giants. What odd times we have had, Kathie, -from first to last!" - -"I wonder if you will be homesick?" - -"Pshaw! No. A great boy like me! No doubt there'll be lots of fun." - -"But I hope you will not get into any troubles or scrapes. O Rob! it is -real difficult to always do just what is right, when oftentimes wrong -things seem so much pleasanter." - -"I wonder why it is, Kathie? It always looked rather hard to me. Why -didn't God make the wrong so that you could see it plainly?" - -"If we see it, that is sufficient. Maybe if we kept looking at it -steadily it would grow larger; but you know we often turn to the -pleasant side when we should be watching the danger." - -"I don't believe that I can ever be real good; but I'll never tell a -lie, nor be mean, nor shirk, nor cheat! I want to be a real splendid man -like Mr. Meredith!" - -Rob would never outgrow that boyish admiration. Edward Meredith would -have felt a good deal humbled if he had known how this boy magnified -some of his easy-going ways into virtues. - -They had a sweet, sad time singing in the evening. Kathie had begun to -play very nicely, with a great deal of expression and tenderness; and -to-night all the breaks, all the farewells, and the loneliness to come, -seemed to be struggling in her soul. She was glad that no one saw her -face, for now and then a tear dropped unbidden. - -Rob and his mother had their last talk at bed-time. Her heart was sad -enough at the thought of the nine months' absence, for at Westbury there -were no short vacations. True, she would have the privilege of visiting -him, but such interviews must, of necessity, be brief. - -He lay awake a long while, thinking and resolving. How many times he had -"tried to be good." Why couldn't he remember? What was it that helped -his mother, and Uncle Robert, and Kathie? The grace of God; but then how -was one to get this grace? - -Wandering off into the fields of theology, Rob fell asleep, and never -had another thought until the breakfast-bell rang. Then, as he recalled -his perplexity, he said slowly to himself, "I don't believe religion -comes natural to boys." - -The parting was sad, after all. A thousand thoughts rushed into his -mind. What if he should be homesick? Here was the roomy playhouse, with -its store of tools, books in abundance, the ponies, the lake, the -boys,--O, everything! and Rob's fast-coming breath was one great sob. - -"A good soldier," Kathie whispered, as his arms were round her neck. - -Uncle Robert did not return until the next day. The accounts were very -encouraging. Clifton Hall had taken Rob's fancy at once. The boys were -coming in on Monday; so there was little done beside fraternizing and -being classified and shown to their dormitories. He had written a little -scrap of a note stating that "everything was lovely." - -They missed him very much. Kathie began to wonder if _her_ winter -wouldn't be lonesome. No gay Mr. Meredith to drop in upon them now and -then; no noisy, merry boys such as had haunted the grounds all summer. -She began to feel sadly disconsolate. - -But she rallied presently. "I must fight as well as my soldiers," she -said to herself. - -The next event was Mr. Morrison's departure. Uncle Robert took both -families over the day they "broke camp." - -Mr. Morrison wrung Uncle Robert's hand warmly. "It will be all right, -whatever comes," he said. "If I had not gone for you I should have done -it for some one else, so never give yourself an anxious thought about -it. I know my little lass is in good hands." - -He kissed Ethel many, many times, and she clung to him with an almost -breaking heart. Kathie's quick eyes saw a duty here. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. - - -BUT Kathie found that the regiment's marching off to Virginia had not -taken all the interest of life. They had left the woods behind, glowing -with rich autumnal coloring, the glorious blue heavens, the ripening -fruits, and the changeful scenes, that opened afresh every day. - -Her afternoons were quite a delight. Uncle Robert always held himself in -readiness, and they had either a ride or a ramble. There were new -collections of ferns to make, and with these she often had an -entertaining lesson in botany. - -October was very pleasant indeed. There was no frost to mention until -the middle of the month, and by that time the flowers were safely -housed. Hugh Morrison had built a conservatory against the south side of -the barn, and promised Kathie bouquets all winter. - -Kathie began to look up her old friends as well, and she joined the -girls in several nutting expeditions, at which they had rare fun. - -Withal she had a brief note from Ada, who wondered if she approved the -foolish step Uncle Edward had taken. Papa was positively angry about it! -And then the idea of going out as a private, even if it was in a "crack" -regiment. However, they really didn't mean to fight, and that was some -comfort. He would be at home by the first of January. - -But General Grant evinced no desire to go into winter quarters, while at -the South and West there was unusual activity. - -"It looks as if there might be considerable fighting before Christmas!" -declared Uncle Robert. - -For the few who chose to find them there were duties enough. Brookside, -as well as other places, began to feel the effects of the war. There -were soldiers' widows and orphans, the sick and the wounded who were -sent home to make room for newer cases. Then the churches at Brookside -decided to give a grand Fair and Festival for this benevolent object, to -be held Thanksgiving week. - -Kathie found her hands quite full. Still she found time to dust the -parlor every morning and take care of her own room, and often managed -to get half an hour for her music practice. To be sure, she did not -dawdle over her dressing, neither was there a waterfall wonderfully -constructed, and adorned with puffs and braids. - -"I mean to keep my little girl simple in her tastes as long as I can," -Mrs. Alston replied to the dressmaker. "Nothing can be prettier than her -hair as it is, and I do not feel justified in dressing her expensively -when there are so many children suffering with cold and hunger." - -"But young girls feel so sensitive on these matters," was the reply. -"They all want to look like their companions." - -"I hope there are some sensible mothers left," returned Mrs. Alston with -a smile. - -Kathie was very much interested in getting contributions and making -fancy articles, though hers tended rather to the useful. And Aunt Ruth, -to her great amusement, made up a dozen stout gingham kitchen aprons -with bibs, a stack of kettle-holders, and knitted some dishcloths out of -soft cotton. - -In the mean while Kathie was delighted with a letter from Mr. Meredith. -He was in the gayest spirits and related a host of comical episodes. He -had been in several skirmishes, but no regular battle, was well and -hearty, and brown as a berry already. Just at the last he said, "I have -not forgotten our pleasant ride, and the other fighting we talked -about." - -Mr. Morrison was doing very well also. Kathie began to think that it was -not such a terrible thing to go to war, after all. - -As for Rob, his record was pretty fair. He did confess to being a little -homesick at first. The Latin was "awful tough work," and some of the -rules "rather hard on a fellow who was new to them." But they had a -"jolly set of boys," and he liked it first-rate. - -So Kathie had no need to worry about her soldiers. She said a little -prayer for them night and morning, and thought of them often. But she -was so busy and so happy that she was little inclined to look upon the -dark side. - -The Fair was a decided success. It was held at Mason's Hall and opened -on Monday evening. Emma Lauriston, and a number of the larger girls, -were in attendance upon the tables. The band came up from Connor's Point -and discoursed patriotic music. The hall was large, well lighted, and -presented a very gay appearance. - -But the most amusement was created by a "Dutch kitchen." Several ladies -had transformed a small ante-room into a very attractive place of -resort. There were great brown rafters overhead, from which depended -hams, flitches of bacon, strings of onions, bunches of herbs, and at the -edge were stowed away miscellaneous articles. A great eight-day clock, -chairs, and an old brass-handled dresser that might have come over in -the Mayflower, while four pretty young girls, in the quaint old costume -of their grand-mothers, waited upon the table with all grace and ease. -This was crowned with an immense dish of beans and pork, and a stout, -rosy Dutch woman was baking waffles. Altogether this was the place for -fun. - -Kathie had been in and out half a dozen times. Her Fortunatus's purse -was full to repletion, and every time she passed the door she saw some -children standing there with wistful eyes. It was such a delightful -thing to make any one happy. - -Sauntering round, she came to a rather oddly arranged table,--Miss -Weston's. She was the primmest and queerest of old maids,--a little -body with weak eyes and flaxen hair, who always looked at you sharply -through gold-bowed spectacles. - -"O dear!" she exclaimed, "how you young things do go flyin' round! As -for me, I'm that tired I'm just ready to drop. I've been here ever sence -two o'clock and never set down a minnit. I fixed all my table myself, -and I made nigh onto all the things. Cousin Hitty, she sent me them -there child's aperns; but land! what a sight of folly it is to do all -that braidin' and nonsense! I never had no sech thing when I was little! -Been in the Dutch kitchen?" - -"O yes, time and again." - -"I'd like to go, I'm sure. I've been standin' stiddy on my feet sence -two o'clock. If some one would come along and take my table!" - -"Couldn't I?" asked Kathie. - -"O, you're so flighty! All gals are nowadays. Why, when I was no older -'n you I had seven bed-quilts pieced, and had begun to lay by sheets and -pillow-slips, and had a dozen pairs of as han'some hum-knit stockings as -you'd find in a day's walk!" - -Miss Weston really did look tired. Kathie was debating whether she -should not insist, though this was an out-of-the-way corner, and rather -dull. - -"Well, I guess I'll go. You won't be likely to sell anything; nothing -much sells the first night, and I hain't no nonsense and flummery. Good -useful articles, but nobody can see their virtue nowadays. It's the way -of the world!"--a little spitefully. "All the prices are marked in plain -figgers, and I won't have a thing undersold. O dear, I am a'most beat -out." - -"I'll do my best," said Kathie, sweetly. - -After giving about a dozen more orders Miss Weston moved slowly away, -though, truth to tell, she was more anxious to go than she appeared; and -whom should she meet just at the entrance but Mr. Denslow, who paid the -ten cents' admittance fee. Mr. Denslow, moreover, was a widower, and -Miss Weston had not quite given up the hope that the bed-quilts and the -stores of linen might some day be called into use. - -Kathie took her place behind the table, and, when the moments began to -hang heavy, ventured upon a few improvements. The passers-by just gave -the place a glance, and preferred to go where there were some pretty -girls or some fun. Kathie found it exceedingly dull. - -At last Mary Cox spied her out. Charlie Darrell was escorting her round. - -"Why, Miss Weston," he said, softly, "where's your specs? And why isn't -your hair done up in queer little puffs?" - -"What an ugly table!" exclaimed Mary. "How did you come to take it?" - -"Miss Weston was so tired." - -"She is in the Dutch kitchen, desperately sweet upon Mr. Denslow. It's -so seldom that she gets a beau that you needn't expect her for the next -hour. What a lovely time you will have waiting!" - -Charlie would have been very well satisfied to stay and talk to Kathie, -but Mary wanted the amusement of rambling round and laughing with every -one; and though Kathie said, beseechingly, "Don't go!" Mary replied, "O, -we must!" and the child was left alone again. - -Down at the end of the hall they were having a merry time. She saw grave -Emma Lauriston laughing, and Aunt Ruth was talking and smiling. Why -didn't some one think of her? - -"How much fur these caliker aperns?" asked a country woman. - -Kathie roused a little at the question, and took her eyes from the -entertaining circle. - -"Half a dollar!" - -"Half a dollar!"--in the utmost surprise. "Why, they ain't wuth it! -Ain't more 'n two yards of caliker in 'em, and I kin buy jest sich for -fifteen cents a yard." - -"But the making," suggested Kathie. - -"O, that was throwed in! Always is in char'table objects. Tell you what -I'll do,--give three shillin's apiece for two of 'em. It's a good -object." - -Now Kathie knew that the calico could not be bought for less than -eighteen cents a yard, which would give just one cent profit; besides, -Miss Weston had charged her particularly not to undersell. "The table is -not mine," she answered; "I am keeping it for a friend." - -Perhaps the woman considered there was a better chance of -bargain-making; at all events she lingered and haggled until Kathie grew -nervous, and wished Miss Weston would come. - -"Well, you're dreadful dear,--that's all I've got to say"; and the -woman flounced off angrily. "It's just the way at these fairs and -things; but you can't cheat me out of my eyes, char'ty or not." Then -Kathie was left alone again. - -Presently Harry Cox ran over. "We're having such fun, and Charlie sent -me for you. There's no one here, so why can't you shut up shop?" - -Kathie longed to very much. She might keep an eye on the table and have -a little fun besides; but it would be deserting her post. No true -soldier would do that. "I'm obliged to you, but I think I had better -stay; Miss Weston will soon be here." - -"She's an old humbug!" - -The sights and sounds were so tantalizing! What _was_ Miss Weston doing -in the Dutch kitchen all this while? - -At last a bit of good-fortune befell Kathie. Mr. and Mrs. Adams and Mr. -Langdon came along. Mr. Langdon had been away from Brookside for several -weeks, and had a host of questions to ask. - -"But what are you doing over here? You look as if you had quarrelled -with your neighbors, and gone off in disdain." - -Kathie explained that it was not her table. - -"Have you sold anything?" - -"Not a penny's worth!" - -"Then I must patronize you a little," declared Mrs. Adams. - -She found a number of useful articles, and some that she could give away -to her poor parishioners. Kathie was quite proud of the four dollars in -the small cash-box. - -At last she was relieved, and gave a great breath of thankfulness. - -"Is that _all_ you've taken in?" asked Miss Weston, rather sharply. "Are -you sure you've been here all the time? But you never can find any one -who will do for you as you do yourself." - -"I did not have but one customer," returned Kathie, in justification; -and she felt that Mrs. Adams had made her purchases from a sense of -personal friendship. - -"I might better 'a' stayed with my table," was the ungracious answer; -and that was all the thanks Kathie received for her kind deed and the -discomfort. But she solaced herself with the consciousness that a great -many good deeds meet with no reward in this world. Miss Weston must -certainly have had some pleasure, or she would not have stayed so long. - -Kathie was glad to get back to her mother and Aunt Ruth. The great -source of amusement over here was the confectionery table with packages -of "gift" candy, each parcel of which contained a present, and some of -them were exceedingly comical. - -"We have had such fun!" exclaimed Mary. "You don't know what you have -missed!" - -But Charlie glanced up and met Kathie's eyes with a look that seemed to -understand it all; and Miss Jessie said afterward, "I think you were -very good to keep Miss Weston's table such a long while. I didn't know -but she meant to spend the whole evening in the kitchen." - -At ten o'clock they began to put everything in order for closing up. The -evening had been a wonderful success, considering that it was the first. -Kathie was full of delight and excitement, and declared that she did not -feel a bit sleepy, though it was after eleven when she went to her room. - -The sleepiness came the next morning. Lessons were rather dull work, and -she counted the moments eagerly until school closed. At first she had -half a mind to run over to the hall to see how matters were progressing. - -"But then it will be so much gayer this evening," she thought to -herself, "and I must study my lessons a little." - -She had sufficient courage to refuse all entreaties, and walked home by -herself, trying to recall several subjects on which she had not been -very perfect to-day. Mrs. Wilder was a little indulgent, for she knew -how much the Fair had engrossed their attention. - -The house was very quiet, so Kathie studied and had a good long music -practice before mamma and Aunt Ruth returned. But as they were planning -at the supper-table Mrs. Alston said, "I would rather not have you go -to-night, Kathie." - -"O mamma, why?"--with a touch of entreaty in her voice. - -"You were up late last night, and you will want to be there again on -Wednesday evening. You certainly need a little rest between." - -"But last evening was like--lost time to me, or pretty nearly. I stayed -at Miss Weston's table in that dull corner for more than an hour, while -the other girls were enjoying themselves." - -"Was it really lost time?" and a half-smile crossed Mrs. Alston's face. - -Kathie bethought herself. "I suppose it ought not to have been, but it -was very dull." - -"Are you sorry that you did it?" - -"Why, no,"--in a tone of faint surprise. "And yet she did not seem very -much obliged to me. Not that I cared so much for the thanks,"--rather -hastily. - -"I was glad to see you willing to give up that much of your pleasure. -Miss Weston is peculiar, but she was very ready to help everybody all -the afternoon, and had her pins, scissors, strings, tacks, and hammer -always ready. She did a great deal of work." - -"But what a pity she cannot be--" - -"Well," said Uncle Robert, filling the long pause. - -"A little more gracious, I believe I was going to say, or not quite so -'queer.'" - -"It is unfortunate, when Miss Weston is so good-hearted in the main. But -then she always talks about the trouble she has taken, the hard work she -has done, and really dims the grace of her kind deeds." - -"I came very near doing it myself," admitted Kathie, quite soberly. - -"I do not believe Kathie desired any extra indulgence to-night because -she gave up hers last evening," exclaimed Uncle Robert, with that -namelessly appreciative light in his eyes. - -"O no, do not think that of me, mamma, only I should like to go -to-night. All the girls are to be there." - -"Three nights' dissipation in succession is rather too much for a little -girl, unless there was an urgent necessity. You will enjoy Wednesday -evening all the better for having had a rest." - -Kathie entreated no further, but it was a great disappointment, the more -so because it had come so unexpectedly. And it seemed to her that she -felt rested and bright enough to keep awake until midnight. She had -studied all her lessons too. - -However, she kissed her mother cheerfully. Aunt Ruth was tired, and did -not mean to go either. - -"You might put me to bed," exclaimed Freddy, lingering in the -sitting-room. - -Kathie somehow could not feel generous all at once. The idea of nursing -her disappointment awhile looked rather tempting. - -"Why, I never do it now," she answered. - -"No, you don't,"--considerably aggrieved. "Nor ever tell me stories, -either! And it's so lonesome since Rob went to school." - -Kathie had a faint consciousness that _not_ to think of herself would be -the best thing she could do. - -"And you never told me about the Fair, either!" - -"Well, run up to bed, and I will come presently," she said, in her -bright, pleasant way. - -Freddy kissed Aunt Ruth and went off in high feather. It was quite like -old times to sit beside him and talk, and Kathie was not a little amused -by his questions, some of which were very wise for a little head, and -others utterly absurd. Then came some very slow, wandering sentences, -and Kathie knew then that dusky-robed Sleep was hovering about the -wondering brain until it could wonder no more. - -"Good night,"--with a soft kiss. - -Aunt Ruth was lying on the lounge, so she ran down to the drawing-room -and had half an hour's study over some "accidentals," that had tried her -patience sorely in the afternoon. Delightful and all as music was, how -much hard labor and persistence it required! - -But by and by she could play the troublesome part with her eyes shut, -counting the time to every note. - -"Mr. Lawrence cannot find any fault with that!" she commented inwardly. - -So she went back to Aunt Ruth in a very sweet humor, and, drawing an -ottoman to the side of the lounge, sat down with Aunt Ruth's arm around -her neck. - -The room looked so lovely in its soft light. The shadowy flowers and -baskets of trailing vines in the great bay-window, the dusky pictures on -the wall, and the crimson tint given by the furniture. It was so sweet -and restful that Kathie felt like having a good talk, so she drew a long -breath by way of inspiration. - -"Aunt Ruth," she said, in a little perplexity, "why is it that a person -is not always willing to try to do right first of all? One wishes to and -does not in the same breath." - -"I suppose that is the result of our imperfect natures; but it is good -to have the desire even." - -"Yet when one means to try--is trying--will it never come easy?" - -"Do you not find it easier than you did two years ago?" - -"But I am older, and have more judgment." - -"And a stronger will on the wrong side as well as on the right, beside -many more temptations." - -"You conquer some of them, though." - -"Yet with every new state of life others spring up. Life is a continual -warfare." - -"And you never get perfect!" - -"Never in this life." - -"It is discouraging,--isn't it, Aunt Ruth?" - -"Is it discouraging to eat when you are hungry?" - -"Why, no!"--with a little laugh. - -"It seems to me the conditions of spiritual life are not so very unlike -the conditions of physical life. It is step by step in both. The food -and the grace are sufficient for the day, but they will not last -to-morrow, or for a month to come." - -"Yet the grace was to be sufficient always," Kathie said, with some -hesitation. - -"And have you proved it otherwise?" The voice was very sweet, and Aunt -Ruth's tone almost insensibly lured to confidence. - -"But what troubles me is--that little things--" and Kathie's voice -seemed to get tangled up with emotion, "should be such a trial -sometimes. Now I can understand how any great sacrifice may call for a -great effort; but after we have been used to doing these little things -over and over again--" - -"One becomes rather tired of making the effort; and it is just here -where so many people who mean to be good go astray. They leave the small -matters to take care of themselves, and aspire to something greater; so, -without being really aware of it, they are impatient, selfish, -thoughtless for others, and fall into many careless ways. Would one -really grand action make amends for all?" - -"No, it would not," Kathie answered, reflectively. - -"So we have to keep a watch every moment, be fed every day and hour, or -we shall hunger." - -Kathie sighed a little. Why had it not been as easy to be good and -pleasant to-night as some other times when mamma did not think a coveted -indulgence necessary? Yet her perplexity appeared so trivial that she -hardly had the courage to confess it even to this kind listener. - -"You took the right step to-night, Kathie," said Aunt Ruth, presently. -"I was glad to see you do it. Brooding over any real or fancied burden -never lightens it. And though it seems a rather sharp remedy in the -midst of one's pain to think of or help some other person, it works the -speediest cure." - -She saw that. So little a thing as entertaining Freddy had soothed her -own disappointment. - -"But I ought not--" and Kathie's voice trembled. - -"Stoicism is not the highest courage, little one. And God doesn't take -away our natural feelings when he forgives sin. There is a good deal of -sifting and winnowing left for us to do. And I believe God is better -pleased with us when we have seen the danger, and struggled against it, -than if it had not touched us at all. The rustle of the leaves seems to -give promise of fruit." - -"I think I see," Kathie answered, slowly. "There is some marching as -well as all battle." - -"Yes"; and Aunt Ruth kissed the tremulous scarlet lips. - -Kathie was so soundly asleep that she did not hear mamma and Uncle -Robert come home. But she was bright and winsome as a bird the next -morning. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. - - -KATHIE'S lessons, even to her music, were perfect the next day. Indeed, -Mr. Lawrence quite complimented her. - -Mrs. Alston said, "Kathie, if you would like to come over after school -and relieve me a little while, I should be very glad." - -So Kathie went straight from school There was quite a crowd already. -Whole families had come in from the country, farmers with their wives -and little ones. - -"What taste you do see displayed!" Lottie remarked, sauntering to -Kathie's vicinity. "Look at that woman's shawl with a yellow centre. -Isn't it hideously ugly? And that purple bonnet with red flowers! Why -didn't she put blue, by way of contrast?" - -The wearer of the purple bonnet glanced at the two girls with a flushed -and rather indignant face,--a hard-featured countrywoman, neither young -nor pretty. - -"O don't," whispered Kathie. "She heard you." - -"As if I cared! Any person who outrages taste in that manner is a fit -subject for criticism. How horridly that gored skirt hangs! Home-made to -the last thread. If I couldn't have a dressmaker I would not have any -new dresses." - -Kathie was feeling quite distressed. She disliked to have Lottie to -stand here and make remarks on every one who passed by. - -"How do you make them 'ere things?" inquired a coarse but fresh young -voice at her side. - -Lottie tittered, and put her handkerchief to her face. - -"What?" asked Kathie, in great confusion. - -"These 'ere," pointing to some very pretty moss and lichen brackets. - -"The moss is fastened to a piece of wood just the right shape,--like -this"; and she turned the bracket round. - -"Pasted on?" - -"You could use paste or glue,--anything that adheres quickly." - -"Adheres?"--with a kind of wondering stare. - -"Sticks!" exclaimed Lottie, in a peculiar tone. - -"I wasn't talking to you," said the girl, rather gruffly. - -Lottie tossed her head with a world of scorn, and moved a little lower -down to speak to some stylish friends that she saw coming. - -"Thinks she's dre'dful fine!" continued the girl. "You find them things -in the woods. I have lots of 'em, but I never thought o' puttin' them up -anywheres. I've some a good deal bigger 'n any you have here." - -She was referring to the lichens now. - -"They must be very fine," said Kathie. - -"Some of 'em are pinky, and all streaked, in rows like this. Don't you -s'pose I could put 'em up? And I know Jim'd make me some fine things to -stick the moss on. He's powerful handy with tools. Means to be a -carpenter." - -She was a nice, wholesome-looking girl of fifteen or thereabout. Kathie -wished that she dared to correct her words and sentences a little. - -"You might make your parlor or your own room look very pretty with some -of these adornments," she remarked, with quiet interest. - -"The youngsters would soon smash 'em up in my room," she said, with -rough good-nature; "but ma'am will let me fix up the parlor, I know. And -if you'd only tell me--" The girl wriggled around with painful -hesitation. - -"Well?" Kathie went on, encouragingly. - -"About them 'ere frames that look like straw." - -"They are straw." - -"There, I was sure of it! Ain't they han'some! Do you know how to make -'em?" - -"Yes." - -"S'pose you wouldn't like to tell me?"--bashfully. - -"Why, yes," answered Kathie, smiling. "First, you find some nice, long -pieces of straw that are smooth and round, and, holding them together -this way,--four or five or six, as wide as you want your frame,--sew -them backwards and forwards with a fine needle and cotton. When you have -made your four pieces cross them so, and fasten them through on the -pictures at the corner. Then you tie a little bow over the sewing." - -"Well, now, it isn't hard, after all! I mean to make some. What's the -price of that?" - -"Fifty cents." - -"I mean to have one of 'em. I'll hunt up mother and come back." With -that the girl dashed into the crowd. - -"Profitable customer!" sneered Lottie. - -Just then there was a rush to the table, and Kathie was kept very busy -for ten minutes or so, while Lottie went over to Mrs. Wilder's table and -began to "take off" Kathie's young woman, as she called her. It sounded -very funny to the group of girls, exaggerated a little by Lottie's love -of a good story. - -Half an hour afterwards, when Kathie had almost forgotten, the girl came -dragging her mother rather unwillingly up to the table. - -"Here she is! I've made her come, though she said fust she wouldn't. But -you was so real sweet to me that I couldn't give it up." - -Kathie recognized the identical purple bonnet and dull red roses, and -she flushed a little at the woman's sharp scrutiny. - -"You ain't the one that laughed awhile ago," she said, the features -relaxing a little. "City gals may think themselves a heap finer than -country folk, but I can see bad manners as quick as the next one." - -"I was very sorry for it," exclaimed Kathie, in a low tone. - -"Then my gal wouldn't give me any peace till I come back"--apparently -much mollified. "Now, Sary Ann, where's the picter you want?" - -"O, they're all so _bew_-tiful!" exclaimed the girl. "And I know I can -make the frames after I go home. Look at this 'ere cross and this basket -of flowers, and these roses! O dear!"--in despair. - -"She's so fond o' flowers,--is Sary Ann. She's had the beautifullest -garden this summer that you ever see. Well, Sary Ann? I'd take the -basket of flowers." - -"But the cross!" exclaimed the girl, longingly. - -They looked them over while Kathie went to wait upon another customer. - -"I've concluded to get 'em both for her," announced the woman. "Sary -Ann's a real good girl, and a powerful sight o' help to me. There's six -younger 'n she, and Jim older; but boys can't do much about a house." - -Kathie did up the pictures with a little sensation of triumph. - -"O mother, look what a pretty baby's cap! Wouldn't it be sweet for -Lily, and you promised to buy her one the fust time you went to town." - -"She would have the baby called Lily," said the woman, as if in apology. -"What's the price of this?" - -"Two dollars and a half." - -"O, that's too dear." - -"We have cheaper ones." - -"But this is such a beauty," said Sary Ann. - -"I crocheted it myself," Kathie returned, quietly. - -"O mother, I'd like to have something she's done her own very self! Did -you make the frames?" - -"No, my aunt did those, but I know how,"--with a sweet smile. - -After a good deal of talking they concluded to take the cap; then Sary -Ann wanted a pretty white apron for the "patron" of it, she declared. - -"Nonsense!" said her mother. - -But Sary Ann carried the day, and afterward she found something else. - -Altogether the bill amounted to seven dollars and sixty-four cents. Not -so bad, after all. The woman paid it without a bit of grumbling. - -"It's a good cause," she said. "I often think of the poor fellows out -there," nodding her head; "and sence the Lord gives 'em strength and -courage to go, we ought to do something besides prayin' for 'em. My old -man he put up a lot of turkeys an' chickens, an' apples and onions, an' -sez he, 'Though we ain't any children out there, we've neighbors and -friends, and every chap among the lot deserves a Thanksgiving dinner.'" - -Kathie forgot all about the red and purple, thinking of the red, white, -and blue, and of the tender place in this woman's heart. - -"I want to give you a little picture to frame," she said to "Sary Ann"; -"it will help you to remember me, as well as the cause." - -It was a pretty colored photograph of two children,--"The -Reconciliation." - -The girl was so delighted that the quick tears sprang to her eyes. -"There's no fear of my forgetting you," she declared, warmly. "I've had -a splendid time!" - -Kathie opened her portmonnaie and dropped the quarter in the drawer. Her -mother had taught her to be scrupulously honest about such matters, and -she wanted the gift to be altogether hers. - -It was getting quite dusky now. Uncle Robert had brought Mrs. Alston -over in the pony-carriage, and was to take Kathie back, "to smooth her -ruffled plumes," the child said; for the knot of girls around Emma -Lauriston had been discussing what they would wear. - -"There'll be a great jam here to-night," said one. "Everybody will turn -out, and I want to look as pretty as possible." - -Kathie had begun to have some rather troublesome thoughts on the subject -of dress. The larger girls at school talked considerably of the -fashions. She realized her own position much better than she had a year -ago, and knew that a certain style was expected of her. She hated to be -considered mean or shabby, or, worst of all, deficient in taste; yet how -much of it was right? Need it occupy all one's time and one's desires? - -She felt very strongly inclined to make herself "gorgeous" to-night, as -Rob would have phrased it; yet the only ornament she indulged in was a -little cluster of flowers at her throat. - -A jam it was, sure enough. Everybody had to look half a dozen ways at -once. The hum of the laughing and talking almost drowned the music. By -nine o'clock some of the tables began to wear a rather forlorn aspect, -and two or three "shut up shop," having been entirely sold out. - -Miss Weston's luck appeared less brilliant than that of many others. - -"I wish you could take some one there who would buy ever so many -things," Kathie said to Uncle Robert; "I am afraid she is feeling a good -deal discouraged." - -He smiled at the thoughtfulness, but made no immediate reply. Only -Kathie noticed his standing there a considerable length of time. - -When he came back to her he said, softly, "Kathie, will you not come and -keep her table for a little while? I want to take her to the supper-room -for some refreshments." - -Kathie gave him a rather beseeching look. - -"I'll be sure and not let her spend more than fifteen minutes. After -that we will have a gay promenade." - -Was it selfish not to want to stay here? Yet Kathie put on her most -attractive smiles and actually sold several articles while Miss Weston -was gone. - -Then, hunting up Emma Lauriston, they set out on a tour, Uncle Robert -said. They went to the Dutch kitchen, where Miss Jessie was one of the -"young ladies" to-night; and very pretty she looked, though Uncle Robert -insisted that she could not talk a word of Dutch. They had cream -afterward, candy, nuts, and fruit, until it appeared to Kathie that she -had eaten enough to last a week. - -There had been a discussion at first about continuing the Fair on -Thanksgiving day, but, as the articles were so nearly sold out, it was -decided to have an auction. That made great fun indeed. By eleven -o'clock the tables were emptied, and the refreshments reduced to a -rather fragmentary state. The crowd, too, began to thin out. - -Such a hunting for baskets and hampers and boxes of every description, -such a hurrying and scurrying and confusion of voices, was seldom -witnessed in quiet Brookside. In the crowd Kathie ran over Lottie. - -"O dear!" the latter exclaimed, fretfully, "aren't you half tired to -death, Kathie Alston? I've ruined my dress too,--this lovely blue silk! -I am sure I don't know what ma will say. Some one trod on it, as I was -sitting down, and tore off the trimming, and that clumsy Harry Cox -spilled lemonade on me. Children ought not to be allowed in such places, -especially boys who do not know how to behave!" and she uttered this -with a great deal of emphasis. "And I've lost one of my new kid gloves. -They were such a lovely shade. There is nothing in Brookside like them! - -"She ought to have known better than to dress in such state, as if she -was going to a party," whispered Emma Lauriston. "I am cream and pie and -cake-crumbs, and goodness only knows what, and devoutly thankful that I -shall not have to go to school to-morrow. But it _has_ been a success. -Mrs. Wilder made one hundred and forty dollars at her table,--our -table," with a laugh. - -"And mamma has made nearly two hundred." - -"I long to hear the aggregate." - -"It will not be less than two thousand," exclaimed Uncle Robert, trying -to open a path for the girls. - -Kathie was very tired when she reached home, and with a good-night kiss -ran off to her own room, where she fell asleep with a strange jumble of -ideas in her head. - -Two thousand three hundred and twenty dollars for the widows and orphans -when all expenses were paid. Everybody felt very well satisfied, and, -after a good Thanksgiving dinner, affairs at Brookside rolled on as -calmly as before. - -Except, perhaps, that there were more anxious hearts. General Sherman -was sweeping on to the sea, and brave Sheridan was carrying -consternation to the heart of the enemy by his daring raids. Grant was -drawing nearer and nearer to Richmond, but there would be some pretty -hard work at the last, every one thought. - -Some days afterward Kathie finished a letter to Mr. Meredith, giving him -a glowing account of their labors at home. - -"If he could come back to keep Christmas with us!" Kathie said, -longingly. "And dear Rob--and O, the hundreds more who are away from -pleasant firesides!" - -Uncle Robert decided to pay Rob a Christmas visit, and they concluded to -pack a small box to send. He was so fond of "goodies" that Kathie tried -her hand at some of the Fair recipes and had excellent success. A few -new articles were needed for every-day use, but these comprised only a -very small share. - -"He will have quite a feast," Kathie said, delightedly. "And there is -not much fear of Rob being like Harry in the story." - -Uncle Robert would be back by Christmas. They had planned to have a tree -again, but Kathie declared that she could not think of a single thing -she needed. She was quite busy with various other little matters, -however, that required strict seclusion in her own room. - -How different it was from last year! She and Aunt Ruth talked it -over,--the waiting, the disappointment, and the sacrifice that after all -had ended so happily. - -"It seemed as if everything must have happened then, and that there -would be nothing left for this year," she said. - -Uncle Robert brought most satisfactory accounts from his nephew. Rob was -well, contented and happy, and growing tall in an astonishing manner. He -sent oceans of love and thanks to everybody, and wished that he could -come home and see them. - -"And here is a letter for you," said Kathie, taking it from the rack on -his desk. "It is from Mr. Meredith. See if he is not going to surprise -us. The ninety days will soon be ended." - -Uncle Robert sat before the grate fire, sunning himself in the cheerful -glow, but Kathie remarked that his face grew very grave. - -"What is it?" she asked, anxiously. "He is not sick, or--" - -"He is well. You may read this." - -He folded down a little slip at the top and handed the letter to the -child, who read:-- - -"Tell Kathie that I have seen General Mackenzie, her hero of last -winter, and that he was delighted to have some tidings of her. And that -during the last fortnight my ideas and sphere of duty seem to have -enlarged. I think she will approve of my decision,--my brave little -Captain who stood by her colors so nobly last winter, and preferred to -minister to her suffering aunt rather than share the most tempting -pleasures. So I shall give up my own comfort and idleness awhile longer, -and stand by the dear country that needs every man in this last great -struggle." - -"Oh!" with a tender little cry. "He is not coming home!" - -"No. He has resolved to stay and see the war through," was the grave -reply. - -Kathie looked into the glowing fire. It was very brave and noble in him -for he did _not_ like military life under the auspices in which he was -seeing it. - -"There is a little more," Uncle Robert said. - -The "little more" brought the tears to her eyes. She stooped and laid -her head on Uncle Robert's shoulder, nestling her face in the corner by -his curly beard. - -"He thinks--it will be--all right with him," she whispered, tremulously, -a little sob quivering in her voice. - -"Living or dying," returned Uncle Robert, solemnly. "My darling, I am -very grateful for your share in the work. It seems to me that Mr. -Meredith is capable of something really grand if he can once be roused -to a sense of the responsibility and preciousness of life. There is so -much for every one to do." - -"But it doesn't seem as if I did anything." - -"No act is without some result, my dear child, when we think that it -must all bear fruit, and that we shall see the result in the other -country, whether it be brambles or leaves or fruit; and we cannot bear -fruit except we abide in the Master." - -It seemed to Kathie, child as she was, that she had a blessed glimpse of -the light and the work, the interest and sympathy, the prayers and -earnest endeavor, which were to go side by side with the Master's. A -warm, vivifying glow sped through every pulse. Was this the love of -God,--the grace which was promised to well-doing? She hardly dared -believe, it was so solemnly sweet and comforting,--too good for her, she -almost thought. - -"You see, little one, that _He_ puts work for us everywhere, that his -love and presence is beside it always. We may wait a long while for the -result, yet it is sure. And we need not be sparing of our seed; the -heavenly storehouse is forever open to us. He is always more ready to -give than we to receive." - -"O Uncle Robert! I am so glad for--for Mr. Meredith. It seems as if I -couldn't take it all in at once!" and both of Kathie's arms were around -his neck, her soft, rosy cheek, wet with tears, pressed against his. - -"It is something to think of for all time, my darling." - -"Uncle Robert," she said, after a long, thoughtful pause, in which she -appeared to have glimpses of the life stretching out before her, and -leading to the gate of the other country, "I used to wish that I could -have--religion--myself, like mamma and Aunt Ruth--" - -"My little Kathie, the 'kingdom of heaven' is within you. We have only -to do _His_ will, and we shall know of the doctrine. That is the grand -secret of it all." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -GIVING AND RECEIVING. - - -KATHIE had begged, instead of having anything grand herself, that she -might be allowed to play Santa Claus. To be sure, there were gifts to -the Morrisons, to Lucy and Annie Gardiner, and several of her olden -schoolmates, but that was not quite it. - -"I mean the highways and byways," she said to her mother; "some of the -poor people who really have no Christmas." - -They made out quite a list,--three or four widows with little children, -some old women, and several homes in which there was sickness. Aunt Ruth -fashioned some garments,--Kathie buying the material out of her -Fortunatus's purse; two or three good warm shawls had been provided, and -different packages of provisions, some positive luxuries. They stood in -a great pile at the lower end of the hall, all ready for distribution. - -"If you were not too tired--" Kathie said, after supper. - -"I am not utterly worn out," and Uncle Robert smiled a little. "What is -it?" - -"I wish you and I could go out with the gifts, instead of Mr. Morrison." - -"Why not, to be sure?" reading the wistful glance in the soft eyes. - -"It would be so delightful. And as we are not to have our Christmas -until to-morrow--" - -"Bundle up then, for it is pretty sharp out. I will go and order the -horses." - -It was so easy to ride around and dispense benefits that Kathie almost -wondered if there was any real merit in it. - -"My little girl," Uncle Robert said, "you must not begin to think that -there can be no religion without sacrifice. God gives us all things -richly to enjoy, and it would be ungrateful if we did not accept the -good, the joy." - -All things. As they hurried softly on, the roads being covered with a -light fall of snow, she drank in the beauty around her,--a glimmer of -silvery moonlight flooding the open spaces, the shadowy thickets of -evergreens, whose crisp clustering spines were stirred dreamily with the -slow wind, making a dim and heavenly music, as if even now it might lead -kings and shepherds to the place where the Christ Child had been born, -the myriad of stars overhead in that blue, spacious vault, and the -heaven above it all. And thinking of the distant plains of Judæa brought -her to the plains nearer home,--the broad fields of Virginia dotted with -its camps and tents, and bristling with forts. Thousands of men were -there, keeping Christmas eve, and among them Mr. Meredith. How many -beside him saw the star and came to worship the Saviour! - -She felt the living Presence in the awe of this hush and beauty. Her -child's soul was hovering on the point of girlhood, to open into -something rare and precious, perhaps, having greater opportunities than -many others. She was not so fearful or doubting as she had been an hour -ago, for it seemed to her now that she had only to go forward. - -They paused first at a little tumble-down cottage. There were seven -people housed in it,--the old folks, Mrs. Maybin, whose husband had gone -to the war, and four children. Mrs. Maybin went out washing and -house-cleaning. Jane, the eldest daughter, thirteen, worked in the -paper-mill. - -Uncle Robert looked at the label by moonlight. "I'll just put it down on -the door-step and knock," he said. "You hold the ponies." - -The knock made Kathie's own heart beat. Uncle Robert ran back to the -carriage, which stood in the shade of a great black-walnut tree. - -Kathie leaned over. Jane Maybin came to the door, lamp in hand, and -looked around wonderingly. Then, spying the great bundle, she cried, -loudly, "O mother, come here, quick!" - -The ponies wore no bells to-night, so they drove off noiselessly, a -peculiar smile illuminating Kathie's face. If the Maybins thought their -good fortune rained down from heaven, so much the better. The child was -always a little shy of her good deeds, a rare and exquisite humility -being one of her virtues. And though any little act of ingratitude -touched her to the quick, she never went about seeking praise. - -A dozen homes made glad by unexpected gifts, and three times that number -of hearts. In several instances they had difficult work to escape -detection, but that added to the fun and interest of it, Kathie -declared; and she came home in a bright, beautiful glow, her cheeks -glowing with a winter-rose tint, and her pretty mouth smiling in a more -regal scarlet than the holly berries nodding their wise little heads -above picture-frames. - -Aunt Ruth kissed her quietly. It seemed as if she understood the steps -in the new life which the child was taking, and knew by experience that -silent ways were sometimes the most pleasant. - -Of all Kathie's Christmas remembrances--and even Dr. Markham sent her a -beautiful gift--there was one so unexpected and so touching that it -brought the tears to her eyes. She was running through the hall just -before church-time, when the door-bell rang; the Alstons did not -consider it necessary that Hannah should always be summoned from her -duties to attend the call, so Kathie opened the door. - -A stout, country-looking lad, just merging into awkward young-manhood, -with a great shock of curly, chestnut-colored hair, and a very wide -mouth, stood with a parcel in his hand. - -"I want to see Miss Kathie Alston," he said, blushing as red as a -peony. - -"I am the person," she answered, simply. - -He stared in surprise, opening his mouth until there seemed nothing but -two rows of white, strong teeth. - -"Miss--Kathie--Alston?" in a kind of astonished deliberation. - -"Yes." - -"I was to give this to you. She," nodding to some imaginary person, -"told me to be sure to put it into your hands for fear. She thought -you'd like it." - -"Who is _she_?" and Kathie could not forbear smiling. - -"She writ a letter so's you'd know. That's all she said, only to ask if -you were well; but you look jest like--a picter." - -The compliment was so honest and so involuntary that Kathie bowed, her -bright face flushing. - -He ran down the steps and sprang into a common country sleigh, driving -off in a great hurry. - -There was a letter attached to the parcel. She tore off the wrapping of -the package first, however, and found that it had been done up with -great care. Inside of all, the largest and most beautiful lichen she -had ever seen,--a perfect bracket in itself. The rings of coloring were -exquisite. The soft woody browns, the bright sienna, the silvery drab -and pink, like the inside of a sea-shell. The vegetation was so rank -that it resembled the pile of velvet. - -Like a flash a consciousness came over her, and although she heard Aunt -Ruth's voice, she could not resist the desire to look at her letter. - -A coarse, irregular hand, with several erasures and blotted words, but -the name at the bottom--Sarah Ann Strong--made it all plain. The Sary -Ann of the Soldiers' Fair. Kathie's heart gave a great bound. - -"Come!" exclaimed Uncle Robert; "are you ready?" - -There was no time for explanations. She laid the letter and parcel in -her drawer in the great bookcase, thrust her ungloved hands into her -muff, and ran out to Aunt Ruth, who stood on the step, waiting to be -assisted into the carriage. - -"Was it some more Christmas?" asked Uncle Robert, "or is it a secret?" - -"It is no secret, but a very odd circumstance, and has quite a story -connected with it. I think I will wait until we get home," she -continued, slowly, remembering how short the distance was to church, and -that a break in the narrative would spoil it. - -But she had very hard work to keep her mind from wandering during the -service, she wondered so what Sarah had to say, and how she came to -remember the simple talk about the brackets. And was Sarah having a -bright Christmas? - -Afterward she told her small audience, beginning with the unlucky -remarks about the purple bonnet. Uncle Robert admired the lichen very -much, and Aunt Ruth declared that she had never seen its equal. - -Then came Sarah's letter. What pains and trouble and copying it had cost -the poor girl Kathie would never know. - -"To Miss Kathie Alston," it began. "I take my pen in hand to let you -know that"--here were two or three words crossed out--"I want to send -you a cristmas present. I haint forgot about the fair, and how good you -was to me, I made some straw frames and they're real hansum, and I put -the picture you give me in one and it hangs up in the parlor, and I've -got some brackets, but Jim found this splendid one, and I want to send -it to you for cristmas, for I don't think you have forgotten all about -me. I've been going to school a little this winter again, for Martha is -big enough to help mother and i only stay home to wash. I always -remember how beautiful you talked and my teacher says its grammar which -I'm studying, but I cant make head nor tail of it, but he told me never -to say this ere, and I don't any more, but I never could be such a lady -as you are. I spose you've got beautiful long curls yet. I do love curls -so and my hair's straight as a stick. Mother says i must tell you if you -ever come to Middleville to stop and see us, we live on the back road, -Jotham Strong, and we'll all be glad to see you. I hope you'll like the -bracket, and I wish you merry cristmas a thousand times. Jim went to -town one day and found out who you was--he seen you the night of the -fair too. Excuse all mistakes. I aint had much chance for schooling, but -I'm going to try now. I spose you are a lady and very rich, and don't -have to do housework, but you're real sweet and not stuck up, and so -you'll forgive the boldness of my writing this poor letter. - - "Yours respectfully, - "SARAH ANN STRONG." - -Kathie had been leaning her arm on Uncle Robert's knee as she read -aloud. - -"Not such a bad letter," he said. "I have known some quite stylish -ladies 'who didn't have to do housework' to make worse mistakes than -this girl, who evidently has had very little chance. And then country -people do not always understand the advantages of education." - -"I wanted to ask her that evening not to say 'this 'ere,' or 'that 'ere' -so much, but I was afraid of wounding her feelings. I thought there was -something nice about her, and her mother was very generous in buying. -But to think that she should have remembered me all this while--" - -"'A cup of cold water,'" repeated Aunt Ruth, softly. - -"It was such a very little thing." - -"One of the steps." - -Yes. It was the little things, the steps, that filled the long, long -path. A warm glow suffused Kathie's face. She was thinking far back,--an -age ago it appeared, yet it was only two years,--that her mother had -said the fairies were not all dead. If Puck and Peas-blossom and Cobweb -and Titania no longer danced in cool, green hollows, to the music of -lily bells, there were Faith and Love and Earnest Endeavor, and many -another, to run to and fro with sweet messages and pleasant deeds. - -"I am very glad and thankful that you were polite and entertaining," -Uncle Robert remarked, presently. "We never know what a kind word or a -little pains, rightly taken, may do. It is the grand secret of a useful -life,--sowing the seed." - -"I must answer her letter, and express my thanks. But O, isn't it funny -that she thinks me such a great lady!" - -"Suppose we should drive out to see her on some Saturday? Where is -Middleville?" - -"North of here," returned Aunt Ruth, "in a little sort of hollow between -the mountains, about seven or eight miles, I should think." - -"How delightful it would be!" exclaimed Kathie. - -"We will try it some day. I am very fond of plain, social country -people, whose manners may be unpolished, but whose lives are earnest and -honest nevertheless. We cannot all be moss-roses, with a fine enclosing -grace," said Uncle Robert. - -Kathie read her letter over again to herself, feeling quite sure that -Sarah had made some improvement since the evening of the Fair. - -"Do you want to put the lichen up in your room?" asked Uncle Robert. - -"Not particularly,--why?" - -"It is such a rare and beautiful specimen that I feel inclined to -confiscate it for the library." - -"I will give it up with pleasure," answered Kathie, readily, "since it -remains mine all the same." - -The Alstons had a quiet Christmas dinner by themselves. Uncle Robert -gave the last touches to the tree, and just at dusk the small people who -had been invited began to flock thither. Kathie had not asked any of her -new friends or the older girls. She possessed by nature that simple -tact, so essential to fine and true womanhood, of observing the -distinctions of society without appearing to notice the different -position of individuals. - -Ethel Morrison came with the rest. She was beginning to feel quite at -home in the great house, and yielded to Kathie's peculiar influence, -which was becoming a kind of fascination, a power that might have proved -a dangerous gift but for her exceeding truth and simplicity. - -The tree was very brilliant and beautiful. If the gifts were not so -expensive, they appeared to be just what every one wanted. Kathie was -delighted with the compliment to her discernment. - -Charlie Darrell made his appearance quite late in the evening, with Dick -Grayson. The tapers were just burning their last. - -"Farewell to thee, O Christmas tree!" sang Dick. "Was Santa Claus good -to you, Miss Kathie?" - -"Very generous indeed." - -"But O, didn't you miss Rob?" - -Kathie had to tell them about Uncle Robert's visit. "And then, you know, -I wasn't home last year"--in answer to their question. - -"True. There was a gay time here at Cedarwood. When Rob sets out, he is -about as funny as any boy I know. Don't you suppose he is just aching to -be at home?" - -"I expect to get off next year," said Dick, "to Yale. But I shall be -dreadfully homesick at first." - -"So should I," responded Charlie; "but Rob is such a jolly, -happy-go-lucky fellow." - -"Has he been in any scrapes yet, Miss Kathie?" - -"Not that I have heard," said Kathie, laughing. - -A group around the piano were clamoring for Kathie to play. She had -promised them some carols. - -Dick and Charlie joined. A happy time they had, singing everything they -knew. Kathie had become a very fair musician already. - -While the little ones were hunting up their wraps, Kathie lingered a -moment beside Charlie. - -"How is Miss Jessie to-night?" she asked. - -"Quite well." Then, looking into her eyes, "You have heard--" - -"About Mr. Meredith? yes." - -"It is too bad,--isn't it? And he has had a substitute in the war. I -think he ought to have come back." - -Kathie was silent. How much duty did a man or a woman owe to these great -life questions? And was there not something grander and finer in this -last act of heroism than many people were capable of? If she could have -chosen for him, like Charlie, she would have desired his return; but if -every wife and every mother felt so about their soldiers? - -She kissed Ethel with a peculiar sympathy when she bade her good night. -Mr. Morrison was well and satisfied with the new life,--liked it, -indeed. - -For the next fortnight it seemed to Kathie that nothing -happened,--school life and home life, and she a little pendulum -vibrating between the two, waiting for some hour to strike. - -She answered Sarah's letter, and promised that she and her uncle would -drive up when there came a pleasant Saturday with the roads in -comfortable order. - -There had been quite an accession to the school on the first of January. -Mrs. Wilder had twenty-one pupils now. Mr. Lawrence came in to give them -lessons in music, French, and penmanship. Kathie felt quite small, there -were so many young ladies. - -Several new families had moved into Brookside the preceding summer, and -the Alstons' acquaintance had slowly widened among the better class. -Kathie remembered how grand she had once considered Miss Jessie, and now -she was really beyond that herself. - -At twelve the girls had fifteen minutes' intermission. Sometimes they -took a little run through the long covered walk, but oftener gathered -around the stove or visited at one another's desks. There was always a -vein of school-girlish gossip on dress, or amusements, or parties, or -perhaps the books they were reading. This generally took in the circle -just above Kathie, yet she used occasionally to listen, and it always -brought a thought of Ada to her mind. - -She sat puzzling over some French verbs one rainy day, while Emma -brought out her cathedral that she was doing in India-ink. The talk from -the group before them floated to their hearing. It was styles and -trimming, velvet and laces that were "real," and gloves with two -buttons. - -Emma glanced up with an odd smile. Kathie, seeing it, smiled too. - -"Let us take a turn in the walk," Emma said. - -She was so much taller that she put her arm around Kathie with an odd, -elder-sisterly feeling. - -"They seem never to get tired of it," she began. "I wonder if there -isn't something better to this life than the clothes one wears?" - -"Yes," Kathie answered, in a slow, clear tone, though she shrank a -little from giving her opinion. She had a shy desire to escape these -small responsibilities, yet the consciousness of "bearing witness" -always brought her back. - -"What is it?" - -The blunt question startled her, and a faint color stole into her face. - -"I watch you sometimes when I suppose you are not dreaming of it. We -have been sitting here together for three months, we were at the -Fair,--and there is something different about you from what I find in -most girls. I wonder if it is your taste or your nature." - -"We are none of us alike," said Kathie, with a peculiar half-smile. - -"It is not that specific difference which we all have. You appear to be -thinking of others, you never answer crossly, you often give up your own -ease and comfort, and there is a little light in your eyes as if -something out of your soul was shining through them. And all this talk -about dressing and what one is going to do by and by never touches you -at all. I suppose you could have everything you want! Lottie Thorne says -your uncle idolizes you, and--he is rich, I know." - -"I have all that is necessary, and many luxuries," Kathie answered, -slowly. - -"But what makes you--what keeps you in such a heaven of content? O, I -can't explain what I mean! I wonder if you have religion, Kathie -Alston." - -Do her best, Kathie could not keep the tears out of her eyes. What was -there to cry about? But somehow she felt so strange and shy, and full of -tender pain. - -"I think we ought all to try," she answered, with a sweet seriousness in -her voice. "Even if we cannot take but one step--" - -"I wish I knew _what_ it was!" - -Kathie's heart was in her throat. She only understood part of the steps -herself. How could she direct another? So they took two or three turns -in silence, then the bell rang. - -"There! I had so much to say, and maybe I shall never feel in the mood -again. About dress, too. Some of it troubles me sadly." - -She stooped suddenly and kissed Kathie on the forehead, gave her hand a -sudden, earnest pressure, and then was her olden grave self. - -And Kathie wondered a little if she had not shirked a duty! It seemed -now as if it would be very easy to say, "I have enlisted in that greater -army of the Lord, and will do what service I can." Why had it been so -hard a moment ago? Had she been challenged at the outpost and found -without a countersign? - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -A VISIT. - - -"DO you think we could go to Middleville to-day?" Kathie asked, one -bright Saturday morning. - -It was a sharp, keen winter's day, but the roads had been worn tolerably -smooth with the sleighing, and it was by far too cold for alternate -freezing and thawing; but the sky was of a clear, steely blue, and the -sun as brilliant as a midwinter's sun could be. - -"If you did not mind the cold. What is your opinion, Dora?"--turning to -Mrs. Alston. - -"I suppose you could stand it if you were wrapped up good and warm." - -"Would you take the buggy?" asked Aunt Ruth. - -"O yes!" answered Kathie, eagerly; "I cannot bear to be shut up in a -close prison, as if I was being taken off somewhere for my misdeeds." - -"It will be a good deal colder." - -Uncle Robert laughed as he met Kathie's mirthful eyes. - -"I shall not freeze, auntie. I like the sensation of this strong, fresh -wind blowing square into my face; it takes the cobwebs out of my -brains." - -So the ponies had orders, and pricked up their ears as if they were -rather interested in trying the bracing wind as well. - -Kathie bundled herself up quite to mamma's liking. She slipped a little -parcel under the seat,--two books that she had read time and again, and -which she fancied might interest Sarah, and a few other little matters, -the giving of which depended upon circumstances. - -They said good by, and were off. "Up in the mountains" was always spoken -of rather sneeringly by the Brookside community. They really were not -mountains, but a succession of rough, rocky hills, where the vegetation -was neither lovely nor abundant. Several different species of cedar, -scrubby oaks, and stunted hemlocks, were the principal variety, with a -matted growth of underbrush; and as there were many finer "woods" around -Brookside, these were seldom haunted by pleasure-lovers or -wonder-seekers. - -The dwellers therein were of the oldest-fashioned kind. You could -always tell them when they came to shop at Brookside by their queer -bonnets and out-of-date garments, as well as by the wonderful contrast -of colors. But the small settlements enjoyed their own manner of living -and their own social pleasures as thoroughly as their more refined -neighbors. - -For quite a stretch the road was level and good, then the ascent began, -the houses were wider apart, and with an air of indifference as to paint -and repairs, while fences seemed to be vainly trying to hold each other -up. - -The ponies were fresh and frisky, and did not mind the tug. Kathie was -silent for the most part, her brain in a kind of floating confusion, not -at all unpleasant, but rather restful. - -"Now, which is the back road, I wonder?" said Uncle Robert, slowly, -checking the horses a trifle. - -Both roads were exceedingly dreary-looking, but they decided to take the -one farther north, and before they had gone a quarter of a mile they met -a team, driven by a young lad. - -"Is this Middleville?" asked Uncle Robert. - -"Yes." - -"Which is the back road?" - -"Keep straight along. You're right." - -"Where does Mr. Jotham Strong live?" - -"Over there in that yaller house," the boy answered, nodding his head. - -The place began to take on quite a village look. There was a brown, -weather-beaten meeting-house, a small country store, and houses -scattered around at intervals. Some were quite tidy-looking, but the -most had a kind of dilapidated air. - -Mr. Strong's was large and roomy on the ground-floor, as numerous -additions had been made on three sides of the building. There was a -door-yard in front, where in summer they must have an abundance of -roses, and two wide flower-beds down the path. Such signs went to -Kathie's heart at once. - -Uncle Robert sprang out and knocked at the door. The hard-featured face -that Kathie remembered so well in connection with the purple bonnet -peered through the kitchen window. - -The child would have laughed at the commotion inside, if she could have -seen it,--how Sary Ann dragged the floating ends of her hair into a -knot, caught up a towel and wiped her face, making it redder than -before, jerked down her sleeves, which, having neither hooks nor -buttons, hung round her wrists. - -She stared as she opened the door to a strange man, but glanced past him -to the carriage. - -"I have brought Miss Kathie Alston up to see you," Mr. Conover -announced, in his warm, cheerful voice, for he recognized Sarah from -Kathie's graphic description. - -"O my! and I'm all in a heap; but I'm so glad!" and she ran out to the -wagon, but stopped at the gate with a sudden sensation of bashfulness, -and a wonder if she ought not to have said something more to the -gentleman. - -"How do you do, Sarah?" Kathie's voice was like the softest of silver -bells pealing on the frosty air. - -"O, I'm so glad! I didn't hardly believe you'd come. I looked last -Sat'day. Your letter was so nice. I'm glad you liked the lichen. Jim and -me hunted over hundreds of 'em, and found the very biggest. Do get out -and come in the house; you must be perished! Is that the uncle you wrote -about in your letter?" - -"Yes." Uncle Robert had come down the path by this time. "My uncle, Mr. -Conover," Kathie said, gracefully, "and Miss Sarah Strong." - -Sarah made a dash at her hair again as if she was afraid of its tumbling -down, and courtesied to Uncle Robert so in the style of a country -school-girl that he smiled inwardly. "O, coax her to get out!" she -exclaimed, appealingly. "I've got a fire all ready to light in the best -room, and I want you to see my pictures,"--with a very long emphasis on -the last syllable. "Mother 'xpects you to stay to dinner, and my -Sat'day's work is 'most done. Come in,--do." - -By this time Mrs. Strong had made herself tidy and appeared at the hall -door. - -"Come in," she exclaimed, cordially,--"come in. Sary Ann, show the -gentleman how to drive right down to the barn. Jim's there thrashin' and -he'll see to the hosses!" - -Kathie was handed out. Sarah turned the horses to face the path to the -barn. - -"Down there," she said. "Steve, come here!" - -Steve, thirteen or thereabout, sheepishly obeyed, and took the rest of -his sister's order in silence. - -"Don't you go," said Mrs. Strong to Mr. Conover. "There's boys enough to -the barn, and they know all about hosses. Come in an' get warm. You must -be about froze! I'm right glad to see you, child." - -Kathie introduced Uncle Robert again. They were marshalled into a large, -uncarpeted kitchen, full of youngsters, with a great red-hot stove in -their midst. - -"Get out of the way, childern! Sary Ann, run light the fire in the -parlor while they're gettin' warm." - -"It is not worth while to take that trouble," returned Uncle Robert. "We -came up for a call, but judged it best to take the pleasantest part of -such a cold day. So do not let us interfere with your usual -arrangements." - -"You ain't a goin' to stir a step until after dinner. Sary'll be awful -disapp'inted. We've plenty of everything, and you won't put us out a -bit. We've been looking for you, like, ever sence Sary Ann had her -letter. Take off your things, child! Ain't your feet half froze?" - -"O no." - -There was no resisting, however. Mrs. Strong talked and worked, tumbled -over the children, picked them up and set them on chairs, bidding them -keep out of the way, insisted that Kathie should sit beside the roasting -stove, and presently Sarah returned. She had brushed her hair into a -more respectable shape, and tied a most unnecessary scarlet ribbon in -it, seeing that the hair was of a sandy reddish color. - -But her clean calico dress certainly did improve her. Yet as she entered -the room she was seized with a fit of awkward bashfulness. - -"I believe I will go out and look at the ponies," remarked Mr. Conover. - -"Mind they're put out. You're not going to stir a step till you've had -your dinner. Marthy, you peel them taters; quick now." This to a rather -pretty girl of ten, who had been writing with a pin on the steamed -window-pane. - -"Come in the other room," said Sarah to Kathie. - -The child followed. It was not very warm yet, but there was a great -crackling, blazing fire upon the hearth, which was a delightful picture -in itself. - -Sarah stood and viewed her guest wonderingly. The long golden curls, the -clear, fine complexion, the neat-fitting dress, the small white hands, -and the dainty kid boots, were all marvels to her. - -"You're very rich," she said, presently, in a peculiar manner, as if she -could almost find it in her heart to envy Kathie and grow discontented -with herself. Kathie's fine sense and tact detected it. - -She stretched out her hand and took Sarah's,--a little rough, but soft -and plump. "My uncle is," she answered; "he is very good to us children. -My father died when I was a tiny little girl." - -"Did he?" Sarah knelt down, and began to wind the silken curls over her -finger. "But you are so--so different. You don't have to work,--do you?" - -"A little," and Kathie smiled. - -"What! a lady like you? Don't you keep servants? For Jim said the place -was like a palace!" - -"We keep one servant only, and a gardener. Mamma thinks it right that -every one should learn to be useful." - -"But if I was rich I wouldn't do a thing! I actually wouldn't." - -"I am afraid you would soon get tired of idleness." - -"O, I'd have books, and read, and paint pictures, and a pianny--" - -"Piano," corrected Kathie, gravely, as if she had been a teacher with -her class. - -Sarah turned scarlet, then gave a little embarrassed laugh. "I never can -get the words all right. They do plague me so; but I haven't been to -school for two years. Mother wanted me home, for Martha was so little. -That's why I'd like to be a lady, and know just what was right to do and -say. I thought you was so elegant that night!" - -"There are a great many 'ladies,' as you call them, much poorer than -you; and some rich people who are coarse and ignorant." - -"There ain't only two or three men in Middleville any richer than -father. He owns sights of land and timber, but he thinks that if you can -read and write and cipher a little it is enough. I don't suppose I could -ever be as nice as you are, though,"--with a sadness in her tone and a -longing in her eyes. - -"In what respect?" Kathie smiled encouragingly. - -"Well--to talk as you do. I thought that night at the Fair that it was -just like a story-book or music. I know I'm always makin' mistakes." - -"Then you must try to be careful. Does not your teacher correct you?" - -"Well, I am learning a little; but it seems to be such hard work. How -did you do it?" - -"I have always been sent to school, and then my mother has taken a good -deal of pains with me. It seems unfortunate that people should fall into -such careless habits of pronouncing, and oftentimes of spelling." - -"Was my letter all right?" Sarah asked, with quick apprehension. "I -tried so hard, and wrote it over ever so many times." - -"I let my uncle read it, and he said he had seen letters from older -women that would hardly bear comparison. There were very few mistakes in -it." - -Kathie's honesty impelled her to say this, though under some -circumstances she would have uttered no comment. - -"Tell me what they were. I think I could do better now." - -"Do you really wish me to?" - -"Yes, I do," with a good deal of rising color. - -"Your pronoun I, when you speak of yourself, must always be a -capital,--never a small i, and dotted." - -"But how can you tell?" - -"It is a personal pronoun, and is never used in any other way. A single -I must always be a capital." - -"Always! I'll be sure to remember that," Sarah answered, with great -earnestness; "and what else?" - -"Christmas wasn't quite right. That begins with a capital, because it is -a proper name, and the first syllable is spelled just like Christ." - -"Is it? Why, I never thought! and I've seen it so many times too. What -other mistakes were there?" - -"I really cannot remember," said Kathie, laughing; and she spoke the -truth. "The lichen was so lovely, Uncle Robert put it up in the library. -Where do you find such beautiful specimens?" - -"Over in the swamp, about a mile south of here. There are so many pretty -things. Do you know Indian pipe?" - -"Yes!" exclaimed Kathie, with a touch of enthusiasm. - -"Isn't it lovely?--just as if it was cut out of white wax. I like to go -rambling round to find all manner of odd things; but I never thought of -putting them up anywhere, or making frames. O, come see mine!" - -Both girls rose, and Kathie really took her first survey of the parlor. -There was a dull-colored ingrain carpet on the floor, the flowers of -which ran all over it; a square, stiff-backed sofa, studded with brass -nails; some rush-bottomed chairs, two old family portraits, and a pair -of high brass candlesticks on the mantelpiece. - -But above this Sarah had hung her two pictures, and put up the lichen -brackets. - -"I couldn't make my frame as pretty as yours," she said; "and I broke -ever so many straws." - -"But you succeeded very well, I think." - -"And I made this. I took the picture out of a book." - -It was a moss frame, very neatly manufactured, but the picture was a -rather coarsely colored fashion-plate. - -"I do love pictures so! I wish I had a whole houseful! And if I could -only make 'em myself,--them, I mean," coloring, and correcting her -speech. - -"I have brought you two more--O, they were left in the wagon!--and some -books." - -Sarah's eyes sparkled. "Would you mind running out? The boys have some -rabbits down to the barn, and there's a great swing,--O, and loads of -nuts! Do you ever go chestnutting?" - -"I have been, but there are not a great many trees around Brookside." - -"Here's a shawl; just wrap yourself head and ears in it. We're going -down to the barn, mother." - -They found Uncle Robert entertaining Jim and Steve, the latter of whom -sat in wide-eyed astonishment; but the entrance of the girls broke up -the conclave. - -Sarah took, Kathie all round, showed her Whitefoot and Jenny, both of -whom whinnied gratefully. Then there was the beautiful little Durham -heifer that Jim was raising, hens of every variety, the rabbits, the -loft strewn with corn, nuts, and strings, and packages of seeds. - -Then Kathie must swing. Steve pushed her until the dainty kid boots -touched the beam, and she experienced the sensation of standing upon her -head. - -In the midst of this a shrill blast from a horn reached their ears. -Kathie started. - -"That's for dinner. Father's gone to mill to-day with Mr. Ketcham, and -he won't be home." - -The three younger ones took the lead, while Uncle Robert and Jim -lingered behind, discussing ways and means of making money at farming. - -Such a table full of youngsters looked strange to Kathie's eyes. On the -whole they behaved very well, a little awed, perhaps, by the presence of -strangers. Sarah paused now and then to watch Kathie, whose quiet -manners were "so like a lady." She made no clatter with her knife and -fork, did not undertake to talk with her mouth full, and said "Thank -you" to everything that was handed to her. - -"I never can be like that!" she thought with a despairing sigh, and yet -unconsciously her manners took tone from this unobtrusive example. - -Uncle Robert and Kathie made themselves at ease with truest politeness. -Mrs. Strong talked over the Fair, and how much she enjoyed it, and told -Kathie that the children were delighted with their gifts. Then followed -some conversation on the war. The Strongs were very patriotic, to say -the least. Sarah was excused from helping to wash the dishes, so she and -Kathie went to the parlor again, and the package was opened. - -A very pretty story-book, one of Kathie's favorites, and a copy of -Longfellow's Evangeline, illustrated. She had also brought two colored -photographs,--the sad-eyed Evangeline, and the "Children," companion -pictures. - -"I don't know whether you like poetry or not, but it always seems to me -that it is pleasant to know the story of anything that interests you." - -"I like--some verses--" Sarah returned, rather hesitatingly, "and the -book is beautiful. But--I can't say anything at all--" - -The tears were so near to her voice that it rendered her almost -ungracious. - -"You will enjoy them better by and by," Kathie went on, softly. "Some -day you may be able to make pretty frames for the pictures. And I -brought you a set of crochet-needles. Can you crochet?" - -"Only to make a chain. I can do that with my fingers. I wish I did know -how. And if I could ever knit a cap like the baby's!" - -"We will sit down here and talk, and I can show you one or two patterns -of edgings that are simple and pretty." - -"How good you are!" - -Sarah was no dullard, after all. Though her fingers appeared rather -clumsy at first, she soon managed to conquer the intricate loops, -turnings, and stitches. - -"Why, I wouldn't have believed it!"--in great joy. "I've done a whole -scallop by myself." - -Kathie laughed in answer. - -"Now, if you'll only tell me something more about grammar, and putting -the right word in--the place where it belongs. You see all the big girls -at school know so much more than I do--" - -Kathie understood. She explained several matters that had been great -mountains to her in the beginning. - -Now and then a bright light illumined the clear hazel eye, and a pleased -smile played around the lips. "How good you are to take so much -trouble!" she exclaimed, gratefully. - -By and by Mrs. Strong came in to have a little visit with their guests. -Sarah displayed the books and pictures, and the three inches of rather -soiled crocheted edging. - -"Sary Ann's a curis girl," explained her mother; "she has a great notion -of larnin', and all that, but her father hasn't much faith in it. He -thinks gals and wimmen were a good deal better when they didn't know so -much; and then you begin to want--everything. There's so much dressin' -and foolin' goin' on nowadays." - -"It is rather the lack of education, I should imagine. True knowledge -expands one's soul as well as one's mind," said Uncle Robert. - -"Well, mebbe, if it's the right sort; but this gettin' their heads so -full of dress--" - -"Which is a sign that something better should be in them," was the -pleasant response. - -"And then they're ashamed of their homes, and their parents as slaved to -bring them up, and make fun of everything that isn't right according to -their thinking. I've seen it more'n once." - -Kathie blushed, remembering Lottie Thome's criticism. Mrs. Strong -certainly did look prettier in this clean calico gown and white collar -than in her purple bonnet with red roses. - -"Yes," he answered; "it does happen, I know. But it seems to me that any -daughter or sister who acquired with her other knowledge true views of -her duty towards God and those around her could hardly fail to be -benefited by an enlargement of her narrow sphere of thought. Our first -duty is at home, but we do not stop there." - -"Few people think of duties of any kind nowadays." - -"Does not God leave a little to us? We who know them ought to make them -attractive to others." - -"It's so much easier to be bad; and I often wonder at it," whispered -Sarah, through Kathie's shimmering curls. "But if some one would make -all that is right and good attractive, as your uncle says--I wish I -could live with you awhile. I don't believe you ever have anything to -worry you!" - -"Yes, I do," answered Kathie; "I have to try pretty hard sometimes." - -Sarah studied her in surprise. "But if I were to try I never could be -half so good." - -"Will you try?" Kathie uttered it with unconscious earnestness, and the -light that so often shone about her came out in her face. - -But Uncle Robert, looking at his watch, declared that it was time for -them to go. Mrs. Strong was so sorry not to have "Father" see them, and -begged them to come again. - -"It's been such a beautiful visit," exclaimed Sarah, with a tremble in -her voice. "I'll try to remember everything you have told me!" - -Steve brought a bag of nuts to put in the wagon, and Jim shook hands -rather sadly with Uncle Robert. - -"He is one of the right kind"; and with that he went back to the barn, -whistling thoughtfully. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -COMFORT IN NEED. - - -"WELL, Kathie, was the visit a success?" - -They had ridden a long way before Uncle Robert asked this question. He -had been remarking the changes that passed over Kathie's face like light -drifts of summer clouds. - -"I am very glad that we went." - -"What perplexes you then, Kitty?" - -"A good many things, Uncle Robert. Some grave questions that I cannot -understand," in a half-hesitating way. - -"Can I help you?" The tone was gravely sweet. - -"You always do,"--smiling. "Something Mrs. Strong said troubled me. -Sarah _is_ ambitious, she has a desire for education, and a longing for -refinement,"--with deliberation in her slow tones. "But what if--she -_should_ be ashamed of her home, after all? It is not so very -attractive,--pretty, I mean. Why, the only lovely thing in that great -parlor was the bright blazing fire." - -"If Sarah takes hold of the right end of life, she will try to make her -home more pleasant for the others as well as herself." - -"But, Uncle Robert, it is so hard to see when you are right in the midst -of a thing,--a sort of muddle. A person standing on the outside would be -likely to discover the best paths. And I thought--what if I should be -the means of making her discontented instead of happy." - -"So you are not quite convinced that it is wisest to sow beside all -waters?"--with his peculiar smile. - -"If I was certain I had the right seed." - -"The seed is all alike,--love, faith, patience. Yes, I can catch your -meaning,"--as the little face grew very sober. "You do not want to rouse -her to a sense of and love for beauty to which she can never attain." - -"That is it." - -"I do not imagine you need begin to feel anxious immediately. Her crude -attempts at beautifying will be very good exercise for her awakening -brain, and she has so much of the practical to learn that she will be -less likely to run into vanity, at least no more than one would -naturally expect. If you choose, Kathie, you might help her in a very -good work." - -"I do choose." - -"When you find that you have too much on your small hands, you must pass -the heaviest over to me. Remember that I shall always stand ready. And -doing these bits of girl-work for girls will make the woman-work plainer -by and by. It is taking up the little opportunities as they come, not -waiting for a great deed to be shaped to your hand presently." - -"I think I must always do little deeds. They seem so much safer to me -than the large ones." - -"I heard Sarah ask if she might write to you; what did you answer?" - -"I said that I should be glad to hear. And I shall want to know how she -likes her books. You do not think mamma would object?" - -"O no. It is the best and wisest act that you could do for her. There -was something so sweet and grateful in her sending you the lichen that I -have a good deal of faith in her capabilities. It will be good ground in -which to sow seed. Sarah's whole life may be the better for the chance -friendship." - -"But if she should become refined and--" - -"That is looking to the flavor of the fruit, my dear. God means that we -shall not see it any faster than it can grow." - -She smiled, satisfied. - -The air was very keen indeed now. A bitterly cold night it would be. The -tender heart went out to the thousands on "tented field," and prayed for -peace, that they might return to warm, pleasant firesides. - -Aunt Ruth ran down stairs as she saw them coming. - -"Let Freddy take the horses," she said. "A telegram has come for you, -and it may be important." - -Freddy was elated with the permission. He was indulged now and then with -short drives, but, being rather anxious to display his skill, he was -sometimes quite venturesome. - -Kathie drew a long, anxious breath. As was natural, her first thought -was for Rob. - -An expression serious almost to pain crossed Uncle Robert's face. - -"Sad tidings for the close of our happy day," he said. "I am summoned to -Alexandria immediately. Mr. Meredith--" Then he handed the slip of paper -to Kathie. - -Mr. Meredith had been severely wounded, and sent to the hospital at -Alexandria, whether fatally or not the message did not state. - -"The express train goes through at six," Uncle Robert said, "and in this -case there is no time to be lost." - -They all felt that when Mr. Meredith sent, the summons must be urgent -indeed. Mr. Conover had more than an hour to make the few preparations -he would require. But there were two or three letters to answer, so he -went to the library, while Mrs. Alston hurried the tea. - -Kathie stood by the window in a mood of peculiar silence. Somehow, -though she had known the danger all along, with the confidence of love -she could hardly believe that any evil would betide her soldiers. -Numbers of men had served their three years without any serious mishap, -and it seemed as if God would watch over these two among the many -thousands. - -"Aunt Ruth, do you suppose--" - -"My darling, we can suppose nothing, only hope for the best." - -"But it is so terrible to think of him--in any great peril." - -So gay and laughing always, so full of vivacity with all his gentlemanly -indolence, so strong and buoyant! In fancy she saw him stretched upon a -hospital pallet, very white, like Aunt Ruth, last winter, or perhaps -having undergone some fearful operation. - -And then there came to Kathie a remembrance of the last drive together, -of the few lines in the letter. It was so precious to know that, living -or dying, all was well with him. Kathie clung to that comfort with all -her fond, trembling heart. Was it God's love and grace that brought -human souls so near together and made them one great family? - -"I have one request to make," exclaimed Uncle Robert, entering the room; -"if you should see any of the Darrells do not mention this circumstance, -unless they may have heard. I will telegraph home as soon as I reach the -hospital, and write at my earliest convenience. Kathie, will you run -over to the Lodge and ask Mr. Morrison to drive me to the station by -six?" - -Kathie wrapped up head and ears in a blanket-shawl, and ran down the -drive. When she came back supper was ready and Uncle Robert's -portmanteau packed. - -They bade him a tender good-by, and Kathie whispered a fond and precious -message. - -Afterward they went to Aunt Ruth's sitting-room. Kathie felt rather -drowsy and indolent with her ride through the keen air, and took -possession of Aunt Ruth's lounge; for she was in no mood to read or sew, -or even to take up her fancy crocheting. - -"Did you have a nice visit?" asked her mother, at length. - -That roused Kathie. "It was very peculiar, mamma, and I enjoyed it a -good deal. I like Sarah, although she is not--" - -"Not much cultivated, I suppose," said Aunt Ruth. - -"Mamma, why did not we, when we were very poor, grow careless? I don't -know as I can explain just what I mean," Kathie raised her face, -perplexed and rosy. - -"I think I understand. It is not the result of a few years, or even of -poverty, but the lack of culture. Often a whole village or settlement, -where there is no particular ambition for education, will fall into -careless and rough habits of action and speech. Every one does the same, -and it is hardly remarked." - -"But I suppose there has always been a school at Middleville,--and it -is so near Brookside and other towns." - -"Many of these old country settlers are very sensitive. They think their -way as good as any one's, and, if a few families are particularly -refined, accuse them of holding themselves in high esteem, and being -above their neighbors. It often proves difficult to overcome old habits -of pronunciation and the manners and customs to which one has always -been used. It was different in our case. Aunt Ruth and I were brought up -in a city, and had the best advantages. I was not very likely to forget -what I had learned as a girl." - -It _did_ make some difference, then, whether a person was rich or poor; -and if one could not help his or her position-- - -"Mamma, wasn't it very hard to lose your fortune?" - -"Yes, dear," Mrs. Alston answered, simply. - -"But we might have been poorer still. There are all the Maybins--and the -Allens--and we had a very comfortable home." - -"Yes. We owned our cottage, and had an income of just seventy dollars a -year. It was a great deal better than nothing, though many a stitch had -to be taken to provide for the rest of our needs." - -Kathie remembered,--staying in the house to sew long simple seams for -mamma, doing errands, washing dishes, sweeping rooms, and wearing -dresses that were faded, shoes a little shabby, and never having more -than a few pennies to spend. How great the change was! And it did not -end with personal comforts merely. Nearly all the rich people in the -neighborhood came to visit them. Every one nodded to her as she drove -out in her pony-carriage. Yet, if she lost her fortune, would they let -her drop out of sight and out of mind? Ah, how very cruel it would be! - -"It is a very delightful thing to have an abundance," Mrs. Alston went -on, as if she held the key to her daughter's thoughts. "Not that it ever -makes a person better, socially or morally, though the world, society, -generally gives the precedence to money. It affords you leisure for -cultivation; it frees you from a great many harassing cares, though it -may bring others in their stead, for no life is exempt. And it certainly -does add many new duties." - -"It is right to have the cultivation, the pretty houses, the beautiful -furniture and pictures and--dresses?" - -Kathie asked her question with a sort of hurried abruptness, as if a -definite answer was of the utmost importance to her, as if, indeed, she -longed for a fuller understanding of the subject. - -"Yes," answered her mother, slowly. "All these things were given to us -to enjoy, to use, yet not abuse. But when we seek them selfishly, when -we think of nothing beyond our own personal needs, and of ministering to -our vanity and self-love, they do become a great snare and temptation." - -"If one could tell just where the dividing line ought to be," Kathie -said, shyly. - -"It is quite easily found if one searches in earnest: to think of others -rather than of one's self; to give as well as to receive, not merely -money or clothes, but sympathy, love, tender thoughts, little acts of -pleasure; to minister to the poor in spirit as well as the poor in -purse." - -"And that brings me back to Sarah, mamma. Her father may be as rich -as--we are," rather hesitatingly. "At all events Mrs. Strong spent a -good deal at our table at the Fair, and never seemed to mind it a bit. -But their house has such a barren look. They have very few books or -pictures or pretty articles of any kind, yet I do believe Sarah would be -very fond of them. She has not been to school for nearly two years, so -she has had very little chance to improve. Her father is afraid that if -she should learn a great deal she will be ashamed of her home, and all -that. I do not see how she could like it very much, because there is so -little in it to please." - -"Some old-fashioned people seem to be afraid of education, but I believe -it is from a lack of true appreciation of it. Whether rightly or not, -civilization has made our wants extend beyond the mere necessities of -life. We need some food for the soul as well as for the body." - -"But if education should make Sarah discontented and unhappy?" - -"We cannot always see what the result will be, but we are exhorted to -work, nevertheless." - -"She asked me to write to her again, mamma. You do not think it will -be--" Kathie could hardly get hold of the right word to use. - -"Injudicious, I suppose you mean? No, I do not. You may learn something -as well." - -Kathie was glad that her mother looked upon it in that light, and yet -she smiled a little to herself, not exactly discerning her own lesson in -the matter. - -"Our Saviour said, 'Freely ye have received, freely give'; and, my -little girl, it seems to me that we have received very generously. When -I was prosperous before, I am afraid that I did not think much of the -needs of those around me; but in my poverty I saw so often where a -little would have been of great assistance to me. I feel now as if God -had placed a great treasure in my hands to be accounted for to the -uttermost farthing at the last day. It will be good then to have other -lips speak for us." - -Kathie understood. "Yes, it will, mamma." Then she lapsed into silence. -How all these things crowded upon one as the years went by! Fourteen -now; in three years she would be quite a young lady. Looking at it -caused her to shrink back to the cloisters of girlhood. - -Afterward her heart wandered out with Uncle Robert on his lonesome -night-journey, and to the other face pictured still and white before -her. All she could do in this case was to pray. - -They went to church on Sunday, and saw Miss Jessie, bright and smiling -as usual. Then she did not know! It actually startled Kathie a little. - -"Where is your uncle?" Charlie asked, as they were standing together. - -"He was called away upon some business," Mrs. Alston answered for -Kathie. - -The telegram came on Monday. "Arrived safely," it said. "No change in -Mr. Meredith. Look for a letter to-morrow." - -So they could still tell nothing about him. Kathie had grown so very -anxious that it appeared as if she could not wait. The day was a little -cloudy, and she made that an excuse for not driving out. Even her music -failed to interest. She just wanted to sit and wonder, never coming to -any definite conclusion. - -The Tuesday letter was long, written at intervals, and contained the -whole story. Mr. Meredith was out with a scouting-party early in the -week before, when they were surprised by the enemy and made a desperate -resistance. But for his coolness and bravery none of them would have -escaped. Two or three were killed and several wounded,--he very -seriously indeed; and he had been sent immediately to Alexandria. The -journey had doubtless aggravated the injury. He was in a high fever -now; and though he had recognized Mr. Conover at first, he soon lapsed -into forgetfulness again. Mr. George Meredith had been on, and was -unable to remain; but Uncle Robert had decided that this was his post of -duty for the present. He had also written to Miss Jessie, he said. - -"We must give him up willingly, therefore," Mrs. Alston remarked. - -Yes; Kathie least of all felt inclined to grudge another the cheerful, -comforting presence. - -"But it is terrible!" she said; "it did not seem to me as if Mr. -Meredith _could_ die." - -"He may not. If they can succeed in keeping the fever under control -there will be hope. The wound itself is quite manageable, Uncle Robert -believes." - -But by the end of the week Miss Jessie and her father had been summoned. -There was very little if any hope. - -One of Ada's occasional letters reached Kathie about this time. "Isn't -it dreadful?" she wrote. "Mamma says that she can hardly forgive Uncle -Edward for going in the first place, when there really was no need, and -he was crazy to enlist afterward; and it puts everything out so! I must -tell you that mamma intended to give a grand party. The cards had been -printed, and some of the arrangements made, but when papa came home he -would not hear a word about it. I have been out quite a good deal this -winter, and have several elegant party dresses. I was to have a -beautiful new pink silk for this, but mamma wouldn't buy it when she -heard the worst news. It's _too_ bad; and if Uncle Edward should be lame -or crippled-- O, I cannot bear to think of it! If he had been an officer -there would have been a great fuss made about it. I really felt ashamed -to see just 'Edward Meredith, wounded,' as if he were John Jones, or any -common fellow! But I hope he will not die. Death is always so gloomy, -and mamma would have to wear black; so there would be an end to gayeties -all the rest of the winter." - -Kathie felt rather shocked over this, it sounded so heartless. Was death -only an interruption to pleasure? As for her, she carried the thought in -her heart day and night, and began to feel what the Saviour meant when -he said, "Pray without ceasing." How easy it seemed to go to him in any -great sorrow! - -"But O, isn't it lonely?" she said to her mother. "If Uncle Robert had -been compelled to go, how could we have endured it?--and Rob away -too,--dear Rob!" - -That reminded her that she owed him a letter. It was such an effort -nowadays to rouse herself to any work of choice or duty. "Which is not -marching steadily onward," she thought to herself. "I can only pray for -Mr. Meredith, but I may work for others. Rouse thee, little Kathie!" - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THORNS IN THE PATH. - - -IT appeared to Kathie that she had never known so long a fortnight as -the first two weeks of Uncle Robert's absence; yet everything had gone -on just the same, none of the duties were changed, only the absence and -the dreadful suspense. - -Yet something else had happened, or was working itself out slowly day by -day. Among the new scholars were several quite stylish and fashionable -girls, who felt inclined to draw a line, or make some kind of a social -distinction. - -Foremost among these was Isabel Hadden, a tall, showy girl, who prided -herself upon her figure and style. Her father had made a fortune as an -army contractor, and was now in Washington. He had purchased a very -pretty country residence at Brookside, and installed his family there, -though Mrs. Hadden frequently joined him for weeks at a time. - -Belle had been at a second-rate boarding-school for a year before the -family had attained their present grandeur. Now a distant connection -filled the position of governess to the host of younger children; but -Belle considered herself too large to come in with "that crowd," as she -rather disdainfully termed them. - -She was sent to school every morning in the carriage, and it not -infrequently came for her in the afternoon. Rather distant and haughty -at first, she had not made friends very easily. Mrs. Thorne happened to -meet Mrs. Hadden at an evening party, and it was followed by a mutual -acquaintance. Thereupon Isabel and Lottie became friends, though the -latter was somewhat younger. Lottie's mother was very ambitious for her, -and since Mr. Thorne would not consent to the expense of a -boarding-school, she sent Lottie to Mrs. Wilder, as it was so much more -genteel. - -Belle became the leader of the small clique who discussed fashions -habitually. She criticised the dresses, cuffs, collars, and laces for -the edification of her youthful hearers, until Emma Lauriston said one -day, "Miss Hadden is as good as a fashion-magazine. I don't know but -she would be invaluable in a fancy goods' store." - -Lottie still kept to her old habit of calling upon Kathie for assistance -when lessons were puzzling. For several days in succession she had -occupied Kathie's short intermission, and Mrs. Wilder found that she -began to depend too much upon this kindly help. - -"Miss Kathie," her teacher said at length, "I have a request or a -command in my mind,--you can consider it as which ever is easiest to -obey," and Mrs. Wilder smiled. - -Kathie smiled as well, in her pleasant fashion. - -"I am sorry to find fault with any generous deed that school-girls do -for one another, but I think Lottie Thorne has come to depend altogether -too much upon you. It is hardly fair to occupy your few moments of -recreation when by a little closer application she could solve her own -problems and translations. This is really necessary for her own good." - -"I did not like to be disobliging," Kathie answered, by way of excuse. - -"Your generosity is carried almost to a fault at times. You must learn -to say 'No' occasionally." - -Kathie's soft eyes were downcast. It _would_ be very hard to refuse. - -"Lottie has as much time to study her lessons at home as you have, and I -am always ready to explain any difficulty. That is one of my duties -towards my pupils. I am in a measure answerable for her improvement; and -if she slips through upon the assistance of others she will be the loser -in the end. You understand what I mean?--that while I do not wish to -discourage a helpful feeling among the girls, I desire that each one -should study for herself." - -"Yes," Kathie said, in a low tone. - -"And, my little friend, it is necessary that one should learn to be just -as well as generous." - -Kathie felt the force of the remark. Uncle Robert had explained this -occasionally to her in connection with Rob, who was rather fond of -making her extensively useful. Then she always hated to say no to -others. It was easier to sacrifice her own pleasures or desires. - -To smooth the matter for her, Mrs. Wilder announced that morning that -she wished each girl's translations to be exclusively her own work, and -if there was any great difficulty she would be glad to have them apply -to her. - -Kathie left the school-room the instant recess began. Lottie was still -puzzling over her algebra, and, having finished that, she took up her -imperfect French, meaning to go in search of her little helper. - -Two or three girls were discussing a party. - -"I helped Hattie Norman make out her list last night," said Belle -Hadden. "It is to be very select. Her mother insisted that all the -Brookside rabble should not be invited." - -Hattie Norman was one of the new-comers. Lottie's heart beat a little -faster as she wondered whether she would be classed among the rabble. - -"The Norman boys are elegant," pursued Belle. "They have all been to -dancing-school; and there will be two of Hattie's cousins from the -city,--five young gentlemen of one's own." - -"You might tell us who the lucky ones are," pleaded a voice. - -"That is _my_ secret. The invitations are to be sent out to-day. I -wouldn't miss it for anything. Mamma brought me an elegant tarlatan -overskirt the last time she came from New York. It is just a mass of -fluted ruffling. I shall wear it over my blue silk, I think; blue is so -becoming to me." - -Lottie lingered, talking and listening, and before she imagined the -moments were half gone the bell on Mrs. Wilder's table rang. - -"O Kathie, just stop an instant!" she cried; but the girls were hurrying -in, and somehow Kathie passed on with them. Fifteen minutes after, the -French class was summoned. - -"You must write your translation over for to-morrow, Miss Thorne; and -yours, Miss Hadden, is not very perfect; a little revision would improve -it." - -Much as she disdained the patient governess at home, Belle found her -very useful. - -Kathie kept out of Lottie's way. It looked rather mean to her, but it -was better than an open refusal. - -The trial came the next day, however. To Lottie's great delight, she was -invited to the party, and her head had been so full of it that all the -lessons suffered. She was casting about in her mind what she could have -new, or what could be altered to look like new. - -"O Kathie!" she exclaimed at recess, "just help me out with these few -lines. I made so many blunders yesterday, and I was so busy last -evening." - -"You remember what Mrs. Wilder said on Tuesday." Kathie's heart beat -rapidly with the effort, and she felt quite inclined to run away like a -little coward. - -"What?--O, about asking _her_! but then she never tells one anything. -You might, I am sure; or if you will just let me read over your -translation." - -"It would not be quite fair." Kathie's tone was rather slow and -hesitating. - -"You needn't be so afraid! I should not copy," was the sharp answer. -"Just tell me this case." - -One answer surely would not be a crime. - -"And this line; I can't make beginning nor end of it." - -"I am sorry, Lottie; but Mrs. Wilder said the girls were not to help -each other so much,--that each one was to get her own translation--" - -"Well, I mean to get my own; I just asked you a question. You are very -short and hateful about it!" - -"O Lottie, I do not want to disobey Mrs. Wilder! I would help you if I -could--if it was right." Kathie uttered the words hurriedly, as if after -a moment she should not have the courage to say them at all. - -"You are setting up for a saint, we all know; and it is very convenient -to talk about right when one means to be cross and disobliging! I would -do anything _I_ could for a friend, I am sure." - -Kathie was silent. She knew by experience that Lottie had a habit of -teasing until she accomplished her purpose. - -"So you really won't do that little favor?" - -"Miss Alston!" called one of the girls; and Kathie was glad to go. - -Lottie dropped two or three tears of mortification and disappointment. -She had come to depend a great deal upon Kathie, and it was hard doing -without the help. "She is a hateful little thing, after all," was her -internal comment. - -Belle Hadden let her look over her translation "just a moment." Lottie -had a quick eye and a good memory; but the lesson was not so perfect -that it could escape Mrs. Wilder's attention. - -"Please take a little more pains, Miss Thorne," she said; "I shall have -to mark you for both days." - -Coming out of school, they paused, in girl fashion, to say a few last -words. A rather rusty-looking rockaway wagon passed by, in which were -two females, one of whom was driving. The other leaned out suddenly, -with a cry of joy: "O Miss Kathie! Mother, stop,--do!" - -Kathie colored a little. There was the identical purple bonnet and red -roses, and Sarah Ann had two long rooster-feathers stuck in her jockey -hat, which certainly were waving in the breeze rather ungracefully; but -the child went straight up to the wagon, thrusting aside the cowardly -shame. - -"I'm so glad to see you! Do you go to school there? O my! what a lot -of--young ladies!" and Sarah blushed. "There's the one that laughed at -mother when we were at the Fair! Do you like her?" - -"We are all schoolmates, you know," said Kathie, in a peculiar, but -gentle tone. "Are you well? This is quite a surprise!" - -"You are a good, sensible gal," remarked Mrs. Strong, with a meaning -look, which showed Kathie that she was not so deficient in perception, -after all. - -"O yes! How is your uncle? Jim thinks he's just splendid! We did have -such a nice time that day! I've commenced a long letter to you, and -I've read both books aloud. We liked the story so much! and I cried over -the Evangeline,--I couldn't help it. I'm so glad to have the picture! -Wasn't it sad?" and the ready tears came into Sarah's eyes. - -"It's a real pleasure to meet you"; and Mrs. Strong's face softened to a -motherly glow. "I've come down to get a cousin whose husband was killed -in Tennessee fightin', and the poor thing's a'most begged her way back -with one little child, so I want her to come up and make a good visit -while she's gettin' over the worst. Sez I to father, 'We ain't suffered -any from the war, and gettin' good prices all the time for farmin' -truck, and it's a pity if we can't make it a little easier for them who -have.' She was such a nice young gal, and used to teach school there at -Middleville; but she's seen sights o' trouble sence. And then Sary Ann -begged to come, 'cause her father give her money to buy a new gown." - -"And I coaxed mother to go to your house, but she wouldn't," said Sarah, -shyly. "I wanted to hear something about you so much! I'm so glad!" - -"And so am I," returned Kathie, warmly. - -Plain and unrefined as Mrs. Strong was, she had a good, generous heart. -"We must not keep Miss Kathie standin' here in the cold," she said. -"Which way you goin'?" - -"Straight on to Crosby Street." - -"I wish you'd jump in and ride." - -"O do!" pleaded Sarah. - -The girls had pretty well dispersed. Even Emma Lauriston was walking -slowly down the street. Kathie declined at first, but they urged so -strongly that finally she acceded; and, driving slowly, they had quite a -nice talk, though Mrs. Strong insisted upon taking her nearly home, as -their shopping was all done. - -But the episode had not been suffered to pass unremarked. - -"What an elegant turnout!" sneered Belle Hadden. "Some of Kathie -Alston's country relations, I suppose." - -"No," answered Lottie, "it is some people she met at the Fair." - -"What horrid taste,--and what coarse, uncouth creatures! Who _is_ Kathie -Alston, anyhow? A decided _parvenu_, to my thinking. Are they really -rich,--the Alstons?" - -"No, it is Kathie's uncle, Mr. Conover. He made a fortune off in -Australia, I believe. They were poor enough before!" Lottie uttered this -rather spitefully. Kathie's refusal to assist her that noon still -rankled in her mind. - -"Did they live here then?" - -"O yes! in one of a row of little cottages; and Mrs. Alston had to sew -for a living." - -The murder was out. Lottie had a misgiving that this was decidedly mean -and treacherous; and yet, she said to herself, it was every word true. -Why should the Alstons be ashamed of it? Only it did seem mortifying. - -"This is just about what I thought. Kathie Alston hasn't a bit of style -or dignity; and how they _do_ dress her! There was some common linen -edging on that ruffle she wore to-day, and I don't believe she ever has -more than two dresses at the same time. Plebeian blood will tell. Hattie -Norman asked me about them, but I told her Kathie was only a little chit -that she wouldn't care to invite. I don't suppose they let her go to -parties, or that she knows how to dance. What is the inside of their -house like?" - -"It is very beautiful." - -"Tawdry and cheap, I fancy. Such people have no taste. There is a great -deal in birth. My mother was one of the Van Cortlands, of New -York,--real old blue blood; and I can always tell commoners. I wish -there could be some distinction here." - -"Mrs. Alston is considered very ladylike," said Lottie, with a touch of -remorse. - -"By people who are no judges, I suppose. And Mrs. Wilder treats Kathie -as if she were the greatest lady in the land! I think we ought to put -her down. Where I went to boarding-school we had two parties,--patricians -and plebeians,--and the plebeians were made to keep their places. There -ought to be just such a distinction here. The idea of being intimate -with a girl whose mother has worked for a living! Why, we shouldn't -think of recognizing our dressmaker in society!" - -This sounded quite grand to foolish Lottie. That _she_ was considered -good enough to go to the Normans' to a party was a great thing. And then -Lottie remembered about some great-grandmother of hers, who had belonged -to the French nobility, and escaped during one of the revolutions. -Didn't that make her blood a little blue? If it would only make the -French exercises come easy as well! - -Lottie scarcely noticed Kathie the next day. It was rainy, and the -"patricians" lingered about the stove, discussing the Norman party. -Eight or ten played blind-man's-buff in the walk, and had a gay time, -bringing the roses to their cheeks. - -Two or three of them had bantered Kathie a little about her "friends," -but she accepted it in a very good-natured way. - -A day or two after, Emma Lauriston took her drawing over to the window -where it was lighter, and still lingered at the table when school -closed. Afterward they all fell into a pleasant talk. - -"So you have come over to our side," exclaimed Miss Hadden. - -"Your side?"--with a look of surprise. - -"Yes, the patricians." - -Emma Lauriston had always been called proud, and it was well known that -she was to be quite an heiress by and by, her grandmother having left -her a considerable fortune. - -"I think there can be no question about my tastes or sympathies," she -said, rather haughtily. "Refinement, truth, and honor make my -nobility." - -"Refinement is absolutely necessary to me," remarked Belle, with an -elegant air. "Sometimes I am teased about it, but all kinds of -coarseness and vulgarity are odious to me, whether it is in dress or -behavior. And loud voices or loud manners are equally my detestation." - -Emma did not dissent. One or two thoughts of her own took up her -attention, and the rest of the talk seemed to float around her like the -waves of a distant sea. - -Kathie remarked the change very quickly, for she was keenly sensitive. -That Lottie should be vexed with her she did not so much wonder at, but -why should the other girls shun her? She certainly had done nothing to -them. And it gave her a pang to see some small circle fall apart when -she joined it, each girl giving knowing glances to the others. Then, -too, she was left out of the plays and talks, and though they did -nothing absolutely rude, she seemed to understand that there was a kind -of social ostracism, and she was being pushed over to the side she did -not admire,--to the half-dozen rather coarse girls. - -Belle was not slow in spreading abroad the report. The Alstons were -mushroom aristocracy. Nobody knew _how_ the uncle had made his fortune. -People did everything in Australia,--robbed, cheated, even murdered. And -Mrs. Alston had actually sewed for a living! - -Yet it must be confessed that these very girls fairly envied her the -pony phaeton and the elegant house. - -"Uncle Robert is coming home," said her mother, one afternoon. "We have -received a good long letter from him, and some news that will surprise -you." - -Kathie's face was aglow with interest. - -"You may read it all yourself. He had not time to write any more than -one letter." - -Kathie sat down to her treasure. - -"O mamma! And Miss Jessie is married to--Mr. Meredith! What will Ada -say? But O, will he never get well? It would be harder than ever to have -him die. How strange it seems! Dear Miss Jessie!" - -The doctors had conquered the fever, but there were some serious -complications with his wound, and he was so reduced that it appeared -almost impossible for him to rally. Kathie could see that Uncle Robert -had very little hope. - -"Still he is very happy and resigned," the letter said. "Since his -marriage he seems to have not a wish left ungratified. Mr. and Mrs. -George Meredith were present, and the lady was considerably surprised by -this unlooked-for termination; still, she was very gracious to Jessie. -But the best of all is his perfect peace and trust. A precious hope the -Saviour's love has been, and in his mind his whole brief religious life -seems connected with our darling little Kathie. Every day he speaks of -her. It is true that God has ordained praise out of the mouths of -babes." - -The loving messages brought the tears to Kathie's eyes. And most -delightful of all was the hope of seeing dear Uncle Robert again. So for -two days satirical school shafts fell harmless. - -Rob had a flying visit first of all, but the joy at Cedarwood was -delightful. Uncle Robert reached home just at dusk, and Kathie could do -nothing all the evening but watch him and talk. All the story had to be -told over again, and with it many incidents that could not be -written,--the heroic bravery, the patient endurance and sweet faith. - -"Then he is not sorry that he re-enlisted?" Kathie asked, anxiously. - -"No, my darling. He thinks that his country needed him, and his last act -was to procure some very valuable information. He would like to live if -it is God's will, but it will be well with him either way." - -Uncle Robert held the little hand in his and gave it a fond pressure. -Kathie knew what it said, but her heart felt very humble. - -The next morning she had to tell him about Sarah Strong. - -"And how kind it is in Mrs. Strong to take home this poor cousin!" -Kathie said. "I liked her manner of speaking of it so much. But I -think--" - -Kathie made a long pause. - -"A remarkable thought it must be!" said her uncle, smiling. - -Fred ran in to have his pencil sharpened, and also to announce that one -of the cunning little guinea-pigs was dead. So Kathie's school -discomfort passed out of her mind. - -But it met her on the threshold again. She was rather early at school, -as Uncle Robert wished to drive about the village to do several errands. - -Half a dozen girls were discussing tableaux. Kathie joined them with a -face full of interest. - -"O," she exclaimed, "I do love to hear about tableaux! Are you really -going to have them?" - -There was a coolness and silence in the small circle. - -"It was a little matter of our own that we were discussing," said Belle -Hadden, loftily. - -Kathie turned. She had been in such a happy mood that she was ready for -anything. And the two or three experiences in tableaux had left such a -delightful memory that she was fain to try it again. - -She went to her seat quietly. The voices floated dimly over to her. - -"It is mean not to ask her!" - -"Girls, I know Mrs. Wilder will notice it, and speak of it." - -"You can all do as you like, but if you want Tom, Dick, and Harry, and -everybody in them, I beg leave to be excused," said a rather sharp, -haughty voice. - -"But Kathie Alston isn't--" - -"I would as soon have Mary Carson, or any one of that class. They are -all alike." - -Mary Carson's father had made a fortune in buying and selling iron. She -was as coarse as Sarah Strong, without her ambition or good, tender -heart. - -Somehow Kathie rebelled at being placed in the same category. She took -up her book and tried to study, but her heart was swelling with a sense -of injustice. What had she done to these girls? She was not coarse, or -vulgar, or mean. - -"Plebeian and patrician," some one said with a laugh, as they dispersed -at Mrs. Wilder's entrance. - -Kathie heard of the plan through the course of the day. Some of the -larger girls had proposed that they should give a little entertainment -for the benefit of the wife and children of a Captain Duncan who had -been killed in one of the recent battles. Mrs. Duncan was staying at -Brookside, quite prostrated by her misfortunes. - -Thirteen of the school-girls had been asked. Mrs. Coleman, Mrs. Duncan's -warmest friend, had offered her parlor and dining-room. Sue Coleman was -hand and glove with Belle Hadden. - -Now and then Kathie glanced over to Mary Carson. Vulgarity was written -in every line of her broad, freckled face. Something beside -plainness,--snub nose, wiry brown hair, and the irregular teeth, which -looked as if they were never brushed,--an air of self-sufficiency, as if -she considered herself as good as the best. She was continually talking -of what they had at home, and made the most absurd blunders, which Mrs. -Wilder patiently corrected. The small satires of the other girls never -pierced the armor of her complacency. "And they think me like her!" -Kathie mused, with a sad, sore heart. "I suppose because our fortune -came so suddenly; and yet mamma always was a lady. However, I must bear -it patiently." - -Uncle Robert, seeing her so grave, fancied that it was on account of Mr. -Meredith; and he was so busy that for a few days they had no -confidential talks. - -It was very hard to feel so entirely alone. Even Emma Lauriston was at -home sick with a sore throat. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -UNDER FIRE. - - -EMMA LAURISTON was absent from school three days, and then took her -place, looking somewhat pale and languid; but several of the girls were -rather impatient to see her. - -"Have you heard bad news?" she asked of Kathie. "My cousin said your -uncle had returned." - -"Yes," in a grave tone, rather unlike the sunshiny Kathie. - -"That was quite a romance about your friend Miss Darrell. Do they think -Mr. Meredith will--never get well?" - -"They are afraid." - -The little bell sounded to call them to order, and then began the usual -lessons. Kathie's were always perfect, and yet, oddly enough, it seemed -to Emma that her whole heart was not in them. - -She had fallen into the habit of watching Kathie very narrowly. The -"something different from other girls" was still a puzzle to her; and -when the doctor had said, a few days ago, "You just missed having a -severe attack of diphtheria," it startled Emma a good deal. She knew -several who had died of diphtheria; and if she were to die-- - -Of course she wanted to live. She was young, and full of hope; and there -would be the fortune by and by,--one of those odd bequests of which she -reaped little benefit now, as it was to go on accumulating until she was -twenty-one; but then she would be able to do a great many delightful -things with it. That was not all, however. There was something very -terrible in the idea of death. - -"O Miss Lauriston, we have ever so much to tell you and to talk about!" -exclaimed Sue Coleman. "We are going to have some tableaux for a -charitable object, and we want you to stand in several of them. You will -make such a lovely Sister of Charity in Consolation." - -With that the ball was fairly opened. Emma was pleased and interested at -once. - -"You are all to come over to my house after school. Belle Hadden has -planned everything. She is a host in herself." - -Kathie had been walking up and down with two or three girls that she did -not care much about, only they had joined her, and were, perhaps, better -company than her lonely thoughts. - -"You are going over to Mrs. Coleman's,--are you not?" asked Emma, in -surprise. "Don't you like tableaux?" - -"Very much, but--Good by"; and Kathie made a feint of kissing her hand. - -"Girls, haven't you asked Kathie Alston?" exclaimed Emma, in the first -lull, for the talk had been very energetic; "she would make up lovely in -ever so many characters." - -There was a silence, and the girls glanced at each other with -determination in their faces. - -"What is the matter? Has she offended you? I noticed something a little -peculiar in school to-day." - -"Kathie Alston is well enough--in her place." - -Emma colored. "Her place is as good as any of ours, I suppose," she made -answer, slowly. - -"Well, I don't quite think it is"; and Belle took up the glove. "There -are some social distinctions--" The rest of the sentence was rather -troublesome. - -"I am sure the Alstons are rich, if that is what you mean." - -"That is not altogether what I mean"; yet Belle was a trifle embarrassed -at being forced to meet the issue so squarely, though every girl felt in -her secret soul that Emma was undeniably aristocratic. "If we are to -take up everybody who becomes suddenly rich, there is Mary Carson and -several others; and I've never been used to it. Mamma _is_ particular -about my associates." - -"But the Alstons are educated, refined, and were always wealthy until -they met with a reverse of fortune when Mr. Alston died." - -"And Mrs. Alston used to sew for the whole neighborhood, I've heard. -Fancy being compelled to meet your seamstress as an--an equal! Mrs. -Wilder ought to be more exclusive about her scholars. Mamma said so -herself. And only a few days ago some horrid country clowns stopped -right in front of the school, and she went off to take a ride in their -forlorn old wagon. Our cook is actually related to these people! Their -name is Strong,--a coarse, vulgar set, I know." - -Belle talked very rapidly, and her face flushed with excitement. For -several moments Emma hesitated. The distinction appeared paltry and mean -to her. Then she really _did_ like Kathie. "Girls," she began, at -length, "I think you are unjust. I have been at Cedarwood, and met all -the family. They are refined, intelligent, have a lovely home, and -are--truly noble and Christian people." Emma uttered the last in spite -of herself. - -"Well, every one can do as she likes"; and Belle gave her head a haughty -toss. "I don't think because a man digs up a nugget of gold in Australia -he is entitled to a king's position at once. There are some girls at -school that I should not associate with under _any_ circumstances." - -Emma had a feeling that this was really absurd; yet most of the girls -had ranged themselves on this side, and it did require a good deal of -courage to go against the opinions of her mates and friends. Still, when -she came to think of it, Mrs. Grayson visited the Alstons, the Darrells -were their firm friends, and that rich and elegant Mr. Meredith! But -Kathie _was_ rather inclined to be hand and glove with people beneath -her. - -"And Kathie Alston _does_ take up everybody," said one of the girls. -"Every few days you see her having some common thing in that -pony-phaeton of hers. She hasn't a bit of pride or good taste, and it -seems to me that is next of kin to refinement." - -"Let us go on with the tableaux." - -Emma listened to the arrangements in silence. This made such a beautiful -scene,--that was so brilliant, or so pathetic, and must not be left out. -And before they were aware the dusky evening dropped down about them. - -"Girls," she said at length, in a soft, low voice, "I have decided that -I will not take part in the tableaux. Kathie Alston and I have been -friends, and I shall do nothing that I am quite sure to be ashamed of -afterward. You have been very kind to ask me, and I am not angry with -any of the opinions I have heard expressed, though they may not please -me. Good night." - -"Let her go over to the plebeians!" said some one, with a laugh. - -At home Kathie had two pleasant surprises. First, a letter from Miss -Jessie all to herself, in which they hoped, very faintly indeed, that -Mr. Meredith had taken a turn for the better. If the good news should -prove true, they meant, as soon as it would be safe, to remove to a -private house. And then she said, "My darling little Kathie, we often -feel that we would give half the world to see you." - -The other was from Sarah,--a decided improvement upon her Christmas -epistle,--not a word misspelled, and the sentences very fairly -constructed. The last part was filled with Cousin Ellen and her little -boy. Sarah told the whole story in her innocence, without the least -intention of boasting. Mr. and Mrs. Strong had offered these poor -wayfarers a home until they could do better. - -"It is very good of them,--isn't it?" said Kathie. "If the Strongs are -not polished, they have generous hearts." - -"It certainly is most kind; and I am wonderfully pleased with the -improvement in Sarah." - -"Uncle Robert, would it be rude to send Sarah a pretty blue hair-ribbon, -and tell her a little about contrasting colors? I wish she would not -wear so much scarlet. Is it wrong for everybody to look as pretty as he -or she can?" - -"No, my dear; and sometimes a delicate hint proves very useful. Sarah -has entirely too much color for scarlet; she needs something to tone her -down." - -Kathie had been casting about for some time how to manage this matter -nicely, and her present idea appeared both delicate and feasible to her. -Looking over her store, she found a fresh, pretty ribbon, and forgot all -about the school trouble. - -The tableaux progressed rapidly. A number of the Academy boys were -invited to join. Mr. Coleman had some tickets printed, which sold -rapidly, and the affair promised to be successful. - -But one evening Dick Grayson said, "Emma Lauriston would look prettier -in Consolation, and make the best Evangeline, of any girl in Brookside. -Why haven't you asked her and Kathie Alston?" - -"Emma declined," was the almost abrupt answer. - -"But Kathie is the sweetest little girl I ever saw. She is always ready -for everything." - -There was no response. Belle Hadden had gone quite too far to admit that -_her_ line of distinction had been wrongly drawn. Lottie Thorne felt -both sorry and ashamed; but there was no going back without a rather -humiliating admission. And yet if she only had _not_ spoken that day! - -But Emma and Kathie drew nearer together in a quiet way through these -troubled times. There were some petty slights to endure, and many -unkindnesses. Friends and companions can wound each other so often in a -noiseless manner,--pain and sting without the buzzing of a wasp, so -patent to all the world,--and I often think these unseen hurts are the -hardest to bear. - -The evening at Mrs. Coleman's was both delightful and profitable. The -Brookside Standard contained quite a glowing account of the -entertainment, and praised the young ladies for their labor in so good a -cause. The sum received, with several donations, amounted to -eighty-seven dollars. - -"Why did you not speak of it, Kathie?" asked Uncle Robert. "We would all -have gone." - -Now, there had not been even a ticket offered to Kathie. Indeed, the -space being limited, Sue and Belle had made out a list of guests -beforehand. - -Kathie colored violently, and Uncle Robert looked quite astonished. -Seeing that she was expected to answer, she summoned her courage. - -"It was a--a party affair of the larger girls in school. They did not -ask every one." - -"But we might have sent a gift, the object was so very worthy." - -Kathie made no reply to that. Uncle Robert studied the grave face, and -decided that something had gone wrong. - -Dick Grayson dropped in that evening. "I was so disappointed about your -not being there," he said. "You would just have fitted in two or three -of the tableaux." - -But Kathie did not appear to be disposed to converse on the subject, so -they wandered off into a talk about Rob, and then Mr. Meredith claimed -their attention. - -The patricians flourished in grand style. It would have been really -laughable to sensible people to see how one after another copied Belle -Hadden's airs and graces, and how the gulf widened in school. Several of -the girls asked to have their seats changed, until the plebeians were -left quite to themselves. - -And yet the matter worked out a very odd and rather mortifying -retaliation. One afternoon Dick Grayson overtook Emma Lauriston walking -homeward. He had that day received a letter from her brother Fred, and -repeated some of the contents. - -"Are you going to Belle Hadden's party?" he asked, presently. - -"I have not had any invitation." Emma's tone was rather curt. - -"No?" in the utmost surprise. "What has happened among you girls? You -and Kathie were not at the tableaux. Is there a standing quarrel?" - -Dick and Emma were excellent friends in boy-and-girl fashion. - -"There is something very mean and foolish. I wish somebody could look at -it with clear eyes and give Belle Hadden a lesson!" - -Emma's usually soft voice was indignant, and her face crimsoned with -excitement. - -"But how did Kathie Alston come to get mixed up with it. It seems to me -that she is the last one to quarrel." - -"There was no quarrel, at least no words. There are some very -aristocratic girls in school, and Belle is forever talking about her -mother's family. So they have divided the girls into patricians and -plebeians." - -"But Mr. Conover is a gentleman, and the Alstons are all refined. The -idea of putting Kathie on the plebeian side is absurd! And you too--" - -"I went over there," she said, sharply. "I would not take part in the -tableaux on that account. Kathie had done nothing to them. It was -because her mother used to sew, I believe, and then Kathie herself is -not a bit proud. I suppose if they made a great show and parade like the -Haddens--" - -"I did not think Belle was that small! And you are a splendid champion, -Emma. But Kathie is worthy of the best friendship in the world. She is -never mean or envious, or looking out for the best places, and Mr. -Conover is just royal. The idea of the Haddens setting themselves up! -Why, Mrs. Alston used to sew for my mother, and mother is one of her -warmest friends. Isn't there something very unjust about girls,--some -girls, I mean?" blushing as he corrected himself. "And why does not Mrs. -Wilder interfere, or is she on the patrician side?" - -"Mrs. Wilder really doesn't know anything about it. The little hateful -acts are done on the sly, just looks and tones, or some sentence that no -one can take hold of. It would seem silly to complain of not being -noticed. But it takes away the pleasant feeling that used to exist." - -"And how does Kathie bear it?" - -"Like a little angel. It hurts her cruelly too. About the time this -first began, some very common-looking people spoke to Kathie in the -street, and the girls have laughed and sneered at that. Indeed, nothing -that she does escapes them. I almost wish that I wasn't a girl!" - -"Boys don't badger a fellow that way, if they did there would be some -thrashing! But I know just how to come up with Belle Hadden, and I'll do -it!" - -With that Dick laughed. - -Emma was so much exasperated that the thought rather delighted her. - -"What will you do?" - -"I can't tell you until afterward. Don't I wish Rob Alston was home, -though! He would enjoy the fun." - -They separated at Emma's gate. She was not altogether sure that she was -right in her desire, but she determined not to worry herself on that -score. - -Belle's party was to be quite a grand affair. A number of the Academy -boys were invited, those who were rich and stylish; Belle did not come -to school the next day, and the girls were rather indiscreet without -their leader. - -The rooms were beautiful, the supper elegant, the music fine, but--there -were so _few_ young gentlemen! Not Dick Grayson, nor Walter Dorrance, -nor Charlie Darrell, nor--ever so many others that had been counted upon -sure. - -Emma guessed as she heard the floating talk. - -"I do suppose Belle Hadden was as deeply mortified last night as she -could be," Emma said to Kathie. "If ever I have another cause that I -want righted I will place it in Dick Grayson's hand. He is equal to -Arthur's knights." - -"What did he do?" - -"He said he had a plan. I know now that it must have been to keep the -nicest boys away from the party. Belle likes Dick so much too. It must -have been worth seeing,--their disappointment. A host of wall-flowers -with no one to lead them out to dance!" - -"You didn't ask him to do it?" Kathie's face was full of pain and -regret. - -"No, not exactly. Indeed, I did not know what he meant to do, only I was -telling him about Belle Hadden's meanness, and he thought of a way to -pay her back." - -"I am so sorry it was--that way." - -"Kathie!" - -"O Emma dear, don't think me ungrateful! You have stood by me of your -own accord, I know," and Kathie clasped her hand. "I am so much obliged -to you. They had nothing against you at first, and they were very sorry -not to have you at the tableaux. But it always troubles me to know that -other people have suffered--" - -"Not when they deserve it, surely!" - -"Always--if it can be helped." - -"And you would not have done this? You think it was not right for me to -tell?" - -What could Kathie say,--blame her brave comrade? - -"No, you do not think it right. I can see that in your face! Kathie, how -_can_ you bear everything so patiently?" - -"God makes it all right at last. He asks us to wait his time. And though -it is very hard--" Kathie's lip quivered and her voice grew unsteady. - -"It seems to me this has been the meanest thing I ever knew. You cannot -guess what gave it the first start." - -"Yes. It was while you were sick that the girls--took a dislike to me. I -spoke to some people one day, some friends," correcting herself, "and -Belle laughed at them. Then the girls talked about--mamma." - -"It was shameful!" - -"We _were_ poor, and we had to work. Mamma could not help all that. And -then Uncle Robert came, and we have been so very happy ever since. -Thinking of it all, I don't mind this little trouble much. All that -Belle says cannot make us coarse and vulgar and ignorant, and I have -been trying all the time to look on the best and brightest side." - -Emma put her arm suddenly around Kathie. - -"What is it," she asked, in a husky voice,--"what is it that makes you -sweet and patient and tender and forgiving, always ready to minister to -others and to the poor, even if you are laughed at and teased? Maybe -it's the same grace that takes away the fear of death! O, I wish I knew! -I wish I had it! I am sometimes so miserable, Kathie. Do you believe -that your God _could_ love and pity me a little?" - -"'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'" - -It was all that Kathie could think of to say as Emma stopped short in -her walk, trembling, excited, and tearful. - -"But how to come?" - -Kathie hesitated. It seemed that she knew so little herself, how then -could she direct another? She remembered the other time when she failed -to bear witness, and though her shy, delicate nature shrank from -anything like a parade of her most sacred feelings, strength was given -her when she asked for it. - -"I do not know how it is always--" in her sweet, faltering voice, "but -when I first wanted to try--to be good,--to follow HIM even a little, it -was just as if I reached out my hand and prayed him to take it, and kept -close to him by endeavoring to do what he wishes--" - -"And you did not have--any great light--" - -"I had only a love and a desire to obey him. And it seemed as if -everybody helped me,--mamma, Aunt Ruth, and Uncle Robert. But there is -always something to overcome, some battle to fight." - -"And I am a poor, raw recruit. Do you think He will accept me, Kathie?" - -"Every one--to the uttermost." - -They walked to the corner, where their paths diverged. - -"I wish you would come and see me," Kathie said, with her ready grace. -"Fred was there occasionally last summer, and Uncle Robert liked him so -much!" - -"And you will forgive that--revenge? Perhaps I ought to have waited." - -Kathie's look was sufficient, though she could not have spoken. - -But the child went home in a gravely sweet frame of mind. She was in a -mood to tell Uncle Robert the whole story that evening; but there were -several guests, so there could be no confidences. - -The next morning, after school was opened, Mrs. Wilder rose and told -them she had a few words to say upon a subject that had been a source of -much disquiet for several days; and then she very kindly but wisely took -up the matter that had so divided and agitated the girls, and severely -condemned the folly of which some of them had been guilty. "They would -find as they grew older," she said, "that with people of culture and -refinement social distinctions did not depend so much on a little more -or a little less money, but nobleness of soul, thought, and -feeling,--deeds that could brave and endure the scrutiny of clear eyes, -and not those which must always slink away and hide themselves behind -whispered insinuations." - -It seemed, after all, as if, in some mysterious way, Mrs. Wilder had -learned all the particulars. She mentioned no names, and did not in the -least seek to exalt Kathie; but the child knew by the kiss and the -lingering glance bestowed upon her that afternoon that all her silence -and pain had been appreciated. - -If Belle needed anything further to lower her self-esteem, she had it on -her return home. Mr. Conover, Mrs. Alston, and Mrs. Grayson had met at -the house of a mutual friend when Mrs. Hadden happened to call. - -"Belle," she began, sharply, "how could you have committed such a -blunder as to omit that pretty little Miss Alston from your party-list? -Her mother and her uncle are very charming people, and they have a host -of elegant friends in New York. Mrs. Havens was here last summer to -visit them, and those aristocratic Merediths are warm friends of theirs. -I am so sorry it should have happened!" - -"Miss Alston is a regular little Methodist,--too good to go to parties," -returned Belle, rather crossly. - -And so ended the reign of the patricians. Belle somehow lost prestige at -school. Even Lottie began to be pleasant again with Kathie, secretly -hoping that Belle would never repeat her unlucky remark. - -Dick Grayson and Charlie had to tell Kathie one evening how they spoiled -a good deal of the fun at Belle Hadden's party. - -"I felt so sorry," Kathie said, gravely. - -"Well, you are the queerest girl I ever saw," was Charlie's comment; yet -something inside told him she was a noble one as well. - -But the sweetest of all was the talk with Uncle Robert. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -IN ANOTHER'S STEAD. - - -CLOSER pressed the ranks of brave men who were to strike a final blow -for the good cause, nearer, nearer, marching on with a steady, crushing -step. The nation rejoiced over victories, but firesides, from palace to -hovel, missed and mourned some dear, familiar face, some cheerful voice -that would never speak again. - -Kathie used to watch daily. The campaign was growing more exciting as it -approached the end. Her heart used to beat chokingly as she glanced down -the lists. And this was what she saw one day: "Missing, William -Morrison." - -"O mamma!" with a quick cry, "did you read this?" - -Mrs. Alston looked. "Oh!" she exclaimed, with sudden pain. "Uncle Robert -and Mr. Morrison have gone to the nursery to select a few more -fruit-trees. They will doubtless hear of it at the village." - -"You do not think--he has been--killed!" - -Kathie's face was very pale and her sweet voice faltered. - -"Hardly," returned Mrs. Alston. "But one can never be quite certain what -becomes of the missing." - -Kathie put on her shawl and hood presently, and walked slowly down the -winding drive. She had not sufficient courage to enter the cottage, -though through the window she saw Ethel and Jamie having a game of -romps. The child's cheeks were like roses, and now and then a careless -laugh floated out to Kathie, who shivered with something more than cold. - -Presently the wagon approached slowly. When Uncle Robert caught sight of -his little niece he sprang out and greeted her warmly. - -"I have some good news for you, Kitty," he said, in his bright, breezy -tone. "Mr. Meredith is really better. They hope to bring him home before -long. Why--isn't it delightful?" seeing that she made no answer. - -"Yes, I am very, very thankful." - -"But, Kathie--what has happened, little one?" - -"Our other soldier--" - -"Mr. Morrison--O child, what tidings of him?" - -"There has been another battle, and he is--missing." - -"The news might be worse then. There is a little hope, so do not despair -at once." - -Kathie grasped his arm tighter, and they walked nearly to the house in -silence. Then he said, "Of what are you thinking, my darling?" - -There were tears in her soft, violet eyes. - -"Uncle Robert, what a strange and solemn thing it is to have any one die -for you,--in your stead." - -"Yes. I wonder if we do not sometimes forget the One who died eighteen -hundred years ago? But this brings it home to you and me in a manner -that we shall always remember." - -"And, looking at that, all our little trials and burdens seem as -nothing. I thought it quite hard to be treated so unjustly at school, -but what was it compared with giving up one's life?" - -"It is something, my darling, when we bear reviling from that highest of -all motives,--His sake. Even the little steps are precious in his sight. -We are not all called upon to walk the sorrowful way he trod." - -"But poor little Ethel!" - -"We promised, you know, to make all the amends in our power to her." - -"But it seems to me that nothing could comfort me if you were gone." - -He took the cold little face in his hands, as they were standing on the -broad porch now, at the very door. - -"Do you love me so well, my child? But we must not forget that those who -stay at home are sometimes called from the earthly ranks. God asks of us -that his will and pleasure shall be ours as well." - -"Yes, I know "; but her voice was quite faint as he kissed her. - -It was dusk, and as he opened the door the cheerful light and warmth of -the hall were most grateful. Kathie gave a shiver as if she were shaking -off the wintry cold. - -"Do not anticipate the worst," he said, pleasantly. "To-morrow's news -may be different." - -She smiled faintly. "I am not a very good soldier, after all," she -returned, with a little faltering in her tones. - -"My darling, when our Captain calls us out to fight, he always gives us -grace and strength. But we must never look away from him; that is part -of the promise." - -She hung up her hood, smoothed her hair, that had been blown about by -the wind, and went in to supper. They all talked a little about Mr. -Morrison, but it appeared to Kathie that they were wonderfully hopeful. -Indeed, the news from Mr. Meredith was so very encouraging that it -seemed to dim the force of the other. - -Afterward Mr. Conover went down to the cottage. Freddy brought his -solitaire-board to Kathie. - -"I've forgotten how it is done," he said, "and I want you to show me. -Let me take them out, and you just tell me when I go wrong." - -It really seemed that Fred had a marvellous faculty for going wrong. -Kathie felt very much as if she did not care to be bothered. She was -restless and nervous, and wanted to curl herself up on Aunt Ruth's -lounge and think a little. - -"Greater love hath no man--" the words kept running through her mind. -But the love began in little things, even the love which suffered at -last upon the cross. So she roused herself to patience and interest. - -Uncle Robert looked quite grave when he returned. The Morrisons had -heard the tidings, and were very anxious. - -"I must write to Mr. Morrison's captain to-morrow," he said. "We must -make every effort to find him. He may have been wounded and carried off -of the field unnoticed." - -Kathie prayed fervently for Mr. Morrison's safety. Uncle Robert made -immediate inquiries, and they waited in half fear, half hope. In the -mean while events in Virginia had the stirring ring of near victories. -All was breathless excitement throughout the land. Sorties, surprises, -battles, Sherman coming up from his march to the sea, Sheridan brave and -dashing as ever, and Grant going slowly with his men, like some -ponderous machine that was to crush at last. - -And then the telegraph flashed the news far and wide: "Lee has -surrendered!" "Richmond has been taken!" - -It seemed so odd to Kathie to be going on in her quiet, uneventful -fashion. School lessons, music practices, home duties,--nothing grand -or heroic. Mrs. Wilder's lecture to the girls had been productive of a -little good, beside breaking the foolish cabal; for in it she had -touched upon dress and parties, and tried to set before them the urgency -of paying some attention to their studies. So there were fewer bows, a -plainer arrangement of hair, and less talk of fashion. - -"I think it was mean to crowd Kathie Alston out," declared Sue Coleman. -"Mamma says the Alstons are people one might be proud of anywhere; and -they are extremely well connected. She met them one evening at Mrs. -Adams's, and that elegant Mr. Langdon thinks Mr. Conover about perfect. -Mamma is so sorry that we did not have her in the tableaux. Every one -noticed it. That was your fault, Belle!" - -"Of course you are all quite at liberty to choose your own friends," -Belle answered, loftily; "I'm sure you agreed to it. You did not want -Mary Carson and all that rabble." - -"Mary and Kathie are not friends in our acceptation of the term. She is -polite to Mary, and I am not sure but that a ladylike courtesy is more -effectual in keeping people at a distance than absolute rudeness. I -believe Kathie and Emma Lauriston are the only two girls in the school -who have not indulged in rudeness in some form or other." - -"If she is not hand and glove with Mary Carson, she has another friend -who is no better, whom she visits and sends pictures to, and I don't -know what all. It's a second or third cousin of our cook. Of course -these Strongs are rich; so it is not the breeding as much as the money. -But, as I said, you can all do as you like. It seems to me that half of -the town has gone crazy on the subject of Kathie Alston." - -Emma was a little troubled with these talks about Sarah Strong. She had -a certain delicacy which held her aloof from any such associations. -"Kathie," she said at length, "I wish you would tell me how you came to -take a fancy to those people who were at--the Fair, I believe." - -Kathie colored a little. "I don't know as you would understand it," she -answered, slowly. - -"I am beginning to comprehend some things," her eyes drooping a little, -and glancing past Kathie. - -"I noticed them at the Fair--because--something was said to hurt their -feelings--" - -"O, I know! Lottie Thorne came over to our table and made fun of the -woman. But--do you not think--such people always take advantage of a -little notice?--and then it leads to mortifying embarrassments." - -"Maybe that is just one of the things God puts in the daily warfare to -make us good soldiers. It is like being a private in the army. Sometimes -people sneer at the hard, rough work the soldiers have to do, and yet it -often helps the officers to gain the victory." - -"And the officers have the credit. That looks rather unjust, doesn't -it?" - -"It would seem hard if God did not remember it all." - -"But how did you come to visit the Strongs?" - -Kathie told the whole story. "I cannot explain these things to you just -as Uncle Robert does," she went on, with a rather perplexed smile. -"Always when I am in any doubt or trouble I go to him. He thinks when -people are anxious for mental or social improvement a helping hand does -them so much good. Persons in their own station cannot give it, as a -general thing. And the Saviour said, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto -the least of these--'" - -"Yes, I see. But it is harder to do your good in that way, Kathie." - -"Digging in the trenches"; and Kathie smiled. - -"Ah, you have gone out as a private in the ranks; and I am afraid, after -all, that very few of us like to be privates," Emma returned. "But it -certainly did show a good deal of delicate feeling and remembrance when -Sarah Strong sent you the lichen." - -"I thought so. And our visit was very pleasant." - -"Only, if she had not spoken to you that day in the street, it would -have saved you a good deal of pain and trouble," returned Emma. - -"Maybe it was just what I needed. Life is so pleasant and lovely to me -that I might forget who gives it all if every once in a while something -did not bring me back to Him. And it is so good, when others -misunderstand and blame, to know that God sees all, and never makes a -mistake in his judgment." - -Emma was silent. It was the keeping near to Him that rendered Kathie -meek, patient, and full of love. And it seemed to Emma as if she strayed -continually. - -Was it because Kathie always had some good work in hand? - -But amid all the rejoicing, and the certainty that Mr. Meredith would -recover, the other shadow seemed to be growing deeper. Three weeks, and -not a word of Mr. Morrison yet. His captain remembered the man, and -could only account for the disappearance by supposing that he had been -buried among the rebel dead. Twice since the battle they had exchanged -prisoners, and he had not been returned among the well or wounded; and -now every one was flocking to the Union lines. - -"Mr. Darrell went to Washington to-day," Uncle Robert announced to -Kathie. "He is to bring Jessie and Mr. Meredith home." - -"Here,--to Brookside?" - -"Yes," with a smile. "He needs the quiet and the country air, and I -fancy there are two or three people here whom he is longing to see." - -Kathie's heart beat with a great bound. - -By and by she found herself rambling slowly toward the cottage. Hugh was -busy with some spring preparations, pruning trees and vines. He nodded -to her, but did not seem inclined to stop and talk, and Jamie caught -hold of her dress, begging her to come in. - -Grandmother took off her spectacles and wiped them; she often did this -now, for her eyes grew dim many times a day. - -"So you have had good news," she said, after the first greeting. "I am -glad there is a little joy saved out of the great wreck. Such a handsome -young man as Mr. Meredith was too; but there's many a bonny lad sleeping -under the sod, who was fair enough to his mother." - -Kathie slipped her hand within the one so wrinkled and trembling. - -"It is such a sorrow to us all," she said, in her soft, comforting tone. -"I keep thinking of it day and night. It was so noble in him to go--to -suffer--" - -"It is the one thing, Miss Kathie, that gives me a little resignation. I -shall always feel thankful that he went in your dear uncle's stead, not -for the money merely. And if it has saved him--if it has kept you all -together; but this is too sad a talk for you, dear child." - -The tears were dropping from Kathie's long bronze lashes. - -"Dear grandmother, there has not been a morning nor night but that I -have remembered him and his generous deed. I know his life was as -precious to you as Uncle Robert's was to us, and now poor little Ethel -is an orphan--for my sake. How strange that the whole world keeps doing -for one another, and that, after all, no one really stands alone in it!" - -"We are nearer than we think for--rich and poor, when one takes God's -word aright. We can't any of us do without the other unless there comes -a sense of loss and something that is not quite right. You and yours see -further into it than most folk. I'm glad to have the precious comfort of -knowing that William went safely, and that in the other country he has -met his dear wife. I shall soon go to them, and I know well that little -Ethel will never lack for friends. William felt it with great -certainty." - -Another duty was laid upon Kathie. This orphan was to be more to her -than any chance friend. What could she do of her own self? Only to show -her now how truly she appreciated the sacrifice and loss, and to put a -few simple pleasures in her life, to give her tenderness and affection -that might make some slight amends. - -She thought of something else that evening. - -"Uncle Robert," she said, "do you believe there is any hope that Mr. -Morrison may still be alive?" - -"It is very slight now," he answered. "And yet I can hardly be -reconciled to the loss amid this general rejoicing. It seems so much -harder to have him dead now that the war is over and many of the -soldiers will soon return home." - -"I feel so sorry that he had to die out there alone. If some one could -have given him only a cup of cold water--" - -"Perhaps they did." - -"But if it had been you!" Kathie clung closely to him as if there might -be danger yet. - -"It was not, my darling. God seems to hold me in the hollow of his hand, -and while he takes such care of me I feel more than ever the need of -doing his work. And now little Ethel has been added to us." - -"Uncle Robert, I think I ought to take a special share in it, since God -has left me the delight of your love." - -"As Ethel grows older, there will be many things that you can do." - -"But I have thought of this one now. The interest on Ethel's little -fortune amounts to almost one hundred dollars." - -"A little more than that. I put it in bonds." - -"And if it could be saved for her,--since she will want but very little. -She will have her home with her aunt, and need only her clothes. I'd -like to buy those for her as a kind of thank-offering." - -"But, my darling, in a few years more you will be a young lady, and -there will come parties, journeys, and pleasures of different kinds, -where it may be necessary for you to be dressed in something besides the -simple garments of childhood. Perhaps you will want more money -yourself!" - -"I never have to give up anything needful, but I was thinking that I -should like now and then to make a real sacrifice, relinquish some -article that I wanted very much, and use it for her instead. It would -help me to remember what her father had done for me." - -Uncle Robert stooped and kissed her, touched to the heart by her simple -act of self-denial. - -"It shall be as you wish," he replied, tenderly. "And, my dear child, I -am glad to see you willing to take your share in the great work there -is to be done in the world." - -"It is so little, after all, and so many blessings come to me." - -Ah, was it not true that God restored fourfold? After many days the -bread we have cast upon the waters comes floating back to us. Well for -us then if we are not shamed by niggardly crumbs and crusts flung out -impatiently to some wayside beggar while we ourselves feasted. For God's -work and love go together, and there is always something for the willing -hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -HOME AGAIN. - - -THE pony phaeton stood before the school-house. Jasper and Hero nodding -their heads impatiently in the April sunshine. The prettiest striped -lap-robe imaginable was thrown over the empty seat, the plating of the -harness made a silvery glitter, and altogether it was a turnout that one -might be rather proud of, if one's self-complacency was nurtured upon -such things. - -And the driver thereof was not to be despised. The girls, as they -trooped down stairs, thought Kathie Alston "so lucky!" No one in -Brookside had a father or uncle or brother so devoted,--not old, by any -means, and certainly good-looking, but, best of all, showing his -affection in a manner that made her envied of others. - -Sue Coleman had met him several times through the course of the winter, -and pronounced him "magnificent," in her enthusiastic fashion. Indeed, -he was the kind of man to be very attractive to young girls. She bowed -now in her most gracious manner. Belle bit her lip angrily. If she had -taken up Kathie instead of that insignificant little gossiping Lottie -Thorne! Her mother had been to call at Cedarwood, but it wasn't at all -likely that she would be invited within its charmed precincts. Of course -she said she did not care; but there was a gnawing jealousy at her -heart. - -Uncle Robert was so in the habit of coming for Kathie that she sprang -in, nodded a gay farewell to the group, and went on for some distance -before she thought it anything more than a pleasure drive. - -Suddenly her heart gave a quick bound. "You are going to the Darrells'?" -she said. - -"Yes." Disguise it as he might, there was a glow in the half-averted -eyes. - -"O, Mr. Meredith hasn't--come home!" - -"Hasn't he? Are you quite sure?"--with a little smile. - -"O Uncle Robert!" - -"They came at twelve. I was in there half an hour, when he insisted that -I should drive over for you." - -It was very flattering to be remembered first of all; and yet there was -something connected with it which made Kathie's heart beat in an -unwonted manner, and a quiver came into her throat almost as if she -wanted to cry. Six months ago!--how much had happened since then! - -He fastened the horses, and entered the hall with Kathie, who seemed -strangely shy. - -"They took him right up to Miss Jessie's room," said her uncle. - -Thither they went, though there was a sound of joyous voices in -grandmother's room, just across the hall. The two halted a moment, then -Uncle Robert pushed the door a little wider open. - -"Have you brought her?" - -The dear, well-known voice, sounding a bit husky and tremulous, and with -something in it which brought the tears to Kathie's eyes. What with the -flood of sunshine, the white bed and pillows a little tumbled, and a -gray travelling-wrap thrown partly over somebody, she seemed to see -nothing but confusion at first; then a thin white hand was stretched -out. - -"I am so tired that I cannot rise. Dear Kathie! Dear child!" - -They were both crying then, and neither felt ashamed. Just a miracle -that he was here at all; and if he had gone to the other country, the -golden key opening the gates set with jasper and pearl must have been -Kathie's precious words. - -"My dear Kathie, I've lost all the little sense I ever did have. I sent -Jessie away for fear she might indulge in a scene, and here I am crying -like a baby! But there are so many things to think of, and it is so -delightful to see familiar faces once more!" - -Then Kathie took a look at him. He was very thin and pale, the hair and -beard cropped quite close, the eyes sunken, yet with the old bright glow -she had watched so many times; and, oddest of all, the once plump hands -looking, as Hannah would have said, like "chickens' claws." - -"Well, should you know me?" - -"Yes, but you are changed." - -"And if you had seen me a month ago! The doctors have cut me open, -turned me inside out, and run up and down my body with lodestone in -search of a stray rebel ball. When they had me nearly killed, they would -leave off a little while; but as soon as they saw signs of coming to -life they went at it again. It's a kind of gymnastics that a man can't -get fat on, try his best." - -"I should think not"; and Kathie couldn't help laughing. - -"But it's through now. I feel like saying, with Joe Gargery, 'And now, -Pip, old chap,' (Pip, in this instance, standing for country) 'we've -done our duty by one another.' School is out, and Uncle Sam is sending -us home as fast as possible. I've nothing to do now but to be gloriously -lazy, and have every one wait upon me." - -"O, I am so glad, so thankful," and Kathie pressed the thin hands in her -own, so soft and warm, "to have you back here, when we were afraid--" - -"It has been a hard struggle, little Kathie. I shall never see a blue -coat again without thinking of what many a brave fellow has had to -suffer. I seem to have been feasted upon roses; but hundreds of them had -no such luck." - -"And to come to peace at last,--to know there will be no more calls!" - -"It certainly is good tidings of great joy. And though I couldn't be in -at the last, losing all the triumph and glory, I feel that I did a -little good work, and shall never regret the rest." - -Her soft eyes answered him. - -"And there is something else. I want to tell you that your precious -words bore good fruit after many days. My dear child," drawing her -closer to him until the silken curls swept his cheek, "I owe you more -than I can ever express, ever pay. It was your sweet, simple daily life, -and your unconscious heroism that first led me to think. I have heard -hundreds of sermons, and had hosts of religious friends, but nothing -ever touched me like your gentle firmness that night so long ago at my -brother's, and your rare modesty afterward, and all your straightforward -course, even when it involved pain and sacrifice. I can't exactly tell -you how the truth and the peace came to me, enabling me to do my duty to -God and man; but when I was ill and helpless, and hovering on the verge -of death, I want you to know that _His_ love was infinitely precious to -me. It took away all perplexity, all care and trouble, and gave me rest -in the dreariest of nights. And as He suffered for us, so ought we to be -willing to suffer for one another. I never realized before what a great -and grand thing life was when obedience to God crowns it first of all -And even out there it seemed as if I was always taking lessons of you, -remembering what you had said and done." - -"O no, no!" she cried, with her utmost sweet humility. "I am not worthy -of so much." - -"My darling friend, I think you are one of God's own messengers. Through -you I have found him, come to see him as he is, a tender, loving -Father." - -She hardly dared to taste the rich ripe fruit gathered here to her hand. -It was such a sacred work to have guided another soul ever so little, -and she could scarcely believe that it had come through her. - -"Are you going to keep Kathie all the afternoon?" asked a soft, pleading -voice. - -Both started. For many minutes they had been silently thinking of the -little steps that reached to God, made so much more simple and easy by -the tender spirit-leading than all the learned philosophy of the world. - -"O Miss Jessie!" - -"Mrs. Meredith, if you please," he exclaimed with a little laugh in his -tone. "There, you have kissed enough. Come, sit down and look at me. I -am afraid you will forget about my being one of our country's noble -sons." - -Jessie might have been a little thinner with all her anxiety and -watching, but she was the same dear, sweet friend, and Kathie thought -prettier than ever, with her half shy, tender grace. - -"He has grown very exacting," the young wife said, with a smile. - -Kathie blushed. "It seems so odd for you to--be--" - -"Married," exclaimed Mr. Meredith. "Why, what else could I do? When I -was a poor, helpless log, unable to stir hand or foot, some one had to -take pity upon me. She was very good, I assure you." - -"As if I had not known it long before!" and a host of old memories -rushed over Kathie. - -"Isn't it odd," Mr. Meredith said, in a lower tone, taking his wife's -hand, "that it was through Kathie we came to know each other? I can just -see the picture she made in the great hall of the hotel, like a little -wild-flower blown astray by a gust of wind." - -Jessie thought of something else,--how she and Charlie were sitting by -the cheerful fire one winter night, when he had expressed a desire to -make her happy in some way, because she was always studying the pleasure -of others. But for that she might never have known the Alstons so -intimately, and of course-- - -There she had to stop with a dainty blush. - -It was very odd, Kathie decided, in her simple child's way. - -"And we have to thank Kathie for a good deal of delicacy in keeping our -secret," Mr. Meredith said. "Circumstances gave it into her hands long -ago." - -She smiled a little. "What did Ada say?" she asked, rather shyly. - -"I have not been favored with Ada's opinion, but she and her mother are -to pay me a short visit presently. George wanted me to come immediately -to New York, but I fancied Jessie must be a trifle homesick; and, to -confess the truth, I was longing for a glimpse of Brookside. Have you -begun gardening yet, Kathie? And tell me the story of the whole winter. -I'm just famishing for gossip." - -Uncle Robert proposed returning presently, but they would not listen to -his taking Kathie. Mr. Meredith begged her and Jessie to have tea up in -the room, where he could look at them. His side was still very weak, and -his journey had fatigued him too much to admit of his sitting up. "But I -shall soon be about with a crutch," he announced, gayly. - -Passing the lodge cottage again that evening, Kathie gave a tender -thought to its inmates, and the childish longing for fairy power came -back to her. No wand, nothing but a Fortunatus's purse with one piece of -gold in it, and that could not do everything. - -Kathie was up betimes the next morning. There were lessons to study, an -exercise to write, and a music practice to be sandwiched in somewhere, -for Mr. Lawrence was to come that afternoon. And her head was still so -full of Mr. Meredith and dear Jessie. - -"It will not do," she said, presently, to herself, when she found that -she was listening to every bird, and watching the cloud of motes in the -sunshine; so with that she set to work in good earnest. - -Belle Hadden was loftier than ever on this day, and seemed to hold -herself quite apart. "A new kink of grandeur," Emma Lauriston said. - -Lottie Thorne always had the earliest news. Now she made sundry -mysterious confidences, prefaced with, "Would you have believed it?" - -"What is that, Lottie?" asked one of the girls. - -"O, haven't you heard?" the face aglow with a sense of importance. "Papa -told us last night, though I suppose it is all over. Poor Belle! Why, -it would kill me!" - -"But what _is_ it?" - -"About Mr. Hadden. He has been embezzling, or making false returns, or -something, and charged the government with a great deal more than he -supplied. Why, I believe it is almost a million! And he is in prison!" - -"Not so bad as that," subjoined Sue Coleman, quietly. - -"But he _is_ in prison." - -"Yes, there is some trouble, but maybe it will not amount to much." - -"I should think she would be ashamed to show her face!" - -"How can _she_ help it?" said the softest and sweetest of voices. "It is -very hard to punish her or make her answerable for her father's faults." - -"What should you do, Kathie Alston, if you had been intimate with her?" -It was Sue Coleman who spoke, and there was a husky strand in her voice. - -"I should keep on just the same. It will be very painful for her to bear -anyhow. Suppose it was one of us!" - -"You don't know what hateful things she said about your uncle ever so -long ago," pursued Lottie. - -"But if they were false, her merely saying them could not make them -true, you know." - -It was a bit of philosophy quite new to the girls, though each one might -have thought of it long before, and was one of the things that had been -a great comfort to Kathie many a time. - -"But this _is_ true." - -"It will be bitter enough to bear, then, without our adding to the -burden"; and a tremulous color flitted over Kathie's fair face, not so -much at what she had been saying as the fact that these girls were -grouped around listening for her verdict. - -"I don't believe she will come to-morrow," two or three voices decided. - -They never knew how hard her coming was, how she had begged and -entreated her mother to let her stay at home, and finally threatened -_not_ to go, when Mrs. Hadden had taken her in the carriage. There was -no pride in her soul as she stepped out of it, only a bitter, haughty -hatred. - -"Don't act like a fool!" was her mother's parting advice. "The matter -will soon blow over." - -For Mrs. Hadden felt that she should not be utterly crushed. The deed of -the house was in her name, and the furniture bills had been made out in -the same manner, consequently that much was secure. Mr. Hadden had -probably not done more than hundreds of others, and she felt confident -that he would get out of it somehow. They had plenty of money, and could -start afresh in a new place, but the people here should see that she was -able to hold her head as high as the best of them. - -There was a little bouquet on Belle's desk. No one knew who put it -there. They would have suspected Kathie Alston, of course, if they had -not seen her come in empty-handed, but no one guessed it was her second -coming that morning. - -The Brookside Standard copied the report, stating also that Mr. Hadden -had asked a suspension of public opinion for the present. - -"Do you suppose it is really true?" inquired Kathie of Uncle Robert. - -"I believe Mr. Hadden's reputation does not stand very high, at the -best. I can forgive a man who is tempted to retrieve himself by some -desperate step, when on the brink of ruin; but the men who wronged our -poor brave boys with clothing that was but half made, and food of the -poorest kind, enriching themselves while the country was at her sorest -need, do deserve punishment. Still, it would be hardly kind to begin by -meting it out to his children." - -"How terrible it must be, Uncle Robert, to know that some one you held -dear was guilty of such a crime!" - -"Yes, I think it would be worse than taking up poor and uncultivated -people"; and a peculiar smile crossed his face. "You will have an -opportunity to show your blue blood, Kathie. I believe I never knew a -Conover who struck a fallen foe." - -"Yes," she answered, wondering if it would be foolish to tell him about -the flowers; but just then Freddy ran in, full of tribulation as usual. - -Mr. Meredith improved rapidly. Kathie had to take him in her way some -time during the day, or there was a most heart-rending complaint. - -"It is so delightful to have them all love him so well!" she said to -Aunt Ruth. "Charlie has a hero of his own now." - -They received a long and characteristic letter from Rob, who wished he -was a bombshell and could be dropped down into Brookside. The war was -actually ended, and "Johnny was marching home," and everything had -happened about right. "Only I am awful sorry about Mr. Morrison. I can't -seem to believe but that he will come to light somewhere yet. It gave me -such a strange feeling,--thinking, for a moment, if it _had_ been Uncle -Robert. We will try all our lives to make it up to Ethel. I will never -tease her again, at any rate." Which was all the resolve in Rob's power -at present. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -GOOD NEWS. - - -IT seemed to Kathie in these days as if she had her hands very full. The -weeks were hardly long enough. Yet what could be left out? The daily -call at the Darrells', or the Morrisons', for now Ethel looked to see -her every day, and used to confide to her the sums that bothered, the -thoughts that puzzled, and the many things which come to trouble little -girls; and if sometimes Kathie considered them tiresome or foolish, she -remembered how patient dear Aunt Ruth used to be with her in the old -times,--and now she had Uncle Robert saved to her by Ethel's loss. - -No, neither of those could be given up, nor the school-lessons, nor the -music, nor even Sarah, who _was_ improving. - -The blue ribbon had delighted her exceedingly. Kathie said, very gently -indeed,--that is, prefacing and ending it with something pleasant,--"I -think it will be much prettier for your hair than any other color." That -started Sarah upon a new tack. - -"I wish you would tell me something about colors," she begged in her -next letter. "I always remember how lovely you looked that night at the -Fair, and some of the ladies too. I can't be pretty, I know, but I'd -like to look nice, so that people wouldn't laugh at me. Now that I have -begun, there are so many things that I want to know. Cousin Ellen helps -me a good deal, and she is such a rest to mother. She has the -pleasantest way of managing the children, and does such a deal of -sewing. Father said I might raise all the chickens I wanted to this -summer, and I think I'll buy a nice rocking-chair for the parlor. O, I -have crocheted two beautiful tidies, and one of them is about as good as -sold for two dollars and a half. If it isn't too much trouble, I would -like to send the money to you, and let you buy me some books. You know -what is pretty and interesting. And if you would only tell me what would -be nice for summer dresses and a hat." - -The ice being once broken, discussions upon dress followed quite -frequently. When Kathie was in any doubt she referred the subject to -Aunt Ruth. It was plain that Sarah was emerging from her crude and -barbaric state, yet she showed no disposition thus far to drift over -into the frothy waves of vanity. With her other knowledge seemed to come -shrewd, practical self-knowledge. - -Jim too had been made the happy recipient of some useful books. He -seemed to have a great taste for wood-working,--"conjuring," his father -said,--and talked a little of going to the city to learn a trade, but -Mr. Strong had no fancy for giving him up now, when he was such a help. - -"The farm is plenty large enough for two," Mr. Strong said, "and there's -no life so independent." - -But Mr. Conover felt that it ought to be rendered interesting as well. -So he asked Jim to come down to Cedarwood and take a look around, which -delighted the youth greatly, and gave him some new ideas. - -The rumors concerning Belle Hadden's father proved too true. It was an -aggravated case, and each day brought new circumstances to light. It was -useless to think of holding their position in Brookside. Acquaintances -began to make ceremonious calls, or bow coldly. A few of the girls in -school openly rejoiced. - -"Thank the Lord my father never stole nor cheated," said Mary Carson. -"I'd rather be a plebeian than a thief." - -The mortification was too much. Belle begged and prayed that she might -be allowed to leave Brookside, and finally a visit to an aunt was -determined upon. She was a queen to the last moment, though, and said -her good-bys to the few with a haughty grace. - -"Thus endeth the reign of the patricians," commented Emma Lauriston. - -There was a grave, perplexed light in Sue Coleman's eyes. - -"Belle was real fascinating," she said; "but I wonder that we--that some -of us hadn't more sense last winter. We all went to persecuting and -ruling out Kathie Alston, who bore it all like a saint. Belle had -courage and pride, but there was something nobler in Kathie." Yet Sue -knit her brows in silent perplexity. - -"But there is another view of it that puzzles me, after all," she said, -breaking her long silence. "Where _do_ people make a distinction? Now -suppose Kathie Alston invited this _protégée_ of hers to her house, and -you or I should drop in--it would look ill-bred to take Kathie away from -her guest, and yet it is not likely her talk would interest us much. -Then as Kathie grows larger--well, it is all of a muddle in my brain. I -dare say these Strongs are good, honest, respectable people, and--there -is no use in smoothing it over--Mr. Hadden was dreadfully dishonest. All -their grandeur and fine clothes belong by right to some one else. And -yet they are allowed to go into the best society. Is it _quite_ right?" - -"Not the _very_ best, perhaps," returned Emma, slowly. "A good many -people do insist upon worth, virtue, honesty, and all that." - -"And then, as Kathie said, Belle was not to blame for her father's -sins." - -"It seems to me now that Belle's mistake was in trying to decide who -should be greatest, and pushing down all who did not exactly suit her. -She had no right to be the judge." - -"Who of us has? And here is another question. You remember Mrs. Duncan? -She went to the city about a fortnight ago, and had a business offer. -First, I must tell you that she was very elegantly brought up, but her -father died, and somehow the fortune melted into thin air. She went to -visit an aunt, and met Mr. Duncan, who was cashier in a bank. They have -always lived very nicely,--stylishly, Belle would say,--but now they -have nothing, and Mrs. Duncan has no friends who can take care of -her. She has forgotten a good deal of her French and her other -accomplishments, and teachers' situations are hard to get. Well, a Mrs. -Marsh in the city has offered Mrs. Duncan eight hundred dollars a year -to take a position in her millinery establishment. She has a marvellous -faculty for trimming,--equal to any French woman. And why wouldn't she -be just as good and just as much of a lady if she did take it? Will it -make her coarse and vulgar?" - -"No," answered Emma, decisively. - -"Yet I dare say the Hadden children would not be allowed to associate -with the Duncan girls. I cannot seem to get at the wrong, nor where it -comes in." - -"I believe, after all, Kathie Alston has the secret,--the little leaven -which leavens the whole lump." - -"Only some of us object to being leavened"; and Sue finished with a -laugh. - -But though Kathie had not heard the talk, there was a secret uneasiness -in her soul as well. Sarah Strong was begging her to come up to -Middleville again, and Uncle Robert believed the relaxation would do her -good. - -"Mamma," she said, thoughtfully, "there are one or two puzzles that I -cannot make quite clear to my own mind." - -"What is the matter now? Any new gift for Sarah?" - -"Not a gift exactly, but--a great pleasure. When I was with them in the -wagon that day, and they were both so cordial and warm-hearted, it -appeared rude, or at least impolite, not to ask them to call here. Mrs. -Strong said, 'Sarah wouldn't look well among your grand people'; but -there was such a sad, wistful look in Sarah's eyes, as if somehow she -felt that she was shut out." - -"And you would like to have her come?" returned Mrs. Alston, with a -smile. - -"I was thinking how happy it would make her, mamma. I don't believe she -ever saw so many pretty things together in her life,--and she is so fond -of them." - -"And what puzzles you?" - -"Whether it would be quite--I don't mean that I am too proud," catching -herself with a quick breath, while a scarlet flush quivered from brow to -chin. - -"Whether it would be proper,--is that what you mean?" asked her mother. - -"Yes"; and Kathie began to twist the fringe of the nearest tidy. - -"Miss Jessie asked you to her house, you know. We lived very plainly -then, and you had to wear a cheap delaine for best dress all winter." - -"Then you think I may?" she exclaimed, joyously, while her soft eyes -brightened. - -"It all depends upon the manner of the asking. I think she might come -some Saturday when you were alone and have a very pleasant visit. It is -not likely she would enjoy meeting several of the girls here." - -"O mamma, I should ask no one!" - -"Not because we should be so ashamed of Sarah, but on account of her -feelings. It is best for little girls to exercise tact, as well as -grown-up people; and sometimes it proves awkward work trying to make -different kinds or sets harmonize. By observing a few simple rules, and -studying the comfort of both parties, you may be able to give all -greater happiness." - -"Then, when I go up, I shall invite Sarah in so cordial a manner that -her mother will see that I mean every word." - -"Yes; for the unkindest invitation of all is to ask people purely out of -compliment." - -The smooth brow was slightly shadowed again. "Mamma," she said, in a low -tone, "can people--grown-up ladies, I mean--get along without saying or -doing things that they really do not mean to have taken in earnest?" - -"They had better not say them. A Christian woman will be truthful first -of all; but it is not necessary to make candor a cloak for the -indulgence of unkind or heartless remarks. Religion, it seems to me, -holds the essence of true politeness,--to do unto others as you would -have them do unto you." - -The next day Kathie was quite late in getting home, having stopped at -the Darrells'. Uncle Robert and mamma were up in Aunt Ruth's room. - -"What will you give me for a letter with a grand seal as if it came from -the very Commander-in-Chief or the President? Look! To 'Miss Kathie -Alston.' What correspondent have you in Washington, we would all like to -know?" - -Uncle Robert held the letter above her head. A bold, peculiar -handwriting that she had never seen before. Whose could it be? - -"I am sure I don't know," coloring with interest and excitement. "I have -a gold piece in my purse." - -"I will not be quite so mercenary as that. You shall tell us whom it is -from." - -Kathie took the letter and broke it open so as not to destroy the seal, -saw the beginning,--"My dear little friend,"--ran her eye over the two -pages without taking in anything, and looked at the signature. - -"O," with a cry of surprise, "it is from General Mackenzie! Why,"--and -then she began to read in good earnest,--"Mr. Morrison is alive, safe! -General Mackenzie found him. O Uncle Robert!" - -She could not finish the rest, but buried her head on Uncle Robert's -shoulder to have a good little cry out of pure joy and thankfulness. - -"Shall I read it aloud?" - -She placed the letter in his hand. - - "MY DEAR LITTLE FRIEND,--I dare say you will be - surprised at receiving a letter from a busy old - soldier like me, but I met with an incident a few days - ago with which you are so intimately connected that I - cannot resist the good excuse. Of course all the - glorious news and rejoicing has reached you, but we - here on the spot are hearing new things daily, some - joyful, but many sad. We went up the James River one - morning to a small settlement originally negro - quarters, where we heard a number of wounded prisoners - had been taken. We found thirty poor fellows in all, - who had suffered terribly from neglect, for though the - negroes were well-meaning and very warm-hearted, they - were miserably poor and ignorant. Half a dozen of the - soldiers had been very ill from fevers, and upon - questioning them I found one was--whom do you - think?--your uncle's substitute, a William Morrison. - That took me back to last winter at once, and to my - little friend, so do not wonder if we had a good long - talk about you and the beautiful Cedarwood of which I - have heard so much. I believe it did the poor fellow a - world of good. He was wounded and taken prisoner, and - brought up here by the negroes, as far as I can learn. - In those few days of our final successes the small - events were overlooked in the glory of the grander - ones. His wound was not very severe, but fever set in, - and for three weeks he was delirious. About ten days - ago he wrote home, but he was not sure that his - messenger was reliable. He was much better, and we - despatched those who could travel to head-quarters at - once. I fancy that he will be mustered out as soon as - possible. If his friends should not have heard, will - you please inform them? He holds you all in such warm - and grateful remembrance that it was delightful to - talk to him. I rejoice with you that he is safe, and I - do not question but that he has done a soldier's whole - duty, I thought I discerned in him the spirit of - another little soldier, who I dare say finds some - battles to fight. Give my regards to your family, and - do not feel surprised when I tell you that you may - expect me at Cedarwood some day before long. - - "Truly yours, - "W. MACKENZIE, U. S. A." - -"It hardly seems possible!" Kathie said, with a sob. "But they have not -heard, and they will be so glad!" - -Uncle Robert began to pace the room, much moved. Of late death had -appeared such a certainty, and though he knew the life had been freely -given for his, his first emotions were those of devout gratitude to God -that this sacrifice had not been required. Then he paused before -Kathie. "My little darling," he said, "it is _your_ good news. And -though the Morrisons may hear it in a day or two from other sources, we -owe it to them immediately. Will you go?" - -Kathie wanted to very much, but O, how was she ever to get through with -it! Her voice seemed to be all a quiver of tears. - -"Would you like me to accompany you? - -"If you will." - -So Kathie bathed her face and tried to rub the little throbs out of her -temples. In a few moments she was ready, and the two walked down the -avenue. - -"There _cannot_ be any mistake?" she exclaimed, pausing at the door. - -"O no." - -Grandmother was holding the baby, who had a slight cold and fever. Ethel -sat at the window, hemming some breadths of ruffling. She sprang up and -brought out chairs for them, and after one or two little inquiries went -back to her work. Oddly enough the conversation ceased for a few -moments, and in the silence Kathie fancied that she heard her heart -beat, it was in such a tumult. - -"I believe Kathie has some news for you," announced Mr. Conover, -gravely. - -Kathie rose and twined her arms around Ethel's neck. - -"It is this," she said, all in a tremble,--"I cannot tell it as I ought, -but your dear father is alive, Ethel, and is coming home soon." - -"Not William! Miss Kathie!" and grandmother almost let the baby fall. - -"Yes," replied Mr. Conover; "we heard to-day. I have brought the -letter." - -"The Lord be praised!" Then grandmother came over to Kathie, but she and -Ethel were crying softly in each other's arms. - -"Child, are you one of God's own--Heaven-sent? for you bring us joy -continually." - -"But it was sent to me," Kathie said, over a great break and falter. "If -I could have made it so in the beginning,--but I couldn't, and God kept -him safely. We all waited and prayed." - -"And I despaired! I am worse than doubting Thomas! Ah, how good God is -to us all!" - -Mrs. Morrison entered with a pail of milk "O," she exclaimed, "you have -had news! Have they found his body?" - -"His body and soul. He will be back shortly. The tidings came through a -friend of Kathie." - -"Dear Ethel, little one, it is blessed news! You would never have wanted -for love and kindness while Hugh and I were alive; but there's no love -quite like a parent's. How Hugh will rejoice! He never could give him up -altogether." - -"Mr. Conover has a letter to read," said grandmother. - -Little did General Mackenzie imagine that his words would bring so great -a joy. They all listened breathlessly, and then wanted it read over -again to lengthen out the good news. And when at dusk Uncle Robert -declared they must go, they all begged for Kathie to stay and drink tea, -and would take no refusal. - -"But I must return," said Uncle Robert, "or the table will be kept for -us both." - -Mrs. Morrison made some biscuits, and brought out her china, as well as -a damask table-cloth. Hugh, coming in, wondered at the feast; but -Ethel's first word told him all. She, poor child, was brimful of joy. It -did one good to look at the roses on her cheeks, and hear the little -laughs that came for joy, and yet were so near to tears. - -When Kathie reached home she was absolutely tired with all the -excitement, and mamma said there must be no lessons that night; so they -took the lounge in the shaded half-light of the library, and Kathie laid -her head in Uncle Robert's lap, for it almost ached. And there they had -a tender talk. - -"But we shall never forget it," she said. "It seems as if it would help -me to remember all the pains and sorrows and burdens that we can try to -bear for one another." - -"It is what God means us to learn and to do. 'For no man liveth unto -himself, and no man dieth unto himself.'" - -"And we are all so oddly linked in with one another,--such a little -thing brought the Morrisons here, and then my meeting General Mackenzie -gave him an interest. The news would have come in a day or two, I -suppose; but, Uncle Robert, it seemed so good, since he risked his life -in your place, that we should be the first to take the joyful tidings to -them. I haven't anything in the world to ask." - -"Yes, my darling, I am so glad that General Mackenzie did find him; and -more than glad that our brave soldiers can return to their own pleasant -firesides." - -"Neither of _our_ soldiers was very grand in the world's estimation, -that is, as to position, but they have both suffered a good deal for the -cause. It is so sweet to think that, though the world knows nothing -about it, God remembers." - -"And that no act of self-denial or heroism goes without its reward -there. It is hard sometimes to see it passed so unnoticed in this world, -but I suppose that is where patience needs to have her perfect work." - -Kathie wrote a little note to Rob the next morning, beside getting her -lessons; and before the day ended they had a letter from Mr. Morrison -himself, announcing that he was to be sent home on a furlough. - -"I shall have a dangerous rival," exclaimed Mr. Meredith, in his teasing -tone, "and when General Mackenzie comes I expect to be quite -overshadowed. No stars nor bars nor shoulder-straps,--nothing but a poor -unknown private! What good could he do?" - -"He followed his captain and did his duty." - -"Good!" exclaimed Charlie, who was standing beside his brother-in-law. -"You will never find Kathie being caught by the glitter and show." - -The old smile twinkled in Mr. Meredith's eyes. - -"Well, I will promise not to be _very_ jealous. Only you know you sent -me off to war, so you ought to allow me some special indulgence." - -"I!" exclaimed Kathie, coloring violently. - -"Yes, you cannot disown me; I am one of your soldiers. Dear little -Kathie, I hope always to be true to my colors." - -The last was uttered in a low tone, but it brought a more vivid flush -than the preceding sentence. Though now her eyes were downcast, yet in -her heart of hearts she understood. - -"It seems as if Rob ought to come home in the general returning. How -glad I shall be to see the dear old fellow!" - -Was Rob fighting the good fight? - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -PUT TO THE TEST. - - -THE days were so long and pleasant now that Uncle Robert thought they -would not start for Middleville until after dinner, especially as there -would be a bright moon in the evening. Kathie had written a little note -to Sarah, and now the two started in high satisfaction. For since the -good news about Mr. Morrison Kathie seemed full of happiness and -content. - -The place looked less dreary than in winter, though the houses appeared -rather more shabby by contrast. One or two were being painted, which -would shame the rest sadly. But the hillsides were taking on an emerald -tint, and groups of cows were wandering about as if patiently waiting -for the grass to grow into nibbling length. - -Sarah was standing by the gate, watching for them. A very decided change -_had_ come over her. She was taller and looked less stout, her -complexion was not so rough and red, her dress, a striped green and -white gingham, fitted nicely, and was finished at the throat by a linen -collar. She had eschewed waterfalls and rolls, though she laughingly -admitted to Kathie afterwards that it was because she couldn't get her -hair up to look like anything. But the great thick coil was really -beautiful, and the green ribbon very becoming. - -She had changed somewhat in manners as well, being less boisterous and -effusive. Indeed, Kathie thought her very lady-like as she ushered them -into the house. - -"Is your brother anywhere about?" asked Uncle Robert. "If so, I will go -and find him while you girls have a talk." - -"He is up in the lot. Steve will show you, or, better yet, call him." - -Then she led Kathie into the parlor. There were green paper shades at -the windows, which softened the light in the room, and Kathie's first -glance took in a world of improvements. - -Sarah colored with a little conscious pride as she led her to a -veritable modern sofa, instead of the old stiff one, worn at the edges. - -"Take off your hat and sack," she said, with a touch of bashfulness. - -Kathie complied. - -"I am so glad to see you. I have such a host of things to tell you." - -"And you have been out gathering violets. How pretty and spring-like -they are!" - -"Yes, Jim helped me. We thought you would like them so much. And I have -been trying to--to get fixed up a little. It cannot be anything like -your house, but somehow I want it as nice as I can make it. Jim is so -good too, and Cousin Nelly; and I am so happy sometimes that I really -wonder if I be I, like the old woman." - -"I am very glad"; and Kathie gave the hand a squeeze in her own tender -little fashion. - -"I want to tell you all before any one comes in. Isn't it delightful to -have this sofa? I made father half a dozen shirts all by myself, and he -was so pleased,--you can hardly think! He gave me twelve dollars to -spend just as I pleased; but I told mother I would rather let it go -towards a new sofa than to buy the finest dress. Nelly said it would be -so much more comfortable than that hard, shabby thing, that looked as -if it might have come out of Noah's Ark. So mother gave me fifteen,--she -has all the money for the milk and butter and eggs,--and when father -heard of it he added three more. I was afraid he would think I wanted to -be too fine, but he only laughed a little. Mother and Nelly went to the -city and bought it. I was so glad that I could have cried for joy, and I -know father is very proud of it, though he does not say it in so many -words." - -"It is a very nice one, and furnishes the room quite prettily, beside -the comfort of it." - -"Jim made me this table, and Cousin Nelly and I covered it with paper -and then varnished it over, and we have a pretty chintz one up stairs. -Nelly and I have a room together now. I can keep everything so much more -tidy than when the children pulled all the rubbish about. And look at my -two new pictures!" - -They were large colored engravings,--one, "The Wood-Gatherers," and the -other the interior of a German peasant's cottage, where the mother was -putting a babe to sleep in its odd wicker cradle. - -"Jim bought them at a newspaper-stand one day, and only paid twelve -cents apiece for them. He's powerful--no, I mean very fond of them. I am -trying to leave off all those old-fashioned words and expressions. Then -he made the frames, and Nelly and I covered them with pine-cones." - -They certainly were very creditable. - -"But how industrious you must be!" exclaimed Kathie. "You still go to -school?" - -"Yes. I wouldn't give that up for half the world. You see Cousin Nelly -helps mother a good deal, and she helps me too. I have been telling her -ever so much about you, how good and lovely you were. But O, wasn't I a -clown and an ignoramus when you first saw me! I don't wonder that girl -laughed, though it was hateful in her; but I shall never, never forget -how kind you were. O Miss Kathie, it seems to me if the real nice people -in the world _would_ only help the others a bit, we should get along so -much faster. I feel as if I'd had it in me all the time,--a great hungry -longing for something,--and I find now that it is beauty and order and -knowledge." - -Sarah's face was in a glow, and her steady, ardent eyes held in them a -soft and tender light. It seemed to Kathie that she was really pretty, -or something more than that,--electrified with soul beauty. - -"Father pretends that he is afraid I shall get too proud and not be good -for anything, though he was ever so much pleased when he saw the parlor -in such nice order. And he thought the shirts a wonder. I shall not be -sixteen until November, and there are girls older than I who could not -do it. In vacation I am going to make Jim a whole new set of nice ones -with linen bosoms." - -It seemed to Kathie that there was very little danger of Sarah's being -spoiled by acquiring knowledge. - -"You deserve the utmost credit," she returned, in her simple manner, -that had in it no shade of patronage or condescension. - -"I ought to do something for the pains and trouble you have taken." - -"It is a pleasure too." - -"Miss Kathie, you are so different from some rich people. I wonder what -makes it?" - -A soft color stole up into her face. She would fain have kept silence, -but she saw that Sarah was waiting for an answer. "I think it is because -mamma and Uncle Robert believe that wealth was not given for purely -personal or selfish purposes. It is God's treasure, and we are to put it -out at usury, like the parable of the talents, and the usury means -making other people happy if we can." - -"Then I suppose I ought to try and make some one happy?" - -"Do you not?" asked Kathie, simply. - -"Yes, I do occasionally when it is quite a trouble. The children beg me -to read to them,--they are so fond of stories; and now father always -wants me to read our paper to him. It comes on Saturday and he is always -so tired that night. Still, that isn't--" and Sarah paused as if she -despaired of rendering her meaning clear to her young listener. - -"I think Uncle Robert would say that _is_ it surely. Once in a while we -can do larger things; but isn't it the little deeds that require the -most patience? It is the steps that make up the whole path." - -"So it is. I never thought of it before"; and she smiled, relieved. "You -believe, Miss Kathie, that what we do at home is just as good in God's -eyes as if we did it for a stranger? It almost seemed to me as if I -ought to go out and look for some poor ignorant person instead." - -"Both are doing good in different ways. Maybe it is best to learn to do -the good at home first"; and Kathie remembered her early efforts in -assisting her mother. - -"I want father to see that all my knowledge and my queer likes, as he -calls them, will not really spoil me. Grandmother Strong has just such -old-fashioned notions. She thinks my going to school perfectly absurd. -But Cousin Ellen says the world has changed a good deal since -grandmother was young." - -"And I have brought your books," said Kathie, when there was a pause of -sufficient length. "The three are half of a pretty set; some time you -may like to get the others." - -"You are so kind. I hated to bother you, but I knew you could make the -best choice." - -"It was no trouble at all,--Uncle Robert did it, and he bought them for -half a dollar less than their usual price." - -"I am so much obliged!" and Sarah's face was in a grateful glow. - -Kathie had wanted very much to supply the other three. - -"If Sarah were poor," replied Uncle Robert, "I should not object; but -when such a person asks you to do a favor, it is best to keep simply to -the letter of the request. If you gave her so much more, she would -hesitate about asking you to do such a thing a second time, that is, if -she possessed any real delicacy." - -Kathie saw the force of the reasoning. - -Presently Cousin Ellen came down. She was a neat, commonplace-looking -woman of about thirty, but with a good deal of shrewd sense in her dark -gray eyes. Her black calico dress was the perfection of tidiness, and -the merest little ruff of book-muslin edged it round the neck. - -Kathie liked her very much. She had been in the midst of the war -operations for the last three years, and to please Sarah she related -numberless incidents that interested Kathie exceedingly. Then she had to -go up stairs and see their room, take a tour around, and have all the -flower-beds explained to her, to go to the barn and inspect several new -articles Jim was making. Uncle Robert and the boys joined them here, and -Kathie was introduced to Mr. Strong. - -"Don't you have a little too much in-doors and study?" he asked, -pleasantly. "I shouldn't like to see one of my gals look as white as you -do." - -"O, she is always white, father," said Sarah, admiringly. - -"And she has plenty of roses too, for the most part," explained Uncle -Robert, "only for the last few weeks she has been rather overtaxed, I -think. We have had a returned soldier, a very dear friend, ill, and been -in great anxiety about another." - -"Thank the Lord for all who've come home safe," said Mr. Strong, in his -clear, forcible tone, and every one of them felt like adding an "Amen" -to it. - -Martha ran out to call them to tea. - -There was the great table spread, and all the children around it, even -to fatherless Willie, who would never need a friend while Jotham Strong -lived. - -It was a very enjoyable supper. The new influence was perceptible even -in sturdy Mrs. Strong, who took a little pains that she might not shame -Sarah before her company. - -Kathie asked Mrs. Strong to let Sarah come down some Saturday and make -her a visit. - -"I can't exactly explain, Miss Kathie, and I hate to be ungrateful for -your kindness, but I feel as if you and your friends were above Sarah. -Folks ain't all alike, and I s'pose the Lord didn't mean 'em to be, but -I don't want Sarah laughed at, and I don't want any one to think she's -trying to crowd in We're plain, old-fashioned people"-- - -Mrs. Strong paused, very red in the face. - -"No one will think that at Cedarwood," answered Kathie, softly. - -So presently the promise was given. In a fortnight Cousin Ellen and -Sarah were to go down to Brookside to do some shopping. Ellen wanted to -call on several of the relatives, but Sarah might go at once to -Cedarwood. - -"I expect it will be like a little bit of heaven," the girl whispered. -"I never was in a real elegant house in all my life." - -Kathie described her visit to Aunt Ruth in glowing terms. "I think it -_is_ delightful to be rich, after all," she said, contentedly. "You can -make so many people happy." - -"And while you study the happiness of others and your duty towards them -the riches will hardly prove a snare," returned Aunt Ruth. - -Before another week had ended they had a new joy for which to be very -thankful,--the return of Mr. Morrison. He still looked a little pale and -thin, but had improved wonderfully since the day when General Mackenzie -found him in the forlorn negro quarters. Glad enough he was to get home -to his little Ethel, who hardly let him go out of her sight. Nothing -would do but that the whole family must come down to the cottage and -drink tea. - -"I must express my obligations once more to you," said Uncle Robert, in -the evening; "and I am most grateful to God for your return, and that he -did not require so costly a sacrifice at my hands." - -"He knows that I am glad enough to come back; but if you'll believe me, -sir, it was a great comfort, when I thought myself dying, that it was in -your stead, and that your life, so much more valuable than mine, had -been spared. I believe you would have sorrowed for me truly,--and Miss -Kathie here,--as well as my own." - -Kathie took his hand. "I've been thinking of this ever since the night -you offered to go: 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay -down his life for his friends.'" - -The sweet voice trembled a little. It would always have a tender strand -in it when it came to that verse. - -"Ah, Miss Kathie, those precious words were for the Saviour of us all. -What can we ever do to merit them?" and the soldier drew the back of his -hand across his eyes. - -"God gives the grace to weak human nature," Uncle Robert said, with -solemn sweetness. - -Walking home, Kathie started from her revery. "Now if Rob could only -come back," she exclaimed, "our soldiers would all be together. You -remember the day he was so elated about the draft?" - -"Yes. Dear Rob! I hope he has done good service. I am very anxious to -see him again." - -Then Kathie began to count on the promised visit. "It is not because I -am so proud of Cedarwood, or the handsome things in it," she explained -to Uncle Robert, "though I do think them all very lovely; but it will be -such a pleasure to her,--just as my going to Miss Jessie's when we were -so poor." - -"I understand"; and he smiled. - -There had been quite a discussion about having a second girl. Uncle -Robert fancied that Kathie's further knowledge of household details had -better be postponed until she had less upon her hands. Jane Maybin, who -had been a good deal out of health lately, and unable to work in the -factory, as the dust irritated her lungs and made her cough, was quite -anxious to take the situation. What with company and increasing social -duties, Mrs. Alston found her time much interrupted. - -Hannah did all the sweeping on Friday, but it was a heavy tax; so Kathie -only dusted awhile on Saturday morning, cut fresh flowers and arranged -them, and busied herself about little odds and ends. Mrs. Alston decided -to have Jane, and Aunt Ruth took a walk over to the cottage. - -Kathie waited in a peculiar state of anxiety, Lucy and Annie Gardiner -had proposed to come over that very afternoon, but she preferred to have -Sarah quite alone, that she might feel free to enjoy everything. - -It was almost twelve when she reached Cedarwood. Kathie was haunting the -cottage, where she could have a good look down the street, but she -hardly recognized the figure at first. It seemed as if Sarah grew every -week. She looked quite like a young lady, Kathie thought. Her light gray -dress was trimmed with several rows of blue ribbon, and the sack, -matching it, made a very neat suit. Her white straw hat was trimmed with -blue, and a cluster of crisp, fresh flowers, that looked almost good -enough to be natural. There was nothing in that outfit to be ashamed of. - -"O," she exclaimed, with a long breath, "it's like going into the Garden -of Eden! The house and the trees, and that lovely lake! I should want to -be out of doors forever." - -"Uncle Robert has promised to row us around the lake this afternoon. A -month later it will be much more beautiful. Did you finish your -shopping?" - -"O yes, though we were bothered a good deal, and that made me later. -Nelly wanted me to go to dinner at Cousin Rachel's." - -"I am glad that you did not." - -Sarah could not be hurried into the house. She wanted to view the -fountain, the groups of evergreens, the broad porch, and fancy just how -the roses and honeysuckle would look. But presently they entered. Kathie -led her up stairs to her room, to lay aside her hat. - -"O, I don't wonder Jim said it was a palace!" she exclaimed, with -breathless delight. "What a lovely room! Why, it's pretty enough for any -one's parlor!" - -Kathie smiled a little, remembering the day on which she had thought it -wonderful as well. - -Sarah was hardly satisfied with her inspection when the bell rang for -dinner. In the hall they met Aunt Ruth, and in the dining-room Kathie -introduced Sarah to her mother. - -A girl with less natural adaptation or ambition might have been very -awkward. But Sarah had watched Kathie to some purpose, and now gave -herself courage with the thought that she could not go far astray if she -copied Kathie. To be sure she blushed and hesitated a little, and, as -she afterward confessed at home, "trembled all over"; but she did acquit -herself very creditably. - -"I can scarcely realize that it is the same girl who wrote you the -Christmas letter," whispered Mrs. Alston in a soft aside, and Kathie -smiled gratefully at her mother's commendation. - -Then the two girls began a regular tour about the house. The pictures, -the statues, the furniture, Aunt Ruth's beautiful bay-window still full -of vines and flowers, and the abundance of books, were so many marvels -to Sarah. And here, in the midst of all this beauty, hung her lichen. -The tears of delight came to her eyes, in spite of her strong effort at -repression. - -"Now if you would only play and sing for me," she pleaded, bashfully. -"You're so good that I hate to ask anything." - -"With pleasure." - -It seemed as if Sarah could never get enough music. She listened as if -she was entranced, the new spiritual light coming into her eyes, showing -the strong and earnest capabilities of her soul. - -Uncle Robert looked in upon them. - -"I think you had better go out on the lake now," he said. "The air is so -delightfully soft." - -Sarah sighed. "I cannot imagine which is the best, everything is such a -pleasure." - -"We will have some music when we return. You will like the sail, I -know." - -They found their hats and ran down the broad steps. Quite a party were -coming up the drive. Charlie and Dick, Mr. and Mrs. Meredith, and O, -joy! this tall, soldierly man could be no other than General Mackenzie! - -"My dear, dear young friend"; and, stooping, he kissed the forehead in -his grave, tender fashion. - -"So you see I have surprised you this time," laughed Mr. Meredith. -"Where were you going gypsy fashion?" - -"To the lake, but it doesn't matter." There was no Uncle Robert to help -her, so she turned to where Sarah stood blushing and abashed, drew her -kindly forward, and gave her an introduction to each one. Dick connected -her with the party and Belle Hadden at once. - -"Kathie was right to stand up for her," was his mental verdict. "There -are plenty of worse-looking and worse-behaved girls in the world." - -At this junction Uncle Robert joined them. The whole party entered the -parlor. Kathie seated Sarah by herself, and General Mackenzie joined -them. Mrs. Alston and Aunt Ruth were summoned, and the conversation -became most genial. And when Sarah ventured a remark, frightened half to -death the moment afterward, General Mackenzie smiled and answered her. -Dick Grayson, anxious to see "what kind of stuff she was made of," came -round to the back of the _tête-à-tête_, and joined the talk. - -But the wonders had not all come to an end. The door-bell sounded again, -and Hannah ushered two young ladies into the hall. Kathie caught a -glimpse of the faces,--Sue Coleman and Emma Lauriston. - -They saw Dick and Charlie and the grand soldier beside this -plain-looking girl,--some of the Darrells, maybe,--and, accepting -Kathie's cordial invitation, joined the group. - -"Miss Strong," Kathie said, with sweet, gracious simplicity; and Sue for -a moment was abashed. Something in Dick's face announced the truth. - -General Mackenzie did not seem to think her beneath him. Just now she -was speaking of her cousin's husband and their having Mrs. Gilbert and -Willie at home. - -"Miss Strong," he said, gravely, "I honor your parents for the act. -There will be so many widows and orphans for whom the scanty pension -will be as nothing. But the generous-hearted men and women who open -their houses to these poor unfortunates pay our dead soldiers a higher -compliment, and evince a truer appreciation of their gallant heroism, -than if they made grand processions and built marble monuments." - -Sarah blushed with embarrassment, and some deep, delicate feeling that -she could not have expressed. She had not done it boastingly; indeed, -until this moment, she had hardly thought of any special kindliness in -the deed. - -Actually complimented by General Mackenzie! Lottie Thorne would have -died of envy. - -Somehow the time ran away very fast. They went out on the lawn in the -sunshine, when Sue and Emma discovered that they must go, and the two -boys walked with them. Then it came Sarah's turn, as she had promised to -be at Cousin Rachel's by five. - -"I've had such a lovely, lovely time, Miss Kathie, though I felt -dreadfully frightened when your grand company came; but they were all -so--so nice that I quite forgot about being an awkward country girl. And -isn't General Mackenzie plain and charming?--yes, that is the very word. -I don't believe General Grant is a bit nicer. I shall tell mother just -what he said. It will help to make up for the girls laughing about her -bonnet." - -Kathie had a simple gift to send to Baby Lily. Then the girls said a -lingering good-by to each other, and Kathie went back to her hero. - -"I must take the night return train," he declared, "on account of -important business in Washington; but if you will allow me to visit you -in the summer, and bring my son, I will accept it as a great favor." - -Uncle Robert gave him a most cordial invitation. - -"And, my little friend, I must congratulate you that your soldiers did -their duty without flinching, even in the most trying moments. It is not -our lives only, but our wills, our comforts and pleasures, that we are -required to give up. And I am thankful that God watched over them every -hour, and sent them back safely at last." - -"I think they were braver than I, sometimes," Kathie answered, in a low -tone. "After all, I have done so little; I do not deserve the praise." -Her voice seemed to lose itself in a tender humility. - -"My dear child, I know what you thought of the other warfare. It is a -soldier's duty to bring in all the recruits that he can. God will clothe -them in his righteousness, and make the path plain before them as they -go to do battle with the arch-enemy. He only asks us to lead them to -him. You are doing this in a brave, steady manner." - -There were tears in Kathie's downcast eyes; but Mr. Meredith's hand -stole over her shoulder, and their fingers met with a clasp that was -more expressive than words. - -"People often look too far off for duties," continued the old soldier. -"We are to take up the task that lies before us, even if it does not -seem to wear the grace of the heroic. God knows when and where to add -the golden fruit. Some day, my little girl, we will have a long talk -about these matters." - -The soft spring-twilight was falling as they said good-by to General -Mackenzie. The grave, kindly eyes rested last of all on the child's -simple, earnest face. - -Mr. and Mrs. Meredith went also when Uncle Robert drove the General to -the station. Kathie sat by the window, peering out into the darkness, -long after the sound of the wheels had ceased. One star came out -presently. - -Shining on and on. The old, old lesson, the child's purpose growing -stronger with the passing years, and Kathie prayed that as her soldiers -had been faithful, she also might be faithful unto the end. - - - - -LITTLE RED HOUSE SERIES - -By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS - - - Illustrated by Louise Wyman 12mo Cloth - Price, Net, $1.00 each Postpaid, $1.10 - - -THE CHILDREN IN THE LITTLE OLD RED HOUSE - -THE very title of this book gives promise of a good story, and when we -know that there are _eight_ of these children, as loving as they are -lively, there can be no doubt of the good things in store for the -reader. Their efforts to help the dearest of mothers, their merriment, -which no poverty can subdue, and the great and well-deserved good -fortune which comes to them, move us in rapid succession to sympathy, -amusement, and delight. - -[Illustration] - -"It is a sunshiny story of the best things in life. Men and women today -need such stories quite as much as the children. It is as quaint as the -"Pepper Books" for little folks, but carries a deeper treasure for older -people."--_Universalist Leader._ - - -THE RED HOUSE CHILDREN AT GRAFTON - -EIGHT bright children, with a kind and loving mother, make up the Red -House family, and the change to better circumstances through a new -father, and a good one, does not in the least "spoil" them. There is -some doubt on the part of a few of their new neighbors as to whether -these numerous brothers and sisters will be good to know, but all who -meet them are speedily won to friendship. Fun and frolic in plenty are a -part of their wholesome development, and the story does not drag for a -moment. - -[Illustration] - -"It is filled with fun and frolic, and yet has a tendency to carry the -children's minds to higher and better things."--_Buffalo Commercial._ - - - _For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of - price by the publishers_ - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -HELEN GRANT SERIES - -By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS - - Illustrated by AMY BROOKS. Cloth. Price per volume $.60 - - - Helen Grant's Schooldays - Helen Grant's Friends - Helen Grant at Aldred House - Helen Grant in College - Helen Grant, Senior - Helen Grant, Graduate - Helen Grant, Teacher - Helen Grant's Decision - Helen Grant's Harvest Year - -[Illustration] - - HELEN GRANT and her friends represent the best type of - college girls, those of the highest aims and ideals, - and she herself develops to admiration in each - successive phase of her career.--_Milwaukee Free - Press._ - - Helen Grant is a lovable and capable American girl, - and the young people who follow her experiences as - depicted by Miss Douglas are sure to be the better for - it.--_Herald and Presbyter._ - - Miss Douglas has had long experience in writing books - for girls. Into her stories she puts the influence of - high ideals, remembering all the time that girls are - not to be deprived of their good times, but that play - and earnest endeavor contribute each a share to the - making of womanly character.--_Christian Register._ - - In "Helen Grant," Miss Douglas has created a splendid - type of American girlhood, strong, energetic, - intelligent, and winsome. Her progress under - difficulties, and her unusual power to win and keep - friends, have delighted her readers.--_Chicago - Advance._ - -[Illustration] - - For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on - receipt of price by the publishers - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., - BOSTON - - - - -Fifty Flower Friends - - With Familiar Faces - - By EDITH DUNHAM - - A FIELD BOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS - - With twelve full-page colored plates, decorations and fifty text - illustrations from nature by W. I. BEECROFT $1.35 _net_ - - -CHILDREN cannot too soon begin to know the wild flowers, and here they -are told in a charming way where and when to look for each of fifty -widely distributed common flowering plants; also how they get their -names, and how to know them from the remarkably accurate drawings of Mr. -Beecroft, a skilled botanist and superior artist. Each of the fifty -flowers has a page of accurate botanical description in addition to its -story. Thus the book is suited for varying ages. - -[Illustration] - - "The greatest praise can be bestowed upon and every - mother and father should have one and by it better - educate their children in nature, which will prove not - only an enjoyable study, but an instructive - one."--_Providence News._ - - "Good brief descriptions, good clear pictures, - portraits almost, of each flower friend, a beautiful - cover, convenient arrangement, and fine large print, - make a perfect book to own, or to give to any one, - especially a child."--_Universalist Leader._ - - "If the children do not learn something new about - flowers this summer it may be because their unkind - parents have not bought them Miss Edith Dunham's Fifty - Flower Friends."--_New York Times._ - - "The boy or girl into whose hands this book is placed - can hardly fail to acquire a real and lasting interest - in our every-day wild flowers."--_The Dial._ - - "It has no rival in books of its kind, either in text - or illustration."--_Boston Budget._ - - _For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of - price by the publishers_ - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -DOROTHY BROWN - -By NINA RHOADES - - Illustrated by Elizabeth Withington Large 12mo - Cloth $1.35 _net_ - -THIS is considerably longer than the other books by this favorite -writer, and with a more elaborate plot, but it has the same winsome -quality throughout. It introduces the heroine in New York as a little -girl of eight, but soon passes over six years and finds her at a select -family boarding school in Connecticut. An important part of the story -also takes place at the Profile House in the White Mountains. The charm -of school-girl friendship is finely brought out, and the kindness of -heart, good sense and good taste which find constant expression in the -books by Miss Rhoades do not lack for characters to show these best of -qualities by their lives. Other less admirable persons of course appear -to furnish the alluring mystery, which is not all cleared up until the -very last. - -[Illustration] - - "There will be no better book than this to put into - the hands of a girl in her teens and none that will be - better appreciated by her."--_Kennebec Journal._ - - -MARION'S VACATION - -By NINA RHOADES - - Illustrated by Bertha G. Davidson 12mo $1.25 _net_ - -THIS book is for the older girls, Marion being thirteen. She has for ten -years enjoyed a luxurious home in New York with the kind lady who feels -that the time has now come for this aristocratic though lovable little -miss to know her own nearest kindred, who are humble but most excellent -farming people in a pretty Vermont village. Thither Marion is sent for a -summer, which proves to be a most important one to her in all its -lessons. - -[Illustration] - - "More wholesome reading for half grown girls it would - be hard to find; some of the same lessons that proved - so helpful in that classic of the last generation 'An - Old Fashioned Girl' are brought home to the youthful - readers of this sweet and sensible story."--_Milwaukee - Free Press._ - - _For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of - price by the publishers_ - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston - - - - -BRAVE HEART SERIES - -By Adele E. Thompson - - Illustrated 12mo Cloth _Net_ $1.25 each - - -Betty Seldon, Patriot - -A BOOK that is at the same time fascinating and noble. Historical events -are accurately traced leading up to the surrender of Cornwallis at -Yorktown, with reunion and happiness for all who deserve it. - - -Brave Heart Elizabeth - -IT is a story of the making of the Ohio frontier, much of it taken from -life, and the heroine one of the famous Zane family after which -Zanesville, O., takes its name. An accurate, pleasing, and yet at times -intensely thrilling picture of the stirring period of border settlement. - - -A Lassie of the Isles - -THIS is the romantic story of Flora Macdonald, the lassie of Skye, who -aided in the escape of Charles Stuart, otherwise known as the "Young -Pretender." - - -Polly of the Pines - -THE events of the story occur in the years 1775-82. Polly was an orphan -living with her mother's family, who were Scotch Highlanders, and for -the most part intensely loyal to the Crown. Polly finds the glamor of -royal adherence hard to resist, but her heart turns towards the patriots -and she does much to aid and encourage them. - -American Patty A Story of 1812 - -Patty is a brave, winsome girl of sixteen whose family have settled -across the Canadian border and are living in peace and prosperity, and -on the best of terms with the neighbors and friendly Indians. All this -is suddenly and entirely changed by the breaking out of war, and -unwillingness on the part of her father and brother to serve against -their native land brings distress and deadly peril. - -[Illustration] - -_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by -the publishers_ - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -HOME ENTERTAINING - -What to Do, and How to Do It - -Edited by WILLIAM E. CHENERY - - 12mo Cloth Price, Net, $.75 Postpaid, $.85 - -THIS book is the product of years of study and the practical trying-out -of every conceivable form of indoor entertainment. All the games, -tricks, puzzles, and rainy-day and social-evening diversions have been -practised by the editor; many are original with him, and many that are -of course not original have been greatly improved by his intelligence. -All are told in the plainest possible way, and with excellent taste. The -book is well arranged and finely printed. At a low price it places -within the reach of all the very best of bright and jolly means of -making home what it ought to be--the best place for a good time by those -of all ages. - -[Illustration] - - "The book is bright and up to date, full of cheer and - sunshine. A good holiday book." _Religious Telescope, - Dayton, Ohio._ - - "For those who want new games for the home this book - supplies the very best--good, clean, hearty games, - full of fun and the spirit of laughter."--_N. Y. - Times._ - - "Altogether the book is a perfect treasure-house for - the young people's rainy day or social evening."--_New - Bedford Standard._ - - "The arrangement is excellent and the instructions so - simple that a child may follow them. A book like this - is just the thing for social evenings."--_Christian - Endeavor World._ - - "A book giving the best, cleanest and brightest games - and tricks for home entertaining."--_Syracuse Herald._ - - "The book is clearly written and should prove of value - to every young man who aspires to be the life of the - party."--_Baltimore Sun._ - - "Only good, bright, clean games and tricks appeal to - Mr. Chenery, and he has told in the simplest and most - comprehensive manner how to get up 'amusements for - every one.'"--_Hartford Courant._ - - - _For sale by all booksellers or sent on receipt of postpaid - price by the publishers_ - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -FOUR GORDONS - -By EDNA A. BROWN - - Illustrated Large 12mo Decorated Cover $1.35 _net_ - -LOUISE and her three brothers are the "Four Gordons," and the story -relates their experiences at home and school during the absence of their -parents for a winter in Italy. There is plenty of fun and frolic, with -skating, coasting, dancing, and a jolly Christmas visit. The -conversation is bright and natural, the book presents no improbable -situations, its atmosphere is one of refinement, and it has the merit of -depicting simple and wholesome comradeship between boys and girls. - - "The story and its telling are worthy of Miss Alcott. - Young folks of both sexes will enjoy it."--_N. Y. - Sun._ - - "It is a hearty, wholesome story of youthful life in - which the morals are never explained but simply - illustrated by logical results."--_Christian - Register._ - - -UNCLE DAVID'S BOYS - -By EDNA A. BROWN - - Illustrated by John Goss 12mo Cloth - Price $1.35 _net_ - -THIS tells how some young people whom circumstances brought together in -a little mountain village spent a summer vacation, full of good times, -but with some unexpected and rather mysterious occurrences. In the end, -more than one head was required to find out exactly what was going on. -The story is a wholesome one with a pleasant, well-bred atmosphere, and -though it holds the interest, it never approaches the sensational nor -passes the bounds of the probable. - - "A story which will hold the attention of youthful - readers from cover to cover and prove not without its - interest for older readers."--_Evening Wisconsin._ - - "For those young people who like a lively story with - some unmistakably old fashioned characteristics, - 'Uncle David's Boys,' will have a strong - appeal."--_Churchman._ - - * * * * * - - _For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of - price by the publishers_ - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON. - - - - -JEAN CABOT SERIES - -By GERTRUDE FISHER SCOTT - - Illustrated by Arthur O. Scott 12mo Cloth - Price, Net, $1.25 each - - -JEAN CABOT AT ASHTON - -HERE is the "real thing" in a girl's college story. Older authors can -invent situations and supply excellently written general delineations of -character, but all lack the vital touch of this work of a bright young -recent graduate of a well-known college for women, who has lost none of -the enthusiasm felt as a student. Every activity of a popular girl's -first year is woven into a narrative, photographic in its description of -a life that calls into play most attractive qualities, while at the same -time severely testing both character and ability. - - -JEAN CABOT IN THE BRITISH ISLES - -THIS is a college story, although dealing with a summer vacation, and -full of college spirit. It begins with a Yale-Harvard boat race at New -London, but soon Jean and her room-mate sail for Great Britain under the -chaperonage of Miss Hooper, a favorite member of the faculty at Ashton -College. Their trip is full of the delight that comes to the traveler -first seeing the countries forming "our old home." - - -JEAN CABOT IN CAP AND GOWN - -JEAN CABOT is a superb young woman, physically and mentally, but -thoroughly human and thus favored with many warm friendships. Her final -year at Ashton College is the culmination of a course in which study, -sport and exercise, and social matters have been well balanced. - - -JEAN CABOT AT THE HOUSE WITH THE BLUE SHUTTERS - -SUCH a group as Jean and her most intimate friends could not scatter at -once, as do most college companions after graduation, and six of them -under the chaperonage of a married older graduate and member of the same -sorority spend a most eventful summer in a historic farm-house in Maine. - - * * * * * - - For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt - of price by the publishers - - Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. Boston - - - - -American Heroes and Heroines - -By PAULINE CARRINGTON BOUVÉ Illustrated - - 12mo Cloth $1.25 _net_ - -THIS book, which will tend directly toward the making of patriotism in -young Americans, contains some twenty brief, clever and attractive -sketches of famous men and women in American history, among them Father -Marquette, Anne Hutchinson, Israel Putnam, Molly Pitcher, Paul Jones, -Dolly Madison, Daniel Boone, etc. Mrs. Bouvé is well known as a writer -both of fiction and history, and her work in this case is admirable. - - "The style of the book for simplicity and clearness of - expression could hardly be excelled."--_Boston - Budget._ - - -The Scarlet Patch - -The Story of a Patriot Boy in the Mohawk Valley - - By MARY E. Q. BRUSH Illustrated $1.25 _net_ - -"THE Scarlet Patch" was the badge of a Tory organization, and a loyal -patriot boy, Donald Bastien, is dismayed at learning that his uncle, -with whom he is a "bound boy," is secretly connected with this -treacherous band. Thrilling scenes follow in which a faithful Indian -figures prominently, and there is a vivid presentation of the school and -home life as well as the public affairs of those times. - - "A book that will be most valuable to the library of - the young boy."--_Providence News._ - - -Stories of Brave Old Times - -Some Pen Pictures of Scenes Which Took Place Previous to, or Connected -With, the American Revolution - - By HELEN M. CLEVELAND Profusely illustrated - Large 12mo Cloth $1.25 _net_ - -IT is a book for every library, a book for adults, and a book for the -young. Perhaps no other book yet written sets the great cost of freedom -so clearly before the young, consequently is such a spur to patriotism. - - "It can unqualifiedly be commended as a book for - youthful readers; its great wealth of illustrations - adding to its value."--_Chicago News._ - - * * * * * - - For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price - by the publishers, - - LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - -_THE RANDY BOOKS_ - -_By AMY BROOKS_ - - 12mo CLOTH ARTISTIC COVER DESIGN IN GOLD AND COLORS - ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR PRICE, _Net_, $1.00 EACH - -The progress of the "Randy Books" has been one continual triumph over -the hearts of girls of all ages, for dear little fun-loving sister Prue -is almost as much a central figure as Randy, growing toward womanhood -with each book. The sterling good sense and simple naturalness of Randy, -and the total absence of slang and viciousness, make these books in the -highest degree commendable, while abundant life is supplied by the -doings of merry friends, and there is rich humor in the droll rural -characters. - - Randy's Summer Randy's Good Times - Randy's Winter Randy's Luck - Randy and Her Friends Randy's Loyalty - Randy and Prue Randy's Prince - - "The Randy Books are among the very choicest books for - young people to make a beginning with."--_Boston - Courier._ - - "The Randy Books of Amy Brooks have had a deserved - popularity among young girls. They are wholesome and - moral without being goody-goody."--_Chicago Post._ - - * * * * * - -LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. - -Page 41, "commom" changed to "common" (a common soldier) - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATHIE'S SOLDIERS*** - - -******* This file should be named 40525-8.txt or 40525-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/0/5/2/40525 - - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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