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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Festivals
+by Eliza Lee Follen
+(#10 in our series by Eliza Lee Follen)
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+Title: Two Festivals
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+Author: Eliza Lee Follen
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Festivals
+by Eliza Lee Follen
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+
+TWO FESTIVALS
+
+BY
+
+MRS. FOLLEN
+
+
+With Illustrations by Billings and others
+
+
+
+
+
+MAY MORNING AND NEW YEAR'S EVE.
+
+
+
+
+It is the evening before the first of May, and the boys are looking
+forward to a May-day festival with the children in the neighborhood.
+Mrs. Chilton read aloud these beautiful lines of Milton:--
+
+     Now the bright morning star, Day's harbinger,
+     Comes dancing from the east, and loads with her
+     The flowery May, who from her green lap throws
+     The yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose.
+       Hail beauteous May that dost inspire
+       Mirth, and youth, and warm desire;
+       Woods and groves arc of thy dressing,
+       Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.
+     Thus we salute thee with our early song,
+     And welcome thee, and with thee long.
+
+"How beautiful!" said Frank and Harry. "Suppose, Mother," said
+Harry, "it should rain, and hail, and snow to-morrow, for it looks
+like it now, and then you know we cannot go into the woods and
+gather flowers; and all our plans will be spoiled." "Why, then, my
+dear, we must enjoy May morning as the great poet did, after he lost
+his sight, with our mind's eye; and you must bear your
+disappointment patiently." "Easier said than done, Mother," said
+Harry. "Why, only think of all our preparations, and the beautiful
+wreath you made for Lizzy Evans, who is to be queen of the May, and
+how pretty she would look in it, and then think of the dinner in the
+woods, we all sitting round in a circle, and she and the king of the
+May in the midst of us, and Ned Brown playing on his flageolet; and
+then you know we are all to walk home in procession, and have a
+dance at his mother's after tea." "You will not lose your dance,
+Harry," said his mother, "if it should hail, and rain, and snow;
+but, on the contrary, enjoy it all the more, for then you will riot
+be fatigued by a long walk; and Lizzy can wear the wreath at any
+rate." "I don't care for the fatigue, Mother; I want to be in the
+woods and gather the flowers with my own hands, and smell them as I
+gather them in the fresh air, and hear the birds sing; and to scream
+as loud as I please, and kick up my heels, and not hear any one say,
+'Don't make such a noise, Harry.' I guess Milton did not take as
+much pleasure in writing poetry about the spring after he became
+blind. But please read his May Song again, Mother." She read it
+again.
+
+"I think he must have felt as glad when he wrote it," said Harry,
+"as I hope to feel tomorrow.--'Comes dancing from the east'--how
+beautiful it is! What a pity he ever lost his sight!" "Milton," said
+the mother, "made such a good use of his eyes while he could see,
+that he laid up stores of beautiful images, which he remembered when
+he could no longer use his bodily eyes. The poetry he wrote when he
+was blind shows the most accurate observation of the outward
+appearances of things, of shades of color, and of all those beauties
+which only sight could have taught him. It is worth while, boys, for
+you to imitate him in this, while you admire his poetry."
+
+May morning came. It did not hail, or rain, or snow. The sun shone
+brightly. The birds seemed to know as well as the children that it
+was the first of May. The country village in which Mrs. Chilton
+lived was as noisy as a martin box, at break of day, when doubtless,
+though we poor wingless bipeds don't understand what the birds are
+chattering about, they are planning their work and their amusements
+for the day--and why not?
+
+Soon after sunrise, all the children from far and near, dressed in
+their holiday clothes, with little baskets of provisions, all
+assembled on a little green before Mrs. Grey's house, and were ready
+to set out for the woods, about two miles distant. Ned Brown had his
+flageolet, and another boy had a drum. Lizzy Evans received the
+wreath which made her queen of the May, and Frank, being the tallest
+boy, was chosen king. And now off they all set, in high glee, happy
+as only children can be.
+
+Mrs. Chilton, and the teacher of the village school had promised the
+children to join them at the dinner hour, which was twelve. Just
+about eleven, the clouds began to gather. Nevertheless, the ladies
+kept their promise, and set out for the wood. The threatened shower
+came up, and they took refuge in an old empty barn, where they had
+not been many minutes before all the children, one after the other,
+came dripping in, some laughing, some small ones crying. Soon,
+however, the laughers prevailed; and, after showing their flowers,
+of which they had collected many, they set themselves to work to
+spread out the dinner, in the most attractive way possible, and make
+what amends they could for the unlucky chance of the rain. An old
+milk stool was appropriated to the queen. It had not even the
+accustomed number of three legs to support it, so that the poor
+queen had to endure the anxiety of a tottering throne, and learned
+experimentally some of the pains of royalty. The king took
+possession of an old barrel that had lost both ends, and sitting
+astride upon it, Bacchus fashion he took his place by the side of
+the poor queen on her two-legged stool, upon which she was
+exercising all the art of balancing that she had acquired in one
+quarter at dancing school, hoping against hope that she might keep
+her dignity from rolling on the barn floor. Just as his May-majesty
+was fairly seated on the barrel, it, all at once, fell in, smash,
+and he was half covered with old hoops and slaves. Whereupon the
+queen laughed so immoderately as to lose her balance, and thus both
+rolled in the dust. In the mean time, the other children, who had no
+dignity to support, had spread their little repast on an old sledge.
+Mrs. Chilton, who had brought a table-cloth, assisted them. Dinner
+was now announced. The queen declared she could support her throne
+no longer, and she and the king, both forgetting their royalty, sat
+down with the others on the hay-strewn floor, and discussed apples,
+cake, &c., &c.
+
+Unfortunately the rain lasted longer than the dinner; every scrap
+that was eatable of their provisions was consumed; and now the
+children all looked around with that peculiar, beseeching, half-
+discontented look, which is their wont to have on such occasions, as
+much as to say, "What shall we do next?" Grown people who have been
+much with children, know full well that there is no peace when such
+symptoms appear, under such circumstances, unless, before the king
+of misrule begins his reign, something is proposed of a composing
+tendency for turbulent spirits. Accordingly, Mrs. Chilton asked the
+children if they had ever heard of the Mayday ball which is given
+every year to the children in Washington. "No," was the answer. She
+said she had been at one, and she would tell all about it.
+
+"It is held in a large public hall, decorated for the purpose. All
+the children in Washington and Georgetown are invited to attend; all
+have an equal right to go, ignorant and educated, poor and rich; no
+matter how poor, if the girls can get a neat white frock, and the
+boys a decent dress, they are all admitted; every one wears a wreath
+of flowers, or has a bouquet in his hand or bosom. The children
+assemble very early, and dance as much as they please, to the music
+of a fine band, and all partake of some simple refreshment, provided
+for them, before they return home. They number often over a
+thousand, and as they are all moving together to the music, they
+look like a dancing flower garden. I said all the children, rich and
+poor, in Washington. I wish it were so; but there are many poor
+children who are never invited to this festival. No one dresses one
+of them in a nice white frock on May morning, and puts a wreath of
+flowers on her head, and a nosegay in her hands, and says to her,
+'Go, dance, sing, and rejoice with the other children in God's
+beautiful world.'"
+
+"Why not?" asked the listening children.
+
+"They are slaves--they are negroes!" replied Mrs. Chilton.
+
+"It is a shame; it is wicked," cried Frank and Harry, and all the
+rest.
+
+"When you are men and women," said Mrs. Chilton, "you may do much
+for the poor slaves. Remember them then, and do not forget them now.
+All can do something for them, even little children.
+
+Now I will tell you a story that was related to me by a gentlemen
+who knew it to be true. I knew, he said, a little boy, who was one
+of the best little fellows that ever lived. He was gentle and kind
+to his companions, obedient to his parents, good to all. His home
+was in a small country village, but he was very fond of wandering
+into the neighboring fields, when his tasks were all over. There, if
+he saw a young bird that had fallen to the ground before it could
+fly, he would pick it up gently, and put it back in its nest. I have
+often seen him step aside, lest he should tread on an anthill, and
+thus destroy the industrious little creatures' habitation. If a
+child smaller than he was carrying a heavy bundle or basket, Harry
+would always offer to help him. Was any one hurt, or unhappy, Harry
+was quick to give aid and sympathy; ever ready to defend the weak,
+feared not the strong. For every harsh word, Harry gave a kind one
+in return. I have known him to carry more than half his breakfast to
+a little lame boy whose mother was very poor. Harry was brave and
+true; he would confess his own faults, he would hide those of
+others. He had a thirst for knowledge. He got all his lessons well
+at school, and he stood high in his class. But what he was
+particularly remarkable for, was his love of all beautiful things,
+and most especially of wild flowers. He would make wreaths of them
+and give them to his mother, and he was very fond of putting one on
+my study table, when he could contrive to place it there without my
+seeing him. Harry knew all the green nooks where the houstonia was
+to be found in the early spring, and it was he that ever brought me
+the beautiful gentian that opens its fringed petals in the middle of
+the chilly October day. On Sunday, and on all holidays, Harry always
+had a flower or a bit of green in the button-hole of his jacket.
+Every sunny window in his mother's house had an old teapot or broken
+pitcher in it, containing one of Harry's plants whose bright
+blossoms hid defects and infirmities. He also loved music
+passionately; he whistled so sweetly that it was a delight to hear
+him. Yet there was something in his notes that always went to your
+heart and made you sad, they were so mournful.
+
+Often in the summer time, he would go, towards evening, into the
+fields and lie down in the long grass; and there he would look
+straight up into the clear deep blue sky, and whistle such plaintive
+tunes, that, beautiful as they were, it made your heart ache to hear
+them. You could not see him, and it seemed as if you were listening
+to the song of a spirit.
+
+Alas! Harry was not happy; God's glorious world was all around him;
+his soul was tuned to the harmony of heaven, and yet his young heart
+ached; and tears--bitter, scalding tears--often ran down his smooth,
+round cheek, and then he would run and hide his head in his mother's
+lap, that blessed home for a troubled spirit.
+
+One day, I discovered the cause of Harry's melancholy. I was
+returning from a walk, and saw him at a little brook that ran behind
+my house, washing his face and hands vehemently, and rubbing them
+very hard. I then remembered that I had often seen him there doing
+the same thing. "It seems to me, Harry," I said, "that your face and
+hands are clean now; why do you rub your face so violently?" "I am
+trying," he said, "to wash away this color. I can never be happy
+till I get rid of this color. If I wash me a great deal, will it not
+come off at last! The boys will not play with me; they do not love
+me because I am of this color; they are all white. Why, if God is
+good, did he not make me white?" And he wept bitterly. "Poor dear
+little boy!" I said, and took him in my arms and pressed him to my
+heart! "God is good; it is man that is cruel." The little fellow was
+soothed and strengthened by my sympathy, and the counsel I gave him.
+
+Not long after this, it was May-day, and all the children of the
+village went out into the fields to gather flowers, to dress
+themselves for a little dance they were to have in the evening.
+Every boy and girl in the village, except Harry, was of the party.
+They set off early in the morning, and they ran gayly over hills and
+meadows, and hunted busily for flowers; but the spring had been
+cold, and they could not find many. They were returning home,
+wearied, and rather chilled and disheartened, when they saw Harry
+coming out of the woods with a large bunch of flowers in his hand.
+One of the boys called out to him, "Well, nigger, where did you get
+all your flowers?" Harry went on and made no answer. "Come, stop,
+darky," said the hard-hearted boy, "stop, and let's have your
+flowers; here's three cents for them." "I don't wish to sell them,"
+said Harry; "they are all for my mother." "A nigger carry flowers to
+his mother! that's a good one! Come, boys, let's take them from him;
+they are as much our flowers as his; he has gathered more than his
+share; "and he approached Harry to seize his flowers.
+
+"For shame, Tom, for shame!" cried out many of the children, and one
+of the larger boys came forward and stood by Harry. "Touch him if
+you dare, Tom. You have got to knock me down first." The cruel boy,
+who was, of course, a coward, fell back, and some of the little
+children gathered around Harry to look at the flowers. "Don't mind
+that naughty boy, Harry," said one little girl, and slid her little
+hand into his. Harry's anger was always conquered by one word of
+kindness. "Where did you get all your flowers?" asked the children.
+"I will show you," replied Harry, "if you will follow me." They all
+shouted, "Let's go, let's go; show us the way, Harry;" and off they
+set. Harry ran like a quail through bush and brier, and over rocks
+and stone walls, till he came to a hill covered with a wood. "On the
+other side of this hill," said he, "we shall find them." In a very
+few minutes the children were all there. There they saw a warm,
+sunny hollow; through it ran a little brook, and all around were
+massive rocks and pretty nooks; and there were the birds singing
+loudly, and there were cowslips, and anemones, and houstonias, and
+violets, and all in great profusion. The boy who had insulted Harry
+hung back ashamed. Harry quietly said to him, "Here, under this
+little tree, is a beautiful bed of violets, and there are anemones."
+Harry tasted of the pleasure of doing good for evil. The boy who had
+defended him walked by him, and talked kindly to him. "How good it
+was in you to show us the flowers!" said the little girl who had
+taken Harry's hand, and whose apron he had filled with flowers. How
+happy now was poor Harry!
+
+All the children gathered that morning as many flowers as they
+desired. Some carried home only perishable earthly flowers in their
+hands; others, immortal flowers in their hearts. The village
+children went to their dance, and were very happy. Harry spent the
+rest of the day and the evening in his mother's cottage, alone with
+her, and amused himself with making wreaths of his flowers. But he
+said he had never passed so happy a May-day. A loving heart, like
+Una's beauty, 'can make a sunshine in a shady place.'"
+
+The clouds had now passed away. One of the boys proposed to pass a
+vote of thanks to the old barn, for the hospitable shelter it had
+afforded during the shower. This was received and passed with
+acclamations. Frank and Lizzy, or rather the king and queen of the
+May, declared that they had no thanks to offer to the old barrel or
+the milk stool. It was too wet to go into the woods again; so they
+formed a procession, and with their flowers in their hands, and
+such music as they had, returned gayly home.
+
+The children all enjoyed the dance in the evening; but there were
+some hearts there, young and merry as they were, that made a solemn
+vow never to forget those of whom they had heard that day,--"them
+that are in bonds."
+
+It is New Year's eve. Frank and Harry are sitting with their mother
+by the pleasant fireside. The boys were full of chat, but their
+mother was looking fixedly into the fire, and had been silent for a
+long time. She was thinking of the past; they, of what was to come.
+
+"Mother," said Harry, "will you tell me tonight what my new year's
+gift will be?"
+
+"Don't speak to mother now," said Frank.
+
+"Why not?
+
+"O, because mother looks as if she did not want to talk."
+
+"But mother told me that, if I would be silent till she had done
+reading, I might talk as much as I pleased to her."
+
+"So I did, Harry," said his mother; "and now I am ready to hear you.
+What did you ask me?"
+
+"Only, Mother, whether you meant I should know what my new year's
+gift is, before tomorrow morning."
+
+"No, dear; I think you had better have it all new and fresh to-
+morrow; the surprise is a part of the pleasure of a new year's
+gift."
+
+"What can it be? I know what I hope it is."
+
+"What do you hope it will be, Harry?"
+
+"I do hope it will be a magic lantern," said Harry, without a
+moment's hesitation. His mother made no answer.
+
+"What do you wish for?" asked Harry.
+
+"I don't know," said Frank; "there are so many things I wish for,
+that I hardly know what to say first."
+
+"I wish," said their mother, "that I could grant all your wishes;
+that I could give you every good thing you desire; but my means, as
+you know, are limited. I am sorry, dear, that you have so many
+wishes ungratified."
+
+"O Mother, it is not for such things as you can give that I most
+wish for. You are very kind to me, and give me more good things than
+you ought to give me; you are too generous to me. I wish for what no
+one can give me."
+
+"We all have many such wishes, my dear child; but we must not think
+even these quite unattainable. There are few things that a
+reasonable being earnestly desires, that some day or other may not
+become his."
+
+"Do you think so, Mother?"
+
+"Yes, Frank; perhaps he may not attain them in this life, but I
+think the very desire is a prophecy, and even promise, that we shall
+at some stage of our being possess what we wish."
+
+"I know what I shall wish, then," said Harry, "and keep wishing it
+as long as I live till I get it, though I am afraid I shall never
+have it. I'll tell you what my wish is, Frank, if you will tell me
+yours."
+
+"Agreed, Harry," said Frank; "and you shall tell your wish first,
+and I last."
+
+"I wish," said Harry, "that I had a flying horse that was perfectly
+gentle, and would go all over the world with me, and do just as I
+told him to, and never be tired; but I guess I never shall get one.
+Come, Frank, what do you wish?"
+
+"I wish that I had a great deal of strength and courage, more than
+any one else, and was never afraid of any thing, and that I could do
+whatever was to be done, and become, at last, a great man, and do
+some good in the world. I don't want to sit still in a corner half
+of my life, and never use my faculties. Now, Mother, Harry and I
+have told our wishes; will you tell yours?"
+
+"First," said the mother, "let me show you how near you may, even in
+this life, come to your wishes, and then I will tell mine. Harry
+will not continue to wish for a flying horse, because he will know
+he can never have it in this world; but his wish will change into a
+desire of travelling and seeing all that is beautiful and wonderful
+in God's glorious world, and then he will find his flying horse in a
+rail carriage or steamboat. And you, my dear Frank, if you continue
+to wish to be strong and brave, and truly great, will have, perhaps,
+more than you ask for; for, if you do not have a strong body, you
+will have a brave spirit, and you will be what is better than a
+strong man--a good, great man. True greatness does not depend upon
+physical strength; for instance, a brave and noble woman may be
+greater than a man."
+
+"How is that, Mother?"
+
+"Because, from the weakness of her body she has more obstacles to
+overcome. Her power arises from an inward strength that lasts long,
+and shines most brightly in the darkest hour of trial. Mere bodily
+strength, without this power of soul, is often cowardly and useless.
+
+I will tell you a true story that I heard the other day, which will
+show you what I mean. Somewhere in the State of Maine there is a
+beautiful little lake, on the banks of which are a number of farms
+and pleasant dwelling houses. There are boats on the lake, and the
+people are in the habit of allowing the children to learn early the
+management of a boat; girls and boys together are allowed to go out
+on the lake, without any man to take charge of them. One day, a
+little party went out. They had been rowing about for some time, and
+gathering pond lilies, and waking up all the echoes in the
+surrounding woods with loud shouts, merry laughs, and happy songs.
+The children were in the middle of the lake, and were thinking of
+returning, when, by some accident, one of the boys fell overboard. A
+boy of fourteen years of age had the management of the boat; he was
+the principal oarsman. He was strong and active, and could swim, but
+he feared for his own life, and he immediately began to row for the
+shore to get help. In the mean time, the poor boy, who could not
+swim to the shore, and whose strength would be unequal to keep above
+water till they returned with help, would have been drowned. There
+were other boys in the boat, but it was a little girl, of ten years
+of age, who, immediately forgetting her weakness, became their
+leader and guide. She insisted that the boat should be turned back
+again, that the poor boy should not be left. I know not if she
+seized the oar, but if she did not, she prevailed with others to
+turn the boat round and come back again to the poor boy, who, seeing
+himself left by his companions, was giving himself up for lost. As
+soon as they came up to him again, the brave little girl asked the
+boy of fourteen years to keep the boat as steady as he could. Then
+she reached over the side of the boat, and told her companions to
+hold her fast by the legs. Soon she was able to reach the drowning
+boy. He was much bigger than she. She told him to put his arms round
+her neck. She then put her arms under his, and pulled him safely
+into the boat.
+
+This girl was a small, delicate child. Now, dear Frank, who was the
+strong and brave one, the girl or the boy? Which would you rather
+be?"
+
+"Of course, the girl, Mother. What a brave little soul she was!"
+
+"So you see, Frank, that what is most truly desirable in your wish
+is within your reach, even now."
+
+"She was a first rate girl," said Harry, "and the boy was a real
+coward for going away and leaving the poor fellow in the lake;" and
+he breathed a long breath, as if he had himself just come out of the
+water.
+
+"Now, boys, to match that story of the little girl, I will tell you
+one of a sailor boy who was even braver and nobler than she. As a
+schooner was sailing near Montauk Point, Long Island, she was
+suddenly struck by a heavy gust of wind, upset, and instantly sunk.
+A vessel near by, which had seen the calamity, sent its boat to save
+from sinking any that had not gone to the bottom. On coming near
+where the schooner went down, they saw a little boy, twelve years
+old, floating on some wood, and went to take him off. As they
+approached him, he cried out, 'Never mind me; save the captain; he
+has a wife and six children. Both, however, were saved. Can we make
+any better resolution, my dear boys," said Mrs. Chilton, "to begin
+the New Year with, than that we will try to be as brave and self-
+forgetting as the little girl and boy I have been telling you about?
+And now, good night."
+
+"Good night, old year, for the last time," said Harry; and they were
+soon asleep.
+
+On New Year's morning, Harry found a large bag hanging to his bed
+post, containing a magic lantern; and Frank saw on his bureau a
+complete set of Miss Edgeworth's Works.
+
+Again it is New Year's eve. Another year has passed happily over the
+home of Mrs. Chilton and her boys.
+
+"To-morrow, dear Mother, is New Year's day," said Frank; "may we
+not, as we are one year older, sit up till the clock strikes twelve,
+and wish you a happy new year before we go to bed?"
+
+"Yes, boys, if you can keep awake, you may sit up. Tell me, Frank,
+do you think you have gained as much this year as you ought to have
+gained? Ere long you will be a man."
+
+"I think I have gained something," replied Frank. "I am at the head
+of my class in school. I am three inches taller, I am stronger, and
+I know a great deal more than I did last year."
+
+"Is that all you have gained? Have you cured any of your faults? Can
+you command your temper any better? Are you any more disinterested?
+Are you more careful about the truth--in short, are you a better
+boy?"
+
+"I cannot say, Mother; you know about that better than I."
+
+"You expect a New Year's gift to-morrow, I presume, Frank."
+
+"Yes, Mother, you always give us a New Year's gift, you know. Will
+you let us sit up till the clock strikes twelve to-night?"
+
+Their mother promised that they should, and added, "I have been
+thinking of a New Year's gift for you, Frank, that I am not quite
+sure you will like. I will tell you what it is, and if you do not
+like it, you will say so honestly, I trust."
+
+"What is it, Mother?"
+
+"You know the little room I call my closet. It has a window in it,
+and contains some shelves with books on them. I propose to give you
+that closet, with all the books I shall leave in it, for your own.
+In it are a desk and a chair. From the window, you look directly,
+you know, upon the pine grove. In this little room, you may study
+and write and read and think also, as much as you please."
+
+Frank could scarcely hear his mother finish, for delight at the
+thought. "All my own? the books, the desk, the nice old-fashioned
+chair and the closet itself? Why, Mother, I never should have
+believed you would have given it to me for my own. There is nothing
+I should like so well in the world. Shall I have the Shakespeare,
+and the Johnson, and the Classical Dictionary, and the Sir Charles
+Grandison, and all the old poets, and those French books in it, and
+the Homer and the Virgil too?"
+
+"Yes, my son, I think I need not ask you to promise to lend them to
+me when I wish to borrow them. I have a great affection for this
+closet, Frank, and therefore I give it to you. If the walls could
+speak, they could tell you a great deal of your mother's history."
+
+"I wish they could; I shall sit there a great deal, and I should
+like to hear all they have to say."
+
+"As I have promised you to let you sit up till the new year comes
+in, I will tell you something now of what they would say. You know
+that this is the house in which I was born, so that this closet knew
+me from a child. Many a time, when I was a little girl, has my
+mother shut me up in it for refusing to obey her. It was gentle
+treatment shutting me up in this closet; had it not been called a
+punishment, I never should have thought it one. In summer time, the
+whispering of the wind through the pine trees rebuked my bad temper,
+and seemed to say, 'Hush, Alice! Peace! Be still.' I always came out
+better than I went into it. When I was nine years old, my father
+gave me this closet for my own use altogether. Many of the books
+that are in it now were in it then, and the same desk and chair
+stand there to this day. My father had just built on to his house
+the addition which gave him the library which I now use; his law
+books and papers, &c., required better accommodation; and, from that
+time, the closet became mine. He gave it to me, as I do to you, for
+a New Year's gift; and this is one reason why I love to give it to
+you for the same purpose. It is a very dear and sacred spot to me,
+Frank, this closet, and I think you will like to hear something of
+its history."
+
+"Yes, indeed I shall, Mother," said Frank.
+
+"When I first took possession of it," continued his mother, "I felt
+more grand, I fancy, than Queen Victoria did when she took
+possession of the throne of England, for she had anticipated her
+elevation, whereas I had never dreamed of mine. When I was a girl,
+children did not fare as they do now, and my father's liberality to
+me was an unusual thing. My father and mother both went up stairs
+with me on New Year's day, and led me into my little sanctum, which
+they had dressed with evergreens, and seated me in the three-
+cornered leather-bottomed chair, and told me that every thing in the
+closet was mine. Although it was winter, still the pine trees that
+you know come so near the window, and that now are old trees, looked
+beautiful, and to me it seemed a little paradise. 'Here,' said my
+mother, 'you were many a time shut up by me in order to make you a
+good girl. Now you are old enough to know yourself when it is the
+right time for you to be shut up here, in order that you may grow
+good. I advise you, at such times, to come here and stay till you
+have conquered the bad spirit, and can come out with a firm
+resolution to do better. I shall never put you in the closet again,
+but I shall trust, Alice, that you will put yourself in, at all
+proper times.' I well remember putting my arms around my mother's
+neck and kissing her for joy, but I said not a word. My heart was
+too full of love, and gratitude, and pleasure to speak. After my
+parents left me in the closet, in my own chair, now all my own, I
+sat still some minutes thinking what I should do with my great
+possession, how I should improve my great blessing. The thought of
+my mother's loving trust in me affected me very much. I resolved I
+would not disappoint her. I resolved that, whenever I found myself
+doing wrong, I would come to my closet, shut myself in, and pray
+there for strength to cure my faults. I then counted them all over
+as far as I knew them, and resolved to get rid of them all. I was
+too happy to think of the difficulty in the way of doing this, but
+my self-confidence was soon rebuked. After looking over all the
+books, and putting my fingers upon every thing in my little kingdom,
+and dancing up and down with delight, I followed my father and
+mother down stairs to see the presents for the other children. Such
+was my state of exaltation that when my little sister came, full of
+joy, to me, with her new doll, I turned contemptuously away from
+her, and sneered at it, and said, 'Who wants to look at a doll? My
+New Year's gift is the best; it is worth yours and the boys' all put
+together.' Never shall I forget the grieved, disappointed look of my
+little sister as she said, 'Why, Alice, I thought you would be so
+glad to see my doll,'--and never shall I forget the silent rebuke of
+my mother's gentle eye, as she looked at me sadly. I felt it all. I
+could not stand it. I ran up to my closet; I turned the key as I
+closed the door. I fell on my knees and poured forth to my Father in
+heaven the first TRUE prayer I ever remember to have uttered. I
+prayed for forgiveness of my unkindness, I prayed for strength to
+conquer my many faults.
+
+That day I did not sin again. I played with Fanny's doll. I did all
+that I could to make every one happy. I took the children up to my
+closet, and tried to make them share in all my pleasures while I
+tried to enjoy theirs. I made amends for my fault. From that time, I
+began a religious self-scrutiny and censorship. I watched myself
+very carefully, and for every fault I did penance in my closet. When
+I shut myself up on account of wrong doing, I would not allow myself
+to read or do any thing but think of my fault. The words of my
+mother which had been uttered without much serious thought, were as
+a law to me. I became, if possible, too sensitive to my own defects;
+it made me rather egotistical. It seemed as if my heart had become
+suddenly changed. I was, as it were, born again; a new life began in
+me.
+
+One penance that I subjected myself to was to go and confess to my
+mother all my faults, even the most trifling. She feared that this
+continual self-reference would make me, as it did, an egotist, and
+she, one day, advised me to be satisfied with seeing my wrong doings
+and acknowledging them to myself, and to try to correct them without
+speaking of them to her. I begged her, with tears, to let me have my
+own way, for that telling her all helped me greatly; and I think,
+for a time, it did. The necessity of confiding all that is in our
+hearts, and all we do that is wrong, to a being whom we entirely
+respect and love, and in whose purity we confide, is a great check
+upon evil thoughts and evil deeds. One instance I well remember of
+the good effect of my confession. My mother insisted upon careful
+and neat habits in all things. She would not allow us to throw down
+our caps or bonnets. They must all be hung up on pegs in the hall,
+and each child had a peg of his or her own. As we often forgot the
+command, our mother, in order to remind us, made a law, one winter,
+that whoever broke the rule should, when the apples were distributed
+in the evening, have none. One day, all of us came in to supper in
+haste from play, and two out of four of us forgot to hang up their
+hats--my sister was one, and I the other. The footman picked up my
+hat, and hung it up in the right place. At the time of distributing
+the apples, my mother gave me a fine one, and said, "Alice never
+forgets her hat. No one forgets now but Jeannie. She is very
+careless, and must have no apple to-night." I was mean enough to
+take my apple and be silent; but I could not eat it. Still there
+seemed to be a spell over me; and, wretched as I was, I could not
+speak and confess before my brothers and sisters how false and
+shabby I had been. I went to my closet; and there, after a while, I
+resolved that, in the morning, I would tell the whole truth. I went
+to bed, but I could not go to sleep. As soon as I heard my mother
+coming to bed, I went to her bedside, confessed the truth to her,
+gave her my apple, and begged her to tell the children how mean I
+had been. My mother was as just as she was kind. "You must tell them
+yourself," she said. "You must confess your fault to your youngest
+sister with your own lips, and be willing to appear before her what
+you are. You must not ask me to save you this disgrace. It is that
+which will cure you. It is your just punishment." I did as she bade
+me, and this was my last sin of that kind.
+
+I had another fault, and that was a great irritability of temper,
+and many and many an hour of solitude have I passed in that closet,
+looking out at the quiet pine trees, and listening to the soft
+sighing of the winds through their branches, till my heart has been
+softened, and the spirit of love and gentleness has returned. I
+remember one instance in particular of my conquest there of my
+foolish anger. I was in the habit, in warm weather, of learning all
+my lessons in my closet, particularly favorite pieces of poetry,
+which I wished to commit well to memory. There I recited them aloud.
+I found that the other children would often come and listen to me;
+this fretted me; I was very angry at it. I desired them not to do
+it, and not in an amiable manner; but they often forgot or
+disregarded my request. I could not, or thought I could not, command
+my temper whenever I found this out. One day I had been reciting
+Hamlet's soliloquy; and, just after I had repeated the last words, I
+heard William say in a pompous manner, "Toby or not Toby." I was
+very angry, foolish as it may seem to you, and burst open the door
+so suddenly and violently that I threw down my little sister who
+stood against it; and, instead of taking her up, I told her I was
+glad I had knocked her down; and then I was coward enough to strike
+my little brother. The cries of both children brought up my mother.
+By this time, I had come to my senses. I told her the story just as
+it was, and I felt very much ashamed.
+
+My mother simply said to me, "I thought you were beginning to be a
+reasonable being, and had ceased to be a passionate coward. You know
+that William is not so strong as you, or you would not dare to
+strike him." Her words seemed to me very harsh then, but now I think
+they were just. All abuse of power, all cruelty to the weak, is
+truly cowardly and mean.
+
+That day I punished myself severely. Some friends were to dine with
+us, friends whom I loved particularly to see; one of them was Jane
+Grey, my earliest and dearest friend; but I would not go down to
+dinner. When called, I sent a note to my mother, saying I should not
+come down, and wanted no dinner, and begging her not to send again
+for me, for it would be in vain. I heard the cheerful, merry voices
+of the family at dinner. I heard the birds singing in the trees near
+my window. I breathed in the sweet fragrance of the roses and the
+new hay. I saw the animals at a distance feeding quietly. The clear,
+deep-blue sky, as I gazed up at it from my window, looked so pure,
+so solemn, as if angels unseen might be hovering over the world.
+All, all but me was beautiful, and happy, and good. I was sinful, I
+was unhappy; I was, it seemed to me, a discord in the world. I hated
+myself for my bad temper, for it was some time before I had quite
+conquered it. At last, however, I did, and became gentle and happy
+in my chosen solitude, while others were enjoying themselves
+together.
+
+In the middle of the afternoon, they all went out to walk. When
+Jeannie came up for her bonnet, she ran to my closet, and called out
+to me, "Dear Alice! mother told me not to come to you at dinner
+time; but we can't be happy without you. Jane says she can't play
+without you. Can't you come down? Do, Alice." "No," I replied. "Say
+nothing about me. I shall not see Jane to-day." After Jeannie left
+me, I could not quite keep the tears from my eyes. Pretty soon, my
+dear mother, who always thought people must suffer from hunger, came
+to me and brought me a nice piece of pudding she had saved for me,
+and said kindly to me, "Come, Alice, you have punished yourself
+enough; eat this pudding and come down stairs. You will not be so
+passionate again." I would not go down, but I ate the pudding. When
+our friends were all gone, I went down, and then I told Willie I was
+sorry for striking him. Whether it was that my partiality to Jane,
+which caused what I suffered that day to make a peculiarly deep
+impression on my mind, I know not; but, from that time, I acquired
+more self-command; and never did I forget that day in my closet.
+
+I could tell you much more about my closet experiences, Frank, of
+what I have enjoyed and what I have suffered in it. There I went
+when my heart was too full of pain or pleasure to bear the eye of
+another. There have I prayed. There have I sent up thanksgivings.
+There have I wept bitter tears. A new page in its history will
+commence to-morrow, Frank. I hope, also, a new and fair page in the
+history of your mind, that inner, private apartment, on which only
+your own eye and the eye of Infinite Purity can rest. Begin to-
+morrow to write on that new page the history of conquered
+selfishness, of truth and purity, of devotion to duty, of a higher
+love for others, of obedience to the will of God; then this will be
+a truly happy New Year.
+
+As I have told you, Frank, beforehand, what your New Year's gift is
+to be, I will tell Harry, if he pleases, what I have got for him."
+
+"Tell it now, Mother. It is so pleasant here by the fire."
+
+"You are to have a nice new desk, with a key to it, all your own."
+
+"O, that's prime, Mother," said Harry; "and where shall I keep it"?
+"
+
+"In my little writing room, if you like, Harry."
+
+"Yes, Mother; and then I can talk a little now and then to you, I
+suppose."
+
+"Sometimes, Harry; and I doubt not that Frank will let you come, now
+and then, to his closet. I don't want this closet to separate you;
+but, on the contrary, to be the means of making you better friends,
+because it will help Frank to be a better boy, and so always to set
+you a good example."
+
+"It is rather hard, Mother, for a boy to set a good example. I don't
+think I ever did such a thing in my life."
+
+"Mother," said Harry, "you told us that you had been translating a
+little story from a French book, to read to us some evening. We
+shall have time enough to-night, for you know you promised to let us
+sit up till the clock strikes twelve; so we can talk, and read, and
+tell stories too. There will be time enough for all, before Mr. Old
+Year goes out and Mr. New Year comes in."
+
+Mrs. Chilton consented. Frank placed her little stand by her, with
+the German lamp upon it, in the way she liked to have it, and she
+read as follows:--
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BIRTHDAY.
+
+
+
+
+Near the coast of Northumberland, at a little distance from the
+land, you can just see rising up a group of little islands, rocks
+scattered without order, that grow in number at low water; you may
+count as many as twenty of them, whose sharp, menacing crests seem
+to defy the returning waves.
+
+Nothing can be more desolate than the appearance of the little Farne
+Islands; formed of rocks barely covered with a thin vegetation,
+surrounded by precipices, they seem accessible only to sea birds,
+who take refuge there in the tempests.
+
+The Island of Longstone is at the head of the group, and serves as a
+sort of vanguard, and is, perhaps, the most dangerous of all. A
+gloomy collection of black rocks, full of crevices worn by the
+action of the winds, the waters, and the tempests, it does not
+nourish a single plant; not an atom of soil adheres to its surface;
+it is naked and barren; its steep sides bristle with cockle shells
+which encrust the rock.
+
+The interior is still more desolate than the exterior; it is a
+succession of black hillocks cut by narrow ravines into which the
+sea rushes, roaring and furious, at high tide, detaching from the
+rocks fragments which it grinds, rounds into pebbles, and deposits
+pell-mell with the mud and sea weed in some deep crevice, where it
+again will come to seek them in the storm, roll them over once more
+in its foam, and drag them off to its profound caverns.
+
+While our feet were wounded by the rocks, above our heads hundreds
+of sea birds hovered screaming, and among them we discovered the
+sea-gull by its shrill and harsh scream.
+
+Notwithstanding these horrors, this island is not a desert. At the
+summit of the rock, there rises a round tower where every evening a
+light is kindled, so contrived as, at intervals of some seconds, to
+throw a brilliant light upon the points where the fretted waves rage
+and boil round a hidden rock, and to light the dangerous channel
+which separates the island from its sister isles, and to warn the
+pilot to avoid by every means the perilous labyrinth.
+
+The keeper of the lighthouse did not live alone in this wild place;
+his wife followed him there; his family increased, and the cradle
+has rocked again and again.
+
+Grace Darling, the eldest of the seven children, has just reached
+her twenty-second year, and all the family are rejoicing at the
+festival, for every anniversary is religiously kept by the little
+company that animates the solitude of Longstone.
+
+Every one is gone out to seek something by which he may take his
+part in the festivity, and prepare a surprise for the well-beloved
+sister. The mother remains at home kneading a nice cake to gratify
+the appetite of the little marauders.
+
+"Mother, Mother!" cried John, who returned the first; "see what a
+superb lobster the rising sea has brought up and left in the crevice
+of a rock, which I call my fish-trap. Might not one say that the sea
+knew that it was Grace's feast day?"
+
+"I have only some shrimps," said William; "but they are very fine
+ones, I hope. I took them, with a net at the end of the little
+creek."
+
+"Imprudent boy!" said their mother; "your father has told you a
+hundred times not to venture to fish on that side of the island; the
+rock is too steep, and the water is more than a hundred fathoms
+deep."
+
+"Yes, but, in a turning, there is a little platform which I have
+shown to my father, and he has consented to my going there at low
+water. Then I know the rock, and the sea knows me; neither of them
+wish to hurt me. You have more reason for scolding Jenny; she is not
+afraid of any thing; she climbs like a cat all along the crevices to
+collect sea weed, which she burns in order to enrich the hole which
+she calls her garden, and to cultivate--what? nothing that one can
+eat--some good-for-nothing flowers, which grow only in consequence
+of shelter and great care."
+
+"And you count it for nothing to be able to present to Grace a rose
+like that?" said Jenny, who just then came in bringing a rose of a
+dull white, surrounded by vigorous leaves of a dark green. "What a
+pleasure to have been able to keep it till now, even here, and to
+see it blossom so exactly at the right time. I do not regret the
+pains I have taken with it, I assure you."
+
+"And you are right," replied her mother; "for Grace will know well
+how to appreciate the pains you must have taken to give her such a
+pleasure; and I, too, approve of the forethought you have
+discovered, which will make you one day a good housewife. Let your
+brothers fish and hunt; let it be your care to plant and ornament
+our solitude with your little smiling, blooming nook of earth."
+
+"But where is Grace?" asked John; "why is she not assisting you as
+usual, Mother?"
+
+"Because I refused to let her do so. She knows well that this day
+will be her festival, and I have sent her up stairs to her father,
+whilst we are here together preparing for her."
+
+"James and the two little ones are missing," said William.
+
+"Only James," replied his mother. "The two little ones are with
+Grace, who is giving them a lesson in reading. I do not see why
+James stays away so long; it is nightfall, and his father has always
+desired him to take care not to be overtaken by a fog far from the
+house."
+
+"Suppose I go after him," said William.
+
+"There he comes, there he comes!" cried John and Jenny.
+
+The boy came in, in truth, all out of breath.
+
+"I have just succeeded," said he, "in making up the dozen." As he
+said this, he put upon the table a dozen of wild eggs. "The last
+came near costing me very dear," said he; "it was laid half way down
+to the Black Man's; you know, William, the great rock which looks
+like a giant sitting down; I had climbed, on my knees, and I had
+only one more step to take, when a great big wave--a coward!--behind
+struck me, and would have carried me away if I had not clung with
+all my might to the great Black Man."
+
+"Foolish child," said the mother, "could you not foresee the return
+of the tide?"
+
+"Not at all, not at all. It came before the hour. There are enormous
+waves in the channel, and the sea growls as when it is going to be
+angry."
+
+"That will not prevent us from passing a merry evening," replied
+William; "come, let us go quickly to work."
+
+He hastened to set the table, and assist his sister in putting on
+the plates, while his mother broke the eggs, beat up the omelet, and
+drew out the cake from the oven.
+
+All was ready, and William rang the bell to call the father and
+Grace to supper, who usually remained in the upper part of the tower
+of the lighthouse.
+
+Grace loved to contemplate the indented coast of Northumberland, and
+to see with her naked eyes, of a clear day, the little hamlet where
+she was born; it was not that she regretted the fertile soil, the
+verdure, the wood she had seen when she was little. No! the Isle of
+Longstone, did it not contain in its rocky bosom what was dearest to
+Grace? Her sympathy extended, however, far beyond. She trembled with
+joy when she distinguished on board of a passing vessel boys and
+girls, young people and women. She waved her handkerchief to them,
+sent to them affectionate words which the wind blew away, but which
+eased her full heart. She had another more intimate tie to her
+fellow-beings, and to her native land, and this was the reading some
+good books, that inexhaustible source of elevated thought and
+profitable example.
+
+When she at last appeared in the low hall where they waited for her,
+there was a general hurrah; the question was, who should first get
+his arms round her neck, who should embrace her, and who should
+congratulate her on her birthday. She showed herself as much
+surprised, as much delighted, as the young providers of the festival
+could desire. She praised the beauty of the lobster, the size of the
+shrimps, the wild taste of the omelet; but the rose touched her the
+most tenderly, and Jenny clapped her hands as she said,--
+
+"I was very sure that you would love my poor little flower, which
+William despised because it was not good to eat."
+
+"He is a little gourmand," said Grace, laughing, "whom I condemn for
+his punishment to eat my part of the cake."
+
+"To the health of Grace," said the father. "We have just opened for
+her one of the bottles of old Bourdeaux, which the brave French
+captain gave us, who came near perishing down below at the end of
+the great reef of rocks, sixteen years ago."
+
+"And whom you saved at the risk of your life," added his wife.
+
+"I remember it all," said Grace, with a very serious look; "I was
+very small, yet I well remember that terrible night. I hear now the
+howling of the waves as they broke against the rocks, and made the
+lighthouse tremble."
+
+"It was just such a night as this," said the father; "a Friday, the
+sixth of September. The sun set, just as it set to-night, in a cloud
+red as blood, which is never a sign of any thing good."
+
+"It is a sign of a great wind," said James; "so much the better; the
+wild birds will come to the island for shelter."
+
+"A great storm," said John, "always brings fish into my trap;
+besides, I love the storm."
+
+"Let us play hit-hand," said Jenny. "Come, James, you begin; put
+your head in my lap, and hold your hand out. There! tell me who
+struck."
+
+"That is not difficult; it was you."
+
+"O! you looked!"
+
+"No. Now it is your turn."
+
+After this game came blind man's buff. The eldest sister gave
+herself up to all their wishes. She let them bandage her eyes, and
+sought fearfully the little fugitives; but notwithstanding her
+efforts, and the efforts of all to be amused, a cloud hung over the
+little assembly. Without, a thick fog enveloped the island, and
+veiled the friendly light.
+
+"If I am not greatly deceived, this will be a very bad night," said
+the father. "There is, fortunately, no vessel in sight, if it is
+not, perhaps, the Hull packet, which will have had time, I think, to
+reach the Bay of Berwick, and which will have the discretion, I
+trust, to remain there; for the heavens speak in a loud voice this
+evening; the wind comes from below, and the waves run before it like
+a flock of frightened sheep."
+
+"I should like to see a flock of sheep," said the little girl of
+five, whom Grace held in her lap, and whom she was getting to sleep.
+
+"Hush! did I not hear something?" said the mother.
+
+"It is the wind that sings us to sleep in the tower," said the
+little child.
+
+Grace, who was just going up stairs, stopped and listened. "I only
+hear the sea which strikes and rages against the rocks," said she.
+
+"Let it beat as it will, it will not wake me," said John. "I am too
+weary."
+
+Good nights were exchanged, and they all betook themselves to bed;
+and, in a quarter of an hour after, every one slept, rocked by the
+storm which roared around the tower, beat against the lighthouse,
+shook its thick glass, and sought in vain to reach the flame. The
+tempest increased from hour to hour. It rose in mountainous waves,
+and broke against the rocks with a tremendous noise.
+
+These sounds were heard in Grace's dreams; she thought she saw men
+and women struggling with the waves; they called her to their
+rescue; she held out her hand, and felt herself drawn into the gulf
+with them. Presently she heard a cry. She sat up in her bed; the day
+began to dawn; it might be four o'clock in the morning. The wind
+brought to her ear a cry shriller than the first. This time she was
+not mistaken; it was a human voice.
+
+Her whole heart was agitated. Quickly as possible she climbed to the
+steps that led to the outer platform of the lighthouse. Her father
+was there before her. Clinging to the balustrade, he looked all
+around; but his eyes were unable to see through the fog and the
+rain; he saw nothing.
+
+"Grace," said he, "you have good eyes; see if you can discover any
+thing."
+
+The young girl took the spy glass, but the fog obscured the glasses.
+She calmly wiped them, and looked again.
+
+"I perceive the top of a mast," said she.
+
+"Where is it?"
+
+"At the head of the long reef. O God, if the fog would only lift."
+And the young girl raised an earnest prayer to Heaven.
+
+"Why, Father," she called suddenly, "I see something move. There are
+many of them; they are waiting for us; let us go."
+
+"You do not think, my child," said her father; "stay here; I will go
+alone."
+
+"Alone to meet those frightful waves, and no one to guide the helm?
+That would be to go to a certain death. I am stronger than you.
+Think of no such thing, Father. I shall go with you, and we will
+save them."
+
+Her father looked in her face, and his eyes filled with tears.
+
+"So be it," he said; "we will die together."
+
+"We will live, and we will save them. Let us to the work."
+
+She hurried on her father. In the twinkling of an eye, the boat,
+moored in a creek, was unfastened, and launched upon the boiling
+waves, when a voice cried from the shore,--
+
+"And will you leave me behind? I have a right to run the same risks
+with you; I wish to take my part." The mother threw herself into the
+bark, which rose for a moment on the menacing crest of an enormous
+wave, then disappeared, swallowed up in the furrow left between two
+mountains of water.
+
+In the mean while, the fog lifted, and a group of shipwrecked people
+were seen clinging to the sharp points of a ledge of rocks upon
+which beat the hull of a ship, split in two.
+
+"They come nearer," cried one of them. "O, that terrible wave has
+carried them farther off."
+
+"Let us thank God for that," said the captain; "it might have dashed
+them against the reef."
+
+"They will arrive too late," said a poor mother who pressed to her
+heart an infant already stiff and motionless with cold.
+
+"They are making superhuman efforts," said the captain. "Courage,
+brave hearts!" And he raised a white handkerchief.
+
+The mother uttered a loud cry. She had just discovered that the
+child that she was trying to warm was dead.
+
+At this moment, the bark made a desperate effort to land; but a
+furious wave carried it off for a third time. It whirled round and
+round, as if taken into one of those bottomless gulfs which the
+currents form around the rocks, and disappeared.
+
+The group of shipwrecked sufferers, six men and five women, fell
+upon their knees at this awful moment. Suddenly they perceived the
+boat nearer to them than ever. It had rounded the reef, and gained a
+quieter sea. It was coming along the edge of the rock, which on that
+side sunk precipitately into the sea.
+
+"Bless me," said the captain, "they are women."
+
+"Angels come down from heaven to save us," cried a sailor.
+
+Grace had already seized hold of the poor mother. She had gently
+taken the dead baby out of her arms, under the pretence of carrying
+it for her. She led her over the rough parts of the rock into the
+boat.
+
+There was not a minute to lose; the tide was rising; a delay of a
+few moments might render a return impossible. The heroic young girl
+insisted only that she would remain on the reef till the skiff,
+which could only take half of the company, returned for the
+remainder.
+
+God rewarded her faith and courage. All those who had been wrecked
+on the frightful reefs of Longstone were saved, and brought in
+safety into the small dwelling of the lighthouse.
+
+The remains of the feast, the old wine opened in honor of Grace,
+helped to reanimate the poor shipwrecked sufferers who owed their
+lives to the young girl.
+
+"Never was a birthday," as the good mother often said, "so full of
+terrible and joyful emotions; never was one more blessed."
+
+"That is a right good story, Mother," said Harry. "Was Grace Darling
+a real person?"
+
+"Yes," said his mother, "and many more beautiful stories are told of
+her, and all true. She was a noble creature."
+
+"One more story, dear Mother," said the boys. "We have a good deal
+of time, yet."
+
+"Many years ago," said the mother, "I was making a visit in a family
+where what I am going to relate to you took place. I wrote it all
+down, and I will now read it to you from my manuscript book."
+
+
+
+
+
+A TRUE STORY.
+
+
+
+
+One cold, stormy evening in the middle of winter, a family,
+consisting of four children and their parents, were gathered round a
+bright, blazing fire. One merry-looking little girl was sitting with
+a large, beautiful cat in her lap, which she was stroking, while
+Miss Puss was purring her satisfaction at her happy lot. An older
+girl was assisting her mother, who was employed at some needlework.
+The oldest boy was getting his lesson. The youngest was sitting on
+his father's knee. "How the wind roars!" said little Robert, as a
+tremendous blast came swelling and moaning over the fields and
+rushed against their dwelling, which, saving one old elm tree that
+bent its protecting branches over it, stood all alone, exposed to
+the shock of the wind against it. "Shan't we blow over, Father?"
+said the child. "No, dear; we have stood higher winds than this."
+"Now it dies away," said Helen, as, for a moment, she stopped
+caressing her favorite. "The storm is taking breath," said Ned; "now
+you can hear it a great way off; it sounds like a troop of horse
+galloping up--now it comes nearer and nearer. Hurrah! there it comes
+again! hurrah! Hear the poor old elm creak and groan, and hear the
+icicles rattling down. I hope none of the branches will break, but I
+am afraid the ice is too heavy for them." "Think of poor old Fanny
+to-night," said Julia, the elder girl, "in her little cottage, and
+the walls so thin. Mother, what will she do?" "Her house is so small
+that the wind seems to pass her by," said the mother, "and, when it
+is so cold as it is to-night, the poor soul goes to bed, and lies
+there till it is warmer. Many a time, I have found her in bed in the
+morning, and given her some breakfast, and advised her to lie there
+till she could get up with comfort." "It is so still now," said
+Robert, "that I can hear the flakes of snow on the window panes."
+"And so do I," said little Helen, "and the wind seems to say, Hush!
+hush!" "I should not think you could hear any thing while Puss is
+purring so loud in your ears," replied Ned. "Do put her out of the
+room; I would rather hear the loudest wind that ever blew than hear
+a cat purr, purr, purr so forever; it makes my head spin to hear it;
+hush, Puss! stop purring." Puss purred on all the same, for Ned's
+words were followed by no hostile act towards her. No one, much less
+Helen's pet, was ever treated inhospitably at Mr. Nelson's fireside.
+
+Now there was a short silence in the happy group, and nothing was
+heard but the fitful wind without, the crackling of the fire, and
+the contented sound of the purring cat within. Mrs. Nelson was the
+first to speak. "Is it not time," said she, "for John to return from
+the village? I cannot help expecting a letter from James. If,"--and
+the color left her cheeks,--"if he was alive and well, I am sure he
+must have written, and we must have a letter by Captain S." "I hear
+John coming up the avenue now." In a moment Ned was gone to see what
+packages were brought from the office, and in another he was back
+again with a parcel in his hand. "Here, Father," said he, "here are
+the newspapers, and here, Mother, is a big letter from uncle John
+for you."
+
+His mother opened her brother's letter. "A letter from Jemmy," said
+she, with a voice trembling with joy. "A letter from Jemmy," said
+all the children together, and in a moment each one was silent, in
+order to listen to its contents.
+
+"Dear Mother: Here we are all safe and sound; but when you get this,
+you will, I know, thank God you have yet a son Jemmy. I have kept a
+sea journal which you and father can see when I get home; so I shall
+say nothing more about our voyage, except that I got along very
+well, considering I was a green hand, and that I made friends with
+the mates and all the sailors. O, they were so kind to me! and lucky
+it was for me that they did love me so well, as you'll see
+presently. Well, to my story. I hate to come to it, for it makes me
+feel so badly; but don't be frightened, Mother; here I am on shore,
+as lively as a cricket, and could make as much noise in your house
+now as I ever did. Well, dear Mother, all, as I said, went well with
+me, till one night, when we were on the Grand Bank; it was a rain
+storm, and the captain sent me up to the topmast to reef a sail;
+some one had been up, in the course of the day, and dropped some
+grease, and I think my foot slipped; I was confused, the rain beat
+in my face, I could not see any thing, and I fell. I must have been
+stunned, for I am sure some time must have passed before I found
+myself overboard, struggling to keep myself above water. In a
+moment, I saw my whole danger. I knew that the ship must have gone
+on some distance, and that it was useless to try to swim after her.
+I did not think the sailors would know I had fallen overboard, for
+some time, and I knew that, in such a dark, stormy night, it was
+almost impossible for them to do any thing to save me. You know,
+dear Mother, I am an excellent swimmer; but I immediately thought
+that my only chance was to save my strength as much as possible; so
+I turned over on my back and floated, and determined to keep myself
+as quiet as I could, so as not to exhaust myself before the boat
+could come for me, which was what I hoped for, though I knew there
+was small chance of it, on such a night. In a few moments I saw
+indistinctly one of those great birds that follow after vessels,
+hovering over me, and I felt his horrid wings brushing over my face.
+I used one of my arms to drive him away, while, with the other, I
+kept myself on the top of the water; the waves rolled high, and, as
+they broke over me, repeatedly filled my mouth with the bitter
+water, so that I could not scream to let any one know where I was.
+Presently more birds, smaller however, fluttered their frightful
+wings over me; but the large one, whose wings I am sure extended as
+far as I could stretch my arms, was the worst; he kept hovering over
+me; O, I can see the frightful creature now! Well, Mother, don't be
+scared, for here I am as well as ever. I found my strength began to
+fail me. I could not see the ship. The cold was terrible. The horrid
+birds were hovering, and the waves were rolling over me. I thought
+of you and father, my brothers and sisters, my dear home; and I felt
+as if I could not bear my sufferings any longer, and that I had
+better give up. I was about turning myself over and letting myself
+go, when I saw a black thing at a distance which I took for a
+porpoise. While I was looking to see what it was, I heard the words,
+'Jemmy! Jemmy!' and I called out, 'Here I am!' This was the first
+sound I had been able to make from the time I had fallen over, for
+if I opened my mouth it filled with water. They soon had me in the
+boat, and, soon after, I was in the ship. Every thing was done for
+me, that love and kindness could do. I could not have held out much
+longer. It was three quarters of an hour that I had been in the
+water. They told me afterwards that when they found I had fallen
+overboard, they put the ship about; but as they heard no sound from
+me, and knew not whereabouts I had fallen, the captain said it was
+useless to do any thing to save me. The steward and cook and one of
+the men were getting out the boat, but it had a bad leak in it, and
+the captain advised them not to go. They would not listen to him;
+they said they would not give me up; and they lowered the boat. One
+of the men baled all the time, and as he had nothing else to stop
+the leak with, he put his foot in the place, and he kept the boat
+above water. By the merest chance they steered directly for the spot
+where I was. So you see, Mother, it was their love and their courage
+that saved my life."
+
+"Now, dear Mother, you will not feel anxious about me any more, for I
+think you may be sure that nothing worse will happen to me than has
+happened already on this voyage. I hope to be with you in a month
+after you got this, and I don't think I shall want to go to sea
+again for one while. My love to father and the boys, and to Julia,
+and Helen, and the cat, and all inquiring friends. Glad enough I
+shall be to be with you all again. I never knew before, dear Mother,
+how much I loved you all. Your affectionate son, Jemmy."
+
+"P.S. After my fall I could not stand for a fortnight, but they all
+took the kindest care of me, and I am now as well as possible."
+
+It were vain to attempt to describe what passed in the hearts of
+these parents at hearing of the safety of their son after such a
+peril. The letter was read over and over again, and each one
+expressed his happiness in his own way; little Helen wondered he
+should have thought of Puss, but said it was just like Jemmy. "I
+would not believe such a story if I had it from any other but James
+himself," said his father. "Nothing, so uncommon as to save a person
+that falls overboard in such a way; and at night I never knew of it,
+and I have been many years at sea. Nothing but James's presence of
+mind and courage saved his life; he did the only thing that would
+have been of any avail; had he attempted to swim after the ship, he
+would have been lost. It seems now as if the story could not be
+true. His presence of mind, and his courage, and his knowledge of
+swimming would, however, have been of little use to him, if the love
+of the sailors for him had not been stronger than the love of their
+own lives, which they put in the greatest peril to save this poor
+boy who, a few weeks before, was an utter stranger to them. How
+noble! how beautiful! The glory of the wise and so-called great of
+this world fades away as we look at this simple act of self-devoted
+love. In the hearts of each of these men we see the angel that God
+has placed within us all, ever declaring, if we would listen, that
+love is greater than life, that there is no death to the soul."
+
+The children, not long after, retired to bed; the thought of dear
+brother Jemmy made them insensible to the storm; all was sunshine
+and peace in their young hearts. The parents sat up many hours of
+that stormy night talking over and over again the story of their
+boy's imminent danger and of his miraculous escape.
+
+The hoarse breathings of the wild storm, its alternate deep, far-off
+moaning and shrill piping, through every loophole and crevice in the
+house, sounded to these heaven-attuned souls like solemn music, and
+they joined in sweet accord in silent, grateful prayer to the
+Infinite Spirit.
+
+Frank and Harry, with their mother, were now silent for a few
+moments. Soon, slowly and solemnly, the bell struck one, two, three,
+four, five, six, and so on to twelve, and the first moment of the
+new year began to be. They kissed each other, said "Happy New Year,"
+and were soon fast asleep in bed.
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Two Festivals
+by Eliza Lee Follen
+
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